Chapter Text
It was a normal Friday at school. Boring classes, almost falling asleep, and excited to go to the tower after last period.
Walking into his last period class, Peters spidey senses flare up. His whole skin crawls with goosebumps, his hair rising. Peter looks around for danger but all he sees are students walking the hallways and into their classes.
"Are you going to go inside?" Betty asks from behind him, making him jump. "Sorry, thought you would've noticed me. You kind of look like you did on the field trip, are we in danger?"
"What? No and be quiet about that" Peter lowers his voice.
"Sorry but seriously is something wrong?" Betty wonders.
Looking at Betty, he sees the concern and worry in her eyes but in honesty, he doesn't know why his senses are warning him.
"I think we're fine" Peter shrugs before walking into class.
Betty quickly follows after him. Walking past the teachers desk, he notices that Mrs. Cralo isn't here yet and takes his seat. Betty sits next to him just as Flash walks in, eyeing the two.
"Do I really look that obvious?" Peter whispers.
"You look on edge and your eyes are glancing around. Flash has been a mega fan, it's definitely not hard for him to notice after knowing the truth" Betty reminds him.
"So are you ditching class? Would be on brand for you anyways" Flash asks as he sits on Peters other side since it's singular desks in rows.
"No" Peter shuts down.
"Do you have to take a shit?" Flash questions.
"No!" Peters face flushes.
"Then it's the first one" Flash settles.
"Nothing's wrong, it stopped" Peter lies.
"Whatever you say" Flash relents just as the bell rings.
"Maybe it has to do with Mrs. Cralo, she's never late" Betty points out.
"It doesn't work like that" Peter denies.
"It's almost like anxiety in a way" Betty shrugs.
"Yeah but I don't care if she's late" Peter claims.
"Doesn't mean that it doesn't care" Betty argues.
"Would you guys just please stop obsessing over it? Everything's fine, nothing's wrong, it stopped" Peter assures just as the door swings open, making his heart stop beating.
"Sorry I'm late everyone! I got lost trying to find this classroom. I'm sorry that your teacher Mrs. Cralo isn't here but she got into a car accident yesterday and is recovering" a familiar, daunting, chilly voice cuts in.
Peter feels his body locking.
His spidey senses are yelling at him.
His eyes are following the man, watching his every movement.
"I'll be your substitute until she returns. My name is Mr. Westcott but you can call me Skip" Skip introduces.
"It's inappropriate for students to call teachers or substitutes by their first name" Betty informs, uncomfortable with the suggestion.
"Then think of me as a friend. Mr. Westcott makes me sound old and Skip is just a nickname anyways" Skip shrugs.
He glances from Betty towards Peter. His light smile forms into a bigger one, matching a sharks predatory smile before eating their victim, sending another chilling warning down Peter's back.
"I'll be doing attendance and then after I have a worksheet for you all to do from Mrs. Cralo. Next week we'll be moving onto a new chapter" Skip informs.
Skip moves around the desk, sitting down on the spiny chair. He grabs the attendance sheet and starts reading off the names. When he gets to Peters, his body language doesn't change but Peter can tell in his voice, that nobody else notices the change, that he got one of his old toys back.
"Peter Parker" Skip says.
Peter feels his mouth opening, the word "here" tumbling out, but he feels like he's underwater.
He doesn't hear the words leave his mouth but registers that they do.
His body feels like it's on fire, wanting to escape.
Attendance is done shortly after. Skip makes the kid closest to him pass out the worksheets who grumbles out in annoyance.
"Once you're done with the worksheet, just hand it in and you can get yourself a piece of candy. I have Snickers, M&Ms, Hersheys, Jolly Ranchers, KitKats, and Skittles. I have more than enough that you can pick two!" Skip exclaims which makes everyone excited for the prospect of free candy.
Peter though, he feels like his nightmare just woke up and has came back to haunt him.
"So which one of you wants to do my work so I can make this very important tweet to my followers?" Flash asks the two of them.
"Neither of us, your tweet is probably something dumb" Betty rolls her eyes.
"Hey! My fans love my posts!" Flash protests.
"MJ said you brought your followers and I'm going to have to agree with her" Betty informs.
