Ok so this is it, this is the last chapter. I'm sorry it took a while, but I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end but then one day it kinda just clicked, so I finished it. I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

"It's gonna take longer to work out the part of the proof with Peter, but the previous crimes that I can prove without problem barely gets him the time he deserves. My lawyers are working on it, but there shouldn't be any issues with his identity so that's good."

"That's great! How is his healing progress so far."

"It's doing good, he's getting the casts off his right arm and leg today so he should be pretty happy about that."

"I'm sure he will be, he never liked having to stay still for more than a few minutes, he always wants to be doing something."

"I know, thankfully Bruce was able to take Peter outside for a while, we can probably do the same thing today after the casts are off. His head is doing a lot better too, but he has still been complaining about a headache. He says his headache pretty consistent, but Bruce said it should be gone in a few days."

"I don't think I've ever been so happy that he heals so fast. Do you think you could turn the camera more towards him."

"Of course." Tony turned the tablet to face fully toward Peter "And, ya I'm just glad there is no permanent damage."

"The bruising on his face is basically gone now."

"Ya, it is, it's much better, he's able to chew things now, so he doesn't have to be stuck eating the same things, but it's not like he had to eat those things for very long but still."

"I know I say it every time, but I just really wish I was there."

"No, its fine, I get it, when I left to go get those guys that hurt him, the whole time I just wanted to go back. And I wasn't even gone that long."

"I'm never gonna want him to leave the house after this."

"I'm with you there, but it's not like we can stop him."

"You make a good point."

"He's a really great kid. He gets away with a lot because of it."

"He really does, he seems to have a certain effect on people, once you punish him you look into those big eyes and it makes you wish you never said he was in trouble in the first place."

Tony thought back to when Peter stared at him with pleading eyes after the ferry accident, he felt awful but refused to take back his words. He took the suit for Peters protection, (and that turned out so well). It wasn't even close to being 'worth a shot' to try and get him to stop. Those big brown eyes tearing up, begging him not to take the suit. "Ya, I feel you there, when I took that suit away, the look on his face… it makes you feel sick to your stomach."

"Ya, once over the summer, I tried to punish him by not being able to hang out with Ned, then an hour later I found myself telling him I was taking away TV for the week instead."

Peters' voice came suddenly, his eyes still closed "He had a new lego set, I promised I'd build it with him."

May and Tony smiled.

"Hey, bud. You have a good sleep?" Peter nodded.

"Your headache still bother you?" Peter nodded again.

"When do I get my casts off?"Peter began opening his eyes.

"Later today."

"Are you excited?"

"Super, I can finally eat on my own without them, and move more in general."

"Bruce said he just needs to look over your x-rays and then he will be in here to take the cast off."

"Shoot, I have to go, I'm sorry Peter, I wish I could talk longer but-"

"It's ok," Peter tried his best to not sound disappointed, but he was, he just wanted her here. "Go, we can talk another time right?"

"Ya" may sighed, "I love you, honey.

"I love you too."

The call ended.

"How much longer until she's home?"

"About another week."

Peter sighed.

"I know it must be hard without her here."

"Ya, it is, but at least I have you."

Tony's heart melted a little at that "Always."

...

Peter thought that getting the shoulder brace off was nice, but getting two casts that encased and limited the motion of limbs felt amazing. Of course, he still had two more to go, but he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"Now, they are still gonna be sore for a few days while they get used to being used again after the damage they experienced." Bruce was cleaning up the supplies.

"When do I get the other casts off?"

"The one on your arm should be off tomorrow, and I think I'm gonna keep the leg cast on for a day longer." Bruce smiled and turned to clean up some equipment.

"Hey, I was thinking since I saw you looked pretty happy to be outside yesterday, that was maybe I could take you today. I should've taken you earlier, I know you hate staying still."

"That would be great , and it's fine, I haven't been here all that long." Tony smiled but still couldn't help but feel bad for some reason. Peter noticed the guilt Tony failed to hide, and attempted to lighten the mood if he could.

"It'll much easier to get into the wheelchair this time, it took like, ten minutes last time," Peter said with a chuckle.

It honestly didn't make tony feel much better.

