Happy Wednesday.

It's another mid-week update as I want to get Homecoming done with. I fear I might have lulled you into a false sense of security that when Homecoming is done, there will be no more angst. There absolutely be more angst. I'm editing a really dark part of the story right now. What won't happen is the characters being forced to be distant to one another. The relationships we're building are going to be solid.

Chapter Thirty-Two

September 10th

Tony was in his lab in the compound, turning a screwdriver over between his fingers like a baton, eyes staring blankly at the hologram in front of him.

He was struggling.

He missed Peter, was worried about what he was going through, and couldn't do anything about it. The only connection he had was through Friday, who monitored Karen, so he knew Peter was still working with the theory that this was some kind of test. As much as he hated the fact Peter thought he'd put him through something like that, he was glad Peter seemed set on path again to do what he needed to do and experience to be worthy when it mattered.

That was his priority, what they all needed to happen—Peter had to be worthy to live.

"Turn on the music, Friday," he said dully.

A moment later, Led Zeppelin spilled from the speakers set in the walls, and Tony took a breath. He needed to do something. He couldn't spend the next two weeks just waiting. The most testing time of all—taking the suit—was coming, and if he didn't find a way to distract himself, he wasn't going to be able to handle it.

He swiped through the options on his hologram and pulled up the plans for the Iron Spider suit. Mind had not yet told him, which possibly meant Peter hadn't decided, whether or not he should offer him a place among the Avengers.

He was sure that, if he did offer, Peter would refuse.

Before, Peter had been consumed with becoming an Avenger, he'd fought for it, but that was not the Peter he lived with now. Peter had not been tested by the fight in Germany; he'd not decided he was ready. The Peter of this time was nowhere near as confident as that version of himself.

And that was because of Tony.

There was a hammering on the glass door behind him, and he turned on his stool to see Steve waving a hand at him.

Frowning, Tony said, "Open it up, Fri."

The door swung open, and Steve rushed in, his chest heaving and eyes wild.

Panic clawed its way up Tony's throat, and he asked, praying for the answer that would make it possible for him to breathe again, "Is it Peter?"

Steve nodded, and Tony's heart plummeted, and his breath caught as Steve went on, "There's been an incident at his school. It's on the news."

"Friday, show me!" he ordered.

The schematics of Peter's suit was replaced by a news channel, which showed a chaotic scene outside Midtown High School. Ambulances and EMTs were tending to children and adults; two fire crews were aiming hoses that pumped water onto a flaming corner of the building; a crowd of people watched with cell phones recording footage which Tony knew would be uploaded to YouTube before the end of the day.

"Peter?" Tony asked, voice weak. "Was he there?"

"Yes, Boss," Friday reported. "I traced his cell phone to the site earlier today."

"Is he still there? Is he okay?"

"No, both his cell phone and May Parker's are at Mount Sinai hospital."

Tony groaned and massaged his temples with shaking hands. "I've got to go," he said. "I need to… Oh, god, Pete."

"You can't go," Steve said, voice strained.

Tony's incredulous eyes snapped to him. "What do you mean I can't go? I have to go! My kid is in the hospital!"

"We can't risk the plan, Tony," Steve said, hands clenching and relaxing at his sides. Tony could tell he was suffering with this, too, but he didn't care. Only his pain and fear mattered to him.

"Screw the plan!"

"No!" Steve shouted, eyes burning with anger now. "Peter is alive. Peter will stay alive. If we interfere, if we break his path, he might not stay that way!"

Tony groaned and massaged his temples with shaking fingers. Though he saw the sense of Steve's words, he didn't want to hear it. His son was in the hospital, which meant he was hurt. Tony needed to be with him now. That was the need that was pressing in on his chest and making it hard to breathe.

"Listen to me, Tony," Steve said fiercely. "This is about more than you. We all need Queens to live. You're hurting now, I know, me too, but if you change things, if he's not worthy, we'll all be hurting a lot more in 2023." His eyes narrowed. "Would you take Morgan's brother away from her?"

"Fuck you!" Tony spat. "You don't get to say that to me! You don't get to talk about my daughter!"

"I do! I get to because this is bigger than you! It's me and Bucky, Rhodey and Nat. It's everyone in 2023, including your daughter, and most importantly, it's about your son. Peter sent you here because he trusts you—he needs you to save his life. You will not screw that up. I won't let you!"

Though Tony heard the sense of the words and knew Steve was right, his need to be with Peter was overwhelming. His son needed him now.

"How are you going to stop me?" he snarled.

Steve squared his stance. "Don't test me, Tony. I will hurt you to stop you."

