Author's Note: Ahoy, mateys! Welcome back to my Seven Seas July fic, A Pirate's Life for Us! Thank you so much for all the support on Chapter 1! Now, we have arrived at Chapter 2, and we're pretty much going to see how Peter adjusts to being at sea now! I hope you all enjoy it, BUT before we get to that…REVIEW REPLIES!

Guest: Thank you so much! Hope you continue to enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Chapter 2

Prompt: Learning the Ropes/Scurvy/Honor Among Thieves/Shark Bait

The Avengers wasted no time in putting Peter to work as the new cabin boy on the Quinjet. Not long after Tony introduced him to them, the captain told him that he was expected to start at that moment. Peter of course didn't mind as that meant he could start earning money and avoid staying in the brig. Like he told the Captain, he wasn't experienced in much when it came to working on a ship, but he was genuinely surprised in how little they seemed to care about that or the fact that their captain hired him even though he stowed away on their ship. Then again, that was something he often heard that pirates did with stowaways. Although, it was also probably because Tony was their boss, and they had to listen to him. Either way it didn't take long for him to warm up to the Captain and his crew, and vice versa apparently. Over the past couple days, Tony and the rest of the crew took him under their wings giving him jobs to do and to help him learn the ropes on working on a pirate ship.

First, there was Tony's first mate, James Rhodes, or "Rhodey" as he liked to be called. He was Tony's second-in-command and oversaw things on the ship when Tony couldn't. Then there was Steve Rogers, the navigator. He oversaw steering the ship and charting her course. Then there was Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, who were the ship's lookouts and strikers. They looked out for danger and hunting for food. Then there was Thor Odinson, the gunner of the ship, and he oversaw their weapons. Then there was Bruce Banner, the ship's surgeon and doctor, and Happy Hogan, the cook and boatswain. Finally, there was Pepper Potts-Stark…the wife of Captain Tony Stark. Peter instantly became fond of her. She immediately welcomed him with open arms and helped him whenever she could over the last few days ever since he first joined. In fact, they all seemed to take a liking to him so far, but of course, that didn't change the fact that he still needed to work as a cabin boy.

Thanks to Tony and the other pirates, Peter learned the ropes of his new job very quickly. He was expected to be the first one awake…especially before the Captain and the last one to sleep at night after the Captain. Peter had to prepare Tony's uniform every morning. Then he had to clean the deck at least twice a day and to relay messages from Tony to the rest of the crew. He also had to stand watch with Clint and Natasha when needed, and Steve showed him how to steer the ship as he was expected to keep it steady. He also learned how to stow the ship's sails with the crew. Before mealtimes, he had to help Happy in the galley and to carry the meals to the crew. The work was tiring and at times difficult, but Peter found that he enjoyed being out at sea.

Two weeks passed since Peter joined the crew, and he appeared to be adjusting well. However, when he woke up one morning, he couldn't help but notice how tired and achy he felt as he got out of his small hammock. His bed was in the crew's quarters, so he made sure that he made as little noise as possible to avoid waking them up as he got ready for the day. Once he was dressed and ready to take on his daily duties, he made his way out of the quarters and up to the captain's quarters. It was dark, but he was able to find his way to the captain's quarters.

He lit an oil lamp in Tony's office. His and Pepper's bedroom was just beyond a door behind his desk, and the captain made it clear he was not allowed to enter. Thankfully, he was taught to go into his armoire and only take out his uniform, so he did as he was instructed and placed Tony's uniform on a chair where he was sure to see it when he woke up, and then he went about the next duty in his new daily routine: helping Happy in the galley with breakfast.

"Good morning, Happy," Peter said with a smile as he walked in.

"Good morning, lad," Happy replied as he stirred porridge in the big metal pot over the fire. "Potatoes are over there. Start peeling them now. It won't be long before the crew gets up."

"Aye, sir," Peter replied as he quickly ran over to the corner and sat down on his stool beginning to peel the potatoes. "I'm guessing that the menu is going to be the same today."

