Tony stood outside in the fresh air calling Dr Strange. The first call was declined, but Tony was persistent if nothing else. He tried again and again. They continued to be declined, until finally on the seventh try, Strange picked up.
"What, Stark?" The man snarled and Tony winced at the use of his surname, "I'm busy, so make it quick."
"I…I wanted to call and apologise for everything. I've talked to Peter and he's explained everything-"
"Oh goodie, we have permission from your son to date." He snarked sarcastically, Tony just sighed.
"I really am sorry. But, you've got to know that my son is the most important thing in my life and he always will be. I…I just wanted you to know that I'd love to continue dating." Strange sighed heavily down the line,
"Look. I've really got to go, Tony. But, we'll talk more when I get back." Then he hung up and Tony didn't know what to think. On one hand, the man called him by his name towards the end, but on the other, all he said was they'd talk and then he hung up. That didn't sound too promising.
The genius placed his phone in his pocket and looked up at the greying sky with a heavy sigh. He stayed out there until rain began to pour and drench his scruffy workshop attire.
—LINE BREAK—
Peter was watching from the upstairs window as his dad continued to call the sorcerer and he knew it wasn't good news when his dad stayed out until the rain came down on him. Even then, the man seemed hesitant to come inside. The teenager was contemplating whether he should go and talk to his dad or if he should go and find one of his uncles or his aunt -though the latter was probably back at work and Thor had most likely returned to New Asgard.
Just as he made up his mind, he saw Steve watching his dad and Peter's eyes narrowed. He recalled his dad's odd behaviour when they had talked, the man had seemed on edge, his lips seemed sore, his hair was scruffier than normal (when he was in the workshop, he didn't exactly maintain his hair) and looking back, Peter remembered that in his dad's coffee eyes fear lingered.
He stomped over to Steve, who had turned to him with a raised eyebrow. The blond was trying to turn his scowl into a kind smile, but it turned into a grimace more than anything else.
"Peter!" He called, but the teen was having none of it and was thankful for his own super strength when he pushed the man into the wall,
"What did you do to my dad earlier?" He growled out, his usually innocent and loving expression changing into one resembling protectiveness and anger,
"I don't understand, why don't you calm down a bit, Peter and tell me what's going on? I think you're a bit stressed because of your dad and that Dr Strange." Steve spat the sorcerer's name out,
"I swear to god, Rogers. You will leave my dad alone. I've already fucked up his chance with Dr Strange and I won't let you worsen their chances of getting together again."
"And you think you can stop me?" Steve's kind facade faded into one of jealousy, anger and Peter could've sworn he saw possessiveness swirling in the man's icy blue eyes,
"I can try."
"But he won't have to because if you fuck anything up, Rogers, I will personally see to your demise." The two enhanced males turned to see Carol Danvers striding towards them, a glow in her eyes and her hands as she walked with purpose. "And you can bet your sorry arse that I can stop you. If you're lucky I'll be saving you from Thor, Rhodey and let's not forget about Pepper. That woman will tear you a new one before wiping her Jimmy Choo's on you and leaving you to rot." That was enough for Steve, the man just sighed angrily and stormed away, "Pete, Rhodey was worried about you."
"I was just about to go to him. Thank you, Ms Danvers."
"Call me Carol, kid." She smiled, ruffling his hair once, she wandered off and left the young man alone.
—LINE BREAK—
"Peter. We need to talk about what you did." Rhodey stated when Peter entered the man's office,
"I know what I did was wrong-"
"Peter. I'm not…" He sighed, "I'm not telling you off, I just need to explain something to you. Before I do, I know you didn't truly understand the extent of your actions. You're young and innocent and somewhat naive at times. Peter," Rhodey held the boy's hand from across the desk, "your actions were a form of emotional abuse." Rhodey closed his eyes not daring to look at the horror on the boy's face, his gasp had said it all.
"I…no…I didn't mean to…Uncle Rhodey, am I a bad person?"
"No. Peter, you are not a bad person. Never think that, okay?"
"But-"
"You didn't know. All you wanted to do was protect your dad even if you went about it the wrong way. Next time, kid, just tell your dad that you don't want to see him hurt, that you want to make sure the person he's dating is good enough."
"No one will ever be good enough for dad."
"That's exactly what I thought. But, before the two became official, I'd seen how your dad was with Dr Strange and, kid, I've never seen that man so happy and young with someone other than you." Rhodey wiped several tears of Peter's away after he moved to crouch in front of the boy's chair,
"But, what if he's another Steve Rogers?" He whispered,
"Peter…if the two get back together, then watch them interact. Really watch them. They are practically made for one another." The two shared a small smile, "And if he hurts Tony? We kill him." He joked but Peter could see underlying truth in his words. "We good, kid?"
"Yeah…I really am sorry."
"I know you are. We all know you are." Rhodey pressed a kiss to the top of his head as he stood up. Peter left once he'd gotten control of his emotions.
—LINE BREAK—
"Dad are you okay?"
"Hmm? Yes. I'm fine. Are you?" It was such a blatant lie that Peter couldn't help but wince. His dad's eyes were red and he could faintly see a tear mark or two on his cheeks. Peter sighed and sat beside the man,
"No, you're not." He murmured,
"It's fine, kiddo. I fucked up."
"But you didn't!" Peter exclaimed, "It was all my fault so Dr Strange shouldn't hold it against you!" Tony tugged his son down again and Peter realised he must've stood up, the man kept his hands cupped over the teens,
"Peter. Whether you instigated it or not, I am the adult and I chose to break up with Stephen. Kid, let your guilt go." Peter couldn't help but tear up, he hadn't meant to cause so many problems, "I know you didn't." Peter also didn't realise he had said that last bit out loud.
"Right!" Tony exclaimed minutes later, clapping his hands together as he stood up. "I have some things to work on in here and I believe it's past your bedtime, young man, so chop chop."
"Night, dad."
"Night, kiddo," Tony whispered as he watched the boy leave, once the door was closed and Peter's was out of sight, Tony slumped down into his desk chair and rubbed at his forehead. His mind was a mess and he was exhausted. He looked over at his phone but like ten minutes ago, there were still no texts or missed phone calls from Dr Strange -or 'Wizard' as that was the sorcerer's name in Tony's phone.
—LINE BREAK—
He stumbled into his bedroom at two in the morning. Exhaustion had finally taken hold of him and he could barely keep his eyes open long enough to strip and change into his pyjamas. Nightmares left him alone as he slept passed dawn and lunch. He awoke tired like a long amount of sleep tended to make you feel, yet equally refreshed, he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so long.
The Avengers alarm went off minutes after Tony woke up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he stretched and pressed his arc reactor, his new and improved Bleeding Edge Armour suit, Mark 51 swiftly covered his skin like water before he took off out his window and headed to the location where the teams newest villain was causing chaos.
Here's my tumblr if you're interested, it also has the story collages: anxious- - -soul (no spaces between the dashes but sucks and wouldn't allow the dashes without spaces)
Anyway,
Thank you for reading,
Hope you enjoyed this,
Please review,
No hate -don't like, don't read
Bye~
