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Peter entered the elevator. “Hi, FRIDAY! Where’s everyone at?”
“Good morning, Peter. Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Wilson are in the common kitchen. Ms. Maximoff and Vision are walking towards the common area as I speak. Dr. Banner is in his lab. Mr. Barton is currently in the vents. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes left one hour and 15 minutes ago to pick up breakfast. Boss is sleeping, and Pepper insists that no one disturb him unless ‘the tower is falling down,’ in her words.”
“Thanks for the update. I guess I’ll go to the common area then.” Peter was mildly amused that FRIDAY deferred to Pepper over Tony. Within a few seconds, the elevator opened to the common floor, and he stepped out. Vision and Wanda were walking towards one of the couches in front of the television. Sam and Natasha were talking across the island from one another.
Without looking towards the elevator, Sam called out, “Finally, what took you so long?”
“Um… Happy just dropped me off. I didn’t think traffic was that bad from Queens? Sorry.” He fiddled with his backpack straps before making his way to the kitchen island.
“Sorry, Peter! Thought you were Steve and Bucky. They left to get breakfast for everyone, including you, like an hour ago, and they still haven’t returned.”
“I’m starting to think that Sam will turn into a Snickers commercial any minute now.” Natasha winked at Peter.
“Ms. Nat, what celebrity do you think he will turn into?” Peter sat down next to Natasha.
“I’m hoping for Will Smith.”
“Okay you two, cut it out. I’ll just drink another cup of coffee.” Sam went to pour another cup, but there was hardly any left in the pot. Under his breath, he muttered, “Or I’ll make another pot of coffee for everyone.” Only Peter could hear the second comment, and his lips twitched into a grin.
Nat caught his attention. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Can I have coffee once Sam makes more?”
“Absolutely not. FRIDAY told all of us that you are banned from having coffee or energy drinks without Tony’s direct approval. Apparently you came up with a new web solution, fixed a broken repulsor on the Iron Man suit, solved an equation that had stumped Bruce for two weeks, and then had to be coaxed down from the corner of the ceiling as you were falling asleep because you insisted that since that’s where spiders sleep, you sleep there too. And this was all in 45 minutes.”
“In my defense, it was finals. I was cramming for my history and chemistry exams and needed to stay awake for a little longer, so I downed three energy drinks in an hour and then drank a few 5-Hour Engeries on top of that. I was also sleep deprived.”
“How did Tony get you down from the ceiling?”
“I don’t remember anything after downing the energy drinks, so you’ll have to ask Mr. Stark.”
Natasha hummed. “So, what do you want to drink? There’s orange juice, water, Steve’s weird green smoothies, milk…”
“Orange juice sounds great.” Peter stood up to get it but Natasha motioned for him to sit down.
“Sam, can you please get Peter a glass of orange juice?”
The man in question looked up from where he was fiddling with the coffee pot. “Do I look like a Starbucks barista to you?”
Natasha glared. “You’re making coffee. If the slipper fits…”
“Fine.”
Sam turned to get a glass when Natasha spoke up again. “And can you make me some Earl Grey tea, please.”
“Sure.”
With Sam preoccupied for the next few minutes, Natasha turned back towards Peter and whispered. “So, spill.”
“Spill what?” Peter matched her tone. He tried to play dumb, although he knew it was a bad idea with the superspy.
“About your knee. I know your wearing a brace, although you matched your jeans to it to try and hide the fact that your wearing it in the first place.”
He sighed. “I injured it on patrol last night. I had May look at it and she said that I didn’t tear anything and it would heal in a few days. The brace is so that it doesn’t hurt as much to walk.”
Natasha nodded, satisfied with his answer. Before she could comment, Sam interrupted. “Here’s your OJ, Peter,” he slid it across the counter. “And your microwaved tea water will be out in a minute.”
“Thanks Mr. Sam.”
“It’s no problem.” Turning back to the coffee machine, he whooped, “It’s done brewing; I can finally have my second cup of coffee!”
“Wow, he’s almost on Tony’s level of dramatics over coffee,” Natasha deadpanned.
“Speaking of Mr. Stark, do either of you know why Ms. Potts issued FRIDAY to radio silence him?”