"Hey, when you're at sea," Happy replied, "you work with what you got."

Peter gave a small smile as he continued his task. His eyebrows furrowed together as he felt a small wave of dizziness wash over him, but he shook his head to relieve himself of the dizziness.

"You okay, Peter?" Happy suddenly asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Uh…y-yeah…yeah, I'm okay," Peter said. "What? Are you worried about little ol' me?"

Happy scoffed. "Yeah, right," he said, "I'm only worried because I don't need the captain coming for my ass of his new cabin boy keels over."

"Come on, Captain Stark wouldn't care if I keeled over," Peter said rolling his eyes. "I'm just a cabin boy."

"Mmm…" Happy said with a raised eyebrow, "I don't know…He gave you a chance to defend yourself and a job to help you. You had to have done something right with him."

"Well, he said I did nothing wrong," Peter said shrugging, "and he saw that I was telling the truth. Plus, he didn't want to keep a stowaway, who wasn't going to earn his keep around here. Plus, he said he wanted to help me." That was all it was. Tony only kept him around and give him a job to help him start over. He would've done that with any other kid, who stowed away while trying to escape Toomes. He seemed to be a respectable pirate.

"Whatever you say, lad," Happy said shaking his head. "All I'm going to say is that he doesn't do that with just anybody, so you're very lucky."

Peter simply shrugged and went back to working on the potatoes. "I must be," he said, "but I am appreciative that he even offered me the job."

"Of course," Happy replied with a smile, "you should be."

After making sure that each member of the Avengers was fed, including Tony and Pepper, Peter and Happy fed themselves breakfast in the galley before heading back to the upper deck. It was time to swab the deck of the ship. By the time he came out on the upper deck, the sun was high above in the cloudless sky, and he could already feel the heat. It was definitely going to be a hot day, so he took a deep breath and took the mop and bucket of water. Then he began to swab the deck as the crew began to get to work on their respective duties.

Soon enough, the captain himself came out from inside the ship, and he saw Peter mopping the deck.

"Well, if it isn't my cabin boy," Tony said getting Peter's attention.

"Oh, good morning, Captain Stark," Peter said slightly startled as he stopped what he was doing and straightened up. He wasn't sure why though, but for the past couple weeks, ever since he joined the crew, Tony always seemed to try to greet him first before the rest of the crew every morning.

"Good morning, Peter," Tony said with a small smile. "Fine morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Peter replied, "there's no cloud in the sky…not a breath of wind either. Should be a perfect day for sailing."

"Good eye, boy," Tony said with a nod, "but remember: the weather can always change at sea. Always best to be ready for everything, hmm?"

"Yes, sir," Peter said with a smile.

"Good lad," Tony replied. "Now, back to work. As soon as you're done with this, you help Steve hoist the anchor and help man the sails."

"Aye, aye, sir, of course," Peter said nodding before returning to his duty.

Tony nodded and allowed the cabin boy to return to work walking over to his first mate. "Rhodes," he said getting the man's attention.

"Captain," Rhodey replied with a nod, "should we go over the daily roster?"

"In a moment," Tony replied. "I just…wanted to ask you…How do you think Peter is doing?"

"What do you mean?" Rhodey asked with a raised eyebrow. "He's been doing a great job. He's been working hard. He's working hard now."

"No, I know that," Tony said quickly. "I meant…I don't know…I feel like for the past couple of days he's been a little slower…more tired than usual. It's the morning, and he's already sweating a little."

"Sir, with all due respect, it is hot today," Rhodey said, "and, yes, I agree. He does seem to be slowing up a little."

They both studied the boy without trying to make it obvious, and they could clearly see that he appeared winded and tired. Peter clearly closed his eyes and shook his head trying to relieve himself of the dizziness he mopped the deck.

"You think it's…?" Rhodey trailed off not wanting to finish.

