A/N: Here it is! The grand finale of 'The Challenge'! I hope you all enjoyed it. I have plans for one more story. Hopefully, it will be posted before Captain America: Civil War. When I wrote these stories, I had Andrew Garfield in mind. Once Tom Holland takes over as Peter Parker, I don't know where the plot bunnies will take me. Fingers crossed he does a good job! I wanted everyone's opinion about the next story. It will be five chapters and each chapter will be a one shot. I have it set up so that each chapter has a theme and is a certain amount of time after the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Would you rather the chapter be posted in chronological order? Or out of order? Let me know what you think. As always, I own nothing.

Part III

The space that Peter was trapped in was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Not that he could wave his hand in front of his face. But if he could, he knew, without a doubt, that it wouldn't be visible. And yet, it seemed like he could make out the rubble surrounding him. Maybe he was imagining it? The rubble, chunks of concrete, and debris were there. But aside from wiggling around the little that he could, he had no way of telling where it was. Sighing deeply, irritated with the predicament he was currently in, he laid his head back on the hard ground and tried to regulate his breathing. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the air. The problem was his rib cage and how it was crammed between two hunks of concrete.

"Spidey? You still doing okay under there?" Clint's voice was clear in his ear.

"I'm just peachy," he grumbled and tried once again to move any part of his body, without success.

"Nothing has changed, right? No shifts? Your head is clear?"

"No change," Peter confirmed. "I'm still a spider pancake."

"We'll re-inflate you later." Peter chuckled and then changed the subject.

"How's everything going out there?"

"It's starting to slow down some. Thor knocked out a huge pack of 'em a few minutes ago. Luckily, the portal wasn't open that long so too many didn't get through. Just enough to be a pain in the ass. And no flying monsters this time. I'll count that as a win." Clint relayed as he continued to survey the area. Of course, Peter couldn't actually see that Clint was scanning the skies, but he could hear it in his voice. The archer's voice was all business. He could imagine Clint's eyes rotating from one teammate to the next while he looked for more Chitauri.

"Were we able to get the civilians out of the way?"

"For the most part, but there were casualties." Peter's heart sank. The whole team had been in New York when Thor touched down. His explanation had been brief, but from what Peter had gathered, somehow, a portal connecting Asgard and Earth had been opened. The God of Thunder said that his fellow companions were doing what they could to close the portal on the Asgard end, but he was fairly confident that Chitauri would try to go through it. In record time, all were assembled and on the Quinjet ready for action.

"Thor, I want you, Natasha, and Hulk to finish off the last of 'em," Steve's voice was in Peter's ear now. "Stark, I need your help assessing the damage. We gotta figure out how to get Peter out. Barton, watch our backs. Don't let anything sneak up on us." Peter released a breath he hadn't realize he'd been holding. It was about time. He'd been stuck for over an hour and was starting to get edgy. Peter heard Tony acknowledge Steve's order. He assumed that Tony had landed right beside the rubble. He couldn't see or hear because there was so much on top of him; but, after a moment Stark asked Jarvis is analyze the pile of rubble.

He could tell when Cap arrived by the low whistle he let out. "Any idea where he is?" The question was directed at Tony.

"Jarvis identified a heat signature over there and it seems like the top layer is pretty stable. We should be able to start moving some of it off without any trouble."

"Okay, let's get to it. Any idea how far down he is?"

"At least ten feet," Tony said. "We should probably start out a little farther. The last thing we need is for all this to shift on top of him because we didn't make the hole big enough." Through the microphone, Peter could hear the senior most team members start to shift concrete slabs and debris.

"Hey Peter," Cap got his attention. "Let us know if there is any change, okay? If this starts to push down harder on you, we need to know. We have a general idea of where you are but I don't want to risk our weight putting more pressure on you."

"No change so far," Peter's voice sounded tired in his own ears. He was fatigued from trying to regulate his breathing and the stress of the entire situation. "How does it look from your end?"

