Content Warnings:
-Coarse Language
-Depressive Mentality and Themes
-Mild Violence
-Descriptive Sexual Imagery/Themes
Story by Kale_Kabbage
All character belong to Marvel®
I thought I'd share a little fun fact about myself since it pops up in my writing. I'm Canadian. Us Canadians spell stuff differently sometimes. About half the time, we spell stuff the British way (like Colour) and the other half, we spell like Americans (like apologize). Officially speaking, our country spells the British way, but that's not how your typical Canadian will necessarily spell; it varies from person to person. That's why you'll see a mix of spelling styles in my writing!
***Did you guys know that Canada can provide Asylum to LGBTQIA+ members (eg. transgender people). I just wanted to let everyone know, as I know transgenderism is being attacked and making it dangerous/deadly for transgender people in some places. You can come to Canada! You'll have to qualify as a refugee by citing risks (eg. discriminatory laws) that are based on your sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Chapter 1
Everyone was chatting with each-other in little groups, joking and discussing past events and plans for the future. Although there weren't many of them, the lively talk filled the room.
Peter sat awkwardly staring out the window and spinning back and forth on his chair. His fingers toyed with a loose string on the cuff of his sleeve and his leg bounced. After sitting all day in class, he was having a hard time staying still.
Plus, he'd been waiting here for, like, five billion years!
Finally, the man, the myth, the legend strolled through the door, mug of coffee in hand and sunglasses on. "Everyone shut up. I have a hangover."
Cheery as ever.
It'd been about a year and a half since Tony almost died using the Stones to defeat Thanos. Peter could still hear the beep beep beep of the heart monitor as he lay in a coma for 4 months straight. Peter hadn't gotten to spend too much time there, not wanting to disturb the Starks. He was only Tony's 'intern' after-all. He wasn't sure how appropriate his presence would have been.
It was usually an illusion whenever he felt close to someone; he tended to latch onto people pretty easily while they never felt the same way. And Tony definitely wouldn't be the type to reciprocate, that was for sure. Nonetheless, Peter had felt his heart stop when he'd seen the man half-dead on the battlefield all those months ago.
And then there was the whole situation with Stephen, Osborn and… May. Peter thanked Odin, or God, or whatever entity, that Stephen was able to cast the original Runes of Kof-Kol - the one that would only erase Spider-Man. Peter wasn't one for good fortune, but he had to admit he'd lucked out with that one, especially since Stephen was nice enough to keep the memories of a select few people: himself, Mr. Stark, Happy, Ned, and MJ. Peter was pretty sure MJ and Ned were the only reason he hadn't spiralled past the point of recovery.
To say the least, it had been a rough past year and a half, but he was still here. He was still breathing. And now here he was at a meeting with the freaking Avengers. May would've been proud of him.
He missed her.
He was determined to keep making her proud, to keep helping people, as hard as it could be at times, especially when he had to hear Jameson yelling on the big screen everytime he swung through Times Square. He couldn't really complain, though. He was enabling the man after-all by providing him with pictures and videos of Spider-Man all the time.
"How nice of you to finally grace us with your presence, Stark. Now sit down and shut up." Fury - the real legend - glared daggers- ahem dagger at Tony, who rolled his eyes and took his seat at the head of the table.
"Pepper out of town with Morgan, is she?" Clint asked with a smirk.
Tony's face soured. "Yes." Clint's smirk sharpened. "Shut up, Barton."
"Both of you motherfuckers shut it, or I'm going to come over there and show our newest recruit how to properly kick your goddamn asses."
Peter's eyebrows climbed high. He didn't want to be taught how to kick Tony and Clint's asses. He was good just quietly sitting beside Scott who, he'd learned last week, always snuck a snack into the meetings. While this was only Peter's second meeting, he'd already made quick friends with the nerdy man, and, therefore, earned the right to share Scott's snack. Today was gummy worms. Peter was pretty happy with that. He was gonna see if he could sneak something in himself at the next meeting.
Crossing his arms and finally removing his sunglasses, Tony sat back, grumbling something about Fury being an ass.
