Shadowbreath: The New Avenger

Chapter 23

Edit (02/02)

By the time they were flying back to New York, Peter was exhausted. They had spent a few hours at Scott's house, explaining the plan and jerryrigging his ankle monitor, before they all huddled into the Quinjet. Scott called his daughter to let her know that he would be home in a few days so that she wouldn't worry, and Peter's heart tightened in his chest when he listened to their conversation. He missed Tony already and couldn't wait until they got him back.

And then of course, as soon as he started thinking about Tony, he started thinking about Alex and what they must be going through. It had been a few days since they were captured and Peter suddenly felt all of the guilt and fear he had been putting off catching up to him. He slumped against the side of the ship and covered his face with both hands. What if they were too late in rescuing them? What if they were being hurt right now, wondering where Peter and the Avengers were? What if-"

"Peter?" Steve's quiet voice broke him out of his downward spiral of thoughts, and he was surprised to realize that he had been hyperventilating. "Are you alright?" The Captain must have asked the others to give them some space, because they were nowhere to be found.

Peter couldn't get in a breath deep enough to calm his erratic heartbeat. He simply shook his head and kept his hands over his eyes.

Steve seemed to hesitate before sliding a perfectly muscled arm across Peter's shoulders. The super soldier pulled him flush against his side and gave him a gentle pat. "Breathe with me. Everything's going to be okay, Peter. The Gala Military Ball is the day after tomorrow. We'll get them back. You know we will."

He didn't consciously give in to the comfort that the Captain was providing, but it happened anyway. Peter's face ended up buried in Steve's chest with those gorilla-sized arms wrapped around him. "Y-you'll come with me to save them, right? I...I need to know that Captain America will be there with me when we save them. I'm sure the others can get the job done too, it's just..." He struggled to find the words. For some reason, Tony wanted him to call Steve if there was ever a problem he couldn't handle. Tony wanted Steve there with Peter, despite his own feelings towards the man. "He trusted you to keep me safe. I need to trust that you'll keep him safe too."

Peter could feel Steve swallow thickly above him and the super soldier placed his chin atop Peter's head. "We'll save them together. I'll be right by your side when we bring them home." He took a deep breath, the movement bringing Peter up with it. "And if he'll let me, I'll never let anything like this happen again, kid. I'll do whatever it takes to get Tony to trust me again."

Peter hummed, soaking up Captain America's assurances. As long as he and Tony could get along again, everything would be alright.

"Get some sleep, it's a long way home." Peter didn't question the order and let the darkness take over, willing to forget that they were flying thousands of miles above the ground.

XX

The sun was rising slowly over the horizon when the Quinjet finally returned to the Compound. The air had taken a heavy dip in temperature when they exited the hangar. Natasha ran her hands up and down Peter's arms when he shivered and Steve ushered them all inside.

When they congregated back in the Common Room, Peter was surprised to see Rhodey anxiously pacing behind the bar in the kitchen. "Rhodey!" He shouted happily, pulling out of Natasha's grasp and crashing into the Colonel.

"Kid! Thank god you're alright." Rhodey hugged him tight and then pulled back, checking for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Peter grumbled, pushing away his hands. The Colonel grimaced and kept a hand on his shoulder, but let Pepper shoo him away so that she could move in for a hug. The two finally noticed the newcomers and faced them, each keeping a hand on Peter.