It's a Spider Thing. {Peter Parker and Natasha Romanoff}

{31} it almost felt like drowning

TONY FLITTED RESTLESSLY AROUND THE LAB, mumbling, and rambling to himself.

He looked exhausted, and much older than Harley had ever seen him: running trembling hands through his hair and pinching the bridge of his nose periodically.

Set on his self-appointed mission of keeping a close eye on the mechanic, Harley lowered himself down to Peter's workbench. Unconsciously, his hand inched out and snatched up a stray spring that was hidden under a pile of papers covered in equations- he pointedly looked away from the familiar handwriting to Tony as he fiddled with the item. Harley's attention refused to stray far from the billionaire, not wanting to lose someone else because he looked away. Although, the longer he watched the man fix Jarvis, the more worry that unfurled in his chest.

Tony ordered the AI to hack into Shield's files for what was probably the hundredth time.

Various profiles and locations appeared as a hologram in front of him, catching Harley's focus for a moment as they moved on their own in the centre of the room. Then, his gaze turned back to Tony to watch him pull out a blueprint and pour over it. His face creased in concentration, barely hiding the exhaustion from the fight, as he muttered to himself again.

"Harley." Came a voice.

The teen spun around, shoulders tense and on alert. Surprise flickered across his expression when he saw Natasha standing behind him, her stance open and relaxed though he still winced at the sight of her injuries. His grip tightened on the spring. "There's a meeting happening upstairs. Save me and Stark some seats, we'll follow you in." She explained, not waiting for a response as she walked towards the billionaire who was mouthing an equation to himself.

Harley looked back at Tony himself, and his feet refused to move.

Noticing the lack of movement, Natasha paused and leaned towards him. "I got him from here kid." She promised. Harley nodded once before finally leaving the lab.

"Harls pass me the-" Tony's words trailed off when his eyes settled on Natasha.

Her back was to him, but he didn't need to see her face to know what had caught her attention- she was angled towards Peter's desk. There were scattered tools and a broken web shooter laid out, as if the teenager had only stepped away for a minute to grab a snack or visit the bathroom.

"Romanoff." Tony announced, looking away.

"Stark." She sighed, taking in a sharp breath before she turned to him. "You're avoiding me."

He scoffed. "And why would I do that?"

Tony moved across the room; his movements were casual but his eyes refused to even glance in the direction of the redhead. Natasha crossed her arms as she studied him.

"Because Peter is gone, and you're blaming yourself."

The harsh words hung between them. Natasha stared at Tony while he determinedly stared at everything that wasn't her. Regret pooled in his stomach whenever he thought of the young teenager, of what he could have done differently. He should have caught Peter. Should have chased after the helicopter. Should have done better- should have saved his kid.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want a pep talk-"

"Good." Natasha announced, cutting him off. "Because I'm not here to give you one. I'm here to grab your ass so we can start looking for him together. As a team." Her voice was gravelly but left no room for disagreement. Though Tony didn't get the memo apparently.

"It might not be a good idea if I go." the 'I'll make it worse' went unsaid.

A flare of grief and anger made its way through Natasha's chest as she stalked towards the billionaire, her face hard and set as she rounded the workbench.

"Don't be so damn hard on yourself." She snapped, forcing Tony's attention on her; he looked shocked at the order. "Yeah, you screwed up- but everyone did. We're not perfect. Mistakes happen, but it's what we do afterwards that counts and I'm going to search for Peter until I find him."

Her chest heaved and Tony saw more in her eyes in that moment than over the course of the entire time he had known her. "What are you going to do?"

He gulped before nodding.

Natasha's lip quirked slightly at the small victory, but it was brief and overshadowed by her exhaustion. "Come on. We've got a meeting and a teen saving us seats."

When they arrived, the first thing Natasha noticed was that the meeting room had been apparently unscathed from the fight that had happened only a few hours prior. For a moment, she allowed herself to wonder how it could look so mundane. So untouched by the rest of the world when something devastating had happened just outside of its doors. Shouldn't it have been in pieces? Like the team?

Like her?

Taking in an imperceptible breath, she moved further into the room. Thor and Bruce were already seated in the middle of the table talking between themselves while Steve sat a few seats away and was speaking quietly to Fury who stood at the head of the table with a file clutched in his hands that he must have brought with him. Harley was sat near the back on his own, still playing with the spring he had stolen; he took in a shaky breath when he thought no one was looking, but Tony who had just appeared in the doorway caught the action. Immediately, he took the seat beside the teenager.

Both let out matching sighs of relief.

Natasha passed Clint who had situated himself near the door, standing with his arms crossed firmly over his chest- she placed a steadying hand on his. He eased slightly at the small touch and met her eyes so that they shared a silent conversation before she moved on to a seat.

"Now that we're all here," Announced Nick, flicking open the file, "Peter Parker was taken by Hydra earlier this morning. He was a mutate experiment that escaped just over a year ago during a transfer. In that year he was living with Agent Romanoff, strictly off the books."

All of the avengers turned to look at Natasha who offered a simple arched eyebrow as her only response. They all swiftly tuned back into Fury who carried on regardless of the shift in focus.

"Halfway through that year, he became the masked vigilante, Spiderman."

A set of pictures were dropped onto the table and in unison everyone leaned forwards to get a better look. Most of them were of Spiderman in action, using his web shooters or rescuing people from a dangerous situation- day or night. But the odd one out was the few of civilian Peter walking down the street, headphones on and oblivious to the camera. Natasha pulled one towards her and stared down at his smiling face; it was one of him outside of a coffee shop, holding a bouquet of flowers- he must have been on his way to the theatre, her mind supplied, recognising the type of flower.

She couldn't describe the feeling rising in her chest at the sight of him looking so free.

It almost felt like drowning. A mix of loss and dread; of hope that was quashed by fear. A burning sensation in her lungs and the urge to never breath again.

Natasha blinked, only half listening to the director.

"The internship with Stark wasn't connected to his identity as Spiderman until after he was employed, but then it became a convenient cover." Finished Fury, passing the file over to Steve who turned with an incredulous expression to the two adults at the end of the table.

"You both knew?"

They shrugged as Nat finally tore her eyes away from the photograph and firmly pushed it away.

Despite the situation, Harley smiled. He knew Peter would have loved to have seen the utter shock on their face, and it made the teen want to laugh and cry all at once because he wasn't there to revel in the surprise and bafflement of the avengers.

Natasha caught his eyes and shot him a rare smile of her own, as if reading his thoughts. 

A/N

Well. I know there was no Peter in this chapter but he will be in the next one! I just wanted to explore their reactions and lowkey expose Peter's life to the rest of the team. :)

Anywho! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.