Chapter Thirty-Three
"You don't have to go to school today." May had been pestering Peter like a loveable, but obnoxious mother hen all morning which was weird because usually Peter couldn't skip school unless he was at death's door. Or if Thanos 2.0 ever decided to show up. He guessed things were a bit different now since he had nearly been pummeled and poisoned to death by May's boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend. Or dead boyfriend. What was the right term for it?
"Why don't you take off a few more days?"
Peter put on his backpack and looked at May as if she had lost her mind. "Are you kidding? Do you know how much school I've missed? I'll be lucky if they don't ask me to repeat my junior year while everyone else gets to go to college."
"I'm sure a personalize note by Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers would at the very least guaranteed you a high school diploma."
Peter's heart sank when May mentioned Tony. The anger in his mentor's tone when he had seen him, and Natasha training was still fresh in his mind. He had seen him looking angry before, but not over something as simple as training.
"Later May."
"Ok, Pete, but call me when you get there. Do you have enough money for the bus? And absolutely no decathlon-"
Peter knew he was being rude, but he slammed the door behind him. It was a crisp spring day which reminded Peter than summer was just around the corner. He felt lighter than he had in months as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Hell, New York even smelled like roses instead of its usual dead rat-garbage combination.
He was lost in his own thoughts when he suddenly bumped into someone. "Hey watch it!"
Peter's eyes widened when he saw Flash dusting off his jacket. "Flash?"
Flash gaped. "Parker, you're back at school. You've been gone for a while since-" Flash cleared his throat awkwardly and he decided to break the silence. "Are you, are you not dying?"
Peter wanted to laugh at the statemen. He wanted to tell him, he had never felt more alive but saying it would probably freak out Flash. Not to mention he didn't know the story. The entire story. All he knew was that he had been ill. No mention of Spiderman or May's boyfriend and he was determined to keep it that way.
As much as he had grown to appreciate Flash it would be a cold day in hell before Peter parted with his Spiderman secret. Knowing Flash, he would probably use it against him. Still, it was better to make peace.
"I'm better."
"Good." His face turned into the know-it-all smirk he had come to know and hate. "I was tired of carrying your weight at the decathlon meet." Flash paused as his cheeks turned red. "And about the pills, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have given them to you. I didn't know they would make you sick."
Flash seemed generally concerned over this piece of information. "It wasn't the pills." Peter decided to soften the blow. "As it turned out I don't need them anymore."
It was partly true during his long stay at HQ Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho had been slowly weaning him off the drugs making him feel like a teen junkie. Peter would be lying if he said he didn't crave the way his muscles relaxed because of the pills every once in a while.
"Good. They were wasted on you."
"Parker!"
Peter turned around and saw MJ and Ned giving him quizzical expressions. "I have to go."
"Later, Penis."
Peter couldn't help but smile at the nickname as he jogged back to Ned and MJ. MJ raised an eyebrow
"Kinda."
Ned looked at him worriedly. "I'm still your guy in the chair, right? Flash doesn't even know you're Spiderman."
Peter laughed as the bell rang. "Of course, you are, Ned. Let's head to class."
Man, it felt good to say that.
"May, I'm going to be late." Peter tried to be patient with his aunt, but it was hard when the older woman was covering him with pink lipstick kisses all over his cheeks which caused him to turn a brilliant shade of red. "I still need to buy four sandwiches and take the train uptown."
May raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Four sandwiches?"
Peter shrugged. "One for me, one for Happy, one for Mr. Stark, and one for the Winter-I mean Mr. Barnes." He had decided it was time to bury the invisible hatchet between him and Tony. He couldn't avoid his mentor forever and he was tired of this tension between them, thanks to overhearing plenty of conversations between Bruce and Happy he knew Mr. Stark felt some guilt over what happened with Scott.
Which Peter thought it was stupid. It wasn't Mr. Stark's fault that Scott had turned out to be a psychopath who hated him and had tried to poison him. Peter was going to prove it to him whether he wanted to hear it or not.
May sniffed as she looked at him with near tears in her eyes which caused him to silently groan. "I really did raise a sweet baby-I mean an upstanding young man."
Peter rolled his eyes. "I'll be going now. I'll be back before dinner."
"When you come back let's start planning a vacation."
"A vacation?"
"Yes, we haven't been anywhere just the two of us. It would be fun. The last hurrah before your senior year."
"Can we afford it?"
"Peter Benjamin Parker, you let me worry about the money." May kissed him on the forehead. "Now go have fun."
Peter arrived at Avengers HQ an hour later carrying a bag which contained three sandwiches now that he had given a grumbling Happy his. When he opened the front doors of the lobby, he ended up running straight smack into Bucky.
Bucky raised an eyebrow. "You should watch where you're going. Don't you have that Peter tingle?"
"Spidey sense," Peter grumbled. "Besides you're a super soldier, you should have better reflexes."
Bucky grinned. "Touché. I'm surprised May let you leave the house."
Peter blushed. "She wanted me to stay at home, but I needed to talk to Mr. Stark and you. I never did properly thank you, Mr. Barnes for what you did with Scott. I am so grateful truly-"
"You don't have to thank me." Bucky shook his head. "I was glad to do it. That creep should have been tortured more, but he was pissing me off. Pete, if you are ever in that situation again, let me know. I can take care of it. Don't bottle things up."
A chill ran down his spine at the thought of being used as a punching bag again. "Thanks. This is for you." He reached into the bag and pulled out a sandwich. "I know it's not much of a thank you present, but-"
Bucky chuckled as he took the sandwich. "As far as compensation go for murder this is the best one. Later, Pete. Steve and I are heading into the city, Sam got himself into a bit of a mess."
Peter watched him leave on his motorcycle. He sighed. Two down, one more to go.
"Friday?"
"Yes, Peter?"
"Where is Mr. Stark?"
"Laboratory B. Allow me to guide you. Would you like me to announce you?"
"No, thank you. I can announce myself."
-End of Chapter Thirty-Three-
