Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

91. Exertion

"Where is my nephew, Stark?!" May stomps the floor of lab 44, tears streaming down her face. "Where's Peter?!" Tony's eye twitches and he purses his lips, biting down on his cheek. He raises his shoulders defensively and cocks his head with a frown.
"Peter's out in the city, Mrs. Parker," he replies politically.
"On Christmas Eve?!" May pulls at her hair. "I haven't seen him since he left for that gala yesterday! I know you're trying to find Daphne but he can't just do this?!"
"He's not looking for Daphne." May stops in her tracks and stares at Tony wide-eyed.
"Wha-?"
"Daphne is not on earth right now." Tony rolls his shoulders and takes a step away from the fuming aunt. "Pete's been confronted with some troubling news and honestly as much as I wanted and tried to talk to him, he doesn't want to hear it."
"What news?!" May bends forward slightly. "Talk to me!" Tony straightens his back and runs his hand through his hair. He glances at the TV in the corner.

The news covered everything that happened the night before. Footage of Daphne's "abduction" went viral within hours, and comments brimmed with theories on the identity of the new sorceress; why she specifically took Daphne. The internet is following the money faster than Tony can make it disappear. Damage control can only do so much once the information is online. They found out about what Peter and Daphne are to each other. Sure, that's an obvious one. But then Peter's connected to Tony. Tony is connected to the Avengers. Gossip sites jumped to examining Daphne's and Peter's role in all of this, because "there simply must be more to it." Loki came out unscathed; He was carefully disguised. The sheer thought that the demi-god gets away with this makes Tony growl.

Spider-Man's been on patrol for... Too long. And he's acting very much unlike Spider-Man usually does. He's more aggressive. Less defense. More offense. He's never in one place more than ten minutes. He's quick. Relentless. Restless. He fortunately still hasn't really hurt anyone, but he's all over the place. The fact that the news caught onto this, worries Tony. Peter's not well. Both physically and mentally. He dodges anybody who tries to call him, refuses help of any kind, and Tony doesn't want to shut down the suit. The kid would just keep going without it. A terrible coping mechanism, Tony has to admit, but he can't blame Peter. Tony wouldn't dare to imagine what he'd do if he was confronted like Peter was.

And then, of course, there is the baffling news of the statue of a middle-aged couple, clutching each other tightly and holding hands, completely made of silver, that was hauled out of the Metropolitan Opera with all kinds of machinery. S.H.I.E.L.D. made the very unfortunate mistake of not covering up all of the top of the research area. Paparazzi quickly got their footage and are now speculating what the statue is. Why was no one allowed near it? Why would a simple, silver statue be kept a secret like this? Tony hopes with all he has that no one will ever find out that it was David's parents. The current theory among S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers is that one of them touched David. When the other parent grabbed onto the hand of the cursed one, they were stuck together, which resulted into them continuously feeding each other the curse and ultimately turning them to silver completely. To say it was a tragic end was an understatement.

Peter is scared. Tony knows. What if Peter really never loved Daphne? What if everything they've been going through was a manipulation that neither of them had control over? Was Peter's protective behavior natural? Or was it forced onto him by his addicted mind? Was he really addicted? Did any of this really apply to him? Or did Loki toy with the teen's mind to throw him off? Tony can't deny Peter's different behavior since he met Daphne, but Tony had always brushed it off as hormones. Puppy love.

"Peter, you're sixteen and also radioactive. Your senses are heightened and you might not notice the effect she has on you, but everyone else does." Peter looks at Tony confused, so he continues after taking a deep breath. "You're seriously going to tell me you haven't noticed your emotional outbursts?"
"My what-now?" Something in Peter snaps and he tenses up again.
"Anger, Pete. You've been angry a lot more." Peter clenches his jaw.
"Angry?!" Peter's eyes go wide as he scoffs and looks away for a second. "What- so I'm not allowed to feel anymore? I'm not one of your robots, Tony!"