“Hey, Peter!” Ned called out, running down the halls of Midtown to reach his friend.
“Ned!” Peter turned around, just in time to greet Ned in their secret handshake.
“Dude, did you see the amount of homework Mr. Harrington assigned?” Ned asked.
“Dude it’s insane.”
“I know right?” Ned squealed, then immediately dropped his voice. “How are you going to finish the homework and go out as… you know who?”
“Shhh,” Peter shushed his friend as they turned down the hallway. “Don’t say it so loud.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Ned whispered back. Ever since Ned accidentally discovered that Peter was Spiderman, he hounded Peter with questions. From asking if he laid eggs to how he managed to avoid the Avengers for so long, Ned never shut up. But Peter was adamant about keeping it a secret and that included being super careful at school.
“I’ll figure it out,” Peter commented.
“That’s what your guy in the chair is for.”
“What? Homework help?” Peter asked skeptically.
“Obviously more than just that,” Ned rolled his eyes. From helping Peter design a better suit, to always being on call to look up all sorts of medical questions while Peter was out as Spiderman, to alerting Peter if the Avengers were nearby, Ned was the reason Peter was still able to go out as Spiderman. Without Ned, the Avengers would have caught him by now.
The Avengers. Peter rolled his eyes. They claimed to be heroes. They claimed to save the world. They promised peace and safety. And what did the world get?
A loss of freedom. A dictatorship run by the most powerful people on earth, led by an iron fist. Tony Stark. Ironman.
The Avengers had all the money in the world. After saving New York all those years ago, the governments of the world handed over power to the Avenger’s claiming that only the Avengers could protect everyone. The Avengers took the power and squeezed the world dry. They killed anyone who outright defied their laws. Compliance was necessary for survival.
But crime still happened. The Avengers didn’t protect everyone, Peter knew that all too well. When he got these powers, he knew he had an obligation. An obligation to do his part and keep people safe the way the Avengers choose not to. The Avengers caused a lot of chaos, encouraged a lot of crime against the little guys. But with his powers, Peter could stop some of that from happening. So he did.
When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.
If the Avengers found him, they would kill him. Defiance was punishable by death. Mutants were punishable by death. Anyone found with superhuman capabilities was eliminated as they threatened the Avenger’s authority. Peter knew he had two strikes against him - his superhuman powers coupled with his desire to do good… it was somewhat reckless. Despite being a literal child, Peter knew how cruel the Avengers were. They would kill him without any second guesses.
So he hid as best as he could. Spiderman was only a fairy tale. A phantom of hope. No one could confirm or deny the existence of Spiderman, but boy did people talk about him with a hint of fear and wonder in their voices. Fear of what the Avengers would inevitably do if Spiderman truly existed. Wonder what it would be like to be safe because of a true hero and free again.
Which is why, as Peter shuffled into the auditorium with his best friend, he kept his head low. He drew little to no attention to himself. He was a nobody from Queens. No parents, no money, just an overtired aunt and a small apartment.
“What do you think today’s assembly is about?” Ned asked Peter, pulling Peter from his thoughts.
“I donno, probably the same old stuff,” Peter mumbled quietly. Usually, assemblies were called to remind the students of their place in the world, as the gifted students ready to follow the Avengers’ direction.
“Probably,” Ned agreed quietly, but then exclaimed. “Maybe they’re announcing the theme to the prom?”
“And they need to call an assembly for that?” Peter asked.
“Hmm maybe not. Oh, maybe it’s about career day!” Ned hypothesized.
“Maybe. That’s coming up right?” Peter asked.
“I don’t know, in a month, I think? I want to design my project so that I can send it to Legos as my application.”
“That would be so awesome.”
“If I worked there, I might be able to buy the Legos death star.”
“Dude, that’s the dream,” Peter’s eyes glazed over. He loved Legos, but they had no money. They barely could afford food.
Before Ned could say anything else, the principal walked on stage nervously. His hands fidgeted with his notecard. He adjusted the microphone and looked down at his cards.
“Good morning students of Midtown,” Principal Morita said.
A chorus of monotone good mornings greeted him.
“As many of you know, you are the future of our country. Your intelligence and determination for greater things are unparalleled. And the Avengers have noticed. In fact, they are extremely impressed with your aptitude to drive our country forward. Which is why, over the next few weeks, they will be sitting in on classes and speaking to all of you.”
A low murmur broke out across the auditorium.
“Students! Settle down please.”
The students immediately stopped, fearing any punishments.
“As I was saying, the Avengers will be coming to classes and will be pulling students aside to talk to. I expect you to be on your best behavior and to put your best foot forward. With that said, please get back to class.”
Ned and Peter looked at each other as they stood. They could only wonder what that meant.
--
Life moved on after the assembly, or so it seemed.
Peter was in his History class when he met his first Avenger. Captain America walked through the door confidently, causing all heads to turn. Even the teacher stopped her lecture to stare at the large, muscular man.
“Please continue ma’am,” Captain America instructed.
“Of course, yes Sir – Captain America,” the teacher stuttered. “Like I was saying, World War Two had a lot of sacrifices, why did we make sacrifices?”
Flash’s hand shot up.
“Captain America crashed in the ocean to save millions of people from being killed by the weapons aboard the aircraft and was a hero for sacrificing himself,” Flash answered a smug look on his face as he shot a glance to Captain America.
“Fantastic example,” the teacher said, hesitantly glancing at Captain America, who stood like a statue in the back. “Can anyone think of any other examples?”
No one volunteered. The best answer was seemingly already said.
“Peter Parker?” The teacher called out, and Peter’s head shot up.
“Umm,” Peter paused, “Well, wasn’t every sacrifice made for the same reason?”
“Which is?” The teacher asked.
“Well, I think we all inherently want to do what’s right. I think the soldiers from the US sacrificed their lives, not for the fame or money or to be a hero, but because they knew it was the right thing to do.”
