Summary: The Avengers come over for dinner, and everyone thinks Peter is a precious cinnamon roll. Peter also has a good time and believes that the dinner ended on a high note for him. How adorable.
Chapter 11: Nada, Aidan?
FYI, I made Wanda slightly younger (21) in this story so that she and Peter can have an older sibling-younger sibling dynamic :)
Peter couldn't stop glancing up at Tony while he helped his parents set up the dining table. He felt pretty horrible about the way he had acted earlier that day. Growing up, Aunt May and Uncle Ben had instilled in Peter that he should always be respectful and polite when talking to others, especially the authority figures in his life, so he's pretty sure they would have been appalled if they had witnessed Peter screaming and cursing at his father like he had. If Peter's being completely honest, he knows that if he had acted that way towards Uncle Ben, Peter would have been grounded—ok, maybe even spanked—immediately. He winced at the thought.
But when Tony had brought up his Uncle Ben earlier and said it wasn't Peter's job to get justice for his murder, something inside Peter had just snapped.
He thought Tony was telling Peter that getting justice was not his job because Uncle Ben was not even Peter's real uncle. He thought Tony was telling him that the idea of getting justice was simply laughable because Peter's whole relationship with his uncle and aunt was based on a total lie—that he was a Parker and not a Stark.
But Peter couldn't simply forget and move on now, just because he wasn't their real nephew. He was eternally grateful to Ben and May: for taking care of Peter when he had nowhere else to go, for telling Peter that he was the most precious gift they have ever received and not the burdensome extra mouth to feed that Peter thought he was, for all the Sunday movie nights together, for all the warm hugs and I 'lurb' you so muches. They had shaped Peter to be the caring, compassionate, and mostly respectful person he is today. He certainly didn't get those traits from the billionaire and former playboy standing on his left.
So Peter had snapped. He had told Tony off, screaming at him that he was crazy and paranoid and that he had no right to try to stop him.
'Gosh, I can't believe I said those things,' Peter groaned to himself.
After Peter's conversation with Pepper, his mother, he realized that Tony wasn't really saying those things. Peter was just projecting his fears and putting his own words in Tony's mouth.
Pepper had started out by expressing just how much she and Tony loved him and how they wished to support Peter in whatever he does, including trying to get justice for Ben's murder. She told Peter that Tony was just absolutely terrified that Peter would get seriously injured on his solo quest to find justice and that Peter didn't have to try to take matters into his own hands now that he had his parents by his side; Tony and Pepper would start looking into Uncle Ben's murder case and update him regularly on what they discover.
A part of Peter felt a little reluctant to take a step back and let his parents take the wheel on this case. After all, this was HIS problem and not his parents'. However, the logical side of Peter understood that his parents—with their connections, wealth, high-tech AIs, and superhero gadgets—had a much better chance at finding the murderer than Peter did. Plus, Peter was already getting a soft spot for his mother. He just couldn't stay defiant while looking into her kind blue eyes, clearly filled with concern for him. So Peter will let his parents help out and step back—for the time being.
Now here he was, shuffling side to side and stealing glances at his dad while setting down the forks and knives on the table. He cringed slightly while recounting the half-assed apology he gave to Tony earlier today. Maybe Peter should apologize again... genuinely this time?
Just as he was about to open his mouth, Peter heard the elevator chime open. He gasped. That must be the Avengers! Look cool, Peter! Look cool!
"Tones, where's my favorite nephew at?" Rhodey shouted out while swaggering in.
Holy Guacamole... War Machine was staring right at Peter now. He froze up for a second, but quickly snapped himself out of the trance, fearing that he might seem rude if he just silently stared back at the superhero for too long.
"Colonel Rhodes, sir, it's an honor to meet you... please correct me if I heard you wrong, but did you just say that I'm your favorite nephew?" Peter went in for a handshake, which prompted Rhodey to flash a warm smile while shaking Peter's hand.
"You heard correctly! God, you've gotten so big, kid! What are you, thirteen now?" Rhodey asked enthusiastically.
"I'm fourteen, sir. I'm a freshman at Midtown High, and wow! I can't believe I'm War Machine's favorite nephew! Ned's going to be so jealous when I tell him!" Peter exclaimed, unable to conceal his excitement.
"Midtown... that's the science and tech school in Queens, right? You must be pretty smart, kid."
Peter recognized that voice immediately. He heard that voice several times from the PSAs he had to watch at school. That was Captain America... and he was calling Peter smart?! No Freaking Way!
"The smartest. He goes to that school on a full-ride scholarship, Cap," Tony commented while putting a hand on Peter's shoulder. Heat started to creep up on Peter's face as he realized that his father was bragging about him to his idol.
"I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It's nice to meet you, Aidan," Captain America stated as he shook Peter's hand.
"It's... really nice to meet you too, Cap...Captain. I'm a big fan, sir." Peter's voice was cracking now.
"He's a polite one, this kid. He couldn't have gotten that from you though, Tony." OMG... that was the Black Widow, Earth's greatest assassin and spy.
