Thank you so much to all of my reviewers! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Team
There was a warehouse. Or...a building. Maybe an airport. It kept changing, the way locations in dreams so often did. The bottom line...it was a place and it was cold and Peter couldn't move. He looked around, dread settling in his stomach. He wasn't afraid yet, but he didn't know what was happening. He wanted to go home. Wanted to be with Tony. Where was he? His feet were rooted, and he opened his mouth to yell or scream or call for help, but he couldn't make words come out.
Suddenly there was movement. Iron Man took a step backward, hands up as he attempted to block a shield that came crashing down onto his face. His heart stuttered as his father...no...guardian. Tony. As Tony fell backward, attempting to get his hands underneath him...tried to get up. But Captain America brought the shield up again, kneeling over Tony and bringing it down again, slamming it into Tony's chest. And then, only when Captain America walked away and disappeared, could Peter move again.
He raced into the open area and dropped to his knees beside Tony, hands pulling uselessly at the metal. "No...no." He sobbed. "Tony? Please...please, Tony. Please! Dad...please!" His voice got louder and louder as she shook the man in the suit, finally managing to rip the mask away, exposing a pale, bloodless face with eyes that didn't meet his...that stared lifelessly at the ceiling. "No!" His throat hurt with the force of the scream, and he pulled harder on the man's shoulder, gasping as he was suddenly falling...and then he was on the ground, gasping at the force of his landing, a grunt forced from his lips as he hit something.
"Peter!" He opened his eyes, barely noticing the tears as he lay stunned on his bedroom floor, gasping for air. "Shit! Peter?" Someone knelt beside him, a hand on his arm. "Peter, talk to me, buddy." They urged. He wheezed as someone slipped a hand behind his shoulder, rolling him over a little and patting him on the back.
Tony. It was Tony. Peter moved so quickly that Tony flinched, wondering if he was actually awake or if he was still in that awful dream. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the lifeless eyes of his guardian staring up at the ceiling...dead. He'd had been dead. And Captain America had killed him. He wrapped his arms around Tony's torso, holding him for dear life. He was alive. He was alive.
"Not you too...please...Dad please!" He sobbed, head hidden against the man's chest, and Tony returned the hug, tentatively rubbing his hand over his back.
"Okay...okay, Pete. It's okay. I'm right here. It's okay." He whispered.
"You were dead...he killed you." Peter sobbed, unable to stop.
"I'm not dead, buddy. I'm right here. No one killed me. I'm here." He shuddered, and Tony rubbed circles on his back. "Are you hurt?" Peter shook his head. "Okay. Come here...let's get you off the floor." He stood, pulling a still shaking Peter up with him, and he followed Tony to the living room, clutching at him like a lifeline until they were seated in front of the tv on the sofa, Peter clutching his shirt. "It's okay. I'm here, Pete."
"Not you too. I can't…" It felt like his chest had a weight on it, heart heavy and painful. He couldn't lose Tony. Not on top of everything else. He wouldn't be able to survive that.
"I'm not going anywhere, buddy." For a long time, Tony just held him, rubbing his back and promising over and over that he wasn't going to leave. That Peter was safe. That everything would be okay. But then, Tony sighed, words cutting off. Peter stiffened, afraid that he was irritating the man, but that was before Tony spoke. "This isn't a good time." He told someone tiredly.
"Is the boy alright?" Peter heard Loki ask, voice soft and...concerned? Could Loki be concerned about him? He felt his cheeks heat up and he hid his face. It was bad enough he couldn't stop crying in front of Tony...now Loki was there too! Tony rubbed his back once more, pulling him close and letting him hide.
"He'll be fine."
"What happened?" The man almost sounded angry, and he felt Tony release a deep breath, Peter's head moving with the man's chest.
"He's just not feeling too good right now. He's fine." Tony's voice was firm. Final. And Peter felt a wave of gratitude. He knew that Peter was embarrassed, and he was trying to help. "Loki, back off." He snapped, and Peter glanced up from where his face was hidden against Tony's chest.
"I am not going to hurt the child," Loki told him, his own voice nearly offended as he came closer. Tony was silent and Peter closed his eyes again, still shaking. "Why are you upset?" He wondered, and Tony stiffened as he felt the man sit beside them, the sofa dipping next to Peter.
"Loki…"
"I had a nightmare," Peter whispered shamefully, refusing to meet his eyes as he turned in his direction. He didn't want Tony to fight with him...didn't want anyone to argue over him. There was already so much tension...he couldn't stand the thought of being the cause of more. So he confessed. Loki didn't look like he found this surprising or particularly interesting, for that matter, but Peter was starting to realize that it might be a mask...that Loki might feel more than he let on.
