Spider and Snake [REQUESTS CLOSED]

Not Your Fault

Of all the things to kill an Avenger... After everything they had all gone through... He was taken out by a car accident.

A hit-and-run of all things killed Tony Stark.

And it was Peter's fault.

If Peter had moved faster to save that little girl, then Mr. Stark wouldn't have felt the need to push them both out of the way - sans his iron suit. He should have just left them; Peter would have been able to survive a hit by a diesel truck! He could have tossed the girl to Mr. Stark and taken the hit like he was supposed to!

But Tony just had to play the sacrifice card...

Peter could still vividly remember the moment that Mr. Stark had stopped moving in the middle of the road as they waited for paramedics; the moment that no matter how much Peter screamed, Mr. Stark wasn't coming back to him.

He withdrew from everyone after that. Some of the Avengers had tried to call him but he had just turned his phone off... He didn't want to talk with anyone, May and Ned included. It wasn't fair to anyone, but he just couldn't deal with their sympathetic looks and voices then... He really couldn't! The moment that May had arrived at the hospital and first gave Peter that look, he had bolted to the nearest exit - a window on the third floor.

Pulling his hoodie up, Peter swung through the city as fast as he could, trying to get away from his feelings. He wanted to be empty right now, he wanted to feel the wind rushing against him as he moved, wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline as he free-fell.

But no matter how fast he swung or how far he fell, he couldn't get away from his emotions and those traitorous hot tears ran down his face against his will.

He was the reason Tony Stark was dead. It was as if he had put his hands around his throat and killed him himself...!

A week had passed before it was time for the funeral, the first time any of them had seen Peter since the accident. May was almost convinced that he wouldn't show up, and she had a right mind to scold him for disappearing if he did.

No one had seen him enter, or no one had cared to watch for him, but he was suddenly there among the crowd and fighting off tears as Pepper gave her speech about him. Steve and Natasha had both tried to go to him once the service was over, but Peter had disappeared as suddenly as he had come.

Another two weeks had gone by with still no word from Peter or sightings of Spider-Man; the two had completely dropped off the map. Just as Peter wanted. He wanted to be alone; he wanted his time to grieve. That was normal and respectable, right? He had just lost a father figure and dear friend, couldn't people understand that?

Taking a deep breath, Peter closed his eyes as his fists clenched. No one understood that...

"Everyone is worried, you know."

"Leave me alone."

Footsteps clicked against the roof behind him as Loki came to stand next to Peter at the edge, looking out at the city. "Your aunt keeps coming to me in tears because she worries so much. At least text her."

Peter's jaw clenched as he started to turn away, more than prepared to swing to solitude somewhere else. Loki grabbed his upper arm though, keeping him in place. In a reflex move, Peter grabbed Loki's wrist and glared at the man, "I said, leave me alone."

"What? Are you going to snap my wrist if I don't?"

"No!"

"Then I will not let you go off on your own again, it's not safe for you-"

"Safe? I'm an enhanced superhero; I think I can take care of myself!"

Loki sighed as he fought to hold back an eye roll, "You are emotionally unstable, child. You are not safe to yourself right now. When was the last time you ate? Slept? I bet you haven't even showered since the funeral."