Spiderman Oneshots

Oh, snap (2)

(A/N) Before I start I just want to say a huge thank you to @Autie_The_Almond, @PinkDolphin07  and my grammar-picky sibling for helping me push through the massive block I had on this part - without them this chapter would not exist. Thanks guys, I hope you enjoy ^-^

Spider-Man yawned, swaying slightly as he stretched and rolled over. Then he sat bolt upright.

"Oh, no," he muttered. He had only meant to take the weight off his injured leg for a minute when he sat down on a web hammock 30 stories up, but he hadn't been sleeping well lately and the exhaustion must have been too much.

"Karen, what's the time?" he asked frantically. 

"You are twenty minutes late for school."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Peter yelped as he swung his way hastily across the city.

"I tried. You were too deeply asleep."

"Oh." Peter landed in an alley, wincing slightly as his leg made contact with the ground and almost buckled. He must have hurt it a lot worse than he'd originally thought. "Text Pepper to let her know I'm alright, she freaks out if I don't check in after patrol."

"On it." Karen's voice faded as Peter pulled off his mask, yanking clothes over his supersuit. He made sure it was fully concealed, then limped quickly towards his school. 

Figuring that seeing how late he already was, a few minutes wouldn't make much difference, Peter stopped by the school loos to freshen up and make sure he didn't have any blood on his face or something stupid like that.

Then he walked into class, apologised for his absence, and sat quietly next to Ned.

The teacher's voice faded into the background as Peter focused on each breath, the air whooshing in and out of his lungs. School used to be something he loved, despite Flash, but now... Since the fight with Thanos outside the compound, everything had seemed detached. Like the world was carrying on without him. Every day, he donned his superhero mask and went out there, helping the citizens whilst inside he was crying out for someone to help him. Everyone was mourning the loss of Iron Man, but Peter couldn't tell anyone why he felt the loss more acutely than seemed possible. As Peter, he had to carry on, but he found he couldn't quite fit back into the mould of Puny Parker, the quiet, slightly strange nerd. Not when he had been into space and experienced so much death and destruction. Not when he had seen his third father figure die in front of him.

Peter's breath hitched, and he blinked himself out of the trance. Not there, Peter. Not here. Not now. Think about your surroundings.

He could hear the teacher's voice. 

He could smell somebody's fart (ew).

He could feel the smooth plastic of his desk under his fingers.

He could see... he could see Betty, looking away from him quickly as he met her eyes. And Abe. And Cindy, and Charles. As he swept his gaze around the room, he noticed more and more students guiltily averting their own.

What? 

~

Cindy had been watching Peter since he came into the lesson late. He barely seemed to be listening, nothing like the eager learner he had always been before. Before... everything.

Something must have happened to startle him, because he looked up sharply. Betty's hair shifted as she turned her head quickly away from his gaze, and Cindy did the same, then caught her eye.

Since they'd watched that Top Secret SHIELD file last week, Cindy hadn't been able to stop noticing Peter. At first, none of them had been able to believe that Peter was Spider-Man, their friendly local vigilante, but it made sense. He was always tired, often late, and had a habit of disappearing frequently and arriving back without an explanation. And now, after everything that had happened with half the universe blipping out for five years and the big fight with the Avengers, his eyes had a haunted, hollow look that didn't fade, not even when he was joking around with Ned.