For Tony's sake, Nick Fury pretended not to hear. With a swipe of his hand, the screen at the front of the room turned on, pulling up a video of some mutants attacking the cameraman. It looked like a body-cam from a security guard. One of the mutants looked like a standard human, but with gold eyes, while the other resembled an angel with massive white feathered wings.
"These are believed to be a couple mutants that are a part of Magneto's forces. They were storming an underground US armoury."
"Guns?" Steve piped up, arms crossed and face frowning.
"They didn't take them; they destroyed them. Alongside every other weapon." Maria said. She swiped the screen, the video was replaced with a blurry image of a forest. Squinting, Peter made out a bunch of specks within the trees. "This photo was taken this morning. It's of, what we believed to be, Magneto's army. They've set up camp in the woods in New Hampshire and are slowly recruiting more and more mutants to their cause."
A tense silence fell across the room finally broken by Sam muttering, "fuck."
Rhodey ran a hand down his face. "They're gonna start a war."
"Yeah well, can you really blame them?" Bucky murmured. "They've been hunted, murdered, and harassed just for existing."
"It's not an excuse to start a war. Wars always have casualties."
"So what're they supposed to do? Just lie down and get killed off until they're all dead?"
"There's always a peaceful solutio-"
"What is it? If it's that simple, tell me: what's the peaceful solution for them?"
A moment passed. "I don't know, Ok? Maybe- maybe some violence is necessary - I don't think so - but maybe it is. But an all-out war should be an absolute last-ditch option. Not the next one on their list."
Leaning back, Bucky nodded his head once. "I agree that it's a response that, currently, seems disproportionate to the threat."
Rhodey nodded as well. "And I agree that the government needs to step up and offer safety and support for them."
Both men backed down, a few quiet murmurs of opinion running through the other Avengers.
Peter was no history scholar, but he knew that violence historically worked, but it involved so many casualties, and it usually didn't yield any positive results for a while. But Bucky had a point, what was the other option? Peter had heard of a handful of mutants who were working within the government in hopes of swaying the public and politicians to be more accepting of all mutants. But it was slow, even negligible, progress. Still, Peter had hope that it would work out for them. That old Xavier guy seemed like he knew what he was doing. Regardless, though, there was Magneto and every day it seemed Peter was hearing of more and more mutants taking his side. The worst part, Peter couldn't blame them, not really. Still, war wasn't the answer. Or at least Peter really hoped it wasn't. Peter just wished people wouldn't hate everyone who was different. It made for a pretty disheartening and scary world at times - and that was coming from Peter: a white cisgender non-mutant dude.
"Well, there may not be a war at all. In fact, there may not be any mutants left in a year."
That shut everyone up real quick.
Fury stepped forward. "A few months ago, there was a new disease discovered; one that only affects mutants. When contracted, the mutants lose their powers." He paused. "There's no cure, and the disease has yet to be overcome by any mutant. It lasts for around a month before the mutant dies."
Several heartbeats of silence passed. Stephen inhaled and ran a hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So a mysterious fatal disease that's incurable and exclusively targets mutants pops up all of the sudden, huh? That's not suspicious at all. And lemme guess, this thing is only in America right now?" Fury nodded. "Figures."
"How much do you wanna bet some scientists in a lab designed it?" Carol said. She cracked her knuckles. "I think I might have to call Ross and have a conversation."
"Do we have a way of getting a sample of this disease?" Bruce timidly interjected with a raised hand. "That way, we can start testing for a cure - or at least some treatments."
Maria spoke again. "It's spreading similar to a virus: through droplets in the air and surface germs. And quickly. I'm sure it'll be in most major cities in no time, if not already."
"Shit," Clint muttered. "If anyone knows any mutants, better get them quarantined ASAP."
"Tony, Stephen, we need to get a sample right away and find a cure or treatment or something," Bruce emphasized, looking to his colleagues.
The two goatee men shot each other a look of disdain, but ultimately nodded. Peter wondered if they'd let him help. Sure, he wasn't as genius as them, but he was smart. Plus, chemistry was his jam, so he was sure he could at least be a good lab assistant. He'd have to discuss it with Tony afterwards. He didn't want to bring attention to himself right now. These meetings were super intimidating and he wasn't sure if he'd earned the right to, like, talk at them yet, y'know?
