Tony and his Kids

Words Shouldn't Hurt

This book ain't dead.

For whumptober day 3, I did the prompting 'taunting' and "Who did this to you?" I apologize for any typos.

"Oh look, it's the phony Stark Industries intern, Peter Parker. Still getting Mr. Stark his imaginary coffee? Or have you moved up to waxing his shoes?"

Peter sighed, staring resolutely down at his math homework as he tried to ignore the words of Flash Thompson. Happy was running late on picking him up from school, so the teen had sat down on the front steps of the building to start on his calculus worksheet. Well, 'start' wasn't quite the right word. It was more like staring at it for a full five minutes, waiting for the numbers, letters, and symbols to make sense. Usually, he only had to half pay attention to his teacher, Mrs. Brown, and would still understand the principles and process it took to find the answer, but this had stumped him. He had copied down every note, every word she said, and every example, but by the time she was handing out homework, he still had no clue how to do it and found himself too ashamed and afraid to ask any questions in case he was laughed at. Mrs. Brown was sweet, but he usually understood anything she gave him. Maybe it had something to do with the extra amount of criminals coming out of the woodwork in the last week, forcing him to stay out later and later to deal with them.

Now, he was glad he hadn't asked questions. It may have costed him his understanding of the lesson, but at least it gave Flash less fuel for his taunts. Even if the bully didn't understand it himself, Peter doubted he would miss the chance to rub in his face that he didn't comprehend something. But that didn't mean he didn't have any amo - the Stark Internship taunts never got old to him, no matter how many times he recycled them. Peter could usually ignore him and walk away, but the school doors were locked, Happy was still minutes away, and Flash was standing right beside him on the step with the stairail on his other side. Everyone had left, including most the teachers, and no one would see this going down. Even if they did, who would care? No student wanted to get on Flash's bad side. Peter was, in simple terms, cornered.

A shadow blocked out the sunlight, dimming his sad, blank sheet of paper and textbook. Withholding another sigh, he resolutely kept his head down, biting down on his lip. A part of him wished Ned were here, but his best friend was home sick with the flu and he didn't want him around Flash anyway if it meant he would be taunted, too. He would rather take it for him.

"Parker, I'm talking to you," the shadow moved, hands landing on his hips. "What, are you suddenly deaf or something? Did your ears get tired of hearing your own lies?"

He bit down harder on his lip, almost drawing blood. Usually, it was easy to ignore Flash and let him tire himself out, but the frustration of not being able to do his work and his lack of sleep in the last week was getting to him. His hands tightened around his textbook and he had to remind himself of his own super strength - he didn't want an expensive textbook bill on top of this bad day.

𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒...

"You know," Flash said, sounding almost thoughtful. His shadow moved again and Peter guessed he was touching his chin. "Even if you were his intern, it probably wouldn't be a good job. I heard that he doesn't even care about his employees, only that they get their work done. He might be Ironman, but it's different for the people he works with. He's just like every other billionaire in the world when it comes to business: self-centered, greedy, narcissistic, condescend-"

"Shut up!"

Peter couldn't remember when he did, but he had shot to his feet. The textbook fell onto the stairway, closed and undamaged, but he could care less even if it was torn to shreds. Flash couldn't say that. He could say anything he wanted about him, but his friends? His family? His mentor? (His father?) - Peter would not let that go. Ever. Anger filled his body from head to toe and his fists curled at his side. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up in warning despite there being no significant danger around him - then he realized that ℎ𝑒 was the danger. Flash might not know it due to how much he pushed Peter around with the lanky teen doing nothing, but his spider strength rivaled Captain America's, according to the tests Mr. Stark did months ago. He could easily crush the taller boy like a twig if he wanted, but he wouldn't. Mr. Stark taught him that violence would lead to bad consequences, but Peter still had to say something.