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Tony rolled his eyes as Steve laid out yet another Hydra goon and landed in yet another incredibly attractive super heroic pose. And people thought he was the dramatic one on the team. Sure, he had incredibly brilliant quips, but Cap had the market cornered on dramatics.

Dramatic poses, dramatic sighs into the distance for days gone by, dramatically chiseled good looks. Alright, he needed to focus here.

The team had been informed by SHIELD that this Hydra base had some sort of weapon that they had been creating. It sounded ominous and dangerous enough to send in the Avengers. Tony blasted another guy from his feet into a wall. God, he loved his job.

“Barton, Romanoff, tell me one of you has something.” Steve gritted into the comm.

“I’m in the control room. I’m downloading files right now.” Natasha’s voice told them easily. “I’m not seeing any weapons on the security cams, but I’ll keep looking.”

“Nothing on my end. Jesus, these dudes just keep on coming.” Clint groused. There was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, yeah, we all know your cut off one head motto by now.”

“Barton, focus. We need the location of that weapon to either disarm or destroy it.” Steve bit out.

“Don’t get your star-spangled panties in a twist, Cap. Some of us can multi-task.” Tony laughed as he jetted down a hallway.

“Stark, has your tech found anything yet?” Steve bit out, clearly irritated with him and Barton. Tony grinned. It was literally too easy.

“J, what have we got?” Tony asked.

Jarvis’ accented voice responded quickly, “Sir, indicators show that there is one level below the one you are currently on. However, the schematics are not revealing an access point.”

“One access point, coming up.” Tony said, reaching the end of a hallway and pointing his blasters straight at the floor. Once the blast cleared, he saw that once again his AI had not steered him wrong. “Guys, I’m checking out a secret lower level. I feel like I’m about to read Hydra’s super-secret teenage girl diary. I’ll let you know if there is something juicy.”

“Stark, keep your eyes open, it could be dangerous.” Steve commanded. Tony just rolled his eyes and lowered himself down to the eerily empty extra level. Why would Hydra create an entire secret level, and nobody was on it? Tony was starting to get an uneasy feeling as he looked in room after room, all empty. But they looked like they had been recently evacuated. Papers were left lying around, labs still had experiments bubbling. It was weird.

Tony stopped at the last door in the corridor. It was locked. He pulled blasted the lock and pushed it open. “I think we’re about to find out Hydra’s dirty little secret, guys.” He announced.

“Stark, I’m on the lower level, what’s your location?” Clint asked.

But Tony didn’t respond. He was too shocked. The secret left behind in this secret level of a Hydra base was a kid? A small figure, Tony honestly didn’t know how old the miniature human was, stared at him defiantly in the bare cell that contained only a small cot. Tony was less scared than confused though from the brown eyes slanted at him under a mop of brown curls.

“Hey, kid, I’m an Avenger, we’re gonna rescue you.” Tony told the kid.

Far from having the desired effect, the kid went berserk. He ran straight for Tony and jumped up in the air, pushing his feet straight at Tony’s chest, and even more surprising, Tony flew out of the sterile room and crashed into the wall behind him.

“Uh, guys, I think I found the weapon.” He groaned. “Kid, listen, I’m Iron Man and I don’t want to hurt you. I’m one of the good guys.” Tony tried to reason with the small figure that was flinging himself at him again. He managed to evade the boy just in time.

“Whoa! Okay, come on, I’ll get you a lollipop if you’re good.” Tony offered. This only seemed to make the kid more angry as he kicked off a wall and landed another punch, damaging Tony’s suit.

“Sir, I must alert you that you cannot take many more direct hits of this strength. Your suit is now running at thirty-four percent capacity.” Jarvis warned him, showing several weakened points on his suit.

“Thanks, J, update me when I’m at twelve percent.” Tony snapped back. He didn’t want to hurt a kid, but damn, this kid wasn’t a normal kid. He evaded as much as he could, but the kid was smart enough to use their tight quarters to his advantage.

Just as he was considering what he could do that wouldn’t hurt the kid, the kid slumped to the floor and Clint stood behind him, hold a needle that was now empty, and smirking. “I don’t suppose you’re going to let me forget that you stopped a kid from beating me up?” Tony asked resigned.

“Your words. And never.” Clint laughed. “We’re bringing the kid back to the jet. We’ll be there in ten.” Clint told the others.

“Make it five.” Natasha announced. “This place is going up.”

Tony and Clint looked at each other quickly and Tony scooped up the boy before following Clint in bolting back down the hall. Just as they reached the quinjet and it started flying away, the entire Hydra base blew up behind them in a massive spectacle of flames and the rumble of bombs.

“I’d say this was a successful mission, guys.” Tony grinned, setting the kid on a seat and buckling his limp form in before hopping out of the suit. He went up to Steve and kissed him deeply before being pushed away with a sigh.

“Tony.” Steve warned.

“I know, blah, blah, blah, we’re on a mission. Be professional, yadda, yadda, yadda.” Tony rolled his eyes at Steve.

“Tony.” Steve groaned. “I wish you’d take this more seriously.”

Tony looked offended. “I am taking this very seriously. We found some creepy children of the corn weapon kid and rescued him from Hydra. The mission’s practically over, Cap.”

“Practically being the key word.” Natasha told him from the cockpit.

“Plus, not everyone wants to see you two making out. I had a burger for lunch and don’t want to lose it.” Clint complained.

Tony grumbled to himself before announcing, “Fine, let’s step on it to SHIELD’s somehow still secret giant flying base.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he caught Steve muttering, “What does corn have to do with anything?” and writing something in his notebook.

The flight back to the helicarrier was quick enough. The Avengers gratefully unloaded the kid and went to wash up before they had to debrief in an hour. Tony grimaced as the jets of the frankly subpar shower hit his sore muscles, but was grateful to at least be clean. He entered the conference room, sporting some tinted sunglasses and was only slightly late if the intensity of the glare from Fury and minor disappointment from Steve was anything to go on.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got places to be and people who want to see me.” Tony announced grandiosely.

Clint rolled his eyes and Fury merely pressed a button that pulled up a video feed of the kid that was now up and running. “Whoa, that tranq should have had him out for at least half a day more.” Clint informed them.

Fury nodded. “Meet Peter Parker, ladies and gentlemen.”

Chapter Text

Steve looked in at the kid – Peter – as he explored the confines of the cell he was in. He was tiny, with a mop of brown, curly hair; but if Tony and Clint were right he had a strength that belied his size. Seeing a child locked up didn’t sit well with Steve. It smacked a little too much of HYDRA’s style and he said as much.

“And what do you propose we do about that? The kid won’t talk to us and so far hasn’t listened to reason. He’s a danger to himself and everyone around him and I’m not willing to sacrifice the safety of everyone on this base for the sake of one kid.” Fury told him bluntly.

The soldier in Steve understood. It made sense. But, the part of Steve that had gone after Bucky, who refused to believe that his friend was gone, and had saved him in the past and present balked at the callousness of the Director of SHIELD. If Bucky, who had been under the influence of SHIELD for decades could be helped, a child certainly couldn’t be any different.

Steve looked over at Tony, who groaned. “You know my tower isn’t a home for strays, right?”

Steve’s hands flew up to soothe Tony. “I didn’t say anything, Tony.”

“You don’t have to. I can see in your steely blue eyes that I’m going to gain yet another brainwashed HYDRA agent.” Tony sat back petulantly.

Clint, on the other hand, looked excited. “We can have a rematch between him and Iron Man. You guys totally missed out. Tony was getting his ass handed to him by a kid!”
“No.” Steve said firmly at the same time that Tony adamantly said, “I was holding back!”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You cannot just kidnap a child to raise at the tower. He’s not a puppy.”

“It’s not kidnapping, Nat. It’s rescuing.” Clint said righteously. She took a deep breath and gave him her patented ‘You’re an idiot’ glare that Clint was mostly immune to at this point. “We can’t leave the kid to rot in a SHIELD cell. It’s barely better than HYDRA. Steve thinks it’s a great idea.” Clint announced.

“Just because Captain America thinks something is a great idea, doesn’t make it one.” Natasha deadpanned. Tony snorted in delight and Steve sighed.

Nick Fury interrupted their debate, “What makes you think I’d let you take him anywhere? You lot can’t even control yourselves. The kid is a ticking time bomb. Leave it.”

What Nick Fury did not know, or maybe he did, Steve never quite knew with the man, his words pushed the Avengers in the room to become firmly determined that Peter Parker would not be staying in the helicarrier. Anywhere had to be better than living in that tiny cell alone.

“Director Fury, with all due respect,” Steve stood firmly, “We’re not asking, and I really don’t think you can stop us.”

Nick Fury stood as well and pointed to the monitor. “That is not a child, ladies and gentlemen. He stopped being one at three years old when his parents were murdered by HYDRA and he was taken and experimented on. It’s been going on for five years and he most likely doesn’t even remember a time when he wasn’t being brainwashed and tortured. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

“My best friend was tortured for decades and didn’t even remember his own name and we’re helping him.” Steve argued.

“And just how well is that going?” Fury asked bluntly.

Steve felt his heart squeeze painfully. Bucky wasn’t even close to his old self. Some days Steve felt like he was making small progress, but others felt like he would never be better. Fury definitely hit a nerve.

The rest of the Avengers stood and Steve felt grateful at the sense of solidarity and support they showed. Tony rested his hand on Steve’s shoulder and glared at Fury. “Yeah, we’re done here. Unless something major comes up, we definitely have a don’t call us, we’ll call you policy. Seriously. People think I’m an ass?”

“You are.” Clint and Natasha said together.

Tony just grumbled as they walked towards the door as a team. “Fine. But I am holding all of you personally responsible when this gets messy. You need to contain this problem.”
They didn’t even justify that with a response as they walked out and down the hall towards the holding cells. They were stopped in front of the door to Peter’s cell when Natasha stopped them all. “Go get the quinjet ready.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue and stopped when Natasha glared at him. “All of us barging in and grabbing him is not the best way to gain his trust. I will meet you all at the jet with the kid.”

Steve understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it. “I could-"

“No. I will handle this. You know I’m the best person for the job. Go wait in the jet.” Natasha interrupted and then pushed open the door. They all stood for a moment, trying to hear what she was saying, but gave up and obeyed Natasha’s instructions. Tony was frantically typing something into his phone as they went, and Steve assumed he wanted to prepare the tower as much as he could for its newest resident.

Chapter Text

Natasha took a steadying breath as she turned towards the door to the cell. She reminded herself that she was about to encounter a child. A brainwashed, enhanced child, that seemed to be highly trained, but still a child. She pushed open the door and was not surprised when a small figure barreled towards her.

Instantly, Natasha shut the door and quickly maneuvered the boy so that she held him in a firm hold. It shouldn’t be painful, but it would hold him until he listened to reason. “Do you speak English?”

No response. Natasha went through every language she knew and realized that the boy responded to none. “Peter-“ She tried.

This caused an extreme reaction and the boy began thrashing. So much so, that she was afraid he would hurt himself and she released him. “So you know your name.” She told the small figure that was heaving and looking around wildly.

“I am Weapon.” He told her firmly.

“No. You’re Peter Parker. HYDRA wanted you as a weapon.” She explained calmly, lowering herself to his eye level cautiously. “You are not a weapon.”

Peter’s voice rose as he stated loudly, “I am Weapon!” Then he charged Natasha again, only for her to catch him in another hold. Peter looked like he wasn’t used to losing a fight. She briefly wondered who HYDRA had him up against. The boy was persistent, but not even close to her level of skill. She believed Stark when he said he was holding back when the kid attacked him.

“You may be stronger than me, but you are not more skilled. You will not win against me. If I let you go, will you stop fighting and listen?” Natasha bluntly told him.

Peter was breathing heavily and the look on his face spoke of an infinite amount of stubbornness, but he nodded stiffly and she let him go. He attacked her again and again, she halted his efforts almost immediately. “I suppose I can explain what is going to happen just as easily from this position. You are no longer a prisoner of HYDRA.”

“I am Weapon.” Peter insisted.

Natasha frowned. “That is what they told you. It does not make it true. You can either remain in this cell, or come with my friends and I. You would have to stay with us at all times, but you would have more space and your own bedroom.”

No response.

“If you choose to come with us, we can get you some new clothes and food. We can help you, but we must go now. I am letting you go. If you fight me again, you will not like the consequences.” Natasha explained to him. She hoped making it seem like he had a choice would make the transition easier.

“Punishment?” Peter asked warily.

Natasha let him go and the boy backed away from her, keeping his eyes trained on her. “No.” She told him. “Consequence. If you push a ball and it rolls away that is the consequence. None of us will hurt you, but you will not hurt us either.”

Peter nodded. Natasha stood up. “It is time to go, Peter.”

“I am Weapon.”

“Be good and hold my hand as we go to the quinjet.” Natasha ordered. She breathed a sigh of relief when the boy took her hand awkwardly.

“Weapon is good.” He told her firmly.

