Marvel One-Shots

6AM: The Emotion

Peter Parker stumbled into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and half-asleep. His hair was a mess, his clothes looked like he grabbed them off the floor (which he had).

He had the unmistakable aura of someone who hadn’t seen the right side of a pillow in far too long. He dropped into a chair next to Tony, who was sipping coffee with a smirk on his face.

Peter groaned, squinting at the clock. "Getting up at 6 AM made me realize something," he said, voice heavy with dread.

"Oh yeah?" Tony raised an eyebrow, ready for another Parker revelation.

"Yeah." Peter nodded solemnly, as if about to impart some deep, ancient wisdom. "6 AM isn’t a place… it’s an emotion."

Tony blinked. Pepper, halfway through her coffee, paused mid-sip. Rhodey and Happy exchanged looks from across the kitchen, barely suppressing their grins.

"6 AM isn't a place at all, kid," Tony replied dryly.

Peter sighed dramatically, as if Tony had missed the entire point of the universe. "Exactly! That's because it's an emotion."

Tony set his coffee down and turned to face Peter fully, his smirk widening. "Emotions are feelings, Peter. Not times of day."

"That’s where you’re wrong," Peter said with the confidence of someone who knew he was right. "6 AM is like... the feeling of impending doom mixed with regret and the crushing weight of your responsibilities. Like you should be asleep, but the world says, 'Nope, you're awake now, and you have to deal with it.'"

Rhodey burst out laughing, shaking his head. "I mean, he’s not entirely wrong."

"Right?" Peter pointed at Rhodey like he had found an ally. "6 AM is the most emotional time of day. It's like... waking up just to suffer."

Pepper sighed, setting her mug down. "Tony, please don’t encourage him."

"Oh, I won't," Tony replied, still grinning. "I’m going to win this one."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean, win? You can’t win against 6 AM, Tony. It wins every time."

"That’s the quitter's mentality, Parker," Tony said with a mock serious tone. "You think 6 AM is an emotion because you’ve let it defeat you. You’ve got to conquer 6 AM. Own it."

Peter looked at him, baffled. "How do you own 6 AM? It’s like… pure existential dread."

"Get yourself an early morning coffee," Tony said, sipping dramatically from his own cup, "and reframe the whole thing. 6 AM is the time when the world is quiet, the city’s waking up, and geniuses like me get their best ideas."

"Or when people like me question all of their life choices," Peter muttered, crossing his arms.

Rhodey chuckled. "It’s emotional in its own way, I guess."

Happy, who had been watching from the corner, added, "I'm with Peter on this one. 6 AM is just painful."

Peter gave him a grateful nod. "Thank you, Happy."

"Happy!" Tony exclaimed, feigning betrayal. "Et tu?"

"Sorry, Tony, but I don’t need a Stark-level genius to tell me that 6 AM feels like the end of the world," Happy replied, earning a snort from Rhodey.

Pepper, shaking her head, finally stepped in. "Okay, this is ridiculous. Can we stop debating whether 6 AM is an emotion or not? Because it isn’t."

"Thank you, Pepper," Tony said triumphantly.

"But Peter’s description isn’t wrong," she added with a small smile.

Tony groaned dramatically. "Not you too!"

Peter grinned, feeling victorious for once. "See? Pepper gets it."

"You’re all just giving in to the negativity," Tony insisted, standing up. "6 AM is a challenge, not an emotion. A test of character."

Rhodey snorted again. "Sure, Tony. Whatever helps you get through the morning."

Peter smiled up at Tony. "It’s okay, Mr. Stark. You can admit that 6 AM is emotionally devastating."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Kid, you have no idea what emotionally devastating looks like."

Peter tilted his head thoughtfully. "It probably looks like 6 AM."

Pepper sighed, setting down her mug and giving Tony a look that practically screamed let it go.

Tony, with a deep sigh of his own, waved it off. "Fine, fine. You win this one, Parker. 6 AM is an emotion."

Peter’s eyes lit up. "Really?"

Tony smirked. "No. But I’m too tired to argue with you anymore."

Happy and Rhodey burst out laughing, and Pepper gave Tony a light smack on the arm as she left the kitchen.

Peter, still looking a little too smug for someone who lost the argument, leaned back in his chair.

"6 AM," Peter muttered to himself. "It’s definitely an emotion."

And somewhere in the corner, Tony couldn’t help but agree, just a little.