Hi all!
Thank you so much for all the love you have given this series! You are all amazing.
This prompt is from AwesomeAbbyOMG on A03 - Maybe just ways of peter on the ceiling, or upside down? Like, all the avengers live together and he acts like a literal spider all the time.
I wanted to try something different with some characters I haven't written before so I hope that it has turned out okay!
My apologies for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy :)
The Spider in Me
It's not hard to forget that Peter Parker is an enhanced individual. He hides his physique under too-big t-shirts or sweaters when the weather was colder. His sunny smile, eagerness to help and to learn often disarmed those around him. Looking at Peter Parker you would never expect him to be Spider-Man.
As it were, the Avengers often forgot about Peter's spider tendencies when he wasn't in his suit and it led to some interesting moments around the tower. These are just a few instances.
Sam
Sam's fairly knew to the tower. He has his own place, but he finds himself spending more and more time at the Tower with the rest of the Avenger's, getting to know his team. Stark had given him his own floor, much to his surprise, and he tries to repay Stark in subtle ways (like making sure there is a pot of coffee on when he emerges into the communal kitchen and listens when Stark needs to talk, even helps him with the panic attacks the man was keeping under-wraps).
Sam is unable to sleep one night. A glance at the clock confirms that it is nearing two in the morning and he sighs heavily. Pushing back the ridiculously soft sheets, Sam sits up and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. He scrubs a hand down his face and breathes in sharply before letting his hand drop away. Standing, he stretches and decides that maybe he needs a drink.
He treks through the familiar halls, keeping the lights off and using muscles memory to get back there. He's quiet and when he makes it to the kitchen, he dims the lights low, just enough to see but not light enough to not wake up anyone. He goes to the cupboard and pulls out a fresh glass. Closing the cupboard, he moves to the fridge and fills it up with cool water.
"Are you okay, Mr. Flacon?"
Sam is not proud of his next move. Fight or flight instincts kick in and Sam reels back, throwing the glass in the direction the voice comes from.
"Owe!"
Glass shatters as it hits the floor and water cascades in a wave across the tiles.
Sam is breathing heavily, hand-pressed to his chest as he stares up at the roof in shock. "What the hell?! Peter?"
"Yeah," Peter grimaces, rubbing his head where Sam had struck him with the glass cup.
"Are you possessed? What the hell kid?" Sam rasped out.
"No, I'm sticky," Peter huffed.
It comes soaring back to Sam in a blink of an eye. Peter was Spider-Man. He could stick to things. Of course, how could he have forgotten that the kid enjoyed spending time on the ceiling? He's seen it often enough out on the field.
"Right. Sticky. Could you get down? You're giving me the creeps," Sam's heart finally begun to calm down. "Careful of the glass."
Sam watches as Peter crawls across the ceiling before dropping down beside him, landing lightly on his feet. Sam assesses the damage. There is a small red mark on Peter's forehead but otherwise he is unharmed.
"What are you doing up?" Sam asked.
"I just go back from patrol," Peter shrugged, and Sam blames the lack of sleep for his stupidity. "I was getting a drink. Same as you."
"Any injuries?" Sam asked. Tony had made it clear to them that they needed to check on Peter after a patrol if he ever came to the Tower afterwards and Tony wasn't there. The kid liked to hide injuries.
"None," Peter beamed.
"Good. Go shower and bed," Sam directed, reeling at how paternal he sounded. What the hell had this kid done to them?
"Okay. Night Mr. Falcon," Peter beamed, happily agreeing to Sam's request.
"It's Sam kid," Sam called out the kid retreating form. He sighed, rubbed his face again and started to clean up the mess he made. After this encounter, Sam knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep.
Bucky
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh god, I'm so, so sorry," Peter babbled, tears welling up in his eyes.
"It's okay," Bucky assured Peter.
They were in the Med Bay, Peter stretched out on a gurney. Bucky stood on one side at the top of the bed, holding Peter's hand. On the other side, Tony was carefully running his hands through Peter's hair, spewing encouraging words as Peter gritted his teeth and tried not to sob. At the other end of the bed, Bruce and Helen Cho worked on re-setting the break in Peter's leg.
They had yet to synthesise a drug that could knock Peter out. His metabolism was much faster than Steve's and Bruce and Helen were still trying to mix something up. At the moment they were using Steve's drugs, but it was only enough to take the edge off for Peter. Bucky had been tasked in holding Peter's hand while Bruce and Helen set his leg.
