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Peter has had many bad days since he became Spider-man. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but today just might take the cake.
It was a rough patrol with Peter unable to catch a break the whole night he was out. He was so overwhelmed that he had forgotten to stop halfway though and change his pad like he usually did when he was on his period as Spider-man.
Oh, and yes, Peter Parker is trans.
He came out of the proverbial closet when he was 12. After he told Aunt May she was very supportive and helped Peter change his name. Luckily, Peter passes really well since he has a naturally flat chest and being a superhero means he has a pretty muscular, lean body. The only people who know Peter is trans are Ned, Aunt May and a few people who have known him since childhood.
One of the people who Peter had grown up with was his bully, Flash Thompson, who he fully expected to out Peter to the whole school; However, was pleasantly surprised to find that Flash did no such thing and instead shut down any rumors of Peter being trans.
To sum it up, barely anyone knew that Peter had been born female and that's exactly how Peter liked it to be.
So you can imagine his horror when he got home after patrol, took off his Spider-man suit and realized he had bled through his pad.
“Holy shit shit shit shit!” Peter ran his hands though his hair in a panic as he looked down at his suit sprawled across his floor. “Oh my god…what do I do…”
Peter was stunned for a moment before he quickly ran into the bathroom, took a shower and got into his pajamas, replacing his pad. Once he returned from the bathroom he almost hoped that the problem would be solved and there would no longer be a massive blood stain on his multi million dollar suit that Tony Stark himself made for him.
Of course, the problem remained.
“How am I going to tell Mr. Stark” Peter mumbled listlessly. It wasn’t a big deal to have Tony remove the blood. After big battles Peter often ripped or stained his suit. Usually he would just send the suit to Tony and the next day it would be good as knew.
No, the problem was that Mr. Stark didn’t know Peter was trans. If Tony saw that the blood was centered solely around his private area he’s going to think Peter lost his manhood in battle.
If Peter wanted his suit cleaned he would have to come out to Mr. Stark and he was honestly worried how his mentor would react. Tony had never indicated that he was bigoted but Peter had misjudged people before. Not to mention that even if Tony wasn’t transphobic, Peter coming out was bound to change their relationship in some way. It always did. Even his relationship with Ned had changed after he began to transition. It didn’t change in a bad way, per say, but it did change and Peter hated being treated like he was different.
He already felt slightly ostracized by being Spider-man and one of his few safe spaces was with Tony who got what it felt like.
Peter didn’t want to lose that.
“Maybe I can wash it myself…” Peter rubbed his chin in thought.
The next day after school Peter came straight home and spent hours washing and rewashing his suit. The blood didn’t lift at all. He even, with much embarrassment, asked Aunt May for help but even she couldn’t get the stain to budge.
“This is hopeless” Peter groans as he sits down across from Aunt May at the dinner table. They had just finished their 8th attempt at cleaning his suit.
May smiles softly. “Why don’t you call Tony”
Peter huffs and rubs his hands together. “Come on May you know why…”
“You’re scared about him knowing?”
Peter nods.
“Well don’t be” May’s voice sounds so calm and confident that Peter is momentarily too shocked to answer.
“How can I not be scared?” Peter finally asks, a little bit of heat slipping into his tone. This was hard for him.
May hums and places her hands over Peters. “Tony loves you, probably just as much as I do and that's saying something because I love you a whole lot.”
Peter's lips form a tight line but his shoulders relax a little.
May continues, “It’s ok to be nervous but you shouldn’t be scared at all. Not of this. Being Trans is a part of you and Tony will love any and every part of you”
Peter's eyes began to water “May…what if he…what if he treats me differently?”
May takes the time to run her fingers over Peter's knuckles before replying. “Change is bound to come. Even if this didn’t happen your relationship with Tony is not stagnant, instead it grows and changes. The more you two learn about one another the deeper your relationship will become and the more both of you will change. I understand that you like what you have now but things can’t be the same forever and if you truly want a deep relationship with someone you have to be ready to show them things you’re scared to”
Peter huffs softly before shaking his head. “When did you get so poetic Aunt May”
May chuckles and lightly swats at Peter's shoulder. “I’ve always been poetic! Now how about we make a late night snack”
—
The next day was Saturday so Peter woke up early, ate breakfast, and took the subway to the Avengers compound.
He texted Tony to let him know he’d be coming over but avoided the billionaires follow up questions of what his visit was about.
When Peter arrived, he steeled his nerves before heading inside the compound.
F.R.I.D.A.Y. greeted Peter at the door.
“Good morning Peter, are you here for Tony Stark?”
Peter hummed and nodded.
“He’s in his penthouse on the top floor”
Peter quickly thanked F.R.I.D.A.Y. before speeding off to the elevator.
When the doors opened to Tony’s penthouse Peter was greeted with his mentor standing with his arms crossed outside the elevator.
“Pete” Tony Stark’s brow was slightly furrowed and concern laced his voice. He reminded Peter of Aunt May at that moment.
“Hey Mr. Stark” Peter sighed, adjusting his grip on the paper bag that held his stained suit.
Tony seemed to relax just a little as he watched Peter. “Kid, what's this about? You never come here without telling me why unless you’re on deaths door after patrol”
That much was true. Peter had only come to the compound once unannounced. It was after a patrol because he had been shot and was worried about Aunt May finding out. Turns out he should have been just as worried about Tony finding out because when his mentor saw him that night he nearly had a heart attack and fussed over Peter for many hours.
“Well I just had something I wanted to talk with you about…It’s nothing serious but it’s important” Peter bites his lip before ripping the bandaid off. “Here” He then extended the bag holding his Spider-Man suit to Mr. Stark.
Tony took the bag and glanced inside before looking up in confusion. “It’s your suit…whats wrong with it?”
Peter rubs the back of his head. “Pull it all the way out”
Tony obliges, pulling the suit from the bag. For a moment he didn’t see what was wrong until his eyes drifted to the crotch. His eyes went comically large before snapping to stare at Peter. “Did someone–”
“Whatever you are going to say, no it didn’t happen” Peter interjected before finally spitting out what he’d been meaning to say “I…I’m on my period”
Tony’s expression was one of confusion. “Kid, are you joking with me right now? Did someone hurt you and you’re trying to cover it up?”
Peter shook his head “No Mr. Stark…I’m not joking and no one hurt me” Peter drew in a deep breath before continuing “I’m transgender…I was born a woman biologically but I identify as a man. I never told you or the other Avengers because I didn’t want to be treated differently. Yesterday I made a dumb mistake and forgot to change my pad on patrol so I bled through my suit. If you don’t believe me I can have Aunt May send a picture of my birth certificate”
Tony held up a hand before sighing “No kid that's not necessary…I believe you”
Peter fidgeted with his hands as he waited for Tony to continue.
“I’ll clean your suit as good as new, don't worry about it. Next time just don’t give me a heart attack like that”
Peter was a little perplexed. “Is that all? You don’t have any questions for me or any you want to say?”
Tony chuckles and ruffles the boy's hair “Do you expect me to grill you? I don’t really care what you've got in your pants, it doesn’t change anything”
Peter began to tear up and before he could overthink it he quickly pulled Tony into a big hug.
Tony hums softly and rubs Peters back, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
Nothing really changed about Peter and Tony’s relationship after that except the fact that the two hugged a little more often.