Chapter Text
Peter had excitedly been awaiting camp for weeks. His aunt had been signing him up for years now, ever since he was eight years old. Now that he was 14, Peter was still going. His excitement had not wavered in the slightest.
The city gave way to the woods in the blink of an eye, and Peter knew they were close. Aunt May laughed as her nephew squirmed in his seat. Not once had she seen a bored expression on his face when it came to camp. It warmed her heart that the joy never left Peter as he continued to grow.
"Someone's excited," May said with a grin. Peter momentarily took his eyes off the the view outside his window.
"I'm always happy to go to camp. I'll get to see Steve and Tony again." They were counselors at the camp, and his favorite by far. Them and counselor Natasha.
"They'll be excited to see you, too, Peter. If you keep wiggling, though, you'll make yourself carsick." Peter winced at the idea. His first time at camp, he'd gotten motion sick during the car ride. Unfortunately, he'd vomited not even five minutes after exiting the car. He'd tried to get rid of that memory. May could sense his disgust.
"Don't worry, I won't let that happen this year."
It wasn't long before the camp came into sight. The cabins were barely visible through all the pine trees surrounding the entrance. Peter's initial excitement resurfaced.
As soon as the car stopped, Peter dashed out onto the gravel road and made for the campground. Steve was the first person he found. Without any hesitation, Peter wrapped his arms around Steve in a hug.
"Woah, there. Are you getting stronger, or am I just getting old?" Steve joked. He bent down and ruffled Peter's hair.
"I think you're getting old, Rogers." Tony appeared from his cabin, his strides as confident as ever.
"Tony!" Peter exclaimed. He ran over to the counselor and hugged him just as hard as he had Steve.
"Okay, kid. That's enough for now. I have a reputation, remember?" Peter laughed and nodded. Aunt May came walking up the trail, her keys jangling in her hand.
"Peter, don't run off so quickly like that. I'll start to think you love them more than me," she said.
"Of course not, Aunt May. I would never." Steve went to shake May's hand, as he always did.
"It's been a while. We were starting to miss him."
"He's been missing you and Tony just as much. Even during the school year, all he talked about was coming back to see you guys." Peter glowered at her for telling him that. As far as he was concerned, that was confidential. There was no way he was letting that inflate Tony's already immense ego.
"I did not!" He exclaimed.
"You did, and you know it."
Tony already was grinning ear-to-ear. Peter sighed and gave up trying to stop her. "Missed us that much, huh, Parker?" Tony said.
"Maybe."
Steve interjected as he noticed more campers pouring in. "I hate to break up your moment, but we need to greet the new arrivals." It was mostly aimed at Tony, who groaned and joined him.
"See ya later, kid." Peter waved and waited with his aunt as more campers filed in through the trail. A couple of new faces popped up, but the rest were familiar to him. Peter's eyes lit up when he spotted Harry, his best friend at camp and back home.
Peter cupped his hands around his mouth to better grab his attention. "Harry!" His friend turned at the sound of his voice and ran towards him.
"Peter! I knew I'd find you here," Harry said with a big smile. "You never miss camp, do you?"
"I never will, if I have anything to say about it," Peter told him. Camp was his favorite place during the summer, and he'd be damned if he ever missed it.
"I don't see the appeal of this place," Harry sighed. He was only attending because his father thought it would be good for him. Unfortunately, he had no say in the matter.
Steve and Tony reappeared with a large group of kids surrounding them. It looked like they were getting ready to give out cabin assignments. Peter pulled Harry towards them and waved at Aunt May, who was on her way to leave.
"Alright, listen up. I'll be placing you in a cabin with a few other campers. You'll each be assigned under another counselor, who will be responsible for you and the activities you do each day." Whispers were exchanged between kids as the returning campers attempted to guess who they would be placed with.
By now, the other counselors had joined in to take their campers to the cabins. Peter waved when he saw Natasha coming from hers. She returned the wave as she stood next to Steve, her hands clasped behind her almost militaristically.