“You are very good.” She agreed as she opened the door. Natasha prepared for him to bolt but was surprised when he obeyed and held her hand all the way to the quinjet like she ordered. When the others spotted them, she wanted to roll her eyes at their look of surprise. They forever seemed to underestimate her.

“Hey! Look who made it! Welcome aboard, squirt!” Clint grinned and reached his hand out to ruffle Peter’s hair. Peter’s eyes narrowed at Clint and he viciously snapped his teeth at Clint’s hand that was retracted just in the nick of time.

“He tried to bite me!” Clint complained. “Did you see that? Squirt could’ve taken my whole hand off with that chomp.”

“Stop being dramatic.” Natasha told Clint and tugged Peter over to a seat and told him to sit. She buckled him in securely and looked him in the eyes. “No biting. Be good.”

“Weapon is good.” Peter said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Clint. Steve and Natasha both noted that it was more adorable than intimidating, but Clint seemed to disagree.

“What did I do?” Clint whined.

Natasha rolled her eyes and looked around. “Go fly us home. Where’s Stark?”

Steve sat down a couple seats away from Peter. “He flew ahead. Something about updating the tower before Peter arrives.”

“I am Weapon.” Peter told him.

Steve looked at Natasha worriedly. She sighed and sat next to him, trying to tell him without words that they’d work on it. All of the adults on board wondered if they had bitten off more than they could chew. Leaving Peter to be raised in a cell by uncaring agents was not an option, however, so they took off without a word.

A few hours later, when they landed at the tower, everyone on board the quinjet was relieved to get out of the confined space. Peter did not cause any problems, but his complete stillness was disconcerting at best. Natasha unbuckled him and had him take her hand as they went to the elevator and rode it down to their communal floor.

When the door opened, Steve lit up as he always did when he saw the figure sitting on a sofa reading a book. “Bucky!” Bucky looked up from what he was reading and his relaxed posture immediately stiffened.

Peter looked at Bucky with a face of both fear and awe. “Asset.” He said clearly.

Bucky rose with an unreadable expression on his face. He approached Peter slowly before stating, “Weapon.”

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Bucky’s heart beat fast as he looked at the small boy that he recognized from a past that he would rather not remember. Flashes of other children came up briefly through his mind. Broken, bleeding children. His hands were smeared with blood as their tiny, unmoving bodies stared unseeingly back at him. Bucky clenched his teeth and strode away from the Weapon.

He rode the elevator down to the gym floor and quickly pushed his body through its paces. He tried pushing his rage into every punch and kick he landed on Stark’s dummies that he had set up throughout the room. When his third dummy crashed into a wall and splintered apart, he heard a voice ask, “Want a round with a real workout?”

Turning, Bucky felt conflicted. Steve was one of the last people he wanted to see right now. He felt a tingle of something in the back of his mind of memories just out of reach every time he looked at the man. Sometimes he even felt like he could almost touch them. Other times, like now, he wanted to punch him in the gut to wipe the mix of pity and expectations that were impossible for him to meet off Captain America’s face.

In the end, he grunted in affirmation and the two immediately lunged for each other. Sparring with Steve was an incredibly satisfying exercise. The man could meet him blow for blow and he did not have to worry about injuring him with his strength. Steve wasn’t as trained as he was, but seemed to make up for it in other ways.

After they both lay sweating on the mat, Steve turned to Bucky and asked, “Is Peter being here going to be a problem?”

Bucky thought about his answer carefully before honestly responding, “No. He needs help. I understand.”

Steve nodded at his best friend. “Nat took him to his new room. Right now we’re not getting through to him. Want to give it a shot?”

Bucky rose and stretched his aching muscles. “I’m taking a shower first.”

“Good. Don’t want to knock the kid out with that stink.” Steve grinned.

“Punk.” Bucky grumbled as he left to make himself somewhat presentable.

After Bucky showered and put on a dark t-shirt and jeans, he asked the man in the ceiling where Peter was and strode off quickly to follow the directions. He could hear Stark’s voice before he saw the scene in the bedroom.

Natasha was holding up what looked to be a change of clothes and Stark was frantically waving a sucker in the air at Peter who was stuck to the ceiling. “Come on, kid. What’s it gonna take? I’ll get it for you if you just come down.”

Natasha spotting him and jerked her head for him to come over. She quickly told him that they attempted to bathe him and get him dressed in pajamas before Peter leapt onto the ceiling.

“He’s getting footprints all over my ceiling!” Stark whined.

Bucky kept his eyes trained on Peter who was eyeing him warily. “Come down.” He ordered.

Natasha’s face went impassive and Stark’s eyes widened comically as Peter obeyed immediately and stood at attention before Bucky. “We’ve been trying for the past hour and the Terminator comes in and he just listens?”

Bucky glared at Stark. He didn’t know exactly what he was talking about, but with Stark it was best just to assume there was some thinly veiled insult in there somewhere. “Why did you not obey?” He asked Peter finally.

“The Avengers are bad.” Peter told him frankly.

Bucky sighed. They had already told Peter about the Avengers, making this much harder. “HYDRA lied. The Avengers are good.”

“They stop progress and want to hurt Weapon.” Peter recited.

Bucky shook his head. “No. This is Natasha and Tony. They are our friends. This is Tony’s house. They want you to be safe and warm.”

“Safe and warm?” Peter asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice and not quite managing it.

“You will see. Now it is time for a bath then dinner. Do you want Natasha or Tony to help?” Bucky looked at the boy and considered doing it himself, but wanted to help the small boy to start trusting the Avengers. Peter didn’t question his authoritative tone in the least and sized up Natasha and Tony. Bucky remembered from when he was first released that choices, even small ones, could be overwhelming and hoped that he was making a good decision in letting Peter decide even this.

“Tony.” Peter announced finally.

Bucky nodded and Tony grinned victoriously as if he did anything at all in this situation and grabbed the pajamas from Natasha. “Kid’s got taste! Come on, let’s get you in the bath. I’ve got these new bubble baths that you’ll love.”

“Bubble bath?” Peter frowned up at the giddy man in confusion but followed him into the adjoining bathroom obediently. Tony left the door open and Natasha and Bucky waited to see if there would be any problems that they would need to intervene with. Bucky let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as they heard the water running, a small splash as a tiny body got in the tub, and then a steady stream of words from Stark as he filled the silence as Peter presumably took a bath.

Natasha and he exchanged a quick few words in Russian to discuss the situation, then Natasha left to go help Clint with dinner. Bucky went into Peter’s bathroom and actually let out a startled laugh at the sight. Water was pretty much everywhere. The bathtub was absolutely overflowing with bubbles and Peter sat in the center of it all looking skeptically at his surroundings.

Stark had suds up Peter’s hair and topped his head with a crown of bubbles and was looking down at his handiwork with smug satisfaction. “Hey, nice laugh man, you should do it more. Pete’s almost finished here then we can get dried up.”

“I am Weapon.” Peter corrected Tony. The boy tried to look intimidating but being literally covered in bubbles didn’t do him any favors.

Bucky decided to have mercy on Peter and plucked him out of the bath and set him in the shower to rinse off. As he rinsed, he lectured. “HYDRA called me Asset. I am Bucky. They lied to me. HYDRA called you Weapon. You are Peter. They lied to you.”

Peter looked at Bucky as if he had grown another head but did not contradict him. As Bucky turned off the water, Tony arrived with a large fluffy blue towel. He rubbed Peter dry and then wrapped him snugly in the towel. Peter sighed in satisfaction, “Warm.”

Bucky nodded in understanding. Tony Stark may be a pretentious ass that may not deserve Steve, but there were some definite perks to living with him. He had the fluffiest towels that somehow were warmed. They were one of his favorite things in the entire tower.

Tony grinned at the kid as he tugged off the towel and put a clean pair of pajamas covered in tiny versions of Captain America’s shield on them that Peter made a face at. Bucky briefly wondered how Stark had managed to get them already. Tony interrupted his thoughts, “We told you kid, we’re going to make sure you’re safe and warm here. Now, come on, I bet Legolas made some awesome burgers for dinner and I’m starved.”

“Burgers?” Peter asked Tony.

Tony picked up a brush and quickly ran it through Peter’s hair. “Oh, yeah. You’re gonna love ‘em. American classic.” Tony put the brush down and stood up to leave. Bucky started following him, but both men realized that Peter stood where they had left him.

“Come with us to eat dinner.” Bucky ordered. Peter rushed forward to obey. Bucky looked down at the small kid and noticed his fingers twitching a little and his glance shifted between the two men. Or more precisely, between the two men’s hands. Bucky sighed and held out a hand. Peter relaxed and grabbed it squeezing more tightly than was strictly comfortable.

“Who would have thought you were such a softie, Barnes?” Stark smirked at him.

Bucky simply let go of Peter’s hand and shoved Stark sideways, not too hard, but enough that it made the billionaire stumble into Peter’s bed. He smirked as Peter let out a laugh and Stark grumbled at him. Bucky was pretty smug at the fact that he just hit two birds with one stone.

Chapter Text

Weapon didn’t know what to think, but he knew he had to be careful. Iron Man called Tony had told him they wanted him to be safe and warm. He had used a warm towel on him which was wonderful, but Peter couldn’t figure out if the man was trying to trick him or if he really didn’t know – nobody was safe from HYDRA.

Asset called Bucky held his hand loosely as they went out to get food. Weapon tried not to get his hopes up too high. Iron Man called Tony had said he would love burgers, which meant maybe today he would get to eat. It didn’t make any sense, though, he was not good today for them. He had fought Black Widow called Natasha, almost bit Hawkeye called Clint or Legolas, and wouldn’t come down from the ceiling. He knew that if he was at HYDRA and did half of that, a missed meal would have been the least of his worries.

When they entered the dining room, the Avengers were all seated around the table and he was made to sit next to Captain America called Steve. He watched with wide eyes as the plate in front of him was loaded with food: a piece of meat between two pieces of bread, green vegetables, and thin yellowish strips sat in front of him. He looked at it oddly before Captain America called Steve told him to eat.

He looked at the man and didn’t see any tricks, so grabbed the green food first and shoved it into his mouth. He spit it out and looked at the adults around the table almost accusingly. It tasted bitter. He looked suspiciously at the rest of the food and shoved the strips of yellow in his mouth. They were much better and Weapon grabbed another handful and pushed them into his mouth before he had finished chewing the first.

Just as Weapon reached for a third helping of the salty strips, Captain America called Steve put a hand out on top of his and said, “Stop.”

Weapon quickly finished chewing and sat back in the chair dejectedly. He knew that it was too good to be true. “Just, calm down, buddy. You don’t need to eat so fast.” Captain America called Steve told him.

Weapon looked up at him confused. “Calm down?”

“Nobody will take your food from you. Eat more slowly. Don’t spit out your vegetables.” Asset called Bucky told him.

Weapon looked at the Avengers and blinked at them, trying to assess the situation. He knew what they wanted him to do, but with the doctors if he didn’t eat fast they might change their mind about feeding him. They liked him eating fast so they could do other things. Sometimes if he didn’t eat fast enough he would be punished. Now, the Avengers wanted him to eat slowly.

“Good boys calmly eat their dinner.” Black Widow called Natasha interrupted his thoughts.

Weapon liked Black Widow called Natasha. She explained what he needed to do to be good. “Weapon is good.” He told her before taking one small yellow strip and putting it in his mouth almost agonizingly slowly. Weapon chewed it carefully and looked around the table for their silent approval before taking another.

“Good job, kid! Much better. Try the burger!” Iron Man called Tony told him.

Weapon couldn’t help the swell of pride in his chest when Iron Man called Tony said he was doing it right. “Burger?” He asked.

“Yup. You apparently don’t like broccoli, that’s the green stuff. You almost bit off your own fingers trying the fries, the last thing on your plate is a burger. You’re going to love it.” Iron Man called Tony explained.

Weapon looked at the meat and bread on his plate. He looked at the adults and saw they had picked it up with both hands and took a bite of everything together at once. He mimicked their actions and bit into the food. Weapon hummed in delight. “I knew he’d love it!” Iron Man called Tony grinned.

Weapon wasted no time in finishing the burger and fries. “Eat your vegetables, Peter.” Captain America called Steve told him as the adults finished their meals around him and began clearing the table.

“I am Weapon.” He said but it didn’t have any heat behind it as he glared at the green vegetable – broccoli it was called – on his plate. “They are not good.” He accused.

“Vegetables are good for you. You cannot be done until your plate is clear of them.” Captain America called Steve said.

Weapon looked up at the man and back down at his plate. He thought for a minute, then picked up the remaining broccoli and put it on Captain America called Steve’s plate. “My plate is clear.” Weapon announced, standing abruptly. The man sighed, but Iron Man called Tony laughed and Peter smirked at him.

“Kid got you, Cap.” Hawkeye called Clint or Legolas said before reaching out a hand and ruffling Weapon’s hair. Weapon reacted without thinking and bit down on the man’s hand causing him to drop the dishes he had been holding with a loud crash and to let out a string of curse words.

Weapon felt a sting of fear flash through him. One of the only directives he had been given was not to bite and he just did. Black Widow came over, but Weapon put his hands over his face and tried to curl down for protection before the blows started. He chanced a look up, though, when no pain came.

