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Peter Parker was the baby of the team.
Nobody argued about it.
Not after he'd shown up to a mission with homemade cookies because he 'thought everyone looked stressed.'
"Peter helped me carry groceries yesterday."
"Peter spent three hours getting a cat out of a tree."
"Peter cried during that dog movie."
The Avengers had reached a unanimous conclusion... Peter was adorable.
Then Clint came home with a story from a routine arrest.
"You know what the guy said when he saw Spider-Man?"
Tony didn't look up from his work. "What?"
"Oh God. Not him."
The room burst out laughing. Peter looked away
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"No clue Mr Stark" Peter just shrugged
But then it happened again.
And again.
And again.
Criminals didn't react to Spider-Man like they did other heroes. They were genuinely terrified
Steve came home saying one mugger spotted Peter swinging overhead. The man immediately turned around. And walked directly into a police station.
"That's ridiculous." Argued Tony
"It happened."
"No it didn't."
"It literally did."
Eventually, the Avengers started asking around.
The answers were... concerning.
"Spider-Man?" The informant visibly flinched. "That guy's insane."
"Insane how?" Steve questioned
"He smiles."
"...He smiles?" Tony questioned completely confused how Peter smiling could create such an adverse reaction
"While he's beating the crap out of people."
The Avengers were certain there had to be some misunderstanding. After all this was Peter.
Peter, who brought everyone coffee orders.
Peter, who got excited over science documentaries and once cried because a shelter dog looked lonely.
They never saw Peter hurt anyone, infact he preferred to use his webs because they didn't cause harm to the criminals
Then came the warehouse incident. Peter arrived first.
The rest of the team arrived about twenty minutes later.
The battle was already over. Thirty-seven criminals. Eight of them enhanced.
But zero casualties. Everyone was webbed to the walls.
The ceiling had several new holes and Peter was sitting on a crate. Eating a churro.
The criminals looked relieved to see the Avengers. Relieved.
One man actually started crying. "Please arrest us."
Steve blinked. "What?"
"Just don't make us stay with him."
"Peter." Tony questioned him later
He sheepishly responded, "Yeah?"
"What happened?"
Peter shrugged. "They wouldn't stop shooting at me."
Later, Bruce pulled up security footage. The Avengers watched in silence.
A man swung a metal pipe at Peter and Peter caught it.
The pipe bent in his hand like it was made of paper.
Then another charged at him and Peter sidestepped
Causing the criminal to hit a concrete pillar full speed... the pillar lost.
The footage continued. There was no anger, or effort, or even hesitation
Just overwhelming strength controlled with terrifying precision.
For years, the Avengers had assumed Peter was weaker because he was kind. They'd gotten it backwards.
Peter was kind because he knew exactly how much damage he could do.
So the next time a criminal whispered Spider-Man's name with genuine fear, nobody laughed.