Peter
Peter is strolling down the hallway with an excited smile on his face, hands wrapped around his backpack straps. He finally has one with two working straps since Mr. Stark bought him a new one after his old one completely fell apart for good. It’s the end of May, and the last bell just rang after his last final. His report card is going to come in the mail once his finals have been graded, but he’s pretty sure he got straight As this semester, and it’s all thanks to his dad helping him so much.
Peter hasn’t had this much support and encouragement, and therefore motivation, to do well in school since May and Ben, and he finally feels like he’s achieving something.
Of course, getting all As in high school really isn’t that big of a deal, but he’s pretty happy with it still. Mr. Stark keeps telling him not to downplay achievements, even if they feel small, so he’s trying to listen.
He gets to his locker and starts gathering all of his things. He’s already dropped off all of his textbooks, so he doesn’t have that much to empty out. Once his backpack is full, he goes to walk away from the empty locker when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket.
The screen lights up with a notification of a text from Mr. Stark.
“Hey, kiddo. Congrats on finishing the semester. Instead of going to the compound tomorrow, invite your friends to the tower and we’ll celebrate a job well done.”
Mr. Stark wants him to bring his friends over to the tower? Ned is going to freak. Maybe he should invite MJ too. It’s not like they’ve ever done anything outside of school together before, but that’s mostly because Peter just can’t, not while he’s still at the Patterson’s house. He would get his ass beat, and he’s trying his best to get that to happen less. MJ is his friend though, at least, he thinks she is. They talk during class and lunch and stuff, and she said she only lets her friends call her MJ. And she’s pretty, and smart, and talented, and he loves the way she looks when she’s drawing…but anyways that’s completely irrelevant.
He doesn’t have long to make a decision before Ned and MJ come walking up to his locker together, Ned with a huge smile matching Peter’s and MJ with a bored expression.
“Hey loser, you want to go get milkshakes or something since we have the afternoon free?” MJ asks once they reach him.
Peter opens his mouth to reply that he has to get back to the apartment, but then he remembers that since today was only a half day, they’ll be at work for another few hours.
“I’d love to!” He replies.
They walk down the street to the little ice cream shack that all the high schoolers frequent after school, and they manage to find an empty picnic table amongst the chaos of the last day of school.
“I’ll get the milkshakes.” Peter offers. “Mr. Stark said he’d pay for them.”
Well, he didn’t technically, but Peter assumes this falls under the limitations of his credit card. He gets 3 chocolates, the best flavor, and heads back to their table.
“Nice of Stark to pay for our milkshakes.” MJ says, but Peter can’t tell if it’s sarcastic or not. That’s pretty typical for her though.
“Yeah, he’s a nice guy.” Peter replies awkwardly.
“It’s a little weird for a boss though, don’t you think?” She asks accusingly.
“Oh, well, I guess I don’t really know. I’ve never had another boss. He’s pretty generous with his money though.” Peter responds, trying not to sound suspicious. MJ just nods and sips her shake.
“So, speaking of Mr. Stark, he actually wants me to invite you guys to the tower tomorrow if you’re not busy.”
Ned’s eyes get so wide and his jaw literally drops open. He’s silent for so long that Peter starts to think he might pass out before he finally answers.
“Us…go to Stark Tower?!” He practically screams.
Peter winces a bit at the loud noise. “Yeah, he said I could invite anyone I wanted, and I want to invite you two.”
“Of course I’ll come to Stark Tower!” Ned yells. “This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life! I’m going to see Tony Stark!”
Peter huffs. “Ned, you’ve already met Mr. Stark.”
Ned has actually met Mr. Stark on a few different occasions. The first was of course that time he almost passed out bleeding out on Ned’s bathroom floor. He tries his best to forget about that one, but Ned has also met Mr. Stark a few times when the man has come to pick Peter up from school instead of sending Happy. Of course, all of those times it was just Mr. Stark waving to Ned and saying hello and Ned just standing there with wide eyes too star struck to say anything back. Maybe tomorrow will be different.
He glances over at MJ who is still looking nonchalant, but she does shrug and say “Sure. I’ll come.”
“Awesome.” Peter manages to reply without stuttering. “So, uh, Mr. Stark normally picks me up around 10 on Saturdays. I’ll figure out the exact time and text you guys.”
They both nod they’re approval.
“So what did you think about the essay question on that history final today?” MJ asks, leaning forward onto the table like she’s finally interested in the conversation.
