Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started like this: the Fantastic Four, in typical Fantastic Four fashion, were blasting moloids in the middle of central park. One of dozens of attacks to occur in the past few months, and the Four were getting very tired of mole-man. 

Johnny blasted another moloid, groaning in disgust as it splattered all over him. “Ugh! These things are nasty, this is so not worth it!”

“Dont be a baby, torchie.” Ben grunted while he wrestled down three of the creatures simultaneously.

“Easy for you to say! Its all over my suit! Its in my hair!! You don’t even have hair!” He whined and Ben chuckled at him.

Sue reminded them to focus over comms, and Johnny was about to respond with some biting remark about how many more moloids he'd taken down than her, when a loud, familiar whoop echoed from behind him.

Spider-man swung into the scene, kicking a moloid in the face and shooting an electric web through another.

“Spidey!” Johnny exclaimed, ecstatic to see the masked vigilante. He received a wave in response and then they were off, Johnny fighting with a renewed vigor, and Spidey elated with that early-fight adrenaline.

In no time flat, they had every last moloid splattered on the pavement, and mole man retreating into subterranea.

Johnny set down on the ground, wiping the last bits of mud off his costume. He walked over to the masked vigilante and grinned.

“Sup, Spider-man. Fancy seeing you here.” The mask wrinkled at Johnny's words, which he knew meant Peter was smiling.

Peter flicked a piece of stray mud out of Johnny's hair and shrugged. “Oh, ya know. I was in the area, figured you’d appreciate the help.”

“And appreciate, I did!” Johnny snickered, bumping his shoulder against the other boy’s.

Sue suddenly spoke up behind him.

“If you two are done chatting, Johnny, we need to talk.” She eyed Spider-man with a distasteful look.

Johnny looked at Spidey and shrugged.

“Gotta go, by spidey!” In a quieter voice, he added, “See you tomorrow, Pete.”

He started walking towards the fantasticar. When Johnny looked back, spider-man was gone. 

———————

Johnny jumped out of the fantasticar, ready to rush to his room, shower and fall asleep. He had mud all over his body, and every single muscle ached, not to mention his growling stomach. Fueling flames took up a lot of calories.

Sadly, the universe (and older sisters), had other plans for him. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Sue grabbed his wrist and dragged him along behind her, not stopping until they reached the living room, Ben and Reed trailing behind.

She let him go, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, a scrutinizing expression on her face. The other two were fanned out behind her, wearing similar expressions.

He raised an eyebrow.
“Mind telling me what's happening?”

Sue scoffed, eyes flaring with anger. “I'll tell you what's not happening, you and Spider-Man!”

Johnny choked on a cough, wheezing for a moment, but Sue continued before he could recover.

“I know you have a crush on him, but you need to stop this, this, being his friend thing! You have no idea who he is, or even WHAT he is! And I will not have some creepy adult man hanging out with my baby brother who has some weird infatuation with him.”

Johnny gaped at her.

Ignoring the baby comment, he spluttered, trying to defend himself. “I- spideys not a creep! And it's not a thing, it's called actually being friends with the guy.”

Sue frowned, but Reed stepped in before she could continue.

“Perhaps, but you must admit most adults don't make a habit of becoming, how do you say it, BFFs with teenagers. You have to consider the possibility that he has alternative motives.”

The flame hero scoffed, feeling offended on behalf of spidey at this point.

“Okay first off, I cannot BELIEVE you just said that. Bffs? Please never use slang again.” Reed shrugged, frowning. “Two, He doesn't have alternative motives. His motives are Taking Names and Kicking Butt.”

Ben grunted, either in agreement or amusement, but Sue continued to look furious.

“Johnny, this isn't a discussion! You are going to stay away from Spider-Man, period. Understand me?”

He glared at her before rolling his eyes and walking to the door. “Sure. Whatever.” He said, with no intention of doing so.

Chapter Text

Peter neared the tower, grinning as he spotted the window to his room opening. He thwipped towards it, flying into the open window and landing flatly on the carpet.

Shrugging off the suit, he groaned at all the mud on his costume and body. Thank god he had a private washing machine, there was no way he was going to walk out into the hall, covered in mud and wearing nothing but boxers. 

Stuffing his suit in the machine, he turned it on and walked to the bathroom. Shower time.

———-

Once the water ran completely clear, and he was assured there was no remaining mud in his hair, he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist.

Five minutes later, with fluffy pink pajama pants and a loose white shirt on, he stepped out of his room, heading towards the kitchen. Spider metabolism, what can you do.

Tony was sitting at the counter, sipping his coffee and looking at something on his tablet. When he noticed Peter coming over, he reached out to ruffle the boy's hair, then pulled back, giving him a look.

“Did you shower?” Peter nodded, grabbing the bread to make a sandwich- or five. Tony frowned.

“Didnt you shower this morning? Seems a little pointless to shower twice a day. And- we’re having dinner soon, what's with the snack?”  

The boy shrugged. “Went out spider-manning, encountered a little trouble.” He grabbed the pickle jar, not noticing Tony's worried expression.

“Are you hurt? What happened?” He stood up quickly, walking around the counter to the boy who was focused on his food.

Peter bit into his sandwich, looking at tony. “Nah, the fantastic four were there, I was mostly backup. The worst thing I got was covered in mud.” He said through a full mouth.

Tony's expression turned sour, and Peter tilted his head, swallowing. “What?”

Tony humphed and crossed his arms. “Fantastic four, eh?”

He quirked a brow at his mentor/father figure and frowned. “Yeaaahhh…?” 

“So, Johnny storm was there?” Tony tried his best to keep his expression neutral, but the boy was already suspicious, a dubious expression on his face.

“Uh-huh.” Peter slowly put his (second? Third?) sandwich down and squinted at tony. “Why do you ask?”

Tony scoffed, dropping the facade. “I don't trust those fantastic four folks. And frankly, i don't like that Johnny Storm kid. He's a bad influence. I've read the articles, kept up with the media, I know his type.” He walked back around the counter, picking his ipad up.

“But, weren't you exactly like him as a teen?” Peter frowned. 

“Exactly!” He looked up from the tablet, eyebrows shot up and expression in a scowl. “I know his type because I was his type, and I don't want you hanging out with him. Rich, handsome, spoiled brat who thinks they deserve everything, and that they are everything.” Tony glared at the boy, who was fidgeting with his pants.

Peter pouted, eyes steadfast on tonys. “Mr, Stark, it was just-“

“Ah ah ah! Don't try to “mr stark it was just a fight” me, i've seen the newspaper. I know you see him more than you let on.” At this he flipped his screen, showing Peter an article with a large picture of spider-man and the human torch side by side on a roof. 

Peter blushed, remembering that. A month and a half ago, when he and Johnny had been talking for a few weeks. Mr. Stark still glared at him and he shook his head. “It's not a big deal, d- mr. Stark. He's just a fellow hero, he came across me on patrol and helped me take down some low-level criminal. Usually I wouldn't need it, but i didn't realize the guy had a gun. I was just- i was just thanking him afterwards, yeah.”

He felt slightly guilty lying to Tony like that, but it wasn't a total lie. He had thanked Johnny, they had just talked about- other things as well.

The older man sighed, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder when the teen sat down. “I just worry about you, pete. And I don't want anything bad to happen when I'm here to prevent that. I don't want you looking for trouble, and Johnny Storm just seems like trouble.” His dark brown eyes met soft doe eyes.

Peter leaned into him, his head on tonys shoulder. “I'm not looking for trouble, mr stark. And Johnny isn't that bad. You don't know him.”

Tony's face hardened, and Peter was startled as his voice did the same. “No, I don't, and you shouldn't either. Stay away from johnny storm, pete. I don't want you hanging out with him or his team. Got it?” He felt bad snapping at the boy, but it was necessary. Johnny storm was not going to bring anything but trouble for Peter, and Tony wouldn't let that happen on his watch.

Peter stared at him, eyes wide, and Tony realized with horror they were slightly misty. 

The teen stood up quickly, pushing his chair in. “Fine.” 

He walked away, an ache in his chest. 

Behind him, tony's face shone bright with hurt.

Chapter Text

Tony glanced over at Peter's empty place and sighed. He let his head drop, staring into his meal, his fork just roving around the plate aimlessly. Pepper gave him a curious look, but he just shook his head, poking at his food. He didn't feel like recounting his failures to his fiancée.

They were eating spaghetti, made by pepper. It was good, her cooking always was, and she was usually too busy for normal meals like that. He really should have been enjoying it. But he couldn't. Not with one member of the make-shift family missing.

He had gotten the alert right after Peter left that the suit was on, and 15 minutes later that the tracker was disabled. 

He knew if he wanted he could turn the tracker back on remotely, all it would take was a simple command to F.R.I.D.A.Y, but Tony decided to respect Peter's privacy. After all, it was his fault the boy was so worked up. Yelling at the kid over something stupid, great job mentoring tony, he berated himself.