"What did you dream about?" He asked.
Peter hesitated, then turned to face the man, cheeks hot. He knew Tony was probably tired and he had woken him up and he was keeping him up...and now Loki was asking him to admit, in front of Tony, what his nightmare had been about. He wanted him to say, in front of Tony, that he was afraid that Tony was going to die. He didn't even want to say it. "Pete, you don't have to talk about it." Tony told him quietly, squeezing him a little. "It's none of his business." Loki continued to look at him, and Peter realized he wanted to say it...wanted to let it out. It was heavy in his chest, and he gripped Tony's shirt even tighter as if that would keep him safe.
"Captain America." He murmured, glancing back at Tony but not meeting his eyes. "He...he killed my…" His dad. No. Guardian. Tony. "Tony. He killed Tony."
Tony stiffened once more, but Loki barely reacted, just nodded. "Yes. I understand how that could be upsetting." He told Peter, eyes thoughtful. "However, you must realize that would be impossible." Peter frowned.
"What?"
"Well, considering there are several of us here who would not allow Steve Rogers to harm your father, there is no reason for you to fear it coming to pass." He explained, but not condescending. Just...simply. As though it were the most obvious fact. "I know it was a frightening dream, but it would never happen. None of us, not Colonel Rhodes, or Banner, not my brother or myself would allow Captain Rogers to kill your father."
Neither would Peter. He was Spiderman...and he hadn't been able to save his parents or his uncle...he hadn't been able to save his aunt. But he would save Tony. So he nodded, sniffing and rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Now that we have that issue settled, I am going to return to bed, and I would suggest you do the same." And then the man was leaving, and Peter stayed where he was, leaning against Tony. He closed his eyes, resting against Tony's arm, and the man lifted his arm, wrapping it around him and holding him close.
"How are you feeling, Pete?" Tony asked softly, leaning down so that his chin was on Peter's head.
"I'm sorry I keep waking you up." Tony shook his head.
"Don't worry about that, Pete." He assured him. His hand rubbed up and down Peter's back, making soothing circles. "Why don't you lay down?" He asked. Blinking tiredly, Peter let Tony scoot over a little, his head eased down into the man's lap. "FRIDAY, turn the TV on low." He heard Tony say as the man slipped his fingers into Peter's hair, his hand running through his curls. Peter's eyes drifted shut, unable to focus for long on the TV.
"You've gotta sleep too." He murmured, but Tony's hand didn't pause, his other hand tugging on the blanket hanging over the back of the sofa and draping it over Peter's torso.
"I will, buddy. Just rest."
"Mkay." He muttered, relaxing and letting him sleep, this time without any nightmares.
When he woke hours later, Tony had his head thrown back against the sofa, mouth open as he snored softly. Peter stared up at him for a second, trying to remember how he'd gotten to the couch, then turned his head and found Thor holding a mug of coffee and watching Peter closely. Peter wanted to sit up, but Tony's hand was on his arm and he didn't want to wake him. "Are you alright, Peter?" He asked, voice soft.
"Yeah." He rubbed his eyes, trying not to move too much. He'd already told Loki about his nightmares...he really didn't want to rehash it with Thor. "What time is it?"
"It's nearly six." Peter sighed, closing his eyes again. He was so tired. His whole body felt heavy, but he needed to go to school. And he needed to leave at 6:30. "Are you supposed to be leaving for school soon?"
"Yes." Peter groaned, not moving from where he rested on Tony's lap. Thor didn't say anything else, and the next thing Peter knew, a hand was running through his hair, another rubbing up and down his arm. "Huh?" He asked. Was it Tony? Or Thor? It didn't make sense that it would be Thor. Thor wouldn't be running his hands through Peter's hair like that.
"Hey, Petey. You awake?"
"Uh huh...gotta go. School." He yawned, curling his feet up so they were under the blanket covering him, and Tony shifted the blanket, helping him out. "Am I late?"
"Don't worry about that right now. Just rest."
"School? Isn't it time?"
"Just rest, kid. You had a rough night." Peter hummed in agreement. Rough night. He'd had a rough night...nightmares and then falling out of bed...his back was sore, and so was the shoulder he'd handed on. He moved his shoulder a little, wincing. "Peter?"
"Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
"Sore." He mumbled. "I fell? Off the bed."
"Yeah. I thought your weird spider DNA wouldn't let you fall off anything." He heard the smile in Tony's voice as the man rubbed his arm.
"Guess not." Tony chuckled.
