Peter fiddled with the strings of his hoodie, watching as cars went by through the window.

He glanced up and watched as Mr Sta- Tony hums along with the radio quietly, thrumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

He doesn't know where they're going. He didn't exactly want to leave the comfort of his bedroom but it was a really nice day out and the heat coming through the window felt nice. He felt his lips pull up into a small smile, feeling a little lighter as he watched his mentor jam out to old music.

Mr. Stark (it's Tony now Peter) had just walked into his room, no explanation on what they were doing and told him to get into the car. Peter had thought the meeting would take him longer, as usually if he says he has one, there's probably more than one. Though, it wouldn't be out of character for M- Tony to skip out on a few for some fun.

Fuck, this calling him Tony thing was weird.

He'd forced himself to call him Mr. Stark for so long, this was out of habit now. He'd at first used it as a way to keep things... professional. He'd just lost Ben and he didn't want to get attached- he couldn't. He got attached to people way to easily and then he just ended up hurt when they left.

Keeping it at a professional level created a boundary between him and Peter.

Well, maybe not.

He thought it did but it obviously didn't work out the way he wanted it to. Then again, when did things ever work out for Peter?

He sits quietly in his seat, tapping his feet against the floorboard impatiently.

It's not until the engine hums louder as Tony presses his foot a little harder against the accelerator that Peter has the courage to speak.

"Where are we going?"

The man smiles, glancing at him. "You'll see in about... 42 seconds."

Peter makes a face at the specificity of his time and waits. Well, only 42 seconds later a sign sticks out to him. It's... got a dog on it. Why were they here? Surely they weren't...

Tony shifts the gear into park and opens up his door, smiling at Peter. "So? You ready?"

"We're... getting a dog?" "If you find one you like."

The boy stayed planted in his spot next to the car. Why would he want to get a dog for Peter?

Tony makes his way to the door quickly, ignoring Peter's confusion. He calls him over, holds the door open for him and they're almost immediately met with the happy face of a young lady.

"Hi! Welcome to NYC animal shelter! I'm Katie. Are you looking for anything specific?"

The staff around her gaps at their entry.
Yeah, this was totally going to be all over the internet.

Surprise surprise, the hat on Tony's head and the casual clothes did absolutely nothing as a 'disguise.'

Tony doesn't really give them any thought, despite his cover obviously being blown. He places a hand on the back of Peter's neck. "Anything he wants."

Katie guides them to the back, revealing lines of cages. Peter looks around and smiles at a little yappy dog below him, saying a quiet, "Hi."

His eyes light up at the next dog they walk by.

Despite it being a small, reserved action, Tony would buy every dog in the shelter if it meant Peter's eyes would light up like that again.

It's a small grey puppy, sleeping quietly on it's bed. It opens its eyes and lights up the same way Peter did moments ago, and Tony almost laughs because it seems right then and there the dog had decided it was meant to be.

The woman follows his gaze down to it and smiles.

"She's a Staffordshire bull terrier. They're really smart and loving dogs. I have one at home. This one here, uh- she was found on the streets a few weeks ago alone. She's a really sweet puppy."

Peter furrows his eyebrows. He kneels down and puts his hand near the bars, letting her sniff him. She presses her nose to his fingers and licks him.

"You like her, kid?"

When he nods, Katie opens up the cage and Peter sits on the ground waiting for the puppy to come to him.

Tony's heart just about bursts with happiness when Peter cracks a grin. The dog stumbles into his lap and gets up on her back legs to lick his nose.

He stares at the two for a moment, feeling strangely emotional for no fucking reason. (Maybe because he feels an overwhelming amount of care (love but he can't admit that) for Peter and he wants to see him happy again)

He and Katie make eye contact for a moment, her waiting on an answer on if they were taking the dog or not. He blinks in surprise and wipes the sappy smile off his face, clearing his throat.

"We'll take her."

In the car, Tony glances down at Peter, who is dodging the puppy's efforts to nip at his fingers.

He chuckles quietly, "So, what are you gonna name her?"

"Um...Tessa."

Tony nods, "I like it." He holds his hand out for her to lick, "Welcome to the family Tessa."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two finally arrive home and the rest of the night was perfect in Tony's eyes. Peter hadn't yet retreated to his room and he played with the puppy, a closed, tired smile on his face.

It was a step in the right direction.

He flicked on a movie and did work on his Starkpad for a few hours while Peter gently played with Tessa on the carpet. It's a domestic moment Tony doesn't usually experience, but he likes it.

Tony chuckles as the puppy barks in disapproval at him for dodging her small attacks on his hand, wagging her tail at a rapid pace.

A while later, Peter speaks.

"Hey Tony," he says timidly. "Look."

Ignoring the happy spark he feels in his heart at Peter calling him Tony, he looks down.

"Sit."

She complies, sitting down but not exactly sitting still. She taps her paws on the ground excitedly. "Good," Peter coos, handing her a treat.

"Woah," he says, eyebrows raised in interest. "How long did that take her?" "A- uh... only a few minutes honestly. She just kind of picked it up."

