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The first thought Tony had when he woke up was that he was tired of laying down. He’d been counting and had not left the medbay of the compound in ten days, and it was starting to drive him insane. Of course, he was overjoyed to have both Peter and Pepper there to help him along, but that didn’t mean he wanted to stay there forever.
“Another week max, Tony.” Bruce had said yesterday. “You lost a ton of weight and are currently healing an infected stab wound inside of you. If you’re out of here too soon, you’ll only get worse.”
He got that part, but Bruce clearly hadn’t gotten the part where Tony would go insane from being stuck in there.
What had convinced him not to just walk out dragging the IV behind him was the presence of Pepper and Peter. They were with him almost at all times, comforting him, talking with him, trying to take his mind off his failure.
But what really kept him going was Peter. When the kid had first shown up at the compound a week ago, Tony had been too relieved to realize something that hit him as Peter got examined by Bruce: Peter had no one left. His aunt and his best friend were both gone, so Peter had nowhere to go. No wonder he had it in his mind to go to Chicago. New York held too many memories.
Tony didn’t even have to talk to Pepper to know that they were going to take the kid in. There were no other sane options. Throwing Peter out to fend for himself was… nope. Not happening.
Also, Tony would probably lose his mind if he didn’t see the kid every day.
So naturally, Tony expected to wake up and see his kid and his fiance at his bedside, like he had every day for the past week.
He opened his eyes, and in a chair a few feet away from him, he saw Pepper sleeping peacefully. He smiled. She was still the most beautiful woman alive when asleep.
Tony looked around, expecting his smile to grow when he saw or heard his kid.
But instead, his smile vanished. Because Peter wasn’t there.
Tony shot up, ignoring the sting of pain from his stab wound. His eyes traced the room again, as if Peter would pop into existence just by Tony’s willpower. But he didn’t.
Tony tried to be logical. Peter probably had just gone to the restroom,or to get some food or take a shower. Of course that was what he was doing. Completely normal.
“F.R.I.D.A.Y?” Tony asked, knowing she would say the logical, calming answer. “Where’d the kid go?”
It would be a normal, obvious answer. Tony was just being paranoid. Way too paranoid. Peter was perfectly-
“Mr. Parker is currently not in the compound.”
Tony thought he was going to vomit.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Mr. Parker has not been in the Avengers compound for the past seven hours.”
Tony’s heart rate and breaths began to speed up. Peter was gone. He’d never been here, he’d died when Thanos had snapped his fingers.
“Pep!” He cried, trying to calm down. “Pep, wake up, he’s gone!”
Pepper’s eyes shot open at Tony’s descent into panic. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“He-he’s not here! He’s gone, Pep, he’s gone and I couldn’t save him-”
Pepper stood up and put her hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Calm down, Tony, I’m sure-”
F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice interrupted Pepper’s reassurances. “Mr. Parker has not been on the compound grounds since 3:34 AM.”
Tony started to hyperventilate. His kid was gone. He was gone and Tony couldn’t save him.
Pepper looked a bit alarmed, but managed to keep a straight face. “You know where he went, F.R.I?”
“I do not, Ms. Potts.”
Tony felt tears well up in his eyes. He needed his kid. He needed him back in his arms. He’d thought he’d lost him once. If he lost him for real-
His entire body began to tremble at the thought, and Pepper hugged him tightly. “It’s okay, it’s okay, he might have just needed some air.”
“For seven hours?!” Tony gasped, gripping her shirt. “I-I have to go find him. F.R.I, get my suit right now.”
Pepper abruptly pulled away. “Tony, no.”
“Yes. Pep, I have to get him back. I can’t lose him, please.”
Without a second thought, Tony tore out his IV, standing up and stumbling out of the doorway of his room.
His suit was just down the hall. In any normal circumstance, Tony would have just sent it out on autopilot. But the thought of something happening to the kid in what was left of the world made Tony’s mind not think about the consequences of his actions.
But before Tony could reach his suit, he felt Pepper grab his arm and yank him backwards. “Tony, stop, please. I can’t let you hurt yourself over this, please.”
She sounded so desperate and worried that Tony actually almost reconsidered his choice. He usually listened to Pepper, because she was always right. She always knew what was best for Tony.
But what was best for Peter was more important.
“Pep, I’m sorry.” He said, prying her arm off of him. “I have to find my kid this time.”
He didn’t wait for her response. Instead, he stepped into the suit as it shot out of the compound on his way to find his kid.
The first thing Tony heard when he was outside for the first time in ten days was the patter of water droplets on his suit. Dammit, it was raining hard. What had the kid been thinking coming outside in this?
“F.R.I,” He said, panic still dripping from his voice. “Scan as far as possible for any heat signatures. If any, and I mean any , even remotely match a 5’ 8’’ teenage male, take me to it.”
“Boss, are you absolutely sure about this? You’ll set your recovery back by-”
“I don’t care. Just do it, please.”
Tony held his breath as F.R.I.D.A.Y obeyed, trying not to let the tears escape his eyes. A million things could have happened to Peter out there. He could have been lost, or hurt, or god forbid-
No, no, not dead. Tony had made it illegal for Peter to die. Therefore, there was no way that he was-
But what if he is?
What if you couldn’t save him?
