Chapter 3
Natasha Romanov is many things and unobservant does not appear on that list. Since her very first interactions with Peter Parker a short few months ago she could tell there was something lurking beneath the surface. Something hidden behind the façade of an innocent geeky teenager.
The first thing that had alerted her to something strange going on with Steve and Tony’s son was that night in the kitchen. The boy was very clearly limping in an attempt to avoid putting weight on his foot, Natasha could admit that he was doing a decent job of hiding it and to any untrained eye nothing would’ve appeared out of place.
More recently Natasha had decided to try to reach out to the boy after his disappearing act last weekend only to notice the second he stumbled out of the elevator that he was injured again. Of course, she had helped him wrap the injury properly so that it would heal but after that she wasn’t really in the mood to be empathetic.
She understands keeping secrets, better than most, but there’s something about Peter’s secret keeping that is leading the assassin to believe he isn’t just some overly clumsy fifteen-year-old.
As she observes him now from the doorway of the gym she notices something else. Peter is currently sparring with Steve who recently decided to teach Peter some self-defence after the boy came home from school with a nasty bruise on his cheek bone. He claimed it was nothing more than a silly school fight but once again Natasha didn’t believe that to be the full truth.
It’s very obvious to the woman that the teen’s movements aren’t natural. He doesn’t look awkward or clumsy as she would expect someone with zero fighting skills to look, on the contrary, Peter is very obviously pulling his punches.
Continently JARVIS calls upon Steve, asking him to meet Barnes and Wilson in the briefing room giving Natasha the perfect opportunity to step in to the super soldier’s place.
“I can take over.” She says nonchalantly, the reproachful look that passes over Peter’s face doesn’t go unnoticed as she steps onto the mat. Steve thanks her while apologising profusely to his son as he jogs out of the door.
It’s just the two of them now and Natasha plans to get some answers one way or another. No words are exchanged as they both adopt a similar stance in anticipation of the other person throwing the first punch.
Peter moves first swinging out towards Natasha’s torso which she dodges easily, ducking under his fist to grab his shoulder so that she can spin him around. She aims the next hit for his face hoping to speed this process up, if she doesn’t go all in she’ll never reach any conclusions.
The hit barely grazes Peter’s jaw as he leans backwards away from the punch. The younger boy’s eyes narrow slightly and Natasha has to supress a smile as he returns the next hit with a new-found determination.
He’s certainly not pulling punches the same way he was with Steve but Natasha can tell that he still isn’t really trying. Resolve hardening, she moves forward quickly attempting to back the boy into a corner and just as expected he dodges every hit, eventually sending his hands forward with lightning fast speed to catch both of Natasha’s hands just as his back hits the wall.
There’s a look of confusion painted clear across Peter’s face now but Natasha doesn’t give him any time to over think the situation. With an expertly executed swipe of her foot Natasha knocks Peter’s feet out from under him, a move that should send the boy crashing to the floor. Instead Peter lands on delicately placed fingertips and flips himself over with practiced ease.
Peter’s behind her now fists raised in anticipation, she spins around and strides towards the boy. He backs up quickly but Natasha is quicker and before long she has him pinned to the ground.
“Romamov! What the hell are you playing at?” The intense staring match between her and Peter breaks as Tony comes running into the room. She moves off of Peter allowing his dad to help him up off the ground.
“It’s not her fault Tony, I asked her to push me.” Peter lies with an ease that impresses Natasha.
“Well kid I hate to break it to you but you’re not a trained assassin so your idea of pushing yourself and Nat’s are very different.”
Tony continues to fuss over Peter, ensuring his son isn’t seriously hurt. As the pair leave the gym the teenager looks over his shoulder to shoot Natasha a meaningful look that clearly says he isn’t going to forget this quickly.
Natasha Romanov is many things, observant is probably at the top of that list. One thing that certainly is not appearing on that list is the ability to figure out Peter Parker.
---
Peter has known for a while now that Natasha was suspicious of him. She hardly attempted to hide it, staring holes through him any time he was near isn’t exactly discreet. But Peter had certainly never expected the woman to all but attack him in the name of getting answers.
Not usually one for confrontation Peter has concluded that it will be the only way to get the former assassin off his back. So, a few hours after their bizarre interaction in the gym Peter finds himself in the elevator on the way to Bruce and Natasha’s floor to address the woman’s suspicions head on.
He spots her as soon as the elevator doors slide open, stood at the kitchen island carefully stirring something in a mug. Natasha doesn’t even look up as Peter approaches to stand on the opposite side of the island.