They talk for a long time, long past the time it takes to slurp down the milkshakes. Ned’s mom comes to pick him up after a while, leaving just him and MJ.
“I better get back home before my dad starts getting worried.” She says once Ned is gone.
“Are you walking home? I can walk with you.” Peter blurts out slightly too fast and loudly before he can think it over.
MJ just gives him a small, confused smile. “Uh, sure. If you want to. I’m only a few blocks away.”
He stands up and opens the door for her, like a proper gentleman. Not that he’s assigning gender roles or anything because he knows MJ hates that, but it just seems polite, you know?
“Thanks.” She says as she walks past the doorway.
“Yeah, no problem.” He replies before following her down the sidewalk.
There’s an awkward silence for a minute as they walk with each other.
“So, you-“
“Are you-“
They say at the exact same time.
Peter chuckles nervously. “Uh, you go first.” He tells her.
“Oh, I was just asking if you’re thinking about joining academic decathlon next year. I was voted president and all, and I think you’d be a good pick for the team.”
“Wow, uh, thank you MJ. That’s really nice of you to say.” He replies with an uncomfortable smile. Did MJ just compliment him? Does she think he’s smart?
“I mean, Flash is still on the team, and you’d definitely be better than him.”
So…not a compliment? He’s very confused. Does she think he’s smart or just smarter than Flash? He decides to stick with a neutral comment.
“Having Flash on the team has to suck.” He agrees with a nod.
MJ bumps his shoulder with her own while they’re walking.
“That’s why I want you on the team, Nerd.”
“I really want to, MJ, but-“
“None of these excuses about your foster family needing you home right after school.” She interrupts. “They let you go to the internship, right?”
“Well, yeah.” He agrees hesitantly. “It’s not really about the time. They just don’t really have the extra money for the fees and uniform and travel and stuff.” Peter admits reluctantly.
“Why don’t you just ask Stark to pay for it?” She asks. “He pays for other things for you.”
“Yeah, stuff like food and school supplies. Necessities. Not extra curriculars.”
“Have you asked him? The man’s a billionaire. I’m sure he’ll pay for your academic decathlon.” She says so casually, like it’s just that easy to ask your boss/mentor/father figure/actual father but he doesn’t know it yet for money for non important things. Especially things that he’s not even sure he’ll be able to get his current guardians approval of.
“Uh, yeah. I’ll ask on our next internship day.”
Yeah, he has no intention of asking. He can’t let MJ know that though.
“Okay, cool. Um, this is my place right here.” She says, stopping and gesturing towards an apartment complex.
“Great, I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow then.” He says with an awkward wave.
“See you.” She replies before turning her back to him and heading through the main door.
He watches until he can’t see her anymore, then turns around and forces himself to walk away before someone sees him and it gets weird.
He walks a little ways away until he finds a secluded alleyway suitable for him to change into his spider suit. He patrols for a short time until right before Bill gets home from work, then he sneaks in through his bedroom window like usual.
He makes it through the night just fine. Ever since he started having regular days with his dad, he’s had a lot less trouble losing his temper. He’s also been trying his best to mouth off and get in trouble with his fosters less. They still find plenty of reasons to hit him, but he doesn’t usually get hurt as badly as before.
The next morning, he makes breakfast as usual and then sits outside the building and waits for Happy to pick him up. He used to just walk or swing to the tower on Saturdays, but his dad started insisting on Happy driving him on weekends too for some reason.
He’s not waiting long before a bright orange car that’s definitely not Happy’s pulls up way too fast to the curb. He stands up off the sidewalk while the window opens revealing Mr. Stark in his suit and sunglasses.
“Get in, kid.” He commands.
Peter hurries to pull open the passenger side door and slides in, backpack going by his feet.
“Morning, Mr. Stark!” He says as he’s entering the car.
“Morning, Pete.” He replies with a smile, pulling away from the curb as soon as he hears Peter’s seatbelt buckle.
“Who are we picking up today?” His dad asks. “Definitely Ned. Is that scary girl you’re into coming?”
Peter feels his face flush a little bit. “I’ve told you a million times I don’t like MJ like that, Mr. Stark. And I did invite her, so you better not embarrass me in front of her today.”
He tries to sound intimidating, but his dad is just laughing at him from the drivers seat.
“Seriously!” Peter tells him.
“I know, I know.” Mr. Stark says, toning down the laughing a bit. “I won’t. I promise. Where does she live?”
Peter directs Mr. Stark to Ned’s apartment first. They both live fairly close to the school and each other.