Sam shook his head while Natasha thought for a minute before speaking. “I believe he’s been fairly stressed this week. He had multiple shareholder meetings, which he hates. To calm his nerves and to make up for lost time due to the meetings, he would work in his lab and only get an hour or two of sleep. Apparently, he crashed around 11pm last night. Something got him really worked up, but he was so exhausted that he fell asleep before he could do anything about it. That’s when Pepper issued the do-not-disturb order on Tony. It should be lifted once he wakes up.”
“Okay.” Peter then realized that he was still wearing his backpack. “I’m going to put my bookbag in my room. I’ll see you in a few.”
When Peter reentered the common area, he saw Steve and Bucky emerging from the elevator. They each carried two large boxes in their arms. As they set them on the counter, Sam exclaimed, “Where have you guys been for the past hour and a half? It shouldn’t take that long to get breakfast.”
Natasha interjected, “He was reaching Stark levels of melodrama.”
“Hey, be nice! What did you get us for breakfast?”
“Using Google, Bucky found out this doughnut shop in Brooklyn that we used to go to is still open. They’re the best doughnuts around, so we wanted everyone to try them. Hence breakfast today.”
Peter wandered towards the kitchen as Steve gave his speech. At the end, he blurted “Back at it again at Krispy Kreme.”
Before he could attempt the flip, Clint fell out of the ceiling vent in front of Peter. “Perfect timing, Mr. Clint.”
“We didn’t even plan that.” Clint stood up and high-fived Peter. “That was a good one.”
“Thanks.”
It was quiet in the kitchen until Wanda burst out laughing. Vision and Natasha were amused, Sam and Bucky were confused, and Steve was annoyed. “Peter, these are obviously not from Krispy Kreme. Are you feeling okay?”
That made Wanda laugh even harder, doubling over herself. Once she composed herself, she addressed Steve. “It’s a reference to a Vine. They’re six second videos. RIP Vine.” She made a cross over her chest, and Peter echoed her.
Steve looked even more baffled, while Bucky’s eyes lit up in recognition. He nudged Steve and gave him an ‘I’ll show you later’ look. Steve pulled himself together and addressed the group. “Where are Bruce and Tony?”
Sam spoke up. “Bruce is in his lab. FRIDAY, can you let him know that breakfast has finally shown up?” FRIDAY affirmed that Bruce received the message before he continued. “Tony is sleeping for once, so Pepper issued a do-not-disturb over him via FRIDAY until he wakes up.”
Steve nodded. “Sam, can you grab some plates and napkins for everyone?”
Sam sighed as Natasha chuckled, “You really are a barista this morning.”
Bruce exited the elevator and joined them at the island. “Yum, doughnuts for breakfast. And there’s more coffee." He took his mug and poured the rest of the pot into it. “Whoever’s in charge of coffee, you need to make more.”
After setting the plates and napkins on the counter, Sam started another pot of coffee, grumbling under his breath.
Steve grabbed everyone’s attention again. “Since we don’t know what everybody likes, we got one box of ½ dozen glazed and ½ dozen chocolate iced. In the other three boxes are 12 other kinds of doughnuts. Don’t forget to leave some for Tony and Pepper.”
As soon as Steve let everyone at the doughnuts, the Avengers turned into little kids. They all fought to find their favorite types of doughnut, save Steve, Bruce, and Peter. They watched the chaos in front of them. Clint and Natasha were fighting over a custard filled doughnut while Wanda calmly used her magic to bring the selected doughnuts to Vision and her. Sam bargained his barista skills to Bucky, trying to convince him to give him the last chocolate cake doughnut.
A few minutes later, everyone had dispersed from the island, save Natasha, who was cheerfully eating the custard doughnut she won from Clint. When Peter stepped closer to the counter, he noticed there were about one and a half dozen doughnuts left. Bruce and him made their selections from what was left, while Steve joined Bucky who picked out enough for both of them.
After he grabbed his doughnuts, Peter sat down at the island next to Natasha. “I’m surprised my orange juice wasn’t knocked over in the mad rush.”
Natasha licked a sprinkle from her finger. “Actually, Wanda used her magic so it wouldn’t fall over.”
“That was nice of her.” Peter took a bite from a glazed doughnut. The doughnut itself was fluffy, with the glaze not being too sticky. “This is a really good doughnut.”
