Natasha had grown used to weirdness that was characteristic of her line of her work and firmly believed that it would take another alien invasion to surprise her. She was proven wrong when she walked into the common room and saw the Winter Soldier and Spider-Man asleep on opposite ends of the couch.
Grinning slightly, she quietly made her way over to the kitchen where Tony and Steve were grinning their heads off. She poured the remains of the coffee pot into her preferred mug that Lila and Cooper got her as a present for her birthday last year and sat on top of the counter. Like Clint, she liked to have a clear view of her surroundings. Seeing as how the boys were looking at her in amusement, she decided the civilized thing to do would be to engage them in conversation.
"How long have they been like that?" Natasha asked.
"About four hours," Tony said. Judging by his bloodshot eyes and monstrous cup of coffee, Tony hadn't slept at all.
"He only got four hours of sleep?" She was confused as to how that would be a reason to celebrate.
"No, he was sleeping in his room before he came down here. He got about seven hours of sleep total," Steve said, smiling.
Natasha grinned. "Not bad. Did he say how much he was getting before?"
"About four. We're going to have to wake him up soon. He has school today," Tony said.
"Have Rogers wake him up. Just in case he lashes out," she added when Tony opened his mouth to protest. "He has enough guilt without breaking your nose."
Natasha and Tony watched as Steve walked over to the couch and gently nudged Peter's shoulder. Steve leapt back as Peter instinctively blocked. They could immediately hear Peter gasping out a string of hurried apologies.
"It's fine, I swear. Bucky nearly tossed me out a window for doing the same thing the the other day," Steve said calmly.
"I regret nothing," Bucky mumbled as the commotion woke him up.
"I know, Buck," Steve said, holding in a laugh. He sobered up when he saw Bucky sheath the pocket knife he had instinctively drawn. Steve, Tony, and Natasha all internally prayed that Peter would never reach that level of paranoia.
"Peter, how about you go get dressed and then come back down here for breakfast?" Steve suggested quietly.
Peter nodded and hurried over to the elevator, pausing only to wave to Tony and Natasha.
"So when's Pepper flying in?" Natasha asked as Steve and Bucky began talking too quietly for them to hear.
He eyed her warily. "I never told you that Pepper was coming."
"You don't drink that much coffee unless you want to hide how late you stayed up from her," Natasha said matter-of-factly. Tony had the most obvious tells of anyone she knew, except maybe Peter. Maybe that's partly why they got along so well. They couldn't lie to each other.
"She'll be here in two hours. She's going to be very upset that Wanda isn't here."
"That's not something that could be avoided. She had a perpetual migraine because of us." With everyone's convoluted emotions in response to Peter's situation, Wanda had been receiving too much input for her brain to sort through. Wanda and Vision had left a week ago to give her time to recover. They didn't know when they were coming back.
"Barton's going home today, right?" Tony asked after a massive sip of coffee.
"Tomorrow," she corrected. "I'm going to visit his farm over the weekend."
"Sure, do whatever you want. That'll make it easier to have some alone time with Pepper," he teased. "Are you taking Bruce with you?"
"That depends on if he's still working on that sleeping pill for Peter," Natasha said, enjoying the look of shock on Tony's face. "What? Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Aside from having Bruce wrapped around my finger, it wasn't that hard to put the dots together. You weren't exactly trying to keep it top secret."
"Don't tell the kid. I don't want to get his hopes up when it might not work," Tony begged - well, you could call it that, but his ego made it seem like it wasn't that desperate of a request.
"I won't," she assured him. "Though the pill might not be necessary if he's finally sleeping."
"One night doesn't mean that he's cured," Tony said, and promptly finished his coffee. He grimaced. "Damn, this caffeine is not kicking in fast enough."
Steve and Bucky came into the kitchen, the latter's hair messy and exhaustion clear in his eyes. The spy and billionaire parted to let the soldiers start foraging for food. Those two rarely waited long enough for the cooks to whip something up for them, much to Tony's aggravation, but he did try to remember that they grew up poor. They weren't used to others cooking their meals for them.
"I got the kid to eat more last night," Bucky said. "I'm not sure how healthy it was, but at least he didn't puke it all up when he woke up."
"How'd you do that?" Natasha asked curiously. While Peter and Bucky had technically spent a lot of time together, they scarcely were alone when they saw each other. Steve or Sam were always there, so how close were they really?
"I have a lot of experience with getting little punks to eat," Bucky said flatly. Steve snorted, but didn't deny it.
Bruce wandered into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffee pot. Upon seeing that its contents had already been consumed, he simply said, "Why?"
Steve immediately began making a new batch, ever the mother hen as Tony liked to call him. Bruce muttered his thanks before sitting down heavily on a stool under the center island, Natasha perched on the island slightly above him. She arched an eyebrow at him.
"Rough night?" She asked.
"Helen sent me a tissue sample of someone who had come into contact with powerful gamma radiation. She wants me to compare it to my tissue in case another Hulk has been created," he explained, tapping his fingers against the counter. "The sample was highly saturated so I recommended that they put the infected person in quarantine until Helen and I can tell if there will be any side effects."
