Peter silently walked into the apartment, his shoulders sagging and his head dropping. When May heard the door open she simply looked up, then went back to watching television when she saw who it was. Peter's phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked to see who was calling.
"Hey, Ned," he greeted tiredly, kicking off his shoes and making his way towards his bedroom. He shut the door quietly so May wouldn't yell at him and flopped on his bed, immediately wincing.
"Hey, sorry I left in a rush. I'm just making sure that you didn't run into Flash," Ned responded, and Peter could hear people —Probably Ned's family— chattering in the background on the other boy's end.
"Oh. I did," Peter replied.
"... What... What happened?" Ned asked, seemingly nervous.
"Got beat up," Peter yawned. "Sorry Ned, I'm really tired, I'm going to go to bed."
"Wait Peter you can't just tell me you got beat up and—"
"Goodnight," Peter said tiredly before he hung up on him in the middle of his sentence. He felt guilty for hanging up on his best friend, but he really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He sighed, putting his cracked phone on the charger. Peter sat at the foot of his bed, running his hands in his hair. Finally, he stood and made his way into the bathroom to take off a shower.
Peter shut the door quietly behind him before spinning back around. He stripped off his shirt, trying to avoid the mirror. But as he moved past it, dark purple flashes caught his eye. Curiosity overtook him, and he figured he couldn't avoid it when washing himself in the next moment anyways.
He chewed his lip, finally deciding to look back in the mirror. He first caught eyes with his dull face. His eyes were sunken in, and the color was drained. Then, his eyes trailed down towards the purple marks catching the corner of his eye. He audibly gasped as he looked at the dark purple bruises decorated almost all of his body. His healing factor had probably already kicked in, because they were already purple instead of red. 'This looks pretty bad,' he thought, turning the shower knob and watching as the water sprayed down. Peter finished undressing and stood in the shower, gritting his teeth as the icy water poured down on his bruises. He had almost forgotten that he never got warm water.
Peter had finished his shower very quickly, a skill he had managed to master over the years. Cold showers were the worst, especially when you come back from being beat up or patrolling. Peter always craved a hot shower, but he had never gotten one.
He dried himself off, shivering, and slipped on his pajamas —a sweatshirt and sweatpants—. At last, he retreated to his room and laid on the bed sideways.
***
Tuesday
The ringing of Peter's third alarm rang through the air, and he slowly peeled open his eyes. He peered at his phone, wincing as the bright light blinded him, and turned off his alarm. He shifted out of bed slowly, feeling stiff. He lifted his sweatshirt to check his bruises, but the room was too dim for him to see. Quietly, he opened his door, peeking out to see if May was awake. All the lights were already on. Peter grimaced and swiftly ducked into the bathroom without May seeing him. He carefully shut the bathroom door and checked his injuries in the mirror above the sink.
The bruises were almost completely healed, thanks to his healing factor, but there were still some green splotches stretched along his skin. 'Almost all better,' he thought, sighing in relief.
He got ready for school and brushed his teeth. Making his way back to his room, he noticed May's bedroom light was on. 'She must be changing,' He thought, rushing to his room to change quickly. 'Maybe I can avoid her on the way out.'
Silently, he pulled on his jeans and hoodie. Then, he snatched up his phone and stuffed it into his pocket, throwing his hood over his head and grabbing his backpack. He walked out, tiptoeing, and glanced at May's door. She was still in her room. Peter didn't want to jinx himself, so he held his attitude until he made it to the door. He stepped into his shoes and left out the door without tying them. That's when he could let out a sigh of relief. Casually, he made his way towards the bus station.
When he arrived, he immediately pulled out his phone. He scrolled through Tumblr, occasionally smiling at a funny post. He felt someone's eyes watching him and glanced around, but no one's eyes met his. He slowly shifted his gaze back to his phone, reading a post. It was about the Avengers, which made Peter smile softly as he looked at it.
Eventually, the bus arrived and Peter stepped in. For some reason, he still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him.
Settling in, he sat across from a couple holding hands. One of them looked familiar, but Peter couldn't quite place it. The woman who Peter recognized looked up at him, locking eyes and smiling faintly. Though this didn't seem like a friendly smile, it had a hint of hostility. 'Wait, that smile... I know that smile!'
