Chapter Four

Peter was just finishing up his coffee when the unmistakable sound of breaking glass made his ears perk up. Tony and Pepper hadn't heard, both rapt up with their conversation about soy versus whole milk. But Peter's hair was on edge, eyes narrowing.

Something was wrong. (Something other than the tiny Stark Tower sitting behind him).

He stood, dropped his cup into a trashcan, and peeked down the street. Cars still rolled past, people walking. It looked like a normal New York day, with just a few extra journalists taking pictures of the Tower.

Peter didn't trust it. His Spidey sense hadn't failed him yet, and he wasn't' about to start mistrusting it now.

He turned to the other two and found Tony staring at him.

"What's up, kid?"

Peter opened his mouth to tell him, but closed it just as suddenly. He couldn't let them worry about him. Had to make it casual.

"I, er, forgot something. I have to go pick it up. At my house, er, apartment."

Tony didn't looked impressed, but Pepper allayed his suspicions with a hand on his shoulder.

"Have a nice night, Peter."

As the couple started into another quiet debate, Peter grabbed his bag and started walking off, following his Spidey sense. Before he was ten feet down the street, however, Tony's voice called him back again.

"Hey, kid, Queens is that way!"

Peter blushed, nodding.

"Right," he laughed, horribly unconvincingly. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

As Peter passed back in front of them, Tony jumped to his feet.

"Alright, kid, what is it?"

"Nothing!" Peter squeaked.

Tony didn't even bother a response. Peter sighed.

"I feel like something's going down nearby. Nothing I can't handle…"

"No way." Tony held up a hand. "Nope, I'm not allowing it."

"But Mr. Stark…"

"Half of the Avengers are locked in the Tower, where all of our backup weapons and defenses are...so no. You're not going crime fighting right now. Leave it to the police."

Peter gave him a look.

"Pete, the answer is no. Have another coffee, call 911 if it's really bothering you."

Peter huffed, but came back to his perch beside Pepper. Tony glanced at his watch, and then sat next to Peter.

"When you're with us, it's our job to keep you safe," Tony explained. "I'm not letting you walk into danger knowing I can't help out if you need it. I'm not having that on my conscience."

Peter nodded, understanding. But still a bit ticked off.

"I was given these powers for a reason, Mr. Stark. It feels like a waste if I don't use them. And people might be getting hurt. If you've got a lot on your conscience, think about me."

Tony's head whipped toward him, and for a moment a flash of anger lit up his eyes. But then he softened, and put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"If it means that much to you…"

Pepper gave Tony a look.

"What?"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Peter," she said sternly. "When you're eighteen, you can do all of the daredevil stunts you want. But til then, you're going to sit with us and let the adults handle it."

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but Tony patted his shoulder again.

"I wouldn't argue with her. You'll lose. Trust me, I've got experience."

Peter let his shoulders relax, and then let himself smile. If there really was trouble, then the adults who deal with that sort of thing will deal with it. He could chill. He could sit and drink his coffee with Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts and…

The hair on Peter's arm shot up, just before a loud blast went off right down the street from where they were. Car horns blared, people shouted, and suddenly there was practically a stampede of a crowd running down the road.

They were running from the same place where he'd heard the glass breaking.

Another blast went off, closer this time. It rocked the ground beneath them and caused half of the coffee to spill over onto the pavement. Peter jumped to his feet, tearing his outer layers off to reveal the Spiderman suit beneath.

Tony gave him a furrowed brow.

"You wear that thing all the time?"

"Wouldn't you wear yours all the time if you could?" Peter asked, covering his face with his mask.

More glass broke at the store beside them, as another blast tried to upend Tony and Pepper.

"Mr. Stark, get out of here!" Peter shouted, webbing his backpack to the wall. "I'll take care of it."

"I'm not leaving you, kid," Tony said sternly.

Across the street, behind the horse of people running, stood a man wearing a facemask. He carried some kind of blaster, which was glowing a strangely bright shade of purple. Peter turned back to Tony and Pepper, who were completely unprotected. Both already had small scrapes on their face and arms from the broken glass.

"Mr. Stark, er, no offense, but you don't have any powers. I'll be fine, just get somewhere safe."

Tony shoved a small device into his hand.

"Put this on, anywhere on the suit. It's a tracker and a communication device."

"Cool!" Peter set the device over the left side of his chest and it melded into his suit.

Tony started down the road, but Pepper first went to Peter. She touched a hand to his shoulder.

"Peter, sweetie, stay safe."

"Will do, Ms. Potts," Peter said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Tony and Pepper backed up, still watching Peter, and then sprinted off down the road among the rest of the remaining passersby. Peter dropped his hand back to his side, feeling suddenly alone.

Yet not alone enough.

"Hello Spiderman," a gravelly voice behind him said.

Peter had just enough time to dodge a strike to his back, swinging onto a stopped, empty bus for safety.

"Heads up!" He shouted playfully, swinging back down with his legs straight in front of him.

Somehow, he managed to hit the blaster very hard without knocking it out of the man's grasp. It did, however, mess up his trajectory enough to send him rolling across the ground, coming to rest between two taxis.

"Charlotte!" He suddenly heard Tony's voice shout in his ear.

"Ow," he groaned, getting up and running between cars to avoid the armed man. "Who's Charlotte?"

"Charlotte's Web? A spider...nevermind. How's it going?"

"The guy is definitely armed. And traffic is completely stopped."

"That's just a day in New York City," Tony murmured. "Do you need backup?"

"No, no; I'm fine," Peter said, biting back a groan as his shin hit the lip of a car's bumped. "It's kinda...quiet."

He dared say it, and then the silence was broken. Another blast and the car in front of him went flying sideways into the sidewalk. Luckily, nobody was in or around it. But it did expose Peter completely to the guy with the blaster, who now only had one clear target.

"Uh oh," Peter squeaked, then jumped over another car, using it as leverage to get to the top of a truck nearby.

"Uh oh?" Tony said, voice rising. "What's uh oh?"

"Errr," Peter stammered, as the truck beneath him was blown sideways like the car before. He let out a quick shout before shooting a web onto the closest building and swinging.

This time, his kick knocked the weapon out of the guy's hands. Another web shot from the sky and the weapon was securely taped to the ground.

Peter stopped on the awning of a restaurant, taking a deep breath. When the now weaponless man took a step into his view, he shot his web out and glued the guy to the car behind him. Another web and he was completely stuck.

Peter let out a celebratory whoop, then heard that broken glass again down the street. He started toward it without hesitation.

"Good news," he said to his suit, "The guy with the blaster is taken care of. Bad news, I think it was a distraction."

"Kid, just get out of there," Tony said, the anxiety clear in his voice. "You helped out, now let the feds handle it."

"You said I could fight!" Peter said, irritated.

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking. Come sit with us in the park until this blows over."

Peter froze on the sidewalk, his heart pulling him in two directions. He didn't want to worry Mr. Stark, or disappoint him. But he also couldn't let his city down either.

Just then, his eye caught a young boy, crying on the opposite sidewalk. He was five, maybe six. All alone in this wasteland that had been a buzzing city street just ten minutes ago.

Peter groaned.

"Okay, Mr. Stark, I really, really will come and join you in the park in, like, five minutes. But first, there's this kid...he's by himself, Mr. Stark. I can't just…"

"Okay," Tony acquiesced. "Get the kid, then come straight here. We'll find his family when the chaos is all over."

"Got it," Peter said, meaning it.

He looked both ways, then crossed the street and knelt in front of the young boy.

"Hi, I'm Spiderman," Peter said in his normal voice. No need to fake it in front of the kid.

The boy's sniffling stopped, at least, even if he couldn't manage a smile.

"How about we go piggy-back, okay?" Peter said, turning so the kid could grab onto his shoulders.

But before the boy could move, the sound of broken glass came again, catching Peter's attention. He looked left and saw a purple glow starting. His eyes widened.

"Get behind me!" He shouted, covering the kid with his body.

A science fiction-like noise came warbling out of the alleyway, and then a pulse that broke all of the glass in the area. Peter was thrown by the blast, still cradling the kid in his arms. He landed on his side, guarding the young boy's head with his hands as they fell.

Feeling like he'd been hit with a truck, Peter softly groaned, barely hearing Tony's frantic voice in his ear.

"Kid! Peter! Peter, you alright?"

"Missrr 'ark?"

His ears were buzzing, but he definitely heard a siren coming closer. Many sirens. And, it sounded like, a helicopter. Yes, when he opened his eyes, he saw the 'copter looming above, reading NYPD.

Peter smiled. Then felt his heart skip a beat.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the boy still cradled in his arms, crying but okay. He was feeling better, too, as he woke. Less stiff. More alive.

Running footsteps approached, clanging against the pavement, and then Tony was huddled above him. His eyes were shining, bright, as he yanked Peter's mask off and looked him over.

"I couldn't let the kid get hurt," Peter groaned, lips quirking into a smile.

Tony let out an anxious laugh.

"Welcome to my life, kid."

Pepper came next, worrying over Peter until she started worrying over the young boy instead. She scooped him off of Peter's chest and held him firmly in her grasp.

"Never do that to us again," she said sternly to Peter.

Peter nodded.

Tony helped him sit up. And then, before anything else, pulled him into a tight hug. Peter smiled at the feeling, feeling all of injuries dull in comparison. Then he looked at the boy, who Pepper had somehow gotten to smile. He pushed out of her lap and, as soon as Tony had pulled away, wrapped his arms around Peter's neck.

"Thank you, Spiderman," the boy murmured.

Peter's smile widened, and he easily returned the hug.

"No problem, buddy."

Tony dropped to a seated position next to Peter, putting an arm around him.

"What a day, huh?"

"Er, Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"Thanks for looking out for me."

Tony didn't respond, just ruffled Peter's hair, but it was enough. The four of them sat quietly for a while as the police handled the messy situation and they awaited Scott with his precious 'Pym particles'.

All of them, beside the young boy, were still wondering what was happening inside Avengers Tower.