"Bo—the Avenger's a-- --questing your pre---nse in the kitchen,"
As F.R.I.D.A.Y's Irish lilt filled the lab, Peter's chocolate eyes sparkled, every noise, no matter how small, felt like a miracle to him.
When Peter looked up from the paper he was scribbling equations on, he saw a surprised Tony checking his watch.
"Shit, it's already been hours?" The billionaire shook his head slightly, "Ready to go, Pete? Nat's cooking so she'll kick my ass if I'm not there ASAP, plus her food's pretty good,"
Peter let out a small chuckle before getting up and heading to the door, ignoring the pain he felt while walking while he mustered as much fake confidence as he could, it was mildly convincing before he faltered, "Um, do you think you could lead the way? I-I forgot which way to go,"
Tony simply laughed as he walked in front of the teen, waving for him to follow him down the seemingly endless corridor.
'No getting out of this now,'
'Oh God, this'll take a lot of explaining, well, lying,'
'Will they even keep my identity a secret?'
'I'm even more screwed if they don't,'
'At least I have the hearing aids, now I'll know what the Hell's going on,'
By the time Peter's head had run through miles-worth of thoughts, he'd arrived at the kitchen door.
The teen managed to keep his head up as he once again walked into the room of heroes, he had a small, forced smile on his face as he looked around, fiddling with his fingers.
"H-hi, again,"
The Avengers gave him variations of nods, waves, and, in Thor's case, a "HELLO, MAN OF SPIDERS!".
"S-So, um," He stammered as he awkwardly stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do as the adults sat around the massive table, plates of chili steaming in front of them.
"Come and sit," Clint signed as he spoke, the kind smile not leaving his face as he talked to the nervous teen, "You can grab a plate from the side and get some food if you want,"
Peter gave Clint a grateful nod and turned around, putting a tiny amount of food on his plate before sitting next to the archer, so that he was at the corner of the table with Tony at the head closest to him.
The teen sat tensely at the table, his back up straight and his eyes trained on the food as he joined the others and began to awkwardly nibble his food, trying to not show how amazing it felt to eat something other than a sandwich or protein bar. And it wasn't just that, it was a warm, filling meal that actually tasted good, another thing Peter thought he'd never have again.
By the time the Avengers were only halfway through their food, Peter had already finished his tiny portion, and felt ridiculously full.
Noticing this, Natasha spoke up, "So, Peter, tell us about yourself, Spider-Man as well,"
Peter was taken aback by the question, he was surprised at how the spy understood how Spider-Man and Peter Parker were like two different people.
He quickly pulled himself back together and began to talk to the eating superheroes, repeating much of what Tony and Bruce already knew.
"W-Well, I'm 15, nearly 16, born and raised in Queens, and I'm deaf, but I just got hearing aids!" A smile lit up his face when he mentioned his hearing aids, he still couldn't quite believe he could hear again, "I went to Midtown, but I'm home-schooled now. Um, and I'm an orphan, but I live with my Aunt. That's just about everything about Peter Parker,"
He gave a sad smile, the team assumed it was because he felt uninteresting, they definitely didn't suspect it was because the last part was completey made-up, what he wished his life could be.
"And the Spider-Man side, a little more complicated, I guess. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and got all of these weird powers, I can climb walls, or any surface really, I have super-strength and agility, an advanced healing factor and a Spidey-sense- it's like a sixth sense, it senses danger and I can also use it to almost tap into my surroundings, so it helped me before I got these hearing aids. After I got my powers, some...things...happened and I ended up making my suit and web-shooters and became Spider-Man,"
The Avengers nodded along to his story, taking in all of the information from the teen.
"So," Tony asked, "Why? Why do you put your life on the line for all the people in New York every day, you're just a kid?"
Peter stuttered a little before giving the Avenger an answer, keeping his eyes trained on his empty plate, "When you can do the things that I can, but you don't. And then the bad things happen, they happen because of you. I have to protect the people in Queens, it's my responsibility,"
The room became silent for a moment, the Avengers surprised by not only the wise words that came out of the young boy's mouth, but also at how admirable the teen was. Yet they felt guilty, a teenager shouldn't feel like he had such a big responsibility on his shoulders.
Steve broke through the silence, "So, how long are you staying here for?"
"Three more days, Sir, until my Aunt comes home,"
Steve nodded and turned to Bruce, "Will the kid be able to do any training while he's here?"
