'N-No...'

Whimpering.

'I-It hurts!"

Crying.

'Please... Stop...'

Begging

They never stop.

Every night he relives it again, and again, and again.

Again.

Again.

It won't stop. It always goes through the same things. The same order.

First, Uncle Ben.

'N-No...'

Next, Alexandra.

'I-It hurts!'

And last, T̷̡͜͜h̸̶͘͝a͡҉̵́͘t̕͞ ͠M̀̀͢a̕͜͞n̵̢̨ ̀͏w̨͡h̸̨́͘͠ớ̵̕͢-͢

'Please... Sto-'

He's here.

Peter jolts awake with a gasp, his Spidey-Sense ringing like crazy. He knows something is off immediately. The dream, no, the nightmare, has never been cut off before. Without fail, it always ran through to the very end-

Someone's here!

His eyes shoot open and his heart skips a beat. A shadow looms over him, the large figure is standing at his bedside. Right beside him, inches away. In his space, too close, too close!

Peter screams.

"Woah, calm down, Peter! It's okay." The man tries to assure, but goes unheard. Peter is heaving and floundering to get away, but is tangled in sheets. The boy holds his arms out in protection, covering his face as he curls up. The man can see Peter's shaking like a leaf in the wind. He sighs. Obviously, he'd gone about this all wrong.

The man grips Peter's shoulder, and the younger flinches violently. The boy is whimpering pitifully and sobbing by know, and the man doesn't need super-senses to smell the fear that practically radiates off the child. Knowing Peter isn't quite in the now yet, he does what he can to console the boy. He sits on Peter's bedside and pulls the shaking boy to his side, combing fingers through the kid's hair comfortingly.

"It's okay, it's okay." He assures. "Nobody can get you here. You're safe. Don't be scared, Peter, it's me, Steve."

Slowly, Peter is brought to his senses. The man, Steve, isn't hurting him, but rather the opposite. Steve isn't that man, the man with no name but who still managed to burrow his way into Peter's mind and establish himself a permanent place. One that frequently used itself in his nightmares. No, Steve is good. Steve is safe. Right?

Then what is he doing in Peter's room?

"Ummm... Captain America?" Peter hesitantly asks in a way that conveys his desire to know why Steve was in his room in the first place.

"Hi." The soldier, who Peter notes is wearing pajama bottoms and a white tank top, smiles at him. "Sorry to wake you. JARVIS told me you seemed in distress. I came in to just check on you, but as soon as I got near your bed you jolted awake." Steve explains.

"JARVIS woke you up because of me? I am so sorry, I'll ask him not to get anyone when..." Peter worries.

"Don't be sorry. And JARVIS can continue to alert me when you're having trouble sleeping, okay? I'll come. That's what we do in the Avengers. We stick together like family." Steve pulls away from Peter, who is now sitting beside the Captain.

"No, I really don't want to make you wake up in the middle of the night now that I'm here. I don't want to mess with your schedule or anything." Peter shifts uncomfortably.

And to his surprise, the blonde man begins to chuckle. "Peter, you'll hardly be changing my schedule. I do this nearly every other night, believe me. You're not the only one with nightmares here."

"Wait... you mean...?" Peter is shocked, but the sad smile Steve sends him is confirmation enough.

"I've done this for everyone in the Avengers, and then some. You're not weak or childish for having nightmares, Peter, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. They show you're a survivor. Everyone here will understand that." Steve reassures.

Peter fiddles with his hands, "You all... really trust each other, huh?" He meets Steve's eyes.

"I guess we do." Rogers smiles. "It's only natural that we got to know each other. Living, fighting, and spending time with the same people does that. That's how it was in the army, that's how it is anywhere."

Peter twitches. That's how it is anywhere? Does that mean if Peter continues to live in the tower he will trust the Avengers? Peter doesn't know if he wants that. If he is bound to trust them like Steve says, doesn't that make this place all the more a trap? That could be their plan, to just wait him out. Wait until his guard is lowered, then strike.

No, he's twisting Steve's words. That isn't it. They wouldn't just revel their plan like this, anyway.

"Of course, it wasn't always like that." Steve comments.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... when we first met, right before the alien invasion, we were far from on friendly terms. In fact, we fought more than we worked together, especially at first when Tony and I met Thor and Bruce. We argued and made some low blows. I'd say the first time we'd actually agreed on something was after the invasion started." Steve rubs his neck in thought, appearing almost guilty.

"We won the battle, but that didn't mean we really trusted each other. It was more of a... mutual acceptance of each other's power. No, we weren't friends yet."

"But that invasion was only about a year ago. If you weren't even friends then, how are you a family now?" Peter questions.

Steve snorts in laughter, "You know, sometimes I ask myself the same question. It kinda just happened. Tony invited the Avengers to stay in his tower after the incident, mostly because half of us didn't actually have our own places, and also because it would make us much more efficiently organized. Over the months we continued to learn about each other. The acceptance grew to a trust, and then a bond. We've had our bumps in the road... but recovery from those bumps made things better than before."

"So... Tony didn't trust you all, but he wanted you to live with him?" Peter couldn't figure the billionaire out. Why would Tony want to be in close quarters with people he didn't trust? Especially since he would be at his most vulnerable, without the Ironman suit, around them. Not to mention Tony was likely to be the weakest Avenger when left without his gear...

"That's the funny thing about Tony. While he usually acts arrogant and rude around people, he's actually very generous, in his own way. Tony doesn't hide how he thinks of someone. If he doesn't like you, you'll know it, and at first he did tend to avoid everyone. It was like he'd expected us to stab him in the back as soon as it was turned. We got passed that, and now, Tony puts up with just about anything we throw at him. Even Clint's pranks, and even after Bucky."

Peter wonders what that means Tony thinks of him. Steve said the man makes it obvious what he thinks of you. But he also made it clear that Tony has trust issues. The genius philanthropist hasn't known Peter enough to trust him, but still acts friendly around him. Is that what this is, though? Is it just an act? Peter diverts his train of thought to something else in Steve's explanation.

"Bucky?" Peter had heard the name from Tony as well, and is pretty sure it is to be associated with that man with the metal arm that he had seen earlier on.

"Right..." And suddenly Peter's managed to make Steve be the more uncomfortable looking one, "Bucky is an old friend of mine. He was being controlled by Hydra and was tasked to kill the Avengers. Obviously, he didn't succeed. We managed to get through to him, jog his memory just a bit. Now we're protecting him from Hydra from here. He's still pretty distant and confused. Occasionally he'll remember something, an event we usually refer to as a flashback of the times before Hydra. If you ever see it happen, just let it play through. He'll go... vegetative. Just try not to startle him and you'll be fine. Come and get me if you're able. He really doesn't mean any harm through anything he does, so don't take any offense if he ignores you."

"Thanks." Peter says, grateful for the heads up.

Steve gives him a warm smile, "Sure thing, bud." He stands up, "Now, you should try to sleep. It's only 1:30 AM, after all. Good night."

Peter nods his agreement, and Steve leaves shortly after. The room basks in dark solitude once again.

What just happened? Peter's brain is a little fogged, blurring the whole experience. Captain America really came into his room (when had it become his room?) to wake him from a nightmare. It's crazy. It's surreal. It's...

What family does?

Apparently Steve has done it for all the Avengers. Which Peter is having a hard time imagining. The teen also doesn't know how he feels about the man coming into his room. Is he grateful? Upset? Scared? Something else? Peter knows he was uncomfortable when Steve had touched him. It had really disturbed him.

The question was, what had disturbed Peter? Was it the contact itself, or the fact that he had been able to calm down even with the physical contact from Steve?

The teen doesn't know a lot of things about himself currently. One thing he does know, though, is he wants his mask...

