panicc
Chapter One
Thwip- thwip Thwack. Thwip thwip thwack. Just Spiderman swinging through the city. Good ole’ Peter Parker, doing his thing. Patrolling. There is absolutely nothing wrong.
So what if he crashed into a building and fell a few times? Everybody has off days, super spider powers or not. And if he was swinging faster than normal, with no idea where he was going, the only destination in his mind being away, away from him, away from the tower, get away get away get away- Well, who could blame him?
He wasn’t doing any of this on purpose. Really, he wasn't. He just didn’t know what to do. He was probably supposed to go to the police, but what could he say? ‘Hey Officer, Tony Stark stood too close to me a few times, that’s illegal, right’? It’d be ridiculous.
It was probably all his imagination anyway. He was blowing this completely out of proportion. This is nothing like before. Mr.Stark would never do that. He wouldn’t.
Besides, Peter was Spiderman now. Nobody could hurt him like that again. He must be going crazy. Oh god, he was fucking insane.
He swung forward and shot another web when he realized everything was blurry. Why was everything blurry? He couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe? Oh fuck, he was panicking.
He half-landed half-crashed on top of the next building he saw stumbling forward before falling to the ground. It’s okay, I’m okay. Breathe.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting there crying when he hears someone else land on the roof beside him.
“Spiderman?”
Barely recognizing Double D’s concerned voice through the fog of his panic, Peter opens his mouth to utter some variation of ‘I’m fine’, but all that comes out is a low whimper. He feels a hand on his shoulder but it leaves before he can even flinch. He opens his eyes to see the blurry figure of his friend crouched in front of him. “Daredevil,” he cries quietly, “I don’t, I don’t know w’ to do”.
“Spiderman,” Daredevil says urgently, “Are you hurt?” He asks, and when Peter shakes his head with a sniffle, he follows it up with, “Can I touch you?”
Reaching his hand out, The Devil waits for his answer. After a moment of Peter’s silence, He nodded and pulled his hand back. “That’s okay.”
This, embarrassingly enough led to another round of sobs from Peter, as he started to hyperventilate again. “Hey, it’s okay Peter you’re okay”, the leather clad vigilante tried to reassure him, but it did little to stop his panic attack. “Okay, Peter, um… Name five things you can see.”
“I, um, uh, you, I see you. The ground, and, and, my, um, hands. That, uhm, puddle.” He took a deep breath and looked up, the blurriness receding. “That bird,” He says, spotting a pigeon on the ground a few feet behind them.
“Okay, that's good,” Daredevil says with a reassuring nod, seemingly less panicked. “Now four things you can hear.”
Peter nodded shakily, recognizing this as a grounding technique he learned in therapy years ago. “ I hear, um, your breathing, and, uh, sirens…” He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. “Your heartbeat, and… the baby crying down stairs”
“Three things you can feel”
“My suit,” He starts, feeling the smooth material. ‘The suit Tony made you’ He thinks, and he feels his breath stutter. Hoping Daredevil didn’t notice, he continued,”Um, the floor, and the, uhm, my web shooters.”
“You’re doing great, Spidey. Two things you smell.”
Peter inhaled, and received the familiar scent of New York City streets. “Sweat, and um, churros.”
“Okay. Can you look at me?”
He opened his eyes and realized he wasn’t crying anymore. He just felt tired. Making eye contact with the devil, Peter knew he would be incredibly embarrassed in the morning, but for now, he just wanted to sleep.
“ ‘M sorry” He mutters, shifting his weight to stand up. In one fluid movement, Daredevil stands and reaches out to help Peter up.
“Don’t be sorry.” The Devil orders, his usual ominous tone overshadowed by concern. “Do you have somewhere to stay tonight, kid?”
“I’ll be fine, Mr.Daredevil,” Peter says, wrapping his arms around himself. “And I’m not a kid”
“Spiderman, I’m not letting you stay out here all night, especially after a panic attack. Do you have anywhere to go?” Daredevil asks, and Peter barely suppresses a flinch.
Last time he had left so abruptly, he had fled straight back to his apartment and by the time he got there, Mr.Stark was already inside. He was laughing with Aunt May in the middle of the living room, as if he had done nothing wrong.
And he hadn’t, had he? Sure, he had pressed against Peters back, his landing on his hip, but Mr.Stark hadn’t touched him there. Nothing Mr.Stark did was inappropriate, and anyway, Peter never told him he was uncomfortable. He hadn’t expressed that the touch gave him the same heebie jeebies as the creepy janitor at midtown, or that Mr.Stark’s breath on his neck made him want to vomit up the bagel he had that morning.
“Kid?” Daredevil asked questioningly.
Realizing he still hadn’t answered Double D’s question, Peter rubbed the back of his neck and started nervously sputtering out excuses.
“Um, well I, I’ll figure something out, Mister Devil. Don't worry about me” He makes to leave when Daredevil stops him.
“Look, I just watched you have a panic attack on the roof. I’m not about to let go get yourself killed in an alley, Spiderman. You can come home with me.” His stern voice makes Peter look down, defeated. He didn’t have the energy to argue, not right now.
“Okay” He acquiesced, his arms falling uselessly at his sides.
Daredevil attempted a small smile, something Peter surely would have commented on had he not been too scared of upsetting him right now. He had already embarrassed himself enough for one night.
“Follow me?” The devil asks, and when Peter nodded his assent, They took off. Traipsing over the city with the other vigilante, Peter almost forgot why he was upset.
Eventually, they came to a stop on top of an apartment building, and Daredevil opened the roof access. They made their way to the Devils apartment in silence, Peter not wanting to bug him. Throwing open the door, he turned to Peter as he walked in.
“Where are the lights?” Peter asks, as the only thing illuminating the apartment was the neon billboard directly outside the window.
“The switch is to your left,” Daredevil said, and when Peter turned on the lights the first thing he saw was -
“Ahhh!” Peter said, covering his eyes with his hands. “What are you- Why did you take off your mask?”
“You’re already in my apartment,” Daredevil says, shrugging. “Might as well. My name’s Matt”
“Um, okay,” Peter says, feeling surprised, and kind of honored. Daredevil trusted him. Wow.
“Now go to sleep” Daredevil- Matt instructed, pointing to the couch.