It took me a while to accept the fact that I was awake. Or, that I was supposed to be awake, at least. First, the tingly smell of antiseptic reminds me that I'm in a hospital. The feeling of rough, grainy sheets rub against my skin, irritating the crap out of me. I can taste a tinge of copper on my tongue, and the sound of a heart monitor starts beeping into existence. The oddly luminescent, red color of my eyelids becomes apparent. Then finally, my sixth sense lets me know that I'm not the only person in the room. Immediately, I hear the pace of the heart monitor rise due to my suppressed panic.
My head flies up, grasping at the colorless sheets in search of anything to protect myself with. Panic overflows as I struggle to rip the sheets off myself, my blood pressure rising due to my quick change from inactivity to spontaneous panic. Tony's standing beside me, trying vigorously to calm me down. My brain tunes his voice out, replacing every sound with an annoying ring. I can feel the fear in my eyes, the worry worming around in my mind--I'm terrified.
But what am I so scared of? Is it Arsenic? No. Was it the fact that I didn't know where I was? No.
Maybe it was the fear of Tony finding out I was Spiderman. Maybe it was the overwhelming sense of guilt I had for putting Tony's life in danger just so I could keep up my childish act of a double life. But if I told him, I'd have to stop. And I don't mean just stop being Spiderman. I'd have to end it all.
"-ter! Peter!" Tony's hands gently clasp my shoulders so he can square up my shoulders with his. He tries to get my eyes to meet his, but mine just won't stop looking everywhere but where he is. My mind seems to be on 'fight or flight' mode, and I guess it's chosen flight. "Kid!"
My breath hitches in my throat, then everything hits me at once. The memories, the feelings, the senses—Yes, this was indeed, a sensory overload.
"Peter?" Tony's voice changes from panicked to concerned as he notices me clam up immediately. My hands cover my ears, his volume sounds like he's screaming. The irritating feeling of the sheets becomes even worse; it's almost like sandpaper against my body. I reach for the cord to the heart monitor and rip it out, throwing it to the ground. The cold linoleum floors send painful shivers up and down my legs. "What is going on?"
"Shh!!" I shush him, placing my hands over my ears again. Everything hurts.
"Peter—"
"SHHHHHH....." I drag out this shush dramatically, placing a finger in the air to stop him. I don't even have the current mental capacity to process the next thing I say, "Sensory overload." I whisper.
"Sensory what?" Tony questions at a much quieter volume. I finally become aware of my clothes—My clothes have been changed into a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt.
"It's when all my senses freak out on me." I whisper quietly, my eyes still closed as tightly as I can possible make them.
"Does this happen a lot?" Tony whispers as he finally realizes what's going on.
"Mildly." I shrug as I gingerly take my hands off my ears. I peep my eyes open slightly and make my way to the light switch, shutting it off. "Better." I sigh.
"Why does this happen?" Tony asks as he watches me curiously. He's probably wondering why my leg doesn't hurt.
Wait.
Why isn't my leg casted?
"Woah." I start, placing my palms up to stop him. I look down at my injured leg through the waistline of my pants, only to find a white bandage wrapped around my left thigh.
"Yeah, we had some questions too." Tony crosses his arms and squints at me skeptically. "How is it not broken anymore? You broke your femur clean in half."
"Uh..." I trail, my eyes widening. "I really have no idea." I shrug. Oh, come on, Peter—you can lie better than this!
"Really?" Tony obviously isn't believing any of this shit. To be honest, neither would I. "You really have no clue as to how you healed that fast?"
A long pause. "...no." Okay, so maybe I'm not the best liar. But isn't that a good thing? Well, maybe not in my case...
"Okay." Tony shrugs carelessly. "I'll take it for now."
My jaw drops. "Really?"
"Do you want to push it?" Tony raises a suspecting eyebrow at me.
"NO." I say, loudly. My own volume makes me wince. The blood rushes loudly in my ears. "How long have I been sleeping?" I figure changing the subject is my best bet right now.
"Around 2 days." Tony tries to guide me back to the bed, but his answer immediately stops me.
Is it just me, or is anyone else having some serious deja vu right now?
Eddie probably—no, cut that—definitely thinks I'm dead. "I gotta get home."
"TONY." Clint comes barreling down the hallway. I hit the floor and recover my ears. "TONY!"
"SHUT IT, CLINT." Tony whisper-shrieks at the birdguy, "What's happening?"
