Family Secrets

Not So Bad After All

Shuuri liked the Tower. It wasn't like the Wakandan palace, but it was nice and homey, full of laughing and fun. She was a little jealous, actually, it seemed to be much more fun than being at home with her brother, who didn't order pizza or sing or prank with her.

The one thing she didn't like, however, was that peter was at school half the day. She'd been waiting to talk to him for 3 days when they finally got around to it. While most of the boys time was spent at school, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't avoiding the new guests at the tower. He was still warming up to them.

That was understandable, of course. He was unsure of the other Peter when the older man had said something to the effect of 'who is Panic! at the Disco', and of Rocket when he had found the little creature stealing his electric toothbrush.

Some of the guests were just... new. And hard to get to know. Stephan Strange spent most of his time in his room, apparently uninterested in getting to know his housemates. Groot was almost always with Rocket, meaning Peter avoided him by proxy, and Draxx was quiet and reserved. Wanda, surprisingly, was also hard to tie down. Peter had expected her to be more friendly, seeing as she had once lived with them, but was finding it hard to get to know her.

And then there were those that Peter was more comfortable with. Gamora, for example, had landed on the teen's good list when he had stumbled on her in the training deck with his aunt, sparring. Peter hadn't seen anything like it, the green-skinned woman was a beautiful fighter.

And so Shuuri found herself in the garage on Friday afternoon waiting for Peter to get home. She was determined to get him to talk about those webs.

Peter hopped out of his mom's car, only to get a tingle in his senses. Not a second later, Shuuri had her hands on him, pulling him to the elevators and heading up to the labs.

"We are going to talk, Peter Parker-Stark! You've avoided me long enough and I want to know about the webs!" She was determined and clear. It reminded Peter of MJ, and that was enough for him to know there was no getting out of it.

The two teens stepped onto the first lab level Shuuri saw, only to be greeted with the sight of nearly a hundred interns shuffling around.

"Look at all those CHICKENS," Shuuri said softly. Peter let out a quick burst of air, a sort of short laugh. His face broke into a smile.

"Come on, Shuuri, my work is done on a higher level," Peter said, pulling the girl into the elevator and pressing a button. "We'll talk up there."

"Alright," she shrugged. "By the way, I liked the boxers the other night. I can't wait to meet the girl who tied you down."

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2 hours and 5 reminders from FRIDAY that dinner was ready later, the two new friends stepped into the penthouse.

"I see you finally decided to join us," Pepper said. Her voice was serious, but Peter could tell from her raised eyebrows and slight smirk that she was fine with their lateness. He shrugged, grabbing a plate and scooping some spaghetti for himself.

As he turned, Shuuri jumped at him and the teen went stumbling back, barely keeping hold of his food.

"Stooopppp! You coulda made me drop my croissant!"

Shuuri roared with laughter, understanding the reference instantly. She turned to serve herself some food and when she turned back to the table, Peter had set down his food and was standing in an awkward hunch with his arms to his sides.

"Welcome to Chillies," she filled in, and he laughed before taking his seat.

The two teens slowly let their laughter dissipate, only to find a long table of confused adults staring at them.

"Anyone understand what just happened?" Steve looked up and down the table. No one said anything.

"So," Tony said, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the family. That was normal now a days. Dinners were full of quiet chewing and talk of missions, but not much else. "Peter, how was school?"

Peter looked up suddenly, his mouth full of spaghetti. "Waf goof," he mumbled, swallowing thickly. He coughed a little, then continued. "We had a pop quiz in chem, but I aced it, and then I had a test in history that I didn't do so good in. Math was boring. Oh, but then, Ned was all like "I broke the lego set after you left yesterday so I superglued one of the parts, but my fingers got stuck together," and he had these fingerprints on his phone from his hands and stuff, so that was kind of funny."

"How's MJ?" Natasha said, not even looking up from her food.

"She's good, I invited her over for movies tomorrow, if that okay."

"Yeah, that's fine."

Everyone went back to eating.

"So, Peter," Stephan said, clearing his throat. "Your father says you are almost 16."

"Yeah," Peter said, shyly. It was the first time he'd really talked to the older man about something other than the security situation. "Next month. I'm really excited!"

"What are you hoping for?" Sam asked, trying to encourage the conversation.

"Honestly? Maybe a new back pack, mine is starting to wear out at the bottom... Other than that, I'm not really sure, I mean, I don't really need anything, but I-"

"Peter, you don't need to think of 'need', just tell us what you want. Anything! A new laptop? New clothes? New suit?" His father cut him off.

"I know, I know, but I just... I don't want to ask for so much! It feels weird!"

"You're already weird, spider boy, might as well keep the feeling going," Clint said, with a chuckle.

"Why does it feel weird?" Shuuri asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh," Peter said, feeling his face heat up. "I was in foster care before I came here, so it just feels weird to just get things."

Shuuri's eyes widened.

"Hey!" Peter, the other Peter, stood up quickly with a shout. "I was adopted, too!"

Peter laughed and stood up, giving the older man a high five. He'd never known someone who had been adopted and was proud of it. Maybe... maybe his guests weren't so bad after all.