Chapter 4
Peter stepped into his (very own private) bathroom and splashed his face a few times. If he weren't upset, he'd be in shock about the Letting, the cold water fall down his teary cheeks, mixing with the salty tears, Peter stared himself in the mirror. Adjectives ran through his mind as if someone else spoke them.
"Killer."
"Orphan."
"Useless."
"Shit." The owner of that voice was Peter's. Taking the liquid onto the tips of his fingers and putting it under his eyes, Peter took shaky breaths. He hated himself for breaking down in front of his mentor. His face always got so red when he cried. It was mortifying, to say the least. He looked like a newborn baby. That wasn't complimentary and he hated it so much. Peter splashed it on his wrists (Peter read it on the internet and it usually worked) and looked in the mirror. Barely and evidence of his breakdown. Peter nodded to himself. He grabbed his phone, sliding it into his back jeans pocket. He walked to the living room, tapping his fingers together.
Bucky was now on the couch, staring military straight ahead, ignoring Mr. Rogers who rolled his eyes. Mr. Rogers was doodling in a sketchbook, which was a weird sight to see. Captain America drawing his boyfriend(?) in a stickered sketchbook. The stickers were an American flag, obviously, the first he'd put on as it had worn edges, a red star, and a Stark Industries vinyl one that was obviously added by the Stark himself.
"Tony, I'm still looking into where that one planet Thor landed on, I've still been looking for him since Hela and I think he just dropped me off when I calmed. I just need your recent coordinates-" A familiar voice started. Could it be-? "Tony, who is this?" Making Peter 'eep' and swivel, the man, the legend, the brains of the entire world and someone Peter had made a thousand who-is-your-hero essays on over the years, Dr. Banner entered the room.
"Wh- you're- you're-" Peter breathed. He was breathless. Peter was going to die. He was gonna die. Holy shit. This was Bruce Banner. Dr. Banner. The man on the posters. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck."What are you... um, Doctor-"
"Wow, he was the same when he met me," Mr. Stark- well, Tony, said to Dr. Banner, who seemed indifferent to the whole conversation and slightly confused. "Kid, it's just Brucey. You do know who's sitting on that couch right?" Tony asked, placing his arm on the genius and leaning on him. Peter was starstruck and could barely move. Tony continued. "Captain America, Nazi killer, probably in every history book you own, helped stop World War 2, and his boyfriend the mass murderer. They're just, you know, sitting on the couch. Doing a crossword."
"You're Dr. Banner," Peter repeated, ignoring the last comment made by his mentor. Tony didn't understand, this was... Bruce Banner.
"Yeah, the Hulk-" Peter's (one of many) idols started. Who cared about the Hulk?! He was speaking to the man on the poster he stared at when he zoned out. Which wasn't often, he swore! He was very attentive!
"You have seven PhDs! You're the Dr. Banner!" Peter gasped. He had to get a photo. Tell Ned, MJ, and shove it in Flash's stupid ass face. He'd be so jealous. He gave the kid who knew BRUCE BANNER a black eye. Er, maybe not that last part. "There's a poster of you in my science room!"
Peter's idol's face turned to utter bewilderment. Fuck, Parker. Shut up. You're making everyone uncomfortable, Tony shouldn't have brought you here. "I'm on posters?"
"Kid, chill out," Tony interjected in most confusion. He never got used to Peter fanboying it all. To Tony, they were always just normal people. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing more, nothing less. Tony was friends with Bruce. Though they had their ups and downs, both with PTSD, they worked through it. Bruce knew what it was like during the middle of an anxiety attack and vice versa. They were there for each other most of the time. Most of the time. Bruce was traveling more now, obviously. He didn't live at the compound. Tony kind of wished he did. Brains to outweigh the brawn.
Sometimes he realized that his Iron Man suit just made him stronger. Physically. And he relied on it. Hell, he was making blueprints to implement it into his chest. Maybe Cap was right. Was he anything without the suit? Besides a snarky business owner?
"Er, Tones, what do I do? I've never had a fan before-" Brucey started. Peter couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or mad or what. Hopefully, he wasn't too bad, Peter really didn't want to make a bad first impression. Peter wanted to be nice and the last thing he wanted to do was make a bad first impression on Tony Stark's friend, especially Dr. Banner.
