Chapter Seventeen
Wanda shook her head as she stared at Bruce with a mix of disgust and annoyance. "No way, I am not doing it. You lost your mind, Dr. Banner." She had been expecting a fun lunch date with Peter instead Bruce has expected Wanda to play the spy of whatever Peter was going through. Not to mention that Bruce wanted her to go inside Peter's innermost thoughts. "That's a total invasion of his privacy. I won't do it, Bruce."
"You did it to all of us at some point," Bruce said dryly as he looked at his watch. Peter would be here in an hour and Happy had agreed to pick him up for a lunch date. "You didn't seem to complain too much back then as I recall."
Wanda blushed. "That was different, in case you've forgotten I was working for HYDRA at the time and you guys were being complete pains in the asses." She snorted. "Not that has changed much. I'll talk to Peter and get whatever information you want me to get off him, but that's it. I'm not going inside his mind. Why do you even think that we should be worried?"
Bruce sighed remembering Peter's bruised body. He wondered if he should have mention that part to Tony and Steve yesterday, but knowing Tony he would have blown a gasket. Tony had mentioned that according to Friday, Peter hadn't gone on patrol as much which Bruce thought was odd in itself since Peter practically begged to prove himself useful. "I just think he's acting a little funny lately. He's been getting hurt a lot recently, so I just want to make sure that everything is fine on that end. To make sure that he is not chewing off more than he can chew."
Wanda shrugged. "It's Peter, I love him, but he trips over trashcans."
"Yes maybe," Bruce said absentmindedly. "Or maybe it's something else."
"Are you sure that you don't need help going to the hospital?" Peter asked May. She and Scott were getting ready to go to the hospital. She was finally going to get her cast removed. Happy was due to pick him up in half an hour. His wounds were feeling a little better thanks to Bruce's tender loving care. Peter had been wanting to ask Dr. Banner why was it that his healing ability had been slowing down for the past few months, but he didn't want to bring it up and he couldn't risk Bruce being more suspicious than he already was. "I can always call Dr. Banner to cancel." Peter didn't really want to cancel, but he also didn't want to risk a beating from Scott either.
May shook her head as she kissed his forehead. "Nonsense, Peter you go and have fun. I promise that by tonight you will be the first to see me cast free. Maybe we can watch a movie."
"Don't get here too late," Scott warned with a smile that look both threatening and kind. "You have a huge history test that you need to study for. This is not one that you can afford to fail."
Peter nodded. "I will, Happy is giving me a ride back so don't worry about picking me up."
"No one said we were worried, kid." Scott said as he picked up his car keys and headed outside with May.
Since there were still a couple of minutes until Happy picked him up, he decided to get started on than history test. He was interrupted when he heard a doorbell ring. Peter opened the door and saw that it was Dr. Strange dressed in an expensive looking V-Neck shirt and tailored pants instead of his usual get up. It had been months since he had seen him.
"Hey, Dr. Strange!" Peter blurted out cheerfully. "You're not wearing your cape today."
Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow trying to hide his amusement. "I don't usually when I am running errands. I have something to give to you." He said as he pulled out a familiar orange jar. Peter could feel his hands sweating. "Bruce told me that you've been getting into a bit of trouble lately and asked me to prescribe you a couple of pain pills." He waved his index finger at him. "This prescription is stronger than one I would usually give to a kid your age but it's because of you enhance metabolism. Only take them when you need them. It won't help you in the long run if you abuse them."
Peter nodded like a puppet until Dr. Strange visibly relax. "How have you've been kid?"
"Well I haven't been to space," Peter replied coyly. "I kind of miss it."
Dr. Strange rolled his eyes. "Let's hope that never happens again. See you around, kid. Call me if you need anything."
Peter waited until he was sure that Dr. Strange had left to open the jar and take one of the little white pills. He knew that it wasn't smart especially since his injuries didn't hurt that much anymore. Maybe it was just a coping mechanism. Something to help his anxiety. Whatever it was it was working, besides, he needed something to calm his nerves. The last thing he needed was to be a jittery mess at lunch.
He swallowed the pill and he could swear that he felt his muscles relax almost instantly. Dr. Strange was right the pills were stronger than the ones that Flash had given him. He heard a car honk and he looked out the window recognizing Happy's sleek black car.
Peter went downstairs and he was surprised when the windows rolled down and he saw Tony's brilliant white smile looking at him. "Hey, kid long time no see. I almost forgot what you looked like."
"Mr. Stark?" Peter echoed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I though Happy was going to pick me up."
"He was watching Pride and Prejudice for the tenth time," Tony said with a roll of his eyes as he opened the passenger door. "I decided not to bother him and come for you myself. You're not disappointed, are you?"
"No of course not," Peter squealed as he got inside. "It's been a while since we've seen each other Mr. Stark. How are you? Have you've created any new suits?"
Tony nodded as he pulled out of Peter's apartment building. "As a matter of fact, I have. I added a couple of things that has made Pepper talk about a life insurance policy again. I know fire is mostly my thing that's what the repulsors in my suit usually fire, but I've been playing with doing ice as well. Pepper called it the Elsa trick, but whatever."
"That's so cool," Peter replied. "Maybe we can do that on my next suit."
"Spiders can't handle the cold, dummy." Tony pointed out. "Besides your teeth start chattering whenever they throw a snowball at you."
"I can handle it," Peter insisted. "I can handle a lot of things you don't even think me capable of."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Tony laughed. "So, can I join you, Bruce, and Wanda for lunch today or is this some super-secret lunch meeting that I'm not invited to?"
"Of course you can. The more the merrier. It's been a while since I've seen everyone."
"We can have sushi or barbecue ribs. You'll love it, kid. So, what have you've been up to?"
"Oh me?" Peter said dryly as he looked towards the window as they left Queens behind. "Not much."
-End of Chapter Seventeen-
