The good thing about being a part of such a diverse team, was that there was always someone to talk to. Peter knew he could talk to any one of the Avengers about anything; but there eclectic individuals each had something different to offer when it came to consoling the boy. Tony was great if Peter wanted to sit down and rationalise things, talk through his emotions and troubles in a pragmatic way; where as Bruce was better if Peter wanted to just vent. Tony would always try and come up with an answer to his problems- which in one way was awesome and the man had gotten him out of more than a few difficult situations; but sometimes Peter didn’t want answers, he just wanted someone to listen, and that was where Bruce came in.
Then there was Clint; the archer was great at grounding Peter, keeping him calm and finding creative outlets for him. The man having two young sons had been great because he had an in-depth knowledge of Lego that Tony would just never had; and when he wasn’t joining in with Peter’s projects he’d create some of his own, their most recent being a handmade bow for the boy (which Tony didn’t approve of, but as Clint said ‘He lets you run around in a multimillion dollar, weaponized super suit that has an instant kill mode- but you can’t have a bow? He can go fuck himself’). But while they crafted, Clint would always find a way of drawing out what was wrong, making Peter talk even when he didn’t want to.
Nat was the same, except her expertise came in imparting her knowledge of martial arts whilst she slowly wiggled her way into the boy’s brain; making him reveal things that he didn’t necessarily want to- like that time he told her Flash’s most recent nickname for him. He hadn’t intended to tell anyone about the bullying, but the redheads advanced interrogation techniques had sneaked in there and stolen that information right out of his mouth. Though the various interpretations of tai chi and tai quan dao, were a form of mediation and the physical release of energy was helpful when Peter was down- sometimes it was too risky to ask Nat for help.
And Thor- well Thor would just distract Peter from his problems by making him laugh, through any means possible. The pair had spent many a night having gaming and movie binges that lasted way into the early hours of the morning; but then when it came to talking, Thor sometimes found it difficult to relate or have some..odd advice at times.
And then there was Steve. Steve was a hard one to deal with- in the beginning at least. He used to constantly try and force Peter to talk about his problems, even when he didn’t want to; and it had led to a lot of arguments and tension within the household, between both the adults as a group and Peter and Steve themselves. But after a long conversation about how Peter needed someone to turn to, who wouldn’t force him to talk and would just..be there- to distract him and pull him out of whatever headspace he was in, in a healthy and constructive way (sorry Thor but giving the kid a shit ton of sugar and caffeine then keeping him up until three in the morning was not healthy or constructive); and Steve devised the perfect way to do that. Something that he could offer but the rest of the Avengers couldn’t- at least to the right standard.
Running.
It was a pastime they both enjoyed anyway, Peter being a keen runner even before the bite as it was the only sport he was ever good at. Steve was the only one who could actually keep up with Peter, often being able to surpass him during sprints (though the teen had him beat during stamina tests); it had become a routine for them to run together every morning before breakfast anyway, Tony insisting the boy was like a puppy that needed to be walked to avoid going stir crazy- which honestly wasn’t an unfair analogy. And it was becoming kind of a game now, a friendly competition to see who could beat one another’s times; encouraging both of them in an athletic way but it was also a bonding experience.
And what better way to bond than use their shared hobby as a coping mechanism?
So Steve proposed, whenever the boy was feeling overwhelmed and needed a break; be that from school, his mentor and his crazy workload, or just from being stuck in the house- he could go to him at anytime, no questions asked.
Peter has been rather skeptical at first, since all the adults seemed to be so eager to pry information out of him; which yes, he recognised was a good thing, it meant they cared- but sometimes he didn’t want to talk. And talking wasn’t a good thing. Sometimes opening up wounds before they healed was even more damaging- but Steve understood that. Hell, it seemed he was the only one who understood that, and on his bad days Peter was extremely grateful.
Especially on bad days such as this. He hadn’t even bothered going down to the lab after school, he went straight to his room and changed into his running gear; before texting Tony to say he needed a time out and texting Steve to see if he was free. The blond said that he was and Peter made his way to the man’s office.
“Hey sport, come on in.” Steve said automatically, not looking up at first when Peter’s small frame filled his doorway.
“A-actually Steve, I was wondering if we could go out..” Peter mumbled sheepishly, though there was a hint of pleading in his tone.
Steve looked up, recognising that voice. He noted the running clothes and red rimmed eyes and stood up. “Give me five minutes bud, I’ll get changed.”
