so this one is basically about the post up there ^ (i started this 2 years ago figured i might as well finish it now)
Edit: TW: torture and blood and stuff sorry i forgot to put it in before!!!

There are lots of heroes out there who wear or wore a mask. Some, like Ironman, War Machine and Falcon use them for actual productive purposes. The Winter Soldier, Captain America and Spider-Man wore them to conceal their identities.

Well at least that's what they thought.

Spider-Man is known widely as the masked menace. Menace, because nobody knows who he is. Not even the avengers know who he is. All they know, is that the man fearlessly fights crime every night and sometimes on missions with them too.

But they were all wrong. Spider-Man wasn't a man, but a teenager, a kid in some people's eyes. He was only 15 years old, yet he was one of the most mysterious and powerful heroes to exist.

And even worse than that, he wasn't fearless. He was terrified. Every time a criminal pointed a gun at him, or a knife or a taser or anything else they happened to have, he was petrified.

But he had to do it. He had to save the people. He had powers, they didn't. And if they died, if anyone died when he could have stopped it, it's his fault.

He didn't put on his mask to hide his identity like people thought. It didn't matter if his enemies knew who he was, he had no family, no one to protect.

May died awhile ago, car crash, Peter couldn't stop it. Of course he still blamed himself. He wasn't sure how but he lived in their apartment alone. No one from social services bothered to come get him.

He didn't care about the secret identity. Yet he still put on his mask every night. To hide his fear. Because once your enemies know you're scared, well that's when you're really screwed.

And unfortunately for Peter, he would figure that out the hard way.

It was just an average night for the young hero. He got home from school, threw some pizza pockets in the microwave and got started on his homework.

When that was finished he cleaned up a bit then got ready for patrol. He looked into the mirror as he put on the suit and took a deep breath. Risking your life every night for easier when you had no one to live for, but for some reason he was still scared.

Maybe it was because he was just a kid, he didn't know. He shook the thoughts away and jumped out the window.

He didn't get very far before he got a call through his suit. It was Tony Stark.
"Hey Spidey we've got a mission, wanna tag along?" The billionaire asked. Peter shrugged.
"Sure I'll be there in five." He said and the call disconnected.

He quickly made his way over to the tower, wondering if this mission would be his last. He couldn't stop those thoughts. They came everytime before a fight. He was scared, but he had his mask to hide it from everyone and that's all that mattered.

He saw an open window on the common room floor and swing through it, gracefully landing on the floor in front of everyone.

Time for the Spidey Charm.

"So I heard there's a mission you can't do without me?" Peter said to the team. They all smirked and rolled their eyes.
"Oh hush Spider-Man we're only bringing you because it's an old enemy of yours." Tony replied.

Peter's tone got more serious as he sighed.
"Who is it this time?"
Tony nodded to the TV and played a video. Peter's attention snapped towards it.

"Hello avengers! You are receiving this video because I know you work with Spider-Man, and I want him to know that the Lizard is back, and stronger than ever. I plan to kill you Spider-Man, whatever it takes. See you soon..."

The screen went black as the faint sound of evil laughter faded out. Peter felt shivers down his spine. The famous Black Widow noticed, of course.

"Don't worry Spidey, we won't let him get you." She smiled. Yes she smiled. She had a soft spot for him, and if anyone tried to tease her about it she'd just shoot them.

Peter felt slightly relieved at that but put his facade back up.
"Oh I'm not worried that guys a lunatic, but was only sorta close to killing me last time." He shrugged.

Caps eyes widened and he shook his head.
"Close to killing you?"
Peter nodded.
"Yep no biggie i can handle him on my own, I don't want you guys getting hurt."
The first part was a lie, he didn't think he could handle him alone, but he knew what lizard could do and he didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him.

Tony shook his head.
"Save it, we're coming. Do you know where this guy lives?"
Peter didn't argue with the fact they were coming. He was nervous, but relieved.
"Yeah. The sewers." He smirked.

The avengers faces turned to that of pure disgust.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Clint said, "I refuse to go down there. That's nasty man."

Peter laughed.
"Oh come on bird man, afraid to get your feathers dirty?" Everyone laughed at that except Clint.

"Better watch it Spider-Man." He said. Obviously he was kidding, but yet Peter still felt fear. He always did.

"We should head out. Avengers..." Steve started. Peter shot a web at his mouth before shouting,
"Assemble!" as he jumped out the window and over to the sewer lair that he remembered all too well.

He was the first to arrive at the sewer entrance. The avengers landed beside him seconds later. They were going through the old subway tunnels, the back entrance Peter remembered.

He also remembered that Lizard had security cameras all over the place, he would know they were coming and would probably attack before they reached his lair.

"Okay guys, be on the lookout for a giant, scaly, green, sli-" Peter was explaining when he heard an angry roar from down a hallway. "That."

The avengers heads looked up to where the noise came from when suddenly everything went silent. It was quiet... too quiet...

Peter's Spidey sense blared in the back of his head but it was too late. The Lizard grabbed him, stabbing him in the torso with his claws and held him tight.

"Spider-Man!" The avengers yelled and they tried to shoot the Lizard. They couldn't get a shot though because he was swinging Peter around and they didn't want to hurt him.

"Ah! Come on Lizzy, let's talk about this first!" Peter said with pain in his voice. The lizard roared in his face, making Peter wince.
"Or not."

Peter tried to struggle against the monsters grasp but it was no use. The avengers tried everything they could do but the Lizard was too strong. He knocked them back with one swing of his tail then jumped out of the roof with Peter still in his grasp.

Peter looked down and saw the avengers all staring up in horror as their witty teammate was taken by this maniac. They knew he would be okay until they found him, he was strong, brave and fearless.

Peter was terrified. He was chained to the wall in some sort of cell in an underground bunker. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but he still had his mask so he hid the fear on his face and played it off as sarcasm.

"Wow i see you got an upgrade from the sewer huh Lizzy? Now you've got a nice dirty underground bunker." Peter said looking around him.

The Lizard growled in response.
"Are you not scared Spider-Man? I said I'm going to kill you." He added. Peter shook his head.
"Well, get on with it then, i don't got all day!"

The Lizard laughed.
"I don't think so, you're not getting off that easily."
Peter gulped wondering what this maniac would do to him.
"W-what are you gonna do to me?" He cursed himself for stuttering like that. He hoped the Lizard didn't notice.

Oh but he did. He smirked.
"Hmm i knew you were afraid, you're powerless here, there's nothing you can do to stop what's coming."

Peter did notice that. He figured that's what the cuff around his neck had done. No powers, no super healing, no super strength. He was just a scared little boy here, scared little Peter Parker.

"Now why don't we start by figuring out who you are. Behind the mask." Lizard said as he began to step closer to Peter.

Peter shook his head. No. No. This can't be happening. Without his mask, he couldn't hide his fear. He couldn't hide the fact that he didn't want to get hurt, or die, or-

He didn't have time to finish that thought as his mask was yanked off his head and ripped in half like it was made of paper. Peter's fear became even more real when he looked into the Lizards crazed eyes.

He began to laugh hysterically.
"You're no hero! You're just a weak, scared and pathetic little kid! You're lucky I'm gonna take you out of this world. You don't belong in it."

He turned and walked away from Peter leaving the kid to process what had just been said to him. It was everything he thought about himself, only now that someone else was saying it, it was all true...

It felt like hours had passed before the Lizard returned. He had a large knife in his hand. Peter's eyes widened in fear and his mouth went dry.

"What? No witty comments from the child?" The Lizard asked. Peter couldn't move. His heart was pounding and his breathing quickened. The Lizard slowly moved forwards, twirling the knife between his claw-hand thing.

Peter watched as he held it high in the air then plunged it into his shoulder. He let out a scream of pain and terror. The Lizard smiled at his reaction and began twisting the knife around and around making Peter thrash in the chains.

"St-stop! Stop it p-please!" He choked out. The Lizard pulled the knife out of his shoulder and stepped back as Peter panted, his head hanging low. There was a steady flow of blood oozing from the ragged stab wound. That wouldn't heal properly.

The Lizard discarded the large knife and pulled out a smaller one, it looked like a scalpel that doctors would use during surgery. Peter looked up in horror once again.

The Lizard slowly dragged the blade across Peter's arms, legs and torso leaving long slices all over his body that Peter knew would scar. He threw his head back and screamed as tears rolled down his face pathetically. The Lizard stopped, lifted the knife and examined Peter's face.

"You have such a pretty face boy, it's a shame that I have to mess it up." He smirked before slicing Peter's cheek and forehead opened. Peter's eyes squeezed shut when suddenly the cutting stopped.

He made the mistake of looking up right as a giant lizard fist collided with his face. Then again, and again, and again. Then he punched his stomach, over and over and Peter swore he could feel as each rib broke from the force.

The Lizard stepped back, seeming satisfied with his work. Blood was still pouring out of Peter's multiple wounds, as it formed a puddle around his frail body. He was littered in bruises and one of his eyes was black and swollen shut.

He looked terrified and broken, which he was. The Lizard's eyes made their way from Peter's face downwards until they stopped on his right leg. Peter didn't even have time to think before he screamed and a loud crack was heard.

Lizard had stomped on Peter's leg and shattered it Peter screamed in agony as the pain overtook his entire body. The Lizard nodded and stepped out of Peter's cell.

"Well I'm bored. You should bleed out in a few hours, it was nice knowing you Spider-Man. See you in hell." The lizard said as he slammed the metal cage shut and left.

Peter couldn't believe what had just happened. The villain just left him. Left him to die. He looked up at the ceiling, unable to move and prayed someone would find him.

•••

As soon as the avengers had gotten to the tower they began tracking Spider-Man's suit. It took them awhile but eventually they found it. Now they could only hope that they weren't too late.

The four of them made their way over to Spidey's supposed location. They found a hidden entrance to an underground bunker. Yep this seemed like a villains hideout.

They made their way down into the dirty old bunker and began shouting for their teammate. They noticed lots of hallways, and empty cells.

Peter heard shouting. It was really far away, but it was there. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out.

"Come on Peter just scream, let it out and they'll find you." He thought to himself. He opened his mouth again and let out a scream of terror.

Caps head turned when he heard a horrible scream.
"Oh my god do you think that's him!?" He exclaimed. They all shrugged and began sprinting to the noise.

Peter had used all of what he had left on that. He hoped it was loud enough. He began to feel woozy as the blood puddle around him started to grow more and more. He felt himself starting to slip into darkness right as he saw a flash of shiny red and gold.

Thank god.

The avengers stood in the doorway of a cell in shock. Right in front of them there was a child, who looked no older than 13 sitting in a pool of blood that appeared to be coming from the multiple wounds on his body. He was covered in bruises and his leg was bent in a way that legs shouldn't go.

"Spider-Man?" Nat asked to the skinny kid. She received a weak nod back.
"P-please help m-me." He choked out.

They all snapped out of their trance when they heard his broken voice.

"Oh god Spidey what did he do to you..." Tony said as he ran forward shooting the chains off of the hero and scooped him up. Jeez the kid was light. Tony shook the thought away and flew back to the compound as quick as he could.

Peter had passed out about half way to the med bay, and when he woke up he was surrounded by four worried looking avengers. He painfully lifted his hand up to his face. No mask...

Natasha noticed this and set his hand back on the bed, holding it.
"It's okay Spidey, no one else saw who you were."

Peter nodded. He didn't care about that. He was pissed off that his teammates saw him for who he really was. A weak, pathetic scared little kid. Just like Lizard had told him.

"How old are you?" Steve asked the boy. Peter shrugged.
"Fifteen..."
Everyone's mouths hung open. They knew he was young, but they figured maybe he just had a baby face and was older than he looked.

"Holy shit kid, you're so young." Clint said. Nat jabbed him in the arm for swearing. Peter lowered his head.
"I know, pathetic right." He replied.

Everyone was confused. Tony shook his head.
"Are you kidding me? You're the bravest person I know and you turn out to be just a kid? That's the least pathetic thing I've ever heard of."

Peter looked up with tears in his eyes.
"I'm not brave... everytime there's a mission, or-or i fight someone I'm terrified."

Tony looked at him sideways.
"And you think we're not? Kid, we're all scared of getting hurt or killed but-" Peter cut him off.

"You hide it behind a mask..."

Tony nodded. "Yeah but then when we get home, we talk about it with each other, our fears, doubts, we're a team remember? It's okay to be afraid."

Peter smiled. He never realized the toughest people in the world were just as scared as he was. It made him feel better. Until...

"Do your parents know you do this?" Clint asked. Being a parent himself it was a reasonable question but Peter just shook his head and played with the sheets.

"Um well about that... I don't have any." He replied. They're faces filled with sadness. Peter decided to continue.
"My-my parents died when i was little, so I lived with my aunt and uncle. But-but they died awhile ago too."

Nat squeezed his and and Steve leaned forward in his chair.
"So who do you live with now?" He asked. Peter let out a small chuckle.

"I live by myself..." he shrugged. Tony shook his head.
"Nuh uh, no avenger, especially not a fifteen year old one is living on his own. You're moving into the compound with us final decision."

Peter's mouth hung open.
"I-I'm still an avenger?"
Tony looked even more confused.
"Um yeah I think it's fair to say you've more than proved yourself. Any one of us would've given up in that cell. You're braver than all of us kid."

"Peter. Peter Parker." He said smiling at Tony.
"You're braver than all of us, Peter."

And so Peter moved in. He lived with his teammates, the avengers and sure he still had his bad days, the nightmares from the kidnapping were horrible. But he didn't have to deal with that stuff alone anymore.

He had a team, a family again. It felt amazing. He was still terrified whenever he went out to fight, but his family helped him through it.

He still wore the mask, but not to hide his fear anymore. He just thought that it looked cooler.

Jeez that was a long one. I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments! Thanks for reading!
-taco