Taking Hits | P. Parker

| 014 - Check Ups |

~
Pumpkin Gang
~

I shuffle around when we enter the room. It's not what I would expect Mr Starks Lab to look, I don't know. I just didn't expect it to look like this.

White walls, a counter with colorful beakers and perfectly kept belongings. Nothing thrown about.

Then it hits me. This must be Mr Banners lab, with the building being this big I bet that there could be multiple labs.

While I stand in the room looking around at the formulas laid out in near hand writing on papers, I had almost forgotten about the pain radiating off of my side. Key word: Almost.

As we walk through the lab I can point out some tools I have never seen before that have the signature Stark logo embedded onto them. I have never seen anything like them and if I were asked to try and use it I wouldn't even know where to start. 

Mr Stark leads me through the lab and to a small table that has notes thrown around it, some of them crumpled up while others sit in a neat stack. I sit down as Mr Stark starts to walk around the room, seemingly to jot be able to stand still.

I watch as he hums a tune before looking at some papers laid across one of the lab tables so I move my attention to the ones in front of me.

"You like it here?" Mr Stark asks out of the blue and I nod, forcing a smile onto my face as a twinge of sudden.

A few seconds later Miss Pepper and Mr Banner walk into the room, quietly talking to each other.

"You ok?" Miss Pepper asks looking between me and Mr Stark. "Be nice." She orders are him and I laugh a little.

"I was!" He says defensively, making me laugh a little harder under my breath and even Mr Banner is grinning at the conversation the two are having.

The check up goes pretty quick, thankfully. Mr Banner doesn't do anything that could expose me. All he does is check my weight, height and then my reflexes. He goes on to tell me that I have amazing reflexes for an average sixteen year old. He also goes on to tell Miss Pepper and Mr Stark who had been talking to each other that I am extremely underweight.

He moves to check on my lungs and my eyes widen because there is no way I will be able to hide the way I am breathing or the way I will cringe when the metal touches my shirt. He was going to find what Aunt Nat had done to me, unintentionally of course, and I don't want to have to explain myself.

"What's wrong?" Me Stark asks and I see that both of the adults have moved their attention to me.

"You ok?" Miss Pepper asks and I bite my tongue. "Oh, bathroom is down the hall." She says and I look at her thankful. She gives me a smile on return.

I smile at them once again and go out to the hall. I had been forcing myself to breath normally because I didn't want Mr Banner to think anything of my irregular breathing patterns. It was working fine, until I it started making the pain worse and worse.

I pant a little as I walk down the hall and run my hand against the wall for stability. I keep turning my head back waiting for someone to fly out the door and catch me, calling me out. The thought of that makes my head hurt and stomach turn because I don't want to be caught. While this doesn't feel like home it feels like somewhere I can get used to staying.

I find my way to the bathroom following Miss Peppers vague but helpful directions. Luckily for me, the hallways is like the one upstairs only with less doors.

I also find it slightly amusing that the door has the words 'restroom' labeled on it. I push the door, locking it behind me and sink to the floor trying to breath normally again. Or at least as normally as possible without pain.

I sit on the floor for a couple of minutes before getting up and leaning against the counter. I lift my shirt up again see that the bruises are filling in. The bruises are purple and black up and down my whole side but one spot, right on the bottom of my ribs, is extremely darker then the rest.

"Broken," I mumble to myself.

I, in a genius moment, touch the spot and tears rise in my eyes almost instantly. I wash my hands and take one last deep breath before walking out of the room again.

I look around as I walk and see that no one has come out to the hallway which to me is a relief. They are probably all still in the lab so as I walk back to the room at the end of the hall I peak through the glass that lines the top third of the walls. I don't want to go back to the lab so I keep wondering, keeping an eye on the lab doors. If someone were to come out of Mr Banners lab, they would see me aimlessly wondering around.

I mean, I probably should not be wondering around without their permission but I guess I have a reason. Well a half decent reason I suppose.

I turn around when I feel someone eyes on me from the end of the hallway. I see Aunt Nat and Clint looking at me from a room and I wave a little as a little hi, moving closer to him. They both smile back disappearing into the room so I do so as well. It's a gym of sorts.

"Hey Peter," Aunt Nat greets me, seemingly slightly surprised by me walking into the room. "Aren't you supposed to be with Banner getting a check up or something?" She asks and I smile innocently before looking down at the ground.

"Don't worry kid, we all know that Stark can be a pain in the," Clint grins but stops when Aunt Nat elbows him. "Sorry, sorry." He apologizes but the look on his face shows the opposite.

"Agreed," Aunt Nat mumbles, a little grin on her face as well. "Why you out here though?" She asks a second later and I look back at the bathroom door as an explanation.

"He has to use the bathroom, stop being such a mom Nat." Clint chuckles a little and she elbows him in the side again. "Ow," He complains but easily moves on.

"Come on, let's get you back to the lab." Aunt Nat smiles, offering me a hand that I hesitate on taking. As we walk away I see her look back at Clint and throw him a dirty look which is followed by a grin.

We walk down the hall and she leads me into the lab again where I see Mr Stark and Miss Pepper talking to Mr Banner. Mr Stark turns to see me and shoots me a smile before he goes back to talking to Mr Banner.

"Found this dude in the hall," Aunt Nat says when we enter the room. She looks down at me with a smile which I return.

"Thanks for bringing him back to us," Mr Stark smiles and Aunt Nat waves to me a little, letting go of my hand before walking out of the room. I watch hoping she will stay but she doesn't.

I internally die as I make my way over to Mr Stark, Mr Banner and Miss Pepper.

Thoughts rush through my mind as I sit quietly in the chair as Mr Stark talks to Mr Banner. Miss Pepper keeps looking at me and I tap my fingers on my thighs, trying to distract myself.

"Peter," Miss Pepper says lightly and I look up.

"I was just asking," Mr Banner asks looking at me and I shoot him a nervous smile. "How was the community home you came from?" He asks and I shrug. Mr Stark's face goes neutral and I sigh lightly.

Miss Pepper grabs a pen and piece of paper before handing both of them to me.

"It was under paid," Miss Pepper says as I write, my hand writing easily legible. "It wasn't horrible living there but it was definitely something else." She finishes and I look over to Mr Stark, a small smirk appearing on his face.

"Well, we can fix that."

~

Originally Written: 12/03/19
Republished / Rewritten: 10/17/20
Proofread By: Carly W.