Spider-Son & Iron Dad one shots

Broken Ribs

Spooktober.19

"Mr. Stark?" Peter asks over the phone, his voice small and holding back tears. "Can you come pick me up? I think I broke a rib."

It was a warm October night in New York, rare but not impossible. Tony Stark was half asleep when he got the call, Pepper gently shaking him as the phone had rung.

"—What?" Tony snaps fully awake at this. "Are you okay?"

"No, I broke a rib," Peter replies back, clearly tired and not fully understanding what he was saying.

"I—" Tony sighs and tosses the blankets off of his body. Pepper just gives him a small nod and puts her head back down on the pillow, a little okay for Tony to leave the room.

He passed Morgan's room on the way out, and he quickly looked in through her open doorway. She was still tucked into her bed, sound asleep. Tony gives himself a nod and then keeps walking. At least one of his children were doing okay.

Tony grabs the keys off the key ring and then leaves, locking the door quietly behind him.

He plugs in Peter's location from his phone into the car, and then drives. He flicks on the radio, and music plays quietly as he travels down the dirt roads.

A few months ago his first response would be to use the Iron Man suit, but his car was pretty fast. And as sucky as a broken rib was, and as badly as Tony wanted to use a suit, he knows it would stress out Pepper if he pulled out his arc reactor.

But there wasn't a near death war months ago. There wasn't a sacrificial heroic snap of the Iron Man gauntlet.

Pepper linked Iron Man to these things strongly, and rightfully so. Most people would say that Tony Stark is Iron Man, but Pepper knows it's not true.

Iron Man did the "hero" work. He was the one who took down the bad guys. He was the one who broke down cities in order to save a people. He was the one who follows the book.

Tony Stark was a hero in different ways, though.

He was the one who would pick up his wife after she had broken into pieces after Iron Man's tragedies. He was the one who put Morgan to bed, and made sure she slept safely. He was the one who built the cities back up after Iron Man saved their people.

Tony Stark was the one who would drive at four in the morning just to make sure his son was okay.

And that's exactly what Tony Stark did.

He walked up to May's apartment and knocked on the door.

May answered, and smiled tiredly. "Hi."

"Hi, May," Tony smiles back.

May steps aside, showing Peter on the couch with ice on his ribs. He's not wearing his Spider-Man suit. "He's been asking for you."

Tony walks in. "Hey, Pete."

Peter looks up at him and frowns. His eyes are red and glossy from crying. "Hi, Mr. Stark."

He sounds pitiful.

"What happened, kiddo? You're not even wearing your suit." Tony sits next to Peter on the couch, and Peter slowly and painfully slumped backwards so that he was leaning against his mentor.

"Yeah, I know." Peter sniffles. "I just did something stupid and then I broke my ribs. I'm sorry for calling you, you were probably asleep, I just really wanted to see you."

Tony gets it. He feels guiltily proud that whenever Peter gets hurt he searches for him. Must be a parent thing, because he noticed Morgan has the same thought process except for Pepper.

"It's okay, Peter. You're just fine. However, you still didn't tell me what happened, so it must have been pretty embarrassing," Tony smiles gently. "Wanna spill?"

Peter huffs a laugh but then winces. "Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing. I had accidentally slipped on some legos and hit my ribs on my bed frame."

"Wow. What hurt most, the legos or the bed frame?" Tony asks with amusement.

"Surprisingly, the bed frame," Peter answers back with a little bit of genuine confusion.

"Alright, well. We've both had our fair share of broken ribs. Keep the ice on it, try and get some rest. You can sit up and lean against me or the couch if you want," Tony says, taking on his Dad VoiceTM.

Peter didn't notice it and just nods, continuing to lean against Tony. He closes his eyes. He's already incredibly tired, so he falls asleep fast.

Tony shoots a quick text to Pepper telling her he won't be back until later today, and then does the dad thing of 'relaxing with closed eyes' which is actually just sleeping.

He's on the Parker's couch, his son tucked under his arm and against his chest, and he feels at peace with the knowledge Peter is okay.

May takes a photo.

(But nobody needs to know that except her and Pepper.)

(They constant exchange photos.)

(They have a scrapbook.)

Fin.