Happy Update Day! The week moves so slow for me when I can only update once. I did post an additional scene to Who Am I? I'm Spider-Man though. It's the extension of the birthday party that some of you wanted. I also posted a fun one-shot called A Day In The Life.

Rjcarreno77 did a great pre-read of this chapter for me, so I can post something I'm happy with. Story V is still slow going, but I think my lifestyle is having an impact on that, too. I have made plans to get my ass in gear for November, though, so hopefully, that'll help. However long it takes, however tough, I will finish this series, though, I promise.

Chapter Three

"You know, I don't like to be kept waiting," Fury said through his teeth as the Chamber of Secrets led into its second hour.

"Shh…" Morgan said. "I'm watching."

Tony smirked and hugged his daughter a little closer. She'd joined them halfway through Sorcerer's Stone, when her home-school session with Pepper was over, and she'd quickly settled between Tony and Rhodey on the couch, her head on Tony's lap and her feet on Rhodey's.

"I'm here on the President's orders," Fury said.

Tony held up a hand. "You heard the kid. She's watching. If you want to talk, we can go into one of the conference rooms and get it done. Obviously, we can't talk about Peter without him here, but you managed with just us as Avengers for years, so you know how it works." He looked around. "Cap, you want to hear what the director has to say to us?"

Steve smirked. "Absolutely. Whatever you need, Director."

"I was sent to speak to you all," Fury said pointedly. "Spider-Man is one of you. And I don't want to have the same conversation twice. I'll wait."

"Fine," Tony said. "Then wait in silence. This is my daughter's home, and she's watching her movie."

Morgan giggled, and Fury glared down at his lap.

Rhodey was concerned about what Fury wanted, especially as it was apparently reliant on Peter being there to hear it. Rhodey wasn't worried that Fury would be able to force Peter to do something he didn't want to because Peter was not the person he met after the battle who would have bowed to Fury's wishes. What he'd done, what he'd been through, had turned a sixteen-year-old kid into a man. Or perhaps it was that he was more than just a man.

Sometimes, when Rhodey looked into Peter's rainbow eyes, he saw more than a person he loved. He saw the ancient power of the Stones in the young face. Other times, Peter would grin or make a silly joke, and he'd be a kid again. Rhodey loved both versions of him and would do anything for him.

Though Rhodey had worried when Peter embraced the Stones and left to travel and explore, he saw now that it was the right thing for him to do as it had made him who he was—perhaps who he was always supposed to be.

They settled into the movie again, Rhodey placing his hand on Morgan's fluffy slipper-encased feet, and relaxing until there was an interruption in the form of Peter appearing out of thin air on the other side of the room. Morgan scrambled up to greet him and scold him for sneaking off without saying goodbye.

"What did you just do?" Fury asked, jumping to his feet.

Peter tried for innocence. "What do you mean? I just got home, Director."

Morgan swung on Peter's hand and said. "Petey can telepork."

"He can teleport," Fury stated. "Like flying wasn't enough. And what happened to your eyes?"

"Contacts," Natasha replied, reaching into her pocket and tossing Peter the contact lens case. He caught it and went to the mirror to remove them, turning back with his familiar rainbow irises shining.

"Thanks, Nat," he said with a grin, then turned his attention to Fury. "What are you doing here, Director?"

"I came because I needed to speak to you all," he said. "And I have been waiting for a long time."

Peter frowned. "How long?"

"Three hours," Fury stated. "And I'm guessing you didn't know I was waiting?"

Before Peter could answer, Steve spoke up. "He was with his friends, so we didn't think it was fair to drag him back. How did it go, Queens?"

"It was great!" Peter said eagerly. "We got the best sandwiches in Queens from Mr. Delmar and hung out at the park. MJ eventually gave me a break and stopped punishing me for ghosting on her, which was a relief. Oh, and she knows I'm Spider-Man."

"A civilian knows about you?" Fury growled.

Peter grinned. "I wouldn't exactly call MJ a civilian, not to her face anyway. But yeah, she knows. She figured it out ages ago, apparently. She's got no idea about the Stones, though, and I don't plan on telling her. If she knew…" A small line formed between his eyes. "She'd want me to do more, I think, and I'm not sure how I can. Do you know what's happening to many of The Returned? They've come back to no homes, no jobs, families falling apart. It's crazy. And the government isn't doing anywhere near enough to help them. It's so messed up."

Fury cleared his throat. "As interesting as this is, I have already spent more time here than I planned. I come on behalf of the President, and I need to speak to you all privately."

Tony assessed him a moment and then said, "Maguna, you want to go finish the movie with Momma? We've got to talk about some boring grown-up stuff here."

"Can Petey come?" she asked, fixing a pleading look on her brother.

