Chapter Text
"I had no choice. They were gonna kill me. I swear..."
...
Some people aren't born with the luck of good fortune. A good day isn't taken well. No, it's spent waiting for the other shoe to drop. The better the day the worse the consequence.
He knew that better than anyone.
He was good when it came to acting. Playing the helpless kid, the child genius, the hero, the kind-hearted friend. But that's all it was, an act.
So far today everything seemed to be going his way. From acing his Spanish test to a day without a hassle and he even arrived relatively on time for once. Of course, nothing could ever stay good, not for Peter. So, when he felt like something was off the moment he walked in the tower, he was on high alert.
"Welcome back Peter, nice to see you using the front entrance for once."
He nodded in acknowledgement but gave no further indication of noting her presence.
"Your levels of anxiety appear higher than normal. Should I alert Boss?"
"N-No thank you, Fri. I'm alright." Peter assured her, cursing quietly to himself for stuttering. "Can you take me to Mr Stark, please?"
As the elevator rose, he tried to calm himself, watching as the numbers ticked by. However, with his Spider Sense screaming at him more intensely the higher they rose, all attempts were proving to be futile.
By the time that he reached the desired floor he was so far in his head about what could happen he didn't notice the man standing in front of the elevator.
"-eter. PETER!"
He looked up.
"Oh, hey Mr Stark."
The man in front of him was staring at him with a look of worry clear on his face.
"You ok Pete?"
No, he wasn't. He was on edge waiting to see what was setting his senses off. He was waiting to find out what was going to happen.
"I'm fine," he smiled.
There was a moments silence before Mr Stark reluctantly dropped it, watching him warily before dragging him off to the lab.
For Peter, the lab was his safe place. Somewhere he could just let go and create whatever his heart desires.
Together the two spent hours in the lab, as they worked on everything from Avengers weapons and their suits to the latest Stark tech, and for a moment his Spider sense calmed. Well, until Pepper came to drag them both to dinner and the emanating sense of impending doom came back.
With a promise to Pepper that they would be up as soon as they cleaned up Mr Stark turned towards him.
"You got your suit, kid?"
That was the other reason he was so on edge. See the news that Tony Stark had a personal intern wasn't new. Everyone had heard the whispers floating around the tower about the so-called 'Mini Boss.' Some had even had the pleasure of working with the young intern often surprised by both his age and his mind.
It also wasn't news that, despite not being an Avenger - by choice - Spider-man would sometimes drop by for dinner as Tony insisted on checking in with the Spider and providing dire upgrades to his suit. He was insistent that no acquaintance that close to him or the team would be seen swinging around in a flimsy onesie with no way to contact backup.
The thing is that these two people were one and the same however, Peter could count on one hand the number of people who knew this. So, the insistent danger that had been bugging him for a while was nothing short of worrying.
He contemplated trying to find an excuse to not go to dinner or leave the lab at the risk of being trapped by the threat but in the end his hunger won out. So, he pulled on his suit and followed Stark towards the elevator.
...
The doors opened and once again his Spider Senses were going haywire with everything telling him to get out of here and run away from the tower.
Tony being Tony instantly noticed the change in his young prodigy as he stiffened up, not wishing to draw unwanted attention the most comfort he could provide was nothing more than a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't much but it seemed to ground him enough for now.
The bonding moment didn't last long however as Clint seemed to take notice that there was someone off on the far side of the common room.
"There you are, finally! We were about to start without y-" he stopped short, taking in who was next to the genius.
"SPIDEY!!! YOU'RE HERE!!! Now you can help me settle this debate who here is better at mario cart out of me and Sam?"
Peter rolled his eyes at their antiques before Natasha told them off for bugging him.
As he sat down between her and his mentor, he noticed someone who he never thought he would see again. After all, he was supposed to be dead wasn't he.
Of course, in that moment, the silent, brooding man at the end of the table made eye contact with the spider.
And in an instant his senses screamed, and he knew, this was the same man he left on that hill a few decades prior.
But before he could think much of it Natasha shoved a plate in his hands.
"Hope you like stroganoff."
And while he tried not to let it show, he could feel the man's eyes on him for the rest of dinner. A curious and dangerous aura emitting from him.