one.
Though he declined becoming an Avenger, Peter eventually agreed to move to the Avenger's base... Per Aunt May's request.
Once she'd found him out as Spider-Man, she finally understood why he was awake so often in the night. She understood the nightmares that woke him from the few hours of sleep he managed to get.
She'd made him tell her about what happened with Liz's dad. How he'd gotten tons of weight in rock and metal dropped on him, and in his loneliness, was afraid that he'd die there. And if Tony Stark got a phone call from an angry Aunt May at three in the morning, well, nobody needs to know about it.
Nobody knew the extent of Peter's nightmares. Nobody knew what he saw when he slept. Nobody even realized that Peter had nightmares to begin with. Not at first.
Bucky was the first one to notice. He seemed to have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. He'd been walking through the halls one night and happened to pass by Peter's room. He didn't know why but he was drawn to the door. He only cracked the door a little, but it was all he needed to see Peter thrashing around in his bed, blankets tangled around his limbs. At first, he wasn't going to say anything about it at all, but once he heard the boy's broken call for help, he didn't hesitate to walk into the room and sit on the bed.
He was gentle in waking Peter, just like Steve was gentle in waking him when he had nightmares. Peter jumped at first, grabbing the hand that touched his shoulder. His eyes held a fear that made Bucky's chest hurt.
Peter was panting, eyes quickly shifting around the room. He could feel the tears on his face, and he could feel Bucky's gaze on him, but he didn't care this time. He was afraid, anyone could see. Peter was just a kid, who'd been through something traumatic.
Bucky didn't say anything, he knew that he didn't have to. Within moments Peter was relaxed enough to curl up and close his eyes. Bucky sat with him for the rest of the night, and only when the sun came up did he leave.
Peter didn't mention it after that, but Bucky knew he was grateful. Every now and then, they'd share a glance across a room, or a nod when passing in the hallway, but words weren't necessary.
----
Vision was the next person to notice. He could hear Peter's cries through the wall, and if he flew across the base for the one person he knew could help Peter, nobody had to know about it.
It became natural for Bucky to roam the halls at night, and he frequently stopped by Peter's room. He'd asked Vision to alert him when Peter was having a nightmare and even went so far as to have Friday
alert him, but only when he was in a room alone. He didn't want to let the cat out of the bag and risk Peter being upset that other people knew.
Bucky listed Natasha as his second-hand when it came to looking after Peter at night, because of how well Peter and Natasha got along during the day. If there was ever a time that Bucky was unavailable,
Nat was meant to be sent to Peter's aid.
Once Bucky and Natasha both were meant to go on a mission together, they told Steve, and he quickly took up the mantle of the watchful eye. Steve wasted no time in telling Tony.
Being in a polyamorous relationship had its ups and downs, but this was definitely an up for them all. Peter, who had taken to each of them as parental figures, didn't seem to mind having the four of them
looking after him either.
----
Peter walks down the long hallway towards the gym, earbuds in and turned up too loud. He rolled right out of bed and into his gym shoes this morning. This morning, it turns out, all four parents are gone. Nobody told him until he walked into the kitchen this morning to see that Mr. Banner and Wanda were eating breakfast and they told him that everyone was gone for the foreseeable future. It could be weeks before they got home.
Peter wasn't thrilled that they were gone, and he was less thrilled that they all left him behind when he could've been of use.
They all knew damn good and well what Peter was capable of, especially after the training he'd been doing.
He was fast enough to nearly beat Natasha at hand-to-hand, and he was getting sneaky enough that even Steve couldn't tell he was coming sometimes.
He doesn't even know why he went to the gym, but he knows he stayed to beat the shit out of the punching bag. He chose to do some pull-ups and then decided to just go back to his room. With everyone gone and no permission to leave, there wasn't really anything else to do.
For three weeks it was just Peter, Wanda, and Mr. Banner around the base. It was maddeningly quiet, and with the only three heroes avoiding one another, it was boring as fuck.
Peter spent his nights awake and opted for only napping a half an hour at a time during the day. He'd consumed more coffee in a month than Tony ever would in a year. Aunt May called a few times but always hung up after a while. Peter understood, he knew she had things to do. He didn't know what things, but he figured they were important if she was hanging up on him to go do them.
Bruce and Wanda had grown worried, watching Peter roam the halls like a lost puppy. He nearly refused to go into a room that had either one of them in it, taking to hovering by the door for a moment before leaving once more.
Peter needed help, but he didn't want to ask either of these people for help, because he knew that they both had it worse. They were both literally tortured, and one of them turns into the goddamn Hulk. Peter's problems were nothing compared to theirs. It would be pointless.
He knew asking for help would make him a bother, so he just left it.
Even though he wouldn't be a bother at all.
Peter had been awake for a total of 196 hours when everyone came home. He hadn't moved for the last three days, so when Wanda saw him barrelling down the hallway, she knew that they were back.
Peter meant to run straight to Bucky, but he was busy. In fact, they all were. They were busy holding onto a man in a red suit, who was joking about how they should have a safe word if they were going to cuff him up.
The masked man stopped talking altogether when he looked in Peter's direction, but as soon as Bucky saw that Peter was being stared at, he punched the man in the gut and continued to drag him down the hallway.
Peter leaned close to Sam, who was like a brother to him. "Who the hell is that guy?"
"Mercenary. Wade Wilson, goes by Deadpool. Ex-military. He's a mutant."
"Like Wanda?"
"Yeah, something like that. Superhuman healing abilities. Shoot him, heals right up. Rip a limb off? Grows right back."
Peter's eyes lit up. "That's awesome!"
Sam chuckled as he took off his gloves. "It is, but don't let Steve hear you say that."
Peter nods, looking towards his father figures. "Was anyone hurt?"
Sam pulls his goggles off of his head. "It'd be easier to tell you who wasn't hurt. This guy was packin' a whole truckload of weapons. He wasn't slowing down either."
Peter nods, now nervous and fully aware of Nat's limp and how Steve had limited movement of his right arm. Peter felt the overwhelming need to physically injure this Wade guy. Though he knew he'd never get close enough to do anything. Not with the max security surrounding whatever cell they were going to put him in, if they were going to put him in a cell at all. The look on Tony's face made Peter wonder if they might just dig a hole and leave him in it.
Clint broke off from the group and when he turned, Peter could see the dried blood on his face and it made his heart drop. This was his family, and they were hurt. If they had just let him come along then maybe he could have taken the worst of it for them, and they'd all be okay.
Peter followed the group, even when the others broke away to go recoup. He followed Steve and Bucky and Nat and Tony down the long halls and into the elevator. In front of this man, they wouldn't show Peter any kind of affection, lest he try and use it against them.
Peter was their one collective weakness. That's why they left him at home. They'd spend their time looking after Peter rather than taking care of the bad guys. Bucky would turn back to killing in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Peter safe. He'd endure countless hours of Hydra torture to keep Peter safe. Natasha would go back to the Red Room and endure that pain over and over if it meant that nobody would lay a finger on the child she'd chosen to be her son.
Steve would go back to his pre-serum days when the cold nipped at his bones and burned his lungs. When his asthma was so bad he couldn't take a breath. He'd go back there if it meant Peter would be okay, and Tony? Nobody was quite sure what Tony would do for Peter. He was the least affectionate to him out of everyone in the group.
Once they reached the third basement level, they traveled down a couple more long hallways that Peter thought looked the same to all the others. Tony pressed a few buttons and a glass wall swung open. Bucky and Steve threw Deadpool into the room and Tony promptly closed the door.
Peter didn't know why, but something felt different now.