gather

It started because May asked him to.

And because there was nothing in the world that Peter would deny May Parker, he agreed. But he told her that he would have to be the one to invite them. It was going to be a delicate operation, he’d explained. She’d laughed, and put her warm hand on his cheek and looked down at him with that crippling adoration, and Peter had felt his heart melt.

There was nothing in this world that Peter would deny May Parker, and Matt and Wade were not going to fuck this up for him. They simply were not.

He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her it was going to be complicated. But Peter was a smart kid who went to a smart kid school. He refused to be outsmarted by two of the smartest guys he knew. It simply could not happen that way. It wasn’t just May’s feelings that were at stake. His pride was on the line, too.

He brought this dilemma to his own team, which consisted only of Ned and MJ. He and Ned spent most of the lunch hour conducting furious, unnecessarily complicated plots, one of which involved a dog.

(Peter really just wanted a dog, if he was being honest with himself.)

The last ten minutes were ticking away whenMJ put her book on the table and gave them both one of her blandest, most soul crushing looks. It said: you two are fools, and I cannot believe I allow you to bask in my glory.

Listen up, kids, mama’s talking.

“Murdock’s weak for his boo, right?”

“He calls him his boyf, but yeah,” Peter replied while beside him, Ned slowly dragged a line through another failed plot in his notebook. The page was now filled with slashes. Peter didn’t want to look at it anymore.

“Whatever. His boyf then. His boyf is a normal, functioning, mostly responsible human being?”

“Definitely. Like, the most responsible I know,” Peter agreed with a furious nod. No disrespect, May, but Foggy was the kinda guy who knew a good lawn mower from a bad one. Some people were just more worldly.

“Okay, so, just invite DD over to dinner in front of his boyf. He won’t say no. And if he does, dude’ll make him go. It’d be rude to turn down an invitation from a crazy lady who wants to thank him for making sure her kid doesn’t die every night.”

He could kiss her.

“MJ, I could kiss you.”

“Just film that shit and let me watch it after, we’ll call it even.”

He couldn’t, really, but the thought was funny enough that he considered it.

Armed with MJ’s simple brilliance, he cornered Matt at the offices of Nelson, Murdock, and Page that day after school.

“Heya, Pete,” Karen greeted him with a smile, hair tucked over one shoulder. The glow of her computer screen made her eyes look like ice.

“Hi, Karen. Matt and Foggy in?”

“Got back from court about fifteen minutes ago- in Foggy’s office,” she gestured with her pen before turning back to her story. Peter thanked her softly before tapping lightly on Foggy’s door.

“Come in!”

There was Foggy. Peter reached for the door knob.

“Do not.”

And there was Matt. He walked in, anyways.

Peter nudged the door shut behind him, smiling and wiping a sweaty palm on his jeans while Matt glowered in his general direction. He could probably already hear Peter’s traitorous heart rabbiting in his chest with nerves, the fucker.

“Hey there, Peter. Something we can help you with?”

Literally, god bless Foggy Nelson. They did not deserve someone as warm and stable as him in their lives, even if they all desperately needed him.

“Yeah, so… my aunt. She uh…”

Matt shifted, growing concern etching into his dark brow. He obviously thought he’d read Peter wrong, that something was wrong with May. Peter needed to get this out before the Catholic guilt monster reared its ugly head.

“May wanted to say thank you for like, mentoring me and keeping me alive every night. So she was hoping you’d come over for dinner this coming Saturday evening,” he burst out.

Matt’s eyebrows went up in surprise while Foggy tilted his head, a curious look on his face.

“N-”

“Well of course Matt’ll go. He’d be happy to, I’m sure. Wouldn’t you, Matty?”

Matt’s lip curled as he twisted in Foggy’s direction. Foggy, used to the behavior, smiled serenely back at him, waiting patiently for Matt to get his shit together and remember who, exactly, he was trying to intimidate.

MJ was right, Peter realized when Matt’s shoulders began to slump. He needed to get her intel on how to ask Wade, too. He also needed to tell her that her plan had worked. MJ loved being right.

Matt heaved a sigh, his head falling back against his chair. Foggy made a sympathetic noise and reached out, pushing a hand through Matt’s thick, dark hair.

“I’ll be there, Peter.”

One down, one to go.

May was pleased with his progress that evening, and set about googling a good family meal to serve with minimal cooking required. Peter set about doing the dishes as he had previously promised, pausing only when his phone nearly buzzed off the counter.

His heart jumped at the name on the screen.

It was very unusual for Matt to call him, especially at 7PM on a weeknight. He answered, already anxious, but he couldn’t hear anything in the background that would indicate a cause for alarm.

