Abstract Psychopomp

Nicholas Fury didn't rack his brain for much. He was a man who had pretty much everything figured out. His plans worked and they worked well.

Which is why he would like- no- love an explanation on how his agents were beaten to the punch when they tried to take down a HYDRA human smuggling ring operating out of Hell's Kitchen.

A group of his had been working tirelessly on this case, and had only barely been able to find out that it was happening in Hell's Kitchen.

They'd gotten word from a trusted source that HYDRA were attempting to stage a comeback, starting with human experimentation, in a desperate attempt to recreate the success of the Maximoff twins.

But they had no idea how the targets were chosen, who was moving them or when they were being shipped out.

So seeing the security footage of Spiderman, Daredevil and the Punisher take these scumbags down with barely a hair out of place, yeah, Fury was a little damn curious.

“Romanov and Barton are here sir.” Hill’s voice echoed through the intercom.

“Send them in.” Fury replied.

The door swung open and the two Avengers entered.

“Sir, you wanted to see us?” Barton said first.

“Look at this shit.” Fury said, gesturing to his triple monitors.

“I heard about that.” Romanov said. “Good take-down.” 

“Except SHIELD has been trying to track these motherfuckers for months. Our agents couldn't find anything.” 

Romanov and Barton looked at each other.

“Then how did these vigilantes find out what you couldn't? Sir.” Barton asked, only a little smug.

Fury looked at the pair. “That's what I want the two of you to find out. I should've put you on this from the start, but you've been in the public eye too much recently.”

“What exactly is our mission sir?” Romanov asked.

“I want you to find out the identities of Daredevil and Spiderman. This ain't the first time they've gotten in the way of SHIELD operations. I want to talk.”

“And Frank Castle, sir?” Barton questioned.

Fury contemplated for a moment. “Watch him from a distance. See who he meets up with in his civilian life. He's going by Pete Castiglione, he works construction. Don't approach Castle directly. He's too much of a loose cannon.”

“Understood sir.” Natasha said.

“Yes sir.” Clint replied.

And then they both left his office.

Fury looked at his monitors again.

There had to be an incredible and cunning mind behind this team.

________

“Aunt May! I can't find my socks!” Peter yelled down the stairs.

“I put them next to your undies, honey!” Aunt May replied.

“Thanks!”

Aunt May came into his room as he was pulling his socks on.

“Hurry up, Peter. You don't want to be late.” She said, patting his shoulder.

It was true. There was only one reason in the world he would ever be awake at 7:30 am on a Saturday. 

His Stark Industries internship began today. And excited was a damn understatement.

And while he was excited to be working with Tony Stark- the man is a genius- the prospect of learning from Bruce Banner was more than exciting. It was freaking heart pounding, blood rushing, mind blowing-ly out of this world.

He hoped that Dr. Banner would respect his science.

Peter knew that he was good, but he also knew that there was a reason that people say to never meet your heroes.

He doesn't think he'd be able to survive Bruce Banner telling him he's bad at science.

________

Bucky watched on the monitor in the security office as the young boy entered through the glass double doors.

His brain spun as he was transported back to that night on the plane.

*** The Winter Soldier ran to catch up as the plane was taxi-ing off of the runway. He leapt up as the plane achieved take off, gripping hard onto the landing gear and pulling himself up onto the metal poles. 

He entered the on-board bathroom through the panel he'd paid the safety manager to loosen. And he waited.

Once they were over the ocean, he made his move.

Kicking open the door, the Winter Soldier handled the biggest threat first. The father. Richard Parker was dead before he'd hit the ground.

Mary Parker screamed as she clung onto her five year old son, Peter, the file had said his name was.

She was trying to shield him with ther body, but the Winter Soldier dragged them apart with ease. The boy began screaming. Before the Winter Soldier could finish off the mother, Peter screeched like a banshee and swung his sharp little fists at the man.

“Leave her alone!” His little voice demanded. “I hate you! You're a bully! I hate you!” His voice screamed over and over.

The Winter Soldier stopped short. The plane seemed to fade away and the sounds of screams and feeling of little fists hitting his chest dissipated.

He was in an alleyway. A large man lay unconscious. His fist ached. But that made no sense. How can metal ache?

“I hate bullies.” A new voice said. This one was different, it belonged to a man. A small man, his hair was blonde, but his face was a blur. Regardless, recognition hung in the Winter Soldier's chest.

“Can't you understand that, Bu-” Whatever the blonde man was about to call him was lost in the roar of jet engines. 

“What did you call me?” The Winter Soldier asked.

“Bu-”

What?” He asked again.

“Bu-”

“Bully!” Peter Parker's shrill voice echoed through the plane.

He was back. And whatever that dream was, was lost to the back of his mind as the Winter Soldier zeroed in on his mission.

End the threat the Parkers posed. Get the research. It'll be in Richard Parker's briefcase.

The same briefcase which was cuffed to the man's corpse.

The Winter Soldier snapped the chain, grabbed the briefcase and set the charge. A large hole in the body of the plane, and the hunk of metal crashes into the ocean. Tragic, but plane crashes happen.

The Winter Soldier looked back at the little boy, now curled up, crying with his mother, holding the cheek that the man had struck him on.

The order was to dispatch all three of the Parkers.

The boy is a liability.

He's a target.

But even so, the Winter Soldier grabbed the boy, ignoring the cries and pleas of his mother, he activated the SOS signal hidden underneath the carry-on compartment, and then he jumped once the charge had blown. Boy in hand.

The charge had knocked the boy out, so at least he was quiet when they were falling. And when they had hit the water.

The Winter Soldier swam them both to shore and watched as SHIELD agents Barton and Romanov arrived to collect the soaked child.

HYDRA had ripped Richard Parker's briefcase to shreds. But to no avail.

The Super Serum research was not in there. ***

And Bucky still has no idea that it was the wrong briefcase that night. He also has no clue that the right one was in Benjamin Parker's house the whole time.

“Bucky.” He heard Steve's voice call out softly to him.

“What? I'm staying away from him.” He responded.

“Watching him on the monitors?”

Bucky glowered at Happy Hogan, whose office he'd temporarily appropriated for this. “Snitch.” 

“Get out of my office.” Happy responded with a point out of the door.

Bucky left with Steve, sparing one last glance at the monitors before hanging his head and skulking out.

“I think we need an emergency session with Dr. Duncan.” Steve said, whipping out his phone to call Bucky's therapist.

Bucky stopped him quickly. “Can I just talk to you?” He asked.

Steve nodded and waited for his friend to speak.

“I thought that I was healing. When Tony said that he didn't blame me. When he forgave me for what I did to his family. When I was able to hear those words for the first time without losing control of my own person, I thought that I was healing.” Bucky felt his heart twist. “But seeing this boy, Peter. Seeing Peter, live his life. A life he had to live as an orphan because of me. I owe him so much Steve.” 

Bucky leaned against the white-grey walls of the hallway, staring down at the linoleum floor, waiting for Steve to say something.

“First things first Buck, you are healing.” Steve says with conviction. “Second, you do owe that boy, at the very least, an apology. Perhaps an explanation. But Bucky, he is fifteen. He more than likely doesn't remember anything about that night. You go up to him and remind him of all that, when he's this young, you could end up doing more harm than good.”

Bucky nodded as Steve continued.

“I think you should wait. Until he's an adult, until he is old enough to understand and be able to handle the weight of what we're talking about. And I think you need to wait until you're able to handle it. Peter Parker isn't the only one who left that plane, remember. Bucky Barnes did too.”

Bucky nodded again. “Thanks, Stevie.”

Steve smiled. “Anytime, Bucky.”

________

Clint and Natasha were slightly less subtle in their observations of the young man. Or more subtle. Depends on who you ask.

Natasha put on a black wig, a fake nose and thick rimmed glasses to follow the boy around, while Clint was making his stalker attempt from the vents.

Peter had picked up on his tails within the first three seconds, spidey sense and all. But he seriously doubted that Black Widow and Hawkeye would attack a teenager in their place of work. So he let it slide.

Besides, he was about to meet Bruce Banner!

And Tony Stark, but Bruce Banner!

When he got to the fourth floor lab, he was greeted by a tall, somewhat portly man who introduced himself as Happy Hogan.

Head of security.

“You'll need this access badge at all times when you're in the building. Keep it visible and keep it safe.” Happy said, handing Peter the card and lanyard to replace his temporary one. “If you lose it, tell Sasha at the front desk immediately. He'll sort it out for you. That goes up to the fourth floor. Don't try to use it to get any higher than that. We will know and a security team will be sent out to shoot you in the face. Any questions?”

“No sir.” Peter responded, a smile on his face.

“Good. This is Gemma Liu and that's Tyler Marks, they are also lab rats. They'll show you to your work station.” Happy said, and left Peter with the two older women.

“Hi Peter.” Gemma, a Chinese woman who was about 30-ish said happily. “We all saw your presentation at the expo, and we are so glad to have you here.”

“Thanks.” Peter said bashfully as they walked to what he presumed was his workstation.

“I gotta say, it's gonna be nice having someone who's younger than me in the lab.” Tyler, a tall blonde lady who couldn't have been older than 24, said.

“Oh yeah, you're the grunt now.” A male voice chimed in from beside Peter’s station. “Sorry kiddo.”

“Peter, that's Oliver Harris. Oliver is your station neighbour so you'll be seeing a lot of him.” Gemma said.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Peter said.

“Oh, don't call me sir. Makes me feel old, Oliver is just fine.”

“How old are you?” Peter asked.

“43. But my point stands.” He punctuated with an index finger pointed at Peter.

