“So, let me get this right Mr. Stark. You want me, Spider-Man, to join your training day?”
“The team and I decided since you seem to always show up at the most dangerous fights it would be best that we know how to fight together.”
“Mr. Stark you don’t know my powers, my strengths, my weaknesses, nor my identity. I can see 100 ways this goes wrong without even having to arrive.”
“That’s the point маленький паук (little spider). We don’t work well together because we don’t know each other. And I for one dislike not knowing my teammates.”
“…”
“You don’t have to be revealing your identity to us kid, but as Natasha says it’s a bit unnerving never knowing anything about the person fighting beside you.”
Peter wanted to say yes, all he was doing today was sitting in his bedroom waiting as the seconds ticked by. He wanted to agree and come along because he knew as soon as Mr. Stark saw the state of his suit up close (despite it being better than the original) he’d help him make a new suit. He knew as soon as Black Widow saw the pitiful mix of every fighting style mixed together, she’d help train him.
He knew all this and so, so much more. Yet saying yes seemed completely out of order. It seemed incredibly wrong to join the Avengers for their training day as he wasn’t an Avenger, and he most definitely never would be if they found out his identity.
The Avengers had done so much for him so far, helped him so many times with threats generally smaller than they’d usually deal with and listened to and implemented his plans with threats much bigger than he usually dealt with.
He was just Queen’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man 2 months ago and now every newspaper had at least one article with him in it. In 2 months he’d joined in and been noticed in 6 Avenger fights.
Spider-Man had prevented mass casualties and saved many of the Avengers from getting severe injuries by, for once, listening intently to his 6th sense.
Yet Spider-Man wasn’t that big that he should say yes to joining an Avengers training day. He’d get in the way, and they’d never want to see him again. Or, worse, there never was one in the first place and this was just an elaborate way for them to force him into showing his identity.
“Sure… I’ll be there in about half an hour.”
He didn’t wait for any answer before quickly shoving his finger into the end call button, not wanting them to say anything else that could make the situation more awkward or make him change his mind.
May was taking an almost 24 hour shift and wouldn’t be home so sneaking out wasn’t going to be an issue factored into the equation. Ned and MJ would question the bruises in school tomorrow but they knew he was Spider-Man so that wasn’t as hard to explain.
The rest of the equation was figuring out how to keep all and any evidence of Peter Parker away from Spider-Man while he trained with the Avengers. He would be forced to hand in his suit if they knew it was a self-destructive 15 year old under the mask.
That couldn’t happen. Spider-Man kept the people of Queen’s safe and gave Peter a reason to be happy when May, Ned, or MJ couldn’t be there for him – which was very often.
“Karen, what’s the web fluid looking like?”
“Both are half empty, I suggest bringing spare cartilages.”
Karen ‘s voice filled the, what had been, silent bedroom comfortingly. After a few days of dumpster diving and scrapping in the spare pennies when it was offered from random public members for being Spider-Man, he’d finally saved up enough to build a proper system for Karen.
Originally, the AI had only lived in an old walkie-talkie filled with random mechanical parts. Now she could be found throughout his bedroom’s speaker system, his phone, and most importantly his suit – always there when needed.
Doing as suggested, Peter pulled out the shoe box hidden under his bed containing the web fluid cartilages he made sure he always had in high stock. Everything was made through the school’s study laboratories, the labs they kept fully stocked and unmonitored.
It had taken a year to perfect the polymer formula to make the webs. He’d had to create multiple new polymers before he finally found one that worked; it expanded when it mixed with oxygen – 1 millilitre of the liquid equating to 10 grams of webs – and a single strand could hold ridiculous weights.
“Peter if you do not leave now, you will not arrive within the time frame you gave to Tony Stark and Natasha Romanov.”
Once again, listening to Karen’s voice, Peter pulled two cartilages out of the box and ran to grab and slide into his suit. The fabric was a mix of some of the polymers he’d created and cotton, making it much stronger and moveable.