“Peter.”

“Hey, Matt.”

“Peter. I need permission.”

O… kay?

“For what?”

“I need permission to bring the boyfriend.”

He could hear Foggy laughing in the background. Peter sighed, the adrenaline leaving him in a slow slide. “Please stop calling him that, just use his name. You sound like a robot.”

“Please ask permission for me to bring the boyfriend.”

Jesus.

“Hey, May?”

He wandered towards the living room, phone in hand. May was already looking up from her computer expectantly. “Matt wants to know if he can bring his boyfriend, Foggy. I’ve talked about him before, remember?”

“I remember- of course Foggy can come. The more the merrier.” May was so cool sometimes. The coolest aunt. He turned back to his phone.

“She said-”

“I heard. The boyfriend appreciates her hospitality.”

Okay, Matt, we are hanging up now. Goodbye, Ma11h3w.

Laying in bed that same night, he decided he couldn’t wait until the next day for MJ’s advice, so he texted her after brushing his teeth.

Peter: may i pls have more advice oh wise one?

MJ: flattery will get you everywhere. what is it?

Peter: dd has agreed and is bringing his boy toy. how do i /now/ convince dp to agree?

He waited patiently, opening and closing his many apps while he gave MJ time to think it over.

MJ: well dp is like, super competitive with dd right? just tell him that dd’s already agreed, he won’t be able to say no

MJ really was the MVP of his Tuesday.

Peter: i owe you two now

MJ: careful with that, parker

It was a gamble, with Wade. If Matt had already warned him of the invitation that was coming, Peter might be in for a little more trouble than he was hoping for. But Matt also didn’t like giving Wade any advantages, and Peter was really banking on that being the case.

He caught him alone on a roof on Thursday night. Saturday was drawing nearer and nearer, and Peter was starting to get anxious that he hadn’t been able to give May a hard yes or no from Wade yet.

Right, “starting to.”

Finding Wade while he was doing intel was tricky enough, but Peter had gotten lucky. Wade had texted the group earlier that week, and had mentioned something about one of the new age art displays opening up in the city. And because Peter was a resourceful, super tech savvy teenager, he’d figured out which one. It had only taken like, one google search.

“Hey, kiddo. How’s it hangin’?”

“Hey, Wade. I have a favor to ask,” Peter replied as he hunkered down next to Wade, who didn’t lift his eye from the scope of his rifle. He was stretched out comfortably, at ease in his positioning that looked incredibly un comfortable to Peter.

“Okay, shoot,” Wade replied, easy going. Peter had to give him time to stop and laugh at his own joke.

“My aunt wants you to come to dinner on Saturday. As a thank you for, y’know, everything you’ve done for me so far.”

“Not really my scene, kid,” Wade snorts, rolling a shoulder to adjust the butt of the rifle.

“Yeah, that’s okay. I figured,” Peter replied, flicking a stray piece of gravel. “Guess it’ll just be Matt, then.”

Wade went still beside Peter, before lifting his face from the scope.

“Red’s going?”

“Mmhmm.”

“For real?”

“Yep.”

Peter waited, biting his lip beneath his mask. Come through, MJ.

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

Peter spent Friday in a haze of anxiety at school. A couple of his teachers stopped him in the hall, asked him if he’s okay. It’s nice to know that they care, that they’re looking out for their students. He promised them that he was fine, just a family event he’s a little nervous about. And if that isn’t one of the weirdest things he’s said.

Family event.

Are Matt and Wade his family?

May told him once that blood didn’t mean much, and that the family you chose was more important. The people you choose to trust and let in were worth more than some genes and a last name. May wasn’t his blood, but she was all he had left. She had never wanted kids, but when the social worker came to tell them that his parents were missing, thought to be dead, there had never been any hesitation between her and Ben.

Peter was hers. He’d been hers the moment his mom and dad had dropped him off for a sleepover.

He skipped patrol on Friday night to go to Whole Foods with her instead. Firstly, because she asked him to, but second because he was pretty sure he was gonna have to talk her down a little bit. The Parkers had never been big on gatherings, and even though it was really only two more people than their regular family dinners, he still had to talk May out of buying a fifteen pound ham.

“They don’t have metabolisms like me, May,” Peter coaxed, gently prying the chilled ham from her clutching. “I really don’t think we need that much.”

She gave him a look, loaded with suspicion, but she let him place the ham back in the fridge.

They went with five pounds instead, got some potatoes to mash, and then spent twenty minutes humming and hawing over whether to go with green beans or asparagus. They went with asparagus because May hoped it would be easier to cook.

