Checkmate

Slowly coming to, Peter let out a soft groan, feeling a dull throb on the back of his head. He scrunched his face up in displeasure from the pain and slowly opened his eyes, thoughts still muffled from sleep. The teen slowly opened his eyes, squinted slightly as his eyes adjusted to the apparent brightness of the room he was in. Where am I? He thought slowly, picking his head up as his vision started to focus. What happ--

“It was an accident, I swear--”

“How the fuck do you accidentally break into somewhere?”

“I don’t know! On drugs maybe?”

“Are you on drugs?”

“No! Of course I’m not on drugs!”

“You look like you’re on drugs. What are you even wearing, a sock?”

“Sure, says the guy who looks like he belongs in My Chemical Romance.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Wow, you’re old--they’re an emo rock band angsty teens listen to.”

“What the hell, I’m not emo--wait. Did you just call me old?”

“...no? I-I mean, not intentionally--wait, wait, wait--we can talk about this, we can talk--”

“Call me old again buddy, I dare you.”

“Old! Wait, fuck--where did you get a vase?!”

“Sayonara, drug boy.”

“Oh, come on--!”

Oh.

Maybe jumping out in the open wasn’t the best idea, he winced, thinking back to the crash of the vase against the back of his skull. No wonder his head hurt so much.

Shifting slightly in the chair he was sitting on, Peter went to rub the base of his head when he felt his wrists brush against cool metal, and his eyes widened as he tried to move his hands. The spiderling looked down to see metal cuffs bound to the chair, and he bit his lip, pushing up against the metal to test its strength. With a little effort, the metal bent, and he smiled before relaxing his wrists again. Even though he could easily break out, he wasn’t dumb enough to reveal his strength so quickly. He was lucky that they used regular cuffs on him, and, to be honest, he didn’t exactly want to leave either. He went to the tower to talk to the Avengers, after all.

With a quick glance around the room, Peter concluded he was in a holding cell of some sort. The walls were made of a smooth gray stone, with nothing etched onto them or cut into them, nor any windows. He also spotted a camera in the corner of the ceiling as well as signs of a speaker system built into the ceiling behind it. It was probably safe to assume that the Avengers were watching him, and he would be lying if that fact didn’t make him a little nervous. (And it was without any warning, so he really wasn’t emotionally prepared for this whatsoever)

Hearing the soft click of a door behind him, Peter tensed and looked behind him only to see the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, and the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, step inside the room. The hero gulped at the two made their way in front of him, quickly averting his gaze as Natasha met his eyes. He could tell her eyes were still on him as they stopped, and he tried hard to control his breathing. Although he was on their side and wasn’t planning on lying to them, he still was scared as hell (and fanboying just a little bit). He was going to be interrogated by the Black Widow. The amount of horror stories he’d heard from Tony about HYDRA agents getting stuck with Natasha and not coming back out were enough to instill some sort of primal fear of the woman in him.

Eyes narrowing and slowly scanning over his small form, Natasha crossed her arms. “Middle school?” She suddenly spoke, causing his head to snap up in her direction. “Freshman?”

“E-Eighth grade,” Peter barely choked out, his chest constricting under the weight of her stare. Natasha nodded at his words, seemingly coming to a conclusion as she leaned back, eyes no longer boring into him.

“Alright. So you’re fourteen then,” she responded, and he didn’t think he needed to confirm for her to know she was right. Staring him in the eyes with a cold, barren stare, the spy continued, “This is how this is going to work. I’m going to ask you a series of questions, you’re going to respond, and Wanda,” she gestured towards the witch, “is going to confirm your words. If you lie or refuse to answer, she’ll know anyways, so I suggest to say it yourself.” Peter quickly nodded, body tensing hearing the masked threat.

“O-Okay. Yeah. I-I get that.” He internally cringed at how novice he sounded. Oh god, I’m making myself look like an idiot, he thought. I want them to take me seriously, not treat me like a little kid. I’m an Avenger too, right? I can take this. He nodded slightly to himself, before blinking as another thought occurred to him. Though, wait, they are though, right? If they have me locked up here, they must think I’m some sort of threat, right? I’m scary. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Natasha chuckled softly to herself, shaking her head. He felt a strong hit to his pride as he saw this, and any hope he had quickly deflated like a balloon at a child’s birthday party. The teen’s shoulders hunched a little in defeat. Goddamnit.

“Kid, I’m going to be honest with you,” the spy said, meeting his eyes once more. “We don’t usually do this with kids, and you seem like a good one, but breaking into the tower isn’t something we take lightly. It’s a high offense.” Peter nodded quickly, swallowing harshly as she continued. “We know how you did it. You have some pretty impressive perseverance.”

Oh god, did they watch the whole thing? Peter’s eyes widened ever so slightly as he cringed internally, thinking back to his small bursts of frustration throughout. That’s so embarrassing.

With an amused expression, Natasha watched as his emotions played out on his face as he thought, though Peter did happen to catch on to this as he glanced up. The spy immediately started to take action as he noticed her observations, and she smiled warmly. (Which surprised him, to be honest. He didn’t know she even did that)

“What’s your name?” She asked him softly, crouching down slightly to meet him at eye level. The teen blinked in surprise, taken aback, and he responded, “P-Peter Parker, m-miss Black Widow. M-Ma’am.”

“Just Natasha is fine. It’s nice to meet you, Peter,” Natasha responded with a smile, and holy shit he was on a first name basis with the Black Widow--

“What do you like to do?” The spiderling’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the question, and he tilted his head slightly to the side. “For fun,” she elaborated. “Any hobbies?”

Eyes widening slightly in realization, his ears reddened in embarrassment. “O-Oh. Um, I like science and experimenting with stuff.” Remembering a small incident from around the current time, he swiftly added with excitement, “I-I actually just recently made a computer for extra credit, but my teacher wouldn’t take it because we apparently weren’t doing that kinda engineering for a while which sucked because--” Peter paused in mid-sentence, realizing with a horrifying start that he almost started rambling in front of the Black Widow. And possibly the Avengers through camera. Why did I do that, why did I say that oh god that was a horrible idea, he thought as his eyes widened in terror. Through his immense regret, he did notice a small smile on Natasha’s face, and his heart dropped seeing the amused glint in Wanda’s eyes. The spiderling immediately started to flush a bright red, and he shut his mouth with a soft click of his teeth. “S-Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she smiled reassuringly. “So, you like science? What kinds?”

“Physics and chemistry,” he answered a little easier. Talking about science always made him comfortable in any sort of social situation. The spy was probably doing that intentionally, he noted, but he was still going to play along to keep some composure. “But biology’s cool too, obviously. I’m just not as interested in it, though genetics is really awesome.”

“I see,” Natasha said. “So you experiment with chemicals too?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah.”

Natasha then reached behind her, slipping something out of her pocket and holding it out in front of her. Seeing the familiar chipped red and blue paint plastered over it, Peter’s breath hitched as he recognized his signature device. “So, I guess it’s safe to assume you made this device yourself, hm?”

“U-Uh…” You’re not lying Peter, remember that. You’re on their side. He nodded, not trusting himself to say more.

“Why did you make it?” She asked, taking note of his visible discomfort.

To be a weapon, he thought grimly, but he couldn’t just say that, could he? That would sound suspicious. “J-Just, uh, for fun,” he said shakily, trying desperately to make it sound as natural as possible. He obviously didn’t succeed as Natasha turned to Wanda, and he tensed realizing she was going to peer into his mind.

“Light taps only,” Natasha reminded the young woman, and she nodded, turning to Peter. Wanda’s eyes glowed softly as she held out a hand in his direction. He surprisingly didn’t feel anything weird as she read his mind, though he didn’t know what he expected to happen to begin with. After a short beat, she lowered her hand and turned to her fellow Avenger.

