Tony?
The past month has been one of the best months for Happy since 2008. It had been about a month since Peter broke down in his school parking lot. After that, May and Happy had set him up for therapy with Sam. He was doing extremely well. Happy actually saw Peter smile for the first time in about five and a half years and damn, he really missed seeing the kid smile. The tense atmospheres and the surprisingly intimidating glares from Peter had diminished. It was almost suspicious to Happy that Peter hadn’t really had any bad days. He hadn’t even had any bad villains either. Of course, Peter had experienced more loss than any person ever should, but that didn’t mean that he was used to grief.
Happy really jinxed himself on thinking everything was going smooth. It was almost like the universe could hear Happy’s thoughts because the second he turned his TV on, he saw the news. It was a video of Spider-Man being thrown to the ground, a giant metal rhino having done the favor. The headline at the bottom of the screen was flashing in red.
SPIDER-MAN FIGHTING RHINO IN MANHATTAN. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
Without even thinking, Happy whipped his phone out and called May.
“Happy! Oh my god, thank you lord. Have you seen the news?” May nearly screamed.
“Yes, I have! Are you okay?” Happy panicked. He was already running out his front door and to the parking garage.
“I’m perfectly fine, but I’m worried about Peter, Happy! I mean, he was thrown to the ground. I hate-“ May was cut off by someone yelling to evacuate, “-I hate not having eyes out there. I mean what if… what if he’s-”
“Hey, no, don’t think like that. I’m getting in my car now. Don’t worry, May, I’ll get him,” Happy reassured as he began to haul ass out of the parking garage.
It wasn’t too hard to find the commotion. Happy really just had to follow the noise and drive the way that people weren’t running. It was only when Happy got nearer to the commotion, that he felt more lost. Once he had arrived, the only ones to be seen were the cops and the Rhino. No Spider-Man in sight. Not even a Peter Parker in sight.
With there looking to be no other options, Happy got out of his car and ran to the nearest officer. He flashed his security badge out of habit, not realizing that he hasn’t needed it since… well since, ya know- the blip. There hadn’t really been any big catastrophes in the city since then.
“Officer,” Happy nodded to the officer, “have you seen Spider-Man anywhere?”
“Of course, that’s all that anyone is ever concerned about. People only care about where Spider-Man is and not getting to safety. Makes my job a hell of a lot harder,” the officer ranted.
Happy gave the man a quick glare. “Come on, I’m a security guard of the Avengers. Now, have you seen Spider-Man?”
“An Avengers bodyguard? Hell, they don’t need bodyguards,” the man laughed, quickly sobering up at Happy’s stare, “But, if you insist, he ran off about fifteen minutes ago. Man moves fast so he’s probably long gone.”
Without sparing the officer a second thought, Happy ran back to his car and jumped in the drivers side. He began to drive around searching for Peter. In the vast city, the ambience of alleyways and hiding spots overwhelmed Happy. Every minute counted if Peter was seriously hurt. The thought of him passed out, on the edge of death, was all that Happy could seem to think of.
Not five minutes into driving around, Happy’s phone alarm started going off. He fumbled for his phone before finally processing what the alarm was. It was the security system for Tony’s penthouse at the Tower. His thoughts immediately went to Peter. Paying no mind to traffic laws, Happy whipped the car around and headed straight for Avengers tower.
The drive felt like a thousand years to Happy, but it was probably only a couple minutes at the speed he was driving. The alarm could have been for something else, Happy thought. It could be Rhino… on the top floor of Avengers Tower. He made sure to stay alert despite his worry for Peter.
As soon as he arrived, he ran through the doors and up the elevator. It had been a minute since he had to use the special clearance badge to get to the penthouse. Pepper and Morgan don’t use the floor much anymore due to how acclimated they had become to living outside the city.
The doors to the elevator opened and Happy stepped hesitantly out. The sun was on the cusp of the horizon, making the light in the room not adequate. He could barely make out the shapes of furniture. He couldn’t even bother with the lights because it would give away that he was there. The only thing Happy could see was the slightly ajar window. As he went to go close it, he heard a raspy voice behind him.
“Tony?” It was Peter.
Happy slowly turned around, sure to not make any sudden movement. Peter’s shoulders were hunched and he was clearly favoring his right leg. “Hey, buddy. No, it’s me- Happy. I’m here because-” Happy locked eyes with Peter. The glazed look that shadowed Peter’s eyes was the same look he saw the night Peter gave him the shovel talk. The look accompanied by blood oozing down the side of Peters head seemed to knock all the breath out of him.
“Tony, is that really you?” Peter smiled with relief. He began to step forward towards Happy, but Happy unconsciously took a step back. He didn’t want to give the boy false hope.
“Peter, I’m not Tony. I’m sorry, but Tony died a couple months ago. Remember?” Happy put his hands up in reassurance. His words, however, didn’t seem to register with the boy. Peter began to sway back and forth, bringing a hand up to his head.
“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good.” Peter stepped forward, only to stumble. Happy only had time to grab Peter's arms before both of them fell to the ground. The boy landed on his back, Happy landing above him.
“I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go,” Peter sobbed out, “Please, Mr. Stark. I don’t wanna go.” Peter grabbed onto Happy’s shirt with a grip stronger than anything Happy has felt before. It wasn’t to hold Happy there, but more to hold him there. To keep him from dying.
