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Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. They’d all just disintegrated, broke apart and floated away. He was waiting, waiting for another one of them to disappear. He felt his spidey sense tingling, and he looked around in a desperate attempt to find the source.
Oh god, what if it was him. What if he was the source. He didn’t want to die, Aunt May might never know what happened to him. If she ever did find out, she’d be crushed. He’d also never see Ned again, and he hadn’t even said goodbye. He might never see him again, and what were his last words? What about Mr Stark? He’d disobeyed him and now he might have to watch his mentor fade away, or Mr Stark might have to watch him fade away.
No. He couldn’t think like that, not when he could very well drift into nothing at any second.
His eyes darted up, from where they'd fallen to stare at the ground while he thought, as he heard Dr Strange speak, but then his vision blurred and the world sparked brightly. A moment later it all returned to normal but Strange was half gone and by the time he blinked, it was as if he was never there. Oh dear god he might be next. Peter felt his legs wobble and his throat constrict.
“Hey Mr Stark, I’m not feeling too well.”
Tony’s heart stopped. His chest clenched in fear as he looked over Peter, praying that the kid wasn’t about to die in front of him. Not like this, not today. One agonizing moment stretched for an eternity, then another. Peter stumbled forward, legs giving way and as Tony reached for him he thought that this moment might be the end of Peters life and nothing scared him more. It only took another moment, this one as quick as his pulse, for Tony to realize that the kid wasn’t fragmenting into trillions of pieces.
“I don’t want to go. I don’t wanna go, sir.”
Peter was clutching Tony’s shoulder now, nails digging into him as he tried not to fall over. Tony could feel his breath coming fast and hard and immediately wrapped his arms around the smaller avenger.
“Hey Pete, kid, it’s okay. You’re not going anywhere,” Tony felt himself scanning Peter again to reassure himself. “I’ve got you.”
Peter was still staring where Strange used to be, and he could feel his vision blurring again except this time it was because of tears. He could be about to die, was helpless, and he was about to start crying. What kind of Avenger was he? The thought made him spiral further, everything was too much. The planet was still but he swore everything was vibrating and getting brighter. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh g-
Peter felt himself being lowered to the ground, and he could hear someone speaking in a low tone.
“Peter. I need you to breathe okay? In. Hold. Out.” Tony’s hands were rubbing up and down Peter’s shoulder in time to his instructions. “In. Hold. Out. There we go kid, listen to my voice. In. Hold. Out”
Tony scanned around, noticing that the blue woman was nowhere in sight. He didn’t know if she’d died with half the universe or instead gone to find a way off the planet but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he focused on Peter once more.
“M-Mr Stark, I’m sorry. I should have listened to you, I should’ve listened, if I’d just listened-”
He was working himself up again but was quickly cut off by Tony turning an unimpressed gaze onto him. Tony pulled him in before Peter could drift back into his self-deprecating rant or dig himself back into a panic attack. Parts of the suit were digging into him but Peter clung to Tony as he tried to reassure himself that this might not be the end. Might. Might means it could-He was stopped once more by Tony squeezing him tighter and suddenly Peter couldn’t think because he was too busy hugging Tony back with equal fervour.
“I’ve got you, kid. You’re fine. You’d be gone by now if you were going to disappear on me.”
With that thought nestled right in the middle of Peter’s train of thought, he felt himself start to relax and had to fight his eyes closing, now that his body was aware of just how tired he was. Maybe he shouldn’t have stayed up late finishing his science assignment with Ned after all. They stayed like that, taking comfort in the embrace, for a few more minutes; Peter slouched against Tony while Tony kneeled beside him. Tony felt Peter turn his head to the right slightly and held his breath to hear whatever Peter might mumble, half into his shoulder, as his eyes continued to droop.
“You weren’t just getting a door for me, right?”
Tony chuckled and Peter cracked a smile.