Oh boy… He could really use Spider-Man right about now…

~~~~~RTB~~~~~RTB~~~~~RTB~~~~~

The next morning, Peter wakes up.

He wakes up. Normally, such a thing has no significance. The teen wakes up every day. This time is different though, because if he woke up, that meant he had fallen asleep... Again. Still, what's so special about that?

Peter is baffled beyond belief. He'd never, not once, gone back to sleep after a nightmare. He always either got up or stared at the ceiling until sunrise. That's what he'd been expecting to do last night as well. He clearly remembers staring into the dark void of his room and then... nothing. He woke up. Of course, when Peter had nightmares he was always able to sleep later on in the day. He just couldn't right away, like he had last night. The only difference between his sleeping habits after nightmares then and now is...

What had Steve done to him? He caused some kind of reaction in the teen. The soldier has somehow changed him...

Peter will have to test if this was a fluke or what later on. Until then, he has a new mystery to solve: why is it so quiet? Usually Peter can hear the sound of the Avengers talking. Not necessarily all of them, but at least one or two. His hypersensitive ears aren't picking up anything right now.

The teen dressed (the woman, Pepper, had apparently dropped off a couple of bags while he wasn't in his room) and goes out into the hallway. He still hears nothing on his way to the kitchen, and as expected, nobody's in there either. Peter doesn't know what to think. Where did everyone go.

It isn't until Peter enters the living room that there is any sign of life. There's a person on the couch. The boy remembers what Steve had called him last night: Bucky. Hadn't Tony said something about him too? He can't remember, but he does know that this man apparently didn't play well in the sandbox when the Averages first faced him. Even now this "Bucky" apparently doesn't get on with most of the tower's occupants.

Peter prepared to walk back out. The man hadn't turned, so he guessed Bucky didn't notice him. Peter hasn't seen this guy since he first woke up in this tower, and is pretty sure the brooding man didn't want to see him. At the very least, he hasn't made any effort to meet Peter. That was just fine for Peter's tastes. The teen doesn't want to make nice with the whole of the tower anyway. Less to get attached too...

Besides, the soldier is scary. Even Steve seemed to speak of him like he's dangerous. It's better if he leaves now.

But fate has other plans.

"The Avengers have been called out on business. They'll be back by tomorrow." Peter looks back at Bucky. The reclusive man didn't turn to look at Peter when he spoke. He didn't need to. The man continues to stare at the TV, which, Peter notes, isn't even turned on. Peter can see his reflection on the black screen. Is that how Bucky knew he was there?

"Tony mentioned that might happen. Is Bruce here?" Peter recalls how Tony had told him he was more likely to get a response from Bruce if he asked where the Avengers had gone to. So much for that.

"No. They needed him on standby." Bucky's voice is blunt, his face lacks expression and he still stares at the black screen as if it's the most captivating thing in the world. This seems to be the man's default. Speaking to Peter at all seems to have put them both off kilter. What does this man expect from him?

"O-Okay then. Um... do you need help turning that on?" Peter refers to the TV.

Bucky doesn't answer.

Ooookay then... Peter really wants to leave now. "Well, I'm gonna go now..."

Peter spins around and makes it three steps before Bucky once again interrupts his escape. "You remind me of someone, someone from... before."

This time when Peter turns to look at Bucky, the man is looking directly at the younger. His stare bores holes into the teen. Even so, the man also seems a bit... vacant. The eyes are empty, as if he isn't really there.

Steve warned him of this, right? Is this one of those flashbacks he was told about? Steve had said to just play along if Peter had ever gotten caught up in one. The war hero wasn't here to confirm or deny this was one of those times, so Peter figures he should probably just go with it and hope he doesn't do anything to set the man off.

The vigilante is under the distinct impression that he's disarming a bomb.

"Wh-who do I remind you of?" Peter stutters.

'Get it together, Parker!' He mentally berates.

"I don't know. He was small. He was bullied. He had too much confidence for a weak kid." The man seems to be thinking hard, meanwhile Peter feels mildly insulted.

