"we have to trust each other"
Natasha strode purposefully down the hall of the Avengers compound, a newspaper clutched tightly in her fist. The headline jumped out in bold letters:
Who is the Spider-Man? Masked Vigilante Causes Chaos in Queens.
Skimming the article, Natasha felt her anger growing. The paper was painting this new masked hero as a reckless menace, but the descriptions of his abilities told a different story. Enhanced strength and agility, webs, clinging to walls - she knew that set of powers. She'd helped raise them, after all.
Reaching Tony's lab, Natasha punched in her override code with more force than necessary. The doors slid open and she stalked inside to where Tony was tinkering at a workbench.
"Please tell me you have nothing to do with this Spider-Man business," Natasha said without preamble, slapping the paper down in front of him.
Tony glanced at the headline and adopted a carefully neutral expression. "Can't say I know anything about it."
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "That's funny, because it sounds an awful lot like Peter's abilities, doesn't it?"
Tony held up his hands placatingly. "Now hold on, Nat-"
"Don't 'now hold on' me," Natasha snapped, hackles rising. "Are you telling me Peter is this Spider-Man character? And you knew?"
Tony winced. "Okay, look, the kid wanted to help people and I gave him a suit to make sure he was safe out there. You know how he is."
Natasha could feel her blood pressure skyrocketing. She stabbed an accusatory finger at Tony's chest. "Our son is fifteen years old, Tony! He shouldn't be out fighting crime, he should be worrying about school and friends and first dates!"
"You think I don't know that?" Tony shot back heatedly. "But Pete was gonna do this with or without my help. At least with the suit I can look out for him."
Natasha dragged a hand through her hair, frustration and fear warring within her. Damn Tony and his guilt complex, pulling their teenage son into his messes.
"Does Peter know you told me?" she bit out.
Tony winced again, shaking his head. Natasha muttered a curse in Russian.
"I'm going to talk to him. Now." She turned on her heel and strode out, Tony scrambling after her.
"Nat, hold up, let's think this through-"
Natasha ignored him, making a beeline for Peter's room and rapping sharply on the door.
"Just a sec!" came the muffled reply, followed by sounds of movement.
Natasha's foot tapped impatiently. Tony shot her a pleading look which she steadfastly ignored.
Finally the door opened, revealing Peter's smiling face. "Oh, hey Mom, Dad, what's..."
He trailed off, smile fading at their tense expressions. "Uh, is everything okay?"
Natasha crossed her arms. "I don't know, Spider-Man, you tell me."
Peter's eyes went wide with panic. "What? No, I don't - I mean, I'm not-"
Natasha silenced him with a look. Peter's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Did Dad tell you?"
"I figured it out on my own," Natasha said coolly. Peter winced, and Natasha felt a pang at his crestfallen face, but forced herself to stay stern. "Care to explain why you've been lying to me for who knows how long about being a vigilante?"
Peter scuffed his shoe, unable to meet her eyes. "I'm really sorry, Mom. I wanted to tell you, I swear, but I knew you'd freak out and try to stop me." He looked up beseechingly. "But I have these powers now. I have to use them to help people."
Damn those big brown puppy dog eyes. Natasha kept her expression stony through sheer force of will.
"You're fifteen, Peter. I decide what you have to do, and it's not this. It's too dangerous."
"But Mom-"
"No buts. No more Spider-Manning, do you understand me?"
Peter's expression turned mutinous. "You can't stop me from helping people. These are my powers, it's my choice!"
"Hey, enough!" Tony cut in sharply. "You will not take that tone with your mother."
Peter looked immediately contrite, shoulders slumping again. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Natasha stepped forward and put a hand under his chin, gently raising his face to look at her. "Peter, I'm doing this because I love you. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Peter's eyes softened. "I know. But you gotta trust me on this. I can handle it." His mouth quirked in a small grin. "Does this mean I'm not grounded forever?"
Despite herself, Natasha huffed a laugh. She pulled him into a tight hug. "Fine. I don't like it, but I know better than to try and stop that Parker determination when you've set your mind to something." She pulled back and fixed him with as stern a look as she could muster. "But you check in with me whenever you go out as Spider-Man. And if things ever get too dangerous, you call me or your Dad immediately. Deal?"
Peter broke into a relieved grin. "Deal. You're the best, Mom!" He threw his arms around her again.
Over his shoulder, Natasha shot Tony a warning look - they would definitely be having more words about his role enabling this insanity. But for now, she simply held her son close and hoped she wouldn't come to regret caving on this.
Only a few weeks later, Natasha was again restraining the urge to murder Tony as she listened to his plan to recruit Peter for some showdown with Steve in Germany.
"Absolutely not," she ground out angrily. "I've given you a lot of leeway with Peter, Tony, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you drag our teenage son into what's basically guaranteed to become a brawl between the Avengers."
Tony held up his hands defensively. "Come on, Nat, the kid can handle it! And we need all the manpower we can get to bring Cap and the others in peacefully."
"He is fifteen!" Natasha shouted, patience gone. "I don't care how strong he is, he's still a child, Tony. And children don't belong in the middle of fights between super soldiers."
"I know, I know," Tony said pleadingly. "But Cap's not gonna listen to reason here. If it makes you feel better, you can come along too to watch Pete's back."
Natasha's eyes narrowed, mind racing over options. She didn't like this one bit, but clearly neither Tony nor Peter were going to back down.
"Fine," she bit out. "But only because there's no way in hell I'm letting you take him into this without me there. I'll meet you in Germany."
She turned on her heel and stalked off to find Peter before Tony could argue. Bursting into his room, she found him stuffing his Spider-Man suit into a duffle bag.
"Mom! Uh, I was just -"
"Packing for Germany with your father? Yes, I know," Natasha finished tightly. Peter winced.
