âiâm thirty-eight now.â peter replies softly. the years werenât kind to him, why would they be with the profession he was in? It was odd, being so close to tonyâs age and still feeling as if he was a father figure to him, but part of that would never go away.
âhead aches, i lose time. iâm just a mess, tony, theres really nothing to it. it comes with the excelled healing.â peter shrugs, really unsure of what all to admit to tony right now. he didnât want to be seen as a frail little kid anymore, he could deal with things on his own.or at least he liked to believe he could. âhe is going to teach me how to use the mirror realm. i havenât told him much else.â and he probably wouldnât. peter was secretive, more so because he didnât want to bother the people around him with his problems. he didnât want to be an issue for others and he didnât want to be seen as a puzzle others cant solve.
tony started pacing, and it made peter nervous. one of his hands started pulling at the others fingers, a way to ground himself and keep his own anxiety at bay. âitâs fine.â he replies, really not sure of what else to say. âi donât even know what i need anymore tony, ever sinceâŚâ peter pauses to clear his throat and shake his head. âever since may died iâve just felt lost. i donât know what to do with myself. I couldnât save her, i couldnât save ben. i couldnât save you. so whats the point anymore?â
sometimes, there were things that couldnât be fixed.
tony had learned that the hard way - what with the arc reactor, what with finding a way to fix the arc reactor then breaking the avengers apart. it was just so damn hard to accept that other people - especially the ones that he considered his kids - having to walk down the same path, and discover the same hard truths for themselves.
âthereâs always a point,â he said, spearing peter with a look. âi didnât need saving, hell -- i went out with a flash and bang the way i wanted to, and ...â he sighed. âlook, point is, you didnât need to save me.â he put both his hands on peterâs shoulders. âitâs never been your responsibility to save me.â
this was worse than heâd thought. and it definitely wasnât the sort of thing that was going to be fixed in a day. but he hoped - oh how he hoped - given time and opportunity, some of those wounds could begin to heal again.Â
âwoodshore was my chance to start anew, you know? and i think it could be yours too.â