Tony was nearing the end of a thirty-six hour lab marathon when his AI spoke up.

"Boss, you've got an incoming call from Peter Parker."

Tony paused and put down his wrench. It was nearly two thirty. Peter's curfew was like half an hour ago. If that kid was still out patrolling, Tony was going to kill him.

"Put him through, FRI."

A second later, the familiar enthusiastic but hesitant voice piped up from the other end. "Hey, Mr. Stark. It's Peter. You know, Peter Parker."

Tony rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. It had been a few months since Homecoming and he'd spoken to Peter several times over the phone and in person to recognise his voice. Plus, he had the kid on speed dial. Not to mention Peter's weekly visits to Tony's private lab. Of course he knew who it was.

"Hello, Mr. Parker. I do hope, for your good that you are currently in bed and not out Spidermaning. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Stark, I promise I'm at home right now. I uh... I... Are you busy? Or were you asleep? Because if you were, then I can totally call you back in the morning. In fact I'm uh... I'm gonna do that right now. It was a bad idea to call so l—"

"Geez, kid. Relax will ya? What's on your mind?" He was never too busy to help this kid out.

"Well, I uh... figured it would be better if I call you because if I didn't then Aunt May would and I'd rather it was me who asked you."

"Ask me what, Underoos?"

"So uh... Aunt May has this thing she's got to attend in Louisiana and she's going away for the weekend. I told her that it was cool and that I'd be okay alone but she was pretty insistent. I would go to Ned's but he's got the flu so uh... Mr. Stark, would it be okay if uh... if I could crash at your place this weekend?"

Tony hadn't expected that. But he would love to have the kid over. He knew that Peter did get lonely at times because of his Aunt's odd timings and the multiple shifts she covered.

"It's totally okay if you say no and I really won't mind staying alone. But if you could just tell May that you agreed and I'll... I'll be fine. Cause you know, she'll worry."

Tony could practically hear the kid's disappointment over the phone and he mentally kicked himself for not responding quickly.

"Nuh-uh, not happening, Spiderboy. Pack a bag. Happy will pick you up on Friday."

"For real? You sure, Mr. Stark? You don't have to bother, I mean I c—"

"Listen to the adult, kid and get your skinny ass here on Friday. Capiche?"

"Yessir!"

"Good. Now that's sorted, you ready for that Spanish test you've got tomorrow?"

"Oh um yeah yeah, of course. I didn't think you'd remember."

Of course Tony would remember. Whilst he pretended otherwise, he loved listening to the kid ramble on about anything and everything.

"Yeah well I'm Ironman, kid. So yes, I remember. Now go to bed. I don't want Aunt Hottie to blame me for your lack of sleep. Sleep tight, kiddo"

"Thanks again, Mr. Stark!"

Tony realised that he was still grinning goofily way after he'd ended the call.

The kid was making him go soft.

"Good afternoon, Peter. Boss is waiting for you in the kitchen."

Although Peter had been to the Compound several times before, the place never failed to leave him speechless.

"Thanks, FRIDAY." He got out of the elevator on Mr. Stark's personal floor and went to the kitchen. He found the man making grilled cheese.

That was one of Peter'a favourite parts of coming over. Mr. Stark always had food. While May worked hard, it was still expensive to feed an enhanced teen with super metabolism. She tried her best and most of the times, Peter did okay. But sometimes when he did go hungry, he made it a point not to tell her.

"Go and put your bag in your room and come sit down, Underoos."

Peter complied and went towards the bedrooms. The room was unofficially his since he'd stayed there like a couple of times before. But he always left the next morning. This was different. This was like a proper sleepover at Mr. Stark's house.

Falling asleep was completely another matter though. Ever since the whole incident with the Vulture, Peter had been having nightmares. They were occasional but left him shaken every time. He sincerely prayed that he'd be able to get through these next two nights without Mr. Stark finding out.

He went back out to find a grilled cheese waiting for him on the platform. "Eat up. You want a juice box to go with that? It's got those cute little animals on it."

Peter could hear the teasing in the man's voice. The man never missed an opportunity to pull Peter's leg.

"I'm not a child, Mr. Stark!"