Peter carried as much as he could of the bags without attracting suspicion and helped May put everything away. He did his homework, because he was a good student and not at all because he was trying to distract himself from the pressure building in his chest. Nope. He took a shower and brushed his teeth and climbed into bed nearing eleven that night, pressing his face into his pillow while he took deep, measured breaths.

He woke in a panic around one in the morning, snagging his phone to text Matt and Wade. His hands were sweaty, his heart was thudding against his ribcage. It took him several tries to type two words.

Spidey: food???? allergies????

DP: wat

DD: Are you asking if we have any?

Spidey: yes!

DP: i’m not even sure i can have an allergic reaction. might be fun to try

DD: Neither me nor Foggy are allergic to anything.

DP: anyone got any peanuts?

Peter laid back in bed, pressing his phone to his collar and closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. He was getting too worked up over this, he knew, but he couldn’t just… shut that part of his brain off. The phone continued to buzz every few seconds against his chest, probably Wade suggesting other foods for him to ingest. He ignored it, waiting until his heart had slowed before he looked down at the screen one more time. A personal voice message from Matt, outside of the group chat, was the first thing he saw.

DD: (voice message) Everything is gonna be okay, kiddo, especially if Foggy has anything to do with it. Wade and I are assholes, I know, but we wouldn’t disrespect you or your aunt like that. Take a deep breath, and go back to sleep. Everything is gonna be just fine.

Peter closed his eyes, sucking in another slow breath, before he pressed play on Matt’s message again, setting his phone on his bedside table. Matt was right, he was working himself up over nothing. Everything was going to go just fine.

On Saturday afternoon, Peter convinced May to try a YouTube tutorial instead of a written recipe. He introduced her to the BA Test Kitchen, and he was pretty sure he lost her to the BA Test Kitchen after about ten minutes.

“I want to follow one of Carla’s recipes,” she declared. He had a feeling. He pulled up the written recipes on his phone, just in case, before he carried the laptop into the kitchen with May to start their adventure.

It was pretty simple, especially the asparagus. Some olive oil and a variety of seasonings and it was ready for the oven. May looked relieved. The ham was already fully cooked, and likewise only needed seasonings, a little drizzle, and some heating up. Their biggest challenge would be the potatoes, which were only mildly daunting.

Peter was put on mashing duty, while May carefully peeled the hot potatoes and dropped them into the pot. They added their milk mixture and gave it a minute or so with the whisk. Peter dialed the temperature down to simmer and stepped back, surprised at himself and his aunt.

“We just made dinner,” he looked over at her, May standing with her hands on her hips and looking surprised herself.

“Let the Earth Mother bless Carla,” she announced.

Let the Earth Mother bless Carla, indeed.

There was a knock on the door at 6PM exactly. He’d expected nothing less from Foggy Nelson, professional human being.

They looked like they had come directly from the office when he opened it, despite it being a Saturday. It wasn’t the oddest occurrance, though. Peter knew that Foggy and Matt often kept strange hours for their clients.

“Hi, Peter,” Foggy smiled at him, holding out a bottle of wine. May appeared behind him to accept it, beaming. Foggy also had a reusable grocery bag over one shoulder, with Matt’s hand tucked into the opposite elbow. He left the bag by the door as they walked in.

“You must be Mr. Nelson, then? I’m May Parker.”

“Mrs. Parker, great to finally meet you. Pete talks about you all the time.”

“May, please.”

“Cool, call me Foggy.”

Peter felt the knot of tension in his chest ease slightly. Of course everything would be fine. Foggy was great with anyone and everyone, and Matt wouldn’t be able to lead his double life if he didn’t know how to function normally during the day, too.

“And May, this is Matt Murdock,” Peter gestured as Matt set his cane against the wall carefully, before turning in May’s direction. He flashed a charming smile, the red of his lenses glinting in the setting sun that spilled into their apartment and filled the hallway with a warm glow.

“Just Matt is fine. Foggy’s right, Peter talks about you all the time,” he extended a hand, too far to the left, but May takes it with both of hers and shakes it warmly.

“I’m glad to finally meet the both of you- please come sit. I’m sure Wade will be here soon.”

As Foggy and Matt stepped past, Peter heard Matt snort and mutter something that sounded like “not likely” before he was seated on the couch with Foggy, who was already well into giving him the room layout. He watched for a moment, smiling faintly at the way Matt leaned into Foggy slightly, giving him his full attention. Foggy kept a hand on Matt’s arm, or his back as he spoke, gesturing with his other hand that Matt followed with his chin. May already knew about his senses, so he must not have felt the need to be so careful in their home.

