Peter cringed as he rolled over in bed. It felt like he had been hit by at semi. It had in fact only been a small SUV, but he was feeling it that morning!

When he investigated the tender area, it came as a surprise that the flesh was still black and blue. Over the last six months his powers had matured, and it took a lot to even bruise him let alone for an injury to stay with him past a good sleep.

The incident hadn't seemed that bad at the time but seeing the damage he figured he had just miscalculated the effects due to the adrenaline high that he had been on.

His movements were stiff as he left the small bedroom to use the washroom and slip into the kitchen to eat. May had already left for work so he was on his own to cook.

Super-human teens take a lot of fuel to keep themselves growing and maintaining their abilities so when he couldn't even stomach a third of the normal amounts consumed it confirmed in his mind there was something wrong.

Now aware of the potential situation it didn't take Peter long to realize it wasn't just his healing factor that was acting up. The tv was blaring at 27 and normal super hearing was barely picking it up. Strength was out the window when he barely moved the sofa. And finally, his adhesive hands couldn't even hold him for ten seconds on the wall.

So many questions started rolling through his head.

The accident at Oscorp with the spider had left Peter with altered genetics right down to his DNA. It was something that couldn't just disappear so that was not the worry. What was making him a bit apprehensive was that something was blocking his abilities, it could be a natural illness, or it could be a man-made weapon.

The last thought was the one that made the teen grab his phone. A brand new Stark smart phone, compliments of Tony himself, because the billionaire said looking at Peter's broken dinosaur of a device made his eye bleed.

It had been a very over-dramatic conversation at the time.

Matt would want to know what was going on, but Peter needed a doctor he could trust first. He didn't want to worry the older vigilante until he knew something more.

Bruce Banner had met Peter before when he had been forced to haul Daredevil into Stark tower for emergency treatment, so it wasn't a problem to text the man personally. The details were spared over text message but he asked if he could meet the man at Stark tower so they could discuss something important.

Banner immediately agreed.

Peter grabbed his bag and slid his web-shooters on just in case before he limped down stairs to catch the bus.

Swinging was faster, and the teen hoped what ever was going on didn't last long because public transit was like torture for the normally high-flying, acrobatic web-slinger.

The bus bounced along noisily through the streets, slowly making it's way towards the Queensboro bridge.

Peter shifted uncomfortably and scanned out the window just to keep his mind off the growing discomfort in his side.

Building rose and fell, with a sparse tree here and there. Nothing exciting. The large billow of smoke to the south though was of mild interest. There was nothing there that normally produced large plums of white but Peter didn't think much of it.

By the time he got to Stark tower he was exhausted. Painful bursts of heat rolled through his body, and his side throbbed continuously.

"Hello Peter," FRIDAY greeted him when he made it to the elevator.

"Dr. Banner please, FRIDAY." The teen muttered, his throat suddenly restricted and hoarse.

The elevator zipped up to on the top floors where Tony's and Dr. Banner's personal labs were. Peter was thankful that the place was empty besides for the single white lab coat of Dr. Banner himself.

"Hello Peter," Bruce greeted when he saw the teen exit the elevator.

"Hey Dr. Banner sir," Peter croaked.

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. Are you getting sick?"

"I don't know. I haven't been sick since I got my powers, and right now even those aren't working! It's kinda freaking me out."

The man looked confused for a moment before he motioned the young super hero onto the table.

"I am just going to take some blood samples to look at, ok?"

Peter nodded and let the man do what he needed to do.

A couple hours later Dr. Banner had the answers to the problem.

"Well, Pete it looks like your body is having an adverse reaction to a chemical that you have been breathing in. Ethyl Chloride. It's not doing anything to you long term, your powers are engrained to your DNA, it is simple inhibiting them. You need a few days for the effects to wear off."

"Ethyl Chloride? Where would I be breathing that in? I wasn't fighting a mad-scientist or anything last night, just a petty car thief!"

Dr. Banner thought, and then realization sudden brightened his face. After a moment of searching he found a remote and turned on a local news station.

