This Is Stella's Reality

November 27, 2014

My tongue clicked as I sped down the hallway to Tony's lab. I called his name every now and then, but unsurprisingly, he couldn't hear me through the thick walls of the compound.

"I think your turkey is burning," I muttered in annoyance. Nobody had seen Tony in several hours, so I was venturing to his lab to see if he had gotten a spark of inspiration for something.

I knocked, no answer. There was frosted glass surrounding the lab, and I saw someone's shadow moving through the blur. I knocked again, "Tony, your fucking bird is burning; I need you to come look at it."

The figure behind the glass shuffled slowly to the door. It slid open, and a kid stared back at me. He was tall, short and curly brown hair, with big, innocent eyes. I had startled him. He stood, stuttering over his words.

I laughed, "Hey, kid. Who are you?"

"Uh, Peter Parker, ma'am," he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Have you seen Tony?"

He shuffled his weight around, "Uh, Mr. Stark? No, I haven't seen him."

"Why are you so nervous?"

Peter looked taken aback by my question, "You're an Avenger." His voice was a whisper. The boyish awe in his features was cute.

I laughed, turning on my heel, "If you see Tony, tell him his turkey is done." I paused, "Wait." Peter froze, and his hand hovered over the button to close the door. "Kid, it's Thanksgiving. Why are you here?"

He looked embarrassed, "Uh, I had tests to run for Mr. Stark."

"What about your family?"

"It's just me and my Aunt May, and she's working right now, so," his voice trailed off.

I sighed and walked back to Peter. My hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him from the lab, "Come eat with us."

He stuttered the whole walk back to the kitchen, jogging to keep up with me and staring wide eyed into the distance.

The loud chatter of the team reverberated through the staircase. "Hey," I yelled at them. They all turned their attention to me, "Pretty sure Tony is violating some sort of union law by letting this kid work on a holiday, so he's going to join us for lunch."

They stared at him, and Peter shrunk behind me. "Hey, Pete," Bruce waved.

"Hi, Dr. Banner," Peter's voice was small.

Steve smiled, "Where're you from, kid?"

"Uh, Queens."

Bucky laughed from the bar, "Brooklyn," he called out.

Peter's nervous laughter echoed behind me. Thor stood and slapped him on the shoulder, "Come, Sir Peter, have a drink with me!"

"Oh," Peter looked like a ghost, "uh, Mr. Thor, sir, I'm not old enough to drink."

Thor looked perturbed by this admission, "How is that possible?"

"He's a kid, Shakespeare," Tony jogged down the staircase. "Also, what the hell are you doin' here, kid?"

As if Peter could have shrunk into the floor, I'm sure he would have. He looked petrified. Stumbling through his words, I took pity on him. I grabbed Tony's arm, "First of all, your turkey is burnt. Second, Peter was all alone in your lab, so I invited him to lunch."

Tony's eyes rolled, "Fine, but I'm not toning it down for you, Underoos. This is still an adult function."

"A what?" Natasha laughed from the bar. She was pulling cookies from the oven. Their smell filled the kitchen in sweet chocolate.