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Sam walked into the common room wearing his nice clothes, freshly showered after his morning run. Steve, who had just finished his shower, ate a bowl of cereal at the kitchen counter next to Natasha, who waited patiently as Bucky poured batter into a waffle iron.
“Morning Sam,” said Natasha, already in workout clothes. “You’re working at the VA today?”
Groaning, Sam slumped into the chair next to her and nodded.
“I thought you loved working at the VA. What happened?” asked Steve, eating another spoonful of granola.
“I do love it, there’s just a kid who’s gonna be there,” said Sam. “Apparently it’s spring break and he has a project or something, so he’s volunteering for the week. I drew the short straw so I’m in charge of him.”
Frowning, Steve said, “What’s wrong with a kid volunteering? Isn’t that a good thing?”
Sam grimaced and thanked Bucky, who placed a plate of waffles in front of him, before turning back to Steve. “I mean, we’ve had kids volunteer before, and they’re a nightmare. I know they want to help, but they don’t know what it’s like and cause more problems than they’re worth. Last time I supervised a kid, he just talked about himself all the time and was all self-righteous about it, as if volunteering somehow made him better than everyone else. I just hope this kid isn’t too much of a brat, cause I’m stuck with him all week.”
Steve and Natasha nodded in sympathy, and Bucky brought over more waffles. They ate their breakfast leisurely, chatting about the mission Clint was just sent on or how they think Nick Fury really lost his eye. Tony quickly breezed through and grabbed some waffles, muttering something about a new project and traitorous interns. But before long, Sam had to gather his things and head out.
“Good luck,” Steve called out after him. “I’ll be here when you get back, and you can tell me all about how terrible the kid was.”
He just got a garbled whine in response.
- - -
That afternoon, true to his word, Steve waited in the common room, reading a book. Bucky and Natasha were in the training room but asked Friday to notify them when Sam returned so they could listen to his bitch session.
Only two chapters in, the elevator dinged, notifying Sam’s arrival. Steve looked up, expecting to see his friend’s exhausted face, but instead found him positively grinning with a small paper lunch sack in his hand.
“You seem awfully happy,” said Steve in lieu of a greeting.
Natasha and Bucky chose that moment to enter the common room as well, wearing sweaty gym clothes and with messed-up hair. “Hey Sam,” said Natasha. “How terrible was the kid?”
“I take everything back I ever said.” Sam unrolled the top of the lunch sack and showed them its contents. “He brought cookies! You’ve gotta try one, they’re literally the best things I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
Exchanging a glance, Steve, Natasha, and Bucky all grabbed a cookie and took a bite. Chewing slowly, their eyes widened in shock. Natasha turned the cookie over in her hand, Steve grinned and took another bite, and the corners of Bucky’s mouth twitched up in a smile.
“I know right?” Sam beamed at their expressions and grabbed another cookie for himself. “He made practically a hundred cookies, brought them around to everybody and introduced himself. Kept referring to everyone as ‘mister’ and ‘miss.’ I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid so respectful.”
Steve asked, “What kind of cookie was that? It was amazing.”
“The kid said they were molasses cookies. But he made some other type of cookie too for people with allergies and stuff.”
“He managed to win you over with just cookies? Didn’t think you were so easy, Wilson,” snarked Natasha, popping the last of her cookie in her mouth.
Pointing a finger at her, Sam grinned, his good mood undeterred by her insult. “See, but that’s the thing. At first, I thought he’d be an insufferable fanboy, cause when I met him, he called me ‘Mister Sam Wilson Falcon Sir.’ But then he gave me cookies, was super respectful, and is also weirdly good at this therapy shit. We had a new guy come in today, and he looked on the verge of a panic attack the entire time, and the kid just introduced himself, gave him a cookie, and then fifteen minutes later had somehow started a group game with everybody there. He got Claude Delaney to laugh. I’ve been trying to get him to smile for weeks!”
Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Impressive.”
“He also fixed the coffee machine.”
“The coffee machine that you’ve been complaining was broken for two months but still hasn’t been replaced?” Steve remarked.
“That’s the one. During lunch break he just asked why we ordered coffee instead of using the machine, and when we told him it was broken, he just went, ‘oh, I can fix it!’ Pulled a screwdriver from his backpack, took apart the coffee machine, and had it fixed in ten minutes. I swear this kid is some sort of angel, holy shit.”
“Maybe you’re just losing your touch,” snorted Bucky, as Natasha said, “Language!”
“Well, I’m glad this kid volunteer is working out better than you expected,” Steve said, patting Sam’s shoulder.