"IntrUDER!" Clint freaks out, neglecting to get any quieter.
"Kid," Tony starts as he turns to me, "Stay here."
Yeah, like I'm actually gonna stay here. After Tony and Clint dart down the hall, I follow close behind, my senses still going haywire at all the new information my brain is processing. I find the elevator and take it up to the commons floor, hoping that I'll get some sort of information there. However, just as the doors open, I'm greeted with a sight I never thought I'd expect to see—
All of the Avengers are poised for battle in the living room, weapons held high. Some are even trying to balance themselves on the couch.
Then there waits the one and only ooey, gooey, black Venom standing in the kitchen. The entire wall of glass in the living room is shattered, so I'm assuming that's how Venom made his entrance. The light shining through the window tells me it's sunset now.
"Who are you?" Tony spits at the creature, his suit on and blasters prepped for battle.
"We are Venom." Venom seethes through a thick mouth of sharp teeth. "Eddie says you've stolen his brother."
"Brother?" Tony shares a raised eyebrow with the rest of his team. "We haven't stolen anyone."
"We protect our own, no matter the cost." Venom hisses with a slithery tongue, crouching and maneuvering closer to the Avengers.
Tony's voice and entire demeanor changes, "So do we." His blasters glow brighter.
Hey, maybe I should do something. "Venom!" I shout. My curly, brown hair rustles in the wind due to the shattered glass wall.
Everyone's eyes turn to me. Venom almost relaxes at the sight of me, but he keeps his guard up. "Peter, get back!" Tony shouts.
"No, I think he can stay!" Clint argues back with a grimace.
Tony scoffs at him, "Clint, he's gonna get himself killed—"
"I really don't think he will!" Clint chuckles grimly to himself.
I think Venom's had enough, considering the fact that he just pounced on Tony. The rest of the team attacks, weapons and magic flying around the room in an effort to stop him. The bright sun shining in the room is starting to make my eyes feel like they're melting out of my head, and each bullet fired or knife thrown feels like it's getting chucked directly into my skull.
"Eddie!" I scream out over the mess. Everything stops at once—the fighting, the senses, the craziness, Clint's moonwalking—it all just stops. All eyes are on me. "Eddie, it's okay." I plead.
Venom melts back, revealing my foster brother. Immediately, Eddie runs up and engulfs me in a much needed hug. "Pete." He huffs, shuffling my curls. "I haven't heard from you in, like, 3 days." His hug isn't what you'd expect: strong, tight, and life-crushing, but it's gentle and careful—as if he truly believes one squeeze is gonna break me into a million different pieces. Who knows, maybe it would?
Eddie finally pulls away, his eyes scanning my face for any sign of injury. "Did anyone hurt you?"
"Eddie, I'm okay!" I insist with a laugh as he furiously searches the side and back of my head for any injury there as well. "I'm okay." I give him a comforting smile. He gives me one last hug before we both turn to face the Avengers.
"Somebody wanna explain?" Tony intercepts with a raised eyebrow. Man, this guy raises his eyebrow so much, I'm surprised Russia's space satellites haven't identified it as an alien space craft yet.
"Eddie's my brother." I reply as Eddie scruffs my brown curls. "Well, kind of. We stayed at the same orphanage for years." I emphasize the word 'years. "He's who I've been staying with since the orphanage..." I trail off, unable to finish my sentence. My mind continues to stray from Amy. I seem to forget her, move on, realize that maybe it's not my fault—but it's moments like these when the guilt peeks back out from behind the curtain that get me. Eddie lays his hand on my shoulder to comfort me, snapping me back to reality.
"Oh!" Tony snaps his fingers and points to Eddie, his suit deforming into two wrist covers that hide beneath the sleeves of his suit. "That kid!" He recalls. Everyone's defensive demeanor immediately changes now that Tony's approved the intruder. "Hey—Tony Stark." Tony introduces himself and shakes Eddie's hand as if this entire fight hadn't just happened. All the rest of the Avengers seem very confused, but they holster their weapons anyways, giving Eddie a polite wave along with a murmur of their names.
There's a really awkward silence as we all wait for something to happen. "Well, now what?" Bucky pipes up from the back.
"You need to get some rest." Tony points an accusing finger at me.
"I just slept for 2 days!" I raise my palms in defense.