“That would explain why they are still in business 90-odd years later.” They sat side by side, eating the rest of their doughnuts in relative silence.
By the time Peter finished eating his doughnuts, Clint was corralling people into playing Mario Kart with him. So far, he convinced Sam to join him, and was working on persuading Steve to play. With a bit of cajoling, he agreed. Clint then came over to Peter. “You’re a teenager, I’m sure you know how to play. Maybe you’re good enough to get second place, because no one can beat me.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun, Mr. Clint, but I have a summer physics packet that I have to work on. Ned, MJ, and I are comparing answers for the first half of the packet this weekend, and I’ve only completed a few pages of it. MJ will kill me and bring me back to life just to repeat the process if I show up without that portion of the packet finished. She’s serious about that threat too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely. If I finish and Mr. Stark still isn’t up, then I’ll join you in here and play.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“Okay,” he called out. As he continued down the hall, he heard Wanda volunteering to play. Entering his room, he could faintly hear Sam, Clint, and Wanda arguing over who would be Yoshi. Grabbing his backpack off of his bed, he made his way over to the desk and pulled out the packet. He completed about one third of it so far, and figured it would only take him an hour or so to reach the halfway mark.
57 minutes later, Peter was leaning against the back of the couch in the common area, watching Steve fail spectacularly while Vision appeared to be neck and neck with Clint. “Mr. Steve,” Peter began innocently, “you do realize you’re driving the wrong way?” As if anyone could miss the flashing U-turn sign in his quadrant of the screen.
Steve groaned. “Yes, Peter, I am aware. I just can’t figure out how to turn around.”
Clint threw his controller on the ground, frustrated. “Every single time I think I’m about to win, you swoop in at the last second and take it away from me.”
Vision smiled. “It appears that I’ve picked up this game fairly quickly, surpassing you skill level in the process.”
Wanda, meanwhile, took third place. She seemed satisfied with her outcome. That meant that everyone was waiting for Steve to finish. He finally turned his kart around, but he was still on his second lap while all the remaining racers were well into their third. Less than 30 seconds later, the screen announced that Steve officially came in last place, unable to finish the race.
Sitting down on the couch, Peter asked, “Does anyone want to drop out and give me their controller?”
Vision volunteered first. “I did not wish to place this game in the first place; I was merely filling in for Sam while he takes a phone call. Plus, Clint appears very upset about how well I have played.”
Steve cut in before Peter could respond. “Or you can take mine. I’m not really good at this game, and I think I would do better if I could play against some easy fake racers instead of these experts over here.”
“Sorry, Mr. Steve, but Vision volunteered first, so I’m trading with him.” Peter took the offered controller.
“You made the right choice, kid.” Clint patted him on the back.
“Let’s get this bread!”
Since that was the end of the round, Clint sped through the rankings page and quickly returned to the home screen. When they reached the Character Selection screen, Peter switched from Princess Peach to Toad. He then customized his kart to his liking. Once they arrived at the Course Selection screen, Clint broke down the rules. “Listen up, Pete. Each one of us picks one course in the reverse order of the standings from the previous round. Since you did not play last round, you can either take Vision’s placement, picking last, or you can pick first as the newest player. Also, you cannot pick the same course twice in a row.”
Peter picked the Zelda-themed Hyrule Circuit, Steve chose Sunshine Airport, Wanda opted for Sweet Treat Falls, and Clint selected SNES Rainbow Road (‘I want to see how many times Steve falls off!’). In the end, Peter ended up in first place after four games, with Clint in second, Wanda in third, and with a twist that surprised everyone, Steve in eleventh place instead of twelfth.
“I can’t believe you beat me.”
“I think you overshot your skill level at this game.” Peter laughed while Clint grumbled.
Steve excitedly called Bucky over. “Look! I’m getting better! I didn’t end up in last place this time!”
FRIDAY cut the bantering short. “Boss is awake and will be arriving in a few minutes. He has requested that everyone vacate the area before he arrives for reasons unknown.” Peter stood up with everyone else to leave the room when FRIDAY spoke again. “Except you, Peter. Boss would like you to stay.” He sat back on the couch, waving everyone else off.
