Peter stared openly at Wade's bare face, bathed in the red light from the setting sun. His eyes narrowed. He cocked his head to the side.
"You know, it's not as bad as you think it is. I don't get why you keep your mask on all the time."
"It keeps the mystery. The man behind the mask, et cetera et cetera."
"But everyone already knows who you are. All the other heroes at least. Well, the ones you work with." Tony probably knew too, but he decided to leave that out.
He stilled. "Oh."
After a moment of deep, deep contemplation (Peter swore he saw something die in his eyes), Wade shuffled backwards to a familiar looking duffle bag, stuffed full with an assortment of probably illegal weapons. Peter watched closely from his perch on the black car Matt and Wade pulled up in, twisting his own mask around his fingers.
They really did look like an old married couple when they came in. Sure Matt was trying to strangle Wade and Wade was waving a handgun in his face, but every couple had their moments. "Do you guys just spend all your time together?"
Wade blinked at him, confused, as he buckled an assortment of weapons and tools onto his body.
"You guys came in together," Peter elaborated. "And the other night, you guys were already there when I got to the first place."
A lightbulb clicked on and he beamed. "No, this time was an accident. Well, sort of. Okay, it wasn't an accident, but it wasn't on purpose."
It was Peter's turn to be confused.
"I saw him and I tried to hit him with my car."
"...Oh." Peter's lips pursed as he absorbed that information.
As if sensing his discomfort, Matt waved Peter over. He slipped off the roof of the car easily and jogged over, but immediately regretted it when he saw the scowl on Matt's face. "What, what is it?"
"On the phone, you said 'some more ninjas," Matt said crossly, folding his arms. "From the sound of it, this is not 'some more ninjas.'"
"Yep." Peter grinned wickedly. "Hm. Yeah. I wonder where I got that from. I am sincerely confused."
"See, this is the type of thing Stark was worried about," Matt said with mock sternness.
Peter froze. "What?"
Matt didn't seem to realize the stiffness in his words, mirrored in his body. "I see it now," he kept going. "You are a worse person for associating with me. Especially with him."
Peter spared a glance in the direction Matt tilted his head to see Wade rummaging around in his Hello Kitty bag. He didn't laugh at his joke this time. He just felt sick.
He swallowed harshly, feeling like he just gargled nails. "Yeah. Right."
Wade wandered over to where the two were standing in silence, dragging his duffle in the dirt behind him. "What's the sitch, y'all."
Peter ignored the way Matt was staring at him and faced Wade. "There's about 150 guys in there from what I could see. I lied to you. Yay."
"Kid-"
Peter shook his head, not letting him get any further. "Can we talk about it later?"
He barely waited for the short nod he got in return. "We do need a plan this time, guys. We can't go in blind like last time. There's three of us, and a lot more of them. And from what I saw earlier, they have a lot more firepower than us, too."
"Agreed," said Matt. "I would say divide and conquer, but I'm not a hundred percent that would work this time. I'm really… God, I can't believe I'm considering this."
Matt marched away from them before Peter could say another word.
Peter shot a suspicious look over to Wade, a weird feeling taking root in his stomach. "I don't like that."
"I do." He grinned, teeth gleaming in the dim lights.
Feeling a headache coming on, he decided to straight up not worry about it. If he's learned anything from these guys, it's that nothing ever went as planned, so he might as well just. Go with it.
Matt appeared back by his side, already sighing. "Now that that's taken care of," he muttered, "shall we?"
"Age before beauty," Peter shot, grinning.
He swept a wide arm towards the building, and Wade slapped his hand aside.
"Hold on." Matt had three small black things in his hand. Keeping one for himself, he tossed the others to Peter and Wade.
"And these are what, exactly?" Wade asked as Peter inspected the oddly shaped object.
"They're comms," Peter answered. "Right? I used one in Germany."
Matt nodded. "I had them specially made first thing after this afternoon. They automatically turn off when they get within six feet of each other so the receiver doesn't blow. Picked them up when I got your call."
Peter rolled his mask up and tucked it into his ear. "That was fast."
"I don't need walkie talkies. I'm psychic," Wade said. Peter just stared at him, allowing the concern to show openly on his face. "I'm kidding. Matt, I can't get it in."
