Euphoric | Peter Parker

08- Demoted From Rookie To Jail Bird

I woke up. I was no longer laying on the tiled floor in the cafeteria. I was in my bed back at the facility, underneath the dark blue covers.
Tony was sitting in a seat next to my bed. He seemed irritated, but perked up once we made eye contact.

"Do you know how hard it was to carry you in here while you were unconscious?" He stood up and placed the chair against the wall. He turned back to me and crossed his arms.

I sat up. I winced when I applied pressure to my left hand as I scooted my back against the headboard. I lifted my hand and saw a bulky, black cast wrapped around the lower part of my arm.

"One of the worst breaks they've seen in a while," Tony told me, "Surprised your hand isn't broken along with your wrist."

I hesitantly placed my hand on my lap. I didn't like having the cast. If only I knew how to heal broken bones.

"School was supposed to be a new beginning for you, Alger," He said to me, continuing, "A fresh start in a teenage lifestyle." He began to pace around my room.

I cleared my throat. The entire situation made me feel awkward. "I'm sorry," I told him weakly.

He stopped in his tracks. "You should be sorry! Do you know how many strings I had to pull to get you into that school? You don't just transfer to a school of Science and Technology!" He started to pace around again. "I had to make you a member of my family so you could attend there, and you blew it! Do you know what I had to say once I got the phone call about your fight?"

I shook my head.

"I had to make up this lie that I brought you there as an experiment of behavior toward celebrities kids that act up in school! Had to tell them that I made you up and brought you there so you could fight somebody so I could see what punishment they gave you because of your status. And you know what? It's actually quite sad because they let you go home free while that kid has to spend the next two weeks in detention after his three day suspension!"

"Is he okay?" I asked.

Tony sighed. "Well, you broke his nose. And since you kicked him so hard in the face, all the blood vessels around his eyes are ruptured, so it looks like his entire upper face is severely bruised. Oh! You also dislocated his right shoulder and two of his ribs after he collided into the table."

"He was being a bully, Tony." I told him.

He cleared his throat. "I know. You're lucky he shattered your wrist the way he did, otherwise he'd be able to press charges against you." He stopped pacing again and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't look at me. "I don't want you to go back to school."

"Why?"

"There are hundreds of bullies in that place, and I'm afraid you'll try to kill all of them before the school year's over. I understand how much you want to be the hero now; I've read your old files, but you don't truly get the grasp of taking situations in a nonviolent way."

Part of me felt relieved. I didn't understand anything that was going on at school. However, I also felt anger. I wanted not going back to school to be my choice.

"So, you're locking me up in here until I get a better attitude?"

"Considering the way things went the last time I told you I was keeping you locked up, I'm not going to tell you that." He looked at me. "Consider this as a time for you to... rest."

"Rest?"

"You've went from being one of HYDRA's top experiments to a high school student in less than two weeks. I want you to take a break and just relax for a little while. Can you do that?" He sounded desperate for my approval.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You'll have Vision to talk to. He loves holding conversations, especially about that one SOAP he claims he doesn't watch, but does." He sighed. "I'll... I'll even let Happy bring you some books or something? Rent movies? Think you'd like the Twilight Saga?"

"What about Peter?"

"He has to stay in school."

"But, he's like me."

"He didn't roundhouse kick someone in the face."

"I-"

He groaned as he stood back up. "Alger, please. You need time to think! Do you really believe you're mentally healthy enough to go out in society? I know for a fact you aren't ready for society." He snapped at me as I tried to yell back. "Don't! I know what's best for you!"

I felt like crying. I felt like screaming and wailing at the top of my lungs, but I just sat there and stared at him with no emotion. I knew he was right. I hated the way school made me feel, and I honestly didn't really feel anything while I was there.
I was too tired to fight back, and I was too tired to try to escape from Stark's homey prison.

Maybe it would be nice to rest for a while.

"Okay," I agreed, "I'll stay here until my wrist heals."

"Doc says it'll take a little bit over a month for that to happen," He pointed at the cast, "Unless you can heal it yourself."

I sighed. "I've never been able to fix broken bones. Just muscle and tissue."

He laughed to himself. "You always take things so literal, Alger." He walked toward the door. "Just rest. It's what you need."

I shimmied my way back underneath the covers and buried the back of my head into the pillow. "Okay." I closed my eyes.

I heard Tony groan again. "Teenagers." He closed the door behind him as he left my room.

I took a deep sigh as I snuggled deeper into the pillow and blanket.
Maybe just resting won't be so bad after all.