Peter sat in the sudden silence, wondering why Mr. Stark wanted to speak to him alone. Maybe he’s going to send me back home. Or maybe he doesn’t want to work in the lab today. Or maybe… He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the door to Tony’s bedroom close. He quickly made his way to the kitchen, cleaning off the counter as best as he could. Grabbing a mug and searching the cupboard for more coffee grounds, Peter turned when he heard Tony clearing his throat.
Tony’s face looked ragged. His beard was not trimmed and underneath his eyes were identical rings of deep purple. “Good morning, well technically afternoon, Mr. Stark. Steve and Bucky bought everyone doughnuts, and I was about to make you a fresh pot of coffee.”
“Kid, when I banned you from coffee, it included the machine.” His attempt at humor fell short, exhaustion evident in his voice. Peter gave the joke a weak chuckle anyways. “Besides, I don’t trust anyone, save Pepper or Rhodey, to make my coffee for me.”
“You might be able to add Mr. Sam to that list. Ms. Nat asked him earlier when he started working at Starbucks. He made everyone’s orders like a pro.” Tony hummed noncommittally, staring intensely at the coffee machine. Waiting for there to be just enough in the pot to poor himself a mug. Peter continued, “So, what do you want to talk to me about.”
“Later. After the caffeine hits.” In one swift motion, Tony grabbed the pot of coffee, dumping it into his mug, then placed it back on the hot plate before drinking it down.
“Mr. Stark! You’re going to injure your throat.”
“My esophagus can handle it. I’ve done it before.”
“That doesn’t mean you should repeat the process!”
Tony resolutely ignored him, instead pursuing over the leftover doughnuts. Taking a bite out of a powdered, cream-filled one, he pointed accusingly at Peter. “You’re one to talk. You continue to do things I tell you not to do. You seem to think that just because something worked once, you should do it again.” He took another sip of coffee, and his entire demeanor switched. “Ah, sugar and caffeine, the two things guaranteed to get my brain to start up again. I can already tell it’s working; give me ten minutes, then we can talk.”
Peter decided to let Tony finish his breakfast in peace. He walked over to the fridge to grab a water bottle before sitting down on the couch again. He took a blanket off the couch and curled up like a cat before texting Ned. He told him all about the doughnut war, finishing half of the packet for Saturday, and the Mario Kart showdown. In response, Ned told him about his cousin coming over to announce her engagement and show off the ring. Hearing Tony walking towards him, Peter quickly told Ned that he would text him later when he was back home. He stuck his phone back into his pocket as Tony sat down next to him on the couch.
Tony looked more like his regular self, sans the size of the circles underneath his eyes. Caffeine and sugar really did work numbers on him. After getting settled, he turned towards Peter. “So, how are you feeling, kid?”
“I’m good, Mr. Stark. I’ve been enjoying summer vacation. Ned and I are currently building a Millenium Falcon; we hope to finish it by the end of the month. I think we’re building BB-8 next. And Spidermanning is going great. Since it’s summer, May extended my curfew on weekdays by two hours, meaning that I can help even more people!”
“That’s great. How has Spiderman been doing this week?”
“Pretty good. I rescued a few cats from trees, helped a kid find their mom at a festival in the park and took some selfies with a few fans. I stopped three muggings this week, and a bank robber yesterday!”
“Speaking of yesterday’s robbery, FRIDAY, will you please play that footage from Karen?”
“Of course, Boss.” The video began playing on the TV:
“When you were younger, did you play cops and robbers? Because your doing a great job modelling what a robber does.” Peter chases the would-be bank robber down the street. “Honestly, you look like one of the baddies from an old cop show.”
The criminal turns into an alleyway, and Peter follows him. It is a dead end. He has him trapped. “Or is there a mime convention I don’t know about?” Peter webs one of the robber’s hands to the wall.
Karen speaks to Peter. “The cops have been notified and are on their way, ETA three minutes.”
“Thanks, Karen.” Turning back to the criminal, Peter shoots webs at both of his feet. Cop cars can be heard in the distance, and are getting closer. “As much as I would love to spend the evening with you, Hamburglar, I’ll have to be going.”
