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peter-parkers-passport · 3 years

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Flower Child (Peter Parker x ofc)

Chapter 11: Just a Nobody

I’m really sorry I haven’t been consistent in updating on this platform, I think I’ll just mass update on here and catch up to speed? Idk, it’s a lot and again, I’m sorry. I’m trying to find inspiration to write!

warnings: Peter being rude, angst, depictions of anxiety… sorry 😬, mentions of death

The pair of them didn’t leave the greenhouse until midnight that night. Papers had been scattered around a workbench in the greenhouse under a single lamplight, covered in formulas that had been scratched and edited past legibility. Lila and Peter made an incredible team, much to their surprise, and within just a few short hours, a new webbing formula had been made.

Peter also walked her home, despite Lila reassuring him that he didn’t have to. He merely brushed off her attempts and bid her goodnight at her door. And despite the crazy events, like her almost dying, she went to bed with a smile on her face. Her crush was a superhero, how could she not?

When she went to school the next day, Lila was tired but cheerful. A light kind of air sat in her chest and put her in a good mood, even with the whispers of what happened the day before following her to her locker. She supposed the feeling of falling in an elevator made things like school more enjoyable since they were a part of living, but she attributed her happiness mostly to the two boys who walked quickly over to her locker as soon as they saw her.

“Hey, Lila,” Peter said, lips twitching in a nervous smile.

“Hey, guys, what’s-?”

“So you know?” Both Lila and Peter looked to Ned, whose expression was unreadable. “About-“ His voice lowered into a whisper, “-Peter’s sticky situation?”

A patch of red grew on the boy in question’s face, and he sent an exasperated stare his friend’s way. “Dude, come on, at least think of a better code name.”

“So you know?” Ned asked Lila again, to which she nodded apprehensively. Her eyes flickered to Peter, who offered an apologetic shrug. When she looked back to Ned again, he looked relieved. “Finally. I’ve really needed this, I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it a secret-“

“Ned,” Peter said, “You found out last week.”

“- I thought I was gonna blow it, but I didn’t. And now I can talk to you about how totally amazing this is.” Ned inhaled deeply, launching into a slew of questions. “So how did you know it was him? Are you psychic? Did you psychically connect to Peter, and that’s how he saved your life? Do you have, like, a spider-link now?”

“N-No, it wasn’t anything like that,” Lila answered him, Peter giving her a thankful look that she interrupted Ned’s questioning. She tucked her hair behind her ear before continuing, “Peter disappearing the night before, y-you having the Ch-Chitauri core, and - and the Stark Internship. Just… a lot of it d-didn’t add up.” Lila looked around them to see Michelle walk through the front doors. “Look, I’d b-better go before MJ gets suspicious but I’ll see you guys for fourth.”

Peter and Ned said their goodbyes while Lila walked down the hallway to her friend. Before she could reach MJ, however, Lila was stopped by Betty Brant, who had a fiercely determined look on her face. “Lila,” she practically addressed, her tone was so formal.

“B-Betty,” Lila swallowed, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Wh-What’s up?”

“Midtown is running a story on the survivors of the almost-tragic Washington Monument scare yesterday. I need to know that you’ll be available for lunch to answer a few questions with the rest of your team. I would do it now, but I don’t have my co-host.” The last sentence ended with a note of bitterness, and Lila tilted her head in concern.

“Oh n-no, where’s - where’s Jason?”

Betty rolled her eyes, “His mom called him out of first period for some stupid dentist appointment and wouldn’t cancel. I’ve told him time and time again that his mom doesn’t understand how brutally competitive journalism can get in the age of technology.” Her eyes narrowed at the apparently sour thought. “Like, she doesn’t even know how embarrassing it was to see Principal Morita’s fall after the floors were waxed with new wax on Flash’s Snapchat story first. That should’ve been our story, but no, Jason had strep throat.” Her tone grew mocking and she put air quotes around “strep throat”. There was a beat of silence, and then, “Anyways, so I’ll see you at lunch?”

At this point, Lila had been daydreaming of a way to get out of the heated one-sided argument. “Sure.”

Satisfied, Betty nodded. “Good. And don’t talk to anyone else about what happened.” She strode away, leaving Lila feeling slightly confused as she walked over to where MJ was standing, watching the whole interaction.

*****

It didn’t go unnoticed that Lila was becoming fast friends with Peter and Ned. Soon enough, in the span of the next two days, they popped up nearly everywhere in her daily life. For some, it was a welcome addition to Lila’s friend count (now up to three). For others, it was a topic of slight confusion.

“I’m not, like, unhappy for you or anything,” Sophie commented one evening in the flower shop. She was watching Peter and Ned leave through the front doors, the cooler air from the outside falling at their feet. “I just didn’t know you were so close.”

Lila and the boys had just brought over some chemicals they’d nicked from school, and finally perfected the stronger webbing for Peter. It was all discreetly put away in a box tucked underneath spare gardening supplies. The box in question was placed in a corner, out of sight and hopefully out of anyone else’s minds that weren’t Peter’s, Lila’s, or Ned’s.

The door had shut by the time Lila turned back to Sophie, a light blush on her cheeks. “Falling in an e-elevator is a surprisingly easy way to m-make friends.” The flicker of suspicion in Sophie’s eyes disappeared almost immediately at Lila’s reply, and for a moment, Lila had the gut-twisting sensation of guilt. It was confusing: she wasn’t actually lying to Sophie, but she was hiding the truth. Plummeting to her death with Ned by her side did craft a strong foundation of friendship at a remarkably fast rate. And being one of about four people who knew Peter’s secret identity also warranted spending more time together than what was considered normal. Only, she couldn’t tell anyone that last part.

Lila hated that her cover story for spending time around the two boys was her near-death experience, but even she couldn’t deny its effectiveness. Sophie stopped asking questions after her comment, and soon started addressing them with the same familiarity as she would Michelle or her dad.

Michelle, whose skepticism came as easy as breathing, wasn’t as easy to persuade. MJ knew Ned was in the elevator with Lila, and her interest in them hanging out didn’t extend farther than a simple statement of, “Ned needs to download the free VPNs I sent you. I don’t want my network data accidentally getting monitored by the government because he’s using the WiFi at your shop.” Which was fine with Lila, Ned would be one less thing to worry about in regards to her most perceptive friend.

However, with Ned deemed not a problem, MJ’s wariness was focused on Peter. If she thought he was sketchy before, it was nothing compared to how she felt after he started to hang out with Lila. Michelle wasn’t much for holding a conversation with people she didn’t know, but the times where she did talk to Peter, it almost always was staged as interrogation. Lila felt sorry for Peter, for she knew MJ was intimidating, and too smart for her own good. She also knew that Michelle’s intention was a heavily-veiled protectiveness for her friend.

Ted Landry seemed to be the only person in Lila’s life who wasn’t suspicious of her new friends. In fact, he was completely clueless. Peter being around Lila more was merely a correlation to him personally checking on her the night she got back from D.C. The worst part was that Ted told Lila that the reason Peter was starting to be around her so much was because he had a crush on her.

“It just seems kind of obvious,” Ted said, ignoring the choking noises Lila emitted after hearing her dad’s thoughts. He merely patted her on the back as she tried to dislodge the granola that she accidentally sent down the wrong pipe. “I practically did the same thing with your mom, we became inseparable.”

Lila wished above all that her dad’s thoughts were the truth. But the brief look in Peter’s eyes that appeared whenever Liz walked by the three of them in the school’s hallways sent those thoughts crawling on all fours to the back of her mind.

*****

Over the next few days, Lila grew privy to the information Peter was gathering over the last week as Spider-Man. It all started with the bank robbers that accidentally decimated Delmar’s bodega, which Lila learned were capable of doing so with the acquisition of illegal weapons. Weapons that happened to have access to alien technology.

Peter and Ned explained that someone was stealing alien technology and fashioning weapons to distribute on the black market. Their target was Damage Control, whose existence was to be the clean-up crew of the Avengers.

“For lack of a better term,” Peter went on, fiddling with the screwdriver in his hand. That Wednesday evening, Peter had Ned and Lila over after he had perused the streets of Queens as Spider-Man. It was then the two boys filled Lila in on their mission. “But basically this department’s been confiscating all the alien tech and Ultron mess for the past eight years. And the helicarriers in Washington? They’re still working on that stuff.”

“And this guy in the wingsuit… the birdman?” Lila asked, trying to keep up with the nearly unbelievable tale.

A spark emitting from one of Peter’s web shooters had him diving back with his screwdriver. Ned, meanwhile, took the reigns. “We’re pretty sure he’s their leader. But they’ve got this stuff nearly on lockdown. Peter figures he must’ve been doing it from the beginning.”

Lila looked back over to Peter, “Do you know who he is? O-Or any kind of clue?”

The web shooter made a clicking noise that seemed to satisfy Peter. He turned away from his desk and set his eyes back on Lila. Shaking his head, he answered, “No, I’ve got no idea. And he got away with some of the stuff that was in the Damage Control trucks. Best guess, I’ll just have to catch them when they’re out selling this stuff again.” He paused, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. And after a moment, he added as an afterthought, “You didn’t happen to catch what Puth assigned for homework, did you? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Peter, dinner’s on the table - Lila!” May poked her head inside Peter’s door. Lila whipped her head around to see her large grin, and heard Peter hastily slam his desk drawer shut to hide his web shooters. “I had no idea you were here!”

“Hi, May,” Lila smiled, a pale pink dusting her cheeks. “H-How are things?”

“Finer than wine, honey. I feel so bad, I would’ve made more food if I’d’ve known you guys were going to be here.” Her lips pursed briefly as an afterthought came to mind. “Actually, it might be better if you guys hit the road.”

Peter stared at his aunt exasperatedly, “Oh, c’mon May-“

“Uh-uh,” her expression was suddenly stern when her eyes fell on him, “If you’re going to ditch class, then you’re not going to have friends over.” She softened her gaze when she moved back over to Lila and Ned. “You guys need a ride home?”

Lila grabbed her backpack, eyeing Peter and feeling confused. Why would he ditch class? Peter’s eyes met hers before answering her with a jerk of the head to his desk, where the web shooters lay hidden.

“No,” Lila finally answered, brushing off Peter’s answer with a wave of dismay. “N-No, thanks. My neighborhood’s just f-five blocks over.”

*****

Betty Brant released her story on Thursday morning. Apparently Jason actually did have a pretty awful tooth infection, and wasn’t able to co-anchor her story until then. When Lila walked into school, the conversation, which had just begun to die down, picked right back up, and attention was back on the academic decathlon.

Everyone at Midtown pretty much knew of Lila and her inability to confidently socialize with peers, but that didn’t stop them from pointing at her while poorly concealing whispers. So she was left to navigate the crowded hallways alone, doing her best to ignore the eyes that followed her and the sounds of the news story reporting on her brush with death. One thing she did manage to catch was Jason saying, “Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, thanks to Spider-Man. Up next, the Spider mania is sweeping the school, how can you show your Spider spirit?”

And Jason wasn’t wrong. The talk of Spider-Man was re-invigorated at the school news’ story, and if they weren’t talking about the decathlon team, they were talking about Spider-Man. Some people wore shirts they bought from street vendors, and talked about how amazing he was. Flash was the biggest proponent of this, boasting about how Spider-Man made a harrowing rescue, pulling Flash out of harm’s way just in time, and giving him a fist bump right afterwards. All of which was untrue, and Charles and Abraham we’re glad to remind everyone around Flash of the fact.

Lila felt a deep sense of pride as she made her way down the stairs and past the mural. She knew Peter must’ve been at school, and hearing all of the positive thoughts everyone had on his secret identity. She could feel it in the air: pride. A sense of pride that one of New York’s own was a hero, a champion of Queens. Even Lila herself felt that pride, but for other reasons entirely.

She ran into Ned first, who was beaming at the television screen in the corner of the hall. The two of them shared a knowing smile, and the pair launched into a quiet conversation about it in the otherwise loud hallways. Ned spotted Peter ahead of the two of them, and pushed around the students in his way. He and Lila met Peter at the foot of the stairs, all three grinning from ear to ear.

“Dude, dude, dude, what is it like being famous when no one knows it’s you?” Ned asked.

Rather modestly, Peter smiled and gripped the straps of his backpack. “It’s crazy,” he whispered, looking around to make sure other people weren’t listening.

“Crazy,” Ned repeated, almost in awe. “Should we tell everyone?”

Peter still smiled, but his head tilted a little in confusion, “No.”

“Should I tell everyone?”

“No, dude, that’s not a good idea.”

Ned looked to Lila, “Lila could tell everyone.”

“I-I would not,” Lila said, briefly panicked. She felt better seeing Peter let out a breathy laugh. “Really, I w-wouldn’t do it.”

Ned sighed, his hopes dashed. “Well, come on, we’re gonna be late to class.”

Lila was prepared to bid them goodbye, since their classes were on opposite sides of the hallway, but Peter didn’t follow Ned. “I’m not going to class.”

Ned looked at Lila and looked back, apprehensive, “You're already in so much trouble for ditching the decathlon-“

“P-Peter, you can’t keep d-ditching school-“

“Would you listen? I figured it out, right?” Peter’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m going to see if my suit can go back to the deal I walked in on the night of Liz’s party and find out where those guys came from. Maybe they can lead me to the wing suit guy, and then I can catch him!”

“But we have a Spanish quiz,” Ned argued.

Peter looked at Ned with an expression that felt a little belittling. He was tired of arguing and clearly didn’t see why Ned and Lila would want him to stay in school. It was a kind of reckless determination that didn’t sit well with Lila at all. “Ned, I’m probably never going to come back here. Mr. Stark is moving the Avengers upstate. So, when I bring this guy in-“

“Dude,” All the excitement from the morning was gone from Ned. “You wanna be a high school dropout?”

“It wouldn’t be like that,” Peter assured him, even though that’s exactly what it sounded like.

“Ned’s right, Peter, you can’t - you can’t just skip school t-to fight crime. High school’s important-“

But Peter wasn’t listening. In fact, he started walking away. “I am so far beyond high school, right now.” And as he turned to a pair of doors that led to the exit, Principal Morita stood in his way.

“Ah, Mr. Parker,” he said, already walking back down the hallway. “Come with me, my office. Ned, Lila, get to class.”

*****

“Here, c’mon,” MJ pulled at Lila’s arm. The girls had a free period, and usually spent it in the library. Lila has fully planned on spending it pretending to do her homework when in actuality she was just going to worry about Peter.

