A/N: Here is a short, fluffy chapter to hold you over until I can get the more detailed chapter finished. I'm hoping that I can potentially wrap up this story over the Labor Day weekend. Time will tell. For now... enjoy this little snippet, and let me know what you think of the character interactions in this chapter by leaving a friendly review.

Chapter 12: One Day at a Time

Peter felt himself pulled from sleep at the feeling of someone sitting gently on the side of his bed. His Spider-Sense gave no indication that there was danger, so he took his time coming out of his sleep. This person could surely give him a few more minutes to rest his eyes.

"Peter?" the voice called to him gently. Peter knew that voice, and he recognized the smell of her perfume. Peter hummed softly at the feeling of Aunt May's fingers as they gently brushed through his brown curls. "Hey tough guy," she continued, her voice still calm and gentle with only a hint of her playful teasing. "Think you can open those brown eyes for me, handsome?"

Slowly, Peter blinked his eyes open and looked at her. They smiled at each other as May continued to brush through his curls. "Mmm…" Peter groaned. "Five more minutes, May."

He attempted to roll to his side, but May stopped him. "Oh no you don't. It's time to get up. I miss spending time with you. It's almost time for lunch!"

Peter's eyes shot open as turned back to look at her. "Seriously? I slept that long?"

May shrugged. "Long enough for someone who was awake most of the night."

Peter gave her a sheepish look. "Who told you?"

"Steve," she confirmed.

Peter groaned and pulled himself up into a sitting position. May lowered the hand that had been brushing through his hair and used it to grasp his hand. Peter didn't miss the sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, May," he told her.

She frowned a little, "For what?"

"Worrying you… again," Peter admitted.

May offered him a small smile, "I'll always worry about you, Peter. I'm pretty sure it's written in my job description as your aunt… somewhere in the fine print."

Peter chuckled, "Yeah… I guess it is."

May studied him a moment, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze before she asked, "You wanna talk about it?"

Peter knew she was asking about his panic attack. "Not really," he told her. He didn't fail to notice the hurt look on her face as he said it, so he added, "It's not that I don't want to talk to you, May. It's just that I'm not really ready to talk about last night. Or… maybe anything else that has happened recently. I just want things to be normal between us, May. You and me talking about old movies and larb… stuff like that."

She gave him another sad smile and leaned over to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead. She lingered there a moment, bringing her other hand up to cup the back of his head and leaning her head against his for a moment before pulling back and looking him in the eyes. "Those were the good ole days, huh?" she asked him.

For some reason, tears began to prick at the corner of Peter's eyes at her words. The old days… nothing like the days he was faced with now. These days were haunted with pain and loss. He swallowed hard, wanting to be strong. "Yeah…" he choked out in confirmation.

May lifted her hand again to cup his face and wipe away the tears that had managed to escape. "I'm the one who's sorry, Peter. I feel like I should've done more to protect you. Spider-Man or not, you're still my kid."

Peter swallowed hard again, allowing a few more tears to escape his eyes. He looked to see May fighting tears of her own. "I guess we're both pretty hard on ourselves, huh?" he told her.

May laughed a little, "Must be a family trait." She leaned back and swiped away a few of her own tears. She cleared her throat, knowing this wasn't what Peter needed right now. She needed to cheer him up. "Ahem… anyway… how about we agree to give each other some grace, huh? What do you say? Shall we start a new chapter?"

Peter offered her a genuine smile, "A new chapter sounds great, May."

Pepper popped into the room and smiled. "You're awake! I can get used to seeing you like this! I missed those big brown eyes of yours!" Pepper walked over to him, leaning down to plant a kiss to his forehead, just like May had done moments before.

Having these amazing women in his life warmed Peter's heart. They supported each other and helped to support him. Their loving encouragement was exactly what he needed, and their love managed to keep his negative feelings at bay… at least for the moment.

"You hungry?" Pepper asked him. "We have some BLT sandwiches for lunch. Apparently, Barnes made too much for your late night snack, so we used the leftovers to make some sandwiches." She raised an eyebrow at him, "I hear you're a pretty big fan of Bucky's bacon."

Peter donned a look of innocence, "What? No… it's pretty good, but it certainly can't beat yours, Pep."