"Did you get any sleep?"
"Does falling asleep in my lab count?" Bruce asked sarcastically. Steve passed him a cup of coffee. "Thanks, Steve."
"No problem," Steve said. "But shouldn't you go get some more sleep?"
"No. I need to keep observing the sample to make sure it doesn't mutate or implode," Bruce said wearily.
Peter came back into the room dressed in a hoodie and jeans, his headphones hanging around his neck. Steve slid a glass of orange juice over to him as the teenager sat down next to Bruce.
"Bucky's making eggs and I'm starting the pancakes right now. Do you need anything else?" Steve asked.
"No, that should be fine," Peter said, but it was clear that he'd rather not eat at all.
"You can put on the headphones if this is too much," Tony said quietly. "Just make sure that you can still hear us."
Peter nodded gratefully and slid them on. They hadn't noticed how tense he was until he visibly relaxed with the headphones on.
"You didn't use to have this level of sensitivity. How long has this been happening?" Bruce asked curiously.
"Two weeks," Peter said. Everyone knew what he meant.
"Is it just you ears?"
"It's everything," Peter said softly, looking down at his hands. "That's part of the reason why I haven't been eating or sleeping enough. I can taste every little ingredient in the food, so when they all mix, it tastes like ash. I had to start sleeping with my headphones on because May's breathing was keeping me awake, not to mention my loud neighbors and the cars outside."
"Does it feel like what the spider bite originally did to you?" Bruce asked carefully.
Peter stiffened. There was an unspoken agreement among the Avengers that they weren't supposed to ask Peter about his uncle and the bite. During a particularly awkward evening when they were still trying to get a feel for Peter's character, Sam had asked what the spider bite was like. The normally cheerful boy had looked over at the veteran and flatly said that he better hope that he never finds out. For Bruce to so obviously violate that agreement meant that he was seriously concerned.
"Yes, it does," Peter said shortly. "What has that got to do with anything?"
Bruce looked thoughtful. "I'll have to get back to you on that."
All of the Avengers knew about the lab that Peter's school had toured where he got the spider bite. Tony had easily found out which one it was and before letting them meet Peter as himself and not his alter-ego had explained what that bite had done to him. It was comparable to the super soldier serum, even if its effects were more bizarre. They had seen pictures of Peter before the bite and after. They knew all the facts about his life and career as a hero, yet they had never gotten Peter to tell them what the bite had felt like. Not even Tony or May knew. That was the one secret Peter Parker seemed determined to take to the grave.
Steve placed down plates in front of Bruce and Peter. The two began eating, though Bruce did so with much more enthusiasm. Natasha accepted a plate from Steve without a fuss, but Steve had to verbally threaten Tony before he took a bite. Tony never had much of an appetite in the morning.
"I'll drive you to school in twenty minutes," Tony told Peter as he received a message on his phone. "I just have to take care of something really quick."
Before Steve could stop him, Tony was out of the kitchen and in the elevator muttering commands to F.R.I.D.A.Y. Peter didn't seem too bothered. He was used to Tony rushing away abruptly. It was inevitable with how busy he was between the Avengers, Stark Industries, dealing with the governments that were still trying to push through a revised Sokovia Accords, and just trying to get some alone time with Pepper. Tony tried to balance his life, but it just wasn't possible sometimes.
"Are you sure you want to go back to school?" Steve asked carefully.
"I don't want to. I have to," Peter said dully as he pushed around the eggs with his fork. After a stern look from Steve, he shoveled some into his mouth.
"That's the attitude," Natasha said dryly.
Peter seemed too tired to reply to that. Bucky left to go shower and change his clothes. Natasha noticed that he was limping slightly and briefly wished that he wasn't so stubborn about getting medical attention. She understood why both he and Tony had so much trouble letting doctors near them after what they'd gone through. She wondered what lie he had told Peter to keep him from inquiry after Bucky's wound. Probably something to do with painkillers and his healing factor.
"Peter, did you bring your backpack here or did you leave it in your apartment?" Steve asked as he sat down with his enormous breakfast plate. Only Thor ate more than Steve, though Peter used to give them both a run for their money. Peter hadn't actually met Thor yet. The sixth Avenger had been in Asgard for awhile now, but his teammates knew better than to worry about him.
"I didn't think I'd be staying the night," Peter said, his fingers curled tightly enough around the fork to dent it.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., send someone to Peter's apartment to pick up his backpack and bring it to his school," Steve said.
Peter looked startled, but didn't object. Everyone knew he was still adjusting to Tony's obscene wealth and influence. It could be argued that half of them were still adjusting to it too.
"Mr. Parker, Mr. Stark would like you to be in the car shortly," F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced.
"I'll see you all later," Peter said, getting up.
A chorus of goodbyes followed him to the elevator, but he had already turned his headphones off.
"I can't believe that you're at school," Ned said as he sat down next to Peter in their homeroom. Thanks to Tony's reckless driving, Peter had arrived at school earlier than usual.
