Okay, there was an overwhelming preference of the reveal this chapter (like, 25 to 2 or something). There also happened to be many people preferring a dramatic reveal, whereas others said write how I had planned, so I came to a compromise. Hope you like it!

OH! One more thing: something you have to remember that I myself even forgot. Spidey's suit right now is a black version. Black when he isn't with Venom. Classic red and blue doesn't exist. YET.

"Cap, you have to get Spider-Man in range of sonic pulses now! There's no telling what could happen if that symbiote has the chance to bond with him completely." Ironman shouts from where he is stuck powering the machine.

"I'm on it!" Steve rushes up behind the symbiote and locked his arms under Spidey's own, successfully pinning the vigilante against his chest all while preventing the other's arms from moving. The symbiote struggles and screams, but isn't strong enough yet to throw off the super soldier in its half-bonded state. Steve drags the kicking venomized hero into the sonic blast range. The Captain grunts in discomfort as his own super senses protest at being in direct contact with such high sound pressure. He felt like he was in a deep pool, as he felt the his ears pop.

Captain America couldn't complain though. Not when he knew the kid in his arms was in much more pain. The screams of Venom overpowered even the blaring sirens overhead. The symbiote was thrashing around, desperate to get out of the foreign pressure. The thing was too weak though, even now Steve could see the black substance that was Venom rippling. It was unstable on Spider-Man's body. It still clung tight though, and the soldier realized that this alien wouldn't just fall off on its own.

"The sonic waves are destabilizing its partials, and Venom is to weak to continue the bonding process any further while there. It won't come of by itself though, you'll need to take it off Spidey by force!" Tony explained.

"How? I can't keep it in here and rip it off at the same time." Steve wasn't sure how this was going to work. Could he risk letting Venom go long enough to pin it to the floor and then rip it off?

"Don't worry Cap, I've got you covered." Steve turned towards the new voice. Hawkeye had apparently come to his senses and walked over. "Besides, I've got a score to settle with that stupid space turd." Clint growled out the insult, obviously sore about being used as it's puppet. The poor archer just couldn't catch a break.

Steve smiled at his teammate, but it disappeared as the alien gave a particularly strong lurch and almost escaped. Steve focused on holding it down. "Good to see you back in the game, soldier. Mind speeding it up though?"

Venom's pained screeching grew more desperate and crescendoed in volume. Clint wasted no time in moving forward to confront the alien. The symbiote growled, and in a last ditch effort, kicked out at the archer. Said Avenger caught the leg and held it in place as he darted forward and punched the symbiote in the gut, simultaneously grabbing the costume-like alien and pulling.

"Be careful not to hurt the kid." Steve reminded as he felt the buffered pressure of the blow.

"Didn't hear that when I was the one with the fancy new outfit." Clint smirked sardonically.

"I didn't dish out anything I didn't think you could handle, Agent." Steve blushed a little guiltily despite his reassurance.

"Yeah, yeah," Clint grunts as he pulls on the suit at it's stomach, but there was little give. "Damn, slippery little bugger..."

The symbiote bellows its fury at the former assassin, who glares back. "Will you just shut up?" The man growls in frustration as he slams a hand over the damn things face. Finding more purchase in the suit here, he fists the "fabric" and pulls. To the archers delight, the symbiote gives, and the more he pulls at the mask, the more the thing begins unraveling around Spider-Man's hands and feet. Soon, the symbiote only covers the vigilante's head, and with one final, hard tug, the symbiote comes off.

With a shout of victory, Clint throws the symbiote on the floor, and watched as it writhes and squirms under the hard pressure of the sonic waves. Soon, the alien is only about the size of a baseball. At this point, Clint picks it up and quickly brings it over to a clear containing unit he had spotted earlier, presumably made for the symbiote originally, seeing as he was in a lab devoted to it. He shoves Venom into the contained and seals it shut. The angry symbiote slams into the sides of the tube, but can't escape. Hawkeye laughs. "Not so scary now, are we?"

Clint turned back around just as the sonic pulse machine was turned off. He spotted his team leader, who looked at a loss of what to do. He still held Spidey, now it was less of a restrictive hold and more of a supporting one. Clint was baffled though, as he saw Spidey's lolling head of... brown hair?

Clint spotted the remains of a shredded Spider-Man mask on the floor as he walked over. Huh. Well oops?

As the archer got closer, he heard the younger groan in pain. The head slowly rose and met his eyes.

Hawkeye got one glance at the face before him and his jaw dropped.

"Holy shi-!"

~~~~~~~# ~~~~~~~~~~~

When Peter woke up, all of his senses were dazed and there was a loud ringing in his ears. The first thing to come back was feeling, and boy did he wish it hadn't.

Gosh, did anyone get the number of the bus that hit me?

His whole body burned. Burned like that one time- Oh yeah. Now he remembers. The symbiote had gotten him. What had happened after that?

The second thing to come back was his sight. He opened his eyes and was presented with a progressively less blurry floor. He could see his feet to. That confused him. He appeared to be standing, but he was fairly certain his legs couldn't possibly be supported him right now... Ahh, now he got it. He could feel some sort of limbs under his arms, holding him up.

Then he could move. With a pained groan, he lifted his head. His eyes met with Hawkeye's.

That's strange, usually I don't get direct eye contact with people because they can't tell where my eyes are under the mask lenses.

Finally, the teens hearing came back. The ringing had faded out and he could hear the tail end of whatever it was Hawkeye was moving his mouth to say.

"-hit!"

Huh, wonder what that was. Hey, is he still able to maintain eye contact? And why does everything seem more colorful that normal? Usually the tint of my mask lenses dull all the-

Wait a minute.

The boy brought a shaking hand to his face.

Bare skin.

He lunged forward, out of the arms of whoever had been holding him up, and stumbled to the ground. Both hands were up to cover his unmasked face.

Clint flinched away at the brief flicker of betrayal he had seen in the kid's eyes.

"Kid, I'm sorry about your mask. I didn't realize it had cons off when I got the symbiote off you." The archer apologized. He figured the kid must be sensitive about his identity to have reacted as he did. Today was not his day.

Peter was freaking out. What should he do? Face the Avengers or run? If the Avengers knew who he was, what would that mean for him? He was underage. If they knew who he was they would find out he was a runaway and a wanted witness. They would probably send him to Child Protective Services. And what if they revealed his identity as Spider-Man? He didn't like Aunt Alexandra, but he didn't want her dead! And if they but him in to foster care, if they revealed his identity... whose to say they wouldn't take Spider-Man away from him as well? The web-slinging persona was all Peter had left. It made him stronger and protected him. It was the only escape he had now. The last thing that made him brave enough to fight, fight both the unfair world and his own demons. This was his redemption.

He wouldn't let them take that from him.

Faster than anyone could stop him, he shot up and scanned the room. His eyes landed on a ventilation shaft. The vigilante shot a web up at it with one hand, the other covered the bottom half of his face. He ripped the cover of the vent off with his web and shot another so he could fling himself up to it. He was halfway through the vent when he looked back. Was this the right decision?

His eyes met with the startled ones of Captain America.

Maybe.

Peter took off in the vents, leaving the Avengers behind.

Meanwhile, Ironman walks over to his two teammates, an unconscious Black Widow in tow.

Hawkeye's worried eyes study the downed assassin, "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Tony glances back down at the woman he is supporting with his shoulder. "She'll be fine. Might have a broken ankle, but that'll be the most of it. So where's Spidey?"

Captain America still had a baffled expression on his face while he looked at the vent, so Clint answered,"Kid bailed a couple of seconds ago."

Iron man placed a hand on his hip and snorted, "And you guys say I'm rude? A thanks would have been appreciated."

Hawkeye shrugs as he pulls off his quiver to check his arrow supply. "Well, I accidentally messed up his mask, so I guess it was identity crisis kinda thing."

Ironman perked at the news,"Wait, you saw Spider-Man's face? And he ran away because of it?" Tony laughed, "Don't tell me, is he, like, hideous or something?" He wiped a fake tear.

Clint scratched his head, "No, he looked pretty normal. Like a-"

"Kid." Steve cuts him off, still looking at the vent, but this time a little troubled.

"Well, yeah, we already figured that out remember? He said he's on college spring break." Tony's face plate opened and he raised a brow.

"No, he was young. He's a child, Tony. Like a high school student... he couldn't have been much older than sixteen." Captain America corrected in an unreadable tone.

"Wait, seriously? That young?" Tony gives Clint a baffled look, "Do you think so too?"

Hawkeye looks uncertain as he fiddled with an arrowhead, "Well... he certainly looks like a Spider-Teen, but doesn't necessarily mean he is."

"What do you mean?" Steve asks.

"Think about it. Your seventy-something, right? But you look like you're thirty."

"That's because I was frozen in ice. What's his excuse?"

"I'm just saying," The archer raises his hands placatingly, "It's very possible his unique abilities also have an effect on his appearance. Maybe the powers stopped his aging ability. Or maybe he just naturally looks young. There are medical conditions that have been known to cause premature aging. We might be jumping the bush assuming he's underage."

"Well, we wouldn't really know unless we had a name." Tony gets an evil gleam in his eyes. He's thinking.

"Hey, all I can tell you is he's go white skin, brown hair, and brown eyes, so congrats. Your search has been narrowed to about... like a hundred thousand people? And honestly, I don't think Cap or myself got enough of a look to pick him out in a crowd of faces with the same traits." Clint recounted. Steve nods his agreements.

Tony pouts, "You guys underestimate my skill."

"Whatever," Clint shrugs indifferently and turns away from the rest. "Just... don't do anything immoral to the kid, okay? I'm getting theses... vibes from him." Has he speaks, he only turns his head to the group, giving them a side eyes kind of glance.

"What do you mean by vibes?" The three looked at the woman of their group, who had apparently woken up.

Clint hesitated, as if unsure how to put words to his feeling, "Like someone who's dealt with so much they can't tolerate anymore."