With that, Peter shoots a web towards the top of one of the buildings. He starts to climb it when halfway up, his spidey sense tingles. He moves to the left, barely missing the bullet that whizzes past his head. While it misses him, it hits his web. Peter tumbles to the ground behind a dumpster, landing hard.
“It appears you have obtained a moderate injury to your left knee. Would you like me to contact Mr. Stark?”
He stands up and winces. “No thanks, Karen. I can walk.” The sirens are louder in the background.
Peter walks around the dumpster and fires a web at the culprit’s gun, pulling it away from him, and webs it in front of the man on the ground. He then webs the man’s other hand to the wall. “Seriously, dude? You know you that number of crimes you commit correlates to the amount of spent in prison?”
“Peter, the police will arrive in the next 30 seconds. I suggest you vacate the area.”
“Well, I gotta go. I’m sure you’ll have fun on your date with the cops. Hope I won’t see you later! Bye!” Peter shoots another web up to the top of the building and makes it onto the roof just as the police pull up.
Leaning against the lip of the roof, Peter takes a deep breath and straightens his left leg until it is straight out in front of him. He lightly probes around it, hissing quietly when he touches the top of his knee. “Karen, is my knee broken?”
“No, it appears to be swollen. I believe there is some bruising too. I suggest that you rest and ice it when your return home.”
“Thanks, Karen.” Peter stands up. “Can you please show the quickest route home?”
“Certainly, Peter. ETA is approximately seven minutes.”
“Thanks again, Karen.”
The video ended. “Care to explain what happened yesterday, Peter?”
“I stopped a bank robber?” It sounded more like a question than a statement.
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose as if he were getting a headache. “What else does the video show?”
“That the guy almost shot me? But he didn’t!”
“I meant right after he shot at you.” He sounded exasperated.
“Oh, I fell and landed hard.”
“Exactly. Karen tells you that you have a moderate knee injury and suggests that you call me, and you ignore her!” Tony’s temper starts to bleed through at the end. “Instead, you finish webbing the criminal up and then head home as if nothing happened!”
“At least I didn’t continue to patrol. You know what this is? Growth.” Peter pinches his fingers together and opens them.
Tony either ignores or does not get the reference. “Underoos, I’m glad you were smart enough to not continue patrolling, you still didn’t listen to what I told you before. When you get hurt, you’re supposed to let someone help you. Since May was at work, it should have been me.”
“Mr. Stark, I did listen to someone. Karen told me what I should do when I was on the roof. When I got home, I changed, grabbed something for dinner, and took out some frozen peas to put on my leg. I ended up falling asleep on the couch during a CSI marathon.”
“While Karen is smart, she is not a responsible adult.”
“Yeah, but she gives good advice. Besides, I did have a responsible adult look at my knee.”
“Really, who?”
“May, when she came home from work. She accidentally woke me up because she didn’t know I was sleeping on the couch. She saw the peas on the floor and asked me why they were out. I told her what happened last night, and she looked at my knee after warning me about frostbite--”
“Why was she talking about frostbite?”
“Apparently leaving frozen items on your skin for extended periods of time, even wrapped in a tea towel, can damage your skin. I had the peas on for at least three hours; I fell asleep during the fourth episode of CSI. Apparently I was only supposed to have them on for 20 minutes at a time.
“Then she gave me her whole spiel about her not wanting me to have to use my healing ability on easily preventable injuries. She uses the same speech on sunscreen.”
“I agree with her on that. Better to play it safe than have to use your healing factor.”
“Back to the story. I told her that Karen determined that I bruised my knee and didn’t tear anything. May told me about a high school girl that came in complaining about her knee. She was able to walk on it perfectly fine, but it turned out that she tore her ACL and had to have surgery.
“May decides to check my knee herself to be sure. After she prods at my knee, she determines that I didn’t tear my meniscus or one of my ligaments and just have a bruised kneecap. May tells me to stay put on the couch while she finds the knee brace that Ben used a few years ago after slipping on ice. After making sure I know how to wear it properly, she tells me to put it on after I get dressed because it will make walking hurt less. And it does! She also declared no Spiderman for at least the next four days, maybe a week.”
“Wow, you actually listened in a roundabout way.” Tony looked thoughtful. “Please tell me you’re still wearing the brace.”
