Spiderman Fan Fiction ❯ The Itsy Bitsy Spider ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

The morning sun wasn't what woke Peter. It was the heavy breathing of a giant child leaning over him. He opened an eye and found himself staring into a smiling Morgan Stark's face, her dark eyes lit up with fascination. 

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," Peter whispered back, smiling when he heard the girl giggle and curled under Mr. Stark's fingers. The fact that he knew the man was there, his hand protecting him, made him feel safe and he slept the night without a nightmare.

"Wanna have a tea party?" Morgan asked suddenly. 

Peter made a face from under the fingers, popping his head out a moment later. "I can't right now. Your dad's got a good grip on me." A little lie wouldn't hurt, would it? Besides, he really didn't want to be subjected to a tea party. 

The girl came closer then backed away, her nose scrunching."You need a bath," she grimaced then gasped. "I could help you!" She winced when her daddy groaned, the hand covering Peter lifting. Now he could play tea party! "Do you want to take a bath? My Avengers tower has a bathtub in it."

That made Peter pay attention. He didn't want to bathe in front of anyone, let alone a child, but...he did need a bath. "I have no clothes," he said. 

"Oh, I have some extra clothes! Come on!" She reached out and grabbed the tiny boy in her hands, ignoring his yelp and quietly got off the bed and ran to her room. "You stay here," she set her new friend on the floor. "I'll go to the bathroom and get some warm water, and do you like bubbles? I'll bring bubbles."

Peter watched the child stand and for the first time since he was rescued, he felt his size. Morgan should have been smaller than him, but at the moment, he only came up to her shin. He hated this..The floor started shaking, meaning Morgan was on her way back holding a cup of steaming water.

"Here you go. Do you wanna go into the tower? I'm sure you'll fit inside." She watched Peter for a moment, and he didn't move. "What's wrong?" 

Peter could only stare up at the child. He was supposed to be the taller of the two, not having her towering over him with a look of concern. "Nothing," he said, hanging his head. "I-I'll just go." He walked towards the tower, feeling her eyes on him the entire time. When he got to the plastic door, he pulled it, surprised it opened. But, when he got in, he was shocked.It looked just like the real tower! Sadness forgotten, he ran inside, turning in circles to look at everything.

The detail was crazy! He ran over to the stairs and climbed them, stopping at every floor, seeing the hallways and bedrooms on every floor. It was amazing! He got to the top floor and noticed he was at Morgan's chest, turning and looking at the large room. "This is awesome!" he shouted with a smile. 

"It opens, too," Morgan said excitedly. "And it has working lights, but the batteries died."

"This is so cool...Where is the tub?"

"Oh, there's one in every room. Just tell me which one and I'll fill it for you."

Peter nodded and ran down, picking a room, running to the window and throwing it open. "I'm in this one!"

Morgan slowly opened up the tower and found the boy gripping the plastic bed, then reached into the bathroom and pulled out the tub, filling it. "Here you go, I'll leave it in the bedroom so I don't make a mess. Last time I got punished for having water all over the floor." She pouted at the memory.

"Well, I won't tell," Peter promised with a smile, holding onto the wall while Morgan closed the tower. Then Peter turned towards the steaming tub. Finally! He stripped and stepped into the tub, sighing when the water raised past his collarbone. This was a deep tub for a doll house. But, it was manufactured by Mr. Stark's company, so you can bet everything would be top of the line. His senses told him something was coming, when a knock came from the window and he turned to see Morgan looking in.

"I forgot the bubbles!" She looked so worried, Peter couldn't help but smile.

"It's okay. You gave me soap! That's all I need for now. Thank you!" 

The little girl went from sad to happy in a second. "I'll go set up the tea table! I think there should be clothes in the closet there!"

Peter looked where the girl was pointing and nodded. "Okay. I'll be out in a minute." He waited for Morgan to leave before dunking his head, using the chunk of soap the girl left to clean his hair. Once he was done, the boy sat in the water until it started to cool, then jumped out, shivering. He ran to the closet that Morgan had pointed out and opened it, and almost fell back. 

Hanging up were costumes of all the avengers, or at least the main parts, like Iron Man's mask and blaster gloves, Falcon's wings and goggles, Captain America's shield...the only one that had full clothing, was Thor. 

"Why did have to be the cape?" Peter whined. It was either that, or freeze, which he was currently doing. So, he grabbed the suit off the hanger and groaned when it came off as one piece. "Of course. It couldn't be separate..."The  boy stepped into the outfit, surprised at the fit, though it was long in the arms and legs, but that was easily fixed by folding them until his limbs popped out. And so, with a face as red as the cape, Peter emerged from the toy tower.

"Oh wow!" Morgan fell to her knees in front of the boy, who fell back. "That looks so good on you!"

"Yeah, well it's embarrassing," he griped.

"That's all the toy clothes I have...Daddy wants to get me the full Iron Man suit, but I don't want it unless he builds it. And I want to help, but daddy doesn't really let me around his tools. But, he does let me watch him work!" 

She smiled down at Peter, who was listening. "The tea is set up!" She reached down to grab the boy, but stopped when her father's warning from the night before came into her head. "Would you like me to carry you, or would you like to walk?"

Peter looked at the distance to the play table. It looked like an hour's walk. "I have an idea. Put your hand down, please." When the little girl did, Peter grinned and ran up her hand up to her arm, climbing up to her shoulder, laughing when she giggled. 

