Chapter 2
Peter was having a great day. Ned got a new Lego set. He got Mj to smile by telling a joke. Steve cooked his favorite for lunch, Flash didn’t bully him because he was at home, sick, and he aced his biology project. So overall, his day was just AMAZING!!!
Waving goodbye to Ned after doing their secret handshake. He walked up to the black SUV and got in the back.’’Hey, Happy!’’ Peter greets said man as he buckles in. Immediately, he starts talking about how much of a good day he is having.
Happy Hogan simply sits on his seat, pretending not to listen. He enjoys the talks he has with Peter, but he’ll never tell anyone this. At first, the teen's rambles were close to making him crazy, but the kid grew on him. Thinking about it, the kid grew on anyone who ever met him, but he’d rather not admit that.
Peter babbles away on their way to the tower until Happy says, “Peter, we’re here. Hurry up and get out.”
Peter stops talking and grabs his things. Before he leaves, he says, “Bye Uncle Happy.”
He misses the small smile Happy has by the time he closes the door.
Walking in the sight that greets him never fails to take his breath away. The inside of Stark tower is beautiful, with pieces of modern art strewn about here and there. There is one large Avenger mural drawn on the ceiling with beaming sunlight coming from floor-to-ceiling windows. Walking past the security scanner, he waves at a couple of the employees before getting in the elevator.
“Hello, baby Stark, would you like to go to the lab or the common room?’’ F.R.I.D.A.Y asks.
“Could you please take me to the common room? Thank you.” Without a word, F.R.I.D.A.Y. takes him to the common room floor.
He steps out of the elevator and walks into the kitchen –completely missing all the Avengers in their pajamas waiting on the couches; the tv already has a movie set; the popcorn popped; the candy put together, and everyone was sitting comfortably. Taking out a specially made protein bar and water bottle from the cabinet, he walks into the living room and freezes.
“Wait, was I too late? Were you guys waiting all this time? Oh no! I’m so sorry I should have come home faster!” Peter exclaims, already hurrying to his room.
“Pete, wait,” someone says.
“Wait one second, I'm gonna get changed. I'll be right back!”
“Peter, wait a seco–” before they can get a word in, Peter has already left.
“Welp, we tried,” Comes Sam's voice from where he's sitting next to Steve and Bucky.
“We do, we do. Peter's brain moves faster than most,” Tony says with a chuckle, his voice full of fondness. He is cuddled up next to Pepper on the love seat. The rest of the Avengers can’t help but agree.
Peter walks out dressed in some Iron man sweats and a short-sleeved Captain America top a few minutes later. He jumps over the back of the couch and settles next to Pepper, immediately getting comfortable.
“How was school, Peter?” Pepper asks, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
Peter smiles at her and says, “Oh, it was amazing! I got MJ to smile! Did you hear that? SMILE!!!”
“I did hear my little moro arkouda”
One hour into the movie F.R.I.D.A.Y. announces that May requests access to the common room, but she has two detectives accompanying her.
~~
Down in the lobby, May Parker has just arrived in the lobby, with the two detectives behind her. Walking straight up to the front desk, she lets the lady finish her conversation on the phone. When she's finished, May addresses her, “Excuse me, I’m looking for my nephew, Peter Parker. He works here”.
The lady looks back down at her computer. “One moment,” she says. After a couple of seconds of typing, she looks through names until she finds it. She’s surprised when she sees that he’s Tony Stark’s personal intern, but doesn’t let it show. She has heard rumors about the teen before. “Ah, he’s right here. Would you like F.R.I.D.A.Y. to tell him to come down here?”
Still worried for her almost son, May says. “Um, no, I would like to go where he is currently.” The lady looks up, worried that she might have to tell her that she can't but before she can begin, F.R.I.D.A.Y. speaks up.
“Miss Parker, please head to the private elevator.”
The detectives look around, searching for the voice, only to realize that no one is there. They follow May to the elevator. They were surprised when the elevator began moving without them pressing a button. They look around, once again surprised when they see that there are no buttons on the wall. They look at each other, both their faces in utter confusion. What is this place? Before they know it, the elevator stops moving, its doors opening. They step out to be met with the common room of the Avengers tower. Walking behind May, they see a young boy sprint up to the woman and hug her.
“May, what’s wrong?” They hear him ask, voice muffled from where it’s pressed against May’s chest.
“Nothing, I’m okay. These police officers wanted to talk to you.” May says, gently removing Peter from her chest so she can see his face. She turns to look over to them with a questioning face.
Olivia smiles reassuringly, taking a step forward before addressing everyone in the room. “Hello, I'm Detective Benson, and this is Detective Tutuola. We are from the NYPD special victims unit. Is there anywhere we can speak in private?” The aging detective asks, not wanting to have this conversation in a room full of avengers.
“Um, yeah, sure. Mr. Stark, can we use one of the press conference rooms?” Peter asks as he stands up and walks to stand beside Olivia.
