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in which he never breaks
his promise, and stays by
her no matter what happens
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THIS IS LIKE 3000 WORDS IM SO SORRY BUT PLS READ TILL THE END ITS ANGSTY BUT HAS A REALLY CUTE ENDING IM SORRY HAHHA THIS SUCKS
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"Try and stay safe out there, please?" you pleaded as you gave your father one final hug before he began to board the SHIELD helicarrier with Coulson, Tony, Clint, and several others. "Promise me."
"Honey, I'm going to be fine," he reassured you, leaning down to kiss your forehead. "Make sure to listen to Steve for me while I'm gone, okay?"
"Yeah, I will," you choked out, pressing a hand to your mouth as the super-soldier put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. "I love you."
"I love you more, sweetheart. Now, do me a favor meanwhile and keep this safe for me, since I don't want to lose it in action, alright? I'll see you soon." He pressed something cold and hard into your hand and when you opened your fingers his favorite golden watch was resting in your palm, glittering whenever it caught the light.
He gave you a small wave and smile, which you returned, before he turned around and stepped up the ramp to board.
"And you too, Pete," you called after Peter, who quickly sprinted back down to pull you into a quick embrace, "don't do something stupid that'll get yourself or someone else hurt or killed, alright?"
"Don't worry, I won't," he chuckled, "we're all going to be just fine. See you."
"See you soon."
The hangar bay's giant doors slid open and within minutes, the helicarrier had taken off and was speeding up into the endless blue skies, slowly becoming swallowed by the fluffy white clouds dotting the vast expanse.
"Relax," Steve sent you a reassuring look as he noticed how tensed up you were, gently rubbing your shoulder. "They'll be okay, sweetheart."
"Let's hope it turns out that way," you murmured as your gaze lingered on the sky for a while longer. "All we can do now is hope. What they're doing right now is really risky."
"We can't predict the odds, but I know they'll come back successful. You know how they all are."
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The next two weeks passed by agonizingly slow, and it felt as if it had been two months instead. Steve, Natasha, Bucky and Bruce took care of you during that time. When you needed a sparring partner because Peter was gone and didn't have anyone else, Steve or Bucky would volunteer to verse you, trying to go a bit easier because they knew they'd be dead if they hurt you in any way. Nonetheless, you still had fun.
It seemed like another two years before you heard the familiar whirring of the helicarrier making its descent down towards the ground, steadily slowing down before navigating inside the hangar bay and coming to a complete spot.
You frantically began looking out for two familiar figures and your shoulders sagged in relief when you saw a flash of red, black and blue.
"Oh my god, Peter, oh my god," you mumbled as you threw your arms around Peter's neck and he pulled you into a tight embrace, "oh my god, oh my god, I thought something bad had happened when you didn't come back right away-"
"Hey, it's okay, I'm here," he pressed a light kiss to your forehead and ran a hand through your hair as you buried your face into his chest, "it's okay. We did it. We destroyed the data files."
"Tony, where's my dad?" you asked once you looked up and met the gazes of all the exhausted faces in the room.
"Where is he?" you repeated when he didn't reply, eyebrows furrowed together in confuion. "Where's my dad?"
The grief-stricken expressions on everyone's faces should've given it all away but you refused to believe it. Maybe he was stopping at SHIELD HQs to help Fury with stuff, he always did that. Or maybe he had extra work to do and went straight home to finish it.
You didn't want to assume the worst. You didn't want to assume he was never coming back. You couldn't, and you didn't want to.
"I'm so sorry," Tony said quietly after several moments of hesitation. "He..."
"What happened?" you asked again in a wobbly voice, struggling to keep your tears at bay. "Where's Dad right now?"
The billionaire squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, taking in a shuddering breath. "He...he didn't make it...I'm sorry, kiddo-"
"No no no no no," you whimpered, your bottom lip beginning to tremble, "please, no, this can't be real, please..."
"Y/N-" Peter began from behind you but you pushed his hand away, hastily wiping the tears that began streaming down your cheeks and began blurring your vision. "I'm-"
"You told me that you'd all make it back safe and sound! You promised me that everyone would make it back alive! You promised!" you yelled, your voice cracking on the last word. "You promised me everyone would be just fine, but he's dead!"
Steve and Tony began talking in hushed whispers with the rest as you blankly stood there, feeling a wave of fury washing over at the fact that your father was never coming back, no matter how hard you wished for him to.
Even though it wasn't Peter's fault in any way at all, you still couldn't help but feel pissed off. You weren't expecting this to happen, and now your worst nightmare had become a tragic reality before your eyes in a flash.
