“-can’t say no to her. Seriously, she could ask Harley to take over the world and he would.” Peter huffed.

Harley? She remembers the name from their field trip a few weeks ago. He was Peter’s boyfriend, right?

Ned had snickered at that, picking up a fry from his tray “And you wouldn’t? Mr. you can’t have any more cookies but I suppose I can make an exception this one time that turns into every time?”

Peter rolled his eyes “First off, That is a really long name. Second, have you seen her? She’s adorable. She could probably get Fisk to turn himself in with just a look.”

”I can’t believe you took so long to tell me.”

”How was I supposed to tell you? Hey Ned, guess what? You’re technically an uncle.” Peter did short jazz hands, “How would you suggest I had explained it?”

Ned snorted, shaking his head with amusement.

”Hey, we are still in the lunchroom.” MJ cut in, dryly, “Unless you want the whole school to know.”

Both Peter and Ned sheepishly apologized but Betty’s brain was already working double time.

Uncle? Does Peter have a kid? Since when? Who was the mother? Was it his? Betty was going to find out. Only because once her curiosity was peaked it was hard to let the topic go.

And finding out a schoolmate, let alone Peter Parker, has a kid was tugging at her curiosity. So to sate it, she decided to ask around. She decided to start with her teammates at AcaDec practice that day. It wasn't a mandatory practice so very few people actually showed up, The only ones there being, Betty, Abe, Cindy, Sally, and Flash. They were in the gym waiting on Peter, Ned, and Mj to show up. Mr.Harrington was sitting near the back of the room grading papers.

“Have you seen anything weird with Peter recently?”

“Why are you asking?” Abe asked cautiously. It was never a good thing when Betty was interrogating people.

”I’m just curious, is all.” She frowned, “Can I not be curious?”

”You? No.” Sally stated, “You’re never just curious.”

Cindy nodded in agreement, “Why are you asking about Peter anyway?”

”I told you! I’m just curious!”

Cindy gasped “Do you have a crush on him?”

Betty shook her head rapidly “No! I just-“ she paused then sighed, “I heard him talking to Ned at lunch yesterday and it-“ she pressed her lips together, unsure if she should even tell them.

”It what?” Abe questioned.

Crap. What does she do? She didn't want to out Peter on accident but she was so curious!

"Just,you know, was weird. I don't know. That's why I'm asking." Betty replied with a hopefully casual wave of her hand.

"Why would you want to know about Parker?" Flash scoffed from a few seats away, Betty sighed.

"Unlike you Flash, Peter is friends with us." Sally shot back, annoyed, "And he's pretty cool too." She added pointedly.

"Yeah right." He scoffed but didn't say anything else, thankfully.

Betty ignored Flash and turned to Cindy, "What about you? You sit behind him during first period."

Before she could reply the doors to the gym opened and the three other members of their team showed up. MJ glanced around the group, frowning.

"Nobody else?" She huffed, rolling her eyes, "Well, this isn't a mandatory practice. Whatever, I'll just make them do extra practice next time." She looked over the group, "Get into teams. We're gonna be practicing response time today." Everyone hurried into their seats.

Betty mentally groaned at the loss of opportunity but then perked up as she realized she was sitting next to Ned and Peter. Hopefully, she’ll overhear something soon.

The practice went on for about thirty minutes before they were interrupted by a loud ringing.

“Sorry!”

They all turned to see Peter fumbling to grab his phone. Betty perked up instantly. Maybe this was her chance?

Mr.Harrison sighed “Parker, turn your phone off.”

Oh, right. Practice. Dang it, She’ll never find out at this rate.

Peter nodded, glanced at his phone, the shook his head, standing up, “Sorry, Mr.Harrington but I got to take this.”

Betty perked up again. Or maybe she will.

He headed to the edge of the stage, answering his phone before their teacher could stop him.

Due to how quiet it was, they could all hear him talking on the phone, the other side of the conversation though was muted.

”What happened?” The words came off worried. Whatever the other replied caused Peter to breathed out heavily and run a hand through his hair, relieved.

”Oh, is she okay?” A pause, “Fuck. Okay, just-“ he glanced back at them briefly, “I can’t really leave right now. Is it bad? No? Good, that’s good. I'm glad she's okay. What was she even doing?”