Peter stayed over on weekends, when May was usually working. Tony got those few days with him, and he had screwed it up. Peter might not come back this weekend, and it would be his fault-

Pepper sighed, snapping him out of his own mind. “Tony, I can hear you thinking from here. What's wrong?” She set her hand on top of his on the table.

He sighed, rubbing his face with the free hand. “I messed up, pep.” 

Her expression got more serious, gripping his hand in hers. “Messed up, how?”

Tony looked at her with a pained expression. “Peter had been with the fantastic four again. And i was talking to him about it, and i tried to tell him to stay away but he wouldn't listen. And i- i snapped at him, and raised my voice, and god, pep, his face when i yelled at him- and now he's out, god knows where, doing god knows what, and i don't know how to fix this.”

She smiled gently at him, taking her hand off his and putting it on his face, cradling his jaw.

“I know you care about him, Tony, I do too. You just have to talk to him. Apologize, and try to calmly convey your worries. Just telling him not to do stuff makes him feel like you don't trust him, okay?” 

He nodded, smiling at his fiance. “How on earth did i get so lucky?”

She huffed, smiling slightly. “Who knows. I sometimes wonder about that myself.” 

They laughed, Tony finishing his dinner with a smile on his face.

——————

“I'm going to head to bed.” Johnny stood up from the table, not bothering to ask if he could leave.

He had barely touched his food, not like it mattered. He hated meatloaf. He was, like, 97% sure Sue made meatloaf just to spite him. It was gross. 

Sue gave him a curt nod, reed waving at him with a brief “good night,” and ben muttering a “g’night squirt” with his mouth full of food.

Johnny made a face at Ben, to which the man flipped him off, and he walked out, heading to his room. He smelled smoke and paused, realising his hair was on fire. Damnit. He hoped that wasn't happening at dinner. He needed to hide his frustration better.

He closed the door to his room, locking it and flopping on the bed. He sighed, thinking about the day. He had been so happy when Peter swung into the fight. He'd been so busy with moloids that week and when he saw the other teen, his face lit up like a christmas tree.

Not like it mattered. His good moods rarely lasted, anyways. Someone always just took a dump all over it. Usually sue. 

God, She made him so mad sometimes! She tried so hard to control his life, it was such bullshit. Why couldn't she just let him do stuff? She had to control everything he did. 

She’s not his mom. He sighed angrily, shoving his face into a pillow.

And with peter- well, he couldn't tell her about peter. Not his identity, or- other stuff. It'd be a huge betrayal. He knew Peter wasn't ready for that.

He laid there like a starfish for a while, lost in his own thoughts, when his phone dinged. He picked it up to see a text notification.

Messages 

Peter Parkour sent a message

Johnny smiled, swiping open his phone.

Saturday 9:13 p.m.

Peter Parkour:

I want to kashoot myself

Human storm:

Ahaha no dont do that, ur 2 sexy

Peter parkour:

Okay now i wanna kashoot you

Human storm:

</3

But fr you wanna talk about it?

Peter parkour:

:/

Yeah but i dont wanna text. 

Human storm: 

Understandable. Usual roof?

Peter parkous is typing….

Johnny sighed, watching the little dots blink on his phone. He honestly wanted to vent himself. But it was clear Peter needed to talk, so Johnny could wait. Or just never talk about it. Yeah, that works. Avoid your problems till they go away or blow up. He could usually use the second one, seeing as most of his problems were doom bots or moloids or villains.

His phone chimed again, screen lighting up.

Peter parkour:

Not the usual place. Apparently we were caught up there about a month ago, and I checked to see if there were other articles, which there are. Multiple.. It's too visible. How about somewhere higher up, harder to reach?

Human storm: 

Sounds good, got someplace in mind?

Peter parkour: 

…?

Johnny snorted, sighing. He looked out the window, thinking. Manhattan was so beautiful at night. The buildings sparkling against the night sky, a few boats in the water, the soft buzz of traffic and people and tourists, the Statue of liberty lit up in the night…

Johnny paused, eyes fixed on lady liberty. He snatched up his phone.

Human storm is typing...

Chapter Text

Peter tapped his foot on the green-blue metal. He'd been waiting on top of the statue of liberty in the cold for nearly 10 minutes. He shivered, looking around him for signs of the flame hero.

When Johnny had messaged him back, telling him to meet on top of the monument, Peter had shrugged, figuring it was private enough. It was a little far, but he hitched a ride on a helicopter, having expected Johnny to already be there.

A bright light caught the corner of his eye and he turned, seeing a johnny flying towards him, fires roaring low, probably to avoid detection. From most angles the teen would have just blended in with the city lights.

Johnny landed, and Peter sighed, the air warming up around him. Then he pulled his mask to his nose, frowning.

“What took you so long? I've been waiting for, like, 15 minutes. You encounter a villain or something?” He crossed his arms as Johnny shrugged, walking closer to his friend.

“Got caught up by sue, told her i was just going to patrol to let off some steam. She believed me, I think. Took a bit to convince her.”

Peter nodded distractedly, tapping his foot again and humming in acknowledgement. Johnny set a hand on his shoulder and he looked up, seeing the other hero frowning.

“But what's up with you? You seemed fairly upset when we texted, plus you wanted to change the regular spot? I would have figured you kinda liked that roof.”

He blushed, glad his mask and the dark hid his cheeks, then nodded. “Yeah, about that. Mr. Stark knows we've been hanging out. And he got mad at me, and tried to tell me not to hang out with you, and I said he was wrong, and he just yelled at me, and-“ his voice broke and he cut off, hugging his arms to his chest, lip trembling in a frown.

Johnny's eyes widened. “He yelled at you? Shit, he never yells at you, that must’ve been bad. Are you okay?”

Peter shook his head, breathing out. “Man, i don't know, he only yells when he's really mad, and i don't wanna make him angry but there's no way i'm just going to stop hanging out with you. He said you were a bad influence, like he knows you. Its just stupid and frustrating.”

The blond frowned at that. He admitted, he wasn't the best influence, and he worried sometimes that he would get Peter in trouble, but hearing it out loud? Just, unsettling.

He blinked. “Well, if it makes you feel better, or not, Sue said something really similar today. Only in her version, you aren't an irresponsible kid, you’re a ‘dangerous adult’ with ‘ulterior motives’.”

Peter cracked a smile at that, moving slightly closer to johnny. “Well, i'm not exactly a dangerous adult, but I certainly have ulterior motives for seeing you.”

Johnny grinned down at him, pulling the shorter boy in for a kiss.

It was short, but so sweet, considering the day they both had. They knew it probably wasn't smart, seeing as both their adult protectors were adamantly against them even being friends, but it's not like they could help it.

It's not like Johnny could help how soft Peter's lips were, how nice it was to wrap him up in his arms. It's not like Peter could help how warm Johnny was, how soft his hair was as Peter carded his fingers through the blond strands.

They pulled away, smiling giddily at each other, and Johnny pressed his forehead against peters.

“I can't be busy like this again, not getting to be with you for a full week suucckksss.” He groaned, dropping his head into the crook of Peter's neck. The spider just hummed, still running his fingers through Johnny's hair.

“Yeah, but we could hang out tomorrow, if you’re free.”

Johnny lifted his head up, looking into Peter's eyes. “Aren't you supposed to be staying with the iron can this weekend?”

He raised an eyebrow when Peter frowned, pulling away slightly.

“I'm supposed to, yeah, but honestly, I don't really feel like going back there and getting yelled at by Mr Stark again. So we could just hang out at my apartment if you want. May won't be home, not that she cares when we hang out.”

Johnny smiled a bit at that. He had met Peter's aunt, and the woman was wonderful. She also felt the same protectiveness over Peter that Johnny did, so they bonded over stories of the boy doing dumb stuff.

He smiled brightly at his boyfriend. “Sounds great, I'll come over for breakfast.”

Peter snorted. “Okay, but you might have to drag me out of bed. It's already-“ he paused, likely consulting his A.I. “-11:30, and I still need to get home.”

Johnny grinned, and Peter saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. “Want a ride?” Before Peter could protest, Johnny had snatched up his hand, taking off into the night sky.

—————-

In around 10 minutes, they had landed on top of peters apartment building in queens. They touched down on the roof, Peter releasing Johnny's hand a few feet off the ground, Johnny himself simply drifting down the last few feet. He flamed off, watching Peter brush ash off of his suit, grumbling annoyedly.

He sighed dramatically, slinging an arm around his boyfriends shoulders. “Well, this is your stop. Alas, we must part ways, but I know in my heart, that we shall see each other again, one day.”

Peter snickered and threw Johnny's arm off, ruffling his hair and laughing when Johnny made an offended noise. He fixed his hair and glared at Peter, whose mask blinked in response.

“Oh, shut up flamebrain. I'll see you tomorrow.” He kissed Johnny's cheek, flipping off the roof. Johnny heard him land softly on the fire escape and grinned.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” He didn't have to speak up, he knew Peter had heard him. Freaky spider powers.

He flamed on, jumping off the roof. All he had to do was come up with a convincing lie for sue.

Chapter Text

“Peter, wake up sweetie, you have a guest.” Mays soft voice carried through the room, her familiar perfumey scent and happy voice penetrating his peaceful sleep.

“Don't wanna. ‘M comfy.”

Peter grumbled, burying his face into the pillow. His aunt ruffled his curls, eliciting an irritated noise from him, then chuckled. “I'm heading back to work, you might want to get up. Don't want to keep him waiting. We can talk about why you aren't at the tower later.”

The door closed at that, his aunt's footsteps fading.

That made the boy groan, not looking forward to that conversation, and he shifted, closing his eyes once more. The door opened, but he didn't have the energy to look up, barely catching a glimpse of familiar blond hair before sleep took hold of him once again.

————

“Ya know, i should give you more credit. You don't lie to me very often.” A weight settled on the end of Peter's bed and the boy shifted awake again, turning his head so one eye was revealed.

Sitting on the end of his bed was Johnny, wearing a white tee-shirt and slacks. His blond hair was mussed up, blue eyes glinting as he smiled at the sleepy boy.

Peter gave him a confused look. “What? What do you mean lying to you?”

Johnny grinned, blindingly white teeth showing. “You told me I'd have to drag you out of bed. Lo and behold, here we are. You in bed, practically buried in blankets, nearly 15 minutes after May woke you up.”

Peter sat up a little at that, unbothered by the fact his shirt was no longer on his body, despite the fact he was pretty sure it was on when he fell asleep. “What? Why'd you let me sleep so long? You must've been bored.” He frowned at his boyfriend, but Johnny shrugged, pulling Peter into a cuddle-hug. Peter snuggled against his warm form as Johnny spoke.

“You’re pretty cute when you sleep. I didn't mind the view for a bit. But I figured you'd want breakfast.”

Peter blushed, hiding his face in Johnny's shirt, but Johnny just laughed lightly, running a hand through his brown curls.

“So, breakfast?”

———

Peter moaned, mouth full of eggs. “God, i had no idea you could cook like this! Where were you hiding these amazing skills?”

Johnny snickered, setting his plate down and sitting next to peter. “It's just an omelette, drama queen. And Sue was always busy with her doctorate stuff when I was younger, so I learned to cook for myself.” 

Peter nodded at him, eyes wide, then swallowed hard. “Yeah, May’s usually pretty busy, but i still don't know how to cook. I would just eat whole bricks of cheese when i needed food.”

Johnny made a face at that, and Peter laughed, taking another bite of the omelette. “Oh god, please never do that in front of me. That's disgusting.”

Peter got quiet, looking down at his plate. “Well, i didn't really have a lot of options. It was hard to cook well when there wasn't a whole lot in the fridge.”

Johnny felt guilty for a moment, going to retract his statement, when he caught Peter's grin. That little shit was messing with him

He flicked Peter's forehead, ignoring the boy's offended gasp and scooping omelette into his mouth.

“You’re not allowed to make me feel bad. It's rude. You’re a bad boyfriend.” Peter giggled at Johnny's face, sticking his tongue out.

“Nuh uh! I'm a good boyfriend, you don't know what you’re talking about. I'm the best boyfriend a person could ask for.”

Johnny smiled at that. “Well, can't deny that logic. I am pretty lucky a jerk like you likes me.”

Peter scoffed, then smiled back. He stood up, grabbing Johnny's plate and walking around to the sink.

“Okay! So what are we gonna do today? My plans for the weekend were to patrol and work on the suit with Mr Stark, but…” he trailed off awkwardly, making a face. 

Johnny stood up, walking around the counter and wrapping his arms around Peter's waist. The other teen smiled a bit, leaning into his touch, and sighed.

“It's fine. How about mario kart for a bit?” Peter looked at him in question and Johnny grinned.

“Get ready to get flamed, webhead.”

“You’re on.”

————

“AHA! I win again, sucker!” Peter whooped, pumping his fist in the air as Johnny sulked next to him.

“Whatever. You stole toad, even though I claimed him.”  Johnny crossed his arms and frowned.

Peter stuck his tongue out at the blond. “Whatever. I just have superior skills. Sucks to suck babe.”

Johnny smacked him in the face with a pillow, eliciting an ‘OOF’ and loud cackling from the boy. Peter lunged at him, rolling them both off the couch and onto the floor.

Johnny swung himself up, pinning peters arms down and grinning victoriously.

-Until peter threw him off effortlessly, climbing on top of him and straddling johnny's waist.

The blond teen frowned playfully. “That's not fair, i don't have spider strength.”

Peter wagged a finger in his face, holding back a smile. “It's totally fair, you have fire powers.”

Johnny huffed, about to respond, when loud ringing interrupted their fun.

Peter stood up, stooping to offer johnny a hand, then grabbed his phone off the couch. He checked the caller, then frowned, face flushing.

“What? What is it?” Johnny said, walking around to see the caller i.d. “...oh.”

Peter blanched. “Why is Mr. Stark calling me? What do I do? Do I answer? I'm gonna answer. Oh god he's face timing, johnny hide!”

Johnny dove behind the couch, watching above the arm as Peter clicked “accept call” and the stark's face appeared.

“H-hey, mr stark, whats up?” Peter stammered, trying his best to not look suspicious. He wasn't doing a very good job, as Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

“I wanted to talk to you, but i honestly didn't think you'd be awake. You usually like to sleep in on weekends.”

Peter let out a breathy laugh, too high and too nervous to be convincing. “Ah- uh, just couldn't sleep. I was-“ his face suddenly changed as he cut off, frowning and eyebrows furrowing. Johnny got the sudden sense he shouldn't listen to the conversation.

“I had trouble falling asleep, honestly. After i went home last night, I was just- I was thinking about our conversation.” Peter looked away from the screen, avoiding eye contact with his mentor, only to see Johnny awkwardly shuffling on all fours away from the couch, towards Peter's room.

Tony talking grabbed his attention. “Yeah, me too kiddo. Listen, I just- I wanted to apologize. Jeez, I should really be doing this in person. I just felt like waiting and letting you stay thinking i'm mad at you because i yelled at you.”

Peter paused, his brain working. “Wait, you aren't mad?”

Tony made a face at him. “No, kid, of course I'm not mad. I was just worried about you. But I talked to Pepper, and well- i should trust you more. You may have absolutely no sense of self preservation- i should know, i'm the same,” he cut off peter as he was about to protest, “but you’re smart, and you’re a good kid. If you really think that Johnny Storm guy isn't so bad, I guess it's okay if you want to be friends. But i want to meet him. Anyone hanging out with my ki- my intern has to talk to me.”

Peter's eyes widened, and he grinned. “Sounds great. Are you free today? I think I could convince him to fly over to the tower.” He made eye contact with Johnny , who was aggressively shaking his head, ‘no’.

“Yeah, I'm good today. How about you come over for lunch, around 12:00?” Tony seemed to check his watch, then looked back up at peter.

“That's great! I'll get Johnny and be right over!” Peter hung up the phone, turning to his boyfriend with a smirk. “Well, i guess we found our plans for today.”

Johnny stood up, hands on hips, glaring at him. “You are so dead if this goes badly.”

Peter hummed. “If this goes badly i think you’re gonna die before i do.”

Johnny tapped his foot nervously and Peter smiled softly at him, standing and grabbing his hands.

“It's okay, Jay. He's gonna love meeting you, after all, I did.” He smiled up at his boyfriend, who returned it hesitantly.

“Yeah. Time to go meet your dad.”

“He's not my dad!”

“He totally is.”

Chapter Text

“I'm gonna kill you, pete.” Johnny stared at the shorter boy, arms crossed.

Peter grinned at him, still looking at the floor numbers as the elevator travelled down.

They had landed on the roof, opting to go in through a window. FRIDAY had informed them Tony was in the lab, so Peter dragged Johnny to the elevator and pressed the ‘Floor 80’ button.

The whole time Johnny was fretting. Despite Peter's assurances that they didn't have to tell Tony about the dating, he was still freaking out. You only get to meet your boyfriend's dad once, and lying to him usually wasn't a great way to start off the relationship.

The elevators doors slid open,
And Peter marched up to the lab doors, where loud music could be heard playing, let Friday scan him before pushing them open and walking inside. He stepped in effortlessly, having been and worked there hundreds of times, but Johnny followed him with a slight unease.

The loud rock music stopped as soon as Peter stepped inside, and from within a loud “Pete! Come over here!” Is heard.

The boy does as told and Johnny takes a moment, clearing his face to his least-guilty expression that he reserves for Sue when he really messes up. Oh god. He really hoped he wouldn't mess this up.

Tony Stark came into view, his appearance a stark (hah) difference from what people saw of him. His hair was unkempt, fluffy waves a mass atop his head, with a dirty ripped black tank top on, and several scars and grease smudges visible on his arms.

Peter simply walked up, hugging the man happily (the look on Stark's face was so fatherly...weird.), then gestured at Johnny, who did his best to straighten up and smile at the pair.

“This is Johnny, he's my-“ peter raised an eyebrow and Johnny shrugged, “-friend. But I suppose you already knew that.”

