Tony Stark

"Ah, son of a bitch," I muttered as I scanned the headline, throwing the magazine cover up to the holographic screen behind me, swiveling in my chair to inspect it. "Here we go."

I'd known without a doubt that the Avengers and the NYPD cooperating to build a homeless shelter in the middle of Queens would attract some media attention, and I was right. The process had taken a full week (and was surprisingly satisfying, though I wouldn't admit it to anyone). By the third day, all the major channels, local and national, were camped on the edge of the premises, filming the movement and asking for comments from residents and builders.

Steve had fed them some lines about the importance of helping in the local community as well as around the world, and they'd eaten it up with the tact of hungry wolves. Peter's friend Benny had given a statement, too, expressing his gratitude and surprise that we would do this for them. That had been actually somewhat moving; even I'd admit that.

I'd heard from one of the other residents that Benny had advanced prostate cancer, and had immediately given him a card for a local clinic and worked it out with the receptionist to put all future treatment for him on his tab. Benny had been reluctant to accept, but I pulled the Peter card and got a promise to at least go for a visit.

Even Officer Travis had given a statement from the NYPD, explaining that they were honored to be included in the task, and to "serve and protect" stretched beyond their regular jobs in and around New York.

That wasn't what worried me. In fact, the positive press, though an unintended side effect, was pretty nice.

What worried me was the fact that some of the media vultures were actually quite intelligent, and had no trouble putting two and two together.

Avengers Mystery Kid?

Below it was a photo of the Avengers taking a break from building, water bottles in hand, a laughing Peter smack at the center of them. Bucky had his arm around the kid's shoulders, and Rhodey was sitting beside him, grinning. It wasn't a good photo, but unfortunately, some variation of it was on the cover of every newspaper, magazine, and tabloid in the city and surrounding areas. I had no doubt it would go national by tomorrow.

At least the editor had been smart enough to blur Peter's face a little. Maybe I wouldn't sue them. I'd see how I felt tomorrow.

I personally thought the headline was lacking, but the article gave plenty. They'd been able to gather, from Peter's interactions with us, and the fact that he left on the Quinjet with us, that he was ours. They just didn't know the relationship.

I'd known this would happen, as Peter requested we not make an official statement until people found out, but I hoped he wasn't reading the comments. Some of the rumors, especially from people who didn't exactly approve of us or our methods, were cruel and ridiculous, even for me.

"FRIDAY," I said after a moment of deliberation, throwing the headline back on the computer screen instead of the holograph. "Can you make sure Peter doesn't have access to the comments sections of these articles?"

"Sure thing, boss," she assured. "You may want to inform him, though."

I sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I just don't want to give the kid anything else to worry about."

"What would I worry about?"

I jumped, spinning in my chair and fastening my hand firmly over my chest. "I have told you to quit doing that! Do you want me to die? Seriously?"

Peter laughed, putting Stella down and letting her pounce around the office, pawing at Dummy. Stella, for some reason, was fascinated with Dummy. She loved riding around on his head when he rolled around the office.

"Sorry. But what would I worry about?"

"Nothing."

Peter raised an eyebrow, plopping down on a stool next to me. "What is it? Now I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me." I sent him a look, but he just shrugged, getting comfortable. "I can annoy you for hours. Let's do this."

I rolled my eyes, knowing quite well that he could and would deliver on that threat. "Fine. You're famous."

I threw the headline back on the holograph, carefully watching Peter's face as he read the title and skimmed the article. His eyebrows rose dramatically, and his face paled a little. "Oh."

I paused, shifting. "I can try to make it go away, if you want. I could spin something about a phony internship program, or something. We don't have to announce the adoption until you're ready."

Peter shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek as he looked at te screen. "No…it's okay. I guess now that it's official and people have seen us together, it's time, isn't it?"

I shrugged, still a little apprehensive about putting him in the spotlight like that. God knows what happened when Killian had gotten ahold of Pepper…I wasn't sure if my heart could take that again. "Are you sure? Do you want to talk to everyone else about it?"

He shook his head, looking a little more certain of himself. "No, it's okay. I'll tell them, just so they know, but…I guess it's time." He smiled, glancing at me. "It's not like it's something to be embarrassed about. I'm happy."

I snorted, ruffling his hair. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad."

He shifted. "You're not going to make a huge deal of it, though, are you? Like, you're not going to introduce me in front of a bajillion cameras, or anything?"

I barked a laugh, patting him on the shoulder and standing to retrieve the cat, who'd somehow wormed her way into one of my partially open toolboxes and was clanking around for all she was worth. "You're hilarious. There's no way I could hold a press conference on something like this, even I know that."

