Chapter Text
"Mr. Stark, I promise I won't mess anything up. I just wanna like...screw something in." Peter begged, staring at what was probably one of the coolest things he had ever seen.
Mr. Stark gave him a sideways look. "The way you said that somehow makes me less confident."
What started as a simple request to fix his suit's eyes had turned into the discovery that Tony was creating a sort of portal, one that could transport the Avengers wherever they needed in seconds.
"When you're done testing it to make sure it doesn't like, make anyone sterile or whatever, can I use it to run errands? Traffic is a nightmare." Peter said. He thought it was a perfectly reasonable request, but Mr. Stark gave him that look whenever Peter tried to walk off a serious injury or said something a bit dumb.
Peter coughed. "Or I'll drive. Driving's fine."
"Yeah. It better be." Mr. Stark stood up, clapping his hands together. "Okay! Ready to test it out?"
"I get to go through it?!" Peter asked breathlessly.
Mr. Stark gave him the look again. "Um, absolutely not. You can just stand behind the blast doors with me and watch the first test."
"Oh," Peter said, turning red, but perked up. "That's pretty cool too."
Mr. Stark grinned, amused, and motioned him behind the blast door. He placed an apple on a pedestal and pressed a few buttons. The round portal gateway lit up red, and there was a loud popping sound that made Peter's enhanced ears hurt. He winced, and Mr. Stark cast him a look.
"You okay?" He asked when the machine died down.
Peter nodded immediately. "Yeah! Just a little louder and brighter than I thought-the apple's gone!" He pointed.
Mr. Stark glanced up, saw it was true and rushed out. "Where was it supposed to go?" Peter asked.
"Beats me. The focus here was trying to get it to go. Refining comes in the later stages." Mr. Stark must have caught Peter's disappointed look and smiled at him. "It's a process, kid. Can't rush a great idea. Otherwise, it comes out crappy."
Peter opened his mouth to speak, but froze in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of movement in the portal. Like a grey dog.
"Mr. Stark did you see-" He never got a chance the finish. The world turned red and bright, and there was buzzing the seemed to fill the air and resonate through every part of him. He was falling, down down down down down...
And then the redness faded to black, and there was no more.