Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

92. Withdrawals

Peter sits on the couch in the Avengers Tower penthouse. He's still wearing his Spider-Man suit, but the mask has been tossed on the side table by Tony, revealing his pale, sunken in face and large bags under his eyes. Peter's staring ahead at nothing in particular. He's shaking from the cold and the lack of pretty much anything that keeps a person going. Food, water, sleep; he hasn't had any of that in way too long. Stephen studies Peter from an arm chair, opposite the couch. May sits next to Peter, holding him tightly, but he can't really feel her. All he feels is Daphne's hands on his waist. All he sees is the image of her and Loki disappearing. If he wasn't so dehydrated, he would be crying right now, but there's no fuel in his body anymore. He wishes he could sleep. But he's too exhausted to actually find any rest.

"Peter," May tries as she pets his tousled hair. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," he replies simply. His voice is coarse. Tony arrives with a glass of water but Peter doesn't take it. Instead, he looks away from his mentor.
"Kid, you gotta drink something." Peter shakes his head slightly. Tony groans in frustration and squats in front of his protégé. "I'm not letting you harm yourself like this. You either chug the glass or I'm putting you in a hospital bed." Peter's eyes dart to the glass.
"Not thirsty."
"Yes, you are." Tony shoves the glass in front of Peter's face. "Drink." Peter hesitantly takes the beverage and stares into the glass from the top, seeing his Spider-Man suit legs through it, distorted. He brings the water closer to his face and his lips gratefully let the moisture through. He only takes a small sip, though, before reaching out to hand the glass back to Tony. The billionaire refuses to take it, making Peter half drop his arm in his lap, barely holding on to the glass.
"Pete, that's not gonna cut it," May says with a frown as she gently rubs his back. "Could you at least down this one for me, please?"
"Don't want-"
"Then what do you want?" Tony pleads. Peter stares vacantly at Tony, unsure of what to answer.

"I think we all know what he wants," Stephen sighs. Tony raises an eyebrow and turns to the doctor.
"You're saying the kid's going through withdrawal?" The word makes Peter look up from the water. For the first time the adults see emotion on his face. Fear.
"No- no, I'm fine, it's not like that-"
"You're not fine. Stop lying to yourself," Stephen scolds. "Now drink the damn water, eat a damn apple and go to goddamn bed, Parker." Peter looks at the doctor like a deer in head lights.
"Stephen!" May exclaims weakly. She knows the sorcerer is right. Peter closes his eyes to shut out the conversation. He absentmindedly clutches the glass a little too hard and with a loud snap, it shatters, covering him and Tony in water and broken glass.
"Jesus, kid!" Peter's eyes flutter open and he sees the blood dripping out of his closed fist. He stares at his hand, not believing what he just did. A faint stutter escapes his mouth.
"I- I'm sorry, I-"
"Catch him," Stephen orders, making everyone's attention shift to the sorcerer. He waves his hand and suddenly all of Peter's muscles lose tension as he drops forward, off the couch, into Tony's arms.

...

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea for Daphne to just... Leave like this," Tony sighs out loud as he eyes Peter, who lays eerily still in his bed. The induced sleep left him completely immobile and Tony could swear he could feel the kid's distress at his lack of control of the current situation.
"If he truly is addicted, then yes, that was rather stupid." Stephen rolls his shoulders. "The idea is that you reduce the intake of drugs to make it easier. Stopping abruptly like this is hard on the body."
"I know how rehab works, Doc."
"Then you also know that he could relapse more easily once she comes back."
"You know Daphne. I'm sure that – right now – she's figuring out a way to help Peter." Tony crosses his arms and bites the inside of his cheek, still not looking away from his boy. Stephen cocks his head and nods.
"There's no guarantee there's a way out of this, though. If she can't fix this issue, you're going to have to keep them apart." Tony's face contorts at the mere idea of having to keep these kids separated after everything they've been through together. Everything they felt for each other. Or... Thought they felt for each other. Stephen sighs, before continuing. "Permanently."