Thank you so much Randomskycolor and Prongs100 for pre-reading. Thank you all for reviewing and adding this story to you favourites and alerts. Each email that tells me someone is reading means so much to me. You're all an awesome support and encouragement for the rest of the series.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Peter turned the page of the book he was reading, and his eyes traced the first line. He was reading an article Bruce had written on a study he'd done of quantum effects in sub-atomic particles, and it was fascinating.

"Peter?"

Wanda appeared in the space between the living area and kitchen, two mugs in her hand. He was surprised to see her as they didn't really spend much time together, and never alone; she kept to herself mostly. She looked sad today, as she often was, and oddly nervous.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

She came further into the room and held out one of the mugs. "I made you a coffee," she said. "I thought you might like one."

"I would," Peter said easily, receiving it and taking a sip. "Thank you."

The truth was, coffee made him jittery—May had always said it only added to his usual abundance of energy and ramped up his speech a few more notches—but it was the first real gesture she'd made towards him apart from soft smiles, so he was pleased.

She sat down beside him and curled her legs up, making herself small.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking a sip of coffee to be polite.

"I'm…" She bit her lip. "I wanted to ask you something, but I don't want to overstep or hurt you."

Peter leaned forward and set his mug down and then twisted on his seat to face her fully. "You won't be overstepping, no matter what you ask." He spread his arms. "I'm an open book."

She bit her lip and said, "How does the connection work between you and the Stones?"

"Oh, it's kinda complicated." He ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, you know they talk to me, and sometimes I go to them to talk so I can see them all at once."

"How much do they know?" she asked.

Peter frowned. "Technically, everything, I guess. They're kinda endless and aware of everything. What sort of thing do you mean?"

She averted her eyes from him and said, "What about Mind? Does he read thoughts?"

"Oh," Peter said. "Well, he reads my mind in a way, and I have seen… stuff… with Soul, and I think he's part of it, when the circumstances were right." He didn't want to admit that he had seen Tony's memory of the wormhole.

"What about when he was with Vision? Could he read his mind?"

'Yes,' Mind whispered. 'I saw it all.'

Peter shifted uncomfortably and said, "Yeah, he says he could."

Her eyes widened and filled with tears. "Oh."

"Is there something you wanted to know?" Peter asked awkwardly. "I could ask."

She wiped at her wet face. "I don't want to hurt you, and what I want to know might do that."

Peter's face fell. "I don't want to hurt you either, but if there's something you need to know, maybe it will help instead. Don't worry about me. Talking to them is fine, and if there's something I can do to help you, I want to do it.

Wanda forced a smile and said, "You're very kind." She took a deep breath, and Peter felt a warmth in his chest that he recognized from when he'd seen into Tony's mind.

He pressed his hand over his heart and said urgently, "No. Stop!"

'She's reaching,' Soul whispered.

"Stop what?" Wanda asked.

Peter pressed down harder and focused on not slipping into her mind as he said, "There's something the Stones do, and they're doing it now. It means I will see something, something personal you remember, I think, and if you don't want me to see it, I've got to walk away."

"Is it what I am thinking now?" she asked, a strangely understanding look on her face, though Peter supposed with her powers she would be able to relate to someone sharing her mind better than anyone.

He nodded, half rising, "Should I go?"

"No," she said. "You can see."

Peter lowered himself down and whispered, "Okay," then slipped into the scene.

He was with Mind—no, Vision—who was kneeling in front of him, his eyes wide and intense. There were the sounds of fighting around him, but his attention was on Vision. He could feel the tension in his muscles as Vision gripped his hand and said, "Wanda, it's time."

He fixed gaze eyes on him, jaw set with determination but eyes prickling as the refusal was punched out of him. "No."

"They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can. Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone."

Peter had the power—Wanda did—but in no world could they use it against the man she loved. Peter felt her pain as if it was his own because, in that moment, he was Wanda. This was her world, her grief, he was getting an insight into, and the Stones were making it his, too.

"Don't," he said.

