The avengers had slowly migrated to situate themselves around the chairs and couches in the common area. Around the semi-circle formed by the furniture, the team had sat in smaller groups.
Vision and Wanda sat at one end, curled up together. Next to them sat Steve, Bucky, Sam, and then Natasha. They talked quietly. Pillowing his head on Natasha's stomach was Clint, staring at his phone. Thor sat next to Bruce, speaking loudly as usual. After them sat Rhodey, Peter, and then Tony. Rhodey and Tony were engaged in a conversation regarding Stark Industries, and Peter was content to curl into his father-figure's chest.
Eventually, Peter was pulled back into reality after hearing his name in a conversation. It seemed Natasha was contemplating his powers.
"I wonder what Peter can really do. We've seen him in action a little bit, but I wonder if he has hidden talents we don't know about."
Steve hummed, nodding. "And then when he was talking about the sensory overload this morning, he mentioned being bitten by a spider? Is that how he got his powers?"
Bucky grunted, acknowledging Steve's question. "Think so."
Peter sat up, rubbing his eyes. Tony stopped what he was saying to Rhodey to ask Peter if he was okay.
"Yeah, I'm good. I could hear Miss Natasha and Steve talking about me."
Peter's words were anything but loud, but they caught the attention of the rest of the occupants of the room's attention. Their heads turned to him.
The teenager shifted, but didn't hide his face like he wanted to.
"Uh...I guess you guys have questions, then?" Peter addressed the group, rubbing his neck.
No one said anything for a few seconds, until, surprisingly, Bucky spoke up.
"You said something about a spider bite?"
"Oh, yeah. That's how I got my powers. I was on a field trip to Oscorp Industries. My, uh…friend's dad owned the company, so he convinced me and my friends to leave the tour group. He pushed me into a room with genetically-enhanced spiders, and one bit me. I woke up the next morning with abs. It was an...interesting morning, to say the least," Peter smiled slightly at the end.
The group listened, intrigued.
Natasha asked next. "What abilities did the spider give you?"
"Uh, well. Enhanced senses; hearing, smell, sight, the whole shah-bang. Healing factor, which also means enhanced metabolism. And you guys know I stick. Grew hairs on my fingers and feet. Uh, got a lot of muscles, too. That was nice."
Natasha nodded, seemingly satisfied, content to let the rest of the group ask the questions.
Sam's voiced carried across the couch. "How'd you know the delivery guy was here yesterday? That was freaky. You a magician now or something?"
Peter laughed, and he could feel Tony shaking slightly with mirth behind him.
"No, definitely not that talented. I forgot to mention it. I have this kind of...sixth-sense? My friend Ned named it my spider-sense. The name kind of stuck. It warns me of danger or stuff of that sort. Sometimes it warns me about random things, or doesn't warn me at all. It's kind of annoying sometimes, but it's saved my life millions of times."
Sam nodded, impressed. "That's pretty cool, kid."
"Boy of spiders! Do the webs come out of you?" Thor boomed randomly, making Peter jump.
"Oh, no. I have web shooters. The webs are chemically-synthesized."
Tony spoke up. "Don't let this kid fool you. He's a genius. That chemical formula? He made it. I've tried recreating it; the results were less than stellar. And he made the web shooters, too. This kid can keep up with me and Bruce in the lab, or in scientific conversation. Doesn't give himself enough credit." Tony mumbled the last part.
Looking over to Peter, they could see his face was bright red, but he was smiling dopily.
Tony only grinned and pulled the boy closer to his side.
After watching a few more movies, Steve and Wanda went to the kitchen to make dinner. Peter left to get a shower while the rest of the team started to play a video game.
From his bathroom, Peter could hear faint yelling, and couldn't help laughing. He finished up quickly, eager for food.
As he stepped into the kitchen, Peter almost started drooling. Wanda and Steve had made lasagna.
He turned to see most of the group spread out at the table and counter. Peter hurried to his seat at the counter. He watched as Tony came in, automatically getting a cup of coffee. Tony reached for a mug, and a hum started at the base of Peter's skull.
Peter shot out of his seat and grabbed the mug before it could fall from Tony's fingertips. Tony sucked in a surprised breath, but recovered quickly.
