“Okay, tough guy,” May laughed as she turned to leave his room. “Get some rest, I’ll call you when dinner gets here, okay?”
“Thanks, May,” he grinned at her retreating back, knowing she’d order his favorite and insist she was suddenly in the mood for a sci-fi film fest tonight. And to top it all off, he had his new gear from Mr. Stark who was proud of him.
Holy shit he’d fought with the Avengers! He’d met The Vision and War Machine and seen both armors up close! He so wished he could geek out about it with Ned!
As if summoned by his very thoughts his phone chimed with a text notification from his best friend.
~Dude have you seen the news?~ Peter frowned at the question and flipped open his news app instead of replying.
He nearly crushed his phone in horror at what he was seeing.
He had alerts set for any mention of The Avengers, Iron-Man, Tony Stark, and of course Spider-Man. The trending news referenced them all.
Breaking News! New Video emerges from The Avengers Civil War!
He clicked an article with an imbedded video with suddenly shaky hands.
Apparently Zemo had been filming. Had set a time release of a bunker’s security cameras to post to the numerous video sharing sites world wide.
Images may be distressing to some viewers. Viewer discretion advised.
He had to click the video itself and agree that he was willing to view sensitive content.
And fuck. Sensitive didn’t cover it.
He saw the Murder of Howard and Maria Stark. He saw Tony see it. Saw the pain and horror dawn in the eyes of his hero. Had to drop his phone and run to the bathroom to be sick.
Then May was there, one hand on his shoulder, fingers of her other hand combing through his hair soothingly.
“Peter, baby? What’s wrong? Is it your head? Is there any chance you have a concussion?” she sounded so far away, sounded so scared but like she was trying to hide it.
He was shaking, gripping the sides of the toilet with suddenly clammy hands. “Tony-Murder, not an accident…May” then he was crying and she was kneeling in front of him holding him to her chest the way she always had when he was younger and so upset.
“Okay, baby, okay.” She soothed him, but he could tell she didn’t know what he was talking about. “Tony, May, Tony.” He was careful not to squeeze her too tight, unwilling to hurt her even accidentally.
“Okay sweetie,” she sat back and stood to wet a washcloth and gently wiped his face with cool water. “Did you fall asleep? Was it a bad dream?” she was babying him the way she had after Ben died, but for once he didn’t mind.
He leaned his head against the wall. And took a shaky breath, “May, his parents were murdered and…and there was a video! And he saw It happen!” his voice cracked as he said it.
Blood drained from her face and she pressed her lips into a thin line, she reached for his hand and held it in a surprisingly tight grip.
“Okay, okay,” she cleared her throat. “Let’s find out what’s going on.”
~~
So they sat side by side on the couch where he’d first seen Tony Stark talking to May and they watched the news.
And saw what Peter had missed when he threw down his phone.
“Did you know?”
“I didn’t know it was him.”
“Don’t bull**** me Rogers, Did You Know?”
“Yes.”
May gasped and flinched when Tony hit Ste-hit Rogers. Peter clutched her hand and sat still, frozen in horror.
Then it got worse-so much worse.
The fight wound through the base and turned vicious.
“It wasn’t him!”
But it was. They had all seen it. Had seen Howard beg for his wife’s life only to be killed by a man with the face of a friend.
“I don’t care. He killed my Mom.”
May closed her eyes at that, tears streaming down her face. Peter wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they pressed together side by side.
“He’s my friend.”
“So was I.”
The mask was down; hiding Tony’s face, but the vulnerability in his voice rocked Peter to the core.
Then it turned savage. Two on one until Rogers smashed the Iron-Man helmet off and then there was Tony. Flat on his back, bruised and broken as Capt- as Rogers raised his shield once more and changed its trajectory at the last moment to crush the Arc Reactor instead of Tony’s head.
May jerked forward and hid her face in her hands, unable to watch as he brought the shield down. But Peter couldn’t look away for even a second.
“You don’t deserve that Shield! My father made that Shield!”
Rogers paused like he was considering that. Like there was anything to consider.
Then he dropped it with a clang- like it meant nothing. Like Howard and Tony meant nothing. And left without sparing his former teammate a glance.
One arm around his best friend. The murderer. Who had been at it long Before Vienna and Bucharest. Possibly since he went ‘missing’ during the war!
Had he defected to join HYDRA? How was he still alive? Did he have a super soldier serum too? How long had Capt- had Rogers known? Was he complicit in Barnes’ crimes?
The news anchor cut in asking much the same questions that were running through Peter’s mind. But there were no answers forthcoming.
Rogers and Barnes were still fugitives from the law and Peter hadn’t seen Tony since Germany, since Happy brought him back to New York and told him Mr. Stark was proud of him and that he’d delivered something for him earlier.
