Spiderman Oneshots

Identity

Peter never really intended for his identity as Spider-Man to be a secret. To begin with, he'd worn a mask to help him adjust to his newly enhanced senses, and to keep May from finding out it was him. He didn't want to stress her - so soon after Ben's death he knew the thought of him being in danger would be too much for her to handle. So he'd kept the mask, and when Mr Stark gave him a new suit modelled after his old one, it came with a mask too, so Peter wore it to avoid offending the billionaire. Then, in those fateful weeks after his homecoming dance, May discovered his secret, so he didn't need to hide his identity to protect her anymore. But by then, of course, he'd discovered Karen and all the other high-tech features built into his mask, and the eyes were awesome, and though he wasn't exactly subtle with his identity, he never really got around to outright telling the world who he was. 

So when MJ cornered him after school one day and accused him of being Spider-Man, he'd just told her she was right, and gone on his way. MJ being MJ, she didn't tell anyone, so the rest of the world was still oblivious as to the not-so-secret identity of the masked hero. Peter still didn't use his powers in school, not to protect his identity but because it seemed like cheating to him. 

Peter did occasionally think about blurting to everyone that he was Spider-Man, especially when the hero came up in conversation or Flash was being particularly mean, but it never seemed like the right time. He didn't want to be petty or awkward or accused of lying, because that would just be uncomfortable for everyone involved.

About a month after Homecoming, Mr Stark invited Peter to the compound for a meeting. All the Avengers were there, and Peter was already late (he'd heard a scream on the way to the compound and hadn't been able to resist) so he just sat down and didn't bother taking off his mask.

The meeting was about Avengers-y stuff, so ten minutes in Peter dared to put his hand up and ask why he was there.

"About that," Mr Stark said. "I was going to ask how you'd feel about doing a press conference at the weekend, Spider-Man. The public are getting uneasy. They love you, but they find it hard to trust someone they know nothing about. It would be good for your publicity if you could show up, crack a few jokes, answer some of the city's questions - nothing personal, of course-" Peter would have asked why, but he didn't want to interrupt. "-and let the people feel like they know you better. Would that be okay?"

"Sure," Peter replied. "No problem."

"That's great, I'll send you the details. Now let's move to training. Spider-Man, you can hang around if you want, and train with Steve and Nat." Peter frowned. He'd thought Tony was calling him Spidey because that was a hero thing, but he wasn't calling the others by their hero names.

"That sounds great Mr Stark, and please just call me Peter," he said, grateful for the opportunity to train with the Avengers. Tony's eyebrows raised, and several others looked shocked. "What?" Peter asked.

"Huh? Oh, I just assumed you didn't want the guys to know your identity."

"Why would you think that?" Peter asked, confused. 

"The mask did it for me," Sam said sceptically.

"Oh! I'm gonna be completely honest with you, I forgot I was still wearing it," Peter laughed, pulling the mask off. There were several gasps. Peter blinked, and offered a smile. "You were saying...?"

It was a Friday afternoon, and the press conference was scheduled for tomorrow morning. Peter had almost finished school when the lockdown alarm rang, accompanied by crashes and screams. A villain crashed into the classroom.

"Is Spider-Man in here?"

There were murmurs of confusion, and the villain puffed their chest. "I have discovered information that Spider-Man comes to this school! Tell me where he is and you won't get hurt!"

Peter stepped forwards, rolling his eyes as he shot webs at the villain, cocooning them so they fell over. "'Discovered', really? I literally told you I came here a week ago, what took you so long?"

The villain didn't reply, too busy gawking at the teen. 

"What?" Peter asked. 

Nobody said anything, even when the police showed up to drag the villain away. 

Peter sat down casually and offered the teacher a smile. "You were saying...?"

After school, Flash cornered Peter, still looking shell-shocked. "What the heck, Parker?!"

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?! You're Spider-Man!"

"Yeah, thought that was pretty obvious back there...?" Peter trailed off, not sure where Flash was taking this. 

"You just revealed your secret identity to the entire class!" Flash pushed, trying to understand. Peter just frowned.

"Secret identity? Look, I don't know where this is coming from, or why everyone always looks so shocked when I pull my mask off, but I really have to get home," Peter stepped around Flash.  "See you!"

The next morning, Peter was up early and waiting for Mr Stark to come pick him up for the press conference. He stepped out of the house in his suit, mask off. Tony looked around, alarmed.

"Um, you forgetting something?" He asked, gesturing at his face. Peter frowned. He hadn't been planning on wearing his mask, seeing as he wouldn't need Karen's help to fight, but did as the genius told him. After all, he probably had his reasons seeing as he surely already knew Peter wasn't fussed about his identity after the incident with the Avengers the other day.

Peter kept his mask on as they heading into the press conference.

"Remember, only answer the questions you feel comfortable answering." Tony insisted as the questions started coming. They were all pretty generic, about his powers or motivation or favourite food, until-

"What age are you?"

Peter opened his mouth to reply, but Mr Stark cut him off by saying, "he'd rather not answer that." Peter frowned, but shrugged it off. 

There were a few more questions, then someone asked, "What is it like trying to balance hero life and civilian life?"

"It's okay, I mean I'm always really tired because of patrol but other than that it's pretty normal?"

"No, I mean what's it like trying to keep your identity a secret? Do your friends or family know? Do you think you'll ever reveal your secret identity?"

By this point, Peter was just fed up.

"Why is everyone so convinced I have a secret identity? I literally sit on top of public buildings with my mask off! I thought everyone already knew because I was so obvious, but apparently you're all just blind! " Peter groaned. "Literally everyone! My friends, the Avengers, my classmates, that villain yesterday, even you Mr Stark, you're all shocked when I tell you who I am! I've never revealed my identity because I never thought it was much of a secret! If anyone asked me, I'd tell them, it's really not a big deal." Peter stared at the sea of reporters, praying for one of them to ask so he didn't have to make even more of a scene.

"Yes, you," he pointed at the one shaky hand that rose into the air.

"W-who are you behind the mask?"

Peter threw his hands into the air. "Finally!" He yanked his mask off. There were gasps and flashing cameras. "Hi, my name's Peter Parker, I'm 16 and I never meant for any of this to be a secret!"

When no more questions were asked, Peter sighed and stuffed his mask into his back pocket, shooting a web and leaving the stunned reporters behind.