…. Angst? Me? Person who flees at the first hint of it? Nah…
“–coming back home. I’ll tell you then– I promise. I’ll see you soon, kid. This isn’t goodbye.”
Peter wakes up with gasp.
There’s tears running down his face and he feels worse than when he fell asleep. He catches movement in the corner of his eye and sees his webshooter projecting a hologram.
“New cameras working alright, baby girl?” Mr. Stark says.
His eyes widen when he realizes there’s a Tony Stark being projected, the man staring right at him.
“Mr. Stark…?” Peter’s voice is rough but his heart siezes then breaks all over again when the man turns to look over his shoulder.
The images zooms in then out.
“As expected, boss,” Friday replies.
The hologram blanks out. Peter’s left staring at the dark, taking in a deep breath to calm his aching heart.
“Karen?” Peter whispers. “What was that…?”
“Several videos have been uploaded to my database,” Karen tells him, “Friday felt it was relevant since you asked for the previous videos.”
He wipes his eyes and bites his lip. He doesn’t think he can bear watching them but if Friday thought it was relevant maybe…
Peter couldn’t pass it up. He misses Mr. Stark so much… “Play them, please.”
He watches each and every one of them. The first few videos actually make him smile. Friday had uploaded videos of Tony before or after they talked or met up.
He gets to learn what his mentor thinks of him (“Kid’s brilliant, Friday.”), how exasperated Tony was when Peter snuck out for patrols (“It’s two am! Two! Doesn’t he sleep?” “You’re one to talk, Boss.”)
And then there’s one video that has Peter’s eyes widening and lurching forward. He clutches the web shooter and his hands tremble.
“Play it again,” he begs. Karen obeys without commenting.
Mr. Stark is pacing back and forth across the length of the lab. His hands run through his hair, agitated.
“It’s not right,” he mutters quietly but Friday picks it up easily.
Tony abruptly stops, eyes shut and his shoulders sag.
“Think I got a bit of a problem, Fri,” he admits.
“What’s the legal age of consent in New York?”
“Seventeen. May I ask why? You’re worrying me, boss.”
“… Forget it, baby girl,” Tony mutters, “I– My head. It’s fucked up. Fuck. Seventeen. Delete this one from the records.”
Did Peter interpret that wrong? He can’t help but hope he hadn’t so he continues on. He feels fragile all over again. He’s afraid of knowing. All this time, he thought what he felt was a silly crush. But seeing that video and what it implies sends his mind into chaos.
He watches avidly but the next videos give him nothing to cement the idea that his mentor had feelings for him. Then the final video starts to play.
Tony is in the lab once again. He’s staring at the upgraded Spiderman suit, expressionless. Then his eyes flicking towards the camera and his chin tilts up defiantly.
“One more time, Friday,” Tony asks, “one more and I won’t ask for it again. This will be the last time.”
In front of Tony, a hologram comes to life. It’s harder for Peter to see but he recognizes his own voice. It’s playing the recordings of Peter babbling away to Tony’s voicemail, but the look in Tony’s eyes are almost desperate and pained as he watches the hologram on his side.
When the recording finally stops, Tony’s mouth is pinched tight. He doesn’t look away from the frozen image of Peter sitting on the rooftop of a building.
He raises a hand, finger brushing against the outline of the hologram’s cheek.
“I’ve had… So many regrets in my life…” Tony tells the Peter. “I’m not a hero. I never wanted any of this. I just…”
He sighs and for a moment, Peter thinks that’s it. The very last recording will end with Tony broken and resigned to the end.
Instead, Tony looks up and stares directly into the camera.
“Many regrets, kid. So many. But you were never one of them.” There’s a fire in Tony’s eyes and Peter is captivated. He falls in love with Tony Stark all over again.
“I never regretted meeting you. Or giving you the tools you needed,” Tony continues. “Never regretted taking the suit away because you grew so damn much from it. You’re a better man than I’ll ever be, Pete… And…” His pauses but when he picks up again, his voice is just as clear, just as unshakable.
“I never regretted falling in love with you. I only regret that I never told you. The plan– We’re giving it all we got. No matter what, it’s going to work. I know it will. You’re coming back home. I’ll tell you then– I promise. I’ll see you soon, kid. This isn’t goodbye.”
The video ends and the hologram goes dark.