The video recording of Peter's suit had been playing on a loop for a while now. Tony watched as Peter was thrown off the Pegasus and dodged the laser blasts raining down from above. Tony's heart clenched at the small yelp Peter let out before the screen went black. He knew he was only tormenting himself by watching the footage. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off the screen as Peter once again activated Instant Kill right before he was overrun by aliens.
Tony had allowed a doctor to check on him some time ago at T'Challa's insistence. The king himself had guided him to a guest room after he'd been cleared. And while every single fiber of his being was telling him to go back to the medical wing the moment he was left alone, he knew it would be pointless. He had already sent them Peter's entire medical file, there was nothing left for him to do but wait. Tony cursed, he hated this helpless feeling. What did it matter that he had all the money and tech in the world if he couldn't even use it to help his kid?
Tony had accepted a long time ago that the universe was unfair and probably out to get him, but right now it was being downright cruel. For Peter, he'd brought back half the universe. But now that everyone was back and reunited with their friends and family, Peter was being ripped away from him again. Tony would have laughed at the irony if it didn't hurt so damn much.
An alert from FRIDAY interrupted Tony's thoughts. 'You have an incoming call, boss', she said.
'I don't care', Tony replied.
'It's Happy Hogan, sir', FRIDAY 'Shall I hang up?'
Tony sighed. 'No, put him through.'
Happy's face replaced the footage of Peter a moment later. 'Hey, Tony! What the hell is going on?' Happy asked. 'I'm outside of the car park now and it's a total mess out here, no joke. People suddenly appeared out of nowhere, traffic's blocked up by accidents, people are crying in the streets, and others are saying that the aliens are invading New York again!' Happy turned the camera so Tony could see the chaos on the streets. 'I'm so confuse- hey, are you all right? You look terrible.'
Tony almost snorted at Happy's bluntness. 'Thanks.' He said. Tony knew he looked terrible. He was still wearing his under armor and he was completely covered in dust. He was tired, mentally and physically. It must've shown on his face.
Happy switched the camera again and Tony was met with his frown. 'What happened?'
'It's- I don't-' Tony let out a shaky breath and tried again. 'It's the kid.' He said.
'Peter? He's back?' Happy asked in disbelieve. A smile broke on Happy's face. 'Does this mean that everyone is back? You guys saved half the universe?' Happy paused suddenly. 'Wait, you're not- you said Peter, what did he do? How bad is it?'
Tony ran a hand through his hair. 'I don't know if he's going to make it.' Tony answered honestly. It was a thought that he hadn't dared to speak out loud before.
'Jesus Christ', Happy breathed . ' Okay, where are you? I'm coming.'
'Wakanda', Tony told him. 'I'm at the palace with the rest of the team.'
Happy looked taken aback. 'Wakanda? Why the hell are you- never mind. I'll be there in six hours.'
'You can take the jet', Tony said. 'Pepper, she-'
'Is she with you?' Happy asked.
'No', Tony said. 'She's in New York with her parents.' She'd stayed behind to check on Morgan. And while Tony was desperate to have his wife and daughter with him, it was clear that Morgan would have to stay with her grandparents a while longer until everything calmed down. 'Pepper will explain everything.'
'Is there anything else I can do?' Happy asked. 'Anything you need?' He's such a mother hen , Tony thought.
Tony sighed. 'Yeah, May. She- she deserves to know. Can you bring her along?'
'Yeah, of course.' Happy said. 'I'll try to break it to her gently.' Tony knew he was a being coward for leaving the explaining to Pepper instead of breaking the news to May himself. But he'd promised May that he'd protect Peter. And now that he'd failed, he didn't know how he could face her again.
'And Tony?' Happy said. His voice had taken on a gentler tone. 'Take care of yourself, okay? Peter will pull through, I'm sure of it. He's not one to give up.' He'd hung up then. The recording started playing again, filling the silent room with blasts and Peter's cries once more. I should take a shower , Tony thought. He'd feel better after he'd washed away the dirt and turned off the recordings. He lied down on the bed. I'll do it in a moment.
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The door of Tony's room opened. Light poured in from the hallway, illuminating the dark room. 'Tony?' Rhodey called hesitantly from the doorway. Tony heard him enter the room, but did not take his eyes off the ceiling. The footsteps came closer and halted near where Tony presumes must've been the hologram. 'Jesus , is this what you've been doing the whole time?' Rhodey asked. Tony didn't bother answering. 'FRIDAY, turn it off', Rhodey commanded. The audio stopped. Tony heard Rhodey approach the bed, he could feel his best friend's eyes on him. Tony pointedly ignored him. Rhodey sighed. 'C'mon, let's get you cleaned up.' He reached out to help Tony up, but Tony slapped his hand away. 'I'm fine', he grumbled.