"I need to speak to Spider-Man, too," Fury interjected.

"Sorry, Mo," Peter said. "I guess I'm an honorary grown-up today, so I have to talk boring stuff, too. I'll come find you for dinner, though."

Morgan pouted but gave Peter a brief hug and left the room, her footsteps plodding. Peter dropped into her former spot between Tony and Rhodey.

Tony ruffled Peter's hair, earning him a scowl, and then he turned his attention to Fury and said, "So, what do you want?"

"I am here because I was sent by the President," Fury said, then paused as if waiting for a reaction from them. Receiving none, he went on. "He has a job for you."

"Do we need to save the world again?" Tony asked. "Because we're still kinda tired from the last time we did it. Maybe send someone else."

Fury narrowed his visible eye. "The kid wasn't wrong about The Returned. People are not settling happily into their old lives. The President and his advisors believe we need something to bring their focus back to the positives of what happened instead of just the negative consequences."

"The positives?" Peter asked, his tone mild but his eyes narrowed.

Fury nodded. "The positives being that they are back. We want you to present yourselves for a press conference and award ceremony. All that were involved in the Battle of Earth, as they're calling it, need to accept the accolades for what they did in order to boost public morale."

Tension in the room ratcheted up, but Peter was the first to speak. "So basically, and correct me if I'm wrong, you want the Avengers to line up and get gold stars for saving the world to remind people that they all could have died so should be grateful for what they got instead of what they're missing—which are basic human rights?"

Fury glared at him a moment. "That's not the slant I'd have put on it, but essentially, yes. We want to show people what they do have."

"Ahhh." Peter nodded. "In that case, boy, am I glad I'm not an Avenger since that sounds like a load of crap."

Tony nudged his shoulder. "Hey, kid, you're an Avenger. Are you forgetting our little ceremony in the depths of space? I made you one of us."

"Yeah, then you cinched in when you saved the universe," Steve added.

Peter looked pleased, but he quickly turned his attention back to Fury and said, "In that case, as an Avenger, I'm saying no. I'm not lining up for my gold star—"

"Medal of Honor," Fury interjected.

"Sure, that too," Peter said dismissively. "But it's still a hard no from me. People need real help, not a guilt trip on what could have happened to stop them complaining now."

"Agreed," Tony said, and the others in the room nodded and murmured agreement.

"I'm not going to stand up and smile for the cameras if people are suffering," Wanda stated. "I saw enough of that in my home country."

"I will not have a part of it," Vision added.

Fury looked from face to face, his scowl deepening, and then a glint came into his eye, and he said, "You know, this could be your way to create change."

"How?" Rhodey asked.

"Well, you'd be on stage with the President and representatives of the United Nations, and you have influence. If you speak to them, they will listen. After all, the world owes you a debt."

Tony snorted. "Not for the first time. We've been owed before, but that was forgotten, and we were landed with the Accords that tore us apart and put shackles on us."

"Some of us were hunted for two years," Steve added.

Fury's eyes moved between Tony, Rhodey, Vision, and Natasha. "You were happy to sign those Accords, and it was not without good reason. Are you forgetting Ultron?"

"No," Tony growled. "I will never forget Ultron. I know what I did."

"We did," Bruce corrected.

Tony shot him a small smile and then went on. "I accept the blame for Ultron; that was my fault completely. I learned from it, changed and accepted the responsibility that came with it. I signed the Accords because I thought we needed to be overseen. I proved that with Ultron. Also, I didn't want to be forced to retire and leave the world vulnerable to the threat I knew would come. The threat came."

Peter leaned closer to his side, a small line between his eyes, and Tony put an arm around him.

"The threat came," Fury agreed. "And you defeated it together, eventually."

"No," Bucky said. "Peter did. The rest of us were just doing our best not to die.

"And if Queens doesn't want a part of this, none of us do," Steve added.

Fury smirked. "I thought you of all people would want this, Rogers. You too, Sergeant Barnes. You have the most to gain, after all."

Steve looked suspicious. "How do you work that out?"

"Well, Sergeant Barnes is currently on the good side of the President, following events in Wakanda and here, but he's still vulnerable to the United Nations' opinions."

Peter leaned forward and spoke in a growl that sounded a lot like Power was seeping through. "Bucky was part of the reason Thanos was defeated. If the United Nations aren't happy with him, they can go to hell."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "He was, and President Ellis sees that. What I am saying is that, with the weight of the United States and Avengers behind him, President Ellis would be able to grant him a full pardon for his crimes as the Winter Soldier which would be accepted by the United Nations."

Bucky and Steve exchanged a look, and Bucky's lips pressed into a thin line.

"Changed your mind, Sergeant?" Fury asked.

"No," Bucky said. "I'm still not doing it unless Peter wants to."

