Work Text:
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock
Peter’s eyes burned as he stared, unblinking at the clock on Harrington’s wall. The clock that had not seemed to move once in the past three minutes. Instead it stayed in one spot, making Peter and all of his classmates wait out the last few agonizing moments of the school year. Harrington was ranting, last minute, about all of the summer work he had assigned for the next few months.
Peter could care less, he had sweat dripping off of his brow, the stiff chair under him was making his legs numb, and all the noises from the outside city were 10 times worse because of his enhanced senses. Plus, the way Ned poked his back every thirty seconds was making it hard to concentrate on whatever it was that Harrington was saying.
Peter wasn’t the only one struggling to listen, though. Michelle was staring boredly out of the window, Betty was typing rapidly on her phone, and Flash was whispering about his summer plans with his friends.
Summer.
Three glorious months of no school work, until the last two days where Peter will inevitably pull an all nighter to finish the work he put off all summer. Three months of no Flash, no Harrington, no essays to worry about, no curfew, no more waking up at 6am, and no more stress.
Peter’s eyes strayed from his science teacher back to the clock once again, three minutes. Ten minutes until he was out of here.
Ten minutes until endless hours in the lab with Mr. Stark, training with Clint and Nat, sleepovers with his friends, and patrolling for hours on end.
Ned poked his back once more, harsher and more insistent than the several times he had before. Peter shot a furtive glance at Harrington before turning to his ‘guy in the chair’.
“What, Ned.” he whispered, flatly, eyes boring into his friends' excited ones. “What could possibly be so important that you have to interrupt Harrington’s very exciting end of year speech to tell me.”
Ned ignored Peter's snarky tone. “Check the group chat!”
Ned seemed to be vibrating in his chair so Peter did as he asked. Glancing to make sure Harrington was still distracted in the front of the room, Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Nine notifications from ‘we’re a group that chats’
keentohityou logged on-
keentohityou- Tony texted me and said the jet should be here any minute.
wakandawhenever logged on
guyinthechair logged on
wakandawhenever- im literally on the plane i could have told you that. -_-
guyinthechair- girl stop
keentohityou- Oh I’m sorry I trust literal IRON MAN more than you.
wakandawhenever- u mean the same ironman who snuck into your garage and then you shot with a potato gun
wakandawhenever- that one?
keentohityou- I’ve grown from that, I’m mature now.
wakandawhenever- not mature enough to not argue with someone younger than you
keentohityou- You sure do ride those 3 WEEKS don’t you Shuri.
Peter rolled his eyes at his friends, seriously? Already arguing? He started typing in ‘we’re a group that chats’
webz logged on-
webz- how r the 2 of u supposed to survive a 2 hour flight with 1 another if ur already arguing like kidz
guyinthechair- peter is speaking fax tbh
wakandawhenever- i have been on a plane for 13 hours
wakandawhenever- with no one but my brother to amuse me
wakandawhenever- do not speak to me
Peter turned to look back at Ned and snickered. As soon as Mr. Stark had introduced Shuri and Peter, they had gotten along splendidly.
T’Challa had come to New York during Christmas break to work on adjustment to the Accords with Mr. Stark.
Flashback-
Peter winced at the sound of hollering that came from above, his enhanced hearing easily picking up on the nasty words the group upstairs was yelling at one another. As much as he enjoyed his superpowers, the enhanced senses were a bit of a bitch at times.
Peter, donned in his Spider suit, had been banished to the lab as soon as tensions had started to rise in the meeting. Peter hadn’t needed much convincing before exiting the room, the discussions were important, he understood that, but god were they boring.
So now he was stuck downstairs in the lab, waiting for Mr. Stark to come out and check over the adjustments he had made to one of his Spider suits.
“Hey Fri.” Peter called out absentmindedly, concentrating on the fiddling he was doing with the wires coming from the suit. “Play Mother Mother”
Peter abandoned his lab stool for standing as ‘Burning Pile’ came blasting over the speakers. He let himself be carried into the work in front of him as he sang along to the catchy tune quietly, trying anything he could to block out the sound of people berating his mentor coming from above.
Peter focused on a problem area in the prototype of the suit in front of him. Hadn’t he already messed with these two wires? If so, why were they intertwined like that...
“Mother Mother?” A voice from right in front of Peter made him jump, he snapped his head up in shock. How had she gotten into the lab without Peter noticing? How had she known the code? “I like them, but my personal favorite is ‘It’s Alright’.”
The girl in front of him appeared to be around his age, she had dark skin, long braids that went down to her mid back, and seemed to be only a little shorter than Peter himself. She was wearing a cropped long sleeve shirt and cargo pants.
“Uh, it’s on shuffle.” Peter said awkwardly, glancing around for Mr. Stark. “Uh, how did you get in here?”
