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The Rogue Avengers were coming back.
Or at least, that's what the news said. It didn't matter to Spider-Man, he was a hero on the side of the law, baby! Swinging through the city, Peter took a rest near the central park. He waved hi to citizens, sitting on a newspaper box that spoke about the very Avengers the teenager prayed to join soon. Some people questioned it, but he just said he and Stark Industries were chatting at the moment, which was technically true.
Peter sat, chatting with citizens and high-fiving little kids. He took pictures and generally enjoyed himself. Karen hadn't alerted anything, so he stayed. It was nice to meet the community and they appreciated them. Well, most of them did. The nice overpowered the bad, though. Someone even gave him a hot dog!
"Spider-Man, why do you wear a mask?" A little boy asked. His mom was recording, so the hero decided to make a little speech or something. God, this was corny. But corny was his specialty, so he thought it over.
"Well, I don't want fame. I want to save people." Peter shrugged. "I do it for New York. It's rough, but it's home." Quickly, the boy then reached for his mask and the webbed hero leaned back. "No, that's a no-no. The mask stays on, alright?" His mom chided him and apologized, the two continuing their walk. Peter stepped on the bench, making his way back up onto the red newspaper container. He checked his phone- no alert, so it was all good.
The rest of the day was much calmer. A teenage girl gave him a cup of water because of the heat, which he gratefully thanked her for. And it was true, it was hot out. He was hesitant to roll up his mask to drink it because of the problem earlier, but the sun didn't help, so he did it anyway. But as soon as he was done he fixed it.
When the sun wasn't as prominent in the sky, Peter looked around and asked Karen if she was sure there was nothing for him to do. Mid-sentence, his sense went off and he turned around but earned a fist to the face. A metal one. He flew off the box he sat on, hitting the ground with a groan. He cupped his face, pain riveting through his body. He bit back a curse about the pain. Before he could look up, a foot landed on his chest, a crunch coming from underneath it.
Peter looked up at the man. Oh, shit. His spider-eyes widened. The long brown hair concealed his face from most onlookers, but the teen on the floor had a clear view. "Y-You're the guy from Germany! M-Mr. Barnes! The w-"
He pressed harder, making the rest of the sentence come out as a wheeze. His attacker had a cap on and a hood over it, hiding his face as much as possible. The crowd had dispersed a bit out of fear. "That's enough out of you. Why were you with Stark in Germany?"
Peter tried to take a breath, but the pain in both his chest and face made it a bit difficult. "H-He came and hired me. He told me he liked my skills and-and can you please get your foot off me-" The drone fell out of his suit, broken down the middle. "Oh my god you killed my droney!"
"Your what?"
Peter picked the robot up, cradling it in his hands. Wires sat exposed and all over the place. My little guy... "Mr. Stark's gonna kill me. I was just getting the hang on him, oh my god-"
"Wait, back up, you're still working with Stark? As in Tony Stark?" A wave of murmurs grew in the embarrassingly large crowd. All about Peter's mentor.
"Well..uh, he made my suit." Peter tripped over his words. He wasn't sure if he knew who he was, so he didn't say anything.
"There's no way I'm being on your team, you're a little shit! That fucking webbing- I could've been stuck there for hours!"
"Language there, sir, there's-" Looking up, he had realized some people were filming. Anxiety ran down his body, his cool persona evaporated. "Uh, I have to go get this to Mr. Stark, sorry-"
"Oh no, you don't-" Bucky reached for his arm, but the teen was too fast. He slipped out of his grasp.
Oh yes, I do. Peter pushed past him, managing to get himself off the ground while holding the drone in his hand, as his launcher technique required two hands. "Karen, call Mr. Stark." Flinging through the air, Spider-Man glanced to see that the winter soldier had attempted to follow the hero, but he couldn't keep up.
After a few seconds of ringing, Tony answered. "What's up, kiddo?" He looked like he was at his desk, and even though Tony couldn't see the teen, he always made eye contact with the camera. It was like facetime but a one-way street.
