I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 15

Vision looks ok. He is acting normal enough, though he is definitely distressed about Wanda and the others. Constantly repeating they will take down Thanos.

Steve still makes Tony sleep while he is there, and Tony starts to wonder when the man sleeps himself. Super soldiers don't need that much sleep, Tony presumes.

"Tony," Steve says, standing in the kitchen about to drag him to bed.

"Your hair," Tony gestures at Steve's haircut. He trimmed it to the way it used to be and his beard is shaved off.

"Long hair kept getting in my face when I ran," He smiles and Tony cannot help but notice he is still gripping the same sketchbook.

More time passes. Clint is seen outside with Natasha, shooting arrows, and Thor is never seen, though Bruce visits him constantly. Bruce tells everyone he is still trying to find Loki. Tony hasn't seen much of Nebula either, she seems to be spending time with the raccoon. Rocket, Bruce told him its name was.

Last night was a rough night for Tony, the recurring nightmare on the moon still haunts him. Today it troubles him more so because today is Peter's birthday.

The whole day Tony is on edge, ready for grief to strike him once again. After sitting at his usual chair in the kitchen, he decides today is the day. The day he goes to see May. Tony swigs down his coffee in one gulp and gets up to go. He is not sure what he should bring, so doesn't bring anything.

"I need to borrow a ship," he says to Shuri.

"Wakanda is not a rental facility," she says with sarcasm, pointing him towards a small and sleek single pilot craft.

Tony settles himself for the flight, telling the plane to take him to the old avenger's tower. He places his feet on the dashboard and takes out a pair of glasses. He looks at them a few times and rotates them in his hands before gently placing them on his face. He spins his chair around so he is looking at the open space of the jet, and presses a button on the side of the glasses.

There is a small flash of blue, and then there he is, sitting with Peter at a table alone.

"Mr. Stark," Peter says with a smile, handing Tony a piece of paper, "MIT wants my robot, they want me to work on it for them," Tony remembers the feeling of pride when Peter tells him this.

"That's amazing Pete," His fake self-says, placing a hand on his shoulder. He reaches around him to grab a box wrapped in red and blue paper.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," he says, passing it to an awestruck Peter.

"Mr. Stark," he stutters "You didn't need to- that's really nice of you sir- I don't..."

"Kid, open it."

Peter slowly pulls off the top of the paper, looking at Tony for encouragement before tearing off the rest. His eyes go wide at the item, a thin metal bracelet.

"It's beautiful Mr. Stark!" He is already putting it on his wrist.

"Peter, wait." Fake Tony is laughing, pulling Peter's wrist toward him and pushing a small button on the side. Nanobots come out of the bracelet to create a web shooter.

"Wow, Mr. Stark!" He says happily, and Tony can swear he sees tears in his eyes, "This is amazing- thank you."

"Don't mention it, kid," he says, ruffling Peter's hair and pulling him into a side hug.

Tony watches and remembers. He remembers that he didn't tell Peter that he put $100,000 into his debit card, never mind how he got the account password. He remembers being filled with happiness that day, more happiness than he usually felt.

He looks at the paused memory once more, viewing Peter's happy smile again before slowly taking off the glasses and placing them on the table.

"Arriving in the New York facility," the plane says, landing on the old launch pad.

And so, just like it used to be, Tony steps out of the plane and onto the platform he knows so well.