Avengers Family

Peter’s eyes quickly surveyed the fight over and over as he swung to attack the giant robot from a better angle. Ever since he got bitten, he could take in many things at once. At first, it was completely overwhelming, but he’d learned to hone it in and use it to his advantage on the battlefield. It was especially useful because it allowed him to focus on the fight and his teammates at the same time. 

He swung behind Clint, deflecting a large chunk of metal that was hurtling toward the sniper. 

“Thanks kid” Clint managed to acknowledge the save as he shot an arrow toward one of the human minions. 

“You got it!” Peter wrapped around a lamppost, kicking several smaller bots to pieces. 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

He checked to make sure his teammates were alright again before planning his next attack. That was always first priority. Even off the battlefield, Peter would routinely take time to ensure his team, friend’s, and family were safe before continuing whatever activity he was doing. 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

Sometimes it got a bit extreme. The sudden urge to check up on Ned or MJ would posses him and he’d be forced to take a "bathroom break” to peer through the windows of whatever classes they were in. He’d wake up at night and not be able to fall asleep again until he heard May’s breathing through the door. 

A therapist might say he developed these possessive feelings after the death of two father figures and that he might have OCD. A geneticist, if they knew about his condition, might blame the “animalistic tendencies” on his spider powers. What did Peter think? 

Nothing. Peter was a smart kid. He knew his behavior wasn’t exactly in the range of “normal”, but what about him was “normal" anyway. Besides, he got better at controlling the possessive urges just as he got better at controlling his spider powers. They only really flared up when he was upset or in a stressful situation. 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Tony.

Like a battle with robots. 

Peter shot several successive web grenades at the robot’s flank, knocking it to the ground. The villain, with the lame name that Peter already forgot, ran out surrounded by some of his other human cohorts. They’d been hiding, protected by their creations, but they were vulnerable now. The whole team moved to strike. 

For the next few seconds the world moved in slow motion. Peter’s vision was inhibited by smoke and everything sounded distant. He frantically searched the area for the source of the explosion. 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam,….TONY?

Peter’s senses rapidly repaired themselves from the blast, and his attention was immediately caught by the red and gold on the Ironman suit on the ground. There was a puddle of dark, red forming at the upper thigh. Peter could see exposed skin under the damaged section of the suit. His vision went red. 

Peter could barely hear Steve taking role-call in his head. He didn’t even attempt to make a witty joke as the tinier robots approached him. In less than a second, they were gone. Peter didn’t even register firing his web slingers in their direction. He had his sights set on one thing only - the man who threw the grenade. His vision tunneled as he raced toward the man. How dare he have a smirk on his face after what he did. There was the faint sound of distorted commands and yelling in Peter’s ear. He just switched off the earpiece. He grabbed for the man’s throat and threw a punch. 

The next thing Peter knew, he was being restrained by Steve. The villain laid on the ground, nearly lifeless. His face was covered in welts and bruising was setting in already. There were scrapes all across the right side of his face. His neck was an angry red, just visible for a millisecond before someone slid a c-collar on it. 

Peter’s mind was fuzzy. Had he done this? That man deserved to get hurt. He hurt Tony.

Tony?

His chest heaved in relief when he saw his mentor standing among the crowd, leaning on Natasha. 

Clint, Natasha, Steve, Sam.

He sighed when he saw everyone else was safe as well. His focus was pulled back to the man, who was now being loaded onto a stretcher. After Tony’s safety was confirmed, the animosity seemed to wash out of Peter’s body. His eyes were glued on the man, his feet frozen to the spot. He’d done this. He’d almost killed that man. Peter looked at his hands. They were bloody. Regret overwhelmed him.

He numbly followed Clint back to the jet. He gave solemn one word answers when anyone but the doctor spoke to him. His eyes remained trained to the floor except for occasionally darting around to each team member. Natasha was still assisting Tony as the doctor stitched up his upper thigh. Clint was currently in the cockpit, barely visible through the slit in the curtain. Sam and Steve were finishing up with the local authorities right outside the door. 

Peter sat, posture straight, on the cold, metal bench at the edge of the plane. His mind was spinning. 

“…Peter? Are you okay?”   

Sam’s voice snapped him out of his haze. He glanced up to see Steve and Sam cautiously peering down at him. Clint’s head was turned toward the main cabin as well. Natasha and Tony wore matching concerned expressions from their spot on the cushioned bed. 

