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The trip started just a couple of minutes ago, they were all in the bus heading to Stark Industries. Two weeks ago, Mr. Harrington announced they would be having another field trip and he was excited, he thought it would be a normal field trip for one time in his life. But then, his professor gave them the permission slip, where in big bold letters was written "Permission Slip. Field trip to Stark Industries". He wasn't excited anymore, he was worried.
"Hey, Parker! Are you ready to be humiliated in front of everyone?" Flash asked a few seats behind him and Ned, he heard laughs from his teammates, but he didn't care. Flash wasn't one of his priorities at the moment "Why don't you save yourself the embarrassment, Penis Parker?"
Everyone laughed loudly and Peter was starting to have a headache.
"Ugh, Flash!" Harry exclaimed with disgust "Why are you so obsessed with Peter's genitals? Flash, wanting to have sex is okay, you know? What's not cool is harassing people because you are horny"
Flash finally shuted up, after everyone started laughing at him and making fun of him. He had bright red cheeks of embarrassment and he sat again with his friends. They got too loud and the teacher had to shut them up.
"Dude, I'm so excited" Ned said, shaking in his seat next to Peter, who was trying to disappear from there and teletransport to his apartment, but so far it wasn't working. "Do you think we'll meet any of the avengers?"
"Didn't Killian say they are on a mission right now?" Harry asked from his seat behind them, standing a little bit and then sitting on his legs to see the boys. He was sitting with his now girlfriend, MJ. Everyone was surprised at their newest relationship, but it kinda made sense since they were always teasing each other "Or was it last month?"
"No, they are supposed to be on a mission. Fury found another HYDRA base across the country. This one was smaller, though, they only took Steve, Natasha, Clint and Bucky" Peter answered frustrated to still be on the bus "I think Sam was going to help him, but just because he was bored"
"Why didn't Tony come with them?" Harry asked again, he was the biggest Iron Man fan and also the biggest gossiper in the world. He always wanted to know everything, even things about people he didn't know.
"Killian said something about business and a lot of meetings in the next month, I think that's why he's not here" Peter closed his eyes, trying not to scream out for not being able to become invisible "Guys, what if I just jumped out of the bus and we pretend I wasn't here in the first place?"
"What if you just shut up and stop being ridiculous?" MJ talked for the first time since they got in the bus, Ned and Harry laughed at Peter's offended face "I don't understand why you are so worried about this field trip"
"Oh, let me tell you my reasons. The first time we went to a field trip I got bitten by a radioactive spider -thanks for that, Harry's dad-, the second time you guys almost die in Washington and the third time, Thanos came to earth and almost killed half of the universe and a lot of people died" Peter's response was a little bitter, he was annoyed at the situation, his spider sense was off, but just a little for him to be annoyed to be at the field trip. He knew something wasn't right, but that something wasn't going to happen soon and there was nothing he could do about it.
He also thought of telling his friends about it, about how he felt something was off, but he knew Harry and he would be so worried and he would call Tony or even Killian and make everything bigger than it was. He knew Ned, he was going to start panicking and mumbling plans to keep everyone safe and will start advising people to be safe for something that hasn't happened yet. And he knew MJ, she was not the biggest of his fears, but he couldn't risk her recently discovered asthma if she had an anxiety attack.
Ned took his hand and started drawing circles with his finger, something that helped Peter in the past to calm his anxiety. He started deep breathing unconsciously, feeling light headed and then he was feeling less stressed "Sorry" he mumbled. Harry ruffled his hair and MJ patted his shoulder "I'm just worried something bad may happen, I didn't want to be rude to you"
"That's okay, no hard feelings" Harry said and they went silent for the rest of the trip.
Once they arrived, Mr. Harrington asked them to behave and follow the rules the guide will explain. He also asked them to not leave the group at all cost, he needed to keep an eye on them everytime. They left the bus and entered the big lobby, Peter heard all of his team mates talk of how expensive the lobby looked.
It wasn't the first time he was at the lobby, he went every other day for internship stuff, superhero stuff and boyfriend stuff. He started dating this guy named Killian, he was a little stubborn and aggressive, they had a rough patch since they met, Killian was having issues accepting Peter and developing feelings towards him, but time passed by and they started building a friendship that quickly turned into a relationship. And he was also Tony Stark's only biological son.
"Good morning. This is Roger Harrington, we are here from Midtown High for a field trip" Mr. Harrington said at the receptionist, the girl looked from her computer and smiled at his professor. She was a redhead with a bubbly personality, Peter knew her, but it was always just a "good morning" kind of thing.
"Hi, you are just in time. Let me call your guide for today" she smiled and grabbed the phone to start calling their guide on duty "Hey, your tour of nine-thirty is here. What? Okay, I can do that, but, please, hurry up" she hung up and looked at Mr. Harrington, with a panicked smile "So, your tour guide got trapped in a little fire in the labs. Nothing too serious, though, I have her covered."
