Peter found it all hilarious when Spencer told him about it later. The two were out on patrol, which was really an excuse for Spencer to fully test out this new suit, and they'd stopped off at a rooftop to get a bite to eat and talk. With their masks rolled up to their noses, the two were happily eating some hot dogs that Peter had grabbed for them. While they ate, Spencer explained what Tony had told him about the suit, as well as the whole scenario at the end.
"Yeah, welcome to Tony Stark, man," Peter said, grinning before taking a bite of his hot dog. He only half-chewed it before he spoke again, making Spencer wince a bit. "He's a whole lot nicer than the world likes to make him out to be, and he's got a soft spot for kids."
It was on the tip of Spencer's tongue to point out – yet again – that he wasn't actually a kid. Just barely did he manage to hold back. Whether or not he was a kid didn't really matter. The fact was, he looked like one, and that was probably enough for anyone. Spencer sighed and picked up the next hotdog. "Yes, well, Jim seemed to find it all hilarious. He's been calling himself Uncle Jim all evening, and he shouted out to be 'be good with your brother, now!' when I left tonight."
That last part Spencer had mainly said just because he knew the pleasure Peter would get out of it. Sure enough, he felt the boy's happiness, and he got to enjoy the way his cheeks tinted under the edge of his mask.
Any other conversation was cut off then when Peter's head suddenly snapped up. Spencer went still and waited as Peter listened to whatever it was that only he could hear. In the next second the teen was shoving the last of his hotdog in his mouth and climbing to his feet while pulling his mask down. "Are you ready to really test out that suit?"
"What do we have?" Spencer asked, pushing to stand up as well while rolling his mask back down. There was a readiness in his body that wouldn't have been there weeks ago. A sort of comfort in what they were about to do that Spencer was continuously surprised by.
What they apparently had was a rather violent mugging. One that the two of them happily broke up. Once the woman was safe and the mugger was webbed up – and Peter's AI, Karen, had made a call to the police for him – the two teens moved on.
It was a pretty routine night for them. Something that made Spencer want to laugh, really. Since when had all this become routine? Following Peter through the city, watching, helping. More and more lately he found himself unable to just sit back and watch. He had to help. He had to do something. It wasn't quite the same as the work he did back home; it felt good, though. Helping people had always been something that Spencer wanted to do. Something he needed to do. Doing patrols with Peter gave him that.
The night was going pretty well, too. Right up until they came across a group of men terrorizing a young boy.
The things that Spencer had seen out here with Peter had made him angry plenty of times; how could they not? Muggings, attempted rapes, violent attacks – there was so much violence. But this? This was different.
It was Spencer who sensed the problem first this time. He didn't hear it, the way that Peter did, or catch sight of something weird. No – he felt it. They were flying past one of the emptier, rougher parts of the city, when Spencer was almost knocked off his board by a wave of absolute terror. The only thing that helped him keep his feet was the grip he kept from the board to his feet. Spencer was thankful for it as he forced himself to come to a rather rapid stop, jerking him in place. His eyes were already scanning the area around him in the hopes of finding whatever had felt like that.
He heard Peter's webs as the teen swung back towards him. A second later, the board dipped a little with Peter's landing, and then one of his hands was on Spencer's shoulder. "What is it?"
The terror grew stronger and Spencer's heart started to pound harder and harder in his chest in a familiar flash of 'run, run, run!' that could flood a body. Flight or fight, and flight had definitely been triggered.
Spencer focused on it as best he could, battling to keep them separate enough for him to function. Then, with no warning to Peter, he shot off in the direction of that terror. The closer they got, the better able he was to feel it, and the better he could direct them.
They were most of the way to the ground when Peter must've been able to hear something to go with it. He tensed even more against Spencer's back and got that familiar blend of sadness and anger that he always got at violence.
What they found when they got close made Spencer seethe. There were at least twelve different men, all looking to be between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five, at the most, and all dressed in gang colors. A group of tough guys looking to cause some sort of trouble. They'd found that trouble in the shape of one young boy, who looked no more than nine. The boy was pressed up against the alley wall, a plastic bag in one hand and another bag ripped apart on the ground. These adults were actually laughing as they sifted through the groceries this kid had obviously been bringing home. Someone was even opening up the juice to drink it!