Happy felt powerless. Peter’s eyes looked dead. His breathing was erratic and his shaking hands were the only thing moving. Happy couldn’t seem to find words in that moment, the shock of everything hitting him, so he grabbed Peter’s hand. The touch finally seemed to register with Peter. A look of recognition crossed his eyes. Happy felt like he had finally gotten through to him when Peter spoke again.
“Hey, Mr. Stark,” his voice shaky and his eyes soft, “Can you hear me? We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it.” Peter's eyes welled with tears. “I’m sorry, Tony.”
It was only then that Happy came to his senses. He had seen this many times before. With his training in handling mentally unstable attackers, he could easily identify this. He could spot flashbacks from a mile away.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Happy began, keeping a soft touch on Peter’s hand, “We’re in the Avengers Tower. I’m Happy Hogan. Please come back to me, Pete.” Happy hadn’t even realized the pain in his chest and the tears rolling down his face. Despite knowing to not touch the victim, Happy rested his forehead on their intertwined palms. Happy couldn’t bear to look into the pale eye’s that had once held so much life. After the battle, he had never seen that life again. Maybe parts of it, but never to the degree it once was.
“I’m sorry that you have to go through this, Pete. I’m sorry that you don’t feel like you’re deserving of a father. You deserve the world, kid. You deserve everything good. You convinced the one man in this world who didn’t think he deserved love, that he is worthy. Tony’s not here and that really hurts. It hurts so much. To know that you’re lying here, reliving his death and I can’t do a damn thing about it, hurts me more than anything ever has. I’m sorry, Peter. I’m so sorry.” Happy squeezed Peter’s hand gently and he felt a slight sob come from Peter. Happy brought his head up to face the boy, their tear filled eyes connecting.
“Happy,” Peter breathed out in relief.
All the sobs escaped from Happy’s body. He pulled Peter up into a sitting position and then a hug all in one swift motion. He could feel the moisture on his shoulder, conveying the same emotion as a rainy day. “Hi, Pete.”
After Happy helped Peter collect himself a bit, he called Helen Cho and Sam Wilson and immediately rushed Peter down to the med bay. Now, Happy was sitting in the empty hallway, bouncing his leg uncontrollably. The anxiety of what could be wrong had finally hit Happy head on. Peter had gone the entire month with no problems and then suddenly all this happened. He’s glad Sam had done work with ex military members and knew how to properly handle things like that, but it didn’t calm his worry about Peter down any.
The sound of the elevator pulled Happy out of his stupor. He stood up quickly to see May rushing into the hallway. Before he could say anything, she collided with him and pulled him into a crushing hug.
“Oh my gosh, Happy. Is Peter okay? What happened?” She blurted out once she let go of him.
“He’s okay physically as far as I know. He’s not in any critical condition,” Happy stated, almost feeling like a robot giving information.
“Physically? What about mentally?”
“That’s where he isn’t okay. May, this will probably be hard to hear so you might want to sit down,” Happy urged as he gently guided her to a seat.
“What’s going on?” May looked up at him with worried eyes.
“It’s something that is very traumatic and I don’t know how much it will affect him. He…” Happy sighed, wringing his hands together, “I found him in Tony’s penthouse. I tried to talk to him, but he thought I was Tony. Then, I think- I think he relived some traumatic experiences from the war with Thanos. I don’t know exactly what but he kept saying that he didn’t want to go and then he- he started talking to Tony. He was talking about how they won and he kept apologizing and he was holding on so tight, May. He-”
“Hey, Happy. It’s okay. He’s alright now. You did everything you could.” May placed a hand on his shoulder. He finally realized that he was shaking like a leaf. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but it barely did anything. The visions of Peter on the ground, there but not really there, reliving his death and someone he loves death, kept flashing in his mind. The empty eyes and the strong grip, trying to pull himself back, contradicting each other.
With the circles May was rubbing into his back, he nearly missed the door to the medbay open. Helen Cho and Sam Wilson both stepped out with a look that he couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t one of remorse, but more of understanding. Sam stepped forward as Happy stood up to take his hand.
“I wish I was seeing you guys under better circumstances,” Sam half-joked, “The good news is that Peter is okay and all his injuries are extremely minor.”
Helen stepped up. “His only injuries are a couple bruises and cuts along with a slight concussion. We expected his concussion to be worse, but it’ll probably heal in the next couple days. The only thing we should be concerned about is how he’s doing emotionally.”
“And that’s where I come in,” Sam motioned to himself. “From what I can see, Peter experienced something out there with Rhino that threw him into a flashback. He told me that he was slammed to the ground in the same way that Thanos slammed him into the ground. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the actual flashbacks, but from what you told me, Happy, we can assume that he was reliving his and Tony’s death.” May let out a sob from behind Happy. “He’s really strong for being able to get himself out of that situation with your help, but you also need to be careful with him for a while. We need to treat this like a relapse.”
Relapse. The word hovered over the four adults. It was hard to take in.
It wasn’t long before May sucked in a long breath. “Can we see him?”
Without replying, Sam opened the door and motioned for them to enter. Happy was barely three feet into the room when he was nearly toppled over. He looked down to see Peter holding him in a bone crushing hug.
As the two stood there, holding each other after facing trauma, Happy decided he was glad Thanos had suffered.