Peter wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his jeans. He was headed to find Tony so they could work on a prototype for a web fluid that stuck to oily surfaces. After he, much to Tony's chagrin, caught a ride to a flaming oil tanker and helped the remaining workers escape without much protection, he realized that the webs did stay for a bit, but it was easy for them to slip suddenly. In the elevator, FRIDAY had informed Peter that Tony and Clint were conversing in the communal kitchen area and offered to stop the elevator at the correct floor.
The only Avengers who had met him as Peter Parker were Bruce and Tony, Consequently, they were the only two who knew he was Spiderman. Tony, of course, had been keeping tabs on his heroic activities for a while and had recruited him in the fight against Captain America. Bruce met him when he hurt himself testing some new equipment and wandered in the medical facilities without the mask on. Before the scientist could get a word out, Peter completely geeked out, "Oh my god! You're Bruce Banner. The Bruce Banner. The super smart physicist and biochemist. I read all about your experiments in the science journal at..." He slowed his words to a stop, "Oh man, sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I ramble when I'm nervous. Shit, I mean shoot, I'm still in the suit. This is just cosplay?"
Bruce laughed, completely flattered that the kid knew of his work and wasn't just excited to see the green rage monster. He grew to adore Peter and often helped him with his web fluid when he could.
Everyone else was uncharted territory. Although Iron Man would always be his favorite, the other Avengers were high on his list of idolized persons, and he was bursting with excitement to meet them.
When the metal doors slid open, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Steve, Bucky, and Sam were all in the kitchen. Tony was conversing with Clint while the others talked among themselves. The room was a bit tense, but Tony had been holding virtual meetings between himself and Steve for months when they finally came to a peaceful resolution. Bucky still flinched a bit when Tony used expressive hand gestures and Wanda refused to see him, but Tony had found it in himself to help and forgive the Rogue Avengers. He knew he wanted his friend back, and if he had to forgive Bucky and use his influence to persuade politicians to ditch the Accord, he would. Steve and Bucky had apologized incessantly and explained the shady government business they discovered which eased Tony's mind. They all seemed happy to be back together.
Peter squeaked when he saw the group. A flush ran up his cheeks and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand. The enhanced soliders and the spies noticed him immediately and glared in his direction. "Who is this?" "Security Breach", and "Trespassing is rude" all jumbled in the air with each other as they jumped to take a fighting stance. "I will hire a personal masseuse for each and every one of you if it'll make you less tense. Jesus Christ, he's just a kid." Tony rubbed his fingers on the upper bridge of his nose before motioning between Peter and the superheroes, "Guys, this is my intern, Peter Parker. Peter, this is the bunch of idiots who claim to be Earth's Mightiest Heroes." "Hey, you're the one that gave us that title," Clint whined indignantly. Tony continued, "Peter has clearance to go wherever he wants in the tower so please don't try to kill him every time he walks into a room. He will also be staying in the tower for some time to assist with a project." They all nodded and, one by one, stretched out their hands to personally greet the 'intern'.
"I'm just going to grab a sandwich and then I'll meet you in the lab Mr. Stark," "Go ahead kid, I'll be up here for a while, but I drew up some preliminary formulas and a better shooter for you to critique while you wait." Peter smiled in response and practically skipped down to the lab. He had met his heroes!
On the way down, his enhanced hearing picked up a bit more of the conversation. "Since when do you hire middle schoolers to mess around in your lab Tony?" "I thought you preferred young interns who were a bit blonder and not men?" "Shut up Clint" "He's smarter than all of you combined." "Is that why his shirt has a joke about a photo who travels light on vacation?" "It says the photon is traveling light, which is, by definition, what they are."
Peter giggled a bit. His heart had swelled when he heard Tony compliment and defend him.
May was away for two weeks. She had mandatory new medical technology training and a refresher course in California to attend, and, with Peter's insistence, decided to stay in San Diego with a friend for another week to enjoy the weather and the beach. Although Peter claimed that he was 'pretty much an adult', she called Tony to tell him and ask him if he would be fine handling an emergency if one came up. He offered to just take Peter in for the time period, and the plan was made.
The next morning, he stretched and strolled into the kitchen. He was bent over intently staring at all the boxes of the cereal when his senses notified him that something, not dangerous, was nearby. "Hey intern, you using X-Ray vision to inspect the cereal of something?" Sam joked. "Um, no. I've never had any of these kinds before." May would never buy these sugary, popular brand cereals. "Well, if you aren't starving, I was going to make pancakes for everyone. Do you want any?" Peter nodded enthusiastically, "How can I help?" Sam chuckled and motioned for him to sit down, "Don't worry about it."
