The Amazing Avenger.
Recap: Thor arrives at Stark Tower to warn his fellow Avengers about Loki's return to Earth and the possibility of the Chitauri Army following suit, leaving the team conflicting on how to handle the situation; Coulson relives his 'death' during a panic attack, and Tony wants to see first hand just what Peter Parker can do. Now on to Chapter Six.
Chapter Six.
Thor stood along the edge of the roof of Stark Tower. He felt incredibly guilty for all the arguing among his teammates. He didn't choose for Loki to be banished to Midgard and tried to prevent it, but he couldn't help feeling responsible nonetheless. As the daylight began to fade to dusk, he saw many city lights come on. He had wished he could see Loki. Not to try and capture him, but to talk to him, see what his plans were. As uneasy as Loki's presence made him feel, he had tried to remain optimistic. Loki may have his magic, but this time he had no army or anyone backing him up. If anything, Loki had an entire army searching for him. That was another pang in Thor's heart. While he swore his duty of protecting the people of Midgard, he also had a silent oath to try and protect his brother from those hunting him. Feeling this all weighing on him, he let out a deep long sigh.
"So is it gonna be a clear night tonight, or will we be looking at thunder?"
Thor turned to see Bruce standing behind him, his hands deep in his pockets, smiling sheepishly with a tired look on his face.
Thor chuckled and looked up in the sky. "No, my friend. I think tonight will be ok."
Bruce sighed and went to stand beside Thor. "You know, I'm not gonna pretend to know just what you're going through. What with us and your brother and all. I just hope you understand that even after two years, we're all still kinda shaken up, especially Clint and Coulson."
Thor nodded and looked down. "I understand." Then he looked at Bruce. "Coulson-?"
Bruce laughed. "I know. We just found out ourselves right before you arrived. We still don't know how it's possible, but he's still here."
"I am grateful for that." Thor said. "He is a good man."
Bruce nodded. "So do you know where he could be?" When Thor looked at him, he clarified, "Your brother."
Thor shook his head. "I do not know."
Bruce sighed. "Then I guess all we do is wait. In the meantime, we could get our new teammate up to speed. He's a nice kid, though we just met him."
Thor nodded, then after a moment, he looked at Bruce questioningly. "New teammate?"
Tony watched with astonishment as Peter climbed up and down the walls of the training room, spewing out webs and swinging across back and forth, and finally landing on his hands and feet in perfect motion. After two plus years, it felt good to move like that again.
"Impressive." Tony beamed.
"Thanks." Peter replied, getting up and dusting himself off. "I can do better, but like I said, it's been awhile and the space is kinda limited in here."
Tony just shrugged. "It's ok. I can take you outside later and you can show me around the buildings." He grabbed a towel and tossed it to Peter. "So tell me, how did you come across your…skill?" He already knew everything from Peter's files, but he wanted to hear from Peter himself.
"My father was a scientist. He used to work with another scientist named Curt Connors, who was at the time studying theories of regeneration." Peter went and tossed the towel in the hamper that was by the door.
"That would be the man who would later become a lizard and go beserk?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. My father had been working extensively by the looks of his research, but he disappeared after his study was ransacked when I was a kid. He took everything, including me, and left me with my aunt and uncle. I never heard from either of my parents again." Peter was quiet for a minute and Tony was patient. "Years later, I came across some of my father's work and was able to locate Connors at Oscorp and was somehow bitten by one of their genetically mutated spiders and well, here I am."
Tony whistled. "That's a hell of a spider bite."
Peter chuckled. "Yeah, well, I guess I put it to good use, huh?"
Tony raised his eyebrows and nodded. "That you did."
Peter looked over at Tony. "Look, I just wanna say that I really appreciate this opportunity. I guess when I had started this…superhero thing, I would be on my own and well, that suited me just fine…considering I wanted to go back-"
Tony put his hands in his pockets and studied Peter while he rambled. 'Damn, he's young.' he thought to himself. But even then, he couldn't help but like the kid already. There was just something sincere about him, and from what Tony has viewed from SHEILD's files and witnessed in the training room, he had definitely had a lot of fight in him as well. Tony never found it easy to trust others; and with his past, for good reason, but he found himself drawn to the young Peter Parker.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am all in this thing, Mr. Stark. I'm gonna work hard and I will show you that I can be just as great as anyone here." Peter looked at Tony hopefully, but genuinely, and Tony couldn't help but smile.
"Well, it's only your first day, kid, and from the sounds of recent events, you might just have your chance soon." Tony replied.
Peter smiled and Tony gave him a pat on the back as they rounded a corner and were met by Bruce and Thor, who were coming back in from the rooftop. Thor gave a nod at Tony and looked over at Peter.
"I filled him in." Bruce informed Tony, then looked at Peter, who was looking at Thor with the most awestruck look on his face. "Peter Parker, this is Thor, Prince of Asgard."
"The God of Thunder." Peter said, and extended his hand.
Thor nodded and took Peter's hand, who winced a bit at the grip. "That is correct, Son of Parker."
