Peter meets The Avengers

Steve

The minute he opened his eyes he knew today was gonna be a bad day, he could hear the cars halfway across the city beeping their horns and revving their engines. The sheets on his bed scraping roughly across his skin, to him it felt like sandpaper. He could smell the burnt pancakes May was making, the scent was so strong it made him nauseous. He could even smell the gas from the gas station a couple miles away, his head throbbed painfully. He had no idea how he was gonna make it through the day.

He only barely made it through school, wincing harshly with every ring of the bell, scrape of a chair. The sickly smell of the gross coffee that the teachers drank, every click of a pen or the loud drag of the nib across the paper. He couldn't take it, every noise or smell made it feel like his heart was pounding inside his head. Even the sound of his own harsh breaths made him wince in pain, but he had to take it, he had to deal. He was spiderman, this was something he could get through, this would be easy (it won't be).

He didn't bother to wait around for Ned so he could say goodbye, the minute the black car pulled up in front of the school, he was swinging the door open and throwing himself into the car. Having to swallow down the vomit he could feel rising up his throat from the movement. He didn't try to smile or engage in some kind of conversation with Happy, he just clenched his eyes shut and tried to ignore everything. (It's not as easy as it sounds.)

"You okay kid?" Happy didn't bother to hide the lack of enthusiasm or concern in his tone, just asked the question, probably because it was his job. To take him to the tower from the school on lab days, and to make sure Peter was ok.

He just hummed, not giving an answer of more than one syllable, he didn't think he was capable of anything more. Or that he could take the earth shattering sound of one more word, uttered from his mouth. It hurt so much more when he was the one speaking. So he didn't. To avoid the pain, he didn't have the energy or the pain tolerance to explain that part to anyone.

"Sure kid." Happy just sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anything more out of him, pressing the button and grinning satisfactorily as the awkwardness of speaking to and having to look at the kid faded. He just drove towards the tower, ironically in the opposite fashion to his name.

When they arrived, Peter didn't bounce out like he usally would, not having the energy to buzz with excitement as he ran up the steps towards the tower, practically throwing himself through the doors. No, he just slumped awkwardly out of the car door, having to grip the car roof with such force that he heard the metal creak in order to keep himself upright. He trudged slowly up the steps, only barley managing to stumble through the door with the pain splicing his head open.

He didn't even say anything to Friday as he entered the elevator, just lethargically slapped the right button that would take him to the penthouse, he couldn't handle lab day, and Mr. Stark was always waiting on his floor instead of in the lab. He always had to make sure Peter had a snack and a drink before he started working in the lab, he had enough thought to think of Peter, but seemingly not enough to think of himself.

The doors slid open, he stumbled out unsteadily, wincing with every step he took. He only barely managed to chuck his bag onto the floor, grunting in pain when the sound shattered into his eardrums. "Mr. Stark? I don't think I'm up for a lab day today." He surveyed the surrounding penthouse with squinted eyes, they opened slightly wider but not by much when his eyes landed on none other than Steve Rogers aka Captain America. "Oh, Y-you're not Mr. Stark."

"No, I'm not, who are you?" Unlike Rhodey, he didn't jump for his throat, he just stood there calmly taking him in, eyes squinted slightly as he tried to suss out whether Peter was some kind of threat.

Peter just squinted his eyes back in unison, "I'm Mr. Stark's personal intern, Peter, what are you doing on his floor? He never lets people up here unless they're close to him or he trusts them."

Steve just smirked, "I was just looking for him, I need him to fix something for me, but he's not here. Apparently he was called away on business, something about a meeting."

The words were steadily becoming too much, each breath he took louder than the last, every syllable more painful than the last. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the sound his skin made when the dead cells fell, shedding from his eyelids. He could hear everything, it was too much, too much.

He hadn't realised he was saying that out loud until a firm hand was grasping his shoulder and the weakly shouted words registered in his ears. "It's too much!"

"You're enhanced aren't you?" Steve was surveying him with worried eyes, and a stare of understanding.

Peter knew he wouldn't be able to keep his identity a secret from everyone. But he wasn't about to just give it away, Captain America was gonna have to work for it. "I'm from Queens."

It took some time for the words to finally click in Steve's mind, just whispering out the words "Spider-Man." In shock. "Wait how old are you?!"

"Fifteen, 'm gonna be 'ixteen next year though." Peter weakly tried to answer with all the strength he had.

"You're having a sensory overload aren't you kid." Steve arched an eyebrow.

"Mmhmm." Peter didn't bother opening his eyes this time.

"Do you have any headphones? Did Stark ever make anything to help you with this?" Steve asked without touching Peter, knowing every touch felt like something burning into your skin.

"No, I never told him." Peter slid onto the couch, trying his hardest not to wince as he sunk into the cushions.

Steve didn't bother trying to tell Peter what he was going to get, knowing how painful words were, he just left to find his noise cancelling headphones.

He came back with them in hand, softly pulling the headphones on Peter's head, "Friday could you turn the lights down?"

"Of course Mr. Rogers."

The lights instantly dimmed, plunging the both of them into a comfortable darkness. Steve watched the boy relax slowly, breathing evening out as he fell asleep. Steve smiled at how cute the boy looked, curled up around himself and quietly snoring. "No wonder Stark keeps you a secret." He couldn't hold himself back from slipping a gentle hand into the chocolate brown curls, threading his fingers through the strands and lightly scratching at his scalp.

He steps back after a while, walking out of the penthouse to go and find bucky, completely forgetting about what it was he wanted fixing. He just smiles contentedly to himself, knowing that Peter has to be the cutest person he's ever met.