All My Life

40| The art of regret

Peter's pov.

I feel a shiver run down my spine as my eyes run around the lab which was oddly empty. The lab is rarely ever empty due to dad being busy with his late-night projects and the awfully common all-nighters making the scene seem almost unreal. My eyes fall upon the single hologram visible near the centre work table and I walk towards it, my eyes glued to the scene unfolding across the virtual screen.

It has all happened before...

I stop directly in front of the hologram and my eyes widen at the sight of the familiar view of masked people holding some sort of high-tech guns. I've seen them... I continue to stare at the guns as the video seems to have frozen making the entire situation seem even more unreal. The images sent by Ned a few days ago flash by my eyes making me gasp.

The weapons, the map...

How is it possible for Ned to find the images of the same weapons that were used by the attackers during the Code Red? It doesn't make sense.

A small scream escapes my mouth as I feel the ground beneath my feet vanish into thin air, sending me free-falling into the seemingly dark pit. My head spins as a result of the sudden rush of colours that swallows me like a whirlwind.

What's going on?!

I clench my eyes shut, desperately trying to keep myself calm. Not more than a few seconds later, everything goes deathly silent. The hammering of my heart becomes the only thing shattering the silence and I open my eyes hesitantly only to be greeted by an empty street that seemed to be destructed by the Hulk himself.

"Hey, Kiddie." I feel as if someone had knocked all the air out of my chest at the sound of the familiar voice which makes me turn around without a second thought.

This isn't real...

"Uncle Ben..." My voice comes out barely louder than a whisper as my eyes remain glued to the man in front of me, confirming that everything around me is indeed, not real. It's a dream, a dream I can't get out of. After all, it's the only place I get to ever see him and even if I know it's real, I don't find myself having the tiniest wish to wake up from it, not when I get to be with Uncle Ben.

A loud crashing sound from my right snaps me out of my haze as my gaze snaps in the direction of the sound. My heart drops at the sight in front of me as the entire scene unfolds in slow motion. I watch dad plummeting from the grey sky while crashing into the nearby buildings and I can't help but simply scream in terror.

"Dad!!!"

My eyes jerk open and I find myself looking at the familiar room, my room. I get up into a sitting position, my head still spinning from the dream as my breathing remained shallow. "Master Parker, I am detecting a sharp spike in your adrenaline levels. You seem to have experienced a nightmare. Would you like me to inform Mr Stark?" I feel thankful for the mere presence Mr Jarvis in my room as his voice pulls me back to reality.

"No-no, there's no need for that, Mr Jarvis."

"Master Parker, I insist. Mr Stark will disapprove of your course of action according to the commands given to me." I sigh in exhaustion, knowing exactly what the A.I. was trying to imply. Of course, dad commanded him to report back. I'm not even surprised.

"It's okay, Mr Jarvis. I'm going to see him myself."

********************************************************************

I shake my head, trying to clear my head off the images from the dream that are still freshly and clearly stamped in my head before walking down the stairs, to the lab. There's no better therapy than aimless tinkering with dad in the lab, nothing more calming than his presence when I know he will always listen to me, always help me out, always be there.