Another pause then a disbelieving, “What?” Peter shook his head and groaned, “I thought I told her to wait. Hey! Why is she my kid when she does something stupid? You are just as likely to fuck uhhh,” Peter trailed off, his expression softened as the phone was presumably handed off, “Hey, Mai. How’s the hand?”

Mai? That’s the name of the girl from the field trip. Why was Peter talking to her?

”No, I’m not mad. Just- I told you to wait for me or Harley. I know. I know. You were excited but you could have really hurt yourself.”

Peter’s lip twitched upwards “Yeah, I know. Look, how about I stop and get you some ice cream and you promise to wait next time?”

Peter hummed “New Legos? I don’t know. You did break the rules.” Peter lightly teased, “But fine, just this once.” His expression turned disapproving, “But you have to promise to wait next time. Yeah? Okay, okay. Good. I’ll see you when I get home. See you, sweetie.”

The phone was handed off again, “Like you aren’t?” He shook his head, “We can talk about this later, I gotta go. MJ is giving me the evil eye.” The said brunette rolled her eyes, “Yeah, see you when I get home.” A blush crept up Peter’s face, “Yeah,” he smiled softly, “Love you too.”

He hung up and turned back to the team, tilting his head with confusion when he saw them with their mouths open and eyes wide with puzzled shock bar MJ and Ned, ”What?”

“What the fuck Parker!?” Flash shouted, “Do you have a kid!?”

”Language!” Mr.Harrington said then turned to Peter, “But I must agree. Who was that you were talking to?”

“Oh.” Peter’s blush returned full force, “I can explain.”

He was silent for a long moment.

“I can no longer explain.” He said.

Flash rolled his eyes, “As if you would have a kid anyway. You would need someone who would want to sleep with you first.”

"Mr.Thompson, language."

”You do remember he has a boyfriend right?” Abe said, raising a brow at Flash.

”Unless Parker is secretly a girl, I still don’t see how he could have a kid.”

“That brings up a valid point.” Mr.Harrington turned to Peter, “Is this child your sister? Or just someone you are babysitting?”

Peter opened his mouth then breathed out his nose, “Sorta? I mean-“ he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Ms.Potts is gonna be pissed.” He murmured before turning back to them.

”You guys remember that girl from the field trip? The one who beat you all at Mario Kart?”

”Yeah. The secret love child of the Avengers.” Sally nods.

”No, She was Peter’s boyfriend’s cousin. Right?” Cindy corrected with a tilt of her head.

“Yeah, her. She’s uh-“ Peter paused then sighed again, “She’s not his cousin. She’s- well, she’s an orphan that Harley and I took in.” He admits quietly.

“What do you mean? What didn’t you take her to foster care?”

Peter shook his head at Mr.Harrington, “Are you kidding? No, look, it’s complicated. Trust me, I can’t tell you everything but Mr.stark agrees it would have been a bad idea. Anyway, the short story is we found her and we took her in. She’s been with us for a few months now. And you guys can’t tell anyone! I’m serious. It could be very dangerous for her if it gets out. Please.” He gave them a pleading look that tugged at Betty’s heart.

Flash still looked doubtful, “And Tony Stark is okay with you just having a five-year-old in his tower?”

“She’s four. And yeah. He is.”

“What was that phone call about?” Sally asked curiously, changing the topic.

”Oh,” a look of fond annoyance flicked through Peter’s eyes, “Mai accidentally hurt herself trying to make something. It’s wasn’t too bad. She just nicked her hand a bit." Peter rolled his eyes fondly, "She was just super excited and opened the box without anyone there, cut herself with the box and freaked out Harley when he walked in and saw her bleeding. She'll be okay though."

"That's good." Cindy slumped into her chair, they were all obviously relieved to hear the little girl was okay.

Betty hummed, "So that's who you and Ned were talking about at lunch?"

MJ gave Ned and Peter a pointed look.

"You, uh, heard that?" Ned asked sheepishly.

Betty nodded, "It was bugging me all day!" She admits.

Peter glanced around the room, "You guys, won't tell anyone right? I'm not kidding when I said it'd be dangerous for her."

"I won't say a word," Cindy promised, Sally and Abe agreed easily.

Betty shrugged herself, "I'm satisfied just knowing." She smiled at them.

Mr.Harrington and Flash looked the most hesitant, Well, Mr.Harrington did, Flash just looked doubtful.

