Like You'd Know How It Works

Chapter 1

"I told you, it doesn't work like that!" Hulky-Banner's right arm had been immobilized with a sling hanging around his neck. Therefore, it was his left that rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then waved it dismissively as if all was said on the matter and the conversation over. Nope. Peter was nowhere near done.

Someone had organized this room at Metro General hospital for them to sit and talk. Sitting was not an option for Peter though. He couldn't bear to sit. He couldn't bear to have anyone look at his injuries either, not when there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"You said that whatever we do in the past will not change our present!" Peter's fist hit the table with a crash. They simply weren't listening. His face felt grimy and tight in places where the dirt from the battlefield stuck to the tears he had cried over Mr. Stark's body. Maybe he should have thought of washing the traces off his face before confronting a few of the Avengers and Doctor Strange. It might have made him seem a little more collected. A little more rational. "That's what you just said!"

"Yes, yes that's true—"

"Then let's go get him! We can just use some particles, go to 2012 or 1970 where Mr. Stark is running around already wearing the quantum suit and... and we just bring him here. Hell, let's pick any time, Thanos didn't even need a suit to travel. Neither did Gamora or Nebula after her fake copy took hers."

"That's not how it works, kid!" Rogers stepped closer to him, his hand reaching for Peter's shoulder. He sidestepped him before the Captain could touch him and turned to face him.

"Oh, shut up, Rogers. Like you of all people understand how it works!" Peter's voice was vibrating with anger. Why in the world were his mentor's supposed teammates so set against giving Mr. Stark a second chance? He had risked everything for everyone else. Again. And this time lost it all. His fiancé. His future. His life.

"It's not what Tony would have wanted."

"Again, Captain. Like you of all people would know what Mr. Stark wanted!"

"I've known him for quite a bit longer than you have, kid!" Rogers visibly pulled himself together. He fought to keep his expression calm, but Peter wasn't looking for calm. He would escalate this situation without a second thought to stand up for Mr. Stark.

"That means nothing! Last time I checked, Mr. Stark wouldn't have trusted you to tell him the truth about whether it's raining outside, let alone with what he would have wanted!"

"Hey now..." Hulky-Banner stepped closer to Peter, arms spread out. But Peter had no interest in being conciliated.

"There's really no need for this tone, boy," Rogers intervened. "I understand that this is difficult for you to grasp at this point, but a lot has happened while you weren't here. Things between us had changed."

Peter's eyes were fixed on the Captain. His pulse was racing. Was Rogers really that naive? Did he not know Mr. Stark at all? He let out a humorless laugh.

"He might have tried to move on or even told you, that he was over it and that what happened... what you did was in the past... for his sake. But he would have never trusted you with anything important... with anything that mattered to him! Never!"

Rogers' hands balled up into fists. A red flush was creeping across his face. Hulky-Banner had stepped between them, but the Captain towered behind him, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Oh, Peter would get him to snap. He would poke him as often as Rogers would need it to lose his cool. He would get the satisfaction to... punch him in his perfect teeth.

There was a sting deep in his heart, real physical pain caused by the mere thought of Mr. Stark's voice, their banter in the lab, just being around him. He took a step back from Banner, a shiver running through him. He couldn't cry now. Not again. They'd never take him seriously if he would cry.