Tony texting Pepper
Tony : I WANT TO GIVE HIM THINGS
Tony : LIKE BLOWJOBS AND SELF ESTEEM!
Pepper : Please stop talking.
Peter was sitting on his bed reading when there was a knock on the door frame, causing him to startle and look up. Stephen Strange stood there, looking nervous. The look seemed strangely out of place on the man’s face.
“I don’t mean to disturb you but I was wondering if we could get to know one another, as you are dating my best friend.” He sounded unsure and Peter found it endearing.
Peter closed his book and smiles. “Yeah, come on in.” He folds his good leg under his injured one and watches Stephen cross the room. “What’s on your mind?” He asks.
“Well,” Stephen takes a seat and folded his arms. “People are idiots.” He says bluntly, making Peter laugh.
“Care to expand on that?”
“There was this guy in the ER today who did body shots off of a complete stranger and got piece of glass stuck up his nose and didn’t realize until three days later and it had moved up to his eye socket.”
Peter winces. “Oh my god. Gross.”
“Gross indeed.” Stephen laughs and shakes his head. “How do you not realize you have glass up your nose?”
“Well some people are dumb.” Peter remarks, shifting and wincing a little. “Sonofabitch.” He hisses.
“Try bending your knee a few times every hour. You’re not moving it enough and it’s getting stiff. If you let it get to stiff, the work you’re doing with Natasha is only going to hurt more.” The older man suggests, standing up. “May I?”
Peter stared at him blankly for a moment, before he realized what was happening. “Uh, yeah. Okay? Sure.”
Stephen slowly wraps his hands around Peter’s leg, on either side of his knee.
“This is going to hurt.” He warns before slowly bending the leg. Peter gasped loudly and reaches to stop him but Stephen shoos his hand away. “Let me help you.”
Peter lays back and closes his eyes, tightening his jaw.
“Talk to me Peter. It may distract you.”
“About what?” Peter’s voice raises an octave when the rods touched a little.
“Sorry sorry.” Stephen releases his leg and lays it flat. “Tony?”
“What about Tony?”
“Anything. I have many stories and can answer questions if you want?”
“Okay but I do have a question for you.”
“Fire away.”
“How come you or Steve haven’t threatened me yet? You are his best friends right? I don’t get a whole ‘you hurt him and I’ll kill you and make it look natural’?”
Stephen laughs at that. “I take it Pepper hasn’t come to visit you yet.” Then his face sobers. “But do keep in mind that I am a brain surgeon, Nat is helping you learn to walk again and Pepper and Steve are trauma surgeons. You do not want to piss off a bunch of doctors.”
Peter gaped at him for a moment then breaks into a grin. “That’s what I was waiting for.”
“Also remember that both Steve and Bucky are ex military so they don’t take kindly to someone hurting one of their own.” Stephen takes his seat again. “But I’m honestly not worried because you make Tony really happy and you’re good for him.”
Peter is quiet for a few minutes after that. “I’m glad because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. He’s amazing.”
“Yes, he really is.”
“So you said you have stories? Care to tell me some?”
“One time, during our internship, Tony swallowed a needle to prove he was a badass.”
“Why in hell?” Though, thinking about it, that does sound like something that Tony would do.
“He likes to show off a bit. He doesn’t need to though. Anyone who has met him can tell that he’s the best at what he does.”
“He really is amazing, I’m surprised that he is dating me when he can do better.”
“It’s because he’s drawn to you. He loves you so much. I’ve known him for years now. When you’re around, his smile is brighter and his eyes sparkle. You have a magical effect on him.”
Peter listens quietly and something dawns on him. He’d talk to Tony about it later.
“I haven’t felt this way about anyone in…..ever. I mean, yeah I’ve had crushes and relationships before but this….it feels real. It feels perminate.”
”Maybe it’s fate.”
“Maybe so. I hope so.”
-----.-----
Tony finished his rounds and makes his way to the cafeteria to get a coffee. He had been on his feet for over twenty four hours and honestly he just wanted a break. He gets a straight black coffee, which is nasty but does keep him awake. He sips at the bitter liquid and slowly strolled the now empty halls. He comes to a stop outside Peter’s room and smiles. The younger man was sitting up, slowly bending his leg at the knee.
He waits until Peter stops messing with his leg and then knocks on the doorframe. Peter looks at him and grins.
“Tony. I missed you.”
Tony moves forward, dropping the empty cup in the trash before approaching the bed and pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. Peter tilts his head up.
“Give me a real kiss.” He demands. Tony found it so adorable that he couldn’t say no and leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to Peter’s lips. Peter makes a soft noise, pulling Tony closer, so the doctor was braced with one knee up on the bed and his hands on Peter’s face. The kiss deepens, a mix of harsh breath, teeth and tongue.
The sudden loud beeping of Peter’s heart monitor scared the hell out of Tony and he jerked back. Peter looks sheepish and the two locked eyes before bursting out with laughter.
“So” Tony says, once he got himself under control. “Is that going to be a norm for us?”
“Hopefully not while I’m hooked up to machines. That’s very unsexy.”
“I think you always look sexy.”
Peter blushes and grins doopily.
“I think you look sexy always too. Even now with messy hair and a five o’clock shadow.” He says fondly, reaching up to rubs his thumb across Tony’s cheekbone. Tony nuzzles the hand and kisses the thumb.
“Anything interesting happen today?”
“I talked to Stephen today. A guy got glass up his nose from body shots.” Peter shudders.
“That’s nasty.”
“Well I think it was a college student. If not, then that’s just sad.”
Tony laughs. “You were a collage student once.”
“I wasn’t dumb enough to do body shots off a stranger.”
“Did you do anything dumb in college?”
Peter blushes and looks away, mumbling a little.
“I didn’t catch that. Care to repeat it louder?”
“Iwasastripperforayearandahalftopayforschool.”
Tony blinks as he deciphers what was just word vomited at him.
“Wait really?”
Peter nods, looking as if he wanted to disappear.
“I think that’s hot as hell. I wish I could have seen it.”
