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“This is ridiculous, Tony”, Peter sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He was pacing the kitchen of Tony’s Malibu mansion, said man standing opposite him over the counter.
“Not really”, Tony insisted. “If you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.”
“No.” Peter shook his head, “It really doesn’t. You- You can’t be serious about this!”
Tony bristled, clearly unhappy with his authority being challenged. It wasn’t like it happened often; being the owner of a huge, multibillion-dollar company tended to leave you unchallenged by your peers. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time someone other than Pepper or Rhodey had told him no.
Or Peter.
“I am serious, serious as a heart attack.”
Peter turned his back to him with a frustrated growl, his hands tightening in his hair. “You’re a jackass, is what you are.”
“Oh, for trying to keep you safe?” Tony sneered, throwing his hands up into the air. “Well sorry I give a shit, Pete!”
Peter spun to face him, his eyes narrowing. “You know that’s not what this is about! You’re not talking about my safety, Tony. You’re talking about my imprisonment!”
Tony tossed his head back, his eyes rolling. “Please!” he scoffed. “Flatscreen TVs, a pool table, a literal pool? A jacuzzi? I mean, there are worse ways to be imprisoned, darling!”
The younger of the two laughed humourlessly. “God you are so out of touch, aren’t you?” he mocked.
Tony’s lips curled in irritation and he clenched his fists on the countertop. “This isn’t about me; this is about you-”
“-Exactly!” Peter shouted, slapping his hand against the marble counter. “This is about me, Tony! And I’m saying no!”
A moment of silence passed between them, the only sounds Peter’s heavy breathing and Tony’s fingers nervously tapping against the kitchen side. Eventually, Tony looked back up and met his boyfriend’s gaze. Peter was frowning, but his eyes just looked sad.
“Tony”, he began, his voice dejected and tired. “I… I really- I can’t live like this. I know you’re trying to do what you think is best but, this?” He gestured between them, “This isn’t what’s best!”
Tony nodded slowly, but he seemed unconvinced. “I’m doing what I need to do to keep you alive. Threats like that shouldn’t be taken lightly, Pete. When you’ve lived this life as long as I have, you take these things pretty fucking seriously.”
Peter pursed his lips in thought. Slowly, he straightened up and dropped his hands from the counter. “I know that you’re scared, Tony. But I need you to treat me like a person”, he implored. Tony met his gaze and their eyes locked. “I’m not some damsel in distress. I know that you want to protect me, and I love you for that, but I’m not going to live my life behind bars just because of some stupid threat.”
“That wasn’t a stupid threat, Pete.”
“Maybe not”, Peter admitted hesitantly. “But this isn’t the solution. I’m not going to sit here and waste away my life; I have family, a career. I’m not putting that on hold.”
“Your family and career aren’t more important than your life”, Tony insisted adamantly.
Peter recoiled. “Yes, Tony. Yes, they are.”
“Well we’ll agree to disagree then.”
Peter sighed, leaning forward over the counter. “Y’know… I think- I think I need a break, Tony.”
Tony, from where he stood playing with his hands, stopped. “What?” he said in surprise, raising his head to look at Peter.
“A break”, Peter repeated. “From this. From- From us.”
“Because I want to protect you?” Tony asked incredulously.
Peter shook his head sharply. “No, Tony. Because I told you once before and I still mean it now; I’m not going to put my life on hold for you, for your life as ‘Tony Stark’. I fell in love with Tony, not with the CEO of Stark Industries. I warned you once before that I would walk away before I changed who I am, and I stand by that.”
“I’m not asking you to change who you are!” Tony shouted, his panic boiling over. “I’m asking you to take a few precautions so that you’re safe! Until we fix this issue.”
“No, you’re not”, Peter deflected, standing up straight again. “You’re asking me to put my entire life on hold, to not go to work, to not see my family, to not do anything… You want me to sit in this stupid mansion and wait for you to figure this all out!”
“Someone threatened to kill you, Peter!”
