Tony and Peter went to the kitchen slowly. Peter felt bad and looked worse. It was an unwelcome surprise to find the Avengers amidst their monthly breakfast extravaganza.

Steve had a stack of pancakes in front of him, dripping with syrup and butter, and a thick, fluffy omelette supreme. It looked wonderful and smelled divine. Peter hadn't eaten in quite some time, so he was starving.

"This is my intern, Peter Parker," Tony announced, as Peter hopped on a barstool. He felt positively diminutive because he was seated next to Thor.

"Ooo, churros," Peter said happily. Natasha passed them over wordlessly and watched his every move. There was something familiar about his body language and she was studying him intently.

"I haven't seen the Spider lately," Thor commented. "I like the Man of Spiders. He shows great courage in the face of adversity."

"He's going to get himself killed one of these days," Cap disagreed. "He's much too hot-headed and impulsive."

"Do you know he actually made me miss my target last week?" Clint was still incensed about the matter.

Peter tried, but he couldn't help but snicker. It had been classic. At least he'd returned the arrow and not kept it as a souvenir.

"What's so funny, Peter?" Tony asked. Pepper brought her coffee to the table and sat beside her husband.

"He must have been thinking about keeping a souvenir," he told Clint with amusement in his voice. "I mean, it's a pretty big coup to take your arrow."

Everyone looked at him briefly. "Souvenir, huh? I wonder if he's collecting so-called souvenirs from all of us?" Clint mused aloud.

"There's not much in the way of collecting, Legolas," Tony said wryly as he smacked Clint lightly on the back. "Just you."

The conversation turned towards more pressing matters, such as the presence of the Green Goblin.

"It's like he came back from the dead," Cap said with consternation. "I don't understand how that is remotely possible."

"Somebody's been hitting the Goblin juice," Tony suggested wryly. Everyone laughed except for Peter. He knew it was no joking matter.

"Not funny," he muttered under his breath.

Cap and Thor both heard him and glanced at each other over Peter's head. "What's your opinion?" Cap asked with curiosity.

"He's deadly," Peter said, setting his glass of milk down. "From what I've heard about him from Spider Man, he's probably going to gas New York like The Lizard did."

The room stilled, everyone chilled to the bone. It was frightening to think of him having a Goblin army.

"I'm going to go lift some weights," Peter said at last. It was unnerving sitting in the same room with The Avengers.

He got a nasty surprise when he went into the hall, however. He bumped into a man who wasn't paying attention, and they were both startled and on the defensive. Bucky drew his metal arm back instinctively. Peter easily caught his fist and held it in place, staring.

"Metal arm dude!" he gasped. He stared at Bucky in shock.

"Let go of my hand before I make you," Bucky snarled, mostly from shock. 'Strong little thing,' he thought to himself.

Peter let go and settled into a defensive crouch. He wasn't sure about this guy and associated him with some sort of trauma in his past.

Bucky reached out to capture Peter and failed. He stared at his hand, then whirled around because Peter was somehow behind him.

Another grab and Peter launched himself off the wall, partially running. Bucky looked at him but this time he was the one in shock, because each time Bucky made a grab, Peter dodged or deflected it.

"Just who are you, anyway?" Bucky demanded.

"Me? I'm nobody," Peter protested. Bucky narrowed his eyes and scanned Peter. Bucky was winded; Peter was not.

The noise drew Natasha to the door, and she watched with amusement.

"Give it up, Bucky," she advised. "You don't stand a chance, unless you hurt him."

Bucky narrowed his eyes again and scrutinized Peter. He was a respectable fighter, but Bucky could almost taste his inexperience.

"You saved me from drowning in a car when I was little," Peter said at last. "Why?

"Probably because little kids are precious," Bucky told him. "They're innocent and should be protected. But I thought you drowned anyway. You slipped from my grasp."

"No, I definitely did not drown," Peter mused. "Just who am I?"