Chapter Text
Tony watched with visible disdain as Nick Fury loudly clapped his hands together, demanding the attention of the room’s occupants.
The gathered Avengers sat at a long table in a Stark Tower meeting room, the glass wall making Tony stare wistfully at the outside world.
“You’re here because I’m giving you all another mission,” the man began, “there’s another powered individual I need captured.” Great, another boring criminal with a gimmick.
He yawned and leaned back in his chair, Fury zeroing in on the action with a glare. “Am I boring you, Stark?”
He waved a hand dismissively, “No, please, keep going. I only yawn when I’m extremely fascinated.”
Fury shook his head, giving the rest of the Avengers, who were poorly muffling their laughter, equally dirty looks. Except for Captain America of course, ever the goody two shoes. “Tony, this is important,” Steve addressed seriously.
Tony just held his arms up placatingly, “By all means.”
Fury nodded. “The accords negotiations are advancing to put them into effect, there’s talk of making the Avengers work under the United Nations instead of freely, and make all powered individuals register identities and enhancements to the government.”
All the Avengers shot each other uneasy looks, that would certainly be a big change. Tony wanted to believe it would be for the better.
“So, what do you need us to do?” Natasha spoke up.
Fury clasped his hands together, “There’s a new vigilante with concerning enhancements operating in New York, unregistered. I need you to bring Spider-Man in so we can register his identity and powers.”
Tony gave him a skeptical look, “Isn’t that a little below the Avengers pay grade?” Murmured agreements followed, much to his ego’s delight.
“We have intel his super strength is enough to rival, or outmatch, Steve’s. Clearly, if he doesn’t want to give up his identity and powers he’s hiding something.”
Steve nodded slowly, of course he would. Sure, Tony hadn't had a secret identity for very long but it was still reasonable of the guy, he thought.
Clint suddenly jumped up in his chair, “Wait! Spiderman? Like the guy in pajamas on YouTube that does backflips?” Thor gave him an amusedly concerned look from next to him.
Fury looked pained to answer, clearly not being taken seriously. “Yes. He also swings with webs and sticks to buildings.”
Tony snorted. “And that’s the guy you’re so concerned about?”
Clint pointed at Tony and nodded, “He fights in a onesie, I doubt he’s much a national security threat,” he tacked on.
Fury waved a hand behind him wordlessly, a blue hologram playing a recording. All the Avengers stopped to watch with rapt attention shaky footage of a guy -indeed in a red onesie- stopping a moving train.
Tony’s jaw fell slack. “Damn,” he whispered under his breath. He tried to spot wires in the pajamas, but there were none to find, the guy had held the train back by his own force alone.
His shock was mirrored by everyone at the table.
Captain America crossed his arms, “I could do that,” he muttered, almost defensively. Bucky gave him an apologetic look and patted his back.
He understood the point of the accords, hell everyone sitting at that table did, superpowers needed to be regulated. Clearly this kid was too powerful for his own good.
Thor slammed a hand on the table, “So the matter shall be decided! We will find the man of spiders and bring him in.” Tony shrugged, the Avengers mostly did whatever Fury said anyways.
“Thank you Thor,” Fury said satisfied, “Clearly, he needs to be demasked and monitored, just like everyone. This will help the Avengers' case in the ongoing accords negotiations, I’ll be updating you all on them.”
Tony stood up, glad the meeting was wrapped up quickly when Bruce spoke up for the first time, “Wait, wait, so who’s going to go? Surely, the Hulk isn’t needed here,” the scientist reasoned.
Fury looked pensive for a beat, “No, I suppose not, Clint, Nat, Tony, Bucky and Steve, can handle it.” Tony found his teammates eyes and nodded at them.
He ran a hand through his hair, “I’ll set up a protocol with Friday to alert us when he’s spotted so we can go after him, just be ready.”
With Fury’s blessing he finally left the meeting, deflating with relief soon after into his lab chair.
Above all, Tony Stark loved his inventions.
Sitting up and glancing distractedly at his half finished projects he brought up a new window. “Fri, be a dear and bring up everything you can find on Spiderman.”
Instantly, his screen was flooded with viral videos of Spiderman catching the train, and one of him stopping a car crash by simply picking up a car- impressive, he had to admit.