More than anything else, though, Spencer's attention narrowed in on the weapon in one of their hands, the knife. Even as he noticed it, he heard Karen telling Peter "I detect at least ten different guns and multiple knives. Would you like me to call for backup?"
"No, Karen," Peter said quickly. "We got this."
Yes, they did. Spencer pushed his platform faster so that the two tore through the alley in a flash of light right above all their heads. He felt Peter jump off halfway and knew the other teen would be going to the wall to give himself the best vantage point. That was fine. Spencer focused on what he was doing, turning himself around at the end of the alley. He was satisfied to see that they'd managed to catch everyone's attention. The men were all looking up as Spencer shot forward until he was right over top of them. Then, just above their heads, he let the platform vanish and dropped.
The guys startled back, just like Spencer had hoped, letting Spencer land right in front of the boy. Immediately, he shifted his stance into a defensive one, putting himself right between them and the kid. "Hasn't anyone told you it's not nice to pick on kids?" Spencer asked them. On the inside, he tried not to groan. Dammit, he'd been spending too much time with Peter! For some reason the other teen couldn't help his sass and the need to be a smart-ass when around bad guys. It would seem that trait was rubbing off on Spencer. Then again, Spencer's unfiltered mouth had often been what got him in trouble back when he'd actually been a teenager.
One of the men at the front of the group recovered before the others. He took a step forward, and the others let him. Clearly he was the leader of this little group, then. Though not a smart one. The very first thing he said was "Get outta here, freak. This don't concern you."
"I don't know," Peter called out, climbing down the wall just enough to become visible. "Group of thugs, picking on kids. Call me crazy but I tend to get unhappy when I come across things like that."
There were a few murmured whispers of 'Spiderman!' that had Spencer wanting to roll his eyes a little. It never failed to amaze him when they came across people that were actually scared of Spiderman. Spencer couldn't understand it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he knew the kid inside, had seen him half asleep and about as scary as a box of puppies.
More than the fear a few felt, though, there was anger, and there was a sick sort of glee that had Spencer's stomach churning. These guys were spoiling for a fight. They weren't going to let them out of here without it. Before that happened, Spencer had to make sure the kid got out of here. They couldn't let him get caught in the middle of this.
"You really think we're scared of a couple'a kids?" he heard one of the guys ask.
It wasn't Peter's voice that answered, though. "If you had any brains, you would be." A new voice chimed in. Spencer shifted his weight, automatically moving to protect the boy at his back, even as his eyes darted upwards. He found someone standing on a nearby fire escape… holding a bow and arrow? The man was tall, blond, and was smirking at the assholes he had his arrow aimed at. "Something tells me you guys aren't exactly heavy in the brains department, though. So, if you're not scared of them, you should at least be scared of me."
Above Spencer's head, he heard Peter breathe out "Hawkeye"
Oh, so that's who that was. Spencer logged that little bit of information away for later. For the moment, he focused mainly on backing up a step, getting the boy more firmly behind him.
Hawkeye's grin was easily visible as he held his position, never once letting his arrow waver. "Now, what's it gonna be, guys? We gonna end this peacefully, let everyone walk home, or am I gonna get the chance to have a little fun?"
"Dude," One of the guys drawled out, one of the younger ones. "I'm not taking on three superheroes over some stupid kid."
It wasn't going to be that easy, though. Spencer could see it. He didn't need his empathy to tell him that the leader's pride had been injured, here. There was no way he was going to just back down. Spencer could see it and he knew what was going to happen before anyone opened their mouths. In seconds, this was going to get a whole lot more dangerous, and there was no time for Spencer to waste. He spun himself around and grabbed the startled boy, lifting him up towards Peter with a sharp "Get him out of here!" that Peter responded to immediately. The wall-crawler caught hold of the boy with one arm and then they were gone in one quick swing out of the alley.
That seemed to be the last straw for the group. In the next instant there were more than a few voices shouting and Spencer turned back in just enough time to see someone coming at him with a knife.
Someone who quickly jerked back when an arrow hit their shoulder.
If Spencer had had a moment, he would've let this Hawkeye know that he didn't need his help. As it was, Spencer didn't have time to focus on him. He was too busy pushing himself forward and flinging out one arm, sending a carefully controlled blast of energy towards the first half of the group. It hit the ground in front of them and sent them flying backwards towards the mouth of the alley. With the power crackling inside him, it was easy for Spencer to make the jump up, to catch himself on the wall much like Peter did and cling for one brief moment before using that wall as a springboard to leap over the heads of the rest of the group. He landed with only a small wobble on the other side of them, at the end of the alley. Then he spun towards them and lifted his hands, letting both of them glow. "You've got one last chance to run," He told them, voice flat.
