𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐍 ⚡

𝚇𝙸

"What is the cake for, Stark?" Thor asked as he lazily munched on a stale Pop-Tart.

"Peter's birthday," Tony muttered as he iced the finishing touches. With a flick of his hand and a quick spin of the cake, Tony grinned in triumph. It had taken him 3 hours to make and he hoped to God that Peter would like it. 

"Oh, is it today?" Thor inquired as he sat down at the breakfast island. His eyes shone as he observed the intricate detail that Tony put into the cake.

"Yeah," Tony said with a smile on his face. Thor furrowed his eyebrows as he wondered why the Man of Spiders didn't inform him of such an auspicious day. Nevertheless, Thor admired Tony's dedication to make the kid happy, which was something Thor could never do for his own child. Thor decided to speak up.

"You know, Stark,"

"Yeah?"

"You're a great father..."

A pause.

"...Thanks."

~~~

Peter grumbled as he walked home from Ned's house in the rain. Peter knew today was too good to be true. For once, he wanted a perfect birthday. 

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic... It was just rain after all, at least there was no random super villain after him. 

In his excitement to go over to Ned's house for a special birthday lunch, he forgot to pack an umbrella. Peter grumbled in despair, his happy mood had long since gone. 

He finally made it to the bus stop. With a hood over his head, he was unaware of his surroundings. He came to a stop and shivered as the rain poured down on him. The constant pressure of each individual rain drop and the collective weight of it all hung onto Peter in a gloomy manner.

But suddenly, it stopped. 

Peter looked up and saw a large black umbrella over his head. He softly smiled and turned around to thank the kind stranger. Before Peter could move an inch, the stranger spoke and uttered the two words that would haunt Peter for the rest of his life.

"Found you..."

~~~

"Shouldn't Peter be home by now?" Natasha asked Tony as she adjusted her party hat.

Tony began to pace around the room. A finger was attached to his chin as he thought of Peter's whereabouts.

"He probably wanted to stay at Ned's for a bit longer," Bruce reassured Tony as the rest of the Avengers nodded in agreement. 

Thor was sitting in the corner blowing on a kazoo. It felt too much like everyone was celebrating his son's birthday for his liking. He was still worried for the young Man of Spiders. Thor had a bad feeling and those were almost never wrong.

From almost nowhere, a distress call – that somehow wasn't any louder than Tony's own heartbeat – went off.

~~~

"Samael Stein..." Peter breathed out in shock. 

Samael flipped out a knife and pressed the sharp end against Peter's neck. Peter, by then, had already turned on a distress signal from his watch that Tony had specially designed for him months in advance. 

Samael used his upper hand to slowly back the both of them into the alleyway, out of sight from any potential witnesses.

Peter shakily put his hands up. He had an incessant need to gulp in fear, but was stopped by the sharp object obstructing his Adam's apple. It was excruciating. Peter knew he could fight back, but yet he didn't want to. He wanted to understand Samael; he wanted to pry his motives out of his cold and disturbed brain. 

"You took everything from me!" Samael shouted in agony. His voice cracked and his face shook in irate, unsolved anger. 

Peter trembled. "Wha-"

"I had a job, friends, and a hobby that would keep me happy. Keep me alive. Without it, I'm nothing."

"You coped with your depression, by killing people?" Peter squeaked out in small stutters. 

"Shut up! I'm not depressed!" Samael denied. Peter internally shook his head at his enemy's own indecisiveness. 

Peter tsked. "So your plan is to slit my throat and leave me here?"

Samael cackled, his mouth stretched into a wide grin that should only belong to the Cheshire cat.

"No, young man. My plan is to bring you to the brink of death. To watch as you take months to fight for your life, and once you finally have... Well..." Samael smirked as he pressed the knife deeper into Peter's neck to emphasize his point. 

Peter wasn't having it. 

Using his strength, Peter pushed Samael's hand away from his neck and kicked him in the stomach – the action pushing Samael backwards. Samael growled as he lunged with the knife, swiping in clear and precise movements. If it wasn't for Peter's spidey sense, his head would have been chopped clean off. 

Peter flipped over Samael and drop kicked him in the back. As a result, Samael flew forward into the brick wall. Peter winced at the loud impact. Samael, however, stood up, brushing it off like nothing (when it, in fact, wasn't). 

Samael, not being creative enough to attack Peter using a different approach, pulled the same move as he lunged forward and swiped at Peter with his knife. This time, however, Peter grabbed Samael's wrist and twisted it around his back.

Unfortunately for Peter, he didn't notice Samael switch the knife to the other hand.

It was when Peter grinned in triumph as he firmly held onto Samael's right forearm, that he noticed the knife wasn't in his hand or anywhere on the ground. 

It was too late as Peter saw the glint of shiny metal reflect onto a puddle to his left. It was too late as Samael blindly plunged the knife straight into Peter's stomach. Peter's grip loosened and Samael used that opportunity to turn around and face the teenager. 

Samael was finally satisfied once he drove the knife into Peter's stomach a second time.

Peter gasped as blood pooled out of his mouth and his stomach. He staggered backwards and slid down onto the ground. Peter winced as he looked at his bruised up reflection in his own pool of blood. 

The rain poured down onto the both of them as Samael stood over Peter in victory. 

"I won-" A bullet that penetrated Samael's skin interrupted his gloating. Samael shouted in frustration as he saw an angry redhead and a surfer dude with a hammer running up to him. An arrow whizzed passed his face as he looked up to see a silhouette on the rooftop. 

The Avengers. 

It would only be a matter of seconds before the rest of them showed up. He turned and began to sprint when a burning sensation that was excruciating like no other shot up his entire body. 

He gasped and looked up in shock. Lightning ripped into the inky night sky and forked into the ground in front of him. The impact sent him flying backwards. 

The last thing Samael saw before he passed out was Peter Parker staring at him with glowing, blue eyes.

~~~

Unedited.

1151 words.