BACKGROUND INFO: Peter is staying at the tower (obviously) and is seeing the Avengers much more frequently than he used to. But the Avengers don't know Peter, only Spider-Man. They always wonder about the kid, wonder how old he is, what his name is, what he looks like, and why he does what he does. But they want to respect his privacy, so they never investigate Eventually, they ask Tony a couple of questions.

Enjoy!

"Bye, Tony!" Peter called, jumping out of the window of the common room.

"Bye, kid!" Tony called back. Peter was on his way out for patrol.

A good portion of the group was present, including Nat, Clint, Steve, Bucky, Rhodey, and Bruce. Thor was in Asgard, and Wanda and Vision were outfor dinner. And Sam... where was Sam?

Tony sat down on the couch next to Nat, Clint, Steve, and Bucky. He'd had a long day.

"Tony, how often does Spider-Man give himself a day off? He's constantly going on Patrol when he's not out at school," Steve asked, braiding Bucky's hair (yes, Steve Rogers braids hair bc he's a soft and caring boyfriend who has no fragile masculinity thank you very much).

"I don't know. I mean, he spends some time on Instagram and stuff, but he doesn't take many breaks."

"Why?" Nat asks next. "Why doesn't he ever just, y'know, relax?"

"He's just like that. He feels responsible for keeping people safe," Tony said casually.

Bucky gave a tiny laugh. "He does know it's not his responsibility to save all of humanity, right?"

Tony shook his head. "In all honesty, I don't think he does. The kid takes it upon himself to help people however he can, whenever he can."

"Why? I understand the need to help people, but he can't save everyone. Why does he feel like it's all his responsibility?" Steve questioned.

Tony sighed sadly. "Y'know, sometimes I forget how little you guys really know about him."

The others tilted their heads curiously. Bruce was leaning in now from the chair he sat in, and Clint looked up from his phone.

Tony continued. "The kid once told me that when you are able to help, when you are capable of making a difference, and you don't, then the bad things that happen are because of you. Because you decided not to do anything. And he lives by that. I don't know if I completely agree with that, but he does."

Clint decided to chime in. "What makes him think that?"

Tony purses his lips. "It took me a while to get him to open up more about this kind of stuff, I'll tell you that. But it's because... he can't let another person die. He feels like it would be another failure on his part."

"Another person?" Bruce asked. "What do you mean? Like, civilians?"

Tony shook his head. "Right, you guys don't know him. Look, this kid had been through a lot. He's just a teenager and he's dealt with more shit than she should've. He's had tons of tragedy."

"Like..." Nat pushed.

Tony sighed. "Like his parents. They died when he was a little kid. And his uncle died—murder. And he's had friends who were killed, loved ones who got sick and died, etc. etc. He gets bullied about it, too. He's constantly reminded of it, but he's made sure I stay out of it. Point is, he doesn't want to see anyone else get hurt. Even if it's someone he doesn't know, because he doesn't want their loved ones to feel the pain he felt. It's why he's so selfless, it's why he doesn't take a break. Because it pains him to know that someone out there could be in danger when he could he helping."

The room quieted significantly.

"How old is he again?" Natasha asked in a hushed tone.

"He asked me not to tell you yet, but he's younger than eighteen and older than fourteen."

The assassin nodded. The mood was solemn now, everyone feeling a pang or sympathy for the kid. How could he always be so happy and energetic with so much tragedy and loss on his conscience?

>>—<<

Peter returned from patrol hours later to find everyone watching a movie. He silently slipped through the window and slid up next to Tony on the couch. Tony reached to pet the kid's hair, but quickly realized that wasn't possible with his mask on. He just rested his arm on Peter's shoulder, which the teen happily leaned into.

Everyone internally 'awwed' at the sight.

"How was patrol?" Tony questioned silently. He barely had to say it, Peter's ears picked up even the slightest of sounds.

"Good," Peter whispered back.

Tony smiled at the kid. The love he felt for the vigilante was indescribable. He was the son he never had.

•>>—<<•

Days later, Peter was eating an apple at the breakfast bar around 1:00 pm. It was Saturday, meaning he spent even more time out and about saving people.

The Avengers were lounging around, sprawled out on the couch and walking around the common area that connected with the kitchen.

Clint, who's been unusually silent for the past hour or so, finally spoke.

"Can you at least tell us your first name? It'd be nice to not have to call you Spider-Man all the time."

That caught everyone's attention. They looked at Peter hopefully, wondering if he's actually tell them.

Peter sighed. He trusted the Avengers. He just wasn't ready for them to know about him and his life yet. So... what harm could a first name do?

"Peter," he said, biting into his apple again.

A bunch of "finally"s and "Peter!"s rang out about the room.