All of the Avengers were looking at him with odd looks in their eyes, but it wasn’t anger. Weapon knew what to expect with HYDRA. They would cause pain if he didn’t obey and sometimes even if he did but wasn’t good enough. Weapon worked hard to be good enough so that he wouldn’t hurt as much. His plan had varying levels of success depending on the day, activity, and doctor in charge.

“We are not going to hurt you.” Asset told him.

Weapon looked at Asset carefully. “Biting is not good. Black Widow said no.”

Black Widow shook her head. “It is not. You hurt him. But we won’t hurt you.”

“Punishment?” Weapon asked carefully.

Captain America winced. “No. We aren’t going to hit you ever. We promise.”

Weapon looked at all of them in confusion. “I was not good.”

Black Widow had a look of understanding and Weapon put his hands up again, readying for the blow, but only felt gently fingers pull his arms down. “We will not hit you for punishment. We will give you consequences. This time, there is no dessert.”

“Consequences like a ball. Dessert?” Weapon recalled her talk from earlier but was still confused. What even was dessert?

Iron Man groaned. “Oh, that’s cruel. Poor kid. Dessert is a special treat after dinner. I guess you’ll have to try it tomorrow.”

Weapon looked at them with confusion. Captain America had pity on him in his clearly confused state. “Come on, Peter, why don’t you apologize and we can finish cleaning up from dinner?”

“I am Weapon.” He said quickly. Weapon looked over at the man who was rubbing his hand awkwardly watching their interaction.

“Go on. Apologizing is good.” Asset informed him.

Weapon nodded and decided that he was going to try and be good again so said, “I’m sorry for biting, Legolas.”

Hawkeye called Clint or Legolas sputtered and everyone else in the room burst into laughter.

Chapter Text

“Ingrates.” Clint grumbled as he rubbed his still sore hand. “See if I make any of you burgers any time soon. Call me Clint, kid.”

Peter nodded in confusion and then clarified. “You are Hawkeye called Clint or Legolas but you prefer Clint.”

Clint sighed. “My job is Hawkeye. My friends call me Clint. The Tin Can is the only one to call me Legolas and I don’t like it.”

“Are we friends?” Peter asked in wonder.

“Sure, squirt. You can always use more friends.” Clint shrugged.

“Iron Man called Tony is also called Tin Can?” Peter asked seemingly more confused than ever, especially when Clint responded “Yes.” At the same time that Tony shouted, “No!”

Steve glared at the two men who were confusing Peter and ordered them to finish cleaning up. He gently directed Peter into the living area and sat Peter on a couch next to him. Peter seemed hesitant at first and pushed his hand down on the soft padding. When he finally rested his body back into the cushions, he sighed in delight.

“Yeah, Tony’s got some good taste in furniture, right?” Steve grinned down at the little boy that was trying to push himself even deeper into the couch.

“It’s soft and makes me feel happy.” Peter agreed.

Steve nodded and looked at Peter carefully. “We are all Avengers. So people who see us do Avengers work call us Captain America or Iron Man.”

“Or Black Widow, or Hawkeye, or Thor, or Hulk.” Peter listed.

“Right. But, when we are not trying to help people, we like to use our regular names. So you can call me Steve.” Steve gently explained as the others started trickling in to the living room and claiming their own spots around the room.

“You help people?” Peter asked with genuine interest.

“Yup!” Tony said plopping himself on the other side of Peter on the couch, making Peter shift from his spot a little from the motion. Peter pouted a little before rearranging himself back deeply into the cushions.

Peter seemed to consider Steve’s words but didn’t comment further on them. Instead he said, “So I should call you Steve and Tony and Natasha and Clint and Bucky.”

“Right! Good job, kiddo!” Tony grinned and reached his hand up, about to ruffle Peter’s hair, but stopped abruptly and shifted his eyes to Clint awkwardly.

Peter’s assessing gaze watched the whole thing, including an exchange of meaningful gazes between the adults.

“Why do you keep trying to touch my head?” He asked curiously.

“It’s how I show I like you, kid.” Clint explained with a grin.

“You like me? But I bit you.” Peter frowned.

Clint waved his hand as if swatting his words away. “Water under the bridge. You just didn’t get it. I’m fine. You gotta do a lot more than that to scare me off.”

Peter looked at all the adults. He pushed himself slowly off the sofa and walked over to Clint who was perched on the back of a large over-stuffed chair that Natasha lounged on. “You can touch my head if you want.” He announced.

Clint looked up and grinned before reaching over slowly so Peter could follow his movements and rested his hand on his head before gently ruffling his hair. Peter stood stiffly and then cocked his head at Clint curiously after Clint took his hand back. “And this shows you like me?”

“Yep.” Clint nodded.

Peter nodded and looked seriously at Clint. “Then you can touch my head. I won’t bite you again.”

Natasha smiled at him. “Good boy.” Peter practically beamed at the praise from Natasha.

“People like to show they like you by touching sometimes.” Steve explained. “It might be ruffling your hair like Clint, or holding your hand like Bucky and Natasha did earlier, or a hug.”

“What’s a hug?” Peter asked with wide eyes to Steve.

Tony smiled up at Steve. “Give him a hug, Cap. Yours and Thor’s are the best, but Thor isn’t here.”

“Will it hurt?” Peter asked.

“Hugs don’t hurt. They’re awesome!” Clint assured him.

Bucky agreed, “And Steve does give the best ones. Go on, try it.”

Peter eyed them all a little warily, but he steeled his shoulders and walked up to Steve. Steve pushed himself to the edge of the sofa and gently told Peter, “You don’t have to if you’re not ready.”

“I – I want to.” Peter said. Even though his voice betrayed his nerves, Steve took that as permission and slowly put his arms out and gathered Peter close to him. Peter was stiff at first and didn’t know what to do with his arms.

Steve murmured a gentle, “Relax, bud. You’re safe.” Into his ear and Peter fell into the hug.

“Steve’s hug is safe and warm.” Peter announced.

“You bet it is!” Tony grinned at him as Peter finally let go and then settled himself back into the sofa. Nobody missed the way he looked a little longingly at Steve’s arms as he did so.

Natasha reached up and grabbed Clint’s hand. “See, people who like eachother touch all the time. You can hold our hand or get a hug any time you want. You don’t even have to ask.” Peter just nodded and looked a little overwhelmed.

Bucky intervened and said, “Why don’t we watch a movie before Peter has to go to bed?”

“I wanna pick!” Tony announced.

Natasha rolled her eyes, “Something kid friendly.”

“Of course. I have impeccable taste and I’m assuming we have to catch the kid up. Let’s watch Aladdin!” Tony grinned. The rest of the room shrugged in indifference, so Tony smirked at his easy victory and told Jarvis to start the film.

The lights dimmed and they all watched Peter more than they did the movie. His eyes were glued to the screen as the characters sang and acted out the story. When the final credits started to roll, the lights came back up and Peter looked around at all of them in a daze. “What’d ya think, kid?” Tony asked.

“Have you ever met a genie?” Peter asked with wonder.

Every heart in the room melted. “They’re really hard to find, but we always keep our eyes peeled. We’ll have to rub lamps when we come across them, just to be sure.” Clint told him.

Peter nodded seriously. “And then we can free them so they can do what they want and not have to do bad things if someone makes them.”

Natasha stood up and knelt before Peter. “That’s right. Nobody should be made to do bad things to other people. We’ll definitely make sure it doesn’t happen to any more genies or little boys if we can help it.”

“Alright.” Steve interrupted. “It’s time to head to bed.” Natasha stood and held a hand out for Peter. He stood reluctantly and looked around at all of them. Steve noticed his reluctance and said, “Do you want one more hug before you go?”

Peter quickly dropped Natasha’s hand and melted into Steve’s arms much faster this time. He snuggled into his chest tightly and Steve didn’t miss how the boy seemed to breathe in his scent as if to remember this. Finally, he let go and took Natasha’s hand, who led him to be tucked in for his first night in the Tower.

Chapter Text

Natasha made sure Peter had gone to the bathroom, had a glass of water in his nightstand and introduced him to Jarvis and explained to ask the AI for help if he needed anything else. She then turned the lights off and shut the door.

Peter listened carefully as her footsteps faded down the hallway. He sat up and looked around the room. The little boy padded to the door and slowly turned the handle and opened the door. He stared in surprise when it opened easily, having expecting it to have been locked. He frowned at the door slightly confused, but decided he liked having it open and left it.

Peter carefully inspected every inch of the space including the bathroom. It was much bigger than his old cell and he had to admit that while there wasn’t much in it, the bed was comfortable and he was surprised that he was being treated so well. Best of all, the ceilings were much higher than he was used to. His fingers itched to climb and Peter smiled as he reached the ceiling and walked the length of it. He felt safe up high. Eventually, he flipped down expertly and landed on the bed. His eyes fluttered closed and he assured himself he could figure out the rest in the morning.

~

Peter sat upright with his heart thudding. He heard a noise. It sounded like people grunting in a fight. Maybe HYDRA had finally come for him. Not knowing or willing to analyze at the moment why he felt odd about that prospect, Peter hopped out of bed and stepped quickly into the hallway. The hall was dark and he could hear no other sounds to indicate that anyone else was awake.

The sounds were coming from a room at the end of the hall. Deciding that the best way to approach was through stealth, Peter hopped up to the ceiling and began crawling toward the room. He stood from the ceiling only to slowly open the door enough for him to fit in. The room was totally dark, and he could only make out the noise even louder.

Confusion warred within him as he slid into the room, still clinging to the ceiling. Soon he was just above what he realized was more wrestling than a fight he was used to. It was Steve and Tony. Peter cocked his head at them as he tried to figure out what was happening. And with one last grunt, both men collapsed in a sigh, Steve on top of Tony.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked from his perch above them.

Instantaneously, a high-pitched scream flew out of one of the men’s mouths, the lights flew on and footsteps thundered down the hall and the room was full of the Avengers. Peter looked curiously at a man he hadn’t met yet. He didn’t look as scary as the others, and seemed more tired than ready for a fight.

“What is going on?” Bucky asked, looking back and forth between a totally naked Tony and Steve who was frantically covering himself with a sheet.

“The kid’s a peeping Tom!” Tony announced, pointing straight up at Peter who was looking at the proceedings, panicked. He skittered back to the corner and stared at the room anxiously. He just knew for sure this time he was going to be punished. They all seemed really upset. More than when he bit Clint.

“Tony, calm down.” Steve said, placing a hand on Tony’s accusing finger.

“Come on, Cap, the kid scared the bejesus out of you, too.” Tony grumbled.

Steve sighed and looked up at Peter. “What were you doing in our room, buddy? Did you have a nightmare?”

Peter just shook his head.

“Why don’t you come down so we can talk?” Natasha asked.

Peter shook his head again.

“See, kid doesn’t even want to admit what he did.” Tony grumbled.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Put on some clothes, Stark. Come down.” Bucky sent the last order up to Peter. Peter’s chin wobbled for just a moment before he regained control of it. They all could visually see him steeling himself before he hopped to the floor, but stayed tucked into the corner. “Explain truthfully why you were in the room.”

“I heard fighting so I came to see.” Peter admitted, looking down. “Why would they spar on a bed?”

Clint let out a loud laugh. Natasha sighed and smacked his head telling him to be good. Steve and the newcomer blushed a bright red. Tony began sputtering. “Sparring?”

“Is it for a challenge? It looked like Steve won. He pinned Tony at least. Tony should wear his suit if he’s sparring with Steve.” Peter explained, his words tumbling out more quickly.

Clint seemed unable to handle himself. Tears came out of his eyes as he covered his mouth, trying to keep the laughter in and failing miserably. He quickly exited the room and Natasha rolled her eyes as they could all hear the loud laughter as it trailed down the hallway.

“We all have our own private rooms, Peter. You should not enter without knocking first.” Natasha explained gently.

Peter cocked his head. “Because I could have ruined their sparring match?”

Tony choked on his own spit at those words. “Yeah, squirt. Sometimes we all like to spar privately without people watching.”

Peter nodded solemnly. “I will not interrupt your training again.”

Steve sighed. “Alright, we should get you back to bed.”

“I’ll take him. You two can go back to your training.” Natasha smirked, quirking an eyebrow at them. Steve blushed and Tony grinned.

“I always knew I liked you, Romanoff. What do you say, are you ready for another round?”

Bucky grunted and stalked out of the room. The man with Natasha said, “Tony, maybe wait until we’re at least out the door.”

“Sorry, Brucey. Didn’t mean to offend your delicate sensibilities.” Tony snarked.

“Boys. Enough.” Natasha ordered and held her hand out for Peter who looked around nervously before taking it. She led Peter down the hall, back to his room, and tucked him back into bed. “If you have any problems, tell Jarvis. He can get Bruce and me.”

“I’m sorry I ruined their sparring, Natasha.” Peter told her honestly.

“Don’t worry. They should have locked the door.” She told him, patting his head fondly and noticing how he leaned into the touch.

“Do I get dessert tomorrow?” He asked.