Skipping school just wasn’t like him. Lila thought he was getting caught up in his situation. True, it was extraordinary beyond belief, and there was no way to tell how she would handle it, but she thought Peter had more grit than what he was showing. School was important, almost if not equally as important as the crime Peter fought in the afternoons.

And then there was the issue of Tony Stark, and Peter’s idea of where he stood. Peter had the mindset that he had to prove himself to Tony Stark in order to be fully accepted into a world he’d always dreamt of, but that made little sense to Lila. In her mind, Tony Stark already was accepting of Peter. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have given Peter the suit.

Those were the thoughts Lila distracted herself with in her first two periods, anyway. She’d planned on delving further into her worry during her free time next period. That is, until MJ changed their plans. “And where are we going?” Lila asked, allowing herself to be steered by her taller friend.

“I’ve been sketching the kids in detention,” she answered, ”Lila, they’re the perfect inspiration: they basically all just sit and wonder if they’re lives are going to spiral out of control. Like first, it’s detention, next it’s prison. I mean, you can’t get that kind of raw panic anywhere else.”

“I’m slightly worried you seem so excited about this,” Lila muttered, filing into the classroom where detention was being held. Coach Wilson was already perched at the desk, the TV on the stand waiting to play the Captain America tape that was at the ready. Michelle sat at the edge of the classroom, and Lila sat with her, already pulling out her homework.

She thought she got a few odd stares from the one or two kids that were further in the room, since Lila had never been in any kind of trouble in her life. Even though her presence wasn’t mandatory, she was still unsettled at the thought of being so close to a trouble she had no interest in ever being a part of. She only felt slightly better when Peter walked through the door as the bell rang. He eyed her suspiciously, and seemingly answered his own question when his gaze slid over to Michelle, who was already sketching away.

Peter looked antsy. Sitting in his seat, Lila could see the tension in his shoulders as Coach Wilson lazily went over the rules of detention from his desk chair. He proceeded to play the clip of Captain America lecturing the kids in detention, but Lila could tell Peter wasn’t taking in a word of it. She was considering shooting him a text when suddenly he shot up and grabbed his backpack. He marched out of the room without another word.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lila made the decision to go after him. She told Michelle she’d be right back and hurried after her friend. When she caught up to him, he’d reached the row of lockers where he hid things and lifted it one-handed. Despite her worry, Lila watched him in awe, having to take a second to adjust to the fact that he did actually have super strength.

When the moment ended, her sense caught up to her. “Peter!” She called out, jogging the rest of the way up to him. He turned, impatience dotting across his features. “You can’t go.”

“Lila, I don’t have time-“

“But you do,” She insisted. “Y-You do have time. You can’t just - just leave.”

“Yes, I can,” Peter actually rolled his eyes. It stung Lila more than she thought it would. “Look, you don’t understand, I’ve gotta do this for Mr. Stark. Now, I’ve really gotta go.”

He tried to turn away, but in a bold move, Lila grabbed his arm, “T-Tony Stark is a c-certified genius, and even he stayed in school. Why can’t you?”

“Because when the Avengers move upstate, I’ve gotta be there. The best school I could have would be by learning from him. Who knows, maybe - maybe I’ll get a tutor or something-“

“P-Peter, you’re chasing a-approval from someone who already gave it to you. I mean - look at what y-you’ve already done. The whole school’s b-been talking about it for the entire w-week.”

“Lila,” irritation at still being in school was what made Peter grow short. Lila flinched at the tone. “You don’t get it. I can do so much more if he could just see it, that’s why I’ve gotta go.”

“You do so much, Peter. You - you saved my life twice-“

Peter snapped, “Lila, stop. I’ve made up my mind. I can’t just be Peter Parker anymore, you know? I finally have a chance to prove that I’m so much more than just a nobody now. Because while that might be fine for you, it’s not for me.” The words left his mouth harsh and bitter before his mind could even keep up. Peter didn’t even realize what he’d said until he watched Lila take a step back.

White hot anger burned her skin and flushed her face. Hurt came quickly after, and Lila blinked furiously to stop the tears from rushing to the surface. She released a short breath and made eye contact with Peter. He felt bad, she could tell, but he didn’t offer any kind of apology.

So much for being friends.

“You w-wonder what that life is like, Peter? Being an - an Avenger?” Her voice was quiet, more quiet than normal, but the emotion seemed to amplify it down the empty hallways. “I’ll t-tell you. It’s staring d-down at people who are dead for the sole r-reason that pure evil just likes it that way. It’s being unable to s-save the people you love most, and l-living with that when all is said and - and done.”

“Lila, I-“

She angrily brushed the lone tear away that managed to escape. “You wanna hear wh-what I think? I think that if - if Tony Stark wanted you to b-be like him, he would’ve given you an I-Iron Man suit. Instead he gave you the Spider-Man suit. But what do I know, r-right? I’m just a nobody.” She gave Peter, the boy who broke her heart, one last look. “Good luck out there.”

And she turned around, walking away from Peter Parker with a few tears falling down her face.

#peter parker #spider-man #tom holland #mcu x ofc #peter parker x reader #peter parker fic #spiderman x ofc #spiderman homecoming #spiderman #peter parker x ofc #marvel

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itsreallylaterightnow · 4 years

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When I Was Older (Irondad Fic Exchange 2019)

-Summary:

Peter Parker never thought that something like this would be a problem, he always imagined with the spider-bite came a sort of overall health and wellness... well besides being shot at constantly. So when this terrible illness bites down on him suddenly, how will it effect the few days he has left?

Peter Parker contracts an illness that he has never heard of then learns that it has no known cure... will he lose his mind before getting the chance to say goodbye to the ones he loves?

Notes:

AHH! I am so ecstatic for this!! I worked so hard on this, and I am very very proud of this work and I hope that elevators_not_worthy enjoys this work! I chose her, Author's Choice prompt and came up with this guy! It was a labor of love and I cannot thank @justme--Emily & @seek-rest enough for taking the time to Beta read this work and help me round it out!

Warnings: This is a very sad fic, but no MCD! It is disorienting and could be upsetting to people. No major panic attacks or anything of the sort, just know that it is a bit intense!

Also, shoutout to @irondad-fic-exchange for helping this writer with the computer parts of posting this (I may be a millennial and I may be on my computer all the time but Im so bad with them)

**Tags: ** @irondad-fic-exchange @unfathomable-universe

Please enjoy!

Peter smiled at MJ across the lunch table, tossing a potato chip at her. Her hair was loose around her face today, and he thought it made her look exceptional.

“Eat your lunch, loser. We only have five minutes before class.” She said, looking back down at her book.

He glanced down at his plate, frowning at the half-eaten sandwich. He hadn’t been hungry for several days, he’d still been forcing himself to eat, but it hadn’t been much. He had hypothesized that his body was finally watering down the spider bite’s crazy side-affect that had him eating like an elephant every day.

The bell rang and the Ned, Betty, and MJ all headed in different directions. Peter waved them all off and stood up himself. His feet led him down the tiled floors of the cafeteria. He stepped into the hallway, about to head to his class. It was time for… Peter stopped, staring at the floor. What class was he going to? He racked his brain, thinking as hard as he could to no avail. He shook his head, remembering that he had read that doorways cause you to lose your train of thought. But it was March of his senior year of high school, he should remember what class came after his lunch period.

A laugh shook him from his stupor, Olivia Yung grabbed shoved his arm, a smile on her face. “Come on, Parker! We’re going to be late to Western Civ! You don’t even have your notebook, geez! You Americans! Come on, you can borrow a piece of paper and pen from me. We have a quiz on Thursday, you better start taking some good notes!” She tugged him along, and Peter shook his head. Olivia was really nice. She was a genius Foreign exchange student and had quickly joined the Decathlon. MJ and her really got along on account of Olivia was obsessed with politics and her and Michelle could talk about current events for hours.

Peter sat down in class, a bit shaken from the weird memory lapse thing, but he just pushed it away, and began to take good notes. Mr. Harrington wasn’t the best chaperon, but he was pretty good at teaching. So good that Peter struggled to keep up with the points the man was making about the reformation. Peter looked up at the projection and paused. There was a misspelled word on the board. He stopped, furrowing his brows. He looked around, why was no one else noticing this? The word wasn’t even a real one, why would Harrington put it up? Peter looked down at his paper, then looked back up. He dropped his pencil while he re-read the sentence. It said, “Martin Luther posted the 95 These on the Wittenberg church.” The word Peter hadn’t been able to place was _church. _How the hell had he been so confused about that? Peter shook his head. This was getting a bit too weird for his liking. But he figured he would talk to Mr. Stark about it that afternoon at the internship.

Peter got in the car with Happy, but the man was on a business call, so he had the partition up. Peter pulled his mask out of his bag and slipped on over his head. “Hello, Mr. Parker.”

“Hey, Karen. Weird question for you.” He said.

“Anything that I can answer I will.” She responded.

“Um, have I hit my head recently on patrol?” Peter leaned back and waited, already knowing the answer, but needing to double check.

“I have no record of you hitting your head recently. I am automatically required to alert Mr. Stark of any and all head injuries upon incident. I have not alerted him in exactly three weeks, and last time you hit your head it was nothing but a migraine inducer.” Peter gnawed on his lip, trying to come up with a reason behind the strange things that had gone down earlier in his day.

“No reason, K.” And he pulled the mask off. He hadn’t gotten much sleep that night, maybe that was it. Peter closed his eyes. With the New York traffic, they’d be at least another forty-five minutes to the tower. His last thought was _that’s just enough time to take a nap. _

It had been three hours that Peter and Tony had been in the lab when Mr. Stark turned to Peter with a look of annoying amusement on his face.

“Kid, you’ve been tapping your fingers on the table for the last ten minutes and if you don’t stop, I’m going to absolutely rampage.” Peter looked up, and smirked.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry Mr. Stark.” He stopped his fingers, a bit confused as to how long he had been tapping them anyways. Truth was, Peter could care less about the work in front of him. He and Mr. Stark had been doing updates to FRIDAY, and Peter’s attention span had been waning for the last hour and a half.

Peter rolled his neck, the muscles in his back stiff as he looked at the clock. He still had three more hours of time in here. Normally it was too short of a time with Tony in Peter’s eyes, but right now, he just wanted to lay down.

He cried out suddenly, dropping the pen he was holding. “What the heck?” He blurted, short gasps of air coming from his mouth as his arm locked up.

Tony looked over at Peter, concern in his eyes. “What’s up kid?” Peter hunched over, laughing through the pain.

“My arm is like- ow- spazzing!” He laughed through the pain, it didn’t hurt enough for him to scream, it felt like the one time on patrol when he had been shocked with a woman’s stun-gun when she thought he was trying to grab her. It didn’t necessarily hurt, just locked his joints up a bit. Tony just rolled his eyes and went back to work.

Peter spent the night at the tower. It was Friday night, and May was on a weekend shift. Peter would normally either stay with Ned or Tony on these weekends, and Ned had called Peter saying he had come down with a cold. So, Stark tower it was. He sat opposite of Steve and Bucky who were watching the newest Yankees game. Peter felt exhaustion pulling at his eyes, but he forced himself to look back down at the homework he had been working on. Tony was on some conference call that Pepper had forced him to take, and he could hear Clint and Nat in the kitchen arguing about how to properly cook spaghetti while Wanda just laughed.

The Avengers floor had a large commons area. There was the television, kitchen, dining area and a couple of video games. It was a flat and open space. It had two sides to it. The left side led to the bathrooms, and training area. The right side led to all of the bedrooms. Tony had offered to put Peter on his private floor, but Peter just shook his head. He liked being a part of the team like that.

As the night wore on Tony and Pepper filled into the commons room. Clint had ruined the Spaghetti, don’t even ask Peter how because he didn’t know that was possible. So Tony had grumbled and ordered pizza from the nearest store.

Peter looked at the food on his plate and sighed, his appetite still completely gone. He forced himself to take a couple of bites before he set it down, wincing at the tightness in his jaw. He began to tap his fingers on his leg, there was an itch in the back of his mind like his hand was being forced to move. Peter watched the movie in front of them. Wanda had gotten to choose tonight, and she had wanted to watch Chasing Mavericks. It was a movie Peter had never seen, but so far, he had kind of liked it. It was about this guy that, against the bad hand the world had dealt him, had found a father figure to replace the lack of his own. The older man, Frosty, took Jay under his wing, teaching him how to not only surf some of the largest and most dangerous waves in the world, but also how to be a better man.

Peter couldn’t keep his eyes from flicking over to look at Mr. Stark. The older man had Peter’s feet laid over her legs, an arm around Pepper and a pen twirled in his fingers. As Peter watched the movie, seeing as Frosty lost his wife, and Jay helped him back from his guilt and grief, he felt every emotion that the characters felt. He saw as Frosty watched, heart in his throat, as Jay almost died surfing the mavericks. Then, the pain in Frosty’s eyes when Jay did die, taken too soon by his own drive for greatness.

The movie ended, and Peter saw Tony, wiping his eyes as he leaned back. Natasha had passed out, sitting with her back up against Bucky’s legs. Bucky and Steve had been squished onto the couch together, looking a bit uncomfortable but relaxed, nonetheless. Clint had fallen asleep with his head on Bruce’s shoulder, who in turn had his chin on Clint’s head. The two would freak when they saw woke up.

Peter went to sit up and frowned at the tightness in his limbs. He felt like his joints had been bolted together and were unable to bend. Peter cracked his jaw and rolled his shoulder. He was still a bit too emotional from the movie to talk, so he stood up and sighed.

“See you tomorrow, kiddo. I was thinking that we could just have a lazy day at home. Watch some movies, fool around in the lab. The works.” Tony said as he helped pull an exhausted looking Pepper to her feet.

“Great sounds, Mr. Stark.” Peter turned to go to his room, stopping at Tony’s chuckle.

“Yeah, you do need to go to bed if you’re talking like that, Pete. G’night.” Peter didn’t know what the older man was talking about, so he just continued walking towards his room.

And with that, the boy made his way stiffly to his room, fumbling for the king-sized bed and essentially collapsing onto it. School and patrol had really been kicking his butt recently. It had totally zapped his energy, so he was pretty glad to be able to just relax this weekend. Peter closed his eyes, and that was it.

After the weekend at the tower Peter had finally felt rested. He went to school on Monday happy as could be to be there. Then of course it all went to hell. He had been having a fine weekend. His memory had been a little short, and he kept getting his words mixed up, but Peter had just attributed it to him having been so tired. And, no one had seemed to notice so it wasn’t a big deal anyways.