Steve’s eyebrows perked up at that. It was a sentiment he had felt was uniquely his. That he made those sacrifices for all these years, not for fame, but because it was the right thing to do. Sure, money came along with it. But in his heart, Steve believed he was doing what’s right. Steve looked at the boy who spoke, and his eyes softened. His innocence yet wisdom impressed him, and the look of hope in his face sparked something in Steve he hadn’t felt before.
He couldn’t wait to tell the rest of the Avengers about this kid.
--
Peter met Bruce Banner later in the week.
He was in physics listening to his teacher discuss electricity when Dr. Bruce Banner walked in. Peter couldn’t help but stare. Peter had read the research that Dr. Banner did on anti-electron collisions and gamma radiation, something he wrote before the Avengers took over. Peter had always admired his work, even now. Dr. Banner was still smart, despite being a part of the Avengers.
So Peter tried to stay focus on the teacher, much like the rest of the class. But it was hard when one of his childhood idols was right there.
“Alright class, today during our lab we will be building lightbulbs, can anyone tell me who invented the lightbulb?” The teacher asked
A bunch of hands shot up. A girl from the lab table in front of Peter was called on.
“Thomas Edison sir.”
“Very good,” The teacher responded, and began her lecture. But Peter stopped listening. Once he had a project in front of him, he focused in and tuned everything out. Learning to focus in and tune everything else out was a critical skill he developed as Spiderman, but was something he still did during school.
After 30 seconds, he was done. He looked up, and the teacher was still discussing the history of the lightbulb. She hadn’t even reached instructions for the students. Peter looked around and noticed no one else had even figured out the switches yet, despite their best efforts. It would be a while before anyone else finished.
He didn’t notice when Bruce Banner sat down directly across from him at the lab table.
“I see you finished early.”
“Oh,” Peter stuttered, “uh yeah.”
“Not that challenging huh?”
“Yea, I mean – no, I like school and all…”
“It’s just not enough to challenge you huh?” Bruce said, slightly impressed. It was a school for geniuses, and this kid was lightyears ahead of them.
“It’s a challenging school,” Peter commented.
“What do you find challenging?” Bruce asked.
Peter paused. It was enough to say it all.
“Well… I don’t like poetry all that much.”
“Do you really read much poetry at a STEM school?”
“No,” Peter sighed, realizing he’d been called out.
“So what do you usually do in all your free time during school?” Bruce asked.
Usually, Peter made web fluid or worked on parts of his Spiderman suit, but he couldn’t tell Bruce that.
“Ummm…” Peter tried to think of something. “I read.”
“Oh, yeah? Poetry?”
Peter laughed. And it was the purest thing Bruce had ever heard.
“No, more like research.”
“Tell me more.”
“Well, I read about your papers on anti-electron collisions and gamma radiation and I guess I’ve always wanted to ask you a few questions?”
“Sure,” Bruce encouraged him to ask, assuming the kid would ask what gamma radiation was or what an electron is.
“How can we use the gamma radiation from anti-electron collisions in more everyday applications? Like I can see how at a doctor’s office they can have the money for PET scanners that use the collisions for metabolic detection, but what about everyday people who want to try to, I donno, lose weight or something?”
“Wait you understood my research?”
“Well… yea.”
“Wow kid, not even Captain America understood what I wrote.”
And when Peter laughed again, Bruce’s whole face lit up. They continued to talk for the rest of the class. The conversation flowed naturally, and the more they talked, the more Bruce liked the kid. He was smart and funny and unbelievably kind. They talked about physics and biochemistry until the bell rang for the next period. Peter looked at the door, unsure of if he was allowed to leave with Dr. Banner looking at him expectantly.
“I um, have to go to math.”
“Oh right, right, of course. It was nice to meet you…”
“Peter. Peter Parker sir.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Bruce said and watched Peter walk out the door.
Bruce smiled. He liked that kid. And Bruce thought that just maybe, the other Avengers might like him too.
--
The same day Peter met Bruce Banner, Peter went on patrol after the sunset. He did his usual. He stopped a car from hitting a bus. He helped a woman get home. He stopped a few muggings. While he was out, his Spidey sense buzzed.
He looked around and didn’t see anything.
“Spiderman, the police radio says there’s a fire on Jamaica Ave.” Ned’s voice rang out in his earpiece. For being on a budget, finding a way to communicate with his guy in the chair was critical. Expensive, but worth it.
“On it!” Peter called out, shooting a web and taking off.
When he arrived at the fire, he quickly got to work. He evacuated a family, saved another family’s dog, all before the fire department arrived.
As he was pulling the dog out of the building, his spidey sense blared. Off in the distance, he could see the Avengers Quintjet flying towards him and the burning building.
“Peter, what’s going on?” Ned asked nervously.
“The Avengers,” Peter whispered.
“Dude,” Ned whispered. “Run.”
So Peter didn’t stick around. He swung away and hid on a roof a few blocks away. He immediately laid down and peered over the edge. When he saw the Avengers land, he ducked his head and laid flat on his back.
Despite being a few blocks away, he could still hear the Avengers land. And he could hear them talking.
“Witnesses spotted him here?” Steve said.
“Videos trending on TikTok showed Spidey pulling a family out of the building,” Nat commented.
They were looking for him? Spiderman? Peter panicked. If the Avengers knew about him… that meant they were coming for him.
Fuck.
“Maybe he’s in the building,” Steve said.
“Let’s find him.” Tony Stark ordered.
Peter’s eyes widened.
“Tony you go in, check the building,” Steve commanded.
“On it Cap.”
“Nat, Clint, search the area. Bruce, fly overhead in the Quintjet, see if you spot him, and tell us. Sam, Bucky, Wanda, you are on the ground. Knock on nearby doors, see if you find anything. I’ll talk to the firefighters.”
Peter immediately sat up. He had to get out of here.
But he couldn’t get out of here as Spiderman. So he climbed down the side of the building and found an open window. He snuck in, grateful it was an apartment and the residents weren’t home. He quietly searched the apartment and found clothes to change into.
When Peter walked out the front door of the apartment in an oversized white shirt, baggy gym shorts and flip flops with his Spiderman suit in a grocery bag he found in the apartment. He slung the bag over his shoulder and pulled it closer. He kept his head down and walked away from the fire towards his apartment.
