Hey! Here the next chapter, and its a little longer than usual, woohoo! On my last chapter someone asked me how I could like Flash, and honestly, its because I read the Archive of our Own fic, "Sincerity is Scary" by Azumarhart (i think thats the author's name) and its really good. Anyway, enjoy!

"Flash, it's really in your best interest to shut up," Peter said in a hushed voice. He approached Flash warily, keeping his eyes trained on Nat and Steve talking to the other kids.

"No no Penis, really I want to compliment you," Flash said with a scheming look.

"Oh really," Peter deadpanned, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Yeah really. Because I mean, you work here or something. I can see that. I'm not dumb. And the Avengers know you, yeah sure. But what I can't explain is how. How did someone like you even come into contact with Natasha Romanoff? How could Bruce Banner possibly ever meet you?" Peter normally would have ignored all of this. Ignored Flash and the little bit of hurt he always caused and his own voice in the back of his head that wondered where he would be right now without his powers. But maybe it was the sparring or the working in the labs or the encouragement from his peers that made Peter feel weirdly confident. And he didn't like where Flash's spiel was going. He could feel the eyes on them, but whether it was his classmates or Nat and Steve, his spidey sense couldn't tell. Either way it wasn't great.

"Flash, really back off," Flash took a step forward.

"What are you going to do? Fight me?" Flash let out a cold laugh, "oh wait, you couldn't take me even if you did have the guts to," At this point Peter was tired of this. He obviously wasn't going to fight Flash, but his constant determination to overlook any facts in order to devalue Peter was actually quite astonishing.

"Flash, I mean I'm no superhero, but I've trained with some. You literally just saw me spar with Natasha Romanoff. Or are you just going to ignore that?"

"Oh I'm not ignoring that. I'm the only one who isn't ignoring how none of this makes any sense. Everyone else just blindly follows you, likes you like you're some sort of hero. But you're not. Because I figured it out. Why you're always late, why you're so mysterious." Now Peter started to worry. Did he know? How could he? Peter turned and started to walk away, the new found confidence waning. He figured it wasn't even worth it to do this now.

"You're… you've got some sorta creepy deal going on here. I always thought you were freaky but you must have some sorta magic mouth for the Avengers to actually like you this much. You get on your knees in exchange for them making you look cool? Flash finished, looking triumphant at his reveal.

Peter almost laughed at how wrong Flash was until he realized just what the other was implying. He stopped, eyes wide, heart pounding so loud that it seemed crazy other people couldn't hear it, too. Then, slowly he turned around, his shaky fists clenched. That was too far. That was… Peter's thought we're muddled with fury about Flash's implication on the Avengers.

"That's fucking distrusting! I can't believe you…" He was about to yell at Flash for the first time in a long time, until he was interrupted by a furious Black Widow and Captain America pushing in front of him. Peter's class looked on surprisedly, and some of them looked almost angry, too.

"Now look here you little shit, you say one more word on Peter and I swear I rip your puny…"

"Nat…"

"No Steve, we can't let that son of a bitch get away with saying that."

"Oh, I'm not planning on it." Steve Rogers turned to face the now-trembling boy. "It's just hurting him on company property is a liability waiting to happen. As much as I want to hurt the little asshole"

Peter had never seen this side of Steve. He straight up was terrifying, towering over Flash looking ready to squash him with just his thumb. Nat, of course, looked just as menacing, but Peter had seen her like that. Peter himself was shaking with rage and exhaustion and this stupid anxiety he had been feeling for days. His whole body felt on edge this time, he felt like he was about to collapse. He couldn't breath. He was suffocating. He was being crushed. His entire body was falling and there was nothing he could do about it, until all of a sudden: it stopped. He took a breath, confused by this sudden change. Then, he felt a final shiver down his spine, and he became alert. Something was wrong.

Nat looked just about ready to say something else, before a wailing alarm rang overhead. Steve and Nat looked at each other, briefly before running to get their respective weapons.

"Friday, what's happening?" "Peter asked. His classmates, Meghan, Mr. Dell and Mr. Harrington were all looking at him like he would know what to do.

"There appears to be an intruder on One of the lower floors. I suggest that you find one of the designated safe areas located on an upper floor." At that, panic broke out among the civilians in the group, and they were all still looking at Peter. Peter looked over to Nat and Steve who were headed towards the elevator.

"Peter, take your class upstairs, now!"

"But, I can hel…" He protested.

"Get your friends to safety." Nat said firmly.

"Fine, okay right, good luck!" He called out. They got in the elevator going down, while Peter lead his distraught classmates, teachers, and tour guide into another elevator.

"What are we doing? Where are we going? We need to find a safe place!" Mr Harrington panicked.

"Shouldn't we be getting out of the building?" Betty asked frantically.

"The intruders are on the lower levels, there's no way of knowing if we could get out safely. But don't worry, the Avengers penthouse is probably the safest place in this building." Peter assured them while he swiped his key card and punched the top level button. The elevator shot up before stopping at the desired floor. The group stumbled out, falling to the floor in relief.

"Friday, is the building on lockdown?" When the AI responded "no", Peter said: "well put it on lock down now."

"Putting the building on lockdown now." A large metal door slid over the elevator doors, and the same happened along the giant windows along the side. He turned around to face the group once more.

"Friday, what do we know about the intruders?" They all listened carefully at her response.