He was at Decathlon practice when it happened. Peter had been sitting beside Flash and Betty, answering question after question when there was a strange _popping _sensation in the back of his head. Peter sat up a bit straighter, but he just ignored it, waiting for the next question.

“Uh- Peter?” He looked up to where MJ was standing with the flashcards in her hands, a strange expression on her normally straight-laced face.

That’s when he heard the dripping noise and felt liquid on his mouth. Peter put his hand up to his nose and pulled it away. More shocked and annoyed by the sight of the bright red liquid than anything. That’s when he noticed that it wasn’t just dripping, his nose was pouring blood.

Peter pulled his jacket off, holding it up to his nose as he pushed his seat back clumsily.

“Mr. Parker, do you need to go to the nurse?” Harrington asked in his normally panicked voice. “No, I-I’m…” He frowned, completely losing his train of thought as the jacket in his hand kept getting wetter under his nose.. “Bathroom, I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

He pushed past the others, bending his knee in annoyance at the stiffness it held. It made him think of his old bike. The kickstand had been rusted, so he could flip it down easily enough, but whenever he tried to pop it back up it would just stick down, aching and squealing in protest as he forced it upwards.

Peter walked, albeit gimpily to the bathroom. He opened the door and stepped into the fluorescently lit room.

And his mind blanked. Why was he in the bathroom? Why was his hand pressed to his face? And why on earth did it feel so sticky? Peter turned to leave, pulling the jacket away from his nose when he stopped. His nose was bleeding? When did his nose start bleeding? It didn’t feel like he had gotten punched and he was still at school, so he shouldn’t be having any injuries from school.

Peter grabbed a couple of paper towels and bent over the sink. He closed his eyes, waiting for the bleeding to stop. It just continued gushing, running down the sink. He breathed out, praying it would stop soon.

“Peter!” Ned’s voice had Peter snapping his head up. He opened his eyes and looked at his friend, his head pounding. When he looked at himself in the mirror he stopped. Under his nose was a smear of dried blood, and there was a deep red mark on his forehead from where he had been leaning against the edge of the sink.

“What, jeez, Ned! Don’t scream at me like that, you’re going to give me a heart attack!”

“Dude, you’re Spiderman and me saying your name is going to do you in?” He said in a voice that made Peter pause. Ned had this tone to his voice that he only got when he was freaked out about something.

“Ned!” Peter looked around in wild panic as he dampened some paper towels to wipe the blood from his face. “Someone is going to hear you!” Ned just looked at him. His friend’s face was completely slack and dumbfounded.

“Peter… it’s been two hours! Tony called me, and I told him you had to have goen home because you never came back to practice! I thought you’d gone home after the whole nosebleed thing. Then- then I just come in here to pee before I go home and you’re just like- dude, you were in some freaky trance! Eyes closed, bent over the sink! Are you okay? Is this, should we like, call Mr. Stark about this?” Ned asked so many questions that he just frowned.

“No, no I’m ok, Ned. I think- I think I’m just tired. I need to go, ok?” Ned just watched as Peter pushed past him. “I’m fine, really! I’ll see you tomorrow!” He said, bringing his hand up to his jaw as he began to rub it again. God, his bones felt so stiff.

Peter stepped outside and pulled his phone into his hand. His heart plummeted. Twelve missed texts from Tony! He was so dead!

Hey kid, you still coming to work on the new update for Karen today?

_ _

_ Yo- you ignoring your old man now? I’m completely offended._

_ _

_ Blink once if you are in trouble. _

_ _

_ Peter, kid? You’re friend Ned said you left to go home? Everything peachy clean?_

_ _

_ Alright, I’m kind of panicking. Please call me. _

_ _

_ Now._

_ _

_ Kid, I mean it. Like NOW!_

_ _

_ Ok, your phone is saying it has no signal. _

_ _

_ So help me GOD if you turned off your tracking again_

_ _

_ PETER!_

_ _

_ Alright, I’m sending the avenger’s out now. _

_ _

_ Call me!_

_ _

_ _He didn’t get service in the bathroom he had been in, and Peter hit the call button. One ring later and Tony was yelling in his ear.

“Mr. Stark.” He winced again, pulling the phone from his ear. Something was wrong. He couldn’t think. Peter looked around him and stopped. He was in front of some massive building. He could see a football field and stairs. The building behind him looked somewhat like a prison as Peter turned in a circle. “I’m-” He lost the word for it. “I don’t k- I can’t think!” He finally forced out of his increasingly uncomfortable mouth, rubbing his jaw once more.

“Ok, your tracking is on now.” Tony’s voice was deadly serious as he picked up the predicament his kid was in. “Your friend said he found you bent over the bathroom sink, Bucky is closest to you, but I’m on my way.”

Peter wanted to speak, but he was hit by a wall of fatigue. He heard someone calling his name, but his phone clattered to the ground as his hand fell limp at his side. He felt like a puppet whose strings had been completely cut.

He swayed. Peter heard yelling, but he couldn’t comprehend the words. He was exhausted, feeling as though he had been running for three hours.

He fell. Unable to hold himself up on his shaking knees anymore. Then he felt arms on his,

lowering him to the ground.

“Hey, woah- woah kid. Hang on, Tony’s almost here. Geez, what did you smoke?” He heard Bucky above him, and Peter could feel as the ex-assassin sat him up, leaning Peter back against his chest to keep him supported.

“I- Buck- I can’t think- I don’t. Working, words aren’t.” He could feel the man looking at him, but Peter just wanted help. He was so confused, and nothing was making sense. And what was this happening to him?

He heard the sound of repulsors and felt more hands on him then Tony’s worry ridden face was in front of him.

“Kid, what’s going on?” It was then that Peter realized he was crying.

“I don’t- Tony- I can’t- I can’t- I can’t-” The older man held his hand out, eyebrows creased heavily.

“Okay, alright. Brucy is waiting on us at the tower, and he’s going to get you all figured out. I swear, if you have alcohol in your system, I’m going to lose it.” Tony’s voice was deadly serious, but Peter knew he was just teasing to work through the anxiety he was feeling.

“Where- where- are? Where am I?” He stuttered out, looking around, his eyes doing everything they could to put two and two together.

Tony jerked his head to look at Bucky, he was still holding Peter’s limp head up. “Did he hit his head?”

“No, I caught him when he fell. I looked, no dilated pupils or bumps on the skull. I have no clue what’s going on.” He said, concern evident in his voice.

“Kid, we’re at Midtown right now.” Peter blinked. Midtown. That was his school. Terror began to grip at his heart and Peter looked around him. He had walked these sidewalks for years. He had been going to midtown for four years, and now he couldn’t even recognize where he was.

“What’s wrong with me?” He whispered. Saying it so quietly that only Tony heard. The man bent down, hands around Peter’s face, looking him dead in the eye.

“I don’t know, buddy. But I am going to figure it out, okay. You just relax. We are going to get everything taken care of.” Peter just stared at him; eyes wide. Tony then stood up, one hand on Peter’s bicep and one on his forearm. Bucky also shifted around, doing the same on Peter’s left side. He was completely limp, muscles absolutely exhausted as he was pulled up. Peter’s legs were completely straight as he stood. Bucky and Tony were the only reason he wasn’t falling flat on his face.

“Think you can walk, Kid?” Bucky asked from next to him. Peter grunted, moving his legs forward carefully. It was like he was being forced to walk through a mud pit, his limbs feeling as though they weighed thousands of pounds. He could see the car pulling up, a worried Steve and Clint watching him from the front seats. They leapt out, opening the door closest to the trio.

“Hey, kid. You’re looking like you had a bit too much to drink.” Clint quipped as he helped bend Peter’s knees to get him into the seat, but Peter knew he was terrified. The more time you spent with Clint, the more you realized that his humor covered up all other emotions that he felt. Bucky slipped to the other side of the car, helping to pull Peter through.

He leaned his head back, sinking into the leather seats as Tony and Bucky supported him on both sides, hands hovering as they wondered what to do. Suddenly a sharp pain jabbed into his thigh. Peter cried out, hunching over. Hands were on him immediately, sitting him back as he continued to cry out.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked from the driver’s seat. Tony and Bucky were bracing Peter back, holding him up against the seat as he continued to squirm in pain.

“I don’t know, just get us to Bruce!” Tony kind of yelled, the team just knew that whenever someone Tony loved was in harm’s way, he got like this. Tense, agitated, and quick to snap. But, no one cared. They all knew that it was only because he cared so deeply and couldn’t stand to see anyone he loved in pain. Strangled cries came from Peter’s mouth, and a hand quickly cupped the back of his head.

“Kid, we are going to get all of this figured out. Hang on for us, alright? I think you’re having a muscle spasm right now, good ole’ Charly Horse, yeah? No big deal, guys that play football get em’ all the time. They hurt like a bitch, but just try and relax.” Bucky said as Peter just let his head go limp. He was so, so tired, everything around him seeming to sap every ounce of energy he had.

“That’s a good idea. Kid, just try and close your eyes and relax, alright?” Peter grunted, whether in agreement or agitation he didn’t know. His eyes closed, but his mind stayed awake.

The conversations making less and less sense to him as he drifted somewhere else.

“I don’t know what this is.” A panicked voice started. “He’s been acting weird the past couple of weeks, losing his train of thought and stuff but, God, this? He just, he seems completely out of it. He didn’t know where we were, and I- God, if I didn’t know better it seems like the same thing that happened to my grandmother.” Tony said from beside him. Peter listened, but he didn’t hear.

“Like what?” Steve asked from the front.

“Like- I hate to say this…” Tony paused, obviously deep in thought. “It’s like Alzheimer’s”

Peter woke up to Bucky and Tony pulling him carefully from the car. Natasha was holding a wheelchair in place, her normally placate face creased with worry at the sight of the teen who could hardly stand on his own. It as something straight from a nightmare.

“Bruce is getting a room prepped for him. He wants to start him on an MRI scan first.” Her flat tone said, but her hand found Peter’s face and she gave him a soft stroke.

“Can- can you guys, s-s-s…. quit talking about me. Like I’m not h- like I’m not here.” Every word felt like a struggle to get out. It was like his tongue had been twisted and tied and his brain was doing flips in his head. Like reaching into a bowl of random words, looking for one specific one. Natasha bends down at this as the men get Peter settled into the wheelchair.

“Kid don’t worry. Bruce and Cho are the best out there, you know that. Whatever is going on with you, we will get it figured out.” Peter rarely saw Natasha look anything other than stone-faced, but right now, her eyes had an air of concern and gentleness that soothed his soul. He relaxed as he was wheeled into the tower.

“How are you feeling, Pete?” Bruce asked when they made it to the med bay. The man looked concerned, but calm as Peter was helped to sit on the reclined hospital bed.

“I don’t- I can’t- it’s…” He stopped, taking a deep breath. He couldn’t think. And he was going to go crazy. Before he realized what, he had done, Peter’s phone was laying on the floor, a mirage of broken glass.

“Alright, alright. Listen, you just relax. We are going to take an MRI, I think it’s possible that you hit your head, and this is just a severe concussion, alright? I’m going to get this done as quickly as possible, you just relax. If you get uncomfortable or feel off just let me know.” Peter just nodded, his eyes hot with tears, finding Tony’s as the man stared at him with worry creasing his features.

“M-m-may?” Peter stuttered out. Tony nodded, understanding completely.

“Yeah, I know. I want to wait and see what Bruce says. She’s going to be sleeping right now. Once he lets us know what’s going on, we will give her a call.” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair as one of the nurse’s brought him a hospital gown.

“I don’t think.” His voice stuttered. “I can’t do it a- a- by myself.” Tony, sad eyes and firm lined mouth, nodded.

“I know. I’ve you kid. I’ve got you.”

The MRI was torture for Tony. He stood, watching through the one-way glass, his heart in his throat. The kid had exploded, slamming his phone into the wall on the opposite side of the room with enough force for it to completely shatter. Tony and Bruce had held a brief conversation about a sedative, but since Peter had calmed down, they’d decided to hold off.

“Tony.” Bruce’s voice was low, and he jerked his head to look at the man. Everyone else was somewhere in the tower, awaiting news. He had sent Happy to get May when Bruce relayed the fact that it would be wise. Something as serious as this, it wasn’t a physical issue. He hadn’t fallen from a building, or been slammed upside the head. This was neurological. And that was scarier than anything else that could’ve happened. Peter was laid out, looking utterly too still as he stared at the white machine above him.

“Bruce.” Tony’s voice wavered, completely uncertain, and painstakingly terrified. He had risked everything; the team had risked _everything _for that kid. To stop Thanos, to save that boy. That boy who looked completely horrified and unaware of his body. Who was moving like an elderly person, whose brain could hardly place a thought. Tony could not lose him. Tony would _not _lose him. Not now, not ever.

“I think we need to sit down.” Bruce said gravely. Those were the exact words he had dreaded hearing. Tony just continued to stare at the man. Bruce, who was hiding behind his glasses, his face white as a sheet. And Tony suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

“Tell me.” He said, unable to say anything more without his voice breaking.

“Let’s si-”

“_Bruce.” _He said forcibly.

“It’s, God, Tony it looks like…” He paused, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He looked

as though he were about to drop to the floor. “It doesn’t make sense, but it looks like- Frontotemporal Dementia.” His voice was a hush, hardly a whisper, but Tony just stared at him like he was a foreign language.

“_Dementia? _Bruce, he-he’s eighteen. He doesn’t have Dementia!” Tony exclaimed, throwing his hands. Because no matter how much he argued the point, it wouldn’t matter. Because Bruce wouldn’t have said that if it couldn’t happen.

“It’s rare, Tones. But, it’s the only type of Dementia that can affect young people, and… Tony I think that the advancement that the spider bite gave him… I think that it is working against him and speeding up the process. His symptoms started until last week, and it just doesn’t move this fast.” Bruce gestured to the kid. “This is- it’s moving too fast.” Tony took a deep breath, feeling as though he was underwater.

“What’s going to happen?” His voice was deathly low, but Bruce heard.

“It looks to be in a more advanced place. He’s going to have problems holding things, moving, walking. We need to be careful and watch that he doesn’t fall. It will become hard for him to eat, and drink, his muscles essentially will start cramping or seizing up, he won’t be able to move. He… it’s not fatal in itself. But, God-” Bruce’s head fell into his hands. “There’s essentially no way to keep him from getting pneumonia. He will stop being able to move, and when the body lays in one position like that, it just- it’s not good.” And Tony felt like he was dying. Right then and right there. And he grabbed Bruce’s arm, because he couldn’t stand up.

