chapter 7
Tony was in shock, one minute Peter was fine, he’d even been grateful for Tony’s offer of buying him clothes, the next, well, Steve was being cared for by Bruce and Peter was gone.
Thankfully, Steve’s fast healing had stopped him from having to take a permanent nap in a wooden onesie, but what if he’d died? Why would Peter do this?
Nat explained what Peter looked like, the glazed over eyes, the lack of response, it was as if he didn’t even hear her yelling, the shock and horror and confusion on his face when he finally stopped. Steve had made the alarming comparison between that and when Bucky got flashbacks from his time in Hydra. Tony needed Peter and Bucky to meet, maybe Bucky could help the boy. Steve could get Bucky back to the compound, all Tony needed was to get Peter here. He couldn’t think of any ideas that weren’t a long shot, so he picked a random one and went with it. He had to get ready for a school trip.
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As Peter walked through the gates he self consciously patted his shoulders where his bag straps should be, he’d panicked back at Stark’s compound and hadn’t thought about what he was doing at all. He’d left his bag, which contained everything he owned, behind. All he’d managed to escape with was his ring as it was still in his pocket. As he sat in his form room, waiting for the teacher to arrive, Flash walked over and grabbed him by the hood and lifted him up out of his seat.
“You look like shit Penis.”
There wasn’t even any malice behind that statement, Flash just said it as a fact. Peter could easily of got away from him but he didn’t want to hurt anyone else. He might of killed Captain America but he wouldn’t add a school boy to his recent kills.
“Penis, are you as stupid as you look? I just asked you a question.”
That stupid nickname. That’s what you get when your initials are literally PP. Peter was never graced with the knowledge of what the question Flash had asked him was as their form tutor rushed in.
“Guys I have some very exciting news, The Avengers were so impressed with our school when they came to visit on Friday, that they’ve invited tenth grade to visit Stark’s towers today! Everyone get your stuff and onto the bus we go!”
Oh for- Peter was really not having a good couple of days. Did the school not find it strange how much attention The Avengers were giving a public school that wasn’t even known for anything. Peter didn’t even know why he got in the bus, he should of just made a run for it. The teachers wouldn’t be able to catch him. He knew Flash was mocking him the entire journey but he could barley hear the words. All he could think about was Steve. His bloody face, the lost eyes right before he’d passed out. If Peter had killed him, he didn’t even know what he’d do.
As the group traipsed in through the large, automatic doors, Peter tried to stay in the middle of the group while staring at the ground the entire time, as if that would stop Tony from seeing him. His resolution to not look up was immediately broken when he heard Steve welcoming them. His head snapped up immediately, his heart jumped as the weight on it was removed. He hadn’t killed Captain America, thank the gods. Peter accidentally met Steve’s eyes and looked away at the same time Steve gave him a small smile.
As he followed the group he realised they were heading towards the training room. Surely not. What kind of cruel joke was this. As the group filtered in, he somehow managed to be the one standing next to Steve.
“I’m so so so sorry.” Peter mumbled, pushing every ounce of genuinity he had into those words.
“It’s alright, we shouldn’t of forced you to fight me anyway,” Steve’s gentle voice comforted Peter, “we’ve got a friend of mine coming in to help you, that’s why we brought you here.”
Peter didn’t even have time to respond before Steve made his way to the front to talk to them all.
“Alright guys,” his voice commanded their upmost respect and their full attention,
“we’re going to teach you some sparring so pair off with eachother.” Steve paused for a minute, waiting for them to be quiet. Why would they make him do sparring, after what happened?
“And later a very special guest called Mr Bucky Barnes will come in to show you what these moves we’re teaching you can look like at high speed.”
The class gasped at Bucky Barnes’ name, but Peter had never heard of him. Hydra had never taught him who this person was, so how important could he be? The name ‘Barnes’ was painfully familiar to Peter, but he didn’t know why. He was dragged out of his thoughts by Flash’s hand on his shoulder,
“come one Penis, time to spar.” Flash had an insufferable smirk on his face as Peter followed him wordlessly fiddling with his ring.
Peter barely listened to what Steve was telling them, he’d learned all this in his first year of Hydra, his mind was on this ‘Barnes’ character. Even when Flash roughly shoved him to the ground and pinned him, he barely reacted. What he did react to was the sound of the door opening, to the sound of Steve excitedly telling them that Bucky was here. Something felt wrong. He knew what it was before he even looked up. ‘Barnes’. How could he be so stupid, that’s what the soldiers back at Hydra sometimes called Зима.
He looked up and locked eyes with The Winter Soldier and time froze as he wondered witch Winter Solider this was, his friend and protector or the man who broke half his ribs when he was a child. However, ‘Bucky,’ as Steve had called him only frowned slightly at him, as if he was trying to unearth a memory, after a couple seconds Bucky looked away and introduced himself to the group.