Title: One Step Behind

Author: Stormy1x2

Word Count: 13,800

Summary: S2, pre-move into the Tri-Carrier. Spider-Man's team isn't very hero-like at all. It takes an injury and a revelation for them to see how much they still have to learn. Luckily, they still have time to do so. Time, and Peter Parker.

Not his latest night ever, but four in the morning was definitely pushing it. Peter slipped inside the house as quietly as he could, wincing as his muscles twinged and pulled with each movement. Accelerated healing was a side gift of his spider-born powers, but even nights like tonight had a history of turning him black and blue. The Juggernaut was not one of the lighter-weight class of villains he normally had to deal with.

Peter, as Spider-Man, had taken several direct hits from fists the size of Christmas turkeys. Factor in two crashes through brick walls, and finish with a free fall off three stories because he'd been seeing too many Juggies to launch a web to, and well... yeah, even lifting his knees to climb the stairs was making him grimace.

What would be ideal? A long hot shower, a sandwich of massive proportions that would even make Luke Cage reconsider, and about thirty hours of sleep. What would he get? If he was lucky, two hours of sleep, a book to the head from Ava when he inevitably slept through his alarm (again), cold toast from being last to the breakfast table (again), a lecture on priorities (Ava again), and a challenge (Nova or Luke, it kinda tended to vary) to see who could get to school fastest.

Peter ran all this through his mind and groaned, stalling out in mid-step. Abruptly, he sat down on the stairs, suddenly too exhausted and too sore to make it up another step. He tried to raise his arm to the banister, but – nope. His arms were screaming obscenities at him as they made their bruises known, and Peter slumped his head over to lay against the wall. The coolness felt good against his cheek – probably the only part of him that hadn't been beaten like a pinata.

But – Pete smiled tiredly – he'd won. He'd tripped up Juggie just perfectly – enough to get him in close distance long enough to rip his helmet off, a feat which had taken quite a bit of his spider-proportionate strength. At that point, the big guy had fallen asleep, thanks to a minor telepathic intercept from SHIELD. Maria Hill had her team take him away – to where, Peter no longer cared. He'd done his part.

A small frown replaced the smile. It would have been nice to have help, but the last time he'd tried to contact his team past two in the morning, he'd gotten a lecture on the importance of sleep from Ava and Sam had flipped him off. Danny and Luke didn't even wake up. Must be nice to be able to sleep the whole night through. Well, it wasn't their fault – no one had ordered a patrol; Fury had even told everyone to go home and get some sleep, and at the very least, Peter couldn't fault his team for following Fury's orders. He smirked. He'd always had a problem with being told what to do.

Still, he'd done his job and had made it back in mostly one piece. Now he could sleep...

Daniel Rand awoke feeling something was wrong. He sat up in the guest bedroom he shared with Luke and Sam, automatically checking his roommates first. It was Sam's turn to have the bed, and the younger boy was sprawled out over the covers, one foot draped off the bed and dangerously close to kicking Power-Man in the head. He was an obnoxiously loud snorer, though Danny would never say that to him. Still, he hummed to himself, ear plugs were always a worthy investment in order to keep the peace. As for Cage, well, the teen had spent his formative years in Harlem, and was used to sleeping through everything short of ten-point earthquake. His words.

Danny smiled and rose quietly, slipping out the door and closing it silently behind him. The energy in the house was still disturbed. Something wasn't harmonious within their sanctum, and until he discovered what it was, he knew he would not be able to go back to sleep.

Ava slept in a cot in the basement, preferring to have her own space away fro the boys. He didn't feel her typical type of frenetic energy surging through the air; likely she was okay. His eyes fell on Aunt May's door, but upon laying a hand against the worn wood, he knew she too, was at peace. That left...

He carefully opened Peter's door, not wanting to be overtly intrusive, but wanting to make sure his friend was not in turmoil. As he pushed the door open, he blinked, head coming up sharply. Peter was not within. He looked anyway to confirm, but the bed was empty.

Danny glanced at the clock Peter kept on the bedside table. It was almost four-thirty. He knew Peter often patrolled at night, but he had thought (as had the others) that he returned home earlier than this. But if something had happened, Peter would have called them, or even Fury himself.

Debating what to do, Danny closed the door and stood there in the hallway, breathing lightly, and trying to determine what his next step should be. It was then that he heard a soft, very soft sound. A tiny bit of a wheeze mixed into a gentle breath, and Danny moved swiftly to the stairway. Only a third of the way up lay Peter, curled against the wall in his civilian clothes. There was a cut on his forehead that had long-since stopped bleeding, but the teen's wheezing could more plainly be heard.

Danny crouched down by his friend. "Peter?" he called softly, not wanting to disturb the household. "Peter, are you alright?" The Spider didn't even move. Danny looked at the cut, and then to the bag he was clutching in his sleep. Easing it from his lax grasp, Danny checked his friends costume for clues as to what happened.

His eyes narrowed as he took in the rips, and he breathed inward, trying to identify the dust caking it. Brick. Cement. The Spider had probably been thrown into or even through quite a few walls. He noted also some wood splinters, dabs of blood scattered throughout the fabric, even some grass stains. Frowning, Danny set the bag and costume aside and reached out to shake Peter's shoulder lightly. "Peter-"

Peter's eyes snapped open and his arm came up even faster than Danny could perceive with his Chi-enhanced senses. His fingers dug into Iron Fist's skin. Danny didn't move. The Spider's eyes – Peter's eyes' – were glazed with pain and not fully aware. Heat was radiating out from his skin. From his accelerated healing? From an internal injury? Danny was starting to get worried. "Peter, calm yourself," he said softly. "It's me, Danny. I will not hurt you. Hear me, my friend."

Peter's jaw worked a bit before he blinked, and then blinked hard again, apparently trying to bring Danny into focus. "Danny?"

"Yes, Spider," Danny said fondly. He loved all his friends, each member of his team, but his friendship with Peter was something he considered truly special, particularly after Peter had fought on his behalf during their exploits in Kun L'on. He considered what to say. It was obvious Peter was injured, but the Spider had an annoying habit of hiding injuries from both SHIELD and the team. In fact, this was the first time in a very long time that Danny was seeing Peter in anything less than his projected 'one hundred percent.' "I don't believe the stairs will be good for you. Can you stand up?"

Peter shifted his weight around, looked at the stairs, and then reached out shakily, pressing one hand against the wall, the other down on the stair. He pushed, winced, and then slumped back into his original position. "I can't stand up," he said, sounding dazed and confused. He peered blearily at Danny. "I think... I tried to go up... my legs... my legs said no."

Part of Daniel wanted to laugh. Another part of him was worried, and so he reached down and helped Peter gain his feet. The Spider wobbled, and Danny firmly propped him up, shoving a shoulder under Pete's arm, making the other boy yelp. "Peter?"

"My arms... hurt," Peter confessed, head drooping with obvious exhaustion. "Everything... hurts."

Danny nodded. "I need to check you to make sure you don't require additional medical care," he said quietly. "If I help you, can you make it to your room?"

"Not gonna carry me," Peter snapped half-heartedly, and then sagged again.

Danny smiled and helped his team leader move. Peter groaned with every step and muttered something under his breath – Danny couldn't quite make it out, though he suspected that might have been for the better – and threatened to go to sleep at almost every pace. Iron Fist was glad he possessed such patience that he could handle his leader's obstinate behaviour without resorting to the kind of tactics – namely insults – that Nova or Ava were more likely to provide in lieu of support. But even Danny had limits and he was starting to feel (mildly) irritated by the time they reached Peter's room after the fifth time he'd had to reposition his shoulder in order to keep the teen's body from hitting the hardwood floor.

Peter made it to his bed and collapsed. Danny let him fall, and then reached out to turn him over. "I need to remove your shirt, Peter," he said calmly, showing his hands to the injured hero. "I just want to check your injuries."

But Peter was giving him a mild, one-eyed glare from where his face was planted on to the pillow. "M'fine, Danny," he grumbled. "Happens all'a time. Go t' bed."

All the time? Was this how Peter's nightly patrol usually ended? Danny didn't like the thought of one of his teammate's being in such a state. "Well, I'm here now," he countered smoothly. "And I will not be able to rest unless I know my friend is okay for myself."

Peter didn't even mumble a response; he was fast asleep. Danny sighed and then turned the wall crawler over, making the teen hiss and wince in his sleep. He did not possess any remarkable strength aside from when he charged up his Ki but Peter was so light he didn't need to use any of it. That in itself was slightly alarming. Then he raised Peter's t-shirt, and slightly got turned into extremely.

