Avengers Family

“Yes!” Peter pumped his fist up and down in delight. He leaned forward a bit and stuck out his tongue. “Who’s next?”

Bucky sighed and sat down. He placed the paddle on the table for the next player. As the team was now learning, Peter’s “Spidey Sense” was making him a pretty unstoppable table tennis player. It was like he knew exactly where the ping pong ball was going before his opponent even finished their swing. He’d already beaten almost everyone there, Clint, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Steve, and Bucky, the only person who was still in the tower that hadn’t played was Thor.

“I will best you in this game of small tennis young spider.” Thor boasted as he approached the table and grabbed the paddle. The rest of the team was hesitant. Their suspicions weren’t misplaced: Thor was a little bit buzzed from the mead he brought with him and they weren’t even sure if he’d ever played before. After Peter’s displays of victory though, their competitive spirit got the best of them and they egged Thor on, eager to see someone beat Peter.

“Go for it!”

“You’ve got this!”

“Keep your eye on the ball!”

“Don’t mess this up Goldilocks.”

Thor took the paddle in his hand and looked it over. “I have over a thousand years of experience swinging the mighty Mjölnir. My aim is excellent.”

“Bring it on!” Peter made a ‘come here’ gesture with his hand.

Thor wound up his swing, slammed the ball on the table, and BANG. The ping pong ball was now flaming as it zipped right into Peter’s shoulder. The fabric of his science T-shirt was burnt off.

“Thor” He whined. “Now my shirt only has one sleeve.”

“The ball has to bounce on your side first buddy.” Steve said in the calm voice he always used to explain new, human things to Thor.

“Woah, did that already cause a bruise?” Clint’s question cut through the chorus of groans and suddenly everyone was staring at the offending purple mark.

Thor’s expression was horrified. “Peter, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“-That was already there. Don’t worry about it.” Peter assured, glancing at his shoulder.

“From what?” Clint was curious.

“Just a blip while I was out on patrol. I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally swung into one of the bank robbers. Hurt like a….” Peter trailed off when he remembered Steve was in the room. “It did the trick though.” He laughed.

“Karen should’ve informed me if you were injured. Maybe I should…” Tony started fussing and rapidly coming up with suit modifications like he always did when Peter got even a tiny injury.

Peter grinned. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”

Throughout this whole exchange, Natasha was silent. She was staring at Peter in an intense way. She noticed the sadness that flashed through Peter’s eyes when he glanced at the bruise. She could tell he was faking the casual laugh and grin when he talked to the team. She knew he was lying about the way he got the injury.

When the others were cleaning up, she approached Peter and pulled him to a hallway. “How’d you get the injury?”

“On patrol. Remember the-“

Natasha’s eyes narrowed and Peter stopped talking. He knew she knew. Natasha wasn’t someone to put up with bullshit.

“I,” Peter averted his eyes to a speck on the wall over her shoulder, “I got into a bit of fight at school.”

Natasha assessed his face. He was clearly telling the truth.

“Could you please not tell anyone? It really wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“What did you fight about?” She asked. She knew Peter would not start a fight for the sake of violence or expressing frustrations. He was as nonviolent as a superhero could be. It would have to be something big for him to get involved in a fight.

Peter looked surprised. “Um,” His eyes drifted to another spot.

“Don’t lie to me. Did he or she say something hurtful?”

“Well, he did…”

“What was it? Come on Peter, I know it had to be something very bad for you to get involved. I’m not blaming you. I just want to know what happened.”

“It was just the usual. He called me Penis Parker and then shoved me. I stumbled into the locker on accident and hit my shoulder.” Peter blurted out.

“That’s not a fight. That’s bullying.”

I guess…”

“Why didn’t you hit him back?” Natasha reconsidered after remembering that she was in some ways a role model for the kid. “I mean why didn’t you tell a teacher or trusted adult?”

“By the time they set a meeting, the bruises would already be healed and that would look suspicious. I don’t want to accidentally blow my cover or get in trouble for lying, even if I haven’t. I can’t fight back. I don’t want to hurt him badly or accidentally kill him.”

