EDIT 2/9/2014: Story's the same just going through and adjusting things. Proofreading and all that.

Chapter 3: More Like Suit and Needle

Peter struggles awake. He feels like that one time when he broke his arm and was on the good drugs. But he doesn't remember any injuries.

There are raised voices all around him. Two men, vaguely familiar. One female. Wait, Gwen? Shit. He got got Gwen kidnapped.

He groans. He had promised Captain Stacy, but Gwen was stubborn. And really, Peter did not want to ignore her. Peter wanted to be around her.

Except now he's only half-conscious, and she's here and in danger. Isn't she?

"Hey, Pete. It's okay. We're okay. We're in a limo. In Tony Stark's limo. He's crazy but not dangerous to us." That's Gwen. Well, okay then.

And what, Tony Stark? As in Iron Man? There had been a shortish brown-haired man that had come up behind him with a hypodermic needle. And a tall blond man hovering around looking confused.

"Yeah, Peter. You're all good. It might take a couple more minutes for you to come completely out of it." Tony Stark, ladies and gentlemen, all manic energy and craziness. And now apparently stealing high schoolers from the street. "Look, you need to take deep breaths. You're kind of hyperventilating. I didn't kidnap you. I just wanted to talk about Spider-Man, but - Hey! Calm down! I'm not gonna make you go public. Peter! It's fine. You're fine. I won't spread your secret. Peter, I promise."

"Swear." Peter manages to breathe out the demand and open his eyes to look at Tony, who is hovering over him.

The billionaire smiles cautiously. "I swear, no one outside the Avengers will learn your secret from me." His smile broadens to something harsh and self-deprecating. "Good enough?"

Peter nods. It'll have to be. Team is like family, even if Peter only knows that from observation, he knows that it's true. And keeping secrets from family is torture. He sighs as that line of thought conjures the memory of Aunt May. He's going to have to tell her soon.

"So, Spider-Man, right?" Tony leans against his seat.

Gwen helps Peter sit up in the ridiculous limo. "Yeah. I'm Spider-Man." He pauses. "Does SHIELD know?"

Tony thinks for a moment. "SHIELD, no. Fury, maybe. The Avengers' personal handler, absolutely."

"Phil knows?" Peter almost jumps at the low question from the other man in the car.

And holy rippling biceps, Batman. That's Captain America. Peter can't really process beyond that for a moment.

Tony, however, soldiers on. "Please, what doesn't Agent know?" He catches the awed expression Peter knows he must be making and smirks. "By the way, Peter, this is Captain Steven Grant Rogers." He winks at the blond man, who is blushing fiercely. "Better known as Captain America."

"Tony, stop that," Captain America scolds. "Peter, it's nice to meet you. Call me Steve."

Peter nods.

Gwen taps his jaw. "Close your mouth, Parker. You're making the good captain embarrassed."

Peter shakes his head and focuses on Tony. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"How much do you know about what happened to you?"

"Not a lot. I don't understand why a spider bite would've had such an effect. Even if the spiders were genetically altered."

Tony smiles and gestures expansively. "See, kid, this is why you want to come with us. Bruce has all these cool toys."

Peter raises an eyebrow. "You want me to let the man who turned himself into the Hulk and the man who inserted a volatile explosive above his heart to perform biological experiments with my DNA?"

Tony purses his lips. "Well, when you put it that way it really does sound like the worst idea in the world. Let's not word it that way. I want you to let two superhero geniuses with very expensive lab equipment study the changes to your DNA to make sure that it's a stable change. There -"

"I did that already," Peter cuts in.

Tony pouts. "Excuse you, I would know if I had done biological studies."

"No, not the consulting you part. The making sure my DNA is stable part."

Tony gave him a disparaging face. "Kid, you did tests in your high school science lab or at Oscorp. My tech is superior to theirs on so many levels that I even Biology better than them. And as a rule, I do not Biology."

Steve holds up his hands, waving off Peter and Gwen's protests. "Wait, Tony, go back to the part where you plan on doing biological experiments on Peter."

"Well," Tony stalls, extending the word to hold off the Captain's obvious disapproval. "Bruce is on his way back to the tower, and I saw Parker's file and -"

"Tony, did you even mention this to Bruce?"

"Of course!"

Steve glares a bit. Disapproving Captain America is disapproving. "And what did he say?"

"At first?" Tony hedges.

Steve rolls his eyes. "Sure, we'll start with that."

"Not a chance in hell." Tony parrots with zero inflection. Then his face twists as if he didn't mean to actually answer. "But Steve -"

"Tony," Steve tries gently. Peter can see his point. If Dr. Banner refused to do the tests what was the point of the cloak and dagger? Or suit and needle, whatever.

"- I really think that if -"

"Tony." Tony is a little much from what Peter's seen of him. And though the captain seems to have a high tolerance, it's wearing thin.

"- I can explain the situation to -"

"Tony." And Tony is clearly trying to overwhelm Steve's disapproval with his wall of words, but Steve isn't having any of that.

"- him, he'll agree. Especially if Parker -"

"Tony!" And there's the breaking point apparently.

"- is -" He sighs. "Steve, this isn't the serum or gamma irradiation."

"No," Steve agrees, "but he is a seventeen-year-old."

Peter cuts in here. "For about twelve more days."

Tony and Steve stop at that. Tony smiles. "Your birthday's in twelve days?"

"Yep," Peter affirms. He continues while he has their verbal battle stalled, "and I never actually said that Dr. Banner couldn't run some tests. I was just verifying the proposition." Besides, he and Gwen didn't really have any homework for the night.