Danny gasped audibly as he registered the black and blue bruising painted across Peter's stomach. A few scabs formed along his rib cage, and as he took in the damage, he realized that the indents in the darkest parts of the bruise were from someone's knuckles. Enormous knuckles. He turned to Peter's pants and carefully slid them down his legs, inwardly grateful that Peter wore shorts underneath. His legs were bruised all the way down as well. Danny traced the pattern with his eyes and noted the bruises seemed to wrap around his legs – he'd been gripped there, the blond teen realized. Gripped and likely thrown.

What on earth had happened? Danny's thoughts spun rapidly as he planned his actions. He pulled a sheet up over Peter for the time-being and then headed for the door.

He needed Ava. Probably Luke too. Ava had gone for advanced paramedic training as one of her SHIELD electives and could help him discern the extent of the Spider's injuries. Luke could help him with the moving. Or should he just call SHIELD? Likely they could arrange for a discrete extraction...

No. Aunt May would be most upset if her beloved nephew were missing from the breakfast table. And Danny was sure this was not the first time Peter had been injured thusly. He was only catching sight of it due to their current living circumstances. Danny frowned again, feeling the start of...something, churning inside. He wasn't quite sure what though. Yet. Patience, he counselled himself.

"I will return, my friend," he called softly, opening the bedroom door and moving swiftly down the hallway. He skipped the stairs entirely in one smooth leap and then again after opening the door to the basement. Ava was already sitting up by the time he landed, no doubt alerted to his presence by her advanced senses.

"Danny? What are you doing down here?" she asked groggily. Her hand groped blindly for her alarm clock, and when she saw the time, her eyes focused sharply and then turned back on Danny, concern warring with anger. "What's going on?"

"My apologies, Ava," Danny said, sketching a quick bow. "But I found Peter injured in the hallway upstairs. I believe he is relatively okay, but I would be grateful if you would come and confirm my diagnosis. You have additional training in that field which I do not."

Playing to her academic pride was a smart move. The anger vanished, though the concern did not. "Injured?" she hissed, likely trying to keep her voice down as Danny was. "Was he on a solo mission again?"

"I believe this was one of his patrols," Danny replied, turning away so Ava could throw a bathrobe on over her nightshirt. "He has some very deep bruising, pretty much all over his body. I am worried about possible internal injuries."

Ava rolled her eyes and threw back her blanket, standing quickly. "That idiot," she growled lowly, pushing past him and leaping up the stairs in two quick movements, Danny right behind her. "He is so stubborn about going to Medical..." In Peter's room, Ava pulled back the sheet and hissed again at the sight of Peter's new coloring. "Moron," she snarled, fist clenching. "Why the hell didn't he call us? If something did this to him-"

"Calm yourself," Danny crooned, attempting to soothe both the angered Tiger and the injured Spider that seemed to be flinching in his sleep with her every word. "He needs rest and everyone else will be up soon."

"Yeah, well, we're gonna need to concoct some sort of story so he doesn't go to school today," Ava grumped. Though her tone was still angered, her touch was sure and gentle, pressing lightly on the wounded flesh of her teammate, senses tuned for the feeling of heat and swelling. "Or get him there and to SHIELD through Coulson and the detention room."

"That may be the best solution," Danny agreed. He watched her hands checked their leader. "How is he?"

"I'm not sure," Ava muttered. "His skin is so hot, like a friggin' furnace. I think he has fractured ribs, but I also know those heal pretty quick on him." She traced one of the knuckle prints to just above Peter's hip bone. "Can you turn him over? I want to check his back."

"Not without hurting him." Danny moved again towards the door. "I will get Luke to assist us."

"Better wake Nova too," Ava sighed, frustration evident on her face. "He'll never forgive us if we leave him out."

Danny nodded and moved quickly back to his room. Nova was still fast sleep, open-mouthed snores filling the room. Power-Man had shifted and was sleeping away from the door. Danny walked over and carefully touched the teen's shoulder. "Please wake up, my friend. Ava and I have need of your strength."

Cage came awake quickly, but far less violently then Peter had. "Danny?"

Danny quickly explained, and then Cage was up and moving. As he left, Danny reluctantly turned to Nova. "Sam?"

A snore.

"Sam, I need you to wake, please."

Another snore, somehow even louder.

Danny rolled his eyes and then reached over to poke Sam's foot. At the touch, the ticklish teen bolted upright, finger pointed at Danny's head. "Don't you dare!"

"Did you hear what I said to Luke?"

Nova blinked, yawned and then nodded. "Little bit. Webhead got himself into trouble?"

"Yes. Ava and I are most concerned with the injuries he sustained in his battle. We are trying to determine the best course of action."

Sam frowned. "He's like... okay, right?" His tone was likely aiming for casual but Danny could easily pick out the strains of concern from within it.

"He seems to be," was what Danny decided to go with. "But the bruising he sustained was substantial."

Sam rolled off the bed, muffling a yawn into his arm. "I'm up," he said, leaning over to grab his helmet stashed under his clothes on the floor. "Need me to fly him to the Tri-Carrier?"

Danny wasn't sure. Still... "It is an option we shall keep in mind."

At Peter's door, Luke met them, shaking his head. "That shit looks painful, dude. And we can't wake him up."

Danny pressed past him and saw Ava gently slapping Peter's cheek, calling to him. "Sleeping?"

"I think he's gone past that and into unconscious," Ava replied tersely.

Sam inched forward and flinched at the sight of Peter's black and blue skin. "Ow, ow, ow, what'd he do – get in a fight with a brick wall?"

Danny thought back to concrete flakes and dust he'd seen on Peter's costume. "Your guess might be closer to reality than you think."

"So, what's the plan?" Ava asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I propose we wait for now," Danny said calmly. An idea had occurred to him. "Sam, you and Aunt May usually go for a jog together at six o'clock, correct?"

Sam nodded.

"Go with her. While you are out, we will call SHIELD for a medical extraction. Ava and Luke will go with him. I will stay here. When you return, I will tell Aunt May that Peter and Ava forgot they had to go to class early to finish a project. Luke went with them to help. I stayed here to wait for you." Danny finished up and looked at each of his teammates inquiringly. "Will that be sufficient?"

"For being last minute, I think it's a good one," Ava sighed. "Still, I think we should call Coulson now so that they can get in here the minute Sam and Aunt May are gone."

"Is Coulson even awake at this hour?" Sam wondered.

Luke snorted. "Ten bucks says not only is he up, he's fully dressed and expecting our call."

Danny smiled. "I believe that is what our friend Spider would call a 'sucker bet'." He pressed the switch on his watch that activated the stealth SHIELD communicator. A moment later, Acting-Principal and SHIELD Agent Coulson appeared on the miniature screen. He was, as predicted by Luke, fully dressed and apparently sitting in his office at the school. "Agent Coulson, sir."

"Hello, Daniel. An extraction team will be outside after Sam and Aunt May leave the house." Coulson frowned. "How bad is it?"

"Wow," Sam breathed. "Now I know SHIELD is psychic."

"They are not," Luke said, swatting Nova's arm lightly. Danny had to agree. Calling them psychic was to disregard the hours of training and countless hours of monitoring, and field-predicting the SHIELD crew put in to aid their super teams.

"Actually, in this case, we are," Coulson said. Danny blinked in surprise. Well then. The whole team gathered around the communicator. "Maria Hill was on night watch. Spider-Man took down the Juggernaut this morning with the help of one of our resident telepaths."

"We have telepaths?" Sam asked.

"Contracted work, mostly. Not strong enough for long-term combat. But in this case, once Spider-Man was able to remove Cain's helmet, our telepath was able to put him to sleep for a very short window. Hill's teams got him into containment."

"You mean Pete took down the Juggernaut by himself?" Luke blinked and looked back at his team leader. "Well, that explains the damage."

"Should we extract now?" Coulson asked mildly.

Danny shook his head, choosing to field this question on Spider's behalf. "No sir. I believe that this is not the first time Peter has had to deal with this type of injury after patrol. He will likely be upset with us that we contacted you at all. But I – we – will feel better for having him checked out anyway. Ava - " he glanced at her and she nodded. " - believes we can wait as well."

The agent nodded. "Your judgement and intuition is improving, all of you," Coulson praised them. "See you in one hour. Coulson out."

