Author's Note: I know I haven't touched this in a while. I'm sorry. Its been a hell of a time. Cross country moves aren't fun. But they do consume time like nothing else… I own nothing.
47. Confrontation
Tears sprang into Tony's eyes, his hands were shaking. Piper coughed and Bruce piped up from where he stood next to the monitors.
"Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?" Piper frowned and coughed again.
"A bit woozy. And my head is killing me." She sniffled and Bruce frowned. He laid a hand on her forehead and shook his head.
"You did all that with a cold?" Piper smiled sheepishly before nodding. Bruce shook his head and stepped over to one of the medicine cabinets. Tony gently wrapped his hand around Piper's fingers.
"Hey Pipes." Piper smiled slightly, sniffling again.
"Hi dad." There was a slightly awkward pause before Piper coughed and spoke again.
"How bad did I screw up?" Tony shook his head.
"You didn't, you saved the Osborn brat. SHEILD took him to the Helicarrier. I'll bug Fury about him for you later ok?" Piper nodded before looking around the room and swearing slightly.
"Hey, language kid." Rhodey said his smile giving him away. Piper tried to sit up but Tony laid a hand on her shoulder.
"What are you looking for?" It took her a minute to speak.
"Backpack. Where's my backpack?" Tony glanced up at the door and Rhodey took the hint and quick stepped over to the door.
"Hey Blondie, come here for a second. MJ you can see her in a minute ok. Where's her backpack?" Piper frowned at Tony.
"Blondie?" Tony surpressed a laugh.
"Your buddie Eddie." Piper tried to sit up again.
"He needs to be in here for this too." Tony was about to protest but Piper shot him a slightly glazed set of puppy dog eyes and he relented.
"But just him for the moment, we don't need you getting too excited ok?" Piper paused but relented and Rhodey let Eddie into the room.
Eddie couldn't help but think that Piper looked like shit. She was pale, like a sheet of wax paper, and her eyes were glassy bit determined. He smiled, it was only slightly forced. Too much had been going on in the past few weeks. He still had her mask, Spider-girl's mask in his pocket. The lightweight fabric felt like a boulder sitting in his jacket. But she smiled back as he held up her backpack. Tony was standing next to her one hand on her shoulder keeping her from sitting up. She coughed and held out a hand for her bag. He tried to hand it over but her hands were shaking so bad she almost dropped it. She let out a frustrated noise and coughed loudly.
"What do you need out of your bag Pipes?" Tony asked gently.
"USB. Front pocket." Eddie's eyes went wide, that would explain why she'd wanted him in the room too. He fished in her bag and pulled out the SHEILD usb. Tony and Rhodey stared as Bruce made his way around them adding something to the drip attached to Piper's arm.
"Where did you get that Piper?" Rhodey asked in a hushed tone. Piper sniffled and began to explain. It took nearly twenty minutes to explain everything but she managed it, Eddie helping fill in bits and pieces here and there where he could. He handed the usb over to Tony who nodded slightly.
"I couldn't decrypt it. We thought maybe you'd have better luck." Tony nodded, flinching slightly before rubbing his neck like it was hurting him. Bruce stepped over to him.
"I need to take a look at you too Tony. I know you pulled something during that fight, we need to know how bad it was." Piper frowned.
"You're hurt?" Tony shook his head looking at Bruce admonishingly.
"I'll be fine Piper. I'm gonna go have Bruce check me out right now. Rhodey, keep an eye on her ok?" Rhodey nodded. Tony and Bruce stepped out of the room and Eddie was left alone with one of Piper's 'uncles'. Rhodey grinned slightly.
"Thanks for being there for her no matter what. Don't tell Tony but I'm gonna give you two a minute, you look like you have something to say to her. But no funny business. JARVIS will let me know." Eddie nodded and Rhodey headed back out into the waiting area. Eddie took a deep breath and sat down in the arm chair next to Piper's bed. She smiled at him.
"I'm glad we decided to tell dad." Eddie nodded.
"Me too, keeping secrets can't be easy." Piper nodded and they were quiet for another second. Eddie cleared his throat and spoke.
"You know you can tell me anything right Piper? Anything at all…" Piper frowned slightly but nodded, she wasn't looking at him though. Eddie carefully laid a hand on hers.
"I'm serious Piper. You can tell me absolutely anything. You don't have to keep secrets, not from me. You know that right?" Piper's frown deepened.
"Secrets keep people safe." It was barely a whisper. He almost missed it but shook his head when he realized what she'd said.
"No they don't, they tear you apart from the inside. Especially if you're keeping them alone." A tear slipped down Piper's face. Eddie reached into his pocket and pulled out her mask. He placed it in her hand gently.
"You're not alone anymore Pipes." Piper sniffled and shook her head.
"No… I never wanted to drag you into all this. I didn't want to drag anyone into this. You can't have found out. I don't want you to get hurt." Eddie shook his head.
"I'll be ok Piper, I promise. You get better and we'll talk ok?" Piper nodded slightly before opening her hand slightly.
"Can you put it back in my bag. Dad doesn't know. Dad cant know, ever." Eddie nodded and put her mask back in her bag. She smiled at him.
"You know you're gonna have to tell me how it happened one of these days right?" Piper laughed slightly. There was a knock at the door and Pepper stuck her head in. She smiled and Piper waved without lifting her wrist off the bed. Pepper let MJ into the room and the redhead had to hold herself back from tackle hugging Piper. They talked for a while until Bruce came back and shooed them out of the room so Piper could get some sleep.