“”Well I was quite popular.”
“Did you have a stripper name?” Tony raises an eyebrow and leans forward on his hands.
“I was….SpiderMan. Because of the way I could climb the entire pole easily and hang upside down. And I could dance with ropes.”
Tony is quiet as he ponders this. “I wonder if anyone has videos….”
“Please don’t go looking. It was cringy!”
“All the more reason to look for it.” Tony teases.
“Tony!” Peter whines.
“Alright, alright fine. I won’t go looking.” He was interrupted mid sentence with a yawn.
“Come lay with me.” Peter says suddenly.
“You sure?”
“You look dead on your feet and I wanna snuggle.”
Tony looked as if he wanted to argue but thought better and climbs up onto the bed. Once he was settled, Peter was snuggled into his side and closes his eyes with a content smile. As happy as he looked, something nagged in the back of his mind.
Stephen Strange is in love with Tony. How was Peter supposed to compete with that?
Finally Peter was able to start PT and he could feel that it was going to be a long day. Getting out of the bed was one thing, standing upright was another. Walking was an entirely different beast all together. Dr. Romanova was pretty patient with him. He asked her multiple times if she thought he could actually walk again. Every time, she calmly told him that he was doing great. The woman honestly had the patience of a saint. Walking wouldn’t come yet, as he was still having trouble staying upright by himself. He was sore and just wanted to sleep. He glances over to the door, distracted. He wanted to see Tony, but also didn’t want to see Tony. He wanted Tony to be proud of him for something. He feels the back of his head being lightly slapped and he snapped out of his thoughts.
“If you don’t stop staring into space, I’m going to let you fall on your face.”
“You wouldn’t!” Peter pouts a little. She raises an eyebrow and loosens her grip. Peter stumbles and flails his arms. She catches him easily and smirks.
“Believe me now?”
“That was mean.” Peter pouts.
“What’s on your mind, Spiderling?” She asked, sitting him down slowly in a chair.
“Spiderling?”
“That’s not answering the question.”
Peter sighs a little. “I don’t…..I don’t know if Tony and I are the right thing.”
Something flashed in the woman’s eyes but her speech remained calm. “Explain?”
“Tony is amazing, you know that. But am I really good enough for him? I mean, he’s a brain surgeon for god’s sake. One of the best.in the world. And I’m just an ex-dancer. He saves lives for a living.”
Dr. Romanova nods a little. “Tony is a special person. He’s a man with a broken past. I have never seen him smile as much as he does since he met you. He is legitimately happy. He hasn’t lost a case since you two became a thing. You’re like his saving grace or something. His good luck charm. Never doubt your self worth Peter.”
Peter looks down. “Yeah. You’re right. It was dumb.”
Did Tony really believe he was good luck? He didn’t feel like he deserved it but he wasn’t going to argue with Tony. Or Dr. Romanova because she kinda scared him.
“Peter I don’t blame you for questioning yourself, but maybe you should talk to him about all this.”
“No.” Peter shakes his head. “No. I can’t. I don’t want to worry him.”
-----.-----
Tony makes his way across the lobby area to look at the surgical board. It looked like he was clipping an aneurysm in a bit and he had to check on Aaron. He would like to spend some time in the ER today. Maybe he could catch Peter for lunch and he could finally meet Steve. He’d ask Nat. Turning on his heel, Tony makes his way towards Aaron’s room. As he walked, he sings softly to himself. ‘Sweet Caroline’ typically comes to mind when he had moments like this. They were rare before he met Peter, but they did happen.
“Sweeet Carolineeee, bum bum bum, good times never seemed so good-”
“My god, you’re smitten.” A voice behind him interrupted.
Tony stops and turns. Stephen stood there with an amused look on his face.
“I can’t help it!” He grins. “It’s a good feeling, to have someone want you for more than your brain. Pun intended.”
Stephen’s face fell a little but he recovered quickly. Tony still caught it and felt bad.
“Well I’m happy for you. It’s about time you started smiling more.”
“Stephen I didn’t mean-”
“Don’t worry about it.” Stephen waves his hand. “On your way to go see Aaron?”
Grateful for the subject change, Tony nods. “He’s doing great from what I’ve heard. Oh hey, what are you doing for lunch?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“I was gonna see if Steve and Bucky and Nat and Peter wanted to do lunch. You wanna come? A real lunch not hospital food.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Go see your future FBI agent.”
Tony gives a mock salute and smiles. “See ya at lunch.”
“Maybe.”
“Nah. I’ll see you then.”
Tony laughs as he makes his way into Aaron’s room. Only Hayley was there.
“No Spencer today?”
“He had class. At the university.” Aaron smiles a little. “Going for his first PhD.”
“His first?” Tony raises an eyebrow.
“He’s a genius.” Hayley says proudly. “Graduated highschool at thirteen.”
“Wow, he really is a genius.” Tony whistles. “Well it all looks good. Ready to get out of here?”
“I’d love nothing more.” Aaron answers, sitting up.
“I’ll get you the papers, one moment.” Tony leaves the room to go get the papers and returns a moment later. “Just fill the paper and then take it to the desk and you’re free to go.”
“Thanks Dr. Stark. You’re the best.”
Tony laughs a little. “Yeah that is what I’ve been told.”
“Yeah well it’s true.” Aaron replies, filling out the paperwork.
It was nice to hear that. He felt the smile growing across his face. It was cases like this that reminded him why he does what he does. To help people. To see their smiles and happy tears as they hug each other in relief. It was unlike anything he’s ever seen. Tony bids them goodbye and decided to go find Steve to ask about lunch. He makes his way upstairs to Steve’s office and knocked on the door that was usually open, but was closed now. Tony heard a gasp and then a thump, laughter and then
“One moment!”
A few minutes later the door was opened to reveal Steve with messy hair and a red face. Looking over his shoulder, Tony spots Bucky sitting in Steve’s desk chair looking smug as hell. The drawings on his arm were smudged. Tony smirks a little.
“In the office? You have balls Rogers. Or a kink. Either way,” Tony gives a two fingered salute. Bucky laughs loudly behind them. Steve turns and shoots him what Tony assumes is a dirty look.
