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"Can we head out now?"

Happy announced, returning to the driver's seat and gesturing for Peter to sit in the back of the car. After Peter nodded in understanding, he found, upon opening the door, none other than Tony Stark himself.

"Mr. Stark, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be busy today."

Peter asked, confused as he took a seat.

"Hey, kid, I decided to take a day off. Ready for your new life as a hero?"

Tony said, putting on sunglasses.

"Well, I guess so."

Peter said, somewhat awkwardly.

Tony looked at Peter with a playful smile and lightly patted the boy's shoulder.

"Relax, kid. You'll get used to all this eventually. Being a hero has its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it's always satisfying."

Tony advised, staring at Peter inside the car.

Peter simply nodded, understanding the message.

"Happy, we can go now."

Tony ordered, signaling to his driver.

"Got it, boss, right away."

Happy said, starting the car at high speed.

(Did I really make the right choice?)

Peter thought as he looked at the buildings through the car window.

2 HOURS LATER

After long hours of travel, Tony, Peter, and Happy finally arrived at the Avengers compound, which, by the way, was not only enormous but also well-hidden and hard to access. Just to give you an idea, to get there, we first had to go through a long, tense forest. The first time I saw it, I was almost certain that Happy had taken the wrong turn and was leading me to some strange place. After arriving at the compound, Steve and Natasha were already waiting in front.

"Ready?"

Tony asked, calmly looking at Peter.

Peter decided not to say anything and just nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

Tony said, opening the car door and followed by Peter, who had done the same gesture.

While Peter and Tony walked slowly toward Steve and Natasha, Happy stayed in the car to get Peter's things. Just a suitcase, after all.

"Hey, Cap."

Tony greeted Steve, in his usual good humor.

Before Tony could greet Natasha, she had already run towards Peter, giving him a hug like an older sister reuniting with a younger brother after months.

Steve, on the other hand, responded with a restrained smile, accustomed to Stark's eccentricities.

"Welcome, Peter. We're looking forward to having you with us."

Steve greeted, extending his hand to the young hero. Peter shook Steve's hand, still feeling a bit out of place in the grandeur of the Avengers.

Natasha, who had already separated from the hug, started staring at Peter and said with a smile that Peter couldn't quite identify at that moment, but after she asked, he understood.

"I hope you missed us because we missed you a lot, especially Wanda; she was relentless, asking about you every 2 seconds."

Natasha said, with a mischievous smile on her face while looking at Peter.

"Uh, thanks, I missed you guys too."

Peter said, turning his face due to the embarrassment he felt at that moment.

"Natt, could you take Peter to the room where he'll stay while I have a word with Tony?"

Steve asked, looking at Natasha.

"Sure thing."

Natasha replied, looking at Steve.

"Pete, let's go."

After Natasha called Peter, they began to walk into the compound, with Peter following closely behind, gazing in fascination at everything inside. After all, everything inside was quite spacious and technologically advanced, triggering Peter's nerd instincts.

"I see you're having a blast with all this."

Natasha said, releasing a small smile seeing Peter so happy.

"And how could I not? To me, all of this feels like paradise."

Peter replied, enthusiastic in his voice without even realizing it.

"I can tell."

Natasha said, letting out a small laugh.

Peter, somewhat embarrassed, replied in a lower tone.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, just don't mind the mess too much; we just moved in here, so some things are still under construction, as you can see."

Natasha explained while leading Peter to the elevator.

After they reached the elevator, Natasha went through the whole process, noticing Peter and his surprised expressions at everything he saw. As for Peter, he finally realized why that place wasn't for just anyone. After they entered the elevator.

"Friday, please take us to the floors where the rooms are."

Natasha said, speaking to nothing inside the elevator.

Peter looked at Natasha and asked with a confused look.

"Who are you talking to?"

Before Natasha could answer anything, a robotic voice echoed through the elevator responding to Natasha.

"Understood, Miss Romanoff."

Confirmed a robotic voice filling the entire space.

After the voice echoed through the environment, Peter ended up being scared by the voice that seemed to come from beyond.

Natasha smiled at Peter, realizing the confusion in his eyes, and explained:

"This is Friday. The artificial intelligence that controls and monitors everything that happens inside the compound. Remember that day when Ultron attacked our tower? Well, after your comment about defense mechanisms, Tony took your idea (which, by the way, is incredible) and decided to do this."

"Wow, who would have thought I would help in some way to create this."

Peter said, even more surprised to discover that even instinctively he contributed to creating something significant.

"I see you still have that playful and naive personality of yours."

Natasha said, making small talk with Peter as the elevator continued to rise.

"You know how it is, you try to leave your roots, but your roots never leave you."

Peter said, playfully and ironically.

"Playful as ever."

Natasha whispered in a low tone without Peter noticing.

"Now I understand why Wanda won't stop talking about you all the time."

Natasha said, fiddling with Peter to see what the boy's reaction would be.

"It's just that, as well as being a nice person, you're also great company."

Natasha added, turning her attention to the view from up there.

Peter let out a small laugh, embarrassed by Natasha's comment.

 

RECOGNITION TO MEMBERS:

Matthew Jimenez🤝 - THANK YOU FOR ACTIVATING THE DOMAIN EXPANSION "MAHAYANA PRISON".

Gkiller ⛩️ - THANK YOU FOR ACTIVATING THE DOMAIN EXPANSION "MALEVOLENT SANCTUARY".