No Lie

What's a Spider-Man?

Peter was a little nervous. Mr. Stark had suggested they tell Bruce he was Spider-Man so if he ever got seriously injured, Bruce could fix him up and he wouldn't be too shocked at discovering the boy was a superhero. It was a good idea and there was no reason for Peter to be against it, but ti was always never-wracking to tell someone about Spider-Man whether he wanted to or not.

Peter trusted Bruce, of course. The scientist had become one of his closest friends even though he'd only known him for a short while. He spent plenty of time with him and Tony in the lab. In fact, he was in the lab more than he wasn't which was why when Peter came to the Tower after school, he wasn't too surprised to see Mr. Stark and Bruce already in the lab.

As Peter walked into the lab, greeting both of them happily, Bruce turned to look at him.

Looking worried, Bruce said, "Tony said you had something important to tell me."

What else had Mr. Stark said? Did the man not know how to casually announce breaking news?

"Oh," Peter said, dropping his backpack.

He looked at Mr. Stark for encouragement, but the man just nodded and smiled, motioning for Peter to continue.

"What is it?" Bruce asked worriedly, glancing back at Tony. "Should I be this concerned?"

"It's not that big of a deal," Peter answered, trying to calm Bruce down.

Mr. Stark looked like he wanted to debate that and Peter glared at him. Clearly Mr. Stark was not helping calm Bruce's worry.

"Well?" Bruce prompted.

Peter fiddled with his hands and glanced down at the floor.

"It's just, in case I ever get hurt or something," Peter began, glancing up at Bruce who looked horrified at the thought of Peter getting hurt.

The panicked expression on Bruce's face made Peter panic too, so he began to ramble.

"Cause, you know, superheroes get hurt sometimes and need someone to fix them up and you seem pretty good at that, so I would rather you fix me up than some other doctor so I just wanted to tell you that, um, I'm Spider-Man?"

Peter looked up at Bruce warily, trying to read his expression. To Peter's surprise, Bruce just looked confused.

"You're what?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Peter shyly repeated 'Spider-Man' again, but that only confused Bruce more.

"What's a—What's a... Spider-Man?"

Peter frowned in equal confusion.

"Me." He pointed to himself. "I'm Spider-Man."

Bruce nodded, eyebrows still scrunched together. "Okay, but what is it? Is it like a band name? Are you in a band?"

Peter pulled his head back, face scrunched and eyes wide.

"No, I'm not in a—I'm Spider-Man!" he exclaimed. He pulled his sleeve back and showed Bruce his web shooter. "See? I'm Spider-Man!"

"Okay, but what is that?" Bruce asked, looking to Tony for help.

Mr. Stark just smirked and watched as Peter struggled to explain that he was Spider-Man again.

"Tony, don't laugh at me!" Bruce exclaimed, glancing between him and Peter. "I've been gone for two years. Just tell me what a Spider-Man is!"

"Spider-Man's a superhero," Mr. Stark said simply.

Bruce blinked, his face going blank as he looked between Peter and Tony again.

"He would be an Avenger, but Peter said no. He'd rather just be a local hero."

Bruce turned to look at Peter, looking only slightly less confused. "You're a superhero?"

Peter nodded, thankful Bruce finally seemed to understand.

"But that's—you're 17!" Bruce protested, waving his hands at him. "Superheroes get hurt, like, all the time."

"That's why I'm telling you," Peter said before repeating the part about wanting Bruce to be able to fix him up if he ever got injured.

Hesitantly, Bruce nodded.

"Don't worry, kid," he replied, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder. "If you ever get hurt, I'll fix you up to be better than perfect. That's a promise!"