♡ 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 ♡

Part 53: 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓝𝓮𝔁𝓽 𝓘𝓻𝓸𝓷 𝓜𝓪𝓷

"You're not Iron Man.  You're never gonna be Iron Man.  Nobody could live up to Tony.  Not even Tony."
~*~
Word Count: 1142

Much to my dismay, after Peter told me where he was, he had to hang up since he was just borrowing some guy's phone.  I really just wanted to talk to him right up until we landed in the Netherlands.  As soon as the jet landed, I pulled myself to my feet with a groan and grabbed my crutches. I practically slammed the button and door opened, letting down the stairs as well. As soon as I saw Peter limping across the tulip field, I slid down the railing. "Peter!" I cried.

"Kathy?!" He called as I tried to run to him.  "Is that really you?" 

"Is it me?  Yeah, of course it's me, Pete."  I answered, still hurrying towards him even though he slowed down. 

"S-Stop!"  He cried and I froze.  "Tell me something only you would know!"  My mind flashed back to when I was running from Maeve and my heart broke that he was dealing with the same distrust. 

"Only I should know..."  I said, looking at the bright blue sky in thought.  "Okay!  Remember when we were making your first suit?  I did a really crappy job because I sucked, and still suck at sewing.  You told me that it was especially tight in 'a certain spot'  and it took me forever to figure out what you were talking about and then I had to ask you for measurements of said area?  You tried to beat around it and find some way to not tell me, which makes no sense because it isn't that bad—"  I recalled and Peter began waving for me to stop.

"Okay, okay!  It's fine!  It's you!  It's you, stop!"  He said, breaking out into a weak sprint towards me.

Unable to wait any longer, I threw my crutches down and flew the rest of the way towards him.  He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his neck.  I felt tears drip down my shoulder to my chest and felt his shoulders shaking from under my arms.  I kissed the side of his head and pulled away just enough to see his face.  His appearance broke my heart.  He had cuts along his jaw and cheeks, red rimmed eyes, and his once warm and bright eyes were near black and I could see the pain in them—telepathic or not.  I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned my forehead against his. 

"Peter, what happened to you?"  I whispered, my voice breaking.

~*~

"Okay.  Hold still."  I said gently as I began stitching a deep cut along the back of his neck.  "Here we go."  I poked the needle through the skin and saw him tense from below me. 

"Ouch."  He grunted and looked away.  I tried to soothingly rub my thumb along the back of his neck and I noticed his neck relax slightly, but his shoulders remain tense and firm.

"I thought you had super-strength."  Happy asked from the seat across from him.

"It still hurts."  Peter replied, shaking his head slightly.  My eyebrows pinched, I never, ever want to hurt Peter in any way, but there I was, hurting him.  Helping him, but still hurting him.

"All right, relax..."  I whispered gently, continuing stitching.  "Just a few more."  He rubbed his eyes and forehead as I finished.  "There we go."  I poked the needle one last time and accidentally did it the slightest bit too deep and Peter snapped up.

"Oh my god!"  He shouted and I flinched before cutting the string.

"Pete, you have to relax!"  I told him and he jumped up from his seat. 

"Don't tell me to relax, Kathleen!"  He yelled and spun around to face me.  I thought he was mad so I was about to get defensive, until I saw the pain and guilt in his face.  Hot tears streamed down his red cheeks and his eyes were flooded with more of them.  "How can I relax when I messed up so bad?!"  He screamed, mostly in frustration towards himself and Happy and I just let him get it out.  "I trusted Beck, right?  I thought he was my friend so I gave him the only thing Mr. Stark—your dad left behind for me and now his going to kill our friends and half of Europe so please, do not tell me to relax!"  He sunk down in a chair and Happy gave me a look saying 'help him'.  Peter weaved his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily.  I cautiously stepped forward and knelt between his legs, looking up at him with sympathetic eyes.  "I'm sorry, Kathy, I'm sorry..." he whispered, "I shouldn't shout."  I nodded and gave him a gentle smile.  I reached up and used both of my thumbs to wipe away his tears.  I left one of my hands to cup his cheek.  "I just really miss him." 

I smiled weakly up at him.  "Us too."  I told him on behalf of Happy who nodded.

"Everywhere I go, I see his face.  And... the world is asking who is gonna be the next Iron Man?  I don't know if that's me, I'm not Iron Man."  Happy turned his chair to face us and so we looked to him.

"You're not Iron Man.  You're never gonna be Iron Man."  Happy said, bluntly.  "Nobody could live up to Tony.  Not even Tony.  Tony was my best friend, but he was a mess.  He second-guessed everything he did.  He was all over the place.  There were only two things he never second guessed: adopting Kathleen, and picking you."  I looked up at Peter and saw some relief and empowerment reach his eyes.  I intertwined our fingers and rubbed my thumb along the back of his palm and he squeezed my hand.  "I don't think Tony or Steve would've done what they did... if they didn't know that you two would be here after they were gone."  Peter and I both looked over to Happy.  "Your friends are in trouble, Kathleen is hurt so you're all alone, your tech is missing, what are you gonna do about it?"  He asked and Peter deeply inhaled before pulling him and I to our feet.

"I'm gonna kick his a--."

~*~

A/N: I'm so sorry guys!  I meant to break up last chapter before I published it, but I totally forgot until I went back to edit.  This was what this chapter was meant to be, not the last one.

Hey, guys? 
Can you explain this?

THIS.

IS.

INSANE.

20K READS AND #1 in "telepathy" AND 492 VOTES?!?!!??!!  EX-SQUEEZE ME?!?!  Thank you all so much for all of your support, it truly means the world to me.