‘Stop geeking out over your own inventions Peter.’
Despite May not being home, and not going to be home for a long time now, Peter went out the window. When they’d moved into the apartment years ago Peter had believed the window would never be used, looking out onto a completely abandoned building and a grime covered alleyway.
Perfect for Spider-Man’s escapades.
“Karen, pull up information on all Avengers fighting styles and list it off please.”
Peter swung through the streets of Queen’s towards the large Avenger tower where the large group awaited him. He carefully listened to all the information Karen pulled up, analysing each piece, and creating mini files in his brain to access when fighting them later.
There wasn’t an incredible amount of information on the internet about the Avengers, their media department working overtime, all the time. Karen however, ever since being given a camera view had been logging everything away herself and creating her own files.
That small factor was one of the main reasons Spider-Man was avoiding more and more severe injuries, Karen having logged and calculated the assaulters movements in half a minute and immediately relaying that back to her creator.
“There’s the tower Karen. Let’s hope this wasn’t a mistake.”
“I hope so Peter.”
(-~-~-~-~-~-~-~)
“I’m still unsure if inviting Spider-Man to our training is a good idea or not.”
“Cheer up Capsicle. It’ll all be fine. FRIDAY, be a babe and keep an eye out for the Spiderling.”
“Of course Tin Can.”
With the sound of the new nickname leaving FRIDAY’s speakers Tony turned to face a sniggering Clint, annoyance very clear on his features. FRIDAY had constantly changing nicknames for everyone thanks to Clint’s constant tampering.
It did help lighten the tense mood of the training rooms for everyone though, the impending sense of something going wrong having taken grasp long before the phone call. Everyone trusted Spider-Man, to the extent you could trust an unknown person, but letting him into their home seemed to be pushing the trust.
Spider-Man needed to be here though, everyone needed to learn how to work with Spider-Man and he needed to learn how to work with them. There had been one too many close calls with the last few fights including a building crumbling into the ground – Spider-Man disappearing as it happened.
“Do you think he’ll inform us how his powers work? I would love to run some tests to see the extent of them.”
“Might not want to say that Brucie, you’ll scare the poor spider off. Think you’re planning to dissect him.”
Bruce’s eyes widened a fraction at the implication before shaking his head and wandering off, muttering about safe ways to ask for information on Spider-Man’s powers.
Everyone knew the main reasoning was because Bruce was still shaken up over the fact Spider-Man took more than enough sedatives to knock out the average human but still stood fine, continuing to fight despite having the tranquilisers still sticking out of his body.
Experiences with Spider-Man in fights always seemed to tug at the group of heroes with horror, he was in his early 20s and if they thought about it for long enough probably younger. Whenever he took down a robot but was slashed by a piece of metal in the process whoever was around rushed over to check he was ok.
Spider-Man may not be an Avenger, but they would protect him like he was one because they knew he was too young to die – so they wouldn’t let him.
“Spider-Man is just entering the facility. I am leading him this way.”
Everyone perked up at the sound of FRIDAY’s speakers, ready to officially meet the vigilante outside of the battle field. Both Natasha and Wanda who had been calmly sparing (for once) jumped out to join the line staring at the doors, followed by Sam and Bucky switching off their running machines and Steve finishing the bandaging of his hands.
It would be a strange sight for Spider-Man to walk in on, almost the entirety of the Avengers standing and waiting for him. But hopefully he would take it more in the way of they were excited to meet him and not they were readying themselves to fight.
(-~-~-~-~-~-~-~)
Despite the uncomfortable feeling of anxiety prickling under his skin, Peter did not ready himself for a fight as he edged towards the doors FRIDAY instructed him to go through. His 6th sense wasn’t causing all hairs to stand on end nor sending electric stabs down his spine, so he knew he was safe.
Hopefully.
