Peter followed a schedule as normal as possible the days that he was suspended. His teachers sent all his work to him, and Peter spent the day time doing his assignments. He always spent any afternoons where he didn't have Decathlon practice at his internship with Bruce, so he would go to the medbay after he was done and work there.
Peter had been shocked when his dad's agreed to allow him to continue his internship even while he was grounded, but he was relieved. Bruce hadn't brought up the fight or the suspension, so neither did Peter. Things were normal during the hours that he spent with Bruce.
The rest of the evening was not. He had dinner with his dads every night, but it was tense and awkward, and Peter would escape as soon as he had eaten enough to satisfy them - his stomach had been in knots since he had come home from school on Tuesday, and eating was the last thing he actually wanted to do.
Peter spent the nights in his room, ignoring his dads' attempts to coax him out to spend time with them. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he knew they wanted answers about what had happened, and he wasn't willing to give any.
Peter sighed when he heard a knock on the door on Friday night, though a part of him was relieved that they still were trying to spend time with him, that they weren't so angry with him that they were pushing him away.
Peter was shocked to open the door to find, not one of his dads, but Natasha Romanov, standing on the other side.
"Hey kid." She looked him up and down. "Get dressed."
"For what?" Peter asked her.
"We're going to do some training."
Peter was surprised, but he couldn't even bring himself to say no. His energy levels had been through the roof the past couple of days, keeping him from sleeping. He had to do a large amount of physical activity each day to keep his internal clock from messing up.
"Dad and Papa didn't want me training because they don't want to encourage fighting while I'm suspended for fighting." Peter said flatly.
"That's bullshit." Nat responded, "And I told them so. They know I'm here. Get dressed."
Peter shrugged and went back inside. "FRIDAY, can you ask my dads if it's really okay for me to train with Nat?"
"On it." FRIDAY intoned overhead. A second later. "Mr. Stark has said that he has given permission for you to train with Ms. Romanov."
Feeling better about participating, Peter changed into clothes more appropriate for a workout, and headed down with Nat to the gym.
They were the only ones in there, and Nat got him started with stretches like she always did before they started training.
And train they did. Peter spent hours fighting her, learning new skills and techniques, and honing the ones she was already teaching him.
"I've never seen you go that long, kid." Nat said as they both collapsed on the ground, downing water and Gatorade to recover.
"Well, I've not been able to get any energy out since Tuesday. I have to be active everyday or I just accumulate excess energy since I became Spiderman." Peter realized he said too much when Nat turned at looked at him, confused.
"What happens on days when you aren't able to be as active as you need to?" Nat asked him.
Peter shrugged, thinking back to the last few days. "My senses dial up more, and I don't sleep well."
Nat didn't respond, just allowed them to sit there in silence. "What's going on, Pete?" She asked him finally. "Fighting isn't your thing - you don't fight without a reason. So what was the reason?" Peter was silent, not responding. "Not telling anyone isn't going to get us off your back or fool us. We know you. You obviously had a reason for decking the kid. And I know you were at least somewhat in control, because with your strength, you could have sent that kid flying across the room with his nose through his skull."
"Flash just says stupid shit." Peter grumbled. "Shit I will never repeat. Shit he needed to know that he is never to repeat."
"What kind of shit?" Nat asked, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. When Peter didn't answer, she probed a little further. "Shit about you?" Peter still wouldn't look up, but shrugged. "Shit about your friends?" Peter shook his head no. "Shit about your dads?" Peter must have hesitated or something, because Nat sighed. "Okay. And that's why you won't tell them what happened?"
"Dad doesn't need to hear what was said." Peter mumbled. "Flash won't be repeating it. I'm not telling you or them, so you might as well give up." Peter stood up, taking another Gatorade with him. "Thanks for the training, Nat. I really did need that tonight." Peter didn't wait for a response, heading back to his room, knowing he would finally be able to sleep that night, and wanting nothing more than his bed. He showered quickly before collapsing in bed, falling quickly into a thankfully, dreamless, sleep.
—-
Steve was pacing in the lab while Tony tried to work on whatever project he had picked, though Steve could tell that his focus wasn't there either.
Peter had declined working in the lab with Tony that night, stating that he had a lot of work to get done since he was suspended. Steve knew without asking that this hit his husband hard - Tony and Peter's Friday night ritual of spending time together until all hours of Saturday morning, when one or both would fall asleep working, was one of the most important parts of Tony's week.
It was almost midnight before Nat ventured down to the lab, showered and pensive.
"Did he say anything?" Tony asked as soon as she walked through the door.
"Sit down." She said, pointing to the seats that were available. Begrudgingly, both Steve and Tony sat, waiting for her to talk.
"First - yes, he did give me some information." She rolled her eyes a little. "Your ban on training needs to end though. Peter told me that when he isn't active, he gets an excess of energy and doesn't sleep. And it makes his overstimulation worse. We trained hard for five hours - I barely made it that long, and I think he could've gone longer if I had been able to." Nat didn't look like that was something she wanted to admit.
"He never told us that." Tony was alarmed, and Steve felt the same way.
"We wouldn't have taken that if we knew that." Steve agreed. "Of course that ends."
"I know." Nat sighed. "He did talk to me about the fight a little bit. The other kid - he called him Flash - apparently, he was saying things that Peter didn't like and that he won't repeat."
"He was bullying Peter?" Tony stood up, his eyes flashing with protective anger.
"Sit down." Nat instructed, exasperated. "I don't know if this was the first time he's said anything, but he wasn't making fun of Peter." Nat paused. "Apparently, something was said about you - I think it was something about Tony. Peter said, 'Dad doesn't need to hear what was said.' That indicates that it wasn't about both of you."
Steve furrowed his eyebrows and met his husband's eyes. He looked just as confused as Steve felt. "What could he have possibly said about one of us that would've gotten that reaction?"
Nat shrugged. "I don't know." She admitted. "He ended the conversation then. I was surprised I got as far as I did."
"I'm going to go talk to him," Tony stood up, but Steve yanked him down. "Hey-"
"Wait, babe." Steve said quietly. "First - I think Peter's probably asleep since he finally got to work out that excess energy. Waking him might not be the best idea." Tony huffed, but nodded. "Second, I think I should talk to him."
"But the kid said something about me-" Tony started.
"Exactly." Nat interrupted. "Steve's right. If you're the one he's trying to protect, he's not going to say anything to you. Steve's got the best chance of getting an answer."
Tony sighed. "Fine." He grumbled. "I just feel useless."
"I know." Steve admitted. They had both been feeling useless all week, wanting to know what was bothering their son. "Tomorrow, I'll train with him and see if I can get anywhere with him."
"Maybe he'll talk to you." Tony agreed with a sigh.
"Maybe he will."
