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Peter loved working with Mr. Stark. He loved hanging out in the lab, loved watching movies with the man, loved working on updates for his suit, all in all he just really loved Tony. What he didn't love was when he would train with the Avengers. Sure, the Avengers were super cool heroes who are really good at what they do, but they're also just… annoying.
They weren't annoying like Flash was, nor were they particularly rude. They just couldn't get over the fact that Peter was so young. They treated him like a child all the time. When he would make mistakes, they would comment on how it was something a kid would do. When he would mention someone he had saved they would talk down on him slightly, saying that it was cute how he helped cats out of trees and stuff. When they weren't poking fun at him, they would ignore him completely, almost isolating him. It was infuriating that they never took him seriously. He felt the urge to scream every time he had to interact with them.
Mr. Stark never talked down on him like that, he never joined along with the teasing as he was never in the room when they would mock him.
Peter also understood that they weren't doing it to be mean, they just didn't really know how to interact with someone as young as Peter. One would think that Hawkeye would be fine because he has kids, but someone who was so young and a vigilante was a whole different ball park apparently. Natasha was the best of them, keeping all interactions with Peter to a minimum and not participating in the jabs at him.
He could just talk to Mr. Stark about his issues, but he was adult enough to be able to handle them himself. Hopefully he would be able to without hurting anyone.
-
He snapped on a Thursday afternoon. Mr. Stark had been dragged away for a short meeting with Ms. Potts and some stockholders, leaving Peter alone with the others for some training exercises.
He had spent the last hour as the butt end of every joke, with every mistake of his being pointed out and every action being scoffed at.
"Come on spider baby, you can't help old people cross the streets if you can't take a hit!" Sam said after Peter was beat on the 8th level of the training module. Peter clenched his jaw, not pointing out that Sam had never even made it to the 8th level and that Steve was still on the 6th.
"Come off it," Bucky started, "he was probably up late last night studying for some tests. High school is just so tough, ya know?"
He laughed and everyone else joined along. Everyone but Peter of course. Peter just re-wrapped his knuckles and adjusted his web shooters.
"It's fine Sam, it's not like he'll be coming with the Avengers on missions any time soon. The field is no place for children, especially when they don't even have the skills they need to fight alongside the rest of us." Steve said nudging Bucky and smiling lightly.
He didn't know what did it. If it was the insinuation that he was training for nothing, that he couldn't keep up because of his age, or if it was just Captain Condescending and his annoying voice, but in that moment Peter just couldn't take it.
He turned on his heel sharply and advanced towards Rogers. Natasha, who was nearby, took multiple steps back like she knew what was about to happen.
Quick as lightning, before anyone could process what was happening, Peter had kicked Rogers down onto his knees and gripped his face in one of his hands.
"Woah kid, what are you-" Steve began, surprise written all over his face.
"Shut the fuck up." Peter said harshly, gripping his face tighter.
His serious tone must have surprised everyone in the room because it was dead silent. Nobody moved and all eyes were on Peter. Not that he was complaining, it was exactly what he wanted.
"I don't know if you've realized this Captain, but I am not a child." Steve went to open his mouth but Peter squeezed hard enough for Steve to wince and shut him up. "Do not interrupt me when I'm trying to make a point."
Bucky and Sam both made a move to pull Peter off, but found themselves webbed to the floor in less than half a second. Peter didn't even look at them.
"I could crush your skull right now. Did you know that Steve? I have enough strength in one arm to rip you apart. Nobody in this room would be fast enough to stop me."
Peter webbed Clint to a wall as he attempted to nock an arrow into his bow. The man had been standing behind him, far from his line of view, but that didn't matter.
"I could kill you and you wouldn't be strong enough to stop me. I have stopped bullets with my hands and lifted buildings off my back. I could destroy you and nobody would ever find the body. Do you realize that, Steve?"
Rogers looked scared. Very scared. Part of him thought that Peter would actually do what he was saying.
"But no, I'm just a child, right? I don't have the skills to fight alongside the Avengers!"
The grip he had on Rogers' face could definitely bruise, even with the super soldiers enhanced healing.
"But you know what?" Peter asked, getting closer and almost relishing the flinch it caused. "I'm not going to do that, now am I? I'm not going to kill you. Not because I can't but because that's not what I do.
"I help old ladies cross the street and help people carry their groceries, and yeah, sometimes I'll get cats out of trees. But don't think for a second that that should reduce or degrade what I am. You should be damn grateful that I'm on your side, because if I wasn't? You would be dead before you could even think of begging for mercy."
Peter let go of the Captain's face and let him fall into a boneless heap. He turned and moved to the other side of the room to collect his stuff. As he approached the door, ignoring the shocked looks, he decided to make one more point.
"FRIDAY, do you have any record of me threatening the Captain in any way?"
"No, Peter. There is no record of you threatening Captain Rogers."
Peter sauntered out of the room, leaving behind a shocked group of individuals, nearly all of them in awe of this other side of Peter that they had never seen before. Nearly all of them. Natasha stood there, gazing at the scene that Peter had left in his wake.
"You know I avoid him because he scares me." She uttered, almost ashamed to admit. Clint gave her an incredulous look. "He's stronger than Steve, smarter than maybe even Tony, quicker than me, and has powers that none of us have. Why wouldn't he scare the hell out of me?"