"Am I going to have to put safety rails up?" He asked. He'd fallen out of bed. Then...Loki. Loki had asked him about his dream...and then...Thor? Asking him if he needed to get up for school.
A surge of adrenaline shot through his body and he sat up so fast that Tony jumped, hands in the air to get them out of his way. "Woah! Peter?"
"What time is it?" He asked, heart racing. He was late. He was going to miss another day of school!
"9:30."
"I'm late! Tony, I can't miss more school!" He cried, starting to jump to his feet, but Peter reached out, catching his arm.
"Woah, there kiddo. Take it easy."
"I'm late!"
"Peter!" He stopped, freezing in place on the sofa when Tony raised his voice, but the man didn't look upset with him. More...worried. "Stop for a second. It's fine. I called your principal...told him you were sick. Ned's getting your work. I texted him...kid about had a heart attack he was so excited. He's coming over after school to bring your work." Mr. Stark spoke softly, soothing, like he was worried that Peter was going to break apart, and for some reason, Peter felt like he might. It was school...he'd missed school before. It never upset him this much.
"I'm...I should go...I need to go…" He started to get up again, but Tony didn't let go. He could have pulled away, but he didn't. Instead, he stayed on the sofa, letting Tony put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay. You're okay, kid."
"I already missed so much and...and I left early on Monday and...and I still...I have homework and…"
"You'll make it up. You have plenty of time. You're okay." He knew that. Peter knew that he was okay...that he didn't have anything to worry about. It was just school. He could miss another day and do his homework and Tony was taking care of it and it was fine. "Take a breath, Pete." Tony urged, moving forward and squeezing his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why…"
"It's okay. You're going to be okay. You don't have to be sorry." Peter put a hand to his chest.
"I just…" He closed his eyes, dropping his head forward onto Tony's shoulder and the man wrapped an arm around him.
"You're stressed, buddy," Tony informed him carefully. "It's a lot...I know. All of this...look, I'm going to call Steve, okay? Tell him not to bring the rest of the team. Or...I'll go to them. Or something. Just...it's too much right now. That's okay."
"No! Don't go…" Peter flinched at the way the words came out. Young and so afraid. "Please."
"I won't be in danger," Tony reassured him.
"You can't know that." There was a long silence.
"It was just a nightmare, bud. That's all." There was another pause, and Tony sighed. "What do you want to do? It's up to you."
"I want to be Spiderman," Peter whispered, surprised at the words even as they came out of his mouth, and then realizing how true it was. He wanted normal back. He wanted to feel like he was in control of something again...like he could somehow fight back against all this. Like he could defend Tony if it came down to it. And yeah, he was still strong and still had his powers, but as Spiderman, he helped people. He was a superhero.
"Okay." Tony nodded. "No problem, kid. I'll put some updates in your suit and you can go back to swinging around the city and giving me anxiety." Peter managed a smile, head resting on Tony's shoulder. "When the others come, you can be with me if it makes you feel better. Thor and Loki will be there too. Rhodey. Bruce. Hell, kid, you think Steve is any match for the Hulk? He's barely a match for you." Peter laughed then, knowing that Tony was lying but still appreciating it.
"If Cap had wanted to lay me out, he would have." Peter reminded him, and Tony chuckled.
"Yeah." He ran a hand through Peter's curls, his smile fond. "Go get dressed while I make breakfast. Okay?"
"Where are the others?"
"Rhodey has a meeting, Pepper had to fly to DC, and who knows where the aliens are." He shrugged as Peter stood, following suit. "After breakfast, we'll take a look at your suit, okay?"
"Thanks, Tony."
Ned arrived a little after 3, eyes huge as he stared at the lobby where Peter was waiting for him. Tony had told him to go ahead and spend the evening with his friend while Tony made some phone calls, and had disappeared into his office. "Hey." He greeted his friend, surprisingly relieved to see him. He didn't know why he'd been so freaked out about missing school...why the littlest thing seemed to undo him. But he was glad to see Ned and found himself throwing his arms around his friend, grateful when his friend just squeezed him back.
"You okay?" Ned asked, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Peter nodded.
"Yeah...yeah, I just...it's good to see you. You want to come up?" Ned nodded, leaning in.
"Is Captain America here?" Peter snorted something in his chest releasing as he laughed.
"No. He was here yesterday, though."
"What's he like?" Ned asked as Peter led him toward the elevator.
"He's...um...he's fine." He shrugged, not sure what he could say about Captain America...Steve. But this was Ned...he could tell Ned anything...just as soon as they weren't in an elevator heading up to his floor at the tower. Tony's floor. Not his. Tony's.
