It's About Time

Ch. 10

Peter felt like he had done a good job the past week and a half of hiding the fact that he was a Stark. Thankfully no one had recognised Bruce when he picked up Peter and Happy, Pepper, and Tony were all really good about parking on the far end of the parking lot when they came to pick Peter up. He had managed to cover up for himself when he accidentally revealed Bruce's latest project in class when Mrs. Castrejon asked if anyone knew of any way scientists were using algae and fungi besides using them for food. Peter had managed to say he saw it in a science journal that Bruce was working on something, but people had given him strange looks. Other than that, he had done a good job ignoring the bullying and pretending he wasn't a Stark.

"Are we still on for tonight after school?" Ned asked during lunch. The two of them had made plans to go to Ned's house and work on putting together his newest Lego set. Peter was about to say yes, but he remembered the team was coming over for dinner.

"Sorry, Ned," Peter said. Ned's face dropped. "I completely forgot that the team was coming over for dinner." Flash scoffed from a table nearby and Ned and Peter looked up.

"The team? What, is there a whole group of you that get together during the week and talk about Lego's?" Flash teased. Peter rolled his eyes and turned back to Ned. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Penis Parker."

"Leave us alone, Flash," Peter snapped. Sure it had only been a week and a half of the endless bullying, but Peter had his mother's temper. That is to say, he had one and it was bad.

"Don't talk to me like that," Flash said. "You're not better than me." Ned grabbed Peter's arm to keep him from jumping to his feet and punching Flash.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Peter told him. Flash frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"Then please, enlighten me," Flash said. Peter would have, honestly, he was about to. However, the bell rang and they had to go to their next class. Flash glared at Peter as they got up. "You better watch your back, Parker," Flash warned. Peter rolled his eyes and the only thing that stopped Flash from punching Peter was Michelle who pulled him out of Flash's reach. Peter shrugged her off and Michelle gave him an irritated look.

"If you have a death wish, push his buttons again," she said. Peter sighed and grabbed his textbooks from his locker.

"If he knew who I was he wouldn't bully me," Peter said. Michelle shrugged.

"He would also try and be your friend just for money," she said. "But if you want to tell him, knock yourself out." She stalked off to her next class and Peter stood there confused. Ned tugged on his arm and they headed off to their next class.

* * *

If Peter had been wanting to keep his identity a secret from Flash, he was going to have to come up with a very good excuse as to why Black Widow and Captain America had just appeared and helped him out. After school, Peter had gone to the library to pick up some books. He had spent about ten minutes in there before leaving. On his way out of the school, Flash had pulled Peter into an empty classroom and proceeded to beat him up. At first it had just consisted of insults while Flash's friends held him back. After about ten minutes, though, Flash got riled up and started punching Peter. Peter thought he could hide it at first; Flash was just kicking his legs and stomach. Then he felt Flash's fist connect with his jaw and he knew if his face bruised he would have to explain. What he hadn't counted on was Natasha and Steve being the ones to pick him up.

Natasha and Steve had pulled into the school parking lot right on time. They had waited for twenty five minutes before going to investigate. The school was pretty much empty anyway, so they didn't bother worrying about revealing Peter's identity. They had no success in finding him until they heard someone cry out from a nearby classroom. Natasha gave Steve a look and they peered inside. Peter was being held up by two kids while another one punched him in the face. Steve had no hope in keeping Natasha calm and just followed her into the room silently.

"I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?" Natasha asked dangerously. Flash stopped abruptly and turned to see who had entered. When he saw the Black Widow standing in front of Captain America, he almost peed his pants.

"We're just practicing for a skit," Flash stuttered. His friends let go of Peter and he dropped to the floor.

"Bullshit!" Natasha snapped. She was about to launch herself at Flash when Steve grabbed her and lifted her off the ground. She yelled Russian curses at the boys who were all but shaking in fear.

"Get out now," Steve told them, struggling to keep Natasha back. The boys ran out of the room and Natasha yelled down the hall after them. Once they were gone, Peter broke down and started crying. Natasha stopped her angry cursing and knelt down beside Peter. He looked up at her, his face wet with tears.

"Oh Peter," she said softly. She carefully checked his face. He had split skin on his forehead but other than that, there was no blood. He was trembling as she pulled him close for a hug. Steve shut the classroom door and knelt down beside them, rubbing Peter's back soothingly.

"How long have they been bothering you?" Steve asked. Peter shook as another sob racked his body and Natasha held him tighter. "Ever since the first day?" Peter nodded and hugged Natasha tighter. Steve sighed and they sat quietly until Peter had calmed down. When he pulled away from Natasha, he wiped his face and sniffled.

"Please don't tell my parents," he whimpered. Natasha looked like she was about to object. "They'll make me go back to homeschooling and I like school. I can ignore them. It'll be fine."

"Peter, what we saw was not fine," Steve said. Peter sniffled again and another tear trickled down his face. He wiped it away quickly.

"Please," Peter asked quietly, his voice breaking halfway through the word. Steve sighed.

"If you promise to tell us whenever he bullies you or does something like that again, we won't tell your parents," Steve said. Peter seemed hesitant, but nodded nonetheless. "Deal?" Steve held out his hand and Peter weakly shook it.

"Deal," he said quietly. Natasha helped him to his feet and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Peter wrapped an arm around her waist and tucked himself as close to her as possible. They didn't run into anyone on their way out which was good because Peter didn't want to make up a lie about why the Black Widow and Captain America were walking him out to the car. They ended up stopping for drive through ice cream on the way and by the time they arrived at the Tower, Peter's face was no longer tear streaked. The only issue was he had visible bruises and a cut on his forehead.