Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter stepped through the glass doors into the spacious white reception room at the bottom floor of Avenger’s Tower, and let out the agitated sigh he had been holding in all day.

His day had sucked.

He had woken up to a dull buzz at the back of his head- he liked to call it his ‘Spidey-Sense’, but it had annoyingly been dubbed ‘The Peter Tingle’ (“Trademark pending.” Tony had said with a confident smirk that made Peter worry he wasn’t joking)- and it hadn’t stopped buzzing all day. It was like someone had set an alarm on their phone and stuck it to the back of his neck, and then just ignored the alarm when it started going off. Peter couldn’t make it stop- he guessed if it could, it probably wouldn’t have been as useful- but it still got on his nerves and made them tingle in anxiety all day. After Flash poured mashed potatoes and gravy down the back of his shirt, he assumed his dull buzz would stop (maybe that’s what his sixth sense had been warning him of?)- but it didn’t. He couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen today that would be worse than walking around school with the leftovers of a lunch sticking to the back of his shirt and skin. Of course there were much worse things he could think of, but he was exhausted and annoyed-and it’s not like the possibility of some unknown danger was a subject he really wanted to think about.

The only thing keeping him grounded was the fact that all of the Avengers were moving in permanently that night and were having a small party to celebrate: this would be his first time seeing them again since a battle he had been allowed to help out in a few months ago. Well- maybe he hadn’t technically been allowed to help, but had accidentally ended up there while following a tracker on a suspected bad guy to their location. They appreciated his help, of course, after they were all done yelling at him for being “too self-sacrificing for his own good” and “reckless”- a remark that only got an eye roll from Peter. He had already told them he wasn’t trying to end up in the middle of a huge fight- he had thought he was dealing with a much smaller crime. The Avengers had all gone home, tired and bruised (“Some more than others…” Peter had thought drily while sitting on the floor in his bathroom, balancing ice packs on the various sore wounds on his body), and it had been pretty much radio silence since then.

This time, though, was going to be different.

This time, they had planned to do nothing. They weren’t going to some big event, they weren’t needed at a courthouse: no battles, no bruises, no blood- it was just a family event with food and laughter and each other- exactly what Peter had missed for the last couple months. Yeah, he had moved into Avengers Tower a pretty long time ago and was almost never without family, but he really had missed his very large and extended one.

Soaking in the cool air in the tower that contrasted heavily to the sizzling summer heat outside, Peter stopped, annoyed, just to make sure he was right. He stood completely still and found, to his contempt, that the light buzzing in the back of his head was still going, apparently completely unaware of the fact that he was standing in Avengers Tower, practically the safest place in New York.

He rolled his eyes. Sometimes his senses were unbelievably overdramatic. He began to walk forward with quiet confidence- despite being in a slightly bad mood, he was kind of excited. He hadn’t told Tony that he was skipping decathlon practice to go over early- he couldn’t wait to see the surprised and confused look on his adopted father's face when he showed up three hours early. That was three extra hours of getting to spend time with his team/ family. It was going to be fantastic.

He looked down at his watch to check the time, and- at his single moment of inattentiveness, the one time he let his guard down that day- the quiet buzz in the back of his head spiked to a loud stab. He was being shoved into a storage closet before he could even process that he was being shoved at all. He looked forward, realized he was staring at the ceiling, and by extension had to be on his back on the floor. There was a tall man kneeling over him before he could get up. Peter stopped trying to get to his feet as he met eyes with his attacker- they were bright and curious, a hypnotic green- most would find comfort in a stare like that- but of course it was Peter Parker that noticed the subtle malice in the glint of that gaze.

The man softly pushed on Peter’s chest, and then stood up to leave, as if he had fulfilled his purpose.

Peter just laid there, staring, as the man turned away, looking at his hands.

“What the hell…?” He thought. “People don’t just- what does that even- huh?” Peter hesitantly got to his feet. The man went completely still save a sudden trembling in his legs and hands, which were clenched tightly in fists. His eyes became more and more distant as he just stared into Peter’s face.

Suddenly, the man jumped, coming back to himself. He looked around the room, eyes glazing straight over Peter without any sign of acknowledgment, and left the closet with a disconcerted look on his face.

Peter stood staring at the door in the dark and silence. Very abruptly, he realized that his spidey sense had stopped its incessant humming.

“Are you kidding me?” Peter muttered under his breath. “This is what I was panicking about all day?”

He shook his head and grabbed at the door handle.

He froze as he stared at his hand-

Or, where his hand used to be.

