Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel.

Peter Parker knew from the moment that he walked up to his house that something was up.

It probably had something to do with the slight buzzing in the back of his mind, warning him that something was coming up that he wasn't going to like (though, it was a bit different than normal, and he didn't think that it was any kind of physical danger). It definitely had something to do with the black, sleek car with tinted windows that had to be illegal that sat parked in his driveway.

The car had to have cost a fortune and as far as he knew, his Aunt May didn't know anyone with that kind of money.

Frowning slightly, and a bit worried that there was some supervillain in the house holding his Aunt hostage (he really needed to stop being so paranoid), Peter walked up to the door and slowly let himself in.

"Aunt May?" he called into the house. It was quiet, unnervingly so, but as he walked in and spotted the living room, he found the two occupants.

His Aunt sat silent on the couch, fingers gripping the cup in her hands so hard that they turned white. Her lips were pinched and her skin was a pale white. Peter froze at the sight. Had something happened?

A man sat in a chair across from her. He wore a suit, which Peter found especially odd, considering that he was simply sitting in their living room. He held a file in his hands and, as Peter cautiously walked in, he spotted the name "Spider-Man" scrawled out in black on the front.

His blood ran cold.

"What's going on?" he asked weakly. Every nerve in his body was telling him to run, because someone knew and that someone had most likely just told his Aunt, if her reaction was anything to go by, and they were going to tell everyone and Peter was going to be in so much trouble and what if someone came after him and hurt his Aunt and-

"We were just talking about your little nights on the streets," the man in the suit said, expressionless. He didn't even look up, staring at Aunt May. The women didn't even look up at Peter.

He laughed nervously, because everything that he had kept hidden for the past six months was suddenly crumbling around him, "I-I don't know what you're talking about. My nights are indoors. Trust me, I wish they weren't, but my social life is equivalent to-"

"Peter," Aunt May's voice broke, looking at him with teary eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" he asked, feigning innocence, "Aunt May, you know that my social life is nonexistent."

The man in the suit glanced away from Aunt May now, turning to Peter. He sat the folder on the coffee table with a loud 'thud' and opened it up. Peter easily caught sight of the first paper, one that showed a report on Peter Parker.

He swallowed, "Okay, man, this is getting a bit creepy. I don't even know who you are."

"My name is Agent Phil Coulson," the man said, peering at Peter, who suddenly felt like a trapped animal, "We know that you are the vigilante that goes by the name Spider-Man, Mr. Parker."

Peter forced himself to laugh, shaking his head, "You have the wrong guy, Sir. I can't even fight the bullies at my school, much less criminals."

As his response, Coulson simply turns the page in the folder, now revealing several pictures of Peter dressed up as Spider-Man. Peter leaned forward, staring in shock at the photos. One particularly disturbing one showed him in his bedroom, dressed in his suit except for his mask which he had obviously just taken off as it was seen tossed on his bed. His hands were tugging at his suit, in the process of taking it off, and he felt sick to his stomach.

"H-How did you get those?" he asked, voice shaking despite his attempt at controlling it. The fact that someone had been following him and he hadn't noticed sent dread down the spine, and he shuddered at the realization that whoever the person was had watched him take off his clothes.

Coulson's face was still emotionless as he spoke, "We've had an agent tailing you for a month now. SHIELD has taken interest in the vigilantes lately, and we've taken special interest in you once we realized your age."

Peter flushed at that and bit his lip to keep from making a snarky comment. Now was not the time.

"We've already informed your Aunt of the situation at hand, but I will reiterate myself for you. Please, sit."

Almost as if he was possessed, Peter found himself sitting down beside his aunt. She seemed to have broken out of her shock, and was not staring at Peter with an expression of sorrow mixed with horror. Peter awkwardly fiddled with the sleeves of his hoody, doing his best to keep his eyes on Coulson.

The man flipped the paper again and gestured to what looked to be a report on vigilantes in general, "About a month and a half ago, a man who claimed to be a vigilante attempted to take down a rapist. He shot at the man, but the bullet hit an innocent bystander and killed her. Due to this incident, SHIELD was forced to start paying more attention to vigilantes. Obviously, our eye was pulled to you fairly quickly once we started to suspect that you were under eighteen."

Peter frowned slightly, "How did you know that?"