"Mmm Hmm… I should warn you… my daughter isn't always the best at keeping secrets," Pepper told him.

As if on cue, the little girl poked her head into the room, giggling a little at her mother's words.

Peter gave her a playful smile and teased, "Traitor."

Morgan giggled again and ducked back out of the room.

May laughed and patted his hand, "Come on… we better get out their before Morgan eats all the food." Peter peeled back the covers and stood to follow the women out of the room. May leaned towards him as if to tell him a secret, but spoke loud enough for Pepper to hear. "Between you and me, I think Morgan prefers this bacon, too!"

"Oh... very funny, May," Pepper called back over her shoulder as they left the room. She smirked at her friend, "She's mostly just happy that her Aunt MayMay didn't make it."

Peter laughed at Pepper's joke, earning a disapproving glare from his aunt. May's eyes twinkled good naturedly, though, proving that she wasn't actually offended.

As they made their way to lunch, Peter couldn't help but feel like today was going to be better.

The day had, of course, started normally. Waking up to May's gentle words and Pepper's encouragement, the sound of Morgan's laughter, eating a meal with the team… everything was fine. At least until someone put a glass of water on the table for Peter. Morgan was sitting across from him, and he noticed how her eyes grew wide and her face went pale at the sight of the water sitting there. Peter wasn't even sure who set the water down. He just seemed to get lost in a flood of memories, and his stomach churned viciously.

Peter tried to excuse himself without making a scene. However, he had to move quickly if he was going to make it. Once he was away from prying eyes, Peter found the closest waste bin and immediately lost his lunch. Unfortunately, the others heard the sounds of his distress. As Peter breathed through the nausea and caught his breath he could hear the others questioning about the problem.

"It was the water," he heard Morgan explain. "I don't think he wanted any."

The others fell silent, likely feeling guilty for causing him such an unpleasant reaction.

"What do we do?" He heard May ask. "He needs to stay hydrated."

"He must know that we would never do anything to his water," Pepper added.

"Of course he does," Clint answered. "I'm sure it was just a sudden and unpleasant memory."

"I know what to do," he heard Thor declare to the group.

Peter groaned. He didn't really want the attention right now, especially from the God of Thunder. Hadn't Thor seen enough of Peter at his worst? Before Peter could entertain his ideas of trying to hide from the Asguardian, he was already standing next to him.

Thor patted Peter on the back. While the big man attempted to be gentle, his meaty hand thumped loudly when he brought it down. "There now, Peter. Don't fight it. It's best to let it…"

Peter gagged again, losing the last bit of his lunch.

"... come up," Thor finished. To the god's credit, he didn't even seem fazed by Peter's illness. He chuckled slightly, surprising Peter. "I remember struggling with illness like this in New Asgard. It had been a particularly rough week… too much ale and not enough solid food. Korg and Miek had to get assistance from the Valkyrie. That was when she introduced me to this…" Thor held out a can of Ginger Ale. "She tricked me, of course. I thought perhaps she was providing me with actual ale, but the Midguardian ginger root apparently does wonders for a sour stomach."

Peter managed to lean back against a wall, bringing up his knees to lean on them. He took a breath and studied the can Thor was holding out to him. He decided a can of unopened soda was harmless and accepted the beverage with a nod of gratitude. He knew better than to drink it too fast and took a few careful sips. The cool liquid was a pleasant contrast to the bile that had left his system a moment before. "Thank you, Thor," Peter told him. He expected the god to walk away, but he instead sat down next to Peter on the floor.

"It is no trouble," he replied. "I am just pleased to see you up and about. A little stomach ache isn't enough to scare me away."

Peter studied Thor some more, surprised by the gentleness and understanding on the man's face. Peter took another sip of the soda and said sadly, "I feel like you've seen too many of my body fluids these days."

Thor gave Peter a confused look.

Peter shrugged, "I know you pulled me out. I'm sure that got a little…" Peter swallowed through another wave of nausea. "...messy."

Understanding donned the Asguardian's face. "Ah… yes…" This time Thor studied Peter before saying, "You are not the first injured soldier that I pulled from a battlefield. The youngest perhaps… but not the first."

The two Avengers sat in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the others cleaning up from lunch. Peter wondered if anyone else would come to check on them, but no one else came… likely trusting Thor.

