Chapter Text
It was a Friday. Peter stared at the clock, watching as the hands moved in lazy circles. With a sigh, his head fell forwards onto the table with a muffled thump. The day had been stretching on for eternity. His eagerness to begin patrol was overwhelming, and only served to lengthen the mundane hours spent in class. Not only that, but it was nearly the weekend. Weekends meant time spent upstate at the Compound with Mr. Stark, and time spent working on his suit. At this rate, however, he was going to die of boredom in Physics class before he even had the chance to think about working with the new web shooter design Mr. Stark had come up with.
Peter turned his head to the side, and glanced at the clock again. Still 20 minutes left. He held back a groan, and began to roll his pencil on the desk. Ned shifted next to him, attention momentarily caught by the clicking noise that accompanied Peter’s fidgeting. Ned was looking only slightly more engaged than himself, but he was still managing to focus onto the words coming from the front of the room. The teacher had been rambling for a while, but Peter had stopped paying attention long ago. His mind drifted between patrol, the workshop, and his suit. It was only when a sheet of paper landed in front of him that he finally perked up.
Peter glanced down at the paper, taking a couple seconds to focus on the words in front of him. It was a permission slip, and one that Peter wasn’t particularly interested in comprehending at the moment. Ignoring the excited murmurs floating about the room, his mind drifted back to patrol. Because it was a Friday, he would have to make his rounds quick. Friday was when he hung out with MJ and Ned. He had ditched last week to stop a robbery, and MJ would murder him out if he skipped again. He was so focused on plotting his path for patrol that he didn’t notice everyone packing up until Ned nudged him.
“You ok, Peter?” Ned asked, looking a bit concerned. Peter’s head whipped up to face him.
“Huh?” He mumbled, trying to organize his drifting thoughts. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine dude. Just zoned out for a minute. Sorry.” Ned stood by his desk, waiting. Everyone else had already left. Peter scrambled to his feet and rapidly gathered his books, paying no attention to the permission slip now crammed into the bottom of his backpack. He pulled his bag onto his shoulder, and they left the classroom together.
Ned instantly began to blabber. “Are you excited for the field trip? I can’t wait, it’s gonna be so cool! Too bad we have to wait till next week though. Maybe not, because then you get to savor it more, you know? I wonder if MJ’s class is going too. I hope so. But that would mean more of Flash’s annoying friends would be there, which sucks. Hey, you’re coming over to my house tonight, right?”
Peter hadn’t really been paying attention, and didn’t notice that Ned had asked him a question until he looked over at his friend, who was staring at him expectantly.
“What?” said Peter. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention again. Must be tired I guess.” He shrugged, and as if to prove his his point, released a massive yawn.
Ned just shook his head, laughing. “I asked if you were coming over tonight. Although, you should probably take a nap first. MJ will kill you if you fall asleep during movie night again.” Peter simply nodded in response. “She said she’s bring caramel popcorn this time, and my mom said we could order an Everything pizza again.”
“As long as there’s no pineapple this time.” Peter gave an exaggerated shiver of disgust. “Pineapple on pizza is a sin.”
Ned pointed an accusatory finger at him. “It’s just fruit. If anything, ketchup is a million times worse. I don’t complain about you.”
Peter pushed the finger out of his face, laughing. “Come on man! It was one time! That doesn’t count.” He grinned wider. “Besides, a tomato is a fruit, so technically...”
Ned scoffed. “Peter, that is not even close to the same thing and you know it.” Peter chuckled. They had reached the front door of the school, and together they walked out into the sunshine. It was a mild day, and the perfect weather for patrolling the city. Peter glanced at his watch, and the urgency to get to his superhero duties swept over him again.
“Hey, Ned, I gotta go man. I promise I’ll make to movie night though.” He tugged on his backpack strap impatiently, and spun on his heels to march in the direction of the nearest hiding spot. He was itching to put on his suit.
Ned just shrugged. “Ok Peter, whatever. Just show up ok? It’s boring without you.” He leaned in close before Peter could get too far away. “Be careful, Spider-Man.” He whispered.
Peter grinned at him. “When am I not?”
———————
Peter rolled onto his back, groaning. His ribs ached, and he knew he was going to have a couple new bruises. He had tried to interfere with a mugging, and it hadn’t gone over well. Apparently angry criminals only become angrier when you start throwing puns at them. Peter mentally noted to work on keeping his mouth shut in the future. He struggled to sit up, and braced himself against the edge rooftop he had retreated to. Everything hurt. Gingerly, he brought a hand up to his face and peeled back his mask to assess the damage. The skin around his eye was already swollen, and he hissed a little as his fingers caught in a cut on his cheek. Peter slumped, allowing the cool concrete to soothe some of the ache in his back.
“Hey Karen?”
Yes Peter?
“What time is it?” He massaged the side of his head, attempting to dull the pressure building at his temples. It didn’t do much.
It is currently 6:43 pm.
