Hydra? Like the Monster?

The elevator suddenly came to a stop, indicating to Peter that he was at his destination. He couldn't help but wonder what was up with Percy, the other boy looked incredibly spooked when he saw the elevator. Maybe he was claustrophobic? It was fine if he was, hell Peter was terrified of spiders, and he was literally Spider-Man. The brunette knew not to pry but sometimes (most of the time) curiosity got the better of him.

As the door opened and Peter walked out, he was met with an interesting sight. Percy wasn't there yet, of course, since he took the stairs. Instead, Tony was sat on a stool at the common room kitchen island. With Steve. And Natasha. And Bucky.

Tony put down his drink and began to speak. "Hey kid, hope you don't mind the extra company. Everyone else is on their way," The man cleared his throat before continuing. "Thought we'd get some more training in, y'know?"

Peter shuffled from foot to foot. Something was going on that definitely had nothing to do with more training. "Hey, Mr. Stark- Uh- I'm having a classmate over?" He paused. "Not that I don't want to train, but- can it be after?" The boy looked at the other occupants of the room, Steve and Bucky had a steely glint in their eyes as Natasha had her usual carefully schooled expression.

Something was going on for sure.

Something that needed all of the Avengers to be in the tower at once. Peter knew for a fact that Tony knew that Percy was coming over, he wouldn't schedule a training session if he knew a civilian was going to be in the suite. 

Unless...

Unless Peter was  right and Tony was trying to embarrass him.

Oh God.

"Of course, it can wait til after," Tony said, making him snap out of it. "Unless your friend wants to join." 

What.

Tony's eyebrows were raised, and his voice was oddly strained. Almost like he was refraining from saying or doing something he'd regret. The other three in the room were doing nothing to calm Peter's worries, if anything they were making them worse. There's no way he just invited Percy to train with them. Sure, Percy seemed strong and like he could fight, but they were Avengers. People whose sole job is to make the world a better place and kick ass. The taller boy wouldn't last three seconds. 

"Mr. Stark, with all due respect, I don't think that's happening-" He hurriedly said, being cut off by the sound of a door slamming open.

All of the eyes in the room snapped to the door in the corner. Standing there was a very frazzled-looking Percy.

He looked taken aback by the other members in the room but recovered rather quickly. 

"Can I uh- have some water?" He walked more into the room and silently shut the door behind him. "Preferably before I pass out."

______

After what felt like ten years, (though it most likely was 5 minutes) Percy had made it to the last few steps. He went up the stairs to avoid the elevator but at this point, he was more traumatized from the daunting steps that seemed to mock him with every move. The boy huffed his way to the top and all but collapsed into the door that was waiting for him. 

He practically fell through it, thankful to hopefully sit down.

Percy regained his composure and looked up. He was met with a gorgeous sunken living room that had a rather sterile color palette. To his right was a fancy kitchen, one that definitely cost more than Percy's entire life.

Sitting at the kitchen island were Captain America, The Black Widow, Iron Man, and The Winter Soldier.

Pause.

His eyes snapped back over to the island, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

For God's sake Peter, learn how to mention important details. Even a small warning would be nice. Like, 'Oh, hey Percy! Just so you know some of the most badass people on earth will be there while we're working!' could've worked but no, he just had to not say anything.

In all honesty, he had no idea what you were supposed to say to the Avengers, especially when they're looking at him like he killed their families. So he asked for water.

Steve Rogers gave Percy a seemingly genuine smile. "Of course, walking up all those stairs must've taken the wind out of you." The man got up from his seat, took a glass from the cupboard, and started filling up the cup at the fridge.

Peter, who he hadn't even noticed before, sensed the tension in the room and speed-walked over to Percy.

"Dude, you have to be tired." Astute observation. We have a detective over here.

He didn't say that though, no matter how much he wanted to. If Peter was this close with the Avengers to the point where he could hang out with them, then Percy didn't want to find out what would happen if he said anything remotely rude to him.

Instead, the boy settled for a nod as Peter led him to the kitchen island to sit down. He would've rather sat on the couch away from everyone but it would be a tad awkward if they were trying to talk to him from across the room.

Percy sat down across from Bucky, Natasha, and Tony, as Steve placed the cup of water in front of him. The man stood standing and half-leaned on the counter to the right of them. Peter confusedly furrowed his brows and sat down to the left of Percy.

"So- the weather's nice?" He offered, glancing at everyone in hopes someone would take the reins and start an actual conversation.

"It is, isn't it? Great time to go for a trip, I've heard Montauk is very lovely in autumn." Said the Black Widow. Her eyes pierced into Percy, expression seemingly calm and collected. 

So why did he get the feeling she was messing with him? Yes, Montauk is lovely in autumn, it's lovely all year long. None of them could've known about the time he and his mom spent there. Could they? He's been in the building for less than an hour, these people would have to be completely unhinged to dig up something as trivial as a "vacation" spot. Then again, they dress up in weird costumes and save the world, sort of like an unfun costume party. Plus, if they did a background check there's no way anyone would've let him leave the lobby. Or they let him up so they could beat the shit out of him themselves. 

The last one he was starting to doubt as the only person who seemed like they were going to jump him at the moment was Tony Stark. 

And out of everyone in the room, Percy's pretty sure he can take him on.

As he finally took a sip of his water, Peter cleared his throat. "Percy and I have a project to work on, so," he narrowed his eyes at Tony. "Please don't bother us?" 

"We won't. Don't want kids skipping out on schoolwork," Steve said, his eyes also flickering over to Tony. "Right?"

The man sighed. "Right, right. Just- holler if you need anything." He was talking to both him and Peter, but Percy had the feeling that his message was directed just to the other boy.

Peter smiled and nodded at him as he began walking away. Percy spared one last look at the other occupants of the room before following after him.

People may say he's oblivious, but after many years of running for his life, he knows when someone hates him. 

And Tony Stark definitely does.

_____

When Steve got a panicked call from Tony to come to the tower immediately, he assumed there was a dire situation that had the fate of the world at stake. Then Tony told him the real reason. He was admittedly scared at the mention of a potential Hydra soldier hanging out with Peter. Sure, the kid had literal superpowers but he was still a kid. If he got lured into the false sense of security that a stranger gave him, who knows what would've happened if he got caught off guard? Peter had grown on him in the last year or two that he knew him. Hell, the teenager had grown on all of them, even Bucky. That's another thing Steve was worried about. Was the Hydra member here to do something to Bucky? While his best friend was officially deprogrammed and out of Hyda's grasp, maybe they thought they'd be able to get him back. Maybe they  were  able to get him back. That thought particularly scared him.

All those concerns went out the window and got replaced with new ones when Steve saw who Tony was freaking out about. 

A teenager.

Someone who hadn't even graduated high school. 

His stomach dropped when he saw the boy. The scars marring his arms were a scary sight, the look in his eyes even worse. He had the look of someone who'd been through war, something he knew very well. If Hydra was using teenagers to do their dirty work, Steve was going to show up to their bases and blow them all up himself.

The boy, who he'd learned was named Perseus, then opted to take the stairs instead of the elevator. That was confusing in itself, but things got more confusing when he showed up on the top floor five minutes later. It would take a normal person up to an hour to get to their suite, and that's only if they don't somehow pass out. Sure, the kid looked like hell when he arrived, but after he had a sip of water, he acted as if nothing happened. 

The second that the boys left, Steve turned to Tony. "A teenager?" He said. "They're using teenagers?" This was crossing a serious line. Teenagers shouldn't ever be in the line of fire. The Avengers have dealt with a fair share of brainwashed soldiers but it's usually never kids.

"I don't know for sure, but-" Tony's eyes flickered to where Peter and Perseus were just 30 seconds prior. "-It's not looking good." Steve knew that the other man wasn't thrilled to be letting Peter near the kid, but it wouldn't do any good to ostracise Perseus for something that wasn't confirmed.

