A light in the dark

The nightmare

After what felt like hours sitting by Peter's feet on the sofa, working on an update for Friday on his Starkpad and closely watching Peter in his sleep, Tony felt like he could use some too.

When they had went to Midtown High School to pick Peter up, it had been around 3 pm, and as Tony looked at the rolex on his wrist it showed him the time was now 3 am.

Peter had been asleep now for almost eight hours which by the circles that in turn had circles under his eyes told him was an unusual occurrence in Peter's sleep cycle. Although he couldn't judge him, Tony himself was an insomniac fueled by coffee. And right about now he could actually use some. But then again, he thought to himself how he'd already been up for more than a whole day. Maybe it was time for him to get some sleep too, but he really didn't want to leave Peter.

"Hey, Friday," Tony whispered out to the now dark apartment only lit up by his starkpad that he had used to work on. "Wake me up the moment Peter wakes up, or if any of his vitals changes drastically." Tony knew Peter would have to panic eventually.

Since his reaction to the whole situation was extreme shock and then immediately afterwards sleep, he figured the panic and tears was something that was saved for later.

Friday didn't reply to Tony's request but knew his A.I had understood its orders. Sometimes he was afraid he had actually made Friday a little too smart for his own good, it could now think for itself and as Tony had suspected for a while now.. - The A.I had developed some kind of feeling for morals and ethics. He himself would never admit it, but sometimes it almost scared him how complex Friday had grown. Sometimes.. Almost..

Tony stood up and put the Starkpad on the coffeetable by the sofa. He rearranged Peter's blanket one last time and paused to look at him. He was so young. Too young even. His face and haircolor reminded him a lot of Richard, well at least of how he remembered Richard. But the soft eyes and locks of hair is what reminded him of Mary.

It has been a long time ago, almost 15 years now. They had worked on some projects involving physics and chemistry, Richard being the chemistrynerd while Tony was more interested in the physics of the whole thing. Their projects had never been finished tho. Almost all of the work they'd put in during the time working together had been destroyed alongside Richard and Mary Parker in the planecrash that left Peter all alone in the world.

Tony had kept an eye on Peter secretly after his parents death. Searching his name up from time to time, anonymously paying partly for his education at Midtown (in disguise of being a scholarship of course). Tony knew he couldn't be seen caring for some random kid in Queens. Too many questions would be brought up. Was he Tony Stark's secret love child? Did Tony Stark actually have a heart? Tony Stark, a father? Tony Stark, taking care of a child? All of those things had seemed like something impossible to him because everyone else thought it would be impossible. But the more he'd thought of it, the more he'd realized that Peter wasn't just some kid he took an interest in. It had become more of a feeling of being a guardian angel on his shoulder. And Tony liked that. He didn't have to deal with all of this emotional stuff, just nudge Peter and the people around him in the right directions sometimes. But now, standing there and watching the kid fast asleep on his sofa, he admitted to himself that maybe just nudging people in the right directions wasn't enough. Ever since the phonecall from the hospital he'd felt some kind of weight on his shoulder. Worry. Of course he'd felt an obligation to him before, since he was Richard and Mary's son and all. But now he knew deep inside that he was the only one left. There was no other guardian to him. Nobody else that would make sure he ate his breakfast, got to school and did his homework. Or went to sleep at a decent hour. Tony scratched the back of his neck in thought. He knew it from the moment they'd said her name, from the moment he'd registered that May was dead, that the responsibility now rested on his shoulders.