"I don't know," Tony replied. "He…he hasn't shown any of the other signs, but we should keep a close eye on him. Make sure it doesn't get worse."

Rhodey couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

"Something funny?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That boy has you wrapped around his finger," Rhodey replied with a smile. "He's only been here two weeks, and you're already worrying over him."

Tony scoffed and shook his head. "I'm only concerned," he retorted, "because I don't need my cabin boy keeling over after only two weeks on the job."

"All I'm saying is that giving him a chance to explain himself after he was caught stowing away with goods that weren't his and on top of that giving him a job?" Rhodey replied. "You wouldn't have done that for anyone else."

"Maybe I just want to help someone for once," Tony retorted. "He's alone, and he was in a situation that no child should be in. I wanted to help him. Nothing more."

"Whatever you say, Captain," Rhodey replied shaking his head. "Let's go over our duties for today."

"Better, Rhodes," Tony replied with a small smile. He then walked over and called over the rest of the crew.

After making the final preparations and after Peter finished mopping the deck, it was finally time to resume the journey toward the Avengers' treasure and Peter's new life. As Tony ordered, Peter finished cleaning and went to help Steve hoist the anchor. However, while things appeared to be going smoothly for the Avengers, Peter seemed to feel more and more tired with each passing second. Sweat formed on his forehead. The dizziness also got increasingly worse as the minutes ticked by, and he couldn't figure out why. He ate. He wasn't doing any strenuous work. True he was working on a hot day, but that never bothered him.

"Hey, lad!" a voice shouted jolting him out of his thoughts.

The cabin boy looked around only to see that it was the navigator, Steve Rogers, and he was standing by the winch. "Uh…y-yes, Mr. Rogers?"

"You coming to help or what?"

That was when Peter remembered that Tony ordered him to help Steve hoist the anchor so that they can resume their journey. "Oh, y-yes, yes, sir," Peter quickly replied as he ran over the navigator. "I'm sorry, sir."

Steve couldn't help but shake his head at the boy and chuckle. "Please, call me Steve," he said.

"Okay…Steve," Peter said slowly with a small smile.

The navigator smiled and gestured to the winch with his head to signal to Peter that they needed to hoist the anchor.

Peter quickly nodded and got to work alongside Steve pulling on the handles to pull the anchor up out of the water. The teenaged boy couldn't help but notice how strong Steve was compared to him and how this task seemed so effortless. Meanwhile, he felt himself sweating even more as his arms began to burn from the work, but he refused to complain…not when he only worked for two weeks. However, as he continued to pull on the winch with Steve, the dizziness returned full force, and he suddenly stopped pulling and put a hand to his head trying to relieve himself of the dizziness. However, it was useless as he closed his eyes and groaned feeling a headache sneak in as well.

"Hey, lad, are you okay?" Steve asked as he realized that the cabin boy stopped pulling and started stumbling.

"Umm…y-yeah…yeah…I just need to…" Peter felt his knees shaking under him, "I…I need…" His eyesight grew foggy…before it all went black.

"Peter!" Steve said quickly catching the unconscious boy before he fell on his back. "Hey, Peter, are you okay?" He watched the boy, who was unconscious fall into his arms and waited for a response, but there was none. "HEY! I NEED HELP OVER HERE!"

Thankfully, the rest of the crew perked up hearing Steve shout for help and ran over upon seeing their newest cabin boy in Steve's arms…not moving. Tony felt his heart drop when he looked over from where he and Rhodey stood and wasted no time in running over.

"Peter!" Tony shouted as he ran over to Steve and the boy, who was in his arms. He got down on his knees next to his navigator and studied Peter, and he immediately noticed how pale and clammy the boy looked. "What happened, Rogers?"

"I don't know," Steve replied. "He was helping me hoist the anchor, but then he suddenly stopped and keeled over."

"Shit," Tony muttered.

"Captain, it might be scurvy," Bruce said as he studied Peter.

"I think you're right, Banner," Tony said. "What should we do?"

