One Month

Chapter Thirteen

Tony made Peter take off his hoodie. One of his web-shooters were busted, and his torso was already beginning to bruise. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," was all Peter could manage out as he glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked horrible to say the least.

"There's no need to be sorry, kid," Tony told him. "Does your ankle hurt still?"

"Surprisingly, it's the only thing that doesn't hurt," Peter answered as Tony checked the arm with the broken web-shooter. Peter hissed as he pressed down midway down his forearm, and Tony frowned as he grabbed the x-ray screen.

"Lucky for you, this isn't broken, or fractured," Tony said after a moment and pushed the screen away. Peter tried to suppress a laugh, which was easy once Tony pushed on the sore forearm again. Peter hissed again. "It'll probably be a bad bruise though."

"It'll be worse if you keep messing with it," Peter sassed, and Tony couldn't help but chuckle. Peter Parker sassing Tony Stark; Tony thought it was cute. "Can I go now?"

"Can you walk?" Tony asked as Peter grabbed his hoodie. Peter started to argue that he could, but the argument died before it could begin as he stalled to put his hoodie over his head. "Problem?" Tony questioned and Peter bit his tongue as he threw the hoodie over.

"None," Peter responded. He hopped off of the table and Tony followed the limping boy out of the labs. Everyone was on the couches, moaning and groaning about having to get up so early and having to train.

However, they all quietened down as Peter stumbled in. He huffed and let himself fall against the soft cushions of the couch beside Steve and Sam.

"How you feeling, Spider-kid?" Sam asked, and Peter had to keep himself from glaring.

"Like I just won a million dollars," Peter answered, and Tony leaned over the couch.

"Parker's sassy when hurt," Stark told the crew, and everyone's eyes went to Peter. He frowned and tried to shrink into himself. He hated attention.

"We've got more to do," Tony began, only to get cut off by Natasha.

"More!? Tony, we all need a goddamn break," Natasha sighed as she rolled her shoulder. Peter wondered if her side was actually bruised. "Maybe you should begin training, old man."

"This is a different kind of training," Tony argued. "We're going to be exercising our minds."

"You sound like some dull, yoga instructor," Sam commented and Steve howled with an, "Oh my God, I can see it!" Sam looked a little too proud of himself.

Although he was shaky and limped, Peter stood to his feet and walked away. He had no desire to exercise his brain and he had experienced too much with the team today. He was finally tired and now completely sore.

He disappeared into the "quiet room" Steve had brought him to when the reporters had been a bit too much. Everything felt calmer here, and he inhaled slowly before he tried to stand on the tip of his toes -- or as close as he could get without physically hurting himself more.

He was in pain but tried to convince himself that he wasn't as he began to perform pirouettes in the dull room. He didn't know why he did it, but his body ached to. His body ached to dance, and he was close to just dancing at any moment that he got, even if he was in front of the others.

"I'm a good hero," Peter mumbled to himself as he stopped. Then, he performed fouettés, repeating the words with every turn. "Dancing ballet doesn't make me anything less."

"You're right," Peter screamed and turned to the door as he heard Natasha's voice. It was only her, and Peter recognized how disappointed he felt. He didn't want to be responsible for them finding out. "Woah, calm down, little spider. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Peter huffed out. He had backed up against a wall without even realizing. "I'm fine." His heart was drumming in his chest. "It's fine."

"So," Natasha began as she lightly swang with the door, "does your month begin now?" It was a joke, but Peter took a moment to decide.

"Yes," Peter told her, and she grinned. "What?"

"We can get out of Tony's brain exercises," she held out her hand. "Come." Peter grabbed her hand and she led him past the others to a much more secluded studio. It was far from the main room and past the intern labs.

"I didn't even know about this," Peter spoke simply. The compound was huge, and he had barely explored all of the living quarters of it. "Why is there another?"

"I used to practice here," Natasha pulled the door open before she walked in and pulled down some shaders over the windows. "When I got comfortable, Tony turned an unused room in the living quarters to a new studio."

"He seriously tries to keep everyone on his side," Peter joked and Natasha grinned. "I like that."

"Me, too," she agreed. "But I also think Tony is just a genuinely nice guy."

Peter was sure of it. Still, he liked the joking idea of Tony trying to buy everyone's loyalty.

"Now, no more fiddling, let's begin!"