Peter swung through the city, holding his precious baby close. There were small bits in his hand of plastic and he tried to keep them all in his grasp. "We um, have a problem. It's Mr. Barnes- he-"
"Oh, of course, it's Barnes." Tony interrupted. Peter landed on a building rooftop twenty-something blocks away from the scene of the crime, where Bucky was no doubt being interrogated by a handful of New Yorkers.
The teenager took deep breaths, his lungs aching."I'm in the central park, right? Like- like right outside, right on east 65th you know a-and I'm sitting on this mailbox talking to people and he goes up and punched me in the face!"
"With his metal arm?" Tony was writing something down.
"Yes, sir," Peter made his way to his apartment, just trying to get there quickly without dropping any parts of his drone while hopping roof to roof. He held the little robot with both hands now that he wasn't swinging. "It hurt."
"Seriously? He could've knocked your tooth out." Tony put his head in his hands and made his mentee felt a bit guilty for saying it.
"But- but he put his foot on my chest to keep me on the floor right? I couldn't breathe!" Peter cupped the guy to his chest. "He stood so hard he broke Droney, too!"
"Droney?"
Peter huffed. "My spider-drone! His lenses are shattered and he looks like he's gonna break in half. He's missing legs and stuff."
"We can fix it." Tony sighed. "I'll talk to him, alright? Just.. are you on your way?" Peter had planned to stay for the weekend, as usual.
"I'm dropping by May's, grab my bag but then yes sir, I will be." He crawled into the window, collecting his things.
"Alright, hurry." The call abruptly died. Please don't let the rogues be back. Peter thought. He knew how much Steve had been upsetting the man lately. Rhodey brushed it off saying it was stress, but the teen was nosy and also angsty.
"May, I'm going to Mr. Stark's!" The teen shouted. "Love you!"
Peter had droney tucked gently in his backpack as he swung through the city. He had his red high-tops and an MIT jacket adorned, unzipped in his usual fashion. It took him a while to get to the tower, but he had to stop crime on the way. He sounded like Batman.
He entered, going up the elevator. He reached to take off his mask when FRIDAY spoke. "I have been notified to alert you to keep your Spider-Man suit on."
"Er, alright. Thanks, FRI." Peter frowned at her anonymity. When the doors opened to not the living room, he stood in confusion. It was the training room where all the Avengers Peter fought with (!!!) and some new people. Including Bucky.
The spider hesitated. So he's going to meet them as Spider-Man, but then they meet Peter Parker later? Don't wear these shoes or this jacket ever again. He couldn't risk the correlation. Thank god he was using some older bag because he'd forgotten to leave his school things in his locker.
"Um... Hi."
"Come on in, Spidey." Tony beckoned. Peter nervously stepped forward, Bucky glaring at him. Peter's face still hurt, and oh, shit, he was probably going to get a bruise. That would be a tough one to explain.
"You're not gonna punch me again, are you?" Peter quipped. He entered, gripping his bag strap like he always did. "'Cuz my beautiful face can't be bruised up again. Plus, you almost cracked my lens, not even mentioning what you did to my camera guy."
"Okay, that's enough. Stop it with the glare off." Steve stood up. "What did he do? Let's just get this over with."
"Why are you guys even here? Shouldn't you be in some max prison in like... Azkaban?"
That caused Bucky to stand and Steve had to hold him back, and Tony intervened. "Both of you, stop." He hissed at the teen. "Cool your jets, kid. Stop it with the movie references." It's a book. Peter mentally snarled. "We're here to have a chat. I looked over your footage-"
"You can still do that?!"
"Cool your jets!" Tony put a hand in front of Peter's mask, silencing him. "Anyway, what Bucky was inherently fucked up, we talked, and he wants to apologize."
Tony lowered the hand and Bucky sighed, being dramatic. Rhodey hit his arm and he rolled his eyes. "Sorry I beat you up in front of all your little fans."
