Work Text:
“And when you apply the chain rule, you get…?”
“…256?”
“Exactly,” Peter beamed with pride. “Good job.”
It was a hot early June night and Peter was helping Michelle with some math homework. The end of the school year was around the corner but Midtown was known as a school for geniuses for a reason. While most other schools would be starting to mentally check out, Midtown was making sure their budding tech geniuses were keeping their minds sharp to the end.
Michelle usually did great in her classes but she was struggling with a certain concept. Luckily for her, she had an extra genius of a math tutor boyfriend that was ready to help. Plans were made and Michelle came over after school on the Thursday night before her big test so that Peter could help her study. An invite had been extended to Ned but he had been sadly unable to make it due to a family dinner he couldn’t dodge.
Slouching in relief, Michelle dropped her head against the bed she had been sitting on the ground against. “Man, I can’t wait for this test to be over.”
“You’re doing great though,” Peter said as he looked over the next problem they were going to be working on.
“Still sucks,” Michelle groaned.
“Hey, how about we try this problem and then take a break?” Peter offered as he pointed to the next problem. “May said we can order some pizzas when we get hungry.”
“I’m game,” Michelle smiled as she picked her head off of Peter’s bed. “As long as we get it from the place two blocks over.”
“Where else?” Peter agreed with a smile. “Now, how do we start this problem?”
Michelle frowned at the math problem as she thought over how to start. Peter just waited patiently, though he would be lying if he didn’t say that he wasn’t admiring how beautiful his girlfriend was when she was thinking. “I think…” Michelle trailed off as she formulated her thought.
And that was when the light in the room cut out to leave them in darkness.
“…the power’s out,” Peter frowned.
“Wow, I had absolutely no clue,” Michelle deadpanned.
“Peter? Michelle?” May called from the living room. “Are you two okay?”
“We’re good, May!” Peter called back. With his heightened eyesight, he could see almost clearly in the dark room that only had the light of the moon to go by. Reaching his hand out slowly to not startle Michelle, Peter grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet. “Hang on, May! We’ll be out there in a moment.”
Peter led the two of them out of the room, grabbing their phones along the way and turning on the flashlights. May squinted when the light shined on her but she sighed in relief seeing the teenagers okay. “Let me borrow a light so I can light some candles,” May requested. Michelle passed over her phone before Peter could and May ventured into the kitchen to find their emergency candles. “Peter, be a dear and open the window? I want to get a breeze in here before it gets too hot.”
“Got it, May,” Peter said as he walked over to the closest window and opened it. Immediately, the sounds of the city hit him but they were different. Gone were the buzzing of lights and the sounds of various televisions at the same time. Now it was cars honking at each other, kids crying at the sudden darkness, and people yelling in confusion.
“Wow, I think it’s citywide,” Michelle marveled as she also heard the sounds but not to the same extent as Peter. As far as they could both see, the only lights in the city were from cars driving by, the moon, and people with flashlights.
“I hope the hospital still has their power going,” May murmured to herself but Peter heard it clearly enough.
Peter took a step back from the window and bit his lip, shifting on his feet as he looked towards the window and back at the two most important women in his life. Michelle caught his look and did her best to hide her feeling of saddened resignation.
Knowing that Peter was having a hard time making the decision, she made it for him. Marching to his room, Michelle swiped his spider-man suit from where it was last tossed over the back of his desk chair and went back to the living room to pelt at him. Peter caught it easily, his eyes wide.
“The city needs Spider-Man right now more than we need Peter,” Michelle said with a fake-bored sniff.
Peter looked down at the suit and back up at Michelle. “Are you sure?”
She pushed him back towards his room gently but also firm at the same time. “I’m sure,” Michelle nodded.
Peter hesitated for a second before shooting off into his room to shuck off his clothes and pull his suit on, pressing the spider emblem to have it shrink to his form. Stepping back out to the living room, Peter gave a shy smile to May who pressed a specially made granola bar into one hand and his mask in the other.
“You didn’t get to eat yet,” May explained with her hands on her hips. “I know that I can’t stop your hero instinct but I can help feed you before you go. I want to see that bar gone before you leave.”
