Alternate title: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Endgame Fix-It
Laura Barton doesn't exist, neither do the kids. Clint went all emo murderer because he lost his makeshift kids (Wanda and Pietro - who's now back and alive, you're welcome)
Morgan doesn't exist in this one, sorry XD, maybe in a later oneshot.
May's dead. I'm sorry. This is the first time I've ever killed her off in a oneshot, and it sucks, but I need it for plot convenience soo....
ya know, oops.
This is going to be very, very interesting :D
Angst and then fluff :D
Peter's POV
Peter saw Tony on the battlefield, and when the moment came, and he saw the look in the man's eyes, he knew exactly what was going to happen.
With a panicked glance around him, Peter flung himself away from the fighting and toward his mentor, hoping, praying that he would get there in time.
Peter shot his webs out, letting them hook onto a small rock structure, and he swung faster than he ever had in his life.
Beams of light were ravaging the side of his mentor, and Peter could not let that happen.
By the time his feet hit the churned-up ground, he was already at Tony's side, grabbing onto the man, clinging to him.
He allowed his share of the pain to come through to him. Anything to help him. Anything.
Tony had already begun to snap when he realized that Peter was there, but it was too late. When the fingers of the Iron Gauntlet came together, the older man's eyes were filled with terror.
Now that the moment was over, the adrenaline dying down, Peter realized just how badly it hurt. It felt like the dusting all over again - all the molecules and atoms of his body stretching, trying to tear itself apart.
But still he held onto Tony, trying to take more of the damage, seizing the Iron Gauntlet and desperately trying to stop the flow of energy to his mentor.
Please let him be okay, please, please. I need him to live.
He took more of the pain than Tony, because there was no way Peter was going to just stand there and let his father figure die in front of his eyes, again.
"Peter..." Tony gasped out through the pain. Peter raised his eyes to meet his, and whispered a small "I'm sorry."
But then it was over, and Peter was flung backward as darkness consumed his vision.
Tony's POV
When the Infinity Stones were in his hands, he knew exactly what he had to do.
Ignoring the pain surging through his body, he knew.
Raising his hand to erase Thanos and his army, permanently.
"I am inevitable," The Mad Titan had said, smirking.
Tony opened his mouth to deliver the one line he had to. The one thing everyone needed to know, his lasting legacy on the Earth, the phrase that had been a part of him since getting up on that stage during the press conference after his battle with Obadiah Stane.
"And I... am... Iron Man-"
The last word came out a bit strangled as a weight crashed into him.
Peter.
Nononononononono!
This wasn't supposed to happen!
Tony tried to stop the snap at the last second, but it was too late. Agony surged through his body from the gauntlet, and he heard a small whimper from beside him.
The boy was frantically clutching at him, trying to protect him. If that wasn't as inverted as fuck, then what was?
The pain dulled from unbearable to barely within his endurance.
"Peter..." Tony managed, wild with fear.
This wasn't what I meant to happen.
Please, don't hurt him.
I need to be there for him, to help him deal with this.
When Peter slowly looked at Tony, his heart wrenched. His kid was so desperate, so in pain, so hollow-
I wish I knew what he was thinking.
Like the wish had pulled the next words from Peter, the boy whispered a small "I'm sorry."
Peter was flung from him by some force, and Tony was so, so thankful that his kid didn't have to go through the pain anymore, but god, now he was crumpled on the ground, unconscious, looking more at peace than anyone Tony had seen in the last five years and-
Tony belatedly realized that he, too, was falling, collapsing to his knees too far away from his kid, the energy of the Infinity Stones dulling now that their use was finished, and he lost his hold on reality and passed out.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony slowly opened his eyes, and realized he was not, in fact, lying down.
He was standing in the middle of Central Park.
It seemed calm, but then there was a scream, and people started rushing to get out of the place.
A man held a little girl at gunpoint, yelling at a sobbing woman in front of him.
Tony looked around to search for any triggers to get his Iron Man suit, to help the child, but he had none.
He opened his mouth to shout, but before he could, there was a telltale thwip, and Spider-Man swung onto the scene.
Tony watched with bated breath, too scared to call out in fear of distracting Peter.
Within seconds the man was on the ground, but the gun hadn't been as disabled as Peter thought. He had aimed at the girl, and fired.
But Peter was there, and then he was bleeding a lot through the side, but he clutched a hand to the wound and webbed up the criminal.
Tony, frozen from fear, suddenly snapped back and ran to Peter.
"Kid, kid, are you okay? Let's get you somewhere safe. I'll call for Bruce to get Med Bay ready, and-" The man broke off, realizing he didn't have his phone.
And that Peter didn't acknowledge him.
"Are you okay, buddy?" The boy asked, kneeling beside the child. "Y-yeah," The girl stammered out, eyes wide with fear. "Thank you- thank you so m-much!" The mother was saying desperately, clinging to her child.
"It's not a problem. Stay safe," Peter said, giving them a thumbs up.
The woman had inquired if he needed medical help, which he declined.
"Um, kid? You definitely need medical help. Come on-" Tony reached out to pull Peter toward him, but missed.
He tried again.
Then he realized that he didn't so much miss as his arm went straight through the boy's body.
"Um, what the hell? Peter. Peter." Tony exclaimed, fear shooting through his veins.
Peter only stood up, and webbed away.
Tony ran after him, finally stopping next to Peter as he crouched in an alleyway, pulling out his phone. The boy typed in a series of numbers- that was Tony's phone number.
"Hey," Peter said when the phone was picked up. "Hey, kiddo. What's up?" The voice on the other line asked.
That was him.
That was Tony, but it couldn't be, he was standing right here!
"Oh, uh, well, I was on patrol, right?" "Yeah." "And there's this mugger dude, okay?" "Yeah?" "And I was going to help, because he has a girl at gunpoint, and the mom's crying, right?" "...yeah?" "And basically, I got shot in the side."
"WHAT?? Okay, kid, next time, skip the story, tell me about the fatal wound first. I'll be there in a second. Where are you?"
Peter paused, looking around. "Umm... around Morningside and West 114th. Near that one statue, of Lafayette and Washington."
And now, Tony remembers this night. He was tinkering in the lab when he got a distress call from Peter, saying he'd been shot. If he recalled correctly, this was where Peter violently complained that he didn't need to be picked up.
"I'm on my way."
"Mr. Stark! I don't need to be picked up. I'm not a baby, you know. I'm perfectly capable of swinging my way over to the compound-"
"You're capable, but you're also bleeding out. Look up."
Suddenly a voice echoed through the world. "Peter? Can you hear me?"
But nobody heard the voice but Tony, or else they were all incredible actors.
And then Memory-Tony was there, and bringing Peter over to the compound, leaving Tony standing there confused as fuck, before it went black.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When he next opened his eyes, he was standing in Peter's apartment.
"Kid?" Tony asked cautiously, glancing around.
No response.
Voices were echoing out of the kitchen.
Tony walked over and peered in to see May, Peter, and an unfamiliar man sitting at the table.
Peter looked younger than Tony had first met him - and, come to think about it, so did May.
"Those bullies aren't bothering you again, right?" The man asked. And in a flash, it came back to him. Tony had seen this man in a picture - it was Peter's uncle, Ben.
There was a quickly stomped down look of pain on Peter's face. "No," The boy said quickly.
May and Ben nodded, satisfied, but Tony knew better. He'd been lied to by the kid so much, he knew all the kid's tells.
Tony decided that whenever he got back from wherever he was, he was going to find that Flash kid and beat the shit out of him.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Peter looked around the hallways, confused.
"Where the hell did I get to?" He wondered aloud. Tony stood by him, confused. What was this memory?
Peter looked around before choosing a direction and seemingly hoping for the best.
Suddenly, the boy let out a small yelp. "Ow!" He gasped, staring at his hand. Peter frowned. "A... a spider?" He asked to himself. Then he squinted. "Why is it glowing like that?"
The boy shrugged and flicked it off - it had died right after the bite.
Shortly after, a man ran up to Peter and asked what he was doing there. Peter confessed that he had gotten lost. Tony followed them as Peter was quietly led back to the tour group, who hadn't even noticed his absence.
Then the boy looked up and gasped. Tony followed his gaze to a sign hanging outside of a room.
Radioactive Spider Farm
Keep door shut at all times.
So that was how he'd gotten his powers.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony followed Peter closely as he walked out of the elevator and into his apartment after unlocking the door.
"Hey, May," The boy said, pulling his backpack further up on his shoulder.
Tony blinked as he saw the woman sitting on the couch with someone who had their back to him.
"Hey!" May replied cheerfully. There was a small pause, until the woman asked "How was school today?"
Peter hesitated. "It was okay."
A lie.
"There's this crazy car parked outside-" Peter broke off, eyes widening, as Tony suddenly remembered where they were.
Tony rushed over to Peter, who was staring in shock at the man on the couch.
"Hello, Mr. Parker," The man greeted.
"Um... wha- what are you do- Hey. Um, I-I-I'm Peter," The boy introduced himself, remembering his manners.
"Tony," Memory Tony said, pointing at himself. Peter gave a small, confused smile.
"Wha- what are you... what are you.... what are you doing here?" Peter asked, stumbling over the words.
"It's about time we've met," Memory Tony said.
Great job, Past Me. Very vague and annoying, Tony berated himself mentally.
"You did get my emails, right?" Past Tony asked, winking twice.
Peter paused, bewildered. "Right?" The man repeated. "Ye-yeah, yeah. Regarding the..." Peter trailed off.
God, his kid was gullible back at this point in time.
"You didn't even tell be about the grant," May interjected.
"About the grant," Peter said, seizing on the clue and using it, covering up his perplexity with a mask - the kid was a good actor when he tried.
"The September Foundation," Past Tony announced conversationally. "Right," Peter breathed, still sounding dazed. "Yeah. Remember when you applied?" The man continued.
The boy shoved his hands in his pockets. After another pause, he finally said "Yeah."
"I approved," Past Tony said, gesturing at Peter. "So now... we're in business." The man raised his cup of tea.
"You didn't tell me anything, what's up with that? You're keeping secrets from me?" May asked.
Tony, present Tony, inside-some-sort-of-goddamn-memory Tony, mentally facepalmed at his past self for not even considering how this would affect his kid.
The kid.
Okay screw it nobody could hear his thoughts, this was his kid, goddamn it.
"Well, I just - I just... know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know... what... anyway, what did I apply for?" Peter asked, quickly changing the subject.
"That's what I'm here to hash out," Past Tony declared confidently. "Ok, hash - hash it out, ok," Peter stammered.
"It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt," Tony said, smirking.
Tony immediately zoned out after this, wondering why he was flirting with Peter's aunt, because fuck it, this was his kid and he didn't even think that it would hurt or confuse Peter.
A voice interrupted him. "Tony's vitals are steady... he'll make it."
That definitely wasn't part of the memory.
He was dragged back into the conversation when Past Tony went to Peter's bedroom and they talked a bit, until he heard Peter's voice, the one that comes out when he really does not want to be somewhere or feels incredibly awkward.
"I definitely did not apply for your grant," He said, before being cut off by Past Tony. "Ah-ah! Me first."
Peter muttered out an "ok..."
"Quick question, of the... rhetorical variety," Past Tony said, pulling out his phone. "That's you, right?" He asked, projecting an image of Peter - in his ridiculous Spider-Man pajamas - stopping a car theft.
"Um, no. What do you- what do you-" Peter was cut off by Past Tony again. "Yeah." The man flipped the phone around.
"Look at you go," He said, watching as Peter caught a car before it crashed into a bus. "Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills." Past Tony slowly approached Peter.
Peter, clearly uncomfortable, dodged around the older man to move toward the window. "That's all- That's all on YouTube, though, right? I mean, that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer...?"
Past Tony ignored this, looking up at the ceiling, before making a face.
Tony zoned out through the parts where Past Tony embarrassed Peter about various things.
When Peter plopped down on the bed, Tony was already beside him. "I love you, Peter," He whispered to the boy who wouldn't hear him. "Everything's going to be okay."
He wished he could put his arm around the boy, but when he tried, it just passed through Peter's body and fell to the bed. Tony sighed, burying his face in his hands.
And that's when he realized it.
All the memories he'd seen, they were from Peter's point of view.
He was stuck in Peter's memories.
And he had to find a way out. The voices he had heard - the loud, echoing ones - were from people around real-life Peter - but he hadn't heard Peter's voice once.
Something was very, very wrong.
(Was Tony dead?)
Steve's POV
Steve and the others were all sitting in the room with the bodies.
Tony and Peter - the boy he now knew to be the Spider-Man from Berlin - were laid out on beds in the small, cramped room. Pepper looked so despairing, equally for Tony and Peter. Steve had learned that Peter Parker had been like a son to the two of them.
Another woman, who he had discovered was Peter's aunt, May, knelt at Peter's side.
"Tony's vitals are steady... he'll make it," Bruce announced, looking up in concern from the opposite side of Tony's bed.
Pepper looked over, tears in her eyes, and thanked the man repeatedly.
Peter's POV
Everything hurt.
And everything's black.
Peter's head hurt horribly, and nothing seemed to stop it.
Sometimes he thought he heard Tony's voice:
"Kid, kid, are you okay? Let's get you somewhere safe."
"You definitely need medical help."
"I - you, Peter... Everything- to - okay-"
Tony's voice fragmented and shattered as Peter fell back in the silence.
Tony's POV
It was almost funny, seeing so many memories of him.
Except it was giving him whiplash, so he hoped it would stop.
And then it did.
And Peter was there.
So there were two Peters here - one in front of him, in the memory, chattering excitedly as he and Past Tony worked on the Spider-Man suit. The other one was blurry around the edges, occasionally fizzing out and then refocusing.
"Peter?" Tony asked hesitantly.
Peter #2 - Blurry Peter - looked up at his name.
The other one completely ignored it.
What was so different? Why could this one hear him?
"Kid?"
Peter, the actual one, the one not in the memories blinked at him. Tony broke into a grin. "I know, it's me, your favorite Iron Man, right?" Tony ran over to him and flung his arms around him. He could hug his kid, finally, that small one in the middle of the battle was nowhere near enough. Tony wrapped his arms quickly around the boy, because he just got his kid back and you can be sure as hell he wasn't going to let Peter go again.
After what was entirely too short of a time, about 3 minutes, Tony finally pulled away.
"We should probably get down to business," Tony said regretfully.
Peter stared at him. "Um.. okay so basically for a while I've been seeing... your memories. Like, I didn't choose to, but it just kinda... happened."
Peter glitched out for a moment, his body temporarily disappearing before materializing again.
"I don't know what's going on, but it isn't-"
Tony broke off as Peter blurred out again, fizzling into a blank space. He sporadically focused and became indistinct. Between bits of existence, Tony saw Peter reach an arm out to him, looking desperate. And then he faded off to nothingness.
"Peter!" Tony yelled at the space the boy had been standing. "PETER!"
Peter's POV
Peter thought he saw Tony, in the blackness. He was saying something, running toward him.
Peter tried to say something, anything, especially to apologize, but he couldn't force the words out.
When the man started to fade, Peter reached out, trying to catch hold of his mentor, to ground himself, but he was too far...
Then Tony was gone.
Tony's POV
Tony was about to freak out when he heard the next voice drift in.
"Peter's vitals... they're very sporadic. I... don't know if he'll survive this."
No.
Tony had to get out of this place.
That's when he saw it.
Something very out of place.
A small doorway, without a door. In its place was a whirling vortex.
Was this his escape?
Tony approached it suspiciously, looking around.
Then he stuck his head through.
Another memory.
But this one was terrifying.
Tony turned to step back, to return to the normal ones, but when he looked, it was gone and then the doorway expanded, enveloping the room.
Smoke was filling the air, but Tony could still see well enough. Rubble and rock was everywhere.
"What the hell?" Tony muttered, glancing around. He didn't even see Peter.
Until he did.
And he was screaming.
"Hello??" The boy's yell came from underneath a pile of wreckage. "Hello?" Peter called again, desperation clear in his voice.
Tony ran to him, kneeling beside the crumpled boy. "Kid, kid, it's okay, I'm here, I love you. You can do this, I believe in you," He whispered after trying to assist Peter with the debris, only to have his arms pass through helplessly.
"Please. Hey, hey, please. I'm down here. I'm down here. I'm stuck. I'm stuck. I can't move. I can't..." Peter broke off into sobbing, and Tony tried to hug him.
Then something happened. Peter fell silent, and he was staring into a puddle, one where his Spider-Man mask lay. A look of determination crossed over the boy's face. He once again strained against the rubble. "Come on, Peter... come on, Spider-Man..." Peter chanted underneath his breath.
"You're doing great, kid. You got this," Tony said encouragingly. Something had changed. Peter stood, straining against the intense weight, lifting the entire damn building.
Then the boy looked up, directly at Stark Tower, and the scene changed.
"Tony. There was no other way."
Tony spun to see Dr. Strange sitting peacefully on a rock, staring at another Tony solemnly.
Past Tony's eyes widened, and Tony knew exactly what was about to happen.
No, no, no. He was going to have to relive this, he couldn't.
But Tony was frozen, half wanting to look away, the other half wanting to run to his kid and tell him everything that he couldn't before he died.
"Mr. Stark?" The small voice. Past Tony turned, terror in his eyes. Tony knew exactly what the past version of himself was thinking.
No, not you, please, not you. Anyone but Peter. Take me, please, don't make him go through this, I can't let him die. I can't, I can't.
Shock and terror was plain on Past Tony's face. But Peter's was filled with fear and desperation. "I don't feel so good," The boy said, stumbling forward, staring at his hands. Peter raised his eyes to meet Past Tony's. "You're alright," The older version of himself said quickly, voice shaking as he tried to be calm for his kid.
"I don't - I don't know what's - I don't know what's happening, I don't-" Peter fell into the man's arms, beginning to cry as he clutched onto Past Tony desperately.
"I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go..." Peter begged, falling to the ground as he couldn't keep himself standing anymore. He was silent for a few seconds until he spoke up again.
"I'm sorry."
And then he was ashes on the wind. Past Tony fell forward, trying desperately to help his kid, to keep him together even if there was no way.
Tony averted his eyes. He didn't want to see how broken he had looked after the event.
He just wanted to leave.
Then it went black again.
Peter was reforming.
He lay on the ground of Titan, ashes slowly collecting themselves and turning into Peter. Tony ran over to him, drinking in the sight of his kid, alive.
"Peter," Stephen said, offering a hand to the fallen boy. Peter accepted it gratefully.
"It's been five years, come on, they need us."
And then Stephen walked to the Guardians, who were starting to reform.
Strange opened a portal. As soon as it was fully open, Mantis assumed fighting position next to Drax, who pulled out his knives. Quill flew in with his guns. Then, finally, Peter swung onto the scene, landing gracefully. His mask receded into his suit and Peter smiled in awe.
Tony almost laughed. It really was a yellow sparkly thing.
Then there was a shifting beneath his feet.
Tony stumbled sideways as the world started to spin. "Peter? Um, Peter? Your brain is doing something!"
There was a feeling of falling, and then he plummeted into an expanse of darkness.
Clint's POV
"Guys! Peter has an asystole!" Bruce yelled, panicked.
Clint fell silent from his idle conversation with Steve. He didn't really want to talk. He was still mourning Natasha. They were finally starting to get somewhere in their relationship, but then Thanos with the grape, Pringle-ass chin had to show up and-
"You're right. No electrical current in his cardiovascular system!" Helen confirmed from her side of the room, successfully distracting Clint.
(Helen's words were my way of defining that lol)
Helen Cho ran over with a defibrillator as May almost started to cry.
"Administering countershock," She declared. "200 volts."
"Clear!"
They all watched in stunned silence.
"Maintaining asystole. Raising voltage to 400 volts. Clear!" Helen shouted, then placed the paddles on the boy's torso, administering the shock.
The woman exhaled, stepping back. "Successfully depolarized. His heart has been reset," She told Bruce, who nodded thankfully.
Clint only stared, heart thudding in his chest.
Did he almost just watch a kid die?
-.-.-.-.-.-
It was only a few minutes later when Tony woke up.
The man had practically shot out of his bed frantically, gasping for breath.
Pepper and Bruce immediately rushed to his side. "Hey. Hey, Tony, chill out," Bruce said quickly. Tony slowed down a bit, looking up at the man.
"Oh. Oh - hey, Bruce. What's - what happened?" He asked blearily. The man in question hesitated. "Well, you wielded the gauntlet. Killed Thanos and his army," Bruce began. Recognition shot into Tony's eyes.
"Peter," The man breathed, a terrible mixture of guilt, horror, and anger in his eyes. "He... he saved your life," Pepper said quietly. "Where is he? Where's my kid?" Tony asked, starting to stand up.
Bruce hastily moved out of the way, and pointed toward the boy still lying on the bed.
Tony went pale and rushed over.
Tony's POV
Oh no.
This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out.
Peter wasn't supposed to be there. It was supposed to be Tony's job, and his only.
Tears stung the man's eyes as he knelt beside Peter.
"Tony, Tony, this isn't safe, get back to your bed," Bruce implored.
When Tony didn't reply, he felt arms wrap around him and he was taken back to his bed forcibly.
Tony reached out toward Peter's unconscious body, and wanted to cry.
"Peter," He whispered urgently. Pepper stood and wheeled the boy's bed over to him, always knowing what he needed. They all left the room.
Tony pulled the boy up against him and tried not to cry.
"Peter, I'm so sorry. I love you, I didn't mean for this to happen."
Peter's POV
Something had changed.
It was still black, yes, and quiet, definitely. But Peter felt almost... warm.
He thought he heard Tony's voice in isolated bursts:
"Peter, I'm... sorry. I... didn't mean... this to happen."
Peter whispered back in the darkness, despite knowing the man wouldn't hear him.
"It wasn't your fault."
Tony's POV
"It wasn't your fault," Tony heard in his head.
The man jerked back, pulling Peter closer in case of danger. Then he realized the voice was Peter's.
But the boy was still unconscious, curled up beside him.
"Peter?" Tony whispered.
"I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I keep wishing you were here, and it hurts. I miss you. I wish I could wake up so I could talk to you. Now I think I'm going insane, because I know you don't really care and you're not even here, but I'm still talking to you like you could hear me..."
"Kid, what are you talking about?" Tony breathed, confused. "This was in no way your fault. I miss you too. So much. And I care, probably more than I should, but I love you so much, please, please know that."
"I feel so stupid."
"Peter, am I going fucking insane?"
"I actually thought I heard you a few minutes ago... as if."
Tony let out a breathless laugh. "Is this really you? Peter?"
"I guess I might as well talk anyways, try not to go insane."
Holy shit.
He was hearing Peter in his head.
"Why can I... hear you?"
"I always kinda thought of you as a dad, but obviously I'm not that important to you."
"Kid... I'm so confused. Why would you not be important to me?"
"But it's okay, because you've made the past year - or, I guess, six years - the best in my life.
"... yeah?"
"Well, I hope you're doing okay. I tried to save you... I tried to prevent your death."
"Well, I tried to prevent your coma, too."
"Everything's black and everything hurts right now.
"... fun."
"It's super. I wish I were actually talking to you."
"Oh, trust me. You are."
Mind-Peter laughed. "I'm probably going crazy. I don't know what's going on."
"Kid..." Tony facepalmed.
"Oh shi- something's happening - I don't - going - I'm sorry," Mind-Peter said, voice muddled and cut off.
Tony started to ask a question, but he heard nothing.
"What the hell just happened?" He muttered. "I must be going insane."
With that, the man closed his eyes, pulled Peter close to him, and drifted off to sleep.
-.-.-.-
It was the next morning when he woke up to Pepper and Rhodey waiting for him.
"Hey, Tones," Rhodey said, grinning. "Hey," Tony replied, starting to smile for the first time in a while.
Pepper pulled Tony into a hug, crying a bit.
It was a couple minutes until they were able to talk again without bursting into tears.
A few minutes later, Tony was able to get up and face the world.
Reluctant to leave Peter behind, alone, Pepper and Rhodey had to do a lot of convincing to get him to talk to his teammates.
When they finally made it to the kitchen, everyone fell silent. Until Steve breathed a quiet "Oh my god, Tony!" And the room exploded into cheers of relief.
"Miss my beautiful face already?" Tony asked dryly.
Peter's POV
Peter had never felt so utterly alone.
It's a good thing something was about to happen to change that.
A figure came into view, feminine, and around 5'5".
When she came into clearer sight, Peter blinked in surprise.
It was Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow.
"Y-you were dead!" Peter gasped in shock. The woman smiled slightly. "I am... I think. And as for you?" Natasha asked. Peter only shrugged helplessly.
"Anyways, I- I'm, uh, Peter Parker."
Natasha smirked. "I'm Natasha Romanoff. Pleasure to meet you."
Peter smiled to himself in awe.
"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Natasha Romanoff Black Widow, ma'am," He exclaimed, stumbling over the words.
Natasha's POV
Oh no.
She was getting attached.
Natasha allowed herself to smile, for real this time.
-.-.-.-.-
It had probably been a few hours of the two swapping stories, and Natasha was getting genuinely attached to the boy. He was just too adorable.
Peter suddenly broke off, as though he'd heard something. Natasha quickly noticed lines of stress forming on his face, and the way his eyes glazed over. He was trembling, and his breath was speeding up.
Panic attack.
Something Natasha knew all too well.
She ran directly over to the boy and pulled him into her arms. "Hey, Peter, it's okay, you're okay. I'm here for you." Peter was shaking and crying against her, and Natasha's heart went out to him.
"Can you feel me breathing?" She asked softly. The boy gave her a small nod. "Okay, then breathe with me. Come on. In, out. Just like that. You're doing great."
Peter matched her breathing, and slowly started to stop quivering.
"Th-thanks," He whispered once he was capable. Natasha gave him a soft smile. "It was no problem," She replied gently, hugging him closely.
Peter slowly stopped sobbing, and started to look embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have - you shouldn't have had to deal with t-that," He stammered. Natasha silenced him with a look.
"Peter," She said. "I've known you for a total of a few hours, but I already love you and that's insane. I don't ever want to hear you apologize for something out of your control."
A smile broke across Peter's face like sunlight across the ocean at dawn. "Thanks... Auntie Tasha," He tried.
Natasha beamed.
Tony's POV
He was called back to the hospital room because of Peter.
Apparently, the boy had started thrashing in his sleep.
Tony was running on his way to Peter when he got another call. "Something's... happening. He suddenly calmed down," Helen exclaimed through the phone.
Guys, i just tried to type microwave instead of phone, somebody get me some sleep.
"I'm still on my way, keep me updated."
"Well, he's completely calmed down. Breathing is steady now. Vitals are back to normal. We think he was somehow having a panic attack."
Tony's eyes widened. He knew firsthand how shitty those were. But it had only been about a minute and a half, how had Peter calmed down so quickly?
"Peter hadn't reached the height of his attack, but something happened, and he started relaxing. Almost like someone was there to help him... but nobody was."
Tony muttered a curse. What the hell was going on?
"FRIDAY, call Doctor Strange. Make sure he answers."
Peter's POV
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't incredibly thankful for his new aunt.
Natasha had helped him through a few panic attacks in the last couple days. They'd started playing games together, even ones Peter would've been uncomfortable playing with his closest friends.
"Ok, so Thor, Steve, and Bucky. Kiss, marry, kill," Natasha said, a gleam in her eye.
Peter thought for a moment. "Well, I have a huge man crush on Thor," He began.
"Who doesn't?" Natasha interjected.
Peter giggled. "I'd have to go with marry Thor... hm... honestly, I'd choose Steve but he does the PSAs at my school so I'd kiss Bucky, kill Steve," Peter decided.
"Good decision. I'd agree with marry Thor - he can be really annoying occasionally, but sometimes he seems like the only sane one on the team," Natasha said thoughtfully.
"I've kissed Steve already, and he's a surprisingly good kisser, so I'll kiss him and kill Bucky. Close call, though. Bucky's pretty hot. Shame I'd never consider dating any of them," The woman decided.
Peter pulled one thing out of this. "YOU'VE KISSED STEVE ROGERS?" He screeched. "Yeah," Natasha said nonchalantly. "I need the story!" Peter exclaimed. "I'll tell you after we finish this game."
Peter grinned. "Okay, my turn. Clint, Bruce, T'Challa." Natasha hummed quietly. "Marry Clint," She said immediately, then paused, thinking. "Kiss Bruce. Sorry, but kill T'Challa. He's pretty chill but he can be frustrating." Peter wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Marry Clint, huh, Auntie Tasha?"
Natasha blushed, covering her face with a hand. "I don't-" She began, but stopped when Peter just grinned at her.
"Oooooooooooooh-" "Shut up."
Tony's POV
Tony was hearing Peter talk again, but it made no sense.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have - you shouldn't have had to deal with t-that-"
"Truth or dare?" A pause. "Is it true that you know how to kill someone 57 ways with a paper clip?" Another pause. "61!!!!! That's crazy!"
"Well, I have a huge man crush on Thor-"
"PSAs at my school so I'd kiss Bucky-"
"YOU'VE KISSED STEVE ROGERS?"
The words were super choppy, like they were in a connection but it was poor.
Tony was sitting in the room where Peter still lay motionless on a bed. Yellow sparks started flying, and one of Stephen's portals slowly opened.
The man stepped out in all his wizard-y glory. "Strange," Tony whispered, standing slowly. "Stark," The man said, nodding curtly.
Stephen went immediately to Peter's side. "Coma," Was the first thing he said afterward. Helen rolled her eyes.
Strange did some weird golden magic shit and looked at Peter again.
"Hm... it's almost as if his consciousness is elsewhere... split between two places." Tony tilted his head, intrigued.
Stephen looked over at him. "Tony, I don't suppose you've been hearing Peter's voice?" He inquired. "Wha- uh, yeah, but I thought -" Tony spluttered, thrown off.
"I see. Part of his consciousness resides in you, the other part... within the Soul World."
Tony paused. "I don't suppose you know how to put his consciousness back into his body?" He asked. Strange glared at him. "I will do some research. For Peter. I will keep you updated," The man said, opening a portal and striding back in.
Tony sighed.
He'd try to talk to Peter tonight.
And hope to whatever forces out there that it would work.
Peter's POV
Everything was surprisingly chill with Auntie Tasha.
Right now they were playing some game of Nat's, where they took turns guessing what the other was thinking with a couple clues, and if they guessed right, the other person had to share something embarrassing about themselves.
"Okay, I used to do impressions of each of the Avengers in the mirror because I was a lonely child."
Natasha stared at him, lips twitching as she tried to hold back a laugh.
Peter groaned in defeat. "How am I supposed to win against a spy, Auntie Tasha?" He wailed dramatically.
"Don't worry, little spider. I love you even more for how adorable you are."
Peter blushed. He wasn't used to having someone tell him they loved him. Or liked him, for that matter. Only May - when she was still alive, Ned, and sometimes, MJ.
And Tony, said a tiny voice inside his mind.
Peter told that tiny voice to shut up.
Static suddenly filled his ears, mixed with talking. "Strange. Good to see you're back."
Tony's voice.
"I have the answers. But it will take time."
"Time... one thing we finally have. But do hurry, okay?"
"The most complex part will be retrieving the consciousness from the Soul Realm. It can be done, but... easily messed up."
Clint's POV
The funeral for Natasha was scheduled to be in a few days.
They had managed to recover her body, and it was currently lying in a room next to where Peter was.
-.-.-.-.-
Steve returned the stones. He had come back, having returned the stones to their proper timeline, and had looked utterly exhausted.
Bucky only patted his friend on the back. "He saw Peggy," Bucky had confessed a few hours later. "Almost stayed, but he remembered us here. And... Peter. He wanted to be here for him... and-" The man broke off, staring at the ground.
Nobody wanted to say "Natasha's funeral."
But the words still hung in the air anyways.
And yet, that day, something strange had happened.
The woman's pulse had started again.
Stephen Strange had come into the room, curiosity clear in his eyes.
"A soul for a soul," The man had murmured underneath his breath. "Interesting."
"What the hell do you mean, 'Interesting'? Can you fix her or not?" Clint demanded, rage sparking in his eyes. "Can you fix them? " Tony corrected, stepping forward.
Stephen smirked.
"Give me a minute."
Tony's POV
Stephen did his weird mystical voodoo shit and Wong stepped out through a portal.
"What the hell?" Tony mouthed at Clint.
"I know right?" Clint replied silently.
Tony was still hearing brief flashes of Peter's voice.
"Okay, back to the other game. Thor, Bruce, Loki?"
"Okay, but, like, Budapest sounds like a super weird experience. I mean, how the hell did you guys screw up so badly?"
That one, Tony felt like he was supposed to recognize, but Tony couldn't place it -
"How am I supposed to win-"
"Alright, never have I ever had a dog."
"WHAT?? We don't even know if we'll ever get back! No way am I doing that dare."
Tony was broken out of his recollection of Peter's speaking when the two wizards stopped talking.
They moved Natasha's bed into Peter's room, where they were all standing.
"Wong. Go to Natasha. I will go to Peter. On my count," Strange instructed.
Wong nodded and rushed to the unconscious woman.
"One... two... three."
In a synchronized fashion, Wong and Stephen did their magic voodoo shit and formed a type of shield around the two people.
Slowly, a ball of light formed inside the sorcerers' hands and each went into the head of the person they were standing by.
Peter's POV
It had been a few days-ish since the static incident.
Peter had blinked back to their weird reality of blankness and Natasha to see the woman kneeling beside him worriedly. "You good?" She had asked. Peter had just nodded blearily. "I thought... I had heard Mr. Stark... and Doctor Strange."
Things had gone back to normal quickly, until Natasha started getting blurry.
"Auntie Tasha?" Peter asked nervously. "Peter?" She yelled frantically, but it sounded almost likes she was underwater. "Hold on!" Natasha called, lunging for him. She flung her arms around him, and Peter clung to her, but it felt like he was being ripped away, and then a blinding light filled his vision.
Tony's POV
A wrenching pain seared through Tony's head, and he clutched at it frantically.
"Tony?" Clint asked, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Something's... happening!"
There was a long silence as the pain faded.
And then a long exhale from Strange as he stepped back, releasing his shield, as Wong followed suit.
And then Peter bolted upright in bed, eyes panicked. "Auntie Tasha!" He yelled in fear.
Natasha, across from him shot out of her unconsciousness and called out. "Peter?" She asked, looking around wildly.
Tony blinked. "What the hell?"
Clint and Tony exchanged confused looks. Natasha had spotted Peter, threw herself out of bed and rushed over to him. Peter had obviously succumbed to some sort of pain and fell limp onto the bed.
Tony, unable to hold himself back, ran to Peter's side. "Kid," He breathed thankfully.
Peter stared at him for a moment, shock, confusion, and relief filling his face. "Mr. Stark," The boy whispered. Tony got a little choked up.
He hardly registered Natasha gasping and standing to go to Clint as she started to cry in relief.
They sat like that for a few moments until Tony realized Peter couldn't really initiate any hug in this state and decided to do the job for him.
Peter flinched away from him, and Tony drew back. "W-what's wrong? Did I move too quickly? Did I hurt you?"
"Nah, Mr. Stark. It's just..." Tony groaned as he realized what Peter was about to say. "It's not a hug. We're not there yet," Peter finished, smirking.
Pietro, leaning against the wall, muttered a quiet "You didn't see that coming?"
"Kid, I'm going back to hugging you and I swear if you stop me I'm going to kill you," Tony instructed, pulling his kid back into an embrace. Peter smiled a bit. "You would never kill me, Mr. Stark. You love me too much," He said, smirking.
"Damn right," Tony muttered, remembering what he had heard Peter say in his mind earlier that week.
Then he blinked. What Peter had said in his mind earlier.
"alSO WE NEED TO HAVE A TALK."
Peter's eyes widened. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry-" "Why the HELL would you think I don't care a lot about you?"
"W-what?" Peter stammered. "I heard you- in your coma or whatever. I love you, Peter. Please don't ever doubt that."
Peter blushed. "But - it j-just doesn't make sense - I thought you really only needed Spider-Man, and Peter Parker was just an annoying side effect."
Tony froze. "Kid," He whispered, stunned. "You are the opposite of annoying. I swear. You are the most amazing child ever."
Peter looked like he was about to cry. "Did I say something wrong?" Tony asked, concerned. "N-no," The boy managed. "As far as I know, you did everything right."
"By the way, I saw a crap ton of your memories," Tony blurted. He didn't do too well with affectionate moments.
"I'm sorry, what? "
"Yeah- like, the spider bite, random shit from the past, meeting me, that one time you got shot in the side -" "That was funny." "No it wasn't - and Oscorp, and stuff."
Peter looked down. "This is..." He looked heavily traumatized.
"Peter?"
"I don't-" "I'm sorry, it wasn't really my choice, I don't - Peter, you look really weird. Are you about to cry? Please don't cry. I'm sorry."
Peter turned his head sideways as best as he could.
"This is so embarrassing," Peter muttered heavily.
Tony smirked, now knowing it wasn't a huge issue. "Nah, a lot of it was super cute."
"Okay, in my coma, what all did you hear?" Peter asked suspiciously. Tony grinned evilly. "Nothing you'll want me to say in front of everyone here," He said casually.
Peter froze. He and Natasha traded a look. "Did you hear... anything from Natasha?" He asked. "Only you," Tony replied, shrugging.
Peter was blushing strongly at this point. Before Tony could continue, however, Pepper shoved him out of the way and hugged Peter tightly. The boy coughed. "Thanks, Mrs. Stark. It's good to see you too," He managed, gasping for air.
"Okay, so what exactly happened while you were unconscious?" Clint asked.
Peter and Natasha shared a mischievous glance. "Well, a lot of stuff happened," Natasha said finally, taking one of Peter's hands and one of Clint's.
Peter's POV
It had been a few days since he and Natasha woke up, and he still couldn't move.
Of course, the Avengers were always there to help him, whenever he needed. Especially Natasha, Tony, and Pepper.
But Tony was slowly visiting less and less, and Peter had no idea why.
Was it something that he'd said?
"Hey, Peter. I recognize that look. Did something happen?" Natasha asked softly, sitting beside Peter.
"N-no, thanks though, Auntie Tasha."
Natasha took his hand and smiled gently at him. "It's okay if there's something wrong. You can tell me."
Peter just shook his head silently.
Natasha's smile turned sad. "Well, want to play a game?" She asked.
Peter started to smirk. "What type?"
"A prank."
Tony's POV
Tony knew he wasn't seeing Peter as much.
It wasn't his fault, he just had... business to attend to.
But he was visiting now.
Peter lay on the bed like always, and Natasha was sitting next to him.
They kept bursting into laughter at random intervals, and then nodding or shaking their heads like they were having a silent conversation.
Tony kicked the door open and the two hardly seemed to notice him.
Then Peter glanced in his direction and snickered loudly. Natasha made a shhh gesture at him. Tony narrowed his eyes at the duo.
"Hey, Peter. Natasha," The man said warily, taking a seat.
The two greeted him, and then returned to their silent conversation. Natasha nodded, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"It's like that sometimes, yeah," Peter commiserated sadly.
"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Tony asked irritably.
"Huh? Mr. Stark, we're just talking," Peter said, confused. "Are you deaf, Tony?" Natasha inquired, crossing her arms.
Tony blinked slowly, before pulling out his phone and texting Clint. "Natasha and Peter have gone telepathic. Get over here now."
A few seconds later, Clint's scream of terror sounded throughout the compound.
Natasha's POV
They were clueless.
Both Natasha and Peter knew that.
"Idiot," She mouthed at Peter.
Peter grinned at her, which didn't go unnoticed by Tony, who grumbled under his breath. Peter just shot a bright smile at the man, which had him dropping his face into his hands.
Clint ran into the room a few seconds later, Pietro and Wanda trailing behind him. Peter winked at Natasha.
Natasha shot Peter a mock glare. She knew him too well to think he'd spill.
"Avoid eye contact. They'll know," Natasha said in sign language, turning to the side to hide her hands from Clint.
Peter fought back a smile, and Natasha took her cue to nod, then burst into laughter at whatever fake thing they were pretending to talk about now.
-.-.-.-.-
Sadly, the jig was up quickly.
Peter made eye contact with Pietro, quickly breaking it, then looked at Natasha with the most embarrassed look. Natasha started laughing, and Peter followed suit, leaving a very confused Tony and Clint staring at them.
"W-We're not telepathic-" Peter gasped between giggles. "I'm so confused," Tony stated.
Natasha just smirked at Tony.
She loved her new spider-nephew.
Pietro opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Wanda. "I swear, Pietro, if you're about to say 'What, you didn't see that coming?' I will literally murder you."
Pietro shut his mouth.
"Teenagers," Tony groaned under his breath. "Uh, excuse me, I am not a teen. Peter's a teenager. So are Wanda and Pietro. Please include me in your group of annoying people. I'm only fourteen-ish years younger than you," Natasha pointed out quickly. (I did my research, guys. Natasha was born at some point in 1984, Tony on May 29, 1970.)
"Young people," Tony amended, tossing his hands up and stalking off after giving Peter a quick hug.
Natasha didn't miss the upset look on Peter's face.
Neither did Clint.
What the hell was Tony doing that was so important that he'd upset Peter over it?
Peter's POV
It was another two weeks until Peter was able to stand. And even then, for no more than a few minutes.
His body had been, apparently, severely damaged in the snap.
Peter was sure it was nothing big.
He had been seeing Tony even less than before, however, and that only increased his certainty that he had done something wrong.
That is, until Peter had dragged himself into the kitchen - barely - to see Tony whistling as he made breakfast.
"You made pancakes," Peter noted, alerting the man to his presence. "What brought that on?" Tony grinned at him, looking more relaxed than Peter had seen the man in days. "Sometimes, when you adopt a kid, you want to make pancakes," Tony replied casually, as though he hadn't just dropped an enormous bombshell on Peter.
"Th-that's - that's great! Oh my god! That's amazing!" Peter spluttered, not expecting that.
"It's you. Sign on the dotted line," Tony said, smacking a couple sheets of paper down in front of Peter.
(That line will be appearing in a later oneshot ;) )
"Wha-" Tony tossed Peter a pen.
"Mr. Stark! I don't think that's how adoption works! Isn't there like a whole legal process and-" Peter was cut off by Tony. "Yeah, that's what I've been working hard on the past couple weeks. Sorry I haven't been able to visit, by the way. Court wasn't sure if I could raise a kid."
Tony paused, raising an eyebrow. "So, you gonna sign or just stand there staring at me?" "Mr. Stark, I'm actually sitting."
Tony let a small, affectionate smile slip onto his face. "I know, kid. We'll get you healthy yet. Now sign the paper, Peter. That is, if you want to-" The man said, backtracking.
"No- I, I definitely want to- but like, are you sure you want to, uh, adopt me? All my father figures have ended up, well, dying a terrible death, so-"
Tony sighed. "Kid, we're just going to have to fix that now. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."
"Well, neither am I, because I can barely walk, you know-"
"I know, Peter."
"Are you sure? Like, 100%?"
"Peter, I've always been 3000% sure."
Long story short, Peter signed the paper.
That was a looooooong oneshot
I started working on this on Monday, too.
I was planning a double update but this ended up being so long I couldn't get it done until now. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
I feel like the ending was a bit rushed? I dunno. Tell me what you want to see in the comments!!!