Chapter Text
“Peter, Peter just wait. Stop for a second. Let us explain. Friday lock the windows and doors. LOCK THE ELEVATOR TOO” Tony said as the avengers were trying to catch a particularly unhappy spider.
“I am unable to do that if there isn’t any threat-”
“OVERRIDE 1833579” Tony yelled, trying to keep the kid inside.
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Peter had a panic attack when they had told him. At first he had been silent, with just a simple ‘what’. Then he exploded. Peter stumbled back, knocking over the stool he was sitting on. “No no no no. You’re lying. She isn’t she’s- she’s not- no- she’s not-” Peter said, but finished mumbling to himself.
Peter walked back until he hit a support beam in the middle of the room. Peter sucked in a shaky breath and looked up at the people who had lied to him. “Pete” Clint said, starting to walk towards him.
“Don’t”
Peter decided to run. He didn’t the first time and we all know how that went for him. His first thought was to run to his room. He could escape from there. “Peter, Peter just wait. Stop for a second. Let us explain. Friday lock the windows and doors”
Peter started to bang on the doors, but it wasn’t working. Who knew one of the safest (and the most targeted) building would have strong doors. Peter started crying again, for multiple reasons. He had just been lied to, the lie being his aunt was dead. He also felt like he was back on the raft; given a chance to be free, but something that will never happen. Peter turned around to see the avengers freeze where they were. Steve had a tranquilizer in his hand.
They stood frozen like that for a while. Peter’s eyes looked over to the elevator and then back at the avengers. Peter started to shift towards the elevator. He had one shot. He isn’t going to mess it up this time. He can’t live with anyone who will just lie to him and keep him locked up. He just can’t. Peter pulled up his hood and made a sprint to the elevator. He heard Tony say “LOCK THE ELEVATOR TOO” just before he made it.
Peter tried pulling apart the elevator doors. Anything to get away from these people and back to his family. Nothing was working, but Peter remembered hearing Tony saying the override code. “Friday override 11- 18- 188- 1884 ugh- what is it- 1- 18- 182” Peter couldn’t remember. His one chance to leave and he was too stupid remember it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Steve slowly coming towards him, the tranquilizer still in his hands. They made eye contact and Peter flinched back, his hands gripping the wall. Everyone was frozen again, but this time Steve was only a few feet away from Peter, and Peter didn’t have an escape. Well not one he could see at the moment. “Peter step away from the wall. We’re not going to hurt you” Steve said, his voice low.
Peter looked at Steve with scared eyes. Then he turned to Clint. Peter opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then he closed it and put one foot on the wall. Steve spoke again. “Peter, we just wanna talk”
Peter started climbing up the wall. He didn’t know what he was doing but he knew it would get him away from anyone. No one mentioned being able to climb walls or fly. “Peter get down” Clint said.
Peter slowly shook his head no, and that’s when he noticed the skylight. A way to escape. “Peter stop” Clint said.
He didn’t
Peter crawled over to the window and started punching it. It window must have been thick, because it wasn’t breaking, only cracking, and Peter’s knuckles were bloody. Peter started kicking the window, and it was working this time. One last kick sent shards of glass flying. Peter left, not hearing the yelling avengers pleading with him to stop.
Don’t ask me how, but Peter managed to scale down the tallest building in New York without being seen. Once on the ground Peter started walking towards his apartment. He didn’t run because that would cause attention. He wish he could though. May had gone 5 years- wait no- almost a year without seeing him, and the other way around. After patrolling for many months, Peter knew the area by heart.
He waited in the back of the building 2 over from where he lived until nightfall. Peter knew when everyone was either going to bed or eating dinner. Peter was smiling and shaking from excitement. The one person he’s wanted to see was just a few stories away. Peter crawled into his room, but something was off.
1. The window was unlocked
2. There was nothing in his room
Peter made his way to the rest of the apartment. Something was definitely off.
There wasn’t anything in the apartment. All of the carpet had been torn off. All of May and Ben’s furniture was gone. All of the family pictures were gone. Everything was gone. The place looked like nobody had lived there in months. Nobody could anyways. The front door was boarded up. So were the rest of the windows. But then where was May? Why would she leave him? Why wasn’t she waiting for him?
…
They didn’t lie to him. May was dead.
May is dead.
Peter broke down. He started sobbing and crashed to his knees. No one was there to comfort him this time.
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“Has the amazing Spider Man returned? Records has it that today a figure in a hood was scaling down avengers tower earlier today. Here’s a video someone took earlier.
“So, they’ve let him out”
“Yeah”
“He’s still a murderer. He needs to pay for what he did”
“We can’t take him again. Were on the outside on this one”
“Maybe, but not for long. We can get a warrant for his arrest”
“I’m going to have a talk with him”
“How do you know where he’ll be?”
“Oh, I know”
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It had been Steve’s idea to hide weapons around the living area. It was more if an intruder was to break in then a teenager trying to break out. Steve was so close to stopping Peter, but he saw him and flinched away. Nobody wanted to scare Peter any more than he already was, but they didn’t want him to leave.
