Of Love and Lines (MCUxReader)

Thirty Six

Penelope POV

"Hey Frosty, you're late for our meeting. That arm isn't going to update itsel-" Stark's voice cut off as abruptly as it filled the space of the kitchen, interrupting your lunch.

"Ahhh. I can explain?" You held up a hand in an effort to stop whatever freak out was about to happen. It didn't work.

"I'm sorry. Did I just walk into an alternate reality? Because last I checked, you were dead. And there is abso-fucking-lutely no way, no way, that you would be here alive while Peter is up in his lab drowning himself in work as a distraction to the point that I'm deeply concerned about his mental health. I actually called a shrink for him today. A shrink. Because that's how bad it is. So, this has to be a dream right? I hit the limit of sleep deprivation and now I'm paying the price."

"Are you done?"

"Am I done?!" He blinked slowly. "Yeah, actually. I think I am."

"Good because I need you to stop freaking the fuck out. Nobody can know so you need to keep this to yourself."

Stark blew out a long breath, bending over with his hands on his knees as he squinted up at you from the other side of the island.

"You said you were done." Your tone was dry, pissed off that someone else had caught you. Even more pissed off that it was fucking Metal Head of all people. And exponentially pissed off that you hadn't even been able to enjoy one bite of the masterpiece that is your sandwich. Seriously, this shit would give Jersey Mike's a run for their fucking money.

He straightened. "Yepp. Just needed a minute to wrap my head around the fact that I will have to deal with you again. Thought I was finally in the clear." If it weren't for the smile he was trying to conceal, you'd have been offended.

Turns out his usual attitude was exactly what you needed, and you caught yourself smiling right along with him.

"In all seriousness though, if you're back, and like alive and everything, why haven't you told him? I get why you wouldn't tell me, offending as it is. But why not him?"

You sighed, placing your sandwich down on the plate. "There's a chance it's not permanent."

"What? As in you could drop dead again at any second? Do we need to get Bruce?"

"No. I-" Panic rose slightly at having to think about this again. You wished you could just ignore it all. "I don't think it's anything medical. Bucky's pretty positive it's connected to my powers and possibly something Kraken did to amp them up might have just completely fucked them up. And before you say it-" You cut Stark off from the breath he'd drawn to retort. "I don't want Bruce running any tests. If I don't have long, I really don't want to spend what little extra time I've got going through all that. Loki already tried to get me to do it and my answer was the same."

"So Frosty and Reindeer Games already know. Anybody else?"

You glanced down at your plate to pick at the crust of the bread you'd cut off. "Steve." You barely managed to whisper.

"Of course. Why would I expect anything different? Do you have any idea how selfish-"

"I'm fucking dead Stark. Do you understand that? God, I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius. What am I supposed to do? Just show up to dinner like 'Oh hey guys, long time no see. What's for dinner? Burger night? Sweet!' And then everybody is all happy that I'm back and next thing you know, I'm fucking dead again. I won't put them through that. It's better they just accept that I'm gone until I have this figured out."