“Can I help you with something Tony?” He forces out. Tony barely held back the laughter building up in his throat, earning himself the ‘Steve Rogers Stare of Disappointment’.
“Yeah I was wondering if you and Bucky wanted to join me, Peter and Stephen for lunch. You are the only one who hasn’t met him yet.”
Steve instantly brightens up. “Yeah. That sounds great. Bucky?”
“As long as it’s not hospital food I’m in.” Bucky calls with a wave.
“Awesome. We’re meeting at noon. Make sure you have pants on.” He teases.
Steve shot him daggers at him in the form of his bright blues. Tony just cracks up.
“Okay you two carry o. I’m gonna go find Peter.”
‘You haven’t told him about lunch yet.”
Tony bites his lip.
“....No?”
“You set up a group lunch date and didn’t think to ask your boyfriend yet?”
“I’m going I’m going.” He turns to walk away but looks back. “Stay safe you two.”
The response was a pen flying at Tony’s head.
Tony made his way to the ortho PT area but it was empty. So next he tried Peter’s room. As he got closer, he hears soft singing. It was Peter.
“...One dance, just you and me, beneath the moon, beside the sea. One dance and it’s happily ever after...One dance and you will see, we’re not so different, you and me. Just us two, me and you. One dance…”
The song had a sad feeling to it and Peter’s voice was like a siren, strong and beautiful, but also sad and sorrowful. Tony feels himself being drawn in and moving forward.
“What song is that?” He hears himself asking.
Peter gasped, startled. He flushes and looks away.
“Sorry, I got a little bored.”
“Don’t apologize. It was beautiful.” He settles on the bed.
“It’s called ‘One Dance’. It was a deleted song from the movie, replaced by ‘Part of Your World’. It is on some soundtracks but wasn’t included in the movie due to not being catchy enough. It’s when Ariel is human and has deep feelings for Eric. It’s a beautiful song, one of my favorites.”
“It sounded beautiful. I love it.” Tony smiles. “So how was PT?”
“Dr. Romanova almost dropped me but other than that, I’m almost ready to stand on my own.”
“You’ll be walking in no time.”
“I hope so. I’d hate to take up a bunch of room being in a wheelchair for your friend’s wedding.”
Tony laughs softly. “That is true. But i won’t have you walking before you can. I care that you heal fully, no matter how long it takes.”
Peter nods a little. “Yeah I know. I'm just a bit stubborn.”
“Just like me. I can match you stubborn for stubborn.”
Peter laughs. “Is that so?”
“Yes it is. Oh!” Tony clasps his hands together. “We have a lunch date.”
“We do?”
“Well, you, me, Stephen, Bucky and Steve do. Non hospital food.”
“Oh? So I finally get to meet this Steve everyone keeps talking about.”
“Yes you do and he’s excited to meet you too.” Tony laughs a little at the memory of interrupting Steve and Bucky earlier.
“What’s so funny?”
“Earlier I interrupted Steve and Bucky in his office.”
“Interrupted…?” Then realization dawned on the younger man’s soft face. “Oh. Oh .”
“Yep. He threw a pen at my head.” He pulls the pen from the pocket of his coat. “This one.” It was blue and had ‘MARVEL HOSPITAL. Saving lives is what we do’. Peter looks at the pen and laughs.
“It is a nice pen.”
“Yeah. I guess it is.” Tony smiles.
“Maybe it can be a good luck charm.”
“Nah. I already have one.” Tony grins and kisses Peter’s forehead.
Peter blushes at the compliment. Tony found it endearing.
-----.-----
Steve leaves his jacket in his office and heads down to peds to pick up Bucky for lunch. He pushes through the door and greets the group of interns. He finds Bucky in the NICU, feeding one of the smaller babies. Steve waits until the bottle is empty before going forward. Bucky looks up at him and smiles. After getting caught that morning, Steve redid the drawing on Bucky’s arm. Today’s there was Disney.
“Hey Stevie.”
“Hey Buck. Is he eating now?” Steve asked, peeking over the bed. This little boy had been refusing to eat since he had surgery repairing his stomach.
“Yeah, a whole eight ounces today.” Bucky grins. He holds the empty bottle up proudly.
“That’s wonderful.” Steve kisses him softly. “Come on, we have to meet the others. Tony decided we’re doing Mexican, so we’re meeting the others there.”
“Mexican sounds amazing. I haven’t had a good taco in a while.”
“Well let’s get going then.”
Bucky laces their fingers together and pulls him to the door.
“I’m driving.”
Once they arrived, were seated and orders were placed, Steve looks around at the faces at the table.
“Where’s Stephen?”
“He had an emergency surgery come up. An FBI agent came in with a bullet wound to the neck.” Tony explains.
Steve winces. Getting shot suckes. Getting shot in the neck was probably hell. He finally looks at the new face and smiles.
“So you’re the Peter Parker Tony is so crazy about?”
Peter nods, obviously nervous.
“Yes sir, that’s me.”
Steve couldn't help but smile.
“No sir. Makes me feel a hundred years old. Just Steve. It’s okay, I don’t bite.”
“Bullshit.” Bucky says, tugging at his collar. Purple spots littered his neck.
“Damn Steve! I thought I was possessive.” Tony snorts.
Steve rolls his eyes and turned his attention back to Peter.
“Any way, if you didn’t know, Tony is nuts about you.”
“Yeah. I think I got really lucky.” Peter laughs.
“Nah you just have amazing tastes.” Tony says, leaning over and stealing a bite of the young man’s taco salad.
“Oi!” Peter smacks him away. “Mine!”
“It’s rude to smack the man you love.” Tony says before a panicked look crosses his face. “Shit, sorry. It slipped out and-”
“Yeah.” Peter interrupts him. “My bad.” His face has a smile so bright the room seems dim. He presses a smile kiss to Tony’s cheek and whispers in his ear. Steve has never seen Tony blush that much.
Steve looks over at Bucky, who’s expression was soft. Steve leans on his fiance's shoulder.