'No, you're not.' Rhodey said. He slid an arm beneath Tony's neck and forced him to sit up. 'Go have a shower, you reek.'
'Give me a moment', Tony said, having no intention of actually getting up.
'Tony ,' Rhodey warned. 'I've sponge bathed you before, don't think I won't do it again.'
'I can take care of myself', Tony grumbled. But he didn't resist when Rhodey helped him stand up.
'Not when you're like this, you can't', Rhodey said. 'But it's okay, that's what I'm here for. At least you're not hungover this time.' He added as an afterthought.
'I wish I was', Tony muttered against Rhodey's shoulder.
'No, you don't. Now come on.'
Rhodey practically dragged Tony to the bathroom and helped him out of his clothes. He even turned on the water before he sat down on the toilet and motioned to Tony to get on with it. 'You know,' Tony said as he inspected a bottle of what he assumed was shampoo, 'I'm am perfectly capable of taking a shower without you watching.'
Rhodey huffed a laugh. 'You're an old man now, someone's gotta keep an eye on you and make sure you don't slip and fall in the shower.'
'Ouch, that hurts, you know?' Tony said. But he was grateful that Rhodey knew him well enough not to try and talk to him about Peter. At this point, Tony was pretty certain that he'd break down or start screaming if anyone even tried to console him again.
Tony stuck a hand past the glass panel when he finished. 'Towel.'
Rhodey sighed but a towel was dumped in Tony's hand a moment later. 'T'Challa said something about fresh clothes in the drawer under the sink.' Rhodey told him, walking over to the door. 'I'm sure you'll be able to find something that fits.' He stepped out of the bathroom and left Tony to dress.
There was indeed clothing laid out in the dresser. Tony pulled a typical Wakandan cotton shirt over his head. The clothes were nice and fit perfectly, though he did have to wear women's pants since Wakandan men were apparently much taller than him. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Rhodey was waiting in one of the armchairs. He'd also pulled open the curtains. With the sunlight streaming in and the view over the entire city, the room appeared much less depressing.
'Thanks for your help', Tony said curtly when he walked passed. 'But I'm fine now, so go bother someone else.' He flopped face-first onto the bed. 'Close the door on your way out.'
'Oh no, nope. Get up', Rhodey chastised. 'You can't stay cooped up here forever, you're coming with me. They prepared food for all of us in the dining hall. You have to eat.'
'Not hungry.' Tony muttered against the covers. He didn't have the energy to deal with other people right now.
'Tony', Rhodey said sternly. 'We're not doing this again. We're not young anymore. We both have responsibilities we cannot ignore. Even if you don't give a shit about the world right now, your kids need you to be there for them. You won't be able to help if you're wasting away.'
Tony sat up slowly and turned to look at his friend. 'Why', he said. 'do you always have to make so much sense? It's incredibly annoying.'
'It's my superpower', Rhodey answered. 'You guys may be geniuses or have super strength, but I have common sense and take no bullshit.'
Tony grunted in annoyance as he dragged himself towards the door.
'Whatever, Mr. No Bullshit, let's go.'
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Rhodey led the way to the dining hall. They walked down the hallway, the windows reached from the floor to the ceiling and the walls were decorated with pieces that Tony assumed was Wakandan art. Tony decided that it was a lot nicer than those stuffy European palaces he'd visited. When they finally arrived at the dining hall, there were guards stationed in front of the door, but they let them enter without a word.
The dining hall was large and spacious, much like the rest of the palace. The long dining table functioned as a buffet, with piles of food and delicacies enough to feed a hoard of supersoldiers. Most of the Avengers had gathered in the dining hall, they were eating and talking among themselves. But the moment Tony and Rhodey walked in, their conversations died down and the atmosphere tensed. Fine , Tony thought. He wasn't in the mood for chitchat anyway. Tony walked over to the table and grabbed something that vaguely resembled a cinnamon roll before he stalked over to the window. The conversations picked up hesitantly after a while, though Tony could still feel the worried stares of his teammates on him. He looked out the window. The city was filled with colorful flags and if Tony squinted, he could make out large groups of people gathered around in different parts of the city. It seemed as if they were preparing for some festive celebration. The view made Tony scowl despite himself. He should be happy for the rest of the world. The Avengers had brought back half the universe and restored the balance for them. The people deserved to celebrate this victory, even though it did not feel like one to Tony at all.
