When Peter woke up, the only thing he could register was pain.

He was dizzy and it felt like he was in a video game with a few seconds of lag.

He was in a bed with blood-soaked bandages covering the ripped skin on his bare chest.

He groaned and gasped for breath, trying desperately to evade the pain that was quickly eating away at his very existence.

Everything slowly faded away into black.

He heard a crash but he was too tired to care.

He heard loud footsteps but everything hurt too much for him to care.

Maybe two seconds later, maybe two years later, the black veil began to fade away. Peter could see a large figure next to him.

"Can you hear me?" said Steve Rogers.

Peter blinked slowly and the blur subsided.

"Captain America?" he mumbled. The man smiled. "Call me Steve. Please."

Peter sat up slowly and glanced confusedly at the thin clear tube in his arm.

"Pain medicine," Steve explained, "i was the only one in the room when FRIDAY alerted us that you were awake. i couldn't find any of the doctors but luckily i have some medical training... Nobody realized you'd wake up so quickly. Bruce hypothesized that it would take you a week to regain consciousness because of the radiation's effect on your brain. It seems like you have some crazy healing powers which saved your life earlier and now they're helping you get back on your feet."

Any other time Peter would freak out that THE Bruce Banner was helping HIM and interested in his powers, but having Captain America sitting right next to his bed kind of put things into perspective.

"How do you feel?" Steve asked.

Good Question, Peter thought. "Um... kind of woozy?" Woozy, that's a funny word. He giggled.

"The opioids are definitely setting in."

Just then the door slammed open and Tony Stark ran in.

"What are you doing?" he yelled at Steve. "Get away from him!"

Steve stood up indignantly. "I did nothing wrong. I'm only trying to help. Which is more than I can say about you."

"How dare you," Tony began to walk toward Steve, a dangerously angry expression on his face. "You have no idea what I -"

"why are you fighting?" Peter spoke tiredly, "Can't we all just get along?"

"Peter, do you realize what this man has done?" Steve glared at Tony.

"What I'VE done? Why don't YOU go first?"

The teenager just looked at them dizzily. "I don't really care. Whatever you did in the past doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't determine who you are." he laughed. "let it be, let it be…" he hummed quietly.

"Did you just quote the Beatles at me?" Tony laughed. "That is WAY before your time."

"i think he's high from the analgesics," Steve whispered to Tony.

Suddenly Peter groaned in agony. A sharp stabbing sensation spontaneously exploded in his abdomen and began to spread. He gasped for breath. The pain was choking him.

Both men rushed over to him in a panic.

"Its… ok," he gasped out. "This is not… the worst thing… to happen to.. me…"

Then the pain just got worse. He laid down again, his whole body throbbing. He could hear shouting but it was just noise, faded and fuzzy and echoing in his head. He couldn't understand what anyone was saying. He could see people moving around but they were blurry and moving in slow motion and he didn't know who was who anymore.

Did the room get darker or… was he…

Peter Parker didn't want to die. He had always been afraid of death. The memories of his parents' untimely demise and his Uncle Ben's murder haunted him constantly.

But now, dying didn't seem that bad.

At least it would stop the pain.

The horrible, excruciating pain that was the only thing Peter could feel. All he could see was pain. All he could hear was his own silent cries.

And then it faded.

Everything faded.

He could see a figure walking toward him. Glowing brightly.

"Aunt May?"

She held out her hand, a soft, kind smile on her young face.

He took her hand.

He looked around. He could see the vital signs monitor next to his bed.

It was a straight line.

He saw Tony sobbing against the edge of the bed. He had never seen Tony cry. He wanted to tell him that it would be ok.

Steve had his hand on Tony's back.

Peter was glad that they weren't fighting.

He took May's hand and followed her out of the room.

Nobody knew why it happened.

Bruce drove himself mad trying to figure out what happened. He realized that there were still a few pieces of debris in Peter's chest. Pieces that were still radioactively charged. And they had killed him slowly while the pain medications made him too high to realize.

They all blamed themselves.

Scott thought it was all his fault for throwing the kid at a radioactive building.

Steve hated himself for causing everything, for going so far that Tony had to recruit a 15 year old kid to help calm him down.

Bruce wished he had done something sooner. That he had realized what was happening

And Tony blamed himself more than anyone else. After all, it was all his fault, wasn't it?

Maybe if it wasn't for him, he thought, Peter would still be alive.

He'd still be happy.

But it was too late.