Peter was having a terrible day. And by that I don't mean getting a bad grade or forgetting an essay, that's definitely not what Peter would do. What was the reason? Flash.

It was only after class, just before Peter would join Happy by the car, when Peter got far worse than a simple, easy to ignore, "Penis Parker". Flash was very high on Peter's list of things to ignore, he didn't care about what Flash wanted from him or whatever other thing that came to that stupid mind of his. His bullying was merely based on name-calling, built up on class rivalry.

Today was different. Today Flash decided to round on Peter, while the teen entered the toilet. Peter obviously noticed that Flash entered behind him, completely not caring about what the bully wanted from him. Standing in front of the mirror, he realized Flash's presence, clearly seeing him in the mirror.

"What is it?" Peter asked, breaking the tension, "don't have anything else to say apart from 'Penis Parker'?" Peter smirked, upon seeing Flash's look of anger. Peter turned round to look Flash straight in the eyes.

"What is it with you and Stark? Special wonder- boy, huh? I really had my doubts regarding your internship, I mean, why would a guy like Stark want to deal with you, Parker? Doesn't he have better things to do? And then, your Aunt died..." Peter's heart thumped faster, he felt his hands tighten, drops of sweat appearing on his forehead. How did Flash learn about his Aunt's death?!

"Shut up, Flash." Peter said, his voice on the verge of breaking. He cursed internally. This time it was Flash that smirked.

"Or what? Are you going to throw a lame punch at me?" Flash came forward, Peter backed away, against the mirrors. He really hated himself right now. He was Spider-Man for God's sake, why would he care about Flash, a stupid bully, who hated him for a childish reason!? What was he doing stepping back  against a wall!? He could easily kill Flash with one punch!

"I wouldn't want to hit you. You aren't worth it." Peter said, "and why do you care about D- Mr.Stark anyway, or my Aunt. Don't you have better things to do? Like, trying to get a Stark Internship?" Peter said, easily seeing the anger boiling up inside Flash.

He didn't know Flash had it in him. He hadn't expected it at all. The fist came, and Peter could obviously avoid it, but no, it would give him away. Flash was strong, and he definitely not pull his punches, aiming straight for Peter's eye. It came fast, and if Peter was to step out of the way, it would be inhuman.

Peter dropped to the floor. His eye stung for a moment, he felt the bruise appear, but it didn't hurt him as it would a normal human. Upon that he hit his head pretty hard on the sink, and that did hurt slightly. He lay on the ground, Flash over him.

"I wouldn't apply for a bloody Stark Internship, Parker! Why would I anyway, to do what exactly? Want Stark to weep over my dead Aunt?" This time, it was Peter that glared in hate. How dare he insult May like that?! 

"What do you want from me, Flash?!" Peter exclaimed in anger, standing up, face to face with Flash, "don't you dare insult my Aunt like that!" Peter was hardly controlling himself, so badly wanting to hit Flash in the face, for him to fall unconscious from that hit. Knock him down and shut him up. 

Instead, it was Flash that hit him twice again. Same place, even harder. And this time it did hurt. He knew that he will have a pretty bad bruise and a swollen eye till tomorrow, so gladly no one from school would see him the next day. Peter didn't look at Flash again. He walked out, calming himself down, massaging his left eye. 

He walked out, completely forgetting that it was Natasha that was picking him up today. Pepper and Tony where on a business trip in Germany till after-tomorrow, and Nat was staying over at the Tower to pretty much babysit Peter. Peter really didn't have a problem with Nat keeping him company, but at the mere thought of Natasha seeing his bruise was something that he did mind. What would the assassin say, learning that a lame bully took down Spider-Man for a stupid-ass comment?! Only it wasn't a stupid-ass comment, Peter was repeating Flash's words over in his head as he headed towards the exit, trying hard to cover his bruise with his hood.

He saw Natasha sitting in a car just in front of the building. She saw Peter, fortunately still not seeing the boy's eye. However she did notice the bad mood.

"How was school today?" she asked, when Peter sat down next to her, his hood on, looking out of the window.

"It was school." Peter muttered.

"What got you all moody then?" 

"I'm not moody." Peter replied.

"Uh-huh, I can see."

The conversation ended, and Natasha thankfully did not push it. Just when they entered the driveway, she tried to pull Peter's hood off, greeted by Peter's hand catching hers before she could even touch the jumper.

Peter rushed out of the car, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and entering the Tower through the main door not waiting for Natasha to drive into the garage. He  didn't know the code to the private lift from this side of the building, so he came up to the receptionist who did fortunately recognize him from under the hoodie.