The receptionist grabbed a white box underneath her desk and cleared her throat before speaking to the group "Hello, Midtown High. My name is Janette, I'm the receptionist and while we wait for your tour guide, I'll be handing you your badge to get access to the building. I'll be calling your names and you will pick it up" She started handing them white badges with a black strip at the side and their name and photo printed "This is a one time badge, after the tour we'll deactivate your badges and you can keep them as a souvenir. If by any chance, you end up having an internship at Stark Industries, we'll give you a new one. Now, this badge only works by itself at certain floors and rooms, please have your badges on you at all times. Our head of security is too strict with them and you will be escorted out of the building if someone sees you without your badge" she explained, making sure everyone was listening.
Once all of them had their badge with them, a blonde curly-haired girl got off one of the elevators running towards them and just stopped when he was in front of them. She grabbed her knees to gain balance and started breathing deeply. When she finished, she stood up and smiled at the group "Hello, guys. You must be the Midtown Academic Decathlon, am I right? My name's Gwen Stacy and I'll be your tour guide"
Peter wanted to cry when he saw her. His biggest enemy in all universe, Gwen Stacy was a bit older than him and his friends, she was attending NYCU and interning at Stark Industries after being an intern at Oscorp in highschool. She was the smartest girl Peter knew and she was a pain in the ass when she wanted "I see everyone has their badge on, good job guys. Any questions before we continue?" she asked, smiling and looking like an angel, pretending to look like an angel.
Cindy raised her hand and Gwen nodded at her "Peter and Harry don't have a badge, are they gonna be escorted out?" she asked with genuine concern. Cindy was always stressed about the field trips and the competitions, she wanted everything to be perfect and Peter thought he and Harry being escorted out was going to ruin the trip for Cindy.
Gwen's face changed in surprise, she looked between his teammates and found them, she grinned "Peter Parker and Harry Osborn, don't you guys know the policy? Or why don't you have your badges on?" Everyone looked at them, with red faces, they pulled out their badges from their pockets. Peter had his badge on a rubber ducks themed lanyard and Harry had his on a blockbuster one, they put their badges around their necks and Gwen smiled widely "Thanks, guys. Now, everyone, follow me to the scanner. To pass by the lobby you'll have to scan your badge and, our dearest AI, Friday will tell you your clearance level. She doesn't say it out loud on a daily basis, but you will hear it just for demonstration purposes."
She scanned her badge and a voice coming through everywhere said "Gwen Stacy. Omega 2, engineering intern. Welcome back"
"See? It's easy. Now, please, make a line and you will scan your badge one by one, we have plenty of time to do it, we don't need to rush" Everyone followed her instructions and made a line in front of her. Flash pushed a girl to make himself the first one on the line, he scanned his badge and Friday speaked again.
"Eugene Thompson. Beta 1, tour visitor. Welcome." with a grin in his face, he walked out of the scanner slowly, loving the attention he was getting almost for nothing.
Everyone started scanning their badge and walking to the other end of the lobby, where Gwen was patiently waiting for them. Peter was sweating, he knew his internship was real and he didn't need to be worried about it, but he didn't want everyone to know his real clearance level. Harry, who was behind him, wasn't having any issues accepting everyone knowing his clearance level, he was known for being Killian Stark's best friend and his dad and Tony were associates.
"Elizabeth Brant. Alpha 4, permanent guest. Welcome back, Betty." Everyone started whispering, asking Betty too many questions on why her clearance was different, until Abbe asked.
Peter almost forgot about Betty, she was the only girlfriend Killian had. She, Harry and Killian were always together, she found Killian's identity a couple of months after they started spending too much time together in the Midtown news. He wasn't surprised by her clearance level, Betty and Harry were always at the tower to study and she almost found out about Peter's identity once, he entered through a window of the tower, covered in blood and she was there when he almost pulled his mask off. She passed out and Killian had to drag her out of the room.
"What does the clearance level mean?" Gwen smiled excitedly at the question, she was waiting for someone to ask "Well, pay attention, guys. We have different levels for almost every position here in Stark Industries. We have Beta level which is the most restricted one, while in the Beta level there's other sublevels: 1 is for tour visitors, 2 is for press, 3 is for the maintenance department, 4 is for the cafeteria guys and 5 is for security guards."
"Then we have Omega and the sublevels: 1 is for marketing and design interns, 2 is for engineering interns and 3 is for health services interns. All the interns have the same access to the same places, numbers are just to identify us. Omega A1, A2 and A3 are the seniors of each department, respectively. And Omega B1, B2 and B3 are the guys of marketing, the scientists and the doctors, again, respectively."
"Peter Parker. Alpha 5, Avenger. Welcome back, Petey-pie, would you like me to notify the baby boss and the boss of your arrival?" Instantly, everyone looked at Peter, eyes wide open "Friday- No, just school trip. Don't tell anyone" he murmured, knowing Friday will hear him.
