Chapter 25

Not Good At Swimming

There was a sharp rap at his bedroom door, then lots more. Tony groaned as the lights in the room slowly brightened, and he tried to ignore the rapping.

"Mister Stark it's time to wake up, come oooooon!" Peter's voice came from the other side of his door.

"Oh my good god, what?" Tony asked, as he opened the door. Peter was dressed and ready to go out; his Loki-shirt, shorts and sandals. Tony stared at the boy; god, even looking at him was exhausting.

"Why'd you come wake me up?"

"Because one; you have no place to stand saying that and two; we're going out, hurry up!" Peter said and bounded off to the elevator, and stood in it.

"Kid, I feel like shit; I know we fucked up waking you up and we'll make it up to you. Just let me sleep."

"Okaaaay." Peter said; his voice sing-song as the elevator doors slid shut. Tony rolled his eyes and threw himself back into bed, only to be shouted at my Bruce over the speakers.

"Tony get down here; don't ruin this for me!"

The shout of a clearly annoyed Bruce startled Tony out of bed, and into fresh clothes. He darted into the elevator and rode it down the main floo- the garage? Tony stepped out to see the team piling into two cars; Natasha driving one, the other one had no driver. A-ha.

"Ummm…. why are we all so awake and chipper at…eight in the morning?" Tony squeaked when he saw the clock.

"What was that about not having anywhere to stand? Hurry up!" Peter called from the passenger seat of the car with no driver; it was empty except for him. Clint, Natasha and Bruce were in the other car; Tony wondered where Steve and Bucky were, but noticed that both of their bikes were gone. Bewildered, Tony climbed into the driver's seat and started the car; Friday had sent directions to the car already, and then they set off. Peter loved it when they drove fast in Tony's cars, though he never said it; the wide eyes and bright smile on his face gave him away. Peter wound down the window, and looked ahead at the car that Natasha was driving.

"If you try and jump onto that car-" Peter glanced at Tony, who was grinning. "-I'm not coming back for you if you miss."

"No time, we're here." Natasha's voice came over the radio, and they parked both cars. Tony climbed out and looked ahead, the sign said it was a lake but it looked like a god damn ocean; greenery and stupidly blue water stretched in front of them.

"Woo!" Peter shouted as he raced forward, and let himself slide down a small bank of grass to the water's edge. He was careful not to touch the water, just close enough to enjoy the sight. Tony looked to his left and saw a wooden house, more of a mini log mansion than anything, and saw Steve and Bucky's bikes out front. He walked over and realised that everyone else had followed him as well. They threw their bags into the house, apparently someone had packed one for Tony, probably Peter. Steve and Bucky had set up a BBQ and some chairs at the front of the little log mansion and were busy getting the coals started. Everyone settled into a chair, and fell into happy chatter as they waited for the BBQ to get hot enough to cook; Tony was woken up from a half sleep by a dog barking, and a woman shouting.

"Lucky! Laura?!" Clint shouted, seeing his wife, kids and dog walking up the house. Lucky was running actually, with Peter chasing behind him.

"Clint!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around her husband.

"W…what are you doing here?"

"Well, I got a phone call at like five in the morning from…a sixteen year old intern of Stark Industries?" She said rather bewildered, looking at Peter who was busy playing with Lucky and the kids.

"Wait, the kid arranged this?" Tony asked, looking over at his intern. "I get Clint, Steve and Bucky but how did he rope Nat and Bruce into this? Actually, I'm a little stuck on Bucky as well."

"Apparently the kid still had bargaining chip." Clint said, and that was good enough for Tony. They all settled in; some of them had beers, Natasha and Laura shared a bottle of wine while Tony enjoyed cold coke, from a glass bottle no less.

"Daaaaaad!" Came the whine of one of Clint's kids, he looked over and saw his son, and daughter, obviously wanting something. "Can we go tree climbing?"

