Chapter 6 – Day 3

The next morning Tony received the parcels which contained Peter's new clothes he had ordered, Tony resolved to have them put away in Peter's room sometime after breakfast; he had a feeling that the kid wouldn't be willing to accept them if he just handed them over. Finishing his mug of coffee, he asked FRIDAY if Peter was awake yet and to alert him when the kid was up before checking the time (8:45am) and heading to his office to start the day. An hour and a half later, FRIDAY informed him that Peter had stirred and Tony put down his pen, locked his laptop and made his way towards their sleeping quarters. Coming to a stop, he knocked smartly on the door before entering to find Peter sat up and rubbing his face tiredly. Tony noticed the bags evident under the kid's eyes and privately resolved to ask FRIDAY how much sleep Peter had managed later before cheerfully greeting the drowsy teenager. "Got something special planned today" he informed Peter brightly as he clapped his hands together, "gotta do something in the lab, you coming?"

Peter looked at Tony in surprise before nodding, he jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom before following the man downstairs. Sitting down, he watched as Tony prepared him breakfast and handed him a cup of orange juice, stifling a yawn Peter picked up his cutlery before taking a few bites. When he was finished, he muttered a quick thanks before looking at Tony for the next move. "Come on then" Tony offered before leading his charge down to the lower levels, stopping outside the door he entered in the combination and scanned his handprint before beckoning for Peter to follow him into the lab.

Peter sat as Tony worked on making some adjustments inside an Iron Man helmet when the man suddenly asked him a question about his web shooters. Peter jumped at the sudden noise before offering an answer, Tony nodded thoughtfully before adding that Peter could work on them as well if he wanted. Peter merely shrugged, he hadn't thought about his Spiderman alias in a couple of days and honestly, he currently felt nothing but apathy towards it with everything going on; he knew that made him a bad person but he couldn't quite bring himself to care. Tony frowned slightly when he saw Peter's reaction but didn't press, instead he asked the kid to pass him something and thanked him when Peter handed it to him. Continuing that way for a while, Tony occasionally requested various things as Peter hunted them down and handed them over in comfortable silence before the kid approached him cautiously, "what are you doing Mr Stark?" Peter asked quietly.

"This helmet isn't responding as smoothly as it should" Tony replied steadily, concentrating as he fiddled with various screws and alan keys. Peter watched from the side as Tony placed the helmet over his head, the metal plate slowly made its descent to cover Tony's face but it appeared to struggle as it slotted into place. "Shit" Tony muttered as he ripped the helmet off his head again before returning to his tinkering, as he worked and Peter watched he broke the silence once more. "Things have been rough kid, I know. I was thinking we should discuss the apartment in Queens – hand me that crosshead screwdriver, no; the little one" Tony stated evenly as Peter's face read first shock before moving to find the requested item. Handing it over, Peter offered a nod before staring at the ground, "Thanks, was there a day you've been thinking of?" Tony asked him, keeping his eyes on his handiwork. Peter released a steady sigh, unable to look up from the floor; "n-not really, Mr Stark… it just feels… you know?" he murmured quietly.

Tony kept tweaking the bracket of the helmet as he nodded thoughtfully before telling Peter there was no rush but they did have to discuss May's arrangements sooner rather than later. Peter stilled, sadness spread through him as he thought of May led alone in a hospital morgue, her lifeless body once again filled his mind and the urge to retreat grew strong within him. Before he could leave the lab however, Tony interrupted his movements by asking him to hand over something else and Peter moved to find the required tool. Tony frowned at the object in front of him before calling Peter closer to take a look, Peter froze before unsteadily making his way over and peered around Tony. "What do you think kid. I can't seem to tweak this screw here enough; I think the thread inside holding the screw is bust" Tony offered thoughtfully as Peter looked closer. "Yeah… I think you're right Mr Stark, maybe try pulling it out?" Peter replied hesitantly. Tony made eye contact with Peter thoughtfully before gesturing for the kid to try and when he failed, Peter looked around for a screwdriver that was magnetic. Hovering over the screw head, he carefully manoeuvred the helmet so it was turned on its side and the screw slipped out of place. Looking up briefly to pick up a replacement part and moving to dismantle the side of the helmet, Peter placed the new piece inside the helmet which held a hole for the now-absent screw. He found the screw he had placed to his left moments ago and screwed it back into place quickly before testing the movement of the faceplate. Peter frowned as he noticed it was still not working correctly before bending over to look fully inside the helmet. As he muttered to himself and carefully prodded at various bits, Tony carefully approached the subject again. "So Pete… you had any thoughts on what I said?" Peter frowned and moved the light so he could see better, trying to grasp something as he responded miserably "I mean, yeah Mr Stark I agree but… nobody knows about it, not even Ned…" Tony's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he watched Peter work, "you haven't told Ned?" he asked calmly as Peter shook his head; "I, well, I…I haven't really umm talked t-to Ned Mr Stark". Tony automatically nodded as he came closer to watch what Peter was doing, fighting to keep his breathing even as he pondered how to phrase his next words before making up his mind; Tony quietly told Peter he should let Ned know when he could. Peter's movements stilled as he fought to maintain control over the sudden tears that blurred his vision once again and sniffled loudly. He wiped his hand across his face hastily before responding again, "I guess, it's just… how… how do you tell someone…that? How do I explain where I am now and why?" Peter asked fretfully, his composure bordering dangerously close to breaking. "It's not easy kid, hell it's shit - I get that… but Ned's your friend, he'd want to know" Tony pushed gently as he hesitantly brought his hand to clasp Peter's shoulder, the boy stilled at the contact before exhaling and closing his eyes as he nodded in defeat. A few seconds passed and neither of them broke the silence as Peter once again began messing about inside the helmet, Tony allowed it to continue before adding quietly that Peter wouldn't be alone for any of it. Truthfully he felt uncomfortable at the unusually blatant support he had just proclaimed but he knew Peter needed it. Peter's shoulders sagged and he slowly nodded his head again, his mind registering surprise at Tony's words; after a few seconds he moved to look closer at the helmet again before picking up a pair of tweezers. Digging about carefully, Peter let out a quiet cry of triumph as he finally pulled the minute stray piece of metal he had been trying to dislodge from the hinge before fitting the faceplate back into place.

