Only for you, darlin'

Chapter 9

Okay, so I may have taken a very long break from this fic. Oops. Sorry about that hehe. I am back now, having re-read it and fallen in love with it again. Hopefully I should be updating regularly, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, on with the story....

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Peter woke up feeling significantly better than before. His head felt kind of fuzzy, but it was a usual side effect of taking such strong pain medication, so he paid it no mind. He stretched his arms above his head and noticed he was alone. He couldn't help the small spike of anxiety shooting through his gut at the thought of Harley slipping away when he was asleep. Maybe he had done something to make him want to leave?

He sighed and pushed himself up from the bed. To his left, he noticed a glass of water and a muffin, accompanied by a note. It read, 'I thought this might make you feel a little better when you wake up. There's a video of you getting whacked by Captain America circulating the news, so I'll probably be attempting to contain Tony's rage by the time you read this'.

Peter immediately blanched at the thought. Tension was already high between the rogues and Mr Stark, and the last thing Peter wanted to do was make things worse for everyone involved. Even if Captain America was turning out to be a huge asshole.

He quickly scrambled into his bathroom after having inhaled the muffin to make sure the bruise on his jaw had healed before he left his room. It would look too suspicious if an Avenger had punched Spider-Man and Peter magically appeared with a bruise in the exact same place. Thankfully, his healing factor had cleared it up pretty quickly and there was no noticeable mark on his face.

Peter anxiously walked through the hallways towards the elevator, where he politely asked FRIDAY to take him to the lab. Tony was sure to be there, hopefully not tearing apart America's sweetheart for hurting Spider-Man. But of course, things never went how Peter wanted them to.  He quickly stepped out of the lift into the lab and was greeted with some very angry faces.

The first thing he registered was that the number of Avengers in the room was unnaturally high. The Black Widow was leaning against one of the workbenches towards the edge of the room, looking scarily calm. Her eyes had immediately flicked to Peter when he entered the room but she remained impassive. For some reason, he would have preferred a reaction from her because the eerie neutrality she seemed to have adapted made her extremely difficult to read.

The Falcon was stood besides Hawkeye near the center of the lab. They were stood with their arms crossed, making them seem quite large and menacing. Peter didn't know if it was intended as an intimidation tack-tick, but it was definitely working if it was. They had stern looks adorning their faces and Peter definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of their stares. They were lingering behind Captain America, who was stood face to face with Mr Stark. Harley was stood to the side, scowling and watching the scene unfold. He seemed ready to intervene and for a moment Peter's heart warmed at the thought of Harley being protective over Mr Stark.

Once his brain had caught up to what he was seeing, his stomach began tying itself in knots. Many of the eyes in the room had turned to him and he tried his best not to curl in on himself. For a moment, no one moved, and Peter thought dreadfully that the awful silence would last forever. Then, Mr Stark seemed to snap out of his daze and he rushed over to Peter.

Before he knew what was happening, Mr Stark had dragged both Harley and Peter into the elevator and was stepping into it himself.

Captain America looked even more angry and began thundering towards them.

"Where do you think you're going, Stark? We aren't finished here." He said in a cold tone. Mr Stark didn't appear to be listening and quietly asked FRIDAY to close the doors of the elevator. Once they had closed and the lift began to move, Peter heard him let out a frustrated sigh. Mr Stark turned to him then and tilted his chin with his hand. The contact made Peter jump a little, but no one took any mind. Once he seemed satisfied that Peter was unharmed, he dropped his chin and span around.