"It's a mess," Cap admitted. "But we'll get you out." Peter nodded to himself and dropped his head onto his concrete pillow. If he strained his ears, he thought he could hear the sound of rubble shifting. But no light appeared and the weight holding him in place didn't let up or pressed down even more so he shifted his attention elsewhere.

The past hour had seemed like an eternity to Peter. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do other than wait and think about his current situation. His attention would drift from the rubble surrounding him to the fight going on above him. He could tell from the on-going conversation that, thankfully, no one else was hurt. When the action started to wind down considerably, Peter couldn't help but repeatedly go over the entire scenario in his head. He had done this to himself. There was no point in denying it. He got a little trigger (or web-shooter) happy. Now it seemed as if some higher being was taking the opportunity to give him a time-out for it. If he were in a better mood, he might appreciate the irony of the entire situation. His intentions had been good but it seemed that life had another lesson for him to learn. And he got the message loud and clear now, while under ten plus feet of concrete, metal, and glass.

The fight had just begun when his Spidey-Sense kicked in. He and Natasha had been given the task of clearing the streets and protecting civilians. So far, most of the locals were staying inside and out of the way. They weren't necessarily out of harm's way but it was definitely safer than the alternative. The warning in Peter's head caused him to pick up the pace and he was soon head of Natasha. The further he moved; the louder the warning became. He had to be getting close. Sure enough, a group of Chitauri appeared ahead of him. Checking to see where Natasha was, he braced himself for the fight that was about to occur. Not a moment later, The Other Guy crashed out of a building on the right side of the street. The sudden appearance of Bruce Banner's alter ego left everyone shocked. The aliens shifted their attention just in time for the Hulk to punch his way through their group. Peter felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. At the same time, Clint's voice rang over their comm devices. Peter heard him say Natasha's name. Suddenly, the situation came into focus. The building the Hulk had just run through was swaying and it was coming down fast. And in a few seconds, his teammate would be underneath it all. There was no time to shout. There was only time for action. Heart in his throat, he sprinted back towards her and fired a web that latched onto her arm. In one fluid motion, he sent her sprawling into an alley way and skidded to a halt. In front of the building that was about to come down. He heard Clint yell one word into his ear. Move. He didn't need to be told twice. But the time needed to get Natasha to safety had cost him and he couldn't get out of the way in time. The structure of the building consumed the space around him and within seconds he was buried. The space was beyond dark and all he could do was hope that it was over soon. Natasha and Clint's voices assaulted his ears and before long everyone else, sans Bruce, was trying to figure out what had happened. It was Steve's voice that finally cut through the bedlam.

"Be quiet!" His voice rang with authority. "Peter, can you hear us?"

"Yeah," he gasped. Adrenaline was fueling his body. He was positive that he should be in pain but at that point in time he could feel nothing. "I can hear you."

"Are you okay?" Gun shots rang in the background. The battle hadn't stopped for a toppled building.

"I think so. I can't really feel anything. But I'm alright." Peter heard Clint curse under his breath. After a quick discussion, they decided there wasn't much they could do to help Peter until the alien situation was contained. Every so often, someone would come over the comm to check his status. Over time, the adrenaline had worn off and been replaced with fatigue and pain. Some parts of his body felt numb while others just hurt. The muscles in his arms were on pins and needles but it was his chest that worried him. From the discomfort he felt, he was pretty certain a couple of his ribs were broken. And now he was starting to worry that they would heal back wrong due to his advanced healing powers. Typically, his body would repair itself in a matter of hours and that was fine and dandy. But now that he knew there was ten feet of rubble above him, there was a very good chance they wouldn't get to him before his body would try to heal itself.

"Clint, how is everything looking from up there? Can you guys spare someone? We need more hands." The sound of concrete on cement echoed through his ears. A few minutes later, Thor joined the search party. A few minutes passed before Steve checked in with him. "You fall asleep down there?"

Peter snorted. "Oh yes, I've never had more comfortable sleeping arrangements."

"Just checking," He was keeping his voice light, but Peter could hear the strain and fatigue in it. The fight must have taken a lot out of him.

"Are you guys making much progress?" Peter tried not to let his voice shake.

"It's taking more time than we thought it would, but it'll be quicker now that Thor's here. Are you still doing okay? How's your breathing?" Peter considered that question for a moment. He could lie and say he was just fine. He could throw out some sarcastic quip, but then they would he was putting up a front. This time, he settled for the truth.

"It's getting harder to breathe. I don't think anything has shifted but everything feels heavier." He paused before continuing. "Do you think my ribs will heal before Dr. Cho can take a look at them? What if they start to heal while everything is still on top of me?"

Steve cut him off before he could get too worked up. "We're going to get you out before that happens, Pete. I promise. Right now, I need you to stay calm."

"Hey, Web-Head are you claustrophobic?" Tony asked.

"Before today, no," he couldn't resist being sarcastic now. "But I am suddenly much more sympathetic to that population."

"Well, hopefully this will be a one-time thing. Cross it off your bucket list, would you?"

"Done," Peter rolled his eyes. "It's not like I planned this, you know?"

"You are quickly becoming the most expensive team member, kid. Coulson is going to have to take out insurance on you. First, you fall through a burning building and then one collapses on top of you. We can't take you anywhere."

"Did you not fly a bomb into outer space, Man of Iron?" Thor's comment caught everyone off guard. For a second no one said a word until Peter started laughing and couldn't seem to stop. Leave it to Thor to state the obvious.

"Touche, Point Break."

"Hey, Cap, the rest of the Chitauri has been taken care of. We are heading your way." Clint's voice interrupted the moment.

"What are the chances we can get the Hulk to help out without causing more damage?" Steve thought aloud.

"I don't know," Natasha considered. "He seems pretty calm now. It might be worth a shot."

"Bring him with you but don't let him step on the debris. Sit tight, Peter. We'll get you out real soon." A few minutes later, Peter could feel the ground shake under the Hulk's massive feet. And shortly after that, a ray of light landed on the ground in front of Peter's head.

"Guys, I have light now. Can you see me?" Craning his neck as far as he could, Peter still couldn't see much other than the debris that surrounded him. With that little bit of light, he could now tell that there was a steel beam wedged between two giant slabs of concrete over his head. If his team responded, he didn't notice because he was now marveling at how deadly his situation could have been. Sure he was in a good bit of pain, but that piece of steel kept him from being crushed. And now it was starting to shift. Dust poured down on Peter's head making him cough. "Stop! Whatever you guys are doing, you have to stop!" Immediately, the creaking ceased and the last of the dust settled around his face.

"What's wrong?" Stark demanded.

"You're close, dammit, you're so close. There is a steel beam right above my head. It's keeping two chunks of concrete from falling on my head. Whatever you're doing, it's making the beam move." Clint and Tony swore.

"We'll just have to work around it." Steve said. "Can we come in from a different angle?"

"I don't know, Cap. I can't really see anything else."

"Call Coulson," Natasha suggested. "His tech teams are always developing something new. Maybe we could get a camera down there or something."

"That will take too long." Tony disagreed. "Pete, if we find a way to stabilize the concrete do you think we could take the beam out?"

"I don't know. It looks really unstable, Tony. I think if you move any piece all of it will come down. If I had more light, I would be able to tell you."

"Let's get him some more light." Steve ordered and everyone went back to work. Slowly, carefully, more natural light started to filter in through the darkness. At first, he could just make out the silhouette of the structure above him. After a few minutes, he could see most of the debris surrounding him. It was almost as if he were stuck inside a small (spider sized) house. The support beam and concrete slabs above him formed a rough, warped teepee ceiling around the walls of Peter's 'room'. Peter guessed there was maybe three feet between the ceiling and his head. From there he could now see that other beams and chunks of concrete formed the walls of the space. The debris covered most of the small space including Peter's torso and limbs.