“Hey kid, what are you doing out so late?”
Peter froze, and spun around immediately to see Sam Wilson standing there.
“I’m uh, heading home.”
“Uh-huh, what are you up to kid?” Sam said skeptically.
“Sir, I’m heading home, my aunt will kill me if I’m not home by 10. I’m already late.”
“Hm, your aunt?”
“Yes sir.”
“Does she know you’re out this late?”
“She knows,” Peter said, even though she had no idea. “She encourages me to help people.”
A little white lie.
“How are you helping people?”
“Tutoring.” Not a total lie. Peter sometimes tutored.
“How much do they pay you, kid?”
“I do it for free,” also true. He did tutor for free.
“Free?” Sam didn’t believe it.
“As I said, I like to help people. I thought by tutoring struggling kids from struggling families- I thought it was the right thing to do.”
“Hm,” Sam nodded, thinking about the scarifies this kid clearly made. He was wearing cheap clothing and could be making enough money tutoring to buy nicer clothes. Yet he chose to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Clearly a good kid. “Alright kid, get home safe.”
“Thank you, sir,” Peter bowed his head and walked away. When he was out of sight, he sprinted to the nearest subway.
Sam watched him go. As someone who had made a lot of sacrifices in his life, he had a lot of respect for the kid running in sandals.
--
The next day, Peter was sitting in his homeroom class when Ned plopped down next to him.
“Dude,” Ned hissed. “They could’ve killed you.”
Of course, Ned was freaked out about last night. The Avengers showing up was unexpected. But Peter was fine.
“But I wasn’t.”
“Maybe you should take a break,” Ned suggested.
“I can’t,” Peter whispered. “People need me.”
“But they’ll kill you.”
“I won’t let them,” Peter said confidently.
“Dude they’re the Avengers,” Ned murmured.
Peter rolled his eyes.
“Like I don’t know that.”
“But-“ Ned started, but was cut off by the teacher.
“Good morning students.” The teacher called out and slapped a ruler on the table to get students to look up from their conversations. “We have two special guests for our homeroom.”
Everyone's head turned to the door to see Black Widow and Hawkeye walk through the door. Peter gulped. Had they figured out who he was?
“The students can use homeroom to catch up on work. Class, continue with your work, they will just be observing.”
Unlike before, everyone was silent. Instead of talking to their friends, everyone pulled out books or papers to begin studying.
Ned and Peter glanced at each other and shrugged. They didn’t want to stand out, so Ned pulled out his math homework and Peter pulled out his English book.
Crime and Punishment Ugh. It’s not that Peter hated reading; it was having to read a bunch of books he really didn’t need to know. And especially when the schools used literature to reinforce Avengers initiatives.
Nat wasn’t particularly impressed with the students in the class. They all appeared to be attempting to overcompensate for her and Clint. While they pretended to be working, most if not all of them kept glancing at the pair of Avengers every 5 seconds. She scanned the room and noticed a boy with curly brown hair and big brown eyes actually reading his book. She watched for a minute, enjoying how focused he was on Crime and Punishment. It was a terrible book, but she was impressed with the boy’s focus. A focus like that was a talent. Something that took her years to develop.
Nat bumped Clint and he followed her gaze to the boy.
“Alright,” Clint acknowledged and walked to the boy. While every other student looked up, Peter remained focused on his book until two shadowy figures loomed over him.
He looked up, and his big brown eyes met the cold blue eyes of the redhead.
“Umm,” Peter stuttered. “Hi.”
Nat and Clint continued to stare him down. Waiting for him to squirm under their gaze. But he didn’t so much as flinch under their interrogating eyes. He stared back, then looked back down at his book.
Everyone in the room was watching.
Nat cocked her head, and Peter noticed out of the corner of her eye.
“I have another 4 chapters to finish before class,” Peter explained.
Clint grinned. The kid had guts. He knew the Avengers would like that.
--
Peter was in gym class, pretending to struggle through pushups when Thor showed up.
“Children!” Thor announced, causing all heads to turn. “Gather round!”
No one disobeyed.
“Children,” Thor said, “I have gathered you all for a test.”
“What kind of test?” Flash asked.
“A test of worthiness. To see who can lift my hammer.” Thor gestured to Mjölnir. The Students’ eyes went wide. Everyone knew the legend. Only someone that was worthy could lift the hammer. None of the other Avengers could lift it, so how could any of them do it?
“I’ll go first!” Flash volunteered, running up to the god.
“Alright eager one,” Thor nodded. “Be my guest.”
And Flash tried. He used all his strength, gripped as tight as he could, but made no progress. The hammer stayed exactly where Thor placed it.
Jason from the Midtown morning show tried next. He too had no success. One by one, every student tried with no success. Peter and Ned hung in the back, hoping the bell would ring before they would have to go. Neither of them wanted to face Flash’s ridicule. Even though they saw Flash unsuccessfully try to lift the hammer, Ned and Peter knew he would make a fat joke and a puny Parker joke to get his friends to laugh.
It was Ned’s turn to go. He glanced at Peter who gave him a sympathetic smile. As Ned walked up to Thor and his hammer, the bell rang. The students looked expectantly, waiting to be dismissed.
“Alright students,” The gym teacher announced, “everyone except for Peter and Ned can go. Boys, you two attempt to lift the hammer then head to your next class.”
Peter and Ned sighed with relief. At least they wouldn’t be ridiculed.
Ned went to try to lift the hammer, and like every other student, he was unsuccessful.
Ned nodded to Thor and turned back to Peter.
“I’ll see you later man, gotta run to art class.” Art was across the school. Ned needed to hustle to get there on time.
“Alright, later man,” Peter watched his friend leave and turned to face Thor.
Peter walked up to Thor’s hammer and didn’t make a move.
“What is the problem child?” Thor’s voice boomed in Peter’s ear. “See if you are worthy.”
Peter lightly gripped the handle. He didn’t want any of his Spiderman strength or stickiness to be used.
