Chapter Text
PETER PARKER HAD GROWN UP WITH THE IDEA OF SUPERHEROES.
He’d fawned over the comic books that illustrated their fights and bought the shiny lunchboxes that he then carried proudly to school. He even played pretend as Iron Man himself when he was barely above knee height and the world was a much simpler place.
The furniture would creak at the abuse when Peter bounced around, striking various superhero poses until his Uncle Ben swooped in, still dressed in his uniform from a long day at the precinct. Together they would run around the apartment with Peter’s hands clasped firmly around the man’s neck and his feet locked around Ben’s middle; May would smile fondly at their antics from the kitchen where she was making dinner before eventually being persuaded to clamber onto the couch despite her age. She would call for help, the exaggerated tones of her voice combatted only by the warm look in her eyes when Peter would launch himself off of Uncle Ben’s back to ‘rescue’ her from the imaginary villains. He was always showered with kisses for his bravery before they would settle down for dinner at the table, cheeks flushed from the exertion but beaming nonetheless.
Then Peter would be tucked into bed with the legends of Iron Man and Captain America- their grand battles and heroic acts whirling in his head as he fell asleep, dreaming of one day being one of them.
Despite being in awe of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, one of the biggest heroes that Peter knew was his Uncle Ben. He was an officer that worked long, hard hours to ensure that the city was safe for his nephew to grow up in- for all the kids in the area to grow up in so that maybe one day they wouldn’t need grand superheroes to feel safe in their own homes. Ben made it his personal mission to spend every minute reminding Peter of the smaller acts of heroism; like standing up for what was right and never backing down from a fight, the benefits of smaller acts of kindness.
He wanted Peter to never forget the value of being a good man first above all else.
Those lessons had forged Peter into the stubborn young man that he was today and he’d naturally assumed that ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ had those same values too. The idea of working with real superheroes made Peter feel as though all of his dreams as a little kid were coming true.
He decided that the dreams were much better than the reality.
-
The latest battle that had derailed many innocent civilian’s day happened to be a seemingly endless swarm of half-made robots that lumbered their way across the city, tearing the place apart.
From the brief glances that Peter had managed to catch of the robot’s design, (in-between him swinging past and webbing them away from the fleeing public), he noticed that the assembly of the bodies had been hurried, like the creator had thrown random pieces of metal together and called it a day. They’d even gone as far as to forgo limbs on some of the robots, leaving various wires exposed as a glaring weak spot for the Avengers to use to their advantage. Not to mention that the lack of sophistication in the coding was apparent in the stilted, erratic movements since the robots varied between running into the walls or tripping over the sidewalk to launching themselves at the nearest object with a vicious ferocity; even if that object happened to only be a fire hydrant.
It made them unpredictable and dangerous. Lethal. Illogical.
Still, Peter classed it as a normal Saturday afternoon while he chased after a rogue robot that tore down the quickly emptying street. Mr Stark said that he needed to work on his definition of normal and to stop pencilling in ‘possible alien invasion’ into his timetable.
Once the threat had been subdued, (meaning once Peter had ripped out the robot’s wires with great prejudice after having only just avoided being body slammed into the wall), Peter swung back round the corner before landing nimbly on the edge of a building that would have given May a heart attack so he could oversee the rest of the surrounding area. A few hours had passed now since the first waves of the robot army had made their presence known by bulldozing down the street- the group of heroes had assembled almost instantly at the first sign of the small invasion.
Exhaustion swept through Peter when he curled his arm protectively around his midsection. A dull ache was blooming in his side, a sign that he had been hit one too many times in the ribs. The tell-tale sound of his comms to the rest of the team being muted broke him from his pain induced reverie.
“Peter, would you like to me run a medical scan? I believe you have-”
“No thanks, Karen.” Peter gritted his teeth before he forced out a breath. “I’ll be fine.”
Instead of responding, there was a beat of pointed silence before the AI wordlessly unmuted the comm line. Peter could feel her judgement in that action like she had verbally reprimanded him.
Choosing to focus on the job at hand, Peter pushed away the guilt at snapping at his AI and trailed his eyes intently over the small area that he had been banished to. It had been courtesy of Steve, joined by strict instructions not to leave until he had given the all clear- the streets were void of the public and any pesky robots and had been mostly for the past hour. The only thing he could do was sit and wait until Tony or Wanda took pity on him and sent over some robots for him to beat down.
Bored and quickly growing stiff on his perch, Peter huffed out an annoyed breath.
He sensed the irritation on the other ends of the comm line spike instantly. Even if he couldn’t see their faces, Peter knew that they were all frowning at him for even daring to breath on the comm.
The thought sent a burst of anger unfurling in his chest before he stamped it down with great difficulty. Peter didn’t even know what the Avengers expected of him half the time- it wasn’t like they had ever told him or gave him a straight answer when he asked. Hell, he was pretty sure they didn't even know what they wanted from him. Probably silence. Or for him to leave. Preferably both.
Only Tony and Wanda seemed to engage with Peter in a positive light. And the AIs.
As if sensing the brewing tension that was mounting over the comm line or the growing loneliness that was expanding in Peter’s chest, a familiar cold tingle ran down his neck. The sensation was similar to his spider sense yet distinctly different; instead of the overbearing anxiety his sense induced, (like ice-cold water being thrown over his head), the sensation brought a wave of peace that soothed where his sense would only aggravate. Peter leaned into the feeling and shut off his communication line to the rest of the team, instantly feeling better for it.