Peter looked away, shaking his head. “Tony you get little threats like this all the time! It wasn’t- It’s not even a real threat!”
Tony shook his head violently. “No. No. We’re not doing this. I don’t care how big the threat was, I’m Iron Man! We need to take these things seriously; I have actual enemies now, not just the business rival type!”
“Then maybe you should have thought about that before you told the whole world!”
Tony recoiled slightly and stared at Peter in shock. “Is that what this is about? You hate me for telling the world I’m Iron Man?”
“I don’t hate you”, Peter denied instantly. “I could never hate you. But do I hate that you put yourself in such a vulnerable position, and changed our lives without even warning me in advance? Yes, I hate that.”
“So, you hate me”, Tony said firmly, stepping away from his partner.
Peter rolled his eyes, “No.”
“Yes”, Tony interrupted. “You hate Iron Man. Well, Iron Man is me.”
“Tony, this isn’t about the robot. This is about you being controlling. You expecting me to put my life on hold, again.”
In any other situation, seeing Tony Stark gape so widely might have made Peter laugh. But today, it just made him tense in anticipation.
“Again?”
Peter shook his head. “When we… came out to the world, together. I- I couldn’t see my aunt, Tony. There were… there were stories everywhere. It-”
“- I told you that was the price”, Tony said. His voice was hollow and he was staring down at the floor, as though entirely empty inside. “You knew that that was the price of being with me. You knew that this would happen, that things would change.”
Peter nodded. “Yeah, I did. But I didn’t think you would.”
Tony tensed even further. “I’ve changed?”
“Not because of the suit. Not even because of the team, Tony. But… there’s something going on with you and I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. And well… you never talk to me anymore. Do you- do you even care anymore?”
Tony finally looked up, meeting his eye. “About you?” he clarified. “Always.”
The silence around them was heavy. Their words lingered in the air like a foul smell; they couldn’t take anything they had said back.
Peter shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to do. He stared across at Tony as the billionaire did the same. They had reached an impasse.
“I’m-”, Peter paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m gonna go to Aunt May’s for a bit. I- I think we both need to cool off.”
“Maybe you should stay there.”
Peter froze on his way out of the door. “Do you really want me to?”
“If you’re so convinced that I’ve changed then I’m no longer the man you fell in love with. Maybe we both need a break.”
Peter surveyed him in silence for a moment. Tony looked so tired, but not even physically. He was still as fresh-faced and handsome as ever, but there was a tiredness in his eyes and a fatigue in his body that seemed bone deep.
“I love you, Tony.”
Tony nodded slowly, not looking up from the empty kitchen counter. “I know”, he said softly. “I love you too.”
With a nod, Peter turned his back on the older man and left to pack his bags. Within 10 minutes he was out the door, Happy driving him to the airport.
“Tony, will you please just-”
“-Don’t bother, Cap. Just leave him be”, Rhodey said softly.
Tony allowed his head to loll backwards on the couch, looking up and back at his teammates. “Yes, Cap. Please leave me be.”
Steve looked annoyed, his eyes narrowing. “This isn’t healthy, Tony.”
“And neither is packing yourself full of steroids but that worked out for you”, Tony said dismissively, waving his hand arrogantly behind him as he rose from the couch. “In fact, no one hear can talk. You’re all just as unhealthy as I am.”
“At least we don’t reek of whiskey”, Natasha said sternly from where she stood at the window, arms crossed.
The runway and fields of the Avengers compound lit up the windows behind her, and the early morning sun beat down on her, framing her in a halo of light. Normally Tony would bask in her beauty – he liked beautiful things – but today he was just tired.
So damn tired.
“Yeah, well” he sighed. “Whiskey is a… acquired taste.”
“Wonder why you acquired it”, Clint said under his breath. He was sat on the other couch, his legs resting on the glass coffee table in the centre of the room. Tony kicked his legs off as he walked past.
“What is this? A bed and breakfast for a biker gang?”
Steve stepped forward, his muscles bulging violently as he folded his arms. “Tony, you need help.”