Peter took a small breath of air, and gently, ever so gently, he tried to lift the hammer so as to avoid any chance of lifting it.
It flung up in the air.
Peter stood, holding Mjölnir high up in the air with absolute shock.
“Whaa-,” Peter stuttered.
“You are worthy!” Thor boomed and clapped Peter’s back.
“I-what-no that’s impossible,” Peter said, immediately setting the hammer back down.
“It is not young one, you have proven yourself worthy.”
“But- but, everyone knows the legend. I’m- I’m just puny Parker. I can’t be worthy. I’m just a nobody from Queens.”
“I am sure that is not true puny Parker. What kind of name is that, Puny?”
“No, it’s just made up. Some kids bully me and call me puny. My name is really Peter. Peter Parker.”
“Well Peter Parker, you are worthy.”
“No, I can’t be! Please don’t tell anyone,” Peter begged.
“Don’t tell anyone? Young one, I must go to tell everyone.”
“I just- I just want to be normal. To fit in and not be made fun of.”
“Who would make fun of you for being worthy?” Thor asked skeptically
“Believe me, some of the kids at this school happily would.”
“Give me the names of your enemies and I will destroy them,” Thor said, 100% seriously. By Thor’s standards, anyone worthy should not be made fun of.
“No, no!” Peter pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I- I just want to be a good person, I don’t want to seek out fights.”
The second bell rang, and Peter began to rush to the door.
“My class started!” Peter exclaimed. “I gotta get going. Please and thank you for not telling anyone about this!”
“My father always told me a wise man does not seek out wars…” Thor muttered as the gym doors slammed shut behind Peter. It was wisdom beyond the young boy’s years.
The hammer was right. This boy was clearly worthy.
Worthy of Mjölnir. Worthy of the Avengers.
--
The Avengers Tower had always been an elegant masterpiece that stood out in the New York City skyline.
Now, it was the center of the universe. It signified wealth, power, strength, and most importantly supremacy. The Avengers tower reminded everyone who ran the world.
The golden encased Penthouse was the pinnacle of success. And Tony Stark drank up his power like a fine wine.
As the richest, most powerful person in the universe, he had a problem. He was mortal. And one day, he would die. And he needed someone to give his wealth to.
So Tony sent the Avengers to the best school in the city, and arguably the world, to find a child for him to consider. Tony figured he would ultimately reject the child as he had for every child before. If a child wasn’t good enough for the rest of the Avengers, they surely weren’t good enough for him to waste his time meeting.
Which is how Tony found himself sitting in the board room with his team.
Tony cleared his throat, and all eyes landed on him.
“Before we get started,” Tony said, “does anyone have any leads on Spiderman.”
“We are working on it,” Nat said.
“So you have nothing,” Tony grunted.
“We are tracking him, trying to predict where he’s going. We are looking for an optimal spot to attack him.” Clint explained.
“So we’re close?”
“Next time he’s above this bodega, Delmar’s Deli, we will be there.”
“Good,” Tony paused, then changed the subject. “Anyone want to go first with the child they found?”
The Avengers glanced around waiting to see who was willing to share the first kid to ultimately get rejected.
Finally, Sam spoke first.
“I met a kid I really liked.”
“Yea? Care to enlighten us, Rocket Man?” Tony asked.
“I met this kid when we were looking for Spiderman. Had good morals, so I looked him up. His name is Peter Parker, and what do you know he goes to Midtown-”
“Brown eyes? Curly hair?” Clint asked.
“Yea,” Sam said, jolting his head back in surprise.
“I met him too, with Nat. The kid’s got guts. I liked him,” Clint explained
“I agree, he was strong,” Nat said.
“Young Peter Parker is more than strong,” Thor interjected. “He is worthy.”
“You met him too?” Sam asked.
“Why of course! He lifted my hammer.”
Jaws dropped.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Steve interjected. “He lifted your hammer?”
“I just said that,” Thor rolled his eyes.
“When I met him, I thought he was a good kid, a great kid even, a kid wise enough to lead. But he’s not built like us. How did he lift the hammer?” Steve asked.
“My hammer is not about size and muscle, surely you must know that Captain,” Thor explained as if it was obvious.
“Wait so you all met him?” Tony asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Nat said.
“Yes,” Steve added.
“Yup,” Clint said.
“Of course,” Thor nodded.
“I didn’t meet him,” Wanda and Bucky said at the same time, and glanced at each other.
“You would’ve liked him, Buck,” Steve explained, “kid has heart.”
“And you Bruce, you met this kid?” Tony asked Bruce, one of his closest friends.
“Yea,” Bruce whispered, then cleared his throat. “Yea, I met him. Tony… you’d like him. A lot. He’s smart, funny, and loves science. I think… I think he may be a great fit for us.”
“You all agree with Bruce?” Tony asked the rest of the Avengers only to see all of them nod their heads yes.
“So what’s your decision boss?” Clint asked.
“It’s time for me to meet Peter Parker.”
--
It had been a few days since anyone had seen any Avengers wandering the halls of Midtown.
Much to Peter’s relief.
Things had begun to go back to normal. Kids and teachers alike were less on edge, especially Peter. Having to be ready to impress the Avengers all day was exhausting, and hiding Spiderman made it even more challenging.
It was the final class Friday afternoon. Peter couldn’t wait. A whole weekend ahead of him as Spiderman, with no schoolwork or anything to get in his way.
Ned and Peter walked side by side to their robotics class discussing how realistic R2D2 was, and how they would have programmed a camouflage mode if they were in the movies.
When they finally sat down in class they had to stop discussing and pay attention. But once the teacher sent them to work on their robot, and Peter and Ned began working on their project together, they quickly ignored everything going on around them and focused solely on their work.
“Dude, did you see the crazy car parked out front?” Peter asked Ned, handing him a wrench to tighten a few bolts.
“No,” Ned said, taking the wrench.
“Dude it’s sick, how did you miss that when we walked by the window?”
“Dude, we were discussing R2D2, I was kinda listening to you.” Ned pointed out.
