Honestly, Tony thought it was just some kind of side effect from having a shield slammed into his chest. That this type of pain was normal. Or maybe, his chest was too messed up that his heart wasn't comfortable with it anymore.
The weird ache in his heart as he thought about them, about him.
It wasn't until after he read his medical chart and different scans, which was total bullshit, that Tony realised that maybe this isn't as normal as he thought.
"He has a what?" Rhodey's soft voice was filled with confusion. He sat in the seat next to Tony's hospital bed.
The doctor looked at the men with sympathetic eyes. "Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy."
Tony, who remained staring at his chart, rubbed his chest. "Okay, but what is that? Sounds like some made-up disease from a young adult novel."
"Doctor Proctor," Rhodey began. "Could you please explain what this Tak-Takub... whatever it's called is?"
"Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy," Doctor Proctor said slowly. She sighed quietly to herself. "It's more commonly known as Broken Heart Syndrome."
Tony snorted. "I'm sorry Doc. 'Broken Heart Syndrome?' Really? How is that a real thing?"
"As much as it sounds like something from a young adult novel," she began. "It's an actual diagnosis. Has any stressful event occurred during this time of year in the past? Have you felt any similar chest pain like this before now?"
Rhodey couldn't help the bitter chuckle. "Doctor, you've got to know who you're talking to."
"No offence Doc," Tony twisted his hands together. "But I can't keep track of all the battles I fought. As for the pain, well, I had a battery in the chest and some ribs removed."
Doctor Proctor smiled tightly. She's well aware of her patient's previous conditions and stressful battles. "I understand. However, you are, despite what the public may believe, a healthy man. Your heart has always looked well and your rib cage is looking good, despite most of it being made of metal. You shouldn't be at risk for a heart attack, despite having a 'battery' disrupting its placement and placing pressure on your lungs. Your heart, Doctor Stark, shouldn't be having any abnormal palpitations. The charts from last month are what we expect from a man your age. This month, however, are more of a person who has experienced a recent loss."
There was a silence in the room. Tense and uncomfortable.
"Oh shit," Rhodey whispered but it felt loud in the hospital room.
"Don't." Tony felt a dread settle in his stomach. He just knew it was about them. It's always about them.
Rhodey rested a hand on his arm. "Tony..."
"You know," The inventor shook him off. "Even after three years, they still manage to fuck up my life." He composed himself before facing the doctor. "So Doc, what can I do about this?"
Doctor Proctor took the charts from the bed and held them. "Honestly, there isn't much to do. This condition isn't very well known. The good news is that those who have the syndrome usually don't die from it. Death is rarely probable. There will be however some drawbacks. This will most likely continue to occur around this time of year. The symptoms like heart palpitations will most likely continue to persist. Vomiting, nausea, chest and abdominal pain as well. Considering your previous medical history it wouldn't be too far off to say that chest pain may be what affects you the most. Weight loss may also affect you depending on how you deal with stress and depression."
The genius snorted at that. Maybe he'll just lock himself in his workshop. F.R.I.D.A.Y. could use another firewall anyways.
"Considering your reaction," the doctor looked unamused. "Perhaps a psychologist would be helpful. Do you have a counsellor or therapist?"
"Yeah, no can do Doc," Tony responded. "I don't do the whole 'talking to people about my feelings' thing. Tried it once and he fell asleep on me."
"Well then," she held back as much sarcasm as possible. "Perhaps it's time to start again." The doctor looked over to Rhodes. "I'll email some therapist recommendations. Please make sure he looks at them."
"Will do."
Common Floor, Stark Tower, NYC
"No."
"Tony-"
"Sorry, Honey Bear. The answer is the same as it was two hours ago."
Peter wasn't too sure what was going on when he arrived. He thought he was just going to drop in, say hello to Miss Potts and maybe Vision and then have Tony help him with some SAT review. The spider really was genuinely confused as to why his mentor and Mr Rhodes were fighting.
He could just ask the men about it but that meant he would probably get in the middle of the fight and well... he'd cry if one of them yelled at him by accident... or felt betrayed from whatever side he chose... who is he kidding? He'd cry if one of the men looked at him wrong.
So, naturally, Peter decided to do the next best thing.
He turned and was going to walk away.
Because he's a child and doesn't want to be put between two upset adults.
"Peter!" Tony's voice drifted over the teen's entire existence. The boy was only a step away from the open elevator. Only one step away!