The threat might not have been enough if it wasn't backed by a guy who'd already proved he had no issue firing off his arrows. Peter's return only helped matters along. He slung his way into the alley and landed up on the fire escape near Hawkeye. Perched in his typical squat on the railing, he stared down at them and snorted. "You guys are still here? Really?"
Spencer breathed a sigh of relief when the group finally broke away. Stupid though they might've been, they apparently weren't that stupid. Thank God.
As soon as they were out of sight, Spencer dropped the power he'd been holding and he let his body slump. A headache had already started to build from just how hard he'd fought to keep up his shields and his stomach was twisting from the fear that he'd unintentionally absorbed. He was grateful when Peter dropped down to stand beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. The teen's touch helped Spencer ground himself.
By the time that Hawkeye joined them on the ground, Spencer had himself under control at least a little bit.
Peter turned to look at the guy as soon as he was standing with them. His excitement and awe was easy for Spencer to feel. They were practically radiating out from him. It was a wonder Peter wasn't vibrating from it all. "You're Hawkeye," Peter said with awe. "What're you doing here? I didn't know you were back in town! I mean, not that you're not welcome in town or something like that. I didn't mean that. I just meant…"
"He just meant that, the last we knew you were a fugitive," Spencer finished for him.
He ignored Peter's scandalized "Hey!" and kept his focus on the man that was now grinning at them. "Used to be," the guy said. "Not anymore. I'm cleared of all charges, so I'm finally free to come back. I got back to the Compound just a few hours ago."
The Compound? This guy was staying at the Compound? Peter and Spencer exchanged looks, even though they both still had their masks on. It was Peter who turned back to the archer to hesitantly ask, "Aren't you… Team Cap?"
His words had Hawkeye snorting. "Team Cap? Shit. No, kid, I'm not 'Team Cap'. Not anymore, at least."
Spencer tilted his head a little as he studied the man. There was something about him, something about his emotions… Spencer deliberately reached out, trying to ignore the pounding of his head and the way the hotdogs he'd eaten earlier were threatening to reappear. When he finally got a cautious feel of the man's emotions, something in him clicked. Something he hadn't even realized he was registering until just this moment. "You've been following us."
The guy looked a little impressed. "You're good. Most people don't usually notice me."
"I'm not most people," Spencer said simply.
Lines built around the guy's eyes as he grinned at them. "I'm getting that. Well, Stark did warn me you two would be interesting."
"You're…" Peter paused, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was about to say. "Are you like, babysitting us?"
"More like, keeping an eye on things. You know how Stark is – he worries. Without him there to be backup if something goes wrong, he just wanted to make sure you guys were gonna be okay."
That wasn't near as surprising as it probably should've been. Spencer could feel that Peter was offended by it, though. He was offended by anything that might paint him as weak or incapable. Especially when it came to Tony. It was too important for Peter to impress the man. He didn't want to end up disappointing him somehow. Because he knew that, Spencer made himself lean just a bit to the right, enough that he could brush his and Peter's arms together. A silent appeal to keep calm. Then, Spencer lifted his head enough to look at Hawkeye once more. "We're fine, thank you. And thank you for your help." They could've gotten the boy out on their own, he knew, but it'd gone easier and faster with extra backup.
Hawkeye grinned at him. "No problem. Been a while since I got to shoot at something other than a plain target."
"So you're just gonna follow us all night?" Peter asked him. He still didn't sound too happy about it. When Hawkeye just shrugged, that unhappiness grew.
Spencer, however, found himself a bit contemplative. While he understood the need to offer them backup, he wasn't exactly pleased about being followed.
An idea came to him and his lips curved up underneath the mask. "All right," Without moving, Spencer gathered his energy into the platform below his and Peter's feet. Peter was too used to it to flinch. He just adjusted himself and brought his hands up to rest on Spencer's shoulders. Judging by the amusement he was now feeling, he'd guessed what Spencer was planning here. The look that was growing on Hawkeye's face suggested that he was realizing it too. Spencer grinned big enough he knew it'd be noticeable even through the mask. "I hope you can keep up, Hawkeye."
Without hesitation, he sent them off into the sky.