Vision brought his hand to his cheek, and his fingers cupped it, Wanda's longing to touch undeniable, even on the battlefield where so many were in so much danger. "You must do it. Wanda. Please. We are out of time." Each word was said emphatically, reaching into them and twisting Wanda's heart like an iron fist.

"I can't."

His eyes fixed on them, and Peter felt them like his gaze was the sun, warming them. "Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the stone, half the Universe dies.

"It's not fair," he said, every inch of Wanda's body and mind rebelling at the idea.

"It shouldn't be you, but it is. It's all right. You could never hurt me. I just... feel you."

His words settled in Peter's mind, and the sounds of battle around them dimmed. He knew there was no choice. It was the only way, even though it was going to kill him—kill Wanda—to do it.

He extended a trembling hand, and the pulse and heat of energy spread from his palm as it beamed into the Mind Stone. Thanos came, and he sent power at them both, enough —the Stone shattered. A searing pain shot through his as heart as it shattered into pieces, and Vision's peaceful face fixed in his mind, seared there, and he knew he would never be able to close his eyes again without seeing it.

"No! Stop!" he shouted, hands flying to his face.

The scene disappeared, and he found himself back in the living room, Wanda now sitting at his side with one hand pressed to her mouth and the other reaching for his arm and then falling to her side again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No," he said again, shaking his head and brushing the tears away. "It's okay. I just…" He drew a hitching breath.

Peter had thought he knew pain, he'd seen and done a lot in his life, and suffered losses, but the pain he'd felt in that scene, as his—Wanda's—powers were turned on the man he—she—wanted to protect at all costs, was different to any of it. It was pure heartbreak and guilt as she killed the person she loved more than anything in the world.

"I'm sorry," he choked. "I'm so sorry you had to do that. Wanda…"

She wiped at her face, and this time she did touch him, her hand squeezing his. "I'm sorry you saw it."

Peter drew two deep breaths, trying to remind himself that he was safe, he hadn't killed Vision himself. It was Wanda's pain, her sacrifice and loss. "What did you want to know?" he asked.

"No!" she said quickly "I don't need to ask. I've already hurt you enough."

Peter smiled slightly. "Nothing you can ask is going to hurt me more than that, and if there's something I can do to even start to ease the pain I felt, your pain, I'll do it."

She stared at him for a moment and then averted her eyes and said, "I need to know if I… Did I hurt him?" she whispered.

The answer came at once, whispered by Mind and repeated by Peter. "No, Wanda, he felt nothing but you. There's was no pain at all. There was only love."

She bowed over and her hands flew to her face, her shoulders beginning to shake with sobs. He laid a hand on her back and stroked it the way he'd always liked when he was upset and May would pull him close and do it for him.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"No," she sobbed, face still covered and voice muffled. "I have been hurting for so long, scared by what he might have felt, pain that I caused, but he felt…" She cut off with another sob.

"He felt love," Peter said carefully as Mind whispered the words to him, sounding gentler and more tender than Peter had ever heard, making him wonder if he felt some connection to Wanda, too. "Only love."

She lowered her hands, wiped at her face, and then did something that took Peter completely off guard. She kissed his cheek and said, "Thank you, Peter."

No one had kissed him since the last morning he'd left for school, the day he went to Titan. He'd been on his way out of the door, piece of toast in hand and backpack slung over his shoulder, when May had caught his arm, pulled him back and into a tight squeeze. She'd kissed his cheek and said, "You know I love you, right?"

"I know," he'd said offhandedly, not knowing it was the last time he would ever see her. "Love you, too." And then he had grinned and slipped out of the door, headed to school where he was looking forward to telling Ned about the carjacking he'd stopped the night before.

Peter had no response to give Wanda now for her thanks. What did you even say after seeing the most awful moment of a person's life and then tell them that what had caused them agony had not hurt the recipient at all?

"You looked tired," she said, eyeing him sympathetically.

"Just a little," Peter said. The use of Soul hadn't used much energy, but the emotional turmoil of what he'd seen and done had drained him. "I'll go lie down for a while."

She nodded, and Peter got to his feet, footsteps heavy as he walked towards his bedroom. He passed Steve on the way, and he said, "You okay, Queens?"

