I sat down on the subway train seat between two other men, staring down at my palms. MJ had taken the news that I was Spider-man better than I expected.
She gave me a smile and said, "You're still a loser, though." That smile was quickly wiped away when she realized the gash on my temple wasn't the only injury I had.
She had moved my arm back into place, and after explaining to her ten times that it would heal without going to the hospital due to my enhanced healing, she agreed to let me go. I didn't tell them anything about the broken ribs, though. We just put some salve on my burned skin while I kept my hoodie on my other side, so they wouldn't see the bruises that marred that area. I didn't want them to worry too much about me.
I took a deep breath to check if I still had pain by my chest, and I quickly regretted the decision as pain flooded my senses. I cupped my hand over the injured area and rubbed on it. Ow. Broken ribs were just painful. Last time I had broken ribs, thanks to May, it took a whole week to heal. I never had a broken arm before, although I did break my wrist not a while ago, so we'll see how long that takes to mend. MJ had bandaged my arm too. At least the break was near the elbow on the forearm, far away from the wrist. It would be easier to cover that up.
Once the subway train came to a halt at my stop, I stood up and walked out with others. I had taken a bag from Ned in which I stuffed my replacement hoodie for Spider-manning in. Now, I just needed to come up with an excuse as it was 12 AM, not 10 o'clock as they had asked me to be back by. How mad were they going to be?
As mad as May? No, they wouldn't. They weren't like that. My mind went back to what had happened earlier tonight. Mental snapshots of Natasha trying to punch me, Steve trying to knock me out with his shield, and Mr. Stark shooting an energy beam at me went through my head. My heartbeat picked up. What if they hurt me again?
No, I shook my head trying to rid myself of these thoughts. They hurt Spider-man, not me. They didn't know it was me. It wasn't their fault. Still, I couldn't keep those images from my mind, no matter how much I tried.
My eyes were on the shoes I was wearing, one of the new pairs Mr. Stark had bought me, as I made my way down the street towards the tower. Every step jolted my ribs.
Finally, I made it in front of the entrance. I wettened my lips, preparing myself mentally for what was about to come. Maybe they went already to bed? Hopefully...
I walked to the elevator, noticing that Emma had already left for the night as it was 12 AM and the lobby area was empty, and stepped in once the elevator arrived.
"Hi, Peter," Friday greeted me, as usual. But then, she added, "The team is waiting for you on the common floor."
"Thanks, Friday," I said, worry clouding my mind. They knew I was here. I waited painfully anxious as my heartbeat increased as the elevator moved up, getting closer to our destination.
"You seem to be suffering from multiple injuries," she said while my eyes widened, "Including internal bleeding, broken ribs, a concussion, a broken arm, and a second-degree burn on your side. Shall I call 9-1-1 for an ambulance?"
"What? No! No, I'm all good! Thank you, though." My hands became clammy as I wrung them in front of me.
Could an A.I. have feelings? Because I could almost hear Friday's admonishing tone as she pressed. "Are you sure? These injuries can be life-threatening. Would you like me to contact Stark instead?"
"No! That's even worse Friday!" I exclaimed, and she stayed quiet. I looked down at the bag I had placed down and knew they would wonder what was in it if I came out with it, and if they looked, they would find one new Spider-man hoodie. "Could you stop a floor below the commons area. I just need to drop something off."
"Sure, would you like me to notify them of the delay?" She asked.
"No, no. It's fine. I'll be quick. Please hold the elevator for me while I take care of something," I said, and when we arrived at my floor, Friday allowed me to run to my room, drop off the bag, and hurry back. At least that was taken care of.
Before I was ready, we reached our destination too soon. I flinched when the doors opened and hesitantly walked out. Mr. Stark, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and Steve were all in the living room, standing and facing the elevator, eyes on me with obviously relieved faces.
I rubbed the back of my neck and awkwardly said, "Hi."
Mr. Stark hurried over to me. My mind went through hundreds of different ways he would respond. I hunched a bit when he came closer and slightly angled away from him, in case he was mad and would want to hurt me.
He opened his arms, and my face grimaced.
And then I was engulfed in a hug. It shocked me so much that I just froze for the first few seconds, my eyes wide as my side slightly flared in pain at being touched. Why wasn't he screaming at me? Wasn't he mad?
Finally, half a minute in, I realized I should probably hug him back, but he already pulled away. His hand was on my jaw, turning my head around to see if I had any injuries.
"Why is there a bandage on your forehead? Are you all alright? Did someone hurt you? Who hurt you? I will find them and kill them." Mr. Stark's jaw clenched in anger.
"It-it's nothing. I just... someone tried to rob me." I saw Clint, standing a couple of feet behind Mr. Stark give a slight shake of his head in disappointment and start to leave the room, so I centered my focus back on a worried Stark.
"Someone tried to rob you?! Where? We can check if there's any surveillance footage and track-"
"Mr. Stark, it's fine. I just got punched, that's all. They didn't take anything because I didn't have anything on me."
Natasha spoke up, and I could see her leaning on the wall, "And the bandage? Where'd you get that from?" Her head tilted to the side as she studied me. Did she see that I was lying? Did she think that I was trying to fool them?
At least this part is true. "Oh, I stopped by one of my friend's house. Her mother's a nurse, so she knew how to take care of it. It wasn't a big deal. Just a little bit of blood."