Peter looked confused, watching me as I wrestled the cat away from the screwdriver she'd claimed. "But who's gonna do it? I thought you were kind of the face for the Avengers?"

I smirked, putting Stella on his head, where she slid precariously until Peter finally grabbed her. "Poor boy. Don't know a thing. No. For something like this, you need to call in the big guns."

"Who's that?" He asked, looking a little apprehensive.

"You'll see."

…

Pepper Potts

"Man, it's good to be home," I mumbled to myself, descending the steps of the jet and pushing the hair from my eyes. The last few months had been absolutely exhausting. I'd been hopping from Tokyo to Cairo to London to Beijing to St. Petersburg and back again, hosting an international tour of SI seminars on some of our newest medical technology.

The hours were long and trying, and my crash courses on foreign languages were tested astoundingly, but it was fulfilling work. Tony had come to see me a few times, too, so it wasn't like I hadn't seen him in six months.

I finally reached the tarmac, folding up my sunglasses and putting them in my purse. Tony was waiting for me.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," I greeted with a teasing smile, excited to see him after so long.

"And good morning to you, Ms. Potts," he replied, wrapping his arms around me as soon as I was in reach. I took a deep breath, warm memories flooding my mind as I breathed in his unique scent—always a mixture of some stupidly expensive cologne and the permanent residue of oil and grease that he could never quite cover.

"I missed you," I admitted, kissing him quickly as he put an arm around my shoulders, taking my purse. "If you'd sign the things I give you and do the things I ask you to do, you know, I could be home more often."

"Well that's why I made you CEO," he argued, holding the door open for me. "Because you're infinitely more responsible than me."

I laughed, unable to stay mad at him. "So, give me the basics. How much damage control have we done?"

Tony had called me yesterday and asked me to leave the rest of the tour (which was only two more stops) to some of the higher-level Board members and executives who had accompanied me. He'd been keeping me updated on Peter's situation since they took him in, and some of what he'd told me made my heart ache for the poor boy. I had no trouble abandoning the rest of the tour to come help him and the others with the press release for his adoption.

Tony shrugged, calling up some holographs of the nastier articles on his phone. "Well, we might be suing TMZ and Lifestyle Magazine for revealing Peter's face, since he's a minor, and I've already deleted the comments that I deemed stupid and childish. Most of the articles are speculative and respectful, but the tabloids are having a field day. I told our agents to wait for you."

"Of course you did," I said with a sigh, examining the situation. This was going to be a tricky one, but at least I didn't have to spin any ridiculous lies. "We're just telling a watered-down version of the truth, right?"

"Right. No mention of any powers or his parents or HYDRA. Just the fact that he was being attacked, we saved him and took him into protective custody because of classified circumstances, he grew on us, we adopted him. With a little more eloquence."

I laughed. "Right. I'll get right on that. And after that…"

I grabbed his tie and pulled him in for another kiss, smiling at him. "I'm going to show you just how much I missed you."

A slow smile spread over Tony's face, and he kissed me again, letting go reluctantly as I sat down in the living room, getting to work. "Yes, ma'am."

…

Peter Parker

I knocked on the door of Bruce's lab, leaning against the doorframe. He was behind a wall of glass to prevent any spilled chemicals or anything from escaping through fumes, but he could still hear me. "Bruce?"

"Hm?" He said, looking up and squinting through his goggles, wheeling his stool back from the microscope when he saw it was me. "Hey, Peter. What's up?"

"Do you have a second?" I asked, watching him carefully remove a tray of slides from under the microscope.

"Sure, just let me sanitize everything," he said absently, beginning the process.

Bruce did some research for a couple universities and for the CDC on occasion, and he'd been asked to collaborate with from CDC scientists to look at a new strain of flu that had popped up in Brazil. He entered the little sanitation stall and stripped out of his suit, leaving him in his regular clothes, then let the disinfectant spray do its work.

"Everything okay?" He asked, washing his hands in the sink at the front of his lab when he was finished.

"Yeah, I just had a question about my powers, and Tony's busy," I said, fidgeting a little. I hoped my weird sense thing wasn't anything bad. "It happened during my test a week ago. With the homeless shelter and the adoption and everything, I kind of forgot about it until now."

Bruce nodded outside the door and into the hallway, and I moved to let him pass. We made our way towards the living room and kitchen; it was nearing dinnertime, but a couple of the others were on assignment, so we were fending for ourselves for dinner. "Okay. What is it?"

"Well," I started, rubbing the base of my neck as a phantom feeling buzzed there, "it's kind of like the base of my neck starts tingling or buzzing when I'm about to get hit by something."

Bruce paused, glancing at me. "You mean like a sixth sense of some kind?"