"Well, this time let's slim it down to five. Half the cast off should mean half the loading time." Tony smiled through the guilt.

…

They eventually got the wheelchair to Peter's room and they accomplished the goal only five minutes, in fact, they did it in three, with some strategies for last time, and Peter's ability to help.

"Well, that was much quicker than last time," Bruce said opening the bedroom while Tony pushed Peter out the door.

"Thankfully" Peter was smiling the whole way going outside. He kept stretching out and moving his arm and leg, finding that Bruce was right, the limbs were really sore.

They finally made there way to a little picnic area Tomy had set up. They got settled into some floor chairs. Peter wasn't sure how easy it would be to get up from the chair since it was all the way on the ground, but even if it took another ten minutes, it was worth it.

Tony opened a box that was on the ground and started to pull stuff out "So since you are able to chew now, I figured you'd like some pizza or something, but I wasn't sure so I got some sandwiches too so you can just eat what-"

"It all looks great , I'll, uh, I'll probably end up eating both" Peter smiled and reached for a sandwich. Tony took and plate and placed a sandwich on it, handing it to peter.

Peter finished his sandwich fairly quickly and moved on to more sandwiches, and a few slices of pizza. Peter focused on the clouds and the trees, he was grateful. Tony didn't have to do this, but he did, Peter hadn't even been in bed that long, and Tony had been treating him like he's had to be in bed for weeks. It's was kinda funny, but Peter appreciated the thoughtfulness.

After Peter was done eating, he sat peacefully, breathing in the fresh air. He had started to think about the reason he was there in the first place. He felt was a bit bizarre, it had started out as such a normal day, and now here he is recovering from injuries for the past week or so. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't even know how long he's been here. He doesn't even remember the first time he woke up, that bothered him the most. He also felt that it was almost stupid for him to be in the position he is right now. He barely put up a fight, he basically let himself get taken. Tony had told him it wasn't his fault, maybe that was true, but it didn't feel that way. He never liked inconveniencing , he was always so busy and he could be doing something much more important right now. If he just hadn't put the suit on in the first place… he would have been doing nothing about a crime he was aware of...but he could have called earlier, but Peter didn't know what the right call would have been anymore. Right now he didn't know about a lot of things. He didn't know where May was, but she never even told him. He didn't know what happened to those guys that took him, did they get caught? Are they still out there? Did they go after that man that he saw in the alley that owed them money? And not to mention he knows nothing of what was going on with school. The homework wouldn't be too hard to catch up on, but it sucked to be behind in school. He didn't know how much stuff he had missed either, because, again, didn't know how long he had been here, he should ask, but not right now.

Peter was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Tony call his name. Peter had lost track of how long he had been staring off into the distance, lost in his thoughts.

"Hey, why don't we go back upstairs to the living room and watch a movie, it can be another Star wars one, or something else it if you want, it's up to you."

"Uh, yeah, I'd like that."

"Perfect, then that's what we'll do."

Getting Peter from the floor chair wasn't too hard. Peter was able to stand slightly on his right leg, and although his leg was still a bit sore, it was manageable and they were able to, get Peter back up on his wheelchair in no time. They got back into the building and went straight into the living area, and they sat Peter down on the couch. Bruce left once they got there saying that he had to go do some then sat down next to Peter and grabbed the remote. After a few minutes of deciding and Peter insisting they didn't need to watch it and they could watch something else, and tony reassuring that he didn't care what movie they watched as long as Peter was happy, they finally got to watching Back to the Future.

About halfway through the movie, Peter's thoughts were coming back to him and he couldn't keep the questions to himself this time.

" ?"

"Ya kid?"

"Could I ask you a few questions?"

"Go for it"

"How long have I been here?"

Tony had to admit, it wasn't a question he expected, but at the same time, he realized that Peter doesn't remember half of the time that he's been there so he should've been expecting it.

"Um, well, lets see, you've been here… about four days" Peter sighed at the response, and Tony frowned. "What's wrong buddy?"

"I don't know, I guess, it bothers me that I don't really know what's going on… it's dumb don't even worry about it it doesn't matter-"

Tony put his arm around Peter. "Hey, how you feel will always matter, and it's totally reasonable to be upset when you literally have no idea what's going on. Go ahead, ask me whatever else you want to know."

