Here's the second one.

Enjoy!

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Chapter Thirteen

"Do it one more time, Liz. This is going on my Insta as soon as we finish."

Brandon Beckham watched in delight as his girlfriend casually lifted the front of his car, one hand holding the bumper, the other hand under crucial examination. How cool was this?

Liz looked up from her fingernails. "Are you done?"

"I would be if you smiled."

"Do you know how many pictures I take a day in that sorority house, B?" Liz grinned and spoke through her teeth. "Dozens. Dozens of pictures. Forgive me for not wanting to pose for yet another goddamned post."

Brandon slipped his phone into his back pocket and threw his hands up. "I know, I know. You're right. I just wanted to commemorate how sexy you look with superpowers."

Liz set the car down and picked some lint off the collar of her shirt. "I'm hungry. Let's go get some bagels."

"We just ate."

"Superpowers make a girl hungry. I said bagels."

Brandon glanced down the block. They were in Brooklyn. There was a bagel shop every other foot.

"There's one over there." He held out his arm and Liz's fingers looped around his elbow. "We'll get you a snack and then it's time to hit the tower."

Liz stared down at her hand. Her fingers had stuck to his sleeve. She was finally starting to get the hang of this sticky skin thing. That, and her nails were perfect right now. "Sounds great, babe."

Brandon and Liz walked down the street, blending right in with the rest of the college-age somethings and millennials.

No one was the wiser that Brandon had cracked the science behind Peter's spider bite the night before, half a pizza roll dangling from his mouth. No knew that Liz had been writing her intro to sociology essay as Brandon hooked up her IV.

They only realized the infusion had worked when Liz's fingers began to stick to her laptop keys.

Now, with one super mind and one super being, they were on their way to becoming the heroes the world needed.

The last thing they had to get was one of Tony Stark's suits. Then they could give the Avengers a run for their money.

It was time for young people to have their own heroes. And Brandon and Liz were ready to be those heroes.

#

Peter wouldn't finish the protein shake.

It wasn't surprising. Tony figured it would only be half the bottle or so before Peter refused to go on.

What Tony didn't expect was for Peter to lie about drinking it and then dump it down the sink right in front of him.

"Peter, why did you do that?"

Peter's cheeks flushed as he set the bottle in the sink, arms crossing. "Dad- what are you, uh- what are you talking about? Exactly?"

Tony couldn't believe this. Refusing to drink or eat something was one thing. Dumping it down the pipes was another. "What was the point of that? I know you didn't drink it. I'm sitting right here."

"Dad, I drank all of it. There were, uh, um, some, like- you know? Dregs! There were dregs collecting in the bottom and I hate those so I just poured out the last sip or two because of, uh… dregs?"

Peter had poured out half of the bottle. Half. Not a sip or two.

"Hmm. How about next time you leave the dregs in the bottle so I can work on the formula and make sure we don't have any dregs next time?"

"Okay."

Steve came back into the room and glanced between Tony and Peter. He looked worried. "Tony, can I talk to you real quick? In private."

Tony was perfectly content watching Peter in the kitchen but Steve's face said it was urgent. "Yeah. Peter, don't go anywhere, okay? I'll be right back."

Peter didn't reply but Tony figured he would listen.

"Steve, before you say anything, I know I didn't handle that situation in a great way but I'm trying to keep track of how much he's eating so he doesn't keel over. And it's a lot more difficult to do that when he's pouring things down the… what is it?"

Steve clicked the bedroom door shut and sighed. "It's Fury. We've got a problem."

"Fuck. Me." Tony kicked his heel into their bedframe. "Are you serious? Right now?"

Steve massaged the bridge of his nose. "Unfortunately. It's that tech kid again. He's in Brooklyn with his girlfriend. The one who got Peter earlier." Steve pulled his phone out and tapped a few times. "Look at this. Someone posted it online."

Tony took Steve's phone and zoomed in. It was Brandon's girlfriend lifting a car off the curb the same way Steve lifted the couch when he vacuumed. "Do we know what kind of powers we're dealing with here?"

Steve shook his head. "She hasn't done anything that would prove whether she's juiced on the serum or the spider bite. I would guess she took after Peter since they came back for a second biopsy and she doesn't look like she grew or filled out like I did when I was-" he gestured vaguely- "but that's just a guess."

"Why does Fury need us on this?" Tony swatted Steve's hand from picking at the healed scar where Brandon had gotten him a week before. "Can't he just call in birdy and our favorite murderous redhead? What about Rapunzel and the not so jolly Green Giant?"

"Fury did call them in. It's a full team operation."