"Come on Flash," Peter says, "I don't care if you don't believe me. Just-Don't tell anyone about her? Please?"

Flash pressed his lips together, "I don't know."

"What do you want?" Peter asked, deadpan.

Flash shrugged, "I never did get to finish that tour."

"You were a dick!" Ned exclaimed.

Flash kept his eyes on Peter "Well, Parker?"

"Will you kept quiet?" Peter prompted, Flash nodded.

"You can't seriously be thinking about agreeing," Abe says puzzled.

Everybody knew Flash bullied Peter, he'd gotten a little better over the past few weeks but he was still a bully.

Peter and Flash locked eyes, staring at each other for a long tense moment. 

Something must have happened in that nonverbal interaction though because Peter pressed his lips together, breathed in deeply, then, looking like he was regretting the words that were about to come out of his mouth, said, "You can come over to the tower this weekend. If you promise not to tell anyone." Peter offered, "We can do whatever you want that doesn't have to do with the labs. Tony would never let you back in those."

"What? Peter!" Ned complained.

Flash crossed his arms, "Will that girl kick me again?"

Betty pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. That was a great memory. She shared an amused look with Abe and Cindy.

"Will you be a dick?" Peter shot back.

Mr.Harrignton opened his mouth, probably to chide Peter for his language before he seemed to just give up, slumping against his chair and rubbing his temples.

Once again, Flash and Peter stared at each other, neither seemingly willing to give in. Then, Flash blinked and leaned back in his seat.

"Fine. But if I get threatened again, I'm out."

"Trust me, They won't settle for just threatening you this time if you did something," Peter replied idly, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Flash paled a little before he huffed, "Whatever. I'll be by this weekend."

"Alright. Deal." Peter turned to Mr.Harrington, tilting his head questioningly.

Mr.Harrington waved his hand, "I'd rather not deal with a lawsuit, thanks." And that was it.

MJ cleared her throat and got everybody back to practice. Betty, though, was glad she finally got her answer.

...

”So, how was school today?” Tony asked during dinner. It was just Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Peter, Harley, and Mai there tonight as the others were either busy or off-world.

”The team found out about Mai.” Peter said, taking a bite of chicken.

”I thought they already knew about her due to that field trip?” Pepper asked.

”Yeah, but now they know Harley and I are taking care of her and she’s not Harley’s cousin we were babysitting.”

"How'd that happened?" Harley frowned, Peter shot him a look.

"Someone just so happened to call me during practice freaking out about a paper cut. Right, Mai." Peter tickled her stomach making her laugh.

"Yeah!" She agreed, waving her hand. It really wasn't that big a cut, but it was on her palm which made it hard for her to hold things. Thankfully, It should heal in a few days according to Dr.Cho.

"Ah, oops?" Harley grinned sheepishly, Mai giggled again.

"Do we have to make them sign NDA's?" Rhodey questioned cautiously, Peter and Harley may not be Tony's biological kids but that didn't mean Rhodey couldn't care for them as his nephews.

Peter shook his head, "I don't think so. It should be fine. I trust them." He smiled fondly as he watched Harley help Mai cut her chicken.

Pepper nodded, "I'll get some paperwork ready anyway. Don't want to risk it." Her tone brokered no arguments.

Peter nodded, "Okay. Fair enough. Oh, also," He perked up, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Flash is coming over this weekend."

Harley, Tony, and Rhodey all choked on their food as Pepper and Mai blinked at him.

"What!?" The three guys exclaimed together.

Mai felt her cheeks heat up “I-well-whatever! Anyway, why do you want to meet them so suddenly?”

“It’s not sudden. We’ve known each other for three years and have been dating for one of them! I’m honestly surprised I haven’t met your parents before.”

Mai hummed, a little frown on her face “That’s- okay that is a little weird.” She then lit up, “No, wait! You have! Remember the science fair? You saw them then.”

“But like, only your mom and as your classmate and we weren’t dating then. That was also over two years ago.” Nicky gave Mai a pointed look.

“Oh.” Mai deflated, “Right.”

“Do they even know you’re dating someone?” Nicky asked with a playful huff.

Mai rolled onto Nicky, her hands cupped their face as she stared seriously into their eyes “Yes. How could I possibly go a day without informing everyone I know that I am dating the most amazing, beautiful, wonderful, amazing person in the entire world? I couldn’t, I would die. And I can’t die yet, I still have to write that stupid essay for Ms.Simmons' class.”

