Its all been leading up to this...


Peter woke up to the usual; the sound of someone getting killed. Or, at least, that's what it sounded like. In truth, Tony had gotten up first and burst into Bruce's room yelling, "WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS!". Now Bruce was trying to kill him. It was that simple.

Peter didn't really care. He hadn't really been looking forward to Christmas, especially since it was the first one since his aunt and uncle had died. It just wouldn't be the same. He considered sleeping in and ignoring Christmas altogether, but he really didn't need Tony coming into his room next. Besides, he had used all of the money from taking pictures to get presents for the others.

So rolled out of bed and grabbed the wrapped parcels from his closet, then made his way out of the room.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw in the living room. The tree that had been set up by the fire place was surrounded by presents, in all different sizes and colors. Along the mantle, where there had only been a stocking for JARVIS the day before, there was now one for each resident of the tower, including, to his surprise, Peter.

Thor was already up, along with Steve, and they both seemed to be waiting for the others to get there.

"Ah, young Peter!" Thor grinned, "Come, join us in festivities! The captain has explained this 'Christmas' to me,and I must see it in person!"

"Steve is explaining something? That's never a good sign." Peter dropped his packages in front of the tree and sat beside them on the couch.

Steve rolled his eyes, "Okay, Christmas has been around for hundreds of years, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about this time."

"I have done battle with many fine elf warriors, I am excited to see their craftsmanship." Thor added.

Then Tony, Pepper, Natasha, and Bruce walked in, Tony looking a little worse for the wear, but he kinda deserved it. Clint had decided to spend the holiday at his family farm, so it was remarkably peaceful.

"Merry Christmas!" Tony proclaimed. Peter could only wonder how his hair had gotten singed.

"It would be more merry if you had let us all sleep in, Tony." Bruce growled. "I swear, you're more of a child than Peter."

"Nuh-uh!" Tony defended, "Peter doesn't even shave, yet."

"Hey!" Peter said in mock offense, "I'm a mature adult, thank you very much." His voice cracked as he said it, making everyone laugh. Stupid puberty…

"Well, I think it's high time we started opening presents. Otherwise, it'll take all day to do it." Steve chuckled, and that was all it took to get the party started. Tony had gone totally overboard on everything, getting everyone crazy gifts, including a drone for Natasha and a shirt for Bruce that said "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." and was made of a new space-age polymer that expanded to an infinite degree, and wouldn't rip when he "Hulked out".

Peter found that all of the Avengers had gotten him something. Weird. Steve had gotten him some boxing gloves, in case he ever wanted to join him down in the gym, and it took all of Peter's will not to just melt into a puddle of fanboy right then and there. Bruce had gotten him a Spiderman mug, to everyone's confusion, and he just grinned at the dirty looks Peter gave him when nobody was looking.

Natasha gave him a chess set, to build strategy, she said. Thor didn't really seem to grasp the concept of the holiday, and gave everyone the same thing : poptarts.

Finally, there was only Tony left. Peter totally didn't need a present from him, seeing as he had done so much for him these past few months. He owed him so much, more than he could ever repay. And Peter hadn't really done much in return. Sure he was his assistant, but Tony really didn't ask him to do much. Not to mention how supportive he had been when he found Peter having that nightmare.

And Peter hadn't even told him who he was.

He had decided, a week ago, to come clean. But the time had never been right, and Peter wanted to make sure he didn't mess this up. Honestly, though, how do you tell someone that you secretly sneak out at night and fight crime with webs and by sticking to walls? Like, how do you even say that?

Soon, all of the presents were open, and everyone was enjoying their new stuff. Peter felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Tony standing behind him, grinning. "Hey, Pete, can you come up to my floor for a second? I need your help with something."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Peter said. He stood and followed Tony out of the room, and Pepper tagged along. As the doors were closing, he caught Bruce giving him a knowing look. Was he trying to tell him it was time to tell Tony? Honestly, there would probably be no better chance…

"Hey, Peter?" Tony said hesitantly as they entered the living room to his personal floor, "I, uh, I need to talk to you about something."

Oh. That's never a good sign. "You know what? I need to tell you something, too." Peter said.

Now Tony was curious. "What is it?"

Peter shook his head, "No, you first."

Pepper rolled her eyes, "Tony, just tell him, already!"

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine! I'll go first. Peter… you know how you're still a minor? And technically the State doesn't know you're staying here, so this is kinda illegal?"

Peter felt his heart drop. He should have seen this coming. Of course, Tony was right. There was no reason for him to be there, anyway. "Uh, yeah. That. Tony, I swear, I didn't mean to make any trouble for you-"

"Let me finish, kid!" Tony stopped him with an amused look, "I guess what I'm trying to say is- well, Pepper and I have talked it over and- well, there's really no need to-"

"God, Tony!" Pepper groaned, "Listen, Peter. What Tony is trying to say is, well, we want to adopt you."

Silence. Peter looked frome Pepper, to Tony, then back at Pepper. It took his brain a second to catch up to his ears. They… wanted to adopt him? He knew he had come to think of Tony as a kind of a father figure but… he hadn't let himself believe it could ever be mutual. He had accepted that he would remain alone. Now, Tony was offering him something he had thought he would never have again; a family.

While all of this was rushing through his head, Tony and Pepper were getting nervous. Tony continued, "I mean, that is, if that's what you want-"

"Of- of course!" Peter finally found the ability to talk again and his face split into a huge smile. "You're serious- I mean, I know that you- you really- ... me?!" he stammered excitedly. He didn't even know what to say.

Tony chuckled and said, "Yeah, Pete, we're serious. Honestly, though, I'd say this has been a long time coming."

Pepper jumped in, "Yeah, not to mention the fact that you already live here, and Tony sometimes calls you his son, anyway, so we might as well make it official."

"I just, I still can't believe it." Peter couldn't stop smiling as he ran a hand through his hair, "This is… wow!"

Tony and Pepper laughed, and Tony put an arm around Peter's shoulders, "Well, kid, you better believe it! In a few weeks, as soon as we go through all of the paper-work, it'll be official. Welcome to the family!"

Family. Peter liked the sound of that. Forget guilt, forget blame, in that moment, he was willing to want that, again. He was ready to stop pushing people away. Despite everything, he felt like the luckiest kid in the world.

Peter turned and gave Tony a crushing hug, which Tony returned gently.

"Thank you, so much!" Peter said in a voice muffled by his new dad's shoulder. But Tony and Pepper heard.

Tony released him and clapped him on the shoulder, "No problem, kid. So, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Oh, yeah. Well, now or never, right? The smile faded from Peter's face, and he bit his lip. How would he saw this?

He took a deep breath and began, "Well, there's something I haven't been totally truthful about."

He paused, and Tony gave him a look that said too clearly, go on. Peter continued, "Uh, well, I guess I should just say it-"

Several things happened at once. One of those things was Peter's spider sense going off full blast, putting him on edge. Another was the building giving a violent shake. Third was a huge explosion going off in the room they were in. Lastly, there was Peter's instincts going into overdrive, and the need to protect Pepper and Tony taking him over.

He didn't even have time to warn them before he shoved them to the ground and covered them with his body. The explosion sent the couch flying through the air. Glass sprayed against Peter's exposed back. Fire licked at the ceiling, and spread slowly across the room.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked the two adults under him. Tony was coughing, and Pepper had tensed up completely, so he didn't know if they would be okay.

"Kid," Tony coughed, "Get off."

"Oh, right, sorry." Peter scrambled to his feet, and helped Tony and Pepper get up. "What was that?"

"Tony, I swear to God, if this was because of you-" Pepper growled.

"No, I don't think so!" Tony said quickly, "At least, I'm pretty sure…"

Another explosion shook the building, but it seemed to be distant.

"We need to get out of here." Pepper said urgently. It really didn't need to be said to be agreed upon, so they all headed for the stairwell. Peter's spider sense was still buzzing, and he couldn't wait to get out of there.

Then he heard it. The strange metallic whir that he only knew to come from one place. A sound that had been in its fair share of nightmares. "Look out!" He cried as Tony and Pepper reached the door, which flew off the hinges and sent them flying backwards. Peter could do nothing as they sprawled out on the floor.

"Oh, Peeeeeter!" A deep and manic voice called from the dusty stairwell. But Peter didn't need to see him to know it was Otto Octavius. Peter would recognize him anywhere.

"Um, not here right now, please leave a message at the beep!" Peter replied as he picked up the door and shoved it back against the frame.

"Peter?" Tony said in confusion, "Who the hell is that? Why is he after you? Peter, answer me!"

"A. Little. Busy." each of Peter's words was punctuated by Octopus pounding against the door, as Peter tried desperately to keep it shut.

"What's going on!?" Tony looked like he was panicking, and why shouldn't he? Everything was going crazy, and some guy was after Peter. A kid. An orphan. His kid.

"Is Pepper okay?" was all Peter said in response. Tony scooted across the floor to his wife and shook her gently.

"Pep? Pepper, get up." he said shakily. Oh, God. Not Pepper, too. "She's unconscious!" Tony proclaimed to Peter, who was instantly relieved that she wasn't dead.

"Tony, you have to get her out of here! Quick, carry her to the window, JARVIS will deploy the emergency ladder and-"

"I'm not leaving you here, Peter." Tony shouted over the pounding of the door. "Get over here, I'll take that guy on."

"No, you don't have your suit!" Peter strained against Otto's continuing barrage of blows. "You can't take him like this!"

"You're a kid, Peter!" Tony stood and stumbled to the door, "I don't know who's out there, but I'm way more prepared for this than you are. Now, go. Get Pepper out of here. I'll hold him."

"Wait." Peter stood still and silence rang through the room. The banging had stopped. "Tony you need to go, now-"

Another explosion rocked the room, and Peter fell to the ground beside Tony. He heard a loud *crack*, and looked up to see a huge portion of the ceiling fall away, right on top of him and Tony…

He stood and did the only thing he could think of: he caught it. Secret be damned, he had to save Tony. This was all his fault, he should have never stayed there.

"P-Peter?" Tony gasped. Peter turned and saw the genius's eyes looking him up and down, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The portion of ceiling he was holding easily weighed a thousand pounds, but he held it with relative ease. But now he was stuck, and he could do nothing as Tony saw the real him for the first time.

"I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to find out this way." Peter whispered, then one of Doc Oc's arms smashed through the battered door and rammed into Peter's side, making him lose his grip on the ceiling. It fell sideways, blocking Peter and Otto off from Tony and Pepper. But that didn't stop Peter from seeing as disappointment and sorrow overtook Tony's face, just before he lost sight of him for good.

Peter stumbled away from the smoke that had risen up from the fallen ceiling, and he came face to face with Octavius himself.

"How dare you?" Peter growled, "You hurt them, the only people in the world who gave two shits about me. Are you looking to get the crap beat out of you?!"

"Oh, Peter, how nice to talk without the mask." Otto chuckled, "I must say, it's nice to see some emotion from you. Though you are much younger than I had thought."

"How's this for young you piece of-" Peter lunged for Otto and connected his fist with his gut, but one of Oc's arms came down and wrapped itself around his arm. It then flung him around and into walls and the floor while Otto recovered from Peter's blow.

"Now, now, this will be much easier if you don't struggle too much, Mr. Parker." Another one of his tentacles wrapped around each of Peter's limbs, and he could do nothing about it as the one that had already grabbed him dragged him to the others. He thrashed and kicked and tried to fight back, but they were too strong for him. Once all of his limbs were secure, Otto raised Peter above him, almost as though he was examining him.

"You'll pay for this, Octavius. You hurt them, there was no need-"

"Oh, be calm spider. I did what was necessary." Otto tutted and brought Peter close enough to feel his breath with his next words. "Besides, why should you care? Why would they ever care about you? No, I just made things easier for everyone."

Peter squirmed in the grip of the arms, but it was no use, "Why are you doing this? Haven't you hurt enough people, Otto?"

"I don't really care about that." Oc shrugged, "I only see this as a means to an end. Now, hold still, Peter. This will all make sense soon." He pulled a syringe from his pocket and removed a small cap. It was filled with a strange, clear liquid that made Peter's insides turn.

"No, wait-" Peter struggled against his bonds in a new panic, desperate to get away from that needle. They just coiled more tightly around him, and he groaned at the pain of it. The doctor plunged the needle into Peter's neck, and the world immediately started to blur at the edges. "No, you…"

"Shh, Peter. Just close your eyes." Otto murmured quietly, "That's right, let the sedative do its work."