Peter gulped and gathered every ounce of resilience that a teenager could possess and... oh... he already felt tears gathering behind his eyes.
"Hey, Mr Tony." Peter couldn't help the cringe when his voice cracked.
"Peter, come here and tell your dad to see a therapist." Rhodey's arms were crossed and his braced legs stood shoulder length. He looked every bit the military man he was and it terrified the shit out of Peter.
"I'm perfectly fine!" Tony argued back. "Tell him I'm fine, Pete."
Oh no! This is exactly what he was trying to avoid. Now Tony had a set look on his face, eyes narrowed and mouth straight. The man was the very picture of a upset parent. He had his 'I'm the adult, I will ground you' face. Peter knows better than to say no to that. He doesn't want to be told to stay in his room.
"Uh-"
"Tony," Rhodey's voice was exasperated. "You have a damn medical condition. Do you want to go to the hospital again!?"
"Um-"
"It doesn't even sound real, Rhodey!" Tony mocked back.
"I really thi-" Peter tried.
"You could have a heart attack, Tony!"
"Because I'm stressed!"
"Because you have severe depression!"
"It's not depression!"
"The Doctor said you were grieving! You had a heart attack around this time of year because you are grieving!"
"I'm not-!"
"You had a heart attack?"
It cut Tony through his chest to hear Peter's voice.
"It wasn't too serious." The man tried to reassure.
Peter looked down as he played with his hands. "Mr... Tony," the teen's voice sounded painfully small. "I thought heart attacks were serious?"
The mechanic looked at the boy. "Pete," his voice was steady, even when looking at the watery doe-eyes of his mentee. "It wasn't that bad. My heart just needed a checkup."
"But," Peter shuffled his feet and looked back down. "Mr Rhodey said that you had to go to the hospital. If it was just a checkup then you'd go to the clinic inside the tower." Peter shuffled closer to Tony and looked him in the eyes. "You always said that big injuries mean having to go to the hospital."
"I- well- it's just-"
"Tony," Rhodey cut in. "Go on. Tell Peter the truth. Tell him about how you collapsed on the floor in the middle of breakfast because you had a heart attack. Go on and tell the kid that looks up to you that he might be present for one of those heart attacks!"
Tony took a moment to stare wide eyed at Rhodey. Then, he hesitantly looked over at Peter. "Pete..."
He couldn't do it.
There were big tears leaving a trail over the teen's face. His eyebrows and nose wrinkled like a hurt puppy. The boy's cheeks, nose, ears, all the way down to his neck were a flushed pink. Dear Kepler, he couldn't look at his kid and say that!
"Tony..." Peter hesitate a second before latching a hand onto Tony's jacket. "You... you're not gonna leave me too, right? Cause of the heart thingy? You're going to get better?"
If Tony was a stronger man he would have told Peter that his whatever Syndrome was a one time thing. He wasn't though. The engineer was weak and protective and, he could be a lying liar that tells really convincing lies, but he couldn't tell his kid he will be okay when he wasn't.
Tony gripped Peter's shoulder and pulled him into his chest. "I'm going to be fine, kiddo. I promise. I'll even let Rhodey Bear forcefully take me to therapy so it helps my heart feel better."
"You promise?" The teen's face was muffled in Tony's shirt.
"I promise, Petey." Tony gently responded, ruffling the boy's hair.
Peter wrapped his arms around his mentor and held onto the safety of the protective hold. After a few moments, the spider separated from the mechanic and took a much needed deep breath.
"Um," Peter began eloquently. "What exactly happened?"
Tony wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulder and led him to the couches. Rhodey sat across the geniuses on the armchair.
"You see-"
"Tony's got Broken Heart Syndrome," Rhodey interrupted.
"Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy." Peter nodded sagely.
Tony and Rhodey stared at the boy for a few moments before Tony broke out of his trance.
"Firstly," the hero pointed at Rhodey. "Rude. Secondly," he turned his eyes back at the child. "How do you even know about the Tako-what's it's?"
Peter gave an offended sound before rolling his eyes. "I watched Grey's Anatomy. I can educate myself, thank you very much."
"Kid, I don't think medical dramas count as education," Rhodey corrected.
"Yeah they do! Especially when I go and post about it in r/doctorsofreddit and r/Grey'sAnatomy!" He argued.
"That's not a real source."
Peter made a disagreeing sound. "Fine, I also used Wikipedia and WebMD so ha!"