"Guess you talked to Dad."
"Yes, and clearly neither of you have any sense at all to be going through with this insanity."
Peter moved closer placatingly. "Mom, Dad says they might listen if I'm there. Maybe we can fix this without anyone getting hurt."
Damn Peter and his endless optimism. Natasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I still don't like this. At all," she said seriously. "But I'm coming with you both to keep an eye on things. Your safety is my top priority here. If this gets out of hand, we're done, understand?"
Peter broke into a relieved grin and hugged her. "Thank you. I promise I'll be careful and follow your lead out there."
Natasha held him close for a long moment. "You'd better, little spider. Or you'll be grounded for life when we get home."
Peter laughed like she was joking, then pulled back uncertainly when her expression remained dead serious. "...Right. Got it."
Natasha allowed herself a small smirk, then became serious again. "One more thing. I want us keeping our options open out there tomorrow. If I tell you we need to switch sides, you do it, no questions asked. I don't fully trust Tony's judgment on this."
Peter's brow furrowed but he nodded. "Okay, Mom. I trust you."
Natasha ruffled his hair, feeling fractionally better knowing he would follow her lead. "Get some rest, Spiderling. You'll need to be sharp tomorrow."
The next day at the Leipzig airport, Natasha maintained a cool reserve, not letting on to Tony that she had her own agenda here. As Steve and the others came into view, she touched Peter's shoulder, a subtle signal to be ready.
The initial confrontation quickly devolved into brawling just as Natasha had predicted. She noticed Peter trying to web up Steve's team members while avoiding direct combat. Bless him, he was still trying not to hurt anyone.
"Sorry!" he called out as he webbed Falcon's wings. "You seem like a really nice guy!"
Natasha allowed herself a small smile at that. A nice guy he may be, but she wasn't about to let him flank Tony. She leapt into the fray herself, using her widow's bite to stun Falcon before he could get off the ground again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Peter swing by and disarm the Winter Soldier.
"That thing does not obey the laws of physics!" he quipped, gesturing at the metal arm. Despite everything, Natasha huffed a laugh. Only Peter could joke around mid-fight.
She checked on his position again in time to see him web Ant-Man's hands together, preventing him from embiggening further.
"Hey guys, maybe we could just take a time out and talk about this?" Peter suggested hopefully. "My Mom always says communication is key-"
He was cut off by a small explosion from one of Tony's missiles. Clearly no one was interested in communicating. Time to switch this up.
Natasha tapped her comm discreetly. "Little spider, time for plan B. Follow my lead."
"Copy," Peter replied at once.
Natasha sprang into the fray again, this time grabbing Tony from behind in a chokehold and pulling him away from Steve.
"Nat! What the hell?" Tony sputtered.
"New plan," she said simply. Releasing Tony, she turned to web his thrusters, grounding him. "Spidey, on me!"
Peter swung over immediately to her side, facing down Steve and the others across from them.
"Uh, hi everyone. Sorry for the confusion, but we're switching teams now," he explained with an awkward little wave.
"Appreciate the assist," Steve said wryly, though his eyes were suspicious. "Mind if I ask what changed?"
Natasha stepped forward. "My priority is protecting my son. I don't fully agree with either side here, but Tony clearly isn't interested in discussing this rationally. Figured you might be more open to talking first and punching later."
Understanding lit Steve's eyes as he looked between her and Peter. "Of course. Your boy seems like a good kid. Reckon we can figure this out if we put our heads together."
"Sounds reasonable to me," Peter piped up eagerly. "Mr. Captain America, sir."
Steve chuckled. "Just Steve is fine, son."
Their impromptu negotiation was interrupted by an irate Tony blowing apart Natasha's webs and aiming a repulsor at Steve.
"Alright, clearly you've all lost your damn minds. I'll deal with your double crossing later, Romanoff. Right now we've still got criminals to apprehend-"
"Stop!"
Peter's anguished cry made everyone freeze and turn to look at him in surprise. The kid tore off his mask, unshed tears shining in his eyes as he faced Tony.
"Dad, please, this has to stop! Can't you see all this fighting is only making things worse?"
Tony faltered at Peter's distraught face, repulsor still aimed but powering down. "Pete, I-"
"No, just listen!" Peter pleaded desperately. "I'm so sorry I lied to you, Mom. I should have been honest from the start so we could talk about this. But I hate seeing everyone fight like this." His voice hitched on a sob. "We're supposed to be a family."
Natasha hurried to his side, pulling him into a hug. "It's alright мой паучок. I'm sorry too. We'll figure this out together." Over Peter's shoulder she gave Tony a pointed look, daring him to argue.
Tony's shoulders slumped as he lowered his repulsor, the fight going out of him. "You're right, Pete. Your old man got too caught up in his own ego. If you can forgive me being a stubborn jackass, we can talk this out."
Peter disentangled from Natasha to hug Tony fiercely. "Deal. No more secrets or fights. We have to trust each other."
Tony hugged him back just as hard. "No more secrets. Promise."
Natasha allowed herself a small smile. Leave it to Peter to cut through the bullshit and remind them what was really important. Maybe they could pull this fractured family back together after all.
"Hate to interrupt," Steve spoke up wryly, "but does this mean we're done throwing down for now? Cause I'm feeling a might peckish and wouldn't say no to breaking bread if we're done beating each other up."
Peter gave a watery laugh. "That sounds great, Captain...I mean Steve," he amended at Steve's look. "Let's all go get lunch!"
There were reluctant chuckles all around at that. Natasha shook her head fondly and wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulders, pressing a kiss to his temple.
"I like how you think, little spider. Lead the way."
No matter the challenge ahead, she knew they would face it like they did everything - as a family.