Peter smiled, hugging May quickly before unwrapping the bar to stuff in his mouth. May looked appeased before leaning forward to kiss Peter on the crown of his head. “Be safe, okay? I won’t be able to call Tony to come help if something happens.”
“Of course, Stark and the others would be gone on a mission during a citywide blackout,” Michelle murmured to herself.
Peter gulped his granola bar down, shooting a web towards a nearby water bottle to pull into his hand and down. Shaking himself out and placing the bottle down, Peter cleared his throat. “It’s not their fault that Peru needed some help with a new HYDRA vein.” Balling his trash up, Peter shot the trash towards the can to sink it in. “Besides, it’s just a black out. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll have more food ready for you when you get home,” May said before turning back towards the kitchen. She tried to hide the sniffles of sadness but Peter could hear them with the sudden smell of salty tears.
Peter decided to pretend with May that she was fine even though they both knew she wasn’t. She never liked Peter going out into the city too late at night and even more when there was no immediate back-up in the area. Turning to Michelle, Peter nudged her shoulder.
“Keep an eye on her, will you?” Peter whispered to Michelle.
Michelle rolled her eyes, and grabbed Peter’s face. Pulling him in for a quick kiss, she laughed at the dopey look on his face when they pulled apart. “I got May. You go help the city,” Michelle smiled and patted Peter on the cheek.
“You’re the best,” Peter said and leaned in for one more quick kiss. Pulling his face out of her hands, Peter pulled his mask down over his face and slipped out the window. Making sure the coast was clear, Peter leapt away from his bedroom window and shot a web into the air to swing away.
Peter swung farther into the city, keeping an eye out on all the confused people stepping out of their cars and houses. Police were coming in quickly to direct traffic with the traffic lights now out. “Spider-Man!” multiple people calling out when the saw their friendly neighborhood hero on the scene.
Peter would wave to them as he swung by. He was looking for a good starting point to help the most amount of people in one go without angering the police. They had a barely stable amicable working relationship at the moment and Peter didn’t want to ruin it over one night of no power.
There was whistling through the air, Peter pausing in his thoughts as he swung through the air and only realizing at the last second what was about to happen.
And that’s why he went tumbling down to the building a dozen feet below him as the thundering boom of the firework going off assaulted his senses. Laying on the ground, Peter tried to get his bearings but failed as another firework went off with the light joining the attack this time. Writhing on the ground, Peter scrunched his eyes shut and slammed his hands over his ears. His back arched off the ground as another firework went off to stockpile on the previous firework’s pain. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream, not wanting to add to the sensory overload with his own sounds.
“Peter, I am detecting high levels of stress from you,” Karen whispered in Peter’s ear but at the moment, it sounded like a roar. “Prognosis: too much sensory input from the fireworks. Activating ‘Soothe the Baby Spider’ protocol.”
Instantly, there was a wave of relief that washed over Peter as the sounds and lights around him lessened. Back falling to ground, Peter heaved heavy breathes as blissful silence and darkness envelope him. Slowly, Peter unclasped his hands from around his ears and cracked his eyes open. He could still hear and see, but it was sort of muffled now. There was a sort of filter that now covered his lens to barely let any light in to the regular eye but Peter could still see clearly.
“Oh my god, that is so much better,” Peter sagged in relief on the ground. He laid there for a moment as he watched more fireworks sail into the air and explode, excited for a brief moment about being able to watch them without feeling like he was being stabbed by a thousand needles in his ears and eyes. “Karen?”
“Are you feeling better now, Peter?” Karen’s soft voice whispered soothingly into his ears.
“So much,” Peter breathed. “Thanks for that.”
“It was my pleasure,” Karen said.
“Any idea why there are fireworks going on?”
“My research has shown it to be a way to provide light and a sense of calm in the familiarity for the civilians.”
“Good for them,” Peter grumbled. “Sucks for me.”
“Peter, my sensors are picking up a strange power influx approximately seven blocks to your right.”
Peter sat up and angled himself towards his right, his eye lens zooming in towards where Karen was talking about. Confusion grew in Peter as he saw sparks of blue lightning flash in the air of a nearby power plant.