"Ned, yesterday doesn't matter. Everyone knows that I'm Tony's intern already. I haven't been quiet about it," Peter said calmly even as every sound practically made his ears bleed. He wished he could keep his headphones on all day, but that might raise some eyebrows.
"Yeah, but now people know that you made Spider-Man's Web-Shooters and that you have your own pair. Plus, you just stopped a bunch of terrorists with them. That makes you awesome."
"Ned, stop fangirling. You realize yesterday was easy compared to what I normally do on the job, right?" Peter asked. In his head, he amended his words to physically easy.
"On the job? Are you going to be Spider-Man again?" Ned asked excitedly.
"What? No. I mean, I got my suit back from Tony, but I'm not going on missions with them for awhile. I need to lie low right now," he insisted.
MJ sauntered into the room and sat down next to Peter, people parting to let her through. Her very presence was intimidating to some. MJ reminded Peter of a cat, though he knew better than to tell her that. She acted like she was superior to everyone else and didn't need anyone, yet she always sat with Peter and Ned, kind of like how cats would sit adjacent to their owners while simultaneously ignoring their existence. It was a fun comparison that he knew she wouldn't appreciate.
"Morning, MJ," Peter said in amusement.
"Has anyone asked for your autograph yet?" MJ asked, smirking at him. "Intern?"
Peter hadn't outright told her that he was Spider-Man, but she had connected the dots months ago. She hadn't made him fess up yet and he hadn't explained himself, so they continued to dance around each other. Ned was all for telling her, but MJ didn't seem to mind. In fact, Peter was willing to bet that she loved the mystery more than she would love the truth.
"A few, but I'm not interested."
"Really? Because I'd like to know how you know Black Widow," she said, daring him to come up with an excuse worth her time.
"Mr. Stark had me help fix her Widow Stings. I met her when she picked them up from the lab," Peter said, glad that Tony had given him a plausible excuse to use.
"That's it, huh?" MJ asked, pulling out her notebook. "Because from what I've heard, you two were pretty friendly during the lockdown. She even had a nickname for you. These kids even said that they have a video as proof."
Crap. Why would anyone be taking a video when terrorists were literally a stone's throw away from them? He had to tell Tony about this.
"We've talked a few times since. I've worked on all of the Avenger's gear," Peter said, trying and failing to improvise. He really sucked at lying.
"Whatever you say, Peter," MJ said as the teacher began to call everyone's attention to the front of the room.
That might have been the most uncomfortable class of his entire life. All of his classmates kept sneaking looks at him as if he was just going to whip out the Web-Shooters and stop another horde of terrorists. A few even tried to pass him notes when the teacher wasn't looking, but he never even looked at them. MJ ignored them all, but Ned was watching their classmates carefully. As much as he loved how popular his friend was, he cared about Peter's well-being even more.
Peter had never been more grateful that the bell rang as shrill as ever, hurting his ears, and forcing everyone to get up and go to their next class. As always, Peter scooped up MJ's books and led her to her next class since it was next to his. Ned had class on the other side of the building so he waved goodbye to his friends and headed off.
"Parker!" Flash called out, storming towards the duo.
"This should be good," MJ commented, leaning back against the lockers.
"Not helpful," Peter complained as Flash and his equally ridiculous friends drew closer.
"How the hell did you manage to shoot Spider-Man's Web-Shooters?" Flash demanded.
"Well, I made them, and was the one to test them before they were given to him, so I'd say it wasn't that hard," Peter said coolly. He was not in the mood to deal with arrogant pricks.
"And what about Black Widow?" One of Flash's friends asked.
"I helped repair her Widow Stings and Mr. Stark told her that I was here and could help with the evacuation. I did my job," he said simply. He didn't even have to lie about that last part.
"You said that you were just an intern," Flash said angrily.
"I'm Mr. Stark's personal intern, Flash. Did you really think he'd hire me if I wasn't capable of keeping up with the Avengers?" Peter asked, liking how flushed Flash was. "Now if you'll excuse me."
Peter turned around and strode back to where MJ was waiting at the lockers. She seemed to be arguing with an older boy, and Peter didn't like how close he was to her. The boy noticed Peter coming and whispered something in her ear before storming off. MJ looked pissed.
"Was he bothering you?" Peter asked as they hurried to class. They only had one more minute before they'd be marked late.
"He's been bothering me for a few weeks," she corrected. "I helped him with a science project and suddenly he thinks he has a chance with me."
MJ had never dated anyone to Peter's knowledge. No one had a chance with her.
"I could get rid of him," Peter offered, sincerely meaning it. Now that he had a rep for stopping terrorists, he bet he could scare the boy away. The only difficult thing was that he was unwilling to back up his words with physical action.
"No. I'll deal with him. Besides, you're a head shorter than him. He'd probably just laugh at you."
Peter couldn't really argue with that point. "Okay, just let me know if you change your mind."
MJ smiled. "I will."
They both knew she wouldn't.