"What?" Peter sputtered. There was no way he was leaving. He just got here! He didn't want to go home now after having Happy drive him all the way to the Compound.

"Just… Follow me." Mr. Stark said with resigned look on his face, something that Peter never expected to see from his mentor.

Reluctantly, Peter followed Mr. Stark through the corridors of the Compound. Each step he took seemed to echo ominously as he trailed behind his mentor. Peter couldn't help but think about the feeling of dread he had when driving here. A foreboding sense of uneasiness sunk deeper and deeper to the bottom of his gut as the walk dragged on longer and longer. Where exactly was he going anyways? He never knew the Compound could be so large, or maybe it was his increasing anxiety. Peter didn't know if he could handle this right now. His breathing became erratic, panic rising up the back of his throat. He was just so nervous. He had never seen the billionaire act this way before.

He was silent.

Mr. Stark was never silent, he was always doing something. Whenever Peter would work with him in the lab Tony would be doing something. His mentor would hum along to whatever music was on, tap his foot on the ground, or shift around in his chair every few seconds. The billionaire was never still, and when he wasn't focused on his work, he would start talking to anyone. Sometimes Mr. Stark would even talk to himself. Peter had asked him about his self-made conversations and Mr. Stark had told Peter that it helped him sort out his thoughts. Mr. Stark had even claimed that talking to himself had led to some of his greatest accomplishments and inventions.

It was so unnerving to see Mr. Stark act this way.

As Peter observed Mr. Stark closer, he realized that his mentor actually looked…..worried? That was odd. Mr. Stark always seemed to never have a care in the world. He was charismatic, yet aloof, which kept him from getting too attached to others. Nothing and no one could ever keep him down for too long. The only person that Peter has observed to be close to Mr. Stark has been Ms. Potts. And, maybe Happy. Peter wouldn't know, the only emotions he has seen Happy display towards others are rage and apathy. Both of which has been aimed at Peter. But the point was, Mr. Stark wasn't close to too many people.

So, what was up with his mentor? First of all, he's way too silent, and now he's worried? The world must be ending, because Ms. Potts wasn't in any danger and Peter literally just saw Happy, who dropped Peter off at the Compound. There's no reason for Mr. Stark to be so worried if the two people closest to him are fine. Peter paused in his train of thought.

Wait, Mr. Stark wasn't worried about Peter, was he?

He couldn't be, Peter reasoned with himself, I'm not that important to him. At, least Peter didn't think he was. Peter was just some kid that happened to be bit by a spider. Mr. Stark just mentored him so Peter wouldn't end up accidentally killing himself in some street fight in the alleyways of New York. Although Peter had started thinking of Mr. Stark as some sort of father figure, he didn't think of Peter as anything more than his student. That fact had been proven when Mr. Stark had dropped Peter off at his apartment with his limo.

How had I thought that he was going to hug me!? Peter still agonized over that incident. It had been a thoroughly embarrassing wake-up call. Just thinking about the event made Peter want to bang his head against the wall.

Anyways, the billionaire couldn't be worried about Peter.

He just couldn't be.

Actually, Peter theorized, he's probably angry at me for messing up at something. Peter always seemed to make so many mistakes, and screwed the pooch, as Mr. Stark liked to word it. Peter probably wrecked some sort of superheroing job and someone went to Mr. Stark about it. After all, Spider-man was the newest Avenger, and he has a responsibility to live up to the name. The only issue was, the media hated him (Specifically, the Daily Bugle. When Peter was looking at the hate articles, he happened to notice that most of them were from the same media company). No matter what Spider-Man did, the press found some way to twist it in their favor and make him look bad. Honestly, Peter wouldn't put it past them to publish an article that got Mr. Stark's attention.

The more Peter thought about it, the more he realized that was probably the reason Mr. Stark was worried. Peter probably screwed up in the media's eyes and they published something criticizing Spider-Man's actions. Then, his mentor probably read it and decided that Peter embarrassed the Avengers and ruined their perfect reputation. So, now Mr. Stark was going to lecture Peter on 'being responsible' and being 'better than him'. All of which Peter has heard multiple times.

To be frank, he's tired of hearing it over and over and over again.

It's not that he doesn't respect Mr. Stark and he knows that he's just trying to help him become a better hero, but Peter knows that he has to be better.

Trust me, Peter thought bitterly to himself.

I know.

Not being good enough got his Uncle Ben killed. Not being good enough could be the difference whether he saves that kid down the street from a mugger, or that old lady from getting run over by a car, or that woman from getting shot in a bank robbery. Not being good enough could get Peter killed one day.

Literally, he almost got crushed by a building just last week.

He could have died.

And he hates when Mr. Stark brings it up, because Peter knows.

And Peter hates that he knows.

Because being a superhero wasn't all that its cracked up to be.

It's dangerous.

