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Rhodey found it.
Rhodey had finally convinced Tony to clean out Peter’s old room at the Tower. Tony had kept it after the snap just in case, but now…
Well, the least they could do was give his old stuff to May and throw the useless things out. Bucky and Steve had asked to join them since neither had known Peter well and maybe cleaning out his bedroom could be a way to understand the kid that saved the world just a bit better. Tony was slightly against it at first, but when he saw the way that the Winter Soldier’s face softened into a smile at the Iron Man stuffed animal on Pete’s bed, he decided that maybe it was okay after all.
He and Bucky weren’t best friends but… but they were better.
I’m trying, Pete. I’m trying.
“He really liked Star Wars, didn’t he?”
Tony glanced up from where he was putting Peter’s old clothes into boxes to give to May. In his best friend’s hands was one of the posters that Tony had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday. It had Chewbacca and Han Solo on it, drawn up by a talented fan or something. Tony remembered the exact way that Peter’s eyes had lit up when he opened it. He smiled fondly, letting out a soft chuckle. “Yeah. The kid was borderline obsessed.”
“I’m surprised he doesn’t have a stuffed animal for it.” Bucky lifted the Iron Man plushie.
“Nah, just Tin Can over there.” Rhodey grinned. He hadn’t known Peter very well, but the few times they’d met while saving the city together or when the kid was doing stuff in Tony’s lab, he had seen how much Peter adored his best friend. “Not that I’m surprised.”
Tony stuck his tongue out at him. “His uncle got that for him when he was younger. Be careful, Snowball.”
Bucky grinned at the nickname and placed it gingerly into a box.
“No-,” Tony cleared his throat. “I-I want to keep that one.”
The former assassin smiled gently and nodded, setting the stuffed animal into the inventor’s outstretched hand. Tony couldn’t help but be grateful that the soldier didn’t laugh or try and call attention to what might have been a weird request. He understood the want to keep a piece of a person you’ve lost.
Peter would have liked James Barnes.
“I didn’t know he had an uncle,” Steve said as he placed Peter’s alarm clock into a cardboard box.
Tony sighed. “Ben Parker died when Peter was fourteen.”
The room’s comfortable silence from before became a little heavier.
“His parents died when he was four.” He went on, staring down at the Iron Man in his hands. The first time Tony had seen it, it was one of the Fridays that Peter was staying over at the Tower. His AI had alerted Tony that Peter’s heart rate was off the charts for a kid that was supposed to be asleep, and he had sprinted from his room to the kid’s. He had been having a nightmare, hands clutching the little toy as if his life depended on it. “He went to live with Ben and May then. Ben was his dad’s brother.”
“May doesn’t have any relation to the kid?” Rhodey asked, clearly confused.
“Nah,” Tony shook his head, tracing the mask with his thumb. “But he was her kid.”
My kid.
“How’d he die?” there was a sadness to Steve’s tone. Someone as good as Peter, suffering so much in such a short life, was heartbreaking to a man like Steve. It was heartbreaking to most people.
“Gunshot wound to the chest.” The mechanic explained. “Peter had gotten bit by the radioactive spider just a few days before and was in a shit-ton of pain. The apartment was too close, he used to say, and he ran for it. He just had to… get out. His uncle went out looking for him, got shot, and bled out in Peter’s arms.”
His voice progressively got darker as he continued, and Tony wiped at his eyes. Man, his kid never did get a break, did he?
You can rest now.
“He blamed himself.” He continued. “As if he would ever – he saves villains, for fuck’s sake. He couldn’t have… that’s not even a thought to Peter.”
Bucky placed a hesitant hand on Tony’s shoulder. He appreciated it.
“He was a good kid.” Rhodey breathed.
“The best.” Tony agreed.
That settled the conversation and the group slipped back into a comfortable silence for a while.
Tony was just finishing cleaning out Peter’s closet when Rhodey snorted. “What the hell is this?”
The three other heroes looked up from what they were doing. In the corner, under a pile of blankets, was a very odd-looking metal box.
“Bring it out on the floor for all of us to see, Honey-bear.”
