"Hi, I'm...I'm Peter."

"Your point?" you snapped, holding your weapon at the ready in front of you. "I don't think that formal introductions are really a big part of a fight. Maybe you haven't been at this for very long."

"Oh, I'm sorry, my bad," he replied with equal sarcasm, extending his wrist and landing a web just above your head. "Let's get to fighting then." He swung from the beams overhead and down towards you, but you anticipated his trajectory and dropped to the ground, rolling forward as he swung past, letting him crash into the metal rail and glass wall to tumble to the hard ground below.

You stood quickly and made your way to the ledge, peering over it to be sure that he wasn't seriously hurt, but also to check if he was coming back for more. "You okay, kid?"

"Who are you calling a kid?" he laughed, suddenly appearing from nowhere to land behind you. "You don't sound much older than me!"

"Have you even hit puberty yet?"

"That's cold," he hissed, taking a step back in mock offense, "even I didn't hit that low."

"I don't have time for this," you groaned quietly. "Alright, listen, there are a lot of things going on here that you don't understand-"

"Huh, Mr. Stark said you'd say that."

"And you believe everything that Mr. Stark tells you?"

"You don't?!" he scoffed, bringing his hand to his chest in shock. "Nothing that you've done so far would have ever led me to believe it!"

"Jesus," you muttered, putting your batons in their holsters at your sides, "you're something else, you know that, Spiderling? I know that you're young and all, but your naiveté is appalling. If we're even close to the same age, then I weep for our future."

"Well don't you worry, little Rogers wannabe," he snapped back, "you're not going to be around to see my future anything. I've only got one job here, and I've gotta impress Mr. Stark," he paused, again extending his wrist to fire, "I'm really sorry."

"Please," you objected quietly, grabbing a grappling hook from your belt and launching it towards a far wall before he could act, "you're not the only wall-crawler around here." Leaping from the broken ledge where he had previously fallen, you tightened the wire in your hands and successfully swung to safety, landing with a solid footing to turn back and give him a quick wave before sprinting away.

"Okay...she's awesome," he whispered to himself, immediately determined to find you when all of this was over. He sat still for a minute, in awe of what he had just seen, when he was knocked over from behind with the sound of wings closing around him that signaled the start of a new fight.

~~~

Three years had passed since the day that Peter had met you, and he was still just as determined to find you now as he was then. As a part of Steve's team, you were kept well hidden after the Raft escape for obvious reasons, and no matter who he asked or what government system he could break into, there was no sign of where you had gone. He had an idea that Tony knew where you were, but he was just as tight-lipped about it, frustrating Peter to no end. In fact, he had given so much attention to you over the past years, that a new milestone was upon him and he had almost missed it.

"Just because you're 18, it doesn't mean that you have to move out," May urged. "It's going to be too quiet around here without you."

"I thought that you'd like that for a change?" he smiled back. "Get me out of your hair once and for all?" Peter dropped a few more of his belongings into one of the boxes that lined the floor, pausing to look at the collection when a fleeting thought about staying crossing his mind. He quickly dashed it though, knowing that it was the right thing to do. "Anyway, I can't pass up this opportunity. Mr. Stark has me all set up out at the Avengers compound upstate. Studying with him is something that I can't say no to, which you told me yourself."

"I know," she sighed, throwing up her hands, "I was trying to be the strong and responsible one here, and instead, I'm all weepy and wanting you to stay. I'm supposed to be the mature one and I'm just messing it up." She turned and dropped heavily onto the couch with a long exhalation, fighting the urge to cry again as she looked up at him. "I really am proud of you though, don't think I'm not. This is a big chance for you, and I know that you have to take it."

"Thanks, May," he nodded, taking a seat next to her, "I know you are. But come on, I'm not that far away, just a couple of trains. This isn't the last you'll see of me, I promise."

~~~

When the car that Tony had sent for Peter pulled up in front of the building, he looked through the darkened glass in awe, his mouth agape at the sight of the actual Avengers home, which was about to become his too. The driver got out to open his door, but Peter was already up and out, standing at the side of the car with every nerve in his body energized and ready to work.

