**

Peter doesn't put music on during the entirety of the ride back home. He stays still, next to May, a genuine and almost childish smile on his face as his leg was bouncing uncontrollably. He's still processing what happened – he didn't even texted Ned yet, though the boy is spamming him! He wants to stay in this state of mind for a little longer. He isn't exactly on a cloud, but he feels like the gate to heaven opened in front of him and he doesn't want them to close.

He has his aunt's hand in his, her warmth expanding through his arm, and it makes him smile even more. He doesn't remember the last time he held her hands – probably when Ben died – but it's reassuring to be close to her once again. They don't hug quite often as he hates the idea that she could feel his chest against hers, and he knows this lack of affection sometimes affects May; but he can't help it. That's why he didn't let go, even when they got out of the clinic. He doesn't want to let her go, as if feeling the wait of her palm in his engraves him in the reality and helps him realize that yes, he did reach a part of his goal.

He can't bring himself to believe it. He's one step closer to the man he ever wanted to be – the weight of the treatment in the plastic bag laying on his lap is enough proof – and his brain can't process it. He doesn't feel quite different, though he does have the impression to discover the world once again. Everything is brighter, warmer, sweeter, prettier. Every bad aspect he would have usually found are long forgotten, and all he sees is light.

"Kiddo, it's our stop," May's voice brings him out of his thoughts and his smile grows bigger as he glares at her, nodding.

He follows her as she goes out of the bus, holding his precious plastic bag with a strong grip – he won't ever let it fall or forget it somewhere, it basically represents his life now. He stares at the building around them as they walk, enjoying every little detail he grew bored of as time passes. It all seems more interesting at the moment, and the fact that he was able to see each little detail compared to anyone else made him even happier. Though he does focus on the shops and apartments, he can't ignore the beautiful -and seemingly expensive – car parked not too far from their address. As soon as it enters his field of view, he squeals of excitement and almost runs up to it. He doesn't grimace because of the high pitch noise he just made; he doesn't feel horrible because of it; he is way too focused on everything else.

Peter can hear his aunt giggle when he speeds up, and he answers by a laugh too, before whistling. "You see this Aunt May?" he asks as excited as a four-year-old, "It's a beautiful model!"

His eyes are shining with admiration as he walks around the car, careful not to touch it, inspecting it. It's rare when an engine like this one comes near their neighborhood, and the boy isn't quite sure about who it could belong to, but that person has really good taste.

"What brand is it?" May demands as she joins him, obviously less excited than her nephew but still interested.

"You want the short version or the long one?" Peter teases her as a smirk spreads on his lips, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

His Aunt just rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "The easiest one."

"it's a Porsche. And it's almost a shame to reduce it to that when you know how rare the model is and when you see how well-"

"I'm going up," she stops him before he can start babbling about the car, "don't stay out here too much, you still have to put the T in a safe spot or something like that."

She doesn't let him the time to answer before she actually walks away to the entrance of the building, her keys already in her hands. Peter isn't even offended, he knows he can get way too excited about things like that – and fortunately Ned isn't with him otherwise it would have been worst!

"Shit!" he mumbles out loud as he remembers his best friend. He promised him to tell him the results right after the end of the appointment.

Quickly, he takes his phone out of his pocket and dial his friend's number before putting it to his ear.

"'Sup dude?" the boy answers after the first ringing, sounding excited. "So? Got you T yet or nah?"

Peter chuckles when he hears him. "Hi to you too Ned, I'm fine, What about you?"

At the other end of the line, the boy huffs; "Yeah yeah, I know. Now, will you please answer me?"

He really wants to tease him and make him wait a little bit more, but decides against it and smiles. "I got my first shot done."

He expected all kind of reaction; however, what he didn't plan was the loud banging noise he heard from the phone, and the whimper of pain his friend let out.

"Ned? You okay there?"

A grunt answers him, followed by shifting noise before Ned comes back to the phone. "Sorry, I fell out of my bed." He explains, and Peter almost burst down laughing. "I'm fine though. Back to you now. What do you mean you got you first shot done?"

