I wrote this oneshot a while ago and forgot about it, and then my sister and beta sat next to me and bugged me until I posted it. So here it is. :)

This takes place sometimes during the second season at no particular point in the time.

"...And your assignment is to do a science project and presentation on any subject, as long as it's relevant to what we've covered so far. You have two weeks to complete the project and you can do it in a group or alone, no more than four to a group. Class dismissed."

There was a sudden increase in noise as students launched themselves across the room to pick their partners. Near the front of the class, Harry Osborne turned to MJ and asked, "What do you want to do our project on?"

"Let's grab Peter first, then we can decide," MJ said, standing quickly and searching the room for their brunette friend. She spotted him starting to leave the room with the other students escaping for the weekend. "Hey, Pete!" she yelled, waving.

Peter turned and waited for them to catch up in the hallway, smiling genuinely. The grin did nothing to hide the fact that there were light bags under his eyes, and his tiredness was only emphasized by his large yawn.

Harry frowned slightly. Part of him wanted to be mad at Peter for hanging out with the new kids instead of with him and MJ recently, but Peter was just too nice for his own good, and the new kids were clearly taking advantage of that. Harry had seen both the short kid and the tall, muscled, dark-skinned boy trying to get Peter to let them copy his homework.

MJ also frowned, though she was more concerned by Peter's evident tiredness. Did he get enough sleep last night? she wondered. Smiling brightly to cover her worry, she gave the brunette boy a brief hug and asked, "Do you want to work with Harry and me on the science project?"

Peter absently scratched his elbow and opened his mouth to reply, his eyes squinting as his grin widened. "I—"

That was as far as he got before Sam pushed his way up to Peter and said, "Pete, we need your brain. You're helping us on our project." He grabbed the bemused Peter's arm and started tugging him away.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed angrily, his eyebrows drawing together. He reached out and grabbed Peter's other arm, halting Sam's progress. "Peter agreed to work with us!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "No he didn't."

"That's because you didn't give him the chance to answer!" MJ scowled. Usually, she tried to be polite to Peter's other friends for his sake, but this one always got on her nerves. How dare he try to force Peter to work on the science project with him?! Peter wasn't his property! He wasn't even Peter's friend first! "And we asked first, so Peter has to answer before you can ask!"

All three looked at Peter.

Peter's eyes grew wide, and he looked like a pedestrian standing in the middle of the crossroad when the light turned red. (Because the "deer in the headlights" metaphor didn't work in the Big Apple.) "Uh..." he said. "Can't we just, y'know, all work together? There can be four people in a group."

"No way!" Luke objected as he strode up the the others, followed by Danny and Ava. "What about me and Danny?"

Peter blinked dazedly at them. "Not Ava?"

Ava snorted. "No way. I'm not letting any of you boys near my project. I'm gonna do it my way and my way alone."

"So that leaves me, you, Danny, and Luke," Sam said. "Now c'mon, let's go."

MJ's green eyes darkened dangerously. "Ex-cuse me," she said, in a way that was in not at all polite nor friendly, "but Peter is going to work with us because we asked first."

"No, he's working with us!" Sam yelled.

Danny put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm yourself. The friend of your friend is your friend."

"Psh! They only want him 'cause he's a science genius!"

"And you don't?!" Harry replied sarcastically at the same time MJ objected, "No, we don't!"

Instead of denying Harry's claim, Sam declared, "It'll be more convenient for us 'cause we're all crashing at Pete's house right now."

"Yeah, real convenient for you," said Harry, turning his glare up a notch. "Just go and leech off Pete for another thing."

"Screw this," muttered Sam, turning away and pulling Peter after him.

"Oh no you don't," Harry growled, pulling on Peter's other hand.

"Uh... guys?" Peter asked hesitantly in the middle. "What am I, a tug-of-war rope?"

Sam gave another pull, stronger than the last. "Yes, you are. Shut up, rope."

That was the last straw for MJ. She grabbed Peter's arm in front of Harry's grip and pulled with him, causing Peter and Sam to stumble a few steps toward them.

"Luke! Help!" Sam demanded, trying to dig his heels into the tiled floor and pulling harder.

Luke hesitated, glancing at Sam, at Harry and MJ, and at Peter. "I dunno, Man..."

Harry and MJ internally rejoiced as Luke stayed where he was as an observer. Then they internally despaired as the larger teen changed his mind and joined Sam in pulling on Peter's left arm. Slowly but surely, they were losing, and Luke didn't look like he was even using his full strength.

Danny watched the strange fight with his hands clasped behind his back and a peaceful expression on his face. He wouldn't lie to himself by thinking that he would prefer that Peter worked with his civilian friends. Although he respected Peter's friendship with them, it would be better overall if Spider-Man were to do work on the science project with people who would understand and be able to help him if he needed to go fight crime.

But Danny did not join the struggle, knowing that Sam and Luke could win this without him. Although Peter looked bewildered, Danny knew that he probably wasn't in pain. If the person being tugged in opposite directions weren't Spider-Man then Danny would have intervened so that no shoulders were dislocated.

Harry, meanwhile, was getting desperate. He looked wildly around for someone, anyone, who would help him and MJ. There were plenty of students gathered around, pressed against the lockers to be out of the way and watching the scene with wide eyes.

One observer stood out more than others.

Harry had never liked Flash because he always had bullied Peter, but the taller boy had been laying off recently, and these were desperate times. "Flash!" he yelled. "If you help us, you can work together with me and MJ and Peter!"

"Really?" Flash asked excitedly. The idea of getting an A in science class for once was clearly enough to sway him. He eagerly wrapped his hands around Peter's right forearm and pulled.

Danny frowned, green eyes narrowing. He hadn't planned on getting involved, but bribing Peter's former bully with the prospect of the good grade they would inevitably get? That was a no-go. And Luke couldn't use too much more of his true strength without raising suspicion.

Evidently, Sam had realized this too, because he called, "Danny!"

At the very least, the pacifist reasoned to himself as he joined his friends on Peter's left side, he was ending the fight.

And end the fight they did.

All three super heroes gave a synchronized tug that yanked Peter clear out of the other three's grips. Luke then tossed Peter over his shoulder like a backpack full of textbooks (because there were no potatoes—unless you count French fries—nor sacks of potatoes in the Big Apple) and ran out of the school, Danny quick on his heels.

Sam stayed behind to yell, "He's OUR science genius!" before he, too, made a hasty escape.

Ava looked at the three stunned civilian students on the ground, offered them a shrug in apology, and sauntered away, a smirk on her lips.

Because everyone loves Petey and wants to have him around. (Except for J. Jonah Jameson.) There just isn't enough Spidey to go around, so sometimes they have to fight over him. XD