Side by Side [Stony / Spideypool]

#3

"Listen, lady, I feel like if you put the magic hands down we can talk and come to an agreement." Tony blasted the woman's beams as they flew at him.
She snarled and created some sort of force field around herself and Loki.
"Great," Tony muttered. "Stand back, guys, I'm bringing out the big guns."
He shot a ray from the repulser on the chest of his suit, but it didn't even faze the shield.
Loki shot a blast of magic from his spear into the building behind Iron Man.
"Stark, look out!" Natasha stood up and watched the building's walls crumple and crash onto Tony.
Clint rushed to aid his friend, while Natasha covered him by shooting multiple stun rounds towards the green wall that separated the villains from the heroes. 
"Tony!" Clint looked at the pile of rubble.
Underneath, Tony could hear someone calling him. The force of the multiple slabs of concrete and brick crushed his chest and legs. He gasped for air, and heard another voice.
"Tony! Tony!"
"Cap," he wheezed. The suit's lights flickered as he felt the weight becoming less and less heavy. Suddenly, Tony could see light, and he saw Steve, in his suit, wincing and struggling as he pulled bits of building off of him.
"Just in time, Rogers," Tony tried to move but felt a sharp pain in his chest. "FRIDAY, any damage?"
Steve helped Tony up gently, and pulled his mask up to reveal a bloodied face underneath.
"Two broken ribs, a bloody nose, and a fracture in your ankle." The AI responded promptly.
"You'll have to excuse us," Loki's voice suddenly sounded above the noise of the fight. "We must be off now."
The woman laughed and they were gone. Into thin air.
"Well, shit." Rhodey flipped his mask up. "Are you okay, Tony?"
"I'll bounce back."
"Lean your weight on me," Steve placed his shoulder under the armpit of the suit. "Let's get you back quickly."

--

Peter sat in one of the tower's many rec rooms, watching a film in Spanish.
"'No me gusta', I know what that means." He told himself triumphantly. "Basically fluent, right, FRIDAY?"
"If you think so,"
"Peter,"
Peter gasped loudly as he whipped around to see Vision standing in the doorway.
"Oh my-" Peter clutched his chest. "You scared me."
"Captain Rogers wishes to inform you that we have returned."
Peter jumped off the couch clumsily and a smile spread on his face. "What happened? Did you guys stop them? Who was that woman? Is everyone okay?"
"We arrived just in time to see Loki and his partner teleport to some untraceable place. We did not find the identity of the woman, and everyone is generally alright."
"Generally?"
"Tony has injured himself."
"M-Mr. Stark? Where is he? Can I see him?"
Vision nodded. "Don't be worried, though, Peter. He'll be alright."

