seventy-seven.
"Eddie, will you get these off of me?" Peter pleaded, watching as the blonde glanced behind him before walking over and undoing the leather straps. "Where are we?"
"A hospital in Italy. The straps were for the doctors. You guys swing like motherfuckers in your sleep."
Peter just nodded and massaged his wrists. Bucky finally spoke again. "Forget about that, where's my fucking arm?"
Eddie stared in his direction before muttering something-probably to Venom- before actually responding. "Vibranium is strong, but it can still only take so much. It was crushed, I know you felt it. Now, who do you trust?"
Bucky looked between the man, and Peter's now less bruised face. "What do you mean?"
"It's important, think of the people you love, can you trust them? If your life was on the line, would you trust them to save you?"
Bucky didn't hesitate to say yes, and no sooner than he did was a small flip phone tossed his way. A burner. He knew he was meant to call them, and he didn't hesitate to begin dialing Steve's number.
Across the room, Eddie knelt on Peter's bed and touched the boy's healing face. "Seems like it's working so far. How do you feel?"
Peter just shrugged. "I've had worse... But you knew that already, didn't you?"
Eddie shushed the boy and nodded towards Bucky. "What do you think won't heal?"
Peter did a mental assessment of his injuries. His leg didn't feel any different and he thinks his limp might last forever. He was still mostly deaf in one ear, especially since his hearing aid was missing entirely now. Mr. Stark might be mad that he lost a second one already. Even at just a short glance, he could tell that some of his smaller scars had faded entirely, leaving nice undamaged patches of skin in some places.
"Some of the worse scars, the ear... Maybe the ear, I'm not sure yet."
Eddie nods and tucks the boy's hair behind his ear before pausing, shaking his head, and getting up. Peter pays no mind before asking where Wade is. Eddie says he's gone out to get some food and Peter just nods again, yawning quietly.
Bucky tosses Eddie's phone back to him before turning to Peter. "Tired?"
The boy nods and shivers a little. Even Bucky admits it's a little cold. Bucky stands, taking his blanket over to the boy. "Here, cover up. I'm warm enough, but I can't risk you getting another cold."
Peter smiles gratefully and curls up a little, wincing at the pain coursing through his body. He could handle it, he always does. He learned from the best how to hide it, even if they thought no one else knew of their pain. Peter always knew, he just tried not to ask unless it was so painfully obvious it was like they were begging for help, for comfort. He wanted them to trust him enough to come to him first. That's how it should've been.
Bucky was still wary of Eddie. He watched the exhausted looking blonde as he hovered around the door, muttering quietly to himself and munching on a piece of candy that seemingly came from nowhere.
He had no fucking clue who this guy was and where he came from, but he seemed to know more than they did, and Peter seemed to trust him... And he did have a hand in saving their lives, so there was that. He didn't want to owe this stranger his life, but as of right now, it didn't seem like he had much of a choice.
"So what happened to Bruce? Did he die?"
Eddie, moderately shocked that he was being spoken to, blinked a couple of times and then shook his head. "Uh, oh, no, no, he's not. He got out, I'm sorry. It was either him or Peter, and, well... Kind of a no-brainer, yea?"
Bucky nodded a little, silently agreeing before pointing to the empty space at his side. "What happened to it?"
Eddie hummed around more candy. "They took it aside, they're keeping it put up. Not cause they don't trust you, I asked them to."
"Why?"
Eddie shrugged. "We had a feeling."
Bucky rose a brow, "We?"