Chapter Text
It goes to figure that the first time Peter meets an avenger that doesn't have the urgent need to cart him halfway around the world and change his life forever within the first five minutes of meeting him that he be soaking wet and half frozen to death.
Peter had come in through the elevator, a rare occurrence these days to Happy's utter delight (note the sarcasm) and run straight into the Natasha Romanov.
Peter toppled backwards, eyes widening as small drops of water were flung everywhere from the sharp movement, a speckle of dirty water hitting her in the face. The Russian Spy had straightened, looking down at the boy as he scrambled up and desperately sputtered out, "I'm so so sorry, oh my gosh I cannot believe this is happening to me, I am so sorry. Mj is going to kill me, I just almost mauled her idol. Would you like to hit me or something, I would thank you, I'm so sorry oh my god-"
Peter kept bouncing, apologizing with an eagerness that only reared it's head when he was really tired, trying to shake off the cold that seemed to cling to him like a second skin.
Natasha shook her head, effectively cutting off the teen as he bounced in place, bits of water flying from his wet hair, lips starting to turn blue slightly.
The spy opened her mouth to question him, most likely about his being on Tony's personal apartment floor, and Peter cut her off before she could. Peter cut off freaking Natasha Romanoff.
"Is it cold in here, it so freaking cold in here. I meant to get a towel and maybe a blanket, you are the Black Widow."
Peter's eyes were wide, taking the Spy in as his mind raced, ignoring FRIDAY in the background letting him know that Tony had been alerted of his arrival and whereabouts. That would be a shitshow, Tony coming in while she murdered him for getting water on her and then cutting her off.
The spy opened her mouth, probably to ask a question, but everything was slightly murky for Peter, sounds swimming in and out of focus as he shivered violently, bouncing up and down to keep himself moving.
Natasha was talking to him, that he could tell. Natasha fucking Romanov was talking to him, lips moving quickly as her voice continued in a steady stream, the sounds of the words too murky to make out, but the sound of her voice quite nice. Natasha Romanov was talking to him and he wasn't listening.
A loud beeping sound behind Peter signifies the elevator opening, someone exiting and the sound of their heartbeat oddly familiar and the chill that had been settling in his bones slowly for that last few minutes abated for a moment and Peter got a glimpse of Natasha's eyes widening before he fell forward, his blood chilling in his veins and freezing his bones into immovability, barely able to avoid hitting the ground, instead careening into Black Widow and almost bringing them both to the floor.
"Well shit."
Tony was there suddenly, though Peter could not remember him being there, "Kid? Jeez you're freezing."
Peter nodded and ignored the near violent shiver racing through his body, "Did I mention it was cold."
His position was shifted and he heard a slightly freaked out voice say, "I'll go make some hot chocolate."
When Peter woke up to the steady beating of the heart monitor that was starting to become more common than his alarm going off in the morning, he groaned, not bothering to open his eyes as he shifted toward the direction he could hear Tony was in and mumbled, "What'd I do this time?"
Tony snorted, coming closer to Peter as he said, "Fainted in front of Natasha Romanov, who is never going to let you live it down."
Peter groaned again, turning away from Tony in favor of shoving his face into the scratchy pillow, the coarse material like sandpaper against his skin, but more welcome then the memories of the last few minutes before fainting where he had had what was undoubtedly the most embarrassing conversation of his life, with a woman who could crush him.
"Mj is never going to let me live this one down now is she?"
Tony laughed this time, shaking his head at the boy in Peter's peripheral vision, "Yes of course, lets not worry about you almost freezing to death because you couldn't thermoregulate, that makes sense."
Peter shook his head at the utter inability the man had to let him deflect, the hypocrisy startling, "How long was I out?"
Tony grinned, "Less than an hour," he held out a mug from his room, not something that DUM-E made, though the color was slightly reminiscent of motor oil, "Nat made you hot chocolate."
Peter took the cup in awe, looking down at the liquid as if it were gold, "God, I cannot believe the first time I'm meeting a real avenger outside of battle, I collapse on top of them and almost freeze to death."
Tony put his hands up, grin still firmly on his face, though he was trying to mask it with a faux offended expression, "Do I not count as a real avenger."
Peter leveled a deadpan look at the man, "You act like a toddler on steroids and half the time can't spend more than fifteen minutes on one thing because, and I quote, 'stability in life is boring and I'd rather die than grow comfortable with normality' which his, by the way, very poetic, did you read it off of an angsty teen on tumbler? "
Tony paused for a moment before deciding he probably didn't want to pursue whatever the fuck tumbler was, "But I'm smart?"
Peter grinned, "Yes Tony, you are smart, probably the best avenger."
Tony shook his head, hands clasping behind his back, "Nat's better than me."
Peter sat up, ignoring the man in favor of saying insistently, "You are amazing and a great role model," Peter knew that Tony was trying his hardest to deflect the conversation away from himself, but he needed the man to know that he was amazing, self deprecating humor aside.
Tony smiled a bit, a different one from his press smile, the small unintentional uplifting of his lips that he did whenever Peter handed him something in the lab without being asked, or solved a problem Tony had been struggling with, or did something so stupid it was funny.
The man ruffled his head before slinging an arm around his shoulder, "Thanks Pete," resting his head on top of Peter's head.
There was a clattering sound at the doorway, the Black Widow standing in the doorway, looking between the two boys sitting on the bed in feigned disinterest that was ruined by the wideness of her eyes, a book laying on the floor from where she dropped it, "You are hugging him?" she said simply, though it sounded almost accusatory.
Tony, for his part, was not embarrassed in the slightest, sticking his chin up in the air, "Yeah and?"
The red-haired woman in the doorway paled slightly, clearing her throat as she picked the book up from the ground and left, "Carry on then."
Peter looked over at Tony in surprise when the man started shaking against him, his body rocking the bed as he aggressively trembled, fist over his mouth to unsuccessfully cover the wide smile spreading across his face.
"What?"
Tony gave up on trying to mask his amusement, laughing aloud before saying, "Kid, you just scared Nat."
Peter wrinkled his brow in confusion, "I what?"
Tony just replied with laughter.