"I can't believe I am talking to an actual god." Peter said.
"You should see the things he can do with that hammer." Tony spouted under his breath. "It would really embarrass you."
Peter and Bruce chuckled and Thor looked confused. Just then, Steve and Coulson met them.
"Everything good?" Tony asked Coulson, genuinely concerned.
"Yes, everything is fine." Coulson replied, taking a quick glance at Steve. "Now if you all will excuse me, I have to go do a whole lot of paperwork on today's developments."
Thor came forward. "I am glad to see you here again, Coulson."
Coulson smiled. "You too, Thor."
Coulson nodded to everyone and left. Tony then turned to Steve. "With all that's happened, you should have accepted that drink."
Steve chuckled a bit. "You know what, Stark? For the first time, I actually agree with you."
"Any idea on how he's come back?"
Steve shook his head. "He doesn't even have a clue."
Tony sighed. "Of course he doesn't."
"Well, I better get going. I've had enough excitement for one day." Bruce said, nodding towards the others as he made his leave.
"Yeah, wait up. I'll head out with you." Steve said. He nodded toward Peter. "Peter, it was nice meeting you."
"Yeah, you too." Peter replied.
"I had better take my leave as well." Thor nodded.
"You heading back to Asgard?" Steve asked.
"No, I believe I will stay here, just in case my brother is found." Thor said.
"You need a place to stay?" Tony asked.
"I thank you, but no. Banner has invited me to stay with him." Thor replied.
"Bye everyone. See you tomorrow." Bruce called and he, Steve, and Thor made their exits. Clint and Natasha left earlier, along with Fury, leaving Tony and Peter alone.
"Well, that was a fun-filled day, and I assure you, around here, they only get better." Tony quipped.
"Look forward to it." Peter said.
"You hungry?"
"Famished." Peter replied.
"Good, cause I know this Schwarma place down the street…."
Later on that night, Peter was getting settled in his new room. He unpacked his clothes and put them in drawers and hung them in his closet. The last items he pulled out were picture frames, one of his Uncle Ben, one of both Ben and Aunt May, and then one of Gwen Stacey, which he looked at for a long time, then put in the drawer of his nightstand. He let out a breath and shook away his thoughts of her. He had to forget about her. He promised her father. Still, Gwen had been the first and only girl who ever made Peter feel like a person, like he mattered. As much as he felt for her, he knew it was only right to let her go. After all, he was Spiderman now, and an Avenger.
That thought made Peter look at the second bag on his bed. He tried to remember the last time he had worn his Spiderman suit. He walked up to the bag, unzipped it and pulled out the neatly folded suit, courtesy of his Aunt. His heart felt a pang as he wondered how she was faring without him.
"So that must be the famous suit." Stark said from the doorway. Peter turned and smiled.
"I can't believe it's been so long since I wore it." Peter replied.
"Well, now that you're working with us, get used to wearing it a lot." Tony said.
Peter sat on the bed with it in his hands. "I remember the first time I wore it. The feeling was…"
"Amazing?"
"Yeah. Like I was invincible, you know?" Peter looked at Tony. "Like nothing could touch me."
Tony smiled and nodded. "I know that feeling all too well." Then a thought came over him and he brightened up.
"Hey, what do you say we get our suits on and scope around town?" Tony asked. "Get you aquainted with your suit and skills again?"
Before Peter could reply, Tony called to Jarvis. "Jarvis, how's the weather tonight?"
"All good for flying, sir." the AI reported.
Peter looked around confused. "Wow…was that…?"
"My AI? Yeah, that's Jarvis. Built him myself." Tony replied.
Peter looked down at his suit. "Are you sure-?"
"Suit up kid. You wanna show me what you can really do? Now's your chance."
Two years. Two years and the feeling had never left Peter. As he effortlessly swung through the air, ran and crawled along from skyscraper to skyscraper, it was as though he truly felt himself again. He was never in his life as happy as he was at that moment.
"You all good, kid?" Stark called out, his Iron Man suit flying through the air, checking out the newbie's abilities and calculating his movements. He had to say it. This kid was really something in that suit.
Peter swung through the air until he landed on the pointy end of a really tall skyscraper. He looked down on the city.
"Not too shabby from this high up." Tony said.
Peter nodded. It really was a great night.
"How 'bout we race back?" Tony asked and with that, his suit revved up and he took off. Peter smiled and dove off the building, letting himself fall until he spewed out another stream of web and swung himself up, repeating the movements until he reached the tower, Tony already there.
"Wow. That was truly amazing." Peter exclaimed.
"You did good out there, kid." Tony remarked.
Peter crawled down from his landing and met Stark down on the podium. Little did they know of the figure that stood and watched them from a neighboring rooftop, taking notice of the young Parker and smiling.
A/N-Not sure if this chapter is that great, but hey, this is for fun, right? Thanks for the continuing support. You guys are awesome.
Next chapter: Loki appears to the Avengers and causes a bit of mischief. Ehehehe…;)