Tony got Peter back to the compound as quick as he got to the forest. He rushed in with Peter in his arms and got to the living room, laying him on the couch.
"What happened?" Bucky asked, who was talking to Steve before.
"It's...it's a long story." Tony said, not taking his eyes off Peter.
"Tony, he's covered in blood! Tell us what happened!" Steve intervened. Tony was hesitant to look away from Peter, but he finally did. He pulled Steve and Bucky to the side and whispered to them, in case Peter woke up and heard.
"He called me and he sounded really freaked out and just...out of it. So, I found him and he was..." Tony paused, looked back at Peter and then back at Steve and Bucky. "He was sitting next to a dead body, that kid Flash, in the woods...saying that he killed him." He finally got out.
Bucky and Steve stared at Tony in shock, neither of them knowing what to say.
"He refused to leave so I had to inject him, otherwise we would've been there all day." Tony said when neither of them spoke.
"But Peter is...Peter! He wouldn't do something like this." Steve whispered.
"Maybe he had a good reason." Bucky shrugged.
"That's the thing, he doesn't know the reason. He says he can't remember." Tony said, looking back at Peter.
"It was Flash he killed? That bitch had it coming." Bucky said, knowing who he was. Steve nodding in agreement, but not before mumbling 'language'.
"True, but Peter? I didn't want this to ever happen to him. He's extremely shaken up." Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"It just doesn't make any sense either. It doesn't sound like him, something is up. I'm gonna find out what happened." Tony continued and walked back over to the couch where Peter was laying.
"Can you guys go grab Bruce? Thanks." Tony asked them, not taking his eyes off Peter. They nodded and hurried off.
———————————————
Not long after, Steve, Bucky and Bruce came walking in.
"Tony." Bruce said from behind him.
"Bruce, I need your help." Tony said.
"Yeah, I know. Steve and Bucky told me what happened, I can't believe it." Bruce said, sitting next to Tony.
"Yeah, neither can I. Which is why I need you to run some blood tests on him." Tony said.
"What? Why?" Bruce asked.
"Because he told me he can't remember what happened and that it was like someone else was in control of his body. I need to know if this has anything to do with the spider bite. Could you compare his blood to a spider's and do some research?" Tony asked Bruce.
Bruce nodded and got the supplies he needed, took Peter's blood, and went down to the lab.
A few minutes passed, Bruce finally figured out what happened. He called everyone down to the lab. Tony was hesitant to leave Peter but everyone assured him that he would be okay.
Soon, all the Avengers were gathered around the lab.
"So?" Tony asked.
"After running some blood tests, doing research, analyzing and comparing, something clicked. Spiders are predators, right?" Bruce asked all of them, even though he knew the answer.
Everyone nodded and murmured.
"Right. So knowing that, I started breaking down Peter's blood and a spider's. Seeing where the similarities and the difference ended and begun." Bruce explained.
"Are you saying that...Peter is a predator? Like a spider?" Natasha asked.
"Well...yes. But it's a little different than you might think." Bruce said before walking back to his research.
"This is ridiculous, this is Peter we're talking about." Clint chimed in. Tony remained silent the whole time, taking in all the information.
"Yeah, and besides, if he is a predator, then why hasn't he been killing anyone this whole time?" Rhodey asked.
"That's what I'm getting onto, the differences." Bruce said. "Peter isn't a predator in the sense that he always feels the need to kill. He doesn't look at a person who pisses him off and immediately wants to murder them." Bruce explains.
"He has episodes, this was one of them." Bruce said, pulling up Peter's brain chart on the hologram. "You can see the change in his cell and hormonal state, flowing through the synapse, from 3:37pm to 3:38pm. Then, at 3:40pm, it went back to normal." Bruce said as he pointed to parts of Peter's brain.
"So...you're saying that Peter has moments where he suddenly has the urge to kill people? How did we not know about this?!" Steve said, leaning against the back of a chair and folding his arms.
"Peter probably didn't know about it. If he did, then he should've told us by now." Sam mumbled.
"How long do these episodes last?" Bucky asked. Bruce looked through his files and research before answering.
"Well, in this situation, killing this guy made his predator instincts go away instantly." Bruce said.
"What if he doesn't kill anyone? Then how long will it last?" Thor asked.
"I'd say about 24 hours." Bruce said after scanning through the hologram again.
"Do we know what causes the episodes?" Wanda asks.
"In this situation, it was anger. But there will be other triggers that we don't know of yet."
"This is so strange. Hasn't he been Spiderman for over a year?" Vision asks, everyone nods.
"So why is he only having these instincts now?" He continues.
"I'm not sure yet, when Peter wakes up we might be able to find out more." Bruce sighed, getting rid of the hologram and packing away some files.
They all talked more for a few minutes, before one by one, they all started filing out of the lab. Soon, it was only Steve, Nat and Tony left.
"You okay Tony?" Nat asked him. He was sitting on a chair, staring at his lap.
"Peter is such a sweet, innocent kid. Why did this have to happen to him? It's not even his fault either, it's not like he can control it. It's that damn spider bite. It's ruined him." Tony sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"All of our hearts break for him Tony. But we have to be strong for him as well. We can help him get through this, maybe even try and teach him how to push those feelings down. If it's possible." Steve said to him. Tony sighed and nodded before standing up.
He left the room with Steve and Nat following him, going back to the living room to find Peter.
But when they got there, he was gone.
