Chapter Text
Peter is checking outside of his door, about to leave to follow the tracker. He pauses, turning around.
"Ned, the glowy thing, it's evidence. Keep it safe, all right?" He tells Ned, who reaches over and grabs the glowy thing, nodding. "Okay. Okay."
Peter glances down at the hologram of the tracker's location. "They're moving."
"Be careful," Ned warns. Peter nods, but gives no verbal response.
He turns around, shutting the door behind him. He's about to walk away when he spots- Liz?
Liz looks up at Peter, her face lighting up. She's wearing a blue plaid bathing suit, and there's a white towel over her shoulder.
"Hey, Liz," Peter says, his eyes wide. She looks really nice in that bathing suit. He doesn't mean it in a weird way, but she just- Well, she looks good. Most people do, in bathing suits.
"Perfect timing!" Liz whispers to him, smiling. "We're gonna go swimming."
Before Peter even has time to register the "we're," he's turning his head and watching as Liz beckons the rest of their decathlon team over. They speed past the two of them, one by one. Some say hello to him, and others don't.
Flash smacks Peter's ass as he goes, snickering as he runs away. But even in the blur that was a running Flash, Peter could still tell that Flash looked good in his bathing suit. Again, most people do look better than they usually do when they're in a bathing suit, but- Peter can't help the blush on his face. Partially from Liz, partially from Flash.
He pretends not to know that his face is flushed pink as he turns back to Liz, stammering, "I was, uh- I was gonna go study, um- in the... Business center."
"Peter, you don't need to study, you're, like- The smartest guy I've ever met."
And if the bathing suits didn't have Peter blushing enough, the compliment definitely does. But Liz continues, "And, besides... uh, a rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale."
Peter raises an eyebrow at her, giving an inquisitive hum. She smiles, "Um, well, I read that in a TED Talk, so- I- I heard it in a TED Talk." Liz giggles. Then, quickly, she adds, "And I read a coaching book."
It's then, listening to Liz talk about her efforts to successfully coach their team, that Peter realizes just how much this means to her. The decathlon, being their team captain, she takes it all very seriously.
"Wow, you really- This is really important to you," He points out, an almost impressed look on his face.
"Yeah. It's our future," Liz smiles at him again. Peter has to force himself not to memorize it. "I'm not gonna screw it up."
Not gonna screw it up. Unfortunately for Peter, the words make him realize that he still has work to do. He still has to track down those guys and find their base, stop them from selling the illegal weapons, stop them from hurting people. So he just nods; It's all he can do, and then Liz is speaking again.
"Besides, we raided the minibar and these candy bars were, like, eleven dollars. So get your trunks on and come on!" She tosses him a 100 Grand bar. Their team calls her over, and she walks towards them, leaving Peter to stand there all alone.
Peter follows them in secret, watching them through the roof of the pool room. On his way, he'd shed his hoodie, sweatpants, and shoes, leaving him in only his Spider-Man suit. He watches as Flash splashes around in the pool, hitting Cindy and Liz. He watches Liz, who sits on the tiles separating the hot tub from the rest of the pool, her feet and calves in the hot tub.
Even if he wasn't here to track down the weapons dealers, he wouldn't be able to swim with them. His scars, the fresher cuts, they'd be visible. He didn't bring a swim shirt, and all of his other clothes would turn see through in water, so he can't use them.
He almost wishes he could join. Bring Ned along, mess around in the pool, actually participate in the trip instead of using it as an excuse to leave New York and track down men selling illegal weapons made out of hybrid human and alien tech. Wishes he could be free of the marks on his arms, on his thighs, on his stomach and his hips and his ankles. Wishes he could be a normal teenager.
But he can't, so instead, he listens to the new voice in his suit (it hadn't spooked him, shut up) and allows it to guide him, following the course she sets for him.
As long as he makes it back in time for decathlon, it's fine, he thinks to himself. Says it out loud, just to really stick the idea.
He has a mission to complete.