Peter sends Ned a text saying they’re outside and a minute later, the boy comes walking out the front door and stops dead in his tracks, staring at the car. Peter rolls down the window.
“Hey, Ned!” He calls. He can see Mr. Stark waving jovially from his peripheral vision.
Ned’s face breaks out in a huge smile. “Whoa, dude! This is the sickest car I’ve ever seen!” He hurries up to it and pulls open the door, getting in the backseat.
“Thank you so much for coming to pick me up, Mr. Stark, sir.” Ned rambles out. “And for inviting me to your tower in the first place. This is the best day of my life.”
Tony rolls his eyes at Ned’s dramatics, but he has a fond smile on his face nonetheless.
“What have I told you about all this ‘sir’ stuff, Mr. Leeds?”
“Oh, uh, not to call you that, Mr. Stark, sir.” Ned stutters.
Tony sighs. “We’ll work on it. Where’s your other friend live?”
Peter directs him a few blocks down to MJ’s apartment, and she’s already waiting outside for them. She doesn’t look impressed when the car pulls out, but Peter thinks he knows her well enough by now to know that she’s excited to come today.
“Sup, losers. Stark.” She says as she gets in the back of the car.
Tony pulls away from the curb and starts heading back to the tower.
“You must be MJ.” The man says.
“It’s Michelle.” She replies dryly.
“Okaaay.” Mr. Stark replies, confused. He’ll get used to her soon enough.
“Let’s get to the tower, shall we?” The man asks rhetorically as he pulls away from the curb. He turns up the music to get rid of the silence of the car, and soon enough, they’re pulling into the private Stark tower parking garage.
“Alright, children.” Tony announces as he gets out of the car. “Everyone out and into the elevator.”
“Do we have any plans today, Mr. Stark?” Peter asks curiously. “Are we going to the lab?”
“You’ll find out in a second, squirt.” His dad replies cryptically.
He tries his best not to linger on that too much as the elevator lifts them up. When the doors finally open into the penthouse, Peter is totally surprised by what he sees.
Mr. Stark said they were celebrating a job well done, but Peter didn’t think he actually meant celebrate. There’s a banner going across the wall of the living room that says
“Congratulations Peter and friends”
All of his favorite people are there smiling at him as he walks out. Pepper walks towards him first with her arms held out to him. He rushes forwards into the hug.
“Pepper! What is all of this?” He asks excitedly.
“It’s a celebration for you and your friend, sweetie, for getting through the school year.” She replies, running a gentle hand through the back of his hair. Ever since her and Dad started dating again, she’s been very present all the time. She stops by lab days to see Peter and always eats lunch with them when they’re at the tower on Saturdays.
“You guys didn’t have to do all of this for me.” He says, pulling away from the embrace. “I just finished my sophomore year. It’s not even a big deal.”
Mr. Stark comes up behind him while he’s speaking and puts his hands on Peter’s shoulders.
“Of course it’s a big deal, Underoos. You made it through the whole semester with straight As and you never got in trouble even once.”
Peter feels his face flush at all the attention.
“Come on, Mr. Stark. I don’t even know if I got straight As yet. The report cards don’t come out for another few weeks.”
“Well I’m just that confident that you did that well on your finals, and if you end up with a B or two then who cares. High school doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Tony.” Pepper warns with a glance.
“What? I’m just saying that we’re proud of you no matter what your grades are, right Pep?”
Pepper sighs, but agrees. “Of course we are, honey. Why don’t you introduce me to your friends?”
Peter turns around and ushers Ned and MJ forwards.
“Pepper, this is Ned and Michelle. My friends from school.”
MJ walks up immediately and holds out her hand for Pepper to shake.
“Michelle Jones, Miss Potts, but I go by MJ. It’s really an honor to meet you.”
Pepper shakes MJs hand while Tony huffs about being told to call MJ Michelle.
He grabs Ned’s arm and drags him away from where he was just staring with his mouth wide open. “Ned, dude, I’ll introduce you to everyone but you have to promise not to totally freak out. Okay?”
Ned nods his head frantically. “Yeah, dude. I’ve got this.”
MJ seems pretty happy there with Pepper, so he takes Ned onto the next person.
“Hey, Pete! Congrats on a successful year, bud.” Bruce tells him as he approaches with Ned in tow.
“Thanks, Bruce!” He replies. Bruce holds out an arm and gives Peter a short side hug. “This is my friend, Ned, that I’ve told you about. Ned, this is Dr. Banner.”
“Of course.” Bruce says. “Peter told me that you and him used to read my works when you were in middle school together. That’s pretty impressive stuff.”