“Yep.” Peter pulls the blanket off of his legs. “I’ve been wearing it since I put it on this morning.”
“All I have to do to get you to listen to medical advice is to get May to give it? Who knew? This will make things so much easier in the future.”
“She’s a nurse, Mr. Stark,” Peter pointedly said.
“I know that, Bambi. Let me see your brace.” Peter uncurled from his position and sat against the arm of the sofa, his legs out in front of him. It was a standard brace, one you could find at the corner drug store. It slipped right over the knee, and had two Velcro straps to keep it in place. “It looks good to me,” Tony said, looking it over. “Are you in pain?”
“Not really. It hurts a little bit when walking. Otherwise, I’m good.”
“Can I see it just to be sure?”
“Look at you, acting so parental.” Tony continued to stare, and Peter sighed in defeat. “If it makes you feel better, you can take a look at it too.” He took off the brace and rolled up his jeans until they were above his knee. “It’s definitely improved since this morning. My healing factor is obviously working.”
Tony looked at Peter’s swollen, red violet colored knee. If that was what it looked like better, he was afraid to know what it looked like this morning or last night. “You know, maybe we should go to the MedBay, just in case.”
“Karen said I was fine. May said I was fine. I think that means I’m fine, Mr. Stark.”
Tony ignored him. “FRIDAY, please run a scan on Peter’s knee.”
“Boss, I agree with Karen’s and Mrs. Parker’s assessments. It is unnecessary to take Peter to the MedBay, and he will be completely healed within a week.”
“Told you,” Peter muttered while rolling down his pant leg before switching gears. “Why did you kick everyone out except for me?”
“I didn’t think you wanted an audience while I reminded you to take care of your injuries and ask for help. But your ignorance wasn’t as strong with this as it usually is, so congratulations!” He threw up his hands. “A gold star for you.”
Peter put the brace on again. “Does this mean I’m not in trouble?”
“I guess. I think the lecture was enough.”
“Thanks, Mr. Stark. And since you trust me now, does that mean you’ll remove some of the protocols within my suit?”
“Haha. Nice try, kid. All of your suit’s protocols will remain at least until you earn a college degree.”
“What?” Peter shouted indignantly. “I’m considered an adult at 18. I won’t graduate from college until I’m 22.”
“While the law sees you as a legal adult at 18, your brain doesn’t stop developing until your early 20s. Plus, you can still do plenty of idiotic things while at school. The world knows I did.”
“Weird flex but okay.” Peter’s stomach growled.
“Guess it’s time to feed the Spiderbaby again.” Tony stood up from the couch, stretching. “So, what do you want to eat?” He stuck his hand out for Peter.”
“Mr. Stark.” Peter drew out the last syllable as he got up. “I’m Spiderman.”
Tony slung an arm around him and guided him to the kitchen. He sat Peter back at the counter before going to the fridge. “Since you didn’t answer, I’m thinking sandwiches.”
“You know, if you allow FRIDAY to grant access to everyone else again, we can have a build-your-own sandwich bar.”
Tony whirled around, clutching his shirt over his heart. “You wound me. Heaven forbid you spend more than 30 minutes with me at once.”
Peter snickered. “Ms. Nat wasn’t exaggerating this morning over how dramatic you can be. Don’t worry, I’m not going to replace you. I want to ask Dr. Banner a question I have in my physics summer packet, and he won’t leave his lab at the moment unless it’s for a meal or sleep. He’s only slightly better than you when it comes to self-care.”
“Fine.” Tony was digging out all of the lunchmeat and cheese he could find and setting it on the counter. “FRIDAY, please inform everyone that lunch will be make-your-own sandwiches in the common area kitchen.” He pointed to the growing pile of meat, cheese, and condiments, “Peter, please lay these out on the counter, and get out enough plates, utensils, and napkins for everyone. And find some bowls to put the chips and pretzels in.”
“On, it Mr. Stark!” He went around the counter. As he passed Tony, he was pulled into an unexpected hug.
“You know I’m not great at all of the touchy-feely things, but thank you for looking after yourself for once.” Tony ended the hug. “Now that that’s over, we can focus on what’s really important: what will we be blowing up in the lab this afternoon!”
Peter laughed.