Chapter 27: Team Spidey
At the end of the day, Tony surprisingly offers to drive the kids home instead of calling Happy to do it. Peter rides in the backseat between Ned and MJ, leaving the passenger seat empty. The ride is full of backseat chatter from the teens, so much so that they don't catch Tony's slight smile. Ned is the first to be dropped off, then MJ at her house. When MJ leaves the car, Peter moves up to the passenger seat to sit next to Tony. Peter's action is partly second nature, since he usually sits up front with Happy, but the other part of Peter worries Tony will feel uncomfortable. He figures Tony doesn't mind when the man simply pulls away from the curb and starts their drive the apartment.
The ride to Peter's apartment is spent in a semi-comfortable silence. Tony tries to find a subject to talk about or just absolutely anything to break the silence, but comes up empty. What do teenagers even talk about nowadays? It's not like he can whip out any Vines on command. Peter stares out the window, watching the light of the streetlamps as they speed past. He has one headphone in, just in case Tony initiates a conversation. It isn't until the car slows to a stop outside the apartment complex that Peter decides to speak up.
"Thank you for having me, Mr. Stark," he says politely.
"Sure, kid. Not a problem." Tony nods, parking the car. He's not quite sure why he parked, since he isn't going inside, but he does nonetheless.
"I, um, I appreciate it. Y'know, everything that we did this weekend," Peter admits sheepishly as he stares at his fidgeting hands. Tony sighs, noticing how nervous Peter is. He swears this kid is making him way too soft for comfort. Regardless, he gets out of the car and walks to the other side to open the door for Peter. "Mr. Stark?" Peter asks as he cautiously steps out of the car. Tony ignores his confusion and avoids eye contact as he places a firm, hopefully comforting, hand on Peter's shoulder. Peter is shocked into silence.
"If you ever need anything, or you're having a bad day, shoot Happy a text and he'll bring you to the workshop. M'kay?" Tony tries to keep it as nonchalant as possible, but he knows the weight of his words. He's giving a high school kid, an insanely smart one, free range to his multi-million dollar workshop. He can't try to deny it anymore. He cares about Peter, the endearing little shit. Against his better judgment, he looks to the teen, whose head is lowered.
"Oh, I, uh," Peter stammers, keeping his eyes on his shoes. He has never been good with words. Instead, he glances up only to see Tony looking down at him. Something about Tony's honest tone and unwavering eyes makes every coherent thought in Peter's mind disappear.
"Kid-" Peter finds his arms wrapping around Tony's torso and his head tucked against his mentor's chest. Tony stands in a mix of shock and disbelief, his arms hovering awkwardly over Peter. Does he hug back? Does he laugh it off? Does he leave?
"You don't have to hug back, Mr. Stark. I know we aren't there yet. I just…thanks," Peter mumbles his gratitude against Tony's sweatshirt, almost afraid to look at the man's reaction. He's ready to pull away when Tony's gentle, hesitant arms return the hug.
"We're there, Peter," Tony affirms softly. He rests his chin on the top of Peter's head. It takes every ounce of Peter's strength to keep his tears at bay. Instead, he cherishes the feeling of warmth and safety that Tony's arms provide. "We're there," Tony repeats. Peter tightly curls his fingers around the fabric of Tony's sweatshirt. He doesn't want it to get uncomfortable, so Peter lets go and Tony clears his throat.
"Good night," Peter says with a smile as he feels his face flush.
"Sleep tight." Tony sniffs nonchalantly, as if nothing happened, and waits until Peter is inside before getting back into his car.
Peter skips several steps as he energetically climbs the seven flights of stairs to his apartment.
"Hey, May!" he calls once he enters the apartment. He quickly finds May in their small living room, reading yet another book. May looks up and removes her reading glasses.
"Hey, troublemaker. How was your weekend with Tony?" Peter raises a curious eyebrow with a hint of a smile.
"Oh, now you're on a first name basis with him, huh?" he challenges.
