IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

Aftermath

Third Person POV:
Word Count: 1,880
Spooktober 2022 Day Thirty: Amputation

There were a lot of things that Tony wasn't prepared for when he snapped. He wasn't prepared to leave the world yet. He wasn't prepared to look death in the face. He wasn't prepared to say goodbye to Pepper and Morgan (although the whole video thing he had recorded made him think that he was). He wasn't prepared to bring Peter and millions of other people he cared about back to just to have them lose him. He wasn't prepared for what would follow him snapping. He wasn't prepared for the people he loved to lose him.

It's a good thing none of that happened then.

Tony's recovery was extremely touch and go for a while. Surgery after surgery. A medically induced coma to make sure he wasn't in too much pain. Many visits that were thought to be the last. The couple times that his heart stopped, Pepper swore her heart stopped too. The world had always thought that it was Tony that needed Pepper, but Pepper needed Tony just as bad. Even before they had a kid together, she needed him. The first time she learned that she needed him was when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan. It wasn't because she needed the job. No, then, it was the friendship she needed. The companionship that he provided her with (though, at the time, it was far and few). The companionship that turned to friendship turned to relationship. That's why her heart felt like it was stopping when his did. Because, truly, she was terrified to do this without him.

But, of course, Tony pulled through. Though there were doubts, especially among the doctors, he still pulled through. When he finally did wake up for more than five minutes at a time, he was almost the same Tony. Almost. One arm and plenty of scars to last him a lifetime showed that he wasn't the same. As much as he tried to put on the pseudo that he was, he just wasn't.

Rhodey and Pepper were really the only ones that saw it. They were the only ones who saw him struggling. It really showed when he went to hug Morgan goodbye. He would attempt to wrap his other arm around her just to look at his shoulder with tears in his eyes. It really showed when he started getting up and walking. He would be ready to lean onto the railing with his left arm only to look at his shoulder the same way he did previously. It was like he was furious that his body would betray him like that. They would do their best to console him about it, but he would just put a smile on his face and pretend like it was fine.

It wasn't until Tony was home that it really hit him. Months after his slow recovery, he was able to come home. He was able to sit at his kitchen table again with his family. He was able to sit on his porch and read a book. He was able to be in his own home without having to worry that people were out there never returning to him. He didn't have to worry about anything. So, he should be happy, right?

Wrong. Tony was miserable. He did his best to hide it from Pepper and Morgan, but he hadn't been doing a good job. Morgan gave him lots of hugs, telling him that she loved him and that he could have one of her juice pops to make him happier. Pepper would always hold him close until he fell asleep or until he was relaxed enough to function properly. They were doing small things that Tony greatly appreciated. It just wasn't enough to fix the problem.

The problem was his stupid arm. Well, lack thereof would be better put. It was destroying him. Of course, he knew that snapping was going to take things away from him. He could have lost so much worse than this to the snap, but he didn't. He should be grateful. At least, that is what he told himself. He should be grateful that he didn't come out much worse. He should be grateful that he came out alive. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful, he was just frustrated. So, so frustrated.

He couldn't get dishes out of the cabinet without almost shattering one. He couldn't read Morgan a book and hold her at the same time the way he used to. He couldn't snuggle both Pepper and Morgan at the same time. He couldn't grill with ease. Not being able to do those things was hard enough. What hit him the hardest though was not being able to work in the lab.