And now there's so much pressure on Peter to be the best and the perfect hero that Mr. Stark want him to be. He's an Avenger, and he has to live up to the name. Which thinking about it, was a pretty big mantle to live up to. Peter was just a teen, and he was prone to making mistakes. A lot of them. He's made so, so many mistakes in his life.

And Mr. Stark never fails to call him out on each and every one.

Each reprimand that Mr. Stark gives him reminds Peter of the fact that he isn't invincible. That any day a villain could beat him. That one day Peter might die.

That one day he may lose.

And Peter feared for that day.

Because Peter isn't perfect and he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop that day from happening.

He knows all this.

One way or another, every hero falls. It's all a part of the job, and sooner or later a hero's luck runs dry.

If only Peter knew that that day was coming.

It was inevitable.

And it was soon.

…..

Tony was leading Peter back towards one of the back conference rooms in the Avenger's Compound. Tony had purposely made that area a dead zone for any surveillance specifically for circumstances like these. The dead zone would interrupt any listening devices that might have been planted on an Avenger and there's no cameras present in the room like all the others. Even F.R.I.D.A.Y. has no access to this room. No one could ever be too sure on who was listening, and Tony had learned the hard way that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Currently, this room was holding all the Secret Avengers. Evidently, the reason why a dead zone room was so important.

No one could know that they were here.

No one.

Tony couldn't risk Peter's safety, he was too important to him. There was no way Ross was going to take him from Tony. He wouldn't let him. Hence, why the Secret Avengers were here. He needed them to take Peter with them wherever they've been all this time. He needed them to take him somewhere Tony would never think of, or know the location of. That way, Tony would never have to watch Peter become Ross' personal lab rat. He knew Ross would pounce on the opportunity to take one of the things that Tony cared about most.

Of course, he could make Peter reveal his identity to the world like Ross had demanded of him, but he couldn't force Peter to do that. He knew how important his secret identity was to the kid. Peter's life would never be the same if he was forced to reveal his identity. The media would hound him everyday, and he would never have a 'normal' life again. Not that his life was all that normal anyways, considering he was an intern to the Tony Stark and he was Spider-Man, but he knew that Peter tried to live his life as normal as possible. Not only that, but he wasn't sure if his relationship with Peter would ever be the same if he forced Peter to come to a decision that he didn't want. Sure, Peter may forgive him in the long run, because that was just the kind of kid he was, but the resentment would live in his heart forever.

Just like how Tony has resentment for his own father.

And he didn't want that for the kid.

Not for Peter.

He deserved so much better than that.

Besides, Tony loved saying no to Ross' demands. It was an ongoing game he played, he wanted to see how tomato red he could Ross' face. It was honestly hilarious for Tony to watch Ross fumble around in rage.

Anyways, Peter had to leave and that was final.

There was no other choice.

Tony had gotten attached to the kid, which is something he should have expected in hindsight. Tony had gone into mentoring the kid just to keep him from getting himself killed with all his inexperience. The 'internship' was supposed to be giving the kid a new suit every once and awhile to protect him and give him some training. He wasn't supposed to get attached, but then the kid had wormed his way into Tony's heart of iron. The kid was just so….. innocent and had such a big heart. It made Tony want to take bubblewrap and wrap the kid up in it to protect the kid from all the dangers and perils he faced. The world didn't deserve someone like Peter.

Which was another reason why he was going.

He wouldn't let Ross rip the kid's innocence away.

Not for the kid he almost considered….. a son.

There, Tony admitted it. He said the word. Never in a million years had Tony thought he would consider anyone in that light.

But, here he was, calling Peter a son.

So, now, he was going to have the others take Peter away to safety so Tony won't have to lose him.

Not today.

…..

"What! I'm not leaving New York!" Peter vehemently exclaimed to the group before him.

He pointed accusingly at the people in front of him. "And I'm especially not leaving with these people! They're fugitives."

"And he dropped an airport terminal on my head!" Peter glared at the resident 'American Hero'.

Mr. Stark simply sighed, he had been expecting this reaction. "Peter, this is for your own safety. I don't want you to leave either. But, if it's a choice between my desires and your safety. I will always choose your safety first. Always."

"But—" Peter stuttered, he had not been expecting this. "New York is my home! And what about school? What about Aunt May? I can't just leave. I have a life here."

"Peter you're not going to have a life anymore if Ross takes you away. All you have to do is go away for a little while I sort things out with the government. Once I fix everything then you can come back. I promise I'll try to get you back as soon as possible. You won't miss anything important, it's just for a little while." After his little speech, Mr. Stark gave Peter a half-hearted smile as if he was trying to convince himself of that rather than Peter.

"But—" Peter tried to protest again.

