Chapter Text
Peter pushed the box of Secret Wars cards back in its drawer and stood, dusting his hands down his shirt.
He sensed the party was starting to wind down: Tobey and Andy were talking about boring work-related stuff, Tony and Em were chatting in the kitchen, May was bantering with Wade, who was cleaning up like the model son-in-law he was.
With everyone thus occupied, Peter didn’t feel bad about retreating to his room to recharge.
He flopped onto his bed and began scrolling through his phone. By force of habit, he immediately went to MJ’s Webshootr profile.
It really was full of Spidey content. Someone had already added a caption (“ supaidah” ) onto the bunny ears photo. Memes, and fan art were plenty, but Spider-Man photos took up the majority of her page. His lips quirked up into a wry smile.
The sight was adorable and hilarious, but it also gave him a pang of loneliness. Was that the only way he could keep her attention?
The door burst open with a sharp rattle. Peter fumbled to lock his phone and ended up dropping it on his face. “Hey you can’t just barge into my-“
“My old room! How I missed you-” Andy said breezily as he barged right in. His gaze fell on Peter’s Star Wars memorabilia, pair of Hello Kitty pants carelessly thrown over a chair, and the extremely touristy I survived my trip to NYC shirt no New Yorker would be caught dead in. “Wow. Look what you did to the place.”
“Get out!”
“You didn’t have to get rid of my band posters.” Andy complained.
“I don’t like hipster indie rock.” Peter grumbled, rubbing his sore forehead, and yelped as Andy plonked himself down directly on his legs. “Ow! Your bony ass is crushing my knees-”
“This was my room first. Shoo.”
“You moved out long ago!” The bunk creaked in protest as they jostled for space. The poor frame wasn’t made for wrestling matches.
“Some things never change, huh?” Tobey was leaning tiredly against the door with a half eaten bread roll, looking for lack of a better wait word, dadly .
“Tobey, bro, help me flatten this goblin.” Andy called, trying to shake Peter off from biting his arm.
“Tobes, help, I’m being bullied!” Peter yelled over his shoulder, trying to escape Andy’s tickle attack.
“Help? Well, I’m not gonna stand here and wait.” Tobey’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Up, up, and away!”
“Aaaaaah! No no no stooooop!” Peter and Andy shrieked in horror, trying to get out of the way as their oldest brother leaped forward to bellyflop directly on top of their pile.
The air was filled with muffled curses and laughs; trying to fit three people into one bunk bed became a bit of a clown car situation. Peter winced a bit as Tobey’s bulk smooshed him into the wall as Andy’s feet jabbed painfully in his side. With only a few bruised elbows and squashed limbs, they finally settled into a comfortable position to catch their breaths: Peter managed to squeeze between his brothers, half-sitting half-leaning on them.
The lull was broken by muffled laughs floating in from the living room.
Andy shifted. “Where’s Em?”
“She wanted to talk to Tony about something.” Tobey said, picking up one of Peter’s Lego figurines to examine.
“You’re not afraid he’s gonna steal her away?” Andy was unable to resist needling. “Better watch out, you know what they say about billionaire playboys-”
“Mr Stark would never!” Peter elbowed Andy in the side. “And neither would Em!”
“Ow! Ow, quit it! Fine, I take it back.” Andy threw up his arms to shield himself from the barrage of Peter’s extremely knobbly elbows. “Besides, we all know Tobey is the one more likely to run off with Tony considering their little Satan’s Alley chemistry-” Andy yelped as the bread roll flew at his head. “Stop it, stop it! I was kidding! Kidding!”
Tobey smiled. “Are you done?”
“I surrender.” Andy sullenly stuffed the bread roll into his mouth, ignoring Peter’s grumbles as he sprinkled crumbs everywhere. “For reals, Tony is a pretty decent dude. Not what I expected at all.”
“I’ve been telling you that for months.” Peter said, a little huffily.
