Author's Note: I am so sorry for the long delay! Real life has been insanely busy recently and now I finally have time to sit and write. Anyways, please welcome Gwen Stacy to the story and please enjoy!

"Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."

—Mitch Albom

After a long debriefing by Cap—which basically consisted of alternately welcoming Thor back and then trying to figure what the heck had attacked them—the team was released for the night.

"Come, my friends," Thor boomed and Peter idly wondered how he hadn't become deaf by now. "All is well both here and on Asgard! For that, we must celebrate!" Peter eyed him oddly. Was this guy for real?

Silence fell over the rest of the team. Finally, Tony met the god's gaze.

"How is your brother?" Tony questioned quietly and instantly the temperature in the room seemed to decrease exponentially. Images of another god filled his mind—Loki had been his name?—as he recalled the attacks that had taken place before he had gotten his powers. He and his aunt and uncle had been out of town luckily, but returning home to find Manhattan practically rubble had been more than a bit disconcerting.

"Loki is awaiting the All-Father's judgment," Thor replied, voice dipping in sadness. "He sits in a cell with his magic bound."

"Good." Tony muttered.

"What he did was wrong—" Thor began.

"Understatement of the year." The archer interjected, eyes flashing darkly with some bitter resentment in them.

"Yet he is still my brother," The God of Thunder completed, pounding on the stainless steel table, denting it in the process. "And I still hope he might learn from this and return to the way he was." Clint opened his mouth to speak once more, but Natasha quickly pulled him back and murmured something in his ear that seemed to calm him. He nodded his head before heading out of the room with Natasha following quickly behind him.

"That went well." Steve mumbled, though there was still an air of tension hanging over the group—tension that made Peter feel extremely out of place. The Avengers weren't the perfect team that they appeared to be to the public. They were flawed and had problems of their own. It was a revelation that was both comforting and frightening to the teenager.

"Let me show you to your floor, Peter." Tony was suddenly beside him, guiding him towards the elevator.

"Floor?" The young hero echoed. He had barely had his own room while he had lived with his aunt and uncle. Now, he was getting a whole floor to himself? It must be nice to be rich, he mused. The elevator dinged and they got off at the 55th floor. It was plain with white walls and numerous door and he followed the billionaire to the first door on the left. It led into a huge master bedroom, plainly decorated with white sheets and a huge window that let him see the city skyline.

"You can decorate it however you want." Tony explained. "Tomorrow, you feel up to showing me how those," He gestured to the web shooters. "Work?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great." He was rewarded with an easy smile. "Oh, almost forgot." He handed Peter a small package. Seeing the teen's confusion, he smirked slightly. "Open it." Inside the package was a shiny, blue phone—a Stark phone, the most technologically advanced phone on the market. Peter had wanted one for his birthday, but they were extremely expensive and he had practically given up on his hopes of getting one.

"Mr. Stark, I—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, 'Mr. Stark'?" Tony makes a disgusted face, one that Peter almost chuckled at. "Kid, call me Tony okay? Mr. Stark reminds me too much of my dad." Sadness filled his eyes for the briefest of seconds and then it was gone.

"Thank you, Tony." He told the older man, grinning ear from ear.

"Yeah, well," The inventor shifted uncomfortably, unused to having someone look up to him like that. "Just don't break it."

With that, Tony Stark fled the room, leaving a bewildered teenager behind.

"Peter," Peter beamed as Gwen's voice filled the line. "I was hoping you'd call."

"Missed me?" He teased.

"No," She playfully shot back and Peter could just picture her looking out her window, twirling a strand of her blonde hair, grinning softly. "I was worried with your aunt . . . she's doing okay, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," He assured her, running a hand through his hair. "She has to stay in the hospital for the next two months though—"

"Two months!" Gwen exclaimed. "You're staying by yourself for two months?"

"Well, not alone—" He amended.

"I don't understand."

"Gwen, I . . ." His voice trailed off into uncertainty. Should he tell Gwen where he was? Was he even allowed to? With Nick Fury watching his every move, who knew what he could be getting her involved with!

"Where are you, Peter?" Her voice was soft and soothing. Instantly, his mind was made up.

"Avengers Tower."

A pause.

"Did you just say Avengers Tower?" She echoed.

"Yeah, I did." He told her with a small smirk, wishing he could see her face right now.

"So, that means that—"

"Spider-Man is now an Avenger." He completed proudly.

"But how did you—?" He could hear the elevator ding and the footsteps of someone outside the hall.

"I'll tell you at school tomorrow." He told her quickly.

"But Peter—"

"I've got to go," He said. "See you tomorrow." With that he hung up and waited for whoever was outside to reveal their self. A minute later, there was a soft rapping on his door. Cautiously, he opened the door to see Natasha standing before him, dressed in a short-sleeved black top and some sweat pants.

"Sorry to bother you," She said with a small, easy smile on her lips. "But we're doing a movie night upstairs if your interested."

"Movie night?" He reiterated, unsure if he had heard her right. The Avengers did movie nights?

"Yeah," Natasha replied. "Tonight, Thor gets to pick, but since he's never seen any movies here, it's pretty much a free-for-all." She chuckled dryly and Peter wondered if the deadly assassin had been present for such events before. "You in?"

"Yeah, sure." He found himself saying before he could even process it.

In the end, Thor didn't choose the movie.

He was too busy eating pop tarts—he was apparently obsessed with those "tarts of deliciousness" that Tony kept in the kitchen—to actually pick a movie, which left the rest of the team debating what to watch. Tony wanted to watch Sci-Fi, something that Clint and Natasha both hated with a passion. The duo had demanded to watch a spy movie—which, wasn't a surprise if you asked Peter—but Bruce said the last thing they needed to do was watch something like that. The scientist had proposed a comedy, something that Steve had agreed.

"We need something to laugh at." Steve told the group and Peter sensed that being an Avenger wasn't exactly all that he had pictured. The group had their struggles and they definitely had their secrets. Still . . . it felt nice to be a part of something. For as long as he remembered, Peter had always been the outcast—the geek that no one understood, the boy whose parents had abandoned him, the guy who was secretly a super hero—and now, he wasn't so different.

"What do you think, Peter?" Bruce had asked, exasperatedly. Instantly, all eyes were on him, waiting for an answer.

"I think . . ." His voice wavered, because this whole situation was one that he had never pictured himself in. "I think a comedy would be good."

And that's how Peter found himself watching comedies with the team until midnight.

Author's Note: Next chapter, Peter goes to school! There will also be more bonding with the rest of the team. Please review if you have a moment!