“They’re intended to be weapons,” Wanda said, and Natasha raised an eyebrow as she looked back at the teen. “Weapons? What does a kid like you need a weapon for?”

Peter blinked. What was he supposed to say to that? Oh, no reason, I’m just a superhero vigilante that you haven’t heard of and that hasn’t come into existence because I went back in time. No biggie. He scoffed internally. Uh, hell no. He wasn’t going to drop all that information at once. The story itself is crazy, and if he said everything then and there, there was no way he was going to gain their trust. So, instead, he opted to stay silent, since lying wouldn’t get him anywhere. He would just have to trust the “light taps” Natasha spoke of didn’t go too far.

The super spy turned to Wanda once more in response to his silence, and the witch nodded, eyes glowing once more as she read his mind. Eyes widening, the glow quickly dimmed, and she stared at him, lips slightly parted in a mixture of shock and confusion.

“What is it, Wanda?” Natasha asked, gaze hardening slightly as the witch struggled to form her words.

“He’s...a vigilante of sorts,” Wanda started slowly, not taking her gaze off of him, “but in his memories he looks older than he is now.”

“What?” The hero’s eyes widened, and Wanda shook her head slightly before turning back to her teammate.

“I-I don’t know,” she managed. The room fell into a small silence as the revelation settled, the three of them mulling through their thoughts all for different reasons. Wanda spoke up after a moment, voice softer than it was before. “It almost seems like he went...backwards.” Natasha took in a sharp breath at her words before looking back at Peter, who tensed as she took a step towards him.

“Kid,” she began, briefly pausing as she tried to figure out how to word her statement before continuing, “what Wanda is telling me implies that you managed to come here with technology and knowledge we have yet to obtain.” Locking his eyes in a tense stare, she asked him softly, “Did you travel back in time?”

The atmosphere seemed to thicken as soon as her words were spoken, and Peter tensed, curling into himself uncomfortably under the weight of it all. Taking in a slow, shaky breath, the teen managed a nod. The heroes in front of him tensed visibly.

“What year,” Natasha demanded, and Peter flinched hearing the bite in her tone.

“2018,” he answered softly. “Late 2018.”

Natasha fell silent hearing him, her gaze dropping to the ground, and he watched her tensely, feeling uncannily similar to how he did when Tony spoke to him after the ferry incident. The deafening silence that settled between them as his mentor decided whether or not to take his suit oddly matched the atmosphere that surrounded the three now, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt very vulnerable, like he was about to be yelled at. Wanda seemed to pick up on this, and her eyes gave a brief flicker of sympathy as she turned her attention to Natasha.

“Light tap?” The witch asked softly. Natasha didn’t move her gaze. “Just check if he’s lying.”

Wanda did as she was asked, and when the glow in her eyes faded, she didn’t appear to be any less tense, maybe even more so, as she did before, which was enough of an indicator of the result to the spy. Still, she said softly, “He’s telling the truth.”

Body still tense, Natasha nodded, looking back at Peter. She walked closer to him, and Peter unconsciously keened back in his chair as she stopped, looming in front of him. Noticing his posture, she crouched down as she did before to meet him at eye level before speaking again.

“So in here,” she spoke softly, and tapped the side of his temple for emphasis, “you’re sixteen.” Unable to muster up the courage to speak, the teen simply nodded in response, watching her closely.

“Did you pull this stunt with the intention of catching our attention, then?” She asked, and he nodded again, a bit less tense as he realized she wasn’t particularly upset, or, at the very least, wasn’t showing it. “Why?”

Peter paused then, biting his lip as he tried to figure out a safe way to word his answer. After mulling over it for a brief moment, he responded softly, “That’s a loaded question.” He laughed softly, before taking in a breath, “I-I’ll tell you everything. I want to tell you everything, and that’s why I’m here, but I think everyone should be here to hear it.” Hearing no immediate response, he quickly added with a nervous chuckle, “A-And I don’t really want to be cuffed to a chair. No offense.”