"Got it." Tony distractedly spoke as he seemed to be using the holographic screens in his helmet, "Once bitten, twice shy. Don't harass the kid. Anything else?"

"I'm serious, Stark." Hawkeye glared at the billionaire sternly.

"I am too, birdy." Tony gave his award winning grin. If Clint hadn't known the man so well, he might have thought the other was still joking. But the archer did know Tony, so he knew he was serious. Ironman wouldn't torture the kid.

"So if that's all-" Iron is interrupted by the archer.

"Yeah, one thing: Respect your elders."

To the amusement of the others, Tony tapped his foot in annoyance and crossed his arms with a pout. "Dude, you're like three years older than me!"

Peter groaned. He was really missing his mask right about now. On the way out of that Hydra compound he had found a supply closet, and in it, a white coat. He had torn it up and wrapped it around his head. Spidey probably looked ridiculous. The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Now appearing in desert fashion!

So he had swung through the city looking like he had just crawled his mummified butt out of an Egyptian tomb.

Now he was climbing up the side of Stark tower. He looked for the room he had woken up in. That was where his stuff was. Then he saw it. Spidey tried opening the windows, but to no avail. He was about to just give up and break his way in when-

"Good afternoon, Spider-Man."

Peter's heart nearly leapt out of his chest at the mechanic voice. "JARVIS! I didn't know you are outside of the tower as well."

"Indeed. May I inquire why to are attempting to enter from the window?" The AI questioned.

"Ummm..." Peter self consciously shuffled, "Well... I just needed to get my things, and since I was in a hurry and the other Avengers weren't around I figured I could just get it myself, sooo... could you open the window for me, please?" Peter gave an unseen hopeful glance.

There was a moments pause as the AI processed the question. "Well, since you asked so nicely." The window slid open.

Peter grinned, "Thanks, JARVIS!" He crawled in and grabbed his backpack. He saw the computer he had left in the kitchen on the bed, and didn't know how it got here, but who was he to complain. As the teen got ready to leave, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his brain. Peter dismissed the thought. He always felt this way before he went or left places. Now is no different.

"Bye JARVIS, see ya around!" Peter called out as he jumped for the window.

"Goodbye, Spider-Man."

When Tony walks into his tower an hour later to be greeted by JARVIS telling him of Spider-Man's visit, he isn't happy.

"JARVIS, why'd you let him leave?!" Tony demands.

"I was unaware Spider-Man was to be taken prisoner." JARVIS responds.

"No, not prisoner, just- ugh, never mind." Tony dropped the subject.

When the elevator opened on the Avenger's community floor, they were greeted by a slightly frantic Bruce. "What happened? You guys were gone for more than a day! And there was complete radio silence. I almost called SHIELD."

"Awww, Brucie really DOES care!" Tony exclaims, folding his hands together.

"Don't worry about it, Bruce. We've got it solved." Captain America pats the scientist's shoulder as he passes.

"So what happened to Spider-Man?"

"He booked it." Clint states before going into the kitchen, where Steve had also gone.

"Don't ask," Tony follows his team, along with Natasha. They hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours. They had catching up to do. Unfortunately for Tony, the elevator opened only minutes later with a fuming Pepper Pots.

"Anthony Howard Stark!" She shouts angrily.

"Ooooohhhh! Someone's in trouble!" Clint teases. Tony glares back.

"How dare you fall off the radar for twenty-four hours?! You missed a very important meeting, not to mention a pile of paperwork. If I don't have a fan-freaking-tastic explanation in five seconds-" she ranted.

"But Pep, I didn't have control over it! We got kidnapped by a crazy Hydra scientist who was plotting an alien invasion!" Tony explained whit a whine as he dramatically collapsed on the counter.

Pepper raised a skeptical brow, "You know what? I'm not even gonna ask."

"Oh good, you're learning." Stark grins.

"Just because I'm not getting on at you for your reason to miss work doesn't mean you're not going to make up for it." Pepper smirks victoriously when Tony groans.

"No whining. Now if these papers aren't done by the time I-" The red-head had been pulling out a chair at the island counter to sit next to Tony, but paused when she saw the seat of the chair. She reached down and picked up a rectangular, black computer case.

"I see you have taken to leaving things lying around." She commented unimpressed.

Tony gave the thing a side glance, looked away, then did a double take, "It's not mine." Tony informs.

"Or mine." Bruce says from the kitchen doorway, where he had been watching.

"Who's else could it-"

"If found, please return to Peter Parker." Pepper read off from where she had found the tag on the inside of the otherwise empty case.

The kitchen was enveloped in silence, and the woman started again,"Who is Peter Parker?"

A grin split across Tony's face as he resembled a child on Christmas morning, "Pep, have I ever told you how I couldn't do without you?"

"What do you mean? Wait- Tony where are you-! Aaaannnnd he's gone." Pepper wrinkled her brow in annoyance at her disappearing boss. "Anyone want to tell me what that was about?"

Clint sighed as he sipped on the coffee he had made while in the kitchen, "Nothing much, just something that could change the life of a certain friendly neighborhood vigilante."

Spidey gently hit his head against the side of the fire escape he was sitting on. It had been four hours since he had gotten his things from the Avenger's tower the the sun was only just beginning to set. The teen had yet to return to his hideout. He was too worried. Why did he show the Avengers where it was? That was such an idiot move! Now they would know exactly where to find him. Peter didn't want to risk being intercepted by them if he went back. But he had to go back. All of his things, everything he owned necessary for survival was there. What if the Avengers confiscated his things? It would probably be better to try to get there and get out before they do. But was he assuming too much? Why would the Avengers even come after a small time hero like him? Maybe Peter was worried about nothing...

