"Peter! School!" May called.
"Ugh…" Peter rolled over in his bed and rubbed his eyes. Despite what he had said, he ended up going on patrol until three in the morning last night. He lost his temper three times and almost severely hurt someone. Peter guessed he probably just had a cold or allergies or something else that was making him easily irritable.
Peter swung his feet off his bed and slowly got up. He tossed on a white Star Wars 'Han Shot First' t- shirt and a pair of jeans. Almost without thinking Peter grabbed Venom, who was disguised as a black baseball cap again, and set him on his head.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and slowly trudged downstairs.
"Hey, is something wrong?" May asked. She looked Peters slouched shoulders and the way he was dragging his feet. He kept rubbing at his eyes, which had dark circles under them. "You dont look to good, Pete."
"I'm not feeling that great…" Peter grumbled. It wasn't a total lie, he was tired from last night, but to be perfectly honest he felt amazing. He knew he looked horrible but he felt like he could run a marathon. Venom was giving him energy and a feeling of power whenever it was near him.
"Maybe you should stay home today." May put a hand to his forehead to check for a temperature. Peter moved away from her hand and slinked to the kitchen.
"I'm fine." Peter mumbled.
"No, your not. You look awful. You need to stay home today, okay?"
"Fine." Peter sunk into a chair and yawned.
May made him a glass of tea before sitting down next to him. "I have to work today, okay? You're temporary ungrounded from your electronics only so you can call me if something happens."
"Okay."
"Get some rest." May leaned forward and kissed his forehead before leaving.
Peter smiled to himself once she left. A day off of school! Awesome! Peter made a big bowl of popcorn and grabbed a Coke. He plopped down on the couch and started watching a Star Trek marathon on TV. He got through four episodes before there was a small buzzing coming from the apartments door phone.
"Hmph." Peter rolled over and turned up the TV volume to drown it out.
It buzzed again.
And again.
And again.
"Ugh! Fiiiiine" Peter groaned. He turned off the TV and strolled over to the door phone.
"Parker residence. This is Peter talking." Peter said into the intercom as he pressed the 'speak' button.
"Kid, its Happy. Come down here."
"Happy?"
"Yes, I just said that. The boss sent me to pick you up."
Peter rushed over to the window and looked out. Sure enough, there was a Stark Industries limo parked on the curb. Peter ran over to the door phone and pressed the 'speak' button again. "One minute."
"Hurry it up. We dont have all day."
Peter grabbed his blue jean jacket and shrugged it on before stuffing his phone in his back pocket. May won't be home until 4:00, so as long as he's back before then she won't even know he left. Peter jerked open the window and lept out, landing a few feet away from Happy.
"Ah!" Happy jumped back when Peter appeared. "Would it be to much for you to use a door like a normal person?"
"Sorry." Peter rolled his eyes and climbed into the back seat. "Where are we going?"
"Avengers compound. Boss wanted to see you." Happy said as he slid into the driver's seat and began to drive away.
"Why?"
"Dunno. It none of my business."
"Hmm." Peter hummed thoughtfully and started scrolling through his phone.
Happy glanced up at the mirror. The kid was sitting back there doing something on his phone. Something definitely was off. Normally the kid would be talking nonstop; now he barely said a word.
"So… kid. How was school the other day?" Happy asked. Peter snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Fine." The kid didn't even look up at him.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yep."
"Dont you want to talk?" Happy asked after a moment. Now Peter did look up from his phone. He tilted his head and gave Happy a glare that almost made shivers run down his spine.
"Why?" Peter said sarcastically. "So you can listen to me until you get bored, then roll up the divider in the middle of my sentence? Lets just cut out the middle man now, shall we?" Peter leaned forward and pressed the button to activate the divider, causing it to roll up. Happy starred with his mouth agape at the divider. Yeah, something definitely wasn't right.
When they reached the compound Happy got out and opened Peters door. He slid out and walked into the compound without a 'thank you'. Happy watched him go before whipping out his phone.
HAPPY: - sent 10:38 -
You were right, Boss. The kid is not acting like himself at all. Something is wrong.
Tony felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and took it out. He felt unsettled as he read Happy's text.
"Tony, is everything alright?" Steve asked as he put a hand on Tonys shoulder.
"Uh… I dont know." Tony glanced down worriedly at his phone. "Something's up with Peter."
"Is everything okay?"
"What do you mean 'wrong'?"
"Whats with Peter?"
Multiple voices rang out at once. It would be nearly impossible to find someone who didn't love Peter Parker.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Tony smiled. "I just had Happy pick him up."
"Why?" Someone asked. Tony wasn't sure who.
"I wanted to see if he could help us with this symbiote problem." Tony lied. That was the last thing he wanted. He just wanted to make sure Peter was alright. Nat gave him a knowing look and smiled smugly. Tony guessed she knew exactly why he called Peter here.
Peter put his earbuds in and started listening to music as he rode the elevator, choosing not to have his normal conversation with Friday. He grabbed the front of his hat and pulled it down to partially cover his eyes.
The doors slid open and Petrer strolled out.
"Peter!" Tony stepped next to him and rested his arm over Peter's shoulders.
"Hey, Mr. Stark." Peter smiled weakly.
"How are you doing?" Tony asked.
"I'm fine." Peter nodded. He wondered why everyone kept asking him that.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
Tony glanced over at Peter. He wasn't his usual happy self. 'Fine' would not be the word he'd use to describe him.
"Come on, let's talk." Tony dragged Peter into the main room. "I just want to know how your doing."
"I told you, Mr. Stark. I'm fine." Peter said. He was slowly starting to get annoyed again. He just told Mr. Stark he was fine! Why was he asking again? Why couldn't he leave him alone? A couple of the others were standing a few feet away, pretending not to notice them.
