Thanks again MpeachlinS for betaing the story!

At first, it was dark; cold and dreary and empty. Lost.

But then afterward, Peter saw bright lights blinding him, causing him to squint his eyes in an attempt to block most of it out. He couldn't hear anything; silence filled the void, a cruel agonizing silence. And then a high pitched sound, as if somebody's microphone was receiving feedback, and Peter screamed, dropping down to his knees and covering his ears, his head pounding and his hands shaking.

The sound grew higher and higher and higher until it stopped and Peter squeezed his eyes closed and opened them again, finding himself in a place that he recognized. Home, he thought to himself as he looked around, staggering up to his feet.

Only it wasn't their apartment. Somewhere close, near a highway, near the hospital. Hospital? That was where May worked; she was a nurse, a good one, and Peter frowned, walking along the side of the road.

He didn't know what was going on, not really anyway. Peter felt lost, like he didn't belong there as he dumbly looked around his environment, trying to pinpoint exactly where he was. The highway just by the hospital, it was almost always filled with traffic.

Except… It didn't look like it was that busy today; no pedestrians and the hospital's parking garage didn't look too full from the short glance he took. Peter subconsciously scratched the back of his neck, before he saw a familiar car drive past him.

"May?" Peter asked, his voice soft as he ran towards the car. No one seemed to hear him, and continued to go about their daily lives. He frowned as he continued to run toward the car, not caring whether or not he looked like a lunatic to the others if they could even see him.

His vision suddenly went blurry, and the colors around him dulled, almost as if he was living in a world of black and white. Peter heard a harsh buzzing filling his ears, and he could barely concentrate before he saw a vehicle speeding toward May's car, going against traffic as they swerved around.

Peter's eyes widened as his senses came back to him, and he immediately moved to shoot a web to May's car, hoping to move the vehicle out of the way, only to realize that his web-shooters weren't on his wrist. He moved his wrist and narrowed his eyes, confused as to why they weren't on before he heard a loud, deafening honk from behind him.

Peter moved out of the way, scraping his elbow in the process. He staggered back up, watching as his aunt's car tried to swerve away, and everything was too bright, too loud. He ran across the road, hoping that he could somehow magically stop the two vehicles from colliding.

"MAY-!" He screamed, and she seemed to look at him through the windshield, seemed to have heard him. Peter heard a loud crash and he was pushed back by the force, his ears felt as if they were bleeding before he realized what was going on.

This was a dream.

A cruel dream, a nightmare. This wasn't real. May's never been in a car accident.

Peter held his head in his hands, trying to muffle the sounds of people screaming for help, the rushed talk of doctors shushing everyone. He saw a bright, blinding light and he squeezed his eyes shut, rocking himself back and forth and whispering to himself.

"This is a dream, a dream. Not real. A dream."

But his brain wouldn't accept that, it wouldn't let him wake up. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself it was a dream, he couldn't wake up, and he screamed, begging himself to wake up.

Peter heard a high pitched beep in the background followed by another beep, and he almost started crying as his ears began to hurt again. The beeps were in a steady rhythm until they started becoming irregular before eventually becoming one consistent beep.

He didn't really comprehend it at first; thought it was just another thing to torture him in his nightmares until he finally realized what the beeping meant.

A heart monitor.

Bucky crossed his arms as the group began to have a debate. They argued about the kid, about what they would do once they got back to New York. T'Challa seemed confused but it seemed like he'd pieced most of it together.

"Just drop him off with Child Protective Services and call it a day," Sam stated, careful to be quiet since Peter was still fast asleep on his shoulder. Bucky frowned at that suggestion, half glaring at Sam for even suggesting something like that.

From what he had read and heard, they were never thorough, they put kids in random homes and expect them to fend for themselves. Sure, some people have had good experiences with CPS, but most didn't.

"I think we all know that their system is fucked up right now," Stark said with no real humor, frowning.

"He could stay with you until we figure his guardianship out…" Steve said thoughtfully, and Stark looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Are you kidding me? I can barely take care of myself, let alone another human being!" Tony shook his head, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. "Forget it, he'll be in danger if he stays with me."

"And you are sure he doesn't have any other relatives?" T'Challa asked quietly.

"None. The last one's gone, died on the operating table. I thought I told you this."

That statement made everyone fall silent, save for the soft humming of the engine as they drew closer to Wakanda.

It wasn't like they haven't had experiences with dead parents; hell, T'Challa's dad just died not even a week ago. But this was a kid. A fourteen-year-old kid who barely had the time to have a proper childhood. He hadn't even finished school yet and he's trying to be a hero.

From what they had gathered from reading all files pertaining to Peter, his parents- who were surprisingly SHIELD agents- had died in a plane crash and left the kid to his aunt and uncle, and then seven months ago, his Uncle died; a month before a certain Peter Parker was reported missing. A YouTube channel called "NYCSpider-Man" that, true to their name, uploaded clips of Spider-Man also stopped uploading around the same time.

The kid's had it rough, even Barnes could admit that, but it wasn't like any of them were experts in this sort of thing. From what he's read about Stark, he'd rather drink his problems away than deal with a teenager with raging hormones. Bucky supposed that maybe T'Challa or Sam would be able to take care of him, but on second thought he decided against it. If anyone heard that a kid was living with the Avengers, they could use that against them.

"Hey, shh…"

Bucky turned to look at Sam, who had his arm on Peter's shoulder, rubbing it gently. He tilted his head, leaning over to get a closer look. He mouthed something to Sam but the man just shrugged, continuing to do soothing circles on his shoulder.

"Easy, kid. C'mon, you can wake up from the nightmare…"

Tony cocked his head to the side and rushed to Peter's side, which wasn't ignored by Steve, who raised his eyebrows at him in surprise before he crossed his arms and looked over to Natasha. She pressed a button on the dashboard of the jet before she undid her seatbelt and walked towards small group.

Barnes could hear Peter's quiet whimper as he moved around, shaking his head slightly, still asleep. Sam frowned, now gently shaking his shoulder. "Let's go, kid. It's just a dream."

Peter gasped, heaving heavy breaths as he sat up, fully awake. He looked around wildly, his eyes red; almost as if he had been crying. Bucky frowned as he started to stand up in order to get closer to the kid, before Stark rubbed Peter's back reassuringly.

"Easy, you alright?"

Peter shook his head almost immediately after being asked that question. He opened his mouth before he choked out a quiet sob, his head still shaking and leaning close to Tony. The man looked surprised before awkwardly wrapping an arm around the kid's shoulder, patting him with no real rhythm.

"I- I had a dream," Peter began quietly, looking as if he was trying to snuggle closer to Stark. Barnes almost smiled at the sight.

"Yeah?"

"My… My aunt, she… I was on a highway; back in Queens, I mean-" Peter stuttered, struggling to find the words to finish his story, "-and then this car was speeding and swerving and then there was this loud beeping and it was so loud and I couldn't wake up- er, sorry."

He wasn't crying anymore, only soft hiccups here or there, and he slowly pulled himself away from Stark, blushing lightly. Meanwhile, Bucky and Steve looked at each other, and then to Natasha.

The kid witnessed his aunt's death.

Maybe not fully; it was a dream, but he had obviously seen the biggest part of it. Barnes watched as Steve knelt down in front of Peter, placing a hand down on his knee.

"Mister Rogers?" The kid asked softly, his voice raspy from crying.

Your aunt is dead, Peter... She died after a fatal car crash. I'm sorry.

Your aunt is dead.

Your aunt is dead.

Your aunt is-

Peter shook his head frantically, covering his ears to get rid of the words that Mister Rogers placed in his head. She couldn't be dead. She can't.

They're lying. They have to be.

It was a dream, wasn't it? A hellish nightmare where his worst fear came to life, where his last family member died and he couldn't save her. It was like reliving Ben's death all over again. It couldn't be true.

Peter had felt numb at first when Steve first told him. Had been shaken to the core, but he didn't know how to react. it was as if someone flipped a switch in his brain and all his senses just stopped working.

Mister Stark tried to talk to him, he could tell; but Peter continued shaking his head, ignoring everyone trying to calm him down.

This couldn't be happening. Not right now. It shouldn't.

She wasn't supposed to die. She was supposed to be alive and when Peter finally came back home, he'd hug her tightly and try and make up a believable story about where he had been for the past five months.

Five months.

Five months, and now he'll never see her again.

Never hear her laugh, never watch terrible sit-coms, never hear her terrible jokes.

No, no, he cannot be crying right now. Not right now.

Not in front of the Avengers, no.

He let out a strangled sob, hiding his face in his hands with his back hunched forward, his chest heaving with every breath he took. Peter felt Mister Stark rub his back in a circular motion, but he screamed, an agonizing scream that made his throat raw.

Peter struggled against someone's hold as they hugged him close, attempting to pull away and pounding on their chest, ignoring the stream of tears falling clear off his face, whispering to himself the same words over and over again: "Please, May. I'm sorry. Please. Come back."

"Easy, Peter. I got you. I'm sorry." That was Mister Rogers that was hugging him, calm and collected, although it sounded like his voice was shaking ever so slightly. Peter just shook his head again, weakly punching his chest while his breaths came out as hiccups and sobs.

"She can't be dead," Peter repeated to no one in particular, his voice quiet and meek. "She can't. She can't."

"Peter…"

"She's not!" He snapped before furiously pushing Steve away as he wiped away his tears. "She can't! She-"

"Hey, easy there, kid, you're okay," Sam mumbled quietly, placing a gentle hand on Peter's arm. The teen looked at him before pulling away.

Peter sniffled, his throat dry and his head pounding, opening and closing his fists so that he could stop them from shaking. He looked around through a blur of tears and noticed that Natasha had her face turned away, her expression almost guilty, and Peter looked away before he got caught staring.

"Bucky," Peter looked at his friend, who hesitantly looked back at him. His quiet voice shook slightly as he tried to keep his tears at bay, "tell me he's lying. Tell me it's not true."

Bucky only looked away, a sort of remorse in his eyes as he replied in a soft tone, "I'm sorry."

Peter's breath hitched as the room felt like it was tilting as his head started to hurt, shaking his head again and again and again.

She couldn't be dead.

She couldn't be.

Not after everything he's done in order to come back. Not after everything.

After everything he's been through.

It couldn't have all been for nothing. It couldn't be.

"We are landing in Wakanda," A robotic voice announced from the speakers, the only thing that broke the silence other than Peter's quiet sobs, finally feeling everything around him fall apart.