Tony's POV
We got back to earth and into wakanda with in a minute, I was so glad to be home and soon I'd see pepper... and May, still working on what I should say to her.
Once I said hi to everyone, especially Rhodes, I was shown to my room and the area I'd be staying in until further notice. I hopped that I'd only be here for one night, then back to New York.
The technology here was incredible but I just didn't feel like checking it out, that's not like me at all. I tried to go through all the new technology with Shuri and Bruce but I just couldn't focus. Where was my mind at? Of course, the kid. I couldn't help but think that it was my fault, that everything that happened to him, including the vulture was my fault.
Now its was almost 7pm and I'm sitting on my bed wondering what I could have done to prevent Peter Parker from disappearing into nothing but a pile of ash.
Steve's POV
"Have you noticed that Tony's not acting... well tony like?" Nat asked me while we where sitting in my room. Over the past few years, whilst fighting terrorists, Nat and I have gotten pretty close. Normally now we always have these sorts of chats, some serious and some just plain stupid.
"Yeah I've noticed, he hasn't been as 'tony Stark' as he should be" I said with a worried tone
"I swear I saw him cry before we left Titan too" she pointed out "something must have happened there, something's stuffed him up"
"Yeah" I agreed "should we go talk to him?"
"Probably"
We stared at each other
"Are we doing it now or?" Nat said, we both laughed at that
Once we finished laughing we put on our serious faces and headed to Tony's quarters.
We found his room and knocked on the door.
"Tony it's us, can we come in?" I half yelled
There was no answer, I looked to Nat to see what we should do, she went passed me and opened the door.
He was sitting on the side of his bed looking out the window to the sunset
"Tony, we need to talk" Nat started
It seemed like he didn't hear her but after a few seconds he turned around with blank eyes
Tony's POV
I turned around to look at them, why were they even here? I needed to figure out what I was going to say to May.
"We've noticed you haven't been to...excited around the tech and just not being here, like your to busy thinking about something else" Natasha continued
"Is there something bothering you?" Steve asked
Truth is yes, Peter's death changed something in me, I didn't realise how much I cared for him until he was dying in my arms.
"No" I lied
"We know that's a lie" Steve said instantly
"I don't know what your talking about" I countered
"Don't play dumb with us tony" Nat shot back
'What was I supposed to say now?'
"What's bothering you?" Natasha sat down next to me
I sighed
"You know that kid I recruited, when we fought at the airport"
"The spider one?" Steve asked
"Yeah, well turns out, I ended up getting pretty fond of the kid, and of course like a tony I didn't realise that until he was turning to ash in my arms on Titan" I said with a shaky voice
They both looked stunned, in their defence I have to agree I am not the type of guy to be so sad about a kid.
"Tony" Nat started
I breathed in
"Better yet I have to try figure out how to tell his aunt, the only living family member he has." I told them "I need to get to New York, sort things out with pepper and the kid's aunt."
They looked at each other and frowned
"We can get you there for tomorrow" Cap nodded
I nodded in thanks back. They both left the room and I continued to figure out how I was going to tell May.
Natasha's POV
Steve and I walked out of Tony's room and to the lounge in silence. Tony's been through a traumatic event and isn't trying to work until he forgets, he's actually trying to figure things out. That kid must have meant a lot to him.
"From what I saw of that spider boy, he was skilled" Steve said "Bucky told me the kid even caught one of his punches"
That was shocking, not even Steve Rogers could do that.
"Damn" was all I could think of "I've never seen tony this... out of it"
We ended up going back to my room, I sat on my bed crossed legged and Steve sat in a chair beside
"We need him to have a clear mind if we're going to fight thanos" he said
"How do we do that" I questioned
"Take him back to New York, let him talk to the aunt, hopefully that'll clear things up"
"Hopefully" I pointed out
"We need to talk to the rest of the team, see who's coming, who's staying." He suggested
"We should do that now, quicker we get tony to New York quicker we can beat up thanos" I agreed
We went to thor first, he, rocket and nebula were on the lounge chatting. They all agreed they'd come with. Next we went to Rhodes, who was having a coffee in the kitchen, we told him about Tony's situation, he told us he did slightly know the kid, he agreed he'd come, to help tony. Next we went down to the lab where Shuri and Bruce were. They had started working on bringing vision back, they hadn't gotten to far but they had only just started.
"Why does tony need to go back to New York?" Bruce asked
"For one, pepper" he nodded "for the other, that Spider-Man kid disappeared while he was on Titan and tony now needs to tell the aunt." I cut the story short
"Understandable" Bruce said
"did you want to come?" Steve asked
"I mean I'd love to, but I'm working on the vision here, and I can't just leave" he paused
"All good" I said
Things were still a bit awkward between us so in a way I was glad he wasn't coming along.
"We'll be off first thing tomorrow" Steve said and walked out, I followed.
Steve's POV
After that Natasha and I went our seperate ways to our own rooms, that's a bit dramatic though seeming our rooms are right across from each other.
I laid down on the bed and tried to get some shut eye. I tried to think of nothing but my mind ended up on the spider boy, poor tony must be blaming himself for what happened. He said he turned to ash, just like Bucky. Bucky and Sam, Nat is the only person left that I'm closest to now, I wonder how she feels about Bucky disappearing, I felt like there was some 'thing' between them two. But who am I to go into other people's personal business.
At some point I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
