Pain Will Always Come Back to Haunt You

Baby Steps

What Peter didn't expect was to be woken up by the blaring music of his Star Wars themed ringtone. With a tired groan, he shifts underneath the covers and blindly reaches for his phone on the nightstand. It takes him almost the entire chorus to grip the phone and answer it.

"H'llo?" he sleepily mumbles into the phone.

"Peter? Why do you still sound half asleep?" May's voice chirps from the other end. She's the definition of a morning person and it always kills Peter how peppy she can be after waking up.

"'Cause you woke me up," Peter answers as if it's painfully obvious. Half of his face is still buried in the pillow, making his words come out muffled. May hears that sleepy voice almost every morning and it faintly makes her smile. Peter continues to keep his eyes closed in hopes that he'll be able to fall back asleep after the call.

"You aren't up yet? It's almost one thirty in the afternoon." Peter's eyes snap open and he shoots up to a sitting position.

"What?! No one woke me up!"

"Honey, relax! It's the weekend, there's nothing wrong with a little extra sleep. If anything, you've earned it. I just thought Stark would've had you up early. That's why I was worried when you didn't call." Peter rubs his face with his free hand.

"Yeah I was expecting he would, too." He takes a long, deep breath. This is too much excitement for having just woken up. "Thanks for calling May. I'm doing good." Guilt suddenly floods him as he remembers that he's practically lying to her all over again.

"That's my job! I hope you have fun this weekend and be sure to keep me updated. I love hearing you talk about all your sciency stuff." he chuckles at her enthusiasm and nods.

"I will, May. I love you."

"I love you too. Have fun!" May hangs up and Peter is free to stretch out his stiff limbs. He checks his phone and unfortunately confirms that it's 1:28 pm.

"Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" he asks as he looks up at the ceiling, even though he knows that's not where the interface actually is.

"Good morning, Peter," F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s disembodied voice responds instantly.

"How come Mr. Stark didn't wake me up?" Peter asks curiously as he combs through his curly bedhead with his fingers.

"Boss wanted you to get as much rest as possible. He told me to not wake you. I'll notify him that you are awake."

"No, no. That's alright," he answers quickly, anxious at the thought of bothering Tony. "I'll just go see him. Where's he at?"

"He's in the workshop with Dr. Banner." F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s words catch Peter by surprise. Bruce being here isn't much of a shock, but what are both of them doing in the workshop? Shouldn't they be in the Medbay or penthouse or something?

"Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y., I'll go see them." He pops his knuckles before pulling the bedsheets off and involuntarily yawning. He knows Tony is right about needing more sleep, but he doesn't like wasting time when he could be working on the suit or out helping people on patrol. He notices his folded Spider-Man suit with the mask placed neatly on top at the foot of the bed. If Mr. Stark is trying to keep me off patrol, teasing me with the suit isn't the best way to go about it. Either that or he wants me to bring it down to the workshop with me? It still doesn't make sense why Bruce would be down in the workshop, but Peter decides to bring the mask with him in case he needs it to dull his senses again. If he needs to come back to get the rest of the suit, he can later.

He slowly opens the guest room door and peeks out to see if there's anyone else on the floor. The kitchen appears to be empty and he doesn't see anyone sitting on the couch either. That's good, the less people to see him with bedhead the better. Not that he wouldn't absolutely love to meet literally any of the Avengers, but he doesn't want to meet them as Peter Parker. He wants them to see me as an equal, not as a kid. Once he knows the coast is clear, he carefully tip toes into the open and awkwardly holds his elbows. His Spidey Sense would have warned him about anything, but he still feels a bit anxious. He's in Tony Stark's building after all. Still, he can't help but gawk at everything from the floor-to-ceiling windows to the intricate decorations.