"First, we need to get him out of the sun," Bruce replied. "Bring him into my office."

Tony wasted no time in picking the boy up bridal style. "We got him, Rogers," he said to his navigator. "Bruce, come with me. Everyone else, continue preparations to set sail."

"Yes, Captain," the crew said in unison as they watched him carry the new cabin boy inside the ship with Bruce in tow.

Tony wasted no time in bringing Peter into Bruce's office with the surgeon himself.

"Lay him on the cot, Captain," Bruce said quickly as he immediately grabbed the necessary supplies. "We have to act fast and make sure there are no other symptoms."

"Okay," Tony said as he did what he was told and placed Peter on the cot. His heart broke seeing how pale and clammy still looked, but he managed to steel himself as Bruce came over with his supplies.

"Here," Bruce said as he handed Tony a wet cloth and bowl of water, "get him to wake up. I need to check him for the other symptoms. See if he has a fever."

"Aye," Tony said as he felt Peter's forehead with his hand noting how cool and wet it felt. "No fever. He has no fever." He then began to dab the boy's head with the cloth.

"Okay, that's a good sign, Captain," Bruce said with a small smile. "We need to wake him up."

"Peter, can you hear me?" Tony asked the boy. "Come on, kid, wake up. Wake up."

Within seconds, two brown eyes fluttered open, and Tony noted that he slightly shifted under his hands. However, he held his breath hoping that he wasn't seeing things.

Peter felt himself slowly coming out of unconsciousness as he opened his eyes hearing a distant voice telling him to wake up. It felt as though he was waking up from a deep sleep, but that couldn't be right. Didn't he wake up already? Unless it was the next day? His vision was a little blurry, but he could see someone staring down at him and could tell that he was lying down on his back. His head hurt slightly as he blinked his eyes to clear his vision and let out a slight groan.

"Peter?" A voice asked again.

The fog cleared from his vision, and sure enough, he saw a familiar captain looking at him. "C-Captain Stark?" he asked weakly.

"Welcome back, lad," Tony replied with a smirk. "Are you feeling okay?"

"M-My head hurts," Peter replied, "and I feel a little dizzy. W-What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember, Peter?" Bruce asked from behind Tony.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows together as he tried to think on what happened last…before he woke up. He couldn't help but look around noticing that he was inside Bruce's office as he noticed the flag with the red cross on the wall behind the desk and the medical supplies at the foot of the cot. That was when it hit him. "I-I was helping Steve with the anchor, wasn't I?" he asked.

"You were, yes," Tony replied, "but then you suddenly keeled over. What happened there?" He tried to hide the concern in his voice. He had to steady himself.

Peter's eyes widened slightly as it came back to him. He was helping Steve hoist the anchor, but then he felt dizzy. Then everything went black, and next thing he knew, he was waking up in Bruce's office. "I-I'm sorry, sir," Peter said as he sat up slightly on his elbows. "I-I felt dizzy all of a sudden. I…I didn't do it on purpose. I—"

Tony thankfully kept calm as he gently placed a hand on Peter's shoulder slowly guiding back to laying down on the cot. "Steady, steady, boy," he said, "you don't need to apologize." The Captain couldn't help but wonder if this was from his time with Toomes…or…because he was afraid of being thrown in the brig for just passing out. "It's okay. We just want to make sure you're okay, that's all."

"Oh, but you don't have to," Peter insisted. "I feel fine. I—"

"I understand that, Peter," Bruce suddenly said coming up on the other side of Peter, "but we have to check you out and make sure. Feeling dizzy and…passing out…those are signs of…scurvy."

Peter's brown eyes widened at the mention of that dreadful disease, and then he looked at Tony, who nodded clearly supporting what Bruce said. "W-Wait...am I…am I going to die? I mean...I-I heard of scurvy, and it's really deadly. I-I don't…I don't want to die."

"Lad, easy, easy," Tony said resting a hand on Peter's shoulder…calming him down, "y-you're not going to die."