However, the more he sifted through the videos the more less viewed ones he found of more mundane things. Spiderman rescuing kittens, helping old ladies cross the street, carrying groceries, the works. Even doing tricks on command, which Tony laughed at extensively.
He squinted at yet another video of Spiderman stopping a mugging, how could Fury be so scared of this kid?
Clearly, this was just some bored guy. Probably a young adult—he had a childish demeanor. But if he was mature enough to dedicate himself to crime fighting, he had to be at least twenty-five. Still, much younger than Tony was comfortable thinking about.
Fury always made things seem more serious than they were, but after Sokovia who was Tony to argue?
He sighed, closing the screen with a wave of his hand. Clearly, Fury and the government had reason to believe this guy was a threat.
Leaning back in his chair he stared at his ceiling for a moment before giving his command. “Friday, set up a Spidey Spotting protocol to alert the team when he’s out.”
“On it boss, the algorithm predicts he may be out patrolling later tonight,” Friday replied.
He ran a hand through his hair, “Perfect,” he said with some agitation, “the sooner this is done the better.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ⓐ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Peter was surviving. What else can a homeless sixteen year old do?
His parents died in a plane crash when he was baby, but living with Aunt May and Uncle Ben was perfect anyways.
Until it wasn’t.
That day on the streets, when he couldn’t save his aunt and uncle from a mugger was the worst day of his life.
So, he became Spiderman.
With great power comes great responsibility.
He tried foster care, he really did. But he was too loud, too annoying. Every family got sick of him, no matter how nice they seemed at first. The last time he got kicked out, he just didn’t come back.
He gets one free sandwich a day from Mr. Delmar and he sleeps wherever he can. It has to be enough.
Peter was dragged out of his depressing thoughts of his life story by a shout, his head immediately snapped up.
Midnight shrouded the streets, his dingy sunglasses lens on his mask not helping much. He had needed to DIY his suit, but if he went out without it to conceal his identity CPS would come for him.
“Help!” A shout emerged again from nearby.
He needed to help, that’s what Spiderman did. He shot a web to a wall, swinging halfway upwards before climbing the rest of the way and peaking over the edge of the rooftop.
A woman was struggling to hold on to her purse while a man aggressively tugged at it.
Well that wasn’t very nice. He lowered himself downwards on a web above the scene, dangling upside down. “Hey there, I have a sneaking suspicion that doesn’t belong to you,” he spoke.
Both of them were so startled by his sudden appearance above them that they dropped the purse and gawked at him. He gracefully jumped down via backflip.
The thief had half a mind to throw a punch, but Spiderman easily dodged and used the outstretched arm to push the mugger backwards into the alley wall.
He rapid-fired webbes to stick the guy to the wall and left him thoroughly trapped. Satisfied with his efficiency, he bent down to pick up the purse, handing it to the lady.
She took it thankfully and he smiled with his hands on his hips, “I’m glad Spiderman could be of help!” He said genuinely, “Could you do me a favor and call the police on this guy and tell them he was trying to mug you? I’m not exactly their favorite.”
The lady nodded, “Yes, yes! Thank you for getting my purse back.”
He rubbed his neck sheepishly, “It was no problem.” Without further dally he swung up the wall back onto the rooftops.
Spiderman spent a lot of time walking around rooftops, awaiting a cry for help. His usual patrol routine was interrupted by a humming noise, rapidly approaching him.
His spidey tingle was alerting him- of what, he didn’t know.
He spun around to find.. the Iron Man suit landing on the rooftop in front of him?
Peter looked on as Iron Man hit the rooftop floor in front of him with a clang.
The face plate lifted up, revealing an infamous Tony Stark. “Hey, Spiderboy.”
It took him a solid moment to form a coherent reply, “Uh, hello Mr. Iron Man- sir,” he greeted.
Out of nowhere, more Avengers dropped onto the rooftop, surrounding him. That didn’t bode well.
He whirled around, instantly recognizing Black Widow- oh god, Hawkeye, Captain America.. And a dude with a metal arm?
Peter knew this was maybe not the best situation for him to be in, but he couldn’t help the burst of excitement at the sight, “Dude! Do you have a metal arm? That’s awesome!”
Everybody surrounding him had varying levels of surprise painted across their faces, most notably the man himself who looked very confused by Peter’s statement. “Thank you?” He answered, and Peter nodded enthusiastically.