“Hey I was listening to you too,” Peter argued.
“Alright tell me about this car,” Ned acquiesced.
“So, I was saying, there’s this crazy car parked out front-“ Peter was mid-sentence when he looked up to see the one and only Tony Stark standing in front of him.
Peter’s eyes widened.
Ned looked up, wondering why Peter stopped talking.
“Holy shit!” Ned squealed. “You’re Tony Stark!!!”
“Hey kid,” Tony nodded to Ned, then turned his attention to Peter, who looked like a deer in headlights. “Hey, Pete.”
“Um- um, hi, I’m Peter-Peter Parker.”
Play it cool, play it cool. Maybe he doesn’t know about Spiderman? Please don’t know about Spiderman. But how does he know my name?
“Nice to meet you Mr. Parker.” Tony nodded he glanced back, signaling for his bodyguard to come. “Why don’t we talk in the hall, more private you know?”
“Um, sure,” Peter stood on shaky legs and allowed Mr. Stark to lead him out into the hall.
Please don’t ask me if I’m Spiderman.
“So kid, tell me about yourself,” Tony asked Peter.
“What?” Peter asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Kid, you’ve caught our eye. And I’m just trying to figure out what the other Avengers saw in you. So tell me, what makes Peter Parker special?”
Don’t say Spiderman, don’t say Spiderman.
“I’m – ” Don’t say it, “I’m just a kid from Queens.”
“Sure, but what do you like to do for fun?”
I swing around from buildings blatantly breaking your laws which could get me killed.
“I um… like robotics.”
“Sure, that’s the class I just interrupted.” Tony rolled his eyes. Clearly, this kid wasn’t as special as the rest of the Avengers thought. A waste of time.
“Well, I guess I like science and math. And I like to build things. Like I built this computer…”
“What’d you use to build it?” Tony interrupted. Finally something interesting.
“Stuff I found.”
“You’re a dumpster diver?” Tony asked and Peter just shrugged. Hmm Intriguing.
“So you build computers, what else? Why did Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, the Falcon, Banner - the Avengers, why did they all rave about you?”
Peter looked down at his hands.
“I-I -I don’t know,” Peter whispered.
Tony sighed disappointedly.
“I gotta know, what’s your MO? What gets you to come to Midtown every day, sit in classes with kids way higher in society than you, way wealthier than you, and despite all odds, be the toped ranked student at this school?”
Peter paused. With hesitation, he spoke.
“When you can do the things I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you,” Peter admitted somberly.
Tony looked at the kid. Tony studied Peter as he stood still looking out the window.
Tony knew how the kid felt. As Ironman, he had this obligation to save everyone. To always be perfect. Even as a kid he had to be perfect, especially for Howard. When you could be brilliant, there were a lot of things people expected of you. Howard expected Tony to change the world. He did. Tony only realized after he took over the world that bad things happened because of powerful people. Like himself.
This kid, this regular kid from Queens seemed to understand exactly how complex the world was when you had power.
This kid was special. Peter was better than the rest. Tony finally saw what the Avengers saw.
It’s why, after Tony sent Peter back to class, Tony called the Avengers.
It was official. Tomorrow, they would announce to the school, and to the world, the newest addition to the Avengers.
Peter Parker. Tony Stark’s protégé.
--
After Peter entered his classroom again, he rushed to Ned.
“Dude,” Ned stuttered.
“Dude,” Peter whispered back.
“What did he say?!” Ned asked.
“He asked me about myself. He told me the Avengers are interested in me.” Peter said, his eyes losing focus.
“What does that mean?” Ned wondered, “Do you think he knows about-“
“No,” Peter cut him off. Tony Stark could not know. None of them could know.
“He better not.”
“I know, that would be disastrous.”
“But if it’s not about… you know… then what do you think they want?”
“I have no idea, Mr. Stark didn’t say,” Peter whispered. He truly didn’t know what they wanted from him.
“Hopefully it doesn’t mean anything,” Ned wished. Anything that had to do with the Avengers was terrifying.
“I hope,” Peter muttered. He knew that it could only mean trouble.
--
The second the final bell rang, signaling that school was over, Peter bounced down the steps of Midtown. He ran past everyone, crossed the street, and jumped into an ally.
Peter didn’t waste any time. Quickly, he put on his suit.
“Ugh, finally,” Peter muttered to himself as he scaled the wall. His sticky fingers found the way to the roof of the building and he pulled himself up. Standing on the roof, he sighed and with a deep breath, he launched a web to the next building and jumped into his first swing.
He swung across the city to his neighborhood. Immediately, his spider senses went off, and he swung to the street and stopped a man from stealing a lady’s purse.
“Don’t you know stealing is bad?” Peter taunted as he webbed the man to the wall.
“Fuck you man!” The man hissed.
“Nah, I think the police gotcha covered there,” Peter said, as the sirens began to roar off in the distance. So he leaped back into the air and swung away.
--
“So what’d you think?” Bruce asked, leaning against the car that Tony was working on.
“Think of what?” Tony called out from underneath the hood of the car.
“Peter,” Bruce said.
“He’s the one.”
“You think so?” Bruce said hopefully. He really liked that kid.
“I know so.” Tony hummed, “kid’s perfect. He’s meant to be ours, and I’ll bring him home, no matter what the cost is.”
Before Bruce could respond, the doors to the workshop opened.
“Boss,” Nat called out to Tony with Steve trailing shortly behind her.
“What’s up Romanov?” Tony said, rolling out from under the car he was fixing up.
“Spiderman has been spotted in Queens.”
“We ready to go?” Tony asked.
“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Steve said.
Tony nodded. Finally. It was time to end Spiderman.
--
Spiderman patrol is how Peter spent his afternoon. Helping others as Spiderman to avoid thinking about what the Avengers wanted from him. By keeping himself busy by stopping muggings and saving cats from trees, he didn’t have to think about his awkward and uncomfortable encounter with Tony freaking Stark. What the hell did they even want from some nobody kid from Queens?