“What the hell?” Peter whispered to himself.
“Should I call for back-up?” Karen questioned.
“No need,” Peter shook his head as he stood up on wobbly legs and brushed his bottom off of dust. “It won’t be anything big. Probably just a busted transformer that I can fix up really quick and get power back.”
“Peter…I seriously doubt that.”
“It’ll be fine, Karen,” Peter reassured her as he shot a web in the air and ran off the building, jumping in the air to let the web pull him. “And if I’m wrong, you get a free pass to bypass me on something like this again in the future.”
“Peter, I do not like the idea of you going off to fight in an unknown battle again in the future,” Karen tutted at him.
“Neither do May and Mr. Stark and Michelle and…actually, I would say everyone,” Peter said as he continued on his journey to the mysterious lightning.
If she could, Karen would have slouched in defeat and palmed her face. Sighing, Peter knew that he had won. “I will allow it this time but I will definitely use the free pass for the future if you are proven to be wrong.”
“Kare Bear, have I ever told you how much I love you?” Peter grinned.
“Yes, you have.”
“Well, let me say it again,” Peter laughed as he crossed the final street to lead him to the block he needed to be at. “You are the best and I love you.”
“Thank you, Peter,” Karen giggled in his ear. “It is my pleasure to be of assistance to you.”
Peter chuckled at her words as he sailed through the air to land on a light pole. Tilting his head to the side, Peter furrowed his brows at the sight of a new mutant. He was glowing blue that was so bright it was almost white and his body kept jolting as if it didn’t have a set form. He had his hands held towards the power plant and Peter’s eyes widened at the sight of electricity being pulled straight out of the generators and into the guy.
“Yo, new guy,” Peter called out to the blue electric looking person who perked up in annoyance. Turning his head towards the teenager, Peter got a full view of the sneer of the villain’s face. “What’s you deal?”
“Ah, the spider has come for me,” the villain scoffed and stepped away from the power transformers. “I was wondering when I would get the displeasure of dealing with you.”
“You know me?”
“How could I not?” the villain rolled his eyes. “You’re the bug that’s been a pain in the ass for so many of us.”
“Wow, I don’t know if I should be honored or offended,” Peter said with a chuckle. “You got a name?”
The villain stood up straight and squared his shoulders, a proud smirk on his lips. “You can call me Electro.”
“…Electro? Really?” Peter asked in disbelief. “Out of all the options you had, you went with Electro?”
“Says the man that went with Spider-Man,” Electro shot back.
“Touche,” Peter sniffed in indignation. “So, what’s the end game here? You gonna steal electricity and—"
Three things happened at the same time then.
First, Peter’s spidey-sense went off to let him know that something was about to happen.
Second, the tail of a firework shooting through the air appeared in the corner of his vision.
And third, Electro shot a lightning bolt straight at Peter that he couldn’t avoid.
The result of those three things happening was a firework booming in the air that covered the sound of Peter’s screams from electrocution. Peter fell to the ground from the light pole with a pained groan, his body twitching involuntarily from the shock that ran through him.
Electro sneered at the arachnid themed hero on the ground. “I don’t see the big fuss about a little spider like you. One shock and you go down.” Scoffing, Electro turned and held his hands out towards the generators to pull more energy from them. “Weak.”
Limbs still twitching, Peter gasped as he laid on the ground and watched Electro pull more electricity out of the transformers. Above him, more fireworks went off to light the area up in tones of red and orange. The protocol that Karen had running to muffle his senses had shorted out with the shock, leading each explosion of light and sound to feel like a butcher’s knife straight to his senses.
But Peter had to get up.
Because Spider-Man always got back up.
Panting, Peter got his feet up underneath of himself first before shakily standing back up with a wobble. Shaking his head, Peter tried shaking off the last of his twitches but his left arm still had some remains of it. In front of him, Electro gave a long-suffering sigh and dropped his arms. Looking over his blue shoulder, Electro regarded him with a long side-eyed look. “You should have just stayed down.”
“Nah man,” Peter smirked under the mask. “That’s not my M.O.”
