Chapter 2
Peter could have wept with relief when he walked into the apartment. He’d already tossed his keys in the bowl where MJ insisted they all put their house keys and was making his way to the couch when Tony grabbed hold of his shoulder and veered him towards his bedroom.
“Nope. Shower first, then change into your comfiest jammies, kid, remember?”
Peter whined just a little, “But it’s so faaaaar!”
“No it’s noooooot.” Tony whined back. “This is a three bedroom apartment with less than twelve hundred square feet. You’re fine. Now go, kid. You’ll thank me for this later.
“No, I won’t.” Peter pouted and shuffled his way into his bedroom to do as Tony asked.
“Keep it up and I won’t get you any oyster crackers, buddy!” he called out after him...
And so Peter stopped in his tracks, grabbed hold of the door frame and turned around and with a look that burned more intense than the sun, he rasped back, “Yes, you will... because you love me.”
And Tony nodded, “I do—doesn’t mean you’re not irritating, though.”
“Never said I wasn’t,” Peter’s voice grated, and with that witty retort, Peter stuck his tongue out.
“Ugh, kids, so gross...” Tony groaned and pointed to Peter. “Put that thing away. I don’t know where it’s been.” Tony chuckled. “Seriously, Pete. No more talking. Go take your shower and I’ll check the cupboards—maybe find some of May’s tea or something for you.”
Peter just nodded and vanished into his room.
It didn’t take long for Tony to find what he was looking for and within minutes, the kettle was boiled and the lemon tea that May had insisted the three roommates keep stocked in their cupboard in case of cold emergencies was steeping. He had just pulled his phone out to place an order at the nearby deli that Tony had introduced to him the first time they’d visited the campus when Tony heard a rattle of keys at the door.
“Hello?” Tony called out as he stepped into the hall, then stopped short when he saw MJ. “Hey!?”
MJ blinked slow, obviously trying to process the fact that Tony Stark was standing in the entryway to her apartment, then sighed in defeat. “Do I want to know why you’re here?”
He threw his hands up in mock surrender, then smiled sadly, knowing exactly what she was asking. “He’s not hurt,” Tony offered, “Just sick. I promise.
Her entire demeanour shifted, not entirely relaxing with his reassurance, but still. She smiled small and shuffled past him to toss her own keys into the key bowl. “But he’s sick enough that you’re here?” she asked.
“Entirely coincidental, my dear MJ.” Tony put on the schmaltz. “I was in town for some meetings and happened to get an alert that our beloved Peter was not one hundred percent and rushed off to the rescue.”
MJ snort-laughed, “Please tell me you didn’t physically remove him from one of his classes.”
Tony kept up the act, “What?! Moi?! I’d never do something like that, MJ. I’m offended that you’d even imply—”
MJ simply crooked an eyebrow.
“No.” Dang, that girl was good. “He was actually about to give up for the day when I called...” he trailed off as he finally took in her appearance. “And speaking of giving up—are you okay? You’re not usually home this early, are you?”
The sudden shift to concern caught her off guard, but after having known the eccentric billionaire for a couple of years now, she knew he was being sincere in his ask. “Yeah, I’m going to assume that whatever hit Peter has managed to get me to.” She shrugged and made her way to the living room where she planted herself on the couch in exhaustion.
Without a thought, Tony slipped into the kitchen and grabbed a new mug and tea bag, setting it to steep while carrying the readied tea out to MJ. “I’m not sure if you take anything with this, but if you’re feeling anything like Peter, I can go grab the honey for you.”
“Sore throat? Overall feeling of blah?” she asked as she inhaled the tea’s steam.
“Sounds about right,” Tony agreed, sadly, “so, honey?”
“Please.”
And without another word, Tony disappeared and reappeared with the little honey bear and planted it on the coffee table. “I’ve got Peter showering now, but was going to do a deli and a grocery order to make sure you were all stocked up for the next few days. Is there anything that you can think of that you need now that you’re home, or should I go with my original game plan and start rifling through your cupboards?”
MJ waved a tired hand toward the kitchen. “Have at it, Tony. Your name is on the lease, too.”
And it was, but that wasn’t the point. “I’ve always told you that it’s your home...”
MJ took a tentative sip of tea and winced, “Fair, but no, have at it...” MJ glanced up at him, “and thank you.” She cleared her throat, then, “Uh, I’m guessing that Ned will be next on the ‘whatever this is’ hit list, and he has this weird thing about warm pineapple juice when he’s sick, so if you wanted to do the whole pre-emptive shop thing, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”
Tony nodded in agreement. Man, he loved all of these kids. Peter had collected himself an amazing cluster of friends. “Pineapple juice. Got it.” With that last bit of instruction, Tony left MJ to her misery and disappeared back into the kitchen.