Someone came to stand next to him. Tony looked up and saw T'Challa holding out a plate with food. 'The people are setting up the preparations for ubusuku yoloyiso ', he told Tony, who shook his head at the offered food. 'It means 'the night of the victory'', T'Challa continued, popping a berry in his mouth. 'It's an ancient Wakandan tradition, though I have never actually participated in one this large before. We're a covert country, we didn't fight any battles outside our own lands. Tonight, we mourn those we have lost and pray for those who are still fighting their personal battles. Tomorrow, we will celebrate the start of a new beginning. You're welcome to join the festivities if you want, this is a commemoration meant to celebrate all the warriors who have fought for our freedom.'
'No thanks', Tony declined. 'I don't feel up for a party yet. Besides, it's not as if I've done anything worth celebrating.'
'Don't say that.' Bruce said, walking up to them with a concerned frown. 'Those people out there wouldn't be here at all if you hadn't found a way for us to travel back in time. You invented time travel , Tony. That's a hell of a feat if you ask me.'
Tony scoffed. 'Yeah, and then we managed to fuck up the timelines so badly that Thanos number two almost killed off half the universe again.' Tony's voice rang through the dining hall. The entire room had quieted down to listen at this point. 'And if it wasn't enough, apparently, we were doing so poorly that a fucking sixteen-year-old had to sacrifice himself to save our asses!'
'Peter made his choice', Carol said calmly, standing up from the table. 'There's nothing we can do about it now.' Anger rose up within Tony at her comment. 'And you!' He cried as he stalked over to her. 'We all saw you tear apart a whole spaceship with your bare hands, and now you're telling me you couldn't even take a goddamn glove from a kid?'
'He had already almost clapped his hands before I arrived', Carol said, glaring down coolly at him. 'He was determined to do it, nothing could have changed that. You need to respect his choice.'
'Like hell I will!' Tony gritted. 'It was never his job to save the universe! He's just a kid, he shouldn't have had to make the choice in the first place!' Steve stepped in and tried to play peacemaker between the two of them but both Tony and Carol were not backing down from a fight. Tony knew he was being petty by projecting his anger onto his friends and laying the blame with them, but then again, he'd never been one for healthy coping mechanisms so why should he start now?
'Listen, Stark,' Carol said, 'I tried to talk him out of it. I told him not to be a hero. You want to know what he said? He told me that he had to because he was an Avenger. But more importantly, because it's what you would have done.'
Fuck . Of course that would've been Peter's reasoning. And even though Tony had told him time and time again that he should not , under any circumstances, do whatever Tony would do, the kid had gone and done it anyway. But before Tony could go off on a rant about how she should've just grabbed the thing and gone instead of being misled by Peter's pretty words, he saw Strange enter the dining hall. One glance at the serious look on the man's face made a memory of the battle resurface. Suddenly, Tony was filled with newfound rage. ' You.' He growled, shoving past Steve and Carol to get to Strange. Tony grabbed the man by the collar and shoved him against the nearest wall. The guards, the Dora M-whatever immediately jumped into action with their spears raised and pointed at him. Tony paid them no heed. ' You bastard!' He growled at Strange. 'You knew that he was going to snap. That's why you refused to tell me what was going to happen.'
Strange remained annoyingly calm. 'No.' He said. 'I didn't know that it would happen. Peter shouldn't have used the gauntlet.'
'Then what did you see,' Tony snapped. 'Weren't you supposed to know it all? That's what you've been telling all of us since the beginning.'
Strange kept quite, which only pissed Tony off more. 'It was supposed to be you', Strange said at last. Tony's resolve broke at those words. He let go of his grip on Strange and slid down against the wall. 'You should've been the one to snap', Strange continued. 'You were supposed to die to save us all.'
'I know ', Tony groaned. 'I knew from the start that it would be me. Everything was done , I was ready to go.'
'Tony…' Tony almost laughed at the shocked and concerned looks on his teammates' faces. Almost. Instead, he looked up at Strange and asked, 'Why didn't it happen?'
The wizard grimaced. 'That's what I wanted to know as well', he confessed. 'I took the Time Stone from the gauntlet and I've spent some time looking through all- well some of the infinite timelines. Half a billion, to be precise. The chances of us winning were about one in twenty million. And every time, it was either you or Peter who took the gauntlet to win the war. All except once, when a red-clad lunatic with a hello-kitty watch took the gauntlet. But that was the only exception.' Strange paused. 'Anyway, my point is, that I- that I was-' He seemed to have a hard time getting the words out.
