"How long are you going to be gone? Are you going to be staying with the other Avengers? Are you going to be slaying villains?" Ned chirps, following hot in pursuit of Peter as they walk together towards the bus stop. Peter shoots a look at Ned before quickly looking around, hoping no one would notice what Ned had been rambling on about.
"Ha ha, silly Ned!" Peter responds, rather loudly, hoping to divert the people's thoughts away from the whole Avengers thing. "Dude, be quiet!" He adds in a hushed tone. "I'd rather not have every person on this side of Queens knowing that I will be spending the summer with the Avengers!"
But what Peter said was a total lie. It was hard enough keeping Spider-Man a secret, much less a fully paid training trip to the brand new Avengers Headquarters. He wanted to scream it from the roof. He dreamt of responding to 'what are you doing this summer?' with his real plans instead of 'I don't know. Computers and stuff'. As if people didn't think he was weird enough already. While his peers would be vacationing, working, or any of the other cool, summer activities, they thought Peter would be spending the summer cooped up in his room, toying with his computer.
Peter's mind had been swimming for the past few since shortly after his fight with Vulture. Flurries of unrelated thoughts made his mind feel totally screwed up. Although it had been some time, he could still recall the events after the fight as if they had just happened.
After leaving his eloquent note beside Vulture after the final fight, Peter had made his way up the top of a ride. The view of New York City was quite amazing from up there, plus he just needed a moment of relaxation before trying to sneak back into Aunt May's apartment. Who knows what she would do if she found him out of bed at this hour of the night?!
He had been admiring the shimmering skyline when an all too familiar blast of red popped up in front of him, the metal suit reflecting the lights that Peter had just been looking at. At first, he thought he was actually going crazy. Why would Tony Stark, of all people, show up after the fight is already over?
"Hey, Peter. Mind if I sit?" Tony asked, the golden faceplate of the suit peeling away to reveal Tony's actual face. Peter shrugged and moved over, making room for Tony to sit down beside him.
"Convenient timing!" Peter teased, swinging his feet lazily off the ledge of the ride. "Did you see how I handled him?! I said that I could!" Peter exclaimed, though his voice wasn't nearly as bubbly as usual. Fighting your semi-girlfriend's crazy father seemed to have quite the draining effect.
"I never said that you couldn't," Tony quickly recalled, poking Peter in the shoulder. "I just said that if you were to succeed, you couldn't rely on the suit."
Peter chuckled slightly under his breath, dipping his head in hopes that his mentor wouldn't hear him. "Oh the irony, Mr. Stark."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Accept my wisdom, kid. You'll go far that way." Tony declared, pretending to puff out his chest as if he was some sort of moral hero. "But, as much as you'd love to hear my newest motivational speech, giving you life lessons isn't why I'm here." Tony explained, meeting Peter's eyes as he looked up at him. "You've proven that you've got what it takes. That's why I want you to come train with us at the Headquarters; no strings attached whatsoever."
Peter was rather taken back by Tony's proposition. Not but a few days ago was Tony taking his totally awesome suit away from him and telling him to calm down on the crime-fighting front. Now he wants Peter to train with the rest of the Avengers? Something seemed off to Peter about the whole situation but he didn't seem to mind in the slightest! Training with the Avengers to actually become an Avenger seemed so incredibly exciting to Peter that his face goes from contorted with confusion to beaming with happiness.
"Are you being serious?! Like, you're not pulling my leg right now, are you?" Peter exclaimed, lodging his mask down beside him. Tony shook his head.
"An offer is an offer. Take it or leave it, your choice. Besides, what else would you do without your 'Stark Internship'?" Tony laughed. "Besides, I can very clearly see that you aren't going to give up on the whole fighting to rid the world of the purest evils, so you might as well be trained properly."
The tips of Peter's ears flushed with embarrassment. It seemed he was a total magnet for trouble, not that he cared too much. Peter wouldn't trade being Spider-Man for the world.
"O-Of course! I'd love to!" Peter stammered, his face breaking into a wide grin. "Thank you, Mr. Stark, you won't regret this!" Peter cheered. He opened up his arms and leaned towards Tony as if going to give him a hug before Tony turns to look at Peter, one of his eyebrows raised.
"Peter, remember what I said about hugging?" Tony teased, recalling the day in the car when Peter accidentally hugged him when Tony tried to open the door for him. "You've got to develop a good handshake." Peter retreated and held out his hand instead, as instructed. Tony seemed much more satisfied with this gesture.
"So, when do we leave?" Peter asked, leaning back on his hands.
"Now, if we want to get back by sunrise." Tony explained, sliding off the edge of the ride and using his boosters to hover just in front of a rather shocked Peter.
"B-but I can't go, not now. I have Aunt May and Ned and… I have, you know, homework." Peter stammered, waving his hands around as he spoke. "Plus, I have exams in like two weeks! How on Earth am I supposed to explain why I'm not there? No offense, Mr. Stark, but I don't think flunking out of high school will make Aunt May very happy."
Tony shook his head. "Seriously. This kid has like a ninety eight percent average and he's worried about missing a couple of exams…" Tony muttered to himself, cupping his forehead with his hand and shaking his head in dismay. He pondered for a moment and sighs. "Alright, here's the deal. You finish your exams as scheduled, business as usual, but as soon as they're over, you're getting picked up by Happy. Deal?" Tony proposed. Peter nodded with happiness.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark! I promise you won't regret it!" Was the last thing Peter said before Tony swept back down to the scene of the fight to deal with the aftermath and Peter made his way back to the apartment, where Aunt May would find out about what Peter had been doing all this time.
Since that night, possibilities danced around his head, making it nearly impossible to focus on the exams that were postponing him from starting his summer training sessions earlier. While most people were worrying about passing their AP biology exams or having enough time to cram study before their tests, Peter was busy ticking off days on a calendar pinned to the back of his bedroom door, counting down the days until Happy would be coming to pick him up. Peter didn't think he had much to worry about regarding his exams. He had never had many, if any, problems with it before, so Peter could practically guarantee his passing on all of his exams. But no matter how much Michelle and Ned drilled him on chemical equations, Peter's mind seemed to be somewhere else. It is seemingly no different as him and his best friend walk to the bus stop.
"Sorry!" Ned quickly apologises as the two friends reach the bus stop. Multiple other students were already there, waiting for the bus to pull around. "But I just think that it is going to be so freaking cool that you get to spend the summer with the Avengers! I have heard so much about them! You're so lucky, Peter!" Ned continues, cautious to keep his tone lower than before.
Peter's brilliant smile appears in excitement. "Just think, all that is standing in between me and the best summer vacation of my life is four, tiny exams!"
"I hardly think that you should be throwing exams aside that fast, Parker. Your flunking out would be simply tragic." A sarcastic voice calls from behind them. It didn't take a detective to know exactly who it is.
Peter and Ned turn to face Michelle, donning her finest baggy jumper and curly hair. A stack of books were in her arms, as the bag slung over her shoulders is seemingly full. Peter and Ned scramble to tuck the conversation about Peter's summer adventures with the Avengers far behind them. After all, Michelle knew absolutely nothing about the whole Spider-Man situation and Peter wasn't quite in the mood for explanations.
"I, um, I'm not planning on failing high school any time soon, Michelle." Peter falters, attempting to level his shaking voice. In the back of his mind, Peter wonders if Michelle had heard any of their conversation. Dually, he wonders what she would do if she actually did know. So far, the only people who know outside of the Avengers and their crew is Ned and now Aunt May (thanks to his stupid recklessness).
"Good." Michelle responds, her voice staying as monotone as ever. "I need someone around here to keep up with me. If you drop out, who will I have to draw in detention?" Michelle teases, leaning up against the wall of the bus shelter.
"That was one time." Peter groans. "But what can I say? I must be a fantastic model if I caught your creative eye."
Michelle shrugs. "I'm a sucker for artistic distress."
The bus finally pulls up to the stop, stirring a few people from their conversations. The doors swing open, revealing an already packed interior. Peter pulls his bus ticket out of his pocket and starts up the stairs.
"Are you coming?" Ned asks Michelle, slowly following Peter up the crowded steps. Michelle shakes her head.
"My house is within walking distance from here." Michelle explains, nodding her head in the direction of her home. "I will see you two on Monday." She concludes as she turns heel and walks away from the bus with Ned and Peter waving goodbye to her from inside.
Peter and Ned somehow got wedged directly in the middle of the various sweaty bodies already crammed inside the bus. No amount of air cooling would make the air around them any less humid and sickeningly hot. Each time the doors open at a bus stop, a fresh wave of boiling, late-June air wafts over the crowd. The friends couldn't wait to get off the bus.
What seemed like an eternity later, the bus finally pulled to a stop near Peter's apartment. Peter and Ned elbow their way through the crowds, trying not to step on tired feet or bump people into each other. Each step from Ned was met with a quick apology from Peter. They audibly sigh as their feet touch the dirtied, Queens streets, relieved that they no longer felt like sardines squished into an awkwardly moist can. It wouldn't be long now to Aunt May's apartment.
A short walk later, split in half for an ice cream break on the way, the building holding Aunt May's apartment finally comes into view. The probing beams of sunlight bounce off every possibly reflective surface, practically cooking the boys as they walk. As they step inside and Peter punches in the passcode to the building, a fresh blast of slightly cooler air falls over the pair. A jog up the stairs and a twist of the bronze key in the lock finally welcomed Peter home…
To a very angry Aunt May.
"When, exactly, were you planning on telling me that you were going to be gone all summer, hm?" Aunt May interrogates just as Peter and Ned slip in the front door. Peter hadn't even had a moment to take off his shoes or ease his heavy backpack off his shoulders. Aunt May was sitting on the couch, her arms folded across her chest almost as tightly as her lips are pushed together.
"Wha- how did you find out? I swear I was going to tell you-" Peter starts as he pulls off his shoes and places them on the rack inside the front hall closet.
"I bet you told Ned as soon as you found out but you couldn't even bother to tell me? I had to find out from a letter!" Aunt May fumes, a strand of her hair falling out of her bun and caressing her very red face. Ned blushes and tells Peter that he'll meet him in his room.
Peter sighs, knowing the battle he was about to take place in was going to end in Peter's loss, no matter what angle you looked at it from. "I only found out myself like a week ago. After you found out about the whole Spider-Man thing, I strongly doubted that you wanted to hear that I'd be gone for training all summer after I had already promised you I'd stay here to help you out with work." Peter attempts to explain, rocking on the balls of his feet nervously. Aunt May didn't seem pleased nor angry with him now.
"Seriously, Peter. I don't have to like it in the slightest, but if this whole Spider-Man, ultimate crime fighting fifteen year old thing is going to work out, you need to tell me this stuff. The least you could have done is told me." Aunt May sighs, shaking her head ever so slightly. She looks so disappointed, and Peter couldn't blame her.
Up until recently, Aunt May had believed that Peter had told her everything; that their entire relationship was 100% built on trust. But once she found out about Peter's rather odd pastime, and now his new summer plans, it seems as if their relationship has a huge rift in it that needed time to repair. Peter blamed himself for that.
Peter wanted to ask if he could still go, but keeps his mouth shut. Poking an already furious bear is never a good idea. He simply mutters an apology and slips away into his room, leaving round two of the argument for a later date when Ned wasn't sitting in his bedroom.
Peter enters his room and closes the door behind him. He flops down on his desk chair and lets out a long sigh.
"Well, she seems to have taken the news well." Ned observes sarcastically, fanning himself with a folder filled with history review notes to try and cool himself down. Peter goes to crack open the window, the stale smell of city air flooding his room.
"I really was going to tell her," Peter defends himself, returning to his position in the chair. "I just never really got a chance to. I didn't want to make her any more worried and mad then she already is!"
Peter leans his head back, looking up at the hole in his ceiling where his old, homemade suit is still stored. He couldn't help but think maybe if he had been more honest with Aunt May, maybe the air wouldn't be so tense.
Aunt May hadn't been surprised when she found Peter in his room, donning his suit, seeing as she was seemingly incredible at reading Peter like a book. Still, she was shocked and mildly upset that he didn't tell her. Since then, Aunt May seemed to be analyzing every move, wondering if Peter was keeping something else from her. He was, of course, keeping the fact that he was going away for the summer.
Peter shakes his head. He has other things to focus on besides Aunt May.
"C'mon, these chemistry notes aren't going to rewrite themselves." Peter dismisses, pulling the thick binder out of his bag and flipping it open.
{+++++}
The weekend before exams was spent with Peter spending way too much time at the library with Ned and Michelle, even though none of the three friends really needed the extra cram time. Peter felt too guilty to face Aunt May about the situation at hand, and Michelle wanted someone distressed to draw. Ned simply followed the flock and was the only one who actually spent any time reading through his notes.
Peter's first exam was chemistry (thankfully), considering that he had gotten next to no sleep the night before. He had made himself a promise after his fight with Vulture: no fighting on a school night. Needless to say, he broke his own rule, resulting in Peter falling asleep half ways through his exam. He just barely had enough time to finish the test. His pencil was just touching down on the desk when his teacher called time and collected the papers.
The next two exams were completed in a similar fashion. Peter's mind seemed to be anywhere but in his head, both because of excitement and guilt. Plus, he knew sooner or later that he would have to talk to Aunt May about the trip.
Wednesday afternoon rolled around and Peter was completely exhausted by all the test writing. He just wanted to get summer vacation on the go and the three hour honours exams wasn't making it easy to keep a positive mindframe.
Peter took the bus home after his exam on Wednesday, as usual, and spent most of the afternoon studying. Aunt May was working late so he had the apartment to himself for a while. He spent that valuable quiet time watching television and receiving text sarcastic text messages from Michelle.
Aunt May was tired when she finally got home around 6pm. Peter watched her walk up the pavement, wondering if they would be able to refrain from talking about Spider-Man for more than five minutes that night.
She opens the front door and lodges her bag on the bench just inside of the entryway before pulling off her shoes. She looks up, hanging her jacket on the coat tree, and smiles wearily up at Peter.
"How are you doing, kiddo?" Aunt May asks, walking further into the apartment. She stops at the fridge and opens it up, grabbing their water jug and pouring herself a glass.
"I'm alright," Peter responds in a rather confused tone. Although tired, Aunt May doesn't seem nearly as irritable as she had been the days prior. "How was your day?"
Aunt May shrugs. "Same thing, different day." She answers, taking her hair down from the bun behind her head and shaking it out, letting the locks of brown hair fall around her face. "I'm thinking of ordering pizza for dinner. I was thinking we could watch some movies and just chill out tonight, unless you have more studying to do?" Aunt May offers, falling comfortably into their well worn couch and reaching for the cordless phone on their coffee table.
"S-sounds good." Peter stammers, trying to read his aunt. Pizza and movies was not an uncommon night for the pair, but he had doubted that Aunt May would be offering such a luxury in the midst of their heated arguments.
Around an hour later, they had a stack of old DVDs semi-sorted on the coffee table and the pizza sitting on the kitchen counter. They couldn't decide between Back to the Future or Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. As Peter was helping him to a heaping plate of pizza, Aunt May had decided on Star Wars without him.
The two ate quietly on the couch, only speaking to crack a joke about the movie or to ask for a napkin. Slowly, a ball of anxiety builds in Peter's stomach. As he sat beside Aunt May, he couldn't help but want to actually fully talk through the whole Spider-Man situation. Luckily, he wasn't going to be the one to bring it up. Towards the end of their meal, Aunt May reaches forwards and presses pause on the DVD player remote, just as the AT-AT was crumbling to the ground with wires around its knees.
"Look, we need to talk." Aunt May starts, removing her plate from her lap and placing it on the table. Peter sighs.
"I understand that you don't want me to be Spider-Man, Aunt May, but I have no choice. I don't just want to be Spider-Man, I need to be him." Peter defends, tired of holding his tongue back. Aunt May lets out a tiny laugh.
"Do all teenagers jump to conclusions so quickly?" Aunt May jokes. "You're damn right that I don't want you to be Spider-Man. Being such a powerful figure will get you into trouble, more trouble then you've seen this far. I don't want anything to happen to you, and that isn't a bad thing. You are only just turning sixteen and I don't want such an amazing life to go to waste because you're running around, flinging webs around and trying to stop bad guys." Aunt May explains, turning her body to face Peter. She rests a comforting hand on his knee.
"As much as I don't want it, I understand that being Spider-Man is a part of you now. As much as I want to lock you up in your room and feed you through a slot in your door, I know that it won't help anyone to try to stop you from being who you are.
"I've thought about the situation at hand and I've come to a decision. You aren't going to stop protecting people, it is a part of who you are, so you might as well know how to do it properly. That is why I'm giving you permission to go with the Avengers for the summer, on one condition. You have to promise to keep your grades up and you need to promise to be honest with me from here on out. If you're going to disturb a bank heist, at least tell me so I can worry properly, okay?" Aunt May proposes, forcing a smile. Peter's once fallen face breaks into a cheerful grin.
"Are you serious?! Thank you, Aunt May! I promise you, you won't regret this!" Peter exclaims, grabbing his Aunt and pulling her into a thankful hug. Aunt May returns the gesture, even though it is hard for her.
She obviously doesn't want Peter to do this but what choice does she have? This is her obligation as a guardian. Sure, most parents have difficulty choosing whether or not to extend their kid's curfew or to cut their allowance, and she has to worry about her nephew fighting crazy robot humans, but it is still basically the same thing, right? Besides, knowing Peter as well as she does, Peter wouldn't give up. He'd find a way anyways, and fighting him on it would be fighting a losing war.
"The letter says that Happy is picking you up tomorrow evening after your exams. Go pack up, study, and get a good night's sleep! It will be a long journey tomorrow." Aunt May orders, moving back into parent mode.
As he goes to his room to start packing up his things, he closes the door and begins jumping around his room with happiness. Peter's cheers of thanks could probably be heard from the pavement, stories below them, but he didn't really care. He was just so damn excited about the upcoming summer. He rushes to throw the important things he would need in bags and boxes that he had on hand.
It isn't the most polished packing job, but who cares? He'll have his own room at the headquarters! After all, at the end of the summer, he would become a full on Avenger and his dream of being able to be Spider-Man would be fulfilled (that is if Tony doesn't take his suit away again)!