Disclaimer: If you recognize something...it isn't mine.

Peter stared at Avengers' Tower, breathing shallowly and favoring his left leg, he tried not to think about the tight knot in his chest. Tried not to think about the mountains of homework he'd yet to finish, of the woman he had not been able to save yesterday who had left behind a husband and three children; he tried not to think about going to the fundraiser held by Stark Industries in two days that his father wanted the whole family to attend. He could feel the blood running down his leg from the deep gash he'd managed to acquire and tried to force himself into breathing regularly; to pushing past the pain and the stress and the madness that was his life.

How could he continue on at such a pace? Was it even possible? To juggle school, being a superhero and Tony Stark's son? Could anyone hope to do half of that on a good day? Carefully he shifted his weight, pushed the pain down into the deepest corner of his mind and shot webbing towards a beam. A small prayer was offered up as he felt himself go weightless as all the weight he'd been trying to hold up was taken from him by the webbing and he swung through the air. He shot another bit of webbing and hoped he could avoid injuring or jarring himself further.

He connected with the building that held his home, his family and all the other responsibilities that were weighing down his shoulders. It was amazing he'd not yet buckled from the weight. A gasp escaped before he urged himself to scale the building. Peter could feel his muscles singing, the blood running down his body from the various cuts and the ever present burden from too much responsibility for a high schooler pushing down on him. Carefully he reached the landing pad for the Iron Man suit and limped into his home. Blood dripped on the floor.

His brown eyes locked on those of his Pop's blue and could read the concern clearly. "It's nothing." He was short and curt in his response; pushing aside Steve's hands and heading towards his room.

Tony was coming up from his workshop and looked him over. "Pete, you've got to take better care of yourself. What have you done to yourself this time?" it was said as casually as Tony could manage even though he wanted to drag Peter to the hospital, have him thoroughly checked over and then locked away safely in Avengers' Tower from any harm. He pushed back every single one of those and tried to be supportive, to not be 'one of those parents' that he hears so much about. While saving others is important Peter's life is set above even his and he'd never survive having to bury his son.

He had noted that Peter was responding with clipped remarks, shrugging off any affection they tried to offer and locking himself away in his room when he wasn't at school or being Spider-Man.

"I'm fine." There was an edge to Peter's voice that caused Tony to raise his hands up in defense.

"Ok. I just worry." He took a step back as Peter moved past him, not even acknowledging his father anymore.

Tony watched Peter walk down the hall towards his room and felt his husband's arms wrap around him from behind. "Do you think he is going through one of those 'phases'? The ones I've seen on TV or heard others mention?" Steve asked softly.

"He must be. I remember being irritable when I was a teenager; that must be it. Some teens start distancing themselves from their family and not wanting to be as affectionate. He'll come around. I just hope Peter is taking care of himself. He looked pretty banged up."

"Peter does heal faster than your average teen. A bit like myself." Steve reasoned as he turned Tony towards the living room. "Come on. Let's just relax. He's home and safe now. You don't have to keep pacing and having mini panic attacks." It sounded blasé, but Tony could hear the underlying worry.

"Yeah. He's safe." Tony leaned into Steve's side as he let himself be led down the hallway.

"That was the most irresponsible thing I have ever seen in my entire life! What were you thinking, Peter? Were you even thinking at all? You could have DIED!" Tony ranted, trying to calm himself down internally and failing spectacularly.

Peter crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the burning pain tearing its way up his side as he stared at his father in fury. "It worked! Why does it matter?"

Tony's mind flashed back to seeing 'Spider-Man', his little boy; throw himself through the air towards a fucking crazed scientist without any clear plan. Watching as Peter took a hard blow to the side, but managing to distract the current threat enough that Steve was able to take him out with his shield. Peter was obviously seriously injured and dammit Peter was a teenager; he should be out chasing girls or boys, getting into trouble because he's at a party drinking underage. Peter should be breaking hearts and having his heart broken, getting ready for college or whatever career he wanted. Not coming close to death doing something so incredibly stupid!

"You need to stop trying to be a hero! Trying to sacrifice yourself like that! These careless stunts are going to get you killed, Peter!" Tony's voice rose as he tried to get Peter to see his point and also trying to shove down the panic that was choking him. That was ripping his soul to pieces because Peter should be more careful.