The young girl shrugged. “Stark told me to come entertain you for a while, though I am assuming I was not supposed to find you like this.” she motioned at Peter.
Peter furrowed his eyebrows, before he realized what she was looking at. The prototype suit in front of him and his own suit he was currently wearing. His eyes flickered over to his mask, which he had thrown next to his backpack as soon as he had made his ways back to the labs.
Peter's heart shrunk, and all he could do was try to desperately grasp at an excuse.
“Oh, uh, I-” he stopped, staring at her. She took pity on him and extended a hand to him.
“I’m Shuri.”
“Peter.”
End of flashback
webz- harls are you on the plane yet
Peter didn’t get a chance to see if Harley answered as a shadow loomed over his desk. He glanced up and met Harrington’s stern eyes peering into his. Peter leaned backwards, shoving his phone into his pocket.
“Care to share with the class, Mr. Parker?”
Peter shook his head frantically, “Not particularly, Mr. Harrington.”
Before Harrington could say anything else, the bell rang.
Summer.
Peter sprang out of his seat, swinging his book bag over his shoulder and rushing from his hot classroom. He felt a bit guilty for leaving in the middle of Harrington having a go at him, but he could think about that again in September. Peter didn’t want to think about anything from Midtown for the next three months.
He stopped at his, mostly empty, locker to take home the last of his things. Mostly just pictures he wanted to keep up until the last possible minute.
He had one of him, May and Ben around Christmas time the year before he died. Looking at it still caused a bit of a pain in his chest. He had one of him, MJ and Ned, arms interlocked, standing in times square. And his personal favorite, a selfie that Shuri took of the five of them. MJ was yelling at Harley and Ned whilst Peter and Shuri posed for the photo.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out as he closed his locker.
One attached movie from ‘we’re a group that chats’
Peter furrowed his brow and clicked into the chat.
emjay logged on
emjay- How many times do I have to remind you idiots of our time zone difference? We’re in school, enjoy this video of Peter getting in trouble with Harrington.
The video was in fact Peter getting in trouble, though shaky and zoomed in from across the room. Peter watched as Harrington stood in front of his desk as he, oblivious, continued to type on his phone. He winced and slipped it back into his pocket. Awkward.
“Not you getting caught by Harrington when you have literal super hearing.” Ned snorted, walking over to lean against the locker next to Peter’s. Peter shot his friend an exasperated look as he packed his Advanced Physics textbook into his backpack.
“Oh go ahead Ned, tell the whole school while you’re at it.” He said flatly. “That’s a great way to start our summer vacation, grounded by Mr. Stark.”
Ned didn’t let Peter’s tone bother him, instead continuing to laugh at his enhanced friend. Peter was sort of embarrassed, he should have heard Harrington coming. His enhanced senses let him hear what was being whispered in the girls bathroom three hallways away (Jessica Samson was on her third pregnancy scare of the year), yet he didn’t notice when Harrington was right above him.
Deep down he knew what it was, knew that he always lost focus when he was around or even texted him. But hey, that wasn’t something he was going to address yet.
So Peter dropped his attitude and laughed it off with his friend as he closed his locker. He grinned as they started the trek out the door with their fellow students. “Guess I was just so excited about summer I didn’t care, God am I happy to be off.”
Ned nodded eagerly as they reached the front doors. “Seriously! Peter, we’re officially Seniors now!”
Peter and Ned came to a stop at the top of the stairs in front of the school, and Peter felt sick to his stomach. Thankfully, MJ interrupted before he had to respond.
“Seniors, and yet neither of you losers act any older than you did as Freshman.” She said flatly as she made her way over to her two friends.
“I thought you didn’t like us as Freshman.” Ned shot back as the trio slowly started down the steps. “How would you know, huh?”
Peter blocked his bickering friends out as he walked, instead focusing on the world around him. He could hear everything in New York, which had been rather overwhelming when he first became Spider-Man. He had spent days navigating his new enhanced senses in the always moving New York. It had been a struggle, but Peter had eventually grown used to the sounds, and now found them comforting.
He had gone to visit Harley over Spring Break and had to adjust to the lack of noise in his small town in Tennessee. As much as Peter loved seeing Harley and spending time with him, seriously he loved it, he had missed New York.
Peter knew MJ was lying about him not acting different from Freshman year, as well. He had become Spiderman, met Harley and Shuri, figured some things out about himself, became an unofficial Avengers, met Tony fucking Stark, and almost died like four times.
And he grew quite a few inches.
“What time are Harley and Shuri landing, Peter?” Ned whined. “I can’t stand dealing with the two of you on my own anymore, I need them.”
“You’ve said that everyday since Spring Break, Ned.” Peter said fondly as the group stopped in front of his apartment building. “And it’s what? A two hour flight for Harley? So sometime later tonight probably.”
