That just earns him another look. She can make muffins when she's not busy. Which admittedly it's been close to a few years now. After she has some things in order it might be time for a vacation.
"We're at the compound, Tony." She points out with a fond roll of her eyes.
"Sorry Tony, you're gonna be on light soups and getting most of your nutrition through tubes for a few weeks." Bruce came back in with the clipboard from Peter's room. Do you two have a minute to talk about the kid?"
He tries to maintain that innocent smile on his face but he ends up coughing instead of laughing. Looking up, he was surprised to see Bruce again, but not disappointed.
"Sure but afterwards, I want ice cream," he jokes. When he gets a look from Pepper- and he knows he will- he shrugs. "Hey, kids get it when they get their tonsils out. I've been through much worse than tonsil surgery! I deserve ice cream. And not the cheap frozen yogurt stuff. The real milk, sugar, chocolate bad for you but tastes as good as sex ice cream." He winks at Pepper again. "Well, with some sex. Not yours, honey."
Pepper can't help the little smile that plays at her lips as she shakes her head. He's still Tony, that's for sure.
"Anyways." Bruce interjects a little awkwardly. "About Peter. From what I can tell his Powers are in a dormant state because his metabolism has slowed down-so until it goes back up again he's uh... got some health issues and I'm gonna recommend putting him back on an inhaler for a few weeks." Bruce explains. "That means no over exerting himself."
Personally, he loved it when Pepper got that expression on her face. It was a mix between wanting to bop him in the head and kiss him. In just about any other circumstance, it would've been harder for him to drag his attention back to the topic on hand if Bruce's third word hadn't been 'Peter'.
Tony's gaze snaps from where he was smirking at Pepper to worried at Bruce. "So that's why he had an asthma attack on the ship! I wasn't sure what had caused that. Towards the end, he.. he was just sleeping." Which really had been what all of them were doing to conserve energy.
Pepper moves her hand over to Tony's to gently grasp it again, now worried about Peter again. Bruce just offers a nod, still looking at Peter's charts.
"It shouldn't take too long to get his metabolism back up but it's still running after than a normal person's but once it kicks back up again, his powers will come back and the health problems will go away. But you should know, he's got a weak immune system, Tony. Not just from the trip up into space. I'm gonna see if I can get his shot records in case he needs any vaccinations."
"Wait, he didn't get all his vaccines?" Tony asks, with a frown. Had he missed them or did May or his mother simply not give it to them? "What do you mean, he has a weak immune system?" That wasn't a result of not getting his vaccines. That was..
"I can't know for sure without full access to his medical records but Pepper's working on that but with how things are after..." After Thanos. "...well, we're expecting it to take time. From what I can see though, no. I don't think he did get all his vaccinations but probably because he couldn't you know what herd immunity is, don't you Tony?"
"But you said he was fine?" Pepper pressed, suddenly it was starting to make a lot of sense why Peter tested himself like he did-why he was so reckless and eager to always prove himself.
"Yeah, as soon as his powers come back online his healing factor will kick in and keep him well, healthy."
"Dammit," Tony curses and shakes his head. Running a hand through his hair, he tries to think what all of this could mean for the kid. In all honesty, he was in the best place he could possibly be right now. They had the best medical equipment and could keep that room he was in sterile.
"Give me a computer. I may not be as good as Jarvis- or Vision or whatever- but I can break into a regular hospital's records." He probably could, if he was at his peak mental state. Right now, maybe not as much.
Pepper just grabs her tablet and hands it over to Tony. Normally, she would never approve of stealing hospital records but she'll make a special exception in this case.
"It was probably Queen's Memorial they were taking him to." She states reasonably. Even if his parents had been taking him to a different hospital when he was little there should still be records from there as well.
He accepts the tablet and starts in, moving through websites and code as fast as the tablet will let him. As he's doing that, he asks, "What about coffee? Or tea? Can't I at least have something warm? It might help with how hungry I am."
Queen's Memorial. Queen's Memorial records. What was his birthday again? He pauses. It worries him that the date doesn't just come to him like it usually would. He also can tell a small pain behind his eyes was starting, but that could be ignored. He looks up with a scowl. "What's his birthday?"
"August Tenth." Pepper supplies before getting up from her seat. "I'll get you some tea." She states at Bruces approval.
"Nothing too strong though, something like green tea or chamomile." Bruce explains. "Try not to stare at the screen too long, Tony. You don't want a migraine."
"Right." He plugged in the date, including the year now that he'd been reminded of the first part.
The restrictions were bugging him. He knew logically he shouldn't be pushing himself or his stomach or he'd end up just hurling again, but he was never good with the word 'no'. It was like as soon as Bruce said no black tea, that was what he immediately wanted. Such an obvious character flaw, sigh. Oh look, birth records and oh.. oh... that was a lot of...
