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The Rhino was a fairly new nuisance, but it was nothing Peter couldn’t handle…
Most of the time, anyway. That nasty gash on his side had been enough for him to wrap up his witty banter and finish the guy, webbing him securely to the armored truck he was trying to steal from, before shooting a web and taking off.
Treating the thing hadn’t been fun, but with instruction from Karen he’d managed to stop the bleeding before, inevitably ….. Rhodey? Showed up?
“Geez, kid. “ War Machine grimaced, stepping out of his suit. His prosthesis glinted in the streetlights “That looks bad”
“M-m-mister Rhodey?” Peter furrowed his brow “Karen told me that Mister Stark had been contacted”
“Yeahh but I was closer” he assured “Now, you need a hospital? That’s lookin’ pretty nasty”
“Uh, I mean I’m in my uh, spider stuff and- well - can’t exactly-”
“It’s fine, kid. I get it” Rhodey assured, kneeling down “Lemme see it”
Peter moved his hands from the wound, and watched as Rhodey winced. “Alright, kid. It looks mostly surface level bad, which is good”
“Yay..?”
“But that also means it might get infected easier”
“Oh… not yay”
“You okay with gettin’ carried by Iron Patriot?”
“.... Mister Stark is right. Sounds better as War Machine” Peter commented. Rhodey’s unamused looked caused the boy to flush with embarrassment “I-i’m fine with it, Colonel”
Rhodey gave him the silent treatment all the way to Stark Tower, where a doctor was all ready to clean and dress the wound. Peter was quiet while it happened, occasionally hissing, but healing so well they didn’t bother bandaging. That enhanced healing ability was by far the most useful thing that spider bite had give him. Tony Stark was there now, prattling off to Rhodey away from where even Peter’s sensitive hearing couldn’t sneak a listen. At some point he’d fallen asleep, and was awoken by a gentle shake.
“Come on, Spiderling. Time to wake up” Rhodey voiced.
“Mmh, huh?” Peter blinked awake, sitting up “Wh- how long was I out..?”
“Only an hour, kid. Don’t worry. Tony’ll be in here soon to chew you out again” Rhodey grinned in reassurance and chuckled as Peter groaned
“Does he have to?”
“Uh, yes he has to” Tony spoke up from the room entrance “Who else is gonna lecture you, Underoos? Unless you want me calling Aunt May in here-”
“No no no no no!” Peter raised and waved his hands around in a panic, causing the men in the room to grin cheekily at his expressiveness. “I don’t want another one of those, thanks!”
He was greeted with laughter and couldn’t help but smile. He knew the lecture would mostly be to safe face or nag “I told you so” for the millionth time. He didn’t mind.
What he had minded, however, was how the wound had healed over.
Nearly a week later the wound had definitely healed, but the discolored skin stuck out against his torso in a way that made the already lanky teen uncomfortable. As he stared at the scar - which went from the dead center of his chest diagonally down to his hip - he felt more and more conscious. He just shoved his shirt down. It would be fine. Scars faded. He just needed some of that scar cream stuff. It wasn’t gonna be a problem
Well, he was right about that last part, at least.
In the two months since then, no amount of scar cream or even just plain ol’ skin regeneration got rid of the ugly looking thing, but Peter found it so easy to just ignore that he often did. Ned saw it, of course, and made a big deal of it- rambling as he did about how it was Peter’s “Next step to Badassery”. Peter tried to take that to heart- he really did. But all he saw was a reminder to be more careful. Not that he’d actually follow that lesson, of course…
---
While on patrol one uneventful day after school, he was checking his phone on the subway when it started going off with a “spooky” ringtone.
He furrowed his brow at the caller ID and picked up “Hello?”
“Spiderman” A dignified voice answered him “Good Evening”
“Uh….It’s like, 3:30, isn’t that still afternoon?” Peter corrected
“Don’t be rude”
“Eheh, uh, Afternoon, Doctor Strange”
His relationship with Doctor Strange was an… interesting one, to put it politely. He was pretty sure that the good Doctor didn’t hate him, and he actually often called on Peter because he was closer and could be of some assistance. The two of them had even teamed up to fight supervillains a few times! It was awesome!
“I am in need of you assistance. I’ve found myself cornered in queens by one of our uh, mutual adversaries” He kept it vague. Peter jumped up
“Huh? Who? Where? I’ll be right there!” Peter jumped off of the subway car “Karen track his number”
“Already on it, Peter”
“The Octopus man”
“The octo- oh! You mean Doc Oc? Oh shi-”
“Watch your tongue”
Peter sniggered as he swung to his destination “Pff sorry, Doctor”
“I expect you here promptly” strange instructed
“Karen says I'm 3 minutes away.”
“Stupendous, see you soon”
And the good magician hung up.
“Karen, got any eyes on what Doc Oc is up to?” Peter asked as he made his way
“Nearby camera have him robbing a bank and he seems to have a mystic it's of some kind” she pointed out “That's probably why doctor strange is here in queens”
“How's he doing?”
