Hey everyone! Welcome back! Chapter 5 is here!
I hope you had a great week! :)
If you prefer to read on Ao3, it's posted there!
Anyway, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters! They belong to the MCU! I only own the plot!
Peter winces and turns around.
"Yeaaah?" Peter asks. His eyes land on a groggy Pepper and he grins.
Pepper quietly comes over to Peter's side with tears in her eyes.
"Oh baby." She says giving him a gentle hug.
"I'll be fine Pepp." Peter whispers. Pepper nods, slicking Peter's hair back with her fingers.
"Where were you going young man?" Pepper demands.
Peter looks to the side guiltily.
"Will nowhere work?" Peter asks. Pepper gives him a look. "Ooook. No it won't." he sighs.
"Peter." Pepper says.
"Ok fine. I was going to see Nat. Friday said she has a fever cus she hasn't been eating? You know that's my fault." Peter says, looks down.
Pepper raises his chin gently. "You know that's not your fault honey. Nat just cares about you. So much so that she forgot to do some stuff." Pepper pauses. "If anything it's more of our fault for not checking up on her more."
"No. I know how Nat is. She's stubborn as f-"
"Peter." Pepper says warningly. Peter chuckles nervously.
"Sorry."
Pepper shakes her head, smiling slightly. "There's some things you don't need to learn from Tony."
Peter chuckles lightly. The amount of times he heard that was comical.
"Oh God." Pepper sighs. Suddenly, everything hits her at once. She has her kid back. Peter and Tony are with her again, safe and sound. Peter seems to understand and pulls her into his chest for a warm embrace.
"It's ok." Peter says, holding his mother-figure tightly to his chest. He looks over at May with love in his eyes, and Tony is asleep peacefully for once.
Peter sighs. After all that crap they went through, all of this was worth it.
"Never do that again you hear me?" Pepper asks, a hand on his cheek.
"Loud and clear." Peter says, smirking. Pepper smiles and lets him go.
"Pete you know I can't let you go up. Tony will kill me, followed by Bruce and Helen." Pepper sighs.
Peter looks to the side disappointedly. "Please Pepp? I really want to see Nat. And Steve. He's probably taking care of her." Peter pleads.
Pepper sighs. It's hard to deny the teen anything after what he's been through but this is a concern of his health.
"How about I tell them to come d-" Pepper tries.
"Nat's sick. With a fever. That's pretty bad. I'm not going to make her come all the way down here because I want to see her." Peter sighs.
"She probably would if you asked." Pepper says to herself, shaking her head. Peter pulls out his puppy dog eyes and looks at Pepper. The woman smiles. God she's melting.
"Stop that." Pepper smiles fondly.
"Stop what?" Peter asks innocently. Pepper places a kiss on his forehead and Peter leans into it, smiling.
"Fine. But I'm taking you. Once you sit, I have to go get a few things from my bedroom. Tell Friday and I'll come get you." Pepper sighs, relenting.
"Yes! I win!" He says, pumping his fist. Pepper shakes her head and sighs for probably the tenth time this morning and stands up.
"You sure? God Tony's going to kill me. And May." Pepper thinks. "And Steve and Nat. And everyone else." Pepper adds.
"I'll take the fall." Peter tells her.
"You know that's not gonna work." Pepper smiles. Peter shrugs and Pepper slaps him playfully.
"Alright you ready?" Pepper asks. Peter nods and he takes her hand, placing his weight on his wobbly legs.
He almost stumbles but Pepper steadies him before he can face-plant into the floor.
"I think I can do it now." Peter says, panting. God this was exhausting.
"Peter. This is not a good idea." Peppet reprimands.
"When do I ever have good ideas?" Peter asks sarcastically.
"There's two of them." Pepper mumbles.
"What was that?" Peter asks, smirking. Of course he heard what she said. Courtesy of super spider hearing.
Pepper smiles, rolling her eyes.
Peter takes a few steps forward. "Well I didn't pitch to the floor. I say it's going pretty well."
"Alright let's go." Pepper says holding him steady and leading him to the elevator.
"Fri take us to Nat's room please. Um-" Peter pauses. Agh what floor is that again? His brain is all mugged up from all the drugs in his system. The elevator shoots up as Pepper giggles.