“D-d-d-Dr. B-Bruce banner sir.” Ned stutters.
Peter nudges him hard in the side. “Remember what you said earlier Ned.”
“Right right. Sorry. Forgot.” He mutters back to Peter.
“Dr. Banner sir.” Ned begins again, more composed. “It’s the biggest honor of my entire life to be able to meet you. You’re like, the greatest scientist of our generation. I’ve studied everything you’ve ever written, sir.”
“Wow.” Bruce replies, a surprised and somewhat concerned look on his face. “That’s uh, that’s a lot of material.” Peter almost starts laughing at his expression, but he manages to hold it together. It takes a while to get used to Ned’s intensity.
Luckily, Ned seems to have pulled himself together enough to go from star struck to rambling.
“Actually Dr. Banner, sir, i had some questions about your most recent paper if you don’t mind.”
Peter smirks and slips away quietly, knowing nothing is going to get in the way of Ned and his endless questioning.
He goes over to Natasha next, who’s leaning against the corner of the room. She pushes herself off the wall when she sees him coming.
“Congratulations, little spider.” She says to him with a small smile. Natashas not huge on physical affection, but she does reach out a hand and run it through his hair.
“Thanks, Nat. And thanks for coming all the way out here for this dumb celebration. It means a lot to me.”
She just cocks her head. “I don’t think it’s dumb.” She tells him.
He rolls his eyes. “They’re just making such a big deal out of me doing something that every other high schooler does. It’s silly.”
“I don’t know about that.” She replies. “Sure, every other kid gets through sophomore year of high school, but this is an important day for you. You have good grades, you never got in trouble, you stayed at the same school all semester, and that’s on top of everything you’ve done with Tony in the lab and everything you’ve accomplished as spider man this year. Don’t think of it as a celebration of you finishing your school year. It’s more all of us letting you know how proud we are of how far you’ve come.”
Peter knows his face must be bright red at all the attention. He doesn’t even know how he’s supposed to react. Natashas never given him such a straightforward compliment before.
“Oh, uh, tha-thank you Nat. That’s really-“
Luckily, he’s rescued before he can continue stammering until he says something embarrassing.
“I come all this way for your little party and you’re going to see everyone else before me?”
Peter whips around.
“Rhodey!”
He runs forward and gives the man a tight hug.
“It’s good to see you, munchkin. Congratulations.” Rhodey says, hugging Peter tightly to him.
“Thanks, Rhodey.” Peter replies. “It’s really no big deal though. You didn’t have to come all this way.”
“Ah ah ah.” Rhodey scolds. “I don’t want to hear any of it. We’re all proud of you, and that’s all you need to care about. Not how big of an accomplishment you think this is.”
Peter ducks his head in embarrassment, but Rhodey isn’t having any of it. He wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulders and starts walking him towards the kitchen.
“Let’s break into the food before anyone else can steal the good stuff.” The man tells him.
It seems like Mr. Stark has gone all out for this tiny party, because the kitchen is full of appetizers and drinks and even a huge cake.
This is probably one of the best days of Peter’s life.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The party goes on for a few hours and Peter has an absolute blast. All of his favorite people are here in one room, and although he’s really not used to the attention and it’s pretty embarrassing, he secretly loves every second of it. It’s been so long since he’s had people around him who care about him and tell him they’re proud of him. He never likes to get his hopes up about this kind of thing, but today was the first day since May and Ben died that Peter feels like he has a family. He feels loved.
Everyone goes home one by one in the late afternoon. Bruce, Nat, and Rhodey go to the compound, Ned’s mom comes to pick him up and offers to take MJ home too since they live so close, and then it’s just Tony and Pepper left with him in the penthouse.
He gives Pepper another long hug.
“Thank you both so much for today. It was perfect.” He says while he’s wrapped up in her comforting embrace. He takes a risk and goes over to hug his dad as well.
Pepper’s hugs are gentle and comforting. She always smells like flowers and kind of rocks him back and forth a bit when he’s in her arms. It feels very loving and maternal.
His dads hugs are different. He knows Mr. Stark doesn’t really like touching, so he tries to keep it to a minimum, but the man seems to tolerate him occasionally insisting on something.
He must be getting used to it, because today he opens his arms for Peter with no hesitation. It does take him a second after Peter starts hugging him for him to wrap a tentative arm around Peter’s back and pat a couple times.
