Avengers Family

by A_Unique_Username

Summary:

A series of oneshots featuring the Avengers acting as a family. Open for requests.

2: Peter’s secret identity is revealed to his classmates
3: Clint doesn’t know the word for action figures
4: Tony helps Peter through a panic attack
5: Peter’s new metabolism is causing him to starve
6: The avengers notice some odd things about Peter Parker
7: Peter confuses everyone with Gen Z culture
8: Steve helps Peter feel better about himself
9: Natasha helps Peter with a bullying problem
10: Tony learns some things about his teammates.
11: Peter’s baby monitor footage is leaked.
12: Peter can lift Thor’s hammer
13: The Avengers learn about some of Peter's lesser known spider powers.
14: Peter doesn't want to disappoint Tony.
15: Bucky's arm makes him insecure. The team helps.
16: Peter regrets his over-protectiveness.
17: The Avengers get a new pet.
18: Peter shows Bucky some self-care.
19: Natasha helps a sick Peter.
20: The team stands up for Peter after he’s attacked by journalists.
21: Natasha needs some help getting into the Christmas spirit.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Hi, Marvel Fandom!

Here are my oneshots for the Marvel Fandom! They’re all platonic stories with the Avengers acting as one large family!

I love input about my writing whether it's bad or good. If you notice something I could improve, go ahead and let me know because I'm always trying to be better.

Feel free to request stuff as well! I don't write about the actors. I love Marvel and all their casting choices, but I find it rude to make stuff up about a real person's life.

I suck at warnings, but expect swearing and (maybe) smut. I WILL put warnings if I reference abuse (sexual or otherwise) or mental illness. I realize I said above that I wouldn't write about graphic r*pe or glorified self-harm, but I mean that I won't write about those things in a good way, if that make sense. If it's something a character is struggling with or getting over, green light. If it's posed to make something like r*pe sexy, red light. PLEASE let me know if I need to add anything else to the list of must warns. I want you guys to enjoy yourselves!

I have the same stories under the account @A_Unique_Username_ on Wattpad so if you prefer that platform, head on over!

Thanks!

Chapter 2: Chaos (Platonic Avengers - Peter Centric)

Summary:

Peter's secret identity is revealed to his classmates a la Cap.

Notes:

**BTW, after rereading one of my works, I thought I should probably warn you guys that none of my pics are beta read. Hell, I don't even reread some of them. I just write whatever comes to my head and *post*. Feel free to point out errors. Hopefully they aren't too annoying.

“Hey, Penis whatcha looking at?” Flash walked around the large display case holding different artifacts. Peter sighed and Ned seemed a bit on edge. The students of Midtown High were currently on a field trip to an art museum. Peter was excited to see the modern art exhibit. He loved how you could interpret the pieces any way you wanted and it calmed him to sit and stare at abstract works. Flash had teased him for his excitement. He gave a dramatic yawn, “I’ve been here so many times I’ve lost track. I find it so invigorating to absorb culture. It’s much more productive than lying about an internship, don’t you think?” He had leaned toward one of Peter’s classmates, but his eyes were pointed directly at him. A museum curator gave him a halfhearted shush and continued to mess with his radio.

The group continued to the scrap metal exhibit. Flash was prodding Ned’s shoulder and making rude remarks about him being a nerd. Peter rushed over to defend his friend and suddenly, the whole building shook. The giant, twisted metal sculpture detached from it’s stand with a sickening crack and was headed for a direct collision with the three boys. Peter reached up and held it up for them. Ned was freaking out seeing Peter’s powers in action. Flash was speechless for a moment, but then shrugged, “They must be lying about this being actual iron. There’s no way if Penis can lift it.” Peter lowered the piece to the ground and turned around to survey the room. Flash secretly tried to lift the structure and realized it was definitely real and definitely very heavy. He would never admit it though.

Some students got trapped under other metal works and one unfortunate girl had a sharp part stuck in her leg. Peter helped as much as he could. Ned followed him around and pretended to be assisting with lifting the weight off of people to throw off suspicions about Peter.

The TV monitor that had been playing a video of an artist heating and twisting his materials suddenly became a news broadcast. There were aliens in New York again. They didn’t look as bad as the first invasion and the Avengers had already closed the wormhole to cap it off, but there was still quite a struggler. Everyone watched the screen in horror as Captain America was flung toward a building. Wait a moment, that was the museum they were in. Sure enough, in the next second, there was a shattering noise and Captain America skidded across the floor. Students crowded around, but their teacher made the motion to stand back. Steve sat up and looked directly over at Peter.

He had met Spiderman and he had met Peter Parker, but Tony hadn’t explicitly said that Peter was trying to keep his identity a secret so Steve assumed his name wasn’t all over because he only handled small crimes. As such, he didn’t think twice before saying, “Peter, we could really use your help out there. Tony’s got the west end covered, but it’s difficult for Nat and I to go for the head without flying abilities.”

After he said that, his eyes widened. Peter knew he was being chewed out on the coms for outing him, but at this point he just gave up. It was a month before graduation anyway. Might as well give up the secret, right? He waved his arm, “Don’t worry about it Cap. I’m ready,”

Everyone was staring, speechless with open mouths, at Peter and Steve. No one said it, but they were all thinking, “Why does Captain America need Peter?” And “What is Peter ready for?”

He sighed a bit. He did like the anonymity, but since he already had plans to move into the Avengers Tower after high school, he knew May would be safe if any villain tried to attack him. He also figured that there might be rumors with him living there anyway - he wasn’t great at secrets.

Then he threw his bag at Ned and pressed the nanotech button that unlocked the suit Tony recently gifted him. Immediately, he was incased in new car smell. “Hello, Peter.” Karen woke up when he put on the mask and he was patched in to the Avenger’s communication line. “Want a ride down?” He reached out a hand to Steve, who took it as they both jumped from the broken window. He dropped Steve on the ground before swimming around the nearby monster and firing webs at its hands, feet, and eyes to confuse it and make it easy to take down. The battle finished in three hours. Peter’s classmates spent the entire time making shocked remarks about Peter being a superhero.

Peter hadn’t gotten to see his face before he swung off, but Flash conveyed a mix of confusion, humiliation, and jealousy. He was in denial for a bit, but watching Spiderman swing from buildings and take down aliens from his spot huddled in the corner made it very real. Peter really had an internship with Tony Stark? That ‘internship’ was working as a superhero? Flash thought back to all the times he’d fawned over Spiderman in front of Peter and the lies about him being close friends with Spiderman. He also remembers all the shitty things he’s said and done to Peter. Jesus, anytime he’d gotten physical with Peter, Peter could've literally killed him like it was nothing. He’d seen the videos of Spiderman throwing an entire bus.

Ned was watching the battle with adoration all over his expression. He clutched Peter’s backpack tightly like it was the most precious thing he’d ever seen. When he picked up the phone and it was Peter, he put it on speaker to be able to hear through the explosions and gave directions from his vantage point. “Thanks, I can always count on you with this stuff.” Peter added. Now Ned was getting jealous stares, but he was too giddy to notice.

The group was standing around waiting for the all clear to leave the building when Spiderman swung back in through the window. He pulled his mask off and walked to Ned for his bag. He smiled and said softly, “That was awesome right?” Ned nodded enthusiastically and smiled back.

There were engine noises and Ironman was now in the museum.Tony undid the armor and approached Peter. “Hey, kid. I thought you wanted to keep the identity a secret till college or afterwards. Also, I know you have ‘enhanced healing’ but you can’t just leave after a fight. I’ll have Bruce check you out for injuries. And, I’m going to need your help with repairs to the suit.”

“Well Steve spilled the beans on that one. You can’t blame me for that. If anything, it was your fault for not telling him that it was a secret.”

Tony shot him an angry glare, but it quickly faded into resignation. It kinda was his fault.

“Be at the tower in no more than an hour, got it?”

Peter nodded before turned back to Ned. “Do you wanna sleepover and watch some TV or something after I do that? I’m kinda beat.”

When Peter saw Ned’s starstruck gaze, it finally hit him. He had revealed his identity. He fought with the Avengers. Tony freaking Stark had talked to him in front of his classmates. His classmates were all here. The adrenaline had muddled his brain for a while, but now he clearly understood the situation, and it didn’t suck. “If you want to come with me to the tower, I could probably sneak you in.” Peter added in a hushed whisper so others wouldn’t ask for the same privileges.

“So…” He struggled with the right words. “You might’ve seen me before. I’m your friendly neighborhood Spiderman and also your classmate Peter Parker. I’m an intern for Tony Stark.”

Chapter 3: Touch Yourself Toys (Platonic centered on Steve, Tony, and Clint)

Summary:

What happens when Clint can't remember the name for action figures? Tony overhears a suspicious conversation.

Notes:

*Inspired by Jeremy Renner’s brain fart

Warning: Implied Sexual Content (Light)

Clint sunk into the chair at the kitchen table as Steve slid him a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs.

“Rough mission last night?”

Clint nodded. He hadn’t even been in bed until 4am, but his established routine and the fact that he was a light sleeper meant he was still up by 8am. Steve, who always got up around 5am, had already been on a jog and made breakfast.

He practically moaned when he got that first sip of coffee. “You know what’s funny? The HYDRA base had one of those, you know,” he made pointed to Steve and then made a squishing motion with his fingers, “The um, the touch yourself toys.”

“The what?” Steve’s eyebrow rose. Was this another 21st century thing he’d missed from SHIELD’s education? Or was it a weapon because it was with HYDRA? Steve didn’t think that Clint would use the words ‘funny’ and ‘toy’ to describe something too awful, but he still puzzled it over.

“A mini Cap. Like the ones they sell at children’s stores.”

“An action figure?”

“That’s it!” Clint snapped and excited yelped. “Since it’s a toy of you, you get to call it a touch yourself toy.”

Steve knew that it wasn’t a normal term, but he didn’t mind if that’s what Clint’s foggy morning brain wanted to call it.

“Just imagine them having a toy of you - their enemy,” Tony entered the kitchen in the middle of Clint’s speech, “Do you have any touch yourself toys Steve?”

Tony smirked, figuring this was just Clint trying to get a rise out of innocent Steve. He nearly spit out his coffee when Steve calmly responded.

“Nope, they aren’t really my style. Nat got me one once, but I think she was joking around.”

Clint contemplated that, “Did they even have them in your day? And did she get you a good one? If you still have it I want to see it.”

“They existed,” Steve reminisced, thinking of the toy soliders some fortunate kids parents could afford, “They weren’t like they are now. More simple, nowadays they move and make noise. We didn’t have any of that. You’d have to find another person if you wanted that kinda stuff.”

Tony’s eyes bulged. How was Steve so comfortable talking about sex toys when just last week he had blushed at the burger commercial that featured a woman in a bikini?

“Nat got me a pretty standard one. It’s softer than most of the others I’ve seen. It may be hidden in my closet somewhere. I’m not really sure.”

“I’m betting you and Thor have the most.” Clint told Tony.

“With them?”

“Just out there. Tony might keep a few on him though.” Clint teased.

“Nat and I wouldn’t really have any, you know being spies and all. Definitely not any that move or light up or make noise or anything like that.”

“That’s practical I guess.” Tony thought before forcing his mind to focus on the fact that Steve and Clint were openly talking about such a topic at 9am in the communal kitchen.

“That’s unfortunate. The ones that move are much better than those that don’t.” Tony added.

“Figures you’d be into toys Tinhead. All those robots done there could pretty much be considered glorified-“

“-My robots aren’t sexbots.” Tony interrupted indignantly. “I haven’t stooped that low.” He shot a light glare at Clint, only to notice that his mouth was wide open. Steve was beet red and had wide eyes. Even if he didn’t know what a ‘sexbot’ was, the word ‘sex’ and Clint’s reaction clues him in enough to get embarrassed.

“With your action figures?” He mumbled at Tony.

“Action figures?” Tony was confused. Why did the two men suddenly freak out? He hadn’t added anything too outrageous to their conversation. They were the ones who started it!

“Yeah, we were talking about how even HYDRA couldn’t keep their hands off Captain America merchandise.” Clint said nonchalantly. “Why do you have to make everything about sex? If you get freaky with your action figures, that’s your business, but you’ve scarred the child in the room.” Clint jerked his thumb at Steve and laughed when the man grew impossibly redder.

“I think I’m just gonna go hit the showers.” Steve moved to leave, clearly humiliated.

“Wait one second. What the hell? You guys were the ones talking about ‘touch yourself toys’”

Bruce took one step into the threshold, heard the word ‘touch yourself toys’ from Tony and promptly decided he didn’t need breakfast. Natasha, who was with him, came to a similar conclusion, but instead, invited the scientist to go out for breakfast with her.

“Tony, ‘touch yourself toys’ are action figures.” Steve calmly explained while Clint, now laying on the floor, fell into another fit of laughter.

“In what world?” Tony said, frustrated, before huffing off to his lab. “Never know what’s going on in my own damn tower anymore.” He mumbled on the way down.

Chapter 4: Blackout (Irondad)

Summary:

The new feature on Peter's suit doesn't exactly have the correct intended use. Tony helps Peter through a panic attack.

Notes:

**I know it’s a brand of underwear so sue me. I wasn’t creative enough to come up with another name. (Please Don't)

WARNING: Anxiety Attack

“Web Grenade” Peter called out as he holdout his arm. A blob of webbing shot from his arm and splatted on the wall. “Woah, it’s huge!” Peter exclaimed, giddily looking back at his mentor. Tony was explaining all the features of the new suit and letting Peter test them in his training facility. Peter was over the moon to play with the new tech and spend time with Tony.

“Okay, that’s the last of the web modifications.” Tony explained. Peter was still in awe of how many had been added, he was barely paying attention when Tony spoke up again. “There is one more thing I’d like to show you. It’ll help you if you’re, god forbid, ever in an explosion again. You can change the name but right now it’s called “Under Armor.” If you tell Karen that, a thin layer of nanotech armor will encase you within the suit to protect you from a blast or fall or other hazard. Want to test it?”

“Got it. Under Armor.” Suddenly Peter’s world was black, the suit felt too tight. He couldn’t hear anything. Too tight. It’s too tight. I’m trapped. I can’t breathe. I’m going to die. Peter dropped to the floor and curled into a fetal position.

Of course, the function was safe. Tony wouldn’t have put anything in Peter’s suit that wasn’t. He just didn’t really know about Peter’s claustrophobia. Tony panicked for a moment as he saw the teen fall. What was going on? He acted quickly, shaking Peter’s shoulder. “Peter? Peter can you hear me? Peter!”

“Sir, Karen has informed me that Peter cannot hear you with the 'Under Armor’ protocol activated.” FRIDAY spoke up.

“Disengage ‘Under Armor’” He heard the movement in the suit that indicated his order was carried out.

“Jeez, Pete I’m so sorry. Did that hurt?” Tony’s asked. He grew more concerned when he heard the shaky breathing beneath the suit.

He ripped the mask off and saw Peter’s wide eyes looking up at the ceiling. He was trembling and hyperventilating. Tony put a hand to his neck and felt that his heart was beating fast. Tony recognized those symptoms - Peter was having a panic attack.

Tony removed his hands. “Hey, Peter. You’re having a panic attack, alright? I want you to match your breathing with mine, okay?” Peter nodded and struggled to breathe with the deep breaths Tony was taking. “Do you want me to touch you?” Peter nodded again and Tony put his hand back on Peter’s shoulder. He kept taking deep slow breaths. “It’s going to pass Peter.You’ll be fine.” Eventually, Peter calmed down. As soon as he did, he jumped up and ran to the bathroom where Tony found him throwing up.

Tony rubbed his back. “I’m sorry Mr. Stark. I didn’t mean to insult you or the suit or anything.”

“Don’t apologize Spidey. I should’ve explained more in depth about the function before asking you to test it. Then you’d be able to be prepared or say no. I didn’t realize this would cause that reaction.”

“I just don’t like small spaces.”

“That’s fine kid. Totally valid. Let’s get you outta that suit. I wanted to order pizza and watch some Star Wars tonight. Are you going to join me?”

Peter beamed at him. “I just need to take a shower.” He rushed off.

Tony ordered FRIDAY to get everything set up before slumping into a chair. His heart was beating pretty quick too. Anytime Peter was in pain, his heart leapt to his throat. “I need to adjust that suit.” He sighed while considering modifications.

“Ready!” Peter hurled himself onto the couch and curled up to Tony. “Guess I’ll think of those modifications later,” he thought as he snuggled up to Peter who was messing with the TV remote.

Chapter 5: Starving (Platonic Avengers - Peter Centric)

Summary:

Peter's increased metabolism puts him in a tight spot. He doesn't want to inconvenience anybody.

Notes:

WARNING: Eating Disorder (Sort Of)

“There’s our favorite non-Avenger!” Tony cried as Peter exited the elevator. He was greeted by a swarm of greetings from the other present Avengers. Every Friday, Peter would come to the compound to work in the lab with Tony for his “internship”. Once a month, he would stay for the weekend.

After he had refused to become a member of the team, Tony was disappointed. They didn’t talk much until Peter found himself trying to stop a large, dangerous street gang. He had successfully gotten enough information to find the headquarters, but when he was caught spying, he got shot. He escaped and made it to the tower, where Bruce patched them up. At the sight of Peter’s injury, Tony came to realize that he was just a kid and respected his decision to stay in neighborhood crime until he was a bit older. He insisted that Peter get training at the tower and use the lab to keep his suit updated though. Unknowingly, Tony started filling a parental role for Peter. He loved spending time with the kid and was awed by how smart and kind he was.

Although Peter’s superhero persona was initially hidden, it didn’t take very long for a group of spies to figure it out. The fact that Peter was terrible at secret keeping, especially first thing in the morning, made it much easier.

So being greeted by Clint, Bruce, and Bucky as well as Tony after school wasn’t unusual. He beamed at his heroes. “Mr. Stark I just had an idea for Bucky’s arm! What if it…” Peter’s excited chatter filled the room for a long time. Bucky looked conflicted: he was really trying to understand because it was about him, but the language was too technical. Clint had given up. He just stared at the ketchup getting smeared across his plate by his fork. Bruce and Tony were listening intently. They nodded and smiled before moving toward the lab.

All three men were huddled together, adding their inputs to the wires and metal beneath them. “It’s time to come upstairs guys,” Pepper entered the room and wrinkled her nose. “It’s been seven hours and you smell.” “Shit, Peter are you hungry,” Tony asked. He knew the spider bite affected the teenager’s already huge appetite and tried to make sure he made active snack breaks. Peter’s stomach growled in response and Pepper laughed. He blushed but walked toward the door.

Tony and Pepper were talking about company business as they ate the chicken, Pepper occasionally forcing a green vegetable in Tony’s mouth. Bruce chatted for a bit, but rushed off to a prior engagement within the hour. Peter inhaled his food. He gave a longing glance at the other full plates on the table before cleaning his plate and putting it in the rack. “I thought you’d be hungrier than that,” Tony chuckled, “From my experience with Steve and Bucky, super strength equals super hungry all the time.” Peter gave a weak smile. “I have a project due on Monday and May’s going to be mad if…”

Tony waved him off, “Tell your aunt I said hi.” Peter gave the mocking glare he always did when Tony brought up his aunt, but at least Pepper was there to prevent the inappropriate remarks.

Peter snatched his backpack and climbed into the car waiting for him. Truthfully, he was still hungry. Really hungry. May’s hours had recently been cut and Peter could see the added stress it was causing her. He knew they didn’t have money. He overheard her talking to a friend about scraping together enough for rent. So he was determined to do his part to help. He’d been searching for a job, without telling May, and being extremely careful about breaking his things. He also stopped eating as much. He tried to keep his portions to normal teenage boy level. Occasionally, he would have to eat a lot more, but most days, he just thought about his concerned aunt and refused a second helping. She asked him about it, but he would just tease her by saying Mr. Stark’s private chef made better after school snacks than her. She found it reassuring.

He was losing weight fast. He could clearly see his ribs through his chest. His cheeks were hollowed. His hair was thinner. His eyes weren’t as bright. Since fall was quickly fading to winter, he hid his skinny features with baggy layers. When the team teased him about keeping his large sweaters on inside, he shrugged and explained that spiders couldn’t regulate. Of course, anytime he jokingly insulted one of them, they would make the obligatory “cold-blooded” comment. Tony made sure to keep the heater on and lots of warm blankets in convenient places. Peter still kept the clothes on.

Thor had finally come back to the tower to spend some bonding time with his teammates before disappearing with his girlfriend for a week. No one blamed him - they knew he was busy with the kingly negations. Trying to convince Odin to let Loki take over because he was more qualified in diplomatic matters was difficult. Thor just wanted the freedom to travel among the realms with his love. He’d rather fight battles than listen to the council or sign decrees. He and Steve finished a particularly energetic sparring session, Steve loved practicing with someone he would use his strength on, and were headed toward the communal showers.

Apparently, the sound of running water wasn’t enough to alert Thor to the prescene of someone else in the stall so he pushed on the door, which was accidentally left unlocked. “Sorry, Man of Spiders, I was just coming too…” In true Thor fashion, he wasn’t phased by nakedness so he stayed for a moment to apologize, but trailed off because something seemed wrong. “Are you sick? You are tiny? Is there a villain nearby?” Peter frantically tried to cover himself, but Steve was now at the door as well. Despite his respect for privacy, the fear that his teammate was sick was a much stronger motivator. “Peter!” He exclaimed shocked. “What happened?”

Peter was mortified. He had two men with the bodies of gods staring down at his pathetic frame. He had been desperately trying to avoid a situation like this. Why couldn’t he remember to lock the door? Steve threw him a towel and grabbed some clothes, ones that couldn’t cover Peter as much as he’d been in. “If you’re really cold, I’ll get you a blanket or turn up the heater.” He dragged the kid to the kitchen where Sam was making stir fry. “Eat.”

“But that’s for Sam.”

“Yeah, I don’t remember inviting you.” Sam quipped at Steve even though he clearly made enough for multiple people. Multiple super soliders in fact because they always stole his food. He spun around in a good mood. The twinkle disappeared from his eyes when he saw Peter. He was speechless. He was tiny. He silently scooped a mountain of food on a plate and handed it to the teen.

Peter put his hands in front of him. “No, I’m sorry we weren’t invited. I don’t want to take your meal.” Sam shook his head, “I was kidding. I made enough for everyone. If not, there are always leftovers, right? Plus, it’s on Stark’s tab.” He forced a playful tone as he insisted Peter take the food. He watched as he took the first bite and gave Sam a genuine compliment.

Then Sam saw a flash of guilt cross Peter’s face. The counselor in him came out. “Peter, are you feeling bad about your body?” Steve took that as his hint to leave and snuck out of the kitchen to talk with Tony. Peter vigorously shook his head. “Ever since the spider bit me I’ve had a much nicer body. I mean, I would like to be stronger. More muscular, you know? But who doesn’t? I’ve got the best facility in the world to train.” He was surprised by the question.

Then it struck him. He remembered the chapter on eating disorders from his textbook. “I’m not anorexic.” He mumbled.

“I trust you Peter, and I’ll believe your words, but I need you to know there’s no shame in admitting you need help.”

“No, it’s not that. I just….”

“Peter?” Sam was starting to suspect there was something else at play so he gently coaxed Peter to continue. “Is something wrong?”

“Food is too expensive.” Peter was practically whispering at this point.

“What?”

“I’m not going to let May worry about meals because I can’t stop eating.”

“Peter, eating isn’t a vice. It’s something you need to do. Enhanced superheroes especially have to fuel their bodies often because they expend so much energy constantly.”

“I know I need to eat. I aced biology. I just don’t need as much. I could literally eat us out of house and home. May works so hard to raise me and she’s never happy anymore. I’ve seen her, late at night, crouched over the kitchen table with all the bills. She looks like she’s in pain. I did that. I just…”

Sam leans over to hug the kid as the tears leak down his cheeks. He tries to process what Peter just admitted. He hadn’t been told much about Peter’s home life, and he hadn’t realized that they weren’t living comfortably. His first impression of Peter was a brilliant student in a suit, that Tony put him in, for an internship at Stark Industries. “Tony isn’t exactly short on cash though. Why don’t you eat more when you’re at the tower?”

Peter tilted his head up at Sam, giving him a full view of his red eyes and gaunt face. Sam immediately felt awful for not noticing the changes before. Even if he hid his body, his face was visible all the time. How had they missed the signs? “I’m not an Avenger. I don’t deserve to eat a lot of Mr. Stark’s food.”

Sam was shocked and just let the kid lean against his shoulder. Being this close to him made the bony features and small frame painfully obvious. Then he heard a noise and twisted to see Tony by the door. From the horrified look on his face, it seemed as though he had heard and seen most of the conversation.

“Kid…” Tony turned on his heels and rushed out of the room.

The next day, everyone had been informed of Peter’s condition. They knew they couldn’t just stuff him full of food because he’d get sick, but they were good about encouraging regular snack breaks. Finally, Tony made an appearance.

