Wilted (Peter Parker x Reader)

59

Peter

Her eyes were narrowed with focus as she stared sternly at the counter top in front of us. The words had flown from her lips with ease as if she was reading a script. I could only imagine the pictures playing throughout her head and I wanted desperately to bring her out of it.

Tony, Bruce and I stayed silent for a few moments, none of us really knowing what to say. What could we say to her? She filled in all of the gaps we had been looking for but it was just as bad as I had feared. The only good part is that he didn't take advantage of her.

She was tormented. Every threat she's thrown at us, every trick to attempt an escape, they were all out of fear. I already knew that but it all felt different now.

"Y/n?" I asked, making sure she was okay.

"He must have come back when I was waking up because when I opened my eyes, he was dead." She added monotony and continued staring.

"Y/n." I spoke this time and caught her attention. She looked at me spritely, tears in her eyes, and knitted her brows together. "Are you okay?" I asked gently. She looked around before returning her gaze and nodding lightly.

"It all makes sense now." Bruce muttered lightly as he tapped his chin in thought. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned to him before putting a protective arm around her. I had no doubt in my mind that talking about her trauma would make her frightened of him again. I had to hold back a smile as she leaned into me a bit, and waited for Dr. Banner to continue speaking.

"I truly think the only reason your memory disappeared is because of your untreated head wound." He looked at her gently, aware of her unsteadiness.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief. That seemed a bit of a stretch to me but what did I know?

"Definitely." Bruce nodded and kept looking at her. "There's a lot of power in adrenaline and she was petrified. If she backed into the wall hard enough, she could have even fractured her skull."

"There was a lot of blood still stained where she said it happened. But Friday didn't pick up a skull fracture." I added and looked back and forth between him and her.

"She was gone for what, a year?" Tony spoke up. "Skull fractures only take three to six months to heal."

"And if she wasn't treated for it, it more than likely healed wrong." Bruce took over again.

"But I don't feel like I have a brain injury." Y/n spoke quietly and touched the back of her head. "Nothing feels different back there and I clearly don't have healing abilities."

"It doesn't have to be physically different. The bones probably realigned okay on their own and that's why they aren't jagged or misshapen. However, your brain was probably bleeding. I think that even though the mindstone didn't give you the ability to heal yourself, it's the only reason you didn't die." Bruce didn't like having to say that but we all knew the importance of figuring this out exactly.

"Is she still at risk?" I asked nervously. She looked at me and I could see her emotions reflecting my own.

"More than likely no." Bruce spoke quickly to reassure us. "It doesn't change anything, unfortunately the damage has been done. It just gives us some answers." He smiled lightly.

"It sounds like you being sick affected what he thought would happen." Tony spoke to Y/n directly now. "Testing your blood so many times to make sure you were getting better- there was something in your sickness that he was trying to get rid of. And by the way he was still touching you, I don't think you were ever supposed to become what you did."

She nodded along in agreement and seemed like she was reliving his roaming hands once again. She looked back at me with an almost disgusted look and all I could do was hold her tighter. I was half surprised she wasn't pushing me away but just hoped my touch was one of comfort.