Chapter Text
This time, the setting didn't change. They stayed in the same pitch black room with Nightmare watching them from the side. But now there were two chalices and a small vial. Peter was sitting on one side and Tony and Steve were on the other.
"This is your final nightmare," he said as the three of them stared at the cups. "Boy, do me a favor and take that vial."
Peter did so, but Steve doubted how much free will was actually involved in the action.
"Good boy." Then he was talking to Steve and Tony. "You two close your eyes now."
Steve had no say in the matter when his eyelids fluttered shut.
"Now pour it into one of the cups while they're not watching."
Peter poured it in silently and then Steve's eyes opened. He had no idea which one Peter chose.
"There's only water in those cups. Except for the one Peter just poured poison into." Nightmare cackled.
Peter's eyes widened as he stared down at them.
"He's going to choose which one of you gets the poison and which one of you gets the water. You'll find out who he chooses to let live when one of you hits the ground."
That had all the color draining from Peter's face. "No, no, no--."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Nightmare clapped his hands together. "This is how you get out of these nightmares. Well...how two of you get out."
Peter was already crying. "You can't make me pick! I won't kill one of my fathers!"
"Oh, sweetie," Nightmare cooed in such a faux sympathetic voice.
It made Steve sick to hear him use his nickname for Peter in such a condescending way.
"I can't make you choose which one, but I can kill them both. I can keep them here with me forever and let you go. You can live the rest of your life without your parents knowing they're dead because of you."
Peter shook his head, covering his face with his hands. "No. Please don't make me-- please."
"Who're you gonna choose, kid? Daddy or Papa?"
"Please, please, please!"
"Pick wisely. The one you choose you'll never see again."
"Don't listen to him. You don't have to do anything," Steve said. "We'll take the cups and we'll pick who gets which. That's not--."
"No!" Peter shouted. "I don't want to lose either of you!"
"You've got to choose one," Nightmare said. "Only two of you are allowed out of this nightmare."
Peter stared down at the two chalices and then lifted one up with a shaky hand. Nightmare started laughing and Steve guessed that was the chalice he poured the poison in.
Steve watched him intently, waiting to see who he was going to give it to. He hoped it was him and not Tony.
But Peter didn't give it to him or Tony. He lifted it to his own lips. He tipped back the glass and drank it in only a few seconds.
Steve and Tony both jumped forward to try and stop him. They were too late.
The glass fell from his hand and he started coughing. Steve lifted him up and pulled him against his side.
"Peter, what the hell?" Tony asked, sounding seconds from crying.
"I couldn't choose…" He said, breathing heavily.
"You couldn't choose so you drank it yourself?" Steve asked incredulously.
"I had to!" Peter wheezed, gripping onto Steve's shirt. Already, his face was covered in beads of sweat.
Nightmare was laughing above them, louder than ever. Like he knew this was going to happen.
Tony turned to him, fuming. "Don't let him die-- I swear if you let him die, I'll kill you!"
"I knew he wasn't going to be able to choose between his fathers. Didn't think he'd have the balls to drink it himself so fast...but here we are."
Peter was unable to hold himself up anymore in Steve's arms. He was pressing his face against Steve's chest, crying in hiccuped sobs. "'M sorry…"
Steve spoke in a low voice and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "It's okay. We're going to fix this."
"I didn't wanna live...without either one of you." Peter's eyes were drooping.
"And you think we want to live without you?" Steve brushed some of his sweaty hair from his forehead.
"That's the true nightmare," Nightmare said, still laughing. "For parents to live without their child. That is the nightmare you will be stuck in for the rest of your lives."
Steve glared up at Nightmare as Tony soothed Peter in quiet whispers. Peter was whimpering through it. "If you think either of us will ever let you get away with this, you're crazy."
Nightmare grinned. "I guess we'll see about that." Then he snapped his fingers and it was all gone.
Steve woke up, for real this time, in a cold sweat. His chest was heaving as he tried to calm his racing heart. Tony was doing the same thing next to him.
He turned to glance at him and they were both sitting up, nothing but their heavy breathing filling the silence.
"Was…all that real?"
Steve nodded his head. All of it...including--. Steve looked down between them and saw Peter laying still, pale as a ghost with a sheen of sweat covering his face.
"He's not waking up," Steve said. "Tony, why isn't he waking up?"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Tony put a hand on Peter's shoulder and shook him gently. He didn't move.
"He's still stuck with Nightmare. How do we get him out? What if he's alive in there and what if he makes him relive his worst nightmares over and over and over--?"
"We have to call Strange. He'll know. He has to know." Tony was already getting out of bed, careful not to jostle Peter.
Steve fixed him so he was more comfortable lying on the bed. He brushed hair from his face and whispered gently. "It's alright, baby. We're gonna get you back. I promise."
Strange came in record time because he had a soft spot for the kid. Everyone had a soft spot for Peter.
He was doing spells as he laid in bed, trying to get Peter out of whatever trance he was in.
Strange knew of Nightmare and he knew how to fix it, but it was harder to get him from Nightmare's grip when he had so much power.
"You two are feeding into this," Strange said, standing by their bedside. "Your fear is keeping him strong."
"Our son is dying!" Tony shouted. "How are we supposed to not be terrified?"
Steve glanced over at them, far away from the bed. He wanted to stay out of it. He didn't want to hurt Peter anymore.
"That's not the only thing. There is so much fear in this room. You need to work through something. You need to come over here and sit with your child to calm him!"