As much as he hoped they wouldn’t, the doors started swinging open automatically exactly as every other did, uncovering the group of heroes staring directly at Spider-Man. At Peter.
“Am I that wanted that everyone is staring at a door waiting for me? I feel so loved guys.”
Regardless of the screeching anxiety clawing his oesophagus and making it slightly harder to breathe Peter played it off with his usual light sarcasm. Showing weakness in front of the Avengers seemed more daunting than showing it in front of The Vulture had.
“Spider-Man. It’s nice to finally meet you off the field.”
“Haven’t quite decided if this is going to be nice or not Cap, but we’ll go with it.”
“We’re not going to force you into revealing you identity if that’s what you’re meaning kid.”
“Well that’s good Mr. Stark because I probably would have and still will fling myself out that window if the conversations go that way.”
As speaking Peter flexed his wrists, his own way of showing he was ready to take the force of his weight in the webs.
Forgetting the fact they’d seen him to similar stunts before a couple of the heroes (namely Wanda, Bruce, and Sam) looked between him and the window a worried look gracing all their faces.
“We’re 88 floors up, webs or not that wouldn’t be your best idea маленький паук (little spider)”
“I’ve had worse ideas большой паук (big spider).”
“Oh my Thor! Tony there’s two of them now. I knew this would be a bad idea!”
Clint flung his arms in the air in a laughable manner, despite there being no malicious intent or annoyance in his statement Peter couldn’t help but reel himself backwards. The archer hero had believed this was a bad idea, at some point he had believed it was a bad idea.
“Where’d you learn Russian? Or is that just something you decided to learn on the way across?”
“I’m fluent in quite a few languages. Russian is one of them.”
“What others are you fluent in kid? I’m counting this as part of the bonding exercise.”
Bonding exercise. Peter had guessed the training was just the tip of what the Avengers had planned, he wouldn’t have been called across at 10 in the morning on a Sunday just for training.
Questions were difficult because he could answer 4 truthfully and those 4 could be enough to narrow the Avenger’s search for Spider-Man’s identity down to 100 people in Queen’s. Being in the room with 2 trained assassins and a mind reader meant that he couldn’t lie though so predicament could only be avoided.
“English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Italian, and ASL.”
Or you could answer them all truthfully like an idiot and see what happens.
“That’s impressive son, why’d you chose those to learn?”
“They’re the most used languages in the New York area. Decided they’d be useful because of that.”
Peter knew he was saying too much however, stupidly, he trusted the Avengers. Who wouldn’t? They were heroes who promised to protect the world. He, as Spider-Man, had more of a reason to trust them as he’d worked by their sides, he’d seen first hand that they wouldn’t let him get harmed.
And maybe it was the lack of adults in his life to protect him that had him leaning in and dropping his mental barriers or maybe it was just because they were heroes, either way he wanted to put his trust in them.
“Other than languages, what do you excel in? Sorry if it’s a strange question, I like learning about what people around my age do.”
“Science, specifically biochemistry though, and engineering, but that could fall under science anyway. I guess.”
“Never mind he’s a mix of Tony and Bruce. We’re all doomed.”
Even though Peter was still slightly cautious of Clint due to the reveal of him not wanting the training to have gone ahead he couldn’t help but feel the warm sense of pride fill his chest, he was being compared to two of his idols and he hadn’t even shown off his skill in the topics.
“What sort of engineering are you working on right now kid? I could maybe give you a hand if you’re stuck on anything.”
“Currently, I’m ironing out any hitches with Karen. There are still some issues with her system.”
“Karen?”
“Oh! Karen is my AI; I have a feeling she’s rather similar to FRIDAY just less advanced as I don’t have the money to buy the correct resources.”
“Do you like archery?”
Natasha sniggered at Clint’s sudden attempt to change the flow of the conversation, it was rather obvious that the topic they were on was about to go down the rabbit whole of something only Tony, Bruce, and Peter could understand.
