The Stark Internship

Part 19

PETER

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear Tony leave. The door shutting, his suit firing up. I close my eyes.
I can see May, cooking dinner in the kitchen as I sit on the sofa. She burns it. We order pizza and watch reruns of old TV shows Ben used to love.
I lean forward, doubling over. I hold my hand to my stomach, wanting to throw up. Everything seems to be closing in and I can't focus.
I pause. Regather myself. And I forget everything. I breathe slowly and carefully.
I step back from Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man now. The suit Shuri and I made is still in the corner of them room. I quickly get changed, engage all the police radios - a low murmur of different voices telling me what's going on where.
I step outside my room, using my intuition to tell when Pepper won't be able to spot me leaving. I make it out of the house quickly and quietly with one mission - to get my revenge.
I do know that it could have been an accident. I know that it could all have been a terrible, terrible coincidence. But I still have enemies out there. People who've tried to kill me. And nearly succeeded. Whether or not May was murdered, I'm getting revenge.
It takes ten minutes to get to the heart of the city, a block down from where the car crash happened. Multiple police calls for help come across my radio, but I ignore them. I'm not here for petty crime.
But then a gunshot comes from an alleyway close to me. Against my better judgements I swing down to help out.
Two people in masks corner a man, who's clutching his bleeding chest.
No quips. No one-liners. I attack the man with the gun viciously and quickly. He falls unconscious to the floor.
I grab the other guy before he can run away. I pin him to the wall, choking him till he's close to passing out.
'Who are you working for?' I ask, my voice quiet and unsettling.
'I'm not...no one.' He says, struggling to breathe.
'Tell me who you're working for!' I shout, letting him drop to the floor and kneeing him in the face.
'No one! I swear. I promise. I'm just, I need money, I-' he stutters and I punch him again.
Then arms pull me back, restrain me from fighting back.
'It's me. Calm the hell down.' Mr.Stark says, 'you don't want to do this kid.'
The man gets up and goes to run away. I shoot a web and pin him to the wall.
'Let me go.' I say, pulling away from him, and landing on my knees.
'You don't want to do this.' He repeats.
'Stop saying that!' I shout, 'I want to...I need to find who did this. I need to sort this out.'
'You're in a bad place right now, Pete. The only thing worse than acting on emotion is acting on necessity. You're out of touch. You nearly killed that man.' He says. I stare at the ground, breathing heavily. I don't meet his eyes.
'If you don't stop, I will stop you.' He says, and I look up. He looks desperate, worn out. I know he feels responsibility for me, 'just let me help you. You want to do something worthwhile? Come help at the lab. Help search for the people who hurt you.'
'I need to do this.' I say.
'There's nothing to do, Kid. There was a drunk driver. He had a history of it. He got into his friends car, and he went through a red light.' He says. I'd never been told the details before. I stay still, 'I got the report. I got the security footage. I checked. I promise you, as soon as I could I did. But it was an accident. I'm sorry. The man's in prison. There's nothing more you can do.'
I close my eyes and press my fists against my face, trying to stop myself from crying. I shake my head, over and over. I've been here before. I can't comprehend it.
Tony kneels down beside me and I cry into his lap, unable to hold myself up. The city sounds echo in the alley, and my senses are all on full volume.
Mr.Stark speaks calmly and softly, and I don't hear what he says. But he stays with me for a long time and that is enough for now.