Peeks out from behind a pillow...holding a white flag...I'm back guys! Life decided to resurrect itself and I needed to deal with lots this past month due to COVID-19. I hope all you guys are safe and healthy. And, is it really a coincidence I posted today? Erh, cough, cough, it's Tom Holland's birthday! Don't forget to read and review! Enjoy :)
Peter furrowed his brows at seeing Iron Man's hasty retreat from the room. The rest of the Avengers followed suit, leaving him with more questions than answers for their peculiar behavior. Granted, Peter was relieved to have been left alone again. His heightened senses finally calmed from the muddled bombardment of buzzing he'd experienced when his attackers entered the room earlier unannounced.
He still couldn't see how his age was such a big factor in the whole scheme of things. Peter had been taking up his nightly Spiderman activities since he was 14. Sure, he was a tad young, but he wasn't a child anymore. Welp, not since today at least. Worse day ever to be brought in by the Avengers. Hopefully, I can get out before the day is over to see Ned and MJ. Sighing Peter remembered promising them they'd hang out in the evening.
Glancing around the whitewashed room Peter began to take inventory of his current location more thoroughly. Automatic electric door, with no handles, check. What Peter thought looked like a two-way mirror next to the door opening, although he couldn't be sure, creepy check. Tilting his head upwards Peter saw moderately heightened ceilings. I can work with that. Wincing from the blossoming bruise on the back of his head, Peter gingerly shifted his head back down. He frowned at the lack of air vents on the ceiling, crossing out another potential escape route.
Shifting into a slightly more comfortable position on the floor, Peter could hear muffled steps bypass the door once more. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of who would enter the room; this time he would be ready. No more surprises. Peter thought back to the metal net's unraveling and the sudden onslaught of people in the room. He shuddered with anticipation.
In slow, jerky movements, Peter used both his hands and the heels of his feet to climb up the wall until he reached the ceiling corner. His chest heaved from the exerted effort. After reaching the top, he released a shaky breath and grimaced at his throbbing side. Normally, Spiderman could climb and hold positions with ease for hours on end while staking out criminal activity. However, this was not in a normal situation. Nothing about being attacked by your childhood heroes was normal. That's going to be fun coming to terms with.
Albeit, his definition of normal is being involved with taking down violent crime and drug rings in the sketchiest parts of New York, but even then, Peter maintained a collected façade. He always had a mask and kept his personal information under wraps. Most of the time he spent patrolling the city Spiderman dealt with low life criminals who waved handguns like toddlers and thieves who thought they could outrun the vigilante.
Today though, Spiderman was done. Gripping the surface, a little tighter with the tips of his fingers, Peter could feel his body tremble with effort at holding the position. From his heightened angle, Peter felt a little more in control of the situation at hand. No Avenger could physically reach him, not to take his mask, launch metal nets, or to manhandle him. Peter didn't know how he had gotten into the room but certainly didn't like the idea of being carried by the Avengers. It was such a breach and invasion of his own privacy and personal space.
He was angry. He was in pain. Stopping mid-thought, Peter and rolled his eyes at the gurgling sound. And he was very hungry. Like really, hungry. Pressing his lips together he gathered his thoughts, technically that made him hangry. Yup, definitely hangry and done with today.
Feeling a glint of anger, Peter realized he hadn't even been told what charges were held against Spiderman. But how could he forget the whole "SHIELD needs to ask you questions for public safety reasons" monologue that spewed from the Avengers. They had his age, Peter's real age. Spiderman had people to protect, people he loved and cared for more than anything in the world. People who he could count the number of on one hand. Something about getting your heart ripped out of your chest enough times makes you hold on to the remaining pieces a little tighter. He would never betray them by revealing his identity, government agency, or the Avengers.
All thoughts of sustenance were forgotten for Peter at the now rapidly growing sounds of footsteps approaching the room. Outside the door Bruce cast a glance at his smartwatch, it was June 1st, 12:22 am, he sighed. The scientist pushed his glasses higher onto his nose from where they had previously slipped down. It had been a very, long day.
The morning went off without a hitch as the scientist worked in his lab and had a quiet lunch. The afternoon picked up with the sightings of Spiderman and eventually the evening mission overtook the rest of his night. After Tony lost his composure and bailed in anger at the kid, Bruce decided it would be best if he tried to smooth things over with Spiderman. He watched his flustered teammates retreat into their separate quarters at the Stark tower before approaching the containment room with his first aid kit at hand. Steve gave him a curt nod as he waited on standby with JARVIS's security armed at the ready, Bruce took a deep breath and proceeded into the room holding Spiderman.
Trust.
What is trust? Trust is confidence and security in the actions of another human being. Trust is the complete and utter belief of said human being's goodness. Trust is sleeping next to another person and recognizing they will not harm you during this vulnerable state. Trust is allowing someone to hold your broken pieces to keep you together. Trust is a complex human emotion.