Peter sagged back and bit his lip. Rhodey could see the battle being waged in him. If he did this, they all would, and Bucky would get his pardon. But they would also be publicly putting their support behind Ellis. Peter had arranged for him to take power again with what he'd done to Ross, but that didn't mean he agreed with him politically—he clearly didn't agree with his treatment of The Returned.

"Queens?" Steve prompted, though he looked uncomfortable, too.

Peter nodded, a distant look in his eyes. "I'm sixteen," he said eventually. "Sure, I've got the Stones, but I'm essentially powerless in the real world. I can't make a difference in the lives of other people that came back. But…" He glanced around the room at them all. "You guys can. If anyone does want to do this, you could weight it in your favor as… advisors."

Tony chuckled. "Smart, Pete."

"What are you suggesting?" Fury asked, his cunning eye narrowed and fixed on Peter.

Peter turned to Tony. "Before Thanos, you were working on changing the Accords to ease the restrictions and bring the others back, right?"

Tony chanced a glance at Steve and nodded. "I was."

"You were?" Steve asked, eyes wide. "Why?"

"Not because my feelings had changed back then, Cap," Tony said. "But because I knew that a big fight was coming, and I wanted people able to face it when it did. What are you thinking, Pete?"

"You're used to dealing with politicians and bureaucracy; you know that world. Do you think your voices are enough to be heard to make real change happen?"

Tony considered a moment and then said, "Honestly, I don't know. Ellis isn't exactly a strong personality or leader. He had Ross to all his dirty work as Secretary of State. He'd have to stand on his own two feet and make the decisions."

"He can do that," Fury growled. "Spider-Man isn't the only one that came back different."

"Technically, I didn't come back different. It's because of the…" Peter began, and then shrugged and said, "Okay, sure. Back on topic. Do you really think Ellis can make the changes if he had people helping?"

"He can," Fury said. "He's starting already. Don't forget, kid, it's not been that long since you spirited Ross away to outer space, giving Ellis a chance to step back in."

Peter looked around. "I don't know about this stuff. I know you've all got powerful voices, and we've got a chance, but… What do you think, Rhodey?"

Rhodey was surprised that Peter was asking him, out of them all, but perhaps it was something to do with his military career. Peter might believe Rhodey knew the facets of power in a way the others didn't. Technically, he wasn't wrong. Many of them had followed orders in their work—Bucky, Steve, Sam, and Natasha—but Rhodey had stayed with it, even with the superhero thing. He knew how facets of power worked.

And he did think they had a chance to create change. Ellis was back in power and building his reputation and support base. Perhaps they could lead him to make the right changes by using their influence to support him. If he didn't do right, they could use their voices to stand against him. Public opinion for the Avengers had never been stronger than it was now, so Ellis would do a lot to keep their support.

"You know, I think it could work," he said, and then shot Fury an assessing look. "We can use our voices and influence to support Ellis while he makes these changes, and we can do the opposite if he doesn't step up."

"Is that a threat, Colonel Rhodes?" Fury asked.

"Nope," Peter said before Rhodey could answer. "It's a fact. Everyone here—those that have actual influence anyway, not me, obviously—can use those voices for good, but they can't be misused by other people. You could say all the right things to us, but if you and Ellis don't follow through, then it's obvious that they're going to change what they're saying."

Tony gave Peter a surprised look and then smirked, clearly as pleased with Peter's careful and impressive wording as Rhodey was.

"What do you think?" Peter asked, looking around the room. "It's down to all of you, not me. I think that we can turn this whole pony show into something good for a lot of people if you're publicly on the side of the changes. I'll happily stand up and get my gold star—" he winked at Fury, who looked unamused "—if you all do."

"I'm in," Steve said. "Queens is right. We can influence changes now in a way we never have been able to before. We're not just soldiers now. We have a real voice."

"For more than high school PSAs?" Peter asked with a smirk, which made Steve's eye widen and Tony snort.

"PSAs?" Bucky asked.

"Never mind that," Steve said quickly. "What do the rest of you think?"

"I'm with you, Steve," Sam said. "We can do good with this."

Fury looked from face to face, receiving nods and murmurs of agreement in return, finally coming to Tony, who was grinning at him.

"What?" Tony asked. "You think I'm going to hold back on the genius plan my kid came up with? I'm in. But… I will take back my support if the right changes don't happen. I'm not going to be anyone's mouthpiece when the rest of the country are being let down."

Fury stared at him. "I can't make this deal on Ellis' behalf, but I'll speak to him and see what he says. I don't see it being a problem, though. He does want to do these things for the country already; he's just not had a chance to actually put his plans into action. I'll speak to him and get back to you. If he's in agreement, I will arrange the press conference to be held here next week." He fixed his glare on Peter. "But you've got to be there, too, kid. We need your influence."