Danny re-engaged the stealth mode of his SHIELD communicator and then glanced at the rest of the team. Nothing left to do for one hour, except make sure Aunt May didn't wake up early and wonder why they were all gathered around her nephew who was decorated with enough blue to turn him into a Picasso, circa 1901.

Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. "Ava, what should we do until then?" Danny nodded at the injured Spider.

Ava's eyes brightened with realization. "Luke. Go downstairs and get as much ice as we have. Put it into a couple of plastic bags and bring them up here with a few dish towels as well. Sam-" her eyes slid over to the youngest member of the team. "Help him. Quietly."

"On it," Luke said and turned around, snagging Sam as he did.

"He's got a few cuts," Ava continued, pointing out a slash mark on Peter's shoulder, and a few on his legs. There were several puncture marks lined in a row on his side – like the tines of a fork, only bigger. Danny wondered what the Spider had landed on to create that particular wound. "Go get the first aid kit from the bathroom. We can disinfect these while we're waiting."

An excellent plan. Ava would make a good leader when the day came to move on and join or form other teams. Danny nodded at her and moved to fulfil her request.

The first aid kit was easily found, and Danny popped it open. It had been recently restocked at Ava's insistence only a short time before, and Danny found he was grateful for the girl's attention to details such as these. As he closed the box, he reminded himself that he too needed to start thinking about these sorts of things. If he were to be a competent rule of Kun L'on one day, the health and safety of his people were of paramount importance. Perhaps living with the Spider was providing him with yet another education – a chance to add more 'tools' to the 'toolbox', as Captain America had once so eloquently impressed upon them.

Bringing the box back to Peter's room, Ava asked for sterile gauze pads and antiseptic spray. "I'll get the ones on his arms," she said, with a wry grin twisting the corners of her mouth. "I don't think Pete would like me doing the ones on his legs, particularly that one." She pointed at a nasty gash that was rather high on the boy's thigh muscle.

Danny smiled. "It is not nice to tease our leader when he is not awake to defend himself."

"Isn't that what he has you for?"

True. Defending his team leader was not something he had to think about. He respected Peter greatly, and had adapted to his addition to their team probably more quickly than the others, save for maybe Luke. He, like the others, had thought Spider-Man's addition to their team was a non-necessity. They had been quick to discover they had all been so very wrong. Peter was the leader they had not even known they had desperately needed.

Danny worked quickly with Ava, cleaning the wounds and spraying them to prevent infection. The deeper cuts were covered with pads and taped down for the time being – SHIELD medical would do any stitching if it was required. If nothing else, it had proved Ava's theory about Peter no longer being merely asleep; the Spider twitched and moaned in pain as they worked but failed to waken.

Moments later, Luke and Sam reappeared, arms filled with towel-wrapped bags of ice. "Where do you want 'em?" Luke asked, setting his load down on the floor by Peter's bed.

Sam did the same on the other side by Ava. "I think my fingers are numb," he complained, shaking out his fingers. But his eyes were roving up and down the Spider's body, wincing at the damage that had been dealt out. "So we just start placing them?"

"Gently," Ava said, and picked one up, pressing it lightly against Peter's arm in demonstration. "We're gonna ice the worst of the bruises for fifteen or so minutes and then take them off for about the same. One more repeat, and then Sam disappears for his jog with Aunt May and the pros take over. Sound good?"

Murmurs of agreement followed, and they carefully placed the ice in batches. Sam was wrinkling his nose as he placed another bag gently on Peter's stomach, holding it up to keep the weight of the ice from pressing too hard in case there were injuries Ava had been unable to detect. "How is he not freezing? My fingers are numb again!"

"He's running one hell of a fever," Luke muttered, checking Peter's forehead. "Are we doing the right thing in waiting?"

Danny looked at Peter and then at Luke. "I believe so." He set another bag of ice on the pad that covered the puncture marks. "This is not anomalous behaviour. He does these patrols all the time. And even in battle by our sides, we've seen him take damage that would disable or kill a SHIELD soldier yet stand up seconds later."

Sam snorted. "That is one thing I hate to admit. He takes hits that knock us for a loop and nothing fazes him."

"That's where I believe we are mistaken," Danny said swiftly. He nodded at what they were doing. "I believe this is a far more normal post-battle state for him than we knew. He is, as Ava has said, very adept at skipping out on medical checks."

"This is?" Sam's eyes boggled. "Like, this damage? Right here?"

"Indeed. The heat his body is generating – I cannot speak for certain, but I believe that it is a side-affect of his own accelerated healing ability." Danny furrowed his brows as he thought. "I also believe we will see proof of it in about - " he checked the alarm clock. " - thirty-eight minutes."

Ava seemed to catch on to what he was saying. "He's unconscious, not asleep Danny. And he was up all night battling. You think he's going to wake up and just start his morning routine like nothing happened?"

Danny shrugged, but inwardly was both worried and curious to see if his suspicions were correct. "We will see."

"No way," Sam murmured. "My money's on Ava this time. Pete's so banged up he'd sleep through the return of Apocalypse."

"I guess we'll find out," Luke muttered resignedly. He scanned Peter again, and shook his head. "This is messed up."

Ava growled. "Messed up or not, keep an eye on what you're doing." She nodded her chin at the ice bag sliding off the bruises that were the grip marks wrapped around Peter's left calf. Power Man cursed and caught the bag, resetting it on the worst of the digs.

Eventually Ava told them to take the ice off, and they checked to see if any good had been done. Danny checked Peter's ankle and noted the tiny bit of swelling there had all but disappeared. Ava reported the same from the fingers of Peter's right hand. Luke assisted Danny in turning Peter over to ice the bruises on his back, some dark enough that even Sam kept his jokes and comments to himself. Instead, the youngest team member was the first to scoop up an ice pack and hold it gently to the worst of the injuries at the small of Peter's back. There was a growing moment here, Danny decided, and hoped no one would comment on it so that Sam could fully evolve into it.

Ava called time again, and Danny moved to his place with Luke in turning Peter over smoothly and with as little jarring as possible. Everyone resumed icing. Comments were kept to a minimum. Danny noted that everyone seemed to be thinking, and he wondered what conclusions they were coming to.

A sound echoed somewhere in the house, and Sam jolted. "Five-fifty!" he yelped, and Ava smacked his shoulder.

"Hush!"

"Sorry," he hissed. "That's Aunt May's alarm. We meet up downstairs at six."

"Go," Ava ordered. "Make sure Peter's door is closed when you leave. Spare room too. Everyone in here? We are going to make like mice and not make a sound until they leave."

"Mice," Sam snickered as he stood up. "Funny, y'know, coming from a cat."

Ava rolled her eyes in frustration. Danny came to her rescue. "Go Sam," he said firmly. "We will wait until you're gone and signal SHIELD to move in."

"On it," Sam said as he jogged out of Peter's room, closing the door. They heard the spare bedroom door open and shut quietly.

A minute or so later, Aunt May's door opened. They heard the older woman yawn and stretch as she padded down the hallway to the bathroom. Danny hoped she wouldn't notice the missing first aid kit. Had he left a mess in there?

The water ran and Ava seemed to deflate a little bit. "So far so good."

Luke nodded, apparently not trusting himself to speak. His baritone voice carried easily, and Danny mentally applauded his friend's good sense.

The water stopped shortly and they could hear Aunt May moving in the hallway, pausing outside of the spare bedroom. Danny held his breath as he heard the faint tapping on the door. "Sam?" the woman called softly.

They all heard Sam yawn and call back through the door. "I'm up, Aunt May. See you downstairs in five?"

"Hop to it, kiddo!"

Aunt May's footsteps disappeared down the stairs, and a moment later, Sam appeared in Peter's doorway, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. "How's that for acting?"

"Very impressive," Ava replied. "Try and convince her to take the scenic route or something."

"If you came running with us one morning, you'd know all of our routes are scenic," Sam retorted, and shut the door before she could respond.

Danny smothered a laugh at the affronted look on Ava's face, and instead moved to the window. Less than five minutes later, he caught sight of Aunt May and Sam jogging away from the house. Sam looked back once, caught Danny's eyes and nodded. Danny watched as Sam spoke to Aunt May, waving her down a road that looped towards one of the larger parks in the area, and May followed him instantly. "They're gone."

"I'll get the door downstairs," Luke said, heading for the hall. "Anyone wanna bet SHIELD'll be outside the minute I open it?"

"What is with the bets this morning?" Ava growled. "Seriously, how do any of you retain any money at all if these things are what you normally bet on?"

Danny smiled. "It keeps the peace when small minds are amused."

Ava did not look impressed. "Not one of your better ones."

"I did not get much sleep this night either," he said with a smirk. "Should we do anything to help prepare him for-"

-BEEEP-

Danny reached over to turn off the alarm when Peter's arm snaked out, lightning fast, and hit it. Hard. Danny blinked in amusement as Peter lifted his hand, pieces of plastic falling to the floor. He and Ava watched, wide-eyed as Peter's eyes fluttered open. "Peter?"

Peter didn't answer right away. He tilted his head, blinked hard, the glassiness slowly fading away, though Danny was hesitant to label Peter's status as 'alert' in any way. "...'nny?"

"Close enough, my friend." Danny leaned forward, as did Ava, though her main focus seemed to be checking Peter's pupils for contraction. "How are you feeling?"

"L'ke sat o'me?"

Danny smiled at the slurred but recognizable words. "I would not tell him that comparison."

Peter's eyes sharpened a bit more, though he made no attempt to move. "Ava? What are you two doing in my room?" His voice was hoarse with pain, lines tightening around his mouth and eyes.

"Making sure you don't die on us, you idiot," Ava snapped. "Why didn't you call us for help? Look at you! You're one giant bruise!"

"You say that like it's something I don't know," Peter complained and slowly tried to sit up. Pain was scrawled across his face, plain as day, but his stubbornness was also easy to see. Ava put her hand on Peter's right shoulder and Danny took Peter's left, pressing down gently in an attempt to keep him still. "SHIELD is on its way to take you to medical-"

"What? NO!" Peter yelped and surged upwards, pushing past their meagre strength with ease. Pain must have hit him hard as his stomach muscles contracted and pulled against his ribs. He inhaled sharply, a tiny whine escaping his clenched teeth. Danny took note of his paling face, the rapid breathing and the green tinge—wait, green?

"Ava, move," he instructed calmly, and kicked Peter's desk chair towards the closet, exposing the can beneath. He snagged the wastebasket, thankful it was mostly empty and more importantly, lined with a garbage bag, and set it on the floor. He then gripped Peter's shoulder and turned the boy in the proper direction.

Just in time.

"Oh, gross," Ava groaned, looking away.

Danny shrugged. Nausea was a common factor in illnesses and injuries. All of the pain contracting at once after being quickly awakened from unconsciousness and moving to an upright position...well, Danny had been in the Spider's place many times before during training. They all had, though apparently Ava still retained a certain sensitivity level to other people's illness. Perhaps it was her heightened senses bleeding through – though she was not currently wearing the amulet, it was somewhere on her person. They'd never tested Ava's mystical abilities in relationship to her proximity to the amulet, had they? Perhaps it was something he should suggest during one of their meetings.

There wasn't much in Peter's stomach to throw up at any rate, and it was rapidly turning to dry-heaving, which had to be even more painful. Danny pressed his lips together, thinking, and then activated his Iron Fist, summoning the energy and asking it to calm, to soothe. He pressed his open hand, energy still swirling around his palm and fingers, very very lightly against Peter's tense stomach muscles. 'Calm', he soothed within his head, calling forth everything he knew about soothing energy. He had much still to learn from the monks, but he was positive he could help at least this much. 'Calm.' He could feel Peter's energy flexing in turmoil, and he repeated his manta, covering the red with yellow until it became to ease.

Peter's shudders slowly died off, the dry-heaving turning to gasping breaths that began to subside as well. The wall crawler turned his head slowly, obviously exhausted, but stared amazed at Danny, pain-born tears drying up. "When.." Peter breathed heavily, arm shaking from where he was still partially propping himself on the bed. "...when did you learn that trick?"

"To be honest?" Danny smiled, letting his Chi return to its normal resting state. "Just now. Your pain is my pain, Spider. If I can help, I will."

"You just have to show me up, don't you?" Ava grumbled, but she gave him a tired smile anyway. "Nice work, Fist."

"Thanks, Danny," Peter said with a small smile. Then his eyes fluttered shut and he fell forward. Danny caught him and Ava reached over to pull their leader back on to the bed.

A cough came from the doorway. Ava whirled around. "Agent Coulson! Sir!"

Danny stood by Peter's bedside as several SHIELD agents moved swiftly into the room. The leader, wearing a giant red cross on his helmet and shoulder pads, directed a smooth transition of Peter from his bed to a hovering medi-board – one of Tony Stark's new 'toys' for the new Tri-Carrier's medical bay. The Tri-Carrier was only semi-operational at the moment, going through testing and restocking, but the medical bay was always the first part of any SHIELD facility to be fully finished and equipped. Nights (days?) like this were merely one of the reasons why.

Coulson nodded at Danny as the team whisked Peter out the door and down the stairs. Rather than change completely, Ava pulled her amulet out of her robe pocket and activated it so at least she was in her 'work clothes'. Danny followed the procession to the backyard where a SHIELD stealth jump jet was hovering. Danny glanced around at the surrounding houses and then noticed glowing lights at strategic points on the back and side fences. He looked at Coulson, who was watching the litter be lifted up to the jet. Luke, now dressed as Power Man, and White Tiger latched on to the hand grips that pulled them up smoothly. "Sir?"

"Holographic screens, extending twenty meters up," Coulson said briefly. He smiled. "If the neighbours look straight up for an extended period of time, they would probably notice something wasn't quite right, but this will suffice for a five minute extraction. Besides," and the smile turned to a smirk. "It's Queens."

Danny smiled and watched his superior wave off the jet. "Orders, sir?"

Coulson gave an abnormally loud sigh. Danny's grin widened. "I suppose sending you and Nova to school alone would be a futile gesture in your learning career." Danny didn't argue. "Your orders are to wait for Nova and then report to the Tri-Carrier for a status update on your team leader."

"Thank you, sir," Danny said, bowing. Coulson nodded and then marched off to an unmarked SHIELD car that would return him to Middleton High. Danny decided now would be a prudent time to go inside, properly dress (though his sweatpants and t-shirt were not exactly revealing sleepwear) and ensure nothing had been left out for Aunt May to stumble upon and query them about when she and Sam returned.

Sam was bouncing down the Tri-Carrier hallway. "D'ya think Webs is okay now? Man, look at all this space! Ya think when we move in, Fury would let me claim that lounge as my bedroom? That screen was ten feet tall! Are we going the right way?"

The last question Danny was actually able to answer, as Sam had turned his helmeted head for a response. "Medbay is in the same place it always was. The Tri-Carrier has some additional platforms added, but Mr Stark apparently liked his original blueprints too much to throw them out."

The other teen nodded, still looking enthused, but his pace slowed the tiniest bit. "It'll be great to have my own room again," Nova said after a minute.

Danny waited, but Nova went silent and stared at the ground as they moved. He decided a gentle prompt was in order. "But?"

"...I'm gonna miss living at Pete's place," Nova confessed quietly. "In a house, you know? Like a normal person? Pete's not so bad. And Aunt May, she reminded me a lot of..." He trailed off, folded his arms and kicked up into the air, hovering alongside Danny as they made their way down the near-endless corridors of the Tri-Carrier.

Danny could understand. Unlike the rest of them, who had very few to no family left around them (save for Peter and his Aunt May), Nova still had a family. A mother, a sister, a handful of aunts and uncles in Carefree Arizona who loved him and cared for him – and couldn't be with him. Their safety was at risk. As a member of the Nova Corps, Sam had accepted the burden his father had before him, and that meant assuming the risks he had. Sam's father had died in space, trying to keep enemies from discovering his Earth-based family. Sam refused to put his family in danger and had cut himself off entirely, surrendering himself first to the Guardians of the Galaxy, and then to Fury, to train and learn how to use his powers so that no one in his family would ever have to deal with that kind of danger ever again.

Danny had known exactly why Sam Alexander had gotten along so well with Aunt May. The younger teen missed his family, and Aunt May reminded him so much of his mother. He could empathize. He reached out and gripped Nova's shoulder lightly, squeezing once – a touch that said 'I'm here if you need me' - before letting the young hero go.

"Yeah, well... so, I think we found it," Nova commented, trying to shake off the melancholy mood. Danny allowed him to do so. Pushing someone, particularly Sam, was never helpful. Patience was better, and Danny knew that Sam knew what that simple touch had meant.

