It had been a long week at school after all the excitement from the weekend. Peter wasn't fortunate enough that the bullet wound was healed by the time he had to go back but Tony had given his Aunt May a well fabricated story about pulling a muscle while helping him in the lab. In return May sent him with a letter excusing him from any physical activity.
Ned had bombarded him with so many questions that Peter had to really watch himself for spilling what actually happened.
By the end of the week though his stomach felt much better and he was excited to get back on the streets and help people.
What he hadn't counted on was a sleek black car sitting in front of the school, with Tony's personal driver standing beside it.
Ned almost ripped his arm off when he noticed it as well.
"Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod." Ned chanted. "Is that for you? Wow! Ohmygod. Peter, peter, you have to send me a ton of pictures!"
Peter frowned at his friend.
"I am not sure what Happy is doing here Ned, maybe he isn't here to take me to the tower." He admitted but Ned wasn't hearing him. He was to busy vibrating with excitement.
Peter swallowed his own nerves and approached Happy. He hadn't officially met the man, but he knew who he was.
"Hello, Mr. Hogan, sir. I'm Peter. Peter Parker? Are you here for me? I didn't know Mr. Stark wanted me to come back this weekend. How …."
Happy Hogan didn't like kids, and this one had him irritated already with his non-stop chattering. Still he had his orders so he raised a hand to silence the teen.
"Just get in the car kid. I have instructions to make sure you get it to Stark tower, not to listen to the monolog of your insecurities!" He snapped.
Peter flinched at the tone but didn't take any offence. He knew he was hard on the nerves some time.
"Sorry Mr. Hogan. I'll try to keep it to a short form." He muttered. He gave Ned a wave good bye then hopped into the back of the car.
The drive was quiet, mostly because Happy kept the divider up so Peter didn't feel inclined to talk to him.
Peter was so excited to see Stark tower that he quickly forgot about the awkward car ride.
The teen practically skipped out of the back seat to the elevator. Happy let him go and disappeared at the first chance he got.
Peter stepped into the elevator.
"Hello Peter," FRIDAY greeted.
"Hey FRIDAY! How are you feeling after that tech attack last weekend?" Peter asked in concern.
"All my systems have been restored and the Boss took some time to upgrade the towers defences so there won't be a repeat of the attack."
"Oh, that's good! I am glad you are back to your ol' self!"
"Shall I take you to the Avengers training room? That is where the Boss is waiting."
"Yes please!" Peter squealed. He happily bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for the elevator doors to open. Once they did, he wanted them to close again, quickly.
Tony Stark was waiting for him, but so were the rest of the Avengers. Peter shrunk back as all eyes turned towards him.
He had met them briefly when he was bed-ridden with his gun shot wound but outside that hour and a half he hadn't been around them. Plus, they knew his secret, which he was still trying to come to terms with.
"Hey Pete!" Tony called. Peter gave a small wave but made no move to leave the elevator. Tony seemed to catch on to the nervous flicker in the kid's eyes, so he made it a point to walk over and throw a casual arm across his shoulders. "No need to be anxious kiddo, everyone really wanted to see you again. And if you are feeling up to it Steve thought you could join us for some training sessions."
That sparked the excitement again.
"Really? I can train with you guys! That is amazing!"
"How is the wound?" Natasha demanded abruptly.
Peter flinched but quickly lifted his shirt to show her the light pick scar where the bullet had gone in. She studied it for a moment then offered him a small smile.
"Good. I am glad you are better Baby-spider, that way I don't have to feel bad for pushing you today! If you are going to be interning for Tony and swinging around the city on your own, you need serious improvements to your defences."
"And your suit!" Tony added.
Peter blushed a deep red but didn't argue with them. They had a point.
"So, I believe you have met everyone, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce. Thor isn't here at the moment, but I will introduce you when he gets back." Tony said pointing to each one. Peter gave them each a little wave. "Guys, you remember Peter Parker of course, aka Spider-man."
"Glad to see you on your feet again Peter," Bruce offered.
"Thanks," Peter said.
Peter barely got the words out when his spidey-sense went off and he jumped up and clung to the ceiling. Cap shield bounced off the wall where he had been standing.
"How does that sixth sense of yours work?" He asked with a smirk.
Peter grinned back.
Training turned out to be a rough day. Peter spent a couple hours with every Avenger, each one testing a certain aspect of his skill set.
Steve worked on his strategic planning, Natasha took him through hand to hand combat, Clint had his hands full with his aim, Tony went over the new suit and web shooters he had planned, Bucky went over field prep and emergency planning, and Bruce walked him through a complete analysis of his genetic makeup which included his limits and how his current powers worked.