"I do not!" Flash gasps. "My fans are loyal, REAL people! I'm friends with some of them!"
"I don't know...MJ made a very good point" Betty shrugs.
"You're unbelievable. You just wish you had more fans than me" Flash settles.
"Peter has way more fans than you do Flash, what point are you trying to make?" Betty questions.
"He personally has none" Flash argues.
Betty rolls her eyes. Fighting with Flash is always useless.
"At least he doesn't buy them" Betty smirks.
"I don't!" Flash almost yells.
"Whatever, let's just do our worksheet so we can be done. Peter are you done with yours?" Betty asks since he's been quiet but as she turns to really take a look at him, she notices that he's staring off into space. "Peter?"
"Wh-what? Yeah, sorry" Peter apologizes, looking frantic before facing Betty. "What's up?"
"We should work on the worksheet" Betty reminds him, pointing to his blank paper.
"Right, yeah" Peter nods as he picks up his pencil and looks at the paper.
Betty glances up at Flash who gives her a weird look before turning to look at his own paper. Betty looks at Peter again to see him trying to concentrate on his paper and failing to do so. Instead of bringing attention to it, she picks up her own pencil and gets to work.
🕷️
Once Betty was done, she notices that Peter's still finishing up the last problem. Usually, he'd be one of the first people to finish but she knows it has to do with whatever he's thinking about that won't let him concentrate. She doesn't know what's going on, if it's still his spidey sense or something else, but she knows she won't be getting answers.
Watching Peter put down his pencil, she notices his hand doing a quick jerky movement before hiding it under the desk.
Without saying anything, she gets up, grabs hers and Peters papers, and goes to drop their work off at the desk.
"Betty, right?" Skip asks.
"Yep" Betty nods.
"Thank you for the papers. I see you also have Peters so you can pick out two pieces for yourself and two for him" Skip smiles.
"Thanks" Betty thanks while grabbing two M&M packets, a Snickers, and a KitKat. As she goes to her seat, she notices Peter's eyes flickering from looking at Skip to her. "Here."
"Thank you" Peter thanks, taking an M&M packet and the Snickers bar. Instead of eating it, he shoves it into his backpack which surprises her because of his enhanced metabolism.
Instead of saying something, she lets it slide. She looks over at Flash to see him almost done.
"Skip, can we watch a movie or something?" Tyler asks, seeming bored out of his mind. This classroom was a dead zone for WiFi so it was only a matter of time before someone got that bored.
Little did she know, she missed the way Peter flinched.
"Sure! What kind? I can login to my Netflix, Disney, Hulu, just about anything" Skip lists. "Just has to be school appropriate." Immediately, students started shouting out different answers making Skip laugh. "What about Disney? I think that's the safest option right now. We can watch that new Luca movie."
That got some mixed reactions. Some people groaned not wanting to watch a Disney movie while others were excited. Skip turned it on while a student turned off the lights. Seeing Flash getting up and grabbing his candy, she wasn't paying attention to how Peter was pressing his nails into his palms or how he checked the exits.
"You alright?" Flash whispered once he got back, loud enough for Betty to catch but silent enough to almost have missed. Turning, she sees Peter looking scared and almost on the edge of a panic attack.
"Fine" Peter grits out.
"You know what, I think I might need some air, can you guys come with me?" Betty asks.
"Yeah, Peter let's go" Flash nods.
Thankfully, Peter doesn't protest. They quickly get up from their seats and head towards the door.
"And where are you three going?" Skip questions making Peter flinch that Betty doesn't miss this time.
"I'm not feeling well so they're helping me go to the nurse" Betty lies.
"Oh ok, well I hope you feel better" Skip smiles.
Betty doesn't smile back, instead she walks out of the classroom with Peter and Flash following after. They make it down the hallway and take a turn before Peter lets out a choking gasp.
"You ok man?" Flash asks.
"Fine" Peter claims, trying to calm himself down.
"We can go outside or to the nurses?" Betty suggests.
"No I'm fine, j-just give me a second" Peter waves off as he sits on the floor with his knees up.