“The doctor? He's doing alright. He seems to want to do something but “Doc Oc” has him occupied”
“Well that explains why he asked for me. Alright Karen? It's Spider-Man time!!”
He let go of his web just in time to fly through the air, landing expertly on Doc Ocs back, which was a first for him
“Heyyyyy Doc! Shame you’re gettin’ up to trouble without me around! Gettin tired of me?”
“Ahhhhh so you’re who he was calling” The doctor drawled out, looking back at him and away from Strange, who took the opportunity to begin a much needed spell
“Yup, I'm only oone caaall awaay” He purposefully sang off key, yanking the doctor backwards and further away from strange. One of his metal “tentacles” grabbed at Strange
The sharp claw gripped at his hands and went right through the gloves, drawing blood and causing Strange to hiss in pain slightly.
“You okay, Doctor Strange???” Peter shouted at him in concern, his hands covering a frustrated Doctor Octopus' eyes as he flailed around.
“I’m fine, just restrain him! Stop dawdling!”
“Dawdle? I never dawdle! I’m the - YIPE!”
Strange watched as Peter was yanked off of the doctor by one of the arms and thrown rather harshly against the wall, starling him.
“P- Spiderman!!” Stephen felt his heart beat in his chest as Peter didn’t move for a few moments, then bounced back up
“Hoo, that was a doozy! I’m fine!”
“Boy you are going to send me to an early grave” Stephen warned
“Mr Stark says that a lot too!” Spider-man answered, before lowering his voice to speak to Karen “Karen, change setting to web grenade!”
“Already done, Peter. Go for it!”
“Aw, thanks Karen!” He graciously said before shooting a web grenade at one of the doctors tentacles that was coming at him.
Stephen restarted the casting as Spider-man distracted the villain, contemplating briefly how he ended up tag teaming with the Spider-man so often. He needed to get out of Queens. When Peter got grabbed by one of the arms and was slammed into the concrete with a force that made the ground below him indent, Stephens heart nearly stopped.
He unleashed the spell directly at Doctor Otto Octavian, and the man was quickly restrained by his own metal arms and shoved into a nearby brick wall.
“Spider-man, speak to me!” Stephen gritted out, nervous since he hadn’t heard a peep from the boy. There was a grunting noise before Peter raised his hand up, holding the artifact that Octavian had taken
“Got it!” He proclaimed as he stood back up. Stephen couldn’t see it but he could practically feel the grin coming from that boy.
“Excellent” He affirmed before looking back at Doc Oc. “Now for you… I think that a brief stay in the mirror dimension might do you some good… I will have another sorcerer deal with your nonsense.”
And with that the super villain was gone.
“Well, that had been tedious”
“Hehe, you’re tellin me - ow-”
Stephen turned around to face Peter, who was rolling his shoulder a bit, hissing.
“Are you injured?”
“Karen says its just a bit bruised is all. Nothing that won’t heal fast” Peter assured “What about your hands? They’re still bleeding!” Peters attention went to the Sorcerer Supreme's shaking hands. The gloves were barely holding together and the blood had seeped deep into the fabric
“Ah.. I just need to get some bandages” He assured back to Peter, whose eyes - despite being hidden by his mask were still so expressive. That was some phenomenal tech, kudos to Stark.
“Do you need any help? He got both your hands” Peter offered “We can like, go back to the Sanctum and stuff”
He was about to say no, but looked back at his trembling hands. Wong was out and he knew bandaging with a non dominant and shaking hand was a pain in the ass. Might as well not look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it impeded on his pride slightly
“... Thank you, yes. Lets go”
They got back to the sanctum via portal, and Peter immediately went for the first aid kit- which from his past experiences he knew where it was. He came back to the Doctor, who was seated down and attempting to take off his gloves. The cloak was hovering nearby, fretting about in concern.
“Found it” he announced as he came by the sofa where the doctor was sitting. “Do you need help taking off the gloves?” He asked
From anyone else, Stephen would have found that question insulting, but there was something about Peter’s tone and Peter in general that calmed down his pride. “No, I can do it. Thank you” He answered before taking his gloves off as carefully as he could. It was slow and his hands shook as much as ever, but they came off, bloodied and almost sticky as he placed them in his lap.
Peter was already getting things set, mostly with antiseptic wipes, antibiotic cream, and wrapping bandages “All set?” he asked pleasantly
Stephen nodded, and Peter started, holding the Doctor’s hand and gently wiping the blood off. While Stephen occasionally winced from the alcohol touching his wounds the younger man didn’t comment on it. Peter was focused, and the quiet wasn’t all that unpleasant, but as he started on the antibiotic cream Peter spoke up
“So uh, what did that magical thing do?” Peter asked
“The one that Doctor Octavian stole?”
“Yeah”
Stephen took a moment “It is a Mind control talisman. I do not think he knew that, however”
“Oh?”
“He kept talking about getting rich”
Peter snorted, grabbing the bandages at long last and unwrapping them from their casing. His eyes fell to the doctors hands, glancing briefly at the scars.
“Hey uh, Doctor Strange?” His voice was light, but cautious
“.. Yes?”
“Uh, you don't have to answer this but.. How’d you get your scars?”
