"When do you think I can go back to school" he asks casually as he pushes around the cereal in his bowl
"I don't know kid, I was thinking maybe 2 weeks after we have all settled in, this way you will be comfortable and maybe have had some time to get a little better, it's just, you faced a big trauma, and then went right to school where you were shoved things down your through and told to pay attention and memorize and it just didn't leave you a lot of time to process and I think that's really what you need, time to process and talk" explains tony
"But school made me feel like I was back in the good old days" peter justifies
"And I'm not sure that's a good thing, I mean it just masks the reality causing you to ignore and not address the fact that you experienced some pretty intense things a while back, Peter I'm not saying this to be mean or make you mad, I just really think it's important for you to address your issues and work on fixing them instead of ignoring them and distracting yourself from them" Tony claims
"But what if I can't deal with them" the boy questions feeling small and weak
"You can and you will, and you have support to help you along the way, you have me, may, pepper, even Morgan is rooting for you, but peter your also the strongest kid I know, and not because your spider man or because you got bit by some weird hippie spider, but because you are the smartest, bravest most kind hearted person I know, and you will fight and try your hardest and you will get through this because you can, I promise you" Tony says
"Okay" is the only words the boy is able to form
They continue to eat in comfortable silence when tony speaks up
"So I have some work I need to do today, you know regarding stark industries, the move, the avengers and just the whole inevitable big purple guy thing" he says trying to make light of it all "so I'm gonna be in my office for a lot of the day so will you be able to keep yourself busy?" He asks peter
"Yeah, yeah sure" he says
"Pete?" He says sternly
"I'll be fine mr.stark I promise, I got a whole tower to myself, and not any tower, but the stark avengers tower that has anything anyone would need, a lab, a gym, a tv, Friday! Don't worry about me mr.stark I'll be more thank fine, and if anything your only a couple floors down" peter assured him
"Alright, well if you need anything, anything at all please come see me" he advises him
When tony puts his dishes in the sink and leaves to his office peter sits there for a while thinking of what he can do, after he's finished his cereal, he goes upstairs and looks into his closet to change out of his pijamas, when he grabs a shirt off s hanger his Spidey suit falls to the floor, he picks it up and looks at it a mix of pain,sadness and thrill runs through him and he speaks
"Hey Friday?"
"Yes peter?"
"Can you open the vertical reality training program in the gym i would like to practice a little while mr.stark is working"
"Sure" says the AI
Peter throws his suit on and rushes the gym
Peter breaths before he starts the training, he hasn't been spider man since the battle, but if tony believes in him, he should believe in himself
"Ok Friday, start the program"
The exercise starts and immediately starts fighting the bad guys, since it's a vertical reality, the webs don't work, but peter added to the program that he can throw virtual webs to the virtual villains making it more real for him, peter webs one one of guys and kicks the other then webs him to the wall he continues to fight the remaining members of the team till he accomplishes his task of taking them all down, when he's done he runs through diffrebt levels and locations more times before he stops
"Hey Friday? Is it possible to leave the tower without letting tony know?"
"That goes against my peter Parker protocol" the AI states
"What if spider man left"
"That still goes against bosses request to know your location throughout the day"
"Oh come on Friday please, just for a little" Peter begs
"What if I keep my tracker on then, he will know my location and you don't have to tell him" peter points out
Peter sighs when he doesn't get a response and hacks the AI from his phone.
"Fine, then we will just have to adjust the peter protocol so I can leave without mr.stark being notified" peter says as he changes the coding
When he's finished his task, he quickly runs to his room, takes extra web fluid and leaves through the the first window he can find since his room doesn't have any
Peter shoots his webs from building to building swinging happily looking for crime to stop as much as he didn't want to be spider man, he missed swinging, he missed feeling the wind and feeling free and letting loose and having fun , being Spider-Man gave him a sense of purpose he's missed since thanos
When he catches a glimpse of a weapons sale, he quickly jumps down and hides next to a garbage bin
When peter sees them trading the weapons he quickly webs their hands stoping their actions
"Hey guys why didn't I get an invitation" peter says
"What the hell is he doing here I thought he was gone" says one of the guys
"Aw, why? Did you miss me" peter says before webbing his mouth shut
"Whoops, sorry I'm sorry, you didn't finish" he says as he jumps on top of the vehicle
"He webs the guys and pulls the web banging the criminals heads on the van
"My bad guys, I've been hanging out to much with the avengers I forgot you guys are just human, but don't worry, I'll call the cops and I'm sure they will get you a medic to take a look at your induries" he says still on the roof of the van
"You talk to much" says a voice behind him before he is shot at
Peter didn't expect this so he falls off the van, the man still shooting at him, the noises trigger peter and he begins to get flashbacks from the battle against thanos
"Get it together Spider-Man, GET IT TOGETHER" he whispers to himself he quickly crab walks backwards before he hits the car of the other person involved in the trade he stops and hides under the car holding his knees, immediately being brought back to when he hid under the rock with the gauntlet way back when
"Aw guys, look at the spider man, if only the world can see him now, he's just a scared boy, pretending to be something he's not, a hero, an avenger, well let's end his little fraud once and for all shall we"
Peter had his eyes closed curled in a ball, he wasn't sure what the man meant, was he gonna kill him? Reveal his identity? Peter didn't have a chance to find out because suddenly a familiar voice spoke
"Hey fellas, engaging in some illegal activities this fine afternoon are we?" He says
"Shit" says one of the guys webbed up
"Shit is right" says iron man before he blasts the group of men
When everything is dealt with the the criminals are all taken down unconscious tony exists his suit
The billionaire kneels next to peter and speaks "hey Bambi? You okay? Your alright, your okay, your safe, you did good, you were really good, come on we're gonna go home now"
When the two hero's get home peter is laying in the couch asleep against tony while tony pets the kids hair trying to comfort him
When the kid wakes up an hour later tony is in the kitchen on his lab top
Peter sits up and looks around
"Oh good your awake"
Peter rubs his eyes
"How you feeling?"