"I figured he deserved it since he saved my kid's life." May gives him a pointed look, which Peter smiles innocently at.
"It was good," Peter starts as he falls onto the couch beside his aunt. "He let Ned and MJ come over today which was awesome." May actually looks a bit caught off guard by the information.
"Well, that was nice of him. A bit out of character," she teases.
"Right?! Total plot twist," Peter exaggerates. The two laugh before Peter continues. "Yeah, we did some training on Saturday and I think I've gotten a lot better. We figured out how I can focus on my Spidey Sense without throwing it out of whack. Mysterio won't know what hit him!" May chuckles at her nephews enthusiasm and passion regarding his crime-fighting.
"Good, it'd be a bit embarrassing to be beaten by a guy wearing a fishbowl," she sighs, feigning disappointment. Peter gasps over dramatically and places both hands on his chest.
"He's tougher than his bubble helmet and purple cape suggest!" he defends confidently.
"Likely excuse," May counters, unconvinced.
"Speaking of which," Peter tries to use the subject change to his advantage, "can I patrol after dinner? I haven't gone out all weekend." Skipping out on patrols, even for Tony Stark, makes him nervous. Every second he's not out there, it risks someone getting hurt. It's almost dark outside, but there's still a bit of light left.
"How about dinner and an early bedtime? You just got out of the superhero equivalent of a hospital," May points out.
"But it technically wasn't Spider-Man related." Peter makes a good counterpoint, but no one changes May's mind.
"Nice try, but no can do, Squirt. There's hamburgers in the kitchen." With a groan, Peter makes his way into the kitchen and dishes up his dinner. He and May spend the rest of the night watching episodes of Doctor Who until May ushers him off to bed to "heal." As if he isn't already fully healed. Well, he is physically.
It's 1:18am when Peter wakes up in a cold sweat, gasping and shivering. His chest is tight and he pulls at the collar of his t-shirt in his partly conscious panic. The only thing he can feel is his heart desperately beating to fuel his anxiety stricken body. Why can't I breathe? What's going on?! He feels like he had a nightmare, but doesn't remember anything. Not a thing. Which only makes it all the more frustrating. He feels like his fight-or-flight reaction was kicked into high gear without a good reason. He can't make his hands cooperate and slowly sits up, in hopes that it'll get him more air. Deep breaths, just like Mr. Stark said. Passing out is bad. Just calm down. Stop freaking out. Man, this sucks.
He keeps reassuring himself until his heart rate goes back down to somewhat normal and his breathing sounds less like harsh gasps. His phone displays a discouraging time of 1:32am. Now he's even more exhausted than when he went to bed, but it gives him all the more reason to flop back down on the bed and bury his face into his pillow. If only it were that easy.
He starts to feel a tightness in his chest spread as his breaths begin to slow uncomfortably. It's not the same feeling as when he falls asleep. This is different. His breaths slow to complete stop. Then he can't take in anymore air. He can't move. Nothing is cooperating and he can't call out for help. It's what happened at the Tower all over again, but Tony and Bruce aren't there to help this time. He can't call for May either. I'm all alone. Please no, I don't want to be alone again. His eyes snap open and he can somehow force in a breath. For a split second, his movements are sluggish, but he's able to sit up. It felt like his muscles were about to stop working. On instinct, he yanks his Spider-Man mask out of his nearby backpack and fumbles to pull it on.
"Karen?" he asks with a shaky voice.
"Hello, Peter. Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asks, her tone somewhat concerned. I would if I could.
"Can, can you, um, check to make sure I'm okay? Vitals?" Peter tries to put a coherent sentence together. He's not sure if he succeeds, but Karen is able to respond anyways.
"Your blood pressure and heart rate are elevated, but I see no other signs of bodily harm. It seems as though you have just suffered symptoms of sleep paralysis as well as a mild anxiety attack. Do you require assistance from Tony Stark?" If Peter had caught his breath, he would've scoffed. Not at one in the morning I don't.