"Just tired," Peter muttered, slipping into his room and closing the door behind him.

When he was alone, he raked his hand through his hair, sitting on the edge of the bed, and said, "Okay, Soul, we've got to talk about that. I can't do that again."

'I didn't do it,' she said. 'Not on my own. It was you, too. You're using us.'

"Then I've got to learn to stop," Peter said. "If I can control you enough to not hurt people—"

'Which you can,' Power said, 'Which I think is dumb as all hell, since you've got the President of your boondock country on your ass, but it's your choice, I guess.'

"It is," Peter said firmly.

'Take time to recover from what you saw, and we can work with your training tomorrow,' Mind said. 'I know that was very difficult for you. Wanda's feelings were strong for Vision.'

"Yeah, I figured that when I—" He cut off when there was a knock of his door. "Come in."

Sam peered in and said, "Hey. Is everything okay? Wanda said you were upset."

Peter sighed, "I wasn't… Yeah, something happened with Wanda, but I'm okay now." He didn't want to admit what he'd seen. If Wanda wanted to tell people, she could, but he wasn't going to announce himself as a mind-reader or someone that could violate people's privacy.

"Can I come in?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Peter scooted back on the bed and crossed his legs in front of him.

Sam sat on the end of the bed and said, "I've wanted to talk to you for a while, but things have been…" He waved a hand.

"Crazy," Peter agreed. "Yeah. What did you want to talk about?" He wondered if it was the Stones. Sam had seemed okay with him since they'd left Wakanda, but he'd been wary in the overseen conversation when they'd first found out about them.

"I wanted to tell you a little about myself," Sam said. "I thought it might help you."

"Okay," Peter said doubtfully, wondering what Sam thought he needed help with."

"I was in the Air Force," Sam said. "Enlisted at eighteen and served until I lost someone close to me." He gave Peter an assessing look. "I saw my best friend get shot down by an RPG when we were on a mission in our EXO-7 wings."

"I'm sorry," Peter said awkwardly.

Sam gave him a small smile, "Thanks. It's what came after that I wanted to talk to you about. What happened to Riley was hard on me, but I had someone help me through it. After, when I was in a better place, I started helping others in return. I trained in trauma treatment, mostly veterans with PSTD."

"That's great," Peter said, though his confusion was evident in his tone. "You probably made a real difference."

"I hope I did," he said gravely. "And I'm hoping you'll let me help you, too."

"I'm okay," Peter said quickly. "Really, I don't have any kind of trauma."

Sam frowned. "Peter, you went through huge trauma recently, more than any of us suffered. You were one of the Vanished, after facing Thanos, according to Tony, and then when you came back, you were thrown straight in at the deep end again. You were on the battlefield with us—and the things I saw there have given me nightmares—and then you snapped and…" He blew out a heavy breath. "You did all that and more, Peter, things no one should have to face. You nearly died twice recently."

"Yeah, but I can't die," Peter pointed out.

"Which is something else you might need to talk about," Sam said, then held up his hands as Peter opened his mouth to reply. "You don't need to talk unless you want to, there's no pressure at all. I think you've already got enough of that. But if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll be here, and I won't judge. You might be having feelings and thoughts that seem wrong, but they're natural and to be expected. You're in a unique position with the Stones, and you're taking on a huge responsibility by protecting people. I want to help with that."

"Uh… okay, thanks," Peter said a little lamely.

He was grateful that Sam wanted to help, but he didn't feel he needed it. Sure, he'd been through a lot, but he was handling it. He didn't want to start whining when he had been so lucky and had people willing to help him. It was more than many people had.

Sam hesitated a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Peter said. "Anything."

"Why didn't the Stones save you when you were attacked in Wakanda? I've seen what they're capable of, and then kept you close to Tony when you were both hurt, but why didn't they step up when it was most dangerous."

Peter ran a hand over his face. "Well, they did in a way. When I saw the first man, they reacted, knocking him back, but it scared me. I thought I'd killed him, and I freaked out completely." He bit his lip. "This power is a lot, and it could do so much damage. I can't let it hurt other people. The Stones say I stopped them when W'Kebe came, that's how he was able to give me the overdose injection. They say I'm in control of it now, that I won't hurt anyone. And that's great, I feel safer now."