Tony growled in annoyance. 'Spit it out already!'
'I was wrong.' Strange admitted reluctantly. 'To a certain extent at least. I did not have the time to see all the possible outcomes when we were on Titan. So I took the first positive outcome and did what I could to make it our reality.'
Tony sighed. 'But now that you've seen more realities', Tony said. 'I just want to know, is he going to make it?'
'I don't know.' Strange answered. 'In some universes he does, and others…'
'You must know something .' Tony pressed. 'Anything.'
'The differences between the timelines where small', Strange told him. 'Most timelines only split after Peter arrived in Wakanda. I do not know which one we live in.'
Tony gave up. There was no point in trying to find answers through Strange anymore, all he could do was hope that they lived in a timeline where Peter survived. Tony didn't know what he would do if they didn't.
'Stark.' T'Challa called suddenly. Tony looked up slowly, the king stood in front of him with a hologram coming from his bracelet. 'The doctors have stabilized Peter Parker's condition. You can go see him now.'
Tony scrambled to his feet and hastily followed T'Challa to the medical wing. A doctor was waiting for them upon arrival and led them to Peter's room. Or so Tony thought. Instead of a hospital room, Tony and T'Challa were brought to a small dark room that reminded Tony of an interrogation room. There was a window in one of the walls which looked into another, quarantined room where Peter laid on a hospital bed, hooked onto a plethora of machines. 'The boy is too radioactive to approach without proper precaution.' The doctor informed them. 'We had to put on protective gear to continue the treatments when we discovered the amount of Sievert that was radiating off the boy.'
'What about his conditions?' Tony asked. His heart was hammering in his chest. He needed some answers.
'The list of injuries is quite long', the doctor said. 'His most prominent injuries were his arms, where pretty much all the skin, muscle, and nerve tissues have been destroyed up to his neck and even parts of his torso. Most of his ribs were cracked, the splinters of which have caused damage to his internal organs.' Tony felt sick, but he motioned for the doctor to continue when he paused. 'Mister Parker also seemed to have taken a couple of worrisome hits to the head. But when we started our preparations to stop the internal bleeding, we discovered that his healing factor had already kicked in and is doing its best to keep the body alive. It was burning through its vat reserves much faster than it has previously been recorded in order to keep up with his enhanced metabolism. The best we could do for him was to hook him up to supplementary nutrition to support the healing process and set his bones so they will heal properly.' The doctor gave them a moment for it all to sink in. 'While Mr. Parker's condition is stable, we do not know how long it will take for his healing factor to fully repair all the damages. We can only continue further treatments when he wakes up, but with the results from the brain scan, we do not know when that will be.'
It took Tony longer than he should have to understand the implications of the doctor's words. 'Are you saying that-'
'Unfortunately, yes.' The doctor said. 'It appears that Mr. Parker is currently in a coma.' It was as if a rug was pulled out from under Tony. While it was certainly good news that Peter was not dying, the thought of him being in a coma without the certainty that he will ever wake up didn't seem much better. 'We will notify you if Mr. Parker's condition changes.' The doctor said. Tony was too shocked to speak, but T'Challa thanked the doctor and dismissed him with a nod.
'Tony,' T'Challa started after the doctor left the room, but Tony cut him off. 'Wait, please I- I have to process this for a moment.' T'Challa nodded gravely. 'I understand.' He said. 'I'll give you some time alone. But please remember that we are all here for you in these difficult times, my friend.' T'Challa left after that, leaving Tony alone with his thoughts in the dark room. He stepped closer to the window, looking at Peter's frail body lying in the middle of the white, sterilized room. Tears rolled down his cheeks as Tony placed a hand on the glass separating the two of them.
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Tony lost track of time after a while. He didn't know how long he'd been standing there, but it was long enough for a nurse to take pity on him and bring in a chair and leave some food on the table.
Tony's phone buzzed with an incoming message, breaking the silence. Then it buzzed again and again until Tony couldn't stand it anymore and picked the damn thing up from the table. He was about to switch it off when he saw that it was Harley who had been texting him. With a sigh, he opened the app to view the texts.
Harley: Hey Tony
Harley: Ur probs busy but my ma just called?
Harley: And everyone else just started blipping outta nowhere?
Harley: I dunno what happened but I'm pretty sure you had something to do with it?
