Moments- A Series of Peter Parker Oneshots

Fear

Homecoming spoilers in this oneshot.

Of all the things Peter was scared of as he walked up to Liz's door, coming face to face with the bad guy he'd been chasing was not one of them. His heart dropped to his stomach.

Peter's first thought was that The Vulture had somehow found out who he was, when his Homecoming dance was scheduled, the girl he was taking, and where she lived so he could catch Peter off-guard. Wait, did he hurt Liz? Was she tied up in a closet somewhere? And what did he have in mind for Peter?

"You must be Peter," the man said. Peter, numb, mumbled some response. "I'm Liz's dad," he added. Peter's heart pounded in his ears, and he briefly wondered if he'd heard right. However, after shaking his hand and being invited inside, Peter realized it was true. This man didn't recognize him, and really thought he was just the kid taking his daughter to Homecoming. That should have been a relief, but instead it made Peter even more nervous to be in such a personal situation with the guy who was pretty much his enemy. His steps  were slow and apprehensive as he entered the house.

"Hi, Peter!" Startled, Peter whipped around to face the voice. It was just Liz's mom. "You look very handsome." He breathed a "thank you" in reply.

The situation was surreal. This villain was a person. Peter had never even given thought to the possibility that this guy had a wife and a beautiful daughter and a house and an actual life.

"You alright, Pete?" The Vulture-Mr. Toomes- asked him.

"Yeah," Peter answered, barely audible, trying to mask how he was about to be sick.

"Because you look pale," he said. Peter didn't doubt it. He could feel the sweat forming on his brow, and his suit suddenly felt much too hot and confining, the collar choking him. Mr. Toomes went on to joke about giving Peter a drink to take his nerves down a level, to which Peter gave an automated answer, unable to stay focused and in the moment. Perhaps Mr. Toomes was trying to lighten the situation, but he had no idea why Peter was really on the verge of dashing out of the house and all the way back to his apartment. Not even Liz walking in, gorgeous as she looked, could put him at ease. 

"Well, I am your chauffeur, so let's get this show on the road," Mr. Toomes said. If Peter's heart wasn't pounding before, it was now. Get in a car with the Vulture? Peter was sure Liz could hear the thump-thump coming from his chest as they got closer for pictures.

"Sir, you don't have to drive us," Peter offered, internally scrambling to somehow get himself out of this situation, but Mr. Toomes insisted, saying he was "going out of town" and could drop them off on the way. "Out of town". Sure. Peter knew exactly what he was up to.

With no other options, Peter got into the backseat of the car, finding it hard to breathe steadily.

"You got to hang out with Spider-Man,"  Liz said, oblivious to the danger in her words. 

Peter saw Mr. Toomes' reaction in the inside rear-view mirror. The gears in his head were turning. Peter's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately wished Liz hadn't said anything about him and Spider-Man. But Mr. Toomes wouldn't figure it out, right? He had no reason to believe a Sophomore was Spider-Man, right? It was all Peter could do to keep his voice from shaking as he pushed through more conversation.

"You were there for like, two seconds," Liz said of Peter's attendance to her party. His mind scrambled. He had to save this.

"I was-I was there longer than two seconds." He hoped Liz couldn't see him sweating.

"You disappeared." 

"No, no, I did not disappear."

"Yes, you did." Oh, God. "You disappeared, like you always do." Oh, God. "Like you did in D.C., too." Oh, God.

"That's terrible, what happened down there in DC. Were you scared? Bet you're really happy your old pal, Spider-Man, showed up in the elevator, though," Mr. Toomes said, his voice holding a horrifying tone that suggested he was reaching some conclusions. Peter knew he couldn't fib and say 'oh, yeah, the elevator was super scary, we're so lucky for Spider-Man' while Liz was sitting next to him, so, with a sinking feeling, he tried the next best lie.

"I-I didn't actually go up. I saw it all from the ground. Pretty lucky that he was there that day."

"Good old Spider-Man." Peter again saw the look in Mr. Toomes' eyes up in the interior mirror. Peter's stomach tied in knots and his heart leapt into his throat. Without a doubt, Mr. Toomes knew.  

Finally, they pulled up at the school, and Peter was itching to jump out of the car and leave this nightmare behind, but, of course, Mr. Toomes wouldn't let Peter go. He told Liz to leave, so it was just Peter and him. The man turned around to face the kid in his backseat who was scared out of his mind.

"Does she know?" he asked. That's it. Peter was dead.

"Know what?" Peter replied instead, as if there was still a chance at preserving the secret.

"So she doesn't. Good." Peter tried to hold himself together as Mr. Toomes continued talking. "Peter, nothing is more important than family. You saved my daughter's life, and I could never forget something like that, so I'm gonna give you one chance. You ready? You walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened, and don't you ever, ever, interfere with my business again. 'Cause, if you do, I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead. That's what I'll do to protect my family," Mr. Toomes said, clearly meaning every word. Peter looked at the ground, his heart throbbing, his chest tight, and his eyes teary. "I just saved your life," Mr. Toomes continued. "Now, what do you say?"

Peter held back his frightened tears and, his voice small and cracking, choked out the only reply he could manage to think of.

"Thank you."

Author's Note

Another scene study! When I first watched this part, I flipped out. The way I wrote Peter's emotions is the way I felt watching the scene, haha! But isn't this the perfect scene for 'fear'? I think this scene is the most raw fear we see Peter experience in the whole movie, even more so than the beginning of the "come on Spider-Man" bit (that was more desperate and hopeless). The performances here were amazing to watch, honestly. Michael and Tom...did that. Like. They just pulled out these performances. Tom barely even talked and he still conveyed Peter's fear and anxiety so clearly. And that "what do you say?" "thank you" exchange gets me every time. Looking back, this is one of my favorite scenes in the movie for sure. I'm not confident I wrote it well, but at least I had fun.

I didn't include every action and every bit of dialogue because 1. It's 1000 words as it is and 2. I couldn't understand every word in the video. So, yes, I'm aware a bit has been left out and it made the beginning of the car section choppy and hard to follow. There was just too much unnecessary dialogue. Sorry.

Comments are appreciated!