Sam went through the medbay doors first, the reinforced steel panels sliding soundlessly into the walls. Peter was on the bed, a scanner hovering over him and displaying medical information in a 3D screen at the opposite side of the bed. Ava was leaning against the wall at Peter's head, Luke sitting on the bed next to him; both looked up upon their entry.

"How is he?" Sam asked loudly, zooming over to hover at the foot of the bed, peering at Peter and wrinkling his nose at the machines.

"Shhh," Ava said, tossing an empty water glass at his head. Sam ducked, letting it go over him, and Danny reached out, catching it easily. Ava smirked. "Show off. Again."

Luke spoke up. "He's sleeping now. Medically assisted though – the doofus was determined to go to class this morning."

Ava took over. "He did have a couple of cracked ribs. And you were right to worry about internal bleeding Danny. Nothing too serious though – apparently his accelerated hearing focused on that first, that's why we saw so much damage. If he hadn't cracked the ribs or had the bleeding, most of his bruises would have been gone by the time we got here. As it is, he needs about a day or two of sleep, a seriously hot shower and some massage therapy." She grinned. "Two of the SHIELD nurses volunteered and Pete begged to be knocked out after that."

Sam snickered and Danny grinned. Poor Spider. "How long's he out for?" Sam asked, still chuckling.

"That's the thing – no one knows, apparently." Ava frowned. "He's apparently really resistant to sedatives and anaesthetics, so that thing - " she pointed to the scanner aimed at Peter. " - is monitoring the results of this particular dose. On anyone else, they'd be out anywhere from four to six hours. It's been about forty minutes so far."

"So we're just watching him sleep?" Nova yawned. "Lame." He flew over to one of the cabinets. "If they seriously built and stocked this thing like the Helicarrier, then...ah-hah!" He pulled out a brand new deck of cards, still in the shrink wrap. Sam waggled the deck at the team. "Poker?"

They'd barely gotten a game going when the monitor beeped. Danny was the first to figure it out and looked over to Peter – who was struggling to sit up again, eyelids flickering. Cards scattered as Danny dropped his hand and went to his leader, followed by the rest of the team. "Calm down, Spider," he urged, touching the teen's hand lightly. He was reluctant to do anything else, lest he upset the barely conscious hero.

Ava turned the squealing monitor off. "Fifty-four minutes," she noted.

Peter was still struggling to open his eyes, twisting on the bed. Luke joined Danny at the side. "Hold him down, let him go?"

Danny withdrew his hand. "I believe holding him down would be a bad thing," Danny said, taking in the panicked look on Peter's face.

"What's his deal?" Sam complained, watching with folded arms and anxious eyes. "It's the medbay. He's acting like he's under attack or something. He's woken up here before."

Danny's mind raced. Most of the times Peter had woken in medbay were natural – he'd fallen unconscious due to injury or battle fatigue. There was no record of him being induced into unnatural slumber – on the side of good. But on the side of evil... "He thinks he's been captured."

The team kinda froze into position. "Say again?" Ava said, surprise coloring her tone.

"Every time he's been drugged into unconsciousness, it's been from the enemy's side," Danny explained quickly, warming to his deduction the more he thought about it. "I believe he's under the impression that he's once again in the hands of one of his enemies."

Peter sat up suddenly, eyes still glassy and unfocused. "N' again," he murmured, confirming Danny's suspicions. He tried to rip the blanket off his legs but only succeeded in tangling himself up further.

"Pete!" Luke called roughly. "Pete, it's me, Luke. We're all here. Look at us, man."

Peter froze, muscles twitching. Sam floated closer – which turned out to be a bad idea. "G'blin?" Peter muttered anxiously. "Gotta.. save team..."

Even under such conditions, Peter's first thought was not towards himself. Danny frowned and reached out to his friend again. "Peter, it's us. You're sa-" His eyes widened as Peter grabbed his arm before he could finish and threw him, one-handed, into the wall. Despite Peter's injuries and torpidity due to the drug in his system, Danny barely had enough time to get a hand up to blunt his impact. He bounced off reinforced steel with a groan and hit the ground, rolling over once and coming to a shaky crouch, rubbing his shoulder gingerly. "Peter?"

Luke had apparently rushed forward the second Danny had been thrown – the bigger teen was hurled across the entire medbay, taking Ava with him. Sam's gloves had automatically started glowing, but he was frozen in midair, eyes flicking from the Spider to his groaning teammates. "Uh, guys, what do I do here?"

Danny recalled the slurred words. Sam was hovering in midair, much as Spider's adversary Goblin did. It was just possible that Peter's drugged mind was confusing Sam for his enemy, Norman Osbourne. "Take off your helmet!"

"What?" Sam watched in concern as Peter finally got free of the blankets and fell to the medbay floor. He flailed there for a moment, trying to get his legs beneath him long enough to stand up. "Um, not like you, Mr Kung Fu. No helmet, no powers, remember? And if he hits me like that, I'm a dead man."

"It's the floating!" Danny shouted, trying to will Sam to understand. "He's not thinking clearly. You're floating, like the Goblin on one of his gliders! Power down!"

Sam shot him a fearful look – and then resolve entered his gaze. He sighed, landed, and pulled off his helmet, setting it on the second bed, all the while keeping his eyes on Peter, who had finally gained his shaky footing. Danny watched as Spider-Man stared at him, swaying back and forth unsteadily for a moment. Then Peter lunged forward, gripping Sam's t-shirt, making the younger boy yelp. Sam likely expected a blow to be next. Danny was surprised when Peter paused, peering almost drunkenly into Sam's face.

"Sam..." breathed Peter, trying to pull himself up even further, yanking on Sam's t-shirt. "Where'd he go?"

The younger teen's eyes were as wide as saucers. "W-who?"

"The Goblin," Spider snarled, and his tone was so cold, so hard, that Danny almost didn't recognize it. "Hurt m'friends... I'll kill him..."

Danny took off his bandanna and set it aside. Then he came forward, splaying his hands peacefully. Sam had a beseeching look on his face, begging for Danny to help keep him from being turned into the same bag of hurting parts as their friend had been. "Peter, it's me. Me and Sam. The whole team is here. Calm down. You've been hurt, and you're not feeling well right now."

Peter swayed again and turned his head, glaring at him. "Who..." His bleary eyes widened and then narrowed again. "Danny?"

"Yes. And Ava and Luke," Danny said, gesturing to the last two who were cautiously moving closer. "We're in the Tri-Carrier, Peter. You were hurt. You fought the Juggernaut, remember?"

"Juggernaa... no Goblin?" Peter's head tilted to the side. His fingers flexed against Nova's t-shirt.

Danny shook his head but maintained eye contact. "No Goblin. The SHIELD medical officers gave you a sedative to help you sleep and heal the bruises you got from battling the Juggernaut."

Peter let go of Sam and stumbled backwards, his legs hitting the bed and making him sit rather abruptly. He raised a trembling hand to his head. "Juggernaut..."

Danny carefully stepped closer, ready to move this time if the Spider felt the need to lash out. He didn't think he would though – Peter was shaking his head, trying to clear it, and he looked up at Danny again, recognition slowly sparking in brown eyes. "Danny..."

'Calm', Danny projected from within himself, and he carefully sat down on the bed next to his leader. "I am here my friend. We all are."

Sam had straightened out his t-shirt and was cautiously standing at the foot of the bed again, waving two fingers meekly when Peter glanced his way. Ava had powered down after Sam had, in an effort to project a non-threatening status. Even Luke had removed his sunglasses, trying to meet their leader's eyes as he sat down on the other bed, making himself smaller. All were following Danny's lead in being non-combatants in this situation.

"Good work," came a dry voice from the door.

Danny's head snapped to the side and they all leaped back to their feet – except for Peter who was frowning and rubbing his forehead. Fury stood there, arms folded, taking in the situation in a single glance. "Parker! You awake yet?"

A pause. Then... "Yes, your Fury-ness," Peter grumbled, eyes still closed. Danny smiled. Peter was indeed awake and back with them. A heavy weight seemed to lift from him.

Ava slapped a hand to her face; Luke let out a chuckle. Sam looked at his helmet. "So, can I put this back on? 'Cause really, if Webs is gonna freak out again, I'm gonna need Nova-style protection."

"Is that your way of admitting I'm stronger than you?" Peter asked tiredly, finally – finally – meeting everyone's eyes with some sort of coherency.

Danny reached out a hand, pulling Peter to his feet when he gripped it. "Welcome back, Spider."

Peter blinked owlishly. "Where'd I go?"

