It was a Saturday morning, and Peter Parker really didn't feel like getting out of bed. It was summer vacation, so he was allowed to sleep in. And, he was staying at the Avengers compound, so he didn't have Aunt May pestering him to wake up. Unfortunately, he now had Friday pestering him to wake up. On her bored boss' orders of course.
"Peter, Tony says that if you don't get out of bed and keep him company, he is going to have Natasha kick your door down. Again." The computer alerted.
Peter groaned "Ok, ok I'm up! Tell him I'm getting changed and I will be in the kitchen in a few minutes."
It's really annoying having an insomniac as a mentor. Because when he stays up all night and is up at the crack of dawn he wants somebody to talk to. That somebody is usually Peter. Tony knows that he's the only one who never says 'no'.
A few minutes later Peter walked into the kitchen to see the majority of the other Avengers sitting at the table talking. He then glared over at Tony, "I thought you said you were lonely?!"
"I am." He pointed at the others "they aren't talking about anything interesting."
Peter groaned and went to make himself a bowl of cereal while the others laughed at him and Tony. Peter went back to the table and found a seat between Tony and Steve. He sure was glad they had figured that whole civil war thing out. He really liked some of the other Avengers.
"So, Peter, you excited to be a Junior next year?" Natasha asked.
He laughed a bit "No not really." The others laughed too. "School's just not really a challenge for me. I just can't wait until I graduate."
"And then go to college at MIT." Tony added.
Peter smiled "We'll see Mr. Stark. My Aunt is probably going to want me to stay in New York."
"You and your aunt really have an awesome relationship." Sam commented.
He nodded "Aunt May is the best. We get along so great. She was even super chill when she found out about my powers." Tony snorted. "Okay maybe not 'super' chill. She kinda threatened to call the police on Mr. Stark." The others laughed "But we talked her out of it eventually. And she still lets me be Spider-Man so that's pretty cool." They all nodded.
The rest of the day went on fairly normally. Bruce, Tony, and Peter messed around in the lab for a few hours. Then Peter went on a run with Steve, Sam, and Bucky. After that everyone had lunch. Then he did some training with Natasha and Clint. He ended off the day with him and Wanda trying to explain Star Wars to Vision and Thor. They really weren't getting it.
After dinner, Peter was pretty wiped out, so he went straight to bed. He had some troubles getting to sleep. But after an hour or so he was able to manage. He later wished that he hadn't.
You must be Peter.
I'm Liz's dad.
I'm going out of town. It's right on my way.
I'll bet you were glad when your old pal Spider-Man showed up in the elevator though, huh?
You walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened...
I'll kill you... and everybody you love.
You know, I gotta tell you, Pete... I really, admire your grit.
I'm sorry, Peter.
I'm not going home empty-handed.
Peter suddenly woke up in a cold sweat screaming his head off. He was breathing extremely fast and he felt like he was going to pass out. After a few minutes he had calmed down a bit but at some point, he had started crying. It took even longer to get that to stop.
Once he had finished calming himself, he sat up and got out of bed. This was the third nightmare this week. He sure was glad that his room was sound proof. He walked out of the room and made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Anything that kept him from having to go back to bed right away.
He made his way over to the cabinets and got out a glass. He then went to the fridge to fill it with ice and water. He sat down at the table and sipped his water. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there when a voice came from behind him. "Trouble sleeping?"
Peter almost jumped out of his skin when he turned around to see Sam standing behind him. "What? No." he laughed a little "I just got thirsty that's all..."
"Really?" Sam got his own glass of water and sat down next to him. "Then why didn't you just take it back to your room and drink it?"
"I uh..." he rubbed the back of his neck "I didn't want to have to bring the glass back later, so I thought I would just drink it here..."
Sam chuckled "That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. You really need to get better at lying. So, Peter, why are you really out here at 3 in the morning?"
He looked down at his water "I had a bad dream that's all..."
"A dream bad enough that you didn't want to just go back to bed afterwards?" he asked "No, right now you are trying to avoid falling asleep again. You are afraid that whatever you saw is going to be there again." Peter didn't say anything, confirming his theory. "So, what did you see that spooked you so much?"