"Floor 93 Pete." Pepper holding onto his arm to make sure he didn't fall. Peter swallows the '63" on his tongue.
"So it was close to what I thought." Peter lies.
"Sure sweetie."
Peter gives her an offended look as they reach the floor. Pepper smiles and gestures to Nat's room.
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Peter looks at the door.
"It's not your fault." Pepper says pointedly.
Peter nods slowly, guilt in his eyes. It is his fault.
Pepper ruffles his hair and walks off to her room.
Peter walks into the room quietly.
"Nat?" Peter calls. His eyes land on he bed and he smiles. Nat is curled up into Steve and Steve is resting his head on the headboard of the bed. They both look exhausted and Peter begins to turn away. Then he sighs and sits on the bed, observing every sign of fatigue on their faces.
Peter winces at Steve's posture. Ouch that's gonna hurt when he wakes up.
"Steve." Peter whispers. He prods the man's arm gently and Steve's eyes flicker open. He's immediately alert and puts his fists up to protect himself.
"Woah same side!" Peter says putting his hands up.
"Pete?" Steve asks, his voice shaking. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes and takes in the sight of his nephew. "Jeez kid."
He pulls Peter in and wraps his warm strong arms around him, a hand in his hair. Peter relaxes in his hold. Something about Steve makes him feel safe, almost as safe as Tony makes him feel.
"Hey." Peter mumbles.
"Scared the shit out of us son." Steve breathes.
"Language." Peter teases. Steve pulls back and rolls his eyes.
"Damn Tony. Of course he told you." Steve says, shaking his head. Peter smirks but it slowly fades as he looks over at Natasha. Steve follows his gaze and sighs.
"She's fine Peter. Not your fault." Steve says. Peter leans his head into Steve's chest and he wraps him in a embrace again, so thankful Peter and Tony are safe again. "How's Tony?"
"Still knocked out." Peter answers half-heartedly. Steve nods and Natasha stirs.
Peter moves to the middle of them and places a hand on her shoulder.
"God I'm so sorry. You guys look exhausted and it's my fault." Peter says, his voice low.
"Pete." Steve says warningly. Peter meets his kind eyes with his glazed ones. "It is not your fault. You got kidnapped for Christ's sake! It's our fault for needing you to send a signal to save you." Steve says, rubbing his forehead.
"You had no way of tracking us! That's not your fault!" Peter argues. He could practically see the weight of the guilt on Steve's shoulders.
Steve takes a deep breath. Then his eyes suddenly narrow. "How did you get here? Pete you're supposed to be resting! Tony's going to kill me!" Steve exclaims.
"Chill out. Pepper let me come." Peter says casually. Steve's eyes bug out of his head.
"Pepper!?" He whisper-shouts. "That's it. Everyone here is going crazy."
Peter giggles and punches Steve playfully. Natasha's eyes flicker open and she looks at the two of them, not quite comprehending what she was seeing.
"S-Steve. I'm really fucking sick." Natasha rasps. Steve and Peter turn immediately at her voice, a bright grin making its way across his face despite Natasha's condition. He missed her so, so much.
"Nat." Peter smiles.
Natasha puts a hand to her forehead. "Steve."
"Nat?" Steve asks. "Do you need anything?"
"No. Steve you don't get it. I'm seeing Peter sitting right next to you. I'm fucking losing it." Natasha says. She knows it's a hallucination but she drinks in the sight of Peter looking mostly healthy and in front of her.
"Nat. You're not losing it. Peter's here. We rescued him, remember?" Steve asks patiently. Peter's smile slowly fades.
"Steve. Stop it. I know we didn't-"
"It's me Nat. It's маленький паук." Peter whispers, unable to listen to Natasha's guilt laced words any longer.
Natasha squints her eyes and holds out a hand toward Peter, her tired eyes looking at him in disbelief.
Peter takes her hand gently and Natasha lets out a single sob of disbelief. Suddenly she feels no fatigue or pain from her fever. She doesn't feel anything. Anything but relief.
"Hi маленький паук." Natasha rasps.
"Hey тетя паук." Peter whispers softly. Peter scoots I'm toward her and holds her in his arms. God he missed her so much. So, so much. Nat's hands hover around Peter's face in disbelief.
"Geez you scared the crap out of us паук." Natasha laughs. It comes out as a pained cry.