"We think at least," Bruce added quickly.

Tony quickly glared at him silently telling him to stop talking silencing the surgeon before turning back to Peter. "We just need to check to make sure you don't have the other symptoms, okay?" Tony said. "Once we do that, we'll get you some medicine, okay?"

Peter nodded frantically. "Okay," he said.

Bruce and Tony immediately got to work and checked Peter for other signs of scurvy, and fortunately, there were none, which made all three of them sigh in relief.

"Are we really sure that I'm okay?" Peter asked with cautious enthusiasm.

Bruce and Tony both chuckled.

"Yes, Peter, we're sure," Bruce said with a smile as he poured the lime juice into a cup. "Usually, fainting and dizzy spells are the first signs of scurvy, and we've caught it early enough. So, we can treat it."

"What usually causes it?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's hard to say for sure," Bruce began as he walked over with the lime juice, "but the big factor is when the person has been out at sea under the sun for too long…when he hasn't eaten much for a while."

Peter's eyes widened as he realized what Bruce said…and remembered all those times he lived with Toomes and his family…how he didn't get to eat much…how he only ate scraps.

Tony noticed this and sighed gripping Peter's shoulder just a little tighter. "It's okay, laddie," he said. "That's over now. You're with us now, and going forward, we will make sure you eat enough…more than enough."

"But first thing's first," Bruce said, "you'll need to drink this lime juice every day to fight the scurvy starting now."

"Yes, sir," Peter said nodding.

"I thought I was 'sir,'" Tony said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, y-you're the captain, Captain," Peter said sheepishly, "but you said Mr. Banner was in charge here in this office."

Bruce bit his bottom lip trying to stifle his laughter in front of his captain and the cabin boy.

"Something tells me I need to be more careful with my words, huh?" he said before ruffling Peter's hair. "You little shit…"

Peter chuckled with a small smile at Tony before Bruce finally gave him the cup of lime juice. The boy wasted no time in drinking it in front of Tony and Bruce. It was somewhat sour, but he didn't mind it. "Not bad," he said after drinking it and handing the cup back to Bruce. "How did you know that helps with scurvy?"

"Oldest pirate trick in the book," Bruce replied with a wink. "The juice has special nutrients you need to stay well when you're out at sea for a long time, and since fruit normally doesn't last long out here, it's a great substitute."

"So, I'll be okay, right?" Peter asked looking at Tony.

Tony couldn't help but chuckle in return. "Yes, you will be fine," he said. "Just keep drinking that juice, like Bruce said, and eat more at mealtimes, okay? This isn't Toomes. You don't have to worry about eating scraps anymore, okay?"

Peter smiled a genuine smile and nodded. Sensing the comfort and conviction in Tony's voice made his heart swell. The longer he spent with the Avengers the more he could see that being on that ship wouldn't be so bad.

Within a few days, Peter began to feel much better as the symptoms continued to fade away, and he did his best to drink the juice Bruce gave to him every day. Tony and Pepper made absolutely sure he followed Bruce's orders and most importantly ate enough. Although, he couldn't help but wonder if Tony and Pepper asked Happy to make sure he ate more because he would look over at the crew and notice that he had more on his plate later. Hoiwever, he knew he couldn't say anything to the Captain, so he just pretended not to notice and went about his way on the ship.

One sunny morning out at sea, Peter just finished cleaning the deck when the crew came out for their respective duties. He couldn't help but smile as they wished him a good morning, and even Steven, Bruce, and Rhodey ruffled his brown hair in a greeting. He and Steve then hoisted the anchor, and Peter then moved on to help Natasha and Clint adjust the sails so that they could get moving on the open sea.

"Peter!" a voice called out from the deck as he, Natasha, and Clint climbed down the mast.

He looked down and saw that it was the captain himself. He took a small deep breath and climbed the rest of the way down with Natasha and Clint behind him, and he gave Tony a small smile as he walked over. "Good morning, Captain Stark," he said with a nod.