Peter turned towards his apartment, but not fast enough to miss the glance MJ and Ned threw one another.
“I’ll see you two later tonight, right? 8 at Ned’s?”
The two nodded and Peter waved before entering his building.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I’m back, May.” Peter called as he entered their shared apartment. May came rushing out of the bathroom in a whirl, hair in a messy braid, mom jeans on and shirt half buttoned. Her toothbrush was sticking out of her mouth.
“Hey baby.” she called, her voice muffled as she ran from room to room. “How was your last day?”
“It was fine.” Peter dropped his backpack next to the door as he wandered over to May’s room, leaning against her door frame as she stuffed clothes into the open suitcase on her bed. “Mostly boring stuff about summer work.”
“Oh that’s fun.” May said, distracted. She ripped her toothbrush out of her mouth and turned to her nephew. “Honey, I know you just got home but have you seen my nice pumps?”
Peter pushed himself off the door and wandered into his own room, ignoring the mess he had yet to clean up, and falling onto his bed. He pulled out his phone. “Uh, I think they’re under the couch.”
May rushed from her room into the living room, and Peter guessed he was correct based upon the triumphant yell she let out. Peter grinned and swiped open his phone.
wakandawhenever- PFFFT STOP
guyinthechair- imagine getting caught during class on the LAST day of school Peter
wakandawhenever- ned is right, you suck
Peter rolled his eyes and typed out his question.
webz- thanks for answering my question every1
webz- r u on the plane yet harls
“Hey.” May knocked gently at Peter’s door frame and Peter turned his phone off to look up at his aunt. “Can I come in?”
Whenever Peter became a teenager May became good with the whole ‘giving your teenager their own space’ thing, which Peter was thankful for. She would have found out about Spider-Man much sooner if she didn’t knock.
“Yeah May,” he called. “I’m just texting my friends.”
May entered, shirt now buttoned and toothbrush now packed away. She looked sad, though, which Peter never liked to see. He would give up everything he had in life to not see May upset.
“You’re officially a Senior now, kiddo.” she said softly, leaning against his door frame. “A big bad Senior.”
Peter grinned uncomfortably, because yeah that was weird. Wasn’t he just starting High School last week? If only he could have a twenty minute talk with his freshman self. Seriously.
“God, I feel like it was yesterday Ben and I were watching you open your acceptance letter to Midtown-” May broke off, her voice cracking. Peter immediately got up from his bed, ready to move in and comfort May if she started crying. May cried anytime someone mentioned Ben.
Peter didn’t believe in soulmates, but if he did he would say Ben and May were the perfect ones. Ben and May always understood one another, Ben knew what May wanted by the way she walked into a room and May knew what was bothering Ben with a single look at his face. They were perfect for one another and May hadn’t been the same since he died. Peter remembered the guttural scream that left her lips after she heard the news, it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
May waved her hand, showing she was fine. Peter hovered anxiously next to her, ready to swoop in and hug her if he deemed necessary. She reached up to cup his face, “You’re growing up on me.”
Peter grinned at her, a little confused, but willing to do whatever she needed him to do to get out of her little moment.
May sighed, dropping her hand and stepping back to stare at her nephew in concern. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? It’s not too late for me to cancel my trip and just stay home with you.”
A few weeks ago a nervous looking May had sat him down at the table after patrol, saying she had to talk to him about something serious. Peter had immediately assumed the worst and gone through a bit of a midlife crisis, but no. May had been offered a job in Europe for the summer, specifically Italy. Ben and May loved Italy.
And she wanted to turn it down, because who would stay with Peter? Peter had not been about that, a chance to work in ITALY?! She was going to give that up for him? No thanks.
So he begged her, begged her, to take the job. It was only three months, May! He’d been left home alone before, May! He was 17, May! None of his excuses seemed to work but he knew she wanted to go to Europe. So he resorted to his last resource.
He asked Mr. Stark if he could check up on him every few days, just to let May know he was still alive. Mr. Stark, never to be outdone, had one upped him and invited him to spend the whole summer at the compound. The. Whole. Summer. Now Peter had new motivation to get May to go on her trip and worked on convincing her with new energy. After 27 hours of Peter begging, she finally caved in an agreed.
So now Peter was spending the entire summer with Mr. Stark, but there was no way Mr. Stark could entertain Peter every day, so he was flying in Peter and Shuri (plus T’Challa) for some of the summer. Peter was hyped.
Peter rolled his eyes, making his way back to his bed and flopping back down onto it. He threw an arm over his face dramatically, “Go May! You can’t just not go to Europe! This is a great opportunity for you.”
“Sure it is, but it’s one of your last summers before you go to college.” May argued weakly.
“We have next summer, May. This will be great for you, besides you might meet some hot European dude.” Peter wiggled his eyebrows at his aunt. She rolled her eyes.