"What do you even know about being a hero?" Peter shouted, "A suit of armor doesn't make you a hero; you don't even have any powers! How could you possibly know about it? The only reason anyone even thinks about calling you a hero is because you're surrounded by them! You just get lumped in with the actual heroes. Why don't you stop pretending to be a hero?" his brown eyes are fierce and glaring into Tony's own. Peter's cheeks are red with fury as he stepped into his father's space. "You're nothing without that suit."

Tony freezes, his heart stopping and he can feel the bile rising up in his throat. All he can do is watch as Peter storms off leaving him behind staring off into nothing. There is a ringing in his ears and he can't breathe. His own son believes he is nothing without the Iron Man suit. That he isn't a hero. Everything that he'd done since Afghanistan was nothing. He'd always hoped that it meant something on some level; that he'd atoned for the horrors he'd helped unleash on the world. That maybe he was someone's hero because he could remember hearing his father telling him stories about Captain America and all the heroes who had fought in World War II. Deep down he had wanted to be someone's hero; someone that was actually worth being looked up to.

The ringing in his ears continued as Tony carefully made his way deeper into his workshop, away from the machines that helped to create the Iron Man armor and would remove it after a battle. Away from the Iron Man suit and towards his cars. He needed to sit down. Tony just needed to sit down. Now. He felt his legs buckle as he ended up on the floor staring off into nothing. Distantly he noted a voice speaking to him, trying to rouse his attention, but all he could do was sit there and hear those words over and over and over again. See the face of his son, his pride and joy, twisted in fury and a touch of hate.

You're nothing without that suit.

A short burst of laughter escaped his lips as his frame shook with it. It was the laughter of someone broken and quickly turned to sobs. Tony put his head in his hands and felt himself slightly rocking as he tried to get his emotions under control.

Why don't you stop pretending to be a hero?

The world was wrong and nothing was right. It couldn't be possible to feel this much pain and live through it. To have everything you've strived for turn out to be a delusion. Without the Iron Man suit he was just a rich ex-playboy who simply lucked out that he'd managed to get Captain America to marry him.

A whirr managed to draw his attention as he turned his head slightly, barely able to see through the tears and looked at the tissue in front of his face. Brown eyes glanced upwards at Dummy who whirred at him in concern and tried nudging him with the tissue. A box was discarded on the floor by the bot.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he took the offered tissue; Dummy rolled closer and offered his base as support for his creator who was in obvious distress. Tony leaned back and took comfort in the cool metal of his first bot. "Peter's right, Dummy. I'm not a hero. The only thing I'm good at is building things and writing checks. I was never going to be a hero no matter how hard I tried and hoped." It came out bitter as Dummy whirred at him sadly as he moved his arm to pick up another tissue to offer. "Maybe now I can spend a little more time down here with you guys and at Stark Industries. How long has it been since I actually went into the office for any of those meetings Pepper told me about?" he absently allowed his hand to moved up Dummy's supports as he tried to shove past the hurt and emotional pain. It was crippling.

The workshop was filled with the familiar hum of machines, bots and Jarvis running the Tower. Tony felt the stress from the last few weeks and the emotional trauma from that day pull him towards unconsciousness as he allowed his mind to shut down. To process the newest input and route what his next steps would be when he awoke.

Jarvis monitored his creator and informed Steve Rogers that Tony was sleeping down in the workshop. That he had not been physically hurt from the most recent altercation that the Avengers had been engaged in. But Jarvis refrained from mentioning the situation between Tony and Peter; he was unaware of Tony's possible reaction to something that personal being revealed without his knowledge. Jarvis dimmed the lights and continued to monitor Tony's vitals in case something occurred or the need to interfere arose.

Steve watched as Tony and Peter seemed to dance around each other. Something had happened and it had occurred when no one else had been around to witness it. None of the other Avengers had any idea and Coulson was at a loss. He couldn't find a single hint of what had happened and neither of them were broaching the subject. It was so hard because he had no idea what to do or say. How to stop whatever it was that was tearing the family apart.

"Tony…what's wrong?" how many times had he asked that question lately? Too many times. Tony glanced up from where he was working next to Dummy. It wasn't Iron Man related that much Steve could tell, but that wasn't completely uncommon.

