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Peter was practically bouncing on his feet as he waited for Happy to come pick him up. Students rushed past him as they were eagerly making their way home from school to officially start off the weekend, but Peter wasn’t going home. Instead, he was going to be spending the weekend at the Avengers Compound. It had been tradition for a long time now that the team always spent some time together in the last weekend of the month. They mostly had movie nights and sometimes also game nights, but tonight was campfire night and Tony had invited Peter to come. The kid had been looking forward to it all week but now when the day had finally come, he couldn’t help but be a little nervous. Of course he’d met the Avengers before; he sometimes joined in on the training sessions, and he’d also helped out on a few of the smaller missions, but Peter had never been present on the so-called team nights. Well, he and Tony had often ended up watching a movie on the couch after a lab session and Peter also clearly remembered that one time he’d played Monopoly with Tony, Pepper and Rhodey (Tony had been a complete pain in the ass after he’d won, and Peter had sworn to never play it with him again.) But Peter had never been together with the whole team at once without it being superhero related, and he didn’t have any idea how to act around all the others when not in suits.
He was pulled out from his thoughts when a black car suddenly came to a halt in front of him. Peter went to the backseat and opened the door.
“Hi, Happy,” the boy greeted as he got inside the vehicle, closing the door with a loud thud.
“Hey, kid. How’s school?”
“Boring, homework, the usual, y’know.”
Happy just nodded and didn’t say anything else. He was a man of few words, especially when talking to Peter, but the kid still felt like the man was slowly starting to like him. He at least hoped so.
The trip was driven in silence with Peter texting Ned, promising to tell his friend everything about the weekend when they saw each other in school on Monday. Peter had just started on his math homework when the car pulled into the huge garage of the Compound.
“Well, kid, out you go,” Happy said, looking into the rear-view mirror. Peter grabbed his backpack and opened the door.
“Thanks for the ride, Happy.” He crawled out of the car and made his way towards the elevator.
“Good afternoon, Peter,” FRIDAY greeted as the elevator started its ascent. “Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah, it was okay, Fri.” The kid never really knew where to look when talking to the AI. He always just ended up looking at the ceiling rather awkwardly.
“Where’s Mister Stark?” he wondered.
“Mister Stark is currently in his lab. I informed him of your arrival, and he wants you to meet him there.”
With a soft ding, the elevator doors slid open. Peter stepped out into the living area, surprised to see that no one was there. He made his way down the hall towards Tony’s lab. The man was tinkering with what looked to be one of the Iron Man suit repulsors when the kid entered.
“Hi, Mister Stark.”
Tony looked up from his work and smiled when his eyes landed on the kid.
“Hey, Pete. How was school?”
Peter dropped his backpack on the floor by the couch and made his way to where Tony was working.
“Boring,” he said, sulking. Tony smirked at that and made to stand up. He reached a hand out to ruffle the kid’s curls, but Peter was already out of his reach, curiously looking over what was sprawled out on the working table.
“What’re you working on?”
“Nothing special, just a damaged repulsor.” He reached for his cup of coffee and took a big gulp, grimacing when he realized the liquid was no longer warm. “I wanted to show you something, actually. I’ve been working on some new updates for your suit and we’ve still got some time to kill before we’re going to meet up with the others.”
Peter’s face lit up like a child on Christmas and he eagerly followed Tony to the table where half a dozen of papers was spread out, all showing the Spider Man suit from different angles.
It was almost two hours later when FRIDAY informed them of the time. Like so many other times, both Tony and Peter had managed to get so caught up in their work they just completely forgot about everything else. They were supposed to have met with the others half an hour ago, so when they finally made it to the campfire, all the others were already there.
“Here they are,” Natasha said from where she was sitting on a log a few feet from the crackling fire. Opposite of the woman were Rhodey and Bruce, the two sharing a log of their own. They were all looking at Tony and Peter as the two approached the fire.
“Got caught up in some upgrades and didn’t realize what time it was,” Tony explained nonchalantly as he sat down on a log of his own. Peter was about to sit down as well when someone suddenly called out his name somewhere behind him. The kid turned around to see Captain freaking America standing in front of him.
“I’m glad you could join us, son.”
Peter shuffled on his feet as he stammered out a reply, “Well, thanks for—, for letting me come, Mister Captain America, sir.”
Behind them, Tony fondly rolled his eyes at Peter’s nervous stuttering.
Steve smiled. “Just call me Steve, Peter.”
“Okay, um—, sure, Steve,” Peter said, nodding his head vigorously.
