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Tony Stark was stubborn. He’d always known that about himself. Since he was a little kid he knew he was annoyingly stubborn. The thing was, being stubborn and dealing with stubborn were very different though, and one of the few people who could rival his level of stubbornness was Peter Parker.
After meeting the kid a few years ago Tony had somehow ended up on the path of taking Peter under his wing and becoming a mentor. As reluctant as he was to admit it at first, Tony really cared about Peter and wanted the best for him. Peter had a lot of potential but the world seemed to be against him, and he wanted to do what he could to fix that. Tony figured if he wanted to turn his blood money into something good, setting the kid up for the future he deserved seemed like a good way to do it.
Peter didn’t always like Tony, especially when they first started interacting, but over time the two of them got closer. When Peter’s Aunt had night shifts he would stay at Tony’s place after Spider-Man patrol. Then, last year when cancer took away his last family member Tony’s place became somewhere he could call home, somewhere with people who cared about him, somewhere he could go when he didn’t want to be alone. Tony loved Peter, did everything he could to be a good mentor and support system for Peter, and tried to protect him.
The problem was of course their shared stubbornness and currently, that stubbornness was creating chaos on the subject of one Johnny Storm.
Peter had started seeing the young fiery superhero a couple of months ago and Tony was not pleased. He looked at Johnny and knew. Johnny Storm was just like Tony before Afghanistan, and Peter deserved way better than any version of a young Tony. It was one thing for the two to be friendly with each other, they’re both teen heroes, ti made sense. But, for Johnny to try and woo Peter, to start a relationship, that was bad news. The fireball would either use Peter, ruin his life, break his heart, or a combination of the three.
Tonight, Peter had a date with the hothead and Tony decided he would broach the subject again when Peter stopped by to check on some lab samples. He was nervous about what Peter would say, things hadn’t exactly gone well in the past with this subject, but he was determined. Peter had been through enough already, more than anyone his age should have to go through, he didn’t need some hot shot conceited rich kid coming in and
“Alright,” Peter said, putting away his final sample and grabbing his bag. “I’m gonna go change and head out for my date with Johnny.”
“Peter,” Tony said hesitantly.
“Yeah?’
“ I don’t think you should be seeing him.”
Peter didn’t look at Tony. “I’m well aware what you think.”
“There’s no need to be like that. I’m just trying to protect you, “ Tony explained cautiously.
“Protect me from what exactly?” Peter asked incredulously. “Being happy?”
“He’s not good for you Peter.”
Peter dropped his bag and turned to face Tony. Face fuming but with sad eyes. “You don’t know him, Tony!”
“I was him, Peter!” Tony protested.
“That's bullshit!” Peter shouted in response.
“Peter,” Tony approached him, trying to stay calm, “I know what it’s like to be him and that isn’t good for you.”
“No Tony,” Peter snarked, pulling away from his mentor. “You know what it’s like to be you! You don’t know shit about what it’s like to be Johnny.” A few tears escaped his eyes.
“Peter I don’t want you to get your heart broken, I’m trying to help.”
Peter laughed dryly. “No, the fuck you’re not! You’re trying to make yourself feel better about how shitty you were when you were younger by saving me from nothing!”
“Just because you can’t see it-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
“What do you want me to say then?”
“Say you’re happy for me! Say you’re glad I’ve found someone who loves me and cares about me and makes me feel the happiest I’ve been since May died! Say you want to meet the boy I’m dating!”
Silence hung in the room. The only sound was the occasional sniffle that came with Peter’s angry tears. The two of them stared at each other, but nothing was said for a long while.
“You can’t say it can you?” Peter said tearfully.
“Peter…”
“Yeah. I thought so.” He wiped the last of the tears from his face and grabbed his bag. “I’m going to stay with Johnny for a bit.”
“Peter, kid, please.”
Peter shook his head. “No.”