He was just putting the finishing touches on the express grocery order and moving on to the deli’s delivery app when Tony heard Peter shuffling out of his bedroom.
“MJ?” Peter must have been out of it to not notice her arrival, even during his shower. Those spidey senses never took a day off, or so he’d thought.
“Hey, loser, “she replied. “Heard a rumour that we’re both dying.”
“Oof, I hope not,” Peter chuckled back. He must have noticed the tea then because he veered toward the kitchen and Tony, “Oh, I hope really you made one for me, too.”
Tony tapped the ‘Accept’ on the deli order and immediately reached over, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Of course, I did... and just ordered a metric ton of soup for the lot of you. Now go sit down and I’ll bring this out to you.”
Peter didn’t need to be asked twice. While the shower had been good idea, his body was screaming for him to rest, and so he planted himself on the couch with a sigh. “Have I told you you’re my favourite retired superhero lately?”
“Retired?” Tony handed the hot mug to his kid, “I’m concerned that you’ve decided to differentiate between active and not—”
“Really?” Peter reached forward to grab the honey, “’Cuz if you really must know—”
“Apologies for the disruption, Boss.” FRIDAY suddenly chimed in from the watch on Tony’s wrist. “I’ve managed to finally bypass those firewalls and have the information you requested.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Peter, the stinker, “Saved by the bell, young padawan.”
Peter just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “For now... I just wanna know if this is just a bad cold or a flu or what—”
And there was no reason to put it off, “Alright then, FRI, what are we working with here? Do we need to go all ‘hazmat’ on these guys or are we looking at a simple case of campus crud?”
“According to hospital records, it would seem that Jason Russell was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding. He was quickly diagnosed with untreated mononucleosis which led to splenomegaly, an enlarged spleen, which ruptured while he was taking a brisk walk.”
Tony shook his head in disbelief. “The idiot went for a walk?”
But Peter’s jaw dropped. “I have mono?”
And then MJ’s jaw dropped, “You have mono?” Her eyes widened and, in a flash, she was up and pacing, “YOU GAVE ME MONO!? Peter Benjamin Parker! I have exams to study for... and I have to work! What the hell?!”
To say that Tony was perplexed in that exact moment would be an understatement. All of them, Peter, MJ, and Ned were pretty hygienic as a whole so unless Peter had been exposed to some new strain of mono that traveled via a different means than cutlery or kissing—
Tony’s brain blankscreened for a hot second as the realization came to him.
Tony’s jaw dropped. “Hang on a minute! YOU,” he pointed an accusing finger at Peter, “gave HER mono!” His attention swung back to MJ before he raised his arms in victory, “YES!!” He did a happy dance to end all happy dances, “THIS is why I survived the final snap! I TOLD May that you guys would get together before Christmas! I told her!”
MJ had stopped her pacing to stand beside Peter, who’d also stood up. “Uh, Tony?” Peter asked tentatively, almost afraid to interrupt, but needing to know, “Are you okay?”
The grin on Tony’s face was brighter than a full-sized arc reactor at night, “Kid, you guys just won me five bucks!”
MJ glared. “Five bucks? But you’re a billionaire. Why the dance?”
“You’re so missing the point!” Tony started to wiggle again, “I was right! May was wrong! Now stop raining on my parade, you grumpy gusses, while I both revel in my awesomeness and call May to rub it in her face—oh. And then Dr. Cho to see if we need to do anything special for you two lovebirds. We don’t want any spleens to rupture or anything!” Tony practically skipped to the kitchen to make his phone call.
Peter and MJ gave up on standing, and simply plunked down together on the couch to process what had just happened.
A few minutes passed before Peter spoke. “I’m sorry that I gave you mono.”
MJ shrugged, “Meh. I’m dating a superhero. I know the risks.”
Peter shook his head and hummed at the absurdity of their lives. “I’m also sorry that this is how our secret came out.”
MJ shrugged again, “Meh,” she gave a playful shove, “I’m also dating Peter Parker. I know the risks.”
Peter smiled softly and closed his eyes to rest and he assumed MJ did the same because it was barely a blink later for the both of them when the sound of keys hitting the bowl at the front door woke them.
“Hey, Tony! This is a surprise!” Ned called out in his normal Ned sorta’ way. “I just intercepted a grocery delivery for the apartment—and there’s pineapple juice! Am I getting sick?”