Chapter Text
When they made it back to the Tower, Peter had dozed off. Tony felt bad for having to wake him, but a bed was going to be more comfortable than the car.
“Kid,” Tony said, gently shaking his shoulder. “Kid, we’re here.” Peter made a small noise and opened his eyes. He looked around, confused for a second, before remembering.
“Oh,” Peter said quietly. Tony sighed to himself before getting out of the car. Peter followed after him, his head down. As they rode the elevator, Tony could hear sniffles coming from Peter.
“Oh kid,” Tony said gently, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulder. Peter desperately wiped at his face with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, trying to hide that he was crying. Tony gave his shoulder another squeeze, trying to remind the boy that he was there. The rest of the elevator ride was silent, with only a few sniffles from Peter filling the silence. When they reached the penthouse, Tony stepped out first, Peter sticking close to his side.
“Here we are,” Tony said, stepping into the common room. Peter looked around. He had been there before, many times. But it felt different. Tony waited for Peter to say something and when he didn’t Tony continued. “You probably want to shower and change. You know where your room is.” Peter just nodded. “I’m just going to be out here, okay?” Peter nodded again before heading down the hallway. As he stepped into the room that was designated as his, he frowned.
The room was nice enough. There was a queen sized bed, which Peter always found to be too big after sleeping in a twin-sized for years. There was no decoration to the room, other than a large periodic table over the bed. It had been nice to Tony to set up the room for him, but it didn’t feel like his.
He quickly rid himself of his clothes and entered the attached bathroom (an idea that was foreign to him after living in an apartment with one bathroom his whole life). He was sure he would’ve been fine, until he stepped into the shower and held his hands up to the water. As the dried blood ran off his hands, the first sob bubbled out of his throat.
May was gone. She was gone and nothing was going to change. He sobbed into the water, his tears mixing in with the water.
His only family left was gone. And he didn’t know how to handle that.
Tony was worried about Peter from the moment he walked out of the room. He could tell the kid was taking this hard. And Tony just wanted to say the right thing to him to help Peter. After about twenty minutes of Peter leaving the common room, Tony decided he should check in on the kid.
“FRIDAY, where’s Peter?”
“Mr. Parker is in the first guest room, sitting on the bed.” Tony sighed, wondering what kind of thoughts were running through the kids’ head as he just sat there.
“Thanks FRI,” Tony said, heading towards Peter’s room. “And please refer to the first guest room as Peter’s room from now on.”
“Yes boss.” Tony reached the door and knocked. When there was no response, Tony opened the door slightly and peered in.
“Peter?” As FRIDAY had told him, Peter was sitting on the bed, wearing a navy blue shirt and sweatpants, both reading Stark Industries. His hair was slightly wet, a towel discarded nearby. “Kid?” Peter looked up. Tony could see his eyes were red. Tony sighed and sat down next to Peter.
“Do you want something to eat?” Tony offered. Peter shook his head. “Is there anything I can do kid?”
“I...I don’t…” Peter’s voice trailed off, fresh tears pouring down his face.
“I know kid, I know,” Tony said gently. “I know it’s going to be difficult. But I’m right here okay. You’re not alone.” Peter nodded numbly. “Maybe try and sleep.” He patted Peter’s shoulder and then got up. “My room’s just across the hall. If you need anything, just ask FRIDAY to alert me.” He then turned towards the door.
“Mister Stark.” Tony turned back around. “I just... I wanted to say…”
“No thanks needed kiddo,” Tony said, smiling kindly at him. And then he left the room. Peter moved so he was lying down on the bed. The mattress was softer than his. He didn’t know if he liked that. He just knew it was different. As he listened to his surroundings, he only heard the faint mutterings of Tony as his feet moved across the floor. Peter sniffled, realizing he’d never fall asleep after knowing May was sound asleep again. He’d always listen for her even breathing, just to know that she was safe. But she wasn’t safe. She was gone.
Peter buried his face into the pillow, trying to cover up the sobs bubbling out of his throat. May was gone and he didn’t know how to live with that.
