Crimson

5

I'm breaking out
Last chance to lose control

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Peter Parker was sweating, actually sweating, with nerves. Why the hell had he agreed to eat lunch with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes whilst blatantly trying to steal intel from them? To avoid suspicion, but still. He was sitting nervously between Tony and Natasha, keeping a close eye on Matt and Wade, mainly Wade. They were sat opposite him, next to Captain America and Dr Bruce Banner. Peter stupidly hoped that the Avengers were too tired to question his friends, but it was a fool's hope.

"So, where do you two boys know Peter from?" Steve asked with a mouthful of salad. Peter winced. "Oh, the high school debate team." Matt said confidently. "We were his mentors." Even whilst clearly lying on the spot, Matt showed a clear knack for it. He was going to make a fine lawyer one day. "Oh, of course. So, Wade, what university are you attending?" Bruce asked. Wade froze, clearly trying to think of a uni. "Um, uh... Harvard?" Peter laughed, trying to cover for Wade. "He's joking, obviously. Like he could get into Harvard. No, no, Wade dropped out of college, he's a... businessman now." That was the polite way of saying 'mercenary', but they didn't need to know that. "Ah, I see." Bruce nodded.

Thor was eyeing Matt inquisitively. "Do not worry, young one." He boomed. "I, like my father, only have one eye. There is no problem with not having eyes." Wow, Thor. Tactful as ever. Matt looked confused. "I still... I still have eyes. They didn't get knocked out, they just don't work." He half laughed. "I see. My sister gauged mine out. What happened to yours?"

There was a collective intake of breath. "Thor, you can't just ask-" Cap started to chastise, but Matt waved him away casually. "It's fine, I don't mind. It happened when I was nine, there was a car accident. An old guy was gonna get hit by a van, so I pushed him out of the way. He got hit, but survived. Unfortunately, the van was carrying a vat of dangerous chemicals which got splashed into my eyes. So, I lost my sight." He explained, with the patience of having told the story a million times before. Peter felt humbled; Matt had just been trying to help someone. It seemed so unfair that he suffered such extreme consequences for such an innocent act.

"Damn, kid. That's actually pretty heroic." Tony admitted. "Not everyone would risk their lives like that to save someone else." Matt hummed in response. "I was just doing what I thought was right.." He said humbly. "My dad always told me to do the right thing, to always help the little guy, so I did." He explained. "He sounds like a cool guy." Sam replied. Matt sighed. "Yeah, he was." Ah. Was.

"Well, this guy's a bag of laughs, eh?" Wade said sarcastically. Peter flinched, anger bubbling in his chest. Did Wade have no sympathy? "God, almost wished I'd brought my fiddle." The merc added. Instead of getting mad like Peter, Matt just chucked. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring down the mood." He snickered. Everyone in the room seemed to take a collective sigh of breath at how unbothered Matt was by his shitty life. Unfortunately, a stigmatism still existed around blind people but now that they knew a little more about him, he just seemed like a normal guy.

Peter felt an ache in his chest at hearing about Matt's story. Sure, he could kind of see, but being blind seemed impossibly difficult. And with the added bonus of a dead father, it was hard not to feel sorry for Matt Murdock. Which was exactly what he didn't want, but still. Peter also felt more of a connection to the boy, then both having gone through traumatic experiences and the loss of loved ones.

"Alright, you kiddos have fun. I gotta get back to crying over a damn robot that won't work. Bruce, maybe you can give me a hand with it?" Tony said, stepping back from the table. The others got up as well, explaining that they had things to do. They all seemed a little reluctant to leave though. Tony seemed especially attached to Wade and his strange humour. Peter was glad that the Avengers liked his new friends, it felt somehow validating.

"Well, we should be getting back to doing... stuff." Peter said lamely. They each exited, Wade and Matt trailing behind Peter as he led the way through the maze of a compound.

"So, you live here full time with these guys?" Wade asked interestedly. "Yep. Initially I didn't want to live here, but then my aunt May... she passed away, so I had no guardian or anything, so in the end Mr Stark legally adopted me and I'm living here. I have an apartment in Queens, though, where I live for school." Peter explained. "Oof, sucks about your aunt. Sorry dude." Wade said, being sympathetic in his own way. "What about your parents?"

"They passed away when I was quite young. I was raised by my uncle Ben and aunt May, but Ben died a few years ago, and then May passed last year." Peter said, trying to ignore the tears welling in his eyes. The pain of his aunt dying was still raw. "Jeez, that sucks. I mean, at least I'm not the only one in the orphan gang though!" Wade joked. Peter felt himself laughing. "Fun gang, huh? If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your parents?"

"My mom died in childbirth, having me. My dad hated me for that, used to beat me and shit. He drunk himself to an early grave a few years after I ran away from home. I found an old blind lady called Mack and moved in with her. She's pretty badass." Wade explained. Peter nodded. "Orphan gang." He said, fist bumping the older boy. Matt also fist bumped them with a depressed look on his face.

"Holy shit, you too?" Wade chuckled. "They really need to dial it down on the Batman hero origin story, huh?" He smiled. Peter had no idea what he was talking about. "Actually, I have no idea whether I'm an orphan or not. I can't remember my mother, she left when I was a couple of months old, so I have no idea if she's dead or alive. But my dad died when I was nine, not long after I became blind. I was brought up in an orphanage." Matt shrugged. Peter hummed sympathetically. They all had pretty shitty childhoods, apparently. At least it was something to bond over.

It was weird. Peter knew that, rationally, he shouldn't feel as close to the two as he did. Hell, he'd only known them a week! But they had bonded closely in a short space of time and Peter counted both as good friends. They just connected. He supposed that the fact that they'd both seemed to have been through as much trauma as him bonded them all, as well as the fact that they were all vigilantes. Peter'd spent years feeling isolated and alone. He'd never had anyone who'd got him, been through the same as him. It was always, 'damn that must suck' and 'glad it wasn't me' instead of 'yeah, same'. The two boys felt like the older brothers that Peter had never had, and the feeling was reciprocated by each of them. In just a week, they'd found their family.

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