Either way, he had to move hideouts. Spidey was pretty sure he could just grab his stuff and go. Surely the Avengers wouldn't come. Why would they care about some vigilante who just happens to be underage? They don't deal with the small stuff.

Yes, now the boy was convinced. He would be okay if he went back to get his things. He could find a new hideout and make a new daily schedule. Things would go back to normal. How they were before this whole Avengers fiasco. He would be alone, safe and away from the people that might deceive him. People that might-

Useless brat.

Control him. People that might-

Know your place.

Hurt him.

Peter nodded to himself. Just get his things and go.

That was the mantra that repeated in his head all the way to his hideout. He wasn't scared. There was nobody coming to get him. He was okay.

That's what he had thought. What he had convinced himself must be true. So after he had climbed up the stairs and gathered his things. After he shoved everything that mattered into a backpack, all his supplies, money, and personal belongings. After he had checked that there was nothing he needed downstairs and was preparing to leave. After all that had been done, when he heard a sound from outside, he began to second guess his previous mantra. When he heard three familiar voices coming from the backyard, he froze. When he heard the backdoor handle begin to turn, he had dove for the basement. And finally, by the time he heard footsteps coming into the living room, he was quivering in pure terror, curled up in the corner under the stairs. He was just barely out of the dim light that filtered through the doorway, some of said light reaching down into the large gaps between each of the steps. This situation seemed so familiar, down to the last detail of the same type of stairs. He didn't hear the creak of a foot coming down on the first step. He had lost himself in the horrors his head had crafted.

When Tony walks out of his lab later that day, he is the polar opposite of how he walked in. Now, he was steamed. If he gave a voice to his mood it would not be kind. Or kid friendly. The billionaire was very rarely in such a bad mood. That's why, when he walked into the living room holding four other Avengers that were comfortably lounging and watching a movie, the room sobered. Or perhaps the right words would be is alert and tense.

"Tony... do you have something to share?" Clint asked cautiously, almost suspiciously.

Yes. Tony had a lot to share. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about it though. When he had gone to his lab, he hadn't been expecting to find what he had. How did he put it into words?

Three hours earlier:

When Tony walked into his lab, he was highly amused. He almost felt bad for this 'Peter Parker'. To lose his closely guarded secret identity in such an easy way? It was almost embarrassing. On the bright side, Tony could say he didn't think anyone else had their identity lost in such a fashion. Spidey was unique.

Tony snorted. For Pete's sake (excuse the pun), who even writes in the "If lost please return to: -" stickers anymore? Seriously? This is New York! Nobody returns anything in the Big Apple. Either this kid was new, naiive, or just hopeful.

Anyway, it took relatively little effort or time to hack government personal files to get information on the kid. And apparently, Cap was right. The kid was just that: a kid. Peter Parker was the ripe age of fifteen. He attended Midtown High School and had no previous employment. He has brown hair and eyes, is 97 lbs and 5 foot, and his date of birth was 7/15/2002.*

The kid's parents had died when he was very small of a plane crash. The cause of the crash was unknown, and the police suspected sabotage, but nothing was ever proved. Based off what that man at the Hydra compound had said, sabotage was as a matter of fact the cause. Smythe had admitted to the crime. After Mary and Richard Parker's death, Peter apparently was taken in by his aunt and uncle, who he had been staying with at the time of the crash. Ben Parker had died a little over a year ago. Shot down by a man who had just finished robbing a convenience store. At that point the guardianship had been left solely to Alexandra Parker.

The last notable thing on Peter Parker's file was that he was M.I.A., labeled a runaway. Tony briefly toyed with the idea that Spidey had run away due to teenage drama and hormones. The image of Spider-Man hissing, "It's not a phase, Mom!" while crouched in his suit on a spider web on his bedroom ceiling entered his mind. The image was accompanied with several gothic looking spider posters, spider-themed bands, and other dark spider things sitting around his room. Tony shuddered at the disturbing image and shoo the though from his mind. That situation didn't seem right at all. No, there was another reason the arachnid themed hero was on the run. The billionaire's mind briefly flicked to a moment in that room with Smythe. The man had said something about hating the kid's aunt. He also mentioned that Peter had finally gotten away from her. Surely that was the key. The kid's aunt.

It was a matter of seconds before a file on Alexandra Parker was pulled up. The document stated the woman's personal information, things like age, appearance, occupations, ect. None of that really mattered to Tony. No, the thing that stuck out the most to him was he current status of imprisonment. Tony noticed he sentence wasn't listed, though. Not only that, but he guardianship of one Peter Parker had yet to be evicted. Apparently Peter's file wasn't up to date either, since it still said that Alexandra was his guardian.

What was going on here? These were government level documents. They couldn't just be outdated. That was illegal! But there was no way Alexandra could still serve as guardian from prison.

Then Tony found it. He had clicked on the case file for Alexandra Parker and in big, red letters the top of the document was labeled 'PENDING INVESTIGATION'.

Tony scrolled down further and found the cause of the delay. There was one missing key witness: Peter Parker. So Spidey ran away from testifying? Why would he do that? And why was Peter's word so important in the case study? What did Peter have to do with his aunt's crimes? Maybe that wasn't the question he should be asking, though. What Tony should wonder is what exactly were Alexandra Parker's crimes?