"Guys, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?"

"The good news," Clint said.

"The good news is I have plenty of head room. The bad news is I don't think that matters because I'm not seeing a way out."

"What can you see?" Peter quickly relayed the details of his spider-sized space. After giving Tony as much information as he possible could, he heard what sounded like a saw. Moments later, Peter saw a red laser shoot through the left slab over his head. In no time, a perfect circle had been cut and fell inches from Peter's head.

"Hey! I thought you were trying to help me, not knock my head off!"

"You want to make an omelet," Tony didn't finish the phrase. But his head was floating just above the hole he had just created. He must have been using his repulsors to hover just above the concrete. "Hey there Spidey. Long time; no see."

Peter's laugh was borderline manic, which was an indicator to them all of just how close he was to losing his cool. "Never thought I'd be happy to see your ugly mug." Resting his face on the ground once more, he took a deep breath. They wouldn't leave him like this.

"Can you move anything other than your head?" Stark asked. Peter was certain Jarvis was scanning the space and creating a 3-D image that they could study more closely. Peter shook his head. "That's fine. We always knew you were a damsel in distress. We'll figure it out." And then he was gone. A second later, a shadow appeared at the edge of the hole.

"They are coming up with a game plan." Clint's voice floated down to him. "I figured I'd keep you company." Everyone must have turned off their comms because he could hear nothing of the plans to get him out.

"I appreciate that. It's a little lonely down here. Has SHIELD shown up to assess the damage yet?"

"They are en route. Coulson should be here within the hour."

"He's going to have his hands full on this one."

"It's not easy being top Agent." Clint agreed.

"Clint?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"I thought I was helping her." Peter hesitated for a second. "I saw that she was in the path and thought I could help."

"I know you did. Were you going off what you could see or your Spidey-Sense?"

"Both," he admitted. "First, my sixth sense but when I turned I really thought it was going to fall on top of her."

"It wasn't. She was cutting it close but she was fine. You were both out of the way."

"I didn't know. From my angle, it didn't look that way."

"Well, kid your angle was limited. You know, there is a reason why I'm called Hawkeye. It would be nice if you'd trust me and let me do my job." Clint's light tone took the sting out of his previous statement. "I'll always have my teammate's backs. Nothing changes that, Pete. When I'm up high, I don't miss a trick. Take your current situation, for example. You're hurting a lot more than what you're letting on." When Peter didn't defend himself, he continued. "It's not a bad thing to need your team, you know? Maybe don't make it a life or death situation, but you should be able to depend on us. We depend on you." Clint paused again to let Peter interject if he wanted. When he was met with silence again, he steered the conversation in a different direction.

"You know what I was thinking about earlier?"

"What's that?"

"The day we recruited you," Clint chuckled. "You were ready for a fight from day one, man. It's funny now. You tried so hard to out talk Coulson and manipulate Nat."

"I was no match and didn't even know it," Peter reminisced fondly. For months, Peter replayed that scene over and over in his head. In hindsight, he should have been more careful and varied the rooftops that he visited. He was taking a break and listening to the local police scanners when a certain someone interrupted. Phil Coulson in his everyday best. Oddly enough, Peter had first been introduced to Coulson that very day at school. He had been pulled out of his third period English class to meet a college recruiter. Peter found it a little odd that MIT would send someone to talk to him without scheduling a meeting first. But who was he to turn down the opportunity to speak to someone from MIT? The better question was: What was an MIT recruiter doing on a rooftop in Queens after midnight? Something just wasn't right. Without a doubt, someone had found out he was Spider-Man. But why go through the trouble of meeting him as Peter Parker first?

