not your fault
Peter collapsed on his bed, throwing his suit into the closet and flopping back down. He covered his eyes and bit his lip, not daring to open his mouth, lest the tears come pouring out. Even alone, Peter couldn’t let weakness show.
It just wasn’t fair! Stupid, goddamned Parker LuckTM. Why did everyone he loved get hurt?
His chin wobbled, and he clambered back up into the spidey-suit so Aunt May wouldn't hear him. Swinging from rooftop to rooftop, he finally found an abandoned warehouse and let out a guttural scream, filled with pain and anguish and everything else he could muster. He screamed himself hoarse, finally listening to the pain in his throat and curling up on the roof, sobbing, suddenly grateful not only for the mask, but the extra protection the roof had against people looking from the ground.
He heard a thump from behind him, signalling that someone else had landed on the roof. Without turning around, he knew that it was Natasha. “H-hi, Nat,” Peter greeted, still not turning around.
He felt a hand on his back. “It’s not your fault,” she said in return, and Peter didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry, so he did bth, resulting in a sound like a strangled cat. That was Nat, always cutting straight to the chase. “He’ll forgive you,” she continued. “People make mistakes all the time, we’re all human -”
“But I’m supposed to be better!” Peter burst out. “I have these - these powers, and I want to help people, but I can’t! People always get hurt! It’s my job to stop it -”
“And you're doing wonderfully,” Natasha said. Peter finally turned to look at her. She was stone-faced, as usual, but looking into Peter’s big brown bambi eyes made her soften a bit. “Look, how about we drop this for now?” she suggested, and Peter nodded, thankful. “We’re going to get anywhere, so how about you come with me, we’ll go to the compound and clean you up, then kick Clint’s ass in Mario Kart?”
“Language,” Peter muttered, lips twitching. Rolling her eyes, Nat stood up and pulled Peter up with her.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on, let’s go. Maybe we can catch Pepper yelling at Tony.”
Peter smiled and with a thwip! of his web shooters, the two spiders were off.
(They did beat Clint in Mario Kart, and, later, when Tony was coming out of the elevator with Pepper yelling at him, Peter went straight to him and hugged Tony. Tony bent down and heard the softly whispered, “I’m sorry,” and kissed histhekid on the forehead, gently leading him back to the couch, when Tony pulled Peter onto his lap and stroked his hair while Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix played on the T.V. Tony looked at Natasha and smiled at her in thanks, and she responded with a barely noticeable dip of her head.)