The colonel glared but did as he was told. Across the back of the box was H.A.H.M.S. in gold letters, and Tony ghosted his fingers over them curiously.
“Hams?” Steve asked, proud furrowed in confusion. “What does that stand for?”
“I don’t know,” Tony admitted. “Hold on, let’s see if I can open it- ha!”
He pressed a button on the side, cleverly concealed to look just like the rest of the box. There was a whirring of some kind of mechanism and the top of the box mechanically moved up and to the side. All four men watched, intrigued, as there was a beeping sound and then out popped a robot. “Hello. I am Iron Man.”
“Oh!” Steve jumped.
“Should we be killing it?” Bucky narrowed his eyes.
Rhodey grinned and threw the super-soldier a glance. “It’s like two feet tall.”
He looked a little bit like the little robot that sat on Peter’s desk, except bigger. Its head twitched from side to side, white eyes assessing his environment.
“He looks like BB-8 and Wall-E had a baby,” Rhodey commented.
“How the hell do you know what Wall-E looks like?” Tony snorted, taking his eyes off of the little guy to glare at his friend.
“Your daughter watches weird movies, Tones.” He retorted. “It’s not my fault she chose to watch the robot movie instead of the-,”
“Peter Parker.”
Everyone froze, eyes slowly turning back to the robot. It looked up at them, head tilted in an inquisitive manner. Its eyes blinked. “Peter Parker.”
Tony swallowed, his breath shaky when he let it out. “Um, hey little guy. Peter isn’t-,”
“Mr. Stark.” Hams interrupted. “Where is Peter Parker?”
The voice was cute. Tony didn’t know how his kid had programmed this thing to sound weirdly similar to himself, but it was adorable. And painful, but he chose to focus on the prior instead of the latter.
“Um, well, Peter isn’t here,” Tony explained carefully, still admiring Peter’s handiwork.
“Oh,” the robot looked around. “Steven Rogers: Captain America. James Rhodes: War Machine. James Barnes: Winter Soldier.”
The three men blinked.
“Um,” Steve smiled uncertainly. “Hi?”
“When will Peter return?” Hams asked innocently.
Don’t miss me too much.
Baymax. That’s who this thing reminded Tony of.
“Well…” Rhodey began but didn’t finish.
“He is not done programming me.” The robot whirred happily, moving forward across the carpet a little, towards Tony.
“Programming you? What are you programmed to do?” Bucky asked, comically following the robot as it tilted its head.
“Help and heal Mr. Stark.” Hams answered dutifully.
Tony almost choked.
H.A.H.M.S.
“Oh…” the ex-assassin licked his licks and glanced at the billionaire. “Well, that’s good.”
“When will Peter be returning?”
Tony’s hands were shaking. He wasn’t. Peter was never coming back. He was dead.
“He has not left me here for longer than one week. Will he be back within that time?”
No. No, he won’t.
“Well, um, Peter isn’t…” Steve was so much like Peter. He didn’t have the heart to tell this little robot that its creator was buried in the cemetery with his parents and uncle.
The robot looked between the four men, and he magically achieved the “confused” look. “I am afraid I do not understand. Is Peter missing?”
“No,” Rhodey swallowed awkwardly. “Peter-,”
“Peter’s gone.” Tony snapped.
Hams turned to stare at him.
Somehow, those little white eyes, wide and curious, reminded him so much of his kid. Tony swallowed, clearing his throat to try and get rid of the prickling of tears in his eyes. It didn’t work. He sighed heavily, leaning down to kneel in front of the robot. “Peter’s gone.”
“Peter is here.” The robot contradicted, but he used the sincerest tone when he did so.
Tony sucked in a staggering breath, shaking his head solemnly. “No. He’s not here.”
“Peter is here.”
The hero sighed heavily, feeling the moisture gathering in his eyes.
“This is Peter Parker.”
Tony had never looked up so quickly. Hams was broadcasting a video onto a holographic screen. Peter Parker was kneeling on the floor, shirt covered in burns and motor oil. He looked like he’d just come from a lab session with Tony.
He thought back to the video will that Peter had left him in the Peter Pan Protocol. Damn, his kid was so fucking smart.