Stark nodded, smiling slightly at peter. “Yeah. So johnny, mind telling me a bit about yourself?”

Peter gave an exasperated sigh but Johnny just chuckled. “Well there's the obvious bit of me being a superhero, and famous, but I also like cars a lot-“ Stark raised an eyebrow at peter. Johnny hoped that was a good sign. “And i'm pretty good at cooking.”

Peter smiled at him and Johnny figured he hadn't done terribly.

Stark looked from Peter to Johnny, and back again. “So clearly he knows?”

Johnny made a confused noise (knows what?), while peter turned red.

“That- ah, that was an accident.” Peter scratched at his arm nervously, and Johnny instinctively grabbed his wrist to stop him.

The man raised an eyebrow at them and Johnny quickly released Peter's wrist and coughed awkwardly.

“An accident?” He said, face skeptical.

Peter nodded. “I had saved a bunch of people after doc con- The lizard destroyed a bridge over a street, but I sorta. Had a panic attack because of it, and Johnny, who helped, grabbed me and flew me up to a roof to get me away from the public. And I may have- um, i might have removed my mask in my panic?”

Peter looked guilty as stark gave him an exasperated expression. “How all of New york doesn't know your identity, is a mystery to me.”

Johnny nodded at that. “He's seriously the worst at it. I've had to squander several of the Fours attempts to figure out who he is.”

Stark looked surprised at that, and Johnny shrugged. “Hey, i may be part of a team, but it's not like i get any respect from people that see me as a reckless child. There's no way I'm letting them expose the one guy who doesn't care about my age as a hero.” It was true. The four never respected him, and honestly none of the other heroes did either.

Peter smiled at him and stark nodded approvingly. “Well, in that case, i won't erase your memory.”

Johnny laughed at the comment, then stopped, noticing Peter's disproving expression towards his mentor. “Hey- wait, can you actually do that? Peter, can he do that?”

Stark just laughed and walked away.

Chapter Text

“FUCK YEAH, HUMAN TORCH FOR THE WIN!” Johnny jumped up off the couch, cheering.

Peter slumped next to him, grumbling at the “YOU LOSE” displayed on his screen.

“Whatever. Human torch is way op, they didn't even include all of spidey's powers.” Peter pouted and Johnny rolled his eyes.

“It's a combat game webhead, there's not a lot of ways to include wall-crawling or quips.” He yelped as Peter slapped him over the head with a pillow.

Tony snorted, not looking up from his tablet as he sipped from a mug. “You guys really chose a hero vs hero video game?”

Peter huffed. “It's fun! Plus, it's not like we can actually fight each other.”

“We have a training room, ya know.” Tony looked up, realizing what he said. As soon as he caught sight of Peter and Johnny's excited faces, he tried to backtrack.

“Nooo no no no. I forbid-“ but the boys just sped past him.

“Thanks mr stark! We’ll be back down for lunch!”

Peter grinned as the elevator doors closed, Tony's scowling face disappearing from sight.

—————

Peter dodged a burst of flames, swinging himself up and landing on the ceiling.

“Ya know, it wouldn't be so bad to tell them.”

Johnny scoffed, shaking his head incredulously as he narrowly avoided a web Peter fired. “Dude, i'm pretty sure the Four would, like, actually kill you if they knew. You may have spidey strength but you don't have The Thing strength.”

The spider pouted, jumping down to the ground and walking over to his water bottle. Johnny landed and followed him.

“It's just- i mean, it's been over a month and we haven't told any of our family? I mean, ned and MJ know-“

“You told them?”

“Nah, mj figured it out and said it out loud, so now Ned knows.”

“Ah.”

Peter sighed. “I feel guilty not telling Mr. Stark. This just feels like something I should tell him.”

Johnny leaned down, letting his forehead bump against peters. “I know. I'm sorry, it's just- once he finds out, then it's like I have to tell the four, and then the whole world knows, and it's just- what happened to just Johnny Storm and Peter parker?”

Peter nodded. “I get it. Okay, we’ll wait. Besides, you only just got him to like you as my friend, so maybe it's smart not to immediately introduce you as my boyfriend.”

Johnny nodded, then tapped Peter's nose. “Lunch time?”

Peter nodded happily. He led Johnny back upstairs, mind turning. He could wait a few more weeks. After all, Johnny wasn't the only nervous one. Peter wasn't sure if people should know Spider-man or Peter Parker was dating the human torch.

They walked back into the kitchen and Tony looked up, gesturing to the many bags pf Chinese take-out on the counter. “Go crazy. I figured i shouldnt subject johnny to my horrible cooking our first meeting.”

Peter giggled and grabbed 3 bags, plopping down at the counter. He pulled them out, and noticed that Johnny watched as he pulled out 3 trays of dumplings, at least 5 orders of crab rangoon, 2 boxes of beef low mein, and, like, 4 boxes of rice.

He whistled, impressed. “Damn pete, your appetite is one to rival bens.”

Tony looked as Johnny pulled out some food for himself. “Do you have an enhanced metabolism? Producing that much constant fire has to be calorie-consuming.”

Johnny looked surprised at the question, and Peter Looked up. He was wondering that himself.

The blonde cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah i do have to eat more than the average person, especially after a fight. If I use too much energy in a battle, I pass out. Er- peter knows that.”

Tony looked at Peter expectantly and he swallowed. “He helped me out against that Ice villain a few weeks ago, but uh- i kinda had to rescue him after he used up a bunch of his power to stop the ice. We still won, but the four almost killed me when I brought him to the Baxter building.”

The older man choked on his food, coughing before looking between the boys with wide eyes. “Im sorry, what?”

Johnny brushed some hair back, an irritated expression on his face. “The four aren’t exactly big spidey fans. They see him as more villain than vigilante. And, they don’t exactly like that their 16 year old teammate is hanging out with who they think is a dangerous, criminal adult.” Peter looked away, slightly embarrassed.

Tony frowned, setting his food down. “Okay, I kinda get that, seeing as that was sorta my thought process for Pete, but what proof do they even have that spider-man is dangerous or evil?”

Johnny shrugged. “I don't know, dude. They just hate him. Don't like that he doesn't operate like we do, I guess.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, which sucks when i go to help them out with a fight, since Johnny's the only one who isn't throwing me dirty looks.” He scrunched up his face.

Johnny grimaced, and Tony made a thoughtful noise. “So, they don't know you know spidey?”

Johnny shook his head so quickly, Peter thought he might have gotten whiplash. “God, no. If they knew i knew his identity, they wouldn't stop bothering me until they got it out of me. They’d probably, like, bug me or something so they could listen in on our convos.”

Johnny stuffed a bunch of dumplings in his mouth and leaned back, clearly opting out of the conversation.

Peter cleared his throat. “Well, i want to work on my web shooters and i'm pretty sure johnny has, like, a photo shoot to get to-“ johnny nudged him playfully, “-so you wanna take this food to go?”

Johnny clearly got Peter's not-so-subtle request to hang out with his mentor, and stood up, grabbing a box and stuffing a bunch of crab rangoons into it. “Yup. Wanna walk me to the window?”

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded, getting up as well and walking over. “See you later, flamebrain.”

Johnny leaned over, kissing Peter quickly, before flaming on and flying off.

Peter's brain short circuited for a second, wondering why that was bad, when he heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat behind him.

He slowly turned, looking straight at his mentor, who was staring at Peter, arms crossed, face incredulous.

“Oh, shit.”

Chapter Text

Johnny stopped in midair, the last 20 seconds catching up to him.

He kissed Peter parker.

Normal, seeing as they were dating.

He kissed Peter Parker in front of Tony stark.

Pretty stupid, considering just a bit before then they had decided to hold off telling peters father mentor.

He kissed Peter Parker, in front of Tony Stark, and then flew off.

He's so dead, huh.

He buried his face in his still-on-fire hands, groaning as he hovered above the city. God. He couldn't go back now, so he decided to head back home and try texting Peter in a bit, when he thought it would be safe.

He came in through the top of the Baxter building, going down the elevator after quickly greeting Reed (receiving only a swift wave in response), and flopping face-down on the living room couch. 

Sue looked up from her book, pursing her lips at him. “Bad day?” 

Johnny groaned, tilting his head to look at her. “I'm an idiot, sue.”

Ben snorted, walking in with a plate of food in his hands. “We already knew that much, torchie. What’d ya do this time, squirt?”

Johnny sat up, squeezing a pillow across his chest. “I...might have accidentally kissed a guy in front of his dad…”

Sue looked up from her book, eyes wide, and bens stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Only you, johnny.” The man grinned at Johnny as he blushed, sinking down into the couch.

Sue held up a hand. “Hold one, when were you going to tell us you are dating someone?”

The blond blushed and looked away. “I...wasn't?”

Sue rolled her eyes, exasperated, as Ben broke out into a new fit of laughter. Reed walked in, surveying the scene with confusion, before narrowing his eyes.

“What has Johnny done this time?”

Johnny spluttered indignantly, while Ben wiped away a tear. “Torchies got himself a boyfriend and embarrassed himself in front of the kids dad.”