The rest of the meeting was pretty mundane: some talk about what tactics it appeared Magneto was planning (all words Peter didn't understand, but everyone else seemed to). At least he understood 'pawns' and 'checkmate'. Thank god he'd learned chess. At about the fifty minute mark, discussion turned political. Stuff about Director Ross and what he was up to. Peter got the feeling everyone hated the man, especially Tony who kept saying stuff like 'the ass wants xyz' and 'the ass can piss off'. No one seemed to disagree with him. Despite the Sokovia Accords being repealed after the Thanos stuff, the Avengers still had a silent obligation to not piss off the US government (i.e Ross).
They seemed annoyed about that.
Which was probably fair. Although Peter had yet to deal with any of Director Ross's commands, he wasn't exactly the US government's biggest fan at the moment.
Soon enough, things were coming to an end, Tony, Stephen, and Dr. Banner deciding they'd start working on a cure for the disease. Like they'd been discussing before, the first step was getting a sample of it of course, so that meant they had to find a sick mutant and convince them to give them their blood.
"The only mutant we know is Wanda. And I don't think she's going to be in the mood to talk." Fury had said.
"After that whole Westview fiasco, I doubt she's even been around anyone to catch it." Tony nodded to himself thoughtfully.
Peter didn't know Wanda was a mutant. Huh.
He hoped she was doing well. He would never agree with what she did to that town, but he… he knew firsthand how soul-wrenching grief was. And having the power to bring loved ones back and yet having to abstain from it… well, that was cruel. A sick and cruel joke.
He felt for her.
The meeting wrapped up and everyone started getting up, bidding their goodbyes and saying they'd see eachother next meeting or whenever. Except Tony and Stephen, who started arguing about how to start the process of cure/treatment research. Bruce was technically a part of that conversation too, but he kinda just ended up standing off to the side trying to interject every few seconds only to be cut off by someone calling the other 'an ass'. That seemed to be a favourite insult of Tony's.
Peter tried to wave to Mr. Stark. The man's eyes flicked towards him and he nodded once before resuming his bickering with Stephen out the door.
Peter couldn't help but wonder if the man even liked him. Sure he seemed to (objectively) care about him, but he never seemed to want to spend any time with him. Not that Peter particularly cared to hang out with the man. A year ago, yeah, he would've done anything to spend the day with the Tony Stark, but as of late, he'd been realizing he didn't need the man's time or approval.
Ugh, ok maybe he still cared to a certain degree, but he had also come to accept that the man didn't want much of anything to do with him. So why should Peter spend his time and efforts trying to get his attention? For heck's sake, he'd barely even seen the man since the whole Thanos fiasco.
Peter probably annoyed him anyway. That was usually something he was good at.
Peter let his hand drop.
Something nudged his elbow and he looked over to see Scott still there, bag of gummy worms extended outwards. Peter gratefully accepted one. "You got a nod, I'm jealous." Pausing his chewing, Peter tilted his head in question. "Stark. He nodded at you. He usually ignores me completely. How'd you get on his good-side?"
"I don't know if I'd say I'm on his 'good side'."
"But you got a nod."
"Yeah, but he never says anything to me or anything. Except for when I mess up. He took my suit once."
"He stole your suit?!"
"Well- n- no. Not exactly. He made the suit. Well, my original suit that is. And the one I used during the whole Thanos thing. But the suit I have now is mine."
"Huh." Scott pondered thoughtfully. "So he made you multiple suits and he nods at you. He really must like you."
"Pretty sure he tolerates me at most."
Scott thought for a second more before smiling wide and nudging Peter again. "Ha! You and me both! Here-" he gave Peter the remaining gummy worms and pushed away from the table "-I'll see you next time."
"I'll bring chips!"
"You have so much to learn."
"Huh?"
"Bring a quiet snack, chips are too loud."
"Ooo, I didn't think of that. I'll bring… I'll think of something better, I promise!"
With a smile, Scott disappeared through the doorway.
It was at that moment that Peter realized he was the last one in the room besides Fury. Peter looked at him. He was already looking at Peter. His eye dipped to the bag of gummy worms in Peter's hand.