And why the hell had all the Avengers been at his school for weeks on end? What did they want from a bunch of high schoolers?
Peter sat down on the edge of a building and looked out at the Manhattan skyline. He sat there, thinking about everything that had happened to him in the past few weeks.
He met Steve Rogers. Bruce Banner. Sam Wilson. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov. Thor Odinson. And now, he had met Tony Stark.
Before the Avengers took over, that was Peter’s dream. To meet Tony Stark. But now… now he wanted nothing to do with any of them.
When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.
Peter had an obligation. To protect his city, Queens, when the Avengers failed to do so. No one else cared about these people. Only Spiderman.
“Hello, Spiderman.”
Peter had never turned his head around so fast.
“Ironman,” Peter said, standing up.
“You’re a hard insect to track down,” Tony said, landing on the roof a few feet away from the spider.
“Well, you know how it is.” Peter shrugged.
“Oh I do,” Tony said, “you know what’s about to happen.”
“No,” Peter said firmly, taking a step forward.
“No?” Tony’s voice grew in anger. “You, spider boy, are breaking our laws. Our laws to protect the people. You are a mutant and a vigilante. It’s our obligation to end you. It’s the only option”
“There’s always another option,” Peter muttered and shot a web to Ironman’s gauntlet and yanked him towards the ground.
But Ironman quickly stood back up.
“So you want to do this the hard way?” Tony quirked his eyebrow from behind the mask and signaled for the other Avengers to prepare for attack.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Peter said.
“What do you call what you’ve been doing then?” Tony snarked.
“Doing what’s right,” Peter said confidently. “I have to help these people because no one else will.”
“You aren’t helping.”
“I am!” Peter yelled. “Crime has gone down in Queens. The first time it’s gone down since the Avengers took over the world. No one else gives a damn about the people of Queens, I’m the only one who’s willing to risk my life to save these people. And if that’s a crime… well then your laws are stupid.”
“Excuse me?” Tony’s gauntlet raised. “You think we, the Avengers, are stupid?”
“You don’t care about anyone but yourselves. What gives you the right to rule the world?”
“Because we have an obligation to our country to rule,” Captain America said from behind Peter. Peter turned to see the man in his full uniform, shield and everything.
“You’re supposed to be the good guys,” Peter complained.
“We are.”
“They why does it feel like you want to kill me?” Peter quipped.
“Because that’s our job,” Black Widow said, emerging from the shadows.
“I thought your job was to help protect people.”
“We are,” Hawkeye said, “we are protecting regular people from mutants like you.”
“But I’ve never hurt anyone! I’ve only helped people, why can’t you just leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone?”
“Sorry kid doesn’t work like that,” Tony said. He could tell the person behind the mask was young. A shame really. The kid seemed to have potential.
“Fine,” Peter huffed. He scanned and could sense the other Avengers lurking in the shadows. He knew the more he could distract them, the easier it would be to escape.
“If you really cared about the people, you would leave me alone.”
“But we can’t,” Steve said. “You threaten us. That’s more important than helping the people.”
“You really only care about your power? News flash, people don’t like you. They know what you stand for, and they know you only care about yourselves. One day, you will lose everything. And it will be because no one thinks you have the ability to care about anyone but yourselves.” Peter explained as he scanned for an escape.
“That’s not true,” Tony said. “There’s a kid…”
“A kid who we are taking in.” Steve finished Tony’s thought.
“Oh, so you found yourselves a charity case?” Peter asked.
“No,” Tony said, unsure of why they were explaining their plans with Peter to the Spiderkid. “This kid is the future of the Avengers. He’s our heir.”
“Poor kid,” Peter quipped, unknowing that they were talking about him. Peter. The boy behind the mask.
“We will do anything to make sure his future as an Avenger is safe. And that includes getting rid of insects like you.” Tony said, nodding to Steve. It was time to end this.
Peter senses flared. It was time to go.
So Peter shot a web at Captain America’s legs, pulling him down. Ironman tried to blast Spiderman, but the spider rolled away just in time. Spiderman webbed Captain America’s shield over to himself, blocked an arrow being shot at him by Hawkeye, and flung it at the Ironman suit.
When Black Widow tried to jump him, Spiderman deftly avoided her and webbed her arms to the wall. When he was satisfied, she couldn’t move, he quickly dogged the shield being thrown at him.
“Everyone,” Tony said quietly through his com, “move in.”
That’s when Peter’s spider-sense flared to an excruciatingly painful level.
Bullets were raining down from overhead.
Arrows were being shot at him.
The shield was being thrown at him.
The falcon swooped down and tried to strangle him.
Thor’s hammer swooshed past his ears.
It was too much for Spiderman to fight off.
“Please stop!” Peter cried, covering his head.
But no one listened.
More arrows.
More bullets.
More blasts.
Peter felt himself bleeding, but still, he kept fighting. He knew it was looking worse and worse for him.
Nevertheless, he kept fighting. Fighting for hope. Fighting for what’s right. Fighting to stay alive.
Peter felt the hammer hit his chest and sent him flying backward. He was lying flat on the ground with the hammer stuck on his chest.
Despite feeling weaker than ever. Peter slowly lifted the hammer off of him and stood on shaky legs. When he looked up at everyone, he noticed they all stopped fighting. They were staring at him, with the hammer in his hand.
“Is Spiderkid holding your fucking hammer?” Tony asked over the com.
Peter immediately dropped the hammer.
“That’s impossible…” Thor explained. “The only other person in the world who is able to do that is…”
“Peter?” Tony asked.
His eyes widened. No! They couldn’t know who he was.
“Peter?” Tony called out again.
Peter stumbled back, in shock and in pain. Suddenly, all the gunshots and blows to his body were catching up to him, and everything was searing in pain.
As he fell back on the ground, the Avengers surrounded him.
“Nobody touches him!” Tony yelled, holding his hand out to signal to the Avengers to stand back.
Tony took a step forward and approached Spiderman. He stared at the kid on the ground, gasping for air, barely conscious and bleeding profusely.
