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Tony Stark and the Cursed Child

Summary:

Tony Stark always knew who Peter Parker was. For a while, Tony hated that the kid even existed. A careless utterance made in a moment of jealousy leads Tony to a lifetime of guilty feelings. But Tony’s a scientist and knows curses aren’t real, right?

A different take on Tony and Peter’s relationship through the years.

Tags to be updated as chapters are added.

Notes:

Tony is very much a jerk in his chapter, which takes place pre-Iron Man while he is still a self-centered playboy. I promise he gets better in subsequent chapters, but it might take a while.

Chapter 1: The Curse

Chapter Text

It was another fancy reception at another scientific conference. For the most part, Tony didn’t really mind these things, despite how much he complained about them to Pepper and Rhodey.  He actually enjoyed the exchange of scientific ideas, the presentations, the indepth discussions and debates. And of course, he thrived on showing off his own genius.  

The conferences also gave him opportunities for new conquests. Smart is sexy, after all. And these conferences had no shortage of highly intelligent women. Few of them would turn down the chance to be with Tony Stark. 

Mary Fitzpatrick was one of the few. 

Mary was brilliant, of course. She was a leading researcher in her field and highly respected. She was also beautiful. Her wavy brown hair shone in the light and her green eyes sparkled. On top of that, she was witty, sharing Tony’s own snarky sense of humor. 

All of that made her very desirable. Tony thought she would be perfect. At least for a night, or maybe even a couple of weeks. He had no desire for a long term relationship with anyone, but Mary would definitely be fun for a while. 

He had known Mary for years, running into her at conferences like this one and other scientific events.  They often chatted. Sometimes they discussed her work in biochemistry or his latest developments in artificial intelligence. Frequently they flirted. But to Tony’s immense frustration, it never went anywhere. Tony would make advances and Mary would turn him down. It only made him lust after her all the more. 

Mary was known to be in an on-again off-again relationship with Richard Parker. Tony had known Richard for years as well. He honestly didn’t know what Mary saw in that  guy. 

Sure, Richard Parker was also highly respected in his field.  He had made quite a name for himself in cutting-edge genetics research.  He was a humble man with a down to earth attitude. He was generous to a fault, despite not being wealthy; he would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it more than he did.  He was the kind of guy who got along with everyone, who everybody liked. Not that Richard ever cared what other people thought of him. 

To make things even worse, Richard wasn’t impressed by Tony’s considerable wealth or fame. He didn’t care about fancy clothes or trips or the number of homes Tony owned. Richard enjoyed the simple things in life. He didn’t hang on Tony’s every word or automatically defer to Tony when they disagreed. Instead, Richard had the audacity to act like they were equals. 

Tony hated him. He refused to believe that someone like Richard Parker could win over a woman that Tony couldn’t. He refused to admit he was jealous of a clearly lesser man. 

However, the latest rumor going around was that Mary and Richard were currently off-again. If that was true, Tony felt sure that this would be the night he finally succeeded in getting Mary into bed with him. 

He scanned the room looking for Mary and found her by the bar. She looked lovely in a flowing red dress. He quickly met up with her. Tony grabbed a drink and offered to get her one as well. 

“No thanks, I’m good,” Mary replied as she sipped a ginger ale. It wasn’t her usual beverage of choice, but Tony didn’t think anything of it. 

They caught up on things since the last time they had seen each other. They talked about each of  their work, about Tony’s latest trip to Europe, about current affairs.  Then they progressed to gossiping about the other attendees. They traded snarky comments about their colleagues, and laughed together. Tony threw in some dirty jokes, much to Mary’s amusement. 

Tony was feeling very confident.  

“Spend the night with me,” he said, all charm. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”

“I don’t want to spend the night with you,” Mary replied. She was clearly amused rather than offended by the proposition. 

“Alright, then spend a week with me. We’ll go to a tropical island. I know the perfect beach, completely private. You won’t even need your bikini,” He said seductively. 

Mary chuckled as she shook her head. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not interested?”

Before Tony could reply, Mary added, “Besides, I’m married now.”

That took Tony by surprise. “Married? To whom? Don’t tell me you married Richard Parker.”

“I married Richard Parker,” she deadpanned. 

“I said don’t tell me! Since when?” Tony demanded. 

Mary smiled mischievously. “Since this.”  She smoothed her flared skirt over her stomach, revealing a small baby bump. 

Tony’s eyes went wide. “You’re pregnant? And it’s Richard’s?”

“Yes, and of course it’s Richard’s!” Mary chuckled at his shocked expression. 

“And you did this on purpose?” He gestured toward her abdomen. 

“The baby? Well no, but these things happen sometimes. It made us realize that it was time we settled down. You know how it is,” Mary said lightly. 

“I certainly do not know how it is,” Tony countered. After all he prided himself on his clear record in that area. 

Despite this unfortunate news, he stubbornly refused to completely give up on the prospect of spending the night with Mary Fitzpatrick. 

After a moment he said, “You could still get rid of it, you know.”

Mary was taken aback. “Are you suggesting an abortion?”

Tony smiled at her. “It’s a simple procedure and then you could run away with me.”

Somehow, Mary wasn’t even surprised by his outrageousness. “You never give up, do you? I don’t want to get rid of it.” She rubbed the small bump lovingly. “And Richard is good for me.”

“I thought I’d find the two of you together. Tony, are you trying to steal my wife?” Richard Parker said as he joined them.  His voice was light-hearted and without any anger. 

Tony regarded the other man. Like usual, Richard was wearing a wrinkled suit and a nerdy science-themed tie. His curly brown hair needed a trim and his alert brown eyes took in everything before settling on Tony. 

“Hello, Richard. Mary was just telling me your good news,” Tony said a little snidely. 

“Yes, we’re very happy,” Richard remarked sincerely. 

“Tony was just telling me how happy he is for us,” Mary said, her voice overly sweet.  

“Yeah. I’m thrilled for you,” Tony said sarcastically. 

“We just found out it’s a boy. We’re going to call him Peter, after Mary’s grandfather,” Richard said with a proud smile.  

“Peter Parker?” Tony scoffed, popping the P’s.  He thought the name sounded ridiculous. “Gotta love the alliteration. What’s the middle name? Wait, let me guess… Patrick? ...Presley? ...How about Pubert?” 

Mary glared at him, truly annoyed with the billionaire for the first time that evening. 

But Richard just laughed good-naturedly.  “Middle name’s Benjamin, after my brother.”  

“Come on, Richard,” Mary said to her husband. “I’m getting tired and I’m sure Tony Stark has better things to do than talk about baby names.”

“Of course, my dear,” Richard replied. “Good night, Tony. As always, it was good to see you.”

Tony waved noncommittally then gestured for the bartender to bring him another drink. 

He watched as the couple walked away.  Richard wrapped his arm around Mary and whispered something in her ear. Her warm laugh sounded like music to Tony’s ear.  Mary and Richard really were happy together. Damn them. 

Now Tony had no shot at all of bedding Mary. All because of that fucking baby. 

He scowled. “Peter Benjamin Parker. You damned brat. I hope you have a miserable life,” Tony muttered just before he threw back his drink. 

A small part of his brain warned him that it was not a good idea to curse a child, especially one who wasn’t even born yet.  But he silenced that part of his brain with another cocktail.