Chapter Text
Peter Parker stares vacantly at the ceiling as occasional lights from outside reflect in through the window.
His ceiling.
His window.
He wasn’t used to those statements yet.
He and May had arrived back in Queens from Wakanda a week ago. Well technically Peter did. Shortly after Tony moved up the Glasgow Coma scale by actually being alert with eye tracking and basic movements, Aunt May took that as a sign that it was time for her to come back and get things set up. Happy had come back with her. He helped her find an apartment in a building near the Parker's old place. Helped her get the Parker family stuff out of storage that the Starks kept for them. Helped her go out and get her first desk job too.
Happy came back a week later saying he was supposed to bring Peter back to Queens. That he needed to prep for the start of the new school year coming up in a matter of two weeks. Peter didn’t want to leave Tony, but the doctors said he was safe to move to his lake house so long as a medical personal are present to monitor him and help him recover. Pepper wanted to get home. She had Stark Industries after her to come back, Morgan was crying more about wanting to go home, and the argument was made that Tony’s recovery would speed up more once he got home.
Tony spent a lot of time sleeping still but when he was awake he was able to have small and simple conversations with those around him which was quite a recovery from being a vegetable a week before. It was one of those alert moments that Tony was having as everyone began to load up on the planes. Alert enough to call Peter to his side and squeeze the teen’s hand and pull him into a hug.
“See yah soon kid,” he spoke into Peter’s ear before letting go.
With one last wave to Ms. Potts and a hug to Morgan, who cried and told Peter he needed to come home with them which thankfully Ms. Potts addressed, Peter boarded a different plane from the Starks to head back to Queens.
Now a week after that day, Peter lays staring at the unfamiliar ceiling surrounded by half unpacked boxes and wondering if he’ll ever fall asleep.
Listening closely he could hear his aunt’s even breathing indicating she’s asleep in the next room over. Quietly the teen gets up and reaches into his half opened closet door. Pulling out his first spiderman uniform from Tony, he slips it on rather then the iron spider. The nano tech swirls in its case on the floor charging. He would use it but that last incident of nearly peeing himself is still strong.
Peter dons the mask and slips out the window onto the fire escape, webbing the next building and taking flight.
“Hello Peter,” the feminine voice echoes in the mask.
“Hey Karen, good to hear from you.”
“Yes, it is good to hear from you too Peter. I have no new messages but I do have alerts from F.R.I.D.A.Y.”
“Oh?” Peter didn’t expect that. He thought the Stark family would be to busy with Tony’s recover that Peter wouldn’t hear from anyone over there for---well probably a long time. Even F.R.I.D.A.Y reaching out was unexpected to the teen.
Peter stops swinging around Queens, resting on a random roof. “Go ahead Karen.”
“F.R.I.D.A.Y has kept me updated with Mr. Stark’s recovery. It seems two days after arriving home he began to make attempts at getting up out of bed and was on semi-solid foods. By the fourth day he was able to stay awake for most of the day with small amounts of activity and was able to walk around the lower floor of the house with a mobility aid. The most recent update has Mr. Stark walking with a cane, eating regularly with only a few dietary restrictions, and practicing taking the stairs of his home. He so far has shown no hearing, visual, or speech difficulties. He does tire quickly sometimes while other times he struggles to sleep.”
Peter chuckles, “I know that feeling. Karen who told F.R.I.D.A.Y to give me these updates?”
The AI was silent for a moment before responding.
“According to F.R.I.D.A.Y Miss Morgan Stark said ‘tell my big brother how daddy’s doing because he will be worried.’ Mr. Stark’s AI connected that she was most likely talking about you.”
Peter smiled behind the mask. Morgan was right, he did worry.
“Hey Karen, can you tell F.R.I.D.A.Y to let Morgan know I’m really grateful for the updates.”
“Yes I can Peter. Would you like to scan for crime right now Peter? Because if so, I’ll have to report that you are out fighting crime past your curfew.”
Peter sighed. He should probably stop crime since he’s awake. But he didn’t want to find out what happens if the ‘out past curfew’ alert goes off. Will Tony even know since he’s at the lake house? He also was tired. So tired he wanted to lay down and sleep but yet unable to relax enough to reach the point of falling into dreamland.
“Hey Karen, would it make me a bad person to just swing around and not stop crime?”
The AI was silent for a moment. “I do not believe so Peter. I’ve scanned you and found your body is not in top shape and you’re showing signs of tiredness. According to my calculations, I believe you will have higher risk of you using unsafe actions or choices if engaging with criminals in this state.”
“Is there any major emergencies that only spiderman can take care of?”
“I’ve scanned the area and the police scanners, there is nothing normal police cannot handle.”
Peter lets out a deep breath and stands, readying to launch another web.
“I don’t plan to fight crime then Karen. I’m just going to swing until I’m relaxed enough to fall asleep when I get home.”
“Understood. This doesn’t violate any protocols so I will not report these actions unless asked.”