Reed nodded. “So, when can we meet him?”

Johnny sat up straight, unaware his hair was smoking. “You can't! Not- not yet, at least.”

Sue raised an eyebrow. “Any reason why?”

“Kid’s probably a superhero fanatic. Johnny doesn't want him bursting a blood vessel when he meets us.” Ben snorted and stuffed a slice of pizza in his mouth.

“Er- not exactly..” the others looked at him quizzically, and Johnny stood up, waving his hands. “It's fine. Just- you cant meet him yet. I'm gonna go lay down.”

Sue gave him a look but said nothing, turning back to her reading. “Alrighty, johnny. Make sure to be up for dinner.”

He nodded, and took his leave.

—————

Peter Parkour

4:13 p.m.

Human Storm 

...You dead yet?

Peter Parkour is typing…

Peter parkour 

Johnny i stg im gonna kill you

Human storm

Please dont do that i'm too pretty to die

Peter Parkour

Not too pretty to catch these hands

Human storm

But seriously pete, you okay?

Im so so so sorry

Peter parkour

...ngl mr stark was super pissed

But its fine now, hes honestly just mad i lied to him about it

Even though he prolly wouldve killed you if you stuck around

Which, im still pissed at you for just leaving

Human storm

Hahha… whoops

Johnny ran a hand down his face, sitting cross legged in his bed. At least he hadn't gotten his boyfriend killed. That would've been seriously bad for his romantic life.

He sighed, picking up his phone again.

Human storm

So, what do we do? I kinda told the four i have a boyfriend but i dont think i want them meeting you yet, plus you don’t exactly want to reveal ur identity.

Peter parkour

Dude, if you get to kiss me in front of my- 

In front of mr stark, i get to meet ur fam. As a civilian of course, pretty sure theyd kill me if spidey was dating u.

Human storm is typing….

Johnny groaned. Peter was right, obviously. It was only fair that Johnny got chewed out by his family like Peter did. He tapped on the small icon

Human storm

Alright, fine, but under no circumstances do we tell them you’re spiderman. 

You having a stark internship is already rough territory with them

Peter parkour

Spider-man* 

Dont forget the hyphen. And thats cool, i dont really want them knowing. I gtg, im helping pepper make dinner.

<3

Human storm

Aight, talk to you later so we can plan you guys meeting. Bye <3

Johnny set his phone down, breathing out in relief. Checking the time, he decided to grab a couple hours of sleep before dinner.

—————

Sue hesitated before knocking on the door, noticing it open slightly. She opened the door and let her face relax into a smile.

Johnny was laying on his bed, tangled in the covers, a soft mask of sleep on his smiling face.

She stepped into the room quietly, going to sit on his bed. She ran her fingers through his hair, thinking.

She felt like they were always fighting, lately. Always over something or other. Him admitting he was seeing someone surprised her, honestly. Him denying them meeting the boy, didn’t surprise her. 

Johnny… he was the only family she had left. She loved Reed, and Ben, and the team was like a family to her, but Johnny was her little brother. And no matter how much she wanted to protect him, she knew she had to let him do some things on her own.

A few weeks back, when spider-man had brought his unconscious form to the Baxter building, she almost broke down, holding her brother as the other 2 team members laid into the vigilante. She looked up just in time to see spider-man fleeing from them.

She felt guilty, honestly, when she watched the news later and saw spider-man saving johnny. But that didn't ease the worry about Johnny working with some dangerous man. I mean, Spider-Man had been seen with daredevil and punisher, what more proof do you need?!

Johnny stirred, groaning into his pillow as she continued playing gently with his hair.

“Johnny, dinner time. C’mon, get up you lump. You need to eat unless you wanna keep passing out during fights.”

He twisted around, glaring at her. “That was one time.”

Sue wagged a finger in his face. “I count three this month, johnny. Come on! Up.”

He sat up, grinning easily at her, and ruffled his hair. She made a noise of annoyance and tried to fix it, but he batted her hand away.

“Chill, sis. It's just dinner with the others, not a charity gala.”

She huffed, smiling at him, and stood up. “I made mozzarella chicken, don't worry, i made you a separate pan so you can burn it to your heart's content.” She grimaced at his preference for crispy charred food and he laughed. 

“Thanks, sue.”

They walked into the dining room, sitting down with reed, and Ben, who immediately began piling chicken onto his plate. 

“Sleep well, johnny?” Reed asked, his almost robot voice taking a more cheerful tone.

The boy nodded, scooping chicken up from the pan. “Yeah, and I talked to pete. He's cool with meeting you guys, we just need to decide when.”

Sue perked up at this, smiling at her brother. “That's great, johnny. Just tell us when he's free and we can invite him over for dinner.”

He nodded, mouth full, and she smiled at him, before leveling an unimpressed look at Ben, who had just stuffed an unholy amount of chicken in his mouth. “Really?”

He burped.

Sue sighed, shaking her head as Johnny blasted fire at ben. Reed offered her a sympathetic smile and she groaned. “You guys are the worst.”

Johnny grinned, still tossing fire that bounced easily off Ben's face. “You love us, though.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

Chapter Text

“That bad, huh?”

Peter jerked up, startled by the sardonic voice. He whipped around to catch mjs smirking face. “What?”

She snorted, dropping her tray down and sitting next to him. “Nervous much?”

He fidgeted, shoving his food around on the tray with a spoon. “It's just- im meeting his whole family, and what if they dont like me? What if they figure out im spider-man? Oh god, they’d totally kill me! I shouldn't go, I'm gonna text Johnny, there's no way i can go-“ he reached for his phone, but before he could reach it, a quick hand shot out and grabbed it.

He looked up at Mj, who was casually holding his phone while eating her sandwich. “Uh-uh. I watched you two idiots hopelessly pine for a month, no way am i letting you ruin this for yourself.” 

Peter pouted, Ned patting his shoulder consolingly as MJ rolled her eyes. She handed Peter his phone back. “Don't cancel, dummy. You've been excited for this. Spider-man or peter parker, they’re gonna love you.”

Ned nodded enthusiastically. “Plus, he already met Mr. Stark! It's only fair.”

Peter grumbled. “Yeah, that's what i told him. Alright, alright, i'll go. Stop pestering me.” Despite his annoyed tone, he blushed, pleased.

———————

Johnny was waiting for him just inside the lobby of the Baxter building. He had on a nice, plain white T-shirt and navy blue slacks. Peter grinned. “Business casual?”

Johnny smirked. “You know it. And you must know, I'm digging the sweater with button up look. It's just screaming nerd. Reeds gonna love you.”

Peter smacked his arm lightly as the elevator dinged. It had the fantastic four symbol on it instead of an Up or Down symbol. Peter wondered what I meant.

His question must have shone on his face, because Johnny followed his gaze then nodded. “Elevator specifically to the penthouse. That's why I came to get you, I have to be with you so you can come up.”

As they stepped in, a smooth voice rang out. “Welcome back, johnny. And welcome, johnny's friend.”

Peter, used to that kinda thing, only raised an eyebrow. Johnny grinned at the camera. “Heya, HERBIE. This is peter.”

“Nice to meet you, peter.”

“Nice to meet you too, Herbie.” Peter smiled at the camera. 

In response the elevator started, gliding smoothly up. He felt a hand grab his and looked over to see Johnny smiling at him, blushing slightly. Peter returned the smile, squeezing his hand once as the elevator opened.

Peter let out a sigh when they weren’t immediately confronted with the Four, relieved. He heard voices down the hall and Johnny walked forwards, hand dropping peters to gesture around as he led the other boy through the building.

“That's my room, right there- it's the coolest, you’ll see,” Peter blushed a little at that, but Johnny didn't notice. “The living rooms over there, we’ve got the coolest tv, reed made it- dont tell him i said that- and hereeeesss the kitchen!”

They walked in, and Peter felt his breath hitch nervously.

Standing there were the adults of the Fantastic four. Doctor Susan Storm, dressed in a pretty pink blouse with dress pants, Doctor Reed Richards, his Green button up matching darker green pants- Peter thought distantly they matched his eyes well, Dr. Storm must have chosen it- and Ben grimm, Wearing jeans and a large white tee-shirt. Peter figured that was probably fancy for the man who usually went shirtless.

With a start, he realized they were all staring at him. Blushing, he waved nervously. “H-hi, im Peter Parker!” He squeaked out. Johnny snickered at him and he had to refrain from elbowing the boy in the stomach. 

Thankfully, Dr. Storm saved him. “Hello peter, nice to meet you. I'm Susan, this is my husband, Reed-“ she actually did elbow the man in the stomach, and he looked up from his tablet, waving at peter. She sighed. 

“Im Ben. Nice to meetcha, kid. Anyone that can put up with johnny's shit is a friend of mine.” 

Johnny shouted “HEY!” at the same time sue chided, “Language!” Ben snorted and held out his hand. Peter took it and did his best not to wince at the man's strong grip. ‘ Thank god for super strength,’ he thought distantly. 