"Maybe? It kind of happened out of the blue the other day. I hit one of the wires because I didn't see it coming, and after that whenever something was about to hit me, or vice versa, my neck would buzz. Kind of like an alarm system, or something."

Bruce hummed pensively, continuing on. "That's very interesting. There's a lot research that suggests that spiders have an augmented sixth sense that pertains to the world around them. For example, they can sense the difference between a blade of grass and an insect becoming caught in their web. That might work differently with you, and allow you to sense your surroundings at a more specific level."

Damn. That was…halfway awesome. "Seriously? I can like…sense things around me without trying?"

Bruce smiled, laughing a little. "Well, from what you've told me, it pertains more to danger and threats, but I suppose. We'll do some tests later to figure out the parameters and everything."

"Sounds good," I conceded, beelining to the fridge. "Are there any leftovers from pizza night?"

"I don't think so," Bruce called, making his way to the living room. I was eyeballing Sam's leftover spaghetti when I heard a pause, then Bruce said, "Pepper! Wow, it's great to see you!"

My head perked up, and I carefully extracted myself from the fridge, slinking towards the doorway. A woman's voice replied, "Bruce, I haven't seen you in so long! You look great. How are you?"

From there it was more small talk, but she sounded nice. Kind of like Laura. I looked slowly around the doorframe, catching sight of a tall woman in an impressive pantsuit and pumps, with long strawberry-blond hair and a kind, freckled face. She had a pretty smile.

I was doing a lot better being out in public and interacting with others, but meeting strangers was still kind of intimidating to me, which was more than a little embarrassing. Nevertheless, I swallowed once, walking a little into her line of sight and coming up beside Bruce.

She saw me first, breaking into a motherly smile. "Hi, sweetie; you must be Peter. I've heard a lot about you."

Well, I'd finally met her, and so far, she lived up to the hype.

"Hi," I said, giving her an awkward smile. Out of habit, I tugged at my left sleeve, fisting the edge in my hand to make doubly sure my scar was completely covered. "You're Ms. Potts? I've heard a lot about you too."

Luckily, she didn't seem to notice any discomfort, or if she did, she was good at hiding it. "You can call me Pepper. It's nice to finally meet you. Actually, you're right on time; I was just drafting a statement for the press release tomorrow."

Bruce glanced at me at the same time my eyes went wide. "To…tomorrow? You're announcing it so soon?" It seemed to be happening a lot faster than I'd thought. I'd only talked with Tony about it yesterday.

She nodded, giving me a concerned glance as she picked up her StarkPad. "That's what I was planning, but we can hold off, if you're uncomfortable. It's just better to get a jump on these things; the longer we wait, the more we risk someone running with a rumor and convincing half the nation it's true, and by then we'll be doing damage control instead of releasing an announcement."

I nodded absently, shifting on my feet. "No, that…that makes sense. Sorry, it's just…happening kind of fast. I didn't think the whole world would find out so quickly, you know?"

Pepper smiled again. I liked it when she smiled. It reminded me of May. "Of course, honey. I completely understand. If it makes you feel any better, the only things about you I'll be releasing are your name and age. I won't say they won't find out more about you—the media can be very thorough information gatherers—but you should have a bit more time to settle down before the story really blows up."

That made me feel better. Bruce put a hand on my shoulder, and I relaxed slightly. "Okay. Um, thanks a lot for doing all this, and coming all the way here. I know you're really busy."

Pepper snorted, laughing under her breath. "Trust me, sweetie. You have nothing to worry about. I blame Tony Stark for keeping me away from home six months out of the year."

"You're killing me, Pep," Tony said suddenly, appearing in the living room doorway. "Most years it's four, max."

"Hm," she said with a raised eyebrow, a small smile decorating her face. "And that makes it so much better."

He kissed her cheek, looking over her shoulder at the draft. "Peter, do you want to be at the press release? You don't have to be, but I'm giving you the option in case."

"Definitely not," I said immediately, the thought nearly sending me into a panic. That was definitely not a decision I had to think about. "I don't want to be anywhere near there."

Bruce chuckled, sitting down on one of the armchairs and flicking on the TV. "Point taken."

Tony nodded. "I figured. No worries, you don't have to be. You can chill here. I guess you'll be too tired out to go, anyways," he said with a smile, winking. "When do you leave?"

His words immediately sent adrenaline rushing through me, and I couldn't help but grin. "As soon as Bucky gets back. Steve said the mission went well and they should be home in a couple hours, so then we'll drive into the city and set up and everything."

Tonight, I was finally going on my first patrol. I'd spent a while with Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Nat, working on a map of where I'd go tonight, and what streets I could patrol and everything. Nat was going to be meandering on the ground in a disguise in case I needed backup, and Sam would be watching from the roofs, doing the same thing. Steve and Bucky would be running comms from a spot in the middle of the area in one of the Avengers' disguised vans, ready in case I needed backup.

I'd told them that I really thought four Avengers as immediate backup was kind of overkill, but I was also happy that they all wanted to come help out, too. In fact, all nine of them had wanted to come at some point (even Bruce, who really hated leaving the Compound), but we'd whittled it down to just the four of them.

I glanced at Pepper; I knew Tony had given her the basics, but I didn't know her very well yet, and I didn't want to say anything too personal about Spiderman until I'd gotten to know her some. Keeping it vague, I said, "I'm really excited. We're going to go to Queens, near Astoria, I think."

Bruce smiled at my excitement, and Tony snorted, holding Pepper's hand and sitting her down as she typed quickly with her free fingers, looking focused. "You'll be great, Pete. We can all fly in if you need us for anything."

I laughed. "Yep. I'm gonna yell 'Avengers, Assemble' for a thirty-something year old mugger stealing an old lady's purse. Pepper would have a great time cleaning that up with the press."

Pepper laughed, glancing at me. "That would be interesting, for sure."

Bruce nudged me with his foot, looking pointedly at the kitchen. "You know, you're not going anywhere unless you eat first. Remember your metabolism, kiddo."

I blushed, smiling a little as my stomach verbally agreed, and went to the kitchen.

"You think Sam will sabotage my night if I eat his spaghetti?" I yelled, already dumping it on a plate to reheat.

"He'll do more than that," Tony yelled. "He's still made at you for webbing him to the wall during your test."

I snorted. Well, he'd get over it.

…

"You ate my spaghetti," Sam said, eyes dark as he crossed his arms over his chest from the back of the van, which was parked in a darkened alley on the edge of the zone we'd approved for my patrol tonight. "If you fall from your webs, I'm not saving you. I was looking forward to that all day."

I grinned sheepishly, shrugging. "Sorry? I'll make you some more."

"Peter, you couldn't boil water without supervision. The only thing you can make by yourself is hot chocolate."

Bucky snorted, and I blushed, getting defensive. "Okay, but my hot chocolate rocks. A lot of people say that instead of working on your weaknesses, you should focus on making your strengths better. And you know what? I've done that with hot chocolate. So you can keep your cooking skills. I'll subsist off hot chocolate for the rest of my life if I need to."

"You absolutely won't," Steve said decidedly, raising an eyebrow. "I'll show you how to make spaghetti sauce this weekend. Sam, you get first dibs."

"You're the favorite, Steve," Sam said, opening the back of the van and hopping out, letting his wings spread. He pointed at me. "And you're not getting a single bite."

I laughed. "I'm making it. I'll just take some before I tell you it's ready."

"I'd be careful," Nat said from the driver's seat, wrapping a tattered coat around her shoulders and mussing her hair. "Steve's a neurotic cook."

"Hey," Steve defended as I laughed. "I'm disciplined. There's a difference."

I knew the banter was engineered to calm my nerves, but that didn't make me any less grateful for it. I could feel adrenaline buzzing through me, accompanied by a wave of nervousness and self-consciousness every few minutes.

What if something went wrong? What if I did something wrong? What if I hurt someone on accident? What if I didn't get there in time?

These thoughts had been racing through my head on repeat for the past few days, but I knew I'd have to push past them if I wanted this to work. And I did. I really, really wanted this to work.

"I think I'm ready," I said quietly.

The banter was broken, and the spell of levity and humor followed. I clutched my mask tightly, looking up. "I'm ready," I said again, stronger this time.

Steve broke the silence first, smiling and ruffling my hair. "Of course you are. We'll be with you the whole time."

I smiled back, feeling a little better. "thanks."

"I'm gonna hit the roofs," Sam said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll let you know if I see anything. You got this, squirt!" With that, his wings unfurled and he shot into the sky, disappearing in the shadows between the buildings.

"Guess that's my cue," Natasha said, throwing me one last encouraging smile. "I've said it a lot lately, but you've earned it: I'm proud of you, Pyotr."

"Thanks, Tasha," I said quietly, smiling as she slipped from the van, Steve following behind. Then it was just me and Bucky.

He came to sit in the back beside me, nudging my shoulder as I clutched my mask. "Penny for your thoughts?"

I smiled slightly, taking a deep breath. "I think I'm just nervous. I keep thinking about what will happen if something goes wrong, you know?"

Bucky nodded, looking out the window into the alley. His eyes suddenly seemed really far away.

"When I first got back to New York after Wakanda helped unscramble my brain," he said quietly, his words uncertain, "I felt like I'd stepped into someone else's body."

I looked up, sitting up straighter. He'd given me the facts about his brainwashing and subsequent treatment in Wakanda, but he'd never gotten very deep into it, and I hadn't pushed. "What do you mean?"

Bucky shifted, shrugging a little bit before continuing. "I was…well, you know. Decades had passed, and the Winter Soldier experienced the passing of time, not…Bucky. Not me, you know? I was thrown into a whole new world, and then the whole thing with Steve and Tony happened, and I went back into cryo until they finally got the words out of my head…and then I had to relearn how to navigate the world again, as an Avenger, with the weight of everything I'd done.

"I…hurt a lot of people, Peter, you know that. And I've come to accept that it wasn't me, and there was nothing I could've done, but…it's still hard to walk around with that weight every day, sometimes. And when I was just starting out as an Avenger, it felt like every single one of my flaws and failures was highlighted every time I messed up. Even if one little thing went wrong, if I made the tiniest mistake, it felt like I had a neon sign above my head flashing to the world to let them know. Especially after Sokovia and Siberia."

He took a deep breath, looking away again, and I listened with rapt attention, my mind processing the information as quickly as I could. "What I'm saying is…in the beginning, it's going to feel like every mistake is the end of the world. Every mishap and slip is going to feel like a failure that you're never going to get rid of. I'm telling you that you've got us behind you, just like the team was there for me when I was getting back on my feet after everything. It helps having people at your back, and we're never going to leave you hanging. Okay?"

He finally looked back at me, trying to keep his eyes clear, but I could see the pain the memories had dredged up. "Okay," I said quietly, leaning over to hug him.

"Proud of you," he said, giving my back a squeeze.

"Proud of you, too," I said quickly, hoping he knew how much I meant it. "Seriously."

He chuckled under his breath, letting go and tousling my hair. "Get out there, Spiderman. Go save some old ladies."

I laughed, feeling a lot better, and slipped me mask on. "Will do. Hey, Karen."

"Hello, Peter. Congratulations on being allowed to patrol."

"Thanks," I said, slipping from the van and waving at Bucky and Steve once more before shooting a web at a nearby building, jerking myself up a little before swinging around to a warehouse, crouching on top of it and scanning the area. "Can you let me know if you find any disturbances in a five-block radius?"

"Certainly," she assured.

"Quiet on my end," Sam said into the comm. "I thought I heard a fight, but I think Stella cousin-in-law twice removed was trying to eat a frog."

I snorted as Tasha came in and said, "Quiet here, too. I'd bet stuff will really start happening in an hour or so, when most people have gone to bed."

It was eleven now, so…midnight, I supposed. That sounded reasonable for a spike-in-crime time. "I can wait."

Well, I guess it had been too much to assume I'd slip out of the van and immediately stop a bank robbery, or something. I'd just have to wait.

…

"I'm so bored," I yawned into the comm, sitting cross-legged on the roof, still scanning for any suspicious activity. It was 12:43 am, and the only eventful scenario had been Sam sneezing into the comm and jolting Steve, who had nodded off, violently back to the world of the living.

"Did you purposefully pick the most low-traffic area in Queens that you could?" I asked, resting my chin on my hand.

"Yes," Steve and Sam said together. Steve continued, "We wanted to ease you into it."

"No more easing," I said, peering into the darkness at the streets below, watching a newspaper tumbleweed weave along the street. "I'm eased enough. You said we had to stop at one no matter what and I want to do something."

"Sorry, kiddo," Tasha said, sounding anything but. "We can come back tomorrow and try again if nothing happens."

I tapped my knee impatiently. I didn't want to come back tomorrow and try again just because nothing happened tonight. I wanted to leave my first night on the job feeling like I accomplished something. Like this ludicrous idea I'd thought up in the middle of my depression had amounted to something.

I'd been so much better. I still had bad days, but they'd rapidly decreased in frequency once I had something positive to focus on, and I was going to be so upset if my first night out ended up a failure.

"Hey," Bucky said over the comm. I swore he was psychic sometimes, because he had an uncanny ability to know when my thoughts were spiraling. "If nothing happens tonight, we'll move on to a more populated area tomorrow. No big deal."

I sighed, yawning again. "Okay," I conceded. I supposed that would be okay, but I'd still feel like a failure tonight.

I was honestly about to throw in the towel and call it a night when I heard a shout, quickly and roughly cut off.

My head whipped in the direction of the scream, and I was on my feet before I knew it. "Did you hear that?" I asked, already swinging that way, ears straining for any further sign of their location.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to you," Sam said. "Next building on your right."

But I'd already figured that out, my neck buzzing softly as I swung towards a building and landed a few floors above the ground level, sticking to the side in the shadows. I looked down and saw a young man in his twenties in a corner, his hands up by his head, shaking violently. In front of him was another, older man, with greying hair and hard eyes, holding a handgun.

"You've gotta have more than nineteen dollars on ya," the man said, waving the gun in frustration. "Unless you want your brain splattered on the wall behind you, you better cough up some more green, you bastard!"

I inched slowly down the side of the building, Sam keeping a close eye on the situation from his perch. He was going to let me try to diffuse the situation on my own, but as soon as he saw something he didn't like, he'd come back me up. I was grateful knowing he was there.

I dropped silently to the ground in a crouch when I reached the floor, easing up behind the gunman, out of view of both of them. "I-I-I swear," the younger man stammered, his voice wavering in terror. "I d-don't have anything else…I…I just spent it o-on groceries…" It was then that I noticed some ripped bags that had fallen from his arms, the food contents strewn all over the dirty alley.

The gunman glanced at the bags too, cursing under his breath as he threw the handful of crinkled ones in a fit of anger, watching them crumple to the ground. "Dammit. This was a waste."

Something in his tone reminded me of the times I was stared down with a gun—both on the street and by HYDRA whack-jobs, on multiple occasions—and I instinctually knew that if I didn't do something right then, he was going to pull the trigger.

I knew it wasn't the time to be thinking about it, but I also knew that first impressions mattered. I'd been toying with Spiderman and his personality, wondering who I wanted him to be. I was pretty shy around new people especially, and kids my age. With my family, I was open and I could be funny and sarcastic, but that was because I was so comfortable with them.

Otherwise, I was way too shy to be myself, and…I kind of wanted the Avengers' peter to be Spiderman. He was a lot more confident than any other version of myself, and I wanted the mask to be someone who put people at ease.

"Hey!" I shouted, watching as the gunman whipped around in surprise, panic coloring his features. Before he could even raise the gun again, I'd webbed it right out of his hand and securely into the wall twelve feet above the ground, leaving time only for the man to blink. "Careful where you're pointing that thing! You could hurt someone with that."

The man looked me up and down, his eyes wide as saucers. "Who…the hell…"

"Oh, my bad," I said, jumping on top of a dumpster in a crouch, resting my chin on my hand, my elbows on my knees. "I'm Spiderman. Hey. I'm new. I'm here to stop bad guys who've obviously never taken a gun safety class."

The victim, still cowering in the corner, was now watching with piqued interest, not shaking so much anymore.

"You…" the bad guy started again, licking his lips before continuing, "so you…think you can just come in here…and scare me off Is that it?"

I cocked my head, feeling myself gain confidence as he went on. I'd obviously rattled him, and his weapon was out of reach. "Yeah. Is it working? Should I turn it up a little?"

The man's eyes narrowed in anger as he finally seemed to grasp the situation, and he stalked towards me, hands balled into fists. "I'm gonna kick your ass so hard you'll land in Brooklyn," he growled, reaching for me. I assumed he was going to drag me off the dumpster.

Heh. Poor guy.

I vaulted over him in a somersault, sticking the landing behind him and dead-legging him before he could turn around. "Whoa, totally my bad, man. Sorry about that."

The guy righted himself, whipping around in absolute fury and throwing a punch at my head. I almost laughed. This guy had nothing on Tasha.

I caught his wrist and, minding my strength, webbed it to the wall, where he was jerked back to stick there. Watching him flail against the webbing and yell obscenities was a little funnier than it should have been, and I laughed a little under my breath.

"Poor bastard," Sam muttered through the comm. "I don't care if he is a mugger, that stuff sucks."

Chuckling again, I turned to the victim, blinking in surprise when I came face-to-face with a phone.

"Holy shit, man, that was so awesome!" The guy said, looking remarkably recovered as he shoved his phone in my face. I guessed he'd been recording the fight. Which was…disconcerting, considering his life had just been threatened and he really should have run away.

I tried for a laugh, rubbing my neck a little in embarrassment. "Uh, th…thanks. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now," he said, still recording. He turned to the villain still struggling with the webbing and zoomed in, laughing. "Holy crap. You just got your ass handed to you! That's karma, bitch!"

I snorted, despite myself, adjusting my webshooter to shoot a smaller version of the web-net, beginning to load the guy's groceries into it. "Hey, you should call the police. The webbing will dissolve in an hour."

"Oh crap, dude, thanks," the guy said, his face lighting in realization like he hadn't considered before that he should call the cops. He finally stopped recording, and I felt infinitely more comfortable. "Hey, but seriously, man…thanks a lot. It wasn't a lot, but every dollar counts for me right now."

I looked up when I heard the sincerity in his voice, watching him pick up the discarded ones and fold them carefully before putting them in his pocket, coming to help me with his food.

"You're welcome," I said honestly, a little sad that I couldn't give him a smile, so I settled for a nod. I guessed a nod was more hero-like anyways. "Can I do anything for you? Are you okay to call the police by yourself?"

"Yeah, for sure," he said with a smile. "Thanks! Are you new, or something? I've heard about the Daredevil, but he was only in Hell's Kitchen, I thought."

I'd heard about him. "Yeah, kind of! But…not as intense, you know?" I clarified with a little laugh. "I don't think I could do half the stuff he does. I'm just more like…a friendly neighborhood spiderman, you know? Just here to look out for the little guy."

The guy grinned, holding out his hand. "Well…this little guy thanks you. That was the last part of my rent I need to pay tomorrow. I guess…see you around?"

I shook his hand, and something inside me…I don't know. Something changed. I felt…

I felt like the balance was shifting. Like the lives lost around me were finally shifting to a better direction.

"You bet," I assured. I shot a web at a nearby building, sticking to it and looking down as he stared up with huge eyes, jaw dropped. "Be careful walking home, and call the cops, okay? And you! Mr. Mugger!" The mugger, who'd watched the interaction with detached contempt, looked at me with blazing eyes. "If you're low on cash, there's a soup kitchen a few blocks away, on the edge of Queens. They'll help you out if you need it, til you can find a job."

That…obviously wasn't what he'd been expecting. He didn't acknowledge me, but the fire in his eyes died down a little, and he looked away, scoffing. But his posture relaxed.

That was enough for me.

I swung to the top of the building where Sam was waiting. "How'd I do?"

For a second, he just looked at me, then he shook his head and smiled. "Awesome, kid. It was awesome."

I laughed, high-fiving him. "Thanks. It was…it was really cool." It was. To know that the guy was going home safe with all his money, and I'd given a bad guy another option, if he chose to take it.

"Nice work, Spiderman," Bucky said quietly over the line, and I could practically see a small, proud smile on his face.

I blushed in the warm night, shrugging almost to myself as I turned and started swinging back towards the van to go home, Sam flying above me. "Thanks."

As I swung, I grinned, and eventually laughed.

I was right. This was exactly what I needed.

Entertainment Tonight

"Yeah so just keep it tuned here for more updates on the Kardashian feud," Nancy O'Dell said with a dazzling smile, turning back to the camera. "Kevin, we have a special segment next, don't we?"

"We do indeed, Nancy," Kevin Frazier said, eyes widening in manufactured excitement as he turned to look at the screen behind him, where a candid shot of Pepper Potts at a podium rested. "Earlier today, Pepper Potts, CEO of Start Industries and the press liaison for the Avengers, released a statement that the Avengers actually adopted a kid!"

"Seriously?" Nancy asked, turning to the camera with a look of awe. "I never thought that could happen. What are the legalities of that?"

Kevin laughed. "That's for their lawyers to figure out, Nan, we're just the gossip train."

Nancy grinned, pointing at the picture behind her. "Well, we have the recorded press release, so let's take a look at that and then see what's what."

The image behind them transitioned to fill the screen, characteristic chaos of flashing lights and noisy reporters taking the stage until Pepper Potts began speaking, commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

"Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Pepper Potts. Many of you know me as the CEO of Stark Industries, but right now I am acting as the press liaison for the Avengers, and have a statement to release to the public. Over the last few days, several pictures of the Avengers accompanied by a teenage boy have been circulating the media and tabloid industry, and I know many of you have questions about the nature of the relationship, so I'm here to answer those questions.

"The boy in question is fifteen-year-old Peter Parker, a native of Queens. He has consented to having his identity revealed, but elected not to release the statement himself. He was found by the Avengers approximately six months ago and taken into protective custody by them and the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, or SHIELD, until the threat to his well-being had been neutralized.

"During his time with the Avengers, it was discovered that he did not have any living family to take him in after protective custody was no longer needed, and the Avengers decided to formally adopt Peter. Sergeant James Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, officially holds guardianship of Peter Parker, who lives with all of them in Avengers Compound, the location of which remains classified.

Pepper Potts had maintained a calm, professional countenance thus far, which was quickly replaced with slightly darkened eyes and a firmer tone. "This being said, Peter is still a minor, and his time and privacy is to be maintained. You are not to follow him around or hound him to interviews or questions. This is considered stalking and will be treated as such. Should you see him on the street, you are welcome to ask him questions, but if he decides not to comment, you are to leave it as that and move on. You are not to bother or aggravate him unnecessarily under any circumstances."

Pepper smiled again, leaving the room tense from her uncompromising statement. "Now, I'll take some questions." She scanned the room of suddenly flying hands, pointing to a woman in a blue blouse.

"Ms. Potts, how was the decision of which Avenger would hold guardianship of the child made? I thought that the Winter Soldier had a former HYDRA affiliation and was a danger to society for several decades."

"Sergeant Barnes has proven himself time and again a hero to this country and the world, and the decades of his HYDRA affiliation were brought about by torture, brainwashing, and memory alteration. After being rescued, he has since been cleared by several renowned psychologists, and is perfectly fit to hold guardianship of Peter. Next?" She chose a man with thinning hair and a small mustache.

"Ms. Potts, what was the nature of the situation in which Peter was taken into protective custody? I find it highly unlikely that the Avengers themselves would be tasked with looking after a child for an extended period of time with no outside supervision."

"A joint decision was made by SHIELD and the Avengers themselves, who offered to take Peter in. Though the nature of the situation is and will remain confidential, both to respect Peter's privacy and to protect the national and international confidentiality of the situation, the threat was deemed grave enough to require around-the-clock protection at a secure base, and the Avengers Compound provided both. It was decided that a SHIELD jet or base would be too easily accessed by their enemies, since the Avengers Compound has much less foot traffic, and conducts more thorough checks on any visitors. I'll take one more question."

She chose a small woman in a sweater with a notepad, who looked calculating and pensive as she asked, "A few weeks ago, former General Thaddeus Ross was arrested by the Avengers and tried by the United Nations and by a federal court for several counts of terrorism, murder, and the kidnapping of a fifteen-year-old boy who was never named. The Avengers were heavily involved in his conviction and sentencing, which is unusual, as they've captured war criminals before and left the legalities completely up to the government. Due to the personal nature of their involvement, I have to ask—is Peter Parker the boy who was kidnapped, and if so, did HYDRA and the former General have something to do with his need of protective custody?"

The room fell silent at the question, and curious glances were split between the woman and Pepper Potts, who remained confident and professional. "That is all confidential information that I'm not at liberty to share at this time. Thank you all for your questions."

Pepper gave a final professional smile and stepped down from the podium, escorted off the stage and through the clamoring reporters by several imposing bodyguards.

The image panned back out to Nancy and Kevin, who were looking at each other with interest. On the screen behind them appeared a collage of pictures from the magazines that had published stories, all depicting candid photos of Peter Parker with the Avengers. "Well, that was informative," Kevin said, turning back to the camera.

"Yeah, and that last question? I never would have put that together," Nancy admitted. "We talked about the sentencing of Thaddeus Ross a few weeks ago, but I never thought they'd be connected. Ms. Potts sure didn't seem to expect that."

"Right?" Kevin agreed, holding a coffee mug in his hand, sipping quickly. "And she didn't even deny any of it! I'll bet money everything that reporter said was true. Poor kid, getting taken like that, though."

"Well, I bet we'll have a lot of interesting stories in the future," Nancy said, rerouting the track to the positive for the audience. "I wonder if they'll go to his school functions. Wait, is he in school? Man, those are going to be some lucky classmates. Can you imagine parent-teacher conference day?"

Kevin laughed. "I'd kill to be in that kid's class. I can't wait to see where this goes."

According to the subsequent explosion on social media, the whole of America agreed.

A/N: Helloooooo! OMG OMG OMG ONE CHAPTER LEFT OMG I CAN'T I CANNOT WITH THIS.

The last chapter is actually already written, but I'm going to give it a day or two so a) you guys can let this one sink in and ANTICIPATE, and b) to give myself more time to mentally prepare.

So, the new character was Pepper! Who, of course, saved the day again! Nosy reporters. Gotta love 'em. P.S. I have literally never in my entire life seen Entertainment Tonight and I wasn't about to do half an hour of research watching a show on celebs I don't care about for a fanfiction, so…sorry if it's just…totally inaccurate, or something.

So. A little foreshadowing for the next and final chapter: we will have one more new character, and it's one that several of you have mentioned, though not the one I think you'll expect. Tee-hee. I'm so excited. You guys are gonna lose your minds.

Anyways! As always, everyone who has been following and favoriting, you're LITERALLY the best, and I adore you.

And to my reviewers: you beautiful angels. You're the pinnacle of my experience with fanfiction. I can't even TELL you how much I love you: DarylDixon'sLover, Melancholy's Sunshine, Puppens101, Guest, FranzyPearlfan, alltheSinnersandalltheSaints, BecomingFearless1F, BabyPinkPuppy, UnWrittenSunflower, country-chick-20, Aron R Vig, Megan844, PhantomGoat13, and The Silvernote!

Guest (I am so excited for the next chapters…): Hey! I'm so glad you're excited, and I can't thank you enough for following this even without an account! :)

So. Prepare yourselves. Next chapter will be the epic conclusion that I hope does this huge thing justice. :D Thanks for sticking around, and I hope to see you next chapter!