Author's Note: Again, I can't believe how many people are reading this! Wow! Thanks for all the support. Please enjoy this chapter!
"Some of the most important conversations I've ever had occurred at my family's dinner table."
—Bob Ehrlich
The concept of a family dinner was not new to Peter, though he did admit, he wasn't used to so many people sitting around the table. At most, he had been surrounded by maybe 5 people and that was only at Thanksgiving. Now, he was sitting next to the Avengers, most of whom were loud and boisterous—a stark contrast to the peaceful dinners he was used to.
"Let us feast!" Thor boomed as Natasha chuckled dryly. Steve cracked a smile and passed down the plates and the teenaged hero quickly set one in front of him. Apparently, Friday night dinners were an important aspect of life at Avengers Tower. He grinned a bit, relaxing slightly. He still wasn't used to life here, but he was adjusting. It was nice to know that his team had his back and the way they handled Flash had earned them Peter's trust and respect. Plus, the way Flash had been dealing with the fallout would give the teenager enough amusement to last him for a week at least.
"Hold on," Clint began, eyes scanning the chairs. "Where's Bruce?"
"Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner are still in the lab, sir."
"They know it's Friday night," Steve mumbled. "Tell them to hurry up."
"Right away, sir."
"I have news to announce!" Thor continued, beaming. "I will be taking a leave of absence as I will be traveling to visit Jane."
"About time." Natasha muttered.
"Indeed," The God of Thunder agreed. "But Peter put the situation in perspective for me."
"You did?" The Black Widow questioned, turning to him. Embarrassed slightly, Peter ducked her gaze and nodded. "That's good."
"When are you going to let us meet Gwen?" Clint asked from across the table as he took a sip of his soda. The teenager nearly choked on his root beer.
"What?" Peter murmured, slightly taken off-guard. He hadn't really said much about Gwen to his team—he had just assumed that their private lives had no place here—but it would appear that the SHIELD agent knew quite a bit more then he let on.
"Gwen Stacy," Natasha recited dutifully. "4.0 student, interned at Oscorp, your girlfriend—"
"That's enough—" Peter protested.
"Whose girlfriend?" A voice called as footsteps were heard in the hall. Soon, Tony and Bruce were seated on either side of the young hero and Peter felt like he was back in middle school. "You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell me?" Tony feigned hurt. "I thought we were—what's the word those kids are using now a days—'besties?'"
"Besties?" Steve echoed and the teenager couldn't help but laugh.
"Best friends," Natasha clarified, eyes narrowing at the inventor who was now chuckling himself. Then, her gaze came to rest back on Peter, her hands supporting her head as she laid her chin on her open palms. "You two are pretty serious, aren't you?"
"I don't see how that's any of our business," Cap interjected, seemingly confused by his team's sudden interest in Peter's romantic life. "I mean, if you two are happy—"
"It's not that," Clint dismissed with a wave of his hand. "She doesn't have security clearance yet."
A moment passed.
"Oh." Peter whispered, his eyes widening because, yeah, it would make sense that his girlfriend would need to be checked out as she was privy to a lot that happened with the team. In fact, he was surprised he didn't put it together sooner.
"Screw clearance," Tony mumbled petulantly. "Peter, you don't have to do anything—"
"Director Fury—" Clint began, though it appeared to the teen that he was pretty much reciting something. Immediately, Tony slammed his palms on the table and stood up, anger radiating off of him in waves.
"Fuck Fury!" The billionaire spat. "That idiot doesn't have any damn right to Peter's life or any of ours!"
"Tony—" Bruce tried to soothe, a hand on the inventor's arm, trying to pull him back down to his seat. Tony; however, shook it off and stormed off, leaving the teen more than a little bit bewildered.
"What just happened?" He questioned, debating whether he should go up after Tony.
"Nothing." Steve mumbled softly. He sighed and then tossed his napkin on his plate before following after him. His footstep clicked down the hall until Peter heard the familiar ding of the elevator. Bruce also rose from the table and shooting an apologetic glance to the teenager, he too left the table.
"Fury and Tony," Natasha began deliberately as she pushed some of her pasta around on her plate. "Needless to say, they don't get along."
"Understatement." Clint retorted.
"I suppose we shall just have to enjoy our meal without them," Thor began, his voice jovial, but his eyes filled with concern. "Come, Man of Spider, and regale us with your tales!"
And as if the incident had never occurred, dinner continued.
Deep down though, the young hero began to have doubts.
Maybe the Avengers were just as flawed as anyone else. It was a thought that troubled Peter to his core.
"Dinner?" Gwen echoed, the next day on the bleachers. The field was blissfully quiet since Flash had been suspended—thank you Avengers for that one—and with his girlfriend at his side, Peter felt all his worries leave him. Gwen had always had that effect on him—with just a touch of her velvety skin or a murmur from her calming voice, she could chase his fears away or ease his worries. Truth be told, he wanted to show her to the Avengers. He wanted them to see the one person that he wanted to protect more than anything; the girl that had taught him to be strong and face his problems head on, instead of standing to the side. She humanized him, made him realize that he was more of a man than a superhero and he was eternally grateful to her for that.
"Yeah," He replied, running a hand through his hair. "The team really wants to meet you." That was true, though apparently Fury was serious about this security clearance thing—he had called the teenager personally this morning before class and practically ordered him to bring Gwen to dinner. Tony had been pissed, though for the life of him, Peter could not figure out why and no one on the team would speak to him about it.
"Sorry," Natasha had told him with a strained smile. "It's not my place to share." With that she had ruffled his hair and thus the subject was dropped.
"And is that the only reason?" Her eyes were scanning him critically and he knew that there was no point in lying.
"You need security clearance." She nodded, blonde hair falling in her eyes as she processed what he had said.
"That makes sense," She murmured. Then, with a bright grin that instantly eased his worries. "Let's do this then! What time?"
And with a grin, he pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. What other girl would be able to handle something like dinner with the Avengers as calmly and easily as his Gwen?
He was the luckiest man alive.
Tick.
6:25 and Peter couldn't help but act like a child half his age as he stared at Steve's huge grandfather clock. It was one of the few personal touches that the super soldier had placed around the tower and the teenager found its presence comforting.
Tock.
Gwen would be here any second and the young hero was probably more nervous than she was. He had no doubts that Gwen would charm and dazzle everyone just like she had to practically everyone in the school. Though she would never admit it, she was popular and half of the school wanted to either date her or be her. Still, good looks aside, what really made Gwen stand out were her academic achievements and he couldn't wait for her to start discussing things with Tony and Bruce.
He just hoped that the team would appear her for security clearance.
"Master Parker," Jarvis began. "Miss Stacy has arrived."
"Right," He took a deep breath, adjusted his tie and nodded. "I've got this."
"She is in the main foyer, sir. Shall I tell her to enter the dinning room?"
"No," Peter replied. "I'll greet her."
He got headed down the hallway and once he entered the main foyer, he immediately grinned. Gwen was absolutely stunning. Her blonde hair had been piled up in a bun and she was wearing a beautiful navy blue cocktail dress that fit her in all the right places. Her makeup was tastefully done and barely noticeable.
"Hey," She greeted, kissing him briefly. "This place is amazing! I mean, marble floors and Jarvis and it's huge!" Peter chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Dinner is served," Jarvis announced. "Please head to the dining room."
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Gwen told him, with a small grin, grabbing Peter's hand and holding it tight within her own.
And then, they headed down the hall towards the dining room.
It wasn't as bad as Peter thought it would be.
Gwen instantly impressed Bruce and Tony with her knowledge of quantum physics and within seconds, they had fallen under her spell. Thor admired her brave nature and complimented her on her "foolish, yet glorious" work on evading the Lizard while also making cure for New York. Steve seemed pleased with how polite she was and though they hadn't clicked yet, Peter foresaw no objections from him over Gwen getting clearance.
"So, Gwen," Natasha began, eyes narrowing and the teenager stiffened slightly at how cold and detached her tone was. "I'd like to ask you a hypothetical question." Gwen shot him a slightly confused glance, but she smiled brightly.
"Sure, go ahead." Her hand was slightly trembling, though she had schooled her expression so much that Peter almost didn't notice.
"If you ended up being kidnapped because of Peter," Natasha glanced in his direction and the young hero wanted nothing more than to stand up and get away from this question. He knew there was a risk in being with Gwen, but damn it all; he didn't want to accept that. "Would you regret the time you spent together?"
"No." She answered immediately, no indecision in her voice.
"You would die."
"I'm going to die anyways—"
"You'd be tortured for information—"
"I wouldn't give anything away."
"You would," Clint murmured, eyes apologetic. "Everyone breaks and the guys that want Peter dead would know what your limit would be."
"It doesn't matter," She insisted forcefully. "Peter . . ." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. "I know the risks and I accept them."
"Even if costs you your life?" Natasha asked her.
"Natasha—" The young hero wanted to interrupt, but Gwen's hand squeezed his again and she shot him a confident smile.
"I wouldn't trade the moments I've spent with Peter for anything." She said confidently, a grin from ear to ear.
A moment passed and Natasha shared a glance that seemed to speak volumes with Clint before the archer nodded.
"So," Tony began breezily. "She passes, right?"
Peter held his breath.
"Of course," Natasha answered with a small smile. Then, extending her hand, she shook Gwen's. "You, Miss Stacy, just go security clearance level Alpha."
"Thank you." Gwen whispered and Peter felt proud. He knew she could do it and he was just so glad that she accepted his life now, that she still wanted to be with him.
He was a lucky guy.
"Then, shall we—?" Thor began, but immediately, an alarm rang through the dinning room. Red, pulsating lights illuminated the wooden table and Peter apologetically squeezed Gwen's hand.
"I apologize," Jarvis started, a TV screen moving down from the ceiling. "But it would appear that there is a situation downtown." Staring at the screen, the young hero wondered what exactly what he was looking at when it suddenly hit him.
It was the energy balls—the same ones he had investigated with the team on his first missions with them—only they were now much bigger and they seemed to be shooting off lasers.
"What the hell are those things?" Tony mumbled, clearly trying to figure it out.
"Whatever they are," Steve began warily. "They needed to be stopped."
"Let us leave!" Thor boomed and Peter nodded. Opening his mouth to apologize, Gwen chuckled and waved her hand.
"Go do your thing," She told him. "I'll be here when you get back."
"Lucky guy, aren't you, Parker?" Tony teased. "Don't ever let go of this one."
"I won't," He assured the inventor. "Time to go?"
"Yeah," Clint confirmed, putting on his bow. "See you later, Gwen."
With a final wave, Gwen watched as the team quickly suited up and then left.
"Hey, Jarvis?"
"Yes, Miss?"
She blushed, feeling a little silly for talking to an A.I. but she still needed some reassurance.
"They'll be okay, right?"
"There is a 75.7% of them returning unharmed, yes."
And though the sentiment didn't exactly comfort her, Gwen found her posture relaxing slightly as she watched her boyfriend on action on the small screen.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it! Please review if you have a second.
