Innocent eyes

QUEENS, NEW YORK

School had been uneventful. The Spanish test that Peter had been studying and dreading for days had finally ended, and well, all those sleepless night was worth it since he got an A for that. He and Ned had also successfully reported their piece for their history class and to add a cherry on top, he also finally got a chance to show off in front of Liz when he aced all of her questions in Decathlon--so that was totally a plus.

And now, luck is probably on his side because he just found an intact DVD player just hanging outside the dumpster of their apartment.

Everything was a win for today.

"Hey May," he greets as he opens their apartment door. He quickly walks towards the table like muscle memory and placed all his things haphazardly on it.

"How was school today?" May asks.

"It was okay," he answers back, "This crazy car parked outside--" he wanted to marvel since it wasn't everyday that he gets to see an Audi parked in front of their home but he stops dead on his tracks as he meets that familiar striking green eyes.

Peter stares at the spy's face then to his smiling aunt.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Parker," the spy smiles.

"Um, I--" Peter doesn't know what to feel as he slowly walks closer to the spy and breaks out a nervous chuckle, "Um, what--what are you doing..." he trails then finally smiles, "Hey. Uh, I'm--I'm Peter..." he stops as he offers his hand for a shake but brings it back close to his chest and finished, "Parker,"

Peter can't think. Many different scenarios was playing at the back of his mind, racking his brain as to why freaking Black Widow is here, in front of him, in his and May's apartment because the only thing that comes to mind is Spider-man. He had saved her that one night, is she going to thank me? he asks himself. However, after the musing, Peter pales, How did she know where I live?

Peter almost shakes his head at that thought, No, that's impossible. She can't possibly know that I am Spider-man, right?

"Natasha Romanoff," she smiles.

"What are you--what are you doing here?" he asks, his heart beating against his chest--excitement or dread, the teen doesn't know.

"It's about time I visit you," the spy mutters, a smile still plastered on her face, "The papers had been delayed but the important thing is I'm here." she says, "You've been getting our e-mails, right?" she asks.

E-mails? Peter doesn't understand anything that was happening before him, but one look at the agent's face and he already knew to say yes even though he hadn't read anything about... something.

So this isn't about Spider-man? he asks himself. He doesn't even know what this was about.

Peter looks at May's proud face so all he said was a timid, "Yeah, yeah," he mumbles, "Regarding the..."

"You didn't even tell me about the grant." May says, her face suddenly serious like he betrayed her.

"About the grant," he nods, unsure.

"The September Foundation," Natasha clears, "Remember when you applied?" she asks, her face neutral.

"Yeah," Peter says, absolutely stunned because he surely didn't apply to any foundation. Peter had been too busy with Spider-Man and the fact that his school had been giving too much works for the past few months especially with the clubs he'd been attending... so, no... it was literally impossible for him to even think about applying for some grant.

"In behalf of the September Foundation, and well, Tony." she says, "I am here to relay that we had approved your application."

May sighs as she stares at her nephew, still hurt that Peter didn't tell her anything, "But you didn't tell me anything. What's up with that?" she asks, "You keeping secrets from me now?"

"I just... I just know how much you love surprises so I thought I would let you know..." the teen trails as he tries to be more convincing in front of his aunt's eagle eyes. "Anyway," he mumbles as he looks back at Natasha, "What did I apply for?" he asks.

"That's why I'm here to lay it all out."

Peter's brows scrunch at that, "Okay, okay, lay it all out."

"Can we, can we get some privacy at the moment?" Natasha asks, offering Peter's aunt a small smile, "Then after that we can talk about the paperwork. Especially that you're a minor, I'll be needing some formal documents and a signature from you, Ms. Parker."

May nods immediately as she smiles proudly, "Sure, sure. You guys can..." the woman looks around, finding a place where the two could talk but since their apartment was small, all was left was Peter's bedroom, "Peter, why don't you show Ms. Romanoff here, your uhm, techs. I'm sure she'll want to see that."

"Oh yeah, um, thank you May."

"I'll be right here, just holler." the woman smiles.

As soon as Natasha came inside the room, she locks the door and looks around the kid's bedroom and all she could tell was... the kid's bedroom was a mess.

