p • r • e • s • s • u • r • e

I Get it

"I'm not following," The scientist finished.

"Yeah. Well, either it's because she just wanted a break from New York, and the team being here and, well, Morgan's never properly seen Chicago."

The man yawned.

"Or...or it could be me. Because I'm...falling apart." Tony waved his hand as if to mimic a leaf falling through air.

"And the drama's too much for her. More importantly, it's too much for Morgan."

The microwave beeped once more and he pulled it out, much more calmly this time. But it's akin to a pallbearer's calm, or the calm of a terminal cancer patient.

"I drove...my own daughter away."

He sipped the coffee dejectedly and Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"What is it then, Bruce?" His tone is biting and it bites hard, nearly making the scientist flinch.

"It's not that simple, Tony. I think...I think it's a bit of both."

A beat.

"I think that Morgan's never seen Chicago, and it's an amazing city. Well, it's Chicago. But erm...I think that Morgan is young, so young and the world is falling to shit. I don't blame Pepper for the urgency. And well...she knows how you're feeling and I think she's worried she doesn't know how to help you. So, she gave you some space."

Tony stares at the marble countertop and thinks. It's obvious he hasn't considered this possibility; the one possibility where he isn't a monster. At least, in his own eyes.

"Maybe," is all he says.

Bruce smiles and fills the kettle up again.

"I mean, I don't know. I'm not the one who's married to her."

Tony smirks.

"Yeah."

He turns his attention back to the laptop in front of him to finish booking the tickets to the concert. He'd have picked a different location, if it weren't for the fact that Vegas was the last stop on the tour. The second-to-last concert was happening in thirty minutes in Seattle.

He sighs.

I'll get a hotel room next...wait, I should ask Tony. He'll know which one.

Bruce walks downstairs to the garage, only to find Tony and Peter working on a new spidersuit. So he lingers in the doorway.

Tony keeps pointing at things and muttering something, his hand in his goatee.

"But what if..." he says, and the teen starts gesticulating wildly.

"What if we put it there, and then..." he's grinning and Bruce sees him take a step back, watching him.

God, he loves that kid.

Tony looks up to meet his eyes.

"Bruce! Wonderful, come here."

The scientist cocks an eyebrow and leaves his spot at the doorway to join them.

"Come, come."

Tony plays up a quick animation of what the suit would look like in action. It glides through the air and Bruce motions for it to pause.

"No, see there'd be too much fabric here. If we pull this over to the left..."

They talk for about forty-five minutes until Peter announces that his aunt wants him back home. He grabs his bag and tries to run off, but Tony's not having that.