When Peter goes back to his apartment to nothing but screaming and shoving and hitting, he’s way more bothered by it than usual. This isn’t good. He’s getting spoiled. His dad and Pepper and Rhodey never yell at him or hit him even when he deserves it, and he does sometimes.
That night, with a sore head from getting his hair pulled and a red cheek from where Diane slapped him across the face when dinner didn’t turn out perfect, Peter gets his phone out and texts Ned.
“Are you free to hang out Monday?”
Ned texts him back immediately that he’s free all day, and Peter tries to relax at that fact. He tries to just put everything out of his mind and make it through the rest of the weekend unscathed.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Peter drops down onto an empty roof, panting. He practically falls down to the floor. He needs to catch his breath a moment. He looks around for cameras before pulling off his mask. He needs to head to Ned’s apartment soon or he’ll be late.
Ever since the decision he made after the party on Saturday, he’s been absolutely freaking out. He won’t even deny it. He’s been stressed, hasn’t gotten any sleep, and he’s been patrolling every second he can get away. He was out until late Saturday night, got woken up early to make breakfast Sunday morning, cleaned all day, then patrolled Sunday night. As soon as Bill and Diane left for work this morning, Peter left to go to his own job of sorts.
It’s almost noon, the time Ned said he could come over. He was hoping helping the city would take his mind off everything, and it has felt good, but he can still feel the anxiety deep in his chest.
He was so out of breath now from chasing after a get away car. A crew of people pulled off a major jewelry store robbery and were getting away quickly. Peter chased them down and webbed their car up for the police to come get, then raced away before they saw him. He has an iffy relationship with the police.
Once he’s caught his breath again, he pulls his mask back on and leaps off the building in the direction of Ned’s place.
He’s normally not this tired after just a car chase, but he’s been so stressed that he hasn’t really been sleeping…or eating. But he’s totally fine. He only has to last a couple more days like this.
He lands on Ned’s fire escape with a small sound, then leans over and knocks on the boy’s window before opening it and sliding in.
Ned is at his computer playing a game, but he sees Peter out of the corner of his eye and immediately yanks his headphones off, pushing his desk chair away to stand up.
“Dude!” Ned says in shock. “You look horrible!”
“Wow, thanks Ned.” Peter responds with a roll of his eyes.
“No, I just mean…have you been sleeping?” Ned asks, clearly concerned.
Peter just sighs defeatedly. “No, not really.”
He sits down on Ned’s bed, fidgeting with his mask in his hands.
Ned pulls over his desk chair and sits on it backwards, facing Peter.
“Is something wrong? You seemed fine on Saturday.”
Peter shakes his head, eyes going up to the ceiling.
“Nothing is wrong, exactly. It’s just…I’ve been thinking a lot since the party. It’s really bothering me.”
Ned cocks his head in confusion. “The party was bothering you? I thought it was like, the best thing ever. I got to meet Bruce Banner, dude!”
“No, it wasn’t really the party.” Peter responds, shaking his head. “The party was great. Too great I guess. I’ve just been thinking that if life can be that good…” Peter takes a moment to take a deep breath. He feels like he’s finally speaking a truth he’s been denying himself for as long as he’s been in the foster system.
“then why do I have to still live with shitty people like the Pattersons?” He asks, trying not to sound too pitiful.
Ned just rolls his eyes dramatically. “Uh, you don’t. We’ve talked about this a million times. The party just proves it even more. Your dad clearly loves you. I bet he would let you live with him right away if you just told him the truth.”
“Ugh.” Peter moans, falling back onto the bed on his back. “I know, Ned, I know. And I think I’m finally to the point that I’m ready to tell him, but it just sucks, you know? It’s hard. How do I tell my father that I’ve been seeing him multiple times a week for months and months and have been lying to him the entire time? What if he hates me when he finds out?”
“He’s not going to hate you.” Ned says seriously. “Did you see him at that party? I’m 99% sure he already sees you as his son, even though he doesn’t know it’s biological. He might be mad at first, but I’m sure he’ll forgive you.”
“…you really think so?” He mutters quietly.
Ned rolls a bit closer in his chair. “I know so. I think you should’ve told him ages ago, but better late than never.”
“I’m going to tell him when I go over on Wednesday.” Peter says, officially putting his plan out into the universe. “I’ll apologize for lying to him and I’ll tell him the truth.”
Ned clasps a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m so happy for you, man. I’ll be waiting for an update. And if he doesn’t forgive you, I’ll kick his ass.”
Peter snorts. “You’ll kick iron man’s ass?”
Ned shrugs. “For you? Of course I would.”
