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Peter ran, because that was all he had been taught to do in his whole life. But then when he got his superhuman abilities, he jogged for a few months and then fully stopped running in the direction of safety. his feet stuck to the ground, and he helped. Because that's also what he was taught to do, very contradictory. I know.
So, when he's in the middle of fighting with the god damn avengers, he does what he's always done, he sticks around and helps people, he doesn't get involved with fighting the big guy. Just like May told him to do, just like Mr. Stark told him to do and just like Ben would've told him to do. But when he's finally face to face with the monster everyone in the team warned him about, he becomes a civilian and steps away from the suit, the mask and the superhero gig. He's finally back to being Peter Parker for a split second. But as soon as being normal came, it went, and he went back to being Spider-Man.
"God, sometimes I really do wish following Mr. Stark's orders was as easy as he made it seem." He grumbled quietly under his breath as he got into a fighting stance which Bucky and Natasha had shown him a while back when Mr. Stark had begged him to take self-defense lessons (which, in his point of view, was dumb. because he was handling himself just fine before taking the lessons.).
Sometimes the gravity of the situation didn't get to Peter, because here he was at 14 (almost 15 in August!), fighting a bunch of bad guys with Stark technology that they stole. As a little kid this seemed like a dream. But now it was more like a nightmare. He looked around, checking his surroundings. It seemed like he did a pretty good job at evacuating all of the people off the bridge while the Avengers did all the heavy duty. He could faintly hear Sam's voice over the coms screaming about needing back up. So, he didn't say anything about the guy in front of him which was currently equipped with an energy gun. In the long run, he probably should've said something.
"So are you just going to stand there looking clueless or actually-" Peter came to a halt as purple energy came from the gun, his spider senses warning him a bit too late to get him out of the way. He really should learn to stop zoning out. But he knew he couldn't help it.
and for a second, he thought-
'Was it all really worth it?'
And the harsh slap of water against his back sent him back to reality. He was in the water, more specifically in the Hudson River. He was drowning and he didn't know how to swim. His eyes blew wide, the coms that were inside of his suit slowly becoming filled with water, he could faintly hear the voice of Karen, alerting someone, alerting the team, anyone she could get in contact with. He kind of wished she didn't because he didn't want to bother them, and he would most likely be fine. Because he always is.
The voice slowly became staticky before stopping completely from the amount of water the suit had consumed. he looked up through his lenses, holding his breath as he sank further and further down the river. It was like an anchor was tied to his ankle from the bottom of it all, just like the alarming weight his chest was starting to have. And all of the sudden, it felt kind of nice to be drowning. He took off his mask and heaved a breath out. He stared wide eyed at the top of the river, light shone, and he stared blankly, making no attempt to get out because this was the end and the screams and pleas that he could make wouldn't matter, no one would hear him, and even if he wanted to, he couldn't because the pressure on his chest was too strong for even his vocal cords. His arms and legs laid heavy at his sides and his body sort of floated as he slowly reached the bottom.
his attempts to not drown would've been futile and even more painful, He'd have his arms flailing around as if he was a maniac would've been more. So he decided against it. It looked like a funny image in his head, maybe not so much in real life. Because all we would’ve been trying to do was survive.
His messy hair became one with the water, flowing freely and softly. He felt cold, was death this welcoming or had he waited for the sweat release of pain his entire life and the gracefulness of it was too overwhelming? he couldn't choose, so he decided not to. Because it did not matter in the end, because his world was ending, and he couldn't care less.
Bubbles slowly came out of Peters mouth, his last short breaths coming out in shorts heaves and puffs and the water finally came into his lungs. He knew this was unfair.
Because why him, out of all people, out of his uncle, had gotten a peaceful death? this wasn't fair to his uncle who struggled in his last moments in his arms as he died from his blood loss, probably thinking that he was leaving May and him behind. Was Peter selfish? He certainly felt selfish, not many people have a very peaceful death and here he was, complaining because his death was not worse than his uncles.
As heavy as his arms felt he brought a hand to his lip and touched it, slowly looking down and noticing the blue and purple colors of his lips.
he sighed; he was pale. Maybe that's why he didn't feel so cold anymore, the hypothermia was getting to him. He blinked his eyes a few times because he finally noticed the amount of water in his eyes and the stinging started. He closed them and parted his lips.
This really was the end. His body hit the bottom of the Hudson River. He quickly wiped his tightly shut eyes that were starting to make him cry, the thought of it all seemed depressing. But he couldn't cry because it was coming to an end. So, he opened his arms for the blissful release of death.
Low sounds of motors and machines moving became louder. and louder till it felt so close that he could've probably touched it. and so, he did. His arms moved from their original spot, and he tried to grab on to whatever was there, his eyes blew wide as he held onto a familiar material.
"Mr. Stark?" he whispered, maybe if he said his name any louder, he'd drown with him. Bubbles came out of his mouth and the familiar heaviness on his chest came back to hit him like a truck. He started coughing, his body was finally fighting back against the sudden cause of death.
Tony said nothing, he held his kids arm and hurriedly, yet gently, took the two of them out of the water.
The feeling of the warm summer air against his cold and wet body felt terrifying, his body temperature was in distress. He started shaking on Iron Mans tight grip.
Once the two were safely on the grass, Peter started coughing up all the water he had swallowed, his lungs and chest feeling less heavy than before. his whole body shook as he coughed and shivered. He stared at Tony's face, the Iron man mask long gone and all that was left was a concerned look on his pseudo-father's face. He wasn't the only one, which peter later noted. Steve was shining his own look of concern as well as Sam and Rhodey which he didn't dare ask how long they were standing there- or rather sitting.
" Peter- You, I- I'm sorry." Tony finally decided on saying, stumbling over his words a little bit. It kind of reminded Peter of himself after he made a stupid mistake in the lab. Peter smiled because even though he had welcomed death with open arms, he'd do the same with the mercy of life. And as life opened his arms, he quickly shoved himself in, because he was still here, and it was not his time.
Peter smiled into Tony's shoulder, his entire body shaking as him and the older man shared wet laughs and cries, it was a mixture of both. Both of their shoulders dampened. He didn't know if they were there yet, or if it was appropriate to say such a thing but when he looked up at the sky and all he could think about was Ben, he made up his mind and said words he should've said sooner, to many people before it was too late. He'll probably say it to May, Ned and MJ once he gets out of this hell, it's the least he could do.
"I love you more than life itself." Peter finally ends up saying. His words coming out more like whispers as if even talking was a strange and difficult task.
because Tony’s life, and whenever he wakes up from this never-ending nightmare, and when the guilt is over and when the rain stops pouring. He’ll actually be free, and he’ll enjoy it.
“I know, Kiddo. I know.” And maybe he hears a little bit of Ben in Tony, but no one has to know. Even though he didn’t say the words back his actions meant all the same in the end. Maybe it meant even more than just some silly words.
And Tony did know. And Peter knew that Tony knew, because they were alike in so many ways that neither of them could comprehend or that either of them would’ve liked.
The world was ending, and he was going down with his father.