Chapter Text
Peter dropped his bag on the floor of his bedroom, and looked at his calendar. Four more days of school, and then he gets to spend the whole summer at the Avengers compound, as a part of his “internship”. Really, it was for him to get some actual superhero training, and to give May a break and let her travel to Europe, like she always wanted to.
He glanced around his mess of a room. On his bed, there was a half packed suitcase, which he had started packing that morning. The rest of the stuff he had to fold and put in the suitcase were covering his floor, and draped across every surface. His desk was a mess of paper, textbooks and assorted writing utensils. He sat down on his desk chair. When you go to a school for young geniuses, the work never stops, not even on the last few days of school. He pulled a worksheet from his bag and got to work, trying to ignore his Spiderman suit which was crumpled up in the corner, neglected. He hadn’t been out in awhile, which was weighing on him like a ton of bricks- actually, with his super strength, a ton of bricks is nothing. So it was weighing on him like the hulk. A couple of hulks. Analogies aside, it was weighing on him heavily. But he had to finish his work, because if he didn’t get this in, he would be a sophomore for another year.
So he knuckled down, and got to work. After a couple of hours, he finished the work he had to do that night. He checked his watch. It’d be a couple of hours till May got home. She picked up a double shift to help cover the cost of her trip, despite Tony offering to pay for it countless times. May was stubborn though, and said she didn’t want any handouts.
Peter eyed the suit in the corner. Technically he wasn’t supposed to go out on school nights, and it was a Monday night, but he had finished all of his homework, and it’d been so long since he’d last been out. Maybe no one would remember the rules.
Grinning, he quickly changed into the suit, and crawled out the window.
“Hey, Karen.” Peter said, surveying the city, “Any crime?”
“Good evening Peter, I cannot detect any crime at the moment,” Karen replied, “Would you like me to alert you when I do?”
“Yes, please.”
Peter took off, swinging around the city, waving at little kids, and taking pictures with tourists.
“Peter?”
“What’s up, Karen?” Peter shot a web, aiming for a building a little ways from him.
“Mr. Stark is calling.”
“Don’t pick up!” Peter yelled, and caught off guard, he missed his target and started free falling.
“Too late.” Tony’s voice came through from Peter’s speakers, sounding not at all happy.
“Karen!” Peter moaned, grabbing the side of a building as he fell, and crawling up onto the roof.
“I’m sorry Peter,” Karen said, sounding actually apologetic, “Technically though, Mr. Stark is my boss and he out ranks you.”
“That’s not fair!” Peter cried, sitting on the edge of the building.
“I can’t control my protocols, Peter, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Karen, it’s not your fault.”
“Are you two done?” Tony asked cooly.
“Yes, sir.” Karen said.
Peter just sighed.
“Peter, are you aware of what day it is?” Tony asked, knowing that Peter was fully aware.
“No?” Peter said, doubtful that that excuse would get him out of trouble.
“Try again, kid.”
“Okay, fine, I know I’m not supposed to be out, but I did all of my homework, and I haven’t been out in so long!”
“Peter, we-”
“Yeah, I know, we have rules for a reason, blah blah blah, can’t I just have 10 more minutes?”
“Nope. Home time. Let’s go, get it moving, hop along, young grasshopper.”
“Okay, fine, on my way.” Peter said, sighing, “Karen, end call.”
“Sure, Peter.”
“Karen, Tony can see my location, right?”
“Yes he can.”
“Is it specific location, or general area?”
“It’s specific location, Peter. I don’t think there are any loopholes here.”
“Alright.” Peter sighed, defeated. “Slowest route home, please. Maybe some crime on the way there?”
“I’ll try my best.”
It was a quiet night. Nearly no crime. Until Peter got a block away from his apartment, he heard some shouts.
“There’s no way I can ignore that, right Karen?” Peter said, glancing in the direction it was coming from.
“From what I can tell from camera feeds nearby, it looks to be a low level theft from a young lady on the street.” Karen replied.
“How many?” Peter asked, already heading in the direction of the noise.