“Yes. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know the rule yet.” She told him. “You’ve been good.”

Peter sighed in relief as he snuggled down into the mattress. The two adults waited and watched over him until his eyes shut and his breathing evened out. They slowly exited the room and quickly went back to their own.

As Bruce shut the door behind them, Natasha grinned up at him, “Would you like to spar?” Bruce went brick red but didn’t disagree.

Chapter Text

The next couple of days for Peter were a whirlwind. Everything was new. Everything was exciting. The Avengers had grown fond of him and loved exposing Peter to new things that he had missed out on. He still refused to be called Peter, so they had taken to calling him various pet names, all of them having their favorite.

Peter found out that he liked coloring with Steve, playing video games with Clint, watching Bruce and Tony in their labs, and pretty much any form of affection they were willing to give him. But he did not like vegetables, or Tony’s loud music, and he did not like that he wasn’t allowed to leave whenever he wanted to. HYDRA kept him locked up all the time, so it was a little different, but he still longed to just go.

For their part, the Avengers sympathized with him, but he was still not allowed to go anywhere without one of them, and they wouldn’t take him out of the tower. When asked, they always said one day, but now that Peter had a taste of freedom, he wanted more.

So, really, it should not have surprised them in the least, that when they were called off on a mission and left him in the tower with only Bucky and Bruce for company, the wheels in Peter’s head went into motion. Peter knew that against Bucky he would have virtually no chance to escape. The man was stronger than him and had years of experience. He had seen him in action and even gone up against him before and did not want to repeat the experience.

Bruce, however respected by the others, would be much easier to distract and then escape from. He didn’t even plan to stay away, just get out for a little while. He had liked the ice cream that they had given him for dessert, but was willing to not be allowed any in order to run free for a little while. So, he widened his eyes a little and looked up at Bruce with the most innocent look he could manage and asked if he would take him to his lab.

“Of course, do you want to try a new experiment with me?” Bruce asked. Peter felt a twinge of something he couldn’t identify when Bruce was being so nice to him.

“Yes, please!” Peter smiled at him, pushing those feelings to the side.

“Excellent manners!” Bruce praised him, knowing Natasha and Steve were trying to introduce manners to the small boy who had no use for them at HYDRA. He was rewarded with an even larger smile from Peter. “We’ll be back later, Bucky.” Bruce told the man who was staring intently at a StarkPad and merely grunted at their exit.

Peter took Bruce’s hand and squeezed it as they descended in the elevator to the lab floor. Bruce could tell that something was off with the boy, but did not want to press him too much and risk him closing off altogether. So, he took him to the lab and began pulling out equipment as Peter watched on.

Or, at least, he should have been patiently watching on. Instead, Peter went over to where Tony kept his Iron Man suits. He had been told in no uncertain terms that he was not to touch them, but Peter couldn’t think of a faster way to cause a distraction.

He lifted a gauntlet and put it on his hand gently. He then held his hand out and yelped as the force from the blast pushed him backwards and into a wall. Peter was breathing heavily when he sat up from where he landed on the floor and he looked around the lab with horror. There was a huge explosion. Glass, papers, and equipment were everywhere.

But, perhaps most terrifying of all, Bruce stood by his lab table with scrapes and cuts over his face and arms and was currently looking like he was wrestling with himself as parts of him were swiftly turning green. Peter went closer to him and had a terrible understanding of why Bruce lived with the Avengers. It wasn’t just because he was a good science bro to Tony or a special friend to Natasha, he was the Hulk.

“Bruce? Are you alright?” He asked timidly.

If anything, the sound of his voice made Bruce even more angry. “Peter! Run!” Bruce thundered out.

Peter needed no more prompting than that. He turned and fled the lab, running straight for the elevator to try and put as much space between himself and the Hulk as possible. When the elevator doors opened, he felt a wave of relief as Bucky was already standing there, battle ready.

Peter flung himself at Bucky. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He said over and over again into Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky held him awkwardly while still holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other until the threat was established. Peter’s apologies were interrupted by a loud roar from down the hall.

Bucky’s face paled into a grim look of understanding. “Jarvis, initiate Big Green Lockdown and take us upstairs.” Bucky ordered immediately. It was almost unnecessary though, as Jarvis already seemed to be locking down the area without even being asked if the large metal walls descending around the lab floor were anything to go by.

“Of course, sir. I’ve already notified the others of the situation and they are on their way and should be here shortly.” Jarvis responded as Bucky and Peter rose to the living area. Bucky held Peter closer as they stumbled awkwardly into the living room. He sat them on Peter’s favorite sofa and allowed Peter to cling to him, while he still clutched his weapons, not quite trusting Tony’s contingency plan in case Bruce ever hulked out in the tower.

When the rest of the team, minus Clint who stayed to do some recon work for their mission, found Bucky and Peter, it was to this sight. Peter now sniffling a little, but Bucky still stoically holding him. “What happened?” Natasha clipped out. “HYDRA?”

“The Hulk.” Bucky said, shaking his head. “Down in the labs.”

Natasha sighed. “I’ll go get him.” She told them as she went towards the elevator to go down to the lab.

“I better go assess the damage.” Tony groaned, following her.

Steve sat next to Bucky and Peter and rubbed Peter’s back softly for a while, before saying, “Hey, bud, can you tell me what happened?”

Peter sniffled piteously into Bucky’s shoulder, but did not verbally answer. “Tell us what happened.” Bucky finally said in a clipped tone, that made Steve frown at him.

“You’re going to be mad.” Peter answered morosely.

Bucky sighed, “Stand up and tell us what happened. Bruce will be here to tell us soon, but it’d be better if we heard the truth from you.”

Peter slid out of Bucky’s arms and stood before the two super soldiers looking like a guilty puppy. “I was bad.” Peter admitted. When neither men responded, even to hit him, Peter continued. “I – I touched Tony’s Iron Man hand and made it go off in the lab. Then I found out Bruce was really the Hulk.”

Steve sighed at the same time Bucky crossed his arms, clearly upset with Peter. “You knew you weren’t allowed to touch Tony’s Iron Man suit.” Bucky admonished.

“I did.” Peter admitted, looking at the ground now.

Steve lifted his chin. “Always look someone in the eye when you’re speaking to them, especially if you have reason to apologize.”

Peter didn’t know why, but his gentle motion and words made his chin wobble. He knew they said they wouldn’t ever hit him, but surely this would be what changed their minds. He had purposely broken a rule, destroyed Tony’s labs, and made Bruce turn into the Hulk. “I’m in trouble.” He sniffled, looking Steve in the eye.

Bucky snorted. “Ya think?”

Steve shot him a glare and elbowed him before gathering Peter close to him in a hug that Peter eagerly returned. “You are in trouble, buddy. Big trouble. But, we still like you. You’ll learn from this and then we’ll move on. I think it’s safe to say that you aren’t allowed in the labs until further notice, and you will not be getting dessert for a full week.” Steve finally told him. Peter just nodded in acceptance.

“Yes, sir.” He said softly.

“And I think it’s time we introduced you to a time out.” Steve told him firmly.

“Time out?” Peter asked worriedly when Bucky made a grimace.

When the elevator doors opened to reveal a tired Bruce, Natasha, and Tony, they were a little surprised to see only Steve and Bucky on the couch. When Steve nodded over to where Peter was currently sitting on a chair facing the corner looking like he was experiencing the worst torture of his life, they all understood immediately what was happening and joined the two super soldiers in waiting for Peter to be done.

When Steve told him he could come out, Peter flipped backwards off the chair immediately in celebration, but froze when he saw Bruce sitting there. He immediately curled in on himself. “Hey, short stack, come on over.” Tony called to him.

Peter shuffled over slowly but when he arrived, he looked over at Steve then at Bruce. Finally, having come to a decision, he turned to Bruce and pulled himself up tall and looked Bruce in the eye. “I’m sorry.” He told the haggard man.

“Thank you for your apology.” Bruce nodded at him and then ruffled his hair.

Peter turned back to see Steve offering his arms out for another hug and ran to it, enjoying the feeling of warmth that spread through him as Steve looked down on him with pride. 

Chapter Text

Peter was working on his writing lessons with Bruce when Clint, Natasha, and Steve entered the floor and smiled. “You’re back!” Peter grinned.

“We sure are, bud.” Steve smiled tiredly at Peter, ruffling his hair. Peter pouted a little and looked at Steve with wide eyes. “Did you miss me? Want a hug?”

“Yes.” Peter said, hopping up and hugging Steve tightly.

“Where’s mine?” Clint complained behind them. Peter turned and hugged Clint and then Natasha in turn. He was getting more comfortable around all of them, but Steve was still his favorite for a hug.

“I heard you’ve been good while we’ve been away.” Natasha remarked.

“I have! Bucky said so.” Peter agreed.

“Well if Bucky said so, it much be true.” She nodded, tapping her chin as if thinking deeply.

“I suppose our lessons are over for the day.” Bruce sighed.

Clint grinned at the man, “Aw, can you blame the kid?”

Bruce put his hands up in surrender. “Alright. I give up. Go play.”

Peter grinned at the three of them and jumped up on the ceiling in excitement. “Thanks, Bruce!”

“You’ll have to come down to play with us, buddy.” Steve laughed.

Peter seemed to consider this. “But why can’t you come up here? It’s comfy and fun.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You know we can’t crawl all over the walls like you. Plus, you know Tony doesn’t like you to do that in the common areas.”

“But, Tony and Bruce could make you shoes to stick to the walls. It would be fun! We could play up here and maybe Tony wouldn’t be sad because he’d be up here with me and not left out on the floor.” Peter spoke quickly.

Clint laughed. “I bet we could. But, until then, we’re stuck down here. But, if you want to stay up there all alone instead of see the present we brought you, that’s fine with me, squirt.” He and the other two walked to the sofas nonchalantly, and to none of their surprise, Peter was padding after them almost immediately.

“What is a present? Will I like it? Can I eat it?” Peter questioned eagerly.

Steve laughed as he pulled his satchel from his side. “A present is when you want to give someone something to show that you care about them. Sometimes you get them on special days. In this case, we thought of you when we saw this on our mission and thought you’d like it.”

Peter blinked for a minute, as if processing Steve’s explanation, then he smiled. Steve opened the satchel and reached inside. Peter hopped up on Steve’s lap and tried to look in the satchel. “No peeking!” Natasha chastised. Peter huffed but sat back.

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands. It makes the surprise better!” Steve told him.

Peter obeyed and scrunched his eyes dramatically before holding out his hands. He opened them when he felt smooth, cold metal in his hands. When he saw his present, he gasped in delight. “A magic lamp!”

“Right in one.” Clint agreed.

“Did you find a genie inside?” Peter almost whispered in awe.

Steve smiled and squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “We thought you’d like to be the one to test it for a genie.”

“Can I really?” He asked, big brown eyes looking at the adults as if it was too good to be true.

Natasha nodded. “That’s why we brought it to you. We knew if there was a genie, you’d know exactly what to do.”

“What if there is a genie inside? How do you say hello? What if he’s too big to fit in this room? What color do you think he’d be? The blue genie was nicer in the movie, but in real life genies might be yellow or purple. What if he doesn’t like me?” Peter rattled off and would have continued if Steve didn’t stop him.

“Whoa, there, buddy, don’t worry so much. Why don’t you rub the lamp and see if there’s a genie first.” Steve tried to reason with him.

Peter nodded and turned his wide eyes to the lamp he was holding. He bit his lip and then stuck his tongue out between his lip as he concentrated and rubbed the lamp, before holding it out a little and holding his breath. A sigh of disappointment escaped him as nothing happened. “No genie.” He said sadly.

“Sorry, squirt. Maybe next –“ Clint’s reassurances were interrupted by a loud boom outside.

Peter stood up immediately. “Do you think the genie is outside?”

Natasha stood and held out her hand for Peter. She looked out the window towards the balcony. “There wasn’t storm clouds just a minute ago. I don’t think it’s a genie, but I do think you’d like to see this.”

The elevator doors opened and Tony and Bruce appeared. “Did he destroy my balcony?” Tony grumbled.

“We don’t know yet.” Steve shrugged. It wasn’t like Tony couldn’t afford to fix it, and then probably use it as an excuse to spend more money redecorating.

At that moment, a flash of lighting landed on the balcony and when it dissipated, a large, blond man in a cape was in its place holding a large hammer above his head.

“WHOA!” Peter gasped in awe.

Tony crossed his arms. “Drama queen. Can’t he just use the front door like a normal person?”

Steve put his arm around Tony’s shoulder and pecked his cheek. “You’re just jealous you can’t enter a room by lightning powers.” Tony sputtered indignantly, but was interrupted by a booming voice.

“Friends! It is good to see you! I have missed you these many nights and have tales of my adventures since we have last parted.” Thor greeted them all.

“Hey, man. Cool entrance.” Clint was the first to greet him.

“Thank you, Clint. I am glad you enjoy it.”

Peter rushed forward and stared up at Thor in complete amazement. “Are you a genie?”