He found himself staring at the doctors as they went about their business, Johnny chatting to him. He looked up when Johnny stopped talking, giving Peter a speculative look before rolling his eyes. 

“Go on, i know you want to. Hey, HERBIE, make sure you get this recorded.”

“Of course, johnny.”

Peter grinned at him, and turned to Dr. Storm. “Sorry Dr. Storm, i just wanted to say- i'm such a big fan of your work, i've read all your papers, i'm super interested in bio chem, and the stuff you wrote, even after you got your powers, it's just amazing!” He turned to the lanky man, who was now watching Peter with interest. “And Dr Richards, your work is amazing! All your studies on the cosmic radiation and how it would affect biological and organic lifeforms is incredible. Sure, it didn't quite work out as expected, but still!” He heaved in a breath, having barely taken one during his whole spiel.

The doctors blinked at him, looked at each other, and looked back at him. Dr Storm spoke. “Well, first, peter, you can call me Sue. Second- I'm impressed. We were expecting you to be a superhero nerd, not just a normal one. Johnny failed to express just how smart you actually are.”

Peter blushed at that, nodding in acknowledgement. Johnny spoke up on his behalf. “Well, he's gotta be smart to have an internship with tony stark.”

Dr. Richards snorted, and the others grimaced. Johnny rolled his eyes and held out a hand when he caught Peter's confused face. “The four arent a big fan of tony stark, if you weren't aware, BUT-“ he directed this to his teammates, face hard, “if you are mean to my boyfriend about his internship/father-son relationship with Tony stark, you will wake up in the middle of the night to me setting your underwear on fire. Don't test me.”

Peter spluttered, embarrassed at the father son comment, but Johnny ignored him. The four nodded at him, Dr- Sue raising an eyebrow at Peter's red face, then smiling. “Dinner should be ready in a few, Peter, so why don't you take a seat? Johnny, come help me with the pan. Someone-“ she shot a glare at the blond boy, “set fire to all the hotpads and i'd rather not burn my hands.”

Johnny nodded, grinning slightly guiltily, and squeezed Peter's hand once before following Sue. 

Peter sat down at the table, directly across from Mr. Grimm. He noticed the seat next to him had a different glass, and suspected it was fireproof for a certain hotheaded teenager. 

Mr. Grimm nodded at him. “Ya know, i didn't much expect johnny to like the nerdy type, but i gotta admit you got the whole sweater-vest and collar going for ya kid. Look like Reed in college.” He paused. “Act like him, too. Nerded out over all the professors.”

Richards frowned at him, but Ben ignored him, leaning in slightly. “So, how’d you get Stark's attention? You’re obviously smart, but it's gotta be difficult for a normal kid to get the notice of a guy like that.”

Peter was about to answer his usual bullshit of ‘i started fixing stark tech and he noticed people talking about it online,’ when johnny barged in, holding a steaming hot pan in his bare hands. “Uh-uh, we aren't grilling Peter on this! What did I say? Do you want ashy underwear?” 

Ben grunted but said nothing, and Johnny grinned, setting the pan down and sitting next to peter. Sue took her seat and they started eating, passing with small talk for a bit. And then Sue said it.

“So, how did you two meet?”

Johnny and Peter looked at each other, then Peter cleared his throat.

“We sorta saved each other?”

The others all gave them weird looks, and Ben raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Johnny huffed. “I saved him, during a fight. When i went to check on him afterwards, since i sorta just dropped him off on a random rooftop, i didn't realize i was injured and collapsed on top of him.”

(It wasn’t technically a lie, Johnny had saved peter- but they met before that, as Spider-man and the human torch.)

Sue started, choking on her food before looking at Johnny with wide eyes. “ What? When were you injured? And why on earth did you think it was a good idea to not tell us?”

He grimaced. “I kinda passed out. Peter, who apparently lived nearby, brought me to his apartment and patched me up. His aunt’s a nurse, so he knew what he was doing.”

Sue sighed, then frowned. “So basically you kidnapped him?”

Peter turned bright red, hunching down. “Listen, man, i don't know what you want from me. A superhero, who was talking to me, suddenly fell over and got blood all over my favorite hoodie because apparently he got stabbed, so I took him home and patched him up. I wasn't going to just leave him there, you guys couldn't have helped him any better than i could have, sitting at home not knowing he was hurt.” His tone was defensive, and, Johnny noted, protective by the time he finished speaking, and the others all stared at him.

Reed coughed, adjusting his watch. “He's right, though. We didn't know Johnny was hurt, and it's not like Peter could have called anyone for help. Thank you, for not taking him to a hospital.”

The others nodded and Peter smiled.

—————

After they cleaned up, Johnny practically dragged Peter to his room, turning pink with his hair smoking when Sue yelled to leave the door open. He had flipped her off and slammed the door shut to the sound of Ben's laughter. 

Johnny flopped onto his bed, groaning- probably at his older teammates antics. Peter hovered in the entrance, before walking around Johnny's room and looking at the different items and decorations. He noted several car magazines, a few black widow and hulk posters, a lava lamp, blue bed-sheets (likely fireproofed, made of the same material as his suit) and a giant closet. Peter stared at it for a minute, astounded by the size of the thing.

“Johnny.”

“Mhm?”

“Why do you need a bathroom, 2 dressers, and a full walk-in closet in your room?”

“I've got shorts, pants, pajamas, formal clothes, my hero suit and backups, shirts, tank tops, shoes, and skirts in case i wanna wear em, cause sues got bigger hips than me so i can't steal hers.”

Peter raised an eyebrow, looking back at his boyfriend who was sprawled out on the bed, not even looking at peter. He snorted at Johnny, and the boy raised an eyebrow at him.

“Watcha doin, pete? Come lay with me, stop standing around awkwardly.”

The brunet shuffled his feet a bit, before going to sit on the bed next to Johnny, feeling the soft covers. 

This didn't last long, however, as Johnny let out an impatient sigh and grabbed Peter's shoulder, pulling the boy down and wrapping an arm around him.

Peter let out a breath, relaxing into Johnny's arms, head underneath the other boy's chin, Johnny's heart beating in Peter's ear. It was soothing, in a way. Being superheros, it was always nice to have that reassurance that the ones you love are okay.

Johnny was warm, and when he began to press his fingers gently into Peter's back, hands heated a bit, massaging, Peter realized how tense he must have felt. 

His eyes felt heavy, the scent of Johnny's cologne and the feel of his warm hands and sound of his soft breathing lulling Peter to sleep… Mr Stark wouldn't mind, surely, if Peter missed one night at the tower…

And then the door was opened, and the soft lighting of Johnny's room was flooded with bright, industrial light. 

They sat up, and Sue smiled a bit at them. “We’re gonna watch Wall-e, per johnny's request, so come to the living room in about-“ she checked her watch,” 5 minutes.”

Peter grinned at him, mussing up johnny's hair, much to the boys chagrin. “You like wall-e?”

Johnny scoffed. “Of course. Best disney movie, ever.” Peter nodded in agreement and stood up, stretching. 

Johnny followed him up, heading to his dresser. “I'm gonna change into pajamas, you can wait there.”

Peter nodded and sat on the hard end of the bed-frame, nearly choking when he looked back up. Johnny was standing there, shirt off, pulling pajama pants on. Peter noticed his underwear (red with flame designs- what a dork) before the black-and grey plaid pants were sitting low on his hips.

Johnny turned, clearly going to grab a shirt, when he caught sight of Peter’s red face and grinned. “Like what you see?”

And Peter did. It's not like he had never seen Johnny without a shirt on- he had removed the top of his uniform when Johnny got stabbed- but this was different. In the semi-darkness of his room, just moments after they had been cuddling, Peter flushed as Johnny came closer to him, hands reaching towards peter.

And then johnny wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck, the other one grabbing peters waist, and pulled him in for a kiss-

Peter latched onto him immediately, all the tension from the evening releasing. He moaned a little into Johnny's mouth, and the other boy giggled, pulling back.

Peter whined, but Johnny just moved closer, his chest flush against peters, standing between peters legs, and johnny kissed him again, fiercer this time, a bit more needy, and peter had his hands on johnny's waist, pulling him in-

The door slammed open. “Johnny, come on-“

Peter made a noise he could only describe as a squeak, seeing Ben Grimm standing in the door, eyes raised in shock. Peter caught his expression changing to a grin as he ducked, face pressed into Johnny's chest, hiding his rosy cheeks in embarrassment. 

He could practically feel Johnny scowling above him. “Has no one in this tower heard of knocking? ”

Ben's gravelly voice spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt you two kids… make out sesh,” the way he hovered on the words made Peter's face flush further, “but the movies starting. Put a shirt on and get out there. You too, pete. Don't let him be a bad influence on you.”

Johnny hurled a fireball at Ben, and the man shut the door, cackling at him. 

Johnny huffed, grabbing a blue tank top off the ground and slipping it on, grumbling something about “stupid ben,” “try knocking some time,” and “what if i barge in on you and alicia, huh? Oh god, no, nevermind, horrible mental image right there-“

Peter giggled at him as they walked out, rounding the corner to the living room. Sue looked up at them and raised an eyebrow, to which Johnny stuck his tongue out at her.