"Wait- where'd you get the treats?" "FRIDAY told me when we got back that there were a bunch of packages of highest rated dog stuff," Peter grins, "You did that earlier?" "Probably like... 10 minutes before we left."

Peter lets out a breathy laugh, glancing at the clock.

"Oh. It's late."

Tony glances up. "Oh you're right kid. C'mon let's get to bed."

"What do I do with..." he gestures to Tessa, who is looking up at the two of them confusedly, wondering why the fun stopped.

"I was thinking we could set her bed up in your room. I'm guessing FRI ordered something good."

"I ordered one of everything boss."

Tony sputtered, looking up at the ceiling.

"Wha- I just told you to- we didn't need one of everything."

"I figured you could afford it."

The smugness in the AI's voice had the man narrowing his eyes at the ceiling. "I'm so close to donating you to a nursing home. I'm sure they'd love a snarky AI." "I only act the way you programmed me to, sir."

"I- C'mon Pete let's set this up before my own creation makes me cry. Chop chop." Peter laughs in response as the man ushers him into his bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony smiled to himself as he sat back down on the couch. This was a good thing. The dog would help Peter out in getting through this and Tony would be right there next to him as well. Finally, after a month of pain and grief, It was a good day.

Though, like most good days Tony experienced, it was turned ever so slightly sour with a nightmare.

Tony made his way to his room as soon as he'd heard and asked FRIDAY to turn up the lights a little bit, just so he could see the slightly illuminated silhouette of Peter but enough not to hurt his eyes.

"Hey man," he muttered breathlessly. Peter's mouth twitched in an attempt to offer a smile, though it looked more like a grimace.

"Hey Pete... You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm- uh-... 'm fine." "You want to talk about it?" Peter thinks about it for a moment, rubbing his eyes. "Not- not really..." Tony nodded his head, looking down at the whining puppy at his feet. Tessa had barked when he'd entered, already protective of her human. She jumped up and pressed her front paws against Tony's ankle.

He gave a breathy laugh and picked her up.

"I think she'd rather sleep with you than the floor," he said, handing her to Peter.

Tessa got comfortable quickly, curling up at Peter's side.

They probably won't need the dog bed anymore, Tony thinks. He has to return the other 36 beds so what's one more?

"Thanks Tony," he murmured. "For everything..."

Tony smiled down at him. "Anytime Pete."

He ruffled the kid's hair gently then took a turn and left out the door again. He'd been having nightmares a lot lately and that was probably one of the few times he'd handled it so well.

They were definitely stepping in the right direction.

Feeling accomplished, Tony retreated to the kitchen to find a snack, only to be met by Pepper. She huffs and sets some papers on the counter.

He smiles at her sweetly, knowing damn well he was about to get yelled at.

"Don't you smile at me Tony, where were you?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah, don't even tell me, it's all over the internet anyway," she hissed, kicking her shoes off. Tony takes a step to the side to avoid the pain of getting hit with a heel. "People know about Peter and that- dog you got."

She throws a printed picture onto the counter. Tony's got sunglasses on and his baseball cap is pulled over his face. He's a little embarrassed about the emotional, gooey smile on his face as he stares at Peter playing with the puppy.

He's also admittedly, kind of angry about Peter being in a picture. His entire face. Shown to the world.

He should do a press conference about that, huh? Apparently people need to be reminded what privacy is.

"Oh.. shit." "Oh shit is right. What, you couldn't wait to get him a dog until after one more meeting? I was there by myself for hours dealing with all those stuck up assholes expecting to see you, not me."

Tony stays silent for a moment, feeling a little guilty now.

"Crap, I'm sorry Pep. I probably should've stayed... I've gotta admit, I got excited when I initially thought about how a dog could help Pete... I... I Didn't think about anything else like always. You... You know how I am."

She sighs and goes behind the counter to grab herself a drink.

"Hey Pep?"

"What," she muttered, focused on pouring the liquid in a glass.

"You mad at me?" She narrowed her eyes. "Yes." Tony smiles brightly, knowing he probably shouldn't be messing with her right now. But hey, he's probably sleeping on the couch anyway.

Also he loves her and wants to make her smile.

"See, thats why I love you. There's never any wondering with you. You just let me know straight up and I really appreciate that." She rolls her eyes and watches as he walks behind her, going to massage her shoulders. Despite her feelings of annoyance towards the man, she leans into his touch and sighs quietly.

"I'm sorry I left you there by yourself. I'll take some off your back for you tomorrow so you can take a break. Give those heels a breather."

She hums, silent for a moment.

"You know, I would make you bring it back."

Tony's shoulders deflate slightly. Though, before he can try reasoning with her, she speaks again.

"It's a cute dog and Peter seems to love her. Yes, FRIDAY sent me a video. It was really nice of you to do Tony."

Unsure how to take the compliment, Tony brushes it off. "Ah, you know... it's what billionaires do... They uh- they spend their... money." He grimaces.

Nice. A real stellar save, Stark.

"No, it's what dad's do."

Tony freezes, unable to react as she kisses his cheek, a soft look in her eye. "I'll be in bed. Don't stay up too late honey." Tony just watches her leave, unable to process it.

Huh... so it's what dad's do.