One Month

Chapter Four

Peter stared into the studio that he was unaware of. He had traveled downstairs in search of the music after his morning routine. Natasha danced to the Sugar Plum Fairy, a dance Peter had memorized since he was little. He remembered girls and boys fighting over parts, but he was sure that he had danced every major part in the choreography.

His body tingled to dance with her, his muscles spasmed as if they had been denied their only way of living, and he huffed. He stood and watched longer than he probably should have, and he nearly screamed as a hand clasped down on his shoulder.

"She's graceful, isn't she?" It was a voice of adoration, and Peter glanced up to find Hawkeye -- Clint Barton -- in flesh and blood. Peter realized now that he could hear children in the main room, and he felt his face heat up.

"Yeah," Peter mumbled out as he shrugged free of Clint's hand, "graceful's a word to use." Clint raised an eyebrow at him before he opened the door and joined Natasha in the studio.

Peter debated on whether he should follow or not before he decided against it. Clint could tell her that he was watching for who-knows-how-long, and Natasha could question him later. Instead, he thought of something much more productive to do.

He walked away from the studio, and he stalled as he came across two children and a woman with a baby in the living room. The children immediately noticed him and stood up.

"Are you an Avenger, too?" The little boy asked. His mother now peeked at the new stranger. Peter hesitated, not sure what his answer should be.

"No, not yet," he decided on. Tony had promised him a place, but that did not make him an Avenger now. His bombardments to become one had made no indention in his wants, and Peter had given up as soon as his aunt had passed.

"So, you're training to be an Avenger?" The boy asked, and Peter nodded his head. The little girl jumped in, "Then, what's your name? I want to be able to say that I knew the newest Avenger first!"

"Peter," he answered easily, and he crouched down to the kids. His initial awkwardness was gone-- mostly. "What are your names?" The little girl bounced on the balls of her feet.

"I'm Lila," she answered, "this is Cooper." The little boy swatted her hand as she pointed at him.

"I can introduce myself," he said and Lila grinned. "Oh, and that's Nathaniel." He pointed to the woman and the baby. Peter smiled at her.

"I'm Laura," she introduced. "Sorry that they're so," she struggled for a word, "hyperactive." Peter shook his head.

"They're just being kids," Peter defended before he stood back up, "but I have something I have to do. So, if you guys will excuse me." Lila and Cooper yelled their goodbyes as Peter hurried up the steps. He rushed to his bedroom, sure that Vision and Wanda were up by now -- he didn't honestly know if the android even needed to rest.

Peter walked into his room, sorted through his clothes in his suitcase, then dumped put the satchel bag. His pointe shoes fell out last, and he grabbed them before he stuffed them back into the bag. Next, he grabbed some web-shooters and placed them into the bag before he grabbed a hoodie and used it to cover the two things. He topped it off with his headphones.

He knew that he couldn't possibly get away with leaving now, not with the sun already in the sky and the streets of New York too crowded to hide in the light. Instead, Peter began unpacking his belongings. He hated digging through bags but had no motivation to fix the problem until now that the room was an ungodly mess.

Peter stopped when he heard a loud "thud" on the roof of the building. He was nearly done, but he stood to his feet and abandoned his task. From the balcony, he could see that Clint and his family were still there and the rest of the Avengers had joined them. Wanda and Natasha sat on the floor, playing with the children. Natasha was particularly great with the children, and Clint and Laura joked with the team members.

"What's on the roof?" Peter asked as he hurried down and everyone's attention went to him. Lila and Cooper ran over, trying to show him their newest colored page and Lego builds. "That's so cool!" Peter hurried out before he looked at the team again. They all were watching him with confusion, "I heard a noise on the roof."

"We didn't hear anything," Steve answered after a moment and then Peter groaned. He had experienced it a million times in school.

"Of course, you didn't," Peter ignored the looks that he was given as he plopped down on the floor by the table that housed the Barton childrens' toys, coloring books, and Crayons.

Everyone -- but Tony -- decided to leave Peter's question at his groan, and Peter distracted himself with helping Lila color an exaggerated cartoon picture of a dog. She cut it down the middle and told him that he had to color his half and she hers.

Once Tony came back, he had Thor and Rhodes beside him. The kids jumped up again, and even Peter stared at Thor. He hadn't met the God of Thunder in person yet and Peter was a big fan.

"Okay, I believe we are ready to begin this meeting," Tony said as he sat down again, a cup of what Peter could only assume was alcohol, in his hands. He took a sip and glanced around at everyone. It seemed Peter wasn't the only one left in the dark about this "meeting" because everyone exchanged glances.

A.N.

Unimportant but I wanna write a Spidey-pool A.U.

Really thinking about it :)