Tony shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "No, you won't."

Steve narrowed his eyes, then took a step forward and grabbed Tony's shoulders. "You are staying here until Mind tells us what to do."

"No!" Tony spat. "I am going to see my son."

Steve gave his head a curt shake, said, "You're making me do this," and then swung out a fist and slammed it into the side of Tony's head.

Tony dropped boneless towards the concrete floor, Steve catching him before he could hit his head again, and he heard Steve's voice from a distance.

"You made me, Tony. I had no choice."

Darkness filled Tony's vision, and he slackened in Steve's arms as he lost consciousness.

Bucky couldn't sit, he couldn't stand still, all he could do was pace up and down behind the couch, listening to the news anchor reporting on the scene.

They had no idea what was happening to Peter, how hurt he was; they only knew he had been taken to hospital and that his aunt was with him.

Pepper had sprinted into the room thirty minutes earlier, eyes wide and desperate voice demanding information. Steve had told her Tony was in the med bay, unconscious, and that they were waiting for news on Peter, and she'd run out before asking anything else.

"And it appears the fire is out," the news anchor announced. "On scene witness reports state that there was some kind of explosion. Whether it was an accident or terror-related, we do not yet know. Statements from the fire department chief and police chief are expected shortly."

"Was this Nemesis?" Rhodey asked, his voice heavy with worry.

"We don't know," Steve said, his voice as strained as it had been since he carried an unconscious Tony out of the lab with the brief explanation of, "He made me do it."

"Could be," Natasha said thoughtfully. "I don't think so, though. They must know they can't kill Peter since they already tried and failed."

"They could have wanted to injure him enough that he's weak," Sam pointed out. "I've seen the damage a bomb can do to a human body."

"No!" Bucky said curtly. "It's not like that!"

He turned away and closed his eyes. He had also seen what a bomb could do to people, he'd set bombs to do it, and he couldn't imagine Peter with those kinds of injuries—limbs lost, horrific scarring, trauma which would last a lifetime for the lucky ones that lived.

"We don't know anything for sure yet," Steve said, his voice carefully controlled. "We have to wait for news." He glanced right. "Vision?"

Vision shook his head. "There's no sign of Mind yet. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Rhodey said. "He'll come when he's ready."

"Until then, we have to wait," Bucky spat.

The elevator doors opened behind them, and Tony and Pepper came in. Tony looked pale, and there was a bruise blossoming on his left temple from Steve's fist. He didn't show any of the determination to go or anger at his interference that Steve had told them about.

Steve held up his hands and said, "Tony…"

Tony shook his head and winced, touching a finger to the bruise. "I know why you did it. When my head stops pounding, I'll work on saying thanks. I wasn't thinking straight."

"You wanted to be with Queens," Steve said. "You're not the only one."

Bucky grimaced, the ache of worry in his chest growing. "We get it."

Pepper saw Tony to the couch and sat down beside him. "Peter's alive," she said. "Obviously. But it sounds like he's going to be okay-okay, not just alive. Friday accessed the medical reports."

Bucky breathed out a heady breath of relief and clutched his throat, which finally seemed to open to allow him to breathe freely. "Thank god."

Tony cleared his throat and said, avoiding meeting anyone's eye, "The biggest problem he's got is smoke inhalation, which is something I guess Spider-Man healing can't help. He's being kept in overnight, at least, while they give him oxygen. He's lucky, though. The witness reports given to the police say he went back into the burning building twice after getting people out."

"Sounds like Queens," Steve said with a fond smile.

"It does," Tony said, finally meeting Steve's eye. "He risked his life."

"Do we know what happened?" Pepper asked. "How the fire started?"

"Not yet," Natasha said.

There was a small groan, a deeply drawn breath, and then Vision said, "I know."

Bucky looked at him and saw, just as he expected, that it was Mind in control again.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Peter caused the explosion."

Gasps rippled around the room, and Tony buried his face in his hands and said, "The damn weapon."

"Yes," Mind said. "The Chitauri power core was exposed to radiation in the classroom and exploded. It's pure chance that it happened. A student was experimenting with a uranium-enriched material; Peter was concerned, so he intervened. If he had not intervened, the uranium would have been placed in the cloud chamber, and the core would have been nowhere near it."

"So it was pure chance," Bucky said. "Not Peter's fault."

"That is a topic which is dividing opinion," Mind said, a small smile at the corners of his lips. "We believe that, no, it was not a matter of fault but chance as Peter's protective nature changed his path. However…"

"Peter is blaming himself," Tony said, voice torn between a sigh and a moan. "Of course he is."

