Chapter 8
He looks so young, with his knees tucked into his chest and his hands pale and small and frail; he looks like a child – a child who went to school and faced off against a bully, and right now, every atom in Tony’s body wishes that that was the situation – that he can just make a trip down to the school and talk to the principal, but he knows better, and he knows that with a blow like that, Peter cannot recover.
So he just sits by Peter’s side, ready to shield him with his body as Peter gasps and pleads with him to save him, to make sure he won’t die, and that’s all Tony wants to do, but he can’t because it’s too late, and he can’t fix everything; he just smooths down Peter’s sweaty hair and shushes his cries, even as his own tears fall down his face.
When Peter’s eyes fall shut and his body goes still, Tony finally feels the pain of a father losing his only son.