Peter tried to fight it, tried to keep his eyes open. But the chemicals were too strong, and the world was melting away. "NnNnnnNOoo…" Peter protested weakly. Otto only grinned. That was the last thing Peter saw before the world faded to black.


"You think they're doing what I think they're doing?" Steve asked, smiling like a fool.

"Well, it's about time." Natasha said as she sipped some coffee.

"Seriously, was there any doubt they were going to adopt him?" Bruce asked happily.

Steve grinned, "Heck, if I didn't know that Tony was going to, I would. He's a great kid."

Thor was digging into some poptarts, courtesy of Bruce, of course, when he spoke with a full mouth, "Indeed, he is a fine young midgardian. He does, however, remind me of someone."

Natasha cocked an eyebrow at this. "Who?"

Thor shook his head, "I know not. It is, as you midgardians like to say, tipping my tongue."

Bruce locked eyes with Steve before looking away. They would just ignore that slip-up for now. Of course, Bruce knew exactly who Peter reminded Thor of. He was a pretty close match with Spiderman, not that Thor would make that connection. Bruce just wanted to tell them who Peter was, but he knew this was something he had to do himself. He just wished the kid would hurry up!

"So, once Tony and Pepper adopt Peter, are we, like, uncles?" Steve asked.

"Oh, Clint's going to love that!" Natasha grinned.

"I can't wait for the adoption to go through." Bruce said excitedly, "It'll be great for Pete to be a part of the family. Also, he can quit acting like he could leave anytime he wanted."

"Yeah, I for one would totally track him down if he tried to leave at this point." Natasha added.

"Yep, he's trapped now." Steve nodded. "Hey if Tony's a dad, does that mean-"

Steve was interrupted by a low rumble and the building giving a shake. "What was-" "Get down!" "Bruce, stay low!"

The voices jumbled together as a huge explosion tore apart the room they were in. Steve threw himself in front of Bruce, desperate to keep the 'Big guy' under wraps. Natasha flipped the coffee table and Thor crouched behind it with her. Flames licked the ceiling and consumed the tree, and Steve fell to the floor with a shard of glass embedded in his back.

"Oh, God, Steve!" Bruce gasped, crouching next to his team mate. "Here, let me-"

"No, look out!" Steve said as he scooted away toward the table. Bruce turned to see hundreds of little spider-like robots scuttling toward them in a wave. Just like the one that had attacked Peter. Oh, no.

"Guys, we have to get out of here!" Bruce yelled over the robots' whirring. The building shook with another explosion, and Bruce also began to worry the tower would collapse.

"Where can we go?" Thor asked seriously.

"To the lab! It's the most sturdy room in the tower, and I'm not sure how many more bombs this place can take." Bruce replied. The bots gained speed, and were almost on top of them.

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way out." Natasha said ominously.

"Then let's give them a run for their money." Steve said resolutely. "Come on!"

And with that, they leapt into battle against hundreds and hundreds of death bots, totally unaware of what was happening right above them.


A few hours later, Tony was pacing the floor of his lab, too upset to do anything else. Peter had super strength. His tower was partially destroyed. Pepper had a concussion, and now he couldn't even find the lying, sneaking, double-crossing, little-

"You okay, Tony?" Bruce grabbed Tony's shoulder, stopping him from his pacing.

"No, I'm not okay. Where were you guys, today? Why didn't you help-"

Steve stepped forward. "Tony, would you just tell us what's wrong? You haven't told us anything since we found you."

Tony groaned and rubbed his face. Well, he wasn't going to keep this a secret. "It's Peter. He-"

"Oh, God. No, he isn't- he isn't dead, is he?" Steve went pale as a sheet.

"What?" Tony spluttered, "No! Let me finish, would you? He's- he's got super powers."

He was met with silence as the others stared at him. Then Natasha sighed, "Tony, stop messing around and just tell us!"

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched up his eyebrows, "No, he's not kidding this time. He's right."

"Wait a minute." Tony's eyes went wide, "YOU KNEW! How long have you been keeping this from me?! I bet you have been doing secret science behind my back! God, it all makes sense, now." He threw his arms in the air and turned his back on the downcast scientist.

"Tony, it wasn't my secret to tell." Bruce said defensively.

"Wait, so you're saying that Peter, that little guy who keeps getting beat up, has super powers?" Steve said in disbelief. "No way."

Thor, who had been silent until now, spoke up, "Aha! That is who the son of Parker reminds me of! That man of spiders! Of course, how could I have missed it?"

"Wait. Spiderman? That can't be right." Tony said.

"No, that's true, too." Bruce sighed.

"Is that why Doctor Octopus attacked the tower?" Natasha asked.

"I mean, I guess so." Tony muttered. "What I wanna know is why he never told us. Bruce? I think you would know the answer to that one."

Bruce sighed and looked at the floor. "He thought… he thought that trusting us would be like killing us. Because everyone he's ever gotten close to has died. He thought that if kept his distance, we would be safer."

Tony remembered Peter telling him something similar on that night last week. The thought of hurting the people he loved gave him nightmares. Tony could feel the anger beginning to ebb away, but he was far from being okay with this.

"How long have you known, Bruce?" Steve asked.

"A little over a month, now." Bruce said awkwardly, "But he made me promise not to tell. I didn't want him to leave and have nowhere else to go, so I promised on the condition that he stayed, and that he would come to me for help if he got hurt."

"That's- actually a pretty good excuse." Natasha muttered.

"Well, where is he, now?" Steve asked. Good ole' Steve, keeping everybody on track.

"I don't know, I lost track of him after he dropped the ceiling." Tony said in exasperation.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"A huge part of the ceiling fell, must have been over a thousand pounds, and he caught it. Then he got punched in the gut by the octopus, and he dropped it and cut me and Pepper off. So I don't know where he is, okay?" Tony explained tiredly.

Steve laid a hand on the genius's shoulder "Tony, I know you're worried, but-"

"Worried?!" Tony snapped, "I'm furious! He should have told us! I was about to adopt him for Christ's sake, and he didn't see it fit to mention that he just happens to be a superhero?!"

"'About to'?" Bruce said quietly, "What do you mean by that? Are you not going to adopt him now, just because he was keeping a secret?"

Tony sighed and sat heavily in a chair, "No- I mean yes- I mean, I don't know, alright? It's just… a lot."

Bruce sat beside him, "You know, he's been trying to tell you for a week."

Tony looked up, "He has?"

Bruce smiled softly, "Yeah, he kept coming to me asking how to do it. I think at one point he was gonna just casually walk in to breakfast one day on the ceiling and say, 'I'm Spiderman.'"

Steve smirked. Yeah, that totally sounded like Peter.

"So… he was going to tell me?" Tony ran a hand through his hair. Why was he still mad?

Bruce nodded, "Yep. He wanted you to be the first to know."

"I gotta talk to him about this." Tony groaned, "JARVIS, where did Peter run off to? Surely he knows that leaving and avoiding me aren't going to fix this."

"I'm afraid… I don't know, sir." JARVIS said slowly.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Tony asked. JARVIS always knows. He can track anyone in the world!

"Those robots got into my hardware, and erased all tracking capabilities for both Peter and Spiderman." JARVIS explained. "I did, however, retain the last footage of Peter before he left the building."

Security footage appeared on one of Tony's screens, and the Avengers huddled around it to watch. Peter was suspended in the air by two of Octavius's metal arms, seemingly unconscious. Otto used the remaining two to break through a wall in the stairwell, before he leapt down to the street below. The feed switched to an exterior camera, and they saw Otto fall into an alley behind the tower, then climb into a dark van that was waiting for him. It sped away, moments before the police arrived. Then the screen shut off, and the Earth's mightiest heroes fell silent.

Finally, Steve spoke up, "What the hell has that kid gotten himself into?"


Is there really anything for me to say? I know what's going to happen. You don't. I'm scared. You should be, too. That's all I'm going to say about that.

On another note, thank you so much! Your reviews are literally the best things ever! I melt every time I get a notification telling me I got a review or follow or favorite. Special thanks to gwencarson126, Charlielittle, Spider-Pig, Christina, I-am-an-Ice-cream-lover, and suzga.

Please tell me what you think of this chapter, and I'll continue to write in the meantime. Thanks for reading, and as always,

Excelsior!