Stephen looked up at the boy, whose eyes were focused on the sorcerers right hand, just beginning to bandage. Stephen took a breath
“You have googled me, haven’t you?”
“Uh, heh, yeah?” Peter answered, still seeming mostly focused on the doctors hands.
“.. Then you know about the car crash” He stated. He saw Peter’s brow furrow in thought at that.
“Well, yes… It did that with your hands?” Peter seemed almost nervous as he asked this, and Stephen frowned.
“.. Yes, it did. No amount of surgery could repair them”
“... Is that why you cover them?” Peter asked, put Stephen noticed he wasn’t looking at him. Was it rhetorical? “I think they look, kinda cool” He shrugged as he finished wrapping one of the hands “Don’t tell Mister Stark I said this cause he’ll tell May, but like, they’re badass”
Stephen tried very, very hand to not let out a chuckle at that.
“Well, thank you, but the scars are not a point of pride for me” he pointed out
“... Are they ever?” Peters voice nearly sounded bitter.
Stephen was starting to think this was more than his curiosity
“Scars are rarely a point of pride for those who have them, Peter. But they are not a point of shame either. They are a point of memory. A reminder” He emphasized. “My hands? They remind me of the man i used to be. A selfish, arrogant man who only ever helped the people who could afford me. It is a reminder to be humble”
Peters furrowed brow didn’t falter as he worked on bandaging the doctors other hand.
“.... Do you have any scars, Peter?” Stephen asked, though he already knew the answer.
“.... Couple months ago, I was fighting the Rhino... “ he said almost passively. Stephen was getting the feeling he hadn’t told this story many times “And in that fight, he got a good hit and uh… Well even with my fast healing I've got a scar now”
“Where?”
Peter took a moment, using a hand briefly to point from the center of his chest to the left of his hip. “Its uh, pretty big” He admitted, shrugging a bit before he started wrapping the hand again.
“Does it hurt you?” Stephen asked
“Nah, it just kinda… stands out” Peter explained, finishing up the other hand “Okay, all done!”
Stephen looked down at his carefully bandaged hands and smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Peter. You have been a great help”
“Aw, don’t even mention it” Peter grinned almost sheepishly, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Stephen pondered for a moment.
“.. Peter, would you let me see that scar? Perhaps I can give you a second opinion” Stephen asked, carefully structuring his sentences.
Peter’s brow furrowed and he looked beyond skeptical “Uh… okay?”
The teen tapped the center of his chest, and his uniform “deflated” as he called it, and fell gently from his shoulders.
Stephen’s eyes clinically look over the scarred torso.looking up from the center of the boys chest to his hip.
“.. Just as I thought” Stephen voiced.
The boy furrowed his brow in concern “What?”
“Badass”
Peter stuttered out a guffaw, followed by a very awkward laugh. “Wh-what?”
“I’m not repeating myself, Mister Parker” Stephen leveled with him.
Peters awkward laugh extended, which nearly made Stephen crack- but he couldn’t. Peter needed to know that he was being serious - by repeating his compliment back to him.
“Heh, well uh, I mean, it’s not really-” The young hero tried forming a proper coherent sentence as he pulled the costume back up his torso “I wouldn’t call it-”
“Why not? You got your wound fighting a villain, saving lives. Why are you not proud of your scars?” Stephen asked.
Peter opened his mouth, but then shut it again, stuck on an answer.
Stephen’s expression softened “There is nothing to be ashamed of, Peter”
The teen seemed like he wanted to say something, like he had something to say.
“... You think?” Was all he got.
“I know” he assured, standing up with Peter, who had just fixed the suit back on. “Are you going to try to argue with me?”
“.. What point is there in arguing with the sorcerer supreme?” Peter chuckled awkwardly “... Thanks”
Stephen simply smiled “Tony was telling me the other day-”
“I thought you guys weren’t talking”
“We made up- anyway” he squinted at the boy- as if daring him to interrupt again. The boys mouth stayed closed “Tony was telling me the other day that he was thinking of taking the avengers on a retreat to Mertyle beach and that you declined. Was it because of the scars?”
“... That obvious now?”
“Indeed” he nodded “Ever thought of a swim shirt?”
There was a moment of silence.
“... Nope”
Stephen snorted “We’ll go shopping then” he said, “So, headed home? Word from the Iron Man claims that you now have a curfew?”
“... You come home at 1 am one time” Peter mumbled.
Stephen had to stifle a laugh
“Alright Spider-man. Head on home. Come on Saturday and we’ll … shop” The world felt almost strange to say, but Peters face just lit up
“Wh- you were serious about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Peter just shrugged “Heh, okay” He put his mask back on “Saturday?”
“Saturday” The sorcerer nodded. He swore he could see Peter’s grin beneath the mask once more that day as the younger boy gave him a salute and left the sanctum.
The good doctor shook his head in amusement, turning with flair to look further into his library. He found himself looking forward to casual time with the friendly neighborhood spider-man.
It was nice having someone who knew his struggles.
Perhaps, with one another's help, they could learn to love themselves a little better.
It was a pleasant thought