“Don’t blame me for what comes next then,” Electro warned with glowing brighter eyes.
This time Peter was ready for the lightning bolt that was shot at him. Ducking to the left, the lightning struck the wall behind him to obliterate it. Dropping to the ground, Peter avoided another blast that sailed over his head. Holding a hand out, Peter shot a web towards Electro to which the villain avoided.
Peter could see Electro about to gloat about Peter missing but he had actually been counting on the villain avoiding it. Sharply pulling on the web, Peter flew through the air to land a knee into the villain’s face. Electro cried out as he flew backwards from the force, bouncing across the ground.
Laughing as he settled back on the ground, Peter snickered at the fallen villain. “Dude, that can’t be all for you, can it?”
“Oh, I’m just getting charged up,” Electro sneered, spitting a glob of saliva and blood to the side, as he held his hands outwards Peter with nothing coming out.
“Oh? You’re a punny villain?!” Peter clapped in joy. “That’s it. You are now in my top five favorite villains. Hey, how about we—”
Peter screamed as a true lightning bolt struck down on him from the sky above. His body went rigid as his head was thrown back with a scream. It was over in an instant but to Peter, it felt like an eternity. Before he could even think about dropping to his knees, Electro shot another bolt of lightning but this time at his chest. Peter could feel it enter his chest and travel throughout his body.
Again and again, just when Peter thought he would be able to breathe, more lightning was shot through him. There was a scent of burnt flesh that wafted into his nose and he was pretty sure the ends of his hair was singeing. He could tell parts of his suit were starting to melt into his skin and Peter inwardly groaned at the thought of the med bay nurses having to fix that.
He had to end this before his entire suit became one with his skin.
Peter waited until the next small break in-between strikes. There wasn’t much time between but from what he counted, it was enough if he moved fast enough. He also needed a way to take this villain out. Dragging his eyes around during another shocking session that was making his voice run away, Peter found the perfect place.
“You know, I’m really starting to enjoy this,” Electro sneered, taking an extra second to rear his arm back to build up electricity.
It was just the opening Peter needed.
Dropping to the ground again, Peter rolled out of the way of a new blast. Slamming his hands on the ground, Peter sprang into action like a sprinter as he ignored the burning pain in his entire body. Electro yelped as Peter fled from his attack point, throwing his hands at wherever Peter was running.
Dodging from side to side, lightning struck empty space instead of the teenager superhero. Peter pressed his web shooters to encase both hands in webbing in hopes of some type of insulation. Grabbing ahold of Electro by the shoulders, Peter spun them both around before releasing Electro to go flying into the top floor of a nearby building. To make sure he didn’t escape, Peter shot another web and launched himself in the air to follow.
Getting to the new hole in the wall, Peter stumbled over his own feet as he landed on the floor. He was still feeling uneasy after the shocking session but he had to see things through to the end. In front of him, Electro was picking himself off of the ground but he was still kneeling down.
“I take it back – you are in my top five least favorite villains.”
Electric blue eyes met the mask’s white lens, a growing snarl on the villain’s lips.
“I really think that you should give up, dude, before you get your butt beaten by me,” Peter warned.
Electro sneered at Peter standing before him, holding flexed hands in front of him as he built electricity up again. “You think you can beat me?” Electro scoffed, his smirk growing as he started to gloat. “All I need is to supercharge every atom in this room and turn you into a giant overcooked—"
“Yo, dude,” Peter interrupted in an annoyed tone. The pain from being electrocuted again and again was really pulling him down but there was enough snark left in the tank for one more snap at the villain. “Take a look around us.”
Electro narrowed his eyes and did what Peter said, his eyes widening at the sign warning people of the gas and propane in the room.
“Ah shi—” Electro started to say before room exploded around them.
“Do you think he is doing okay?” May asked, pacing in the living room. Her and Michelle had set up some candles to give them some light and opened more windows to let some air flow.
“It’s Peter, I’m sure he is fine,” Michelle said to assure May. The woman looked at her with a deadpanned look in a silent recount of all the times they had both stayed at Peter’s bed side in the med bay. “You know what, I am going to take back my statement.”
