Scarlet Spider

CH 6

'Aunt Agnes, who's that?' Peter wondered to himself, so far he had only seen Wanda and her family. Could this be another Westview citizen trapped in her forced sitcom reality? He decided it was worth the risk to know as the infantile dressed teen curiously peaked just above the couch just enough to see who the young twin boys were talking to.

At the door was a slim figured woman who looked to be around middle-aged. She had long black curly hair, her eyes were a bright blue color, and had on big hoop silver earrings. The outfit she had on consisted of a black rainbow striped dress and a light blue shirt that was tied in a knot, light purple yoga pants, and dark purple leg warmers. The clothes were clearly supposed to match the 1980's look of this reality.

Peter wondered just what was the woman doing here? And who exactly was she? As far as he knew, Ms. Lewis and the FBI agent hadn't mentioned this woman at all in his briefing then again, it had been a fairly short one before the boy ended up being kidnapped. Was this someone he was supposed to save? Or should he escape first and worry about coming back once he had a plan first?

Whatever the case was, it didn't matter since the three were happily chatting at the door! He would need them to move away if he wanted to escape this suburban prison. Peter looked around him, wondering how he was going to get out of this mess, before a lightbulb turned on in his head once he saw a nearby baby block that was sitting innocently next to him. Who knows why it was behind the sofa, all that mattered was that it was and he could use it to escape.

If he could throw it far enough then maybe, just maybe, it would distract the woman and the two boys who would, hopefully, go to see the loud noise and move away from the door. Then, Peter could roll out from behind the sofa and run out the front door and escape, Scott free.

He gingerly picked the toy block up, feeling that it wasn't all that heavy but just enough where it could help him and be loud. Deciding that it would be better not to waste time, Peter peaked above the couch once more, his right arm raised and ready to throw the toy, only to widen his eyes in shock when he came face-to-face with the trio instead.

"And who is this little munchkin?" The Agnes woman questioned as she quickly picked the struggling boy up, placing him on her hip, as she lightly tickled his stomach making him giggle and drop the toy block, "He certainly is a cutie."

"You found Peter!" Billy exclaimed, looking incredibly happy and relieved, "Thank God, Mom would've killed us for sure if we lost him."

"Oh, are you two babysitting him or something?" Agnes asked, occasionally rocking the boy on her hip who blushed when he heard the diaper underneath his clothes loudly crinkle.

"No, Aunt Agnes." Tommy quickly shook his head, making his hair billow softly in the wind, "Mom and Dad adopted him and they just brought him home last night."

"Really? Is that so?" The curly-haired woman raised her eyebrow, seeming to scrutinize the teen baby she held, "Doesn't he seem a little.... old to you?"

Peter held his breath as his heart seemed to pick up speed a tad. Could this innocent civilian see the real him? He just naturally assumed that everyone was under the false impression that he was a baby because of magic. But he had only met Wanda and her family though so far. Maybe, the Maximoffs were only treating him like this because the matriarch asked them too and everyone else was going to see him as the teenage boy he was. If he didn't escape soon, would everyone see him like this if he ever went outside? His mind pictured going on 'family' outings, sitting in an oversized stroller as people pointed and whispered at him.

"What a freak?"

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

"Hey, isn't that Peter Parker, the kid who's Spiderman?"

"Spiderman, more like Spider-baby."

'What do you mean, Aunt Agnes?" Billy asked, his head tilted to the side in a questioning manner, "He's just a baby, how can he look too old."

A dark suspicious look seemed to linger in the older woman's eyes that made Peter squirm inside. He had been Spiderman long enough to be able to read people even without his spider tingle and something felt incredibly... off about this woman. Almost like there was something sinister at play here, more than just Wanda. Like everyone was still missing something, the big picture of what was going on here.

He just didn't understand. Why did Wanda kidnap an entire town? Why was she holding him hostage as some sort of overgrown baby? How was Vision alive? How were their shared kids pre-teens already? Just who exactly was this woman named Agnes? And why was there something about her that Peter didn't trust?

And why was everything hurting?!

All of a sudden, Peter was suddenly overcome with mixed emotions and an almost splitting headache. It was like everything was wrong and hurt at the same time, almost like every bad feeling that happened to him throughout his life was suddenly coming back at once. It was an indescribable sadness and mental pain that the brown-haired teen-infant was unable to explain. He wanted out of this woman's arms... right now.

Tears were quickly building up in his eyes, it was strange he didn't typically cry and tried to hold it in whenever he felt like it but now? Now, it felt like a dam was about to burst from his eyes and here came the floodgates. A loud whine was also building up in the back of his throat and about to emit in a very loud fashion. His face was also turning a reddish pink color.

The trio around him looked panicked and confused as Agnes tried gently rocking him, hoping it was ineffective it seemed. Billy tried shushing him as Tommy was loudly shouting for someone but Peter was too upset to care.

He didn't want Tommy,

He didn't want Billy,

And he certainly didn't want Agnes.

No, he wanted... he wanted... he wanted Wanda and Vision and he had no idea why.

But neither of them were there at the moment and it was, for some inexplicable reason, making the arachnid hero very upset.

It was only a few seconds later when he felt himself shift and move as someone else took him from the black-haired lady's arms before a light humming sound was heard as Peter felt his back be rubbed in small soft circles that began to calm him down somewhat. A teary-eyed Peter looked up to see just who it was.

"There's our baby boy." Wanda cooed to the young teen in her arms as Vision stood nearby them, gently petting his crying son's back. The two parents had quickly sprung into action when they heard their older son yell for them, telling the two that Peter was in some kind of trouble.

The two quickly sprung into action as they raced to the living room. Only to be momentarily surprised to instead of a dangerous threat, it was only their neighbor and close friend who was holding their newest baby who was in the middle of a temper tantrum as their oldest sons both looked unsure of what to do. The couple didn't think about it too much though as Wanda immediately took Peter from Agnes before beginning to gently sway him in her arms, humming the Sokovisan lullaby that she used to sing to the twin boys when they were younger, and Vision tried rubbing his son's back, hoping that the physical touch would calm his son down more.

"Are you feeling better now, champ?" The android asked his youngest child who finally began to calm down enough to look at them, gingerly-nodding as his auburn-haired mother wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.

"Wow, that was quite a scare you gave us, especially your Daddy." Wanda had laughed, though her eyes glowed a vibrant powerful red in the light of the living room, "I guess you just needed Mommy and Daddy, huh?"

As much as Peter wanted to scream and deny it till his lungs rang out, it did feel nice and comforting to lay in the Sokovian woman's arms and feel the warmth of the red synthetic android man. It was also nice to see the two Maximoff twin boys through his teary eyes. Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to stay there, content, for a few more minutes.

He could always try escaping again, another time.