His hand was going through the door?

He pulled it back against him, panicking. Hesitantly, trying to assure himself it was because of the lack of light in the room that he had seen his hand disappear, he pushed his hand towards the door again- it went straight through with no resistance.

Taking a deep breath, Peter stepped forward, walking through the door and into the reception room.

Well. There was no easy way to explain that.

Peter turned back around and with his eyes wide open, slowly walking back through the door, watching as he slid through the solid door and into the next room.

His jaw dropped as he caught sight of the figure at his feet.

He, himself, Peter Parker, was laying on the floor in front of him.

He dropped to his knees, instincts taking over to check for a pulse- and was completely surprised when he was able to rest his fingers against his body’s neck.

No pulse.

He put his ear over his body’s mouth-

No breath.

“Um.” Peter said out loud. His head was so full of his dreadful thoughts that it felt like they were beginning to spill out- as if there was nothing and everything going on in his brain.

He checked the pulse and breathing again, starting to panic.

“How can I be dead if I’m right here?” The thought blazed loudly in the foreground of his mind.

He stood up, running through the door and to the woman at the front desk.

“Um, hi? Could you…” He was trying to be polite, but the woman wasn’t looking at him, and his stress was beginning to bubble over. He resorted very quickly to yelling at the woman, who paid no mind to Peter, her eyes never flicking up from her online game of solitaire.

His heart jumped when the woman suddenly looked up. Peter sagged in relief against the desk. “Oh my gosh you can see me! I-”

The woman stood up, her eyes sliding through him to focus on something behind him. She began smiling. Peter spun around to see Steve, Nat, Sam, and Bucky striding over to the desk.

“Okay, last try, if you guys don’t acknowledge me I’ll-”

The group passed through him. All Peter could think to do was stand in shock.

The four chatted with the receptionist as Peter slowly turned to face them.

“...Yeah, I think we’re the last to get here, Buck takes about a half million years to get in the car-”

“-Hey!”

“Aw, cut him some slack.”

“Thank you-”

“He’s just a poor old man. He’s probably trying his best-”

Peter approached them again as Bucky slapped Sam over the back of his head with his metal arm, ignoring Natasha double over laughing at Sam’s sudden blank expression. He would try one more time. He tapped at Steve’s shoulder. Steve looked around, up, and then straight ahead again.

Peter’s heart jolted- “Ohmygosh, did that work?”

He poked Steve’s shoulder again and sighed in relief as Steve immediately brushed at the spot Peter had poked.

He had relaxed too soon- he wondered later why he relaxed at all- and the group turned around and walked through him again, headed towards the elevator.

“So I can touch them… but they can’t touch me?” He paused for a moment. “Doesn’t that contradict Newton’s third law of action and reaction?”

He turned to see the elevator doors closing and sprinted forward, jumping through the door after they had already closed. He was surprised, but glad, that his feet stayed on the elevator floor when it started moving up instead of it simply sliding through him and leaving him stuck on the first floor. The idea of ghosts and spirits and hauntings flashed through his head, and he sat down, leaning backwards.

“So am I dead?” He wondered aloud, hoping against logic that the Avengers would hear him and look down and see him.

They didn’t.

“Fine.” He crossed his arms, a plan forming in his head. “But you know what they say kids do when they aren’t getting any attention.”

The four Avengers continued talking to each other, not hearing Peter.

“They act out.” Peter said, cracking his knuckles, and preparing for war.

Chapter Text

The elevator doors opened and Peter silently followed Nat, Sam, Steve, and Bucky into the sitting room on the top floor: the Avenger’s common room. Inside sat the rest of the Avengers, talking and laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. Peter felt kind of bad about the fact he was going to completely destroy the calm atmosphere that everyone had probably been waiting for- but hey, they were the Avengers. It was kind of hard for things to not be exciting with them.

“Also,” Peter realized, “I could be dead! That should be a good excuse to break the peace!” He let his mind skirt around the ‘I am dead’ to the more calming idea of ‘maybe I’m dead’.

He stood for a minute, watching his family sit and chat, wondering how to get their attention. He didn’t want to start out with any violent or property-damaging stunts, but felt that he may have to resort to it.

“Or maybe they’ll just notice I’m not here and start looking,” Peter said loudly and hopefully.

As if Thor had actually heard Peter but was pretending he wasn’t there, he loudly addressed the whole group, asking, “Where’s Peter? I thought he was going to be here tonight?”