Standing, Tony walks over to where May is standing. They have a silent conversation before he turns to Peter, his face full of worry. “Yeah, of course. Let me know if you need anything.”
Peter and the two detectives walk towards the elevator. They get in, and once again, F.R.I.D.A.Y. takes them to the floor their intended floor silently. About fifty seconds into their ride, the elevator stops, and its doors open. They step out into the conference room. Inside there is a big, brown, and beautiful wood table with black leather chairs lined on each side. Walking in, Peter takes a seat close to the door. Olivia takes a seat across to him, and Tutuola stands next to her.
Taking a deep breath, Olivia asks the question she’s been waiting to ask, “Peter, do you know anyone by the name of Stephen Westcott who goes by the name of Skip?”
Immediately after saying the name of his attacker, Peter's body goes rigid and his face turns white. He looks at her trying to find something in her face that suggests that he heard something different. When he didn’t, his eyes started to well up with tears.
Instead of letting them fall, he holds them back and agrees. “Y–yes, he was my ol–old babysitter when my–my aunt and uncle would leave. Um, he stopped baby–babysitting me when my a–aunt and uncle got fewer shifts, but he would still come over to play games.” The way Peter said 'games' told the detectives everything they needed to know, but they still needed him to say it aloud.
“Peter, do you think you can tell us the games you played? If you can't, that's okay. We can stop. We just need to hear it to make sure.”
“Um," Peter takes a deep breath before telling the officers about Skip, willing to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. "One day, while my aunt and uncle were away, he took me to the couch and asked me if I wanted to play a game. I liked hanging out with him –Skip was one of my only friends at the time– so, of course, I said yes. He walked me to my room and closed the door. He helped me sit up on my bed before he reached into his backpack. –I thought he was going to show me a new comic book. He always had one for me when he came over to visit.– Anyways, he pulled– he pulled a, um, a, he pulled out a–a magazine.” Peter stopped, taking a moment to gather himself with the new fresh wave of tears on his face. He took a deep breath and let his mind settle, remembering that Skip couldn't hurt him anymore.
Peter began talking again once he had been able to calm himself. “On the cover, there was a lady, and she had no clothes on. When–when I saw her, I–I tried to look away but he–um–he grabbed my face. He-he forced me to look at the pages. About halfway through, he stopped and told me he had a game to play. I thought that if I agreed to play, he would stop making me look at those pages. But then he said that the game was to copy what was in the book. When I realized what he wanted, I tried to run, but the door was locked." Peter took a moment to wipe the tears on his face with the napkin offered to him by Tutuola. His efforts were futile with more tears springing up. He was getting frustrated with himself. That had happened so long ago, he shouldn't be crying. This led to more tears, and before he realized it, his breathing was erratic.
“We just need you to say it so we can put him in jail for good,” Came the words of encouragement from Tutuola. Peter nodded as he gave up cleaning his cheeks. It was pointless. Besides, if saying those words would put Skip into jail, where he couldn't hurt him anymore, of course, he'd say them.
“I was raped by Stephen Westcott.”
A few floors up –in the Avenger’s common room– sat shocked, stunned, and angered Avengers. Peter was this happy-go-lucky teen with a smile so bright it put the sun to shame. Not once had they imagined he might have one through this type of hell. They knew Peter was bullied at school, but he kept repeating that he could handle it. They knew the kid was strong. The Avengers knew Peter had lost all his blood relatives at a young age, and yet... Peter became Spiderman in his early teens, helped the city as much as he could, even if he got hurt. Did they not know that much about Peter that they couldn't help even though he needed it? No, even then, Peter wouldn't know they knew he was hurt. But who was this person who laid a hand on the one they claimed as their own? Who was brave enough to hurt the one who could make the gods cry. They didn't know who he was, but he would see them really soon.
Getting up from their positions without so much as a word spoken between each other, they left to get ready for what would be known between them as the day of death. As if there was a spell on all of them, they got ready with synchronized precision. They fled to the quinjet and contacted their friends/family from space as they would not miss this chase for revenge.
Somewhere in Riker island, it was eerily quiet. Sitting in a lone cell was one Skip Westcott looking at a photo of the person who sent his life downhill, his first victim. The picture was of Peter sitting in his apartment smiling for the camera. He sat there, reminiscing on the times where he would play 'games' with Peter. At the moment of the crime, it felt great. Exciting even. But now, years later, as he stared at the picture, Skip wanted to go back in time and slap himself.
Whilst he sat there, the Avengers were slowly making their way towards him. He didn't know anyone was there until his door clicked open. Jumping up out of his bed, he left his cell and walked towards the open area in the prison. What he sees would make even the strongest of men horrified. Knowing what is about to happen, he tries to run only for a huge green snake to slither right up to him and poof! It's Loki.
The last words of the person who would no longer exist on any data on earth dissappear just as he did.
There's
No
Place
Left
To
Run
the end