"I think he's dead. I think I failed him. Rogers says he was able to go on without me, but Rogers lies. Like when he says I'm not the same as Winter Soldier."

"This person I remind you of... why did you protect him if you can't even remember him?"

Bucky is silent for awhile. "I think... because I felt like it was right..."

"What changed?"

Bucky is confused by Peter's question, so the teen elaborates, "If you failed him, something must have changed. If you care about someone, nothing you do is ever to fail them. All you can do is your best. Did you do your best?"

Bucky looks startled, "I- I did."

"Then you didn't fail him."

Bucky looks at his lap. "I couldn't protect him."

"He wasn't your friend if he expected you to." Peter feels kind of hypocritical, but it seems to be the right thing to say, as Bucky sighs and answers with a, "He didn't."

"I guess that means Steve hasn't lied to you." Peter comments.

"You talk like he did, too. I want to know what happened to him."

"Steve might be able to tell you. He'd be more likely to know."

"Yes. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

"What do you mean? You want to protect him still when he's not alive?" Peter cocks his head.

"I wasn't talking about him."

Peter wakes up the next morning feeling more stressed than he has in awhile.

Some of the stress is thanks to Peter being unable to go out as Spider-Man. He can blame that on his crippling social anxiety which overanalyzed every response he could get to asking if he could go out. In the end, if Peter ever gathered the courage to ask it was immediately squished down to nothing by his raging nerves. Peter is going stir crazy. For the past couple years he hasn't gone more than two days without throwing a fist at somebody, even if a lot of that fist throwing was on the wrong side of the law... Anyway, now that he was practically trapped here doing nothing, he didn't know what to do with himself.

That's only part of the issue with his stress levels though. There is a much, much more pressing issue on his mind than being Spider-Man. It's the way he constantly felt the need to stay away from literally everyone in this tower. It's much worse than a few days ago, when it was only Tony. Now, its actually everyone. Of course, some more so than others. Now it's Ironman and Captain America he avoided most often. The two have already managed to see him at his worst. Everyone else he made less of a conscious effort to avoid.

Peter is lying to himself, though. There is one person he hides from more often than he does from even Tony. But Peter hides from this person for a very different reason than why he hides from the others.

Natasha Romanoff.

It's nothing personal, really! Well... it is something personal, but not personal between himself and the spy, no, not at all! It's personal in a way that only Peter can control, and thus he feels guilty for thinking so low of the Avenger, even if it isn't on purpose.

It's just... when Peter catches a glimpse of the woman's long, brightly colored hair flash in the corner of his eye... When Peter sees here lithe but strong feminine body... When Peter feels the dangerous vibe around her and that stare... that controlling, authoritative stare... on himself... it makes him want to shrink away until he's nothing. It makes him want to hide and pray she takes no notice of him, that she could just pass on by and never see him. It makes him want to submit. It's all too much for the unstable teen. He can't- he won't- go back to that bad place.

She's too much like Alexandra.

Maybe Peter's being ridiculous, but he can't help how he feels. He's pretty sure he's been scarred for life when it comes to females... and people in general. Peter knows he's gonna have a hard time with relationships later on. He doesn't have to worry about that for a minute yet. Until then...

Peter should probably pay attention to what's happening around him. The Avengers have gotten back, and it seems Steve and Tony are at each other's throats. Peter's sitting at the end of the island counter closest to the wall, and furthest out of view. The teen suspects that they are so busy yelling when they walk into the kitchen, they don't see him. Peter is fine with that. He'd rather not come to attention right now, anyway.

"I can't believe you'd disobey a direct order and put everyone in danger like that!" Steve fumes.

"Uh, excuse me? I saved an entire building of people! Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Save lives? Is following your every whim more important than that now?" Tony defends.