Tony scrolled further down to the crimes she was charged with. Drug trafficking... blah blah blah... illegal substance use... more words Tony didn't care to read... Child neglect. That peeked the man's interest. Was this why the kid split? His aunt wasn't taking care of him so he figured he was better off on his own? It would make sense. If his aunt was buying drugs, than perhaps she wasn't getting the kid his necessities either. Tony felt a curious twinge of some unknown feeling deep in his gut.

At the bottom of his current screen position, Tony saw the header for 'crimes pending investigation'. So there was more.

Tony went down further and his jaw clenched at what was listed.

Child Abuse.

Tony couldn't understand. Abuse? Sure, it made sense in that it was all the more reason for Peter to leave, but how could the kid even get abused? He was Spider-Man! The kid had superpowers! There was no way he was unable to defend himself.

'Unless he didn't defend. He wouldn't if he was hiding his powers.' A little voice at the back of his mind whispered. That was... plausible.

Stark scrolled further on to see the evidence under the accusation. There was very little. There was a very short list of few, but severe doctors visits. The injuries tended to look as if they were inflicted by another human, but there was always the excuse of it being something else entirely. Falling down stairs, clipped by a car, grabbed a kitchen knife on the wrong end in a sink of suds... and other ridiculous things.

The second thing was several school reports. Once the investigation had started, they apparently had gone to Midtown High School to further investigate Peter Parker. The nurse and a few of his teachers admitted to seeing several strange injuries on the boy. It seemed to be a reoccurring thing, as well. When questioned why they hadn't ever said anything about it, they had all responded of the constant bullying Peter had endured. They had all thought that any abuse was due to the bully. They had called home about it several times, but... well, it light of the new information that seemed rather counterproductive. When asked who this bully was, all asked pointed to the school jock: one Flash Thompson.

When the investigators had approached Flash on the subject of his bullying, the kid immediately shut down their newly rising suspicions that he was the cause of all injuries. Flash had admitted to pushing Peter around. He had given the smaller a few bruises here and there. But he had never, and the kid made a point to seriously emphasize the fact, hurt Peter as bad as Flash had seen. Flash said he knew someone else had been hurting the kid. He had seen the bruises and winces of pain that he knew for a fact he hadn't inflicted. The bully said that on a particularly bad instance, where Parker had had a broken arm, he had finally gotten the gutts to ask the brunette about it. Peter had apparently brushed his bully off and made an excuse. Flash said he hadn't believed Parker, but it wasn't his life to pry into, and thus had dropped the subject. The kid has also admitted to have laying off on the bullying. In fact, he had apparently barely even approached Peter for the better part of the year. But with all the injuries he was getting, nobody noticed and continued to assume it was Flash. When the investigators asked Thompson why he hadn't shut down the rumors, the kid responded with, and the file quoted, "Peter might not be the most open book, and I'm not the smartest, but when nobody suspected it was anything domestic for favor of me, he seemed relieved. Who was I to take that away from him?"

After that the detectives had been introduced to a girl who was apparently Peter's only friend. Or at least, she was. Mary Jane Watson had been pushed away and avoided by Peter for the past year. The two had become distant, of course, it hadn't been for the lack of the girl's trying. She had apparently been doing everything she could to stay in contact, but apparently, if Peter Parker didn't want to be found, he wasn't.

That was the jist of the entry, anyway, and Tony could say he was rather underwhelmed. Sure, the injuries were suspicious, but that wouldn't serve for a court charge. No, the investigators were fishing. Besides, Tony could think of one monumental explanation for those injuries: Spider-Man. Surely a super powered individual wouldn't allow himself to be abused. On the other hand... From what that kid Flash Thompson had said, these injuries had been appearing for over a year. Spider-Man had only been around for about a month. Of course, Spidey could have just been fighting crime in secret for that extra time. Or training perhaps? Who knew?

Either way, Tony still wasn't clear on why Peter had run away, and that frustrated him.

He scrolled down further.

One glance at the next two words made the billionaire's jaw and fists clench. The man cursed.

No. There was no way.

Assisted rape?

Tony really hoped that didn't mean for Spider-Man what he thought it did. If it did, the chance of abuse just went up to the hundredth power. The man continued scrolling. There were case results of a half completed rape kit. They could only get samples of what was on the bed. Speaking of bed... Tony cringed at the evidence photo. A mess of rusty and white stains on light blue sheets. He could hardly comprehend why there would be so much blood.

The case went on to say Alexandra Parker was accused of forced child prostitution.

When Tony thought about it, it was almost surreal. He felt his gut twist at the very thought. This kid, Peter Parker, who is Spider-Man, had been forced into this situation? But he had powers! Didn't he fight? The thought of Spidey in such a situation was so wrong. So out of place and nonsensical it was baffling. Were these two people really the same? Could they possibly be? They had to. It all made the most sense, after all. The kid fit the description Clint had gave. Not only that, but several parts of What he knew of Spidey's life fit with this kid.

