Chapter Text
Saving everyone from that house was more stressful than Peter had let on that day. He had to think about ways to get everyone out in a safe and quick way and there were quite a few people just hanging around. He also couldn’t in good conscious leave behind the fish and the dog. That would have been messed up.
That first one though…
Seeing Hank staring in terror at the flames made Peter look twice and he was glad that he did. There was barely a heel sticking out from the flames and he managed to drag the other man out of the fire and (after a quick detour through the small lake.) set him out on the grass. That would have been nasty.
Seeing the man (Alex) and his brother (punk bitch) hug was pretty damn rewarding. But he did have other things on his plate and didn’t have time for small talk. So while the kids from the car and Alex went to survey the mansion closer, Peter talked to Hank and Raven.
And then they got kidnapped. And then rescued, and then more peril and danger and then rescued again.
Peter wondered if other people kept track of who was in who’s debt of rescuing. But he wasn’t going to bring it up while he was in the negative. No sir.
Because of said peril and danger, Peter was unable to truly appreciate the specimen that was Alex. Well, there was a small moment when Scott and Alex dragged Peter away from Apocalypse. Hank was busy with Raven. Scott pretty much immediately turned away (dick.) but Alex made sure Peter was coherent enough to nod at his question. (Peter didn’t know what the hell he said but they needed all the firepower they could get.)
So off Alex went and Peter breathed deeply to not scream and may have thought about certain blue eyes to help distract from pain.
He might have suspected that someone would have to re-brake his leg to set it right. Peter thought of keeping his mouth shut but he knew that if his leg didn’t heal right then he wouldn’t be able to use his power to it’s full potential. And that went about as well as he would have expected.
~~
“Hey Hank?” Peter spoke up as soon as they were level in the sky. Erik was nice enough to help out with the plane. Everyone was scattered around in various groups. Himself and Charles were the only ones laying down.
Hank looked back from the front of the plane, “What’s up Peter?”
Peter swallowed and stared at his leg for a few quick seconds before speaking up, “You’re going to have to re-set my leg.” The pain was still there but had dulled with some time.
Raven spoke up quietly since her throat was still swollen, “Don’t worry, there hasn’t been enough time for you to heal that fast.”
Peter let out a humorless chuckle and shook his head, “I heal faster than normal too.” And then Hank was there, feeling the bone. Peter let out a small grunt when Hank’s finger caught on the edge, “Not fully healed but on the way.” He grunted out.
Hank placed both of his hands on either side of Peter’s leg and immediately felt the speedster tense in anticipation. He sighed and let his hands fall, “I need an x-ray in order to do this right.” His face was apologetic.
Peter swallowed and closed his eyes, “Right.” And here he thought he could get it over with. He felt something encase his leg and blinked his eyes open when various shouts of Erik’s name happened. Peter looked up and locked eyes with Erik. He saw the unspoken question and took a few deep breaths before nodding.
Unfortunately, when Peter screamed that time, he slid from being propped up on his hands straight to his back. And there was a body behind him this time. Peter came back to coherency to someone holding his hand and the mantra of ‘I’ve got you.’ over and over again.
It was nice.
~~
So here he was, sitting in the kitchen at 3 A.M. and getting frustrated over stacking a house out of a deck of cards. Sure he could do it in his room but where was the fun in that? The kitchen had a window to the backyard. And sometimes he wanted to stare out of it and think about his aunt and sister. If they were living semi-normal lives now that he wasn’t dragging the cops to the house every week.
“Hey.”
Peter brought one of his hands up and gave the other a wave without turning away from the window. It was a common occurrence. Someone would eventually join him in the kitchen and try to make small talk. Insomnia apparently affected everyone over 21 here, “Same dream?” Peter asked quietly before turning away from the window and looking at Hank.
The man nodded and grabbed a glass of water, “You?”
Peter shook his head and hit the bottom card to knock down the house, “Same as usual.”
Hank nodded before taking a drink, “You know I could probably make something for you so you can sleep normal hours?”
Peter grinned, “Nah, I’m not going to be your excuse to be a mad scientist in a lab! Besides, this is normal for me.” He shrugged and took the cards to his room before sitting next to the teacher.
Hank didn’t even flinch. It helped Peter feel a bit more at home when people were used to his power, “What’s the subject for today?” Hank taught a few classes during the school year. They flipped from one day to the next. The only class they would let Peter teach was P.E. There wasn’t really any explanation needed for that.
“Science.”
Peter’s eyes brightened, “Oh! Are you going to dissect something today?! Can I watch?!”
Hank just chuckled and pushed the other’s head away from him as he stood up, “You have class too. And I don’t expect you to ditch your students.”
Peter’s nose scrunched up at the word students, “Yeah, that’s still a weird thing to me.”
Hank blinked down at the other, “Having students?”
“Responsibilities.” Hearing Hank laugh at his response made Peter feel lighter. If he was able to get someone out of their funk at anytime then he was going to do it. No one deserved what they had all been handed.
________
“Knees up, Scott!” Peter blew his whistle again and inwardly grinned when the kid groaned but nevertheless followed the direction. Okay, so dissecting frogs would have been cool but nothing really compares to making Scott miserable. Peter dropped his whistle to his chest and put his hands in his pockets.
Scott shouted back as soon as he was within hearing distance, “I don’t see why we have to listen to you when you didn’t even pass high school!” Every word was topped with a deep breath from running.
Peter quirked one of his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side, “I’m older than you, that’s reason enough.”
“My brother’s older than me but I don’t listen to him.” He said as he placed his hands on his knees to breath.
Peter shrugged, “Yeah, well, you’re siblings. You’re not supposed to listen to each other.”
“Hey!”
Well then, speak of the devil. Peter didn’t turn around to give Alex any acknowledgement, “I mean, you should. He knows stuff.” The answering laugh from Alex made Peter grin. (Scott’s head shake and eye roll didn’t really do much.) “Go another lap!” At everyone’s groan, Peter finally turned.
Alex was giving Peter a half smile and shaking his head as well, “Torturing students as usual?”
Peter ran a hand through his silver hair and glance back to the kids running, “You know it. I had you all fooled with the Apocalypse thing, I’m actually the villain.” Alex chuckled again and Peter had to digest the butterflies in his stomach before they actually caused him to say something awkward. Well, damn. That could potentially be a problem.
“Listen, I haven’t had the chance of thanking you for saving us with the explosion.” Alex started, still watching his younger brother run the track.
Peter blinked before clearing his throat, “Yeah, it was no problem, dude.” The professor and Hank had already thanked him with various food items and heartfelt hugs that made the speedster feel slightly awkward but Peter accepted the gifts with a smile.
Alex turned back to look at Peter and nodded, “Yeah, I mean, suddenly being soaking wet was a little confusing.”
Peter laughed, “That wasn’t my fault. You were kind of on fire.” He watched as the rest of the kids finished the lap and blew his whistle again, “Great job peeps! Pack it in for your next class!” He paid no attention to the fact that Alex was still standing next to him. If he did then things could get dangerous.