Nicky blinked a couple of times before giggling “The fuck Mai?”

Mai pecked their lips with a bright grin.

“Just stating the truth, love!” She watched with fondness as a tint of red crept up on beautiful olive skin and Nicky's forest-green eyes lit up with amusement. She already had hundreds of sketches and paintings of Nicky but she knew as soon as she got home she was gonna be adding this memory into her sketchbook, the one she started solely for her art of Nicky.

Nicky smiled up at her, their hands settling on Mai’s waist “So, I can meet them then?” They asked, lightly tapping on Mai's waist.

Mai sighed dramatically “Fine.” She said, drawing the word out, “I guess.”

Nicky cheered “Yes! I get to meet Harley Parker-Keener!” They threw a hand up, nearly knocking Mai right off of them.

Mai laughed out a "Hey!" before adding right after, “And the truth comes out! I knew you were just dating me to get to my father.” Mai pouted but the twinkle of amusement in her eyes gave her away.

Nicky sniffed playfully “Of course!” They agreed, “It’s Harley Parker-Keener!”

“You know, most people would be more excited about meeting Spider-Man.” Mai mused lightly, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Eh, he’s cool too, I guess. But it’s Harley Parker-Keener! He created the most amazing thing to ever exist!”

“I’m adopted.”

“I wasn’t talking about you but you are pretty amazing too.” Nicky teased.

Mai gently swatted them “Hey!” She whined.

Nicky pressed a kiss onto Mai’s cheek “Aw, you know I love you!” They knocked their nose into Mai's cheek.

Mai pressed a smile into their shoulder before snorting and saying “Dad is not gonna let Mama live this down.”

"Live what down?" They asked.

"The fact that my partner is more excited to meet my dad then the actual Spider-Man." She snickered, "Not that Mama would actually care. I think he'd actually be a little relieved."

“That’s means I’m meeting them right?”

Mai sighed and pulled her head back to look them in the face “Yeah alright, Mama has been hinting about wanting to officially meet you anyway.”

And by that, she meant he literally asked her a few days ago during breakfast when she’d bring Nicky over. And honestly? Mai was also surprised it's taken so long for her to introduce them to Nicky. 

 ....

“Hey, can Nicky come over for dinner tomorrow?” Mai asked nervously over steak later that night, glancing between the two.

Peter nearly choked on his drink and Harley grinned brightly, setting down his fork.

“This the same Nicky that you constantly write literal poems about and have about a hundred sketches of?”

“Shut up.” She huffed, she could feel her face heating up.

Harley winked and Peter swatted his arm “Stop that.” He then turned to Mai, his expression gentle, “Of course they can come over. They’re always welcome.”

Mai didn’t realize how nervous she was about asking until she felt her shoulders slump, a bright grin tugged at her lips only to fall right off as her dad added,

“Yeah, I can’t wait to finally put a real face to all those cheesy poems.”

Mai flicked a pea at him. He dodged, unfortunately.

"I wonder if they also have hearts floating around them all the time like in your sketches." Harley added teasingly.

Mai flicked more peas at him making him laugh and throw some right back at her. Before it could escalate into a full-on food fight her Mama cut in with a,

“No throwing food at the table.”

It was a rule that was implemented by Pepper a few years ago when Harley and Mai had got a little too excited and started a full-on food fight between all the Avengers. It was a pain to clean up but so much fun. They may have also broken a few things on accident, including the coffee maker (again) which is why Pepper won’t let them have another food fight. She even had Tony install a protocol on Friday that pretty much grounded whoever is caught throwing food around. Thankfully Friday was more chill when it was just the three of them, she figured the A.I had a soft spot for them but she would never tell Tony that. She's saving that revelation for when she really wants to annoy him, he'd probably mope around all day at the betrayal of his own creation. She mentally cackled at the image.

Outwardly though, Mai shrugged “You’re just salty that you weren’t there for the one and only Avenger food fight.” Mai replied before taking a bite of her mash potatoes.

“I was gone for one day.” Peter complained, slamming his fork down.

Harley patted him on the shoulder “And you missed so much fun.” He sighed dramatically.

Peter gave him a dry look, to which Harley winked at, and Mai laughed.

 ....

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.”