Harley: so I just wanna say thank you
Tony couldn't help but smile at the messages. He'd pretty much adopted the kid after he'd shown up in New York five years ago, demanding answers about the disappearance of his mom and sister. Though it had been a while since Tiny had last seen the kid after he'd left for college.
Tony: You're welcome kid.
Tony: Where are you now?
Harley: Jumped on the first bus back home. I'll be there in 10hrs
Harley: But I wanna know what happened.
Harley: The news is being rly vague.
Tony: sorry kid, that's classified.
Tony: you'll just have to wait for the press release like everyone else.
Harley: ugh.
Harley: fine.
Harley: Keep your secrets.
Tony: Have a safe trip home, kiddo.
Tony: Call me if you need anything.
Harley: Yeah, yeah.
Harley: Say hi to pep and Morgan for me.
Tony: Will do .
Tony put the phone down on the table. The feeling of normalcy and happiness he got from texting Harley disappeared the moment he looked up. Tony didn't even get a moment to recover from his emotional turmoil because someone knocked on the door and a moment later Steve poked his head into the room. 'Hey', he said. Tony turned his back on him and wiped away his tears.
'I know this may not be the right time,' Steve continued, 'but I didn't want to leave before I could talk to you.' Leave? Tony thought. ' Tomorrow, I'll be taking the stones back to their own timeline. I just want to say thank you, for everything you've done for me and the team. And I'm sorry for how things turned out between us.'
This doesn't sound right. Tony thought. He spun around to face Steve. 'Why does this sound like a farewell? You're just dropping the stones off, you'll be back in-' Oh. Everything suddenly clicked together. 'You'd better not be planning what I think you're planning', Tony told him.
'I'm not.' Steve said and Tony knew that he was right. Steve had always been a bad liar, the truth was written clearly on his face.
'Don't give me that bullshit, Steve', Tony said. 'I know you're not planning on coming back.' Steven kept silent. 'You don't get to do that to her, Steve', Tony snarled. Anger and frustration rose up within him as he raised an accusative finger at him. 'She moved on, Steve. Why can't you get that through that thick skull of yours? She accepted that you were gone lived her life without you. She found herself a loving husband and started a nice little family with wonderful children. Hell, I even babysat them once!' Tony growled at Steve's raised eyebrows. 'No, it did not end well and no , you don't get to know more about that because that's not the point . The point is that she was happy with the life she had and you don't get to fuck it all up just because you're feeling selfish. You may have known her for a couple of months during the war, but I've known her my whole life and if aunt Pegs were here, she'd smack you on the head and tell you to get your shit together.'
Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Tony cut him off. 'And what about Bucky?' Tony asked. The look in Steve's eyes darkened. 'After everything you've risked. You tore the team, our family , apart for him and now you're just going to leave him behind while you live out a long a happy life with someone else? What was that phrase you two had again, ' Till the end of the line' ?'
'Don't', Steve growled dangerously
'Is this the end?' Tony asked, looking Steve dead in the eyes. 'After everything you've been through together, is this where you draw the line? You know what I think, Steve? I think that you're a coward . You'd rather settle with someone you know will welcome you with open arms than take your chance with someone who's been there for you since the beginning. Oh, don't give me that look . We all know that you have the hots for mister tall, dark, and mysterious. You're an open book, Steve.' Tony took a deep breath to calm himself. 'Give me one good reason why you thought this would be a good idea because I honestly can't think of a single one.' The two of them held each other's stares until Steve finally broke and looked away. He sighed. 'I just can't do it anymore', Steve said. 'I know that I said that I couldn't see myself settling down and live an easy life. But after everything we've been through, all the battles we've faced, I'm just so tired of fighting.' He paused, Tony waited for him to continue.
'You and Clint have found a nice place for your families and Thor and his people have made New Asgard their home. Don't I get to settle down as well? If I stay, I'll always have to be Captain America. There will always be more villains. People will expect me to throw myself at them the moment they show up but I don't know how much longer I will be able to fight on the frontline. I joined the war to help people, and it's something I still want to do, just not like this. We're no longer dealing with human fascists with their armies and tanks, we're dealing with alien invasions. Aliens . It makes me miss the days when my only worries were putting food on the table and fighting bullies in the back alleys.' He sighed. 'I've served my time. I want out. So my only two options are either space or the past, and I've dealt with enough aliens for a lifetime.'