"Shit," you murmured, looking down at him from the top floor hallway, "when did Tony invite this guy to stay here? I've been dodging the kid for years and he just asks him to move in without asking us?"

"He doesn't have to ask," Sam smirked, "he's Tony Stark. It's kinda his building."

"Do you think he knows that we're back here? That I'm here?"

"With that dreamy look in his eye, I'd say yes. Unless he's strangely turned on by the architecture."

"Shut up, Sam," you groaned, leaning against the glass wall with a huff. "Well, I guess there's no time like the present to get it over with, right? Time to be the welcome committee," you perked up, grabbing your friend's arm. "Let's go, Wilson. Make it believable."

Dragging behind you, Sam complained and tried to free himself from your grip the entire way. He really had no desire to meet the Spiderman guy who had covered him in sticky webs and gunked up his pack during their fight, remembering only the cocky and way too talkative kid from three years ago. Now, as he stepped outside to greet him, he found Peter to be a bit taller and looking a little more assured of himself; almost calmer despite his outward excitement in being there as he extended a hand in greeting.

"Hey, man, I'm Peter...oh, wait! You're Sam! With the wings!"

"That's right."

"Listen, I'm sorry about that, I was just doing what Mr. Stark...told me...to..." he stopped, his voice fading and cracking at the sight of you when you stepped out from Sam's shadow. The self-assuredness that he was feeling and that Sam thought that he had seen was quickly dissipated, and he was again the staggering boy of three years ago. "Oh...hey...I'm uh...hi..."

"Still have a way with words," you smiled, taking the hand in greeting that Sam had denied. "I'm (Y/N)."

"I know," Peter whispered, then bolted up in shock at what he had given away. "I mean...I...I've heard...I've been studying...watching...I mean, I've tried to find..."

"You've been stalking me."

"Right!" he agreed quickly. "No! I haven't been stalking! I just...I wanted to find you..."

"Damn, kid, you're smooth," Sam laughed, turning to walk away. "Watch out, (Y/N), he'll be in your pants before you know what hit ya."

"Oh my god, Sam, shut up!"

"I wouldn't..." Peter tried to recover, taking a step towards you and suddenly realizing that he was still holding your hand. "I'm sorry," he gasped, pulling it away and wiping the sweat from his palm on his jeans, "I'm sorry."

"Okay, Peter," you smiled, taking his hand again, "let's start this one again. Hi, I'm (Y/N). It's nice to meet you when you're not trying to arrest me."

You could feel him relax even through just his hand, and you watched as he took a deep breath, letting it out with a drop of relief in his shoulders. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you when you're not pushing me off a three-story ledge."

"Hey, I didn't push you," you argued coyly, "I ducked when you tried to push me, if I recall. I think you might have a few webs up in the old brain, Parker."

Once again, he looked down to see that your hands were still joined, but this time he didn't pull away. "So...um, (Y/N)...could you maybe...show me where my room is? Mr. Stark didn't really tell me before I got here."

You smiled at his gentleness and genuine awkwardness around you, deciding that maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all, now that you weren't fighting on opposite sides of a war. He was watching for your reply eagerly, his eyes sparkling as he smiled now, and you could tell that you were being easily drawn to him despite your original vow to stay clear of the man; you could tell already that he was going to be a challenge.

"Wow, Sam was right. You really are smooth."

Part 2

Two years later

"It's been two years, Pete," you snapped, your emotions bubbling up quickly and getting harder to control, "we've been together for two years and this is just coming up now?"

"Not exactly. I've had this discussion in my head a million times. Just because you haven't heard it out loud doesn't mean that it didn't happen."

You stood still, in shock and looking at him incredulously as if you were supposed to believe that his argument was a valid one, and he didn't see anything wrong with it. The urge to strike out with a few well-placed hits was getting harder to resist the longer you looked at him. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, so?" he scoffed. "My point still stands."