“That’s forever right there.”
“It sure as hell is.”
Tony was almosts asleep when his phone started blaring ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran. That was the ringtone he set for Peter. Was he hallucinating? Why would Peter be calling him? Scrambling for his phone, he answers it.
“H-hello?” Amazingly, his voice sounded steadier than he felt.
“Tony?”
“Peter. You’re real.” His voice was as soft as Peter’s was.
“ Of course I’m real.” The tiniest bit of a smile shone through the younger man’s voice. “I know I was an ass to you and I don’t blame you if you hate me but do you think...You could come up here?”
“Peter...I don’t hate you.”
There is silence for a moment.
“Can you come up here?” Peter’s voice wavers a little. “Please? I need to see you.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Thank you.”
Tony pulls on his shoes and looks around for his keys.
Tony?”
“Yes love?” Tony asked, sliding out his door and locking it.
“Can…..can you stay on the line until you get here? You’re voice is comforting. It’s the one thing that I have from before.”
Tony doesn’t have an answer for that. He just wanted to hold Peter and never let him go.
“Yeah, I’ll stay on the line. So talk to me. How are you feeling? Are they treating you okay?”
“I’m starting to get feeling in my leg again, which hurts like hell by the way but painkillers are a blessing. I’ve noticed there are a lot of redheads here. Oh and Dr. Romanova says I can start PT in a few days so I suppose that’s good.”
Tony chuckles a little.
“Have you met T’Challa King yet?”
“Oh yeah! He’s nice.”
“His sister works in plastics. I think you two would get along.”
“Maybe I’ll meet her. I seem to be meeting a lot of people. I met a guy from peds today.”
“Guy from peds?”
“Big guy. Kinda scary looking. Ex cop with a fake arm that’s all doodled up?”
“Ah. Bucky. Don’t let how he looks scare you. He’s a big softie, especially around Steve.”
“Steve? The guy who helped him?”
“Peter, Steve and Bucky are engaged. Theirs is the wedding I invited you to.”
“Oh! That’s sweet. So when do I get to meet Steve then? It’s only fair if I meet both halves of the couple. And they are friends of yours so it's fair right?” Peter babbles a little
“I’ll see if I can set something up. We’ll do lunch or something. How does that sound?”
“Only if you want to. I don’t want to impose.”
“I’m sure they’d love to. Steve has already asked twice. He’s kinda old fashioned in his ways. He wants to take us out and pay forit himself. He’s such a dad but it’s sweet.”
“Well okay….If he insists.”
Tony smiles. “Well I can’t exactly argue with my boss.”
“Yeah that is true.”
Tony pulls into the parking lot and turns his car off.
“Do you want me to bring you something from the cafeteria?” He asked, suddenly remembering he hadn’t eaten all day.
“Um….not fish sticks.”
“I see you talked to Wanda.”
“Yeah. She’s really nice.”
“That she is. How does grilled cheese sound?”
“That sounds amazing. And a hot chocolate?’
“Your wish is my command.”
“You are the best.”
“Yes so I’ve been told.”
“Hurry up here. I really wanna see you.”
“I’ll be there soon. I gotta hang up now so I can order okay?”
“Okay bye. See you soon.”
Tony heads up to Peter’s room, sandwich in hand. On his way, he spots a familiar streak of white hair.
“Stephen!” He calls.
Stephen stops and looks over at him. His face goes through a whole range of emotions that Tony couldn’t quite read. He sets the chart down and makes his way over.
“So I take it you’re feeling better?”
“Yeah. Thanks for letting me stay over.”
“It’s no problem. I’d rather know you were safe than dead in a ditch somewhere.”
Tony nods a little.
“So what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I’m actually here to see Peter.”
“Peter?”
Tony grins widely.
“Yeah. He called and asked me to come up.”
“Oh. That’s wonderful.” Stephen smiles a little, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Okay, what happened last night?” Tony asked, worried. “Did I do something stupid? Did we do something-”
Stephen raised a hand, shutting Tony up.
“No, we didn’t do anything. You wanted attention and I sent you to bed but instead of going to the guest room, you decided to sleep in my bed. So I slept in the guest room.”
Tony’s smile fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you out.” “I’m not worried about it. You were drunk so I saw no point in arguing with you.”
“Yeah. I am an unreasonable drunk.”
“Don’t flatter yourself Antony. You’re always unreasonable.” Stephen teases, seeming to relax a little.
“Well I think that depends on who you ask.”
Stephen rolls his eyes and pats Tony’s back. “Go on. He’s waiting for you.”
“I’ll talk to you later?” He asked, turning to go to Peter’s room.
“I’ll be here.”
-----.-----
Peter looks up with a careful smile as Tony enters his room.
“Tony.” He breathes softly, wanting to reach for the older man but holds back.
Tony however, moved to sit beside him and hands over the burger with a smile.
“I missed you Peter.” Tony says, breaking the silence. That made the dam inside Peter break wide open.
“Tony I’m so sorry. I snapped at you and it was wrong. I was an idiot and I shouldn’t have said those things. None of this is your fault. It’s my own fau-”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Tony says, leaning over with a tiny smile. “Peter, I don’t blame you for acting the way you did. Hell, if I were in your situation, I’d probably be worse.”
Peter opens his mouth to protest again but Tony leans over and kisses him gently, effectively shutting him up. When Tony pulled away, Peter stared at him.
“Is this going to be a thing now? You kissing me to shut me up?”
“Hm. Yes, I think it is.”
Peter blushed a little. “O-oh. Okay.”
“So have I missed much?”
“No, not really. Though I do have a question.”
“Ask away.” Tony props his feet on the edge of the bed and smiles.
“Nurse King wouldn’t happen to be related to Shuri King, would he?”
Tony sits up straight in surprise. “You know her?”
“She’s dating a friend of mine.” Peter grins. “Michelle Jones.”
“Ah well I don’t know Shuri to well, but I do know she’s a great person.”
“Oh yeah. She’s super sweet. The two of them are great together except when they get pissed off. Then it’s scary.”
