seventy-four.
Peter didn't quite know what to do right now. He had a cellphone in one hand and a syringe in the other. He had a date with Wade tomorrow and his parents were upstairs probably wondering why he hadn't greeted them yet.
He needed to act as natural as possible. Peter always prided himself on his acting as he rarely ever got caught, but these guys were the best of them all and they would be the ultimate test of his acting skills. They'd been fooled before, but this was all new territory to Peter.
He pulled the photo of him and May from the wall, eyes squeezed shut as he did so. This would be the first time he'd opened the little hole in the wall since he'd been home. He wasn't sure what was inside anymore.
It looked almost like a shrine or a shitty memory box... Maybe it was meant to be a memory box. Maybe old Peter had a feeling that he wouldn't come home. He quickly stuffed the phone and syringe inside and closed it up tight, replacing the picture before going upstairs to visit his 'family'.
He knocked a little, but the door opened before he was even finished and Wanda was there with a smile, Vision on her arm. They'd just returned from their date and they looked as happy as can be. Sometimes he wonders how they make it work, but he knows that's their business, and no matter how close he and Wanda are, he's not about to pry into her love life.
He walked around them and into the kitchen, stealing an apple from the bowl on the counter. He bit into the apple and leaned on the counter in front of him and smiled up at Steve when he passed through the room. "Hey Pops, how was work?"
Steve chuckles a little, "It was alright. How was hanging out with Tony?"
Peter nods as he takes another bite of the fruit. "Yeah, it was good. We had Pepper with us. We went shopping."
Steve raises a brow and smiles a little. "Yea? You get something to wear out tomorrow?"
Peter nods again before Steve pauses. "Buck said he wanted to talk to you when you got home, but he's not exactly in the best mood, so I'd be careful if I were you."
His brows knit together in confusion but he thanks Steve and makes his way back to the bedroom, knocking gently before entering. In the chair by the window sits Bucky with Natasha on his lap. They're murmuring quietly in Russian and Peter can't quite make out what they're saying, even with the little bit of Russian that he does know. He contemplates reaching up and turning his hearing-aid up but by the time the thought crosses his mind they've stopped talking and turned to him.
"Peter. We need to tell you something. You might want to sit down."
He stays silent and sits on the corner of their bed, facing them with a face of stone. He wonders what they know. He knows they're the two best spies on the planet, but for now, he'd be the innocent child they thought he was.
Bucky clears his throat and sighs a little. "We know where the doctor is."
Those six words were all it took in order to shift the whole room around them. The air thickened and Peter's breath stilled. They'd found him. Finally, after all of this time.
"Where?"
"He's moving fast. He has been for months, but he has a pattern. He'll be in Italy next week."
Peter nodded and wiped his palms on his jeans. "I'm going with you... I'm going to make that motherfucker pay for what he did to me."
Nat says that torturing the man won't bring May back, and he tells her that he knows that. "I'm not going to torture him. I'm going to kill him."
Nat looks a bit shocked for a moment and then repeats that violence won't bring May back, and once again he agrees because he knows that.
"No, it won't bring her back. But I'll be damned if it doesn't make me feel better."
Exactly one week later in Montepulciano, Italy, on the steps of San Biagio, they waited. The "Doctor" was meant to be inside in exactly 12 minutes and 13 seconds. So they waited. "They" consisted of Peter, Bucky, and Wade, for emotional support. They were sporting civvies and hidden weapons.
Peter was fully aware of the fact that his face would give them away the quickest and he did his best to keep it hidden, not that he really looked all that much like himself right now anyways. His jeans were snug around his thighs and his hair was curled against his shoulders and his face was contoured well enough that unless you knew Peter Parker was under the makeup, you'd have no clue that he wasn't a woman.
Peter knew that Bucky was watching for the man, which was good because Bucky had a better eagle eye than he did, and he also had a longer attention span than Wade did. Wade at the moment, was being quiet for once, or at least Peter thinks he is... Maybe his hearing-aid isn't turned up all of the way?
He glances up to Wade who is indeed being very quiet, just people-watching. Peter leans into his side and watches a smile break out on his face. Wade turns and he feels the older man kiss his head and he sighs softly in near content before he suddenly remembers why they're there and what he's about to do.
He was about to kill the bastard that made him an orphan. He was going to kill the man that forced his hands and killed the last of his own blood family. He was going to kill him, and he wasn't going to be sorry. Not for anything, not to anyone. He wouldn't even entertain the idea of being any kind of remorseful. Not for Steve, or Nat, not even for fucking God.
Unless there was some real divine intervention, there was no way in hell that this wasn't all part of God's brilliant plan. Right now Peter didn't give a shit what the man upstairs wanted, and he wouldn't ask to be forgiven for this, because this was not a sin. Wiping this human shit-stain off of the Earth was his civic duty and he would not pretend to be sorry. He was about to do God a favor in sending that bastard down to Hell early. God could thank him later.
The moment he spotted the "doctor" he felt the anger and power surge through his veins all at once. He knew his chance was coming in just a few short minutes and he was ready. He was ready to put an end to the man who brought him all of this suffering. He was going to get payback for his suffering. He'd avenge Aunt May.
He'd make his bloodline proud.