Tony glared at the man and mentally screamed at his idiocy and flair for dramatics. ' God Dammit Steve! If you want to quit, then quit! No one besides us knows what the fuck just happened. We can just tell the world that you died a heroic death on the battlefield and then you'll be free to do whatever you want . Just grow another beard and change your name! Buy yourself a house with a yard and a white picket fence and live the American freaking dream with your buddy for all I care. You don't need to change an entire timeline just to retire!' Steve had the audacity to look surprised at Tony's suggestion as if he hadn't even considered the option. Tony could almost feel a vein pop. He sighed, he needed to mind his heart. It has been a stressful day. 'I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't do anything rash. Sleep on it. And don't think that I won't haul your ass back from the past if you try to fuck up any timeline.'
Steve nodded. 'Roger that.' He left the room with a small smile on his face.
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Tony stayed with Peter in the room, only leaving to go to the restroom before settling himself back into the same hard plastic chair. Like clockwork, a nurse in a hazmat suit would enter the quarantine every half an hour and replace the IV drip to keep up with Peter's enhanced metabolism. Tony had lost count how many times the nurses had come and go. Not that he was paying much attention to it in the first place.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Tony was up on his feet in an instant, his repulsor ready. He immediately lowered the weapon when he saw that it was May who had rushed into the room. Her clothes were disheveled and stands of her hair were sticking up in odd angles. Her eyes were red, swollen, with matching tear stains on her cheeks. She looked the worse for wear, though Tony knew he didn't look much better himself. Their eyes met for a second before her gaze drifted to the glass window.
' Oh God' , She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. 'No, no, Peter, my baby.' Tony saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.
She spun around, her eyes wide and questioning. 'Why is he in there?' She asked. 'Why can't we get to him?'
'He's radioactive', Tony told her calmly. The shame crawled up his skin. He couldn't look her in the eye. 'It's too dangerous for us to go near him.'
'He's what ? Oh, God. How did this happen?'
Tony took a deep breath to prepare himself for the conversation. 'I don't know how much Pepper told you already,' he said as calmly as he could, 'but Peter, he- he managed to get ahold of the Infinity Gauntlet during the battle. We were transporting it to the quantum tunnel so it would be out of Thanos' reach. Instead of passing it on to someone else, Peter clapped and bend reality to his will. Which, in this case was, to wipe out Thanos' invading army.'
May sat down in the plastic chair. 'Wait, wait. Infinity Gauntlet? Quantum what? Peter bending reality to his will- you're not making any sense!'
'I know it sounds crazy, but that's the truth.'
'It still doesn't explain why Peter is- is lying there like that .' May said.
'Bending reality like that', Tony said. 'It comes at a price. Bruce, the Hulk, he almost lost an arm when he used it to bring everyone back and he's supposed to be indestructible.'
'How is he?' May asked. 'What did the doctors say?'
'The doctors stabilized his condition.' Tony said. 'But… it's not looking good. His enhanced healing factor is working overtime to keep him alive. They don't know when he's going to wake up.'
May burst out in tears again. 'I can't lose him, Stark.' She said. 'After his parent and Ben… He's the only one I have left.' Tony's heart ached. He should say something, anything to try and comfort her, but no words came out of his mouth. After a while, May recomposed herself and took a shaky breath. Her eyes were fierce when she looked up.
'Stark, I've told you from the start that I would only allow you 'mentoring' him if you kept him out of danger', she said. 'I understand now that it's my fault for not stopping him from becoming Spider-Man in the first place. I knew he would bite off more than he could chew. But that doesn't excuse you for dragging him into a war. I know that he's just another pawn in your plans, but he's everything to me. If he doesn't make it, Stark, then I'll never forgive you for it.'
'Neither will I.' Tony said. 'I should have sent him away the moment he showed up on the battlefield. Everything that happened to him next, that's on me. Peter has never 'just been a pawn in my plans'. He's a brilliant kid and an even better person, better than I have ever been or will be. I love him as much as my own daughter.' May seemed a bit taken aback by the mention of him having a daughter, but her eyes hardened again a moment later.
'I don't care what you think your relationship is with Petet ', she said coolly. 'He is my kid.'
The words washed over Tony like a cold bucket of water. She was right. No matter how much he cared about Peter, he was not his. Their relation did not go further than mentor and mentee and it was foolish of him to think that they could be more than that. Tony nodded numbly. 'I'll leave now', he said. 'I've caused enough damage as it is.'
He walked over to the door. He didn't look back as he said, 'I know that it's not going to be worth anything to you, but I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. He deserved better, so much better.' As he closed the door behind him, Tony could hear the sobs coming from inside the room.