Before Spiderman lifted the hammer, they were ready to kill the insect. To rid themselves of the problem he had created for the Avengers.
But if Spiderman was Peter… no, Peter couldn’t be. No, Peter was a good kid. Their kid. But Tony had to be sure before ending Spiderman forever.
Tony let out an audible gasp when he lifted the mask off to show Peter’s bruised and bloody face.
Peter’s eyes flickered over to Tony’s.
Tony met his gaze. Soft, tired brown eyes met Tony’s cold brown eyes. Tony could see the pain in Peter’s eyes. The exhaustion.
All Tony heard was a little voice in his head.
When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.
“Fuck,” Tony muttered fixated on Peter’s apparent injuries.
“Shit,” Steve said and looked up to the Quintjet for Bruce.
“We need to bring him home. Now,” Nat said, trying to shake Tony out of his trance.
Steve gently bent down next to Peter and brushed some of the sweaty hair off of his forehead. Peter could only blink.
“Tony he’s lost a lot of blood,” Steve commented.
Tony bent down and ran a shaky hand over Peter, who started to close his eyes.
The last thing Peter felt was being gently lifted into the air.
--
By the time Bruce and the rest of the doctors in Medbay finished operating on Peter and declared him in stable condition, Tony had already laid out a plan of action with the rest of the Avengers.
“Tony we don’t have the technology to take away Spiderman,” Bruce explained.
“But we can’t let him out,” Tony argued.
“No,” Steve said, “but we have what it takes to keep him here.”
“Hmm,” Tony hummed, unsure.
“We have a lot more to worry about than just his physical strength,” Nat added.
“Meaning?” Steve asked.
“If he wanted to be here, then he wouldn’t fight us, right? So let’s make sure he wants to be here.”
“And that will go over well, right?” Tony said sarcastically. “Because we definitely didn’t just try to kill him and nearly did.”
“We tried to kill Spiderman. Not Peter Parker.” Sam added.
“They’re the same person birdshit,” Clint rolled his eyes.
“Fuck you birdbrain-“ Sam attempted to push Clint, but Thor stopped them.
“We need to focus, stop your childishness.” Thor reprimanded.
“Thor’s right,” Steve agreed, “we need to decide how we want to handle Peter waking up.”
“Alright,” Tony said, looking up from his thoughts. “Here’s the plan. We won’t restrain him. But when he wakes up I’ll be there, suit not far behind. I’ll tell him how it is and how he needs to accept what’s happening, or else it will be much worse.”
“And that will work?” Clint asked.
“Eh we can always throw in some threats to his Aunt or friend Ned. That should do the trick,” Tony added.
“Alright boss,” Sam said.
“And remember, let’s make sure he feels at home. Bucky, Wanda, did you prepare the room for him.”
“It is ready for him,” Wanda nodded. Tony nodded. The room set up for Peter was on Tony’s floor, across the hall from Tony himself. So he would always be close when his kid needed him.
“And just to be clear,” Steve said, “Peter is an Avenger now?”
“No, he’s our kid, well, mine specifically if you want to get into the semantics of it.” Tony explained.
The Avengers smiled. Finally Tony would have the kid he deserved.
--
When Peter opened his eyes again, he was met with white everything. White walls, white light, white was everywhere.
So he closed his eyes again.
He was about to fall back asleep when he heard voices to the left of him.
“Did his eyes just flutter?” A man’s voice said.
“Sometimes that happens Tony,” another man said.
“Is he awake? Tell me he is, he’s been asleep forever,” Tony was getting impatient.
“Relax, he will wake up.” The other man said.
“Sure, because you’re Doctor Banner, he better,” Tony grunted.
“Did you just threaten me?” Doctor Banner said, “I wasn’t the one who nearly killed him.”
“Don’t-“ Tony seethed, his temper started to take control. “I would never have hurt him if I knew it was Peter.”
“I know,” Doctor Banner said softly. “None of us would.”
“It’s crazy how I barely know the kid, yet it’s just like, we all know he’s meant to be here. And I would do anything for him.” Tony said softly.
“We all would,” Banner agreed, and sighed. “Look I’m going to check in with Cho, see if she has any updates for us.”
“Thanks, Bruce.”
Peter heard the man, Bruce, leave.
What did he just listen to? Peter’s head hurt. He listened to a whole conversation, where they talking about him? He was so confused; he had no idea who those people were. To be honest, it took him a minute to remember his name.
Despite the tingle on the back of his head warning him to continue playing possum, Peter opened his eyes.
His eyes flickered down to his own body, and he realized he must have really gotten hurt. But how?
He scanned the room, only for his eyes to land on Tony Stark.
The memories flooded in.
The fight. His identity reveal. Nearly dying.
Oh god, they captured him. But why was he alive? Didn’t they want him dead?
Peter studied Tony, who was looking down at his phone, unaware of Peter watching him. To Peter, Tony looked tired. As if he had been up all night worrying about something.
When Tony looked up, he almost dropped his phone.
“Peter!” Tony said with wonder, shooting up out of his chair.
Peter’s brows furrowed.
“Peter, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Tony smiled, and it was genuine.
“What?” Peter rasped out. Wow, it hurt to talk.
“You’re in Medbay, you got beat up pretty bad. But we fixed you right up. You’re safe.”
“What?” Peter said again. He was seriously confused. The Avengers beat him up. Yet they fixed him up and now he’s safe. Doubtful.
“Peter, we made a mistake. A big one. Spiderman is a menace to society, but you, you’re not. And everyone makes mistakes, right? You were Spiderman even though you knew that was wrong, and accidentally almost killed our protégé. So we are calling it even, how’s that?”
Peter looked at him, his mouth hanging open. Did Tony freaking Stark just call him the Avenger’s protégé?
“Spiderman isn’t a mistake,” Peter argued, but Tony held his hand up.
“I won’t hear any of it. We are moving on from here, forgetting about the past.
“I am Spiderman,” Peter was. And it was the most important part of his identity.
“Not anymore,” Tony said coldly. “From now on, you forget about Spiderman.”
