Shopping and Sleepovers
Wanda was never particularly fond of crowds. They’d made her feel uncomfortable for as long as she could remember, although she never quite figured out why. One of the benefits of her Avenger status was that she rarely found herself in crowded areas (the only exceptions to this were combat situations, but she was more than willing to make that exception). For that reason, among many others, she’d never been in a Walmart before now. Or, at least, she couldn’t recall entering one in the past. She did what she always did in unfamiliar situations: follow another’s lead while feigning confidence. In this case, that person was Clint.
“Okay, Pepper didn’t say how long people are gonna stay at the lakehouse, but she’s also paying. I say we go big,” he said. “She also didn’t give me a list, so-”
“Don’t let your imagination go too crazy. We need to be practical.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on.” He led her to the refrigerated section first. They walked around the store for about thirty minutes picking out food. Clint’s job was to lead the way while Wanda took up the role of impulse control. She could almost convince herself this was just two friends hanging out with no outside influence until a stranger walked up to them. She recorded them with her phone.
“Are you Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch?” she asked.
Clint smiled and stepped forward, blocking Wanda from view. “Listen, I normally love meeting fans, but we’re kinda busy right now.” He tried to lightly push the phone down. “No cameras, please.”
The stranger took a step back, keeping the phone up. “Can I have a statement?”
His smile dropped. “What, are you a reporter or something? We don’t wanna deal with this right now, so please-”
“What’s your stance on the current Spider-Man controversy? Is he really just a teenager? Do you believe the Daily Bugle’s accusations?”
“No comment. We’re both just trying to get some shopping done. You’re not being very professional.”
“You’re not answering my questions.” Clint turned around and grabbed the cart, walking away. Wanda followed. “All not answering does is confirm some people’s suspicions that the Avengers have been covering up for him. I don’t think you want that.” Wanda stopped dead in her tracks.
“Wanda, don’t.”
She went back over to the women. “It doesn’t matter who Spider-Man is. He is innocent. The fact that everyone turned their back on him so quickly is horrible. That is my statement.”
“Are you sure I’m the unprofessional one?” the woman said before stopping the recording and walking the opposite direction.
“While that was satisfying,” Clint said as Wanda moved back to his side, “I don’t think that was the best move. It’s better to just ignore them,” he said.
“I don’t really care.” She looked at the cart. “We should have enough.”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Let’s head out before news spreads.” They started walking from the back of the store towards the cash registers. “So, you’re more protective than I expected.”
“Of Peter or just in general?”
“Both, but mostly Peter. I didn’t think you two were that close. What happened?”
She smiled. “Are you jealous?”
“I haven’t been jealous of a teenager since I was one. Just answer the question.”
“Who says I need to be close to him? I know he’s a nice boy that’s done a lot to help people, including us.”
“Last time I checked, he fought both of us in Germany.”
“I don’t hold grudges.” Clint gave her a sceptical look. “Or rather, I don’t hold grudges against kids that spend their free time finding lost puppies.”
“He also beat up Sam and Bucky, so that’s good.”
She laughed. “Yes. We owe him a favor just for that.”
Happy always hated it when Peter was quiet. Sure, the kid’s talkative nature could get annoying, but he prefered that to complete silence. It reminded the man too much of the way he acted after Tony’s death. Everyone saw Peter’s stoic behavior at the funeral, but only a select saw the weeks that followed, Happy being one of them. Peter just sat on his bed unresponsive. He ate and drank whatever was put directly in his hands, but did little else until he finally snapped out of it abruptly. As much as Happy liked to pretend to be heartless, he did have one and it broke every time he thought of those nights. He didn’t want to go back to that, nor did he want to go back to the lakehouse. One of those two things was unavoidable. The other was, hopefully, not.
Peter didn’t react as he parked the car in front of said lakehouse. “We’re here,” Happy said.
“I know,” Peter forced out, possibly just to let the man know his mind had yet to completely leave reality. Happy nodded and got out of the car.
Pepper was immediately right in front of him. “How was it?”
“We didn’t have any run-ins with law enforcement, but-”
“May!” Peter bolted out of the car to the woman standing in the doorway. May quickly pulled the boy into a hug.
“How did he take it?” Pepper asked.
“He’s said about ten words since I told him where we were going.” A guiltriden expression flashed across her face. “Still, I think this was our best option. I know this is hard for you and Morgan, too.”
May pulled Peter inside as Happy and Pepper followed close behind. Sam was quick to greet the newcomers. “Glad you both made it here alright.”
Bucky came jogging from the hallway. “Good, the kid and Happy here. Now all we’re missing are Clint and Wanda.”
Peter stared at both of them before giving May a questioning look. “What? Happy not tell you who was coming?” She asked, arm wrapped around his shoulders.
“In my defense, I had no idea Rhodey was here,” Happy said. Peter scanned the room until his eyes landed on Rhodey leaning against the back wall. The man gave a quick wave with a forced smile.
Peter looked back up at May. “Why?”
Bucky chuckled. “Kid, there is literal footage of you, as Spider-Man, helping a woman find her car in a parking lot. It’s gonna take more than one bullshit video to convince me you’d kill one person, let alone half a city.” Sam nodded.
“Oh… Thank you.”.
“Is Morgan still sleeping?” Pepper asked. Bucky nodded.
“Morgan’s here?” Peter asked.
“She’s sleeping in her room,” Sam said. Peter immediately took off in that direction. Pepper and May followed him.
He stopped in the doorway and stared at the young girl. “She shouldn’t have had to come back here,” he said.
May pulled him into a hug. “None of this should have happened, but it did so we’re gonna make it better. Okay?” He nodded. Pepper walked past them into the room. She sat on her daughter’s bed and pet her hair. “You can rest, too. They have a room for you.”
Peter’s eyes began to water. “Okay. That... That sounds good.” May smiled and led him away.
“So…” Charlie said as he drove MJ down a dirt road. “You live pretty out of the way.”
“Yeah. That’s why I didn’t want to make you take me.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I’m actually kinda happy about this. The press will have a harder time tracking you down, and the police are gonna need time to get a warrant and stuff… I think.” He stopped in front of her house. “Here you are. Do you need anything else? Want me to go up with you?”
She shook her head. “No, but thanks, though.” She got out and walked to the door. Charlie waited until she made it inside before taking off.
“What the hell have you been up to!?” Her mom screamed at her as soon as she entered. MJ ignored her and continued on to her room. “It’s bad enough that you started dating. Now it turns out you’re not only dating Spider-Man, a criminal, but you also defended him in public. You were on the news! Do you-” MJ slammed her bedroom door in her face and locked it. “You’re grounded until you’re eighteen, you hear me? No friends. No going out. Nothing. I’ve put you with your outlandish behavior for too long, you-”
She put on her headphones and turned up the volume to drown out her moms rambling. She closed her eyes. When she next opened them, it was dark out. I must have fallen asleep. She was about to check the news when she heard knocking. No way she’s still out there. She stood up to unlock her door and tell her mom to fuck off when she realized it wasn’t coming from there. It was coming from her window.
“MJ?” Someone said. “Let me in!”
“Ned?” She opened the window and helped pull him in. “What are you doing here?”
He took a second to catch his breath before responding. “I was trying to track Peter’s phone so I could help you, but his GPS was off, so I tried Happy. You know, that guy that helped us in London?” She nodded. “So, I tried his number I got from Peter a while ago, but I think he changed it. I tried hacking into Stark Industries stuff for a while before giving up and tracking you. Now I’m here. Do you know where Peter is? Is he here?”
“No. He’s with Happy and a few other people hiding. Do your parents know you’re here?”
“No, but I’m texting them every hour to let them know I’m not kidnapped.”
“Good enough for me.” She pulled a few blankets and a spare pillow out of her closet. “I can’t get into any more trouble, so you might as well stay here. I only left Peter cause Happy promised to call me when they decide on a game plan, so you can be here for that too.” She layed out the blankets on the ground.
“You don’t think Peter would be upset with us sleeping in the same room, would he?”
She threw the pillow at him. “I don’t think he’s normally the type to get jealous all the time.”
“I know. It’s just that I’ve never had a sleepover with a girl before.”
“Good for you. Now go to sleep.”
“Don’t care. You look tired.” She turned her light off. “I’ll wake you up if they call.” He fell asleep almost instantly as MJ finally checked back in on the news.