"You happy now?" the teen asked teasingly.

Clint smiled. "Maybe we will be when we get a last name and a face reveal, Peter."

Peter laughed. "Maybe one day."

>>—<<

About a month later, Peter decided that maybe it was time. He was really close with the team, he could let them see his face. So, he approached Tony with a plan.

***

The elevator doors opened to the common area, where once again, Earth's mightiest heroes were laying around.

They all slightly glanced over at Tony when he walked in. Then, they did a double take.

Next to him was a young teen with big doe eyes and cute, curly brown hair. He wore a blue sweater over a dress shirt and jeans, and held a couple of textbooks.

"Tony, care to introduce us?" Natasha asked casually.

"Oh, right! Everyone, this is my personal intern, Parker." (Hehe it's a first name too, remember?)

The Avengers waved to the boy, who waved back with the most pure, adorable smile they had ever seen.

Without a word, the 'intern' followed Tony to the stools by the bar. They got settled and the boy set his things down on the countertop.

Everyone was still staring at the boy. His hair was brushed, but had no gel and had a few stray curls sticking out here and there. His eyes were bright and full of life, and could probably convince anyone to do anything for him. But he was quiet and timid it seemed by his lack of speaking, not the kind to take advantage of people.

Tony stood up after a few minutes to grab something off the coffee table by the couch and TV. As he leaned down to grab some papers, Steve leaned in and whispered, "He doesn't talk much, does he?"

Tony grinned. "Oh, no. He's a real blabber-mouth if you give it a chance." Then, before anymore questions could be asked, he stood straight and walked back to the kid at the counter.

About an hour passed. Peter and Tony were silently laughing at the heroes, spies wonder who Peter was and why he wasn't freaking out over the fact that he was with the Avengers.

Finally, they couldn't hold it in anymore when they heard Clint whisper "who the hell is this kid?"

Tony and Peter practically fell over, crying in laughter.

Everyone stared, confused.

"Are you two alright?" Wanda asked, a tiny smile on her lips.

Tony and Peter finally were able to sit up, wiping their eyes.

"Go ahead, kid," Tony said, was from laughing.

Peter grinned. "I cannot believe you guys didn't catch on."

After a second, their eyes went wide.

"PETER?!" They all yelled simultaneously.

Peter stood up and brushed himself off. "Peter Parker. You guys had the face reveal an hour ago and didn't know it. I'm a genius."

"You really are just a kid," Bruce said distantly.

"Yeah, but a kickass one," Bucky noted.

Peter laughed. "Anyway, yeah. You guys know what I look like now, and I don't have to wear the mask around the tower all the time. Great. Bye!" He started toward his room.

"Not so fast, infant. We've got questions," Clint stated.

Peter groaned and turned around. "Okay, I guess."

He soon found himself seated in the couch surrounded by his stand-in family.

"How old are you?" Steve asked.

"Fifteen, almost sixteen."

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes.

"What school do you go to?" Natasha asked.

"Midtown School of Science and Technology," Peter stated, blushing a little. It was no secret that you had to be really smart to get in.

"Midtown? That place is for geniuses!" Bruce said excitedly. (Bruce is so adorable I can't)

Peter smiled his cute, puppy dog-like smile.

"Why did you wait so long after gaining our trust, and vice versa, to tell us who you were?" Sam questioned.

Peter looked down a bit. "It's more of a nervous habit, than anything. You guys are the Avengers, you know how to defend yourselves. But I don't tell people who I am because I want them to stay safe. So it was just anxiety, really. And I wasn't exactly ready for you to know everything about me. I don't know if I am now, even. I typically don't tell people about my life because it's not something very fun to talk about, you could say. But I think we all relate to that."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

What can you tell us?" Wanda asked.

"Uh, I'm in high school, I live with my Aunt May, but she's out of the country right now, only a few people know I'm Spider-Man, and... yeah."

"That wasn't much," Vision noticed.

Peter shrugged. "It's all I wanna tell you for now."

"Well, we'll let you go. Nice to meet you, Peter," Nat smiled kindly. It was a smile that wasn't very common, but she seemed to like the boy too much to conceal it.

Peter nodded and got up, smiling.

"Oh, this looks weird when I'm not in the suit. Watch this!" He ran up to the wall, jumped, and stuck. Then he proceeded to crawl on the wall and ceiling down the hallway.

Everyone chuckled a bit.

Peter. What an interesting kid.

But all the Avengers could agree on one thing.

Peter needed to take a break.

I'm gonna do a follow up of this but it will go by a different title :) Love you all! I'll probs post the follow up next, then a request.

As always, forgive any errors <3

And THANK YOU for 4.8k reads! Almost at 5k, guys!

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July 30th, 2019