A/N: I hope you enjoy today's chapter! I've been on a break from school, so I had some time to write.

Warnings: Mild descriptions of violence and blood.

Peter was awoken by the sound of hushed voices. He crawled out of the covers and crept to the door. It was cracked open slightly, casting a sliver of light onto his face.

"-it was his birthday!" This was his mom's voice. Peter smiled. It was his birthday.

"I'm sorry, Mary. I promise it was a mistake!" Dad! His dad was home. Peter wanted to open the door and run to him, but something kept him where he was.

"I can't keep forgiving you, Richard. Our son should be the number one priority. If it weren't for him, I would've left a long time ago."

"Mary please-"

Suddenly time changed. He was 9 and a half now, crouched in the same doorway, listening.

"Richard please-"

"No, Angela! If I had any idea what was going on, I would've left a long time ago! We're done. This is the last straw. I'm taking Peter and I'm-"

A door slammed. Footsteps pounded around the room. There was a loud bang and a thud. Peter covered his ears. He didn't like loud noises. There was more muffled yelling, and he pressed his hands harder over his head. His step-mom ran into the room, hair wild and face frantic. There was something clutched tightly in her hand, but he didn't have to find out what. She scooped him up and ran into the closet.

"What's going-" she shushed him before he could finish. Angela dialed a number on her phone. 911.

"There's been a-a break-in… my husband was shot! You have to help me!" They asked for her address and she gave it to them. Peter started to shake. Shot? Dad was shot? Is he dead? He looked up to his step-mom. Her face was a mask of fear.

A mask? She texted someone else that night. A mask. Who would she have to text? A mask. A mask. A mask.

Peter shot up, sweat spilling down his chin and soaking his nightshirt, words slipping from his mouth. "She had a mask."

Tuesday, October 1

4:00pm

Three more days. Peter couldn't believe that it had almost been eight years. Eight years… since his mom's body was discovered. Eight and two months since she went missing. Eight years since his whole world stopped spinning.

He wondered if he would tell her, if she was still alive. About Spider-Man. And if he did, would she freak out? Would she laugh and say, 'Stop teasing me, Peter.'? Whatever she would have done, it would be different than-

"Mr. Stark?" He called. The man looked up from his tinkering.

"Yeah?"

"I have… something to tell you… about Angela."

Tony dropped what he was doing and perked up. The kid was finally opening up to him, which he could only hope meant that Peter trusted him.

Probably a little too eagerly, he said, "Yeah?"

Peter took a deep breath and blurted out, "She knows. About me. About… Spider-Man." Quickly, he continued. "I didn't tell her! She figured it out and boy… she was angry… but that's not the point. The point is she knows, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I was scared…"

"Scared of what?"
"I thought you would be angry at me for telling someone… I'm sorry." He looked down.

Tony just sat there, thinking. He scratched his beard.

Peter waited until the silence became too much to bear. "W-well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you… are you mad?" He wrung his hands together and peeked a glance at Tony.

"Peter, I revealed my secret identity to the entire world with McDonald's in my hand, and you're asking if I'm mad your step-mom found out?" To Peter's surprise, Tony started to laugh. "It's your choice who knows, kid. Not mine."

"Well, A-Angela always says that-" he stopped when he saw Tony looking at him curiously. "Never mind. Forget it. Thank you… for not being mad."

"You don't have to thank people for not being mean to you, kid."

Peter looked a little shocked, but recovered, turning back to his project with a grin. No one had ever told him he had a choice about who found out. Maybe this would change things… maybe he could even tell-

No.

It was too dangerous for her to know. He had to keep her safe.

Tuesday, October 1

6:01pm

"You're late," she called from the kitchen, swirling a glass of wine in her hand. Angela looked up at him with a disappointed glare.

By one minute, he thought. He knew better than to say something like that, though. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

"I swear you're spending too much time with that Tony Stark. Today, you're just late… But what is it next? Soon you'll be running your mouth on live television and ruining everything! He's not a good man, Peter. He'll fill your head with lies."

For once, Peter felt a flicker of anger instead of fear. "He's not a liar. And you're wrong... h-he is a good man. He's a hero."

