Comfortember Day Twenty-Six: Confrontation

Tony leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He watched Cho patch up a stab wound Peter got earlier that night on a patrol. Peter was taking it like a champ, like he always did. It was probably easy for him, considering he had been stabbed a few times in the past before.

And Tony had seen all of them. He saw every injury Peter got. Tony felt like he was getting to his breaking point and he wasn't even the one who got hurt. Right now, all he could do is watch numb and silently as Peter got patched up.

"There you go," Cho said after a couple minutes. "All better. But be careful with your movements. Don't aggravate it."

"I know." Peter nodded. "It's not my first rodeo."

For some reason that did it. Tony left the room and ignored Peter calling out to him. He wasn't in the mindset to deal with him right now. He needed to think. Peter yammering in his ear wouldn't help him with that. Besides, the kid needed rest after this.

Tony spent the rest of the night away from Peter and made sure to have FRIDAY tell him if there were any changes in his vitals. He didn't have to see Peter to know the kid was disappointed with Tony avoiding him. But he couldn't help it this time.

Peter didn't seem to understand how stressful it was whenever he came to the Tower injured. He'd made some injuries out to seem like they were no big deal and while some weren't as life threatening, there had been really close calls at times.

And of course he'd have to tell May about it too and she always expressed her fear and shock whenever these things happened. And Peter? Peter didn't seem to care at all how either one of them felt. If he did, he had a horrible way of showing it.

At 1:00AM Tony still couldn't bring himself to sleep so he put his housecoat on and headed for the balcony. It was a clear night. The New York lights overpowered whatever stars may be out. One of the cons of New York.

Thirty or so minutes passed when he heard light footsteps approach him. He didn't have to look over to see who it was. Peter stood next to him and rested his hands on the rails. He didn't miss Peter glancing up at him for a moment before looking out at the city.

"Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," Tony whispered back. "What are you doing up, young man? It's past your curfew and you were stabbed earlier."

"I couldn't sleep," Peter sighed. "I tried but there was a lot on my mind."

"Yeah, there was a lot on my mind too," Tony said. "What are you thinking about?"

Peter shrugged. "Earlier when I came in after I was, er...stabbed, and I noticed you weren't as… 'strict', I guess."

Tony frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you usually say that I'm grounded for a week and give me lectures," Peter replied. "But you didn't do any of that this time. It's kinda weird."

"Guess I forgot," Tony sighed.

"That's not like you at all." Peter frowned.

Tony rubbed his temples. He wasn't sure if he had the patience for this right now.

"Mister Stark," Peter started timidly. "Are you feeling okay?"

No. He was definitely not okay. His beloved kid was stabbed and acted like it was no big deal. But it was. It was a big deal.

"Mister Stark-"

"Kid," Tony interrupted, a bit harsher than he intended. Peter snapped his lips shut. "These feelings aren't just going to go away."

"What feelings?" Peter asked.

"The anxiety. The worry. The stress and fear," Tony listed. "Whenever you get stabbed or shot or whatever, it's not okay. It's not a 'rodeo'. It's not something to be okay with. Getting stabbed is not okay."

Peter bit his lip. After some silence, he said nervously, "I didn't realize it was that bad. I mean, I didn't realize it was that rough on you."

"Me and your aunt, kid," Tony corrected. "We're worried about you. It's hard to watch someone you love get hurt. It's even worse when you weren't there to do anything to stop it or to help. And these feelings aren't going to go away."

Tony took a deep breath. Expressing this wasn't easy and it was hard to ignore Peter's worried face. Maybe he was finally getting it. To try and drive the point home, Tony added one more thing.

"I'm always stressed thinking that one day or night I'm going to have a phone call from May or the police. I'm scared that they're going to call and say that you were fatally injured and either died on the street, or died in a hospital because no one could save you from your injuries."

Tony shook his head. His heartbeat picked up and his throat was getting clogged. Of course one of Tony's fears was Peter dying and him not being able to save him. Tony tried to protect Peter the best he could but there were times where he couldn't be by his side, as much as he wanted to.

Peter tried reassuring Tony that because he had super-healing, he'd end up okay in the end. But the truth was, Peter was just a kid and as vulnerable as everyone else. Things weren't as simple as Peter tried to make them out to be.

"I...I really didn't realize," Peter repeated quietly. "I'm really sorry, Mister Stark."

Tony shrugged, not trusting his voice.

Peter worried his lip. He said, almost hesitantly, "I'm not going to stop being Spider-Man just because you and Aunt May are scared for me."

Tony closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"I don't want you to stop. I just want you to stay alive."

Peter kept his eyes on Tony. "You know it's impossible for me to promise that I won't get hurt while I'm out there."

"Yeah, I know."

There was more silence. And then,

"But...I'll try to be more careful."

Tony sighed. "That's all I'm asking, kid."

Tony swallowed the rock in his throat. He took Peter's shoulders and turned him around and prodded him to the balcony door.

"Now, you go to bed. I don't want Aunt Hottie getting on my ass for you staying up late."

Peter pouted. "Oh, alright. And stop calling her Aunt Hottie, geeze!"

Tony managed a laugh. "I can't help myself sometimes."

Peter huffed petulantly and continued his way inside. Tony went to look back out at the sky but Peter stopped walking and called out to him.

"Tony."

"Yeah?"

Peter turned toward him, his brows creased and it almost looked like there were tears in his eyes. It all must've sunk in. Finally.

"I worry about you too, you know."

Tony kept his eyes locked on Peter's. "I know."

"Goodnight, Mister Stark."

"Goodnight, Spider-baby. Sleep tight."

With that, Peter turned and headed inside. Tony watched to make sure he was completely gone. When the coast was clear, Tony turned back around and crossed his arms on the rails staring out at the sky.

Author's Note: This was another day I was looking forward to because I feel like it's about time that Tony and Peter have a chat about whenever Peter gets injured on patrols.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki