Civil War: Rewritten

Chapter 4: Home Again

A couple of days later, Peter, Natasha, Happy, and Tony were back in New York. They were in a car outside Peter and May's apartment building with Happy driving, Nat in shotgun, and Peter and Tony in the backseat. Nat and Happy got out and went to the trunk to help Peter grab his stuff.

"Hey, uh, kid," Tony started. "Thanks for coming to Germany with me".

"It was awesome Mr. Stark!" Peter responded. "I do have homework to catch up on though".

Tony smiled and leaned over to open the door for Peter. He awkwardly patted Tony's back, not knowing what to do.

"This isn't a hug, I'm opening the door for you. We're-we're not there yet," Tony said.

"Uh, okay," Peter awkwardly replied. "See you around Mr. Stark". He jumped out of the car, greeted by Happy and Nat holding his bags.

"Take care, kid," Nat said. "Call me if you need anything".

"Thanks, Nat," he replied while grabbing his things from Happy and Nat.

"See you around," Happy stated, heading back to the car. Nat followed right after.

Peter turned around and ran back into his apartment that he shared with his Aunt May.

"May, I'm home!" he announced as he walked through the door.

"Hey, Peter!" she greeted, giving him a hug. "I missed you!"

"Me too, May," Peter said as he returned the hug. "But I'm tired so I'm gonna go to bed".

May nodded, indicating that it was okay. He jumped onto his bed, exhausted. It had been an exciting yet draining trip. He sighed as he looked at his school bag, remembering all the work he had to make up. But his exhaustion won so he fell asleep. He'd do the work another time.

~Back in the Car~

"So, back to the compound?" Happy asked as he started the engine.

"Yep," Nat replied as she buckled her seatbelt.

It was a pretty silent drive after that. Everyone was drained. It had been a strenuous trip. The only one who actually got sleep was Happy, but he was tired from flying the jet and driving. He could've put the Quinjet on autopilot, but decided to fly to avoid the competitive slapjack battle the other three were having. Not long after, they were back at the compound.

"So, you're staying here?" Tony asked Nat as they walked through the doors.

"Yep, it's not like I have anywhere else to go," she replied while shrugging.

Tony just nodded in response. He knew that she really considered the Avengers to be her family and her home. He watched as she walked down the hallways, looking into her former teammates' rooms.

"You alright?" Tony questioned.

"Uh, yeah, goodnight Tones," she responded as she walked into her room. She sighed as she sat on her bed and put her face in her hands. She tried to blink back tears. I failed. I should've done more. It's my fault. Nat had done everything she could to keep her family together. She couldn't help it when the tears came spilling out.

"Y'know, I thought you'd be a better liar," a voice said as her face was buried in her hands.

Nat looked up in confusion. Tony was standing in her doorway giving her a look of sympathy. He walked over to Nat's bed and sat next to her.

"You know it's not your fault, right?"

"But it is," she whispered.

"No, it's not, " he assured her. "You didn't make them break the law. That was their choice".

"But-"

"Nope, don't wanna hear it," Tony said covering his ears.

Nat gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Tony," she said, giving him a hug.

"Anytime, Riding Hood".

The pair sat in silence for a few moments. "Why are you still here? Why don't you go with Pepper?" Nat asked to break the silence.

"Oh, she's off on some business thing. I asked her if she wanted me to join her but she insisted I stay so her best friend isn't alone," he replied.

Nat smiled. It was nice to feel like somebody cared about her and considered her to be a friend. "Hey Shellhead, you should really get some sleep. It's been ages since you've slept".

"Alright," he said while getting up. "I'll try. You should too".

"Goodnight Tony, and thank you".

And with that, the two went their separate ways for the night.

~A Few Hours Later~

Tony had actually listened to Nat and tried to sleep for the first time in a while. He tossed and turned for quite a while, and eventually started to doze off. However, images of space and losing his friends kept replaying in his mind. He jolted awake, sweating. His breath was short and quick, and he was fighting the tears in his eyes. This wasn't the first nightmare he's ever had, but it's the worst one by far.

"Agent Romanoff," the AI, Friday, said in Nat's room.

"Hm?" Nat asked, half awake. She had surprisingly actually gotten some decent sleep.

"Boss just had a nightmare," the AI responded.

Nat jumped out of bed and headed to Tony's room. She knew he got nightmares. She also got them herself and knew how to snap him out of it.

Once she entered his room, she kneeled down to meet Tony's eyes.

"Tony," Nat said, surprising Tony. He looked up and met Nat's emerald green eyes. "Look at me. You're okay. But you need to breathe". She began to take deep breaths and Tony attempted to mimick her breathing. After a few minutes, he began to breathe normally.

"Thank you, Nat," he whispered gratefully.

"You sure you're alright?" Nat patted his shoulder.

He nodded and laid down again to try and fall back asleep. She sat down on the chair in his room. She didn't want him to be alone. Half an hour later, they fell alseep, nightmare free for the rest of the night.

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