"Um ok, uh, what happened to the people who took me?" Peter asked quietly while trying to make himself smaller, feeling uncomfortable asked the question.

"Oh ya, I never told you what happened, well FRI tracked them down yesterday, which is why I was gone and I found them and now they are on trial and are going away for quite a while, probably, almost. We just don't want to reveal your identity so we are trying to find a way around that without a problem, and we almost got it so it's not a big deal. Anyway yes, they are taken care of if that's what you want to know."

"Oh, um, thank you then." Peter relaxed a little at the information.

"No problem, it was a pleasure. Anything else you want to know?"

"Just one more thing"

"Go for it"

"What am I gonna do about school?"

"Kid I think you are the only kid that has just been kidnapped and cares about school"

"Well, I don't want to get behind and I don't want the homework to pile up-"

"Ok , dont worry about that stuff, you're super smart, you'll be fine, and if you need help I'll be here for you ok?

Peter nodded his head.

"Anything else?"

"Ya, just out of curiosity, you don't blame this on your self-do you?"

Tony was taken aback by that a bit. "Um,"

"It's just that I know you tend to blame yourself for things you did do and, you've been telling me that its not my fault, and I wanted to make sure you know it wasn't your fault either."

Tony wasn't sure how to respond. what was the kid talking about? The kid was supposed to his reponsibility for less than a month and he let him get taken by criminals.

"Kid, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one cause-"

"Nope."

"did you just 'nope' me"

"Yes, I did, because you would do the same to me if I blamed myself for something I didn't do."

"Thanks, kid." Peter smiled back and turned the two of them turned their attention back to the movie.

It wasn't even a third of a way into the movie before Peter had fallen asleep. Tony thought of waking Peter up , but found himself tired too. He looked down at the kid leaning heavily and asleep on his shoulder. It made Tony smile, the way Peter was cuddled next to him. It made him regret being so distant when they first met, but he knows why he was. Peter kept saying that he had wanted to be like Tony, but still, Tony can't seem to wrap his head around why that would be. The kid was better than him, far better. That's why Tony wanted to stay away, but that didn't work, he got into far worse troubles, but he got out of it by himself, which was something to be proud of. He couldn't even get upset with Peter at the fact that Peter could've died, he could only be upset with himself. Now, here the kid was, cuddled up against his shoulder, dozed off, and Tony couldn't help but smile. He held Peter a little tighter in his grasp and soon ended up dozing off himself.

Bruce came in a little after the movie ended and found Tony and Peter cuddled up on the couch, he thought about waking them up to move Peter onto his bed instead, but they looked comfortable and he decided to let them sleep.

…

When Peter woke up he noticed that the room was silent, which meant that the movie was over. He then noticed that he was leaning on something, no, someone, it didn't feel like the couch. He opened his eyes slightly shocked to find Tony was the one he was leaning on. Not too long ago Peter was told that they 'weren't there yet'. It made Peter feel good to know that he was cared about by somebody that he looked up to so much. He wasn't sure whether or not to finally wake up or not so he decided to just stay there and close his eyes.

…

It had taken a while for Tony to wake up, so Peter ended up falling back to sleep. Tony noticed that Peter was still leaning of him and figured he should probably get Peter to an actual bed.

"Peter? Buddy, why don't you wake up, if you are still tired that's fine, but we should get you to your bed." Tony shook Peter by the shoulder a little and Peter started to open his eyes.

"Oh, hey Mr. Stark."

"Hey kid, you should probably get to an actual bed, but if you aren't still tired we can get you some food."

Peter continued waking up and thought about the option, he was still tried, but also really hungry. Getting his healing factor to work properly required eating a lot of food since it was doing more work than normal. "Yeah, I could go for some food"

"Great, you want the leftovers from earlier? Or do you want something different."

"No, I think I'll eat the leftovers."

"Alright, uh, I'll be right back, you don't need to get up" Peter lifted himself off of Tony's side and Tony got up and went to the kitchen area. He brought Peter back a plate or pizza and sandwiches.

