One Month

Chapter Seven

Dawn came before Peter even realized. He was sat in front of May's tombstone, Ben's right beside it, but his attention was on his aunt's grave.

"I'm sure she was a lovely woman," Peter jumped slightly since the unexpected voice was close. He cursed his crippled spider senses and hoped -- once again -- that they would return to normal before any mission. "Woah, I didn't mean to scare you."

"She was," Peter told Natasha, ignoring the latter statement. Peter smiled slightly as he continued, "She had to deal with me." Natasha smiled as she crouched beside Peter. "Why are you here?"

"Tony's upset," Natasha informed him. "I told him that I would find you." Peter glanced at her, then he glanced back at his aunt and uncle's tombstones once more. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Peter said, but he wasn't. In all honesty, he didn't want to leave them again. Aunt May had told him a million times that Uncle Ben's death was not his fault -- but her death -- he should have seen the signs. Peter should have begged her to get tested when she got sicker and sicker. He lied, "I'm ready to go."

Natasha stood straight up and Peter followed after another minute. Peter remained silent until they got in the car and left the cemetery.

"How mad is he?" Peter asked. His eyes were trained on the passing scenery. He could feel Natasha look at him before she looked away.

"He's not mad," Natasha told him, "just really upset. Tony thinks that you don't trust him." Peter bit his lip knowing that Tony Stark was the only one that knew the majority of his secrets. "Why'd you escape to Queens anyway? You were not at that cemetery all night, Tony tracked your location before you turned your cellphone off."

Peter's stomach twisted. His memory of the night before replayed in his mind. He loved dancing, he always had, but he did not want anybody to look at him differently. After a moment long of mental debate, "Dancing." His voice was muffled.

"What?" Natasha asked after a moment. Peter fidgeted with his fingers. She laughed and Peter shrunk into his seat. "Peter, did you just say that you were dancing?"

Peter mumbled out, "yes" as he nodded his head. Natasha shook her head at him. "You are aware that we have a dance studio at the compound, right?" His face turned red as he bounced his leg.

"Yeah," he answered. "I just didn't want anybody to see me." Natasha glanced at him. Peter tried to hide himself more, wishing that he hadn't said anything to begin with. He could have lied and escaped at night to dance if he truly wanted to, but he was too far now.

"Why not?" Natasha asked as they came to a red light. She debated on running it. "I'm sure you're a lovely dancer, Peter." The light turned green and she floored it, making Peter yelp before he forced out a nervous laugh.

"Lovely or not, it's not boyish," Peter reasoned with Natasha. He had studied the other boys in his classes since he was a child. Where they enjoyed sports and being "macho," he enjoyed dancing and science competitions and Legos and chess matches. He was the absolute opposite of everything he ever wanted to be.

"Peter, you do know that there is no real definition of boyish, right?" Natasha asked, and Peter glanced at her for only a moment. "Besides, no woman or man want a boy, they'd all prefer a man that has a sensitive side." Peter's face was red again, and he pushed his hands over his face. "What do you dance?"

"What do I dance?" Peter repeated, and Natasha nodded. He bit his tongue. He thought about his answer. He removed his hands and he looked at Natasha. It took him a moment, a long moment before he pushed it out in a sound that barely sounded like a voice, "Ballet."

Natasha stalled at the next red light. She glanced between Peter and the road for a long while until cars blew their horns behind her. She pressed the gas to the appropriate speed limit this time. Peter realized that she was giving them and this talk more time.

"Does that explain why you're so agile?" Natasha joked, and Peter looked up at her. "I can see it now that you've mentioned it. I restate my comment, I'm sure you are a lovely dancer."

Peter stared at her a little too long, and after a moment, she waved her hand in his face.

"Peter, do you really think everyone would be mad because you dance ballet?" Natasha asked, and Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, little spider, do you know that Bruce sometimes dances?"

"No, he doesn't," Peter was quick with his response; he could never see Bruce Banner -- or Hulk for that matter -- dancing around in tights to classical music. Natasha smiled.

"Yeah, he does," she told him. "He owed me a favor after our first mission in New York, so I taught him some simple choreography. We performed in front of the whole team and everyone loved it. He still sometimes uses the method to calm down when he has nothing else."

Peter couldn't help but laugh at the idea, and Natasha grinned wide.

"How come I haven't heard of this?" Peter asked as Natasha pulled into the road that led to the compound. She smiled.

"You've only been here two whole days," she reminded him, "there's a lot you haven't learned about us." She parked and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Next time you want to dance without anybody seeing, I'm in the studio early in the morning and late at night."

Peter nodded his head, "Okay. I'll try." Natasha got out of thr car and Peter followed her once again. He kept his head down as they passed Steve, Sam, and Wanda on the steps of the building.