Do better, Mr. Stark.

16 - All things Spider-Man

Peter's first night wasn't necessarily exciting. Tony hadn't let him move further than straight into the room he had put together far earlier than he would admit.

He helped Peter - who was desperately trying to turn down any additional help - into bed and left the room with the words "Do me a favor and try to get some sleep. If not for your own sake then for mine. Night kid.".

And as if his body had listened to that request; Peter actually did get quite a good amount of sleep. If he was being honest, it probably was the longest he slept in one go since about a year. This could've had to do with the fact that he felt incredibly safe and grateful, or simply with the Iron Man bedsheets Tony picked out for him.

He made sure to write down an ingenious idea for a Christmas present for Tony: matching Spider-Man bedsheets. Duh.

Speaking of Spider-Man: Peter now had to face the challenge of talking to the Avengers. THE Avengers. About his secret identity that he didn't mean for them to find out about anytime soon.

Great. Just great.

***

At a painfully slow pace, the friendly neighborhood hero crept into the living room. Lucky enough (spot the sarcasm), everyone was already gathered and ready to talk.

„Morning everyone..." was all Peter got out. „Underoos, how long have you been awake?! FRIDAY was supposed to notify me, I would've helped you get here!" Tony exclaimed.

Deciding to ignore that he totally heard Clint whispering "Such a dad" to Natasha - he had great hearing after all - Peter focused on the conversation he was having with Tony. "Oh it's alright Mr. Stark, I asked her not to. Thanks anyway!".

And with that, Tony just gaped at him. „You... asked her not to? And that worked?". "Uh... yeah. Why wouldn't it?" at this point, he was just awkwardly standing in the door frame, visibly uncomfortable.

„Seems like FRIDAY already likes Pete more than you, Tony" Clint intervened. The other team members took that contribution as a signal to speak as well and release both Tony and Peter from that excruciatingly awkward exchange.

„Now that that's settled... Can we get to answering our questions? I don't have all day Stark." said Sam. „God dammit Sam at least let the kid fully enter the room before bombarding him with questions" was all Bucky had to say. Natasha nodded approvingly and patted the space next to her on the couch. „Come on маленький паук, nothing to be scared of".

Peter grinned at the kind woman and immediately sat next to her, not seeming to have any reservations at all. That was Tony's last straw, he has been confused about this for far too long. „When did you two get so cozy anyways? You know, with all the Russian pet names and dear Natalia finally learning how a smile works and all that."

Natasha was throwing daggers at Tony with her eyes. You know what, she's the Black Widow. Might as well throw daggers at him in a literal sense. She didn't like having other people in her business - with rare exceptions being Bucky and, well... Peter.

As he noticed his friend's mood change, Peter decided to take matters into his own hands. „We talked about our shared spider heritage at some point and then just kind of started texting more often from there" he answered truthfully.

Bucky grinned - also a rare occasion. He liked observing Tony's and Peter's behavior towards each other; Tony was very obviously jealous and Peter was simply an oblivious cinnamon roll who was just happy to be there. „I think we can all agree that we like Peter. Moving on.".

Peter beamed at that. He was never in a room filled with so many people who liked him and who were actually interested in his story before. It was kind of an odd feeling, but he loved it. „I think I owe you all some answers...".

And that's how a two hour discussion (more precisely, a Q&A) started. Especially Bruce and Steve seemed terribly interested in Peter's process of becoming Spider-Man and what exactly his powers are - considering that they have DNA that has been tempered with as well.

At some point, the question „Why did you decide to use your abilities to help the little guy?" fell. Before Peter even had the chance to answer, Tony felt the need to intervene. „This kid right here has a moral compass comparable to Ghandi or something. You know what he said to me when I asked him that same question? He said - and I quote - 'When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen; they happen because of you.'".

Everyone fell silent, thinking about how much burden this innocent kid is carrying on his shoulders. Steve swore he saw a glint of immense pride in Tony's eyes.

But whereas the Avengers were busy coping with the amount of input they received about Spider-Man, Peter was purely staring at Tony. „Mr. Stark - uh, Tony - did you just... quote me? You seriously memorized that?". There might even have been tears in his eyes. „You don't forget something like that, Pete." was all that Tony said.

As if the remains of Peter's hesitancy and awkwardness were suddenly gone, he rushed forward and gave his mentor a bone-crushing hug. „Thank you, Tony" he murmured into his chest.

Everyone in the room held their breaths for a second, they didn't know what to expect of the usually so indifferent guy who struggles with shows of affection. One thing was clear though, each of them was ready to hurt back anyone who dares to hurt Peter, even it it were to be Tony.

Their worries seemed utterly needless though. Looking down at his mentee, Tony had a soft smile on his face - one that usually just Pepper gets to see - and hugged back.