With a Blink of an Eye
After a long while of trying to remind Peter of who he was, the team needed a break, looks of distress on their faces as they walked past Tony and looked at Peter one more time. Tony of course refused to budge and leave Peter. Peter had still not moved from his spot on the bed and just stared at Tony. Tony stared back. “Can I tell you a story?” Tony asked calmly. He had let out all his tears and anger with the team as they basically begged Peter to remember. He even punched the wall in frustration at one point.
Peter did not say yes or no, he just blinked a few times. “I am going to tell you either way.”
He took a breath and began, “This is the story of Peter Parker. Know who that is?” Tony knew Peter would not say yes, but he dared to hope. Peter said nothing, just kept staring and blinking. “Well, all you need to know to start is that he is the best kid I have ever met.” Nothing from Peter.
“He was born in Queens to loving Parents, who sadly passed away in a plane crash when he was just six years old. He was taken in by his aunt and uncle, May and Ben Parker. They treated and loved him like a son.” Tony kept looking for any hint of recognition, but still got none. “He is a really smart kid, so smart that he got into Midtown School of Science and Technology on a full scholarship. May and Ben were both so proud of him, actually they still are.” Nothing, just a blank stare. “When Peter was fifteen years old he went on a field trip to Oscorp where he was bitten by a radioactive Spider they were experimenting on. By the way, you should know Oscorp is the worst.” Peter would have laughed at that, since Oscorp was in competition with Stark Industries, but still nothing. Tony tried not to let Peter’s lack of reaction break him, he cleared his throat, “Anyways, after he was bitten his DNA started to mutate. He became part spider. You’re part spider aren’t you?” He added the last part to see if he could get any reaction from Peter.
“I am Hydra’s Spider.” Peter just repeated like before.
Tony sighed, but just said, “You’re not, but let's move on.” Peter just stared again and blinked a few times. Tony noticed the odd blinking but just attributed it to Hydra messing with Peter’s mind. He continued, “Shortly after Peter mutated, tragedy struck his life once again. His uncle Ben was shot in a robbery gone wrong. Now Peter believes, because he already had his powers and because he ran away that night, it was his fault that his uncle died, but, and I really want you to listen to this part. It was NOT his fault. The only person to blame was the robber. Ben loved Peter and knew that anything he said before he left the house was out of anger and not true. He is and always will be proud of Peter and love him.” Peter’s eyes were still devoid of emotion, but a tear rolled down his cheek.
Tony sat up straighter when he saw it. He decided to keep going, ‘unless that was just a random coincidence this is working,’ he thought, “After that he became Spider-Man, a vigilante that looks out for the little guy, just like Ben did. He used his free time to rescue cats from trees, help old ladies across the street, stop robberies, and overall, save people.” Except for that one tear that had dried by now, there was still just a blank look on Peter's face. Tony sighed, thinking maybe he just imagined the tear. He just continued on. “Later that same year Tony Stark, me, went to recruit Peter to help me with a problem I was having with Captain America, Steve Rogers, and his friend Bucky Barnes, known right before that as the Winter Soldier.” That however did get a small reaction from Peter, his eyes opened a tiny bit wider before going right back to normal. Tony decided to run with it, “Do you know who that is?”
“Yes,” Peter replied, “the Winter Soldier was a failure. It turned against Hydra.” Tony cringed at Peter’s choice of words, ‘it’ instead of ‘he.’ Although he knew they weren't Peter’s choice of words, it was Hydra’s. “I was made better than the Winter Soldier, they fixed the problems they had with it when making me. You will not trick me like you did the Winter Soldier.”
Tony was starting to lose it again, his anger was of course towards Hydra, not Peter, “They did not make you,” Tony tried to keep his voice calm, but was failing, “and we are not trying to trick you, we are trying to save you! Look what Hydra has done to you!” No reaction, just staring and blinking. Tony sighed and calmed himself down as much as he could, “Let’s just continue shall we?” His question was, of course, rhetorical. “Peter agreed to help and kicked butt at the airport, but after that I basically ghosted him. I have trouble letting people in in fear they will hurt me, or to be more honest that I will disappoint them. The few times after that, when I saw him, it did not go too well. Once Peter was dropped in the river by a villain who liked to dress up like a bird. I saved him, well my suit did at least. Then it was after an incident with a ferry that almost turned disastrous, Peter was trying to stop a weapons exchange. After that one I took away Peter’s suit and said some hurtful things I actually never fully apologized for. I really should once I see him again,” ‘The real him’ he did not say the last part out loud.
Tony took a minute to compose himself again. He just kept thinking that Peter was so, so close, and yet so far away. After he took a moment he continued. Peter of course still had no emotion on his face, “Peter then saved my plane and all my stuff, proving me wrong. Not many people have been able to do that.” Another joke Peter would have laughed at. “Regardless, I then invited Peter to join the Avengers. He turned me down, which I never expected in a million years. He was super mature about it and I was dumbfounded. After that we started having lab days together. I tried to keep my distance, I really did, but Peter has a way of worming into even the most guarded heart.” Still nothing. “I just want Peter to know how much I miss him, and how much I love him. I never told him before he was taken away from me and I regret it.” Another tear rolled down Peter's emotionless face. ‘That can’t be a coincidence.’ Tony thought, the ember of hope he had left started to grow into a small spark of a flame. “I missed you Peter. I still miss you so much.” Peter just blinked a bunch and starred.
Then something clicked in Tony’s mind, his eyes went wide as he stood up suddenly. Not wasting another moment he said, “I’ll be right back!” He started almost running to the elevator. He got to the main common floor for the avengers and ran past all of them in the living room, booking it to his lab.
“Tony, what's going on?!” Steve shouted
Tony didn’t answer and just kept speeding towards his lab. The rest of the team right behind him. He got to the lab and immediately said, “FRI? Pull up the last five minutes of your footage of Peter's cell downstairs.”
“Yes, Boss.” FRIDAY replied.
“Tony please explain what is going on.” Steve said again as a hologram of the footage came to life in front of him.
Tony ignored him, he grabbed a notebook and a pen, “Ok, play the last 3 minutes in slow motion and mute sound.” The team watched in confusion as Tony wrote something down. When the footage finished he stood up with an overjoyed smile on his face, “He’s in there!”
Bucky was confused as the rest, “What are you talking about?”
“Hold on,” Tony started editing the footage, cropping only a small part out. “Here. FRI, unmute.”
FRIDAY unmuted the section Tony had pulled out and played it:
On the screen Tony said, “I missed you Peter. I still miss you so much.” and Peter just stared blankly blinking.
They all gasped as Tony held up the piece of paper he had written on and they all understood what he meant. Depending on how long each of Peter’s blinks were, Tony had written down a dot or a line on the piece of paper. After Tony had said, “I missed you Peter. I still miss you so much.” he had blinked: .. -- .. … … -.-- --- ..- - --- ---
Morse code for: I Miss You Too