“Tony, I need you to breathe.” Bruce’s voice filled his brain as Tony sank against the wall.

“I can’t- Bruce- I can’t lose him.” Bruce kneeled in front of Tony.

“I will figure this out. Be there for him. Don’t act like he’s dumb or missing something. Treat him as normally as you can. I want him to stay on the Floor with everyone until… as long as he can.” Bruce grimaced as he stood up. “I’m going to give you a minute, and I’m going to go

talk to Peter. Talk to his aunt. I won’t stop until I can find a way to fix this.”

There were tears and denial from everyone. Peter didn’t understand half of what Bruce told him; he just knew that whatever was going on was bad. It was bad for him, and everyone around him was upset. Bruce promised to not stop trying. Whatever that meant.

May was there. She was crying and kept holding his head to her chest. Peter was sat on the couch with a blanket up to his chest. Tony was standing in the kitchen, and he had been looking down at the same cup of coffee for the past twenty minutes. Peter blinked heavily, his head dropping towards his chest.

“Why don’t you take a nap, Pete?” May’s voice was soft as she played with his hair. Peter did feel exhausted. He leaned his head against her arm.

“It’s like-like a …” He couldn’t think.

“It’s okay, just relax right now, baby.”

“It’s like a storm.” He muttered. May tilted her head, looking at him with tears rimming her eyes.

“What?” His eyes were closed as he released a deep breath. He felt Tony’s hand on his hair, and he sighed.

“This. ‘s like a storm.”

It only got worse. Tony had called in every single doctor he could think of. He had called in Cho, Strange, even doctors from Thor’s world. No one could find a cure. Tony was sat with Peter today. May had a double shift at the hospital, and he had Peter duty. The kid was staring at the television. Nothing hurt Tony more than the silence from his kid. Peter had always been the chipper, chatting one. He was the one that was talking when Tony had been anxious or stressed about something. Now, Peter hardly spoke. The dementia was progressing faster than any of them had been ready for. The kid could hardly speak without stuttering. He was constantly confused, and he could hardly eat or drink anything, choking to the point that they had put in a feeding tube and he was now connected to an IV of fluids at all times.

Tony looked at the kid, biting his lip as he bent his head, doing everything he could to hold back a sob. Peter’s face was void of any emotion as he sat, and Tony couldn’t handle it anymore. He needed an ounce of recognition, a hint of a smile.

“Hey, Pete. Do you want to go outside? I’ll take you for a stroll?” Peter made eye contact with Tony before offering a stiff nod. “Alright. Let me grab you a jacket and the wheelchair.” Peter just stared back at the television as Tony pushed himself off the couch. The kid hadn’t been able to eat much before the feeding tube, and even with it he was losing weight, which meant he was always freezing. As Tony walked from the hallway with the items, he needed his heart dropped.

“Pete!” He raced forward, the teen lying face down on the ground, trying and failing to push himself up, the IV had been ripped from his arm. Tony grabbed him and got him in a sitting position. “Are you hurt?” The boy just stared at him; no recognition is his eyes. Tony felt his blood running cold. “Peter, are you hurt?” He pronounced each word very bluntly, but the boy shook his head, his body shaking slightly.

“Need’d you.” He forced out from his locked jaw. Tony grinned, knowing it didn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s okay, kiddo. I’ve got you.” He managed to get Peter into the wheelchair, tucking the sweatshirt he grabbed, which just so happened to be his MIT one, over the boy’s head before slipping the IV back into the teen’s arm. He decided to tuck a blanket around the kid as well, making sure he stayed warm.

It was dark out, and the lights of the city blinked at the two of them. Peter’s favorite spot was on the roof, looking over New York. They hadn’t talked about spider-man since Peter got sick, but he knew the kid missed it drastically, could see it in the boy’s face.

“M’ scared.” Tony looked down, seeing tears in the kid’s eyes. He knelt next to him, touching the boy’s face gently.

“It’s going to be okay, Pete.” Heart being torn from his chest.

“Miss it.” A tear dropped down his cheek and Tony’s thumb caught it.

“I know. I know you do.” He needed a cure, God let Bruce find a cure.

“M’ lost, T’ny.” And that did it. It was a sledgehammer straight to his heart. Tony’s calloused hands cupped the teens face, and his distant eyes focused in.

“You’re not lost. It just feels like you are. Bruce isn’t- we aren’t going to let you go somewhere that we can’t follow.” Each word dripped with emotion. Peter nodded. He was more coherent right now than he had been in the past several days, and Tony was soaking it all in. He pulled the kid from the chair, sitting both of them on a couch that he had set up outside, just for these moments. He grabbed a blanket and pulled a hat on Peter’s head for him. The two sat, listening to the soft music that FRIDAY had turned on, and for a second- one split second- everything was normal.

Then Peter coughed.

Ton sat at the table of the commons room, staring at his food and trying to force himself to eat. May was with Peter and Cho, working on finding a way to bring his fever down. Let’s just say, when Peter got sick, he got sick violently. He was coughing up a lung and you could read the discomfort in every labored breath he took. What had the medical team so worried, was the levels of his fever. The kid was racked with chills, and his fever was verging on 104, and Tony ached to see the kid’s hazy eyes.

He felt a presence behind him and looked up. Helen stood, looking exhausted as she watched him.

“How is he?” Tony knew, but he still dreamed that he would ask that question and it would be, _He’s healed, Tony! _And he would never have to let the kid get out of his sight again.

“Not good.” Cho sat, sipping the tea that she held. “I don’t know how much longer he has, to be honest with you.” Tony felt his entire chest darken, running a hand over his mouth.

“How did this happen? No one in his family showed signs of it, Helen! I looked into his family’s medical records; they show nothing like this! Not a single one of them had anything close to dementia or Alzheimer’s, and I’m just supposed to expect that this is completely random?” He dropped his face into his hands.

“I wasn’t going to tell you this, because nothing came of it.” Cho looked down. “When Peter first came in and we took his blood, there were… abnormalities in it. A strange chemical mixture that I couldn’t quite make out.” Tony sat up straighter. “I still have the sample, and I’ve been looking into it, but nothing has come of it. If it were-” She stopped herself looking down, and a burning anger filled his chest.

“If it were what?” She bit her lip.

“It was foul play,” and his breath was torn away from him. “then it wouldn’t matter right now, because I haven’t been able to curate a way to stop this anyways, and I’ve been trying. I had Natasha looking back to see if Peter ever got hit with any kind of dart or injected with anything, she’s been looking since he came in last week but nothing’s come up.” Tony’s hands were shaking as he watched her. “I- the pain he’s in… I need to start him on Morphine.” Tony felt his chest tightening.

“Morphine is a death sentence.” He choked out, unable to breath.

“It- it doesn’t look good. He’s in pain right now. His body is shutting down and he’s sick. I’ll give you until the end of the day, but Tony- I won’t let him suffer any longer than that.” She said firmly, as Tony stared at the wall in front of him.

“I will fund whatever you need. I will get you every scientist in the world. Get my boy back.” He stood, completely abandoning the food on the table.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got a very unlucky person out there waiting for me to hunt them down. Someone did this to my kid, I just know it. I have to find them. I have to do something.”

He took Clint, Natasha, and Bucky with him. He needed to be sure that he had a team of people willing to do whatever it took to get this son of a bitch. Tony had scoured every ounce of footage from Peter’s suit, and he had found it. There was a man that Peter had fought, of course he had won, but the man had gotten a small cut onto Peter. Of course, the kid hadn’t thought anything of it, but as Tony had FRIDAY read into who the man was, he found out that he was a scientist from OSCorp, and there was no way that he was completely innocent.

They had found his home and waited until nighttime. When they ambushed, it had only taken Natasha three and a half minutes to get the cure from him. Tony had already called SHIELD. Whenever the psycho, who said he wanted to see how Peter’s Spider DNA reacted to the Dementia, got out of the hospital, he would be in prison for a very very long time.

Tony raced back to the tower, stopping in his tracks when he heard May weeping. _I’m too late. _He thought to himself. Peter was dying a terrible, painful death, and he was too late. Bruce came sprinting around the corner, his face pale and sweating.

“Please tell me he-”

“Not yet, but God- I would never give him something like this without testing it, but we don’t have time. I just pray that it kick starts his healing factor, because. Well, I’m not going to lie to you, without it he doesn’t have long. His fever is too high and with the way his muscles are shutting down, he’s losing his ability to clear his airway by coughing. Helen’s going to administer Morphine in twenty minutes if this does nothing.” Tony gave the man the vial and followed as they raced to the room, ignoring the growing shaking of his hands.

May was weeping, Her face laying in Peter’s hand on the bed. The ventilator hissed as it did everything it could to do the job his lungs couldn’t. His face was ghastly pale, the bags under his eyes dark enough to look racoon-ish. He looked so thin, and weak. Tony hated it. He hated every second of seeing his kid look like this.

“Okay, Peter. If you can hear me, we have something to give you.” Helen said from where she entered the room behind Tony. May looked up, tear stained eyes that held a haunted hope. Because if this didn’t work- they knew the outcome.

Helen prepped the needle and walked to the port in his left arm. She bent her head down, saying a quick prayer. Tony did the same. She inserted the honey-looking liquid in. And they waited. Nothing happened.

The respirator hissed. The pulse ox beeped, dangerously low, and the heart monitor seemed to be counting down the seconds. Everything seemed to slow down drastically, as Tony rubbed his hand over the boy’s forehead, hand gripping his kid’s tightly.

Then doe brown eyes slipped open. And they held more recognition and love in them than Tony had seen in weeks. And he thought his knees would buckle.

Tony gripped the boy’s hand, staying out of Cho and Bruce’s way. They began examining him, giving him his pain medications that would work now that his metabolism was working again. The boy may at least be awake, but he was still sick. His metabolism working the way it was, had him beginning to fight the ventilator that he was on, and Tony put a placating hand on his shoulder, steadying the kid best he could. “We’ve got you Pete, we’ve got you.” He said over and over as the boy squeezed his hand, brown eyes blown wide. He knew this would be terrifying. He knew Peter would have a long road of recovering ahead of him, but they could do this.

By the time Cho and Bruce left, Peter was falling back asleep with exhaustion. The respirator would stay in until his lungs cleared, which, with his healing rates, shouldn’t take longer than a couple of days.

May had stepped out to go shower when the boy fell back asleep, Tony having promised to stay with him. He had pulled a chair closer to the teen’s bed, tucking a blanket into his lap as he waited for the boy to wake up.

“I missed you, kiddo. God, I was terrified.” He whispered as he sat, running his fingers through the boy’s hair. He hadn’t expected the kid to wake up with the amount of drugs he was on, but he felt the hand tightening around his own.

Soft brown eyes forced themselves open, and Peter was looking at him, trust filling his eyes, and Tony knew he would never again take him for granted. “Hey kid.” Peter’s hand tightened on Tony’s. The man leaned forward, shushing Peter gently as he blinked. “Just rest, Pete. I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll be here for the rest of your life. Whenever you need me.” Peter had tears in his eyes, and Tony just hushed him once more, running his thumb across the boy’s cheek. “You’re not lost anymore, Pete. We found you.” He closed his eyes as Tony continued playing with his hair. “We found you.”

#irondadficexchange #unfathomableuniverse #irondadficexchange2019

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chokememrstark · 5 years

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I couldn't help but think of Tony getting a secretary. He has a normal one, obviously, but that secretary had to leave unexpectedly so he had to get a quick replacement, and he's sent a fresh-faced, eager boy named Peter who just wants to do so well on his first job...

This… escalated a bit. Not saying I’m sorry, but I enjoyed this a lot and I hope you don’t mind that this is a bit late!

Words: ~4,6k

[Read on AO3]

Tony Stark relies on his secretary to run his company, it’s always been this way and they have become a great team over the years they worked together. However, when she comes to him one day to tell him she’s pregnant, Tony already sees all his success and fortune disappear. She keeps working for several months, but it’s clear that Tony has to find someone to replace her and no matter how many interviews he has, no one is good enough. Everyone coming by is either not committed enough or not capable of the tasks necessary.

On her last day before maternity leave, Tony finally gives in and comes to her, sighing. “I can’t find anyone, May,” he says, clearly frustrated to no end by the lack of capacity he had to deal with for weeks. “This company will go down without you.”

“I don’t think so, Tony,” May says with a smile, looking up at him. “There’s someone I know would be perfect for this position, but I didn’t want to ask you earlier because he’s family.”

“May, at this point I’d make a deal with the Devil to find someone!” Tony tells her, everything as serious as he looks. “If you tell me he’s good enough, tell him to come in tomorrow. I need someone to take care of these things, otherwise I’ll get nothing done anymore.”

“I will talk to him, I’m sure he’s going to be very excited.”

“Good,” Tony sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Finally some good news. And you take care of that little rascal, alright? Give me a call sometime so I know how you’re doing.”

“Of course, Tony,” May laughs happily. “I’ll need a babysitter eventually, after all.”

“Oh, we will have to talk about that part again,” Tony laughs himself, utterly relieved and even a little hopeful that things might turn out good after all. May knows what he needs and if she says she has someone who’s capable, he believes her.

—–

When Tony walks into his office the next morning, he’s a bit taken aback by the fact that there is a pile of papers on his desk that is ready to sign and a steaming mug of coffee next to it. He raises a brow and walks back into his secretary’s office, but it’s empty. Given the time - it’s shortly after 7 - he can’t imagine May’s replacement already working, so he can’t explain the coffee. Eventually though, he shrugs, accepting it for the moment until he knows what’s going on and sits down to go over the papers.

Fifteen minutes later, Tony realized the papers are more than just that. On every single one of them is at least one sticky note, giving him additional information or opinions on whether or not signing them the way they are is a good idea. At first, he is about to dismiss them, but when curiosity gets the better of him and he checks the contracts, he notices that those little additions are extremely helpful and accurate.

“Color me surprised,” Tony huffs when he finishes going through another file, one with a note saying ‘Don’t sign, it’s a trap. They made a deal with Oscorp last week and want to rip SI off’. He decides that he needs to see who is responsible for this and is about to get up, when the door suddenly opens and he turns his head.

In the door frame stands a boy, no older than 18 or 19, possibly, with an innocent face and another pile of papers in his hands. There’s uncertainty in his eyes and Tony realizes he’s pretty much staring at him in complete shock and quickly tries to collect himself.

