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“So, how was Decathlon practice?” Mr. Stark started to make conversation as they were both working on a project in his lab.
“It was great! They were all being really nice, even Flash!” Peter grinned.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah! Because I saved his life, or whatever.” Peter rolled his eyes, not sensing Mr. Stark’s pause in his work.
“Right… and he knows you saved his life, how?
“Uhm… because I’m Spider-Man, remember?” Peter chuckled at Mr. Stark’s ignorance.
“Flash knows?”
Peter’s heart stopped as he realized what he had just done.
I should not have said that…
“Shit! I mean… no, of course he doesn’t. It’s a secret identity for a reason, Mr. Stark.” Peter laughed nervously. Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not buying it. Peter sighed.
“Okay, so maybe he does know…”
“Pete, exactly how many people know about your secret?” Mr. Stark was staring at Peter with concern now.
“You, Ned, and… and some of the Decathlon team…” Peter whispered the last part quickly, cringing at himself.
“Come again?”
“A lot of the Decathlon team knows, but I promise they won’t tell anyone, Mr. Stark!”
“Did you just decide to tell them without talking to me, or…?”
“Well, I kind of was injured as Spider-Man, and needed a place to heal…” Peter rubbed his neck, remembering that afternoon.
“And you couldn’t come here?”
“You had a bunch of important meetings!”
“Kid, you know I don’t give a damn about those meetings if you need me… just, tell me what happened. No skipping parts or leaving things out, I need to know what happened.”
“Fine…”
————
Ned and the Decathlon team were sitting in the library after school, going over what they would need to know for their next competition. There hadn’t been any clubs using the library, and the librarian had left, which meant the library was all to themselves. It was really nice, with just him, MJ, Flash, and Betty who could make it. Mr. Harrison had gone to do some teacher stuff, which left the students alone in the library.
Ned knew that Peter was out patrolling and couldn’t make it. He did wish his best friend was there with them more often, but he understood.
I mean, dude, if I was Spider-Man I would have way more fun… that would be so cool.
Still, Ned wasn't Spider-Man no matter how many times he put on Peter’s mask when they hung out. He could have used Peter’s spidey sense though, when he heard a sudden crash behind him.
“Shit!” Ned yelled as Betty and Flash screamed. Ned jumped out of his seat, turning around to see none other than Spider-Man himself, slumped on the ground in his suit.
Oh my god, Peter!
Ned was immediately filled with concern for his best friend, still too frozen in shock to do anything.
“What the hell—is that… Spider-Man?!” Flash’s eyes widened dramatically at the sight of his favorite superhero.
“Oh my god, he’s hurt!” Betty squealed.
“W-What do we do?” Flash stammered, clearly taken aback in a way unlike his normally cold persona.
“Betty, go get the med kit in the office.” MJ said with an authoritative voice, handling the situation better than anyone else. It snapped Ned out of his trance of shock and into action, so he rushed to Peter’s side. The rest of the class soon followed suit. A small pool of blood was growing underneath Spider-Man’s stomach.
Oh my god, what did you do, Peter…
MJ put her hands under Spider-Man’s arms, dragging him away from the glass and onto his back to assess the damage. The suit’s eyes that were usually comically wide open were closed.
Flash reached over sneakily to the neck of the suit, trying to peel it back over his face.
“Flash, don’t take off his mask!” Ned shouted, slapping away his hand.
“I’m just trying to help! And don’t you want to know who he is, Leeds?” Flash pushed his hand back.
“Seriously, don’t—“ Ned fought to keep him away.
“Why not?” Flash shoved.
“Because it’s—“ Flash ripped off the mask as quickly as possible, falling back on his hands in shock.
“Peter…” Ned cursed himself. He was supposed to be Peter’s guy in the chair, and he couldn’t even stop Flash from taking his mask off?
Peter’s eyes were closed, the curls of his hair messy with sweat. The whole Decathlon team stared in disbelief.
Dammit!
Guilt overtook Ned. Peter had trusted him to keep his secret, and he let the team see him while he couldn’t defend himself.
“I… I don’t understand… how could Penis Parker…” Flash stammered in disbelief.
“Flash, get out of the way.” MJ shoved Flash away, who continued to stare at Peter in disbelief. MJ was able to stay collected and in control of the situation, but she did seem slightly shocked and concerned as well.
“Peter is Spider-Man?!” Betty entered the room again with a med kit, stopping in her tracks for a moment when she saw Peter.
“Yeah, guys. It wasn’t like he was hiding it well.” MJ commented, making everyone turn to her. Ned’s heart raced with the lack of control he had over Peter’s secret. He had to do something.
“No, Peter isn’t Spider-Man… he must have been in a costume, and gotten mugged! Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. Peter is a huge Spider-Man fan!” MJ raised an eyebrow at him, not buying it.
“Ned, stop trying to defend him. We know he’s Spider-Man.” She scoffed.
Agh, give me a break!
“No, really—“ Ned tried to continue his lie, before being cut off by MJ.
“Look, we’re not gonna tell anyone, so you don’t have to worry, Ned. Right, guys?” She fixed the room with a glare that dared them to disagree.