"Awesome." Tony chucked. "This? This is fucking awesome. Peter isn't eating and now we get to go on a full team mission to stop the motherfuckers who stole his DNA, leaving him here alone to get into all kinds of trouble. Plus, we have no idea what weapons or superpowers these teenaged mutant ninja brats have or what their plan is."

"Tony-"

"No, seriously, Cap. Let me bask in this. We're going to leave Peter here, alone-"

"Tony, we're not leaving Peter here alone."

Tony threw his hands in the air in mock celebration. "Even better! Let's take him on a mission so he can faint in the field with bombs and lasers flying everywhere-"

"The team is coming here." Steve held his hand up before Tony could start again. "Fury thinks the tower is their next target."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

Steve and Tony were standing there, thoughts racing, when Jarvis cleared his throat to get their attention.

Tony rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

"Sorry to interrupt but I think Master Peter may need your attention, sirs."

Steve grimaced. "What is it now?"

"He appears to be trying to induce vomiting in the kitchen and I don't think it is going particularly well. I worry he's going to scratch the back of his throat with his fin-"

Tony was already sprinting out of the bedroom.

Peter was leaning over the kitchen sink with what looked like his whole fist down his throat. When he saw Tony and Steve, he immediately pulled his hand free and pretended to cough into his fist.

"I, uh-"

Steve slouched against the countertop, face drawn.

Tony couldn't figure out what face he was going to make. Angry dad? Depressed? Confused?

Scared beyond recognition?

"Dad, Pops, it's not what it-"

"Yeah, it is." Tony whispered. "It's exactly what it looks like and that's okay. Not okay that it's happening, but okay because we're going to help you through it."

Steve still hadn't said anything.

"The team's on their way." Tony supplied. "All of 'em. Fury sent up the giant 'A' for that duo that got you and Steve. We think they're coming to the tower."

Peter's moody façade broke and for a moment, he looked like the old Peter. The wannabe hero with too many thoughts and feelings to put into the world at once so his words always came out rushed and packed. "Why are they coming here? They already got Pops and I. No offense, Dad, but you don't have any powers for them to replicate."

Tony rolled his shoulders to loosen the tension. "I don't know what they want. Fury and his team are trying to figure it out as we speak. All I know is that we need to be ready for when they show up."

Peter went off to his room to fetch his suit without looking back.

This was Peter's chance. He could prove that he was a hero, just like his dads, and he could do it without even leaving the tower.

His head felt a bit too light while he was struggling into the suit. Standing on one foot made him dizzy enough that he had to sit on the edge of his bed while tugging the fabric up his calves.

"It's just nerves," he mumbled. "Calm down, Stark-Rogers. It's a mission just like any other one."

Once Peter got the suit on, he chanced a look at his reflection.

The suit fit different. It wasn't as tight in certain places but it was straining to contain him in others.

Peter had to look away after only a few seconds before the sight made him sick.

He took another minute to gather his thoughts, and to recover from the head rush of lurching in and out of the mirror's view, before making his way to the elevator. They always waited in the lobby for the rest of the Avengers.

Steve and Tony were talking in hushed whispers until they saw him coming.

Tony looked Peter over, head to toe. He didn't say anything. Just shared one of those parenting looks with Steve before turning to call the elevator up.

Steve wouldn't look Peter's way at all. "Any updates, Jarvis?"

"Thor is under ten minutes away, sir. He will retrieve Dr. Banner. I am unaware of Ms. Romanov's location. Mr. Barton- or, er, as you tell me to call him, Birdy- is as few blocks up. I think he's bringing pastries."

Steve nodded. "Thanks, Jarvis."

"Any time, sir."

The elevator ride was filled with awkward silence.

Tony couldn't stop looking at the loose fabric of Peter's suit. Peter's suit was perfectly tailored to his body and designed to accommodate basic changes. It wasn't meant to drape over his shoulders or pool at the dip of his hips.

Steve was looking at the wall. If he looked at either Tony or Peter, he wouldn't be able to stop whatever emotion he was stoppering up. Tony always made fun of his Boomer emotion coping mechanisms, but they were coming in clutch right now.

Peter was trying not to sway from the heat of the suit and brightness of the elevator's lights.

When they got to the bottom, it was a short wait before Clint arrived.

"Friends! I bring spoils from the greatest bakery on this planet!" Hawkeye thundered in a terrible Thor impression. "Man, that sounded much more god-like in my head, but hey. I tried. And I brought bagels."

Tony smiled. "Oh, birdy. You really know how to hit the spot."

"Was that an archer pun?"

"Yes."

