To Have a Home

::6::

That night, at midnight, Peter was in his bedroom, and the others were sitting in the kitchen discussing the one thing that Peter couldn't hear.

"We need to have her funeral," Tony said, sitting in between Pepper and Vision, grabbing Pepper's hand. They all nodded.

"Do you think Peter can handle it?" Nat questioned.

"No. But he is gonna need closure. It's the least we can do for the kid," he replied.

"That's a good point," Steve added, thinking about Peggy's funeral. Tony room his phone out and immediately started making accommodations for the funeral. It was to be held on June 20th. Five days.

   "What do we need to do?" Wanda asked, leaning into Vision, throwing her legs over his. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

   "I'm not really sure," Tony replied. He looked at Pepper for support. She rubbed her thumb up and down his hand.

   "Someone is going to have to break the news to Peter," she said. Everyone looked at each other, hoping that someone would take the job. They all landed on Natasha.

   "Come on. No. Why me?" She asked, hoping that she wouldn't have to.

   "You are a trained assassin. You can tell a kid about a funeral," Bucky said without a rude tone. He generally thought that it was the best idea. Everyone nodded, and she sighed.

   "Okay fine," she said. Everyone gave her sad smiles.

   "Thank you, Nat," Pepper said, yawning. "I think I'm going to go to bed." A chorus of 'same' cane from around the room. They all got up to leave the room but stopped when FRIDAY's voice appeared.

   "Sorry to interrupt, but signs show that Peter is having a nightmare," the voice said. Everyone looked at each other, then all collectively ran to his bedroom, tripping and tumbling over each other. They reached the door and opened it so fast that they almost knocked it off of its hinges. Stopping in their tracks, they looked at Peter. He was thrashing around, sweating, and was tossing. The group looked at each other and started slowly walking towards him. Pepper, pushing past Bruce, nearly shoving him to the floor, sat on the bed by his side. She put her hand on his forehead and started to move his sweaty hair out of his face, causing him to stop moving as much, but the pained expression on his face never left.

"Wake up sweetheart," she said, in an attempt to wake the boy up. The rest of the group walked around the bed, careful to stay a safe distance away, so they wouldn't startle him. Pepper kept talking and soon enough, Peter woke up, completely horrified, gripping the blanket tightly. The only reason it hadn't been thrown off of the bed was because of the death grip he had on it. He closed his eyes tightly, and sat up, rubbing the tears from his eyes, even though they kept coming. He looked around and saw the group of people he had come to love, and immediately felt embarrassed.

   "S-sorry," he stuttered, and looked down at his lap, trying to hide, which obviously wouldn't work.

   "Don't be sorry Peter," Pepper said, pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back and tried to fix his irregular breathing pattern.

   "You alright there?" Tony asked. Bucky, who was holding his hand, kicked the back of his leg, letting him know that he shouldn't have asked that question. Peter smiled slightly.

   "Yea. Not the worst nightmare I've had," he replied but realized that that wasn't how he should have answered that question.

   "Wanna talk about it?" Wanda asked him, making sure he knew they would listen.

   "No. I don't really want to bother anyone," Peter said, leaning back on the headboard.

   "Not at all," Nat said, sitting on the edge of the bed, opposite of Pepper. Tony sat by Pepper, grabbing her hand, and the rest of the group either stood or grabbed something to sit on. "We've got time."

   "It was kind of stupid," Peter whispered.

   "I highly doubt that kid," Tony said in a fatherly tone. Peter started fiddling with the bottom of his shirt.

"Well," he started. "I just remember being trapped under a building, but all I heard was screaming from the outside. I couldn't do anything about it."

"Screaming?" Vision asked. Peter nodded.

"I heard my uncle Ben and aunt May screaming. I was trapped," Peter said, trying to discreetly wipe a few stray tears away.

"You have these nightmares a lot?" Bruce asked him. Peter nodded.

"Not every night. And they are never reoccurring," he explained like it was a simple thing.

"When did they start?" Nat asked him. Peter looked up and saw the concerned looks on everyone faces, which made him feel like he could explain this and they wouldn't hate him.

"On the night of my homecoming dance, when I was fighting the vulture," he started. "A building collapsed on top of me and I had a panic attack. My nightmares and panic attacks started to get worse after that." Tony walked over and pulled Peter into a hug so tight Peter thought that he might stop breathing permanently.

"I shouldn't have taken the suit," Tony whispered. He felt like it was his fault that this amazing kid was in so much pain.

"It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have gone behind your back," Peter replied.

   "How about we all have a sleepover in the movie room?" Bruce said, causing the entire group to jump out of their seats with excitement. Peter smiled, but his eyes didn't light up like they used to. Everyone rushed outside and grabbed blankets and pillows. Tony and Peter walked out of the bedroom and saw the group all set up a camp on the floor below the couch. Someone turned on Brooklyn 99 and they watched until each individual person fell asleep.