“I believed you. Dr Octavius always had great things to say about him, I always wanted to meet him.” Tobey rubbed the back of his head bashfully. “I’m so glad Iron Man doesn’t just see me as a dancing weirdo.”
Peter let out a relieved breath. “Phew. I was afraid you guys would think it was weird to invite him to Thanksgiving.”
“Why, because of your Spider-Man stuff?” Andy said casually.
Peter jolted, choked in shock, tried to disguise it as a cough, forgot to breathe, choked for real, and almost fell out of the bunk if two pairs of hands hadn’t caught him.
“W-what are you talking about?” Peter wheezed. The arms wrapping over his shoulders suddenly felt as heavy as cement blocks.
“What? The fact that my little brother is Spider-Man?” Tobey’s blue gaze didn’t waver, and Peter felt like he was being stared through to his bones.
“You both knew? All along?”
“I mean… “ Andy sucked a breath through his teeth and clicked his tongue. “It was pretty obvious.”
“I think I did an okay job at covering it up!”
“You really didn’t.” Tobey gave him a pitying look. “You were trying so hard to cover it up but… it was a little sad. And also kinda funny.”
“Wha- Hgh.” Peter sputtered. “You have no proof!”
Andy rolled his eyes. “You hang out with Iron Man all the time, and the news keeps gushing about how Spider-Man and Iron Man are the big new superhero team in town now that the rest of the Avengers got excommunicated.”
“I- I think that’s just a coincidence. There are lots of enhanced people based in New York… “ Peter rubbed the back of his neck, which had started to feel sweaty again.
“All those unusual injuries you think we don’t notice - we can even see them on video calls - how you teleport into the apartment without using the front door, the random times you run off coinciding with spidey sightings…”
Andy went on, each word hammering like nails into Peter’s coffin. “It wouldn’t take a genius to put the pieces together, but might I remind you that your two brothers are geniuses…”
“A fact you guys never let me forget while we were growing up…” Peter muttered. Next to him, Tobey cleared his throat.
“I’m guessing… you started doing this because of what happened with Ben, isn’t it?” Tobey asked softly.
Trust his brother to immediately see through to the truth of the matter. Peter’s eyes itched, and he gave a nod, the barest dip of his chin.
“I’d just gotten these powers and- after what happened… I couldn’t just ignore it if someone needed help.” He took a breath, unable to meet the all-too-understanding gazes of his brothers. “Especially since- uh, because it’s my fault Ben-“ Before Peter could say any more he was being crushed into a hug.
“Don’t ever blame yourself,” Andy all but growled as he hugged Peter like he might disappear.
Tobey sighed and the sorrow in his eyes deepened. “I should’ve known it would’ve hit you the hardest. I’m sorry, Pete, we should have been there for you.”
“You don’t need to apologize- I- I’m doing fine! Pretty well, actually!“ Peter said quickly, wriggling a bit in Andy’s bear hug. This conversation had gotten too real, too quickly, and he wasn’t remotely prepared to deal with this many revelations and emotional soul-barings all in one night.
Tobey and Andrew gave each other that wordless look of communication again, one Peter was far too accustomed to seeing; the As Responsible Older Siblings We Need To Come Up With A Plan To Take Care Of The Baby. He hated that look.
Peter gulped and decided to deal with the other more pressing question. “H-How long have you known? About Spider-Man?”
“A couple months.” Andy replied. “As soon as I found out, I freaked out, called Tobey, found out he’d found out too and was freaking out. Then we freaked out together.”
“I told you I’m fine!”
Tobey and Andy stared at him like he’d grown another pair of arms. “Our little brother is out there risking his skin fighting superpowered criminals and you think we’d feel okay about that?”
“Yeah, but, see, I have superpowers too…” Peter raised a finger as he played his ace in the hole. “And I have a healing factor that’s even more efficient than Captain America-”
Andy snorted. “Yeah and look where he is now; Missing and disgraced. That’s who you’re modeling your life after?”