"Okay," you sighed, "I've been an Avenger since the day we met, remember that? In Germany? You sure didn't balk at trying to throw me around back then, but now that we're dating, I can't take it? I've been doing this job longer than you, so you don't have to worry about me getting hurt, Pete. I've had way worse than this," you paused, lifting up your recently broken arm, "it heals."

"Can't stop me. Besides, this time it was my fault, let's not forget that, alright? I don't care if you're an Avenger or not, I can't let you be put at risk because of me. I can't," he was almost pleading, looking at you to just give in, no matter that he really didn't want you to, deep down. Being an Avenger was who you were, and he felt like the biggest jerk for asking you to make this decision.

"So that's it?" you asked, your voice beginning to break. "The team or you? There's no other option?"

Peter took a deep breath and you could see the answer before he said it; his shoulders shook with the exhalation and his eyes closed. He gave his mind one last search before opening them again, this time avoiding your stare because he knew that if he looked, he would give in. He would die if anything happened to you, and if this was the only way, then so be it.

"I don't see one. If you choose them, then I have to go. I'm sorry, (Y/N), it's just too hard."

~~~

You don't know how long you had been standing in the hallway, your hand hovering just before connecting to the door to announce your arrival, but you couldn't bring yourself to knock. May had been expecting you for the last hour, and your phone had more texts from her than you cared to read. You were the one who asked her to meet, but now that the moment was here, you couldn't do it. The news that you were about to give her hadn't even been given to Peter yet, and you needed her help. The timing couldn't have been worse, even though the timing would probably never be good for this kind of announcement.

"Just knock, (Y/N)," Wanda whispered, "you're scared for nothing."

"Nothing?" you choked out with a laugh. "Nothing, Wanda? I'd say this is the exact opposite of nothing. This is everything and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing."

"Do you think that she'll be mad?"

"I think she'll be freaked out, just like I am. I don't even know where to start this conversation. Oh, hey, May," you groaned quietly to yourself, "that little nephew of yours who can do no wrong knocked up his girlfriend. Oh, and one minor detail, he broke up with me last week because he's a chickenshit." You turned to Wanda with a pained smile, "do you think that might work?"

Wanda's eyes widened just slightly and her posture straightened, turning you towards the door quickly. "She's coming. I think she heard you."

You had never had an out-of-body experience, but you quickly decided that this must be what its like; you felt like you had left yourself and were watching from above, screaming to tell you to run away but your body wasn't moving. The handle moved slightly and your heart began to race, immediately reaching out to grab it and to try to hold the door closed, but Wanda was one step ahead of you, rushing behind you and pulling your arms back so you couldn't stop May from greeting you. When the barrier between you moved, it wasn't the woman that you had been expecting to be on the other side, but instead, the last person you wanted to see.

"(Y/N)?" Peter answered quietly, his eyes wide at the surprise. "What...what are you doing here?"

"Hey, yeah...hi," you stammered, "I was just stopping by to talk to May."

"Why?"

"Am I not allowed to talk to her anymore? I don't remember that being a part of the deal."

"Yeah, you can, for sure," he quickly recovered, "I was just curious."

"Pete? Is that (Y/N)?" May called out from the kitchen, her voice jolting him into action and stepping aside so you could enter the apartment.

"Yep, it is." When you started to walk past him, he gently grabbed your arm and pulled you closer, leaning in with a shaky and nervous whisper, "is everything okay?"

"She's here to talk to May, not you," Wanda interrupted snidely, taking your other arm and all but dragging you inside. Right away, you knew that you had brought the right friend along to keep you on task.

"Sorry, jeez, my bad," he snapped back, closing the door with a slam that he didn't intend, grimacing in preparation for the verbal punishment that was about to come. But it didn't. Wanda had taken you to May and now returned, only a matter of seconds later, standing in front of Peter to block him from interrupting you. "So, when she said to talk to May and not me, there wasn't room for interpretation."

"You can talk to me," she offered with a forced smile. Wanda leaned against the wall that led to the living room so that he wouldn't be tempted to pass by, but also so that she could hear how your conversation was going in the event that she was needed.

"I don't have much to talk about, sorry," Peter replied, leaning back against the door. "It's not like you and I ever really talked-"

"Why did you break up with (Y/N)?" she demanded, interrupting him. "She is more than capable of handling herself, maybe even more so than you. You've made a remarkable mistake."

"Okay, so we're doing this?" he coughed uncomfortably, shifting his stance to stand straighter. "I think that's between (Y/N) and I...don't you?"

"Not when she came to me practically hysterical two days ago because she didn't know what to do about..." she stopped quickly, closing her mouth and looking away. "She's been upset, and understandably so."

"Hold on, hysterical about what?" he pressed, taking the few steps forward anxiously, closing the space between them. "We broke up a week ago, and she wasn't like that at all. Something happened, didn't it? Wanda, I know that you and I aren't close, and you have every reason to be pissed at me for this, but tell me what's going on."

"OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

The piercing scream from May made Peter jump into a frantic action, pushing past Wanda with a force that knocked her a step off balance, bounding in to stand in front of the two of you with panic filling every cell of his body. Seeing her arms around you in a tight hug didn't do anything to ease his worry, and only made his mind race with every bad outcome that he could think of. "What the heck was that?!"

"Shit," you murmured, escaping her grip and lowering your head into your hands at her error and the realization that this was happening right now. You came here to get her advice, and it turned out that her advice was to blurt it out from the rooftops because she couldn't control herself. "It's nothing, Pete."

"That was not nothing. Someone needs to tell me what's going on right now, and it's gonna be you, (Y/N)."

"She's pregnant!"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to actually kill you, May," you hissed under your breath, turning to her, "and you know that I can do it. They'll never find your body."

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth. "I'm just so excited...aren't you, Pete?" she paused, finally looking up towards her nephew. "Pete?"

When she wasn't getting an answer, you turned back to see how he was doing, and Peter was gone.

