True Love

Deep in the Earth

So, if you skipped the last chapter, here's the stuff you'll need to know.

MJ's dad came home and beat MJ so badly she can hardly move. He abused her sexually, threw her against the wall, etc. You get the idea. When he went to bed, MJ crawled across the floor, clearing the shards of glass so she could walk on the floor without getting cuts in her feet. Just as she's going to bed, she breaks down mentally, takes a piece of glass, and cuts herself with it.

Trigger Warnings: mention of abuse

MJ's POV

I woke up slowly, the pain of my wounds laughing at me as I moan silently. A few moments of forgetfulness, then the memories come back to me. Agony engulfs me as I try to move, and my muscles become stiff, refusing to move for fear of pain. So instead, I lie in my bed, the single cover resting atop my bruised and mangled skin doing nothing to stop the icy cold from creeping in. Snow is sprinkled about the floor, and I wonder how I actually am alive. Partly because of the beating last night, partly because I had slept in below freezing temperature. But then again, I was used to it.

I tried to remember how much I slept this morning. Not having a clock made it difficult, but I was able to estimate that I had lain here for about 2 hours. Carefully, I settled back in and closed my eyes, praying with all my heart that I would be able to sleep peacefully instead of the nightmares that haunted me night after night.

Boy, was I wrong.

Peter's POV

"Bada-boom, bada-bang!"

As soon as Peter said 'bang,' the small contraption in front of him exploded, the pieces flying 2 feet in the air.

"Peter! Gosh, you are going to give me a heart attack. Can't you please be a little more careful?"

"But it's fun to see the explosions up close. Besides, if I do get hurt, which is really unlikely, we're only like 52 seconds from the infirmary. I have literally lived through nearly exploding myself, I'm not going to die if I get a little bruise from a piece hitting my arm."

"Fine. If you want to set a record of being in the infirmary 30 times in one week, go ahead."

"I have not been to the infirmary 30 times! More like 5 times."

"FRIDAY?"

"Peter has been to the infirmary 12 times this week, starting on Sunday at 12 am."

"Ha! See? No setting records anytime soon." Peter turned to the many test tubes in front of him, his back to Tony.

"Kid, it's not even halfway through the week yet."

"Weren't we supposed to be talking about how bad at cooking you were?" 

Tony chuckled when Peter changed the topic. "So, Underoos, how's the testing going over there?"

Peter sighed. "Not much progress. I tried to mix it with different elements, but it just won't stay. The record is currently at 13.563 seconds. Better than the original ten seconds, but it still isn't stable enough for me to really test it. What about you?"

"Not much information, actually no information. I'm trying to send out a signal to see if it is somewhere deep in the earth, but so far, no luck. But if I can find the right conditions, then we can have it stable and ready for testing longer without having to send you to the hospital every five minutes."

Peter was about to protest, but before he could say anything, Pepper's voice interrupted him.

"What's somewhere deep in the earth?"

"Oh, Mr. Stark and I are trying to stable the last few elements on the periodic table. If we can create and polish them, there's a really big chance we could use it to upgrade suits, create technology, and other stuff."

She nodded her head, but in reality, she only understood half of what Peter said. Unfortunately, her forte was not science, chemistry, technology, or being a nerd. "Any luck?"

"No," they said at the same time.

"Well, how about you two take a break and come have the dinner you never had."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Of course they weren't paying attention to the time. "It's already past 2 am in the morning. And it's a school night," she added.

Peter's surprised face of realization turned into a face of panic.

Pepper noted it immediately."Don't worry, Peter, I already called May. She knows you'll be staying here overnight."

"And I plan to call in sick for school tomorrow morning. You need your rest, Pete. Don't think I haven't seen how late you stay up for patrol," Tony added.

Peter thought about protesting, but the idea of a good night's rest seemed too good to reject. "Okay, fine. Let's go eat."

The three laughed about a joke Pepper made as they left the lab, completely unaware of the presence that had been watching them.