Not the Homecoming You Were Expecting – Chapter 3

Flashes were all I saw after I blacked out. First it was the blonde hair and blue eyes, next was the interior of a luxurious vehicle, the halls of the upstate Avenger's complex, then bright white and blinding lights.

When I woke, the pain in my chest was still very prominent; the bright white lights had been dimmed, but still much too bright. The monitors giving off a high-pitched scream that most technology did, as well as the constant beeps of the heart monitor that was accelerating with their beats. I became aware of the soft snoring from two figures not too far from my bedside. All of a sudden I was all too aware of everything that was happening, every noise, every breath people took, the bright white lights that were glaring off the metal surfaces, I was able to hear aunt May yelling at someone in the distance, I could feel the seams of my clothes on my skin, the material of the sheets rubbing against my body. Every noise that was audible to my ears, every material that was currently covering my skin, from my clothes to the weight of the blankets, and it all became too much. My breaths starting to come faster and faster, then I couldn't control it, and then I saw nothing but still experienced everything.

Panic, pure panic was what I was experiencing, I could see nothing but could feel and hear everything, although the lights were somehow still able to pierce their way into my vision and caused pounding in my head. I felt hands on my shoulders before I even realized that the snores from beside me had ceased.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. tell Tony that Peter is awake and panicking. Hey Peter, why don't you close your eyes and focus on my breathing okay? Try and match it. Clint, hit the lights and turn off the monitors." The calm and collected voice of Steve Rogers spoke. I wasn't even aware that my eyes were open; there was only blackness that I could see. I tried to focus on his breathing like he suggested, but couldn't quite match it, I was still too distracted by all the noise, I could hear Mr. Stark's and aunt May's running, I could hear talking from two female voices in a different room, it was completely overwhelming. I was trying to focus; I heard the door open and Mr. Stark's and May's steps until they reached the bed I was sitting on. I felt something being pulled over my head.

"Karen, initiate sensory overload protocols." Mr. Stark's quiet rang, and then everything muted. The sounds quieted, and the lighting no longer caused me any pain, sure I could still feel everything, but it allowed me to get my bearings. I finally matched my breathing to Captain Rogers, and when I did, embarrassment set in. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Karen's heads up display, but was greeted with only two very small slits in my eyesight, the robotic eyes on my mask had narrowed and none of Karen's extra systems were running. Through the two small openings in my mask, I could see May standing my the door, her hand over her chest, Mr. Stark on my left, crouching beside the bed, and in the far corner of the room was Clint Barton, and right in front of me, sitting on the bed, was my second favourite childhood icon, Captain Freaking America. Embarrassed was an understatement. I was one hundred percent completely and inexorably mortified. I threw my head into my hands and just groaned, how worse could this day get?

"You okay, kid?" Mr. Stark asked, the voices still very muted. "You took a lot of damage. Broke two ribs and shattered two more, those are healing pretty quickly by the looks of it. One of those broken ribs managed to puncture your lung, which lead to a pneumothorax, that wasn't so easy to fix. Honestly kid, were you trying to make your self a human shish kebab with your own lungs? 'Cause it wasn't really all that funny, especially getting that call from Karen. You're lucky that star spangled banner over here managed to get to you in enough time." Mr. Stark never usually rambled and it was slightly disconcerting to see him do so. My eyes flashed over towards May, she had tears rolling down her face.

"Aunt May-" God I hated how weak I sounded, my voice came out as a whiney kids voice, which didn't really help my case of trying to prove to tony that I wasn't really a kid. "-Come here." I spread my arms out inviting her to hug me, the pain I felt in my chest due to this action wasn't going to hold me back from comforting my aunt, whom I'm sure I had just put through hell. She rushed over to me quickly, I felt Captain Rogers' weight shift off the bed, giving May the space to slip in; her hug was fierce, yet gentle. "May, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." I mutter into her hair. Cautiously thinking how odd this looks, an injured teenager lying in a hospital bed with a Spider-Man mask on, hugging their aunt. It must be a sight to see, but the others must not think anything of it because I hear Captain Rogers, and Clint leave the room.

"Peter, never do this again, please." She was begging, I could hear it in her voice.

"I- I can't do that May, I'll try not to get hurt, but I can't promise this won't happen again." Her tears were now free flowing, Mr. Stark gave me the 'are you kidding me look' but I continued anyways. "May, I need to be Spider-Man, I am Spider-Man. I'm going to get hurt, I'm going to find my way into trouble, but I'm going to always try my hardest to find my way back to you."

She was struggling to accept that but her features softened, and she turned to Mr. Stark. "You're adding so many more safety features to his suit, I want access to the tracker, I need access to the camera in the suit, and every damn time I call you, you're going to answer and take every single concern of mine, and his, seriously. Do you understand?" May's eyes bore into Mr. Stark's, and for a second I thought I saw a brief flash of fear in his eyes, but in a blink it vanished.

"Absolutely, anything you need. Right, Peter?" I just nodded my head furiously in response to Mr. Stark's questions.

"And training, he needs real training, not just some weekend self defense classes, I don't want this happening again."

"I think we can make that happen. In two weeks, its winter break, right Pete? So we'll have him over here at the complex and get some real training in. Until then no patrolling; doctor's orders, don't give me that face. In the meantime we'll have someone patrolling for you until you're back on your feet, don't worry your borough won't fall apart in two weeks. But for now, he needs his rest and we can discuss the rest of this later. Get some shut eye kid, we can hash out the rest later."