Chapter Text
Peter frantically looked around for more information, some way to subdue this boy without killing him. Typical Peter, always looking to save even the most lost of souls. But everything was in Japanese.
He called upon his younger years of self-taught Japanese. He had wanted to learn it for fun, with the dream that he would one day go to Japan. That was before Ben died.
Peter caught a few words. Once he found the paper he was looking for, he took out his phone and hoped that there was enough internet to translate these notes.
Huzza! There it was! Peter would have to either forcefully fold the wings back in, which would be very hard to do, or he could shoot it in its neck, the only weak point. Peter searched for the special bullets that the scientists were sure to have made before attempting a project like this.
Right?
Well, yes and no. Peter found the gun, but it had no bullets in the chamber. He found a drawer that looked like it was supposed to hold these special bullets. All gone. Presumably destroyed or used up.
Well that was just great, wasn’t it?
Peter limped into the fight again, noting the tense worry in Cap and Nat’s gazes softened.
“Steve, Nat!” Peter called, pulling himself onto the ceiling with his webs. “Pin him down! I know how to defeat him!”
“Does this defeat involve killing or being killed?” Steve asked, already working on pinning the boy.
“Neither!” Peter jumped onto the boy’s back. He webbed the tips of the wings and began to pull hard. The wings must have been made of vibranium, they didn’t want to budge. They eventually gave in, and reluctantly folded. Peter grabbed the metal wings with his hands and shoved them so that they clicked into place. The metal cut his hands.
The boy lost his fight quickly, and faltered under the weight of Peter and Steve. He fell unconscious to the floor.
“Woohoo,” Peter panted. “We did it!” Peter did some jazz hands. “You guys alright?”
“Yup,” Steve said, even though he was visibly bleeding in a couple spots; nothing more than scratches, though.
Nat held her side. “I’ve been better,” she joked. She had taken a hard hit, but was mostly fine. It would probably bruise badly and be sore for a while.
“You good, kid?” Steve asked, assessing Peter.
“Yep, all good,” Peter smiled. His arm and leg had a cut, and sure he had been thrown into a wall, but he was fine. “We should do something about him.”
Steve, somehow prepared for a situation like this, pulled out a pair of vibranium handcuffs. He heaved the unconscious body onto his shoulder and made his way to the car.
“You two, check out the rest of the building. Make sure there’s nothing else. I’m going to make a call.”
Nat and Peter did as they were told, and scanned the rest of the building. After they had defeated the boy with no name, Peter’s Spider sense dulled down. There was no other threat within the building. They had found some audio files detailing the experiment which had occurred, and brought the USB drives with them.
They rejoined Cap in the car. Peter was startled to climb into the backseat with the boy already in there. He had reddish hair. Peter decided that for the time being, the boy would be called Red.
Cap drove away from the destroyed lab. Halfway through the return trip, while Peter, Nat, and Cap were chatting, Red began to stir. Peter tensed but sensed no immediate danger. Red lifted his head, but promptly let it fall back against the window.
The conversation returned unsteadily. They drove past the hotel and out to a more discreet location.
FRIDAY had driven the Quinjet all the way here. So much for conserving gas, right?
Cap locked Red into place, said something to FRIDAY, and the Quinjet took off again.
“So,” Peter said once they were back at the hotel. “Now that the mission is done, do we go back?” Peter hadn’t taken an out of country trip–a planned one, that is– since Germany. It hadn’t been during school like this. He had been on Thanksgiving break at the time.
“I mean, yeah, normally,” Nat said, “but we have another week until our return flight departs.”
“So what’s that mean?”
“We get to have some fun.”
They spent their last night in the hotel, patched up, and stayed up late watching movies. The next day they were headed for Tokyo. Mount Fuji (which Peter climbed with ease). Kyoto. Nara (Peter had fun with the deer). They knocked out every touristy place they could.
