Author's Note: First of all thank you to everyone who followed and favorited this story, it means a lot! And secondly, here is the promised return of Tony & Peter interaction!

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" Peter greeted as he came into Tony's workshop, eager to spend time with his mentor. It was a few weeks later, and Peter had returned to spend the weekend at the Compound.

Tony looked up with surprise. "Pete, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you till this evening."

"It's like, almost dinnertime," Peter said as he made his way over to Tony. "It already is evening."

"Is it? Dammit, I must have lost track of time. I feel like I just got here." He had gone to the workshop shortly after breakfast to work on upgrades for his armor and the work binge had left him unaware of the outside world for hours. "Well anyway, let me be the first to say happy birthday," clapping Peter on the shoulder. Peter's birthday was the next day, and Tony had planned a party for him at the Compound. "While I do have things to give you on your actual birthday, there is something I wanted to give to you now."

"You have a gift for me now?" Peter said, surprised. "Wouldn't it be easier to just give them all to me at once?"

"Oh so you don't want it?"

"No, I want it!"

"Now how do you know you want it?" Tony teased, "I could potentially be giving you something you'll hate."

Peter couldn't take it anymore. "C'mon Mr. Stark, you can't just tease me with a present and not give it to me!"

"Alright, calm down, kid." Tony went to the other side of the room and pulled out a Spider-Man gift bag from where he stowed it behind another table. He knew Peter got a kick out of seeing his own merchandise.

"Whoa, I'm on a gift bag!"

Tony smirked. "Better than seeing yourself on novelty toilet paper, trust me."

Peter looked slightly embarrassed. "Actually, that already exists."

"Spider-Man toilet paper? Give me ten minutes with my lawyers and it'll be off the shelves by the end of the week."

Peter shrugged it off. "That's ok, Mr. Stark. I don't really care. And it is kinda funny. I mean, it's not like it's my actual face on there, right?"

Tony made a mental note to get in touch with his lawyers anyway. "Good point. Now c'mon, we're not here to discuss merchandising rights."

Peter reached in the bag and pulled out the Iron Man teddy bear Tony had been working on. He had finished doing all the upgrades to it late last night, in an effort to get it done before Peter's birthday.

"You're giving me Captain Rogers' teddy bear?" Peter asked in confusion.

"No it's not Cap's. This one is yours, complete with some additional modifications."

Peter looked at it with an unreadable expression, not saying anything. Tony never knew what to make of a quiet Peter, but usually it wasn't good.

"Talk to me, kid. You know it makes me nervous when you're silent." Tony's own nervousness made him start to ramble. "You don't like it? I can change it. Different animal? Different Avenger? I knew I should have picked Thor. It'll be a blow to my ego, sure-"

"No, it's not that," Peter interrupted. "I do like it, honest. It's just…" He paused unsure of how to continue without saying the wrong thing.

Luckily, Tony could get an idea of why Peter was feeling insecure. "Okay, I'm gonna cut in right there. It's not because I see you as a little kid or because I'm tired of dealing with you, or whatever you might be thinking right now. I'm not expecting that you'll want to have it all the time, but I made it to help you out. When Steve told me about the nightmare you had while I was gone- "

"He told you about that?" Peter asked, clearly mortified.

"Well, in his defense I saw the bear you left in our bedroom and I asked him about it. I would have asked about you anyway, because it's important to me to know how you're doing. Anyway, when Steve told me about that, I figured I would take his idea and expand on it." Peter still seemed like he wanted to protest, so Tony pressed on. "Did Cap tell you how he got his?"

Peter shook his head. "No. Did he buy it?"

Tony gestured to himself. "I bought it for him. And Captain America's not the only one who has one." Tony got up again and pulled out his own bear from where he had it hidden underneath the table. "Ironman has one too." Tony didn't think Peter's already large eyes could get bigger, but they were as wide as saucers.

"What, really?"

"Yeah really. And if you need it sometimes to make you feel safer, there's no shame in that."

Peter seemed to relax at that, almost as if he needed to hear Tony say it. "That's kinda what Captain Rogers said."

"Well, I'd listen to him. He may not have a genius IQ, but he's still pretty smart."

Peter eyed the bear again. "Thanks, Mr. Stark," he said with genuine appreciation.

"Don't mention it, Pete." Tony grinned, ruffling the kid's hair. "And hey, I haven't even shown you what it can do yet. I spent too much time working on this not to show it off."

After Peter had returned home for the start of the new school year, both Tony & Steve were woken up by the sound of FRIDAY's voice.

"Boss, the IronDad Protocol has been activated."

"IronDad Protocol?" Tony muttered to himself, sounding confused. "I don't have anything called the IronDad Protocol. Wait a sec, FRIDAY, put him through to my phone."

Tony picked up his phone from the side table and while Steve's enhanced hearing would be able to pick up Peter's voice on the other end, he focused instead on the one-sided conversation coming from Tony.

"Hey Spiderling," Tony greeted, "...It's alright, it was just a dream…Shhh, it's okay. C'mon breathe with me…That's it, kid. You want to tell me what it was about?…I'm sorry…I never should have taken your suit away…Well I think now we both know better. You need me there? Just say the word, I'll activate the suit and be there in less than 15 minutes…Yeah, you're right, May would definitely not appreciate being woken up that way. So, IronDad, huh?...No, I actually like it. I may put it on a T-shirt…You feeling better?...Good. If you need me again, I'm here… No, no, no apologizing. I added that feature for you to use it…Alright, goodnight, Underoos."

Tony put the phone back and Steve rolled over, spooning Tony and putting his arm around the other man's chest. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's good now. Sorry, I should have gone to another room."

"It's fine, Tony. Or should I say IronDad?"

Tony huffed out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, that's what Peter decided to call it when he contacts FRIDAY with that bear. Told you that feature would come in handy."

"IronDad. I like it," Steve said as he snuggled closer "It suits you." Even in the dark, even at the angle Steve was at, he could still tell Tony was smiling at that.

"Yeah it does have a nice ring to it."