It was a little after two in the afternoon when Tony got the text message.
'Just finished with the shipment… heading back to the city… have you heard from the kid?'
Tony bit back a groan as he read his friend's message over and over again.
Early Monday morning, a few hours before the accident, Tony had gotten a call from T'Challa about a shipment of Vibranium making its way from Wakanda to upstate New York. The metal was for the Avengers (aka Tony) to use in creating new weapons. They were trying to keep the shipment and its contents from U.S. customs (aka Ross) so they had planned to intercept it before it hit U.S. waters.
So Tony sent Happy out that morning because he knew he could trust him with this task (despite Happy still feeling guilty about the plane debacle). However, once Friday had alerted Tony to the accident, and once they had gotten everyone into the medbay, Tony had completely forgotten about Happy.
He knew that Happy and May were seeing each other – Peter had come to him one day and asked Tony himself if he thought Happy would ever hurt May – so he knew Happy would need to be told what had happened. But then Peter had woken up, Tony had stayed with him all night and had completely forgotten about Happy until he had gotten this text.
So now Tony had a choice to make – tell Happy now or wait until he came by that evening.
Tony decided this was a decision Pepper could help him make.
As quietly as Tony could, he stood up from where he had been sat on the couch. Some cartoon about superheroes in pajamas was playing on the television as Morgan took her afternoon nap next to him. Coincidentally Natasha was asleep on the couch opposite them but Tony knew better than to tease her about taking an afternoon nap. He quite liked his head where it was.
Tony tiptoed over to the elevator and waited until the doors were shut before asking Friday where his wife was.
"Mrs. Stark is down in Peter's room in the medbay. Would you like to join her"
"Wh – yes!" Tony exclaimed, brows furrowing in confusion.
Why was Pepper in Peter's room?
"Why is Pepper down in medbay?" Tony asked.
"Because Peter requested her presence." Friday responded.
"And why wasn't I alerted that Peter was awake?" Tony asked indignantly.
The elevator doors opened right as Friday answered.
"Because he did not request for you."
Tony rolled his eyes as he made his way down the hall to Peter's room. Once he stood outside his door, he softly knocked before entering.
He was definitely not prepared for what he was about to walk into.
Peter was lounged in a sitting position on his bed, Pepper sitting next to him with her arm around his shoulders, both laughing hysterically. On the other side of the room Bruce was yelling at Thor who, upon further inspection, was holding multiple broken needles. Bruce faltered in his ranting when Tony came in before starting up again.
"Tell Thor to stay out of the medical equipment Tony! Look at all of this! I don't even understand how you can bend a needle like that!" Bruce seethed.
"It's actually not that hard good doctor. Here, I can show you right now!" Thor stated which caused Peter and Pepper to burst into laughter again.
Tony decided to intervene before Bruce turned a nasty shade of green.
"Why wasn't I invited to this needle-bending party?"
Bruce rounded on Tony who instead kept his eyes on Peter.
"Peter woke up and got lonely so he asked for me to come down here and keep him company." Pepper explained a little smugly.
"You could have called me too buddy." Tony said, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"Well Friday said you were watching TV with Morgan…" Peter explained.
"She's been asleep for an hour bud."
Peter merely shrugged.
"Did you call Thor down here too?" Tony asked sarcastically.
"No, he just happened to wander down here… and find all of the needles…" Bruce muttered.
Peter bit his lip and Pepper covered her mouth with her hand, both trying to muffle their laughter. Thor simply looked confused as he turned and discarded all of the needles into a waste bin.
"Well I am off to check on the little Stark. Please call the lady in the ceiling if you need me young Peter." Thor announced.
"Natasha is also sleeping in the living room so I wouldn't wake either of them if I were you." Tony warned.
Thor's eyes widened comically before he slid past the still upset doctor and out of the door.
As Bruce busied himself with checking Peter's vitals, Tony sat down on the foot of Peter's bed and lightly squeezed his leg below the knee.
"How are you feeling kiddo?" Tony asked, eyes searching Peter's face for any signs of pain.
"Sore… really sore. I'm a little tired too but I would be able to sleep a lot better in my own room…" Peter directed that last part to Bruce who merely raised an eyebrow.
"I already told you that once you are concussion free for 24 hours and you can keep your food down then you can be released to your room." Bruce patiently responded.
"What do you mean he has to keep down his food?" Tony asked, watching as Peter's face grew red.
"Peter threw up his breakfast this morning." Pepper supplied, carefully pushing the hair off of Peter's forehead.
Peter refused to make eye contact with Tony after Pepper ratted him out, picking at his fingernails instead.
