The One That Started it All
Tony Stark was a man of his word. When he said something, he meant it. If a promise fell from his lips you could be damn sure he delivered.
The only exception to that rule was his team, the thing he had built from scratch, his proudest invention, something that truly benefited the world.
It seemed that whenever he tried fixing things or make a promise it backfired in some way shape or form.
Just ask Ultron or Pepper.
Pepper. His assistant, his love, his... everything. And yet he couldn't give her everything she deserved.
Maybe it was the team, maybe it was one person, but he didn't just love Pepper anymore.
He loved his team as well.
His team, whom he built from scratch. His team, who followed him even when the going got tough. His team, who broke because of him.
If he got more guilt on his conscious he was sure he would die.
He thought he was doing right by Peter, helping him along and teaching him, just like a father should do- and then he fucked that up too.
Maybe that's all he was good for: messing up perfectly good things.
Maybe it’s what he deserved, after all these years of mistakes. Maybe all life threw at him anymore was false hope and the broken promise of a better life.