“Shit.” Peter let his head fall back against the low wall with a soft thump. He had to be at Ned’s house in 47 minutes. Even with his super metabolism, there’s no way his soon-to-be-black-eye would heal in time. Ned was unobservant enough that Peter would be able to avoid any questions from him, but there was no possible was MJ wouldn’t pry. He would have to steal May’s concealer again. Maybe if this superhero thing doesn’t work out, I can be a beauty guru on YouTube. I’ve spent enough time with makeup now as it is. Might as well get payed for it. He laughed quietly to himself at the thought.
What’s so funny Peter?
Peter startled, having nearly forgotten about his AI. He waved a hand dismissively.
“Oh, nothing.” He paused, thinking. “Hey, can you plan me the fastest route home? I need to get back there so I have time to get ready to go to Ned’s.”
Sure thing, Peter.
“Thanks Karen.” With a quiet groan, Peter dragged himself to his feet. He tugged his mask back over his face and stepped to the edge of the roof.
Route complete.
Peter swung off the edge of the building.
————————
Peter knocked on Ned’s door, and swiped the still damp curls out of his forehead. The door opened, and he was greeted by a scowling Michelle.
“You’re late.”
He held up his hands in a gesture of defense. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. But hey, I’m here, right?” MJ just looked at him, as if deciding whether or not to actually let him in. She stepped aside. Peter set down his backpack, and quickly slipped off his grubby Nike’s. “Where’s Ned?”
“He’s in the living room taking forever to pick out a damn movie.” MJ looked closer at him. “Hey, what’s up with your eye?”
Peter sighed. The bruising must be more obvious than he thought, despite his efforts to cover it up. “Nothing, I just tripped on the stairs and hit my head on the railing.” Yeah right Parker, that’s really believable. He nearly winced at how pathetic the excuse sounded. MJ raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She turned and marched toward the living room. Peter followed close behind. When they entered the room, Ned looked up from the pile of movies he was sitting in.
“Hey, you’re here!” He struggled to stand without smashing any of the plastic cases littering the floor, but then decided against it. Ned held up two cases. “Peter, you decide, because MJ isn’t any help. Jaws or Aliens?”
Peter sunk into the couch with a groan. “Umm, I think Aliens. We haven’t watched that one in a while.” Ned nodded, and tossed the Jaws disc into the mess on the floor.
MJ collapsed onto the couch next to Peter, holding a massive tub of caramel popcorn. His stomach rumbled, and reached out a hand to grab some. MJ leaned out of his reach.
“Hey!” Peter protested.
MJ popped a sticky handful into her mouth. “Late people don’t get any,” she garbled through the mouthful. Peter slumped back into the couch, dejected. She rolled her eyes. “I’m just kidding. No need to be a baby about it.” She picked up the tub and placed it on the couch between them. Ned stood up from putting the disc in the DVD player.
“My mom just ordered the pizza, so it should be here soon.”
“Cool,” Peter said, excited by the idea of pizza. He was always starving by the end of patrol, and he hadn’t eaten anything in his rush to get to Ned’s.
The movie began to play, and Ned settled in on the couch next to Peter. There was a comfortable silence between the three of them, only broken by the sounds of the movie and a few bits of whispered conversation. They only paused the movie when the pizza came, and decided to finish eating it before resuming the film.
“I wouldn’t be able to hear over the sound of Ned’s chewing anyway.” remarked MJ. Peter glanced over at Ned, who was completely captivated by the slice in his hands. He let out a low chuckle.
“Hey MJ,” Ned spoke up, oblivious to their teasing. “Is your class going on the field trip too?”
Peter looked up from his plate. “What field trip?”
Ned looked over at him, confused. “The one Mr. Harrington told us about in class today, remember?” It took a moment for Peter to recall any of class that afternoon, but finally remembered something about a permission slip.
“Oh yeah, that thing. I think I have the permission slip in my back, I’ll go get it.” He stood up from the couch and made his way to the front door. He could still hear most of the conversation as he rifled through the books, looking for the discarded piece of paper.
“Yeah, Ms. Warren is taking us too,” MJ drawled. “That means I have to spend a whole day with you losers. Lucky me.”
Peter finally found the permission slip at the bottom of his bag, looking a little crumpled, but otherwise fine. “Found it!” He called, making his way back over to the living room. Sitting back down on the couch, he attempted to smooth the paper until it was legible again. Peter skimmed the first few lines, looking for any actual information about the trip. He got about halfway down the page and froze, his attention caught on a familiar logo on the bottom of the page. Is that?... He barely noticed the conversation, focus solely on the page in front of him.
“...it’s not like Peter would be super interested about it Ned, he’s already been there a hundred times.”
“Yeah, but it’s the Avenger’s Compound! And Tony Stark! Who wouldn’t be excited?”
“Maybe someone who’s already met the man? Honestly Ned, that pizza has completely blocked anything remotely logical from coming out of your mouth.”
Peter ignored them, a million different thoughts rushing through his head as he stared at the Stark Industries logo on the permission slip in front of him. There’s no way... His hand fumbled for his phone, quickly clicking on the contact at the top of the list.
Peter Parker: Sent at 8:16 PM
Uh, Mr. Stark?