Spider-man: Alone in New York

~ Chapter 22 ~

I stared at myself in the mirror, wincing at the dark bags under my eyes and the way my hair stood unkempt and dirty. Good god, I looked like... like I lived on zero hours of sleep and had no access to a warm shower. I shrugged. Fake it until you make it. I tested a wide smile in the mirror. I'm a happy, cheerful kid with a family and lots of friends. My life is going great! 

Okay, I looked half-decent, but that's as far as I could look today. I exited the bathroom from the lobby of Stark Tower and went into the elevator while rubbing my temples to get rid of the headache that was forming.

"How are you doing today, sir?" Friday asked.

"I'm happy! So happy. Yippee!" I responded with the forced smile back on my lips. 

Friday sounded skeptical. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely. Why?" My hands started to sweat. 

"Because I am scanning your vitals, and it seems you are experiencing the after-effects of an adrenaline rush. Would you like me to contact Mr. Stark?"

"Pffff... haha, you're so funny Friday! Good joke." I clapped my hands. 

"That was not meant to be a joke, sir," Friday said, and an awkward silence came over us. Could she feel it too, or did she not notice it because she was AI?

"I'm fine. Do not contact Stark under any condition. I'm anyways going to him right now so, you know, no need for that stuff. And please call me Peter."

"Okay, Peter," Friday spoke, and the elevator door opened. 

I walked out and tried to listen for any noise that would tell me where any of them were, but my ears were still not doing very well. There was still light ringing in the background that threw off the rest of my senses. 

"Hey, Peter."

"Ah!" I jumped, turning around with a fist in front of me, ready to fight whoever they were off. A tremor shook through my body. 

"Woah, sorry I scared you kid." Tony stood there, hands up. A crease formed on his forehead as his eyes studied me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Haha. Just a bit jumpy today. I'm sorry." I shrugged it off, staring at the floor. 

He shook his head. "No no. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. Are you hungry?"

"Not really." The encounter with Zenon chased away any desire to put food in my mouth, even though I could feel the hunger in my stomach. 

"Are you sure? We ordered pizza ten minutes ago, and I saved you a couple of slices in case you were hungry."

"Um..." I trailed off. Now that he had mentioned it, I could smell the distinct odor of pizza coming from the kitchen, and it was good. "Um... I guess I'll take like half a piece?"

His face brightened, and he smiled. "Okay. I'll go get it. You can make yourself comfortable on the couch."

I nodded and moved to sit. Sinking down, I felt the couch loosen up my sore muscles. This was nice. Almost peaceful. I wish things could always be like this. I wondered how May was doing. Was she okay? I should go check up on her. What if she wasn't doing well? I mean... it was only one day ago, but it felt like so much longer. 

"Oh hey Peter," Clint greeted me as soon as he spotted me on the couch. "How are you?"

I wrung my hands. "Hi, Mr. Hawkeye. I'm good, you?"

"Good as well, and you know you don't have to call me Mr. Hawkeye, right?"

"Oh, okay Mr. Barton."