Chapter 9

"YOU'RE SPIDER-MAN AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO TELL US?" His father had yelled, and it was safe to say that the conversation had only escalated from there. Now, Peter sat in his room, alone and aching, though this time the ache was inside his chest. There'd been so much hurt in his dad's expression, so much misunderstanding and loathing. Gwen had been sent home almost immediately after his secret identity had been revealed so he was alone as he buried himself in his bed much like he'd done as a child, wishing he could just die and get it over with. This was the worst day of his life. There was a knock on his door but he didn't answer, hiding further under the blankets. He heard the door open followed by the familiar sound of his pops clearing his throat.

"Peter, can we talk?" Peter didn't move, and moments later he felt the bed dip under his pops' weight. "Look, son, I understand why you didn't tell us." were the first words he spoke, and though Peter didn't move, he made sure to listen. "I can't imagine what it would be like, to have these sort of changes happening without knowing why or what was going on. And I'm sure the idea of having your dad and Bruce study you to figure it out would be a bit frightening. After all, they can't always separate their work from their personal life. It would be – uncomfortable." his pops decided, and Peter shook his head under the covers. Encouraged that he'd finally gotten a reaction, Steve kept talking. "But you know, we can't blame you for the time you've spent fighting crime. After all, it is what we do for a living. You have no idea how proud I am of you, knowing you've helped saved so many lives." Peter shifted then, the blankets finally falling, and Steve was devastated when he saw his sons face, red with crying, looking completely heartbroken.

"Dad hates me." his voice broke on the phrase and he rubbed angrily at the tears he couldn't stop from falling.

"Peter, no," Steve objected, pulling his son into a hug. He couldn't believe that even for a moment Peter would think such a thing.

"You didn't see the look in his eyes." Peter finally sobbed. "He was so disappointed. So angry. It was like he never wanted to see me again." the boy shuddered at the thought and Steve just held him tighter. No matter what their son had done, there was no way that this was even remotely acceptable; that he thought Tony hated him was the last thing Steve would have him believing.

"Hey, Peter, listen to me," Steve soothed, hand combing through his hair like he'd done when Peter had been a child and woken up from nightmares. "Your dad doesn't hate you. He's just scared for you. He's afraid of losing you, and he was just faced with the thought that he might have lost you and we wouldn't have even known why or when or where you even were." Peter stiffened at the thought but Steve just kept up the soothing motions until he relaxed again. "No matter what happens, or whether or not you decide to wear a mask, we will always love you. Always. That will never change."

"But-" Peter tried to argue, and Steve shushed him. He wished he'd realized sooner that this would be Peter's fear; not that they knew about his nightlife, but that they dislike him for it. Despite his bravado and sharp tongue, Peter was as desperate to be understood and accepted as any other teenager; hell, any other human being, and Tony's reaction obviously had not helped the matter. Not for the first time, he cursed Tony's inability to articulate all of his thoughts with words.

"Come on." Steve finally said, tone decisive. "We're going to talk to your dad." Peter immediately pulled away, looking panicked, and Steve wondered for a moment if it were possible to separate your head from your body by shaking it too fast.

"No, I don't want to see him. I'm staying here." he made to burrow back under his blankets but Steve managed to catch him before he could escape, lifting him out of the bed even as he flailed. "No! I'm not going!" It yanked at Steve's heart, how much Peter sounded like his younger self. Of course, when the boy managed to wiggle free and leapt up to hang off the ceiling, Steve had to admit he was glad he hadn't been able to do that as a child. He would have been insufferable. The thought brought a slight smile to his lips, but he huffed at his son.

"Fine. But I expect you to answer your door when he comes upstairs. Is that understood." Peter just folded his arms over his chest, but he hadn't missed the doubt in his sons features. He was honestly afraid his dad wouldn't be coming. With one last glance at his son, unable to help but feel awe at his abilities, Steve left the room, on the hunt for his husband. He had a few choice words he needed to share, and Tony was going to hear them whether he wanted to or not.

It was no surprise to find Tony in his lab, though a surprise did come when Steve saw him looking on what almost appeared to be a red and blue spandex. When Tony heard him coming, he shoved the material away, and so Steve chose to ignore it, instead moving to loom over his partner, crossing his arms to show his dissatisfaction.

"You need to apologize." he stated, and Tony turned a glare on him, shoving to his feet.

"Why do I need to apologize? He's the one that kept this from us! Christ he's been running around as a masked vigilante for over a year now and we've had no idea!" the anger quickly faded to something more akin to panic. "Have we failed as parents?" Tony was suddenly asking, and this was a fear Steve understood. "For not noticing? Did we fail him?"

"No, we haven't failed him, we've just learned that our son is remarkably good at keeping secrets." Tony scowled but Steve didn't allow him to reply. "But that's besides the point. You need to apologize."

"I do n-"

"He thinks you hate him." Tony blanched, any argument he'd had dying in his throat.

"What?" he all but croaked, and Steve softened, reaching out for his partner.

"He's scared that you hate him. He took your fear as hatred. He thinks that you're angry, disappointed, and that you never want to see him again." he paused and then sighed. "I think if he hadn't been so afraid of our reactions, he would have told us sooner." Tony's only reply was like a pained gasp.

"He thinks I hate him?" Steve couldn't help but laugh, pressing a chaste kiss to his husband's mouth.