"No buts, I've already cleared everything with your school and aunt. Officially, you're on a 'Stark Internship' trip somewhere in Europe and Asia. Also, they've been told that it will an indefinite amount of time to complete as you are my top intern. Also, they've been told not to expect you to respond to any attempts of contact because the trip is strictly no social media. Speaking of which, hand over your phone kiddo."

"But I don't wanna go!" Peter finally blurted out in exasperation.

Mr. Stark's gaze softened. "I know, kid."

"I know." Mr. Stark's voice choked up as if he was fighting tears.

The billionaire guided Peter over to the Secret Avengers in order to formally introduce Peter to everyone.

"Guys, this is Peter. Kid, these guys are going to keep you safe. No matter what, don't leave them. I'll find you when it's safe to come back."

"Hey, there son." Captain America rested a hand on Peter's shoulder. "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure you're back home as soon as possible. But until then, we'll look after you."

Peter's gaze was locked on the ground, he didn't want to look any the former Avengers in the eyes. He was just fighting them the other day! Weren't they the public enemy. But, slowly, Peter looked up to meet Captain America's eyes when he heard the sincerity in the man's voice. Surely Captain America couldn't be such a bad man if he was a hero of World War II.

"Okay." Peter reluctantly accepted the fact that he had to leave.

Suddenly, Tony clapped his hands together. "I almost forgot! Here, let me grab something." Mr. Stark walked over to two brief cases and threw one to Peter and the other to Captain America. "This is just something I put together for your little trip."

Peter opened his brief case to find a entirely new suit. This suit still had the main concepts of his original, the spider emblem in the center, spider-web pattern, and the same large white eye lenses. One of the main differences in this suit though was that it had no blue coloring, the only colors were red and black.

"This new suit is designed to help you blend in more and it has more features than your previous suits. For example, there's two stealth features, one that you can use to make the suit camouflage with your surroundings, and the other to make your suit completely black and it has gadgets for infiltration missions." Tony paused then continued on to describe Steve's upgrade.

"Steve, I just got you a new shield. You know, to replace the one I took from you. It's not the traditional circle that you're used to using, but it should work for most purposes in your trip. I did incorporate some Wakandan technology, so it will have some more tech than you are used to, old-timer." Tony glanced at the others in the room.

"Sorry I didn't have time to make the rest of you upgrades."

Falcon snorted and huffed under his breath. "Yeah right, everyone knows that you never sleep."

The Winter Soldier took that opportunity to elbow Falcon in the side.

And then, it was time to leave on the quinjet.

Peter wasn't ready.

"Wait."

Everyone paused and was shocked to look back to see Natasha standing next to Tony. No one had heard her walk in, but that was to be expected of a master spy and that wasn't what surprised the group. What surprised the group of heroes was that the Black Widow was no longer a red head. She had died her hair blonde. Platinum blonde.

"I'm coming with you."

Everyone just looked at each other and shrugged. When Natasha Romanoff wanted to do something, it was better just to let her do it. She could be terrify anyone with a single glance, and it was best not to know what she could do to a person with a single knife. Besides, the more the merrier right?

So, everyone boarded the quinjet until only Peter was left waiting on the ramp.

"Please. Don't make me go." Peter pleaded with Mr. Stark.

"You have to." It was a single statement, yet it held so much emotion.

"I really don't wanna go." Peter tried one more time, hoping that the response would differ this time.

"I know you don't, but it's not forever alright?" A single tear slipped down the side of Tony's face contrasting the small sad smile he gave Peter.

"Promise me." It was a childish statement that was so like Peter to demand, making Mr. Stark let out a small chuckle at his youthful exuberance.

"Alright, I promise."

"Cross your heart?" Now, Peter was just delaying the inevitable.

"Cross my heart." Tony smiled once again at the teen's antics.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Peter had a watery smile as he glanced back at the ship.

"I guess it is kiddo." Tony agreed sadly, but he had to remind himself it wasn't forever.

He just had to keep that in mind for the future.

It wasn't forever.

If only Tony knew what would happen, maybe he wouldn't have let Peter go.

But he didn't know what would happen, so the only thought he could cling to was, it wasn't forever.

And all he could do was hope that he would see Peter again soon.

So, I hoped you guys liked this update! I think this is the quickest I've ever written a chapter of this length but that's probably because I'm leaving for vacation soon and I wanted to post an update before I left. So, all the stories I'm working on probably won't be updated for at least a few weeks because I wont have my laptop with me. But, I'll update as soon as I can.

But if you guys want, you can check out my new story, One in 14,000,605, if you haven't already seen it.

If you're interested, here's the summary: "Please, Dr. Strange don't make me do this anymore. I can't do this, I can't." Peter wanted to scream in agony. He can't deal with this again. Everyday he wakes up is a living nightmare. Please don't make him do this again. Please. Why does this have to be him?

Anyways, Thanks for reading! Feel free to favorite and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own marvel