Peter certainly did not trust Dr. Bruce Banner who nervously shuffled into the room. Dr. Banner raised his eyes to the corner where Spiderman had planted himself for security.
"Hi there Spiderman," Bruce paused to gauge a reaction, nothing but Spiderman's wide eyes staring back at him.
He calmly continued, "I noticed you looked a little worse for wear. A-and wanted to see if you needed any medical attention." He drew a breath, and berated himself for stuttering, it was a nervous habit.
"I'm fine. Thanks." Peter didn't miss a beat with his response.
Nope, he did not trust the Avenger. Even if Dr. Banner was a super neat scientist with captivating research on gamma radiation. Jeez Peter can you fangirl any harder? He thought about how many of Dr. Banner's papers he had read. All of them. He had read all of them. Still, that didn't excuse the scientist's involvement, or lack thereof in his detainment.
With a hint of irritation Peter broke the awkward silence, "Listen, I don't know what kind of good cop, bad cop game the Avengers are playing but I deserve to know the charges I'm being held on. This is absurd considering I haven't actually committed any crimes, but I stopped them from happening!" Peter allowed some anger to seep into his voice.
Maintaining his composure, Bruce carefully chose his words. "Spiderman, your age complicates matters with SHIELD. Considering your current age of 18, you would have technically been a minor when your activities appeared on SHIELD's radar." Peter tensed at the sound of his raw age actually being spoken out loud but listened intently to the man in front of him.
"Theoretically, since you were an uninformed minor with good intentions while pursuing your vigilante activities, you wouldn't be lawfully held accountable for your ignorance of SHIELD rules and policies for super or genetically enhanced individuals." Dr. Banner paused to see if Spiderman had any questions before continuing on.
"The Avengers believe SHIELD will drop the charges against you, but we are still processing information with our current point of contact, and unfortunately until then we will have to keep you detained." Glancing upwards, Bruce could make out a fine tremble in Spiderman's form sticking to the wall. That's not good, Bruce thought worriedly.
"Right. So, I am a stuck here indefinitely," Spiderman replied, his voice raw and set as if making up his mind.
"Temporarily, yes." Dr. Banner looked remorseful down to his shoes but said nothing more.
Peter had certainly already made up his mind to escape as soon as humanly possible. Maybe I could overpower one of them and push my way through the door? Feeling a sharp, painful twinge of his hip, or maybe not, he contemplated while rebalancing his unsteady wall sticking form. His heart was still hammering in his chest while he processed the new information about his situation.
Peter didn't know if he had the stamina to be angry much longer, much less at his idol that hadn't directly harmed him. At this point, he was too tired to care. Closing his eyes briefly, he used the moment to soothe his pulsating headache and tried to clear his vision once more by blinking slowly. Although he still endorsed some occasional blurriness to his sight, Peter's ability to focus his eyes had mostly come back.
"Could I take a quick look at your injuries Spiderman?" Peter heard Dr. Banner's muffled voice through his foggy brain activity.
"Why should I trust you?" His voice guardingly somber, but valid to Bruce.
For the first time, the scientist was at a loss for words. Why should the kid trust an Avenger whose team basically kidnapped the vigilante not even an hour prior? Darn kids and their difficult and sticky questions. Bruce wanted the kid to trust him but given the situation, it would a little trickier than bribing him with snickers and lollipops. Where is Clint when you need his stupid ideas? What did teenagers like nowadays? Money, loud music, lots of fast food? God being old sucked sometimes. Bruce couldn't believe how out of touch he grew with modern teenagerism. So, he decided to reboot to the only thing he felt very comfortable talking about at length: his life research works.
"I could tell you a bit about my research work here with the Avengers," Bruce threw out the rebuttal before he could change his mind. He was still a tad shy about bragging or showing others his ideas.
"Okay." Spiderman's soft voice took Bruce by surprise. Peter bit his lip nervously at the agreement.
"Oh, great." Bruce mentally palmed himself at his lack of people skills.
"Well, I started out at Harvard, a beautiful girl, Betty Ross encouraged my interest with gamma radiation research. I eventually enlisted in a military research group that was trying to create immunity against excessive radiation, specifically for super soldiers. Of course, this was well before SHIELD contacted me…" Bruce continued to babble in growing ease as Spiderman watched him warily.
Peter was dazed that his favorite researcher of all time was basically giving him a private interview of his life story and works. Not the best timing but he listened cautiously, holding back on his admiration for fear of being too trusting. Peter listened very carefully to Dr. Banner. Slowly, he felt the buzzing hyperactive senses relax at the nape of his neck. His adrenaline was no longer dialed to a ten.
Peter felt his body melt closer against the wall as he listened to Dr. Banner's life work. He continued to watch the scientist become more expressive with each passing minute as he started talking with his hands and occasionally push his glasses up his nose. Maybe he isn't like the others, Peter mused with interest. Gingerly, Peter began to inch his way down the wall.