“And get him to make more cookies!” called out Bucky. Sam just flipped him off in response.
- - -
The next day, Steve, Bucky, and Natasha all found themselves in the common room again, awaiting Sam’s return. Bucky said he was just there for the cookies, but in actuality was intrigued by the mysterious kid. Natasha was also there because she found the kid interesting, plus it was funny seeing Sam all excited over him. Steve, ever the upstanding citizen, just wanted to hear about his friend’s day.
While they were all waiting, Wanda wandered in. “What are you all doing?” she asked.
“We’re waiting for Sam to get home,” responded Steve with a smile.
“I just want to see if he brought more cookies,” said Bucky.
Natasha rolled her eyes and took pity on Wanda, who looked extremely confused. “Some kid is volunteering at the VA with Sam this week, and he’s already gone and gotten himself attached. The kid made a ton of cookies, too, so we had some.”
“Oh! Were those the cookies on the counter from yesterday? I had one, they were really good. I was going to ask who made them.”
“Well now you know.”
Smiling, Wanda stepped into the elevator. “Well, I’ll be on my floor with Vision. Let me know if we get any more cookies,” she added with a wink.
After Wanda left, it wasn’t long before the elevator dinged again, and Sam walked out, cradling something in his arms.
“Cookies?” Bucky asked, perking up immediately.
“No, no cookies this time. But he said he might bring more tomorrow.”
Bucky pouted and slouched down. “What’re you holding then?”
Sam’s grin somehow grew even wider, and he uncurled his arms to reveal a true-to-size Lego replica of his beloved drone. “Look! It’s Redwing!”
Natasha stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at the Legos. “I didn’t know there was a Redwing Lego set.”
“There isn’t one,” said Sam. “The kid made it for me, said I could keep it.”
“He made you that without instructions? Wow, he must be creative,” Steve remarked, also marveling at the build.
Sam held the drone out in front of him so his friends could better admire it. Even Bucky looked impressed. “The kid brought in a bunch of Legos today, apparently because one of the vets mentioned it yesterday. It honestly made for a weirdly good impromptu group therapy session. He even helped Kasey Whittaker build a plane, and that guy’s been afraid of planes ever since one he was in was shot down. He got him to talk about what happened and holy fuck it was amazing.”
“Language,” said Bucky and Natasha in unison. Steve just sighed.
“Anyways, I couldn’t be there the entire time since I had a group therapy session I had to lead, but when I came back, the kid had apparently made this little guy,” he said lifting the Lego Redwing for emphasis, “in the hour that I was gone.”
“So he can bake, build Legos really well, and fix coffee machines?” Natasha said, reaching out to touch the Legos.
Sam cradled the Lego Redwing to his chest. “Back off. He’s mine.”
Natasha put her hands up in surrender. “Alright. You do you, Sam.”
Examining Redwing again, Sam said, “I’m gonna go put him in my room to keep him safe,” and dashed off, leaving three very amused Avengers behind.
- - -
It was now Wednesday, Sam’s third day with the kid volunteer, and once again, Steve, Bucky and Natasha were waiting in the common room for him. Only this time, they were joined by Clint, who had just returned from a mission.
“Why are we all here again?” Clint asked, sitting upside-down on the couch.
“There’s a kid volunteering at the VA with Sam this week,” Natasha responded. “He’s attached, it’s cute. And he sometimes brings cookies.”
Clint gasped and slid off the couch to stand upright. “New member of the Dadvengers?!”
Bucky snorted. “Oh god no, Sam would make a terrible father.”
“Hey, I’m sure he’d be a perfectly fine father,” chastised Steve.
“If anything,” said Natasha, “You might want to recruit Stark. All week he’s been going on about his intern.”
Frowning, Clint said, “I didn’t know he had an intern.”
“He usually goes to the tower, that’s why Tony’s gone every Tuesday and Thursday. But its spring break this week, so his intern is staying at the compound,” Natasha replied, flipping a butterfly knife in her hands.
Clint opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the ding of the elevator. Sam walked out with another paper bag in his hands and flashed a smile at the archer. “Hey Clint. I didn’t know you were back.”
“Got back this morning.”
Bucky strode forward and snatched the paper bag out of Sam’s hands, peering inside. “What kind of cookies are these?”
“Chocolate crinkle cookies I think? In my opinion they’re better than the last ones,” said Sam, letting Bucky munch on one of the cookies. He practically moaned at the taste and passed the bag over to the others to grab a cookie as well.
“You seem awfully down, is everything alright?” Steve said, taking his cookie and passing the bag to Clint. “You’re usually in a much better mood after being with the kid.”
