A/N: Hey guys! This is my first Marvel-related Fanfic so bear with me. This is purely a product of boredom and spare time and chose to do this than sleep. I apologize for any grammar mistakes and or spelling errors. Please remember this is a DEMO just to see if you guys would be interested in this story and the only way I'll know to continue is IF YOU REVIEW, so please leave a comment on suggestions or opinions (if you liked it, didn't, favorite bits, etc.) and I hope you enjoy! :)
"Sir, there seems to be an issue."
Natasha's loud shout in delight and Clint's cries of happiness along with Thor's thunderous laugh painted over Karen's warning to Tony Stark, her creator, and the man hadn't been able to identify what the Al had said. Assuming it a small malfunction, Iron Man turned back to his teammates; a smile toying at his lips. They'd done it. Defeated the final aliens, which included those metal serpents, extraterrestrial sorcerers, etc., of this week's long reign and they could finally relax.
"I can finally get some sleep," Steve grumbled through the comms as Tony turned to see the man drop his arm grasping his shield in exhaustion.
It was no secret, the entire team had been on the case for hours this week, starting on Monday and ending Saturday. The only person who really got sleep was Peter, granted Stark had practically locked the child in his room at Stark Tower, but even there it was maybe itching the 17-hour mark. The kid really wasn't supposed to even be there but it was summer vacation and May, reluctantly, went on a business opportunity that may give her a raise.
God knew the Parkers could really use a bit more money coming in.
Due to the lack of parental supervision, May asked- no, begged- Tony to take Peter in. At first, the man was stubborn and stuck to his initial, denying answer. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid or anything, it was just that Tony Stark was more than a babysitter and had better things to do.
"He won't be a problem, Tony, come on. You know that." May hissed into the phone, "Get off your damn high horse for just a second and please," The desperation in her voice clawed its way into Stark's ear, "just take him. It would only be for a few weeks."
Seeing no use in arguing any longer, the billionaire agreed. A few days later, Peter was dropped off, his large brown eyes shining in the same way they always did as he greeted Tony with a, "Hi, Mr. Stark. Thank you, Sir, I promise not to be a burden."
That ended up being a lie. Whether or not the child realized it, Tony wasn't sure, but when the aliens began dropping their numbers in loads all around New York City, the spiderling began asking about the case. He was glued to the TV's new stations and soon inserted himself into the planning of the attack. His mentor, however, wouldn't have it and told the kid he had a better shot at making Madonna a nun than getting in on this mission.
Though Stark's decision was final, the team saw more pros than cons in inviting the youth, and despite the man's pretty reasonable disagreeing statements, Peter did somehow find himself swinging towards the battle.
"There's only six of us, who's missing?" Natasha asked eventually, cutting through all the other conversations.
"Clint, you, me, Tony, Br-"
"Where's the kid?" Banner chimed in as he tugged at the larger pants around his waist, "I seriously don't have the strength to fight off the paparazzi too."
"What are you talking about, you're the Hulk."
"The other guy's calling quits. We're deadbeat." He responded through the movement of his jaw and a small smile. Through the fight, he definitely received some nice blows, especially to the face; they all had.
The battle itself was long and fatiguing, the iron snakes crashing into buildings and slamming against cement. Large pieces of debris had been thrown through office windows causing them to shatter across the earth like sparkling rain and pieces of brick were thrown from their walls and slammed into vacant cars and lamp posts. The vehicles soon began screaming and sirens soon went off, the yells of people in the distance weaving within the thick clanging of weapon against weapon, and later in the fight, a baby's cry only added to the noise.
The gruesome aliens had spilled out of flying ships shortly after the arrival of the serpents and the Avengers soon realized that they didn't just attack with weapons. They also, or a select few, fought with wizardry, the type that turned lethal artillery into fluffy bunnies and could telekinetically toss a 15-ton bus into one of the unsuspecting superheroes.
It seemed like a joke to them, at one point turning one of Clint's explosive arrows into a swarm of cotton balls, and it only infuriated the team more.
"Harry Potter." Peter, some time in the fight, huffed into the mics, "They learned all this voodoo from Harry Potter, I guarantee it."
Iron Man couldn't help but roll his eyes (and grin though he'd never admit it) at the child's ability to fight and flip and web the way he was in a situation like this and still make dorky references.
Snapping back to reality, Stark shouted, "Kid!" through the comm after the Avengers had spent a few minutes calling the boy's name. "Peter, where the hell'd you go?"
"Boy of spiders!" Thor yelled as his hammer dragged behind him in weariness.
"Friday," Tony addressed, nerves knotting within his stomach as assumptions bounced in his skull, "link me to Karen."
"I can't seem to do that, Sir. I have reason to believe she cannot connect with me at the moment. May I give you Mr. Parker's location and his vitals instead?"
The man grumbled in displeasure, "Sure, yeah, whatever. Something."
The team, or those who were in earshot of the billionaire and could hear his command, turned in his direction and looked anxiously for his response. With the silence now replacing the screeches of the serpents and the clashing of metal and the battle cries of the aliens, all the other loud noises like the horns from broken cars, the yowls from a baby, and the wails from the distant emergency services seemed to intensify causing Tony's head to blister.
And despite all logic and reason within his mind, Tony's heart also grew steadily quicker at the boisterous noise from the crippled city. At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if he had an anxiety attack.
He just needed... he needed to find the kid.
"His location is currently 429 feet and three inches from your position, Mr. Stark. His breathing is irregular and he's in distress. His heartbeat's also abnormal and he's got a few minor lacerations. In addi-"
Though Friday continued speaking, Stark stopped listening after 'distress'. His body was moving before he realized it was and his eyes stared intently on the red blinking dot on the virtual map Friday had brought up in his interface. His own arrow got closer and closer to the dot until he was basically standing over it and his fists clenched at his side as he looked around wildly and saw nothing.
There was nothing.
"Friday, I said give me Peter's location. What the hell?" He growled, his own heart beginning to rock in his chest.
"Sir, may I advise you take a minute. Your heart rate is elevating and it seems you may have a panic attack if you do not calm down." The AI chimed in quietly as his breaths began shaking against his lips.
"No, you may not. Friday, where the h-"
"Tony."
His head spun to the noise and his shoulders sank as he looked at Natasha's pale face, his friend only a few feet from him but staring in the opposite direction of his body.
Oh God, no. No, not Peter. Oh, God
It seemed like the noises from before were growing louder. The cars, the people, the sirens, the crumbling of defeated towers, that damn baby. Tony's body stood dumbly in the center of rubble for a good ten seconds, not sure if he really wanted to turn and face the extremity of the situation Peter was obviously in when his eyes blinked and his daze vanished.
"What happened?" Tony mumbled, his heart beginning to beat harder. Bile crept at the back of his throat menacingly as he went through every scenario Peter might be in.
The Avengers only stood around the area, some white as a sheet and others staring, gaping. It looked as if shock, and fortunately Stark couldn't make out any grief or distraughtness on them which may be implied he wasn't hurt all that bad.
"Goddammit, I knew the kid shouldn't be allowed on this miss- Didn't I tell you?" The billionaire scolded, first at the team before stopping and directing his question at the boy.
Except, when he turned his body and walked the few feet to Natasha, it wasn't Peter who was in his place- well, it was.
"Sir," Karen mumbled through the suit that laid on top of a small, moving object, "it doesn't seem the suit can shrink into Peter's current form."
Tony's muscles within his face seemed to lose strength. His eyes were wide and his jaw was cracked slightly. His dark eyes briefly glanced at Natasha as she bent down cautiously, the continuous and piercing noise coming from Peter's vocal cords whipping the Avengers' ears before she maneuvered the latex, multimillion-dollar suit around to reveal what was underneath.
A baby took Peter's place, his tiny, pudgy arms flailing hysterically underneath the t-shirt Peter had placed on before slipping into Spider-Man's suit. His large brown eyes were crinkled in pure anguish- though nothing seemed to be wrong- and his small mouth was pulled back far enough to see small little teeth. The eyes were red and wet, tears trickling down his face, as dark eyelashes added an even more innocent effect to the child's demeanor. Brown fuzz covered the top of the baby's head, it thick enough that a few brown curls were visible, but nothing compared to his fourteen-year-old self.
Nothing happened for a few seconds before Thor grumbled something and lifted his hammer, rearing it back, and was just about to slam it when Clint, Steve, and Banner immediately stood in front of him.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Clint shouted, his arms raised in a defensive position.
"The small creature seems injured, it seems right to put it out of its misery."
"Injur- it's a baby! Aren't there babies on Asgard?" Banner scoffed in disbelief.
Thor dropped his hammer as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Baby? There are no small, vulnerable entities such as this on my planet. We Asgardians are only strong and brave, the smallest out of us all being the young elders. But even those are," He placed his free hand at his hip in measurement, "up to here."
"Young elders? You mean children?"
"I suppose that's what you Earth people call them."
Another vicious wail from Peter sent Natasha reaching out for the child. Her hands wrapped underneath the baby's arms as its face eased slightly, curiosity beginning to carve itself onto his face. She kept it length's distance as she glanced around at everyone nervously, the baby occupied for a second. Drool dribbled down Peter's chin as his lip pouted out slightly. "He's gunna cry again- what do I do? Stark, here." Black Widow held the child out to the iron encased man.
"I don't... I don't like things handed to me." He stated stupidly as he took a step back, shock still weighing on his limbs.
"Here, give me him," Clint mumbled as he walked over and gently grabbed the boy. It made sense that he was to be trusted with the baby, he did have three children at home, "Hey, buddy."
Peter glanced up with wet eyes, his small hand now in his mouth as he gnawed on it subtly. His free hand reached up urgently as it grabbed onto Clint's hair and pulled. The man let out a small huff of pain in which Peter laughed at, his two hands colliding together causing both to become wet with saliva as his legs kicked out in enthusiasm.
"Keep it up, Barton." Steve grinned causing Clint to glance at him, a smile soon playing on his own lips.
Tony hadn't even noticed Natasha next to him as she shifted her weight on her other foot and looked up, "I'm guessing one of those hoodoo-aliens got him. Can you fix it?"
The billionaire swallowed and nodded hesitantly before it became a bit more confident and he took a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah... I can fix this."
There's that for sleeping.