It did annoy Peter that he wasn’t going to get to show off Karen, she was one of his best inventions so far and wanted to boast about her to Tony the man who he’d got the idea from. However, that wasn’t why he was here, and he knew that.
“I’ve not really tried it. Anyway, onto training. What are you wanting to do?”
“Actually, before we start, I was wondering if I could ask you questions on your powers? It would be incredibly useful out in the field to know what you are and aren’t capable of.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to answer all your questions, but I can try Doctor Banner.”
“What do you mean don’t think you’d be able маленький паук (little spider)?”
The question was accusing, the untrusting nature of the assassin seeping in. Peter had realised as soon as Natasha had glared down at him how bad it sounded, how sketchy not answering questions on his powers would be.
Peter had to grind his thumb into his pointing finger as a way of grounding himself before his breathing kicked off, not wanting to crumble under the anxiety he’d been feeling. He was telling the Avengers too much and he was about to tell them more.
“I haven’t really had time to explore my powers, I’m a mutate not a mutant. Sorry if I came off as sketchy Miss. Romanov.”
Revealing anything to do with his powers wouldn’t do anything in the search for Spider-Man’s identity. Slowly, that clicked in Peter’s mind. The fact that nobody aside from Ned and MJ knew what happened in Oscorp’s labs meant it wasn’t on his records.
Peter could freely talk about his powers and receive guidance on them from any of the Avengers because they had no way of figuring out it was him.
“Fascinating. How did that happen? I have only heard of people becoming mutates through radiation, but you seen too young to have been around enough radiation or had jobs so close to radiation.”
Spider-Man could not be connected back to Peter Parker through his powers. Spider-Man could not be connected back to Peter Parker through his powers. Spider-Man could not-
“Sorry. I’m not comfortable answering that.”
You’d have to be an idiot to miss the look of anxious recognition cross both Steve and Bucky’s faces. The look of knowing from experience how he received those powers. Peter ignored it though, he didn’t want pity and knowing what he went through would lead to pity.
Poor 14 year old Peter an accidental human experimentation in Oscorp laboratories. The child who figured out too late why the tour guide had allowed him to slip to the side. The small little boy who knew what it felt like to have your genetic code rewritten.
“Breathe or else I will have to ask someone to intervene.”
Karen’s voice came out as a mere whisper even for Peter’s super hearing, the speakers on the inside of his suit only just able to produce something of such a quiet frequency.
When Karen said she would ask someone to intervene she usually phoned Ned or MJ. Peter was in a room of people which he’d told the AI counted as safe in emergencies, the second his heart beat bounced up a couple more beats per minute she’d make her presence and Peter’s panic attack’s presence known.
As bad as self-destructive grounding methods were, they worked. So, Peter slowly pushed his thumb deeper and deeper into the palm of his hand. The sudden heavy pressure on the muscles drawing him back to the presence and away from his past’s screams.
“Are you ok, son?”
Steve had heard the slight pick in his heart rate and most definitely heard the lack of Peter’s breathing. Even if Peter hadn’t slipped to the edge of a panic attack Steve would have noticed any slight lift of heart rate having focused in as soon as he shut down Bruce’s question.
“Sorry. I’m good just can we move on?”
He sounded pathetic, the anxiety now clawing at his vocal cords trying to shut him down and get him to accept thee panic. These were heroes so they could easily hear the panic, Peter just hope they chose to ignore it.
“Um, of course, of course. I had wanted to ask you if you knew how much you could lift? It would be useful for rescues and all that sort.”
“Wait first, $100 he can’t lift more than the Cap. Anyone else?”
“I’m betting on маленький паук (little spider).”
“I’m going with Capsicle, I’ve seen how much that man can lift.”
“The fact that your all betting on this worries me slightly.”
It was calming to watch a spectacle, the Avengers fooling around and betting on random things just as Ned and himself did all the time. Showing Peter that they weren’t the same heroes 24/7 that he saw on screen and in battles.
