Peter ran his hand through his hair as he read the messages that Liz had sent him. He felt awful. She was moving back to the city. Apparently her dad had decided that was best. He knew it was probably because he felt safer being in the city after being shaken up by the police. He couldn't help but feel responsible. She didn't want to go back to the city, and now, because of him, she had to. He stared down at the texts.
Liz: Are you okay?
Liz: I haven't heard from you in days
Liz: Just a bit worried
Liz: I came round yours, but no one was in
Liz: I'm getting worried
Liz: Plz just text me
Liz: I'm just worried
Liz: I'm having to move back to the city :(
Liz: Call me
Liz: Have I done something to upset you
He quickly tapped back a reply.
Peter: Sorry, haven't really been on my phone for a while
Liz: I was panicking, sorry about all the messages
Peter: We can still meet up sometimes when you live in the city
Peter sent the message with a sigh. It was, after all, his fault that he moving back. He understood why she didn't want to go. Life by the lake was relaxing. It was so different from the city, and he needed different. The whole world was different...since Thanos.
Liz: I'm just worried about why my dad wants to move back. He went off somewhere in the night and when he returned he just announced that we were moving.
Peter bit his lip as another message came in. He knew that Toomes was moving back because it was part of the deal, so he could be watched more easily.
Liz: I just don't want him to end up in jail again
Peter: I'm sure it's nothing. Try not to worry about it, it'll all work out.
"What do I even need to pack?" Peter asked himself, staring at all of his clothes that were laid out higgledy-piggledy on the bed. Tony watched from the doorway, amused but not revealing himself to Peter. F.R.I.D.A.Y had alerted him that Peter was struggling to pack for his trip to Canada. He watched for a couple more minutes as Peter looked at his various geeky t-shirts.
"Need some help spiderling?" He asked, walking properly into the room and Peter looked at him glumly.
"I've never been on holiday," He shrugged. "I don't even have a suitcase." Tony sighed at this.
"I'll get you one, don't worry," He replied. "Now what are you planning on doing in Canada?" Peter shrugged again. Nat was refusing to tell him. Said she wanted it to be a surprise.
"She won't tell me," Peter told him and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Well, it's pretty cold this time of year, so I'd go for lots of jumpers," He advised. "I'll give you a card so that if you don't have what you need when you get there, you can get whatever you need."
"You trust me with a credit card?" Peter asked, almost not believing it. Aunt May barely trusted him with lunch money. That was probably to do with the fact that he was once given money to buy some milk and he returned with chocolate milkshake instead. In his defence, she hadn't actually specified what type of milk she wanted.
"Peter, I'm a billionaire," Tony laughed. "You wouldn't make a dent in my account."
"True," Peter agreed. "I just..."
"Mi casa es tu casa," Tony shrugged. "I keep telling you, you're my kid so I can spend whatever money I want on you." Peter smiled awkwardly at that. "Is that all the clothes you own?" He asked, sounding surprised. Peter didn't respond, giving Tony his answer. "Guess you're going to get some driving practise in on the way to the city." He shrugged. "I'll see if Pep wants to join us."
"You were supposed to be here half an hour ago," Natasha rolled her eyes as Tony and Peter rolled up.
"Sorry," Peter said getting out, rushing to the boot at the slight glare that he was being given by Nat. "It was his fault."
"That I can believe," She smirked as Tony got out with a sheepish expression on his face. She stared in amazement at the three suitcases Peter was hauling out. "We're going for a week." She reminded him.
"That is the reason I was late," Peter said, giving Tony a pointed look.
"I wanted to make sure he had everything," Tony protested. "Pepper's away for a business thing so I couldn't double check with her about what he'd need."
"I asked him days ago for help with packing," Peter explained to Natasha. "And then he began panicking that I didn't have enough and ordered another two suitcases for me."
"I wanted to make sure he's prepared," Tony shrugged. "He's going away for a whole week."
"Well you can go now," Peter told him.
"I agree," Natasha smirked as an outraged expression appeared on Tony's face.
"Don't you want my help getting your stuff onto the plane?" Tony asked. "It's a private one so I can come through with you."
"No," Both Natasha and Peter were in complete agreement.
"I am offended," Tony said, fake glaring at Peter who laughed slightly. "Bye webster."
"Bye," Peter smiled as Tony ruffled his hair.