"Hmm?" Tony mumbled as he shoved his screwdriver into his mouth to free up his other hand. Steve tried not to wince. "Nothing is wrong…now." The machine in his hands whirred and came alive. He grinned slightly removing the screwdriver as the mobile coffee machine skittered backwards on the bench. "Old coffee machine was ruining perfectly good coffee. Looks like it just needed an AI to fix things up and some new parts." He sounded mildly proud. "Excellent work, Dummy." The bot almost appeared to have puffed up with pride raising his arm as he rolled across the floor holding a very oily, dirty rag in his claw.

"That's not what I was talking about." Steve stared at the moving coffee machine, "You gave it an AI?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. AIs make everything better."

"Sure…What is going on between you and Peter? You haven't spoken in two weeks and last time the Avengers were called you didn't respond." Steve stared at Tony and tried not to scream in frustration.

Why don't you stop pretending to be a hero?

Tony tried not to wince at the voice of his son that would appear in his head periodically, chanting like some horrible mantra that he couldn't shake. "Oh…that." He looked anywhere but his husband. "Peter just pointed something out that I hadn't realized."

"Well thank you for clearing that up. Now would you mind giving me an explanation that is a little clearer than mud?" Steve sat down on the other chair nearest to Tony.

"Just that Iron Man isn't really…needed. He isn't a hero like the rest of the Avengers. Peter was right. I'm nothing without that suit and I should take a step back so the real superheroes can work." Tony stood up and wiped his oil covered hands on his ruined jeans. He paced away from Steve because he could remember where he'd first heard those words. On a helicarrier before a huge battle where he'd first fought with the other Avengers. From Steve Rogers.

"Tony…" he sounded pained as the supersoldier crossed the floor to wrap his arms around Tony Stark. "You're a hero. I thought we made that clear after the battle with Loki. When we spoke."

Tony jerked out of Steve's arms and spun around, his eyes blazed. "What kind of hero am I if my own son believes I'm nothing but a pretender? If Peter believes I'm nothing without my suit? Please, tell me! I'm all ears, Steve. Otherwise leave me to my decision." He turned his back on Steve before a response could be issued. "Iron Man is retired. Its time I step back and let the others…the true heroes fight. I'm just deluding myself. Trying to make myself feel better for years of building weapons of mass destruction." Tony moved further into the workshop as Dummy rolled up to him with a smoothie. He tilted the glass up.

"The contents are safe for human consumption, Sir." Jarvis responded promptly quite used to such a gesture whenever Tony actually thought to check what Dummy was feeding him.

"I'm better off with my machines and actually taking an active role in my own company. It's time I grew up and took responsibilities for the legacy my father left me. I can't leave everything to Pepper to run or fix. It isn't fair anymore. I owe her so damn much…why couldn't I see this myself?" he muttered the last part before draining half the drink.

Steve felt his eyes burn as he watched Tony Stark fray at the edges, question his own purpose and find himself lacking. It wasn't right. Tony was loud and boisterous. He was egotistical and sure of himself. He remembered saying almost exactly the same thing upon meeting Howard Stark's son. And he remembered watching Tony fly a nuke into that portal without a thought of surviving. How Iron Man had plummeted back to Earth and the darkness of the Arc Reactor. How his heart had stopped and hadn't started again until that light had returned.

"You're a hero to me, Tony. To so many people." Steve put as much emotion into those two sentences as he could.

"They only thought that because I have always been surrounded by the real heroes…it makes it easier to fool others."

"Damn." Steve murmured to himself. It was clear Tony had taken Peter's words to heart and that was where they were going to remain. He was torn between his husband and his son. Tony was in obvious pain and Peter should know better than to say such horrible things to his father. It appeared as though the teenager had managed to find every single one of Tony Stark's insecurities and tear into them without thought. Peter had been short lately and so angry. He knew his son had so much on his shoulders, but Tony really took such things to heart. Especially from someone he loved more than himself. "How about we go upstairs, get you into a shower, some clean clothes and then into bed." Carefully he approached Tony once more and began the trek upstairs.

"Nothing. I'm just nothing." Tony mumbled as he allowed Steve to lead him towards a shower and eventually to bed.

The Avengers were called five more times to assemble and Tony Stark ignored every single call. The Iron Man armor was locked away; there were no upgrades or repairs. The only thing that came remotely close was his work with the Arc Reactor and how it could be utilized for clean energy.

