Hiding Away (closed to Peter)

[st_ayedhidden]

When the fighting was over, Annie left the temple and looked for Peter. In her panic, she couldn't find him. She tried the clinic, but only found Liz. Annie was certain Peter was hurt or worse.

She didn't return to her room. She found her way back into his room. She felt tired from the entire day and the adrenaline that was wearing off. Taking Peter's pillow from the bed, she crawled under his bed and curled up. She cried quietly until she drifted off to sleep.

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[st_arkintern]

When Peter finally found wandered back to his room, he changed out of his suit and headed straight for the showers. He had a few cuts and bruises to show for his efforts, but any surface-level wounds had already started to disappear at battle's end, and were almost nearly faded now.

Then once he was washed, dressed, and his suit properly set aside until he had proper time and energy to wash it. He's just about to lay down and catch some much-needed Zs when --

My pillow's missing.

Peter frowns at that, then pulls back the ball of comforter. Nothing.

The next place he looks is under the bed, and there he finds a little redhead curled up with his pillow.

"Hey," he whispers at her, and even Peter's not sure why he's whispering. "If you wanna spend the night, why don't you come out and I'll tuck you in?"

[st_ayedhidden]

Her eyes popped open from his voice. Any grogginess she might have normally felt was not present now as she looked to him.

Annie's eyes went wide. She quickly mediated her way out from under the bed with a look of relief. Once she was free, Annie was quick to embrace Peter.

"You're okay" she said with a soft, strained voice. "You're okay."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I'm fine," Peter says, hugging her back. "I told you I'd be fine."

He stands up, still holding Annie and sits down on the bed. "Thanks for listening to me."

[st_ayedhidden]

Her bottom lip wibbled gently.

"I was really really worried about you," she said. "You were gone for a really long time."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, there was a lot going on," he says. A lot was an understatement. But for the first time in awhile, Peter really felt proud of what he could do. He's sure if Mr. Stark could have seen him, he would have been proud, too.

He wondered if Mr. Stark was okay, too. He'd stop by his room, but it seemed like he was never there.

"You all right now?"

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie didn't answer right away. Eventually she nodded.

"I still wanted to fight." She said quietly. "I could have helped. I know it."

[st_arkintern]

"I know," Peter says. "But sometimes, part of being a good superhero is knowing when to act and when not to."

Peter stops there and thinks about what he says. He couldn't say that he was much better than Annie at following orders; even when Mr. Stark told him to back off, he still ran headlong into a situation that quickly escalated into something way worse than it might have been.

"This was good practice for that," he says after a moment.

[st_ayedhidden]

"But what if something happened?" She asked. "What if... What if you didn't come back? What if I could have done something and I didn't? Then I'd be just as bad as the bad guys."

Annie looked at Peter with worry that was more deep seeded than one battle at a magical inn.

[st_arkintern]

Peter shakes his head. "So when I was younger and I was still learning how to be Spider-Man," Peter says, as if this weren't about a year ago. "I was tailing these bad guys even though Iron Man told me not to."

Peter briefly presses his lips together.

"So I go out there and I start fighting them against his orders and it turns out the FBI had been there the whole time, and things got out of control because I was there. The place where I was? It got seriously damaged. A lot of things got damaged. I was lucky that no one got hurt because of me."

Peter sets a hand to Annie's back.

"Sometimes doing something can cause as much harm as doing nothing," he says. "What's important is figuring out when you should do what. And that's tough."

It was really tough.

[st_ayedhidden]

Annie pressed her head against Peter's chest. It was smaller than she remembered, but he felt as solid. There were small differences between a 16 year-old and an adult man. Sometimes it bothered Annie, but she knew this was still her dad. In the end, Peter being who he was, was all that mattered.

She closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

[st_arkintern]

"Hey, it's okay," Peter says consolingly. He's not entirely sure what she's apologizing for, but it seems like the right thing to say.

[st_ayedhidden]

"It's not okay," she insisted with a frown. "It's all my fault."

Her fingers tightened around the fabric of his shirt.

[st_arkintern]

"Hey, hey," Peter says softly. "This isn't your fault."

[st_ayedhidden]

"Not this," She said, not really thinking. "Back home. Back home when you were taken."

She sniffed. Annie hadn't dealt with those feelings yet.

[st_arkintern]

Taken? Peter doesn't need to know the details to know one thing:

"That absolutely was not your fault," he says, giving her a hug. "Okay? So don't blame yourself over it."

[st_ayedhidden]

"If I hadn't listened to mom, then maybe I could have helped you." She said.

His hug felt warm and she did relax against him.

"I don't want you to be dead." She said quietly, clearly she was tired. "Can you not be dead?"

[st_arkintern]

He can't promise that.

"I'm glad you listened to your mom," he tells her. He's worried that if she hadn't, something might have happened to her, too. "And I'm not dead now."

[st_ayedhidden]

"You don't... You don't hate me?" She asked quietly with her eyes still closed.

She often wondered if her dad back home was upset with her for what happened.

[st_arkintern]

"No, of course not. Why would I hate you?"

[st_ayedhidden]

"Because it was a kid at school you were helping. You didn't want him taken." She said, her voice becoming a little lazy. "And I would break the rules sometimes and use my powers... And now they said your dead and mom says your not and... And everything's not the same anymore."

[st_arkintern]

"I could never hate you for that," he says. He can say that in absolute confidence, not just for him, but for any other Peter that might be out there who might be the father to this Annie.

"Let's tuck in," he suggests. It was clear before he even discovered her that Annie was tired. "We can talk some more in the morning, okay?"

[st_ayedhidden]

"Don't Tell mom," she said with a heavy voice. "But I'm going.to save you no matter what."

Her breathing was already becoming somewhat even.

[st_arkintern]

Peter doesn't say anything to that. Instead, picks up Annie and sets her down on the bed, then stretches the rumpled ball of comforter out and over her. He even tucks his favorite pillow back beneath her head.

Peter stands next to her until he's sure that she's asleep, then takes the other pillow and heads for the couch.

He'll have to be up early if he's going to make muffins for them for breakfast.