“And this is the first test of my helper robot.” The recording of Peter smiled hopefully into the camera. “I’m still figuring out what to name him. If he’s going to be following Mr. Stark around all the time, I thought about Little Shit, but I thought that would be a little mean.”
Tony snorted, lips tilting upwards at his kid’s easy humor.
Peter reached up behind the camera and tapped a button. Mechanical beeping and whirring began, and the young vigilante’s smile only grew.
“Hello, Peter. I am-,” instead of talking more, there was an awful ringing sound.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Peter covered his ears, and Tony winced for him. Peter’s super-hearing would not have been happy with a sound like that.
The video froze with Peter’s face contorted hilariously. Tony smiled wistfully at the screen.
Another clip began, this time Peter was standing, so Tony guessed the robot was on a table or something. “The seventh test of my helper robot, now dubbed H.A.H.M.S., or Hammy, as I’ve taken to calling him. Alright, bud. Can you help me out this time? Yeah?”
He repeated the action of activating the robot.
No high-pitched noise came out this time. instead, one of the robot’s compartments opened and shot a fucking rocket into the wall.
“WOAH!” Peter yelped, jerking to stop the machine. “SHIT! Shit, shit, shit, nope!”
It froze, highlighting how wide Peter could open his mouth. Tony laughed lightly at the picture, similar to so many he had saved on his phone.
It jumped again, this time to a clearly sleep deprived but happy Spiderling. He had a band-aid on his forehead, and Tony remembered the evening that he had put it on his kid’s head after a run-in with some thugs. It was one of the first time that he had told Peter he was proud of him.
“Peter Parker, again. This is the thirty-third test of Hammy. Come on, bud.”
The robot didn’t make any noise. Instead, the lights went out all around him, and Tony heard the boy let out a long sigh. The flashlight on his phone lit up and he shone lifted it up so that the camera caught his face.
He huffed, smile tired and exasperated. “I’m not giving up on you. You don’t know this yet, but you’re going to help someone really important to me. He needs it.”
Tony felt the tear slip down his cheek.
“So, let’s get back to work.” Peter’s grin returned with renewed vigor.
The billionaire let out a soft sob as the screen froze on his kid’s proud smile. How he wished he could hold him and tell him how damn delighted Tony was with him. How this little robot was just another example of how amazing Peter was, of all the wonderful parts that he didn’t see about himself.
“This is Peter Parker, and this is the…” he was wearing one of Tony’s old MIT shirts. Tony smiled sadly at the image. Another tear rolled down his skin. “Karen?”
“Eighty-fourth, Peter.”
His suit must have been off to the side. “Eighty-fourth? Geez, can you imagine that? Okay, then. The eighty-fourth test of my helper robot. What do you say, little guy? You think you can actually listen to me this time?”
He reached up and activated the robot.
“Hello,” Hammy’s familiar voice answered. “I am Iron Man.”
“It works.” Peter’s eyes and mouth shot wide. “Oh- oh my gosh! Holy shit! You work! AH!”
He did a little dance around the room and then ran back to press a kiss to the robot’s face. “Oh, you work! I knew it! I knew you would! I knew I could do it!”
Tony smiled. So did I, kiddo.
“You work.” Peter grinned. “Okay, okay, big moment buddy. What is your job?”
“To heal and help Mr. Stark,” Hammy replied.
“Great!” The teenager jumped up in excitement. “Okay, um, scan me. Have to make sure you can monitor his vitals and blood sugar and, you know, how much coffee he definitely shouldn’t have had.”
Something must have popped up on Hammy’s screen because Peter’s eyes dropped to it and his smile grew even larger. “Your neurotransmitter levels are elevated. This indicates that you are happy.”
Peter let out a contented sigh. “I am. Oh, I am, Hammy. You’re amazing, buddy.”
Tony sniffed. Peter, you’re amazing buddy.
“Oh, man, wait ‘till Mr. Stark sees you.” The kid smiled quirkily, so adorable and so Peter that Tony’s heart clenched at the familiarity of it all. “He’ll be annoyed at first, but I can turn on my puppy-dog eyes and he’ll let you follow him around everywhere. You’re going to keep him safe when I can’t okay? He needs that sometimes. He gets a little lonely.”