Natasha’s fury makes room for a little pride as Peter describes how he refuses to be in an unfair fight. He’s better than all of us.

“Plus, Aunt May would have to take a day off to come to the meeting. I have enhanced healing and I can ignore their words. This is the first time I was actually hurt.He probably didn’t even mean to. It was just a little shove. I’m the one who lost my balance. It’s all fine. Please don’t tell.”

Her heart throbs a bit at the amount of pain and pleasing in his voice. “Okay.”

Despite her words, she’s definitely going to help. She’s the Black Widow. She knows how to get what she wants without violence or authority figures if she wants to.

—————

The sound of splashing precedes their view of the pool. Tony Stark had blown up the air conditioner in the same week their pool had been drained to get re-plastered - what are the odds?

A well known fact around the tower was that Natasha loved to swim. The cool water was refreshing and she instantly relaxed whenever she submerged her head in it. Everything was so quiet and still underwater. Swimming laps was like gliding through glass. It was a form of release that she throughly enjoyed, along with ballet.

This week, seriously what are the odds, the Avengers had a run in with a particularly horrible HYDRA base. It had a near perfect recreation of The Red Room where she had been trained. She was not in a good state when she returned. The heat of an unconditioned tower in the middle of New York on the cusp of summer plus the absence of a pool in addition to her terrible memories was not a good mix. In fact, some of the team members may have been fearing for their lives.

“It’s too hot Mr. Stark. I’m going swimming.” Peter groaned as he sat up on the couch.

“I told you kid, the pool is out of commission.” Tony sighed as he worked on fixing the A/C unit.

“I know. I’m going to the one at school.” Peter announced. “Well, the one with the agreement with our school to let students and friends in. I don’t think it’s far from here.”

Natasha, the only other inhabitant of the room perked up. “I’m going too.”

“Alright.” Peter wasn’t phased by her declaration and knew better than to say anything that could be taken as an argument.

That’s how him and Natasha found themselves carrying towels and sunscreen onto the pool deck. She immediately stripped and slathered sunscreen on herself: her one piece bathing suit was extremely cute, but it had cuts that would make strange tan lines. She stopped when she noticed Peter looking across the water with an unpleasant expression.

“Is that him?” She subtly caught a glimpse of the teenager who had Peter’s attention. “The one with the dark hair? Looks like he’s of Central American heritage? 5’5” or 5’6”?”

“Nat, stop. How did you get all that from one millisecond long look?”

“Spy instincts. And don’t avoid the question.”

Peter nodded glumly.

Really? This kid? After all the American teenage movies that she watched, definitely only to blend in with U.S. culture and not because she liked corny happy endings because they made her feel good and allowed her to ignore her own childhood, she was expecting some giant of a teenager who played football. Wait, does Peter’s school even have football? She didn’t think less of Peter because of it though. She’d rather be punched by Steve, who would never do such a thing, than be verbally picked apart by Tony, who also wouldn’t intentionally harm his teammates.

“I’ll be right back.”

“But you were so anxious to get in.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She gave him her best smile and walked off the pool deck. Behind her she heard some kids yelling.

“Hey it’s Peter, come over here man.”

“Why would you want to hang out with Penis?”

“Flash…”

So some of those kids are his friends? He did mention he was a part of an academic team, maybe some of the kids were teammates he liked and not just the bully.

She stalked toward the car, searching for something. She didn’t have a plan, but they did take Tony’s car, there must be something usable. She opened a metal tumbler in the cup holder and immediately wrinkled her nose a bit. Eww, green juice.

She put down the cup and opened a random compartment. What the hell Stark? It was a freezer full of ice pops. It even had a side compartment that looked like it could flash freeze things and extra sleeves in the side.

“Why?”

“I believe that was put in after a tinkering binge.” Their driver, who was content to wait in the air conditioned car for a while, responded. “There have been several failed Scotch-Pop attempts as well when the temperature is over 90 degrees.”