The thing that most connected the two identities into one, which was also most disturbing of all the evidence, was the signs the kid had displayed. How he had quite literally flipped out when Clint touched him, how he tended to shy away from any contact in general, the way he pulled in and hid when Clint teased him, and... good lord... his posture as the symbiote took him.

It all made perfect sense now. Tony felt like a fool. If it were a civilian, he would have noticed right away. He could read people like this because he once was like that. But the man hadn't noticed. He had assumed Spider-Man would have his life in complete working order. He just made the assumption that he was safe. If Spider-Man had the time to help others, he didn't need help himself, right? But that would be if he was assuming that the kid put himself before others. Tony scoffed, yeah right. He souls have seen this earlier. He should have known.

Now there's a teen, a genuinely good kid out there. Scared, alone, and considering he hadn't been to a therapist, probably not in the greatest mental state. The kid deserved better than that. No kid should have to deal with that, superhero or no. Tony had to help the kid. Whether the boy wanted it or not.

Back to the present:

"Tony. Toooonnyyyyyyy~! Hey, Earth to Dreamer, you still with us?" Clint waved a hand in front of the billionaire's face, attempting to get his attention. The man shook out of his remembrance. Right, there were things to do.

"Yeah, Clint, I did find something. Something important."

And that is how, after a twenty minute explanation, Tony (who had the idea), Steve (who had a moral obligation), and Clint (who was guilty for his ignorant teasing and wanted to apologize) found themselves heading off to the kid's hideout.

"Remind me why you made us come in civies?" Clint grumbled as they got closer to the abandoned house. They were taking the same path as last time. "I feel naked out here."

"Because coming in as heroes with an iron suit, a shield, and a bow would scare the kid half to death. Plus, we're trying to stay inconspicuous out here. That won't work if three Avengers show up at Central Park." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Are we even sure he'll be there?" Steve asked, eying the upcoming building.

"He probably won't be, if he was trying to avoid us. But there might be something there to point us to where he would be." Tony answered.

By then they had found themselves at the back door of Spidey's temporary house. Tony tested the back door: unlocked. The three men in their civilian clothes walked in. They entered the kitchen. It looked exactly as it did last time Steve and Tony were here. Maybe Spidey hadn't come back. It would make the most sense.

"Hey, Clint, wanna look upstairs? I believe your twinkle toes are best fit for such delicate wood." Tony snickered.

"At least I'm not so fat and clumsy that I can't go upstairs." Clint snorts before actually going up said staircase.

Tony rolls his eyes.

Steve goes into the laundry room. Tony isn't sure what he's looking for, but decides to ignore the super soldier in favor of looking in the living room. Like last time, he saw a big hole in the floor. He also saw a slight movement out of the corner of his- Tony whipped around, searching for what had caught his attention. No one was there. But, he did see what moved. A door that was swung wide open had shifted as he passed it. Tony looked into the widely ajar door. There was a set of wooden stairs, the older kind that had planks of wood with no adjacent blocks, so there were just gaping holes. Tony hated that style, but this was hardly the time to think about stairs. There was no light down there other than what little could filter through the door. It would be moldy and slippery too, if the dank air and smell that wafted up, plus the stone floor, had anything to say for it.

A basement.

Tony wasn't sure why, but he was hit with the sudden memory of how the kid had curled in at the mention of a basement. The basement. The pinnacle of everything classic horror movie. Tony didn't like basements. He never did. Though it was only after he realized how similar a basement was to a cave that he really tried to stay away from them. Especially this basement. It's resemblance to caves made him want to freeze up. He should walk away. The man shouldn't be thinking of this now, he had to find something. Anything that would lead him to Spider-Man. Why was he distracting himself with thoughts of a cave? Those thoughts never led to anything good. Tony turned away from the door. He didn't like basements, and neither did the kid, so why go down?

But... Tony turned back to the doorway. If that's the case, then why does it feel so wrong to turn away?

It was the truth. He had a gut feeling that he should go down. There was some kind of... pull. Like he would would find what he was looking for. Tony rarely just knew things like this. He rarely had a feeling something just had to be done. When he did have a feeling about something, it was never this strong. He had no clue anything could scream so clearly to him that he must do something, especially when that something was against his better judgment.

He was going down.

Tony took a tentative step onto the first stair, prodding it lightly to see if if would take his weight. The old wooden stairs seemed sturdy enough, but the man wouldn't take any chances. He gently made his way down, trying his hardest to minimize the amount of sound he made. Once at the bottom of the stairs, he allowed his eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness he had plunged himself into. There was only a little light coming through the doorway and hole in the basement ceiling, now. The sun had almost set. Soon Tony wouldn't be able to see his hand in front of his face, let alone find anything useful. He'd have to make this quick.

Soon, he could see vague, dark outlines of everything in the room, and by everything, he meant the lack thereof. He took a couple more steps away from the staircase. The farthest wall from where he stood, one that was parallel to the stairs, was barren save for a couple of most likely dusty shelves. There were a few fold out chairs stacked against the wall a little ways away from him to his right. Other than that, nothing.

