Uh, hi.
You guys may not know me, but I wrote several things for this fandom that haven't been updated since about 2 years ago. I swear it didn't feel like that long. Anyway, just wanted to say, I never forgot about my stories on here and I fully plan to continue/finish them in this next year before I head off to my next chapter of life after graduating high school.
Anyway, I've been rewatching USM and I finished the season 2 finale and then sat down and spent 3 hours writing this which was completely unplanned.
This takes place right after the last 2 episodes of season 2.
Anyway, here you go. Hope you enjoy the story.
His Spidey sense tingled slightly. Apparently, his friends were threats now. Even though he knew in his head that they weren't, he couldn't help it when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his spidey sense buzzed slightly, and his whole body was put on edge. Regardless of all the numerous times, it had been a welcome presence, last time it hadn't been. Last time, they were a threat. So when Luke came up behind him in the Tri-carrier break room (yes, they had a break room) and put a hand on his shoulder, he may have just barely resisted the urge to jump, and get out of the way, and move, like every sense in his body was screaming at him to do. Instead, he forced himself to turn around, and grin. Even if he had his mask on, he knew Luke would be able to tell if something was up.
"Hey, man. I just wanted to say thanks, for getting us out of that mess. You're a good leader, bro."
Peter forced a laugh. "Of course, PM. Thanks," he said, giving Luke a fist bump; even though his spidey sense flared when Luke's fist came towards him, causing anxiety to flare in his stomach.
"That's what teammates do." He said, forcing another smile.
...
No one had seen Ava since she disappeared to go shower, claiming she was going to wash all of the "goblin gunk" out of her hair. But that had been hours ago, so Peter was going to make sure she was alright. He knew it couldn't have been easy for any of the team to be turned into goblins. It had been a nightmare when the Goblin had turned him into Carnage. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if they had meant what they said. The Goblin had essentially turned them into darker, goblinier versions of themselves, but those thoughts were coming from somewhere right? Did they really think that they hadn't really been friends? He knew that the team had been together before he joined and that he wasn't always a great leader, but he had at least thought they were friends.
Sell out.
You're losing your edge.
Failure.
Could've saved your Aunt May the pain of all your lies. Could've saved us. Could've saved your Uncle Ben.
We were never really friends.
Peter took a deep breath. It didn't matter. He needed to make sure his team was alright, regardless of what they thought of him. He was still the leader and they were still his responsibility.
"Ava?" He asked, knocking on her door. His body was still on high alert. Expecting to be attacked. He should feel safe! He was in the Tri-carrier. Not on the Hell-carrier. He was with his friends. They weren't his enemies. Anymore. A dark voice whispered in his mind, that sounded far too much like Goblin for his liking. He glanced around, just to be sure, and nearly jumped to the ceiling when Ava finally opened her door.
"A-Ava! Hey. Just thought I'd check on you, after the whole, ya know, Goblin fiasco and almost falling to our doom and whatnot, and just wanted to see how you're handling things or if you want to talk or something like that." He was rambling. Did his voice tremble at the end? Did she pick up on that? He hoped not. Don't show weakness or they'll strike. Why couldn't he sort out the fact that he wasn't in danger anymore? These were his friends. Friends?
We were never really friends.
He flashed a grin at Ava. Again, not that she could tell with the mask and all.
"Yeah, thanks. It's kinda a lot to take it. I don't like not being in control or knowing what's happening. Like last time, with Kraven. And the whole falling to our doom thing, uh, thanks for not dropping me." She said, pulling him into a hug.
His body was thrust into panic mode, every nerve and sense feeling like they were on fire, all screaming at him to run, get away, you're exposed! Vulnerable! Retreat! Escape!
He ignored them, causing his limbs to burn as he forced them to return the hug that they so wanted to reject.
...
"Hey, Webhead." His body tensed. This was getting exhausting. He could feel Nova hovering behind him. Never had he felt so aware of how close he was, or how in an instant that the glow surrounding him could be heated up and shot at him. His back throbbed as a reminder of where he had hit him with his energy when he'd been a goblin.
"Yeah, Bucket Head?" He replied, letting sarcasm slip into his voice.
Talking is a weak man's defense.
"I just wanted to say thanks for saving us and not giving up on me and all that mush."
"Sure thing. Couldn't let our friendly neighborhood Bucket Head join the dark side," He said in a teasing tone.
Nova landed beside him, giving him a nudge. He fought a flinch. "Whatever webhead," he said, rolling his eyes.
...
This time he couldn't fight the gasp that escaped his lips, as his groggy sleep-deprived mind saw a glow nearby. He bolted up from where he had been falling asleep in one of the tri-carrier medbay chairs waiting for his friends to get checked out and while they made sure there were no traces of goblin DNA left in their bodies. He must've fallen asleep while waiting on them. But his entire body hurt and screamed at him in protest as he forced himself into a standing position, even as vertigo hit him from standing so fast.
The glow had just been light as the door opened, but it was Danny that immerged.
"Hello, friend. I didn't mean to wake you."