Gwen laughed at his embarrassment "And then we have Alpha: 1 is for important guest, 2 is for the administration department, 3 is for the head of security, 4 is for permanent guest and 5 is for the Avengers and Peter." she said making sure everyone heard the last part "The last one is Alpha A, but that one is only for the Stark family."
"Harrison Osborn. Alpha 4, permanent guest. Welcome back, Harry. Reminder: you are still banned from the lab"
"God, can't you get over it?" he murmured with his cheeks slightly tinted in red of embarrassment "It was an accident"
Everyone laugh at the statement and Gwen speaked again "We'll go to the museum first and then we'll go to eat something"
They took the elevator to get to the fifth floor, where the museum was, the ride was uncomfortable with Flash sending death stares towards him, he guessed it had to do with his clearance level. Peter never visited the museum, he was stunned at all the displays of the avengers, he spotted one in a corner, it was his display, Spider-Man’s display.
“Dude, you see that?” Ned asked dragging him to look over his display, all of them had 3 replicas of their suits, their first one, the most iconic one and their newest one. The displays also had some accessories that they use in battle, like the little robo-spider that was attached to the spider logo on the first suit Mr. Stark gave to him, along with his first web shooters and his current ones.
“Look, Peter, there’s also facts about you” Harry said behind them, he looked over the plate that had them.
Get to know Spider-Man.
- He’s afraid of spiders.
- He made himself the formula of his webs.
- The youngest superhero that worked with The Avengers.
- When he’s stressed, he starts pacing through the ceiling.
- He likes coming through the windows instead of the doors like a normal person would, having scared a lot of employees and guests by his unexpected arrival.
“Stark’s employees most hate you for scaring them. Good job” MJ said while laughing at the facts they just read “Ha, you have your flag, that’s cool”
Peter, while laughing, looked up, where the replica of his newest suit was, it had a little pin with a bisexual flag on it. After an incident in a school, a case of homophobia, The Avengers and him made a little parade and some of them came out of the closet. It was a good day and he ended up crying after all the support they got, he was happy he could be someone people could rely on.
“Look, there’s also a display of baby Stark” MJ said while walking towards Killian display. It was unexpected to see his display on The Avengers side, Peter thought there should be another display of him on the “Stark Industries history” side too.
On his display, it was a replica of the Mark A-I, the first suit Killian ever used. The one he wore to help in the battle with Thanos, he was on the battle in Wakanda, helping Wanda and Vision. Peter smiled, it was a whole display like the others, just with one suit, and he had “Not an active hero” written below his name.
"This is awesome, dude. Is this the suit he used?" Ned was excited to be so close to the suit, Killian never actually showed them pictures of the suit and never really talked about it. "No, it's just a replica. All of them are replicas" Peter said.
MJ grabbed Harry and dragged him to the other side of the museum to check on the Black Widow display., leaving Ned and Peter looking again between his and Killian's display.
"Oh my God. Killian has one too. He told me his father wanted to put one here, to commemorate all the heroes and the battle that almost got half of the universe killed" Betty said not looking at Peter or Ned specifically, just admiring the display "He never told me his dad actually did it. It's cool"
Peter was about to speak when someone grabbed him forcefully by the shoulder. He turned back ready to fight when he saw Flash, who was furious "What the hell, Parker? It was ridiculous to think you had an actual internship and you could easily fake an Omega 2 badge. What are you trying to do? Do you think someone would believe you?" Flash was leaning towards him, Peter was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Ugh, Flash. Fuck off" Betty said pushing Flash far from Peter "He doesn't owe you an answer, he already said it. He's Tony Stark's personal intern" She had her arms crossed in her chest, looking angrily at Flash, she put herself in front of Peter, making it hard for Thompson to reach him again.
"I don't know how you two did it, but I will find out and you'll be escorted out" he stated before he left, leaving them alone again. Betty turned to Peter, with a panic, slyly pale.
"I can't believe i did it" she said excited and also scared, Peter smiled at her, reassuring her everything was fine "Are you okay? He didn't hit you, right?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks for defending me, Betty" he said, she smiled and her cheeks turned red with fluster. "It was very brave of you"
"It was nothing, we're friends, remember? You would do the same for me" she smiled and then walked away looking for Cindy. Peter thought she was a very loyal friend, he never gave her credit for it.
After taking breakfast, Gwen guided them to the labs. It was the most normal and calm field trip Peter ever had, he was starting to feel like he was overreacting a few moments ago. Gwen was talking about some of the research the interns do and how the internship can affect your life and career. It seemed all good.