It was also nice to see Natasha bet on him, even if it was probably just because she wanted to go against Clint. He had someone in his corner.
“I’ve actually not thought of it. I’ve caught and lifted a couple of cars and a bus, at different times of course. I’ve stopped a train. Oh, I’ve also lifted a building off myself, it was mainly still intact.”
The horror sitting on all the Avengers faces as he spoke grew, surprising him. They’d been there for all those incidents except for the train and the bus, they’d been the ones to dodge the cars and he’d caught them before they flew into the public. They’d been there when the building fell, engulfing under the rubble of the crushed first floor and the further intact floors.
But they hadn’t seen.
He’d been behind them when he was catching the cars, zipping back and forth with his top speeds to stop them all before the crowd could become harmed.
They hadn’t been around when he finally lifted the building from himself because they hadn’t known. They hadn’t seen him run in to try and defuse the bomb only to be too late.
“You didn’t know that did you?”
“That’s why you weren’t around after the fight. It wasn’t because you ran so you didn’t have to talk to us.”
“You thought I ran? I know I don’t want to reveal my identity, but I wasn’t going to run from the Avengers because of that.”
“How the hell did you survive that?”
“My body was repairing itself just as fast as it was trying to shut itself down, prevented me from dying from any of the injuries I guess.”
“Fascinating…”
“Not fascinating Bruce! The kid was crushed by a building, and we left him there!”
“I mean you didn’t know I was there if it helps.”
“Not really маленький паук (little spider).”
It was strange to watch the cogs in the Avenger’s brains turn and twist, trying to wrap their heads around the fact he’d been lying under the building they’d stood in front of. It was strange because no matter how much May cared for him, she’d never been this worried for him because to her he was just clumsy Peter, to the Avenger’s he was a young person crushed by a building with no help.
“I guess I owe ‘Tasha $100 then because while you can lift cars I don't think you can lift a building Steve.”
“I can’t say I can… I’ve lifted a lot but not enough to count as lifting a building though.”
Peter sent both Clint and Steve an appreciative look, he could see they wanted to press into the topic but were leaving it because he wasn’t comfortable with it yet and for that he was thankful.
Bruce seemed to catch on as well after briefly looking up from the notepad he was scribbling things Peter said down, tapping his pencil a couple times as he thought of another question.
“So super strength and enhanced healing. How does that effect your metabolism?”
“We can’t just ignore that he got a building dropped on him!”
“We will Tony. Now, Bruce’s question if you don’t mind.”
“I need to eat about 4x the amount of an average person to keep on top of everything. And from experience, I burn through all medicine’s a lot quicker than most.”
“I remember that experience.”
Wanda gave a watery look over as she wrung her hands together, it had been her Peter had jumped in front of when tranquilisers were being shot. She’d gotten slightly too close against both her and everyone else’s common sense and was immediately held under fire.
Only one tranquiliser hit her, stabbing into her left shoulder. It didn’t knock her out, her time at Hydra giving her a slight resistance, but the entirety of the left side of her body went lax for a period of time.
Peter took at least 10 and managed to knock those holding the tranquiliser guns out within the span of a couple minutes and only swayed slightly as he did so.
“OK. And what about speed? Is that enhanced like your strength is?”
“I can run from one side of New York to the other in 15 minutes, 10 if I’m running on adrenaline.”
“Holy shit…”
“All my senses are enhanced as well before you ask. I can hear up to a mile around me if I want to, can see in almost pitch black, and can feel a fly just brushing past.”
Peter smiled under the mask as Bruce scribbled away furiously and the other Avengers stared in awe. People were appreciating his powers and not just because he was saving them but because they found the interesting.
The Avengers found something about him interesting.
“I want to spar with him first!”
“I’d happily beat you first Hawkeye. Nice warm up.”
Clint was in the ring before Peter had even answered and was much more ready when he had worried. Even though Peter wanted to continue to amaze people with his powers and watch the amazed faces of his idols, beating them in a fight would be much better.
