Work Text:
Peter had felt off all day. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was just off.
The bus was filled with excited retelling of the successful decathlon meet they were on their way back from, but the youngest Avenger couldn’t bring himself to join in.
“Dude, are you okay?” Ned asked after feeling Peter shift for the twentieth time in the last 30 minutes.
“How much longer until we’re back?” He asked in lieu of responding.
Ned shrugged.
“Maybe like an hour. Why?”
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Peter said, scanning the passing tree line as best as he could.
The other teen’s eyes went wide.
“Is this like a Spidey thing?” he asked in a whisper.
“I don’t know. My senses aren’t pointing to anything specific, but it’s like they’re going haywire.”
“Do you think they’re like messed up or something?”
“They’ve never been wrong before.”
Peter didn’t like the idea of seven of his classmates and a teacher out in what was basically the middle of nowhere with the feeling of impending doom.
The bus suddenly started to slow before it rolled to a stop, and conversations lulled as everyone craned their necks to look out of the windows and the front windshield for a reason.
The dull buzz of Peter’s senses suddenly spiked, racing down his spine.
Danger.
His subconscious was screaming at him. Something was just past the trees. Something big.
“What do you mean we’re out of gas? The tank was full when we left.”
Peter’s head snapped up.
Harrington was arguing with the bus driver in a tone low enough that he wouldn’t have heard it without enhanced hearing.
“I’m just as confused as you are, Roger,” the bus driver said, throwing his hands up.
The two men continued back and forth, trying to come up with a solution, but Peter was too busy trying to remember how to breathe.
“This is bad. This is very bad,” he murmured.
“Peter, you’re kinda freaking me out,” Ned said, fidgeting in his seat.
A sickening realization dawned on the hero.
“I didn’t bring the suit,” his stomach dropped to his feet, “Ned, I didn’t bring the suit. It’s still being repaired from the last mission.”
Ned visibly swallowed.
“You think you’re going to need it?”
“Something is out there, and-“
“Alright, guys. It looks like we’re experiencing a bit of mechanical failure. I’m trying to get someone on the phone to help, but in the meantime, let’s all hop off and stretch our legs a little, yeah?” Harrington announced over the confused chatter.
The teens stood up and started filing off the bus, and Peter hoped that it whatever was out there took no interest in a bunch of nerdy teenagers.
MJ shot them a questioning look once they were all in the grass next to the bus.
“Something tells me that you have a bad feeling about this,” she said, eyeing him warily.
He had his eyes glued to the trees next to them and wished that they could be on the other side of the road.
“What’s the matter, Penis? Worried you won’t get back in time for your internship?” Flash jeered, sauntering over to the trio with a smirk on his face.
Peter was bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious energy and adrenaline manifesting in a way that had to keep him moving.
“Now is not the time, Flash,” he ground out, not even bothering to look at the boy.
Flash scoffed in annoyance, but Peter tuned him out.
He contemplated pressing the panic button on the custom Stark Watch Tony gave him, but hesitated. What if Ned was right, and it really was nothing? Then his cover would be ultimately blown over his imagination.
“You listen here, Parker-“
The ground suddenly shook behind their feet.
“What was that?” Flash squeaked, jumping nearly out of his skin like everyone else had.
Peter shifted into a fighting stance. Whatever was out there was on the way.
A deafening roar confirmed it.
The majority of the decathlon team screamed and started looking around frantically for the source of the noise.
It was definitely time to hit the panic button.
“Karen, I need you to call Mr. Stark,” Peter said, forcing his voice to remain even.
“I believe he is in a meeting, Peter,” his AI responded from his watch.
Flash’s eyes widened.
“It’s an emergency. I need to speak with him now.”
Whatever Karen said, went right over Peter’s head as his senses started screaming at him, causing him to wince in discomfort.
“Oh my God! What is that?” Cindy screamed, pointing to something that made Peter’s blood turn to ice in his veins.
