forty-nine.
Bucky was a soldier. He was trained and prepared to handle any number of situations. Young Peter Parker approaching him and asking for a weapon, however, was a situation he wasn't the most prepared for. He promised not to ask any questions, as long as Peter could say with certainty that nobody was going to die.
Peter outright promised that nobody was going to die, and Bucky reluctantly asked what kind of weapon he was looking for. Peter said he'd take whatever was concealable and would do a lot of damage. Bucky offered him a selection of blades and smaller handguns. Peter said he'd take a knife, as he didn't quite trust himself with guns just yet.
Bucky had been teaching him weapons, as had Nat. Steve taught him more hand-to-hand, as you can never be too over-prepared in this line of work. Bucky thought he was pretty good with guns, but if Peter wasn't ready, then he wasn't ready, and that was okay.
Bucky watched as Peter looked over the array of blades. The young boy took two switchblades that varied widely in size and another thicker knife. He hid them on his person as Bucky put the rest of the blades away before turning to face the boy.
"Is this supposed to be one of those things I pretend I know nothing about?" He asked as Peter put his jacket back on. The boy said yes and he sighed. "Peter, if anything happens to you..."
Peter looked up at his closest father figure. "I'll leave the tracker on my watch on. So if I'm not back in an hour, you can come get me."
Bucky rose a brow. "You really have thought of everything, haven't you, мальчик?"
Peter smiled to himself as he walked towards the door. He turns to the older man as he grabs the handle and repeats the one phrase he'd asked Nat to teach him. "You know what they say: Яблоко от яблони."
With that he walked out the door, leaving Bucky halfway to tears. Peter was two floors down by the time Bucky got to the door. He had to watch the boy leave, at least to have a vague idea of where the boy would be going. Who knew what he'd do if he never came back again.
Bucky walked back into the house and quickly opened Natalia's laptop. He double-tapped a button that brought up Friday. She greeted him and he returned it before asking that she bring up the signal from Peter's watch.
She asked if everything was okay, and he said yes, they were, for now. He pulled up a chair as she brought up the signal and he sat at the table and watched that little dot travel across the map... All the while, praying that his little boy would make it home safely.
Peter stepped off of the train and onto the platform. He still had a little ways to go before he made the rendezvous point, but he was close. Just another five minutes of walking time was all it would take before he was face to face with the asshole that kidnapped his aunt.
He made what felt like a neverending trip to the point they were meant to meet. He saw Wade standing there, looking excited to see him. Peter reached into his coat as he approached the merc, who was still beaming. Peter approached quicker, easily pretending to be happy... And yanked the knife from inside his jacket, quickly plunging it into Wade's chest. There was a spurt of blood and a sickening crack of Wade's sternum as Peter shoved the blade as hard as he could into the merc's body.
The confusion on Wade's face was instant, and so was Peter's, as he felt something in his own abdomen. He looked down and saw a syringe in Wade's hand... The needle was pressed all the way into him, and whatever fluid had been inside, was now in his body.
He felt arms wrapping around his body and he tried to fight them. There were too many. He pulled a second knife from his person and jabbed it into one of the arms. He heard a yell as the arm retracted, and he continued to fight to get away. He swung and elbowed at the people behind him and kicked his legs out to change the balance.
What had Wade done? How could he be behind this? How could he do this?
He struggled as more arms wrap around him, and he felt a sting in his neck. A familiar voice said, "Don't you worry now, everything will be just fine..."
He began to feel drowsy but kept fighting despite that. He couldn't let himself be taken, not now. He promised Bucky that he'd be home!
Everything started to go dark, but he fought to keep his eyes open. He saw Wade be lifted to his feet by men in black suits. Wade pulled the blade slowly from his chest.
And then everything finally went black.