“You know something? I could go for a nap.” Peter commented from his perch. “Like a sleep for a century nap- maybe I could learn to hibernate, lean into my spider side. Wanda, what do you think?”
On cue, the young witch appeared around the corner mostly unscathed with only a few smears of dirt on her cheeks and a faint scratch on her chin. Wanda had seemingly abandoned her small section of the city that Steve had ordered her to, having deemed it safe enough without her constant protection- the team were going to throw a fit. The thought made Peter squirm uncomfortably as he imagined the lecture and looks from everyone, but he also felt a sick vindication well in his stomach at proving them wrong- at proving that they were capable.
His attention was caught by Wanda who barely glanced to the side before her hand shot out with vibrant, blood red mist pooling out of her palm and curling around her fingers. A legless robot that had been crawling determinedly across the ground towards her was suddenly lifted and slammed against the wall behind it- the bricks shuddered from the abrupt contact but held strong even as the robot violently broke into pieces before, falling back to the pavement unmoving.
As she stood in the rubble of the building around her, the red that had emanated in her hands diminished. She waited patiently, kicking a few rocks, for another enemy to wander into her path.
‘I could not agree more. No annoying robots trying to decapitate me.’
The sudden voice that filled his head didn't make Peter blink twice, he merely grinned down at the redhead on the ground before he continued to survey the small area that now both he and Wanda occupied- it truly was pitiful. Despite both of their capabilities, they had been pushed to the outskirts of the city almost immediately and told to remain there even when the main fight had clearly moved on. Frustration began to creep into his thoughts where Wanda was quick to soothe- as much as an annoyed witch could. Peter could feel her own barely hidden irritation flare dangerously.
His eyes watched her as she readied herself for the small group of robots that stumbled towards her, barely functional and clearly the survivors from the Avenger’s main fight.
‘Your anger will do you no good- smash a wall or yell at Steve. Pick one.’
“Oh yeah, he’d love that.” Peter chuckled, though his voice lacked much amusement.
Still, he did allow himself a moment to envision that scenario before he shook the idea away and focussed back in on Wanda as she advanced on her small group of enemies that wobbled unsteadily on their feet. For a moment, he debated swinging down and joining her for the sake of having something to do when his eyes drifted to his ‘team members’- he scowled beneath the mask before catching the expression and forcing his features back into a neutral placement.
“Wanna lend a hand Spidey?” Tony announced, flying overheard with a stream of robots on his tail.
“Be my pleasure Mr Stark!” Peter announced cheerfully.
There were a few disgruntled comments about his sudden reappearance on the comms and about his light-hearted tone. Peter chose to ignore them all in favour of jumping off the edge of the building, allowing himself a moment of free falling before he swung after his mentor who soared past. Peter knew that Tony could have easily taken those robots, reduced them all to rubble in a matter of seconds with one well-aimed blaster. The idea that Tony had sensed his frustration and decided to trust his mentee’s abilities a lot more than some of his fellow Avengers made Peter’s bad mood lift slightly till it was less all-consuming. He happily followed after the man and his metal followers.
-
The small chase led Peter back to a building that he had evacuated over a few hours ago and he shot through the broken window to land lightly on the carpeted ground.
Inside was clearly an office space that had been left in a hurry; overturned desks and chairs were scattered around with paperwork strewn about and forgotten. Peter took a breath before a voice in his ear announced, “Incoming Underoos.” swiftly joined by the familiar red and gold suit tearing through the same window that he had entered through, only Tony was accompanied by three robots.
Peter snapped into action by jumping on the third one’s back, throwing it off course.
They swerved to the side and crashed hard into an office cubicle.
Peter felt a robot elbow painfully digging into his already bruised ribs, possibly breaking one before he was thrown violently against a desk. He only just managed to wriggle out and gain the upper hand. His spider sense screamed sharply once he was free, making Peter wince and stumble backwards when he vaulted over his opponent. Vaguely registering Karen speaking rapidly in his ear, Peter swung his head from side-to-side to try and locate the danger that had his head ringing painfully and his body vibrating with the need to simply do something- when a body collided with his own.
Then he was falling. And someone was screaming.
Peter was sure it wasn't himself since his breath was lodged in his throat and a metal hand was trying to squeeze too tight around his throat. Acting on instinct, Peter grappled to free his arm that had been trapped between him and the attacker before he shot out a web; he swung himself into the wall and scrambled to splay his hand out on the brick. Before he could think to catch his breath, the robot was already wrestling him off the wall and trying to send him flailing to the pavement for a second time.
“Seriously-” Peter’s voice cut off when he was sent hurtling back down courtesy of gravity. Another frantic web launched into the air, attaching itself to the building.
Peter pulled hard- his shoulder burned at the abuse- while something else pulled the robot in the opposite direction, spurred on by the hard kick that he aimed at the robot’s face. His breaths ripped through his chest harshly and the brick wall that Peter had attached himself to was gladly welcomed when he looked back to see the robot flying through the air from the force of his panicked reaction.
It stopped suddenly, and a pulsing red power crushed it like a tin can before dropping it unceremoniously. A small crater was created in the street below when it landed.
Exhausted and in definite pain, Peter crawled his way back into the apartment building. He ignored the studying eyes of Wanda that were glued to his back as she cursed him and their ‘team’s’ lack of notice out on their telepathic link with a few choice words that made him wince. “I’m fine Wands- just need a shower. Lots, and lots of showers. And maybe a cheeseburger. Hey Mr Stark? Can we get cheeseburgers-” Any other words died in Peter’s throat when he saw the Iron Man suit on the floor.
He couldn’t hear a heartbeat.