"Yeah I know. Sorry Nat." Peter sighs.
"Not your fault." Natasha says, wrapping her arms around Peter's back. She missed him too much.
Peter feels a growing wet spot on his shoulder and his heart breaks a little. Nat was crying. Nat never cries. Ever.
Steve was looking at the two of them with compassionate eyes. Peter reaches out for him and he envelopes both of them into an embrace.
"God I missed you guys." Peter breathes.
"Not as much as we missed you and Tony son." Steve shudders. Peter leans his head on Steve's shoulder. And they stay there for a bit.
Natasha lets out a throaty cough and Peter pulls back, putting a hand to her forehead.
"Jeez Nat your burning up." Peter mutters. He starts to get up to go to the bathroom, but Steve stands up first.
"I got it." He says quietly. Peter nods and holds Natasha to his chest. Nat already feels her eyes droop, hoping it wasn't all a dream.
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Pepper steps into the room after about half an hour. Affection swells in her chest as she looks at the adorable scene in front of her. Steve and Peter both have their arms around Natasha, who, by the way, looks like absolute shit. Pepper makes a mental note to tell Bruce about her condition. They're all snoring softly and Natasha is curled into Peter's side, holding him as though he would disappear if she let go. She walks in quietly and ruffles Peter's hair, placing a kiss on the top of his head. She wraps a blanket around the trio then steps back, leaning against he door. Pepper gives a soft happy sigh and creeps quietly out of the room and toward the elevator.
"FRI? You took a pic of that right?" Pepper asked.
"File saved to "Operation: No growing up, Spiderbaby." Friday says, her voice amused. Pepper cracks up. Definitely going to be teasing Tony about that one.
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Pepper exits the elevator and walks into the room to find a stirring May.
"Pepper?" May asks groggily after a few minutes.
"Hey May." Pepper greets.
"Did you go somewhere? I think I woke up at some point. Probably fell back as-" May tenses. "Where's Peter."
Pepper whirls around to look at his bed, forgetting for a moment. "Oh." Pepper huffs.
"He's fine. He wanted to see Nat and Steve and he used those god-forsaken puppy eyes on me." Pepper sighs.
May frowns. "He just got kidnapped! Why did he go all the way up there?"
"I walked him up there." Pepper assures. May sinks back into her chair. "Do you wanna see something adorable?"
May smiles inquisitively and nods. Pepper pulls up the file on her phone and hands it over to her, grinning the whole way.
"Oh my Gosh." May gushes.
"I know!" Pepper laughs.
"Tony's going to be so jealous!" May exclaims, holding her stomach. Pepper giggles with her. Tony gets jealous over all the Avengers when they're with his kid. He's gonna flip when they show him this. Or melt. Either one. He's such a softie at heart. Pepper hopes he'll wake up sooner rather than later. According to Bruce, he should be up by early evening.
Pepper stands up and walks over to Tony's bedside. She smiles sadly and places a hand on his forehead, slowly running her fingers through his hair.
"Wake up soon sweetie. You know Peter needs you." Pepper pauses. "Of course I do too. J-just so you know." Pepper whispers, her voice breaking.
May walks over and puts a hand on Peppers shoulder, offering her silent support. Pepper leans into her and sits down again.
"Why don't you get some sleep Pepp? I'll wake you up if anything happens." May suggests.
Pepper nods, too tired to argue. She curls up in her chair.
"Wake me up ok?" Pepper asks, yawning.
"Yup." May nods. Pepper closes her eyes and May stands up and heads to the closet to get her a blanket.
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His whole world was water. Tony! Help!, Peter screams in his head. He's dunked back in. His ears were ringing and his head was pounding.
"Please! Stop!" Peter pleads, only to get thrown into the side of the tub, adding more pain to his already throbbing head. Before Peter can do anything, he's drugged again and shoved into the ice-cold water.
This was it. Peter could feel his thoughts fading away. Somehow he knew this wasn't him just passing out. He was going to die.
I'm sorry Tony, Peter thinks. I'm so sorry. I tried to be strong like you. I did. I promise. But I can't. I'm sorry, I-i can't.
I love you so much Tony. I love you May. Steve, Nat, Rhodey, thanks for taking care of me. I love you guys. Tony I love you. You're my hero.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump…-thump.