--

Steve sat on the edge of Tony's bed as the doctor finished the bandaging.
"I would highly suggest not doing any extensive work or anything else that would cause you stress until you heal completely. I'll check on you soon."
As she walked out, Tony groaned and placed his palms on his eyes.
"How could this get any worse?"
"Mr. Stark!"
Steve hid his smile as the teenager rushed into the room.
"Are you okay?"
Tony removed his hands from his face. "Yeah, kid, I'm fine. Calm down."
"I'm sorry, I- I was just worried." Peter stepped back from the bed.
"That's very kind of you to be concerned." Steve offered a warm grin. "He'll be fine, just a couple of cracked ribs."
"'Just'," Tony mumbled sarcastically.
"That's good," Peter nodded. "I guess, uh, I'll leave you to rest." He pointed to the door. "I, uh..yeah. Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Stark, Captain."
"Actually," Steve cleared his throat and Peter turned on his heel. "Tony and I wanted to discuss something with you."
"Am I in trouble or something?" Peter asked nervously.
Tony rolled over and groaned.
Steve chuckled. "Not at all, kid. We just wanted to talk to you. Adult to mature teenager."
Peter sat on the dresser across from the bed and crossed his ankles as he swung his feet.
"So," the captain began. "As you may understand, you live with the Avengers now, but none of us have legal guardianship over you."
Peter nodded along.
Steve leaned forward onto his knees. "And Tony is the one who was originally going to sign the papers, but they wanted a second guardian, just in case something were to happen to one, there would be another. And, if you're okay with it, Tony and I are going to be signing next week."
Peter looked starstruck as he looked at Steve. "Are you serious?"
"Why would he lie?" Tony said from under a pillow.
"Oh my gosh, this- this is literally the coolest," Peter jumped from the dresser and paced back and forth. He ran his fingers through his curls and laughed. "I get to be adopted by Iron Man and Captain America? Holy shit!"
"Peter-" Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, sorry," Peter blushed. "But this is so amazing! Wait, do you guys have to get married or something?"
"No, no, no-" both men spoke at once.
"Right, right, stupid question." The teenager stopped pacing and smiled widely. "Guys, this is..this is the best. Thank you. Thank you so much for letting me live here and-and for agreeing to help me, this means so much and-"
"Don't mention it, kid." Tony sat up, and Steve reached out a hand to steady his friend.
"You're a good kid, Peter. You're smart and talented, we just want to make sure you get the life you deserve." Steve explained. "Anyways, you should go convince someone to cook something for you, or  go make some toast or something, I'm not going to have time to make dinner."
"Okay, sure, thanks, Captain." Peter nodded.
"And Peter?" Steve called out.
The boy turned around in the doorway. "Yeah?"
"You can probably call us Steve and Tony."
Peter nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah, yeah, sure. I can do that."
Tony sighed heavily as they watched him go. "Good talk, Cap."
"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."
"It's come to that?"
"It's your own fault."
They both chuckled, and Steve helped lay Tony back down.
"So you're not cooking for the team tonight? Too bummed out?"
Steve shrugged. "I'm not their mother. They can figure out how to make pasta or something. If you're hungry-"
"No, I'm fine." Tony settled more comfortably into his pillows. "I don't eat a lot. Too.. I don't know, depressed?"
"You should eat something," Steve prompted. "I mean, I know things haven't been great since Pepper-"
"Please don't." Tony put up a hand. "I'm over her, it's not that. I just..get nightmares and stuff. Insomnia. Panic attacks. I had FRIDAY look up my symptoms, it's normal for someone like me."
"Nobody is judging you, Tony. I can't imagine what you've been through."
"Kidnapping, torture, some anxiety and bad dreams isn't compared to being frozen in ice for a few dozen years."
Steve shook his head. "Tony, you can't compare your problems to someone else's. No matter how much worse someone else may have been through, that isn't going to stop what you're feeling and experiencing."
Tony wiped a stray tear. "Jesus, Cap, you sound like a shrink. Maybe you should be doing the sessions with Peter."
"I'm serious, Tony."
"I know."
"Are you going to be okay? When was the last time you slept?"
Tony looked down and shrugged. "I napped earlier. It's fine, Rogers, really."
"You don't seem fine. I should stay to make sure you fall asleep, no nightmares involved." Steve watched Tony. He was surprised Stark was being so open with him. It must have been the shock or something. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Yes."
The captain craned his head a little, confused. Did the great Tony Stark just say yes? Steve hadn't expected that.
Tony pushed aside the blanket beside him and patted the spot. "Well, come on."
"What?"
"Come here." Tony patted the spot again, and hesitantly, Steve slipped his boots off and climbed over beside the other man.
He nearly died of heart palpitations when Tony rest his head against the super soldier. Both were silent for a solid five minutes, with only the sound of their breathing.
"Tell me something nice."
"Pardon?" Steve frowned.
"Indulge me, Rogers. Tell me something nice." Tony adjusted himself slightly.
"Okay," Steve thought for a moment. "Before the serum, before the fame and glory, I was just a scrawny kid with a dream. I had no friends except Bucky-"
"This being the same Bucky that almost killed you not so long ago?"
"Yes, okay, pay attention. One day, Buck heard about this huge futuristic convention going on, hosted by your father."
"I don't want to hear about Howard, Rogers. This is the opposite of nice."
"Just listen. We got to the convention, and Bucky was a catch, and he had brought along two girls with him. One of them was intended for me, but they weren't terribly interested. Anyways, your father comes on stage, looking all suave and smart, he kisses a stage girl and in confidence tells us about this flying car he's invented. I was amazed. I couldn't believe it. He started the car, and it suddenly sparked and fell back onto the stage. It was pretty funny," Steve smiled, remembering the moment when the crowd gasped, but then laughed and clapped.
A few moments passed, and the room was silent.
"Tony?"
Steve sat up just enough to be able to look at Tony's face and see him fast asleep. Steve decided he didn't want to disturb him, so he leaned back gently and placed his arm around the smaller man.
"FRIDAY, turn out the lights."