“Are you sure? You d-don’t have to I know you’re busy-“
“Stop that. We’ve talked about this.” Steve chided gently, patting the boy on the shoulder as he went past. The boy would never ask for help and when he did it was then a fight to get him to accept it; like he had just attempted to, he’d try and go back on himself and insist that he was fine, and that would be when one of the adults would find him curled up in a ball in his room crying- and Steve was not about to let that happen today. “You’re not a burden and I don’t mind- if I did I wouldn’t do it. Yes I’m busy but not busy enough that your needs don’t come first- so go grab our water bottles from the cooler and I’ll meet you at the elevator in t minus three minutes.”
“Yes sir.” Peter nodded militantly, though he sniffled slightly, and Steve could tell that the boy had already been crying. God it was going to be hard not to try and ask what was wrong- but maybe Peter would open up after their run. Even though the agreement was on a ‘no questions asked’ basis, Steve noticed that if he didn’t push, Peter was more likely to talk to him willingly if he allowed him that space. Like any other teenager, if Peter thought it was his idea he was more likely to do it, and Steve just hoped that would be the case this time.
As promised, Steve changed quickly and met the boy at the elevator and they headed out; taking their usual route. It took them about an hour to complete the circuit, and they alternated between jogging (which would be sprinting for anyone else but for the superhumans it was comfortable) and chatting to one another, and timing one another’s sprints- the latter often turning into a competition.
Well at least that’s what they usually did- but today Peter must have been really upset because the second Steve gave the nod that it was okay he took off sprinting full pelt.
And oh boy did he need it. As soon as his feet hit the ground Peter immediately started feeling the days stresses melting away; going from his brain, out into his limbs and back into the ground with every step he took. It was freeing and that familiar runner's high helped clear his head of any negative thoughts; he was finally able to focus on the positives from that day and flip the negatives around to make them positive.
While Peter was working through his problems Steve initially struggled to catch up- which he had to admit was slightly embarrassing. He prided himself on being the fastest Avenger (Pietro didn’t count, okay?) and being beaten by a teenager was slightly damaging to his ego- not that he really had one, he was a pretty humble guy, but still. It’s fine, he could blame it on not having warmed up first.
“Slow down bud.” Steve huffed out breathlessly. Not only did he want a chance to catch up, he couldn’t have the boy running off too far ahead of him, it wasn’t safe. It was protocol for them to never go anywhere alone, even if it was in the middle of the day in the city; Peter was a young boy who could have just been spotted with one of the Avengers, that made him a target for some unsavoury things. “Safety in numbers.”
“S-Sorry.” Peter panted; thankfully for Steve the boy had reached his sprinting limit for that moment, after forty five minutes of chasing him around. They’d already gone all the way around their usual route thanks to Peter running hell for leather the entire way instead of pacing himself. “Got carried away.”
“You’re fine kiddo.” Steve managed to huff out. “Let’s take a rest break for a second yeah?”
Peter nodded and followed Steve to the side of the path where they both sat on a curb and drank from their water bottles; Peter downing almost all of his in one go before pulling his mouth away and gasping desperately for air.
Steve couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. “Thirsty?”
Peter laughed sheepishly before downing the rest of the bottle. “Yeah, just a bit.”
“Here kid.” Steve shook his head with a laugh and handed his own bottle to the boy.
“No no, it’s yours I’m-“
“Gonna dehydrated.” Steve said matter of factly. “It’s hot and I know you didn’t drink anything at school, so take it.”
Peter sighed but obliged as he knew full well that Steve wouldn’t stop until he did so. He took a few cautionary sips from his bottle, then taking a few larger gulps when Steve shot him a look. “Good boy. So, are you tuckered out yet or do you still have some thinking to do?”
“I don’t..I don’t wanna go home yet..” Peter admitted, though he looked at the ground and avoided eye contact. “Mr. Stark is gonna ask why I went out with you before I saw him and he’ll..well you know..”
“Make you talk?” Steve asked and Peter nodded.
“I don’t mind..I know I gotta just- just not yet..if that’s okay I mean-“
“Of course it’s okay, sport.” Steve smiled reassuringly. “I can do this all day.”
Peter snorted a small laugh before standing up. “Then what’re you waiting for old man?”
“A young man to give me a head start.” The blond smirked.
“Huh?” Peter asked genuinely- as Steve suddenly sprinted off without him just as he realised what he’d said. “Hey! No fair!”
But of course Peter wasn’t genuinely miffed and he caught up to Steve almost immediately. They resumed jogging next to one another for a while, settling into their usual relay routine; though gradually Peter started to slow down a lot, and it wasn’t because he was getting tired. No, the running had just sped up how already insanely fast metabolism and he’d just consumed a lot of water. That and what little liquids he had consumed during the day had been highly caffeinated and concentrated; so his bladder was more than a little irritated and was happy to use the water Peter had just drank to flush itself out. Only problem was, they were still a ways from the tower, having circled back on themselves and Peter was already feeling more full than what could be deemed comfortable.
