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From the minute Tony changed his flight path to intercept the laser aimed at Natasha he knew the hit wouldn’t be one he could just walk off. He heard, more than felt, the impact of the hit as he came between it and the intended target, launching him backwards into the side of the warehouse.
Whoever’s idea it was to fight a legion of doombots on the shores of the docks needed a serious reality check. The bare bones team that assembled to handle the problem spread out quickly - Rhodey, Sam and Tony taking to the skies to add coverage while the superspy wonder twins worked best from the rooftops with Cap drawing fire in the middle of the street. And, much to Tony’s increased stress level, the Spider-Kid tagged along, keeping bots within the boundaries that kept them away from the most civilians.
The mission started out normal enough, nothing too extreme so Tony allowed the spiderling to come along and get a bit of in-person training done. Peter still knew to stick to the sides and out of anything that could become too much; for once, he was even listening.
Tony fired a few repulsor blasts from above when FRIDAY alerted him that a few bots had Natasha surrounded. The superspy stood on the ledge of one of the lower warehouses, trading blows with three bots at once. Tony quickly rerouted his course, FRIDAY already pointing out which bot aimed at her from a higher roof.
“Nat, move!” he yelled, despite knowing she couldn’t hear him. The shot fired and the world moved in slow motion - Natasha ripping the head off of one bot, using it in a wide backhand to send another over the ledge. Tony could see she was distracted, she’d be far too late to dodge the incoming shot. He slammed into her, pushing her out of the way and taking the impact of the laser right to his left ribs.
The shot melted right through the suit, FRIDAY projecting the damage even as the impact sent the Iron Man suit flying into a brick wall of the neighboring warehouse. Tony closed his eyes tightly against the flashing red warnings on his HUD, hissing in pain. The last thing he was aware of before his world faded to black was an absolutely guttural scream cutting through the battle like a sharp knife through paper.
–
Steve saw a lot of weird things as Captain America. He liked to think that after everything the team had been through, they came out stronger. He liked to think there wasn’t much that could get the jump on them. Hell, he liked to think they were prepared for anything and if that made him a boy scout like Tony said, so be it.
They were not prepared for Spider-Man’s reaction to Tony getting hurt.
As soon as the billionaire made contact with the wall, Spider-Man let out the loudest, most terrifying scream Steve ever heard. The noise sounded more like it was being ripped painfully from the kid’s chest rather than willingly expelled.
Tony didn’t get up.
Before Steve could blink, Spider-Man appeared right in the middle of the fight. The jovial, slightly cautious nature he possessed earlier evaporated faster than a dew drop in Arizona. He stayed silent as he launched himself from bot to bot, ripping out their power sources and punching straight through their metal heads.
It became clear the kid no longer pulled any of his punches. Within a matter of seconds, Spider-Man destroyed most of the bots, leaving only a few standing. The Avengers stood holding their breaths as the kid launched web after web at the ones trying to retreat, pulling them to the ground so forcefully they left indents on the asphalt as they shattered. Suddenly only one bot stood left, the one that fired the shot at the kid’s mentor.
Steve almost felt like he should stop him, he put one hand out towards the kid before the teen launched two webs - one from each wrist - to connect with the ledge just underneath the bot. Pulling back slightly, Spider-Man launched himself through the air in a human slingshot, his foot going right through the chest of the doombot.
“Queens, calm down” Steve called as the boy jumped off the ledge and swung towards the hole left by Tony. The entire team started to move towards the last location of Iron Man but Peter was faster. By the time Sam and Rhodey landed, Peter already dove into the rubble.
Steve ran over quickly, only to find Peter ripping the Iron Man armor off Tony’s body like it was nothing more than masking tape. Rhodey started to move into the warehouse to help but stopped suddenly - a snake like hiss freezing him in the motion.
“Did he just - did the kid just hiss?” Sam asked, turning back to Natasha. Steve moved closer, brushing shoulders with Rhodey. The hissing only got louder the more the Avengers moved towards the teen and the unconscious billionaire.
“Kid, it’s ok, it’s us. We’re just here to help” Rhodey kept his voice calm and even, risking another step inside “just let us get Tony back to the Tower and-” he was cut off abruptly by a glob of webbing covering his mouth and two more gluing his feet to the floor.
Before anyone could react, Peter webbed Sam’s left leg and pulled, sending him flailing into Clint and Natasha. He sent two more strands to wrap around Steve’s arms and thighs. Steve opened his mouth to try and react but the whites of Spider-Man’s mask only narrowed before the teen jumped to the ceiling, mentor held protectively against his chest before he disappeared out of their sights.
–
“You lost a billionaire superhero and a kid who likes to dress up like a big spider” Bucky’s unimpressed stare bore into the team as they dragged themselves onto the common floor from the elevator. The exhaustion set in quickly once they freed themselves from the webbing, adrenaline from the battle dissipating almost as fast as Peter disappeared with Tony.
“Don’t even start” Sam warned, falling into the seat next to him “you wouldn’t believe what he did, Web’s been holding out on us!” The shock of the brutality the teen used hung thick in the air. Bucky smirked, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting next to Sam.
“I’m more interested in why he ran off?” Clint leaned against the kitchen counter, pouring himself a glass of water.