The God of Thunder stood suddenly, extending a hand to Peter. "Come… I think it would be good for you to stretch your legs and get away from…" Thor looked at the waste bin that contained the remains of Peter's lunch. "... here."

Peter blushed, embarrassed that he didn't suggest moving away from the foul bin himself. "Sure," he agreed, taking the hand Thor extended and getting to his feet.

They made their way outside, and Peter was relieved to be getting some fresh air.

"You mustn't give up, young Peter," Thor spoke, breaking the silence. "You still have a battle ahead of you, but you must keep fighting… stay strong."

Peter frowned, "I was hoping the worst of it was over."

Thor nodded in understanding, "Your battle now is with your own mind. You cannot let the bad memories crush your spirit."

Peter shook his head, "It's not like the memories will ever go away. How do I get over something that will always be there? I don't see how I can escape this!"

"Precisely. You cannot escape… so you must not try," Thor told him.

Peter was thoroughly confused. "What?"

Thor sighed, looking out at the countryside of Wakanda. "Not long ago, I lost a battle on these fields that I could not afford to lose."

Peter looked out to where Thor was looking. He hadn't fought Thanos in Wakanda, but he knew the story well enough.

"I was haunted by so many memories after the Decimation, and I blamed myself for what happened here… for what happened to so many of the people I loved." Thor turned to look at Peter.

Peter met his gaze, but remained silent.

"I know what it is like to lose your family, Peter. I know what it's like to feel powerless. I know what it is like to fear more loss and pain. I know what it's like to feel as though your world can never be right again."

Peter swallowed past the lump that was forming in his throat. He never really thought of Thor that way, but it was true. The man had lost his entire family, most of them through violence. Like Peter, the only family Thor had left were not blood relatives. Rather, it was a family of friends. "Why are you telling me this?" Peter asked, wondering how this was ultimately supposed to help him conquer the horrid memories.

Thor placed a strong hand on Peter's shoulder. "Because I do not want you to make the same mistakes that I did. You mustn't try to bury the memories. You may be tempted to push people away, hide from the reality of what happened, but you must face it."

Peter glanced back over the countryside of Wakanda, looking out over the same area that Thor was looking at earlier. Peter thought about the night before and how the memories made him panic. "I don't know if I'm ready to face them," he admitted.

"I understand," Thor said. "It will take some time, but… I promise… it is better to work through them." Thor grabbed Peter's shoulders and turned him so that they were face to face. "And trust me, young Peter, you must find healthy ways to face the truth. Believe me when I tell you that no amount of ale, pizza, or video games will help."

"Umm...okay," Peter said, feeling a little surprised by the examples of things to stay away from.

"I mean it… things like that can only temporarily numb the pain. You may find yourself tempted, but you must resist… be stronger than I was," Thor insisted.

"Stronger than you?" Peter asked in surprise. If Thor couldn't resist, would Peter be able to avoid things like that? Could he manage his trauma in a healthier way? "So… what should I do instead?"

"A wise question!" Thor praised. "You must trust the people who care about you. Instead of pushing them away, open up to them. Let them help you. You will not have to face the reality of this alone." Thor smiled, "You have us to help you."

Peter thought about his words. He couldn't help but think about his aunt's disappointment earlier when he chose not to talk about what happened the night before. He supposed he was already avoiding the memories. He hated the idea of facing them. It scared him. He looked at the Asguardian, noticing how the older man studied him. Peter almost felt like Thor could read his thoughts. "I'll try," Peter said. "I'll try not to avoid what happened… I think I can face it."

Thor gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulders. "Of course you can… because we'll be right here with you."

"Thank you, Thor," Peter said, giving him a smile as they made their way back inside.

"Of course!" The man insisted. "It was my pleasure. Rest assured… you have the strongest Avenger supporting you."

Peter thought about making a joke about Bruce being back in New York, but decided to keep that thought to himself. Thor had been very helpful, so perhaps the friendly jab could be used another day.

Feeling much better, Peter followed the God of Thunder back inside. Perhaps he could start by asking May to help him overcome the anxiety associated with some much-needed fluids. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a place to start.

A/N: I love Thor! I desperately want to see scenes of Thor and Spider-man together, but I fear Disney and Sony will keep that from happening now. :(

Anyway... I still love you all 3000!