A humanoid creature, roughly the size of the Hulk, made of what looked like solid stone came stumbling out of the trees, another roar leaving its throat.
Peter felt himself step out in front of his team without a conscious effort. Secret identity be damned, he wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt.
”Kid, Karen said you had an emergency? Are you alright?” Tony’s voice brought a sudden sense of relief to Peter.
“Uh, yeah. Something like that. You know how I had this AcaDec meet today? Well our bus kinda broke down on the way back, and now there’s this big mutant rock thing here that doesn’t look too happy to see us,” he said in a rush.
There was silence on the other end, and Peter knew the man was trying to process the word vomit he just heard.
”What?” Tony asked, his voice strained.
“I know you and the others are probably really busy, but I’m gonna need an assist. I don’t have the suit, Mr. Stark, and I’m not sure how long I can hold this thing off without it.”
”Friday just sent out the alerts to the rest of the team, Pete. I’m suiting up now, and I’ll be at your location in 10 minutes. The others shouldn’t be too far behind me.”
Peter breathed a sigh of relief, staring the creature in front of them down.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Stark.”
”Don’t do anything stupid until I get there.”
Tony ended the call, and the only sounds that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the thing in front of them and the quiet whimpers of fear from his classmates.
“I need everyone to stay behind me. Can you guys do that?” Peter asked, not daring to take his eyes off of the mutant.
“Peter, you need to step back. We don’t know what this thing could do,” Harrington said quietly, his voice shaking with fear.
“All due respect, sir, but I’m your best shot at survival until the rest of the Avengers get here,” Peter said with a small laugh.
The use of ‘the rest of the Avengers’ didn’t go unnoticed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is not the time for another one of your misconstrued fantasies! You could get killed! There are-“ Harrington’s whisper-shouting was cut off by the mutant releasing another roar of rage as it picked up a nearby boulder and hurtled it toward the group.
Acting on instinct, Peter leaped upward and caught the projectile, immediately sending it flying back at the creature. The rock connected with its chest, causing it to stumble back a few steps.
“Holy shit,” Ned breathed.
Peter didn’t need to turn around to know that his team had looks of shock and disbelief written all over their features.
“I’m well aware that I can get killed, Mr. Harrington. I’m also aware that I’m a tad bit harder to kill than the rest of you. So, I’m only going to tell you all this one more time. Stay behind me, and don’t get in my way,” Peter snapped.
He didn’t bother to wait for an answer as he lunged toward the mutant, throwing his entire strength into a kick to its side.
His shin protested in pain as he landed the attack, the stone-like skin was exactly as forgiving as it looked, but the force of the blow knocked it sideways, further away from the others. Peter counted that as a win on that principle alone.
“Who are you?” Peter asked, dodging a punch that was aimed for his head.
He only received an infuriated roar in response.
“Fair enough. Any particular reason you decided to attack a bunch of unsuspecting high schoolers in the middle of no whe- Woah, watch it!”
The mutant ducked its head and charged forward abruptly, arm stretched out as if to grab the hero, but Peter side-stepped the attack.
He couldn’t predict the surprisingly agile 180 the stone-creature did, flinging its arm out violently, catching Peter in the side and sending him flying back onto the hood of the bus.
It rushed forward again, swinging its fist downward.
Peter was still trying to reorient himself, his head spinning from where it was slammed into the massive engine. He had just enough time to catch the punch just before it slammed into his chest.
His team screamed his name, Ned and MJ’s voice louder than everyone else’s.
Peter pushed back with every bit of strength he had, suddenly realizing that the others were far too close for comfort. They hadn’t run far from now totaled bus, too afraid to move.
“Run!” he shouted out to them, his voice straining from the effort.
They didn’t need to be told twice.
He had to get the fight away from his classmates and teacher.
Somehow managing to twist out from under the rocky appendage, Peter watched with a grimace as the fist came down to the spot where his body once was.
The creature, however, didn’t turn to face him. His gaze was zeroed in on the one teenager that didn’t run.