Of course there have been. Good ol’ eccentric Tony and his weird impulses to build crap.

Hold up. She looked back at the green juice and into the flash freezer with the empty sleeves. She smiled.

When she came back on deck, Peter was talking with a guy who seemed friendly at the edge of the pool. There were a few kids splashing in the water and some sitting on the steps.

“Hey Peter?” She called out in a genuinely happy voice. She was going to get a pool and revenge. “Look what I found.” She waved a handful of the treats next to her. She continued walking until she was up next to him. She handed him a cherry one.

“Wow. Thanks Nat! By the way, this is Ryan. He’s a friend from my school.”

“Nice to meet you Ryan. My name is Natasha. I’m a very close friend of Peter’s.” Peter blushed a bit at being called a very close friend. “Would you like one? I have plenty.”

Ryan was a little awkward around her, but she found it endearing. She fanned out all of the popsicles for him to choose one. Soon all of kids had one except Flash and there were two left in her hand. They were both identical shades of green but she could tell there was a difference.

“I love lime, don’t know why it isn’t more popular.” She might have been letting a little bit of the fake flirty tone from when she was a honeypot agent seep into her voice.

“Right? It’s my favorite flavor.” The kid enthusiastically said and grabbed the popsicle she was holding out. She opened hers and started to push on the bottom to eat it. “Delicious.”

The kid did the same only he immediately wrinkled his nose and looked at the package funny. “Oh sorry, do you not like it? You didn’t have to say you liked lime if you didn’t.”

“No, I did. I do.” He pushed up on the bottom quickly and shot most of the ice in his mouth. It hit the back of his throat and he started choking. She patted his back and said “oh honey” in the most patronizing voice she could muster. Once his breaths evened out, his face turned beet red.

“You should probably learn to chew or eat patiently.” She added before calling out to Peter. “Can we go swimming now. I’ll put sunscreen on your back, but I need to get in the pool.”

“Sure.” Without even looking, she could tell Peter was smiling. A few of the kids were doing terrible jobs at suppressing their laughter.

Flash tried to redeem himself by whispering to the kids around him. “I bet Penis is all pasty and skinny.” Both Natasha and Peter heard him as they walked toward their stuff. She saw Peter wince.

So maybe she casually positioned him so that the other kids could see the tanned Spiderman muscles in all their glory while she helped him with his back.

—————

“Goodmorning!” Steve greeted Peter as the latter frantically rushed down the stairs.

“Uh. Hi Steve. Hi Nat.” Peter dropped down to peer under the table. “Has anyone seen my phone?”

Natasha actually did remember seeing it recently in Tony’s lab. “Yeah. I think I know where it is. Sit down and eat breakfast. I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks.” Peter promptly sat down and started shoveling eggs into his mouth. Natasha slipped down to the lab. Sure enough, his phone was sitting right on the table. When she lifted it, the case fell off. It was smashed. She was a bit surprised to find a really old model. Wouldn’t Stark upgrade Peter’s phone?

Then she recalled an older conversation where Peter had accidentally mentioned how often he broke his phone on patrol and how he didn’t want to burden anyone with constantly buying new, latest version phones. That gave her an idea.

She looked to her left and sure enough there were about ten of the latest model of Stark Phones. They had been teased in advertisements, but their release date wasn’t for a few months. She popped the SIM card out of Peter’s phone and put it into the new phone. She knew Tony’s phones just took SIM cards and kept everything saved and updated because he hated “All that new phone shit.”

"I’m putting your phone in your backpack alright. The case is destroyed though. It fell right off.”

“Mmhm” Peter swallowed his mouthful. “It was an accident.” He then glanced at the clock and his eyes got wide. “Bye guys. Thanks again for breakfast and my phone!” Steve laughed a bit.

His phone buzzed just as first period ended. “Don’t you know how to put it on silent?” Flash condescended.

Peter just brushed it off and reached in his backpack to grab it. He felt for the silent switch. That feels different. He took out the phone. Holy shit. This is the new smart phone.

“Tony wanted you to see if you could find any bugs before launch. You can keep it after. Have a nice day at school *Black Widow emoji*” There was a text from Natasha in the middle of the screen. A small smile peaked out through Peter’s lips.

“Woah. Peter is that the new Stark phone?” Soon people were crowded around him admiring the new technology. Flash walked to second period alone.

—————

“And that is why Stark Industries plays a vital role in the ever-changing world of technological advancements. Any questions?” Tony stood on the podium for his press conference. Both Natasha and Peter were behind him, just slightly off camera.

That’s when Natasha acted. “Whoops” She pretended to slip a little bit and Peter was nudged into the line of the cameras.

Tony spun around. “Ah yes, this is my intern Peter. He’s brilliant. I’m glad to have young minds like his on my side.” Peter smiled and gave a quick nod before moving back off stage.

“I’m sorry.” She said, though she wasn’t really.

“No problem.” He didn’t seem upset at all, just feeling a tiny bit of adrenaline.

“You’re actually an intern with Tony Stark?!”

“He knew you by name?!"

Everyone was awestruck with Peter the next day at school. Natasha noticed when he came home with a bigger smile and more pep to his step.

—————

“He said ‘hopefully your internship pays well because you can’t even afford to buy decent shoes.’”

Natasha couldn't help but overhear a part of Peter’s phone conversation to Ned.

The next day at school, she snuck into the locker room during gym. Sweaty teenage boys reek. She pinched her nose and checked for people before sneaking in. She quickly found Flash’s locker and grabbed a shoe.

“Where’s your other shoe Eugene?” The chemistry teacher frowned as Flash walked in late. “I won’t have any nonsense in my class, do you understand?”

“I was looking for it. I just couldnt find it. I think someone stole it.” Flash glared around the room.

“Why would someone steal only one shoe? I don’t have time for silly excuses, just take a seat.

—————

“I bet you would be a baby if you ever saw a snake. You’d probably cower in any dangerous situation.”

Natasha just happened to see the message from Flash on Peter’s phone.

Why would he choose snakes specifically? Unless…

“I know a class of students who would be just thrilled for the retile sanctuary to come and give them a guest lecture. Yes, I’d be willing to anonymously donate the funds to do it.” She hung up the phone.

“He really likes you.” The handler grinned at Peter, who had the snake across his shoulders and partially around his arm.

“I like him too!” Peter was laughing. This giant snake was like the coolest thing he’d ever seen, well besides all the superheroes and stuff.

MJ had a slight smile on her face as she watched Peter interact with the snake. “That’s pretty awesome.”

Peter blushed.

“Would you like a turn?” The handler turned toward Flash, who was already looking a little green. “No!” He nearly yelled, getting the attention of everyone in class. “I'm just not into snakes.”

—————
“Because only nerds play with LEGOS.” Natasha heard Flash’s voice as Peter closed the car door. He tried to grin like nothing had happened.

The next day, there was a video that had been anonymously uploaded that showed Thor, fascinated by a LEGO Set. If that blonde embodiment of masculinity was into it, it was no longer uncool.

—————

And for good measure,

“Hey Peter! I didn’t know this was your class.”

Peter’s head jerked up. He knew they’d been having a guest speaker, but he hadn’t realized it would be Steve.

“Hi Steve. I mean hi Mr. Captain America.”

“You know Peter?” Someone called out from the back.

“Oh yeah. He’s always around the tower with his internship. He helped Tony fix my shield once. He’s also been awesome about teaching me how to use technology. Peter adjusts most of those Instagram photos everyone seems too like.” Steve flashed a dazzling smile. “Anyway, where were we?”

—————

Peter was clearly happier. Everyone in the tower had noticed, but he didn’t tell anyone why. Only Natasha, whose eyes would occasionally light up at Peter smiling or dancing around the house, seemed to have a clue.

“I know this was all you. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you have any problems, I’ll help you solve them. Us spiders have to stick together, right?”

Peter nodded and leaned against Natasha’s shoulder as the movie started.