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The kid's not back yet.
Why isn't he back yet?
Tony looks around at everyone on Titan. At everyone who came back.
Everyone else came back.
So where the fuck is Peter?
Tony is walking around to try and calm his nerves, ignoring the pitying looks from everyone nearby.
It took Peter longer to die than the others. Tony knows that. It only makes sense that he would take longer to reappear.
But he didn't take this long to disappear.
And Tony is getting impatient, damn it.
The kid's fine. He's fine because everyone else is fine and so he will be just fine.
Tony turns to the Guardians and tries his best to keep the desperation out of his voice, “Was he okay? Did you see him? Was he okay before you got here?”
The eccentric one with antennas that he can't remember the name of answers, “Yes, he was just waiting like the rest of us. I can feel it, he will be here.”
Considering that she has her own form of “spidey sense”, that sentiment should make Tony feel better.
But it doesn't.
He won't feel better until his kid is back with him.
Tony keeps pacing around the spot where Peter first faded to ash. Everyone else came back in the spot where they disappeared, so he assumes that's where Peter will do the same.
Finally, after what feels like a million years, Tony sees something. Despite all the anticipation, he has to do a double-take to make sure his eyes aren't playing tricks on him.
His curls.
Tony can see the damn kid's curls.
The man collapses to his knees right next to his kid's hair and waits with bated breath. He is completely unaware of the tension that has drastically increased around him.
It's a slow process...a very slow process for Tony's standards.
In about half a minute, Peter's full face has formed. His eyes are closed as if he's in a deep sleep.
Tony reaches his hand out to fluff the spider-boy's hair but hesitates at the last second. He has this irrational fear that if he touches the kid, he will disappear again.
For fuck's sake,Tony, he's not going anywhere.
Tony fluffs the curls, just like how he always did at the tower. He can't help but smile as he thinks about their times in the lab, or watching a movie, or going out to eat. He thinks about how much he's missed having the tyke around, and how close he is to getting him back.
Tony's smile grows. He's actually about to get his kid back.
The teen is now at mid-torso, and his arms have just formed up to the elbows.
Tony's fluffing hasn't stopped; if anything, it has increased due to excitement and worry.
Is the kid in any pain? Tony's smile falls a little at that thought. Is he?
Wait a second….
He knows that the kid took longer to die due to his super healing...so was he in pain when he died?
He snaps that out of his mind; that's all over and now he needs to focus on this. Tony prays to whatever God that's up there that the kid is unconscious enough to not feel anything.
Tony moves his legs out from under him and scoots until he is sitting perpendicular to the teen, with his thighs right above Peter's head. Then, carefully, so carefully, Tony grabs his kid's head and lays it against his outer left thigh.
This might have all been a wasted effort. The hero can bet money that the teenager has no idea of what's happening, but what if he's actually aware? What if he's in pain? Tony figures that the least he can do is have the kid’s head on a more comfortable surface.
Tony's hand doesn't leave the curls. He watches the grueling process continue down Peter's legs to the tips of his toes.
He's back.
He's whole.
He's no longer ash.
But this stubborn-ass kid still isn't waking up.
Tony uses his other hand to lightly nudge Peter's shoulder. He starts to whisper words of encouragement, hoping that the spider-boy's subconscious might hear them, “Hey, c'mon, buddy, it's time to wake up. I know you teenagers love your sleep, but you've been asleep long enough, don't you think?”
Tony continues the nudging, but with no response. He starts to sound more desperate the longer he talks, “May's waiting for you. I promised her that I'd bring you back safe and sound, don't make me break that promise, bud, c'mon wake up. Wake up.”
Tony looks up at everyone for the first time since the start of Peter's return. They're all shocked at how desperate and actually scared the hero looks.
“Why isn't he waking up? Strange, why the hell isn't he waking up?!”
Strange is sitting on a rock of some sort, looking confused himself, “Uh, maybe he's just not done yet.”
“What are you talking about, he's right here! You all can see him, right? His face, his hair, his suit, he's right fucking here -”
Tony cuts himself off and takes a good look at Peter.
He sees the face, and the hair, and the suit.
The suit.
Maybe that wizard is on to something.
Tony turns to Nebula, “Tools. I need tools. Get the ones from the ship, hurry!”
She runs off and while she’s getting the tools, Tony takes off his jacket. He cups the back of the spiderling's head and replaces the jacket to act as the new “pillow.” The mechanic is on his knees again and looks up and down at the eerily still suit.
The suit may be back, but what if the kid inside the suit...isn’t?
Nebula comes back with the tools and Tony gets to work. It feels like it takes ten years, but piece by piece, the suit comes off and is carelessly tossed to the side. He even takes off the pieces that are under the kid. If the suit is somehow blocking Peter from fully coming back, then he doesn’t want the armor anywhere near him.
Tony stares down at the suit that the teen wore before the Iron Spider suit attached itself over it. Peter still looks like he’s here. Is it working? Or was it all wasted energy?
The man presses the spider emblem on the kid’s chest to make the suit loosen around his body. Peter typically wears just boxers under this suit, so Tony takes a quick peek under the collar to check if that's the case, and what he sees shocks him completely.