“Just… a very emotionally charged day.” Sam wandered over to and sunk down onto the couch, rubbing his face with his hands. “One of the older veterans got pissed at the kid, saying he didn’t know what it was like to lose somebody, and—” Sam took a deep breath and grimaced, shaking his head. “The kid said that his parents died in a plane crash when he was four. And a year and a half ago, his uncle got shot in front of him. Bled out in his arms.”
“Shit…” Clint sat down on the couch next to Sam, rubbing his shoulder. “Kids shouldn’t have to go through any of that,” he said. His expression was tight, evidently thinking of his own children.
“The world fucking sucks sometimes,” Sam choked out, huffing another breath. “I don’t want to pity him, I’m just mad that such a good kid had to go through so much.” Natasha, Bucky, and Steve all joined them on the couch, the latter of which placed his arm around Sam and rubbed up and down his back.
“From what you’ve told us about him, he seems like a really strong kid,” said Steve, speaking softly.
“He is a strong kid,” replied Sam. “Peter’s one of the best kids I’ve ever met. God, I feel like he’s my little brother or some shit, is that weird?”
“I don’t think it’s weird at all,” said Clint with a smile.
“Peter, did you say that was his name?” Natasha cocked her head at Sam.
“Yeah, Peter Parker.”
“Holy shit, really?!” Clint bolted upright from his slouched position on the couch, nearly elbowing Sam in the face. “Peter Parker?!” The archer glanced over at Natasha, who’s normally carefully schooled expression slipped, showing her shock.
Sam eyed him warily. “Yes…? What, do you know him or something?”
“I held him when he was a baby! His parents were Shield agents, scientists. Aw man, I gotta go meet him, I haven’t seen him since he was a toddler!”
“Clint, no.” Natasha glared at him, arms crossed threateningly. “Remember what Fury said after Richard and Mary died? It’s safer if he isn’t associated with Shield, we can’t just go and talk to him.”
“I feel like we’re missing something here,” piped up Steve. Next to him, Bucky looked equally confused.
“Hydra crashed the plane that Peter’s parents were in. To keep Peter safe, everyone from Shield had to cut all ties with him. I didn’t know about his uncle, though,” answered Natasha. “Don’t tell him, though. It’s better if he doesn’t get involved.”
Sam nodded solemnly, obviously shaken by the revelations.
“But I’m glad he’s doing well,” said Natasha, flashing a rare, genuine smile.
- - -
A day later, the gang all waited for Sam in the common room again, the mood much lighter than it was the previous day. They chatted and gossiped about whatever crossed their mind, Clint recounting something that happened on the mission he had returned from a day prior. Tony walked into the room in a hurry, tapping away on a tablet, but stopped when he saw the odd congregation of Avengers.
“Oh. Hello. Is there some sort of team meeting…?” His eyes flickered between the odd group and back down at his tablet, where he quickly typed something.
“No team meeting,” responded Steve. “We’re just waiting for Sam.”
Tony frowned for a second before shrugging. “Oookay. Why? Are you ambushing him?”
“No.” “Yes.” Steve and Bucky answered in unison, and then turned and shot a look at each other.
“You know what? I’m not going to question it. My intern arrives soon, and I have better things to deal with, so byeee!” Tony breezed out of the room in quintessential Stark fashion. His teammates all shrugged and turned back to their conversations, used to his antics.
Before long, they heard the telltale ding of the elevator and stopped to all greet Sam. The aforementioned man stormed out as soon as the doors opened and addressed Natasha before anyone could get a word in edgewise. “How ethical would it be to murder a high schooler?”
“Depends, why are we killing them?” she responded, without missing a beat.
Steve frantically shouted out, “We are not killing a high schooler!”
“Did something happen?” asked Bucky. “Also, no cookies today?”
“No cookies today,” said Sam. “And it’s just… Peter and I went to go get boba during our lunch break, and while I was getting the drinks, he apparently ran into his school bully or something. When I came back, he was calling him ‘Penis Parker’ and was saying that his uncle died just to get away from him.”
Various expletives were shouted out by the surrounding Avengers, and Natasha pulled out a knife. “Who was it.”
Sam groaned. “I don’t know the kid’s name. Peter insisted that everything was fine and that he could deal with it, refused to tell me who it was.”
“Well it was someone from his school, right? We could check security cameras, cross-reference with the school databases to find their name and address.”
“Steve, are you hearing this shit?” Clint exclaimed, pointing at Natasha.
Steve just shrugged. “I don’t like bullies.”