"Thanks Petey, saved my favorite mug," Tony said, patting Peter's back. Peter sat down, finally noticing the stares from the rest of the team.
"Dang, spidey. Was that the sense?" Clint ended the stunned silence.
"Uh, yeah. It was," Peter mumbled bashfully. The rest of the group laughed amusedly.
Peter was saved from further teasing as Steve and Wanda placed the dishes on the table. They ate, and dinner passed by smoothly.
Eventually, Tony ushered Peter to his room to sleep. Peter bid him a sleepy good night, and flopped onto his bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Tony, following Peter's example, made his way to his own room down the hall.
Peter swung along between buildings, feeling the rush of web-slinging. The serenity of New York was unusual, but welcome to the teen.
The quiet of the city was interrupted by two sounds Peter was extremely familiar with. The sound of the repulsors of the Iron Man suit...and the tell-tale whoosh and whir of the Vulture wingsuit.
He whipped his head upward to see the two engaged in an aerial fight. The light of Tony's repulsors seemed brighter than normal as they fired at the wingsuit.
Peter watched the fight continue. As the Vulture came closer to Tony, Peter saw the wingsuit morph into the iconic red, white, and blue suit of Captain America.
Vulture-now-turned-Cap gained on Tony, and raised his shield. Peter could only watch in paralyzed horror as the shield slammed into the arc reactor, immediately cutting off the suit's power.
Peter stared for a frozen second as Tony was suspended in the air, before he plummeted. He tried to cry out, but no noise vibrated through his vocal cords. His body was rooted to his spot on top of a building as he watched his mentor, his father, drop into the river below.
Peter awoke with a scream. His chest heaved as he shot up in bed. The sheets were wrapped tightly around him, and Peter struggled to free himself from them. Friday's voice rang out above him.
"Are you alright, Peter? Shall I alert Mr. Stark?"
Still out of breath, Peter replied. "N-no, Fri. I'm o-okay."
"Very well."
Peter sat against the headboard, trying to will the images out of his mind. After a completely unsuccessful half an hour, Peter huffed.
Resigned, Peter stood, pulling his fluffiest blanket around his shoulders. He opened his door and carefully walked down the hall. Friday had been nice enough to dimly light the hallway so Peter could see.
"Thanks, Friday," Peter whispered.
Peter paused outside of Tony's door, contemplating. His need to see his father-figure safe won over his irrational nervousness.
He pushed open the door, wincing when it creaked. The sound awakened the figure in the bed, and Tony sat up groggily. His eyes widened when he saw who was in his room.
"Pete?" Tony whispered frantically, jumping out of bed. He hurried over to the teen, taking notice to his tear-stained cheeks and slight shivers. Tony grabbed Peter's arms, gently pulling him over to his bed.
"What's wrong, baby? Are you okay?" He asked softly.
Peter hesitated, before deflating. Fresh tears made their way down his cheeks as he buried his face in the older man's chest.
"I had a n-nightmare," he whispered.
Tony tugged the boy closer, stroking his hair.
"Do you want to talk about it, Petey?" He asked softly.
Peter let out a short breath of air.
"I was web-slinging a-and then I looked up and you were fighting the V-vulture. Then he turned into S-steve and smashed the suit and you f-fell and-" Peter stopped abruptly, shuddering.
"Oh, Bambi," Tony sighed. He pulled the teenager into his lap, continuing to stroke his hair. "Baby, I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here, okay? I'm safe, and so are you. No need to cry, sweetheart."
Tony continued to mumble assurances into Peter's hair-line until the boy let out a small yawn.
"Let's go to sleep, yeah? We'll be okay, Petey," Tony slowly fell backward, bringing the pliant teen with him.
"Please don't leave, Dad," Peter spoke into the man's collarbone.
"I won't Bambi, I'm right here. I'll never leave you," Tony murmured. "I love you, baby."
"I love you too, Dad."
And they fell asleep, tucked into one another like two pieces of a puzzle.
i honestly do not think it's possible to express how freaking sorry i am! these past few weeks have been really rough. what with the semester ending and then finals. ugh. awful stuff, i tell you. anyway, it took a lot of determination to get this done. i hope it's okay! thank you soooooooooo much for reading and sticking with this crap.
if you have any suggestions or questions, or just feel like sending me a message, please do so!
love you guys!
djooo