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Chapter Text

 Peter hated the silence...

 He doesn't dislike a lot of things, and he never would've thought that he'd ever think something like that about his powers seeing as how loud his home constantly was, but yet here he was, sitting in the back of a spaceship, leaning against the wall and wishing above anything else that there was some damn noise in the floating coffin he was in.

 Nebula and him had been floating, or a better word for it would be drifting in space for the last three days only after one actual day of travel. The fuel in the Benatar ran out faster then they hoped but there was nothing they could do about that now, they were stranded in the middle of nowhere with little food and water as oxygen was slowly being used up after every time they breathed in. 

They were slowly going to die on this spaceship if one of them didn't perform some sort of miracle to save their asses. 

But Peter, after everything he's been through, had started to lose hope. 

They were in the middle of space, millions of light years away from earth with food and water that could last a normal human probably a month if they rationed correctly. 

But there were two people on this ship, one of which happened to be an enchanted teenager so that food, would barely last them a month, Peter was sure of that. 

He knew that his powers were going to be the death of him up here, and the thought didn't scare him like he thought it would. 

Peter couldn't feel anything, not since he watched his mentor disintegrate right in front of his own two eyes. Watching as every single one of the great Iron-Man's atoms split apart and made the once invincible Tony Stark, crumble to dust. 

Like he never even existed. 

Man, he felt like he needed to puke now, but he knew nothing would come up, already having expelled what was in his stomach that very next minute after Tony had dissolved right in front of him. 

God, he could still remember it with perfect detail, if he just closed his eyes and imagined, he could see what happened almost five days ago with perfect clarity. 

———Flashback———

Peter groaned as he shook his head and got back up on his feet, stumbling his way over to Mr Stark. He had watched as his mentor got stabbed in the stomach and Peter had tried to get to him, but he was a little busy with trying to help the guardians when it happened. 

 He did see as Dr Strange handed the time stone over though, in exchange of keeping Tony alive. 

 A trade, that Peter didn't know how to feel about. 

On one hand, he was glad Mr Stark wasn't dead, but on the other hand, If it was him, he wouldn't want anyone to save him if it meant dooming the universe. 

He could only imagine what his mentor was feeling.  

 "Mr Stark! Are you okay?! Come on, let me help you up." He said as he stopped in front of the man and leaned down to help pull him up on his feet. Peter could hear as the man hissed in pain and he tried not to panic, he needed to keep his cool. 

His mentor was currently bleeding out from a stab wound and Peter needed to make sure he closed it up before he bled out. 

  "I'm alright kid." Tony said through gritted teeth as Peter kept his arm around him, letting the man lean against his side to keep balance so he didn't fall to the ground. 

 Before Peter had the chance to say anything else though, Mantis, the alien with the antennas on her head spoke up and Peter could hear the fear in her voice, the almost silent tremor as she talked which made his Spidey sense prickle at the back of his neck, all his hairs standing upright.  

 "Somethings happening." She said, looking  around worriedly, expecting something that none of them were ready for. 

They knew what she meant though a second later when his senses spiked and he watched as Drax dissolved right in front of his eyes, nothing but dust to the wind, his ashes falling down, floating into a pile on the alien planet known as Titan.

Dead...

 Peter watched in shock but he didn't have time to process what the fuck he just saw because soon after, both Mantis and Quill disappeared. Tony wasn't much better, staring at where the two other people had once stood in shock, like he didn't quite believe it was happening. 

Thanos won...

 "Kid?" Tony called out calmly which sent shivers down the teen's spine. That tone of voice, Mr Stark was too calm at a moment like this, he sounded so sad too...

Peter looked over in fear and watched as his mentor started to disappear right in front of him.

 "No no, sir d-don't go, please don't go!" 

"Kid." He said with a smile as he started to crumble and Peter had to gently lower the both of the them on the ground since the man's legs were slowly disappearing, slowly vanishing from existence like every one else just did. 

 "No Mr Stark! W-wait don't, don't leave me I can't, I don't know.." 

 "I'm so sorry kid." He smiled up softly at him one last time before the great Tony Stark, Iron-Man, crumbled in Spider-Man's hands, the only thing left of the man were the ashes floating in the air. 

 "Peter." A voice said which made Peter turn his head to Doctor Strange who was still sitting down on the ground, leaning against a piece of rubble. 

He looked at the teen with haunted eyes, and Peter was instantly remembered that the man in Front of him saw this, he had to go through fourteen million outcomes to just find one where they won.

And they fucked it up...

 "There was no, other way Parker." He said before finally dissolving, leaving only Peter and the blue alien left, alone on a far away planet, millions of light years away from home. 

 He could still feel the ashes clinging to his hands, the ashes of his once strong mentor, but now nothing but a pile of dust. 

Peter leaned off to the side and promptly barfed up the contents of his stomach, emptying out everything that he had eaten that day, not believing this was happening. 

They lost...

He lost Tony...

And who knows if May or his friends are alright back on earth. 

Who knows who was left back home. 

But, no matter how worried he was, he had to focus on the problem at hand now, he was stuck on an alien planet and he needed to get back home, he needed to make sure they were okay. 

Because if they weren't, he didn't know what he was going to do...

———Flashback Ended———

After that, Nebula and him had boarded the Guardian's ship and had used up all the fuel it had left, and were now left floating in the empty void of space, with no hope of ever getting a signal out to earth in time for a rescue to come find them. 

He did the calculations, it would take billions of light years to get a message back to earth with his damaged nano suit. 

There was nothing they could do now, but just wait and hope for the best. 

Whatever that was...

 Movement caught the teen's eyes from his spot against the wall, looking out one of the Benatar's windows. He didn't move or flinch away when Nebula sat down next to him, staring out the same window that he was. 

The two of them didn't speak, they just sat there and watched the distant stars shine. They sat there for at least another half hour before Nebula spoke, barely above a whisper. 

 "Was he your father?" She asked. She didn't elaborate, Peter understood what she was talking about. 

The teen swallowed before answering, "No. He was my mentor of sorts. He taught me some things I didn't know before. Helped me balance this life of mine a bit with my personal one." 

 "He let you be a...hero?" 

 Peter huffed, "I'm not a hero, I'm a vigilante. There's a big difference but...no, he was pretty against it for a time. But he quickly learned that he couldn't stop me, no one could. Once you're in this life, the life of a vigilante, you can't get out of it...After he realized that, he tried to keep me safe with better tech in my suit. You know, to protect me." He shrugged, still staring out the window with a blank look across his face, trying to stay strong. 

He already cried the first few days on the ship, nonstop and he was done with that. He had to pick himself off the ground, dust off all the dirt and move forward in his life, find a way to live with himself. 

He's done it before, he can do it again...

 Nebula hummed, "My father was not half as nice as your mentor. He saw me as insignificant to my sister, and tried to fix me every time she beat me. All things considered, you had a pretty good teacher, you should be grateful with the time you got to spend with him." 

 "I am, trust me...I am." He said, gripping the spider insignia in his hands which stored the nano bots to his suit. 

He knew that there was a very little chance that he'd make it out of this whole debacle alive, he was stranded in the middle of space with little food, water and oxygen for fucks sake. 

He wouldn't last a month stranded up here...

 He silently sighed to himself and closed his eyes, leaning his head on the wall behind him. 

All he could do now was wait, wait for his demise as he slowly starved to death. 

That was if he didn't suffocate first...

A full week stranded does one to someone's health. 

Specifically, to someone who has an enhanced metabolism. 

 It's only been a week in space since being stranded on a planet and he's already lost a significant amount of his weight. He could see his ribs starting to poke through due to not having enough food, his stomach was constantly hungry, trying to tell him it needed more but there wasn't much Peter could do about it. 

He had to share the food with Nebula, and if he gave her the bigger piece, well no one had to know but them. He didn't want to see her die but with the rate his metabolism was going, he could guess that it was probably her that was going to watch him die. 

God he hated his powers sometimes. They were honestly a curse at times like this...

The pain, the stabbing sensation in the pit of his stomach wouldn't go away and it was starting to kill him. He could feel it, slowly, painfully eating away at what was left of his body, the little fat he had in him, gone, his muscle mass slowly diminishing as the seconds ticked on. 

He was going to die, and he had finally started to come to terms with that.

Nebula and him had rationed the food between the two of them as best they could. But they both knew it was pointless, he needed so much more nutrients to survive and if she gave up a little bit more of her sandwich because she saw how his bones poked through his body, well she knew he wouldn't take it. 

Peter Parker was one of the most stubborn kids she had ever met, and that was saying a lot.

So, to pass the time from their impending doom, the two of them have taken a habit of playing stupid little games that Peter knows, to try and kill time and have a little bit of fun before they die up in the middle of space. 

 The good side was at least they weren't alone, Peter knew he would have hated it if he was up here by himself, he most likely would have already gone insane with only himself as company.

 Anyways, the main game that the two of them play was usually paper football. Peter had taught her the basic concept of the game before looking for something to use as the actual football, but found nothing resembling paper, the best he got was a little metal triangle he found in a box of scraps.

He taught the half cyborg about the game and rules, apparently she had never played trivial thinks such as this before, which was not acceptable at all. 

Peter took it upon himself to teach his new...friend? The wonders of paper football. 

Because he knew that he was on borrowed time now, so why the hell not make the most out of this shitty situation?

"Alright, all you gotta do is flick it into my goal, see?" He said quietly, holding up his two hands like they were a goal post. She nodded her head and Peter would've laughed at the major concentration that he saw across her face, but he had gotten a little background about what her past was like. 

He knew she needed something like this, because she never got to experience it herself. 

So, he stayed quiet as she lined up her shot and flicked her metal triangle in between his two fingers. 

"Yeah look at that, nice job Nebs! Did you see that ladies and gentlemen? We've got our first official goal of the night! And the crowd goes wild, woooo!"

 Nebula raised an eyebrow at him with a tilted head and Peter could just make out the beginning of a smile threatening to break out across her face, "Why are you doing that? There is no one else up here but us." She asked. 

 Peter shrugged, "Don't know, just trying to lighten the mood a bit, make this a little more enjoyable for the both of us." He said. 

Nebula huffed, "You're weird." 

 Peter actual let a smirk fall onto his face, the first time since boarding the ship that a frown wasn't seen across the teen's mouth, "You know it. Who wants to be normal nowadays anyways, huh? That's so boring." 

 Nebula shook her head and rolled her eyes but Peter could just make out hidden amusement in her gaze which he counted as a win for now before they both turned their attention back to the game.

Nebula ended up winning. 

Now he doesn't want to say that he let her win, because that was a completely false accusation, but did he know that her winning would mean everything to her? 

Yes. 

Did he want to make her just a little bit happy before they died?

Also yes. 

Could he have won if he was really trying? 

Probably. 

"That's the game, you've won, great job." He said as he stuck his hand out for her to shake. Nebula hesitated for a minute before grasping his smaller hand and shaking it, slightly hesitant still but nonetheless, she still did so. 

 "How does it feel to be a winner?" He asked. 

Nebula this time did let a small smile slide across her face, "Amazing."

 Peter nodded his head before he groaned and slowly picked himself off the chair and started to walk over to the cockpit of the ship, but not before calling behind his back to Nebula. 

 "You coming or what?" He asked and after a second, Nebula slinked up to his right side and offered her side for him to lean against, which he did so gratefully. 

"Thanks." Peter muttered. 

"No problem...thank you." She emphasized the last two words in her sentence, making sure he understood she really was grateful. 

"For what?" He asked. 

Nebula looked over to him and made sure to hold eye contact before answering, "For being a friend."

 Peter's eyes softened and he smiled back, "Like you said, no problem....Come on, I'm pooped. I need a nap for about fifteen billion years." He said. 

 "Don't worry, at the rate we're going, you'll be getting that nap sooner rather than later." 

"Yeah, ain't that the truth."

The made their way over to the captains chair in the cockpit, with Peter leaning against Nebula for support. When the two got there, she gently lowered him into the seat and made sure he was settled down before she moved over to the corner to grab a few things. 

 A minute later she came back with two little containers of water and half a sandwich for both of them. 

Nebula handed him his share before sitting down in the copilot seat, starting to eat her food. Peter was done with his food quicker than Nebula, due to his metabolism but he made sure to savor his water.

Not that it would matter...

 Suddenly, Nebula was handing him what was left of her sandwich which made him shake his head, already pushing the food back to her. 

"No, you need it just as much as me." 

"You have powers, you need the food." 

 "I can't take your food..." Peter wasn't even allowed to finish before Nebula forced the sandwich in his hands. 

"Eat." She ordered in a voice that brokered no room for argument. Peter sighed before taking the quarter of the sandwich. He only brought it up to his mouth to bite down when he received another pointed look from Nebula though. 

 He ignored the way his stomach celebrated at the prospect of more food in exchange to stare at Nebula, "Thanks." He said. 

She shrugged before going over to sit back down in the copilot's seat, "Don't mention it." 

Peter smiled to himself before finishing the sandwich and laying his head back against the chair, resting and closing his eyes to try and fight off all the emotions swirling around his body. 

 God he missed his friends, he misses Tony, his teachers, hell even Flash but most of all...

He missed May...

He doesn't even know if she's alive since he's stuck up here, In the vast reaches of space with no way home. 

 God, he was so fucked...

He's been thinking about it for the last week and he's finally decided that it was now or never. 

He needed to leave a message behind, some sort of clue to whoever finds this damn ship, so they didn't have to wonder why they found a body of a teenager and a cyborg floating alone in space.

Maybe when someone finds it, they can take it down to earth for him, to give it to the ones that are left behind. 

If, there was anyone left behind...

Peter has finally stopped denying it and just accepted it now. He was going to die in the middle of space, on this ship where no one could find him and no way back. 

Surrounded by all these stars, this ship would be his coffin, and space his grave. No one would ever find Nebula and him until it was too late. 

 Peter groaned and sat against the wall of the cockpit, setting down what was left of his nano spider helmet in front of him and letting it scan him for a second before he reached down with his frail hand to hit record. 

 "To whomever finds this message, We've been stranded out h-here for roughly three weeks. Nebula and I, umm, we've tried our best to get as much juice out of this ship as we can but a bunch of good that did us, we're still stuck in the middle of nowhere." Peter sighed as he leaned back against the wall, letting his head rest on the cool metal. 

 He sat there for a second in silence while he tried to calm down his erratic breathing and throbbing head, willing his body not to shut down on him until he's done with this one last thing. 

 He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, trying to strive off the panic attack he could also feel crawl up his spine, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

He quickly snapped out of that though, he couldn’t go down that road just yet, he needed to focus and get this done and then, only then, will he allow himself to rest.

God he was so fucking tired...

 He doesn't know if any of his family is still alive, If Ned, MJ, or May survived the snap but he hoped to god that they did, for their sake. 

They deserved to live on, even if they had to do it without him, they deserved to have a life. 

 God, the thought alone makes his insides twist with agony. The thought that his family died all alone, with no one there to comfort them as they literally dissolved from existence. 

 But, he had to get through this. His one last task before drifting off to sleep and allowing the darkness to creep in, letting it make itself a home and maybe, just maybe, he could finally rest. 

He could finally rest….

 "Alright." Peter sat up a little and opened his eyes, staring at the eyes to his helmet with determination behind his gaze, "If anyone finds t-this message um, I'm Peter Parker, and I'm from the planet earth. If you could do me a huge favor and deliver this to the Avenges compound, I-I'd greatly appreciate it." Peter said.

 "To those of you on earth, if you ever do get this message. I just wanted to say that if you're watching this, don't feel bad. I came up here with Tony and the wizard, they umm...they're gone, I couldn't save them." Peter said as he fiddled with the muscle shirt he had found in Star-Lord's clothes. It was a little big on him but he didn't care, it was clothing besides his spandex suit so he gladly took it, even if it was rather itchy at times. 

 "This message is for the Avengers and Ms Potts, if any of you are actually still alive...If you ever get this, I just wanted to say...W-we tried...he tried but...we weren't strong enough. He won, and there was nothing we could've done to stop him."

 "I couldn't save Mr Stark, he...one moment he was leaning against me and the next...dust in my hands. I'm so sorry, if you ever get this message...I, I'm so so so sorry." 

  "You know, Space used to be a real mystery for me, but after spending weeks up here, staring off into distant galaxies, I've learned that all of it...it's just the same old thing. If I see one more star before I go out, I'm honestly going to barf up my own lungs." 

 Peter huffed and shook his head , "What's funny is I don't remember when the last time I laughed was." He said, shaking his head to clear the tiredness just for a few more seconds, just to get him past this last thought. 

He needed to do this, for himself.

 "But hey, I guess that's the kind of shit you think about when you're light years away from any planet and have no way of ever returning home," Peter shrugged and slumped back down against the wall.

 Peter closed his eyes and doubled over as a painful cough made its way through his body, making his frail bones rattle in his body as shivers crawled down his spine, "I uh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you know? People like us, people who have the power to change the world, they always get the shit deck in life yeah?"

 "That's the life I signed up for though, the minute I put on that suit to help. I knew what I was getting into, and I don't regret one damn second of it." He mumbled the last part to himself, staring at his hands as he remembered their battle on Titan and the journey that brought him there. 

 But remembering about that, brought back the memories about how he failed…

The feeling of the gauntlet, the weight, the texture, everything. 

He had it right in his hands, and he screwed the pooch yet again...

  Peter cleared his throat before he tiredly looked up and stared into the helmet's lenses, "This is Spider-Man, signing off." Peter reached for the record button again and pressed it, stopping the video as he closed his eyes once more.

It was done. 

He could finally rest now.

 He didn't notice as his body slowly slide down the wall, coming to rest on the cold metal ground of the ship as he curled in on himself, trying to conserve as much body heat as he could.

He didn't notice as Nebula walked over to him once he closed his eyes, didn't sense as she picked his frail body up and deposited it into the captains chair. 

He couldn't feel as she laid her hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes in sadness, already knowing that she lost one of the few people who had looked past her cold demeanor and saw the woman who just wanted to belong somewhere, to just have friends. 

 She knew he'd be dead soon due to the starvation, but she had a sense of relief in knowing that she'd follow a few hours later when the oxygen ran out. 

She'd be with her sister and she'd be with Peter. 

What more could she possibly ask for?

 As she left the room, not having the stomach to watch her only friend die, Peter silently groaned in his sleep and sunk down deeper into the chair. 

He was about to fully let go of everything, finally rest but this feeling in the back of his head told him not to, kept warning him to keep his eyes open just for a little bit longer. 

 No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he just couldn't and it finally got the best of him when a really bright light suddenly appeared right in his line of sight, blinding his eyes even from behind his eyelids. 

He winced and his eyebrows furrowed as he slowly opened his eyes and once they adjusted to what was in front of him, he tilted his head in confusion. 

For there was a glowing woman hovering right outside the ship, and he had no idea if he was already dead, or just Hallucinating the whole damn thing. 

 "What the fuck?" He muttered as the woman smiled softly at him, her eyes taking on a gentler look when she saw it was a kid in the ship. 

Carol had no idea how long he'd been stranded up here for, but it was obvious he'd been stuck for a while, most likely since the snap had happened. The kid looked to be human too so she had the perfect place in mind to bring him back which would offer him the help he needed. 

"Hold on kid, I'm gonna get you outta here." She muttered to herself as she flew beneath the ship and started to carry it in the direction of earth. 

Hopefully she wasn't too late...

Bucky sat in the small briefing room alone, waiting for any news about what was happening out there.

 Since the Snap, and having to watch his best friend die in front of him, Bucky has kind of been on autopilot, just trying to help out wherever he could. 

Rhodey was busy talking with the government, trying to explain what the fuck just happened, Sam was down in Louisiana checking in on his sister and nephews, Wanda had locked herself in her room once they had gotten back to New York, Clint and his family had gotten in last night, looking for Natasha since she hadn't answered their calls but they had gotten the unfortunate news from Bucky himself when they arrived. 

She had dusted. 

Along with Steve, T'Challa, Shuri, Bruce, the tree, talking raccoon thing and so many others. 

They didn't even know what happened to Stark, which was very troubling for his fiancé. 

Pepper had already been at the compound when they arrived, frantic and worried since Tony had just flown off into space with a wizard and that Spider dude from the airport. 

When Pepper heard that, she had gotten even more worried, including Rhodey but Bucky and no idea why. 

Spider-Man seemed to be able to take care of himself, if his strength alone was anything to go by. He could stop his metal arm, and not many people had ever been able to do that before. 

But what was left of his heart did go out to the poor woman, she had lost everyone except Rhodey at the moment, including her body guard, Bucky thinks his name was Happy, or something like that. 

They all lost so much, Thor lost most of his people including his best friend and his brother. 

He was also sulking  around the halls somewhere, but Bucky couldn't really tell you where. 

Just as he was done with those sad, depressing thoughts, he was shaken out of his stupor by a loud nose coming from outside, making some of the objects in the room rattle and shake. 

Bucky instantly bolted for the door and made his way outside on the lawn where he was greeted by Rhodey, Clint, Pepper and Thor, already waiting outside as Carol landed with a space ship in tow. 

They all waited with baited breath as Carol set the ship down and nodded at them, signaling that there were people aboard. The ramp descended and when the dust cleared, they could fully make out a blue skinned woman who had a teenager’s arm around her neck, supporting the boy as he tried not to stumble down. 

The kid looked like he had seen better days if Bucky was being honest.

The teen was so thin he almost looked like a walking skeleton if it wasn't for his skin still plastered on his body. Bucky could see all of his ribs poking out through the oversized muscle shirt and the ex hydra assassin noticed that the kid’s legs were barley working, the blue lady having to carry him most of the way down the ramp. 

Pepper from her spot next to him gasped, "Peter!?" She exclaimed and started to run over to the boy. 

 Peter looked up at the sound of his own name being called and saw that Pepper was running towards him. He felt as Nebula tightened her grip around him which made him shakily bring a hand up to her shoulder and squeeze. 

"It's okay, they're friends." Peter whispered and after a few seconds of staring at each other, she roughly nodded and passed him off to Pepper as soon as she got to them. 

As Pepper buried him in her embrace, he looked back over to Nebula and mouthed "Thank You" which did make her lips twitch as she nodded back at him.

 "Peter oh my god, are you okay?! God that was a stupid question, of course you're not." Pepper muttered to herself as Peter shook his head. 

"I'm sorry." He said, making the woman look at him with sad eyes, "I...I couldn't save him, I'm so sorry." He mumbled. 

He could tell Pepper was holding back tears but she shook her head, "No, it's not your fault, you have nothing to be sorry about." 

"My fault...M-my, fault." Peter could see the world spinning around him as he tried to look up at his mentor's fiancé but he could feel both his head and stomach pulsate with pain, surging through his body. 

The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the voice of Pepper calling out to him...

"How is he?" Sam asked as he walked over and stood next to Bucky outside the kid’s room where they could both see Helen work on him through the window. 

He had gotten to the compound an hour after everything had went down, so he was originally confused to all hell when he came back and their was a kid in the medical bay. 

"Says he'll make it. His powers apparently are something else entirely. Helen claims they're stronger than...Steve's." Bucky said with an emotionless mask across his face. 

Sam hummed and laid a hand on his shoulder, "How you holding up buddy?" He asked quietly. 

Bucky scoffed, "Like shit, but when has that ever stopped me?" He asked rhetorically. 