Pepper lets out a sigh and resists the small urge to look over his shoulder, and down at the tablet. Bruce just took off his glasses and rubbed at his face. He’s not at all surprised, in fact he’d somewhat expected that.
“I’m gonna guess it’s not great.” He sighed, moving over and holding his hand out so he could take the tablet. “I need to know if he needs to be any other medications while he’s in recovery.”
Tony would've turned the tablet to her if Pepper had tried to look. He didn't see anything wrong with sharing this information between the three individuals in the room. It might be personal, but these were all people who loved Peter and would only use the knowledge for good.
"No. It's not. I'm never letting that boy out of my sight again!" Obviously that couldn't be true but seeing what the kid had already gone through was enough to turn his stomach. "If he needs something I can give, do it." Like blood or whatever. He didn't know what else the kid might need. A new kidney. Whatever.
Pepper grabbed Tony's hand again, glancing over toward's Peter's room. This was going to be a rough few weeks-likely months but they'll navigate it together.
"Slow your roll their, Tony." Bruce says, looking over the records. "None of this would require a transplant-he's just got a week immune system-it's pretty common among kids that were premature. Besides, he's gonna be okay, his metabolism just has to kick back in."
Tony sat back against the bed with an annoyed sigh. He'd said 'if'!
"So what now? When is he expected to wake up?" He asks, looking at the door but unable to see past the frame from his angle. "Can't you just bring his bed in here?" It felt strange to be separated from the boy after nearly dying next to him.
"Probably in the next few hours." Bruce answers with a shrug. "And yeah, I can bring him in here with you-but right now he's hooked into a lot of things just like you and I have monitor his vitals closely because to be honest, Tony, I'm not really sure how much or little to give him of somethings-his metabolism still runs fast-just not fast enough for his powers."
Pepper just sighs and leans back in her chair, thinking about the options. "If Pete's in here with us then Tony and I can keep an eye on things." She decides.
"Yeah, I didn't doubt that." Bruce responds. "but the others are eventually gonna want to talk to Tony themselves and if Peter's in this room that could get ugly fast."
"Well, let me help you with that. I don't have to move for you to use my brain to assist you." He shakes his head. He hates being weak and being tapped physically like he was. Somehow he needed to get better and quickly so he could carry Peter when the kid falls apart. There was no way the kid wouldn't fall apart hearing about his aunt. Tony realizes he's not going to be able to hug the kid with all these wires hooked to him and that was rough.
"I don't want to talk. They can blow it out their asses for all I care. I just want to help Peter."
"If it's all the same to you, we'll just refuse visitors until Peter, at the very least is feeling up to talking to them." Pepper explains, knowing that for Peter, that could be some time.
"Yeah, I'll tell the others you're not accepting any visitors then and get Peter moved in here with you two." Bruce concedes. "That way he'll be in here when he wakes up."
"Thanks, Bruce." Pepper offers him a smile as he steps out of the room. Once he's gone though her face goes immediately in her hands.
"Tony, this is going to be rough. His heart's gonna break."
Tony knew 'refusing visitors' wouldn't last too long when Steve showed up. There were those who would respect that and those who wouldn't. You could guess which side the people he didn't want to talk to fell on.
"Thanks," he says softly, not being the biggest fan of the word, but this time meaning it. Bruce was his friend and he'd just done a miracle to keep both Peter and Tony alive. It was just hard to find the words to express that level of gratitude.
He put his face in his hands. How were they going to do this? How was he going to help Peter through it all? Pepper just might have to be his physical substitute while he wasn't close enough to hold the boy. It broke his heart that he wasn't going to be able to do that himself though.
"I know." There was no two ways about it. Peter was going to be devastated.
Bruce at least should be able to keep the others at bay, Pepper was sure he'd do everything he could to make sure Tony and Peter could get their rest. She helped Bruce to move the kid into the room with Tony, the beds arranged so they'd be right next to each other.
Once everything's been set, Bruce relaxes the sedative a little and it's a few hours later when Peter finally starts to wake up. Pepper can already feel the ache starting in her heart. This boy's whole world was about to come apart and the desire to put it off is growing in the pit of stomach. She squashes the feeling down though, prolonging it would only make things worse and Peter would find out eventually.
Tony played it in his head a few times, but nothing felt quite right. There was no scenario where this could go right. The only right was if they hadn't failed and no one had been taken. All promises that they would get her back or do 'everything they could' would matter. It just wasn't enough.
He waits with Pepper, his hand in hers as he waits for Peter to wake. There was a balance to this between letting Peter wake up first and before it feels like they're trying to keep it from him. There might be a balance, but to hell if he knew how they'd find it.
When the boy is actually moving and blinking, Tony calls his name. "Hey, Pete. Peter? How are you feeling?"