"That isn't the point! The point is you put the lives of your team at risk with your insubordination!"

"Fine, next time I'll let hundreds of civilians be blown to smithereens!"

"That wouldn't happened, and you know it. He had Hulk on standby. He would have caught that missile." Steve glares.

"Actually, Mr. Perfect, I didn't know that. And you didn't know if Hulk would have gotten there in time either. I was betting on no, and that's why I risked my life." Tony glares back challengingly.

"Actually, you risked all of our lives. We were depending on you and you broke formation! If you do it once, who's to say you won't again?! How can we depend on you in battle if we can't trust you to have our backs?"

"You can trust me. I just don't seem to understand what our top priority is, Capsicle. So which is it? Are we going to save people or are we gonna stick to formation? The latter is a bit ruthlessly democratic of you." Tony's voice is icy cold. Peter can see the other Avengers, some more uncomfortable than others, hanging back in the doorway. The boy gets the feeling he'll want to retreat, and fortunately for him, he won't have to walk past the arguing adults. Peter slips out of the room.

Peter doesn't believe in luck, but if he did, he would say he doesn't have any.

Natasha Romanoff walks into the room after he's already plopped on the couch. She sits in the armchair adjacent to him. None of the other Avengers come in.

"Did that surprise you?"

Peter suppresses his jump of surprise when Natasha spoke, "W-What do you mean?"

The redhead studies him. Calculating gaze looking him over. "From what I've heard so far we've been giving you the impression that we're one big happy family."

"You're not?" Peter isn't sure he wants to know the answer. Has everyone so far been lying to him?

"That's a complicated question with an even more complicated answer." Natasha leans back in the chair. She is feigning relaxation. Peter can see she isn't relaxed, though. The teen was pretty sure this woman never relaxed. She is always tense; ready.

"The Avengers are a family in this tower. Out of it, we're a team. The two relationships can't coexist without clashing. It's our job versus our personal lives, and we're in the awkward phase of trying to balance it all out. Progress comes in short, violent bursts like this sometimes. We're all trying to figure each other out, and we all have different ways of doing. Don't dwell on it for too long." Natasha continues.

Peter is startled. Was the assassin trying to... reassure him?

"You've been trying to figure us out. You want to know why you're here. What our motives are. What we expect of you. Is that right?" Natasha asks. Peter didn't know he's been projecting so much...

"Take this as you will, but you're here for no other reason than Tony's compassion. We don't have sinister motives. We don't expect you to follow a regime. We don't expect you to give us anything. We don't want you acting like a good little prisoner and we're not going to make you do unorthodox things. The Avengers don't expect submission, we expect respect."

Natasha pauses in here in her statement.

"And I'm not your aunt."

Peter jolts forward at that last one. "I don't think!-"

She cuts him off, "I see the way you watch me. You're scared. I can tell you're prepared to flee. At the same time, I can see you're willing to conform. Should I test which you'll do?" Natasha leans forward, and Peter shrinks back, "That isn't-"

"Silence."

The word is spoken so softly, Peter can barely hear it. Even so, it is immediately obeyed after a short intake of breath. The teen cowers.

"Conform. That's your natural reaction. How often did you do that for your aunt?" Peter can't pinpoint Natasha's expression, but the voice sounds... sorrowful? No... it's more... remorseful.

Peter doesn't answer, only looking away in a way most people would pin as guilt. Natasha recognizes the shame.

"I'm not your aunt. Don't try to conform. We're not going to try and surprise you here. Do what you think you would do. Not what you think we want you to do. Just... be you. That's the best you can do right now. For yourself and for the Avengers."

Peter is staring at his lap. He hears rather then sees the woman stand up. He senses her coming closer. He feels her hand run once through his hair.

He watches her go.

Huh.

The next day Peter is surprised to walk into a perfectly comfortable breakfast between all the Avengers. To be honest, he expected there to be a tense silence. Maybe even nobody showing up after yesterday's argument.