He shakes his head as he hears his best friend, only Ned could have fallen down his bed like that. A smirk on his face, the boy starts to head back to the door – not without snapping a picture of the oddly familiar car – as he talks. "Yeah, I was surprised too, but turns out we had a meeting with the doctor and the nurse office to get my shot done. I only saw the doctor to get the papers and confirm one last time that I wanted to go on T."

He reaches the right floor rather quickly and struggles for a second when he has to open his apartment's door.

"Did it hurt?" Ned's question comes out in a worried tone and he really wants to mock for a second. What kind of thoughts is that; but he only rolls his eyes, entering his home.

"Dude I tell you, it hurt as heck; but it's so worth it. Plus I'll probably get used to it and it will-"Peter stops in his tracks as he sees his aunt sat in the living room with someone, and recognize the said person. His eyes widen and his mouth hangs open, unable to let out a single word.

"Dude? You there? Everything's all right?" his glare still fixed on the smiling face sitting on his couch, Peter brings back his phone to his ear, his heart beating faster than ever.

"Ned, mate, I'll call you back later okay?" he blurts out quickly, not letting the boy the time to speak, "Something came up, I'll explain at school, bye." And he hangs up.

Hesitantly, he makes his way to join the adults, putting his phone into his pocket.

"That wasn't really polite of you, Underoos," the man teases. Of course, the first thing he would say to him after his silence would be something like that; but still, it takes the boy by surprise.

"I- erm..." he stutters, not quite sure what to say.

"Pete," Aunt May catches as attention before he can try to talk once again, "maybe you should go put your stuff into your room first, I'll keep Mr.Stark waiting, okay?"

The treatment. She's right. He has to put in into his room. Especially now that a certain someone is here and can't ever learn that Peter is trans. That's not happening, not under his watch.

Nodding quickly, he hurries to his room, almost bursting through the door as he enters, and go straight to his closet. For now, he'll just put the testosterone and the needles into the boxes he uses to keep his binder and his packer – he'll move it to the bathroom later, when he'll find a place for it there.

What is Mr.Stark doing into his leaving room though? He knew the car seemed familiar, but still – a normal human being sends a text before coming over, right? He regrets a little sending his own text regarding the Avengers' team now. What if he came to explain that they didn't need him anymore? What if he just laughed at him? What if he was taking the suit back?

Shaking, he made his way back towards the adult, growing quite shy all of the sudden.

"Erm..." he starts, catching their attention as he fidgets his fingers, "Why are you here Mr.Stark? Not that I don't want to see you! But it's quite weird to... erm... see you here and erm... I mean, there isn't another Civil War right? 'Cause the last time you actually came here, you brought me to Germany and I ended up fighting half of the Avengers, and I'm not sure if I want to do that quite again. Especially now that I-"

"Peter, breathe." He stops suddenly when he hears the man's voice. He didn't realize he started mumbling all his thoughts once again.

"Sorry..." he breathes out, scratching the back of his head before coming closer and sitting on the end of the couch, his knees brought up to his chest.

Mr.Stark smirks at him and waits a few seconds. "I believe that you sent me a text that requires an answer, and even more, requires a talk, right?"

The boy's eyes widen, and he slowly nods, catching May leaving the living room from the corner of his eye. She never liked hearing about this super-hero stuff.

Bringing his glaze back on the man in front of him, he notices the way he taps the empty place next to him. Peter gulps, still not used to be close to one of his idols, and stands up to join him. As he sit, he tries to keep a comfortable distance between the other man and him, but also to find the position that will ease the pain he is starting to feel in his ribs – he almost reached the normal amount of time he is supposed to be wearing his binder for; not that he will put it off as soon as the eight hours will end. He needs way more time than that.

"So," the croaky voice of Mr.Stark brings him back to the actual situation, and his breath starts to speed up, "You said you wanted to discuss the details. I'm listening."

Peter nods lightly as he starts nipping at his bottom lip. It seemed a lot easier when he was on the rooftop by Wade's side. Now, his throat is so tight he can barely inhale.

"I-" He stops abruptly when he hears the high pitch of his stressed voice. Oh, how he hates when he loses the little amount of control he has on his own tone – and it's even worse when Ned isn't here to reassure him.

"You?"