He’d almost killed a man. Peter had used his own two hands and his enhanced strength to break and bruise. His victim was in no way innocent, but Peter had no right to decide his punishment. All he’d ever wanted was to be a friendly neighborhood hero. Now he was a psycho vigilante with a violent streak. 

Peter burst into tears. 

Sam immediately sat down next to the kid and slowly started rubbing his back.

Peter’s breaths caught in his throats and sobs that he was so desperately trying to hold in escaped. His shoulders shuddered violently. 

“Hey, Peter?” 

Peter faintly nodded. 

“We’ve landed. Do you want to go sit inside on the couch where it’s more comfortable?” 

Peter nodded again. He walked to the couch with Sam. He knew the other team members were probably nearby, but he appreciated that they were giving him space. He cried for a bit more before finally claiming himself down. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sam’s voice was always so soothing and calm. It made Peter want to spill his guts. He knew it was selfish but he wanted Sam to make it all better. 

“I really hurt him Sam. I could’ve, I could’ve…” Peter faltered, fighting down a fresh batch of tears. 

“The man who hurt Tony?”

Peter nodded. “I used my powers to hurt him. I have a responsibility to be good and I betrayed that. And I can’t even remember doing it.” 

Sam sat in silence. He could tell that Peter wanted to keep going. 

“It’s all my fault. I knew I couldn’t handle this.”

“Handle what?”

“The powers, the urges, the superheroing, all of it. I’m not like you guys. I’m not good enough to be an Avenger.”

“First of all, you’re very much good enough to be on the team. Don’t ever doubt that. No one is perfect, us especially have things we regret from our pasts, but the best you can do is to try to better yourself from the man you are and reach for the man you strive to become. Alright? Next, what are the ‘urges’” Sam tried not to show disgust at Peter’s choice of words. 

Peter described how protective he felt over all the people in his life. He spilled all the details he’d been keeping to himself. Sam listened attentively to the whole thing and reassured Peter that he wasn’t going insane. They had JARVIS search it up and, sure enough, spiders were protective of their families. Sam continued to make some logical suggestions to steps Peter might take in controlling those thoughts and recommenced a therapist who he knew personally that dealt with mutants and otherwise “other-worldly” mental strains. 

Peter felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He slumped back into the chair. “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to know that you’ve got my back.”

Peter smiled, then his head whipped to the right. 

“What’s up?”

“The doorbell just rang. I think it’s pizza.” 

Sam and Peter both turned toward each other. “Clint”. 

Sam reached for the intercom that Tony had recently installed. “You better be sharing that pizza Barton.” 

There was a chorus of people trying to talk over themselves and feet stomping down the stairs. 

Steve and Bucky were the first ones down. They immediately stretched out to claim the second couch. Bruce and Tony followed. Clint walked in with a giant stack of pizza boxes. “Of course I’m going to share.” 

“By you, you mean Tony’s credit card, right?” Natasha quipped as she snatched a slice from over Clint’s shoulder. 

“I ordered and carried it up here so…” Clint passed each of the super soldiers their own box. He sat down on Peter’s other side and handed the kid a box before dumping the rest of the stack on the table. Bruce went to the kitchen and grabbed a stack of plates. He dished out slices for everyone. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Natasha whispered in Peter’s ear as she reached across him for some breadsticks. Peter smiled in response. Her face flashed with relief as she continued her quest for food. 

The rest of the team followed suit. Clint asked when the others were distracted by Bucky’s story about skinny Steve. Tony made a face that silently, but clearly conveyed his point. Steve and Bucky caught him when they were doing dishes together. Even Bruce inquired as the rest of the team chose a game to play. Once they had all established that the kid was okay, the true Avenger-level shenanigans commenced. 

“That was totally mine!” Sam glared at Bucky. The latter just wiggled his eyebrows and crossed his eyes at the spoon on his nose. 

“Don’t be a sore loser Sam.” Natasha chastised. 

“I think he’s cheating. Do you think these spoons are attracted to his arm?”

“They aren’t magnets.” Bruce supplied. 

Steve just silently set up the next round SPOONS in silence. He was smirking though. Peter thought him and Bucky might be cheating somehow. Clint bumped Peter’s shoulder playfully with his own and then glanced at the super soldiers as well. He definitely knew what they were up to. 