You sunk to the ground on your knees in shock with all the things you wanted to ask about what exactly happened, who did it, and why it happened stuck in the back of your throat. When Peter crouched down and rubbed your back soothingly that was it for you; you broke down sobbing but eventually gave up in trying to push yourself away from him, allowing him to pull you into his warm arms.
The tears were fresh and falling fast now, traveling rapidly down your cheeks and into your open, gasping mouth. Your shoulders wouldn't stop shaking and your fists kept clenching and your body was cramping and your chest was aching immensely. You squeezed your eyes shut in a desperate effort to calm down somehow, but it didn't seem to work.
Everything around you suddenly started to spin and colors started blurring together and when you got up, you couldn't seem to stand upright for longer than two seconds. You stumbled forward and sank back down into the ground again, several more hot tears dripping onto the cold concrete pavement before your world went black.
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You were surprised to find an IV drip inserted into the crook of your elbow when you woke up in your bed. Steve and Tony were discussing something with Bruce in the corner quietly. Peter was fast asleep, his head resting in your lap as he snored softly.
"Cap?" you croaked out.
"Hey, sweetheart," he handed you a glass of water from your nightstand, which you gulped down in just two sips, "you okay?"
"What happened?"
"You collapsed from shock. Banner wanted to monitor your vitals overnight to make sure there were no other underlying causes," the super-soldier explained. "Just taking extra precautions."
"Overnight?"
"It's 10:15," Tony informed you. "You've been out for 17 hours. Since 5 pm last night. Underoos pulled an all-nighter to stay by your side, but he passed out from exhaustion a little over an hour ago."
"Hmmm?" Peter moaned sleepily and scratched his head. "Did someone say something?"
"Hey, Pete," you ran a hand through his soft brown curls. "Morning."
"Oh, hey," he sat up and placed a hand to your cheek, "you alright?"
"Yeah," you sighed. But you weren't, really. You weren't sure if you'd ever be okay. "I'm fine."
"His body's being flown in this afternoon. Funeral's being held tomorrow," Bruce explained to all of you. "Fury wants to know if you prefer open or closed-casket, Y/N."
The world seemed to stop the moment he asked that question, several moments passing in silence as you hesitated to answer.
"I...don't mind which..."
"Alright," Bruce nodded, but his tone quickly softened upon seeing your eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Y/N...You know we'll always be here for you, right?"
"Yeah," you murmured quietly, "thank you."
Before you knew it, the time for the funeral came. You borrowed one of Natasha's black trench coats and a modest, black minidress, slipping on matching heels to go along with it. But no amount of makeup would be able to hide the pain and grief etched onto your face, so you didn't bother putting any on, sticking with putting on a bit of lip tint.
The cathedral was achingly beautiful. Stunning, colorful glass paned artwork lining the sides of the walls depicted several nativity scenes and filtered colored sunlight inside, giving it an ancient and almost mythical sort of feel, and you could hear the echo of everyone's footsteps off the pristine, marble floors as you walked around.
Soft sounds of the choir's melodic voices laced with a saddened tone and playing of organs echoed throughout the place, off of every wall to the overarching, grand ceiling. The faint smell of incense and old prayer books drifted up to your nose as well, reminding you of the time you were baptized as an innocent five-year old, at that time unknowing of the deeper meanings religion held.
Seeing the tears in everyone's eyes as the service commenced, including Bucky's, the one you'd least expected to care about your family, made you realize just how many ties your father had and just how connected he was to everyone. The entire team had taken a loss today, and everyone was suffering together.
You only made it halfway through your speech before you broke down and couldn't continue, Peter leading you offstage and gripping your hand in his tightly as you leaned into him, tears stinging the edges of your eyes.
Nobody said a word. Not even Fury. Or the SHIELD agents. Or any of the Avengers. Because they all understood what you were going through-everyone was grieving, you most of all. And now that he was gone, nearly ten years after your mother had lost her battle to ovarian cancer, you were alone, without any family left.
As you were mindlessly wandering around after the service ended, something on the glass table in front caught your eye. You picked up the picture frame and smiled softly as the memories of that day came flooding back.
In the image, all the Avengers and Coulson's team were huddled together up on the roof of SHIELD headquarters. The sun had just begun to set, banners of pink and orange and gold unfurling and crossed over the horizon, ringing through the sky in bright and brilliant hues in a breathtaking display. You could almost hear Fury yelling at everyone to shut up and get into position for the photo, but you were all in a goofy mood at that moment and couldn't sit still, as you were either doubling over with laughter or making goofy faces at one another.
Your head was thrown back slightly as you laughed, your arms slung around your widely grinning father and Peter. Your father cracked a joke to get you to smile because you'd had a lousy day and wanted you to cheer up, and you ended up snorting and laughing nonstop for four minutes straight, gripping Peter's bicep for support. When you peered closer, you noticed the familiar gold wristwatch and the expression on Peter's face as he looked over at you. He was gazing at you with a softened look in his eyes like you were his entire universe; like you were the only girl in the world.