May reached for the remote and turned the television off. The room fell into a terrible silence.
“I thought they were friends,” Peter said softly. “But… I wouldn’t treat an enemy like that. I wouldn’t treat anyone like that.”
“That’s because you’re a good boy, Peter. And you’re growing into a fine young man,” May said quietly, voice trembling. “You’re nothing like Ca-Steve Rogers. You’re better than that, better than him.”
Peter stiffened at her words because he wasn’t better. At least not as a hero. If he was, Peter would have stopped him at the airport before Rogers and his team had the chance to hurt War Machine and Tony.
The guilt tore through him like a wildfire. He would never be good enough.
“But I’m not, May. I’m not,” then the truth was spilling out of him in a rush of words and tears and terrible memories. And May, May just sat in shock eyes wide, mouth open, hands clenched in her lap.
He saw her remember the news footage from the airport then she leapt to her feet and buried her hands in her hair.
“Steve from Brooklyn?!” he flinched at her tone. “If you’re…!!” she cut herself off, knowing the neighbors could hear her when she yelled and not wanting to out his secret.
Her voice dropped to an enraged whisper. “Are you kidding me, Peter?! You’re saying Captain America gave you that black eye?!”she hissed angrily, looming over him. “He, oh my god he nearly killed you!” she was back to screaming now but her ire seemed focused on Steve Rogers.
“And Ton- that mentor of yours took you into that situation?!”
“He didn’t think it would turn out that way! They’re a team they’re friends!” Peter said without thinking. He and May both flinched at the reminder of the terrible footage they’d seen. “I mean, I thought they were. I was supposed to stay back and web them up but I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to be a hero!”
May sighed heavily and paced back and for long minutes. “Tell me everything. From the beginning.”
~~
By the time Peter had finished filling May in on his secret life and his reasons for doing it- which had made her eyes go soft and damp. Dinner was cold in its containers but neither of them was hungry.
“Tony should have told me. You should have told me.” She said sternly. “Before this goes any further, I need to speak to him about this internship and his plans for you and what all this means. Do you understand?”
Peter had been expecting that, or even her forbidding him from continuing, though he wasn’t sure what he’d do if she did. “Yes, May. But…maybe now isn’t a good time..?”
May nodded but didn’t say anything for a while. “It’s hard for me to stay angry with him after seeing that. God when I think of how Ben always looked up to Captain America…” she faded out softly.
Peter fidgeted nervously, not sure how to say what was on his mind. “I don’t know what I would do if I found out it wasn’t an accident, that my parents had been murdered and one of the Decathalon guys knew and didn’t say anything.”
May nodded and reached across the table to twine their fingers together. “I know, baby. I know you always felt a kinship to Tony because of how you both lost your parents. I always thought it was sweet.” She smiled sadly. “But you’re right, I can’t imagine how I’d feel if…Kathy, or Jean knew who Ben’s killer was and helped him escape justice this whole time because they were friends.” She shook her sadly head as she spoke. “I can’t say I’d have reacted any differently than Tony did. Hell, I might have done a lot worse.”
“Me too,” Peter admitted sadly. “I just wish I knew he was okay. I wish there was something I could do for him.”
“Maybe there is? You must have a contact number for your internship, right? And what about Happy? The guy who dropped off your supplies? Can you get in touch with him?”
“Maybe, I could at least try, right?”
“Couldn’t hurt,” she agreed with a sad smile. “Come on, let’s reheat dinner and zone out for a while. It’s been a big day.”
It really had been. And now with his secret out and May on his side-she would always be on his side-he felt better about being Spider-Man and Peter Parker.
~~
~~
“Hey Happy, Its Peter it’s Spider-Man. I uh, watched the news, the videos you know? And um I just wanted to check in and see if Mr. Stark is okay and if Colonel Rhodes is alright? And I hope they’re fine. I told my aunt everything like Mr. Stark asked ah I’m pretty sure she put a hit out on Captain Amercia.
That was a joke. Um. She wants to meet when he’s better to talk about things… but only if he’s free you know?
Ahh. Just pass this on if you can? And tell him I’m sorry for everything at the airport. If I could have stopped them none of that would have happened. I promise to do better next time. I swear. I mean if he still wants to work with me or whatever. Thanks again for everything. Bye.”
~~
~~
“Hey kid, I heard you were worried about me. Just wanted to let you know that Rhodey and I are fine and remind you that you did a great job at the airport. None of that-not one part of it was your fault, okay? You were fantastic and I need you on my team now more than ever.
I’m sorry you had to see those videos, we can talk more about them in person. Good job telling your aunt, I’m happy to meet with her anytime. We’ll set something up. I’ll see you soon. Keep up the good work, Underroos."