Peter’s heart jumped, and so did he- he landed on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “I’M RIGHT HERE!”

Everybody turned to Tony who rolled his eyes and promptly reassured them all. “He lives here, of course he’s gonna be here. He just has decathlon practice tonight. He’ll be back in…” He checked his watch. “Three-ish hours.”

Peter’s jaw dropped. How could he have already forgotten- he hadn’t told Tony that he was skipping so that he could surprise him- they wouldn’t be expecting him for three more hours. Three hours before he didn’t show up and they realize maybe he’s in trouble.

“Decathlon practice? He plays sports now?” Steve asked, sitting up straighter.

“No, academic decathlon.” Rhodey said. “It’s-”

“It’s like trivia night with actual trophies.” Tony interrupted to give the oversimplified definition.

“I… don’t think I completely understand, but okay.” Steve sat back into his chair.

“That is not what it is.” Peter said, shaking his head at his mentor. He slumped when he remembered his situation and kicked one of the magazines on the table in exasperation. It slid to the floor, pages flipping and thwapping together in a loud and obnoxious fashion.

Everybody’s head turned to the magazine now laying in a pitiful heap on the floor.

“Did you guys see that?” Happy asked.

Everyone nodded.

Peter looked around excitedly- he had finally gotten their attention! He kicked another magazine and it sailed off the table and onto the floor. The Avengers stared, not sure whether to be tense or amused.

“This would be kind of funny if we could be sure it wasn’t some invisible assassin waiting to ambush us.” Wanda said, voicing their thoughts from her seat in the corner next to Vision, who spoke up. “I can’t see or sense anyone.”

“Was that you?” Clint looked to Scott. “Did you turn tiny and move them?”

“What? No!”

“Are you suuuuuuuure-”

“Guys, it’s just some magazines on the floor, it’s fine. If it was some psycho who wanted to kill you, they probably would have already started killing.” Pepper reasoned. She stood up. “I’m going to order the food. Happy, can you help me?” She said over her shoulder as she left the room. Happy followed her out of the room without protest.

“Probably just trying to get away from the demon that doesn’t like her magazine choices.” Sam said, pursing his lips to hide a smile.

Bruce looked up at the ceiling. “Hey, FRIDAY, is there anyone dangerous and or invisible in this room?”

“And did you see Scott turn tiny a second ago?”

“I’ve been sitting next to you this whole ti-!”

“There is nobody invisible and/ or dangerous in this room. The only forms of life I am detecting are those I am programmed to trust.” FRIDAY replied over Scott and Clint.

“FRIDAY, can you detect ghosts?” Sam asked, dramatically stroking his chin.

Steve laughed. “Avengers’ Tower is not haunted.”

“And how would you know whether or not that’s true?” Bucky asked in a jokingly menacing stage whisper.

“Why would you immediately assume this is paranormal?” Natasha leaned forward in her chair. There was a playful smile toying at the edges of her lips. “Tony could easily whip up a machine to make things move seemingly by themselves.” She turned to Tony. “If I would have known you were planning this, I could have helped you pull it off. You know, plant the idea in their heads without them realizing.”

Tony shook his head, putting his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t build anything for a prank.”

“Oh, I see…” Thor smiled. “You didn’t… but maybe someone else did.”

Natasha and Thor looked at each other with identical smirks.

Tony looked at all of them with a pitying expression, “You’re the Avengers. I seem to remember worse enemies than a couple flying magazines. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.”

Peter raised his eyebrows and looked back to the coffee table. He swiped at the first thing he saw- a candle that he had accidentally left at the tower- and let it drop to the floor. The glass broke between the hard slick floor and the soft candle wax with a dull crunch.

Tony looked down in surprise. After a moment of everyone staring at the candle, he shrugged. “So maybe we’re also up against a candle. Would you like me to go get something to melt it with to ease your fears?”

“No, now I’m interested.” Bruce said, looking down at the candle. “If it’s true that you aren’t doing anything and there’s nobody else here… I know it’s not really affecting us, but it’s still interesting. FRIDAY, are you able to lie to us?”

FRIDAY answered, her voice soothing but loud. “While I am capable of lying, I am only able to do so in situations that could be dangerous. What would you like to know?”

“If Tony’s lying about the prank.”

“He does not show any signs of lying. Also, I am always surveilling this building, and he has never mentioned any prank on you or worked on any invisible inventions.”

“Alright, so it’s settled.” Sam said, slapping his leg. He looked around the room and shouted with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Ghost! If you are here, then slap Bucky on the back of his head!”

