The Stark Internship

Part 38

PETER

I cling to the wall outside the building, risking a brief look inside. He's hurt. I hurt Tony. Mr.Stark. My head burns.
I hear them talking about me. If I didn't know better, I'd think he sounded concerned. Worried. As if he cared about me.
Words echo in my head. And I wanted you to be better. You did good, Kid. Stay safe.
I close my eyes, shake my head. I don't know what's going on, why the things I remember don't feel right. I find my body reacting against my mind. Or maybe the other way around.
Tony's call to establish a parameter sharpens me up. The ringing in my head lessens a bit. I focus. I start swinging, knowing that Tony expects me to stay close. So I'll do anything but.
The words he spoke, and the way he said them. They leave a little remanence if doubt in my head. The events that play out in my head, how he was responsible for the murder of my aunt; it doesn't quite fit.
I land outside MJ's building before I even realise that's where I was heading.
I go straight to her window, knock on the glass. She opens it, after a brief expression of surprise.
'Peter, oh my God.' She says, hugging me tightly. She kisses me briefly and it rings a memory in my head. As if this isn't new, 'what are you doing here? Tony called and told me you were...that you...' She trails off, 'Peter why are you here?'
'I...the things I'm remembering...' I struggle to fit it into words, 'they don't seem right. But you do. You seem...untouched. I don't have anything to doubt about you.'
'Peter, what's going on?' She asks, taking my hand lightly, squeezing it a little.
'My aunt's dead.' I say, my voice shaking a little. But I maintain eye contact with her, 'I need you to tell me how. How she died.'
'Peter...' She says. I can tell she is desperately wanting me to back down. I don't.
'MJ, please. I need this. I need to know.' I say, holding her hands back firmly, 'please.'
At first I don't think she will. But then she sits on her bed and starts to speak. And she spares no details. She tells me what I did, and where Tony was, and for a while it looked as though May might have survived. But then she didn't.
And it all sounds so horribly right. My head feels at ease, no conflict on hearing this. It's what happened. But as soon as I feel that acceptance that what I remember is wrong, I feel a weight drop within me. My head bursts in a completely new way. Unbearably painful.
'Peter, what's wrong?' MJ asks, her hands on my cheeks to try get me to look at her. But I don't reply. I move quickly towards her window, and start swinging away before she even has time to register I'm gone.
And once again I have no clue where I'm going, until I'm back at the avengers compound.