Peter smiled cheaply and stumbled out of his chair, hiding the bag behind him. Fury's unimpressed expression didn't change.
Peter decided to pivot in the other direction and shoved the bag outwards. "Gummy worm?"
The man continued staring at him, giving Peter the distinct feeling he was willing him to spontaneously combust. After a bajillion painstakingly long moments that felt like mud wiping off a windshield, the man moved.
He took a gummy worm.
What?!
"What?" Peter's mouth echoed his thought.
"What!" the man snapped.
Peter clamped his jaw shut. "Nothing!"
"Get out already."
"Right! Yes, of course Nick-" The man's eye narrowed so quickly, Peter swore he felt his gaze actually stab him "-ShIT, I MeAN Mr. FuRY SiR!" Nick's gaze lost his sharpness, falling back into that characteristic flat glare-like thing. "Uh, b-bye, sir. See you, uh, see you at… some point." Peter ran out the door so fast he almost smacked into the far wall of the hallway. Letting go of a breath he didn't know he was holding, he all but collapsed into the elevator.
Oof. That man was intimidating as all hell.
. . .
"PETER!" Ned threw his arms wide, a giant smile on his face when he saw Peter step through the coffee shop's doors. Peter's own smile mimicked his best friend's and he hurried forward, arms also extended to pull Ned into a big 'ol bear hug. "OMG how's ESU so far?! How's the internship? Wink, wink. You look kinda tired, remember to take breaks and eat, Peter!"
It was true, he was feeling pretty exhausted lately, what with just having finished up his midterms last week. He was starting to think he was never going to recover. Peter rolled his eyes, but in reality it was heartwarming to know his friend was always looking out for him. "Just tired from exams." Ned squinted at him suspiciously. "Ok fine, maybe I've been at the internship program a little late some nights."
"Peter!" Ned exasperated with a disappointed shake of his head. "You have to take better care of yourself!"
Peter rolled his eyes.
Thankfully he was saved from further lecture by the jingling of the door, the signal of MJ's arrival. She flipped them off, smiling as she did so. Peter rolled his eyes at her now.
"What's up, losers?"
It'd been a while since Peter had seen either MJ or Ned. They'd been accepted into MIT with full scholarships. Peter had considered trying again to apply, but had decided against it. After everything, he needed the stability of staying somewhere familiar. NY was his home, for better or worse. Also, he'd found a job as a freelance photographer, and, considering his Spider-Manning, it was the only job he'd been able to keep at this point. He really couldn't afford to risk not finding a job like that in Boston.
Maybe those were all excuses, though. Maybe he wanted to stay here because it was where May, Ben, and his parents were. And maybe he still held onto some false hope that Tony, or even Stephen, would give him some sort of familial feeling - that maybe they cared about him.
He wasn't exactly sure of the reason, but he hadn't wanted to leave NY. So he didn't.
He and MJ had considered trying it long-distance, but ultimately decided against it. They decided to go back to being friends. It was probably the right call; Peter couldn't lie, he had been knee-deep in grief at the time and hadn't been the most attentive boyfriend because of it. He still wouldn't be now, and he knew that. It wasn't fair to MJ, she deserved someone who was in the right mental state to give her the time, attention, and romance that she needed. Once things had ended, it had felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. He felt guilty for admitting that, but it wasn't even about MJ. He had so much going on and was feeling lousy and cheap for not being there for her like she was with him. He'd told her that and she understood.
It was for the best, they both knew it.
He was really glad she was so amazing and didn't resent him for it. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her.
Maybe giving her the space to feel the world and find herself was part of why he hadn't gone to MIT. He hadn't wanted to weigh her down. Uni was time to find yourself and figure out what you wanted; it wasn't the time to be supporting someone else through grief and trauma.
She looked good. He was happy for her.
He would always love her, but he wasn't in love with her anymore. Their healthy breakup had helped with that. He knew she'd always love him too, but in a… 'friends' wasn't really the right word.
Family.
They were like a family. All three of them, how could they not be?
"Peter's not looking after himself!" Ned tattled, pointing an accusatory finger at Peter.
