A Little Fall of Rain (Ironstrange)

Chapter 6

-3rd Person Tony POV-

Tony was back in his lab, however, he wasn't working on anything at all. He was just too distracted. Realizing he was never going to get any work done, he suddenly stood up and left. A cup of coffee and a walk in Central Park. That would do him well. Yes. Tony grabbed his signature pair of sunglasses and out of impulse, the sling ring Wong had given him. Just incase.

He walked out of the Compound, now busy, and headed to a park. Usually, he would at least attempt to keep a bit of a low profile, but he was too caught up in his head to even try. For once ignoring all of the gasps and shouts around him, he headed toward his favorite coffee shop. It was small and not flashy in any way, but the coffee was, in his opinion, some of the best in the state. He trudged in, forced himself to smile, and ordered his usual. He left a generous tip, because he's Tony Stark, then left to go find a nice bench out in the park. He sat down and sighed. He knew he really should get over Stephen. He was probably as good as dead. But he just couldn't get it out of his mind; why did Stephen do what he did? He essentially sacrificed everything he had in his life, just like that. And calmly. He didn't get upset, didn't even let them cold facade he wore slide the smallest bit. To be honest, it kind of scared him. Someone who could be so chillingly calm in the face of death, who wouldn't even hesitate...

He sighed and took sip of his coffee, and then regretted it as he yelled in surprise; the drink was still scalding hot and it jolted him from his thoughts.

"SON OF A-"

His phone then buzzed, stopping him from spewing a long list of profanities. He set his coffee down, glared at it, and fished his phone from his pocket to read his text on the screen.

Underoos: Hey Mr. Stark!

Tony let out a small smile upon reading the text he received from his- from his kid. His phone let out another ding as Peter sent him an unearthly amount of photos.

Underoos sent you 342 photos through Messages

Tony sighed and gave a tiny laugh. He wasn't really know for laughing much any more. Peter was the only one who could get a even a minimal chuckle out of him since Strange had...

He shook his head and briefly browsed the many photos Peter sent to him. Each one made his heart swell with pride and adoration when he saw the smile on Peter's face, or the random photos only Peter would take. He grinned again as he responded to Peter.

IAmIronMan: Jesus, kid. 342 photos?!? I'm curious to know why you found it important to send me 32 different pictures of one thing of shave ice.

Underoos: IT WAS AMAZING SHAVE ICE

IAmIronMan: ...so you're having a nice time?

Underoos: It's amazing Mr. Stark! Thanks so much! May and I really appreciate it! :D :D :D

IAmIronMan: Don't mention it kid. Now go have fun. You're coming back in three days if I remember correctly.

He shoved his phone back into his pocket and shook his head, a tiny smile on his face.

"Oh my god. It's Tony Stark."

He swiveled his head to look behind him, and saw a group of three women who were fawning over him. He internally groaned, but put on his publicity smile and donned his shades.

"Yep, that's me."

The woman who has spoken originally started giggling and whispering to her friend. The other woman in the group looked star struck, but took a different approach and tried to keep it cool.

"Hey."

She batted her eyes slightly, and Tony rolled his.

"Nice meeting you ladies, but I've got a... meeting to attend," he bluffed, attempting to slip away. The two giggling girls seemed disappointed, but the flirtatious one still kept her cool.

"Oh, but Mr. Stark, surely you could skip one meeting to have a... good time," she cooed as she winked. Tony was disgusted with her, heavily flirting with him in the middle of the park. He started to make this clear.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I've already got a girl. If you're really so infatuated with me, I would think you would know that."

Well, that wasn't exactly true. He and Pepper had broken up seven weeks ago. She said that she couldn't stand to see him keep putting himself in harms way, and thought he no longer cared for his life, or hers for that matter. Apparently he was also disconnected, and distracted, and that Pepper didn't seem to be on his priorities list. And that's when Tony realized that she wasn't exactly. And that she was right. They ended on good terms, still friends. But by some miracle, they managed to hide it from the general public.

"Well, at least let me give you my number then, Mr. Stark. Call me when you get bored."

She wrote down her number on a post-it note, stuck it to his shirt, and then waved good bye and left, the other two women following her. He rolled his eyes in disgust and immediately ripped the paper in two, throwing it in a near by trash can.

"God, I can't believe I used to be one of those people,"  he mused, reflecting on his times as a playboy. "Was I really that bad?"

He knew he hadn't been quite as terrible, but it still bothered him. He finished his coffee and was about to go back to the Compound when his phone started buzzing a ridiculous amount of times. He elected to ignore it, assuming Peter had just sent another unearthly amount of pictures, but the buzzing persisted. Well then. It would just make a nice massage. But the buzzing didn't stop, and after a few minutes he reluctantly drew his phone out his back pocket.

You have eighteen missed calls from: JollyGreenGiant, Legolas, Natasha Romanoff, Pepperoni Pizza, and 2 others

You have 36 unread messages from: JollyGreenGiant, Legolas, Natasha Romanoff, Pepperoni Pizza, and 2 others

Tony raised an eyebrow at the sudden spam of calls and messages, but unlocked his phone and started to read.

JollyGreenGiant: TONY ANSWER YOUR PHONE

JollyGreenGiant: TONY I SWEAR

Pepperoni Pizza: WOO-HOO! Just heard, Tony. This is great news!

JollyGreenGiant: FOR GOODNESS SAKE LISTEN TO YOUR VOICEMAIL

Legolas: Are Nat, Bruce, and I really the only ones who decided to show up? Not even you are here Stark.

Natasha Romanoff: Get over here. You've been moping for twelve weeks about him, you talk about him like he's your boyfriend.

You have 30 other messages from: JollyGreenGiant, Legolas, Natasha Romanoff, Pepperoni Pizza, and 2 others

Natasha's message made Tony freeze. Twelve weeks? But that was when...

Tony scrambled to his voicemail and found a call that had a timestamp from around when he and Peter had been exchanging texts; he must have missed it. He couldn't click on the message fast enough. The voicemail began to play.

"I believe this is the number given to us by one Tony Stark? I have some great news for you. This is The Metro-General Hospital calling to tell you that Stephen Strange has shown immense signs signifying that he is about to awake from his coma and is doing very well. If you would like to come visit, his room number is 221 on the second floor. Congratulations again, Mr. Stark. I-"

At this point, Tony had leaped up and literally started running in the direction of Metro-General. Stephen was awake. Stephen was awake, Stephen was awake.

Author's Note: Phew! Finally got another chapter out! I'm pretty sure that this is my longest one yet! Hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully another one will be out soon!

-Ironstrange616