The Black And The Blue (All That It Takes Out Of You)

Oh David, David (Crawl Up From Hell)

At least May is happy. The most happy she has been in a while, actually.

Peter tries not to think too hard about that.

After Ben, it's less than she deserves. More than Peter can give her, it seems.

Shaking his head, Peter sets the now melted ice bag on his desk, grabbing his phone from his pocket as it buzzes. Clicking it on, a text message illuminates his face in a hue of artificial white light.

Dad: Hey kiddo, you still coming over tonight?

Barely holding back a shit-eating grin, Peter types back a quick "definitely, be there in a few!" before grabbing his shoes and slipping them on, hissing in pain as he leans down to tie the laces.

Walking out into the hallway, the boy had just made it past the bathroom door when a hand grabs his arm.

The grip is tight, dull nails digging into his skin and the spiderling freezes, blood going cold.

"Where you heading off to, boy?" David's voice is slurred, his breath reeking of alcohol and Peter has to resist the urge to flinch away from the smell. "Not gonna go see that Tony Stark again, are you?"

Peter feels his heart speed up at the mention of the billionaire. David didn't keep his hatred for Tony a secret, far from it. Any chance he gets, the Doctor trash talks the man Peter had just began to call "Dad" and anything related to the man.

The one time Peter had spoken up, the one time he had questioned David's half-drunk ramblings during a night rant when May was working late, the man had hit him with a belt.

It was only once though. Peter could tell that David was extra stressed– most likely something from work– and had gone too far. The man himself, after that, had been more distant.

Peter suspects that the reason is guilt, but he can't know for sure with David.

The hitting stopped for a while after that, especially when May was home.

David was a perfect picture of "fatherly interest" then. Ruffled Peter's hair and everything.

The spiderling had to use every ounce of self-control to not flinch away.

Do it for, May. He makes her happy. Do it for her.

The hardest part, however, wasn't taking the pain and the nasty words spit in his face.

No, the hardest part was having to face Tony afterwards.

Suddenly, David shakes his arm and Peter gets thrown back to the present, his eyes watering as the man's grip tightens even more, alighting a pained hiss from the boy.

"Not gonna answer me, then?" The Doctor sneers. "Go then. See your little superhero and do whatever sciencey shit you two do. I'm surprised he actually wants you there, to be honest. At least Stark has something to offer, but you– you don't have anything to give him."

Peter tries not to believe it, but some small part of him does. Some tiny portion of his brain commits these foul words to memory and plays it over and over like a broken record.

Pathetic.

Shoving Peter away with a small scoff, David staggers backwards. His dark eyes study the young boy with barely held back disgust.

Then the door to the apartment swings open and the man straightens up, an overly cheerful grin lighting up his once twisted features.

"Boys? You guys hom–" May's voice flows into the room, cutting off abruptly as she rounds the corner, catching sight of both Peter and David. "Oh good! I was hoping you two were still here."