“Yes? How can I help you?” he asks, trying to sound friendly and not confused.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you, Mr. Stark,” the boy says, a shy and utterly sweet voice, and walks into the office. “I have a few more contracts for you to look over if you have time. If not, I’ll come back later.”

Tony keeps staring at the boy for another moment before it finally clicks. He must be the one May talked about the day before. Somehow, Tony had expected someone way older, not a literal kid.

“You brought these in earlier?” he asks and points to the papers that are almost finished by now.

“Y-Yes, sir,” the boy immediately says, nodding. “Should I not have? May said you prefer just getting to work and not chat in the morning, that’s why I just put them here before checking on the rest.”

“And you put all those notes in there?”

“I… I did, yes,” the boy admits, swallowing. “I can stop if you don’t need them, I just figured it would make things easier, I’m sorry.”

Tony is actually surprised and lets out a laugh, signing the boy over. “No need to stop, they are very helpful indeed,” he says and nods. He takes the next pile of contracts and puts them onto his desk. “May told me she has someone to cover for her, but I didn’t expect, well… a kid.”

The boy’s cheeks flush slightly and he looks down. “I’m not a kid anymore, sir,” he says quietly. “My aunt said you needed help while she’s on leave and I promised her to take over.”

“You still in school?” Tony asks, raising a brow. The boy looks back up at him, shaking his head.

“I graduated last month, sir,” he tells him. “Business and Economics, top of my class.”

Tony huffs impressed and leans back in his chair, glancing the boy over. “So, you’re May’s nephew?” he asks, earning a nod. “And you think you can do the job as good as her?”

“I do, yes, sir,” the boy agrees. “And I’m Peter, if that makes things easier. Peter Parker.”

“Peter, I see.” Tony’s lips curl into a smirk. “Well then, Peter. So far I’m alright with your work, but I have to ask you something. How do you know all these things? The deal with Oscorp, for example? This is usually very sensitive data no one outside of the company should have.”

Peter blushes even harder at this and looks down at his feet. “I… have a friend who works at Oscorp for an internship,” he admits quietly. “He brought it up while we met a few days ago and I remembered. I didn’t spy or anything, I swear.”

That’s not really what Tony expected, but he can see how uncomfortable the question makes Peter, so he nods and tones it down a bit.

“I have to thank both of you then,” he says appreciative. “You saved me a few millions with this information. And a lot of embarrassment.”

Peter’s head snaps up again and Tony can practically hear the boy’s heart drop and the relief that comes with it.

“The other notes were very helpful too, so if you want to keep them up, feel free to.”

“T-Thank you, sir!” Peter says proudly and smiles at him. “I’ll work hard, I promised May to do my best and I will.”

“I’m sure of that,” Tony smiles and waves his hand, signaling Peter that he’s free to leave.

Once the boy is gone and Tony is alone again, he leans back and huffs. This is definitely a turn of events he didn’t expect, but Tony figures giving the boy a chance won’t hurt. So far he did a great job and he’s obviously very eager and motivated. And if he’s honest, maybe having a secretary this cute and young will be practical in the future.

—–

Tony quickly realizes that Peter is not only motivated, he is completely committed to his job. he shows up as early as 6am and stays until Tony leaves, sometimes even longer, and sometimes Tony wonders if the boy even sleeps or eats at all. All the contracts he gets are prepared and he soon goes to simply read Peter’s notes to decide whether or not signing them is a good idea. The boy is always right, it becomes a habit so fast he barely notices it.

Peter also takes care of his calls and of scheduling his appointments, which turns out to give Tony a lot more free time than he is used to. Apparently, Peter is able to deal with certain things by himself and give satisfying answers without the need to bother Tony over them and he always makes sure his boss has several hours between appointments to collect himself and calm down. There’s also always fresh coffee and Peter even goes to get Tony breakfast every day, insisting that he needs to eat something solid in the morning.

It’s strange how easily Tony accepts this new way of working and even stops complaining about the breakfast after a week. Peter seems to know what he likes to eat and the coffee is always on point, so why complain? Once a day, he calls the boy into his office to discuss contracts with him and get an update on everything Peter takes care of and the more he listens to him, the more he can see just how good the boy really is. May truly kept her promise, he can’t deny it.

A month passes before Peter suddenly knocks on Tony’s doow, who just ended a call with one of his competitors. The boy looks disappointed and sad and it actually makes Tony’s heart ache seeing him like that.

“What’s wrong, Pete?” he asks as the boy comes closer. “Did something happen?”

“There might be a problem, sir,” Peter says when he sits down, without looking up at Tony. “My friend told me he had an appointment with Osbourne yesterday and I know he wasn’t supposed to tell me, but he did anyway. They are trying to make a deal with Odinson Incorporated…”

Tony’s eyes widen at that. Odinson Incorporated is one of the big companies both Stark Industries and Oscorp are trying to get on board with for years already and neither of them have succeeded so far. Making this deal is going to be huge, it’s like hitting the jackpot.

“How is he trying to do that?” Tony asks, leaning forward. “Did he tell you?”

Peter nods and bites his lip. “Apparently they offer him very good conditions, something Odinson can’t pass on.” He finally looks up and when he notices the worry on Tony’s face, he gulps. “I played with some numbers as soon as I had the chance and we could technically give them a better deal. We’d have to make a few cuts, but it would be worth it in the long run.”

“What kind of cuts are we talking about here?”

“Mostly customer service, really,” Peter says and sighs. “Oscorp isn’t going to give them any, but if we offer that to them, maybe they reconsider. The problem is we’d have to schedule an appointment with the brothers to talk this through and they are… rather difficult sometimes.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to get them to meet with me for months already,” Tony sighs audibly. “It’s near impossible.”

There’s a moment of silence before Peter speaks again and when he does, he sounds hesitant. “If you don’t mind… I could try getting one?”

“You think you’ll be more successful than I’ve been?” Tony asks, raising a brow. “Why that?”

“I don’t know, I just thought I could try,” Peter shrugs, cheeks slightly pink. “People usually react positive to me and so far I managed to schedule appointments with everyone, right?”

Tony huffs, but Peter isn’t wrong. He even managed to get an appointment with several difficult people in the past month and his idea isn’t the worst, even if it means a bit of restructuring. Maybe Peter can actually get somewhere with this and it won’t really hurt trying. The worst he can get is a no and that Odinson makes a deal with Oscorp.

“Alright, you got me,” Tony finally sighs and nods. “Try your luck with them.”

Peter beams at Tony and nods, immediately grabbing the phone and typing in a number. Tony wonders for a moment if he actually remembered the whole thing and is about to ask, but Peter puts a finger to his lips when it starts ringing, so he stays quiet. After that, he watches and listens curiously.

“Hello? Yes, my name is Parker, I’m calling on behalf of Stark Industries.” - “Yes, ma’am, that’s right. I’m Mr. Stark’s secretary, I’m calling about an appointment to discuss a possible deal.” - “Oh no, that’s very unfortunate… are you sure there is nothing you can do?” - “I know they are very busy, but it won’t be a long appointment, maybe half an hour at most. It would really help me if you could find something, ma’am.” - “What? Yes, of course, I’ll wait.”

He looks at Tony and winks at him before turning his attention back to the phone.

“I’m still here, yes.” - “Really? Nothing for the whole month?” Peter asks and his voice suddenly changes. It stops sounding friendly and confident and instead turns sad and disappointed. “That’s bad,” he sighs quietly. “I hoped there would be a chance…” - “Yes, I know they are very busy, but I guess they don’t want a good deal then.”

Tony squints his eyes when he notices a cheeky grin spread on Peter’s lips, a drastic contrast to the way he speaks. He didn’t know the boy was such a good actor before.

“Yes, ma’am, Mr. Stark asked me to call again because he wants to give Odinson Incorporated a better deal, but since they are so busy, maybe they -” - “Of course, yes. It’s definitely worth their time to at least consider.” - “Really? Next week?”

Tony’s eyes wide and he blatantly stares at Peter.

“That’s perfect, thank you! Yes, I will inform Mr. Stark right away.” - “Next Wednesday, 11am? Yes, we will be there. Antonio’s, yes, I got that. Thank you very much, you were a huge help.”

Tony keeps staring at Peter after he hangs up, completely dumbfounded. Did this kid just score an appointment with the Odinson brothers? Something Tony and May have tried to do for months? This can’t be, it’s impossible!

“Did you just do what I think you did?” he finally asks, simply because he has to ask something. Peter smiles brightly at him.

“I guess so?” he chuckles and takes a piece of paper from the table to write down the appointment. “She said they have a tight schedule, but they can squeeze half an hour in next Wednesday for lunch. I think that’s better than nothing, right?”

“I could kiss you right now, kid,” Tony says and lets out a surprisingly honest laugh. “If this turns out with SI stealing the deal, you’re in for a huge raise, I promise.”

Peter’s cheeks flush hard at this and he looks down at his hands. “Y-You don’t have to, really,” he mumbles. “I just want to do a good job…”

“And you’re doing just that,” Tony assures him, leaning over to squeeze the boy’s shoulder. “If you have time, I want you to come with me to that appointment, alright? I’m sure your sweet charm won’t hurt when facing the brothers. I can wrap people around my fingers, but I have a feeling you’re much better at that than I am.”

“Of course, yes,” Peter says quickly and nods. “I’ll happily come with you.”

Tony smiles, for the first time since Peter walked in with this horribly sad face feeling a bit of hope. They are so much further than they have been all this time already, he counts that as a success in itself. And he knows Peter will do his best during this appointment.

The following days, Peter mostly spends with Tony to go over the numbers and come up with a plan to provide the custom service he talked about without draining all of SI’s resources. Once Wednesday morning rolls around, they have a solid plan and Peter made sure to wear his best suit to look as presentable as possible. It’s the first time he attends an appointment with Tony and he’s obviously nervous, but Tony tries to calm him down the best he can.

“If we don’t succeed, nothing is lost that we already have, alright?” he smiles at him as they drive into the restaurant parking lot. “That we even have this opportunity is all because of your great idea and convincing skills, so don’t stress yourself too much. Just be yourself and we’ll see what happens.”

Peter nods, still nervous but at least a bit relieved that Tony is no demanding, and they exit the car to walk into the restaurant. A waiter immediately guides them to a separé that has been reserved for them and it doesn’t take five minutes of them sitting before he comes back, accompanied by two men.

“Thor Odinson, glad to finally have the chance to meet you in person,” Tony says dutifully, standing up and taking one of the men’s hand to shake it. He’s tall and broad, long blond hair he wear in a ponytail and a face that looks both friendly and intimidating just the same. Peter stands up himself and takes the man’s hand after Tony, who already shakes his brother’s - pr at least Peter assumes it’s his brother, given he never actually saw them and they don’t look alike at all. The other is just as tall, but more slender with long, black hair, pale skin and piercing green eyes.

“I’m sorry we had to schedule this appointment for lunch, but things are very busy these days,” Thor says and nods as he as they both sit down. “I don’t think you’ve met my brother Loki yet?”

Tony shakes his head, but smiles at the other. “It’s an honor, really,” he says. “And I don’t mind a lunch appointment at all. At least we won’t leave hungry afterwards, right?”

Peter is surprised when he sees Thor laugh at that and can’t hold a chuckle himself, which he tries to hide behind his hand. Shortly after, the waiter takes their order and then leaves them alone again. Two minutes later they have their drinks and Peter assumes it’s because of the amount of money sitting at the table that the service is so fast.

“I have to admit, I’m wary about this,” Thor says eventually, looking at Tony. “I have a very decent offer that I am tempted to take and unless yours is much better, I won’t bail on my other partner.”

Tony nods, taking his glass and taking a sip from his Cognac. “Of course, I would not ask you to take on a worse offer, but I believe we have come up with something you might find interesting.”

Peter watches Thor and Tony for a while, before turning his attention to Loki, surprised to see him almost disinterested in the whole conversation that is going on. He wonders if Loki is just here to look good - which he does, there’s no denying that - but then the man suddenly looks up, smirking at him.

“You look like a smart boy,” Loki says, trailing a finger over the edge of his glass. “Did you come up with this idea?”

Peter blinks surprised, clearly not expecting Loki to actually listen to the other two.

“I- I did, yes,” he admits, nodding. “I figured adding a custom service option would be helpful and take work off of your company if it’s provided by SI.”

“Tell me about it,” Loki huffs and rolls his eyes before taking a sip. “I’m the one who has to deal with these things so far and let me assure you, people are fucking dumb.”

“Loki!” Thor suddenly interrupts them, having both his brother and Peter spin around and look at him. “Watch your language, please.”

“Yes, brother,” Loki says and nods, but as soon as he looks back at Peter he makes a mocking gesture with his hand and rolls his eyes again. “Anyway, I wouldn’t mind having this part taken away from us.”

Peter chuckles at that and nods. It’s kind of funny how Loki is so obviously bored by the whole topic that he rather talks to him than be involved in his brother’s and Tony’s conversation.

“With our offer you won’t have to bother with it anymore,” Peter says with a smile and takes a sip from his coke too. “We are able to establish a new branch of SI that solely focuses on your company’s customer service. It might require someone from your company to work with us, but it doesn’t have to be you.”

“You’re throwing me a golden bone here,” Loki laughs amused. “Anything to not talk to annoying customers anymore and get yelled at. And you came up with that by yourself?”

“No, we… we came up with it together,” Peter says quickly, glancing over at Tony, who is just explaining the same thing just more complicated. “I had the initial idea, but we worked the solution out together.”

Loki suddenly smirks when he notices Peter’s look at Tony and nudges the boy’s leg with his foot under the table. “You’re blushing pretty hard,” he says quietly.

“I-I’m not blushing!” Peter immediately says and turns back to Loki, his cheeks a deep pink.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” Loki grins and winks at him mischievously. “You’ll get a yes for this deal, no need to panic. I wouldn’t want to work with Oscorp if my life depended on it anyway.”

“W-What?” Peter is so confused, he can just stare at Loki for a full minute.

“Have you ever met Osbourne?” Loki asks and huffs. “This guy is disgusting and rude, I don’t like him at all. I was ready to punch him in the face when we met with him, but Thor told me to be nice.”

Peter can’t believe what he hears, but his heart jumps at Loki’s words. “But I’m sure he offered you a great deal, or not?” he asks surprised. “I mean, your brother seems to consider taking it after all?”

“Yeah, it’s a good deal, but he won’t take it if I ask him not to,” Loki shrugs. “He just offers us lots of money, basically. I’d rather get rid of those dumb customers though.”