“It could be his enhancements…Tony mentioned the kid has a sixth sense like some spiders do to alert them to danger” Bruce shrunk in on himself when he noticed the others eyes on him “most spiders are solitary but there are a couple species that live in colonies. If Peter’s DNA recognizes a threat to Tony as a threat to the colony…”
“He’d do everything in his power to remove the threat” Nat murmured from where she and FRIDAY worked together to see if they could locate the teen’s own suit. Until they knew where Peter took Tony, they couldn’t help.
All in all, it made Steve feel…a little useless. He sat next on the other side of Bucky from Sam. As if knowing how he was feeling, Bucky placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Ouch, dunno if it’s a compliment or an insult the kid thought we were threats” Clint snorted.
“C’mon, kid’s practically Stark’s. Of course he’d only see Tony as his little spider-mate” Sam argued. Clint shrugged and downed the rest of his water.
“Spiders will go back to dark, abandoned spaces when they’re injured…most are able to heal relatively quickly. If the spider part of Peter is in control, I don’t think Tony’s receiving quality medical care right now” Bruce looked over Nat’s shoulder to see if they had any location yet.
The elevator dinged without FRIDAY announcing anyone’s arrival. Immediately Steve, Bucky and Bruce jumped to their feet. “Heard you had a spider problem” came a deep familiar voice. Nick Fury stepped out of the elevator accompanied by Maria Hill, “luckily, we’re pretty good at pest control.”
–
When the quinjet touched down on the south side of Queens, the last thing the team expected was a giant spider web taking up an entire dark alleyway. The street contained only a few passersby who walked in front of the alley’s only entrance without even bothering to look in and see Charlotte’s Web on steroids.
Bucky whistled as they approached the silvery strands, “Who knew the kid could do this?” he asked.
“Spidey? You home?” Clint plucked at the nearest web strand to the entrance. The vibration ringing out like a quiet guitar note. Almost instantly, Spider-Man appeared from the top of the web, peering down at them not unlike a bird of prey watching field mice.
“Kid, we just wanna get Tony help. Can you come down?” Rhodey took a few steps into the alley. The effect was immediate, the whites of Spider-Man’s large mask eyes narrowed and the hissing started, Rhodey stopped moving. “I’m open to any ideas here guys” he whispered back to the others.
Natasha unclipped her belt. She slowly placed it on the floor and unclipped her widow bites from her wrists. She raised her hands placatingly and took a few steps forward. The teen’s gaze locked onto her but as she reached Rhodey, the hissing didn’t return. She took two more steps, the boy’s eyes never leaving her.
“He’s on defense. Lose anything that he’d recognize as a weapon before you approach. Make sure he sees you’re unarmed” she whispered, the others quickly following her lead.
“It’s incredible. We knew his DNA resembled a spider but to be able to know how to weave this, that’s instinct!” Bruce murmured as the team moved to stand under the center of the web. Peter crawled over the edge and hung directly above them, watching their movements closely. As soon as he stopped moving on the web above them, Natasha pressed a button on her sleeve, a small dart sticking the boy in the shoulder.
The teen hissed and scurried to the topside of the web, out of their sights. “That’s Steve’s special juice. We need to get up there and get them out of here. The only person who knows how long that’ll keep him under is Tony so don’t waste any time” Nat said, already walking back towards the fire escape near the opening of the alley.
The top of the web appeared just as intricate. The weaving got thicker towards the center, where a small igloo looking ball rested. One of Spider-Man’s boots stuck out of the opening, giving away where they had to be resting.
Bucky leaned out and touched the web, testing how well it would hold their weight. When nothing swayed precariously, Steve and Bucky climbed on.
Peter, curled protectively around Tony, had his mask pulled off when they reached the opening. He blinked slowly at them, the motion seeming to take all the energy he retained. Each blink lasted longer than the last as he tried to fight against the inevitable. Bucky reached out with the metal arm, slowly pulling both billionaire and teenager out of the nest despite the kid's weak hiss.
By the time they got back onto the jet, Peter’s eyes stayed shut.
–
Tony woke up in his least favorite place. The medbay’s off-white walls provided little to no comfort when waking up with the world’s most intense headache. Not to mention the weird buzzing noise that filled the room.
Putting one hand to his forehead, Tony rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before realizing his hand was wrapped in bandages and he could only move one arm. The other arm securely held in place by the weight of an overgrown spider, currently curled tightly around his middle so that most of Peter draped over half of Tony. Tony smiled softly, brushing the hair out of Peter’s face and causing the boy to snuggle closer into his chest.
“It’s good to see you awake, Tones. How’re you feeling?” Rhodey said quietly from the chair next to the bed. As soon as he spoke, the buzzing noise quieted and faded out.
“Like I’m hungover. How long was I out?” He looked over, still keeping his voice down to avoid waking the teen.
“Bout six hours? But it took us an hour to find you” Rhodey set the tablet he was holding down, at Tony’s confused expression he sighed, “turns out the spider part of Peter didn’t react well to seeing you get hurt. You’re not gonna believe how fast he took the bots down. Then he stole you”
“Stole me.”
“Yeah, made you two a real cozy web house. That’s not all either, he somehow increased your healing with that little nibble on your hand there. Bruce is still looking into it but I’m sure FRI can get you all the details.” Rhodey squeezed Tony’s shoulder before leaving the room. Tony looked at the tablet, still sitting on the chair where Rhodey left it. He was tempted to look into what had happened but then the buzzing sound returned.
He looked down at the sleeping teen next to him, realizing the noise originated from Peter. He blinked. Peter was purring . A smile broke out on his face as he pressed a kiss to the side of his kid’s head and allowed the purring sound to lull him back to sleep.