“I’ll get with a European dude when you get with a certain Southern dude.” She teased as she left the room.
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Only an hour had passed before two cars outside of their apartment honked and Peter and May were rushing down the stairs. Mr. Stark had offered to send cars to the Parker household, one to take Peter to the compound and one to take May to the airport.
“Hey Happy.” Peter grinned, sliding his duffel bag and backpack into the back of Happy’s car. Happy grunted, not seeming pleased at being Peter’s personal chauffeur once again. Peter ignored the unhappy driver and turned back around to his aunt, who herself had finished putting her bags in the car and was looking at her nephew tearfully, Peter sighed as he was pulled into her tight embrace. He hooked his chin over her shoulder and held on just as tightly as she gripped him.
After a few seconds, Peter attempted to pull back, but quickly found that May’s grip on him was not budging.
“May.” he laughed, knowing easily he could pull away with his super strength if he wanted to. “May, I’m going to be fine.”
She glared at him as she pulled away, settling her hands on her hips and going into ‘business mode’. Peter internally groaned.
“Behave, Peter Benjamin Parker.” She warned. “Or I will be on the first flight home to whoop your ass.”
Peter was incredibly aware of the fact that Happy was glaring daggers into his back, so Peter slowly started to back away from his aunt.
“Call me as much as possible.” she insisted. “Use your manners and send me pictures, do your fucking homework before the last day of summer, and please, for the love of god, tell Tony if you’re injured on patrol.”
Peter got in the passenger seat of the car and waved goodbye to his aunt as Happy slowly pulled away from the curb, entering New York traffic.
“Thanks, Happy.” Peter murmured, pulling out his phone. Happy grunted, which was all Peter was expecting to get out of the grumpy bodyguard.
The ride to the compound was mostly filled with silence, except for the low sound of Peter’s tik toks coming from his phone. He usually would spend the car ride snapping Harley and Shuri, but Shuri was sending black screens and Harley left him on open. Peter hesitated, was he weak enough to double snap? No, he decided, he would just talk to Harley when he got there. Which, Peter looked at the clock, should be within the next hour and a half.
Tik Tok had the ability to make time slip by, before Peter knew it Happy was nudging his shoulder.
“Time to get out, kid.” Happy said. “I’ve got more important things to do than drive you around.”
Peter rolled his eyes as he slipped his phone into his pocket and undid his seat belt.
“And what would that be? Driving some other teenager around?”
Happy swatted at Peter’s head as he jumped out of the car.
“Hey!” a voice sounded from behind Peter. “Don’t hit my favorite intern.”
Mr. Stark was making his way over to the car, donned in his usual expensive suit and sunglasses. He was pointing a warning finger at Happy. The sight of him warmed Peter's heart.
Peter threw his backpack over his back and grinned at his mentor as Happy stuttered behind him. “He was being a brat, boss.”
Tony clicked his tongue and leaned on the car. “Don’t care. Get used to it or you’ll be carting his bratty ass around all summer.”
Peter sputtered indignantly as he settled next to his mentor. He wasn’t the problem, Happy was the one who decided he didn’t like Peter, not the other way around. Tony waved Happy off, and Peter made sure to stick his tongue out at him as he drove away. Tony pretended he didn’t see it.
“You got all your stuff then, kiddo?” Mr. Stark briefly looked at Peter, but he didn’t let Peter respond before he was grabbing his elbow and pulling him through the doors of the compound and into the elevator. Peter stumbled behind him and wondered what the rush was, but was also content to follow along with Mr. Stark's ideas, as usual.
After the whole Homecoming fiasco, (read here, DISASTER), Mr. Stark started to keep a closer eye on Peter.
He started to notice things, like the fact that Peter had somehow messed with Karen’s setting so she no longer alerted him whenever Peter was injured. He noticed this after Peter and Ned tried helplessly to tend to a wound on his thigh, and Tony happened to drop in to ask Peter something about his suit. Because a phone call wouldn’t suffice, clearly.
Tony hadn’t cared too much that Peter messed with the suit, but he was upset Peter hadn’t come to him when he was injured. Instead the billionaire had to walk into his apartment and find his protegee and his best friend pouring May’s vodka on Peter’s thigh whilst watching youtube videos on how to do at home stitches.
That lecture had been fun.
As punishment, Tony made Peter come to the lab and fix his Spider-Man suit himself. It was supposed to be a punishment, but both Tony and Peter found themselves enjoying the lab day immensely. They found they easily could bounce questions, answers and ideas off of one another. Tony hadn’t had someone that was able to keep up with him in the lab since Bruce had disappeared, and he wasn’t exactly expecting it to be a teenager, but he had to work with what was given to him.