As stupid as that sounded, it would be a way of showing to everyone who ever said he was weak that he wasn’t but most of all, another way to gain the attention his mind was so greedily craving.
“Don’t beat bird boy too bad маленький паук (little spider). We might need him for the next mission.”
“What the hell Natasha! I’m supposed to be your friend, you’re supposed to believe in me!”
“I believe in the person who I know will win idiot.”
Peter had to hold himself steady as he sniggered away at the playful banter which continued despite Steve’s annoyed sigh at the continued use at bad language, something he always seemed upset about because he believed the use of swear words showed a lack of knowledge a person had.
Despite the pause to banter both eventually readied themselves into their own fighting stances.
Clint, as usual, had a much more bottom heavy form due to spending most of his time crouching with a bow. When without, although trying to balance out his weight more it could never be perfect because it was how his body was built.
Peter didn’t know how to describe his form; it was incredibly balanced across the board yet looked top heavy. Always leaning forwards as though he was close to falling and crouched lower to the floor than necessarily needed.
Natasha blew a whistle which she’d seemingly pulled from thin air, and both shot forwards. Clint focused on trying to sweep Peter’s legs out from underneath him due to his seemingly top heavy form, just as the other wanted.
Within seconds Clint was in the exact position Peter wanted, pushing himself forwards and upwards before suddenly sweeping his leg under Clint’s in the exact way the elder had been doing moments prior.
The fight came to an end with the thud of Clint’s back hitting against the floor and the groan of pain that came with the movement.
“You didn’t fall.”
“Hm?”
“Clint swiped your legs in a way that should have removed them from their positioning or at least caused you to stumble, yet you didn’t move. How?”
“Oh. I’m sticky.”
“I’m sorry, you’re what? That doesn’t make any sense kid.”
There was nothing loose in the training room, everything bolted to the ground or the floor to prevent a super soldier mistake that moved them while exercising, meaning Peter’s search for something to show off his power’s was shut down incredibly quickly.
The only option to show off his ‘stickiness’ being walking up a wall. Meaning he’d have to give away the one move he’d been hiding from the Avengers. The one move which allowed him to spy on people from the sides of buildings or prevent himself from being knocked off balance much as Clint had tried to do.
“Why does everything in your training room have to be glued to the ground. You make things difficult.”
Peter could feel all eyes on him as he wandered out of the ring towards his elected wall. He could even feel Clint’s eyes on him despite the man sitting clutching his back as he tried to crack it in a way that would relieve the pressure now building up.
He could feel the gazes become slightly more confused as he pressed a foot onto the wall, deciding whether he should go for it or just ask if he could borrow Bruce’s clipboard to show off the ability.
Eventually climbing the wall was decided on, pushing the other leg off the ground and onto the wall pausing for a second as his body fixed itself to accompany the new way it would have gravity pulling at it. A second was all he needed before he continued his way up, taking multiple steps forwards or upwards depending on your angle.
“As I said. I’m sticky.”
“You’re on the wall.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed, thank you for pointing that out, Falcon.”
“Can you stand on the roof? Or does the blood rush to your brain prevent that?”
Taking the same movements as before, Peter moved his body to the roof. Taking quite a few seconds more for his body to settle, the valves which usually did nothing, and in a normal human wouldn’t be there, suddenly snapping closed.
They had been one of the reasons for the extreme headaches when bitten, valves forming and arteries changing into veins to allow him to stand upside down without the blood rushing to his head.
“Holy fuck.”
“Language Wanda.”
“I mean this one deserves a holy fuck Capsicle. How’s the blood not rushing to your head kid?”
“The arteries that you’d usually have taking blood too and from your brain changed into veins with valves when I became a mutate. Allowing for me to do this.”
“Your powers are truly incredible. I’ve never seen such a mutation.”