~~~

"This is just perfect," you spat, hurrying from the building and back to your car. Your keys fumbled in your hand until you finally dropped them in a string of profanities and groans. Once you picked them up, the pattern began again when you tried to find the right one; with your patience long-since gone, you pitched them as hard as you could, only to gasp in shock when they slid across the road and into a storm drain. "Shit!"

"Calm down, (Y/N)," Wanda said, passing you to cross the street, "I can get them." She knelt down slowly onto the jagged pebbles and hard concrete, still shaking her head at you in disbelief as the red glow emanated from her hands until the keys lifted into them. "See? Nothing to overreact about."

"How can you say that? There's every reason to overreact."

"May said that she'd talk to him. Just give her a chance."

"She also said that she'd be cool when I told her that I had news and look how she did with that!"

"Come on, that's a pretty big shock to expect her to stay quiet," Wanda argued, "and besides, you said that you didn't know how to tell him, so really, she did all the work for you." She stood and shook the set of keys to try to dry them off, sending drops of dirty water flying everywhere. She crinkled up her nose in disgust, turning to you to toss them your way, shocked when they bounced off your shirt and onto the ground when you failed to catch them; your usually sharp reflexes were clearly a mess with your mind being so clouded.

"Technicality."

"Hey, (Y/N), hold up!"

"Could this day get any worse?" you muttered, trying to hurry to escape with your dripping keys again fumbling for the lock in your car door. "Pete, I'm leaving. Don't worry about me, I'll take care of myself."

Your key finally slid into the lock but it was too late; he was at your side with his hand over yours to keep you from leaving. You hadn't been in contact with him since the day you broke up, and his touch now was just too much; you could blame it on hormones, or stress, or just the crappy weather in the city that day, but you still couldn't escape the truth that you just really missed the idiot. The telltale lump in your throat began to build, but you swallowed hard and tried to focus on holding it together for just a little bit longer.

"Just give me a minute, okay?" he asked quietly, his voice genuine and warm, and it took every ounce of will to not lean in closer to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't handle that at all. May told me to get my butt down here and act like a man about it."

