Irondad Oneshots

your mind's an empty warehouse, a facade of broken windows

{Title from More Than Anything by Adam Melchor}

Alternately: Peter's Grief Told By The People Around Him 

TW: Dissociation, Canonical Character Death, Grief, angst w happy ending tho 

*

Pepper had been prepared. 

She knew the moment Tony had proposed the idea to her, the moment she'd seen the hope in his eyes, the moment he had a plan, that it wouldn't end well for him. That the world was cruel and it would take him from her.

She was prepared for it.

She knew it would happen.

Seeing him on the battlefield, burned and struggling to hold on for them, it wasn't easy, but she'd prepared herself for the worst. She'd prepared herself for this exact case scenario.

She'd gotten over two decades with him. A long time, she had closure, she was prepared.

But Peter didn't get those kinds of luxuries.

He only got two short years with Tony, lost five because of the snap, had to watch Tony die on the battlefield after only just being reunited .

She was surprised to say the least when Peter just offered weary smiles to everyone and then got Happy to drive him home to May.

She couldn't help but to worry. She knew Peter as well, would consider herself good friends with the small Parker family, but there wasn't much she could do but to offer Peter a place to stay whenever he needed it, and wave goodbye when the car peeled out of the driveway.

The kid probably just wanted to be home with his aunt. And anyway, she'd have to be there for her daughter more than ever, she didn't think she had the mental strength to be more than one person's shoulder to cry on.

*

Peter arrives for the funeral, dressed in a suit that's a little too big for him, old and worn with the initial B.P engraved into his cufflinks. May's at his side, just as strong as ever.

She makes sure Happy's watching Morgan before she crosses the lawn to greet them.

May hugs her, letting go of Peter's shoulder for the briefest second before holding onto him again as soon as Pepper lets go of her.

"How are you doing?" May asks, eyes shining with sympathy. "And Morgan? Is she doing alright?"

"We're good, May, thank you," she replies, out of habit more than anything. And, in honestly, she isn't doing particularly bad, either. She's been relatively level-headed and allowing herself to move through the motions of grief. It helps to have Rhodey and Happy staying at the cabin with her and Morgan, helps make it feel a little less empty.

Peter makes a quiet noise of discomfort and shifts out from under May's hold, eyes trained on the ground. He tugs his sleeves down a little more over his hands, looking smaller than ever.

"Hey, Peter," Pepper says. It's no use to hope that he's doing alright, there's no way he is after everything the poor kid's been through. "You hungry? Thirsty? You want anything?"

He shakes his head, doesn't even bother to look up from where he's kicking at the dirt.

May nudges him gently. "C'mon, kid, be polite."

Pepper's about to intervene, she doesn't need the grieving kid to be polite, it's not necessary, but May looks pleading, desperate to get Peter to look a little more alive.

It's been about a week and a half, she can't imagine how hard this has been for both of them.

Peter does as told though, looking up at Pepper. She's surprised to find his eyes dry, face held in a polite smile.