Fury scowled at him, but it was clear to Danny – and everyone in the room – that it wasn't directed at Peter. "Out of your head for a little while. I'm going to be having a talk with SHIELD medical staff who think it's a good idea to test out anaesthetics on a super-powered teenager known to be resistant - and leave him to be guarded by even more teenagers."

Peter was eyeing them all oddly. It was a mixture of embarrassment and concern and Danny sought to head the Spider's thoughts off at the pass. "You did not hurt us, Peter," he said firmly. He felt a smile bloom into place on his face. "Actually, you were trying to protect us from us."

Confusion took the place of embarrassment and Peter tilted his head to the side like an adorably confused puppy. "Say what?"

Danny chuckled, and began to explain.

"I'm really sorry about all this," Peter said for the third time as they walked home. Despite the teams protests, as well as a few from the medical personnel who weren't currently stranded in the brig pending Fury's 'discussions', Peter had wanted to leave right away. Danny had managed to convince Peter that it was too late for them to go to school without questions being asked, as Coulson would have no doubt already explained their absences to their teachers. Peter had reluctantly agreed to stay in SHIELD medical at least until last class ended and they could go home as normal.

The team had decided to spend the day with him – Danny was convinced that Peter would skip out on them if they left, and Luke had agreed. Sam was not willing to give up on a Fury-sanctioned day off from school, and had threatened to cuff Peter to the bed – which had led to a round of sex jokes that had increased in hilarity until Ava trounced them all with an addition that had left them speechless and a little in fear of their lives. It had also made Peter turn down the offer of a therapeutic massage from one of the nurses when she made it in front of his team, his face bright red, and his eyes firmly kept on the floor until she had left.

"How many times we gotta say this, Webs?" Sam drawled. He was walking out in front, arms folded behind his head, and he leaned back, tilting his head enough to give Pete the stink-eye. "You're forgiven."

"As long as you don't hide injuries like that from us," Danny added swiftly.

"It's not usually that bad-" Peter tried again to convince them that what had happened was not something worthy of concern. Danny did not agree.

Luke spoke before Danny could follow up though. "I don't care, man," he boomed, poking Peter in the shoulder. "Think of it this way. Would you leave one of us in that state? How we found you?"

Peter squirmed under their gaze, choosing finally to stare sullenly at the side street. "It's not the same."

"How do you figure that?" Ava asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Peter slowed to a stop. Danny joined him, laying a hand on his shoulder, as he had to Sam aboard the Tri-Carrier – a reminder that he was there, that Peter was among friends who only wanted to help. "How is it different, Spider?"

The teen blew his breath out in frustration, reaching one hand up to rake his hair out of his eyes. There seemed to be an almost desperate gleam in them, coupled with a strong sense of determination. Danny had felt this energy from Peter before. "It just is! I was the one on patrol, I was the one who engaged the Juggernaut, and I was the one who brought him down. It was my choice and therefor my responsibility to stop him. Those injuries I had? That's not the first time I've come home like that."

"It's just the first time anyone saw what these patrols do to you," Danny finished for him, rather forcefully. "Peter, if we had known this is what typically happened-"

"You would have joined in?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "That's the only reason?"

"We wouldn't leave you to get beat up, Webhead," Sam snarled, looking stung by the Spider's remark. "We're a team, remember?"

Peter shook his head. The panic was gone, replaced by... sadness? Or disappointment? Danny frowned, unable to tell for certain. "You guys... you still don't get it, do you?" Peter held up his hands, twisting them back and forth, and then squeezing them into fists. Danny knew well the power contained in those deceptive hands. "It has nothing to do with me."

Sam threw his hands up, muttering a curse, and Ava growled. Danny held his hands out for calm again, feeling that he had been doing that a lot this day. "Everyone, calm down. Spider... Peter." He met his leader's eyes steadily. "We're not trying to argue. Help us understand."

Peter sighed and stopped walking. "I... " He paused and then shook his head again. "Hang on. I can't do this here. Not like this." He pointed to a nearby building and its sixth floor rooftop. "Meet me up there." Peter than took a quick look around, before back flipping high on to the wall and swiftly crawling up and over the top.

Danny looked at his friends and shrugged, before looking to Cage. "A lift, friend? Or should I say, a toss?"

Luke shrugged and gave him a grin. "Alley-oop?"

When they landed on the roof, Nova carrying Ava, Peter was already in his Spider-Man costume. His brown eyes were hidden behind the eerie white eye plates set into his mask. Danny felt a bit disconcerted. The Spider faced them solidly, unflinching. "You want to understand?"

"Yes," Danny answered for the group before Sam could make light of the situation. He could sense there was something a bit different going on now – Peter's chi was cooler than normal, and Danny wasn't entirely sure what was about to happen.

"Let's try this, then. Who am I?" Peter asked softly, his tone at odds with the stiff, almost battle-ready stance he took.

"Peter Parker," said Luke slowly, like he wasn't sure what Peter wanted to hear.

"Spider-Man," Ava countered swiftly.

"Midtown's number one science nerd," Sam chimed in – and flinched, when Luke and Ava glared at him. "Joking, sorry."

Danny though, was focused on Spider, who had given a small chuckle at Sam's comment. "All of the above," Spider-Man said. "Why do I patrol?"

That gave way to a substantial pause. "You wish to help others," Danny contributed eventually. "You hate to see anyone hurt, especially when you could have been there to prevent it."

Spider-Man nodded, looking down at the street below. "You guys know my file," he said in that same, soft tone that didn't really give a strong indication as to what mood he was truly in. "You know about my Uncle Ben." His fists squeezed again, as though he still, after all this time, couldn't completely hide the anguish inside him whenever his beloved uncle was mentioned. His head came up again. "Let me ask you a question. Why don't you patrol?"

Danny stilled. Suddenly, he had an idea he knew what this was truly about.

Ava blinked. "We already train hard with SHIELD. Between that and missions and school, I don't even know how you have time for these patrols."

Luke nodded. "What she said."

Sam crossed his arms. "I thought you mainly took down muggers and purse-snatchers during your patrols. Isn't that what the police are for?"

Luke and Ava nodded in agreement with Sam. Danny decided to keep his mouth shut for the moment.

Peter kept looking at the street. "Do you know what happened two nights ago?" he asked quietly.

Danny looked at Ava who shrugged at the non-sequiter. Luke shook his head and Sam cocked his head to the side. "I'm gonna guess you weren't sleeping."

Spider chuckled. It was oddly dark. "No. I wasn't sleeping." He pointed to a group of buildings several blocks away. "See that apartment complex? The building in the middle?"

They all did. None of them spoke, waiting for Peter to make his point.

"There's a young man who lives there. He's a nice guy, but he's constantly teased about his weight. He's been bullied for a long time. Two nights ago, he decided he didn't want to deal with it anymore, and he jumped off the roof of that very building."

No one spoke.

Peter brought a hand up to rub his shoulder absently. "I barely managed to catch him in time. Dislocated my shoulder doing it. I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to feel worse than he already did. I spent three hours sitting with him on that ledge, listening to him cry and vent about how much he hated himself and how worthless he thought he was. We were up there long enough that he was missed when his dad got up for work. He found us up there, and he found out what had gone on. He promised he would get his son help. They went back inside together, and I counted that as a win."

Sam and Luke looked confused. Ava looked like she didn't know what to feel. Danny swallowed hard, and refocused his gaze on his team leader.

"Every time I patrol," Peter said quietly. "It helps me face the morning, when I read the papers about all the people I wasn't able to help."

"I don't understand," Luke said in a low voice. He was aiming for calm and for understanding, Danny realized.

"Why do you want this life?" Peter asked them, turning to face them all. "Why do you wear the costume; why do you train with Fury? What's your motivation?"

Ava took a step forward. "You know why," she said firmly. One hand was automatically pressed to the green amulet that was kept in her pocket until she needed it. "My father passed this amulet on to me. I wear it to make him proud, to help save people like he did. It's my honour and privilege to keep it safe."

Peter nodded and then looked at Luke. "You?"

"Part of it is to help people," Luke said. He looked down at his fists and flexed them, flexed his biceps. "I like being a hero, being someone people can look up to. But if we're being totally honest here, well, I also like the power I've been given. I like using it, and learning to use it. I like to challenge myself. Helping to save the world is a definite bonus."

Peter nodded again and pointed at Sam, who shrugged. "This helmet is all I have left of my dad," he said, tapping one finger against it. "I want to train hard so I can be an asset to the Guardians of the Galaxy and rejoin them one day."