“I don’t actually”, Tony denied, pointing a figure at the blond. “I’m not even drunk. I’m not drinking in excess. Sure, I haven’t showered yet today but I’m fine. Really”, he placed his hand on his heart with a look of mock-affection. “So kind of you to worry though, Cap. Really.”
“Why are you drinking so early in the morning then?”
Tony turned around slowly, having planned to leave the room. He spun on the heel of his foot carefully, before indicating to the tablet on the coffee table. “The Daily Bugle finally leaked the news”, he said, faux-cheerfully.
Natasha frowned. “What news?”
“Oh, the news-news of course!” Tony said loudly. “‘Stark and boy-toy call it quits!’”
Natasha looked between her teammates warily and received similar looks of concern from them all. All besides Clint.
“Bullshit”, Clint huffed dramatically, kicking his legs back up onto the coffee table. “You two aren’t over, you’re on a break.”
Tony paused contemplatively. Eventually he hummed. “Why thank you, Ross Geller, but last I checked ‘a break’ is code for break-ing up.”
“Maybe in your world”, Clint scoffed. “Me and Laura have been on more breaks than day-time TV. You two’ll figure it out.”
“Let’s hope so”, Rhodey piped up. “Because frankly if I have to deal with another day of you moping-”
“-not moping”, Tony interrupted, raising his hand. “I’m simply mourning a good thing being gone, and moving on to better and brighter things. It’s like reincarnation, or regeneration… or something.”
A few weeks after the fight, Peter had been contacted by over 13 news outlets asking for interviews. He was confused as to why at first, because the rumours of him and Tony breaking up had been out for days and most had been brushed aside simply as unfounded rumours.
It wasn’t until he checked his phone that he realised what was happening.
‘Breaking News: Tony Stark, Iron Man, reportedly in critical condition following Manhattan battle’.
‘BODY BAG: Captain America carries LIFELESS Stark’
‘Eyewitness: Stark Bleeding and Broken Begged for Help’
‘Stark Gone Dark: Billionaire suspected DEAD’
He arrived at the compound within the hour, his wrist and arms aching from how violently he had propelled himself through the air in his effort to cross New York quickly. By the time he had reached the compound, hidden in the middle of nowhere, his legs burned from exhaustion and his head was throbbing.
He didn’t stop though, rushing past staff and stray Avengers alike. When he reached the entrance, he spared a passing thanks to Friday, who cleared his path despite him having forgotten his key card at May’s.
When he reached the med-bay, it was crowded. People milled about outside, some doctors or nurses, some S.H.I.E.L.D. employees.
Peter spotted Natasha among the crowd, and darted over immediately.
“Where is he?”
Natasha turned to him but she didn’t look surprise. “Good, you’re here.”
“Where is he?”
“Steve’s with him, as are Banner and Cho”, she said slowly.
Peter clenched his fists. “Natasha.”
She looked at him for a moment; what she was looking for Peter wasn’t sure, but whatever it was she appeared to find it. With a single nod, she spoke. “Down the hall, second right, third room on the left.”
Peter paused, “thank you”, before darting off again down the hall.
He ran so quickly that as he turned corners, he had to use his sticky fingers to slow down enough to make it. The pattering of his heart was like thousands of tiny bombs, the sound so startlingly loud that Peter felt disorientated.
When he reached Tony’s room, he didn’t hesitate.
Steve stood beside the bed, holding Tony down as the older man scream in agony. Bruce was rushing around the bed, applying pressure to a gaping wound on his side. Helen Cho stood on the opposite side of the bed, her fingers running across the surface of a machine that whirred to life loudly before his eyes.
Peter froze.
He had never even seen Tony cry; sure, he had seen the billionaire angry, even sad, but never actually shedding tears. This was even worse, Tony’s cries punching a hole through his chest.