Matt shrugged and helped Wade with his own when he couldn't get it to stick. "I know a guy. Anyways, I didn't get any backups, so don't lose it. We're short one as it is already."
His words finally registered. "Oh my God," Peter whispered, wincing. "You didn't."
"I did."
"You didn't ."
"Ooh, is Frank coming? Only Frank makes Matt make a face like that. I like Frank." Wade muttered to Peter as indescretely as humanly possible.
"Not by choice. Jess is MIA again and avoiding my calls, so. We had to settle. "
Peter brightened. "Jess as in Jessica Jones?" Matt nodded. "You know Jessica Jones?"
He nodded again, and Peter tried to not get too excited. He definitely had to make Matt introduce him at some point.
"We might as well go ahead. There's no point in watching paint dry. Peter, you wanna hop back up there and give us the layout?"
Peter answered by swinging up to the roof again, landing as lightly as he did the first time.
The base looked as if the Yakuza bought four of the complex rooms and tore all the walls out, making a space half the size of Peter's apartment building. Fake walls sectioned off different parts of the massive area, and floating walkways had been constructed around most of the perimeter, occasionally stretching over the middle as well. Peter relayed this all to Matt and Wade over the comms, taking stock of the assortment of parked armored trucks, cargo bins, Amazon shipments, and large wooden boxes scattered throughout.
"Any exits?" Matt asked, voice crackly.
"None that are visible, but I'd be willing to bet they have a couple of rabbit holes hidden."
Matt sighed. "Alright. There's no way of being stealthy about this, so. Um. I guess it's just a matter of not getting killed."
"Inspiring, man," Peter deadpanned.
"Kid, just stay up there till we get in, then drop on 'em once we get them occupied."
Peter rolled his eyes. Of course. There was some indistinct shuffling that Peter could only assume was the two of them travelling to the closest entrance. The mental image of them trying to be stealthy while maintaining the six foot boundary was enough to make him smile.
Matt muttered quietly, "Count of three?"
Peter could practically taste the smart-ass as Wade responded, "Three."
Watching diligently, Peter waited until abject chaos broke loose. The scene in front of him already resembled a trash fire by the time he shattered the window and dropped down close to Matt.
Instantly surged by ninjas, Peter got straight to work. Thankfully, most of them didn't bother to draw their swords in such close combat, so he was dealing with knives, throwing stars, and fists almost exclusively.
He clocked a few of them out immediately and sprung into the air, letting himself freefall as he let loose a web bomb. That incapacitated a good chunk of them, and Peter rolled right back into the action.
"'Sup, dude," he greeted as Matt appeared next to him. "Didn't realize we were so close to each other."
"You think this isn't intentional? No, I don't trust you by yourself," he grunted, cracking two guys over the head harder than necessary with his baton.
"I'm hurt, man, hurt."
"Hm, Matty-bear, do you think we should invest in a sitter?" Wade quipped, louder than necessary. The syllables of his words cracked sharply with static. "Then we could go on date night and leave the baby at home."
Peter snatched away a knife that got a little too close for comfort and groaned. "Do you just find joy in other people's misery?"
"Oh, honeybun, my joy is other people's misery," said Wade. He sounded way too cheerful. Especially coming off Matt's truly uplifting pep talk.
"The fact that you consider this 'date night' is concerning to me. Maybe you need to get out more," Matt said. Peter yelled duck. He ducked, and Peter spun around and webbed the ninjas in front of Matt together.
"Also," Peter threw a hard punch, feeling the crunch of the guy's nose beneath his fist, "'baby' was the one that found this place. That's pretty much the same as making dinner reservations. Happy Anniversary," he grunted.
It was nice to have someone to talk to again. It's almost like having Karen back, just more violent and aggressive. And loud.
To be honest, most of the battle blurred into a rhythm of kick, web, punch, dodge, web. Peter's spider sense was too overpowering for him to do much more than follow his instincts. Whenever he got clumsy, he quickly corrected himself after someone nicked him.
Peter's spider sense flared. His eyes widened as he searched the building for the new threat.
