Chapter 9
"You're doing it wrong."
Peter wrinkled his nose, leaning closer to the hologram in front of him - he didn't see a mistake, he looked back down at the table, rechecking his work - but this was his first time using the holotable, first time in Mr. Stark's lab, so it shouldn't be too surprising that Mr. Stark saw something he didn't. It didn't stop the embarrassed flush from creeping up the back of his neck though. Mr. Stark finally was letting him work alongside him in his lab. It was like a dream come true, and he was already screwing it up.
"Where -"
"No, your work is prestine as usual. Math is on point. I meant you're using the holotable wrong. Here -" Mr. Stark leaned across him, flicking his finger in front of the hologram, illuminating more of the projections that Peter had been working on and lighting up the more important highlights. He was pretty sure if the smirk on Mr. Stark's face was anything to go by, the man was just showing off, and he hadn't actually been doing anything wrong. But he didn't call him out on it.
"Woah, that is so cool." Peter sat back and repeated the same movement and watched it all disappear again. "I think I still prefer pen and paper though," he admitted, and he could practically feel Mr. Stark's eyes roll from behind him.
"Peter - Peter - I've got you; it's going to be okay."
What?
---
"Peter? Peter honey, wake up."
Everything was black, and wet, and the walls were closing in on him - until his Aunt May was waking him up. His forehead was drenched with sweat, and his breathing was erratic at best and he barely registered the inhaler being shoved into his hand. He brought the inhaler to his mouth and sucked in automatically, staring at the wall in front of him. The wall covered in Iron Man posters, Star Wars Posters, and a few random geeky science ones. They grounded him and brought him back to the present. Back to the land of the living instead of the cold, dark room that haunted his nightmares.
"Was it the same nightmare, sweetie?"
He couldn't find his voice just yet, so all he could do was nod. Still unable to look her in the eye. He didn't know what triggered the dream - what made him so scared about it. It was just a room. It was just a dream. It wasn't even a memory. But it shook him to the core every time.
May brought her hand up to Peter's neck, and he leaned into her touch as she carded her fingers into his curls. "It's just a dream, sweetie. I've got you. Do you wanna stay here a bit, or do you want to come to the living room. Put on a movie. Have a distraction? Or I can just stay here with you, Ben won't be back from his night shift for another couple of hours."
"Let's just stay here," He smiled weakly, closing his eyes and leaning further into his aunt.
"Peter. Breathe. Just. Keep Breathing. We're going to get you help. Just keep breathing. You're doing great. There you go."
But it's so hard.
---
The sun was bright, but Peter basked in it. The warmth felt amazing against his skin. He wondered if that was a spider thing. It had only been a few months since he'd been bitten by that spider. Everything was still brand new to him. He inhaled deeply, feeling the way the air moved easily through his lungs, and noted the way the pollen didn't scratch at his throat or make his eyes water. It was amazing and that at least was definitely a spider thing - or at least, a new him thing.
"Do Spider's sun bathe?" He blurted, stretching out on the grass and peered over at Fitz who just rolled his eyes.
"I don' think everythin' you do is spider related jus' because you were bit by a Spider, Pete." Fitz was working on his laptop, tapping away furiously, and he still seemed a little less than thrilled about being dragged outside. But Peter didn't visit that often, and Peter took advantage of the fact that the engineer had a hard time saying no to him when he pouted. Not that Peter didn't also love being in the lab with Fitz and Jemma, and he'd been excited about sharing everything about the changes he'd been through with them. He didn't have anyone else to talk to about it. But it was just so nice out. "Besides, I distinctly remember a lot of you wantin' to go outside before you're bite." Fitz smirked, and reached over to ruffle Peter's hair.
Peter just laughed, closing his eyes against the brightness of the sun, bringing his hand up to smooth down his hair instinctively.
"Bring him to Wakanda. We can help him there."
Wakanda? No, no, they were in D.C. They couldn't afford Wakanda. They barely afforded to let him visit D.C.
---
"May, please don't freak out."
"It's too late. I'm way beyond that. That ship has sailed." Her eyes were still wide. Peter was pretty sure she hadn't even blinked yet, and it was really starting to freak him out.
"Just let me explain."
"Peter. What the hell. You're - You - You've been out sneaking out every night doing - You're - This- " She paused, sucked in a breath that sounded like a whistle, and pinched the bridge of her nose, finally closing her eyes as she turned away for just a second. When she turned back around, Peter really wished she'd go back to the stunned look from before because the glare she was giving him now made his teeth snap together, and he grappled desperately for something to say, to make this better - but now it was his turned to stare in stunned silence.
"The Stark Internship. THIS is the Stark Internship!? Give me your phone - Give it - Peter - Give me your phone, right now. I have a few choice words for Tony Stark. Letting my ragazzo correre in giro saltando davanti ai proiettili per divertimento e mettendosi in pericolo ogni notte. Piccolo stronzo immaturo." May shifted into a rant in Italian, and seemed to shift more of her anger at Mr. Stark, but that definitley didn't make Peter feel any better. Peter only picked up on a couple of the things May had said, but he did clearly hear "immature asshole." His eyes darted over to where his phone laid on his bed, and all of his enhanced reflexes definitely failed him in that moment as she pushed past him and reached for his phone.
"May! Please. This isn't his fault. Don't call him. I'm fine. Just.. Can we just talk please?" And the way she suddenly whirled around on him suddenly made him wish he'd just let her keep her anger directed towards Mr. Stark. He'd probably handle it way better than he was handling it anyway. He never wanted to melt straight into the floor more than he did then.
"Oh now you wanna talk?" She snapped.
"Kid. Don't try and talk. You're okay. You're gonna be okay."
What was happening?
---
It started in his gut and moved up to his chest. A weird clawing sensation that made him feel like something was trying to claw their way out of him. At first he just thought he was going to be sick. That he was just not handling everything he'd just witnessed very well. But then it didn't go away, and just started feeling worse. If he wasn't so scared after everything - he might have made a joke about being implanted by something alien. But everyone was vanishing around them, and now the clawing was starting to feel a lot like burning. Like the worst heart burn he'd ever experienced, slowly spreading throughout the rest of his body.
"Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good."
His mentor turned around to face him, and Peter saw his mouth move - saw it form the word 'no' but he couldn't hear him. Peter stumbled, the pain intensifying and suddenly he was clinging to Mr. Stark - crying - pleading - grappling for something to hang on to.
"Tony?"
"Don't - He's going to be okay. He's going to -"
Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark, what's happening?