At the end of the day, when Peter had long since fixed the suit, Tony casually invited him over the next week. Once a week quickly turned into twice, and that quickly turned into weekends spent at either the tower or the compound, which had now turned into the whole summer.
Peter didn’t only hang out with Mr. Stark when he was there, sure in the beginning he just stayed in the labs with him working on a multitude of projects. Then Mr. Stark introduced him to Rhodey, (“So you’ll call him Rhodey but you won’t call me Tony?) whom Peter absolutely loved. The two of them loved to tag team Mr. Stark and poke fun at him.
And then he met Pepper, and slowly he was introduced to the other Avengers, (As Peter Parker, they already knew him as Spider-Man).
After a long, long battle over the Accords, the Avengers and the government had finally come to some sort of agreement. Things were still rocky on most days, and tensions were sometimes still high, but they were working towards becoming a team again. That was all great for Peter, because now he had more people to train with.
Though he didn’t like that his enhanced hearing could hear the way Mr. Stark’s breath hitched whenever Rogers walked into the room. But he did like the way he calmed down as soon as Peter started to speak to him.
“Take us up to the common room, Fri.” Mr. Stark said casually, his grip on Peter’s elbow not loosening. Peter frowned at his mentor. The common room? What was up there?
“Uh, we’re not going to the labs Mr. Stark?” he glanced at his mentor questioningly. Tony grinned easily at him, but Peter could see a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. What was up with people today?
“Now Underoos, what have I said about questioning me?” he chided.
“Probably the exact opposite of what May has said.” Peter retorted, his mentor brought his hand up and cuffed his head quickly. “Hey! What about not hitting the intern?”
“Happy was right, you’re a brat. I’m allowed to hit my own intern, but no one else.” Tony said quickly, stepping out of the elevator. Peter quickly stepped out after him, still confused as to why they were on the commons floor. “Everyone, the brat is back.”
“And I’m here too.” Peter grinned, a few laughs and a chorus of hello’s met Peter as he stepped over to the couches. Nat and Clint were settled on a couch, arguing animatedly about something that had happened on their last mission. Wanda was reading a book on the windowsill, Rhodey was talking to Sam. It seemed that everyone else was either on missions, missing or just doing their own thing.
“How was your last day, Peter?” Wanda asked politely. Peter liked Wanda, but he was pretty sure he made her sad. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he had mentioned it to Mr. Stark and he had said something about her having a brother similar to Peter. Either way, Peter thought Wanda was cool.
“Boring, so boring.” he sighed, ripping his backpack off and dropping it on the counter of the bar. He ran his hand through his curls as he settled into a bar stool. “I’m just glad it’s over with.”
“You’re only glad it’s over with because you got in trouble in your last period.” Mr. Stark said flatly. Peter whipped his head to where he was standing, his eyes wide.
Sam laughed. “Parker getting in trouble? Never would have crossed my mind.”
How had he known that? Peter understood that the man was a genius, but a mind reader?? That was something he could not deal with in his life.
“I mean, yeah.” he admitted easily. “But how the fuck did you know?”
Before he could respond to the many ‘languages’ thrown at him by the adults in the room, his senses were heightened. Peter immediately stood from the bar stool he was seated at and tensed his body, preparing for whatever was about to happen. “Do any of you feel-”
A body knocked into him before he could finish, but Peter planted his feet into the ground just in time for him to not be knocked to the floor. Arms wrapped tightly around his neck as a high pitched squeal came from the body wrapped around him. He quickly recognized the long dark braids and distinct lavender scent.
“Shuri?!” he gasped out, utterly shocked. His muscular arms came up to wrap around the shorter girl and squeeze her back tightly. “What are you doing here? Your plane shouldn’t land for another hour!”
The girl pulled back from him, her arms still around his neck. She moved her mouth as though she was about to say something, but changed her mind and went back to hugging him. Peter laughed and easily lifted her off of her feet as he squeezed tightly.
God, he had missed her. It had been too long. He hadn’t seen her since what? Spring Break?
After their initial introduction in the lab, the two had started an easy conversation. Peter found it fun to talk to someone engaged in the happenings of superheroes, specifically someone who was his own age. The closest he got to that was Wanda, but Shuri was the same age as him. They stayed in the lab and talked for a while, he asked her all about Wakanda and she was fascinated with New York.
It was only Shuri’s second time visiting the city, and no one had ever shown her around before, and Peter being the proud New Yorker he was, could not stand for that. Quickly the two left the tower, positive that Shuri’s brother and Peter’s mentor would still be in their meeting by the time they found their way back. Hell, the two were positive they wouldn’t even notice they were gone.
The two were very wrong.