He said it like it was a secret, as if he was telling the little robot the birthday present he was getting for someone. It was so endearing.
“Man, only took you two months, huh?” Peter giggled and Tony gasped at the noise. “Next, I can finally pain you or something. Red and gold, or something. Like Mr. Stark’s suit, yeah?”
The sixteen-year-old reached up and patted the robot’s head. “You’re going to help the greatest hero in the world, Ham. He’s really important. Well, that’s all for now. Mischief Managed.”
Of course that was the code for deactivation.
The screen froze. Tony reached forward with shaking fingers and ghosted his hand across Peter’s face. He outlined his cheeks, his eyes, his nose. He counted his freckles again, the act to easy and known to him as if he’d done it only yesterday. He memorized the many colors amongst the brown of Peter’s irises, the dimples of his smile. That one hair that always fell into his face.
He stared at his son.
Well, you know the drill. Second star to the right and straight on till morning. The whole shebang. The next big adventure.”
Tony sniffed.
“Tony, it’s going to be okay.”
“Thank you, Hams.” He whispered. The robot looked at him, smiling as only a robot could.
“Daddy!” Morgan’s little voice came from the hallway, and the hero turned just in time to catch her as she jumped into his arms.
“Hey, sweetheart!” He kissed her hair, hastily wiping away his tears with his free hand. Steve, Bucky, and Rhodey were all doing the same. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Mommy?”
“Mommy stopped by because she wanted to see how clean-up was going.” Tony looked up at his beautiful pregnant wife as she stood in the doorway. She smiled gently at him and, unlike their daughter, noticed the redness of his eyes. She walked forward and kissed his forehead where he knelt on the floor. Glancing up, her breath caught at the frozen video.
Peter grinned up at her.
“Who’s that, Daddy?” Morgan asked sweetly, wiggling around to look at the boy’s face.
Tony met his son’s eyes.
You don’t know this yet, but you’re going to help someone really important to me.
He smiled.
“That’s your big brother, Morgan.”
Her big brown eyes widened, and she gasped. “That’s Peter?”
Tony swallowed but was unable to stop the tears that jumped to his eyes. “Yeah, honey. That’s Peter.”
“He has a pretty smile.” She chirped.
Tony chuckled and squeezed her. “Yeah, he does, doesn’t he?”
“His smile looks a lot like yours, Daddy.”
He fought the tears threatening to return, and instead kissed her hair again. “Yeah, honey. Yeah, it does. “
Pepper cleared her throat. “How does everyone feel about lunch? Taking a break might be a good idea and I think you boys could stand to stretch your legs. Come on.”
Morgan was transferred to her uncle’s arms as she cheered at the prospect of food. Rhodey laughed with her and booped her nose, but cast a knowing smile to Tony as they left the room with Pepper.
Bucky stared at the screen for a moment before nodding. “I wish I could have known him.”
Tony shrugged. “He thought you were pretty cool if that’s anything.”
“From him?” The soldier smiled. “Yeah, that’s something.” He squeezed Cap’s shoulder and then went to catch up with Rhodey.
Steve stayed for a minute before standing. He halted at the doorway and glanced back into the room, now mostly barren and empty except for the little robot that sat in the center, displaying the boy who had once made this place full of life.
“Hey, Pete?” He swallowed. “Thanks for looking after Tony. I owe you one.” Then he left, leaving Tony alone.
The mechanic took a deep breath and stood to follow. He glanced around the room, at the posters in boxes and the neatly folded pillowcase with Iron Mans helmets on it. He glanced at the MIT sweatshirt on the dresser that Tony couldn’t bring himself to put away just yet, and at the sticky note beside it that had a reminder about his APUSH homework.
“Miss you, Peter.” He breathed.
He too hesitated as he reached the doorframe. Looking over his shoulder, he met the little robot’s eyes as he watched from the middle of the room, head tilted in that curious way of his that looked so much like his creator’s.
“Well? Are you coming?”
Hammy whirred happily and did just that. He rolled down the hallway after his keeper, beeping excitedly in a giggle that sounded just like Peter’s had.