“Get your coat on: we’re going out.” Peter looked confused, but would never turn down an outing with his idol. They climbed in the car and rode in silence. Eventually the car stopped. “You’re going grocery shopping? Don’t you have people for that?”

“I’ve got people who know what I like and what the other Avengers like, but they don’t know what you like.” Tony had to refrain himself from calling the other Avengers leeches like he usually would. It was a term of endearment and he enjoyed feeding everyone, but he didn’t want to scare Peter off.

“You don’t need to buy anything for me Mr. Stark.”

Tony sighed “You obviously aren’t.”

“Well, I’ll just eat a bit of whatever you normally buy.”

“I’ve been looking to try new things. Can’t get too stuck in my ways. I need you to help me choose.”

Peter was suspicious, but he followed Tony into the store. They looked at all kinds of foods. Tony always asked for his input. It was difficult because May always bought healthy, cheap stuff which wasn't in this high end grocery store. He wanted to suggest the cheapest version of each one, but he also remembered that Mr. Stark was going to eat them. He tried to give opinions about ones he recognized. Soon they had a full cart. Then multiple full carts.

He’d never seen so much food on a grocery store conveyor belt in his life. The employees rushed the bags to Tony’s car. Then they got back to driving. Peter nodded off until he heard the car stop. Where were they? Then he saw May rushing out of the house. Of course Tony had told her. He grumbled a bit, but was grateful for the warm embrace when he stepped out of the car.

Tony motioned at Happy and they grabbed a few bags and headed into the house.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“Well, I realized I made a mistake. The tower just got fully stocked yesterday with food. I can’t possibly keep this. You better not let it go bad kid.” He smiled and left Peter with his aunt who was desperately reassuring him that he wasn’t a burden and that she wanted him to eat.

For the next few months, there were often random grocery deliveries. An “anonymous donor” had paid for the rest of the year’s rent.

Peter constantly tried to tell Tony that it wasn’t necessary, but Tony would always brush it off. Finally, when they were in the lab one day, Tony talked to him in a serious tone.

“You know I love you Peter. I want you to grow up happy and healthy. I’m glad you aren’t an Avenger so you get a chance at youth. I like buying you things. It makes me feel good to use the money I made through immoral means helping others. Especially when ‘others’ are as good of people as you are. Do you understand that?”

Peter nodded, sure if he spoke he would cry. From there on, he came to Tony with his problems and gladly accepted his help.

Chapter 6: There’s Something About Peter (Platonic Avenger - Peter Centric)

Summary:

The Avengers don't know Peter Parker is Spiderman. He acts pretty strange though...

Peter wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his jeans. He was headed to find Tony so they could work on a prototype for a web fluid that stuck to oily surfaces. After he, much to Tony’s chagrin, caught a ride to a flaming oil tanker and helped the remaining workers escape without much protection, he realized that the webs did stay for a bit, but it was easy for them to slip suddenly. In the elevator, FRIDAY had informed Peter that Tony and Clint were conversing in the communal kitchen area and offered to stop the elevator at the correct floor.

The only Avengers who had met him as Peter Parker were Bruce and Tony, Consequently, they were the only two who knew he was Spiderman. Tony, of course, had been keeping tabs on his heroic activities for a while and had recruited him in the fight against Captain America. Bruce met him when he hurt himself testing some new equipment and wandered in the medical facilities without the mask on. Before the scientist could get a word out, Peter completely geeked out, “Oh my god! You’re Bruce Banner. The Bruce Banner. The super smart physicist and biochemist. I read all about your experiments in the science journal at…” He slowed his words to a stop, “Oh man, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I ramble when I’m nervous. Shit, I mean shoot, I’m still in the suit. This is just cosplay?”

Bruce laughed, completely flattered that the kid knew of his work and wasn’t just excited to see the green rage monster. He grew to adore Peter and often helped him with his web fluid when he could.

Everyone else was uncharted territory. Although Iron Man would always be his favorite, the other Avengers were high on his list of idolized persons, and he was bursting with excitement to meet them.

When the metal doors slid open, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Steve, Bucky, and Sam were all in the kitchen. Tony was conversing with Clint while the others talked among themselves. The room was a bit tense, but Tony had been holding virtual meetings between himself and Steve for months when they finally came to a peaceful resolution. Bucky still flinched a bit when Tony used expressive hand gestures and Wanda refused to see him, but Tony had found it in himself to help and forgive the Rogue Avengers. He knew he wanted his friend back, and if he had to forgive Bucky and use his influence to persuade politicians to ditch the Accord, he would. Steve and Bucky had apologized incessantly and explained the shady government business they discovered which eased Tony’s mind. They all seemed happy to be back together.

Peter squeaked when he saw the group. A flush ran up his cheeks and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand. The enhanced soliders and the spies noticed him immediately and glared in his direction. “Who is this?” “Security Breach”, and “Trespassing is rude” all jumbled in the air with each other as they jumped to take a fighting stance. “I will hire a personal masseuse for each and every one of you if it’ll make you less tense. Jesus Christ, he’s just a kid.” Tony rubbed his fingers on the upper bridge of his nose before motioning between Peter and the superheroes, “Guys, this is my intern, Peter Parker. Peter, this is the bunch of idiots who claim to be Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” “Hey, you’re the one that gave us that title,” Clint whined indignantly. Tony continued, “Peter has clearance to go wherever he wants in the tower so please don’t try to kill him every time he walks into a room. He will also be staying in the tower for some time to assist with a project.” They all nodded and, one by one, stretched out their hands to personally greet the ‘intern’.

“I’m just going to grab a sandwich and then I’ll meet you in the lab Mr. Stark,” “Go ahead kid, I’ll be up here for a while, but I drew up some preliminary formulas and a better shooter for you to critique while you wait.” Peter smiled in response and practically skipped down to the lab. He had met his heroes!

On the way down, his enhanced hearing picked up a bit more of the conversation. “Since when do you hire middle schoolers to mess around in your lab Tony?” “I thought you preferred young interns who were a bit blonder and not men?” “Shut up Clint” “He’s smarter than all of you combined.” “Is that why his shirt has a joke about a photo who travels light on vacation?” “It says the photon is traveling light, which is, by definition, what they are.”

Peter giggled a bit. His heart had swelled when he heard Tony compliment and defend him.

May was away for two weeks. She had mandatory new medical technology training and a refresher course in California to attend, and, with Peter’s insistence, decided to stay in San Diego with a friend for another week to enjoy the weather and the beach. Although Peter claimed that he was ‘pretty much an adult’, she called Tony to tell him and ask him if he would be fine handling an emergency if one came up. He offered to just take Peter in for the time period, and the plan was made.

The next morning, he stretched and strolled into the kitchen. He was bent over intently staring at all the boxes of the cereal when his senses notified him that something, not dangerous, was nearby. “Hey intern, you using X-Ray vision to inspect the cereal of something?” Sam joked. “Um, no. I’ve never had any of these kinds before.” May would never buy these sugary, popular brand cereals. “Well, if you aren’t starving, I was going to make pancakes for everyone. Do you want any?” Peter nodded enthusiastically, “How can I help?” Sam chuckled and motioned for him to sit down, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Good morning,” Steve and Bucky both walked in cheerfully after their post-run shower. Tony and Bruce were groggy because they were up late with some experiment. Clint looked excited at the big breakfast and Natasha was as collected as always. Peter jumped off his seat and gave Bruce a big hug, “I haven’t seen you in so long.” Bruce laughed, “It’s only been a few weeks, but I missed you too. Tony said you had a breakthrough with the new “Widow’s Bites” we were making?” Peter made like he was going to head for the lab before Tony put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and groaned, “At least eat your breakfast. It’s too early for that energy.”

Peter sat down as Sam slid a full plate toward him. He eagerly dug in. “These are the best wheat cakes I’ve ever eaten. Thank you Mr. Wilson!” “You can call me Sam, and what’s a wheat cake?” “I’m assuming it’s one of his aunt’s health “food” meals,” Tony’s air quotes emphasizing his thoughts on healthy food, “Kid, slow down and chew. You’re gonna choke.” Peter was momentarily distracted when his phone chimed and he smiled as he scrolled through the memes and updates Ned sent him. He looked up from the screen to see everyone staring at him, “Sorry. Bad table manners. I won’t do it again.” He sat up straighter and removed his elbow from it’s place at the edge of the table. They were still staring when he got up and started clearing the dishes and handing them off to Tony’s dish washing robot, because of course he had one. “Did he just eat twelve pancakes?” Bucky wondered aloud. Months of cooking for two super soliders caused Sam to forget how much food was normal in the morning, but he was just going to leave the extras for people to snack on. He did not expect the kid to eat enough for an army. Noted for later.

“He’s a growing boy,” Bruce cut the astonished silence with a nonchalant comment like it was totally normal. “Dr. Banner! Let me show you the Bites!” Tony, Peter, Bruce, and Natasha headed down to the lab after their meal. Peter proudly showed off his contributions, but kept adding that Tony did most of the work, which Tony refuted every time. Natasha smiled at their little interactions. She could tell Tony cared about this kid. “Just an intern” her ass. Once they were done, she offered to take Peter to the gym. “Do you want to watch Steve knock the shit outta Clint?” Peter gave her a concerned glance. “Don’t worry, Cap holds back his strength when sparring with anyone who isn’t Bucky or Tony in the suit.” His breath hitched with anticipation. Living with superheroes and watching them train? It was like a dream come true. Maybe he could sneak a picture for Ned.

True to Natasha’s word, Steve had beaten Clint easily. Peter wondered why he would even keep attempting to fight Steve. Even if he somehow managed to use the element of surprise or some other trick, without serious artillery, there was no way the super solider was going down. Clint groaned and stumbled to his feet, “That’s going to leave a bruise.” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ Clint cut off Steve’s apology “Nah, I wanted you to man.” Peter watched all of them and marveled at their strength and technique. He decided that watching Clint hit all the moving targets with his bow was the most interesting and was quickly entranced with the show. A sudden jolt to his nerves alerted him to the flying water bottle moments before Sam yelled “Watch out.” He reached his hand and caught it without even glancing away from the arrow whizzing toward the realistic alien target. Sam’s mouth was gaping open and Bucky’s eyes were wide when Peter faced them. “Hey, this is one of those metal ones that everyone’s been talking about recently. Do they really keep your water cool for a whole day?” “Uh, yeah. I like it. How did you catch that?” Bucky finally responded. “Good reflexes or something,” Peter shrugged and went to his room for some homework.

Peter slid across the tile as he entered the kitchen, “I thought I smelled food.” “Isn’t your room two floors up?” Sam responded as he stirred the pasta sauce. “It probably wafted through the vents,” Peter reasoned, “Or your cooking has magical abilities to distract people.” Sam laughed as Peter went to set the table. There was a prickle in his neck and his hand shot above his head to catch a pen. He placed the stuff on the table and then whipped around to catch a ball of paper. A bouncy-ball flew at his left leg, which he also caught flawlessly. He looked straight up at the ceiling, “Cut that out.” Sam raised an eyebrow, “Are you alright?” “I’m being attacked by whoever’s in the ceiling, FRIDAY who is that?” “Mr. Barton is currently crawling through the air vents with balls of paper while Ms. Romanoff ducks around the corners with a bag of small items. They do not seem to pose a serious threat?”

“How did you know I was up there?” Clint said. “Well, in Queens it doesn’t rain paper, inside or outside. So this was either a new, stupid feature or someone was throwing stuff.” “What about Nat?” “Again, pens and toys don’t usually come outta nowhere.” Peter smirked and sat down. “Your intern has crazy reflexes. Did you know that Tony?” Clint continued to talk, in awe, about Peter’s ability to catch things.”Nope.”

Peter was cracking jokes and raved about how cool all the Avengers were. He’d already captured the hearts of everyone at the table and his presence relived any tension between the occupants. They were becoming family.

“Should I just tell them about my identity?” Peter asked Tony in the lab. “That’s up to you Underoos. I’ll respect it if you want to keep your identity a secret or if you don’t. You aren’t exactly being subtle about it though. Nat might already know.” Peter nodded, deep in thought. “You should go to bed though. You have school in the morning.” Peter begrudgingly went to his room, but instead of going to sleep, he thought about whether or not to reveal his secret. On one hand, he liked no one knowing who Spiderman was. Nobody would attack May and he never needed to worry about paparazzi like Steve or Tony. On the other, the Avengers could probably, definitely keep a secret. He drifted off, still undecided.

Beep. Beep. Beep. He rolled over in his bed. How could a bed feel this amazing? It was like laying in a cloud that had just been warmed up in a dryer. 7:15am!? Shoot, he was going to be late.. He bolted up, frantically dressed, and sprinted downstairs. He snatched a protein bar from the drawer and grabbed his bag, which was unzipped. A folder fell out and slid under the couch where Bucky, Steve, and Sam were perched. Peter looked under the couch, but the folder was closer to the other side. He crawled around. “Excuse me Mr. Barnes. I need to get my school stuff.” Before the men could react or climb off, Peter was reaching between Bucky’s ankles toward his homework just out of reach. He used his other hand and lifted the couch just a bit to go in further. Once he got his prize, he rushed out.

“Did he just?” Steve looked at the others for confirmation. “Maybe the couch is just really light?” Bucky suggested. “We aren’t really light though stupid.” Sam gibed. Bucky smacked him lightly on the head and within seconds they had forgotten about the whole incident.

“Where’s Peter?” Natasha moved her knight. “Some club,” Tony mumbled while studying the chess board. Suddenly, a body flew through the open window and smashed into the floor next to where Sam and Steve were reading. “Mr. Stark, I think I hurt the suit.” Spiderman stood up to reveal a giant rip in the front of the suit. He was only wearing a glorified spandex one that Tony had made for patrols. It wasn’t the really expensive metal one that he took to serious fights. “Jeez, are you alright?” Tony immediately looked him up and down. “Yeah, it was just the suit that ripped.”

“Seems like a dangerous club,” Natasha smirked at Tony. “What do you mean?” He feigned innocence. “Peter,” she deadpanned. “Yes,” Peter responded, “Oh, um, I don’t know anyone named Peter.” He gave up after she narrowed her eyes signaling she didn’t believe him. He pulled the mask off, “how did you know?”

She rolled her eyes, “'Einstein developed a theory about space. And it was about time too.’ Really? Because you’re wearing the same shirt, you’re the same height and build, and you have all these weird mannerisms. I’m a spy.”

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” he turned at Tony who was facepalming at the stupid trick he had fallen for. “Hi, I’m Spiderman.” He waved at everyone.

“We fought a kid in Germany?” Steve uttered. “Sam and Bucky were almost beaten by a kid in Germany,” Tony jeered. “Hey, I’m not a kid, and I’m so sorry about that guys.” “Who was I almost beaten by?” a voice called from the doorway. Both Bucky and Clint walked in and saw Peter in the suit without the mask. “That actually makes sense,” Clint thought out loud. “Can I get something to eat now? I’m starving.” “Coming right up Spidey. Pizza’ll be here in 20.”

“I’m just gonna take a nap real quick then.” Everyone absentmindedly agreed with Peter, their attention now on the TV in front of them. That was until Clint got up to pee, “What the fuck?” “Language,” Bucky and Natasha called out as they turned their head. “I hate it when he does that too,” Tony sighed. “Why?” Sam grunted. Bruce, who had just arrived, waved his hand dismissively, “I guess he just likes to sleep up there.

So, they all just pretended like it wasn’t weird for Peter to sleep in the corner of the ceiling, suspended by his webs.

Chapter 7: 5 Times Peter Confused Everyone with Gen Z Culture and One Time They Confused Him

Summary:

Peter Parker’s references and slang are foreign to most of the Avengers.

1.
Sam marched up the stairs and flopped down on the couch. “Something wrong?” Natasha spoke up from her spot at the kitchen table. “Steve and Tony are butting heads again about some defense strategy that we’re probably never going use. We all just wing it anyway. Rhodey and I tried to knock some sense into them, but they’re still yelling down in the lab. Well, not really yelling, more like an incredibly loud, stubborn, and childish conversation.” She smirked, “At least things are back to normal.”

“Now, my wing won’t even get repaired today. I was hoping they would be more mature after all that.” “Right?” Pepper in to grab something from the box on the coffee table. They all sat around ranting about their teammate’s stupid tendencies, but as they went on, they found it hard to stay mad and each vice was said in an endearing way.

Peter walked in from school just as Steve and Tony emerged from their spot, looking like they found a resolution. “Did you guys finally grow up and use your words?” Pepper asked in a voice you would use on a child.

“Did something happen while I was gone? Was it a mission? Wait, you guys aren’t suited and there wasn’t anything on the news. Did you guys fight each other again? Come on, spill the tea.”

“What?”

“Oops, was I off? It kinda seemed like you guys had gotten into a fight before this. No offense.”

“They got into an argument about fighting strategies, but it’s all resolved now. Why would you want us to spill our drinks?” Pepper flashed a puzzled expression.

“Your drink?” Peter repeated “Oh, the tea. It’s just expression. You know like share the gossip. I forget how old you guys are sometimes.”

“What was that?” Steve piped in. “I think I’m doing pretty well for nearly one hundred.” He lunged at Peter and threw him into a cushy chair. “I think you need tp learn some respect young man.” His voice was only mockingly serious as he started tickling Peter’s sides.

“I actually agree with Capsicle this time ‘young man’” Tony joined in.

Soon there was an all out tickle war between everyone, every man for themselves.

2.
“Were you even trying?” Bucky sneered as Peter swung another punch at him and missed. “I must’ve been really sick or something if this string bean knocked me down at the airport.”

“Now that we aren’t enemies, I’d feel too bad hurting you. Can’t let the geezer break his hip, right?” Peter flipped over him and pushed Bucky down onto the mat. “Good thing Ant Man had your back because I can beat you without the webs.”

Bucky smiled, “Really? I think you made one big mistake.” Peter looked down in confusion. “Being a cocky son of a bitch.” Peter and Bucky both laughed as he stood up and threw him into a soft part of the padding.

Peter curled up and teased, “You wouldn’t hurt a poor defenseless teenager, would you? That’s just horrifying."

“Who are the theatrics for? You might get away with this silliness on your phone, but you aren’t fooling me” Bucky quipped back in a goodnatured tone. He backed off to show that he wasn’t going to attack again and grabbed a water bottle.

Peter hopped up, “I’ll have you know, the FBI agent who watches me through my phone loves my dramatic ass. It’s a great show.” He added in a little pout for good reason.

“Did you say someone is spying on you?” Bucky immediately perked up at that. “No-“ Bruce, who had just passed by the door, ran in “Peter, someone is spying on you through the phone? That isn’t good. If they can hack Stark tech, they can hack all of our phones and some of us have important information on there. Do you know who it was? Have you made any enemies recently? Do you have some stupid password or something? We should get Tony. Bring your phone.”

“Wait, but I-“ “Go quickly, we don’t know how much data is being downloaded.”

Peter was dragged down to the lab with his phone in hand.

“Peter’s phone has been hacked into. He says someone’s been watching him.”

“For how long? How could you tell? Do you know who it was?” Tony immediately started fiddling with the phone. “I’d just get you a new one, but I don’t know what happened.”

“He mentioned an FBI agent.”

“Damn, I thought I made these too complex for the government. Do you know how they did it?”

‘Everyone, hold up.” Peter put his arms out to stop everything. “No one is spying on me. It was a joke.”

The three men froze and shot him puzzled expressions.

“Petey, what are you talking about?”

“Um, it’s kinda a thing with teenagers. We joke about befriending the FBI agents who monitor our technology, but I know that’s not how it actually works. I know it’s the NSA and there isn’t one agent for everyone.”

They still looked confused, just not panicked.

“Here let me show you” Peter reached for his phone and pulled up some memes.

“The government agent is going to let it go just because he put ‘haha jk’ after his search for ’how to make a bomb at a terrorist level’?” “How would this agent even know that this man wanted to hook up with the person he’s texting? And why would he help him?"

Bruce and Tony weren’t getting it. Bucky had just left. Phones were already too much for him. He needed to catch up with a lot of stuff before he even got into this ‘meme culture’.”

“Whatever…” Peter sighed. “I’m fine okay?”

3.
Peter, Tony, and Steve sat in the back of the car with Happy in the front. The car was parked, but Happy couldn’t back up due to the constant stream of cars leaving behind him, Being New York, no one was letting him in, and it was such a small road that if he even tried to back up a little to get someone to stop, he would hit something.

They had just finished a fight. Aliens had materialized in an arena close to where Happy, Steve, and Peter were. Tony met them there. The fight and easy so it was over quickly. So quickly, in fact, that everyone was still in the middle of evacuating and thus, blocking their car. Sure, they could announce that Ironman, Spiderman, and Captain America were in the car and they could get a path cleared all the way home, but they didn’t want to deal with the publicity or fans at the moment.

“You know, if Happy just drove straight, we’d be on the road.”Tony grumbled. “Are you suggesting he drives through the hedges?” Steve asked incredulously. Everyone but Tony was totally content to sit in the warm, luxury vehicle because it was so comfortable. “I’d pay for it. Superheroes shouldn’t have to wait in traffic.” Steve checked to make sure the divider was up and Happy couldn’t hear. He knew that the man would probably follow Tony’s ridiculous request if he heard enough complaints.

“What a power move. That’s some BDE right there.” Peter glanced up from his physics homework and laughed at Tony’s distress at completely mundane things before resuming his work.

“What’s BDE?” Tony’s attention now on Peter.

“Uh,” Peter’s eyes flickered to Steve, “It’s nothing.”

“You can’t just say something and take it back kid. Haven’t you seen Cap’s PSA about thinking about the impact of your words?” Steve groaned, “Don’t bring those up.”

“Well, spill it.”

“Sorry Mr. Stark, I’m too focused on my homework. I can’t talk right now.”

Tony snatched the paper out of his hand, “I think I’ve already made it clear that I don’t care about homework.”

“Fine. It stands for big dick energy.” Peter shifted and stole his homework back.

“Peter,” Tony gasped in mock horror, “How dare you say such vulgar things, especially in front of Captain America.” Steve shot him a glare. “Seriously though, what the hell?”

“It’s a saying. It’s like confidence sort of. I don’t think you have it anymore though.” Peter sassed.

“What? I am always confident” Tony asserted.

“Yeah, but it’s like you’re confident but you aren’t smug about it.” Peter explained, trying to hide the grin that was creeping through his lips. “You have small dick energy right now Mr. Stark.”

Steve let out an involuntary sigh. When was traffic going to pick up again?

Tony put his hand over his chest and pretended to be hurt. “Im insulted that you’d think that, but I definitely have BDE.”

They arrived at the tower and Peter provoked Tony one last time before rushing up the stairs. Tony ran after him and when he made it to the complex. “FRIDAY, tell Peter I have a big dick.”

“Ew, Tony TMI,” Sam whined. Bruce had his mouth open. Natasha was shaking his head. Pepper grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a private room. “What the fuck are you thinking talking about your dick to a child? That’s completely inappropriate and illegal?”

Tony shrunk down under Pepper’s gaze, “Well, he started it.”

That did not calm her down. Boy was he in for it.

4.
Bucky, Tony, Bruce, and Peter sat down to enjoy the delicious lasagna Sam had made before he and Steve were pulled away on business.

“Should we eat his food even though he had to leave?” Peter asked.

“Don’t worry about it Underoos. He was making it for everyone anyway. I know you’re hungry.” Bruce just shrugged and Bucky stared intently at the dish. He was strategizing a way to eat everything but one large piece, for Steve of course, so Sam wouldn’t get anything.

Bruce dished out the first pieces to everyone. It smelled amazing and you could see the cheese stretch as he pulled it out. Peter’s mouth was watering in anticipation. “Sam’s cooking is always so good. How does he even do it?” He wondered aloud.

“Who cares?” Tony responded before taking a large bite and making an exaggerated groan.

“Well, bone app the teeth,” Peter said as he dug in.

Tony laughed, “It’s bon appétit.”

“Yeah, bone apple tea” Peter replied taking another huge bite.

“Bon appétit"

“Boney African feet”

“Bon appétit”

“Blue nap defeat”

“Bon appétit”

“Bob ate the meat”

“Bon appétit”

“Crohn’s manatee”

“Bon appétit”

“Blind refugees”

Peter had kept a straight face, but watching Tony, Bruce, and Bucky become utterly confused was hilarious. He fell into a hysterical laughing fit. He couldn’t even hear what everyone else was saying.

“Did he hit his head on the last mission?” Bruce looked to Tony.

“I didn’t think so. I didn’t get anything from Karen either. Maybe he disabled her protocols again? Damn kid. Why does he hide his injuries to seem strong?”

Bucky was already scooping Peter into his arms and running to the medical room. Bruce was attaching stickers with wires through them when Peter calmed down enough to speak.

“What are we doing? Why am I here?”

“Don’t worry Peter, Bruce will do everything he can to make sure you get better.” Bucky reassured him.

