Subway Spider: Peter Parker Superfamily Story

A Real Child

Peter POV
Bucky carried Peter into the kitchen, which just so happened to be full of scheming superheroes. That was never good.

When the toddler saw Nat, he instantly wiggled out of Bucky's arms and sprinted to her. He hadn't seen the red head in hours, and for him that was way too much time. Natasha smiled softly at the boy and lifted him into her lap.

Petey crossed his little arms on the table and placed his chin on them, making his chubby cheeks almost cover his eyes. "What are you guys talking about?" His small voice and lisp made it even more adorable.

Tony grinned mischievously down at the kid. "Have you ever been to a park before, Petey boy?"

Peter perked up at the word. He had seen parks while wandering the streets after escaping Hydra, but he was always wary of the people inside of them. He still wasn't that trusting of people, which, according to Bruce, was expected.

"No, but I saw one. There were slides and these seat things that swung and they had bars that kids were swinging from! There were dogs and birds and one of the dogs even came up and sniffed me! It was a big one and it had black fur and floppy ears and it's tail was super duper long! And-and-" he was cut off by the entire team bursting into laughter.

The toddler cocked his head to the side at their laughter. What was so funny?

Wanda must have seen his confusion (or read his mind again) and said, "We've never heard you say so much at one time, Peter. I promise we weren't making fun of you, you are just adorable when you ramble."

The young boy was still confused. He had never been praised for talking, he had always been punished.

Wanda heard his thoughts and frowned, but decided not to say anything. She would tell the team about it later and they could decide what to do.

Tony smirked once again. "Well, it's your lucky day, kid, because I rented out a park for today. Only we can get in."

Peter was beaming. He could play on all of the cool things he saw without having to worry about being taken back by the bad men. He was surrounded by superheroes, after all.

The boy used a web to swing over to the elevator and started bouncing excitedly in front of it. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" he shouted giddily.

The team chuckled. Who were they to deny him?
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When they arrived to the park, two people squealed. Peter was one of them, of course. But the team face palmed when they saw Scott sprinting towards the swings.

Steve started running after him, yelling, "Scott, do not get stuck in the baby swing again! We are not using butter this time!"

Peter started squirming in Nat's arms, asking to be put down. She released him and he immediately ran to the slide. Peter giggled as he went down, not noticing the team grinning at him from where they were standing.

Bucky spoke up first. "I didn't really notice until now that he never acts like a kid. Peter is more mature than all of us, and he's only a kid. He's a kid and he has more trauma than probably all of us combined."

Wanda sighed sadly. "The worst part is that he is not a child, not really. A child doesn't have that look of fear in their eyes at all times. A child doesn't flinch at any sudden movements. A child doesn't live in fear. Peter isn't a child, he is a weapon. But even weapons break eventually. And he is only now starting to crack. There, underneath that shell of a dangerous pawn, is a child."

No one noticed Tony wiping away a stray tear. They only looked at him once he said, "I'm gonna go play with the kid. I don't want him to get bored."

And if anyone heard his voice crack, they didn't say anything.
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Sorry this one took so long, I've been having family time the past few days. I should have another one up in the next two-ish days, maybe less.

Ok, you know what? You're in time out. Get on top of the fridge.
-spidey