Peter forced himself to sit again, even though it put him in a more vulnerable position if attacked.
"Uh, no, no, it's fine. I didn't mean to fall asleep anyway."
Thought your loyalty was to this team.
"I never got a chance to say, but thank you my friend for saving us."
"Uh, of course. No problem. All in a day's work," he chuckled.
Danny gave him a strange look and opened his mouth to comment, when the rest of the team came out, along with Dr. Connors saying they were all clear and goblin free.
It didn't make the thoughts go away though.
After that, Connors had insisted on checking up on Spider-Man, even after his protests. And after much hissing, and groaning, and cleaning and bandaging later he was cleared to go. He'd text Aunt May that he was spending the night with his friends. No way was he going home tonight.
...
He could feel them, lurking on the edge of his consciousness. Surrounding him, closing in on him.
Could've saved your Uncle Ben.
He could see the blood splattered all over his hands from his uncle's bleeding chest.
He felt Nova blast him in the back.
Power Man punched him through several construction beams and into a brick wall. He felt his body protest as he attempted to sit up.
Tiger growled ready to pounce.
Fist powered up his chi, ready to strike.
Failure.
Sell out.
No quips? No jokes?
Saved us.
Aunt May.
Saved Uncle Ben.
He couldn't breathe, the air around him became suffocating. He was going to die at the hands of his own team. Were they a team? They all hated him. He couldn't save anyone. He was a failure. he'd always been a failure. Tiger pounced at him and he tried to scream but found his voice was gone.
He bolted awake. Finally aware. Too aware. Overly aware. A hand on his injured back, people crowded around him, everything was hot and stuffy, too hot.
He gasped, anxiety churning in his stomach, his throat felt dry, and his voice felt stuck. Nevertheless, bile climbed it's way up his throat. He barely shoved the hands off of him and fell to the floor, before puking into the waste bin sitting beside the bed. He shuddered. He felt people crowding him again.
He coughed, holding up his hand. "S-Stop. Don't-" He wasn't able to finish before his stomach contracted and he found himself dry heaving.
"Peter," he heard Ava behind him. He finally felt like he was able to breathe again, He gingerly sat up from where he had been hunched over the trash can.
He slowly turned around to face his team, half expecting them to still be goblins.
Ava slid off the bed so that she was crouched on the floor beside him. "Peter, what's wrong?"
He saw something move in the corner of his eye. He tensed, quickly turning to see what it was, but it was only Sam.
"Peter, we only wish to help you. We all have nightmares. It is not a weakness to share them with others," Danny said stepping closer.
"A nightmare," he breathed. That's all that was. But it wasn't. It had been real. All of it had been real. Just because he had remembered it in his sleep and it had left him shaky and spooked, didn't mean it wasn't real. Uncle Ben dying, the team attacking him, all of that had really happened.
"Come on, man. Just tell us, what's bothering you. We can help," Luke said.
Peter scooted further away. "Just...did you guys mean it?" He asked, his eyes blown incredibly wide. He was tired. He was hurt. He was scared. He felt like total crap and he was tired of trying to be strong. He just needed to know.
Sam frowned. "Mean what?"
Peter looked at all of them uneasily. "When you guys were goblins...did you mean all that stuff you said? That...I'm just a sell-out. A failure. Are we not...not actually friends?" Peter looked at all of them terrified. Why had he been so weak? He shouldn't have told them. Now they're all going to hate him.
Luke was the first to look guilty.
"Man, we didn't mean any of that. I know we said a lot of things, especially me, bringing up your uncle like that. That was super uncool of me. I'm sorry." Peter looked a little surprised. He hadn't been expecting that.
"Yeah, Peter. We didn't mean any of that. It was all the goblin serum. We never wanted to hurt you. And...I'm sorry we did." Ava said, biting her lip.
"I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you, friend," Danny said, moving closer, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, Peter...I know we tease each other a lot, but you're one of the best friends I've ever had. I didn't mean what I said about us never being friends. I'm sorry," Sam said, surprisingly initiating a hug with Peter. Sam wasn't much for feelings or emotions and whatnot, but Peter was like a brother to him and he hated seeing him hurt like this. Especially when it was partially his fault.
Peter hugged him back, letting out dry a sob. The rest of the team huddled around, joining in on the group hug.
Eventually, they broke it off, allowing Peter to climb back in bed, as Danny went to deal with emptying the trash can. The rest of them piled around Peter's room. Ava sitting on the bed, Sam on the chair, and Luke sat on the floor with Danny when he returned.
And Peter finally felt safe in the presence of his team, as he drifted off to sleep.
Not my best writing, but considering how spontaneous this was...meh.
In case it wasn't clear, this is Peter's bedroom on the tri-carrier, not at home.
If you want to read a similar story that's written much better than mine check out OfficalUSMWriter's story "Being There For You" It's a one-shot collection but the first chapter partially inspired this.
Hope you all enjoyed the one-shot.
Feel free to review or PM me.
Love you guys!
~SunshineGirl14