"Good morning," Steve and Bucky both walked in cheerfully after their post-run shower. Tony and Bruce were groggy because they were up late with some experiment. Clint looked excited at the big breakfast and Natasha was as collected as always. Peter jumped off his seat and gave Bruce a big hug, "I haven't seen you in so long." Bruce laughed, "It's only been a few weeks, but I missed you too. Tony said you had a breakthrough with the new "Widow's Bites" we were making?" Peter made like he was going to head for the lab before Tony put his hand on the kid's shoulder and groaned, "At least eat your breakfast. It's too early for that energy."
Peter sat down as Sam slid a full plate toward him. He eagerly dug in. "These are the best wheat cakes I've ever eaten. Thank you Mr. Wilson!" "You can call me Sam, and what's a wheat cake?" "I'm assuming it's one of his aunt's health "food" meals," Tony's air quotes emphasizing his thoughts on healthy food, "Kid, slow down and chew. You're gonna choke." Peter was momentarily distracted when his phone chimed and he smiled as he scrolled through the memes and updates Ned sent him. He looked up from the screen to see everyone staring at him, "Sorry. Bad table manners. I won't do it again." He sat up straighter and removed his elbow from it's place at the edge of the table. They were still staring when he got up and started clearing the dishes and handing them off to Tony's dish washing robot, because of course he had one. "Did he just eat twelve pancakes?" Bucky wondered aloud. Months of cooking for two super soliders caused Sam to forget how much food was normal in the morning, but he was just going to leave the extras for people to snack on. He did not expect the kid to eat enough for an army. Noted for later.
"He's a growing boy," Bruce cut the astonished silence with a nonchalant comment like it was totally normal. "Dr. Banner! Let me show you the Bites!" Tony, Peter, Bruce, and Natasha headed down to the lab after their meal. Peter proudly showed off his contributions, but kept adding that Tony did most of the work, which Tony refuted every time. Natasha smiled at their little interactions. She could tell Tony cared about this kid. "Just an intern" her ass. Once they were done, she offered to take Peter to the gym. "Do you want to watch Steve knock the shit outta Clint?" Peter gave her a concerned glance. "Don't worry, Cap holds back his strength when sparring with anyone who isn't Bucky or Tony in the suit." His breath hitched with anticipation. Living with superheroes and watching them train? It was like a dream come true. Maybe he could sneak a picture for Ned.
True to Natasha's word, Steve had beaten Clint easily. Peter wondered why he would even keep attempting to fight Steve. Even if he somehow managed to use the element of surprise or some other trick, without serious artillery, there was no way the super solider was going down. Clint groaned and stumbled to his feet, "That's going to leave a bruise." "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Clint cut off Steve's apology "Nah, I wanted you to man." Peter watched all of them and marveled at their strength and technique. He decided that watching Clint hit all the moving targets with his bow was the most interesting and was quickly entranced with the show. A sudden jolt to his nerves alerted him to the flying water bottle moments before Sam yelled "Watch out." He reached his hand and caught it without even glancing away from the arrow whizzing toward the realistic alien target. Sam's mouth was gaping open and Bucky's eyes were wide when Peter faced them. "Hey, this is one of those metal ones that everyone's been talking about recently. Do they really keep your water cool for a whole day?" "Uh, yeah. I like it. How did you catch that?" Bucky finally responded. "Good reflexes or something," Peter shrugged and went to his room for some homework.
Peter slid across the tile as he entered the kitchen, "I thought I smelled food." "Isn't your room two floors up?" Sam responded as he stirred the pasta sauce. "It probably wafted through the vents," Peter reasoned, "Or your cooking has magical abilities to distract people." Sam laughed as Peter went to set the table. There was a prickle in his neck and his hand shot above his head to catch a pen. He placed the stuff on the table and then whipped around to catch a ball of paper. A bouncy-ball flew at his left leg, which he also caught flawlessly. He looked straight up at the ceiling, "Cut that out." Sam raised an eyebrow, "Are you alright?" "I'm being attacked by whoever's in the ceiling, FRIDAY who is that?" "Mr. Barton is currently crawling through the air vents with balls of paper while Ms. Romanoff ducks around the corners with a bag of small items. They do not seem to pose a serious threat?"