The report was talking about an explosion at a local factory. There wasn't much structural damage, but many chemicals were still burning, and the firefighters were couldn't just put them out. Instead they were electing for the fire to burn itself out.

"My bet, that is what you are breathing in. And as long as that stuff is in the air you are not going to be enjoying your powers."

It took several minutes for that information to sink in. It took another minute for the ramifications to rear their ugly heads.

"Oh no!" He whined, "Matt and Steve are going to put me on permanent house arrest! What if something happens and I am not there to stop it? What if the Avengers need me? What am I going to do about school!? Flash is going to be an even worse nightmare!"

Banner smiled.

"You survived fifteen years as Peter Parker without the aid of Spider-man. You can do it for a few more days."

Peter groaned and flopped back on the bed, which he instantly regretted when his ribs protested.

"Here," Dr. Banner offered the teen some pills and a glass of water.

"What's this?"

"Tylenol."

The teen looked offended.

"You are just a teenage boy right now. You don't need the highly concentrated stuff I usually reserve for you and Cap."

Peter took them but managed to maintain his pout.

"Call Matt, and I will get you a drive home." Banner suggested.

The phone call went about as well as expected with Matthew Murdock pulling the over-protective grandmother card and ordering the teen straight home. Before Matt was even finished ranting Steve Rogers appeared with James "Bucky" Barnes at his elbow.

They spoke with Banner and patiently waited for Peter to hang up.

"So," Steve started with arms crossing over his chest.

Peter held up a hand to stop him and hung his head.

"Save it. I got the whole rant from Matt. I am heading home. I am going to go to school, go home, rinse and repeat until this blows over."

Steve smirked and nodded.

"Good. I was afraid I was going to have to babysit you!"

Bucky just snorted a laugh.

"No, he was hoping he was going to have to babysit you. Wanted to play mother-hen and nurse you back to health. If you ask nicely, he might still make you some soup or tuck you with a bed time story."

Peter wasn't sure if the ribbing was meant for him or Steve, but it still wasn't appricated. Unfortunately, his annoyed face made the Winter soldier laugh all the harder.

"Aww look, he is adorable when he is mad! Make's me want to pinch his little cheeks!"

Then he made the motion to actually do that. Peter swatted the hand away but unfortunately it was the metal one.

"Ow!" Peter whined snatching his hand back and cradling it protectively. If this was what he acted like when he was normal Peter, he really was a pansy before he got his powers.

"Come on. We will drive you home." Steve said.

"Need me to carry you?" Bucky asked, still grinning widely. The man knew Peter had special gifts, but he didn't yet know the teen was Spider-man. Still he was having much too much fun with this turn of events.

The two men took the disgruntled teen home. Steve making him promise again to stay there until Banner gave him the ok to continue his nightly patrols.

The thought of going to school was so bad Peter almost told May he was sick. She would have believed him if he showed her the ocean of black over his ribs but that would have made more questions.

The alarm clock went off at 630 and after only hitting the snooze button twice the teen managed to pull himself from bed.

The next hour consisted of a quick shower, a piece of toast and a run to the bus. The run left him sweaty and tired, which made him even more depressed over the whole situation.

School on the other hand turned out to be a thousand times worse then he had thought. It became apparent that over the last year he started to rely on his powers far too much and neglected some normal ones. Like paying attention to his surroundings. Without his spidey-sense Flash managed to hit him with a football, two spit balls and a cupcake at lunch time. Peter also tripped on his own feet and fell down the steps in front of all his class mates, who roared in laughter.

Then gym class came around. He had been allowing himself to stay safely in the middle of the pack so to speak when it came to the physical activity. Not too good that people would take notice but not so bad he would be made fun of.

Dodgeball on the first day of being plain old Peter Parker again was a disaster. The ball hurt his sensitive skin. He couldn't dodge the broad side of a barn. And he fell over himself so many times some of the teens were wondering if he was doing it on purpose.