"It's nothing..." he mumbled.
"If it was nothing we wouldn't be having this conversation." He replied, "And Friday wouldn't have notified me that you had a rapid heart rate and were showing the signs of a panic attack." Peter looked up at that. "I was up late reading a book. She said I was the only one awake, so she alerted me first." Peter looked down again. "I know I'm probably not your first choice to talk about this stuff to. If you would like I can go, get Tony."
His eyes widened "You can't tell Mr. Stark!"
Sam leaned back in his chair "Then I guess you're stuck with me kid. So, what was your nightmare about?"
He sighed "Did Mr. Stark tell you about me beating up that Vulture guy and saving his tech a few months ago?" he nodded. "Well, all Mr. Stark knows about is the battle we had on the plane and at Coney Island..."
"There was more?" he asked.
Peter nodded "His name was Toomes. That night was the homecoming dance, and I found out he was my girlfriend's dad. He found out my secret on the way to the dance and threatened me if I followed him. I did anyway and found him in an old warehouse. We fought for a little when..." he stopped.
"What happed?" he asked.
Peter took a deep breath. "He used his wing suit to break the supports for the building. The roof came crashing down on top of me and I couldn't escape. I... I thought I was going to die... All by myself where no one could find me..." he started crying. "I was dreaming that I was trapped in there again. Only this time I couldn't make it out... I died but no one knew it. They just thought I had run away... Nobody even missed me..." He was sobbing now.
"Hey, it's ok..." Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "You aren't there anymore. You're safe." It took some work, but he eventually got him to stop crying. "Peter, ever since the fight, has anything else weird been happening to you?"
He nodded weakly "Sometimes, I'll be in the middle of something, when something around me reminds me of that night. I'll think I'm back there under the ruble and start crying. I think it's some kind of panic attack. I'm usually by myself when it happens but there was one time I scared my friend Ned half to death when it happened. I told him I was just stressed."
Sam nodded "Anything else?"
Peter thought about it, "I didn't used to be scared of small spaces, but now when my aunt wants me to get something out of the closet my heart always beats a bit faster. But there's really nothing to worry about..."
"Have you ever been to a therapist?" the question threw him for a loop.
"What?" he asked.
"You should really go see a therapist about this." He clarified "This isn't something to just ignore Peter. What you have just described to me sounds just like PTSD. And I should know, I have worked with many men and woman fresh back from wars who deal with problems similar to yours. Nightmares, jumping at shadows, phobias they didn't use to have, and sometimes forgetting that they are no longer there anymore."
"I... I know..." Sam was surprised "I... I've been afraid that's what it was... but I could never tell anybody..."
"Why not?" he asked.
"If I told my aunt, she wouldn't let me be Spider-Man anymore. If I told Mr. Stark, he would take my suit away again. And if I talked to an actual therapist, well then I would have to tell him my secret identity so that wouldn't work." He replied.
Sam sighed "You don't want other people to think less of you. I get that. But you need to talk to somebody when things like these happen. You'll drive yourself insane if you don't." he paused for a moment. "How would you feel about talking to me?" Peter's head popped up. "I won't tell your aunt or Tony, so you don't have to worry about no longer being Spider-Man. And, I used to work with people just like you for a living. I know exactly what you are going through. If you ever experience an attack or have a nightmare you can come to me and we can talk about it."
Peter met his eyes "Really? You won't tell anyone?" he shook his head. "And you think... you could fix me?"
He put a hand on his shoulder "Peter there is nothing to fix. You have been through a traumatic experience. You can't help that. There is nothing wrong with you. I'm just going to help you put your mind at peace and come to terms with what happened to you."
Peter nodded "I think... I think I would like that..."
After that Peter went back to bed. He fell asleep and didn't have any dreams of the Vulture. Maybe this could really work...
(A/N - Hey guys! :) Thanks for reading. I update on weekends so you can expect the next chapter next weekend. See you then! :) Remember, with great power comes great responsibility! Or the great need to take a nap. Whichever you prefer. :) Bye!)