Peter Parker and The Avengers: Wrong Number AU

47. A Talk with Uncle Bucky

(A/N There was some confusion of how the stones were in Peter's hands. Like the picture above, except resting in his hand. I hope this helps!)

With Peter:

It had been a few days since the get-together and Peter was finally back at school. None of the students messed with him. Not seeing him for a while scared them into staying quiet. Flash and his gang didn't even look at him, which was more than he could have asked for. That night had been filled with vivid nightmares of his past, causing him to get little amounts of sleep. His body was on high alert and was highly sensitive, any touch being capable of causing tears. He quickly ran out of the building, racing to the tower. He wanted to hide in his bed under hundreds of blankets. The stones, while helpful with pain, did very little on these days. He hopped in the elevator and went straight to the top floor, throwing his stuff on the floor. He kicked off his shoes and walked to his room. In the hallway, he ran into someone. His body, being unprepared, tensed and fell to the floor. The boy bit back a scream as tears filled his eyes.

"Peter?"

He squeezed them shut before looking up.

"Mr. Bucky? I- I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

He studied the boy.

"You're not though. What happened?"

Peter's body locked, his eyes going wide.

"I- I'm fine."

Bucky reached a hand out to help him up but quickly pulled it back, seeing the boy flinch and cover his head with his arms.

"Hey..." Peter opened one of his eyes and saw that Bucky had moved, now kneeling in front of him. "I'm not gonna do anything. Bad day with memories?"

Peter shakily nodded his head.

"Ye- Yeah..."

Bucky smiled softly at him.

"You wanna hang out with me? Everyone else is either out or busy. Your dad's in a meeting and your mom is out with Clint. Oh, and Steve is on a run with Sam."

The brunette shakily nodded his head. Bucky's smile grew.

"Want me to carry you to your room? Figured it'd be nicer than out on the couch."

Peter nodded his head and Bucky picked him up, letting the boy wrap his arms around the soldier's neck. Bucky carried him to the teen's room and set him on his bed, before sitting next to him.

"So... HYDRA gave you nightmares too?"

"Yeah..."

"Your powers make you sensitive to sound and light. Is it worse when memories resurface?"

He shook his head. Bucky smiled a bit.

"That's good. Are you sensitive to touch when it's like this?"

"Yeah..."

"I get that. I am too."

Peter looked up at him.

"You are?"

"Yep. I can't stand being cold during times like this. I also can't have people touching me at all unless it's my hand or hair."

"Oh..."

"Yeah... What messes with you during it?"

"Oh... I just flinch a lot and don't like anyone touching me unless I say so. I can't handle yelling either..."

"Did they yell at you a lot?"

Peter wrapped one of his blankets around himself, nodding. Bucky sighed.

"I'm sorry kid. You shouldn't have had to go through that."

"It's okay. I've accepted what happened. I can't change the past. I can only overcome it."

"Yeah... There's been somethin' I've been meaning to ask ya. How did the stones get stuck in your hand? Like- How did you get them?"

Peter looked down at his hand, letting the stones show. They glowed slightly as memories came back up.

"I got the time stone back from Doctor Strange... The others were harder to steal..."

"Steal?"

"They were being spread across Earth and Asgard. Had to steal them quickly to fix what happened."

"What Thanos did?"

Peter shook his head.

"When- When Thanos first did the snap, a lot of people were erased. 5 years later, Dad made a time machine to get the stones, bring everyone back and defeat Thanos. Something happened after he was defeated that I couldn't live with, so I grabbed the stones and went back to fix it. I don't like talking about what I fixed. It ends badly anytime I try..."

Bucky gently rested his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I get that. I'm glad you're comfortable enough to tell me that much. It's surprising, seeing as I didn't expect you to tell me that much."

"You understand why I hold things close to my chest. You understand how valuable trust is. The others do as well, but you have an idea of what I've been through. You get it a bit more."

"I'm glad that you trust me."

Peter looked up and smiled, letting the stones and his scars hide.

"I am too."

Silence fell over the two before FRIDAY's voice cut through.

"I have been informed that dinner is ready and the others are waiting on both of you. Clint bought it from a local shop called Delmar's."

The child's eyes lit up as he shot up, pulling the soldier up and heading for the kitchen island everyone ate at.

"Come on, Uncle Bucky!"