"With Clint, we have Kate, Jean, America…" Peter mostly drowned out Steve's voice for a moment. He took in the earthy smell emanating from the forest around him. The wind blew lightly over the clearing that made up most of the camp. If he tried hard enough, he could just make out the smell of the lake. This was everything he'd been looking forward to. Once the school bell rang, camp was at the forefront of his mind. It was a relaxing place to be, even if Harry didn't see it.
Peter snapped back to reality when he heard his name. "Peter, you'll be in Natasha's cabin," Steve called out. When Harry's name followed his, he almost cheered. He was hoping against all odds they'd get to room together.
When everyone had been assigned, Peter practically dragged Harry towards their cabin where Natasha was waiting. He threw his belongings on the bed and hugged her, almost catching her off-guard. Almost.
"Hi, Nat! Did you miss me?" He asked.
"I sure did, Peter. I'm glad you're still coming every summer." Peter beamed at her, the little gap in his teeth showing. He mentally slapped himself when he realized she didn't know Harry yet.
"This is my friend, Harry. He's new." Harry hesitated before shaking her hand. When she left them to greet the other camper, Peter grabbed his bag and climbed the ladder to the top bunk. Harry claimed the bottom.
He peeked his head over the rail. "You're gonna love it here," he told Harry, who wasn't nearly as enthusiastic. "We get to do lots of cool things like archery, crafts, swimming…" His list could have gone on forever. Harry wished he could share his friend's excitement, but he wasn't feeling it.
"Yeah. Fun," he mumbled. Peter noticed his lack of enthusiasm. Maybe Harry didn't love it yet, but he was determined to change his mind before summer was over.
"Yo, Peter. Harry." In the doorway, Gwen was standing with a bag over her shoulders. She sat down on the bunk beside them. "Glad to see we're sticking together," she said. Like Peter, Gwen attended camp most summers, except when she was out of state on vacation.
"Good to see you, too," Peter agreed. "Isn't Miles also with us?"
"Yep. He should be here any second." While they waited for their other friend, they started unpacking and getting comfortable. Peter glanced out of a window at the far end. One thing he loved about Natasha's cabin was how close to the lake it was. The view was his favorite. He could see the wind rippling the water's surface. It was almost picturesque, really.
Natasha marched back inside and started to go over their day's schedule.
"We'll be starting off at the archery range today. Clint is expecting us there with his campers in about 10 minutes," she informed them. "Be ready by then." She slinked off again for the time being. Not even two minutes after, Miles showed up. Gwen caught him up on the first activity while he unpacked his bag.
The wind was barely noticeable today. Great weather for some archery, Clint would say. Campers were lined up in front of targets, each one with a bow in hand. As he was obliged to, Clint went over safety rules to prevent unfortunate accidents.
"I feel like this is self-explanatory, but please don't point these at other people," he warned. "I don't need to be responsible for anything stupid you guys do. If an emergency does come up, I will go with you to Bruce, our 'nurse' of sorts." Clint laughed to himself. Bruce despised being called that.
"When I blow this whistle, I want you to load the arrow and take a shot. Keep in mind, this is not a competition. Because if it was, I'd smoke all you bastards."
"Clint," Natasha said through gritted teeth.
"Right, right. Sorry. On your mark, get set…" He paused dramatically before blowing the whistle. Arrows whizzed through the air, most missing the targets. The only one hitting them was Kate, it seemed. Even Clint was impressed with how easily archery came to her.
He leaned over to Natasha and whispered, "How long do you think it'll take for someone to get injured?"
"I don't think they'll even make it past ten minutes." As she predicted, Kurt accidentally let an arrow stray in the wrong direction. He'd almost hit Gwen. Kurt apologized profusely until she had reassured him it was fine. Anxiously, Kurt made a second attempt. He missed, but it went in the correct direction.
Clint sighed. "This is gonna be a long day."