“Is Bruce here?”
“No. He’s with your dad in the lab.” Peter nods relieved that the scientist isn’t about for this conversation, he has no idea where this is going.
He decides to take a seat on one of the many bar stools sitting by the island and watches intently as Natasha takes a drink of her coffee. “Have I done something to upset you?”
She finally looks up to meet his gaze. “No, I just don’t like people who are suspicious, particularly when that person is someone I have grown to be quite fond of.”
“You think I’m hiding something.”
“I know your hiding something.”
They stare intensely into each other’s eyes. Peter is thoroughly uncomfortable and entirely out of his element attempting to hold his own against a specially trained assassin and spy like Natasha Romanov.
“What do you think you know?” He tries to play it cool but inside he’s panicking.
Natasha has witnessed enough that she could very easily guess that he’s Spider-Man. He really shouldn’t have let her get to him earlier in the gym. He figured out quickly what she was trying to do and instead of giving up he had experienced an intense need to prove himself. Sitting here now under her withering gaze he doesn’t feel quite as confident as he had earlier.
“You’ve got a secret, a big one. Something you’re desperately trying to make sure no one figures out.” She puts the mug down on the island. “You have extraordinarily quick reflexes, you come home injured far more often than is ordinary for a teenage boy, and when you spar with Steve you pull your punches.” Peter stays silent, waiting to see what else the red head has to say before he responds. “The more I notice the more I think you bear a striking resemblance to a certain crime fighting vigilante that likes to swing about the streets of New York.”
He certainly hadn’t expected Natasha to be so blunt. “How would that even be possible? I’m just a kid.” Peter attempts to remain calm hoping he can throw Natasha off the scent. She doesn’t even dignify Peter’s poor attempt with a response, she just raises an eyebrow as if to say ‘really?’. With a shuddering sigh Peter asks, “Who else knows?”
“No one. They aren’t half as observant as me.” She’s moved to sit beside him now. “I won’t say anything.” Peter’s eyes shoot up to her in shock. “It’s not my secret to tell. But you really need to get better at lying kid.”
Without even realising what he’s doing Peter springs forward to engulf Natasha in a hug. “Thank you, Nat.”
He leaves a few minutes later after Natasha expresses that while she won’t tell anyone she also won’t cover for him. He can work with that, but Nat is right he really does need to get better at lying.
---
Peter is really hoping to get to the Decathlon final without any more confrontations with friends or family members, but as per usual, he doesn’t get his way.
On the train home Tuesday afternoon Harry asks Peter to come shopping with him. Things have been anything but normal between them ever since Peter asked MJ out on a date and he would really like things to go back to the way they were. So, despite needing to go home and pack for the Decathlon trip Peter agrees.
The two boys make their way to Fifth Avenue, not Peter’s go to spot for shopping, but Harry explains he really wants to get a reaction out of his dad and the best way to do that is to spend ridiculous amounts of money on pointless items.
As Harry is getting fitted for a new suit in Gucci, “For the dance!”, Peter marvels at the cost of the items surrounding him. Of course, he’s aware that he could afford to shop in places like this now, Tony had handed him a credit card months ago that’s been burning a hole in his pocket ever since. He could shop here but he honestly doesn’t want to.
Sure, Harry looks great in his new suit, spinning around with glee to show Peter all of the different angles, but Peter didn’t grow up having the money to spend in places like Gucci and he doesn’t feel the need to start spending it just because he can. Plus, he’s fairly certain Harry could wear a second-hand suit from Goodwill and still look like he walked straight off of the pages of Vogue.
Suit purchased Harry happily strolls along swinging the Gucci bag between them. “You’re going to the dance, right?”
Peter nods. “Erm, yeah. I’m actually planning to ask MJ to go with me.”
Harry’s carefree walk halts causing Peter to stop as well, people push past them on the street with mild irritation. “Oh, so you’re still doing that are you?”
“Doing what?”
“Pretending you want to date MJ.” Harry sneers at Peter arms crossed against his chest in a clear sign of annoyance.
Peter can feel the anger bubbling up inside of him. “What is your problem? You’ve been weird with me ever since I asked MJ out on a date.”
Harry scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Please Peter, it’s so obvious you don’t actually like her. You could do so much better.”
His words hurt. “You know what Harry? I’m sick of this attitude, if you don’t want to be my friend anymore just because I’m dating MJ, then that’s fine. But don’t pretend this is about anything other than the fact that you clearly don’t like MJ.” Peter turns around and begins to walk home.
