Iron Dad One Shots (mcu)

Under the Hood - Part 5

"Did Tony put you up to this?"

"Tony and I don't talk anymore."

He widened his eyes.

"What?"

That... came as a shock. It had only been... five, six months? How could that have happened so fast? Tony was the king of fucking over his relationships with others, but even that didn't seem like a good excuse.

"Tony fired me after you left." She continued. "Can I come in?"

He blinked at the strange juxtaposition. It was so much information to take it at once. His brain didn't compute the information.

"Uhm, uh, y-yeah." He muttered. It took some reminding on his own part, but he did know that it wasn't Riri's fault. The girl seemed like a good kid, and she had to be pretty talented for Tony to take her in. He shouldn't really hold any ill-will towards her.

Riri stepped inside and looked around a bit. Peter blushed and looked away in shame. His apartment was terrible and unkempt. Dirty. He was so ashamed of it.

She wiped the dust off the broken couch with her hand and sat down. "So, hows life treating you?"

He reached over and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it. When he glanced at Riri, she looked horrified. "Fine. Great. I'm— yeah, I'm great." He sat down next to her and blew the smoke out of his mouth. "Doing good."

She nodded quietly, folding her hands in her lap.

"Tony's a wreck, Peter."

"When isn't he?"

She frowned. "It's different. He's— Pepper said he hasn't been this bad since you died." She whispered. "He never even comes out of his room."

And a little, devilish part of him found satisfaction in that.

Good.

"Oh."

She nodded. The silence was uncomfortable, and the tension in the air almost made it hard to breathe.

"I don't..." she sighed shakily. "I don't blame you for being mad."

Peter stopped to think about that. Was he even mad anymore? He couldn't tell. Nowadays, Tony and Spider-Man were just a distant memory. He lived day-by-day in Philadelphia. New York was nothing to him anymore.

"But," Riri continued quietly, "Tony... he's not okay without you. He needs you, way more than he needed me."

Peter bit the inside of his cheek, taking another drag of his cigarette. He didn't know how to process the information he was being given. Tony wasn't okay. Because of him. A part of him knew that's what he wanted...

And a part of him felt so, so guilty.

"What do you want me to do about it?" He mumbled.

"Come back." She whispered, grabbing his hand. He winced but squeezed it back. It's been so long since he'd had any physical contact... he'd been craving it.

"Come back, Peter. Please."

He looked away and sighed. "I can't."

"You can. Please... Tony needs you."

Peter stood up. This was getting too much. "I need to think." Tony needs me. "Please." Tony needs me?

She frowned sadly and stood up as well. "Alright... well... I'll be around. Just— please think about it, okay?"

Peter pressed his lips into a thin line. Fuck.

Tony needs me.