No. Now wasn't the time to think of how your best friend felt about you when your entire world had come crashing down in a matter of days.
You pushed your palms against your eyes, as if that would somehow stem the flow of relentless, white-hot tears down your face, and somehow stop all the torturous images of how your father could've possibly been killed from replaying on a loop in your mind.
Sliding your hands down your face, you willed yourself not to lose your composure because that wasn't how you were supposed to act. You'd been raised to be a strong woman, to believe that you could get through anything no matter how hard things got, but now you were beginning to question if accomplishing such a thing was even possible.
The tears don't stop. They roll down your flushed cheeks and drip down your chin and down your neck and into your lap, as you'd given up on trying to wipe them all away at this point. A noise so raw and tortured escaped your lips and you don't even bother trying to hold it back anymore.
You don't know how long it takes, but at one point the tears finally stop. And when you removed your hands from your face you see him standing there, Peter, with a worried look on his face. His eyebrows drawn together with concern as he observes your bloodshot eyes, the way your body trembled as you struggled to maintain composure.
At some point he gathers you into a warm and comforting embrace, reaching his arms forward and wrapping them around your torso to pull you close to his chest. You breathe in and out, each inhale and exhale raggedy and raw as the result of crying until your voice went hoarse.
"Hey hey hey, it's okay, it's okay," Peter soothed, his voice oddly comforting, "take deep breaths, alright? You're gonna be okay."
"No, it isn't," you choked out, one of your tears dripping onto the glittering gold watch on your wrist, "I feel like I'm trapped in a never-ending hellish nightmare and there's no way to escape. But this isn't a nightmare. It's reality, and I don't want to come to terms with the fact that this is what I have to live with, but it is what it is. I can't do this! How am I supposed to live without him?"
"It's okay to grieve, Y/N," he murmured into your hair, "Losing someone you love is probably the most painful thing that can ever happen. But as much as it hurts, moping around and letting the staggering pain of grief that comes from losing that person you allowed yourself to care so much about consume you is no way to live."
"I want to move on, but I can't," your voice cracked, "how can I? He meant everything to me. And now, the one person who was always there for me when nobody else was is now gone. I have no family left, Peter. I'm all alone."
"That's not true," he whispered, as he briefly glanced over at the team photo on the glass table, "because you have the team, and you have me. If you thought even for a second that I'd do otherwise, then you're mistaken. Because there's nothing that'll keep me from staying by your side"
Then all at once, all the grief and anger and frustration and heartache built up inside of you is let out and you break down again. Peter tightens his grip on you as wave after wave of painstakingly heaving sobs overtake your body, tightening his grip on the one girl he thought was stronger than anyone else he knew but seemed so fragile, so small, in this one vulnerable moment.
He pressed a light kiss to the top of your head and holds you there, gently rocking you back and forth and murmuring reassuring and comforting words into your ear in an attempt to calm you down.
And as he continued holding you there, you eventually relaxed fully into his protective hold. While you knew the moment couldn't go on forever, you tried to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
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It was weird to call the Avengers Tower home now. As much time as you ended up spending here, it still felt strange. It was more of the people in it that you considered a second family.
Altogether, sitting around the lounge, you read your father's will, seeing that he'd written for you to inherit his rather large fortunes (though Tony said this was unnecessary and he was willing to pay for any of your expenses) and if anything happened or went south, he'd trust Tony and Steve the most to take care of you.
The two men had almost broke out into a war over who would take custody of you but in the end, Tony caved and allowed Steve to sign the adoption papers. He immediately took over the overprotective, caring father figure, becoming as attentive to your needs as possible and making sure you were happy. And you loved him for it.
Peter, of course, was always there for you. There would be days that went by where you wouldn't think of the dreadful event that turned your life upside down at all, until all of a sudden out of nowhere, you'd be hit with a wave of grief and break down like you'd done at the funeral.
But he was there, holding you and comforting you when no one else was around to.
Like he promised.
And for the next six years, he kept that promise.
Until the seventh year came and went, and he decided to seal his promise once and for all by tying the knot and popping the question.
"Thank you, Daddy," you looked up towards the sky, the heavens, before glancing back down at the watch still on your wrist, with the brand-new addition of a stunning diamond ring. "I'll always remember you. What I'm doing from now on, I'll be doing it for you."
Peter saw you standing there, out on the roof with a wistful look on your face and came forward and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, bringing you in to press a chaste kiss to your lips.
"He'd be so proud of how far you've come," he smiled.
"And he'd be proud of you because you kept your promise," you smiled as you rested your head against your chest. "Thank you for everything."
"I love you."
"I love you too."