Betty and Flash sit down as well but not close enough, giving him space. They sit in silence, not sure how to help. Peter for his part, seems to be breathing normally again and just collecting himself.
"So what was that?" Flash asks after noticing Peter has calmed down. Betty whips her head, giving him an angry look and almost yelling at him but Peter beats her to it.
"Nothing, it's stupid, don't worry about it" Peter brushes off as he runs his hand through his hair.
"Your palm is bloody" Flash notices.
"It'll heal in a second" Peter assures.
"We just want to help. You don't have to talk to us about it but someone...ok?" Betty asks.
"Can we just forget it? Nothing happened, it's just my senses, I'm fine" Peter lies.
"Sorry" Flash apologizes.
Silence consumes them once again. Time passes by until the bell rings, snapping them out of their own thoughts. Some thoughts worse than others.
"We left our bags" Peter reminds them as they get up from the floor. Students start piling out of their classes, the hallway becoming noisy.
"I can just run in and grab all of ours so it doesn't look like we lied about Betty being at the nurses office" Flash suggests.
"Yeah, good plan" Betty agrees.
They made it back to the classroom with Flash going inside.
"There you are" MJs voice cuts in making Betty and Peter jump. MJ smirks.
"Dude, oh my god, you didn't respond to my text! My mom was texting me saying how you can sleepover next week! May just got off the phone with her and turns out she's on the night shift" Ned tells him.
"Oh yeah that sounds fun, thanks" Peter smiles.
"You ok dude?" Ned asks just as Flash comes back with their backpacks.
"You got demoted to backpack boy?" MJ questions.
"We have a sub, Mrs. Cralo got into a car accident" Flash explains.
"Oh who's the sub?" Ned wonders.
"An unprofessional one. Instead of Mr. Westcott he wants us to call him Skip cause it's his nickname but it feels weird" Betty answers.
"Yeah, that totally doesn't raise any flags" MJ sarcastically replies. "I just wouldn't address him at all, avoid the situation."
"Who's hosting this week?" Peter asks, trying to get the conversation away from the man who is burned into his memory.
"I am and next week is Ned's which is perfect so we know you won't be late" MJ smirks.
"I'm never late!" Peter gasps.
"Aren't you making Happy wait?" MJ questions.
"Oh crap! He's going to be so mad at me! Umm I gotta go, bye guys!" Peter panics as he rushes out of the building.
"No one explained the backpacks" MJ raises an eyebrow.
"What about backpacks?" Charles wonders as him, Abe, and Sally walk towards them.
"I don't feel that good so Flash and Peter came to the nurses office with me" Betty lies.
"Good lie" MJ responds with, eyeing her. "Maybe it would've been more believable if Peter didn't look like a mess when we came."
"Look, we don't know, ok? He said it was his senses but wouldn't he still be..." Flash gestures at nothing.
"Yeah, I've seen his sensory overloads. That definitely wasn't it or even an aftermath of one" Ned shakes his head.
"Uhh can someone explain for the late people?" Abe questions.
"His tingle was going off before we even entered the room. He said it stopped but I don't know if it actually did and I don't know why it was going off to begin with unless some crime happened nearby. Then we had to leave the class cause Peter looked like he was...I don't know, panicking? He said it was his senses but MJ and Ned saw him just now and said that it looks nothing like his sensory overloads or even an aftermath of one" Betty retells.
"Where is he now?" Sally wonders.
"Just left because I reminded him he was making Happy wait" MJ answers.
"We can't do much about it, questioning won't get us anywhere. I'm worried too but I also have known Peter the longest, he's not going to tell us willingly and nothing will get him to tell us. We just have to hope it was really just nothing and look out for him" Ned sighs.
"Sooo another investigation?" Betty asks since Ned basically implied it.
"Keep an eye out. Don't act all weird like you all did last time. Like Ned said, don't question him but look for signs. Peter can be easy to read but when he wants something truly hidden to protect someone, or so thinks, it'll be harder to read him. He did manage to keep his big secret from everyone" MJ tells them.
"Looks like I'll be adding you two to the group chat without Peter" Betty settles.
🕷️
"You're late" Happy states as soon as Peter gets into the car.
