Umm yeah...I was trapped under a building
If you even cared you'd actually be here.
Ouch, that hurt Tony more than a little bit. He was terrified when he saw Peter on the news holding the ferry together with just his body. He grabbed the suit and got there as fast as he could, heart racing. He was so furious at the kid for hacking the suit that Tony had so carefully designed to keep the kid safe that he wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. Tony got back to his place and stepped out of his suit. It goes back to the lab and Tony heads into his elevator to do the same.
Peter lost his suit and his mentor in one day.
Did he even care?
Of course not. Peter was a nobody from Queens and Mr. Stark was well, Mr. Stark: Genius, Billionaire, Philanthropist. It still stung. Peter thought he cared about him at least a little bit. To be honest, the man was like a father-figure to him. Instead, he yelled at Peter, left him, and took a piece of Peter with him. Peter sighed, collapsed on the bed, and started to sob.
"Maybe I was too hard on him." Tony trails off.
"He was just trying to help Tony. He's probably feeling horrible right now." Pepper says, massaging Tony's shoulders.
"Thanks that really makes me feel better." Tony says sarcastically, putting his head in his hands.
"Tony. Why don't you just give him a call? Show him you care. You do care about him don't you?" Pepper asks.
"Of course I do. That kid is everything to me. I don't know Pep. Maybe I should just leave him alone. He doesn't need me messing up his life." Tony tells her angrily wiping his eyes, cursing his weakness.
"Tony. That kid adores you. If you do that it will crush him. And it would crush you too. Why don't you try getting closer to him, rather than push him away?" Pepper asks.
Tony sighs and looks at Pepper. "What the hell do I do?"
"Give him a call. Don't say sorry, because he did do something wrong. Just show him that you care about him." Pepper says, before walking out of the room.
"Alright." Tony mumbles and picks up the phone.
Peter lifts his head from his pillow and wipes away his tears. His phone is ringing? It's probably Ned. Peter turns and picks up the phone to disconnect the call when he sees the Caller ID. Mr. Stark? Why is he calling? Peter thinks about ignoring it but hesitates. Peter sighs and picks up the call.
"Hello?" Peter asks into the phone, wincing at his gravelly voice.
"Kid? You alright?" Tony asks with a worried tone. Peter almost fell off his bed.
"I'm fine. Why are you calling?" Peter asks quietly.
"Look kid. I just want you to know I'm doing this for your own good. You really scared me today." Tony says carefully.
Peter scoffs. "You don't have to say that. I get it. You're busy and you don't want to be looking after a random kid from Queens."
"Kid," Tony tries.
"No. I was only trying to help. Instead, I get yelled at and you take away Spiderman, the one good thing I do with my life! You can stop pretending, Mr. Stark . I'm not an idiot. I know you don't want to waste you're time on me. I get that you don't care." Peter says, his voice trembling.
"Are you serious? Do you think I made a multi-million dollar suit for someone I didn't care about? You hacked the suit, Peter! You hacked the suit that was supposed to keep you safe! And who saved your ass all the times you screwed up huh? I was always there when you needed it and you still hacked the suit to do the one thing I told you not to do." Tony says, raising his voice.
Peter sees red. "Always there? You were probably at some stupid party while I was almost crushed to death by a building! Were you there then?!" Peter yells into the phone. Peter gasps silently and mentally slaps himself. Shoot, he wasn't supposed to say that.
"W-What? Crushed by a building? Peter, what are you talking about?" Tony asks, his voice low.
"I have to go." Peter says tears building up in his eyes.
Peter ended the call and let the tears flow.
"Crushed by a building?" Tony whispers, hyperventilating.
"I have to go.' Peter says quickly and ends the call.
Tony clutches his chest as the phone falls out of his hand.
"FRIDAY. What did he mean by "Crushed by a building"? Was this when he hacked the suit?" Tony asks his AI.
"Yes. But I can provide audio from the suit." FRIDAY replies.
"Play it." Tony chokes out. Tony listens in horror as Peter screams and begs someone to save him.
"FRIDAY turn it off." Tony whispers as he hits the ground. He couldn't protect his kid. Peter was crushed by a building and Tony had no idea. Was he hurt? Tony couldn't breathe. He failed his kid.
