spiderman angst/sickfic oneshots

nightmare (irondad)

Peter had fallen asleep while working with Mr. Stark in his lab.

Lately, sleep had become a rare occurrence for Peter.

Every night he would lay down in bed and stare at the ceiling. He felt like basic insomnia didn't quite define what he was going through, it was closer to a primal fear of falling asleep.

Ever since the night of homecoming, any unconscious moment was plagued with nightmares and the terrible, trapped feeling of a building, layers and layers of concrete and a whole air conditioning unit, weighing down on top of him. Crushing him.

Every night he'd wake up with his chest so tight in panic that it felt the same. So to avoid reliving such a traumatizing experience, he had been skipping out on sleep.

And, boy, was it showing.

Physically his face had paled and his metabolism slowed as his body fell into exhausted ruin. He began to get weaker, his reaction time dulled. Being spiderman got much harder and far less enjoyable...

But he still managed.

Besides physically, his grades were plummeting and he was much quieter. The experience had changed him, if not permanantly at least for a good chunk of time. Ned had noticed and he knew why Peter was acting strange, but MJ was also beginning to pick up that something had changed since Liz left. Since the night of homecoming.

She was on his tail about it, and he most certainly didn't have the energy to confuse her or stop her curiosities. He was convinced she would find out any day now and he could care less. His first and only priority was making it through the day and to the next.

But forget earlier today and the past week, now was a whole new problem. He was asleep in Mr. Stark's lab.

A problem, considering everything previously discussed.

"Hey kid, you asleep?" Tony asked, glancing at Peter's head laid down on his desk. They had been working on projects side by side. For a while the man had thought his apprentice was just very focused on something, but he realized how he might have a snoozer on his hands.

The boy answered with a snore and Tony chuckled, deciding if he was sleeping that he must need it and to let him continue. He couldn't have Spiderman too tired to protect the little guys of New York, so if a little bit of their lab time had to suffer, that was a compromise Tony was willing to make.

But things quickly went awry.

A couple minutes after Mr. Stark had noticed his "intern" was asleep, the boy began shifting slightly. Nothing that set off alarm bells, just moving his head a little bit, craning his neck as if to escape something. Tony didn't think twice about it until the talking began. His tone was soft, but startled, a whisper of panic.

The words barely formed as he replayed the scene of homecoming night in his dream. As he felt the weight on top of him.

"No- n-no" Peter muttered, his breathing quickening. He was still fast asleep.

But Tony saw now.

Peter's brows were pinched and his skin was sweaty. He didn't look well at all. His body was tense and twitching slightly. His hands were clenched into fists and he was beginning to tremble.

Tony moved closer beside the boy, intending to gently wake him up and carefully setting a hand on his back, rubbing circles in some hope to calm his dreams and give him some peace, or in the least calmly wake him from whatever terror he was experiencing.

"Help." Peter whimpered, still sleep talking.

"It's okay, bud. It's just a dream." Tony said, deciding he needed to wake Peter up before the nightmare got worse. However, before he could execute waking the boy up, Peter sprang awake, launching himself out of his chair and into the wall behind him, denting it and immediately hyperventilating as his eyes shot open.

He was wheezing.

His eyes were wide and teary and his brown hair was sweaty. He felt sick and the pressure on his torso was there and he couldn't breathe. He sank down to the ground, covering his face with one arm and clutching his chest with his freehand.

"Help." He whimpered, "help."

Tony was shocked. He didn't know what was going on with the kid. He was clueless.

"Hey, bud. It's okay." He said, kneeling down next to the boy, but it was of no use. He was in his own universe.

"I'm down here!" Pete cried pitifully, "help me" His chest ached and he still wasn't breathing right. He let out a pained cough as he tried to force in another breath.

Tony put his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Pete, snap out of it." He said calmly as Peter began to wheeze heavier.

"Take deep breaths, there's lots of air. We can share, I promise." Tony spoke as he took exaggerated deep breaths for Peter to latch on to.

Slowly he did and he stopped crying. It wasn't his worst nightmare, but it wasnt good either. He was shaken up, not really up to talk, and violently avoiding eye contact with his mentor.

"There you go. You've got it. Deep breaths in and out." Tony reassured as Peter began to arrive back in reality, leaving the terrifying circumstances of his nightmare.

"You alright?"

He just sat there silently afterwards, staring off a little bit, not responsive to any of Mr. Stark's questions.

"Hey, Pete, what's going on? Talk to me, kid." Tony said, taking a more permanant spot next to his intern and sitting down next to him.

Peter looked up slightly, exhausted.

"Just a nightmare." He said weakly, his voice not carrying too far.

"What was it about?" Tony asked cluelessly.

Peter pursed his lips.

Happy hadn't told him. He didn't want to break the secret. He didn't want to make Mr. Stark upset.

"Pete, you know this is a safe space right? I just wanna help you out as best as I can, and if that means talking to someone who isn't me we can arrange that too." Tony offered, hoping to get him to open up to someone, but the boy still stayed silent.

"I just-" he hesitated, his lip quivering. He bit it to make it stop.

Tony finally sat down next to Peter, solidifying the conversation between the two and any idea of getting up and leaving was immediately diminished.

Tony wrapped his arm around Peter, "what's been going on, bud? I can tell this isn't the first one. You've been exhausted."

But Peter was silent, he didn't know what to say. He quickly figured out, however, that he was going to have to speak first because for the first time ever Tony Stark was being patient.

"I think- I think I have PTSD." He mumbled.

Tony furrowed his brows, "is there a specific event that caused it?"

Peter let out a slight breath knowing the idea wouldn't be fought, then held it again as he carefully recounted the story to his mentor.

By the end Tony was fuming that this was kept from him. Not angry at Peter for not telling him, more at Happy for hiding the severity of what had happened.

As he cooled off, he realized Happy likely didn't know about it either.

"Kid I'm so sorry that happened. I had no idea." Tony said after a couple of minutes.

Peter just nodded nervously, "I haven't slept well in weeks. I don't know what to do anymore."

"You know, after New York, I never thought the answer was therapy..." Tony said, "but it was."

And so that's what they did.

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Y'all this chapter has been cooking for like 2 months and I Lowkey forgot about it

So take this you starved creatures
Yummy angst
More on the way tbh but maybe expect another 2 months until then

This kinda sucks too but oh well, who needs endings that feel finished? NOT US ‼️‼️‼️‼️

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