Captain America loudly cleared his throat and Peter refocused on the situation at hand. “Spider-Man! We’re here to bring you in, come peacefully and you don’t need to get hurt.”
Oh, Peter didn’t like that one bit.
He backed off into the middle of the circle defensively, “Hey, can’t we talk about this? You know I can’t do that.” He tried.
The Iron Man faceplate slammed back down, “Don’t fight it kid.” The rest of the Avengers also settled into fighting stances.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don’t want to fight you guys, seriously.” It would pain him to fight his childhood heroes, but he wasn’t about to be dragged to a cell willingly. “I don’t want to hurt any of you.”
Hawkeye laughed and pulled an arrow, “You don’t want to hurt us?”
Black Widow brought her fists up, “I wouldn’t worry too much Spider.”
Peter shrugged, “Alright then.” With no warning he ducked down, his Spider tingle warning him milliseconds in advance to dodge the arrow. Lightning fast, he shot a web, bringing Captain America's shield to him.
The man called out for his shield, but Peter was already holding it and narrowly dodged Iron Man’s repulsor blasts while he swung past Black Widow off the rooftop.
He tried to throw Captain America’s shield as a weapon, but it arced like a boomerang through the sky, missing his target. “Wow! That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all!” He shouted.
Peter flung another web, flying through the sky to try and lose them, but as soon as he landed on the rooftop across from where he had been, a metal fist flew towards his face.
Before Peter could blink he was holding the fist centimeters from his face, “Still awesome,” he whispered before using the momentum to push the man back.
“Bucky!” Captain America shouted from the other rooftop.
The man- Bucky, was looking at Peter strangely, and Peter gave him a small sheepish wave under the man's scrutiny.
It didn’t take long for the others to get across, Black Widow aiming a punch for his throat.
He blocked the punch, his forearm taking the brunt of the impact, but she continued to rain down blows. They were locked in combat, trading hit for hit.
His malnourished body fought to keep up, months ago he might have been able to keep this up for much longer but now he was burning through energy he didn’t have.
His movements were slowly becoming more sluggish, his legs on fire, working to keep him from toppling over under the weight of her aggressions.
Peter shot a web, trying to wrap her hands, but in close combat it was difficult to web her. This only seemed to annoy her, brutal punch after brutal punch landing across his torso.
He grit his teeth, relying on his sixth sense to guide him- until his feet were knocked out from under him.
He was too slow, another kick to his ribs making him curl inwards involuntarily. In seconds she was on top of him, holding his arms down behind his back.
For a second, he stopped to take a deep breath. “Gotcha,” she muttered with satisfaction.
She was holding him in a death grip, but regardless of her spy training Peter’s inhuman super strength hadn’t failed him yet.
Fighting not to scream with pained effort, Spiderman swung himself backwards and yanked his hands free from her grip, granted with a lot of effort, and she was thrown on her back against the floor.
The onlooking Avengers looked stupefied at the development, but Hawkeye wasted no time in launching another arrow.
He squealed and threw himself backwards to avoid it, almost falling off the rooftop entirely. Actually, not a bad idea.
He grinned at them, and jumped backwards.
Peter watched Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, and Bucky all rush over, looking over the edge of the rooftop. Right before he hit the ground, he shot a web and pulled himself upwards in a large arc.
He hollered as he swung through the air, attempting to leave them behind when his hearing picked up on the inescapable Iron Man blasters.
Spiderman’s web was abruptly cut by an energy blast. He quickly tucked himself into a roll, hitting the rooftop under him, hard. That was going to bruise for sure.
He couldn’t help but groan loudly, momentarily paralyzed by the pain of the fall. The air was knocked out of his lungs and Iron Man landed in front of him, “Stay down,” the man instructed.
Peter did not stay down.
He jumped to his feet, ignoring the way his entire body ached, he replied, “Can’t do that.” If he did, he would lose everything he still had. Spider-Man meant everything. It was for Ben, for May. He wouldn’t reveal himself, and he wouldn’t go back to foster care.
Iron Man shook his head and sent a punch flying towards his head, Peter sprinted under it and retaliated with a punch to the suit’s abdomen.
Admittedly, he thought it hurt his fist more than the man.
The surprisingly nimble suit turned to face him, sending blasts towards him. Peter threw his body to the side, heat singing his face through the mask as he just barely dodged the attack.
His Spider Sense was through the roof, but there was no cover to take on the desolate rooftop to save him from a repulsor blast straight to the chest.
