I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 3

Tony was trimming and attaching wires on alien tech he had never used before, but it seemed like he was making progress. Maybe he would have been moving faster if his mind stopped imagining Peter handing him a wrench in his lab.

Tony was desperate for conversation, but Nebula didn't particularly enjoy small talk.

"Tell me about your family," Tony said while screwing in a screw on a panel.

She paused and looked at him, a murderous look in her eyes.

"Oh, I struck a nerve didn't I?" He put as much sarcasm in his voice as possible.

"My father," She paused.

Tony had a screwdriver in his mouth when mumbled out the next line, "Daddy issues huh?

She gave him an angry glare, "He ripped every ounce of life I had left in me and painfully replaced it with machinery while my sister watched. He made us fight every day and every time I lost he replaced something inside me," She paused, "I never once won."

"You know dad's can be jerks sometimes, no need to be a pussy about it." He remembered his conversation with Harley in the garage. Wonder if he survived. His stomach sunk again at the thought of him disappearing as well. Tony knew he was being mean, and this. Girl? Had just said something personal to him and he had practically laughed at it, but speaking of bad fathers only brought up the memories of his own.

Needless to say they didn't speak for the rest of the ride to earth.

When Tony was done repairing the ship and they had jumped to earth's solar system, Tony only felt worse. The makeshift bandage was practically non-existent and he had wrapped his tracksuit jacket around his waist. They were both sitting next to each other in pilot's chairs and the silence was awkward. They wouldn't get to earth for another hour.

"I saw the boy you held," She said it matter of factly. "What was his name."

Tony swallowed.

"Hi, I'm Peter," The boy said when he walked into his Queens apartment and saw Tony Stark sitting on his couch. His eyes were wild and filled with confusion.

"Tony," He had said. "Mind if I speak to you in private?"

"Sure, sure."

"His name was Peter." Tony managed to spit out.

"Was he your son?"

Tony thought about that for a moment, he knew he would never be a good dad, not after what his own father had done to him. He wanted to be one, if not at least a good role model for Peter. He remembered when Peter had come down with the flu and he was working on web shooters in Tony's lab.

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Tony looked at the couch to find a sleeping teenager. He was surrounded with tissues and cough drop wrappers.

"I don't want to get your teenager germs," Tony had mocked him, earning a small smile from the kid.

When he saw Peter, he went over and pulled the blanket up farther on his neck. He looked so peaceful and small, his nose red from blowing it all day and hair a mess from not showering. Tony couldn't help but be overwhelmed by paternal instincts.

Peter stirred, and, in his delirious state he wouldn't remember the next day he said "Thanks, Dad." and fell back asleep.

Tony had felt his heart melt as he brushed Peter's hair from his face. "You get that Fri?" He whispered to the ceiling.

"Yes, sir. Would you like me to put it under the "Peter being adorable" file?" Tony nodded. He watched that video every once and a while after that, his heart melting every time.

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"No, he's not my son." Tony said.

Nebula made a "Hm" sound as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a motion sickness vomit bag and handed it to Tony.

"What is this?" He said, still emotional from the memory of the lab. "On second thought, I might need it if I keep losing blood."

"I wouldn't puke in it." She gave him a sad look, "I collected it for you after you passed out in the ship."

Tony turned the bag over and saw a "S" written in marker on it.

"I didn't know his name, so I wrote your last name."

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

It was Peter.

He could see the grey ashes now through the bag. Peter was being kept in a vomit bag.

Tony felt himself getting sick, but he kept it in and looked at Nebula, her face emotionless as ever.

"I'm sorry," Tony managed to say through a constricted voice, "About what I said to you. I was wrong, I was just angry,"

She just nodded. "I collected everyone else as well."

Tony turned around in his chair and saw them. Four bags, "Quill", "Drax", "Mantis", and "Wizard" written on each one.

Wizard. Tony almost laughed out loud, but he remembered Strange sacrificing the stone for Tony.

"His name was Stephan." Tony felt a sadness wash over him as he remembered. The sorcerer was starting to grow on him.

"We are here," Nebula said.

Tony looked out the window and saw vast blue and green.

Home.