"Guys? I think someone else is-"
A spray of bullets interrupted him, and he barely ducked in time for them to imbed themselves in the ninjas.
"-here," he squeaked.
"That's Castle," informed Matt, just as he caught sight of the tell-tale glint of metal flashing from the far corner of the floating walkway. "Glad he pulled his head out of his ass long enough to see this was serious."
Peter's mind was practically exploding at this point from all the input. Wincing, he shot a web at the roof and pulled himself out of the fray, latching onto the ceiling. "I can't focus with this comm in, guys, sorry. It's coming out."
He could pick up their faint protests as he palmed the comm and launched off the ceiling. Swinging to where he saw Mr. Castle the first time, he gently delivered the comm on the walkway at his feet.
"Sup, Mr. Castle. Figured you'd get more use out of that than me," he chirped as he landed on the railing of the walkway.
"Hey, kid." Frank didn't sound surprised in the slightest to see him. "Not sure I want it."
Peter took the moment of (relative) calm to survey the scene below them. There was no sight of Matt, which Peter was expecting, but Wade was making up for his inconspicuousness. Wade caused total pandemonium single handedly. He gave no shits to his personal safety, racking up stab wounds and severed fingers like they were tally points. His katanas looked like flashes of lightning and seemed to be attracting most of the attention from the Yakuza. They were either stupid or desperate for a challenge.
A gloved, waving arm caught his attention, halfway across the warehouse. Peter's eyes honed in on Matt as he ducked a blow from one of the three large ninjas that broke off from Wade's crowd.
Peter was already swinging towards him by the time Matt cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Kid, I need a lift," shouted Matt, and kicked the same ninja that tried to hit him in the kneecap, bringing him down to a knee. That didn't stop the other two guys, though. They didn't even spare their downed comrade a glance as they attacked Matt in earnest. "Now, please!"
Peter hit Matt hard, accidentally driving his shoulder into Double D's stomach, forcing a loud oof from him. He hurriedly wrapped his free arm around Matt's waist, kicking a ninja in the face on his upswing and feeling the nose crunch.
This particular situation was so similar to their first interaction that it made Peter laugh. Ninjas chasing him in an unfamiliar building, carrying Daredevil over his shoulder, completely outnumbered. Slightly overwhelmed.
"I thought you said you never wanted to do this again," Peter said lightly, taking full advantage of Matt's current helplessness.
"What, swing or get chased by murderers?" Matt wheezed, banging around in Peter's arms as he switched webs. "Because sadly, I only remember making one of those statements."
Peter just huffed and let go of Matt when they closed in on the outskirts of the mob Wade attracted.
Matt, mouth pulled down in a harsh scowl, wiped blood off his baton and massaged his shoulder. "Ready, kid?"
"Only if you are."
At Matt's nearly indistinguishable nod, Peter grinned. Holding a finger up, he fiddled with his web shooters, glad he still had manual control over his web combos even with Karen disabled.
This'll get their attention, he thought ruefully. As they were distracted with the destruction Wade was bringing, Peter hit the group closest to them with an electric web, a web bomb, and a couple of impact webs. Shouts of surprise echoed throughout the storage units, but it was seconds before they regained their composure. A good chunk of Yakuzas, maybe twenty, broke off and started approaching.
Peter's stomach dropped a bit. These guys were significantly more trained and way more careful, advancing on them like a unit. Swords drawn, they made good time to where Peter and Matt were crouched.
An idea popped into his head. This definitely was not the time to be creating things on the fly, but fuck worst he could do was die. "Let's go fishing," Peter joked, and immediately dodged the fist guy trying to run him though.
"What?" Matt questioned, baffled. He grabbed the upper arm of the guy he just violently disarmed and slung him to the ground, leaving Peter to web him up.
"Doesn't matter." Peter shook his head, kicking a guy in the tender part of the thigh and following it with a punch to the jaw and webs securing him to the ground. "Just follow my lead."
He flicked his wrist and shot a web flying towards the nearest ninja. It smacked solidly in the middle of his chest and Peter pulled as hard as he could. Peter's strength sent the dude flying towards them.