Tony Stark had become a regular at Stark Industries as he began to attend each meeting, introducing new tech designs and completed projects. He didn't miss a single function and had become quite punctual. Pepper was mildly concerned, but happy that her friend wasn't in immediate danger from being in the Iron Man suit. That he was taking an active interest in his company. He'd become very well acquainted with the R&D floor.

A board meeting was currently going on when a siren cut through the current member's speech. A voice blared through the building announcing an attack and Jarvis quickly cut in to inform Tony of the threats he was detecting at Stark Industries.

The attackers were in the R&D Department.

"Pepper! Get everyone out. Emergency evac protocol. I don't care what anyone is doing; they better be out of this fucking building now." Tony's tone brooked no argument as Pepper turned to the board members to usher them out before beginning to enable the emergency evacuation plan that had been created, but had never been needed.

"Jarvis. Report." Tony was already striding towards the elevator located in his office. He placed his hand on the wall as it was scanned and he felt Jarvis whisk him upwards.

"There are ten armed men in the R&D Dept.; some of the employees have managed to escape, but there are still six on the floor who have not had an opportunity to escape." Jarvis continued to monitor the situation as the doors opened on the R&D floor.

Tony strode out into his favorite Dept. at SI and felt fury bubble up along with fear for the lives now in his hands. These were his people and someone thought they could harm them? That they could break into his company and attack? Someone was crying behind one of the doors nearest to him; he placed his hand on the scanner and looked in finding a young woman in a lab coat.

"It's ok." He soothed, pushing down the fury and trying to help. "Come on. Take the elevator down to ground. You see anyone make sure they get outside." Tony watched as she carefully got up staring at him in gratitude.

"Thank you so much, sir." She was still crying, but the gratefulness couldn't be plainer on her face.

"Shhh…" he held up a finger and pointed towards the elevator. Once she was inside, "Jarvis. I'll be sending them towards the elevator. Keep me up to date on the employees in immediate danger."

"Most of the building has been evacuated." Tony had never been more thankful that there were smaller numbers on weekends.

"Thanks. Where are the others?"

"There are three employees two doors up and the other two are with the terrorists." Tony moved towards the correct door and gained access. He quietly walked into the room, scanning for movement and catching it. "You need to get to the elevator. It's ok. It's Stark." He identified himself, the head of one of his top R&D personnel appeared from behind a desk.

"Mr. Stark." The man breathed as he reached behind himself to grab on to one of his companions' wrists. "Oh thank God. I thought we were going to die." His voice shook with obvious fear. "Anderson and Birdsong are still in there. They're looking for information on the Arc Reactor. We don't have anything. The only actives going on this weekend were the generator and that modif—"

"It's alright. I just need you to get to my elevator at the end. Jarvis will take you to ground. Get out of the building." He stressed as he received three nods and watched as the researchers moved quietly down the hallway towards safety. "Four down. Two to save." He kept count and silently wished he had the Iron Man armor. It would help so much in this situation. But what kind of man would he be if he couldn't defend his people? He stopped into one of the side labs and looked around. There had to be something. His eyes alighted on a possible solution, but there was no time for a completely solid plan. It was now or never. Tony Stark shoved the device into his pocket and ignored the fear churning in his stomach. "No time for a plan." He closed his eyes briefly as he leaned against the wall. "Thanks for all the help, Jarvis. Get them to safety."

"Sir…" the AI trailed off and if it was possible Jarvis felt the closest thing to fear that an AI could experience. Tony shoved open the door and looked at the terrorists who had attacked his people, who had threatened those protected under Tony Stark and felt that white hot rage churn inside of him once more. It was overwhelming the fear.

He managed to attract the attention of every armed man and his employees. With his eyes Tony motioned towards the exit and jerked his head slightly before returning his full attention to the terrorists; using his body as a shield Tony stepped further into the room. Idly he heard when Jarvis confirmed they were on the elevator. Then the all clear of Stark Industries. The words of the men before him washed over him. Tony even heard when Jarvis said the Avengers were five minutes away.

"Forgive me." He whispered as the device in his pocket activated and he raised his voice to attract the attention of the men before him once more.

"No one is getting out of here alive, Stark." One of the men grinned at him and he noted the guns moving.

Tony's hand flashed out of his pocket as he clicked the button. The light blinking changed colors and then it was flying out of his hands towards the cluster of men. Tony threw himself sideways into the opened door for one of the storage rooms as his feet kicked out on instinct. The door slammed shut.