Mai set a hand onto Nicky’s shoulder “Are you okay? We don’t have to go if you changed your mind?” They were on the elevator headed up to Mai’s apartment when Nicky suddenly started to panic, Mai looked them over with concern.

Nicky shook their head “No! I mean,” they cleared their throat, “I’m good. Just a little- do I look okay? What if I embarrass myself? What if he thinks I’m a complete idiot!?”

Mai deadpanned “Is this about my dad again?”

“It’s Harley Parker-Keener! You know how much I look up to him! Even before I knew he was your dad.”

“My last name is literally Parker-Keener. How you didn’t put that together sooner is beyond me.”

Nicky rolled their eyes “Yeah yeah, I’m an idiot.”

Mai huffed a laugh “No, you’re not. But my dad is. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”

She paused then added “Except for some teasing. Dad loves to embarrass people.”

Nicky groaned “Not helping.”

Mai giggled “Sorry?” Though she must not have sounded convincing as Nicky just gave her a dry look. “Seriously Nick, It’ll be fine. Did you know he once stuck a bottle of ketchup into the microwave instead of back into the fridge and it exploded everywhere?”

Nicky blinked their eyes at her “Why the hell would he put ketchup in the microwave?”

Mai giggled “He was totally sleep deprived! He hadn’t slept much in over a week because of a project he was doing. Mama made him clean it up after forcing him back into bed. It took him over an hour because the ketchup dried while he was sleeping.”

“Mai, Peter and Harley are wondering if you are going to be leaving the elevator any time soon.”

Nicky’s lip twitched upwards, their body relaxing as Mai talked. They were so focused on Mai that when a voice sounded overhead they jumped “What the fuck?”

Mai threw an arm around their shoulders “That’s just Friday. She’s the A.I I told you about before.”

She glanced up at the ceiling of the elevator “Fri, say hi to Nicky!”

“Hello, Nicky. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Friday replied.

“Uh, Hi.” Nicky greeted shyly.

Mai nudged them “Ready to meet my parents?”

"Wait, do I look okay? I don't want to offend your parents!"

Mai looked Nicky over "Nah, you look fine."

"You sure?"

Mai nodded, a fond smile on her lips, and repeated, "You look fine."

They were wearing pretty much what they usually did, dark jeans and a t-shirt, except a little more dressy, which meant a dark red button-up instead of their usual band T's and the jeans with the least amount of holes. They were going to take out their lip piercing too but Mai loved it too much and pleaded with them to keep it on "My parents really won't care." She had said, "My uncle Loki had his lip pierced for a bit. Nobody cared. My mama actually told him he looked cool."

Nicky swallowed nervously, taking a calming breath before nodding “Right, I guess I'm ready then.”

Mai pecked their cheek and squeezed their shoulders reassuringly.

“Open the doors Fri.”

They stepped out into a massive living room, a hallway opened up just to the left of the elevator and on the opposite wall from them was another shorter hallway that lead the way to the kitchen and dining room. This hallway was where a short brunette walked out from, he was smiling and had on a large MIT hoodie that nearly swallowed his frame.

“Hey!” He greeted cheerfully, “Harls is getting changed, he’ll be back out in a minute.” He then turned to Nicky, “You must be Nicky. It’s nice to finally meet you! I’m Peter.”

Nicky smiled back “Nicky. It’s nice to meet you Mr.Parker-Keener.” They said politely.

Peter waved them off “Just Peter is fine!” He replied.

“I prefer darlin’ myself.” A soft drawl came from the hallway next to them before a tall blonde appeared and walked over with a cheeky grin “Hiya, nice to meet ya. I’m-“

Mai swallowed a laugh when she noticed Nicky tense up, their eyes wide and cheeks pink.

“Har-Harley Parker-Keener!” Nicky stammered out, “I-yeah-I-Hi! I mean,” They cleared their throat, “Hi.” They repeated weakly, a slight blush crept up over their cheeks.

Harley blinked surprise before his smile widened “Oh, you know me?”

“Do I-do I know you?” Nicky repeated with a look of disbelief and awe.

Mai couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore “Nick’s a huge fan of you dad!” She proudly stated.

Harley looked genuinely surprised “Oh? Thank you?" He then turned a cheeky grin onto Peter, "Ya hear that? They are a fan of me!"

Peter rolled his eyes with fond amusement "I'm not surprised, you are pretty amazing."