Peter doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve Ned, but he sure is thankful.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Peter fucked up, majorly. It’s the day after he spoke with Ned, the day before he’s planning on telling Mr. Stark the truth, and he’s been distracted. He’s been out all day on a long patrol, and he wasn’t paying enough attention to the time. He just finished helping with a major crash where a school bus ran into a building on the way to drop the kids off after school. He got all the kids and the bus driver off safely, then got into the building and ensured everyone on the first floor was able to make it outside safely as well.
He knew at that point that he was running a little late, so he started swinging as fast as he could towards the alleyway that he changed in. On the way, he passed a building displaying the time outside and his heart dropped down into his feet. It was already almost 4 pm.
He still hustles to get changed and runs as fast as he can back to the apartment, but Bill’s car is already parked in his parking space.
Fuck.
Peter sighs, resigned, and walks inside.
Bill doesn’t immediately pounce on him, which is strange. It’s eerily quiet in the apartment, but the hairs standing up on the back of Peter’s neck let him know not to get false hope. He takes off his shoes and tries to sneak down the hallway in his socks. Maybe if he’s quiet enough, Bill will leave him alone for once.
His spider sense is flaring as he tiptoes down the hall, but he tries his best to ignore it, until he reaches his doorway and opens it to reveal Bill already waiting for him in his bedroom.
The place is trashed, not that he has much to trash in the first place. The dresser is tipped over and all of his clothes are on the floor, and the mattress has been pulled off the bed and is crooked against the bed frame and the wall.
Bill is leaning casually against a wall when Peter enters, looking nonchalant like he didn’t destroy a teenagers bedroom because he wasn’t home on time.
“Peter, so nice of you to finally make it home.” Bill says in a fake sweet voice. “Perfect timing, actually. A few more minutes and all your clothes were getting thrown in the fireplace. You barely made it.”
Yep. He’s in big trouble.
He chooses not to respond, hoping that’s the correct thing to do.
Bill pushes himself off the wall to approach, and Peter takes an involuntary step back. Bill stops and smirks for a second at his show of fear. When did he get to be such a wuss? He hasn’t been in any actual trouble with the Pattersons in a long time, and he hates to admit that he’s a little scared of what Bill is going to do to him.
Bill lumbers over him and stares down expectantly.
“Well? Got anything to say for yourself, little fucker?”
Peter gulps. “Uh, no, sir.” He replies hesitantly.
That seems to be the wrong reply, because Bill reaches up his hand and backhands Peter across the face.
He stumbles, hand going to his stinging cheek, before a hand grabs a fistful of his hair and yanks his head back into the wall so he’s looking up at Bill again.
“Now, let’s try this again you good for nothing delinquent child.” Bill growls right into his eyes. “Where were you and why weren’t you here when I got home today?”
Peter winces but can’t get any farther away from the man’s face.
“I was just on a walk, sir. I accidentally lost track of time.”
Bill releases Peter’s hair and then punches him hard in the gut, causing Peter to grunt and hunch over himself.
“Don’t lie to me!” The man screams, grabbing Peter’s shoulders and shoving him hard into the wall again. “What were you really doing out there? Selling drugs? Whoring yourself out? Where’s the money?”
Peter cowers away. “There’s no money! I wasn’t doing anything, I promise!”
He sounds pathetic even to himself. He hates it, but he can’t stop it. It’s completely ridiculous. He’s Spider-Man. He shouldn’t be afraid of some regular guy, and yet it’s like his body knows he’s been hurt by this many many times in the past and is responding accordingly.
“Sure you’re out doing nothing while your poor guardians are worrying about where you are.”
“Like you’d care if I died out on the streets if you still got paid for keeping me here.” Peter snaps at him in a sudden fit of rage, instantly regretting it.
“That’s it.” Bill exclaims angrily, backing away. “You want to lie and then get pissy with me for it, then you’ll get punished for it. Shirt off and up against the wall, Parker.”
Peter clenches his jaw, but does what he’s told. There’s no sense in running, not until he’s sure his dad will take him in at least.
He hears Bill pull his belt out of the loops and there’s a moment of anticipation before the first strike hits his back. He lets out a groan and almost stumbles, but he gathers up his pride to stand through it. This used to be easy for him. It’s just been a while. He can take it, and he will.
He loses count somewhere after 12, but he manages to stay on his feet until Bill decides he’s done with him and storms out, slamming the door behind him. As soon as the lock clicks, Peter drops down to the ground and lets the act go. Frustrated tears start to form at the corners of his eyes and he scrubs at them furiously, refusing to let them fall, but he feels his breath hitch in a sob nonetheless.