Clint pointed a finger at Tony. "Don't ever do that again. It was terrible."

"It was not that bad-"

Steve groaned. Great. Clint and Tony were already getting started with what he and Nat liked to call their 'thing.' Basically, both of them reverted to their teenage roots and acted like a pair of roosters with their chests puffed out.

Nat arrived next, wearing a black evening gown with a set of small daggers artfully arranged at her waist. Her hair was pulled up and encrusted with gemstones. If it wasn't for the cutting glare and the signature shade of red hair, Steve wouldn't have recognized her.

"Don't ask," she said before any of four men could even formulate a question. Peter looked like he might stroke out.

Tony and Clint were fighting over the lone everything bagel as Nat sidled up beside Steve. He didn't even realize she'd crossed the room until her shoulder came to rest against his arm.

"What happened to your spider?"

Peter was lying on a bench, sticking and unsticking his foot from the wall. He looked exhausted and miserable and decidedly un-Peter-like.

"I'll tell you about it later. Bad couple of days."

She nodded and, without warning, took the everything bagel from Tony's hand and took a huge bite.

That was one way to settle the argument.

"Are you two done now?"

Clint opened his mouth to speak but the glint in Nat's eyes stopped him from saying anything.

She sat down beside Peter, a tub of cream cheese and a plastic knife appearing out of nowhere. "Split it with me?"

The panicked look in his eyes didn't escape her notice. "Uh, no thanks, Aunt Nat. I'm not hungry."

His stomach growled at the smell of toasted bagel.

"Not hungry?" Nat tried to offer him the other half again. "It's okay. I don't want the whole thing anyway."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks, though."

Nat sat beside him while she finished her half, purposefully chewing slowly and within Peter's view. As if enjoying the food in his line of sight would entice him to eat something himself.

It didn't work. Peter went back to sticking and unsticking the bottom of his foot from the wall.

Tony watched it all with a plummeting stomach.

"What's wrong with him?" Clint asked, a few stray sesame seeds stuck to his lower lip. As if the subject of Clint's inquiry was in question, Clint motioned to the morose teenager sprawled on a bench.

"Birdy, you're covered in seeds."

Clint swiped a hand over his mouth. There was still one there, dangling from the corner of his mouth. "You're deflecting."

"I'm deflecting."

Clint made a face but it passed. "Okay. Then tell me what you know about this duo that's going to attack us."

Tony explained what he knew. Clint knew most of it from the debriefing and from the fact that he was there. But no one had told him that the crazies had gotten Peter, too.

"What was Peter doing at the school? And how did that lady get the drop on him?"

"No idea." He was unconscious on the classroom floor because he hasn't eaten enough lately to stay awake and alert. "Either way, we're pretty sure she's got Peter's powers now and-"

The front door of the tower slammed open and everyone dropped into defensive positions, weapons drawn. Peter shot up and perched on the wall.

"Friends!"

"Thor, we've talked about this!" Tony yelled, lowering his lasers before he accidentally singed a chunk of Thor's face off. "You can't barge in like that when we're waiting for the bad guys. It's bad for my heart."

"I'm sorry, brother," Thor said, a large grin taking over his face. "I was just excited to see you all and got carried away."

Tony didn't fight when Thor gave him a bone crushing hug, just pat him on the back until Thor put him down.

Tony didn't notice that Bruce had come in right behind Thor until the doctor was waving Tony over, an apprehensive look on his face.

"If it's about the mission, I don't know any more than you do," Tony prefaced.

Bruce grimaced and tugged at his earlobe. "Not what I was going to ask you about."

Tony sighed. "The kid."

Bruce gave him an incredulous look. "What happened? He's lost weight and looks like he's a couple minutes from a nap. Is he sick or something? I thought the bite kept him from getting sick. Like Steve."

Tony bit his lip. If he could trust, or wanted to trust, any of the Avengers with what was going on with his son, it was Bruce. Bruce was a doctor, for starters, but he was also careful and sensitive. Maybe he would actually have a clue about what to do.

"Come with me." Tony beelined for the elevator. "Steve, I'm taking Bruce to the workshop real quick. I think I might have something for whatever this turns out to be. Get everyone to the lockdown floor."

Steve mock saluted.

As soon as the doors closed around them, the words bubbled out of Tony like a dam bursting.

He told Bruce everything. The constant passing out, the over exercising, the refusal to eat. Even how Peter tried make himself throw up in the sink earlier. No details spared, no portions glossed over.

Bruce's eyes were shining with pity by the time he finished. "Tony, I don't even know what to say. This is serious."

"Why do you think I told you?" Tony's hands were shaking again so he tucked them into his armpits. "Bruce, you're better with the biochemistry and human body stuff than I am. He needs to eat something soon, right? He can't live like this much longer."

"I mean, I'm no expert on his body chemistry-"

"Bruce. Please don't bullshit me."

"He needs to start eating again." Bruce conceded. "Actual spiders can go a month or two without food if they've been eating regularly and have access to a water source. But I'm going to guess, since Peter is a combination of human and spider genetics and is much more active than an actual spider… He's going to start slowing down. Getting drowsy and lethargic."

Tony thought about how Peter had been lying on the bench, staring at the wall. Maybe he was just being moody… or maybe it was exhaustion. "What can we do? Besides force-feeding him with a tube."

"Water. Keep him hydrated. If you can get him to eat something, anything- do it. I'll keep an eye on him, too."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Tony saw rather than felt Bruce's hand come down on his shoulder. "We love him, too, Tony. We're here if you need us."

The elevator doors opened before Tony could say something sappy back. Thank goodness. Tony was still dabbling in emotional vulnerability and he wasn't sure what to say.

Tony waited for the elevator doors to close again and hit the button for the lockdown floor.

There was a surprise waiting for him when they got there.

The lockdown floor was a room as wide and long as the tower, give or take a few feet of concrete and some bulletproof bay windows. At the center of the space was a table, large enough to seat a dozen comfortably, and a fully stocked coffee cart.

There were two things in the room that didn't belong there: a pile of manila folders and a Black man with an eyepatch, his feet kicked up onto another chair.

"Fury." The sound of his name alone made Tony's blood boil. "I would say it's great to see you but Cap's morals are rubbing off on me and I've stopped lying."

"Whatever you say, Tin Man."

Bruce smiled and Tony smacked him on the chest.

"When you're done stroking your ego, come on over here so we can discuss the case," Fury continued, flipping through one of the folders. "Trust me, you'll like what I have to share."

"And what is that? Glaring personality flaws?"

"Look who's talking."

Bruce gave in and chuckled. Tony went to smack him again but Bruce was too quick.

"Back to the problem at hand. I've got good news and bad news."

"Hit us with the bad news first," Bruce murmured, thumbing through one of the files. "That way we end on a good note."

Fury sighed and rubbed his eyepatch. "The bad news is that Beckham's girlfriend, Liz Wheaton, now has a mocktail Spider-Man cocktail in her bloodstream. We're not entirely sure how they did it or how long it will last, but we're sure she can do everything he can. We also have footage of her imitating Steve's powers but that only lasted a few minutes. Whatever Beckham did the first time, didn't work long term. We have no idea if this Spidey potion will last or not."

Bruce's brow furrowed as he clasped his own elbows. "That's the bad news?"

Fury nodded. "It is. And here's the good news. You'll like it, Stark, because you're a narcissist and this is all about you."

"Fury-"

"Nah, I'm serious. Beckham and Wheaton are on their way over here right now and we know what they want."

Fury picked at a fingernail, examined it, and looked around. Dramatics were always accredited to Tony, but truly, the biggest drama queen in the group was Nicholas Fury.

"He wants one of your suits, Stark. So I need you to make sure that doesn't happen."

It made sense. If Wheaton had powers, and Beckham could get one of the suits, they would be an actual threat. A wannabe Stark-Rogers duo.

"Why did you come all the way out here to tell us this?"

Fury shrugged. "Consider this an in-the-field performance review."

Bruce and Tony didn't buy it.

"Okay, fine. The office was getting boring and I'm hiding from paperwork." Fury pointed his chin at the elevator. "Get the rest of the team up here so we can discuss strategy. These two can't get into Avengers tower."

"Excuse me, sir."

Tony pressed a button and his suit's faceplate locked back into place. "Tell me something happy, Jarvis."

"Master Steve had me record one of your favorite cooking shows so the two of you could have a date night on Wednesday."

Fury raised his eyebrows and whistled. Bruce was chewing on his lower lip to remain composed.

"Not what I meant, Jarvis. What do you need?"

"Sorry, sir. I believe Master Peter has been altering my programming lately and it's affected-"

"Jarvis."

"Brandon Beckham and Elizabeth Wheaton were spotted on a traffic camera two blocks north of the tower. They're on their way here now."

"Get the rest of the team up here now. We'll figure out a way to stop them."

"Right away, sir."

"Get ready to talk fast, Fury."

Once everyone was upstairs, standing around the table like a Comic Con panel, Fury did talk fast.

Unfortunately, not fast enough.

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CW: disordered eating

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

~Ann