Mind Full of Roses // Peter Parker

3.4: May the Odds be Ever in Your Favour

"Okay, this is bad," Peter paces around, his hands going to his hair. "This is really really bad."

I watch him from where I sit on the floor, small bruises lining my skin and a shake in my legs. Stark goes up to him and braces his hand on Peter's shoulders, stopping him from moving.

"Listen, kid. You're gonna be okay. We'll get you two back on earth and safe as soon as we figure out how. Strange and I will deal with this Thanos guy." Tony turns to me, his face hard with determination. "He won't get you."

I expect to feel the usual annoyance at his voice. But instead of the urge to roll my eyes, I get the strange want to hug him. Space is fucking a little too much with my mind.

"Don't get too attached to me, Stark," I give him my most shit-eating grin and pull myself up onto my feet. "You won't see me again after this."

He rolls his eyes (I'm glad one of us still has enough of their sanity to do that) and claps Peter on the back. "Don't worry. I'll be taking those gloves and mask and getting out of your hair."

I flex my gloved hands and look up at him innocently. "But that's stealing."

"You little shit."

"Hey, guys," Doctor Strange calls from the other side of the large room. He's facing a blank wall but when I get closer, the darkness clears into a transparent material. I weave around a weird machine thing and get closer to the window. "Does anyone know how to drive alien spaceships?"

Shit, shit shit. Rocks fly past us, the dark rubble a stark contrast to the red land that we're fast approaching. Too fast.

Stark rushes up to the machine that I had passed and ushers Peter towards him. "Get your hand in this steering gimbal." Stark sticks his arm inside the machine and Peter copies somewhat hesitantly. "Got it?"

"Yep," Peter says.

"This was made for one big guy, so we gotta move at the same time."

I grab onto a stray piece of metal sticking out of the wall and brace my knees.

"Okay, okay. Ready."

A large rock suddenly appears in front of the window and I close my eyes, bracing for impact when I feel the ship tilt sharply to the right. I slide across the floor slightly and tighten my grip on the metal.

The ship jolts as the rock crushes into the side. Doctor Strange casts a shield around us as Peter and Stark put on their masks.

Peter falls first. Once the ship smashes onto the ground, he falls backwards into me and I catch him in my arms, stabling him as the floor beneath us rumbles.

Once we slow to a stop, I pull us both up and we rush over to Stark and Dr Strange, both of them already scanning the flat walls for an exit. I look over to where the window was and find a large hole instead, shards of glass littering the floor in shiny piles.

Peter walks up to it and peers out, his neck craning to look at the orange sky. He turns back around with jerky movements and cracks his knuckles somewhat apprehensively. "Just to be clear, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my stomach or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry."

Stark takes a step and holds a finger up. "I don't want to hear another single pop culture reference out of you, understand?"

"I'm trying to say something's coming-"

A indistinguishable shout comes from Stark rather suddenly and I feel something roll against the toe of my boot. I look down and immediately my heart drops. A grenade sits innocently on the floor in front of me, taunting me with bright red numbers blinking a countdown.