Suddenly, there was a muffled boom that man both girls whip their heads to the side to look out the window. Across town, the remanent of an explosion wafted into the air.
“…we need to contact Happy,” May whispered softly in fear.
“That’s a good call,” Michelle whispered back for fear of breaking down if she talked any louder.
Peter gasped as he slammed a hand on the ground, the ringing in his ear covering everything else. With quivering muscles, Peter pushed away the large blocks of concrete and bricks that had fallen on him to the side. There was no longer a roof above him and the walls of the top floor were practically gone. A few spots of fire flickered around, the propane feeding them life.
Looking down, Peter took stock of himself. The whole middle of his suit was gone, with everything from his hips to his collarbone gone. A few patches of his sleeves hung on by strings and left side of his mask from his ear to his chin was missing. The legs of the suit were somehow still more-or-less intact besides the tears in the fabric.
Peter’s entire body was a mess of burns and cuts. The burns were a combination from the electricity and the burning force of the explosion from just moments earlier. Blood dripped down lazily from the cuts across him but the burns were honestly the worst. Peter guessed there had to be a varying collection of first to third degree burns all over him.
“Why can’t villains learn to look around?” Peter groaned to himself…or at least he thought he did seeing that he couldn’t hear at the moment. Dragging his other hand up, Peter used both of them to sit himself up and then force himself to his feet. “Ugh, Tony is going to be so mad about the suit.”
Stumbling, Peter leaned against a nearby part of the wall that was still somehow intact. Squinting his eyes, Peter found Electro half buried underneath more debris on the other side of the room and knocked out cold.
“And that’s for interrupting for my study date,” Peter wheezed, throwing a weak hand through the air in the direction of the passed-out Electro. Huffing to himself, Peter turned on his heel and held a wavering hand in the air towards the skyline. His plan had been to swing home to let May and Michelle know that he was fine.
His failing body spoke otherwise as the world tilted on its axis and Peter went listing to the side in a limp heap. His vision was tunneling towards the sky, the Avenger’s tower in the distance. To Peter’s surprise, light started to appear in the buildings of the city as power was restored.
“Oh man, does this mean we still have school tomorrow?” Peter murmured to himself as a final thought before his eyes closed on their own accord.
“Do you think they’re gonna last?” Peter asked aloud, his shirt that he had been putting on stopped at the shoulder.
“What?” Michelle asked, looking up from the blanket she was folding up in the Peter’s med bay room. It had been less than a week since Peter was almost electrified to death and it was honestly one of Peter’s quickest recoveries after being so close to death again. His healing factor had worked overtime to bring him back. Her eyes dragged down to the Lichtenberg scars across his torso. “Are you talking about the scars?”
“Well, yeah,” Peter shrugged, pulling his shirt the rest of the way down to cover them. A branch of the scars still peeked out from under the neck of Peter’s shirt and another down his right shoulder to his bicep. They used to go all the way down to his hand and right cheek but they were slowly lightening over time as they healed more.
“Dr. Cho said they should only be there for a week at most with your healing. Why?” Michelle rose an eyebrow and put down the blanket on the pull-out couch. It had been her turn to stay with Peter and Helen had finally given the okay to release Peter so the two of them were cleaning up…well, until the next time Peter inevitably had to stay there again. Placing her hands on her hips, Michelle cocked her head to the side. “Are they bothering you? Do they hurt because I can go grab Dr. Cho real quick and—”
“No, they don’t hurt,” Peter shook his head as he interrupted. “It’s just…”
“Just what?” Michelle asked, stepping closer and reaching a hand down to grab one of Peter’s. “You know you can tell me anything.”
Peter bit his lip as he ducked his head to stare at his sock covered feet. “I’m worried about what happens if these scars stay.”
“Why?” Michelle pushed to get Peter to explain further. When he didn’t say anything, Michelle stepped closer to press their foreheads together and grabbed his other free hand. “Are you worried someone is going to say something?”
Peter sagged a bit as Michelle hit the nail on the head. “Do you think this is going to be the final clue that lets my identity out of the bag?”
“So what?” Michelle huffed and nuzzled their noses together. “Does it matter that much?”
“Of course, it does,” Peter straightened up with a frown marring his face. “I can’t let anyone I love get hurt because of me.”
“How would we get hurt?”
“MJ, I have a lot of enemies,” Peter sighed harshly and pressed his forehead harder against Michelle’s. “Like, I probably shouldn’t have this many this short into my superhero career.”
“You are just an overachiever,” Michelle joked.
“This isn’t funny,” Peter murmured. “This is a very real situation I could place all of you in if my identity gets out.”
“Peter, nothing is going to happen, okay?” Michelle whispered, reaching up to grab Peter’s face gently. “God forbid something does, we’ll get through it together. All of us – you, me, May, Tony, and all the avengers you have wrapped around your finger.”
“I do not,” Peter laughed softly.
“Yeah, you do,” Michelle giggled and leaned in to kiss Peter.
Peter hummed and pulled away from the kiss. “We have company,” Peter whispered.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Peter and Michelle turned their heads towards the doorway where Tony was leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms and a smirk. “Yes, go away,” Michelle deadpanned with a flat look.
“Feisty,” Tony laughed and pushed himself off the doorframe. He uncrossed his arms and stuffed them in his pockets. Michelle narrowed her eyes at Tony. “And scary.”
“Hey, she’s not scary,” Peter pouted. “She’s pretty.”
“So you’ve told me before,” Tony reminisced as he remembered a previous time of Peter’s in the med bay.
“What do you need, Stark?” Michelle sighed as the moment the two of them were having ended.
“Can’t I come check on my freshly cleared protégé?” Tony laughed and threw an arm over Peter’s shoulders. Peter grinned and raised his own arm to wrap around Tony’s in a one-armed side hug.
“Depends – are you going to lead him back into another round in this room?” Michelle rose an eyebrow in challenge.
“Hey,” Peter pouted in offense.
“No way,” Tony scoffed. “He’s going to do that on his own.”
“Hey,” Peter pouted further.
Tony and Michelle laughed at his face, Tony raising a hand to ruffle Peter’s curls. “Kid, you have the worst track record out of the entire team. Do you know how bad that has to be to beat the super grandpas or Legolas?”
“I’m telling you – Parker luck is a real thing and it sucks,” Peter rolled his eyes as he ducked out of Tony’s hold.
“It’s a good thing you have us then,” Michelle grinned. She reached forward to clasp one of Peter’s hands in her hold again. “Maybe we can help balance it out.”
“Or be there to patch you up when it comes back for a vengeance,” Tony said, flinching at the stink eye Michelle shot his way. “What? I’m just speaking the truth.”
Michelle sighed and shook her head, looking up Peter. “Just know whatever happens, you have all of us in your corner to help you out.”
Peter didn’t say anything, just nodding with a bright smile before pulling Michelle in for a tight hug. Michelle knew there was no need for words as she returned the hug. Tony chose not to be his usual snarky self at that moment, knowing Peter needed the silent reassurance in that moment.
After a moment, Peter pulled back from the hug and gave Michelle a kiss on the cheek in thanks.
“Alright, that’s enough of that. C’mon, the little miss is demanding we go out for ice cream now that Peter is all good to go,” Tony said as he directed the teens with his head towards the door.
“Oh, we definitely don’t want to keep my favorite Stark waiting,” Michelle smirked as she pulled Peter by the hand out the door.
“Ow, how will I ever recover from such a stab in the back?” Tony quipped dramatically as he followed them.
“Don’t worry Mr. Stark, you’ll always be my second favorite avenger,” Peter winked at Tony.
“Betrayed by my own apprentice,” Tony rolled her eyes with a grumble. “I’ll have you know that Thor isn’t that great of a guy.”
“Uh, yeah, he is,” Michelle interjected.
“…did not take miss prickly here for a Thor fan,” Tony blinked to himself.
“Everyone is a Thor fan,” Michelle rolled her eyes.
“I’m not.”
“Then you are a liar.”
Tony gasps in a dramatic fashion with a hand on his chest as the three of them walk into the elevator, Peter waving by at the nurses that took care of him the last week. “I have never been so offended in my life.”