"FRIDAY don't,-don't call anyone." Tony got out.
Peter felt horrible. He had yelled at his mentor, who was only trying to keep him safe. Sure he was mad, but that didn't mean he could scream at his role model! And now, he was probably freaking out because of him. God, Peter was such an idiot. But Tony didn't call back. Peter thought that was really strange. Something was wrong. Peter tried calling but he didn't pick up. Peter started to panic a bit. Did something happen? His gut told him to go check to see if he was ok and apologize. Peter sighs, hoping he was making the right decision. He pulled on his homemade suit and his old web-shooters, left a note for his aunt, and swung out the open window.
Peter arrived at the Tower in record time. Probably because he was trying to get there as fast as he could. He knew something was wrong, he just couldn't figure out what. As soon as he got into the Tower, his spider-sense started to tingle almost painfully. He changed quickly and stepped into the elevator. He knew where his mentor was.
"FRIDAY. Take me to Mr Stark's private lab please." Peter requests.
Peter scanned his card and slowly entered the room.
"Mr. Stark?" he asks timidly. Peter's scans the room.
"Oh my God. Mr. Stark ?" Peter squeaks, running to Tony's side. He was on his knees with one hand on the floor, shaking, trying to breathe.
Peter kneels down at Tony's side and puts a hand on his mentor's shoulder. "Please say something. Mr. Stark, what is happening?"
Tony lets out a choked sob. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." he repeats.
"I'm right here. Please tell me what's wrong." Peter pleads, starting to freak out a bit. His mentor's face looked too white to be ok.
"Mr. Stark, you need to breathe." Peter says, placing a hand on Tony's chest. Tony lets out these gasping sounds and tries to talk. "I'm so-rry. Peter. It's a-all my fault." he chokes out, shaking violently. Peter pulls Tony into his arms, holding him tightly.
"It's my fault. It's not your fault. Please breathe, you're scaring me Tony." Peter whispers.
That finally broke through to Tony. Peter was here and Tony was scaring him. Tony took a painful breath and tried to regulate his breathing. Peter didn't know what to do so he put a hand in Tony's hair and started to stroke it, muttering soothing words.
"Shit. I'm so sorry kiddo." Tony apologizes, avoiding Peter's eyes, but not pulling back.
"This is my fault. I freaked you out and I hurt you. I'm sorry." Peter says, a few tears escaping his eyes.
Tony slips off of Peter's lap and holds himself up with a bit of effort. "I need to tell you something before I-I, get back to my senses." he says, chuckling softly.
Peter stares at him for a second and nods.
"I'm not good at all this stuff. My dad ignored me my whole life and I-I didn't want to mess it up with you. But, God...I love you Peter. And yeah I see you as a son. That's why I yelled at you, and took away the suit. It's because I don't think I could keep it together if something happened." Tony finishes, looking into Peter's sparkling eyes.
"Oh." Peter looks down with an ashamed expression.
Tony looks away. "It's ok if you don't feel the same I get it but, just so you know. I...I care about you." Tony says quickly.
"No, no it's just... I-I thought you didn't care about me. And that sucked cus I think of you like that too. Like...a father-figure type thing." Peter rambles nervously.
Tony looks down quickly. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Peter says, smiling slightly.
"Well, at least I don't feel like an idiot." Tony jokes, trying to regain his composure, watching as his mental walls reformed. Of course, Peter saw through it.
Peter frowns
"What?" Tony asks, confused.
"You keep everything in. It's not healthy. Do you not trust anyone?" Peter asks with his childish innocence.
Tony cards a hand through Peter's hair. "I don't know."
"You can trust me." Peter says, looking at him with eyes filled with trust and love. Tony feels like crying. He doesn't deserve anyone looking at him like that.
"I've always trusted you kid." Tony says softly. Peter grins, stands up, and offers Tony a hand.
"I left Aunt May a note. Is it ok if we do some lab stuff?" Peter asks.
"I want nothing more, kid." Tony says, taking the hand and tugging himself off the floor. They settle on the bench and start to work in silence.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Mmm?"
"I love you too."