"Good morning," Tony replied with a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

Peter couldn't help but notice that ever since his run-in with scurvy. Tony always seemed to go out of his way to make sure he was okay…that he was still healthy enough and staying well. He couldn't help but widen his smile at that. He had heard stories of pirates and how ruthless they were, especially the Avengers. It was nice to see a caring side every once and a while.

"I'm good, sir," Peter said with a nod, "thank you."

"Good to hear," Tony said with a small smile of his own. "I would be concerned if my cabin boy keeled over again."

"Trust me, Captain," Peter replied with a chuckle, "I'm done keeling over."

"Excellent," Tony replied, "and now that we know you're better, I would like to speak with you privately in my quarters, please."

Peter's eyes widened. "Uh…aye, sir," he said.

Nobody said anything as the cabin boy followed the Captain back inside and all the way to his office. As they walked in, Peter looked around and saw that someone was missing.

"Uh…where's Miss Pepper, sir?" Peter asked after a moment of silence.

"You can just call her 'Pepper,' lad," Tony replied with a smirk and a chuckle, "and she's down in the galley helping Happy with inventory. She helps here too. My wife is not one to just sit there and look pretty, even though she is pretty, but that's not why I called you in here, Peter."

"Then…why did you?" he asked cautiously.

"For a couple reasons," Tony replied as he sat down at his desk and gestured for Peter to sit in a chair across from him, "one is because I wanted to tell you how great of a job you've been doing these past few weeks. You're working very hard, and I wanted to make sure you knew that."

Peter smiled. "T-Thank you, sir," he said.

Tony's smile widened in return. "You're welcome," he said, "and for all your hard work," he reached down to a drawer, "I wanted to make sure you knew that I would hold up my end of the deal." He then pulled out a small brown bag and placed it on his desk for Peter to take. "Your first pay."

Peter raised his eyebrows as he stared at the bag and then at the captain. "Oh, sir, y-you don't have to…" he began. "I—"

"Why?" Tony asked. "It's a job. You work. I pay you. That's how it works. Take it. This way you can still save before we reach the next port."

Peter couldn't help but falter. He forgot about that…that he wouldn't be with the Avengers forever. It was only temporary, but he shook his head of that thought. That was the deal. He knew that, and Tony knew that. The crew knew that. He then reached forward and grabbed the bag noting how heavy it felt. "T-Thank you, sir," he said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Tony said with a smile of his own. "Oh, and I forgot one other thing." He reached down and picked up a very familiar black bag placing that on the desk.

"Is this…?"

"It is. It's yours, and I would like to personally give it back to you."

"Really?"

"Of course, it's yours. Something you'll learn in the pirate world, lad, is there's honor among thieves. What's yours is yours."

Peter gave Tony a bigger smile as he took the bag. "Thank you, Captain," he said, "again."

"You're welcome…again," Tony replied. "Well, why don't we get back to work? We have a lot of sea to cover today, so you go drop that off in your quarters and come back out."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Peter said with a smile, "and thank you. Thank you so much…for all of this."

Tony chuckled. "Easy, easy, lad," he said. "It's my job as your captain, Shark Bait. Now, hurry up and put your stuff away, so we can get back to work."

"Oh, right, right," Peter said as he quickly stood up in his seat, "yes, sir." He was just about to turn around when he stopped and turned back to Tony. "Did you just call me 'Shark Bait?'"

"Sure did," Tony said with a smirk. "You'll find I have some fun with nicknames…Shark Bait."

Peter couldn't help but smile realizing that he actually liked the name "Shark Bait." For once, he was starting to feel like he belonged somewhere…even If it was just for a short time.

Author's Note: Annnnnnnnd that's all for Chapter 2, boys and girls! I really hope you all enjoyed it! Up next we have…CHAPTER 3! So I hope to see you all there! Don't forget to read and review! Thanks so much, guys!