But no. The team had seemed to have resolved their conflict. Tony and Steve even sat next to each other at the island counter, both left to their own devices, but not in an awkward way. The whole atmosphere was almost... friendly.

Is this what Natasha had meant by short bursts? Is this how their "family" worked?

These people are so bizarre.

Speaking of the weird habits of the World's Mightiest Heroes...

Peter walks forward sitting in a chair next to Clint and getting the Archer's attention. "So, uh, what's up with the new center piece? I mean, I'm not much for art, so I can't judge, but isn't it a little... Tacky."

Before Clint could answer, Tony snorts, "Trust me, kid, that's not there for any kind of allure. Thor came by last night. That's his hammer." Tony throws his hand in the direction of the aesthetic monstrosity. It consists of a hammer resting on top of a jar of chocolate spread.

"Why is it on a jar of Nutella?" Peter doesn't understand the purpose of this.

Clint chuckles, albeit bitterly, "That's basically Thor's way as marking it as his own. He put it on the table to flaunt it in our faces. He likes to do crap like this to piss us off. Don't be fooled by his naive understanding of Earth an his innocent charm. He's really a sadistic monster under all the blond sunshine." The Archer is pouting.

Peter is confused. If they want the Nutella, why didn't they just take the hammer off? Maybe they didn't want to face Thor's wrath if they did? This explanation didn't make sense to the teen, but he wasn't going to ask why they didn't move the hammer. He has a feeling he didn't want to know.

Later that day when the still stir-crazy Peter is pacing the tower floor, he comes across the hammer with the Nutella once again. It hasn't been moved since he was here this morning. Nobody else is in the kitchen either. The curiosity in the young teen can't help but be drawn to the hammer. Is the thing booby trapped? Did it electrocute you if you touched it since its the weapon of the god of thunder? Maybe Thor has some kind of voodoo mental connection with it?

Peter doubts that last one is true, but still, there had to be some reason the Avengers didn't just move it.

The sensible, weary kid in Peter says he should turn around and never look back at the weapon in question again. It would be a bad idea to mess with what wasn't his. Especially if the owner was a big, strong, thunder god who he doesn't know.

But the scientist in Peter wants to test to see if his theories are true.

In the end, the curiosity got the better of him. He just hoped it wouldn't kill the proverbial cat this time around. The teen stepped closer and closer to the hammer. Peter tuned in on his Spidey-Sense, hoping that if there is anything he should be wary of, it will be picked up by his precognition. The sense is silent, almost strangely so. As a matter of fact, rather than repel the idea of touching the other worldly weapon, his sense seems to pull his towards it.

Never one to doubt his sense, Peter obeys. He tentatively reaches a hand out to the handle of the hammer. Still no warning signals. He quickly grasps onto the weapon, screwing his eyes shut tight, as if expecting some kind of retaliation from the war hammer. There is nothing. Peter swipes away his fears.

Okay, so the hammer isn't booby trapped... why else might the Avengers not move it? Maybe it was extremely heavy. Thor was a big guy, a god, after all. Maybe you needed godly strength to lift it. But Captain America was pretty strong as well... just how heavy could the hammer possibly be?

Peter braces himself on the table, getting ready to pull the weapon with all his strength. He silently counts down in his head, preparing for one, hearty tug. Peter tenses, and pulls with all his strength...

And nearly lets out a shriek when the hammer is lifted unexpectedly easily from it's perch on the jar. The teen flounders for a bit to get his balance, and once he has it back, he looks at the hammer in his hands in confusion. It isn't heavy at all, it fact, it is deceptively light. Almost light enough to just be a plastic toy. Peter is pretty sure this is no toy. The metal feels real, and even Tony says it's s the real thing.

This brings back Peter's original question: Why didn't the Avengers just move the hammer if they wanted the Nutella?

In the end, Peter just settles on the idea that the Avengers just respect Thor a lot. He couldn't think of anything other explanation.

The teen sets the hammer back on the Nutella jar exactly how he had found it. He decides against saying anything about this experience to the Avengers.

He just hopes JARVIS won't mention it...