Bucky wasn't sure why he had been chosen. Bucky thought for sure that Tony would want to be the one doing this. As much as the man protested that he wasn't Peter's father, their relationship was clearly just that. Bucky could see that Tony was itching to take Peter's hand. He kept reaching for it, before pulling back as if remembering himself. Instead, he soothed Peter's hair back, talking in hushed tones.
It became clear to Bucky very quickly why he was tasked to hold Peter's hand with his metal one the moment Bruce and Helen set the break.
Bucky had forgotten how strong Peter was. The sound had Peter's back arching and his hand clenching down on Bucky's hand. Bucky's eyes widened with shock as he heard the metal bending under Peter's grip. Bucky couldn't feel it, but he knew that is anyone else had been holding Peter's hand, he would have crushed it.
Peter's back relaxed back onto the bed, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.
"All done, Peter," Bruce assured.
"You did amazing kid," Tony soothed.
"Really good," Bucky added. "Better than the last time we had to do this to Steve. And he was on better drugs than you."
"Yeah?" Peter sniffed wetly.
"Absolutely," Bucky grinned. "At least you didn't throw anyone across the room."
It was then that Peter released Bucky's hand, only to see the damage he had done. More tears started falling down the kid's cheeks and he had started spewing apologies.
Bucky's heart tugged at the sight and sound of Peter. "No need to be sorry, Pete. I'm not mad. It's just an arm."
"I'll build you another one," Peter hiccupped. "A better one. Promise."
Bucky smiled softly at Peter. "That would be great, Pete. Thank you."
Tony
May had mentioned it in passing.
After a tough mission, Peter had swung himself home and Tony had called May to check in on how their favourite Spider was doing.
"He's fine," May said. "He's already crashed out on my bed." May let out a soft chuckle. "Better now than later."
"Later?" Tony had questioned.
"Mmmmm, after a tough patrol he usually checks in during the night," May said. "He said something about it making him feel safe."
Tony had forgotten about that conversation and as he stared up at the ceiling, it all came rushing back to him. Tony had woken up, his body aching in ways that was becoming too familiar after a mission. He blinked at the light in the room and at the figure huddled on the ceiling. It had taken his brain a minute to kick in and register what he was actually seeing.
His heart jolted, legs flailing as he struggled to get the sheets off. The moment woke Pepper up and she automatically grabbed his arm.
"Tony! Tony, it's okay," Pepper said. "You're safe, just breathe."
Tony let out a shuddering breath and sagged against the pillows. "Guh. Geeze."
"Nightmare?" Pepper asked softly.
"If you call that a nightmare," Tony said and pointed up at the ceiling.
Pepper followed his finger and gasped, hand curling tighter around Tony's arm. "Is that…is that Peter?"
"Yeah," Tony's heart was slowly calming down and he shook his head.
Peter was curled up on the ceiling, sticking in a way that was no natural. His face was smoothed out in sleep, chest rising and falling with each steady breath. Tony's flailing hadn't been enough to wake him up and he continued to let out a few soft snores that did not have Tony silently cooing.
"Well, get him down," Pepper poked him in the arm. "What if he falls?"
"He's sticky," Tony huffed but swung his legs out of bed and stood. He surveyed the scene, wondering how to get Peter down that didn't involve poking him with a broom. He didn't think Pepper would like that – nor Peter. "Pete! Underoos! Wakey wakey!"
Peter mumbled something, shifting as he slowly begun to wake up. Eventually Peter's eyes started to open, and he blinked. He looked around before his gaze settled on Tony.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter yawned.
"Hey kid. Want to come down and tell us what you're doing on our ceiling?" Tony smirked.
Peter's cheeks went pink. "Oh man."
"Hey! Stop right there," Tony laughed when Peter started to crawl across the ceiling towards the door. "Come on, down you get."
Peter moaned, embarrassed, but stuck a web to the ceiling and lowered himself upside down until his curls were brushing the blankets.
Tony had sat on the edge of the bed again and smirked at the teenager. "Underoos?"
"M'sorry. I can't help it," Peter gently flipped himself over and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed. "Happens sometimes after a patrol or mission. I have the need to get somewhere safe. I scared May a few times."
Tony face softened as he remembered May's words – of how Peter would seek safety while he recovered. Tony swung his legs back onto the bed and propped himself up on the pillows.
"Come on then," Tony patted the space between him and Pepper.
"What?" Peter blinked.
"It's still early. You could use some more shut eye," Tony said.
Peter hesitated for a second before he was crawling between the two of them and slipping into the warmth of the blankets, his head automatically rest Tony's chest. "Thanks Mr. Stark."
"Any time kiddo," Tony said softly, hand slipping into Peter's curls.
Happy reading :)
