Max 1
Chapter One: Max
Max doesn't see his students without their shirts on very often; if he did, it would be weird and probably illegal, but the one time he saw his newest student, Peter, without a shirt on, he simultaneously wishes he hadn't and is glad he did.
Peter was a great, hard working lab assistant. Every morning when Max entered his lab, everything from the tables to the counters to the floor- even to the ceiling, although Max still isn’t sure how Peter manages that- is spotless. His supplies are organized just the way he likes them to be, and his paper work is in alphabetical order. When he leaves the school after hours, Peter is still hard at work, if not in Max's lab, in his own, doing his schoolwork.
Sure, the kid has a punctuality problem, but often times, when Peter came in late, it made Max laugh. Seriously, that kid could not be on time to save his life.
But there were a few other things, things that made Max worry about Peter.
The way he would randomly tense up, as if sensing a threat that wasn't there. Sometimes, he would even quickly move when that happened, like he was a bug that expected a giant hand to squash him if he didn't get out of the way. Other times, he would cover his ears or wince and keep his eyes closed for several minutes. He would flinch every now and then, rub his wrists or his shoulders or his legs, almost like he had aggravated an injury.
Max could usually shrug it off, but most of the time, these observations would linger in the back of his mind whenever he saw his student or graded his papers or projects or when somebody mentioned him.
Max isn't sure whether to be glad he finally discovered the reason behind Peter's strange behaviors or horrified because of the actual answer.
Max shuffled the papers in his hands as he approached the door to Horizon High, ready to step out into the brisk night air, his free hand awkwardly rummaging through his pockets as he attempted to fish for something without dropping his files.
After checking each and every pocket of his jeans, he huffed in frustration before turning on his heel to return to his lab to retrieve his forgotten keys. He rubbed his tired eyes, longing to already be home, curled up in bed, and he opened the door to his lab, ready to grab his keys so he could fulfill his wish. When he looked up from the files in his arms, however, any traces of fatigue drained away. The files fell from his hands and crashed to the floor in a rush of paper.
Peter was still there, but he had his ever present shirt and hoodie off, and stretching across his back was a jagged cut, deep and still oozing blood slightly, despite the fact that it had to have been at least a few hours old. The dried blood surrounding the slash proved it as it caked in layers across Peter's back.
Max knew with that much blood loss, Peter should have at least been a little woozy, but Peter seemed fine- aside from the bloody canyon on his back, obviously. Max could see a first aid kit on the table, along with an active Bunsen Burner and Peter was fiddling with something in his hands, until he was alerted to Max's presence by the whoosh of falling paper. Peter leaped about a foot in the air, a scalpel he must've gotten from a lab kit clattering to the floor.
“Max!” Peter exclaimed, smiling casually. “I know this is your lab, but haven't you heard it's rude to sneak up on a guy?” Peter joked.
Max didn't reply, his horrified expression still in place.
Peter frowned. “What's wrong? Is another super villain attacking the school?” Peter's questioning voice became downright alarmed as that possibility crossed his mind.
Max shook his head, baffled by the fact that, for all his intelligence, Peter didn't grasp the reason behind Max's horror.
“No, but… Peter, your back…” Max gasped out, unable to say anything else.
Max hated seeing any of his students in danger, and he certainly didn't like seeing them hurt, but Peter had a giant cut across his back that probably needed stitches.
Peter seemed to remember the cut (how he could even forget it, Max wasn't sure. That injury looked like it hurt a lot), and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Oh, that? I, um, just an experiment gone wrong,” Peter answered, but Peter wasn't a great liar. “Don't worry, Max, I have it handled.”
Max frowned at the implications of the statement, and his gaze unconsciously found the scalpel before going to the Bunsen Burner and back, his horror only growing.
“Were you going to cauterize it?” he realized, his eyes finding Peter's face, but Peter stared at the wall.
“Well, yeah. I would have tried to stitch it, but I couldn't really see what I was stitching, and cauterization would close the wound and kill any bacteria in the wound. Sure, it would hurt like nothing other, but I thought it was better than messing up the stiches, especially if it meant I had to remove them and do it again, or risk an infection or-" Peter rambled.
“Peter,” Max interrupted. “Why didn't you just go to a hospital? Come with me; I'll take you right now-" Max rushed forward to snatch his keys off of his desk, and he was already half way out the door when Peter's shout stopped him.
“No! I can't go to a hospital,” Peter said, sounding oddly harsh.
Max turned around, confusion etched across his face.
Peter swallowed. “Max, I can't go to a hospital,” he reiterated.