Their conversation is interrupted when the waiter brings their food and for a few minutes, they stay silent as they start to eat. Peter observes the others carefully and notices both Thor and Tony seem to be a bit more relaxed than when they arrived and it gives him a bit of hope. He doesn’t believe Loki has that much influence over his brother to do what he wants to seal this deal - it just seems too good to be true - but the whole atmosphere changed somehow and that puts him in a kind of positive mood.

“You know, Stark,” Thor eventually says, making Peter’s head almost fly up. “I see the potential of your deal, but there’s a lot less we gain from it, apart from the taking away of our customer service.”

“Well, it’s more than just that,” Peter says before Tony can reply and Thor looks at him with a raised brow. Peter swallows and shrugs. “Without customer service you won’t have to pay employees dealing with it anymore. All we’d need is one person to contact in case of emergencies, that’s it. So, you’ll save on this department and the deal still grants you authority in the last instance to put your veto on decisions you don’t agree with. It might look like it will gain you less at first glance, but within half a year you saved enough to make up for that and after that, it’s simply a win-win situation for your company.”

Both Thor and Tony look at Peter, Thor surprised and Tony with what almost looks like pride on his face, but Peter manages to keep a straight face.

“It’s about seeing the long-term profits in this and, without wanting to be demeaning or talking anyone down, but certain other companies are known to screw their partners over and I doubt you want to fall into the pit of their victims too.”

“He’s not wrong, you know,” Loki says, looking at Thor and shrugging. “Osbourne only recently fucked over a company almost as big as ours, just to make a few bucks.”

Thor huffs and glares at Loki for a moment, then at Peter and, finally, at Tony again.

“In case you’re worrying, we don’t plan to screw you over,” Tony says with an awkward smirk. “But to be honest, I would hate to see you screwed over by someone else. Even if we take the profit for SI out of the equation, you’ve worked hard to build up your company and to get where you are, choosing the wrong partner now could easily destroy everything you achieved.”

“And you can guarantee me that SI isn’t that partner?” Thor asks sternly, earning a nod.

“We never screwed any of our partners over and we don’t plan to start with you,” Tony shrugs. “This deal even causes us to lose money in the first months, but it will eventually work out for both of us, which I think is the favorable option.”

Peter can’t help but smile when he notices the way Thor’s expression changes and when he looks back at Loki, he sees the other with a victorious grin on his face. This deal is under the covers, so much is clear. Thor won’t want to risk losing money or the reputation he built up and with their deal, he will keep both. Peter couldn’t be happier.

The rest of their lunch goes by rather smoothly and by the end of it, Thor agrees to call Tony the next day to set up a contract. Peter couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. Before leaving, Loki hands Peter a note with his number on it, in case he ever wants to talk again, and the boy can barely believe his luck when they finally leave the restaurant and go back to the car. Once there, however, Tony doesn’t start it and he gets nervous again.

“Is something wrong?” Peter asks, curiously looking at Tony.´The man just holds the wheel and stares through the front window, not answering for a whole minute.

“What the hell just happened?” he finally asks, turning his head slowly.

“We scored the deal, I think?” Peter says with a smirk, shrugging. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

Tony looks at him for a moment before suddenly leaning over and grabbing Peter’s face, pressing a kiss onto his lips. Peter’s eyes pretty much snap open and he stares at Tony in complete shock, not having even the slightest idea about how to react. When Tony eventually pulls back, Peter’s cheeks are a dark shade of pink and his heart beats so fast he can feel it in his throat.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Tony immediately says, swallowing hard. “I… think I forgot myself.”

“No, I… I’m good,” Peter mumbles and turns his head to face the front of the car. “I think we should leave… we still have work to do.”

“Right,” Tony gulps and finally starts the car to drive off.

During their ride back, Tony almost desperately focuses on the street, but Peter keeps glancing over at him. His stomach still feels funny after this kiss, it was just too good and surprising to not affect him, but he doesn’t say anything. It only took Loki a few minutes to obviously notice the crush he has on Tony, but he doesn’t want to ruin the position he’s in by mentioning it directly.

Still, with the contract basically in their pockets and the kiss Tony couldn’t stop himself from, Peter is basically floating on cloud nine. It’s absolutely perfect and even if he just stays the man’s secretary from now on, he couldn’t be happier.

#starker #ironspider #tony x peter #peter x tony #tony/peter #myfics #prompts #sorry this took so long #boss/employee relationship #Anonymous

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lovelyshawnn · 5 years

Text

Nervous: CEO!Reader x Intern!Shawn

My heels clicked loudly onto the white marble tiles of my company’s building as I made my way down the hall, towards my office that overlooked the city. The volume of the chatter from my subordinates decreased as their eyes followed my body, silencing their words. The whole floor would quiet down unintentionally out of pure intimidation whenever they sensed my presence. I’m really not as scary as they think I am, but I have a reputation to obtain. I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to be their boss.

My assistant, Arlene, spotted my iconic high ponytail above the walls of the many cubicles on the office floor, taking that as her cue to stand up with my schedule in her hand, walking with me to my office as she read it out loud. She understood how I wanted everything to be organized and fastpaced. She was to read my schedule aloud every morning as soon as I walked through the door, not a single second late. As a CEO, I have a lot of things to do, so I don’t appreciate an assistant that isn’t quick on their feet for everything and anything. Which is probably why I went through dozens of assistants before I found Arlene. We quickly grew a bond and she was one of the few employees that I could actually bear in this company. I even consider her a close friend since we know each other like the back of our hands. This was not the case for the rest of my employees, who probably have never seen me shown any emotion besides irritated.

“We have a staff meeting at 9am, lunch with the representative of WFF at 1pm, videochat interview with Vogue magazine at 9pm, then we need you to read and sign these forms by 12pm tonight,” Arlene said all in one breath as quickly as she could.

“Oh! And our new intern, Shawn, starts today!” She said excitedly as she ushered him into my office. I looked up from the pile of papers on my desk to see Shawn walk in nervously, a tightlipped smile etched on his face. My brows raised in surprise. I was expecting some lanky, nerdy kid as the new intern but Shawn was quite the opposite. He was 6 foot and 2 inches of sculpted muscle. My eyes travelled up and down his glorious body like a predator stalking its prey.

“Hello, its a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Y/L/N,” he said. As soon as I heard his deep voice,I knew he was done for. I wanted so badly to just wreck him, taking him right then and there. I didn’t even know why I was thinking of this, I’ve never been truly attracted to a coworker in all my years of working, but here I was. There was just something about his pink blush that complimented his pale skintone, his big calloused hands, his perfectly wavy hair and...wait, what? I have to snap out of this haze, he’s just an intern. An incredibly cute intern, but still just an intern.

I shook my head to vacate all the inappropriate thoughts from my head. “Hi Shawn,” I replied, sticking a hand out for him to shake. His large hand flew up to firmly grip my small one, which ignited tiny little sparks in my hand that created a blush on my face.

I quickly pulled my hand back and diverted the focus from his hand to my work to avoid the awkwardness. Arlene took the hint as she saw my eyes shift back to the paper work, so she ushered Shawn out of my office to let me be. I decided to begin my work day by reading over some forms to sign but my mind kept thinking back to how his hand felt wrapped around mine. Why was my mind so occupied on this one guy? Fuck, maybe I just have to get laid. I never get this weak for one guy.

I huffed in frustration before getting up and making my way to the office kitchen/break room in desperate need of coffee. Usually I’d just ask Arlene to do it but today, I felt the need to get out of my office and clear my head for a bit. As I rounded the corner and walked into the break room, I spotted Shawn’s muscular back turned towards me as he was fixing himself a cup of coffee. It amazed me how someone can look so good in a pair of trousers and regular old sweater. I rolled my eyes at my own out of character thoughts. Treat him like every other employee. He’s no different.

His head turned toward me as he heard the clicking sounds of my heels. “Mrs. Y/L/N! Arlene said I should make you a coffee before the staff meeting, so uh, here you go,” Shawn stuttered out nervously. I eyed the cup of coffee that looked rather small in comparison to his huge hand, before taking it away from his grasp and taking a sip. My face scrunched up in horror at the taste, “Shawn, have you ever made a coffee before in your life?”

His eyes widened in fear, which made me smile at his innocence, but I was quick to cover it by turning away from him and towards the coffee maker. Or so I thought, but little did I know that Shawn most definitely caught the sight of the tiny smile that graced your lips, which eased some of his worried nerves.

“I like my coffee iced if its before 3pm with 2 sugars and some creamer,” I said as I made my coffee in front of him to demonstrate, “If its after 3pm, just make me some caffinated tea. Please tell me you know how to do that, at least.” He nodded frantically.

“I’d study this if I were you, you’re gonna be making a lot of these throughout the next few months,” I said with a bit of harshness in my tone before closing the lid on my coffee cup and strutting out of the room with a sway in my hips, not once looking at him as I finished my sentence.

He watched as my legs carried me away from him, his eyes trained on that perky ass of mine as he felt his pants tightened against his bulge. As soon as I left the room, he let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding. His new boss scared the shit out of him, but he had to admit, he was kind of into it. And the fact that she was hot as hell didn’t help his innappropriate infatuation with her. He snapped out of his thoughts as he remembered that he was supposed to be at the staff meeting and quickly made his way to the office.

I was sat on the end of the big rectangular desk with Arlene to my left and Shawn to my right. The rest of the main employees were sat all around the desk as they took turns updating me with how their department was holding up, and if there was anything we needed to do to fix it. As Dwayne from finances was talking about our budget for the month, you noticed that Shawn’s occasional nod had stopped, and he was now staring off into the distance lifelessly. I took my heel clad foot and gently tapped his calf to gain his attention, raising my brow at him in a disapproving way. He jumped up slightly at the sudden realization that he had zoned off, resulting in him leaning forward, trying to seem more intrigued in the insanely boring meeting. I smirked at how obvious it was that this poor guy was intimidated by me before ending the meeting after everyone had a chance to talk.

I walked back to my office side by side with Arlene, Shawn trailing closely behind, as she gave me any updates or any new information that you needed to know. “The representative for WWF just called saying he can’t make it to lunch today, should I reschedule?”

I rolled my eyes at their unprofessionalism and lack of punctuality. ”No, that won’t be necessary. Remind me to never waste my time on them again,” I said with irritation. My annoyance only grew as my stomach grumbled and my hunger grew.

“I’m still hungry, though. Would you like to accompany me to Le Petit Bistro?” I smiled at Arlene hopefully.

She shook her head no, “I’m sorry babe, I got a bunch of deadlines coming up today, I don’t have the time.” I pouted slightly in disappointment until I spotted Shawn, who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes scanned all over the office that was still new to him.

“You. Shawn. Would you like to go to lunch with me?” I asked in a straight forward fashion. His eyebrows raised and eyes widened as he realized that you were talking to him. He glanced between you and Arlene, unsure of what to say. Arlene gave him an encouraging nod, mouthing something along the words “Say yes!” Shawn swallowed the lump in his throat before nodding, “Y-yeah, I’d love to.”

I grinned and turned in my heels, making a beeline to the office elevators. As I got in, I noticed that Shawn was still stood exactly where I left him, “You coming?”

He rushed to meet me in the elevator before it closed. His heart was racing, feeling anxious about being alone with the CEO of this medium sized company.

“So, where are you from, Shawn?” I said in an attempt to make small talk. “Oh, uhm, I’m from Pickering, Canada.”

My brows lifted in surprise, “Wow, really? When did you move to San Francisco?”

“About a month ago, I moved as soon as I found out that I got the internship.”

My heart dropped as soon as I heard this. Suddenly, I felt pretty bad about not treating him a little more kind. This guy was completely new to this city, and a scary boss wasn’t going to help him get settled in. I weighed the pros and cons before making the final decision, “How about we do some sight seeing today? Have you seen the Golden Gate bridge yet?”

Shawn’s eyes widened for what seemed like the hundredth time today, “No, I’ve been meaning to, but wait don’t you hav-“

“No buts! We’re going!” I cut him off, earning a small chuckle from him. We walked out of the elevator and made our way to my car, where I replaced my black stilettos with sneakers that are more appropriate for walking around all day.

“Alright. First stop: Pier 39!” I screamed with excitement as he watched my childlike outburst from the passenger seat. Truthfully, I’ve been living in SF my whole life so I couldn’t care less about the tourist attractions, but this was the first time in a long while that I did something spontaneous. I have to admit that I’m a workaholic, and I love to stick to strict schedules and routines. But I was loving the thrill of finally doing something out of the blue.

After a pain in the ass time looking for parking, we finally made our way to the pier. We spent the hour walking in to all the cute little shops, enjoying the live entertainment, taking a ride on the carousel, and stopping for some clam chowder.

To end the day’s adventure, we took a boat ride that allowed us to get a good view of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate bridge. The soaring wind made me a bit chilly, making me wrap my arms around yourself, clinging onto my thin dress shirt to find some kind of warmth. Shawn noticed my actions before taking off his jacket and handing it over to me.

I smiled up at him at the kind gesture before slotting my arms through and shrugging on the oversized jacket, ”Thank you.”

“No problem, honey,” he said, swinging an arm over your shoulder to keep the both of you warm. Hm. Honey. I replayed the way he said the word honey over and over in my head, thinking about how perfect it sounded rolling off his tongue.

As we made our way off the boat and back into my car to head back to the office, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way his body felt against mine. What seemed like just a harmless, relaxing getaway from my intense work load was now having me rethink everything about my love life. I haven’t dated anyone in the longest time, I’ve always been way too occupied with work to even think about men. But there was just something about Shawn. Like the way his soft voice makes me feel all warm and relaxing inside, or the way his smile was so goddamn contagious.

No. You’re just in love with the idea of him, the idea of someone being able to take you away from the stress of your demanding job, I thought. This is just a temporary crush that spawned from the fact that we were both out of the office doing fun things, it’ll die down as soon as we get settled back in the office, working.

We rode the elevator in silence and when we got to our floor, I noticed that no one else was in the office. I glanced at the clock, which read 8:30pm.

“Oh shit, its already 8:30?” I said in shock. ”I’m so sorry, I must’ve lost track of time. You can go ahead and head home now, Shawn. Our office usually closes at 6, but I still have some work to do.”

“Oh, uh, actually Arlene wanted me to finish organizing some of the files in your office before I leave for today,” Shawn lied. I mean, Arlene did tell him he could do that to start his first day doing something easy, but she never set a deadline for him. He just wanted to spend a little extra time with you.

“That’s fine, you can do that while I do my videochat interview in a bit,” I replied, unlocking my office door for the both of us to step in. Shawn nodded and headed for the file cabinets in my room while I set up my computer.