When they reached the top floor of the building, Peter led Ned over to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him, Peter sitting on his bed and Ned standing in the middle of his room. "Wow...wow." Ned whispered, looking around. "Is Iron Man here?"
"He's in his lab." Peter told him with a smile. "And his name is Tony."
"Oh my god dude you call Iron Man by his first name now!"
"Well...he asked me to and…" He shrugged, self-conscious, and Ned sat beside him, their shoulders touching.
"I got your homework." He opened his backpack, pulling out a folder that he dropped onto the bed. "It's not a lot…" Peter nodded. "Come on, man. What's up?"
"I don't know…" Peter whispered, staring down at his hands clasped in his lap.
"Dude, I'm your guy in the chair! You can tell me anything." Ned told him, shifting so that he was facing Peter. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. Is...are things bad with Mr. Stark?"
"No! No, it's not that...he's been really great. Like...he's...he's great. And so are Rhodey and Pepper...and Thor and Loki…"
"OhgodThorandLoki…" Ned gasped out, as if he'd forgotten somehow, and Peter laughed, wiping at his misty eyes.
"Yeah. They're nice. They'll probably be around for dinner if you want to stay."
"Are you serious?" Peter nodded and Ned put a hand to his chest.
"Okay...okay, I get to meet Thor…" He whispered to himself. "But...that's not what we're talking about right now. I can freak out about that later. Right now, we're talking about you." Peter grinned at the effort it took for his friend to say that, then Ned was serious again. "So, if it's not them then…"
"I just...ever since May…" It took a lot of effort to say her name, but he managed. "I've been having nightmares and...they're pretty bad. Like...I keep waking up screaming and waking up Tony...and he keeps telling me that it's fine and he doesn't mind but yesterday Steve came over and he...well, I don't really trust him because of what he did to Tony and I just...he was nice. And he said that they were going to work things out but…" He shrugged. "Last night, I had a nightmare that Steve...that he killed my...killed Tony and it was really bad and then...then Tony let me sleep in and told me I didn't have to go to school and I was so freaked out." Ned furrowed his eyebrow, hands clasped. "I couldn't stop freaking out for a minute and it was like...like, I just had to go to school and if I missed everything was going to fall apart and it was so dumb and I know it was dumb and Tony was worried."
"Dude…" Ned murmured, reaching out and slinging a shoulder around him. Peter felt his cheeks heat up as his friend hugged him. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He was crying. In front of Ned...over nothing. "I'm sorry...it's so stupid…"
"It's not stupid, Pete. It's okay not to be over May."
"I'm afraid I'm going to lose Tony too." Peter didn't mean to sob the words, but his head rested on Ned's shoulder and his friend rubbed his back. "And Loki told me that they wouldn't let anything happen to him and I trust him and I know that he can take care of himself and...I know it's stupid…"
"It's not stupid." Ned insisted again.
"He's Iron Man! He can take care of himself...but I still can't stop worrying and the team is all coming here and…"
Ned didn't say anything else...he just wrapped an arm around Peter and held him for a long time. "I'm sorry. This isn't why you came over. I can show you around or…"
"Peter." Ned's voice was soft and reprimanding. "I'm your friend." Ned didn't have to say anything else...Peter understood. So he nodded, resting his head on his friend's shoulder until Ned began to talk to him about school and how Flash had been on the lookout to make sure he stayed away from both Ned and Peter. Peter asked about MJ and Decathlon which he was still a part of despite his absence and Ned reminded him of the competition coming up in a month that Peter had completely forgotten about.
"Do we have permission slips yet?"
"Not until next week. Practice is on Mondays and Wednesdays and staring next month it's going to go thirty minutes longer. Is Mr. Happy going to pick you up?"
"No. Tony said I could take the subway."
"Want to get started on the homework?" Peter nodded, and the two sprawled out in his room, Peter at his desk and Ned on the bottom bunk. They made quick work of math, asking each other questions and comparing answers, and Peter showed Ned how to ask for scientific formulas when they moved into Chemistry and Physics.
All in all, it took about two hours, and at 5:30, they finally packed their stuff away and Peter pulled out a new Lego set, since the Millenium Falcon was still at Ned's place. They worked for a while before there was a knock on the door, and they both looked up when Tony pulled the door open. "Hey, Ned. We're about to have dinner. You want to stay?"
"Stay...eat...with Thor and Loki?" Ned repeated in a whisper, turning from Tony to Peter.
"Yeah, He's staying." Peter told Tony with a barely restrained smile. Tony seemed to be fighting a laugh as Peter's friend tried not to freak out.
