Identity

Chapter 3

Music is intoxicating, a discernible beat filled with predictability. It's a structured and free form of art that I love. There is a soundtrack constantly in the back of my mind, songs replaying from memory weeks after listening to it. It's like free therapy, which is a godsend to me.

It's been a 8 days since I last went on patrol, so it's time for Spiderman to resurface. My wound healed nicely, a noticeable scar amongst the others though.

I took off my headphones, quickly slipped into my suit, and took off out my window. The dark night keeping me hidden from any prying eyes. My brain is still heavy from my inconsistent sleep though, and my muscles are aching already. My spine feels disconnected as the force of the webs pull on my body. My shoulders pop and make their usual noises.

But the wind.

The harsh, unforgiving wind, is welcoming. The nights cool air cools me off as I sweat through the night. Breathing feels easier, and the emotional weight of my week just fades away.

I've been struggling lately. Nightmare after nightmare of crushing darkness. It gets hard to breathe and I wake up gasping for breathe. I swear I can still feel the weight of the beams, the crippling feeling I felt. I'm helpless. I need to do better,be better.

But right now I'm going to save lives. I scan every alley way while I leap from building to building. I scan the streets for suspicious people, lost children, and the likes. A loud screech reaches my ears, a car coming to a slamming stop. I lower my body on the roof I'm on, and peer into the road. An almost pristine white truck sits on the curbside. The door opens, and a large bag is kicked out before the truck drives off.

I slowly get up to investigate, quickly scaling down the tall building I was on. I get close to the bag before hesitating. What could it be? A dead body? A dead animal? Bones? Blood? I steel myself before I untie the bag. Opening it I find.... Just a bunch of bad food and glass. That was anticlimactic, I guess I'm just paranoid about being back out. Littering is technically against the law, but I'll just take care of the trash myself. It's easier than tracking those guys down. Tonight is going to be painstakingly slow.

A faint voice catches my attention quickly,"What does SHIELD even want us to do with the guy? I know catching him is our way out of house arrest, but still." He sounds familiar, and so does the name SHIELD. "The reason doesn't matter Barton, you know General Ross is behind this, he's never liked the vigilante." General Ross? Isn't he involved with the Avengers? Wait, are they talking about me? Why does General Ross want me? This isn't good.

"Plus, shouldn't you know more about him? You were stuck with Tony in the divorce after all." Oh. It's Black-widow and Hawkeye, this is a not the best situation to find myself in. "All I know is the guy is young, probably in his early 20s. His mask slipped up slightly during the fight, so we know he's a young,caucasian,male."

THEY KNOW IM WHITE?!??

This is bad, I need to make an escape before they get to me. I swung to the building the opposite way they were going,as quietly as possible. My heart is pounding in fear right now. I don't want to think about what could happen to me on the RAFT.

-:-

I opened my eyes too the sun in my face. My room was a mess, I haven't had time or energy to clean up. I have to practically convince myself to just stand up, my brain feels heavy. I open my door and slide down the hallway into the kitchen. Opening the fridge I just see unappetizing food. I know I should eat but I really don't feel hungry. I'll eat later.

My clothes feel heavy against my skin, so I should probably take them off in change for lighter clothes. But now they aren't the right texture, I'd rather feel heavy. Changing back into my sweatshirt, I put an old pair of blue jeans on. I will be having a busy day, first my job, second a cafe hangout, third tutoring. I race down the sidewalk, it's still early enough for the sun to be hidden under the horizon, barely rising.

I made it to the tower right on time, and the lady at the desk greeted me kindly. I swiped my card swiftly, and decided to take the stairs. I reported to Dr.Cho first, as I knew she would be in her office.

"Goodmorning Dr.Cho."

"Good morning Peter, I love your punctuality. The team is working on a project right now if you want to join them?" A sort of thrill spiked my body. I love the science part of the medical field, all the biological abilities are vast.

"Of course, cant wait!" I replied, then immediately regretted. I'm being too loud, too eager. I should be more reserved. I feel pit starting to form in my stomach.

"I love that enthusiasm Peter! Keep it up!" The genuine warmth made me feel better instantly.

I walked into the 3rd floor, and straight to my designated work station. I placed all my things down, and walked over to the gathered group with a pep in my step. The later workers haven't shown up yet, so it was less crowded on this floor than usual. I threw my sweatshirt onto my chair before I try to lean over the others.

"Hey Pete, how was your morning...Oh My God! what's up with the bruises all over your arms, are you okay?" Oh no. My throat is tightening and my heart rate is speeding up. I try to school my face.

"My friends and I were just rough housing, I'm fine." I said, looking away as if embarrassed. "You are a horrible liar kid." A familiar voice said, causing me to jump. A hand landed on my shoulder, Mr.Stark.

"Mr.stark, is there a reason you visited?"My supervisor questioned, eyes flittering between me and Mr.Stark.

"I came down to check on the kid. When a new person enters the worker database, I get a notification, thought he was here for another reason." Mr.Stark smiled, and let go of my shoulder, ruffling my hair.

"This kids a trouble maker I'll tell you that much." I felt my face heat up, I felt like I was being embarrassed by a dad. If I accurately knew what that felt like at least.

"Anyways, I've got to get back to work before Pepper yells at me. Keep up the good work."

And like that, when the door closed behind him, chaos ensued. Everyone seemed to scatter into a circle around me, confusion and curiosity covering their features.

"You know him personally Pete?" Nellie asked, surprised. The rest of the team stared at me, waiting for me to answer.

"We'll not really, just had a few run ins is all." I try to brush off, holding my hands up in defense.

"Well you had to have done something to get his attention. What was it?" Shit, how was I supposed to answer that?

"Well you know, like he said, I'm a trouble maker.... He's just helped me out a few times."

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, but don't lie to us."

"Yeah..... I'm sorry, it's just really personal."

"It's okay Peter." Mason said, a genuine smile on his face. "Thank you. Now what is this project about?"

"Oh! So pretty much it's a week long project. We are trying to develop a robotic software that has a simple AI to remind people when to take their medication. But it will also be able to go to that person when they are in the house, and on the charger port on it's on. Most of this project is just coding."

"That's a really good idea." I said, looking over Mai's shoulder at the code. It was really underdeveloped for one they started yesterday.

"Are any of you coders?" I asked, a little comedic disbelief in my words.

Everyone side-eyed me, "Are you a coder, Peter?"

"I dabble, learned from a friend." Nellie and Carson(my supervisor)looked at eachother, before shrugging. "We are science people, not so much technological sciences. The whole coding department is always busy though."

"If you want, I can ask Dr.Cho if my friend can look over the code. He's more proficient in it than I am."I smiled awkwardly.

"That would be a great idea!"

"Awesome, I'll talk to him tonight."

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I know I know, it's been a long long long long time, but a lot is changing. I'm so sorry, but I promise I'm still working on my oneshots too. I just have a very busy life right now, moving, finals, and a boyfriend 😅 so I'm trying my hardest for you babes <3

Bye lovelies🥰