definingfuture | IC inbox for duplicity

[He'll be awake for days wondering about this one. What the hell is it that he did to hurt this man so much? There's clearly contempt. He'd like to apologize, but apparently whatever it is went too far, because Peter won't even talk about it.

Oh, but he'll throw out some venom, all right. That Tony picks up on easily.]

You were never just an employee. I hope you don't really believe that.

[Does it matter now? If it was really as long ago as Peter says? He thinks the distinction matters at least. Peter was a good friend.]

You're right. I won't ask.

[ Yeah, because he was more like a piece to maneuver. It's worse than just an employee.

He manages not to spit that one out no matter how much he wants to, because it's damning in and of itself. But that last sentence, that's what really pisses him off, and he can't stop himself. ]

Only because you don't want to hear the answer. Maybe you could stand to hear what other people have to say from time to time. Could be eye-opening.

Is there something you want me to be asking? Because I was under the impression you didn't want to talk, so I wasn't going to push you, but now it sounds like you're mad I didn't push.

[Well, maybe he should have just asked. But it seems like anything he does is going to make him angry. Asking for more details about pain feels horribly insensitive. He'd rather dwell on the agony alone that inflict more on anyone else.

...Although that isn't exactly working out either.]

You really hate me?

[ Tony is right that he wanted him to ask - anything. He doesn't even know what he was expecting as a question, but he knows that's not a question he wanted to answer.

Even if he basically pushed Tony into asking it. ]

No.

Wow.

This was a bad idea.

It's all right.
It doesn't make you a bad person.

[Maybe whatever it is was just an excuse. Maybe Peter didn't feel like he should carry the anger and was looking for a good reason to have it. Tony wonders what that must mean. Nothing good.]

If you want to tell me what I did, you can. Or not.
You're not the only one that feels that way.

[ If he says he can't tell it's going to sound even more suspicious. He went through a lot of trouble to erase his identity reveal from peoples' mind, and he hasn't been nearly as careful as he should have been to keep it a secret since then. Blowing it up just so he can argue with Tony is not worth it. ]

I don't hate you. You helped when May needed money for her hospital stay.

[ How much of that does Tony even remember? He was in his suit when he confronted him about that, after breaking into the Avengers Tower didn't work so well. But he knows from their last meeting that he remembers Peter, MJ and May living at the Tower for some time, while he was working for him and "designing Spider-man's suits". Tony giving money to Jarvis, and having Jarvis help him, is something he should still remember. ]

But you infuriate me a whole lot.

[Ah. So he feels indebted and guilty for hating someone that did him a favor. Well, that's natural. It just goes to show that people like Peter are naturally good.]

I suppose it would have been the least I could do...

[It's almost a quote back to Peter, but Tony doesn't remember talking to him. He remembers Spider-Man, angry and berating him for causing an innocent life to suffer and not saving her. It plays out, but it plays out like a dream.]

But I didn't do that.
Jarvis made the arrangements. I wasn't involved.

[He was someone else too, after all. It doesn't count.]

[ He knows it's a lie, because Jarvis wouldn't have showed up if they hadn't had that confrontation. And he remembers how desperate he was to save her life, how guilty he felt that she took a bullet because of him. How he became an actual criminal in the span of a few hours just to ensure she could keep on living.

Then he remembers all the time they did spend at the Avengers Tower together. How it felt like family. And how it crumbled.

Keeping the conversation going really was a bad idea. He should have stopped once Tony said who he was. ]

What about Spider-man?

You said I was never just a employee. What about him? Was he just convenient to team up with?

Spider-Man?

[He doesn't know why Peter would suddenly change topics, but maybe it's just his curiosity, trying to gauge just what level of monster Tony really was the whole time. It must have been a shock for him. And wasn't Peter friends with Spider-Man? That only really makes sense. He's testing him.]

I guess I say a lot of things, don't I? I should stop doing that.

[ He was testing him, trying to get a hint as to whether Tony did figure it out or not. But unsurprisingly, he gives him basically nothing at all.

He's going to have to cut this conversation without solid answers if he doesn't want to screw things up further. ]

I'll see you around.

[He didn't want to go back to that, but his past is apparently chasing him. For the moment, at least, he gets a break. Hopefully Peter got what he wanted out of it, but Tony isn't so sure. It feels unfinished.]

Take care of yourself, Pete.

[Only after he hangs up does he realize he probably should have said I'm sorry.]

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