Peter laughed, genuine and without a hint of force. He was lucky to have such acceptance here. He'd been worried that he would face some issues from scientists upset at having to work alongside a kid, but that clearly wasn't the case here.

Peter spent the first three hours in the lab going over other projects like his web-shooters and ways to make sturdier fabric for his costume. Around hour four was when Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had come to see him.

The teenager had met them both the day after the expo when they'd come to his house and offered him the internship. Peter said he'd think about it.

They had been followed up by Justin Hammer offering to buy the BARRY tech and patent from him for an obscene price. He had been tempted, of course. That kind of money would mean that he could take care of Aunt May. She'd never have to worry about anything ever again. It's a hell of a way to repay the woman who sacrificed so much for your wellbeing. But Aunt May, in all her Aunt May-ness, asked him to put those smarts of his to use. And imagine what Hammer Tech would turn his invention into.

‘Weapons’. He'd said. They'd have turned it into weapons.

He'd swiftly accepted the internship after that, on the basis that he would maintain control and last say over his proprietary technology.

SI had agreed and here they were.

“Young man.” Tony Stark said with a sharp tapping on his worktop.

“Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, it's great to be working with you.” Peter said, looking at Banner with a flush on his cheeks.

“It's great to have you kid. Now, obviously we're here to develop your BARRY tech. I assume you have some ideas.” Stark said, cutting off Banner.

“Uuh, yes sir. Right here.” Peter took out his brown leather sketchbook and flipped to the right page.

Dr. Banner looked over it first. “Not bad. Not bad. Could you explain it please?”

Peter smiled nervously. “Yes sir! Well, since the original idea for the BARRY is pretty developed already, I figured that the best way to do so now would be to focus on and alter the materials used to make the bots. Obviously it was originally made in my garage and bedroom, so I didn't have access to top-shelf stuff.”

“But Stark Industries does and we can absolutely solve this problem.” Tony said confidently. “Let's get cracking men!”

________

Peter left the building at 5 pm feeling like he was on cloud 9. He has his own workstation, his coworkers are awesome, and Tony Stark and Bruce Banner think he is good at science. 

His phone buzzed with a message. It was Aunt May, reminding him of their reservation. Another positive, with the prize money from the expo, they were able to pay a year's worth of bills and mortgage fees upfront. So now Aunt May had a lot more disposable income. And while they were both too smart to be reckless, they were still allowed to be happy about it.

Peter rushed home to change into his one and only suit, and then caught a cab to the restaurant just in time for the 5.45 reservation.

It was a nice place, with candles at the table and classical music on the speakers. Peter and Aunt May smiled and laughed and ate, but of course, there's no rest for the wicked.

________

After reaching home, Peter was suddenly very glad that Aunt May had a few too many glasses of wine. It meant that he could just put her in her bed and head out the front door, spidey-suit and all.

Frank was already at the previously agreed upon rooftop when Peter swung down and landed silently next to him, peeling off his mask. It would seem they were still waiting on Matt.

Frank finished off his cigarette and looked at the boy.

“Why are you late? Finishing up homework?” The older man asked.

“I'm not late.” Peter said, already sick of his shit.

“If you're on time, you're late. Should be here five minutes early.”

“Just because you have no life…” Peter replied.

There was a beat of silence before Frank spoke again.

“Looked you up.” He said, taking a swing of coffee from a thermos. “Peter Benjamin Parker. That was quite a science presentation. You one of them wonder kids?” Frank asked, probably thinking that he was making small talk.

“I think you mean ‘Wunderkind’. And thank you.” Peter responded.

The tense silence returned, and just when it seemed that Frank would speak again, Matt launched onto the rooftop.

“Sorry I'm late.” He said, pulling back his cowl.

“No biggie.” Peter said with a chirp, sending a shit eating grin in Frank's direction.

“Now that we're all here, I ought to tell you that I'm being followed.” Frank said. “I think somebody is onto us.”

“What?” Matt said, panicked.

“Relax, okay I shook my tail. Nobody followed me here, your identities are safe. Just thought you'd wanna know.” 

“Did you see who was following you?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, they were wearing disguises. Good ones. But I recognised them. They're two of the Avengers, the one with the bow and arrow and then the lady one.” Frank said, taking another swing of acidic coffee.

Matt felt his jaw drop. “Hawkeye and Black Widow?!” 

“Yeah, them.” Frank said, uncaring.

“This is good, right?” Peter said. “That means that SHIELD is also hunting these human traffickers. If we work together-”

Peter was cut off by Frank and Matt’s simultaneous “No!”

“SHIELD has only just been cleared of HYDRA infiltration.” Matt explained. “We can't trust them.”

“Not to mention, they won't wanna work together.” Frank said. “They'll take what we've collected and tell us to back off. Then I'll be put in prison for shooting some asshole agent in a suit in the face. No.” 

“Alright.” Peter conceded. “No SHIELD.”

The three vigilantes turned to face the city. It was gonna be a long night.