"Your turn," he grunted and dropped the strand, already whirling onto the next guy. Thankfully, Matt seemed to know exactly what he wanted him to do and smacked the guy hard, knocking him clean out.
Peter had a harder time with this guy in particular. His first couple of webs missed, and the ninja clocked him on the temple with the butt of his katana, sending him reeling. The ninja was able to slice him across the meat of his thigh before he fully came back to himself. Pain and anger raced through Peter, but before he could jump that fucker, a silenced bullet sliced through the air. Peter looked on, stunned, as the guy who cut him crumpled to the ground, blood pooling under his chest.
Huh. Okay. Compartmentalize and move on.
From that point forward, the Yakuza started dropping like flies. Even up in the fairly deserted walkways, Frank made his presence known by picking off anyone who got too close to the exits. Unfortunately, that meant many bullets came a tad too close for comfort, often zipping through the air where Peter just moved from.
The added danger of Mr. Castle served as another potential distraction, and the added adrenaline was pushing his senses closer and closer to their limits. It took most of Peter's concentration just to not get stabbed through.
"Fucking hell," Matt muttered as he grounded one of the many more ninjas that decided to take them on. Even with his senses in overdrive, Peter could barely hear him over the noise.
"What?" he shouted.
"The idiot's got a grenade!"
Idiot -definitely a Wade Wilson Nickname.
"How bad exactly is that?"
" Very !"
"On it!" Peter hollered, his voice pitching as one of the ninjas landed a swipe with one of his knives.
Peter snapped a generous web bomb at the mob surrounding Matt and Peter, pinning them to the floor as he jumped up high. Swinging through the warehouse was a bit like dodgeball. Just with a lot more force, a generous amount of bullets, and a whole lot higher stakes.
Peter barely avoided a barrage of bullets Mr. Castle let fly when he pinpointed Wade-and the radius he'd managed to clear. As he dropped to the floor and ran towards him, he saw exactly what Matt was talking about.
Wade had a grenade in one hand and a pistol in the other, and was waving them around like he was landing an airplane. His tactic seemed to work, because no Yakuza was within ten feet of him for more than a couple seconds.
"Wade," Peter panted, engaging with three guys who decided to try and pick a fight, "you good, man?"
"Yep. Just a flash bang. These bitches can't tell the difference."
One ninja got tired of waiting and charged. Wade cocked back his arm, and as he faltered, Peter had time to hit him with an impact web.
"Just keep holding them off for a second, okay? I have an idea," Peter yelled.
Catching sight of a thick metal pole bolted to a large wooden box, he sprinted towards it as fast as possible. "Wade, unpin it now!"
"What?!" he shrieked.
Peter wrenched the metal pole off the box and screamed, "Unpin it and throw it at me!"
Without further questioning (which could be a cause for concern), Wade unpinned the grenade and chucked it at Peter. He swung the pole as hard as he cool at the flying explosive, and it soared into the open room. "Duck!"
"Noo!" screamed Matt. From across the fucking building.
BOOM.
Peter fell on his ass, his ears screaming and eyes burning. His head burned. Christ, maybe that wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. His eyes were literally melting. His eyes were melting out of his head. Oh man, that really sucked.
But it apparently worked. After a minute, his eyes cleared up to see every ninja that previously cornered him and Wade on the ground, unmoving. He finally composed himself enough to be able to scrabble back to a standing position.
The first thing he heard was Wade laughing hysterically. "Ha ha, eat it Twilight!" he crowed triumphantly.
"I feel like I'm freaking Mulan right now," Peter groaned. His ears were ringing like a bitch, and if he didn't know better he would've checked to see if they were bleeding. Not taking any cover? Yeah, not his finest moment.
He made his way over to Wade, who was kicking at the limp body of a ninja. Stumbling over his own feet, he asked, "Can you see if Double D has eyes on the commander, or whoever the fuck is running this? Wait, not. Eyes. I-... you know what? He'll get what I mean."
He waited as Wade relayed his request and did his own survey of the storage room. Aside from a couple stragglers in the far corners, most of the Yakuza seemed to be either knocked out, webbed up, shot, or (blegh) dismembered. But as far as Matt went? No response. No shout, no waving, no nothing. Huh.
