Part 2, since there were so many requests. Hope you guys like it!

The Avengers were not happy when Bucky showed up at the Compound with a crippled teenager. I thought I'd seen them all mad before, but their faces when Bucky told them I was being bullied, well, let's just say I'm glad I wasn't the one bullying me. I'm pretty sure Bruce was turning green, and I thought I saw a spark of electricity coming from Thor's fingertips. And his eyes. Weird. I didn't know he could do that.

Sam broke a glass on accident. He squeezed and it just kinda shattered, which was weird because I didn't think he was that strong.

I gave them Rick and Oscar's names, and I swear Natasha and Clint were already planning their murders because they both took out their phones and started doing something. Gamora was by Natasha's side in an instant, staring over her shoulder with the distinct look of someone who wants to kill someone else.

Everyone started fussing over me, treating me like a baby. I rolled my eyes and told them to stop, but secretly I liked it. I'd never had siblings and Ned was pretty much my only friend, so this was like having an entire family of people to care about me. It was…nice.

All the Avengers and Guardians insisted on being in the room when Bruce and Doctor Strange examined me. There were audible gasps when I took my shirt off and gave everyone an unobstructed view of the bruises and cuts which littered my entire upper body. A giant bruised area covered my entire right shoulder, where the broken collarbone was, and there was an even bigger bruise lower down, showing where my ribs had been destroyed by their kicking.

Bruce also ordered me to remove my pants so he could see the injuries on my legs. At any other time I would have died of embarrassment to take off my clothes in front of my friends, but the deadly anger fostering in all of their eyes and the commanding tone Bruce's voice took on chased away all my embarrassment, and I stripped down to my underwear without hesitation.

"Fuck," Steve swore, and I almost made fun of him for it, but no one looked like they were in the mood for jokes. My left leg was disgusting to look at. Tony and Scott both turned away and threw up, and several others seemed like they wanted to follow suit.

The knee was bruised and cut, blood was running down my leg to the ankle, which was twisted at a weird angle and very purple. Bruce swallowed and took a deep breath to keep himself from turning any greener, and even Doctor Strange had to turn away for a moment to regain his composure. Drax clenched his hands and the knuckles cracked menacingly.

"I will tear out the throats of the cowards who hurt you," he promised. I stared around the room with wide eyes.

"Guys, it's not that bad," I feebly attempted to calm them down. "And Drax, I appreciate the sentiment, but really, please do not tear out their throats. That would be bad."

"Peter, why did this happen?" Natasha asked seriously.

I knew the truth would come out. Bucky would tell them if I didn't, but I didn't really want them to know why. It seemed pathetic now, offering to get beaten up in my friend's place when I could have just beaten them up and told them to stay away.

"Bullies," I said weakly, staring at the floor. Natasha took a step forward and gently lifted my head to force eye contact.

"The truth." She demanded. Her green eyes were daring me to lie.

I looked down at my hands and pretended to be very interested in the blood coming for the cuts where Oscar jumped on them.

Bucky sighed at my silence and put a kind hand on my shoulder, the one without the broken collarbone.

"He was protecting his friend," he said. I glanced at him, and he nodded at me to continue, so I did. Reluctantly.

"There's this guy at my school who's been calling me names and stuff since like second grade," I began. "I've gotten really good at ignoring him. But at the beginning of the year, two of his cousins showed up. They're a lot bigger, and they don't like verbal insults that much. They heard Flash calling me 'Penis Parker,' and I guess they decided that was too boring, 'cause they cornered me outside of school that day and tried to hit me. I fought back and gave one of them a black eye, but the next day Ned showed up at school with a black eye and split lip and a couple bruises. And I just got so mad, I told them that Ned was off-limits. I told them…I said they could beat me up and I wouldn't fight back as long as they promised to leave Ned alone."

Complete silence followed my story. I had been focusing on my hands the whole time, not daring to make eye contact with anyone, but when no one said anything for a long time, I risked looking up to see their reactions. Bucky's hand was still on my shoulder, and he smiled at me proudly. Suddenly Wanda and Gamora both came forward and wrapped their arms around me, being careful not to jostle me too much and aggravate my injuries. Several people, including Captain America, had tears in their eyes which they tried to blink away before anyone could see them. I gave them all a really confused look.

