Stories Focussed On Spider-Man

Teddy Bear

Info: as per usual, the Avengers know and work with Spider-Man but don't know who he is... Mentions of abuse and rape...

Peter Parker woke up with a sense of dread. Which, for most students his age, meant he was dreading school. Peter Parker wasn't most students. Peter was a superhero teenager balancing a double life and dealt with varying forms of PTSD with their own varying causes. That's right, ladies and gents, Spider-Man, the amazing protector of Queens, had some crazy PTSD haunting him all the time, hanging over him as a constant reminder of, what he viewed as, his failures. But, like most with trauma, he found a way to cope.

Flash Thompson didn't expect his day to go South as quickly as it did. Sure, he expected it to go South eventually, but figured it would be after school if he couldn't sneak past his folks to his room. They were horrendous. Like, worst parents imaginable, ten out of ten, made him regret ever breathing. But, like most in his situation, he searched and found a way to cope.

But, hey, at least Flash got to meet Spider-Man and the Avengers that day.

It started our fairly normal. Flash bombed a Geometry quiz while Peter aced a Calc exam. Flash beat his personal record for the mile run while Peter discovered a new level of slow he didn't know he was capable of. Then, everything changed when aliens attacked.

That's right. Aliens. Take a second to reread that and let it soak in. Aliens. Aliens attacked Midtown, School of Science and Technology. Which was located in New York, the most obvious place to attack, apparently. But, yeah. Aliens.

Peter snuck off, quickly changing into the red and blue spandex suit he had with him at all times. Flash was the only other person who didn't freak out and panic and run for the exits. Or, let me rephrase that: Flash didn't run, but he was panicking. All alone and terrified out of his wits, he did the only thing he could think of to cope with the terror of the situation.

Of all the things the Avengers expected when they heard a local high school was the starting place for the latest aliens invasion, they didn't think Spider-Man would beat them there. The guy probably had a job and it was rare for him to be seen during work hours. Granted, that didn't mean they weren't grateful for the extra set of hands.

As they expected, the fight went pretty smoothly. Despite being a little shaken by being attacked at school (by aliens), Spider-Man helped make quick work of the creatures who came out of a portal in on of the bathrooms. Their weren't any civilians left inside, from their perspective, making the job that much easier. The final alien managed to through the webslinger through a wall and into a classroom before Iron Man got him back through the portal and disabled it with lightning speed. Just like that, the aliens were taken care of. The team got a little worried when the webhead didn't immediately climb back through the wall and crack a corny one-liner, so they decided to check on him.

They figured he was slightly dazed, maybe stuck in a desk. Spider-Man would groan, crack his typical joke and wave off their concern for his physical well-being like he always did when he got injured in the field.

The sight wasn't at all what they were expecting to see.

Instead, he was crouched down and slowly approached a teenage boy who seemed to be in shock. This particular teenage boy was holding something with had Tony holding in a small snicker. A teenager with a teddy bear, who would have thought?

"Hey, Flash. It is Flash, right?" Spider-Man said, making a show of rechecking his facts. "You let me use your car when I was hunting down Adrien Toomes, the Vulture."

"It... was my dad's," Flash whispered, nodding.

"Yeah, sorry I crashed it. Supervillain fights can get out of hand, like what happened here today. Are you okay?" he gently asked, finally kneeling right in front of his fellow teen.

"Those were," Flash gulped. "Those were aliens!"

"Yeah, they didn't probe you or anything before we got here, did they?" There was that joke the Avengers were waiting for.

"No, no," Flash said, slowly shaking his head. "You got here in time." He paused before glancing down in horror at the stuffed toy he was clutching for dear life. "This is a little embarrassing," he mumbled, turning red but still clutching the bear.

"Nah," Spider-Man countered, moving so he sat next to Flash, leaning back on the wall. "I still have mine. I get it."

"You do?"

"Oh yeah. Her name is Mrs. Twinkles. I still cuddle her and stuff after rough nights at patrol. My parents gave her to me when I was, what? Two? I think I was two. Two sounds right."

"You, Spider-Man, still sleep with a stuffed toy? I doubt it." Flash was incredulous. This was Spider-Man, the grown adult who still slept with stufred animals.

"I prefer the term 'comfort object', but yeah. I do. She helps me cope with all the PTSD and trauma and stuff."

"PTSD?"

"Yeah."

There was a lapse of silence. "Why do you have PTSD?" Flash blurted. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry or anything, but-"

"No, that's a fair question. My parents died when I was five in and I went into the system for a few years before my aunt and uncle found and adopted me. But, uh, the damage was already done." Spider-Man gulped thickly. "Th-there was this one foster home I was in. It was just me and the man who was my guardian at the time. Turns out, that dude was a rapist. He's, uh, he's in jail now. Then, my uncle was shot in front of me years later. Bled out in my arms. So, yeah. PTSD. Flashbacks and nightmares and stuff. Mrs. Twinkles helps with that stuff."

Flash nodded and the pair were silent for a moment. "My parents hit me. The bear was some carnival prize I won with my friends when I was a kid."

Spider-Man turned to Flash. "I'll help you get out of that. Where do you live? I'll catch them in action and have them arrested by the end of the week." Flash nodded and gave the vigilante his address.

Yeah, not what the Avengers were expecting to see when they checked up on the hero. They decided to head outside and meet up with him later so he didn't realize they just overheard something really personal.

A/N I'm working out a concept titled "Babysitter". Not sure when it'll come out, but I think you guys are gonna love it!