"Here you go kid."

"Thanks."

Peter eat all his food relatively fast, and was surprised at how hungry he actually was.

"Hungry were we?"

"I guess so, I didn't even realize." Peter yawned

"Looks like all that healing is really taking a lot out of you. Let's get you to your room" Peter nodded in agreement and Tony helped Peter into the wheelchair and began to go to his room.

"Hey kid, you still got a headache?"

"Uh kinda, it's not a big deal" Tony wasn't totally convinced, but Peter didn't seem to shows any signs of lying, but it was either Peter suddenly got good at lying, or he was telling the truth. He decided it was the latter.

"Alright well, if you if you need anything for it let me know okay"

"Yeah, for sure."

Peter and Tony arrived at Peter's room and Tony had helped Peter into his bed.

"Well you go ahead and get some more rest, if you need anything i'll be nearby, so just call out my name and I'll be there."

"Ok. Thanks ." Peter began to close his eyes and fell asleep not too long after.

When Tony had said that he'd be close by, he wasn't kidding. Once Peter had closed his eyes, Tony had moved on to sit on the couch in Peter's room. After a while, Tony fell asleep too.

…

The two slept till the next day, which wasn't surprising in the least considering Tony hadn't had a good night sleep in who knows how long, and worrying about Peter, specifically during these last few days really took a mental toll and his body begged for sleep. Peter on the other hand was sleep most of the time, his body also often begging for sleep in order to heal better and so Peters body fell into a pattern of "Eat. Sleep. Repeat." but that was normal for his body right now.

Tony had woken up first, surprised that he had woken up naturally. He got off the couch and stretched and looked at the clock, seeing that it was early morning, which also meant it was the next day, which meant Peter got his arm cast off. The kid was gonna be happy. He decided to get some breakfast for himself, and for the kid when he woke.

When he got to the kitchen he was met with the sight of bruce. Bruce noticed the presence enter and looked up from the breakfast he was eating.

"Good morning Tony."

"Mornin' Bruce." Tony continued to walk into the kitchen.

"Peter gets his arm cast off today" Bruce reminded.

"I know." Tony grinned "Peter's gonna be so happy, he hates staying still. It's definitely a struggle for him without the casts on."

"Well thankfully his healing powers help with making the wait shorter" Bruce smiled and hesitated before his next words. "He's really special to you isn't he?"

Tony was caught off guard by the question."Well yeah, he smart and I gave him a suit which makes him partly my responsibility."

"Yeah, but that's not it, there's more. Every time I've had to treat him, you act totally different than usual. You facade is completely gone, and you willingly do it around other people. He come over very saturday and he spends the whole day hear. Peter is more than a responsibility to you."

"What are you trying to say? He my son or something?" Tony said sarcastically, not even thinking about it.

"You said it, not me."

Tony's brain stopped working for a second. No, he can't be like a father to Peter, Peter deserves better than him. So much better. Tony can't be a father. Not even a father figure, nope. Peter is his responsibility and so it matters to him whether he's okay for not...or if he's home on time...or of he's done with his homework...or if he has good grades… or make sure he's feelin alright mentally. That's all he did. It didn't mean anything...because it can't mean anything. He'll just hurt peter more that way. He can't have that happening.

Tony cleared his throat and started to gather things onto two plates. "Well, I should better get going, who knows when Peter is gonna wake up and I've gotta make sure that he is fed so that his healing is up to par with his injuries."

"Alright, I'm not gonna stop you from taking care of your kid. And tell me when he's awake so I can get the tools to get his cast off ready."

Tony glared at Bruce, and Bruce simply grinned in response "Will do, see you later" Tony quickly left and went back to Peter's room.

'Tony is crazy sometimes, but not willing to accept that he loved peter like a son… he must be going insane' Bruce thought.

…

Tony got to Peter's room surprised to see that Peter was awake, well, waking up.

"Mm, hey Mr. Stark."

"Mornin Pete, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did. Did you?"

"Yes, I did" Tony set the two plates in his hand onto the nightstand, and set a small bed tray onto Peter's lap and put Peters plate on it. "I imagine you are hungry, since you always are, so here you go"

"Thanks" Peter smiled and began to eat. "I get my cast of today, right?"

