Peter had always been underestimated by the other Avenger, treated like a child, protected. Sometimes, when watching a movie cuddled up, or being treated for injuries, or trained by them, it felt nice. It felt good when he had significant backup in the difficult tasks. When they protected him in a way that still made him feel part of the group, made him feel useful and growing and capable. When he learns knew moves for Aunt Nat or beats Uncle Steve in a sparring session.
But it felt like they did not trust him when the situation is better with an active Peter. It happens quite regularly. Peter would want to fight, but the Avenger would not see him as able enough. Sure, Peter was only sixteen, but he managed a lot! He can help! Why don't they see him?
They all seemed to forget just how powerful he really was all the time. So, when he and Uncle Rhodey were assigned to save and evacuate civilians in a middle-class-avenger-emergency, also known as an MCAM, Peter felt a little frustrated. It felt like the millionth time he was doing this or something similar instead of being in the action and learning how to deal with the situation while protected by the others, preparing for a time when he will be alone. He wants to learn, and fight, and he can! Why can nobody understand that?
"Why do I always get stuck with the kid's jobs?", he complained to Rhodey over the comm, who was loading up his suit with supplies. Peter was already on site, as usual. Because he goes out as Spider-Man daily, he is always prepared for a fight. Filling up his web-fluid is the most he has to do before a fight, and that usually only takes a few minutes.
Living, going to school and operating in Queens gives an additional advantage for arriving in the field for most LCAM and MCAM. They were the situations that usually happens in the area of civilians. Most UCAMs were happening closer to the Avengers' positions. Loki at the Stark tower. Vanko at the expo. Loki in Mexico. Most of the time, UCAMs were from villains directly involved with them. They were rarely interested in the civilians.
Therefore, Peter was here first, watching the weird robo-thingies try and destroy the buildings for no reason Peter can see and Peter already knew the first thing that was necessary: protect the civilians, get them out of the crossfire, and block the robots from following them. For the about five minutes until the others started to arrive in a dripple, Peter managed quite easily.
And then, he was told to "Leave the robots! Get out of the way, rescue the civilians", ignoring that Peter had managed to do both easily when he was alone waiting for them and that there were policemen and firefighters that could do it now!
Uncle Rhodey chuckled, patting Peter on the back as he arrived. "Hey, kiddo, don't knock the kid's jobs. They're just as important as the big ones."
Peter just rolled his eyes, having heard that comment a thousand times. At least it was better than hearing Uncle Steve say "You are a kid" and tell him to "keep your head down, Spidey!". But he couldn't help but smile at Uncle Rhodey. He loved spending time with him, and he never seemed condescending when being protective, unlike others he had been doing the kid's work with. Uncle Rhodey was nice and tried to teach him new things and make the kid's job enjoyable every time. Make Peter able to learn, grow, and protect better.
As they flew over the city, Uncle Rhodey in his suit, Peter swinging over the buildings and trees, Peter and Uncle Rhodey made a game out of clearing out the buildings, trying to increase both Peter's speed and accuracy to be able to save more people on the long run. Peter and Uncle Rhodey would be clearing the buildings and streets too close to the fight, bring them to the police, and they would lead them away to the save area. It was similar every time, though each fight was different, so this job was different every time. Peter knew more than enough how to organize this from Spider-Man's vigilante work. This hardly changed anything. It was but an added work. Specifically, the fact that even now, he is the one organizing it anyway. He is the first there. He cannot wait for the others, who hardly know anything about the situation, to organize civilian escape routes. It is always Peter there. It is always his job.
But Peter would always take it seriously. He would clear the area. Maybe he can do it fast and do more after... He loved the people; he would do anything to keep them safe...
Peter was determined to clear more people than Rhodey, and he moved with lightning speed, using his Spider Sense and KAREN to detect anyone in danger, and anyone at all, making the most useful track through the damage and robots and people. Within minutes, Peter had all the buildings and surrounding streets cleared, while Uncle Rhodey was still working on his second one.
But just as Peter was about to head back to the rendezvous point, he realized that the building, the one that Uncle Rhodey was supposed to clear, was about to collapse. And there were multiple people still inside besides Uncle Rhodey!
He rushed back to the building, using his web slingers to climb up to the top floor, screaming at Uncle Rhodey to leave.
"Uncle Rhodey! Get out of there! The building is about to collapse!", Peter kept on screaming, his throat getting raw with each desperate yell. Two figures near the bottom of the building, and Uncle Rhodey's suit almost at the top, speeding to the next window like an exit. He will not make it to the two figures that Peter senses.
"KAREN, give me something!", he yelled.
"There is a fire escape on the left!", she answered, worried. "It is unlikely that you will make it, Peter! I ask you to reconsider!"
"I'm not gonna leave them!", he yelled, aware that the other Avengers had been yelling at him not to the moment KAREN must have given the information to them, too, but Uncle Rhodey was on the roof, on the other side of the building. And Peter swung inside with a single flip, landing and running the rest of the way.
He found a woman and what he considered her child huddled in a corner, clearly terrified. The boy was maybe four years old, and Peter quickly made the decision. Peter wrapped the child in webbing and lowered him out of the building the four flights of fire escape, but as he was about to bring down the mother, part of the building collapsed.
Peter wrapped her protectively in his arms, seeing the police officer staring up with the child in his arm, realizing there was nothing to do, and ran.
Peter tried to move out of the way, to get out, but he wasn't fast enough. The rubble pinned him down, and Peter quickly realized that he was trapped, his body protecting the woman beneath him. Tons and tons of concrete and other stones landed on his back, pounding him in, while Peter tried to fight the memory of his time under the warehouse, the memory of the green glowing eyes, the fear of being alone with no reach for help. He tried to breath, to calm, to exist no matter what, to stay strong, keep his mind, protect the civilian...
He heard the woman cry below him and fear cursed through him. Was she hurt? The thought concentrated everything, every last idea in his head, every movement, towards her protection. And slowly, the movement stopped, and Peter could feel everything calm around him. Calm and quiet. Too quiet. Only the harsh breath of Peter and the woman below him could be heard. And her breath kept Peter save, his mind on the single thought.
He tried to call out to Uncle Rhodey, but his comm system seemed damaged in the fall. He couldn't move or see anything, and the weight of the rubble was starting to crush his bones.
"KAREN! KAREN, can you hear me? KAREN! Rhodey, Steve, any- anyone, can you hear me?", Peter yelled, but nothing came back. His suit was quiet. Shit.
Peter felt a surge of panic rise up in him, but he forced himself to stay calm. He took deep breaths, trying to control the pain and think of a way out. He needed to save the woman and himself. He needed to do it himself. He was caught in rubble, no connection. They probably did not know he was underneath, or alive. There was no telling whether they were even searching for Peter. Peter had to save their lives on his own. He tried to breathe, to stem away the panic in his heart. To do what was necessary.
He remembered his near-death experience in the warehouse during the fight against the Vulture, and how he had barely made it out alive. The weight had been crushing, and so was it now. He was deep under a building, holding up as much of the weight as he could. He was being crushed, just like then. But this time, he was stronger. He had been following a better sleep and eating routine, had been training, and he knew that he was capable of more than he had been before. He was ready, he had to be. There was no second chance. He needed to protect the civilian. He needed to save her. There was no other option. There was no fail. He would not get a second chance if he did. It was about the most important thing to do.
Peter remembered the little boy. Remembered the feeling of knowing his parents would not come back. Remembered going to his Grandpa John's funeral. Remembered losing Uncle Ben. He would protect the boy from losing his mother.
Gritting his teeth, Peter pushed against the rubble, the scared face of the young child in his mind. At first, nothing happened, and he pushed with all his might, but then he felt a faint cracking sensation. Encouraged, he pushed harder, and with a sudden burst of strength, he lifted the rubble off of him and the woman. Just enough to slip her through, drop her gently like he did her son, gently until she lay fully on the ground.
Seconds later, he emerged from the rubble as well, a little dizzy and disoriented, but otherwise unharmed. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, the woman was with the police, and Peter saw that there was a full-scale battle raging around him.
Without hesitating, Peter leaped into action. He fought with all his strength, taking out the robots left and right. He was faster and stronger than anyone had ever seen him before, and within minutes, he had won the battle almost single-handedly. The energy of protecting a child from losing his life and his mother controlled everything in him. He had done it. He had overcome this issue. And he could let his suit get repaired as soon as he was back at the Compound. All that mattered now was protecting this city.
The other Avengers looked at him in shock and amazement. They had completely forgotten just how powerful he was, and they had no idea how he managed to come out of the rubble with barely a scratch.
Peter just grinned, feeling a sense of pride and satisfaction that he had never experienced before. He had finally shown everyone what he was truly capable of, and he knew that from now on, no one would underestimate him again.