Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Sixteen

Peter walked out of the school, staying silent and gripping his backpack. He had his head hung.  He wondered if he could get off the school property before his dad, pops, or Happy showed up, but just as he thought so, he heard a car honk it's horn.  He sighed and looked up over at the car that most definitely was driven by his dad.

Peter sighed.  He pushed through the crowd of people and quickly got into the back of his Pops' car.  He threw his backpack onto the seat beside him, keeping his head down.

Steve and Peter both stayed silent until Steve  eventually asked, "how was school, bud?"

Peter didn't respond for a while. "It was fine," he finally muttered. He stared at his lap.

Steve sighed and nodded. He started the car and began the drive back to Stark Tower. Him and Peter stayed silent the whole ride.

Once they arrived, Peter quickly headed to his room, not looking at his Pops. He passed Tony, who went to say something, but Peter ignored him. He slammed his door, finally allowing himself to look up.

He started on his homework, pencil shaking from his anger. He groaned and threw his pencil down, laying back. He had a huge backpack full of homework that he had to get done. Some of his teachers had gone easy on him, lightening his load, but others didn't budge, seeming upset that he had missed so much.

He had been working on his homework for an hour or so until he heard the door begin to open. He quickly hung his head again.

His dad walked in. "Hey bud..." He closed the door gently. "How you feeling?" Peter didn't answer. Tony sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

Peter turned away, not wanting his dad to see his face.

"Pete," Tony said, distress noticeable in his voice. "Please. Talk to me. Look at me."

Peter sighed. They were going to see it soon anyways. He looked at his dad and Tony was shocked to see that Peter had a black eye.

Tony gasped softly. "How did this happen?" He asked, a look of sympathy and confusion on his face.

"Just some kid at school," Peter mumbled, not meeting his dad's gaze. It had been Flash. He had been tormenting him about his dads again and Peter, having been in a bad mood, had fought back, resulting in getting his black eye.

Tony inspected his eye, worried for Peter. "What happened?  Why'd he do that?"

"Why do you think?!" Peter snapped.  He looked down, moving away from his dad.  He was still very angry about Tony stopping him from being Spider-Man.

Tony moved back, shocked.  "I-I'm sorry, Pete.  And I know you're definitely still upset from the whole... Spider-Man thing..."

Peter kept his gaze down.  "Just go away!"  He fought back the tears threatening to spill.  "Please."

Tony sighed, defeated.  "Alright.  I love you, Pete."  He left the room, hesitating in the doorway.  He closed the door softly behind him.

Peter sat on his bed, head in his hands.  His world was crumbling.  He wasn't Spider-Man, he wasn't speaking to his dads, Flash somehow seemed worse than before... it was mess.

He sighed and looked to the pile of homework on his desk.  He groaned and went to his desk.  It was a good distraction, anyways.  He worked and worked until late into the night. He fell asleep at his desk. 

Steve came in around two a.m.  He saw Peter asleep at his desk and frowned upon seeing the black eye.  He shook his head and walked over to the desk.  He picked up Peter and set him in his bed.  He kissed Peter's forehead and left the room. 

He sat down beside Tony and sighed.  "He's going to work himself to death," he said, shaking his head.  "Maybe that bribing idea wasn't so bad."

Tony nodded.  "He's got a lot to deal with already, and then we take away him being Spider-Man..." he laid his head back.  "Gosh, I feel awful."

Steve hesitated before saying, "Was this a bad idea?  It was a bad idea.  We should-"

Tony cut him off.  "We can't.  Carnage... Carnage nearly killed him, Steve.  I don't want to risk that happening again.  Let's not argue about this now, okay?  It's late."

Steve sighed.  "Alright."  He didn't want to argue about this now either.  But you could bet that he was going to bring this up later.

They stayed up a while longer, watching Tv until four a.m.  Steve eventually went to bed, leaving Tony in the Tv room. 

Tony sat there, lost in his thoughts.  He started to question himself.  What if Steve was right?  He shook his head.  No.  Peter was going to get hurt if he kept being Spider-Man.  Even worse, he could die.  Tony would not let that happen.

He must have dozed off at some point, because he was soon woken up by the sound of the door.  He turned and saw the back of Peter as he left for school, closing the door behind him. Tony sighed and stood up, rubbing his eyes.  He went to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee.  He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee.

He thought back to how Peter acted last night.  He had acted a bit rash, but could you blame him?  Everything had changed in a matter of weeks.

Tony was brought out of his thoughts by Steve coming out to the kitchen.  Before he could say anything, Steve quickly said:

"Suit up.  We've got a mission."