Steve Rogers looked up in time to see the explosion rock the top floors of Stark Industries, flames shot out of the windows and glass rained down towards the street as the contents of the top of Stark Industries was destroyed. He lifted his shield to cover himself from the debris and saw others taking cover. The force of the explosion had shaken the ground and the sound was deafening. Steve's heart stopped and he found his eyes darting around the huge group of people that littered New York City's streets outside of Stark Industries. He couldn't find him anywhere. Tony wasn't there. He wasn't there.

He grabbed the nearest person, a man in a white lab coat, "Have you seen Tony Stark? Where is he?" his voice was shaking and he was trying his hardest not to lose it in front of so many people. Tony had to be somewhere down here; he had to be.

"Last I saw of Mr. Stark he was on the R&D floor going to get the others out." The man was clearly terrified as Spider-Man walked over towards them. "He came up there to get us out, told us to get to his elevator and take it to ground. To make sure everyone got out. And then he went to get Anderson and Birdsong; the terrorists were keeping them at gunpoint." Tears were actually welling up in his eyes, "I don't know where Mr. Stark is…I saw both Anderson and Birdsong come out right before the explosion…they were the last two inside besides Stark and the terrorists…"

Peter felt the blood drain from his face behind the mask and found himself rushing towards the burning building. Without thought he shot webbing and launched himself upwards, pushing himself as quickly as he could towards the ruined top of SI. The whole while he was praying and fighting back tears. "Come on, Dad. I know you're ok. You have to be." He spoke to himself as he reached the top and flung himself in through the flames.

His eyes scanned as best they could through the smoke. He tried a long shot. "Jarvis?" Peter's voice was small and pained; like that of a child.

"Peter." The AI's voice responded from one of his wrist webshooters.

"Where is Dad?" a pleading note took over his voice.

"The last I was in contact with Sir he was in Storage 32AZ towards the middle of the R&D Dept." Jarvis sounded worried, "I've tried accessing Sir, but have not received a response."

Peter choked and pulled his mask off to get a better view. "What floor am I on?"

"R&D."

Thank God for small miracles; Peter moved past burning wreckage and tried to ignore the burning heat of the flames. Getting to his father was priority. Jarvis helped to guide Peter as best as he could, but Peter was often left to his own. Eventually he located the storage section his father was supposed to be in. The area outside of it was clearly the epicenter of the blast. There was nothing left...

"Oh no oh no oh no…" he moaned as he shoved as much debris as he could out of the way and pried the destroyed door away. Crumbled up on the floor was his father. Tony Stark's blood stained the floor and in his hand was clutched a small device. Peter tried to not cry. "Dad? Dad? Daddy?" the last sounded so wet and full of tears as he dropped to his knees by his dad's body. "Dad? Please…please answer me. I'm so sorry." He moved closer. The sound of something heavy crashing pulled him from his emotional agony. "Shit." He pushed back the panic and terror at seeing his father so pale and surrounded by blood. Tony Stark had a deep gash on his forehead with blood matted into his hair. The suit was destroyed due to debris, blood and cuts. Peter had no way of knowing what was broken, but he had to get his father out of there. Now. The floor was falling down around them and who knew about the structural integrity of the top floors at this point.

"I'm so sorry if this hurts, Dad." He murmured pulling on his mask before he carefully gathered his father's prone form into his arms. Peter could feel the blood soaking through his suit and heard the pained moan escape Tony's lips. "Shhh. I'm going to get you out of here."

Hours later when he was waiting outside of surgery Peter would not be able to tell anyone how he managed to get them out of the destroyed R&D floor. He would scarcely remember getting into the medical vehicle that SHIELD had showed up with or answering any of the hundreds of questions from everyone present. Forever would the words of the SHIELD doctor be burned into his mind.

Your father is in critical condition.

We're not sure if he'll make it.

His injuries are extensive.

Peter's mind would be stuck on those words and the image of his father surrounded by burning debris and bleeding on the once pristine white floor. Of the flames bursting out of the top floors of SI, the glass raining down and his frantic search for his father. The voices of his father's employees talking about how Tony Stark had sprung into action, called for the emergency evacuation to be put into place, to get everyone to safety and how Tony Stark was a hero who'd risked his own life. How Tony had managed to evacuate all personnel including those held by the terrorists and then how Tony Stark had single handedly taken out all of them on his own. With no Iron Man suit.

