Because I Love You

Peter's entire body was vibrating with nervous energy. He stared with wide eyes at Mr. Stark, not knowing how he should feel in that moment. Anger that the man hadn't left him alone? Hope that he didn't? At what that could still mean for them?

"W-What," he paused, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. "What are you doing h-here?" He hated how his voice rose several octaves higher when Mr. Stark turned to him and flashed an award-winning smirk that made millions before him swoon.

"You didn't think I'd miss this party, did you?"

Peter remained silent and his brow furrowed as he examined Mr. Stark's face carefully, searching for any signs of their previous encounter. But the man had spent his entire life under scrutinizing eyes and Peter only saw a carefully neutral expression.

He wanted to confront Mr. Stark. Ask him if what the others said was true. It seemed unlikely that a playboy billionaire philanthropist who also happened to be Iron Man could love him-a poor kid from Queens who got bit by a spider purely by chance. But there was a part of Peter that wanted to believe it desperately and he needed to know. He just couldn't ask in front of everyone else.

Peter pressed his lips firmly together as Sam spoke up, "Now that everyone's here, let's get going. Tony, you know what the plan is?"

Mr. Stark waved his hand dismissively. "Of course. Don't I always?"

"And... you're okay with it," Rhodey asked, raising an eyebrow in skepticism. He was surprised that his best friend would suddenly accept the plan they were proposing.

Peter looked to Mr. Stark who still had an air of indifference surrounding him. The man's response of "Why wouldn't I be?" made Peter deflate slightly. That didn't sound like Mr. Stark cared about him.

But... hadn't the man spent the past several weeks lying to Peter to keep him out of this? Hadn't they had several arguments about him using the Infinity shards? Surely Mr. Stark would never agree to this-not when he spent so much time trying to prevent this exact outcome.

"Let us be off then," Thor proclaimed, lifting Stormbreaker into the sky and effectively ending Peter's train of thought. "We have an alien to defeat."

Peter waited anxiously as the others left the room, Rhodey and Dr. Banner being the last ones to leave. He reached out and grabbed their arms, stopping them from leaving. Peter looked pleadingly at the two older men. "I need your help." Because if there was anybody that could, it would be the people who knew Tony Stark best.

They must have seen the urgency and desperation in his features. The two glanced at each other before nodding. "What do you need?"
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They were flying through the city-well, the ones that could fly at least. Peter swung from building to building, allowing his webs to propel him forward, faster and faster. As soon as they had stepped outside S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Fury had spoken in their ears that there was a strong energy signal following them and it was moving fast. The race was on. They had to get as far away as possible from the city to avoid any casualties.

Peter shot another web at a skyscraper, flinging himself through the air in a graceful sweep. He glanced upwards to see that Falcon, War Machine and Iron Man were pushing their thrusters harder, nearing maximum capacity. Thor and the Scarlet Witch weren't far behind, with him using his Stormbreaker to hurl him forwards and she coaxing her red energy to carry her in the air.

Peter could hear the faint thrumming above him from a jet they had borrowed from Mr. Fury. He knew that the flightless Avengers-Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and the Hulk-were inside, prepping themselves for a battle that none of them wanted, but were forced to engage in to save the universe-yet again.