"Could've fooled me. Here ya go." He tossed an orange flavoured one to him.

"So what are we doing today?"

"Well, we were supposed to work on the Mark 47 last time but since you decided to take a sick day, we're gonna do that today. Assuming that's okay with you of course." Peter saw that familiar smug but pleased grin on the man's face.

"Holy cow, Mr. Stark are you serious? It's more than okay! It's awesome!"

Tony glanced at the kid who stifled a yawn for the fourth time and decided it would probably be advisable to send the Spiderling to bed. While Tony's nights began at three am, that's when the normal population usually slept.

"Okay Underoos, time for you to call it a night."

The Spiderling's head shot up to look at him like he had just murdered the kid's puppy. "Mr. Stark, I swear to you I'm not sleepy!"

"Right. I would totally believe you, but those ginormous yawns are a tad bit misleading. Nighty-night for you." Tony went to the kid and ruffled his hair. "You did good today, kid. We've got two more days to ourselves so you can geek out all you want tomorrow."

Peter yawned again, scrunching up his nose and Tony did not find that adorable. Not one bit.

Peter groaned and stood up. "I'll see you in the morning. G'night, Mr. Stark."

"Night, Petey-pie."

"Please don't call me that."

Tony smirked as the kid went out. He was so calling him that.

After that, Tony lost himself in his work. He wasn't sure how much time went by. After three cups of coffee and one finished project, he was finally ready to call it a night or whatever time of the day it was.

"Boss, Mr. Parker appears to be in distress and his heart rate is elevated."

Tony froze. What happened to the kid? He had seemed fine when he was down here.

He rushed out of the lab and into the elevator, more than a little worried.

He knocked on the kid's door, trying to hear what he could from the other side. When there was no reply, Tony turned the handle and pushed the door open slowly.

Sitting on the bed, curled up with his knees drawn tightly to his chest and his hair plastered to his forehead, Peter certainly was a pitiful sight.

"Pete?"

When Peter gave no indication of having heard Tony, the man went inside the room and near the bed. Light shivers wracked the boy's frame.

"Kid? You okay there?"

Tentatively, he sat down opposite Peter and gingerly placed a hand on the kid's shoulder.

Tony knew the signs of a nightmare when he saw one. The sweating, shivering, rapid heartbeat: been there done that.

When Peter didn't shrug him off, he took that as a good sign and gripped his shoulder more firmly. "Hey, Underoos," he mumbled gently, surprising even himself by the softness of his tone.

Peter finally looked up from where his head had been buried in his knees. "Mr. Stark?"

Damn it he sounded so small. Tony's every protective instinct was in overdrive.

"That's my name, kiddo," he smiled as best he could. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

A second later, he had his arms full with one Peter Parker. Tony regained his balance and wrapped his arms around the kid, securely placing one hand on the back of his mentee's head and gently guiding the teen's head to rest on his shoulder.

"I got you, Pete."

"Nightmare," he mumbled.

It must've been a pretty bad one for Peter to be so thoroughly shaken. "You wanna talk about it?"

He felt Peter instantly shake his head against Tony's shoulder.

"Okay, okay." Tony held the boy until he felt his shivers subside. "Marshmallow?"

That was enough to snap Peter out of his haze. He pulled away to look at Tony, more than a little confused. "Marshmallow?" He repeated, sounding a little stronger.

"Yup. If you come outside with me now, I'll let you in on a little recipe. Top secret though. Sound good?"

Peter relaxed his limbs and looked at him. With each passing second, he was regaining control and while Tony was happy about that, he could practically see the kid building up those walls around himself.

"Kay, Mr. Stark."

"Good choice. Come on."

Tony waited for Peter to entangle himself from the mess of his blankets and stand. "FRI, baby girl, turn the lights on in the kitchen and living room please. We'll be right there."

Now that Peter wasn't panicking, he could feel the embarrassment creeping through his veins. Had he seriously just crawled into Tony Stark's arms and sat there like a total baby?

It had felt good though. The man's hug had been nice, warm and soothing and he longed for more of them.

Peter knew that the man had been through a lot. His encounter with the Vulture was nothing compared to everything that had happened to Mr. Stark.

He followed his mentor to the kitchen and sat down at the island.