Tobey raised his hand to placate him. “We were concerned because there are lots of ways you can mess up your life, not just getting injured. Trust us, we know.”
“So… What are you gonna do now that you know my secret?” Peter tried to ask evenly, but couldn’t completely hide the squeak from his voice.
Tobey gave him a look that was equal parts exasperated and affectionate. “We aren’t going around telling people, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Did you expect us to sell you to TMZ? Come on.” Andy scoffed. “I haven’t even told Wade, so I hope you appreciate me putting my relationship on the line.”
"It’s not our secret to tell. Much as we wish you hadn’t kept this from us, we know this is important to you. Although I agree with Andy, I don’t like keeping secrets from Em, either.”
Peter’s mouth dropped open, guilt stricken. “I didn’t mean to make stuff complicated for you guys. I’m sorry.”
“You better be, you have no idea what it's like to deal with Wade's whining for months…”
Tobey smiled and nudged Andy, who dropped his faux-scowl. “What our emotionally constipated brother is trying to say is that we’ve got your back.”
“Thanks, but… how?” Peter asked. The idea of his brothers being anywhere near a supervillain battle - the thought only gave him the shivers. God knew how many times he’d heard Tobey complaining about his bad back, or walked in on Andy accidentally electrocuting himself.
“Like covering your tracks.” Andy rested his chin in his hand. “By the way, you really need to be more careful.”
“What do you mean?”
Andy brought up a photo of Spidey on his phone. "This isn't like the media of yesteryear where photos of superheroes are rare commodities. In this world-” He punctuated every word with a tap on the screen. “Everyone. Has. A smartphone.”
Tobey nodded in agreement. “People have been taking pictures of you for a year. Sooner or later, someone’s gonna upload something that gives you away."
“Well… we may be past that point,” Andy rolled his shoulders. “That squeaky voice of yours is a dead giveaway.”
“It's not squeaky!” Peter said hotly. So his voice hadn't deepened as much as he'd hoped, but they didn’t have to say it like that.
“Oh it is. If I close my eyes it’s like I’m talking to Mickey Mouse.”
“I wasn’t that obvious.” Peter humphed at the jibe. His mind raced, looking back on all his past behaviour and he could see it now; how he’d been so, so careless…
“Okay, fine, you weren’t glaringly obvious. An average person wouldn’t be able to pin you down.” Andy admitted, before his mouth curled into a smirk. “But we’re talking about me, who, in addition to being kinda smart, also coded the one of the most active social media platforms, you know, the one with a facial recognition algorithm so effective it’s been used to solve actual crimes…” he waggled his phone. “For somebody who knows where to look? Your breadcrumbs are everywhere.”
“If we found out, other people could.” Tobey agreed gravely. “Like we said, it’s only a matter of time.”
Peter couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Relax.” Andy’s arm squeezed round his shoulders, giving him a light shake. “There’s no need to look so stressed. We’ve got it covered.”
Drooping slightly under the weight of his arm, Peter looked up at him. “How?”
“At first, we monitored you every day to make sure you didn’t get in too much trouble, we might not be able to beat up flying vulture men, but if worse came to worst…” The line between Tobey’s eyebrows deepened. “We could at least make sure you got help as soon as possible.”
Peter noticed now for the first time that his oldest brother looked a lot more tired and thin than when they’d last met; this close, the deep bags under his blue eyes were a lot more visible.
“We did it in shifts, and I’m not gonna lie, that was a tough couple of months. But after a while we figured that was really inefficient.” Andy stifled a yawn. “And we had to juggle responsibilities of our own. Wade was always crying that I was ignoring him, we barely had any time to fu-”
“So then I came up with an idea.” Tobey interrupted quickly. He flushed at his next words. “The Spider-Man Watchers group.”
Peter squinted at him. “Your brilliant idea to protect my identity was… rounding up even more people to watch me?”
“That’s what I said too, but it turned out to be a really good plan. Work smarter, not harder, right?” Andy piped up. “Getting Spidey fans to be our eyes and ears out there frees us up to help you in other ways. Namely staving off any folks who start getting too close to the truth.”
“Wait so lemme get this straight,” Peter shook his head in disbelief, trying to comprehend the utter silliness of the situation. “You both are the creator and head moderator of the biggest Spider-Man online community?”
Tobey shrugged and gave a wry smile. “Welcome to the family business.”
Andy folded his arms, beaming. “And we’re never going to leave.”
Peter buried his face in his hands with a groan.
“Aw, don’t look like that. For your information, our little setup has worked pretty well so far. Because so far the only person who’s gotten a little too close for comfort has been one member by the name of… blackdahlia01 ,” Andy wrinkled his nose. “Their ability to track Spidey down consistently is pretty… uncanny, to say the least. If they weren’t such a popular member I’d find a way to quietly boot them out of the group...”
Peter turned to his brother, scandalized. “You’d abuse moderator powers to ban innocent members?”
“With great power comes great admin permissions.” Andy replied, unperturbed. “I don’t bring down the ban hammer often, but I’d do it for you.”
“Don’t ban anyone! See, this is what happens when you hang out with Wade all the time.” Peter exclaimed, which made Tobey chuckle.
“Luckily, we’ve never had to resort to that.” Tobey reassured him. “I keep my ear to the ground to monitor the general sentiment. If people start putting pieces together, I’m ready to jump in and run interference.”
“And I handle the tech side,” Andy grinned, getting more excited as he explained. “Basically, I conceal your and Spider-Man’s digital footprints. Anything that could tie you together; metadata, email addresses, locations, IP, getting tagged in the wrong photo... Anyone who tries to find a connection between either of you is gonna come up empty.” He gestured grandly, brimming in nerdy pride. “I could make it like you don’t even exist!”
Tobey coughed. “We talked about this, Andy, dial it back a little. We don’t want to erase Peter’s entire existence. What if he needs to apply for an apartment or something?”
“Oh, right, must’ve got carried away. Only a partially scorched earth, then…”
A warm feeling suffused Peter’s chest as he watched his bickering brothers. He didn't just have Ned as his guy in the chair; this was like a whole team. “You guys did all that for me?”
“We meant it when we said we wanted to help. And we’re not just talking about Spider-Man stuff.” Tobey said, a more earnest look on his face. “I feel like we kinda let you down; we haven’t been staying in touch as much as we should. And that’s more important than ever, this year especially-“
“It’s fine, you don’t need to-“ Peter began, but Tobey continued on.
“So I want you to know that if, for whatever reason you can’t go home or to the Avengers - my place is always open to you.”
Peter paused. “I’ve been to your place before.”
“I know, but that was before you became Spider-Man.” Tobey continued insistently. “Even if it’s just a meal, or somewhere to sleep, or a hug, I’m there.”
“If you’re ever in California, same.” Andy nodded, then paused quickly adding. “Although don’t count on me giving any inspiring Big Brother pep talks.”
“And when you decide to tell May, if you decide to tell her…” Tobey raised an eyebrow, a clear indication of what he thought Peter ought to do. “We’ll support you.”
Peter blinked. “You will?”
Andy rested his elbow on Peter’s head. “You’re our baby brother, we should be the ones looking out for you.”
“This baby brother could bench press the both of you with one hand.” Peter protested weakly.
“Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that, tiny.”
“You’re such a poser.”
Tobey chuckled as he watched Andy try to pinch Peter’s cheeks while Peter tried to mess up his hair. “If you ever need us, we’ll be there. I don’t care if we’re on the other side of the planet, we’ll find a way.”
“How? You’re not exactly some kind of wizard who can conjure up long distance portals.” Peter asked as he wiggled out from Andy’s elbow and effortlessly dumped his taller brother onto the floor.
“We’ll find a way. Brothers always do.” Andy grunted as he rolled up to sit on the ground, rubbing his sore leg. “That hurt.”
“Sorry, old man.”
Tobey shook his head, eyes brightening in wonder. “I still can’t believe it. We have a superhero in the family. What you’re doing, all those people you’ve helped - it’s really amazing.”
“Um, not really?” A sound that was half-laugh, half-scoff escaped Peter. “I’m… nobody, especially next to the Avengers. There’s so much I’m still learning, I’m trying to cause less property damage whenever I’m on patrol. And…” his shoulders hunched in, an involuntary motion. “And all the websites say I’m just Iron Man’s sidekick. Iron Baby was the latest one I saw…”
“Which websites?” Andy asked, voice dangerously soft. “Lemme guess, the Bugle?”
“Uh…”
“It’s the internet, people are gonna hate no matter what.” Tobey shook his head, resigned. “Never read the comments.”
“Yeah, fuck em.” Andy agreed emphatically. Though he was already busily tapping on his phone. “Can’t believe the dumb shit people can get published: there’s people out here claiming that Spider-Man shoots webs out his ass, can you believe that?”
“What the hell, that’s weird!” Peter tried to lean over Andy’s phone to see what he was doing, but his brother shoulder-checked him out of the way. “Those come out of webshooters, not me!”
Tobey leaned forward eagerly. “By the way, I’ve been dying to ask you this: did you design those webshooters yourself?”
The conversation meandered into safer waters, as Peter explained how he’d developed shooters and web fluid, even his janky home-made costume. His brothers were filled with genuine curiosity and praise for his achievements, offering additional insights he hadn’t considered.
It felt weird to have the tables reversed for once. Peter had spent his life looking up to his brothers, but now they were the ones impressed by him . Much as he loved them, it had always been tough growing up in their shadows: Tobey being the picture perfect son, responsible big brother, straight A student, finally settling into life as a respected professor; Andy being the whip-smart loner with the winning smile, who’d forged his own path and made it big.
And then there was him. Just plain old Peter Parker with nothing but some spider powers and a desire to help. On bad mental health days, Peter had often wondered if he’d ever do anything to set himself apart from his amazing brothers.
They even had him beat in the looks department: Peter didn’t have Tobey’s soulful blue eyes or Andy’s effortless charm and good looks - Peter couldn’t forget the times Flash called him a frogmouth face - Peter looked at Andy’s tall frame with some envy, wishing that the spidey powers had come with a growth spurt. With every year that passed, it seemed increasingly unlikely he would grow any taller than he currently was. Even after getting superpowers, he still had to hide his ability to outperform everyone else so it’s not like anyone else at school would see him as anything more than nerdy, weedy little Peter Parker.
All too often, the voice telling him he wasn’t enough was the loudest one.
It’s not fair, I wish I- Peter shook himself, abruptly feeling bad for playing the comparison game. It wasn’t like being amazingly handsome or supremely talented had made life easier for his brothers: Andy hadn't chosen to have his heart broken when Gwen died, depressed to the point where he couldn't stand being in New York. Tobey hadn’t chosen to go through a rough patch with Em that they’d only recently managed to patch up.
After all, heroes didn't have to look huge and bulky; he’d learned in History how Captain America used to be small and weedy before Project Rebirth. Mr Stark wasn't especially tall or buff either, but he had a way of filling a room with his personality that made him seem larger than life.
Peter’s throat felt hoarse by the time he finished explaining how he’d worked with Mr Stark on improving his gear and suit.
The smirk on Andy’s face melted into a smile of genuine affection. “For real, what you’re doing is amazing. I’m… I’m glad that you’re my brother."
Peter stared at him, wondering if he’d started having auditory hallucinations. ““Tell me you’re kidding.”
Andy shifted a little awkwardly, clearly unused to expressing so much emotion in one day. He grabbed a pillow, which he squeezed aggressively. “I wish I were, but you’ve caught me during one of my sincere moments. Enjoy it, because I will not be doing this again.”
“Aww, you really are a softie inside.” Peter taunted, poking the poor pillow Andy was strangling.
“Okay, that’s enough sharing for this year.” Andy said loudly, and tossed the pillow aside. “Know what, we should take a picture to commemorate this historic day.”
“Great idea!”
Peter squawked as a fresh round of shoving and squishing ensued as they all tried to fit in the frame.
“Everybody say ‘chess!’” Tobey threw up bunny ears fingers as they all grinned at the camera.
“CHESS!!”
Tobey let out a groan once they dropped out of the pose, twisting his shoulders with a painful sounding crack. “I’m getting too old for pillow fights with you guys. My back’s killing me.”
“Need me to help you crack it?”
“Thanks, I’m good.” Tobey leaned over to examine the photo they’d just taken, smiling softly to himself. “Been a while since we’ve all hung out in person, huh? We should do this more.”
Peter regarded the photo, the sense of deja vu chiming through him. The last time they’d all been together had been at Ben’s funeral.
It had been the worst day of his life.
Time had softened the details, until the only thing that remained was the gnawing emptiness of knowing last week Ben was here and now he’s gone.
Peter hugged his knees to his chest. “I miss him.”
Wordlessly, his brothers both reached their arms around him. For a few minutes they just held each other in a hug pile.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Tobey asked at last, words dropping into the quiet.
Peter bit his lip. What was there to say? “Do… you think Ben would be upset if he knew why I became Spider-Man?”
He must have sounded really pitiful, because even Andy, rather than making a sharp quip, only squeezed his arm tighter.
And Tobey, the brother who’d known Ben the longest, smiled. “He’d be so proud. Just like we are”
Such simple words, and yet on some level Peter had already known the answer. But he couldn’t help the moisture that sprang to his eyes. Beside him, Andy didn’t comment, if anything, he leaned closer so their shoulders bumped.
“Hey, I mean it.” Tobey’s chin rested on his head. “Not many people get a chance to make a difference, and what you’re doing is ultimately-”
“Amazing.” Andy added.
“-spectacular.” Tobey finished.
“Thanks…” Peter was silent for a bit, trying to get his face under control. “Were you mad that I kept it a secret all this time?”
“Mad? No, of course not.” Tobey shook his head. “We were worried more than anything.”
“It’s almost like you don’t trust us. And after everything we’ve been through.” Andy said with forced cheer, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that-” Peter’s jaw clenched. “The fewer people know the truth, the safer they’ll be. I’m trying to do what’s best for them”
“What about what’s best for you?” Tobey asked. His hands came to rest on Peter’s shoulders. “You don’t need to be alone.”
You don’t need to be alone. That was the same thing Mr Stark had told him only a few hours earlier. All in one night, his world was filling up with more and more people who knew he was Spider-Man, and he felt… he felt…
Relief. It was freeing in a way he hadn’t realized. Talking to someone like Tony who understood him on a superhero level was one thing, but being honest with people he’d grown up with was something he’d never thought would happen.
Peter huffed out a soft breath, feeling at once very still and extremely alive. So much had happened in one night that it all didn’t quite seem real.
But it was. Everyone was here, his whole family, both his normal one and his superhero one. He’d been apprehensive about those separate worlds colliding, and when they did… the sky didn’t fall, the earth didn’t shatter.
They’d all had fun.
He felt more at home, more himself than he’d felt in months.
The future was a big question mark: all everybody seemed to want to do was talk about the future, asking him what he was gonna do with his life. He honestly had no idea where he’d be in one year, let alone five years.
If he'd even be in New York. Or if he’d still be an Avenger. Would he still be Spider-Man?
Would he still want to be?
“All right, I give in. One more.” Andy lunged back, taking advantage of his longer limbs to wrap the others up into another big hug. “I love you guys!”
“Two emotional declarations in one night? All this Spider-Man stuff really is good for you!” Tobey laughed.
"Larb you too." Peter grinned, pressing himself into the hug pile as tight as he could. He didn’t know what was coming, but he knew at least he wouldn’t face it alone.
After all, three was better than one.