But he couldn’t exactly say anything midrun and he figured if he stayed quiet about his plight it would mean they’d get through their run and home quicker; which he wanted- well, his bladder did anyway- even if he wasn’t emotionally prepared to go home he was certainly ready to physically. So he tried to push his need to pee to the back of his mind, focus on his technique and keeping up with Steve.
However that proved difficult, because through the blond had insisted they pace themselves he was consistently running far ahead from the teenager; and Peter was struggling to keep up and keep his bladder in check at the same time. It was rather difficult to clench his kegel muscles when they were being put under the strain of gravity every time his feet his the ground; and the faster he went the more his bladder was jostled, sending spikes of desperation shooting through him.
So he ended up falling behind, way behind, because he had to slow down. He’d almost ended up leaking at one point and stopped in his tracks completely; he managed to restart his run when Steve glanced back at him but that had been disastrous, causing the leak he’d been trying to avoid to shoot out and dampen his underwear. He cringed despite himself but luckily Steve didn’t see his facial expression.
“Come on slow coach!” The blond called back teasingly, but in a merry way not a mean one.
Peter couldn’t bring himself to reply, all the energy it would’ve taken to use his vocal chords was being used to manipulate the muscles in his abdomen. He just made an effort to speed up, though he did have to grab himself at one point as another leak threatened to escape him.
Steve slowed his pace at that point, back to a jog as opposed to a sprint; both because he was pacing himself and he was trying to give the boy an opportunity to catch up. But he noticed Peter was considerably slower than usual, and he knew the boy wasn’t tired as they’d been on much longer more intensive endurance runs than this. Physically it should have been a breeze for the boy but Peter was running slower than molasses in the middle of winter (oh god- Bucky and his stupid southern sayings getting stuck in Steve’s head-). Just as Steve was about to ask what was wrong Peter stopped entirely and bent forward, momentarily grabbing his stomach.
For a scary second Steve thought he was about to be sick but then he noticed the boy bouncing on his toes and clenching his thighs together. Oh.
Peter ‘covered up’ the action by pretending to mess with his shoelaces- but the action seemed to only worsen things; as he crouched down his face quickly contorted and he was forced to stand bolt upright again, crossing one leg over the other. He went wide eyed for a second before continuing to run, this time past Steve as the man had been waiting for him.
The blond didn’t get a chance to ask if he was alright as the teen took off, but he did manage to keep Peter beside him for the remainder of their jog; which ended up being shorter than the teen had been expecting. Which was both a blessing and a curse.
Steve took the lead ever so slightly and insta did continuing their path through the park like they usually did, he suddenly veered off; going directly through t as opposed to the quicker way around. Peter cringed, why now of all days did Steve decide to take the longer route home? Oh wait yeah, it was Peter who said he didn’t want to go back yet, Steve probably just figured he was helping. Which he was just not in a way that helped Peter’s bladder situation- which was getting dire.
When he’d crouched down to ‘retie his shoe’ he’d ended up peeing- and it wasn’t a small little leak that lasted a second; he’s lost control for at least five seconds, to the point he felt it start to run down the inside of his shorts and a few drips even fell onto the sidewalk. Now with every step he felt another leak slip out and he was just glad he’d elected to wear his black basketball shorts that day. When he glanced down at himself, the shiny fabric barely showed a stain at all; the only way someone would be able to tell was if they were looking- and hey, if they were looking at a fifteen year olds crotch they were the one with a problem.
But even if people couldn’t see the stain on his pants, they’d certainly see the puddle he was about to make. He could feel his resolve slipping and at this rate there was no way he’d make it back home, not with the detour they were taking. Images of a wet trial behind him as he ran down the sidewalk flashed through his mind and it was enough to make him feel physically sick; that would be great, if people noticed some random kid pissing himself as he ran and then saw that said kid was with Steve fucking Rogers- that would just be great for everyone.
However, the path they were running on quickly turned to grass as Steve cut across the field to get- well to wherever he was leading Peter to. The man was too far ahead for him to call out and ask, not that he’d yell in a public space anyway. Still it would be nice to know where he was going when he inevitability wet himself.
Steve was oblivious to just how bad the kid was behind him. He only noticed that he should have stopped sooner when he’d already skidded to a halt outside the public park restrooms; Peter had trailed behind him by at least thirty yards and he felt bad for not slowing down or noticing. Still, they’d made it to the bathrooms so Steve could breathe a sigh of relief.