Tony laughs softly again and sits up to take Peter’s hand in his own. He intwines their fingers and looks up into Peter’s eyes. He could listen to the younger man talk for hours.
“What about you? What have you been up too since I flew off the handle.”
“Well I worked in the ER and did a surgery or two.”
“Anything interesting?”
“A guy had a branch go through his leg.”
“Anything else?”
“Um….I got drunk and ended up at Stephen’s house?”
Peter giggles a little. “Is there something that happens often?”
“Me gettin drunk or me going to bother Stephen?”
“Both? EIther one?”
“I don’t drink a whole lot anymore. I used to be an alcoholic and I realized that was just like my father and I don’t want to do that. As for me bothering Stephen,” Tony smirks. “I do that as often as I can.”
“So do I get to meet this Stephen?”
“Do you want me to go get him?” Tony asked, moving to get up.
Peter makes grabby hands at Tony, stopping him from getting up. “I don’t want to bother him. I don’t want to be a bother.” He catches his bottom lip between his teeth.
Tony chuckles a little. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he isn’t doing anything right now. It’s late and most people are sleeping.”
“Are you sure?”
Tony runs his fingers along Peter’s lip, gently pulling it free from his teeth.
“You’ll get blisters.” He says softly. “And yeah. Just give me a minute.”
Pressing a kiss to Peter’s head, Tony stands and leaves the room. Heading back towards the nurse’s station, he looks around for Stephen. Not seeing him, he heads for an on-call room. He hears the sound of soft crying through the cracked door and peeks in, concerned.
“Hello?” He calls.
-----.-----
Stephen watches Tony head towards Peter’s room and smiles softly. It was good that Tony was so happy again. He finishes his rounds and finds an empty on-call room. He pauses by the young ex-performers room. Tony looked so peaceful talking to him. It was something Stephen hadn’t seen in a while. He enters the room and sits on one of the beds. As he sits in the dark, his thoughts seem to settle around him. His mind goes back to the kiss and Stephen squeezes his eyes shut tight, feeling heat rise in his face. If it was any other circumstance, he’d be giddy with joy. Though maybe this could help him get over his feelings. Except it didn't. It just confused him more. He knew Tony would never feel that way about him but the words kept repeating in his head.
“I need you…..”
“You’re my best friend….”
Putting one hand over his eyes, he feels the tears slip out, making hot tracks down his cheeks. Sometimes a man just needs a good cry. Stephen did have a terrible habit of burying his feels deep inside. He hears the door creak and jumped up, realizing he hadn’t shut the door all the way.
“Hello?” A soft voice called.
“Tony?” Stephen’s voice cracked a little and he winces. He hurriedly wipes his face and takes a deep breath. “Did you need something?”
“I’m turning on the lights.” Tony warns before flipping them on. Stephen hisses at the sudden flood of bright lights.
“Stephen.” Tony moved closer, sitting beside him. “What’s wrong?”
Stephen shakes his head and clears his throat. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired is all.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Tony counters,
“Do you need something Tony or did you come to annoy me?”
Tony glares at him. “You aren’t getting out of this. We are going to talk later. But yes, I actually want something.”
“Well I’m waiting.”
“Peter wants to meet you.”
“Me? Why?” Stephen asked, shocked.
“Uh because you are one of my best friends?”
“I….see.”
“Please will you please just come meet him? He’s really important to me.”
Stephen knew full well he could never tell Tony no. He sighs and nods. “Only for a few moments though because I actually would like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”
“Great. Come on.” Tony gets up and leads him out.
Once they got to the room, Stephen took one look at Peter, who was all bright smiles and greetings, and couldn’t help but smile.
“Hello. My name is Stephen Strange.”
“You helped fix my leg!”
Stephen nods. “Yes, I did.”
“Thank you a lot.”
“Well I’m just happy to help.” Stephen says, relaxing a bit.
“So….do all the neurosurgeons here have pretty eyes and nice hair?” Peter blurts, his face flushing.
Tony gives Steve a look, a dopey smile on his face.
“Well, not as far as I know but don’t tell me I’m going to have to fight my best friend for your attention.” Tony teases. Stephen pants Tony’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. He isn't my type. No offence Peter.”
“None taken!” Peter stammered a bit. “You aren’t really my type either.”
“So if Peter isn’t your type, who is?” Tony questions with that damn quirked eyebrow of his.
Stephen shrugged, stopping himself from saying what automatically popped into his head.
“Ah well, you’re find someone who I deem good enough for you.” Tony grins.
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
Peter’s words cut Tony like a knife. He backs out of the room slowly, making his way out in a daze. He should have known better than to make those promises. It was a stupid thing to do. How was he supposed to make this up? Would he even be able to? Where did he go from here? He leans against the wall and just breathes for a moment. He needed something to keep him busy so he heads down to the ER. He needs something to distract him. Anything really. He looks around then leans over the desk.
“What do we got?”
-----.-----
Peter lay still, still a bit shocked at the news. It is just his luck that he lands his dream roll and it’s ripped away from him. What was he supposed to do with his life now? He presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, stopping the tears that slipped out. He wanted to scream but he knew it would be pointless. He had a hunk of metal in his leg and no amount of screaming himself sick would change that. He looks down at his injured leg and carefully touched it. A spike of pain shot up his leg and he winces, biting his lip. His mind wandered to Tony. Tony with his stupid pretty face and kind words. Didn’t he know better than to give a dancer false hope of getting their leg back? What an idiot.
Peter looks up when another person enters the room. It looked like a nurse. She had kind eyes and red hair. Peter couldn’t help but smile.
“Dinner time.” She announces.
“Thank you.” Even though he didn’t feel like eating, he was raised with manners.
“Between you and me, the burgers in the cafeteria aren’t bad but don’t trust the fish sticks.” The nurse says, looking up and winking playfully.
“Noted.” Peter shifts and groans softly. “My name is Peter, but you probably already knew that.”
The nurse with the kind eyes smiles and nods.
“My name is Wanda.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Go for it.”