“I do not believe so, young one. But who is this tiny Midgardian? I do not remember any of you having offspring. My guess is he is the Man of Iron’s. I have heard tell of your youthful exploits.” Thor said.

“What? I don’t-“ Tony began denying.

“I’m not tiny!” Peter announced.

“Peter, this is a friend of ours, Thor. Thor, this is Peter.” Natasha introduced.

“I am Weapon.” Peter told her defiantly crossing his arms.

Thor looked puzzled. “Weapon is a strange name. And not one you use as a game, young Midgardian. But, it is a pleasure to meet you nonetheless.”

“What’s offspring?” Peter asked bluntly.

Steve groaned and Tony ran his hand over his face. “It’s a child.” Bucky told him as he came into the room, hearing Peter’s question. “Thor.” He nodded at the god.

“So I am an offspring?” Peter asked.

“What? No. Kid. I mean, yeah, someone’s.” Tony spluttered awkwardly.

Peter furrowed his brow. “I am not yours?”

“No. I don’t have any kids.” Tony put his hands out. “None of us do, kid. Kids don’t fit into our line of business.”

“Oh.” Peter’s shoulders fell and he looked down. “I am HYDRA’s offspring.” Peter said in a small, sad voice.

“NO!” Bucky, Steve, Clint and Natasha immediately responded. Tony shrank back at the collective glare of everyone in the room, minus Thor who still had no idea what was going on.

Steve elbowed Tony in the ribs. “Ow.” Tony complained. “Ugh. Fine. Kid, I didn’t mean it like that. Of course you’re our kid. We’re like a family. A great, big, weird family that looks out for each other. You’re a part of it now, you can’t escape us that easily.”

“So the small one is your offspring, Man of Iron?” Thor asked confused and looking for confirmation, as Peter looked up at Tony as if assessing how truthful he was being.

“Yeah. He’s my kid. Well, and Steve’s of course. Really, all of ours.” Tony sighed.

Thor grinned and clapped Tony and Steve on the back. “This is most excellent news! Now that I am here, we should feast to celebrate!” Steve just laughed at Tony’s face, and the rest of the team soon joined in with their own snickers.

Clint then took to calling Tony and Steve “Dad” and “Pops” respectively in front of Peter and Thor joined in, believing that is what they preferred. Peter just frowned at the new names at first, assuming they were nicknames that he wasn’t supposed to use. But, he asked Bucky what they meant and Bucky with a smirk told him that offspring often called their parents that and that was why Clint and Thor were suggesting it.

Bucky howled with laughter the first time Peter called Tony “Dad” as Tony had taken a swig of expensive scotch and it spurted out his nose and dribbled down his face onto his shirt. Tony whined about the burn and waste of perfectly good alcohol, but everyone noted that he didn’t tell Peter not to call him that.

Chapter Text

Peter sat up with a gasp. His heart was pounding and his curls were damp with sweat. Rubbing his eyes, Peter tried to put the dream out of his head. But no matter how hard he tried, he could see the images of blood, and needles, and angry men hurting him. It had felt so real. It took him a moment to realize that he was not with HYDRA, but the Avengers.

Peter didn’t want to think any more about how he felt about that. HYDRA told him the Avengers were bad, but so far it was good. When he slept at night, he replayed visions of his time at HYDRA and Peter worried that he didn’t want to go back. He liked it here, but HYDRA just wanted to make the world the best version of itself, and sometimes that meant pain. Was he really just being selfish?

Shaking these thoughts from his head, Peter decided to go get a glass of water. He slid out of bed and silently padded down the hall to the kitchen. He stopped, though, when he saw there was someone already there. Tony looked up from a glass of scotch he was nursing and saw Peter before he could slink away.

“Out for a midnight snack, kid?” He asked in a tired voice.

Peter stepped out from the shadows of the doorway and shrugged awkwardly. Tony took in his appearance and went to the refrigerator. Peter watched as Tony quickly made a sandwich for the two of them and placed it on the counter. To Peter’s shock, Tony lifted him and let him sit on the counter before joining him.

The man picked up his plate and kicked his feet before biting into his sandwich. Peter gave an experimental kick of his own, and copied Tony’s actions. They ate in companionable silence for a while before Tony said, “Don’t tell your Pops I let you eat this late.”

Peter nodded obediently. “Or that I let you sit on the counter.”

“Okay, Dad.” Peter agreed, setting his half-eaten sandwich down and looking at the floor miserably.

Tony set his own sandwich down and hesitated before putting his arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Do you have nightmares often?”

Peter just shrugged. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Another silence between the two of them. Tony cursed himself for being shit at this. “Some people say it helps to talk about them.” Peter lifted his head and looked at Tony skeptically. “Yeah, they’re probably all idiots. I was gonna work in my lab, wanna tag along?” Tony asked, hopping down with a soft thud.

Peter kicked his heels against the cupboard, considering it, before jumping from his spot into a flip and landing silently next to Tony and taking his hand. “Show off.”

Peter grinned up at Tony. “Uncle Clint says you show off all the time.”

“Birdbrain wishes he was as cool as me. Guy has more arrows than sense. Trust me, that's saying something cuz he's only got like eleven arrows.” Tony grumbled.

“Uncle Bruce says you show off.” Peter laughed.

Tony gasped in fake shock. “My own science bro? I won’t believe it!”

“Auntie Nat says you show off.” Peter smirked up at Tony.

Tony opened his mouth as they entered the elevator, paused, then said. “Nope. Not gonna touch that one.” Peter giggled. “Oh, you think that’s funny do you?” Tony reached down and tickled under Peter’s arm and Peter jerked back.

“Hey!” Peter complained.

It was Tony’s turn to laugh. “Someone’s ticklish, I think.” He reached down and moved to Peter’s belly, making Peter squeal and squirm with laughter.

“Dad! Dad! Stop! I’m not ticklish!” Peter shouted.

“That’s not what the evidence shows, Petey. As men of science, we always look at the evidence.” Tony told him in between tickles.

“I’m not! I promise!” Peter laughed. The door to the elevator opened and Tony halted his tickling.

“Alright, my little tickle monster, we’ve got work to do. Come on, I want to show you something.” Tony told Peter, tugging him out of the elevator quickly, the boy still letting out a few stray giggles. Inside the lab, Tony led Peter to a back part where a large cabinet stood. He opened the doors and waved an arm in front of it, as if it were a magic trick he was showing the boy.

“What is it?” Peter asked, his eyes raking over the spare parts and tools throughout the cabinet.

“This is everything we will need to put together your very first engine. I thought it could be a fun project for us to work on. My dad had me put my first one together when I was around your age.” Tony remarked offhandedly.

“Cool!” Peter grinned he reached out for a piece, but Tony stopped his hand.

“Whoa there, tiger. I’m glad you’re in, but we’re going to do this right. You need to know all the parts and what they do first, then we can start officially.” Tony told him. Tony sat on the ground with his legs crossed and Peter settled himself on his lap. Tony reached for various parts and explained it to Peter until he started to feel Peter’s head nod off on his chest.

Smiling, Tony put the valve he was explaining back into the cabinet and lifted Peter into his arms with a grunt. “I’m too old for this.” Tony complained softly.

“Wha-“ Peter mumbled.

Tony pet Peter’s hair gently. “Hush, my mini engineer, we’re going to go on up to bed. You just relax and let me take care of everything.”

“No. I don’t want to see it again.” Peter moaned.

Tony paused. “See what?”

“Pain.” Peter said with a soft sniffle.

Tony squeezed Peter. “I won’t let any more nightmares in tonight, alright. Why don’t you sleep with me and Cap? If anyone can keep away nightmares, your Pop can. Captain America is the strongest man I know, he’ll protect us both.”

“You have nightmares?” Peter asked softly.

“Yeah. It’s okay to be scared sometimes, Petey.” Tony assured Peter, brushing down his hair as Peter groggily lowered his head onto Tony’s shoulder.

“Alright. I’ll help keep your nightmares away, too.” He mumbled into Tony’s neck. Tony felt a warmth flow through his chest as he brought Peter into his and Steve’s room. He set the boy down between the two of them and watched affectionately as Peter latched onto Steve who didn’t even wake with all the motion. Tony slid into the bed and drew himself close to the two sleeping already. Maybe this dad thing wasn’t so bad.

The next night, Peter smiled as Natasha was taking him to bed and he saw an Iron Man and Captain America plushies laying against his pillow. Peter gathered them up immediately and hugged them close, enjoying the soft feeling against his face. He fell asleep quickly, feeling safe.

Chapter Text

Ever since Thor had returned, it was no secret in the tower who Peter was totally in awe of. Tony swore he could practically see the stars in the boy’s eyes whenever the large god spoke. It didn’t matter if he was talking about joining them on a mission or suggesting that they eat dinner. Peter was in awe.

Steve grumbled because once Peter found out that “the real life Thor” loved Pop Tarts, he refused to eat anything else for breakfast. “Come on, buddy, at least have some fruit with them.” Steve wheedled.

“Uncle Thor can eat an entire box of Pop Tarts just for a snack!” Peter recited.

Steve groaned. “Your teeth are going to rot out of your head with all that sugar.”

“But Uncle Thor has perfect teeth that bite through even the toughest of meats.” Peter argued, unmoved.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Did the big oaf tell you that, Petey? He’s probably exaggerating.”

“I am Weapon.” Peter glared at Tony who scoffed. He didn’t push it, but sleepy Peter always let him call him Petey when they were cuddling. Whenever he tried when Peter was fully awake though, the boy still protested. “Uncle Thor would never lie. It is unbecoming of a warrior.”

“You know what else is unbecoming of a warrior, kid? Being a pain in the –“ Tony’s voice was muffled by Steve’s hand covering his mouth. Steve grimaced and pulled his hand back when Tony licked it.

“That is disgusting.” Steve complained, wiping his hands on his pants.

Tony just shrugged and went back to his coffee. Steve sighed. “I swear I’m dealing with two children. Alright, buddy, but if you’re going to eat Pop Tarts every day, you get double vegetables at dinner.”

Peter made a face.

“Uncle Thor always eats his vegetables.” Tony butted in before Peter could argue. That stopped Peter in his tracks. That was true. Thor had an enormous appetite, but he did always eat what was put in front of him, including vegetables.

“Fine.” The boy pouted but bit happily into his breakfast. Tony just shrugged, not really caring either way, but if Steve was happy, he was happy.

Once breakfast was over, Bruce came to the table for Peter’s daily lessons that he was happy to note were progressing nicely. In Bruce’s mind, Peter was an incredibly bright boy. He was moving much more quickly than he had anticipated in order to keep up with the young boy’s bright mind. Steve left to go for his daily run and Tony to his lab.

The two of them worked diligently until Bruce looked over the final paper for the day and wrote a large A at the top before handing it back to Peter. “Excellent work! We might move on to multiplication tomorrow.” Bruce announced with pride.

Peter puffed up his chest. “Can I put this on the refrigerator?”

“I think Tony would be disappointed if we did anything else with it.” Bruce remarked, smiling as the boy hopped up with excitement and ran to find some free space on the appliance that was now overflowing with Peter’s work. One side was completely dedicated to drawings that he mostly did with Steve, but the front Tony insisted was reserved for his school work.

At first Bruce was worried that Tony was setting Peter up for disappointment. Tony had proclaimed loudly that any kid of his was bound to be a genius and should show it. But, to Bruce’s surprise and delight, Peter actually was incredibly intelligent for his age and took Tony’s words to heart. Peter beamed with pleasure each and every time Tony took note of a new A on the refrigerator, even though it happened every single day.

“Alright, let’s head downstairs. Bucky wants to meet you in the play room.” Bruce told Peter who was now bouncing in excitement.

The adults realized quickly that Peter had an endless amount of energy and being cooped up in the tower was not ideal. Tony refurbished an entire level to be a play room. It held anything a kid could dream of from play structures to bikes and skateboards and space to play with a number of different toys. Tony even set up a space on the ceiling with ropes for Peter to climb all over and use his abilities.

When they entered the floor, Bruce waved cheerily as he left Peter with Bucky. “I’ve got a present for you.” Bucky announced.

Peter immediately scrunched his eyes closed and held out his hands. Bucky smiled at the boy and placed a box in his hands. Peter opened his eyes. “A box?” He asked.

“Look inside the box, punk.” Bucky told him pointedly.

Peter opened up the box and looked down at a pair of brand new shoes. Peter wouldn’t admit it, but he was slightly disappointed. So far, every time he had gotten a present from one of the Avengers it had been exciting. Peter already had shoes in his closet. He didn’t know why Bucky was grinning. “Thanks.” Peter said carefully.

“Put ‘em on!” Bucky demanded. Peter sat down and quickly popped off his other shoes and put on his new ones. Immediately, his eyes widened in excitement.

“What is that?” He asked, poking at the shoes carefully.

Bucky looked down at him knowingly. “Go on, try ‘em out. Run a little.”

Peter stood up and practically squealed with glee as with each step his took, his shoes lit up. “It’s like I’ve got lightning just like Uncle Thor!” Peter announced proudly.

“Sure thing, kid.” Bucky agreed.

