**Much more Tony/Natasha content here, but that's because the next few chapters are really Peter-centric. Enjoy, and as always, vote and comment!!**

"For the last time, Peter, I said no."

Tony moved himself around the kitchen, a pitcher of lemonade and glasses balanced in one hand, a plate of finger sandwiches in the other. Peter followed him from behind, his eyes pleading. The teen had inherited a flair for dramatics from his father, so he dropped to his knees with a thud, clasped his hands together, and looked up at his father though messy curls.

"Dad, please! It's just one night!"

"You've got school the next day!"

"Ned goes to Midtown, Dad, it's not like he wouldn't be going the same place! Come on, please?"

Tony huffed. "Get the door."

Peter got off his knees and ran to the balcony door, sliding it open for his dad. Tony  set down the lunch, fully prepared to restate his case against sleep overs when he turned around, but Peter was already back to pleading his case.

"Dad. I know its a school night, but Ned actually lives closer to the school than us, so it makes sense and we'll be on time and well rested. You know the Leeds, they are so strict about going to bed. And it'll be my first sleep over! My first! I'm 14 and never ever had a sleep over, doesn't that seem crazy to you?"

Tony hummed. "I don't think I've ever had a sleep over."

"I don't think your parents encouraged healthy childhood milestones like sleep overs."

"Well, you got me there," Tony joked, pouring himself lemonade. "Listen, I... You make good points. I understand, you're a teenager now and Ned is a good friend. Let me call Mrs. Leeds to talk about tomorrow morning and getting you to school on time and all that, okay?"

Peter beamed. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a tentative maybe, leaning yes, if we can figure out tomorrow. You'll take clothes to wear? And I can pack you a lunch tonight to take with you tomorrow."

Peter fist pumped. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now go get Rhodey for lunch."

The teen ran off, leaving Tony alone on the balcony. Pepper was first to show up, plucking a sandwich off the top of the pile. She took a seat next to Tony and examined the look on his face carefully.

"So Peter won the sleep over argument?"

Tony snorted. "Do I really give it away that easily?"

"Yeah," Pepper said. "But that's okay. You're a good dad, Tones. When you worry about things, I know it's because you have his best interest at heart, not because you're the wicked dad out to get him."

"If I'd known having a son would make me a maniac, I would have asked for a daughter."

Pepper laughed, strawberry hair pooling around her shoulders as she shook. "This isn't about having a son or a daughter, this is about you! You've spent 14 years making Peter everything, and its made you overly protective and overly involved. When was the last time you did something good for yourself?"

Oh, come on," Tony said flippantly, waving his hand around. "Peter's 14. Its not like I can pull a Howard and leave him here while I gallivant around the state. And besides all of that, I love Peter. I love him so much, Pep, I love being a dad! I want to do it right."

Pepper smiled, but shook her head. "I'm not saying that you should leave him here while you take a trip or whatever, I just mean that you need to give him freedom and in return, you'll have some freedom, too. Let's say he goes for a sleep over tonight. What are you going to do while he's out?"

"Probably the dishes, take a long shower, and go to bed early."

"Oh, dear God. Tones, that's so sad. Why don't you and the boys go out? You could go see a movie or something."

Tony hummed, thinking about it. It was true - since Peter had come along, Tony hadn't been out of the house longer than a few hours at a time, end even than, it was always when Peter was at school so he could be home when Peter was home.

"Alright, fine. Maybe I will go out."

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

Tony put an apple in the Star Wars lunch box, nestling it in next to the juice box, the turkey sandwich, and the little pouch of cookies.

"Ready to go, Pete?"

The teen ran from around the hall, a backpack slung over one shoulder and his new sneakers from Rhodey held in another hand.

"Do you have everything? Your books, a change of clothes, your phone charger?" Peter nodded along as his father listed things off. "You have your toothbrush?"

"Yeah, I'm all set."

Tony closed the lunch box carefully and handed it over. He was still a little worried about the whole thing. He was going to say goodbye to his son before dinner and not see him again until tomorrow right before dinner. A full 24 hours.

"Okay," Tony sighed, pulling Peter in for a hug. "You go have so much fun, and if you need anything, just call. And you have to text before bed. And when you go to school, I want you to text me before you get on the buss."

Peter hummed and dug his head into Tony's shoulder. "I know, Dad, I'll test and call when I can. I love you."

"I love you more."

The elevator dinged, signalling Happy's arrival to pick Peter up. "Ready to go?"

Peter slipped on his shoes and grabbed his lunch box. He leaned in to kiss Tony on the cheek. "I love you most."

The teen ran to his uncle who chuckled at his excitement. Happy waved at Tony once, his face conveying 'don't worry' and 'he'll be fine' all at once. Tony took a deep breath and waved as Peter and Happy disappeared behind the elevator doors.

"First sleep over?"

Tony nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around. Natasha was leaned up against the kitchen counter, his hair pulled back into an elaborate twist.

"When'd you get here?"

"I hopped on with Happy. Is this Peter's first field trip?"

