Peter was in a foul mood, but since he was a literal teenager no one really noticed. He was already mentally going over what he planned to do, and was not happy to be dragged into this mess.

It was incredibly awkward, being the only minor among adults in a fight that he had nothing to do with. Which was why he did his best to ignore the situation he was in.

Peter immediately dismissed Vision, Black Panther, War Machine and of course Iron Man himself. Instead he attempted to talk to the lone female of the group, which he knew was a trained assassin.

Black Widow, aka Natasha, didn't give him more than a second's dismissive glance. Which okay, was probably deserved but was still incredibly rude.

"Kid, I'm not here to play nurse maid. Go bother someone else," she said dismissively.

Peter rolled his eyes.

"At least you weren't voluntold to join this mess," he snarked back in accented Russian.

That got Natasha's attention, as he stared at him. Likely surprised that one, he knew she spoke the language and that two, his words implied he wasn't a willing member of this nonsense.

"Voluntold?" she repeated, in the same language.

"The overgrown man child showed up at my home, after somehow piecing together the few times I've bothered to use my newly acquired powers in public, and made it clear that saying no wasn't really an option because I have a few abilities," deadpanned Peter. "Didn't seem worth the headache he'd give me considering his money and influence if I dared to say no, especially since the only times I've been caught on camera were because I was late for school and used my webs to beat traffic."

Natasha's eyebrows went up even more at that.

"How old are you?" she asked. There was no way he was eighteen.

"Not even old enough to legally drive, much less vote," said Peter.

Natasha was utterly disgusted, and it was pretty damn obvious the lone minor in the group did not have any interest in this matter. Tony had obviously tried to gaslight him about what this was about, but the kid had seen right through it. There was no hero worship from him, but more paranoid wariness about Iron Man's intentions.

Smart kid.

Peter was somewhat glad for the mask, because it obscured his identity. He was so putting a fidelius charm around his 'secret identity' after this.

The fight was an absolute mess, and he was especially wary of the lone magic user in the group who of course was on the opposing side.

Then it happened. For whatever reason, War Machine's armor failed and he was now plummeting to the earth. If he survived (which was highly unlikely, considering how heavy that armor was), then he would almost certainly be a paraplegic with the way he was falling.

Peter didn't even think twice. Screw hiding his true abilities, he couldn't stand by and let someone get permanently maimed because of inaction. His thoughts flew back to Ben and how delaying had resulted in him losing the closest thing to a father he ever had.

Slipping the sling ring on, Peter began casting like no tomorrow, startling the lone mage of the lot. The only reason she wasn't stopping or interrupting his spell was because there were no attack spells aimed towards her side of the conflict.

Geometric circles formed beneath the falling man, and every time he hit one they shattered like glass. But Peter didn't care, as that was his intention anyway.

He didn't need to stop War Machine's fall...he just had to slow him down so that he'd be more likely to survive it. Besides, he knew that a sudden stop would do just as much damage to his body as hitting the actual ground, and he highly doubted Iron Man and Falcon would work together to save him. Falcon's suit seemed to focus more on gliding than straight up flying anyway.

War Machine hit the ground hard, but it was a much softer blow than he would have had if Peter hadn't slowed his descent down.

Iron Man was checking War Machine, but shot a venomous glare at Captain America for nearly killing his best friend.

Captain America and his friend made it to the hanger, though this was clearly not over.

Tony stared Peter down later, once the opposing side was arrested.

"You were holding back," he said.

"I was," agreed Peter, unconcerned.

"Why? With that sort of power you could have easily stopped them!"

Peter shot him a flat look, noticing that the others on their side were giving him similar looks save for Natasha.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" said Peter, his frustration at the entire mess boiling over. Tony looked surprised that he cursed. "You expect me to go all out when I didn't even want to be here in the first place?!"

"What," said Black Panther.

"He," Peter said nodding towards Tony, "Showed up at my aunt's apartment and made it clear I was being drafted into the latest mess his ego created. There's no way I'd be able to fight back without dragging my legal guardian into a mess that would do more harm than good considering how much money and influence he has. He could easily get her blacklisted at the hospital she works at. Hell, the only time I've visibly used my new powers was to get to school on time without really caring about the cameras that are damn near everywhere these days!"

Now everyone was giving Tony hard stares. Tony squirmed uncomfortably.

"Never mind that if I did have to side with anyone, I would be more likely to join up with the world war two vet and his prisoner of war best friend who was obviously brainwashed and tortured into turning against him," snarked Peter. "Especially since this side is being led by someone who is still a glorified man child who has more money and toys than common fucking sense!"

Natasha snorted at that one, just a bit.

Tony looked like someone had slapped him with a fish. It would have been hilarious, if the situation wasn't so bad.

