Chapter Text
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Spider-Man didn't expect the Avengers to get angry on his behalf. Not that he thought that they didn't care about him, they did. He just didn't expect that.
It was a late afternoon Friday when Spider-Man decided to swing by the Avengers Tower. He usually visited on Fridays, so it wasn't unexpected. Spider-Man had long since become acquainted (friends?) with the Avengers team. (Fighting together against weekly Aliens/other Threats makes people grow close). They didn't know his identity though and Spider-Man liked to keep it that way.
Not that he didn't trust them. He just didn't want them to freak out because of his age and try to force him to stop Spider-Manning. He didn't want to risk what they had now. Even if it meant keeping the mask on.
As usual, Spider-Man entered through the windows on the Avenger's floor. (He silently thanked FRIDAY for automatically opening a window for him) Almost no one noticed him, except for maybe Natasha Romanov but she was a super spy. She didn't mention anything to the others though.
In the background, he could hear a TV. Were they watching the news? Spider-Man also noticed that there seemed to be some tension in the team. Were they fighting over something? It happened from time to time but it mostly was friendly squabbles. Nothing serious. But now he had the feeling that something serious had happened.
"Hey everyone, you're favorite friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has arrived. What's up?" Spider-Man decided to finally speak up since still no one had noticed him. Everyone's attention snapped to him and various greetings were heard. "Ah, Spidey, good to see you here." Tony smiled at him but there was a tenseness he couldn't hide. Something was wrong.
"There seemed to be some tension here. Did something happen?" Spider-Man decided to just address the elephant in the room. Maybe he could help elevate the tension.
"It's nothing you have to worry about." Tony waved his hand dismissively.
"I think he does." Steve Rodgers intervened. "We were talking about something concerning you."
'What? Oh shit. Are they going to arrest me? Are they annoyed about my secret identity? Do they want to force me to reveal myself? Do they want to kick me out of the team? Wait, I'm not even an Avenger, they can't kick me out-'
Spider-Man tried to hide his inner turmoil but couldn't help but tense up a little.
"Really? I'm flattered I'm that interesting that the Avengers talk about me in their free time. But I hope only good things, right?"
"Hey bud, you didn't do anything bad." Clint Barton said, seemingly having picked up his nervousness. "We were talking about how some people only seem to talk bad about you, although you never do any bad things."
He pointed to the TV, where, Spider-Man only now realized, the news from the Daily Bugle was playing. More specifically J. Johnas Johnson. It seemed like they were talking about him. And weren't particularly nice. Not that it was anything new to him. The Daily Bugle, especially Triple J as Spider-Man liked to call him, never tried to hide their dislike for him.
"Oh, you're talking about that? Don't worry about it. No one takes them seriously anyway." he waved off dismissively.
"But we do worry about it. Spidey, you're one of us. We can't just stand by and watch someone slander your name."
"Especially this Peter Parker", Tony added. "He always takes photos of you. Doesn't he know that this could be illegal?"
Now Spider-Man was panicking a little again. It was nice that they cared so much about him but he didn't want them to go into a conflict with the media. He wasn't that important that they should ruin their good reputation. Just because one news station was talking bad about a vigilante. Not to mention they specifically knew about Peter Parker. If the Avengers had him on their Radar, it would become even more difficult to do his things.
"Really, it's fine."
Since they still shot him some dubious looks, even after his statement, he decided to try an evasion tactic: "Are y'all still up to movie night? If no one says something I'm gonna decide what we'll be watching."
This seemed to work, as everyone relaxed and broke out into a large discussion about what movie they wanted to see.
Spider-Man was glad to have evaded that topic. Little did he know that this was just the start of one big mess.
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Peter Parker noticed that he was short on money when he wanted to buy lunch. His wallet had been completely empty and he had to sit hungry through the rest of the school day. Even Ned's offered Gummy bears didn't help much. Not with his superhuman metabolism.
And when he got home, he noticed, that his piggy bank was low on money too. So it wasn't just an empty wallet. He sighed a little. He didn't want to ask Aunt May for more money again, she already worked enough.
'Guess I have to do that again.'
So Peter grabbed his camera and Spider-Man suit, tucking the latter into his backpack, and he left again.
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In a hidden alley, Peter donned his Spider-Suit and tucked away his backpack. Which meant he was webbing it to a wall. Didn't want anyone to steal his things. It had happened enough times before. He still kept his camera with him though. He needed it for what he was planning to do.