Flash was standing in the same spot, frozen in fear, staring at Peter and the monster with wide, terrified eyes.
Peter sprung forward as he watched the mutant to grab the bus and lift it over its head like a hammer.
“Flash move!” the hero shouted.
Flash didn’t move. He didn’t even speak. Peter watched in horror as the vehicle started its rapid decent.
Moving faster than he ever thought himself capable of, he threw himself over Flash just as the bus was about to crush the darker boy out of existence.
He couldn’t help the cry of pain as 12.5 tons of steel came down on his back. He didn’t need Karen to tell him that he would be sore in the morning.
“You good, Flash?” he asked through gritted teeth, his arms tight from the tension and exertion that was required to keep them both from getting crushed.
He stared down at the boy, eyes glancing over parts that he could see. The worst of the injuries seemed to only be a nasty gash from the shattered glass that fallen around them.
Flash was only capable of gaping up at him, his mouth opening and closing with words that wouldn’t come out.
“Good talk,” Peter murmured, “Alright. I’m going to get this thing off of us, and when I do, I need you to run. Can you do that?”
Flash nodded in response.
He took a deep breath and with a choked grunt, he pressed back on the bus, slowly lifting the crumped metal on his shoulders.
Flash frantically scrambled to get away once it was lifted high enough.
Peter shoved it off to the side and gave himself a moment to catch his breath.
Fear spiked in him as he realized that the rock-monster was nowhere to be seen. A pile of rubble was in its place in front of him.
“What the fuck?” He hissed.
Peter’s head snapped around when he heard the sound of barely concealed sobbing from several of his friends, and his he felt his heart stop.
A man was standing over them with a nauseatingly familiar gun pressed to Ned’s temple, a seedy smile firmly on his face.
“Peter Parker,” he leered.
“Do I know you?” Peter croaked, his throat feeling tighter by the second.
“I don’t think we’ve met, but I was told to tell you that Toomes sends his regards.”
“Yeah. I kind of assumed that from the looks of that gun there. Alien tech, right? Pretty impressive stuff.”
Stalling. Peter could do stalling. The Avengers would be here any minute now.
“You would know all about it, wouldn’t you?” the man spat.
“Maybe not as much as you guys, but I know a fair amount. I’m guessing the rock dude was yours too? That was pretty cool.”
“Enough. Toomes told me that you didn’t know when to shut up.”
The man pressed the gun further into Ned’s head, and Peter threw his hands up placatingly.
“Alright, alright. What do you want? Money? Tech? Just let him go, and I’ll give you anything that you want.”
“I want revenge, Parker. You and your mentor took everything from us. You ruined our lives,” he snarled.
“That’s right. It was Mr. Stark and I, not them. These guys didn’t do anything. Let them go, and you and I can fight it out,” Peter begged.
“You nearly killed my friend. I think it’s only fair that I kill yours.”
Ned was shaking, tears streaming down his cheeks. The others were rooted to the spot, scared into submission.
“Kill me instead. I’m the one you’ve got the issue with. Wouldn’t that be enough revenge?” his voice cracked on the plea.
“Oh, trust me, Spider-brat. I will kill you. I just want you to suffer first.”
Peter watched the man’s trigger finger twitch, and he reached out as if he could teleport the 30 feet to his best friend.
He had the realization that he was about to watch Ned die in front of him, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t save them. He was useless. He was-
“I would put that down if I were you,” came a voice from the trees.
The man’s shoulders dropped a miniscule amount as confusion twisted his features.
Peter tore his eyes off of the pair for a moment to catch the glint of sunlight off of the barrel of a sniper hidden in the trees.
Bucky.
The team was here.
Steve and Natasha stepped out of the tree line.
He would bet his life that Clint was somewhere with his own shot lined up.
Tony landed easily on the cracked pavement behind him.
“Show’s over. Let the kids go and come on. You’ve got some serious explaining to do,” Tony said coolly.
The man was shaking with rage, knowing that he was outnumbered.
“Fine,” he snarled, shoving Ned to the ground, “I’ve got one more thing I want to say first.”
