Irondad Oneshots

I'm Sorry, Kiddo

Tony looked at his watch for the sixth time in the last thirty minutes, drinking his third scotch of the hour. Peter was on patrol and it was way past his curfew. Truth be told, Tony was not only scared, but pissed. He'd just returned from a mission and had yet to see his son. And of course, Peter was out late, as he'd probably been for the past few days when Tony was gone since he trusted Peter for the first time to stay home by himself.

Finally, at 2:30 am, Peter walked into the kitchen and took his mask off, seeing his father.

"Hey Dad, you're back! You'll never believe what happened tonight. I -"

"Zip it, now." Tony cut him off sharply.

Peter was taken back, confused by his dad's tone. "W-What?"

"You are grounded indefinitely. I trusted you to take your responsibilities seriously, obeying curfew included. It's 2:30 in the morning and I can't go to bed until you're home and safe, not to mention I haven't slept in three days. Not only that, I trusted you to stay home by yourself while I went on a mission. Which, I should add, was a mistake I won't be making again anytime soon. You are becoming reckless and it needs to stop."

"But I-"

"No 'but's! You have been irresponsible and disrespectful lately and I am sick of it! It's a wonder that you survived on your own for the past few days given how immature you are. You are ridiculous and you better shape up soon or Spider-Man will cease to exist!"

The sixteen year old was stunned. His dad didn't talk to him like this; never once before in his entire life have Tony's words stung like they did now. "I-I'm sorry." He spoke softly as he stared down at the floor.

"You're sorry?" Tony laughed a bitter-sounding laugh. "You aren't sorry. To be sorry, you have to regret what you've done and you don't. You would do the same things over, given the chance. And then we'd end up back here, with you being the number one source of stress in my life."

Peter felt humiliated and embarrassed. He tried unsuccessfully to blink back tears, his cheeks becoming wet as he sniffled. "Okay." He spoke just above a whisper, not sure what else to say before going to his room.

He closed his door as quietly as he could before leaning against it and falling to the floor. How long has he thought this about me? I'm trying my hardest to be the best I can be but it's just never good enough, is it? Am I really the biggest source of stress in his life? God, I'm a pathetic piece of shit. Why can't I be more responsible and mature like he wants? I need to be better!

Peter got lost in his thoughts as he continued to sob. How could his dad make him feel like this? Tony was supposed to be his number one supporter, his friend, his father, yet all he was tonight was a bully.

After crying for nearly an hour, he fell asleep against the door. In the morning, he woke up with his face puffy and swollen from crying.

Peter slowly got up off the floor and flopped onto his bed, beginning to cry once more into his pillow as he replayed the night's events. Why am I such a fucking disappointment? I just wanted to make Dad proud by doing my best and being a hero like him. Maybe I should just quit trying, I'll never live up to his expectations. All I'll ever be is a good-for-nothing failure.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Pete? You up yet?"

Peter kept his face pressed into the pillow as he tried to control the sobs racking through his body. The door opened and he heard Tony sigh sadly.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I shouldn't have said any of it, none of it is true." He began, sitting on the bed beside Peter. "I was stressed last night, and not from you, from my mission. I had a few drinks and got worked up over nothing and said things I wish I could take back. But I can't unsay them and you can't unhear them."

Peter picked his head up from the pillow and looked at his dad. "You were right, I'm sorry. I-I'll be better."

Tony shook his head. "I was not right, you have nothing to be sorry for, and you can't be better because you're already the best."

"But I came home too late last night and I put so much stress on you."

"You do stress me out, but no more than any other child stresses out their parent. I stress over you because it's an innate parent skill, not because of anything you do. Kid, you're as close to perfect as they come. I'm pretty far from it, especially after last night, and I'm going to apologize to you for the rest of my life for that."

Tony was taken by surprise when Peter practically jumped onto him and wrapped himself tight against him in a hug. "I love you, Dad."

Tony smiled and wrapped his arms around him. "I love you too, kiddo."