With that he left, slamming the door behind him, and not bothering to look back at Tony as he went. Tony waited until he couldn’t hear Peter’s footsteps in the hall anymore before he let his resolve break. He only wanted to help, but of course, he just made things worse. Big surprise.
~~~~~~~~~
It had been over three months since Peter and Tony had fought. Over three months since Peter had left. Over three months since they had last spoken. Peter had expected Tony to crack by now, to reach out. Maybe it was foolish to expect that given how stubborn they both were Chalk it up to misplaced optimism or false hope.
Peter had thought about being the one to give up being stubborn and messaging Tony a few times, but it never happened. Every time he pondered it he would remember the things Tony had said about Johnny. Even worse, he’d remember the things Tony implied about Johnny. Then he would find himself torn between anger, betrayal, and sadness again and all desire to reach out would vanish.
Deep down he knew Tony had his reasons, of course, he did, but there was so much the genius (billionaire playboy philanthropist) didn’t know. Tony had never seen Johnny cry over how much he sometimes hates being famous. Tony had never seen Johnny patch Peter up after a rough patrol. Tony had never seen Johnny put himself in between another member of the Fantastic Four and danger. Tony had never seen Johnny look at Peter like he was the stars and the moon even though there were much more attractive people in the room. Tony had never seen any of that, so what did he know?
~~~~~~~~
Tony hated that Peter wasn’t talking to him, but he wanted to give Peter the space he needed. That and he was still being stubborn. He knew he was being stubborn. But being stubborn was easier than facing his other emotions. Truth be told Tony was scared of what would happen when they did talk. If he didn’t reach out, he wouldn’t have to face that fear. It didn’t make not having the kid around any easier, but it was what it was.
So Tony did what he did best, buried himself in his work and ignored his emotions. Like father like son or some bullshit like that.
Just over 3 months after Peter had stormed out, Tony found himself working on some new nanotech applications late into the night when his phone rang. A smile instantly crossed his face when he saw the call was from Peter.
“Hey, kid.”
“Stark?” a voice that wasn’t Peter’s answered.
“Who the fuck is this?”
“It’s Johnny. Johnny Storm.”
Confusion and annoyance simultaneously hit Tony. He didn’t know what to say, or how to react to the information
“Stark, I know you don’t like me but please don’t hang up.” Johnny pleaded, his voice full of worry, “ It’s Peter. He-”
“Where is he?” he asked instantly.
“He’s with me at the Baxter Building. He came back from patrol and collapsed. He’s bleeding and I can’t get him to wake up. The rest of the team is out of town for some science thing and I didn’t know who else to call.” Johnny was rambling and Tony could practically feel the fireball’s panic attack coming through the phone.
“Breathe Johnny,” Tony instructed. “You can’t help him if you’re hyperventilating.”
“Okay yeah.” Johnny took a few slow deep breaths which seemed to calm him at least a little bit.
“I’m already on my way, keep pressure on the wound until I get there.”
It took Tony less than 5 minutes to get to the Baxter Building once he had the Iron Man suit on, which was too long in his opinion. It took some guessing and looking at the building's blueprints but he quickly found where Johnny and Peter were. Tony hopped out of the suit and rushed into the room. The sight that met him was something that would stay with the billionaire for a while.
Johnny was tearfully doing his best to stop the bleeding from Peter’s abdomen, but it barely seemed to be doing anything. The fireball’s shirt had bloodstains on it and his hands were more red than skin-colored. Peter’s face was pale, his suit was torn badly, and there was blood in his curly hair in addition to that beneath Johnny’s hands. The kid was still breathing thankfully, but it was shallow and weak.
Tony had to force himself to stop staring and get to work. Knowing Peter’s reckless habits Tony was sure Johnny had patched up several nasty wounds in their time together, but Tony knew that his medical knowledge far outpaced Johnny’s, after all, he’d been a hero almost longer than the hot shot had been live. Tony carefully moved Johnny’s hands from the wound and got to work doing what he could.