He walks alone for about ten minutes until he hears the distinct noise of footsteps hitting the sidewalk behind him.
“Peter!” He keeps walking despite hearing Harry clearly. “Pete, come on please stop.” They’re outside of the Tower now. “Look I’m sorry I was being a total dick.”
“Yeah, you were.”
“I shouldn’t have said all of that. If you’re happy with MJ that’s all that matters.” His pleading eyes lock with Peter’s, and as always with Harry Peter finds himself entirely entranced.
Sure, Harry’s words had hurt but Peter knows about his friend at this stage to know that he has a bad habit of running his mouth and saying things he doesn’t actually mean. Taking pity on the boy, and because he genuinely doesn’t think he can stay mad at Harry, Peter sighs and asks if the other boy want’s to come inside. Harry beams brighter than Peter has ever seen and slings an arm around his shoulders, pulling them both inside and into the elevator.
Peter ignores the way his heart speeds up and how natural the weight of Harry’s arm feels around his shoulders.
---
He’s late for the Decathlon bus, and it’s all Sam’s fault.
“Aw look at the baby in his blazer.” He brings his hands up and puts one on each of Peter’s cheeks pushing his lips together in an uncomfortable way. “Don’t you look so dapper. Do you have your juice boxes with you?”
“Wilson leave my son alone, he’s smarter at fifteen than you could ever hope to be.” Tony pulls Peter to safety away from Sam.
“Aw come on, he looks so cute! We have to take pictures before he goes.”
So, following at least three pictures with every Avenger and ten minutes late Peter finally makes it to the bus that’s waiting to take the entire Decathlon team to Connecticut.
It’s not far and they could easily make it there and back in a day but it’s tradition to stay overnight wherever the competitions are so every team member is waiting outside of the bus with their overnight bags.
Peter apologises profusely for being late but Mr Harrington promises that it’s fine and begins to usher everyone on board. He follows Ned onto the bus and is about to sit next to his best friend when he gets pushed into the seat beside MJ by said best friend. Ned just winks at him and takes the seat behind them.
Someone wolf whistles at them and Peter groans out loud when he comes face to face with Flash. “Aw look at this, Penis Parker finally got himself a beard! Nice work Penis, don’t worry MJ you can move onto a real man like me when Peter finally reveals his true rainbow colours.”
MJ just rolls her eyes and ignores the other boy until Flash gets bored and moves away to bother someone else. As the bus pulls out of the parking lot MJ reaches over to hold Peter’s hand on the seat in the space between them. Peter’s really glad Flash left because he’s certain he resembles a tomato right now.
The bus journey passes quickly as MJ and Mr Harrington drill the entire team on every possible question to make sure they’re ready to go for the final which is in just a few hours’ time.
They have just enough time to unpack and relax for half an hour or so when they reach the hotel. Peter and Ned make themselves comfortable quickly, lounging out on their beds in companionable silence.
Peter’s phone hasn’t left his hand for the past twenty minutes as he’s been texting Harry back and forth constantly since last night when the other boy left the Tower. He’s smiling stupidly down at the small screen, unable to stop a laugh leaving his mouth after reading the most recent text from the blonde boy.
“You know you can just go talk to MJ right?” Ned says breaking Peter’s attention away from the phone as it continues to ping with messages.
“Huh?”
Ned rolls his eyes and sits up so that his feet dangle over the edge of the bed. “I’m guessing you’re smiling like an idiot at your phone because you’re texting MJ. Dude, she’s literally down the hall. Just go talk to her.”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah it is MJ, you’re right.” Peter locks his phone and clicks it onto silent, suddenly not feeling like texting Harry anymore.
---
The competition goes way better than anyone could have expected and they beat the other team easily. After the winner is announced parents storm the stage to congratulate their kids, Peter pulls out his phone expecting to see congratulations texts from Steve and Tony as the whole thing was being broadcast on TV. There are a few from Sam, Bucky, Bruce and Natasha but nothing from his dads.
His face falls in disappointment as he watches all of the other kids get hugs and pats on the back from their parents and guardians. Peter understands that his situation isn’t the same, Steve and Tony can’t just show up at a high school decathlon competition without arousing suspicion and causing a stir. But he had expected a phone call or a text at the very least.
The phone in his hand buzzes with a text message from Steve: Walk backstage.