"Indeed," Mind said. "That is not the issue I am here to discuss, though. There is something you need to do." He fixed Tony in his gaze and waited until he had dragged his eyes up to meet his before going on. "It is time."

Tony frowned. "Time for what?"

"Time for you to take the suit."

"No!" Tony said, whipping his head from side to side. "It's not yet. The ferry—"

"Will not happen," Mind said. "That part, at least, is clear on Peter's path. He is—both now and in the future—horrified by what happened. He will not be so careless again."

Tony buried his head in his hands and fell into Pepper's side, his face turning into her neck.

"What does this mean for the future?" Steve asked, his eyes tight with tension. "Will he be worthy?"

Mind's face was grave as he replied. "That is the most unlikely outcome now. Being worthy is about so much more than morality or strength of body. It's about who Peter is as a person. He didn't feel himself worthy when he gained us, that was clear from the moment he discovered we were there, but there was the smallest part of him that would have known he was if he allowed himself to believe and trust in us. It was that part of him that accepted and embraced us eventually. He does not have even an inkling of that now. If there is not a vast shift, Peter will not be worthy."

Bucky turned away, a scream building in his chest, which he swallowed with effort and breathed through the pain. Peter would not be worthy, which meant he would die. It would be for the sake of the universe, which Peter would do willingly in a heartbeat, but he would be gone.

"What do we do?" Tony croaked. "How do I fix it? I've got to…" He ran a shaky hand over his face. "How do I save him?" His voice became pleading. "Tell me, please, how do I save my son?"

Mind looked grave. "By following the plan Peter has laid out before you. Do what needs to be done."

"There's got to be more," Bucky said, voice rough with emotion. "You're the damn Infinity Stones. You have to be able to tell us more than that." His voice rose to a shout. "How do we save his life?"

Mind's eyes were uncharacteristically sympathetic. "We do not know. None of us—not even Peter. All we can do is follow the plan we put in place. We hope things will be clearer when this is over, when Peter has faced the test coming for him. What we can all do—you now and us with him in the future—is support him as best you can. We don't know what Nemesis is going to do, their path is concealed from Time, but it will come, and you will all need to be there." He looked from Tony, whose eyes were wet and devoid of life, to Steve, who was swallowing convulsively and wiping at his face, to Rhodey, who was grim, Bucky, who felt like he was being burned at the stake, and said, "Love him."

Bucky nodded, unable to speak for fear of screaming instead, and Rhodey said, "We will."

Mind looked at Bucky, eyes grave, and then turned back to Tony. "You have to take the next step alone. You need to go to Peter and take the suit. I suggest you do it tomorrow when he's home from the hospital, but do not delay longer than that. It must be done soon."

Tony flinched and whispered, "I've really got no choice?"

"None of you want him to live. Peter feels sure that these trials are what needs to happen, and we agree. He is still on track to face The Vulture when he hijacks your plane, as that will be a situation in which he is forced to act for your sake. But the ferry is something he did before because of hubris and determination to prove himself. That will not happen again."

Tony bowed over, head in his hands. "I'm not sure I can do this," he moaned. "Not knowing what I know now."

"You have no choice while you love him," Mind said.

"And you'll never stop loving him," Pepper said, running her hands through Tony's hair. "You know you have to do this, honey."

Tony nodded, face still hidden, and said, "Okay. Tomorrow. Please, tell Peter I'm sorry."

Mind smiled slightly. "No matter how sorry you are for what must happen, I can promise Peter is ever more so; he hates that he has to ask you to do this. However, this is the last time you will be tried in this way. Soon, the threat from The Vulture will be gone, Peter will have faced these trials, and you need never hold back from him again."

Tony raised his face. "You sure about that?"

Mind nodded. "We are all confident, Peter included, that the only way to face the threat that we believe is coming is to support him closely and protect him from whatever Nemesis throws at him. Trust Peter, Mr. Stark, the hardest part for you is almost over."

"And for Peter?" Bucky asked. "How hard is what comes after going to be for him?"

Mind cast his eyes down. "That we do not know but can only guess. We all believe it is going to be great, though—greater than what he faced from Ross and Thuri."

Bucky turned away and gritted his teeth to hide his rising panic. He couldn't imagine what could be worse for Peter than what Ross did to him, but he had a sick fear he was going to find out soon.

And if they did not turn this around, find a way, Peter would not live through the Snap. He would save the universe, save the life of everyone that loved him, but it would come at the cost of his life.

So… That was brutal, I know. I'm sorry for the angst. There's not much more Homecoming left now.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx