Work Text:
“You never let me come with you!” Peter shouted, incredibly childishly.
“Hm,” Steve pretended to think about it. “Maybe because you’re not ready to come. Especially on a mission like this.”
“You’re just going to walk into a trap? With no backup?”
Steve knew the conversation would go like this when Fury first told him about the mission. He knew that when he had to sit down and tell Peter, he would get upset. Between the constant fear of losing another parent and always feeling left out of big missions, he never let Steve go on his mission without a fight. Never.
Steve just had to calm his worries, and then usually, he stopped fighting.
“It’s not a trap, Pete. They won’t even know I’m not one of them. I’ll go in, get the information, and get out. It’s actually pretty simple.” Steve watched Peter’s eyes, waiting to see if that helped or made it worse. It was the latter.
“Simple?! What about Dad? Why can’t he at least go just to watch your back?” He turned to Tony before Steve could even answer that. “Why are you okay with him going in like this?”
“Because he’s Captain America. You have to remember that. He can take care of himself in this. You know he can.” Tony was trying to sound patient just as Steve was.
Steve nodded his head and before Peter could argue again, he added, “Tony wouldn’t be able to wear his suit in this. I don’t need a suit for Captain America. I can dress in their Hydra uniform and still have my powers. While Tony would still have his brain, he wouldn’t have a suit. He’d just be human against people that can snap his ribs with one punch.”
“Gee, thanks, honey.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” Steve said. “I just...they don’t care if you’re human or if you’re a child. They will kill you at even the slightest hint of something wrong.” Steve couldn’t imagine either of his boys to be in a situation like that.
“But that’s why you should bring me! I don’t need my suit either. I’m just as strong as you! And I have spidey senses and can climb walls. I can help!” Peter insisted, almost frantically.
“You don’t have the training necessary for this mission, Peter,” Steve said, keeping his voice firm to let Peter know he wasn’t going to win this argument. “I don’t expect to fight anyway. SHIELD set this up for one person, and if suddenly, he’s dragging a kid along, I think that’s a little suspicious.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“Oh, really? Because you sure sound like one right now,” Steve challenged, raising his eyebrows. Sure enough, that only got Peter more riled up.
He crossed his arms across his chest and glared. “I’m coming with you and you can’t stop me.”
Steve was genuinely surprised by the attitude Peter gave him, but he wasn’t having it. “I can stop you. Because you are my son. You are a child. You are a child that needs to be a little more respectful to his father, if you ask me. I said you’re not coming with me, and my word is final.”
Peter glared harder, and Steve really wasn’t impressed.
“Apologize for speaking to your Pops that way, Pete,” Tony said in a gentle voice, obviously playing good cop here. “He’s just looking out for you.”
“I was helping people as Spider-Man before you guys even knew! You can’t just stop me from helping now.”
“We can and we will,” Steve said and then without missing a beat, he turned to Tony. “Take away his suit. The one you made for him and his old one. I want any suit of his in this tower locked away until I get home.”
“That’s not fair!” Peter shot up off the couch, stomping his foot.
Steve was not about to be talked down to, so he stood up as well but calmer than Peter. He looked down at Peter and said, “You know what’s not fair? Arguing with my 15-year-old son because he wants to join me on a mission, and not only is he being pretty disrespectful about it, but he also makes me not trust him enough to lock his suits up. Because I can’t trust you not to throw on your suit and come chasing after me.”
“I’m only trying to help you!”
Steve knew that. He did. He also knew that Peter was still a kid, and between teenage hormones and just being a reckless self sacrificing hero, he was going to fight this tooth and nail. It would be out of character for him to just sit there and let Steve go peacefully. Steve softened his voice, hoping Peter would do the same. “I know, Pete. I know you just want to help. But not with this.”
“Pops--.”
“I love you, Peter. I love how brave you are and how you always want to fight for what’s right. But before you do, you have to analyze a situation and think about whether you would help or only make it worse.” Steve knew his words weren’t sugar coated, but if they were, Peter would never stop.
“How could I make it worse if I’m backup--?”
“Because I have a mission, Peter. It’s all set up. I know what I have to do. It’s a one-man job. And having someone there would only mess up what we already have planned-- a plan that has been made for weeks. On top of that, make it my son, and I’ll be worrying about him the entire time instead of doing my job.”
The words were out of Peter’s mouth before his brain could even process them, Steve bet. That didn’t mean they hurt any less. “Sometimes I just wish I wasn’t your son!”
Steve tried not to let his hurt show on his face. “Well, if that’s how you really feel.”
“That’s not-- I didn’t mean it like that,” Peter quickly amended.
“How else could you mean it?”
“You’re just overprotective and--.”
“Sorry for caring about you. Sorry for loving you.” Steve shook his head. “You know, your dad and I both had shit fathers who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about us. We would never wish that on you, and that’s why we do things like this. It’s why we care. I’m sorry if that’s such an inconvenience.”
Peter wasn’t done, and he looked like he wanted to say more-- probably to defend himself. But he stuttered and stumbled over words until he gave up, and half-cried, half-shouted in frustration before storming off towards his room.
One he was gone, Steve fell to the couch next to Tony. He sighed heavily and rested his head on Tony’s shoulder. Tony rested his head against him and took his hand in his. “You want me to go talk to him?”
“No,” Steve answered. “Let him calm down by himself. He needs to get his emotions under control before we talk to him, or else he’ll get himself worked up again.”
“You know he didn’t mean that, right?”
"Yeah."
"I'll get his suit and I'll keep it in my lab. All of them."
"Was I too hard on him?" Steve asked, hating how their argument ended with Peter running to his room in tears.
"No. You were tough. You have to be." Tony kissed the top of his head. "If you're not then he'll do whatever he wants. What you said isn't unreasonable. We're protecting him."
"I just wish it wasn't so hard."
"Protecting him?"
Steve chuckled. "That. And being a dad."
Tony laughed along with him. "Well, he's a teenager. They have to make it hard. God only knows how much trouble I was."
"I guess…"
"Don't worry, babe. This'll pass. After you come back from the mission, maybe start training him some more. Show him that you want him to be on these missions when he's trained."
"Truth is, I don't," Steve admitted. "He's a kid. He's my kid. I want him as far away from Hydra and aliens and bad guys as humanly possible." He sighed, caressing Tony's hand softly. "I just know that that's ridiculous to ask. Also hypocritical. At his age, I was always taking on guys three times my size in fights. Even before the serum, I wanted to look out for the little guy, no matter what."
"You two are the same side of the same coin," Tony said. "It's why you butt heads about this stuff."
"Well, it's different when it's my baby that wants to run headfirst into danger."
“Talk to him tomorrow,” Tony said. “He’ll calm down by then.”
Peter did not in fact calm down by then.
Well, maybe he calmed down, but he was too calm. Steve had to leave in only a few minutes for his mission, and he was knocking at Peter’s door insistently. He hadn’t come down for breakfast or lunch, and now it was almost 3pm, and Peter was still hidden in his room.
Steve knocked again even though none of his knocking for the last 15 minutes did anything. “Pete, c’mon, bud. I’m going on the mission and I want to see you before I go.”
There was no answer, not that Steve thought he would suddenly start answering. He was trying to keep his voice gentle so he didn’t give Peter a reason to keep the door locked, but it was hard.
“I don’t want us leaving things off like we did. You know I don’t like going to bed angry, let alone going on a mission angry.” He knocked again. “Please, Pete.” Steve sighed and dropped his head against the door. “Is he even in there, FRIDAY?”
“He is, Captain.”
“Is he awake?”
“He is, Captain.”
“Is he just ignoring me?”
Steve the answer before it came.
“He is, Captain.”
Steve bit his lip to stop from making an aggravated comment. Instead, he said, “You don’t even have to talk to me if you don’t want to, bear. You don’t even have to look at me. I just want my good luck hug and kiss.”
Nothing.
“Please?”
Nothing.
“Quinjet is on the helipad,” Tony said, coming up behind him. "Has he come out yet?
"No…"
Tony leaned forward and knocked. His voice was not as gentle as it was last night. "Peter, get out here and say goodbye to your father."
"Don't force him if he doesn't want to," Steve said, even though he wanted to do that exact thing.
"Peter, you have a minute before he leaves. You might not see your suits for a long time if you don't say goodbye."
The minute passed, and Peter stayed in his room.
Steve sighed and turned away. "Let's just go, Tony. I'll see him when I come home."
He started walking, but he could hear Tony tell the doorway, "We're talking about this when he's gone, Peter Benjamin."
Then he caught up to him and gave him a kiss and hug goodbye. Steve held onto him tight.
"I'll see you soon, love," Tony whispered.
"Don't be too hard on him while I'm gone," Steve said, kissing his cheek.
"No promises." Then Tony pulled him into a kiss on the lips, and slapped him on the ass. Steve laughed against his lips.
"See? You better come home for more smooches and ass slaps." Tony kissed him again before pulling away.
"I will. Easy mission. Don't worry." He glanced back inside again. "Try to get him out of his room to eat something."
"Oh, I'll get him out. Don't worry."
Steve hoped he would get him out without too much trouble. Even if Peter didn't say a word, he just wanted him to eat something.
It wasn't until a few hours later when Steve found out Peter left his room. (Not to eat though.)
Steve was dressed in his Hydra gear, down to a cowl too. There was no way he'd be recognized by them as Captain America.
It was rare anyone did unless he was dressed in his red, white, and blue attire.
His mission was actually pretty easy. He was supposed to act as a Hydra agent picking up a file to transport to another Hydra base. Of course they had no idea they were handing it right over to Captain America.
The meeting was arranged in some place just outside of the city of Frankfurt. They were waiting in the shadows of the abandoned building when he arrived.
He called out in German before getting too far in, "A far place to go when the city is so close."
The reply to his code phrase was in German too, "We prefer the quiet."
That was the confirmed response. Steve knew that from the mission briefing. It was another reason he was chosen: Steve spoke fluent German and that was all these two men spoke.
Steve walked in and waited until he was close enough to not have to raise his voice above an almost whisper. "You have the file, yes?"
One of the agents, dressed just like him, raised his hand that was holding a small chip. "Right here. You will bring this to Meyer?"
"Of course." Steve held his hand out. It was too easy. His missions could never go this easy.
That's why just as the agent was handing him the chip, his eyes snapped to somewhere over Steve's shoulders and he pocketed the chip immediately. His partner pulled a gun and pointed it behind Steve.
Steve didn't want any innocent civilians getting caught in the crossfire because they stumbled upon a really bad trade. He turned around to see what the agents saw and was surprised to see someone standing in the doorway of the building, dressed as dark as they were. They were wearing a mask over their face, and Steve realized that maybe, this wasn't an innocent person.
The Hydra agent screamed at the unknown person, "Give me your name or we shoot!"
The person scrambled forward with his hands up, but didn't respond.
Steve stared at the person, hoping they weren't stupid and got out of here alive. Maybe they were an enemy of Hydra and that's why they were caught sneaking.
The agent holding the gun rushed forward, shoving past Steve, and grabbed the person by the back of his neck. He let out a small yelp but didn't fight. Not even when his mask was pulled off.
And Steve's heart immediately dropped. Because staring back at him was not some spy looking for Hydra secrets. It was his son. His stupid, stupid, stupid son.
Steve was glad they didn't speak English when he couldn't stop himself from saying, "What the hell are you doing here?"
The man that had the chip turned on Steve and narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"
Steve gave Peter a look from hell before turning back to the Hydra agent. "I'm seeing if he speaks English, since he didn't respond to your German."
The man holding the gun, dug it harder against Peter’s head and no matter how much trouble he was in with Steve, that was not what he deserved. "Speak, boy!"
Steve raised his hand, trying not to be too obvious that he was protecting Peter. Hydra didn't protect anyone but themselves. "He doesn't understand you." Then he turned to Peter and he didn't have to fake his angry voice as he spoke in English, "You are in so much trouble. Like-- you remember that time you went on patrol and came home with a bullet in your stomach after we told you not to go out? Multiply that by a million. You will never see the light of day again if I have any say--."
"What are you saying?" Hydra Agent One demanded to know.
Steve cleared his throat. "Was just telling him what will happen if he doesn't answer our questions and tell the truth."
That made the two of them laugh and Steve felt sick. He turned back to Peter and said, "Say something so it seems like you're answering me. Don't fuck this up any more."
"I'm sorry!" Peter said. "I was only watching close by. I thought I would be out of sight! I didn't know."
Steve shook his head, wondering how the hell Peter managed to sneak on the flight from New York to Germany without anyone noticing. He wondered if Tony knew and why he didn't call immediately when he found out he was missing.
He switched back to German as he said, "He's just a homeless kid. Stole from a store in the city and was looking for a place to squat. He doesn't know what we are."
"And you believe him? There are ways to make us sure he is telling the truth."
Steve didn't like the way the man's finger shook on the trigger. "He's a kid. I doubt--."
"Don't be a fool! Hydra has soldiers younger than him. Why wouldn't our enemies?"
Because any enemy of Hydra is an actual human with a soul?
"Trust me. We don't have to worry about him. Let's just let him go, finish the trade, and get the hell out of here." Steve prayed to God they would listen.
"No," the man said immediately. "We have to tell our commander we are being watched."
"No, no, that's not a good idea." Steve refused to let that happen. "He's just a kid. He's harmless. But you, you go to your leader and let them know some harmless kid was able to spy on you, then what do you think will happen?"
They didn't answer so Steve took it as his cue to keep going.
"I've seen it before. Our commanders don't like sloppy agents. If you're able to have a child follow you, then what does that say about real spies?"
Still, no reply, so Steve answered for them.
"They don't like weak links. They will get rid of you. And we all know there is no firing from this job. There is only one way to get rid of you."
Death. They knew that. Surely, they didn't want to die.
The man that wasn't holding his gun pulled his own piece out and released the safety. "Then we must shoot him."
"Pops, what are they doing?" Peter asked, fear in his voice.
Steve couldn't answer him while he was too busy trying to convince the man to lower the gun. "Stop, you can't shoot him!"
His head was starting to hurt from switching between English and German so rapidly.
"Why not?! You said!"
"Because…” I need my baby to live. “ We need him alive."
"Why is that?"
"We don't know if he's not actually a spy," Steve said, hating the words as they came out even though he knew it was the only way to stop them from shooting him dead here.
"But you said--."
"I know what I said, but how can we be sure? He could know things about Hydra. We should bring him to base, and maybe see if he knows anything." Steve couldn't believe he was really suggesting Hydra, the worst excuse for human life, to take his son and torture him for information. Of course, Steve would never let it get that far, but still, the thought sickened him.
The one still holding Peter turned to his partner excitedly. "We can tell the Commander. He will be proud."
"No," Steve said. "How about we keep it a secret until we figure out what we have? If it's nothing then we're back to square one."
The two turned to each other and mumbled quietly, trying to decide what to do. Steve's heart was beating too loud in his ears for him to understand what they were saying.
"What are you guys saying, Pops?" Peter asked, his voice sounding so scared. "What's going on?"
Steve looked into his eyes, big and brown and full of tears. "You have to trust me, okay? I'm going to get us out of this, but you have to trust me."
He couldn't fight them. He had to be smart. Fighting them both here was dumb because he didn't know how advanced they were. He could throw a punch and one of the two guns trained on Peter would be fired and he'd be dead.
It wasn't worth the risk.
He wasn't worth the risk
Peter nodded his head and then stayed quiet.
"We'll get the information from him."
"How about I bring him to my base with the chip? You guys go back and tell your Commander you were fine. I'll handle the kid."
Unfortunately, they didn't fall for it. "No. We must see this through. We have our plane. Follow us before his backup comes."
“I have to get this information to my leaders in a certain time,” the panic in Steve’s voice wasn’t fake.
“This was your idea,” they said before they started to walk deeper into the building. Steve kept up easily, making sure they didn’t push Peter around too much. He wished he could take him and pretend to be the one holding him, but he didn't think the one with the gun was going to let go any time soon.
They walked a few minutes until they reached the plane they must have flown in. It was definitely no Quinjet. It was tiny and rusty and looked like it would fall out of the sky at any second. Steve wasn’t surprised when Peter stopped moving.
The agent shoved him forward, shouting in German. Peter didn’t hear it even if he could understand it. “Pops, I don’t wanna go in that.”
Peter had a problem with planes, which is why Steve was surprised he was able to ride on the Quinjet without a problem. Or maybe he did have a problem, but it was bearable because the Quinjet was much better than that sorry excuse of an airplane .
Steve didn’t care how much trouble Peter was in, he didn’t deserve to be tormented. It would be like shoving Steve in a freezer. “I’m trying, Pete,” he said before turning to German again, “Can’t we just go our separate ways? Make it quick and easy?”
“And if he’s something valuable? Let you take the credit for it? No.” Then they shoved Peter forward even when his feet were tripping one each other. “Get him in, Schneider,” one of them said to the other.
And then they started pushing him up the stairs as Peter repeated, “Papa, Papa, Papa, Papa…”
Steve felt his heart breaking. “I’m right behind you. I’m coming.”
The two agents could understand ‘Papa’ and they laughed at him. “He wants his Papa. He can’t be saved now.”
Little did they know, his Papa was right here, and he was going to kill them.
