Silence

Twenty

I put on the old suit, the one that hadn't been worn since I was shot. I grabbed the keys, leaving my mask on the kitchen table. I was only going up the road and back. I got on the bike, stuck the key in the ignition and let it roar to life. I led the bike out of the garage and hopped on, putting my feet in the right places and my hands on the clutches. I slightly pressed on the gas clutch and I lurched forward, grinning as I did.

I zoomed down the road and had to do a quick U-turn when I saw the city lights in the coming distance. I drove it all the way back to the compound, grinning like a maniac. Out of all the bad in my life right now, these are the good moments. The moments that I can say I lived. I parked the bike in the garage and pushed my hand through my floppy hair. I got inside and Dad peaked his head out of the kitchen. "Have fun?" I nodded and pressed the decompression button on my chest. The suit pooled around my waist and I left it, having not put on pants. "I missed seeing you smile Pete." I sighed and dropped my eyes to the floor. "I want you to know that we don't think any less of you. None of us could've gone through the stuff you did and lived through it. You're strong for putting up with what you did. But I also want you to know that no matter how big or life ruining the secret is, you can't let someone hold that over you." I cleared my throat and put my arms over my stomach, hiding the scabs.
"Come on, you can sleep in my room tonight. I know you don't like sleeping alone."

Four days later
I straightened the shirt over my body and winced when I slouched and my stomach ignited in pain. "Pete?" I looked up and Bucky frowned from the doorframe. "Its a trial, not a wedding." He walked in and took the suit jacket off my shoulders. "H-He's going to k-kill m-me." I stuttered nervously and Bucky put his hands on my shoulder. "We have enough evidence that can put him away for life Pete." I felt myself begin to shake and Bucky pulled me into his arms. "You are not alone in this. He cannot touch you. You are completely safe." I tried to take a few deep breaths and after a few moments, I began to calm down. "Now listen to me. Stark tried to keep as much as he could out of the media. The media know you've been in an abusive relationship, they don't know that you had never consented to the relationship. Don't answer any questions, don't look at the cameras. Head down, hearing aids out." I nodded and slipped the devices out of my ears, placing them in my jean pocket. "Good?" I nodded and Bucky took my hand, pulling me out of my room and to the garage.

We got to the courthouse and my heart is in my throat. Dad put his arm around my shoulder, Tony positioned himself in front of us and Aunt Nat behind us. Everyone flanked after her. Tony began to move forward and I kept my head down, not showing anyone my face. I could see the flashes, feel the vibrations of the talking and shoving, but I thankfully couldn't hear anything. We got inside and I pulled out my hearing aids, slipping them in my ears. Someone walked up to us and I noticed that he's blind. "Hello, I'm guessing you're Peter Barton?" I hummed and the man's face split into a small smile. "Those are some powerful hearing aids young man. I'm going to give you a run down of today's trial. You will be called into the stands, show as much emotion as you can. If the jury can see how much this has effected you, you've basically got an in. You're going to see pictures, of your abuse and the attackers whereabouts. Like his apartment. Try not to make too much eye contact with your attacker, he could scare you and we don't want that. If you feel like you at all need a break, ask the judge quietly. My name is Matt Murdock by the way." He held out his hand and I shook it. "And another thing, answer the questions about your identity, make it known that he blackmailed you. Make it obvious that you didn't know what to do. And while you're Spiderman, he had an in that terrified you and kept you from reacting. You're still a kid Peter, you've got an advantage. Use it."

We were called into the courtroom. I sat next to Matt, my family behind me in the viewing stands. "All rise for the judge." We all slowly got up and a judge walked in, her face passive. "Now for Wade Wilson." The doors opened and two officer pulled in the older man. His hands are handcuffed and he wore an orange jumper, the ones you see on prisoners. He was sat in a chair and he gave me a sickly sweet smile. "This trial is Barton vs Wilson. Mr. Barton, can you come up to the stands, explain your side of the story?" Matt stood up as I did and I walked up to the stands. An officer held out a book and I put my hand on top. "You swear to tell the truth and nothing but?" "I swear." He let me up into the witness stand and I lowered myself in the seat, biting my lip from the pain in my body.

"Now Mr. Barton, would you please explain to us how and when you received your powers and how Mr. Wilson found out about your identity?" Matt asked, standing in front of the stands. I nodded and sat up straight, holding my hands out in front of me. "When I was thirteen, my high school,  Midtown, had taken us on a field trip to Oscorp. There we toured the facility and I snuck off, wanting to see some of my father's work. I walked into a room full of radioactive spiders. The plaque said there was twenty eight, but I only counted twenty seven. I thought one died and simply walked out, right into a spiderweb. I had no idea, but that missing spider had made a home in the corner of the exit door. It bit me and I hadn't noticed until I got home. I was terribly sick the rest of the week and then I woke up one morning, completely fine. I have been deaf since my parents died, but it was like all my senses were turned up to eleven. I could feel the vibrations in the ground when something was happening.

"How Wilson found out about my identity was something that no one else would've paid attention to. The night before he confronted me about it, I had been shot, the bullet had lodged itself in my trachea and I healed with the bullet still in my body. Knowing I wouldn't get home before I died, I went in search for any Avengers in the immediate area. I found Steve, Sam, Bucky, and the Maximoff twins at a restuarant and Pietro Maximoff ran me home. Bruce cut open my neck and pulled the bullet out. My voice has not been the same since. The next day, I went to work like normal. Wade said that he knew I was Spiderman, I tried to lie. He pulled down my shirt, showing off the scar," I pulled down the top of my shirt to show the scar, and the jury gasped. Probably at the hand print bruises on my neck. "And then he put his thumb on my bottom lip and said that when my mask had been pulled up so that Steve could see the bit of my neck that had been shot, he found a freckle that is under my lip. The same freckle his finger was hovering above when he had his finger on my lip. He leaned in and tried to kiss me. At that point I was frozen and unsure of what to do. We were separated by a customer ringing our counter bell and I pushed away from him. I called my aunt Natasha and she said Steve was on his way to pick me up. That was the start."