Tony nodded. "It's the first time I won't be having dinner with him since before he was born."

Natasha's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You haven't been out, then?"

"Like out out?"

"Out on a date," Natasha elaborated. "Out with friends. Out to try a tapas restaurant on Washington and 4th?"

Tony raised his own eyebrow. "There's a huge difference between going out with friends and going out on a date."

"Not really. Not at first." Natasha batted her eyes slightly, looking up at Tony as she did so. "Would you like to go get dinner with me? We don't have to label it anything other than dinner."

Tony froze, then smirked. Pepper's voice came wafting through his head. Do something good for yourself. 

"I don't think I can be trusted to keep it just a dinner. It might become dinner and a dance."

Natasha smiled. "I'd like that."

The two set off in one of Tony's hot rods, leaving Happy behind. Tony knew that if Happy was the one to drive them, he'd tease Tony about it relentlessly and then Tony would have the whole family to deal with and it wasn't like he was going to date her, especially not without talking to Peter first, but he would have to make it clear that Natasha wasn't going to replace Mary and the real-

"You could park around here, the Spanish place isn't far."

Tony found a parking spot, ridding his head of the tidal wave of conflict he was working through. Even though it was exhilarating to be out with someone again, especially someone as beautiful as Natasha, Tony couldn't get Peter out of his head. He felt guilty being out without Peter knowing.

"Shall we go, m'lady?" Tony turned off the engine and came around the side of the car quickly, pulling open Natasha's door. He held out a hand, playfully offering it like some 40's movie star.

"Sure."

The two made their way to the restaurant, Tony watching carefully for any press that might catch sight of them. While he wasn't embarrassed to be seen on a date (heaven knows he and Mary got photographed everywhere from local parks to upscale parties) Tony didn't want Peter to wake up in the morning to Twitter announcements his father was dating again.

The restaurant wasn't particularly busy when Tony and Natasha got there, so they were seated and eating quickly, making small talk in between bites. Tony cracked a joke, causing Natasha to giggle, choke on her drink, and laugh hysterically as she stained the white cloth napkin on the table with red wine.

"I'm sorry," Tony said, helping the woman mop up some of the spilled wine. "I haven't been on a date in years."

Natasha waved him off. "For someone who hasn't been in the game in a while, you sure are doing well. Tell me more about Peter."

"Well, he's 14, so that tells you pretty much everything you need to know." Natasha snorted. "But in all seriousness, he's perfect. He gets good grades, especially in science. He's funny and sweet, and he's pretty much my one weakness." Tony felt a lump in his throat, guilt bubbling up. How would his perfect son feel about this? The man cleared his throat. "You'll get to know him more while you're at the Tower. He's a little shy."

"I'm looking forward to it," Natasha said simply. "He was very sweet when you first introduced us all, and I can tell he's an important part of your life. First and foremost, you're a dad, right?"

Tony furrowed his brow. "What do you-"

"People always say 'Tony Stark: genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist'. Really, it should be 'Tony Stark: dad, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist'."

"Yeah." Tony took a sip of wine, letting the sweet juice calm his nerves. "Although, to be honest, I haven't been a playboy in years. I'll be the first to admit that when I was younger, I was a scum-bag, but when I met Mary, I really changed. And I already told you I haven't dated since she died."

Natasha looked shocked for a moment. "I didn't know she'd died. All I knew was that she wasn't in the picture anymore."

"Yeah," Tony said softly. He'd been surprised at how easy it was to say it. "Can I ask you something?"

Natasha nodded.

"Why did you make a move on me? I mean, we barely just met and you were flirting."

Natasha ran a finger around her wine glass, tipping it around on it's thin bottom. Tony watched with rapt attention, at first scared that she'd send wine all over the table, then because he realized she was completely in control, even with just the tip of her finger.

"As much as I would like to say it was love at first sight, it was actually your eyes. When we made eye contact. I know it sounds cliche, but eyes really do tell you a lot about a person, and yours told me everything I needed to know. You're altruistic and sincere, and most of all, you're warm. You have a good man's eyes."

Tony smiled to himself.

"Now it's my turn. Why did you agree to going out with me?"

"You're pretty," Tony said, shrugging. "And you're the smartest woman I've ever met. You make me feel giddy and calm at the same time."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, but her lips were drawn up in a smirk.

"And most of all, you're the first person I've met since Peter's mom that I felt I could be happy just sitting together with. It's like I can just be me, and you can be good for me."

"Mmm," Natasha hummed, her finger still lazily brushing over her glass. "I'd like to be good for you. To you."

Tony gulped, but kept a blush down.

"If I remember correctly, I think you owe me a dance," Natasha said, smirking and standing up from her chair. She gestured to the small band playing in the corner of the dining room. " While we're tearing it up on the dance floor, you can tell me more about Peter. He's a freshman, right? Is he getting excited for his first dance?"

Tony let Natasha lead him to the corner and began to dance slowly, the guilt about Peter now forgotten as he told her all about his son's insistence on not getting a suit for homecoming. This was good, whether Peter knew or not.