Spencer half expected to find Hawkeye – Clint, he'd learned his name was – there at breakfast the next morning. When he walked in and found just Bruce there waiting for him, he was surprised. It must've showed on his face because Bruce smiled up at him. "He's not here. I imagine he's down having breakfast with his family."
Yawning widely, Spencer stumbled a little towards the coffee pot. There were countless questions that were in his head. All of them could wait, though. He went through the motions of preparing himself a cup of coffee and adding just enough creamer to the first cup that he could down most of it in just a few swallows without burning his tongue. The next cup, he prepared better, with less creamer. Once he had it cradled in his hands he turned around to lean back against the counter and look at Bruce. The older man was watching him and shaking his head. "It disturbs me when you do that."
"I'm sorry. I'm a bit tired this morning," Spencer explained. Usually, he wouldn't chug down a mug that quickly. For one, the amount of creamer or milk it took to cool it off that much made it too sweet even for him. For two, he liked to savor his coffee. The only time he drank it that fast was when he really needed the caffeine and he couldn't get a mocha or an espresso.
Concern had Bruce's brows drawing down and his smile wiping away. "Are you all right?"
Spencer did his best to give a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Bruce. Don't worry. I just didn't sleep well last night, that's all." It happened once in a while when the memories in his head were stronger than the urge to sleep. Last night's adventure with the kid had brought quite a few of those kinds of memories to the forefront. Spencer knew what it was like to be a young kid out in the middle of the night bringing home groceries. He knew how it felt to try and get food for your family because the adults wouldn't or couldn't, and to have to find time to do it when you weren't in school or being watched. Night was usually the easiest time. It ran its own risks, though.
For a moment it looked like Bruce was going to push it. Then he nodded. His emotions made it clear he was still worried, but he was letting it go for now.
Thankful, Spencer smiled at him. Then he steered the conversation back around to what they'd originally been talking about. "You said that Clint was eating with his family? I wasn't aware we had anyone else here, let alone an entire family." Or even that Clint had a family. That hadn't been in the information Peter had told him.
Bruce took the topic change with stride. He stirred the oatmeal he was eating while nodding his head at Spencer. "Yeah. Tony put in a few houses back in the wooded area. Close enough to be on the property and for backup to easily get there if need be, but far enough away to hopefully keep them safe if something happens. Clint's stuff arrived the day before yesterday, and he spent yesterday moving everything in. He's got a wife and three kids, and he wanted them close."
"They don't mind being here?"
"From my understanding, Laura – Clint's wife – insisted on it. She's… surprisingly supportive. You'll understand once you meet her."
Spencer gave a small hum that wasn't agreement or disagreement. Lifting his cup up, he took a sip off his coffee. Something occurred to him and looked up quickly. "Does he…?"
"Know about you?" Bruce filled in. "Yes. Tony filled him in before he got here. At least, the basics. With him living here, he felt that it was only fair Clint knew what he was stepping into."
It made sense. Spencer wasn't annoyed by it, despite how Bruce was watching him like he was worried he might be. If anything he was a little bit relieved. The man was going to be around a bit, from the sounds of it, and Spencer hadn't fancied the idea of trying to pretend to be a kid. He wasn't even sure that he'd know how. Knowing that he wasn't going to have to try was definitely a relief. It was one he didn't have long to think on, though.
Using his fork to point, Bruce gestured towards the fridge. "There's a breakfast plate made up in there for you. If I were you, I'd hurry up and eat if you don't want to be late."
Late? Oh! Oh, crap. Today was the day that Jim wanted him down for training somewhat early so they could go through some warmups, a few new forms, and then Peter was supposed to show up so that the two teens could use one another as sparring practice, with Jim watching on the sidelines. Man, Spencer was not looking forward to this.
Bruce just gave him a sympathetic smile as Spencer hurried to get his breakfast.
The training session didn't go anywhere near as badly as Spencer had thought it might. He was actually just a little bit proud of himself. Peter already had a bit of training, plus things that he'd learned on the fly, so he wasn't an easy sparring partner. Yet, Spencer had managed to hold his own. As he'd reminded them afterwards, "Just because the Bureau had to make exceptions to allow me out into the field doesn't mean that I have no training. One of my friends took it upon himself to try and show me at least some things." Not to mention all the experience he had at running from people who wanted to hurt him, or evading trouble.
