Mistrust || Peter Parker

Five

When Peter wakes up, he's alone.

This confused him, because he was certain that he fell asleep next to Tony. He remembered callused fingers in his hair and a steady heartbeat under his ear. He looked around the room despite being clearly on his own.

Before he could further dwell on it, the door flew open and May was stepping in the room.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" Peter was about to answer until he took a good look at May. She was wearing a royal blue dress and tall nude heels.

"Why are you dressed up?" A look of sympathy crossed May's features as soon as the question left his mouth.

"Peter, you have your conference today, did you forget?"

But he already did the press conference, didn't he?

"What?"

"Your press conference, you know, the one that starts at seven? I have your suit dry cleaned and ready to go, so get out of bed and start getting dressed before we're late... I don't know why you decided now was a good time to take a nap."

Peter felt himself nodding, despite feeling disoriented. He couldn't tell if this was an illusion but he decided to go along with it anyway.

"Okay, uh- let me brush my teeth and then I'll get ready." May smiled proudly as he jumped out of bed.

"Let's try to be out the door in twenty minutes, okay? That's when Happy's picking us up."

Peter got dressed as quickly as he could, ignoring the pure and unadulterated fear filling his veins. He had everything on except for his tie, but with May's help, he was able to properly secure it around his neck after only three tries. Before he knew it, he was in the car listening to May and Happy flirt back and forth. At one point he fake gagged, causing May to laugh and nudge his shoulder.

Then he was backstage, pacing back and forth in anticipation. To say Peter was terrified would be the understatement of the century. He continued to bite the inside of his lip until he began to taste metal.

It was then five minutes before the press conference, and Peter suddenly had to pee. He was hesitant in telling Pepper but she was surprisingly understanding. The two had become much closer during the time when Tony was in a coma. He thinks that might have been why she let him leave. Eventually, he was sprinting to the bathroom.

Peter looked at his reflection in the mirror. The bags under his eyes combined with his pale face was not doing him any favors. He was thinking about hiding in the stall when the door slammed open. This time, it was Tony who walked in.

"You ready to wow them kiddo?"

"No." Peter didn't have the energy to lie, and a feeling of hopelessness quickly took over him.

"Mr. Stark... I feel like I'm having deja vu." Tony snorted at that.

"You and me both, do you know how many times I've had to wait backstage for a press event. They get worse as you do more- it's a goddamn nightmare."

Nightmare

"How do I know this is real?" Tony smile disappeared at that.

"This is real."

"But how do I know?"

"I have an idea." Tony walked over so he was directly behind Peter, both of them staring at the reflection now.

"Break the mirror." Peter looked at him to make sure he wasn't joking. Tony seemed completely serious.

"What?"

"You heard me, break the mirror. If it shatters, then you know it's real."

The logic made sense to Peter, but he hesitated anyway, scared to break public property. Tony must have read his mind.

"Don't worry about the mirror, I'll pay for a new one and have it replaced in a day."

"Mr. Stark, I can't ask you to do that."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't ask then, try not to forget that I'm a billionaire." Peter looked at Tony once again just in time to see him wink.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"No, but I'm not wrong very often." Tony had a point.

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna try it... stand back a little so the glass doesn't hit you." Tony took a few steps back and raised an eyebrow expectantly, waiting.

Peter looked back at his reflection and sat up straight. He raised a fist, counted to three, then punched the mirror with all of his strength.

~ ~ ~

When Peter wakes up, he's alone.

He bolts out of bed and looks at the alarm clock. The time read 12:03 PM. He can't remember the last time he's slept until noon. He's always had issues with sleeping, especially after everything that has happened with Thanos.

This time he woke up in the lake house, which made much more sense. He remembers falling asleep here, Tony must have woken up earlier and gotten out of bed... that made sense. He waited until his breathing was back to normal before heading downstairs. He froze at the bottom of the steps as he processed the sight in front of him.

Quentin Beck was sitting at the couch, the spot where Tony normally sat in, with Morgan on his lap.

"Ah Peter, nice of you to finally join us."

not real, not real, not real, not real, not real-

"Get away from her" and despite know that this wasn't real, Peter's voice shook.

In response, Beck let out a hefty laugh, a look of pure delight taking over his face.

"You never learn, do you?" Peter's six sense went haywire at the patronizing tone of his voice. "She's already dead."

Suddenly, the living room was transformed into the bridge from London, and Peter was in his Spiderman suit. Peter fell into a stance of defense, one that Tony has taught him years ago, trying to find Beck. Rather than the sight of Mysterio, he was faced with Morgan Stark's dead body, blood and bruises showing a clear sign of struggle.

"Pepper is going to be absolutely devastated. Losing her husband and now her daughter."

The atmosphere changes yet again, and this time he's in the medical wing. Tony is lying on the hospital bed, but there is nothing attached to him. He was another dead body.

He meets Pepper's red rimmed eyes as she lifts a gun to her head and pulls the trigger. The gunshot echoes in his ears and covers his scream.

"You've killed them all."

Peter forces himself to turn away from Pepper and face the new voice. May is staring at him with a mixture or horror and hatred in her eyes, Happy stands right behind her.

"May, please, I- I didn't mean to, I swear." May shook her head, turning to leave.

"Ben would be disappointed in you."