They’d been playing games for a couple hours. It had started with a game of monopoly that got too competitive and too boring too fast. Somehow monopoly had turned into a betting game with dice and fake money which had reminded everyone of Yahtzee which became SPOONS. The game didn’t matter though. Tony was always going to play 'by the rules’ but manage to find loopholes. Bucky, Clint and possibly Steve would just straight up cheat. Natasha was doing something off, but Peter couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Sam was more into the trash talk then the game. Bruce and Peter actually played fair, but they didn’t really care. 

Everyone was having a great time. They were all cuddled together to fit around the coffee table, and they couldn’t stop making stupid jokes that would make the rest of the team go silent with intense laughter. Even though they just ate, there was a constant stream of drinks and snacks on the table. Peter was smiling from ear to ear. 

Eventually, the rowdy bunch calmed down a bit and they decided on watching some TV. With everyone tired from the movie, it wasn’t long before people started dozing off. Steve and Bucky were all tangled with each other, too big for the spot they inhabited. Bruce was leaning against Sam’s shoulder who was leaning on the back of the couch. Natasha had her head propped on a pillow on Clint’s lap. Tony had his eyes closed and his mouth wide open. He would vehemently deny that any of those noises were him snoring. Peter eyelids started to get heavy.

He opened his eyes. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep. The TV was turned off and the lights were dimmed. A few of the individuals had tapered off into their own beds. Peter immediately noticed the absence of one man in particular - Tony. 

Was Tony safe? This tower was the safest place in the world to be. JARVIS would have alerted them if something had happened. Even if JARVIS crashed, Steve and Natasha were extremely light sleepers- they would've noticed something.   

Peter tried to stop the rapid beat of his heart or the worst-case scenarios that his mind was rapidly firing off, but the logic wasn’t doing much to dampen his emotions. As slowly as he could, he padded down the hallway and cracked Tony’s door open just a sliver. 

“Kid?”

Damn it.

“Ugh, this isn’t my room?”

Tony humored Peter and grinned at the pathetic cover-up technique. “Can’t sleep?”

“Sorry. I just- I know I should control it, but sometimes I just get so worried and-“ 

“Slow down. There’s nothing to apologize for. Come.” Tony sat up and patted a spot at the side of his bed. “Worrying about people isn’t a bad thing. It shows you care.” 

“But it caused me to-“

“Yes, you freaked out a little bit, but you need to remember that you’re only human. You have plenty of time to work on it. Plus, you’ve got all of us on your side. We’ll always stop you before you do something really stupid. You’re an amazing kid.”

“I lost control and lashed out. I’m no better than the villains we fight against.”

“That is definitely not true. When you came to, did you happen to look at any of the other villains?”

Peter shook his head.

“Peter, they didn’t care. You had the most horrified and shocked expression as you looked over the man’s body. I thought you were going to be sick when they lifted him on the stretcher. I could almost feel your regret. His own cohorts were too busy arguing with Steve and the police to even spare their ‘friend’ a second glance. Those who did look back just sneered in disgust. They were completely apathetic. You’re nothing like that. Your strong emotions are proof that you will grow from this experience. It’ll get better.” Tony lifted his arm and Peter slid underneath it. 

"Can I tell you something?”

“Yes.” Peter looked at Tony with wide eyes. It sounded like he was about to share something serious. 

“I get really worried sometimes too. Are you familiar with panic attacks?” 

Peter listened intently as Tony described the anxiety he’d suffered since the Battle of New York. He exposed his vulnerabilities for Peter to see. He confessed to a lot of his regrets and the things he’d wished he’d changed. 

“But even with all that, I’ve found a way to start atoning for the things I’ve done. And I wouldn’t have it any other way because it brought me to this team. There is no other group of people who could ever make me feel as welcome and secure as you guys. We’re family now.” 

Peter tried to hide the beam that crept across his face with his hand, but Tony didn’t miss it and smiled back. He wrapped the kid in a hug. They stayed like that for a bit.

Then, Peter got up to go to his bed. He kept glancing back as subtly as possible to check that Tony was still safe. 

“Just sleep here tonight.” 

“Really?!”

“C’mon in. You’re family after all.” 

Peter carefully climbed in so he wouldn’t disrupt Tony’s injuries. Both men slept better than they had in a while that night.