Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Seventeen

Peter walked outside the school, eyes cast down.  He could still hear Flash taunting him as he walked over to the car that was waiting for him.  He entered the car and saw Happy sitting in the drivers seat.

"Hey kid," Happy said, glancing back at Peter.  Happy was Tony's head of security, and Peter couldn't remember him not being there.

"Hey Happy," Peter said quietly.  He had somewhat expected his dad or pops to come.   He was about to ask when Happy said:

"They're out on a mission."

Peter nodded, sighing.  Of course they were on a mission.  Just because Peter was stuck without his ability to be a superhero didn't mean that his dads couldn't go on missions.  He stared out the window as they drove until they arrived. 

He immediately went into his room, Happy staying down with the car to leave Tony a message.  He grabbed the pile of homework on his desk and began to work on it, also trying to distract himself from the fact that his dads were off fighting crime while he was stuck at home. 

He groaned and threw his pencil at the wall.  This sucked.  He wanted to be out, fighting crime again.  Not working on homework.  He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the pencil on the ground for a few minutes before getting up and grabbing it again.

He worked like this for hours until he heard the door open.  He heard talking - the Avengers.  They were back from the mission.  Peter hesitated before leaving his room, quietly heading out to the hallway.  He saw Clint being rushed away on a stretcher and Tony and Bruce were already gone - probably in the lab. 

Thor noticed Peter, making Peter want to shrink back into his room.  "Ah, hello Peter,"  Thor said, making Natasha and Steve look at him. 

Peter muttered a hello.  "How'd the mission go?"  He asked, walking out of the hall, still avoiding Steve's gaze.

"It went... fine," Natasha said plainly.  "I think something might have happened to your dad, but he doesn't want to share anything."

Peter's eyes widened slightly.  "Oh?"  He couldn't help but feel bad for his dad.  He grabbed a cup of water and sipped it slowly.

Thor nodded.  "But, we did get the scepter, so it was an overall success!" 

Peter nearly choked on his water.  "The scepter?  As in Loki's scepter?"  He remembered back when they fought Loki before.  It had been... four years ago?  He had been ten or so, and hadn't become Spider-Man yet.  Him, being the ten year old he was, begged his dads to let him help.

"I can do it!"  Peter had begged, holding his dads arm.  "Let me help you!"

"Maybe next time, Pete," Steve had said with a laugh.  Needless to say, next time never came.

Steve nodded.  He sighed and motioned in the direction of the lab. "Your dad and Bruce are probably toying with it now."

Peter nodded, still not looking at his Pops. He looked in the direction of the lab. "Ah.  Course they are."

"Yes, then I will take it back to Asgard in a few days," Thor said, setting down Mjolnir.  "After that little party we're having."

Peter nodded. Steve started to say something, but then Peter just set his cup down and headed back to his room. "Well, you all have fun. With your superhero stuff." He left the door open a crack as he went in, making it so he could hear what they said. 

Steve sighed and looked over at Natasha and Thor, who were looking right back at him.

"He's taking it that bad, huh?" Natasha said, shaking her head.

"I can't blame him," Steve said, looking at Peter's door. "I'm not so sure if this is a good idea. I tried to bring it up to Tony, but he avoided the subject.  And then with Peter just not talking to either of us..."

"Speaking of Tony," Thor said, changing the subject. "Do you have any idea of what could have happened at the mission? He seemed kinda... off, afterwards."

Steve shook his head, looking back at Thor. "No. I tried to ask about it, but he just said 'it's nothing.' I wonder if it was that girl there..."

"Who was she, anyway? And that boy?" Natasha asked, messing with Peter's glass.

"Hill told me about them. Long story short, they were twins whose parents got killed in a bombing, and then had experiments done on them," Steve explained. "He's fast and she's weird."

Natasha nodded. "Ah."  She dumped Peter's glass in the sink and looked at Thor.  "After Bruce and Tony finish toying with it, the scepter goes back to Asgard?"

Thor nodded.  "Yes.  I will bring it back to Asgard after this little... celebration we have." 

Steve nodded.  They continued to talk for a while - about the mission, about Peter, about a whole lot of things - but Peter zoned out after that.  He closed the door gently and sat back down on his bed.

Loki's scepter was there?  There were weird twins and... what??  He wanted to be there.  He wanted to be fighting with his parents, not fighting with his parents, if that makes sense.  He wanted to be Spider-Man again, able to swing around and save the day.  Not just stuck some teen stuck in his room, doing homework.

He felt somewhat bad for his dad.  What had happened on that mission?  He was still angry about everything, but that didn't mean that he couldn't feel sorry for him or worry.

He brightened up a little when he remembered what his Pops had said.  He had been trying to talk to his Dad about letting him be Spider-Man.  He smiled softly.  He prayed that Steve would be able to convince him. 

Peter laid back.  He wondered if his pops would get through to his dad as he began to drift off to sleep, having no idea what would happen in just a few days.

(A/N): Hey Guys!  I wasn't sure the direction I wanted this story to go on, but I think I like the way I have planned now, and I hope you like it too!  I'm always looking for feedback, so let me know what you think.  💜