What stuck with him was the man who had been babbling about what a hero Tony Stark was, how he'd selflessly sacrificed his safety to secure the lives of his employees. How he'd waited until everyone was safe before acting in such a devastating way.

Peter knew that a hero as defined by the dictionary was: one who shows great courage; someone who fights for a cause…a champion…a fighter. Peter blinked back tears. A hero…his father was a hero. Tony Stark was a hero.

He didn't need to have powers to be a hero. Utilizing his suit was not a failing nor did it take away from his actions. Tony Stark was a hero. A true honest and real hero. His father didn't need powers to save lives or to make a difference. Tony Stark would place himself in harm's way to save someone else; to protect others and fight to make the world just that much safer. He worked to make a difference and he had only been worried about his son. Someone who he would die to protect and Peter had thrown those horrible words back in his face. Had told his own father that he was nothing that he was pretending to be a hero.

Steve's hand on his shoulder brought Peter back, he turned to look at his other father and felt his shaky grasp on his emotions shatter. A sob tore its way through his throat and the tears finally fell. Steve Rogers collected his son into his arms and hugged the young man. Words of comfort and love flowed easily from his lips as he rubbed soothing circles into Peter's back.

"It's ok. He'll be ok. Your father is a fighter. You know this, Pete. He'll be ok. Shhh…I love you. We both love you so much…it's going to be ok." Steve idly wondered if he was trying to sooth Peter or if he was trying to convince himself that his husband, Tony Stark, was going to actually open his eyes. Tony was stubborn. He had to be fine.

He glanced up to see the looks of equal sorrow and worry etched into the faces of his friends and fellow Avengers. Coulson looked as though he'd aged a decade and was clearly trying not to show it. Natasha had been resolutely staring at the wall and occasionally harassing the nurses, doctors, random strangers and other agents on Tony's status. Bruce was outside…pacing in front of the building with Thor who Steve was unsure if he'd seen the other so forlorn before. Clint was subdued and Steve knew that the other man was telling himself that there was something in his eyes…that was the reason why he was blinking so much and not tears. Pepper hadn't tried to keep up a strong front and had been using Happy as a shoulder to cry on while Rhodes sat still as a statue staring out the window.

Steve knew that several Stark Industries employees had tried to find out about Tony; they were from the R&D Department and Steve knew those were the employees that Tony spent the most of his time with. The ones he felt some sense of camaraderie as they were the ones who were most often the first to see his new designs and often presented ideas of their own. The ones he'd saved.

It hurt everywhere. Pain radiated from every inch of his body and nothing was good with the world. Fire. Pain. Were there shards of glass in his lungs? Crawling their way up his throat? Was that why it hurt to breathe? If this was death then someone had lied to him. Horrible lies. When you died your pain was supposed to be gone. Everything was supposed to be fixed and with the familiar hum of the Arc Reactor in his chest Tony Stark knew that it shouldn't still be there if everything had been fixed. He had to be dead. There was no way he could have survived the blast from that prototype. No way he was alive with so much pain. So much fiery pain.

A moan passed through his lips as he tried to lift his hand. It felt like it weighed a ton. "Mmm..hts." he could feel tears falling down the sides of his cheeks from his closed eyes. They left hot trails and pulled him closer to reality.

"Tony?" a soft voice spoke from his left. Carefully he turned his head and pushed away the pain that action caused him. "Are you awake?" the same voice inquired, softer still.

Pained brown eyes cracked open and took in light for the first time in a week. They snapped closed just as quickly and were followed by another moan of pain. "Bright." He managed.

"Oh." Footsteps retreated from the bed and the light from behind his eyelids dimmed.

Once more he tried opening his eyes and regarded the person next to his bed. "Tasha?" it was said rougher than usual as he tried to force the word out.

Tony took in the features of the Blackwidow and watched as uncensored emotion swept across her face as she smiled at him. Tears made her eyes glassy and he tried not to cry himself. Carefully he moved his hand; Natasha didn't move an inch as Tony Stark carefully lifted his hand to her face and brushed away a stray tear.

"Why are you crying?" it was said carefully, quietly as Tony got used to using his vocal cords once more. Everything still hurt, but his friend was upset and that was more important. The pain could wait.

