A Day of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 9: The little recording

*Preview*

   “How bad…” was all Mj asked.
   “It was bad, really bad Mj, we lost him estimatedly for 6 whole minutes…” Bruce said before breaking down besides Wanda, burying his head in her hair as he “tried” to comfort her. A heart wrenching sob escaped MJ at the confession and she again burrowed her face in her hands. Shoulders rocking with sobs. Ned had tears running down his face.

      “What is going on?” A voice came from behind. They turned to look at the common ward to come face to face with very- very distraught Avengers clenching ice packs on different places.

#

      “Tony” Was all Bruce managed before going towards the group. They all looked pretty confused and well, bloody. “ What has happened?” Tony asked when Bruce neared him.
   “What? You guys don’t remember?” Bruce retorted, eyes wide
   “Just snippets, which are pretty foggy…Why is Michelle crying?” Steve answered, clenching his ice pack to his knuckles. Before Bruce could even answer, Nat did.
   “We hurt someone, didn't we?” it was barely louder than a whisper.
   “Hurt? Na- Oh! did Peter…..?” Clint caught on. This line made a new wave of tears leak from Mj’s eyes, confirming their suspicion and fear.
   “Damn that kid…!” Bucky said before punching the nearest wall, staying in that position for the time being, head resting on the now dented wall.
   “No no no no no-” Tony started as the confusion in his eyes was replaced with panic.
   “Fuc-” Steve whispered as he looked down at his bloody clothes and busted knuckles. The remorse was overwhelming them all.

…

      “I want to go up.” Tony said after hearing Bruce’s explanation. Their memories of the previous moments were coming back. Tony really wanted to see the extent of the damage.
   “I don’t think this is a good idea Tony-” Bruce’s words were cut short when he caught Tony’s eyes. Not a single person in this room was qualified enough to make him listen to them. Pep was handling the media while Rhodey was coming back from his quest in Afghanistan.
   “I also want to go” came a hoarse voice from one of the chairs. Mj.
   “No- dear- it would be okay if we go, I don’t think it’s going to be a pretty site” Nat said, with tears brimming in her eyes.
   “Please- I need to” there was a kind of sadness and desperation in her voice which made the grown ups' hearts ache.
   “Ok, but if it gets too much- for anyone- they come down here”

……….

      Turns out, The view in the beginning was enough to me ‘too much’ for them, but none of them went down again, curiosity winning over. Bruce had gone up first to collect their clothes by the elevator. He didn’t want to see the mess again and they needed to get out of the awful bloody clothes.

      Mj and Sam had vomited by the time they reached the lab. It was sickening, seeing the endless trails of blood. Peter’s blood. Rain of the pain they had caused. Their memory was still foggy, only Thor being able to remember his part. They had decided to rewatch the footage with Fury once everyone was a bit stable. It was going to be discussed in a meeting which they weren’t much looking up too. Still, the blood on the floor and walls was pretty terrifying. The glass of the lab was shattered. They all were looking at one thing or another. Half of them had tears in their eyes while some of them had their nerves popping from anger.

      Tony approached the Gold star marked computer. He had put it as a precautionary measure, never thinking that Peter would actually need to use it. He should have done something, to save the kid, his kid, but he had blasted him. He knew that much because his mini arc reactor in his emergency gauntlet had been shattered. He hated himself for forgetting to take it off. He should  have been more cautious and considerate. He took a look at the screen, It was recording a video.
   “Guys! I think there’s a video!” He called out as he turned the recording off, and went to see the video. All of them gathered around as the video started:

      Peter’s face popped up, he looked pretty beaten up, His nose all blotched up, running fresh blood. Tears glistening in his eyes, Hair dishevelled , lips cracked. He looked like a mess.
“Hey Everyone,-”
  they winced at the roughness of his voice. 
“- I- I just wanted to tell you that it's fine, that- that whatever happened wasn't your fault.. I… I would never blame you. I hope that I would be able to..-” 
he bit back a sob, everyone had tears in their eyes. That little bastard didn't blame them, Oh! of course he didn’t, it was Peter after all. A little self despising, sacrificing idiot
“- I would be able to tell you in person, but, by the looks of it, I won't make it… just- just don't blame yourself… and tell Ned and MJ a bye from me… and tell her that.. That I love her, always have and I-” 
They could see that he was getting more breathless now, with tears falling freely from his face, he grabbed his eyes with both his palms as if to stop himself from sobbing. It made all their hearts shatter, he looked so broken, so small in the video. A kid gone through things which no child should undergo. He was still 16, so young and had so much to achieve. They were going to kill the person who made them go rogue, after punishing themselves. Mj was crying her heart out, with nat holding her, trying to comfort her. Peter took a deep breath and said:
“- I love you guys… Alw-” 
Just then he heard someone pounding on the glass door. Peter flinched and his neck snapped around, eyes widening as he stumbled out of his chair and ran away. They didn’t fail to see the fear in Peter’s eyes. They heard Bucky gasp as he saw the person from whom Peter was running from.

……….

They followed the bloody trail up to the main floor, most of them were shaking profusely. They couldn’t believe how he was alive after losing that much blood. It was a miracle. As far as they knew he hadn’t been this badly hurt before, in any of the previous battles. This was the worst yet. And it was caused because of them. They were the ones who hurt him.

      There was glass everywhere in the communal area with puddles of blood here and there. Mj freed herself from Natasha’s comforting grasp and cautioned towards the wall where Peter was first thrown. There was a dent and a splash of blood adorning the wall there. She raised her hand as if to touch it, but hesitated. She could feel her throat contracting again. Ned was still down, wanting to stay there if anything was to happen. She also wanted to, but her curiosity and fear won. She hated that this had happened to her Peter, her “looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll, until challenged” boyfriend. They had been dating only for a year but had known and liked each other for a long time. She loved him and that wasn’t going to change even if anything happened. She will stay with him. She looked at the blood splattered wall feeling heart clenching. It was as if he had been thrown. Oh Pete, What happened?
   “Who?” was the only thing she asked, turning her head around to look at the guilt ridden faces. Just then Steve stumbled backwards, colliding with the wall and then collapsed down on the floor, face in the palms, looking utterly defeated.
   “It was me Michelle, I threw him… after- after…..fuck……” Steve confessed.

      There was a pin drop silence around the room, no one spoke anything. Tony took a tentative step towards him and knelt down, grabbing his shoulders.
   “You remember?” He asked
   “Everything, it’s far clear now…..It just came crashing down. Tony, Oh lord, I hurt him so bad! Tony, he was screaming, pleading, crying and begging for me to spare him, but I kept going.. He looked so frightened tony.. So so terrified… of me! ” He couldn’t even say anything else now, the silence was speaking far more words. Tony just looked at him for a moment before engulfing him in a tight hug. Steve buried his head in the crook of Tony’s neck.

      Mj had a tight look on her face. He had been with her just this morning. He had hugged and kissed her bye. Face adorned with his goofy yet cute smile. A smile for which she would happily give her life. His curls sprawled all over his head, the ones which she loved to run her hands through. She had asked him if he would like to join her on a trip to the city library, he had declined claiming that the avengers would kill him if he didn’t come home on time, though he could join her in the evening. He could ask permission by then…. And charge his phone. Looking back, the words he had used as a metaphor came true. She looked over to the door and saw his backpack on the floor. Even that thing had blood sprinkled on it.

      She shakily walked towards it, ignoring the little and big puddles of blood, crouched down and taking the bag in her hands. Tears darkened the colour of the bag in some places, some even mixing with the red. She ran her fingers on the name tag. Peter Parker. Her peter, her tiger, who was fighting for his life two floors below. She just clenched the bag close to her chest and let even more tears run down her face. Her sobs spoke volumes that day.

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(A/N)

Hope you like this chapter!

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Have a good day :)