He felt the knot of tension loosen further.

They were only waiting for another ten minutes or so before Matt’s head rolled towards the door.

“Wade’s here,” he advised.

May made it to the door before Peter could, and he heard her slightly startled, “Oh, hello.”

Because Wade had come in the suit. Not a suit, the suit.

Of course he had. If Peter had really had any concerns about it, he would have asked Wade not to. May took it in stride, though, greeting him warmly and ushering him inside.

“Whoa, lil baby Webs.”

Matt perked up.

Oh no.

Peter threw himself off the couch, Foggy hot on his heels to follow him to the wall by the front door, where Ben had lovingly hung every school picture and field trip photo with care. Wade smacked his hands against his cheeks, cooing while Foggy stepped past Peter as well to smile at the photos.

“You almost don’t look any different, Pete. Maybe an inch or two taller?”

“Thanks, Foggy,” he groused.

“Describe,” Matt demanded, practically vibrating out of his skin next to Foggy, his hand finding its way to the crook of Foggy’s elbow.

May was trying not to smile.

“Awww he looks like he could be a baby Red.”

“Fuck off,” Matt snarled in Wade’s direction before he could catch himself. Foggy didn’t have to say a word, though, Matt already cringing behind him and murmuring apologies to May, who was laughing.

“It’s all right. Peter tells me a lot about how your nights typically go. I think I’m prepared for the worst,” she looked cheerful.

“Oh, I like her,” Wade decided, nodding approvingly towards May.

Peter took everything back, he needed these people out of his house immediately. Nothing good could come of this combination of people.

“So it looks like everyone is here, does anyone need a drink? I have beer, juice, water...”

“I’ll help you, May,” Foggy pried Matt off with a smile, bowing her into the kitchen. Peter watched them go, dread growing again in his chest. This left Matt, Wade, and Peter alone. Immediately, Wade was crowding Matt against the wall.

“Red, she’s a hippie,” Wade hissed, leaning in obnoxiously close with his hands on Matt’s shoulders.

“Stop touching me- get off,” Matt swatted at him. Peter spun around to jut his chin out at them.

“Cut it out! You guys are acting like kids,” he growled, flapping his arms to herd them out of the hallway and into the living room instead.

“Total hippie. It’s why Petey’s a baby Snow White.”

“I am NOT a baby Snow White, Wade.”

“Tell that to the cat that keeps following you home, kid,” Wade taunted, trapping Matt with casual ease in a headlock. Matt hissed at him while Wade cooed, Peter clawing his hands at the two of them.

“Can you guys not for like, five minutes?”

“Oh no, Peter’s embarrassed by us, Red. What are we gonna do when parent-teacher conference time rolls around?”

“Oh my god-”

Matt twisted and lashed out with an elbow, nailing Wade in the kidney just as May returned with Foggy and drinks. Foggy looked entirely unsurprised, and tipped his beer back slowly while Wade dropped like a stone, shaking the coffee table and the pictures on the wall.

“Cheap shot, Matthew.”

“Learned from the worst,” Matt replied, prim as he smoothed his tie down and accepted his drink from Foggy.

“Are we all ready for dinner?” May asked, plowing relentlessly forwards while wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders to try and stop him from melting into the floor. He was pretty sure he could do it, too. If he really put his mind to it.

May gestured to the dining room where she had already set the table.

“Sounds great,” Foggy smiled, turning to head for a chair as Wade rocked himself back onto his feet.

Matt stood, reaching absently for the closest person to him, which was Wade. Antagonism apparently forgotten, Wade shifted automatically to let Matt have his arm.

Sometimes, Wade could be an okay guy, when he wasn’t egging Matt on. He led Matt to an empty seat with another beside it that Foggy took, while Peter followed May into the kitchen to help her bring the food out.

“Foggy’s nice,” May noted with a smile as she picked up the plate of asparagus.

“I knew you’d like him,” Peter nodded as he picked up the ham to carry it out to the table.

Matt tipped his head as the food was set down, and Peter was sure he already knew what was in front of him, even when Foggy began loading their plates. May told them anyways, cooing over Carla, her new personal friend, apparently.

“Oh hell yeah, mashed potatoes?”

“Don’t you dare start a food fight,” Matt’s face snapped towards Wade instantly, which made Wade’s suit eyes squint with glee.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, pumpkin.”

“I’d like to remind you both that you’re in the company of adults your age. Please act accordingly,” Foggy spoke dryly, as Peter inched down into his seat, eyes snapping between Matt and Wade, wary.