“Two attackers. Victim looks to be in her early twenties and the attackers both seem to be male, late twenties.”
“Armed?”
“One has a small knife.”
Peter arrived at the scene of the crime, and crouched on a building over looking it. There were two men cornering a girl, who was clutching a purse between her arms, and her eyes were wide in terror. One of the guys were pointing a knife towards her.
“Hand over the purse.” One guy said, the one with the knife, getting closer. Peter figured it was time to intervene.
“If you want a purse so bad, there’s a great shop a couple blocks down from here.” Peter commented, dropping down behind them, causing them to jerk around to look at him. “They sell purses for men and women, and I heard there’s a sale!”
“You’re…you’re the Spiderman?” One guy said, awe evident on his face.
“Nah, I’m Captain America.” Peter joked, then looked down at his Spiderman suit. “Oh, this whole get up? Yeah, it’s laundry day. Can’t fight crime if my star’s covered in dirt!”
“What?” The men said, looking at each other, confused.
“Think fast!” Peter shot a web at the first guy with one wrist, knocking him off his feet and disarming him, then shot a web at the second guy, pulling him towards himself.
“How’s it going?” Peter asked, kicking him back.
He walked over to where the first guy was lying, and dragged him towards the wall, webbing him there.
“Watch out!” The girl yelled, right as his spidey sense went off.
He turned around just in time to stop the brick that the second guy was swinging towards him.
“Where’d you even get a brick?” Peter asked, tossing it aside and grabbing the guy by his shirt.
Peter tossed the guy towards the wall, and webbed him where he landed, a couple feet above the ground.
“Uh, Mr. Spiderman sir?” The guy said.
“Yeah, what’s up buddy?” Peter replied, slightly confused. They don’t usually engage in conversation afterwards. They mostly just accept defeat.
“I’m, um, kinda afraid of heights? So maybe you could web me closer to the ground like you did with my associate-”
“You’re afraid of heights? That’s funny, cause I’m afraid of bricks hitting my skull.” Peter replied, then turned to the girl.
“Thanks for the warning. Do you want me to walk you home?”
“No thanks,” she replied, smiling, “I just live a few blocks away. Thank you, though.”
“It’s what I do, ma’am.” Peter said, nodding at her, then swung away.
“Keep a watch on her until she gets home, Karen.” Peter said.
“Already on it.”
“Hey, Tony, just thought I’d let you know I just got home.” Peter said on the phone.
“Yeah, I know buddy. Took a little longer than I’d expect it to.” Tony replied.
“Okay, I made a quick detour, but these guys were cornering this girl and-”
“It’s okay, kid. I got the report from Karen. Nice work. I’m proud of you.”
“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Peter said, unintentionally smiling at the validation from his mentor and father figure.
“Alright, get to sleep so you aren’t late for school tomorrow. Goodnight, Pete.”
“Goodnight, Tony.”
Peter hung up, and changed into his pyjamas. May wouldn’t be home till late and gave Peter very strict instructions not to wait up.
He flopped into bed, and fell into a peaceful sleep, no longer feeling like he’d been abandoning his city.
The next day was the last day at school, and Peter was to be picked up by Happy and brought straight to the Avengers Tower for the summer, since May’s flight left while he was still at school.
“Call me everyday, alright?” May said, hugging Peter with tears in her eyes.
“I know, May.” Peter replied, blinking away his own tears that were threatening to come out.
“And if you need me, I can be back just like that.” She said, snapping her fingers to demonstrate how fast she could be.
“Don’t worry about me, May. I’ll be fine.” Peter reassured her.
“I’ll always worry about you, Pete.”
Peter smiled at her. They both wiped their eyes, composing themselves.
“You better get to school,” May said, handing him the last lunch of his sophomore year.
Peter checked his watch, then groaned when he saw he was running late.
“Crap! I have to go!” He yelled, grabbing the lunch and giving May a kiss on the cheek, “Call me when you land! I love you! Have fun!”
He grabbed the suitcase he had packed for the tower, his backpack and then shot out the door. He made it to school just in time.