"Yeah, and you need more." Stephen scoffs as he crosses his arms.
"Hey," I scrunch my eyebrows and give Stephen an incredulous look, "Aren't you a surgeon? Not like a doctor doctor?"
Stephen looks at me with determination in his eyes, "I am the doctorest doctor that you are ever gonna get!"
Eddie and I share one look, then burst out in laughter. "I am the GREATEST GOOD that are you EVER GONNA GET." We say simultaneously and double over, grasping onto each other to prevent falling over. This is the hardest I've laughed in a while. Well, scratch that—I about peed myself when I saw Bucky dancing in his underwear before dinner last week.
"Anyone understand these two?" Tony jabs a thumb at us and turns to the team for any explanation. The only response he gets is Clint also keeled over in laughter.
"Clint gets it!" I point at the birdman, wiping a tear from my eye. After we finish laughing, I plant my hands on my hips and turn to Tony, "Okay, where do you want me to sleep?"
"There's a room down the hall." Tony points down the hallway with a smirk on his face.
"Oh, yeah!" I snap my fingers and point upwards in recollection, turning to make my way down to it. Tony showed it to me earlier.
"Uh..." Tony stops me. "I haven't told you where it is yet."
I freeze in my tracks. "Oh!" I pivot, "I, uh, I thought you were just gonna point me back to the–the hospital room." I stutter over my lie.
Tony looks so, so very skeptical. "Sure..." He looks me up and down with something new gleaming in his eye. "Fourth door on the right."
"Thanks." I give him a tight smile and make my way down the hall, Eddie in tow.
"And Eddie?" Tony stops us, his demeanor softening, "Fifth door on the right."
I watch Eddie's face as it instantaneously lights up. "Thank you, Mr. Stark." He grins widely at the generous man in the expensive suit. We turn and hurry down the hall, murmuring excitedly to each other about our new rooms. We part at my doorway, and I take a step in. It's just as we'd left it.
I almost forgot that Tony's adopting me. I wonder when he's gonna tell me? I'm technically not supposed to now, Spiderman knows. But who's to say Spiderman didn't spill the tea? Kidding, of course, but seriously—How long am I gonna have to act oblivious for?
I end up crashing on my bed, the nighttime slipping me right into sleep. But for the first time in a while, my sleep is anything but quiet—
"I'm home!" Aunt May makes her way through the front door, grocery bags in hand. She skillfully tosses her purse onto the couch as she sets the paper bags down on the countertop.
"Hey, May." I smile and start to unpack the groceries. "How was work?"
"Long, per usual." She sighs as she plops her keys into the key bowl. May brushes a strand of hair out of her face, wiping her sweating forehead simultaneously. "I'm gonna get the rest of the groceries." She huffs and starts for the door again.
"K, I'll unpack." I call back and start to put away the foods. After a few minutes, I start to wonder where she is. "May?" I call out.
I make my way for the front door, then down the following flight of steps. Just when I'm about to take the outside exit, I hear a gunshot. I burst out the door, finding myself engulfed in a scene I don't think I'll ever forget—
May, bleeding out onto the hot asphalt.
A gunman, deadly weapon in hand, still aimed at May. He looks terrified.
Groceries are spilled across the parking lot. An orange rolls over and bumps against my sneaker.
"May?" I murmur through thick tears and run for her. The attacker books it down some alley. "May, hey!" I shout as her eyes start to drift around the cloudless sky. "What happened?"
"My purse—" She sputters. May turns her head to the side to cough up thick, red blood. "It's inside." I watch as she tries to crawl her way back to the apartment.
"May, stop—" I plead as I try to pull her back to lay down. "May, he's gone!"
"No, he's gonna shoot me if I don't—" She flops back and tries vigorously to catch her breath. Her hands claw at her chest, "Something's choking me." I watch as her hands find the ballet wound on her chest, but they ignore it and continue to search for some foreign constriction.
The saddest part of all of this—I think May lost her mind. I don't know if it was from hitting her head when she fell, or the trauma of getting mugged, but when she died, she died insane. That's the part that gets me the most—Regardless of how fast I could've called the cops, I would never be able to save my aunt from her own mind.
