Peter was in the training room.
The Avengers couldn't help but watch him out of the corner of their eyes while they sparred and stretched. Peter wasn't even fighting, just doing gymnastics and acrobatics on the mats and bars. He had his Web-Shooters clipped on his wrists in case he fell, but that was just a precaution. His reflexes were too good for that to ever happen.
"Is this good or bad?" Steve asked quietly, fairly confident that Peter was too far away to hear. He seemed very preoccupied as he swung around and around a bar, his technique flawless.
"He needed to burn off some steam," Tony said, grunting as he lifted weights. "Where else was he supposed to go?"
"Tony, he hasn't been in here since before the accident. He might react badly if this triggers any memories."
"I know. Just give him space and make sure Romanoff doesn't ask him to spar," Tony said stiffly.
Peter let go of the bar, did a flip in midair, and landed lightly in a crouch. Peter sighed when he saw everyone's eyes on him. He walked over to the bench where he had dropped his stuff and began chugging down his water bottle.
"So what's eating him?" Steve asked.
Tony set down the weights. "I don't know. He doesn't want to talk about it yet. I'm not going to push him."
"Wouldn't it be healthier if he talked about it now?"
"You're asking the wrong person that question."
"No, I'm not. You're practically his father. You know him better than any of us."
"I've never dealt with a situation like this before Steve. When I talk to him, I don't feel like I'm talking to the same kid who used to beg me to make him an Avenger. He's changed and I don't know what to do about that," Tony admitted.
Peter crawled up a wall and stood completely parallel with the ground before shooting a web and swinging down to the higher bar. His momentum made him swing around it several times easily. Steve heard Clint wryly remark that he could have been a gold medalist if his athleticism wasn't a result of a radioactive spider bite.
"Neither do I," Steve said. "I don't react well to these sorts of things."
"To what?"
"Guilt. I had no idea of how to help Bucky after Shuri got that programming out of his head, and now I don't know what to say to Peter."
"I don't think Peter has as much guilt as Barnes. He's just spiraling right now, trying to figure out what he wants to do next while not worrying either us or May."
Steve handed Tony a towel. "You do know that Peter might chose to leave the team."
"I do," Tony said flatly.
"What are you going to do if he does leave?" Steve pushed, unsatisfied with Tony's terse answer.
"What can I do? I'll let him leave, if that's what he wants to do. Before you ask, I'll stay away if he needs that, too. I've run the scenarios and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to help him," Tony said tightly.
Steve nodded and backed off. He knew Tony was close to a breakdown and he didn't want to be the catalyst. He just didn't want his friend to be caught unaware by whatever came next.
"How's school, pauk?" Nat asked as she nestled herself between Clint and Bruce, her plate not even rattling even though there was a fork and knife balancing on it.
Peter quickly swallowed before saying, "Fine. My grades are looking good for once."
"Nice. And how are the friends?"
"Ned is pestering me to put back on the suit again, but otherwise all is well on that front. I'm worried about MJ, though. There was this boy bothering her the other day and from what she's said, it's not the first time."
"Steve would have kicked that kid's ass when he was your age and have a concussion to prove it," Bucky quipped, earning a rare, genuine laugh from Steve.
"It's not the forties anymore, Buck. Peter's too smart to get caught up in fights like that," Steve said, grinning at his friend. Peter was reminded of how Pepper had told him they hardly heard Steve laugh before Bucky joined the team.
"He's right. Two kids just got expelled for fighting on campus. It was only their second offense," Peter said.
"When we were in high school, the teachers would bet on our fights," Bucky grumbled.
Natasha snorted. "When I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had to make an official announcement to all of the senior officers that if they were caught betting on my missions, they would have to work on the janitorial squad for a day."
"The janitorial squad?" Bruce repeated, sure that he had misheard her.
"Yep. No one wants to clean up acid spills, blood, and the like," Natasha said, very much enjoying how that made everyone squirm uncomfortably.
"I could have been rich if it weren't for that man," Clint said wistfully. Natasha elbowed him and the two assassins grinned at each other.
"So how'd the Web-Shooters feel?" Tony asked his pupil.
"How did you increase the release speed?" Peter asked in response.
"It's similar technology to my repulsors," Tony said, modest for once.
"Nice," Peter complimented. "I hadn't thought of that."
"You would have eventually."
"I still don't believe that Stark managed to find an enhanced, genius kid in desperate need of a father figure," Clint said disbelievingly. Peter would have once stuttered and blushed to refute this, but their father and son bond was just an accepted truth at this point. "And you two get along. Admit it, kid. Tony made you in a lab."
"Well, our first meeting wasn't exactly heartwarming. Peter webbed me to his bedroom door," Tony said, relishing his teammates flabbergasted expressions.
"I only did that because you threatened to tell Aunt May that I'm Spider-Man," Peter shot back.
"I needed you to come to Germany," Tony said shamelessly. "But you had homework."
"Yes, and I nearly flunked English because I had to skip an entire project to help you beat them up," Peter said, gesturing to Steve and Bucky.
"What kid says no to a free trip to Europe?"
"I came, didn't I?"
"Yeah, after I had to blackmail you."
"You ignored me for the next few months," Peter said, determined to not let Tony win their mock argument.
"I was a little busy dealing with the Sokovia Accords."
"And then you took away my suit."
"At which point you nearly killed yourself fighting the Vulture in your onesie."
"And stopped all of arc reactors from getting sold on the black market in the process."
"You turned down a spot on the Avengers."
"I'm part of the team now."
"May found out without me having to tell her."
"She blamed you, not me."
The Avengers heads whipped back and forth as they watched the two retreat into their own little bubble. They hadn't seen either of them this lighthearted since before the accident. Tony had started drinking again, spent all of his free time in his labs, and drank coffee at night to avoid sleeping. Peter had stayed away and slowly grown gaunter and got way less sleep than what was considered healthy. They all traded relieved grins as they watched the duo.
Peter abruptly pulled out his phone. It started ringing as soon as he walked away to take the call. He rarely let his precognitive senses show so obviously. They hoped that it was a sign that he was getting better.
"No, I'm not spending the night. Yes, someone always drives me home. You don't need to worry about that. I don't know, an hour or two? Yeah, I'll call you when I'm leaving," Peter said, pacing slightly. The Avengers didn't even bother to pretend like they weren't eavesdropping. "I love you, too. Bye."
Peter sat back down, clearly disturbed. He barely looked like the happy boy that had been joking with Tony only seconds ago.
"Is everything alright at home?" Steve asked gently.
Peter shrugged as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. "May walked in on me playing on my computer last night and realized how little I've been sleeping, so now she's freaking out. She doesn't want me to spend the night here anymore so she can check on me. Make sure I'm at least trying to sleep."
"She was going to find out eventually," Tony said honestly. Peter shrugged again.
Peter looked up and scrutinized their expressions. "Why are all of you upset?"
"We're not used to sharing our teammates and we don't like it," Natasha said simply.
Peter raised his eyebrows. "Clint spends most of his time on the farm. How is this any different?"
"We practically live at Clint's farm now," Bruce said with only a slight joking manner. He wasn't really exaggerating. The Avengers made bi-monthly excursions out to the farm and had been accepted as aunts and uncles by Clint's kids. Laura enjoyed having superheroes at her beck and call, and Natasha and Laura were as thick as thieves.
"You don't get how weird this is for us," Steve said. "We were all alone. Pepper was busy running Stark Industries and Rhodey was still with the Air Force, so Tony was bearing the brunt of the media's attention by himself. Bruce was on the run from literally everyone. Clint and Natasha were with S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was a security risk to get close to the other agents and they were always away on missions. Thor wasn't even from this world, and no one trusted him because of Loki. I had just woken up from a seventy year long nap and wished I had died in the crash instead. We didn't have anyone until we were forced to work with each other. Afterwards, we had planned to part ways, but Tony managed to bully us into moving into the Tower. And then Ultron happened, and our team grew. The only thing that stayed the same was that the new additions were just as alone as we were. So then you come along, and you're a minor. You have to go to school, you have friends, and you have May. We've never had someone so wholeheartedly torn between this life and civilian life. We're all each other has, so it's hard for us to accept that you have a life away from us."