"Castle's fine," Wade relayed. "He was on his way out anyways-figured we got the situation under control after he saw the grenades. He's far enough away that the blast didn't affect him too bad." A beat. "Red?" he called.
"You getting anything?"
"No. I'm kinda worried about that stupid bastard."
Without thinking twice, Peter hauled himself to the top of the floating walkways, once again balancing on the rail. It took less than three seconds to find Matt's body on the floor, splayed out with his head covered by his hands.
Realization hit Peter so hard he almost fell off the railing. If that bang was deafening to normal people… it must've completely incapacitated Matt.
"Oh, no," he groaned. His dread only grew when he saw the familiar sight of a towering ninja with a dark red head covering prowling towards him. "Of course, you would be behind this and of course, you just had to wait until the end to make a very dramatic entrance."
Peter practically dove back to where Wade was waiting. "Matt's unconscious. Big Bad coming. You take him, I'll distract," he rushed, hoping Wade got the message.
He didn't wait for any argument to be made and webbed back to where formerly dubbed Big Ninja awaited. He landed directly in his way, cutting off his path to Double D while Wade got him out of there. But he was kinda off balance, twisting his ankle slightly.
Peter hoped the baddie didn't see his fumble. That would be really embarrassing.
"Hey, man," he said, bringing his hands up conversationally. Behind him, he could make out Wade scraping Matt up and beginning to haul him out. He needed to keep the attention on himself for as long as possible. "Big Ninja, right? Sorry, I'm not too good with names."
While he was still talking, Peter flicked his wrist and sent a web slinging towards the weapon in his hands. Faster than he could see, the ninja darted forward and slashed his sword to the side, out of the way of his web.
Peter scrambled to the side when Big Ninja showed no sign of slowing down, hearing the hiss of metal through the air as he narrowly dodged a swipe of the katana. Hoping to surprise him, Peter tried webbing his foot in hopes of tripping him. No luck.
A throwing star sheared through the air, grazing Peter's scalp just above his ear.
Peter flinched, more caught off guard than anything else. Damn.
On impulse, he rolled to the left of Big Bad and pelted him with impact webs, hoping one would land. That should buy him a minute.
An absolutely furious shout and the heart-wrenching sound of his webs being torn erupted from the ninja. Not a minute. Very much not a minute.
"I feel you would really benefit from anger management. Heard it does wonders." Peter squawked and hightailed it just as Big Ninja somehow escaped the two impact webs that found their target, just so he wouldn't get murdered right away. Glancing around furiously, Peter's gaze landed on the floating walkway. A slight laugh escaped him.
He snapped his wrist to the side, attaching a web to the support beam of the walkway, making sure it wasn't too visible from the angle Big Ninja was coming at him from.
"I'm about to make some people very very angry," he muttered.
Waiting till Big Ninja was just a couple feet away, Peter pulled on the web, sending the walkway crashing down. He hoped it would've landed on him, but he miscalculated how fast the man could move.
Big Ninja caught up quickly. He feinted left with his katana but struck right. Thankfully, Peter's spidey sense warned him quick enough to avoid it. Barely.
Wanting to take the sword out of the combo, Peter dropped low and tackled him to the ground. A rush of air was forced out of his lungs as Ninja hit the ground hard, katana flying out of his grip. He wasn't discombobulated for long, and quickly started fighting Peter to get on top.
Peter had no plans on letting him, though. He dug his feet into the ground, letting his toes stick to the floor. "Are you mad at me? I feel like you're mad at me." Peter tried to find a way to web him down without giving him the upper hand. "Is this about the name thing? Look, I'm sorry about that, but everyone looks the same around here. Maybe you should-"
His hand slipped off Big Ninja's forearms, accidentally letting him slip out of his grip. Peter swore quietly. Was it really taking this long to get Matt to safety?
"-think about ID cards. Would make things much easier."
Peter took a harsh punch to the cheek, sending him sprawling backwards. He grunted lightly and scrambled to his feet.
"Then again," Peter panted, managing to block the next couple of hits. "I figure it would say about the same thing anyways. Big Ninja, Ninja 1 and 2, et cetera et cetera."
