Peter Stark

Chapter 3 - The Secret

I jolted awake, my hands shaking. I had a horrible nightmare. It was from when I was about five, before I got adopted. I was still in Hydra. In my nightmare, I was back in the facility. I was still locked in my small cell, covered in bruises, and shivering from the cold. I turned to make sure I didn't wake Ned up. I slowly stood up and quietly started getting ready for the day, even though the clock read 3:30 AM. Twenty minutes later I was ready to go, so I sat down and pulled out my sketchbook. I started to sketch myself. Not current me, but me from when I was still in that hellhole.

My clothes were baggy, and my face was covered with bruises. My ribs were showing through my shirt and my eyes held a dead look to them. My whole sketchbook was filled with sketches like that. It was like my therapy. My family understood that my sketchbook was personal, so they wouldn't look through it. We all had our own coping methods. Uncle Clint had his hideaway in the vents, Uncle Steve worked out, Dad worked in the lab, and the others also had their own thing. Just as I finished my sketch, Ned's alarm went off and he woke up. I quickly shut my sketchbook and tucked it into my bag, but not before he saw what I had drawn.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said, a bit too quickly.

"Pete, you know you can trust me, right?" he asked, hurt evident in his voice. Hurt that I put there. I mentally slapped myself for doing that to my friend.

"I know Ned. It's my therapy method. I draw my nightmares; it helps me cope." I said quietly.

"Cope with what?"

"My past. I'm adopted, you know. The place I was in before was... not the best place. I still have a lot of trauma from it."

"Oh. Does your family know?" he asked softly.

I winced. "No."

"Why haven't you told them?"

"Because they would kill them. Extremely slowly and painfully."

He let out a small laugh. "You're kidding. They wouldn't kill anyone."

"It wouldn't be the first time." I mumbled under my breath.

"What?!?" Ned whisper yelled.

"Well, my brother almost killed someone when they tried to steal my sketchbook." I whispered, remembering Loki's anger and how it took the whole team to restrain him. Natasha didn't help. She said that the guy deserved it.

"You know what? I'm just going to ignore that." He mumbled. "Can I see your sketchbook?"

I shrank back. "N-no. I-I can't." I stuttered.

He shrugged. "Okay. I think breakfast is almost done. I'm just gonna go get ready, then we should go get some food."

I sighed, feeling grateful he wasn't pushing the subject anymore. "Okay. I'll pack our school stuff. Did you finish the homework?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but it was soooo hard! Physics is boring!"

"Next time just call me, I'll help you with it."

"It's soooo unfair, Pete. It's like you already know this stuff!" He exclaimed, exasperated.

I laughed. "Oh, and I heard we're having a really important test today, so be prepared."

"What?!?" He shouted.

"Don't worry." I said calmly, trying to reassure my panicked friend. "It won't affect your grade."

"Thank God." He sighed. "Don't do that to me, Pete!"

I laughed again and he finished getting ready. We headed downstairs and met Mrs. Leeds for breakfast. She had made waffles and bacon. We ate quickly, wanting to get to school on time. "Thank you, Mrs. Leeds!" I called as we left. As soon as we were out the door, I saw Happy parked at the side of the road. I froze. Why was Happy there?