Peter gasped and turned on his best friend. "Snitch!"
"Dude." MJ's flat voice made Peter cringe. "Smarten up."
"Ok, hey, I am too looking after myself-"
"You look like you haven't slept in, like, a year."
Peter's face soured. He gave in with a huff and plopped down on the couch. "Fine. I just got caught up in patrollin- I mean, the internship."
"Tell Stark to shove it." Peter snorted at MJ's words. "Say the word, I'll tell him for you."
Peter bobbed his head. "I believe you."
MJ took a seat beside him, nudging him to move over. She smirked.
"He's not even making me work, you know. If anything, I'm sure he'd be happy if I never patrolled again."
She shrugged. "Irrelevant."
Peter couldn't help but chuckle at the prospect. Tony's face would be priceless if Peter ever had the balls to say something like that to him.
Their waiter showed up at that point and took their orders. Apparently Ned had tried a London Fog in Boston and got hooked on them. MJ, meanwhile, stuck true to her coffee with 2 creams and 1 sugar. Seeing as he didn't have a go-to drink and he didn't like coffee, Peter decided he'd take his best friend's suggestion and try a London Fog. It was pretty good. Not as spectacular as Ned seemed to think they were, but he liked them. He had always been a fan of Earl Grey tea, although he did prefer English Breakfast.
Their visit was a breath of fresh air. Peter wished they'd had more time; although they'd both been in town for a week now, he hadn't gotten to see them until now. With it being Christmas (which they all celebrated), they'd been busy up until this point.
Peter hadn't been busy.
He was glad to finally have some company. Too bad they were leaving in only a few days.
The rest of the morning was so much fun; they wandered around NYC for a bit, visited a few landmarks, and got hotdogs from a stand outside of Grand Central Station. Afterwards, Ned mentioned his parents had gotten him an AT-AT Walker Lego set for Christmas. Peter was all but vibrating with excitement when he'd offered to let Peter help him build it. MJ, on the other hand, agreed to tag along, but only if she could peacefully read her latest book off to the side.
Cut to an hour later, all three of them were hanging out in Ned's room. MJ was sitting cross-legged on the bed with her nose in a book while Peter and Ned were trying to sort the Lego pieces they'd dumped out all together instead of a couple bags at a time like they were supposed to.
You'd think after building however many Lego sets at that point, one of them would have learned.
Nope.
"Where's the thing?"
"What thing?"
"The long one wiiiiiiiiiiith, uh, five- no, six bumps."
"Uh," Peter sifted through the pile, "what colour?"
"The one that looks like dried blood."
"Ew."
"That's what it looks like!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
It was at that point that Ned's mom popped the door open with a "Hello! I baked chocolate chip cookies! Fresh from the oven!"
All three of them gave a collective, 'ooooo' and all but jumped the plate as she set it down on Ned's desk.
"These are so good!" Peter exclaimed, shoving an entire one in his mouth.
"Thank you, Mrs. Leeds," MJ said, taking two more cookies and retiring back to the bed.
"Thanks, mom!"
"Bye, bye!" She left with a smile.
Peter liked Ned's mom. She was nice.
After several hours, and one massive Lego AT-AT later, Peter bid his friends goodbye. He hugged both of them, saying he'd see them again before they left. MJ got picked up by her dad and Peter readied himself for a long walk. Before he got out the door, Mrs. Leeds stopped him with a handful of containers filled with various prepared dishes ranging from lasagna to bbq chicken and such.
"Too skinny. Get some meat on those bones," she said, shoving them in his arms. "You can freeze them."
His heart swelled, she was so nice! "Thanks, Mrs. Leeds! You didn't have to do this-"
"Nonsense. You eat. Keep the containers. I have many."
Peter smiled and stuffed them into his backpack. Good thing he had super strength, 'cause it was getting heavy. He gave her a big hug and she sent him on his way, apologizing that she couldn't drive him home because her car was in the shop. Peter assured her that he could walk and hadn't expected a ride.
Waving goodbye, he left, feeling happy. He loved his friends so much. He'd missed them. But alas, he had to head out. It was getting late and he had somewhere important to be after dropping this stuff off at his apartment.