Clearing his throat, he quickly looks away in order to avoid the man's stare. "I'm not sure I understand why you want me on the team. Nor what I would do if I joined you."

At the first, the silence that answers him scares him off. He's afraid that he said something wrong – even though he didn't speak much. Carefully, he allows his eyes to meet Mr.Stark's, and raises his eyebrows when he sees him in deep thoughts. He didn't think his question would be difficult! Or is it just that they don't want him anymore, of find him unworthy of it?

The man, probably noticing him staring, shoots him a little smile. "I don't have to think about my answer because of the lack of reasons, don't worry," He explains almost in a fond voice. "It's quite the opposite in fact, I see multiple ways in which you could help us, multiple things you could had to the group – starting off with your knowledge on electronics and this stuff we both like! I mean, sure we already have my brain and Bruce's, but fresh blood is always good right?"

Peter is taken aback by the laugh that escapes the other's lips; or maybe is he just too anxious about the situation to actually try and joke along with him.

"However," Mr.Stark stops himself all of a sudden, "about what you would do; I can't answer that yet. Sure, you would participate if we ever had to go on some mission somewhere, but to be honest, your admission among us is still a touchy subject and as we don't quite have a leader at the moment, no one can really decide. I don't have the power to assign you to this type or this kind of mission, but I can tell you that you will help. Whether for suit building or amelioration, for you usual patrols or more important ones – or even just the press! – you will help us. And we will help you."

The man pauses for a second, his piercing glaze analyzing Peter. "I know we are still working on the whole unity thing, but we're almost all good now. We still have some things against each other, but hey, isn't it the case in any family? 'Cause that's sort of what we are, a family – please don't tell them I said that, Barton would never let it die."

This time, the boy laughs a little, shaking his head slightly to approve. He's not sure to keep this promise, but he can keep his mouth shut for now.

"And," Peter starts after a moment, "concretely, what do you do on a day to day basis that I will do too? Because I have school and homeworks and even May! I can't just skip everything every day!" His speech flow starts getting quicker and quicker as he speaks, and he has to remind himself to slow down and to stay calm in order to be understandable – but this bit is really important to him, he can't give up his life, even for Spiderman.

Mr.Stark hums, without bringing up the boy's tone, "That's a good question actually. First, the best would be for you to live with us – it would reassure the government and you would be noticed way quicker if anything happens – but it wouldn't match your everyday life. Not that you would have a lot to do for us everyday, your daily patrol is already enough for now. It would be useful for you to be able to train with and against us, though – something about getting to know each other and having a good group cohesion, or any other crap Cap said."

The man gets quiet, his hand brushing his three-days beard. Peter should have known better than think it would be easy to integrate the Avengers – not that he thought it was, he just assumed that they had it all figured out already, but it turns out he was wrong.

"Maybe..." his voice comes out as a murmur, and he scratches the back of his head before continuing, a little bit louder, "maybe I could stay here during the week to keep going on my normal life and my patrols, and live with you guys on the week-ends? I guess it would be quite annoying 'cause I'd have to find the right busses to come to wherever you are living now that you moved from the Tower, but I think we could make it work. And maybe I could create some kind of special alert program to put in my suit, or even an app, so that you just have to press a button and I'm instantly noticed – even if my phone is turned off, or if Karen isn't on. I think I can manage to do it quite quickly, or maybe I could divert the headset Ned made at the beginning and add it some-"

"Those are some good ideas actually," Mr.Stark's voice stops Peter in his track, who started mumbling somewhere in his answer. "We could probably rearrange a room for you at the new building for Saturday – it's Thursday, today, right?"

The boy nods at the question, amazed by the pace they could use to put a room together – adding the furniture and all, there are real few chances that they already have a spare one ready.

"Well if you're okay with it then it's settled!" the man erupts suddenly with excitement, taping his hands on his knees. "Perfect!"

"I'm sorry what?!" Peter interjects when he processes what he just heard. Settled? "We're not even sure that I can join the team! Nor that it would work!" He tries to explain quickly, not reassured by the sudden change in the man's behaviour, but Mr.Stark wipes his worries off by a sign of the hand.