"Do you want to talk about what happened at school the other day?"
"What happened at school?" Peter asked innocently.
"You got into a fight." Tony said.
"Wait, what?" Clint asked and hopped down from the air vents with a confused look on his face.
"Nothing, Legolas." Tony waved his hand dismissively before turning back to Peter. "Happy told me you weren't acting like yourself, and your friends called, and they said you were acting really strange… and…"
"Wait… they what!?" Peter asked. "Which one was it? Was it Ned? It was MJ, wasnt it? It was definitely MJ."
"Peter, they were just concerned. You aren't acting like yourse-"
"I am too!"
"See, you just interrupted me. You never interrupt. I rest my case." Tony said.
"Yeah, okay, can I go now?" Peter growled.
"Okay, Peter." Tony crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "You need to tell me what's going on with you right now, or-"
"No, I don't! You're not my dad!" Peter screamed and slammed his fist down on the table next to him. Tony flinched and stepped back as if someone physically hurt him. There was a collective gasp coming from behind them. "You're not my dad." Peter whispered. "And you certainly aren't Ben."
It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. No one said anything for a moment.
"You're right." Tony's voice cracked and he nodded his head quickly. "I'm not your dad. And I'm not your uncle. But I do care about you and I want to know what going on with you."
"Oh, now you care about me?" Peter said bitterly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked, slightly miffed.
"You know exactly what its supposed to mean!" Peter snapped. He had all these emotions and feelings that he never knew he had. Every single thing that ever happened to him seemed to be so much more awful than he would have thought a while ago.
"Peter, I dont know what you're talking about. I do care about you. Everything I've ever done is to protect you."
"Oh, yeah, that's rich." Peter growled. "Were you protecting me when you took away my suit and I had to fight Toomes with nothing? Were you protecting me by completely ditching me after the fight in Germany? You just used me and then when I wasnt anymore use to you, you completely ignored me. And dont even get me started on what happened on Titan!"
"Peter…" Tony grew pale.
"You've done a perfect job of leaving me alone so far in my life, so I dont see why anything should be any different now!" Peter yelled. He turned on his heel and ran towards the door, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Peter whipped around to see Bruce with a concerned and confused look on his face.
"Peter." Bruce said. "I know you didn't mean any of that. Maybe if we all just rest a few minutes, and take a few deep breaths we can calm down and-"
"Oh, and you know everything about calming down, wouldn't you?" Peter snapped. "If you know everything about calming down, then why dont you do it? Or do you just like to turn into a giant green monster and killing hundreds of innocent people?"
Bruce jerked his hand away from Peter and took a step back like he had burned him.
"Peter!" Natasha snapped. Peter shot them a glare before turning and running from the room. He wasn't sure why he was saying any of this. He knew he should be feeling something along the lines of guilt, shame, or regret at the horrible things he was saying, but he didn't. He didn't feel anything; he felt numb. He everything was numb except for the anger. Horrible, furious anger boiling over, taking control of his mouth and actions.
He slammed the door behind him, leaving the Avengers confused.
"He's definitely not fine." Clint said.
.
Peter ran on top of the roof tops, leaping from building to building. Peter climbed on top of an old apartment building and sat down. He pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his hands. Somethings wrong. Somethings really really wrong. His heart was pounding hard in his chest and his hands wouldn't stop trembling. He wasn't feeling any regret or shame, only anger.
"That was dramatic." Venom hissed.
"You were no help back there." Peter sighed. Venom wrapped itself around Peters arm. "You owe me, by the way. Did you see the screens to some of the computers? They're checking dimensional frequencies via satellite projection."
"Which means?"
"They're looking for you. I didn't tell them about you."
"Who cares what they think?"
"That's the point. Somethings obviously wrong. Usually I'd never, ever, ever say the horrible things that I said. And I dont know why, but I feel… good. I shouldn't feel this way! I should feel guilty, or ashamed… or… or something!"
"You're upset because you're happy?"
"Yes! Er… no… I mean… I dont know." Peter sighed and rubbed his temple. "Somethings just not right."
"What you're feeling is power. It's greatness. Not feeling guilt is not a weakness."
"I just got so… so angry!" Peter yelled and kicked an electrical box, ripping a hole in its side. "He was talking to me like he was Ben. He's not Ben! Ben's gone! Ben died because… because…"
"Because why, Peter?"
"Because of me." Peter sighed and deflated. "I... I was angry at the store owner, so when the guy robbed him… I didn't do anything. I had my powers at that point… but I just let it happen…. But then Ben did what I chose not to and confronted the robber, and he… he…"
"Got shot?"
"Yeah. That." Peter sighed.
"It wasn't your fault."
"Oh, yeah? Than whose was it?" Peter asked.
"It was the robber's fault." Venom hissed. Peter stiffened slightly. "Think about it. Who actually killed your uncle?"
"He did." Peter said.
"And where is he now?"
"He's in prison." Peter said uneasily. "Forever."
"But is that really enough punishment? He should pay. A life for a life." Venom growled. Peter hesitated for a moment, but… no, what Venom was implying would be wrong. It would be a whole new level of wrong…
"I dont think thats-" Peter started to say. Suddenly all his feelings about right or wrong disappeared. All he felt was anger; a vicious, boiling rage. Why shouldn't Ben's killer pay?
"You were saying?" Venom hissed gleefully. Peter shook his head and tried to gather his thoughts. Every time he thought of something it fled his mind. All that he could think of was how angry he was.
"Let's go." Peter said and got to his feet.
"We're too?" Venom hissed enthusiastically.
"Seagate Prison."