Climbing up on the roof was easy. Once up there, Spider-Man carefully placed his camera and turned it on. Looking at the display, he checked if the lighting and angle were good, before starting the timer. Quickly he jumped to the next roof and got himself ready.
The picture looked great. Spider-Man did some more before he was finally satisfied and returned home again.
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Peter entered the newspaper office later that afternoon. He was greeted by a familiar face, one of his classmates, Betty who was interning there. She smiled at him before pointing him toward Triple J's office.
"Hey Peter, got some new photos for the boss? He doesn't have any meetings right now, so you're three to enter," she told him.
"Hi Betty", Peter nodded "And yes, I got some nice photos right here."
Then he entered JJJ's personal office. Not before knocking though. Aunt May had raised him to be polite after all.
"Who's there- ah, it's you, Peter. Did you manage to get some new photos of that menace? We ran out of any good photos to use." Jameson greeted him.
"I did Mr. Jameson."
"Great." Peter could almost see him rubbing together his hands in glee. He probably already thought about all the articles he could use Peter's photos for.
Peter sat down on the opposite side of the man's desk and took the map with his pictures out of his backpack.
"Here." He handed them over to Jameson and watched him go through them. Some he set aside and some he put back.
After he finished he returned the rest back to Peter. These are the only good ones. Tell my secretary to give you the usual price."
Peter nodded. "Goodbye Mr. Jameson." he quickly left the office again. Triple J seemed to be in a good mood today. He didn't want to push his luck. Betty paid him for the photos he managed to sell and asked him if he was seeing MJ today. Which he didn't. Then he said goodbye and left.
The next day a new article about the "menace" Spider-Man appeared. One of his photos decorated the title page. Peter didn't read the article.
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The next few days went by without much happening. Peter went to school, hung out with MJ and Ned, and went out as Spider-Man in the late afternoon and night.
That was until he got a call from May at the end of school. At first, he was really worried. He almost jumped out of his seat to run to her. But she reassured him that she wasn't hurt. This only calmed him down slightly because there was a tone in her voice that said something else. Then she asked him: "Can you directly come home? I know you want to hang out with your friends but..."
"Don't worry Aunt May", Peter interrupted. "I don't mind at all. I'm on my way then. Love you."
"Love you too Pete."
Peter wasted no time grabbing his backpack and telling MJ and Ned that he couldn't hang out with them today. They didn't mind, probably realizing that an emergency happened.
So Peter rushed home as fast as he could. Which was quite fast. (He's Spider-Man after all)
Finally, he reached their house. Aunt May greeted him when he entered.
"Hey Peter, you have some guests that want to talk to you." She looked slightly nervous but was still earnestly smiling. Peter concluded that the guest was unexpected but that May wasn't in life-threatening danger. His Spidey-Sense told him the same. He was humming a little stronger than usual but it wasn't telling him that there was an active threat. So he smiled at May and entered the living room.
Peter almost stopped dead in his tracks.
Was that Tony sitting in his living room? With Steve, aka Captain America?!
'Did they find out I'm Spider-Man and decided to confront me?!' He was even more panicking than that one time at the tower.
"Hello, Peter Parker I presume." Tony greeted him.
"Y-Yes." he managed to stutter out.
"I'm sure you know who we are, and frankly we're busy, so I'm cutting this short..." 'So they are here because of Spiderman.' "...We're going to sue you." 'Wait what?!'
"Uhm what?"
Now Steve was speaking too. "We're filing a lawsuit against you because you have illegally taken photos of Spider-Man and sold these to a news station that slanders him. This can be considered as defamation."
Peter was gaping. The Avengers were suing him because he took photos, no selfies of himself. He had to remind himself that they didn't know he was Spider-Man. But Peter was just too flabbergasted.
"Wait-"
But Tony and Steve were already standing up. "That would be all. We have nothing more to say. But if I were you, I would get a lawyer."
With that, they both left. Before Peter could even say another peep.
Now where could he get a good lawyer?
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Spider-Man sat on a roof in Hell's Kitchen sighing to himself. He was so consumed in his own world that he barely noticed someone approaching him.
"You shouldn't let your guard down." He jumped at the gruff voice but relaxed instantly when he recognized who it was.
"Don't worry DD, I doubt anyone but you would climb up here."