“None taken,” Natasha responded, looking up at the ceiling. “And those terms are acceptable. Steve?” A soft crackling emanated from the ceiling as a tenor voice came through, ringing through the open space of the cell.

“Copied,” the familiar voice of Captain America answered. “We’re heading down now.” WIth a small crackle, the soldier’s voice faded, and the room fell into a silence once more. Peter watched as the super spy turned her back to him and looked towards the floor, as she mulled over the information she was just given. From what he’d gathered, the Avengers weren’t expecting this interrogation to be anything special or ground-breaking. They’d assumed that he was just a regular kid doing something stupid for attention, and he understood the weight of the information he’d just shed. Time travel was something that wasn’t thought possible until the day he came back in time, so their surprise was definitely understandable.

I just hope this works out, he thought, letting out a soft breath. There was a lot of risk that came with what he was trying to do, and a lot of uncertainty. What would happen if they weren’t able to regather the stones? What would happen if Thanos was still stronger? He didn’t want to have to see everyone die--or to die again. And it was all on him this time. He had the information, and he was the only one that knew what was going to happen.

“What if somebody had died today? Different story, right? Because that’s on you.” Tony’s words rang through his head as clear as glass, and he swallowed harshly. He was right. This time, it was on him.

And he’d be damned if he let Thanos win again.

Breaking through the silence, Wanda let out a soft gasp, causing both his and Natasha’s heads to snap up in her direction. He noticed the remnants of red flakes in her eyes and he bit his lip, starting to tense and she stared at him. The witch brought a hand to her mouth as a series of emotions passed across her face, and Natasha quickly made her way over to her.

“Wanda?” The hero asked softly, and Wanda flinched slightly hearing her voice. The witch blinked, forcing herself out of her stupor as she turned to Natasha, hand still covering her mouth.

“I-I’m sorry, there was a small block the last time I tapped and I went past it and...I-I’m sorry.” The words quickly tumbled out of Wanda’s mouth and Peter visibly tensed, eyes widening in dread as he muttered, “What did you see?”

The witch turned to him, eyes reflecting sadness, and Peter bit his lip, options quickly narrowing down. “It was only brief but I saw your body…” Wanda trailed off, and the hero’s breath caught in his throat as flashes of the dust, crumbling and panic, panic, help flowed into the front of his mind. His eyes started to pool with fear as he quickly forced the memories back, taking a deep breath to rebuild some of his composure.

“Don’t look in my mind again,” the teen voiced softly, avoiding Wanda’s gaze as he took another calming breath. “Please.” The witch only had the time to nod before the door opened once more, the sound of footsteps quickly overtaking the conversation and redirecting their attention.

A weird mixture of fear and excitement pooled into Peter’s stomach as he watched none other than the Avengers (minus Vision, he noted) file into the room, each of their eyes directed towards him with a similar studious stare to Natasha’s as they circled to his front. A chill went down his spine as he met each of their eyes, feeling especially vulnerable in those moments. Each of them had a trained stare that bore into him, searching for any semblance of something as they studied at him. He’d never felt more unqualified than he did in that moment. They were all trained warriors, heroes that had been through thick and thin, and fought countless battles while holding the weight of the world, and he was just Peter, a kid. He felt like he’d just caught the attention of a beast ten times larger than him, by tempting a beast ten times larger than that, and he was just a few inches tall.

As they continued to move, his eyes were almost immediately directed towards Tony, who walked into the room last, and his breath hitched audibly as he met his gaze. There was no trace of the familiar parental warmth that was present in his mentor’s eyes whenever they met, and no glint of familiarity that he desperately searched for. Tony--this Tony didn’t know who he was, and was treating him like a stranger. Peter couldn’t help the tears that filled his eyes as his heart ached from the distance between them, the feeling of the man’s arms around him nothing more than a ghost against his skin.

