It’s from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

“Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it usually commenced at around two in the morning.”

When you’re a kid, you never think about the ugly side of being a superhero. No, you only think about going on adventures and saving the day by punching the villain of the day. You don’t think about the terrors you see, the pressure on your shoulders that threatens to crush you, the wounds that never really heal, emotionally and physically, the nightmares. Especially the nightmares.

Every superhero has their own way of dealing with nightmares, sometimes even more than one. For years, even before the nightmares were superhero related, Tony’s preference was alcohol and the fake-feeling of intimacy. By now, he dropped that habit, deciding to spending his sleepless nights in his workshop instead. Pepper declared him insane for it (she never said it out loud, but Tony knows her and all the different ways she can frown), but at least when he is in the workshop and working on something, he doesn’t feel useless.

When he recruited Peter, he kind of hoped he could save him from the nightmares. Tony always knew they were inevitable, especially considering all the trauma Peter lived through before he turned into a superhero, but a small part of him stayed optimistic. However, that optimism quickly disappeared the first time Peter spent a night at the compound, waking up covered in sweat and with a racing heart in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep.

So, Tony can’t keep the nightmares away from him. But that doesn’t mean he can’t help him find a way to deal with them.

Slowly, they wall into a routine. Whenever Peter would wake up from a nightmare, they start tinkering in the workshop. Unofficially, it is called the midnight class, even though it usually commences at around two in the morning. Sometimes, Tony would already be in there, either awake because of his own dreams or because he didn’t even go to bed yet, other times FRIDAY would wake him up, so he could collect Peter from his room and drag him downstairs. They never work on something that really required all of their attention, just enough to lure his thoughts away from the ugly images the dream showed him. When the adrenaline eventually ebbs away, Tony would quietly ask if Peter wants to talk about it. Sometimes he says yes, most of the time he says no, but that’s fine. Tony isn’t pushing.

This night, Tony is still working out the last few problems of the new green, energy efficient engine for the car they’re designing with another company, when Peter shuffles into the room. A quick glance at the clock tells Tony that it’s 1:54 am. He doesn’t say anything as Peter sits down at his designated work bench and starts to work on the project he put aside only a few hours ago in favor of eating his own weight in lasagna.

They work in silence side by side for almost half an hour before Tony sees the tension melting away from Peter’s shoulders.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tony asks, voice barely above a whisper, eyes still on the engine in front of him.

Peter doesn’t answer immediately. “I was stuck again. But this time, I couldn’t get out. It was just too much.”

“That won’t happen again,” Tony says, finally turning around to Peter. He waits until the kid sets his tools down and glances over to him, giving him as much attention as he can muster right now. “I’m not taking the suit away again. You will always have a way to reach me, and I will always help you. Okay?”

“What if I’m not wearing the suit? What if you can’t come?”

Tony’s first instinct is to say that that’s not possible, but he knows it’s not true. Bad things don’t wait until you’re wearing your special suit to traumatize you. Tony could be on a business trip on the other side of the world when Peter calls him.

Instead of dismissing Peter’s fear, he tries to calm him down even further. “You already did it once, and you’ve grown so much stronger since then. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do it again.” Seeing the lingering doubt in Peter’s eyes, Tony smiles and ruffles his hair. “I believe in you, kid. If it should happen again, you will be able to get out of there.”

Peter is still not completely convinced, but he still smiles, appreciating the boost of confidence. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Want to stay down here a bit longer?” Peter nods, so they both turn back to their individual projects. Tony knows he has to look into other ways to help Peter, because doing this could lead to really unhealthy habits – Tony should know – but it works for now, and sometimes, that is enough.

I found another book! This is from My Life with Bonnie and Clyde (my favorite memoir of all time seriously go read it) I also combined this with a prompt I got months ago (sorry!) so here we go! (as always this is unedited, who needs to edit things any more am I right?)

They kept arguing until they both were mad enough to fight, which is what they did. 

For as long as she can remember, Penny has stolen sweatshirts and clothes from her loved ones. She has numerous t-shirts and sweatshirts stolen from May, Tony, Ned, and even a jacket from Happy. But this is one Tony’s never seen before. Judging by the wear and tear and NYPD insignia on the left side, it’s safe to assume this was one Penny had taken from her uncle. 

“Hey, kid,” Tony greets as she sets he backpack down at her desk. “How was school?” Penny shrugs and doesn’t look at him, she just pulls the sleeves of the sweatshirt over her hands. “You okay, sweetheart?” Tony asks, shifting his tone to be more sincere and comforting. 

Penny nods, “A lot of shit happened this past week. But I’m fine.” 

Yeah, she’s definitely not fine. Tony wheels his chair over to Penny and squeezes her leg, “Anything you want to talk about? You know I’m here for you, kiddo, no matter what.” 

“I know,” Penny takes a shaky breath, looking about ten seconds from bursting into tears. She aims her eyes at the ceiling, hoping to keep the tears at bay. 

“Honey?” Tony moves so he’s right in front of her. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Tony is surprised at how easily Penny gives in. “May’s boyfriend,” Penny says softly, changing her gaze to focus on her hands. “He-He hurt us.”

Tony feels his heart stop for a moment, “What do you mean, Pen?” 

She shrugs, quickly wiping a stray tear away with the sleeve of the sweatshirt, “They’ve been fighting for weeks now and-and he hit May while they were fighting and I tried to help, to get him to stop, so I got in the way but-but May tried to protect me.” Tony takes her hand. “He pushed her and she tripped and broke her leg and she can’t work for at least a month and I don’t know how we’re going to pay for the bills.” Penny sobs, leaning forward to cover her face in her hands. 

Tony quickly wraps his arms around her and pulls her into a hug, “Shh…” Tony soothes as he rocks her gently back and forth. “It’s going to be okay. Are you hurt?” 

Penny nods and pulls out of the embrace to pull up the sleeve of her sweatshirt to show Tony five purple bruises on her forearm. “He hit my cheek too but I covered it.” Tony looks at her cheek where sure enough, another bruise is just starting to poke through the heavy concealer Penny packed onto her cheek. 

Tony’s heart breaks for the girl. Neither she nor her aunt has done anything to warrant that kind of violence. 

Tony pulls Penny back into a hug, one hand bringing her head to rest on his chest. He presses a quick kiss to the top of Penny’s head, “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart, I’m going to make sure of it.”

“Thank you,” Penny whispers.

Tag List: @gasplaughgasp @canonismybitch @shadedrose01 @baloobird @whatisawilltolive @a-liddell-alice @you-know-i-larb-you-3000 @hold-our-destiny @lyssismagical @spideygirl2003 @make-the-stars-stay @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed