Shattered ~Spiderman Fanfic | UNDER REVISION

Peter was dead.

Or at least, he had to be. As much as Tony preferred avoiding entertaining the worst of outcomes, he couldn’t silence the cynical realism that was creeping up on him from all sides. And after almost a month of no sleep, he wasn’t certain if half his imagined scenarios were based in delusion or bitter reality. He wanted to be realistic and ground his thoughts, but it had been too long. Peter had too many enemies, his disappearance could possibly be final.

It had been over a month now since Peter’s disappearance, he thought. But he couldn’t be sure. Fatigue had this familiar way of dulling your senses and leaving you with the worst migraine imaginable. And nobody tells you of the possible vertigo. Bruce had been long trying to force him on some sort of sleeping pills, but the nightmares had been so sickeningly macabre that Tony had retired them immediately, ignoring Bruce’s plea to put him on something stronger.

If Peter was dead, this would be his fault, he didn’t care what Bruce had been saying. If you’d asked him the previous year how he would have reacted to Peter’s possible disappearance, his response would be far from this deep emotional disturbance. But here he was, feeling pathetically useless in the face of this mess. Peter was supposed to be in his care.

He was sitting slumped in his armchair, his eyes blankly staring off towards the city. The Tower overlooked a few of the skyscrapers, the city humorously small and superficial from where Tony sat. So small from up here, and yet, much too big. Peter could be anywhere—if he was even still alive.

Tony shifted in the armchair. He had told himself that he would shy away from those grim scenarios. He rubbed at his neck absentmindedly, popping yet another Advil into his mouth and swallowing.

His computer buzzed, the vibrations making his headache drill into his skull. Irritated, he flicked a button on the keyboard behind him to silence it. But the sound began again almost immediately, and Tony lazily turned his head to peer at the screen.

Steve Rogers.

A long, weary sigh slipped from Tony’s lips as he answered. The moment the call picked up, Steve’s anxious tone filtered through the room, crackly with static through his headset.

“I think we may have a lead."

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