"Safer now that you aren't protected?" Sam asked, brow furrowed.

Peter shrugged. "I guess not, but I feel safer knowing I won't hurt anyone else with the Stones." He smiled slightly. "And now I might be able to see Morgan, and I really want to."

"That's Tony's kid, right?" Sam said.

"Yes. His daughter."

Sam considered a moment. "I think seeing her would be really good for you, Peter. You need something good. And you can. Like you said, you're in control of the Stones. Let yourself have this. It'd probably mean as much to Tony as it does you."

Peter nodded and drew up his knees, hugging them to his chest. "Yeah, I want to. I'll have to ask Tony, though, make sure he's okay with it."

Sam smiled. "I don't think that's in question, Peter. He'll be back tomorrow, I think. Rhodey called him and told him to take an extra night at home, since he thought it would be good for you both to have a little more space, but I can give him a call and see how he feels about bringing her tomorrow if you like?"

Peter couldn't help the smile that spread over his face. He was nervous, but he desperately wanted to meet her. Tony said he was her brother, and he'd never had anything like that in his life before. He wanted to meet his sister, and he would not hurt her.

"I'd like that," he said.

Sam clapped his hands down on his knees and said, "We'll let him have another night at home and call in the morning. I have a feeling he'd be here within the hour if he knew he you were up for it." He got to his feet. "Me and Bucky are making lasagna for dinner. You like that?"

"I love lasagna," Peter said enthusiastically. "My Uncle Ben used to make it, and it was great. I've not had it in ages since Aunt May didn't even attempt anything that complicated."

Sam laughed. "Great, I'll make sure there's plenty for you. I'll give you a shout when it's ready."

He strode out of the room and clicked the door closed behind him.

Peter relaxed and tilted his head back against the headboard. He was excited at the idea of meeting Morgan and was actually looking forward to dinner with the others, even though he didn't know them well yet.

'You will know them soon,' Soul said cheerfully. 'They want to know you; I can feel it.'

Peter didn't answer, but he smiled. He wanted to know them, to make friends, as he had a feeling they were all he was going to see until the situation with Ross was settled. Even then, what was he going to do next? He couldn't go back to Queens and school, could he? The Stones would complicate that, his eyes. Maybe he could wear contacts…

He shrugged. That was a problem for another day. He wasn't thinking big picture yet. He was just going to get on with what he had to deal with already.

The ringing phone drew Ross from sleep, and he groaned as he rolled over and reached for it.

He never imagined being President would be easy, and it wasn't, but the thrill of power was dampened by the interruption to his sleep for things that could be handled by the people he delegated to.

He answered the call with a grunted, "Yes," and waited to be informed of whatever urgent matter had disturbed his night.

"Mr. President, we have a call from Speaker Baxter," the formal voice replied. "She says it's a matter of national security."

"Put her through," Ross said, swinging his legs around and sitting on the edge of the bed, a hand coming to run over his face to banish the last of the tiredness the call had not driven away.

"Yes, Sir." There was a pause, and then Sonia Baxter's voice said, "Mr. President, we have received a communication from within Wakanda."

"The child?" Ross asked.

"Yes. They've transferred him out of the country already, but, Sir, there's something you need to know about him."

"Go ahead," Ross said curtly.

Speaker Baxter spoke, and Ross' eyebrows rose to almost touching his receding hairline—a byproduct of the stress of power.

He'd wanted the child for his own reasons, to create a face of his leadership and the salvation of the world, but the more he listened, the more he heard, the faster his heart pounded.

The boy had been coveted to further and maintain his leadership, but now he heard what had happened, what he had become, he knew he needed him under his rule as an asset.

If the report from Wakanda was true, the boy was now the most potent weapon in the Universe, and Ross could use him.

And Ross always got what he wanted.

So… Ross knows about Peter now. We're coming to the final arc of the story now, but we've got some fluff with Morgan and Peter to come first—with a cameo from Happy which I know some of you have been waiting for.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx