Author's Note: Thanks once again for all the incredible support for this story! You are all amazing!

Reminder, this is no longer Avengers: Endgame compliant, just to explain some of the characters appearing in this chapter.

Festively Repelled

The months had flown by and Peter couldn't believe it was almost winter break already. The repetition of classes that he had taken what felt like last year to him, though was actually five years ago, had been tedious, although he was grateful to have both his internship and his patrols to make things more interesting.

He stood next to Tony in the elevator of the recently re-constructed compound, bouncing his heels up and down as it ascended, his hands intertwined and fidgeting.

"Kid, you need to calm down. You're going to show me up," Tony complained, eyeing the kid nervously.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so excited! I'm going to meet the Avengers!" Peter exclaimed, a grin stretching across his face.

Tony shook his head and sighed. "You've already met them. Remember, we were pretty near here? There was a big battle, and some crazy guy who wanted to destroy the universe? Ring any bells?"

Peter snorted before he answered sarcastically, "No, you must be thinking of someone else." When Tony rolled his eyes, Peter pressed on, "I didn't actually meet anyone, not properly."

Tony clapped his hand on the kid's shoulder and smiled down at him. "Alright, Spider-Man," he murmured. "Welcome to the madness."

The elevator doors opened and Tony guided Peter out into the common room, expecting the kid to be awestruck at seeing all his heroes in the winter wonderland that had been created for their mid-December Christmas party. However he felt the kid tense under his hand and when he glanced down at him, Peter was frowning slightly.

"Kid?" he prompted. "You okay?"

His voice snapped Peter back into the moment and he looked at his mentor with a smile, trying to shrug off the disquiet of his Spidey sense going off the second he had stepped into the room. "It's great, Tony! You did all this?"

Relieved, Tony smiled. "Pepper organized it, with some input from me," he answered. "Come on, you've got some people to meet."

They had only made it a couple of steps when Tony's best friend stepped forward. "Hey, Tones," he said, clapping his friend on the shoulder before turning to the youngster. "Hi, Peter. Nice to see you again."

"Hello, Colonel Rhodes, it's good to see you!"

"How many times, kid? It's Rhodey!" the man said exasperatedly, though he smiled, clapping Peter's shoulder in the same way he had Tony's. He had developed a certain fondness for the kid, even before the decimation. Although he had only met him a few times, he could tell the kid was smart and polite to the extreme, but he was most impressed by the side that he had brought out in Tony. After the final battle with Thanos, Rhodey had held the kid when it looked like there was no way Tony would pull through- they had shared in their heartbreak, and since Tony's recovery, he had seen him a few times at the Lake House and was delighted to see how he had been welcomed into the small, dysfunctional family.

"Sorry, Rhodey," the kid muttered sheepishly.

Tony chuckled. "Right, now that that's settled, we've got the rest of the team to meet. See you in a bit, Platypus."

Without waiting for a reply, the genius steered his kid towards the couches, where he was introduced to Scott and Hope, Clint, Natasha and Wanda. There were choruses of 'Hello' and 'Hey kid', and Peter smiled and waved to everyone, trying not to freak out when his Spidey sense continued to warn him of some danger he couldn't identify.

Next, he was led to the kitchen, and introduced to Sam and Bucky, and then to Captain America.

"It's great to meet you, son," the hero said, smiling as he shook the kid's hand.

"It's an honour to meet you Mr Rogers, Captain America, sir," Peter told him, even as he felt his cheeks redden.

The man laughed, "Please, call me Steve, or Cap. Whichever you prefer."

"Or Capsicle," Tony supplied from beside him, even as Steve frowned. The billionaire ignored the man's evident frustration in favour of making one more introduction. "Kid, I believe you know Dr Bruce Banner? Brucie bear, meet Peter."

Peter's eyes widened as held out his hand. "Dr Banner, it's an honour to meet you! I am such a fan of your work- I reviewed your papers on anti-electron collisions and gamma radiation for my end of year assignment," he gushed, shaking the scientist's hand enthusiastically.

Behind him, Tony smirked while Cap, Bucky and Sam all stood open-mouthed.

"Was any of that in English?" Bucky asked uncertainly. Tony only snorted.

Everyone had left Bruce and Peter in the kitchen to discuss some of the scientist's work, with Peter asking questions and proposing ideas. Bruce was impressed, not only at how well Peter seemed to understand the science he was explaining but also at how he connected ideas and considered possible developments. It was clear to him why Tony had taken a shine to the kid.

Peter couldn't believe he was casually discussing scientific theories with the Dr Bruce Banner. Yet every so often, his Spidey sense continued to prickle, his hand absently reaching for the back of his neck and rubbing at the spot. He had already tried to figure out what was causing it, eventually concluding that it was probably just the result of being in a room full of soldiers, assassins and enhanced's.

Noticing the teen's distractedness, Bruce asked, "Are you alright, Peter?"

Before he could answer, Tony drew closer. "Kid, have you had any candy canes yet? I ordered hundreds of them especially for you but Barnes and Wilson are eating them all."

"Uh, not yet, Tony. I'll get in a bit," Peter replied, hand still rubbing his neck.

"There might not be any left at the rate they're going, and they were bought for you," Tony threw back, then called over his shoulder. "Oi, Bird Brain, Manchurian Candidate- lay off! Those are for the kid!"

The two men approached, clutching around a dozen candy canes each, Bucky smiling sheepishly while Sam smirked. "You don't need the old man to fight your battles for you, do you kid?"

"It's fine, you can have them. I'll get later," Peter mumbled, his Spidey sense prickling worse than ever. He could feel both Tony and Dr Banner watching him and he just wanted the attention elsewhere.

"Go on, have one," Sam said, holding the sweets towards the teenager. "I don't want a fight with Iron Man." When Peter made no move to take one, the former airman stepped forward, trying to press them on the kid.

In the blink of an eye, Peter was no longer in the centre of the kitchen but clinging upside down to the ceiling. There was a moment of silence before the cacophony of noise erupted below him.

"What the hell?"

"Wait, he can just do that? It's not the suit?"

"What the hell happened?"

"Kid? What are you doing?"

"As a Father of three, I can categorically say that's not normal!"

"Tony, your kid is weird!"

Yet Peter didn't hear any of the exclamations below him over the rushing of blood in his ears. He pressed himself as flat against the ceiling as he could, while his neck continued to prickle uncomfortably.

Tony gazed worriedly up at his kid before rounding on Sam. "What did you do?" he exploded.

Sam met Tony's fierce stare. "I offered him the candy canes, like you wanted. It's not my fault he-!"

"He's having a panic attack," a new voice interjected, cutting Sam off. Both men turned to see Wanda approaching, her eyes glowing red as she gazed at the boy on the ceiling. Tony looked back up at Peter, letting out a curse and Sam seemed to recover, placing the candy canes down on the worktop beside him before he turned his attention back to the kid.

"Peter, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"

Peter gave no indication of having heard the veteran, as he stared straight ahead of him with his eyes wide and pupils dilated, his breathing ragged.

Tony cursed again, angling his body so that he could keep his eyes on Peter while addressing Wanda. "What's he panicking about?" he asked, too concerned about his son's welfare to worry over the invasion of privacy.

The young Sokovian tilted her head, eyes still fixed on the teenager before she answered, "In truth, he doesn't seem to know. I have never seen anything like it. It is like… a physical manifestation of anxiety." Almost absently, she raised her hand to rub the back of her neck. Tony noted the movement from the corner of his eye, turning to fully take in what she was doing before his eyes widened.

"Tones?" Rhodey prompted as he drew closer, noticing his friend's reaction. "What's going on?"

Tony looked up at Peter again, aware of Sam's continued attempts to reach Peter and regulate his breathing. "He has a sixth sense of sorts… warns him of danger. He said it's like when your hair stands on end," Tony explained.

"That's it," Wanda agreed, blinking as her eyes returned to their natural brown. She glanced at Tony but he was still focused on the teenager.

"He's not getting enough oxygen," Sam ground out, frustrated at his own failed attempts to get through to the kid.

Before anyone else could say anything, Bruce stepped forward, maneuvering himself so that he was stood in front of Peter, almost on eye level given his height in this form, despite the high ceilings.

"Hey, Peter. It's Bruce. Can you hear me?" he asked.

For a long moment, there was no reaction before slowly, Peter nodded, and there was a collective sigh of relief below.

Bruce smiled. "Good. Now, I need you to take a really deep breath in for me. Like this." The scientist took an exaggerated breath and after a pause, Peter managed a shaky imitation. Below, Tony's shoulders sagged with relief.

While Bruce continued to work with Peter, Rhodey squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Tones, you've got to relax," he said, eyeing him warily as he spoke. "You've got a dodgy heart, man."

"Tell that to the kid," Tony muttered, his eyes never leaving the teenager still clinging to the ceiling.

"Okay, Peter, I was thinking on heading to the lab. Do you want to come with me?" Bruce asked. Peter nodded slowly, his wide eyes still on the scientist. "Alright, I'm going to lift you down from the ceiling. Is that okay?"

Once again, Peter nodded and Bruce gently raised a hand underneath Peter's back, tugging lightly so that Peter's hold on the ceiling was released. The scientist kept hold of Peter, carrying him over to the elevator and throwing a significant look at Tony who took that as a cue to follow.

Bruce only released his hold on the teen and set him down once they were in the elevator and the doors had closed. Peter seemed to be still stuck in his own head, his breaths exaggeratedly deep while he stared at a fixed point on the closed doors, not even flinching as Bruce instructed FRIDAY to take them down to the Med Bay.

"Pete, you okay?" Tony asked, his hand hovering uncertainly next to the kid's shoulder.

Slowly, Peter turned his head to look at his mentor. "Did I just… freak out? In front of everyone? In front of the Avengers?"

Before Tony could answer, the doors opened and Peter made to follow Bruce out into the lab, freezing up when he realized where they were.

"M- Med Bay? I thought we were going to the lab?" he asked.

"I think we need to figure out what happened up there, Peter," Bruce explained softly. When Peter took a tentative step backwards, Tony fixed a firm grip on the kid's arm, and Bruce took a half step back to assist, the two geniuses steering the adolescent to the nearest bed.

Peter sat reluctantly on the bed, his gaze flickering over to the elevator repeatedly as though weighing up his chances of a quick getaway. Tony sat on a chair beside the bed, obscuring the kid's view of his possible escape route in the process.

"Alright Underroos, what happened up there? Why was your Spidey sense going off?" Tony asked.

Peter locked eyes with Tony, his own wide as he said, "I don't know. I was really excited to meet everyone and then I stepped into the room and it just started… warning me, but I couldn't sense why. Now they'll all think I'm a freak!"

"Nobody will think that, Peter," Bruce told him gently, then asked, "So what made you, uh, jump to the ceiling? In the moment?"

"I'm not sure, I don't really remember," Peter answered with a frown. "The warning just got really intense when Sam stepped forward but I don't know why because he was being nice. Then I was on the ceiling and you were talking to me."

Tony's eyes widened as he realized there was a gap in Peter's recollection of events. His stomach clenched as he thought of how consumed in his panic the kid must have been.

Bruce, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. "Peter, do you have any allergies?"

Tony whipped his head in Bruce's direction but the scientist kept his focus on Peter as the teen answered, "Uh, no, not since the bite."

"Bite?" Bruce asked, his brows furrowed.

"The kid was bitten by a radioactive spider. That's how he got his powers," Tony jumped in. "What have allergies got to do with anything?"

"Radioactive, huh?" Bruce muttered quietly to himself. He didn't answer Tony's question, instead continuing to theorise. "What changed with the bite? You can stick to walls, you have a sixth sense… anything else?" he asked.

"Uh, heightened senses- I used to need glasses but I don't anymore," Peter answered. "Enhanced speed and strength, fast metabolism… Oh, I used to have asthma but that went away."

Tony pinned Peter with a frown. "You never told me that," he said accusatorially.

Peter only shrugged. "Well, I don't have it anymore so I didn't think it was relevant."

The billionaire opened his mouth to retort when Bruce interjected, "Peter, would you mind if I took a blood sample?"

The mentor and protégé both froze, slowly turning to look at Bruce but it was Tony who spoke. "Why do you want a blood sample?"

"I just have a theory I would like to test," he replied, already looking for a needle.

Mentor and protégé shared another uneasy glance before Peter replied, "Okay."

As Bruce took the sample, Peter gazed at the ceiling. On a scale of paper cuts to dying, needles weren't so bad but it was easier if he didn't watch. He felt Tony's eyes on him and turned his attention to him.

"You're worried," he stated, waiting for the genius to refute it. Instead, Tony frowned.

"Of course I'm worried. You had a panic attack, and you don't even know what triggered it!"

Bruce stepped away, already prepping the sample for the tests he wanted to run, giving instructions to FRIDAY when Peter noted the word 'allergies' again.

"I already told you Dr Banner, I don't have any allergies anymore."

The scientist smiled over his shoulder at the teenager. "Let me rule it out then," he replied.

The room lapsed into an awkward silence as everyone considered their own ideas on what had happened upstairs. In no time at all, FRIDAY announced that she had the test results. Peter turned his attention to the hologram that she brought up but both Bruce and Tony stood in front of it, and Peter scowled at their backs.

"Bruce, what…?" Tony began, gazing at the information in front of him.

"Peter didn't think it was Sam that caused the spike in his… uh, Spidey sense, did you call it? Yet it happened when Sam got too close so I wondered if it was something around Sam. Then when you started explaining how he got his powers and what they are, it seemed to me like the spider must have mutated his DNA, giving Peter some spider-like traits."

"What-?" Peter began, kneeling on the bed to try and see past the two men but he was ignored.

"So you tested for allergies of substances that repel spiders?" Tony asked.

"What?!" Peter yelped. Again, he was ignored.

"Yeah. As you can see, my theory was right. Peppermint, lavender, cinnamon, citrus, chestnuts…," Bruce recited a long list, cutting off only when Tony burst out laughing.

"What?" Peter asked more quietly this time, almost unwilling to know what had amused his mentor.

Tony turned, his lips twitching as he replied, "Bug spray."

Peter felt the heat in his face and desperately wished he could disappear.

Tony fixed his gaze back on the hologram, scanning its contents one more time. "Well, at least half of those are upstairs so I'll go and start removing them all. Do you mind waiting with the kid?"

Even as Bruce agreed, Peter was protesting. "No, Tony, wait. Don't take stuff away- it'll spoil it for everyone else. I'll just, uh, go to the lab, or the workshop. Or I can go home! Yeah, I should just-!"

Tony sighed. "Pete, you're not going anywhere. No-one will mind. Bucky and Sam will now get all the candy canes so they'll be thrilled. None of the stuff is important- it's the people that matter, and that includes you."

Without waiting for a reply, Tony entered the elevator, disappearing as the doors closed.

Peter glanced at Bruce who was still looking through the hologram, and he saw his opportunity. Quietly, he edged closer to the wall, climbing it until he reached the window. He smiled victoriously as he reached his planned exit, when FRIDAY spoke out.

"Peter, Boss has sealed all of the windows under the Spider Containment protocol."

Bruce turned, surprised to find the teenager high up the wall looking utterly defeated.

"Aww, man," he complained, releasing his hold and dropping back onto the bed.

Bruce smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you come have a look at this so you'll know what to be careful of in the future," he asked, indicating the hologram. With a sigh, Peter joined the man in front of it.

"This sucks," the teen muttered. "So, I basically am a spider."

The scientist chuckled. "Not exactly," he replied. "You just share some qualities. We should really run some more tests and find out what else may be affected."

Peter frowned. "Like what?"

"Well, your ability to thermoregulate could have been affected," the scientist mused but before he could elaborate, FRIDAY spoke again.

"Boss has declared the common room a 'Spiderling friendly zone' and has asked that you come upstairs," the AI told them, then added, "Peter, Boss says if you don't come in, he will show everyone your most embarrassing moments from the Baby Monitor protocol footage."

Peter groaned and reluctantly followed Bruce to the elevator.

When the doors opened, Peter wasn't sure what to expect and was dreading all the strange looks that he assumed would be thrown his way. He sure as Hell wasn't expecting to walk into the middle of an argument.

"Oh come on, it's not even a Christmas film! 'It's A Wonderful Life' is obviously the best," Steve said.

"I like 'Miracle on 34th Street," Hope offered. Scott, who was sitting with his arm around her, threw her an incredulous look.

"What about 'Home Alone'?" the size-altering hero asked. "That's a classic!"

"Peter!" Clint called out, noticing the teen's presence. "Settle it for us- best Christmas film?"

All eyes did turn to him but none of the looks were judging, just curious, and even welcoming.

"Um… I like 'Die Hard'?" he said, his voice rising at the end so it sounded like a question.

There were mixed reactions around the room, from groaning, grumbles of 'not a Christmas film' to celebratory cheers.

"The kid has spoken," Clint announced. "We are watching 'Die Hard'. FRIDAY, be a dear."

"With pleasure, Mr Barton," FRIDAY answered.

"Pete," Tony called, patting the seat beside him, "Come sit down."

Peter smiled up shyly at Dr Banner, grateful for the scientist's help before making his way over to the sofa to take the vacant space by Tony. As soon as he sat down, Tony threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling the boy into his side. For a moment, Peter tensed before relaxing and curling his legs up to the side and resting his head against Tony's chest.

He felt movement against his legs, and glanced around to find Natasha mirroring his posture against Clint, entangling her legs with Peter's. When she noticed the boy's gaze, she smirked at him, and he felt his cheeks redden, grateful for the dim lighting, before returning a goofy smile and turning his attention back to the opening of the movie.

Ned was going to be so jealous when he heard about this.