Two weeks Later
It had been two of the longest weeks of Tony’s life.
Which was saying something considering all of the shit he had been through, as far as he was concerned. It definitely felt longer than the months he spent in that god forsaken cave. He might have even argued that it felt it somehow longer than the last five years.
After the tense conversation in the hall while Peter’s arm was being amputated, Rhodey sat the four of them down and forced them to talk. It still didn’t go as well as Rhodey had hoped, everyone still tense from recent events, but they agreed to put things behind them and focus on Peter. If they couldn’t at least do that, they shouldn’t be there. Jemma had also pointed out that while they were in the room with Peter, he still may be able to hear them at times even if he didn’t seem awake and needed to keep that in mind.
“It’s not going to help him heal if he hears us bickering like a bunch of children. We all know that will just stress him out.”
She wasn’t wrong. If Peter knew they were at odds with each other - especially over him. The guilt he would put on himself over that would drive him mad. Tony’s also fairly certain, the kid would end up hating him for the whole ordeal - but that could have been his own self-depreciation talking.
It was rare that all four of them were together after that. They agreed to take shifts, none of them wanting to leave Peter alone, and all insisting the others get rest. “Peter wouldn’t want you killing himself at his bedside.” Tony was getting really tired of people using the kid against him, with constant reminders of what ‘Peter would want.’ It worked, almost every time. But it was really starting to grate at him in a way he couldn’t quite explain.
Not that Tony really slept or went far when he wasn’t actually in Peter’s room. He suspected he wasn’t the only one, judging by the dark circles under the eyes of both Fitz and May. He took naps, and called Pepper and Morgan and then just waited until he was “allowed” back in the room.
He’d lost count of the number of panic attacks he’d had, nearly every time he was by himself. Fitz walked in on him once in the middle of an attack, and to his credit, seemed to recognize the symptoms immediately and started talking science and engineering, reminding Tony to breathe in between a speech about one of his own creations until Tony began conversing back, adding his opinions or giving his admiration.
Peter still wasn’t awake- though he had woken up a few times over the last couple weeks. But he was never coherent. The better times, he would just get restless, barely open his eyes, and mumble thins Tony couldn’t understand.
But then there were the times that he woke up screaming. Those times left anyone in the room shaken to the core. It happened twice with Tony in the room. Which made it now three too many times he watched his son scream and writhe in pain before his eyes when there was absolutely nothing he could do to help.
The first time it happened, it was both May and Tony there and it might have been the moment the two of them completely agreed that they were on the same side. Peter went from laying there, practically lifeless, the room completely quiet aside from the machines- to writhing and screaming in pain so much he fell off his bed. Tony had dove off his chair, barely managing to catch him before his head hit the floor. Then just as quickly as it started, Peter was limp in his arms again, and they had to call a doctor in to check him over because they were afraid that he’d had a seizure or something.
“I think I owe you an apology.”
“I think owe you an apology, Tony.”
They both spoke at the same time, as soon as they’d left the room once Fitz-Simmons replaced them.
They both stood there, staring at each other awkwardly. Still both too shaken by what had just happened with Peter to have the ability to form much of a coherent response. Finally, Tony just nodded and mentioned needing some water. He was due to FaceTime his daughter soon and he couldn’t do that as disheveled as he was.
It was that day that May met Morgan through FaceTime, and then later told Tony how much Peter was going to love her. It was almost an unspoken agreement that they’d figure things out together from then on.
Tony never told her how much that had meant to him.
The second time was just as startling as the first. But this time, Tony was by himself and the only saving grace was the fact that Peter didn’t fall off the bed. There had been added measures after the first incident to keep him safely in the bed. However, Tony did nearly get punched in the face as he tried to help.
Two weeks of mostly the same the same thing every day - awkward half meals, forced conversations, and sitting with Peter, sometimes talking to him, sometimes just sitting there or working on his tablet.
It was the 14th day since the snap, after Rhodey had basically shoved both Tony and May to go eat something that he finally brought up what he wanted when Peter was able to leave Wakanda- with some literal nudging from Rhodes.
“You and Peter should stay with me when we leave here.” He said abruptly, his sandwich laying forgotten on the table.
May’s own sandwich dropped back to her plate, as she stared open mouthed at him, as if he’d just spoken another language.
“I mean, I would like to have Peter with me, for what I hope are obvious reasons,” he continued, glancing over to Rhodey who just gave him an encouraging nod. Since when was he so bad with words? Well, good communication was never one of his strong suits, he supposed.
“But I want to make it clear, that I don’t want to take him away from you. Thats not my goal here. I want to be with my son, I want him with his sister. But I’m not too dense to think that finding out he’s my son suddenly makes you not his family. I’ve been considering moving back to the city, now that the world is going to try and get back to normal, not to mention that Morgan will be starting school soon. And I know Peter probably would hate living in the city -“
“Tony,” May brought up a finger, affectively cutting off his rambling. “I don’t think we should make any final decisions until we’ve talked to Peter.” She was talking slowly, like she was taking time to carefully word her thoughts so that the conversation didn’t take a wrong turn somewhere, bringing them right back to where they were the first few days after Peter saved the world.
“But I have thought about this too. And I do think the wisest thing to do is at least stay with you for the remainder of his recovery. I know you have more access to resources he’ll need. After that... well... we have time to discuss it, yeah?”
Tony blinked, then shot a look at Rhodey again before slowly nodding. He could work with that. It wasn’t a complete dismissal. But it wasn’t an acceptance either.
He could deal with that. For now.
It was the fifteenth night, and it was Tony’s turn to spend the night with Peter. He was sitting in his favorite chair, with his head leaning against the cool wall half lidded eyes. Every time he closed his eyes, he was either back on Titan, or back in the rubble of the compound, holding Peter. So he did his best to avoid that at all costs, but too often his heavy lids won out.
A doctor had just left the room after administering some more of the medication Simmons and Banner helped create specifically for Peter after his vitals once again took a dip, assumed to be caused by a spike of pain.
Now that the room was relatively quiet again, even the machines were just a low hum - and his own breathing was back to a more normal rate, he tried to allow his thoughts to drift to plans of future suits and prosthetic arms and living arrangements.
His chest still hurt from his most recent panic attack, and he really wished that Pepper was there. There was the option to have her close. T’Challah and Shuri had offered to room his whole family, as well as FitzSimmons family, and May. But he and Pepper worried about bringing Morgan there.
T’Challah had been more than accommodating, and Tony would never be able to express how grateful for it he was. Mostly he’d just been agitated and exhausted, but they never seemed to be too bothered by it.
A rustling on the bed drew Tony from his thoughts, and his eyes immediately flew open, worried that another fit was impending. But instead, he found two, partially lidded eyes staring directly at him, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, as if he was completely shocked to see him sitting there.
”Hey there, Pete.” He smiled, leaning a little closer, barely resisting the urge to reach out to him.
”Ben?”