“Of course.”
“Totally.” Betty replied quickly, seeming scared of how serious MJ was.
“Why would Peter save my life? I thought—“ Flash started rambling, before being cut off by MJ.
“Now everyone clear out, so I can try to help? We can’t focus on the lies right now, Peter is more important.” Everyone nodded at this scary version of MJ and made room, except for Ned who started to shake Peter’s shoulder.
Slowly, Peter’s eyes started to open and squint at the figures above him.
“Mmm… MJ?” Ned breathed a sigh of relief that Peter was awake, but he was no less concerned for his friend. Peter looked confused and slightly out of it.
“Hey, Peter. Mind telling me how to open the suit so I can help you?” MJ offered. Her voice was soft and friendly, which Ned had never heard before. He was used to her voice being sarcastic or serious, which was not nearly as comforting, but he supposed this was better for Peter right now.
“No…‘m fine…” Peter squeezed his eyes shut, lightly pushing her away.
“No, you’re not. How do I open the suit?” She sounded a bit more serious this time, but Peter still refused to answer.
“Here.” Ned pressed the spider symbol on Peter’s suit, which immediately loosened.
“Thanks…” She took off the upper half of his suit, exposing his torso. Ned saw her freeze for a moment at seeing his muscles, which he would tell Peter later, before she tried to assess the damage. “Shit…” MJ muttered under her breath, trying to clean off the blood.
As soon as MJ touched Peter’s wound, Ned saw the alertness come back to Peter as he shot up onto the back of his hands abruptly. His eyes were wide, and Ned assumed that he had just realized what was happening. Peter stared at the Decathlon team, member by member as if taking stock of how many people knew now.
“Oh crap… you guys know?” They all nodded sheepishly at him, as if they felt bad for knowing his secret.
“I’m screwed… like, I could go to the Raft type of screwed…” Peter ran a hand through his hair, visibly nervous. He looked up to Ned, who could only offer a sympathetic grimace before looking away.
“We won’t tell anyone, Parker.” Flash spoke up, which shocked everyone in the room. He had never shown an ounce of respect to Peter, and now he was claiming that he wouldn’t share Peter’s secret? Even Ned didn’t believe it.
“Yeah right, Flash.” Peter scoffed.
“No, really… you saved our lives. We can keep your secret.” Flash looked the slightest bit sincere and regretful, which took Ned by surprise. The rest of the Decathlon team agreed with a few nods.
MJ continued to try and help with the slice on Peter’s stomach, taking some saline solution that was in the med kit to clean it. Peter grimaced as she cleaned a deeper spot, before she reached for the gauze in the med kit to apply pressure.
“Thanks, but that’s not necessary. See?” He motioned to the cut to show that it had stopped bleeding.
“Peter, you’re gonna need medical attention. That gash is serious, and we don’t have anything for stitches here.” MJ’s voice showed slight concern, which Ned would have to add to the list of things he had never seen MJ express before that day.
“Nope, I’ll be fine.” MJ narrowed her eyes at him, not believing him.
”Um… spiders heal really quickly, see?” Peter motioned to one of the shallow parts of the cut, where the skin and flesh were visibly healing. Slowly, but still noticeable.
“Fascinating.” MJ and the Decathlon team watched the healing in awe, causing Peter to furiously blush. Ned saw MJ snap herself out of staring, sensing Peter's embarrassment. Peter quickly pulled the suit back on, pressing the spider emblem to fit it onto himself again.
“...So... I’ve always wondered how you get your boots and gloves to stick to walls and stuff? I’ve been trying to figure it out, and it just doesn’t make sense…” Of course MJ would ask a scientific question.
“Yeah, that’s because it’s not the suit… I’m sticky, see?” Peter put a finger on the back of MJ’s hand, before lifting it up with just the pad of his finger. Ned hoped he was the only one who noticed Peter blushing at touching MJ’s hand.
Smooth, my guy. Really smooth.
“Wow…” MJ stared in amazement.
Before anyone could process anything that had just happened, Peter’s head quickly shot up as he gasped. He quickly scrambled for his mask that had been forgotten on the floor.
“What is it, Peter?” MJ asked, the whole Decathlon team confused as he pulled the mask over his head and stood up.
“Hey kids, so— oh my god… Spider-Man?” Mr. Harrison walked into the room unexpectedly. Peter looked around with wide eyes, before leaning an elbow onto a bookshelf and crossing his arms over the cut in his suit.
“Hey, Sir. Just following up on you guys, making sure you’re okay… I’ll be on my way now, sir.” Peter said in a deep voice, saluting him, making MJ snort at him. He turned around and shot a web at a building across from the window, quickly making his escape.
“Oh, uh… sure. See ya…” Mr. Harrison stammered as the Decathlon team suppressed their giggles.
“Was it just me, or was that really weird?” He looked at his students, confused.
———
Peter finished telling Tony the story of his afternoon a few days ago.
“You’ve got to be shitting me, kid.” Peter laughed as Tony massaged his temples. “What am I going to do about you?” Mr. Stark groaned dramatically.
“Oh, shut up. You love me.”