Neither of them spoke. Tony was too focused on stopping the blood and cleaning the wound of what looked like shrapnel. The whole time he worked Johnny held Peter’s limp hand and tried to stop crying. Tony wanted to reassure him that things would be okay, but he couldn’t risk diverting any attention away from helping Peter. He didn’t want to think about what happened to Peter to cause this injury or about how long the kid tried to act like he was okay before he collapsed in Johnny’s arms. So he didn’t. Tony repressed those thoughts and focused on doing what he could to fix the problem in front of him.
Eventually, after Odin knows how long, Tony felt okay enough to move Peter. With Johnny’s help, they carefully took him to the Baxter Building’s Med Bay. The two of them got him settled and Tony hooked up to a few vital monitors. Peter wasn’t doing well, but he was stable and that was enough for now. Tony called in a former Avengers doctor to do a better check on Peter. She arrived early in the morning and got to work immediately. Treatments were done that Tony didn’t question beyond whether or not they would help Peter heal. The entire time Johnny never let go of Peter’s hand.
~~~~~~~~
The rest of the Fantastic Four came home the next evening. Johnny somewhat registered Tony filling them in on what happened when they did. Sue came in after, he felt her hand on his shoulder. She tried to convince him to eat, shower, and sleep but Johnny refused. He hadn’t moved from Peter’s side since he collapsed the night before and he wasn’t planning on changing that now.
He heard whispers in the hall later. Probably his family worried about the two of them, but Johnny didn’t bother to listen. If what they were saying was important, if it was about Peter, they would come in and tell him. Nothing else mattered right now.
Johnny knew he probably looked crazy. The most famous young heartthrob hero ever running on no sleep, covered in his boyfriend’s blood, face tear-stained, and hair disheveled. If any tabloids saw how he looked right now, he’d be torn to shreds. Johnny knew that people were probably worried about him or confused by his actions but he didn’t care at all. Even when being with Peter hurt because it meant seeing him hurt, Johnny didn’t care. Peter was one of the best things to ever happen to him so he was going to sit by his side until he woke up, no matter what anyone else thought.
~~~~~~~~
Peter had been in a coma for three days. It was getting late, but Tony had no plans to leave anytime soon. He had been at the Baxter building as much as he could the past few days. The only person there more than him was Johnny. His sister had told Tony that Johnny was refusing to leave Peter’s side. Tony couldn’t say he blamed him.
The two of them had been sitting in Peter’s medical room in silence for a while. Tony was on a stool on the side of the room. Johnny sat unmoving in a chair beside the bed, still holding Peter’s hand. The younger hero finally spoke just after midnight.
“It’s all my fault.” He spoke so quietly that Tony almost didn’t hear him.
“Don’t say that.”
“It is,” Johnny insisted. “If I wasn’t so useless I could’ve done more for him and then he wouldn’t be like this.”
“You sound just like Peter,” Tony remarked.
They both laughed a bit, knowing it was true.
Johnny sniffed. “I could never forgive myself if he-”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Nothing was said for a moment as if they were both trying to believe what Tony had said.
“I haven’t even told Peter I love him,” Johnny muttered. Tony wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he didn’t, instead opting to give Johnny the space he needed to say what was on his mind. “He said it. The day he- right before he went on patrol. He told me he loved me. He said I didn’t have to say it back. Even though I do, I couldn’t get the words out. I- I couldn’t…” Johnny trailed off as tears started to take over again.
“I’m sorry, kid.”
“It’s my own fault.”
“No. I’m sorry about dismissing you, Tony admitted. “ I’m sorry for everything I said about you. I was wrong. You’re nothing like me.”
Johnny smiled at Tony softly. “Thank you.”
“You’re good for each other.” He looked at Peter as he said it, hoping somehow, someway the kid would hear him and know he was sorry.
~~~~~~~~
On the fifth morning, Peter finally woke up. Johnny cried almost immediately and quickly wrapped Peter in a deep hug. He kissed Peter, not caring about the tears on his face or the grime on Peter’s. Then he smacked Peter’s arm.