"That tickled!" she laughed, looking to the side to see the teen sitting behind her hair. Without warning, she slowly she rose and made her way to the table, where she giggled when 

Peter climbed down to the table."All set! Now, where should I sit?"

"Next to Princess Natasha."

The boy looked to see a Black Widow action figure sitting on the table wearing a pink tiara. He had to grin at the picture it made and wondered if Miss Romanoff had ever seen it. He gave Morgan a thumbs up and walked over to the empty place, staring up at the doll that was three feet taller than him sitting. He felt silly sitting among the dolls , with a tiny cup in front of him. It was Captain America shaped, the man's dead eyed glare meeting Peter's, making the boy shiver.

"Tea, Peter?" Morgan held the large tea plastic tea pot up and he nodded, holding out Mr. Roger's head, surprised when a drop of juice came from the tea pot
.
"Thank you," he said, waiting. Aunt May had really drilled proper manners into his head, and he waited until the girl had sat.

"So, how old are you?" she asked, affixing a tiara to the top of her head.

"Um, I-I'm fifteen," Peter sipped his drink, wincing at the overly sweet taste. Fruit punch was his favorite, but this was too sweet.

"I see." Morgan sat back, trying to act like an adult. "So I'm guessing you're in high school? Or, does your kind not have school?" 

Peter tried not to be offended and shook his head. "I'm in my sophomore year of high school, though I'm guessing I'll have to take summer school at this point. But, I'm human, just smaller." He shrugged, trying to not go into too much detail and scare the girl.

"Oh...So you used to be regular sized? What happened?" Morgan had this wonder and excitement in her eyes as she remembered all the stories she'd heard about Ant-Man and how he could become very tiny to really big. "Are you Ant-Man!? Can you turn into a giant!?" She was basically bouncing in her excitement.

"Um...no...I'm not Ant-Man. I can't become bigger, though sometimes since this happened, I wish I could." It would make life so much easier if he were able to go back to normal on his own.

"Oh," the girl's excitement died down. "Do you know him?" She sighed when the boy shook his head. "Okay. Would you like more tea?" She held up the white pot with a kind face set into it.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm done."

"Okay." Morgan looked around, trying to think of something to do, when a smile lit up her face. "Do you wanna play hide and seek? I'm sure you'll be so good at it!" 

Peter thought about that for a minute. He would have to hide somewhere in plain sight, or it wouldn't be fair to the little girl, and so it would be safe for him. "Okay. But, you're allowed to hide wherever you want, okay? I'll make my hiding places easy to find." 

Morgan blew out her cheeks."No! That's not fair! If you want to hide somewhere hard, I'll find you." She stomped her foot and Peter fell over from the vibrations.

"Okay, okay....I'll hide wherever I want too, okay?" He had to make sure they were easy to find places, low to the ground. "Just be careful of where you step, okay?" 

The girl nodded. "Alright, you hide first. Ready, set....go!" He covered his eyes and felt the table shake as the little girl ran out of the room and he started counting.

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Justin smirked as he donned his suit jacket, turning to see it in the mirror he was provided in his cell. "Looking sharp," he told himself, spinning once. 

"Hammer," a guard sneered, the keys jingling harshly against the metal bars. "I don't know how you did it, but you're free to go." 

Justin took a step outside of the open door for the first time in 7 years as a free man, but was stopped by the guard's hand on his arm. "I have a feeling you'll fuck up again, and I can't wait to see you back behind these bars, where you belong."

The man smiled charmingly at the guard. "Oh, I'm not so sure, Frank. But, if I do come back to visit, I'll make sure to bring you something nice." He waved to the man and tugged his arm free, beginning to walk down the row of cells, everyone calling his name and cheering.

"Fuck that Iron Man over!" a muscled man cried out, but Justin kept walking until he reached the bars that kept him from freedom and turned. 

"My name I Justin Hammer!" The cells grew quiet. "You've known me to be the smartest man alive, but Tony Stark thinks he's better than me." That earned a few boos. "Yes, yes, I know...but, I will outshine the sun that Tony's world revolves around and become the next sun!" He gave two peace signs, then stepped aside for the next guard to open the bars.

"See you later, gentlemen. I have some living to do." He stepped up to the window, getting a rundown of everything he had when he was first locked up after the Stark Expo, slipping his stopped watch on his wrist. 

Twelve-twenty-three. That was the time he became a prisoner...and he was going to hurt Tony Stark and Pepper Potts for every year he'd spent behind bars. But first, he had someone to see. The moment he stepped outside the jail, he winced from the sunlight, but he couldn't not look, because freedom was beautiful. Justin took a deep breath, his arms raising to his sides. "I'm back, world!" 

A car horn had him looking outside the gate. A black limousine was parked and waiting for him. Justin walked quickly, waiting with jittery legs for the gate to open, and then took his first step outside to the actual free world. It was glorious.

The car door opened for him and Justin slid in, blinking at the strange face greeting him. "Hello there, Justin Hammer." He slid into his 'press persona' slowly, not having much time to practice it. "It's nice to meet you, Mr....?"

"Ward," the bearded man shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hammer. I'm a big fan."

Justin nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you are. May I ask where Mr. Bloom is?" 

Ward leaned back and crossed his legs."Octavian is currently....indisposed. I was sent in his place to pick you up, and drop you off at Mr. Toome's home."

Hammer was impressed as he mimicked his company in the moving car. "I see. Don't waste any time, do you? I like that. The quicker, the better and all that, right?" He stroked his chin. "So, tell me about this Toomes..."