"So you're here because she told you to? What if she hadn't?"

"I'd still be here."

"Right," you smiled weakly, "well, I guess you got your way anyway. I can't be on the team like this. I'll see you around, Pete." You again grabbed for the door handle to make what you hoped to be a quick escape, but you didn't anticipate that you'd only end up held in place and captive with your hand covered in a sticky web to keep you from leaving. "Seriously? I feel like you just sneezed on my hand."

"Sorry...sorry..." he scurried forward, moving to free you, "it was a reflex." Peter leaned in close and worked on removing the web, but took the opportunity to talk to you where Wanda couldn't hear. "Why aren't you more freaked out about this?" he whispered harshly.

"I am freaked out," you replied in kind, "this isn't exactly how I expected things to go, especially since you dumped me just a week ago."

"I didn't dump you, (Y/N). I'm trying to protect you."

"You don't need to protect me, I thought I've proven that to you about a million times. I've saved your ass a few of those, if you recall."

"Okay...let's just...we're getting off track. Listen," he paused, looking over his shoulder to be sure the conversation was still private for where he was about to take it, "what are we gonna do? Don't even think that you're doing this by yourself."

"I'm not?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course not."

"It's a valid one, Pete. You left because you got scared. Well, guess what? Shit is about to get a whole lot scarier real fast."

Part 3

"Why are they just staring at us?"

"I don't know," Peter whispered back to you, the two of you sitting motionless and staring at Steve and Tony. You had just given them the news and were waiting for the explosion that had yet to come; in reality, you actually hadn't received much back from them at all.

Tony leaned back in his chair and swiveled it slightly with a push of his toe, his leg bent up enough for you to see the red and black striped socks and uncharacteristic lack of shoes. He smirked as he watched the two of you grow more and more nervous with each passing minute, until he decided that enough torture was really enough. "Well, this is a pretty extreme way to put a stop to the whole Team Cap and Team Tony bullshit once and for all," he finally chuckled.

"I was just gonna say..." Steve added with an emphatic nod.

"Right?! I never would've guessed that this is what would have come out of that whole nightmare."

"Neither would I," Steve continued, "but I think we're missing what's important here, that since (Y/N) is the one carrying the tiny peacekeeper, and she's on my team, I call Godfather."

"Like hell!" Tony leapt up from his chair. "Parker wouldn't have even had a chance to hit it if I hadn't recruited him! I'm calling it! Besides, I'm rich, and you can't compete with how much I'm gonna spoil the little arachnid."

Still staring intently at your team leaders with wide eyes, Peter once again leaned in close to get your attention, "(Y/N), are they being serious?"

"I'm afraid so, Pete," you huffed. "This is only the beginning. Alright," you called out with a definitive clap of your hands, drawing the two from their weak arguments to catch their attention, "neither of you get to call Godfather. We've made that decision, and sorry to say, you didn't make the cut."

"Now hold on just a second-"

"Okay, so who did you choose?" Steve interrupted, much more composed with a hand up to hold Tony back.

"Sam and Wanda."

Steve smiled broadly and nodded in full agreement, realizing that if he couldn't have the job himself, you had made a great choice in one of his closest friends. "You did good, kid. I'm sure that made his day. And Wanda...that completely explains why she was in such a great mood this morning. She made breakfast and it was actually edible."

"They were pretty psyched, yeah," Peter replied happily.

"Now, time to get serious," Steve continued, holding up a cautious hand, "obviously you'll have to take a break from the team, (Y/N), so we can get that started right away and move you into an administrative position at Stark until the little one is old enough for you to come back. I'll put together an exercise regimen to keep you in shape but not too much exertion to risk any problems. You'll want to maintain a healthy amount of weight gain, so we can work on a diet plan, and I'm sure that once you see your Obstetrician they can get you started on the appropriate vitamins-"

"What the hell, Rogers?" Tony interjected. "She told us the news like, minutes ago, and you're already going all Mama Steve on the kid?"