"Well, as you know, having an internship opens many doors for you. But having an internship at SI it's a whole other thing. Our CEO Pepper Potts and the owner Tony Stark make the internship a place not only to improve, but to have a better lifestyle too. We'll be interviewing some of the interns here and we'll see how it works for them" Gwen explained while walking towards one of the interns, who seemed to be invested in the notes he was writing.
"Guys, this is Marco." the intern looked up and smiled at Gwen, he stood up from his seat and waved at them "Marco, we were talking about the benefits of being an intern in SI. Can you tell us what things —that don't necessarily connect with work— have been improving in your life?"
"Yes, I'm glad you asked" Marco said, Peter didn't know him properly, but he saw him a few times working at the labs past midnight with other interns "In my situation, my family cannot cover college and also my expenses since I'm an adult now and I also cannot work a part-time job without risking school work and also the internship (which I need for my career). So, I applied for the Stark Industries Scholarship. If you had good grades in your last semester and have good references from senior interns or professors at college, then there's a 90% chance you will get it." everyone gaped at the explanation, Peter was also shocked to hear it, he didn't know about the SIS "Cool, isn't it? The SIS comes with certain amount of money every two weeks to spend in everything you need"
His teammates were now more excited about it. Peter thought that maybe Killian had to do with it, since Tony started caring a lot about others since Killian appeared in his life. Everyone thanked Marco and moved on to the next person, a girl named Clara, who was talking about how the internship allowed her to get a place to stay in New York while going to college and having the internship and then his phone rang.
He opened it and saw his notifications. It was from Twitter @kstark just posted something. Peter smiled at the screen and opened it almost immediately.
Killian Stark ✓ @kstark
Hello, New York! Did you guys miss me? I'm back from a business trip ready to keep annoying people like my father taught me.
💬 25K ⇅ 33K ♡ 82K
Almost at the same time, he received a couple of texts from the same person.
Killian <3
hello mi amor
sowwy i didn't text u earlier
i passed out on the couch
how r u?
r u at the tower?
i miss u
wanna have a date? 💕
hi, baby
don't worry
i guessed you are tired
ye, im at the tower
on the field trip with the acadec
the one you missed >;(
ha
poor baby
are u gonna cry?
it's not my fault im a businessman
be a man and confront your fears
your fears = field trips
omw to you baby 💕
sometimes i hate u
see u soon 💕
Peter put his phone in his pocket and walked towards his group. They were a little far from him, but he was able to catch them when some interns were explaining something about their newest research.
"Pete, did you see Killian's tweet?" Harry asked appearing next to him, he was holding MJ's hand and with the other one he was holding his phone, looking at the screen "He's back, now we can threat Tony to explode something at the labs"
"Yeah, he texted me a couple of minutes ago. He's at the tower right now, I think he's gonna join us on the trip" he whispered in response, he didn't want to interrupt Gwen and the other interns. Harry gaped, offended.
"He sent you a text, his boyfriend, but didn't send me one? To his husband of... " he stopped his dramatic rant to count how many year he's been knowing Killian "His husband of nine years?"
"Harry, that wasn't too straight of you" MJ said grinning without looking at them, it was almost like she was actually paying attention to Gwen and the interns. Peter laughed quietly while Harry tried to explain why it was so straight of him calling Killian his husband.
"Honestly, I envy you, dude. This internship is awesome, if I wasn't going to MIT, I'd definitely apply for it" Ned said, grabbing Peter by his arm, shaking it excitedly. Peter was about to respond, when he saw a figure he could recognize anywhere.
"Mr. Stark?" Ned, Harry and MJ looked where Peter was facing. Indeed, Tony Stark was working with one of the interns across the lab, it seemed they were chatting about something they had in front of them.
"Omg, it's Mr. Daddy Stark" Harry said, pulling out his phone again and starting sending texts to someone rapidly. The guys leaned over to see who he was texting, they all liked ignoring the privacy of each other.
Mr. Daddy Stark Sir
helloooo
mr stark
sir
tony
dad 2.0
the good one
old man
God, Harry, what do you need?
u lov me dont u?
by any chance
r u at the labs with the interns?
pls say yes
Well, yes. I am, I'm helping one of the interns.
Why?
u didnt tell me u lov me tho
Harry, I love you.
You are like my second kid.
Now answer before I stop responding.
awwww i lov u too
anygays
cuz we're having a field trip
at si and we're looking at u rn
???
They looked over to Tony, who was frowning at his screen, he looked up and saw the bunch of teenagers waving at him with way too much enthusiasm. He said something to the intern he was helping and stood up from his seat, walking towards them.
"Guys, are you okay? Who are you waving at?" Gwen asked, making everyone look at them and then to where Tony was coming from. The sounds of excitement filled the place, his teammates started whispering and making funny noises about being in the presence of the great Tony Stark in person "Holly fuck"
Peter grinned at Gwen's reaction, she was one of the most capable interns in SI, she was smart and she was pretty good at everything, but she didn't know Tony Stark in person, that was a point for Peter.