"Head wounds bleed a lot," Natasha said, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Bruce came up and stood beside Natasha. "I could take a look at it."
I shook my head. "It's fine. Really. MJ, my friend, knows how to do stuff like this. She wants to be a doctor." That seemed to convince them enough to back off, thankfully.
I turned my attention back to Mr. Stark who pushed a hand down his face. "Why didn't you at least call me?"
"I would've but I, uh, I don't have a phone." I knew the phone conversation would come up. I bet all my money that I currently have that he's going to offer to buy me a new one.
Mr. Stark frowned as if the idea of a teenager not having a phone was nuts. "What do you mean you don't have a phone? I thought I had seen you using one."
I shrugged it off. "It kind of shattered when those people attacked me. It fell off the staircase and to the bottom."
"And you're telling me this now? I would've gotten you a new one." I knew it. Does that mean I get some money for betting correctly?
I rubbed the nape of my neck. "Oh, that's not necessary." He didn't need to spend any money on me, even though he already had as my brand-new pair of shoes could attest to. I decided I wouldn't need the other pairs he had bought me and put them on eBay to make a few bucks off it. Yes, I felt bad about it, but if Mr. Stark had a change of heart (most likely because he would figure out I was the thing he hunted) and wouldn't want me around or if May was found and I would be re-kicked out of the apartment, I would at least have some money on hand for emergencies.
"Not necessary?" His eyebrows curled in confusion.
I shrugged again. "Yeah, I don't need one."
"Well, I need you to have one, for my own good. Goodness gracious, I'm going to have gray hairs from worrying all the time."
I immediately felt guilty knowing it was my fault he was stressed out lately. Would he turn to alcohol to keep off the stress? My breathing started to quicken. Would he do that just like May? And how would it affect him? I knew that it wasn't fair to him that I was dumping all of this stress on him, not when he was being so kind to me, kinder than anyone else I had met besides Ned. Maybe I should find a way to leave the tower, so he won't have to worry about me anymore. I just needed to come up with an excuse.
"Sorry," I apologized, looking down at my feet. I knew I was a burden...
His eyes widened as he realized what he said. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Peter. It's not your fault. I don't mind, really. Not that you're the one who is making me worried, I'm just saying you're all good. None of it is your fault." He shifted on his feet as it became silent in the room and then looked at his watch. "How about we get you to bed? It's pretty late. You want to say goodnight to everyone?"
I bit down on my lip and nodded.
"Goodnight," I told Bruce, Natasha, and Steve, my face angled to the floor. Clint wasn't here because he had left early on.
"I'm glad you're safe, kid," Steve told me, "I'll see you tomorrow morning." Steve always woke up at the ungodly hours of around 5 AM to 6 AM, so I would see him in the morning when I would get up for school.
"Don't get into any trouble in school tomorrow," Bruce said, but in a kind way.
Natasha simply said, "Stay safe."
"Alright. Time to go. It's a school night, and it's really late for you." Mr. Stark started walking in the direction of the elevator when he paused and murmured, "Did I just say 'it's a school night?'. Oh god, I'm starting to sound like my father. What is happening to me?"
I didn't know if I should intervene in this private moment or not, but in the end, I chose to stay quiet as the elevator dipped down a floor.
We walked out of the elevator, and outside of my room, Mr. Stark turned to me and sighed. "How about we keep those walks to a minimum for the time being? If you want to do some workout, we've got a gym three floors below this one. There's also an Olympic-size pool if you're into swimming. If you're bored, there's a movie theater above this floor and a bunch of video games on the common floor. They are Clint's, but he won't mind you using them. In fact, he would probably join you. Other than that, I think you should be good. You got any questions?"
"No," I said, though now I would have to find out a way to get out of the building undetected since I couldn't go for a walk anymore.
"And there are no current updates on your aunt, but I promise you, Peter, I'm doing everything in my power to find her. I won't give up until she is found," he said, and I could hear the truth behind his words.
"Thank you," I grimaced, knowing he thought that May and I had a great bond with each other when in fact I was closer to Mr. Stark than I had ever been with May.
"Do you need anything else?" He asked, "Pain meds for the injury on your head?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm good. Thanks." Hopefully, it would be gone by the next morning.
"Okay, goodnight then, Peter. Don't hesitate to reach out to me for anything."
"I won't. Goodnight." I entered my room, closing the door softly. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear his footsteps after a minute leave. I wondered where he was headed. Would he go back to the others and try to find out if I had lied? I shook my head. Don't think about it.
I went to my private bathroom, throwing off my hoodie and wincing at the sight in the mirror. That would take at least a week to heal everything, from the bruises to the broken bones. Sighing, I started preparing to go to bed. I brushed my teeth and tried to get off most of the blood as possible from my skin without causing too much pain.
I then went out of the bathroom, grabbed the bag with the hoodie, and stuffed it deep inside the closet on the bottom of a duffel bag where no one would find it.
Finally, I shut off the lights and crawled into the Iron-man themed bed, not being able to stop myself from snorting at the little Iron-man cartoons on the bedsheet.
As I started falling asleep, I could only hope that things would turn up for the better from here. But let's be honest here, that's not going to happen anytime soon.