Staring in surprise, Tony watched as Peter placed the stray piece of metal into a petri dish before he turned to face him. Even though Peter wouldn't make eye contact with the man, Tony still felt they had finally gotten somewhere even if it was a small step forward and he grinned down feeling cautiously relieved. "Think this might be it, kid!" Tony called out happily as he picked up the helmet and once again placed it over his head, satisfied as the faceplate slid into place smoothly.

Peter smiled and blushed as Tony offered him a brief high-five, "way to go Spider-boy!" Tony cried out. "Spider-man!" Peter corrected, his lips curving upwards in a brief sign of amusement as he brought his hand to Tony's. Chuckling, Tony clapped him on the shoulder once more before steering Peter towards the exit, "did good today kid – my hands are clearly too big for this". A small chuckle fell from Peter's own lips as they made their way back upstairs, it was now early afternoon and Tony sent Peter off to his room to shower; he knew Rhodey had planted the fresh clothing in Peter's draws for him while they had been working together. Tony felt proud of himself, digging out the old Iron Man helmet had been a stroke of genius because it was fiddly enough – perfect for Peter's hands – but also not too difficult that you couldn't semi-concentrate on a conversation at the same time. He watched Peter enter his room before making his way into his and jumping in the shower.

Peter closed his door and made his way to his bathroom to turn on the shower, as he waited for the water to heat up he couldn't stop feeling like he'd done something productive today and he looked down at his greased fingertips feeling some slight satisfaction briefly. Stepping into the shower and letting the warm water run over his head and shoulders, he found his mind travelling back over the conversation that had just taken place between him and Tony. The dread returned as he thought back over the man's words and he groaned inwardly, Ned was his best friend – he was – but Peter really didn't feel ready for THAT conversation yet. He closed his eyes feeling resigned and just let himself feel the water running over his body as it soothed his aching muscles from lack of sleep; how do you even tell someone that anyway, he wondered in dismay. It had only been just over 2 days – 3 counting this morning, but his sleeping pattern was fucked and he found it almost felt longer to him. Had it really been only 3 days since he last saw her? Peter found himself shivering, the misery returning with a gusto though truthfully it hadn't truly ever left him. He knew Tony was right about everything, he knew he'd have to face going to the apartment sooner or later and he definitely needed to make arrangements for Aunt May. He viciously scrubbed at his scalp, the need to feel clean driving his actions before he let out an exhausted sigh – how many hours had he slept, 8 in the last couple of days maybe? – but he couldn't rid himself of the dark thoughts that swam in his mind anyway.

Turning the shower off and grunting in frustration, he made his way out of the shower without thinking of anything other than the dull ache of grief that consumed his soul and he found himself feeling awful at the thought of Aunt May still resting in the hospital morgue; he hadn't even gone back to see her once Tony had showed up to get him.

Towelling himself off he frowned at the discarded clothes in his room at the thought of putting dirty items back on his body before he noted one of his draws weren't fully shut, something poking out of it. Making his way forward, he grasped and pulled the draw open and his eyes widened in surprise at the different items of clothing that greeted him with new tags still attached. Eyebrows shooting up as his hand stilled, he noted fresh t-shirts, jeans, joggers and boxers and socks, his face heating up in embarrassment as he thought of Tony arranging for these items to be delivered for him – he hoped the man had made FRIDAY or Happy do it. Flitting through them, he chose a pair of grey sweatpants and a dark blue t-shirt and sighed in contentment at the feeling against his skin. His stomach rumbled unexpectedly loudly and he forced himself to leave the sanctuary of his room in favour of food.