Peter seemed to have enjoyed the hell out of it. He went home for the afternoon, but when the two met up that evening on a rooftop in Queens to start their patrol, the young teen was still bouncing with the energy from it. "It was a blast!" he told Spencer with a grin that was visible through the mask.
Though Spencer rolled his eyes, he was also smiling. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"Oh, yeah! Totally! I mean, not only do we get a chance to spar and learn from the Avengers, we get to learn how to fight together. Do you realize how great that's going to be for when we're out here? We'll know how to fight with one another, how the other one's gonna move. We'll be like, like Hawkeye and Black Widow! They have a seriously scary understanding of each other. Mr. Stark likes to say they have a telepathic bond or something like that."
Amusement had Spencer's smile growing bigger. He shifted his weight back onto his right foot just enough that he could turn his body. At the same time, he raised his voice just a little as he said "Why don't you ask him yourself? I'm sure he won't mind answering." Then, just because he could, he turned to look in the direction that he felt Clint hiding. "Isn't that right, Mr. Barton? Or is it Agent? I confess, I'm not quite sure."
There was a brief pause and then it was like Clint appeared out of nowhere on the roof across from them. One second the roof was empty and the next the man was stepping out from the shadows. Spencer reached out with his powers and laid a bridge of energy between the two rooftops. He was surprised that Clint didn't even hesitate to hop up on it and walk across. He was grinning the whole way. "How'd you know I was there?" Instead of being offended by the idea that he'd been caught, he just seemed curious and… maybe a bit, pouty? That wasn't a word Spencer would've typically applied to a grown man, and yet, it seemed to oddly fit.
"You should work on your empathic shields," Spencer said dryly. "By my understanding, Dr. Strange is planning on coming by on the weekend. He'll be there to help train me, but he's also going to show you all how to shield yourselves."
"Cool." Peter and Clint said at the same time.
Spencer looked back and forth between the two and shook his head. "I assume you're going to follow us again tonight?" he asked Clint. At the smirk it got him, he sighed. "Of course you are. Do you plan on fumbling across rooftops again, or would you like a ride?" At least that way Spencer would always know where the guy was at.
He suggested it mostly so that he'd have a way to watch him. What he hadn't expected was for Clint to look so excited by the idea. "Seriously?" The archer asked, grin wide.
Spencer arched an eyebrow behind his mask, despite knowing that the other man wouldn't be able to see it. He had to fight back the urge to sigh. Of course he was going to be excited by the idea. Of course.
In lieu of answering with words, Spencer called up his platform and hopped up there. The way the suit moved with him, how easily it flowed through his movements without ever once catching or tugging or anything like that, was something Spencer still couldn't quite get over. He'd marvel at it later, though. Right at that moment he needed to focus on making sure there was enough space behind him for Clint to ride along.
Much to his surprise, the archer didn't hop up and stand behind him like most everyone else did. Instead, he chose to do like Peter did on occasion. After a brief look at the platform, he braced one hand and twisted himself as he hopped, ending up sitting on the back end of it with his legs dangling down. He pulled is bow off and held it in his lap and then twisted himself so he could look up at Spencer. "This all right?"
Spencer stared down at him a moment longer. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out "You're like a giant child." Immediately afterwards, he felt his cheeks turn red, and he tried to stammer out an apology, only to get cut off by Clint and Peter both laughing at him. "Stark warned me you could get lippy," Clint said with amusement.
"Oh man, you've got no idea!" Peter chimed in. "Sometimes…"
Oh, no, there was no way they were going to get into this. Spencer didn't give Peter a chance to finish what that 'sometimes…' was going to turn into. With a little twist of his energy to make sure that Clint didn't go flying off, Spencer wasted no time in sending his board flying off into the air, much to Clint's surprise and Peter's amusement.
After just a few seconds Clint let out a laugh and a Whoop! Hearing it, Spencer shook his head. Something told him it was going to be a long night.
He wasn't wrong. The night was long, though it was entertaining. Clint Barton proved to be a rather interesting companion to patrol with. Between Peter's babbling, stammering excitement at patrolling with an Avenger, watching him try to act older than he really was, and Clint's easy going – albeit rather snarky – attitude and his ready acceptance of everything, there wasn't really a dull moment between them. Clint spent their traveling time on the back of Spencer's board and he wasn't exactly quiet about it. He had no issues trying to chat with Spencer throughout the trip. Even when Spencer was less than forthcoming with his answers.