“Peter,” Max began, taking a deep breath. “I am a scientist, not a medical doctor, and as far as I know, you’re not one either, but I think we both know that that cut requires the attention of a qualified doctor. But… I'll hear you out. If you can give me a good reason, I won't take you to a hospital.”
Peter's eyes seemed to be everywhere but on Max as he fumbled for an answer.
“My aunt can't afford it,” he finally settled on. “Our insurance wouldn't cover the hospital bills right now, and with my tuition and the regular bills, I… I can't do this to her right now. Max, this cut isn't that bad, and if my aunt or myself ever needs to go to a hospital, it will be because we absolutely have to. I can't put my aunt in debt for a cut I can take care of myself.”
Max stared at Peter, and it wasn't hard to tell that, while the boy wasn’t exactly telling him everything, this reason, at least, was true.
Max wanted to say but you can't take care of it yourself, but something stopped him. Max had come from a poor family and had clawed his way to the top, the journey lined with exhaustion and hard work and hopelessness. He knew what it was like to worry about money before he should have had to.
Max sighed. “All right. I won't take you to a hospital, but you are not doing this yourself. I have a friend. She's a nurse, and she can do this properly. Come on,” Max instructed, and Peter turned off the Bunsen Burner before following Max to his car.
Once they were in the car and had started driving, Max spoke up, “So I guess I should ask the most important and obvious question: how the heck did that happen?”
Peter shrugged. “There was a super villain-“
Of course there was.
“-On my way to school, and he attacked me, probably trying to take my hostage or something. Spiderman swung in and got me out of there, but not before the super villain gave me a good swipe on the back.”
“You’ve had that all day?” Max asked.
“It bled fast but not for very long,” Peter hastened to say. “It stopped bleeding before the end of first period.”
Max felt dizzy. “Peter, why didn’t you get help or go to the nurse? If it hadn’t stopped bleeding-“
“I can take care of myself, Max. I’m okay,” Peter assured him. “Or at least I was until I reopened the wound when I was cleaning the lab. That’s why I-“
Was going to cauterize a wound with a Bunsen Burner and a scalpel, Max mentally filled in.
“Peter, I never would have made you work if I knew you were hurt,” Max stressed.
“I know, Max. But I honestly thought I was okay.”
Max hesitated. “Peter, you don’t have to be okay. Just ask for help. Anyone at Horizon, myself included, would drop everything to help you if you needed it.”
Literally, Max mentally joked, his tone dry, even in his head, thinking back to all the papers he had dropped in the lab. He would have to pick those up tomorrow.
But for now, Peter.
“Here we are,” Max said as they pulled up to an apartment building.
Peter got out of the car, and Max led him up the steps into the building, and they started to ascend the stairs.
“This is the one,” Max said as he knocked on the door. A second later, the door opened, and a familiar, old friend of his smiled at him, even as confusion sparked in her eyes.
“Hi, Max. What are you doing here so late?” She wondered.
“Hi, Claire. We, uh, kind of need your help.”
Claire Temple finished stitching up the wound on Peter’s back. Claire, to her credit, had not asked any questions.
(Little did Max or Peter know, she had quite the experience with patching up vigilantes. Even if she didn’t know this teenage kid was a vigilante.)
“That should do it,” Claire said. “Keep it dry and bandaged for the rest of tonight and tomorrow and then remove the bandage and clean it using clean water two times a day. You don’t have to keep it bandaged after 24 to 48 hours, but keep it covered and don’t bump it or do… whatever it was you were doing when you got it. Come back in a week, and I’ll remove them.”
Peter nodded. “Thank you, Miss Temple.”
Claire chuckled. “Just Claire. Miss Temple makes me sound old.”
Max and Peter left, and Max drove Peter home in a heavy silence, a hundred questions still going through Max’s head. He wasn’t even sure if he believed that super villain story, but he had no reason to question it…
Unless someone had given Peter that injury, and Peter was covering for them. Max didn’t want to think about that possibility.
Max pulled up in front of Peter’s house, and Peter smiled at him.
“Thanks, Max.”
Peter started to get out of the car when Max grabbed his wrist.
“I meant it, Peter. If you ever need help, just ask.”
Peter smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Max, I know. Thanks.”
Max released Peter’s wrist, and Peter headed inside. Max could see Peter greet his aunt through the window, and he watched her place her hands on his shoulders and give him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
May Parker seemed like a nice woman and a good aunt and guardian to Peter… but maybe Max would keep an eye on his student and his home life, just in case.
And with that thought, Max headed home, but all the questions about Peter Parker and his mysterious injury stayed in his head.