"I'm trying to be responsible and help them out. You should follow my lead."

"Following's not really my style."

"So I've heard."

~~~

After meeting with Steve and Tony, a meeting that was supposed to take only a few minutes and lasted over two hours with the incessant bickering and posturing, you had only one more person left to tell your news to. You didn't have what anyone would call a close relationship with your brother because of your chosen lifestyles and line of work, but he was still going to be an uncle now and needed to hear from you before anyone else.

"Just be cool, Pete," you warned under your breath, "let me do the talking."

"Not a problem," he eagerly agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets nervously. "Not exactly the way that I planned to meet the guy, telling him that I...ya know...with his little sister..."

"Yes, I'm familiar with your work," you scoffed, taking a deep breath to gather your resolve before knocking on the splintered and weathered office door. You heard a mumbled acknowledgement from the other side, sounding like the voice was miles away. "I told him that we were coming over today...that didn't sound like him." You pushed the door open slowly and poked your head inside, glancing around until you noticed the source of the voice frantically tossing papers around and in the midst of a desperate search for something.

"Hey, nerd," you laughed at the man, reaching back to grab Pete's hand and lead him in, "is this a bad time?"

"What? No! Come in...I'm just...I can't find..."

"Your head from your ass?"

"Hey, watch it, kid," Foggy scolded, still focusing on his search, "I don't care how old you get, I can still spank yours."

"Yeah, but now it would just be creepy, Fog. So where's Matt? He said that he'd be here."

"Ran out for coffee," Karen added, entering the room from Matt's office with her hands full of files, near spilling over onto the floor. Peter released your hand and scurried forward to grab them from her just as the first few sheets of paper had begun to slip. "Woah, thanks! That was close!" Once the threat had passed, she sighed and blew a puff of air up against her hair to push it aside, finally taking a second to see who it was who had helped her. "(Y/N), who have we here?"

'I'm Peter," he finally greeted, holding out a hand but immediately retracting it when he realized his error that her hands were still full. "I'm a...friend...a friend of...well, not a friend so much...as a...um..."

"He's my boyfriend, and I don't know why he's being such an idiot about it, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, that," he sighed in relief, his body visibly relaxing. "Actually, fiancé might be a more appropriate word."

"Excuse me?" you screeched out through your shock. "What did you just say?"

"Your what?!" Karen joined in, finally dropping those few files that had been teetering so precariously in her hands. "(Y/N), when did that happen?"

"It didn't!"

"No, you're way too young for that, (Y/N)," Foggy broke in urgently, both in words and action, "no way in hell that's gonna fly with Matt...shit...quiet down, I think he's at the door."

If your heart hadn't leapt from your chest and scampered out the window yet, it just did. Between Peter being dumb enough to drop his own bombshell just before you were about to let your own go, and Foggy now looking at you like a petulant child, you couldn't breathe. The heavy moisture in the air of the old office building didn't help either, the smells of coffee and dust coating your nostrils with each breath as you tried to control it with your eyes now locked on the inevitable motion of the door.

"Hey, I wasn't sure what kinds to get..." Matt rambled as he walked in, the sudden shift in his expression making it clear that he sensed something happening despite his inability to see it. "Oh, shit," he groaned, "(Y/N), you're here." His tone had just enough of a questioning to it to not sound suspicious, but he knew right away that it was you. "I forgot."

"Hey, no harm, no foul," you smiled, taking a purposeful breath before walking up to him. You got within three to four feet of him and raised your hand, "but yeah, I'm here. Now, don't take this the wrong way, I'm excited to see you, Matty, but I'm gonna need one of those cups before anything else."

"You and your caffeine," he scoffed, reluctantly handing you one, "it's a good thing you're an adult or you'd stunt your growth. It's not like you got all that far in the first place."

"Don't care," you hummed, popping the thin plastic lid from the flimsy convenience store cup. The steam rose up and caressed your face in a soothing heat, your eyes closed to enjoy the sensory experience, and to ready yourself for the heaven that you were about to drink.