"Hi, kids, and hi kids' classmates" Tony said while looking at them from above his sunglasses "I was minding my own business, helping two or three interns with their final projects, when this brat-" he pointed at Harry, who was smiling and waving "announced you guys where on a field trip. Is good so far?"
"Sir, it's an honor to have you join the tour. We were talking about the projects of some of the interns" Gwen said shaking in her place, she was flustered while talking to Tony.
"Just call me Tony, does anyone have any questions about the internship? I guess I will be stuck with you for a while" he murmured while smiling, everyone raised their hand and Tony started answering a couple of questions.
The guys walked towards him to start annoying him, when suddenly, Peter's spider sense started to go wild. He froze in his seat and started looking desperately across all the lab, looking for the main source of danger, but it was like it was coming from everywhere. He was sweating, his heart was racing and he started to panic, something was happening and he didn't have an idea of what it was.
His friends noticed, then Tony noticed and he walked over to him "Kid, is everything okay?" but he couldn't hear him clearly, he felt lost. Until he heard him.
"D-Dad!"
It was Killian. Everyone gasped and turned to look behind Peter, Killian was held by his neck by someone in a mask, the guy had a gun pointing to his head. Killian was crying and it seemed he had a lot of pressure in his throat to breathe correctly. He was trained to get out of these situations, he was perfectly capable of managing this on his own, but Peter saw a bruise in his cheek and maybe Killian was not even completely conscious at the moment.
“Get your hands off my kid” Tony said walking towards them, but then a click sounded through the lab, someone was pointing at him with a gun. He stopped walking immediately, this other guy hit Tony in the back of his head forcing him to drop to his knees.
“You are not going anywhere, if you do something suspicious, we’ll shoot the kids and I don’t think you would like that” Killian’s kidnapper speaked, holding him with more force, making him gasp for air.
He looked over his teammates, they were also being cornered by people in masks and guns, his blood was boiling. His heart was racing and his senses were begging him to jump into action, he could easily defeat them, but he needed to think of a plan before doing something stupid.
Mr. Harrington was tied up in one of the corners, he was blindfolded and probably unconscious after one of the kidnappers hit him with a gun. The interns were also tied up and cornered in one of the walls, most of them were crying, and Peter could understand them, their internship never mentioned anything about being held captive at their workplace. There were at least 20 kidnappers in the room with them, he didn’t know how many more there were in the building but he could estimate another 15 guys or even more.
Killian and Tony were still in the lab with them, Killian passed out after Kidnapper One pressed too hard on his throat and left him on the floor near Tony, who was holding him while Kidnapper One was pointing the gun to his head. He asked him not to move after he held Killian’s unconscious body, or else he would shoot him.
He and his teammates were being tied up, Betty was quietly crying with her back at the wall, sitting in the best position she could to not be uncomfortable. He was crushed seeing her crying like that. Cindy was shaking in her seat beside Betty, Abbe was next and he was just shocked, not doing anything, not moving, just spacing out from reality. Then he looked at Flash, who was sobbing and all his teammates were there, sobbing, shocked, crying and shaking in their seats. Peter was the one being tied up at the moment, one of the kidnappers was pointing a gun to his head and another was tidying his hands and feet, he felt the ropes tighten around his wrists, burning a little bit.
When they were done with him, they started doing the same with Harry. Until someone saw his badge, with his name on it and pointed it out “Hey, Boss”
The same guy who was pointing a gun to Tony and Killian’s head, turned to look at him. The guy was holding Harry’s arm with too harsh “Look what I found, it’s Harry fucking Osborn” the guy threw Harry to the ground and put a foot in his back, preventing him from standing up.
Peter wanted to jump, he wanted to rip the ropes from his wrists and toes, he wanted to kill them all. But risking everybody’s life wasn’t part of his plan, so he stayed in his seat, just looking angrily at the men in front of him.
“Tie him up and leave him here. We’ll make a call to his father later” the boss said. Peter couldn’t see his face, but he bet the boss was grinning at his new discovery.
“It’s not the kid’s fault anything that Norman owes you. Leave him alone” Tony asked angrily “He’s just a kid, like all the kids you just held captive”
“I said shut up” the boss said, hitting Tony one more time with the gun in his hand, making his nose bleed, he coughed trying to breathe again. Peter was furious looking at the scene.
He felt something falling beside him, he turned and saw MJ looking at the floor, but she wasn’t scared, she seemed to be planning something in her head. She seemed focused. Ned fell at her other side, he was the last one to be tied up, they completed the hostages.
“What do you need?” MJ whispered, he jumped in his seat. He was hearing MJ talking because of his enhanced hearing, she was almost not making any sound. She was planning something, she wanted Peter to help them.
“It was unfortunate having to keep all these innocent people suffering from something you did, Stark.” The Boss said bitterly, he punched Tony in the face, causing him to lose balance and almost fall completely to the ground.