By the time that he flew himself and Clint back to the Compound – after a brief stop to make sure that Peter got home – it was close to two a.m. and Spencer was more than ready to get some sleep. He'd actually had to use his powers a few times during the night and the young genius was more than ready to get some sleep.
When they reached the main building, Spencer was hard pressed to yawn as he brought them to a stop.
Clint hopped down easily. Without looking the least bit exhausted, he turned himself so he could look up at Spencer, slinging his bow onto his back as he did. "Thanks for the ride, kid. And for letting me tag along." Half his mouth quirked up into an amused half-smirk. "Definitely made my job easier."
"It was smarter to bring you with us and be able to account for you from the start than have to worry about an unknown variable all night long." Spencer's answer seemed to amuse him for some reason. One that the teen very much didn't want to spend time trying to figure out. With a small wave, he called out "Goodnight, Mr. Barton," and then turned his board to head for his room.
As was becoming normal, FRIDAY opened the window for him as soon as he reached it. "Good morning, Dr. Reid," she greeted him as he flew in. "Was it a good night?"
Spencer let go of his board and let his feet drop down to the floor. He was tired – more tired than he'd realized. "You don't have to pretend that you weren't watching us as well, FRIDAY." Finally giving in to his yawn, Spencer brought one hand up to rub at his eyes. Lord, he needed to move, or he was going to crash right here. On sluggish legs he made his way to the bathroom to start to prepare for bed. It didn't bother him to hear FRIDAY continue to speak as he did. It was strange, the things once could get used to.
"Boss always has me watching the Spiderling," FRIDAY said.
"Mm hm." Spencer didn't call her on anything else, and she didn't volunteer anything. They both knew that she'd kept a close eye on things from the instant that Tony had left. It would seem the man's protectiveness was more than Spencer had anticipated. Though, really, he should've realized. It was clear to anyone who spent any time around the two that Tony cared a lot about Peter. The father-son dynamic between them was occasionally stilted, a bit unsure, but strong. Of course Tony would want others watching out for Peter while he was gone.
Spencer pushed all those thoughts to the back of his mind when he finally made his way to bed. When he collapsed onto it and drew the covers up over him, it took everything he had not to moan happily. His body was so tired tonight. He tried to remember if he'd eaten dinner or not, or how much, only to have the thought drift away as he headed towards sleep.
Getting up was a slow and reluctant process. FRIDAY, bless her, made sure to start waking him up with plenty of time for him to slowly drag himself out of bed and towards the shower. She seemed to have anticipated just how difficult it was going to be to get Spencer out of bed and built an extra cushion of time in, too, because he knew he dawdled as he got ready and yet he still managed to be right on schedule by the time he was done getting dressed.
The shower didn't wake him up anywhere near as much as he'd hoped it would. What he needed was coffee.
FRIDAY didn't seem to agree with him. "You need food, Little Doc. You only ate half your recommended dietary requirements yesterday and your body is low on energy."
The new nickname had Spencer looking up curiously towards one of the cameras. He didn't comment on it, though. Instead, he simply said, "I'll grab something, FRIDAY. Don't worry."
She didn't say anything, but the feel of her energy gave a pulse that Spencer couldn't help but think of as disapproval. He tried to ignore it as he left his room and made his way down the hall.
The first thing Spencer saw when he reached the kitchen was Peter, which was no real surprise. It was any wonder May got to see the teen at all with as often as he seemed to be over here. That would change once he was in school Spencer knew, but for now, Peter was frequently making himself at home here.
Peter had just jumped up to sit on the counter, and…Spencer was surprised to see that Tony was standing right next to him making coffee and glaring at him. The engineer lifted one hand to point a finger at Peter as he told him, "That's where food goes, Charlotte. Not your backside."
Huh. Blinking a few times, Spencer stared at the scene in front of him. When had Tony gotten back? Wasn't he supposed to be gone for another day or two? Or had he remembered that wrong? Furrowing his brow, Spencer tried to think on it, only to have his train of thought interrupted when Peter caught sight of him. The teen was practically beaming as he called out "Morning, Spencer!"