“I’m sick? Was the lasagna poisoned?”

“What? No, it’s fine. You weren’t speaking right.”

“Let’s scan his cerebrum while he talks to see if there is any damage or swelling,” Bruce ordered.

“There’s a problem with my brain,” Peter squeaked, raising a hand cautiously to his head. Then he thought for a second. Trouble speaking? Did they mean the 'bon appétit’ thing? Peter fell into another fit of giggles.

“His emotions must be off too.” Tony’s face twisted in concern. “How could I not notice he hurt his head? He’s going to have permanent brain damage now.”

“Hey, don’t say that. Bruce will fix him.”

Seeing his friends and idol in pain killed his mood immediately. “Sorry, guys. I’m fine, really. You don’t have to do this.”

“Peter, don’t lie to us. We need to know about your injuries and you need to let us treat them.” Tony almost yelled in his anxious state, “Please tell me you are least remembering everything.”

“Is this about bon appétit?”

“He said it right, what did you do Bruce?”

“Nothing, I was still mapping out the area and looking for inconsistencies.”

“I was saying it wrong on purpose.”

“You were what?”

“It’s a meme.”

Tony walked out the door for a few minutes before coming back in. “You and your stupid internet jokes are going to be the death of me.”

5.
“It’s a big bunny, relax about it” Tony yelled as the whole team gathered around poking fun at his Christmas gift to Pepper. Everyone had come in to do an early Christmas celebration, and it was hard to miss the giant stuffed animal in the foyer of Tony’s mansion.

That’s why nearly every single person who went through the door decided to insult it.

That is - until Shuri and Peter walked in.

“An absolute unit”

“A chonk monster”

“Are those good things?" Tony asked hesitantly.

“Totally,” Shuri nodded.

“See, I told you it was a good gift,” He spun around and gestured to all the Avengers.

“For fifteen year olds. Do either of you want it?”

“Wouldn’t fit in my house.”

“Too large to fly with.”

“Absolute unit?” Tony mumbled to himself. “I shouldn't of made so much fun of Thor and Steve when they were learning modern Earth vernacular…"

6.
“It’s like those kids are speaking another language. How did I get so old?” Tony moaned over his cup of coffee.

That gave Steve an idea.

When Peter strolled into the kitchen, Steve turned to the man sitting next t him. “Hey, Buck”

“Mmhm?”

“Remember that dame from when we were younger? With the blonde hair and the blue eyes? She would always turn on for everyone because she was stacked and wore fancy clothing.”

Bucky studied Steve with a groggy haze in his eyes. He realized what Steve was trying to do and perked up immediately. “Yep, teach was always letting her get away with her fat-headed actions and hairy jokes.”

“And she started dating that Joe Blow who’s crew were all Freddie frats.”

“I remember him. He thought he was smooth with his duck tail and his pegged pants, but he was just a Beatnik from the boondocks.”

“Such a kook. Didn’t he jerk her around for months before she threw a hissy about him tossing the mirror warmer she gave him?”

“After they broke up, he got snockered and ended up in the slammer.”

“Holy Moly! He took a trip to the big house?”

“That’s straight. His old lady had to bail him out. She had to bum so much money to do it.”

“Everyone was saying he greased her new fella, but he was just blitzed. They were whistling dixie.”

“What’s going on?” Peter whispered to Tony.

“No idea,” He replied.

“Make you feel young?” Bucky grinned at him.

“No, just realized that I look worse than two men who are almost a century old. If you need me, I’ll be sulking in the lab.”

“I must be really tired. I couldn’t understand anything you guys were saying.” Peter mumbled. “Maybe I do have brain damage this time.” He followed Tony to the lab leaving behind two supersoliders who were laughing their heads off.

Chapter 8: Peter Parker is Not a Superhero and That’s Okay. (Platonic Steve and Peter Centric)

Summary:

Peter feels a little bit self-conscious about his place in the Avengers. Thankfully, Steve is there to help.

It’d been months since the events of homecoming. Tony had returned the suit and apologized for his actions. He made sure Peter knew he was just worried for his safety. He’d invited him to stay with the Avengers in the tower whenever he wanted and had FRIDAY give him full access. He was officially an ‘Unofficial Avenger’.

So why did these thoughts still swirl in his mind? You’re nothing without the suit. You couldn’t save anyone you loved. You’re not good enough.

Peter sat on the couch with his head cradled in his hands. Tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped down to his lap. He didn’t belong here in the tower. He wasn’t an Avenger. He was nothing.

“Peter?”

Peter jumped and spun around at his name. He’d been too emotional to even hear the person approach, which almost never happened since his enhanced hearing.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I was coming up from....Peter? Are you okay?” In an instant Steve was at Peter’s side, acting like a mother hen.

“You’re not injured right? What happened?”

Peter looked away and tried to wipe away his tears. “Nothing.” Despite his best efforts, his voice sounded broken. He didn’t want to seem weak in front of his hero.

Steve gave him a disappointed stare which seemed to see through Peter’s soul. His resolve gave out and he admitted his feelings. “Tony said that I was nothing without the Spiderman suit-“

“-He did WHAT?”

Peter frantically waved his hands “No it was a long while ago and I didn’t know him as well and he apologized and said that he was just worried about me.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped back in relief, but he made an expression like he was planning to have a talk with Tony later anyway.

“What if he’s right?” Peter’s voice came out garbled as he held back another round of tears.

“He wasn’t. He admitted that he wasn’t - which is a huge feat kid. Tony Stark does not apologize so he must’ve realized he was really wrong.” Steve sat next to Peter and stared directly into his eyes. He sounded so confident, so sincere, Peter couldn’t help but believe him a little bit.

“But without the bite. I’m nothing. I’m a poor kid from Queens who couldn’t save his uncle and...”

“You’re not nothing without your Spider Powers. You’re Peter Parker. And that’s an amazing person to be.”

Peter stared at the man with confusion. Hadn’t he just been explaining why Peter Parker wasn’t good enough?

“Peter Parker is incredibly smart. He’s kind hearted. He’s loyal. He’s got a whole lot of integrity. If everyone in the world was half as good as Peter Parker, we’d live in a much better place. You’re amazing kid.”

“But-“

“Have you seen how happy Tony is when you tinker with him in the lab? The fact that you can keep up with him is already unfathomable, but that you also convinced Tony to let you into his safe space is incredible. Did you see how Bruce’s face lit up when you met him and gushed about his work and not the Hulk? Have you seen the appreciation in Thor’s eyes when you patiently explain human things to him? Do you know how excited Bucky was when you were the second person to actually make contact with him without acting scared or flinching? That compassion and curiosity comes from the man inside, not the spider bite.”

Steve gave Peter a sad smile.

“I know what you’re going through.”

Peter tilted his head. How could the man who embodied American perfection with his perfect body, polite nature, and boyish charm feel like he did? The man fought freaking Nazi’s. Peter couldn’t imagine him doing anything wrong in his entire life.

“Before the serum I was Steve Rogers, skinny asthmatic who couldn’t serve his country. I regularly got beaten up and stood up on dates. On top of that, I was a poor, fatherless kid from Brooklyn.”

Steve’s eyes glazed over with remembrance.

“After the serum, I became Steve Rogers, super solider. I was paraded around as the ideal solider, encouraging men to enlist. I fought Nazi’s alongside my fellow soliders. I had a purpose. I was glad the serum had given me a way to fight against injustice and cruelty. But even with the serum, I failed to save my best friend. I crashed a plane in the ocean.”

Steve’s voice trembled a little.

“Then, I wake up seventy years in the future and everything has changed. I’ve been immortalized and idealized all over the U.S. Immediately, I was expected to pick up all the culture and get back to fighting. Everyone expected a perfect Captain America. No one cared about Steve Rogers. I was competent on the battlefield, but off it I suffered from flashbacks, depression, and PTSD. I thought I was weak.”

“You couldn’t never be weak.”

“Thanks.” Steve grinned at Peter. “So I took the trip around the country. I started to go to a therapist. I moved into the tower and became family with all you guys. Things started looking up. The trick is, you’ve gotta separate them. Spiderman is for fights, for patrols. He’s a part of you, but he can’t exist without Peter Parker, not the other way around. He may seem perfect, but that’s only because of what you’ve given him. Am I making sense?”

“Like how Steve Rogers is the man who makes soup when one of us gets sick or carries us to our bedroom when we fall asleep on the couch? How he draws funny comic strips and sucks at Instagram? Captain America isn’t those things.”

“Right. Captain America is my job. I don’t need to let it define me though. I like Steve Rogers without Captain America. You should try to like Peter Parker without Spiderman.”

“Okay.” Peter sat in silence for a moment, contemplating Steve’s words. “Thanks.” He was sincere as he wrapped his arms around his friend.

“Are Iron Man and Tony Stark different?”

“Nah.”

“What? Why not?”

“He created Iron Man. He never needs to worry if he doesn’t deserve it or if he’s any good without it. Although our powers are built into our bodies, they were given to us by someone else. His power isn’t exactly from his body, but he made it so he can sure as hell claim it as his very own.”

“Bruce Banner and the Hulk?”

“I think Bruce would rather forget the Hulk. He sees it as a weakness if anything.”

Hmm. Peter’s brain was now churning, distracted from his previous insecurities. He wanted something to stump Steve.

“Sam! Sam didn’t make his armor.”

“Yeah, but he can take it off if he feel undeserving. Plus, he was the only one who could fly it. That’s pretty worthy.”

Their conversation got lighter as they started to jokingly chat about all the others powers.

The next day, after school, Peter noticed a sticky note on his door. It read “Peter makes the best scrambled eggs in the world - Clint” He grinned.

He threw his backpack down on the bed and noticed another note on the nightstand. “Peter always cleans up after he uses gym equipment, unlike some animals who live here - Natasha”

There were more, in the bathroom, on his dresser, all over the walls.

“Peter plays with the robots and makes sure they aren’t ever lonely - Tony”

“Peter taught me about LEGOS and I’ve found them very therapeutic when I’m feeling anxious - Bucky.”

“Peter always offers to help me when I’m baking something in the kitchen. It’s very much appreciated - Sam.”

“Peter stands up to the Avenger haters online even when we insist it’s fine. It’s good to know he has our back. - Bruce.”

“Peter fixes our weapons and machines when Tony’s too busy even though he sometimes has homework or other responsibilities. He’s so selfless. - Clint”

“Peter shows and explains funny internet jokes when a team member’s in a bad mood or after a depressing mission. It brightens up my day every time - Steve.”

When he opened the closet door, hundreds more papers fluttered out. Peter felt warm all over and he was beaming as he read all of the compliments. His team - no his family loved him for him, not for his powers.

He kept every single one in a photo book and read them whenever he had a bad day. Occasionally, he would find new ones. Specific or silly - they always improved his mood.

That’s how ever Avenger ended up with multiple colorful stacks of sticky notes in their rooms.

Chapter 9: Not On My Watch (Peter and Natasha Centric)

Summary:

*** Request by MarvelObsessedgirl3:

Please do a chapter on spidermom comforting content with Peter! Xx

Notes:

I made this comfort a little different than between Steve and Peter because I feel like Natasha would have her own approach to helping Peter out.

“Yes!” Peter pumped his fist up and down in delight. He leaned forward a bit and stuck out his tongue. “Who’s next?”

Bucky sighed and sat down. He placed the paddle on the table for the next player. As the team was now learning, Peter’s “Spidey Sense” was making him a pretty unstoppable table tennis player. It was like he knew exactly where the ping pong ball was going before his opponent even finished their swing. He’d already beaten almost everyone there, Clint, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Steve, and Bucky, the only person who was still in the tower that hadn’t played was Thor.

“I will best you in this game of small tennis young spider.” Thor boasted as he approached the table and grabbed the paddle. The rest of the team was hesitant. Their suspicions weren’t misplaced: Thor was a little bit buzzed from the mead he brought with him and they weren’t even sure if he’d ever played before. After Peter’s displays of victory though, their competitive spirit got the best of them and they egged Thor on, eager to see someone beat Peter.

“Go for it!”

“You’ve got this!”

“Keep your eye on the ball!”

“Don’t mess this up Goldilocks.”

Thor took the paddle in his hand and looked it over. “I have over a thousand years of experience swinging the mighty Mjölnir. My aim is excellent.”

“Bring it on!” Peter made a ‘come here’ gesture with his hand.

Thor wound up his swing, slammed the ball on the table, and BANG. The ping pong ball was now flaming as it zipped right into Peter’s shoulder. The fabric of his science T-shirt was burnt off.

“Thor” He whined. “Now my shirt only has one sleeve.”

“The ball has to bounce on your side first buddy.” Steve said in the calm voice he always used to explain new, human things to Thor.

“Woah, did that already cause a bruise?” Clint’s question cut through the chorus of groans and suddenly everyone was staring at the offending purple mark.

Thor’s expression was horrified. “Peter, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“-That was already there. Don’t worry about it.” Peter assured, glancing at his shoulder.

“From what?” Clint was curious.

“Just a blip while I was out on patrol. I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally swung into one of the bank robbers. Hurt like a….” Peter trailed off when he remembered Steve was in the room. “It did the trick though.” He laughed.

“Karen should’ve informed me if you were injured. Maybe I should…” Tony started fussing and rapidly coming up with suit modifications like he always did when Peter got even a tiny injury.

Peter grinned. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”

Throughout this whole exchange, Natasha was silent. She was staring at Peter in an intense way. She noticed the sadness that flashed through Peter’s eyes when he glanced at the bruise. She could tell he was faking the casual laugh and grin when he talked to the team. She knew he was lying about the way he got the injury.

When the others were cleaning up, she approached Peter and pulled him to a hallway. “How’d you get the injury?”

“On patrol. Remember the-“

Natasha’s eyes narrowed and Peter stopped talking. He knew she knew. Natasha wasn’t someone to put up with bullshit.

“I,” Peter averted his eyes to a speck on the wall over her shoulder, “I got into a bit of fight at school.”

Natasha assessed his face. He was clearly telling the truth.

“Could you please not tell anyone? It really wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“What did you fight about?” She asked. She knew Peter would not start a fight for the sake of violence or expressing frustrations. He was as nonviolent as a superhero could be. It would have to be something big for him to get involved in a fight.

Peter looked surprised. “Um,” His eyes drifted to another spot.

“Don’t lie to me. Did he or she say something hurtful?”

“Well, he did…”

“What was it? Come on Peter, I know it had to be something very bad for you to get involved. I’m not blaming you. I just want to know what happened.”

“It was just the usual. He called me Penis Parker and then shoved me. I stumbled into the locker on accident and hit my shoulder.” Peter blurted out.

“That’s not a fight. That’s bullying.”

I guess…”

“Why didn’t you hit him back?” Natasha reconsidered after remembering that she was in some ways a role model for the kid. “I mean why didn’t you tell a teacher or trusted adult?”

“By the time they set a meeting, the bruises would already be healed and that would look suspicious. I don’t want to accidentally blow my cover or get in trouble for lying, even if I haven’t. I can’t fight back. I don’t want to hurt him badly or accidentally kill him.”

Natasha’s fury makes room for a little pride as Peter describes how he refuses to be in an unfair fight. He’s better than all of us.

“Plus, Aunt May would have to take a day off to come to the meeting. I have enhanced healing and I can ignore their words. This is the first time I was actually hurt.He probably didn’t even mean to. It was just a little shove. I’m the one who lost my balance. It’s all fine. Please don’t tell.”

Her heart throbs a bit at the amount of pain and pleasing in his voice. “Okay.”

Despite her words, she’s definitely going to help. She’s the Black Widow. She knows how to get what she wants without violence or authority figures if she wants to.

—————

The sound of splashing precedes their view of the pool. Tony Stark had blown up the air conditioner in the same week their pool had been drained to get re-plastered - what are the odds?

A well known fact around the tower was that Natasha loved to swim. The cool water was refreshing and she instantly relaxed whenever she submerged her head in it. Everything was so quiet and still underwater. Swimming laps was like gliding through glass. It was a form of release that she throughly enjoyed, along with ballet.

This week, seriously what are the odds, the Avengers had a run in with a particularly horrible HYDRA base. It had a near perfect recreation of The Red Room where she had been trained. She was not in a good state when she returned. The heat of an unconditioned tower in the middle of New York on the cusp of summer plus the absence of a pool in addition to her terrible memories was not a good mix. In fact, some of the team members may have been fearing for their lives.

“It’s too hot Mr. Stark. I’m going swimming.” Peter groaned as he sat up on the couch.

“I told you kid, the pool is out of commission.” Tony sighed as he worked on fixing the A/C unit.

“I know. I’m going to the one at school.” Peter announced. “Well, the one with the agreement with our school to let students and friends in. I don’t think it’s far from here.”

Natasha, the only other inhabitant of the room perked up. “I’m going too.”

“Alright.” Peter wasn’t phased by her declaration and knew better than to say anything that could be taken as an argument.

That’s how him and Natasha found themselves carrying towels and sunscreen onto the pool deck. She immediately stripped and slathered sunscreen on herself: her one piece bathing suit was extremely cute, but it had cuts that would make strange tan lines. She stopped when she noticed Peter looking across the water with an unpleasant expression.

“Is that him?” She subtly caught a glimpse of the teenager who had Peter’s attention. “The one with the dark hair? Looks like he’s of Central American heritage? 5’5” or 5’6”?”

“Nat, stop. How did you get all that from one millisecond long look?”

“Spy instincts. And don’t avoid the question.”

Peter nodded glumly.

Really? This kid? After all the American teenage movies that she watched, definitely only to blend in with U.S. culture and not because she liked corny happy endings because they made her feel good and allowed her to ignore her own childhood, she was expecting some giant of a teenager who played football. Wait, does Peter’s school even have football? She didn’t think less of Peter because of it though. She’d rather be punched by Steve, who would never do such a thing, than be verbally picked apart by Tony, who also wouldn’t intentionally harm his teammates.

“I’ll be right back.”

“But you were so anxious to get in.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She gave him her best smile and walked off the pool deck. Behind her she heard some kids yelling.

“Hey it’s Peter, come over here man.”

“Why would you want to hang out with Penis?”

“Flash…”

So some of those kids are his friends? He did mention he was a part of an academic team, maybe some of the kids were teammates he liked and not just the bully.

She stalked toward the car, searching for something. She didn’t have a plan, but they did take Tony’s car, there must be something usable. She opened a metal tumbler in the cup holder and immediately wrinkled her nose a bit. Eww, green juice.

She put down the cup and opened a random compartment. What the hell Stark? It was a freezer full of ice pops. It even had a side compartment that looked like it could flash freeze things and extra sleeves in the side.

“Why?”

“I believe that was put in after a tinkering binge.” Their driver, who was content to wait in the air conditioned car for a while, responded. “There have been several failed Scotch-Pop attempts as well when the temperature is over 90 degrees.”

Of course there have been. Good ol’ eccentric Tony and his weird impulses to build crap.

Hold up. She looked back at the green juice and into the flash freezer with the empty sleeves. She smiled.

When she came back on deck, Peter was talking with a guy who seemed friendly at the edge of the pool. There were a few kids splashing in the water and some sitting on the steps.

“Hey Peter?” She called out in a genuinely happy voice. She was going to get a pool and revenge. “Look what I found.” She waved a handful of the treats next to her. She continued walking until she was up next to him. She handed him a cherry one.

“Wow. Thanks Nat! By the way, this is Ryan. He’s a friend from my school.”

“Nice to meet you Ryan. My name is Natasha. I’m a very close friend of Peter’s.” Peter blushed a bit at being called a very close friend. “Would you like one? I have plenty.”

Ryan was a little awkward around her, but she found it endearing. She fanned out all of the popsicles for him to choose one. Soon all of kids had one except Flash and there were two left in her hand. They were both identical shades of green but she could tell there was a difference.

“I love lime, don’t know why it isn’t more popular.” She might have been letting a little bit of the fake flirty tone from when she was a honeypot agent seep into her voice.

“Right? It’s my favorite flavor.” The kid enthusiastically said and grabbed the popsicle she was holding out. She opened hers and started to push on the bottom to eat it. “Delicious.”

The kid did the same only he immediately wrinkled his nose and looked at the package funny. “Oh sorry, do you not like it? You didn’t have to say you liked lime if you didn’t.”

“No, I did. I do.” He pushed up on the bottom quickly and shot most of the ice in his mouth. It hit the back of his throat and he started choking. She patted his back and said “oh honey” in the most patronizing voice she could muster. Once his breaths evened out, his face turned beet red.

“You should probably learn to chew or eat patiently.” She added before calling out to Peter. “Can we go swimming now. I’ll put sunscreen on your back, but I need to get in the pool.”

“Sure.” Without even looking, she could tell Peter was smiling. A few of the kids were doing terrible jobs at suppressing their laughter.

Flash tried to redeem himself by whispering to the kids around him. “I bet Penis is all pasty and skinny.” Both Natasha and Peter heard him as they walked toward their stuff. She saw Peter wince.

So maybe she casually positioned him so that the other kids could see the tanned Spiderman muscles in all their glory while she helped him with his back.

—————

“Goodmorning!” Steve greeted Peter as the latter frantically rushed down the stairs.

“Uh. Hi Steve. Hi Nat.” Peter dropped down to peer under the table. “Has anyone seen my phone?”

Natasha actually did remember seeing it recently in Tony’s lab. “Yeah. I think I know where it is. Sit down and eat breakfast. I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks.” Peter promptly sat down and started shoveling eggs into his mouth. Natasha slipped down to the lab. Sure enough, his phone was sitting right on the table. When she lifted it, the case fell off. It was smashed. She was a bit surprised to find a really old model. Wouldn’t Stark upgrade Peter’s phone?

Then she recalled an older conversation where Peter had accidentally mentioned how often he broke his phone on patrol and how he didn’t want to burden anyone with constantly buying new, latest version phones. That gave her an idea.

She looked to her left and sure enough there were about ten of the latest model of Stark Phones. They had been teased in advertisements, but their release date wasn’t for a few months. She popped the SIM card out of Peter’s phone and put it into the new phone. She knew Tony’s phones just took SIM cards and kept everything saved and updated because he hated “All that new phone shit.”

"I’m putting your phone in your backpack alright. The case is destroyed though. It fell right off.”

“Mmhm” Peter swallowed his mouthful. “It was an accident.” He then glanced at the clock and his eyes got wide. “Bye guys. Thanks again for breakfast and my phone!” Steve laughed a bit.

His phone buzzed just as first period ended. “Don’t you know how to put it on silent?” Flash condescended.

Peter just brushed it off and reached in his backpack to grab it. He felt for the silent switch. That feels different. He took out the phone. Holy shit. This is the new smart phone.

“Tony wanted you to see if you could find any bugs before launch. You can keep it after. Have a nice day at school *Black Widow emoji*” There was a text from Natasha in the middle of the screen. A small smile peaked out through Peter’s lips.

“Woah. Peter is that the new Stark phone?” Soon people were crowded around him admiring the new technology. Flash walked to second period alone.

—————

“And that is why Stark Industries plays a vital role in the ever-changing world of technological advancements. Any questions?” Tony stood on the podium for his press conference. Both Natasha and Peter were behind him, just slightly off camera.

That’s when Natasha acted. “Whoops” She pretended to slip a little bit and Peter was nudged into the line of the cameras.

Tony spun around. “Ah yes, this is my intern Peter. He’s brilliant. I’m glad to have young minds like his on my side.” Peter smiled and gave a quick nod before moving back off stage.

“I’m sorry.” She said, though she wasn’t really.

“No problem.” He didn’t seem upset at all, just feeling a tiny bit of adrenaline.

“You’re actually an intern with Tony Stark?!”

“He knew you by name?!"

Everyone was awestruck with Peter the next day at school. Natasha noticed when he came home with a bigger smile and more pep to his step.

—————

“He said ‘hopefully your internship pays well because you can’t even afford to buy decent shoes.’”

Natasha couldn't help but overhear a part of Peter’s phone conversation to Ned.

The next day at school, she snuck into the locker room during gym. Sweaty teenage boys reek. She pinched her nose and checked for people before sneaking in. She quickly found Flash’s locker and grabbed a shoe.

“Where’s your other shoe Eugene?” The chemistry teacher frowned as Flash walked in late. “I won’t have any nonsense in my class, do you understand?”

“I was looking for it. I just couldnt find it. I think someone stole it.” Flash glared around the room.

“Why would someone steal only one shoe? I don’t have time for silly excuses, just take a seat.

—————

“I bet you would be a baby if you ever saw a snake. You’d probably cower in any dangerous situation.”

Natasha just happened to see the message from Flash on Peter’s phone.

Why would he choose snakes specifically? Unless…

“I know a class of students who would be just thrilled for the retile sanctuary to come and give them a guest lecture. Yes, I’d be willing to anonymously donate the funds to do it.” She hung up the phone.

“He really likes you.” The handler grinned at Peter, who had the snake across his shoulders and partially around his arm.

“I like him too!” Peter was laughing. This giant snake was like the coolest thing he’d ever seen, well besides all the superheroes and stuff.

MJ had a slight smile on her face as she watched Peter interact with the snake. “That’s pretty awesome.”

Peter blushed.

“Would you like a turn?” The handler turned toward Flash, who was already looking a little green. “No!” He nearly yelled, getting the attention of everyone in class. “I'm just not into snakes.”

—————
“Because only nerds play with LEGOS.” Natasha heard Flash’s voice as Peter closed the car door. He tried to grin like nothing had happened.

The next day, there was a video that had been anonymously uploaded that showed Thor, fascinated by a LEGO Set. If that blonde embodiment of masculinity was into it, it was no longer uncool.

—————

And for good measure,

“Hey Peter! I didn’t know this was your class.”

Peter’s head jerked up. He knew they’d been having a guest speaker, but he hadn’t realized it would be Steve.

“Hi Steve. I mean hi Mr. Captain America.”

“You know Peter?” Someone called out from the back.

“Oh yeah. He’s always around the tower with his internship. He helped Tony fix my shield once. He’s also been awesome about teaching me how to use technology. Peter adjusts most of those Instagram photos everyone seems too like.” Steve flashed a dazzling smile. “Anyway, where were we?”

—————

Peter was clearly happier. Everyone in the tower had noticed, but he didn’t tell anyone why. Only Natasha, whose eyes would occasionally light up at Peter smiling or dancing around the house, seemed to have a clue.

“I know this was all you. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you have any problems, I’ll help you solve them. Us spiders have to stick together, right?”

Peter nodded and leaned against Natasha’s shoulder as the movie started.

Chapter 10: Move-In (Platonic Avengers)

Summary:

Tony looks back to when everyone moved into the tower.

“Well, Steve called it a ‘big, ugly building’ when I barely knew him.” Tony commented.

“I did.” Steve admitted. “But I didn’t really mean it personally. I thought all of the modern buildings weren’t appealing when I was first defrosted. They’ve grown on me though, especially the Avengers tower.”

“You’re just saying that because you live here now Capsicle.” Tony jokingly punched him in the arm. “But the point is, what did you guys honestly think when you first saw the tower? Since Doom destroyed the top floors of my baby, it’s a chance to redo everything. It’s your tower to now. I want your input.”

Natasha just shrugged. “I didn’t really pay attention to forming a personal opinion. I don’t have an eye for building aesthetics. More of a functionality person. As long as we still have the gym and large kitchen, I’m fine.”

Clint nodded. “Beats my old apartment near SHIELD. Fancy bed.”

Bruce just shrugged. “I was still getting used to skyscrapers and steel buildings. Everything was so different from India. I was trying to adapt again and keep everything under control. I don’t really remember a specific first impression of the tower.”

“You guys are the worst.” Tony threw his hands into an exasperated gesture. “Peter? You weren’t there in the beginning, but any thoughts on what the tower used to or should look like?”

“Everything you do looks impressive Mr. Stark.” Peter answered sincerely.

Tony shook his head. The kid was too starstruck to give a helpful answer. Everyone else didn’t live in the tower permanently so he didn’t really care. Plus, he knew he’d probably get the same indifferent commentary or something over the top and stupid, looking at you, Thor.

“You guys must’ve had some opinions. JARVIS, can you pull up a video of when Clint first moved in?”

“I need Mr. Barton’s permission to access footage from his private quarters.”

Tony looked at Clint, who seemed nonplussed. “Go ahead JARVIS. Don’t expect anything interesting though.”

——Clint 2017——

“And here is your room.” Tony opened the door and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “The bedroom is that door, the bathroom is over there, and here is your kitchen. We’re standing in the living room. I had J pick out furniture you might like, but if you want something else. Let me know.”

“Thanks. Cameras?”

“It helps JARVIS monitor the tower.”

“Okay.”

“You can unpack now. If you need any help bring your stuff up, tell the doormen downstairs. I’m going to be working in the lab. Feel free to wander around and check out the rest of the building in more depth.”

“Got it.”

Tony left.

Clint did a quick sweep of the room, instinctually looking for any signs of danger. He looked at the air duct and lightly pushed on it. A tiny smirk appeared on his face. He grabbed his small bag and dumped it on the kitchen table.

“Unpacked.” He announced to no-one in particular. He then locked the door, went to the bed, and promptly fell asleep.

————————

“That was it?” Tony gaped.

“It wasn’t exactly like I was carrying my new wife across the threshold of our new house or getting the keys to my first house with my best friend. What were you expecting? Joyful squealing? Complaints? Swearing?” Clint sounded a tiny bit offended.

“No. It’s just - all you had was a backpack. There’s like one pair of clothes.”

“I was wearing one.”

“Not an excuse.”

“I bought more.”

“Why didn’t you have any?”

Clint twisted a pen around his fingers. “I went on missions 5-6 times a week. SHEILD provided the uniform or the undercover outfit. Slept naked, or if I was tired enough, in my clothes. Didn’t need any.”

Tony was in shock. How could Clint not own any personal effects? Knowing about his past in the circus, it made Tony feel a little sick to see how Clint was used by SHIELD. How he’d never really had or needed a home. “Aren’t the rest of you surprised?”

“That Clint wasn’t into clothes? Not really.” Bruce joked and Natasha snorted. Tony looked at them with surprise. Why weren’t they rattled at all seeing their friend’s meager conditions.

“Can I see Bruce?”

Bruce nodded and JARVIS pulled up a video of Bruce’s room.

——Bruce 2017——

“This is your stop.” Tony was grinning at Bruce as they entered the room.

“Great! I really appreciate it Tony. The lab is amazing.”

“Don’t mention it. Get settled before you start working. If you’re anything like me, and I think you are, it’ll be hours or before you’ll take a break once you start.”

Bruce laughed in agreement.

“I heard they took your bags before you entered. They’ll be up soon.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Tony smiled again before he left.

“Hi neighbor!”

Bruce jumped and spun around. “What the hell Hawkeye?”

“Just being friendly and introducing myself to my new neighbor. Hi, I’m Clint.” Clint waved from the hole in the ceiling. “I’m ordering pizza in an hour if you want to join. I’ll be down in the media room.” He popped the air duct back into place and disappeared.

Bruce had his hand over his heart, but relaxed as soon as Clint left. Knocking at the door alerted him that his stuff was ready.

Bruce opened the door and took one carry-on suitcase from the man. He tipped him as well, which surprised the employee a bit, and then closed the door.

He rubbed his fingers alongside the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Okay. Okay.” After a minute or two, he wheeled the bag to his room. He put it on the bed and unzipped it.

The suitcase was revealed to be only half full. As Bruce started pulling stuff out, he seemed to realize something.

“Jeez. I need more clothes.” Ninety percent of what he pulled out were medical supplies that he traveled with and monitors to make sure he didn’t get too excited and wake the other guy. The clothes he did have weren’t exactly right for New York. They were made for much warmer weather and it was almost fall.

As he finished up, his stomach rumbled. He laughed and then went down to meet up with Clint.

————————

“Well that wasn’t exactly...” Tony couldn’t believe how little Bruce had brought with him. His musings were interrupted by the sound of snickering.

“Your face.” Clint had his knees drawn up and was curled on himself. “JARVIS, can I get a screen grab of Bruce’s expression.”

“I don’t give consent for that.” Bruce spoke up, blushing a bit. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“What about Nat?” Tony hoped that Natasha at least had all of her undercover clothes with her when she moved in.

She quirked an eyebrow up and thought for a moment before ordered out “Pull it up JARVIS.”

——Natasha 2018——

“Hey...” A breathless Tony ran through the door to the living room where Natasha was standing with a concentrated look.

Her brows were furrowed as she studied every aspect of the room closely.

“What if this wasn’t your room? How long had you been in here?”

“Since you turned into the gym. It is my room.”

Tony opened and closed his mouth like he was trying to find something to say, but couldn’t come up with the words.

“Why are you filming me?” Her eyebrows furrowed further and her lips formed a thin line. Her eyes were piercing.

“It’s just for JARVIS and security reasons.” Tony hurriedly exclaimed. “I can’t even see the videos without you allowing it anyway.”

“JARVIS?”

“I can confirm. Sir will not be able to access any footage from private areas unless the parties involved give consent.”

Natasha nodded and then relaxed a bit, satisfied with the answer.

“No creepy stuff. Promise.” Tony held out his hand to shake Natasha’s hand.

“Mmhm.” She quickly complied and completed the handshake.

“Okay...Bruce and I are leaving for a conference in about ten minutes and Clint’s out on a mission so the tower’s all yours.” Tony let himself out.

Natasha grabbed a small duffel that had been stashed behind a chair. She looked around the room one more time before unzipping the bag. She pulled out some papers from the side and placed them on the table.

She opened the main compartment to reveal several outfits, which she hung in her closet. There was also a book and a bag of something concealed from view.

She crunched the duffel bag and placed it in a closet. She sat down on the edge of the bed for a moment, looking deep in though, before there was a ringing from the other room.

“Goliath” flashed across the TV screen and Nat grabbed a remote and answered the call. The screen showed an empty room.

“Tasha?”

“All me.”

Clint moved on screen and grinned. “When’d you get there?”

“About an hour ago.”

“Excited to be neighbors?”

“Thrilled.” Her tone was mocking but there was an undercurrent of happiness. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going.” Clint answered. They both clearly knew not to give away any information about their mission, but Clint let his expressions show so Nat would know he was doing alright.

“All yours.” Steve stepped into frame. He was damp and had a towel wrapped around his waist. “Hey Natasha!”

“Hello.” She smiled.

“Where are you?”

“In Tony’s tower.”

“Oh, you moved in.”

“Yeah, today. You should join us. It’s the Avengers tower now.”

“Maybe eventually. I’ve still got some business in DC.”

She looked thoughtful and than hummed in acknowledgment. “At least it beats that room in SHIELD.”

Steve groaned and laughed. “At least here I have windows in my room.”

Then there was a loud noise and Steve and Clint stiffened. “Gotta go. See you later.” Clint said and the screen turned dark.

Natasha was pretty much unaffected. The noise didn’t sound too big and she was confident in her teammates’ abilities. She stood up and tilted her head.

Then she grabbed keys from the counter and left the room.

————————

“You didn’t have windows?!” Tony’s inflection was a tough higher than normal.

Steve just shrugged. “They keep it very military.”

“That’s not...” Tony couldn’t even think of an argument. He couldn’t even fathom why everyone was so unphased by this. Natasha didn’t even have much stuff either.

“Should I show Steve now?” JARVIS preemptively inquired.

Tony glanced at Steve for an answer. He was hoping he’d agree because he wanted to see a reaction. If Steve had only lived in a small apartment during Depression and a SHIELD room with no window, he must have some reaction to his room in the tower? And he went on that tour of America, he must have normal clothes and personal effects, right?

“Go ahead.” Steve called to the ceiling, a habit he hadn’t broken yet.

——Steve 2018——

“Thank you for the room.” Steve had a stoic expression and was standing in an uptight, tense way. It took a few months after he moved in for him to become comfortable around Tony.

“Don’t mention it. Room’s always empty anyway. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll leave you to it.” Tony shut the door behind him, leaving Steve alone in the room.

He immediately walked to his kitchenette and opened a cabinet, pulling out a glass and filling it with water from the tap. He took a sip and sighed, looking around the room.

“Guess this is home for a while.” He mumbled under his breath. He finished the rest of the water with one swig and then immediately washed the glass and placed it in the drying rack.

He pulled out a piece of paper from his backpack and wrote “Needed” across the top. He worked his way through the other spaces in the kitchen. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the Captain America themed utensils mixed in with normal ones but only added food to his list.

After combing through the kitchen, the bathroom, and the closets, he was satisfied with his list which was now only a grocery list that included cleaning products.

He looked directly at the camera and scowled with his arms crossed. His hand twitched, but he didn’t do anything. He just looked up at the ceiling suspiciously. “Tony’s tower…” his voice was barely audible as he visibly resigned himself to living with cameras and an AI.

Then he grabbed the backpack again. He went to the bedroom and started pulling stuff out. He gingerly placed a compass and some pictures on a night stand. He took a stack of neatly folded clothes and placed them in the drawers of his dresser. Finally, he pulled out a folder labelled important, presumably containing all his paperwork, and put it in a drawer.

There was a knock at his door. He crossed through his small living room and listened carefully for a second before opening the door.

“I heard Tony started collecting fossils.” Natasha grinned a bit.

“One isn’t much of a collection.” Steve retorted.

“All moved in?”

Steve nodded.

“Like it?”

He hesitated. “Much better than I’ve ever had. Nice place to stay for now.”

She patted his shoulder in understanding. “Up for something to eat?”

“Always”

She snorted and then pulled him off into the hallway.”

————————

Tony was done. How had all of his teammates lived like this? They didn’t have anything with them.

He looked at his teammates incredulously. They looked happy. They were all sitting together on the couch laughing and sharing stories.

He thought back to all the luxury items he owned. That’s when he decided to spoil them, not because he felt like he needed to so his team would like him, but because he wanted them to have more.

That night, Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce all walked into a room with wrapped gifts in them. Tony selected clothing that would suit each of the individuals. Peter helped Tony pick out high-end art supplies for Steve, a new video game system that hadn’t been released to the public yet for Clint, a set of antique knives and new ballet slippers for Natasha, and a set of rare spices and cookbooks for Bruce.

Tony ended up designing the tower himself, but he realized that the Avengers really weren’t materialistic. They preferred the people to the place, and he loved that more than he could articulate.

Chapter 11: Baby Monitor

Summary:

Peter’s baby monitor footage is leaked to the team.

Peter flew through the open window and landed with a tiny thump on the wood flooring of Stark Tower.

“Karen, please do one last scan of The police radars in the area.”

“Who’s Karen?”

Peter jumped at the voice above it. “Clint?”

“The one and only.” Clint smirked as he plopped down from an air duct. “So who’s Karen? Is she a friend?” He winked as he asked the question.

“She’s my AI.” Peter answered just as Karen informed him there were no current criminal activities as far as she could see.

“You have an AI? Like JARVIS or FRIDAY?” Clint asked, peering at the mask.

“Yep!”

“How do I get one of those? Tony!” Clint whined as the genius entered the room.

“When you learn appreciate the technology I’ve already given you maybe.”

“I do appreciate it.” Clint insisted. “Hey, what are you laughing at?”

Peter was giggling. “Just last week you threw all your exploding arrows at my web to ‘see what would happen’. The gym nearly exploded.”

“Is that why the security camera was covered in soot?” Tony glared at Clint.

“So we can’t see video?” Natasha made a sad face.

“Don’t sneak up on a man in his own tower!” Tony flinched.

“Do you take video during trainings Karen?” Peter called out.

“I take video all the time. Mr. Stark refers to it as the ‘Baby Monitor Protocol’.”

Peter’s face turned completely red.

“Are you gonna show us the footage?” Natasha smirked.

“Um. Sure. Karen, can you pull up video from last Monday around three on the TV?”

Natasha, Tony, Clint, and Peter clamored onto the couch as the screen turned on.

—————

The TV showed Peter standing over the sink in his bathroom with the mask on.

“I need information. You’ll give it to me now.”

He looked at up at his face in the mirror and coughed.

“I need information. You’ll give it to me now.” His voice was slightly deeper.

“Karen? Do you think I sound like a girl?

—————

“Nope. Cut the video.” Peter yelped.

“What’re we watching?” Bruce asked as he and Steve sat down.

“Trying to find video of Clint almost blowing himself up.” Natasha said with an amused face. Tony and Clint were too busy giggling.

“Try Tuesday around 11 maybe?”

—————

“The police will be arriving soon.” Peter swung away from the robbers who were stuck to the side of the building with his webs.

A swing later and he was soaring over the next street over.

“MJ?” His voice cracked in surprise.

The mask turned toward a girl in the street. It focused on her smirking face.

“Son of a monkey!” The mask jerked to the side and Peter just barely missed a lamppost.

————-

“How about later that day?” Peter cut in.

Sam and Bucky laughed from the bean bag chairs where they had joined the viewing party.

“Son of a monkey?” Natasha questioned fondly.

“Kid, you can swear better.” Clint faked disappointment.

“But he shouldn’t.” Steve and Bruce added, staring at Clint harshly.

—————

Peter was still on patrol. He glanced down at the sidewalks moving quickly below. Suddenly he stopped.

“Can I pet your puppy?” He held his hand out to the Corgi puppy next to him.

—————

Peter had his hand over his face now.

“It was a cute puppy.” Bruce comforted him.

“Um, try Thursday morning?”

—————

“So can you like, lay eggs?” Ned was looking awestruck at Peter’s costume.

“No! Why would you think that?”

—————-

“I meant Wednesday”

—————

“Come on. Talk to me.” Peter made some kissy noises with his mouth. He beckoned the spider to come closer.

“Scott can do it.” He sighed dejectedly.

—————

“I’m sure it was Wednesday. Another hour later?”

Tony has tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.

“Can you talk to spiders?” Bucky shot Peter a questioning look.

—————

“There’s nothing patriotic about illegal fireworks.” Peter stood with his legs shoulder-width apart and his hands on his hips.

“Stop, drop, and roll.” He was clearly imitating Steve.

—————

“Sorry Mr. Rogers.” Peter’s face was impossibly redder. “Karen, could you go later please?”

Everyone, already having seen the “Rappin with Cap” videos, were giggling at Steve, who was sporting a blush on his own.

—————

“I’m just going to leave.” Peter left the room.

Chapter 12: Mighty Peter

Summary:

Peter can lift Thor’s hammer.

“Get your feet off the table.” Natasha quipped as Tony crosses his ankles on top of the coffee table.

“It’s my coffee table in my tower.” Tony was unphased as he rested his head against the back of the couch.

“It’s rude.” Steve chastised over his sketchbook.

“I’m always rude.”

Steve rolled his eyes while Natasha threw the TV remote directly into Tony’s knee. He yelped and removed his feet.

“Peter is on his way up.” FRIDAY announced.

“Finally, some entertainment!” Tony grinned, thinking of all the things he could show Peter in the lab.

Peter strolled in. “Hi guys!” He beamed at the group in the living room and waved.

There was a chorus of greetings while Peter put down his backpack on a countertop. When he spun around though, he stunned his toe on something hard.

A noise came from the back of Peter’s throat immediately. He grabbed his foot with his hand in pain.

“What happened?” Steve gave Peter his attention.

“Just stubbed my toe on Thor’s hammer. Why does he leave it on the floor?”

Tony laughed. “I need to make some rules about where he can leave that thing.”

Natasha grumbled her agreements. The day she’d tripped over the hammer was not a pleasant one for Thor.

“Yeah.” Peter sighed. “Think he’d listen?” He leaned over and lifted the hammer. “Should I just put it in his room? Maybe with a sticky note?”

When he looked up from the hammer, he saw Steve and Tony wearing shocked expressions. Natasha looked as surprised as she could. Bruce, on his way through, dropped his papers and Clint whistled in disbelief from his spot in the vent.

“Sorry.” Peter slowly put down the hammer and raised his hands. “I wasn’t aware I wasn’t allowed to touch it. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve tried out Hawkeye’s bow, and I use Steve’s special weights when I workout. Sorry.”

“Is that the real thing?” Tony blurted out at the exact same time Steve said “We aren’t mad at you.”

“I think it’s real?” Peter relaxed and picked up the hammer again. He placed it in Tony’s lap. “Can you tell?”

Tony tried to pick the hammer up or stand up. It was no use - he was stuck. “Kid, I can’t pick this up. You need to move it.”

“Sorry Mr. Stark. I didn’t realize I was using excessive force to pick it up.” Peter quickly snatched the hammer. “Why are you all staring at me like that if you aren’t mad?”

“We’re just surprised you can lift it?” Natasha supplies.

“It isn’t that heavy.”

“Apparently only those who are worthy of ruling Asgard are able to lift it. None of us can, except Steve who can move it a tiny bit.” Bruce informed him.

“I’m barely handling this superhero business. I’m going to leave the ruling to Thor I think.” Peter put the hammer back in the same spot.

“You touched my bow?!”

Notes:

**Sorry for the longer break before this fic - I enjoyed my Labor Day Weekend and I Hope most of you got a chance to as well. Also, as school is starting up again and I'm a busy college student, my works probably won't be updated as often or they might be shorter. I'll do my best though!

Chapter 13: Spidey Powers (Peter Centric)

Summary:

Peter shows off a few of his powers to his teammates.

Notes:

**Kind of an extension of “There’s Something About Peter” (Chapter 6 of this fic), but you don’t necessarily have to read the first one to get it. Also, I definitely made up powers based on facts about spiders so this is totally not cannon compliant. And I mixed stuff from different types of spiders and probably exaggerated - arachnologists beware.

The Avengers were quick to adapt to the information that the teenager who spent his weekends with them was Spiderman. They’d dealt with Steve and Bucky’s accidental bouts of super strength, Bruce’s random periods of relaxing isolation, Thor’s strange eating habits, Natasha’s constant analyzing, and Tony’s eccentricities; they could deal with a bit of Peter Parker walking up the walls.

As Peter Parker became more comfortable around the team, “a bit” of strange behavior became a lot more than any of the Avengers had expected. They would probably need a little more time than they thought to adjust.

—————

“Kiss my ass bird boy” Tony yelped triumphantly as he weaved behind a building to avoid one of Clint’s non-harmful arrows.

Clint groaned into the comms and turned his attention toward Sam, who was swooping in complicated patterns close to the sidewalk. Clint was currently “it” in a giant game of tag that might’ve spiraled out of hand.

It started with Bucky and Steve, who partook in childish games more often than one would think from their stoic appearances. The super soldiers had chased each other around the large picnic blanket where the others were seated.

Then, Sam stuck out a leg and tripped Bucky at the last second, allowing Steve to get him. Sam was dragged into the game.

Clint, Peter, and Natasha followed suit. Tony joined last, leaving Bruce, who didn’t enjoy competitive games. After being tagged multiple times, Tony complained about being at a disadvantaged compared to the enhanced and highly-trained individuals. He wanted to use his suit.

Soon, everyone was using their powers, the only rules being no injuring competitors and no flying out of reach of everyone.

Clint’s arrow whizzed right into Peter’s side. “Peter’s it!”

Peter closed his eyes and waited for the appropriate amount of time before planning his attack. That’s when he saw it. A flash of blonde super solider racing behind a wall.

Peter sprinted toward Steve, determined to get his prey. Surprisingly, Peter was easily able to catch Steve without swinging from his webs.

“You don’t need to go easy on me because I’m young.” Peter pouted.

“I wasn’t.”

Peter actually looked at Steve. The man was panting and covered in sweat. He didn’t have the appearance of a jogger running at a relaxed pace.

“Peter outran Steve?” Bruce asked from his spot on the blanket, having seen the whole thing.

“No way.” Sam’s incredulous voice came through.

“Race.” Bucky suggested.

“Let’s have a good old-fashion footrace.” Tony grinned as the team converged back at the blanket. “Steve, Bucky, and Peter are going to start at this line and run to that building three miles away.”

“Ready, Set, Go!”

The men were all finished within three minutes. Peter won by a few steps. Steve and Bucky tied.

“Jesus Christ kid. You can outrun Captain freaking America.”

Peter looked down at his feet, eyes wide in shock. Apparently he hadn’t realized his potential for speed until this moment. The rest of the team stared at him in awe.

—————

“Um, Peter?” Bruce nervously called out to the teenager standing on the roof of the Avengers Tower.

Peter barely heard Bruce’s voice. He grunted in acknowledgment, but didn’t tear his eyes away from his project. He was in a daze.

“Why are you building a sheet with your webs?”

Peter took a tiny step back to observe his work, seemingly for the first time. There were many strands of webbing outstretched from a common center before him on the ground. This wasn’t like his other lab projects, he seemed driven by pure instinct to create it.

Jump

Peter grabbed the webs and promptly fell from the edge of the roof. He heard Bruce yelling for Tony as he was lifted back over the edge by the webs. Bruce sighed in relief as the kid appeared safe.

Peter just stared at the streets down below, analyzing them in minute detail.

“Spidey?” Ironman was beside him. Tony had the faceplate off to reveal a confused expression. He didn’t seem to want to disturb the webs, so Peter let him be. He didn’t stop his search for a landing spot though.

Eventually, the wind placed him on a rooftop of a nearby building.

“What was that? Peter are you feeling okay?”

Peter spun around, taking in his surroundings. “I don’t know. I just had to do it.”

When they arrived back at the tower, Bruce explained “ballooning” to Peter. Bucky and Natasha glared at him to mask the fear they’d both felt when they saw him fall past their window.

—————

Natasha’s face shot up from her book with the crashing noise from the room above. She waited a moment, but after hearing a few more bangs and several curse words, she decided to investigate.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one. Sam was just opening the door to Peter’s suite when she arrived.

They walked in as silently as possible, on high alert for intruders.

Natasha pushed open the bathroom door and gripped the gun in her waistband. Her hand relaxed as soon as she saw in.

Peter was glaring at the shower/bathtub combination across the room. At the sound of the door, he flushed red and grabbed a towel to cover himself.

“This is one for you.” She turned around and called out to Sam, completely unperturbed.

Sam curiously stepped into the bathroom. Peter had a towel wrapped around his waist now, but he was still beet red.

“Are you okay?”

“Yep. All good. Perfect actually. You can leave now.”

“JARVIS, can you show me a censored version of the last two minutes in this room.” Sam decided it would be best to err on the side of caution with all the Skrulls they’d encountered recently, especially if Peter was acting suspiciously.

“Wait! JARVIS don’t-“ Peter’s plea was too late, the AI pulled up a video of Peter repeatedly slipping as he attempted to exit the tub.

“Um, I need a new bath mat.”

“I can see that. That’s still a ridiculous amount of times to slip though. What did you do? Douse the tub in soap?” Video Peter had now failed to leave the tub five separate times. Sam was openly chuckling now.

“You know how I’m usually sticky?”

“Ew, but yeah.”

“It’s like the opposite of that when I’m on wet ceramic.”

Sam had tears in his eyes from laughing too hard. “HEY STEVE.”

“No, no, no, no...Hi Mr. Rogers”

“Dude look at this video. JARVIS replay.”

Peter was going to die of embarrassment. He was sure of it this time.

—————

Peter was sitting peacefully, reading his textbook on a bench outside the tower. He was completely unaware of Clint approaching him to ask about the upgrades on his bow.

“Hey Spidey!” Clint swung his weapon in front of the book.

Although Peter’s “Spidey Sense” usually made him impossible to scare, Clint hadn’t approached with intent so the teen’s premonition failed him.

His yelp was high pitched as he leapt into the air. Clint’s eyes went wide as Peter just barely reached the fifteenth story of Stark Tower before webbing himself to the side and climbing down.

“What the hell man? I was trying to study.” Peter sounded exasperated, but Clint didn’t care.

“What the hell yourself. You just jumped like two hundred feet and now I’m covered in...is this hair?”

Peter’s cheeks turned a faint pink. “You scared me.”

“What did I tell you about messing around near the bottom of the tower Peter? There are people trying to work and they don’t need to be distracted by kids flying past their window.” Tony began a lecture as soon as he emerged through the front door. “Did you get a dog Legolas?”

“I’ve had one for several years thanks, but this isn’t from him.” Clint picked at a short hair on his shirt.

“Where’s it from then? And Peter what were you thinking?”

Clint shrugged as Peter quickly pointed at him. “It was his fault. I was just being a good student and he snuck up on me.”

“I wasn’t sneaking. I want to know what this compartment is for.”

Tony sighed dramatically, but both men could see that he didn’t really care too much. He was probably grateful for the distraction from work.

Peter continued. “And the hair thing just happens sometimes when I get nervous.”

“What?”

“So it’s yours! That’s gross.”

“You deserve it for sneaking around.”

“I wasn’t sneaking!”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Tony put his hands in a timeout position. “Go back to the ‘It happens sometimes thing’.”

“Yeah, it’s one of the things that started after I got the bite.” Peter was nonplussed. He grabbed his book and waved it at Clint. “I’ll help you, but only for half an hour.”

Tony stood there with his mouth agape as Clint and Peter went into the tower together.

—————

“Aha, this is similar to a tradition of my youth! All the young warriors would be sent to...” Thor droned on to Steve with stories about his childhood as they went ahead on the path. Even though they were both loaded with most of the gear, they were still faster than a majority of the team.

Bruce’s trip to the forest to retrieve a certain plant for his experiments had quickly become a team camping trip once Steve and Bucky asked to tag along. Thor, always infatuated with human activities, invited himself and Natasha, who was feeling a bit nostalgic from the tiny bit of time she spent in nature years ago, slipped her bags in without complaints. Peter, who had never been camping before, tentatively asked to join which caused Clint to get caught up in the prospect of teaching the teenager all about wilderness survival. Tony put on a show about being unable to live without his electronics, but still wanted to tag along.

They arrived at the site and set up their tents before starting on a fire. When evening came, they were well on their way to finishing dinner.

With night, came the bugs. They were in the northern areas of New York, so they’d came prepared for the inevitable onslaught of mosquitos, flies, and ticks, but the insects seemed to be completely ignoring the repellant when it came to Peter.

*SMACK* Peter clapped his hands together and wrinkled his nose in disgust when they separated to reveal a splotch of blood. Clint to his left and Bucky to his right attempted to help him keep the bugs off by brushing them off whenever they noticed, but despite the two highly trained snipers, Peter was still being bitten constantly.

“Did you eat a lot of sugar? I heard insects are attracted to that kind of thing.” Natasha chimed in.

“Or maybe it’s just your DNA? There have been studies that show identical twins tend to get the same amount of bites when around mosquitos while fraternal twins don’t. That suggests-“

Peter shook his head, stopping Bruce’s detailed description of another study. “May hasn’t gotten anything sugary lately and when we went on that school field trip to a bog a few years ago everyone else got bitten the same amount or more than me. It’s not like my DNA has...” Peter face palmed.

“So it’s a spider power?”

“That would make sense. Spiders could use some chemicals to mimic insect’s scents to lure their prey into their webs.” Bruce nodded thoughtfully at Steve’s question.

Peter groaned. “I don’t want to eat bugs though.”

“Thank god. That’d be creepy.”

—————

“Tony, I need you to go get the poles from off that roof to your left.” Steve directed clean up procedures into the comms. “Bucky, I’m going to need your help moving this shipping container on the west end. I tried, but it’s completely full of something heavy.”

“On it. I just have to finish moving these large debris chunks on the west side. Give me fifteen.”

The Avengers had gotten into the routine of helping with fixing all the damage from their battles. Months ago, Natasha felt guilty after an alien she threw smashed into an empty school yard, squishing one of the only playgrounds around the area. She personally assisted them in rebuilding and even paid for some new fixtures. It wasn’t long before every Avenger was following her example.

In the meantime, Steve arranged some cement bags back into the pile they had been in.

“Mr. Rogers?”

“Yes Peter”

“Is this the shipping container you needed moved? Where does it go?”

Steve spun around at the question, expecting Peter to be pointing at the green metal or offering to help him move the thing. It was well known that Peter was at least as strong as the super soliders, but since he was still a child, his strength wasn’t utilized as much.

Steve was shocked speechless when he saw Peter holding up the container all on his own.

“Kid, isn’t that heavy?”

“Um, I guess a little bit? It’s not too bad though, I feel like I could do more.”

Bucky approached at just that moment. “Put it down. I want to try.”

Peter obeyed and Bucky attempted to lift the item in question. He strained, but he was only able to push it sideways.

While Peter moved the container into the correct placement, the rest of the team realized it might be time to actually test his abilities. They should probably stop assuming he’s about equal to the super soliders plus the swinging thing and get the actual data.

—————

“Want to join us?” Tony invited a tired looking Peter to the couch. Him and Natasha noticed how neat the teen seemed after today’s patrol and decided to set up a movie night with plenty of snacks and blankets to make him feel better.

Peter immediately smiled and sat himself down beside Tony. When he moved, his shirt lifted slightly to reveal a mass of white on his stomach.

“Didn’t you just shower? Why are you covered in webbing? Better yet - did you web yourself?” Tony interrogated him about his spider power while Natasha looked on curiously.

“I left it on because I cut myself on patrol.”

“And you webbed it?”

“Yeah.”

“You know we have bandages, right?”

“I like the webs.”

“JARVIS, show me how Underoos got injured.” Tony called out, concerned that the reason Peter had forgone bandages was because he had a worse injury than he let on. When he saw it wasn’t that bad, like Peter has assured him, he was just confused.

“Sir, if I may, some spiders’ silk is known to have vitamins that are useful in blood clotting. The pressure exerted by Peter’s web slingers would also contribute to stopping the bleeding.”

“Did you know that?” Natasha turned to the boy in amazement.

“Not really.” Peter admitted sheepishly. “I actually did get hurt without first aid stuff on an earlier mission so I just impulsively used my webs. And it worked well enough.”

Tony resisted the urge to lecture Peter over past misjudgments and let him lay down with his head in his lap. Tony began rubbing his fingers through Peter’s hair when a strange noise came from the teen.

“Peter?”

“Hmm? Peter blinked his eyes a few times to focus on his mentor.”

“What was that?”

“Oh, I can’t help that. I can move away if it’s disrupting the movie.”

“It’s not.” Tony quickly added. “So you just purr?”

Peter nodded, only providing the explanation “spider thing”.

—————

“Woah.” Peter shielded his eyes. “Dr. Banner, you’re glowing.”

“That’s kinda a weird compliment kid.” Tony rose one eyebrow.

“First of all, I wasn’t talking to you, but you’re doing it too. Second, it wasn’t a compliment.”

Bruce looked down at his body. It looked the same as it always did when he wasn’t the Hulk. “Are you feeling alright Peter?”

“Yeah. It’s not a new glow, but this time it’s really bright.”

Clint walked in and Tony jutted his thumb at the archer. “What about birdbrain?”

“No, Clint isn’t glowing.”

“Do you think it’s something we touched in the lab? Did Peter conk his head?” Bruce muttered nervously.

“No. Like I told you, this isn’t new. You’re probably just going to be badly sunburnt. We are in Australia.”

“What does that have to with anything?” Tony asked, still examining his arm for any glowing.

“Sometimes I can see UV rays. You both must’ve absorbed some so I’m guessing you’ll have killer sunburns later.” Peter shrugged and continued snacking. “Should’ve worn sunscreen.”

Tony and Bruce were reeling from that casual admittance. Peter could see more than the visible light spectrum?

“So you have the super power to predict sunburns?” Clint laughed.

“If that’s a super power, than I guess I’m super too.” Natasha added from the corner no one had seen her go into. “Only idiot geniuses wouldn’t think to put on sunscreen before going out into direct sunlight to collect plants.”

Sure enough, Tony and Bruce woke up beet red and in pain.

—————

Christmas music drifted through the top floors of the Avenger’s tower. Steve and Peter loved Christmas so even though it was still November, the team wasn’t shocked with the song choice or the fact that Steve was wearing a Santa Hat.

Bucky walked in on his best friend and the teen earlier that morning. They were working together to untangle and test all the strands of lights. Bucky eagerly joined in the festivities, albeit getting a bit more frustrated than he would like over a strand of icicle lights.

“Did Santa come early?” Clint joked as he entered the living room, which was decked out with fake snow and garland, but still had boxes of other decorations all over the floor. “I like it.” Natasha commented, diving into the bin with all the stockings and stocking holders.

The window opened and Steve shivered. Clint yelped in surprise when he saw Peter crawl upside down through the top of the window and then kicking it shut.

“The outside looks great!! Thor even stopped over to help me arrange all the reindeer on the roof!!” He excitedly reported to Steve.

Natasha grinned at his enthusiasm, but Clint shuddered a bit before giving into the Christmas cheer. “It still looks creepy as hell when you do that without the suit.”

Bruce cautiously approached the kitchen, searching for the source behind the giant thump. He’d been in his lab all day, and just when he was about to get food, there was a loud noise in the kitchen. His nerves settled when he saw Bucky and Clint laughing hysterically at Steve and Sam, who were covered in flour. Thor was apologizing for squeezing the sack so much while Natasha and Peter continued decorating the gingerbread men, undisturbed by the latest, in what was probably a chain of, kitchen disasters.

Natasha held one out for Bruce to sample, letting a bit of her pride in the excellent decorations show through. Bruce smiled fondly at the tray of cookies.

He could easily tell who had frosted each group. The cookies wielding swords were clearly from Thor, who had been enamored with the story of the Nutcracker, “a valiant and noble warrior.” Natasha’s and Steve’s were all meticulously decorated and very traditional, the only difference being that Natasha had chosen to include some in festive Russian wear. Peter’s were sloppier, but he had crafted a gingerbread version of each Avenger and was currently hard at work writing ‘Karen’ on one. Sam’s and Clint’s has apparently gone to war because the majority of theirs were missing or broken. Bruce could see the arm of one, that said ‘Birds Rule’, drooping because of the copious amount of frosting used to make a bow. Bucky’s were all red or all green. He refused to try and do the little details because he “wasn’t made for that and they taste good either way.”

Later in the night, Tony came back from his business trip to see Peter repelling down from the ceiling toward a gigantic Christmas tree with a Santa ornament that was made of legos. Thor was merrily refilling Steve’s and Bucky’s mugs with eggnog that was probably spiked with Asgardian liquor. Sam and Natasha were laughing and chatting as they picked bits of tinsel off the floor. Bruce and Clint were helping hang ornaments on the lower part of the tree. They were all in ugly Christmas sweaters.

Tony rubbed his eyes. “Thanksgiving was only a week ago.”

“Which means it’s nearly Christmas!” Peter jumped from the ceiling, landing next to and startling Sam.

Tony shook his head.

“We saved you the star.” Steve stretched his arm out to hand Tony the topper for the tree. “You might have to use the suit to get it up there though.” Tony couldn’t stop the smile from stretching across his lips.

And as they settled into the mountain of fluffy blankets covering the couch to watch ‘The Polar Express’, each one of them thought about how grateful they were to be there. None of them cared that Thor’s face was taped over Baby Jesus in the nativity set or that Bucky would steal all the baked good not 24hrs after they were done. They didn’t mind that Clint would be hanging mistletoe everywhere, only to declare a holiday themed prank war when no one would participate. They would go to mass with Steve on Christmas Eve and sing along when Thor sang “new” Christmas carols loudly and off-key.

They were just happy to have found a home and a family in the Avengers. Despite all the quirks, they couldn’t love their family more.

“What the hell is that?” Peter clamored away from Tony.

“Oh, sorry kid, forgot I put peppermint extract in my hot chocolate. You should probably go sit next to Steve.”

“Buck and I were handling the candy canes earlier so that’s probably not a great idea.”

“You can sit with me!” Clint shifted to make space next to him, but as soon as Peter sat down, there was a mini explosion of green and red glitter. Bruce nearly hulked out and Sam ended up next to Thor under the mistletoe when he backed away.

There were a lot of quirks.

Notes:

**I’ve been traveling before school starts so that’s my excuse for the slow updates. Too bad I get carsick when I read or write in the car or I’d probably have been able to finish them sooner. Blame my inner ear if you need to blame something.

Similarly, if you follow my other works, specifically Another Avenger Fanficton Archive (Two) and Avengers Ships, you’ll notice that I updated them sooner than this one. The wifi cut out of my hostel while I was updating, which is why this one is even later than the other two.

Chapter 14: Disappointing You (Irondad)

Summary:

Peter feels insecure around Tony after the ferry incident.

“And those pheromones from marine life could be applied to organisms in a terrestrial setting to enhance intraspecies bonds?”

Tony stopped slightly before the doorframe, listening to Peter question Bruce about his work. He smiled. When Peter had first met Bruce, he could barely contain his excitement. He nervously shook the scientist’s hand before bombarding him with questions about his experiments and studies. Bruce’s offer to give him a tour of the lab elicited the same enthusiasm as a child on Christmas morning.

Now, Peter was over the giddy awkwardness of meeting his idol and actually participates in some of his research. He’s made himself at home in Bruce’s lab, even if just to watch or ask questions.

Tony felt a swell of pride watching the kid keep up with Bruce’s calculations and observations. He stood at the doorway for a few minutes before continuing on his path.

After Tony reopened his invitation to join the Avengers team, Peter revealed his identity to the heroes and moved into Stark Tower. His kind personality easily meshed with all of the individuals on the team and he was soon a vital part of team dynamics. Scenes like the one with Bruce were not uncommon.

Numerous times, Tony had walked in on Peter exercising his strength with Steve or pushing his flexibility with Natasha. Just last week, Thor came back to Earth and Peter day with him for hours attentively listening to every detail of his fantastical stories.

Tony loved that Peter was fitting in so well. He’d been a little upset when Peter rejected his initial offer, but he now realized that allowing Peter the time and space to grow had been the mature choice. He didn’t get to see the teen as much as he had before, but he tried to think of it as a positive. It was good that Peter was busy and kept himself entertained. Even though Tony could still see the bubbly child within, he couldn’t help but recognize the more adult traits Peter had acquired.

—————-

Fury’s debriefings were incredibly tedious. This one was especially bad because of all the complex details involving the alien technology. Steve, who usually advocated for debriefings and often lectured the team about their importance, was impatiently tapping his pen. Tony bit back a sigh as Fury flipped to the next slide on the projector. How can there be so much information from a three person mission? He knew the answer to that. Him and Steve had a tendency to take unnecessary risks and almost always had whole slides dedicated to their mistakes. The team supported them and both men stood by their decisions, so there was really no reason for Fury to keep up this tradition, but he did.

Sam, who was not at the end of Fury’s wrath, bit back a smile from across the table. Instantly, he had Tony’s attention. His mind was begging for anything of interest at this point. Sam’s eyes were on the presentation, but they occasionally flittered back to something outside the window. He was just barely containing a laugh by the time they were released.

As soon as Fury left the room, Tony bolted to the window and glanced outside. Steve’s eyes widened, quickly taking a defensive position in case Tony noticed something dangerous, but relaxed when Sam shot him a reassuring smile.

A few stories down, Tony could make out Peter and Clint on the grass in the private SHIELD outdoor training grounds. Just as he was about to ask Sam what was so funny about his teammate’s training regiments, he saw nearly a hundred multi-colored water balloons fall from a nearby tree to drench Clint in water. Peter staggered a bit, laughing so hard he curled in on his chest. Clint didn’t waste any time and immediately picked up one of the balloons that hadn’t broken and slingshotted it right into Peter’s face. Peter caught it, spidey sense and all, but the force of the balloon hitting his hand still resulted in the water spraying all over his face and hairline. He blinked rapidly in surprise.

Tony and Steve both chuckled at the exchange. The former caught a glimpse of Peter’s mock angry expression before heading down to join the fun. When the automatic doors slide open to the outdoors, Peter looked over from his spot on the grass next to Clint. As soon as the teen saw Tony, his expression faltered slightly. Tony didn’t notice.

He approached the men with a grin. “Shouldn’t a college student like you be busy with homework right about now?” His tone was teasing: he was waiting for a sarcastic remark or hurled water balloon.

“Um, I actually do. Sorry Clint, but I should really get on that. I didn’t realize how late it was.” Peter stood up and brushed the blades of grass from his pants. “Bye Mr. Stark. Bye Clint!”

Tony stared at Peter’s back in confusion as the teen walked away. He was not as light on his feet. Tony would’ve considered it just another part of growing up, but he’d just seen Peter acting like a child with Clint. The kid had visibly frozen when Tony spoke and then immediately made an excuse to get away. Sure, he probably had homework, but even so that exit was strange.

Tony wasn’t even listening when Clint excitedly explained the way Peter used thin sections of his webbing to create water balloon traps.

—————

As soon as Tony noticed it, he couldn’t help but see all the other times Peter froze up around him.

At first, he tries to convince himself that he’s paranoid, but as the week goes on, the evidence against that becomes daunting.

—————

The next evening, he sees Peter reading on the couch, curled against Sam, and Tony grabs a tablet to sit down next to them and get some work done. When he gently grabs Peter’s ankle to shift his outstretched legs out of the way so he has space, Peter’s gaze snaps away from the book and he jerks his legs onto the ground. He moves his bookmark and promptly stands up. “I’m going to go on patrol for the night, get some fresh air. The couch is all yours Mr. Stark. Well, except for Sam.”

“Okay.” Tony’s voice sounds a little strange. “See you later kid.”

—————-

Laughing could be heard bubbling from the lab as Tony approached it with his sandwich.

“I think you’d look great with a neon green arm. And I have great taste, especially in costumes.”

“Says the guy who designed his ‘spider’ costume using red and blue. What kind of spider looks like that?” Bucky chuckled.

Tony could see Peter’s back tremble as he fell into a fit of giggles. He was perched on a stool with his fingers in an open compartment of Bucky’s arm in his own little section of the lab.

“I believe fooling around in the lab is against safety protocols.” Tony tsk’d sarcastically.

Peter swung around on the chair just as Bucky quipped back. “And clearly you’re the patron saint of lab safety Stark. Is that thing smoking?” He pointed at a corner in the lab.

“Ah shit.” Tony hastily put down his food and rushed over to the project he had been working on before he got hungry. “DUM-E where the hell is the fire extinguisher?”

While Tony was distracted, Peter shut Bucky’s arm and grabbed the nearby extinguisher. He handed it to Tony and made to leave the lab.

“Hey, want to stick around and help me with some upgrades to the Ironman suit? I could use your input.” Tony waited expectantly for Peter’s enthusiastic reply, for his lips to turn upward and his eyes to shine just like they had while he was in high school.

“I’m actually a little busy. You could send them to me, and I’ll share any advice I can think of. I’m sure you won’t need it though.” Peter jerked his thumb to the door before walking out.

—————

“How’d your classes go today? Anything interesting happen?” Tony absentmindedly asked.

Peter’s hand paused for a split second before resuming their work on the alien technology both men were investigating. “Nothing much. Same old stuff.”

They both fell into silence. The rock music blared over the speakers. It wasn’t uncommon for the men to work without talking to each other. Long days in the lab coupled with their tendencies to get completely swept up by their projects often resulted in a comfortable silence.

This silence wasn’t comfortable though. The air was thick with tension. Tony knew he didn’t pick the most interesting topic, but he was out of ideas. He felt himself splitting from Peter and couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

That feeling was only amplified when a few hours later, Tony noticed Peter talking animatedly to Sam, Steve, Natasha, and Clint about a girl in his chemistry lecture. He was asking for advice on how to ask her out on a date. Everyone was smiling and giving suggestions.

When Tony got around to joining them, Peter had already left. He easily fell into conversation with the rest of his teammates, but the back of his mind was still trying to comprehend the Peter situation.

He thought back to the other times he’d seen Peter with the Avengers. When Tony saw him training with Steve, Peter had tensed up and began hitting the punching bag with intense vigor. He’d been silent the whole time. When he walked in on Peter stretching with Natasha, they’d been smiling and watching dancing videos. That smile became forced when Tony made eye contact. When Peter had been with Thor, he hadn’t even looked at Tony for an unusually long period of time.

Tony wracked his brain for a hint of what had happened. He could think of a lot of things he did that would push someone away, but nothing new or that affected Peter came to his mind.

—————

The alarm blared in the tower and Fury’s face appeared on Tony’s screen. Apparently they had just got wind of a possible terrorist threat from a small HYDRA base and all their agents were indisposed at the moment. Only Tony and Peter were available at the tower, but since the base had less than twenty members, Tony assured the director that they could handle it.

“Spiderman, you need to enter from the back. I’ve got the front. We’ll get all of them trapped in the middle.”

“On it.”

Everything was going smoothly until Tony suddenly saw Spiderman desperately leaping toward him. He was knocked backward due to the impact and they skidded for several meters. In that moment, an explosion erupted from the center of the building, right where Tony would have been standing. Several members of HYDRA laid dead on the floor. Peter stood up and webbed the rest to various pieces of equipment. The survivors were complaining about a mistake in the chemical formula, completely unconcerned over their dead comrades.

As they walked up the ramp to the plane, Tony noticed Peter’s face was uncharacteristically pale and his eyes were a bit squinted. “Are you injured?”

Peter’s eyes went wide and he immediately turned to fully face the older man. Tony knew that trick. “So it’s your back. Let me see.” He placed a hand on the young adult’s shoulder to spin him around. What he saw shocked him. Peter’s suit was all charred, sticking to his back which was presumably burnt to the fabric of the suit.

“Kid...”

“I’m sorry. I promise I was going to go to medical. It’s fine, really.”

“Why do you have to make such stupid self-sacrificing decisions? My suit could’ve taken the hit.” Tony’s voice rose with frustration and worry, but he knew the words he was saying weren’t exactly truthful. The blast would’ve definitely caused some serious damage, even with the suit.

Then he noticed Peter wince with his whole body. “I’m sorry.” He disappeared into the medical wing.

Tony definitely wasn’t expecting that. He expected a bit of a fight about being a hypocrite or at least some excuse about Peter being a superhuman. After a moment, he followed Peter.

“Were you not done yet?” Peter’s voice faltered a bit as the nurse slathered something on his back. He was wringing his hands and had an inexplicably hesitant look in his eyes.

Tony was taken aback.

“I swear I did everything I could to make sure the Nazis stayed trapped before I came to save you. I’m sorry it was a close call. Are you hurt? Or are you just mad that I almost let that one man, with the blonde hair, escape? I’m sorry about that too. I’ll train more so I’ll be better on the next mission.”

Now Tony was shocked and confused. “Peter what?”

“You’re mad at me for almost screwing up the mission, but I can be a better superhero.” His eyes were red and shiny.

“I’m not mad because you screwed up the mission, which you didn’t by the way, I was just upset that you risked getting injured to save me. I am grateful though. Why would you think I’d be mad about the mission?”

“Because I made a mistake. You were so mad after the ferry incident and you took the suit away and I wasn’t good enough to be an Avenger. I’m trying my best to be good enough though now that you’ve given me a second chance. I’ve been better in the lab and during missions and I spend more time practicing hero stuff than before. I guess it hasn’t been enough if it’s not making a difference though...”

“The ferry? Kid that was ages ago.”

“Yeah, I know, and I still haven’t improved much. You were probably right, I’m nothing without your suit. But please Mr. Stark, let me keep trying. I’d do anything to keep the suit and continuing staying at the tower. You can tell me what I need to work on.”

The pieces started to fit together in Tony’s mind. He felt sick. All he could see was Howard’s face twisting in anger and annoyance as he told Tony he wasn't good enough, that he needed to work harder. Peter, who’d suffered through more than any teenager should have to, had feared that he wasn’t good enough for Tony. He stressed himself out trying to act perfectly around his idol and in the process squashed down his personality and his desire to befriend the man.

Tony was the cause of that. Initially, he hadn’t felt too bad about taking the suit away - the kid was strong enough to fight crime on his own and had been doing just fine before it. Then he learned about Peter’s run in with the Vulture. He heard about the collapsed building and the time Peter spent trapped under concrete with only his onesie. He felt terrible about the way he’d acted, but after he gave back the suit and welcomed Peter into the tower, he thought it was all okay.

Obviously it was very much not okay.

“Peter” Tony’s voice was affectionate and gentle, but the younger man still involuntarily shuddered away from the noise. “Peter, I’m not kicking you out of the tower. Not now and not ever. You’re an Avenger for life now. You’re stuck with us.”

Peter looked at him in disbelief which nearly broke Tony’s heart. If anyone on the team was worthy to be an Avenger, it was Peter. Kind, honest, wonderful Peter.

Tony’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the right words. “This is why you’ve been so stiff around me?” Those were not the reassurances he was looking for, but Tony was never good with emotional words to start with.

“I was trying to fix all my problems, but it seemed like every time I talked to you, there was something else wrong.”

“Like what?”

“I wasn’t keeping up with my schoolwork at a fast enough rate so my grades would’ve dropped if the Avengers got called. I didn’t follow correct protocols in the lab so I could’ve hurt Bucky or your expensive equipment. I was worried about little things at school instead of all the big issues that the rest of the team has to face everyday.”

“Peter, those aren’t- those things don’t matter. If anyone else on the team was still in school, especially college, they’d be struggling to juggle it too. You’re probably doing better than any of us would. You think I care about lab protocol? Of course I care if you’re safe while you work, but I know you’re smart enough to determine which rules are important and which aren’t in each situation. Honestly, none of us follow all of the rules and that’s okay. Your issues are your own and they aren’t unimportant. I’d so much rather have you go back to your old self and continue growing and making mistakes than for you to wallow in insecurities and fear.”

“Really?” Peter slumped a bit in a relief.

“Absolutely. You’re a fantastic kid so don’t try so hard to be someone you’re not.” Tony leaned toward Peter to wrap him in a hug. Tony vowed to make sure he never felt unwanted ever again. He was going to do better than his father.

Wait? Did I just acknowledge myself as a father-figure to Peter?

Tony was surprised at the lack of panic he felt as he squeezed the boy in front of him a bit tighter.

Chapter 15: Costumes (Bucky Centric)

Summary:

Bucky's arm reminds him of his past in HYDRA and makes him feel ashamed. The rest of the team helps to distract him from his negative thoughts.

Bucky always wore long sleeved shirts. Or sweaters. Or jackets. It didn’t matter what the weather was.

The team didn’t think much of it at first. Most of them were trained, some more than others, to pick up on tiny details about a person and analyze them to death. Natasha could get a read on someone from a mere glance in their direction. Her eyes were trained to see all the pieces: their micro expressions, their chosen appearance, their accent, their mannerisms, and anything else that could hint at the person as a whole. They tried to turn it off around trusted friends though. Separating work and home life was obviously a little harder for them than the average person, but they did their best to make it work.

As such, they chalked up Bucky’s clothing choices to personal style. If they thought about it for a moment, they maybe imagined that it had something to do with his time in the cryostasis chamber or possibly due to his experiences during the Depression. Steve and Bucky both had an aversion to the cold even though their bodies made it so that they could handle temperatures much colder, and much hotter, than the average person.

It was Steve who first noticed. They were stripping after a mission, getting into comfortable clothes. Neither man was uncomfortable with nudity, it wasn’t anything they hadn’t seen, but they still avoided looking at each other as a form of courtesy. Steve had a sudden thought, and without thinking, spun to talk to his best friend. Bucky immediately grabbed the nearby blanket and covered himself. More specifically, he covered his upper body. He was already wearing pants. Steve looked away and finished his thought. By the time he was finished, Bucky was already changed. He’d tried to bring up the subject, but Bucky just brushed it off as instinct. Steve knew him well enough to know when he was lying.

The situation kept happening. Bucky would refuse to swim with Peter. He wouldn’t wear the short sleeved shirts Tony bought him. He made excuses to get out of Thor’s warrior tradition that apparently involved war paint and being shirtless.

Everyone had a right to make their own decisions without judgment, but Steve knew for a fact that these were activities Bucky would enjoy. Activities that both old Bucky and new Bucky would enjoy. He’d seen the way the man’s face lit up while playing basketball with Peter and Shuri. He knew Bucky had a similar fashion sense to Tony and looked forward to their shopping trips. He’d walked in on Bucky laughing till the point of tears alongside Thor as they stood around a strange fruit, hair braided and wearing an elaborate necklace.

One day it clicked. It had taken a bit of a nudge.

“Mama. Why does that man have a metal hand?” A little boy in the park pointed toward Bucky as him and Steve jogged past.

“It’s rude to point.” The mother put the child’s hand down and whispered gently. The super soldiers were gone before they could listen in on the family’s conversation.

Steve peeked at Bucky’s hand. He glanced at Bucky’s face and saw hurt and shame. He knew any reassurances he gave now would seem empty so he decided to go for distraction and started up a conversation.

That didn’t mean Steve would just let the issue lie. He began to notice how Bucky would subtlety avoid touching other people with his prosthetic or clench his jaw when it reflected sunlight into someone’s eye. He watched Bucky turn down several more invitations to things that would involve showing off his arm.

Steve decided to help.

—————

An idea popped into his head one day after team training.

Steve and Tony had lead the whole team in a variety of exercises meant to increase fluidity between the individuals when they fought. Each of them on their own was a highly-skilled and talented individual, but they still had their issues with the whole “working well with others” thing.

Steve and Bucky were stripping off their sweaty clothes in the gym bathroom and tossing them down the laundry chutes that Tony had installed. The genius had made it so clothes could be thrown in any of the various chutes around the tower and they would be returned, washed and folded, to their rightful owner within the week. Steve still didn’t quite know how the robot knew which ones were his clothes, especially when he washed something new for the first time, but his curiosity hadn’t quite forced him into asking Tony yet.

Steve changed into his change of clothes with the same quickness and military precision as always. When he glanced toward his best friend, he was surprised to see that the man still hadn’t gotten a shirt on. In fact, Bucky was giving a full-blown glare to the stack of shirts in the cubby.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Bucky only had short-sleeved t-shirts left.

Steve looked away as Bucky begrudgingly pulled on the shirt and protectively cradled his metal arm underneath the flesh one across his chest.

The masked insecurity on Bucky’s face was too much for Steve. He had to do something.

Which is how the Avengers found themselves face to face with Steve in the full 1940’s showtime Captain America suit while they were trying to watch TV.

The first person to see him was Natasha. She was in the kitchen grabbing a snack while the rest of the team was in the living room watching a funny movie. She had to do a double take.

“Slipped into something ‘more comfortable’ I see.” She remarked with an amused tone. “Something you need to tell us?”

“Can you just go along with it?” Steve asked, seriously.

Natasha had a few theories as to what was going on, but they were all too far-fetched to possibly be true. Why would aliens force Steve into this spandex atrocity? And could humanities last chance for survival at the hands of a secret underground militia really be dependent on his fashion choices? She didn’t vocalize her thoughts though. Steve seemed resolute, and she trusted him. She nodded.

They returned to the couch together, her barely containing a giggle and Steve blushing like mad.

“Hello solider.” Tony pretended to salute and then moved into jazz hands.

“I already enlisted, try somewhere else.” Sam groaned.

“Is it time for a battle?” Thor leapt to his feet, far too eager.

Steve immediately glanced at Bucky, who had been sitting with his knees covering most of his torso in the corner of the couch. Natasha, being as perceptive as she was, immediately saw what Steve was looking at. She had a new theory - Steve is trying to take attention away from Bucky.

It was working. All eyes were on Steve and all conversation was in regarding to his outfit. Tony was teasing, Peter was obsessed with the original Captain America Suit, Thor was carefully inspecting the “traditional military regalia”, and Bruce was blushing from secondhand embarrassment.

Sam’s interrogation as to why Steve was wearing such a ridiculous thing was what finally brought Natasha into the whole thing.

“I lost a bet to Natasha.”

She plastered a maniacal grin on her face. Everyone immediately began to chastise the super solider for attempting to outsmart the brilliant spy, irregardless of what the bet was about. When Clint entered the room, the whole thing started over again. Natasha even added amendments to ‘her winnings’ by making Steve act out certain bits from the campaign showcase or his modern PSA’s.

Slowly but surely, Bucky uncurled himself and joined in the fun, unable to resist the temptation that was calling Steve out for his stupid decisions. His prior insecurities forgotten.

—————

The next time it happened was after a battle. Bucky’s change of clothes, along with Clint’s and Peter’s were destroyed in “freak accident”. Tony was definitely not trying to show off the increased fire power of his new weaponry, and the evil warlock getting slammed through nine trees and the Quinjet wall was completely inevitable. It was no ones fault really.

There were two extra SHIELD uniforms in the front of the ship. Both had short-sleeves.

Natasha was the one who stepped in this time.

“Hey, Peter.”

He looked up, expectantly.

“Didn’t you bring a costume with you? It’s a short ride home and there are only two extra changes of clothing. Plus, I think Bruce and Tony would love to see it.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. “I do! I just came from a convention when I got the alarm. It’s completely homemade - I’ll go get it!”

And how could Bucky pay attention to any negative feelings about the way his arm was perceived when Peter was strutting around the main compartment of the jet in a complete Stormtrooper outfit for an hour?

Tony and Bruce did love it.

—————

Clint had overheard Natasha’s conversation with Peter on the jet when he had approached them to offer Peter the clothes. He didn’t mind not wearing a shirt, and if even if Peter was an adult, he was still an innocent baby who needed to be fully clothed in the eyes of the rest of the team.

Which is why he found it strange that Natasha was convincing him to give up the SHIELD uniform and wear a costume. She was as, if not more, protective of Peter as everyone else, and she knew Clint well enough to know that he had no qualms with not getting the clothes.

When he saw the way Steve and Natasha were snatching secret, protective glances at Bucky, he was able to put two and two together.

So when he noticed Bucky’s slight frown as he rubbed his flesh hand over his exposed metal forearm, he didn’t hesitate to make a bold fashion statement.

Fury was decidedly unhappy when he saw the news footage of Clint being interviewed after a battle in a purple sequined body suit and light-up neon shades, but Clint could take the heat.

And the journalists were far too distracted by Clint’s dramatic posing to force Bucky into answering hypercritical questions about his past as the Winter Solider.

—————

Tony had been trained to manipulate and evade the media ever since he was young. He’d honed those skills even further when he decided to fix his reputation. It took a lot of strategy to override years of scandals. Even so, he was still sensitive to the media. There was always a reporter or two who challenged his position on the team by pointing out his past as a “merchant of death” or by comparing his skills and abilities to all his teammate’s. Someone, usually Steve, would cut in and deflect away from the subject or praise Tony’s recent accomplishments, but sometimes their words still festered in Tony’s mind.

As such, he immediately recognized Barnes’s discomfort with the media attention and felt it when he was harassed about events that he was actually a victim in. He was also smart enough to know a diversion tactic when he saw one, not that Clint was subtle in any way, shape, or form.

But when Tony walked up to the picnic blanket, gesturing wildly while clad in a 1920’s style swimsuit, it was clearly just because he personally liked attention. His high-waisted pants, wrap-around tank top, and boater hat had absolutely nothing to do with the way Bucky had self-consciously refused to remove his jacket despite it being over a hundred degrees and them being at the beach.

Tony removed the hat and performed an exaggerated bow before he started to “dance” around Steve, which was 90% just kicking small amounts of sand at the blonde man, and make cracks about ninety year old men. Before long, Steve was chasing Tony, who was twiddling a fake mustache that he got from God knows where, into the water.

While the rest of the team, and frankly the rest of the beach, was distracted with the absurd scene in front of them, Sam and Peter managed to convince Bucky to shed the clothes and join them in the water. They splashed and played until the sun went down.

—————

The shame and regret of his past never truly left. Just like Tony or Natasha, Bucky’s past would continue to haunt him. It came up in every distrustful stare from a specific SHIELD agent, in every horrified glance shot their way after someone got their file, and in every judgmental quip from a reporter.

But the throbbing pain dulled. It was no longer a constant undercurrent in his life. He had bad days and bad weeks instead of bad months and bad years.

Nevertheless, whenever he had an issue, no matter how small, his team would be there to support him. They were silly and kind and wonderful. They were the best family he’d ever had.

And once Peter taught him how to change the contact pictures in his phone, they all got the proper family treatment.

A call from Steve displayed Captain America in an excessively bright patriotic spandex suit midway through an old-timey dance move in the middle of their living room. One from Clint resulted in the man leaned against a fence with the back of one hand pressed dramatically to his forehead while he grasped the purple sequined cloth covering his chest. Tony’s picture was of him running toward the water while looking back toward the camera with a smirk underneath his mustache. Peter was posing in his stormtrooper outfit. Sam was standing on a rooftop, attempting to glare down at Clint, who was laughing maniacally off-screen, but his goggles had googly eyes on them and his wings had “This Space for Rent” graffitied across them so the look wasn’t exactly intimidating. Bruce had his hair in ten little ponytails with glittery hairbands curtesy of the girls at the local Children’s Hospital. Even Natasha’s photo showed a funny picture of her in a Coca-Cola shirt that had been customized to say “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist” instead of “It’s the Real Thing.”

Chapter 16: Working On It (Peter Centric)

Summary:

Peter gets a little overprotective and regrets it. The Avengers help him feel better.

Notes:

Requested by Kittycatluver98:

I have a request or prompt for you. How about Peter's spider powers cause him to be really really really over protective of his family (don't know if spiders are like that but let's just pretend they are) and a villian hurts Tony and Peter goes into a rage and beats them almost to death and almost kills them. Then cue after battle Peter being upset that he almost killed someone and Avengers cuddling on couch watching movies and hot chocolate to cheer him up. Later when everyone has gone to bed Peter seeks out Tony (because he still has his protective Spidey senses acting up and wants to see for himself that Tony is alive) in his room and they have a father/son moment and Peter sleeps in Tony's room for comfort. Whoo I guess that's a lot.

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony. Robot.

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony. Robot.

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony. Web.

 

Peter’s eyes quickly surveyed the fight over and over as he swung to attack the giant robot from a better angle. Ever since he got bitten, he could take in many things at once. At first, it was completely overwhelming, but he’d learned to hone it in and use it to his advantage on the battlefield. It was especially useful because it allowed him to focus on the fight and his teammates at the same time. 

 

He swung behind Clint, deflecting a large chunk of metal that was hurtling toward the sniper. 

 

“Thanks kid” Clint managed to acknowledge the save as he shot an arrow toward one of the human minions. 

 

“You got it!” Peter wrapped around a lamppost, kicking several smaller bots to pieces. 

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

 

He checked to make sure his teammates were alright again before planning his next attack. That was always first priority. Even off the battlefield, Peter would routinely take time to ensure his team, friend’s, and family were safe before continuing whatever activity he was doing. 

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

 

Sometimes it got a bit extreme. The sudden urge to check up on Ned or MJ would posses him and he’d be forced to take a "bathroom break” to peer through the windows of whatever classes they were in. He’d wake up at night and not be able to fall asleep again until he heard May’s breathing through the door. 

 

A therapist might say he developed these possessive feelings after the death of two father figures and that he might have OCD. A geneticist, if they knew about his condition, might blame the “animalistic tendencies” on his spider powers. What did Peter think? 

 

Nothing. Peter was a smart kid. He knew his behavior wasn’t exactly in the range of “normal”, but what about him was “normal" anyway. Besides, he got better at controlling the possessive urges just as he got better at controlling his spider powers. They only really flared up when he was upset or in a stressful situation. 

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

 

Like a battle with robots. 

 

Peter shot several successive web grenades at the robot’s flank, knocking it to the ground. The villain, with the lame name that Peter already forgot, ran out surrounded by some of his other human cohorts. They’d been hiding, protected by their creations, but they were vulnerable now. The whole team moved to strike. 

 

For the next few seconds the world moved in slow motion. Peter’s vision was inhibited by smoke and everything sounded distant. He frantically searched the area for the source of the explosion. 

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam,….TONY?

 

Peter’s senses rapidly repaired themselves from the blast, and his attention was immediately caught by the red and gold on the Ironman suit on the ground. There was a puddle of dark, red forming at the upper thigh. Peter could see exposed skin under the damaged section of the suit. His vision went red. 

 

Peter could barely hear Steve taking role-call in his head. He didn’t even attempt to make a witty joke as the tinier robots approached him. In less than a second, they were gone. Peter didn’t even register firing his web slingers in their direction. He had his sights set on one thing only - the man who threw the grenade. His vision tunneled as he raced toward the man. How dare he have a smirk on his face after what he did. There was the faint sound of distorted commands and yelling in Peter’s ear. He just switched off the earpiece. He grabbed for the man’s throat and threw a punch. 

 

The next thing Peter knew, he was being restrained by Steve. The villain laid on the ground, nearly lifeless. His face was covered in welts and bruising was setting in already. There were scrapes all across the right side of his face. His neck was an angry red, just visible for a millisecond before someone slid a c-collar on it. 

 

Peter’s mind was fuzzy. Had he done this? That man deserved to get hurt. He hurt Tony.

 

Tony?

 

His chest heaved in relief when he saw his mentor standing among the crowd, leaning on Natasha. 

 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam.

 

He sighed when he saw everyone else was safe as well. His focus was pulled back to the man, who was now being loaded onto a stretcher. After Tony’s safety was confirmed, the animosity seemed to wash out of Peter’s body. His eyes were glued on the man, his feet frozen to the spot. He’d done this. He’d almost killed that man. Peter looked at his hands. They were bloody. Regret overwhelmed him.

 

He numbly followed Clint back to the jet. He gave solemn one word answers when anyone but the doctor spoke to him. His eyes remained trained to the floor except for occasionally darting around to each team member. Natasha was still assisting Tony as the doctor stitched up his upper thigh. Clint was currently in the cockpit, barely visible through the slit in the curtain. Sam and Steve were finishing up with the local authorities right outside the door. 

 

Peter sat, posture straight, on the cold, metal bench at the edge of the plane. His mind was spinning. 

 

“…Peter? Are you okay?”   

 

Sam’s voice snapped him out of his haze. He glanced up to see Steve and Sam cautiously peering down at him. Clint’s head was turned toward the main cabin as well. Natasha and Tony wore matching concerned expressions from their spot on the cushioned bed. 

 

He’d almost killed a man. Peter had used his own two hands and his enhanced strength to break and bruise. His victim was in no way innocent, but Peter had no right to decide his punishment. All he’d ever wanted was to be a friendly neighborhood hero. Now he was a psycho vigilante with a violent streak. 

 

Peter burst into tears. 

 

Sam immediately sat down next to the kid and slowly started rubbing his back.

 

Peter’s breaths caught in his throats and sobs that he was so desperately trying to hold in escaped. His shoulders shuddered violently. 

 

“Hey, Peter?” 

 

Peter faintly nodded. 

 

“We’ve landed. Do you want to go sit inside on the couch where it’s more comfortable?” 

 

Peter nodded again. He walked to the couch with Sam. He knew the other team members were probably nearby, but he appreciated that they were giving him space. He cried for a bit more before finally claiming himself down. 

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sam’s voice was always so soothing and calm. It made Peter want to spill his guts. He knew it was selfish but he wanted Sam to make it all better. 

 

“I really hurt him Sam. I could’ve, I could’ve…” Peter faltered, fighting down a fresh batch of tears. 

 

“The man who hurt Tony?”

 

Peter nodded. “I used my powers to hurt him. I have a responsibility to be good and I betrayed that. And I can’t even remember doing it.” 

 

Sam sat in silence. He could tell that Peter wanted to keep going. 

 

“It’s all my fault. I knew I couldn’t handle this.”

 

“Handle what?”

 

“The powers, the urges, the superheroing, all of it. I’m not like you guys. I’m not good enough to be an Avenger.”

 

“First of all, you’re very much good enough to be on the team. Don’t ever doubt that. No one is perfect, us especially have things we regret from our pasts, but the best you can do is to try to better yourself from the man you are and reach for the man you strive to become. Alright? Next, what are the ‘urges’” Sam tried not to show disgust at Peter’s choice of words. 

 

Peter described how protective he felt over all the people in his life. He spilled all the details he’d been keeping to himself. Sam listened attentively to the whole thing and reassured Peter that he wasn’t going insane. They had JARVIS search it up and, sure enough, spiders were protective of their families. Sam continued to make some logical suggestions to steps Peter might take in controlling those thoughts and recommenced a therapist who he knew personally that dealt with mutants and otherwise “other-worldly” mental strains. 

 

Peter felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He slumped back into the chair. “Thank you.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to know that you’ve got my back.”

 

Peter smiled, then his head whipped to the right. 

 

“What’s up?”

 

“The doorbell just rang. I think it’s pizza.” 

 

Sam and Peter both turned toward each other. “Clint”. 

 

Sam reached for the intercom that Tony had recently installed. “You better be sharing that pizza Barton.” 

 

There was a chorus of people trying to talk over themselves and feet stomping down the stairs. 

 

Steve and Bucky were the first ones down. They immediately stretched out to claim the second couch. Bruce and Tony followed. Clint walked in with a giant stack of pizza boxes. “Of course I’m going to share.” 

 

“By you, you mean Tony’s credit card, right?” Natasha quipped as she snatched a slice from over Clint’s shoulder. 

 

“I ordered and carried it up here so…” Clint passed each of the super soldiers their own box. He sat down on Peter’s other side and handed the kid a box before dumping the rest of the stack on the table. Bruce went to the kitchen and grabbed a stack of plates. He dished out slices for everyone. 

 

“Are you feeling alright?” Natasha whispered in Peter’s ear as she reached across him for some breadsticks. Peter smiled in response. Her face flashed with relief as she continued her quest for food. 

 

The rest of the team followed suit. Clint asked when the others were distracted by Bucky’s story about skinny Steve. Tony made a face that silently, but clearly conveyed his point. Steve and Bucky caught him when they were doing dishes together. Even Bruce inquired as the rest of the team chose a game to play. Once they had all established that the kid was okay, the true Avenger-level shenanigans commenced. 

 

“That was totally mine!” Sam glared at Bucky. The latter just wiggled his eyebrows and crossed his eyes at the spoon on his nose. 

 

“Don’t be a sore loser Sam.” Natasha chastised. 

 

“I think he’s cheating. Do you think these spoons are attracted to his arm?”

 

“They aren’t magnets.” Bruce supplied. 

 

Steve just silently set up the next round SPOONS in silence. He was smirking though. Peter thought him and Bucky might be cheating somehow. Clint bumped Peter’s shoulder playfully with his own and then glanced at the super soldiers as well. He definitely knew what they were up to. 

 

They’d been playing games for a couple hours. It had started with a game of monopoly that got too competitive and too boring too fast. Somehow monopoly had turned into a betting game with dice and fake money which had reminded everyone of Yahtzee which became SPOONS. The game didn’t matter though. Tony was always going to play 'by the rules’ but manage to find loopholes. Bucky, Clint and possibly Steve would just straight up cheat. Natasha was doing something off, but Peter couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Sam was more into the trash talk then the game. Bruce and Peter actually played fair, but they didn’t really care. 

 

Everyone was having a great time. They were all cuddled together to fit around the coffee table, and they couldn’t stop making stupid jokes that would make the rest of the team go silent with intense laughter. Even though they just ate, there was a constant stream of drinks and snacks on the table. Peter was smiling from ear to ear. 

 

Eventually, the rowdy bunch calmed down a bit and they decided on watching some TV. With everyone tired from the movie, it wasn’t long before people started dozing off. Steve and Bucky were all tangled with each other, too big for the spot they inhabited. Bruce was leaning against Sam’s shoulder who was leaning on the back of the couch. Natasha had her head propped on a pillow on Clint’s lap. Tony had his eyes closed and his mouth wide open. He would vehemently deny that any of those noises were him snoring. Peter eyelids started to get heavy.

 

He opened his eyes. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep. The TV was turned off and the lights were dimmed. A few of the individuals had tapered off into their own beds. Peter immediately noticed the absence of one man in particular - Tony. 

 

Was Tony safe? This tower was the safest place in the world to be. JARVIS would have alerted them if something had happened. Even if JARVIS crashed, Steve and Natasha were extremely light sleepers- they would've noticed something.   

 

Peter tried to stop the rapid beat of his heart or the worst-case scenarios that his mind was rapidly firing off, but the logic wasn’t doing much to dampen his emotions. As slowly as he could, he padded down the hallway and cracked Tony’s door open just a sliver. 

 

“Kid?”

 

Damn it.

 

“Ugh, this isn’t my room?”

 

Tony humored Peter and grinned at the pathetic cover-up technique. “Can’t sleep?”

 

“Sorry. I just- I know I should control it, but sometimes I just get so worried and-“ 

 

“Slow down. There’s nothing to apologize for. Come.” Tony sat up and patted a spot at the side of his bed. “Worrying about people isn’t a bad thing. It shows you care.” 

 

“But it caused me to-“

 

“Yes, you freaked out a little bit, but you need to remember that you’re only human. You have plenty of time to work on it. Plus, you’ve got all of us on your side. We’ll always stop you before you do something really stupid. You’re an amazing kid.”

 

“I lost control and lashed out. I’m no better than the villains we fight against.”

 

“That is definitely not true. When you came to, did you happen to look at any of the other villains?”

 

Peter shook his head.

 

“Peter, they didn’t care. You had the most horrified and shocked expression as you looked over the man’s body. I thought you were going to be sick when they lifted him on the stretcher. I could almost feel your regret. His own cohorts were too busy arguing with Steve and the police to even spare their ‘friend’ a second glance. Those who did look back just sneered in disgust. They were completely apathetic. You’re nothing like that. Your strong emotions are proof that you will grow from this experience. It’ll get better.” Tony lifted his arm and Peter slid underneath it. 

 

"Can I tell you something?”

 

“Yes.” Peter looked at Tony with wide eyes. It sounded like he was about to share something serious. 

 

“I get really worried sometimes too. Are you familiar with panic attacks?” 

 

Peter listened intently as Tony described the anxiety he’d suffered since the Battle of New York. He exposed his vulnerabilities for Peter to see. He confessed to a lot of his regrets and the things he’d wished he’d changed. 

 

“But even with all that, I’ve found a way to start atoning for the things I’ve done. And I wouldn’t have it any other way because it brought me to this team. There is no other group of people who could ever make me feel as welcome and secure as you guys. We’re family now.” 

 

Peter tried to hide the beam that crept across his face with his hand, but Tony didn’t miss it and smiled back. He wrapped the kid in a hug. They stayed like that for a bit.

 

Then, Peter got up to go to his bed. He kept glancing back as subtly as possible to check that Tony was still safe. 

 

“Just sleep here tonight.” 

 

“Really?!”

 

“C’mon in. You’re family after all.” 

 

Peter carefully climbed in so he wouldn’t disrupt Tony’s injuries. Both men slept better than they had in a while that night. 

Chapter 17: Sam (The Dog)

Summary:

The Avengers get a new pet.

“Who’s the best little doggie in the world? That’s right Sam! It’s you!!”

Sam stopped in his tracks on his way into the building. He had just been untying his shoes when his ears perked up at the sound of Peter calling his name. Is he talking to me? Curious, Sam continued to eavesdrop as he approached the room. “What a good boy you are! You’re being so brave for me!” There was laughter from several people and a couple groans afterwards.

Sam finally peeked his head around the corner and was met with an interesting scene. On the tiled floor of the kitchen was a fully inflated kiddy pool filled with water. Covered in suds and trying to escape was a dog coated in mud. It appeared as if he had just shaken his body because Peter and Bucky, who were knelt against the sides of the pool, were covered in water, dirt, and bubbles. Steve was laughing and even Natasha had a grin on her face. “We should’ve done this in the bathroom. That way Sam couldn’t escape.” Clint came into the room with a leash and Tony followed behind with some stained, but clean, towels from his lab.

“You think?” Bucky spread his arms to fully show off the damage the dog had caused. He had a grin on his face though. None of the people seemed to notice Sam in the corner as they all pitched in to get the dog clean. Without the dirt, it looked like it was a Pit Bull mixed with a Golden Retriever, maybe?

“You’re so handsome now that you’re clean Sam, aren’t you? See the bath was worth it. It wasn’t too bad was it?” Tony talked to the dog as he dried him off with one of the towels. Bucky and Peter used the others to wipe themselves down.

They were definitely calling that dog Sam. Is that a compliment? Sam contemplates their choice in naming before announcing his appearance. “Hey guys, I’m back.” “Hi!” Peter beamed at the man, hero-worship still strong even after a full year of living with the Avengers. The rest of the team also greeted him in their own ways.

“You got a dog?”

It was well-known that Bucky and Peter really wanted a dog, Steve, Natasha, Tony, and Clint also did, but they were less public with their whining, but it was another thing to actually go out and get one. As everyone’s parents say “owning a dog is a big responsibility”. “Well, Bucky and I were walking back from the outdoor training facility and the pound is right on the way so we decided to make a quick stop there.” Clint rolled his eyes. Everyone knew that the pound was a ten minute detour from the route home and that a ‘quick stop’ usually meant an hour when the teen and the super solider were involved.

“So we were in the pound, and they brought this guy in. He’d just been rescued from the streets. There weren’t any open cages so they were contemplating transferring him, but apparently it’s a busy season for all the nearby pounds so they’re all full.

The only other option was-“ Peter covered the dogs ears with his hands “-putting him down. And we couldn’t just let them do that. We’re superheroes, we’re supposed to save things. Plus, how could we say no to that face. So now Sam’s a member of our family!”

“Did you name him after me?”

Bucky scoffed. “Of course not, that was his name when we got him.”

“Wasn’t he a stray?”

“No, his owner died so when the paramedics entered the building, they found Sam cowering in a corner. He was being abused. See, he’s so skinny and dirty.”

“Can’t you change his name?”

“No, he already responds to Sam. Come on Sam, you can share your name, right?”

“Duh, I’m not a child. I just think it will get confusing with two Sam’s in the house. How will you differentiate who you’re talking about?”

Natasha and Steve smirked. They thought Sam was just being stupid. It would be obvious if they were talking to human Sam or dog Sam.

“We’ll call him Sam and you Sam W. or he’s Sam and you’re Sam #2.” Bucky supplied with a mock serious tone. “Handsome Sam and the other one. Sam and that guy over there. Sam and-“

“-shut up.” Sam waved his hand up in defeat and reached for the leftovers from last night’s dinner in the fridge.

—————

As it turns out, Sam’s worries weren’t as unfounded as the team dismissed them to be.

“Sam! Come here. We’re going for a run.”

Sam shot up in bed. Damn was today a training day? Without even checking the clock or the date, he shoved himself into some running clothes and rushed down the stairs. He couldn’t train with Steve everyday because his body wasn’t superhuman, but it was good for him to join once or twice a week. They’d made a flexible schedule where they would work out together when Steve was taking an easy day and Sam was going to go all out. He’d never mixed up a date before. It’s not like Steve would get mad or anything, but he was a very punctual person and lateness annoyed him.

Sam came down the steps at lightening speed. He made it down the last flight just in time to see Steve clipping the leash onto the dog’s collar. He turned at Sam’s stomping feet.

“Oh, are you joining me today? I thought it was a rest day for you.”

All of a sudden, Sam’s cognitive functions returned. He realized that he had just done weights with Steve and Bucky yesterday and that his jolted movements had made every muscle in his body ache. It also occurred to him that Steve had been calling for the dog. He was tempted to just go along with it to save his pride, but he knew he would feel like death afterward. He’d learned the hard way that you can’t compete with a super solider - you’ll hurt yourself and they probably won’t even realize you’re trying to compete.

“Nope, see you later.” Sam made a hasty retreat back to his room before Steve could ask any questions. He barely got his shoes off before faceplanting back into bed and falling asleep.

————

“Hi, Sam. Did you want to sleep with me tonight? Come over here and give me a kiss.”

Sam’s brain short-circuited for a moment. He’d been flirty with Natasha for a while and he’d been working up to asking her on a date because there was definitely chemistry. Maybe Russians were just more straightforward? Or maybe it was because she was a spy and a very confident woman? His mind was working overtime coming up with scenarios as he slowly made his way down the hallway toward Natasha’s room, which had the door cracked open. She couldn’t even see him - how did she know he was here? Was it a spy thing? He wouldn’t be surprised if she had cameras or something in the hall. Or maybe she was giving herself a pep talk? Practicing asking him out? Or more from the sounds of it. Sam was feeling pretty good about all the situations, the aspect of her secret spy skills was a little unsettling but so was everyone else on the team. The thought of Natasha talking herself into asking him out was adorable.

The confident grin on his face dropped right off his face when he actually opened the door. Inside was Natasha in pajama pants and a large T-shirt sitting criss-cross on the bed and patting the empty spot next to her. The dog was wagging his tail and preparing to jump.

“Oh, hey Sam. Did you need something?” Sam just stared blankly down at the dog.

“Peter and Bucky both like to say they’re his favorite because they adopted him, but I think I’m the only one who leaves him enough room in the bed to stretch out so he likes to sleep with me more.” Natasha explained. She then looked expectantly at Sam, the human, waiting for him to say wherever he came in her room to say.

“I forgot what I wanted to say. Goodnight.” Sam slumped as his previous excitement and adrenaline left his body. “Goodnight.”

—————

“Why’d you name him Sam? Does he look like Sam?”

Sam walked in to Pepper and Bucky having a conversation in the living room.

Bucky turned around to look Sam dead in the eyes and said “Nope, thank god. If he was as ugly as Sam, we probably wouldn’t have been able to adopt him without throwing up in horror.”

Pepper turned around to see what Bucky was looking at and sighed. She knew better than to get involved in their childish games.

—————

“Come here.”

Sam waved the bacon in his hands and made kissy noises at the dog, luring him into his room.

“Good boy.”He refused to call the dog ‘Sam’, that was his name.

Once he got him inside, he quickly shut the door and grabbed the crinkly package on his kitchen table, grinning like a fiend. As soon as Sam reopened his bedroom door, the dog rushed out to the kitchen to beg for some deli meat, despite the fact everyone swears they haven’t been feeding him table scraps.

“SAM” Bucky hollered from the kitchen. Sam hums under his breath, purposely ignoring the yelling. Bucky rushed into the doorframe of Sam’s room, the others coming out to see the commotion.

“Oh, sorry, were you calling me? I thought that wasn’t my name anymore.”

“What did you do to Sam?”

“What makes you think I did something to him?”

“He’s dyed all red and grey.” Bucky made exaggerated gestures at the dog, who was sniffing some shoes and wagging his tail happily.

Sam held back a snicker. He’d found the perfect nontoxic, temporary fur dye and carefully mimicked his own Falcon uniform on the dog’s coat. He also fashioned fake wings. The real kicker was...

“Is that Buck?” Steve squinted at the toy in the dog’s mouth.

“Does it look like him? What a coincidence?”

“Sam, the arm is colored silver.” Peter tried to seem chastising, but was clearly failing as an amused smile crept across his face.

Bucky smirked like an idea popped into his head and stalked off. The other Avengers laughed it off and went about their business. Sam sat on the floor and rubbed under the dogs ears. “I think we’re going to be good friends, right pal? Now, I need to stop whatever bullshit Barnes is trying to pull, you with me?”

Chapter 18: Self-Care (Platonic Peter x Bucky)

Summary:

Peter shows Bucky some self-care

Notes:

I actually meant to post this a while ago, and I have no idea why it never went through.

"You look like a Smurf." Both super soldiers could hear Clint's amused voice all the way down the hallway.

"Better than you. You could pass for the Tin Man right now." Peter was giggling as he teased Clint.

Steve and Bucky shared a grin because they got that reference before deciding to go investigate. They'd been held late at SHIELD filling out some tedious paperwork and were comforted by the cheery sounds from the living room.

"This is similar to the war paint used by warriors back home!" Thor enthusiastically boomed as the other two men entered the room. "Hello Steven and James! How was your trip?"

"It wasn't bad." Steve answered. He took in the sight before him. Clint was seated on the floor with his back against the couch. His face was entirely gray. Peter and Thor were both lounging across the couch. They each had a headband on and their faces were also covered. Peter's was a bluish color while Thor had a pretty intricate mix of blue and grey that Steve assumed mimicked war paint.

"What's on your face?" Bucky was curiously examining Thor's face.

"Face masks!" Peter exclaimed "MJ gave me some clay ones after finals finished. She says she thought I could use them, which I'm hoping wasn't an insult. Do you want one?"

Bucky opened his mouth to refuse, but before anything came out, he made eye contact with Peter's pleading puppy dog eyes. "Yes." His voice betrayed him and suddenly Peter was dragging him by his metal arm to the nearby bathroom. "You've gotta wash your face first." He handed him a wash cloth and some face soap that looked expensive.

Once his face was washed, Peter helped him put on a neon pink headband and held up two jars. "This one is for de-stressing. It has deep sea minerals apparently. This one is cleansing and pore cleaning. It's got volcanic ash. Which one do you want?"

"Surprise me."

Peter smiled and put down the volcanic ash one. He put his finger in the blue, de-stressing one and spread it thinly across Bucky's forehead.

"I can do it myself."

"Nope. It'll be uneven and you'll miss spots." Peter continued spreading the mask all over his face. "There we go! Now you just need to wait ten minutes. Don't talk or smile too much or it'll crack around your mouth." Bucky nodded, unable to point out that he neither talked nor smiled that often anyway.

"Steve. It's your turn now!" Peter abruptly stood up and grabbed Steve to give him the same treatment. In a matter of minutes, Steve was also adorning the blue mask.

"Have we been attacked by Na'vi?" Tony joked as he came into the room. A timer went off and Clint moved to the bathroom to peel his mask off. Natasha, who silently entered seconds after Tony, pulled out her phone and took a candid photo of the group. It was a rarity for everyone to look this relaxed.

It wasn't long before Tony and Natasha were also wearing masks.

"Here, I'll help you." Peter showed Steve and Bucky how to remove the masks without irritating their skin too much and handed them a moisturizer for their faces. When they came back, Natasha was giving Clint a back massage while Tony was painting Thor's nails with a clear polish from somewhere.

"Can I draw on your arm?" Peter blurted out. "I mean, don't feel obligated to say yes. Ned just always lets me draw on his leg. It's nice but he's ticklish so he jerks and..."

Bucky silently held out his arm to Peter, who promptly ran off and came back with a box full of colorful sharpies.

He was surprised when Peter pulled out a damp washcloth and wiped down his arm. He was being so careful and staring at it with so much admiration. Bucky wanted to tell him he didn't need to act like it was so delicate, that it was pretty much unbreakable and he couldn't feel anything, but the kid's intense stare deterred him. He felt so warm when the kid looked at his arm, a weapon of mass murder, like it was a beautiful thing.

Peter picked up a marker and slowly started to draw an intricate pattern around his finger. His head jerked up like he got an idea and he grinned. "You can't look until it's finished."

Bucky protested, but Peter unleashed his wide eyes again and his words fell flat.

"Fine."

"That includes everyone else too." Peter motioned for Bucky to move into the corner of the room. Tony and Clint groaned while Thor respectfully looked away.

Bucky sat completely still as Peter worked. Occasionally he felt Peter gently tug at his arm to adjust the position or heard the squeak of marker on metal, but for the most part, he relaxed and watched the movie.

"Done yet Spidey?" Tony called out, still looking at the TV screen. He'd been caught trying to peek twice before and Natasha threatened to hurt him if he continued disturbing the peace.

"One second. I kinda ran out of room though."

"How?" Clint mumbled, thinking about the size of Bucky's arm.

Peter ignored him and declared that he was ready for everyone to see.

Bucky looked down at his arm. Near the shoulder was a drawing of muscular golden retriever wearing a collar that had a miniature version of Steve's shield hanging from it. There was a bald eagle on its back, but the edges of the wings were red and white like Sam's. Facing away from the dog was a black cat that somehow had a smirk very similar to Natasha's when she was pleased. There was the marking of a black widow on the cat's back. Below the cat was a lizard curled around his arm. It had purple patterns atop dark blue skin. There was a black arrow shaped design down its tail. Across from the lizard was an owl with its wings outstretched. It appeared like it was mid-flight and had a distinctive green tint. Lower still was a whale shark whose spots were shaped like lighting bolts. Close-by was a scarlet octopus whose tentacles were encompassed by a thin line of glowing flames.

Just below and over his elbow was a peacock with a butterfly and a firefly on either side. The peacock had red and gold ocelli adorning its wings. The butterfly had red wings with black and blue lines criss-crossing out from the body. The firefly had just done a loop which left a trail of golden light resembling a portal. There was a snake wrapped around his upper forearm which was wearing Loki's helmet. An emperor penguin was sliding on its belly beneath them. It had tiny cat ears and a silver spiked necklace around its lower neck. There was a cheetah with silver spots licking its paws next to the penguin.

Finally, compassing the rest of his forearm was a caribou with intricate metal antlers extending out from his head.

Bucky was speechless. He twisted his arm around to admire each animal and how they were posed to fit perfectly together.

Natasha had a soft smile she almost never showed on her face. Steve was praising Peter's artistry. Tony was looking smug. He even reached out to touch the peacock. Clint was laughing at the lizard and attempting to explain what a whale shark was to Thor at the same time. Bruce pulled his phone out and snapped a picture, presumably to send to Wanda, Pierto, Sam, Strange, and T'Challa.

It made Bucky's heart swell, seeing himself portrayed with all the other Avengers. Even if it was in animal form, it was nice to feel included as a part of their team/family. It'd been a long road toward getting forgiveness, then trust to join them in battle, and then friendship, but he would do it all in a heartbeat as long as he wound up in the same spot.

"Thanks kid."

As Bucky walked to his room, he was approached by Natasha. "I have a spray that would keep it from smudging for longer, do you want some?"

Bucky nodded silently. In a minute, she was back and helping him coat his arm in a glossy spray.

For the next month, Bucky was sporting a full sleeve tattoo on his left arm. He loved it.

Chapter 19: Sniffles and Snuggleforts (Spidermom)

Summary:

Natasha helps a sick Peter.

Notes:

Sorry, you guys probably thought I was dead (to be fair Organic Chemistry made me feel dead and End of Term parties probably killed my liver). I’m absolutely shocked, and so happy, that people kept commenting and giving kudos while I was out! Thank you!! I’ll try to keep going though! Hope you enjoy!

“Hey, Peter?” Natasha’s knuckles rapped against the door. “Any requests for dinner?”

 

Natasha had been on a solo mission and Peter wasn’t technically part of the Avengers so neither of them had responded to the newest alien chaos in Times Square. It also meant that they were the only ones in the tower.

 

“I think I’m good today.” Peter responded through the closed door.

 

Natasha immediately picked up on the slight hoarseness of his voice. She also remembered that Peter had the appetite of a beast; he wouldn’t turn down a meal. “What’s up Peter?”

 

“Nothing, just had a big lunch.” There was a suppressed cough on the other side of the door.

 

Natasha sighed, surely loud enough for Peter’s enhanced hearing to pick up on. She hadn’t actually known ‘Peter Parker’ for very long, but her instincts told her that he was a good kid, and she was inclined to believe them. She twisted the doorknob. “I’m coming in.”

 

She heard frantic shuffling and walked through the doorway just in time to see Peter chuck a blue blanket into the closet. There was still a large variety of blankets scattered haphazardly on the bed and floor.

 

He stood with one hand behind his back and one on his stomach. “I’m really full. I’ll just get to all the homework I have to do and -“ Peter’s excuses were cut off by a bout of hacking.

 

“Did you have a fort set up?” Natasha asked, surveying the room and ignoring Peter’s pathetic lying attempt.

 

“No.” Peter’s blush hinted otherwise though. Natasha resolved to teach the kid how to lie after he was better because this was just sad. She did feel a bit warm and fuzzy with the confirmation that he was so innocent though.

 

She took in the scene for another moment.  She wasn’t great with children: her childhood wasn’t exactly typical. She also didn’t see herself as the nurturing type. Peter was in high school - he could handle himself. She could just go watch some TV and get something to eat.

 

Inexplicably, she couldn’t do that. It was possible she was more motherly than she let on. “I’ll help you rebuild it - we can make it better.”

 

“You don’t have to. I don’t want to get you sick. I’m not a child, and really, I’m used to taking care of it on my own.”

 

Natasha’s heart lurched with empathy for the fake smile Peter had on his face, coupling with the red nose and ashen skin for a truly miserable expression.

 

“You think I can’t make a better pillow fort? Is that a challenge?” With a smirk, Natasha stalked out of the room only to return minutes later with a large stack of Tony’s fancy blankets.

 

“Wait, those are Mr. Stark’s-“ Peter’s protests were cut off by a large cashmere blanket being chucked directly at his face. He still seemed a bit apprehensive, the blankets were all made of exotic, expensive materials, but Natasha knew he would relax once the fun started.

 

“Use a web to stick this one there on the ceiling.” Nat pointed at the spots she couldn’t immediately reach and gave directions to Peter. “These ones can drape over this part to separate sections.”

 

“I think this one looks like a good door, can I go hang it over by the entrance Ms. Widow?”

 

“That’s a great idea! You don’t have to ask by the way, and don’t call me Ms. Widow - it’s Nat.”

 

Peter nodded happily and went back to work. In half an hour, the room was completely decked out with blankets. Most of them came from Tony’s stash which meant they were both stylish and luxurious. On the inside, Peter and Thor’s cartoon themed blankets insulated the fort. The thickest wool ones from Bruce’s room made up the carpet. They saved the thickest ones to curl up with inside the fort.

 

“What do you want to watch?” Nat crawled in after Peter with the TV remote.

 

“You’re staying?” The teenager sounded surprised.

 

“Of course. This is the best blanket fort ever!”

 

“That’s because of your ideas.”

 

“Nope, none of them would’ve worked without your powers. Apparently spiders can spin pretty cool webs when they work together huh?”

 

Peter’s eyes widened a bit and then he smiled. The moment was cut short by his stomach rumbling.

 

“Not hungry...” Natasha muttered and Peter blushed. “How about you man the fort and watch some TV while I go grab dinner?”

 

“You don’t have to-“

 

“-Nonsense. I’m hungry too. Trust me, I won’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

 

She had just been planning on ordering in pizza or Chinese, but an old recipe for mushroom soup that she ate when she got sick came to mind. Although it took a bit longer, the kitchen smelled amazing by the time she was done.

 

Natasha proudly carried the soups back to the fort and made herself comfortable next to Peter. She didn’t recognize the show, but it was funny so she was content.

 

In less than two hours, they were both knocked out, tired from the mission and being sick.

 

Natasha immediately became alert when sounds came from the hallway. Peter was still dead asleep as she strained to listen. She never let her guard fully down, especially since a child was sick next to her. It didn’t matter that her home, Stark Tower, was the most well protected spot in the world or that the “child” could bench press a semi-truck.

 

She relaxed when she heard Stark’s voice. “Where did all my blankets go?” He sounded irritated. “They don’t usually take them all when they do laundry - I’ll have to reprogram the-“

 

Steve chuckled from behind the door. “Stark, calm down. You can borrow one of mine, which are actually yours by the way, for the night.”

 

“Your blankets suck. I refuse to claim them and resent that accusation. The thread count is like two. When I told you to pick out blankets, I didn’t mean to get the cheapest ones Walmart had. I’m pretty sure those were made of hay bales or-“

 

“- I get it. Why do you need them anyway? Doesn’t your bed have a comforter?”

 

“It’s for Peter. He didn’t look too well before we left. I think he might be sick. He’s stubborn about this stuff. I worry about him.”

 

Natasha couldn’t see it, but she could picture the sly grin on Steve’s face perfectly. She glanced down at Peter, who was starting to stir: his enhanced hearing amplified the voices in the hall. The door opening finally brought him to conscious.

 

“What the hell?”

 

Steve’s loud footsteps stomped from where he was standing, actively searching for a threat. He doubled over with laughter when he saw the cause of Tony‘s outburst.

 

“Sorry Mr. Stark. I thought it would be okay to use your blankets.” Peter’s voice, on top of being thick with sleep, was scratchy and strained. It sounded awful enough to make Nat wince.

 

There was some noise at the entrance of the fort. “No Peter it’s fine. You can always use my things. I just - jeez how many compartments does this thing have? Where are you?”

 

“This way.” Natasha spoke up for Peter.

 

“You’re in here too? Anyone else want to make themselves known? HYDRA agents could get tips about building secret bases from you guys.” Tony grumbled something about ‘old man’ knees that everyone knew didn’t apply, especially with the cushioned flooring of the fort, but eventually made it to the ‘TV den’. “Wow, you guys have quite the set up.” Tony looked around impressed . “So how are you feeling kid?”

 

Peter opened his mouth, but Natasha spine first. “Don’t lie to us.”

 

“Like garbage actually. Natasha’s soup made my throat feel much better though. I just need some sleep and the spider powers will take care of it.”

 

“Natasha cooked for you?!”

 

“And she helped me make the blanket fort.”

 

“Once, I ate an alien plant and had a stomachache and  a headache for like two days. She threw a single Advil at me and called me a ‘dumbass’ before disappearing the entire time I was sick.”

 

Peter snorted and Natasha just shrugged. “It was your fault.”

 

Tony continued to tell stories of Natasha being callous toward everyone’s injuries and sicknesses, except Bruce, until Peter’s eyelids became heavy and his head started to droop.

 

“Where are you going?” He whispered as Natasha gently moved Peter’s head off of her lap and onto Tony’s.

 

“Bruce has some tea for sore throats. I’m going to put some in a thermos for when he wakes up.”

 

“When did you become so motherly?” Tony said fondly.

 

“Don’t expect anything from me. Spiders stick together - you’ve got your own thing going on.”

 

Tony grinned at Natasha’s empty threat, seeing the blush she was trying to hide. He ran his fingers through Peter’s hair fondly. “Thanks for taking care of him.”

 

“Anytime.”

Chapter 20: Stop Talking - (Platonic Avengers)

Summary:

Requested by LordLuminous:

Prompt Idea for you: The Daily Bugle says Spider-Man is a terrible hero for multiple reasons and make Peter feel bad, so the other Avengers storm the Daily Bugle head office to tell at J. Jonah Jameson.

Notes:

*I took some liberties on the comic book universe in this one.

“A job?” Bruce raised an eyebrow at Peter. “Do you even have time for that?”

 

“Well sorta. It’s just temp work for The Daily Bugle. I get paid for pictures of Spiderman.” Peter shrugged as he grabbed another handful of pretzels from the bowl on the countertop.

 

“And the employees there aren’t suspicious about how you’re able to obtain photos that no one else can?” Natasha looked at him suspiciously. “Do you only get pictures of Spiderman?”

 

“Well, as a photojournalist, my identity is protected from all of the employees except for the boss, who can’t say anything about that. Plus, I pose them so they aren’t too good.” He turned to face Natasha. “I don’t take any pictures of you guys. It wouldn’t be right without asking permission. I’m not actually paparazzi.”

 

“How do you take pictures of yourself? I don’t ever see any Spidey selfies.” Clint laughed at the idea.

 

“Ned or MJ take them usually. They know where I am and what I’m doing. I just give the excuses, pose sometimes, and pass them onto The Bugle. Then we split the money.”

 

Natasha nodded approvingly. “Sounds like a good scam to me.”

 

“It’s not really a scam. I just-“ Natasha just smirked at Peter’s attempted explanation.

 

“Who’s getting scamed?” Tony came through the door, eager for interesting news after his business meeting. Pepper followed him with a mildly exasperated expression on her face.

 

“The Daily Bugle.”

 

“Oh, I never read that one. How so?”

 

“I don’t think any of us do, but Peter has a “job” there and it’s a scam.” Clint put air quotes around job and mischievously grinned at Peter.

 

Nearly chocking on his food, Peter tried to protest, but he was cut off.

 

“Why’re you scamming The Daily Bugle kid?”

 

“It’s a job.”

 

“Why did you get a job? I can buy anything you need. You don’t have time for a job with the whole school and underoos gig. Plus, at a newspaper company? I know engineering firms and chemical companies that would take you at the drop of a hat. Just give me the word.”

 

“Tony, slow down.” Pepper patted his back. “How is his job a scam? They aren’t taking advantage of you are they Peter?”

 

“No Peter’s the scammer.” Clint’s proud smile grew larger.

 

Tony snorted. “Peter would never.”

 

“Well it’s not necessarily a scam.” Bruce gently reminded Clint.

 

In a few minutes, filled with many, many interruptions, Pepper and Tony we’re finally filled in.

 

“I’ve gotta run an errand and get to Ned’s for a study session. See you guys later.” Peter rushed off.

 

“Well, in that case, should we read some Spidey articles from The Daily Bugle?” Bruce suggested.

 

“JARVIS, pull em up.”

 

“Confirming subscription to The Daily Bugle. There are twenty-three articles that reference Spiderman. Fifteen of them have Spiderman as the main focus. Shall I pull up the most recent?”

 

Three articles appeared on a screen in front of Tony, who frowned at the titles.

 

“Spiderman: Vigilante Menace.”

 

“The Surprisingly Negative Influence Spiderman is Having on the Youth of New York.”

 

“Should a Mask Negate the Requirement for Personal Responsibility? The Case of Spiderman.”

 

“What the hell?” Clint reached out and selected an article, quickly scanning its contents.

 

Natasha read a particularly nasty quote aloud.

 

“By choosing to keep his identity a secret, Spiderman has chosen to live as a reckless vigilante, not a superhero nor good samaritan. If he makes a mistake, he’s protected, but his victim won’t be. As a society, can we allow this? Should we have to have this on our conscience?”

 

Bruce added on from the article on his tablet.

 

“Young children already injure themselves attempting to repeat stunts performed by the superhero community. Now, we show them a scrawny looking child who they can relate to, and he flings himself off of buildings constantly? It’s a recipe for disaster. Watch your children - Spiderman Syndrome is real, and it’s deadly.”

 

“They’re even picking apart his costume.” Clint watched the captioned pictures flick in front of him. “Spandex went out of style with Captain America during WWII.” “Is Spiderman’s Suit Hyper-Sexualizing Children?”

 

“Who’s writing this bullshit?”

 

Pepper jumped a bit at the loud voice behind her. The rest of the Avengers turned to see a very angry looking Steve had entered the room, apparently in time to hear all the articles about their newest member.

 

“His name is J. Jonah Jameson. Peter’s been providing the pictures for this asshole’s articles?” Natasha was already searching through the ‘About Me’ authors’ section. “He wrote all of these articles. He’s very outspoken about his hatred. He claims that ‘Spiderman is a bad influence. People should pay more attention to real heroes like the dedicated men and women in our space program.’”

 

“That’s because his son’s an astronaut. I think this guy is also the guy Peter’s been giving pictures too.” Clint was uncharacteristically serious as he did something on the tablet he swiped from Bruce.

 

“Is this why Peter was so self-conscious about where our fight was being broadcast last time?” Bruce spoke quietly. “I thought he was worried about his identity, but he just wanted it to be a channel that wasn’t viewed by many kids.”

 

“Well. I’m going to go have a chat with this Jonah Jameson. He should learn how to speak with respect and appreciate the men protecting his city.” Steve grabbed a set of keys from a bin Pepper had placed on the countertop.

 

“Hold-up, don’t take the motorcycle.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I’m coming with you. We’ll take my car.” Tony grabbed a different set and made to leave. Natasha and Clint were already following. Bruce hesitantly looked at the door, a green tint to his skin.

 

“I’m going to stay back and make sure that Stark Industries isn’t supporting The Daily Bugle or its affiliates. Would you like to help me with that Bruce?” Pepper calmly suggested, knowing Bruce wanted to help, but that he wouldn’t want to Hulk our.

 

Bruce nodded gratefully and the other five stepped into the elevator to get to the garage.

 

————-

 

“Oh no.” Peter muttered under his breath as he saw a group of angry Avengers approaching from the window behind Mr. Jameson.

 

Jameson snatched the envelope and ripped it open.

 

“I’m in a bit of hurry. You know my pictures are good, is there any way-“

 

“Are you trying to trick me Mr. Parker? Because I don’t appreciate it. In the newspaper business it is vital that I ensure the best quality for our readers...” He rambled on about disrespect, but Peter was too focused on the scene outside the window.

 

Was there a fight coming? Why was almost everyone there? What were they so upset about? Were they headed for this window?

 

“Are you even listening? What could possibly be happening outside so that-“ Jameson’s eyes went wide as he took in the situation. He only had moments before  Tony smashed the glass and the other four let themselves in.

 

Natasha knocked Jameson into a chair and took his, resting her feet on his desk.

 

“Wh-The Avengers, what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?”

 

Clint slowly inched into Jameson’s personal space before speaking down to him. “We were hoping you could put something in the papers for us.”

 

“What would that be?”

 

“Well,” Steve paused dramatically, “Some people have decided that it’s acceptable to degrade the newest addition to our team. Even though he’s just starting off and has already saved hundreds of lives, this slimeball has been spouting off all kinds of slander about him.”

 

Jameson swallowed thickly, visibly becoming more nervous.

 

“We just want it to be known what happens to people who unfairly attack one of us.” Tony shot his fakest smile at Jameson. “As a warning.”

 

“You’re superheroes. You wouldn’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be any better than the villains you fight.” Jameson regained composure and settled into a smug look. Peter seemed a bit frazzled at the threatened violence.

 

“We wouldn’t what? Cut off all ties with The Daily Bugle and threaten to sue if they use any pictures of us in action? Because I think we would.” Tony actually smiled. “I’m sure you don’t, but if you actually knew anything about current legal standings, you’d know that Stark Industries has the rights to the Avengers.”

 

“They’re very lenient about who can use our images. Of course, anyone who uses it and uses some of the profit to help a worthy charity is fine. Up until this point, all newspapers have been fair game because we believe in transparency and the spread of information.” Steve explained.

 

“But we’ve decided we can’t, in good conscience, let a reporter spread lies. That would be harmful to the children and the public wouldn’t it? One man deciding to bend the truth for his own reasons? Unacceptable.” Natasha finished.

 

“So, Mr. Jameson, could you direct us to the office of whoever is allowing this pathetic rag to print such incoherent gossip?” Clint sat down next to Natasha’s feet, knocking off several picture frames and a stack of files in the process. Peter desperately but back a smile.

 

“Um...well...you shouldn’t...”

 

“Are you sure you’re a journalist? You don’t seem very eloquent.” Natasha flared at him.

 

“That’s why he works at this shithole.” Tony replied, surveying the room. “If he wasn’t unhireable before, he definitely will be. Pep just got back to me with the SI stuff.”

 

“Well. If you aren’t going to speak, I’ll just have my lawyers handle it. I don’t want to spend any more time here.” Tony shrugged. “Hey kid, this place is about to burn to the ground. Fancy transferring to Stark Industries? I feel like I’ve seen you before around Spiderman. If he trusts you, I’m sure I could put you somewhere.”

 

Peter nodded to hide his nearly-escaped laugh. They started walking away. Clint pushed more stuff off of the desk and waved as he walked out the door.

 

“Are you actually going to sue The Daily Bugle? There are some good people who work there. Mr. Jameson only runs the opinion section.”

 

“I won’t if you don’t want me to. I’m going to have my lawyers send threatening letters every few months though. Why didn’t you tell us what he was writing about you?”

 

Peter looked at Tony incredulously. “Mr. Stark, they said bad stuff about you all the time in the newspapers and on TV.”

 

“But it’s true. This was plain lies. Plus, I’ve got thick skin.”

 

“It’s not true.” Peter, Steve, Natasha, and Clint spoke unanimously.

 

Tony’s eyes crinkled with the makings of a smile. “Fine then, it’s because I already have lawyers who squash bad PR for me. I’ve got a team behind me, you’ve got to remember that you do too.”

 

Peter’s eyes light up and almost involuntarily, he wrapped Tony into a giant hug. “Thank you!”

 

“Anytime kid.” Tony responded affectionately while Steve, Nat, and Clint nodded in agreement.

Chapter 21: Christmas Spirit (Spidermom)

Summary:

Peter helps Natasha into the Christmas spirit.

“I don’t know if I should give any to a traitor.” Clint pretended to think deeply, one hand on his chin, the other holding a pitcher of hot chocolate. “It may be against my principles.”

 

“But you’re such a kind and merciful person, wouldn’t not feeding him go against your principles?” Bucky countered and then winked at Peter.

 

“You’re right. I’m just such a wonderful person, I couldn’t let a child go without.” Clint shamelessly complimented himself more as he poured some of the brown liquid into Peter’s cup.

 

“Thank you! Your hot chocolate is the best!” Peter exclaimed as he excitedly raised the Santa-shaped mug to his lips. “It makes me want to watch The Polar Express.”

 

“That’s because he just uses melted chocolate bars and heavy whipping cream. You all are going to have diabetes by January.” Bruce chimed in, still grabbing a mug for himself.

 

“Worth it.” Peter grinned, sporting a liquid mustache.

 

“I don’t think Buck has seen The Polar Express movie. Should we watch it now?” Steve asked, wiping Peter’s mouth with a napkin for him.

 

“That sounds like a great idea.” Tony announced, going to grab a giant handful of blankets. “JARVIS?”

 

Within seconds, everyone was cuddled up with blankets and hot chocolate and the movie was starting up.

 

About half way through, the door to the room opened, and the super soliders could hear footsteps behind them.

 

“Natasha!” Peter exclaimed while Bruce grabbed the remote to pause the movie. “Do you want to join us? We’re watching a Christmas movie.”

 

Natasha just shook her head. “I just want to go get some rest.” With that, she left.

 

The Avengers looked at each other, concerned. “Should one of us follow her up?” Steve made a move to get up.

 

“No, if the mission went wrong she’ll want some alone time.” Clint informed them, still looking at the doorway Natasha left from. Everyone nodded and agreed to give her some space.

 

Her bad mood didn’t seem to wear off, and from the reports, her mission only had a slight hiccup, but it was nothing drastic so the mission was still successful.

 

“Did it involve kids?” Tony wondered aloud. If something happened to kids, no matter how many times each of them had seen the situation, they still fell into a melancholy mood.

 

“Nope.” Steve flipped the page in the file. “From what I can tell, she just had to go to a Christmas party at a rich man’s house and determine where his storehouse or black market weapons was located. Her cover was almost blown, but she covered it up smoothly.”

 

From then on, the Avengers made more of an effort to talk to her and invite her out. She wasn’t nearly as upset as the first day, but there was still something off about her.

 

—————

 

Peter noticed immediately when he came over for the next weekend with Tony. He had chosen to go with Natasha to pick up some food items that the ravenous heroes had already plowed through.

 

“Can we get stuff for Christmas cookies?” Peter’s attention was grabbed by the festive section of the baking aisle. He excited grabbed a container of snowflake sprinkles.

 

“I’m sure Tony won’t mind.” Natasha said absent-mindedly, shifting the cart toward Peter so he could easily pile in his goods. She tried to smile, but even though it looked genuine, Peter could tell when she was putting up a mask.

 

“Is it Christmas?”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, you’ve just seemed down lately, and it seems like you don’t like Christmas stuff.”

 

“It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. I’m just not feeling it this year.” Natasha ended the chance for further conversation by moving toward the check-out.

 

“Is it something specific? Like were you attacked by a guy in a Santa suit or something?” Peter brought it up again as they walked through a park on their way back from the store.

 

Natasha snorted. “Attacked by Santa? No.”

 

Just like everyone else, Natasha wouldn’t open up on the subject. Unlike everyone else, Peter pushed way harder.

 

That evening, Natasha retreated to her room again. She’d had a few glasses of wine with Pepper, but made herself scarce as soon as Clint said he wanted to watch The Grinch.

 

—————-

 

“Tap. Tap. Tap.” There was a noise from her window and then a blast of cold air. Peter stepped in, covering his eyes with one hand. He had switched his ugly Christmas sweater for a plain blue one.

 

Natasha was already in a defensive position. Even tipsy, she was not someone to mess with. “You can open your eyes Peter. I’m decent. You shouldn’t barge into other people’s rooms unannounced though.” She relaxed and sat down on her bed.

 

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to spend more time with you. I haven’t seen you lately.” Peter cuddled up next to her on the bed. “What’s wrong?”

 

And maybe it was the alcohol or Peter’s persistence or the fact that she had let herself be more vulnerable in her room. Maybe it was the reminder that people actually wanted to spend time with her instead of merely tolerating her, but Natasha started confessing.

 

“I feel so alone during the holidays.” She took a deep, shaky breath in. “It’s all about family, and I don’t have one. Bruce has Betty and all those orphan kids he’s practically adopted. Tony has Pepper and you. You have May and Tony. Clint has an entire family. Even Steve and Bucky have each other now.”

 

“You have us.”

 

Natasha flashed a weak smile. “You know that isn’t the same. When all of you leave the tower for your Christmas plans, I’ll be alone. I probably deserve it for all the bad things I’ve done. If Santa really had a naughty list, I’d be on it for a thousand years after I’m dead.” She chuckled dimly.

 

Peter frowned. He knew that if he tugged at this thread, much more than loneliness and guilt would come tumbling out. He didn’t want that though. He didn’t want to make Natasha discuss her insecurities if she didn’t want to. He didn’t want her to say something she’d regret later. So he chose to cuddle up to her some more. They watched a non-Christmas movie together until Natasha fell asleep.

 

“You’re invited to the Parker family Christmas.” A card slid under Natasha’s door. The curling edges of the photo of Peter and May wearing Santa hats clearly gave away the homemade nature of the card. Natasha smiled.

 

—————

 

“Peter, you didn’t have to-“ Natasha spoke up as she poured her coffee the next morning.

 

“-I want you there! Christmas is more fun with more people. I don’t have a lot of family either and I’d love to have a big Christmas!”

 

And how could Natasha refuse him anything after that?

 

—————

 

Christmas morning, Natasha headed over to the Parkers’ home bright and early in the morning. For the first time in a while, she was actually happy. She had gifts for May and Peter as well as some coffee cake to contribute for brunch.

 

The wreath on the door that Peter had clearly made in elementary school made her smile as she let herself in.

 

“Is it supposed to be that color?” Peter’s voice was audible in the foyer.

 

“I don’t think so... the picture doesn’t look like that.” Tony’s voice was uncharacteristically hesitant.

 

“Why is everything so sticky?”  “Do you boys want help?” Pepper and May also spoke up from the kitchen.

 

“Merry Christmas!” All four people in the kitchen jumped at Nat’s announcement, too distracted to notice her approaching.

 

“Merry Christmas! Welcome to our home!” May greeted Natasha warmly as Peter rushed over for a hug.

 

Tony raised his glass of eggnog and smiled. Pepper also wished her a Merry Christmas.

 

“So, what’s this?” Natasha honestly couldn’t tell what they had been trying to make. She hoped this wasn’t breakfast.

 

May whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry, breakfast is already ready. Peter wanted to make something and Tony tried to help while I showed Pepper around.”

 

Natasha let out a breath of relief.

 

“Um, I was trying to make Pryaniki. I thought it might be familiar to you.” Peter looked sheepishly at the mess on the table. Tony moved to reveal a cookbook open to a picture of the dish.

 

Natasha’s heart swelled at the gesture. “I haven’t had those in ages.”

 

“Well, I don’t know if you’ll be having any in the recent future either. These aren’t exactly.” Tony shot a disgusted glance at the odd smelling dough on the counter.

 

“I’ll help you guys after we eat. It’s more of an evening sweet anyway.”

 

Peter’s face lit up at her suggestion and he helpfully guided her to their dining room, which had festive garland all over.

 

—————

 

“What should we do while we wait?” Peter dusted the last of the flour from his palms. Tony and Pepper had to leave for other Christmas engagements, and Natasha and Peter had just plopped the tray of cookies in the oven. “I’m starting to look like a snowman with all this flour.”

 

“I think you’d need to eat a few more cookies to start looking like a snowman.”

 

“I don’t know. Snowmen are surprisingly hard. This one time, Ned and I built some and I accidentally ran into one. Man, my face was bruised for like three days. You probably make unbreakable ones.”

 

“I’ve actually never made a snowman before.”

 

“Never made a.... well I know what we’re doing.” Peter grabbed Natasha’s hand and dragged her out the front door, calling out to his aunt to inform her where he was going.

 

“So you start like this.” Peter made a snowball. “Then you just roll it around in this type of snow until it’s really big.”

 

“Yours kind of looks like Steve.” Peter giggled. “The chest one is way bigger than the bottom. It’s gonna fall.”

 

“No it isn’t.” Natasha stubbornly proclaimed, fighting back a smile.

 

“Well, Steve needs Bucky and Sam, right? And you and Tony.” Peter started working on another snowman. “This one can be Bruce. I’ll go get my old glasses.”

 

Soon, there was a whole army of snowmen in front of the apartment complex, each one bearing a vague resemblance to an Avenger. Natasha and Peter were laughing uncontrollably, fingers and noses red from the cold.

 

Before heading inside, they admired their work for a moment. “You were really good at that. Add it to the list of Black Widow’s special skills.”

 

“Oh yeah, bad guys beware.” Natasha rolled her eyes sarcastically, but her eyes crinkled in delight.

 

They were met inside by May, who had made them mugs of hot chocolate. She told Natasha embarrassing stories about Peter in Christmas’s past and offered them some of the cookies they had made.

 

Knock, knock.

 

Peter bounded toward the buzzer. “Who is it?”

 

“Harry and Marv.”

 

“What are you talking about Buck? No it isn’t. This is Bucky, Sam, and Steve.”

 

“It was a Home Alone reference. How is it that he’s been here for less time but knows more movie references.”

 

“Technically he’s been unfrozen for more time-“

 

“-Hydra was not making him watch Home Alone. You’re just lazy grandpa.”

 

Peter pressed the button to unlock the door, snorting at the bickering at the entrance.

 

“We made some desserts. These are tarts and this one is a trifle. Those are puddings and that’s cheesecake. Oh and this is gingerbread, but underneath it is a berry pie.”

 

Peter’s eyes widen as all three men walked in, loaded with trays and containers.

 

“For people who didn’t have sugar growing up, these guys sure know how to bake.” Sam admitted, carefully placing his load on the table.

 

“It was mostly Buck.” Steve blushed. “I’m not as-“

 

“-Nope he’s just as good as me. Try the pie - it was all him. Oh and it’s a pity but the wings on the Falcon snowman fell off. Must’ve been a strong wind or something.”

 

“They have security tapes here.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re implying.” Bucky continued to nonchalantly place platters on the counter. “It’s not my fault your snowman is weak. Maybe they’re just really reflective of the people they’re based on.”

 

“Wow. This is unexpected. Do you boys want some hot chocolate? Or eggnog?” May entered the room, immediately shocked.

 

“We don’t want to impose. We just wanted to drop in for a little bit.”

 

“It’s no trouble. The more the merrier! I’ll get you boys some of both.” She smiled and disappeared back to the kitchen for some more mugs.

 

“Why did you guys decide to come by?”

 

“Visiting family is a Christmas tradition right?” Steve flashed a genuine smile at Natasha and Peter before pulling them into a hug. “We brought a Christmas trivia game too. Do you guys want to play?”

 

Hours later, all six people sat cuddled against each other on the couches and chairs.

 

“I never thought there was so much information on Santa Claus, who could know all that?” Bucky whined as May spread her cards triumphantly.

 

“We need to get going - Sam’s mom invites us over for dinner.” Steve checked his watch. “Thank you for letting us into your wonderful home Ms. Parker. Merry Christmas.” There were hugs all around as the three men left.

 

May, Natasha, and Peter had a festive dinner, full of laughter and story-telling. Although it was small, it was the largest Christmas dinner Natasha had ever had and she savored every moment. Before the evening ended, the Stark’s dropped by again and watched some movies.

 

Natasha walked back out onto the driveway, completely content. Despite the cold, she felt warm and fuzzy. She had a family. A family who enjoyed spending the time with her and who wanted to include her in their celebrations. She never felt so full of love.

Chapter 22: The Stopping Point (To Be Continued)

Hi, guys!

I hope you guys enjoyed these fics as much as I enjoyed writing them! It certainly seems like you did if your support is any indication. This work probably has the least hits of any of my works but it has the most kudos, comments, and subscriptions - I really appreciate you guys for that! It’s awesome to know people like my writing!

But sadly, all good things have to end. Jk, like my other works, I’ll be continuing with a “sequel” of sorts, called Avengers Family Two. It’ll be the same as this, just separated into a separate work because I prefer not to have too many chapters in one work (too much scrolling).

Keep sending me prompts and have an amazing 2020!!

Notes:

If you’re looking for something else, I also have

Another Avengers Fanfiction Archive - A collection of unrelated oneshots between the reader and various marvel heroes.

Another Avengers Fanfiction Archive (Two) - A continuation of Another Avengers Fanfiction Archive. The oneshots are still unrelated so reading the first one before is not necessary.

Avengers Ships - Oneshots involving ships between established Marvel characters. Mostly Stony, Stucky, and Starker.

They’re all open for requests!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Avengers Family