“Great, thanks for letting the whole team know ben.”

The man just gave him a mock-salute and kept his eyes on the screen.

Johnny settled onto the couch next to Sue, and Peter took his other side, smiling as Johnny stretched out, feet in Sue's lap and head in peters.

As the movie went on, Peter found himself absentmindedly running his hands through Johnny's hair, the soft golden locks flowing easily through his fingers as he played with it. 

It was comfortable, honestly. He felt almost normal. Watching movies at his boyfriend's house with his family, eating popcorn and playing with Johnny's hair. It felt so casual, so domestic it made his heart go all mushy.

He looked down and Johnny and realized, after a moment, the boy was asleep, a peaceful look on his face. Peter smiled at him, then looked back up at the screen to see Wall-e and Eve flying through space, the small bot using a fire extinguisher to aid their flight. 

A content noise came from the blond, and everyone looked round, some of the others looking on, slightly shocked. Sue stared at Peter scrutinizingly, her expression surprised.

“Hes- hes never quite this comfortable with others. He doesn't like showing affection like that very often.” She smiled, her lips a bit tight.

Peter smiled shyly. “O-oh. He's usually like this with me…” he trailed off, not sure what to say. Were they angry? Jealous?

She reached over and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “Don't worry, peter. We’re just happy to see him so relaxed with someone. It's obvious you really like each other. It's hard for people like us to find someone who actually cares about us as people, not heroes.” She smiled sadly at him, and he nodded.

“I'm sure. Mr stark has the same thing… it must be hard.” While Peter was a hero, most people didn't know him as a hero. They knew him as nerdy peter parker. Anyone who liked him liked him because he was Peter, not spider-man.

Sue nodded. “I'm just glad he has you, peter. But dont you dare break his heart, because super powers or not, you will regret it.” Her tone changed so sharply his eyes widened, looking at her in fear.

She must have caught something in his expression because she laughed, shaking her head. “I'm just messing with you, peter. Dont worry.”

He smiled, then remembered he was staying at the tower. With a jolt, he grabbed his phone, checking the time. 10:30.

“Ah, shoot- ive got to go, i should have left 10 minutes ago-“

He tried to stand up, only to remember the boy in his lap. Johnny stirred at the sudden movement, sitting up and looking around. “Pete?”

Peter stood up, straightening out his clothes. “I gotta head back, I was supposed to leave already.”

Johnny nodded, standing up with him. Peter nodded at the others. “Thanks for having me! It was great meeting you all.”

They smiled at him, saying their goodbyes, and Johnny followed him to the elevator, stepping in behind him. “You’re staying at the tower, right? Want me to drop you off?”

Peter shook his head as the elevator dinged on the ground floor. “No, I'm meeting Mr Stark in the lobby. I texted and said I'd be late.”

Johnny nodded, pressing a quick kiss to Peter's cheek. “See you?”

Peter nodded, smiling and kissing him on the lips instead. “Yeah. I'll text you when i get there.”

“That's good.” Johnny said, smiling at him. “You should stay over next time. I've got a comfy bed.” With that comment and a wink, the elevator door closed in Peter's face.

He huffed, blushing for what must have been the millionth time that night. “Jerk.”

Chapter Text

As it happens, the four grew very fond of peter. No surprises there, Johnny knew that just about everyone outside of supervillains and jerks loved Peter parker.

He had come over several more times over the past few weeks, dinner with the four or game nights or working with reed on some nerd stuff- Johnny had gotten a phone call from Tony about tainting his mentee- and just hanging out with johnny.

Ben had taken to the boy instantly- they loved teaming up on Johnny, the constant teasing would have been unbearable if it was anyone other than peter.

Sue loved him, his politeness and sweet manner something she ‘[found] refreshing, seeing as everyone else in the tower acts like a barbarian.’ Peter helped out with dinner whenever he was over, offering to clean up or do the dishes. She kept looking at Peter in a way that made Johnny think she was going to kidnap him one of those days.

Reed was gratified to have found someone with such a high intelligence who didn’t regard him as stuck up or annoying. Peter always listened with interest, and when he would make a comment or ask a question johnny couldn’t understand, reed would always give a pleased grin and start explaining the work.

So yeah, things were going well. It was a day like that, in fact, when the alarm rang in the Baxter building. They had been playing charades- peter was scarily good at it, though no one could beat reed-  when the lights flashed red, and a shrill sound came through the speakers, quickly replaced with HERBIEs voice. 

“I regret to inform you moloids are attacking central park-“

“Again?!” Johnny groaned.

“-again,” herbie agreed. “It seems Iron Man is already on the case, but he seems to need assistance. I suggest arriving as soon as possible, there seems to have been a dramatic increase in power from the mole man since your last encounter with his moloids.”

Johnny cursed, standing to change when he remembered peter. He turned, giving the boy a pointed look. Go.  

Peter nodded, standing up quickly. “Well, hey, I should head back anyways. Don't worry, I'll avoid any mole-filled path. I might just swing by the tower, i have work to do and it's safer.”

The others nodded at him, Sue pressing a kiss to his forehead before hurrying off to change quickly. Johnny planted a kiss on Peter's lips-surely better than Sue’s kiss- and took off in the same direction.

When they arrived on the scene, the moloids were everywhere. Mud splattered on everything in the vicinity, abandoned shoes and ice cream lay on the ground, some scorch marks from a certain tin man lay near moloid remains. Mole man was standing in the center of the disaster, under some sorta energy field that simultaneously blocked him from the sunlight, and kept an increasingly irritated iron man from attacking him.

The metal man was stood by the field, examining it, shoulder missiles readied for when a moloid tried to sneak up on him. Molemans laughter grated their ears as they approached the clearing, Johnny and Ben taking care of any approaching monsters with glee. Sue and Reed approached Iron Man, and Johnny stayed near them as backup while Ben went off to smash some mud.

“Stark. What's the situation?”

Grumbling could be heard from the metal mask before it flipped up, an irritated expression apparent on his face. He shot Johnny a nod in acknowledgement when the boy waved at him.

“Freakin- Marvin here decided to create an energy field that both blocks us from getting in, and increases his power. Hence- lots of uglies all around.”

(Johnny saw Sue mouth ‘Marvin?’ With a giggle.)

Johnny snorted. “You can say that again.” He blasted a moloid that leapt towards reed, who has begun scanning the field with a small device (“where the hell was he hiding that on skin tight uniforms?!”) and making his concentration face.

“It seems that a hit at a hot enough temperature would do it, but we might need-“

He cut off, frowning at something in the distance. Johnny followed his gaze, eyes lighting up as he caught sight of that familiar red-and-blue uniform, swinging over. “Spidey!”

Sue frowned disapprovingly, while Tony grinned at Peter's approaching figure. “Hey, kid. Took you long enough.”

Peter landed flat-footed on the ground, hopping around the mud and to the field. “What's the sitch, mitch?”  

Johnny wrinkled his nose at the rhyme while Tony responded, “Richards was just filling us in on how to destroy the field. Continue, doctor?” 

He had a slight tone of annoyance in his voice, which Johnny figured was directed more at his rival scientist-superhero than Peter.

Reed cleared his throat. “As i was saying, it requires an extreme amount of heat to dissolve the field. For that, I estimate we'd need the combined power of the iron man unibeam, and Johnny's powers.”

Johnny grinned, holding out a fist for Tony to bump. The man huffed, rolling his eyes as he obliged.

“Flame on!” Yellow and orange licked around the edges of his vision, heat enveloping him as power surged through his bones. He loved that feeling every time he flamed on-  invulnerable, shiney and new, powerful and unstoppable.

The others stepped back, avoiding his heat as there were distinct sounds of ben whooping in the background as he crushed moloids with his fists.

Reed directed them, until both human torch and iron man were positioned in front of the glowing shield. They saw Moleman growing more frantic, obviously guessing their plan.

Sue shouted down from her high perch, “Shoot! He spread them out, started attacking civilians! Spider-man and Ben can't take care of it on their own. I'm going to help out, you guys focus on getting that maniac detained!”

Iron man cursed, and when he went silent for a moment, Johnny guessed he was having a private convo with Peter.

Reed grabbed their attention. “Alright, when i say, put as much heat as you can right… here!”

They readied, powering up, and as soon as reed raised a thumb, out of range, they fired.

Johnny gasped a bit with the effort, energy sapping out of him as he fired continuously. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted red in his vision.

Peter, watching the proceedings while rounding civilians away from danger. Johnny flashed himna grin, and with a last burst of painful, draining energy, the shield fell, blue light scattering through the air.

Moleman screeched, eyes wide with rage, and before any of them could react, he lunged at a nearby target- who just so happened to be a spandex-clad spider.

His claw-like hands slashed down peters face, causing the boy cry out, before angry hands began attacking him.

