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You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Nine

Summary:

He wonders if he regrets it.

No, he doesn't.

He really doesn't.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

What happens after is as clear as a dream.

Cameras flash. Voices cry out. He is grabbed and taken away. He's reminded of the Afghan desert again, when he unleashed Jericho but turned his back from the detonation.

He is questioned. He is questioned. He is questioned.

People are talking. Everyone is talking. The world has stopped spinning.

He is told to stay away from the press. Far away. No answers. Don't even look.

They talk anyway.

He is everywhere. On every screen. On every cover. Just ten minutes after, and all of the world knows:

Tony Stark is the Iron Man.

Pepper is there. She looks worried.

Rhodey is there. He looks disappointed.

Obie is not.

Peter is not.

The Parkers are gone.

He is still here.

So many things, all at once.

Happy takes him home. It seems pointless. It's not as though anything is finished. He doesn't get why he needs to take a break.

Home is empty, and so quiet that he can hear the blood rushing in his ears. He closes the door to Peter's room and looks at the rocket-ship bed that he'd been taken from. He almost sits on the same spot on the couch where he almost died.

He wonders if he regrets it.

No, he doesn't.

He really doesn't.

He's just tired already, from the fight to come. The idea of going to sleep just exhausts him more, because if he does then he'll have to wake up.

But he won't wallow in despair. He made this decision knowing what the cost would be.

He keeps the TVs off, his news notifications silent. He can still hear the voices, though, if not the words. Many are still reeling, but some have snapped out of it—lucid enough to think about what this means.

Tony Stark is Iron Man. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

Whoever that was that was tearing up the streets, he was trying to stop them. He wasn't hurting anyone, he wasn't on a blind rampage. He had come to save the day, and even if the damage was costly, he'd done what an entire battalion of policemen could not have been able to.

So what? He was in the right once. Who was to say he wasn't going to end up just like the other guy, crumbling roads to dust, throwing around cars like they were toys, mowing down everyone and everything in his path—and no one would be able to stop him. It was already obvious that Tony Stark was insane. Could they just let him have an artillery like that?

He passes the time by repairing J.A.R.V.I.S. It's easy. Too easy. It makes him angry.

Pepper isn't here. He told her to do as he did, refuse to answer any and all questions and disappear for however long she needed. Because if Tony Stark wouldn't answer questions, then hunting Pepper Potts down instead was always the next step. He wasn't going to make her deal with all of this—least of all because she wouldn't have any answers to give.

Rhodey isn't here. He's still dealing with his side of this whole ordeal, and Tony's just made that a whole lot harder, considering he set fire to the story they had constructed. It wasn't as if Rhodey could just deny that they knew it was Tony, so he was left to find a reason why they let him do what he did. Moreso than that, though, people are going to think this is him getting back to weapons manufacturing, and it is not.

The Parkers aren't here. There was no good reason for them to stay, anyway. It wasn't as though they were going to be able to get anywhere near Tony any time soon. Pepper said that they were getting ready to head back to Queens. Peter needs to get far away from here, if not for his safety, then for his mind. He has to get as far away from what happened as possible, and back to the familiar safety of home.

So Peter isn't here. No one can hurt him.

Though Tony wonders when he'll get to see him again. He wonders when he should make the first phone call—how soon is too soon? He will have to talk to the Parkers just to figure out how this is going to work now. How should they arrange visits? Peter still has the phone, maybe they can just let him call whenever he wants.

If he wants.

It is strange, to know that the next chapter is beginning, to know that he's in the quiet before the storm. Even if he knew what to expect, it's hard to imagine what life will be like now. At least before all of this happened, he had some idea of where he would be in ten years, twenty years. Now he doesn't know what to expect.

He should probably be worried, for the dangers and the trials to come. He's in for a rough ride, that's for sure. It looks like every day is going to be a fight for a long time to come.

Somehow, though, he isn't worried. He isn't afraid. In a way, it's like setting out on a new project in the lab. It will be troublesome, time-consuming. He will push himself past the breaking point, skip nights of sleep, sweat and bleed—but it will be worth it in the end. He was living in cushy luxury before, but for what? Obliterated homes, families torn to pieces? He would give up the mansion, his fortune, anything if it meant proving that he was better. And he is.

And now that it's done, he is happy that Peter won't be around. Well, no, not exactly. He will miss him every day he isn't here. He's going to be repelled from that room down the hall for forever. But again, it's all about the cost. Any time he feels the pain coming on, all he has to do is remind himself of how much safer and happier his son will be, and it's a balm to his wounds.

So even though he's exhausted, he is also excited. He knows what's going to come, and he's ready to take on all of it.

That said:

Weird guy with an eyepatch, introducing himself as "Mr. Fury," who talked to Peter on the phone while he was hiding from Obie—and after mentioning Peter by name, punctuating it with "Yes, Stark, I met your boy"—but skipping right over that to invite him to join a league of superheroes with the mission to defend not just the United States, but the entire world…

…was a bit of a curveball.

Notes:

Alright, guys, here is a little chapter to segue into the next part. Sorry it isn't more, but I'm going to need just a little bit more time to get the next proper chapter out - but it will be coming in this month! Hope you guys enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to this next part!