There were only minutes left of his World History class, but Peter Parker had already packed his stuff and couldn't stop fidgeting. Mr Stark had told him he would be going to the new Avengers base upstate directly after school. Happy Hogan was going to be the driver, and Peter would have to show up in his suit. He wasn't exactly sure what was happening since Mr Stark hadn't been very open with the details, but that didn't stop Peter's excitement and nerves. He hadn't been back up to the new base ever since the whole Vulture-thing (and, if he wasn't being modest, moving day would have been a horrific fail without him) and he had no idea what this could be about.
The second the bell went off, Peter sprinted out the door and down the hallway to get outside, much to the surprise of everyone since Peter Parker was known to linger rather than get out as quickly as possible.
Happy was already at the bottom of the school stairs with the car when Peter arrived. He opened the back door just in time for Peter to go barrelling in, then moved quickly around to the driver's side and head off towards the Avengers base.
"Do you know why I have to go the base, Happy?" Peter asked as he quickly ripped off his clothes to reveal the Spider-suit he had already been wearing underneath. "It's been a couple months, and I'm not an Avenger anyway."
"I believe it has something to do with the events at the airport in Germany," Happy responded, his tone noticeably lighter as he had steadily gotten used to the kid. "That is why you have to go as well." In actual fact, he knew exactly why Peter was being summoned, but Tony had felt that he should be the one to tell the kid and of course Happy was going to oblige.
"As well?" Peter questioned as he stuffed his jeans into his backpack. "Are there gonna be others?" Happy shrugged nonchalantly, and this time Peter could tell he knew more. But he didn't ask because he knew that if Happy was going to tell him more he would have.
It didn't take long to reach the base and by that point, Peter's leg was bouncing up and down with anticipation of what was about to happen. The moment the car came to a stop, Tony Stark walked up and got into the back with Peter, wearing his infamous Iron-Man suit apart from the helmet.
"Hey kid," he greeted as Peter scooted back. He tried to make it come across as giving Tony some room when really he hadn't been prepared and has essentially jumped back. The billionaire seemed to catch on, though, but he didn't acknowledge it.
"H-Hey, Mr Stark," Peter responded, his voice cracking. Why did it always do that around him? "So, uh, what is this about? Because I kinda promised Ned we would build the Millennium Falcon and I already bail on him enough as it is-"
"Slow down, kid," Tony stopped Peter's ramble with a slight chuckle. "This shouldn't take too long, and if it does we'll figure out how to make it up to your friend anyway, okay? From what you told me he helped out with the whole moving day debacle." Peter nodded eagerly and Tony laughed again. Somehow the kid got genuine feelings of happiness out of him rather than the don't-give-a-shit I'm-the-best facade he usually had to wear. Tony told Peter to put the mask on and after he did they left the car to go inside, Tony nodding to Happy for him to park the car in the garage downstairs.
"So, are you gonna tell me why I'm here?" Peter asked after several seconds of walking in silence.
"Oh. Yeah," Tony said. "So, you won't have to do much except not tell them your identity, alright? Tell them whatever, just nothing about who you are. You shouldn't even have to talk that much anyway." Peter glanced over, and even though his eyes were fully covered by the lenses of his suit it was obvious that he was confused.
"What?" he responded. "Who? Who am I not telling stuff?"
"The, uh-" Tony began, but he was soon interrupted.
"There you are!" a voice exclaimed. They both turned to see Rhodey approaching, seeming somewhat unsteady on his leg braces but still managing. "Come on, I've been stalling for ages. Where did you have to get Spider-Man from, anyway? Couldn't he just have swung over earlier?"
"He was busy with work," Tony lied steadily, and Peter did his best not to appear too tense. "Being a crime-fighting spider doesn't exactly pay well when the press makes you out to be a bad guy." Rhodey looked at Tony and Peter, then nodded slowly and gestured for them to follow him. They went into a conference room with glass walls on three sides and a plain one with a monitor that took up most of that side opposite to the door. Even though Peter saw who was sitting inside before he went in, he still couldn't process it after he stepped through the doorframe.
It was all of the people from the airport, plus Thor standing in the corner with his arms crossed. On one side of the table sat Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant-Man, and on the other was Vision and Black Widow. Black Panther sat at the end of the table. Everyone except for Rhodey was wearing their respective battle gear, however, Peter was the only one whose entire face was covered. Ant-Man was wearing his helmet but the cover over his face wasn't there. Rhodey sat in the chair closest to the monitor and Tony sat beside him. Peter lingered awkwardly before Tony gestured to the empty seat next to him. If Peter was being honest, being sat between Iron-Man and Vision was even more terrifying than the Vulture incident.
"Thanks for joining us, Tony," Captain America said. His tone was polite but the look in his eyes was deadly. Everyone in the room could see that he wasn't happy about being there, but then again neither was anyone.
"Don't give me that look," Tony responded coolly. "This was Lightning-Boy's idea anyway."
"I simply wanted to know what exactly what had happened between the Avengers in my absence," Thor stated, wandering to the front of the table so he blocked the monitor. Peter glanced at the eye-patch which covered his right eye and wondered what happened. Also the lack of his signature long blond hair, which had been cut really short. He had better sense than to ask about it, though. "And, after learning of the events and what had led to them, I felt it necessary to try and resolve these issues."
"Good luck with that," Falcon muttered. Peter decided he really needed to learn everyone's names. Sure, the Captain was Steve Rogers and he knew who Tony and Rhodey were, and he guessed Vision was just Vision and Thor was just Thor, but that was it.
"Why not?" Thor asked, looking at Falcon then around the table. Captain America leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Tony. There was something like regret in his eyes, but after one quick glance to the Winter Soldier by his side that remorse quickly settled back to an agitated glint.
"Because he," Tony started, pointing an accusatory finger at the Winter Soldier, "Killed my parents. And they all refused to sign a contract which could have put an end to us murdering innocent people by dropping buildings on them!"
"It also could have led to the world dying, Tony," Captain America stated. "Because the government saying that they were going to simply 'tell us what battles to head into' was a kind and less controversial way of saying that the Avengers was done without causing some sort of public issue."
"You can resolve your little personal issues later," Black Widow told them, standing up. "What's important is that the government has changed the Accords so that they can simply have a say in what we do rather than order us around. Turns out they really didn't want to lose America's icon."
"Precisely," Thor said, nodding at Black Widow thankfully. "We need to be ready to save the world. Our relationships with each other are secondary to the fate of this planet." Tony opened his mouth to argue but stopped at the glare Rhodey was sending him.
"Fine," he finally said, not taking his hateful glare off of the Winter Soldier. "But I don't want him living under my roof."
"Technically it's property of the Avengers," Falcon cut in. "Not just you. Sure, you funded it, but it's still Avengers property."
"He's not an Avenger," Tony muttered. "And neither is bug-guy over there. What's his name again?"
"Ant-Man," the referred-to responded. "But feel free to call me Scott."
"Yeah, maybe they're not Avengers, but Bucky is with Steve and Scott hasn't even done anything to you," Falcon said. "Plus, he's not an Avenger either." Peter stared at the finger pointed towards him and felt his face go red as all eyes were suddenly on him. "He's not gonna be staying here anyway," Tony quickly defended. "He has a life outside all this, unlike the rest of us. If he's gonna be an Avenger, it won't be for a while. He's only here because he was at the airport with us."
"Why shouldn't he be an Avenger?" Captain America asked, now leaning on the table. Peter tensed, immediately not liking where this was going. "He fought pretty well back then."
"Even if he talks too much during battle," Falcon mumbled.
"And he caught a freaking jet bridge!" the Captain - Steve, Peter reminded himself - continued, choosing to ignore his friend. "There's no reason he shouldn't be part of the team. He could be a valuable asset."
"He's not joining!" Tony shouted, springing to his feet, and everyone stared at him. Except for Peter, who shrunk into his seat and stared intently at the floor. "Why should he have to give up his life like the rest of us if he doesn't have to?"
"He chose to do this!" Steve argued, shifting in his seat as if he was going to stand up. "He chose to go to Germany with you. He chose to take care of his hometown. Why should this have to be any different? Let him choose to be an Avenger!" Tony was barely containing himself by that point. You could basically see the steam coming out of his ears like in old cartoons.
"I think what Mr Stark is trying to say is that there is a difference between protecting a city and protecting a planet," Vision supplied, and Tony nodded towards him.
"He's obviously capable," Steve said, pointing to Peter who impossibly sunk even lower into his chair. He could see the Winter Soldier glancing at him in his peripheral vision but didn't acknowledge him. "He webbed Bucky and Sam. He took my shield. He helped contain Ant-Man. I don't see what the problem is."
Peter couldn't stand to be there anymore, not with his icon and a super-soldier talking like he wasn't even there, so he got up and walked out. Once he was sure no one could see him, he ran the rest of the way down the hall and out the front door.