Wrong Number, so sorry!

The confrontation

Peter's pov:

(1 hour before the competition)

Peter stared out of his window and thought of how he could escape his current predicament. He couldn't use the door, not with Aunt May guarding it... and she wouldn't leave until 11 AM, which was still 3 hours away. But what if... no. But how else would he... no! He couldn't. Right?

He checked the time. It would probably take around 45 minutes to get to Stark Tower, and that was without any train delays. He was going to be late, even if he could escape. Unless he went the other way. But he shouldn't do that - using his powers for selfish reasons never did him any good in the past, Uncle Ben proved that! Peter nodded to himself in a convincing manner, though he couldn't help looking at his closet. The suit was right there, just three small steps away.

Peter was out the window and swinging away before he realized what he was doing. Or, well, he'd known of course that he was putting on the suit and opening the window and shooting his web formula at building walls, but he had done it all semi-conscious.

Now that he found himself gone, he couldn't turn around and go back. So he kept moving forward. Towards the tower. Towards the competition. Away from May. Oh... May. If she checked his room and found him gone, while the window lay wide open... she would probably think he'd jumped. Or ran away. Or maybe she was incredibly smart and figured out that he was spider man. Peter stopped on top of a building for a second to calm himself down. She wouldn't know. She wouldn't even realize he was gone. Everything was fine. Everything would be fine. His breathing calmed and he continued on.

He stopped a couple of small crimes along the way, some pick pockets and car hijackers. When he began nearing the tower, it was 8:40. He still had quite a bit of time. Peter sat on a tall building to wait. Of course, almost all of the buildings in manhattan were tall, but this one was taller. He sat on a very tall building to wait.

He relaxed in a hammock of cobwebs, strung between two pole-like structures. At the sound of soft whirring, like the sound made by a computer overheating, Spider man stood up and turned around.

He blinked.

He double-blinked.

It was impossible. But, no. His eyesight was perfect. In front of him really stood THE Iron Man and THE Black Widow. He was glad for the mask at that moment, because he was certain he'd turned red from the roots of his hair to the tips of Hell. Obviously he'd seen Tony Stark before, had texted him before, but that was different than being in front of him, both in their suits, with Stark not knowing who he was.

"Oh my gosh- erm- hi! I'm, uh, I'm Spider - uhhh, I'm... uhm... are you Black Widow? And Tony Stark?" Peter was in absolute awe. He couldn't think straight as he stared at his idols. He couldn't think to ask them why they where there, or wonder Tony Stark would recognize his voice. All he could think of was how he was standing next to two of the world's heroes, and suddenly, he felt ashamed. He helped to web up thieves and minor criminals and thought himself as good as the Avengers, but he realized now, just standing before two of them, how silly and childish his thoughts had been.

"We know. You're Spider-Man. We want to ask you a couple of questions, nothing bad," said Iron Man. His voice was distorted slightly by the suit, making him sound powerful and invincible.

Peter decided that he couldn't trust his words at that moment, and settled for a vigorous shaking of his head up and down.

Natasha was studying him silently, arms crossed. The Iron Man suit opened up and Tony Stark stepped out, perfect and proper-looking in a formal black suit.

"First question: How are you doing this? Is your suit enabling you to stick to walls? Does the viscous, web-like substance also come from the suit? Or are you some kind of mutant?" Stark had obviously been wanting to know the answer to these questions for a while.

Peter, taken aback by Tony's eager tone, took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Uhm, well, I made the web solution. And, uhh... I guess you could say I'm a mutant? I mean, yes. Yes, I am. I was bit by a spider when I was... A couple years ago. Recently. And I developed cool abilities like being extremely strong and sticky."

Tony nodded enthusiastically. "Uhuh. And how exactly did you make the web solution? Where did you get bit? How did these newfound powers of yours appear? All at once, or did they grow stronger over ti-"

"Tony," Black Widow interrupted, eyes still trained on Peter, "get back to the questions required."

"Wouldn't have pegged you as someone who follows rules, Nat."

She shot him a quick glare.

"Fine, fine! So, spider-oo, do you plan on interrupting the Avengers' planet-saving missions any time soon?"

Peter realized now why they had come. To make sure he wasn't a threat and would stay out of their way. They didn't care about him, not really. They only cared about how big of a problem he'd be. He had to admit, he was a little miffed. "I'm just friendly, neighborhood spider -man. I help the people and keep them safe. I take on the threats that aren't big enough for you guys," he snapped.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, a slightly amused look on her face.

Tony blew out a low whistle. "You're quite brave, aren't you?"

Peter immediately felt bad. They were the avengers! They saved humanity from being destroyed or being ruled by draconian overlords. They wouldn't have time to deal with small problems like bank robberies! He awkwardly muttered, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Sorry. I, uh, I'm sorry. Sorry. Errrr..."

Stark furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of where he'd heard that before. It felt familiar. "Have we met before?"

Peter jumped. Literally, he jumped about a foot in the air and then shook his head, trying to act casual again. "Nope," he said in a deep, unnatural voice, "anyway I have to go-" his voice cracked and he quickly sprung away before anything else happened. He had panicked. He didn't do well under pressure.

Peter was standing outside of Stark Tower five minutes later, recounting the story to Ned, and explaining exactly what went wrong. He was worried that the avengers had followed him, had seen him slip into the dark alleyway around the corner as Spider-Man and come out as Peter Parker. He was worried that Stark had recognized his voice. He was worried that Black Widow had picked up on something that could reveal his identity. He was worried that if the avengers decided to meet him again, he would do some other colossally stupid thing that could end up with him being their #1 enemy.

But for now, he had to practice answering test questions. His biggest problem was how fast he could find the answers. The competition was upon them, and he was ready.