Danny's turn. He decided to speak plainly and honestly. "I wish to learn. To learn and grow into this power I've been given, and to be worthy of Xiao Lao's gift."

Peter pulled his mask off and smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Those are all great reasons," he said, playing with the fabric of his mask. "Truly. Great, even if all them have parts that are inherently selfish."

"Selfish?" Ava growled, looking insulted.

Peter waved his hand at her, asking silently for her to wait until he could explain. "To make your dad proud. That benefits you." He looked at Luke. "To challenge yourself. Also benefits you." He pointed at Sam. "You want to rejoin the Guardians of the Galaxy. Your dream, your goal." Lastly, he looked straight at Danny. "To make Xiao Lao proud." Peter smiled at them. It looked painful. "They are still all good reasons. I didn't mean it as an insult, even though it sounded that way. I'm just being technical about it."

"Then what's the problem?" Sam asked, sounding upset. His mouth was a thin line of anger. "Who made you judge and jury of why we do this?"

"I'm not judging you, Sam," Peter said. He continued in that calm, quiet voice, sadness rooted throughout every layer. "At least, I'm trying not to. There's nothing wrong with your motivation, especially at first glance. But you want to know why I patrol, why I leave you out of it." He spread his arms out, as though trying to encompass the city with in them. "I don't leave you out. And I don't always face foes like the Juggernaut. Patrols are usually every day hurts."

That was an interesting word to use. "Hurts?" Danny repeated.

Peter lowered his arms. "I can't save everyone," he rasped, eyes closing. "I know this. I have to live with it. Because once upon a time, I felt the same way as you. That my powers made me special, that the police could handle the every day situations while I took on the things that suited me. Interested me. It was the police's job to catch bad guys – hey, at least they got paid, right?"

He was talking about the events that had led to the death of his Uncle Ben, Danny realized with a pang. A quick look around showed that everyone knew what he was referring to.

"With great power, comes great responsibility." Peter took a deep breath, calming himself. "I say this a lot, I know. Because it wasn't until my uncle died, because of my inaction, that I truly understood what he meant by it." Peter rubbed his arm and turned to look back out on the streets of New York splayed out beneath them. "Every time I patrol, that's one more person getting safely into their car and going home to their family. Every time I check just one more block, that's someone keeping their bag that has a wallet with that one precious photo inside that they could never replace. One more swing-by is a young woman going home instead of to the hospital for a rape-kit." Across from Danny, Ava flinched. Peter replaced his mask, covering the pain on his face with the cold, indifferent face of the Spider. "I can't save everyone. I look at the papers each day and read about a theft here, an abuse there – and I can face it because I was out there. I tried. I may not have gotten to that person in time, but maybe I helped someone else. I tried."

Ava had a look of unease on her face. Luke looked guilty. Sam was biting his nails, a sure sign of unsurety. Danny took a step closer to Peter, wanting to comfort his friend. "Peter..."

"I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty," Peter choked out, the eyes of his mask widening. He took a step back, and Danny stopped, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. "I swear I'm not. It's not your fault you don't understand. It's mine. I'm your team leader. It's my responsibility to help you understand. Fury told me you had the training, but I had the real world experience. I've been trying to show you by example, I guess. I haven't been a very good leader – I haven't been able to make you understand."

Danny bit his lip, trying to push back the rush of emotions – sadness, guilt, anger – that were trying to swamp him.

"That's why I hide the injuries. They're not important. I heal quickly, much quicker than even you guys. I wasn't angry about you bringing me to the Tri-Carrier. I was angry at myself." Peter clenched his fist again. "I would never, ever accuse any of you of not taking responsibility for your actions. That's ridiculous. You wouldn't hesitate to help me. That's not the problem." He gestured to the city yet again. "A hero shouldn't be able to pick and choose which battles they want to fight. A hero shouldn't be able to say they don't feel like patrolling because Manhattan is too far away and there's a weather advisory. A hero can't say the police should handle it because it's not worthy of a superhero's time and effort." Peter looked at them all, one by one. "You said that if you'd known I was fighting Juggernaut, you would have come to my rescue. I believe that. I know that. I trust you all with my life implicitly." He shook his head. "But what if I'd been chasing muggers all night? 'Playing around'?"

Danny flinched at that. He knew that both their team and even Fury himself had told the wall-crawler on more than one occasion to stop 'playing around' and get back to training on the Tri-Carrier.

"That's not fair," Luke said weakly. He must have recognized the words as well.

"Life's not fair," Peter said gently. "I can't be reactive. Not anymore. I can't wait for the big battles to come to me. I need to be proactive, to go out and do whatever I can to help, no matter how small the situation may seem in the eyes of others. There are so many people out there that need saving, and none of them register in the eyes of SHIELD or the Avengers or even the Fantastic Four because they're too small." He spat that word out as though it personally offended him, and in the context he was presenting, it probably did.

And it was true. All of it. Peter's normal and expected head-first strategy was the source of many briefing sessions, of Fury tantrums and Coulson lectures. The Spider could never sit back and wait for orders – he leaped head-on into battle with a will and determination to save as many people as he could; many times at the detriment to his own health and safety. The Juggernaut was a clear example, as was his many encounters they had seen him in – Batroc the Leaper, Grizzly, the Trapster, Thundra, Klaw and so many others. Batroc and Trapster weren't even on Fury's lists of villains to be on the lookout for; the only time they'd really assisted Spider-Man with them was when they needed Spider to wrap things up quickly so he could join them on a different, SHIELD-sanctioned mission.

Peter even shoved himself into missions when he was specifically forbidden, all in his need to help anyone and everyone. The Lizard, Venom, Norman Osbourne – Peter chased after them with a near-fanatical zeal, unable to let them go, determined to help them in any way he could; he was incapable of giving up on anyone. Then there was the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Wolverine – even Deadpool – all of the 'heroes' had at one time or another, wound up with a stowaway wearing red and blue tights, determined to do his part while the rest of them relaxed on board the Helicarrier, waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

Danny recalled their training exercise at the Statue of Liberty, when all of them had chosen to go do their own thing instead of accompanying their leader to what turned out to be an ambush. Luke had even said himself, numerous times, to both Coulson and Fury - "Point us in the right direction."

Peter never needed to be told to do the hero thing. He did it by himself.

Peter followed his heart and his conviction over orders – it was so ingrained into him that even Fury seemed to be resigned to accept the fact that Peter just could not give up a chance to do the right thing – no matter what it cost himself. He checked and double-checked where the rest of them waved things off, deciding the world could police itself while they took down time. Danny frowned as he reviewed his thoughts and came to one of many conclusions: the 'right direction' should have been one step behind their leader. Always.

Like saving people from the Helicarrier. They had all evacuated with the ground crew. Peter had stayed behind and rescued a dozen SHIELD agents that had been left behind, as well as his best friend and Director Fury. It hadn't even occurred to him to leave before everyone else was safe.

Danny closed his eyes as all these realizations washed over him with the force of a tsunami. When he was able to open them again, he took in the thunderstruck faces of his friends and knew they were starting to understand as well. It was both enlightening and saddening that such personal illuminations could only be realized after a teammate sustained enough injury that it was finally viewed by the people who called themselves his friends.

"Spidey... Peter..." Ava swallowed hard. "We're... I'm sorry."

"Don't, Ava," Peter said, still using that gentle tone. "It's not your fault. I'm supposed to be leading you, remember? If you don't understand, then that's my fault for not explaining properly in the first place." His head bowed for a moment, and then he straightened. "Enough lectures for today. I really am grateful for your help. You couldn't have known that I didn't need additional medical help because I've never let you know when I was injured before. I promise to try and work on being more open with you guys, okay? Seriously. I will." Spider-Man didn't give them a chance to respond before he was firing a line across the street. "Look, I'll see you guys at home later. I need to clear my head, and I'm sure you've all had enough of me yakking in your ears. Thank you again for helping me today." He waggled his fingers at them, a weak attempt at levity. "I really feel much better than I usually do only a day after being thrown through Times Square by an unstoppable force."

Then he was gone, swinging up the road in long arcing swoops, flipping easily at the peak of each swing and catching himself again, pulling higher and higher as the buildings rose in height. Danny, Ava, Luke and Sam watched until he was out of sight, and then Luke slumped down on the ledge, pulling his sunglasses off and tucking them into his grey hoodie. "Wow."

