Epilogue
With the night shifting back into the day, the first thing Tony Stark realizes is that it’s begun to rain. Standing in front of the old Parker-house, he looks up into the sky where he allows the drops to fall down on his face. A smile comes up.
He’s back. He did what was necessary to save his boy. And now he’ll go and see him.
“FRI, what’s the status right now?”
“Welcome back, sir. I lost you for a few hours.”
Tony rolls his eyes, because that’s not an answer to his question. Giving the house another last glance he suits up and gets in the air as quickly as possible.
“Everybody’s still at the medical department of the Avengers Compound. Up until the last hour it wasn’t looking like Peter was going to make it to the evening.”
“And now?”
“I’m not sure. I sense he’s stabilizing in a way.”
Tony grins once again, because that meant that it worked. He did it. He heads to the compound first thing, landing at the frond door. Some people walking outside startle at his sudden appearance. Tony ignores him as he removes the suit and starts running inside.
The way to medical bay is familiar. So are the people he comes across, each one looking more defeated than the other. It’s almost like they’re all at the verge of starting to apologize to him when they notice the glee on his face.
“Mr. Stark, sir, are you alright?” somebody asks. Tony nods and holds up his thumbs.
“Never been better.” Tony resumes his run to the point where he gets to the hallway in front of Peter’s room, where he can see Steve, May and Rhodey with Strange. May has her hand on her mouth and obvious tears in her eyes. Steve looks sad, while Rhodey full of disbelief. It’s the latter that notices Tony coming up their way.
“Tony? Where have you been?” he asks with a clear urgency in his voice. Steve seems to startle upon hearing his name. Once he sees Tony there as well it seems like he’s hesitating on going his way or staying where he is.
“Oh, you know, going back in time. Had a little chat with the mother of my son. Switched out some blood samples. The usual.” Tony waves off his own comment as if they’re not really that important. Now it’s Strange who looks like he’s just seen a ghost.
“You what?” he asks. “How?”
Tony looks down at his wrist where the watch Deadpool gave him used to be. He’s glad he thought of removing it before coming here. This watch should be locked away. Sure, he’s grateful for Wade’s help, but a person as instable as him shouldn’t have this on him.
“A good friend of Peter’s,” Tony says. Then he nods towards Peter’s room. “FRI tells me he’s stabilizing. Why are you all standing here looking sad? We should celebrate!”
All heads turn to the door as well. It’s closed, the blinds shut. It doesn’t take long for May to march towards it and burst it open. She couldn’t do it faster. Before anybody can say anything, she’s inside with her nephew. Strange hurries after her, along with Rhodey. Steve waits for a bit outside, a smug smile on his face while he reaches out his hand towards Tony.
“I knew you would fix it,” he tells him.
“I’m sorry, I should have called before I left,” Tony returns. Steve shakes his head. Pulling him into a hug, Tony lets his head rest on the man’s shoulder.
“You were worried. I don’t blame you.” Steve holds on for a few seconds more before pulling back. “Now, how about we go and check out how he’s doing?”
Tony nods, turning from Steve to head towards the door.
It’s time to see his son.
Two weeks later
“So, you have a major in art, am I right?”
“Yes. I love art very much. It’s the complexity in things, but also the variety in it. Like, there are paintings in so many genres, but then there’s sculptures as well, and I love just finding the connections between the two of them.”
“Sounds intriguing. So you don’t exactly make art yourself?”
“I’m not exactly that talented, Mr. Stark.”
“Please, you’re dating my son. You get to call me Tony.”
Felicia smiles. So does Peter who looks at her like the proudest boyfriend in the world.
Tony’s had his doubts about Felicia. Especially since she seemed to just come into the picture when Peter had only just broken up with MJ. At first, he thought she was nothing more than a rebound girl for him, but with the way Peter is it would be a stretch, really.
Peter’s looking better, too. His hair is still thinned out and his cheeks still hollow. There are also dark circles under his eyes, but other than that he seems to be doing so much better. Nothing a few weeks at home can’t fix, after all.
“So, how did you two meet?” May asks. And now that’s a story Tony is curious about, too. To him, it seems like Felicia was somehow always there, no?
“ESU,” Peter answers, giving Felicia a fond look. “Johnny and I were lost, we didn’t know were to go. She showed us the way.”
Tony takes in the couple in front of him. Felicia is a young woman, about Peter’s age or maybe just a little bit older. She’s got long brown hair and flashing blue eyes. She has this specific kind of face that one wouldn’t exactly forget.
Next to him, Steve seems to be liking Felicia a lot. Being a lover for the arts as well, Steve seems to find himself an excellent conversation partner in Peter’s current girlfriend.
Tony’s not going to fool himself, he can’t be sure this is the girl Peter will one day decide to marry. He’s not exactly the luckiest with the ladies. At first, when the relationship with MJ had broken up, Tony had been waiting for the two to figure their shit out and get back together. When it later then turned out MJ moved on with a certain Princess of Wakanda (aka Shuri, sister of T’Challa), Tony figures that even for his son having a love-life is complicated.
The rest of the dinner isn’t awkward at all. They get to know Felicia a lot better, and when it’s time for her to go home Peter walks her out. May and Rhodey also offer to give her a lift, which she accepts gratefully.
By the time it’s just the three of them again, Tony finds himself leaning against Steve on the couch with Peter’s head on his lap. They’re starting up the first Lord of the Rings, with no intention of finishing it since everybody’s just tired like crazy.
“I like her,” Steve eventually says while they’re watching the Hobbits having fun in what looks like a tavern.
“Yeah, so do I,” Peter jokes. Then he lets out a deep breath, like he’s hesitating on telling them something. It’s clear he eventually decides to keep his mouth shut, but now Tony finds himself curious as to what he was about to tell them.
Instead, he rolls onto his back so he can look at Tony with questioning brown eyes, face sad.
“What was she like?” he asks. Tony frowns.
“Who?” he returns. Peter shrugs.
“My mom… did she- did she seem nice? I don’t remember her that much…”
Tony lets his hand pass through Peter’s hair, fully aware that Steve is looking at him.
“Your mother loved you with every fiber in her being,” Tony assures him. “Everything she’s ever done is to keep you safe from any harm. And that includes keeping me away from you when I wasn’t that good in my head.”
Peter looks sad. Tony closes his eyes, wondering if he should tell him about it.
Steve doesn’t know if Peter should know. He doesn’t want Tony to keep things hidden from him, but just knowing it…
Tony doesn’t want to keep secrets from Peter anymore. Nothing.
“Your mother was pregnant,” he admits. Steve freezes next to him. Peter closes his eyes with a smile appearing on his lips.
“I knew,” he returns.
“How?”
“I found the pregnancy test in the trash and took it to school. When I later asked my teacher about it she told me what it was.”
“That’s nasty, Peter,” Tony says with a scrunched up face. Peter chuckles.
“I didn’t know back then that she peed on it.” Peter sighs before looking back at Tony. “Thanks for being honest with me, Dad.”
Tony smiles before leaning forward and kissing Peter’s forehead.
“I’ll always be honest to you,” he promises before grabbing Steve’s hand and kissing his knuckles as well. “Same to you.”
Steve doesn’t say anything. He just leans forward to kiss Tony’s cheek before resting his head on top of his. Silently, the three continue watching their move. Peter falls asleep before the first hour has passed.