Lost Boy

Pep Talk [32]

Peter's POV:

I looked around at everyone sitting in front of me. Mr Stark, Steve, Bruce, Natasha and Thor. I took a deep breath. Today is the day.

"Hey guys, I just have an announcement that I've been nervous about. Since you all are basically my only family I've decided to tell you first," I informed everyone.

I took another deep breath. "It's okay Peter you're doing great!" Steve called out for encouragement.

I smiled. "Okay, well... I just wanted to tell you all that I am bisexual," I announced, rubbing my chest.

The room was silent for a moment. It was terrifying. For a second I expected them to start shunning me or tell me to get out. Instead, something strange happened.

"Ey, same here kid," Tony told me, patting my shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I asked him, confused as to why he was so chill about it.

"Yep. Most of us are queer," Mr Stark replied.

"I'm pan," Steve added.

"I'm a demisexual," Natasha said with boredom.

"I'm just straight up gay," Banner informed me.

"I don't know what I am but I'm down for everyone," Thor announced, standing up. "Why do you mortals have to have labels for everything? So puny. I'm going to get another beer." He left the room.

"So that was your secret?" Tony asked me.

I nodded.

"Well then, welcome to the club. If you want rainbow cookies just ask Cap, he's hella stoked for this gay shit. Me? Well, I don't really give a fuck about who you're dating, as long as they treat you right. Want to go work on some new suits I'm designing?" Tony offered. "I'm thinking about making you a new spider suit. Your current one smells terrible. Do you ever take a shower?"

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<Time Skip>

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Tony's POV:

"Holy shit, that's so cool," Peter commented, staring at the new suit I was designing. I smiled, watching him observe the machine.

"Hey kid, what's wrong?" I suddenly asked. I had been noticing the changes in Peter's behavior recently, I just wanted to check up on him. He seemed more sad and distant and I didn't want him to fall into the pit of misery.

"Nothing," He replied almost immediately. "I found some things that could be an issue with the thing, do you want to work on those?" Peter changed the topic, but I didn't mind. If he didn't want to talk about it then it obviously wasn't the right time to bring it up.

"Yeah, sure. Let's do it."

We worked for about an hour in silence, occasionally exchanging tools and maybe saying a few words here and there, but overall nobody really spoke. To my surprise, Peter ended up being the one to speak up first.

"I killed a man." That was all he said.

I looked up at the kid, realizing he had stopped working and he was leaning on the table. He stared down at the tools, not daring to bring his eyes up to meet mine. Peter looked very upset, not with sadness but with shame and guilt.

"What?" I asked, wondering if I heard him correctly.

His head popped up, his gaze connecting with mine. "I said I killed a man." Peter's voice was a lot more shaky, almost like he was scared. I noticed that his hands were also trembling, that's when I realized that this was serious.

"Peter, talk to me," I ordered with a serious tone. I looked at him straight in the eyes, trying to force words out of his mouth.

He opened his mouth, lips quivering. "I-I didn't mean to, they were yelling at me to let go and I didn't want to but they kept shouting and eventually I just... I just did..." His voice was cracking, I noticed his breathing pattern shift when he took a step back from the table. Peter places his hands on the back of his head and started to walk around the room. "I took his life away from him!" He exclaimed.

I assumed that he was talking about the people he told me about last night. Before I grounded him he had explained everything to me. "Hey, no no no Peter, listen to me," I stood up, walking over to his side of the table.

"Kid, listen to me," I said to him, making my tone a little softer. "Hey, shhh.." Peter looked up a me, obviously in the middle of a panic. "I've been in your shoes," I told him. "A few years ago there was an attack on New York. Aliens from above. That wouldn't have happened if we stopped Loki before he got to his scepter. But guess what, it did happen. Many died."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed. "I couldn't sleep for weeks. Doctor diagnosed me with anxiety afterwards, I had multiple panic attacks. Soon I realized that I couldn't change what I had done. Yes, I made mistakes, but that's behind me. I knew I had to make up for it. So, I sucked it up, and I continued to save lives. My Ironman suit lets me sleep. I've hurt people, but I've helped a lot more. I know you have too." I tilted my head, studying Peter's reaction.

The boy looked at his feet thoughtfully, then looked back up at me with more confidence. "You can't change what you've done, kid. But you can change what you will do. Come on, let's go see if Steve will make those rainbow cookies we talked about earlier." 

I patted his shoulder then ruffled his hair. I saw the corner of Peter's lip curl up a little, and that was a victory in my book. "Thanks Mr Stark," He told me. "You'd make a great dad, you know that?"

My heart soared.