Both Peter’s and Shuri’s phones had died by the time they got back to the tower, but neither of them cared. They had had so much fun, Peter took Shuri to all of his favorite spots around town, and even quickly introduced her to Ned and Michelle. Peter had only managed to drag Shuri back whenever the sun was setting, and the two didn’t even make it home until it had been dark for almost an hour.
Flashback
Peter, for the life of him, could not stop laughing. He had been laughing since they walked into the Stark tower and couldn’t stop, even now that they were in the elevator. His ribs ached and his cheeks hurt from the stretching, but it had just been so funny.
Shuri, beside him, was not doing much better than her new friend. In fact, she was bent over at the waist, one arm hugging her stomach and the other grabbing onto Peter’s for balance as she cackled.
Peter gasped for breath, trying to calm himself down. “He-his face-did you see-” he only managed to get the far before dissolving into laughter again. Oh god, oh god it had been so funny. He couldn’t breath, he was going to die and it was all Shuri’s fault.
Shuri righted herself as though she was to say something, but all that slipped by her lips was a loud wheeze. Peter and her both froze, staring at one another, before Peter let out a loud snort, and the two were laughing again. This time at Shuri’s ridiculous laugh, of course. It was the type of laughing fit with your friend where you compose yourself and then meet eyes with one another and start laughing again.
Peter and Shuri were both so preoccupied with trying to stand up, Shuri was bent over again and having serious difficulties, that they did not notice the elevator doors open. Because they did not notice the elevator door opening they did not notice that havoc the tower had been in since the two of them had left.
Peter glanced up and immediately stopped laughing once he saw the scene before him. Natasha and Clint were in full gear, looking exhausted as they stood behind, holy shit that was Captain America. Captain freaking America. Mr. Stark was sitting at the couch with an iPad, typing furiously, with a phone pressed against his ear. Rhodey sat next to him, his own iPad out, and a steady hand placed on Mr. Starks shoulder. Sam and T’Challa were arguing over something in the corner, but Peter couldn’t see what it was.
Peter had to try and remember if all of the people in this room were still wanted by the government or not.
“Uh,” Peter called, his voice not making much noise in the noisy room. “Mr. Stark? Is everything okay?”
Peter wasn’t expecting a response from the noisy room, everyone was shouting over one another and he doubted anyone had heard his weak ass call. Peter himself was having trouble hearing Shuri beside him, who had reigned in her laughter and was asking what had happened.
Mr. Stark though, he heard Peter, he always heard Peter. It sometimes seemed like he had a sixth sense that was just meant for taking care of his protégé.
He could be hiding and injury and Mr. Stark would know just by looking at him. How he did it, Peter had no idea. Mr. Stark was tuned into the workings of Peter Parker more so than Peter himself. So of course Mr. Stark heard him, even though it should have been impossible.
His head snapped up so quickly Peter swore he could feel the whiplash Mr. Stark had just given himself. Mr. Stark didn’t seem to care, because as his eyes met his protégé all tension seemed to drain out of his face. It seemed as though the billionaire de aged right in front of him.
That only lasted a few seconds, before the anger and lecture came.
It was safe to say that both Shuri and Peter let the Avengers know where they were going before they left the tower now. All of the adults had been positive they had been kidnapped, when in reality they were snooping around the city. Oops.
“That’s how I knew you got in trouble.” Tony said offhandedly, Peter brought his eyes up to meet the billionaires in amazement. Tony’s eyes were glimmering as he stood next to T’Challa, which, hello T’Challa. “She played the video of you getting in trouble at full volume because she thought it was so funny.”
“Really Parker, talking in class?” Shuri joked, finally separating from Peter. Peter dropped his hands from her waist and stared at her in amazement, still not fully believing she was standing in front of him. She was supposed to be on a plane, they were supposed to be picking her and Harley up in an hour or so.
Peter’s eyes widened and his heart stopped. Harley. Where was Harley? Peter felt the world shift under his feet as he snapped his eyes to stare at Shuri, all blood leaving his face.
Shuri saw the look on his face and rolled her eyes. She called out exasperatedly, “And just like that I’ve lost him.”
“Shuri,” Peter demanded, his head feeling light. Harley, he needed to see Harley “Where’s Harley?”
“And to think I thought you forgot about little ol’ me.” Peter spun around, and god the southern accent. The drawl. Harley. “Took you long enough, darling.”
Harley was leaning on the doorway that led into the kitchen, and Peter’s heart stopped when he caught his eyes. Harley looked as great as always, his eyes a gorgeous steel gray and his aura one of nonchalance as he stood across from Peter. Only Peter knew Harley well enough to see the way his eyes lit up when Peter finally turned to look at him.
Suddenly, after so many nights of face timing with their friends, group calls that lasted hours and hours and ended with May coming in to tell him to shut up and go to sleep. After messages about missing each other, and dancing around the thing they may or may not have, and stupid time zone differences. After all of that, Harley was standing not ten feet away from him.