"Not as amazing as you darlin'." Harley instantly shot back with a wink.

Mai groaned "Seriously? Not even a minute and you're already flirting."

"Give us another minute and we could be kissing too." Harley shot back with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Mai gasped, horrified "Don't you dare taint my Nicky!"

"Alright, we'll just leave you two out here and be back in an hour."

Mai grimaced "Oh my god, Dad!"

Harley laughed at her, ruffling her hair.

Peter's face pinked a little and he shot a weak smile at Nicky "Sorry."

Nicky shrugged "It's alright."  They replied with a light grin, keeping most of their attention on Peter so they don't accidentally start fanning out over Harley. They did not want to embarrass themself so quickly after just meeting the man.

"Peter, the bread is done." Friday called out to them.

"Oh!" Peter lit up, "Dinner's ready then! I made lasagna-"

"You mean I made it and you watched me." Harley cut in, wrapping an arm around Peter, grin on his face.

Peter continued as if he didn't hear him "-I hope you like it, I asked Mai what you liked and she said pretty much anything with red sauce or meat."

Nicky gently nudged Mai with their elbow.

"What? It's true!" Mai defended.

"That sounds great. Thank you." Nicky smiled at Mai's parents, they glanced down with a smile when Mai's hand slipped into theirs.

....

The actual dinner portion of the night didn't go too badly either.

Nicky was obviously nervous and Mai could tell they were struggling to keep calm every time her dad opened his mouth. It was hilarious. And Mai laughed loudly and hard enough to bring tears to her eyes when Nicky inevitably did start to fan out over Harley, briefly startling then embarrassing her dad. She noticed he didn't really seem to mind that much though as he happily replied to every question Nicky had for him. Peter and Mai had watched them talk with wide smiles on their faces and fond amusement in their eyes.She knew she was gonna be bringing Nicky over more often now, if only to see them fanning over and embarrassing her dad.

"So, Nicky," Harley had said at one point, "I must say, I'm a little disappointed you don't have literal hearts floating around you."

"uh, sorry?" Nicky apologized confusedly, Mai's cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Oh my god. I hate you." She hissed at her dad.

Peter elbowed him but she could see the twitch to his lips "Mai has a bunch of sketches of you in her art book. Most of them have hearts surrounding you." He explained.

"You're both jerks." She huffed, she was sure her face matched the color of the sauce in the lasagna.

"Oh." Nicky huffed a laugh, "Yeah, I've seen them. It's cute."

“Nicky!”

"Aw, you know I love you." Nicky teased, Mai started to smile.

"Enough to write a cheesy poem?" Harley just had to ruin the moment.

She shot her dad a glare.

She was relieved that Nicky was getting along with her parents so easily and that this went a lot better then she had worried it might (not that she doubted her parents would love Nicky but she had never brought home anyone before), she just wished Nicky didn't bond with them over embarrassing her. 

Peter looked up from his cellphone, Tony had been texting him constantly about how boring his meeting was and unlike Harley (Who had simply blocked Tony’s number after the tenth text full of nothing but the bored emoji), He was actually trying to get Tony to focus on his meeting. He did not need Pepper giving him that look of disapproval from feeding Tony’s bad habit of ignoring his job, again. He followed Mai’s gaze to the billboard above them, it was indeed Spider-Man and on it, he was swinging around the statue of liberty.

“Oh, I remember that. Pepper had me look over some papers for a travel agency that wanted to use me on their advertisements.”

Mai turned to him with a quirked brow “Did you even try them out first?” She asked.

Harley snorted, not even trying to hide his grin “Yeah? Did ya?”

Peter huffed, “If you must know, Pepper and Friday looked into them for me.”

“But did you try them?” Mai pressed.

Peter pinked a little as he shook his head.

Mai sighed “Mama.” She complained, “You always said I need to try things myself before I make an opinion!”

“She’s right Pete. You do always say that.” Harley added teasingly.

Peter crouched down so he was eye level with Mai “How about this? We can all try them out together? You okay with that?” He asked.

Mai hummed, thoughtful “Will we get to go to the Statue lady?”

Peter’s lip twitched upwards “Yeah, We can-”

He was cut off by the sound of a loud screech. He stood up quickly, spinning on his heels in the direction of the noise.

People started running around them trying to get away.

“Harley, Get Mai out of here.” Peter sharply told him.