Then, fear crossed his face as he realized who it was. 'Four!' The woman who had almost kidnapped him with Two and Eight! She must've noticed his face of realization because her smile grew more wicked. She looked completely different than usual, which is why he almost didn't recognize her. Her hair was messy and she looked tired, though her eyes were bright. 'It's a disguise to fit in with everyone,' he realized. Peter didn't recognize the other woman pressed against Four, but he bet she was an agent as well! His heartbeat grew quicker and louder as he stared at the two women.
Four lightly tapped the other woman on her knuckles, resulting in her flicking her eyes open. Four just silently stared at her, but the other woman seemed to know what that meant and discreetly swept her gaze across the bus. She locked eyes with Peter, and he froze in panic. All he could do was stare at them until he could get off at his bus stop. The other woman gave Four a slight nod before resting her head back against Four's shoulder. Peter pulled out his phone, staring at his few contacts before clicking Ned's.
'I've got news. I'll explain later.' The 'read' mark appeared under his message but no reply followed. Peter put his phone away, stressfully running his hands through his hair. 'Ned must be annoyed at me for hanging up on him last night,' he concluded.
Finally, in what felt like ages later, the bus came to a stop. He quickly got up and tapped his foot as he waited for the people to move forward in the aisle.
"Hey, kid," Four whispered behind him, making Peter shiver.
"What are you doing here? What do you want from me?" He whispered, glancing over his shoulder at them while shuffling forward as people got off.
"So many questions," the woman beside Four commented.
"Ah, I suppose you know our names by now so I'd like to introduce you to Five," Four said in a low whisper.
"Nice to meet you," Peter swallowed, getting off the bus. The duo followed after him, making him grab his backpack straps uncomfortably. "Who else is with you?" He asked, due to the fact that he felt as if he were being watched before the bus had even arrived. 'That's so creepy, they knew I were going to be on that bus...'
"That's none of your concern," Five giggled, speeding up beside Peter and wrapping an arm loosely around his shoulders. Peter immediately shrugged it off.
"Why are you here? If you were going to kidnap me, why haven't you done so? Aren't you supposed to be highly trained assassins or something?" Peter asked, more annoyed than scared. 'If they're assassins, why haven't they already kidnapped me by now?'
"We're just observing, darling," Five told him, tilting her head with a smile.
'That's... odd,' Peter thought. 'And are they a couple? I thought assassins couldn't get feelings because it would interfere with missions and stuff? Maybe it's a cover up. But then again, Two did say they weren't as cruel as HYDRA.' But he shook his head as he realized he was subconsciously trying to humanize them. 'No, they're basically working for HYDRA's daughter organization.They do terrible things. They kill people.'
"We'll see you very soon, Peter. I sure hope you haven't told anyone about us, or they'll die," Five told him sweetly.
"Great. Bye," he quickly sped up as they veered towards a coffee shop. 'God that was weird,' he thought, staring at the ground as he walked towards his school.
He finally made it to school and stepped past everyone sprawled out on the stairs. He made his way to his locker and put in his combination, warily looking out for Flash. He didn't want to run into him at that moment. Or at all, that would be nice too.
"Peter!" Ned called, making him turn as he put his books away. Some people glanced over at him but carried on with talking and blocking up the hallway.
"Shhshhshh," he said in a panicked voice, "keep your voice down!"
"Flash?" Ned asked, his tone turning sympathetic. Peter nodded, glancing over Ned's shoulder to make sure Flash wasn't there. "Why'd you hang up on me?" Ned asked abruptly.
"Ned... I just didn't want to talk to anyone because, because... I have a lot going on right now," he breathed out. "I'll tell you at lunch, if Flash doesn't come back to finish me off by then."
"Okay..." Ned turned and walked off. 'I probably upset him for being so secretive. Stupid Parker,' he thought, resting his head against his closed locker with a sigh.