Bucky’s face broke out into a large grin that he didn’t even try to hide when Peter ran up to him and hurled himself into a hug and told him happily, “Thanks, Papa!”

“Papa?”

“Well, you take care of me. I’m yours, right?” Peter asked, cocking his head to the side to determine Bucky’s reaction.

Bucky’s heart swelled. “Right.” He agreed easily. Peter nodded and hopped down gracefully, then continued running around, literally bouncing off the walls and shrieking in delight every time his shoes lit up. Bucky watched as Peter ran around the room admiring his shoes, seemingly not growing tired of the novelty with a sense of pride and love.

That night, Steve went to get Peter for dinner. He pushed the door to Peter’s room open gently and smiled at the sight in front of him. Peter was stomping around his room, lighting up his shoes. He had wrapped a towel around his neck and was waving around a meat tenderizer. Peter paused when he noticed Steve watching him, blushing a little.

“Oh, sorry, Thor. I was looking for Peter.” Steve said to the small boy.

Peter beamed and didn’t even correct Steve on his name. “Pops! It’s me! I’m not Thor!”

Steve put his hand to his chin. “What? No! That’s not possible. I’m looking for a boy who can stick to walls, not the god of thunder.”

Peter giggled and hopped up on the ceiling, his towel dangling below him. “It’s me! I promise it’s me!”

“What? I could have sworn you were Thor!” Steve acted surprised. “Why don’t you come down so we can eat dinner? I bet your Uncle Thor will be there.”

“Okay!” Peter chirped, dropping to the floor.

“Those are some cool shoes, bud.” Steve told him as Peter put the meat tenderizer down so he could hold Steve’s hand on the way to dinner.

“Papa got them for me! Now I’ve got lightning like Uncle Thor!” Peter gushed.

Steve’s brow furrowed. “Papa? I thought you called Tony Dad?”

Peter looked up at Steve with annoyance, as if he was being purposely slow. “I do. Papa is Bucky.”

Steve blinked a bit at that information but shook off his surprise. Peter was adjusting better each day. If he wanted to call Bucky Papa, Steve was all for it. It was one more step to Peter moving past his time with HYDRA.

Peter let go of Steve’s hand to rush to the chair next to Thor’s side. “You look quite dashing, young warrior.” Thor praised.

Peter beamed. Steve smiled and looked on happily at their growing family. He couldn’t ask for much more than this.

Chapter Text

Tony was hosting a gala at an incredibly fancy hotel in honor of the Avengers. He said it was good PR. The only one who wanted to go besides Tony was Clint. “Free food is free food!”

“You literally eat for free here every single day, bird brain.” Tony grumbled, but without much venom so as not to alienate the only member of the team not actively trying to get out of his gala.

“Yeah, but this will be at a fancy hotel and I don’t have to cook or clean. I’m in!” Clint explained.

The others looked at Peter and agreed that someone would have to stay with the boy. Bucky was gone on a weeklong retreat that his therapist recommended, so their regular babysitter was out. Each of them had good reasons, but in the end, Natasha said clearly with a calm voice that she would be the one to watch Peter. Nobody argued with Natasha.

That was how Peter found himself in his Iron Man pajamas cuddled up on the sofa reading a book on science experiments for children. Bruce and Tony promised they could try any one he wanted the next day. Peter liked snuggling next to Natasha who was reading a Russian novel in her tank top and shorts because it was just them relaxing together. She made him feel special and warm.

Both looked up as the elevator doors opened and a tall figure strode in imperiously. Peter could feel Natasha tense up, even though it looked like she was calm and relaxed.  “Director.” Natasha said.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Nick Fury asked.

Natasha tilted her head to the side and her mouth quirked slightly. Nick Fury always knew exactly what he was doing. There was no doubt in her mind that he knew that she was the only one currently in the tower with Peter. The thought of what he wanted set her on edge.

“Of course not. Can I get you a drink?” She asked, carefully extracting herself from Peter and smoothly putting herself between the Director of SHIELD and the small boy.

The look in the man’s eyes told her that he knew exactly what she was doing and why she moved. “I’m fine. Thank you.” He said.

Peter watched wide eyed as she shifted subtly from the woman who was cuddling with him on the couch to someone who set his senses on edge. Peter was glad that she was not looking at him like that. The mood was more tense than the time she found out that he and Uncle Clint stole all the cookies Papa had baked and ate them in the vents before she got one.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” Natasha asked, never breaking eye contact with the Director.

Nick Fury moved past Natasha and stood in front of Peter who was still sitting on the couch. “I came to see how your guest was doing. Make sure he’s not causing any problems. You know if he is, we’ll take care of it.”

“I’m not causing problems! I’m good!” Peter stood abruptly, glaring at Nick Fury.

Natasha sighed and moved to Peter’s side and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re very good. We were having a relaxing evening. If that is all?”

“Just remember, I’m watching. I don’t trust the kid and I don’t like this situation. I still think you have no business keeping him here and I’d rather not have to clean up after your eventual mess.” Nick told her aggressively.

“I don’t like you either.” Peter told the director, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Enough.” Natasha told Peter.

“He started it!” Peter complained. “When Uncle Clint is mean to me you make him stop!”

“Uncle Clint?” Director Fury scoffed. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You all are so wrapped up in this kid you can’t see the danger right in front of you. He’s not normal and you all can’t treat him like he’s some stray kitten. You’re not his family and when the other shoe drops it’s just going to make it that much harder to end this nonsense.”

“We are family!” Peter stomped his foot. “We are! And you’re mean!” Peter pushed Director Fury and his eyes widened in surprise as the man flew back and hit the wall.

“No!” Natasha told him too late.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Peter gasped.

Then, all hell broke loose as glass flew everywhere and a team of SHIELD agents came through not just the elevator, but had kicked through the glass on grappling hooks and were now storming the room. Peter immediately hopped to the ceiling and tried to scuttle away.

One of the agents pulled a small cannister from his belt and threw it towards Peter. When it hit him, a small net deployed and Peter screamed as a shock went through him and he fell to the ground in surprise. The agents wasted no time in placing his hands in power dampening cuffs and roughly pulling him off the ground.

“Помоги мне, Мать!” Peter shouted above the fray.

Natasha looked at Peter in awe. “Stop!” She commanded in a voice that was not shouting, but rather carried a weight to it. The agents froze but did not release Peter from their bruising grip.

Natasha looked at the Director who was rising from the floor and the agents. “I want you to listen to me carefully. You will release him immediately. If you do not, not a single one of you will leave this room alive.”

“Think very carefully before you continue, Agent Romanoff.” Director Fury ordered.

Natasha glared at him. “If he is not free in ten seconds, I am starting with you, Director, and anyone who hurt him will die last and slowly.”

Peter was breathing heavily as he watched these proceedings. Just when Peter thought that they were going to call her bluff, the director nodded and Peter was released. Peter ran to Natasha and clung to her leg roughly. She winced slightly at his strength, but otherwise remained stoic as she glared at the rest of the room.

“I think you’ve worn out your welcome. It was pleasant as always, Director. You can consider this my official resignation from SHIELD.” She told him frankly.

Director Fury sucked in a breath. “I think you might come to regret that decision, Romanoff.”

“We shall see.” She nodded in his direction. She did not move except to follow the movements of every single agent as the left the building. “Jarvis? Are they all gone?”

“The last agent is leaving now.” Jarvis informed them.

Natasha lowered herself in relief and hugged Peter close to her. “Are you alright, драгоценный?”

“Yes.” Peter nodded.

“You know Russian?” She asked him, looking him over, not quite believing that he wasn’t hurt.

Peter let her examine his skin for any marks, but he knew he healed quickly, so was not concerned. “Yes. I can’t read it like you can, but sometimes they used it at HYDRA.” Peter told her.

She nodded in understanding. “You called me Мать, драгоценный. Do you know what that means?”

“Mother. Right?”

Natasha nodded blankly and Peter cocked his head to look at her. “Do you not want to be my Mama?”

“I do. I am.” She pulled him close and held him almost as tightly as he held her. Natasha pulled away in surprise when she felt a wetness on her shoulder. “Are those tears?”

“Not allowed to cry.” Peter sniffled.

“Yes, you are. That was a bad rule from HYDRA. You can cry, драгоценный.” Natasha told him gently, wiping his face.

“I was so scared, Mama!” He wailed before hurling himself at her and sobbing roughly into her chest. Natasha rubbed his back gently and then picked him up to take him out of the room that was dangerously full of glass and bad memories of the night.

“I was scared too. You’re safe.” She whispered into his ear as she led him to his bedroom. Natasha laid him in his bed and tucked him in gently after handing him his favorite Iron Man and Captain America stuffed animals. Peter whimpered when she let go of him so she laid down with him in the bed and held him close. Peter eventually dozed off as she sang lowly to him a Russian lullaby.

Chapter Text

Nick Fury was not having a good day. More and more it felt like every single person surrounding him was operating at various levels of incompetence. At the moment, his tolerance level for said incompetence was fairly low. So, when he looked up from his computer and the room was suddenly filled with angry Avengers, he cursed spectacularly.

“Language.” Clint smirked at him. Steve rolled his eyes and huffed.

“I am not in the mood to deal with this. Get out.” Nick told them plainly.

Tony walked up to Nick’s desk and plucked the stapler sitting there and played with it obnoxiously. “See, I would have been more than happy to oblige, but I thought you were a fan of showing up where you’re clearly not welcome.” Nick wanted to rip it out of his hands, but didn't want to give Stark the satisfaction of knowing he had got to him with his childish antics.

Nick shut his good eye and breathed in deeply. “I had every right to make sure that the weapon acquired from HYDRA was in good hands.”

The dark-skinned man couldn’t help the way his mouth went dry as the Black Widow slowly approached his desk and sat down in the chair across from him seductively. The woman was terrifying, plain and simple. She told him in the same voice she had used the night before, “Tell me again that a child is a weapon, director.”

The room went deadly silent from even the tiniest of movements. Nick would have sworn that he could hear his own heartbeat. It certainly sped up the longer the silence lingered. Finally, the tension was broken as Thor spoke loudly. “It is not well done to treat a child thus. I had thought Midgard was better than that.”

“Most of us are, big guy.” Tony assured him, dropping the stapler and reaching for Nick’s calculator. “Ugh. This is an antique.” He said in disgust before dropping it and picking up a pen to twirl in his fingers and walking behind Nick, who refused to turn and follow Tony’s movements.

Steve made a move and stood across from Nick, which seemed to be some signal for the rest of the team to close in around him threateningly. Nick slid his hand to the side of his desk and tried yet again to press his panic button, but there was again no response.

“You can stop trying to get security in here, Director. Nobody’s coming. Remember that the next time you want to mess with us. Besides, we’re not here to hurt you, just give you a message.” Clint grinned ferociously.

“And what message is that?” Nick asked derisively.

Steve stood straight and glared down at Nick with disappointment. “Peter is one of us now. What you did last night will never happen again, or you will not like the consequences.”

“Are you threatening me?” Nick growled.

Natasha stood gracefully and slid her face uncomfortably close to Nick’s. “Promising.” She then moved her lips next to his ear and lowered her voice so just Nick could hear. “You’re lucky Steve Rogers is our team leader. I still would prefer to teach you a more permanent lesson.” Nick sputtered and let out a few choice words, but the Avengers seemed to be ignoring them as they stood as one and left the room.

Nick got out his radio and tried to contact anyone about why the Avengers had been allowed through his base, but he had no response. Nick Fury lowered his radio in shock as he walked through the hallways and saw every single agent and guard passed out on the floors. He had a sudden sharp spike of realization that perhaps he had gone about the Parker situation the wrong way.

~

Peter grinned at Bruce as he ran along the ceiling of his play room. Bucky sat in the corner reading a book, but Peter had convinced Bruce to play with him. “Come on, Uncle Bruce, catch me!” Peter taunted.

“I don’t know how you think I could do that.” Bruce smiled calmly.

Peter huffed and flipped down. “You’re not even going to try?”

“If I could climb the ceiling maybe I would. Why don’t we play down here?” Bruce asked.

Peter seemed to consider it. “Could you push me on the swings?”

“Excellent choice.” Bruce agreed easily. Peter ran over to the swing set and Bruce dutifully followed. By the time he arrived, Peter had already situated himself on the swing and was impatiently kicking his legs waiting for Bruce. Bruce began pushing the boy who grinned at the motion.

“Higher, Uncle Bruce!” Peter encouraged. Bruce pushed the boy a little bit harder and Peter giggled as the swing went further up. “Higher!” Bruce obliged.

Bruce’s phone suddenly went off and he looked down to read a text from Natasha. “Bucky, everyone is on their way home.” He called. Then, with Bruce still looking down at his phone, Peter’s body swung back and collided with Bruce, pushing the man down.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked quickly.

“Go! Get out!” Bruce ordered roughly.

Peter, for his part, panicked a little. “The swing is still moving! I can’t get it to stop!”

Bucky ran over. “Jump!” He ordered. But, just as Peter obeyed, a roar thundered throughout the room. Peter spun wildly and watched in horror as the Hulk and Bucky began fighting. “Go upstairs!” Bucky shouted over their fight.