Big Ninja maneuvered them so he could easily swipe up his sword again. But before he got the chance to stand fully upright again, Peter ducked behind the reach of the katana and swung an elbow into his windpipe. "Who knows, though. It could definitely help."
He was still close enough to hear the wheeze before the ninja choked out, "Do you ever shut up?"
"Wow, you can talk? I figured the silence was part of kindergarten Yakuza training. Then again, I never saw that bit in Ninja Turtles."
Peter turned his strike into a chokehold and violently threw him to the ground, kicking out the back of his knees for good measure. He rolled out of the way of Peter's web, and he was starting to wonder if this man had some type of spider sense himself. This just wasn't natural.
But if Peter learned one thing, it was this. The best way to beat someone difficult was by playing dirty.
So he didn't give the ninja even one second to recover. He snatched the nearest thing to him (which happened to be a sizable Amazon delivery, thank you Amazon) and swung it at the ninja's head. The box practically dissolved, leaving shards of cardboard on the floor and dust all over Big Ninja.
Peter jumped on his opportunity and knelt on the guy's chest to keep him down while he webbed his feet to the floor first. His mistake.
The ninja unbuckled something from his belt, and Peter saw the flash of a metal-adorned fist before it barreled into his nose. He doubled over and clutched his face on reflex, just for a blinding pain erupted from his jaw.
Peter blinked back awake to find himself on the ground, completely undefended. Thankfully, he had enough sense to trust his spidey sense when it told him, in no uncertain terms, roll.
He threw himself to the side just in time to dodge the fastest stab he'd ever seen. Instead of impaling him through and through, the Yakuza's blade bit deep into his shoulder and sheared right through his costume. An involuntary scream ripped out of Peter's mouth as his entire right side felt like it'd been lit on fire. One thought- fuck.
Wade's footsteps made their reappearance, snapping Peter out of the stuper he'd sunk into.
" Hey !" Wade roared, catching Big Ninja's attention enough for Peter to attach a web to one of the walls and pull himself away from the ninja's reach.
Glancing back as soon as he reached safety, Peter watched as Wade pulled out his handguns, lone ranger style, and emptied his clips.
Big Ninja grunted, and blood splattered the floor behind him. So at least one of his bullets met their mark. Good. But before Wade had time to reload, Big Ninja darted to his left, ripping open a metal shipping container and slamming the door behind him.
Wade chased after him at Peter's yell, completely abandoning the guns. As he barged into the container and practically tore the door off its hinges, Peter staggered back to his feet, drenched in sweat with the deep cut stinging like a bitch. "Ouch," he huffed.
Peter's legs were trembling as he stumbled to the storage container, just for Wade to pop back out as soon as he leaned against it.
"He's gone," he sighed, the disappointment obvious in his voice. "Sorry 'bout that, Pete."
Peter shook his head. "It's fine, man. You don't have to apologize to me. We can catch him sometime later. I'm just glad he's gone to be honest." A rueful, albeit pinched, grin spread over his face. "I was kinda getting my ass beat."
Wade shrugged. "He's a pro. Probably been doing this for twenty years. You're just…" He trailed off, waving his hands at Peter's general form.
"A baby?"
"No." He got strangely still. "You're just young."
Peter stared at him, head tilted, and tried to decipher his tone.
Wade clapped his hands, breaking up the silence. "Well, I kinda just made sure Red was alive before I dumped him outside, so we should probably go give him the update. And make sure he's not deaf as well as blind."
Matt was sitting cross-legged on the gravel road outside, his helmet in his hands and his head bowed. The closer they got, the more Peter could see the blood running out of his ears and nose. He also had bruises peppering his skin, from his brow to under the rest of his costume, and a particularly painful-looking cut stretching from his jaw to the corner of his lip.
He picked his head up when the pair stopped in front of him, Wade collapsing on the ground like they'd just hit the beach. "Hey, kid." He sounded like he'd gargled with rocks.
Peter winced and looked down at his feet, biting his lip. Guilt seeped into him, feeling partially to blame for his current state. He should've thought more before using the grenade like that. After all, Matt told him it was a bad idea. He didn't listen.