"What happened?" I asked. "Did I say something…?"

Bucky laughed a little at my confusion.

"We're just all trying to comprehend how someone as good as you can exist," he said.

I straightened my mouth into a line. "Cool," I said. "Let me know when you figure that out." Several people chuckled. Everyone seemed to be in much better moods now, so I risked asking a question that had been on my mind ever since we arrived back at the Compound.

"Bruce, do you have any painkillers?" I asked timidly. The mood in the room immediately changed. Wanda and Gamora backed up some, as if their presence was causing me pain. Everyone began serious again. Bruce looked regretful.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but with your metabolism, I don't think any of the regular ones I have will work."

I nodded, a half-hearted smile already forming on my lips.

"That's okay," I said. "It actually doesn't hurt that much, I was just wondering."

No one believed me. They could all see that I was trying to be strong, but I didn't know how much longer I could pretend. Everything was hurting, and all the combined injuries, along with the stress of being hurt and of having everyone worried about me was exhausting me.

"What about Mantis?" Tony said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. He explained, "Mantis can put people to sleep, right?"

"And wake them up," Mantis added.

"Right," Tony continued. "So, theoretically, you could stimulate different parts of Peter's mind to take the focus off the pain."

Bruce and Doctor Strange looked at each other. They began mumbling about brain chemicals, stimuli, and other medical terms. They looked at Mantis.

"Theoretically, it should be possible," Doctor Strange stated. "If you think you can handle it, Mantis." Everyone was now looking at Mantis expectantly, and a collective sigh of relief went up when she nodded.

"I will try," she said.

"Thank you," I panted, using the unbroken wrist to wipe away the thin layer of sweat which had accumulated on my forehead from the exertion of trying not to cry out from how much pain I was in. It felt like there was a fire stretching from my dislocated ankle up my leg to the shattered kneecap, and then spreading from my bruised and broken torso to my collarbone and up to my face. My hands also ached more than they ever had before, the broken fingers sticking out at weird angles.

Mantis made her way across the room to me, and placed a gentle hand on my warm forehead. The instant her skin touched mine, she began screaming in pain and jerked her hand away. She fell into Drax's arms, breathing heavily and blinking away the tears in her dark eyes. Everyone took a step forward, multiple voices overlapping as they demanded to know what was going on.

"He is in agony!" Mantis breathed. "He is screaming on the inside. It hurts so much!"

If I had remembered that Mantis could feel what the person she touches feels, I never would have let her touch me. The whole point of not letting them see how much everything hurt was so that they wouldn't worry, but now they would worry more than ever.

"Peter, are you okay?" Bucky asked gently. I knew now that there was no point in lying, since none of them would believe me.

I couldn't speak, so I shook my head. I closed my eyes and let the tears slip down my face. The whole room fell silent.

Bucky stepped closer. Placing his hand on the back of my neck, he guided my head until it was resting on his shoulder, his human shoulder. I couldn't keep it in anymore; I let more and more tears fall, whimpering pathetically. No one laughed, no one mocked me.

I felt the bed dip as Wanda sat down beside me. She gently took hold of my right wrist, since the hand was broken, and simply held it.

"It hurts so much," I whispered into Bucky's shoulder. He was an angel and held perfectly still, not minding that I was soaking his shirt with tears.

"I know," he whispered back. "It's okay, we're right here, we're not going to leave you."

We sat like that for more than an hour, me, Bucky, and Wanda, all perfectly still while Bruce and Doctor Strange cleaned and bandaged my wounds as best they could. Everyone else filtered in and out, wanting to be there, but also wanting to give me space to breathe and the doctors space to work. I could hear some of them talking in low voices in the hallway. If I concentrated, I could hear every word, but I didn't want to. I let it sink into the background, focusing on breathing steadily and listening to the strong, unchanging beat of Bucky's heart. The sound lulled me into a deep sleep, untouched by any physical pain.