Peter had a blast. The only downside to it all was the fact that he had been forced to do homework every night. Finally, it was Wednesday again. Peter frowned as he boarded the plane, which was full of other Americans who were finishing up their trips.
They flew first class again, with the same seating arrangement. The flight stopped in Oregon this time. Their connecting flight was supposed to be a tight turnaround. No matter how fast they ran–the second flight was at the other end of the airport, so they had to take two trains and run all the way to the terminal– they didn’t make the flight.
The next flight wasn’t until way later in the day. Eight o’clock at night. It was nine in the morning. Peter texted Tony about the flights.
Spiderling
We missed the flight :(
Dad
Alr
Whens the next flight
Spiderling
8:00
Pm
Dad
Do you have all your homework done
Spiderling
Yeah :D
Dad
Then go crazy
Dont set anything on fire
Dont get shot
Have fun in Oregon
“Tnoy knows that we won’t be home when expected,” Peter relayed to Nat and Cap. “His instructions were to have fun, don’t set anything on fire, and don’t get shot. I feel like the last part was targeted at me, though I don’t know why.”
“What are some things we could do here?” Nat asked. “It’s not like we have time to do what we did in Japan. Any ideas?”
“I’m hungry as crap. We should find a good restaurant.”
Some people had started staring at the trio, taking note of the familiarity of Natasha and Steve.
Nat searched for restaurants. “There’s an all you can eat buffet near here. It’s on the water. It has seafood, but it’s also got burgers and hot dogs, Italian, Mexican, and pretty much anything.”
“That sounds more than good. Cap? Thoughts on the buffet?”
“I called an Uber already,” Cap said. “Follow me, we have to make sure our bags get on the right plane.”
—
At the buffet, Cap and Nat didn’t feel the need to disguise themselves. It’s not like anyone would care, really. They paid the entry fee (or whatever, idk how all you can eat buffets work I’ve only been to one) and got their first round of food.
It became a competition between Peter and Steve to see who could eat more full sized portions. Nat tapped out at two.
Peter narrowly won by having three more full sized portions than Steve. In total, Peter had consumed thirteen portions. The small Japanese meals, paired with minimal airport food, on top of the average teenager’s Kirby-sized stomach, added onto Peter’s enhanced metabolism? Yeah, Peter was hungry.
Once they had cleared their plates, they felt no real need to leave. The trio sat in the booth, next to a window which overlooked the river. It was peaceful. For about ninety two seconds, that is. A few bold children tried their luck with autographs.
“Sorry to bother you…” the boy said meekly.
“Are you Captain America and Black Widow?” the girl took over for the boy.
“Yes, we are,” Nat said after glancing at Steve. “I like your assertiveness, kiddo.”
“Thank you,” the girl said, apparently losing composure. She had probably practiced a singular line of dialogue over and over in her head, but didn’t plan any further. “Can you sign our drawings?”
She and the boy held out two papers with varying levels of skill. The boy, maybe twelve, had a scribbled mess that resembled the full Avengers. Spiderman was in the middle, along with Ironman and Thor. The girl had a much more thoughtful approach to hers. It was the same scene as the boy’s drawing, but the coloring was much nicer and the lines more defined.
Her Spiderman was holding the infinity gauntlet. Tony’s hand was gone. Everyone was bloodied from battle, the Battle for Earth. This little girl, probably also twelve, nearly gave Peter a heart attack over a drawing.
Steve and Natasha gladly signed the papers with some sharpies.
“You seemed very prepared to get these signed,” Nat joked.
“We keep them with us, along with pens, so that on the off chance we meet an Avenger, we can get our drawings signed,” the girl smiled sweetly. “It paid off.”
The boy stole a glance away from his signed drawing. He studied the Avengers, then his gaze landed on Peter. “Who is he?”
“A friend of ours,” Nat said. A woman called from across the restaurant. “I think you are needed elsewhere. It was nice meeting you kiddos!” Nat flashed a press smile and shooed the kids away.
Steve checked the time. “We should start heading back to the airport now,” he announced.