He’s so stupid. He got caught breaking the rules and now he’s sitting here crying about it. How pathetic. He’s had way worse than this. He should just be grateful that he’s sleeping in a bed tonight and not locked away in the closet like he probably should’ve been. And yet, the stupid tears won’t stop forming and no matter how hard he rubs his palms into his eyes he just can’t stop it.
He’s getting so pissed off with, just, everything. Bill for the way he treats Peter, himself for being stupid and careless enough to get in trouble in the first place, and even his father for being the reason Peter is so distracted, even though it’s not really his fault in the least.
Peter drags himself up off the floor and falls face down into bed, barely paying enough attention to right the mattress first. He’s had enough of today. He’s going to sleep.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Peter is already awake and dressed the next morning when Diane comes to let him out of his bedroom to make them breakfast. He slept for a little while after his punishment yesterday, but after that sleep started eluding him and he tossed and turned for most of the night. At some point he woke up and picked up his room after Bill destroyed it.
He made breakfast silently, and just tried to hold out long enough for them to leave.
“If i catch you out of this apartment one more time, I’m changing the locks and you can stay out. Got it?” Bill announces with an accusing finger to Peter’s chest as he gets ready to walk out the door.
Peter nods furiously. “Yes, sir.” He replies.
He lasts about an hour before the hunger and anxiety force him out again. He hasn’t eaten properly in days, and it’s only the wounds pulling at his back every time he moves that convinces him that he needs some calories. He also can’t sit around and think about how today is the day that he’s going to tell his dad the truth. This could either fix all of his problems or completely ruin his life.
He grabs his things, puts on his suit under his clothes just in case, and heads down the street to a nearby bodega for a sandwich. He sits on a bench nearby and eats as much as he can manage before the anxiety starts making him nauseous.
After the sandwich, he wants to go for a walk to clear his head. Unfortunately, as Parker luck would have it, as he’s on his walk he starts hearing scream in the distance.
He tries for a moment to keep walking. He shouldn’t go, no matter what it is. He’s injured and he’s distracted, but he knows already that he can’t resist. He shakes his head to himself and runs towards where he heard the screaming. More yells follow the first and he can quickly smell and see what the screams are about in the distance. There’s a fire a few streets away from him.
Before he can think twice about it, he ducks into a nearby alley to pull off his clothes and leave his backpack. He scampers up to the roof so he can leap from building to building and get to the scene faster. Still, by the time he makes it to the site, the large apartment building is completely engulfed in flames.
He sees some nervous looking bystanders and swings over to them.
“Are there people inside still?” He asks hurriedly.
“Some lady just ran in!” The guy tells him nervously. “I think her kid is still inside or something!”
Peter sprints off into the building without another word, ignoring the screams behind him for him to stop.
He crouches down immediately in the flame engulfed entryway, trying to breathe in as little smoke as possible. He finds the stairwell soon enough and starts climbing up, listening closely for any voices.
He stops a few floors up when he hears crying coming from inside. He bursts through the door and follows the sounds of crying until he finds a girl a little younger than him huddled in a corner trying to escape the flames all around her. Peter rushes in towards her, narrowly dodging getting burned.
“Hey, what do you say we get out of here?” He asks, trying to sound chipper, as he holds his hand out for her to take.
She looks up at him with wide, watery eyes. “I can’t move. A piece of the ceiling fell on my leg and I think it’s broken.”
Peter looks down at her leg and sure enough she has a huge bruise already forming on her ankle.
“I dragged myself from the bedroom but I can’t go any father.” She cries.
“Hey, no, that’s okay.” He says, hushing her. “Don’t cry. I’ll save you. I’m Spider-Man after all. That what I’m here for.”
He bends down and hooks his arms underneath her.
“Hold on to me and I’ll carry you out.” He says. She eagerly complies, and soon enough they’re back down the staircase and rushing out of the building again.
He drops the girl off with an ambulance that has arrived and turns back to the building. He still didn’t find that woman that apparently ran back to the building to find her kid. Was that her kid that he just brought out?”
He ignores his lungs that are beginning to burn and runs back inside. By the time he’s higher up in the stairwell then he was the first time, the smoke is completely filling the air and his suit is starting to singe. The building is also definitely losing its integrity. Pieces of the walls and ceiling are falling pretty rapidly, and Peter is having to dodge out of the way so he doesn’t get hit.