Tony’s head snapped up at that, giving the kid a look of betrayal. “Now, hold on a damn second. Why does he get to be Steve when I, after all this time, am still just Mister Stark? I’ve told you at least a hundred times that Mister Stark makes me feel old. Call me Tony.”
Peter shrugged, an innocent smile on his face. “I’m sorry, Mister Stark, but it’s just not the same.”
“In what way is it not the same? Please, enlighten me, kid.”
Someone suddenly called on Peter from behind and the kid gladly welcomed the distraction, so he didn’t have to answer Tony’s question.
“I’m sorry, Mister Stark, but it looks like Mister Barton needs me for something.”
Tony was watching Peter’s retreating back with a fake glare and called out, “We’re not done yet.” The only answer he got from the kid was a laugh.
Peter soon found himself standing in front of Clint, Sam and ohmygodthor. The boy tried really hard to play it cool, but it was very difficult when a literal god was standing in front of him. And now said god was also speaking to him.
“Ah, Man of Spiders, I’ve heard very much about you. It is nice to finally meet you in person.”
Peter tried to act normal, he really did, but he’d never met Thor before and not only was he an Avenger, he was also the God of Thunder. And the God of Thunder had just said that he’d heard about Peter and that it was nice to meet him. Ned would probably pass out when he heard about this.
“Mister Thor God of Thunder, sir. It’s, um—, it’s nice to meet y-you too.” The boy mentally kicked himself for stuttering, but the others either didn’t notice or they just didn’t care.
“You ever played soccer before, kid?” Clint asked and threw the ball to Peter, the boy catching it without even thinking.
“Well, I’ve played it in school once, but I, uh—, I wasn’t very good at it. That was before I got my powers, though.”
“But you know the rules, right?” Sam asked and pointed a finger at Thor beside him. “‘Cause Thor wanna learn how to play and we thought you could help us teach him.”
Peter’s eyes widened slightly. Before Spider Man, Peter had hated everything where sport was involved. His asthma had prevented him from running more than one minute straight without his lungs starting to act up, and then, when he’d gotten his powers which had made his asthma disappear, Peter still couldn’t do any sports because it would look suspicious if he’d suddenly been able to easily run thirty minutes without any problems. So, Peter had just never bothered with any kinds of sports at all. But his uncle Ben had loved to watch a good soccer match on the TV and Peter had usually watched it with him, so he knew the basic rules of the game.
“Sounds fun! But, um—, don’t you think we’re a little too few to play an actual game?”
Clint nodded and looked towards the others. “Cap is in for a game and I think he’s trying to persuade at least one of the others to join in as well.”
Peter followed the man’s gaze and watched as Steve said something to Tony who shook his head in a refusing manner.
“Come on, Mister Stark, it’s only one game,” Peter called, the man turning his head.
Tony looked at the pleading kid who, at that moment, looked more like a twelve-year-old than a sixteen-year-old. But the man kept his ground and shook his head. “I’m not doing it. I’m getting too old for this stuff.”
Peter let out a sigh of defeat and looked down in disappointment, but it was soon replaced by a cheeky grin as an idea popped into his mind. “Just one game. Please, Tony.”
Clint snorted behind him and Rhodey burst out laughing. For a few seconds, Tony actually looked taken aback but it was quickly hidden by a mock glare.
“You’re one sneaky little devil.”
Peter just smiled innocently; eyes huge. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It didn’t work, y’know.”
Peter sighed and was about to admit his defeat when Bruce spoke up, “Honestly Tony, the kid didn’t call you Mister Stark and now you’re rejecting the one wish he has. If anything, I would say it’s you who’s the evil one here.”
Tony looked around at all the pointed looks he was getting from literally everyone there. “Why is everyone suddenly taking the kid’s side? He’s been here for what, like, five minutes and you’re already going against me. I’m wounded.”
No one said anything. They all just kept staring at Tony. It was only about ten seconds later when he decided to give in. “Okay, then. One game. One.” Tony couldn’t help the smile on his lips when he saw the huge grin on Peter’s face.
Oh, the things I do for this kid, Tony thought as he made to stand up.
They split up in two teams with three men on each; Peter, Tony and Steve on one team and Sam, Clint and Thor on the other. Peter tried explaining Thor the rules in the simplest way possible. (“You just kick the ball and aim for the other team’s goal, Mister Thor.”)
It turned out that Thor was actually pretty good, that is if you ignored the fact that he kept forgetting soccer was a team sport. Every time he had the ball, he just ran past everyone and steered towards the opponent’s goal, pushing everyone out of his way. The others were a bit scared to come close when the god was in charge of the ball. It was obvious that Thor played to win. At one point, Peter dared trying to take the ball from Thor but all it earned him was an elbow in the ribs. His spidey senses had tried to warn him but he hadn’t had the time to react before he’d collided with the ground.
