Dust - On Hiatus

Spiderman

It had been hours. Ned's mom and come and gone again, leaving food which Peter and Ned had happily scarfed down.

Peter was itching to get out on patrol, but it had taken longer than they had thought to re-sync the suit to Ned's equipment, and then after that, his mom had been there, and then when she finally left, when Peter should've finally been free, there hadn't been anyone to save. 

The city had been unusually quiet, the only thing coming through on the police radar was static. Peter had wanted to go out anyway, just to swing around and feel the rhythm of the city again, but Ned had convinced him to wait. Night Monkey was a fragile disguise, he said, and until people saw him as a hero it was just too risky for Peter to be seen.

Peter agreed reluctantly.

Of course, a movie marathon ensued, and when MJ showed up a few minutes later, Peter naturally pretended that he hadn't seen Ned texting her. Seriously, it was like his friends forgot he had enhanced senses.

When she sat on the ground in front of him, leaning on his legs, he felt happy. Normal, even. And normal wasn't a usual feeling for Peter Parker.

********

Peter walked downstairs, carrying the empty chip bowl. They were in the middle of an epic Star Wars marathon, and they needed more snacks. Ned had told him that he didn't need to be quiet- his parents had gone to see a movie, so it was just the two boys in the house, which was fine with Peter. The fewer people around, the better. Even though Ned's parents knew about him being Spiderman, he was sure they'd inform SHIELD right away if they found out about Night Monkey.

Peter poured chips into the bowl, snagging two pops before heading back upstairs. He walked down the hallway, his feet nearly soundless on the carpeted floor. As he passed the living room, he paused. The t.v. had been left on, and was showing the news. Peter turned, his eyes drawn to the flickering screen.

"And in other news, the world is reeling at the apparent disappearance of the remaining Avengers. While the world still mourns the losses of heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, the surviving superheroes have been strangely absent. The heroes known as the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in particular, have not been seen since the incident in New York, and as crime rates rise, many viewers- *click* "

Peter turned to see Ned holding the t.v. remote. His heart was thundering in his chest, blood rushing in his ears. 

How could he have been so stupid? 

"What incident, Ned," he says, his voice deadly calm.

"You-you weren't supposed to see that," Ned said, eyes wide, hands out.

"What. Incident." Peter says, clearly enunciating each word. Fury is coming off of him in waves, his body locked in like iron. He barely breathes, knowing that if he really thinks about it- really thinks about how he's been betrayed- he'll break.

He trusted them.

"I can't tell you- Fury said-"

"I don't CARE what Fury said!" Peter shouts, and now he's done it, now he's really lost control- and Ned's face is white and some part of him feels sorry because it's probably not his fault but he can't- he can't.

"What happened, Ned," he says, and he can barely keep his voice from breaking, because now he's realized- May knew. Happy knew. All that stuff about keeping him safe because of Mysterio-taking his phone- they didn't want him to know what was going on.

And a terrible thought had crossed his mind- what if MJ knew?

And he'd thought it was weird- of course he'd thought it was weird- that he hadn't seen any of the Avengers, he hadn't even seen Pepper or Morgan, and he'd been so caught up in his own pity party that he hadn't even stopped for a moment to think about why.