“Underoos!”

He flinched, the memory catching him off guard as he continued to stare in his mentor’s--the man’s eyes, and he quickly turned away so the rest wouldn’t notice his turmoil. He knew Tony wasn’t going to recognize him when he went back, but he wasn’t prepared for how bad it was going to hurt. Tony had become such a big part of his life in the past few years, and he filled holes he didn’t even realize were empty. His mentor had gone far beyond being just a mentor at that point, and everyone around them knew it (and teased them for it relentlessly), but both of them were too stubborn to say otherwise. Now, though, he wished more than anything that he’d said something while he still could, because anything was better than this, than looking in his eyes and seeing nothing.

With a small shuddering breath, Peter picked his eyes up again, wincing slightly when he saw the concerned glances of Natasha and Steve. They had quite clearly picked up on his emotions, and he was pretty sure the rest had as well, they just weren’t showing it. None of them spoke a word about it, though, and for that he was grateful, but it didn’t help him shake the pool of loss filling his chest.

The Tony he knew was gone. And there was nothing he could do.

Peter shook his head slightly as the thought crossed his mind, and he quickly replaced the loss in his eyes with determination. I can’t think about this now, he thought, starting to tug at the cuffs around his wrists. Mr. Stark sent me here with a purpose, and I’m going to fulfill it.

Noticing him tug at the metal, Steve started to walk over to him, moving to crouch down to the level of the chair. “Here, let me help you with that,” the soldier offered, starting to reach for the cuffs.

“No, I got it,” Peter said quickly, shaking his head before adding, “Thanks for the offer though.”

Smiling at the soldier, Peter gave the cuffs one last tug before snapping the chains connected to the chair. He exhaled a breath of relief as he brought his hands in front of him, snapping and making quick work of the metal left around his wrists before placing the remains on the floor. The spiderling shifted slightly in his chair before rubbing his wrists, pausing when he noticed the surprised gazes of the Avengers.

“Is me being enhanced really such a surprise?” The teen asked, still tense and cheeks flushing from the attention. “Two of you are already, and you work with a god.”

“But you’re so small,” Clint responded, and Peter’s eyes immediately snapped towards him, narrowed in a playful glare. The spiderling puffed his cheeks, the vase’s sight of impact on his head throbbing suspiciously.

“I’m not small,” he countered defensively, the banter coming naturally as he crossed his arms. The archer, scoffed, lips showing the hint of a smirk as he responded, “Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not. You’re just old,” he shot, trying to bite back a smile as he watched the man tense, giving him a slightly offended look.

“And you’re on some fine drugs,” the man quipped, “but am I calling it out? No.”

“You just did!” Peter exclaimed, before quickly adding, “And I’m not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not--”

“Children, please,” Sam interrupted, holding out his hands as he looked at the two, a playful glint in his eyes. “You’re getting off task.”

“Sorry mom,” Clint teased, and Peter laughed. “Yeah, sorry.”

Glancing up at the man, the teen smiled, feeling a weight lifted off of his shoulders from the playful banter. His eyes widened slightly as he realized he didn’t necessarily feel too nervous or stressed anymore. He didn’t do that on purpose, did he? He knew he could be reading too much into the situation, but knowing the Avengers, everything had a purpose, big or small. Clint looked over to his side a little and met Peter’s eyes, giving him a soft smile. The spiderling’s expression brightened at this, and he quietly mouthed a “Thank you,” to which the Avenger nodded.

“So, what are we doing exactly?” Tony broke in, and Peter’s heart dropped into his stomach at the sound of his voice.

“Waiting for the kid to explain what’s going on,” Natasha responded, now leaning against a wall off to the side with her arms crossed. The teen blinked, flushing lightly and saying, “O-Oh! Right. Sorry.”