Within a few minutes, I heard the blaring skype ringtone. I quickly fixed my hair before accepting the call.

“Hi there! My name is Jess, I’m a journalist from Vogue magazine,” a woman with dark brown hair said. After we exchanged greetings, she explained how the interview would work and began asking typical questions like when I began my business and what it feels like to be a young female CEO in the city.

I answered all these questions with ease since people ask me them all the time, it was as if I was running on auto pilot. Some time during the interview, my eyes shifted from my computer screen to Shawn, who was currently sorting through some papers quickly with his massive hands. Fuck, those hands were beautiful. Watching his fingers fly through the papers made my mind wander off, thinking about how those fingers would feel on me.

“Mrs. Y/L/N?” Jess called out.

I quickly diverted my eyes back to the computer screen, “Yes, uh, what was the question again?”

Jess chuckled slightly, “Well, as a young female boss, where do you find the time to date? Are there any special men in your life at the moment?”

Shawn’s head snapped towards me once he heard the question clearly, curious to my answer. My mind blanked out as I processed the question. I never really got personal questions, but since this was Vogue that was interviewing me, I should’ve expected that.

I laughed nervously, “I’ve mostly been focusing on my work actually, so there hasn’t been any special men in my life for awhile.” Shawn’s eyebrows flew up a bit at your response before he turned his head and got back to his work. You furrowed your eyebrows slightly in confusion about his reaction. It looked as if he were questioning the legitimacy of your answer. For the most part, it was true. I’ve only been on a handful of dates here and there since the start of my career 2 years ago, but none of them really connected with me. Not until today... with Shawn.

After a few more questions, we said our goodbyes and ended the skype call.

Remembering how Shawn’s eyebrow lifted at me in a questioning way, I decided to stand up from my spot by my desk and walk over to him to confront him about it. “Why’d you look at me like that? When she asked about my ‘special men?’” I asked, using hand quotes mockingly for the words special men.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He smirked without glancing up at me at all. That fucker knew exactly what I was talking about, it was evident in that cheeky smile he was wearing.

I rolled my eyes at him, placing both my hands on my hips and giving him my signature bitch face that I was known for around the office. He finally looked up at me, acknowledging the stance I was in before laughing lightly. Thats weird. No one ever laughed at me when I did my bitch face. They’d usually start apologizing or pissing their pants by now.

“Okay, okay,” he said as he placed his papers down, “I just find it hard to believe that someone as beautiful as you doesn’t have any ‘special men’ in your life.”

His words left me with my lips slightly parted, mouth opening and closing again while I tried to find the right words to say, but I was left speechless. A blush started to creep its way up my cheeks. Goddamn this intern and his ability to make me blush so hard. I made an effort to cover up the blush immediately by turning around to the stack of forms I still had to sign. I sat on the edge of my desk with my legs dangling off and papers placed on my lap.

“Well, it is true. I have so much work to do, and men are just a pain in the ass. I need to relax, and men make me do the complete opposite of that,” I said while rubbing my temples at the mere thought of being in a relationship at the moment.

He didn’t know what took over him. Maybe it was the wine that you two downed on the boat. Or maybe if was the way your perfectly tight high ponytail was now messy with baby hairs flying out of your head. Or maybe it was the way your skirt rode up your thighs when you took a seat on top of your desk. He didn’t know why at all, but the words just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them, “I can help you relax.”

And before he knew it, his legs travelled the short distance from his spot by the file cabinets to right in between my legs that were slightly parted. One of my eyebrows quirked up in a curious way while my pupils dilated to watch his every move, still confused as to what was going on. The shy, nervous fresh faced intern that started the day off by being scared shitless of you was now bolder than ever.

At the lack of my response, Shawn leaned over to close the small gap between us and planted his lips on mine. It was like I was completely out of control around him because although it was against all the red flags in my head, I wrapped my arms around his neck and curled my fingers into his soft curls. His hands were on my waist as his lips meshed together with mine. In a swift power move, I gave a good tug on his hair which resulted in him letting out a small gasp. I took advantage of this by slipping my tongue through and adventuring into his pretty mouth.

The fact that we were all alone in this big office, doing exactly what we aren’t supposed to do made it so much hotter for us. The feeling of his skin on mine, his lips brushing against mine, ignited a once dead spark inside me. I craved the touch of a man that I was deprived of for so long, but more specifically, I craved him.

I took the initiative, moving my hand from behind his neck to the front, grasping his throat between my fingertips lightly before trailing them down his toned chest. Shawn whimpered almost inaudibly at the feeling of my hand around his neck, nails digging in just the right amount. If the office wasn’t completely vacant at the time, I would’ve missed how the tiny whimper escaped his swollen pink lips. I smirked into the kiss. Of course he’d be into that. God, I’m going to wreck him.

My hand travelled down to where he needed me the most, cupping his member with my palm right when the phone rang. We jumped at the sound of the ringtone, scrambling off of each other as I hopped off the desk and made my way over to the phone. Its like the phone’s ringtone was like a wakeup call, bringing us back to reality.

I’m his boss and he’s just an intern, we’re not supposed to be doing this. But fuck, that just made it feel better. I flattened my clothes out, smoothing over the creases before picking up the phone.

Arlene was on the other end of the line, reminding me of the deadlines for the paperwork that needed to be scanned and sent off and notifying me of a sponsor’s interest in our company. I thanked her and wrote down the notes in my planner before hanging up. I turned around to face Shawn, but instead I was met with my usual empty office. What used to be comforting to me, was now cold and lonely. The sadness creeped in as I took in my surroundings and saw how there was not another sign of life in this building.

He left. And you were alone, as usual.

a/n: there will be a part 2 to this!! im thinking about making this a whole ass series/fanfic so stay tuned and pls leave feedback heheh

#shawn mendes au #shawn mendes au imagine #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes #CEO!Reader x Intern!Shawn #Intern!Shawn #intern shawn

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imyourliquor-youremypoison · 5 years

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Big Spook (Peter Parker x Reader - Part 3)

Synopsis: Aged Up!Peter thinks he’s done well with leading a double life. He’s studying what he likes, he has his own place, he’s dating the girl he loves… but that doesn’t mean life is easy all the time. Even superheroes have bad days - and sometimes worse days.

Tags: Aged Up!Character, College AU, Established relationship, Whump, Angst. Does not take FFH into account. SPOILER FREE.

Word count: 2.6k

Part 2 <<< >>> Part 4

MASTERLIST

When (Y/N) woke up – she couldn't remember when or how on earth she managed to fall asleep in this situation – she was lying on a couch in what she could only assume to be the Avengers' compound, a blanket draped over her, the blinds hiding the sun. It was about ten in the morning, and she quickly rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and threw the blanket away.

She had never even dreamed of stepping into this place, let alone spend the night. But she didn't have time to gush over being in the Stark Tower, because she knew Peter was somewhere on a lower floor, half dead.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y,” (Y/N) called, hoping she worked the same as E.D.I.T.H and thanking heaven that Peter was a huge nerd who had gushed over his glasses for ages when she asked him about them.

“Miss (Y/N),” the A.I. Greeted her, waiting for her to speak.

“I need to see Peter,” she said, a stone dropping to the bottom of her stomach as she said his name. Let him be alive, let him be alive.

“Right this way, Miss.”

The panels of a seemingly normal looking wall moved to reveal an elevator and dinged when the doors opened. She stepped in and the doors closed on their own, F.R.I.D.A.Y taking care of letting her off on the right floor.

She ran out as soon as the doors opened again, and she recognized the white walls of the medical wing. Thanks to muscle memory only, (Y/N) found her way back to the surgery room Peter had been brought in, but the sign next to the door said it was currently empty.

Going back, the looked at the sign on every door, trying to find someone, anyone, who could point her in the right direction.

“(Y/N),” an all too familiar voice called her name, cutting short to her increasing panic. When she turned around, she saw a puffy-eyed May Parker standing by a door down the corridor. “He's here.”

She jogged over to her and the two women crashed into each other for a tight hug. (Y/N) heard May cry softly, but she found she could no longer shed a tear. She had cried so much yesterday, and the shock of it all finally hit her, numbing her to everything around her. She needed to see Peter.

“He'll be okay, he'll be fine,” May whispered against her head, placing a kiss on top of it. (Y/N) knew she said it for herself, she tried to speak it into existence.

“Happy called you?” (Y/N) croaked out, clearing her throat.

“As soon as you passed out,” she said with a nod, gently stroking her hair. May always showed her maternal love, and (Y/N) often wondered why she had never had kids of her own. “We're waiting for Dr Cho to tell us what's going on.”

When (Y/N) looked over May's shoulder, she saw Happy standing beside a bed, where she knew Peter laid, though she could only see the shape of his legs under the white sheets. May quickly filled her in on what she missed and told her he came out of surgery around six this morning. Dr Cho went to sleep, having earned her rest and left Peter in the capable hands of the nurses.

The three of them waited inside Peter's room, silently watching his chest rise and fall and finding comfort in that, and that alone. Because they didn't know anything else. Most of Peter's body was hidden under the sheets, but what little they could see was not reassuring at all. Half his face was bandaged up, because of the head wound (Y/N) had nearly lost her mind over, and he had obviously gotten several stitches for other open wounds on his upper body. That was without mentioning the purple bruises littering his arms, or the split lip, the small gash on his left eyebrow, or the swollen black eye.

There was a growing emptiness in the pit of (Y/N)'s stomach, and she was afraid it would consume her like a black hole. May squeezed her hand when Dr Cho entered, holding a pad in her hand with a few papers on it, startling (Y/N) out of her daydream.

“Let me put your worries to rest,” the doctor started, walking around the bed and taking a small flashlight out of her pocket to inspect Peter's eyes. “The surgery went well, I was able to stop the bleeding and stitch him up without causing any brain damage, and his vitals are good.”

Happy stood beside May now, and (Y/N) drank in Dr Cho's every word.

“That said, he sustained a great number of superficial wounds all over his body, and it will take time to heal, superpowers or not. It's difficult to assess the full extent of the damage his head wound has done since he hasn't woken up. This is the bad news: Peter has fallen into a coma.”

Her face became serious, and she stopped her examination of Peter to look each of them in the eye, meeting their distressed gazes with a neutral face.

“A coma?” May croaked out. (Y/N) could tell by the sound of her voice that she was close to crying again, while she did not even feel the usual tingle behind her eyes.

“Yes. It's the body's natural response to the physical trauma,” she explained. “As long as he doesn't wake up, I cannot do anything else. I have treated every other wound. He’s lost of lot of blood,” Dr Cho said and paused, then looked at (Y/N). “We don’t know how long he stayed on your bathroom floor before you found him, but he was in severe condition when you brought him in, and his head wound must have sent him in shock.”

“How much blood?” (Y/N) squeaked out, feeling her throat tighten to the point of discomfort. It was her fault. If she hadn't fallen asleep...

“Enough,” was the only answer she got out of Dr Cho. “I’ve transfused him blood, so he should regain some colors very soon. He does also appear to have several shattered ribs and a broken cheekbone too, but there’s no internal damage, which is good.”

The list of bruised, cut, shattered and broken body parts Peter had made (Y/N) want to vomit all over again, and she hadn't even eaten or drunk anything in over sixteen hours.

“What can we do now?” Happy asked the doctor just as she was about to leave.

She stopped in her tracks and showed them the shadow of a smile – a sad one.

“It's out of ours hands now. Peter will wake up when he's ready.”

(Y/N)'s finger tailed along Peter's arm, following the veins running from his wrist to his elbow, lost in her contemplation. It felt like she hadn't moved in forever. She vaguely remembered Ned and Betty coming by to see Peter, but they didn't stay for most than a day – she thinks – because Peter wasn't technically family and they couldn't leave work on ground that a friend was in a coma.

God knew how long coma could last, no one could get off work for this long. (Y/N) saw them off – she thinks – and it was only her and May again. Happy came and went again, checking in whenever he had a chance, and making sure the psycho who had put Peter in this bed would get what he deserved.

(Y/N) didn't care. (Y/N) didn't care about anything. She barely found enough strength to look away from Peter, let alone care about other things. Sometimes she went to the bathroom attached to this room, and that was it.

May had to bring her food or she would forget to eat altogether. It had been days now, but (Y/N) couldn't tell how many because she hadn't moved, she hadn't slept properly, she hadn't watched the news since the first day.

She had been sitting still on a wooden chair next to Peter's bed, eyes fixated on the TV screen hanging on the wall across from the bed. She had clutched Peter's hand in hers, like she had been doing for the last few hours – she wasn't even sure she could move it anymore – while listening to the news.

They had gotten him. The criminal Peter had been chasing for days and days, they got him. The police found him tied to a lamp post, covered in blood that wasn't his, and knocked unconscious on the same night Peter came back half dead. (Y/N) had smiled when she heard the anchorwoman say that he had been arrested, she had turned towards Peter to celebrate the news, but reality had hit her like a ton of bricks.

Peter wouldn't be celebrating his latest arrest any time soon.

Feeling ill again, (Y/N) had turned off the TV and unplugged it, for good measure, and since then, the hours spent in Peter's room had been silent for all of them. May didn't sleep here but she came in the morning and left late at night. She brought yarn with her and knitted, or a book to read, or pictures to look at. She had tried to show (Y/N) the album she brought on the fourth day, but (Y/N) merely stared blankly at the pages, as if she couldn't see the pictures at all.

May hadn't tried to gain (Y/N)'s attention anymore after that, she merely made sure she was fed and got some sleep. She slipped a sleeping pill in (Y/N)'s coffee on the fifth day because the girl looked a fright! She hadn't had any shut eye in days and her eyes were dry and red because she stared at Peter all day long, wordlessly urging him to wake up. He needed to wake up.

On the seventh day, May saw a change in (Y/N)'s behavior. It was as though she received an electric shock – or perhaps the lack of food and sleep was getting to her finally. She stood up, and took her phone, and she spent the day answering all the worried text messages she and Peter had received since he came here, she also called their faculty and internship supervisors to keep them updated.

“Yes, yes I know,” she said in her phone, her back turned to May.

Her voice sounded fake, it was a customer service voice, May noted, eyes darting from her knit-work to the young woman's back. She knew (Y/N) was on the brick of insanity, she was driving herself mad with worry and her health suffered from it too. She bore dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks were hollow.

“I'm sorry about that, I know I should have called but I barely leave the hospital room,” she sighed in the phone, clearly arguing with her supervisor about her prolonged absence from work. “I'll come back as soon as I can, and I will catch up on my work. No, I-”

May waited, curious to see what she was going to say to this person who so clearly had no idea what (Y/N) currently endured.