"How did you know I was up there?" Clint said. "Well, in Queens it doesn't rain paper, inside or outside. So this was either a new, stupid feature or someone was throwing stuff." "What about Nat?" "Again, pens and toys don't usually come outta nowhere." Peter smirked and sat down. "Your intern has crazy reflexes. Did you know that Tony?" Clint continued to talk, in awe, about Peter's ability to catch things."Nope."
Peter was cracking jokes and raved about how cool all the Avengers were. He'd already captured the hearts of everyone at the table and his presence relived any tension between the occupants. They were becoming family.
"Should I just tell them about my identity?" Peter asked Tony in the lab. "That's up to you Underoos. I'll respect it if you want to keep your identity a secret or if you don't. You aren't exactly being subtle about it though. Nat might already know." Peter nodded, deep in thought. "You should go to bed though. You have school in the morning." Peter begrudgingly went to his room, but instead of going to sleep, he thought about whether or not to reveal his secret. On one hand, he liked no one knowing who Spiderman was. Nobody would attack May and he never needed to worry about paparazzi like Steve or Tony. On the other, the Avengers could probably, definitely keep a secret. He drifted off, still undecided.
Beep. Beep. Beep. He rolled over in his bed. How could a bed feel this amazing? It was like laying in a cloud that had just been warmed up in a dryer. 7:15am!? Shoot, he was going to be late.. He bolted up, frantically dressed, and sprinted downstairs. He snatched a protein bar from the drawer and grabbed his bag, which was unzipped. A folder fell out and slid under the couch where Bucky, Steve, and Sam were perched. Peter looked under the couch, but the folder was closer to the other side. He crawled around. "Excuse me Mr. Barnes. I need to get my school stuff." Before the men could react or climb off, Peter was reaching between Bucky's ankles toward his homework just out of reach. He used his other hand and lifted the couch just a bit to go in further. Once he got his prize, he rushed out.
"Did he just?" Steve looked at the others for confirmation. "Maybe the couch is just really light?" Bucky suggested. "We aren't really light though stupid." Sam gibed. Bucky smacked him lightly on the head and within seconds they had forgotten about the whole incident.
"Where's Peter?" Natasha moved her knight. "Some club," Tony mumbled while studying the chess board. Suddenly, a body flew through the open window and smashed into the floor next to where Sam and Steve were reading. "Mr. Stark, I think I hurt the suit." Spiderman stood up to reveal a giant rip in the front of the suit. He was only wearing a glorified spandex one that Tony had made for patrols. It wasn't the really expensive metal one that he took to serious fights. "Jeez, are you alright?" Tony immediately looked him up and down. "Yeah, it was just the suit that ripped."
"Seems like a dangerous club," Natasha smirked at Tony. "What do you mean?" He feigned innocence. "Peter," she deadpanned. "Yes," Peter responded, "Oh, um, I don't know anyone named Peter." He gave up after she narrowed her eyes signaling she didn't believe him. He pulled the mask off, "how did you know?"
She rolled her eyes, "'Einstein developed a theory about space. And it was about time too.' Really? Because you're wearing the same shirt, you're the same height and build, and you have all these weird mannerisms. I'm a spy."
"I guess the cat's out of the bag," he turned at Tony who was facepalming at the stupid trick he had fallen for. "Hi, I'm Spiderman." He waved at everyone.
"We fought a kid in Germany?" Steve uttered. "Sam and Bucky were almost beaten by a kid in Germany," Tony jeered. "Hey, I'm not a kid, and I'm so sorry about that guys." "Who was I almost beaten by?" a voice called from the doorway. Both Bucky and Clint walked in and saw Peter in the suit without the mask. "That actually makes sense," Clint thought out loud. "Can I get something to eat now? I'm starving." "Coming right up Spidey. Pizza'll be here in 20."
"I'm just gonna take a nap real quick then." Everyone absentmindedly agreed with Peter, their attention now on the TV in front of them. That was until Clint got up to pee, "What the fuck?" "Language," Bucky and Natasha called out as they turned their head. "I hate it when he does that too," Tony sighed. "Why?" Sam grunted. Bruce, who had just arrived, waved his hand dismissively, "I guess he just likes to sleep up there.
So, they all just pretended like it wasn't weird for Peter to sleep in the corner of the ceiling, suspended by his webs.