--

"I can cook." Vision cleared his throat. "I mean, I won't be eating the meal, but I would appreciate the opportunity to connect with the rest of the team and have some sort of feeling of a human activity."
"We don't see you as anything but human, Viz." Wanda said softly.
"Um, I do," Sam spoke up. "No offence, man. But, y'know, you're a robot."
"Android." Vision corrected.
"Isn't that the same thing?" Clint winced from his spot on the couch beside Natasha, who was stitching a cut on his arm.
"Actually," Peter piped in, "a robot is just a robot, like wires and controls and stuff. Androids are more human physically, and can mimic human emotions.  Advanced ones can sometimes even apparently..well, feel."
"What's a cyborg then?" Rhodey asked from behind his magazine, which had a picture of War Machine on the front.
"It's half human, half robot, physically." Peter explained.
Everyone nodded and made noises of recognition.
"Shall I cook, then?" Vision questioned after a beat.
"Yes, go ahead," Wanda touched his arm. "We trust you. If you need a taste tester, I'm glad to offer my assistance."
Peter's phone began to ring, and he quickly left the room to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Peter, I lost my English notes and you know how crabby Mrs. Knoyts gets first thing on Monday mornings. I can't deal with that."
"Ned, are you asking me on Sunday evening for the notes to the homework from last week?"
"Yes."
"Okay, lemme send you a picture of them."
"You're a life saver, Pete." Ned laughed in relief.
"I know," Peter smiled as he searched his binder. "Oh- holy- Ned! You're not going to believe this!"
"What? You got tickets to San Diego comic con? They released a new trailer for the next Star Wars movie? Natalie Portman posed naked for a-"
"No!" Peter laughed and sat back against his wall. "Mr. Stark is signing forms next week to become my legal guardian."
The sound of choking and coughing came from the other line and Peter held the phone away from his ear.
"Are you serious?" Ned finally wheezed. "Like, actually? You're becoming a billionaire's son?"
"Not his son," Peter laid down on his back and hung upside down from his bed. "Like..his student or something. I dunno."
"Where are you going to live? I thought his house was destroyed."
"I'm living in..uh, the Avenger's Tower." He lowered his voice.
"What?" Ned exclaimed, "you're joking. You have to be joking. Are you there right now?"
"Um, yeah." Peter laughed nervously.
"Oh..my..god. This is amazing. Have you seen Black Widow in the shower rooms?"
"I'm pretty sure she has her own bathroom, Ned."
Suddenly a fire alarm went off somewhere on the floor, and Peter covered his ears. "Ned, I've gotta go! I'll text you!"
"Wait, you didn't send me the-"
Peter rushed out of his room to find Natasha opening windows and Wanda containing a fire on the stove using her magic. Vision was flying around to turn off the fire alarms, and Sam was scraping burnt food off a pan into the rubbish bin.
"I apologize dearly, I put the flame on too high." Vision landed back on the floor.
"It's okay, bud." Clint stood up from the couch. "I'll order takeout. Is Chinese fine?"
"That sounds great," Wanda replied with a smile.

Authors note:

Who thinks they'll die while watching IW? *raises hand*