"Alright. Go ahead and wash up." He seemed to stare at Peter for an extra second, like he was looking for something. He must have found it, because he smiled and then left.
"Peter….Peter...I'm going to have dinner with Iron Man, Peter."
"And Thor and Loki. Oh, and probably Bruce Banner. And don't forget War Machine." Peter reminded him with a wicked smile, climbing to his feet and holding out a hand that he used to pull his friend up easily. Ned paled.
"Bruce Banner...how did I forget about Bruce Banner?"
Peter laughed as the two of them went into his bathroom to wash their hands. "I'm just kidding. They're all really nice. Don't freak out."
"But…"
"Don't freak out." He repeated. "And don't mention Spiderman...they don't know."
"Really?" Ned asked, incredulously
"I mean...they know about the fast healing and stuff like that but not the swinging around the city stopping crime thing."
"Oh...why not?"
"I just...didn't want to tell them. Not yet."
"Okay." Ned shrugged, and the two headed out of Peter's bedroom and into the dining room where they found everyone already waiting, the two spots beside Tony left empty. Ned would be sitting next to Bruce, something Peter suspected Tony had planned.
Peter dropped into the chair beside Tony and his guardian turned to the others. "Everyone, this is Pete's friend, Ned. Ned, this is Rhodey, Loki, Thor, and Bruce."
Ned hadn't looked away from Bruce and Peter stared down at his plate with a smile. "You're Doctor Bruce Banner."
"There are two of them." Peter snorted at Loki's incredulous whisper, but Ned didn't seem to notice.
"Doctor Banner, I've read all of your books…"
"What is it with you kids and reading boring science books?" Rhodey asked, and Ned gave the man a look so incredulous that Tony chuckled.
"They weren't boring! Peter and I did a whole science fair project and three reports on your rooms until our teacher told us we had to choose someone else."
"Wait a minute." Tony cut in. "How many did you do about me?"
"Six." Peter told him with a shrug. "You has more papers published." Tony sat back with a self satisfied smirk and Bruce laughed.
"I'd be happy to go over any of it with you, Ned." Peter grinned back at Ned and passed the bowl of spaghetti that Thor had made, him and His friend quiet while Thor spoke about how well his people were settling in Wakanda and Rhodey talked about his meeting with Tony. Ned followed everything with wide eyes but seemed too star-struck to ask any more questions until dinner was over, and then Peter and Ned headed back to Peter's room to watch a movie until it was time for Ned to go home. Tony had asked if he wanted to stay the night, but unfortunately Ned had some kind of family event going on the next day, so Happy drove him home, and Peter found himself down in the lab with Tony, the two of them working on his suit, the lab locked down so that no one could accidentally stumble upon them.
"So...I talked to Cap on the phone." Tony started as Peter stared at the lines of code. Since he'd gotten Ned to unlock the suit's full capabilities, Tony hadn't reinstalled the training wheels protocol, although he had given Peter a stern talking to about messing with the suit. And he'd reinstalled the tracker. Peter glanced up from the code that dealt with his webshooter combinations. He usually just used the default, but he was looking at the others now, wondering if he could come up with more. "He's coming over tomorrow...he's bringing Sam and Natasha."
Sam...Sam was Falcon. And he'd met the Black Widow briefly before, although they hadn't spoken. Peter nodded, looking back over at the screen. "Unless you need me to cancel." Peter looked up him again, this time in surprise as Tony pushed the screen away, coming to sit beside Peter at his workstation.
"What?"
"Look, the Avengers, we're going to try and work things out. And I want that to happen. We all do. I want you to have a team, Pete. Being a superhero, it's hard and it's scary sometimes, and having a team makes it so much better. But if you're not ready to have them here, I'll postpone. This is your home, Peter. I need to make sure you feel safe here. That's my number one priority now. Okay?" Peter nodded, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Reaching out, Tony put a hand on the back of his head, pulling him close to rest on his shoulder.
Peter had a team. He had Tony. He had Thor and Bruce and even Loki...Rhodey and Pepper. Happy, too. He had Ned and MJ. They were his team. But Tony wanted the Avengers to get back together. So he would do whatever he could to help.
"Can I stay, when they come here?"
"Of course. They want to meet you anyway."
"Will Thor and Loki be here?"
"Yep. Thor, Loki, Rhodey, Bruce...they'll all be here. You don't have to worry, Pete. I'm going to be fine." Peter nodded, and Tony ran a hand over his back. "Alright, kiddo. How about you try on that suit and see if it's ready." Peter nodded.
"Sounds good."
Thank you for reading!