"You did not beat me up!" Peter's voice cracked, making Steve stifle a laugh. "I could take you if I wanted!"
"Are those fighting words?!" Bucky stood so fast the chair under him nearly fell.
"Yeah!"
"Are you always like this?" Tony shot him a glare. "Do you want to sit down here- civically- or are you going to go fix your drone?"
Peter perked up at that. Train with the Avengers?! "No, I'll stay." He shrugged off his bag, webbing it to the wall. Tony sighed, knowing it'd take an hour to dissolve. That gave him an hour to train. He toed off his shoes, too.
"You going to MIT, kid?" Rhodey asked, gesturing to his hoodie. Thank god they couldn't see Peter's face because his face burning with embarrassment. It was Tony's.
"No, sir. My, uh, brother went there, so this is his." He tossed it to the wall underneath his bag.
"How old are you?" Sam intervened.
"Shut up." Tony interrupted. "Or I'll play AC/DC. He's not even supposed to be down here, anyway."
"He isn't?!"
"Neither are you."
Steve came over. "So, you're the Queens kid, huh?"
"Yessir, I am. Well, my friends call me Spider-Man, but-" Peter started to ramble, and Steve wound up and threw a punch, but the smaller boy dove to the side, stumbling. "What the hell? You guys trying to fight me now?"
"Buck said you noticed before he punched you, people say you have fast reflexes. How do you do it?" Steve frowned. Tony rolled his eyes behind them and ignored it. "What are your other... quirks?"
"Well, I made my webs myself, Mr. Stark made a lot of cool stuff in my suit, I have strength, kind of like you, but a lot of my senses are dialed to like a gazillion. Oh," Peter realized he'd been backing up from Steve and started to make his way up the wall. "I can do this too."
"What the fuck?" Steve asked.
"I can crawl on the walls." Peter stuck his hand to the ceiling and hung there. "Cool, right?" He dropped down to the ground, right in front of him. Peter sized him up. "So, I guess I could take an Avenger if I tried."
The man looked a mix of confused and horrified. "Is it in your outfit that lets you do that?"
"Nope. All me. I got bit by a radioactive spider. Isn't that cool?" Peter was a bit sarcastic, feeling much more confident.
"Tones, do you think he could take me in a fight?" Steve looked bewildered.
"Well," Tony shrugged, shaking his head and starting to open up something on a holographic screen. "he's a little more experienced now after Germany, so yeah, he could probably handle you." Tony shrugged. "Don't beat the others too badly, I don't want to have to handle those goddamn accords again. If you're gonna fight, go in one of the rooms."
"No thanks. I'm gonna go test out some of my web combos, that alright?"
"You're draining my energy when you're like this." He gestured to the outfit. Peter smirked. He was always much more confident when he was in the suit because he wasn't Peter Parker. He was Spider-Man. He was a little shit to most adults and a hero people could look up to.
The teen smirked and entered the training rooms. Tony sighed. God, kid, you may be funnier this way, but you sure are a smart-ass.
"Who is that?" Bucky asked. "Is he like, your apprentice, your son, or-"
"I saw him online, recognized that this kid shouldn't be going around New York in a sweatsuit, but he's pretty damn good at what he does, so I invited him to Germany. He's done a lot. When we went to move half our shit upstate, he stopped the plane from being robbed."
"So is he an Avenger?" Sam interrupted."
"Fuck no. I want him to grow some more before I even let him near that kind of stuff. He does more city stuff, at night he goes patrolling and stops petty crimes. On a busy week, maybe a bank-robbing or mugging. New York stuff."
"And you enjoy his company?" Bucky laughed. "So why does he wear that funky little outfit?"
"Well, it helps him. The lenses and the gloves, a good amount of emergency stuff-"
"No, I mean, why the mask? He looks like a cartoon character. Steve shows his face. You do, with all the amount of narcissism you flaunt."