"He shouldn't, even with advanced healing he needs a couple of days," The scientist turned to Peter, "Got that, Peter?"
Peter gave him a quick smile and nod as he fidgeted with his fork, "Yup. But, um, when would I be able to be Spider-Man again?"
The team exchanged several looks before answering, they had all agreed that they should stop the teen from being Spider-Man, for a couple of years at least, yet he had given such a good reason as to why he should be allowed to go out as the vigilante, and he seemed so set on it, like he wouldn't stop even is he was told to.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Look what happened to you at the building," Steve was the one to ask the question, trying to work out what the team's answer should be.
Peter looked up in surprise at the question, before quickly stammering out a reply, growing in confidence as he carried on, "I have to, Sir, like I said before, it's my responsibility. I know the risks of the job, but I have to do it. Sure, I get hurt sometimes, but I can heal faster than civilians, and, if I die on the job, at least I'll have saved people. But, I'm sure I won't, what happened there was a one in a million thing, never happened before, I usually just stick to the ground- helping the little guys, and, if I don't, who will?"
The Avengers nodded along, their faces neutral as they internally praised Peter, yet scorned him for being so relaxed about the possibility of injuries, or even death.
After a minute or so of Peter's heart banging like a drum as he fidgeted with his hands, the Avengers all nodded at Bruce, prompting him to speak.
"I'm not sure when you'll be able to go out, but I think it'll be in a about a week, maybe less, I'm still not 100% sure about how your healing factor works and it's speed,"
Sighing in relief, Peter nodded and gave the table a small smile before looking back down at his empty plate.
Seeing this, the Avengers resumed their own various conversations, ranging from (Arguing about) Earth's superior foods, to sentimental memories to straight-up 'No's', Peter stayed quiet for the most part, occasionally joining in a conversation but mainly just contently sitting and hearing, something he never expected to do.
When the dysfunctional bunch had finished their food, they quickly cleaned up before going into the living room, arguing over what to watch, and each other's... questionable... ways to get there (CLINT! You do NOT need to SPRINT and perform an entire ACROBATIC ROUTINE to get there!).
Peter let out a small chuckle at the team's antics (OK maybe Clint's and the reactions he sparked) as he walked out of the kitchen. He may have still been pale, scarred, and skinny, but his face had a new life to it that it hadn't had in months, his eyes weren't so hollow anymore. He knew it was all just temporary, but he was still enjoying himself.
His thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder, when he turned, he saw Tony talking to him, "...'M about to run off to meet Pepper, oh, we wanted to thank you for saving her, by the way, we'll probably do something more formal later, but Bruce said that you should probably get some rest, F.R.I.D.A.Y'll show you where your room is,"
"No problem, and thank you, Mr. Stark,"
The teen got a quick nod before the older man turned on heels and headed for the elevator.
After thanking the team and waving a quick goodbye, Peter left them behind to squabble over what they should watch so that he could go to his room.
He followed F.R.I.D.A.Y's directions, which were not only spoke to him, but also shown on screens, which made it so much easier for him since he still missed out on parts of sentences.
When he reached his room, he stared around in awe for a minute or so- it was massive, with basic, yet ridiculously expensive furniture, polished, wooden floors and even an en-suite, it truly had 'Stark' written all over it.
The teen headed straight for the bed in the middle of the room and flopped down with a contented smile.
He sighed as his muscles finally relaxed on the soft mattress, the teen had been bottling up aches and pains throughout the day- just like he always did- and was more than happy to let it all go.
Almost immediately, he drifted into a deep sleep, his body hungry to heal itself even more.
The hero fell asleep comfortably for the first time in what seemed like forever, and he even had a small smile on his papery face.
A/N: Hia! Sorry it's been so long, essentially...
*Coughs* LIFE'S A BITCH AND IT MADE ME A SAD BITCH.
But, now I can say
LIFES A BITCH BUT SO AM I!
Anyway, Thank you so much for reading, you've no idea how much all of your support makes me smile and push though all of the shit that's going down right now.
So please do Like and Comment and Follow me so that you never miss an update!
I'm going to update this as much as I can- I'm really hyped and have it (mostly) planned out- but I've also got several WIP and plans which should be up pretty soon!
I love you all 3000! And...
Have a Marvellous day my Geeky Peeps and do something to make Natasha Romanoff and Peggy Carter proud! 💜