Peter moved to obey, but just as he was getting on the elevator, he saw Bucky get thrown into the wall next to the elevator. Immediately, Peter ran out. “Papa!” He called frantically. Bucky didn’t respond and the Hulk was storming over to them. Peter stood in front of Bucky’s prone form and brought himself up. “No!” He shouted at the Hulk.

The Hulk halted in his tracks and roared loudly, “HULK SMASH!”

Peter crossed his arms. “Hitting isn’t nice. Now Papa’s hurt.”

“HULK SMASH GOOD!” Rumbled the large green beast.

Peter took a deep breath. “No. You only should fight bad guys. You hurt family.”

The Hulk cocked his head at Peter. “HULK HAS NO FAMILY!”

Peter stomped his foot a little. “Yes. You do and you hurt him. Papa is your family and I’m your family too.”

“HULK HURT PAPA?” The Hulk asked, confused.

“Yes. It was naughty. You need a time out.” Peter said, pointing to the corner next to the elevator.

“NO!” Hulk roared.

Peter looked at the Hulk, unimpressed. “Mama says that’s what happens and then it’s all better. Come on.” Peter put his hand up expectantly and after a moment, the Hulk reached down and took Peter’s hand. Peter led the Hulk over to the corner and made him face it. The Hulk stood there for all of ten seconds and then looked at Peter who beamed up at him. “All done! Do you want to play?”

“HULK SMASH!”

Peter frowned. “No. Hulk play. This is my play room. Can you catch me?” Peter then took off and sped away from Hulk, pausing only to see if Hulk understood the game. The Hulk roared and loped after Peter.

Peter laughed as he jumped and flipped nimbly about the room, always just barely missing being caught by the Hulk, who was roaring loudly each time he missed the small boy. Finally, the Hulk caught him and held a laughing Peter up by his armpits between his hands.

“You win!” Peter told him joyfully.

“HULK WIN!” The giant agreed loudly.

“Hey, do you want to build a tower with my blocks? You’re a lot taller than me, I bet we could get it really big!” Peter asked.

That was how the Avengers found them shortly after. Peter was stuck upside down to the Hulk’s hand who was patiently holding him over their block tower so Peter could reach down (or up depending on your perspective) and gently place another block on the top.

After Natasha brought Bruce back and Bucky and Bruce were both taken to medical, the team tried to convince Peter that playing with the Hulk was dangerous. Peter just shrugged and said, “Hulk and I are friends. Best friends. Like Pops and Papa.”

Steve groaned but they knew a lost cause when they saw one. They’d just have to keep a careful eye on Peter around Bruce from now on.

Later that night, when they watched the security footage, all Tony could say was, “Did Peter give Hulk a time out?” Clint laughed his head off and Bruce blushed deeply.

Chapter Text

Peter looked out over the city from one of his favorite spots on the balcony that he was allowed to go to by himself. He had set himself up to enjoy the view. He pulled a large plush lawn chair over to the glass railing and tucked Mini-Cap and Iron Man Jr. on each side of him. Everything was far away, but with an enhanced sense of sight and sound he enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of the city.

“Whatca doing, squirt?” Clint asked.

Peter spared a look for Clint. “Just lookin’.”

“At what? Anything cool?” Clint pushed, plucking Peter up and sitting down before plopping Peter on his lap. Peter wiggled back into Clint’s chest.

“Just at everyone down there.” Peter told him. They sat in companionable silence for a minute before Peter asked, “Do people like it down there?”

“What do you mean?” Clint asked, sitting up more and peeking over the rail further. He was trying to spot if Peter was trying to reference something specific.

“Is it scary just doing what you want all day? Or do people have to follow certain rules? What’s it like to just run until you don’t feel like it any more?” He rambled off.

Clint’s heart clinched. “Yeah. People are happy. They don’t always realize it, but they can do whatever they want. Some people are doctors or lawyers or ballet dancers.”

“Wow. They’re really lucky, Uncle Clint. One day, I want to be just like them. Do you think I’ll be allowed to leave the tower one day?” Peter asked, turning and looking up at Clint with big brown eyes that were completely unfair in Clint’s opinion.

“Yeah, squirt. You’re going to leave and you’ll do amazing things.” Clint told him with confidence.

Peter’s smile was blinding and held complete trust in the veracity of Clint’s words. It was this that prompted Clint to hold an emergency meeting after Peter went to bed.

“We have to get him out of here. It’s not healthy for a kid to be locked up in a tower all day.” Clint said with righteous indignation.

Everyone shifted uneasily. It wasn’t that they disagreed per se. They would love it if Peter was able to walk around freely. Steve frowned. “It’s not that we don’t want him to leave. I wish Peter could have a normal life. The fact of the matter is, he’s just not safe out there yet and I’m not sure he’s ready either. He can’t even remember a time when he wasn’t with us or HYDRA.”

Clint huffed in frustration. “I know. It’s just – you guys didn’t see him today. He sits on the balcony wishing he could be like the people out there. We literally are turning him into Rapunzel.”

Tony let out a laugh. “Katniss is right, Steve,” he walked over and curled his arms around Steve’s waist. “look at my windows. The tops are riddled with hand and nose prints from the little troublemaker. It’s obvious and the cleaning people are going to complain.”

Steve threw his arms up in frustration. “What can we do? New York is insanely busy. He’ll be overwhelmed and we can’t control what he or other people might do.”

Tony leapt away from Steve and shot his hand in the air. “Pick me! Pick me!” He grinned with glee.

“Just spit it out, Stark.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

“I have a private island. We can all go on vacation. The kid could run around the beach to his little heart’s content and we can get some well-deserved rest.” Tony explained victoriously.

Everyone thought about this for a moment, it seemed the perfect solution, but they turned to Steve for the final say. He seemed to be mulling it over in his head before he look up and grinned, “Alright, the Avengers are going on vacation.”

“Yes!” Clint shot his fist in the air. “Margaritas for everyone!”

So that was how, twenty-four hours later they found themselves on the quinjet headed towards Stark Island. Peter looked at all of them with wide eyes. The Avengers seemed relaxed and excited, but Peter was terrified. Clint was driving and Thor was looking over his shoulder looking at landmarks as they flew. Peter unbuckled his seatbelt and flew over to Steve.

“Hey, bud, you shouldn’t be out of your seatbelt.” Steve chastised lightly.

“I’m sorry I’m bad.” Peter sniffled.

“Whoa, kid, it’s just a seatbelt, no biggie.” Tony told him, ruffling his hair gently.

Peter shook his head. “I’m sorry, Pops. Don’t make me go!”

Steve and Tony looked at each other with worry. “You don’t want to go?” Tony asked carefully.

“No. But I know I’m trouble and I walk on the ceiling even if I have my shoes on sometimes and I sneak a cookie before dinner if nobody’s looking, but I can be good, I promise!” Peter cried.

“Peter, we’re going to have fun.” Steve told him carefully rubbing his back soothingly.

“Fun?” Peter asked peeking up to look Steve then Tony in the eyes.

Tony grinned. “Yup, it was gonna be a surprise, but we might as well tell you. We’re going on vacation.”

“Vacation?” Peter questioned softly.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. When you take a trip to have fun.”

“We’re going to Stark Island. It’s going to be amazing.” Tony assured Peter.

Peter looked at the two men hopefully. “You’re not going to give me back?”

“No way!” Tony growled. “We’re leaving the tower for vacation and you are going to see a little bit of the world without all the crazy people to bug us.”

“We’re never getting rid of you, Peter. In fact, when you’re older, you’re going to have to scrape us off to get us away from you.” Steve reassured him. Peter giggled and cuddled more firmly into Steve and stayed there for the rest of the flight.

When they arrived the team smiled indulgently as Peter eagerly ran around the beach. He wasn’t allowed to go in the water on his own, but he put his arms out and enjoyed the wind in his hair as the sand flew up behind his feet. He only stopped when he was called inside the beach house to change into a swimsuit and everyone took out a picnic basket, towels, and an umbrella to enjoy the beach.

Peter was having the time of his life. He built a sandcastle with Bruce and Natasha, looked for sand dollars and star fish with Thor, waded through the water with Steve and Bucky, and when Tony got on the phone, joined Clint in burying him under the sand while he was still talking. Tony grinned at them as they molded the sand around him to look like a mermaid. Peter giggled as he laid next to Iron Mermaid as they dubbed Tony and allowed Clint to bury him with the same treatment.

They all cooked out on the barbecue for dinner and watched the sun set as they ate ice cream on the beach. Peter fell asleep with a sunburn on his face, sand in his hair, a smile on his face, and his heart more full than he could ever remember it being.

Chapter Text

Steve strode into Peter’s room quietly to wake him up for the day. Usually Peter woke himself up, but every once in a while, Steve got to wake the boy up, and he loved watching the sleepy boy stretch and whine for just a few more minutes, like he saw Clint do once and had since picked up on. He then usually crawled into Steve’s arms and made him carry him to breakfast.

Steve frowned when he noticed Peter’s bed was empty. He strode over to the bathroom, but that too did not hold Peter. “Jarvis, can you tell me where Peter is?”

“I believe the young sir is in his closet.” Jarvis responded efficiently.

Steve frowned. Was he changing clothes? When he opened the door slowly, though, the light wasn’t on and he couldn’t see Peter anywhere. “Buddy? You in here?” He called carefully.

Peter didn’t respond, but Steve looked up when he heard a sniffle above him. Peter was sitting upside down on the ceiling with Iron Man Jr., Mini-Cap, and himself wrapped tightly in a blanket. He looked miserable.

“Hey, what’s going on? Everyone is waiting on you two for breakfast.” Tony asked, barging into the closet.

“Sorry.” Peter said immediately.

Steve sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We’re just worried about you. Are you okay?”

“I don’t feel so good.” Peter whispered softly before burying his head in Iron Man Jr.

Steve and Tony exchanged looks. “Why don’t you come down, kid, and we’ll help you feel better? Uncle Bruce will take a look at you and we can have a lazy day.” Tony wheedled.

“You’re not mad?” Peter asked miserably.

Steve shook his head. “Of course not! Everyone gets sick. We’re here to make you feel better.”

The sick boy looked at them for a minute with watery eyes before hopping down from his perch on the ceiling. Steve held his arms out and caught Peter easily. The two men took Peter to his bed and asked Jarvis to call Bruce to the room.

Before Bruce arrived, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Bucky all made their way into Peter’s bedroom. “Hey, squirt, what’s wrong?” Clint asked.

Peter lowered himself into the bed and snuffled miserably. “Someone’s not feeling too hot.” Tony told them.

Natasha hummed and lowered herself to the bed and brushed the curls away from Peter’s forehead. “You feel warm, драгоценный.”

“Sorry, Mama.” Peter leaned into her touch.

Natasha frowned, “You’re allowed to be sick. Your job now is to get better soon.”

“Yes, a true warrior knows to make sure his body is healthy.” Thor assured Peter, whose eyes widened and he nodded furiously twice before groaning at the movement and sinking back into the covers.

Bruce arrived and everyone watched worriedly as he looked over the small boy who looked even smaller than normal in his illness. Finally, Bruce looked at the Avengers and said, “It’s the flu. I’m actually a little surprised he hasn’t gotten sick sooner. With plenty of rest and fluids, he should be better in no time.”

“I’ll get some medicine!” Tony announced before hurrying out.

“I have a secret Russian tea remedy.” Natasha told them and went to her room to rummage for supplies.

“I shall ask Mother if one of her potions would be effective for our young warrior.” Thor left for Asgard.

“My family has this killer chicken noodle soup recipe that I can make you!” Clint ran off to see if the kitchen had the right ingredients.

“I’ll get the kid a bath.” Bucky said, plucking Peter gently from his blankets.

“I’ll get his sheets and blankets all changed so they’re fresh and germ free.” Steve nodded at his best friend and stripped the bed quickly.

“I’ll find some books and things to keep him busy… wait, who am I even talking to? Everyone is gone. Mother hens, the lot of them, I swear.” Bruce laughed.

Before long, a clean Peter was tucked back into bed, after having taken some medicine and drank some tea. He didn’t want to eat, and nobody decided to force him. They all stood over his bed for a minute after he had drifted off.

It took Peter about three days to fully recover and in that time his feet never once touched the floor or ceiling for that matter. One of the Avengers carried him wherever he needed to go. Most of his time was spent in bed, but he did spend time on his favorite sofa watching movies.

His illness had become a bit of a competition among the team. Steve had Peter sleeping on his chest, drooling softly and covered by his blanket. This caused Clint to get Peter to eat his soup, which Peter beamed and declared the best ever. This caused Thor to regale Peter with stories of growing up on Asgard, the telling of which were incredibly active. Bucky let Peter examine his metal arm, which he had been begging to do. When Tony was caught trying to sneak his robots into the room, Bruce put a stop to all of them and told them to calm down.

The day after Bruce had declared Peter well, Tony let out his first sneeze, quickly followed by sniffling from Clint. Soon, each and every Avenger found themselves laid up in bed with the flu. Peter firmly announced that he would take care of them. Jarvis helped, and Peter ordered everyone tea and soup.