It was almost like Matt could read his mind. "No. None of that. Pete, look at me." He had a deep frown etched into his features, and his gaze pinned Peter like a bug. "You don't get to blame yourself for any of this. Yes, you were a tad reckless with the grenade like that, but without it, things probably wouldn't have calmed down as fast as they did."
He nodded wordlessly. It was enough of a reassurance to lessen some of the guilt, but he had the feeling he would still come back to it some nights.
Sighing, Peter slowly sat down in front of the two, feeling like an old man as all his wounds screamed at him. His healing factor was already at work, but the large slash on his back was probably gonna take a bit longer than usual, considering he still felt like shit. "That's enough ninjas for me for a… long time, probably."
"Hopefully we won't have to deal with them much more now." Matt tucked his helmet under his arm and leaned on it, blinking up into the sky.
Wade shifted uncomfortably as Peter turned towards him, eyebrows raised. "Yeah, about that, Red." He blew out a big puff of air. "The guy we suspect was leading the whole thing, the guy Peter called Big Ninja, kinda slipped out. They had an exit drilled through the floor or something."
"I knew it. I knew- this whole thing felt too easy," Matt said, a hint of anger in his voice. "I should've seen this coming. Nobu always gets away with fucking everything."
"Oh, calm down, sugar." Wade threw an arm over Matt's shoulders, leaning on him as he said, "Just accept that we kicked most of their asses. Not everything has to be a near-death experience. As Petey said, we can always find him later."
Matt popped his jaw, followed by his neck, visibly pissed off. Eventually, he bit out, "Did anyone call this in?"
"No," Wade said, drawing it out apologetically. "I'll get right on that."
Fishing a burner phone from god knows where, Wade dialed 911 and gave them the most barebones explanation possible for what went down. He then chucked it over his shoulder when he was done, sending it skidding back towards the building. Wade pushed himself up and theatrically brushed the dust off his hands before offering them to Matt. Double D allowed himself to be pulled to his feet before toeing his helmet into the air. He caught it effortlessly with a soft thud.
Ignoring his tight, throbbing shoulder, Peter attempted to do the same. The second he tried to put any weight on his right arm, the joint gave way and white hot agony flashed through him. Sucking in a sharp, staggered breath, Peter managed to stand using his legs and uninjured arm.
Matt turned towards him abruptly at the noise. "What. What is it."
Shit. "Nothing, I'm fine."
Matt narrowed his eyes and glared. A couple seconds went by, Peter trying not to let the pain show, before he cursed under his breath.
"Red, what happened?" Wade's voice was full of poorly disguised concern.
"He got cut. Bad," he threw over his shoulder as he rushed towards Peter. "Nobu did this, right? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't need to. It's just a scratch. It's... it's fine." Immediately as he stopped talking, his vision blurred and his knees buckled, sending him toppling into Double D with a grunt. "Or... maybe not," Peter gasped. His vision blurred together and he went completely light-headed. "No, def-definitely not."
"It was poisoned, Pete," Matt breathed incredulously as he lowered Peter to the ground. Tremors started in his hands, slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He could barely make out what the other two were saying over the roar of blood in his ears, and the whole thing together was making him want to puke. Dizziness hit him like a load of bricks, even with him on the ground.
"The adrenaline must've worn off. Jesus, I should've noticed sooner."
"Doesn't he have that lady in his suit? That A.I.?"
"Dea...activated," Peter managed. He missed whatever they said after that, white noise swelling and blocking everything else out. God, he was so dizzy. So. Dizzy.
Cold, fresh air, washed over his face. The shock of being unmasked like that helped tune back the rushing blood, and Peter opened his eyes. He never realized he shut them.
"He's hot."
"Yeah, I mean, he just got done fighting."
" Fever hot, moron. That's why he's sweating so much."
"Well, what do we do?"
"Take me home," Peter groaned, in control enough to answer.
"No way!" Matt's voice pitched, and he couldn't tell if it was from anger or worry. "We have to go to- go to Claire, or Cage, or even my place for fuck's sake."
"I wanna go home." He gripped Matt's arm, hoping it would convey what his mouth couldn't.
Matt was completely still before swearing violently. "Three hours," he spat. "We give it three hours, and if you're not better, we're getting help."
