Life Goes On
The drive back to the compound was long and mostly uneventful, with Tony asking Peter questions about how school was and such. Peter told him that it was going fine, leaving any talk of Flash out of the conversation.
After they talked, Peter pulled out his earbuds and phone and began to listen to music. He stared out the window, watching the cars zoom by. With a blank expression on his face.
He decided to try to text Ned and MJ, just to see where they were.
Peter: Hey Ned, where were you today?
Peter waited a few minutes. No response. He decided to try once again.
Peter: There was an accident in chem class today, so I had to go home early.
Read. No response. Peter cursed internally, Ned never left him on read, even when he was busy.
He wanted to text MJ so bad, but he pushed the urge back. MJ didn’t want to talk to him, nobody did.
As the car drove up to the newly refurbished tower, Peter couldn’t hold back a sigh. The other Avengers would never let this slide. They parked and walked in the lobby, Tony on his phone like Peter wasn’t even there.
It infuriated Peter was he even worth Tony’s time? Of course not. A harsh voice inside of him shocked him to his core. No matter what, every time he had these thoughts it shocked him, he was such a good kid, how could this be happening?
“Peter” Tony’s voice surprised him as he boarded the elevator, jarring him from his thoughts.
“Yeah?” He responded, trying to keep his tone light.
“The Avengers were supposed to have training today” Without you. The unspoken words pulsed through him. “So you must apologize for disrupting it. The elevator ascended, passing the 20th floor.
“Okay” He whispered.
“What's wrong kid? You're usually a walking chatterbox by now." Peter winced internally. That comment hurt. Way more than it should have
“Tired I guess” He lied, resentment pooling in his stomach. Why do you feel this way towards them? They give you food and shelter, and yet you still hate them, you worthless brat.
Even through the surprise of that comment, Peter couldn’t help but agree with his mind. He was worthless.
The elevator doors opened, and Tony walked out, with Peter trailing behind him like a baby duck. He walked into the living room of this floor, the floor that was kind of like a communal area for all the Avengers to hang out and talk.
He was met by six pairs of eyes, all of them either annoyed or just plain pissed. “Uh- Hi guys” was all that Peter could stutter out. You're so stupid, you probably look like a baby to them. Peter agreed with that one. “I’m sorry for… interrupting your training…?” He cursed internally on how pathetic he sounded.
The adults in the room chuckled around him, like there was some kind of inside joke that he didn’t get.
“It's fine” Steve said plainly, “You can go now” Oh. So they didn’t want him here.
Before he left, he turned to Tony. “Can I go be spiderman?” He asked in an almost timid voice. “Sure. Go knock yourself out” Tony said in an almost annoyed tone.
-
As Peter walked out of the room and back to the elevator, the bad thoughts clouded his mind. He doesn’t care. It would be better if you were dead. The avengers don’t care. They think you're a baby.
Peter made no effort to push the thoughts from his mind, instead he welcomed them. The teen walked into his room, sighing as he collapsed onto the bed.
Maybe things would be better off without him. He got his spider suit on, and began stretching, preparing himself for a few hours of patrol. Before he jumped out the window, he looked at his phone. Ned still hadn’t responded.
On a last second thought, he sent a text to MJ.
Peter: Hey MJ, why weren't you in class today?
The message was read, before a symbol that indicated she was typing popped up on the screen.
MJ: Had a science convention with Ned
That stung, why hadn’t they invited him?
Peter: That sounds fun. But make sure to invite me next time
Read. No response, Peter was once again being ignored by one of his only friends. Peter jumped out of the window, and began swinging around, looking for crime. He stopped a few muggings and attempted robberies, but today was a slow day, so he ended up sitting on a roof, his legs dangling over the edge.
“Got any crime for me Karen?” He asked his AI. “No crime has been reported in the area, would you like me to alert you if there is?” Peter nodded “Yes please.” Even though Karen wasn't a human, he still proper showed manners.
He sat there for a few minutes, watching as the sun began to set.
Suddenly, there was an alert. “Some kind of drug dealing on 10th avenue” Karen informed. Peter stood up “ok” Was all he said before jumping off the roof and swinging over to the street. He had done stuff like this hundreds of times, so why was he so tense about it? Peter swung down to an alley , where he saw two groups of men had congested. “Hey guys” He said, trying to keep his tone light, “Can’t even wait till the sun is down to do some illegal stuff?” It wasn’t his best quip, but it wasn’t his worst either.
Immediately, the men charged at him, and Peter took most of them down with ease. But, like everything else, nothing could go Peter’s way, and one of the last remaining guys pulled out a knife. The knife made a small cut in his side, making Peter wince in pain.
All the other men had run away, so now it was a one on one. It should have been easy right? Wrong. This guy was a beast at combat and Peter found himself struggling to dodge all the attacks. Next thing you know, Peter was on the ground, the guy pinning him down trying to push the knife into his chest. Peter grunted, struggling as he desperately tried to push the knife away. His breath became ragged as his arms shook.
The knife tip inched closer, and closer to Peter’s chest, when it suddenly, defying all laws of gravity, flew away. Peter pushed the guy off of him, wincing in how his body ached. Suddenly, a girls voice cut through the air “So… You boys trying to have all the fun without me?’