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Coulson made casual conversation. "I was hoping I would catch you before you took off again. We didn't get to talk for long this afternoon. Maybe we could finish the conversation now?" Peter tried to play it off. He had no idea what he was talking about. He had never seen this man in his life. Coulson simply stood there with a soft smile on his face and listened to all of Peter's excuses. "We've never met before? Okay, I guess you've never met her either." Peter's head turned to the sound of heels clicking on metal and a moment later Natasha appeared behind Phil. Peter had met her as the substitute gym teacher. She wasn't around much, just enough to improve the male attendance. He felt his heart skip a beat. Two people figured it out. Where had he slipped up?

Both figured didn't advance towards him. They gave him his space but Peter definitely felt threatened. After a moment, he began to realize it was because someone had a weapon they were hiding. Tilting his head to one side, he tried to make out the outline of a gun on either of them. He didn't see one. "We aren't armed." Phil read his mind. "We were hoping that you would feel more comfortable talking to us if we met beforehand. I can see now that isn't the case."

Again, Peter denied having any idea what Phil was going on about. "You aren't armed?"

"Nope," Phil's posture oozed confidence. Peter could tell that this was a man who was an expert negotiator. He wasn't someone to be under estimated.

"I call bullshit." His Spidey-Sense told him otherwise. Someone had a gun on him. He could feel it in his bones. "If you don't have a gun then there is someone else here."

"It's just us." Natasha had yet to talk but her nonverbals spoke volumes. She was a weapon, plain and simple. There was more to her than he could see by just looking at her. This was a woman who knew how to hurt people. She knew how to exploit weakness. She set Peter's teeth on edge.

"Don't lie to me," He moved to take a step towards the pair when the warning bells in his head went off. He whipped around in time to see: nothing. There was no one there. "Where is your other guy?"

"Other guy?" It was Phil's turn to play dumb.

"Yeah, the one with a gun pointed at my back." Peter scanned the other rooftops. He didn't see anything. With his back turned, he could feel Phil and Natasha share a look. "If you just want to talk, why bring the sniper?"

"It's just a precaution."

"Where is he?" All of the windows that were close looked vacant. Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't a little further off.

"In his nest," Natasha smirked. "And he doesn't have a gun." Her smirk combined with that statement made Peter's skin crawl. Peter later found out that Clint had been set up about 1,000 yards from the rooftop.

"You really would have shot me if I'd gotten too close to them." It wasn't a question. Peter knew without a doubt that Clint would have done it in a heartbeat.

"Like I said, I watch out for my team. We didn't know hardly anything about you. Steve and I wanted them to wait a little longer before approaching you but Fury wanted it done. You were becoming quite popular. We needed to make sure you were on our side." The sun was starting to set and Clint's shadow stretched across the cavern. Peter blinked once, then twice. It had to be a trick of the light, but he swore he saw something move. Was that another light?

"Clint…"

"Yeah?"

"I think something is moving down here."

"What does it look like?" Peter squinted when the beam of light hit him square in the face. A flashlight? He ducked his head to see through the glare. The owner of the flashlight turned it back under her chin and smirked. Natasha.

"It looks like a red-headed nightmare." A couple of people above him snorted. "How did you get down here?"

"Stark figured out a way to tunnel around the concrete. It was a tight squeeze, but we can get through." She pushed the flashlight towards him and wriggled the rest of the way out.

"No offense, Nat," Peter looked skeptical. "But I don't think you'll be able to get me out from under all this."

"We've got a little help." She showed Peter what was in her other hand. One of Tony's hand repulsors. "Between the three of us, we should be able to get you out. Okay, Stark! How do we get this thing on my hand?" As if activated by voice command, the repulsors attached to Natasha's hands and glowed to life.

"Now just use it like I showed you." Tony yelled back.

"Here goes nothing," Natasha mumbled. "Be ready to move. On three: one, two, three." Peter willed his body to squirm out from under the debris. His limbs were numb and didn't want to cooperate. But Nat was taking the pressure off of his lungs and that was all he needed to move out of harm's way. With a gasp, she let go of the rubble and flinched when it groaned in response.

"Were you successful?" Thor shouted.