He took turns and visited everyone to read to them and offer them words of encouragement. He would kiss everyone on the forehead after brushing their forehead to test for a temperature. Everyone got a special get well picture hand drawn by Peter for the occasion.

Peter snuck DUM-E into Tony and Steve’s room, making Tony laugh before landing himself in a coughing fit, and Steve groan as the robot frantically tried to offer help to the two men. Bruce and Natasha smiled as Peter snuck Bruce’s medical bag into their room and proceeded to “test” them to help them feel better. Bruce was pretty sure Peter could hear their heartbeats even without the stethoscope, so using it on the bottom of their feet didn’t really matter. Peter snuck Bucky his throwing knives and Peter set up drawings around the room that he made of different bad guys. Bucky gleefully hit his knives through the dead center of each one. Clint was snuck some cookies and Thor was given a special magic “potion” that was mostly yogurt and honey that Peter mixed together in the kitchen with crumbled pop tarts on top.

When everyone was well again, they almost felt a sense of regret. Peter had taken excellent care of them. When they brought it up, Peter just shrugged, “I thought that’s what family was supposed to do.”

Chapter Text

Peter pouted when Bucky swatted his hand away from the bowl of cookie dough batter. “Aw, Papa, I was just trying to help!” Peter whined.

“Help?” Bucky asked skeptically.

Peter nodded self-righteously. “Yes, to be a taste tester. Uncle Clint says that he and I are the official cookie taste testers of the tower.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Uncle Clint is an idiot.”

Peter gasped in overdramatic shock. “I’m telling! You said a bad word!”

Putting his hands on his hips, Bucky turned to a smirking Peter. “Who you gonna to tell, punk?”

“Pops! He says it’s not nice to use naughty words. I bet he’d wash your mouth out with soap and everything.” Peter informed Bucky. “Unless…”

“Unless?” Bucky asked with raised eyebrows.

“I might not remember by the time I see him if I tried the cookie dough.” Peter finished rapidly.

“Or, unless I find him first and tell him you were trying to sneak sweets before dinner again.” Bucky rebutted easily.

Peter’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He pouted again at Bucky’s smirk that was his trademark sign of victory. Peter sighed dramatically and hopped up on the counter. “Alright, you win, Papa.” He said morosely.

Bucky, who usually boasted that he was immune to Peter’s puppy-dog eyes, told the pouting boy, “I suppose if you help me put these on the pan really well I could be convinced to let you try one after they come out of the oven and have cooled.”

“Really? I get to be the official cookie taste tester?” Peter asked with a grin.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That’s a ridiculous job that Clint made up.”

“No way! It’s super important!” Peter argued, grin still in place.

“Fine.” Bucky relented. “You can be the official cookie taste tester.”

They were interrupted by a sudden hissing coming from the vents. Peter and Bucky both looked up and saw a gas pouring from the ceilings into the floor they were on. Immediately, Bucky’s face hardened and he picked up Peter and rushed towards the elevator, trying not to breath in the fumes.

He couldn’t help it as he covered Peter’s nose and mouth with his hand, trying to block as much as he could from the small boy. Bucky cursed as he felt himself slowing, even as he still pushed his body towards the elevator. He was so close as he fell to the ground, protecting Peter’s frame with his arms, and gasped, trying to breathe fresh air.

“Papa?” Peter called with fear as they heard the ding of the elevator. The last thing Bucky saw was black boots and a smirking voice saying, “Hail HYDRA.”

Chapter Text

Peter woke up groggily and rubbed his eyes. Almost immediately, he realized that he was not in the tower. He was back in a cell with HYDRA. It was identical to his old cell and Peter’s heart sunk. He had begun to believe the Avengers when they said that they would never let him be taken, but if he was honest, he knew that HYDRA was too strong and one day they would come for him. He already had more time outside than he ever thought he would have. He shouldn’t be greedy.

The door to his cell suddenly opened and Peter reflexively stood with his legs apart, his hands behind his back, and his head looking straight forward. Four men came into the room, heavily armed, Peter couldn’t help but notice, followed by a dark-haired woman that Peter had always just called ‘The Doctor’. He made his face a mask as his stomach dipped in a hollow fear.

She looked at him, assessing for something that Peter couldn’t guess. He always seemed to make the woman unhappy. “Weapon. You have successfully been retrieved. You will be tested and retrained in the areas you are deemed lacking from your time wasted with the Avengers.”

Peter could not say what made him speak. He knew better, but a spark of anger burst forth, “The Avengers are good! My time wasn’t wasted!”

The woman strode forward quickly and Peter’s head snapped to the side from the force of her smack. He tried to ignore the feeling of stinging needles in his cheek, but his eyes welled a little with tears that he attempted to blink back. When he looked forward again, he was rewarded with another sharp slap.

“You poor weapon, they have deceived you, even after all of our warnings. Even after the small number of months in their care, they have made you weak. One small smack because of your disobedience, and you are crying like a baby.” The woman taunted.

“It’s okay to cry. Mama says it’s a bad rule.” Peter whispered to himself, but the woman could still hear.

She laughed, a high-pitched, cruel sound. “Mama? Did they do better fooling you than I ever imagined? Weapon, they are not your family. They tricked you so they can use you. They knew you were a weapon and wanted to protect themselves from any danger by making you weak.”

Peter shook his head in denial and the doctor almost gently reached out to his cheek and trailed her fingers along his red mark and down to his neck where she squeezed just to where it felt uncomfortable. “You know it is true, Weapon. But HYDRA will help you and then you will have your revenge and destroy those that tried to use you.”

Peter’s heart raced. He didn’t know who to believe. “They love me.” He whispered brokenly.

“Weapon, we have always told you the truth. What is love?” She sneered, pressing her fingers even deeper into his neck, where it was getting difficult for him to breath.

Peter gasped out the answer he knew she wanted. “Love is a fairy tale.” He gasped out. A little less pressure on his neck. “It is for children and those too weak-minded to know the difference.” He could breathe freely again. “Love does not exist.” He finished reciting, tears welling again. Peter braced himself and stood stoic this time at the slap he received for his weakness.

“So you know the truth, and yet still were too weak not to fall in their trap. HYDRA will protect you, Weapon. We will build you even stronger than before. You know these weaknesses cannot be tolerated.” She practically purred.

But Peter’s ears had pricked to a noise he heard outside the open door. His sensitive hearing picked up on screaming, which at HYDRA was not unusual. But, Peter knew immediately whose screams those were. His face turned to stone and he growled, “Papa.” Before head butting the doctor, who fell back, nose bloody, and screeching.

The soldiers converged on Peter almost immediately, but he was too fast for them. He jumped to the ceiling and skittered across the ceiling, leaving the room to follow the sounds of Bucky being tortured. He fell to the floor and stood in front of a steel door that was locked. With a quick tug, he took the door completely off its hinges and threw it at the man who was standing in front of a machine that Bucky was hooked up to.

Peter strode forward quickly. “Papa!” He called frantically. He looked at the man who had dark circles under his eyes, was sweating, and moaning in pain. “I found you, Papa!” Peter told him. Peter didn’t quite know what to do, as he wanted to hug the man but didn’t want to hurt him. He settled for ripping the restraints from his non-metal arm, as the metal one was completely covered by some sort of thick metal covering.

Bucky’s shaking hand reached forward and pulled Peter close and Bucky breathed heavily as he carded his fingers through Peter’s hair. He suddenly froze and the last thing Peter knew was Bucky calling out, “Peter! NO!” before he felt a familiar prick in his neck and then everything went dark.

When Peter next awoke, he was strapped down in a chair in an otherwise bare room. He tugged on the restraints, but he knew that HYDRA would make sure that he could not get out after the stunt he just pulled. He took a moment to panic because he knew he was in so much trouble. He tried to calm himself when he began breathing deeply, as it stung his stomach muscles. The soldiers must have punished him after they found him.

The door to his cell opened and Peter felt a thrill of satisfaction at the bruised face of the doctor as she strode into the room with a scowl, followed by two assistants who silently began attaching Peter to a machine. The room felt stifling as nobody spoke and all Peter could hear was his own breathing and loud heartbeat.

“Now, Weapon, it seems we have more work to do than I previously thought. We will begin easily today. I am going to show you pictures and you are going to tell me about them.” The doctor told him in sugary sweet voice.

A picture was projected in front of Peter and he sighed in relief. “That’s Pops.”

“Tell me about him.” The doctor ordered.

Peter licked his lips nervously before saying, “He gives me the best hugs and draws pictures with me.” Immediately Peter began writhing and screaming in his chair as electricity poured through his veins.

“No, Weapon. Bad. This is Captain America and he hates HYDRA. He and the Avengers are trying to destroy our chances of making a better world.” The doctor told him in a soft voice behind his ear. “Next.” She ordered.

“Dad makes me sandwiches when I can’t sleep and teaches me how to build things. AH!” Peter screamed again.

“Wrong again. That’s Iron Man. He hoards technology to help Captain America. His nickname is the Merchant of Death.” The doctor told him.

Peter paused when he saw the next photo. “Uncle Clint plays in the vents with me and is the official tower cookie taste tester with me.” Peter grit out before screaming again. The photos went on. Peter tried to be strong, but the woman’s voice kept telling him how he had been tricked, how the Avengers lied, how HYDRA would take care of him.

“We’ll do just one more round today, Weapon. You just have to tell me who they are. Nothing else. We’ll continue tomorrow after you rest.” The doctor assured him. Peter felt her hand squeeze his shoulder gently and Peter hated that he liked the soothing gesture.

The first picture came on the screen. “Captain America.” He whispered with a raspy voice. But it must have been good enough, as the next photo came up. “Iron Man. Hawkeye. Black Widow. Thor. Hulk. Asset.” He listed each one monotonously, just wanting to rest.

“Last one, and it’s the easiest.” The doctor cooed.

Peter looked at the screen listlessly and then sat up straighter. He blinked at it, unsure if he was seeing correctly. “I know they tried to trick you. They wanted to change what you really are. What is on that screen?” The doctor came around and looked at Peter’s face as he examined the screen and the picture of himself.

Peter opened his dry chapped lips and looked the woman directly in the eyes. “Peter.” He screamed as the electricity shot through him.

“Who is on the screen?” She hissed.

“Peter.” He said a little more strongly, choking the last part of the word on a scream.

“Who is that, Weapon?” She got close to his face.

Peter looked back at her furiously. “Peter.” He screamed as his body shook with the power of the electricity. “I. Am. PETER!” He screamed as the door to the room flung open and the doctor and her assistants looked up in shock.

“Get away from my kid!” Tony’s deadly voice boomed through the room. When they didn’t move, Tony held up his gauntlets and the three found themselves blasted across the room and away from Peter. Tony strode forward and Peter gasped in great gulps of air, trying to control his sobs of relief as Tony ripped the wires that were coursing electricity into him from his body and shot lasers through his restraints and freed him.

He knew exactly what Peter wanted though as he stepped out of his suit and collected the shaking boy into a tight hug. “Dad. You came!” Peter cried into his shoulder.

Tony squeezed the boy tighter. “Always. I will always come for you. We all will. Let’s get out of here.” Tony told him, carrying him and the Iron Man suit followed closely behind, scanning the area that was hazy with smoke and debris. Tony froze and Peter tensed up when a figure came barreling towards them down the hall.

The suit raised its hand but did not shoot when Tony saw that it was Steve who dropped his shield and wrapped both his arms around Tony and Peter. Steve kissed Tony and then Peter felt him kiss his forehead, warm tears dripping on him. “Pops?” Peter asked softly. “You came too?”

“Of course, buddy, we all did.” Steve said before letting them go and pulling Peter from Tony’s arms so that Tony’s arms could rest.

“I am Peter.” Peter told him furiously.

“What?” Steve asked in a daze, looking down at the boy in his arms.

Peter looked up at Steve defensively. “I am Peter.”

Steve cuddled Peter close to him and set off down the hall towards a large hole where the quinjet was waiting on autopilot. “You are. You’re Peter and you belong with us.”

Peter was greeted warmly with hugs all around. Bucky looked as relieved as Peter to see him and accepted his hug with shaky hands that didn’t want to let go of the boy. But, Peter had other ideas. He let go of Bucky and stood in the center of the quinjet, looking each Avenger clearly in the eyes as his cracking voice said firmly, “I am Peter!”

The Avengers’ hearts clenched and Peter grinned at their acceptance of his announcement. “I am Peter and I love you. And you love me because we’re family. HYDRA is bad and lied. We are good and I want to go home.”

Steve was the first to step forward and get down on one knee before Peter. He rested a hand on Peter’s shoulder and said, “You’re right, Peter. Let’s go home.” Peter flung himself into Steve’s waiting arms and the rest of his family soon joined the hug.

Peter popped his head up, “When we get there can we have cookies?” Everyone chuckled at that, and Tony promised him he could have as many as he wanted. When Steve rolled his eyes and jabbed his stomach in disapproval, causing Tony to quickly backpedal, Peter grinned knowing he was finally heading home.