“Pep, it’s me.” Tony was standing in the middle of his room, the phone pressed to his ear. “Look, I need you to call me. Something happened with the kid. Just...just call me as soon as you get this.” Tony ended the call and sighed. There was so much he had to do, but he was worried about Peter. The teenager was clearly distraught over losing his aunt and Tony didn’t know how to help him. He didn’t handle loss well either. When his parents died, he went on a bender that would’ve lasted forever, if Rhodey hadn’t pulled him out of it. When he lost Jarvis, he had been inconsolable. He never dealt with those emotions properly. And now he had to help Peter through it and he didn’t know if he could.
He broke out of his thoughts when his phone started ringing. He glanced at it, hoping it was Pepper. He sighed when he saw it wasn’t, but still answered it.
“Thanks for calling me back so late,” Tony said. “I’m going to need some paperwork drawn up.”
Peter woke with a start, images of headlights and the sound of glass breaking and metal crunching haunting him. His breathing was heavy and he gripped onto the bed sheets, trying to calm down. He tried to rid his mind of those images; of the car coming towards them, of May screaming. He shook his head, trying to push it out of his mind, as he tried to breathe normally.
“Mister Parker,” He looked around, startled, before realizing it was FRIDAY’s voice. “It appears you are in distress. Shall I alert boss?”
“N-no!” Peter shouted. “D-don’t wake Mister Stark.”
“Boss is not asleep,” FRIDAY intoned. “He is currently in his workshop. Shall I alert him?”
“No thank you,” Peter said. He slowly got up. When he went to check the time on his phone, he realized he didn’t have it. “Oh.” It was then he remembered what happened to his phone. He had been texting Ned right before the accident. It had flown out of his hand and into the window, before being crushed by the other car. “FRIDAY? What time is it?”
“4 AM.” Peter sighed, before heading out of the room. He wondered if Tony always was up this early. He made his way towards the elevator, before hitting the button for Tony’s workshop. He knew that floor well enough. In fact, it was the place he was most comfortable with in the whole tower, unlike the room he had been sleeping in. When he reached the workshop, he could see Tony sitting at the center work table. He gently knocked on the door. Tony looked up, a little startled by the noise. His expression softened when he saw Peter. Peter heard the familiar click of the door and he pushed it open.
“Hey kid,” Tony said, putting the tool in his hand down. “Everything okay?” Peter walked over and sat down on the stool next to him.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He was lying, of course. But how could he tell Tony, Iron Man, his mentor and actual hero, that he had had a nightmare?
“Ah,” Tony said, trying to fill the silence. Peter nodded.
“Are you always up this early?” Peter asked, looking at what Tony was working on. It was a Stark Tablet, but it had been taken apart.
“Early?” Tony asked. “FRI, what time is it?”
“4:05 AM boss.” Tony nodded, a slight smirk on his face.
“So you didn’t go to sleep?” Peter asked.
“Had a lot on my mind,” Tony said. “And I tinker when that happens.” Peter nodded and the room fell silent again. He looked at the disassembled item in front of him. He used to do that with old computers he found in the garbage. He had long since stopped that since Tony had started inviting him to the lab to work with, as he put it, ‘technology from this decade’.
“Kid?” Tony asked. Peter looked up, realizing Tony was talking to him. “I was asking if you wanted to help me.”
“With the tablet?” Peter asked. Tony nodded. “Oh, um, sure. Why’d you take it apart in the first place?”
“I was bored,” Tony said. He smiled a little when he saw a faint hint of a smirk on Peter’s face. “And R&D says this model is running slower so I thought maybe it was the hard drive.”
“Is it?”
“No,” Tony said. “So, time to put it back together.”
“Seems like a lot of work,” Peter said, eyeing the pieces. Tony glanced at Peter, a soft smile on his face.
“Some things are worth the work to put them back together.” Peter looked up at Tony. When the meaning of his words became clear, Peter’s lip quivered a little. Without another word, he just hugged Tony tightly. Tony hugged him back, resting his chin on Peter’s head. Maybe this was all he needed to do. Maybe just being there for Peter was enough. He didn’t know yet, but he was damn sure going to try.
“Thanks Mister Stark.”
“Anytime kid.” And then they got to work.