He had played this out in his mind, how he wouldn’t be totally obvious about the fact that he was basically in love with Harley, and how instead he’d be really cool when he saw him. His plan was to give him a nice bro hug and quickly move out of it so Ned and MJ could have their turn.
No, instead Peter decided to throw himself at Harley. Peter's feet were moving under him before he was even sure what he was doing.
Harley was ready for him, because Harley always knew what Peter’s next move was, he probably knew he was going to launch himself at Harley from the moment their eyes met. It was certainly a surprise to Peter.
Peter flung his arms around Harley’s neck and Harley was ready for him, easily swooping one hand into his curls and the other arm around his waist. Peter tightened his grip around his neck and shoved his face into Harley’s shoulder.
For the first time since Spring Break Peter felt fully content. All worries about Spider-Man and anything else that could possibly occupy his mind drifted away as he sagged into Harley’s arms. Peter nudged his head into his shoulder, as Harley’s hands drifted once, twice, three times through his curls.
Well aware that best friends don’t hug for this long, Peter pulled back. Harley looked confused, and admittedly a little hurt, but dropped his hand from Peter’s waist.
Eager to say something in the now quiet room, and knowing that he was getting looks from both Mr. Stark and Shuri, Peter turned from Harley. “So that’s why you left me on open! And the ceiling pics!”
The silence in the room broke then, and Mr. Stark finally tore his knowing gaze away from his two protegee and towards T’Challa. Conversation broke out amongst everyone, and Peter was pulled away from Harley by Clint before he even had a chance to say anything to his southern friend. Clint also had a knowing look on his face, but he refrained from bringing anything up in the crowded room. Peter doubted he would be so courteous whenever the two were alone.
Peter tried to stay focused on the conversation he was pursuing with Clint and Nat, but it was hard when Harley was in the same room as him after months apart. Facetiming every night was not the same as real, in person conversations.
He tried to keep his eyes on Clint, who was animatedly talking about his and Nat’s last mission, hands waving through the air as he did so. Clint did that a lot, Peter noticed, talked with his hands. He didn’t realize either, so you may have to duck every once in a while if you’re talking to him.
His eyes left the energetic jokester and travelled across the room, right over to the spot where Harley was stuck in a conversation with Mr. Stark and Rhodey. The blonde was facing Peter, and to Peter’s surprise he was already staring at Peter by the time his eyes found his friend's face. Harley went a little cross eyed, showing his boredom he was facing within his current conversation. Peter grinned and Harley grinned back, happy to make Peter laugh.
“And then this motherfucker looked at me and- Peter, would you stop staring at your boyfriend and pay attention to me?”
Peter snapped his eyes back and grimaced at the two assassins who were staring at him with their eyebrows raised. He felt his face redden as he brought a hand up to rub at his neck. Christ, he was pathetic
“Clinton, you’re a child. Leave him be.” Nat said monotonously, but she sent Peter a little wink. “Or I’ll tell Peter about the time you messed up an entire mission because a Hydra whore showed a little skin.”
Clint shrugged, no remorse evident on his face. Nat turned to Peter, her eyes unusually soft. “When’s the last time you saw Harley and Shuri, Peter?”
Peter furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of why Nat was asking him the question. “Uh, in person? Ned, Michelle, Shuri and I went to visit Harley for a week during Spring Break? And before that…”
He hesitated, basically, it had been a really long time. “Harley and I meet in February, so roughly February. And then Shuri and I meet in like December…”
Nat nodded and then surprised Peter by turning to her best friend with fire in her eyes. Both Peter and Clint’s eyes widened.
“Clint.” Natasha said faux sweetly. “Let the boy go with his friends, he hasn’t seen them in months.”
“But-” Clint tried to argue, sitting forward in his seat. Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder and easily pushed him back, her other hand forming a finger over her lips.
“Uh uh.” She said, as though shushing a child. “Please remember the time I went on a month-long mission in Europe while you were in Africa, and think of how we refused to leave each other's sides afterwards. That was after a month without your best friend, Peter has had several. Let the child go.”
Clint’s eyes widened and he sprung from his chair, Peter barely had a chance to snap his head up and stare at him before he was being grabbed by the scruff of his t-shirt and pulled up after him.
“Woah.” he gasped out as he was easily placed onto his feet. What was his favorite archer doing? Clint didn’t give him time to ask, instead dragging him over to the other side of the room. Peter glanced over his shoulder at Natasha desperately, but she was grinning into her glass, so Peter assumed he would be finding no help there.
Peter and Clint came to a stop in front of T’Challa, Mr. Stark and Harley. Peter ripped himself out of Clint’s grip, straightening his t-shirt and running a hand through his curls, Harley eyed him in amusement.