"Nightmares can be rough, right?"

"I'm okay now, Mr. Stark, I promise."

"I never said you weren't. It's just okay to not be okay sometimes. Took me long enough to figure that one out. Here you go."

Peter accepted the steaming mug from the man and glanced at it. Hot chocolate with marshmallows.

In spite of his current state of mind, he let out a little laugh. "Mr. Stark, hot chocolate and marshmallows isn't a secret recipe. They've been around since like forever. It's old, sorta like you."

"How dare you? You're lucky I like you, kid. Now, what was the nightmare about?

"I don't uh... I don't remember."

He took a sip and allowed the warmth to flow through him. Peter noticed the genius' observant gaze on him and flushed. It was the same one Uncle Ben would give him every time the man knew he was lying.

After everything Mr. Stark was doing for him, the least Peter could do was be honest with him.

"It was about the Vulture. I was... I was trapped and I couldn't move and there was rubble all around. I know it's over but it felt so real, Mr. Stark."

Peter paused to look at his mentor's face. There was something akin to understanding over there. Pride as well, but there was also... guilt?

"What you did that day was beyond amazing and I couldn't be more proud of you. I shouldn't have taken the suit away though, that was wrong on my part and I'm sorry, Pete."

Peter looked at Mr. Stark like he was crazy. He saw the guilt on the man's face and realised he never wanted to see that look again. Everything he had ever done for him was beyond awesome.

"What? No! Don't apologise, Mr. Stark, that's ridiculous. I'm glad you took the suit from me back then. You were right. I sorta needed that 'tough love moment' back then."

Tony didn't know what to say. This kid was way to good for this world. He swallowed the lump in his throat and ruffled the boy's hair. He was starting to really love this kid (like he didn't already).

"How long and often have you been having these nightmares?"

"Not often. I've only had them like a couple of times. They began like a month after Homecoming. It's not always this bad, Mr. Stark."

His mentor hummed thoughtfully. "Does May know about these dreams?"

No she didn't. Peter hadn't wanted anyone to find out. May barely got a good night's sleep because of her work. So when she did get to sleep, Peter made sure he didn't wake her. Thankfully for him, May slept like a rock, so she didn't wake up when he did have nightmares.

His silence answered Tony's question. Peter was young. He was fifteen, dammit! Way to young to be going through all this shit alone.

"Does it ever get better, Mr. Stark?"

The kid was looking at him like that again: With those honest brown Bambi orbs of his, like his entire world revolved around Tony's reply.

The billionaire's lips quirked upward in a half smile, the soft kind he always reserved just for Peter. "It'll get better, Pete, I swear. It may take a while but it does get better. Eventually the nightmares will stop, but until then, I want you to promise me something."

The teen sat up straighter immediately, giving Tony his complete attention.

"I want you to tell me the next time you have a nightmare. I never want you feeling like you have to deal with this by yourself. I'm here for you, kid. For the long haul."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark." The kid's eyes were glistening brightly in the soft lighting in the kitchen and Tony coughed and looked away, having reached his emotional quota for the day.

"Good. This stays between us. Can't have everyone thinking that I actually do have a heart underneath the suit of armour."

"Then I make it my personal responsibility to make sure everyone knows that Tony Stark does have a heart. But seriously, thank you."

"Don't mention it. Whatcha wanna do now, Petey-pie? Hey FRI, what time is it?"

"It's six twenty one am, Boss."

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't call me that ever again, Mr. Stark."

"Don't recall found something so stupid. Besides, I'm only just getting warmed up. I've got a whole lot of other embarrassing nicknames lined up for your adorable, geeky self."

"Mr. Stark!"

"Mr. Parker! So you wanna head back to bed or watch something or what?"

"I'm actually kinda hungry," Peter replied sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Say no more, Underoos. Stark's kitchen is back in business."

Peter smiled at him goofily before the Spiderling threw his arms around Tony's waist. Pleasantly surprised, the genius hugged him back.

"Wow, kid. Two hugs in one night. I must be really lucky."

And he really was.

In fact, both of them were really lucky that they had each other.

Another Irondad fanfic. Purely because I will never be over Endgame.

Review!