Groaning, Clint said, “I can’t believe I have to be the responsible one. As much as I want to murder this kid too, we can’t go around killing high schoolers.”
Bucky shrugged and said, “Well, we could…”
“No, we will not!” shouted Clint, glaring at his unperturbed teammates. “I hate to be the voice of reason, but we can’t kill a high schooler! Besides, didn’t Sam say that Peter would deal with it?”
“I mean yeah but—”
“Then we let him deal with it. Capisce?”
The group all groaned and grumbled out, “Fine.”
“Gosh, I really want to meet this kid,” said Steve with a laugh. “Bucky and I are the only ones who’ve never met him, so I’m kind of jealous.”
Bucky nodded. “I want to know where he gets his cookie recipes from.”
“He does make really good cookies.”
“Damn straight.”
- - -
The next day, Friday, the majority of the Avengers all found themselves having breakfast as a group. Bucky made pancakes while Natasha fried eggs and bacon. Steve and Sam had to shower after their run, but they made sure to at least set the table and help where they could. Clint was banned from the kitchen after the incident, and Wanda assisted by making sure Vision didn’t try to help with the cooking.
After much chaos and only one knife thrown, the team all gathered with their plates and started eating.
“Where’s Tony?” asked Steve, setting down his plate and scooting out his chair so he could sit.
“He’s eating on his floor with Pepper and his intern,” answered Natasha, thumping Clint on the back after he nearly choked on a bite of pancake. “I swear, his intern is practically his son at this point. I wish he’d let us meet him.”
Sipping water to recover from nearly choking, Clint exclaimed, “I’ve seen him! I went in the vents yesterday over his lab. For a second, I thought he really was his son. Tony ruffled his hair and everything! Although honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was his son, he seems old enough to have been born during Tony’s playboy days.”
Steve turned to Sam, frowning when he saw his friend sighing. “You alright Sam?”
“It’s fine. It’s just that Peter was only volunteering for his spring break, so it’s his last day today.” Sam shoved another bite of pancake into his mouth, chewing sadly.
“Peter?” questioned Wanda.
“The kid volunteer at the VA. You know, the one who made the really good cookies?”
Wanda made an O-shape with her mouth before nodding. “Will he not be volunteering more consistently?”
“Nah, he only did it as part of some school service-learning project or something. He’s done after today.”
The group nodded in sympathy and muttered their condolences. An hour later, Sam had to go to his final day of working with Peter, still moping as he walked out the door.
- - -
As per usual, the gang waited in the common room for Sam, this time joined by Wanda and armed with ice cream in the freezer to make Sam feel better after having to say goodbye to Peter. Was it a little dramatic? Yes, but they had all gotten attached from living vicariously through Sam’s stories, and besides, who didn’t want an excuse to eat ice cream and mope?
They all stood to attention when the elevator dinged, ready to console their weeping friend. But, to their surprise, Sam entered with an enormous grin on his face, practically glowing, squeezing the paper bag in his hands to death.
“He’s gonna be volunteering more!” he cried out as soon as he stepped in the room. “He said he’ll be volunteering every Wednesday from now on!”
The group cheered, delighted for him. “Celebratory ice cream?” asked Clint. At Sam’s nod, he dashed off to fetch it from the freezer.
“More cookies?” Bucky said, gesturing to the paper bag in Sam’s hands.
Grinning even wider, Sam opened the back and rummaged around in it. “Yesterday, I told him that you guys were really enjoying the cookies, so he made a bunch of sugar cookies and decorated each one to look like each of us.” He pulled out a cookie and handed it to Bucky, who almost started tearing up at the little cookie version of him, complete with a metal arm.
Wanda laughed and skipped over to Sam. He handed her the Scarlet Witch cookie, and she squealed in glee at mini-her’s frosted red hair. There were even bits of melted candy to represent her magic.
The rest of the Avengers began congregating around to get their cookie, all delighted by how cute and thoughtful the gift was. Wanda even called Vision over, who, although he couldn’t eat it, was flattered that someone had made such a good cookie rendition of him.
“God, he’s such a good kid,” said Sam once everyone had finished their cookies. “I swear, it is literally impossible to dislike him. He’s great.”
“Congrats, Wilson,” Clint drawled. “You’re a father.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Tony, who had just chosen that moment to walk into the room, gawked at Sam.
Sam blanched and glared at Clint. “God no, I’m not a father. If anything, he’s like my pseudo-little brother or something. Not my son.”
Tony glanced between the two bird-themed Avengers, perplexed. “Who are we talking about again?”