The lightheaded feeling ballooned from his chest until the rest of his body went numb and he lost his grip on reality.
Peter faded in and out of consciousness the entire cab ride home. Everytime something brushed against his shoulder, it seemed like it was being doused in lava. Matt's voice was the only constant, and even that stopped when the cab rolled to a halt.
Before he knew it, chilly plastic pressed against his now suitless body, and cool water followed soon after. He sluggishly peeled his eyes open to find himself in his bathtub, suit off and left in his boxers.
Nausea rolled inside him, and he pitched himself to the side in time to vomit squarely on Matt's socks.
Peter looked up to see Matt staring at his feet in shock. He was sitting on the toilet with his hand still on the water knob. Noticing Peter's eyes on him, Matt snapped out of it and patted him lightly on the head. "It's okay kid, don't worry about it. We'll clean that up. I'll be right back okay?"
Peter nodded, the words making no sense to him. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind Matt, his head found the blissfully cool edge of the bathtub and stayed there, his heavy eyelids sinking shut.
When Peter woke up, he was in his bed.
He swallowed to find his throat was dirt dry. Pushing back the covers, Peter blinked against the beams of the rising sun and swung his feet over the side.
It was morning? How had he-
Oh.
The events of the last twelve hours made themselves known, and for the first time since waking up Peter noticed the throbbing ache of his right shoulder. The fight, the sword, the ride home, the shower. The shower?
Peter staggered out of bed to find himself in a large t-shirt and basketball shorts. Confusion only stalled him for a moment before he made his way down the hall and burst into the kitchen.
To find Deadpool laying on the couch and Daredevil sipping a cup of coffee. Both still in suit, sans helmet and mask.
Matt smiled slightly at his dropped jaw. "Hey, kid. Glad to see you up."
"Hi. You're in my kitchen."
Wade shot up from the couch, vaulting over it and careening towards Peter. As soon as he came into arms reach, he gave him a surprisingly gentle check over, talking the whole time. "My Lord, Petey, you scared the shit out of me. Seriously. I almost had a heart attack. You can't do that again, you hear that? Not if you want me to live out the rest of my life."
He nodded dumbly, only wincing out of his grasp when Wade's hand brushed over the cut.
Matt cleared his throat, interrupting the impromptu frisk, and waltzed over to the pantry. "Whatever shit he had on that blade seems like it's mostly worked its way outta your system."
Peter collapsed in the seat Matt just left, resting his head in his hands as a sudden yawn wracked him. "Shit?"
"Yeah, kiddo. That guy you fought had a poisoned katana." He emerged from the pantry, a packet of hot chocolate in hand, and opened the fridge. "Whatever was on it probably would've killed a regular person. God knows the number it did on you."
Peter flushed, the vague memory of him throwing up on Matt coming back. Just the thought of it made him feel sick again.
"Relax," Matt said, with a touch of laughter in his voice. He handed off the hot chocolate and milk to Wade, giving him a shove in the direction of the microwave. "It happens."
"Drunk person vomit is much worse," Wade reassured. He slid the warm mug of hot chocolate across the table, and Peter took a grateful sip.
His eyelids drooped as the other bumps and bruises he'd racked up made themselves known. But the orange light bathing the open room was soothing enough to distract him from the aches, and the surprising domesticity Matt and Wade displayed was oddly comforting. Peter let his mind go blank as he finished the drink.
"You guys can uh, make yourself at home, I guess. You already know where everything is by now, I assume," Peter shuffled to the sink and washed his mug out. "I'm gonna go lay down, I think," he murmured and rubbed his eyes. He shouldn't be feeling this tired. He literally just woke up.
"You should just go ahead and take the couch, Pete," Matt sighed, "Wade warmed it up fine. Plus, it'll let me keep an eye on you and make sure you don't just randomly crap out on me."
He laughed quietly and shuffled across the floor, face-planting onto the couch as soon as possible. His shoulder twinged as it bounced off the back, and Peter let out a low groan into the cushions. He was already falling back asleep.
"You want anything to eat?" came from the kitchen.
"Nngh," he murmured into the pillow and then promptly passed out.