Hearing no response to his words, Peter shifted in his seat uncomfortably for a moment, readying himself to speak. “So, um,” he started, taking a deep breath, “the reason why I went back in time was because we--the Avengers--got into another big, world-ending fight. It was with this big purple alien guy named Thanos.” Some of the Avengers nodded as he spoke, hanging on to every bit of information he gave them. Peter paused, throat becoming dry as he slowly started to remember the dust, panic, panic, gone, gone, help on Titan as he watched the guardians and his own limbs disappear in front of him.

“We lost,” the teen stated shakily, and the heroes tensed around him. “Really badly.”

“Just how badly?” Steve asked softly after a few moments of silence, as the Avengers absorbed the information.

“Half the universe died,” he spoke, voice barely more than a whisper. A jolt of shock shot through the room as everyone in the room shifted, expressions morphing into various forms of horror. “I was sent back out of necessity, because there’s no other way to fix it other than to do it again.” Silence met his words once more, and he shifted in the chair, hand gripping his opposite bicep in an attempt to curl away from the sound, or lack thereof.

“I-I don’t know if I trust this,” Sam spoke after a few moments, shifting the attention towards him. “I mean, he’s a kid. Kids come up with a lot in their head.” The rest considered this, and Tony nodded.

“You’re not wrong,” he said, and everyone turned to him with varying degrees of shock, and Peter could get why. The man would rather be caught dead than to agree with an opinion other than his. Especially if it’s a buddy of Captain America’s, the teen thought grimly. Sam’s jaw was dropped as he continued to stare at the billionaire, eyes conveying a holy shit Tony Stark agreed with me. (Mood, he thought, holding back a snort of laughter at his own stupidity)

“What?” Tony asked, eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked around. “I’m just saying, kids have a wild imagination.”

"How can we trust you're telling the truth?" Steve spoke up, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked the boy up and down. Peter tensed under his gaze, swallowing harshly.

“You just have to trust me," he said weakly, unable to come up with any other reason because they had none. He was honestly a bit surprised they trusted him this much. Clint looked around at them with desperate eyes, shaking his head. "Come on guys, he's just a kid.”

“A kid that could be trying to get attention,” Sam countered.

“Or he could be sent by HYDRA,” Steve added, crossing his arms. Peter's eyes widened at his words, and he started to feel himself growing more defensive. “I wouldn’t put it past them to use a kid to get to us. Look at what they did to Bucky.” The rest of the group considered this, some nodding as he spoke.

"I'm not!” Peter exclaimed, eyes pleading. “I swear, I..." The teen trailed off, biting his lip as he decided what to say.

Choosing his words carefully, he said softly, "I know what you saw in the wormhole, Mr. Stark." The Avengers almost immediately snapped to attention as soon as the words left his mouth, and he saw his mentor grow visibly tense in front of him.

Peter met Tony's gaze.

"And all we have left on the board is our king."

The room fell into a silence as Peter continued to look his mentor in the eye. He knew Tony could tell he was telling the truth by the haunted, distant look in the man’s eyes, and because he knew he was wearing the same one. The atmosphere in the room thickened as each of the Avengers realized that Tony, the same stubborn man who questioned the existence of magic even though he had seen it in front of his eyes and the same man who questioned the truth in his words just a moment earlier, was now wholeheartedly in belief of a child. Clint let out a heavy sigh, bringing a hand up to massage his temples.

“I’m going to need a drink.”

“You need to rest--”

One more breath.

“No.”

“It’s been hours, Stark, your body needs rest.”

One more hour.

“I said no! Damnit, Nebula, give me the wrench!”

“I may not have known your child, but he would’ve wanted you to take care of yourself. Think of Peter--”

One more bolt.

“You don’t know me! You didn’t know him, and you don’t know me, so stop pretending like you do!”

One more nail.

“...Stark--”

One more day.

“Just give me the wrench.”

For Peter.