Before anyone could react, the man pointed the rifle directly at Peter.
Two shots rang out. One slightly after the other.
Peter watched with a disturbing fascination as a blast of pure energy came straight for him. He didn’t have the time to move.
He closed his eyes, bracing for the impact that never came.
Right after the sound of the shot hitting something decidedly metal, the smell of burnt gold-titanium alloy met Peter’s nose.
He peaked an eye open to see that Tony placed himself in front, taking the force of the shot to his back.
The perpetrator’s body collapsed in a heap on the ground, leaving students to yelp and backpedal away.
“Dad,” Peter breathed, letting himself fall forward into his mentor-turned-father-figure’s arms.
“Shit,” Bucky hissed, sprinting over to where everyone was, Clint hot on his heels, “I’m sorry I couldn’t down him before he pulled the trigger. Is everyone alright?”
“We’re all good, Buck. Go check on the kids. Nat, make sure our friend here isn’t getting back up,” Steve said, making his own way over to where Tony and Peter stood.
“Gonna check on our kid first,” Bucky grunted, completely disregarding the other group of teenagers.
“I’m with Barnes. Besides, if he’s as good a shot as I know he is, ‘our friend’ isn’t getting back up,” Natasha quipped.
“You alright, punk?” the brunette super-solider asked, dropping a hand on Peter’s shoulder.
“I’m okay. Dad’s the one that-“
Tony cut him off by thumping him on the forehead.
“Hey, I’m the one in the armored suit here. You’re the one that went a few rounds without one.”
“Well, yeah, but- Ned!”
It dawned on Peter that his friends were still standing off to the side of the road in shock. He pushed his way through the throng of superheroes, nearly stumbling over his feet in the process to get to his decathlon team.
Ned met him halfway, pulling him into a fierce, bone-crushing hug.
Peter ignored the ache in his back and shoulders.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” He said, his voice thick with tears and anger.
Peter reared back in confusion.
“What do you mean? Don’t-“
“Never bargain your life with mine ever again! I mean it Peter!”
“Ned-“
“No! I’m not kidding. You might be the hero, but-“
“If something happened to you, and I could have stopped it, I’d never forgive myself. I could have taken that shot a hell of a lot better than you could have.”
“You had a bus slammed down on you. I think you’ve taken enough for us.”
“Hey, woah, I’m sorry to kill the moment here, but can we go over the whole ‘bus slammed down on my kid’ thing,” Tony interjected, stepping forward.
“Peter he- he saved me,” Flash said, his voice smaller than anyone had ever heard it before, “The rock thing was going to kill me, but Peter threw himself over me and- and he held it up with his back and lifted it and- oh, God. I’m going to be sick.”
Flash turned a sickly shade of green before turning to vomit in the grass, falling to his knees.
Steve cleared his throat.
“Banner is waiting in the quinjet for us, and I think Peter’s class should come back with us to the tower so they can get checked out at the med bay.”
“I- I really don’t think that’s necessary,” Harrington said.
“I’ve got a bunch of paperwork you’ll all need to sign before the night is out, and it’ll take time for Pepper to get the legal team to draw it up anyway. Besides, I’m sure you all have questions, and this will be the only time that we’ll answer freely,” Tony explained.
Harrington nodded solemnly and took a step back.
“It’s decided then. Clint, Nat, you two stay here and wait for Shield. I’m sure they’ll want a report. The rest of you, let’s get moving,” Steve said, sliding his shield onto his back and leading the group to where Bruce had the jet on standby.
Natasha pressed a kiss Peter’s temple and Clint shot him a wink.
“You did good, Spidey,” he said with a smile.
Peter smiled and ducked his head and walked in between Tony and Bucky, the three of them bringing up the rear of the traumatized group.
He knew it would only be a matter of minutes before some of the teens started shaking the lingering fear off and start asking questions, but for now, he was enjoying the rest of his adrenaline high, happy that everyone came out alright in the end.