That didn’t really work out. “We’ve gotta go looking for him” Clint said.
“We just can’t go out in full gear and search for him. No one knows were supposed to be here either.” Sam said. He was growing a soft spot for the kid as well.
“What are we going to do then?”
“I’ll go out looking for him. I’m the only one who’s not running from the law” said Tony.
Tony had gotten good at hiding in public. After the rioting had started, Tony had become a master at being a regular new yorker. Tony tried getting some help from Friday, but she was no use. There were too many people in the area with a grey sweatshirt on.
Tony was checking every alley and shadow, started around the tower. He didn’t want to miss the kid, but this was going to take forever. Tony was nowhere near being done when he got a call from the last person he would ever want to speak to.
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When Bucky had been woken up, he thought it was because the world was going to end, but no. He had been pardoned for what the Winter Soldier had done.
The brainwashing was still there. Nobody had been able to completely get rid of it, but they had gotten pretty close. Bucky stayed in Wakanda for a few days, making sure he was physically and mentally healthy. He was also given a small apartment in the New York area. He didn’t have to pay rent either. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either. It was nice too, but nothing super smart or high tech because he couldn’t figure out how to work those things yet.
Bucky had also gotten a volunteer job, working for the city. He would just do the side jobs when one of other workers couldn’t, or of they were short staffed. One of his main jobs however was making sure people stayed out of the one apartment building. He had heard about what had happened a few days after being woken up.
They had taken a kid from his school. But not just any kid. It was the spiderman from the fight in Germany. He had hurt a kid. (Bucky didn’t take the news very well the first time. He thought if Bucky Barnes could hurt a kid, then he was no different from the Winter Soldier.
Anyways, is aunt was killed too. People started protesting around their apartment building. People started protesting the protesters and fights broke out. The entire building was closed down and everyone who lived there was forced to move.
Bucky had been late with checking up with the apartment this week. Someone had just been fired, and he had to take over the the guys job. Sewer system. Worst week of his life coming from the guy who’s been a brainwashed assassin for the past 100 years.
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Peter was lying at the floor, staring at the ceiling when his spidey senses alerted him of danger. (it was weird to have them back) Peter sat up and saw Ross’s face looking back at him” What- wha- what” Peter’s voice was dry.
“I’m just here to talk Peter. I’m not going to hurt you or take you again. Were just going to talk” Ross replied, his voice calm and deep.
Peter back up to the wall, not talking his eyes off Ross. He started shaking again. Ross walked towards him and Peter moved to the corner of the wall. Ross stopped walking, watched him, then smirked. “I just wanna have a talk with you Peter.”
Peter didn’t respond.
“I’m not going to tell anyone your back, but you still need to pay for your crimes. You’re a murderer Peter. Nobody is going to trust you anymore. You’re going to walk along the streets and people are going to look away. I won’t try to harm you anymore, but watch out. I’m bad at keeping promises. And someone else is watching. You can’t tell anyone about this. You will not speak of this. I’ll talk to you later. Sometime. By Peter. Enjoy freedom while you can”
Ross left Peter alone in the dark. Peter was too scared to move. Ross was still watching him. He wasn’t free. He was never free. He never will be free. Peter was shaking and he started crying again. Silently. And his aunt wasn’t there to comfort him. Peter had nobody. Peter had fallen asleep, but the unlocking of the locks on his door woke him up.
Peter stood up and was met with a face he saw in Germany, eating a sandwich.
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Bucky had gotten a sandwich on the way there(late night snack). Super soldier bodies have to eat like 6 meals a day. Bucky was unlocking the doors, more occupied with his sandwich then what (or more like who) was in the apartment. Bucky shut the door and locked one of the locks ( he didn’t want that to happen again) when he heard someone brush up against the wall.
Bucky turned around and the small figure froze. Bucky turned on the one small light bulb and saw a kid with red rimmed eyes and messy brown curly hair. He could have sworn he’s seen this person before.
Bucky noticed the kids hands were shaking. “What’s your name”
“I- I live here” the kid said, his voice barely being heard.
“Nobody lives here- … is your name Peter?”
Peter nods.
“I thought that you were in-”
Peter nodded, not making Bucky finish his sentence. “What are you doing here”
Peter looked down at his shaking hands, and what he said next didn’t make a lot of sense. “I- they- I thought they lied- but they didn’t- he’s still there- and- and I’m not free- and they didn’t lie- but I’m not free with them- and-”
“You look hungry” Bucky said, tossing Peter the rest of his sandwich.
Peter seemed to relax a little bit, but now he wouldn’t look at Bucky. It was like he was in trouble. That kid didn’t look like the happy kid Bucky had seen in the news. “I’ve got to check on something. It will just take a minute” Bucky said.
Peter slowly nodded and Bucky walked in Peter’s room, closing the door. Bucky pulled out his flip phone and called the one number he had on it. Tony’s. Neither of them wanted it on there, but Bucky didn’t know how to take it off and he wasn’t going to ask Tony for help. The phone rang once, then twice, then annoyed ‘hello’.
“I found your kid”
Peter heard what he had said.