All the Avengers laughed and jumped up to move away from Bucky, except for Tony, who shook his head, smiling, and was already on the other side of the room, and Bucky, who rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and waited with raised eyebrows.

Peter jumped from the coffee table and raced through the Avengers who watched with smiles and bated breaths. He took his place behind Bucky and watched the faces of his family as he swung his arm back, and then forward again. His hand connected to the back of Bucky’s head and the sound echoed through the room as Bucky jumped and let a sound of surprise escape him.

“No. Way.” Sam’s jaw dropped.

Tony scoffed. “Please, that was obviously faked.”

Bucky stood up, still showing signs of shock.”No, something definitely hit me, I did not fake that.”

“Oh, we should call Dr Strange!” Scott said, turning to the group.

“He was invited, he said he was busy dealing with some actual problems.” Rhodey said, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Actual problems?”

“Something about some wizard mind controlling other wizards and making them misuse their magic.” Tony turned and interrupted Clint before he could talk. “No, there is not an invisible wizard here breaking my stuff and slapping Bucky.”

Clint raised his hands in surrender.

“Should we just leave it alone?” Wanda asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Hey, I just realized,” Bruce turned to her, a slight look of disappointment. “You can move things with your magic.”

“Yes I can, but my magic is always visible- you can always see the red when I’m doing anything.”

Bruce stood up straighter, looking a little happier. “I think we should investigate more.”

Peter grimaced as Clint grinned and said, “Uh- Oh, ye ghost who lurks here, knock over that picture of Rhodey.”

“So I guess we’ve just decided to wreck the common room?” Tony asked, exasperated. He stood there for a minute, watching everyone nod, and then shrugged. “Alright.” He turned with the rest of the group and looked at the small framed photo of Rhodey in his military uniform.

Peter sighed and walked over to it. Even though he knew that they couldn’t see him, he looked at them pointedly and pushed it over only with his pointer finger. As expected, all of them looked at each other, surprised but smiling.

Peter threw his hands up in the air. “IS THERE ANY WAY TO ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE WITH YOU?”

“If we’re actually going to do this, we should set up an actual system to communicate. How about the one tap two tap system?” Steve asked, looking around the room.

“YES! Thank you, why did that take so long?” Peter said.

“Okay, um, Mr. Ghost.” Steve said, attempting at politeness. “One knock for no, two knocks for yes. Does that sound good?”

Peter eagerly knocked on the mantel, two dull thumps ringing through the room.

The Avengers grinned at each other, not completely sure they could believe what was happening-- but still excited.

“Okay. So who wants to ask the first question?” Steve asked.

Chapter Text

“I’ll go first. Are you a ghost?” Rhodey asked, an eyebrow raised.

“What kind of a question is that, what else would he be?” Clint turned to Rhodey, a baffled look crossing his features.

Peter stood, his hand on the mantle. Was he a ghost?

Everyone waited for his answer, but Peter just stood still, trying to figure out what to say.

“Are you still there?” Scott asked, looking around the room.

Peter let out a relieved breath-- he knew the answer to that question. Well... probably-- Peter decided not to think about whether or not he was currently in existence, and knocked twice.

“Okay, um, do you know what you are?” Bruce asked, rewording Rhodey’s question. He was already kneeling at the table with a pen situated over a piece of paper.

Peter knocked once.

“Weird.” Scott said.

“All of the questions I wanna ask couldn’t be answered with a simple yes or no.” Natasha bit her lip. “Does anyone have any ideas on a better way to communicate?”

Peter’s eyes lit up and he slapped his forehead. How had he not thought of it before? Well, honestly probably because he ended up having to save all of New York the same day he received it, but that still wasn’t a good excuse. He knocked twice on the wall as he ran from the room. The Avengers listened, surprised as the two knocks came from a new side of the room.

“Did… the ghost just leave?” Tony asked, looking at the group.

Upstairs, Peter was diving under his bed and looking through the mountains of stacked boxes, and finally, he found it at the very back corner, covered in a year's worth of dust. Yeah, he had vowed to never use it after it was given to him as a joke (and then he forgot he had it), but desperate times call for desperate measures. It was still wrapped up in brightly colored birthday wrapping paper- Peter had never opened it when MJ and Ned accidentally gave away what it was.

Hopefully they wouldn’t accidentally summon any actual demons during this.