"I don't like this," Sam said morosely, kicking a loose piece of shale. "We didn't do anything wrong. Technically."

"I know," Ava said, folding her arms. "And that's why I'm so upset about this."

Danny looked at his team mates, feeling the hurt and anger flowing through their chi. "Peter wasn't trying to malign us," he said, trying to soothe their ruffled feelings. "He just made some very valid points."

"I'm more confused than anything else," Luke said, resting his forearms on his knees. "Why didn't he just tell us about his patrols? Tell us what was going on?"

"Because we should have been out there with him," Ava said shortly. "Maybe not as often as he does, but have any of you ever joined him on a patrol when it wasn't SHIELD ordered? I know I haven't."

No one answered. They'd never been given an order to, and so they simply hadn't.

"Yeah," she said, and left it at that.

"Why didn't he tell us to join him, then?" Sam snapped. "We would have come!"

"I believe that was the point he was trying to make," Danny said calmly. "We call ourselves heroes. He shouldn't have to ask us to do something we should be realizing on our own. If he ordered us, it wouldn't teach us what we truly needed to know."

Sam looked miserable. As did the others. "So what do we do about it?"

Danny thought about it for a minute, and then had an idea. He looked over at Ava – who seemed to have come up with something as well. "Let's get back to the house first..."

Danny was waiting by the living room window. Once Ava had realized she and he had had similar ideas, she set the other boys to work and made Danny stand guard at the window to watch for both Aunt May and Peter. Within an hour, their idea had truly begun to come to life, with solid contributions from Luke and Sam, and now, Danny could see Peter jogging up the street, looking more relaxed then they had seen him all day. Danny smiled, and turned to see Ava putting the finishing touches on the project. "He is here."

"Great," Ava said, shoving the rest of their unused materials into her backpack. "Sam, Luke, you set?"

Luke gave her a thumbs up. Sam nodded, still studying the plan they'd worked out.

Danny turned back to the window and waved to Peter as he came up the porch stairs. Peter looked surprised and a little bit wary, but he returned the wave with a small smile of his own before opening the door. "Welcome home, Spider."

Peter laughed softly, kicking his shoes off. "I guess that means Aunt May isn't home yet," he said lightly, dropping his school bag by the closet. "What are you guys up to?"

Ava waved him into the living room. "For starters... we owe you a thank you," she said firmly. "Seriously. You opened our eyes up to a few things today."

Peter looked pained. "I didn't mean for you to feel guilty," he said, scruffing the back of his head with one hand. "That's why I never said anything before, why I hid everything-"

"We know," Sam interrupted. "But we're thanking you anyway and we wanna show you something too. So sit down and shut up, okay?"

"What he meant to say," Luke sighed, sending Nova a small glare of his own. "... is that we had an idea and we want to show it to you, see what you think."

"A plan?" Peter eyed the rolled up paper and sat down gingerly on Aunt May's armchair, dropping his book bag at his feet "For what?"

"A patrol schedule," Sam said cheerfully.

Peter looked blankly at them. "What?"

"A patrol schedule," Ava repeated Sam's words. "You made us realize a few things, Peter." She shook her head, her dark hair falling in front of her face. "We should have been out there with you, not because anyone told us to, but because we have a responsibility to help those who can't help themselves." She looked up and gave him a small smile. "Like you said, with great power, comes great responsibility."

"But you also have a responsibility to yourself," Luke took over, facing their leader with great solemnity. "Yourself and your team. And we should be helping you with that, instead of leaving you to fight by yourself. We should be there with you."

"Many hands make light work," Danny said, nodding his head at his leader. He himself felt lighter, clearer, in admitting they all shared blame for their leader's injuries, and for putting together a plan to help them all grow as the heroes they wanted to be. "And we wish to share this important work that you have shown us exists, when we could only see ourselves."

Peter looked uncomfortable. "I wasn't trying to guilt-trip you into this," he began, but Sam cut him off.

"We know, Webs," he said, folding his arms. "You didn't strong-arm us into doing this. We want to."

Peter looked at each of them, peering into their eyes as though trying to seek out any dishonesty. "You do?"

Ava nodded and had Sam unroll the paper. Danny smiled at the colour-coded calender, painstakingly planned and filled out. "Each night, two of us can patrol, with one person on 'back-up' duty here at the house. That means each night, two of us can relax, heal, do homework and otherwise have a chance to 'be normal'," she said. "And with two people patrolling every night, maybe that'll be double the people who get to go home instead of to a hospital."

Sam nodded eagerly as Ava spoke, and jumped in. "The back-up person stays here as well, but if one of the scheduled people is sick, gets hurt, whatever, they fill in."

"We understand what you told us, Spidey," Luke said quietly, watching for Peter's reactions. "We also know that you must be walking around half-dead half the time, either from injuries you have to let heal while sitting at school, or from a lack of sleep because you're out every night on top of SHIELD-scheduled training and missions." He waved at the schedule. "Teach us how you patrol. Where you go, what you look for. We'll back you up in a way that matters – we'll prove it with our actions instead of just saying we have your back and making you call us in after the fact." A shamed look crossed his face. "I swear, Pete. I – no, we – never really thought about it. How much could have been resolved, or who could have been helped in the time it took us to rendezvous with you, if we'd been there from the start."

Peter stared at the calender for a few moments, taking in the details peppering the surface that told who was responsible for what – a black and yellow star representing Nova, an outlined tiger face for Ava, the barbell for Luke, a Tao symbol for Danny – and the obligatory red and blue spider for himself. It was perfectly balanced, and even had days where the entire team would patrol together – Danny and Ava had made sure those fell on weekends, so that everyone had both the chance to bond in their work together, and to catch up on lost sleep. Danny licked his lips, feeling nervous. A quick glance at Ava saw her tapping her foot on the ground, a definite sign of anxiety in her. Luke was biting his lip. Would Peter accept it?

Suddenly Peter smiled. It was a wobbly one, but heartfelt. His chi was instantly sparking with relief and happiness, more than Danny had ever felt come off him before, and Danny knew that Peter must be coming dangerously close to an emotional overload. Unbelievably, Sam seemed to have picked up on it as well – and instead of making a joke or teasing Peter about it, he suddenly clapped his hands and drew the attention of the group to himself. "Okay, so no arguments from the team leader, so that must mean this thing is a go. Yay team?"

Luke chuckled. "Yay team," he repeated, going along with Sam and giving Peter a chance to collect himself. "And that means Ava and I have patrol tonight with Danny on back up."

Sam chortled, throwing his hands in the air. "I still get the night off!" He whirled around in a circle and then poked Peter in the chest – lightly, Danny noticed with a smile. "Which means I have to check those bruises, pal – the docs said if they weren't all mostly gone by tonight, you need to go back in for a follow-up."

Peter swallowed hard, working his jaw for a few moments. He nodded, and then finally choked out, "Okay. Yeah. Sounds like a plan." The small smile on his face grew and spread. "A great one."

Danny grinned, taking in the relieved smiles of his teammates. He sat back, still smiling as Ava and Luke began questioning Peter about his typical patrol routes, and what locations he found to be most troublesome or worrisome. Ava produced a 3D map on her SHIELD communicator and was plotting two separate routes for them to follow, overlapping them at strategic points so they could meet up for check ups, but with maximum coverage in mind. Peter was pointing out places of interest where he knew troubled people lived, or high points that were magnets for damaged souls, all the while smiling happily at them for finally understanding what he had always tried to teach them by example.

Danny silently vowed to pay more attention to their leader. Apparently they all still had a lot to learn.

Thankfully, Spider-Man was there to teach them.

End

This fic is kinda my entry into the Ultimate Spider-Man fandom. I adore the show, though I wish there were more schmoopy moments (season 1 ending? Team hug? I melted). I'll just have to write my own. :) Also, really, his team is full of brats. :) They have humanizing moments, but only Peter stands out as a true, selfless hero for the most part. That's partly how this fic came to be - me whining about how Peter is always out risking himself and then calling the team in AFTER he's already found something going down... they should be out there patrolling too! I know Spidey wants his mee-time, but seriously - his team is kinda lazy in comparison. Anyway.

I have a few more fic ideas that kinda follow this one, but I have no idea when they'll be written. Let's see how classes go this term. :)

Feedback always appreciated. I read and re-read and RE-READ this monster like 16 times, changing phrasing, adding this, taking out that, correcting this - and despite all that, I know there are likely mistakes still peppering it all over the place. I beg your forgiveness.

Hope you enjoyed!