"Course, we all can!" Clint shouted and jumped out of his seat. The team shrugged; Clint and Natasha went with the kids, Laura decided to stay and rest in her seat, she had brought a book. The group ventured off and found a patch of tall trees nearby, and they quickly climbed up. Clint noticed that Peter was, well, going at a normal speed. He realised; his family didn't know who Peter was, aside from Tony's intern. The group spent an hour or so, climbing the trees. Clint looked up to see his son, far higher up a tree than Clint was okay with.

"Cooper, come down a bit!" He called out. "You'll give me a heart attack."

"Kay Dad!" His kid called back, and began to climb down; Clint heard it before he fell. The branch Cooper rested his foot against came away from the trunk with a loud crack, and he watched in horror son began to fall. He was too far away to help; he wouldn't get there before Cooper hit the ground. Peter had heard it as well, and threw himself off of his own tree that was nearby, and hurtled himself down towards Cooper. The webs would get caught in the branches and not reach Cooper from where he was, so Peter threw himself with as much speed as he could, and grabbed the boy's ankle; he pulled Cooper towards his chest and wrapped his body around the boy moments before they both smashed into the ground; leaves and sticks were thrown up into the air around them. The sound they made when hitting the bark and leaf covered ground was not good; Clint ran over, Lucky beside him and neither of them slowed until they found the two boys in the dirt. Clint forgot about Peter in his rush to lift up his son, and hold him close to his chest.

"Oh my god, Cooper, oh my god I'm so sorry…" Clint rambled in a whisper, holding his son tight; Cooper refused to cry, he wouldn't do it. The boy looked down at Peter, who had rolled onto his back, eyes closed in the dirt and leaves.

"He...is he dead?" Cooper whispered, feeling the tears at his eyes, he buried himself into his father's chest. There was a moment of genuine fear, not like battle fear, that shook the assassin. He stared down at Peter, and saw the boy who Tony had become so protective of.

"Tony's gonna kill me." Clint whispered.

"Not dead…" The voice was soft, and the moan that followed it was not a pleasant one; but Peter was alive. "I survived a building landing on me, this is nothing." Peter slowly rose to his feet and shook the dirt from his hair. Peter refused to let Clint help him walk, Peter knew that Clint desperately wanted to hold his son; they walked back to the house, Peter covered in dirt and scratches, Clint with his son in his arms, horror etched on the mans features. Laura saw them first, and alerted everyone else by shouting something no one understood, as she shot from her seat to her husband and child. She practically knocked Clint over as she wrapped her arms around the two of them, Peter kept walking. He avoided the eyes of everyone else as he wandered into the house, up the main stairs and shut himself in the bathroom on the upper floor.

He looked at his face in the mirror, then let his eyes fall to his side; he lifted his shirt to see the stick that had lodged into his side. There was a knock at the door as Peter was busy pulling the stick out, he hissed when his surprise ended with him yanking it out in a sudden movement. Peter kicked the wall in annoyance, then breathed.

"Kid? You alive?" It was Bucky.

"And kicking."

"I heard. I've been asked to get a number out of ten for how you're doing."

"By who?"

"Uhhhh everyone?"

Bucky heard Peter laugh from the other side of the door.

"Tell them seven, I just need a shower to get all the dirt off, and blood from sticks scratching me but, I'll be fine." Bucky heard the shower start, and headed back outside.

"What do you mean he jumped out of a tree?!" Bucky heard Laura shouting, and saw her staring at Tony and Clint with daggers. "And why did he mention a building falling on him to Cooper?!"

Bucky saw Tony go white, and Clint just stared at his wife; Bucky liked her, she was scary.

"No one has even explained to me what happened, don't shout at me!" Tony tried to defend himself, and saw Bucky walking over. "Oh my god, Bucky; save me. She's worse than Natasha."

"Bucky, darling; don't" Bucky held his hands up, and walked over to Natasha, Bruce and Steve who were watching, while trying not to watch.

"He said seven!" Bucky shouted, and Tony seemed to relax.

"Laura, i-it's nothing! I'll prove it!" Clint shouted, and motioned for Cooper to pick up a stick. "When Peter comes outside, throw the stick at his face." Cooper nodded.

"Shouldn't Steve throw it? More of a challenge." Tony said, and crept away when Laura looked at him again. Tony sat in his chair from earlier, and watched the front door open; the all saw Peter step off the deck, and saw the stick fly towards him. Clint stared at horror as the stick smacked into Peter's side. Peter gasped and clutched a hand to his side, and winced.

"Clint Barton!" Laura shouted.

"He did it on purpose!" Clint shouted as Laura ran over to hug peter; Peter hugged her back, smirking at Clint over her shoulder. Laura let go of Peter and walked back over to Clint, then hugged him. She was shaking, the tears had finally escaped; Clint held her, and whispered to her.

Peter was staring, trying to decide if he wanted to run back inside and avoid the scene; he definitely did. He turned and was walking back towards the house.

"Keep him outside." Tony whispered, and Steve and Bucky smiled; none of them had to act. Lucky came bounding from behind them, making a beeline for Peter. The boy turned, arms open wide and caught Lucky, who had jumped at him. Peter put the dog down and shrugged, before walking off to play fetch with Lucky who was very excited about this. A few minutes later, and the others had quietly found Peter; he was in a more open area, that was flat; Peter was holding a stick for Lucky, who was bouncing around waiting for Peter to throw it.

"Oh, this'll be good." Clint murmured, and they watched as peter pulled his arm back, and threw the stick; it soared across the large empty space, and Lucky bounded after it. Clint had brought his bow and arrow, and stood up behind the ground and took aim; he fired, when Peter was preparing to throw the stick again. The arrow soared over the group, and Peter spun, knocking the arrow out of the air with the stick he was holding; inches from his own face.

"How'd he do that?!" Cooper shouted, standing up.

"Cooper, you know how Captain America is like, super strong?" Tony asked, and the kid looked at him, nodding furiously.

"Yeah, he's like the strongest guy ever." Cooper said, and Steve rolled his eyes at the conversation.

"You wanna see a cool trick?" Tony asked, and grinned at Cooper's excited face. "Well Cap?"

"Tony, I don't think this is gonna help."

"It's not to help; it's to entertain! Now throw your shield at my intern before I make you bunk with Bucky." Steve rolled his eyes as he lifted his shield.

"Would they mind too much?!" Peter shouted, as he fired a web and grabbed the shield, pulling it from Steve's hands and catching it.

"Whaaaat!" Cooper was jumping, staring at Peter with huge eyes. "How can he do that?!"

The group watched as Peter turned away, and held the shield in his hands; he pulled back, and threw the shield. It curved upwards into the air, then struck a tree trunk; it splintered the wood, until it stopped halfway into the wood, and stayed.

"Woooow, that's really high up." Cooper said, and Steve grimaced. Peter walked up to them, and grinned at Cooper as he walked past. Cooper decided to follow Peter, shouting about how cool the teen boy was.

The afternoon was hot, and they all decided to go swimming; except for Peter, who was laying across a branch over the water. The breeze was cool, and the sounds of everyone in the water beneath him was enough to help him relax. What didn't help, was the sound of the branch he was on cracking. Peter scrambled as he fell, firing a web at the tree; it caught a piece of bark, which was ripped away by Peter's weight, and he fell.

Peter didn't enjoy swimming much, especially when he hadn't planned on it. The cold water enveloped his body, and he felt his body sinking. The water sucked all the air out of his lungs; it felt too much like the dust from when the building collapsed, and the pressure above him from the water didn't help much either. It came back in flashes; the explosion, the noise as the building gave way above him, and the pain as the building crushed his body, leaving him trapped. The others were heading back up to the house when they heard the cracking of the branch, and they turned to see Peter disappear under the water; they didn't see him coming back up.

"Shit." Clint hissed out; he was the first to move, with Steve and Bucky behind him.

"No water for you metal man; no triggers today!" Clint shouted, and threw himself into the water, swimming out to where they saw Peter disappear. He took a breath, and pushed his body down under the surface of the water. He was able to hear some movement in the water below, which quickly became less frantic as he swam towards it; he felt Peter's arm, and latched on. It was difficult pulling the teen as Clint's own air supply was diminishing; he was near the surface when he felt a hand grab his arm before pulling both of them to the surface. Clint sucked in a lungful of air, and saw Steve beside him; Steve pulled Peter from Clint's arms, and the two of them swam to the bank of the water. Peter was already coughing up water by the time they laid him down on his side. Tony had to walk away; the sounds of Peter choking on the water were too familiar.

"Clint, why the hell did you dive in?" Natasha was scolding him; Laura had taken the kids inside. Tony followed them; he would see if they had a TV here, maybe find something to keep his mind busy.

"I didn't really think about it! I just thought of him helping Coop…and...autopilot kicked in." Natasha seemed to understand, and waited with Clint and Bruce; Peter opened his eyes and looked around. He was inside now, on the floor in the lounge; hadn't he just been outside? Peter groaned, his side still ached from where he had been stabbed by the stick earlier, and now his forearm hurt. He moved his head just enough to see his forearm; a bruise had formed on the skin, and he had no idea what had caused it. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again it was dark outside, he was on the couch now, with a soft blanket draped over his body. He pulled the blanket closer and looked at with blurry eyes; it was soft, and red, and- Peter opened his eyes a little wider, and sat up on the couch.

"Umm, who got me a Spiderman blanket?" He called out. He heard movement in the kitchen; chairs scraped back on tiles, and there was a bang as a chair fell to the floor, then a lady shouted Clint's name, then Clint was in the room with Peter.

"You're alive!" Clint was simply ecstatic; it reminded Peter of when Thor had realised that Peter did actually wear the shirt he made for the boy.

"Building, collapse; stronger than that, remember?" Peter said, trying to smile; it was weak, and it needed more energy than he had. He groaned as he forced his body to sit upright on the couch. "Also, what the hell happened to my arm?"

"That…err, could have been me, though I doubt it; I'm guessing it was Steve."

"Huh. Idunno if Mister Stark will be happy that Captain America is bruising his favourite intern." Peter mumbled, looking at the bruise.

"Okay, why did Steve just choke on his dinner, who whispered something rude?" Tony was asking from the kitchen; Peter grinned, and looked at Clint. "Stop laughing and tell me!"

Peter rolled his eyes and managed to get to his feet; Clint stood nearby, waiting for Peter to fall, but the teen's legs held firm, if a little wobbly, and Peter walked over to Clint; he had picked up the Spiderman blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders as a cape. Clint raised an eyebrow but smirked, and the two walked into the kitchen. Steve got up as Peter walked in and waved at his seat as he carried his plate to the sink; Steve had been sitting next to Tony. Peter looked, and saw that there was also a seat empty next to Clint's son; Peter sat there.

"Ah Peter! You're okay!" Laura said, coming back into the kitchen after feeding Lucky. She smiled warmly at Peter, then shook her head when she saw the blanket cape. She stepped around Steve and sat back at the table; Steve set a plate of food in front of Peter, and was relieved when the boy smiled, even if it was a weak one.

"So, Steve; why you bruising me up?" Peter asked before beginning to eat.

"Err, little over-zealous pulling you out of the water I suppose. Definitely not on purpose." Steve was sheepish; he really had only been helping, he had noticed the bruise when they were moving him to the lounge.

"Oh well, that's probably the best reason for being bruised, I suppose." Peter said, and began to eat his meal.

"Definitely not, there's far better reasons." Bucky said, smirking.

"Oh really Bucky, do tell." Peter said, moving his eyes to Bucky; Bucky could tell that Peter was grinning even while he ate, his shines were shining.

"Not dining table talk kid, maybe later." Bucky said, ignoring the shocked looked from Steve and Tony. Peter would be the death of them yet.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading, following and favouriting this story! I've had chapters 25-29 written for awhile, they just needed editing and I have had negative time to do so!

Any ideas for future chapters, or characters you'd like to see, please feel free to leave as a comment! Ideas and reviews are super appreciated!