Tony let it slide. "The kid wants to be known for Spider-Man, not anything else. Plus he doesn't want his family being hunted by bad guys. He's learned a lot from me."
"He's got quite the mouth." Bucky rolled his eyes.
"Do you think he could take me, Tony? He couldn't in Germany."
"Again, it's been six months. He's got a new suit, he's used to it, he took down some mob boss type dude who I believe was his girlfriend's dad-"
"He's not gay?!" Bucky interrupted.
"Shut the fuck up, Buck!" Steve slugged him in the arm, not in a funny way, but in the shut the fuck up before your loudmouth starts world war 3 way.
"I don't know if he is. I don't care. He's good at what he does, he's fine in my book." Tony lied. It was weird to treat Spider-Man and Peter Parker like opposite people, but they did act pretty different. And Tony picked up on it. The boy seemed more confident.
"So he knows about the accords?" Rhodey asked. He was helping Tony test out some new braces and anything he wanted to be built into them. That's what the engineer was for, anyway.
"Not exactly. I was planning on telling him this afternoon, then Tin Can over here took it into his own hands. I'll let him know you guys moving back into the tower tonight at dinner."
"Is he going to wear that weird-ass outfit during it?" Bucky scoffed. God, you're dramatic. Tony thought.
"Sure. FRIDAY, tell Spidey we're heading up to eat and he's welcome to join us. Let him know the intern won't be here this weekend." Tony made his way to the elevator, everyone following. "Once his hour's up, he can come upstairs."
It had been about a month since then and no, Peter never got his fight.
The main fight of Spider-Man and the Winter Soldier had gotten pretty big all over social media, to the point Ned and May asked about it. Crime near the area dropped significantly, Karen reported, and Peter prayed it wasn't because they were afraid of Bucky. Rewatching some of the footage, it was pretty embarrassing to see him get beat up just a little, but people laughed at the whole droney part, so that was alright. The boy was pretty sure Mr. Stark saw it too because Tony dismissively apologized for the man, which Peter took, apparently. But the rogues and Spider-Man/Peter Parker never came into contact again, so he assumed he had been in the clear.
Peter was up at night, reading this comic on his laptop he didn't exactly understand. Something about trolls? All he knew is that it was super long and that Ned enjoyed it, so he decided he'd sit down and try to read it. God, that was a mistake on his part. It was almost eleven at night when his phone rang. The tired boy sighed, picking it up. "Hello?"
"Are you at May's?" Tony barked. Well, Mr. Stark, I love you too. How's your evening? Pepper treating you well, hm? Tony never called him when it was important. Actually, he barely called him at all. It was more texting. So why did Peter get the leisure now? What changed?
"Yessir, why?" Peter rubbed his eyes. He'd been staring at this stupid screen too long. It had just started to get interesting at the page, like, one thousand. Ned laughed and said he had read it twice, which made Peter loudly groan at the attempt of reading this goddamn story twice.
"Get your suit on. We're getting a report of weapons trading threat in Hell's Kitchen. I'll send you the address, we're getting ready now. Wait until we get there."
And the police couldn't do this? The Avengers never did a small crime like this. Maybe it was alien stuff? Interest piqued, Peter hit save on the dumb comic. "Alright, Mr. Stark, on my way." He set the phone down and pulled on the suit. He'd text May later. He made his way to the warehouse.
A gust of wind and New York cold chilled Peter's Bones. God, he wasn't all that excited. Plus, he had gotten lost like, twice on the way there. He assumed he could take a shortcut but Karen calmly informed him that he was, in fact, an idiot. Eventually, he landed on the roof, peeking in. It was full of shelves, but the middle was free, like some sort of cult. Way to be spicy, Peter thought.
The blip on the map showed the Avengers hadn't even left yet, and Peter wanted to get this over with, so he started to loosen the screws on the glass pane. He pushed it open with a loud creek, so he slid back a bit. They looked up, cursing the old building and returning to their talking. Stereotypical villains. Peeking over, Peter shot several webs at the bigger man's back, wrapping him in a spider hug. He pulled him to the ceiling and leaving him hanging there. This is when the party began.
