Chapter Text
Tony looked over the fight, and noticed the crime fighting spider swinging in to join the fray. A couple of months prior Spiderman had been revealed as Peter Parker, his intern, by accident. He had been knocked down in a fight, and so they went to check up on him, and the mask had slipped off slightly which caused Peter to assume they had taken it off him.
They hadn’t, and it had taken two months before they had convinced Peter of that fact.
The teenager was surprisingly good at holding a grudge, that or he wanted to prove a point.
Either way, Tony was relieved that Peter had decided to talk to them once more. The Accords had still left a wedge between the Avengers, but they tried to work together for Spiderman’s sake.
The beast roared, and swiped at Black Widow, knocking her down. Whatever it was made of caused her to stick to the ground and made her unable to move.
Peter called from the top of a building. “You guys seem to be in a sticky situation!”
Rhodey groaned. “Who let the kid come?”
Tony couldn’t see Peter’s face, but got the gist that Peter was more or less irritated by Rhodey’s question. He swung into the fight and his webs managed to hinder the beast’s movement.
“You know, if you actually paid attention you would know that its weak points are its chest and bottom of its feet.” Peter shot at them, annoyance lacing his tone. “And it can only be hurt by small weapons, the skin is too resistant to blasts.”
Natasha grumbled. “When did you figure that out? Have you been watching us for a while?”
Peter snarked. “No, unlike you guys I actually pay attention to weak points. You should probably learn to do that. It can save your life.”
Before Natasha could snap back at Peter, Tony swooped in.
“Look. Let’s just get rid of the beast and help to clean up this mess.” Tony looked over his shoulder at Peter who had snatched a sharp piece of building framework that had fallen off with the beast’s attack.
Rhodey nodded. “Yeah, glad you came along, Spidey.”
“Don’t sound like it.” Peter hissed, but he fell silent and landed on a light post. “Except, its master is here as well. Currently walking down the street towards us.”
Natasha growled, tugging on the substance that had clung to her body. “Let me fight this master.”
“Not a good idea.” Peter muttered, an eye roll was evident in his tone. “She seems to be a master of mystic arts. You know, the wizards.”
“You know them?” Rhodey asked, dodging the beast that screamed in anger.
“I’ve met them.” Peter clarified, joining Rhodey and using War Machine as a launching pad.
“Don’t use me as a launching pad!”
“Then what else am I supposed to use you for?”
“…”
“Exactly! Anyway, pay attention!” Peter called, but Rhodey couldn’t move in time before he was being swiped to the side by the beast.
“Where is Vision?” Peter asked, webbing the beast properly, still clutching the piece of metal.
“Out of the country.” Tony said, striking the beast causing it to cry out in pain but was shoved away easily.
Peter leaped into action and caught Tony before he could smash into the side of a building.
“Let’s try and keep the damage as low as possible.”
Peter flung the metal at the beast, getting the bottom of it’s foot. The beast roared and limped away, however someone was standing on the road, watching the scene play out in front of her in amusement.
Rhodey groaned. “Is that the master?”
“Yep.” Peter confirmed. “I was wondering what was taking her so long.”
She flicked her hand. “How amusing to watch you struggle with my pet.”
“You’re a terrible owner!” Peter snapped, and Tony wondered once again where Peter’s temper came from. “No wonder it is so aggressive, it has you as its owner.”
The woman just looked more amused, if that was even possible. “Of course, it is my fault.” Her hand raised and began to glow an eerie yellow.
Friday called out in alarm in Tony’s headset, which rang through to Rhodey and Natasha. Peter must’ve been warned by Karen or by his own senses, as he was able to leap out of the way quicker than they could.
Tony looked at the yellow glow that surrounded his body, the same yellow that matched Rhodey and Natasha.
“Uh…I don’t think I should’ve missed that.” Peter yelped, landing on a lamppost.
They could only watch as Peter was struck with a green light, and Tony kicked his boosters into gear to catch the falling teenager.
The woman laughed. “Have fun.”
“Have fun? With what?” Rhodey asked, helping Natasha up.
Tony could only blink, not even caring that the sorcerer and her beast had vanished through a portal. Something was not right with Peter.
“Tones? Where is the spider-kid?” Rhodey asked as they walked over to the dumbfounded billionaire.
Natasha paused. “Is that a child?”
“The glow Peter was hit with…It must’ve caused him to de-age.” Rhodey said, looking at the child whose eyes were now open and looking at the adults with inquisitiveness.
Tony felt ice crawl along his skin.
There was no mistaking it.
He looked exactly like Zayden.
A little older, but still. The same overall.
Tony mumbled. “Zayden?”
The child tilted his head, a look of confusion on his face before realisation dawned on him. “Peter…actually.” He paused. “I was de-aged, wasn’t I?”
Natasha decided to ignore what Tony had called Peter, while Rhodey looked just as stricken as his best friend. “You appear to be five, but…”
“I guess I was only physically de-aged.” Peter shrugged, not seeming to be bothered by the fact he was currently a five-year-old.
Tony didn’t want to let Peter go. Was Peter Zayden? He must be.