Peter wakes up slowly, almost like he just wants to stay asleep but eventually he starts to stir. He doesn't open his eyes right away, trying to work out everything that's happened as he knows it. They made it back to earth-he doesn't remember exactly when that happened but when he woke up Dr Banner and Ms Potts were there.
He groans and finally opens his eyes when he hears Tony's voice. It's a relief to hear but as he's still feeling heavy and groggy it still takes a moment for him to respond. "There's a needle in my arm." He voices, trying not to look at it-but he can still feel it. He starts to sit up and looks around the room, looking confused a moment. Tony's there. Ms Potts is there.
"Where's Aunt May?" He thought for sure she'd be there-maybe she just went for coffee or something?
"Leave it there, kid," Tony responded in that. It was his stern, but 'on your side' tone he sometimes uses with people even if he had no right to do it. It was just natural to him somehow.
The next question was like a sucker punch to the gut. Tony knew it was coming, he just had hoped it might not be so soon. He looked down at Pepper's hand in his and gives it a squeeze. He lets her go in case she needs or wants to go hold Peter. He gives a second only before he answer in the only way he knows how. "Peter.. she's.. she's gone. Like how we saw Dr. Strange on the planet. She faded too."
Peter was hoping that May would walk in with hot chocolate or something, maybe she'd just left the room at the same time he was waking up, it would be just his luck. He bites at his lip, and glances at the needle when Tony tells him to leave it in. He really doesn't want to leave it in but in the next few seconds he completely forgets about it as his eyes snap up to Tony.
"Wh-what?" The words are registering-not at first. His brain rejects it immediately and he just shakes his head, shaking the the thought and the tears already starting to burn in his eyes away. Faded away? Like Doctor Strange? "No." He shakes his head again.
"No-No she couldn't have." He starts, nearly wincing at how hollow his voice sounds. "She-she couldn't."
Pepper, meanwhile, watches with a pained expression as the news starts to hit the boy. It hurt to see him starting to crumble, the way he slides right into denial.
"No." He says again, still shaking his head, although not quite as violently. "No, no. no... She can't-I can't-not again. Oh god not again." Tears finally start a strong, steady stream down his face and covers his face, breathing sharply in rapid succession.
Pepper doesn't wait before moving to Peter and gently rubbing his back to try and get him to at least calm his breathing.
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"We're at the compound, Tony." She points out with a fond roll of her eyes.
"Sorry Tony, you're gonna be on light soups and getting most of your nutrition through tubes for a few weeks." Bruce came back in with the clipboard from Peter's room. Do you two have a minute to talk about the kid?"
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"Sure but afterwards, I want ice cream," he jokes. When he gets a look from Pepper- and he knows he will- he shrugs. "Hey, kids get it when they get their tonsils out. I've been through much worse than tonsil surgery! I deserve ice cream. And not the cheap frozen yogurt stuff. The real milk, sugar, chocolate bad for you but tastes as good as sex ice cream." He winks at Pepper again. "Well, with some sex. Not yours, honey."
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"Anyways." Bruce interjects a little awkwardly. "About Peter. From what I can tell his Powers are in a dormant state because his metabolism has slowed down-so until it goes back up again he's uh... got some health issues and I'm gonna recommend putting him back on an inhaler for a few weeks." Bruce explains. "That means no over exerting himself."
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Tony's gaze snaps from where he was smirking at Pepper to worried at Bruce. "So that's why he had an asthma attack on the ship! I wasn't sure what had caused that. Towards the end, he.. he was just sleeping." Which really had been what all of them were doing to conserve energy.
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"It shouldn't take too long to get his metabolism back up but it's still running after than a normal person's but once it kicks back up again, his powers will come back and the health problems will go away. But you should know, he's got a weak immune system, Tony. Not just from the trip up into space. I'm gonna see if I can get his shot records in case he needs any vaccinations."
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"So Peter grew up sick?"
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"But you said he was fine?" Pepper pressed, suddenly it was starting to make a lot of sense why Peter tested himself like he did-why he was so reckless and eager to always prove himself.
"Yeah, as soon as his powers come back online his healing factor will kick in and keep him well, healthy."
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"Give me a computer. I may not be as good as Jarvis- or Vision or whatever- but I can break into a regular hospital's records." He probably could, if he was at his peak mental state. Right now, maybe not as much.
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"It was probably Queen's Memorial they were taking him to." She states reasonably. Even if his parents had been taking him to a different hospital when he was little there should still be records from there as well.
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Queen's Memorial. Queen's Memorial records. What was his birthday again? He pauses. It worries him that the date doesn't just come to him like it usually would. He also can tell a small pain behind his eyes was starting, but that could be ignored. He looks up with a scowl. "What's his birthday?"