"I know, I'm sorry. I was talking to my friends and it just slipped. I won't do it again" Peter apologizes.
"You've said that before" Happy reminds him while he drives away from the school.
"But I mean it this time!" Peter claims.
"Said that too" Happy replies, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, I know you're busy" Peter apologizes again.
"Relax, it's alright. Pepper's done with her meetings so it's not like I'm driving her anywhere and Tony made it to zero today" Happy points out.
"What meeting is Pepper going to force him to next?" Peter wonders.
"A four hour one, he'll be bursting with joy" Happy jokes making Peter laugh. "So, how was school?"
The laughter died down from Peter's throat and he feels himself shrinking in. He starts mindlessly fidgeting with his hands while looking anywhere but the front of the car.
"It was ok" Peter responds.
"What happened?" Happy asks, getting straight to the point.
"It's nothing, I don't want to talk about it. It's fine" Peter brushes off, trying to hold everything at bay.
Silence consumes the car until Happy breaks it.
"You know, Tony almost burnt water last night" Happy recalls.
"What? How?" Peter questions.
"I wish I knew but he's as reckless as he can be" Happy shrugs. "He's banned from the kitchen until further notice. There's also a debate going on if the Avengers should have take out or if someone should cook but I think they're leaning towards takeout."
"That's always the safest option but some of them are really good cooks" Peter exclaims.
"Just not Tony" Happy remarks.
"Definitely not" Peter chuckles.
The rest of the car ride is filled with silence. Happy's small talk kept dying quickly with Peter barely saying anything. As Happy parked in the garage, he sent a quick text over to Tony.
"I'll see you soon Happy, unless you're joining us tonight?" Peter wonders.
"Not tonight" Happy shakes his head.
"Ok, well, thank you for the ride!" Peter thanks before leaving the car.
When he makes it inside the elevator, he lets out a breath as his body tries to act normal. The ding from the elevator brings him away and he walks into the lab to see Tony with blueprints out.
"Hey kid! Come check these out" Tony calls over.
"What are they?" Peter wonders as he walks over.
"My own roomba. Any design features I didn't think of to add?" Tony asks, looking for his opinion.
"How about I surprise you? I have a few ideas" Peter thinks.
"Stealing my idea now?" Tony gasps.
"How about a challenge?" Peter smirks.
"Challenge accepted, I like the way you think Mr. Parker" Tony accepts.
"Not for long you won't" Peter claims.
"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Tony questions.
"Whatever you hope it means" Peter shrugs.
"You're a demon child" Tony argues.
"I'm an angel! Spidey literally has merch that has angel wings on him unlike someone" Peter protests.
"That's only because they don't know who's under the mask" Tony rolls his eyes.
"A straight A student who has done no wrong doing" Peter assures.
"More like a menace who terrorizes everyone in his path and causes heart attacks and gray hair" Tony corrects.
"That hair was gray before I met you. The tv screen really showed it off" Peter exaggerates the last part.
"Liar, can't wait for your pants to get caught on fire" Tony wishes.
"Like the water?" Peter asks.
"Happy told you about that?!" Tony practically shouts. Peter flinches away from his desk making Tony's heart skip a beat and sink. "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"No it's ok! You can yell, I-I didn't mean to...do that. I don't even know why I did" Peter claims because it's true, he's never flinched like that because someone yelled at him before. But maybe it's because Skip's back and so are the memories that make his reactions uncontrollable? Involuntary?
"Rough day at school? I don't think you're having a sensory overload...I don't see any signs" Tony points out.
Peter stays silent for a second, plopping onto his chair.
"Yeah, just a rough day but I'm fine" Peter admits.
"What do you say to Shake Shack tonight? We could use some milkshakes and greasy food" Tony suggests.
"Sure" Peter replies.
"And you know what? I've been meaning to work on this car, make it more advanced and all that. You ever repaired a car?" Tony asks.
"No" Peter denies.
"Great, I'll teach you. Come on" Tony gestures as he walks over to the other part of the lab towards a car he had under a tarp. Yanking it off, he reveals an old Audi. "I haven't started yet as you can tell but we'll get her up and running good as new."
"You sure you want my help?" Peter questions.
