Peter Parker Gets Sick Way Too Much For His Own Good

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

<This is a fic dealing with all the stuff we're going through, but it is not to make light of any of it. A huge thank you to the healthcare professionals and essential workers, you are the real heroes of this world. I hope everyone is staying safe, staying inside and doing everything we can to stop the spread of the pandemic. My love and prayers go out to every one of you.>

<This prompt is from @rossravenclaw. It's sort of a different spin, but I hope you like it! It's sort of a part 4 to the poisoned miniseries but it also totally stands alone. Please send fic ideas!!! I need more things to write! I have one idea involving an Agents of Shield crossover, but other than that I have nothing, so I'd really appreciate ideas!>

When the world all goes to shit, there's not too many better places to be than the Avengers Compound. When the virus had first come to America, Tony had issued an invitation to the Avengers to hang at the compound in the exact scenario of a complete lockdown. Peter hadn't wanted to leave May, but she finally convinced him, especially knowing she would be putting in extra shifts at the hospital and not wanting to expose him. He missed her of course, but they FaceTimed at least every couple of days, and that helped. Other than that, he did his best to keep busy with online school work, watching movies with Morgan, and training. Lots of training. In the wise words of Tony Stark, "just because the world is shut down does not mean we are, and when the world opens back up again, we will be there."

So of course, this meant insane training sessions at 7 am on a Saturday morning. Didn't Tony know he was a teenager? And teenagers need sleep. (He probably could get more sleep if he wasn't staying up until 2 in the morning watching The Flash, but it was just too good! After only three weeks, he had already finished the first five seasons and was working through the sixth. He needed to tell Friday to remind him to ask Tony if they could build a particle accelerator...)

So when Peter opened his eyes to a blaring alarm, he groaned. What new horror had Tony imagined for them today? He groped for his phone to turn the alarm off, squinting at the message.

Tony: time 4 some mental training :)))))

Peter rolled his eyes. Tony trying to text like a
cool kid was nauseating. And the smiles, he would do anything to never have to see that again. He scrolled to see other responses. Only Natasha and Cap had responded.

Nat: fuck off Tony I'm eating my pancakes first training can wait until 10
Cap: language
Nat: 🖕🏻

And since Nat in the mornings was terrifying, that was the end of it. Training had been postponed to 10. Peter didn't exactly like the sound of "mental training." He liked training his body much more, and besides, he had the AP Calc test coming up, wasn't that enough mental training?

At ten, Peter headed down to the training room, and he really didn't like what he saw. Tony, Wanda, and Bruce were standing next to a scary looking contraption. Like a magician announcing his act, Tony spread his arms wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, assassins and super powered people of all kinds, may I present the Fearscape machine!"

"Oh heck no." This came from Bucky. "We've all seen Divergent, and I really don't think any of us want to go through this. Personally, I've already lived my worst fears, so I'm gonna hard nope out of experiencing that again."

"Yeah I'm good too, I'd much rather kick some serious butt." From Natasha.

Peter could already feel his heart beating faster, he really did not want to face his worst fears. It was bad enough living with anxiety, this was not happening. He started to edge toward the door too, but suddenly the doors frosted over. "Sorry, guys. This is an important part of training. If we can't even face ourselves, how are we supposed to be fully prepared to face anything else? I promise you, it'll make you better superheroes. I'll even go first, prove there's nothing to fear besides your fears themselves."