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Peter Parker wandered around Jane Foster’s lab like a lost puppy.
Darcy Lewis, lab manager extraordinaire, handed her best friend a cup of coffee and commented, “He’s so pitiful…”
“Losing his mentor, having his secret identity exposed, and then having to move into the compound leaving his friends and school behind…” Jane took a sip of her coffee and then added, “so what are we going to do about it?”
“Dearest Jane, are you suggesting a mission?”
“I think we should call it…Mission: Spider-mentor. And I have just the person.”
Darcy nodded, and said, “Bucky.”
While simultaneously Jane said, “Sam.”
They each took another sip of coffee and then Jane offered, “Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
“Winner gets the puppy?” Darcy concluded.
“SAAAAAM!”
Sam heard the yelling before Friday offered, “I believe Sergeant Barnes is in need of some assistance in the lab.”
Sam sighed and put his book down. He’d been having such a nice day, too. Quiet. Peaceful.
“SAAAMMMM!”
Barnes sounded like he was more irritated than distressed, so Sam took his time meandering towards the lab.
Honestly, Barnes had changed his default setting to irritated since Parker moved in. The kid was in serious hero-worship mode and had attached himself to Barnes at the hip.
Barnes had no interest in being anyone’s mentor and had been a grumbling pain in Sam’s ass ever since.
Sam made the mistake of sipping his coffee as he was walking and had to spit it out when he saw Bucky.
“Shut up. Just help me.”
Bucky’s arm left arm was stuck inside the lab, while the rest of him was on the other side of the sliding glass doors. Within the lab, Parker was flitting around frantically pushing at the touchscreen, presumably trying to free Bucky from the doors.
The best part? Bucky’s arm was caked in glitter. There was at least an inch of glitter on every metal surface. You couldn’t even see the vibranium anymore.
Sam burst into laughter. Full on, collapsing against the wall and sliding down to the floor hysterical laughter.
Inside the lab, and through Sam’s laughter Peter babbled, “I’m so sorry. I thought that magnetizing the glitter would make for easier cleanup…”
At dinner, Sam kept looking over at Barnes and laughing. The glitter was gone, but the image? The image was right there at the forefront of his mind.
“Shut up,” Barnes threatened. “Kid drives me nuts.”
“Come on, man,” Sam said between snickers, “Kid needs a mentor. He chose you. It’s a compliment.”
Three days after Miles Morales and his family moved into the Compound, the kid gave Sam two skinned knees and skinned up palms.
It was a nice morning for a jog. The sun was rising over the lake, casting orange streaks across the water. The breeze off the water was just cool enough to be comfortable. And the birds were composing a symphony.
The kid came up on his left without announcing himself first and started yammering, “Hey Mr. Falcon sir, I was wondering if…ooof…”
Miles tripped, grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him down with him.
He was still apologizing when the got back to the compound.
Barnes was drinking black coffee listening to his girl, Darcy, rant about something in the paper. She had a frothy coffee drink that she hadn’t touched and was animatedly gesturing while discussing world affairs. Barnes had an affectionate smile on his face.
Across from him, Parker was quietly reading his news on a Stark Pad and drinking what Sam assumed was a glass of milk. But at least he was quiet. Unlike, Sam’s companion.
Darcy saw him first, “Oh sweetie.”
Both Parker and Barnes raised their eyebrows at the sight and Barnes began to smirk.
“Don’t…” Sam warned.
Dating Jane Foster was a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because she was smart, fierce, and kind.
A curse because that kindness sometimes meant he was expected to be the same. Even when he didn’t feel like it.
Even when he really, really didn’t feel like it.
Miles had been following Jane around the lab, which oddly, she seemed to like. And when Miles mentioned that he’d like to pick up some things from his old school Jane gave Sam ‘the look’. The one that meant he’d better volunteer to do something that Jane wanted him to do.
Briefly Sam debated whether the silent treatment from Jane was worth it.
It wasn’t.
So he took Miles into the city.
And of course, the little shit had noticed a bank robbery.
Jane and Darcy burst into peels of laughter when they saw Sam’s face.
Darcy, from her place on the floor where she was literally rolling around and laughing, called out, “Friday, tell Bucky to get to the labs, pronto.”
“Don’t! Belay that order, Friday!” Sam demanded.
“I’m afraid its too late, sir.”
Miles came shuffling in behind Sam, in a similar state. Both were covered in dye. Blue dye. Bright. Blue. Dye.
Jane snorted out, “Papa…smurf…and…baby…smurf,” between laughs.
Sam used to think it was cute when Jane snorted when she laughed. He just changed his mind.
Miles was contrite, “I didn’t know about the dye packs…”
“He didn’t know about the dye packs,” Sam repeated, more to himself than anyone.
When Bucky came in the door, with Parker predictably at his heels, Sam braced himself for more hysterical laughter.
Barnes just nodded, and assessed, and smiled ever so slightly.
And that was almost worse.
“Miles, it’s gonna be okay…I’m coming to get you.”
The kid was clinging to the crumbling façade of the building. His foot was wedged in between some stone and he was quite literally stuck. The building was falling down around the kid and if it did, it would take him with it, most likely crushing him in the process.
Sam was quickly recalibrating the wing that had been stuck half in and half out of its housing.
“Barnes, Parker? ETA?”
Over the communicator, Bucky yelled, “Pete is five minutes out. He’s moving as fast as he can, Sam.”
“Kid doesn’t have five minutes!”
Sam cursed his way through fixing the wing that had been damaged by Doom bots. And of course, the rest of the Avengers were in Latveria, dealing with the man himself.
Sam really hated Dr. Doom.
Finally. The wing was fixed. Sam took a running start and told Miles, “Coming for you kid. When I grab you, push off hard against the building. As hard as you can. Trust me.”
“Yes sir. I trust you, sir.”
Sam watched Darcy and Jane fuss over Miles as he lay in the hospital bed. Christine said it was just a broken ankle. You’d think the kid had nearly died the way the two women were acting.
Sam felt Bucky’s hand come down hard on his shoulder, “Kid okay?”
“Yeah. The little pain in my ass is gonna be fine.”
Sagely, Bucky replied, “Kid needed a mentor. He chose you.”
“Bite me, Barnes.”
Darcy and Jane sat back with their coffees as Miles and Peter argued over whether Sam or Bucky could beat up Dr. Doom.
“Vibranium is stronger than whatever metal Doom has on his face. One punch from Mr. Barnes and…bam…dead Doom.”
“Whatever,” Miles shrugged, “Sam could just bomb the shit out of him from above.”
“Language, Miles,” Jane scolded.
“Yes Ma’am.”
Darcy kicked Jane’s foot with hers and said, “Hey Janey? Mission accomplished?”
“Mission accomplished,” Jane agreed.
Just as the two women clinked their mugs together in solidarity, Miles commented with awe, “Who’s that?”
They turned to see Bucky and Sam approaching with a teenage girl in tow. She was cute. Blonde with pink streaks in her hair and a little gap between her teeth.
“Shit…” Darcy muttered. “You know who that is?”
“Our universe’s Gwen Stacy?” Jane answered, knowing full well who it was from the incident with the wormhole in her lab (which Jane still maintains was Rocket’s fault).
“She’s gonna need a mentor,” Darcy commented.
“You know who would be perfect?”
At the same time the two best friends offered up, “You would!” and “Hope!”
Darcy blinked a few times at her own suggestion and then conceded, “Yeah. Hope would make more sense, what with the fact that she’s a superhero and all. My bad.”