If They Knew All About You

A Happy Reunion

Pepper was nothing if not efficient. When they sat down to lunch the next day, she had already confirmed that visit from Ned. Thank god. Between everything Pete was avoiding - like looking at the news or running into his father - and the Compound itself that was practically on lockdown, he was most of all bored. And with boredom, his mind tended to wander. Even more so because he was just so damn tired.

He had not slept at all the previous night. His senses had been dialed up high, positively vibrating in his chest. It had left him cranky and tired all day, a good excuse to retire to his room early and skip another movie night. At least he had managed not to run into Mr. Stark all day. That remained the only victory though.

Like the night before, Pepper had walked him to the door of his room. "If you need anything—"

"I'll let FRIDAY know," he mumbled, his gaze on the ground.

Pepper sighed heavily, her voice soft. "You know, if you want to talk about everything that happened, whenever you're ready, I'm right here, okay? I'm here and... and your dad—"

"I'm fine." His voice was low enough to hide the sharpness he felt in his chest.

"Darling..." She squeezed his hand. "We're here no matter what."

"I know," Pete said, a little more determined, his fingers clenched around the doorknob to his room. "I know that. It's fine."

His dad . He bit his lip, to keep the bitter huff from bubbling out of his throat. Instead, he pushed the door open.

"Goodnight, darling," she called after him. His cheeks flamed up at the sad tone of her voice.

"Night," was all he mumbled before he closed the door to the bedroom.

The previous night had been a hard one, his mind racing for most of it. Even when his legs had gotten tired from pacing in his room, his thoughts had just kept on spinning.

As bad as he had felt the night before, now he felt even worse. His body ached and even the small victory he had claimed for himself - the way he had avoided Mr. Stark - was slowly being turned in his mind. He hadn't seen him at all, hadn't heard him either. Not around the apartment. Nowhere in the hallways or from a distance. He would have been able to tell, to pick out the ring of his steps, the tone of his voice. The unique beating of his heart.

Their fight had been bad, but after the talking to from Barton, after his short conversation with Rhodey...

His eyes flickered to the door, wondering. Mr. Stark... Tony. He'd be in his lab. Probably? Maybe he had been there all day and all night. It wouldn't have been the first time. While it had been a few months, Pete still remembered how Mr. Stark could get when he was in there on his own for a long time.

No. He shook his head, tearing his eyes away from the door. Turning his back for good measure, too. He couldn't go down there. Not after everything he had said to him. All the anger and frustration. If Tony... Mr. Stark... made a point of staying away from him, it was what he wanted. And it was what Pete wanted, too.

Curled into himself on his bed, it was hard not to fall asleep. Even though he had kept the lights on in his room it didn't prevent his eyes from falling shut. His limbs, his mind, every cell of his body was just so tired. But sleep... he didn't want it. There were shadows looming, waiting for him to drift off. He could feel it, dreaded it, but he only had so much strength left to stay awake.

The memories that he had pushed away for so long had free reign to assault his brain as he drifted off to sleep. Ben's voice echoed in his dreams. It was hard to breathe, from the emotions, yes, but also from the pressure that seemed to grow and grow around his throat. Then the shadows morphed from that dark figure with Clarke's face as he had rushed down the alleyway into the Winter Soldier, his hand cutting off Pete's oxygen. Then all of a sudden, the shadows split into six individual ones instead. They came for him, his back against a wall, and his abdomen exploded with the sharp pain of the knife that had pierced him.