Hamartia [Peter Parker]

Chapter 9 - 3am Vulnerability

Peter's eyes watch as his feet walk across the tiled floor of the tower, hearing the quiet sound of a TV playing from somewhere down the hallway, likely still playing from someone falling asleep and not making it to their room. He still knows this tower like the back of his hand, having spent so much time here and living here half the time. While, it's a little awkward and a little scary to be here, not quite feeling like he belongs anymore, there is almost this sense of comfort as he walks alone.

As far as he knows, no one is awake, or at least, awake and near him. It's been about three maybe four hours since he last saw Shiloh, since he last saw anyone besides Bruce and it's reaching half-past three now so of course, everyone should be asleep. Clint and Tony might be awake, the only ones awake somewhere but Clint's probably awake in his own room with Nat or he might be the one in the approaching living room and Tony would be down in the labs, working on new tech or trying to find a way to stabilize the extremis. But, here, walking through the halls, it's just Peter. It brings him back to nights when he'd sneak into Shiloh's room late at night.

The sneaking really became unnecessary as they got older as they didn't actually have a time for "lights out" anymore but it never stopped Peter from climbing the walls and crawling on the ceiling to avoid making noise and being seen just to get to her room. It always made her laugh and maybe that's why he always did it. From kids to college students, it just always made her laugh and after she was attacked by Doc Ock, it was one of the only things that really got her to laugh for awhile, especially in Peter's presence. But, either way, when Peter would get to her room, all they ever did was talk or turn on a movie, sharing a bag of gummy worms. Sometimes a little bit of tradition and routine is good, safe for memories

But, tonight isn't like those other nights. It's not Peter crawling on walls and the ceiling to split a bag of gummy candy. It's not getting caught by Tony who just questions why Peter was crawling on the ceiling when he could just walk. It's a night of hopeless steps with tired eyes and aching bones, heart in his stomach and broken trust. Tonight, is a whole new night of Peter walking down the hallway and catching a glimpse of Shiloh on the couch as he reaches the living room, her eyes on the screen, blue light illuminating her face.

He pauses, stops in his tracks as he sees her and he should probably keep walking to sleep off the night. She probably wants nothing to do with him anyway, not tonight. And it's late and he's had a hard day between getting shot and having to fight off the skeleton in his head. He's exhausted but Shiloh's still awake and that just doesn't seem right. But, the last he talked to her, she didn't trust him and it didn't go well so why would she want him around right now?

Maybe he shouldn't have stopped, should've just kept walking, pretend like he didn't see her. But seeing her awake at this hour, not in a lab or her room, it's a reflex for him to stop. After all of this time, it's still a reflex. If anyone deserves proper sleep, especially after tonight, it's Shiloh. But, despite Peter wanting to ask why she's still awake, this is her time so Peter starts walking, keeping his steps quiet but as he starts walking past, Shiloh catches sight of him, eyes flicking in his direction.