"Go see him. Apologize." Steve ordered, shoving him towards the stairs, and without a moments hesitation Tony was off, disappearing into the stairwell. Looking around after Tony's departure, Steve caught sight of the material again and pulled it out. It wasn't hard to see what it was; a variation of the spider-man costume, but rather than spandex, this seemed to be made of a much sturdier material. Steve smiled, putting it back on the desk. He should've known Tony's first thought wouldn't have been to ban him from his nightlife but to help him stay alive while he was at it. He shook his head at the thought. He reacted so strongly to the smallest of things, but this need to protect people was something all three of them understood; you couldn't just stop because your own life was at risk, and in turn, they couldn't expect each other to stop either.

Tony knocked on his sons door, running his hands through his hair nervously.

"Peter, it's me. Open up." Tony called when there was no immediate answer. The door swung open but Peter was nowhere in sight and Tony realized he must have returned to his blanket cocoon; he always had felt safest like that when he was upset, and Tony couldn't help but remember it. He moved to sit on the bed much as Steve had only minutes before and reached out a tentative hand, feeling a pang when Peter flinched at the contact.

"Peter, I love you." the words were ones he would've once avoided at all costs, but he'd since learned their importance. He watched, grateful, as Peter slowly made himself visible from under the blankets, though there was still a clear look of skepticism on his face. "Your pops told me what you said earlier," he flinched at the thought, "And I want you to know it isn't true." He reached out both hands to clasp his sons face in his hands. "I love you, kid, and I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. I'm angry you'd lied to us and pretended not to know anything, and I'm angry you let us live clueless to the fact that we could wake up one morning and you'd be gone forever and we'd never know why, or how, or when." he brushed away his sons tears as they fell. "I'm upset you didn't trust us enough to share this secret with us, but I understand, and I'm sorry you thought for even a second that it meant I didn't love you, because I do." he took a breath, forcing back his own tears. "You and your pops? You're everything to me. I don't ever want to have to wake up and face a world without you both in it. Okay?" Peter was nodding, and without even waiting to see if his dad was finished speaking, he launched himself forward, giving his dad a crushing hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." he mumbled into his shoulder, "I love you too, dad." relieved, Tony returned the embrace before clearing his throat. No matter how much easier he found declarations of emotions, they could still make him uncomfortable.

"Now that that's out of the way," he noted, "I have something to show you." Without any other explanation, he waved Peter out of his room and down to the lab.

"I started making this when Spidey – when you first started roaming the streets. You know how I get, but anyways, it's sort of like a skin tight armour. Doesn't remove flexibility, and won't stop a direct gunshot, but it will definitely deflect them unless they're pretty much point blank." Peter accepted the suit that was thrust into his hands, gaping at his parents who both stood in front of him.

"You aren't going to try and stop me?" he asked, disbelieving, and Steve shrugged.

"We can't really, not with a clear conscience anyways. How can we condemn you for following in our footsteps?" Tony chose that moment to cut in.

"That reminds me; I have a couple ideas for your webshooters," he paused, "They are separate shooters, right? It doesn't come out of your palms or something?" Peter laughed for the first time since he'd been outed and shook his head.

"Don't worry, dad. I have webshooters. Designed them myself." Tony beamed with pride and Peter gave a tentative smile, relaxing further when Steve gripped his shoulder with one hand.

"We understand your need to do this, which is why we won't stop you, but from now on? We face threats as a family. There's no need for secrets anymore."

"Yeah," Tony agreed, "Despite the fact that you're a crime fighting vigilante, you're also our son, and while we won't stop you, we want to take as few risks as possible." Peter found himself nodding along in near shock.

"You want to work together? Like Spider-man with the Avengers?" Steve smirked at his sons wide-eyed enthusiasm and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sort of." he reached out so he could touch Peter's other shoulder. "We'll face these problems together; the rogue agents, the kidnapping, the goblin; we'll figure it out."

"And you never have to work alone ever again if you don't want to."

Peter was swinging over the city in his new suit. Though it had taken a couple run ins with villains to get used to the extra weight, it really was a huge improvement. He landed next to his favourite gargoyle, leaning against it's shoulder.

"Got any news for me, buddy?" he asked, and nodded along as if the statue had answered, smirking. "Thought so." an explosion set off in the distant, and Peter immediately came to attention. He'd been circling the Green Goblin for what felt like weeks, and this was the first time he might actually be able to face him head on since his parents had stopped shadowing his every move. It had been more than a little annoying to always have somebody on his heels, making sure he didn't get into too much trouble, but when he proved himself by taking on a group of fully armed bank robbers without anyone getting hurt, they'd finally decided to step back. Grinning, Peter leapt into the air, one arm immediately coming up and webbing shooting forward, sticking to a building and pulling tight as it finally held Peter's full weight. He made his way through the streets, following the sounds of explosions, and finally caught sight of the goblin. He didn't hesitate to swing into the fray, shooting out a string of webbing to catch a bomb aimed at a group of huddling civilians and launching it back towards the goblin. He still hadn't been able to figure out what the Goblin really wanted, or what he was really up to, and his family still hadn't been able to pinpoint any sketchy looking happening in Oscorp, but now that they were all working together Peter was sure they'd come up with something. None of them had forgotten Peter's kidnapping or the threats that had been handed out, and none of them were about too. They would figure it out, and they would do it as a family. Peter couldn't help but laugh at the idea, dodging another one of the pumpkin bombs with a surprised 'whoa'. He needed to focus on the task at hand, but he couldn't help the grin that stayed plastered on his face. They were a family of superheroes, and no matter what, the good guys always won.

I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone whose been reading, I hope you enjoyed it!