Any thoughts of questions were wiped from Spencer's mind. He couldn't help the small scowl that twisted his features, though it would've irritated him to realize that the other two would've referred to it as a pout, not a scowl. How was it that Peter was so damn cheerful so early in the morning? More to the point – why was he up so early? By all rights he probably be just as tired as Spencer was, if not more so. Their patrols took a lot more physical energy for Peter to complete than they did for Spencer. Not only did Peter spend the time physically swinging from one place to the next, he was also the one to do the majority of the fighting. Spencer was starting to get a little more involved each time, but he still spent a bit of time just sitting back and watching Peter work, only stepping in if needed.
"Ignore him." Tony's words had Spencer's attention shifting. He looked over to see that the older man had moved to the fridge and was pulling out some sort of large covered platter. It tipped dangerously for a second, since Tony seemed insistent on doing it one handed – his coffee cup still in his other hand – but he righted it easily and moved to set it down on the bar. "Come on it and eat, Tesla. I hear you've been skimping out on your diet – you're lucky Bruce hasn't come after you for it."
Peter's eyes widened and he nodded in agreement. "Dude, he's intense about food. Seriously. Like, he's all sweet and nice, breaking it down for you so you can understand what you need and all that, but oh man, he gets cranky if he finds out you're not getting enough. I think he might've actually growled at me."
Snorting, Tony shook his head. He cast Peter an amused look before turning back to the tray to remove the lid from it. Underneath, there was a motley of food. Fruit, yogurt, what looked to be hard-boiled eggs, a few pastries, some coffee cake, sticky buns, and little jars of jams. "Only you would be scared of Dr. Banner and not his green alter ego. You're ridiculous, kid. Now get your butt off my counter and get over here and eat. You too," a finger came up to point at Spencer, as if he thought Spencer was going to try and slip away for some reason. "Get over here and eat."
Spencer felt a little off kilter. He was still tired and he hadn't had any coffee yet; his brain wasn't exactly working at its best. That was the only explanation he had for why he just stood there, staring at Tony, before blurting out "You're back."
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock." Tony said dryly. He made another gesture towards the food. "Go. Eat."
There wasn't really anything to do except to go and take a seat at the bar. Peter sat down with him and the two both reached out to grab something. It wasn't as good as coffee, but Spencer knew he needed to eat at least something.
Tony gave a firm nod when he saw them both start to eat. Then he turned away from them for a moment. "So, I imagine you two have some questions for me."
The two teens exchanged a brief look. Spencer popped a bit of fruit into his mouth and gave a half shrug, tilting his head towards Tony. He was leaving it open for Peter to ask what he wanted to know here. Peter glared back at him; it was clear he didn't want to have to be the one to ask questions here. Most likely because he was worried about pressing anything on this topic. Spencer had heard Peter talk plenty of items about the Accords and how much the whole Civil War had hurt Tony. There was no way Peter was going to want to ask questions that might hurt Tony even more.
That meant that it was going to be up to Spencer to get the answers. He rubbed his clean hand over his face and wished he was more awake for this. "A few," he finally settled on saying. "It was… a bit of a surprise to find out who our babysitter was." That was about as diplomatic as Spencer was going to be able to put it right now.
When Tony turned back around, he had two mugs in his hands. One he set in front of Peter – judging by a quick look, it was hot chocolate – and the other one was set in front of Spencer. As soon as the scent of coffee hit his nose, Spencer practically fell on the mug, curling both hands around it and making a happy sound as he brought it up to his lips. Tony smiled at him, amusement warm and easy to feel, and Peter shook his head.
The amusement faded out of the air and a new tension took its place. One that wasn't anywhere near as strong as Spencer had expected it to be. There was peace in there as well. Whatever this story was, it didn't bother Tony as much as they'd feared. He'd made his peace with it. He was even, Spencer might say, a little happy. "So, you guys probably both know that Clint was on Cap's side during our little… skirmish." He waited for both their nods before he continued, taking just a second to turn and pick his own mug of coffee back up. "He got a hold of me pretty quickly after everything. Seems Team Cap didn't get all the information when they signed up for things."
Spencer snorted quietly. Surprise, surprise, the leader of what was essentially a war didn't tell his soldiers everything they were fighting for. That wasn't exactly shocking.
One corner of Tony's mouth twisted down a little in a hint of annoyance. "Not that Hawkass wasn't a complete imbecile for not asking more questions and, oh, I don't know, taking the time to find out what the fuck was going on." Tony paused and took a deep breath, blowing it back out before he continued on in a calmer voice. "Point is, he realized they were wrong, got the facts, and I smuggled him into the states until I could get things fixed. He's been cleared of all charges and he's signed the Accords. Once that was out of the way, I got his family out here, and we're all one big happy family."