"You know, you could do some cleaning over here," the spy says, as she lands her finger on top of the table and notices the dust accumulating on it.

"Look, um, I definitely did not apply for that grant." Peter says nervously.

Natasha smiles as she nods, "Getting straight to the point are we?" she asks, "Okay, but before any of that, I just want say that this will be the funniest thing ever cause here's the time where you actually save me."

That earned a frown from the teenager as he shakes his head, unsure, "What do you mean?" he asks.

"I told you, you didn't save me that night." she says, "But now, is probably a good time to claim that, don't you think so, Spider-man?"

The kid wanted to get to the point so Natasha was bringing the conversation straight there. There was no need for sugar coating and beating round the bush. The spy's time was limited--she needed to get things done.

Peter's face drains out of color as he slowly backs away from the spy, "What do you mean?" he asks, his heart hammering hard inside his chest, "I don't know what... I don't know what you're saying."

"Come on, Spider-man. It's not all the time I ask someone for a favor, but when I do--that means I really do need it."

"I'm not Spider-man," Peter says, his voice wavering.

He feels like he's melting on the spot because how can you literally lie in front of a trained spy and assassin. Truth was, he can't. Lying will be a futile attempt but that was all he could afford as of the moment.

Natasha narrows her eyes at that as she looks at the vent just above her head, "Do I need to open that vent right there to see the red and blue spandex or, you know, we can make this easier if you just tell me the truth."

"What truth?" Peter asks, sweating nervously now.

Natasha rolls her eyes at that as she throws one of Peter's things towards the vent and well, lo and behold, the red and blue bounces like a pinata.

"What do we have here?" Natasha smiles while Peter scrambles to hide his costume away.

"Uh... that's uh..."

"So, what do you say Peter?" she asks, straightforward.

Peter huffs in frustration, knowing damn well that the cat's out of the bag now. So he turns towards the woman, and says exasperatedly, "Look, I don't know why you're here or what your deal is but I can literally remember you telling me not to save the world." he retorted.

"Oh yes, I did." Natasha nods.

"Then what is this?" he asks, motioning his hands everywhere but really, nowhere.

"I'm not asking you to save the world, Peter." she says, "I'm asking you to save me--before Ross cuts all our heads off."

"I can't believe this," Peter sighs tiredly, "I was actually having a really good day today, Ms. Romanoff. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there... and Spanish test, nailed it." the kid says as he fidgets with the screw driver that he randomly found on top of his bed.

Natasha sighs at that and crossed her arms, "Who else knows? Anybody?"

"Nobody," the kid answers back.

"That's a bummer... with how badly you lie and cover your identity, I expected for somebody to know at the very least..." Nat mumbles as she tilts her head, trying to catch the kid's eyes, "Not even your wonderful aunt?"

Peter's alarm bells ring, "No," he says, like it was the only answer, "No, no." he added firmly, "No. If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out."

"Okay, well, enough of the freak outs." Natasha says calmly as she finally stands up and sits across Peter, sitting on the other chair so she can see the kid better. "I know why you do this... looking out for the smaller guys, and all that. And I still stand by what I said that night--the world is not yours to save."

"I know that... but I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months. I read books, I build computers. And yeah, I would love to play football but I couldn't then so I shouldn't now. And when... when you can do the things that I can, but you don't and then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."

Natasha nods at that, "Well you're better than me then," she says, smiling.

"I'm not."

"Well you are. I told you that night not to save the world but every night, I see a glimpse of what you do. You help kids, those dogs... you help women... the little guys." she shrugs, "Well now, I'm asking for just a smaller favor, it's just to save me. It just so happens that we're understaffed." Natasha then crosses her arms as she nods towards the kid, "You got a passport?"

Peter chuckles at that as he shakes his head, "No, I don't even have a driver's license."

Natasha smiles, "Ever been to Germany?"

Peter frowns at that, "No," he answers, unsure.

"Oh you'll love it."

"I can't go to Germany." the kid answers back, shocked at how this conversation was going.

Natasha raises her brow at that, "Why?" she asks.

Peter looks at her, dumbfounded, "I've got homework." he answers like it's the most obvious thing.

At that, the spy rolls her eyes, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." she says.

"I'm serious." Peter says as he stands up to follow the spy's lead as Natasha starts to walk to the door, "I can't just drop out of school."

"That's not what I'm asking you to do." she says, "I'll just tell your aunt that we're going on a fieldtrip, I'm sure she'll say yes." the woman mumbles as she turns to open the door but before she could even twist the knob, a web engulfed her hand.

"Don't tell aunt May."

Natasha turns towards Peter and smiles, "We have a deal Spider-man," she says, getting the knife from her pocket and sliced the web off of her hand.

--

SAXONY, GERMANY

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Tony says as he turns towards Rhodey, "Don't you think that's weird?" he asks as his helmet retracts.

"Definitely weird," Rhodey answers back.

Steve sighs at that, not really wanting to have a confrontation with his teammates, "Hear me out Tony," he says, "The doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

Before Steve could continue, T'Challa lands just a few feet away from them.

"Captain," the Black Panther greets.

"Your Highness," Steve greets back.

Tony almost rolls his eyes at that--his new recruit was definitely not sticking to the plan. He was not supposed to come out so early but well, that's passed and he doesn't have anymore time to waste, "Anyway," the man says, "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in... that was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

Tony wishes that it was that easy but he knows it's not. Steve has some ideas that he's strongly standing firm on and he knows that he won't be able to shake that. But at the back of his mind, he wishes that Steve would just listen... just this once.

"You're after the wrong guy."

Tony sighs at that, too mush for asking, he pondered. The man was too tired with all of Cap's bullshits, "Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

"Steve," Natasha calls, making the captain turn back, seeing Natasha in her fight gear, "You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?"

They don't understand, Steve thought. This was the last thing that Steve wants to do but he needs to do this because he knows that this is the right thing. He'll regret fighting his teammates but he'll regret it more if those super soldiers fall under the wrong hands.

Steve just stares at Natasha, wanting her to see what's at stake and when the woman just stares at him with those eyes, he turns away, not wanting to see his friend's disappointed face.

"Steve," Natasha calls again, pleads.

Before Steve could even turn back towards Natasha, a web comes out of nowhere, his shield flying out of his hands, which is now entangled in a webbed mess.

"Hey everyone," Peter politely greets, landing, "Did I do that too early?" the kid asks, turning towards Natasha, "Was that my cue, Ms. Romanoff?"

Natasha just smiles at that as she nods, "You did great, kid."

"Well, I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just the new suit." he mumbles, flexing his arms a bit to see the new suit that he was donning, "But this is great, really. Uhm," the kid mumbles yet again as he stares at the red and gold, looking a bit shy, "It's our first time seeing, Mr. Stark, sir, but thank you for the suit. I heard from Ms. Romanoff that you took my enhancements into consideration."

Tony doesn't know what to feel. After seeing the face behind the mask, the man couldn't shake off the possibility of the kid being his kid. But he knows of course, he knows that it was impossible and that Peter just have too much similarity with his Peter. That's why after that incident at the lab, he decided to distance himself and close all projects that was connected with Spider-man--the reason why he sent the kid the suit... to finally get the things off his hands. And now, here's the kid, wearing the same suit that he had given him.

This was a battlefield and a literal child is not supposed to be in the middle of it, much less fight. He turns towards Natasha, whose expression he couldn't read which was the opposite of his current face, he's sure. Because Tony was livid, he was in disbelief. Was this the 'idea' that Natasha was talking about? Because this can't be it. Peter Parker, 14 years old, should not be in here. He should be back in Queens, helping cats off the trees or helping old people cross the road.

"What is he doing here, Nat?" Rhodey asks the very important question.

Natasha shrugs, "He's the new recruit."

Rhodey was surely going to have a talk with Natasha. Not only was Peter a kid, but this kid is not supposed to be in the same room as Tony Stark, or maybe, even him. Because he can't do it. He had seen Peter's pictures, saw the uncanny resemblance with his late nephew. And he had been troubled ever since he saw Peter's files and picture, just imagine what more was his best friend feeling--his best friend who thought that this kid is his kid.

They weren't supposed to meet, not ever. Because this could only go two ways--it's either going to help Tony cope which he still is doing even after years of mourning for his child; or, Tony will self-destruct, being reminded of what could've been.

"Hello everyone, uhm," the kid chuckles, feeling a bit overwhelmed and excited at the same time, "Hi Cap, uhm, uh, big fan. I'm S-Spiderman." he almost squeaks. "Mr. Stark sir, uhm, hello too. Thank you for the suit well--I've already thanked you but--"

"We'll talk about it later." Tony quickly says, shutting the kid up--he doesn't have the strength to look at him, much less talk to him. He doesn't even know how he got the strength to even speak because holy shit, that kid is here. "We'll also talk later, Romanoff." the man says, his voice turning cold as he turns towards the woman.

Rhodey was nervous about all this situation--not only with Cap but also with Peter. He had seen Tony's face and he knows that this isn't going to end well. Rhodey closes his helmet, following Tony's lead, "What the hell is the kid doing here, Tony? This is dangerous." he says in their private comm.

Tony rolls his eyes at that, keeping the panic at bay, "You should probably ask the Russian spy right there."

"And the suit?" the man asks.

"I told you, I sent it last time in the hopes that the kid would use it in New York, fighting crimes--not here in bloody Germany."

"Well, the suit's here and not in boring old New York, Tony."

Tony sighs, "You need to talk to Roman--"

"You've been busy." Cap says, interrupting the two's conversation.

Tony turns towards his friend, or probably ex-friend and retracts his helmet once again. "And you've been a complete idiot." he says, all the happenings today finally catching up on his nerves. "Dragging in Clint, 'rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave... a safe place. I'm trying to keep--" Tony sighs, exasperated, "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Steve looks at him, firmly planted on his ground, "You did that when you signed."

"Alright, we're done." Tony says with finality, "You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us, now... because it's us or a squad of j-soc guys with no compunction about being impolite." Tony breathes, keeping his heart at bay, "Come on." he pleads.

But no amount of pleading made the Captain turn over. 

--

The past few days had been a nightmare and Tony feels like he's going to suffocate just thinking about everything.

"How did this happen?" Tony asks, rounding Vision up.

Vision looks at him with the face of defeat, "I became distracted." he answers back. It probably wasn't the answer that Tony wanted but it was the truth.

"I didn't think that was possible." it doesn't makes sense--Vision is... Vision is a robot, he was supposed to be perfect.

Vision sighs as he looks down, "Neither did I."

Many shitty things had happened the past few days but this one tops that. There are only a few people that Tony considers as important and one of them is lying in front of him, getting his CT scan done. He failed... he truly did. First, Pepper and now, Rhodey.

"The doctors say he shattered L4 through S1. Extreme laceration to the spinal cord, probably looking at some form of paralysis." he says. Natasha nods at that, seemingly distracted. "And the kid?" Tony asks.

Tony would be lying if he says that he only cares about Rhodey right now, because the truth is, he had been waiting for some kind of update regarding the kid. Peter--could I call him any other name? he asks himself--was in a rough shape after Lang had unintentionally hurl him through the airport. And he had fought tooth and nail not to come running towards the kid. Good thing Natasha instructed Peter to tap out and go back to the hotel, one less thing to worry about.

Natasha sighs, "He's at the hotel. I sent a friend from SHIELD to take care of his injuries." she answers back as she looks away, "He was fussing about his identity so he refused to be taken to the hospital."

"He got some serious injuries?" Tony asks, his heart beating fast just as it had been when Rhodey was flying dead stick.

"No," the woman answers back, "The kid's tough. He just has some bruised ribs and a little black eye. We already gave him a pain killer so he's sleeping it off."

Tony nods at that, finally able to breathe easier. However, after the worry, came the anger, "What were you thinking, Nat?" he asks, his voice raising a little bit higher. "How could you bring a literal child in a battle field?"

"He's enhanced."

"He's a child!"

"Steve's not gonna stop and we we're understaffed." she reasoned out, "I had to do what I did."

"Romanoff--"

"If you don't either, Rhodey's gonna be the best case scenario."