Tony is yanking off the suit as fast as he can. He can hear gasps of shock from the people around him.
There’s nothing under the suit.
Not nothing as in he’s naked.
But nothing as in he’s not there.
All that everyone is seeing now are Peter’s face, neck, and the beginnings of his chest forming.
So the suits weren’t blocking Peter from coming back, but they were just slowing down the process.
A lot.
Too much for Tony’s liking.
In just seconds, the kid’s body has formed down to his waist; his science pun shirt is out there for everyone to see.
Damn.
The kid was wearing three layers of clothing?
How did he not pass out from heat exhaustion?
In no time, the bottom half of Peter’s body is laying there, complete with jeans and sneakers. His hero is watching both in relief and utmost worry.
Tony grabs onto Peter’s hand and squeezes. His other hand goes back to the hair, “I’m here, kiddo, I’m here. You can wake up now. Everything’s okay...it’s all okay.”
In a few seconds, Tony sees the fingers on Peter’s other hand start to twitch. His heart bursts with hope, “You’re doing great, bud, you’re doing great.”
Tony then sees the eyes under the kid’s eyelids start moving rapidly, as if he’s trying to wake up from a nightmare he's having.
Maybe he is having a nightmare.
The mechanic increases the fluffing and the hand squeezing, “Almost there, you got this, kid, almost there.”
After a few more agonizing seconds, Peter’s eyes blink open.
Tony feels like he could cry.
Peter squeezes his eyes shut before opening them again, probably trying to adjust to the light. He has a tired expression on his face, but as soon as he sees his father figure, his eyes light up. He squeezes his hand that's in Tony's as a way to prove that he isn't actually dreaming.
“M's'r...Mis'r….”
Tony's smile grows a mile wide, “Hey, buddy. About time you got here, huh?”
Peter's eyes start filling with tears and before Tony knows it, he's sitting up and giving his hero a hug so tight that he might cut off the man's circulation. Tony does not give a single damn and hugs back just as tightly.
Tony uses one of his hands to cup the back of the boy's head. He feels his shirt getting wet with tears and the kid is rambling but the man hears every statement.
“I-I knew, I knew you'd save me, I knew it, I knew it.
“It was so dark….
“I-I was the...the last one th-there. I thought they'd-they'd, uh...forgot me….
“I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry….”
Tony's heart breaks at all of this. He gives soft shushing sounds as he rubs circles on the teen's back to calm him, “Don’t apologize, I never wanna hear you apologize ever again, you hear me? You did so good, kid; you did so good.” He feels his protege nod slightly against his collarbone,
Tony continues, “You're never going back there, I promise, I won't allow it. God, I'm so glad to have you back, kiddo.”
They stay that way in silence for several more minutes. Everyone else has already made their way onto the ship to give them a little bit of privacy.
When Tony feels that the kid has calmed down, he pulls him away from his chest. He wipes the tear tracks off of Peter's face and gives him a gentle smile, “How ‘bout we get outta here, how does that sound?”
Peter returns the look with a lazy smile of his own, “Amazing.” He looks down and realizes that he's in his regular clothes, “Where's my suit?”
“Uh...I'll tell you later...don't worry, I'll build you another one. A better one.”
Peter can't help but snort at that. He grabs his first suit that is sitting nearby and holds it close...he can’t bring himself to say “goodbye” to it just yet.
Tony grabs his jacket and helps Peter up off the ground. The man then wraps his arm around the teen and walks him to the ship. He sees people looking at them through the windows, but he pretends not to notice.
They get onto the ship and sit at a bench towards the back. Peter sits so close to Tony that the man is squished into the side of the bench. But Tony doesn’t care; his kid is back, he's more than willing to suffer from lack of space for a few hours.
The genius wraps his arm around the kid again and Peter immediately leans into it and nestles into his father figure’s side. At the beginning of the trip home, everyone is purposely avoiding that topic, so there is light small talk to ease the tension. Before long, the hero sees how droopy the teen’s eyes have become.
“Get some sleep, kid; we have a ways before we get back.”
Peter’s eyes widen in fear, “I-I-I’m not tired, I’m good, I’m good.”
“You’ve had one heck of a day, to say the least, I don’t blame you for being tired.”
The spiderling responds in a small voice, “I don’t wanna leave again.”
Oh...oh….
Tony can’t blame him, in all honesty. Would anyone want to go to sleep after all of this?
The man gently nudges Peter away from him so that they can look at each other directly, “You’re not going anywhere, I promise. This’ll never happen again; I have the gauntlet now, you know.”
Peter gives Tony a half-smile, “You-You’re not leaving...right?”
The older man cups the teen’s neck, “I promise I’m not leaving you, bud. Never again.”
After a few seconds of contemplation, Peter obliges. He bundles up his suit and lays it on Tony’s lap before resting his head on it. He then curls his legs up onto the bench.
Tony drapes his jacket over the kid to act as a makeshift blanket. His hands go back to ruffling the teen’s hair like he always does and Peter slowly succumbs to sleep.
They may be back together and on their way to Earth, but the genius isn’t naive. He knows that they have a long journey ahead, the two of them.
But Tony has his kid back.
So for now, he is more than okay with basking in temporary naivety.