2021 Whumptober #19

Title: TBD
Fandom: MCU (Ironman, Spiderman - Tom Holland)
Word Count: 855
Rating: PG
Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker
Pairing: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts
Warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, aftereffects of dog abuse, exhaustion
Prompt: 
JUST A SCRATCH

bitten | bleeding | stabbing

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               It was a bad day. 

               He hadn’t gotten more than two hours of sleep a night all week because he’d been studying for midterms. Patrols were running long because he had been slowly but surely chipping away at the local Irish mob’s distribution of a new arms shipment. 

               And he’d failed his English quiz today. He’d forgotten to read the last chapter and couldn’t remember anything at all about what Benedict and Beatrice were fighting about. 

               So, he decided he was going to cut his patrol short, have a good dinner, and go to bed at a reasonable time for once. But while he was shutting down one of the mob’s supplier’s houses, he found a tied-up Pit Bull in their back yard who looked half-starved with wounds all over her. 

               “Oh, sweetheart…” Peter cooed to the cowering dog, “… it’s ok… I’m not going to hurt you.” 

               But she didn’t know that. And he was sure that his mask was pretty scary looking. She ended up biting him and it didn’t hurt any worse than the time he got shot, but he still wanted to cry because he was just… 

               done. 

               Yet, he couldn’t be. He still had to take the dog to the overnight drop off at Animal Control. By the time Peter got there, the dog was all wagging tails and kisses, and he had forgiven her for the bite. A little kindness ended up going a long way and he knew she would be ok. 

               He was just about to swing home when Tony called him. 

               Peter contemplated ignoring it, but that never went well, so he accepted it. 

               “Hey, Mr Stark, what’s up?”

               “Hi, kiddo. Nice job taking down that mobster,” Tony said, his warm voice filling Peter’s ear. Peter allowed himself a moment to lean back against the roof’s exit door and soak it in. 

               “Uh, thanks.”

               “Saw you got a little up close and personal with Cujo there – doing ok?”

               The bite was already healed over. It hadn’t even been that deep. It had hurt, but it was nothing in the grand scheme of things. So, there was absolutely no reason for Peter’s eyes to start welling up with tears.         

               “Y-yeah.”

               “Oh. Oh, Pete, what’s wrong, bud?” Tony asked, obviously hearing the badly veiled struggle in Peter’s voice. The kindness in Tony’s was enough to let the floodgates open. 

               “I just… why are people like that, Mr. Stark? It’s bad enough they hurt other people, but why do they have to hurt animals? That poor dog was so scared I was going to hurt her that she just bit without giving me a chance!” 

               By the time Peter finished talking, he was outright sobbing.

               “Alright, kiddo, shh, it’s ok, you’re right, people kind of suck, they do,” Tony said, his voice echoing for a moment before strengthening again.

               “She was so skinny, and she had all these sores!” Peter said, throwing his hands up in the air. He dropped down into a crouch and balled up his fists, resting them at the nape of his neck. “Do you think they, they fought her? Oh my God, and I just left her. I left her there in the Animal Control cage. I abandoned her too!” 

               Peter heard a ‘thunk’ and when he looked up, Tony was stepping out of his Iron Man suit and striding over to him. He had on an AC DC t-shirt and a pair of jeans and there was a streak of grease on one cheek. His knees cracking, he knelt in front of Peter and gently grasped his wrists, bringing his hands down in front of him. 

               “You didn’t abandon her. There’s someone at Animal Control who checks those cages every half hour. Right now, she’s inside with food and water and a blanket and is getting those wounds taken care of,” Tony said earnestly. “You did the right thing, bud.”

               After quickly examining Peter’s hand that got bitten, Tony leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Peter’s, staring into his eyes. “What’s up, Pete? This isn’t just because you saw a sad dog. You see lots of sad things, I’m sorry to say.”

               Peter shut his eyes against that searching gaze. “… I’m a little tired,” he finally admitted after a long pause. 

               “Yeah? A little tired like I get after I work a week straight producing a new Starkphone prototype on five hours sleep with Ross riding my ass about the Accords, Pepper about the wedding, and May about you?” Tony asked wryly. 

               Sighing, Peter gave a tiny nod. If there was anyone that got Peter, it was Tony. “Yeah, something like that.” 

               “Mm.” Tony squeezed Peter’s wrists and then released him. Using Peter’s body as a prop, Tony clambered back to his feet and then looked down at Peter. “C’mon. May’s on a double tonight anyway. Sleepover at the Tower. Emphasis on the sleep portion. We’re gonna load you up on carbs from Angelo’s and then we’re putting the Spider-Baby to bed.”

               Peter was so over the day that he didn’t even argue about being called a baby. 

               Well. 

               … much.

~ end