~1 Year Later~
Peter woke with a start. The housekeeper, Ms. Fawn, was waking everyone up by slamming pots together down the hall. 'I might as well get ready if I'm up' He groaned and sat up, sore from the day before. Flash had given Peter a beating, and since he hadn't been Spider-Man in a year he wasn't used to all the pain.
So he got up, put on some clothes and grabbed his backpack. He left without eating and headed to school. Little did he know how his day was going to change in a matter of hours.
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"Steve, I said I'm ready for this." Tony called to his husband. Steve sighed and looked over at Tony.
"You, the Tony Stark, are ready to adopt a child?" Steve raised his eyebrow.
"Yes! I told you, I'm ready. I practiced with Clint's kids and they loved me! C'mon hun, I promise I'm ready," Tony whined.
"Alright. So we'll stop by the orphanage at around five o'clock, ok?" Tony smiled with triumph. He was going to get a child.
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Peter heard the shrill scream of the bell and smiled. School was over for the day. The halls were crowded and he struggled to get out of the school. He got out of the congested halls and reached the front of the school. He started walking and remembered with a pang how it felt to patrol.
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The school bell rang and Peter rushed out of school. He didn't hesitate to jump the school fence and run to his usual alleyway, so he could change into the Spider-Man suit.
As soon as he did he swung around, waiting for his spidey-senses to go off, alerting him of crime. Right on queue, they went off. A bank robbery down the street. Peter smiled, he loved his job.
He swung to the bank and entered it. Then he rested his arm on the desk and waited a second before coughing. The four men turned around. "Hey, you guys are the Avengers!" Peter gasped. They had toy masks of The Hulk, Thor, Ironman, and Captain America.
"You know, stealing is wrong, right? Plus, shouldn't you guys be out fighting crime, not causing it?" Peter asked, smiling through his mask. One of the men aimed a gun and went to shoot, but before he could Peter webbed the gun and pulled, causing it to fly into he air and into Peter's hands.
"Hey, thanks, but I don't need this," Peter stared at them. They immediately lunged into action, as did the Spiderling. He jumped onto the ceiling, webbing 'Thor' to the wall. 'Ironman' threw punches at him, and Peter easily dodged them.
"I'm starting to think you guys aren't the Avengers after all," Peter sighed. This was too easy. He grabbed the fake Hulk and threw him at Ironman. They both fell to the floor, groaning. Peter webbed then up and looked up for the last faker.
He spotted him trying to get fake Thor out of the webs. Peter sighed and webbed the Captain to the wall. Peter then turned and left. He knew someone had called the police, so he left them to deal with the fake Avengers.
Peter sighed. He loved patrol.
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Instead of suiting up he continued home. He hated his home. The orphanage was hell for Peter. Most of the kids were younger than him, the oldest of the younger ones being nine years old. They were loud and annoying, and Peter hated it. The older kids were even worse. They ranged from his age to seventeen. They would beat him up and anger him. Peter hated it so much.
He arrived to his home and walked in, and immediately went to his room. His roommate, Tyler, was already home and working on something. He was the only one of the kids who didn't beat him up. Tyler was sixteen and incredibly smart, already in his last year of high school.
Peter was fascinated by what Tyler would make. He'd even helped Peter with some of his Spider-Man suit, and he even ended up telling Tyler. He helped Peter a lot, and he was thankful.
"Hey Ty, whatcha workin' on?" Peter asked, sitting down on his bed.
"Some robot for a stupid science project," Tyler said without looking up. "Anyways, how's the Spiderling?" Tyler looked up from his work, smiling at the boy.
"Ugh, you act like my dad sometimes. We're the same age! But I'm fine," Peter sighed.
"Miss being Spider-Man again?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah," Peter mumbled. Tyler smiled sympathetically at the boy.
"Remember, it's just two more years of this and then you can do whatever you want!" Tyler tried to cheer him up.