"Yup, which reminds me, I need to tell Banner that you are awake so he can start getting the equipment ready." Tony took his phone out to text Bruce, but didn't dare miss the smile that spread across Peter's face.

…

Bruce came and took the cast off, and once again, Peter couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

"Now, again, you should probably take it easy for a day or two so that because your arm is gonna be sore."

"Okay, I'm just glad to be able to move it more."

"If you didn't have fast healing, I'm sure you would've gone insane" Tony teased.

"Well, tell me if any pain becomes unbearable." Bruce mentioned as he cleaned up some supplies.

"Sure, thank you Bruce" Peter smiled, and Bruce walked out of the room. Peter busied himself with stretching out the limb to relieve the soreness just a little, and continued to do so as Tony started talking.

"Well as fun as that was, why don't we find something to do."

Peter smiled and Tony heart once again melted at the sight, he couldn't help it. Seeing the kid happy made Tony happy.

…

They eventually decided to go to Tony's lab, Peter's arms were admittedly very sore and he didn't feel like doing any hands on work, but was interested in giving input and simply hanging around Tony. They basically spent the entire day there, except for when they got hungry and went to the kitchen to get a quick bite, but continued to talk about what they were working on while they ate. They had often spent entire days together before, but this time felt specifically more...fun.

They both sensed that this time was different, but neither knew how. Every once and a while they would share and a moment and look at each other as an unspoken agreement that this wasn't the same, with another agreement of 'i don't know why' that followed, but neither of them seemed to mind. Eventually, Peter's eyes began to droop against his will. Tony could tell that peter hadn't wanted to go to bed, however, it was getting late. Peter made it unintentionally obvious that his main objective was to spend as time with Tony as he could, and Tony was trying his very best to hide that he wanted to do the same with Peter. Tony made painfully clear that this was his goal when he suggested that they watch a movie. Usually, he would have sent Peter to bed, but he wanted to spend more time.

Of course, they had till May came back to spend more time like this together, but, they never knew if tomorrow was gonna be the same. So they feel asleep on the couch, not even halfway through the movie. Peter cuddled up in Tony's side with a blanket and Tony's arm around his shoulder.

Peter isn't Tony's son...seriously. He just had a very strong interest in the boys life and wanted to keep him safe. Not. his. Son. He swears.

…

The next day Peter got his leg cast off with another big smile on his face and after that was done, they went to go to Tony's out tomorrow was indeed the same the day before. In fact, the rest of the week or so was the same as that day, Tony had insisted that Peter stay and not go back to school till May came back, and when he called May to ask about it she felt the same way. The only difference between that day and the rest of the week being that Tony had decided to fall asleep to movies in Peter's room instead, in order to prevent any extra and unnecessary soreness. Tony would always make sure Peter fell asleep first and then made sure Peter was properly tucked in and only then would Tony head to the couch in Peter's room to catch some rest.

Though, at last May came home, and it was a happy reunion. When she saw Peter she hugged him and then immediately went to looking for any injuries that were still there and Peter assured her that there were none and she was relieved. She had thanked Tony and so had Peter, with that smile on his face. Tony was honestly sad to see him go, he wanted to keep Peter to himself, but he couldn't, that wouldn't be fair to the world, but Tony had suggested that peter come to visit much more often, maybe two or three times a week if he could and Peter agreed happily.

As Peter was waving goodbye out the door and as Tony waved back, he found himself looking forward to the next time he was gonna spend time with Peter. He could wait to hear about his day, the way he rambled on and on about a variety of topics which he never seemed to run out of. He couldn't wait to make some dumb commentary on the movies they watched and hear Peter laugh at his jokes. He could wait to hear Peters input on a project he was working on and imagine where Peters obviously successful future was gonna go.

Oh…maybe he did love Peter like a son…

what was he getting himself into.

Yay! I finished! I hope this was a good ending. I've got some more stories in mind, that I've already started and I should be publishing soon, so you can keep a look out for those. Anyways I really liked this story and I hope you guys did too! Thank you for the awesome reviews and everything, it meant a lot, so thank you so much for reading!