“Well I'm sorry if it's an inconvienience to you, but like I said, I will not be able to come back to work as long as my fiancé hasn't recovered from his accident. What's so hard to understand? Would you go to work if your wife's life was in danger?!” (Y/N) shouted in the phone, holding it away from her ear and simply yelling the words to the screen. “Have a good day!” she snapped before ending the call.

May's eye slit up and she stood up, leaving aside her knit-work.

“Honey, don't let it get to you,” she went and took (Y/N) into her open arms, rubbing her back when the young woman buried her head in the crook of her neck. “Everything will work out, you'll see. Peter wouldn't want us to lose hope so soon. We have to believe he will wake up.”

“I know, I know this,” (Y/N) hiccuped. “But it's so hard. I don't know how much longer I can do this- I- I feel like I'm holding my breath, and I just- I can't breathe, May. I can't- I can't breathe.”

(Y/N) was slowly crumpling down, her breathing becoming uneven and sharp. May recognized a panic attack when she saw one and held (Y/N) in her arms, lulling her gently and whispered reassuring words into her ears while she gave in to the daunting sadness crushing her heart. A dam broke inside her, and the tears began to flow again, and she cried and cried and hiccuped against May's flowery blouse, wishing her own mother was here with her.

“Shh”, May said in her ear. “It will be fine. I know my Peter, and I know he won't abandon you, he'll fight to come back to you,” she told her in a soothing voice before pulling away.

(Y/N) had calmed down a little, only silent tears ran down her cheeks but she had regained her breath and her body had stopped shaking. May tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“You need to go home, honey,” May told her, meeting stubborn refusal. “You haven't had a full night's sleep in a week now, you'll end up in a the hospital if you don't take care of yourself.”

The rational part of her brain knew that, but how could she leave Peter? How could she leave her boyfriend alone in this sterile place, between these lifeless white walls while she was in their home?

“Oh, please don't cry anymore.” May pulled her in again and wrapped her arms around her. “He'd hate for you to torture yourself like this. You know it's not your fault. The one responsible has been arrested and will answer for his crimes.”

“It is. It is my fault. I should have stayed awake, then I would have been there when he needed me. Instead I let him bleed out on the floor, like a- like a-” a hiccup again, and she burst into tears once more.

“No, no, you can't think like that. You just fell asleep, it happens! No one could have predicted what happened that night. Peter leads a dangerous life, and you have nothing to do with this.”

There was no point in arguing. (Y/N) knew she was at least partly responsible for Peter's current state. If she had woken up a little sooner, maybe...

“Please, just go home. Have a bath, go to sleep, eat a real meal,” May urged her. “If anything new happens, I'll call you right away, I promise you. But in the meantime, do not come again until you've had at least ten hours of sleep. You need to rest.” She tucked another wayward strand of hair behind (Y/N)'s ear, who, like an obedient little robot, nodded.

She took her jacket that she's threw on over her sweats the day Happy brought them here, and was about to leave when May spoke up once more.

“Oh, and honey!” she called her. (Y/N) turned around and saw her smile. “I'm so happy for you two. Peter finally proposed, huh? I know he was waiting for the right time to ask you, I'm glad you said yes.”

Swallowing thickly, (Y/N) tried to reciprocated the smile, but quickly turned around to leave, before May could see the horror on her face.

A/N: This is by far the angstiest piece I’ve ever written. *Pokes my readers with a stick* y’all still alive? How ya holding up? Hang in there

TAGLIST: @palindrome-teddy @complete-trash-101 @keeperofhopesanddreams @i-love-whumperflies @golden-guide @marauderette130

Comment if you wanna be tagged in part 4 :)

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mr-stark-i-dont-feel-so-good · 6 years

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Monster: Spider-Man Homecoming Fanfiction

Chapter One

Summary:

(Post Spider-Man, Pre Infinity War) After the whole fiasco with Liz's dad, the Vulture, at Homecoming, Peter Parker is paranoid that everybody knows he's Spider-Man and is out to hurt him. His English teacher, MJ, Delmar, even Ned's under suspicion. In Monster, Peter must learn to trust again, wrangle being Spider-Man and Aunt May knowing, as well as complete his junior year at Midtown School of Science and Technology in one piece.

This is my first fanfic in, uh, a LONG time and my first fanfic on tumblr, so bear with me please and I hope you enjoy the story :) I also will post updates (and probably post them faster) on my Ao3: mr_stark_i_dont_feel_so_good

Chapter One under the cut!

Peter bit his lip nervously as he copied down the notes the english teacher, Mr. Winterhalter, was writing on the chalkboard. He tried to concentrate, but he couldn’t help himself - he knew English class was important in theory, but his mind just kept wandering. It was almost too easy these days - slipping into his mind, left back at the Avengers compound. He replayed when he stole Cap’s shield in his mind - the coolest thing he had ever done in his life, by far - and all the other Avengers he had met. He thought back to and marveled at the suit that Mr. Stark had offered him when he’d asked him to be an Avenger. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. He fantasized about swinging from building to building in the suit, zapping criminals with spiderwebs and chatting with Karen. Or, even BETTER, fighting aliens in space, the Avengers by his side. That was the dream. But he didn’t regret saying no to Mr. Stark’s offer - he knew that it was the best for him to focus small and on the local neighborhood. Not that he ever wanted a repeat of what had happened with Liz’s dad - he shuddered at the thought. He had done what he had to do to help Mr. Stark, but it had been so difficult to fight like that. He deserved a break, to focus on his schoolwork and education before he had another grand big taxing adventure like that one.

Education… Oh shit, Peter started, his eyes refocusing on the board. He was about two pages behind on notes and Mr. Winterhalter was heading his way. Peter frantically looked to the empty seat next to him - Ned wasn’t at school today, otherwise Peter was sure he would’ve helped Peter out and nudged him into paying attention much sooner. He frowned as he scribbled, trying to get as much down before Mr. Winterhalter got to him. Why was Ned gone? Usually if Ned was sick, he’d text Peter to let him know, but Peter hadn’t gotten a text that morning… or had he? Heart beating unreasonably fast, Peter reached down under his seat and grabbed his phone to quickly check.

Just then, it got taken from him. Peter looked up to see Mr. Winterhalter standing in front of him. “No phones in class,” Mr. Winterhalter said sternly, and peered over Peter’s shoulder to read over his notes. Peter felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as Mr. Winterhalter sighed in disappointment and said, “Meet me after class, Parker.” Peter sat back in his seat. Great, he’s in trouble… again. Peter couldn’t seem to avoid it lately.

As soon as the bell rang to signify the end of class, Peter jumped up and headed out the door, but Mr. Winterhalter stopped him before he could leave and called him over to his desk.

Peter waited for the stream of people to leave the classroom before turning to Mr. Winterhalter, looking down at his feet. “Mr. Winterhalter, I’m sorry sir, I swear it won’t happen again. I got lost in thought, things have been crazy recently-”

“Peter-”

“I swear, I’ll do better. I’ll do all the readings, and - shit, I mean - I do all the readings already, I promise - ugh, pardon my language -”

“Peter!” Peter paused, breathless and finally looked up to make eye contact with his teacher. Mr. Winterhalter was looking at him with a rather amused expression. He shook his head and chuckled. “I was going to give you a lecture,” he smiled, “but it seems you’ve already given yourself one.” He chuckled again, evidently amused with his joke.

Peter laughed along nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

“I- I guess I’ll just go then,” he said after a pause, reaching for his backpack. To his dismay, Mr. Winterhalter stopped him again.

“Wait, Peter, while I have you here there was something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Mr. Winterhalter said, rising from his seat and heading to the cabinet. “Mr. Winterhalter, I have to get to class,” Peter protested, but his teacher merely waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ll write you a note,” he replied, heading towards his desk with a folder in his hand. He motioned for Peter to sit and, reluctantly, Peter pulled up a chair from a neighbouring desk and sat. He suddenly felt a prick of a fear as he noted the seriousness in Mr. Winterhalter’s face.

‘He doesn’t know I’m Spider-Man, does he?’ His heart beat faster, but to his immense relief Mr. Winterhalter merely pulled out a stapled sheet of paper and handed it to him.

“Do you recognize this?” Mr. Winterhalter asked. Peter looked down at the paper and suddenly his fear returned, ten times more intense. It was the news article assignment from a couple months ago. Peter had forgotten about it until the night before and, in a panic, took a picture of himself on a building dressed as Spider-Man and written an article about his most recent fight. He didn’t give it a second thought at the time, and now it was coming back to bite him. ‘God, what was I thinking? Oh my god, he knows, what do I do?’ Peter tried to keep himself from freaking out, but reached toward his hand, getting his webshooters ready. “Mr. Winterhalter, I can explain-” he began, not sure where he was going with it, but Mr. Winterhalter stopped him.

“Let me finish my sentence, Parker,” he said sternly, and Peter gulped. However, Winterhalter’s face broke into a smile. “I have to say, I’m very impressed. It’s an excellent example of journalism.”

Peter gawked. This wasn’t the direction he had expected the conversation to go at all. “Really?” he squeaked.

“Of course. You really went above and beyond,” Winterhalter said. “You went out and managed to track down a local superhero, get an excellent photo of him, catch him in the act of stopping a car accident and saving many lives, and you provided exciting and crucial details that even professional journalists didn’t even have. Not to mention, your writing is superb and you follow the pyramid structure of an article perfectly.”

Peter sunk back in his chair, not understanding the terms Winterhalter was using but cheeks burning with pride just the same. “Thanks,” he muttered, pushing back his webshooters up his sleeve - he wouldn’t need them. He was slightly embarrassed at the praise, especially since he didn’t even work half as hard as Winterhalter evidently thought he did, but his relief for not being recognized as Spider-Man overpowered his feelings of guilt.

“I’m an English teacher, but I also have a lot of experience in journalism. Unfortunately, this school lacks a journalism program, and doesn’t even have a school newspaper anymore,” Winterhalter went on, and Peter sat up again, wondering where Winterhalter was going with this. “I guess, I was wondering…” he seemed almost nervous. “Peter, I was wondering, considering your evident skills, if you would like to help me revive the Midtown High Paper.”

Peter’s mouth fell open, not sure how to respond or what to think. He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, that sounds fun,” he said quickly, “but I’m really busy, and all, you know with my internship and Decathlon. I’ll - I’ll think about it though,” he added quickly at Mr. Winterhalter’s crestfallen face. “I’ll definitely think about it,” he repeated, standing up and grabbing his backpack. He really wanted to get to his next class, it was science and he wanted to increase the durability of his webshooters. He started off and then turned back quickly. “Err, can I have my note?”

Mr. Winterhalter grabbed a sticky note off his desk and scribbled out a note. “Please do think about it, Peter,” Winterhalter said as he handed him the note. “It won’t be much of a commitment, and I think you’ll do wonderfully.”

“I will,” Peter promised, before quickly hurrying off to his science class.

---

Peter wasn’t sure at what moment MJ had begun to sit with him and Ned at their table during lunch. Maybe it had been after MJ and Peter started to get to know each other better through Decathlon. Maybe it was after MJ and Ned had bonded over their favorite doctor from Doctor Who (theirs was the ninth - Peter, of course, knew that 10th, David Tennant, was superior). In any case, now MJ was a consistent part of lunchtime and today, as usual, it was full of banter.

“Ecclestone is the best. He’s the original, you can’t beat him,” Ned argued, sipping on apple juice.

Peter scoffed. “By that logic, the first doctor is Hartnell, from the old series.”

“Nobody cares about the old series,” MJ replied, biting into her sandwich. “New Doctor Who is so much better. You get actually strong female companions and diversity, plus Russel T Davies. Not to mention color television and not black and white.”

Peter bristled. “You can’t judge it until you’ve seen it, old Doctor Who is good, I swear -”

MJ smirked and waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. The point is, Ecclestone is the best. He’s a sarcastic asshole. Love him.”

Peter ran his hand through his hair like he often did when frustrated. “But Tennant puts so much emotion into all of his acting. And you have the romance with Rose -”

“Boring,” MJ fake-yawned.

Peter and Ned looked at MJ scandalized, and a new argument began.

After their conversation died down, MJ turned to Peter. “Hey, what did Mr. Winterhalter want from you after English class?”

Ned looked at Peter in confusion. Peter explained the situation, avoiding the details about Spider-Man. He wasn’t quite sure why, but just the thought of even mentioning any superhero made him feel sick to the stomach.

“School newspaper? That sounds… fun,” Ned said hesitatingly.

MJ scowled. “As long as it doesn’t get in the way of your Decathlon prep. We’re going to win again this year, you hear me? No running out this time,” she pointed her finger accusingly at Peter. He gulped and nodded quickly. MJ was terrifying.

“I’m not sure if it’s my thing,” Peter confessed. “But I don’t want to... disappoint Mr. Winterhalter.”

“Why?” MJ frowned. “Why does his opinion of you matter, at all? He’s just your English teacher.”

The question took Peter aback. “I’m not sure,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. MJ’s gaze was making him uncomfortable. “I mean, he is still my teacher? I guess I want to be a good student?” his voice squeaked, and the table broke into laughter. He felt his face grow hot, but smiled abashedly as the conversation moved on. He wasn’t fully participating, however - his mind kept going back to Mr. Winterhalter holding his article about Spider-Man. If Peter didn’t end up expressing more interest in journalism, Mr. Winterhalter might start thinking about his article in a different light and grow suspicious. Just the thought made his mouth go dry. No, he couldn’t do anything to arouse suspicion. He’d have to join the newspaper team for a bit - at least a month - to make sure that Mr. Winterhalter was off his back.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period. MJ picked up her book, which she had been reading the whole time as well as talking and eating, and gave Ned and Peter a peculiar glance. “Why I talk to you losers when I could be reading is beyond me,” she muttered and flipped Ned and Peter off as she walked out the room. He smiled - it was customary of her to do that, whether as a greeting or a goodbye or just randomly in the conversation. Peter and Ned headed out the other exit towards their gym class.

“Hey, why weren’t you in English today?” Peter asked, suddenly recalling what had gotten him in trouble in the first place.

Ned coughed. “Uh, dentist appointment,” he replied, but Peter could tell that it was a lie. He could always tell when Ned was lying. He considered pushing the subject, but decided against it. Ned would tell him if need be.

Suddenly, Peter felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck - his spidey sense. His blood ran cold. Something was wrong.

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