"I'm happy." She murmured and reached her hand up to close around the hand that was still near her cheek. "I haven't seen those mischievous brown eyes in a week, Tony. I was beginning to miss them."

"A week?" he questioned, confusion stole across his features. "I've been out a week?" his head turned and he noticed they were not alone. There were people on every available surface of the huge medical room. Someone had brought in a huge couch, several chairs and it appeared as though there was a mountain of pillows. "Wha?" he managed as he tried to move and winced sharply.

"Where does it hurt?" her voice was all business as she began to check him over.

"Where doesn't it hurt?" was the sardonic reply as he tried to shy away from the hands checking him over. A beep sounded shortly after and he moaned slightly as he shifted again; another beep sounded. The fuzzy feeling of drugs began to cloud his senses as the pain lessoned. A sigh of relief left him. "You're an angel." He declared.

"You're on heavy painkillers now, Tony. I'm not sure you're aware of what you're saying." A soft laugh escaped as she smoothed back some of his hair and leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead. Tony closed his eyes again and idly thought that she would make a wonderful mother if she ever gave it a shot. He could barely remember his own, but there were a few times she kissed his forehead in such a way when he was sick. "I'm going to let the doctors know you're awake."

"Ok…" he trailed off and let himself float on the medication as the pain was leached away. "Feels better." He mumbled letting his body relax into the bed.

The next time he surfaced he was met with a pair of brown eyes on the face of a worried teenager. Peter was watching his face anxiously and when he realized that Tony's eyes were open; that his father was aware relief became the prevalent emotion on his face.

"Dad?" he questioned, waiting for some kind of response.

"Peter." Tony murmured as he offered a small smile. "I love you." He whispered and tried to fight back the tears that were burning his eyes. "I love you so much and I'm sorry." Tony had to say it. He'd not spoken to his son for so long and had almost lost the chance. Had almost not gotten to reassure Peter that he loved him.

Peter didn't have quite the luck of his father as the tears spilled down his cheeks, this time due to relief instead of gut-wrenching sorrow, as he leaned down to carefully wrap his father in a hug. "I love you too, Dad. I'm so sorry. Sorry for what I said." Peter's tears soaked through Tony's shirt, but Tony ignored them as well as the pain from the weight Peter was putting on him. His arms carefully came up to wrap around his son as he pulled the teen closer to offer comfort. Peter ended up mostly on the bed next to his dad. "I was wrong and I almost didn't get to tell you." It was pained as though the very thought of what Peter had said was cutting into him. "You're a hero. It isn't the suit, Dad. The suit is nothing. You're a hero. Powers don't matter. Its actions that count. And you almost died. I almost lost you. Because you were sacrificing yourself for others, to make sure they were safe and clear before you…" he trailed off because he couldn't bear to think about what his father had done. The desperation he must have felt when it went off. When that explosion had destroyed the top floors of Stark Industries.

"It's ok. We're ok, Pete. I promise. They're just words." Tony murmured even as his heart began to beat regularly in what felt like the first time in forever. The crushing weight of those words vanishing because he knew Peter was sincere. "They were just words said in anger. I love you no matter what, Pete. You know what, right?" he asked, needing clarification more than air.

"I know. I know you love me. I've never not known that." Peter ended up tucked up against the side of his father as Tony had shifted slightly so that he could comfort his son. "It's one of the things I've always known was true."

Steve watched the scene in front of him and began to breathe easier. They were going to be ok. Everything was going to be ok. Everyone was going to get out of this in one piece…or close to one piece he thought as he glanced over all the bandages Tony was sporting. Carefully he made his way over to the bed meeting Tony's eyes.

"I love you." He murmured watching as his husband's eyes lit with emotion.

"I love you too." Tony responded just as softly as his hands carefully moved across Peter's back, mindful of the IV on the opposite side of the bed from Peter, as he tried to sooth his son. He persistently ignored the pain flaring up occasionally. It wasn't important right now.

His teammates were all watching from their various positions in the room and if a few of them were noticeably fighting emotion no one said anything. Their injured member would recover and the team would be fine.

Prompt: Steve/Tony, Superfamily, Peter tells Tony he isn't a hero

located here: avengerkink. livejournal 8247. html?thread =17243191#t17243191

I will get back to my Living in Avengers' Tower Series...I just wanted to do a prompt...