When I woke up, the room was dark. I was lying on a bed in the medical section of the Compound, and about four different fuzzy blankets lay on top of me. I smiled as I realized that at least the top one had a picture of Spiderman.

The silence of the room was broken by slight snores coming from several different locations around the room. I sensed about seven people around me, one person with their head leaning on my bed and their hand wrapped firmly around my now bandaged right hand.

I listened to all their breathing patterns, trying to figure out who was who. Steve and Tony were draped over a couch on one side of the room. In the chair on the left side of my bed was Bucky. I could hear the miniscule squeaks of his metal arm whenever he moved. There was another couch on the other side of the room, and I was fairly positive that I recognized the breathing as belonging to Thor, Wanda, and one other person. Scott, maybe? Or Peter Quill? One of the two.

If I concentrated, I could hear the soft voices of Natasha and Gamora outside my door, as if guarding it.

That left only the person holding my right hand. It wasn't an Avenger, but I recognized the breathing. My first thought was Aunt May, but she worked a double shift at the hospital tonight. I listened harder, and then I realized who it was.

Ned.

I smiled in the dark, thinking how lucky I was to have a friend that would come in the middle of the week to sit with me while I was hurt. He probably should have been doing homework, but he chose to stay with me instead. I was grateful for that.

My right leg started itching suddenly, and I moved it a little to try and scratch it. I moved it as little as I could, but the movement woke Ned up. He searching eyes tried to find my face in the dark.

"Peter?" He whispered, unsure about whether or not I was awake.

"Yeah," I answered at the same volume so as not to wake the others. "Sorry for waking you, you can go back to sleep if you want."

"Nah, it's fine," he said. "I got a couple hours."

"Hours? What time is it?"

Ned looked at his watch. "Almost six a.m."

"Wow." I didn't realize I'd slept that long. "How long have you been here, man?"

He thought for a minute. "Like, eleven hours. Since two Russian and alien assassins showed up at my house and said you needed me."

I jerked my head toward him at that, and wished I hadn't because it aggravated my collarbone. I ignored it.

"Natasha and Gamora said I needed you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Ned's voice became colder. "They explained once I got here that you were in critical condition because you've taken four months of beatings that should have been mine. Is that true? Did Flash's cousins beat you up instead of me?"

I winced. I hadn't wanted him to know, but I guess it was too late now.

"Not exactly," I lied.

I couldn't see him in the dark, but I knew he didn't believe me.

"Okay, yes," I admitted. "But…"

"No, there's no buts, Peter!" Ned interrupted. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I have super strength, I can take a couple beatings!"

"Obviously not."

I fell silent.

"I'm not a little kid, Peter, you don't have to protect me!"

"But I want to!" I shot back angrily. "I can protect you, so I should. You're my best friend, Ned, and if anything ever happened to you, I'd…I'd feel responsible."

"Why?"

"Because…just because."

"Because of Ben?" He asked softly. I felt my eyes fill with tears. Luckily it was still dark, so Ned couldn't see me crying, but I think he knew. He moved his left hand so now both of his hands were holding my right one.

"I couldn't save him," I whispered. "I couldn't protect him from what happened, and he

died because of it. You're my best friend. I had the opportunity to protect you, so I had to take it. It doesn't matter what it costs me, it never will. But you have to be safe. As long as you and May and everyone are safe, I don't care what happens to me." I tried to wipe away the tears that slipped down my cheeks, but the clumsy cast on my hand got in the way.

"Peter…" Ned breathed. "I'm sorry, I didn't even think…" He trailed off.

"Promise you'll never hide anything like this from me again."

"Ned, I can't-"

"Promise." He said firmly. His tone was actually almost as intimidating as the one Natasha uses when she's had enough of someone's bullshit. I was impressed.

"I promise." I said, and I really meant it.

A lot of people seemed to like the last chapter, hopefully this one didn't disappoint.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad you all liked it!

Again, I'm open to suggestions if anyone has something they particularly want Peter to go through. I love torturing my spider baby and then giving him a friend to help him through it. So any ideas, feel free to leave a review with them. Also any more characters you would like to see have a big part in a chapter or two.