"He saves himself, Peter. Him. Self. Everything he does is for the good of Tony Stark," she growled, setting her glass down.

"You're wrong," he spat. "You're. Wrong."

"You don't want to start this with me, Peter," she said, her voice dropping.

"But… but I do! All you do is... is assume things about him. You've never even talked to him for more than fifteen minutes! He's a better person than you'll ever be."

Peter felt the fear again. He felt it when she went absolutely quiet. Perfectly still. His anger slipped away when he saw her eye twitch. She only did that when she was really angry.

"You'll regret this Peter. I will not take that tone in this apartment. In my apartment. After all I've done for you? You're going to force me to punish you? You've given me no choice. You have to learn your lesson."

Tuesday, October 1

8:01pm

Pepper waved goodbye to the receptionist and wished her a good evening. She glanced down at her phone, sending a text. Suddenly, the doors banged open and Peter stumbled in, blood staining his jeans and t-shirt. She jumped into action and ran to him as fast as she could.

"Peter! Honey, what happened? Are you ok?"

His knees gave out and he fell onto her, clutching her shoulders for support. "T-tony. Where-" Peter coughed wetly and shook his head. Pepper grabbed him tightly and led him to a chair in the lobby. She nodded to the receptionist.

"Call him." The small woman nodded and grabbed her phone.

Pepper turned back to the kid. She took his face in her hands and turned his head to her. His eyes were dazed and unfocused.

"Peter… Peter, look at me. What happened?"

He waved his hand in the air distractedly. "Patrol... Spider-Man…"

She noted that he didn't have his suit on. At all. But, she didn't say anything. They had to wait until Tony got here.

"Where does it hurt?"

Peter pointed at his head, then his chest, then his left arm. Pepper searched his head for anything serious. Her fingers found a wet, sticky area, and when she pulled away her hand, there was blood. She cursed.

The receptionist, Dani as Pepper remembered, ran over with a first aid kit. "He's on his way."

Pepper pulled a piece of gauze from the packet and pressed it to Peter's wound. He groaned, trying to push her hand away. She had a feeling that if he was at his full strength, it would have been easy. But he wasn't, and he didn't succeed.

"Who did this to you?"

"MJ," he mumbled, again attempting to swat her away.

"MJ did this?" Pepper was shocked. She thought MJ was Peter's best friend. Why would she do this?

"No... No. I was gonna… ask MJ… something," he said, almost inaudibly. "Where's-where's my phone? I-I need to ask… MJ…" his head lolled.

"Hey! Hey, come on. Stay awake. What were you going to tell MJ? Tell me about her."

A corner of his mouth quirked up lazily.

"She… amazing. I was going to… I'm tired, Ms. Potts… I'm j-just going to rest my eyes… for a second…"

"Hey now, Tony's almost here. Just wait for him." She didn't know how bad this head injury was and she couldn't risk him passing out yet. Pepper was worried he might not wake up again. She cradled his head in her arms, trying to keep pressure on the wound.

"Mr. Stark is here?" Peter sat up again, looking around. "W-where?"

As if on cue, Tony came bursting out of the elevator, followed by a small woman in a white coat. Dr. Marzian.

They sprinted over to him. Dr. Marzian began checking him up and down, taking the gauze from Pepper's hand and holding pressure.

"What is going on, Pep?" Tony said, panic in his eyes.

"You tell me! He said it was on patrol, but he's not even wearing a suit," she said. Pepper looked at the doctor. "Peter told me that his head, chest, and left arm hurt. I felt around his head and found that." She indicated the now bloody patch of gauze.

"We need to get him upstairs. Tony, you carry him; Pepper and I will keep pressure on his head and arm," Dr. Marzian said.

Tony switched places with Pepper, and then scooped up Peter into his arms carefully. By the time they got Peter upstairs and into a bed, all three of them were sweaty and cramped.

"Call MJ," Tony grunted. "I told her I'd keep her updated, and I think he needs her right now."

Pepper nodded. Tony was right; Peter had been talking about her like five minutes ago. She took Tony's phone from his suit pocket and dialed MJ, stepping outside while the doctor worked.

It rang twice. "Yeah?"