“I can’t. And I won’t.”
“You will if you want that Aunt of yours to live. Or for your friend Ned to be able to continue to walk. You want to test any of us? There will be consequences.”
That shut Peter up.
“I was hoping to wait until you were out of here, but I guess I need to lay out the ground rules. You listen to us. Do what we say, and you will be happier than you ever could have imagined. We, the Avengers, are ready to spoil you, but on our terms. There will be no Spiderman. It’s too dangerous for you until you are ready to join us in the fight, you will remain a regular kid.”
Peter’s eyes watered. He didn’t want any of this.
“And believe me, we know all of your friends and remaining family. Try to escape or be Spiderman? You’ll be the reason we kill them.”
“No,” Peter pleaded, his voice barely audible.
Tony wiped the tears from Peter’s eyes.
“Just do as we say, and everything will be perfect,” Tony said softly, caressing Peter’s face.
Peter highly doubted this would be perfect.
“Welcome home Pete.”
--
Peter was wrong.
This wasn’t perfect. It was horrible.
Unless he was asleep, there was always an Avenger watching him. Talking to him, trying to get to know him more. And knowing what Tony said about doing what they said, Peter knew he had to engage with them. So despite wanting to protest in silence, he talked to everyone, told them cute stories about himself, and even made jokes with them. All in the interest of protecting his loved ones.
It made the Avengers love him even more.
To the Avengers, he was the perfect child for them. Sweet yet smart, witty yet wise. He was perfect, in every sense a kid could be perfect.
Which is why they never left him alone.
Once he was released from Medbay, everyone swooped in to try and spend the most time with him.
Much to Peter’s annoyance.
He baked cakes with Wanda. Played Mario Cart with Clint and Sam. Did science experiments with Bruce. Work on the Ironman gauntlet with Tony. Played catch with Thor using the hammer. Practiced self-defense with Nat and Steve. They had group dinners, movie nights, bowling nights within the tower, pool hangouts at the indoor pool, all as a team.
Peter hated to admit it, but it was kind of nice to have so many people who wanted to be around him. They felt like a family. Despite the fact the Avengers had taken over the world using their powers, Peter felt like he was slowly growing closer with each and every one of them.
Especially Tony.
Tony was acting as his father. It was weird at first, having the man hover over him and make sure Peter had everything he wanted. Peter never had everything he wanted. But now he had everything. And he meant everything. But it wasn’t just the items Tony bought him. Sure that was cool. But Tony was… great. He made the whole situation feel almost normal by building Lego sets with Peter, designing suits in the lab, watching Star Wars together. Peter didn’t remember his dad, but Peter figured that if he had a dad, he would do all the things Tony was doing. Tony was really everything Peter always wanted in a dad. Someone who was around and wanted to do fun things with him. Someone who cared about him. With each day, Peter grew closer to Tony, and Tony grew closer to Peter.
Peter was thinking about how Tony was basically his dad while he was watching Game of Thrones with Bucky in the living room.
A voice pulled him from his thoughts.
“Hey Peter, come look at this design for a new gauntlet I’m working on.” Tony sauntered in front of the TV, much to Bucky’s annoyance.
“We’re watching Game of Thrones,” Bucky grumbled.
“But now we are going to the workshop,” Tony grinned and pulled Peter up to stand. “Common underoos.”
“Alright,” Peter sighed. He allowed Tony to pull him up. But if he was being honest, the workshop was pretty cool. Scratch that, it was very cool. How many kids got to go in Tony Stark’s personal lab and workshop every day? And how many kids got Tony Stark to be their dad? Only him.
But all he wanted was a break, and he only got that when he went to sleep.
Which is why he fell asleep in the workshop. After watching Tony work for half an hour, Peter went to his chair. Sitting at his personalized workspace, he put his head down and closed his eyes, thinking he would pretend to fall asleep. Just for a much-needed break from his dad.
Peter heard the doors to the workshop woosh open before he fully fell asleep.
“Ah, I knew I would find you two in here,” Steve said, grinning.
“Nuh-uh, no. No. Get out of here captain underpants. He’s my kid.” Tony was ready to throw a fit. Steve spent three hours with Peter yesterday.
“No, he’s ours, and I wanted to show him some more self-defense. God knows we need to make sure he’s safe in case anyone attacks.”
“No, he’s not. You always use that excuse. Besides, when are we not going to be there to protect him?”
“No,” Steve scoffed. As if they would ever let Peter get close to danger like that. “We just need to have him ready. Just in case.”
“Ugh, this is just another excuse to take my kid from me.” Tony huffed.
“Yea, it is,” Steve chuckled. “But at this rate, I don’t think we have much to fight over.” Steve nodded his head towards the kid who was fast asleep, drooling on his desk.
“Oh,” Tony commented.
“I’ll carry him to bed,” Steve offered.
“No, I got him,” Tony rushed behind him, but Steve with his damn super-soldier strength and long legs beat him to Peter. Steve quickly picked Peter up, holding him bridal style, letting Peter’s head loll into his broad chest.
“Cheater,” Tony huffed and followed closely behind.
By the time they reached Peter’s room, Tony was ready to strangle Captain America. He just wanted his kid to himself, yet Steve took his sweet time leaving the room.
“I can tuck him in,” Steve leaned forward to grab the covers to pull over Peter, but Tony swatted them away.
“I got this, go away,” Tony grumbled.
“Wow, jealous much?”
Steve was met with a menacing look.
“Alright fine, I’ll back off. He’s your kid anyways.”
“Damn right he is.”
“Night Peter,” Steve said, to a sound asleep Peter.
Tony watched the kid sleep for a little while. He was lucky. They nearly killed their kid. But they didn’t. And Peter had been such a good boy.
As Tony tucked Peter in, he thought about Peter’s future. He was the future of the Avengers. He had been so good, maybe Spiderman could come back, but be on their side. Not a vigilante, but instead, as an Avenger.
Tony brushed a stray curl from Peter’s forehead. He stood to leave, and when he was at the door he stopped when he heard a voice.
“mmmm night Dad.”