“Unfortunately for you, I don’t really know what I did. You see, I have to deal with criminals all day with some unresolved issues that somehow ended up being my fault. So, enlighten me” the boss wasn’t happy with his response, he made some angry noises at him.
He tapped her foot just a little, MJ looked at him sideways, when they made eye contact, he looked up, at the ceiling. “Lights?” she asked the same way she did last time “One tap yes, two taps no” he tapped once. “Okay, are you aware of the consequences?” she asked again. Peter took a deep breath, he knew he would have a couple of minutes if they were able to turn all the lights off, before Friday would turn them on again. Meaning his classmates could see him without his suit.
“You and your band of rats! You call yourselves heroes, but you are a bunch of rats, you come and destroy everything near you, trying to defeat a new “enemy” and trying to save the universe, but that’s just bullshit” the boss said, going down until he was at Tony’s level “Do you see this?” he asked taking his mask off, he had half of his face burned and one of his eyes was completely white “This is what happens when people like you try to be a hero”
He tapped once. MJ nodded slightly. He heard some tapping from MJ’s other side, he looked sideways and, with his enhanced sight, he saw how MJ and Ned were tapping on each other’s legs, talking in morse code. Peter instantly regretted not taking classes with them when MJ suggested it.
“Peter, we’ll need something that can burn the circuit breakers behind Ned.” MJ said. He started thinking, what could he possibly have on him to do it. His web shooters. He ripped the ropes on his wrists and took one of his web shooters and, with caution, passed it to MJ. “Web shooters” He tapped once “How?” It was not the greatest idea, but he tapped three times “That’s not an option, Peter” he tapped three times again and it clicked “He has to tap three times?” Peter tapped once.
“And how exactly was this our fault?” Tony asked, looking directly at the boss’ eyes, or eye. The boss grabbed Tony by the hair and pulled him, putting his gun in his chin.
“You and your stupid attempt of creating life. This happened when your fucking robot, Ultron, attacked Sokovia” he whispered, he looked hungry and looked like he was about to bite Tony, ripping his skin from the bite.
MJ struggled to pass the web shooter to Ned, so Peter pressed himself in her side and with caution, he ripped the ropes of her wrists, trying not to lift any suspicion from the kidnappers. She passed the web shooter to Ned and tapped in morse code how to use it.
“I will make you suffer, Stark. I will kill your child after having a little fun with him” he smiled standing up and started laughing maniacally “Kent, grab the kid” the guy obeyed and grabbed Killian, lifting him from the floor and putting him on his shoulder. Tony tried to hold him but the boss pressed the gun in his temple “Don’t even try it, Stark”
Harry was shaking in his seat, looking at the floor, he looked up just one time, he was looking directly at Peter, making the most hurtful eye contact he had ever seen. Harry was smart, he was too smart and also too subtle, he also had a plan, he grinned and went back to look at the floor.
Something started smelling weird, Peter looked at Ned who had a web behind him, dissolving the metal door that was covering the breakers. They looked at each other and Peter nodded. Ned threw another web and almost immediately it started to burn the breakers, making the lights start fading until it was all dark in the lab. It was his signal.
Peter ripped the ropes of his toes. It all went in slow motion, it was like five minutes when in reality it passed like ten seconds. He grabbed Ned and MJ and threw them carefully to the other side with their classmates, making sure they were far from the burning breakers, he webbed his web shooter from Ned’s hands and once he had it in his wrists he went for the kidnappers. One by one he knocked them out, with his enhanced sight he was able to spot every single one of them.
He heard his classmates and the interns gasping and screaming, scared of what could be happening with the lights off.
The kidnappers didn’t even have the chance to defend themselves. He heard the sound of the repulsors behind him, he looked back and he saw Killian fighting with the repulsors of his gauntlets, he also had his sunglasses and Peter guessed they were on a nocturnal mode. Killian fought a total of five guys when Peter got back to fighting those criminals.
He was also trying to webbed them so they can’t go back to fighting and webbed all the guns they had. Once he was done with the rest of his team, he went for the boss. He webbed the gun and threw it at the pile of guns on the corner of the lab. The boss got in a fight position, Peter was sure he couldn’t see him, but the guy started fighting trying to predict Peter’s movements.
He punched his face, making him go back a few steps. The boss covered his face with his arms, but Peter kicked his side, making him lean to the left, losing balance. He kicked again on the other side, the boss was trying not to fall on the ground. Peter never stopped punching him, kicking him, he was containing himself to not kill him right there. The boss just started walking back, trying so hard to defend himself, but Peter wasn’t going to let him do it, not even taking a break. He kicked so hard his stomach that sent him to the wall, he walked towards the boss and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him a couple of inches from the floor.