Finally, that last bell rang, and Peter didn't even pause to say good bye to Ned before bolting out the building.

With head down, he started walking home. This was the worst day he had in a very long time.

It was ten minutes out from his apartment when a scream made his whip around to his right. A woman was frantically beating her fists off the massive back of a large, tattooed man.

When Peter moved to get a better look, he could see there was another woman in front of the assailant, and she was not doing well. Blood already ran down one side of her face, deep bruises marked her arms from the man's fingers, and at least one clump of hair had been ripped from her scalp.

Peter dialed 911. He made sure the cops were on their way, but he was already moving before he hung up the phone.

Powers or no he was not going to stand there and let this woman be beat.

"Hey!" He yelled as he got closer. "Hey, big guy! Whatcha doin' there? Getting your thrills by hitting a girl? Classy!"

The second woman and the man turned to look.

"Mind your own business runt! This has nothing to do with you, this bitch owes me money!"

"I don't care if she owes you a kidney! I ain't leaving!"

The man snarled and turned a bit more. In his moment of distraction, the second woman grabbed her friend and started to pull her away. Seeing this the assailant reached out for her but was met with a foot slamming into the back of his knee, dropping him down to one.

Peter might not have his powers, but he had been training with Steve in basic hand to hand techniques, hopefully it was going to be enough!

The women were far enough away that when the man pulled himself back up the only target left was Peter, and he was so angry he did not hesitate.

Peter managed to duck the first punch, then tripped over his own feet to conveniently avoid the second. His boney knee connected solidly in the man's stomach when the assailant managed to grab him, but it didn't not break the hold.

The teen was lifted a good foot off the ground when a hard punch almost knocked him out, he managed to turn with it enough it didn't break anything, but it still hurt like hell.

Before the man could throw another punch, Peter curled in then exploded out catching the man in the face with both feet. It was enough to break the grip, but he did land hard on his back on the pavement.

Snarling in rage the man started kicking out at the downed boy. Peter tried to cover up, but a couple snuck in, the worse being the one that slammed into his already damaged side. With a loud yelp of pain, the attack continued.

On the ground was not where he wanted to be so he took the first opening he could find to roll backwards and get a footing, the man kept coming with wild swings, his blood shot eyes locked on Peter. The fight backpaddled into a small courtyard in front of a nice-looking building.

Peter managed to get one more shot in before a hand closed around his throat. As he squirmed to pull away everything started to turn black.

"Serves you right you little punk! You should have just minded you own business and walked away!"

Sirens blared in the background, on their way to the disturbance but before they even got close a flash of black zipped past the teens face.

The stick slammed into the assailant's eye forcing him to grab his face. Then came a blur of red flurry. Another stick smacked hard into any exposed joints causing sounds that suspiciously like bones breaking.

Once the man was reduced to a blubbering mass of injuries Daredevil snared Peter's arm and pulled him away.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Just some bruises."

"I knew. As soon as I heard that police scanner, I knew it was going to be you! Why couldn't you just let the cops handle this? Why couldn't you just be a witness for once?"

Peter didn't have an answer, but Daredevil seemed to sense his resolve.

"I know it's hard. Watching someone get hurt is a horrible experience, wanting to help is just your nature. But you have to be smarter then this Pete."

The sirens were getting closer.

"Stay here. Tell the cops everything, including my involvement. I will meet you at the hospital in my regular clothes."

"OK. I am sorry I scared you." Peter mumbled. Daredevil gave him a quick side hug.

"It's ok Pete. Lets just get you patched up ok?"

As promised Matt met his in the hospital with May.

There was a lot of questions and tears, but Peter couldn't help but smile.

"What are you grinning about?" Matt finally asked when May went to get a coffee.

"I thought I was less being back to normal Peter Parker. I thought all the good things were missing. True I might not heal as fast, but I am still me. I still need to help people, I still have that desire to do good." The teen shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "It's actually comforting to know."

Matt gave him a genuine smile and hugged him again, not trusting his voice to speak.