“Are there a lot of redheads here? I-I’ve seen like seven redheads nurses just walk by while I was laying here, plus there’s you and Dr.Romanova.”
Wanda looks up from the chart and laughs. It was a light pleasant sound.
“There are quite a few. Maybe we should start a club.”
“Yeah, maybe you should.” Peter agrees, picking at his food.
“I’m not going to leave until you eat.” Wanda warns. “I’ll go get Tony if you don’t.”
Peter tenses, looking up at her. No Tony. He couldn’t face Tony right now.
“No.” He says, it sounding a bit harsher than he intended. “I’ll eat.”
Wanda looks at him, seeming to be in deep thought. She nods once, before turning to check his vitals. Peter eats in silence, glancing at her every so often. She seemed to have good intentions. Peter respected that much.
“Thank you.” Peter says, breaking the silence and pushing the empty plate away.
“You’re welcome.” She smiles. “Full?”
“Yeah. It was pretty good.”
“I told you. God knows I’ve eaten in that cafeteria more often than I care for.”
“Yeah but is it worth it?”
She stops writing and meets his gaze. “Yes. More than.”
“If you couldn’t do this….what would you do?”
Wanda is silent for a moment before tucking her hair behind her ear and sitting on the edge of his bed.
“This is about you not being able to dance any more, isn’t it?” She asked softly.
Peter meets her eyes. “It’s rude to answer a question with a question.”
She sighs and nods. “I know. I’m sorry.” She takes a breath. “If I couldn’t do this, I’d find some other way to help the less fortunate. That’s my life mission I guess you could say.”
“That’s sweet.”
“What about you Peter? What are you going to do?”
Peter lays back completely and groans, laying his arm across his eyes. “I don’t have a clue honestly. All I know is performing.”
“No.”
Peter peaks out at her. “Excuse me?”
“I think there’s more to you than just being onstage.”
“I’m afraid you’re wrong Miss Wanda.”
“I don’t think I am.” Wanda smiles a little. “Just give it time.” She stands and pats his shoulder. “Get some rest Peter. You need it.”
-----.-----
Tony drags himself to the attendings lounge and sinks into the couch with a groan. James, “Bucky” Barnes, a pediatric surgeon, looks up from his book.
“Rough day?” He asked, marking his page and closing the book, setting it down on the table. He absentmindedly rubs at the shoulder of his prosthetic arm, which Steve liked to draw on with sharpies and paint markers. The chief has a knack for art. Currently the arm was adorned with flowers and leaves. The children loved it.
“You could say that.” Tony says, rubbing his temples. “And it’s only….” He looks down at his watch. “Nevermind, it’s almost nine-thirty.”
“What happened?”
Tony looks over at him, dropping his arm.
“Peter hates me.”
“Peter?” Bucky asked, obviously confused.
“Peter Parker-”
“Oh! The one Stevie told me about. He seems nice. Sorry, I spent the day in the NICU.” Realizing he cut Tony off, Bucky at least looked sheepish. “Sorry, go on. Why does he hate you?”
Tony takes a breath and sits up straight.
“He got hurt during an audition today and he fell. Shattered his entire leg. Apparently he has super weak leg bones.” He pauses, staring at the floor. “It was his dream roll, super important to him. I told him we could fix his leg and get him up and dancing in no time.” His voice drops off towards the end.
Bucky sighs softly. “He is never going to dance again, is he?”
Tony shakes his head. “Tasha managed to fix his leg, adding rods to keep him from hurting himself again. He’s mad because I gave him hope of getting better. It was stupid but I wasn’t really thinking about it.”
“Tony,” Tony looks up, surprised that Bucky used his first name. “He is going to get better, he just won’t be able to dance again. He still has his voice so maybe he can do something with that.”
Tony nods a little. “Once he’s fully healed, Tasha wants to start his PT so he can work on walking again.”
“Well with her help and your support, he’ll be better in no time.” A new voice joined the conversation. Bucky’s eyes brighten instantly and Tony jumps a little, turning to see Steve leaning against the doorway.
“What do I do about him being pissed at me though?”
“Give him time. He’s hurt and vulnerable right now. Bucky was the same way when he lost his arm in that accident.”
“Maybe I should go visit him.” Bucky suggests. “I’m not on call tomorrow.”
“I think it’s a great idea.” Steve smiles a little.
“Would you? I think it would be good to let him see that his injury isn’t the end of the world.”
“It’s a plan then.”
“Are you going to be okay Tony?” Steve asked gently, coming to sit beside him.
“Yeah.” Tony takes a deep breath and let’s it out slowly. “I have to be, don’t I?”
“Stark, it’s okay to not be okay.” Bucky points out.
“I’ll be fine.” Tony stands. “I’m going to go see if Stephen wants to go get a drink.” He pauses at the doorway. “Congrats you two, by the way. It’s about damn time.” He manages a real smile this time.
Tony wanders the hospital, looking for Stephen, when he finds himself outside of Peter’s room. He stands still, looking in the window. Peter was asleep and the color had returned to his face. Tony debated if he should go in or not. He ended up settling on ‘not’ and slowly walks away. He runs into Wanda.
“Hey Wanda-”
“Dr. Stark, I’m worried about Peter.”
Tony stopped dead and looked at her.
“I’m afraid he’s going to sink into depression. He is set on how he’s nothing without performing. I think it’s going to drive him crazy.”
“What can we do to help him?”
“I don’t know. I think he needs you though.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t want me.” Tony says bitterly.
Wanda is quiet for a moment. She sighs and turns away.
“In due time Tony. Believe me.”
Tony nods and waves her off, deciding to give up looking for Stephen and just heading to the bar. He wanted to drown his feelings.
-----.-----
Stephen finally settled down with a glass of red wine and his favorite book when the doorbell rang. He sighs and sits the book down. Who the hell would be here at this hour? He finally gets a moment of rest and hear someone was to bother him again. He opens the door and the reek of alcohol hits him before he even sees who it is. It is a very drunk Tony Starik.
“Tony, what the hell are you doing here? How drunk are you?”
“Hey Stranger Things. Can I come in?” The speech was slurred and Stephen had to grasp his arm to keep him from falling face first into the hardwood. Well that answered one question. Stephen hauled Tony into the living room and onto the couch, where he kinda just flopped over.
“Tony, why are you here? Not that I don’t enjoy your company but-”
“You talk to much.”
Stephen glares at him.
“And you’re an ass.” He retorts and picks up his book again.
Tony whines a little. “Stephen Nn”
“What?” Stephen looks over the top of his book at his pouting friend.
“Pay attention to me!”
“Why should I?” Stephen sets the book back down and raises an eyebrow. “You show up here in the middle of the night smelling like a bar and demanding my attention like I owe it to you.” His tone was not accusing but it was annoyed.
Tony sits up and stares at him. “Why are you so sad?”
“It’s nothing.” Stephen did not want to have this conversation while Tony was drunk off his ass because his boyfriend was upset.
“You’re lying~” Tony cooed.
“I’m not having this conversation right now. You need to sleep.”
“So there is something wrong! Tell me!”
“Anthony Edward Stark, shut the hell up and go to sleep. You have work in the morning.”
Tony looks surprised at the use of his full name and smirks, standing up.
“I’ll be in the guest room.”
Stephen waves him off, finishing his drink before putting the glass in the sink and heading to bed himself. He makes his way through the dark, towards his bed. He didn’t notice the dark lump until he landed on it and a voice yelps. Stephen jerks back and turns on the light.
“Tony what the hell are you doing in my bed?!?”
“Waiting for you?”
“...Why?”
Tony props up on his elbows and smirks, leaning up and planting a kiss on Stephen’s lips. Stephen froze for a moment before pushing him away.
“No Tony. Don’t.” He backs away, one hand going to his hair.
“Please?” He sounded vulnerable, scared, broken. “I need you. You’re my best friend.”
Stephen tightens jaw, fighting back feeling bubbling up.
“No Tony. You don’t. You just think you do. You don’t need me. You need him.” He turns, walking out of the room.
“Where are you going?” Tony calls.
Stephen stopped, looking over his shoulder.
“The guest room. You can stay here tonight. Sleep.”
With that, Stephen leaves his room, going to a guest room and falling into a restless sleep.
The next morning, Tony wakes up to an empty house.
Tony looked down as his pager went off. He sits his fork down and picks it up. His fork falls to the table and he jumps up. Oh shit. He darts out of the cafeteria and heads down to where Pepper was.
“Pepper, what-” He stops dead, seeing the pale face on the bed. “Peter?” His voice is barely a whisper. He looked at Pepper.”What the hell happened to him?”
“I don’t know.” She says softly. “He hasn’t woken up yet.”
“I just talked to him less than an hour ago! He was fine then…” Tony runs a shaky hand through his hair.
“Tony are you going to be able to work this case?”
“If I’m needed. Has he damaged any nerves?”
“We’re about to find out.” She says.
Peter stirs with a groan and a cry of pain. The honey colored eyes fly open.
“Tony?”
Tony was at his side immediately.
“Peter, what happened?”
“Tony, it hurts. It hurts a lot. I can’t feel my-my leg.” Peter is crying now, his pretty face skewed in pain.
“Peter. I need you to tell me what happened.” Tony says, trying to fight back his own tears. By some miracle, he was able to keep his voice steady.
“I was dance-dancing!” He cried out again and tried to grab at his leg but that only made him cry out again. “I fell!” He yells and squeezes his eyes shut. It made Tony’s heart hurt.
“We’re going to see exactly what happened. We’re are going to fix this and you’ll be dancing again soon. I promise.”
Peter nods, his eyes still shut and he was still crying.
“Get him some pain killers and let me know as soon as you find out how bad this is.”
“Tony! Please….Don’t leave. Please.” Peter reached for him. “Don’t leave me alone. I need…..I need….” He shifts and cries out again.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here.” Tony smooths his hand through Peter’s hair. “We’re gonna get you all fixed up. I promise.” He whispers. “We gotta get you up to x-ray and check your leg okay?”
“Just make the pain stop!”
Tony looks up at Pepper as a new person enters the room. Natasha Romanova, an orthopedic surgeon. Tony makes eye contact and she nods. Tony stands, but Peter has an iron grip.
“Please-”
“Peter we are going to go look at your leg now.”
“I’m scared.”
“Peter, my name is Dr. Romanova. I’m going to be doing your x-ray.”
Peter looks up at Tony. He felt his leg getting numb and he felt that was a bad sign.
“Tony I can’t feel my leg.”
“We need to get this looked at. Now. Peter, Dr. Romanova is very good at what she does and she is going to get you fixed up okay?”
Peter squeezes Tony’s hand and nods just a little.
“Just...help me.” He whimpers.
“Let’s get going.” The red haired doctor says, and Peter feels Tony get up. HIs eyes fly open.
“Tony?” Peter gasped.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. I just can’t ride the bed up to x-ray.”
“Come with me?”
“Of course he’s coming.” Dr. Romanova speaks up. “Tony get your ass up and comfort your man.” She commands. Peter decided he liked her.
“Down girl.” Peter hears Tony say. He would have laughed if he didn’t hurt so much. Tony’s face came into view and he felt a gentle touch on his face. “I’m here. Just relax and everything will be fine.”
-----.-----
Tony stood in the middle of the lab room, looking at Peter’s x-rays.
“He shattered the entire leg.” He swore softly. He looks at Natasha. “Can you fix it? You have to fix it. Performing is his whole life.”
Natasha looks at him. “I can fix it. But Tony….He will never dance again. He never should never have danced in the first place. He has very weak bones in his legs. It’s a wonder he hadn’t hurt himself this bad before.”
The words hang in the room and Tony was sure he could feel his heart break. He takes a deep breath.
“I’m not done.” She continues softly. “I’m going to have to put a rod in his leg and I’m almost certain that he damaged nerves in his leg. He’s going to need physical therapy in order to walk again.”
“Is that all?” Tony asked softly, fighting to keep his voice even.