Time to do the Avengers' job.
Tony got in his suit, moving as quickly as he could. He regretted calling the kid because, well, he's a kid. Bucky and Steve were on their way, no matter how much Tony told them to stay. Normally, Tony would slow down, but since he had sent Peter, he moved quickly. Approaching, the hero saw cop cars outside the building and the window was broken- shattered. He dropped in through it, looking for Peter.
"Oh, hello." A cop grunted. Nice to see you too.
Looking around through the packed shelves, he answered short. "Where's Spider-Man?"
"Outside. He's sitting on the damn truck. You need to keep him in check. He's got a loudmouth." She jabbed her pen towards the wall. Way to be curt. Tony let the suit dissolve around him and he walked outside. He was in a suit, seeing the minute he got home he had gotten the call. Peter was in fact, on the truck. He was eating a candy bar. He was, as a child would, looking up at the stars. The mask rolled up made his breath visible in the chilling climate.
"You do know that'll spoil your dinner." Tony put on his sunglasses. It was near the middle of the night, but assuming as he usually did, Peter's dinnertime was at midnight. From what FRIDAY informed him, it was.
Peter's confident persona melted. He yanked the mask back over his pale face. "Mr. Stark!" His voice cracked. "I didn't know-" He slid off the truck, landing on his feet. "I didn't know you were coming. I-I thought-"
"I told you we were coming. Bucky and Sam are on their way, they don't have comms so we can't tell them to turn around, but still. So, how'd you do it?"
Peter's lenses upturned, the boy grinning ear to ear. "Well, I sneak attacked one of em, and they all had guns, Mr. Stark! It was wild! But I'm fast, I'm shifty. I got one of them to the ground and the other to the wall. One of em tried to run away and I webbed him to the ceiling. It was fun."
"You're good at your work, kid."
Peter bounced on his toes. A motorcycle stopped on the street, Bucky stepping off. Tony rolled his eyes. Of course, they were cuddling. "We're done here, boys." He put up a hand like a barrier. "Spidey handled it just fine." He bit back a soon-Avenger joke, knowing the boy would bring up the failed invitation after Toomes or that Bucky would get mad that Peter was in before he.
"Oh, of course, you did." Bucky approached. The man paused, and then, a millisecond after Bucky moved his shoulder, Peter shot a web to tie the man's metal hand to his thigh. "What the fuck?" Oh, what an exciting turn of events.
"You were going to grab my mask," Peter said as if he were unsure. Tony was also confused, seeing the boy had shown next to no quick reflexes like that.
"What the fuck? Do you predict the future?" Bucky looked at him like he had four heads and Peter handed him a vial of amber liquid. Bucky poured it all over the web, making the teen cringe. He made his stuff, after all. Peter didn't answer, mulling it over. Maybe spiders could detect danger or predict the future. It'd be cool for Peter to develop a power like that.
"Let's go get food." Steve interrupted. Peter gladly nodded, his half-eaten chocolate bar in his glove."Any ideas?"
"Somewhere not too far. I haven't eaten since lunch." Peter interrupted, rocking back and forth on his feet.
Tony placed a protective hand on the spider hero's back. "Alright, kid, let's go get pizza. We'll walk, you two can... canoodle on the motorcycle." He made a gross face at the two Avengers. "FRI, remind me to chat with the police tomorrow."
"I'm not eating pizza if he's gonna wear that damn costume the entire time." Bucky frowned. Tony rolled his eyes. Oh, you fucker, you used to wear black eyeshadow. Calm down, drama queen.
"We're going to dinner, not your wedding."
"I don't care."
And that's the story of how the James Buchanan Barnes was caught in some shitty pizza with Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man, who was wearing an NYPD shirt over his "costume".