“Emergency lights. Enabled” Friday said, the lights were on and everyone saw Peter lifting the man who kidnapped them. Killian was panting near Harry, who was trying to comfort him, Tony was by his side, making calls and texting someone.
“I can tear you apart into pieces. I can break every single bone in your body, I can really make you suffer and beg for mercy. And that, just because you ever thought to put a hand on my boyfriend.” Peter said, looking at the boss, who was sweating and panicking. He pulled him closer to his face “You, coming here and stating bullshit, saying The Avengers are rats, they made a mistake, they are still humans and, even after that, they tried to amend it. But you…” he continued almost spitting on his face “You are worse than what you claim to hate”
“That’s enough, kid.” Tony said, panting, trying hard to breathe through his broken nose and broken ribs “The Avengers are in the tower right now, they took care of everything else. You can stop.” Tony was trying not to sound desperate, Peter nodded and dropped him to the ground.
The boss gasped for air, not wanting to look up, he was shaking and he seemed scared. Peter didn’t care, he threw the last kick and knocked him up. Panting, he looked over his classmates, they were in shock, they looked relieved and also scared; he looked over the interns, all of them were pale while looking at Peter, no one wanted to say anything to him.
He stood a moment in his place, in silence. Until he heard voices coming from outside the lab, he turned and looked at Natasha’s face, he felt better by seeing her coming through the door. She scanned the situation and the room, nodding and commanding everyone else, saying it was all secure to enter the room. Just in seconds, there were a lot of men covered in suits from SHIELD, helping his classmates and the interns, he sighed and he fell on his knees.
“Come on, Pete, we’ll take you somewhere else” Steve Rogers said, Peter didn’t notice him. He let the Captain do whatever he wanted, Steve carried him in bridal style to the medbay, where he would later meet his classmates and his boyfriend.
He was shaking, he was having a panic attack and he didn’t realize until he was being held by the Captain. Steve was trying to calm him, petting him on the head, murmuring things about everything being alright and that he was safe. When they arrived at the medbay, Steve dropped him carefully on one of the beds. He didn’t leave immediately, Peter was holding his hand with so much pressure he thought Peter would break it, and he also knew Peter needed to calm down before everyone could see him.
“I’m here, Peter” he kept reassuring, he was still petting his head, running his finger through his hair, making soft movements “Everything is okay, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
Peter sat on the bed and started breathing deeply, counting in his head to calm the anxiety he was feeling. It was a weird feeling, having a panic attack for something that didn’t really happen. Peter knew it happened, somewhere in the nonexistent timeline he was from. He remembered dying in Titan, he remembered how Tony was looking at nothing when he passed away in the battle with Thanos, he remembered Tony’s funeral and how it hurted like hell losing him.
He remembered everything that happened in his original timeline, he remembered how Killian was about to forget his existence, how he was about to be forgotten by everyone in his life. He remembers all the tragedies, he remembers how Mysterio tricked him to give him Edith, the last thing Tony gave to him. He remembers everything and how he looked to Strange for help when Mysterio outed him to the world, he remembers how the world was before he went back.
Peter wishes he could forget about it, about everything that didn’t really happen, to forget how he was suffering with the lost of his mentor, suffering without the Avengers, how Natasha’s death really got him, how he wasn’t going to be joking with Vision and Wanda, he wishes he could forget about everything. Now, he was suffering the trauma of something he avoided by coming back to save everyone, he was now carrying a weight on his shoulders that shouldn’t exist.
After a couple of minutes in the medbay, his classmates were allowed to visit Peter in his room. They moved him so they could sedate him to make him calm down after he was having an intense breakdown. Betty was the one who opened the door; they looked inside, there was Peter, laying down on the bed, looking at the ceiling absorbed in his thoughts.
“Peter…” Betty whispered, Peter blinked a few times and he turned to look at her. The rest of his classmates were behind her. “You can come in.” he said.
They entered his room, they started crying silently, not moving from their places after they settled in the room so everyone could look at him. Peter didn’t see Harry or MJ, not even Ned or Killian between them. Betty took a step and started crying loudly.
“We wanted to thank you” she said, she was trying so hard to hold her tears and not break down while talking “This was one of the most traumatic experiences we ever had and you are always there to help us. You were there in Washington, you were there to stop Thanos and you were here to save us”
“We wanted to apologize for anything we ever did to you” Flash said, he was also sobbing “I know sometimes we were cruel to you. I was cruel to you and I wanted to apologize for everything”
“You are not alone, Peter” Cindy said, shaking furiously in her place, trying to stay steady. “We’ll keep your secret safe, you will not need to worry about it.”
“You will not have to worry about us, we promise to always help you in school. If you need to go out and save the city, or even the universe, we’ll take notes for you and that way you will never have to worry about school” Abbe said, trying to smile at him.
Peter didn’t know when he started crying, he sat on the bed and looked at them, they were crying, why are they crying? He saved them, why are they so sad? They were fine.
“Why?” he asked, his throat was burning, he felt lightheaded “Why are you crying? Are you scared? Did I scare you?” Peter wasn’t thinking right, but he needed to know, he needed to know what not to do the next time.
“Pete, we are scared” Betty answered, Peter felt heartbreaking. “We are scared because you were shot and you didn’t notice your wound, we thought you were going to die”
His wound? What is she talking about? He looked down to his torso, there was a bandage on his body, a spot of blood on his side and suddenly it started to hurt a little bit. He was shot . His body was aching, that was why he was held by the Captain, that’s why he was sedated when he had the breakdown, so he couldn’t hurt himself more than he was. That’s why he was moved to a single room for him, so they can take out the bullet before his enhanced healing would close the wound around it.
“I… I’m sorry, guys, I didn’t want to scare you like that” he said, dumbfounded. Betty took another step closer and grabbed his hand.
“You don’t have to apologize, just promise you would rely on us on things that we can handle” Betty said, smiling at him like she always does, but she had a pretty sad aura that Peter didn’t like.
“We know we’re not superheroes or even close friends, Peter” Abbe said, hugging Cindy, she was having a hard time trying to stop shaking. “But we want to help you and, if we can do it, we’ll do it with something we are capable of”
Peter smiled.
His classmates left an hour ago, they spent the rest of the day waiting for their parents, talking to Peter and making him feel better. He was alone in the room, feeling like everything was a dream, he wasn’t allowed to get up the bed. Dr. Cho said he had to rest at least all night, she would take care of him personally the next day in the morning. He wanted so badly to be with his friends and Killian, he wanted to check on Mr. Stark.
“Can I come in?” someone asked from the door. Peter turned his head and he saw Killian, he was standing there, smiling at him. Peter nodded and Killian walked until he reached his bed “Can I sit here?”
“Yes, please” he answered, Killian sat beside him and sighed. Peter liked looking at him, it was peaceful to him, just looking at his boyfriend like everything was okay. Killian frowned “What? What are you thinking”
“Well, I was thinking how lucky I am for have a spectacular boyfriend who looks after me” Killian responded. He looked at Peter with love, he looked at him like he didn’t want to break his heart “And I was thinking how much you have changed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Huh. I remembered you in the field, you came through a portal from a place that wasn’t even in our galaxy” Killian started to play with Peter’s curls, pulling softly and just running his fingers through his hair “You talked to everyone and when Thanos arrived, they were prepared to chop his head off. We won. We were all happy about it, we thought it was a good sign and my father amended the Sokovia Accords and the rogues were pardoned.” he continued. Peter was shaking “But you weren’t happy, you were relieved. Like you were, somehow, worried about something else happening”
Peter clenched his jaw, Killian was not the best person to lie to. Not because he was a billionaire, but because he was pretty good at catching the little things nobody else noticed; Killian liked to study people, he was pretty good guessing when someone was lying, worried, angsty. It was about time until he found out about what happened in Titan.
“We were expecting to win, we were excited, but you were expecting something else” Killian stopped petting him and looked at him, he smiled. “I know you are not the same, Peter. You were someone else when you left in that spaceship and when I saw you the first time after the battle, you looked like you fought a thousand battles more”
“Killian… Killian, I have to tell you something…”
“No, don’t do it” he said. Killian started crying, his tears running through his cheeks, but he was still smiling at him “I don’t know what happened to you at Titan, I don’t know if it was something else, but I, certainly, know it still hurts you”
Peter sat again, it hurted less than the last time. Killian was right there, he was right there with him, smiling at him and talking to him. With his shaking hands, he grabbed him and hugged him, crying on his shoulder, not wanting to let him go.
“It’s okay, my love, I’m right here”
“I don’t want to lose you” Peter was crying loudly, he couldn’t take it anymore “I don’t want to lose any of you, you are too important for me. Please, please…” he begged, clinging to Killian with fear “I can’t lose you again.”
Killian hugged him back. They cried together, hugged and kissed for minutes and hours, Peter was hurt because of his past, the past that really never happened and Killian wasn’t going to force him to say anything to him but he would be there to hold him and to assure him everything is okay.
After hours of crying and kissing, they fell asleep in the bed. Tony was standing next to their bed, covering them with the blankets they had, Steve was at his side, looking at the teenagers sadly, they were still sobbing in their sleep.
“I can’t believe Pete went through all this, alone” Steve said, trying to be careful enough to not wake them up. Tony sighed.
“Yeah, he doesn’t even know we know” Tony replied, brushing his son’s hair with his fingers, pulling aside the hair in his face. “I still don’t really get how Strange was able to bring our consciousness from death.”
“Don’t ask me, I still don't know how he even works.”
They laughed a little, there were still a lot of questions, but for now, everything was fine and everyone was alive. They couldn’t ask for more.