"You let them go, Nat." Tony says, looking away. He can't look at the face of betrayal, it hurts, he must admit. First Steve, now Nat... Tony thinks that he can't do this anymore.

"We played this wrong."

Tony scoffs at that, "We?" he asks, "Boy, it must be hard to shake the whole double agent thing, huh? It sticks in the DNA." he wished he didn't say that but he already did and he can't take that back.

Natasha was hurt, she truly was, "Are you incapable of letting go of your ego for one goddamn second?" she asks, not believing what she was hearing.

She knows that what she did was wrong but she wonders if it really was. She knows Steve... he always does things for the good and she wishes that this was the same thing too.

Tony looks at Natasha and nods, "T'Challa told Ross what you did, so... they're coming for you."

"I'm not the one that needs to watch their back."

--

a Film by Peter Parker

"New York, Queens. It's a rough borough, but hey, it's home." Peter's says, his voice deeper than his original speaking voice.

Natasha smiles a little at the kid's voice as she looks at him from the rearview mirror, "Who are you talking to?" she asks.

"No one." he answers back immediately, still a little bit intimidated by the spy in front of him, "Just making a little video of the trip."

 "You know you can't show that to anyone." she says as she focuses back on the road.

"Yeah, I know." the kid shrugs, his voice carefree.

"Then why are you narrating in that voice?" Natasha asks, almost teasing.

Peter shrugs at that, "Hmm, 'cause it's fun." 

Natasha nods at that, "Fun." she repeats.

"Ms. Romanoff has not actually told me why I'm in Berlin or what I'm doing... something about Captain America going crazy."

"This is your room." Natasha says as she guides the teen towards the door while she walks towards the other door.

"Oh, we're neighbors?" the teen asks excitedly.

"Yup, rest for a bit, kid. You'll need it."

"Okay, Peter you got this." the kid says, camera in his hands and his new Spider-man suit in full display in the mirror.

Natasha comes inside the room, a suitcase in her hands, "What are you wearing?" she asks, surprised.

The kid was not wearing the lousy excuse of a suit but he was rather wearing a fully furbished suit and it screams, Tony Stark.

"Oh, I got this in the mail the other day." Peter says. "It's from the September Foundation. It's from Mr. Stark, so it must be from the foundation, right?" he asks, "It's so awesome and it fits me like a glove! He says that it's a minor upgrade but this is major! A major upgrade, Ms. Romanoff!" he exclaims, "It's awesome, right?"

Natasha furrows her brows, "Right," she says unsure as she puts down the suitcase that held Peter's supposed to be new suit. Stark's was better, she told herself, but a question pops in her mind, is Peter Tony's new recruit? "It suits you." It wasn't a lie but Natasha still wonders how Tony knew about the kid, "Now, get ready. We'll be leaving in a minute."

 

"Okay, there's Captain America, Iron Man... War Machine, Black Widow..." the kid trails, "Whoa, who's that new guy?" he mused. "Wait, what was my cue again?" he ponders to himself.

"Steve," he hears Natasha says.

"Was that it?" he asks again, "Should I go?" 

Without thinking, the kid puts the phone down and webs himself up and landing with the shield on his arms, "Hey everyone." he greets.

"The craziest thing just happened, right." Peter pants, "I just had a fight with Captain America. I stole his shield. I threw it at him and I--"

Scott grows just behind Peter, prompting the kid into action, "What the hell? He's big now. I gotta go. Hang on."

Peter webs himself up.

"AHHH!"

"It was the most amazing thing!" Peter narrates excitedly, "So what I did was I flipped in and stole Cap's shield. I was like, "What's up everybody?" And--" Peter stops midway as he hears someone knocking on the door, "Hey, just a second! Coming!" he mutters, putting his phone on the night stand and flipping his way across the room. "Hey," Peter greets as she sees Natasha and another woman come inside his room.

"Stop flipping around," the spy tuts, "You're injured so act like it, kid." she mutters.

"I am but it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Yeah?" Natasha asks, looking at the kid with skeptic eyes, "This is Sofiya Kozlova, she's a friend and also a SHIELD paramedic here in Germany. She'll be the judge of that."

"But I told you, I'm fine!" Peter whines, "Also, she can't know who I am!" he added as he puts both of his hands in front of his face in a lame attempt to cover his identity.

Sofiya chuckles at that, "Your secret is safe with me, Mr. Parker. Not even SHIELD knows about this." she says, her voice thick with accent, "I'm just helping a friend out."

Peter pans the camera towards the driver's seat and it shows Happy Hogan, the head of security of Stark Industries.

"Uhm," Peter says unsure, "Where's Ms. Romanoff?" he asks, "Not that I don't want you here with me but... just wondering--"

"Nat's on the run, kid." the man answers back, "Ross is on her trail as of the moment and well, she had asked me to look after you and bring you back home." 

"Oh," he mumbles, slowly bringing the phone down, "Is this because of the thing with Captain America?"

Happy just nods, "Yeah, I don't think we'll see much of Nat these days." he says, "But don't worry, I'll make sure you come back home safe and sound, or else, I might see Natasha sooner or later and then, you won't ever see me."

"Uhm, what do you mean?" Peter asks, unsure.

"She'll have my head if I don't deliver you back to Queens in one piece."

"Oh," Peter mouths as he sighs. "So, I guess I'm coming back home, to Queens." the kid continues to narrate, his camera phone picked up yet again, showing the beautiful city of Leipzig. "I'll be missing Germany," Peter continues, his voice still a little bit lower than usual--continuing his narrating voice.

"Who you talking to?" Happy asks.

Peter furrows his brows, "Why do you guys ask me that question?" the kid asks, 
"Ms. Romanoff asked me that too while we were on the way to the airport."

Happy rolls his eyes at that, secretly cursing Natasha for blackmailing him into getting this kid home--a kid he doesn't even know, "Well, because it's a valid question." the man says, "Who you talking to? Your friend?"

"No one," Peter answers back in his normal voice, "Just making a little video of the trip. Ms. Romanoff's on it too."

"You know you can't show it to anyone."

"Oh yeah, I know." Peter nods, "Ms. Romanoff told me that too."

In his grumpy voice, Happy says, "Then why are you narrating in that voice?"

Peter shrugs, "This is my voice and besides, it's fun," the kid says, his voice going back to that deep one.

"Fun," Happy mimics, putting his glasses back on.

"So, uh, why do they call you Happy?"

That's it. Happy was making a mental note that he'll surely curse Romanoff for putting him through this. He wasn't a babysitter, he's the head of security for crying out loud. Happy quickly pushes the button to put up the divider, for the kid's sake and for his own mental health.

 

It's Tony fucking Stark. Somebody pinch me right now. 

Peter couldn't believe who he was seeing. Tony Stark was just outside, having a, well, heated argument with Happy Hogan. He knows that he shouldn't be freaking out since he had already met the man and how could he not expect this? Happy Hogan, Tony's personal security is literally driving him back home--he should've expected this.

"What the fuck is the kid doing here?" Tony asks, his voice tight, making sure that the said kid wasn't hearing his voice.

Well, not thanks to Peter's enhanced hearing, no matter how small Tony's voice is, he could still hear it loud and clear.

"You know him?" Happy asked, surprised.

Tony breathes exasperatedly, "Of course I know him, Happy. The kid was with me at the airport, well, not with me," the man says, emphasizing the word 'with', because they were not, "But the kid's with Romanoff, right? Why's he here?"

"Well, look." Happy says, "Nat's on the run and she asked me a favor to get the kid back home since she couldn't. She says that the kid's got some emergency back home, something along the lines of homework and deadlines."

"Homework?"

"Yeah," Happy nods, "Look, Tones, I'm sorry about the short notice but I couldn't just leave him here. He's a kid as far as I know."

"Fourteen," Tony says in gritted teeth.

"He is?" Happy asks, surprised, "But anyway," he added, getting his focus back on the topic, "Nat's gone and he's alone. Natasha's going to have my head if the kid fails that homework."

Tony rolls his eyes at that, "She took the kid from school and now she's worried he'll fail, gosh."

"Besides, maybe you could teach him a thing or two." Happy proposed, "I heard his homework's about Science."

"I'm not a teacher, Happy."

"And I'm not a babysitter."