We Care About You
“You’re alive!” Peter yells as soon as he opens the door.
“You knew that I was alive,” she says, not surprised at all to see him, as she could hear him talking to Aunt May outside the door—who is now going to go see Stark.
“Yeah, but now you’re awake! For long periods of time! Sorry I couldn’t visit for a while. There was this cool guy who could electrocute people, and he was trying to take out the city’s power.”
“I heard. The city went dark for an hour.”
“I know! Electro was so cool! The guy just needed some attention, so, now I have to bake him a cake next week for a surprise birthday party. Now he’s in jail, but it’s the thought that counts, and he’s already making friends.”
“That is very nice of you, Peter.”
“If I can get Aunt May to not try to help. She can bake, but I want to do it this time. She’s too busy as it is. Oh! She’ll be in here later. She needed to talk to Mr. Stark.”
“What is wrong with your suit?”
“Oh. Electro zapped it, so, now May’s going to pretend to be calm while she’s flipping out.”
“Are you all right, Peter?”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired. But it was so cool! Electro just came and zapped me when I showed up, and the whole thing is on YouTube! I did this really cool kick I’ve been trying to get for weeks! Do you wanna see?”
Gretchen nods, as the gymnastics part of his job really appeal to her. She can flip and such, but she doesn’t usually need to.
Peter, however, does.
Quite a bit, judging by the video of the fight.
“Electro is so cool!” Peter finally says, sitting down, putting his phone in his pocket.
“Your fighting style is interesting, Peter.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“You should ground yourself more when you throw a punch. It would be safer for you, and you could hit harder.”
“I don’t want to hit harder! That could hurt the person.”
“If you do not want to hurt the assailant, perhaps you should learn to control your blows more, and consider the best possible ways to do so.”
“Black Widow’s been training me, and so has Cap. And Bucky.”
“Perhaps I could show you some of what I learned during my time in the Program. I know a few flips that could assist you. For instance, there is one that could have prevented you from being electrocuted.”
“Really? I was stuck between two walls that could barely fit me in between them. I couldn’t have flipped there if I tried.”
“It is a difficult move, but I am sure that Agent Romanoff would agree that you are capable. With training, of course.”
“I want to get better, but I haven’t been able to train much lately. School is killing me, crime’s been up, and the last few weeks have been insane.”
“I apologize. I realize that my absence caused some concern.”
“It’s totally fine! It’s not like you were doing anything super bad. It’s just that the Avengers couldn’t find you, and they can usually find anyone within a couple of days, tops. And that can freak out some people. You know, when someone you care about disappears like that.”
“You sound like you speak from experience.”
“I passed out in a dumpster after falling from three stories, and I woke up two days later in the med bay ‘cause they found me twelve hours after I fell. May was, uh, upset.”
“Yes, but she cares about you very much.”
“And we care about you! You’re totally awesome, and you’re nice, and it wasn’t your fault that you tried to kill Cap and stuff, but now you’re okay, and then you ran off, and Bucky couldn’t find you, and he’s the Winter Soldier! The guy’s got a metal arm, can punch through walls, and can track a rabbit for miles. I know that because of a villain who put explosives in collars and put them on bunnies, and then tried to blow up the forest. It was crazy, but Bucky tracked them, so, he should’ve been able to track you, and barely anyone slept until you were back, and then you almost died!”
Peter sucks in a breath, red-faced from the lack of oxygen.
“I mean, we care about you, and no one wants you to die.”
Gretchen changes the subject, processing everything.
“Thank you, Peter. I do know that everyone has visited since I was shot.”
She pauses, ignoring the fact that she wants to continue on with the conversation.
“Perhaps I could begin to train you after I am released, if you would like.”
“That would be awesome.”