"Okay I guess"
"Good, okay , that good enough"
" good enough for what?" Ask peter confused
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING" the yells
Peter winces
"YOU HACKED FRIDAY, ALTERING A PROTOCOL I CREATED TO PROTECT YOU AND THEN RUN OFF INTO DANGER WITHOUT LETTING ME KNOW!"
"I-"
"I ASKED FOR ONE THING" tony barks out holding one finger up "I TOLD YOU I WANTED TO KNOW WHEN YOU WENT OUT SPIDERMANING! AND I MADE THAT PRETTY DAM CLEAR WHEN I PURPOSELY GAVE YOU A ROOM WITH WINDOWS, AND EXPLAINED TO YOU THAT IT WAS BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO KNOW WHEN YOU WERE GOING SO I COULD KEEP TRACK OF YOU"
"I know mr.stark, I just- you were busy and I didn't want to bother you" stumbles peter
"Jesus Christ kid YOUR NOT A FUCKING BOTHER, I CANT KEEP HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS PETER! I ASKED YOU TO TELL ME! I ASKED TO KNOW THEREFORE YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME" Tony screams
Peters eyes fill with tears "yes sir, I'm sorry"
He says quietly as he's trying his best to hold back tear
"I'm genuinely curious as to what your plan was? You were just gonna go and come back and hope for the best?"
Peter didnt have time to answer as tony spoke again
"You could have got hurt! And I wouldn't have known unless I would have asked Friday where peter Benjamin Parker is, you could have been laying in a ditch dead and I would have been clueless, continuing my work thinking you were home safe"
"Well now you know how I feel"
"No, no it's different and you know it! You cant change this to one of your little repercussion of your trust issues Okay? Not this time" he spits out
"WHY NOT ITS THE TRUTH" he breaks yelling at his mentor
"YOU WANT ME TO OPEN UP AND TALK ABOUT IT FINE THEN LETS TALK ABOUT IT. YOU TRIED TO LEAVE ME! YOU HAD TO GO AND BE A HERO AND SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR EVERYONE ELSE BUT WHAT ABOUT ME! WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO HUH? YOUR THE ONLY FATHER FIGURE I KNOW THE ONLY ONE I HAVE LEFT AND YOU WERE GONNA LEAVE ME, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO CONTINUE ON WITHOUT YOU! HOW WASS I SUPPOSED TO BECOME AN AVENGER, LEARN TO BE SPIDER-MAN HOW WAS I GOING TO GROW INTO A MAN" peter yells
"I did think of you peter. I thought of how I wanted you to have a life, I wanted you to go to college, experience your first relationship, your first apartment, your first kid. And how you couldn't have a life if you weren't alive to live it, I did what I did cause I wanted you to have an opportunity to live out your life"
"No it was selfish, you didn't think of all the people that would be hurt by your death and you didn't think of how many people would be lost without you including me! Including Morgan I clouding the avengers" peter says
"OKAY BUT IM STILL HERE!" He yells
"FOR NOW! BUT WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT TIME SO PSYCHOPATH DECIDES TO TAKE OVER EARTH AND YOU DECIDE TI GUVE YOUR LIFE AGAIN HUH? THEN WHAT? CAUSE NOW IM CLOSER THEN EVER TO YOU BECAUSE YOU REFUSED TO TAKE THE HINT WHEN I WAS DISTANCING MYSELF SO IF WERE TO HAPPEN AGAIN MAYBE I WONT BE AS AFFECTED BUT NOW I LIVE WITH YOU SO YOUR DEATH WILL BE 1000 TIMES WORSE SO FINE MAYBE YOU SURVIVED NOW BUT WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT TIME? OR THE TIME AFTER THAT!" Peter lets out
"This is ridiculous, your turning this on me when you were the one who broke the rules, you were reckless and careless and I know you know better"
"Whatever, I'm going to bed"
"What about supper?"
"I'm not hungry" the teen says heading to his room
Tony eats supper alone, goes to do some work and then goes to bed, getting an update every 20 minutes if peters whereabouts and what he's doing
"Peter is currently laying on the bed" updates Friday
"Alright, I'm going to bed fri, make sure everything is locked down so Spider-Man nor peter Parker can leave" says tony
"Sure thing boss"
When tony is in bed asleep he is awakened when his door opens letting light come in
"I know your still mad, but can I sleep with you?" Asks a shy peter
He's probably just worken up from a nightmare thinks tony
Tony doesn't say anything, just opens his covers signalling the boy to come in bed, peter obliged and walks to tony and lays down under the covers, Tony holds the kid and peter immediately relaxes
"I'm really sorry mr.stark, I just really wanted to show you I was getting better, that I was as strong as you think I am" whispers peter
"I'm sorry too pete, I shouldn't have said the things I did and I definitely shouldn't have yelled, I could have gave you a sensory overload or something"
"But you were right, I put myself in danger and that wasn't okay and everything keeps coming back to my PTSD and my trust issues, I want to see a therapist, I want to be okay again"
tony holds him tighter and whispers an "Okay" to the boy "we can do that" he adds
The smaller boys cries a little "I'm really sorry, I really am please forgive me"
"Of course bambi, I'm sorry too, it's okay, don't cry, shhhh" soothes tony
They fall asleep holding on to each other both sorry for the hurt they have caused one another.