Oh god, the kid was gone. Tony had failed him, just like he’d failed everyone. He was gone and-
“Heat signature located.”
Tony’s heart somehow sped up more. “Where? Where is it?”
“Seven miles south, boss. Coordinates entered.”
Tony shot in that direction, ignoring the pain from his stab wound pretty much everywhere else. It had to be the kid. It had to. If it wasn’t-
“Boss, look down.”
Tony skidded to a stop, remembering how fast his suits went. It had taken less than a minute to go seven miles.
Looking down Tony saw an old, red car on the side of the road, its headlights on and it’s front open. There was someone leaning into the engine, and Tony prayed that it was who he thought it was.
Tony dropped down just behind the person. The figure whirled around, and Tony had to bite back a sob.
It was Peter, hood up and eyes wide but still soaked to the bone. But still, one of the best sights Tony had ever seen.
Not giving a single damn for the rain, Tony lifted his faceplate and grabbed Peter in a hug. Peter returned the embrace, burying his face in Tony’s collarbone, not unlike when they reunited a week ago. Tony was nearly as relieved now as he was then.
“Oh my god, Pete.” Tony murmured, tempted to take off his suit in order to provide the shivering teen more warmth. “Where the Hell have you been? You gave me a fucking heart attack.”
“M’ sorry.” Peter muttered. “I thought I could make it back before you woke up, but then the battery died.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. Where were you?”
He heard Peter gulp as he pulled apart from Tony. He went over to the car and opened the passenger door, reaching in and taking something out.
It was a jar, filled with what looked like a shit ton of lint or something. Peter was cradling it to his chest like it was the most important thing in the world.
Tony stared at him, confused. “What is this?”
Peter let out a shaky sigh and stared at Tony for a long moment, saying nothing. Tony looked closer at the jar, and that was when the revelation hit him like the moon did on Titan.
Those were ashes.
May Parker’s ashes.
“Oh god, kid.” Tony said, rushing to give him another hug. “You could have asked one of us to take you.”
Peter returned the hug with one arm. “Just felt like I needed to do it myself.”
“Well at the very least you could have said something.”
“Sorry. I didn’t- holy shit why are you here?! You should still be in the medbay!”
“I was worried. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you’re more important than me.” He let go of Peter, glancing at the car engine. “Now, need a jumpstart?”
Peter insisted on driving back to the compound after Tony recharged the car battery. Tony took off his suit and had it fly back to Pepper so F.R.I.D.A.Y could tell her he’d found the kid and that they were both okay. But Tony still kept one gauntlet on, warmed it up and placed his warm, covered hand on Peter’s back the whole way home, hating to see him shiver. Peter leaned into the contact, smiling sadly as his eyes darted back and forth from the road and the ashes that Tony carefully held in his lap.
When they finally arrived back at the compound, Tony saw Pepper and Bruce outside the medbay area under an umbrella. Peter parked the car and climbed out, rushing to the other side to help Tony out.
“Kid,” Tony protested. “I flew all the way out to get you. I can walk fine.”
“Flying in a suit that supports your entire body and walking in a t-shirt and sweatpants are two different things, Mr. Stark.” Peter replied simply as he gently took Tony’s arm and helped him out of the car. Immediately the two were engulfed in a massive hug from Pepper.
“You idiot.” She whispered into Tony’s ear. “You are a genius but such a fucking idiot.”
Tony couldn’t remember the last time Pepper had said the king of all swears. She must have been mad.
She pulled away, holding Peter’s cheek. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
Peter nodded. “I’m okay, Ms. Potts. I just went back to my apartment to get something,” Peter paused, a wave of sadness passing over his face. “And-and then my car’s battery died on the way back.”
Pepper seemed satisfied, and Bruce came up behind her, looking at Tony with concern and anger, which made Tony pray that he wouldn’t turn green.
“You did not think that through.” Bruce said. “At all.”
“Yes, I did.” Tony replied, tugging Peter closer to him. “I had to get my kid back.”
Peter’s eyes widened at the statement, but Tony pretended not to notice.
Bruce half-sighed, half-groaned. “Let’s just get inside before the Hulk finally decides to come out.”
Tony smirked, allowing Peter to have one hand on his shoulder as they all went inside. The kid had grabbed May’s ashes from the car and was holding them gingerly to his chest with his other hand.
Tony sighed. “If you want, I can get you an urn. Whatever kind you like. It can be fucking vibranium, if that’s what you want.”
Peter bit his lip. “That’s really nice of you, Mr. Stark, but a wooden one is just fine.”
Tony hated seeing the kid like this. Not his happy, chatterbox self, but a shy, reserved, depressed boy who had lost the last member of his family.
Tony stopped when they had just stepped into the compound. He took both of the kid’s shoulders and forced him to look him in the eye.
“Pete, listen.” He said. “I know things are hard for you right now. They’re hard for everyone. Literally everyone in the whole universe. But we are gonna get through this. You and me, every step of the way. I promise.”
He smiled. “But please, enough with the vanishing acts. They’ve gotten old. Move on to something else.”
Peter chuckled. “Okay, Mr. Stark.”
“Now, let’s see how many years I get in the prison of the medbay.”
Peter at last let out a full-on laugh, and it was the best thing Tony had heard in years.