After realizing he couldn’t pick up the box, but was able to kick at it (how did that make any sense?), he began making his way back downstairs, the box thudding loudly every time he kicked it farther down. His family, upon hearing the commotion from the other room, ran to see what it was, and stopped short as they saw the box moving down the stairs by itself- it would jerk forward, going down a few steps at a time, and then stopping, and then jerking forward again. They watched as the birthday present slid towards them, finally coming to a stop at their feet. They all stared.

Tony glanced from the box to the ceiling. “Okay, this is getting weird. Uh, FRIDAY, can you explain that?”

“I wish.” Was all the AI responded with.

Bruce looked at the box, eyeing it warily. “Do you want us to open it?” He looked up, addressing the empty space in front of them.

Peter hurried to the nearest wall and knocked twice.

“Uh, FRIDAY, is there anything dangerous in there?” Natasha asked.

“There is nothing that will harm you.”

Thor bent over and picked up the box and Clint began examining it with him. “This is getting kind of exciting.”

“Just be careful.” Steve said, putting a hand up.

Thor pulled the gift label from under the bow on the box and made a face. “That’s strange.”

“What?” Scott stood on his tiptoes to see over so he could see what Thor meant.

Thor showed the box to the group, wiping dust off the box and ignoring the shouts of protests that were quickly followed by coughing and sneezing. “Look, the gift says ‘To: Peter, From: MJ and Ned’. Maybe we should wait for Peter to arrive before we continue.”

Peter frantically knocked once at the wall.

“Nah, it says happy fifteenth birthday. Judging by all the dust and the fact that it was supposed to be opened last year, I have a feeling Peter didn’t want to deal with it.” Sam said, brushing off Thor’s worried expression.

Peter knocked twice. “Hurry up!” He said, even though nobody heard him.

“He probably just threw it under his bed and forgot about it.” Tony said, taking off his sunglasses (he hadn’t realized he was still wearing them). “He just has stacks and stacks of boxes there.”

“Okay, open it.” Bucky impatiently nudged Thor, cutting Tony off.

Thor sighed and began tearing the paper off. Once he finally removed the multiple alternating layers of birthday and spiderman wrapping paper, he pulled out a long, thin box and held it up. “Ouija?”

“This is... perfect. How did the ghost know that was there?” Nat asked, taking the box from Thor and beginning to open it.

Wanda put her hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “Maybe we should take this back to the common room, so there’s more room? Is that okay with you?” She asked, turning to the empty space where Peter stood. He knocked twice on the wall and followed the group back to the common room.

Everyone settled in a circle around the table, getting into different positions so each of them had a good view of the board without crowding too close to it. At that moment, Pepper and Happy walked in, leading a tired looking Dr. Strange. All the Avengers looked up awkwardly.

Happy shook his head and left the room, not waiting for an explanation.

“Guys, really,” Pepper said in exasperation. “You’re holding a seance because a couple magazines fell off the table?”

“Pep, it’s actually kind of interesting.” Instead of shrinking like the other Avengers did under Pepper’s withering look, Tony continued talking, trying to make a good excuse. “Look, things have escalated since you left, we just wanna know what’s going on. It’s uh, for science.”

Pepper tilted her head, blinking slowly at him.

“Alright, fine, we’re also having fun. Does that make it more acceptable?”

Pepper shook her head and gave a small smile. “Just make sure it doesn’t end in a war with the undead.”

She turned to Strange and patted his shoulder. “Alright, well I don’t blame you if you just go home. We’re going to eat in about an hour, though, so if you want a free meal, you’re welcome to it.” And then she left.

“Stephen, don’t leave. This isn’t a joke, we actually think there’s something weird happening.” Bruce stood up.

Strange watched all the Avengers nod in agreement. "You think something's happening, or you know something's happening?"

"We know!" Bucky said.

Stephen raised an eyebrow at them.

“Oh, come on, Strange. Take a break from your wizard hunting.” Sam grinned, beckoning him over.

Strange sighed and took a place standing behind all of them so that he had a good view of the board. “Fine,” he said. “But only because I’ve already finished my 'wizard hunting.'”

Peter sat in front of the ouija board, excited. It would be so much easier with Strange here- he could probably solve his whole weird situation- unless, of course… he was actually dead… but he was going to try not to think about that for now.

“How are you going to prove that it isn’t you moving the planchette?” Strange asked.

“Uh….” Scott trailed off before even beginning an explanation.

Peter put his finger on top of the planchette and began moving it before they could make any suggestions. Everyone turned to Strange, who put up his hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, we’ll see.”

“Natasha, why don’t you do us the honor of asking the first question?” Vision asked.