~~~~~~(#Worthy!Peter) btw, I forgot JARVIS existed for awhile there...~~~~~

Peter meets Sam Wilson, Aka The Falcon, and Thor officially on the same day, at the same time. Needless to say it freaked him out a little. Sam is fine. Perfectly calm, cool, collected, and polite. Thor is... less than all of those things. The vibrant man had almost immediately drawn him into a hug, to which Peter responded by going as stiff as a board. Any chance of an non-awkward meeting had been immediately thrown out the window as Peter had drawn in on himself, strangely trying to hide from the big man while he is still in plain sight.

All the Avengers(Excluding Bucky, as per usual) were present at the time as well. Most of them cringe a little at the sight of Peter's reaction to the over exuberant Thor, and with a forced laugh, Tony pulls the hulking god away.

"Thor, pal, have you already forgotten that talk we had about personal space? Tell me you haven't."

"Apologies, friend Stark. I've yet to grow accustomed to the reserved ways of Midgardians." The smile Thor throws at Peter almost makes the teen guilty for not observing the Asgardians traditions rather than vice versa.

Falcon steps forward, "I'm Sam, and just introductions is enough of a meeting for me, no need for hand shakes or bone crushing hugs," Sam shoots a look at Thor. "So, you're Spider-Man? I can honestly say I didn't expect him to be so young. I mean, sure he's only been in the papers for a couple weeks, but still." Peter can tell the man is curious as to why Peter is in the tower. Sam was also obviously suspicious about the conspicuous retreat Peter had made. Thankfully for the teen, the man is polite enough not to pry. For now, that is. Peter is certain someone will fill him in on the new residents... circumstances.

"Yep, that's me. Web-Slinger, Wall-Crawler, various other nicknames from J. Jonah Jameson that are usually followed by the words 'is a menace!'" Peter jokes timidly.

Sam chuckles, "Right. That Jameson really likes to bash you. What'd you ever do to him?"

Peter shrugs.

The rest of the room's occupants move on from the introduction, diffusing into their own conversations. Peter is overly conscious of how Sam takes a step closer.

"How are you adjusting to life around here? I know it can be hard, being new and all." Sam smiles sympathetically.

"I'm doing good… you're the first to have asked. Do you have firsthand experience or something?" Peter shoots the man a glance.

Sam chuckles. "You know it, kid. When the Avengers first moved in, the whole lot of them had to figure out a routine and the boundaries. Sure, it was probably hectic, but at least they were all awkward together. When I came in and broke their regime I kinda just floundered for a couple weeks… it's hard to adjust when you the only one doing it…" The dark-skinned man rubbed at his neck.

Peter nods, glad that he wasn't the only one to have gone through this awkward integration.

The boy surveys the room, and seeing as all the Avengers are here, decides that it's high time he got out of here. Even though Bucky isn't present, as per usual(where does that guy go all day?), Peter still finds there to be too many people in the room. He'd rather not be so crowded.

"I- I'm gonna go to my room. Um… later." Peter sends Sam a short wave and heads towards the exit.

On his way passed Tony, Peter's peripheral vision catches the genius begin to lift his hand. Though it might have only been for a pat on the shoulder or a wave goodbye, Peter's overactive mind assumes the worst. Before the man can "strike," Peter has quickly and almost effortlessly sidestepped, putting a wide berth between himself and the man. Before Peter has the chance to be embarrassed, he's already retreated, leaving the Avengers to ponder his completely conspicuous move.

A bit of an abrupt end there, huh? Honestly, this was gonna be longer, but it been like a month, I have 5,000 words, and I figure I might as well slap it up. So yeah, the transition next chapter will go immediately after the end of this one, with no time break in between. This was Beta'd by Sbayless44. Drop a comment, the more the better! And statistically speaking, the odds of me updating sooner are directly proportional to my amount of comments. *hint hint wink wink nudge nudge*

Sayonara