Once more, Peter and Spencer shared a look. This time it was Peter who spoke up, hesitantly asking, "So he wasn't… he's not against them?"
It wasn't Tony who answered him. "Nope!" Clint said, startling two out of the three of them as he walked into the room. Only Spencer looked up calmly; he'd sensed the archer coming. Only a faint twitch of his lips gave away Clint's amusement at surprising them. The emotion came through loud and clear, though. Making his way towards the coffee pot, Clint calmly told them, "I worked a lifetime for SHIELD. I'm used to answering to someone for the things I do. Pretty much my entire career was being told where and when to go and what to do once I got there. I also had bosses I was held accountable to if shit went south. The Accords are pretty much the same thing, just on a grander scale."
"Where was that mindset earlier?" Spencer asked him.
If the question bothered Clint, he didn't show it, though both Peter and Tony tensed. The archer turned around after having gotten his cup of coffee and he faced Spencer head on, not ducking away at all. "Like I said, I spent a long time following orders. The kind of orders that you have to trust your boss to have made the right call with. This time, I just happened to place my trust in the wrong guy." The emotions that swirled around in Clint at that had Spencer feeling sick in sympathy. There was clear guilt, as well as the kind of pain that went deep, and so much heartache and regret. Those were things that couldn't be faked. That kind of emotion was real.
Peter and Spencer exchanged looks. The sincerity in Clint's tone was obvious to Peter, but he also knew Spencer would be able to read the whole thing better and was trying to get his opinion. At Peter's questioning look, Spencer gave a small nod and a little twitch of his shoulder. They could trust his words; for now. He'd have to earn more than that. Which meant that they were going to have to give the opportunity to do so. They were going to have to be nice and allow him close enough to prove to them that he meant what he said here and he'd really had a change of heart. However, before they did that – Peter flicked his gaze over to Tony and then back to Spencer, arching his eyebrow just a little and pushing out a questioning, protective sensation that had Spencer's lips twitching. He gave a small nod.
The two turned back to look at Clint at the same time. He and Tony were both watching them; the silent conversation hadn't gone unnoticed. Neither teen let it bother them. Peter lifted his mug and stared over the top of it at Clint. "If Mr. Stark trusts you, then we'll trust you too." He said, voice easy. In that same easy tone he added on "But if you ever hurt Tony again, I'm going to wrap you up in enough webs you're never going to get free, and I'm going to hang you off the Brooklyn Bridge."
The fact that Peter felt comfortable enough to make that threat – that he wasn't batting an eye at letting this man know just who he really was – was something Spencer made a mental note to ask him about later.
For the moment, Spencer smiled at Clint as Tony spluttered in the background. "And then I'm going to have a lot of fun testing the conductivity of Peter's webbing and its viability as a protection against electroshock."
"Peter! Spencer!" Tony looked torn between horrified and, maybe a tiny bit pleased, Spencer would guess.
Holding out one hand to cut Tony off, Clint looked from one boy to the next. There was a respect and understanding in his eyes as he gave them each a firm nod. "I hurt him, an I won't even fight you on it."
"Then we've got an understanding." Spencer said. He gave one last smile before he pushed up to his feet, coffee mug still in hand. He brushed his arm lightly over Peter as he moved, drawing the teen's attention. "Come on, Peter. We need to get downstairs before Jim gets there. The last thing I want is to run laps because we were late."
Peter bounced up off his chair and managed to not even spill a drop of his coffee as he did. "Oh, man, that's right. We've got our rematch today! You that eager to get thrown into the mats again, Spencer?"
"Your arrogance is appalling." Spencer said, rolling his eyes.
The two left the room, still bickering with one another as they went. Clint and Tony both stared after them. There was no way Clint could keep back his smile. He turned back to Tony, eyes crinkling from how wide his smile was. It only grew wider when he caught sight of the embarrassed way that Tony was looking down at his mug and avoiding Clint's eyes. Unable to resist, Clint smirked at him. "You know, for a guy who said he'd never have kids… you've got some pretty amazing ones right there, Mr. Stark."
The fact that Tony didn't even deny it, just grumbled out "Shut up" as he ducked down to his mug a little more, only served to make Clint laugh.