Pain and Power

__--__--__--Chapter 8--__--__--__

Tony watched as the physical therapist — one of the Wakandan ones — helped Peter move his arm in different directions, and he smiled. Peter was going very well getting used to his new arm, and how long he had to keep the prosthetic on and off.

He was recovering amazingly. It had only been a week, but he was going really well — because... well, a metal arm and permeant scarring weren't ideal, in any way, but the kid was there, and he was alive, and his usual happy self, and — and that made Tony so happy. That his kid was happy. That his kid had formed a 'metal arm bros' club with Bucky and Nebula and was taking the whole 'I have a metal arm now' thing really well.

Tony was especially glad that Peter and Morgan were finally existing together outside of his wildest dreams. His daughter had her wish of being with her brother, his... Peter was recovering, and the pieces in his life that had been broken, even before he knew Peter, were coming back together.

There was a soft knock on the door, and it opened, revealing a smiling Nat. "Hey. Hacker kid's here again." She pulled Ted or Fred or whatever Peter's best friend's name was (he knew that it was Ned, really), into the room.

The last time that Peters best friend had visited Wakanda had been on the weekend, four weeks after Peter fell into the coma — it was May that had brought him over, because she had been in New York at the time, and then Pepper who took him back to the city when he left because she had to go back for a Stark Industries conference.

This time, it was him that picked Ned up — he had been ecstatic to find Tony waiting outside Midtown Tech for him, like how he had waited for Peter occasionally... before. They'd only met two or three times before the decimation, and Ned had fanboy freaked every time. This time had been different, gladly, because they'd come to a truce, of sorts, regarding the 'oh shit you're Tony Stark' thing.

Tony had left him with May while Peter was in Physical therapy — so she could tell him that Peter would be... different. Just to give him the heads up.

The kid grinned when he saw Peter. "Peter! Hi! Oh my god, you have a metal arm — holy shit! And the Black Widow brought me to your room! Natasha Romanoff! And Tony Stark is here! Holy shit, this is so cool!"

"Hey, Ned!" Peter grinned. The physical therapist gave him a small smile, and nodded, letting him run to his best friend and engulf him in a hug. "Oh my god, I missed you so much! It's been like — well, only like a week, from what I can remember, but that's still such a long time!"

Tony couldn't help but smile as the two teenagers hugged. Nat punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "What was that for!"

Nat rolled her eyes. "You're smiling like an idiot."

"No, I'm not." He immediately denied, shaking his head and wiping the smile off his face. "I'm not smiling like an idiot. You're smiling like an idiot — wait, why are you smiling so much?" He'd never seen Nat look that happy.

"Well, Tony, usually when people smile, it's because they're happy. And, most normal people don't deny that they're smiling when they're smiling."

"I don't think you really count as 'most normal people' Nat — none of us do... except maybe May. Or like, Laura. But none of the rest of us." He rolled his eyes and kept watching as Peter and Ned talked excitedly to each other.

The physical therapist walked over to him and Nat and smiled. "He's only got another week of compulsory physical therapy left — maybe even less of that; he's doing very well. Much better than I expected. So... he's done for today — next session is on Sunday."