The hero crossed his arms and sighed. So much for trusting his gut. There was absolutely nothing down here. He felt his annoyance rise at how uncomfortably similar this place really was to a cave. Every last bit down to the stone floors, suffocating air, cold temperatures, dark atmosphere, and the soft sigh of an occasional gust of wind that had made its way in through the entrance.

Wait- this was a house. An underground basement with insulation. How the hell would wind get in here? So what was that sound?

A soft gasp.

Tony whipped around, ready to defend himself, until-

Ah... there he is.

The glare of daylight after having his eyes adjust to the dark made it difficult, but he could still see the ball-like figure. They had curled up in the corner under the stairway, just barely out of reach of the light. The cowering and shaking boy hid his head in his legs and covered himself with his arms. He was decked out in the entire Spider-Man assemble. Tony could tell the kid couldn't see him, but at least knew someone was there. Tony bit his lip at the sight. This was Spider-Man. The same guy who had thrown himself between Tony and a deadly alien only hours earlier. They change was so drastic... what had that woman done to this kid?

Tony stepped closer to the smaller, but halted when the kid whimpered, "Please, Aunt Alexandra... don't... I'll be good."

The subdued voice, though almost silent, had enough power to make Tony cringe guilty. He wasn't the kid's aunt, he hadn't beaten the kid to submission, but he had caused the fear the kid was in now. He was the source of the boy's terror. The guilt was quickly overpowered by anger. If he ever got his hands on Alexandra Parker... how dare she do this to a child? A boy who was too kind for this world, and she had destroyed him. He was furious, he just wanted to punch something, preferably, that woman's face. But Tony wouldn't do that. He wouldn't lose his temper and scare the kid even more. Instead, he reassured, "Peter, I'm not your aunt. It's just me."

Peter timidly raised his head just enough to look at the man before him from the top of his eyes, "Ironman?" He sounded confused, and just barely less scared than before.

"Hey, kiddo. How's it hanging?" Tony chuckled a bit sadly, "Usually, that's a pun... not so much right now, huh?"

The kid looked a little uncomfortable, "W-why are you here?"

"We want to help you, Spidey." Tony went to take a step forward, but instantly stopped when Peter gave a violent flinch backwards. The kid's head hit the wall with a loud smack. Tony hoped the kid hadn't given himself a concussion. "Woah, calm down! It's okay." Tony raised his hands peaceably.

"I don't need help. Just let me be." Peter insisted, glaring at the older through his eye lenses.

Stark raised a brow, "Kid, look at yourself and tell me you don't need help."

Peter bristled, "You can't tell me what to do."

"I wasn't."

Spidey wrapped his arms around himself self consciously, "Just- Please, just go. I-I have to be alone. People around me get hurt. And Spidey is all I've got. You don't understand..."

Tony turned deadly serious. "Peter, I do understand. I lived what you're dealing with."

(Sorry for the mid story's AN. This is going to be a bit confusing, but I couldn't think of a better way to write this part. Italics is Peters thoughts, bold is Tony's, and normal is the normal 3rd person perspective.)

Peter looked confused and maybe a little nervous, "Wha- What do you mean?"

"I know how the story goes, kiddo." Tony gives a sad smile, meanwhile ignoring Steve and Clint, who he knew had heard them and were listening, but staying out of site. Seeing how Tony would deal with this. "It all starts with the normal life. It's content. Maybe you didn't make all the right decisions back then, hell I know I didn't, but it's good. You've got what you need and you're good with it." Tony, who was about seven strides away from the kid, took a step forward.

Before I built the Jericho.

Before Uncle Ben died...

"Then bad things happen... something changes you for good, and theirs no going back. You get out okay, you figure you can deal with it..." another step forward.

Kidnapped in Afghanistan.

Its my fault Uncle Ben is dead...

"But then someone you thought you could trust, someone who was supposed to support through the hard times stabs you in the back. Breaking all faith you had in anyone." Another step.

Obadiah Stane.

Aunt Alexandra.

"Things become as normal as they'll get. You fall into a new schedule. But you don't forget that pain of betrayal. It changes you. You start pushing people away. Your friends, your family. To protect them. Protect yourself." Step.

After I killed Obadiah.

This past year...

"Then shit hits the fan again. Something happens and you have a whole lot less people to fall back on. You're alone and you have to deal with everything on your own. Those friends from before? You pushed them to far away." Step.

The palladium poisoning... briefly losing Pepper and Rhodey...

Captured and learning of venom... and I suppose that leaves me in the now... do I have anyone to fall back on? No.

"Guess that brings you to the now, huh kiddo?" Tony says, only two steps away from the boy. Peter seemed weary, but gave no sign that he wanted Tony to back off.

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story?" The man gave a warm smile.

Spider-Man wasn't naive. He heard the double meaning. The implied statement.

Do you want to hear how your story could end?

"Yes."

Tony paused, closing his eyes and rubbing his beard contemplatively. "Well... I realized I wasn't alone... and then got a second chance."

The Avengers initiative.

"A second chance?" Peter locked eyes with the other man, and even though the tinted eye lenses were between the two, they could sense the fact.

"A new family. Sure, it was a rocky start... and by rocky, I mean mountainous... but everything turned out okay. We have each other's backs. Sure, it's crazy and dysfunctional, and sometimes we want to murder each other, but we're a family. The Avengers were my second chance. Yeah, we argue. Sometimes it's almost like our disagreements could cause a war. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Over everything else, we're friends. No matter what." Tony reflected in a fond way.

Peter shuffled slightly, then, in a dejected voice, "But... I don't want to hurt you all. This curse... I haven't been able to protect anyone I cared about before. What if... what if someone is in danger and I fail them? I can't-"