"Hey! I could be... who am I kidding. He certainly got that from Pep, not me," Tony replied. Peter disagreed. He thinks he got it from Aunt May and Uncle Ben, but he's too starstruck at the moment to dwell on that comment for long.
Just then, the elevator dinged open once more, and a young girl in her early twenties and a red man entered onto the floor. Wait, a red man?! Upon a closer look, Peter realized that the red figure was a male android with artificial skin made of vibranium. He was also floating slightly off the ground. Holy-obi-wan-kenobi. That must be Vision. Peter's jaw practically hit the ground.
The young girl hesitantly walked towards the rest of the Avengers, holding a tray covered in wrapping paper. The android floated in behind her, matching her pace.
"Thank you for inviting us over for dinner. Vision and I baked some brownies today for everyone to try. I don't know how well they turned out, since it was our first time baking, but..."
"Oh my god! I get to eat brownies that were hand-made by Vision and the Scarlet Witch? Yes, please!" Peter blurted out without realizing. Oh no. Did he just interrupt the Scarlet Witch?
The red-haired girl instantly burst out in a fit of laughter. Peter sighed in relief. Seems like she wasn't offended.
"You are so adorable, baby Stark," she said while brushing off a tear forming on the side of her eye.
"Hey, I'm not a baby. And you look pretty young yourself!" Peter countered back.
"I'm 21, so probably much, much older than you, baby boy," she teased back. Peter groaned back in faked annoyance.
"Could you youngins' stop talking about your age? You are making Capsicle here very uncomfortable right now. Come sit! Hope you all like Chinese food," Tony announced while leading the group to the dining table.
Pepper and Tony had ordered around 40 containers of various dishes of American-Chinese food. The food had just arrived around 10 minutes ago and was all laid out on the dining table. Peter sat down in between the Scarlet Witch, or Wanda as she told Peter to call her, and Captain America. Peter eagerly put down some kung pao chicken, beef broccoli stir-fry, and shrimp lo mein onto his plate and started to chomp down on the food.
While slurping on some lo mein, he noticed Wanda putting down two egg rolls on the side of his plate. He looked up at Wanda, whose lips were curled up in amusement, and thanked her for the egg rolls. At least he tried to. His mouth was full of noodles, so he's not sure Wanda understood what he was saying.
The party of eight talked about a broad range of topics: from discussing how life at the Avengers Compound differed from life at the tower, to debating about who the best Kardashian sister was, to exchanging ideas about where they think Bruce Banner—the Hulk—might be right now, to gushing about how adorable Clint's newborn baby, Nathaniel, was.
After the Black Widow shared some photos of Nathaniel that Clint had sent to her, Tony couldn't resist getting FRIDAY to project dozens of photos and videos of his own baby. Peter desperately wanted to hide in embarrassment as the Avengers cooed over all his baby photos and videos.
When they were mostly done with the Chinese food and started digging into Wanda and Vison's brownies—which were slightly burnt on the edges but much more edible than all of Aunt May's past baking attempts combined—Tony cleared his throat to get the group's attention.
"Alright, there's something Pep and I want to ask you all. The thing is, Pep and I often have to travel all over the world for work, even if we don't want to. It's a real bummer. One of the downsides of running, well, the largest tech conglomerate in the world."
"Tones, stop bragging and just get to the point," Rhodey interjected, rolling his eyes.
"We were wondering if any of you would be willing to temporarily move back in the tower for a couple of months so that you can watch over Addie and keep him company when we aren't able to. Tony and I don't want the public to find out that Addie's back home yet because we fear that it will expose our son to potentially dangerous situations such as paparazzi attacks or, heaven forbid, even more kidnappings. Unfortunately, there aren't that many people Tony and I can rely on to take care of Addie and keep him a secret from the press," Pepper explained.
"The bottom line is that we trust you, even with our son. There, I said it. I won't say it again. Pep and I would really appreciate it if any of you can help us keep our baby safe," Tony stated.
The room fell silent for a couple seconds as the group slowly took in Tony's words, until Captain America interrupted the silence with his voice.
"Wow, Tony. I've got to say that I'm touched to hear that you have placed your trust in us. I won't take your trust lightly, and I'm more than willing to move in again to help you and Pepper keep Aidan safe."
"Tones, you know I'd do anything for my favorite nephew."
"I'd... honestly be willing too. I'd love the opportunity to get to know baby boy here a little better."
"It would be my pleasure to assist you and your family in any way I can, Mr. Stark."
"So it's settled. When do we move back in?" Natasha inquired, the spirited spark in her eyes starkly contrasting her usually blank expression.
Peter couldn't believe it. All the Avengers present had just agreed to move back into the tower to help take care of him. And surprisingly... Peter wasn't really upset about it. Sure, it will be much harder to hide Spiderman with the Avengers living in the tower, but that was a problem for future Peter. Right now, after hearing the heartwarming interaction between his dad and the Avengers, the fanboy inside Peter just felt stoked that he'll be able to live with the heroes he idolizes and get to know them on a more personal level.