Except Peter wouldn’t be sharing that sigh of relief; at least not in the same way. Because even though the boy now understood why Steve had led him astray- and was grateful- it was too late. Seeing the little white building had been too much for his bladder and the flood gates opened. While he was still running no less and it felt disgusting. The transparent liquid wasn’t absorbed at all by the water resistant fabric he was wearing on his lower half and instead ran straight down his legs, onto the ground and into his shoes. Every step closer to the appropriate place to relieve himself only forced his bladder to pulsate and make the liquid gush out of him even faster; until there was nothing left.
He could have cried, he probably would have cried if he wasn’t so shell shocked by what was happening. He was wetting himself in broad daylight and- and no one was paying any attention. Now don’t get him wrong, he didn’t want anyone to notice, far from it; but he had thought at least one person would gawk at a full grown teenager pissing himself not twenty yards form a public restroom. Even though he knew it wasn’t uncommon for runners to have accidents (Tony had told him some stories) he still figures it was a spectacle for most people to witness.
But when he dared to glance down he noticed that well, you couldn’t really tell what had just happened. Sure from as close as he was to himself, and staring at intently as he was to try and assess the damage, there was a light stain to his shorts and socks- but other than that it was nearly impossible to tell. There was some wetness in his legs but that could have been chalked up to sweat, and he’d released most of his bladder into the grass so there wasn’t even a puddle left behind as evidence.
Peter’s face was still an unruly shade of red and there were still tears of embarrassment prickling in his eyes; but his blond chaperone misinterpreted this completely. He just thought Peter was embarrassed that he’s noticed his little pee dance, so when the kid walked over to him he was very quick to pretend he was the one in need of a break. “Sorry kiddo, didn’t mean to make you stop, I forgot to go before we left.”
Peter blinked in absolute surprise (which once again, Steve misinterpreted). Steve hadn’t..he hadn’t noticed that Peter..holy shit. “It’s o-o-okay, Mr. Rogers, I gotta go too.”
Steve nodded and ducked inside one of the single use rooms, intent on waiting until Peter had ‘relieved himself’ before stepping back out. He was proud of Peter for verbally saying he had to go, though little did he know the child had said so a little too late.
Peter used the time in the bathroom to try and wring out his underwear and dry off his legs as best he could; using paper towels and the hand drier. It wasn’t the best clean up plan but it would have to do until he got back to the tower. He was still dumbfounded that he’d essentially just gotten away with wetting himself; he certainly didn’t intend to make a habit of it, but it was still incredibly novel and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.
He opted with the former because, well, he’d done enough crying for that day; and despite the horrifically embarrassing conclusion, Steve running with him had helped clear his head of most of the bad stuff. It was still awful, he was still going to lay awake that night thinking about it and driving himself crazy, but at least no one else had to witness it; least of all Steve. He’d have been too ashamed to go running with the man again if he’d seen that and he needed those runs together, they were so therapeutic. Thankfully his stupid little bladder had been kind enough not to ruin this particular thing for him like it had ruined most of his other favourite activities. Nope, this could stay as Peter’s little secret, he was content with that.
By the time Peter exited the stall Steve was waiting for him, casually leaning against a nearby tree. “You all good?”
“Uh huh.” Peter swallowed, not fully trusting his voice not to betray him.
Though he was under the illusion that Peter had made it to the bathroom, Steve could tell that the boy was slightly frazzled; or at the very least needed a moment or collect himself after that moment of desperation- understandable. So rather than resuming their jog Steve started walking in their direction of the tower. “Do you feel better bud?”
“Oh, uh, yeah sorry I drank too much.” Peter apologised laughing nervously.
“I meant you being upset earlier but I’m glad that’s taken care of too.” Steve chuckled as Peter’s face turned bright red.
“Oh! I uh- yeah I do feel better in- in that way too.”
“Good. Did you wanna talk about what had you upset in the first place or should I leave it up to Tony to talk your ear off?”
Peter let out a small laugh at that. He was considering opening up to Steve; but a conversation meant they’d be walking back instead of running, and he for one was in desperate need to a change of clothes, so he’d rather get back as soon as possible. “Nah, I’m good.”
“You sure?” Steve asked tentatively, trying his best not to pry though he really, really wanted to.
“Yup.” Peter answers shortly, politely yet firmly shutting the conversation down.
As much as he was disappointed, Steve respected the boys right to keep things to himself. So long as he’d helped in some way, which Peter had confirmed he had, he was happy. Instead of dwelling on the subject, he decided they better head back; the kid seemed to be getting antsy again the way he was shifting around. “Race you back?”
“You bet ya.” Peter smirked, and this time he got the headstart.