Harley nodded, picking Mai up and started in the opposite direction.

                                                           ...

The fight had been going on for nearly an hour now and Peter was getting really annoyed. He had to call in the rest of the avengers because there was no way he could take all six of the massive flying alien things himself. He wasn’t even sure what they even were, just that they were massive and completely annoying.

He tried to keep an eye on Harley and Mai but the fight kept dragging his attention away until finally, he heard a scream.

He froze and swung to a stop, looking down below to see one of the alien creature had knocked Harley over and grabbed ahold of Mai.

He felt his whole body tremble with anger and worry.

“GET THE HELL OFF HER!” He shouted angrily as he swung in their direction.

“Peter! Calm down. We’ll save her!” Tony called over the com.

Peter was going to listen but then Mai screamed again, tears pricking at her eyes as the thing raised her up and shook her. Peter’s mind blanked and the next thing he knew, he was hitting the thing with all his strength, it let out a screech and let go of Mai. Peter’s eye went wide and he jumped after her, catching her in his arms as he passed. Peter curled around her and made sure they landed with him first. They rolled a bit before stopping. Peter uncurled and immediately started looking her over worriedly.

“Are you okay?” He asked breathless from the landing.

Mai nodded, a small tremble shaking her body then her eyes widened “Mama look out!” She exclaimed loudly.

Peter crouched over her just in time for the alien monster to barrel over them, it’s claws lightly scratched Peter’s back. He bit back a moan of pain.

“Mama?”

“Pe-Spider-Man!” Harley shouted as he ran over “Oh my god, are you okay!?”

Peter hissed and handed Mai over to Harley.

“‘M fine.” He stood up “Harls, Get Mai out of here.”

Harley looked him over with concern “Are you okay? That was a pretty nasty fall? And your back-“

“I’m fine! Get Mai out of here.” Peter narrowed his eyes onto the alien beast as it swung back around, heading right back his way “Now!”

Harley, despite obviously wanting to say more, heft Mai into his arms and ran for cover.

Peter was trembling with rage.

“You are going to regret going after my daughter!” He said before jumping up and slamming his fist right into the things face. Due to it flying full force at him and the fact that Peter didn’t hold back, the thing got launch right back into one of his fellow alien buddies causing them both to go crashing into a building. They flopped off the side onto the ground, landing with a loud thud.

“Karen? Are they dead?” He asked as he started moving for another one, there were only three left as Thor and Tony took one down already.

“No, they seem to be unconscious.”

Peter felt slight relief at that. 

Great, if they could take that and only be knocked out then he wasn’t holding back.

He shot a web at a building near him and headed for the next nearest one.

Thor, Clint, and Steve were attacking it but it kept flying out of the way before they could get a good hit in. He didn’t feel too bad when he slammed his feet into its side making it squeal. He shot a web at its wing and tugged, it hit the building behind him pretty hard, he then threw it into the building opposite, repeating that process twice.

“Peter!” He heard Tony call through the com “Calm down!”

“These things nearly killed Mai!” He growled, “I will not let them get away with it!”

                                                             ...

“Shit, he’s going to kill them!” Clint cried out.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Thor asked curious.

“For him? Yes. He’s the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Not the I’ll kick you into next Sunday and bury you there Spider-Man!” Tony answered worriedly.

“We need to stop him.” Steve said as he watched Peter zero in on the second to last alien.

“How?” Thor asked.

“Grab him!” Tony huffed, “I would do it but I’m a little preoccupied! Shit, Thor! Don’t hit me!”

“Sorry, I will try to be more careful.” 

“Somehow, I don’t believe you.” Tony’s replied with a sigh.

Clint groaned as he turned to Steve and Thor “Guess it's up to us.”

“Will he really kill them?” Steve asked worried, not once taking his eyes off of Peter as he hit and swung his legs into the massive thing repeatedly.

“Do you want to find out?” Clint retorted before turning to Thor,  “Right, I’m gonna need you to catch him. Alive preferably.”

Steve shoved him without looking “So not the time Clint.”

Clint shrugged “Just trying to be sure. Alright, let’s go catch us a spider.”

Thor nodded in reply then jumped onto the roof of a car then over to the other one, Clint and Steve shared a look then followed him.

                                                           ...

Peter saw nothing but red in his vision as he slipped around the winged beast, shooting his webs around him until it couldn’t move and started to fall, he used his strength to knock it harshly into the side of a building like he did with the others to knock it out.

