Panic Attacks and a Father Figure
Peter was panicking. To be fair to him, it’s not everyday that the mentor that died right in front of you turns out to be alive in an alternate universe and is stalking around an abandoned building after you.
“Whoever you are, you need to come here. I won’t hurt you unless I have to.” Tony called out as he moved closer to the shattered window. Peter’s hands were starting to loosen from the wall. His body shook as Tony climbed through the window. Peter wanted to run, but something was stopping him.
“Peter, your heart rate is getting dangerously high, would you like me to contact someone?” Karen asked. It was at this moment that Peter was glad that you couldn’t hear her from outside the suit. He couldn’t respond back to Karen, Tony was right next to him and would definitely hear him respond. Everything felt slow leading up to Tony spotting him, like someone had decreased the speed by 10%.
“Mr-Mr Stark” Peter’s voice was shaky and his breath heavy. Tony’s eyes widened then softened.
“Pete? Bambino!” Tony moved quickly to the kid he saw as a son. He tore the mask off of Peter and pulled his kid into him. Peter tried to pull away, still under the impression that he was an illusion. The only thing that was going through Tony’s mind was,
‘How is he alive? He died in my arms 2 months ago.’ Peter’s breath was faster than it should have been.
“Who- who are you? I know that you’re- you’re not him. He’s dead. Tony died.” This confused Tony and he couldn’t hide it. Peter tries to climb up the wall to get away, but Tony was holding onto him too tight.
“Pete, what do you mean? I didn’t die, you did.”
“No no no NO! I saw you die, I saw you die.” Peter whispered the second time. It hit him that in this universe Tony might have lived and he might have died. There was still a chance that everything that was happening was an illusion made by Beck but it was slim. Peter started to cry and Tony pulled him closer.
“Shh Bambino. It’s okay. I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” Tony moved his hand up to the side of his mask and called out to his AI.
“Fri, I need you to tell the med team to be on standby and also notify Pep of our situation. We’ll be there in about 20 minutes.” Tony lifted Peter up as he stood, not commenting on how light the boy was. As soon as Peter wasn’t holding himself up, all of his muscles loosened and he went limp. Peter was still awake but he was tired and acting like his bones are solid was taking way too much energy. Sometimes he hated the powers that the spider gave him. Some of the traits he ended up being cursed with really sucked at times, and now was one of those times. Peter scared Tony so much by letting his bones act like jello that Tony started to move even faster than he already was.
“Kid, I need you to stay awake. Friday, please tell me that the med-bay is prepped!” Tony’s voice was showing his panic.
“Call from Pepper incoming. Would you like me to answer it?” Friday asked, not answering Tony’s previous question. Tony quickly said yes, knowing that if he didn’t he would be sleeping on the couch tonight.
“Tones, why did I just find out from Friday that our son is alive and that you’re bringing him to the tower?”
“Because I just found him inside an abandoned apartment building. Pep, I’m almost to the tower. Can you open the door to the balcony? Peter is going limp in my arms and looks like he’s seconds from passing out.” Pepper ran from where she was to open the door just as Tony landed. Tony ran to the staircase that led to the floor the Avengers would stay on. The med-bay was on the same floor but was separated from the main living space. Tony was lucky that none of the Avengers were in the tower right now, because they would probably try to stop him with questions.
“Mr. Stark, you can set him down here.” The doctor called out, bringing Tony out of his thoughts. He quickly set Peter down on the medical cot. He could hear Pepper pacing outside the room, it sounded like she was calling someone but Tony couldn’t stay focused on her long enough to decipher her words.
“Mr. Stark, I am going to ask you to leave the room. One of my nurses will keep you updated on his condition.” The doctor gave him a look to tell him to get out. Tony walked out of the room to see the team that he had learned to call his family.
“Tony, what’s going on? Pepper and Friday called all of us here but they didn’t give us much of an explanation.” Steve was the first to speak up like always. Tony realized that they must have been who Pepper was calling, he didn’t think he was in there long enough for all of them to get to the tower that quickly.
“I found Peter.” That statement got him a lot of replies of Peter being dead. Tony cut them off and told them,
“I don’t know how but a version of Peter showed up in an abandoned building and Friday had tracked him there. When I found him he was crying about how I died. I don’t think he’s our Peter, but I think he’s a version of ours.”
“Has someone contacted Strange about this? This feels like it’s right up his alley.” Clint commented, causing Pepper to tell them how she tried but he didn’t answer. She had left a voicemail but she didn’t know when he would get back to her. While Tony explained the situation, Pepper was talking to one of the nurses.
“Tony, he’s awake. Only me and you can go in right now.”