Finally, he’s almost at the very top of the building when he hears more screaming.
He opens the door to the hallway and is immediately disheartened. The entire floor is engulfed in flames and falling apart. There’s absolutely no way for him to get past without running directly through the fire.
He listens carefully for where the crying is coming from, then steels himself quickly and takes off. He’s leaping over heaps of rubble and dodging the flames licking his limbs. He sees a door ahead and crashes through it, trying to get somewhere he can breathe.
He gets one glance at the family coughing and crying on the other side of the room before the ceiling above him collapses from the movement that he causes bursting through the door. All he knows next is the pain. He lets out a loud scream as the burning rubble hits his already injured back and takes him down to the ground. Suddenly, all he sees is smoke and flames. His body is on fire and he can’t see and he can’t breathe and he’s completely buried and he’s going to die here without his dad knowing the truth and he doesn’t want to die.
He can’t breathe.
He can’t breathe.
He’s choking. There’s too much smoke. He can’t get out. He’s trapped.
Then, through the fog of his panic attack, he hears yelling.
“Spider-Man!”
That him. He’s Spider-Man. Isn’t he? A super hero.
“Spider-Man! Save us!”
He opens his eyes. He’s still surrounded by smoke. His eyes and throat and lungs and skin are burning, but those people need him.
He uses all his strength to push himself off the floor with his hands, getting his feet under him in a squat with all of the rubble on top of his shoulders. He can feel the skin on his hands burning, but he doesn’t care. He needs to get out to save that family.
He gathers up all of his strength and stands up, pushing the rubble up with his arms. Suddenly, there’s light.
“Spider-Man!” A child yells.
Peter looks towards the sound and sees a young woman crying desperately, clinging to a young boy that’s reaching out towards Peter.
He runs to them, ignoring the pain consuming his entire body.
“We need to go.” He tells the woman. “Can you get on my back?”
She nods and stands up. Peter takes the boy from her carefully and he wraps his arms around Peter’s neck and his legs around his waist. Peter bends down and lets the woman climb on his back.
He looks back towards where he came in and finds the door completely blocked by the rubble pile he just climbed out of. There’s no going back now.
“I promise I’m going to get you out of here, but I need you to trust me, okay?” He calls back to the woman. She hugs onto his shoulders tightly.
“Please, anything!” She cries into his ear. “Get me and my baby out please!”
“Hold on tight!” He screams to them both, upsetting go of them with his hands and using his sticky powers to keep them secure.
He goes over to the one window in the room and it’s already been blown out by the fire. He knocks a little more out of the frame quickly so they don’t get cut by glass on the way, then he leaps out the window.
The woman screams in his ear and the boy clinging to his chest is crying inconsolably. He drops a couple stories before shooting out a web and latching onto the building next door. They swing once before he stops the momentum and lowers them all to the ground.
He grabs the boy in his arms as the woman slides off his back, falling onto the ground crying. Immediately, paramedics and firefighters surround them. He thrusts the boy into one of their waiting arms and tries to stumble away.
“Spider-Man wait!” One of the firemen call. “You need help! Let us get you some oxygen.”
Peter tries to tell the man he’s fine, but his lungs are full of smoke and he can’t speak. He’s coughing as he tries to wave the man away. A hand grabs his elbow and tries to pull him towards the ambulance, but he can’t let that happen. He yanks his arms out of the man’s grip and uses the last of his energy to run.
He isn’t coherent enough to think about where he’s going, he just knows he needs to get away quick. He can’t get any medical care because then they’ll find out who he is. When he opens his eyes, he’s staring at the sky. He lets his head fall to the side and realizes he’s on a rooftop somewhere.
“-alling Mr. Stark.”
What?
What about Mr. Stark?
“What?” He manages to croak out loud.
“Peter, you’ve sustained life threatening injuries. It’s in my protocol to strongly encourage you to call Mr. Stark.” Karen tells him. He thinks she’s been speaking to him for a while, but this is the first he’s been with it enough to respond.
“No!” He croaks out, launching into another coughing fit. He rolls over onto his side, but his whole body is screaming in pain. He can’t move any more than that.
“Don’t call him, Karen.” He says through the coughing. Mr. Stark can’t find him like this. He got punished yesterday and the marks are still there. He can’t know. He can’t.
“Peter, I must insist. The damage to your torso and lungs-“
Peter can’t stop coughing. He’s coughing so much he feels like he’s going to throw up. He turns himself over onto his stomach, head knocking against the concrete roof.
Then, darkness.