Chapter 17
“I’m so glad they didn’t make me be a counselor…”
“Why do you say that?”
Coulson looked out at the field. Each camper had a balloon on a short ribbon tied to their shoes and the point of the game they were currently playing was to pop everyone else’s balloons while making sure your own didn’t get popped. This involved plenty of running and attempted tromping. It also involved a lot of laughing and a little shoving – although the counselors were making sure none of it was too rough and no one was stepped on. This wasn’t the first game they’d played up in the field after dinner; there had been tag, and an odd version of Red Rover, and three different relay races. The kids were loving it, but Phil Coulson knew that he was a long way away from the days when he would have been able to keep up with the seemingly endless energy of the youngsters.
“Because I couldn’t concentrate on my job if I had to spend the evening trying to stomp on a little girl’s balloon.”
“How’s Peter doing?”
They didn’t have permanent cameras on the boy, after all. They didn’t need to, really. That was the whole point of having Barnes with him and having people like Phil and a couple of others moving freely around the camp keeping an eye on him and those around him.
Another glance at the field and now he was specifically looking for his primary detail. Someone he watched at school all the time so it was second nature to find him. The boy was laughing while trying to keep one of the older boys from one of the other cabins from stepping on his balloon (he only had one left) and was also trying to help Ned protect him, as well.
“Looks like he’s in danger of having a great time,” he reported.
“Good. Call me if you need anything.”
Romanoff ended the call, and a motion caught Coulson’s attention. He turned and watched as Dr. Strange walked up to the edge of the field, leaning on a fence post that put him out of the way but clearly not hiding. The SHIELD agent only hesitated a moment before wandering over to stand by him, still watching the kids playing.
“Doctor Strange…”
“Agent Coulson.”
Since all of the agents had been singled out to the staff – including the doctor (by necessity in case something happened) there was no edge to Phil’s greeting and response.
“Want me to find you a couple of balloons?”
That elicited a smile from the other man.
“I’ll pass, thank you. I just thought I’d come up and see what they were doing.”
And make sure that no one was doing anything too dangerous. Strange had a copy of the schedule but it didn’t mention any games in particular, so he didn’t know what kind of games were being played. He’d found himself a little bored in his tiny cabin; he’d brought books but nothing like those found in the library in the sanctum, and the sound of laughter and giggling had reached his cabin, making it impossible to concentrate on anything, anyway. He could have cast a spell to make it quiet, but he was aware that if something happened and he was needed, he'd most likely hear the disturbance before anyone actually called him or came down to get him.
So he’d wandered up the hill to take a look.
“This is supposed to be the last game,” Phil told him in case he didn’t know. “Then it’s bonfire and off to bed.”
“And you’re comfortable with your charge being around an open fire?”
Coulson shrugged.
“We’d be against the idea of him trying to light his cabin on fire, but a bonfire on the lake beach with adult supervision isn’t too much of a concern.”
The thought of a bunch of kids near a roaring fire was a little concerning to Strange – only because he was the one who was going to be treating any burns that might occur. The schedule said that they were going to have several bonfires over the course of the week, so the doctor mentally assessed how much burn ointment that he had in his little cabin, but decided that since there wasn’t an excess, the bonfire must not cause too many problems.
“Good to hear.” One of the boys tripped over his balloon string and took a tumble that sent him into Ned, who also went down, automatically trying to protect his balloon while getting to his feet. One of the girls tripped over Ned and went down, also, and there was a sudden surge of youngsters, all reacting to the vulnerability of those balloons that were suddenly unable to be moved. Peter wasn’t the only one who was swarmed under the crowd, and he disappeared as he fell, too. Strange could feel the man next to him tense and realized that Coulson was very serious about Peter Stark’s safety. More than just in the capacity of guard. “Whoops…”
Barnes was right there – as were a couple of the other counselors – and they were quick to help those who had fallen (and tangled their legs with balloon strings or other people) to get to their feet. Stephen was surprised that no one seemed to be injured. Peter and Ned were both grinning up at Barnes who was clearly checking them out, carefully. The game continued almost immediately, and Strange shook his head.
“I really expected to be needed. For stepped on fingers, if nothing else…”
“They’re tough,” Coulson assured him – or was reassuring himself, maybe. “They played football, this year.”
“And Tony Stark allowed it?”
A wry smile and a shrug.
“He didn’t have a lot of choice, really.”
When he didn’t explain further, Strange shrugged and turned his attention back to the game for a moment. It seemed to be winding down, now, and there weren’t that many balloons left. He decided to head back to his cabin and beat the mad rush of kids when they were dismissed to go back to their cabins
“Have a good night.”
Coulson nodded.
“You, too.”
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
“You’re sure you’re alright?”
All the boys in the cabin nodded. Their faces were happy and their cheeks flushed with the slight chill of the night but the exercise that they’d had plenty of, so far. It was only the first day and Bucky was glad that he’d kept in shape once he’d found himself living at the Avenger compound. Otherwise, he’d already be tired.
“We’re okay,” Brian assured him before anyone else could. Since he was the one with only one leg, he was clearly used to having people ask him if he was alright. “This is fun, isn’t it?”
Peter nodded his agreement.
“Yeah. And now we get to have a bonfire!”
“Yes, you do,” Ross agreed. “Everyone get sweatshirts on, though.”
“There’s going to be a fire,” Carlos reminded him. “We’re not going to be cold.”
“There will be mosquitos, though,” Barnes reminded them.
“Oh.”
They all reached for sweatshirts and headed for the door, but Barnes caught Peter’s hood and held him back as the others left the cabin. Peter looked at him, curiously.
“Stay close to me, tonight, okay?”
“How come?”
“I want to get an idea of how this bonfire thing works.”
“They start the fire and we eat a lot of s’mores.”
Barnes shook his head.
“There’s more than that, but hang out with me, tonight. Just so I can reassure your mom and dad that you’re not going to catch on fire or something. Yeah?”
Peter grinned.
“Okay.”