"Thanks, Ty." Peter smiled, and stood up. He had some homework to do and needed to distract himself. Hours went by and he finished nearly all of it before they were called down. 'It's only five, why are we being called down so early?' Peter was confused. Him and Tyler exchanged a confused look and decided to head downstairs.
"Come on boys! Quickly!" Ms. Fawn yelled again. Peter looked around and saw the rest of the boys sitting around. Then it clicked on his head, someone was here to adopt one of them. They waited a bit, Ms. Fawn fussing over the smallest things, annoying most of the older boys.
Someone knocked on the door, and Ms. Fawn gasped "They're here!" She said and ran to the door. None of the boys were prepared for what stood behind that door.
Two of the last people he expected walked through the door. It was Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Peter's eyes went wide. He felt anxiety surge through him. They had been trying to catch him before May died. The Avengers has been after him and almost had him, but Peter escaped easily every time.
They had no clue who Spider-Man was, so when the boy staggered back a bit the couple thought it was from shock of their presence. Not from fear.
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Peter was doing his normal patrol when he heard the familiar sound of Ironman's suit above him. 'Again?' The team of hero's had been trying to catch him for months at this point, but Peter always slipped right through their fingers. Figuratively and literally, that is. Peter had slipped through The Hulk's fingers, fleeing to safety. It was usually two of the Avengers, never more than four.
This time is was Ironman and Captain America. They were the worst, nearly getting him every time they teamed up. Peter hated it. Why did they even want him in the first place?
He turned around and saw the Captain behind him. Ironman was above him, and Peter sighed.
"Why can't you just leave me alone, I'm tired of fighting you guys," Peter whined.
For the first time one of them spoke. It was Tony. "Listen Spiderling. We just wanna talk this time."
"Hmm, sure. You guys tried to kill me last time!" Peter shouted at the two.
"Ok, we didn't try to kill you-" Tony started, but Peter interrupted angrily.
"Oh, because dropping me from the top of your tower wasn't trying to kill me!" Peter spat.
"Alright, maybe I was a little rough with you, but you did save yourself, as I expected." Tony shrugged.
Peter was about to swing away but Captain stopped him. "Wait! We came here to tell you why we're trying to get you. Tony, explain." The older man gestured to his friend.
"Ah, you're giving me the duty to talk to him? How fun!" Tony landed and looked at Peter. He stood his ground. "Ok, so, we've got some explaining to do. We want you so you can join us. Become and Avenger. You'd be a great asset to the team." Tony held out his hand.
"If you want me, you'll have to get me first." Peter snarled. He wanted nothing to do with the Avengers. He was fine on the ground, laying low. He swung away and changed in an alley, back to a regular kid.
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Peter hid his shaking hands from the two men and stared at them. Did they know he was Spider-Man? No, there's no way. He hadn't been out in a year, they didn't know, there was just no way. Peter watched them, and not a single bit of recognization showed.
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Tony knocked on the door to the orphanage. He was excited, for once. A short women with long, light brown hair and pale green eyes opened the door. She smiled when she saw the two. They all stepped inside and glanced at the scene around them. Most of the boys stopped and gasped at what was in front of them. But one of them didn't.
The boy froze when he saw them, a look of fear flashed across his face. He stepped back, hiding shaking hands. Tony felt something about this kid. He liked him.
"Who's that?" He asked, point to the child.
"Oh, he's sixteen, you don't want him." Ms. Fawn said, attempting turning his attention to someone else. But Tony was set on finding out who the skittish child was.
He walked towards him, ignoring the women's protests, and stopped in front of the boy. "What's your name, kid?" He asked, looking at him.
"M-my names Peter. Peter Parker." The kid mumbled, looking down at his feet.
"Peter.. hmm.. What school to you go to, Peter?" Tony asked.
"Midtown Tech, sir." Peter was quiet, still looking down at his feet as he answered the genius. 'So the kids smart. Just what I'm looking for.'
The two talked for a bit, Steve joining them after a while, but eventually Steve and Tony had to leave. Tony had already made his decision.
He wanted Peter.