Peter met Steve’s gaze and the determination in the blonde’s eye forced Peter to act. He ran across the room, jumping between Banner and Steve and immediately took over applying pressure on the wound. With his extra strength, the heavy flow of blood slowed down, but Bruce and Helen still moved with an intimidating urgency.
“Get that working now”, Bruce called as he gathered more supplies from across the room.
Helen Cho nodded frantically, working quickly to set up whatever machine she was using.
Peter ignored them, forcing himself to look down at the wound. With every jerky movement Tony made, Peter was forced to follow the movement to maintain his grip on the wound.
“Tony!” Steve called down to him, trying desperately to get the billionaire’s attention. “Tony you have to stop. Stay still, Tony!”
Peter gasped as Tony kicked his legs violently, his screams growing again.
“Tony!” Peter panted. He leaned forward and over the man’s chest, looking down at him while trying to keep pressure on his side. “Hey, it’s me! Look at me!”
Tony’s eyes fluttered violently, and he tossed his head back and forth.
“We need to sedate him”, Steve said solemnly, his arms draped over Tony’s chest to stop him moving.
“I know!” Bruce said sternly as he ran around preparing a needle.
Peter frowned, looking between the pair. He turned back to Tony, determined. “Tony! Baby, look at me. Tony!”
Tony’s eyes opened suddenly, and they widened when they landed on Peter. Tony’s thrashing reduced but his cries persisted.
“Hey, hey”, Peter said softly, smiling down at the older man. “I’m here, it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Stay still, okay? Jus-Just stay calm. It’s gonna be okay.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Peter spotted Bruce approach with the syringe. Within moments Tony’s cries died down and with one last frantic, wide-eyed look at Peter, he passed out.
The next few hours were torture. More nurses arrived, and eventually even Doctor Strange showed up. When he left the room and, passing Peter, simply said “He’ll make it”, the 10-pound weight on Peter’s chest finally lifted.
It was over 9 hours before Tony woke up, all 9 of which Peter spent sat at his bedside carefully watching the steady rise and fall of the older man’s chest.
Steve and Natasha had both made a point to regularly check on him, which Peter appreciated. However, all of their attempts to get him to eat or sleep or -heaven forbid- leave Tony’s side, were brushed aside. After 5 or so hours, the duo had given up.
When Tony did finally open his eyes and noticed Peter beside him, he squinted in confusion.
“Y’know just because I almost died, doesn’t mean you have to sit there looking all guilty.”
Peter sat back in shock, the lazy smile slipping from his face. “Is that really what you think of me?”
Tony paused before looking away, deep in thought. “No”, he eventually admitted, sighing deeply.
Peter exhaled heavily, his head bowing forward in defeat. “I hate this.”
“Me too”, Tony snorted, gesturing down to his heavily bandaged side. “Speaking of, why am I not high as a kite right now? This stuff hurts!”
Peter chuckled quietly, shaking his head. “You’re already on a morphine drip, Tony.”
Tony nodded as though that had entirely been his plan. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, “I hate this too, y’know.”
“I meant more the fact that I don’t know what to do”, Peter said. “It’s- With us… where we are… I don’t know where the line is.”
Tony sighed, carefully raising his arm to run his fingers through his hair. He hissed slightly at the pain that shot up his side. “Peter”, he said tiredly as he winced. “With you and I… there’s never a line.”
“You don’t think we crossed it? Back in Malibu?”
Tony seemed unsure and he paused to consider. “No”, he settled on. “I don’t.”
Peter nodded slowly as he attempted to digest the information; maybe there was something that could be done to patch the hole (no pun intended) in their relationship, or what might remain of it.
“I’m not sorry”, Tony said suddenly, looking over at Peter as though personally offended at the idea. “I’m not going to apologise for wanting to keep you safe.”
Peter clenched his jaw. “I know, I don’t expect you to. I- I overreacted. I mean, so did you- I am Spider-Man after all, I think I can handle one little threat. But”, he held his hand up to stave off Tony’s inevitable argument. “But I know I was wrong to suggest a break. We- we don’t- we didn’t need a break Tony. All this time apart, the only thing it taught me was that I really don’t need a break, and that having you with me – overbearing and overprotective though you are – is so much better than not having you at all.”
