Too Little Too Late

Tony Stark 01

"Did you just beam us up?" asked Peter once the dizziness faded away.

"Well, all that Stark Trek binging... I had to test the science you know." Answered Tony sheepishly.

It was a bit awkward. Tony felt a lot of guilt for a lot of things. He had quite often wished to talk to the kid, to, at the very least, let him know that he was still alive if not well. How many times do you have to be pushed down until you realise you just can't get back up again? Especially if you are alone. Tony couldn't and wouldn't have put that much baggage on the kid's shoulders. Peter had been through so much already, he didn't need the issues of someone like Tony "Fucking" Stark.

He had been down during that open-heart "surgery" without anaesthesia in Afghanistan but with the help of Yinsen, he had managed to get back on his feet again. They had built the Iron Man Mark 1 together in the worst conditions. They should have gotten out of that cave together. Life didn't work out that way. Thus Tony had promised that he would, from now on, not waste his life.

And Tony had tried. When he had saved New York from a nuclear bomb, he had thought that he was on the right path. People had died because of him and his "Merchant of Death" days. Now he was saving lives. Of course, it would not bring back those who lost their lives because of his weapons. Tony just thought it would count for something. He thought that if he were listening to the people, they would see how much he wanted to do better for the world.

He had wanted to forget his past and concentrate on the future. That was a luxury he couldn't have. They didn't let him. The press never forgot or forgave him for anything. Ultron happened and everything was even worse. Nobody listened to him. The justice system found him innocent of creating the mad robot but it was just a verdict money could and did buy. Even his team, his so-called family, had trusted Wanda more than him. Wanda, who minutes before, was fighting by Ultron's side and trying to kill them all.

Jarvis sacrificed himself. That had been worse than anything. It was as if Tony was losing the real human Jarvis all over again, the man who had been more of a dad than Howard. And Tony also lost a son. Someone he had helped growing for years, helped understand the world around him. The A.I. was just a robot for the world, for Steve and the rest of the Avengers. A piece of a computer, almost a threat. Wanda took his place in the Avengers. Nobody cared.

The world at large didn't know Tony, not the real one. Just the playboy, billionaire persona. He had had wild years and he wasn't denying that. The press had always loved to blow out of proportions every single one of his moves. With the hindsight now, his legal team should have been all over that from the start. This way, he might have read a bit more of the truth between the papers' pages. How could Peter still look at him with admiration? That must have been some kind of miracle. Whatever it was, Peter was there looking around his living room, talking with Friday like two friends who had not seen each other for a while. They were "sciencing" about the transporter and the similarity with the TV show. For the first time in a long while, a real smile appeared on his face.

Quickly, the kid started to realise that he had been part of a war. A ton of emotion fell down on him like a ton of bricks. He sat down on the sofa, lost for a minute. Almost as suddenly, he went on asking desperately about his aunt May and Happy.

"Beam them up." Told Tony Friday.

A minute later, a very surprised Tony was engulfed in a tight group hug. God that was good. He had missed human contact a lot more than he wanted to admit. Tony didn't really know May Parker all that much but he did miss Happy quite a lot. The only one of his friends who didn't let him down. He felt regrets once again. But back then, Tony had done the best he could considering the circumstances. He had left a lot of people behind him, some good, others not so much.