by redimagines
warnings: suicide, depression & major character death
Rocket had just landed the ship on Zandar. Most of the team was exhausted from yet another contract kill or protection. While Rocket steered the ship, Gamora had attempted to talk to Peter about his father. You stood from your seat and walked to find her. She was just climbing down the stairs when you found her. "How's Peter feeling?" You asked. "He won't talk to me." She informed you.
Everyone was concerned with his well-being and very worried that he hadn't spoken to anyone about his father. Drax had attempted to speak to him but failed miserably. Instead of helping Peter deal with his feelings, Drax ranted on about what he felt for Mantis. As Drax was confused as to what he felt exactly.
He loved her, that was sure, but he didn't know how. Rocket wouldn't even be in the same room as Peter. Groot attempted to help Peter, but the latter couldn't understand the former. Gamora wasn't very sure on how to help him, but she tried. Mantis was more than happy to help, but Peter wouldn't have it.
"Try and talk to him," Gamora suggested. You wanted to, but you didn't know how. "I don't know if I could handle seeing him so down." You admitted. "Just...try. It couldn't hurt." She told you, and you nodded. "The rest of the team is going to get some fresh air and food. We won't be long." Gamora informed you. "Could you bring me something?" You asked and she nodded. "Good luck." She whispered as she hugged you goodbye. You smiled kindly and turned around to walked towards Peter's room.
At that point, the team had exited the ship. You then knocked on the door, "Peter?" You called out. You slowly opened the door and music would be heard. You immediately recognized the tune, Brandy (You're A Fine Girl). "Peter?" You asked as you fully entered his room. His back was to you and hunched down as he looked at the Zune. "This was her favorite song." He whispered and his voice broke a bit.
He sniffled and you knew he had been crying. You didn't know what to say, so you walked closer to him and then sat beside him. It had been weeks since the incident with Ego. A week of Peter feeling nothing but depression. His own father caused the death of his mother. His mother; a beautiful and kind woman.
"She would sing it to me sometimes when I was falling asleep." He sadly smiled at the memory. "She had the voice of an angel," Peter spoke with such love for his mother. You knew it was a tragic moment for him when he was informed that Ego had planted the illness that killed his mother. "I wish I could have met her." You told him. "She would have liked you." Peter turned his attention from the Zune. You looked into his eyes, they were red. His cheeks were puffy and dried tears surrounded his eyes.
Peter was always such an upbeat guy, that seeing him in the state he was broke your heart. He was broken to the point that you didn't think anything anyone did would help him. All he needed was friends that would reassure him they were there for him. Cautiously you placed your hand on his knee. "We're here for you, Peter." You reminded him.
"I thought I could do this alone," Peter replied. "You don't have to. We all want you to be happy." You stated. "I'm sure Rocket is just delightful," Peter muttered and looked back at his Zune. "No, he's also worried about you, just doesn't know how to help." You informed him, which he found hard to believe.
You sighed, as you saw that you weren't helping much. "Have I ever told you how I ended up in space?" You asked and he shook his head. If you couldn't help him, you could at least try and distract him from his sadness. "There was an alien invasion back on Earth." You began with the story of the Battle of New York.
"They were called the Chitauri." You continued. "A group of powerful people fought the Chitauri, my father along with them." You smiled sadly at the memory of you dad in his armor, flying through the sky and protecting New York. "Still, the government didn't believe they could defeat the Chitauri so they sent in a missile. My dad sacrificed himself by taking the missile from its route and flew straight into the hole in the sky. I thought I lost him, as I did my mom, but he came back. He saved New York, but he lost a part of himself.
"He didn't come back the same. He was paranoid from what he saw. He would barely sleep and when he did, he had nightmares. He worked on trying to protect Earth from whatever he saw. Whatever he saw it scared him to death. I barely saw him, as he stayed in his lab working on more suits. I wanted to help him. I wanted my dad back, and he tried his best to be himself again, but the nightmares...they were too much.
"The pressure to be the perfect superhero were too much and...it got to him. I woke up in the middle of the night. I went downstairs to his lab to give him something to eat but the door to his lab was locked. I looked up and saw that...a gun was in his hand and aimed at his head. He looked at me and his eyes...they were just blank.
"I tried to open the door, tried to break it, but I couldn't do anything. He looked at me with such pity. His last words were 'I'm sorry' and then he pulled the trigger. His body fell and I cried...the last thing I saw was his blood dripping from his desk and his eyes staring back at me." You closed your eyes as tears began to fall from your eyes.
Peter's eyes softened as he turned to look at you. "I joined the space expedition, as S.H.I.E.L.D wanted to find out what else was out here and see if they were friends or foes. I, on the other hand, wanted to continue with what my father had been working on. I finished his Deep-Space armor and tried to find out what he was so afraid of, so when I went back to Earth, I could do as he wanted to; protect the people of Earth." You finished. "Y/N..."
You wiped the tears from your eyes, as Tony would want you to be strong. "I'm fine." You told him. "How?" Peter asked as he sought the strength you possessed. "My dad. I try to remember him as he was, not what he became. I idolize him, with every ounce of my being and I wear his suit in honor of his memory. With that suit...I'm with him.
"But it wasn't easy at first. I cried. I starved myself. I isolated myself from the rest of my old team, but...they wouldn't leave me alone. And Nat...she helped me through so much." You smiled at the memory of the red headed beauty. You sniffled. "The point is, Peter, you can't be strong alone. It's the people around you that give you strength, give you a reason to keep going." You stated.
"Thank you." He whispered and you smiled softly. Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) ended and you heard a familiar guitar intro. Your sad smile grew to a genuinely happy smile as you remembered the song that was playing. "What?" Peter asked. "This was one of my dad's favorite songs." You stated and Bon Scott's voice began to play.
Peter displayed a smile as you tapped your foot and nodded your head to the rhythm. "Your dad seemed like a pretty cool guy." Peter noted and without a second thought you replied with, "Better than yours." Your eyes were wide, as you could not believe you had just said that.