"You gotta get a snap, Bruce! Did I say it right, Pete? A snap?" Tony looked to the teenager, hopefully with a dopey grin on his face.
"Um, no, Mr. Stark-"
"What a roast." Tony pulled out his phone.
"Uh, no, that's not how you use that word-"
"Oh. What's the one I'm supposed to use? Wig snatched?"
"Please stop."
"Tea?"
"Mr. Stark."
"Okay, okay. You two, get together. Let me snap this picky pic."
"Please stop." Bruce joined in. That made Peter's heart skip like four hundred and twenty beats. Holy shit. Was he high? Pun intended? Peter grinned ear-to-ear and snapped the photo. Peter probably looked crazy with his black eye and tousled hair and sweatshirt, his overly happy grin and Dr. Banner probably uncomfortable, but he didn't care. Right now nothing mattered. He was at the compound with people he idolized for his entire life.
"Cap, get a photo of me and these two!" Tony called. Steve looked both confused and unwilling but he stood up anyway, taking the phone into his hand.
"Uh.." The hero showed obvious confusion. Tony cursed at him under his breath, hoping the minor couldn't hear him when in reality Bucky, who was on the couch, could probably hear him clearly. Tony always acted as if he wanted Peter to be a pure-speech child, but that never happened. One time the teen was making a prototype and something flew out onto his hand and cut his finger pretty nasty, and he yelled something... unfavorable... at it. Tony literally dropped his pen in surprise and then turned to confusion and turned to scold.
Tony adjusted his hands and showed him what to do. "Wait, this is the cameras nowadays? They're supposed to be giant-" Mr. Rogers started. He looked amazed by technology and in all honesty, Peter felt bad for him. It must be scared to have to come back into a whole new world and almost everyone you know is gone and you have to learn everything all over again.
"Yeah, yeah, old man, we get it. Just click the button and get a photo-" Tony started, but Steve pressed it and when it had flash, he gasped and it slept out of his big hands. Soaring to the ground, everything went into slow-mo. Peter lunged for the phone, stepping a foot out and getting low and catching it with his hand milliseconds before it broke into about a thousand pieces.
"Woah, that was... really fast." Dr. Banner uttered in the dead silence of the room. Did he just impress his favorite scientist? The gamma scientist?
"What the fuck?" Tony said rather loudly. Peter stepped back onto his feet, phone in hand. Peter's face burned hot seeing everyone's eyes on him- well, except Bucky. Some were of amazement, most of like... 'what the fuck? What a freak.' or something. Peter shifted his weight foot to foot. Tony's exclamation had what scared him. Didn't he know about his reflexes? The day they first met- he grabbed the web fluid with them. Even Mr. Rogers was surprised.
"Uh, I just have fast reflexes, I guess." Peter managed to say out of embarrassment. Did they know he was Spider-Man? Or to them, was he just some random intern that Tony had brought in? Peter burned red all the way to his ears.
"What the fuck?" Tony repeated louder. The silence hung in the air. The inside work of the tower whirred, clicked, and beeped. Tony looked in bewilderment as if he had forgotten the several times Peter had acted quickly in small emergencies.
Dr. Banner got the hint and grabbed Tony's shoulder, forcing him to come over and get the photo Peter desperately wanted but refused to speak up and ask for. "Okay, okay, Brucey! Don't go green on us!" He teased, poking the scientist's side roughly as if trying to make him 'go green'.
Steve gave Peter a glance and snapped the photo, this time not as it was falling and blurred. Tony took the phone from him quickly so he didn't drop it and probably ruin the entire moment. Shoving it into his pocket, he turned and clapped his hands. "I'll have FRIDAY order pizza."
"On it, boss." She hummed. She was always good at that. Kind, fast, and really smart. "I'll assume your regular?" She beeped. She had it remembered?! That's dedication. Peter liked FRIDAY and he heard that JARVIS was really good at his job too- even named after Tony's old butler who was really kind. JARVIS had his own stocking, but it looked like Tony made it as a little kid. Maybe for the real JARVIS. That'd be pretty cute if you asked Peter. But at the same time, when they met it was just turning the corner into December. But once he and his mentor were closer, he had once commented on Peter getting his own stocking that year.