Peter thrust his hand forward and a sticky web flew ahead, easily wrapping around and gripping the cup from your hands. He was fast enough to get the cup to the table without much more than a few drops spilled, and to avoid the swing of your fist in retaliation, but he would never be fast enough to evade the glare of impending death that you were giving him. "Don't look at me like that," he cowered, "you can't have that...I mean...you said you were going to cut down...right?"

Matt was listening in, cocking his head to the side with the slightest tip as he followed the argument only half-heartedly. "Yeah, (Y/N), how much have you had today?" he paused, focusing on the sound pulsating in his ears. "I swear I can hear your heart pounding and it's way too fast."

"No it's not."

"I'm sure it's coming from you," he insisted, setting the rest of the cups on his desk cautiously. "Yeah, it's louder now that I'm next to you. Here, gimme..." he commanded, reaching out for your arm. His fingers gently wrapped around your wrist to press their tips on your pulse point, counting each beat silently in his head as they played against his touch. "Maybe it's not you?"

"I told you. Maybe it's Pete," you offered with a huff, "he's the nervous type."

"I am not," he retorted. "I'm the one trying to be realistic about all of this here, so no, I'm not nervous at all."

"Who are you, again?"

"I'm Peter," he extended a hand now to Matt, "I'm (Y/N)'s fia-oyfriend," he stumbled. "I'm her boyfriend. For now," he hissed through his clenched teeth.

"Never met you before. You another one of those secret boy-banders?" Your brother was growing quickly suspicious, which was always followed by the over-protective version of him, which you weren't about to wait around for. You had spent years getting out from under Matt's watchful eye, and even though you had become an Avenger in your own right, he still felt the need to take the unnecessary stand. "And what do you mean, for now?"

"Pete, maybe you should wait for me outside while I talk to Matt-"

"No, I'm as much a part of this as you are! An exactly 50/50 equal part, as a matter of fact!"

"Shut up, Peter..."

The gasp was collective, as Matt, Karen and Foggy all came to a group realization of what was happening; despite their apparent connection, their reactions were a dizzying range of emotions for you to watch, when your own were already an unstable jumble of hormone fueled swings.

"(Y/N)," Karen whispered, slapping her hand over her mouth with a glistening of tears in her eyes, "oh my god..."

Foggy could always be counted on for being what you needed, even if he wasn't feeling it himself; he had been a friend and support ever since he had met Matt, and had quickly become a second brother, but thankfully much more fun. "Holy balls, (Y/N)! Are you kidding me?!" He rushed up to your side and grabbed your waist, hoisting you up in a spinning hug until he realized that it might not be the best idea given your undesirable trajectory if your stomach let go.

"It wasn't your heart that I was hearing," Matt muttered to you, but more to himself, "was it?"

"No, sir," Peter answered for you while you recovered from dizziness, "we're having a bab-"

Matt's fist stopped the word that he didn't want to hear from finishing, only to double over in pain from the impact against Pete's hand when it caught him before connecting; he didn't immediately let go, instead waiting for the man to apologize.

"Listen, sir, I know that you're protective of (Y/N), and I get it, believe me. I am too. But trust me when I say this to you, and it's with all due respect, okay? Being protective of her is the only job I have now, so I'm gonna need you to step back before I call in that super-secret boy band to get all 'NSYNC on your...butt...sir."

"You're such a loser," you hissed, "'NSYNC? Really? Name one song."

"It's Gonna Be May!"

"That's a meme, you idiot," you sighed, "and a really old one. Oh, god, my child has no chance..."

"Excuse me," Matt interrupted, "if you could maybe let go of my hand now?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry...sorry, right away."

Your slightly beaten-down brother shook the soreness from his hand and stood up straight again, taking a few steps to position himself in front of you and between you and Pete. "I thought I taught you better than this, (Y/N). I really don't know what to say."

"Matt-"

"I mean, come on," he sighed, "there's no way I'm letting my niece or nephew listen to 'NSYNC. Backstreet is actually back, (Y/N)."