It was two in the morning when they finally called the quits and Peter look thoroughly exhausted but happy. No one had ever invested that much time in him outside of his Aunt.
"Hey, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked as they took the elevator down a floor to the billionaire's personal quarters. Apparently, he moved Peter's room to his floor, two doors down from his and Pepper's own master bedroom. That way he could keep an eye on the kid, since Pepper demanded assurances on the kid's safety.
"What's up kid?"
"Thank you," Peter said sincerely, "It really does mean a lot that you gave me a chance to be a part of this!"
"No thanks needed kid," Tony said waving a hand, "You proved yourself when you stepped up to those terrorists! You didn't need to protect Pepper, you didn't need to stop those men from taking the weapons, but you did and that shows me you have heart!"
Peter was happy to hear Tony praise him.
For once he slept the entire night without a single nightmare to wake him up.
A few weeks went by and Peter got into the rhythm of his new life. Every other weekend he spent at Stark tower was with the Avengers for training (if they were around), then on Tuesdays and Thursdays he went to help Tony in his lab.
On top of that and school he found time to do at least a couple hours of patrolling every night. He was tired but happy for the first time since he lost Ben.
It wasn't his increased Spider-man presence though that was getting all the attention. It was his presence at Stark tower. The rumors of Tony's new intern spread like wildfire, which only intensified when Peter started using the main entrance on Tuesday and Thursdays.
A few employees knew him from the interview process but most just knew him as Stark's errand boy. The fact he would do jobs for the CEO Pepper Pots, and that he would often be seen taking the special elevator to Tony's personal lab made him an object of both admiration and jealousy.
Peter was often too busy to pay any attention to the looks he would get in the main building, but it was on a Thursday when his spidey-sense started buzzing and he suspected that some one was more then just annoyed with him.
As he looked around, he didn't see an immediate source for the warning system to go off, but he trusted that something wasn't right.
As the feeling stayed with him for several hours he jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder as he attempted to repair an internal component of one of Ironman's suits.
"Easy kid! Just me!" Tony stated with a smile.
"Sorry, spidey-sense is a little temperamental tonight. Can't seem to shake it."
"Probably because you are tired! It's ten o'clock already! Your Aunt is going to freak if you don't get home! Want me to get Happy to drive you?"
"No!" Peter stated quickly and firmly. He wasn't about to deny Happy his one night off that week. "It's fine, I can get there myself."
Tony didn't seem convinced.
"How about I drive you?" He asked. Peter gave him a smirk.
"It's fine Mr. Stark, I was hoping to swing home on my own." He stated. Tony caught the swing pun quick enough and grinned back
"Alright, alright! Text me when your back in your spider-crib so I don't send Natasha out after you!"
Peter bleached. If Tony was a bit over protective it was nothing compared to the Mama-bear that was the Russian Assassin. She put an all new spin on the term Helicopter-parent.
"Yup. I will do that! Have a good night Mr. Stark!"
Peter tossed his bookbag packed with books and one Spider-man suit over his shoulder and took the elevator down to the main entrance. There were still a few employees coming and going even at that late hour.
The teen said good bye to the Security officer Sean at the elevator before exiting through the scanners, he was followed by a female scientist by the name of Cindy and male electrical technician that he had seen many times before but did not know his name.
"Your putting in some late hours Peter," Cindy commented to him with a smile.
"You know how it is, once you get into something you can blink, and half the day is gone!"
"That is true! Have a good night Peter." She broke away and headed for the parking lot. The man followed him to the bus stop.
They stood in silence for a long moment, Peter's spidey-sense didn't stop buzzing so he shifted nervously as he looked around. He caught the man's eye for a brief moment. The man smiled at him.
"So, you must be the infamous Peter everyone has been talking about," he said. Peter tried to laugh it off but as on edge as he was it came out more forced then he intended. "My name is Mark."
"Hey," Peter greeted. Suddenly his spidey-sense spiked, and Peter swung around just in time to see a black van barreling towards them. The teen jumped back as it screeched to a halt, half on the curb. He was so focused on the van he didn't register Mark until a needle was jammed into his neck from behind.
He didn't know what was in the syringe, but it overtook his system faster then his healing factor could combat it. As his body went limp, he dropped his book bag and fell with a dull thump to the ground.
"Come on Scarlotti! Grab the brat and let's get out of here before Stark knows his little pet is gone!"
Peter had heard the words, but his body just wouldn't work. Hands grabbed his arms and legs and he felt himself be tossed into the back of the van.
A few moments later not even his mind would work, and everything went dark.