"Sup Penis Parker. How you feeling after I beat you up?" Flash's voice made him jolt, spinning around. It was just Flash, but he was just as threatening without his friends. Peter made an attempt to just ignore him and duck out, but Flash swiftly grabbed him by his backpack and turned him back around.
"What do you want, Flash?" Peter sighed, tapping his foot on the ground. Flash just studied him a moment before yanking his collar towards him so Flash could whisper in his ear.
"I'm just warning you that if you tell anyone that I beat you up, you're really going to be dead. Not like it would do anything though, since my family has good connections with the school. You understand?" He asked, his voice low.
"Yeah, now go away," Peter summoned the courage to push him away, which earned a fire in Flash's eyes. The bell rang, saving him. Unfortunately though, Peter still had later classes with him. But he tried to not let that bother him.
In class, Flash had only bothered him a few times, and even then it was only glares and mutters to Peter under his breath. So far, the day hadn't been too bad. He paid close attention in most of his classes —he couldn't resist whispering to his Ned in the classes they shared— even though he knew most of the material. From just working with Tony, he had learned so much already.
Peter tapped his foot impatiently under his desk, watching the board as the teacher scribbled words across it. It was his last period before lunch, so he just had to make it through a few more minutes.
He began thinking about his encounter with the two agents —well, assassins— that morning. The way they operated was extremely unusual, and Peter had never heard anything like it. From what he had heard, HYDRA would just brainwash their assassins to kill without question, but this organization... They allowed freedom, which was very strange. How could they risk their assassins being out in the open and conversing with their target? Or maybe... Maybe Peter was an exception, considering he was a superhero and they knew that. Peter's theories began to form, but he was quickly interrupted.
"Mr Parker," his teacher's voice snapped him back into reality, "I would advice you to pay attention, as we will be having a quiz tomorrow."
That earned even more groans. Peter ducked his head in shame, his face flushing in embarrassment.
"Sorry, sir," he murmured, slightly curling in on himself. The teacher continued on with his lesson, and everyone seemed to be paying a little more attention now that he had mentioned the quiz.
For what felt like an eternity later, the bell finally rang. Peter sighed in relief, collecting his books as everyone stood. Everyone had already been prepared so they left swiftly, leaving Peter to awkwardly stand up with a few other unfortunate students. This happened often, since Peter usually wasn't in a rush to leave. He often focused on absorbing the information and took his time collecting his things.
This time however, he had just been scolded and wanted to leave the room as quickly as possible.
"Peter," his teacher looked up at him, giving him a small gesture to beckon him. Peter grew more nervous as he shuffled over to the man's desk, gripping his books tightly. The room eventually cleared, and the man cleared his throat. "I've noticed you've been slacking off in class recently. I've caught you staring off countless times the past two weeks, but I haven't been able to reach you or your aunt."
"Y-You tried talking to my aunt?" Peter's voice quivered, though he played it as nervousness rather than fear.
"Yes, but she never responded to my emails. Is everything... okay?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow. Peter began to nod slowly, trying to come up with something on the spot.
"Oh, y-yeah it's just... Our... Our computer's broken right now," he explained, smiling sheepishly. He technically wasn't lying, he was just leaving out the fact that he couldn't afford to repair it and so they probably never would.
"Ah, I see. Now, can I be assured you will pay more attention in my class?" He asked, folding his hands.
"Yes, sir," Peter nodded, still gripping his books tightly.
"Then you are dismissed," the teacher said, giving Peter a polite smile. Peter returned it and turned, trying to casually walk out the door.
Reaching farther down the hallway, he sped up to get to his locker faster. It was a big school, so his small trot eventually developed into a full-out sprint.
When he barely glimpsed his locker number, he screeched to a halt, almost missing it. He hadn't been able to see the numbers engraved into the plaques at the top of the lockers when he was running so quickly.
When he slipped his books back into his locker, he began the treacherous journey to lunch.
author's note;
hi!! this chapter's a lil longer than usual to make up for the late update! oh also, here have some gay representation 💕💕
vote and leave a comment if you're enjoying the story so far, I really really appreciate it!! 💖💖
I hope you all are having a good day/night and if not I hope tomorrow treats you better because you all deserve to be happy ❤️