“Peter Parker. He’s a kid that’s been volunteering at the VA with Sam this week, and now Sam has basically adopted him,” snorted Natasha, a teasing lilt to her voice.
“Yeah!” exclaimed Sam. “And he made cookies for each of us. Let me just…” he trailed off as he looked in the paper bag again. “Huh. That’s odd. He didn’t make one for you. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry, I already had mine,” responded Tony with a shrug. “My cookie was the best, by the way. Far better than yours.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean you already had it?”
Tony opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a thud at the window. The team all drew weapons and dropped into fighting stances before realizing that it was just Spider-Man, who had crashed into the window.
“Jesus Christ! Friday, open the window,” said Tony walking over to help Spider-Man in.
The vigilante awkwardly heaved himself inside and propped himself up by leaning on the TV stand. “Hey guys! I didn’t know everyone would be here, sooo this is kind of awkward.”
“Is that a knife?!” shouted Tony, pointing at the knife buried in Spider-Man’s thigh. “Kid, this is why I have grey hairs. Friday, run vitals. Underoos, you’re coming with me to med bay.”
“What? Mr. Stark, I’m fine. It’ll be healed by tomorrow morning. Tis but a scratch!”
“You’re probably gonna need stitches, Spidey,” said Sam, moving to help him. “Can you walk?”
“Oh yeah, totally. I can totally walk.” Spider-Man took a shaky step forward before swaying and collapsing into Tony’s waiting arms.
“Christ! Kid, you alright? Hey! You awake?” Tony shook the vigilante gently. When he didn’t get a response, he cussed and pulled off his mask.
“Peter?!” Sam’s jaw dropped when he saw Spider-Man’s face, immediately recognizing the kid he had just spent the week growing fond of. Around him, the team gradually started coming to the same realization.
“Look, you all can question me later, but we’re taking him to med bay first, okay?” Tony snapped. He gathered the boy up into his arms and strode over to the elevator, the team trailing behind.
- - -
Peter groaned at the incessant beeping of the heart monitor, slowly peeling his eyes opened. He immediately recognized the clean ceiling of med bay, since he’d been there more times then was probably healthy. Turning to the right, he saw Tony sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair with a tablet. Hearing Peter’s moan, he looked up and rushed over to Peter’s side, helping him sit up.
“There you go, Underoos. You doing okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just a little woozy.”
“That’s to be expected. Sorry, but the team saw your face, and they’re all kind of worried. Would it be alright if they came in? I already did my best to explain everything, so they won’t yell at you for being a kid.”
Peter nodded and propped himself up a bit more, and Tony spoke with Friday, telling her to let the others in. As soon as the AI finished speaking, Sam barged his way into the room to Peter’s side. “What the fuck Peter?!”
“Language,” muttered Tony, snorting.
Peter had the decency to look sheepish. “Uhh surprise?” He glanced back at the rest of the team, who were dutifully filing in behind Sam.
“I can’t believe the kid Sam practically adopted was Spider-Man!” exclaimed Clint, flabbergasted.
“Practically adopted?” questioned Peter, while Tony said, “Hey, back off. I’m adopting him first.”
“I didn’t adopt him, and I didn’t know!” Sam retorted, shooting them a glare. “I mean I thought he kind of sounded similar, but I thought it was just a coincidence!”
“Wow. Real observant of you, Wilson,” snorted Tony.
“Shut up, Stark. Don’t you have your intern to attend to or something?”
“This is my intern,” he deadpanned, pointing at Peter, who just waved again.
“What the fuck!” Clint yelled again. “I thought I’d never be able to see my nephew again and now he’s a vigilante that’s been adopted by both Sam and Tony?!”
“Wait, nephew?”
“Your parents worked for Shield. We knew you when you were a baby,” explained Natasha.
Peter’s jaw dropped. “I thought they were scientists.”
“They were. Shield scientists, that is.”
Eyes still bugging out, Peter mouthed ‘what’ and glanced over at Tony. “Did you know this?”
“No, I didn’t go digging through your files. I just looked up basic stuff, I didn’t know you apparently already knew our two resident spies!” he said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
Bucky snorted, poorly hiding his amusement, and Steve’s gaze flickered between everyone in the room. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, screwing his face up. “Does anyone else have information about Peter that they would like to share?”
The Avengers all looked between themselves, faces showcasing varying expressions of shock, amusement, and irritation. Peter coughed awkwardly, thinking that this was not at all how he had expected his first meeting with the Avengers to go.
“Hey Peter,” said Bucky after a minute, breaking the tense silence. “Where do you get your cookie recipes?”