Once inside the plane, one of them went towards the cockpit, and the one with Peter shoved him towards the back where there wasn’t much room for anything, really. There weren’t even seats, but there was a small cage, probably only big enough for a few chickens, and a few storage boxes.
Peter was shoved to his knees, right into the metal bars of the cage. He instinctively raised his hands over his head, as if he was about to block a blow.
The agent didn’t go to hurt him though. “Get in the cage.” Then he turned to Steve. “Tell him to get in.”
Steve sighed and said, “You need to get in.”
“The cage?!” Peter asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Pops, I don’t like planes and I don’t like small spaces-- I can’t--.” He was starting to panic already.
Steve turned to look up at the agent, hoping he would have a heart. Even a little. “He’s claustrophobic. He says he won’t cause trouble if he can sit like he is now.”
“I want him locked up.” The gun was back up.
Steve sighed and turned back to Peter. “You need to get in there, Pete. Just for a few minutes. I have a plan.”
“O-Okay,” Peter said, sounding like he was a second from crying. Steve needed to get them out of this mess before they got to the base. He couldn’t keep any promises when they were in there, and he did not want Peter to ever see a Hydra base, let alone be a prisoner in one.
Steve watched as he crawled into the cage, trying not to hit his head against the top. He was barely inside before the agent slammed the cage door shut behind him. Then, he sat down on top of it and gave it a hard kick.
Steve wanted to kick him in the throat.
Instead, he stood close by and started to analyze everything around him. He had to find a way to get rid of this guy first without the other knowing, and without him firing the gun that was still pointed at Peter, even as he was crushed in a cage with no way to fight.
If he could get Peter out of the cage, he knew he could fight with him. Peter could definitely hold his own. And the cage wasn’t locked because they just assumed Peter wouldn’t be brave enough to try and escape to fight all of them at once. Little did they know, Captain America was right in front of them on his side.
“We need that gun off of you,” Steve whispered, knowing that Peter’s heightened hearing would pick it up. He watched the agent sitting on top of the cage to see if he had heightened senses too. He didn’t show any signs of hearing him. “Then I’m going to take him out, and go to the front.”
Peter’s voice was soft too. It still shook with fear. “I can fight. I can help.”
Steve could have told him to sit, and that he’d done enough. But he knew he needed his help, and snapping at him in this situation would be cruel. So he nodded his head just barely. “Alright. You’ve gotta be ready to jump into action. I’m going to grab his gun, and you need to get out of there. Are you ready?”
Peter nodded his head a few times.
Steve took a deep breath and started to count. “1...2...3, go!”
It happened so fast, but seemed to take hours to play out. Steve dove for the man’s gun before he could fire it at Peter. He sent him flying to the floor and he heard the cage rattle open behind him. Peter was free.
The man started screaming though, “Help! Kraus, he’s a double crosser!”
The man screaming was definitely not human, at least not anymore. He threw Steve off of him easily. Steve didn't let that stop him from getting back and rushing him. They rolled around the floor for a few seconds before Steve got on top and started punching him in the face over and over.
Steve thought he’d get him unconscious soon, until he heard alarms start to go off. That wasn’t good.
“He’s crashing the plane!” Peter screamed. “Pops, he’s sending it straight to the ground!”
Steve glanced over his shoulder and saw the other agent steering the plane downwards. Steve could see the ground coming close through the window.
When Steve was distracted, the man threw his fist up and knocked Steve right in the jaw. Steve bit on his tongue and he felt blood fill his mouth. He was thrown off of him and before the man could tackle him, Peter jumped his back. “Go, stop the other one!”
Steve hesitated, not wanting to leave Peter with this guy, but he knew the other guy was going to crash the plane and kill them all, so he had to go there. He rushed forward, trusting in his son and started to fight the man trying to crash the plane.
Thankfully, he wasn’t as strong as the other man, and it took only a few seconds of struggling for Steve to grab him by the scruff of the neck and smash his head into the dash in front of him, knocking him out cold immediately.
Steve turned around to see how Peter was doing and his heart jumped into his throat when he was the man on top of Peter, choking him. Peter was clawing at the hands around his throat. Steve didn’t hesitate before he pulled the gun out of the pilot’s waistband, raised it, and shot. The man fell over immediately and Peter sucked in a huge breath of air. Steve hoped he was too busy struggling to take in air to see the man’s brains splattered above him.
Peter laid on his side wheezing, and Steve had to turn back to the controls to take over. “Pete, are you okay?!”
His voice was raspy when he answered, “Y-Yeah.”
“Get over here. Now.”