Steve shook his head, but Tony was the one that responded. "But he's unconscious. How will he even know? He's trapped in there alone."
"And even you just sitting there would help."
Tony looked over to Steve and again, he shook his head. "You saw me, Tony. I smacked him-- that's the last thing he'll probably remember. I can't hurt him again."
Tony narrowed his eyes, walked over, and took him by the hands. "That wasn't you. That will never be you. I know that and so does Peter."
Steve glanced over Tony's shoulder to stare at Peter. Strange was still trying to use magic to pull him out of his unconscious. "It should have been me," Steve whispered. "I deserved it."
"No. You don't. None of us deserved it." Tony's eyes hardened. "Now come with me and sit by our son's side. He needs us."
Steve finally nodded his head, but he wasn't fearless. He wondered how Tony could even look at him still or how he could hold his hand. Steve was a monster.
But he didn't let that show. He sat done with Tony next to Peter on the bed and they each took one of his hands in his.
"Thank you," Strange said as if they had been a previous inconvenience. "Now, just...calm him. I'll do the rest."
It was odd to calm him when he already looked so peaceful. Steve had been there by his side after many nightmares and he never looked this calm. But he still did what would wake him up.
He brushed his hair a few times as he hushed him softly. Tony spoke in a gentle voice, "You're alright, Petey. You're safe with Pops and I. We love you so much."
"We do," Steve said too. "We just want you to wake up for us. We miss you so much, sweetie." "And we're here for you. Whatever you need. You just have to...wake up."
Steve brought Peter's hand to his lips and kissed his palm gently. "Please."
It took longer than Steve thought it would to wake Peter up. It took over an hour of them sitting in bedding and reassuring Peter's unconscious body that he was safe.
On top of that, Peter didn't wake up suddenly. He was up and done in short bursts. He was always crying and begging for it to stop, but never coherent.
Sometimes he cried out for Skip to stop. Other times he just cried out "Dad" and "Pops", even for Harry too.
He never cried for Steve to stop or to leave him alone. Steve would have thought that he'd have nightmares of Steve hurting him and Tony, but he didn't hear any.
After the fourth time of listening to Peter crying for Skip to leave him alone, "stop, it hurts!" Steve had to get off the bed and cover his mouth.
"Rogers, you have to get back over here!" Strange shouted. "He's almost awake. He needs both of you!"
"How much longer do we have to sit there and listen to this? How much longer does Peter have to endure it?" Steve shouted. He was angry at Strange, and he was angry at Skip, and he was angry at Nightmare, and he was angry at himself.
"Get over here or else it will last forever."
Steve swallowed down the bile coming up his throat and sat back down. Peter was quiet now but was starting to get upset again. Steve prayed it wasn't Skip again.
"Papa! Dad!" He cried out. "I need you!"
"We're right here," Tony promised. "Just open your eyes and see, bambino."
And finally, he did.
Peter opened his tear filled eyes and when he saw Tony and Steve above him, he started bawling. He couldn't form any words through his tears yet, but he didn't need to.
Steve and Tony pulled him close in a hug and soothed him as best as they could.
"You're safe, Peter. You're safe."
Steve didn't know if Tony was right. Was he really safe if Steve was right here?
"I-- I had the worst dreams!" He sobbed harder, wiping his face against Tony's shirt.
"They're over, I promise," Tony said, pulling back to look down at him. "Now it's your turn to make a promise."
"Hm?"
"Don't you ever put yourself before us like that again," Tony said sternly.
"I couldn't--."
"Promise me."
Peter hesitated, but in the end, he sighed and nodded. "Okay. I promise."
Tony smiled and wiped some tears off of his face. "Good boy."
Steve cleared his throat and stared down at his lap. He hated to ruin the moment, but he had to apologize. "I'm sorry for hitting you, Peter. I'm sorry for how I acted--."
"Stop it," Peter's voice was no longer wobbly from tears.
"What?"
"Don't apologize for something you didn't do."
Steve furrowed his brow. "I smacked you, Peter. I saw it-- I felt it."
"That wasn't you. You would never do that."
Steve finally looked up at him, hoping he'd find sincerity in his eyes. He did. "How do you know?"
"Because you're my Pops. I know you."
Steve choked on the lump lodged in his throat and pulled Peter in for a tight hug. All of the emotions he'd been struggling to contain came pouring out. "I'm sorry, bud. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
"You did. You always do." Peter kissed his cheek and Steve felt stupid for being the one crying in Peter's shoulder, but he didn't stop.
"Well," Strange said, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I think my job here is done…"
Syeve heard him walking away and didn't want to let go of Peter, but then a sudden thought had him pulling away. He shifted Peter to Tony's arms and began to get up. "I'll be right back." He kissed Peter's head before hurrying to Strange before he left the tower.
He caught up with him in the hallway. "Dr. Strange, wait."
Strange turned around with an eyebrow raised.
"Thank you. Thank you for bringing my boy back."
"I did it for him."
"I know." Steve nodded his head. "And I hope I'm not out of place asking for you to do something for me."
Strange turned around and gave Steve his full attention, his interest peaked. "Oh?"
"Can you use your-- magic powers to find someone?"
Strange smirked at his lame attempt of describing his powers. "Yes. I suppose I could."
Steve nodded his head. "I need you to find a man named Steven Westcott. Skip. I have something I need to give him."
Strange's smirk grew. "I was hoping you'd ask. Come on. I've got a few ideas of my own