"Michelle Jones?" Pepper detected a sigh of frustration.

"It's MJ. Who is this? You're not Tony Stark… but you do sound familiar." There was a clanging of dishes in the background. She was probably at home.

"My name is Pepper Potts, I work at-"

"I know. What do you need?" Pepper heard a yell. "Be quiet, dweebs, I'm on the phone!"

"It's Peter. He's hurt, and I was told you should be here." There was a shift in tone as soon as she said this.

"What? What's wrong? Is he going to be ok?"

"He should be fine, don't worry. I'll send someone to pick you up. His name is Happy and he'll be in a-" Again she was interrupted.

"I know. Peter gets picked up every other day to go to that internship thing." She sounded a little dazed. "I guess I'll see you… soon."

Tuesday, October 1

8:45pm

"Did he get this while he was Spider-Man?" MJ asked from her seat, stealing a quick glance at Peter. He was unconscious, but stable, breathing deeply.

"You know about that?" Tony honestly didn't think Peter would tell anyone else. He had seen what happens to people close to heroes. Tony didn't think he would've wanted her in danger.

MJ gave a humorless snort and shook her head. "No. I figured it out. Peter's not very good at keeping secrets. I mean, I only had to put two and two together."

Tony was once again impressed with her. He knew she was captain of the decathlon team, but she was way smarter than he thought. He kicked himself for underestimating her.

"He told us that was how he got hurt… but he wasn't wearing the suit when he got here."

She tugged at her curly brown hair and furrowed her brow. "Do you think it was…"

MJ's statement hung in the air, unfinished. The truth was, they were all afraid to finish it. The reality of the situation would be too much… too painful. She didn't want to think that she could have done more, that she could have prevented something like this to happen…

Tony swore, bringing them out of the quiet. "I swear, if that woman did this, I'll get the entire team to beat her-"

"Tony," Pepper said firmly, grabbing his shoulder. "Calm down and think for a minute." He sat back down in a huff, crossing his arms.

They all quieted when Peter groaned and shifted in his bed. He brought a hand up to his forehead, which was now bandaged. Fluffy tufts of brown stuck out and flopped over the white gauze. MJ turned to him anxiously, then tried to reform her features into an expression of calm indifference.

"MJ," he mumbled. "What are… what is… where am I?"

"One question at a time, kid." Tony said from where he sat, a small smirk on his face. "You're at the tower."

He grunted and touched his head gingerly. "You didn't have to come MJ… it's not a big deal."

"Not a-," she stammered. This was the first time she looked taken aback. "Not a big deal? Are you kidding me? You're sitting in a hospital bed, you big dork. Why wouldn't I come?" She managed to hide her frustration with a smile and a soft shove of his uninjured shoulder. "Now what happened, Peter? Really?"

He became uncomfortable, turning away from them. "I was…"

"I know it wasn't patrolling. And yes, I know about that," she rolled her eyes. Peter looked at her admiringly, although a little surprised.

"Wow. I guess I'm not that great at hiding anything from you. But it really was on patrol. I didn't have time to put on the entire suit, just the mask. I guess that's why the guy banged me up so bad."

They all sensed some uneasiness in his tone, and they all suspected him to be lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth. No one really wanted to say anything… they really just wanted to believe him.

No one wants to accept a truth more painful than the lie itself.

A/N: Thanks for reading, my loves. Have a wonderful day. :)

REVIEWS:

xSapphirexRosesxFanx: I know!

DarylDixon'sLover: Thanks! Glad you like it. :)

Belbelanne: Hehehe. I want to develop Peter and MJ's relationship in future chapters, so keep an eye out.

Beachgirl25: Me too! I've been dying to write a song into one of my stories, and this song is awesome. For me, I always just think of Peter and Tony's "song" being Back in Black, but I can totally see Queen, too. It's conflicting.

UntamableWyldeRaptor: Ugh I know! I feel bad… but also… I must keep writing angst haha. :)

MazikeenWolf: Isn't she nasty? I need to write her so the audience would hate her, and I'm glad I succeeded. But also, she sucks.

Hawkeyes Gal: Thank you! I appreciate it. Thanks for the sweet review.

See you guys next time!

-katilange