Steve knew he stood up a minute or so later when he heard Peter gasp. “Oh my God, he--.”
“He was killing you. Get in here.”
Peter hurried inside as Steve was struggling to pull up on the controls. He glanced over at Peter to make sure he was okay and besides for the blood splatter, and the red ring around his throat, he looked alright. “You know what you’re doing?” He asked, struggling to speak.
“I crashed a plane once and survived. Think I can do it again?” He asked, hoping he could. The first time, he didn’t mind putting himself in the ocean, but this time, he had his son with him. His son had to live...so Steve could strangle him when they got out of this.
“Please,” Peter said.
Steve said his prayer and pulled as hard as he could to bring the plane up. The entire thing shook and Steve wouldn’t be surprised if it fell apart in the sky. Peter wrapped his arms around Steve and hid his face in his neck while Steve struggled.
He felt a lump grow in his throat, but he forced a chuckle out. “Now I get my good luck hug, huh?”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sor--!”
“Hey, none of that. Let’s save it for after we get out of this.”
“I love you,” Peter whispered.
“I love you too, bear.”
That’s exactly when the plane hit the ground.
Steve woke up to feeling his body being dragged. He blinked his eyes open and felt them burn from the smoke surrounding him. Something was definitely on fire. This was much different from his first crash. Then, he was cold. Now he was so hot, and he wasn’t alone...he wasn’t alone--
“Peter!”
“I’m right here, Pops,” he said somewhere above him. Steve blinked his eyes at the burning plane that was behind them. “We’ve gotta get away from it before it explodes.”
Steve tried to push himself to his feet and help Peter, but he felt so weak.
“I’ve got you. Don’t worry.”
Then the plane exploded, Steve felt himself launch into the air from the explosion and it all went black.
Steve woke up in a comfier place than he fell unconscious in. When he opened his eyes, there was no fire or exploding.
“Oh, thank JARVIS,” Tony said. “I was worried when you weren’t waking up.”
Steve turned his gaze to him sluggishly. “Hmm?”
“Fury found you not long after Peter signaled for help. We found you guys hidden with him trying to staunch the hole in your stomach.”
“Hole?” He muttered, still struggling to catch up with what happened.
“When the plane crashed something impaled into your stomach. You’re okay now, but that was scary,” Peter said, sounding so very alive.
Steve turned to face him and he looked okay. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, looking fine. Again, besides for the ring of bruises around his neck. That angered Steve all over again. “You okay?”
“Yeah, Pops.”
“Don’t worry, I tore him a new one while you were in surgery,” Tony said. “He won’t be sneaking off on missions any time soon.”
“I want my turn after I’m outta here,” Steve said. “Stupid, reckless, dumb…”
“I know, I know,” Peter said immediately. “I’m sorry.”
“Get over here.”
“Yes, sir,” Peter said, pushing out of his chair and hurrying to Steve’s side. He was standing rigidly, probably expecting to be yelled at.
But Steve grabbed his wrist and pulled him in for a hug. He was choked up when he whispered, “Scared me, kid.”
Peter hugged back tightly. “I’m sorry, Pops.”
“I know you are. It’s alright. You did good up there.” He patted Peter’s back and he pulled away to give him a smile.
“Really?”
“Yes, but if you ever think of pulling a stunt like that again I will staple you to your bed by your ears.”
Peter paled slightly. “Got it.”
“Good,” Steve said, relaxing. “Can’t believe I fucked up the easiest mission.”
“You didn’t fuck up,” Tony said. “Fury has the chip and is analyzing all the data now.”
Steve blinked his confusion. “What? But how? The plane exploded.”
“I grabbed it off the guy after you shot him,” Peter said, shrugging his shoulders.
Steve smiled at him. He might have messed up big time coming along, but everyone made mistakes, and he definitely made up for it.
“I’m proud of you,” Steve said. “That was scary. Not only did you hold up, but when I was unconscious, you got us home. I’m so proud of you.”
“I couldn’t save you both,” Peter admitted. “The one that was just unconscious. I couldn’t carry him out in time.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Steve said. “He wanted to kill you. He wanted to kill my baby. You saved yourself and me. Those are the only two people you were responsible for in there-- hell, you didn’t even need to save me.”
“Of course, I did. You’re my Pops.”
“Well, in life or death situations, I hope you always put yourself first.”
“I can’t promise that when you’re there too,” Peter said.
“See?” Tony said, shaking his head. “Same side of the same coin. Told you.”