Bucky exhaled before speaking for the first time that afternoon. "Was his arm branded?" Everyone in the room was silent for a second before Tony said, "A brand? I thought it was a tattoo."

He didn't even notice the mark on his arm, he was trying (and failing) to not stare at his scars.

"It was," Nat said, "But I couldn't make out what it said, all I saw was a trident." She looked confused, almost like she didn't believe she missed such a detail.

"A trident? What do you think that means?" Murmured Steve. The thought of this poor kid getting branded wasn't making him feel any better about this. That was a scar that would never leave, no matter how hard you try to get rid of it.

Natasha stood up. "No clue, I'll look into it. For now, you three need to determine Perseus isn't a threat. Make sure nothing happens to Peter." She began to walk away, presumably to talk to Fury.

Fury. Was he hiding this from them? Did he know? The answer to both of those questions is most likely yes.

Steve looked back over to Bucky. He didn't know how well the other man was taking this, and from the look on his face, it wasn't well. 

He tore his eyes from Bucky and moved over to Tony. "Tony, what have you got on this kid? I want to know what exactly we're getting into here." 

He sighed and stood up. "I'll show you, c'mon Capsicle."

_____

Peter led Percy through all the twisting hallways and stopped by a lab he hoped was empty. Percy seemed very disoriented by all the turns they were making, but the brunette didn't think much of them considering the number of times he's been in the tower. Typically he'd use this lab to finish his work without anyone bothering him, but Mr. Stark barged in all the time. Not that he didn't enjoy his company, he just wanted some peace and quiet to be able to think. Having enhanced hearing makes it ten times easier to get overstimulated, something he learned the hard way. Although, Peter was usually the one talking the other's ear off.

Peter opened the door and gestured for Percy to go in. "We can work in here, but I can't make any promises that no one will bother us." He said, ignoring the way the other seemed to be semi-glaring at him.

The two of them walked in and as Peter began to shut to door, Percy began to speak. "Dude. My man. What the Hades was that?" The older boy looked like a disappointed parent. Not that Peter would know what that looks like. "I mean- the Avengers? Super cool, just not when I'm totally caught off guard. Save it for the meet and greets." Percy looked exasperated as he chose a random table to sit at, dropping his backpack onto the ground next to him.

The room had six tables in it, each having two stools on each side. Peter was glad that he remembered to wipe the whiteboard and put away all the equipment because that would've been an awkward conversation. Yesterday, he was working on enhancements for his suit, something he was relatively proud of.

Peter sat across from Percy and brought out his notebook that he had used earlier for their project. All he had written down were details about Percy's little sister and something about blue food. He wanted to press for the details about that, but if the other didn't bring it up, it was best not to pry.

Peter tilted his head as Percy brought out his phone instead of a notebook. "Are you going to write down stuff on there?" He asked. To him, writing physically on a piece of paper made it easier to focus, but to each their own.

Percy's head snapped up from his phone as he turned it around so Peter could see the screen. On it, he had the voice memo app open. "Nah. If uh- if I'm being honest with you, I just have dyslexia." The green-eyed boy said sheepishly. "I was planning on writing down everything later so it wouldn't take up a lot of time."

Huh. Smart.

Percy relaxed immensely as Peter nodded, he hadn't even noticed that the other boy was tense.

"So, do you want to go first?" Peter asked because, in all honesty, he had no clue what he wanted to talk about. There was no way he was telling Percy about any Spider-Man-related things for obvious reasons. He was going to end up telling the black-haired boy about Aunt May, but he wanted to save it. Talking about dead parents on the first day of knowing each other might be moving a bit fast.

"Sure." 

That was all Percy said before launching into a rant about his girlfriend who "saved his life more times than he could count" and was "probably the smartest person on earth".

Maybe the two of them had more in common than Peter had originally thought.