“Yes.” She licks her lips.
“Let me tell him. Please.” Tony looks away from the x-rays. They were burned into his mind forever. He shudders and pulls his head up.
“Of course. But he’s sleeping now so you’re gonna have to wait.”
Tony nods a little. “This is going to destroy him.”
“I know.” She says softly. She squeezes his shoulder and Tony watches her leave. At that moment, Stephen walks in. He pulls Tony into a hug, which surprised him because Stephen wasn’t a touchy person.
“How bad?” He asked softly.
“He’s never going to dance again.” Tony answers, pulling back and looking up. “I lied to him Stephen. He’s going to hate me.”
“Tony he isn’t going to hate you. This isn’t your fault.”
“No, but I lied to him. I told him that he’d be okay and he’d be dancing again in no time. He just auditioned for his dream roll. And it’s almost as if we’re taking his gift away from him.”
“Tony.” Stephen says softly. “He will get through this. He has you to help him.”
“It’s just not fair. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s a good person. Kind and sweet and he doesn’t let the fame get to his head. He-he-”
Stephen puts a hand on Tony’s shoulder.
“He will get through this. You both will, together. He will find his place.”
Tony nods a little, letting out a soft sob. Stephen sits beside him quietly as he breaks down.
“It’s going to ruin his life Stephen. I’m going to have to ruin his life.”
Stephen tilts Tony’s chin up. “You are going to help him through this. You are strong and so is he.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know you Antony. If anyone can do this, it’s you.” Stephen looks at him in the eyes deeply with parted lips. Then he shakes his head a little and takes a step back. “Go to him.”
“Thank you.” Tony whispers, turning and leaving the room.
-----.-----
When Peter blinked awake, Tony and Dr. Romanova were standing at the end of his bed. He smiled a little.
“Hey. Can you fix me?” He asked with a small smile.
“I can. But You’ll have to have a rod put in your leg. You shattered the entire thing.”
“So going through airport security is going to be hell.” Peter jokes. So much to working for West End.
“Peter-” Dr. Romanova starts but Tony interrupts.
“Your surgery to fix your leg will be in an hour. Afterwards, you’re going to need therapy in order to walk correctly again.”
“So I’m down and out for a bit…” Peter nods a little. He needed to call the director and let him know he’d be out for a bit. He looks up at Tony. “You’ll be there won’t you? When I’m being operated on?”
Tony takes a deep breath. “I cannot operate on you as we have a personal relationship, but my best friend, Dr. Strange, is the best neurosurgeon I know. You will be in amazing hands I promise. And I’ll be in the gallery watching the whole thing.”
Peter was more scared now that he knew Tony wasn’t operating but if Tony trusted this Dr. Strange, he could as well. He nods a little.
“Okay. I believe you.” He looks around. “Can I have my phone? I need to call my director.”
Dr. Romanova gives Tony a look and hands the device over. Tony makes a "Y" shape with his hands and brings them down a few inches, his palms outward; shaking his head. Her eyes narrow and her lips thin into a white line.
Peter turns his gaze away from them and dails the director, who picks up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Peter Parker. I auditioned earlier?”
“The one who fell. How are you doing?”
“I’m actually calling to withdraw my audition because of my injury. I won’t be healed enough to even consider being in the show.”
“That is unfortunate. You had an amazing audition until the fall. You easily got the part.”
Peter felt like crying. The words cut deep.
“Thank you for the consideration.” He says, managing to hold his voice steady. “Break a leg and give my best to the one who got the part.”
He hangs up and lets the phone fall onto the bed, squeezing his eyes shut. He shook a little and felt a hand on his arm.
“Peter?” Tony asked softly.
Peter opens his eyes and looked up.
“I got the part. Well, I had the part.”
Tony feels as if he had been punched in the gut.
“Oh Peter, I’m so sorry.” Natasha says softly.
“It’s not like it’s your fault. I’ll just try again next time.”
Tony takes a breath and looks up at him.
“Peter…”
Peter looks up with a brave smile. Tony didn’t have the heart to tell him just yet and shakes his head.
“There was no doubt in my mind that you would have gotten that part.”
“Okay let's get you prepped for surgery okay?” Natasha cuts them off, and starting pre-ops.
----.-----
Stephen looks up as the door to the anteroom of the OR. Tony looked like a mess.
“You haven’t told him yet, have you?” He asked, drying his hands and sliding on gloves.
“I couldn’t do it. Not yet.” Tony inhales deeply. “I am going to after the surgery. I swear.”
Stephen gives a small tight smile and nods. “Tony, I believe you and if you need me, I will always be here.”
Tony nods, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes. He clears his throat and nods. “Kick ass Strange.”
Stephen nods and ties his mask before pushing into the OR. He looks over at Natasha and nods.
“Alright everyone. It’s time to give an artist back his leg.” He glances up to the balcony where Tony had gone. He was leaning forward, his hands clasped tightly. He looked down at the man on the table and takes a breath. “For Tony.”
-----.-----
The next time Peter wakes up, he’s back in his room and Tony was sitting beside the bed. He looks over.
“How’d I do?” He asked, his voice was a bit rough. Tony smiles fondly though.
“You did great. The surgery went really well and you now have a metal rod in your leg.”
“How long before I can dance again?”
Tony tenses, looking down before looking back up. Peter’s blood ran cold. No no no. It can’t be true! I worked to hard for this.
“Tony?” Peter asked softly. He needed to hear it out loud if it was true.
“Peter, you can’t dance anymore. You should have never been able to in the first place. The bones in your legs are basically as strong as glass.” Tony’s voice grows softer. “I’m so so sorry.”
Peter shakes his head. “No.” HIs voice cracks. “You’re wrong. You have to be.”
“We aren’t. Natasha says it’s a miracle that you were going this long.”
“You lied to me.” Peter accuses. “You promised…” He is crying openly now. “You’re a liar! Go. I can’t look at you right now!” He squeezes his eyes tightly. “I put my entire life into this. I can’t do anything else. You gave me hope and lied to me in the process. I can’t forgive you.”