"Yeah, he's out! But I think I made it mad," Natasha surveyed the small space. "Can you move?" Peter rubbed some feeling back into his arms and legs.

"Let's get the hell out of here. Lead the way." The tunnel out wasn't long but Natasha wasn't joking when she said it was narrow. They moved as quickly as they could. Peter never really appreciated how agile Natasha was until that moment. They were similar in size but she moved with more grace and finesse. A couple of times, the rocks and rebar under them would shiver and shift sending Peter's nerves into overdrive. What seemed like a trek to the top of Mount Everest was over within minutes.

The sunset was beautiful. Peter was willing to bet he'd never seen a prettier sunset. And the air tasted like heaven. He wanted nothing more than to rip his mask off and gulp the fresh air. He settled for lifting it over his mouth and sipping the air so as not to agitate his lungs any further. He caught Nat's eye and matched her smirk.

"Thanks."

"Just repaying the favor."

"Can you guys come down now? I don't trust this hunk of crap to not collapse on you." Clint called from the bottom of the pile where the rest of the team was assembled. Nat helped Peter limp to the bottom. At some point he had started to shiver and couldn't seem to stop now. The wind brought on goose bumps and he wanted nothing more than to get back on the Quinjet and head for home. But gratitude was in order first. Before he got the chance, Steve interrupted him.

"Dr. Cho is on her way to the Tower."

"The Tower?" Peter questioned. "Why not SHIELD medical?"

"We figured you'd be more comfortable there."

"And less likely to call Challenge," Clint added. Oh so that's why they were all looking at him weird and hogging the conversation. They expected him to leave as soon as Dr. Cho gave him a once over. Peter could see the strain and exhaustion weighing on them all. He had really worried them. Even Thor's typically crisp blue eye were dull.

"I figured I'd hang around for a few days." He was speaking to the group as a whole. "It couldn't hurt to take a few days off, right? Until Dr. Cho gives me the green light." Steve looked pleased with his answer and a little relieved, which made Peter wonder if the Captain had considered pulling rank on him. "Can we get out of here?" The Hulk gave a grunt of agreement and turned toward the Quinjet. "I'll take that as a yes."

They all turned to follow The Other Guy when Peter felt something warm drape over his shoulders. Thor's cape. "It does more than make me look fierce in battle. You look cold." He explained.

"Thanks," Peter wrapped the cape around himself. No doubt about it, he would fall asleep on the trip back.

No one spoke until they were all situated on the Quinjet and hovering off the ground. "We should get take-out for dinner. What do you guys want?" Tony asked from the cockpit.

"Pizza."

"Chinese."

"Indian."

"Burgers."

"Italian."

"Nope, you're all wrong. The correct answer is schwarma."

"I would like to vote for poptarts." All conversation ceased and all eyes were on Thor. "They are most delicious."

"A box of poptarts for the God of Thunder. And schwarma for everyone else." Tony concluded and the discussion broke out again. This time Peter sat back and listened to his team bicker. He pulled Thor's cape up to his chin and slipped his mask off. It was time to be Peter Parker again. It would be nice to recover at the Tower. He wouldn't have to worry about agitating his ribs. And should something come up, Peter knew he had his team to back him up. Maybe it was time for him to start depending on them more. Not completely, but more than he had in the past. They were a tough group, Peter thought. They could handle his weight if he needed them to.

Looking around at everyone, Peter found it difficult to believe that not long ago they were all strangers. At some point, they all had shifted from acquaintances to co-workers to teammates to whatever they were now. Peter didn't feel the need to put a label on it. All he knew was he could handle himself and he could be a solo act. But it felt damn good to know that he didn't have to anymore. He knew he could call Challenge and walk out at any time but sometimes it was more important to stick around. Sometimes what his teammates wanted trumped what he wanted. And if that meant staying in bed for a few days to appease them, so be it.

He wouldn't call Challenge. This time.

A/N 2: Thank you again for reading! Stay tuned for The Kubler Ross Rollercoaster. Please review!