"Double it!" Tony grinned, punching Mr. Rogers in the shoulder and winking at Peter. As if to scream in everyone's face that they had enhanced metabolism. It was really embarrassing for Peter to have enhanced metabolism and he felt really bad for May. When he first got his powers, May was switching jobs due to the loss of his uncle. They barely had any money after the funeral and Peter was a physical mess. From not eating to eating all the food in the house and puking it all up on accident. Peter then learned to mellow it out. Eat a good breakfast, get something at the subway, eat lunch at school, sandwich after school, snack until dinner, dinner, and then that was it. It took Peter months to tell Tony about it. "Now," Tony's clapping voice interrupted Peter's thoughts and making him jump. "What next? We lie down and watch a movie or something?" Tony picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
Of course, it was the news channel.
There was a photo of Spider-Man mid-air web that he had turned in to the newspaper not too long ago under a pseudonym for money. In big bold letters, it spoke about the fire. How Spider-Man had been off the streets for a while. That apparently intrigued the American Soldier, who quickly grabbed Tony's hand before he could change the channel to something that wouldn't make Peter want to run out of the room. "That's the guy from Germany. He's from Queens."
"Uh, yeah, he is... how did you know that?" Tony asked, trying to ease the subject out of it but failing miserably. Peter really like the fight, it made him feel like a real superhero but at the same time, he hated how it went down. He wished it had been more civil. Hah, civil. Tony called it the 'civil war' sometimes, a joke at Mr. Roger's war experience.
"Oh, yeah, I spoke to him. Strong kid. Held up that walkway on his own and kept talking. He sounded pretty young, Tony. How old was he?" Mr. Rogers really wanted a lot of information, didn't he? Well, this answered the fact that he didn't know the relation between Peter and the superhero.
"Er, well, I'm not exactly sure, but he's a youngster. Younger than you, for sure! He isn't 80-something like you are." Tony jabbed. The bell rang and Peter erupted.
"I'll get it!" He said quickly and started to the door. He opened it and the pizza boy was recording with his phone. The boy was cute hoping for a photo with an Avenger. Peter felt bad that he didn't suffice. He set the four pizzas on the table and pulled up a chair. Mr. Rogers was basically salivating at the mouth. Tony slid the pizza into his hungry hands as the tall man sat next to his boyfriend, who didn't seem as angry as he did before. He gave him a quick peck on the cheek, which launched them into banter. Peter got his own pizza, which he started to counter. "No, Mr. Stark, I'm okay-"
"Kiddo, I've seen you. You're both a growing boy and..." He shrugged. "..er, hungry a lot. Just take it." Tony shrugged. Peter was really opposed to Tony spending money on him. He didn't need to. Peter was fine on his own, he always had been. "Come on, Bambi, let's watch a movie."
"So, Tony, are you gonna ignore me again about my questions about the bug guy?" Mr. Rogers asked.
"Arachnid." Tony and Peter said at the same time, growing their attention. Peter and Tony sat together, Peter on the very end, uncomfortable being around all the others. The sun had long gone down.
"How old is he?" Shit. Tony, don't tell him. Please, Mr. Stark. Don't tell him the truth. Shit, Peter. Make something up! Like... like... that he was a lot older than Peter. Cooler. That's how Spider-Man felt to him. His cooler persona. He could talk to anyone he wants and not get berated for being a loser.
"I heard he's college-age," Peter said quickly. He glanced at everyone's faces hoping they'd agree. Tony nodded, shrugging. Steve gave them an odd look.
"Really? He sounded pretty young. Seems young, too. Ballzy. Especially with the whole fire predicament. Getting that kid killed." Steve went on. Tony could feel how uncomfortable Peter was at all of this. Peter kept bouncing his leg like he always did, anxious. Getting that kid killed. Yep, Peter, this is your fault and Captain America is lecturing you for it.
"Yeah, I heard that too." Bruce grabbed a plate, like a civilized person, unlike the rest of the boys who were eating right out of the box.
"Let's put on Star Wars!" Tony interrupted.
"You hate Star Wars." Mr. Rogers spat at Tony. Did Tony hate Star Wars?
"Uh, sir, no I don't. The science is stupid but my science nerd likes them, so I like them too."