“Okay, I think that’s enough exercise for today,” Tony called out, breathing heavily from all the running. He looked at Thor, clearly irritated. “Pointbreak here clearly doesn’t understand the rule ‘no physical contact’.”
Thor smiled sheepishly at the others, moving to where Peter was still lying on the grass.
“I’m sorry, Peter. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” He reached a hand out towards the boy, which Peter hurriedly accepted.
“It’s okay, Mister Thor. It was my own fault, really,” the boy said, even though it clearly was not his fault.
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Jeez, kid. You’re unbelievable.”
Peter just shrugged and sent the man a sheepish smile.
They all decided to end the match and made their way towards the campfire where food was almost ready.
“You alright?” Tony asked, voice low so only Peter would hear. The kid looked at the man with a questioning gaze, silently asking him to elaborate. “That was a pretty rough fall back there.”
Peter’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh, that,” he said with a small chuckle. “That was nothing, Mister Stark. Thor barely touched me.”
Tony rolled his eyes in a disbelieving manner. “You keep telling yourself that, kiddo.”
A few hours later, Peter had eaten almost seven hot dogs. That was more than what Thor and Steve had eaten, and to say Peter was full would have been an understatement. He felt like he was going to puke if he ever saw a hot dog again. But just as he thought there wasn’t room left for anything else in his stomach, Natasha dug out some chocolate and marshmallows and also a packet of graham crackers. Peter suddenly didn’t feel as full as he’d been only moments before. S’mores were one of his absolute favorite treats. It was something he remembered making with his aunt and uncle when he was younger.
“Please, don’t tell me you’re going to make those sticky sandwiches people for some reason call dessert,” Tony said, eyeing the wooden sticks in disgust.
“You’ve never had a campfire before, Tony?” Clint asked as he pierced the stick through the marshmallow.
“S’mores are kinda, like, a part of the whole deal. Everyone knows that,” Sam added.
“It’s disgusting.” Tony wrinkled his nose, warily eyeing the marshmallow Natasha had just handed him. He looked to where Peter was sitting beside him, the kid already biting into his own treat of melted marshmallow, chocolate and crackers.
“How can you eat that?” the man asked.
Peter turned his head, looking at Tony as if he’d grown another head. “How can you not? These are, like, the best treats in the world.”
Tony just shook his head in disbelief.
They stayed around the fire for a long time after that, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Peter stared into the live coals, a happy sensation flowing through his body. He felt a yawn build up all the way down from his stomach as his eyes started to droop.
“I think we’ll call it a day. It’s way past Spiderbaby’s bedtime,” Tony joked, watching as the kid fought to stay awake.
Peter tried sitting more upright and shook his head. “’M not t’red.”
“Sure thing, buddy. Come on.”
Peter sighed but stood up, nonetheless. Despite how much he wanted to stay, he really was tired. “G’night, everyone.”
There was a chorus of everyone’s ‘goodnight’ or ‘bye’ and ‘thanks for today’. Peter felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and he didn’t even have to look up to know it was Tony.
“You don’t have to go with me, y’know. I can go by myself if you want to stay,” he murmured quietly as they started the walk back to the Compound.
“Oh, I know.” The billionaire didn’t say anything else, he just kept on walking.
“Thanks for inviting me today, Mister Stark,” Peter said a little while later.
The man shrugged nonchalantly as if it was nothing. “You already spend so much time here anyway, so it was only right.”
The boy’s face twisted into a cheeky grin as he looked up at his mentor. “Does this mean that I’m an Avenger?”
“Easy there, kid. One step at a time.” Tony couldn’t help the fond smile that formed on his lips as Peter chuckled.
“I really had fun today, y’know.”
“Yeah?”
Peter nodded his head in confirmation and tried to stifle a yawn.
“I thought you said you weren’t tired?” Tony said, raising an eyebrow in accusation.
The boy shrugged and mumbled, “Maybe I lied a little.”
Tony smirked and ruffled the kid’s hair. “Glad we got that settled.”
The man hurriedly pulled back his hand when he felt something sticky in Peter’s hair. Seeing what it was, Tony rolled his eyes and snorted. “See, this is why I don’t like those marshmallow sandwiches. They are everywhere even after you’ve eaten them.”
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Extra
“He can say whatever he wants, but that kid has him wrapped around his little finger,” Clint said as they all watched Tony and Peter walk back towards the Compound. He knew how parenthood looked on people - he was a father himself after all - and it was obvious that Tony loved the kid as a son and vice versa.