"Parker." Tony's voice rang throughout the lab as he walked out of the elevator. Peter was in his usual spot, hunched over a keyboard as he worked away on three different projects. Tony approached quietly, hands behind his back, and looked on over his intern's shoulders.

"Nice stuff," he commented before he circled around the desk, leaning back against the one in front of Peter's workstation. "Look, there's something I want to say to you. And no, you're not in trouble, so you can stop with the panicked-Parker look." He took a breath, glancing around the room as he gathered his thoughts, then settled his eyes on Peter.

"Look, kid, since you got here, life's been great. It's been a long time since I've met anybody up to snuff, intelligently-speaking, and I've never met anyone with a mind like my own, at least until I met you. I'm not going to go all mushy on you, but I wanted to say that I'm glad you're here, I like working with you, and really…" Tony swallowed. "Well, you're not like a son to me because I wouldn't do half the shit I do with you with my own kid, but you're like the really awesome nephew I never had. You know, the one I can teach to blow stuff up just to piss off his parents. I never had one of those when I was growing up and I'm an only child so I really never thought I'd get the opportunity—

"Ah, fuck, I'm rambling." Tony cut himself off with a wave and took a breath to try again. "Point is that you're family, kid, and I want you to know that no matter what you get into, no matter how right or wrong or weird, I've got your back 100%." As Peter leaned back to take in his boss, Tony was overcome by his humanity and he dodged forward, grasping Pete in a quick, awkward, half-standing-up-half-sitting-down hug. When he pulled back, he smiled his usual, smart-ass smile.

"Right. Well, now that that's done, do me a favor and clean up the webbing that's all over the rec room? And spare me the details of how it got there."

With that, Tony walked out of the lab, confident that Peter Parker finally knew how important he was.