A Family of Flaws

Chapter Seventeen; Training With The Mightiest

*Peter's POV*

Peter pulled the mask over his head with a mix of anxiety and enthusiasm rushing through him. Vibrating with the contrasting emotions, he pushed his window open and crawled out quietly.

He swung to the nearest building and began the small journey that would take him to Avengers Tower. The anxiety was slowly overtaking the enthusiasm as reality set in and he realized exactly what he was doing.

He was going to Avengers Tower where he would be training with Black Widow who was an Avenger.

Slowing down his swinging pace, Peter dropped onto a lower building and halted his progress towards the tall building. His legs felt unsteady now and he forced himself to stay upright. A strong churning in his stomach nearly made him hurl, which made him finally sit down.

There was no way any of this was real. He was going to Avengers Tower? As if. He was going to embarrass himself if he went. Peter had no training. He had his instincts, just like Black Widow said, and that had always saved his life. And he had picked up on certain techniques and fighting stances over the past few months, which had really helped him so far, but that did not make his qualified to train with Black Widow.

She wanted to train him, help him learn actual fighting tactics, techniques, stances, everything. But he was going to be an utter letdown if he went. Was he really going to embarrass himself with the Avengers just for a little training?

A burning crawled through his, making him want to scratch at his skin. Forcing away the urge to rip off his mask, Peter tried to take steadying breathes, but the fire still spread, strong and fast.

The heat spread up to his face and it felt like all the embarrassment and shame was trying to force its way out with blushing. The burn seeped away, but the heat stayed ever-present on his cheeks behind the mask.

His limbs sat at his side, numb and unmoving. Anytime he tried to move them he was met with a tingly sensation running through them and a weak feeling spread through his muscles, working its way to his head, which sent everything shutting down again.

Peter blew out a breathe, stiff. Time to get up. He was going to be late if he continued to sit on some random roof more than twenty minutes from the tower and feeling like he was ready to collapse from his insecurities.

With one final push, Peter moved and sat up a bit, feeling far too accomplished for something that should be so easy. After that, the movements came easier, making standing up much less of a hassle than it might have been earlier.

Standing on two unsteady feet and wobbling a lot worse than before, Peter stared across, seeing the distant outline of the tower. And another wave of nausea swept through him.

He couldn't go. There was no way he could just go. Turning around, Peter nearly started swinging back towards the apartment, when a small voice peeped up at the back of his mind. He still wanted to go. Embarrassment and shame were nothing that he couldn't deal with. Training with Black Widow sounded awesome and it was an honor that she ever offered to train him. Was he really going to repay her by skipping out on the training session because he was embarrassed?

Turning back around, Peter fired off a web and dropped off the building, knowing the web would catch him long before he hit the ground. He was going to train with Black Widow. And he would not freak out on her.

Swinging again, Peter felt himself drifting into a pattern, swing after swing towards the tower. By now it was about a fifteen minute journey that should not have felt like an eternity, but it did. Every swing actually seemed to add a few seconds to the time it was supposed to take to get to the tower, or maybe his thoughts were messing with his time frame.