"A group of 4 to 5 armed men entered through the front doors, grabbed hostages and made their way up to the 4th floor. Boss is in his suit on his way there, now. Would you like me to call him?" Peter was tempted to, but he wasn't worried about Tony and keeping civilians safe was the more pressing issue.

"Are any of the men mutated or have powers? They're all human?"

"There have been no signs that they are in any way mutated or extraterrestrial."

"Scan for vibranium, nanotechnology or alien tech, Friday."

"Scanning… Scanning complete, there are no signs of vibranium, nanotechnology, or extraterrestrial tech." Peter sighed. That was good. The Avengers could handle some random humans, no problem. The rest of the people in the room saw his relief and noticeably relaxed a little.

"The Avengers have got this handled, it'll be fine. Uhh… in the meantime you guys can sit down," he motioned to the couches in the living room, "and uhh, make yourself at home. You could probably watch a movie or something." Abraham, who still looked a little shook, spoke up first.

"Is this… uh, is this where the Avengers live?"

"Um… well, no. Well, Tony lives here with Pepper and Morgan, the Avengers live on the floor below." Some people looked crestfallen, although given the circumstances they decided this was cool, too.

After Thanos, Tony had bought back the tower and remodeled, wanting a nice, new start. The elevator opened up to the living room, with a semicircle of various couches and chairs, all within a blue and yellow color palette. To the left was the kitchen, marble countertops, two ovens, a fridge, a toaster, basically all the usual stuff, but fancier. There was also a very big island in the middle of it, with bar stools in front of it. Beyond that there was a table that sat 15 people comfortably. To the right of the living room was a hallway where there was Morgan's room, Morgan's playroom, Tony and Pepper's room, a couple of guest rooms and… Peter's room.

At first when Tony had shown Peter his room, he'd been confused. He asked Tony what the room was for, and only when the older man gave him that you're-so-clueless-its-annoying look did Peter realize what he had just gotten.

"No! I can't take this. It's too much!"

"Please, kid, it's barely anything. I've got so many guest rooms anyway, I might as well let you have one. It's just a place for you to put your stuff when you're here, or if you ever wanted to stay over or whatever."

There had been a pause before Peter ran and hugged Tony, who hugged him back stiffly.

The room was twice the size of his room in Queens, something that had taken some getting used to. The walls were gray, but there was a light blue and yellow motif among the items inside. Unbeknownst to the public, Tony Stark has an eye for home design. In one corner was a bunk bed, Tony had specifically asked Peter about all the furniture and, reluctantly since he felt weird about all the gifts, Peter had told him he liked bunk beds. In the other was his desk, with some old papers and legos he had been tinkering with last time he was here. There were shelves along one wall with all sorts of Lego creations and books and such, and a door that led to his bathroom next to them. On the other side was a large flat screen because when Tony gives gifts, he goes all out. It's a wonder that Morgan wasn't more of a brat. Peter's heart jolted for a moment when he remembered about Morgan, before realizing she was at school right now, anyway.

Once the AcaDeca team settled down and took Peter's suggestion of watching a movie, Peter snuck back into his room. He sat down to catch his breath for a moment, and to think about what he was going to do. He couldn't leave his class up here, and he was sure the Avengers could handle the intruders. They probably already had, and they were still on lockdown just to be safe. Still, he quickly changed into his suit and then pulled his jeans and sweater back on over it. When he walked back out, his class, and his teachers were watching The Incredibles. Ned and MJ looked at him pointedly so he pulled them aside.

"What's going on? Are you going to go down there?" Ned whispered

"I don't know, I want to but I can't leave you guys up here. And Tony probably has it handled already, anyway."

"And if he doesn't?" MJ asked

"He does," she raised her eyebrows at him, "if push comes to shove, I'm wearing my suit under here anyway." He pulled the fabric below his sleeve to show them.

"Right. Ok then," She said, shrugging, "have you got stuff to eat? I'm thinking that despite the 'trauma' people are still going to be hungry."

"Right, yeah… umm." He turned around into the kitchen, "we've got pasta? Popcorn? Poptarts? I don't know…"

"What, is your kitchen alphabetized?" She laughed, as she opened more cabinets "Dude, you've got tons of food here. Ned, go ask what people want."

"On it!" When he left the kitchen, MJ turned to face Peter.

"Hey… are you okay?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm not worried about anyone stupid enough to walk into Stark Industries just like that." She gave him a look.

"No, I know that. I mean everything, all… this." She waved her arms, gesturing to the group of teens trying to decide what to eat. He knew what she was trying to say. His classmates that he had so desperately tried to keep out of his other life all of a sudden we're in his living space, including the dick who just insinuated that he provided sexual favors to the Avengers in order for them to like him.

When he thought about it, however, he realized that the shivering had stopped in the heat of the moment. And he could still hear his heart pounding, but in a real adrenaline way, not his anxiety telling him there was danger. Maybe his senses were warning him in advance. He knew that didn't really make sense, it had never happened before. But he wasn't going to worry about that right now. Ned came back with a list of ideas before Peter could answer MJ's question and once they decided mini pizzas were the way to go, Peter had forgotten all about the question anyway.

Yeah, I know I just said that I like Flash and then made him suck in this chapter but I needed a plot point. At some point I want to write a redemption fic for him. Comments are always appreciated! Byee.