"Hey, it happens Pete. Nothing to be embarrassed about. We'll try some more food later and before you know it you'll be upstairs with Morgan doting all over you." Tony tried to reassure the teen.
Peter gave a small smile before looking up at Tony, face suddenly serious.
"How are May and Ned doing?"
Tony glanced over at Pepper who tightened her arm around Peter before looking over at Bruce who had set aside Peter's chart and taken off his glasses.
"It's important to keep in mind Peter that we have no idea what is going to happen. We only know what is happening right now. Do you understand?" Bruce explained, pulling a chair up to the bed.
Peter nodded his head slowly and braced himself for the news. Tony reached over and took ahold of Peter's hand in comfort.
"Ned has been placed in a medically induced coma. He has three spinal fractures along with other internal injuries. We decided he would heal better and faster if he could remain still and asleep." Bruce explained calmly.
Peter lightly squeezed Tony's hand as he took a deep breath, waiting to hear news about his aunt.
"May slipped into a coma of her own accord. Her injuries are incredibly severe. As of right now she is stable which is good news." Bruce said, trying to be vague yet truthful.
Tony braced himself for Peter to lightly crush his hand but instead he felt his grip grow limp. Glancing up at Peter's face, Tony was shocked at the numb, resigned look that had made its home in Peter's eyes.
"Hey," Tony soothed, squeezing Peter's hand, "We're going to get through this, okay? Whatever happens we're right here with you."
Peter slowly nodded at Tony's words but it was clear that he hadn't been listening.
"I um… I think I'm going to try and go to sleep now. If um… if I could just be left alone now…" Peter mumbled, shifting slightly out of Pepper's arms.
Tony felt Peter pull his hand out of his grasp and felt powerless as he watched him shut down right before his eyes.
"I mean, if you're sure…?" Tony trailed off, trying to meet Peter's eye but the teenager merely nodded as he stared straight ahead at the wall.
Tony glanced over and made eye contact with Pepper who nodded slowly, kissed the top of Peter's head, and got up off the bed. Bruce did the rest of his rounds quickly and then the three adults made their way out of the room. Tony paused before shutting the door, turning around to face Peter. Said boy had slid down on the bed and was laying down now, staring up at the ceiling.
"Tell Friday whenever you get lonely kid, I'll be back down here as soon as you're ready for company." Tony said.
When he realized he wasn't going to get a response out of him Tony resignedly turned around and left the room. He briefly heard Peter ask Friday to dim the lights before he followed Pepper and Bruce to the elevator.
Bruce, noticing Tony's clear agitation, spoke up, "We need to keep an eye on Peter, we shouldn't let him wallow by himself for long periods of time. However, we can't suffocate him either."
Tony nodded at Bruce's words. He knew that he shouldn't push but the idea of Peter hurting by himself when Tony could be helping him, comforting him, killed him. He decided to check in with Friday and if Peter hadn't fallen asleep within the next thirty minutes he was going back down to medbay.
It was only when the elevator was taking them up to the common floor that Tony suddenly remembered the exact reason why he had been looking for Pepper in the first place.
"Pep, I need your help." Tony said, quickly rounding on his wife.
"With what? What did you do?" Pepper asked, wide eyed.
"Nothing! Well, that's exactly my problem, I did nothing…" Tony trailed off as Pepper's eyes narrowed, "With everything going on, I forgot to tell Happy about the accident and he's coming back with the shipment of Vibranium tonight and I'm not sure what to do. He texted me a few hours ago asking if I heard from Peter because he hadn't heard from May and I just… should I text him back? Should I wait?"
By the time Tony had finished explaining his current predicament to Pepper, the elevator had stopped and the trio had wandered over to the kitchen island where Clint and Rhodey were sat. Thor was sitting on the couch with an awake Morgan and Natasha, watching TV, while Vision and Wanda were playing a card game at the kitchen table.
"Woah, take a breath there Tones." Rhodey, putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder.
"Rhodey is right Tony, take a minute and calm down. Now, if you're wanting my opinion, I think you should definitely wait for him to get here. Sit him down and explain the whole thing to him and tell him that you didn't think it was appropriate to tell him about the accident over text." Pepper replied, taking Tony's hand and lightly squeezing it.
Tony took a deep breath and nodded at his wife's words. She was right, as always. He shouldn't dump all of this on Happy through text. It would be better to explain the whole thing to him face to face. He deserved that much
"Do you want me to help you talk to him?" Rhodey asked and thank God for Rhodey because he always seemed to know exactly what Tony needed.
"Yes, please honey bear." Tony replied sweetly.
Rhodey chuckled, opening his mouth the throw out some witty retort, when Friday interrupted.
"Boss, I believe you should head back down to medbay. Peter appears to be extremely distressed."
