Steve Doesn't Approve

Peter was a little nervous. Mr. Stark had decided to introduce the team to Peter as both his son intern and Spider-Man and while Peter had agreed to it, he was still nervous. It had only been a couple months since the team had been reunited and he really didn't want to be the reason they split up again.


He'd already met most of them individually, but Steve and Clint were the only ones he hadn't met. When he stumbled upon Natasha first, she had already known who he was and instead of asking what he was doing there, she'd asked what his real name was. Trying not to freak out in front of the Black Widow, he'd stuttered out a response before hurrying down the hall and proceeding to run into Bucky. Fortunately for Peter, Bucky had just grinned and asked Peter if his webs came out of him before helping him hide in embarrassment. Rhodey had known before the Avengers reunited and after an accidental run in with Sam, he'd been told to cool it with the rambling. All things considered, Peter figured there was no way meeting Steve or Clint could be half as embarrassing as the others.


"Don't worry, kid," Mr. Stark said for the umpteenth time.


Peter nodded, trying to calm himself down. It was just Captain America and Hawkeye. Two more Avengers. He'd fought Captain America before, how much different would this be?


"I can hear you," Wanda said, walking past them with a mug of tea.


Peter quietly apologised but knew there was no hope of quieting his thoughts.


"He doesn't hate me, right?" Peter asked, stopping just around the living room corner.


Mr. Stark gave him a look.


"Just, I stole his shield and all. He won't try and kill me for it, right?"


Mr. Stark chuckled and shook his head.


"He doesn't hate you, Pete," Mr. Stark said, nudging Peter around the corner and into the living room where Steve and Bucky were sitting, reading the newspapers.


Bucky looked up and smiled at Peter. At the sight of someone at least a little familiar, Peter tried to relax. If all else failed, maybe Bucky could convince Steve not to kill him.


"Steve," Bucky said, elbowing him, "Tony brought someone for you to meet."


Steve put down his newspaper and looked up. Peter's nerves came back all at once and he considered running again.


"Hey."


Stupid. That was a stupid thing to say. This was all stupid and he was going to look stupid.


Trying to salvage his poor introduction, Peter gave Steve a shaky wave but regretted it immediately.


"This is Peter," Mr. Stark introduced.


Peter waved again, hoping it would come across better this time, and cursed himself silently. He was making himself look stupid in front of Captain America.


"Nice to meet you Peter," Steve said, holding out a hand.


Peter shook it firmly and Steve gave him a reassuring smile.


"I'm Steve Rogers."


"Yeah—Yeah." God, he was stuttering! "I know."


His eyes widened and he hurried to make it sound less weird.


"Not in a creepy way!" he blurted hastily, letting go of Steve's hand. "Just, you're Captain America and I stole your shield, so I know who you are. I swear I'm not some creepy—"


Peter was interrupted by Captain America, something he never thought would happen but was surprisingly not upset about.


"Wait, you stole my shield?" Steve asked, confused. "When?"


"At the airport,"  Peter said sheepishly.


Steve's eyes widened as he pieced things together.


"You know... Pew! Pew!"


Peter pretended to shoot a web and Steve's eyes grew even wider.


Turning sharply to face Mr. Stark, Steve all but yelled, "You brought a kid to Leipzig?"


Peter jumped and glanced worriedly at Mr. Stark.


"Why would you let me fight a kid?"


Oh god, he was going to be the reason the Avengers split again, he just knew it.


"I knew you wouldn't hurt him," Mr. Stark argued, pulling Peter back behind him. He knew Steve wouldn't hurt the kid, but he also didn't want Peter to feel like he was facing Steve alone."Besides, he did well."


"He's a kid!"


Peter jumped as Steve's raised voice and grimaced when he yelled, "Tony, you're insane!"


"I mean, you fought someone if I so much as blinked in the wrong direction," Bucky muttered, sending the room into a swift silence.


Turning to look at Bucky, Steve asked, "You knew?"


Bucky raised an eyebrow.


"Well yeah," he answered, "You weren't exactly quiet when you got beat up."


Steve rolled his eyes.


"No, about Peter," he said, gesturing to the kid.


Bucky lit up and nodded, smiling at Peter.


"Oh yeah." He winked at Peter who gave him a small smile in return. "He's great."


Steve sighed and looked at Peter again, immediately apologising when he saw the kid covering his ears.


"I'm sorry, kid," Steve said softly. Peter slowly uncovered his ears. "I'm not upset with you, just surprised. I guess I don't really have anything to say that won't make me a hypocrite."


Peter nodded, still unsure. If anyone yelled again, he was going to go into sensory overload.


"It's okay," Peter said softly.


Steve almost didn't hear him, but Mr. Stark did and he turned around to face Peter.


"Go hang out in your room until you're good," he said too quiet for Steve to hear.


With a wave to Bucky, Peter turned and left for his room.


Once he was gone, Tony turned back to Steve, fully prepared to chew him out for upsetting Peter.


"Where's he going?" Steve asked, looking down the hallway.


"To his room to recover," Tony said irritably.


He sat on a couch and drug a hand down his face.


"His senses are always up at eleven. Loud noises freak him out if he doesn't expect them. Especially yelling. Yelling freaks him out a lot."


"I'm sorry," Steve said quietly, looking down at his lap. "I didn't mean to freak him out."


"I know," Tony said shortly.


Sure, he and Steve were back in the same building and working together again, but that wouldn't keep Tony from splitting again if Steve kept scaring Peter.


"If anything were to happen to him, I would kill everyone in this Compound and then myself, got it?"


Although shocked at the confession, Steve nodded. He'd never seen Tony act so protective over anyone but Pepper.


"I'll try my best," Steve promised.


Tony gave him a sharp look.


"Your best had better be better than humanly possible because I'm not kidding."


"I know," Steve replied with a nod.


Satisfied, Tony nodded and got up. Now that they had gotten that over with, he had a kid to go comfort. Without a word, he turned and walked down the hall to Peter's room. Knocking on the door, he peered in to see Peter grinning happily as he laid on his bed.


"You good, kid?" he asked, walking into Peter's room.


Peter turned his head and nodded, grinning at Mr. Stark.


"Did you mean everything you told Steve?"


Mr. Stark sighed. Of course Peter would have been able to hear that.


"Yeah," he said, taking a seat beside Peter.


Peter's smile widened and he threw himself at Mr. Stark, hugging him tightly. Mr. Stark hugged him in return, patting his back.


"Every word, Underoos."

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