“Legolas,” Mr. Stark said, raising an eyebrow. “Please refrain from breaking my intern, I’ve had him all of an hour and I would prefer it if he didn’t break before his aunt gets back.”
“But afterwards is fine.” And lord there was the southern drawl again, how was Peter supposed to last an entire month with Harley? “Then you’re free to break him all you want.”
Peter did the mature thing and flipped Harley off. Mr. Stark reached out and smacked the back of his head, not breaking eye contact with Clint.
“Ow.” Peter muttered, rubbing his head. Clint ignored him.
“Peter and Harley need to go out and do something. Shuri too. They haven’t seen each other in months.” Clint said, eyes wide as thought Tony himself was not aware how long it had been since the teens had seen each other. It’s not like he had to listen to Peter whine about missing them, or like he got multiple messages from Shuri and Harley a day. No, nothing like that.
“Alright then.” Mr. Stark shrugged. “Go on, you’re dismissed. Go have fun or whatever. Loosen up a bit, Parker, or you’re gonna go gray by 20.”
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Looking back on the night, Peter wasn’t entirely sure how they ended up in the local precinct. Everything went sort of blurry after 3AM.
Harley and Shuri’s reunion with MJ and Ned was just what Peter expected it to be. Peter showed up at Ned’s doorstep, two hours earlier than they had planned, and Ned opened the door with worry clear on his face.
“Peter?” he questioned, stepping into the apartment hallway to better see his friend. “Is everything all right? Are you hurt?”
Peter didn’t give much thought into the fact that everyone always assumed he was hiding an injury, and instead focused on the joy evident on Ned’s face as he reunited with Shuri and Harley. He was just as shocked as Peter had been and just as excited.
“Oh I need to tell MJ to come over, she’ll be so shocked.”
A few minutes later Michelle arrived. She didn’t bother knocking. “Hey losers. Hey Harley, Shuri, long time no see.”
She had not, in fact, been surprised. She had known for weeks. If Peter wasn’t totally infatuated with Harley, he thinks he would be in love with Michelle.
Then the group had to decide what to do for the night, which was surprisingly difficult considering that Peter lived in New York of all places. They tossed ideas around for a while, until it was almost 8PM and the five of them were lounging in Ned’s room, bored out of there minds.
Peter had perked up suddenly, glancing at his best friends. “So, fuck me if I’m wrong.”
Harley snapped his head up from where he had been playing on his phone. “You’re wrong, so, so wrong.”
Peter’s face turned a bit red and his stomach swooped a little, but he continued on, ignoring his southern friend.
“Mr. Stark told me to ‘loosen up’, and the best way to do that would be…”
And that’s how the weed came into play. After that was a bit of a blur. Peter remembered taking the subway somewhere, he wasn’t entirely sure where, but he remembered hanging upside down from the railings and playing peek-a-boo with Shuri.
At some point, they had also ended up at the park. He distantly remembered being chased by a goose- or had it been a dinosaur? Maybe it had been Harley?
They had definitely been to the park though, because someone there had tried some shifty stuff with Peter. Harley hadn’t liked that, and the guy left with a bloody nose. He also left whilst calling the police.
Peter remembered MJ yelling at Harley. “Oh well done Tennessee, they’ll love all of us. The five minorities! Let’s do a countdown. Black, black, gay, Filipino and gay. Also, all of us are high as fuck.”
So of course they had run, Peter remembered he had laughed at the top of his lungs, though he probably should have been quiet, as the five of them sprinted through the streets of New York. No one gave the five teenagers a second glance, much accustomed to the strangeness that was New York.
The last thing Peter remembered was glancing behind him to make sure Ned was still with him, and then everything went black. The next thing he knew, he was sitting in the middle of a precinct in Brooklynn, his body slung across Harley’s lap.
How had they ended up in Brooklynn? Peter opened his eyes and immediately groaned, his heightened senses with a hangover (there had definitely been alcohol at some point) was not a fun combination, he knew from experience. Everything hurt.
“There’s our sleeping beauty.” Harley jokes, his voice rough. Even though he was quiet, the very sound of his voice made Peter want to puke. He was never drinking or smoking again.
Peter was going to say something really smart and witty, but found he couldn’t be bothered to. Instead, he buried his head so far into Harley’s stomach that he couldn’t possibly see anything else. Ah, perfect. Harley's hand fell to mess with Peter’s curls absentmindedly.
One by one, his friends' parents came to pick them up until it was just Harley, Shuri and Peter waiting for-someone? Who would come and pick them up? T’Challa had already left for Wakanda, Harley’s mother was in Tennessee and May was in Europe.
“I have you brats for a single night, a single night, and you’ve already ended up in jail. Jail. This is entirely not what I meant whenever I said to loosen up.”
Ah, Mr. Stark.
This would be a fun few weeks.