“Ow Torchie! What was that for?” Peter questioned, rubbing his arm.
“For benign a reckless dumbass! You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Johnny grabbed Peter’s face and looked into his eyes. “I love you so much. Don’t you ever do that again, okay?”
“You- you love me?” Peter blubbered.
“I thought you were supposed to be a genius?”
“Shut up.”
Peter kissed him and all the stress that had been trapped in Johnny’s body for the past five days finally began to dissipate. Peter was okay. Peter loved him. Peter knew that Johnny loved him. He felt like he could finally let himself breathe. Johnny knew that Peter couldn’t promise to stay out of trouble, he knew Peter would get hurt again. But right now, Peter was awake and they loved each other, and that was enough for him.
~~~~~~~~
Johnny’s sister had messaged Tony as soon as Peter woke up. The kid was awake and acting like himself, though he’d likely be in the medbay for a few more days. Tony felt like he could cry from relief when he got the news. This whole ordeal had probably taken time off his life. He rushed to the Baxter Building the moment he could, but when he arrived he found himself standing in the hall nervously, instead of actually going in to see Peter.
“You gonna stand there all day?” a voice behind him asked. Tony turned to see Johnny walking towards him.
“I see you finally left his side,” Tony remarked instead of an answer.
“Peter told me I smelled. Made me leave to go shower,” the blond confirmed. “Didn’t answer my question though.”
Tony sighed. “What if he doesn’t wanna see me?”
“You literally saved his life, I don’t think you need to worry.”
“I think we both know that’s not what I’m worried about.”
Johnny nodded. “He would never admit this, but Peter cares about your opinion. A lot. Even though he’s not afraid to call you out on your bullshit, your opinion still matters to him.”
“Maybe. But I had a lot of bullshit opinions about you. As much as Peter might care what I think, he cares about you even more. I insulted the man he loves…” Tony hesitated for a moment, he couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with Johnny Storm. “What if that outweighs it?
“So what? At least if you go see him you’ll have made an effort.”
“But-”
“Oh my god Stark,” the fire starter groaned, “you really are just as stubborn as Peter. For the love of god get in the room. Good grief!”
Tony chuckled and followed Johnny into Peter’s medical room. Peter still had bandages on him in several places, he was still paler than anyone would’ve liked, and he was still hooked up to a bunch of monitors, but he was alive and awake.
“Did you finally shower? You stink was ruining my-” Peter looked up from his phone and saw Tony. “Hi.”
“Hey kid,” Tony said nervously. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. I feel good. Thanks to you.”
An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment until they both said “I’m sorry” at the same time. They laughed and Peter gestured for Tony to go ahead.
“You were right Peter. I wasn’t trying to protect you, I was caught up in my own guilt. I should’ve gotten to know Johnny before judging him, he’s a good kid. You both are. You’re smart enough to know who’s good for you. I should’ve known that and trusted you. The two of you are good for each other, and I’m sorry I didn’t stop myself long enough to see that.”
“Thank you, Tony. I’m sorry too.”
Tony shook his head. “You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
“Yes, I do, “ Peter insisted. “I may have been right but I was still mean to you, and I’m sorry. I should’ve reached out sooner instead of being stubborn, I’m sorry for that too.”
The two of them hugged.
“We okay, kid?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Peter affirmed, “we’re okay.”
“Finally,” Johnny exclaimed from the corner, startling both of them, who had forgotten he was there. “You two are annoying, you know that?”
“You’re one to talk torchie,” the brunette snarked.
Tony laughed quietly at the two young heroes and their bantering. Not even a year in and they already bickered like an old married couple. He watched them for a moment, enjoying the life in each other’s eyes as they talked to each other. Even a blind man would be able to tell how much love they had for each other. In his head, Tony was already brainstorming potential wedding gifts for them. Peter was right, Johnny Storm was nothing like young Tony, and he had never been more happy to be wrong.