Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Fifteen

Peter stood there, in shock. "What? You can't do that!"

"Can't I? I thought I just did." Tony wore a tired, distressed look. "Look Pete, I want you to be safe. Look what Carnage did to you!"

"You did it, too!" Peter blurted. "The burns, remember?"

Tony nodded sadly. "I know. Don't you think I blame myself enough for that without you reminding me?"

Peter felt more tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Tony said with a sigh. "Peter, I want what's best for you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"What if I go without the suit?" Peter retorted.  "Wouldn't I just get hurt more?" 

"You'll be picked up by me, your pops or Happy after school."  Tony felt guilt building up more and more.  "Look, Pete.  The picking up thing is just for a while and-"

"You were all for having Spider-Man join the Avengers before!" Peter shot back, interrupting him.

"That was before we realized it was our son!"

Peter looked at Steve, who had been keeping silent this whole time.  "Pops!  You can't be serious.  Please, don't do this!"  Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Steve just shook his head sadly.  "I'm sorry, Pete.  We love you, which is why we don't want you to get hurt!  If you're Spider-Man, you might get gravely injured.  You've almost died, Pete!"

Peter couldn't believe this. His world was crumbling. "Please! I'm nothing without this suit!"

Tony shook his head. "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."

Peter had a defeated look on his face. "I-I just wanted to be like you."

Steve sighed. "And we wanted you to be better." He shook his head.

Peter shook his head and stormed to his room, filled with anger. How could they do this to him? They were taking away his freedom. It distracted him from everything. From the bullies that harassed him because of his dads, from the times when his dads were off fighting with the Avengers - everything. It was his outlet.

He collapsed onto his bed and let tears fall. They couldn't do this to him. He debated going out and running off again, maybe swing around without the suit, but then he thought more about it. What if someone he knew - or didn't know for that matter - saw his face and realized he was Spider-Man? He couldn't risk that, could he?

His dads came every so often, knocking on the door. He wouldn't let them in. He couldn't. Not after what they had done. After what they had taken away.

——————

Peter woke up early the next morning. He did not want to talk to his dads. Not after yesterday. He got dressed as quickly as he could and rushed out. He cursed under his breath, seeing his pops.

Steve was sat at the table, coffee in front of him. "Hey bud..." Steve said softly. Peter didn't say anything and grabbed something small to eat. Steve sighed. "Peter, please. I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to come to this. We're just worried about you."

"Then you shouldn't have taken away my suit," he muttered, grabbing his bag and heading to the door.

Steve stood up. "Do you want me to drop you off?" He went to grab his keys.

"I'll be fine," Peter said sharply, opening the door. He heard his pops begin to speak but didn't listen and closed the door, beginning his walk to school.

It was a boring walk, filled with lots of rock kicking and a few kids from school teasing him as he walked.

When he did arrive, he was surprised as soon as he walked in. When he walked in, most people went quiet. He looked around as he walked in. Some people whispered as he passed.

A wave of worry passed over him. Did they know he was Spider-Man? No. They couldn't. His questions were answered when he heard a girl whisper to her friend, "He's been gone for weeks! There was a rumor that he died."

Peter sighed. Ah. His very long absence had been the cause of the quiet. They found anything interesting here at Midtown Tech. He went to his locker where Ned was standing.

"Hey, Pete..." Ned said, a bit of sympathy in his voice. Peter had texted Ned and told him what his dads had done last night. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and was working off of three hours of sleep.

"Hey," Peter said plainly, opening his locker.  He still heard whispers and leaned his head against the locker.

"Just ignore them, Pete.  They find anything as interesting or something to gossip about.  Tomorrow, it'll all blow over and someone else will be the center of attention.  I'm pretty sure most people are jealous."

Peter gave him a look.  "Jealous?"

Ned quickly said, "Well, I mean, you did miss a few weeks of school, so that's something to be jealous of."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna have to make up that work."  Peter groaned and closed his locker as the bell rang.  He walked with Ned to their first class.

"Well, the teachers will probably go easy on you and get rid of some of the work.  We didn't work on too much, anyways.  Well, definitely not much new."

Peter nodded.  "Yeah, hopefully."  He appreciated Ned not talking about his suit getting taken away.  He needed to be distracted from it. 

Together, him and Ned walked into the first class of the day, ready to try to distract himself from everything going on.