Kid, tell me what happened: The Sequel

It's all in the end (forever and always)

Peter tossed and turned in his sleep, his body was exhausted but his mind was more active than ever throughout the day, and refused to simply shut off. The day had been rough for the teenager, ever since last night when he had a dream that his parents had died in front of his eyes. The nightmare terrified him, to the point where he scrambled to his Dads’ room where he would be constantly reminded that Tony and Steve were perfectly alive and okay. But the whole day, he couldn’t get rid of the idea of losing his parents, after all, they were all the boy had left. 

Peter was unsure of where he was, but the city streets gave him the assumption of Manhattan. He started walking towards the loud sound of commotion where he found his dads counter battling a robot of familiarity: Ultron. 

The way he remembered his age of reign, his Dads had beaten the robot with the Avengers, heavily contrasting on the scene that his mind had somehow conjured. Ultron had his Papa’s neck tightly wrapped in a chokehold, and squeezing so hard that Peter swore he saw Steve’s lips turn purple and his face blue as his hands moved in an attempt to pry Ultron’s metal hand off his neck. However, his father was unsuccessful in doing so, as his eyelids had fluttered closed and his body went limp. 

Peter couldn’t help the tears that spilled on his face as he ran to his Papa’s unconscious slumped form, trying to find some sort of reassurance that his Papa was going to be okay. The teenager whispered frantically, “Papa, c’mon, you gotta wake up.” Tears sprayed out of the corner of Peter’s eyes as he urged with panic, “C’mon Papa, you gotta get up. Dad and I need you. Please!” Peter threw himself around Steve’s neck, burying his head there whispering over and over again, “I love you so much.” 

He meekly turned to face Ultron and his Dad who were battling each other, one-upping each other constantly as they continued to verbally converse in arguments. Neither of them for some sort could see Peter, but that wasn’t the boy’s concern, it was the diminishing light from his dad’s arc reactor that did. Peter watched helplessly as Ultron smirked as jutted a blade straight into Tony’s arc, and pulled it out whole, letting blood and bits of metal spill from his father’s chest. 

A raw sob tore from Peter’s lips as his dad crumbled to his knees, body trembling as the light from his eyes faded away. Peter ran to his dad, trying to help him when Ultron merely chuckled as he pushed Tony off the building, sending him inevitably to his doom. 

It was Peter’s turn to crumble to his knees as sobs overtook his shaking form and the next thing he knew, he was awake. 

Peter lay on his bed, fighting the tears that threatened to pool his eyes. He never really thought about life without his Dads, a part of him always knew that they’d come home safe, because the Avengers had promised him. But as his nightmare had pointed out, there was still that chance that they might not come home safely. Which meant that Peter would be all alone, without the two people that mattered the most to him.

And Peter hated that he couldn’t help but think more about his parents dying, and then somehow his thoughts drifted into him dying because the world was the world, for better or for worse. 

Getting overwhelmed, Peter sucked in a breath as he sat up, frustrated with himself. He felt uncomfortable, an itch in his skin that he couldn’t soothe so he decided to lie down on the floor, hoping that would offer him some sort of remedy to his dilemma. 

Unfortunately, all that did was keep Peter more awake. 

His head and stomach began to hurt the more he thought about death and begrudgingly sighed as he lied back down on the floor. He felt anxiety form in the pit of his stomach as he felt more and more overwhelmed, unaware that FRIDAY had let Tony and Steve know of the boy’s dilemma. 

There was a soft knock on his door and Peter turned to see his dads enter the room with soft expressions scrawled across their faces. Tony quipped lightly as he sat down next to Peter, “Bud, what’s wrong?”

Peter spoke exhaustedly, “I think I’m having an existential crisis.”

Steve wore a reassuring smile as he pulled Peter onto his lap, “You want to talk about it? What’s on your mind bear?”

Peter explained as he leaned his head against Steve’s chest, “Last night I had a dream that you and Dad were killed, and ever since, I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t help but think about what would happen if you guys were gone, and then I’d be all alone. But then what if I died from some sort of illness or something? I don’t want to go, and I don’t want to be alone and-” 

He felt his chest stiffen as breathing became harder, “And then it keeps getting worse and I can’t stop thinking about it.” He hadn’t even realized that he was crying into Steve’s chest.

Tony scooted closer to Peter, taking his trembling hands into his calloused ones, “Hey, take a deep breath, Peter. In and out.”

Peter wheezed, “I can’t.” More tears fell down the sides of his face. 

Steve coaxed from the top of Peter’s head where he planted a soft kiss, “Sure you can, we know you can. Here, you feel Dad breathing right?”

Peter nodded, shakily replying, “Yeah.”

Steve nodded, “Try and copy that, like this.” He exaggerated his breathing to get Peter to follow, and within a matter of minutes, the boy’s breathing was back to normal. 

Even more exhausted from the anxiety attack, Peter leaned his entire weight against Steve, who had wrapped his arms around the boy’s chest, rocking him gently. 

Steve spoke first, “Petey, why didn’t you come and talk to us earlier?” His voice was soft and gentle, hating that his son was panicking about when he would be gone. Truth be told, the veteran would contemplate the same matter, but it hit harder when it was his child. 

Peter mumbled, “Didn’t wanna worry you guys more than you already do.” He yawned as he rubbed his eyes, all tuckered out. 

Tony spoke softly, twinkling eyes meeting Peter’s, “Kid, we’re your dads, we’re always going to worry about you. If something’s bothering you, you know you can always come to either of us. It’s our job to make sure that you’re okay. I know it’s scary with me and Papa being Avengers, but we promise to you, we are always going to try our hardest to come home to you again, alright? I know you can’t help those thoughts, and that’s perfectly okay. You just come to us, alright? We’ll make it better, okay?”

Peter nodded with a tight smile, “Alright. I promise.” 

Steve continued in a protective tone, “And Peter, it’s okay to worry about things, but remember, you have the whole Avengers protecting you, you got that? Anytime you feel scared or worried, you just come to us, yeah? Whatever you need, buddy.”

Peter yawned as he replied, “‘m alright.” He mumbled as his eyes fluttered closed, “Can I sleep with you guys?” 

Steve patted Peter’s back with a small smile, “Well I did say whatever you need, your room or ours?”

Peter answered, “Yours.” He buried his head against Steve’s clothed shoulder, “‘m sleepy, cuddles?  What time is it?”

Steve nodded with a chuckle at Peter’s disheveled curls, “C’mon bear, it’s around midnight, so I’d be concerned if you weren’t tired.” The three returned to Tony and Steve’s room where they dove under the covers of their comforter, Peter snuggling between the warmth of his dads as his eyes lazily fluttered closed as his dads wrapped their arms around him, keeping him warm and secure.

Tony cracked a tired smile towards his son as he brushed the hair out of his face, whispering softly at the sound asleep Peter, “You’re going to be okay, Petey.”

A/N: Well that was cute.