As the Avengers were discussing which day they could move in, Peter finished the brownie on his plate with gusto and asked Wanda for another slice. He was about to take another bite when he felt Captain America tapping him gently on his arm.
"Son, since you go to school in Queens, I want to ask you something," Steve said as he pulled out his phone. "I've recently been focusing on headhunting for new recruits, and I've stumbled upon this video the other day. Tony, could you do that thing you do with the videos?"
"Sure, old man. FRIDAY, project Cap's screen."
A big hologram of a video appeared on top of the dining table. At first, the video just showed a typical busy street in NYC—that is, until a vigilante in a red and blue suit leaped into frame while projecting long lines of web-strings with his signature hand move. Right as a speeding car was about to crash into a bus, the vigilante swiftly swung himself between the two vehicles and stopped the car with his hands just miliseconds before it hit the bus. The car came to a complete halt, and the vigilante quickly swung out of frame.
Fuck. That was a video of Peter on patrol around two weeks ago. Someone must have filmed Peter without him noticing. He gulped nervously.
"Damn, that guy must be really strong to be able to stop a moving car like that," Rhodey exclaimed in awe.
"And his movements are incredibly fast and agile. How is he swinging around on those strings of web so effortlessly?" Natasha added.
"I've learned that he's a new vigilante called 'Spiderman' who has been popping up mostly in Queens from around 5 months ago. Aidan, have you ever run into him while walking home from school?"
"Spiderman, huh?" Tony mumbled.
'Peter, get a grip on yourself. You cannot afford to screw up right now,' he thought to himself. He recalled the video he watched yesterday on how to lie effectively. Alright, breathe normally, maintain your cool, keep your hands away from your face, and keep your lie simple.
"Oh, Spiderman? Not really, but I have heard of him before."
Yes! He nailed it! Not even one stutter or one nervous glance. Peter congratulated himself on how natural he sounded while lying just now.
"I see. Well, let me know if you do, son. I've been considering scouting the fella, but I have a feeling that he might be on the young side, possibly college-aged. I'd like to get more intel on him before I decide whether to approach him or not."
Peter nodded while thinking he would never do such a thing.
After half an hour, the Avengers took their leave while promising to return to the tower before Thanksgiving day. Tony muttered that he had something he needed to do and disappeared into his workshop. Peter, on the other hand, stayed in the kitchen with Pepper to help her put the dishes away in the dishwasher.
It was around midnight when the two were done with the dishes. Peter yawned and wished his mother goodnight. Feeling exhausted and emotionally drained from all the events that transpired today, he went into his room to get ready to go to bed. But just as Peter was about to turn the lights off, he heard a knock at the door.
"Hey Addie, can I talk to you for a sec?" It was Tony.
"Sure. About what?" Peter replied while sluggishly opening the door with his eyes half closed.
Tony leaned against the side of Peter's door and crossed his arms over his chest. Frowning, he stared intently at Peter for a couple seconds, sort of like he was examining a test subject. Peter began to feel very uneasy being subjected to his father's intense gaze.
"I'm just going to be blunt, kid. Are you hiding something from me?" Tony questioned.
Peter was completely caught off guard by the sudden interrogation. He never imagined that Tony would suspect him of hiding something so soon. It's only been two freaking days since he's gotten here! And hadn't Peter given such a natural and convincing performance at dinner today when Captain America had asked him if he had seen Spiderman? How the heck did his dad find out he was hiding something?
"What? N-no... of course not. No! Wha... what makes you think that?" Peter blurted out, his voice failing to mask his bewilderment and trepidation.
"Just a hunch. So there's nothing you want to come clean about? Nada, Aidan?"
Well, Peter couldn't back down now. He had already lied to both Captain America and his dad today. Besides, if Tony only had a hunch, maybe he was trying to extract a confession out of Peter soley based on gut feeling and not based on any evidence.
"Nada. I'm not hiding anything, dad," Peter replied, a bit more calmly this time.
In response, Tony squinted his eyes and made a humming noise.
"Well, alright then. Guess I was wrong," Tony stated after a long pause. He uncrossed his arms and stood upright.
"I guess so... ha ha..." Peter let out a nervous laugh. "I think I might try to get some sleep now. Goodnight... and I'm really sorry for how I acted this morning."
"Thank you for your apology, Ads. Sleep tight, kiddo," Tony replied while giving Peter a slight smile. He made sure Peter was lying down in bed before he turned the lights off.
Just as Tony was about to shut the door and leave, he turned back towards Peter one last time.
"Addie, I hope for both our sakes that you're telling the truth. Goodnight, bud," Tony said as he closed Peter's door.
Peter barely got any sleep that night.
Phew, longest chapter yet! Sorry I excluded Sam Wilson, but it was difficult for me to incorporate so many characters in my story. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter. As always, thanks for reading! :D