Daredevil sighed. "Just don't let your guard down again." Then after a short pause. "You seem troubled. I don't think you should patrol if you're feeling like that."
Normally Spider-Man would protest but not this time. "I know, I just wanted a quiet place to think, and what better place than a rooftop."
"So there is a problem."
"Yeah..." Spider-Man stopped for a moment. Should he really tell Daredevil about his problems? They sometimes teamed up and he would call them friends or at least colleagues but they didn't know each other's identity. And honestly fighting crimes together and sharing personal problems with each other were two completely different things.
In the end, he decided to do it anyway. There was nothing to lose, right?
"A... friend of mine got sued by the Avengers."
He could feel Daredevil turning his head at him. "Oh really?"
"Yeah, he takes photos of me and sells them to the Daily Bugle for some pocket money. The Avenger didn't like that. They visited him today and told him that they would sue him and that he should get a lawyer. I didn't even know that they wanted to do that."
Rapidly Spider-Man told him what happened. Of course, leaving out the part that he was Peter Parker.
"So your friend Peter Parker, the photographer for the Daily Bugle is getting sued, because he took photos of you since the Avengers don't know you let him do that."
"Yeah."
"Hmm. That is a problem."
"I know! But I always let him take them. He needs the money and-"
"Well, maybe I could help your... friend."
Spider-Man perked up. "Really?" Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as he thought.
"Yes. I know some really good lawyers. You could refer Peter to them if you want. Nelson & Murdock. They're stationed here in Hell's Kitchen."
Excited Spider-Man jumped up. "Thank you, DD, so so much. I'm gonna... tell Peter about it." He really wanted to hug him but refrained. Daredevil probably wouldn't like that.
Daredevil chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm just helping out a fellow vigilante."
"Still, thank you so much! I have to go now." With these words, Spider-Man waved goodbye and jumped off.
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The next day, Peter walked down the street in Hell's Kitchen. He was on his way to the Lawyer Daredevil had recommended him. Hopefully, they could help him get out of this mess.
The building seemed a little old and run down but sturdy. Peter double-checked that it was the right address before he entered and made his way up the stairs. In front of the door was a neat sign that read Nelson & Murdock Law Attorney. He was at the right place. Peter took a deep calming breath and knocked.
"Come in." he heard a female voice call out. He did exactly that. At a desk sat a blonde woman, the owner of the voice.
"Welcome to Nelson & Murdock, how can I help you?"
"Uhm hello. I'm Peter. Peter Parker. I got recommended here by a... friend."
"Hello, Peter. I'm Karen Page. I assume you want to talk to one of our Lawyers."
"Yes!" Peter nodded eagerly.
"Well, both Matt and Foggy are currently out to get some coffee but they'll be back in a few minutes if you can wait."
"Yes. Yes, I can do that."
The next few minutes were spent in awkward silence. Peter fiddled with the hem of his sweater while Karen was sorting some Papers. He was relieved when he could finally hear two people walking up the stairhouse.
Two men entered. One with blonde hair put together in the back and one with dark short hair, red glasses, and a cane. Both of them looked a little surprised.
"Uhm Karen, who's this?" the blonde asked.
"This is Peter Parker. He's here for some legal advice."
"Hi." Peter waved awkwardly. Why was this a good idea again? Maybe he should leave-
"Well if that's so, we can go to my office. I'm Matt Murdock." The dark-haired man said with a small smile.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Murdock." Somehow he had the feeling that he had met Matt Murdock before. He seemed weirdly familiar but Peter was sure that he had never seen him before.
"You can call me Matt." Peter nodded.
The others seemed to agree and Peter entered an office together with Matt, where they sat down on opposite sides.
"So Peter, why would you need our help."
"Well..." he hesitated for a moment. "I got sued by the Avengers."
Matt raised a brow but somehow didn't look as surprised as Peter expected someone to be when they heard that the Avengers sued some teenage boy.
"So you want our help with that? Can you tell me some more?"
Peter did. He told everything he knew, leaving out that he was Spider-Man but slightly mentioning that he knew Spider-Man personally and that he didn't mind the photos.
"It seems that you sold the pictures in agreement with Spider-Man, yes?"
"Yes."
"If we could prove that, the claims would be false."
"So, you'll help me?" Peter couldn't help but sound hopeful.
"Of course. We'll work on it and inform you of any new information."
After that, everything went surprisingly quickly. Peter walked home with a lighter weight on his shoulders.
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