"Nothing's choking you, May." I can barely breathe through the mess of emotions flowing through me. Why haven't I called 911 yet? Is it because I'm waiting to wake up from this nightmare? Is it because I don't want her to live without her sane mind? Isn't it more humane to let her die instead of forcing both of us to let her live so mentally unstable for the rest of her life? Maybe she was just in shock, maybe she had no mental problem whatsoever—but that didn't matter anymore. May was already dead. Her eyes had already drifted to the side, her hands gone limp as red liquid drips from her still warm fingertips.
I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye.
The scene drifts away, however May's blood still stains my hands. Another Peter Parker storms out of nowhere—
"No, stop lying, Peter!" He screams at me. "Poor Peter Parker's Aunt shot. Killed. Something no one could prevent? Right?" Peter scoffs, finishing with a maniac cackle.
His false humor disappears, replaced by an immediate, angered expression, "No, you had the chance. You had the chance to call 911 and you didn't." Peter, his face seemingly red with anger, grasps my wrists and rubs my bloodied hands all over my face, May's blood spreading like war paint, "You just sat there like the little, insignificant coward you are and watched as your aunt died." His volume moderates to a whisper by the end of his accusation. "Why do you feel so obligated to life when you cared so little about someone else's?"
I shoot out of bed, grasping at the sheets for air. Every sound is gone, replaced by a familiar annoying ringing. Tony and Eddie's silhouettes are shown by the light casting in from the opened door. I leap back in fright, wincing when I feel my cold tears on my cheeks. "Peter!" Tony's voice snaps back into existence. "Breathe, Pete!" He shouts. Tony's in his pajamas—grey sweats and an Ironman t-shirt. Eddie's in new clothes as well: black sweats and a black shirt.
"Tony—" My breath comes in hiccups. I feel like my hands are numb, and I can't see a thing due to the tears. I just can't seem to catch my breath. My mind is scattered—yesterday, tomorrow, the orphanage, my grave—my mind is anywhere and anytime but here.
"Peter, I don't know what's going on, but I'm gonna need you to just breathe with me. Okay? That's all I need. If you're not gonna do this for yourself, then do this for me." I can almost see tears in Tony's brown eyes as he pleads. He's squatted right beside me in bed, every last angle of his features dripping with concern. My eyes dart up to find Eddie still standing in the doorway, seemingly in shock.
I try my best to match Tony's breathing. Eventually, I calm down, but I'm definitely still rattled. "What happened?" Tony asks as he sits on the bed beside me.
"A nightmare." I murmur as I wipe my tears away. "About May."
"Your aunt?" He gives me a sad smile. I nod.
We all just exist there for a moment together. It's surreal—how human we all are right now.
Tony stands, getting ready to go. "Tony," I stop him as I hold my pillow close to my chest. The tears refuse to stop. "Can you stay?"
Tony's eyes widen. "Stay?" He stutters. "You want me to stay?"
"Please." I muffle out through the pillows. Tony sighs deeply, almost hesitantly, before squatting down onto the bed with me. I snuggle down underneath his arm. It's weird, I almost fit into his comforting form like a puzzle piece.
Eddie goes to leave, shutting the door behind him. "Can Eddie stay too?" I pipe up.
The door stops just before it closes.
"Get in here, Edward." Tony snorts as he calls him Edward. I snicker as Eddie comes back in, chuckling. I expect him to feel uncomfortable at first, to be so close to Tony and I, but he isn't—Eddie lays right into place beneath Tony's other arm and before we know it, we're all asleep, holding each other together as tightly as we can.
This is our family now—and nothing's gonna break us apart.
______________
Hey, guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one is gonna have more bonding and irondad and time w Eddie and wholesomeness!
Sorry, I had some writers block, but I'm gonna watch Homecoming tomorrow and so I got excited 😂 I'm sure SM Hoco is gonna break my writers block, so be prepared! I was gonna watch it last night, but I wrote this instead.
Also, I know this book isn't popular like to the negative percentile, but I've always wanted to do one of those Q and As? I know that's for like super popular books, and I understand if no one cares 😂😂 Just thought I'd throw it out there ? Lemme know if anyone cares ahhhhhhah
Also, I wrote that last half at like 1 AM and my mind was WAcK and that Incredibles joke definitely came from the deep Tartarus of my subconscious. Lmao.
Anyways, hope you had fun, I sure did, and I'll update soon (I swear this time! 😂 Writers block is about to be CANCELLED)
Here are some good memes for your quarantined pleasure:
(These are all really random memes, so I apologize lmao)
-barrel of mayonnaise