They didn't make it far, however, as, before Johnny or Tony could recover enough to help, a clear bubble enveloped the villain, lifting him in the air as he clawed frantically at the force field. Sue floated in the air above him, glare lethal. She may not like spider-man, but she doesn't take injuries lightly. 

“Thats enough.” Her tone sent shivers down Johnny's spine, before he jolted, realizing Peter hadn't got up yet. He took off running. Bad. Bad bad bad bad-

“PETER” he skidded to a stop in front of his boyfriend, Peter's mask ripped, exposing a small, bloody part of his face. Johnny knelt down, relieved when he realized the red-clad hero was breathing. Loud footsteps let him know the others had reached them, and while stark knelt, one gauntleted hand on peter's head, the others stood behind him.

Johnny watched, worriedly, as stark took scans, until-

“Peter?”

Johnny winced. Belatedly, he realized he had screamed Peter's name in his panic. And now they saw part of his face…

“Whoops?”

He turned, looking up at the Four. Their expressions were all varying degrees of shock.

Sue looked like she wanted to be reprimanding, and worried for Peter, and clearly startled Peter was Spider-Man.

Reed looked stricken, seeing the boy he was fond of, being the same dangerous vigilante he was doubtful of.

Ben looked angry, but at who, Johnny wasn't sure.

And then Tony stood up, Peter's limp form in his arms, mask over his face. He went to take off, and Johnny flamed on to follow. Sue cleared her throat.

“We’re coming too.” 

Stark flipped his faceplate up, giving her a doubtful look, but she returned the look steadily. “We care about him too. Let us come make sure he's alright. Please, Tony.”

Johnny gave her a shocked look, but tony just nodded, armor going back into place.

“Lets go.”

Chapter Text

Peter woke up to pain. And shouting. And a warm hand holding his. 

Everything felt too fuzzy- he saw the light filtering through his eyelids, could feel the cold air and the dull sense of pain on his face and chest, heard the garbled noises of adults yelling. From outside the room, maybe?

He remembered the fight and groaned internally. Fuck. His mask had ripped, and the four were there, and he remembered Johnny shouting, and… ah, shit. Well, that might explain the yelling.

He took in a deep breath, trying to open his eyes for a moment, before settling with squeezing his fingers around the hand holding his own.

He felt movement on his side. “Pete? You awake, baby?” The loud noises stopped and he grunted, prying his eyes open. 

Johnny was sitting on his right side in a hospital chair, clutching his hand and looking like a mess, having not changed out of his uniform. Mr. Stark had just entered the room, face a bit red, hair ruffled like he had been messing with it and wearing jeans and a dirty white shirt- probably what he had worn under the suit. Behind him were Ben, Sue, and Reed. They all looked equally… furious.

At least, until they looked at peter. Johnny was giving them warning looks, but it wasn’t necessary. As soon as they caught sight of the boys, their faces changed so fast Peter almost got whiplash. Sue's expression melted into concern, almost holding off, like she was worried he would be upset at her for it. Ben's expression looked pained, and Peter remembered he had been nearest spider-man when the mole man attacked. Reed's face had screwed up to where he almost looked constipated, clearly torn about something. Peter had an idea as to what.

Mr. Stark just surged forward, sitting quickly on Peter's left side and gathering the boy up into a hug. He was gentle, careful of Peter's injuries, but was holding him so securely Peter couldn't help but melt into the embrace. “Im sorry, pete, shit, i should’ve…”

Peter quickly shook his head, pulling away slightly. “There was nothing you could have done, you were too far away and the suit was dead. It's not your fault!”

Ben grumbled and they looked at him. “Yeah, but I was close to you kid, I should have done something, shouldn’ta frozen up when I got startled. Sorry, squirt.”

“That raises the question of Why was a child running around in a Stark suit, in perfect position to get horribly injured or killed. ” Sues voice was laced with anger, glaring daggers at Mr. Stark. 

Reed nodded next to her. “This all would never have happened if you hadn't let a teenager recklessly into battle! At least with Johnny, he has powers, and teammates to protect him! Peter-“

“I have powers.”

All eyes turned to him, but he kept his frown on Reed. The man had clearly thought spider-man was just the suit when he knew Tony made it.

“I was spider-man before I ever met Mr. Stark. I was getting hurt before he gave me the suit. The suit is to protect me, not to make me a superhero. And most of the time I've seen Johnny fighting, he was alone. No teammates to protect him. Where were you when he was bleeding out on a rooftop?” Johnny ducked his head, still holding Peter's hand.

Sue gave a guilty look at her brother. Reeds frown just deepened. “That is different. As a civilian, you were simply helping him. But as a- a vigilante, you are putting yourself and others in danger, illegally, and having no consequences upon you for your actions! That's bad enough for an adult, much less an irresponsible teenager!”

Tony looked furious,

Reed continued. “Still, the responsible thing to do would have been to stop you from being a vigilante. Stark should have-“

“Stark tried.” Mr Stark smirked at the scientist. “And do you know what happened when I tried? He went out in pajamas and a ski mask, lifted a building off of himself and managed to stop a plane from crashing into the city. I gave up trying to stop him. I decided it would be better to just make sure he's as safe as possible.”

Peter nodded, smiling at him. Then he turned to the four, frowning. “And you don't get to hate on a vigilante then suddenly turn around and act all worried just because you know him as a person. I can see why frank doesn't like you guys.” He muttered that last part, but Mr. Stark still heard it if his frown was anything to go by.

“Okay, not the time, but we are totally having a talk about you being friends with the punisher.”

Peter grimaced, but Johnny huffed, standing up. “Okay, if y’all are just going to argue some more, out! I do not need my injured boyfriend more stressed than he already is.” Johnny paused, taking in their frowning faces. “Also, the doc is standing behind you.”

They turned, surprised to see Dr. Cho was indeed standing in the doorway, waiting patiently. “I’d just like to do a general checkup now that Peter is awake. And-“ she cleared her throat, looking pointedly at the adults, “it would help if the room wasn't crowded for that.”

Reed stood up straighter, nodding at the Doctor. “Of course. Stark, if we could have a word outside?”

Mr. Stark nodded, tense, and Peter wondered if there would be yelling this time. He hoped not. Tony already looked stressed about Peter being hurt, Peter didn't need them yelling about him more. Tony shot him an exhausted smile, and Peter returned it, slightly guilty as the adults left the room. 

Dr. Cho busied herself with checking the multiple machines by her bed, and Johnny sat back down with a huff, turning to Peter. “Sorry about them. They were arguing for a while before you woke up, that honestly went better than I expected.”

Peter sighed, carefully sitting up despite Dr. Cho's obvious displeasure with the action. “I'm sure. I mean, at least they didn't kill me? That's really what i expected. Whenever they talked about Spider-Man it was always so hostile, but that?”

The doctor was fidgeting with peters I.V, but he didn't bother to look.

Johnny nodded in response, brushing his hair back with a tan hand. “They’re worried. They all are. Tony didn’t appreciate being lectured, especially since he was having to deal with seeing you unconscious and injured for hours. Just about screamed at Sue when she said she was worried about you.” He cracked a smile and Peter returned it, however small.

“Sorry for scaring you.” He sat back, more tired now that his brain wasn’t filled with stress.

Johnny puffed out air, nodding. “Sorry for, ya know. Yelling your name. Kinda screwed you over, there.”

Peter gave him a wry smile. “Guess we’re even.”

“Guess we are.”

Peter caught sight of Johnny's smile just as he slipped into unconsciousness.

——2 Months Later———

“Spidey!!!” Johnny's happy voice rang as peter swung into the scene, narrowly avoiding a doombot fist.

“Hello, Spider-man.”

“Morning, Spidey.”

“Finally here, webhead?”

The other four greeted him with warm smiles (or smirks in Ben's case) and continued fighting. Peter loved watching how fluidly they worked together in fights. 

The iron-man suit was visible in the background, having only beaten Peter to the scene by a few minutes. Peter grinned as his mentor gunned down 5 bots at once.

He moved around, webbing up and kicking down the metal monstrosities, grimacing at the robotics. “Mr. Stark, isn't there some way to shut these down?”

He heard grumbling over the line. “For all of Dooms failings, particularly in robotics, he somehow manages to make a half-decent activation system. Sorry, kiddo, can't shut em all down at once.”

Peter nodded, going around and taking down all he could. At one point, he found himself hanging from a web, having narrowly avoided splatting on the pavement after a bot clipped him while in midair.

He heaved a sigh, ready to set down, when he looked down as gasped.

“MR. STARK, CAN I HAVE ONE???!?” Below him, looking up with glowing green eyes, was what could only be called a Doom-dog. The robotic canine let out a short bark and peter cooed at it, setting down carefully, cautious in case it attacked.

Tony spluttered over comms. “NO! You can under no circumstances have a robotic evil dog! I already have dum-e, we don't need another one.”

Peter laughed, while Sue gave them a tired look and rolled her eyes. “Can we focus, please?”

Johnny blasted a group of bots, leaving smoking metal in his wake. “I, for one, vote we continue this discussion. Peter should get the dog.”

“YES!”

“Shut it, storm!”