Another one came out of nowhere and started to dive-bomb him.

He tried to shoot his web at it but realized quickly that he had run out of liquid and he cursed, jumping out of the way.

"Spider-Man! Stop!" Steve called out from below.

He ignored him, climbing up the side of the building as he dodged the winged beasts attacks. He turned and jumped at the beast, hitting it with his leg. It screeched and flew downwards, Peter following it.

Clint shot an arrow his way and Peter shifted out of its way.

He used the momentum from jumping off the building to slam his fist into the beast side as it also dodged an arrow from Clint, it flew into the ground with a loud thud.

It screeched before passing out, Peter flipped of it onto the ground.

"Thor! Now!" Steve shouted as he threw his shield at Peter.

Peter flipped backward in surprise, right into Thor's grip.

"No! Let me go!" Peter screamed angrily, “There’s still one more!”

Steve ran up and grabbed his flailing legs. Peter only struggled more, his constant movement making it difficult for Thor and Steve to get a proper hold on him.

"Calm down! You're going to end up hurting yourself!" Steve warned.

“Man of Spiders, please stop!”

"They hurt my daughter! They hurt Harley!" Tears were making Peter's voice thick, he nearly managed to rip out of Steve's and Thor's grips.

"No! Don't do it, Peter!"

"They can't get away with this!"

"And they won't!" Steve tightened his hold, obviously straining.

"Thor! Help! I can't hold him back for much longer!"

“I am trying! I can’t keep him still.” Thor replied with a grunt.

"Peter! Relax! They're safe now! They're safe!" Tony told him as he ran over.

"I can't let them-"

Tony stepped out of his suit, pulling Peter into a hug, he tensed before slumping into him, tears pricking his eyes, "They hurt them." He choked out.

"I know kid, I know. But they're safe now."

Steve let out a breath of relief as he and Thor cautiously let go of Peter, sharing a look with Tony.

"They're safe." Tony repeated gently to the sobbing man.

“Mama?” Mai called out with a sniffle as she and Harley walked over.

Peter tugged out of Tony’s hold and ran over to Mai, tearing off his mask as he did so “Are you okay?” He breathed out, hands cupping her face as his eyes looked her over.

“I’m fine.” She insisted then turned to Harley with a frown “Are you okay daddy?”

Peter pulled her into a hug, glancing over to Harley with obvious concern “Baby?” He asked. He felt his whole world tilt in the few seconds it took Harley to respond, a wiry grin slammed it back into place and he breathed out in relief.

“I’m okay too. A little banged up but I’ll live.” Harley replied with a wave of his hand as he knelt down to join the hug “I’m sorry Mai.”

Mai’s brows furrowed “What for?" She pulled back to look at them both with a bright grin “You saved me! Again! You’re my heroes.”

Peter softened, sharing a fond glance with Harley as he replied, “We will always save you, Mai.”

“Yeah kid.” Harley ruffled her hair much to her annoyance.

“Hey, not my hair!”

Peter huffed a relieved laugh. They were gonna be okay.

“Uh, Pete. Not to ruin this cute moment but-“ Tony started as he walked over, “You do realize you’re still in public right?”

Peter tilted his head to look at him “Yeah why?”

Tony stared at him, expression deadpan, and gestured to his face.

Peter raised a hand to feel his own face only to pause, his eyes widening “Oh. Oh.” He glanced around to see people with their phones and cameras out, pointing and whispering to each other.

 “Well, shit.”

                                                         ...

“-You all know why we're here.” Tony said over the crowd of reporters “Spider-Man will be out in a moment to explain everything that happened yesterday.”

"Does Spider-Man have a kid!?"

"Is Spider-Man married!?"

"Who was that girl he saved!?"

"Is Spider-Man unstable?"

“How strong is Spider-Man?"

Tony stared over the sea of reporters, "As I said, Spider-Man will be out in a moment to explain." He cleared his throat and gestured off to the side.

Peter took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage "Uh, hi?" He started.

He winced as a bunch of questions and accusations were shouted loudly at him.

He held a hand up "Please! Let me explain everything."

He took a deep breath "First of all," He paused then removed his mask "My name is Peter Parker and I am Spider-Man."

The shouting and questions resumed, making Peter mentally wince at the volume.