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"Nothing too strong though, something like green tea or chamomile." Bruce explains. "Try not to stare at the screen too long, Tony. You don't want a migraine."
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The restrictions were bugging him. He knew logically he shouldn't be pushing himself or his stomach or he'd end up just hurling again, but he was never good with the word 'no'. It was like as soon as Bruce said no black tea, that was what he immediately wanted. Such an obvious character flaw, sigh. Oh look, birth records and oh.. oh... that was a lot of...
"Wow, he sure has an extensive hospital record."
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“I’m gonna guess it’s not great.” He sighed, moving over and holding his hand out so he could take the tablet. “I need to know if he needs to be any other medications while he’s in recovery.”
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"No. It's not. I'm never letting that boy out of my sight again!" Obviously that couldn't be true but seeing what the kid had already gone through was enough to turn his stomach. "If he needs something I can give, do it." Like blood or whatever. He didn't know what else the kid might need. A new kidney. Whatever.
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"Slow your roll their, Tony." Bruce says, looking over the records. "None of this would require a transplant-he's just got a week immune system-it's pretty common among kids that were premature. Besides, he's gonna be okay, his metabolism just has to kick back in."
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"So what now? When is he expected to wake up?" He asks, looking at the door but unable to see past the frame from his angle. "Can't you just bring his bed in here?" It felt strange to be separated from the boy after nearly dying next to him.
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Pepper just sighs and leans back in her chair, thinking about the options. "If Pete's in here with us then Tony and I can keep an eye on things." She decides.
"Yeah, I didn't doubt that." Bruce responds. "but the others are eventually gonna want to talk to Tony themselves and if Peter's in this room that could get ugly fast."
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"I don't want to talk. They can blow it out their asses for all I care. I just want to help Peter."
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"Yeah, I'll tell the others you're not accepting any visitors then and get Peter moved in here with you two." Bruce concedes. "That way he'll be in here when he wakes up."
"Thanks, Bruce." Pepper offers him a smile as he steps out of the room. Once he's gone though her face goes immediately in her hands.
"Tony, this is going to be rough. His heart's gonna break."
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"Thanks," he says softly, not being the biggest fan of the word, but this time meaning it. Bruce was his friend and he'd just done a miracle to keep both Peter and Tony alive. It was just hard to find the words to express that level of gratitude.
He put his face in his hands. How were they going to do this? How was he going to help Peter through it all? Pepper just might have to be his physical substitute while he wasn't close enough to hold the boy. It broke his heart that he wasn't going to be able to do that himself though.
"I know." There was no two ways about it. Peter was going to be devastated.
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Once everything's been set, Bruce relaxes the sedative a little and it's a few hours later when Peter finally starts to wake up. Pepper can already feel the ache starting in her heart. This boy's whole world was about to come apart and the desire to put it off is growing in the pit of stomach. She squashes the feeling down though, prolonging it would only make things worse and Peter would find out eventually.
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He waits with Pepper, his hand in hers as he waits for Peter to wake. There was a balance to this between letting Peter wake up first and before it feels like they're trying to keep it from him. There might be a balance, but to hell if he knew how they'd find it.
When the boy is actually moving and blinking, Tony calls his name. "Hey, Pete. Peter? How are you feeling?"
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He groans and finally opens his eyes when he hears Tony's voice. It's a relief to hear but as he's still feeling heavy and groggy it still takes a moment for him to respond. "There's a needle in my arm." He voices, trying not to look at it-but he can still feel it. He starts to sit up and looks around the room, looking confused a moment. Tony's there. Ms Potts is there.
"Where's Aunt May?" He thought for sure she'd be there-maybe she just went for coffee or something?
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The next question was like a sucker punch to the gut. Tony knew it was coming, he just had hoped it might not be so soon. He looked down at Pepper's hand in his and gives it a squeeze. He lets her go in case she needs or wants to go hold Peter. He gives a second only before he answer in the only way he knows how. "Peter.. she's.. she's gone. Like how we saw Dr. Strange on the planet. She faded too."
And he waits for it.
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"Wh-what?" The words are registering-not at first. His brain rejects it immediately and he just shakes his head, shaking the the thought and the tears already starting to burn in his eyes away. Faded away? Like Doctor Strange? "No." He shakes his head again.
"No-No she couldn't have." He starts, nearly wincing at how hollow his voice sounds. "She-she couldn't."
Pepper, meanwhile, watches with a pained expression as the news starts to hit the boy. It hurt to see him starting to crumble, the way he slides right into denial.
"No." He says again, still shaking his head, although not quite as violently. "No, no. no... She can't-I can't-not again. Oh god not again." Tears finally start a strong, steady stream down his face and covers his face, breathing sharply in rapid succession.
Pepper doesn't wait before moving to Peter and gently rubbing his back to try and get him to at least calm his breathing.
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