Taking Hits | P. Parker

| 023 - White |

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I could be brown, I could be blue,
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I must have passed out at some time yet at the same time I felt tired like I hadn't slept in weeks and the bright white of the walls and stench of lemon burned my nose. There were a handful of machines hooked up to me as I sat up in the bed I was laying in but a wave of dizziness quickly washes over me. As I continue to look around my surroundings are blindingly bright and there is a pain which echos around in my chest. It hurt but it wasn't too the point where it felt to the point where it had when I had first been hurt.

Then my mind raced back to what had happened before I had passed out and where I was. Millions of questions ran through my mind and I froze in the bed when I heard the door crack open which allows me to see someone walking in. I shuffle backwards and it takes me a minute to recognize who is looking back at me with a small tilt of his head.

"Hey Peter," I hear Bruce say with a small smile across his face and I look down at the ground, not wanting to meet his eyes as my face turned pink. He gives me a minute and there is silence between the two of us but I refuse to look up, rather moving my hand to touch my chest carefully. "Yeah, I wouldn't do that." Uncle Bruce says and I can feel his hand touch the top of mine, moving it away from where it was sitting and I give him a small nod before finally meeting his eyes again. "You're not in trouble," Bruce quickly says when he sees that I was looking at him and there is another minute of silence that settles between the two. "You were bleeding out and Tony brought you back here, you were in a real bad shape." Bruce explains and I nod once as I look around the room again.

From where I am sitting on the bed, I can see that my suit is sitting in the sink. Without having to get any closer I can tell that my suit is absolutely ruined and that I'm going to need a new one. I frown a little and figure that I could try to make a new one but that might take a while.

"Pepper has been worried about you," I hear Bruce says and I look back over at him, giving him a small confused look unsure why she would care that much. She has been kind since we met and she even adopted me but I figured that after they found out who I was they weren't going to be that happy nor worried about how I was. I also silently notice that Bruce didn't say anything about Mr Stark but I go back to looking intensely at the floor.

We sit in silence after that and he eventually had Friday do a full body scan which he partly explains to me. I am fairly interested as I learn that he and Mr Stark had been working on it and is trying to make it better then what a normal doctor in a hospital could do. He tells me how it is good enough that it can identify if someone is sick before they even know it which I nod a little too because that's really impressive and a good way to not feel miserable when you start to feel ill.

After that we are surrounded by more silence which neither of us seem to mind before he leads me out of the medical ward. I follow after him as we head back upstairs to the living quarters where I see that Aunt Nat, Mr Bucky and Mr Steve are all sitting on the couch talking to each other. They are deep in conversation but I see Aunt Nat motion her hand a little when she sees me and they all stop, turning to face Uncle Bruce and I who are standing at the doorway.

I wave a little, trying to shuffle behind Uncle Bruce but before I can get too far Aunt Nat is already in front of us with a concerned look across her face. She gives me a small smile before looking at Uncle Bruce with a slightly more strict look on her face which would be pretty intimidating to everyone.

"What is he doing up here Banner?" Aunt Nat asks clearly talking about me and I look at the two of them as the others make their way to join us as we walk towards the kitchen, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Nat leading the way.

"His scans were good so I thought it was a good idea to bring him back up here, no point in keeping him locked up if he is fine." Uncle Bruce explains with a small shrug and I see Aunt Nat'a eyes travel back to me as if she wasn't sure if that was true or not. I look at her and give her a small innocent smile which she stares at me longer for. "Stark still in the lab?" He asks Aunt Nat who immediately gives him a look and I look up interested in what he is doing in the lab, knowing that it is probably more reasonable for him to be working on something for the Avengers rather then seeing me. I see all of the adults give Uncle Bruce a look which makes me frown a little.

"Anyways," Mr Bucky says, clapping his hands and my eyes travel between his metal arm and his normal one, wondering what it felt like to clap. His eyes travel to the stove though, avoiding mine and I frown a little more. "You want a cinnamon bun?" He asks me as he makes his way over to them without waiting for an answer and my stomach growls slightly. I bite my lip lightly but before I can answer the bun is put into my hands and then we are all sitting at the long table, eating the snack.

I eat quickly, quickly realizing how hungry I am, and for the first time in a while I am able to actually finish the meal and before any of the others can finish I decide that I should change out of these clothes and into some fresh ones, unsure how long I've been in this pair. I wave a little and they all give me smiles before I leave the room and make my way down the hall.

As I stand in the hall though, my hand on the doorknob of the room which Mr Stark had given to me, my mind goes to the man himself. I know I should probably apologize and that I should explain myself, tell him why I kept it a secret and that I'm ok with leaving if he and Ma Pepper want me too. I remember Uncle Bruce saying something about him being in the lab which I am sure isn't too hard to find.

I make my way to the floor which I am sure has the lab on it, due to the labeling on the buttons in the elevator, and the doors slide open to reveal a dimly lit hallway. I frown a little at this but move on, making my way for the huge doors to the lab. I reach for the handle without much thought but Friday quickly speaks up, making me jump slightly.

"I wouldn't go in there right now, Peter." I hear Friday say and I look up at the ceiling with a small frown on my face. I'm not sure why they would tell me not to go in but I really want to apologize and just let him know that I am ok and whatever else manages to come out of my mouth in explanation. So instead of listening, I push past the door and head inside.