"I'll call you everyday," Tony told him. "Don't forget to eat your five a day." Peter looked aghast at this and Nat laughed at Tony's over protectiveness.
"I'm practically an adult," Peter rolled his eyes.
"You still have a couple of years to go," Tony reminded him. "And until then, I am your legal guardian, so you will eat your five a day."
"He'll be fine," Natasha interrupted. "What could go wrong?"
"We're talking about the kid that was supposed to be going on a school field trip to the Museum of Modern Art and he ended up going to space," Tony said.
"Hey I saved your a-"
"Language," Tony interrupted, glaring slightly at his son.
"Butt," Peter said hastily.
"Language?" Natasha smirked. "You're turning into Cap."
"And that is my cue to leave," Tony said quickly.
"See you Tony," Peter smiled as Tony pulled him in for a quick hug. Peter watched as Tony got back in his car and drove off. Natasha picked up one of his suitcases. "What are we doing then?" Peter asked.
"I told you, it's a surprise," Natasha shrugged, keeping her expression neutral. "You're going to love it though."
"You know this is only the second time I've been abroad," Peter told him excitedly as they walked into the building to check in. "Germany was the first."
"Well this one will be more fun, I promise," Natasha told him.
"This is awesome," Peter grinned as he picked up the paintball gun.
"I thought you'd like it," Natasha smiled. "And we can beat some random strangers' butts." They had only been in Canada a couple of hours and they were already going paintballing. Peter had never been paintballing before. It was gonna be awesome.
"I'm guessing I can't swing through the trees to chase people," Peter sighed and Natasha chuckled.
"How you've managed to keep spider-man a secret for this long, I don't know," Natasha said, shaking her head slightly. "Anyway, despite the later departure from the airport-" Here she gave Peter a slight glare. "We have time for you to practise shooting."
"Thanks," Peter beamed at her as she led her through to the target practise room.
"I bet I can beat you," She smirked, taking her position in front of a target.
"You're an assassin," Peter tried, and failed, to cross his arms in a fake sulk with the paintball gun in his hands.
"Just pretend the gun's your webshooters," She shrugged, aiming and shooting at the target, leaving a blue paint stain on the target. Peter narrowed his eyes, taking a position aiming at the target next to Natasha's. He shot and sighed in annoyance as the paint his the wall next to the target.
"You're close," Natasha told him. "Pretend it's Tony's face you're aiming at. That always improves my aim." Peter chuckled at that and took aim again. This time, he hit the outside of the target.
"YES!" He yelled, doing a flip in excitement. "I hit it." He smiled happily.
"I can see that," Natasha said, amusement in her voice. "You're a natural." Peter grinned at the compliment before aiming again.
"You really think that the great Tony Stark is coming to save you?" Ross spat, leaning in close so Peter had no choice but to look at him. "He doesn't care about you. There's no one left who cares about you. They're all dead, because you let them down."
"It wasn't my fault," Peter protested. "I tried my best."
"Well it wasn't enough," Ross taunted before pulling his hand back and slapping Peter hard across the face.
Peter sat up in bed, sweating and gasping, clutching at the cheek that Ross had just slapped. He looked around the room for a moment, taking panicky breaths, forgetting for a few seconds where he was. He sighed in relief as he remembered that he was in a swanky hotel in Canada. It was weird not having F.R.I.D.A.Y right there asking him if he wanted her to alert Tony of his nightmares. Looking around the room, he realised he had virtually the next best thing. He leapt up and grabbed the spider-man mask, putting it on he jumped up onto the ceiling, crouching on it.
"Hey Karen?" Peter asked.
"Yes Peter?" Karen responded quickly.
"Can you check with Fri if Tony's awake?" Peter pulled his t-shirt off, using it to wipe the sweat off his back.
"Of course Peter," Karen told him. "I have checked but it appears that Tony has just gone to bed with Morgan. Pepper is still awake though. She's driving back from her business meeting, would you like me to call her for you?"
"Um..." Peter paused. He always spoke to Tony about his nightmares.
"I would strongly advise it," Karen told him. "Or I can get F.R.I.D.A.Y to wake Tony up. I'm sure he won't mind."
"No, it's fine," Peter replied quickly. This was supposed to be a break for Tony from having to get up each night to comfort him after his nightmares. "Try Pepper though."
"Of course Peter," Karen said. "I'm always happy to help."
"Thanks," Peter smiled. It always surprised him how human like Karen was, she seemed so real. "I appreciate it."
