A/N: Whoo, three chapter updates in a space of a few days - I'm on a roll! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because shit will evidently go down in the next one. Enjoy!
"Get up, Gwendilocks!" yelled a voice from outside her door.
Gwen was barely able to sit up groggily before Tony barged into her room, pulling open the blinds. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head, shielding herself from the sunlight.
"You're going to be late for school, princess," Tony said cheerfully, pulling her covers off her. She yelped and covered herself with her arms, wearing only a tank top and shorts. "Oh, honey," he rolled his eyes, "I've changed your diapers before. Grow up."
"I can't if you won't let me," she muttered, and Tony merely grinned.
"Get up," he repeated, before leaving the room. Gwen yawned and stretched, and he popped his head inside again. "Pepper made some blueberry pancakes," he told her, a little smile on his face, and shut the door again. Gwen smiled.
Tony and Pepper had been together since before she was born, yet he hadn't popped the question until now. She always wondered why, knowing that her own father asked for her mother's 'hand' only a few months after they began dating.
She got dressed, heading outside, yawning and dragging her feet. Peter had taken her out last night, and despite him saying half an hour, they spent much longer than that swinging around and viewing the city from high above. (Plus, the making out was quite cool too.)
"Why so chipper?" Tony asked sarcastically while Pepper chirped a "Morning, Gwen!" as she sat down by the island.
Gwen muttered some inaudible nonsense, chewing on her pancakes. Pepper raised an eyebrow and Tony shrugged.
"Where's Mum and Dad?" she asked to fill the silence. Pepper shrugged, sitting opposite her to eat her own pancakes.
"They had a late night," Tony said cheerily, mixing Pepper's pancakes with syrup and stealing a piece. Gwen choked on her pancake, quickly swallowing it and shot a glare at him.
"I didn't need to know that!" she exclaimed, burying her face in her hands. Tony laughed loudly. Her phone buzzed, revealing a text message from Peter. She immediately lightened up, a smile creeping onto her face. He was asking if she was in school, and for some reason, him wanting her presence made warmth spread across her chest.
"Who's that?" Gwen looked up, seeing Tony waiting expectantly for an answer.
"Just a friend," she shrugged, grabbing her things. "I've got to go, don't wait up for me!" She gave Pepper a hug and kissed Tony on the cheek, darting to the elevator cheerfully.
"She looks happy," Pepper commented, observing Gwen's little skip in her step. Tony grinned.
"I know that look," he laughed, moving to stand behind Pepper and hugging her shoulders, "our little Gwen's in love."
He watched closely as the young blonde made her way out of Stark Tower. His boss had told him to watch the Tower, knowing that all the Avengers would be residing there; the Captain and Howard Stark had been quite close, after all. His grey eyes scanned the appearance of the girl; she didn't look like an intern at the Tower. In fact, she was wearing clothes too casual to be working at Stark Tower. Unless Stark had deemed the day 'unprofessional day', grey-eyes couldn't comprehend what she was even doing in the Tower.
He followed closely behind as she walked to the traffic light, noting her books in hand and shouldered bag. A student, he observed. How uncanny. The girl started rummaging through her bag and produced a cell phone, rolling her eyes, although affectionately, as she looked at the caller ID.
If there was one thing his boss loved about the 21st century, it was the major improvements in technology. So when he introduced spy equipment to the man, he had been extremely fascinated and pleased. He now produced the advanced hearing aid, focusing on drowning out the voices of the people on the road and focusing on her. The technology picked up on her voice and he listened.
"No, Tony," he heard her say, and the light that said 'walk' glowed green so he walked as she walked across the road. "I don't have a boyfriend. Stop bugging me about it!"
He watched, disappointed as she hung up the phone. Tony, she had said. And she had just emerged from Stark Tower. Well, well, well - close to Tony Stark, eh? She must be valuable. He just wished that she could have provided more information.
Her phone started ringing again and she ignored it, but when it rang for the second time, she picked up. "What, Tony?"
There was a silence as she listened to the other end, her blonde hair flickering around in the wind. Grey-eyes watched as she laughed at something 'Tony' had said.
"Stop it, or Dad's going to have a heart attack," she said, amused. He followed as she turned at an intersection. "I can't have that, being Miss America and all."
At Miss America, he froze. The boss had told him about the Captain's baby's death seventeen years ago, but they had not seemed too bothered by it. But this girl matched the description. Blonde, blue eyes and around seventeen years old. Close to Tony Stark and calling herself 'Miss America'. Could it be...?
The girl laughed and then grew silent. She said in a mutter, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks, "Is Peter Parker coming around anytime soon?"