Deciding that he’d spent enough time on the roof Peter quickly threw himself down, just completing the back flip to right himself in time. Despite it only being valves opening and closing, just as the always did just in your arms and legs, it made him incredibly dizzy. His body doing something it still hadn’t quite gotten used too after a year.
“Do the webs come out of you?”
Even without the dizziness Peter would have questioned the question Wanda placed forwards. The idea of his webs coming out of his wrists making him shudder, and that was just a thought.
“No! Of course not. Yeesh, that makes me feel sickly. I make them myself in my school’s lab.”
School’s lab.
If Peter had ever wished he could go back in time, it would be now. Every set of eyes snapped towards him once again, Bruce lifting his eyes from where he was still writing about the stickiness and Natasha and Clint snapping their heads up from where they were talking about his fighting skills.
He had allowed himself to get comfortable with telling them about his powers because they couldn’t connect that.
His webs weren’t his powers and could easily be tracked back to him because there was only one school in the state that had fully functional labs open for students whenever they wanted them, which was what he obviously needed.
“Did you just say school kid?”
Tony’s eyes closed slightly with so many emotions crackling across the surface. Annoyance, Pain, Anger, Worry, Guilt. Every emotion Peter hated being directed towards him was flashing across his idol’s face, although most probably weren’t towards him, he still imagined them towards himself.
“Well yeah… People are getting educations later and later, I’m one of many.”
“You’re lying маленький паук (little spider).”
“…”
“How old are you son?”
All eyes were on him and for once he didn’t want it. He wanted them to disappear, for them to be zoned out like he could do with Flash and his goons.
Spider-Man’s identity was going to be revealed and then ripped away from him with no choice but to comply because children can’t be heroes. Children can’t save people because they’ll just get hurt and get in the way and cause more damage and-
“You need to calm down or as I said before I will have to alert someone.”
“They… They’ll take Spider-Man away from me Karen.”
“I don’t believe they will Peter. I have calculated all options and it is most likely that they will not.”
Peter was still far enough away after the climbing the wall stunt that his conversation with Karen couldn’t be heard, his slightly laboured breaths and jumping heart only evident to Steve and Bucky and that was explainable.
Even with Karen’s calculations Peter didn’t want to trust it. Spider-Man was everything to him. Spider-Man protected those who couldn’t protect themselves just as he’d needed so many times but hadn’t had.
“I’m 15.”
“Even I didn’t hear you there and my hearing is better than Stevie’s.”
“I said… I’m 15.”
Silence.
Nobody was breathing and if Peter couldn’t hear their heart beats, he’d be convinced they weren’t beating either.
All he’d wanted to do today was come in and train with the Avengers, have a banter with them and throw jokes around. The one thing he’d wanted to hide was his identity.
He hadn’t managed either. He’d fucked up. He’d messed up everything and now he wouldn’t be Spider-Man. He couldn’t be Spider-
“You’re joking right? Please tell me you’re joking kid.”
His age was out, why didn’t he leak his identity. Why shouldn’t he fuck it up more for himself?
And he did just that. Slowly lifting the mask to reveal his face underneath, the face that showed all his youthful looks. The face that showed the red raw lip which he’d been chewing on subconsciously through his entire time here. The face that showed his wide anxious eyes, flickering between each and every Avenger.
“Fuck you are.”
“Language Tony, there’s a kid in the room!”
“How can you… Steve the kid had a building dropped on him, he’s an actual kid though! Not just us joking about his young age!”
“You… You took tranquilisers for me.”
“I got beaten by an infant!”
“Not the time Clint.”
“Hulk punched you when I lost control.”
“I’ve let you join fights маленький паук (little spider).”
The onslaught of comment after comment made the panic worse. They weren’t taking it in a positive way, specifically because all major incidents were filtering through their minds.
Every comment overlapped with the last drilling into Peter’s mind in a way that made him feel smaller and smaller. They just saw him as a kid, they thought of him as just a kid.