“Cope,” Michelle deadpanned.
“I am so happy the two of you are getting along so well now,” Peter chirped happily.
“This is getting along?” Tony raised an eyebrow.
“Well, yeah,” Peter nodded. “Trust me, if MJ didn’t like you, you would know.”
Tony shifted his eyes to Michelle who glared at him. “I would hate to be the guy she hates then.”
The elevator came to a stop and opened with a ding, alerting the floor’s occupants to their arrival. A squeal was Peter’s warning before Morgan came like a bullet to ram into Peter’s legs. In a dramatic show, Peter’s arms windmilled in the air as he pretended she had enough force behind her to send him falling to his butt.
“Morgan, please be careful with your brother,” Pepper called over from the couch. She and Natasha were gossiping softly about the latest S.H.I.E.L.D. drama with Wanda piping in every so often.
“I’m fine, Pepper,” Peter grinned as he swooping down to pick Morgan up in his arms and blow a raspberry into her cheek to make the girl giggle. “But thank you for the concern.”
“Are you actually fine though?” Clint asked from where he was cleaning his bow at the kitchen table. “I mean – I’ve had my fair share of electrocution. It was not a fun time.”
“I’m not saying it was fine,” Peter answered as he left the elevator with Tony and Michelle following. “But it’s over and I’m fine now.”
“I want to have a talk with you later still,” Sam piped up. He was texting on his phone but put it away as he started talking to Peter. He could see the therapist side of Sam coming out and knew there was no escaping a serious talk with him later.
“Fine,” Peter pouted. “But can we talk about all this at a later time? I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Fine, fine, ‘roo,” Tony said as he wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulder. “You win for now. We’ll give you a break.”
“Thank you,” Peter sighed in relief.
Michelle came over and pecked Peter on the cheek. “I’m going to go freshen up a bit before we go out.”
“You can go use the shower in my room if you want,” Peter offered.
“That’s what I was planning on doing,” Michelle laughed before heading back to the elevator. Right before the doors closed, Michelle made eye contact with Tony and flipped him the bird.
Tony sputtered and looked at Peter to see if he saw it. Peter just shrugged with a smile as he bounced Morgan higher on his hip. Tony just shook his head in defeat and went to go sit next to his wife on the couch.
(“I don’t understand teenagers,” Tony moaned to Pepper.
“Comes with the territory with having one,” Pepper said with sympathy as she patted him on the leg.)
Peter laughed as he brought Morgan over to the living room coffee table where Morgan had previously been coloring. When he sat down, Morgan refused to leave his hold to which Peter wasn’t bothered by. He always loved when Morgan wanted to cuddle with him, something he didn’t know he liked before he was blessed with a younger sibling.
“Hey, Petey?” Morgan whispered into Peter’s ear.
“Yeah?” Peter whispered back.
“What are these?” Morgan asked as she pointed at the scars.
Peter gulped as he looked back down at his newest scars. Usually, scars didn’t last that long on him but Dr. Cho’s running theory on these that he was struck so many times that they ran deep into his skin and muscles.
“They look so cool,” Morgan ooed and awed over the Lichtenberg marks.
Something heavy lifted off of Peter’s shoulders at the girl’s words. He had been so worried that people would look at him with disgust or morbid curiosity that would lead them down a road that revealed his identity. There were too many important people in Peter’s life that he couldn’t risk his identity being leaked to the wrong people.
“You think so?” Peter whispered quietly to his sister.
Morgan sat up straighter with a broad smile, dragging a finger down the branching scar traveling down his arm. “Daddy says Petey got hurt being a hero which means they are already cool. But they look like plants which makes them cooler.”
Peter smiled and brought Morgan in for a tight hug. “Thanks Mo. I need that.”
“No problem, Petey,” Morgan said as she nuzzled against his cheek.
Tony watched the interaction between his children with a proud smile. Pepper awed at the scene and cuddled closer to Tony who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Around the room, all the adults pretended to have no eavesdropped on the scene and just let the two siblings have their moment together.
…
“Can I have cool marks like Petey?”
“No!” multiple voices yelled around the room at the same time.