Confused, Peter pockets his phone and pushes through the crowd of students and parents to the area behind the stage. Standing there waiting on him are Steve and Tony ‘in disguise’.
“Well done Petey!” Tony beams at his son and pulls him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to his head in the process.
“We’re so proud of you Peter.” Steve pulls the boy into a hug as soon as his husband releases the boy.
Peter feels a bit misty eyed and can’t prevent a few tears escaping and rolling down his cheeks. Steve just smiles at him and gently wipes them away without a word.
The small family manage to steal a few minutes together backstage where Tony gushes about some of the science questions they had been asked and Steve just repeatedly states how proud he is of his son.
Ned eventually finds them back there and smiles in delight when the super heroes congratulate him as well, before he tells Peter that the team are heading out now to start sight-seeing.
“Go and have fun kid, we’ll see you tomorrow.” He hugs each of his parents again and then leaves with a smile permanently etched on his face. Although it shouldn’t be possible, the smile grows a bit bigger again when Peter pulls out his phone to see a text from Harry:
Well done. You look cute in your blazer.
---
They start at the Mark Twain house, which was MJ’s personal request as team captain, and then move onto the science centre. It’s all your basic generic stuff that every science centre has; a human body exhibit, the solar system, and something involving weather.
Peter is just beginning to get bored when Ned and MJ call him over to an exhibit under the heading “Amazing Arachnids”. The humour is lost on MJ but Ned and Peter share a knowing smile as they wander around reading the various boards containing information about different types of spider.
The last board causes Peter to pause when he spots a familiar picture.
RICHARD PARKER: ENHANCED ARACHNIDS
“Hey Pete isn’t that your-?”
“My dad.”
There’s a large picture of Richard Parker in the centre of the exhibit smiling right at him.
Dr Richard Parker, long time employee of OSCORP had been working on developing a line of enhanced spiders before his tragic death. The project was scrapped by friend and owner of OSCORP Norman Osborn after the plane crash that killed Dr Parker and his wife.
Thankfully MJ had gotten bored and wandered off leaving just Ned and Peter to read the board in absolute shock. They turn to face each other slowly with twin looks of astonishment.
“Did you know?” The other boy asks cautiously.
“Did I know that my dad worked for OSCROP? Did I know that he created the spider that bit me and gave me enhanced abilities? Did I know that Harry’s dad was friends with my dad? No, Ned. I didn’t know any of that.” Thankfully there’s a bench just a few steps behind them because Peter feels as though he might faint. The pair sit down and stare up at the image of Peter’s dad in dead silence.
MJ eventually comes back to find them because it’s time to go and get dinner. By that point Peter has somewhat recovered from the shock of new information and is able to follow his best friend down to the main entrance to meet the rest of the team.
He’s quiet all through dinner, still processing the news.
Peter doesn’t have many memories of his dad. He knew that he was a scientist but that was about it. Aunt May and Uncle Ben hadn’t liked speaking about Peter’s parents because they found it too upsetting and Peter had respected that. But now he’s been given more information than he thinks he can handle.
Ned gives him space to think things through and only interrupts once they’ve been back at the hotel for a few hours. There’s a knock at the door which Ned gets up to answer before returning to sit at Peter’s side. “Peter, everyone’s sneaking up to the roof to celebrate. Do you want to go? We can stay here if you don’t, I understand.”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s okay Ned let’s go. I’ve been a bit of a party pooper over the last few hours, sorry.”
Ned brushes off the apology and happily gets up to retrieve his ‘party hat’ from the nightstand. “It gives me confidence.” He says proudly.
When they sneak their way up to the roof the rest of the team is already there listening to music and chatting in smaller groups.
Peter spots MJ chatting with Sally and decides to end the day on a high note. He approaches the girls and apologises to Sally as he asks MJ to speak with her.
“You were really great today MJ.”
“Thanks Peter, you were good too.” They smile shyly at each other, acutely aware of the fact that they’re standing alone.
“I was wanting to ask you something…” MJ doesn’t say anything she just watches Peter expectantly, both eyebrows raised in anticipation. “Would you maybe wanna go to the dance with me? You know, if someone else hasn’t asked you yet.”
She smiles now which Peter counts as a win already. “Yeah I’d like that, nerd.”
“Okay, cool.”
“Cool.” Throughout the course of the conversation the two teenagers have inched closer together so Peter reaches out to intertwine his fingers with MJ’s. Then they close the space between them entirely as their lips meet in a soft kiss.