Peter launches off the roof and proceeds to swing through the area, trying to keep to darker streets or higher areas to attract less attention. The rhythm of the releasing webs and his body swinging through the air lull his body into an autopilot state. His mind begins to wander through various thoughts as he lets his body just swing steadily. He was actually glad Karen told him he wasn’t in the right state to stop crime and that she would have to report him. It was like someone gave him permission to take a break.
He had been swinging through Queens, his mind racing about everything yet nothing. It was around the point his brain was wondering if he was still a teenager or not because of the five-year dusting incident that he realizes he had crossed out of his usual turf and towards the heart of the city.
He wasn’t sure where he was going. Just that he was going. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. Just that he wasn’t doing what he should be doing. He should be sleeping. Or at least stopping crime since he couldn’t sleep, that would be more productive.
But instead he swings swiftly between buildings, wondering how he will fill out the paperwork for his driver’s license when his date of birth puts him in his twenties yet he writes ‘16’ on the following line for age.
His swings taking him higher up into the sky with the higher buildings, Peter to high up to really attract much attention at this time of night. About the point he wonders if he can even be on the academic decathlon team since he’s missing five years of current events. There have been new scientific discoveries even with half the universe gone. New leaders. New politics. New technology. Will he have to study twice as hard now to catch up? Peter comes to stop on top of a rather tall building to take a breather.
Looking around he sees metal and glass of the buildings surrounding him. Little lights from the streets below bouncing off some while others are lite up with people in the rooms. But what catches his attention is the building sitting straight ahead in his line of sight a few blocks away.
It was then that Peter realizes he had come upon Avengers Tower.
Peter moves forward, sitting down on the edge of the roof he stands on, planting himself on the cement half wall that is supposed to protect people from fall over the edge on smoke breaks. Taking off his mask, Peter hears the distant voice of Karen but her words are lost to him. Rather he stares at the Avengers building quietly.
Is it Avenger’s tower? Was it now Stark Tower again? The avengers were given the compound but that was destroyed in the last battle. So, does that mean the avengers are back here? Wait, is there even an avengers team? Tony is retired. Captain America is taking a break of unspecified time, Thor ran off with the guardians to look for his brother and do cool space stuff, Hawkeye retired to be with his family. Peter hadn’t a clue if Black Widow was still with Hawkeye or not. Peter hadn’t a clue where Doctor Banner went or all those others that helped at the battle. Is this even Mr. Stark’s tower anymore. Back at Wakanda Mr. Stark’s family always talked about the lake house away from the city and that’s where they are now, does that mean that Peter is now sitting in front of some other rich guy’s building? Peter doesn’t see the A or Stark on the tower anymore. Oh god, he’s sitting in front of a stranger’s building like a creeper.
Peter felt a pain in his head as these thoughts took off at an overwhelming speed. His chest feeling tight with each breath he takes.
If this isn’t Stark Tower or Avenger’s Tower anymore how will Tony fix my suit if it has problems? How will I be able to ask Tony about more training? We were in talks about having after school lab days before everything happened, back when we took that Stark Internship photo, does that still stand? Tony said I was going to get a sort-a real internship, I still have the certificate, is that null now that he doesn’t live in NYC? I was so looking forward to learning in the lab from him.
Peter rocks back and forth on the roof edge, hands twisting his mask, his chest squeezing painfully. His lungs complaining and straining but the teen continues to spiral in his thoughts. Thoughts and was so absorbed that he doesn’t hear the whine and blasting air despite its loudness until it was practically beside him. Nearly startled into falling off the edge of the roof he was perched on, Peter stares at an Ironman suit hoovering several feet in front of him.
“Listen kid, I love you coming to visit but sitting across the street for a half hour staring at the building at 2AM wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”
The Iron man suit floated in front of Peter, from the echo sound of Tony’s voice Peter knew it was empty and being remotely piloted.
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about Pepper catching you up late messing with suits?” Peter responded with but his witty remark sounded hallow and emotionless rather than snarky.
“Hitch a ride with the suit kid and get up here will yah? I’d feel better if you sat dangling off the side of my building where I can keep an eye on you.”
“Your building? I thought you moved out of the city? Wait how are you doing this from the lake house?”
Tony’s laugh echoes in the empty suit. “The lake house is our vacation house. But Pepper is still the CEO of Stark Industries which means she must be near one of our headquarters. So either here or Malibu, which Malibu has better weather but there are some other factors here in New York that are more important then weather. Besides, Morgan is going into pre-k which there isn’t one out by the lake house. I love my daughter, but I don’t really feel pre-k teacher is something I’m equipped to put on my resume.”
“Wait so you’re at the tower now?”
“Just got in yesterday. Can we do twenty questions in the tower already. As you mentioned, I’m not fond of Pepper discovering me doing this.”
Peter sat there for a few seconds before sighing and putting his mask back on. Shooting his web, it latched onto the suit’s waist area. The suit slowly rose up bringing the skinny teen with it, Peter hanging on as the suit headed to the tower’s landing pad.