"No, I'm okay now. Thanks, Karen." He takes a long, quivering breath. No problem, right? He got past the worst of it, so now he can just pretend like nothing ever happened.
"Happy to help. It's common for those who have just experienced sleep paralysis and apnea to not be able to fall back asleep due to the symptoms recurring," Karen informs regretfully. Peter scoffs, more to himself than at anything else.
"Great," he mutters, lacking his usual humor. Usually, if he can't sleep, he sneaks out to do some patrol. He might as well be productive if he's going to practice being an insomniac. However, May explicitly that she didn't want him out patrolling in favor of his recovery, so that's off the table. He can't betray her trust again, especially after all he has kept from her. Peter still hasn't told her about the extent of what the Vulture did on Homecoming night. A fresh wave of guilt washes over him, but he's too tired to address it.
He lies in bed for a few hours, talking to Karen and hoping beyond hope that somehow he'll be able to go back to sleep. It doesn't work. Around 4am, he finally takes off the mask and decides to be productive by getting ahead on homework. His brain is foggy from lack of sleep, but he has dealt with worse before. When it reaches 6:30am, his useless alarm goes off only to serve as a reminder of how little sleep he actually got. He manages to drag himself into the bathroom for a short shower to try to wake himself up. The only thing the shower does is make him never want to get out. Still, he reluctantly leaves the warmth to get dressed.
When he gets to school, Ned and MJ immediately catch on to his distinct lack of energy.
"You don't look like someone who just spent an amazing weekend with Tony Stark," Ned gently states as the three of them walk inside the school.
"You look like death," MJ rephrases bluntly. Peter can always count on her to be brutally honest, which he appreciates…just not in the moment.
"Thanks, guys. Really feeling the support." Peter opens his locker and shoves a textbook inside. "I know I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but I'm just tired. I got, like, two hours of sleep."
"That's not healthy," MJ points out as if Peter didn't already know.
"Oh yeah, 'cause I chose to be up since one in the morning. My favorite past time," Peter puts as much sarcasm in his voice as he can. Ned and MJ go through their lockers too as they talk.
"You say that like you don't do that for your spider related activities," Ned reminds him in a hushed tone. Ned isn't wrong.
"Speaking of patrol," Peter swiftly changes the subject, "you still want to after school?"
"Of course, you'd be lost without your Guy in the Chair. But are sure you should be patrolling on no sleep?" Ned can never hide the concern in his voice. The thought of arguing only makes Peter more exhausted, so he just nods. "MJ should help us, too. Like a team! Team Spidey!" Ned's familiar excitement surrounding Spider-Man returns.
"What, you have another suit?" MJ asks with the rise of an eyebrow. Ned's eyes go wide at the awesome possibility of not just a Spider-Man, but a Spider-Woman too! Peter almost chokes on his surprised breath, but manages to ask in a rasped voice,
"You mean, like, a suit suit?" MJ keeps her unwavering eyes on him. "Um, of course that's what you meant. What other kinda suit would you be talking about? I'll see what I can do." Peter gives her a thumbs up, which seems to satisfy her. Just the thought of MJ or Ned going up against any kind of villain is enough to send Peter into panic.
"Then what would I do instead?" MJ's voice is monotone and disinterested. Peter swears that she's the only person in the school that wouldn't care about teaming up with a superhero.
"Hey, I want a suit too!" Ned continues, almost too loud. Peter quickly shushes him and looks around to see if anyone actually heard. Luckily, it looks like no one did.
"You can help Ned out," Peter explains, ignoring Ned's request, as they walk to first period. "He'd probably love an extra set of hands. He usually checks police scanners and hacks into stuff." MJ narrows her eyes in thought, then turns her gaze on Ned.
"So that's why you were in the computer lab during Homecoming watching 'porn.'" MJ throws up air quotes. Ned frantically tries to quiet her down before Peter hears, but it's too late. Peter clears his throat in a vain attempt to suppress his laughter.
"Porn is the excuse you came up with?" Peter questions as nonchalantly as possible, but fails to hide his amused smile.
"I told you I'm bad at lying! I've been telling you that for years!" Ned squeaks out his defense. "You don't get to give me a hard time. There's no way you would've tracked your phone without me." Ned makes a solid point, but it's not enough to stop Peter from laughing.
The school day goes by in a blur of boring lectures and MJ kicking Peter's chair to keep him from falling asleep. Without MJ and Ned making sure he didn't pass out, Peter would've been asleep as soon as first period. He manages to get a half hour of sleep during lunch, but it costs him a meal. Nothing he isn't used to, but his stomach still protests with growls. As soon as the final bell rings, the group of three are quick to make their way out of the school and towards the subway station. Ned decides that he'll introduce MJ to his full setup at his house while Peter stays behind to get ready for patrol.
Peter quickly changes into his suit in a nearby alley and watches as the heads-up display flashes to life.
"Good afternoon, Peter," Karen greets. "How was school?"
"Boring. How's Queens looking? Anything on the news?" Peter gets straight to business, too tired to focus on pleasantries.
"There aren't any signs of significant activity coming from any news or radio stations," Karen reports. All right, now they just swing around until Ned and MJ get back with updates on the police scanners. Peter patrols Queens and talks to Karen as he waits, not seeing any particular crime aside from an attempted car break-in. Once they saw Spider-Man swing in, however, they ran off as if it would help them get away. Needless to say, Peter handled it with a witty one-liner and a few webs.
Still, his arms feel slightly lethargic from the lack of sleep and it's hard to keep his eyes open as he swings. His muscles protest, but he easily pushes through the exhaustion. He's gone longer without sleep than this.
"Hey, Peter!" Once Ned's connected to the suit, his voice fills Peter's ears.
"Sup, nerd." MJ's voice greets him too. He isn't used to hearing her through the comms, but it's a nice change of pace to have a full team for patrol.
"Hey, guys!" Peter replies. "Just stopped a wannabe car thief. Got anything for me on the scanner? Any word on Mysterio?" It's been way too long since Mysterio made an appearance and it's starting to make Peter paranoid.
"Um…" Ned drags out the word as he types on his computer, "nothing yet. Everything's quiet, but it's still early."
"Last online article of Mysterio was when you two fought at Grand Central Station. He hasn't made an appearance since then," MJ adds, already falling into a rhythm with the small team. Peter continues to swing, simply surveying the area as he flies through the city.
"Alright, I don't know whether to feel relieved or concerned. Okay, uh, Ned can you keep an eye on the news and scanners for me?" Peter asks as he perches on the corner of a building.
"No problem!" Ned quickly assures.
"And MJ, can you search up a guy who has experience with both chemistry and hand-to-hand combat? Also possibly some kind of mid-grade magician, or maybe proficient in special effects, and see who comes up? Probably not positive things, though. It'll be more like him being fired or arrested or something like that," Peter tries to explain to the best of his abilities. What sticks out is how Mysterio uses holograms, hallucinogens, and can keep up with Peter's punches, so that's what Peter chooses to pinpoint.
"You underestimate me, Parker. I'm on it," MJ affirms before typing away. With both of his friends helping out, Peter feels significantly less stressed about balancing everything on patrol. He stops a few more minor mishaps as he patrols and the three of them chat, until Ned pics up something.
"Alarm was just tripped at the B.K. Books store on 2109 Borden Avenue," Ned relays from the scanner. Karen immediately highlights a route on Peter's HUD, but Peter knows exactly where that bookstore is. It isn't too far from his school, plus he has gone there before with May. Peter adjusts his grip and shifts his momentum to start swinging in the opposite direction.
"Someone's stealing books?" he asks with uncertainty. Isn't it usually a bank or jewelry store?
"I'd do it," MJ reasons nonchalantly. "Books are expensive, especially textbooks." She makes a good point. Their textbooks at Midtown cost an arm and a leg.