Peter howled in pain and could do nothing to stop Iron Man from grabbing his arms and holding his wrists behind his back.
The worst of the pain subsided leaving him free to move again and he attempted to wrench his hands free from the metal suit holding him like handcuffs.
“Not gonna work kid, metal is a little harder than Nat.” The man sounded disdainful.
How could he sound disdainful when he was about to ruin Peter’s entire life?
Peter tried with all his might to even bend the metal but his enhanced strength did nothing against it. Maybe if he had more food, more sleep, less injuries, he could have done more.
He was caught.
In that moment, Peter had never been more thankful for the Spider-Man mask to hide his silent panicked tears, his terrified expression.
Soon after, before he could even fully process the weight of being captured, the rest of the Avengers that had come after him emerged over the edge of the rooftop, coming to a stop in front of him.
“You actually got him.” Black Widow stated.
“Yeah, put up one hell of a fight though,” Iron man answered.
They were talking about him like he wasn’t even here. “What are you gonna do to me?” He asked, dejectedly.
Captain America looked at him somberly, “We need your identity, and records of your enhancements. It’s not safe to have individuals like yourself running around without government control.”
There was no emotion in the man's voice, no conviction. “Do you actually believe that?” Peter asked bitterly. “Aren’t you all enhanced, in some way?”
The metal grip on him tightened, “We’re also going to be held accountable now.” Iron man replied.
They were saying the correct answers, but they all looked uncomfortable at the words coming out of their mouths.
“But I didn’t do anything,” he insisted, trying his best to keep his voice stable and unwavering, “I’m just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.” Peter’s heart was pounding in his ears, he couldn’t be demasked.
Bucky rubbed the back of his neck, “He was able to take all of us though, including holding back my arm.”
Peter looked up at all of them, his childhood heroes, his idols, “Please. I didn’t do anything, I don’t even kill people, I just help people however I can.” This time his voice cracks, making the Avengers look infinitely more uncomfortable.
Hawkeye was studying the rest of his teammates, “Guys.. I know we all agreed about the Sokovia Accords in the beginning but this doesn’t feel right.”
Captain America was staring at him intently, and Peter stared right back. The man broke eye contact, looking down. “Clint might be right, I’m not actually sure any of this is a good idea.”
Peter’s heart skipped a beat, could they actually end up letting him go?
Iron Man’s face plate swung up, “Are you guys being serious? We were responsible for Sokovia,” he reminded the rest of them.
Hawkeye pointed at Peter, “But he wasn’t.”
“I think we need to have a serious talk about the Accords.” Black Widow said, giving significant looks at Iron Man and Captain America. Peter was way out of his depth here, he didn’t know anything of the Accords or Sokovia, only what he saw on the news in TV store windows.
Captain America nodded, “I think it’s time the Avengers take matters into their own hands.”
Bucky crossed his arms and also nodded his agreement, “We can’t bring this guy in. It’s not right, we need to figure out the Accords first. I don't like this one bit.”
“So we’re all in agreement then? We can’t bring in Spider-Man.” Black Widow said.
The grip behind him didn’t loosen. “I don’t know if this is a good plan.” Iron Man admitted.
“Fury’s gonna be pissed,” Hawkeye relented.
“I don’t give two shits about Fury, but I don’t know if this is our call to make.” Iron Man said as Peter deflated.
“I’m not- I’m not dangerous. I swear I just want to do some good.” He tried to convince them, he just wanted to help others how he couldn’t May and Ben.
Captain America stepped towards Iron Man, “Tony, I know you’re scared of messing up and hurting more people, but this isn’t right. You know this isn’t right.” Something in the words must have resonated with the man, perhaps his past as a weapons manufacturer, perhaps he somehow knew of Peter’s hard work in the community.
Regardless, he felt the grip behind him loosen and as soon as he was free he brought his battered body away from the group, standing on the rooftops edge.
Peter had never felt such immense relief, “Thank you,” he said sincerely, with as much gratitude packed into the words as he could muster.
He turned, looking at Iron Man who watched him sternly, “You can go back out there, but you’re on the Avengers radar, don’t do anything stupid.”
Peter nodded up and down quickly, “Yeah,” he assured. He took one last look at all of them before taking a running leap off the building and getting the hell out of there.
He hoped he never saw any of them again.