She nodded and thought for a moment. “When did you die?” She asked clearly.

Peter began spelling out his answer, sliding the planchette and letting rest over each letter for a second before moving to the next.

“I…… do…don’t….. know--”

“You don't know when you died?” Clint asked, looking up from the board.

“Dude, the thing is still moving; he isn't done answering.” Rhodey said, watching the board.

Bruce wrote down everything and waited to read it out until the planchette came to a stop. “He says he doesn’t know if he’s dead.”

Strange straightened up.

“Does that mean anything to you?” Steve asked, looking up at the sorcerer.

“Possibly.” He said. “Considering the magic I've been dealing with, it is highly possible that means something to me. I’ll have to ask some more specific questions. Does that sound okay?” Strange asked, now addressing the ouija board.

Peter scooted the planchette over the word ‘yes’.

“Alright, we have the wizard and the ghost on board, now we might make some real progress.”

Strange frowned at Tony for a second before averting his eyes back to the board. “How did you end up in this form?”

Peter frowned before sliding the planchette from letter to letter, finally spelling out, “weird man pushed chest.”

“He pushed down on your chest, and then you were suddenly out of your body?” Strange asked, and nodded at the clarifying ‘yes’ that Peter scooted the planchette to.

“Someone pushed on his chest and he just died?” Scott asked, his eyes wide.

“That’s not what he said,” Stephen said, slightly annoyed. “Where did you leave your body?”

Peter sighed in relief. They were finally getting to the important part. He began moving the planchette.

“In…. a… closet–”

“Um, we’re at Stark Tower right now, you’re gonna have to be a little more specific if you want us to find you.” Clint snorted.

“Oh my god,” Scott cried. “Stop interrupting this poor guy! The planchette is still moving!”

Luckily everyone had their attention back on the board as Bruce read what all had been spelled out. “He said he’s in a closet on the first floor.”

“Wait… Tony, you have a literal skeleton in your closet?” Natasha pressed her lips in a determined straight line, letting a small smile play at the edges of her mouth.

Tony put his hands up in surrender again. “Hey, I have no idea about this. I just really hope the guy isn’t actually dead.”

“Of course not, you don’t have the money for a lawsuit right now.” Vision said, earning giggles and hearty laughter from almost everyone. Not from Dr. Strange.

“I wish this was more serious than it actually is so that you could all see how insensitive you’re being.” Strange said, standing up and leaving the table.

“Wait, wait, what about the–”

Ignoring everyone, he opened a sparking orange portal.

"Strange, you can't just leave this dead guy high and dry after having a whole conversation with him--"

The other side of the portal was almost completely dark and empty, but Strange knelt down and scooped a limp and pale body from the floor. When he turned away, the portal snapped closed, and the Avengers gasped.

“Oh my god, is that–”

“Yes, yes, it’s Peter, now please get out of my way.” Strange said, pushing through everyone to lay the teenager down on the nearest couch.

Before Tony could let the panicked words out of his mouth, he was answered, “Yes, he's going to be fine, now please give us some space!”

Tony stood directly behind where Peter’s head laid, standing stiff and obviously freaking out while the other Avengers gathered on the other side of the room, still and silent.

“Alright, Peter, are you there?” Strange asked, moving Peter’s limbs so that they were straight and at his side.

Peter knocked twice on the wall. Tony put his face in his hands.

“Alright, I need you to lay down in the exact position that your body is in, alright? When you’re done, knock on the floor, and I’ll give you ten seconds to get back into place. Alright?”

Although Strange didn’t see it, Peter nodded, and layed down where his body was. He carefully lowered his left hand and knocked on the floor. Strange began the countdown and Peter hurriedly put his arm back in position.

“Three… two… one… Okay, Peter , this might feel a little… strange.”

He pushed on Peter's chest, and suddenly he felt heavy again. With a gasp, Peter sat up and looked around the room.

“Peter!” They all yelled.

“YOU CAN SEE ME?” Peter yelled, the Avengers jumping in shock at his sudden burst of energy.

“YES!” Scott yelled back, matching his energy without missing a beat.

Peter looked over and saw Tony slide into the chair next to him. “Kid… what the hell?” He threw an arm around Peter and ruffled his curly hair.

Peter laughed and shook his head. “I really don’t know.”

Tony shook his head and pulled Peter in, kissing the top of his hair. "Just don't do that again." He muttered quietly into his soft curls.

"Will do." Peter said quietly, accepting the affection with a slight blush and a large grin.