"Uh, what influence?" Peter asked. "Sure, I did what I did, but no one really knows about that. And I'm still not an Avenger in the eyes of the world. No one is going to care what I think?"

"You didn't see the news this morning, Spider-Man?" Fury asked. "Why do you think I'm here? The coverage has spread to other channels. People are talking about you. You're a new generation of superhero with a clean record. You had no part in or Sokovia or Lagos, but you were on the battlefield facing Thanos' army. You're one of the people we need most of all."

Peter considered, brow furrowed. "Okay, sure, but you know I am not going to do anything to publicize the Stones or my snap, and I'm not showing up as Peter Parker. You get me as Spider-Man, in the mask, or you don't get me at all. I'm not giving up my identity or the truth about the Stones."

"Why not?" Fury asked.

Peter rolled his eyes. "You know what happened to Pepper with Extremis, right? People in the public eye are targeted, and their families are part of that. Sure, my family are all in this building now, and most of them are superheroes, but one of them has already been targeted because of me. A gun was trained on Morgan multiple times because Ross wanted me obedient. She was four-years-old and could have died because of me."

"No, Pete," Tony said. "Because of Ross. And you saved her life, even though it destroyed yours."

Peter gave him a small smile. "That's my point, though—Morgan could have died. I've still got friends out there that are vulnerable. If people knew who and what I am, I could be targeted, which means the people I care about could be at risk." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You get me in the mask, or you don't get me at all, Director. And you have to swear never to tell anyone about the Stones."

Fury stared at him, assessing, then nodded and said, his tone carefree though his face showed disappointment. "If that's what you want, that's fine. It's Spider-Man we need anyway, not Peter Parker, and not the Infinity Stones."

"Then you've got me," Peter said happily.

"You've got all of us," Steve added.

"Good," Fury said. "I'll be in touch." He got to his feet and made for the door.

"Hold on," Natasha called after him. "What about me and Vision? We're supposed to be dead. How can we show our faces?"

Fury stopped and turned. "You'll come up with something. I want you all up there, newly resurrected included. Maybe we can say your deaths were falsely reported, or that your particular deaths—linked to the Stones—were reversed by the second snap. Figure it out."

He carried on out of the room, letting the door swing closed behind him, and Peter gave a shaky laugh.

"Something funny, Spider-Man?" Tony asked in a poor approximation of Fury's voice.

Peter grinned. "Yeah. I was thinking about MJ. She spent a full hour today telling me all about the aftermath of the Blip and the plight of the people that came back. If this actually works, if you can really make changes and things get better, she might stop being pissed at me for ghosting on her."

"Sure, and then we'll tell her about your part in it, and she'll be helpless to refuse you when you ask her on a date," Tony said.

Peter scowled. "It's not like that with MJ."

Tony snorted. "Pete, I spent a year listening to you rambling about that girl, how she smiled at you, laughed at your joke, called you a loser. You're sold on her."

Peter shook his head. "Maybe I was once, but not anymore. Really, Tony, I've got the Stones now. Romance is not going to be part of my life anymore." He got to his feet and said, "I figure I've got an hour or so before Mo comes looking for me for dinner, so I'm going to head into the city to patrol for a while."

Tony frowned, then gathered himself and smiled. "Okay, sure. Have fun."

Peter waved and strolled out of the room.

"Romance is over?" Tony said when Peter was out of earshot. "He's sixteen years old. What the hell kind of life is that?"

"Not necessarily a bad one," Steve said. "Definitely a different one. He is right, though. His life isn't ever going to be what it should have been. He doesn't seem upset about it, which is good. I think his time away, all that action with the Stones, gave him a different outlook on life to us."

Tony rubbed his chin. "Yeah, maybe it did. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. He's my kid; I want him to have all the experiences life has to offer, including love and romance. I don't like to think that's out of the question because of the Stones."

"I don't know," Bruce said thoughtfully. "Endless travel in space, time, and all realities and dimensions isn't a bad trade-off to me."

"Nor me," Sam said.

"It is to me," Wanda said, leaning her head on Vision's shoulder.

Rhodey shook his head. He was with Tony on this. He wanted Peter to have as normal a life as possible. But he also thought Peter was right that it wasn't an option anymore. How could he have love or marriage if he was going to live forever and no one else would?

He thought that part of life being over another of the sacrifices Peter was going to have to make because he was worthy.

So… Spider-Man is going public. What do you think? I asked for opinions about this when I was posting With Great Power, and I thought I'd decided that Peter would stay out of the spotlight, but I came to a different decision when I was planning this story. Peter will keep his identity secret, I promise, but he's going to get some of the recognition some of you—and I—feel he deserves.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx