Archive of Our Own ^beta

Seven months. His son has been gone for seven months. For seven minths he couldn't hear the sound of Peter laughing, asking for help on his algebra homework, or if Ned could come over and spend the night. He thought he would never hear Peter asking for advice on how to talk to MJ.

Seven months of hell.

After gathering up what remained of the Avengers and of the Guardians of the universe or whatever they called themselves, which happened to just be a talking raccoon.

They finally tracked the mad titan on a secluded planet, where he became a farmer or something. His golden armor, now a scarecrow, the once terrifying Infinity Guantlet now layed on his arm, forever stuck. Tony looked at the golden weapon and thought about everyone hes lost. Friends, family...Peter.

It was a ruthless battle, ending with Nebula getting the final blow to kill the purple beast. Avenging her sister. Avenging everyone. She picked up the guantlet, or what remained of it, and smashed into pieces, destroying the stones. Miraculously, they all survived.

They all loaded back into the ship and went to return to earth.  As they eventually returned to New York, they saw people returning from the ashes, literally. Fury, Hill, parents reuiniting with their children, friends and family. Wong, who was with the remaining heroes, teleported Steve, Natasha, Rhodey, Bruce and Thor back to Wakanda and Tony, Rocket, and Nebula back to Titan. 

Everyone was back in Wakanda. Shuri, T'challa, his people, Sam, Bucky, Wanda, Groot,only one to not return was Vision. Much to their dismay.

On Titan, Rocket reuinited with his band of freaks, Strange and Wong hugged, Tony looked and looked looking for his son. For Peter. After a couple minutes of searing, he realized that his son wouldn't be coming back. Figured, Tony thought, after all the good he's done, after everyone he's saved, the universe couldn't throw him a bone. Of course. He cried. After a while, he felt a tap on his shoulder, he refused to turn and accept anyones pity. 

"...dad?" 

Tony froze. Please.

Slowly turning around, he was met with a tear streaked face of a boy with curly brown hair and doe like eyes.

"Oh my God! Peter!" Tony jumped to his son, hugging him in case the universe was going to rip him away again. They both cried.

Months passed, they had to adjust to everything. Everyone has.  Just as everything started to go right, the universe beat him yet again.

Tony was down in his lab again, working on his latest Ironman suit . After they had defeated Thanos, Tony had realized that he needed better armor or one that can withstand the strength of a supersized Titan. He felt that he had lost Peter due to his weakness.  

Setting his coffee down on a coaster, his gaze caught a picture frame on the table. It was him, Pepper and Peter on his eighth birthday. Peter wore his trademark goofy smile, cake covering half his face. He smiled. Those were the simpler times, where he wasn't fearful of the future.

He sat the frame back down as he heard a notification pop up on one of his monitors,he turned around to see it was an alert from Peter's suit. 

Tony felt his heart drop to his feet as he looked at the screen. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Tony forced his eyes to look at the screen.

"FRIDAY...give me his vitals." Tony yelled as he ran to his suit and started to track his missing child. "He has two gunshot wounds in his abdominal regions and is losing consciousness." 

Tony blasted through the glass windows and out the building.

Tracking Peter's suit, he found him on too of that sandwich shop he liked so much, Delmars or something along the lines.

He finally saw Peter, who was barely conscious at this point, lying in a medium pool of blood. 

Tony, who practically jumped out of his suit, raced to his son. He immediately took off his jacket and applied pressure to his son's wounds. 

"Hey, Pete. You need to wake up okay?" Tony said to his son, voice shaking.

"..." Silence.

"Peter?" 

Peter stirred, eyes creaking open.

"D-dad? I-I don't feel okay..."Peter slurred.                  "Hey buddy. I know, let's get you out of here okay?" Tears threatened to fall from his eyes.Peter sluggishly nodded and practically melted into Tony's arms. He quickly caught him before he fell to the ground.Blood was quickly seeping through Tony's jacket. 

With the suit quickly returning around Tony's body, he raced back to the tower and alerted his medical team.

The time he spent with Peter in the air felt like eternally. Having FRIDAY monitor his breathing, which was dropping drastically, he attempted to get his son breathing again.

Finally arriving at the tower and removed the nano suit immediately, he raced Peter to the medical wing, which he installed after the attack on New York,as fast as he could.

Dr. Cho and her staff met Tony halfway and grabbed the boy from his arms. Left alone beside the elevator, covered in his sons blood, Tony collapsed. Rhodey had been alerted by FRIDAY after Cho's team was, and met Tony by the elevator currently having a panic attack. 

After minutes of talking to his friend, Rhodey finally managed to calm him down. Repeating the words "He's gonna be alright. He's gonna make it." Over and over again. 

Rhodey patted Tony's shoulder and helped him up. "He's got this Tones. If anyone can defy death twice its that kid. Your kid."

Tony grimaced. "I.. I know. Its just- you didn't see him like that. He looked- I thought that he di-" Tony choked on his words. 

"I just can't lose him again. Seven months was enough...how am I supposed to go on knowing my child is gone?" 

"I lost him when Thanos came, and I lost him. When he got captured by Toomes again and that symbiote thing... I just can't. He means way too much to me."

Rhodey hugged his friend as he sobbed and shook. They sat down on the couch and waited for Cho to come back. 

They sat there for hours until she returned, Tony shot up immediately.

"How is he?" He said practically shaking in fear. 

She smiled. "He's much better, we have him knocked out right now on antibiotics, we,we uh lost him on the table, lost a lot of blood. He's hooked up to a blood bag and a bunch of other things so just brace yourself." 

Tomy shuddered. "How close was I to losing him?" He whispered. 

"If you had brought him in five minutes later, he would've died."

"He's going to be okay right?" 

"Yeah...give him some time and he'll come around. You've got a strong boy there, Tony." She smiled and patted Tony's back.

She led Tony to the room Peter was recovering in. Tony opened the door and nearly fainted. Peter was pale, unconscious in the big white bed, looking seven sizes too  small. He was hooked up to so many wires, bandages and  machines that made him look like a robot. He grabbed a chair and scooted it beside his son and quickly took his hand, rubbing it tenderly. 

After a few hours, Peter eventually woke up. He looked at Tony and gave him a loopy smile.

"Sup dad." He giggled.

Tony chuckled seeing Peter as high as a kite on his pain medication.

Peter started talking to Tony about the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why dont paintball arenas team up with skydiving companies? I mean, it would be like an actual battle royal game...ya know?" 

More things like this were said... Tony's favorite was "If someone tries to hit you but you block them with a bowl, would that be bowling a strike?"

"Welp, I think it's about time you go to sleep, kiddo." Tony laughed, wholeheartedly.

"I ain't even tired though." Peter yawned.

"Yeah,sure. And I'm the queen of England." 

""Well, you are close to her age sooo..." 

"Alright, Pete." 

Another yawn.

"Night dad. Love you." 

"Love you more kiddie." 

Peter fell asleep, Tony sighed in relief.  He just had to pray at this point that whatever holy being there was would leave his son alone.