Going Through Changes -> Peter Parker

15.

Peter laid awake in the middle of the night, his eyes starring at the shadows cars cast on the ceiling passing by.He had woken up in cold sweat from an unexpected dream just minutes ago, and his heart was still trying to find back to its original tempo. The room around him felt strangely empty after all those nights of company, the air cold without the warmth of his friends close by. He was alone. Alone with his worries about the coming day, the feeling heavily laying on his shoulders.

He turned his head to look at his room. In the dim city light shining through his window, he could make out the shape of the backpack he had packed just hours ago. Deep down, buried under t-shirts and socks, laid his suit in waiting for the coming mission. It was ripped into shreds in his dream, with fresh warm blood dripping out of the gashes caused by the powerful foreign weapons-a terrible vision of what could happen when their little act of rebellion would go wrong. Peter sat to run a hand through his messy hair. Why was he questioning their plan just now? All those hours spent planning, and he never even considered making a mistake. But, now so close to the finish line, his conscience was going mad. Tony Stark had so much faith in him, in his future. With the suit came power and with the power great responsibility. At least, that was what Peter had been told many times. And he could perfectly understand the logic behind it. But wasn't it his responsibility too to prevent bad, bad guys from harming innocent? With those weapons, unimaginable things could happen. No, it was right to stop them. Nobody else was going to. That was his place.

So many questions circled his mind, so many possible outcomes for a mission that would be a walk in the park for the avengers. He had been an avenger. For one glorious day, he was regarded as an equal. Called a secret weapon in the war against another mighty hero. And as soon as that had fled, he was tossed aside and labeled a kid again, a minor without the ability of one of them. He never asked if something equally happed to Liam to get him into the same mindset. One day he had to investigate the incident with the stolen Iron suit Tony had talked about that night he had scolded the boys. Most likely, the consequences they would face after the trip would be much worse to deal with than Tony's sharp tongue.
Peter's thoughts were rudely interrupted as suddenly, the window was slid open, and a hooded figure jumped into the room, its feet meeting the floor silently. Peter watched wide-eyed and surprised as Liam stroke back the hood of his dark sweater, grinning at Peter wickedly. Speaking of the devil. "What are you doing here?" the younger boy asked, perplexed, swinging his legs over the rim of the bed to face the other boy. "Can't sleep ." Liam shrugged, plopping down beside Peter. "Figured you might be awake as well." Regardless of the dark, Peter could see something was off with the boy. He acted differently, the aura radiating off of him similar to when he had argued with his guardian.

"What happened?" Peter whispered. Liam sighed heavily, his grin washed away: "Tony has been a nightmare. Wanted to keep me to go to Washington. He still doesn't trust me.", he shortened the events of the last dinner in the Stark household. "Pepper stood up for me." With the delicate fingers of one hand, the nipped at the thumb of the other, his gaze directed to the wall opposite them, deep in thoughts."So you're worried too.", Peter concluded. Liam huffed. "I'm annoyed. If he listened, everything would be so much easier." "He would catch those dealers in a blink of an eye." Peter nodded. "He would.", Liam agreed. "But it would be so much more fun if I was allowed to help. I'm so sick of getting babied." "I know exactly what you mean." Peter was now the one to sigh. "Why aren't you sleeping?" the agent now asked, turning his attention back to him. Peter shrugged. "Overthinking." "I know exactly what you mean." Liam mirrored his answer from before with a light chuckle.

They sat there for a moment, a peaceful quietness surrounding them, the only audible sound their soft breathing. "But we are doing the right thing, aren't we?" Peter then asked. Liam shifted, then bumped his shoulder against Peter, smiling. Peter smiled back. It was nice to have this talk. Relieving. Although he didn't understand why the older team couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell him. Not that he was complaining.Liam held his gaze for a moment.Little did Peter know that he didn't knew why he was here either. Then, with the smile turning back into a signature smirk, blue eyes glimmered in the dark as he jumped to his feet effortlessly. "You should go to sleep. I didn't plan on getting between you and your sweat dreams" Peter rolled his eyes. Of course, Liam had to snap back to his usual lightness. That was his way of coping, after all. But, nevertheless, Peter never realized more that Liam was just a teenager like himself.

Something about that, the intimacy of these few tender moments, made him feel weirdly good. Peter watched as Liam tilted his head to give him a final once over, obviously making sure he was okay on his own before he put his hood back on and darted for the window seat. "I'll pick you up at eight. We have to be on time, or Liz will kill us." Peter felt his insides turn at the mentioning of the pretty girl. "Right.I'll be ready." He quickly answered. Liam's grin spread even wider. "I hope you will, darling.", he winked before disappearing into the night, leaving behind a very puzzled Peter as two sudden realizations hit the boy. Firstly, he had to ask how Liam continued to manage to get through that window. Secondly, he wasn't in love with Liz anymore.