"Can't dispute with those sources, Sour Patch. Especially when we used them in college." Tony turned to Peter. "Don't use Wikipedia and don't self diagnose."
"Sure."
"That was too quick of an answer."
"No, it wasn't."
"You've been googling your symptoms again, haven't you?" The older man sounded smug.
"I- weren't we talking about you and your Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy?" The teen shifted the conversation. "How does Mr Tony have the same condition as the cheating lady from Grey's?"
Rhodey decided to ignore the last part, and Tony who was repeating 'cheating lady,' and answered. "We think it's because of the former Avengers abandonment."
"They didn't abandon me," Tony protested but he wasn't paid any attention.
"Oh," Peter tapped a finger to his chin. "Yeah, that makes sense. I'd be really sad too if my friends decided to beat me up and leave me."
"I wasn't-"
Rhodey nodded. "It would be completely understandable."
"Hey-"
"I mean, Aunt May makes me see Doctor Slothe at least once a month to talk to. She says it's important so I don't get sad like I did when my parents and Ben died."
"I'm not-"
Rhodey held back a smile. Apparently, Tony's kid wasn't above guilt tripping his mentor. "Does it help?"
"Sometimes," Peter answer honestly. "I can't talk about being Spider-Man but that's alright. I talk to Ned and May and you guys about those problems."
Peter turned and looked at Tony in his eyes. "And I make sure to always tell you when somethings wrong, even when it isn't hero-related. Because you always say that it's not good to keep things inside."
"I was talking about a splinter..."
Peter shrugged and questioned innocently. "So, I shouldn't call you when I'm having trouble sleeping?"
"Well-"
"What about when I start thinking that Flash is right and that I am useless?"
"Pete-"
"Or when I get scared because I think it's too closed up in the elevator? Or how about when I suddenly get flashbacks to the Vulture attacking me? Should I just let it happen and not tell you about it?"
"Alright! I get it," Tony rolled his eyes. "I'll go talk to someone about my Taco Syndrome."
"Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy."
The inventor rolled his eyes again and exaggeratedly replied. "I said what I said."
Rhodey laughed at the pair as a memory of a 16-year-old Tony correcting him on chemical terms came to his mind.
"So, you're going to get better?" The teen's voice regained it's insecurity.
"I'll do my best," Tony ruffled Peter's hair. "Now, why did you come over?"
"Oh," the spider got up and quickly went over to grab his backpack. Once he was back on the couch he pulled out onto his lap two SAT practice books and his AP United States History and Latin- level 4 hardcover textbooks. "I need help."
"Um, alright," Tony held out his hands. "Hand them over."
The teen took the four textbooks from his lap and transferred them to Tony, who promptly felt his arms give out at the unexpected weight. The teen turned to Rhodey, who was watching Tony's surprised expression, and asked, "Are you any good in AP Lit?"
"I think so?" The pilot sounded unsure.
Peter's face lit up. "Oh, good!" He reached into his bag and took out his English book and a large binder. "Listen, Mrs Jackson keeps saying that my interpretation of the reading is too morbid for my essay and that I need to fix that before I turn it in. Like, what does that even mean!? I didn't even include the description of eating human flesh! It's like she has never read Stephen King or watched like Criminal minds or Hannibal! Not that those are morbid, at least not in my opinion. I had Ned and MJ revise it but they thought it was pretty tame. I mean it wasn't even that bad. Really, what did Mrs Jackson expect when she gave use free reign to chose our essay topics. Anyways, I need you to read my rough draft and tell me what's too 'morbid' and 'concerning' for my final paper. I had to hand write it because my laptop died in class so it's all in the binder."
"I regret this," Rhodey murmured to himself. In only a few moments, when he gets to the detailed description of cult sacrifices, the man would realise just how much he agreed with the teacher. He'll be talking to Tony about getting Peter a new therapist. And maybe see one himself too because the teen was too descriptive. How was he not affected by any of this?
"Me too," Tony grimaced at the uncomfortable weight on his legs. "Kid, how is your back not messed up?"
"What do you mean?"
"This stuff has to be heavy," he elaborated.
"I don't really notice it anymore. Spider bite and all," the teen said. "Before then too, now that I think about it. I also left my science and computer science stuff at school."
"This much weight on a kid shouldn't be legal."
Hey, everyone! I promise to update sooner, school started again and college takes priority so... anyway, please comment request :)