"People aren't you, MJ," Ned counters.
"Karen, tap me into the bookstore's surveillance," Peter says, staying on topic. He always has to be quick and focused.
"Of course," Karen responds as a small, blurry window pops up on Peter's interface. The surveillance is surprisingly in grayscale.
"This place needs to update their security system," Peter mumbles to himself. There's a man at a register with a handful of books tucked under one arm and a gun in his free hand. Guns are bad. Very bad.
"Careful, man," Ned warns, looking at the same live footage on MJ's screen. His nerves spike when he sees the gun.
"Don't worry. I've dealt with worse, remember?" Peter reassures. He has dealt with a lot worse, actually. This should be a piece of cake!
It only takes about a minute to get there, which is pretty fast considering the distance. Peter lands in front of the seven story, brick building labeled at the very top as the Blanchard Building. There isn't really a storefront for the bookstore, just double doors and a sign above them that displays the address. The doors are tinted, so he can only see the vague shapes of bookshelves. The surveillance window on his HUD shows that the criminal is busy grabbing books while the cashier has their hands up.
"Karen," he whispers as he carefully opens the door, "can you tell 911 the situation?"
"On it," Karen confirms. Peter slowly shuts the door behind him without making so much as a sound. The cashier, a teen boy who's hardly older than Peter, discreetly glances to him and back. Peter puts a finger over his own lips to keep the cashier from freaking out and to make sure he stays quiet. With silent movements, Peter hops onto the ceiling and begins to crawl to where the robber is rummaging through books.
As soon as Peter is over the robber, he can see that the robber's mask is a bright red ski mask. Peter could almost laugh.
"Bringing a gun to steal some books? A little excessive, don't you think?!" Peter questions. He webs the gun and flings it back to smack the robber in the face, causing him to stumble back in shock and drop all the books in the process. "Excuse me, mister, but those aren't yours," Peter scolds as he webs the gun to the opposite wall. The robber snaps his head up towards Peter's voice, then curses under his breath.
"Don't be polite to criminals," MJ cuts in with her reprimanding voice. Peter flips down to the carpeted floor as the robber pulls out a pocket knife.
"Y'know, this isn't the best Spiderman cosplay I've seen," Peter banters and webs the robber's knife and pulls it to his hand. "The ski mask isn't very original. It doesn't even look like my mask! Kinda cliché, if you ask me." He kicks the robber into the nearest bookcase and webs him into place. "But, I'm digging the red."
"Police two blocks away," Ned thankfully updates. With the almost-robber fixed in place, Peter jogs to the front doors and shouts to the cashier as he leaves,
"Sorry about the mess!" As soon as Peter is outside, he can hear the sirens and shoots a web to the building across the street. He starts swinging across, MJ talking into the comms.
"You're not going to like this," MJ speaks up.
"What? What is it? I thought I did good!" Peter asks, all the possibilities already running through his head.
"Peter…I think you need to hear this," Ned answers instead. "Get onto ABC7 Eyewitness News." Peter's heart thuds.
"Karen, can you pull it up, please?" he requests politely. Without hesitation, a window pops up on Peter's interface. It's a shaky video, filmed from what is most likely a helicopter, of the Empire State Building. This can't be good. The camera zooms in on none other than Mysterio, his purple cape flowing in the wind and his plexiglass helmet reflecting the helicopter's spotlight. Peter's face pales at the villain's words.
"Come face me Spider-Man!" Mysterio's muffled voice demands. His tone is upbeat, as if he's playing some kind of sick game. "The longer you stall, the more impatient I get! For the sake of the hostages, I suggest you hurry." Peter can't breathe. "The show waits for no one! Let the games…begin!"
QUICK IMPORTANT NOTE: nathvods on Instagram made fanart of this fic! ITS SO GORGEOUS YOU MUST GO LOOK AT IT PLEASE. Plus it's a mini Easter egg hunt!