T'Challa looked at Peter for a moment, before calmly asking...

"How old are you again?"

"Not even legally old enough to drive in my home country, which I was removed from without even a proper passport or agreement from my aunt who believes I'm on a trip with my club at the moment, because I didn't want to explain to her that I was being press ganged into a mess between the Avengers!" said Peter annoyed beyond belief. "It's bad enough that Deadpool has more common sense than Tony fucking Stark, and he's legally insane!"

Natasha was openly having trouble deciding between laughing or snorting in disbelief. Especially having a fifteen year old compare Tony Stark to the infamous mercenary Deadpool of all people.

"How do you know Deadpool?" asked Natasha, once her amusement subsided enough to actually talk.

"We're taco buddies and the snark contests between us are considered prime entertainment for others."

Deadpool loved Peter, aka Shrike. The kid was a snarky asshole, but an adorable one who fussed over the mercs at Sister Margaret's whenever they showed up injured. Weasel had a well stocked first aid kit, and Shrike usually waited for the brawls to end to patch up any merc who wanted treatment.

Peter sometimes wondered is May knew he read through her old medical textbooks, despite having zero desire to become a doctor.

Awkward did not begin to describe the air in the house when he returned from Germany. May had not been impressed with the fact that her nephew had lied about where he was going, or why. She was even less happy when Peter explained the full situation about his new powers, and that he had been hiding them for months since shortly before Ben died.

May looked like she had a massive headache.

"So let me get this straight...Tony Stark himself showed up at our house to drag you into a fight in Germany of all places, gave you a suit worth several million dollars, and had you fighting against a known super soldier, is that correct?" she asked, clearly pissed off.

Not at Peter, who was always a good kid. She was more angry at Stark for putting him in that position in the first place.

"So what exactly happened?" asked May.

"I half assed the fight, mostly so Stark couldn't claim I wasn't helping," shrugged Peter. "I only really got serious when someone started falling from a free fall from an almost deadly height."

"I know that tone, young man. What did you do?"

"Called Stark out on his bullshit, mostly. Honestly, I have no idea what he was thinking. I'm not even legally old enough to drive, much less be dragged into a pissing contest between two Avengers with different view points. Besides, I'd rather side with Captain America over Iron Man," said Peter with a shrug.

Normally May would chide him over his language, but Stark's actions warranted it. Besides, Peter rarely swore and usually had a good reason for it.

May looked at her nephew suspiciously.

"You aren't secretly out patrolling on the nights you visit that after school club are you?"

Peter was already texting someone, and got a reply back rather quickly. For someone called the Ancient One, she was surprisingly adept at using technology.

"Actually I can show you what I've really been doing after school three times a week," said Peter. "And I don't bother to patrol because that's what the cops are for."

May went to get her shoes and wallet.

This was the first time in a long time Peter had opened up to her in years. He had become partially closed off when Ben died, so she wasn't going to risk being completely shut off from him.

May was very taken aback by the imposing building, and the interior did very little to put her at ease.

Finding out her nephew was part of what could be considered an international cult was a bit shocking, however the older woman inspired more confidence than Tony Stark ever could have.

The Ancient One had been training Peter to harness his powers (pre-spider bite) safely and responsibly, while at the same time acting as a steady rock he could rely on.

If May had to chose between a woman of indeterminate age, and Tony Stark, she'd chose the Ancient One every single time.

In the New York Sanctum

Whatever May expected, meeting the Ancient One was not it. She was an older woman of indeterminate age, and had a great deal of ancient wisdom in her eyes. May liked her immediately.

"Your nephew is quite the curious student. It's good to see someone so young able to read the older texts and actually understand them."

May looked at Peter, who blushed and ducked into his scarf.

"Oh? How did Peter join this...order, to begin with?"

"He mistook us for a public library," said the Ancient One, openly amused. "Most people walk past this building due to the wards around it, but he walked right in and started reading."

May gave Peter an amused look.

"Oh really?" she said amused. There was a maternal look shared, and Peter wouldn't be surprised one bit if May came over just to share embarrassing stories with his mentor.

And of course the Ancient One took the golden opportunity to chat with May about his progress. It was like one hellishly awkward parent-teacher conference, one he had brought upon himself.

May felt a bit more self assured about Peter's...friends. While being part of an ancient order was unusual, the Ancient One had been rather quick to assuage her worries.

Peter was part of the order, however the Ancient One made it clear he was not to take part in any fights against extra-dimensional terrors until he was legally old enough to vote at the very minimum. Peter was all too happy to comply with that idea...his life was complicated enough as it was, and he didn't want to endanger May.

If he had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was a different story. However the Ancient One was firm about not putting a literal minor in the face of potential danger if possible, regardless of his power levels. He had the potential to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, if another didn't take up the post first.