If he was older, they wouldn’t take the suit of him. He’d be able to continue despite the work being the exact same.
“I’m going to continue being Spider-Man no matter what you say.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request Mr. Stark. I will always be Spider-Man because with great power comes great responsibility.”
“You’re a child маленький паук (little spider), we can’t morally allow you to continue on your own.”
“I really don’t care. I don’t-. You can take my suit away from me, tell me to stop being Spider-Man but I will just go out more in a more dangerous way. Like you said I’ve had a building dropped on me, I’ve been shot over and over, I’ve caught cars, I’ve fought Hulk, and I’ve done so much more you don’t know. But I’ve survived, haven’t I?”
“And if you do die next time? That’s on us for not stopping you son.”
“No. It’s on me for not reaching out for help. If I felt I wasn’t going to recover from something I wouldn’t be stupid and wait to hope my healing factor would kick in, I’d come to you. It’s why I came here today, because I trust that you’re looking for the best despite my age.”
Realistically, if he waited a few minutes for his own breathing to calm and the Avenger’s raging thoughts to calm down things would go better. The conversation would go so much better because everyone would have a clear mind.
“We’re not stopping you then маленький паук (little spider)?”
“You have not a chance to stop me unless you know a way to unmutate me and even then, I wouldn’t make promises.”
“Natasha don’t tell me you’re even considering this!”
“Tony, think about it for a second. The kid is continuing either way, whether we push him away and destroy what he loves doing or not. Isn’t it better if he does it within our knowledge than without? If we know what he’s doing we can provide support when needed, if not there’s no telling what could happen.”
Natasha had a look of set determination on her face as she stared at Tony before back at Peter who had now leant himself against the wall, a better position to try ward off the still ever present panic attack.
“We’re pushing маленький паук (little spider) into a panic when all could easily be avoided if we just help him out. I’m not happy with it, he’s literally 5 years off the youngest age I think anybody should be involved in this for. But he’s involved now.”
“Natasha is right. I can create medicine which will work for him if we allow him to stay. And you can create him a proper suit Tony, get him out of the spandex you despise so much.”
“Steve and I can help with training. Since he’s enhanced in similar ways to us our training routine should work.”
The panic slowly subsided as the Avengers discussed letting him continue being Spider-Man, it didn’t leave. It’s grimy claws were deep dug in due to the 3 close calls, but they loosened and allowed him to listen properly.
The prospects that were being placed forwards sounded like heaven, he’d get all the things every child dreamed of having. His dreams could be reality if they decided he deserved it.
“You definitely won’t stop?”
Peter just nodded at Sam’s question. He didn’t want to speak in case it brought on another round of questions he was physically too tired to deal with. Holding off 3 panic attacks in the space of an hour seemingly more tiring than actually having them.
“I think it’s our best shot. If I can’t beat the infant in a fight, I’ll beat him in mario cart.”
“That fact that is what you’re focused on right now worries me.”
“I’m putting this in the situation of what if it was my kids Bucky. What if it was my son leaning against the wall panicking at the fact, he wouldn’t be able to save lives. I would want him to stop, but if the way of confirming his safety was him continuing but with me knowing I’d take it.”
“Not panicking just resting…”
“Sure you are kid.”
“Fine. You can continue as Spider-Man just under our guidance. We’re alerted of major fights and any injuries are reported back to us. You will use one of Tony’s suits, follow Bruce’s medical advice and food plans – it doesn’t look like you’re eating enough for an enhanced metabolism, and you’ll train with Bucky and I.”
Peter wanted to cry with joy, the tears welling in the corner of his eyes. He could continue being Spider-Man. Continue saving people just as Uncle Ben would have wanted. And continue out his childhood dream of working alongside the Avengers.
“Thank you. For well, allowing me to continue. Even if I would have continued on my own.”
“Don’t make us regret it маленький паук (little spider). I will be keeping an eye on you.”
“Welcome to the amazing Avenger family infant!”