tw: anxiety
Peter Parker had been through a lot these past few days. May passed away from an overdose and Peter thought it was all his fault. Of course it wasn't, but Peter kept blaming himself, He went to live with Tony and the rest of the avengers but never really felt like he fit in.
Something that did happen to him after May's death was the shaky hands. He had really bad anxiety before, but this just made everything worse.
His hands would shake when he was writing, messing up his hand writing. His hands would shake when he was eating, making him spill food on himself.
But he was quiet Peter Parker. But also, Spiderman. Spiderman was tough. Peter Parker, wasn't.
Friday Evening
Peter just got back from school with a bloody nose and a bruise on his arm from getting slugged by Flash.
He got into the elevator then he heard FRIDAY "Hello Mr. Parker. It appears you have a bloody nose and a bruising arm. I would seek medical attention to help with your wounds. Would you like me to alert Mr. Stark?" The AI's voice filled the elevator. "What? No Fri, I'm fine. Don't tell Mr. Stark please." Peter pleaded. "As you wish Mr. Parker." The AI said.
Peter went up to his room, cleaned the blood off his face, put a sweatshirt on to cover his bruise and went to the living room where the rest of the avengers were hanging out. As soon as Peter walked in the room he was greeted by a bunch of "Hey Peter's! " or "Hey Pete how are you!" He saw all the avengers eyes on him.
He felt his hands starting to shake and his anxiety kicking in. "Uh-" Peter heard his voice crack and he felt his hands shaking more. Tony looked at him concerned.
"You feeling alright Pete?" his mentor asked. "Y-yeah M-Mr. Stark I-I'm fine. No issue here!" Peter stuttered. "I-I'm gonna go on patrol. I-I'll see you guys in a bit." "Okayyy Pete. Be back by 9 we're watching your favorite, Star Wars!" Tony said. Peter checked his watch. It was 7 p.m. "Oh! Okay, uh- see everyone in a bit I guess." Peter said. He turned to go to his room and heard a few "Bye Peter's!" and "Stay safe!!"
As Peter ran towards the elevator and was out of earshot, Natasha said, "Hey, anyone else notice that Peter's hands were shaking a lot just now?" "No." Said Clint. "Yeah no shit you weren't paying attention" Tony snapped Clint. "I noticed though." sighed Tony. "Me too" said Bucky and Steve. "Hey Tony," started Bruce. "Does Peter have anxiety?" Tony pondered on the question for a bit. Does he? "Not that I know of.." "Oh come on Tony you don't know if your own kid has anxiety?" Sam asked Tony. Tony thought about that question for a bit as the rest of the avengers were rambling about signs that Peter could have anxiety.
****
Peter was sitting on top of a building. He was wearing his Spiderman suit but didn't have any crime to fight so he was bored. "Hey Karen, any signs of mugging or anything like that?" "None at the moment Mr. Parker" the AI spoke. "Oh. Okay. Thanks Karen" Peter sighed.
All that Peter could think about was the night he came home from patrol and he found May on the floor with a bunch of sleeping pills. He tried chest compressions but it was too late. He was too late. He lost his last family member.
"eter? " "eter?" "Peter!!" Peter heard Karen's voice. He opened his eyes. Why was his face wet? Peter tried to take a breath. Why couldn't he breath? Oh shit. He couldn't BREATH. Peter heard Karen's voice again, "Panic attack detected. Calling Tony Stark." Peter didn't even have the energy to stop her. He was too focused on remembering how to breath. "Hello?" said a voice on the other line. Oh yeah. Tony. "H-hey Mr. Stark." Peter said breathlessly. "Hey Pete. Are you okay? Karen just told me you were panicking." Peter could hear Tony getting into his Iron man suit. "Mr. Stark it's okay. It was a false alarm." Peter said trying to keep his breath under control. "Ok Pete if you say so. Also come back to the compound we're decided we'd starting the movie early today." "A-Alright Mr. Stark." "Okay great, bye Pete!" "See ya Mr. Stark." They hung up.
Tony POV
The kid definitely has anxiety and he's going to figure out how to help him.
time skip
Peter swung back into his room after hanging up with Tony. He slowly took off his suit to reveal is still shaking hands. He knew people would notice, so he put on another sweatshirt with a science pun on it and made sure it had pockets to hide his hands.
Peter went down the elevator to hear FRIDAY again. "Welcome back Mr. Parker it seems you are having a slight panic attack would you like me to alert Mr. Stark?" "No Fri." Peter was starting to get agitated now. He went back to the living room to see all the avengers staring at him.
Peter felt his face get hot. Not just his face. Peter felt hot. Like he had a fever all of a sudden.
"Hello? Earth to Peter." Tony was talking to him. "I said how was patrol?" "O-Oh. It was fine. I-I guess." The avengers eyed him suspiciously. They were all thinking the same thing. "What's wrong with him?" "You feeling okay kiddo?" Tony asked. He could see Peter sweating and he didn't look to good. "Come sit down." Tony said. Peter made his way over to the couch between Natasha and Tony. He sat down. Bucky already started the movie so the some of the attention was moved from Peter but Nat, Tony, Bruce and Clint were all staring at him. "FRIDAY scan Peter." Peter felt his blood run cold. He wasn't taking care of himself. "Analyzing results. Should take up to 5 minutes. "Thanks FRIDAY." Bruce said. "Pete you look really pale. Drink some of this. It's just apple juice." Bruce said Peter took the apple juice and downed it pretty quickly. It felt nice on his throat considering he hadn't drunk anything for the past 2 days.
Peter was scared of what FRIDAY might say as his results. He felt his hands start to shake. More and more and more until he couldn't hide them anymore. He took them out of his pockets and Tony, Bruce, Nat and Clint saw. Peter felt tears forming in his eyes as Tony rubbed his back and Nat held his hands to get them to stop shaking. Then they heard FRIDAY's voice. "It appears Mr. Parker has extreme anxiety, panic attacks, multiple bruises..." FRIDAY went on and on about his small injuries and Peter's entire body was shaking. Tony felt terrible and useless. He felt even worse by the fact Peter had gone through this alone.
Peter was crying and shaking so bad it was hard for him to breath. "Hey Pete. I need you to listen to me okay? You're gonna be okay alright? Just breath for me." It was Bruce. Tony stared worriedly at his crying shaking kid completely helpless. Bruce got Peter to start breathing normally again and he was still shaking. By now all the avengers were worried about their poor spider baby and all wanted to help him.
Once Peter had stopped crying, Tony ran his hand through Peter's soft curly hair and whispered to him, it's okay. I've got you. We've all got you. You're safe here. You can rest now." And with that Peter let his fatigue take over him and he fell asleep. But it wasn't just any sleep. It was the best sleep Peter Parker had ever gotten.
He never felt more safe and more loved than ever.
