|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 53• Replacement

With a loud, voice-shattering scream filled the room. Peter shot up from his sleep. He raised his hand to rub over his hurting ear and looked over at Y/n. "Hey, hey, hey! Easy, okay? Hey, I'm here." He hurried to her side. Her eyes were all over the place as she tried to grasp the reality of what was happening and where she was. Her chest was rapidly moving up and down as she was trying to catch her breath. Peter cuddled her into his arms and tried to calm her down. "You're okay, you're okay," Peter assures her. She grasps him as tightly as she possibly can. "It's okay, it's okay." Peter continued to repeat assuring words over and over again. She focused on his voice, listening to his words, and felt her heart rate go down very slowly. Her blood stopped pumping at a rapid speed and her foggy brain started to clear. He pressed a kiss against her head. "Peter," She managed to squeak out. He rested his forehead against her head and one of his hands found her left rib and softly caressed her. "It's me." He whispers to her. "I'm sorry I pressed the button." The boy holds onto her tightly. "You're okay. We're okay." He gently stroked her hair. Y/n looks down at Peter's hand that rests on her left side. Suddenly, the pain struck her, but it was not as bad because of the adrenaline. More tears stung in her eyes. "Your left lung was damaged," Peter explained to her calmly and slowly. "I'm so sorry." Y/n apologized again.

Peter shifted slightly to look into her watery eyes. He cupped her face in his hands. "It's not your fault." He started. He pushed some more hair out of her face. "I tried to catch you." Y/n sniffed quietly and nodded her head. "You always do." She smiles weakly. Peter let out a small sigh and caressed her cheek very softly with his warm thumb. "You're not hurt?" Y/n asks him. Peter shakes his head. "Yelena and I just have a few bruises." Y/n's eyes panicked a little when he didn't mention Harley. "Harley was a little worse, but he's alive and stable." As if he could read her mind, he told her what she needed to hear. Harley was alive. "Can I see him?" She asks. "You need to stay here a little longer," Peter tells her. She wanted to protest but did not have the energy to do so. "They're keeping him asleep just like we did with you. But you were... you were uh..." Y/n gently touched his face, suddenly feeling the need to touch him. "Nightmares." She filled in. Peter carefully pulled her a little closer. "I tried to- I wanted you to- but Bruce wouldn't..." He let out a sigh, "I didn't want you to have nightmares." He whispers. His chocolate brown eyes were filled with so much love, and it was all for her, only her. "How long was I out?" She questions in an attempt to shift the conversation a little. "A day. Almost two." He answers. The dark circles under his eyes told her everything she needed to know. "You didn't leave, did you?" Peter shakes his head. "Peter," She sighed and ran her hand through his brown hair. "You're hair is a little curly." She smiles.

Peter returned the smile and felt the warmth in his chest return. "I was asleep. Until you woke up." Y/n looked down at the hospital bed she was in. Beside her was another bed in which Peter was sleeping. She could see the print of his arm on the mattress. "You were holding my hand." She says. "Anything to make you feel a little bit safer." Through the pain, she leans closer and kisses his lips gently. The door opened at the other end of the room causing the two teens to pull apart. Natasha's eyes lit up and it was like something, that had been missing for years, was back in her heart. Her soul. "Nat," She whispers. The Black Widow sprinted to her best friend with open arms and tears in her eyes. Peter smiled as he watched the two best friends reunite. Y/n lifted herself off the hospital bed and ignored the pain from the stitches in the left side of her body. Natasha held her up in her arms placed one of her hands on the back of Y/n's head and gently stroked her hair. Y/n sobbed into Natasha's shoulder. "You're here." She sobbed quietly. Natasha kissed the side of her head. "I am, sweetie. Because of you." A few minutes went by before Peter tapped his girlfriend's arm. "Y/n, could you sit down again, please? I don't want you to pull one of your stitches." He whispers to her. Y/n nodded and pulled away from her best friend. "The machine worked." Peter tucked her in under the covers as Natasha sat on the edge of the bed. She smiles at the young Stark. "Oh, sweetie." She reached out to caress her friend's cheek.

Y/n observed her for a moment and she wasn't sure what to say. So many thoughts ran through her head. "I have so much to tell you." Natasha shot a quick glance at Peter. "You sure do." Y/n smiles sheepishly. "Something I'm missing?" Peter asks quietly. Y/n glances over her shoulder and looks at her boyfriend. "One of the last things Nat told me was to make a move on you. She said we would be good together." Peter brushed his nose against her head. "Well, she wasn't wrong about that." Nat smiled at them. Her gaze fell on Peter's hands that soothingly rubbed over her wound trying to ease away the pain. Y/n's hand was resting on top of his. "You sacrificed yourself for us? For all of us?" Y/n suddenly blurts out. Natasha let out a sigh. "I had to." Y/n nodded with a smile and reached out her other hand to hold Natasha. "I know." She said, "If not you... then Clint- he... his family. You're a hero." Y/n added. Nat didn't deserve to die, but she saved Clint's children from growing up without their dad. "I've heard you two have been busy as well. Fighting vultures? Some dude who wanted revenge on your dad? Multiverse villains and Thanos? I'm surprised your dad let you." Nat smirked at the couple. "We make a good team." Y/n answers. Peter pressed gentle kisses on Y/n's shoulder blade and squeezed her thigh with his free hand. Y/n blushed as she made eye contact with the Black Widow. She was back from the dead. Suddenly, she furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion and Peter noticed instantly. "What's wrong?"

"The coordinates..." She mumbled, "You're not the only one who came back, did you?" Nat smiles proudly at her and shakes her head. "Squirt?" Y/n turned her head toward the door, tears already forming again, and looked at her father. "Dad," She squeaked out. Tony walked over to the hospital bed and took his daughter in his arms. His eyes became watery as well and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Peter looked at Nat who gave him a nod. "Never, ever, do something like that again." Tony sighed against her head. "That's the first thing you say after I brought you back from the dead?" Y/n chuckled between her tears. "Your mom's gonna kill me again." Tony pressed a kiss against her forehead. She was surely being showered with love today. Tony pulled away and cupped her cheek and jaw in his hand. "I am so proud of you." He praised her. "You are?" Tony smiled at his daughter and brushed some hair from her face. "Did you get taller?" He said abruptly, his voice a little higher than before. Y/n returns the smile. "I'm sitting down." She replied. Tony didn't care, he wanted to be close to her and observe every inch of her. "We'll give you two a moment," Nat spoke up. Peter kissed Y/n's cheek before leaving the room with Nat. She reaches out to grab his hand as a reflex before he can leave her side. "I'll be right out the door. Not going anywhere." He brushed his thumb over the back of her hand before letting go.

Tony sat on the edge of the hospital bed looking straight at her. "Sorry." Although, she wasn't sure what she was saying sorry for. "Kid told me a few things." He started, "He really kept you safe all this time, hasn't he?" Y/n nodded her head slightly. "I don't even want to think about what happened after I died. You must've been so... confused, scared, frustrated." Y/n huffed a little but with a smile. "I managed. I rebuilt Stark Industries." She informs him. And here she thought Tony couldn't be any prouder. That facial expression said everything. "Gave it a better purpose." She added. Tony holds her hand. "I knew you would. That's why I gave it to you. Your mom would've shut it down. And Morgan..." Suddenly, something twisted in her gut, causing her to let go of her father's hand. He frowns at her and asks if something's wrong. "Mom wasn't pregnant before I blipped, right?" The question came out of nowhere and shattered Tony's heart a little. "No, she uh... she wasn't. But we were -" Y/n straightens her back slightly while glaring at him. "So you replaced me?" She'd asked her mother the same question when she found out about Morgan. She didn't want to bark at her but she couldn't help but feel replaced by both of her parents. "Y/n, we didn't replace you. Morgan just happened." Tony stated firmly. "You had Morgan eleven months after I disappeared. It took you five years to come looking for me. You replaced me instead of looking for me!" 

A/n: Apologies for the shorter chapter. I've been extremely busy last week. Hope you still like it! Love you all! Also! This book is officially a year old! 🥳
-Jay25211🤗💜