Thump.
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Peter gasps, taking in as much air as he can. He falls out of the blanket and onto the floor, still gasping, silent tears streaming down his face. He could still hear his own heart stop and feel the ice-cold water dripping off of him, mixing with his blood as it replays over and over in his head. Peter braces his hands on the floor, trying and failing to steady himself.
He remembers that day. It was probably the worst of the lot. He was being tortured in front of Tony and he got to the point where he thought he was going to die any second. So he started saying his goodbyes in his head. He hoped by some miracle they would hear him.
He could hear his heart slow. He felt every minute ticking by, as his body slowly began the process of shutting down. Just as he thought it was over, rough hands pulled him up and threw him to the floor.
He was unconscious in Tony's lap for hours. When he woke up, he wished he had stayed under. The anguish in his mentor's eyes was different from everything else he had witnessed them do to Peter. Peter knew because he felt physical pain when he looked at Tony's expression. The guilt filled him up and slowly digested him from the inside out. Because he knew Tony knew. He knew Tony knew he had given up in that moment.
And Tony knew exactly what he was thinking.
Peter lets out small choked sobs curling up into himself and putting his head between his knees. He hears a soft voice calling his name but he just focuses on breathing.
"Peter? Oh shit." Natasha groans. She climbs out of bed, her body trembling with exhaustion, and all but falls to the floor beside the teen.
"Nat what a-are you doing?" Peter gasps.
"Hey it's ok. You're safe. What do you see?" Natasha asks, willing her voice to not fail her.
"Um Steve, the ground, you, the bathroom a-and um that picture." Peter responds. This was something Nat had taught him a while ago while training. They were sparring and Peter had a flashback. It was so sudden that he forgot what he was doing and Natasha knocked him to the ground. She was one of the few people who knew he had panic attacks from HomeComing. And now from this.
"Ok. Now what can you touch?" Natasha asks softly.
"Your arm, the floor, the sheets and the pillow." Peter whispers, his breaking slowly regulating.
"Wha's going 'n?" Steve asks groggily. Natasha rolls her eyes and focuses back on Peter.
"Ok, three things you can hear." Natasha tells him.
"You, Steve, and someone going down the stairs." Peter says, leaning into her shoulder. Natasha puts a hand in his hair, stroking it gently.
"Pete?" Steve asks, attempting to get his tired limbs out of the blanket.
"What can you smell?" She whispers, ignoring Steve.
"Lavender from the humidifier and the fresh sheets." Peter murmurs, falling asleep on Natasha's shoulder. Natasha smiles at Peter's soft snores and looks over at Steve.
"You awake sleeping beauty?" Natasha smirks. Steve rolls his eyes and picks Peter up placing him on the bed.
"Is he ok?" Steve asks. "What happened?"
Natasha gives him a look and he nods. It was horrible that Peter had to go through things that most adults can't handle. And yet, he was still the strongest person he knew.
"You need your meds." Steve tells her, picking her up too. He places her on the bed beside Peter and she curls up next to him.
"Thanks mom!" Natasha laughs quietly. Steve lets out a sigh and goes into the bathroom, coming out with ibuprofen.
"Here. I'm so done with you." Steve says, rolling his eyes.
Natasha smirks and takes them dry.
"You're not supposed to do that." Steve chastises.
"Come 'ere I'm cold." Natasha says, reaching out to Steve. His gaze softens and he wraps his arms around her and the teen, holding them close.
"Jeez Nat. You're so warm." Steve says worriedly.
"I didn't know that happened when you're sick." Natasha murmurs.
"Oh shut up." Steve tells her.
Natasha smiles and closes her eyes.
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Steve and Peter awaken to the sound of Friday's affectionate voice.
"Wha'?" Steve asks, looking at Peter. Peter shrugs and rubs his eyes.
"Fri can you say that again?" Peter yawns.
"Mrs. Potts has informed me that Tony is starting to wake up. She has asked you to come down slowly with the help of Mr. Rogers." Friday tells them.
Peter immediately gets out of the covers struggling to stand up.
"Hey hey slow down Pete." Steve says, getting up quickly and helping him up.
"Come on. Lets go." Peter says urgently.
"Friday. Tell me when Nat wakes up. And tell her where we are." Steve says before walking them over to the elevator.
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