"We will make it work, kid," he assures firmly, as if it was obvious, "and of course you can join, I didn't take you back your suit and then planned a conference to announce your admission for now rejecting you! Come on kiddo!" he scoffs, mocking Peter.

"But you said it was a test, and there weren't any journalist that were waiting...?"

The teen doesn't know what to think. Of course, he is the one who texted to talk about getting in the team, but now that he sees how unsure everything is, he finds it terrifying. Plus, what if the others don't want him to join?

"Oh yeah, about that," Mr.Stark doesn't let him the time to worry even more, "I actually did put together a conference that day, but we ended announcing some useless thing that barely made it into the first page of the journals."

He is stunned. Peter is stunned. Everything seems so weird and unreal right now; he doesn't know what to say, how to react, what to think. So, that's it? He was just admitted as an Avenger?

"If I come this week-end," he mumbles, unsure, "will you plan a new one, again?"

He knows it must seem like he is asking the man to do it – but it's actually the total opposite. He wouldn't bare to be in front of so many people, and be presented like that to the world when he maybe wouldn't even have talked to the other Avengers. No, he doesn't want that. He wants to take things slow, to be able to have time to adapt himself to the situation, to adjust his routine and schedule to allow himself to work with them. It can't go this fast.

"Of course not kiddo!" Mr.Stark laughs, a smirk spreading on his lips, "so what, you love having the media's attention now? Gosh kid, from what the others said I'm pretty sure I would get my ass kicked if I ever was to do something like that again – and even more to present a new member of the team. You know, Bruce can be pretty scary when he wants? And not just when he turns into a big green aggressive ball, but also when we talk about education and all. I think it's maybe because of what he saw when he retreated before the Avengers, but when I mentioned that you were still in school, he almost snapped. So no, I think it would be better if we gave you kind of a try period or something – like a free trial, see?"

A deep sigh of relief escaped his lips. He feels better all of a sudden. The less pression he will have, the merrier. Though, he can't help but feel a little disappointed about Dr.Banner's reaction, but what did he expect? Any normal person would forbid their kid to do what Peter is doing – too dangerous, too demanding, too hard to hide...

"Okay," he breathes out with a little smile, "then I think we could try that and see how it goes."

"I'll tell Happy to pick you up Saturday morning then," the older man says as he gets up, replacing his blazer on his shoulders correctly, "I'll also get Friday to text you when he will arrive or something like that; and you should probably prepare some kind of suitcase to bring a part of your stuff like clothes, books and all that jazz."

Peter nods, trying to catch every information he hears and following as they make their way toward the entrance.

"You'll tell Hot Auntie that I say bye, okay?" he says once he steps outside, causing the boy to roll his eyes and point at his ring finger.

"Mr.Stark, you're married. And she's my Aunt, that's a no-no for you."

The man answers him with a wink. "He doesn't need to know."

Peter's eyes widen. "Relax kid, I'm joking! What does nobody think I can be loyal? Whatever, I'll get going now, see you later Underoos."

Before he can answer, the guy is out of his eyesight, leaving him speechless. Still processing the fact that he just agreed to go to the Avengers' camp in two days, the boy slowly closes the door and walks to his room, waving at May on the way.

Wait, did Mr.Stark said 'he'?!

"Petey!" his aunt voice stops his steps and his thoughts, "I heard enough to understand the situation; so first, you do have my authorization to go on the week-ends-" he gulps as he realizes he indeed forgot to ask her, "and second, if there is even just one problem, you're coming back home and you're not joining them, I don't care what the excuse will be. Maybe you're Spiderman, but you're still a teenager too." She finishes her speech by a death glare, and Peter is quick to agree. "Okay, you can go do whatever you were going to do, then."

He watches her as she goes back in the kitchen a smile on her face, humming joyfully one of the popular single of the month, and passes a hand through his hair before heading towards his room. As soon as he got there, he throws himself on his bed, his face laying on his pillow. Too much happened in so little time, it almost feels weird – almost too good to be true.

Another long part, I know... But Tony is here, so I hope I made it up to you! Anyways, one more part and this chapter is over (it's purely fluff by the way).

Feel free to tell me if you liked it.

Stay safe and hydrate,

H.