"9326." 

"Thank you." It was a real pain in the ass having a code to enter a lift, but anyways, it was worth it when he could avoid Natasha until that damn, huge swollen eye healed. Idiot Flash. He hated himself for being too scared of hitting to hard. He could easily controlled his punch, or could he? He was really boiling in anger in that toilet, and he really couldn't be sure if his punch would be fatal. It was way different as Spider-Man, there was a huge difference in between the superhero and Peter Parker. Because the latter couldn't even stand up for himself.

He locked himself in his room, trying to occupy himself with his English homework. He checked his face in the mirror, seeing his red eye. He put some ice on it, but decided that waiting was probably the only reasonable way out. 

Natasha called him for dinner, and Peter sighed loudly before he pulled his hood on again and walked out, avoiding catching eye-contact with the spy. The only problem was, Natasha Romanoff was one of SHIELD's best agents, if not the best, and definitely the best trained, so a bloody hoodie wouldn't help a lot.

He sat down, knowing perfectly well that Nat knew pretty much everything by now, eyeing him carefully as he ate the spaghetti. 

"Show me your face." Nat ordered suddenly. Peter didn't look up, only squinted internally at the direct order, which only meant one thing: there was no sense in hiding anything. But Peter didn't budge, ignoring Natasha's words. Before he could even pull away, Natasha took his chin and pulled his hood off, revealing his swollen eye. Natasha's tight grip made it impossible for him to hide in embarrassment.

"Where did you get that from?" she asked. Peter blushed.

"Hit myself." Peter lied.

"You really think you can lie to me effectively?" Peter blushed again.

"It was Flash." he said, when Nat pulled away.

"Bully?" Peter nodded his head and sighed.

"It was just stupid name-calling, like 'Penis Parker', easy to ignore. But when the science fair came, and Flash finally believed in my 'Stark Internship' it had gotten worse. He's probably jealous. We always competed in academics since Freshman year. And- and I know I'm Spider-Man, and I know I should've just avoided that fist, but I can't just show that my reflexes, I can't just punch back, because I might not have controlled my strength there. It's too risky. I was Peter lame Parker there-"

"Why do you assume that Peter Parker isn't as good as Spider-Man?" Natasha interrupted him. Peter looked up into the nonjudgmental eyes of Natasha. 

"Because Peter Parker can't stand up for himself." Peter said, looking down at his sweaty hands.

"You're not scared of standing up for yourself, you're scared off giving away your powers, and that's not the only thing." Nat said.

"But even if I didn't have them, I still wouldn't raise my fist." the teen said. He paused and with a sigh he continued, "I'm not good enough to be Spider-Man." Complete silence filled the room.

"What makes the hero? The man or the suit?" Natasha asked.

"Then I'm no hero. A stupid bully was stronger than Spider-Man. A stupid bully broke down a superhero! Why? Because he said something offensive, because he reminded him off a dead family member?!" Peter erupted, standing up. Natasha came up to him and wrapped her arms around the teen.

"You try to keep yourself to an unreasonable standard. Don't forget that you are just human. That it is what makes you worth it. That you are still Peter Parker after all. That you don't want to hurt someone, and tell me, was it really only the fright off giving away your powers the only thing that stopped you?" Natasha asked. Silence filled the room again.

"No." came the answer.

"Because you don't use your powers to hurt people, you use them to protect them. And believe me, if Spider-Man obeys that rule, so does Peter Parker. Your powers can't only stop you, you could throw a punch easily, but what stopped you weren't them only, it was your sense of morality as well, Peter. Why should you hit him? He isn't worth it. Because your powers don't make you you. You said it yourself, even without them you wouldn't throw that punch, because you stopped yourself."

They pulled way from the hug, a sense of easiness entered Peter. 

"So should I hit him?" he asked, a light smile appearing on the corners of his mouth.

"I really wouldn't stop you. He deserves his ass kicked once in a while, other people aren't the only thing you should protect. If he really deserves it, even in your irrationally high sense of moral right, just throw him down and hit him hard on the nose, it will do him good." Peter smirked.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks Nat." 

(A/N:) And another chapter! Hope you liked it. I wanted some Natasha & Peter bonding. I really like those two interacting. I really wanted to point out Peter's kinda struggle with his identity, and I really think Natasha is someone that really knows what goes on in that head of his.

 I would be really happy to hear some of your ideas for future chapters, open to suggestions!  And there might be a blackmail war coming up!