While he admired her attempt to be subtle (Miss America, hushed voice at Peter Parker), he knew this girl was it. She was the key that his boss wanted, and she seemed highly valuable to Tony Stark as well, making her more of an ideal target. Plus, he had overheard his boss talking to Doctor Connors about a boy Connors wanted revenge over. The boy's name had started with a P, but now he knew. Peter Parker.
He was definitely going to get a high pay this time, he thought to himself. The boss would be extremely pleased. He had, after all, only been sent to look for information regarding Captain America, but he had found out about the Captain's daughter, and that she knew Peter Parker. Judging by her blush, she had some sort of a relationship with the Parker boy, too.
Grey-eyes turned into an alleyway and whipped out his phone. He reached the dead-end, feeling around the bricks as his phone dialed the number. He found the catch and pushed on the brick, revealing a small enough path to slip through. The receiver picked up, and he grinned.
"Hey boss, you're going to like what I'm about to tell ya."
Peter navigated the halls, riding his skateboard. Thanks to his new spider senses, he could see the outlines of a person through thin walls, thus his ability to avoid being told off by teachers. There were many people in school, but the teachers had a particular scent stuck to them. Probably because they spent too much time drinking coffee in the teacher's lounge.
He looked around for Gwen amongst the millions (or so it seemed) of students. He found that she had her own sweet scent too – rosemary and chocolate. Apparently, those two scents worked very well together.
He skated around with an air of confidence and a grin on his face. Him becoming Spider-Man had boosted his confidence incredibly, but being with Gwen threw his every care out of the window. He didn't care if he acted out of place, or if people stared. He didn't feel socially awkward anymore, and his stuttering somehow vanished. He felt like the happiest guy alive.
He finally spotted her, talking to one of her friends (and his friend too, he noted) – MJ – about something. She looked especially nice today, wearing a light blue cardigan that matched her eyes and her hair hung loosely by her side. Peter had an urge to test his hearing abilities to listen in on their conversation, but he knew Gwen wouldn't like it. He skated over to where she stood and landed between MJ and Gwen.
"Hey MJ, Gwen," he greeted, saving a smile for Gwen, who's eyes lit up. MJ took it as her cue to leave.
"I've got to talk to Harry about something," she said, dismissing herself. "Bye, Gwen!"
"See you," Gwen called after her, and turned to Peter, giving him a smile. "You made me sleep through my alarm," she accused him, and turned back to her locker, gathering her books. He leaned his head against her neighbouring locker as she made room for her bag, watching her with a small smile on his face. This girl was the girl of his dreams, the girl he had liked since they were both thirteen and she had outsmarted him in a math contest. He liked her for so long, and now he finally had her. It felt so wonderful to be able to look into her beautiful eyes, to be able to stare at her lips and not have to resist leaning in and kissing her. To prove his point, he leaned in quickly and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, feeling her breath hitch and her pulse speed up. Who knew that he'd ever have this kind of effect on her?
She laughed, flustered as he pulled back. "What was that for?" she asked playfully as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
Peter grinned and shrugged as she closed the locker. He casually draped his arm around her shoulder, surprising Gwen a bit at his nonchalance but she shrugged it off, walking along with him (with a little pep in her step, he noticed smugly). "It was worth it," he shrugged, steering her towards the direction of his locker. He felt her nod of agreement and grinned again, taking his arm off her as he worked on his locker combination. She leaned against the back of the locker beside him, and they began chatting about unimportant things, as comfortable around each other as if they'd known each other their whole lives.
Natasha sighed, snuggling into her husband's chest. He was big and bulky, being Captain America and all, but who knew abs would be comfortable to lie on.
"Mornin'," she heard above her, and she turned to look up, seeing Steve grinning sleepily down at her.
She rolled over to lie down on him, propping herself up and leaning her elbows against his shoulders. "Morning," she replied, giving him a small peck on the lips.
As she was about to pull away, Steve rolled over so he was on top of her and kissed down her neck. She sighed again and ran her fingers through his golden hair that she loved so much.
"We should get up," she sighed, her eyes closing despite herself.
Steve muttered a 'no' against her neck. Natasha smirked softly, remembering their first night together. Steve wouldn't even dare to touch her without her permission, for fear of upsetting a lady. He was such an old romantic.
Their bedroom door flew open and Tony barged in. "Wake up, sleepyheads!" he yelled loudly, and Steve quickly rolled over, letting Natasha cover up.
"What the hell, Stark!" she shouted, eyes glowering deadly. "What happened to knock first before coming in?"
"You two know I never follow the rules," he pointed out, and Steve rolled his eyes. "Get up," Tony repeated, "Gwen just left and Pepper made pancakes. Ooh, alliteration," he grinned. "Pepper made pancakes. Pepper prepared pancakes." Tony laughed like a little child and darted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"For being a complete genius, he's such a kid sometimes," Steve muttered, getting up and heading towards their bathroom.
"Don't let him hear you say that," Natasha protested and followed him, brushing her teeth as he shaved. Once he was done, she trailed her fingers up his chest. "You know," she murmured, "we could still shower together to save water."
"Yes, ma'am," he grinned.
After their shower, Steve and Natasha emerged from their bedroom to have breakfast. Tony and Pepper were sitting in front of the TV, watching the news.
"Hi, Natasha, Steve," Pepper greeted, smiling. Natasha said a 'hi' back while Steve grinned at the blonde, waving.
"The pancakes are really good," Steve commented, plopping down on the couch beside Tony. Natasha curled into the armchair beside them, eating her pancakes.
"We were just talking about your daughter," Tony interrupted, grinning. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" she asked. "What for?"
Pepper rolled her eyes as Tony went on. "She seemed a bit too happy," he told the two parents, Natasha curious while Steve was frowning.
"What's wrong with that?" he asked blankly, and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Gwen has a boyfriend," he told them cheekily, and Natasha smirked while Steve choked on his pancakes.
"What?" he coughed.
"It's not as if this is the first one," Natasha said, rolling her eyes at Steve.
"Tony," Pepper sighed, and turned towards the two parents. "It's just a suspicion," she told them, and Steve relaxed.
"I know she's had – um – boyfriends before but her last one was a year ago!" he protested, and Natasha laughed.
"Who is it?" she asked curiously.
"Don't worry," Tony reassured Steve, "I think it's Peter Parker. He's a good kid – that kid that comes to the tower every week."
"He sounds dodgy," Steve muttered.
"You haven't even met him yet!" the black-haired man protested. He knew that Peter was an honest, reliable kid. If Gwen were his daughter, he would be happy to know that Peter was her boyfriend.
"Moving to more pressing matters," Pepper said loudly, pointing towards the TV. "Looks like Manhattan's got a new hero."
"He's been on the news for the past week now," Natasha commented, chewing on her pancakes. "People are calling him Spider-Man."
"That's because he is Spider-Man," Tony said, gesturing towards the TV.
"He rescued my son that night," a man was saying, being interviewed by the reporter. "Jack was in a burning car, and he risked his life to save my son. I'm in his debt."
"And what happened after that?" the reporter asked, referring to the bridge incident.
"I asked him who he was. He told me that he was Spider-Man," the man simply said.
The reporter turned back towards the TV. "It seems that the masked vigilante has finally embraced the rumours calling him Spider-Man. But the question is: who is Spider-Man? Is he here to help, or do we need to be worried? And why were the Avengers absent on this terrifying night? And lastly: what do the Avengers think about this new hero? This is Whitney Chang, and you're watching Manhattan News."
Tony turned the TV off. "Spider-Man," he said, tasting the name. "Is he trying to replace us or something?"
Steve shrugged. "He looks just like a kid to me. I mean, what's with the spandex suit? It's easily damaged."
"You wear a spandex suit," Pepper pointed out. Steve ignored that comment.
"It's not like we actually stop small crimes," Natasha supplied. "I think he's trying to help."
"He's like our little bitch," Tony grinned, "finishing the jobs that we're too important for."
Steve and Natasha burst out laughing while Pepper gave Tony an affronted look. "He's just a kid, Tony!" she scolded, swatting his arm.
"Mr Stark, Mr Barton has arrived," JARVIS informed them, and soon enough, Clint strode out of the elevator, clad in his Hawkeye suit.
"Hey, Clint," Natasha greeted. They had been involved before, but when Natasha made it clear that she was in love with Steve, he had backed off, despite his feelings for her. But that was over seventeen years ago, and Clint had long since moved on.
"Hey, Tash," he sighed, sounding exhausted. He plopped down beside Tony and shoved a whole pancake in his mouth.
"Tough night?" Pepper asked.
"Just flew in," Clint responded, finishing the pancake. "Fury's calling us in," he announced, and Steve and Tony groaned.
"But we just had a mission last night," Tony protested.
"I know, but this is kinda serious," Clint sighed, and then resumed a businesslike tone. "The Lizard is back."
The three Avengers immediately stood up from the couch, sobering. "Where is it?" Steve asked urgently, determined to stop the Lizard this time.
Clint turned to face Steve and Natasha grimly, compassion clear on his face. He sighed. "It's back, and Fury told me that it's in Midtown Science High School."
Oh shit, what have Schmidt and Connors planned? Tough luck, but you're going to have to wait for a few days for that. Trol. Lol. Lol.