“Thank you for having us, May,” Matt spoke as he slowly turned his attention back to Peter and May across from him. Wade seemed willing to play nice for now, as May leaned forwards to chat with the two lawyers.

“I hear you two do a lot of pro bono work?”

It was all she needed to say.

Foggy and Matt were a great team, trading off between telling the same story in between breaks to eat. Wade occasionally interjected with an anecdote of his own, and Peter was left with a sense of… normalcy.

Like, sure, maybe there was a man sitting four feet away in red and black leather, and maybe Matt could smell what Peter had eaten for breakfast from standing in their kitchen for a minute and a half, but it felt... right?

Maybe these people were his family now.

By the time they had finished eating, May had opened the bottle of wine that Foggy brought, dividing it into four glasses and ignoring Peter’s puppy eyes with practiced ease.

“Oh, you gotta teach me how to do that,” Wade smirked, chin on his hand and elbow on the table. May smiled, shaking her head as she set the empty bottle on the table and took a breath.

“I know that Peter probably told you why I wanted to have you over here- but I still wanted to say it out loud. I have to thank you. For everything you’ve done for him. Everything you’re still doing for him, I’m sure,” she sat back in her seat and folded her hands on the table, one on top of the other.

“May, you really don’t have to-” Matt began, but she held up a hand to stop him. Matt felt the movement of the gesture, and went quiet.

“I really do, though… things were difficult, when we lost Ben, and that was before I knew about… well, about all of this. The powers and vigilantism. The “getting shot at” every night,” she paused, long enough to shoot Peter The Look, “so I was a little unprepared. I can’t stop him, though… I mean, I could ask him to stop, but I couldn’t live with myself if I did that. Neither could he. That’s just the kind of kid he is.”

Matt was still, one hand on Foggy’s arm that Foggy gently pulled away. Instead, Foggy set his arm across Matt’s shoulders, while Wade leaned forwards on his elbows. May swallowed.

“But knowing that you two are out there, watching his back? It helps me sleep at night. I know it helps him, too, when things get bad. There is so much about this life that I know I can never really understand. Not the way that he needs, not the way you two do. So, thank you,” May finished, looking back and forth between Wade and Matt.

Matt opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, breathing out in quiet frustration. He didn’t know what to say.

Wade spoke instead.

“This kid has been a pain in my ass since the hour I met ‘im. But listen- there isn’t anyone else I’d rather have watching my back. He helps us just as much as we help him, May. I want you to know that.”

Peter blinked, trying to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat. He was not about to cry here. He was not.

He felt his eyes start to burn.

“Wade’s right,” Matt spoke towards the table finally. “Peter isn’t just a kid following us around, he’s part of our… team.”

Foggy smiled, amused at Matt’s grimace on the word team. But there was no other way to describe it, really. Team Red, Wade had declared it. They got shot enough, he’d claimed, that even if they switched suits the name would stick.

May smiled, warm and gentle at the three men across from her. “That’s good to know.”

She showed them out half an hour later. There had only been one minor hiccup, wherein while May insisted on giving them leftovers she had realized that they owned very little tupperware.

Foggy, again perfection personified in his role as the Responsible Adult, went to retrieve his reusable grocery bag from the front door, stacked neatly with empty tupperware. “I just had a feeling,” was the only explanation he would give.

Which, fair.

May and Foggy exchanged numbers. Wade and Matt both added May’s number into their burners for emergencies, and finally the door was shut, and dinner was over.

Peter couldn’t wait any more.

“Did you like them?”

He had to ask. He’d been itching to ask all night, but he knew it would have been rude while they were still there. Matt, he knew, could still hear them, probably even from the street below. He was pretty in tune to Peter these days.

May was smiling as she walked over to him, smoothing his hair back and pulling him into a hug. Peter went, wrapping his arms around her middle and pressing his nose into her shoulder, inhaling. She smelled like their home. Like the laundry detergent he’d grown up smelling on his sheets, like the cinnamon candle she burned in her room. She smelled like all of the good things Peter fought to protect every night in the suit.

He closed his eyes.

“I loved them, honey. They’re your friends, aren’t they? Of course I’d love them,” she murmured above his head, rubbing a circle into his shoulders.

The last knot of tension left Peter, his shoulders sagging as he relaxed in the circle of May’s arms. He managed a little nod against her collar. It was quiet as she held him.

May never let go first.

“... but Foggy was your favorite, right?”

Peter broke from the hug with a grin as May laughed, giving him a swat on his shoulder.

“Maybe,” she admitted with a wink, turning on her heel to start the clean up.

Matt probably heard that one, too, but that was okay.

Foggy was Matt’s favorite, too, after all.