Tony watched the younger man closely as he spoke and towards the end of Peter’s impromptu speech, couldn’t help by smile. “Wow, a few weeks apart taught you that much, eh?”
Peter grinned, “You learn anything?”
“I miss your massages”, Tony said immediately. When he noticed Peter’s eyeroll, he grinned. “No but seriously, I- I missed you a hell of a lot, Pete. I kinda went downhill without you.”
“Steve told me”, Peter admitted. “About the drinking.”
Tony sighed loudly, leaning his head back. “God that man is such a buzzkill. And I wasn’t even drinking, not really. I had like 2 scotches.”
“In 10 minutes?” Peter couldn’t help but tease.
“In a day”, Tony corrected.
Peter nodded, clearly impressed. He sat for a moment simply watching the billionaire. “By the way”, he began somewhat nervously. “Ned. He, err, managed to track down the IP address for that email, the threat? I- I passed it onto S.H.I.E.L.D.” When he noticed the look on Tony’s face, he smiled awkwardly. “They probably arrested the guy actually, while you were busy sleeping.”
Tony didn’t look pleased, but his teeth weren’t clenched in anger so at least there was that.
“How bad?”
Peter grimaced, immediately knowing what the older man was referring to. “Not bad”, he insisted, right before spotting the look of doubt on Tony’s face. “Okay, not that bad. There were… a few guns and… the odd photos stalking me… maybe a few bomb diagrams”, he winced when Tony growled.
“And I shouldn’t have taken that seriously?”
“In my defence, how was I supposed to know the guy was serious?”
Tony finally did clench his jaw this time. “That’s why you take all threats seriously, Pete!”
“Yeah well clearly I’m bad at that”, Peter said jokingly. When Tony didn’t seem impressed, he sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry. You were right, I was wrong. I’m just… still getting used to the whole ‘having a person’ thing. I don’t know if you’re aware but before you waltzed into my life, I was kind of what you call a loner.”
Tony snorted, amused. “Yeah you could say that.”
“Just because we’re not all as popular as you, Stark”, Peter couldn’t resist teasing, seeing Tony’s anger slip away slowly.
Tony grinned in response. Looking down at Peter’s hand, he reached out to take it into his. “Yeah, well… I only really care about a few of those people anyway.”
Peter looked away bashfully; how Tony always managed to make him blush with even the simplest of compliments, he didn’t know. “Oh yeah, like who?”
“Well Rhodey for starters.”
“Rhodey?”
“And Pepper”, Tony clarified. “Don’t forget good ol’ Capsicle, despite the fact he’s a pain in the ass.”
Peter hummed in approval as he nodded.
“Oh and of course we can’t forget my science buddy, Banner. Or Legolas. If I don’t say Nat she’ll probably climb out of the air vents and stab me so… Nat too, I guess.”
“Anyone else?” Peter enquired, lips curled in a grin.
Tony looked at him for a moment. “Happy. Don’t forget Happy.”
“Won’t forget Happy”, Peter confirmed. His grin widened as he laughed.
“Your suspiciously young Aunt, she’s kinda cool too. Oh God, I almost forget the literal god; Thor can be on the list too, not that he needs protecting from anything.”
“Except Loki, probably.”
“Probably”, Tony conceded. “I think… yeah, I think that’s about it.”
Peter smirked, “Oh really?”
“Oh wait!” Tony cried suddenly, pointing his finger in Peter’s face. “Don’t forget Dum-E, that little shit.”
A laugh burst from Peter’s chest at that, and he chuckled heartedly for a moment. When he finally calmed down enough to stop, the look on Tony’s face left him almost breathless.
“And, of course”, Tony coughed awkwardly, looking away. “As much as those people are all great… really great…. They still all come second to you.”
“Even Dum-E?” Peter asked coyly.
“Especially Dum-E.”