He was avoiding any words with his aunt, currently. He knew that he would have to speak with her soon, but he couldn't bring himself to even look at her. He knew what he would find in her eyes: anger, horror, disappointment. He knew that when the man left, he'd be having a long conversation with her and he'd most likely be grounded for the rest of his life.

"Trust me," Coulson said, catching Peter's eye, "We're trained. We know when someone is a kid."

"I'm fifteen," he protested weakly, but shut up at the look that his aunt shot him.

Coulson simply sighed, "Look, we've analyzed your fighting techniques," he said as he flipped the page yet again. Several photos of Peter, dressed as Spider-Man, fighting villains appeared. His aunt gave a choked sob at the sight and Peter kept his eyes firmly on the photos, "You seem to possess abnormal strength and agility, which helps you in your fights. However, it is easy to tell that you are untrained, and you rely on your… webs… too much. We can't, in good conscious, allow a child with no training to continue fighting crime."

Peter looked up sharply, sucking in a breath, "You can't make me stop being Spider-Man."

"Peter Benjamin Parker!"

He winced, hesitantly glancing over at his Aunt.

"You will respect this man and you will listen to what he has to say, Peter."

He nodded slightly, though he knew that whatever the man said, he wasn't going to like it.

Coulson waited for a moment until he was sure that he wasn't going to be interrupted, and began to speak, "We cannot allow you to continue without training. If you get hurt or killed or it is revealed that you are underage, we would be the ones who had to deal with the backlash. However, we also know that if we force you to stop being Spider-Man, crime in Queens will skyrocket. So, we have an offer for you."

He flipped the page again. This time, a page titled, "The Avengers Initiative", appeared. Peter glanced up at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.

"I am sure that you are familiar with The Avengers," Coulson said smoothly.

He nodded, "Of course. Everyone knows who they are."

That was the truth. Ever since the group of superheroes had stopped that alien invasion, The Avengers were a household name. They were constantly on the News and there were action figures of them sold in every store. Queens might have Spider-Man, but the world had The Avengers.

"I am the man who helped put that team together," Coulson explained, "My offer to you is to put Spider-Man on the team."

The entire room fell silent. Peter's mouth fell open and he stared at the man in surprise. He sat there, waiting for the man to start laughing, to show that he was joking, but that never came. His face was completely serious and one look at his Aunt showed that she had already had the conversation with him.

"I-I can't," Peter said, eyes wide, "They're the Avengers! Aliens aren't really my forte. I work with crime, not supervillains. And if I'm part of the Avengers, how will I even be able to fight crime? Besides, don't you think it's more-"

Coulson held up one hand in a calming gesture, "We know. We know. You will not be part of any of the major fights yet but you will be being trained by the Avengers. You will also still be allowed to continue your duties as Spider-Man."

Peter chewed on his lip, thinking it over, "But… I have school. And don't the Avengers all have to live at the tower?"

There was a pause, "Sort of. The Avengers all have rooms at the tower, yes, and you would live there if you choose to accept it. However, not all of them live there full time. Thor, especially, spends most of his time elsewhere. You would need to live there but you will be allowed to visit your Aunt whenever you like. You will still be able to continue going to school, but you will need to come straight back to the tower after in order to train. Stark has already agreed to allow you to use his driver to get to and from, so you won't need to worry about that."

Somehow, the mention of Stark, as in Tony Stark, as in the freaking superhero Iron Man, shakes him out of his shock.

"Look, I appreciate the offer and everything, but I really like my-"

"He'll do it."

"Aunt May!"

She pursed her lips as she turned to him, "Peter, he's right. I know that I won't be able to talk you into staying out of danger. I can't protect you from danger. The least I can do is hope that you can be able to protect yourself, and you can do that if you train with them."

"But… my identity," Peter trailed off, going back to Coulson. He was grabbing at straws. He knew that they were right, and honestly he would love to be able to train with the Avengers, but he worked alone. That was how it had always been. It would be such a change. He wasn't sure if he was ready.

Coulson simply nodded, "You will not have to reveal your identity, don't worry. The Avengers will know, and SHIELD already knows, but that's it."

There was a pause, and then Peter met Coulson's eyes. He took a deep breath, "I'll do it."

AN: Hope you like the prologue!