|| Peter Parker Protection Project ||

Bullies part |||

The Avengers were not happy when Bucky showed up at the compound with an crippled teenanger. I thought I'd see them all mad before, but their faces when Bucky told them I was being bullied, well, let's us just say that I'm glad that I wasn't the one bullying me. I'm pretty sure Bruce was turning green, and I though I saw a spark of electricity coming from Thor's fingertips. And his eyes. Weird. I didn't know he could do that.

Sam broke a glass on accident. He squeezed it and it kinda shattered, which was weird because I didn't think he was that strong.

I gave them Rick and Oscar's names, and I swear Natasha and Clint were already planning their murders because both of them took out their phones and started doing something. Gamora was by Natasha's side in an instant, staring over her shoulder with the distinct look of someone who wants to kill someone else.

Everyone started fussing over me, treating me like a baby. I rolled my eyes and told them to stop, but secretly I liked it. I'd never had siblings and Ned was pretty much my only friend. So this was like having an entire family of people to care about me. It was...nice.

All the Avengers and Guardians insisted on being in the room when Bruce and Doctor Strange examined me. There were audible gasps when I took my shirt off and gave everyone an unobstructed view of the bruises and cuts which littered my entire upper body. A giant bruised area covered my entire right shoulder, where the broken collarbone was, and there was an even bigger bruise lower down, showing where my ribs had been destroyed by their kicking.

Bruce also ordered me to remove my pants so he could see the injuries on my legs. At any other time I would have died of embarrassment to take of my clothes in front of my friends, but the deadly anger fostering in all of their eyes and the commanding tone Bruce's voice took on chased away all my embarrassment and I stripped down to my underwear without hesitation.

"Fuck." Steve swore, and I almost made fun of him for it, but no one looked like they were in the mood for jokes. My left leg was disgusting to look at.

The knee was bruised and cut, blood was running down my leg to the ankle, which was twisted at a weird angle and very purple. Bruce swallowed and took a deep breath to keep himself for turning any greener, and even Doctor Strange had to turn away for a moment to regain his composure. Drax clenched his hands and the knuckles cracked menacingly.

"I will tear out the throats of the cowards who hurt you," he promised. I stared around the room with wide eyes.

"Guys, it's not that bad." I feebly attempted to calm them down. "And Drax, I appreciate the sentiment, but really, please do not tear out their throats. That would be bad."

"Peter, why did this happen?" Natasha asked seriously.

I knew the truth would come out. Bucky would tell them if I didn't, but I didn't really want them to know why. It seemed pathetic now, offering to get beaten up in my friend's place when I could have just beaten them up told them to stay away.

"Bullies." I said weakly, staring at the floor. Natasha took a step forward and gently lifted my head to force eye contact.

"The truth." She demanded. Her green eyes were daring me to lie.

I looked down at my hands and pretended to be very interested in the blood coming from the cuts where Oscar jumped on them.

Bucky sighed at my silence and put an kind hand on my shoulder, the one without the broken collarbone.

"He was protecting his friend," he said. I glanced at him, and he nodded at me to continue, so I did. Reluctantly.

"There's this guy on my school who's been calling me names and stuff since like second grade," I began. "I've gotten really good at ignoring him. But at the beginning of the year, two of his cousins showed up. They're a lot bigger, and they don't like verbal insults that much. They heard Flash calling me 'Penis Parker', and I guess they decided that was too boring, 'cause they concerned me outside of school that day and tried to hit me. I fought back and gave one of them a black eye, but the next day Ned showed up at school with a black eye and a couple bruises. And I just got so mad, I told them that Ned was off-limits. I told them... I said that they could beat me up and I wouldn't fight back as long as they promised to leave Ned alone."