"Kid." Tony interrupted. "It's not your responsibility to protect us. We're the Avengers, we can save ourselves. You can relax. Let someone else do the defending. We'll protect you."

Peter swallowed thickly, chocking on his breath, "My... responsibility?"

"Is to be a kid. Let the grownups do the adulting. Be a kid, go to school, and leave the breadwinning to someone else for now. You're responsibility it to be fifteen, got that? You can have a hobby, if saving people is what you want, but it isn't your job. Not now." Tony finished the question of a statement.

Peter hesitated. Could he trust these people? Maybe... But he had trusted his aunt, too. Would the Avengers be any different? Oh god, he hoped so, because the thought of just letting go, letting someone else take his burden sounded so good. Even if the promise was faux... even if he was hurt again... maybe the time he could spend believing and just hoping would make it worth it. Let them do what they want, Peter just needed someone for even a little while, even if it was fake. He didn't have much to lose...

The child quivered slightly, afraid of the consequences of what he had decided. "Do- Do you really think I could have a second chance?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Kid, you're to good for your own good. This world doesn't deserve a selfless person like you. If anyone deserved a second chance, it would be you. Certainly far more deserving than me." Tony confessed.

"So what do you say? How's your story gonna end? Will you give yourself a chance? Come to the Avengers?" Tony took one last step forward and crouched in front of the boy. He held a hand out to Peter.

Let him initiate the first contact.

Peter shakily takes the hand, looking to Tony for some sort of explanation. What now?

The inventor gives him a reassuring smile, then stands up, pulling the teen with him into an embrace. The older man pats the younger on the back before pulling away. Peter stood in a bit of a daze as the man began walking to the stairs, motioning for Peter to follow.

Tony's expression dropped slightly as he looked up the stairway. Clint sat at the top step, his elbows resting on his knees and his hand holding his chin, in a relaxed position. His expression was a mixture of smug, amused, and a hint of... joy? Steve stood next to him, leaning against the the doorway, a curious, if satisfied, look in his eyes. Tony glared at the other heroes.

"What are you looking at?" He snaps.

"Aww, Tony! I had no idea you felt that way about us!" Clint gushed. "And aren't you just the father of the year down there? You handled that wonderfully." Clint teased, but it was obvious the archer was pleased with what he had heard.

"Go to hell, Merida." Tony grumbled, with little actual ill intent. The man began climbing the staircase, his friends moving out of the doorway.

Peter watched the interaction. In that instance, he knew for a fact that once he went up those stairs, his life would change. Peter prayed to whatever god that would listen that it would be a good change. Prayed he wouldn't be hurt again. The teen started up the stairs.

Peter would look back on this time and realize that Tony had been wrong about one thing. This wasn't the end of his story. It was the beginning.

Unfortunately, the teen didn't know this. There was a long journey ahead of him. He would have to learn to rely on others. He would have to be stronger than ever before. It wasn't going to be easy, and it could hurt a little, but everything would be okay. He would be safe. After all, it takes a team to rise the broken.

As Peter left his old hideout that day, he felt something he hadn't in a long time: Hope.

He just wished the fear that accompanied it wasn't there as well.

Those last few paragraphs deleted themselves earlier... I'm so salty... they were better before, but I couldn't remember exactly what I had written...

Well, looks like the cringy, cheesey fluff has finally reared it's ugly head. 8,500 words here... There was a lot of transitions in there... a lot happened this chapter, so tell me if there are any parts that need tweaking. Was it good anyway? Was it original?

*has anyone seen Disney's new Marvel's Spider-Man? They made his height 5'10'' and his weight 97 lbs! Do you know how disproportioned that is? So anyway, I kept the kid's weight since he probably didn't eat as much as a normal boy, let alone someone with a super metabolism, should have with his aunt. The kid can get taller later. Also, remember how I said think of this as the amazing Spider-Man movie? I lied. This is completely AU with aspects of other movies and cartoons mixed in. Make no assumptions, because even I don't know all of the canonical facts about Spidey yet. I don't even know if I'll have a Gwen. (Lol probably)

FUN FACT: the name Merida(girl from Brave) means Sh!t in Portuguese, as in the bad word for poop. Isn't that hilarious? I speak some Portuguese, so when I watched the movie for the first time, I was creased laughing. XD

Btw

Ages:

Peter Parker: 15

Natasha Romanoff:35

Tony Stark: 42

Clint Barton:45

Bruce banner:43

Steve Rodgers: appears 39, technically 109

Thor Odinson: who cares? Obviously hundreds of thousands of years.

Bucky Barns: see Steve Rodgers

Sam Wilson: 35

Anyone else?

Okay, a couple of favors to ask:

One, can I have some personality suggestions for the individual characters? All the avengers seem like the same person. What traits should I emphasize to make them individuals?

Two, I don't know Clint's, Natasha's, Bucky's, Falcon's, or really many details of the rest of the Avengers back stories. Help? TuT

Three, what about the individual characters insecurities? Like, the popular fan based ones? Ex: Tony and Caves. Not going to lie, I know very little on most of these characters. I haven't seen any captain America, Thor, hulk, or iron man movies. Well... I read a story version of the iron man movie, and saw spoilers for iron man two, but that's it. I also haven't watched age of Ultron or Civil War. I probably won't be watching any of them either, due to lack of resources, lack of time, and in Civil wars case, lack of courage.

Lol I'm so unprepared.

Sorry for the AN novel.

Jaggy is out. (I realized everyone on would have no idea where this nickname came from. XD)

~Sayonara