"Why wouldn't I? You are the intern right? Not some weird alien that replaced mine?" Tony jokes.
"I'll never tell" Peter lightly smiles.
"Great, guess we're adding the tin foil hats to our to do list" Tony decides. "Or should we bump that up to now?"
"Car first and then tin foil hats and then that Aliens movie" Peter plans.
"It's settled then alien" Tony nods.
🕷️
"When we all agreed to change into pjs, I wasn't expected you guys to come out with tin foil as well" Rhodey looks up at Tony and Peter skeptically.
"We're making tin foil hats and watching the Aliens movie. Everyone is getting one or they'll be webbed upside down to the wall for the entire movie" Peter warns while he gives everyone a tin foil piece so they can make their hats.
"You could be more menacing on that threat ребенок-паук (baby spider)" Nat tips.
"Hang them down by the ceiling and make them spin for the entire movie?" Peter tries again.
"Perfect" Nat smirks.
"That's sickening!" Clint gasps.
"Better put one on then" Nat shrugs.
"Aren't tin foil hats used to protect your brain from mind control, government surveillance, and radio waves? That was the belief in the forties" Steve recalls, confused.
"No, now it's to protect your brain from aliens" Sam informs.
"And they're in fact, very real" Tony adds, trying to trick Steve.
"No they aren't...are they?" Steve questions, confused about the tin foil hats.
"Yes, they are. There has been an increase in usage since the 2012 attack" Vision nods.
"You all should've worn these while you were fighting the aliens" Wanda suggests, hiding a laugh.
"Oh my god Steve you should wear one out in public! Everyone would think of you as a cooler hero and not some hero just lecturing kids at school!" Peter suggests.
"That's an amazing idea" Bucky agrees. "I think it would really work boosting your image."
"Again, I thought every hero did those PSA's!" Steve protests.
"Ok but are you going to wear it out in public? You would really get teens to stop being annoyed every time they see your face on the schools TVs" Peter points out.
"If it'll help...I don't see why not" Steve sighs. "But then Bucky should wear one too and Wanda. It'll seem like the public would get off your backs."
"Oh...I don't know about that" Wanda shakes her head.
"I don't think that's very ideal" Bucky denies.
"Steve's got a point" Clint smirks.
"Umm I heard that there's an event going on in Central Park tomorrow, perhaps you guys can show up there wearing the hats?" Bruce suggests.
"I love that idea Brucie Bear!" Tony smiles wide.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll go down there when the event starts and it'll also show our support. What's the event for?" Steve wonders.
"Lemme think...oh I think it's called Community Innovation Fair. It's for people to show off their ideas, inventions, and projects. I actually think the idea is alien themed this year" Bruce recalls.
"That's perfect! The timing couldn't be better. Bruce, Tony and Peter, you guys should come as well since there's going to be inventions" Steve invites.
"I can't be seen in public with the Avengers, people are going to connect the dots!" Peter shuts down.
"You know I don't like crowds" Bruce dismisses.
"Yeah and I'm busy here. Pep is making me attend a meeting tomorrow since I skipped today's. Maybe next time though" Tony lies.
"I'm sure Pepper will be fine if you skip tomorrows to go see the young people's minds. It'll be more of a good PR boost than anything and Pepper will love that" Rhodey smirks.
"Well then my intern has to come along, it's only fitting" Tony relents.
"But my identity!" Peter weakly protests.
"The internship is real, it'll be fine" Tony waves off. "Bruce, you sure? Because we can totally make it work."
"No, I'm sure. It's not a great idea to bring me" Bruce shakes his head.
"What about everyone else? Do any of you want to come? I think it'll be a good idea if we all go" Steve tries.
"It won't be a good idea for the rest of us to go. We don't want to take away too much attention from the people who are trying to share their projects and ideas" Nat immediately replies.
"Good point then, maybe next time" Steve realizes.
"Alright let's put on our tin foil hats and watch the damn movie already" Clint chimes in as he snags a popcorn bucket from the table.
Nobody protests, instead everyone sits down in their designated seats. Friday pulls up the Aliens movie and everyone quiets down, munching on their snacks.