"Hey Pete, everything okay?" Pepper's voice came through Peter's mask after a small pause. "F.R.I.D.A.Y said that Karen was asking for me?"
"I had another nightmare," Peter said quietly. "Karen said Tony was asleep and I didn't want to disturb him."
"You can call either of us, anytime. No matter what time of day it is," Pepper told him.
"I-" Peter began, but he stopped talking, unsure what to say. He didn't want to be a nuisance to them.
"Any time," Pepper emphasised, before pausing for a few moments. "What was it about?"
"I-I was back with Ross," Peter told her, wishing that he had a comforting arm wrapped around him like he normally did talking about his nightmares. "But-but Tony didn't..." He trailed off here, not wanting to continue.
"It's okay," Pepper told him soothingly. "You're safe now remember that."
"He wasn't coming," Peter continued. "And Ross was... it was my fault. I should've done more. Everyone I ever loved has died."
"That's not your fault," Pepper said. "You know that. The only person who's fault it was that your Aunt died, is Thanos. He's the one who killed half the universe."
"Thanos didn't kill my uncle," Peter whispered quietly. "That was my fault."
"Did you pull the trigger?" Pepper asked patiently, whilst pressing a button so that F.R.I.D.A.Y took over driving the car so she didn't get distracted by her conversation with Peter and crash.
"No," Peter's quiet voice came through the car's speakers.
"Well then it's no-"
"I could've stopped the mugger earlier though," Peter interrupted. "The one that killed him. I didn't cos I was mad at the man in the shop."
"If you had known what the man was going to do, you would've stopped him though," Pepper told him. "I don't even need to ask you if you would have. You would have done it no questions asked."
"But I didn't," Peter argued, beginning to pace restlessly across the ceiling. "And now he's dead."
"And it was not your fault," Pepper said, emphasising each word.
"It doesn't feel like it," Peter told her.
"I know honey," She said, running a hand through her hair. The kid was so like Tony. Peter could have been Tony's biological son and no one would have thought twice about it. "But I will keep reminding you that it's not your fault, and Tony will too. We're here for you."
"Thanks Pepper," Peter sighed.
"I'm sure if I explain, Nat would be down for an all night movie marathon with you," Pepper told Peter. "She'd understand."
"She's already taking me on holiday, I don't wa-" He began, but Pepper interrupted.
"You've somehow wormed your way into the very few people that Nat cares about, if you're upset, she'd want to know about it," Pepper told him. "She won't mind."
"Are you sure?" Peter asked, jumping down from the ceiling onto his bed.
"What was that noise?" Pepper asked, hearing the loud noise.
"Nothing," Peter said quickly, blushing even though she couldn't see him. She always found it adorable when he crawled on the ceiling... until he left footprints. Then she was terrifying. Pepper shook her head slightly, knowing that she wasn't telling the truth.
"Do you want me to call Nat, or are you okay waking her up?" She asked, glad that Peter was feeling a bit better.
"I'll go," Peter decided, picking up a fluffy blanket to take through with him.
"Bye honey," Pepper said.
"Bye," He replied before hanging up. He pulled his mask off and chucked it on the bed before walking into the Nat's room to wake her. He tiptoed over to the bed and his spider senses went off just as he felt the butt of a gun pressed to his head. "Nat?" He asked, wishing that he could just tell F.R.I.D.A.Y to switch the lights on. He wasn't at home though. He felt the gun move from his head.
"Peter?" She said, moving the gun away. She flicked the lamp by her bed on as she chucked the gun away. "Sorry, force of habit."
"Sheesh," Peter's eyes drifted to the gun.
"I'm used to people trying to kill me," She shrugged. "I assume that there's a reason that you're creeping in here, scaring me to death at this time?" Peter nodded sheepishly.
"I was... nightmares," He explained. "Pepper said that you wouldn't mind staying up watching movies with me."
"I'll get the hot chocolate and popcorn if you choose the movie," She told him. He grinned at this.
"Can I have marshmallows and cream?"
"Is it even a hot chocolate with them?" Nat asked, leading him out of the room, smiling down at the young teen.
I'm sorry it's been like a month since I updated. I've just been so busy recently. The next 3-4 months are gonna be really busy, but I'll try my best to update at the very least once a month. After 10th June, I won't have any more exams so I can focus more and updates will be way more regular. Thank you for all your lovely reviews, I love hearing from you guys.