"At least you'll have me once I graduate," Peter said. He was a senior and only a few months away from graduating.
"I'm still torn between sending you to MIT or moving you here," Tony said, completely serious.
"Isn't it my choice?"
"Theoretically."
"Tony, not now," Steve sighed. He turned back to Peter. "Just try to understand that when we're overprotective and needy, it's just because we care."
"I know," Peter said, even if he privately wished they wouldn't. Why didn't they understand how easily he could hurt them?
They fell silent after that and contented themselves by gorging on Chinese food. Peter ate about half as much as he normally did but everyone seemed to know better than to bring it up. He'd already been in the training room for the first time in weeks. They didn't feel like pushing their luck any further.
"Wanda called today," Tony said after he set his plate in the sink. "They're coming back tomorrow."
"Good. There's not enough estrogen around here," Natasha complained.
"And speaking of estrogen, Mrs. Stark is coming over for lunch tomorrow. We're heading out after that and should be back the next day," Tony said as if it were no big deal.
"Really? Where are you going?" Rhodey asked.
"Probably a second honeymoon," Sam snickered.
No one noticed how utterly still Peter had gone. Tony only left the Facility for two reasons; the world was in imminent danger, or Pepper was forcing him out. Peter desperately hoped it was the latter.
"No, nothing like that. I made a promise to a friend a few years ago that I'd go to his graduation from MIT," Tony elaborated.
"Harley," Steve said in realization. "He's graduating already?"
Tony nodded. "MIT wanted me to speak at the ceremony so Harley called me and blackmailed me into doing it. He was a handful as a kid and now he's a menace as an adult."
Peter relaxed. He had actually met Harley a few times. The Avengers called him Tony's first child and Peter his second. At first, Peter had been disappointed that he wasn't the first kid in Tony's life, but it soon became clear that Tony had a very different relationship with Harley than the one he had with Peter. If Peter and Tony were like father and son, then Tony and Harley were like brothers. They joked around far more and prided themselves upon how much they could insult the other. When they were tinkering in the labs, they would mock the other's ideas and try to outdo each other in the most flamboyant ways possible.
"You must be so proud," Natasha said teasingly.
Tony snorted. "That asshole turned down a very generous position at Stark Industries as a leading engineer. He and his buddies want to travel around Europe for a year even though they're all broke and have no experience travelling.."
"So are you giving him a credit card linked to your account?" Clint asked. All of the Avengers were financially dependent upon Tony.
"I already paid for him to go to a good high school, MIT, and to have a roof over his head," Tony grumbled. "He wants to do this on his own, though. I'm anticipating a call in about a week asking for that credit card."
"If things go bad, we can reach you in a hour tops," Steve said, ever the strategist.
"Why would they go bad?" Tony asked.
Rhodey laughed. "Tony, you have the worst luck out of everyone I know, and I know some pretty messed up people. Present company not excluded."
"Don't forget to tell Harley that we're all proud of him," Steve added. He and Harley had hit it off surprisingly well, much to Tony's irritation.
"That'll just inflate his ego even more," Tony said flatly.
"I'll try to stop by for lunch tomorrow, but May might not let me out," Peter said sadly.
"I'll have Pepper talk to May. She has a chance at convincing your aunt," Tony said, pulling out his phone.
Peter nodded gratefully and nestled back into the couch cushions. He was getting really tired, but didn't want to fall asleep when May would undoubtedly limit how much time he spent with them.
"You okay?" Bucky asked too quietly for most of them to hear. The others were busy talking about Harley's graduation.
"Fine. I just haven't had a workout in awhile," Peter said equally softly. He didn't even need to lie.
Bucky nodded and leaned back. He always knew better than to pester Peter. May and Tony did enough of that. Peter just leaned back and tried to enjoy his time with the Avengers. He seemed to sense that it would be yet another week before he could see them again, and under very different circumstances.