 "Everyone's gotta fall sometimes Buck, it's just the way things are." 

"Tell that to half the population." 

Sam huffed, "Point taken."

The two stood their for a few seconds before Sam brought up another topic. 

"Have we called his parents?" 

 Bucky shook his head, "Doesn't have any, they died when he was a kid. His uncle was shot in a mugging and his aunt, well she went out like the others apparently, according to Pepper." 

"So the kid is alone?" 

"Yeah, he is."

 "Son of a Bitch." Sam muttered, "He has not, had a nice life, that's for sure."

 Bucky huffed with no real amusement behind the action, "When does a superhero ever have a nice life?" 

 "Touché." 

After a moment of silence, Sam scoffed, "I can't believe we got our asses kicked by a kid in spandex." 

Bucky glared at him, "That's what you're worried about?" He asked. 

"It's a valid statement, the kid caught your arm and webbed both of us up like it was nothing." 

 "Still, not the right time to bring that up, read the room Wilson."

 "Whatever man." They grew quiet as they watched Helen work on the boy but after a few moments, Bucky sighed and moved away from the window. 

 "Come on, we've gotta have a briefing about this, now that everyone who's alive has showed up." He said. 

"What about the kid? He could know something about where Thanos went, he did fight the bastard after all." Sam pointed out which made Bucky shake his head. 

"The kid has been through enough, he needs to heal up and rest. We'll talk to him once he's feeling better if Nebula doesn't know anything." 

Sam nodded his head before following him, "Alright."

Peter woke up to the steady beeping of a heart monitor.

He quietly groaned as he opened his eyes and came face to face with the white, sterile room which he knew as the Avengers Medbay. He had been here a few times, once when Mr Stark was giving him the tour and one other time when he had been impaled by some asshole with a spear, trying to save this woman from certain death. 

Not one of his best moments, but he did save the woman so Peter counted that as a win in his book. 

 "Oh good you're up, I was starting to get worried." The voice of Helen Cho made its way into his ears. Peter turned to where he heard the voice and saw the doctor herself was now walking over to him with a soft smile on her face and her eyes held sympathy for him. 

He tried to squish down the anger with seeing that, not wanting to be rude to the woman who helped him. 

"What happened?" He asked instead. 

"Once you got back down to earth, Nebula got you off the ship before you collapsed in Miss Potts arms. We brought you here and luckily I was already on sight or else you might not have survived. Your body was extremely malnourished. Another hour or so and you wouldn't be here." She said gently, as to not spook the kid about saying how close to death he was. 

But Peter just shrugged it off, he almost always died, it was apart of the job and he learned to accept that while still stuck on that ship. 

If he was going to die, there was nothing he could do to prevent that. 

All he could do was prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

 "Where, uh, is everyone else?" He asked. 

Helen sighed to herself before answering and taking a seat on the side did his bed, "Peter...you've been out for five days. You've only now just regained conciseness." 

"Five days?" Peter mumbled, "Jesus." He said as he rubbed his hand across his face, "W-what did I miss then?" 

 The doctor was about to answer when a different voice called out form behind her, "I can take it from here Helen." 

They both looked behind and saw Sam Wilson standing by the door, leaning against the doorframe. 

 "Of course Sam, I'll give you two some privacy." She said, standing up and leaving the room. 

Sam walked over to the kid and sat down in the chair next to his bedside and sighed before looking at him in his eyes. 

 "We found Thanos." Was the first words out of the man's mouth but before Peter could say anything, he continued on, "He was on some planet, living in a goddamn log cabin, like he was, fucking retired and had the right to have peace when the universe was in shambles."

"We tracked him down because he used the stones again, there was a massive energy surge Nebula discovered when she got here which happened a few days before the two of you arrived." Sam took a breath before he carried on. 

 "When we got there, we found that the stones were destroyed, and Thanos used them one last time to..." 

"To destroy them, so no one else could undo his work." Peter finished, staring at the sheets coving his still frail body with no emotions behind his gaze. 

 Sam shook his head, "I'm sorry kid, he won. And there's not a damn thing we can do about it now." 

Peter exhaled shakily, not believing that nothing could be done. His mentor was dust on an alien planet and there was nothing Peter could do to reverse that. 

Thanos won...

He, won.

They lost...

 Peter bit his lip and said something that had been on his mind since waking up, something that made his stomach drop and allowed dread to seep into every bone in his body. 

"My aunt isn't here." He stated to the man, noticing his slight wince at his wording which confirmed his suspicions. If May was still here, she would have been in his room and she would have never left his bedside for those five days he was asleep. 

But she was nowhere to be found. 

"I'm sorry kid, Pepper said she looked when she was trying to find Happy but, they're both gone." 

 Even Happy. How many more people is he going to lose? First his parents, then Ben, then Tony, May, Happy...

Wait...

 "D-did she find out about my friends? Are Ned and MJ still, are they still alive?! I-I need to check on them." He said, starting to sit up but Sam stood up and placed his hand on the teen’s chest and gently pushed him back down. 

"You're not going anywhere until the doc clears you man. In the meantime, what are your friends real names? I can check for you." Sam offered which made Peter calm down just a little bit. 

"E-Edward Leeds and Michelle Jones-Watson." Peter said. Sam nodded his head and took out his phone, searching the online database for anything about the two teenagers he just listed off. 

After a couple minutes, Peter heard how Sam sighed and looked back up to him. He knew the answer before the words even left the man's mouth. 

"Both gone kid, I'm sorry." 

 Gone.

 Just like that, no goodbye, no see you later. 

They simply are just gone, disappeared, dissolved into nothing but dust in the wind. 

Everyone he's ever cared about is dead now, he's all alone and he has no idea what he's going to do...

 "You can stay here for as long as you need kid, yeah? The compound is always stocked with food and I'm sure we can find you a guest room after you're out of the medical wing." Sam said, laying his hand on the teenager's shoulder. 

"Thanks." Peter choked out, trying to hold in his tears. He honestly shouldn't be surprised by now, this has been happening for as long as he could remember. 

He cares about people, and in doing so it ultimately leads to their death. 

And it hurts, so damn much...

 "I'll give you some space okay? Push that button on the side table if you need one of us for anything." He said as he stood up from the chair. 

"We've...we've gotta have a f-funeral, for them. It's the right thing to do." He said. 

Sam nodded his head with a sad smile, "Already working on it. We're ordering a custom stone and we're gonna place it out in the front of the compound as a memorial for...every hero we lost." 

 "When?" 

"It won't be in for a few more days since the world is trying to pick itself up again and regroup. Governments around the planet are trying to actually work together and fix this. In the grand scheme of things, a rock with names on it, no matter how important the names are, isn't really high on the list to get done, due to them shutting down most businesses." 

Peter nodded his head, "Yeah that's fine, I just, didn't want to miss it." He said. 

 "I get it, I do. Get some rest kid, god knows you need it." He said one last time before he walked out of Peter's room, leaving the teenager alone with his thoughts. 

Which, was never a good thing to do...

 As soon as the man left the room and Peter was by himself, the tears started to leak out of his face. He tried to hold in his sob but it was no use, he was utterly alone in this world now, he had nowhere to go and no one to see. 

Peter Parker was alone, everyone he cared about left again, leaving only his shattered heart in their place. 

He's felt this before, he knows what this is and he's experienced it so many times that he should be used to it by now. 

But no matter how many times it happens, it still hurts. Sure, it might get easier to deal with it after awhile, but it still hurts...

 Pain and Grief...

Those two things have been a constant in his life for as long as he could remember. There wasn't a time that Peter could think of where it didn't contain at least one of them. 

Whether it be from a lost loved one, being stabbed or beaten on patrol or even just Flash and his annoying jabs that he thought were funny when really, they weren't. 

 Peter Parker was always in pain, and he honestly didn't know how someone didn't see through him, didn't see how actually broken he was at his core.

The thought came to him around the time he lost Ben. This comparison about what his life is like, not the way that people see Peter Parker as, the always smiling nerd who's too smart for his age. 

But the lonely, hurt teenager who is sick of losing everyone in his life. 

It was like he was in this relationship with grief, metaphorically speaking of course. He was trapped in it and couldn't find a way out of it so he just played along with the beat of the drum, allowed his partner to lead him along  and he followed, like he always did. 

 And this wasn't like an one night stand or anything, no Peter Parker was a full blown lover with grief and Pain, well pain was like the annoying pet cat which always demanded attention, always sought you out to make you give it things that you never could or never had the time for. 

 He was trapped in this loop, this none stop cycle of love and loss and he had no way of getting out of it now. 

He understood that it was a package deal, you couldn't have one without the other. If you love something, eventually you'll have to let it go and he was prepared for it when he donned the Spider-Man suit because he knew how dangerous his new hobby would be. 

But this right here, felt ten times worse then anything he's ever had to go through before. 

His aunt was dead.

Tony, gone, turned to dust on some far away planet millions of light years from earth.

His friends nothing but a memory.

 There was really nothing left for him, with Thanos gone and the stones with him, they couldn't get back the ones they lost. 

Someone had finally beaten the heroes of the modern age, Thanos showed up and took out more then half of them like it was nothing. 

Taking half the universe with them...

Peter knew that it was time to dance along to the same melody, as he had so many times before. He knew that he'd have to get through his grief and pick up what was left of his shattered heart and move on with his life.

But that doesn't mean he wanted to.

He was sick of losing everyone he cared about. Why did the world have to mess with him? Why did it have to take away all of his family huh? Was this the universes idea of a joke? Because Peter was not amused. 

 He just wanted a break, was that too much to ask?

Apparently, it was for one Peter Parker. 

The dams finally broke and Peter sobbed as he buried his head in his hands, cradling it in his way too lanky fingers as tears leaked out from his eyes, soaking his palms and the blanket underneath him. 

He didn't know what would happen, but Peter felt as his heart shattered into thousands of thousands of pieces. 

And he didn't know if it would ever get fully healed again...

Peter stood out in the front lawn with all the remaining Avengers. 

He was currently in between Nebula and Pepper, watching as Sam stood up near the stone with all the heroes names on it and delivered the eulogy for everyone they lost. 

 Most of the Avengers had tears in their eyes, but Peter himself couldn't bring himself to cry anymore. 

He had done enough of that in the past few days to last him the rest of his life. But instead of crying, he felt hollow, dare he say empty even, like no matter what happened, he couldn't cry any longer. 

 He was just so tried...

 He didn't hear most of what Sam was saying, he was stuck in his own head, thinking back on everything he could have done differently, every little action he could've change to prevent such an outcome like this. 

 The major one going though his head was back on Titan, when he had the gauntlet in his hands and almost had the stones off Thanos. 

But he wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough to get the job done. 

He had let everyone down, and in doing so he killed half the universe. 

Because if he had been stronger, faster, than there would have been no need for a funeral at all. 

 Nebula, the only one probably on the planet at the moment who understood him better then the rest, must have picked up on his depressing thoughts because she reached over and grabbed his wrist, slowly applying pressure to it to try and ground him to reality. 

Peter also thought that she might’ve needed the comfort herself, reminding herself that he was actually there, they both were, and alive. 

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist too, sliding his hand into hers and squeezing and letting her know everything he wanted to, not being able to express with words. 

But she knew, she understood. 

Nebula scooted a little closer to him after that, their arms slightly bushed against each other and he almost, almost let a smile slide across his face. 

Emphasis on almost. 

 After Sam was finished, the heroes stood there and stared at the memorial for their lost friends and family, the people they loved and would’ve died for. 

They stood their for over an hour to honor them, like it should be. 

Slowly, one by one all the heroes left. Thor had to go back to New Asgard, Rhodey had to report to the government, Carol blasted off into outer space after saying her goodbyes, Wanda left due to the tears leaking from her eyes, wanting privacy, Bucky and Sam left together, Clint and his family left after them, all of them crying that they'll never see their aunt Nat again which only left Peter, Nebula and Pepper. 

 After they had all left, Pepper turned to look at Peter, "You know where I'll be if you ever need me okay? You don't even have to call, just swing to the cabin and I'll help you okay?" She asked. 

That was also a new development. Pepper was moving out of the city and into a log cabin that she had bought not long ago. She wanted a good, safe environment from now on where she could raise her kid in peace and not be bothered. 

Because Pepper Potts was pregnant with Tony Stark's child...

 Peter vowed that he'd make sure nothing ever happened to Mr Stark's child once they were born, and that was a promise he'd take to his grave. 

 He nodded his head, "I understand, thanks Pepper." He muttered as she smiled sadly at him and then walked away. 

 It was only Nebula and him now, the two of them didn't move an inch though, they simply stood there and just stared at the memorial. 

Peter's senses buzzed, warning him of someone in the distance but he made sure to mask his reaction so Nebula didn't see it. 

He didn't need her to worry about that, at least not yet. 

 "I'm going up into space to help Carol. The things happening here, are happening everywhere. I need to help regain as much order as possible after what happened." 

"Just because he was your adopted father, doesn't make you responsible for what he did Nebs. But, I understand what you're saying." He said. 

"What will you do?" She asked. 

 Peter pursed his lips, "Probably do the same. I heard that New York is now like, crime central since the snap. People think they can just do what they want and get away with it now. I'm going to show them how wrong they really are." Peter said, narrowing his eyes slightly. 

He's kept up with the news and he knows how truly fucked the city is now. People running around and breaking into stores, taking advantage of people and the chaos that Thanos left in his wake. 

He needed the city to remember that he's still out there, protecting them even after everything that's happened.

 Because the one thing that Peter still has, is his alter ego, he still has Spider-Man, the one thing that Peter couldn't live without. 

He needs the people to know that someone is still out there, protecting them.

That someone, would be him.

Nebula nodded, "Take care of yourself, okay?" She said, softening her voice when talking to him. 

Peter nodded, "Always." 

With that said, Nebula then walked over to the landing pad where the Benatar was fully fixed and fueled up. Peter had helped her install a secondary power source using one of Tony's arc rectors, just incase she ever ran out of fuel again. 

They did not want another situation where the ship got stranded in the middle of space. 

 Peter watched out of the corner of his eyes as the ship rose from the ground and slowly speed off into the far reaches of space. 

Leaving Peter, the only one standing in front of the memorial. 

Along with whoever was watching him from the shadows...

 Since the ceremony started, he had a feeling that someone had been watching them. Whoever it was, he didn't think they were bad per day, but there was definitely someone there. 

He didn't want to say anything and freak everyone out but there was someone watching them. 

And they were still here. 

But, he waited. He stood there and waited. He wanted to see if the person came out if he stood out there long enough. 

Because if it was someone who didn't belong, someone would have to take care of it but if it was just his senses acting up and it was an animal, then no harm done. 

He got his answer though when ten minutes later, he heard footsteps quietly move closer and closer to where he was. 

When the person got close to him, his back tensed incase of an attack but one never showed up. Instead the woman stopped right next to him and stared at the rock engraved with the names of heroes lost. 

She had blond hair that was up in a braid and she was wearing a white jump suit with a vest that kind of reminded him of The Black Widow's suit. 

"I came here to see if you were honoring my sister in the way she deserved. I think this is enough of an answer for me though." She said. 

Peter's eyes furrowed in thought, "Sister?" 

 The Woman next to him huffed, "Yes, my sister. Natasha." She admitted. 

 "Black Widow's sister? I never knew she had family outside the Avengers." 

"Adopted but...we were sister in all but blood...I loved her so much, but now she's gone." 

"The uh, alien responsible is dead, just so...you know your sister has been avenged...I um, think Thor was the one who killed him." Peter shrugged. 

 "And that makes it all better? No it doesn't, which is the correct answer!...It doesn't bring my sister back." She raised her voice a bit but quieted down towards the end. 

Peter shook his head, "I never said it would bring her back, hell I never even said it would make you feel better, I know that from personal experience, trust me. I just wanted to let you know...there's nothing anyone can do about it now, as much as it pains me to say that." 

The woman huffed, "You're a lot more mature than you look, that's for sure." She said with an amused look behind her gaze. 

 Peter hummed, "Yeah well, I've been through a lot." 

"What's your name kid?" She asked. 

He finally turned his body so he was facing the woman and looked over at her, "You're just going to find out yourself if I don't tell you, aren't you?" He asked but he already knew the answer. 

After all she was the sister of the Natasha Romanoff. 

This time, she smirked, "Yes, I will. I'm glad you're picking up on this already." 

 Peter sighed in resignation, "My Name is Peter Parker." 

 "And, what, Peter Parker, are you doing at the Avengers funeral, hmm?" 

 "I'm uh, well I'm a vigilante, you know, Spider-Man. Mr Stark mentored me and made me an Avenger when the aliens invaded." 

 "Oh, you're the spider dude! That's so awesome! You swing around the city and beat the shit out of shitbags." 

Peter smacked his lips before shrugging, "That's one way of putting it. I don't suppose since I told you my name, you'll tell me yours?" He asked. 

She was quiet for a second before she shrugged, "What the hell, I've got nothing to lose. Yelena, Yelena Belova." 

 "Well, it was nice to me at you Yelena." 

 "Same with you Parker...You know what, we should totally team up, with the whole spider thing going on between us, you behind Spider dude and me being a black widow." 

Peter snorted, "Well if you're ever in New York for anything, know that you can ask me for help. I'm sure you'll be able to track me down. I'll either be in the city, or here since I've got nowhere else to go." Peter said. 

"I'll remember that Peter Parker." She smiled at him, "I should probably get going though, lots of things to do, people to check on, assholes to beat. I'll see you soon yeah?" She said as she turned around and walked away, back towards the tree line. 

Peter watched her as she slowly disappeared from his sight. 

He didn't know why, but he had a feeling he'd be seeing Yelena a lot more in the near future.

Chapter Text

Peter spent his seventeenth birthday wandering the streets of New York City, with no clear destination in mind yet. 

 It's been a few months since the snap and the whole world went to shit but Peter's getting by. 

Well, trying to get by. 

 He was walking along the sidewalk and it was obvious there was less people in the city, the streets and sidewalks no longer over crowded with cars stuck in traffic and people bumping into each other. 

The city that never slept was eerily quiet nowadays, it wasn't how Peter remembered his home. 

So much had changed in such a short time frame, he didn't know what to do. 

 A week after he had the pleasure of talking to Yelena the first time, he had decided to go out as Spider-Man and get a lay of the land as they say. 

It was way worst then what he had anticipated...

 People all around thought that they could just forget the rules and do whatever they wanted. They thought they could go around and steal, break and take advantage of the chaos and Peter was having none of that. 

At least, that was his plan. 

He had gone out every single day and night, for the last few months trying to fix all the problems and nothing he used to do seemed to keep the crime down. 

People still went out to steal, still went out to take advantage of the citizens left alone on the streets, who lost their homes and families and the true scumbags who survived the snap still went out there and took advantage of the people who couldn't fight back.

True monsters who dragged children into alleyways to break them beyond repair. 

There was no one to care for them anymore, it's not like they had anyone to go home to. 

Peter tried to save as many people as he could but he was being pulled in so many different directions with all the other vigilantes disappearing as well. Daredevil hasn't been spotted since before the snap, same thing with Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke cage. 

Hell not even the Punisher had been spotted...

All of New York's vigilantes had died, leaving only Spider-Man to protect the city. 

But he wasn't enough, he'd never be enough...

He basically lives in his suit nowadays, he only goes back to the compound when he absolutely has to sleep and eat. He's also been studying to take his GED because there was no way he was going back to school without his friends.

But, no matter what he does, it's not working, his suit means nothing to these people anymore. It's like everything he does now, is completely ignored, like people have lost hope for heroes. 

He doesn't know what to do anymore. 

He knows the people he does save are grateful for him, but for those who aren't saved, he knows they blame him. 

Blame him for not saving them, like he's done for so many others...

 A sudden noise broke him out of his thoughts though. He turned into the direction where it came from and focused his senses, trying to pinpoint the exact location. 

After a second he started to run down the sidewalk to where the noise originated from, which was an alleyway about a quarter mile away from him. 

He skidded to a stop at the entrance and what he saw make him freeze in shock. 

For at the end of the alley, there was a man standing above a young girl, a young girl who didn't have any clothes on and was curled up into a sobbing ball of flesh as the man stood above her with a gun pointed to her head. 

"It was fun kiddo, I'd say we should do it again, but I can't risk you telling no police on me now can I? There's so many out on the streets nowadays." The man smirked and before Peter could move to try and disarm him, a bang rang out through the alley causing the teen to flinch as he listened to the kids heart stop beating instantly. 

The one day he doesn't bring his web shooters with him...

 "What the fuck?" Peter said unable to watch as the kid's blood oozed out of her body, surrounding the little girl in a pool of her very own blood, her life force that was meant to be inside her body, now on the ground around her. 

The man looked at him and scoffed, "Get lost kid, this doesn't concern you. Just forget you ever saw me." 

"Why would you do that? She was just a kid you sick bastard." Peter narrowed his eyes at the man, his anger rising for how the innocent citizens were being treated by assholes who thought they could do whatever. 

He was starting to get sick of people like this.

 "Yeah, that just makes her tighter and all that more enjoyable. You'll understand when you're older kid, now get lost." The man waved off, like what he just said wasn't at all totally fucked in the head. 

Peter, years in the future when he looked back on this moment, knew that this was the one that changed him forever. 

 This one decision would change his course for the next five years, it'd start his long journey of becoming the man that this new world needed, that these people needed to protect them. 

There was nothing Peter wouldn't do to protect the people of this world, and he failed this little child, this little girl. 

He'd make sure that this never happened again...

This Man's action, made so much anger surge through his body that Peter couldn't stop himself, he couldn't stop as the rage exploded out of his body and he lashed out at the nearest thing to him. 

Which just so happened to be the poor excuse of a human being...

 Faster than the man could blink, Peter struck. He leaped across the alleyway and grabbed the back of the man's head and bashed it into the wall, instantly drawing blood with the force behind the blow. 

"You think this is a game? Huh? Is that what this is?" He hissed as he grabbed the man's hand and broke his wrist, causing the man to groan in pain as he dropped the gun. 

But Peter didn't stop there, no he keep going. 

 He trapped the man against the wall and kicked his knee in, instantly shattering his patella and this time the man screamed in pain, feeling as his bone shattered and broke off into shards but Peter wasn't satisfied, he had raped and killed that little girl who had probably just lost her family. 

This man was a monster, and he wasn't convinced this man learned his lesson. 

Or the lesson that Peter was going to tech him...

 "What kind of sick prick does this, hmm? Can you answer me that, what is it with so many rapists and murders coming out of the shadows now that fifty percent of the planet is gone? Why now?" He glared down at the whimpering man on the ground, holding his bad knee in pain but the man refused to look at him. 

That wouldn't do. 

His eyes narrowed even farther as he punched the man extremely hard in his face, and Peter didn't even let him recover. He picked the man up by his hair, brought his head so it was level with him and kept on swinging. 

And swinging.

And swinging.

Hit after hit after hit.

By the time Peter was done with the man, he was barely recognizable with the amount of cuts on his face, all of which were bleeding profusely. 

Peter panted from above the man, who had now curled up in his own ball on the ground, his blood slowly dripping onto the pavement, making dripping sounds that echoed in the teenagers ears. 

 But he still had so much anger towards the man, it was still there, lingering under the surface and wanting to escape, to seek retribution for the little girls life which was taken far too early. 

That was when his eyes caught the pistol on the ground...

 He didn't know what possessed him, but he slowly walked over to the gun and picked it up. He held it in his hands and ran his finger across the handle as he walked back over to the man. 

He must have saw what Peter picked up because he started to panic but Peter just kicked him back down when he got over to him. 

"Not so fun anymore when it's you on the ground is it? How does it feel, knowing that you're at my mercy? That I can do whatever I want with you asshole." 

"P-please...n-no, no more. I-I'll, I'll tell you what you want." The man said which made Peter stop for a second. 

 "What?" 

 "W-who I work, who I w-work for..."

 Peter cocked the pistol before pointing it at his head, "Tick tock." 

 "T-the...Tracksuit, mafia. That's who I w-work for just please, don't hurt me anymore." 

 "Your boss, who?" 

 "I, I can't...he'll kill m-me." 

Peter glared, "Perhaps you aren't reading the room." He said, laying the end of the barrel on the man's forehead which made him whimper, "I, will kill you if you don't." 

 "F-Fisk, Wilson Fisk! I-I swear, t-that's all I know." The man said through a whimper which made Peter furrow his eyebrows in thought. 

 "Fisk. I know that name." He muttered to himself before remembering the man under him. 

 "Please, l-let me go..."

 Peter crouched down so he was eye level with the man and shook his head, "You killed that girl. And if that wasn't bad enough, you raped her before killing her. I can't let that go, not anymore. No more getting off easy, you assholes are going to get what you all deserve." He said standing up and pointing the gun back at his forehead. 

 "Please..." The man begged but Peter ignored him. 

 "A life, for a life." 

"Wait no!!!!!" 

The echoed shot of a gun was the only thing that was heard around the alleyway, catching the attention of a few people who were walking down the road. 

Peter, five minutes later stood up on the roof above the alley as he watched the cops inspect both dead bodies that were left there, the gun still safely tucked in his pocket. 

 They suspected what the man did to the girl, and they thought some good citizen saw stumbled upon what happened and took care of the man themselves. 

The cops, weren't too broken up about the man's death. 

 Peter spared one last glance at the child's body which was covered in a tarp now before slowly making his way away from the scene. 

He knew what he had to do now, he needed to track down these Tracksuit mafia dudes and get to the big man in charge. 

And he knew that he wouldn't be able to use his Spider-Man suit doing so. 

If what just happened was any indication, he was bound to get brutal if all these assholes were like that scumbag, he didn't want to ruin Spider-Man's image anymore then JJJ already had. 

It was time to put Spider-Man away for the time being, he needed someone else, someone who wasn't afraid to be brutal when he needed to be. 

But to do that, he'd need to go back to the compound and make a new suit, preferably not spandex this time. 

Maybe something a bit more protective. 

Because he really hated being shot while on patrol, so maybe he could add some sort of bullet proof and or stab proof material to his costume. 

 All he knew, was he'd find this Wilson Fisk, and he'd make the man pay for what he was doing all across his city, his home. 

This city was suffering because of him, and Peter was going to make sure he paid for his crimes. 

One way or another...

It didn't fully hit Peter until he got back to the compound and into the confines of his own room. 

The whole way back, he had just felt numb, his brain not registering what had happened back at the city until he had sat down on his bed and stared at the opposite wall that had a few pictures up of his family. 

He looked at the photo of May, then MJ and Ned and finally the internship photo of him and Tony, the picture they took so the school would believe he had an internship when Tony needed him for something. 

What would they think of me?

The thought came so suddenly it made the air in his lungs vanish, he was suddenly out of breath and couldn't get more oxygen into his lungs. He grabbed at his shirt in panic and tried to loosen the article from around his neck but that wasn't the problem, and somewhere in that big brain of his he knew that, he knew what was happening. 

 He's had plenty of panic attacks before. 

"Shit." He muttered as he stumbled up from his bed and tried to walk around but that only resulted in tripping over his own feet which found himself on the ground. 

He's had panic attacks plenty of times in the past, especially on the really bad days but the ones he's had since the snap, well they're ten times worst then the ones before. 

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe and he was starting to really freak the fuck out. He scooted his way to the wall and leaned against it while closing his eyes, trying to count his breathing in his head, hoping that it would help calm him down. 

It took longer then he would've liked but after a half an hour battling with his ragged breathing, he finally had a normal amount of air in his lungs and he could feel the panic start to dissipate. 

 Which allowed his brain to think clearly. 

He had killed another human being, yes the dude was a scumbag, Peter could admit that, but at the end of the day he still killed someone. 

But that wasn't the part that Peter was freaking out about, not at all. When he thought about it more, he realized that, he felt good about it. 

He felt good making that man pay for killing that child, he felt like the asshole deserved it and most of all...

 He wanted to do it again...

Not because he enjoyed it, but he knew, deep down, that this was the only way to get things done. These men who were out on his streets, killing and taking advantage of the people who lost everything, he knew they wouldn't stop coming. 

Jails wouldn't keep them in for very long, they'd find a way to get out, but this way, he get them off the streets permanently. 

They'd never again hurt another human being if he did this, if he changed so drastically. 

 He knew it was wrong, especially for a seventeen year old to go around killing other men, but what other choice did he have now? Nothing he was doing was working, crime was still rising and Peter needed his city to be safe, he needed to know his home was protected. 

And this was the best way to do so. 

A wave of determination flowed through Peter as he stood up and walked out his bedroom door to go into the lab and try and find materials. 

The world was changing, he might as well change with it...

"It's been a few weeks since we started to see the decline in crime around the city and it's all thanks to Spider-Man, New York's last Vigilante." 

"We all know that most of the worlds heroes were lost to the snap, but the one who wasn't happened to be our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But with recent news, we might have one other vigilante friend out there who is also protecting us, but he, unlike Spider-Man, happens to be a bit more brutal in his methods."

"While the people can still see Spider-Man swing around during the day, by night this other vigilante comes out to play. He hunts down bad people, from what we've gather from the police department, he specifically targets rapists and men who've been convicted of homicide in the past." 

"But what seems to be our big dilemma now, is what this vigilante doing alright? Should he be allowed to kill these people? We all know that they're bad people, but who's to say who this guy will come after next." 

"No matter what, you can't argue with the facts. Crime has seen an all time low thanks to these two vigilantes and we have them to thank for it, even though no one has any idea who this new guy is, police reports say that a week ago, when they got to the scene, the man this new guy went after wasn't dead yet, and on his dying breath, he whispered one name..." 

"That name, was Ronin. So, for all who's watching this, I'd watch my back during the night if I were you. Never know if Ronin will be lurking around the corner." 

 Pepper muted the TV as she rolled her shoulders back, making them pop before she turned to look at the teen who was sitting on her couch in the cabin. 

 "If you ever see him, don't engage him okay? You don't need to be going after a trained killer." She said, resting her hand on her belly, which was starting to show signs that there was an actual kid inside her womb. 

Peter hid a wince, "How do you know he's trained?" He asked. 

 Pepper shrugged, "I don't, I'm just saying, you don't always have to be the hero, let the cops try and catch him first." 

 Peter did the smart thing and kept quiet and nodded his head in response to the woman. There was no way in hell he was ever telling Pepper it was actually him, that he was going around during the night to kill these assholes. 

She didn't need to worry about him. 

 "So how's it going with your GED?" She asked, thankfully changing the subject. 

 Peter shrugged, "Good. I'm going to take the test in a few weeks." He said. 

Pepper scoffed, "We both know you could take it now Peter." 

 "I just want to be safe Miss Potts." 

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Pepper." She rolled her eyes, "But backtrack for a second. You know there's no reason to worry, Tony admired your intellect Peter. Not a lot of people could impress that man." She said, growing a tad bit more somber at the mention of her late fiancé. 

 Peter himself made sure that his emotions were hidden from her. He didn't want her to see everything behind his gaze. 

It was his fault after all, that Tony had died. It was his fault that the man wasn't here and would never be able to see as his child grew up. 

His fault...

Peter cleared his throat, "T-thanks. That uh, means a lot." He said. 

Pepper smiled softly at him as she laid her hand on his knee for a second before rising up from her place on the couch, "You hungry Peter? I can make lunch for the two of us." Before she could even make it into the kitchen Peter bolted from his spot and beat her to it. 

 "Nope, that's not how that works Pepper. I'll be the cook around here whenever I visit yeah? It's the least I can do for you." He said. 

"Peter..." 

Peter turned around at the time of her voice and saw that she had one of her eyebrows raised with her hands crossed over her chest but her eyes held a gentleness to them, "You don't have to do that." She said. 

"But I want to." He rebutted, smiling back at her like the little shit he was. 

 "Peter...It's not your fault." Those words made the teenager freeze in his place as she walked up to him and brought him in for a hug, "I know you did everything you could to save him, I would never blame you Peter, please don't think for a second I do." 

 "I-I don't know what you're talking about." 

 She smiled sadly down at him, "You do. You've been walking on eggshells around me for weeks, haven't visited as often as I'd like you to. I know the look of self loathing kid, I saw it on Tony for years. I'm not mad, I promise Peter, it's not your fault." 

The first tears in months leaked out of his eyes and dropped down onto Pepper's shirt but she didn't care, all she did was tighten her hold around the teenager and cradle his head in the crook of her neck. 

"It's okay Peter, it's okay. You don't always have to be strong." She whispered. 

 "I miss him." He whispered, tears still falling from his eyes. 

"Me too kid, god me too. I miss him everyday since he flew off into space with you and the wizard. But he'd come back from the dead and kill me if I let you blame yourself for a moment longer...You meant so much to him." 

"What?" 

"Tony...Not once in the time I've known him had he ever wanted to have kids, he said he'd just corrupt them. But then, he met you. And, Tony learned that he wasn't his father, he wasn't as cruel as him. When he got to know you, god Peter that was the most happy I've ever seen that man. He had me, his best friends and now he had a kid to mentor, a kid who he could help shape. He was so so happy." 

 "The day Thanos came, he said he had a dream that we were having a kid, hat I was pregnant and I told him no because I didn't know yet. He never has thought about kids Peter, until you." 

 "He cared so much, he'd never want you to sit here and blame yourself for his death." She finished, her own tears streaming down her face. 

Peter was shocked, he never knew that he meant so much to the man, or...maybe he did and he was just too blind to see it at the time. 

He had taken it for granted, having Tony in his life and now that the man was gone, he wished to every god out in the universe that he could've had one more moment with the man. 

But that's not how the universe worked, Peter knew that...

After the two broken, shattered people stood there for minutes and collected themselves, picked up some of each other's broken pieces and placed them back in their correct spots, they split apart and smiled at each other. 

"Now, how about lunch, yeah? I'm sure you're starving with that metabolism of yours." 

Peter smirked, "I'm still cooking." 

 Pepper glared with no real heat behind the look before she rolled her eyes fondly and moved over to sit at the barstool, "Fine, you win this time, but next time I cook." 

"We'll see." 

"Haha, very funny. What do we got then wise guy?" 

 Peter looked around in the fridge first before looking in the freezer, "How does chicken Alfredo sound? I see you have left over chicken that I can throw into the sauce once I make it." 

 "Sure, that sounds lovely." 

 Peter moved around the kitchen and started to prepare everything to make the meal. About halfway through his prep for the sauce, Pepper called out to him. 

"Where did you even learn to cook?" She asked curiously with a tilt to her head. 

"Well at the compound I don't really see the others that often. I know they're all busy so when I go into the kitchen I make a giant batch of food and leave it in the fridge for them to take whenever they get hungry cause I know how this job is, I know you can sometimes forget meals and not everyone has the time to cook. I taught myself a lot of things and I've been learning new recipes whenever I'm there." Peter shrugged. 

 Pepper smiled, "That's really nice of you Peter." 

"Yeah well, I try." 

"Hey kid, whatcha doing?" The voice of James Buchanan Barnes rang out in the lab from his position leaning against the doorframe, watching as Peter hunched over his latest project.

The man could just make out some black and gold fabric but the thing wasn't done yet, that much was obvious. 

 "Mr Barnes, to what do I owe the pleasure." Peter drawled with a small raise to his eyebrow. 

Bucky snorted, "Someone's in a mood." 

 Peter shrugged, "Nah, I'm always this peachy Mr Barnes." He said dryly. 

 "Enough with the Mr, it makes me feel old..." 

"Technically you are over a hundred." 

"...Besides, I need you for something and I was hoping you could point me in the right direction." He finished, not even acknowledging the teens comment. 

Peter titled his head, "It would depend on what you need, but I'll try my best." 

 "Do you know where...where Steve's shield is kept?" He asked, taking the teen by surprise. 

 "Um, well I could probably find out. Mind telling me why though?" 

"Well, Steve trusted Sam and, I don't know, I just thought he'd like it if we...passed the shield onto the next man. Someone who we both know will do good." Bucky said. 

 "That shield, it comes with a lot of expectations. Are you sure Sam is ready for that?" Peter asked. 

 Bucky thought for a moment before nodding his head, "Yeah, yeah I'm sure." 

 Peter softly smiled for a brief second before his neutral look was back, "Alright, then let's go find that shield James." He said, standing up and starting to walk over to the ex-Hydra assassin. 

Bucky...James smiled back, "Lead the way kid."

Peter crouched down on top of a rooftop in his new nighttime gear.

 The black mask that was covering the bottom half of his face was made with a black and gold fabric. The suit he had on was a simple piece of clothing. But he had hand made most of it and sewed the little designs into the suit. 

 The golden outline that was on his hood fell down the rest of the outfit, highlighting the slight shoulder pads he had on which was made up of a type of Kevlar. 

 He had on a little utility belt where he had a few cartridges of web fluid just incase of emergencies and what the most intricate part of his new suit was probably the gauntlets. They were made out of a thin layer of gold-titanium alloy like Tony's suit used to be. They covered his whole forearm and had the same gold outline along the ends as the rest of his suit. 

He had on a pair of gloves that would hide his fingerprints, just incase and like the belt, he had on web shooters just incase of emergencies. 

 You never knew when the webs could save someone's life, so he liked to keep them on him even when he went out at night. 

 Because during the night, even if he was leaving Spider-Man behind, he was the Ronin. 

And the Ronin was ruthless with how he dealt with crime. 

It was a little funny, how both his alter egos were named by the public. 

Ironic even...

He was quickly broken from his thoughts when he heard a scream, a young boy if he had to guess from the pitch and the sound of his heartbeat. 

Peter quickly jumped off the roof and onto another one, following the sounds. He soon got to the source of the disturbance and quietly made his way down into the alleyway and watched what was happening. 

There was a young male, probably close to his teens if he wasn't already, he was curled up in a corner and staring at the men who were surrounding them with fear in his gaze. 

Men, who happened to be wearing tracksuits...

Without a single thought, Peter dropped down behind the men silently, landing in his crouched position. He watched as the boys eyes widened in shock and if it was possible, they grew even more scared.

He didn't have time to dwell on that though because one of the men took notice of the kid's reaction and turned around, which was when Peter decided to strike. 

He didn't want to traumatize the kid so he knocked them both out rather quickly, punching the dude who turned around in the face and kicking the other in the back, making him propel forward and hit his face against the wall, knocking him out. 

 He turned to look at the kid once he was sure the men were unconscious. He lowered his voice and he made sure the boy could see nothing from his exposed eyes, "Run along kid, get the hell outta here." 

 When the boy didn't move he took a menacing step forward, "Now kid. Before these assholes wake up and finish what they started." That sentence shocked the kid back into his body's and he instantly scrambled away from the scene, running out of the alleyway and off to wherever he needed to be. 

Letting Peter focus fully on the two men in front of him. 

 He dragged the two quite easily away from the alleyway and up onto the nearby roof, where he trapped the men against a beam. He tied their hands together and then tied them up to the pole above their head. 

He needed answers, and he'd be sure to get them one way or another, because the world was changing, and Peter had learned that he needed to change with it or get buried trying to hold onto things which were unreachable in this new reality.

 Peter kept to the shadows the whole time, waiting for the men to wake up. He only had to wait a few minutes before they both started to stir. 

"Ugh, bro, what happened." One of them groaned as he shook his head, trying to gain a sense of where they were. 

 "Don't know bro, we were doing the boss man's work and found that kid before..." The other man trailed off as he caught sight of Peter's shadow. 

Ronin's shadow...

 "Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah, wait a minute, please...we can talk this out yeah? N-no, no need for, uh any violence yes?" He said, trying to squirm out of his bonds. 

"Tell me what I want to know." He said. 

"W-what do you want?" 

"Where can I find your boss." 

 The men looked at each other and had a silent conversation but Peter knew a second before it happened, that they'd lie. 

Listening to their heartbeat, it was so easy now to detect lies. 

 "He's not in city." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Peter pulled back his arm and punched the man right in his jaw, practically shattering the bone which made the man cry out in pain. 

"Lie to me again, and you'll end up like your friend, understand?" He said, cracking his knuckles, "Where's Fisk?" 

 "P-please, Kingpin....h-he he doesn't tell anyone who d-doesn't need to know! Only t-the higher ranking know anything t-to do with him, I swear!" The man whimpered as he curled in on himself, not wanting to get hit. 

Peter hesitated for a second before talking, "And where would I find someone that high up, hmm?" 

 "I....I can't, h-he'll kill me." 

Peter stepped on the man's ankle and placed all his weight on the bone, letting it snap which caused the man to scream. 

"Maybe I wasn't clear, I will kill you if you don't. So no matter what it's a lose lose for you if you don't tell me." 

He whimpered, "O-our deals, by the piers. Drugs, weapons whatever we need. One high ranking officer usually watch over e-everything, makes sure deal goes off without hitch. P-please, that's all I know." 

Peter listened to the man's erratic heartbeat, trying to see if he was lying to him. Luckily for the man, Peter could only sense the adrenaline pumping through his body, making his heart slightly faster but everyone's heart sped up a certain way whenever they lied, it was a biological trigger for lying. 

No one could hide that, at least not from him. 

But this man was telling the truth...

"It was nice doing business with you." Peter said as he grabbed the pistol from his belt and shot both the men with one bullet each. 

Killing them instantly...

 He holstered the weapon again and ran towards the edge of the roof before jumping off towards the next building.

He had a pier to find and hopefully for Peter, there was a deal going on tonight. 

He needed Fisk out of his city, and if this was the only way to do so, then so be it.

"Damn you're good." Sam groaned from his spot on the ground where he had just gotten thrown down by Peter. The two of them were sparing, being the only ones left at the Compound, all the others were either out on a mission or at home getting ready for the holiday. 

Peter himself, after he was done here for the day, was going to head over to Pepper's while Rhodey met him there. 

Some of the Avengers had celebrated it the day before due to the mission some of them had to go on. Yesterday Sam, Bucky, Wanda Clint and his family had celebrated here at the compound and together with Peter, they had had a nice, albeit a little somber celebration but it was nice for everyone to be with others. 

 Today though, Thanksgiving day, he was heading over to Pepper's, where she promised they'd watch the thanksgiving day parade when he got there, along with Rhodey. 

It was surprising that they were having it this year, but Peter guessed with how he's been keeping the crime down, they wanted to give it a chance and give people a sense of normalcy. 

Which Peter was all for. 

 Back to the present, Peter smirked at the downed Captain, "Yeah well I was stronger than Steve before, back when I was younger in Germany. I've had a few months of gaining back my muscle mass plus adding more to what had already been there, you didn't stand a chance Cap." 

 Sam rolled his eyes at the nickname and picked himself back up and got onto his two feet, brushing off his Captain America suit and the star sitting right in the middle of his chest, "Yeah well, I still think it was unfair." 

 "You're just saying that because you lost." 

 "Hey, respect the shield." Sam teased with a smirk as he vaguely gestured to said shield which was leaning against a nearby wall. 

 Peter rolled his eyes, "Sure. It's not me respecting the shield that's the problem though, it's me, respecting you." 

Sam narrowed his eyes, "Ouch kid." He said, placing a hand against his chest in mock offense, "Words hurt you know." 

"Do they? Or are you just sensitive?" 

 "Nope, it's definitely the words." 

"Oh well, I guess we'll never know for sure. One of life's greatest mysteries." Peter said dryly. 

 Sam laughed and slung an arm around the teens shoulders, "Shut the fuck up smartass and go clean up, pretty sure you've got somewhere to be. And if I were you, I wouldn't leave Pepper waiting, especially with those mood swings." Sam shuddered, "Not pretty." 

Peter snorted, "Yeah I get it, you want me gone. I'll be out of your hair in a half an hour, can you last that long?" 

Sam smirked, "I don't know, that's cutting it pretty close." 

 As Peter walked back to his room, he stuck up his middle finger as he kept on walking, making the man laugh all that much harder from his place behind him.

"Look at what we've got here, my favorite spider, sitting on a roof top in something that's definitely not his outfit." The sudden voice of Yelena cut thought the all too quiet night but Peter had known she was there in the shadows, watching him. 

She's actually been watching him for a few weeks now, both during the day as Spider-Man and during the night as Ronin. 

 "Yelena." He acknowledged her with a nod to his head, still focusing and seeing if he could hear anything going on tonight. 

She hummed, "Wanna tell me why the double alter ego? I'm sure you've known I've been following you, that weird senses of yours always seems to warn you of shit you don't see, kinda creepy in my opinion." 

Peter snorted, "Firstly, yes I did know." He said which caused her to scoff, "Secondly, well the answer to that one's a bit, complicated." He said. 

 Yelena shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to him, letting her legs dangle off the building, "I've got all night." 

Peter huffed, watching as the snow gently fell down and piled up onto the nearby buildings and streets of New York. It was getting closer to the end of December which also signaled the date when Pepper was due. 

Technically she was due in the beginning of January, but Peter had a feeling she would be born early. 

Yes, she. 

Morgan Hope Stark.

Pepper decided that she wanted her to take on Tony's last name since she was his and she'd be carrying on his bloodline. 

She'd be the last of the Stark line for a while.

"Heeellloo? You still in there?" Yelena asked, amusement coloring her tone. 

 Peter rolled his eyes, "Yes, I am." 

 "Good, then you can answer my question." 

 Peter sighed and rubbed a hand down his masked face, "Okay look, I realized after months of swinging around that my way wasn't working. Crime was still at an all time high and people were getting hurt. Something happened one day and...I just, I don't know, stopped caring. I knew that if I wanted to change what was happening to this city, then I had to change too." 

Yelena was silent for a moment before speaking, "And the others? They don't know?" 

Peter shook his head, "Not a single clue. It's my best kept secret...If they found out they'd just try to stop me and I-I can't, I can't stop.....I don't want to...I'm trapped in this position, have been since I put on that first suit to be honest with you." 

 Yelena made a face and tilted her head, "Why tell me this? We've only met once before." 

 Peter smiled wearily under his mask, "Like you said, I have my senses to guide me. They're not saying you're a threat so." Peter shrugged, "I listen to them more then I do my own gut." 

 Yelena scoffed, "Well they're clearly wrong, I'm the most dangerous woman on earth thank you very much." 

"A danger to me, not if you are, dangerous." Peter said gently before changing the subject, "So, what're you doing in the city? Decided to come back and take a little vacation?" 

Yelena took a second to shake herself out of her shock before smirking at the young man in front of her, "Actually I've been tracking down these assholes from Japan. I'm sure you're familiar with the Yakuza?" 

Peter scoffed, "Don't even get me started." 

Yelena hummed, "Thought so. Anyways I was over in Japan when I heard some big asshole say something about a man named Ronin going through their forces over in New York. Must have been pretty important too because he held the key to all their off sight bank accounts. Too bad he's dead now...So, I came over to see if I can meet this, Ronin and low and behold, I find out it's you." 

 "Yeah well, all of these different groups are working together. I hit up a pier a few weeks back, it was some drug deal. Anyways that's not important, what is, is the fact that the Tracksuits, Yakuza and the Chinese were working together. I'm pretty sure I even saw a coupe Irish in the mix." 

 Yelena furrowed her eyebrows together, "Why would they do that? They all hate each other. There's been countless situations where all these groups and more fight for territory, why the fuck would they now be working together." 

"Fear." 

Yelena frowned, "What do you mean?" 

 "They're afraid, from the guy at the top of the food chain, the one who's making them work together." 

"And that would be?" 

"Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk. I've had the pleasure of running into him a few times when I've crashed his deals before. And let me just tell you, for a big guy he can really get away, I've no idea how the fuck he does  it." Peter shrugged. 

 "So these assholes are scared of this dude named Wilson? Bunch of pussies." 

 "No, you haven't seen it like I have. Fisk is brutal. If you ever mess up, just a little bit, he'll have you killed before the next day. When I was staking out a deal a week ago, he walked into the room with all his cronies and as soon as he got into the room, you should've seen how they all flinched back in fear, their heart rates accelerated, their adrenaline pumping through their veins. They were all deathly afraid of the man." 

 "Well, it seems like we're after the same thing here, yeah? How about we team up and take out these bastards once and for all, drive them out of this city of yours." Yelena smirked. 

"Oh now you're talking my language Belova." Peter smirked right back. 

"Let's get to work Ronin." 

"I'm surprised," Peter panted from his spot in the warehouse, standing up with bodies of fallen Yakuza surrounding him. 

 "Yeah? Why's that." Yelena asked, holstering her pistol and looking at Peter with a raised eyebrow. 

"That you didn't tell me to stop doing what I'm doing." He said. 

Yelena laughed at the comment, "Do you really think I have any room to judge you on what you do? I've done the same before, it would be pretty hypocritical of me, yes?" She said with an amused twinkle in her eyes. 

"Okay, fair point, but you still could've said it." 

"But I didn't." 

"I know, thanks for that...I don't really want to hear the whole you're better than that speech." 

"People grieve in their own ways, there's nothing anyone can do to change that. Some people cry, some people close their emotions off, and people like us beat the shit out of bad guys until they're a crying puddle of blood and tears on the ground." 

"That was a little too descriptive, I'm guessing you've got some experience?" He teased. 

 "Fuck off." Yelena rolled her eyes.

 Peter laughed before wincing and grabbing his side, "Man, I need a better weapon to take these guys out, that last guy really knew how to throw a punch." 

 "Go all medieval on these bitches and use a sword." Yelena shrugged, obviously not serious but Peter didn't take it that way. 

"Hey, that's a good idea." 

"I was kidding." She deadpanned. 

 "Nope, you've said it and it, my friend is an excellent idea. I've always wanted to learn how to use a sword." He said thoughtfully, "Now when I get back, I'm gonna make the best damn sword in history, it'll be more famous then even Excalibur." 

 "Keep dreaming." 

 "I'm serious! You think I'm joking but the next time we meet up, I'll have a sword, I promise you that." 

 "Alright Mr Knight-In-Shining armor, let's bounce before the cops get here and arrest us both for multiple homicides." 

"That's a good idea, and so is the sword." 

 "I hate you." 

 "I hate me too, don't worry. The feeling is mutual." He smirked, which made Yelena reach over and smack him across the head.

Christmas Day was supposed to be happy, jolly even. It was a time to celebrate with your family, give presents to one another and overall, just be happy that you got to spend the little time you had with them. 

But this years Christmas was anything but...

It was somber, it was sad, depressed even when it came to Peter. 

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel for the Avengers and Co. 

For Pepper had gone into labor last night hours after everyone had arrived for the celebration. 

They all were so worried Christmas Day that they didn't have time to be sad by their lack of family and friends, they all just sat in the waiting room, hoping that when the doctor walked out she'd have good news for them all. 

After a long twelve hours of labor, Peter wanted to rip his ears out of his head. He heard every last one of her screams due to his enchanted hearing and by Bucky's reaction, so could he. 

But after the thirteenth hour, her screams suddenly cut off and Peter was a second away from bursting down the door when he heard the telltale whimper of a little baby. 

Then, Morgan H Stark started crying. 

 Peter sighed and leaned back in his chair, catching the attention of all the people around him. 

"She's okay, Morgan was just born." He explained causing everyone to laugh and hug each other in happiness. 

Sam though, looked at Peter weirdly, "I forgot how good your hearing was."

Peter shrugged, "Can't help it." 

 After another fifteen minutes of them all waiting in silence, with only the occasional excited whisper between Barton's kids, Helen walked out and smiled at them all. 

 "They're both perfectly healthy." Was what she said to them, gaining more relieved smiles from all the adults. 

 Helen continued, "She'll be weak for a while but Pepper will pull through. Peter, she's actually demanded that you're the first one in." She smiled gently at the young man. 

Peter nodded his head before he walked over to the door and pushed it open, making sure to close it behind him before walking over to Pepper, who was sitting against the headboard of the bed with little

Morgan wrapped up in a pink blanket against her chest. 

"Hey." She whispered to him. 

"Hey," he said back, "How're you feeling?" He asked as he sat down in the chair next to her bed. 

"Tired." She softly chuckled, "Happy....Sad...I'm feeling a lot of things." She admitted, staring down at her daughter with clear love and adoration in her gaze. 

 "Yeah well, I think all those emotions are completely valid, considering our situation." He shrugged. 

 Pepper huffed, "Yeah, yeah you're right....Wanna hold her?" She asked. 

Peter eyes widened, "A-are you sure?" He asked. 

This was a child after all, Mr Stark's daughter and Peter didn't want to hurt her, even if he knew he'd rather die than willingly harm this little girl. 

Pepper smiled at him though, "Come on, meet your little sister." 

"Sister?" Peter muttered, standing up and trying to angle his arms to hold Morgan the right way. 

Once he had his arms situated, Pepper carefully laid Morgan in his arms. He gently bobbed her up and down, trying to calm the baby down, not wanting her to cry from being transferred into someone else's arms. 

But all Morgan did was snuggle down into his hold, sinking into his warmth and letting out a soft sigh as she settled down. 

 "Look at that, you're a natural." 

 Peter, from that moment forward, vowed that he'd do whatever he had to do to make sure Morgan was protected. He'd make sure nothing ever happened to her, it was the least he could do for his mentor. 

 "No one will ever harm you as long as I'm alive, I promise Morgan." Peter whispered and laid a kiss on her head, "For everyone who tries, they'll feel my wrath." 

That was a promise, he'd make sure to uphold...

Chapter Text

Wilson Fisk wasn't a coward. 

Anyone who knew the man personally would vouch for him. 

He was as tough as steel, as steady as a mountain and larger than life. 

He didn't do fear.

But Wilson ran for his life as soon as Ronin was spotted at the warehouse he was in, he ran with his good friend and didn't look back at the sounds of his men dying to the man's deadly blade. 

 "Sir, w-we can't stay here any longer." Kazi said, panting from his place leaning against a nearby wall in the alley that they decided to hide out in to catch their breath before making a run for the helicopter. 

"No! This city is mine! It needs correction and I'm the only one who can do so. I will not be forced out by some murderer who doesn't, agree with my ways." Fisk exclaimed, punching the wall behind him, causing Kazi to flinch back. 

But he plowed on, "We won't survive if we stay here Sir. We have to leave!" 

 "You should listen to your friend." 

Both Kazi and Fisk shivered involuntary, hating how that voice made fear course through their bodies. From the shadows of the building above, Ronin descended and landed in a crouched position, with his sword in his hand while he stared up at them with an unflinching gaze. 

 "This isn't your city Wilson, it never was. It belongs to the people, and you don't care about them. You only care about yourself, your own rise to power and you'll kill so many people to get your way." 

"I'm bringing order to this city!" 

 "No, no you don't. You bring pain and suffering wherever you go." 

 "This city needs me!!" 

 "It needs you gone."

 Wilson screamed but before he could even charge at the assassin, he was hit with a projectile and he instantly seized up as electricity coursed through his body. 

 "I wouldn't recommend that." A female voice said, revealing herself. She had on black tactical gear with a special helmet with green eyes, the illuminated green was the only source of color on the female's outfit. 

 "Who are you?" Kazi asked, pointing his pistol at the new comer. 

 "Who I am is no concern to you, what I'll do to you, is another matter entirely." The female said. 

"The end of the world happens and assassins keep popping up. It's people like you that make this city dangerous." Fisk said, with a glare across his face after he ripped off the projectile. 

Ronin scoffed, "Really?" He asked, voiced laced with a thin layer of amusement, "Says the mob boss who orders his men to go and rape children for the fun of it." 

 "You have, no proof that I ordered such things." 

 Ronin smirked before clicking his tongue underneath his mask, "I bet you didn't say those exact words, you're too sly for that. But I would bet my life, you told them to basically do whatever they wanted or something along those lines. You probably even threw in a "I don't care, just get it done." At the the end of the little speech, hmm?" He teased which made his partner snort in amusement. 

 "What, do you want?" Wilson gritted his teeth, both Peter and Yelena could basically see the anger radiating off of the man in waves. 

 "You, dead." Yelena said simply. 

 "Yeah sorry Wilson, you can't buy us like everyone else you do, we don't come with a price tag. No hush money or anything like that. Our list is simple, and if you end up on it, there's only one place you'll be going from there on out." Ronin said, bringing his sword up into a defensive position, getting ready to fight if he had to. 

 "We'll I'm...sorry you feel that way. But I'm afraid you're mistaken. You will not beat me. You're not the first to, dislike my methods and you won't be the last." As soon as the words left his mouth, Peter's sixth sense went haywire but it wasn't warning him about someone going to hurt him. 

It was telling him that Yelena, was in danger...

 He ran towards Yelena and pushed the two assholes who were in his way over to the side as he tackled her out of the way, just in time because as soon as he had gotten her out of the danger zone, three bullets landed right where she had been seconds before. 

The two ducked and ran for the nearest dumpster to use as cover as Yelena took out her pistols and tried to fire back at them. 

 "Fuck, they're getting away!" Yelena exclaimed, watching as Kazi and Fisk ran out of the alleyway. 

"Worry about them later, we've got bigger problems!" Peter said from his crouched position.

 The two of them were pinned down though. Peter knew his sword wouldn't do him much good so he pressed the button which retracted the blade and holstered the handle along his back. He looked above them and he saw that there was a fire escape above them which he could use to his advantage.

"New plan, I'm gonna climb up there, watch my back." Peter said as he gestured to the steel ladder above their heads. Yelena looked up before looking back at him and nodded. She ran out of cover and drew their fire while Peter jumped up and started to climb up the escape. He heard as the guys above them started to shoot at his partner but he focused on climbing as fast as he could.

Once he got up to the top, he quickly rolled out of the way as a bullet was shot at him. Once he got back up, he wasted no time in taking out the assholes who were trying to kill them. 

 He ran at them and knocked the gun out of one of the man's hand and punched him right in the throat before grabbing his shoulder and turning him around, using him as a bullet shield as the other two shot at him.

Once they had shot at him and needed to reload he chucked the body in their direction before sprinting over, jumping up in the air and kicking them both in midair while performing a split. 

Both men fell down as he landed in his crouched position.

"You're such a poser, you know that?" Yelena said appearing from the fire escape and walking over to him. 

Peter shrugged as he stood up straight, "So I've been told."

Yelena hummed, "Also a show off, but I won't get into that argument today, don't feel like nursing a headache." She said, walking up to the two unconscious men, taking out her pistol and shooting them both in the head once.

Peter scoffed and shook his head before focusing his senses and seeing if he could find out where Kazi and Fisk had run off to. Yelena used to his powers now, knew not to talk and let him focus so she decided to drag the bodies of the dead Yakuza towards the side of the roof.

Peter was about to give up when he honed in on a helicopter and the voice of Fisk, ordering his men to retreat.

There was a first for everything, he guessed...

"Damn it." Peter muttered.

"What?" Yelena asked.

"Fisk and Kazi just got in a helicopter. They ordered everyone to leave the city. Apparently we were costing them too much money." He rolled his eyes in annoyance. 

"Did you hear where they're going?" she asked. 

Peter focused for another second before answering, "Japan...Hong Kong."

Yelena clapped her hands with a fake, sarcastic smile across her face, "Great, home of the Yakuza, I was literally just there. Good thing I've got a plane that can take use right there, easy peasy." She said which made Peter pause for a moment. 

"Yelena, I can't leave this city. There's still so many groups that are terrorizing this place, these people need me here."

Yelena scoffed, "Please, you've been brutally murdering these scumbags for months on end Peter, they're all scared shitless of you. Plus most of them will be leaving with Fisk, he's the big boss man remember? He doesn't want anyone else but him to rule New York."

Peter sighed, seeing the logic in her point but thinking of another matter entirely which could become a problem, "What am I going to tell the others? They all know I'd never leave this city."

Yelena shrugged, "Just tell them you're staying with Potts for the weekend or something."

"And if they ask Pepper?"

"We'll already be out of the county and trust me, no one can track my plane, completely untraceable."

Peter bit his lip in consideration. On one hand, this city was his home and these people needed someone to look after them. But Yelena did have a point, most of them would flock to Wilson since they were scared shitless of him, most would probably leave New York which would only leave the petty criminals behind, which the cops could deal with. 

He also knew that Wilson would never stop, he'd keep doing what he was doing, murdering, raping all that jazz. He wouldn't stop until he got all the power he thought was owed to him. 

He knew first hand just how dangerous men like that could be...

Peter nodded his head, "Alright, give me a few hours to pack then we'll get the hell out of here and track down that fat bastard."

Yelena smirked underneath her helmet, "After you partner."

Peter was in his room at the compound, packing up all the things that he would need for the trip. He had already put his suit away in his duffle bag along with his retractable sword and a couple vials of web fluid incase of emergencies. 

 He didn't know how long he was going to be gone for, but he had a feeling that this was the last time he'd see New York for a long time. 

And surprisingly, he wasn't that broken up about it.

The main factor in that was probably because he knew if Wilson ever gained back the money and power that Peter took from him, he'd just come back to the city and Peter didn't plan on ever allowing that poor excuse of a man back into his home. 

If Peter had it his way, the man would already be dead...

 New York would always be his home though, no matter where he was on the planet, this city was apart of him, it was a part that he didn't want to get rid of. 

 "What're you doing back so late kid?" Bucky asked from the hallway where he could see inside of Peter's room, considering the door was wide open. 

Peter turned around and put on his fake smile at the man. "Sorry if I woke you, I just needed to grab a few things. I'm going to be staying with Pepper for a few days and I needed to grab a couple things." He said apologetically, hoping the man would buy his act. 

 Bucky scoffed and waved his hand around, walking over to rest against the door, "It's alright kid, it's been one of those nights anyways, I'm sure you understand." He smiled at him. 

Peter huffed, "Yeah, don't have to tell me twice, I get you."

"So...when will you be back? You're one of the only ones I can spar with and actually put up a fight against without hurting." He said. 

Peter shrugged, "Don't know, gonna stay up there a bit and help Pepper with Morgan. I might swing by though for a few hours after patrol." 

 Bucky nodded, "Good. Stay safe out there yeah? Never know where Ronin is nowadays." 

 "Yeah, thanks. I'll be sure to uh, remember that." 

Bucky offered him on last smile before he walked down the hallway, probably back down towards his room. 

 Once he was gone, Peter sighed before he finished packing his gear and everything he'd need for the trip.

After he was done and he shouldered his bag, he picked up his phone and paused for a moment as he stared at his heavily encrypted phone. 

He debated with himself for a moment before he decided that he needed to get it done, he needed to tell at least someone so he opened his contacts and clicked on Pepper's number and texted her if she was up. 

He didn't want to disturb her if she was asleep but not even a minute later he got a reply from her so she told her he was on his way before walking out his door and going outside the compound to start swinging towards the direction of Pepper's cabin. 

He needed to tell her, he didn't need her worrying anymore then she already did. 

He left the compound, but little did Peter know, that he wouldn't see the building for years to come, his last time stepping foot in that building until the universe called upon him...

"What's this about Peter?" Pepper asked worriedly as she ushered him in the cabin over to the plush couch in the living room, "You don't usually show up at two in the morning asking to talk, are you in trouble?" She asked, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to continue. 

Peter laughed but there was no real humor behind it, "God, you're going to hate me." 

 "Hate you?" Pepper frowned, "What do you mean?" 

 Peter sighed and rubbed a hand down his face before he looked up into Pepper's eyes, "I'm leaving New York." He said bluntly, "And I don't know when I'll be back." 

 Her eyes widened, "What?" She whispered, "W-what are you talking about? You can't just leave! Where're you going to go?" 

 "Pepper." 

 "You're only seventeen, how're you even going to get  out of the state?!" 

"Pepper." 

 "You can't go! You can't! I would never forgive myself if something happened to..." 

"Pepper!" He exclaimed as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake up Morgan. Pepper looked over at him and Peter could see how distraught she looked, like she was ready to cry or scream or do both. 

 "I can't stay here any longer, I can't. I've been after these group of assholes ever since coming back down to earth and they're still causing trouble wherever they go. They rape and murder people without a second thought, they need to be brought to justice, and I'm the only one who's willing to do so." He said. 

 "Why not ask the others for help? I'm sure they would without hesitation" 

Peter shook his head, "No, this is something I've got to do alone. They won't stop, and no one seems to care how they're destroying the city. I don't want the others to be dragged into my mess...If they think for one second that they can run away, they've got another thing coming." Peter finished and Pepper could see all the different emotions in his gaze. 

She could see his anger, his determination and stubbornness clear as day across his face. But she could also see something dark in the gaze, something that he was trying so desperately hard to hide but having slipped up while talking about these obviously bad people. 

 "It's you, isn't it?" She asked. 

Peter's brow furrowed in confusion, "What?" 

 "Ronin, you're him." She stated like it was a fact. 

Once he heard her words, Peter froze from his place on the couch and he looked at Pepper in shock. He had been so careful, so careful not to let anything slip yet here she was, telling him he was the Ronin. 

"How?" He asked, not even trying to deny it, having learned form past experiences it was never a good thing to lie to Pepper Potts. 

Pepper smiled sadly at him as she moved over to sit next to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Even though you and Tony aren't related, you do share similar traits. The one I'm referring to however, is the same tendency to hide your emotions so no one can see them. You bottle everything up until it eventually overflows. I spent years reading into Tony and what he was really feeling, I knew something was up the day of the radio cast, when they first announced Ronin." 

 "Then why? Why play along all this time?" He asked with a tilted head, not accusing the woman, just curious. 

 "Who am I to tell you what's right and wrong, hmm? Tony killed while protecting so many lives, it's not like you go out and kill innocents Peter, you protect the citizens. I could never ask you to stop doing that, no matter how much that pains me. How much it hurts to watch you throw your life a way for a life full of guns and violence." Pepper shook her head, "Just...stay safe, okay? That's all I ask." 

 Peter let a small, sad smile slide across his face, "Yeah, promise. I'll be in touch with you whenever I can alright? I'll send you post cards but I don't know when I'll be back. I'll try to visit once a month, yeah?" He said as he stood up and offered his hand down to help her off the couch. 

She grabbed it and as soon as she was standing, she pulled him into a hug, "Okay." Was all she said as she buried his face in the crook of her neck. Peter let her, as he hugged back, knowing the woman needed this. 

They had taken care of each other these past few months, always looking out for the other especially during the months of her pregnancy. 

He'd do anything for the people he still had left, Pepper and Morgan were apart of that very small group of people. 

 They pulled apart after a few minutes and Peter smiled at her, "Thank you." 

Pepper huffed, "What for? You would have gone with or without my consent." 

 Peter smirked, "Yeah, but it's nice to know you won't try to stop me." 

She rolled her eyes fondly at him before shoving his shoulder, making the young man chuckle, "Remember, please don't say anything to the Avengers, I don't need them hunting me down forever." He said after his laughed subsided. 

Pepper nodded her head, "Promise, not a word if, and this is a major big if...if you keep to your promise and visit or send a card once a month." She raised an eyebrow at him. 

The teen stood up straight and saluted her, "Aye aye Captain." He smirked. 

Pepper snorted before waving him away, "Go already before I change my mind." 

The woman watched as the last of Tony's legacy walked out the door with a melancholic smile. She didn't know when she'd see him next, but she knew she would. 

Peter always kept his promises...

Chapter Text

Bucky wandered his way into the meeting room with a worried frown across his face. 

It had been a week since Peter had left the compound and the man still couldn't get in contact with him. 

He's tried to call him, text him hell he even called Pepper but she said he wasn't there at all. 

Which worried the man even more.  

 And Pepper wasn’t the biggest fan of him either, for what he did to Stark which he understood, really he did but it didn’t stop him from wincing at the hatful tone of voice she used with him. 

Anyways, the kid was supposed to be staying with Pepper but if the kid hadn't even made it to the cabin, then something must have happened, he could be hurt, dying or captured and Bucky was just there, at the compound not even thinking to check up on him. 

He was such and idiot sometimes. 

 "Any luck?" Sam asked from his spot leaning against the table. 

"Nothing, it's like he vanished." Bucky shook his head.

 "I didn't see him in the city when I went to look. Spider-Man also hasn't been seen in a week according to the people I asked.” Wanda said from her spot sitting in one of the chairs. 

 "Damn it." Bucky muttered, "Well we can't just give up, we have to find him." He said. 

Sam nodded his head, "Agreed." 

"I've checked the surrounding twenty mile radius, we've had Friday scan the area as well Barnes, he's not anywhere near the compound." Rhodey said. 

 "Then check the area around the cabin next, he's gotta be somewhere." The ex assassin said. 

 The kid could be anywhere by now and Bucky was starting to have a bad feeling about this whole situation. 

 "Barnes..."

"No, I'd never forgive myself if I sat here and did nothing, I've gotta find him." 

Rhodey sighed over the holographic call before nodding his head, "Alright, I'll get back to you when I'm done." 

Bucky nodded gratefully, "I'm going back into the city, gonna see if I can shake something out of the tree." 

"Stay safe."

"You too." Bucky then turned to the hologram of Clint and he didn't even need to say anything to the archer before he spoke up. 

 "I'll get ahold of my old contacts, see if they can find anything on the kid." Clint said with a worried look behind his gaze. 

Parker was still a teenager after all, only a few years older than his daughter, he couldn't even begin to imagine if it was her in this situation and his inner father was probably showing but he didn't care. 

Not when Peter was still missing. 

 "Thanks Clint."

 "No problem, like Rhodes said, stay safe out there man." With that said, Clint disconnected from the call and Bucky walked out of the room, walking into the garage to grab a car to go into the city. 

He had a spider to find.

"Barnes you've got to eat." Wanda said, walking into the meeting room where Bucky was slaving over the data he's collected so far on Parker, trying to find out where the hell the kid went. 

Which to be honest, wasn’t all that much…

Bucky grunted, "I'm fine." 

"That's not what I said, I said you need to eat, there's a difference." She said lightly as she set the plate of food she had cooked down on the table behind the man. 

"I don't need to eat." 

Wanda scoffed, "Everyone needs to eat." 

 "I'm working." 

"So is everyone else. You think we like it how Peter's out there? By himself? Even if he can take care of himself, you think we like not knowing what happened to him?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Bucky sighed and rubbed his hand done his face, "I've gotta find him." 

"We've got a whole team trying to find him, I'm sure no one will yell at you for taking a break to eat, clean up or rest." 

 "I'm not going to win this one, am I?" Bucky sighed in resignation. 

Wanda smirked slightly, "Not likely." 

Bucky scoffed before he turned around and grabbed the fork before starting to eat the pasta she had made for him. 

"There, was that so hard?" She teased with a raised eyebrow which made him roll his eyes and flip her off. 

She laughed at his response before she sobered up a bit and smiled sadly at him, “Honestly, this is the least I can do for you after you guys helped me after my whole, Westview meltdown.” She admitted with regret behind her gaze causing Bucky’s eyes to soften just a bit. 

“Hey, none of that. All of us grieve the loss of loved ones differently. You loved Vision, but he was taken away from you and how you acted, while it wasn’t right, it’s understandable Wanda. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Hell, I’ve done worst so no big deal.” He said, raising the fork to his mouth and taking a bite of the pasta. 

Wanda smiled at him, “Thank you.” She said, her voice heavy with emotion, causing her accent to be more prominent, “Now eat the food.” 

 “I am! Jesus woman, you’re not my mother. I’m a grown hundred year old man. Leave me alone.” Bucky grumbled. 

Wanda chuckled as she walked out of the room, “Whatever you say Barnes.” 

"Bucky..."

"No I'm serious, we need more resources, if we could just ask the government..." Bucky wasn't even allowed to finish before Rhodey cut him off. 

"They would deny you, they have more pressing concerns right now than trying to find a seventeen, almost eighteen year old kid. Plus, the state was informed that Peter Parker, while he survived the snap, ran away months ago as to not arise suspicion about why he was staying at the compound. The government and the state knew that, but a run away kid is not their problem, as much as it hurts to say that." 

 "So what?! You just wanna give up?!" Bucky exclaimed while glaring at the man. In the short time he's known the kid, he's grown fond of him. 

He reminded Bucky of a young Steve in a few ways, which may have influenced why he spent time with him at first, but as he got to know the kid he realized just how good he was. 

Too good for their world...

"What about the Wakandans? Have they found anything yet? I'm sure Okoye has..."

 "I'm not giving up!" Rhodey exclaimed, cutting the man off, "You think I like it how my best friend's protégé is out there, by himself? You think I like it how I can't find him, do you honestly think I'm okay with just, stopping the search?...No, no I'm not. But it's been months Barnes, and there's been absolutely no sign of him whatsoever. If he's out there, I have full confidence that he can take care of himself." 

"And if he's not?" Bucky countered, "If he's captured, what then?" 

Rhodey sighed, "Then when we find out, we kill the son of a bitches who are responsible. But until then, there's nothing we can do except try to keep piecing everything together ourselves."

 Bucky sniffed before looking at his evidence board with all the info on Parker with a picture of him right smack dab in the middle. 

As much as he hated to admit it, the Colonel was right, it had been months and they still haven't found any leads to where the kid was or where he had even gone. 

 Everyone around was starting to lose hope that the kid was even alive. 

But not Bucky...

He had this feeling, sort of like dread, but he just knew Peter was still alive, it was just this feeling he had. 

He usually listened to his gut, since getting his mind back it hasn't ever lead him astray before. 

 But that begged the question, where did Peter go? 

And why would he leave without telling anyone?

Bucky didn't have the answer, but you better believe that he'd try his damn hardest to find out the answer, no matter how long it took him. 

He'd make sure to find Peter, after all it was the least he could do for Stark. 

He did kill his parents after all so call this amending his mistakes or something, but he wouldn't stop until he knew with one hundred percent certainty that Peter Parker was alive and well. 

No matter what.

"Morgan come on baby, work with me please?" Pepper sighed in frustration as Morgan kept screaming and crying, not wanting to go to bed yet even though she was obviously tired. 

It had been a long few months since Peter's sudden disappearance from New York and she had kept her promise, she had told the Avengers nothing of what she knew. 

It was the least she could do for the kid, even if she didn't like him being out there all by himself. 

 After another twenty minutes of fighting with Morgan she had finally started to settle down and fell asleep in her mother’s arms, much to Pepper's relief. 

She quietly walked up the stairs into her bedroom and gently placed her daughter down in her crib. She stood there for a few more seconds to make sure Morgan stayed sleeping before walking back downstairs and falling down with a sigh of relief onto her couch. 

The weather was starting to warm up, winter leaving and making room for spring as the days went by and Pepper couldn't be more glad. Where she loved the snow and everything about winter, she had gotten sick of the frozen water months ago, she was happy it was finally April. 

But she knew how unpredictable the weather was in New York, so she wouldn't be surprised if it started to snow in a few weeks. 

That was the one thing she hated about New York, the weather. 

She remembers a few years ago when there was a day at the beginning of May where it had actually snowed and covered the ground in a few inches of snow. 

God she hated Global warming, fuck people who thought it wasn't real.

Before she could let her mind wander anymore, there was a knock at the door. She stared at it warily but also confusedly. She didn't know who would be knocking at a time like this, but it was eight o'clock at night and the people who lived near her were an elderly couple which would never make the journey to her cabin. 

 She got up and walked over to the front door and waited a second before whispering, "Who is it Fri?" 

 "It seems to be a mailman. He's got a package in his hands." Friday informed her which made even more confusion stir in her stomach, all her mail usually got sent to the Compound, so why was a mailman out here?

The best possible answer she could come up with was it was meant for her elderly neighbors so she opened the door for the man, going to let him know he had the wrong house but as soon as she opened the door, he spoke up. 

 "Miss Potts?" He asked with a polite smile across his face. 

Pepper blinked at the man but nodded her head, "Yes, that's me. How did you know..." She wasn't even allowed to finish before the man handed her the package, which she took with narrowed eyes. 

 "A mutual friend of ours asked me to deliver this to you." The man's British accent was very hard to miss, but he didn't seem to be a bad guy. That was when she registered the man's words. 

 "What mutual friend?" She asked. 

 "He told me to tell you that he's safe, and that he'll try to visit next month, but until then, he asked me to give you that." He gestured to the box now in her hands, "Said something about finishing up some business in Hong Kong before making his way back to the city for a bit." 

 Pepper's eyes widened, "Peter?" She whispered. 

The man smiled with his obviously fake costume on, "That's the one." 

Pepper shook her head for a moment before she let a small smile spread across her face. She outstretched her hand as she tucked the box underneath her arm, "Thank you so much..." 

The man smiled, "Rick Mason, but you can call me Mason." He said as he took her hand. 

 "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me." 

"Anytime ma'am. Now If you'll excuse me, I have to get going. It was nice meeting you Miss Potts." Mason smiled one last time before turning around and walking down the dirt path, away from the cabin and into the woods where his vehicle was stored. 

Pepper quickly shut the door and walked back over to the couch and placed the little wooden box on the coffee table before sitting down and opening the lid. 

Inside there was a multitude of different items. The first one that she saw was a gold encrusted flower necklace. The flowers themselves were apart of the chain and would go up to the top of her clavicle bone if she were to put it on. The second item was a perfectly shaped, orange stone. There was some black coloring in the mineral itself but it was mostly a dull orange color. 

The third item was a post card, just like he said he'd send. It was a picture of the city Hong Kong at night with all the different lights shinning. She flipped it over and saw that there was a short message on the back. 

"There's so much to see on such a little island compared to the rest of the world. New cultures and languages, it truly is quite beautiful."

She huffed and placed the card down before she picked up the last item in the box, which was a piece of paper. She realized it was an actual letter and unfolded the paper and started to read it. 

"Hey Pepper, I first just want to say how sorry I am for the radio silence, I know I promised I'd send something but I got caught up in some Yakuza shit over here and I needed to take care of it and make sure it was safe to send you this." 

"But don't worry! Everything's fine now, promise."

"Anyways, If your reading this, that means I've finally deemed it safe enough to send this to you with a friend. He's apparently an old Shield agent so that's cool." 

"I'm just writing this so I can tell you I'm almost done with my Hong Kong business and will hopefully be back in the states very soon to come visit." 

"For how long, I have no idea. I don't think I'll be staying though, there's still unfinished business out there, people who think they can do whatever they want, hurt and kill people without consequences and that needs to stop."

"I'm rambling on, sorry about that. Just know that I'll be back in New York before the end of May to visit, so expect me back within the next month." 

"I hope you and Morgan are doing okay, I'll see you both real soon." 

"From—PBP."

Pepper sighed and hugged the letter to her chest, "God I hope you're safe Peter." She whispered into the silence of the cabin, knowing no one could hear her, but wishing the kid didn't get into any trouble. 

But with the little she knew about him, she knew that was most likely not the case...

Chapter Text

You know, if someone asked Peter a few months back, what he thought he'd be doing, he never in his wildest dreams would think that in a couple months he'd be sprinting down the streets of a major city in Japan with Natasha Romanoff's sister, running from what was basically the Japanese version of the Mafia.

And yet, here he was... 

Peter and Yelena both ran down the streets of Hong Kong as the Yakuza were shooting at them with their very deadly guns, yet most of their bullets ricocheted off of every surface around them, and surprisingly didn't hit the two. 

At least not yet...

"Thought we were done with these assholes!" Peter exclaimed through his com at Yelena. 

He heard her huff as she vaulted over and slid across the trunk of a car, "Well this is Japan, homeland to said assholes. The ones we didn't kill happen to be very mad that we killed ninety percent of their buddies!" She said back, slightly amused.

 "Glad you're finding this situation funny." He deadpanned as he flipped over another car, twisting in midair to avoid some of the bullets and landing in his crouched pose before he transitioned into a roll, getting back up and continuing down the street. 

 "Come on! If you're allowed to pose, I'm allowed to joke in these types of situations, it's only fair!" 

 "Let's just get to the damn getaway vehicle!" He rolled his eyes, knowing Yelena could see the gesture due to her snort of amusement. 

It was slightly different for him, wearing this new mask and gear. Where his old gear covered up his whole face, this one only covered the bottom half, hiding his mouth and nose but leaving his eyes clear for anyone to see. It was kind of like a ski mask, but the middle portion of the mask that separates the eyes was also removed, so there was just a cylinder shaped opening for that part of his face. 

Then there was of course the hood and the actual gear. He was used to the free motion he got in spandex, but he had to learn very quickly that he wasn’t gonna be as flexible as he was in his Spider-Man costume.

He’d have to see if he could fix that sometime soon…

He also was actually wearing shoes which was, well a big change for him, not usually needing them when going out to patrol around the city, due to how protective the spandex were.

It was all weird getting used to, but after months of working over seas with Yelena in a Japanese city, well he learned to get used to it pretty quickly. He had to if he didn’t want to be shot where he stood. 

Speaking of being shot, the two continued to dodge bullets and run down the street as they tried to get to the garage that their vehicle was parked in. 

Thank past Peter and Yelena for making that decision, or who knows what they’d do.

At the very beginning of their little escapade, Yelena had gave Peter a grief run down on the what-to-do’s and-don’ts in situations like theirs. 

Basically, she gave him a run down on what it meant to be a spy, which would’ve made the old Peter Parker jump up and down for joy at being taught by Natasha Romanoff’s sister. But now, well, he was just happy to have the information so he could get this job done quicker. 

 One of the main points she made sure to emphasize, was that he needed to have many escape routes planned incase shit hit the fan, which it almost always did when Peter was concerned. 

 So one of the places they had stashed a getaway car was in downtown Hong Kong. They had done their research before placing it there though, and they found out the Yakuza tended to frequent the place a lot more often then not, so they decided it was the perfect candidate for where one of their cars should be stored. 

It was a good thing they decided that too, or else they’d be fucked right about now…

Peter was very glad about his choice of garage too, Yelena had wanted one a little father away but Peter insisted on the one they choose. He just had a gut feeling that things would go astray and he always listened to his senses when they told him something. 

It would appear, that he was right. 

Peter could hear as all the bullets zipped by his head at lightning speed but none of them got their mark, which was just complete insanity. 

These guys were supposed to be the baddest crime syndicates in all of Japan, yet they couldn’t hit two people who were running down the middle of the street right in the open. 

Fisk really needed to hire better people, preferably people who could actually shoot straight.

Then again, don’t because if Fisk did so, it’d only mean more work for him at the end of the day. 

He did not feel like digging into his skin with tweezers to get a bullet out of him, he’s already done so plenty of times before and it was not pleasant. 

The less he had to do that, the better.

Peter looked up as the turned around a corner and saw that their garage was just in the distance. The two looked at each other for a brief second before they both turned their heads back around and started to sprint for the door, not needing words to express what they wanted at a time like this. 

Even with her helmet on, he knew what she was conveying to him.

 Just as they got to the door a minute later though, which led them into the garage, Peter’s senses flared so he shouldered the door open as quick as he could before pushing Yelena and himself in, just in time too because right where his partner was once standing a second before, a bullet flew past and hit the wall right where her head had once been. 

 Peter quickly looked around from inside the garage, trying to see if he could spot anything that he could use to help them block the now broken door. His eyes roamed the room until they landed on a couple metal shelves along the far corner of the building. 

Peter quickly raced over to the wall and grabbed both the shelves with his strength and dragged them over to the door, making sure to shut it before blocking it with the metal objects, at lest making it harder for those assholes to open it if that's what they decided to do. 

"How many times have I saved your ass in the last few months?" He asked after a second of catching his breath, staring at her with a raised eyebrow. 

 Yelena waved him off, "Irrelevant, we've got bigger things to worry about right now so how about you stop your complaining, and get in the damn car." 

 "You're mean today." Peter muttered with a small pout under his mask as he walked around the clutter on the ground and over to the new model of the Mazada Mx-5 which was parked near the garage entrance. 

 Yelena smirked at his attitude, "Don't pout паук and get in the fucking car. I don't feel like pulling bullets out of my body when I get shot." 

 "You won't get shot, If anything I'll get shot saving you from getting shot." Peter grumbled as he slide into the passenger seat of the car as Yelena got into the driver side, once sitting down slipping her helmet off her head and letting her braided hair flow down her back. 

 "You can take it Mr Enhanced. Incase you've forgotten, you have the powers in this little partnership, not me. You'd probably live if you got shot with a bullet, I on the other hand, just a mere mortal, might perish." She teased. 

 Peter, for what felt like the tenth time just within the last hour, rolled his eyes, "Haha very funny." 

Yelena offered him one last smirk before she started the car and punched the gas, making the car lurch forward towards the door. Peter gritted his teeth and quickly put his seatbelt on and grabbed the handle above his door just as Yelena crashed through the garage door and drove out onto the streets of Hong Kong, his senses instantly warning him about the bullets fired at them. 

 "Did you really have to do that?" Peter asked. 

 "Where's the fun in opening the door? That would've given them more time to shoot us!" Yelena said, not taking her eyes off of the road. 

 "Could've still warned me at least." 

 "Like I said, where's the fun in that?" 

 Peter sighed in resignation and slowly shook his head, "How'd I become the most mature one in this team up?" 

"Hey! Offensive!! I'm extremely hurt!" She said, not at all convincing with the smile evident in her tone. 

 "I'm sure you are." 

 She didn't have time to say anything back because someone drove up right beside them and tried to pit maneuver them. 

 "Bitch!" Yelena glared out the window and turned the car a little bit to hit them like they had done to her, but it was a tad bit more violent then the first one. The car to the right of them lost control and flipped over, crashing into a nearby building and exploding on impact. 

 "Take that Yakuza bitch!" Yelena exclaimed, turning to look back at the road as she continued to weave in between other cars. 

"What is it with you and the word bitch?" Peter asked, still gripping the fuck out of the handle above his door while she drove like a maniac, hoping to all the gods above that he somehow survived this endeavor of theirs. 

 Yelena shrugged, "Don't know, it just happens to be the best word ever created." 

 "Says who?" 

"Says me of course, I thought that was pretty obvious. Someone must be tired today, your little genius brain is having a hard time keeping up with little old me." She said, making a sharp right down a street causing Peter to clench his eyes shut and shake his head.

He was gonna die.

 "First of all ouch, second you're not old and third watch the fucking road!" He exclaimed the last part of his sentence as he opened his eyes and watched as these random dudes on motorcycles started driving straight at them. 

"Shit!" Yelena swerved out of the way and punched the gas again. Peter turned around in his seat and watched the men turn their bikes around and come speeding after them. 

 "We've got a problem." He informed. 

 "Don't worry, I've got a plan." 

"Oh no, kill me now." 

 "Hey! My plans are good!" 

"Good isn't the word I'd use to describe them." 

"Oh really, and what word would you use then?" 

 "Oh I don't know, how about violent, stupid, risky, basically anything to do with dying a horrible painful death? That's what your plans are like." 

 "And you said I'm the mean one today, you are the one in the mood. Is it that time of month? Is someone having mood swings." At her wording, Peter tensed up slightly but tried not to let it show. 

He may or may not have been in a mood, in the confines of his mind he admitted to himself that he was definitely what one would consider, moody at the moment. 

But he tried to forget why that was, the memories to painful at the moment to think about. 

Memories of normal days, sitting in the couch and relaxing on a Sunday morning when she didn’t have to call in for work, all the burnt, terrible meals she tried to cook and even the times where she wasn’t that happy with him. 

When she around our he was Spider-Man, he could still sometimes hear his ears ringing if he thought about the memory for too long. 

But he suppressed those memories for now, they had a job to do and he wouldn’t let his mind set in the way of that right now. 

Even though it hurt so much to think that. 

Peter stared directly out the window as he responded, not wanting Yelena to catch on to him, “I'm a male, I don't get periods." Peter deadpanned, looking out towards his side mirror and realizing they were quickly gaining on them. 

 "How would I know? You could be trans for all I know, not like that's a bad thing or anything, be whatever you want to be I don't give a fuck. Honestly, what is wrong with some people, hmm? Think it's cool to go around and make fun of people just because they're different from you, unbelievable." Yelena ranted, which made Peter sigh in relief at Yelena taking the bait, now he just hoped she continued to believe him but just then the dudes with motorcycles caught up to them and the ones riding on the back, pulled out guns and started to shoot at them, causing both to duck down and avoid the bullets. 

 "Less talking, more driving!" 

"Relax, the car is bullet proof, we're safe." She said. 

 "And the windows?" Peter raised an eyebrow. 

Yelena hummed, "Not, as bullet proof, but still pretty resistant to bullets." 

 "Oh that just fills me with warm fuzzy feelings doesn't it? The window is resistant to bullets, I'm sure that's going to help when they're shooting hundreds of bullets at us." Peter rolled his eyes sarcastically as he looked out his window again just as another round of ten bullets pierced the other end. 

 He heard with his enhanced senses how the glass was starting to crack due to all the bullets leaving marks, and just as a portion of the glass started to crack, he turned to look at Yelena, "You see that? This window, not gonna work!" He exclaimed. 

 "What's with the mood? I've done nothing wrong and still you yell at me." Yelena suddenly said in a serious tone of voice, keeping her eyes on the road and taking a break from their little joking argument that was really just two friends bickering back and forth. 

 Peter froze for a second before he shook himself out of it and scoffed, "We have more pressing things to worry about right now don't you think?" He said, trying to change the subject but Yelena was not having any of that.

 "No, I'm serious what's wrong?" She said with her no nonsense voice on, glaring at the window but Peter knew she wasn't angry at him, she was most likely angry at herself for not seeing his mood shift sooner. 

 "I really feel like we should worry about the Yakuza shooting at us first." 

Yelena groaned, "You are so difficult!" She exclaimed as she unholstered her pistol and shot through the glass of the vehicle herself, taking a few bullets to break the glass before it shattered, as the rest of the bullets hit their target and killed the men on the bike. 

 She did the same and pointed her gun in Peter's direction and shot a couple bullets and then once the glass broke, used the last of the bullets to kill the men on bikes. 

"There, happy? Now, what's wrong?" She said, placing her pistol back on her thigh holster. 

 Peter sighed silently to himself before deciding Yelena was not likely to let the subject go, so he might as well tell her, "It's May fifth today." 

 Yelena frowned as she turned around a tight corner, "Okay?" She said, waiting for him to continue as patiently as she could which made him slightly smile underneath his black mask. 

He's learned that patience, wasn't one of Yelena's strong suits...

 Peter swallowed and looked down at his lap, "It's my aunt's birthday." He admitted. 

 He watched from the corner of his eyes as Yelena's face softened, "Oh." She said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

 "No it's fine," Peter shook his head, "You didn't know and, I'm the one who told you, no need to be sorry for that." He said, gripping the handle even more when Yelena banked around another corner, barely missing an incoming vehicle. 

 "Still, I should've stopped and not pushed you so much." 

Peter rolled his eyes, "I said it was fine Yelena, I trust you okay? No need for any of that shit anymore, plus...I needed to, to tell someone and considering you're like, the only person in my life right now." Peter shrugged, "I don't know, emotions are complicated sometimes." 

That comment made Yelena snort in amusement, "Tell me about it." She said, touched with the amount of trust he already had for her in only a few months, but also dropping the matter entirely now, not needing to say what she wanted to. 

She had confidence that Peter knew. 

He understood...

In the months since their little partnership, they both had gotten real good at talking without words. It was like they knew what the other was thinking before they even said it, not needing words to over complicate their feelings for them. 

They've grown to be quite an excellent team.

But Yelena, she sometimes couldn’t believe how easy it was to fall into a routine with him. She’s never felt like this with anyone before, not with her sister or her parents. 

She felt like she could trust him, like really trust him, and that scared the assassin just a bit. She grew up in the Red Room after the mission in 1995, and there, they taught her emotions made you weak and relationships were a distraction. 

Then they mind controlled her to do their bidding for years. She watched as she killed so many people, stuck in her own head and not able to do anything to stop herself. 

Needless to say she had trust issues. 

But with Peter, she didn’t know. There was just something about him that made him different. He wasn’t like anyone else she met, it seemed the teenager in front of her always had a cloud around him nowadays, this darkness that would seep into every bone in his body and for some reason, she wanted to protect him from it. 

Wanted to protect him from going down a truly dark path, darker than the one they were already walking. 

She knew it’d take time for him to open up to her, and for her to open up to him, but Yelena has enjoyed these last few months. It’s the most fun she’s probably had since finding out her sister…

 Yelena mentally shook he head, now was not the time for such depressing thoughts, they had a job to do. They still needed to lure these guys…

 "Look out!" Peter suddenly exclaimed, referring to the car heading right for them and breaking Yelena out of her head.” 

"Hold on!" Yelena said as she turned the wheel around and made the car turn, drifting to the side of the incoming car and almost hitting the oncoming vehicle. Instead though, they scrapped against each other and took out the mirror on Peter's side of the sports car. 

 "Forget about Tokyo Drift, it's Hong Kong drift now bitches!" She said, completely forgetting about how they had almost crashed and died. 

 "What? That doesn't even sound good!" 

 "How dare you! It's a good saying." 

"No it's not." 

"What do you mean "No it's not"?...Yes it is! It's practical, we're in Hong Kong, and we were just drifting. See? Good name." 

"No, it's not." 

 "Yes, it is." 

"No, it's not."

"Well let's just agree to disagree then." 

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

Peter felt himself smile at their bicker, glad that they were back to how they usually were but unbeknownst to the teen, Yelena caught his expression through his eyes and smiled to herself. 

She knew, with time, everything would be okay…

"That was too close." Peter said as he crashed down onto their little couch in the hotel room they were staying in. 

They had spent the better part of the night running away from the Yakuza and the small group of Tracksuits that were unlucky enough to be sent after them. 

But, they had a plan. 

They had led them all to an abandoned building that they had rigged to blow hours before and lured them all in there before blowing the thing to kingdom come, effectively killing them all and definitely making the morning news in a few hours. 

Yelena snorted and placed her helmet on the coffee table before copying his position and face planting on the couch right next to him. 

 "But we're still alive, go team." She said with her face stuffed in the couch and muffled by the pillows. 

It was Peter's time to snort in amusement. He then turned around and stared up at the ceiling, Yelena coping his position a few seconds later. 

 "Yeah, let's not forgot that Fisk and Kazi did get away. Ran away like the cowards they are." Peter sighed, "I'm not looking forward to tracking them down again, especially since we have no idea where they went, but that’s all part the plan, right?" He asked, not expecting her to answer the last part of his sentence. 

Their plan, while it may be tedious, it was necessary if they wanted to take down Fisk for good. 

No matter how long it took them…

Yelena clicked her tongue, "On the bright side that means we can go to the states while my contacts track them down for us. I need to visit my sisters grave in Ohio anyways. While I do that, you can visit Potts, keep that promise of yours." She said. 

Peter nodded his head, which was kind of awkward due to his position since he was lying down on his back but the young man didn't care, he was tired as it was and all he wanted to do was just lay down and fall asleep. 

 He groaned and sat up, "I gotta get out of this suit." Peter muttered to himself as he got off of the couch and walked over to his bag where the rest of his clothes were stored. 

He started to peel his Ronin suit off as Yelena also went over to where her clothes were stored, "We'll leave tomorrow morning yes? Check out and then head to the plane before flying back to the states." She said, grabbing a clean bra and underwear as she walked into their shared bathroom. 

 "Sounds good to me." Peter said, finally pealing off the rest of his suit before changing into a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt, stuffing his suit in his duffle bag before sitting down on the bed and waiting for Yelena to be done in the bathroom so he could shower before passing out on the couch, which he has been sleeping on since arriving in Hong Kong, letting Yelena take said bed. 

It only took Yelena thirty minutes to get done with her shower and her business in the bathroom before she opened the door in a pair of shorts and a black tank top with her once braided hair now up in a towel, letting it dry off. 

"Wow, I'm surprised, you were only in there a half an hour today." Peter smirked which made Yelena narrow her eyes at him and flip him off, making the young man chuckle. 

 "Get the fuck in there asshole." She said, pushing him back down onto the bed as she walked by him which made Peter chuckle before he jumped back up and went into the bathroom. 

Once Peter was done around ten minutes later, he walked out and started to head over to the couch, ready to sleep for the rest of the night. 

 He passed by Yelena, who was sitting down on the bed with her legs folded underneath her, reading some book she had found in a nearby market, but before he even got past her or before he even sat down, Yelena called out to him, "Peter?" 

He turned to face her, "Yeah?" 

 "You can sleep in the bed tonight too you know. I can see how tried you really are, and who am I to deprive you of a comfortable bed." She said teasingly but Peter could hear the seriousness behind her words. 

 "The couch is plenty..." He wasn't even allowed to finish his sentence. 

"Nope." She shook her head, "Don't try that shit with me Pete, I'm not stupid I know how your little brain works now after months of being partners. I understood why you wanted to sleep away and give me the bed when we first started to work together, but it's been months, you can use the same bed as me, I don't bite." She said the last part teasingly towards him but Peter knew she was still serious in her little monologue. 

Peter hesitated for a second, "Are you sure? I don't want to make you uncomfortable." 

Yelena scoffed, "Pete, get the Fuck over here and sleep."

 Peter smiled and shook his head as he walked over to the right side of the bed and got onto the mattress. He fluffed the pillow up before he laid his head down, Yelena copying his movements after placing her book down, leaning over to turn the lights off before laying down and facing him, Peter doing the same. 

 "Night Yelena." He whispered as his eyes started to close. 

She smiled at his sleepy form, "Night Peter." She whispered to him and watched for a few more seconds as he shut his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly. 

She leaned over to him and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, not knowing what caused her to do so, but knowing it just felt right in the moment. 

He hummed sleepily and snuggled down further into the bed which made Yelena softly shake her head before she too laid her head down and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take her and finally relaxing for the first time in hours. 

She was going to need her sleep after all for what would no doubt be a very busy day tomorrow.

Chapter Text

There was so much blood. 

Blood on her hands, dripping down every digit attached to her flesh and falling down in a pool of crimson red beneath her. 

So much pain that she caused, so much red on her ledger that she'd never get off. 

She was a monster, she's killed so many people all the while she sat in the back of her mind and watched as she was used as a weapon for Dreykov and his schemes. 

She killed so many innocent people, innocent human beings that did nothing wrong except anger the wrong people. 

They never stood a chance when they had sent her after them...

 Her vision which was clouded in red suddenly cleared and she watched herself, or what appeared to be another version of herself slowly stalk towards a downed man. 

Yelena quickly realized though that the man wasn't just any downed man, it was Peter. 

She was stalking towards Peter...

 She tried to run after herself, but her feet were rooted in place, she wasn't able to even wiggle her feet around let alone move her legs. 

Her other self grabbed Peter and dragged him up by his throat and walked over to her with Peter hanging limply in her grasp. 

"Peter." She whispered, looking at the beat up face of her parter in sadness before anger took over and she tried to struggle out of her predicament, as she tried to get to him but alas, there was nothing she could do. 

She watched with wide eyes, panic slowly starting to claw at her chest as her other self smirked right at her, "This is what happens when you care, when you let people into your heart...You lose them, because with love, comes lost. It's something you need to understand." Before Yelena could try to struggle even more, her evil doppelgänger started to choke Peter and his body became animated again as he tried to claw at her hands, tried to pry her fingers out from around his neck as he panicked, his eyes wide and a slight glazed look over took his features. 

 "Peter!!" She screamed, cursing to all the gods above who wouldn't let her reach him, how they wouldn't let her reach her partner. 

 He was going to die, by her if she didn't get off her ass and stop it. 

 But it was no use, for the very next second her evil self smirked at her and then snapped Peter's neck. Yelena flinched as she listened to the snap and she watched with wide eyes as his body thumped down onto the ground. 

As soon as she heard the sound of a body hitting the ground, she felt as her legs were allowed to move again, and she reached him in a blur, sliding onto her knees and taking Peter's head in her hands and cradling it in her lap. 

 "Peter?" Yelena whispered, not wanting to believe what was happening, "Hey Peter? Please, say something." She said. 

Peter didn’t moved. 

"No, hey look at me, Peter look at me. Say something! Say a stupid joke that you know I hate, say a pun that's so corny I w-wanna smack the shit out of you, fuck, wake up and scream at me for a-all

I care, do something!!" She exclaimed with a tremor in her voice, not liking how still he was. 

Her partner was rarely ever this still, always having to move to some degree so to see him like this, frightened her in a way she wasn’t ready to admit yet.

 "Yelena..." A voice in the distance called out for her but she ignored it, she had more pressing concerns to worry about right now. 

 "Please Peter, please I, I can't lose you too." 

 "Yelena..."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault." 

"Yelena..."

 "I'm sorry." She whimpered with tears leaking from her eyes, leaning down to lay a kiss on his forehead, "I'm sorry Peter, please forgive me." 

"Yelena!" 

She woke with a gasp and before she could stop herself she reached under her pillow for her pistol and shot at the only other person in the room. 

It was only after she had shot that she recognized where she was at. She was in Florence, Italy on a long term mission with Peter to track down Fisk and the assholes who worked for him. 

She was safe. 

She was safe. 

That was when her brain registered who the voice in her dream was, who was calling out to her while she slept. 

The only other human being in their hotel. 

The person she had just shot at...

 In a blind panic, she quickly dropped the gun and ran over to Peter who was on the ground and holding his shoulder where she had shot him. 

She had shot her partner...

 "Fuck, shit, damn it." Yelena muttered to herself as she rushed over to his side and kneeled down to try and help him up. 

Peter hissed a little but tried to wave her off, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Yelena glared, "I just shot you, you're not fine." She deadpanned. 

 "Don't worry, it just took me by surprise that's all. Didn't expect it."

"If I had shot a little higher..."

Peter didn't even let her finish that thought, "I would've dodged. The shot you gave me wasn't lethal so I ignored my sense when it slightly buzzed before you shot. If, you were going to shoot me in the head, I would've noticed it with my senses and I would have moved out of the way in time." 

"You don't know that, I could've killed you!" She exclaimed as she got up and started to pace around the room, not at all calm, especially with the nightmare she had just witnessed. 

She watched herself kill Peter and then she woke up and almost did that same exact thing. 

"Yelena I trust you! I know you'd never harm me like that. It's my fault, I should've known better then to wake you like that. It's on me, not you."

 "I was the one who pulled the trigger, I was the one who almost killed you." She reiterated, not knowing why he didn't understand. 

She had almost killed him.

He had almost died because of her...

"But you didn't mean to." Peter smiled gently at her, trying to calm her down but it was having the opposite effect on the assassin. 

"God that's not the point! The point, is you could've died!! I don't know how you don't see that as a problem!!" She exclaimed. 

"First of all dying is apart of this life Yelena, some die while others live, there's nothing we can do about that. I came to terms with death a long time ago. Second, Its. Not. Your. Fault." Peter shrugged after he emphasized the last few words but Yelena continued on like she didn't even hear the last part.

 "Not everyone had to die." 

"...This isn't just about shooting me is it? Because the bullet went right though, and you're usually pretty calm about that sort of shit."

"Not when it's me shooting you!!"

"Don't change the subject. You know I'll heal in a few hours, what else is bugging you?" Peter said, completely ignoring the fact that he had a bullet wound in his right shoulder and it was leaking blood down his night shirt. 

Yelena huffed and shook her head, "Unbelievable...you aren't gonna let this go, are you?" She asked, already knowing the answer though. 

Peter smirked but there was a gentleness behind his gaze as he looked back at her, "Not likely."

Yelena took a second to glare at him with no real heat behind the look, before she collected herself. She waited another few seconds before she exhaled harshly and shook her head, "I've done very bad things Pyotr." She admitted causing said young man to freeze. 

 It's one of her nicknames for him, the Russian version of his name, Peter. She's only ever called him that a few times, once when he was stabbed right through the shoulder and once when he had fallen off a building trying to protect her. 

She seemed to be saying it more often though. The first instance when that name was used was months ago, the second time was only last week and now, seven days later she used it again. 

It was growing on him. 

 Peter gently laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "So have I. Did you just so happen to forget that I'm Ronin? I used to be all "I'd never kill anyone because killing is bad", but now look at me. I'm the worlds most deadliest man, or so people are saying. I'm an assassin...me, almost eighteen year old Peter Parker is an assassin. Do you know how crazy that sounds? We've all done terrible things to get things done Yelena, but those are in the past now, and there's nothing anyone of us can do but just move on from it, learn from those mistakes and make sure not to make the same mistake again." He said. 

Yelena shook her head, "You don't understand I was a weapon, a pawn for The Red Room. They took my mind, body, spirit, everything! I was theirs to control and I did so, I killed so many people." 

 "That's right, you were used, that doesn't make it your fault Yelena." Peter said gently, "That makes you the victim, no matter how much you hate that word it's true. They mind controlled you, there was nothing you could do to stop it." 

"If I was stronger I could've fought back..." 

"No, you couldn't."

"I could." 

"Yelena, I've learned, after everything I've lost through the years, that if you plague yourself with the What it's? Then it'll only lead you down an even deeper rabbit hole that will be impossible to crawl your way out of, trust me." 

"Then how'd you get out?" She muttered. 

Peter smiled, "You." 

 Yelena froze and her eyes widened, "What?" 

"You Yelena, you dragged me out of the hole I dug myself and held me up." Peter sighed before he continued on, "Before Winter I was in a very bad place, I could feel all the anger that I had simmering just under my skin, waiting to burst, but there was also this, this...sadness that wouldn't go away, no matter what I did. I tried hanging out with the others but it wouldn't work, I tried training, hell I even tried cooking but nothing was working. I was...I felt so alone Yelena, until...until we teamed up, and you asked me to come with you to fight these dicks. Ever since then, I...I feel the sadness slowly starting to, starting to leave, like oh I don't know how to explain this." Peter shook his head, "What I'm trying to say, is you helped me out, you gave me a purpose again Yelena, and I will always be grateful for that." Peter was going to say something else but he quickly found himself in the arms of Yelena, the woman having rushed forward and bringing him into her embrace, taking his head and gently leading it toward the crook of her neck where it rested.

 "Jesus Pyotr." She muttered as she rested her head on top of his, closing her eyes and relishing in the peace this position brought her. 

 "I understand Yelena, I understand that you've done bad things. Just... I just want you to know I'm here for you yeah? Whenever you need something please, come to me okay? I don't want you to feel lonely like I did." Peter whispered against her neck, making Yelena tighten her grip around him and swallow thickly with the emotions threatening to spill from her body. 

"Thank you." She rasped out, trying to keep the tears at bay but some squeaked through and landed on his curly mop of brown hair, soaking his dry hair a little bit, some even traveling down his long strands of hair and soaking his night shirt. 

 "It's no problem, like I said you helped me with my loneliness, so let me help you with your demons, it's the least I can do." 

 "Only if you promise me something." Yelena whispered after a second of thought. 

"What?" 

She pulled back to stare at him in his eyes, "You let me handle your demons as well, it's only fair." She smiled tearfully at him, laying her hand on his cheek. 

He smiled and leaned into her touch, "Promise."

He was on Titan again...

 He was confused about why the hell he was back on this horrible planet, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that this wasn't real, it wasn't real and it was a dream but that part of his brain was being silenced by the majority of his brain. 

He was rooted to his spot, standing up on the dusty ground of an alien planet and back in his Iron-Spider suit again but before him, was everyone he had ever cared about, standing there with fear in all of their gazes. 

 May, Tony, Ned, MJ, Pepper, Morgan, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Rhodey, Happy, Betty, Cindy, hell even Flash. 

But his eyes gravitated towards one woman, a woman with braided blond hair. 

Yelena...

 And Thanos was standing right behind them all...

He watched as the menacing alien slowly walked over to the first person in line, which happened to be May. 

He screamed and tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth, nothing at all. He watched as the mad Titan picked his aunt up by the throat and snapped her neck, instantly making all the life drain from her eyes. 

Thanos dropped the body, and as soon as it hit the ground, it crumbled to dust...

 And he didn't stop there, oh no the alien couldn’t give Peter a break could he? 

He kept going down the line, person after person after person. Picking them up, snapping their necks and dripping them as they crumbled to dust. 

He watched as everyone he cared about died in front of him, until there was only one left. 

"Yelena..." He finally heard as he was allowed to talk, watching with baited breath as the alien walked up to her. His voice was raspy and his eyes were blurry with the tears soaking down his face but he didn't care, he needed to save her. 

He couldn't let her die too...

 Thanos smirked over at him before picking up Yelena by her throat as she struggled against his hold, "I'm inevitable Parker, no one, not even you can stop me." He said before slowly starting to add pressure to her neck, suffocating her. 

 "No, p-please stop! Leave her alone you prick!! Leave her alone, she had nothing to do with this! P-please, Yelena!!" He screamed, trying to move his limbs but none of them were working, he was stuck there watching as she died from the alien who took everything from him. 

 "I...l...love, you." She gasped out before Thanos snapped her neck too, dropping her on the ground like she was nothing but an inconvenience to him and his, greater good. 

"Yelena!!!!!" He screamed as he was finally allowed to move. He ran over to her body and slid across the ground, grabbing her body and maneuvering it so he was holding her body against his chest. 

"H-hey, Lena, please a-answer me. Please, I can't do this without you, I can't, I-I can't...." Peter, for what felt like the first time in years, cried. 

He cried because he was too slow to save the most important person to him in his life. 

He let her die. 

And that was on him...

 "Yelena!!" Her name left his lips as he bolted upright from the bed, the sheets now soaked in sweat and maybe even some tears. 

 His sudden movement, caused Yelena who was sleeping next to him to bolt upright too and look around wildly, trying to see the danger but then her eyes landed on Peter's sweating and crying upright from the right of her. 

 "Peter?" She asked, her voice still thick with sleep as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get all the sleep out of them. She was going to call out to him again but he suddenly clung against her, burrowing himself against her chest as his arms wrapped around her waist. 

"Hey, hey what's wrong? You gotta tell me Pyotr." She said quietly, not knowing what was happening in his head but knowing she had to tread carefully now if she didn't want to spook him back into his own head. 

She knew how well her partner was at repressing his emotions...

 "Don't leave me, d-don't leave me." He whispered into her chest, tightening his arms around her middle, not wanting to let go.

 "Okay, okay I won't, I won't." She said, laying her head atop of his from their curled position on their bed, "I'm here, I'm right here." 

The two stayed there for over an hour, Yelena simply holding Peter while he cried and soaked her tank top with his salty tears, not that she cared though. 

Peter was more important than a shirt...

 "It's okay, let it out. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." She said, "I'm right here, I'm right here." She started to slightly rock him back and forth, trying to calm him down  and stop his crying, not wanting him to work himself up into a panic attack. 

She’s seen those before, and they weren’t pretty…

 She didn't know if this was okay or not though, she was new to this whole "friends" thing but she hoped she was calming him down at least a bit. 

God knows Peter deserved all the help she could offer…

After a while, he seemed to be calming down, the sound of his almost silent sobs quickly changing to only occasional sniffles. 

"You okay?" She said. 

 "Y-yeah yeah I am." 

 "I'm serious Pyotr." She narrowed her eyes down at him, even though he couldn't see, she knew he knew what she was doing. 

 "I...will be. Thanks Lena." 

She smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his sweaty bed head, not that she cared, "You're welcome." 

She knew it'd be a long time before any of them were fully healed from their past, but they would help each other out. 

Because they were best friends, partners and Yelena knew that Peter would always have her back, and she hoped Peter now knew, that she’d always have his…

Chapter Text

Everyone thought that Clint was the jokester of the team. He always had a joke up his sleeve, always tried to make situations as fun as he could, no matter how serious. 

He was considered the funny one. 

But people sometimes forgot that he was a trained Shield spy, he knew how to piece things together and he could pick up on evidence that no one else could find. 

Now where his late partner, his sister in all but blood was the better spy between them, his skills were nothing to scoff at. 

He had after all been skilled enough to track her down the first time back in Budapest where they took down the red room.

Or so they thought.

That was actually one of the last times she had spoken to him, when she had told him about her adventure with her long lost sister and the red room. 

He's kind of jealous he missed the fight, but he was so relieved when she said she was unhurt and she had escaped Ross. 

And he heard how happy she had been when she spoke of her sister, and he wished that he could hear her voice just one last time. 

But it's been two years, and he's starting to lose hope that he'll ever get that chance. 

Which brings him to his current problem...

 "Bucky he's gone, we can't keep doing this." Rhodes said to the ex assassin. All of them were there for the meeting except the ones either in space or in Wakanda. 

 "The Colonel is right White Wolf, we can't keep spending these resources to search for the boy. He's been missing for two years, none of us can find any trace of him and Miss Potts said Peter hasn't come to see her at all, there's only so much we can do." Okoye said for the hologram. 

 "I'm not going to just give up on him!" Bucky exclaimed, slamming his hand on the desk in frustration, causing Sam to walk up and lay a hand on his shoulder. 

After a moment of silence, Clint spoke up, "I'll keep searching for him, while the rest of you worry about actual problems." He offered as everyone turned to look at him. He shrugged, "Nothing better to do in my off time. We've been thinking of moving to New York anyways so I'll be here more often."

 "Thank you." Bucky said, staring into the archers eyes, making sure the man knew how truly grateful he actually was. 

 "Of course, he's one of us after all." Clint said. 

Sam nodded his head in thanks before he carried on with the rest of the meeting, "Carol, how're things on your end? Need anything?" He asked, and the remaining Avengers continued with the regular meeting for another hour until everyone had to leave. 

Wanda went to consult with Wong, who was the new top wizard apparently after the other one died on Titan, Rhodey was heading back to D.C, Carol was going back into the cosmos to help other planets, Okoye had a country to help run and Sam and Bucky were going after a distress single that originated somewhere in Bucharest. 

Leaving only Clint and Nebula left, who was on a holo screen. 

 "He's not dead." Were the first words out of her mouth when they were alone. 

 "How do you know?" 

"Because he's too stubborn to die, he's not stupid, he knows how to stay hidden if he doesn't want to be found." She glared. 

Clint sighed, "Yeah well that's the problem." 

"Why?" 

"Because I have a theory about where Parker went. And if I'm right, I feel it's a whole lot worse than him just going missing." Clint admitted. 

 "Well don't just sit there, tell me!" 

"A few months after he got back, a new vigilante appeared out of thin air, people call him Ronin. He's ruthless, goes around killing bastards who fully deserve it mind you, but he takes it a step above just killing them, sometimes it's borderline torture. Anyways, Ronin and Spider-Man helped protect the city, one came out during the day to help people, and the other came out at night so I didn't think much on it." 

"That was until, both Peter, Ronin and Spider-Man disappeared at the same time. Now Peter and Spider-Man make sense, but why would Ronin also disappear at the same time? It doesn't add up, unless..." 

"Unless they were all the same person." Nebula finished grimly. 

Clint nodded, "Exactly. There's been reports about two individuals going around the world and murdering very bad people. One of them, is a hundred percent Ronin, definitely his handy work but I have no idea who the second one could be...It seems that Peter has gotten himself a little buddy to help him along his crusade." 

 "What're you gonna do about it?" She asked. 

"Try and track him down, stop him. Let him see that he doesn't need to kill all these people to make a difference. Let him know he still has a place among us." Clint shrugged, "Just try and convince him to come home. I have a reputation of convincing spiders to stop murdering people." Clint added somberly, thinking back on his late best friend and how much he truly missed Natasha. 

God me missed her, he missed her so much that it fucking hurt sometimes when he thought about it too long. 

Nebula nodded her head, "I'll believe you for now, but if you ever need any help, know that I'll come down to try and find him too." She said seriously, making Clint smile at her loyalty to the kid. 

He nodded, "Of course, I'll keep you posted on what I find." 

She nodded and was about to exit the channel when she thought of something else, "Why aren't you telling Barnes about this? Or even Potts? I'm sure they'd like to know what's happened to him." 

Clint shook his head, "If I tell them they would mess it up. While Bucky has been the one on the run before, he's never dealt with someone who's willingly killed people because it's their own choice, he was forced into his predicament, it's not the same. Pepper has to worry about Morgan, if I tell her her dead fiancé's protégé is a killer vigilante, that might not go well." Clint said. 

 "They'd only get in the way." Nebula summed up. 

Clint clicked his tongue before answering, "As terrible as that sounds, yeah." 

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then, good luck." 

"Yeah you too."

The city of the month was Madrid for the two assassins. They were in Spain to crash a gala that Fisk was hosting, trying to gain more donations to compensate for the recent loss of some of his assets in different countries thanks to them. 

And they were looking to crash the party. 

They were hoping that his fiancé showed up too, because Peter knew that if he got to his lady, and killed her, well making Wilson come out of the shadows to face him would be a whole lot easier then. 

But the man was getting smarter when it came to Ronin and his partner. He knew that Peter would use any weakness the man showed and unfortunately, Ronin had found out about his fiancé a year ago and after a very close call, he had hidden her away from his prying hands. 

He had gotten so close to killing her that one time, but Yelena was more important to him than killing the fat walrus's lady friend, so he had ditched his sniping post to save Yelena from being dragged off by the damn Yakuza. 

 Honestly those assholes just didn't stop, some of them had even started to carry traditional Japanese swords to try and match his skill when confronting him. 

Idiots, the lot of them. 

 Peter right now was sitting on their bed already in his tux and waiting for Yelena to come out of the bathroom so they could get going. It was late January already, two years after he had left and while it was probably a blizzard back in New York, it was clear and forty three degrees over here in Madrid.

Which was definitely warmer than New York winter.

 He was staring out their giant sliding door that led out to their fenced in balcony which overlooked the great city of Madrid, his leg was bouncing up and down while his fingers softly ran over the box he had in his lap, a little gift for Yelena since her birthday was coming up and he didn't want to be too busy to not give it to her. 

So, he decided that he'd give it to her now. 

Just then, the door to their bathroom opened and Yelena walked out in the outfit she'd be wearing to the gala. 

 Now Peter had helped her pick it out, it was a beautiful A line satin gown with an open back and spaghetti straps with an A line skirt and a side slit going down her left leg, but Peter didn't know how she'd look in it. 

She looked amazing. 

 "You're staring Pyotr." She smirked with a raised eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips. 

 Peter shrugged with a small smile, "Sorry, didn't mean to, you just look...amazing." 

Yelena smiled at his compliment and brushed a strand of her curled up hair behind her ear, "Thanks, I don't think anyones ever, you know, said that about me." 

 "Well you deserve every compliment I give you. It's the least I can do in exchange for you dealing with my bullshit for this long." Peter smirked which made Yelena snort. 

 "It's one of my many gifts." She teased before walking over and sitting next to him on the bed. 

"Speaking of gifts, I got this for you." He said, handing her the little box. 

"Why?" She asked with a tilted head. 

Peter shrugged, "You told me your birthday was next week and I wanted to get you something. I know that...well you haven't had the best of birthdays in the past and I wanted to change that. Last year we were busy and I didn't get you anything and I felt really bad so, well I hope you like it." He finished his rant, rubbing his arm awkwardly. 

 "You got this for me?" She asked, holding the box like it was the most precious thing she was ever given. 

Peter nodded, "Yeah, it's all yours." 

 She slowly lifted the lid and came face to face with the most beautiful bracelet she had ever laid eyes on. It was a golden bracelet with rubies going all the way along the piece of jewelry, each gemstone glittering in the light reflected off of it. 

 She picked it up with wide eyes before turning to look at her partner, "How much did this cost?" She asked. 

Peter shrugged, "Irrelevant, we have enough to last us the rest of our lives, I think I'm allowed to use some of it to give you a gift for your birthday."

Yelena huffed and shook her head before she clasped the bracelet on her right hand, running her fingers across the beautiful piece before looking back up at him. 

"Thank you." She said so sincerely that it threw Peter for a loop for a moment. But he's been the only one on this planet who's alive that's ever seen her soft side, she only allows him to see her like this and Peter's so grateful that Yelena is in his life. 

God knows how lonely he'd be if she wasn't...

 "No problem. Like I said, you've done so much for me in these past few years, it's the least I can do for you." 

"Still, I appreciate it, really I do." She said, leaning over to place a kiss on his cheek, pulling away and smiling at the giant blush she saw across his face. 

 "Now, I think we've got a party to crash, don't we?" She smirked. 

Peter huffed and decided to ignore the blush in order to smirk back at her, "Indeed we do."

Chapter Text

 "I need a vacation." Peter groaned as he sunk into the bed, letting his eyes close as he inhaled the scents all around him. 

 They were currently in Bucharest, tracking done one of the off sight facilities were Fisk kept some of his assets and they had just gotten done with busting the whole shebang.

 There weren't any bodies left when the authorities arrived. 

Well, alive, bodies that is…

They were good at their job, and they couldn't have any loose ends if this plan of there's was gonna work so they had to do what they needed to do. 

And that meant doing what needed to be done…

"What's stopping us? I've never been on vacation before. I've visited new places, but I've never gone to a place and not worked before." Yelena commented as she walked over to the dresser to take her gear off. 

Peter bolted up from his position and stared at Yelena like she had two heads, "Shut the front door, you're pulling my leg."

 "I'm not." She said casually, taking her vest off and pulling her weapons from her person, "I've spent most my life hunting down people and killing them. Who knows, maybe a vacation would do the two of us some good, help clear our minds bit." She finished. 

Peter nodded his head, "I guess, but Fisk is gonna..." 

Before he could finish Yelena had walked over and placed her finger against his lips, shushing him, "None of that. You're too focused on Fisk at the moment. We need to regroup and think about our next move before rushing in again. A vacation, would help us with that." 

Peter huffed and pushed her hand away from his face with slightly narrowed eyes, "Wasn't the vacation my idea?" 

 Yelena shrugged with a smirk, "Yeah but I realized you were just saying that to be dramatic, so I decided that we'd actually go on one. Honestly sometimes you're more dramatic than me." She rolled her eyes.

 "Okay." Peter said sarcastically, "No one in the entire universe can be as dramatic as you. Not even me." 

 Yelena pushed him down onto the mattress and walked away, not even dignifying the young man with a response which made Peter laugh as he got back up. 

 "You're mean, what did I ever do to deserve this treatment from my partner, hmm?" She asked. 

 Peter shrugged before he got up from the bed to walk over to Yelena, bumping shoulders and smirking at her, "Must've been all those times you made fun of me, you know, like every mission we're ever on. Karma's a real bitch sometimes." He said, only getting the woman to stick her middle finger up at him. 

"Wow, real mature there Lena." Peter rolled his eyes. 

 Yelena turned around and stuck her tongue out at him when he said that, causing him to snort in amusement. 

"Yeah, wow, like that's any better." 

 "You started it." 

"Yeah you're, you're not making this any better for yourself, you know that right?" Peter said rhetorically. 

 All Peter received for a response was a pillow thrown directly at his head which made him narrow his eyes at his partner, which in turn caused Yelena to chuckle. 

Just another day in the life of Peter Parker

Clint walked over the dead bodies of the many women and children carefully, not wanting to disrespect them anymore then they obviously already were. 

He wasn't here for them though, he was actually here to stop the assholes in charge of the operation but it came abundantly clear that he wasn't needed when he walked into the next room and saw the massacre. 

There was blood everywhere, stained on the walls, the floor hell, even the ceiling wasn't safe from the dark crimson liquid. He looked at the dismembered bodies of the Russian's in disgust, not believing there were still assholes in the world who would stoop down this low and take advantage of innocent women and children. 

 But he couldn't worry about that right now, he was here, on the trail of Ronin, hoping above all else that his prediction was right and it was actually Peter Parker because if by the off chance he was wrong, well he'd be walking up to a very dangerous man who probably would murder his ass in a heartbeat. 

But he was ninety percent sure it was Parker.

 The decapitated heads across the ground gave him enough reassurance that this was indeed the handiwork of Ronin but it seemed he was too late. 

He had just missed him, again. 

 Clint sighed to himself and brought his hand up to his ear to activate his coms, "Clint to base, no sign of Ronin. He already got to the Russians, there's nothing left of them, gonna see if I can find anything useful." 

"Copy that Barton, stay safe." Bucky said to him through the com. 

Clint continued his search for a half an hour until he finally found something. 

Something that he thought he'd never see again...

 On the ground of the upper level in the warehouse, he found a small little projectile and at first glance, it looked like nothing special until he really looked at it. 

 It was a projectile from a widow bite, the ones that electrocuted the victim once shot out of the wristband. 

He'd recognize his sisters tech from a mile away, so why the fuck, was it doing here? Last time he checked, Nat was very much dead and Peter didn't use widow bites, he had his web shooters but that begged the question, who would...

Clints eyes widened in shock when he came to the conclusion. It all made sense, there were rumors of Ronin not working alone, he always had a partner with him and it was one thing he could never solve about this whole case. 

Because Peter didn't know anyone else, all his friends had dusted so Clint thought he must have met someone who was willing to help him. 

But what he found, just made it all that much more clear. 

Peter was working with a Black Widow assassin, who that was Clint had no idea, Natasha, she only ever told him about her sister but this couldn't be her, could it? 

She would have come to the compound if she was alive looking for her sister, but they had gotten no visits from a blond haired assassin. Clint knew how much she loved Natasha from all the stories and there was no way that she'd just forget...

Unless she did go to the compound.

And when she went, ran into Peter...

Holy shit, things were staring to make sense for the archer. 

Yelena and Peter were working together, Ronin and his partner. 

Clint sighed quietly to himself, his job, just got a whole lot harder...

"Petey!!!!" The excited screech of a two year old was heard as she hurdled down the front porch and over towards Peter who had just gotten out of the rental car he had picked up for his few days in New York. 

"Hey Mo, how've you been?!" He asked with an excited smile across his face as she barreled into his legs causing him to huff before bending over to pick her up, resting her on his hip as she burrowed herself into his hold. 

 "I haven't seen you in forever! Where you go?" She pouted up at him which made him smirk and boop her nose. 

"I literally visited last month kid, I haven't been gone for that long. And to answer your second question, I told you before I travel for work, I've been to three different countries in the last month." He said, walking over towards the stairs where Pepper was waiting for them with a small smile across her face. 

She loved it when Peter visited, it made a small part of her heart heal from the giant hole Tony's death left. 

 This boy was very important to her fiancé, and to have him this close, well it felt like a part of her was returned and…

Well he was family.

It let her relax, even if it was only for a weekend, she still didn't like it how he was out there by himself but she knew that she'd have to live with it. 

Like she learned to live with Tony and Iron-Man. 

 "Hey Pep." He murmured as he hugged her with Morgan still in his arms. 

"Hey." She whispered, bringing him into her embrace and kissing his head when he was settled, relishing in the feeling of what was left of her family back again. 

 They pulled back and smiled at each other, "How long are you staying?" She asked, leading the way into the cabin. 

"Actually for a few days, I need to finalize something before I leave again. Buying a sort of safe house if you will, but it can also double as a vacation home."

He admitted with a shrug to his shoulders. 

"You? Vacation?" She raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. 

Peter rolled his eyes, "Yes, a vacation. It'll be completely off the map and only two people will know about it besides me." 

"And who would that be?" 

"You of course and my partner." He said, sitting down on the couch with Morgan still in his lap. He spoke so casually that Pepper almost missed what he said. 

Almost. 

"What do you mean partner?" She raised an eyebrow at him. 

Peter shrugged, "I have a partner. She helps me out with my missions. It's who I've been traveling with all this time." 

 "Should I be worried that you left your home and have been on the run, on these...missions for two years with this mysterious woman?" She asked, causing Peter to snort. 

"Nah, apparently she's an old contact of Miss Romanoff. They helped each other out after the fallout of the Civil War. Natasha trusted her, so you don’t need to worry about her betraying me." He smirked at her. 

Pepper glared and pointed a finger at him, "Watch it young man. I wouldn't have to worry this much if you didn't run off to travel the world with this supposed, mysterious contact that Nat had, while also going around...dealing, with bad people." She said carefully, taking note that her daughter was still very much in the room listening into their conversation. 

"I'm fine Pepper, there's no need to worry about me." Peter said, "I can take care of myself." He added. 

Pepper sighed, "I know, you aren't the same teenage boy that I met all those years ago, are you?" She asked but already knew the answer to it. 

 Peter shook his head, "I don't think anyone is the same, not anymore. We've all lost something Pepper, we just...we've gotta find a way to pick ourselves up, and continue on with life. That's all we can do." 

 Pepper smiled, "You seem to be doing better." She noted before a small smirk spread across her face, "Is it because of this mysterious lady you won't tell me about?" She teased which made Peter glare at her with no real heat behind his gaze. 

"No." He deadpanned. 

"That's a yes." Pepper smirked even wider at his one word answer. 

 "Nope, it's not what you think, she's just my partner." He said, trying to convince her that Yelena and him weren't a thing. 

Really they weren't, it, it was nothing like that. They worked really well together, they knew what the other was saying without words and sure, maybe they show affection more so then normal people, but that was only because they lost so much, they couldn't bare the thought of losing each other. 

They were just, really really really close partners. 

Right?

"You do know "partners," is another word for being together right. As in, partners for life." Pepper continued to tease him but this time, a small blush spread from his neck, up his face and even made his ears turn a slight pink. 

 He was about to respond and try to defend himself when a giggle in his lap made him look down, "Petey's got a girlfriend!" Morgan squealed with a little kissy face, wanting to tease her big brother herself which made Peter narrow his eyes down at the child while Pepper laughed. 

"Oh you think this is funny do you Mo? Well I guess instead of the present I brought for you, I'll just have to give you this instead." He said as he brought his hands to her side and started to tickle her, making her laugh and wiggle in his grasp. 

 "Petey!! S-stop it!!" She laughed as he set her down on the couch so he could tickle her more effectively. 

"What's the magic word?" He said in a singsong tone, smirking down at her withering form. 

"Please! Please s-stop tickling me!!" She finally gasped out between her laughter. Peter chuckled and stopped his assault and sat down next to her panting form. 

Morgan pouted up at him with slightly narrowed eyes, "Meanie." 

 Peter snorted, "That's what you get for betraying me. You know what happened to mutineers back during the pirate era? They walked the plank if they ever betrayed the captain." 

"You're not the captain, mommy is." Morgan said which made Peter gasp and Pepper to snort. 

 "How dare you? Again with the mutiny. I can see you've all forgotten in my time away who's at the top of the chain of command." 

"Yeah, me. It's you who's forgotten." Pepper rolled her eyes fondly at Peter's behavior. 

 "Unbelievable, I'm gone for a month and this household has already fallen into the hands of another, what will I ever do?" He asked, throwing his arms up into the air to emphasize his point which only Morgan giggle and Pepper scoff. 

"You're so dramatic, you know that? I'm going to start calling you the Drama Queen." Pepper said. 

"Petey's a princess mommy, not a queen!" Morgan exclaimed which made Peter roll his eyes. 

"Yes, I'm a Drama Princess, get it right Pepper." 

 Pepper sighed with a fond smile across her face, "What am I going to do with the two of you?" She asked rhetorically as she got up and walked over to the kitchen. 

"Don't act like that Pep, you know you love us!" 

"Yeah, you love us mommy!" 

 Peter laughed when he heard her mumble to herself before he turned back towards Morgan and smiled at her, "Now I believe I said I had a couple presents for you little miss." 

"Yes!! Presents!!" She exclaimed which made Peter smile at the little girl. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out two items. 

One was a little action figure of a vampire. She had a cape along her back and you could easily make out the fangs hanging down from her mouth. 

 "That new vampire movie just came out, and I was in Romania where I saw a castle that looked very similar to the one in Transylvania so, I picked her up for you, hope you like it." He said as soon as the words left his mouth he had an armful of Morgan, who was literally hugging the daylights out of him. 

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, "I've been wanting a Mavis toy for soooo long! You're the best brother ever!" She said with a smile that could literally blind the room with the amount of innocence in that one little sentence. 

Peter smiled gently down at her, even though he didn't think he deserved it, he couldn't very well tell a two year old that. 

 "I've got one last thing for you. Well, for you and mommy." He said taking out the small rectangular chip which was in his pocket. 

"What's that?" She asked. By then, Pepper had come over to see what all the fuss was about and once she saw what was in his hands, she raised a questioning eyebrow at the young man.

Peter smiled, "I call her ACE, her name stands for Ageless, Charismatic Empath, she's basically your link to me if you ever need me for anything. I've got to warn you, I might not respond the first time if I'm busy, but when I'm done I'll be sure to call you back, promise." 

 "You made your own AI?" Pepper asked with wide eyes. 

 Peter smirked, "Yup, took longer than I'd care to admit but I didn't really have the best of materials to work with. I've been working on her for awhile now. ACE? Why don't you say Hi to them." He called out to the chip. 

Light started to project from the little chip and soon a small figure appeared standing on the small rectangle, her holographic hands crossed behind her back as she smiled radiantly at the three in the room. 

She was glowing in a light lavender color, her rendered clothing bringing out her artificial beauty, her smile radiant as she stared up at them with a slightly tilted head. 

 She was wearing a skintight body suit which had a few designs running down her form, but the most noticeable thing about her form was the little spider logo right above her left breast. 

Peter's spider logo.

 "Hello, I'm ACE," she said to the two new comers before looking at her maker, "How can I help you Boss?" She asked. 

"I want you to meet Pepper and Morgan. You'll be helping them whenever you can, understand? If they need anything you can notify me and I can see what I can do when I'm away." He said. 

 ACE nodded her head before smiling over at Morgan, "Hello Little one, can I do anything for you?" She asked politely. 

 "Wow, tiny lady! That's so cool!!" Morgan exclaimed. "What can she do?!" 

 "I am an artificial intelligence that was built to help protect Boss's family, provide aid and offer my assistance whenever needed. The perfect companion." She replied jovially with a wide smile across her lips. "Do you need anything?" She asked.

 "No, I just wanted to introduce you to her ACE, that will be all for now." Peter replied with a small smile. 

The AI smiled up at him an nodded her head, "Alrighty, I guess I'll see you all later. Have a great rest of your day!" She exclaimed before she quickly materialized away, leaving only the chip in Peter's hand. 

"That was sooo cool!! Who was she? What can she do?! Can I have her? Please!! I'll be very very good, I promise!" Morgan rambled which made Peter sort in amusement. 

 "Well seeing as how I'm going to insert her chip into your cabins mainframe, she'll be here whenever you need someone to talk to, or if you want to call me. She's your direct link to me, see right here? This chip?" He said holding up the chip for her, "This isn't were she's actually stored, it's just a secondary housing unit for her. Her full matrix is always with me, so I can protect her from bad guys." Peter smirked. 

 Morgan gasped, "Really?" 

 "Of course, that's what I do. Save people from bad guys." He said, ignoring the wave of shame that washed over him when he thought back on the many people he's killed. 

There was no other way, these people are scumbags and if Peter didn't stop them, they'd continue to terrorize their world and hurt people. 

He couldn't have that anymore, he couldn't sit by and watch as people lost so much even after the snap. 

It wasn't fair that these assholes got off Scott free while there were people hurting, who had no one left in their life and needed someone to help them. 

 He vowed he'd no longer sit on the sidelines and watch as people all over got hurt, he'd no longer turn a blind eye to how truly evil these people were. 

And he'd do whatever needed to be done to get rid of them...

 Peter shook his head, trying to stay clear of those thoughts for now, at least until he was alone, "Now, I'm here for the next few days, what'd you wanna do first?" He asked as he pocketed the AI chip, placing it in a protective case while he was giving his full attention to the excited two year old in front of him. 

 "Let's play princess!!" 

 "Yes! Let's, oh I can't wait!" Peter exclaimed with false cheer which made Pepper laugh at his expense.

Man, he's missed this...

"I can't believe we have our own lighthouse." Peter said, staring up at the small tower with a raised eyebrow. Both Yelena and Him had taken their joke a few weeks ago to heart, and had bought a vacation safe house in the Bahamas. It was right along the water but had a giant Inground pool too. 

There were two buildings around the pool, but both of them were connected by the second story balcony that went around the entire house. There was a grand kitchen, two living rooms, a few bathrooms and loads of bedrooms. There was even a game room. 

 All of it was fenced around a concrete wall, surrounding the property and the lighthouse that apparently came with the house. 

They both were staring up at it, in their tropical clothes with Peter wearing a Hawaiian shirt that was unbuttoned, showing off his abs while in a pair of cargo shorts while Yelena herself had on a pair of jean shorts, her hair up in a bun with sunglasses over her eyes and a simple white t-shirt. 

They both were carrying their own duffle bag full of clothes for the week they'd be staying there before they went back across seas to deal with Kingpin's goons, hopefully tracking down the man himself while they were at it.

 "I can't believe we bought a house this big for only the two of us." Yelena deadpanned while slightly shaking her head. 

Peter shrugged, "It was the only house we liked, didn't we agree on that?" 

"Hmm, I guess. But did we really need a lighthouse?" 

"Hey, who knows when that lighthouse could come in handy." 

"It's a lighthouse! What the fuck is it gonna do for us?" 

 "Who knows, that's the grand old mystery, ain't it? Waiting to see if the lighthouse is actually useful." 

"If I hear the word lighthouse again, I'm gonna kill something." 

 "..." 

"Peter no." 

"Peter, yes."'

"Don't even think about it." 

"Oh, too late, already thought of the lighthouse, again." Peter smirked which only made Yelena narrow her eyes behind her sunglasses.

Which meant bad news for him...

 Peter would say, later on though when he was done drying off, that being pushed into the pool was totally worth it to see the happiness shining behind his partners eyes...

Chapter Text

Natasha Romanoff 

  Daughter...Sister....Avenger 

 Yelena sniffed as she brought up the bottle of vodka to her lips and took a giant guzzle of the drink. 

Three years...

It had been three years since that alien bastard had won and took her sister from her, three years since half of the universes population just up and vanished because some purple asshole thought he had made a fantastic plan to help the universe by destroying it. 

But he was wrong, what he did only broke their world more so then it already was. The snap tore families apart, children away from parents, nephews away from aunts, wives away from husbands. 

It tore up peoples worlds, when they found out the person they loved up and vanished like they never even existed in the first place and a lot of people, if they were unlucky had to watch as their loved ones crumbled to dust right in from of their eyes. 

All those families that would never be whole again. 

And it was all thanks to Thanos and his insane plan to right the universe. 

Mothers would never hold their children again...

Husbands would never be able to tell their significant other how much they loved them...

 The children lost would never grow up and be apart of the real world...

 She'd never get to see her sister again, or her mother or father...

She had lost everyone she had ever known to the snap, but yet, in all that lose, it gave her the one person who she now could never live without. 

Her partner. 

Peter, who was standing to her right, brought up his own bottle of whiskey to his lips and started to drink. It's been a very very long few years, he can't believe how much he's changed in the very short time that it's been. 

He was once the shy, nice teenager who'd literally never hurt a fly. 

 He went from that, to being he deadliest man alive. 

Quite a vast difference if you asked him, but a necessary change all the same. 

People just didn't understand what he was doing, they looked at Ronin and saw a bloodthirsty killer, who took the laws into his own hands and hunted down the worst of the worst. 

Some people don't mind, but others oh, they want his blood even though he had done nothing wrong to any innocent man or woman. 

He's saved countless of lives, especially when he tracks down sex trafficking rings that have Fisk's funding backing them up. All those woman, children and sometimes men, all of them who he saved from being broken down anymore then they already were. 

He makes sure the people responsible pay for what they took from them. If they took the citizens innocence, they had to pay him with their life, it was only fair. 

But people just don't see that, they see him as the bad guy for what he does, but maybe in due time, they'd understand. 

Back to the present, It was a pretty cold day for May, so the both of them had needed to layer up and wear something that would allow them to keep warm. The both, decided to wear their flannels. Yelena her favorite yellow one and Peter with his favorite blue one. 

 They were in the town that Yelena said they had grown up in, at least for a few years back in 1995. This little town in rural Ohio, was what Yelena thought of as home so Peter wasted no time in coming along with her. 

 It was where she had wanted to place a gravestone for her sister, to honor her memory as best she could and who was Peter to object to something like that? 

It was important to Yelena, so it was important to him.

So Peter didn't put up much of a complaint when Yelena asked him to go with her.

God even after three years. she missed her so much. It felt like the wound was still fresh and there was no way that she'd ever get better, the hole in her heart just wouldn't go away. 

And she knew that, but maybe it was getting just a bit easier, just a little but it's not like she'd ever admit to that. 

She certainly wouldn't admit that a certain spider may or may not be making that process all the more easier for her...

 "Man, this whiskey taste like piss." Peter muttered as he made a face after bringing the bottle down from his lips. 

 Yelena snorted and shook her head, "God I hate it when you do that."

 "Hate what?" 

"When you make me laugh when I don't want to laugh." 

 "Why don't you want to laugh? You know, laughter is the best type of medicine, heals the soul and all that jazz." Peter's lips turned upright in a barely there smirk, but a smirk it was nonetheless. 

Yelena scoffed with a small smile, "Where did you hear that one?" 

"Saw it online a few weeks ago." Peter smirk widened before bringing the bottle back up to his lips, taking another swig and wincing once again, when we was done. 

"Stop drinking that shit if it's terrible." 

"Hey, alcohol is alcohol Lena. I gotta take what I can get." Peter shrugged. 

 "Aren't you underaged?" She asked rhetorically. 

 "It's the three year anniversary, I think I'm allowed a bottle of whiskey, especially since I can't get drunk." Peter said. 

 "Fair." She said, taking her own swig of her vodka. 

 After another few moments of silence between them, Peter sighed, "We need to stop Fisk." He whispered. 

Yelena nodded, "Yeah, we're so close. Now that we have an AI and we don't have to rely on my contacts, we can do this shit a whole lot quicker."

 "ACE said that she overheard Kazi talk with the last of the Irish, all of them are coming back to the City. I'm guessing that Fisk is gonna try and lure us in, try and finish us off on "his turf" or some shit like that. Little does he know, that the city is my turf too. He won't know what hit him." Peter said. 

"This is it. The Russians, The Yakuza, Chinese, Mafia and the Irish. Most who work with Fisk hunted down and killed after three years. It's all come down to this, were we actually kill the boss man." 

 "Don't forget, while the king is the most important piece, it's the queen you've really got look out for. If we don't kill both of them, then all of this would be for nothing. We need both Wilson and Vanessa." Peter said. 

 "We'll get them." Yelena said with the utmost confidence, staring at her sister's grave with a determined look. 

She'd make Natasha proud, this whole game with Fisk would end real soon. 

The both of them would make sure of it.

There were many things in Peter's life that he regretted. 

He'd regret not being able to save the universe from Thanos. 

He'd regret not being able to save Ben.

He'd regret not being able to save his friends. 

He'd regret losing Tony on an alien planet. 

He'd regret, not being down here on earth with his aunt, for her final moments of life. 

All these regrets, all these thoughts constantly swirling around in his head, and that wasn't even the half of them. They were always at the back of his mind, surfacing at the worst of times but not enough to impair his judgment, but enough to make him never forget them, to always remind him of his failures. 

 He'd never forgive himself for everything he was responsible for. 

And that feeling, only increased tenfold when he became the Ronin. 

 All the shitbags he killed, he knew they deserved it. They raped and murdered people and that didn't deserve a second chance, no matter how many times that voice in his head that sounded a lot like his aunt, always told him it wasn't the right thing to do. 

He knew these people deserved to burn in the deepest pits of hell, and he'd gladly be the one to send them there. 

He already knew he would be going down there as well, he had made peace with what he did a long time ago though. 

What he did, was a necessary evil. He did what he had to do to protect people and he was okay with that. 

It didn't mean he didn't think about it at times, what he would've done if he never changed in the first place, if he stayed Spider-Man. 

 The one thing he did know for sure, was that Wilson Fisk, would still be as powerful as he used to be. 

Him becoming Ronin, allowed him to knock the man down the ladder of power, it made New York a safer place for the half of the population who still lived there. 

He did that, he protected those people with the help of Yelena.

He hated when he heard people discouraging Ronin just because he killed, while they praised Spider-Man. They both did the same thing, tried to protect their home but Ronin was just a little more violent. 

 Just because he now killed, it didn't mean he was a bad person. 

 It just meant he grew up and realized his old way of doing things, wouldn't work anymore. He wasn't naive enough anymore to think that justice would always prevail, because it wouldn't. 

And he knew that now, already came to terms with it actually. 

All these thoughts came rushing to the forefront of his head as he stood in the open plaza in Paris, staring at the Eiffel Tower which was slightly in the distance. He was waiting for Yelena to get back from grabbing something to eat before they walked back over to their hotel room. 

They had followed one last lead before they would be going back to New York for their final confrontation with Fisk and his goons, and Yelena was the one who had offered to go grab them a bite to eat while Peter sat and waited. 

Speaking of his partner. 

"Hey, you okay?" She asked as she walked up right next to him, her eyes shined with concern for him, the food she picked up hanging from a bag in her left hand. 

"Yeah, I'm good." He said, not at all convincingly. 

 "You sure? You seem to be...I don't know, out of it? It's okay if you aren't." She said gently, raising her right hand to rest on his shoulder as she walked up to his side. 

 "I'll be good once Fisk is dealt with." Peter said instead of answering her question. 

 Yelena smiled sadly at him, "No you won't." She said gently, squeezing his shoulder under her hand. 

Peter huffed, "I hate how well you know me." 

 Yelena hummed with an amused tone, "No you don't." 

 Peter shook his head fondly before signing, "Let's get going." He said, "We've got to leave early tomorrow morning." He started to walk down the sidewalk with Yelena right next to him, her empty hand drifting down to interlock with his left. He smiled softly before squeezing their fingers together, offering her a grateful look as they walked down the Paris sidewalk. 

They were walking for a few minutes before a little shop caught his attention. It didn't look like all that much, but the name of the shop definitely did. 

TinTin Tatouages...

 Tattoos. 

 "Hey, I've got a change in plans." Peter said. 

Yelena furrowed her eyebrows and looked over at him, "Why? We haven't eaten all day. And I don't know about you, but I'm starving." 

 Peter gestured to the tattoo shop, "You can eat while I'm getting something done." 

 Yelena looked over at the shop and her eyes widened a fraction before she turned back to look at him with a small smile, "Shut the front door." 

 "I'm serious."

 Yelena smiled in excitement before she started to drag him towards the shop herself, "Oh this is gonna be so good!" 

 The two of them walked into the shop and luckily for them, there was literally only one person at the desk. The shop closed very soon so it made sense but Peter was hoping that he could kind of get a spot right before closing. 

Even though he knew that tattoos took so long to actually complete. 

 He walked in and gestured for Yelena to sit in one of the chairs to eat her food while he went up to talk to the lady, which Yelena had no problem with, instantly taking a seat and opening up the food, starting to eat. 

 He walked up to the counter and smiled at the woman, "Bonjour madame, pensez-vous que vous pourriez me faire tatouer ce soir ? Je sais qu'il est très tard, mais je vais partir demain et c'était le seul temps libre que j'ai eu pendant mon voyage." (Hello madam, do you think you could get me in for a tattoo this evening. I know it's very late but I'm going to be leaving tomorrow and this was the only free time I had in my trip.)

The woman looked up with a polite smile and checked her book quickly before nodding her head, "Je pense que je peux vous serrer. Quel genre de tatouage aviez-vous en tête?" (I think I can squeeze you in. What kind of tattoo did you have in mind?)

Peter winced a bit before responding, "Une pochette si c'était correct. Vous n'avez pas besoin de vous soucier de le diviser en différentes sessions, je vous promets que je peux le gérer. Je sais que cela prend une éternité, mais je serais prêt à vous payer une très grosse somme d'argent si vous me faisiez cette faveur." (A sleeve if that was okay. You don't need to worry about splitting it up into different sessions, I promise you I can handle it. I know it takes forever, but I'd be willing to pay you a very large sum of money if you did me this favor.)

The woman furrowed her eyebrow in thought before responding hesitantly, "Il est déjà cinq heures, les manches peuvent prendre jusqu'à vingt heures selon ce que vous voulez." (It's already five, sleeves can take up to twenty hours depending on what you want.)

 "Je sais, mais je serais prêt à payer une grosse somme d'argent. Je paierais même votre nourriture si nous y allions demain. Que diriez-vous si je vous payais un million d'euros avant, et cinq cent mille autres après la fin du travail?" (I know, but I'd be willing to pay a large amount of money. I'd even pay for your food if we go into tomorrow. What would you say if I paid you one million euros before, and another five hundred thousand after the job is done?)

The woman's eyes widened in shock at the amount of money he'd be willing to pay and he could tell that she would already agree to his terms before she even uttered the words. 

It didn't matter to the young man, all of the wealth he accumulated over the past few years was definitely from Fisk and Peter didn't really have a problem with that. 

If the man wanted to take advantage of innocent people, wanted to take away their choice and lives then Peter thought it was fair that he stole some of the man's paper money. 

 Well, he's taken a lot more than just, some...

 "Oui, oui, bien sûr ! Merci beaucoup, vous ne savez pas ce que cela signifie vraiment pour moi. À quoi pensiez-vous pour votre manche?" (Yes, yes sure! Thank you so much, you don't know how much that really means to me. What were you thinking about for your sleeve?)

 Peter smirked, "Voici ce que je pensais..." (Here's what I was thinking...)

It took almost twenty four hours, but they were finally done with the whole tattoo. They had stayed in one of the back rooms so during the day when there were costumers going in and out of the shop, they didn't bother anyone else. 

Peter had kept to his word and bought the nice lady breakfast, lunch and supper for all the trouble he was causing her. 

But after a full day with no sleep from either party, his sleeve was finally done. 

And the woman, who's name he found out was Chloe, was great company to have. Always ready to speak about anything and anything that came to mind to keep them both distracted from the fatigue. 

She reminded him of a younger version of himself, when he used to ramble on about anything that came to mind but, usually when it came to him it was science related, but you get the gist. 

A few hours ago, he had sent Yelena back to their hotel room to pack everything up and put it back onto their jet so when he was done, he could just come over to the jet and they could leave for New York. 

He had just finished paying the lady off and was now making his way to the area where they had stored their jet, not that far away from the hotel they were staying at but ACE was making sure it was fully cloaked at all times. 

 After ten minutes of walking, he finally got to the small clearing where their jet was parked and as soon as he got into range, ACE de-cloaked the jet and allowed him entrance. 

 "Well look who it is! Finally done with your tattoo?" Yelena said while leaning against the opening of the jet with a smile. 

Peter nodded his head and outstretched his whole left arm, "Yup, all good to go." He said, showing his tattoo off to her. 

On his upper arm, starting at his shoulder, there was a picture of a skeletal samurai warrior, or better known as the Ronin with cool designs leading all the way down his arm. 

He might as well fully embrace his name after all. 

 "Wow, look at that! I approve." Yelena exclaimed with a smile, holding his arm in her hands and staring at the design of it. 

Peter slightly hissed, "Easy, the skin is still kind of tender." 

"Sorry," She said, slowly taking her hands off of his arm, "How'd you even get her to agree to continue on in one big session? You'd think she wouldn't agree due to legal reasons." 

 Peter shrugged, "Who knows, maybe it was the promise of over a million dollars that made her go through with it." 

 "Oh I love the fact that you paid for your tattoo with a million of Fisk's dollars." Yelena smirked. 

Peter smirked right back, "Irony's a bitch. Now, I think we have a date with the fat bastard. Lets get going and finish this."

"Yes, let's."

Clint stood on top of a rooftop and used his binoculars to look into the gala that was happening tonight. 

The Gala that was being hosted by none other than Wilson Fisk, a party that was celebrating his return to the city with his wife, Vanessa. 

When Clint had got the information, he had instantly started planning out what he needed to do to get this mission done..

Because he knew for a fact that Peter would show up to this party, this was the first time in years that Fisk was showing his face in the city. 

If there was anytime Peter would try and kill the man, it would be tonight. 

All Clint had to do was wait, and he was sure that Peter would show his face. 

Or, should he say Ronin...

Chapter Text

If three years ago, someone told little old Peter Parker, web slinging vigilante of Queen's that he'd one day be the most feared man on the face of the earth, he would've scoffed at the idea and moved on with his life. 

After all he was only Peter, he wasn't anything special, he didn't kill and he barley used a fraction of his strength when out patrolling the city, making sure the people were safe. 

It was a true testament to how much Peter has changed in these short three years since the Snap. 

He's no longer the same naive, young, inexperienced boy who thought heroes always won, he quickly realized that it didn't matter how strong you thought you were, there was always someone bigger and badder than you. 

And eventually, when the time was right, they'd strike. 

He himself, lost everything to the snap. His last family member, best friends, mentor and everyone he had ever known. 

Dust to the wind. 

Most of all though, Peter Parker, the boy who always looked on the bright side of things, the vigilante who always had a sarcastic, witty quip up his sleeve no matter how down in the dumps he was...

He had finally lost his hope...

 His stubbornness though, and his will to fight for what was right increased tenfold after Thanos won, which brought him to where he was in the present.

Getting ready to finally take out the man who was behind most of New York's suffering throughout the years...

Peter stood in the bedroom of Yelena's New York safe house, getting dressed for the upcoming party which was happening in less than an hour. 

 He couldn't just waltz in there with his Ronin gear though, so Yelena and him decided to go the sneaky route and wear dress clothes to easily blend into the crowd. 

 Peter himself would still carry all their weapons for them, easily able to hide them with them being made out of nano bots. His wrist watch for example, could transform into a backup web shooter incase he ever needed it. 

He'd also be carrying a nano sword that would be the substitute for his actual blade. The nanites for the sword would be housed in a small device which he would hide in his shoe so the security wouldn't find it. 

Yelena would also have a couple bracelets on that were a housing unit for her upgraded nanite widow bites. 

They weren't going in there with any guns, both of them knew If they really needed a firearm, they could always take one off of Fisk's terrible security team. 

You'd think after all this time fighting the two of them, that he'd increase his security team to half decent people who knew how to fight instead of these beginners who'd go down without much effort. 

 It didn't bother Peter all that much though, no matter what he'd get what he wanted at the end of the night. 

A Fisk free world. 

 "If you keep thinking, your heads gonna explode." Yelena commented offhandedly as she walked into the bedroom from the bathroom, wearing her floor length black dress and heels. Her hair was curled and Peter could tell that she had already done her makeup for the night. 

 "All I do is think, I kind of have to. I'm like, the brain of at least seventy five percent of our operation." Peter smirked as he turned around to give his attention to the woman. 

Yelena rolled her eyes, "Just because you're a genius, doesn't mean you have to rub it in, asshole" 

 Peter shrugged with a small smile, "I've gotta get my daily dosage of teasing in, I have a reputation to uphold anyway." 

"Oh what? Being an asshole?" Yelena asked sarcastically. 

"Exactly." 

 Yelena rolled her eyes again as she walked by him and smacked him across the back of his head, "Focus, we've got a walrus to murder." 

Peter clicked his tongue, "Now Lena, name calling is not nice, you know better." He said. 

 She flipped him off with even looking back, "Fuck yourself Spider."

 "Nah, that's only Tuesdays." Peter smirked which made Yelena snort in amusement and shake her head at her partner's antics. 

 Peter turned back around and decided he wouldn't play with fire tonight and started to finish up his attire for the party while Yelena finished with hers. The only thing from his outfit that was currently missing was his bow tie which would tie everything together. 

See what he did there?

Tie?

Anyways, he grabbed the article of clothing which was laid out on the bed and started to tie it around his neck while looking in the mirror, making sure everything was all straight with his silk suit. 

 Once he was done, and the tie was securely around his neck, he walked out of the bedroom and into the living room where Yelena was, sitting on the couch and waiting for him. 

"Finally!" She exclaimed as she got up, "It took you long enough!" 

Peter shook his head in exasperation, already knowing how their night would be going if their behavior was anything to go by as of right now. 

 "Let's get going then Mrs I-Take-Two-Hour-Showers. Honestly I can't believe you're talking to me about taking forever." He rolled his eyes. 

"That was one time!" 

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

 Yelena scoffed, "Whatever, I'm driving." 

Peter narrowed his eyes at her as they walked out of the front door to their safe house, Peter making sure he locked it behind him, "If you scratch my baby..." He left the end of his statement open, knowing she'd understand. 

"I'm not gonna destroy your precious car Parker, chill the F out." 

 "Hey, I'm just saying. If you do happen to dent my car, I may or may not be slightly upset and depending on how nice I'm feeling, I may give you the silent treatment for a day." Peter shrugged, the both of them walking down the hallway and deciding to take the stairs down to the garage, where their cars were stored, instead of the elevator. 

 "Don't be a baby, we're gonna have fun tonight. Going to party and drink and kill a mobster. You  know, just a normal day in the life of the worlds deadliest duo." 

 "Yeah, completely normal."

 "You also owe me a dance Pyotr, you promised." Yelena pouted at him as she opened the door, both of them having finally made their way down the stairs and to the ground level where the garage was located. 

 Peter scoffed, walking further into the room and coming to rest right by his white sports car, "Yeah yeah yeah, I know. If you don't destroy my car, I might even allow two dances for the night." 

Yelena smirked, "Oh, you're so on!"

Clint sighed as he leaned against the railing of the roof he was currently on, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the two guests of honor he's been trying to track down for the last few years. 

Both Yelena and Peter were proving to be quite the difficult duo to tack down, and Clint would be lying if he said he wasn't just a tad bit annoyed with being one upped by a teenager and Natasha's sister. 

 Yeah, he was glad Nat wasn't here to see him, god knows she'd be laughing in his face for his failure at tracking down these two. 

Who's he kidding, she's definitely laughing at him from the afterlife, he knew her better than anyone after all and he knew she'd never pass up on the opportunity to mess with him. 

 It used to annoy him, now...

Well, now he just missed her...

It's been a rough three years for him to say the least. He's mainly tried to focus on keeping his family afloat in between his searches for Parker. 

Cooper is already off to college, Lila is months away from graduating high school and Nate is already starting kindergarten. 

His kids are growing up so fast, it felt like yesterday he was holding them all in his arms, cradling their tiny baby bodies against his chest, promising that he'd always keep them safe. 

If only he could've done the same for his partner...

 Clint sighed to himself, "God, I sometimes wonder what you'd do if you were here. Lord knows you'd probably have already tracked them down by this point". He said, talking to himself, talking to Natasha like she could actually hear him. 

He liked to think she was looking over him, looking over all of them. 

 Clint shook his head, "I wish you were here." He whispered. 

He didn't have time to spiral any further down the rabbit hole because just then, he heard the hum of a sports car down the street, making its way closer to his position, breaking him out of his head and causing him to look down at the street. 

 He watched as a black and white Mclaren rolled down the street and came to park right outside the building. He squinted his eyes to see if he could tell who was behind the wheel but the glass was polarized, he wasn't able to tell from his vantage point above the streets. 

But he didn't need to worry, because after the car came to a stop and the engine shut off, the doors slid open and he watched as a blond with a black dress and heels climbed out of the drivers seat. 

There wasn't that much off about her, but her face, with his binoculars he could see a glint in the woman's eyes that said she was here and she meant business. 

His suspicions were confirmed when not even a second later, a nicely dressed young man got out the passengers seat. 

 From the last time he saw the kid, he had obviously changed, his muscles a lot more defined then they were back then, his hair still as curly as ever but it was a little shorter and his eyes...

His eyes were the same color, but so changed. 

Clint could see this lingering darkness at the edges of his vision. The type of darkness that just pushed and pushed and pushed until it was practically overflowing the welders body, wanting to get out, wanting to release all that pent up energy. 

It seemed that Peter was going to let it all out tonight, most likely going to kill Fisk with it. 

 Clint had to try and stop him, he'd never forgive himself if he didn't. Copper and him were pretty much the same age, Lila also only a few years younger than Parker. 

If it was one of his kids, he'd do the same thing in a heartbeat so he'd try and help this kid in whatever way he could. 

He owed Stark that much, to at least try and help his protégé when he couldn't.

Clint placed his binoculars down on the ground before grabbing his foldable bow and placed it along his back in a little pouch that Tony had made for him years ago. 

 He straighten his tie which was around his neck before walking over to the door that would lead him to a set of stairs. 

The stairs would take him directly to the ground floor of the building he was on, right across the street from the party. 

He made sure he had the invitation still in his pocket before nodding to himself and continuing on his journey down. 

It only took him a minute to get down and once he did, he wasted no time on crossing the street and walking over to get in line to enter the building. 

Once he was in line, he subtly looked at the front where he could see both Yelena and Peter softly laughing to themselves, along with the guard at the door before he waved them in, both of their invitations in his hand. 

It seemed that two had the same idea as him, get an invite instead of sneaking their way in. 

 Exactly what a smart spy would do, act casual until you couldn't anymore. 

 There was about twenty people who were in front of him though, so he stood there with his suit on and waited to get to the front. 

Whatever happened, he knew that tonight was going to be shit storm for sure. 

So he'd take all the extra time that was given to him so he could prepare himself...

"I'm telling you, when my aunt found out, she was pissed!" The business man exclaimed with a laugh. Peter thought his name was Thomas or something like that, he didn't really pay attention to his name, only to the fact that he had been in eye distance to Fisk and his wife, so Peter had walked over and did what he did best. 

He silently watched Fisk out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to talk to the man, nodding and responding at the right times but keeping most of his focus on the mobster. 

Peter fake chuckled, "That's quite a story you've got." 

"Oh that's not even the half of it man. But enough about me, what's your story then? You look pretty young to be in business already man." 

Peter shrugged, "I am, but I love what I do, wouldn't change it for the world." He said, which wasn't technically a lie, he did love his work, as both Spider-Man and Ronin. 

But recently, he's more the Ronin than Spider-Man nowadays. 

He's thought about it, going back to being the vigilante that the public adores, he's thought a lot about it. 

He tried once, a few months back, but it didn't go well. 

As soon as he held the suit in his hands, he went into a panic attack, stuck in his own head, looking at all the horrors that he's done. 

Spider-Man didn't kill. 

Ronin did.

Spider-Man wasn't mean.

Ronin was brutal. 

Spider-Man was witty, sarcastic and funny.

Ronin was cold, silent and calculated. 

Both his alternate personas were completely opposite, they counteracted everything about each other and one of them was a tie to the old Peter Parker, the young boy who always had faith in the world he lived in, who never gave up on the people and always did what was right. 

Ronin on the other hand was the new Peter Parker, the one who had been beaten and broken down to his very core. The shell of a man who was left alone in their broken world. He picked up the pieces and crafted his new identity from scratch, still keeping the whole protecting people shtick, yet, just a bit different from before. 

When he held that suit in his hands, he didn't feel worthy of it anymore...

 He's killed so many people, he'd be the first to admit it, but deep down, he didn't feel anything towards their death except relief. 

Relief that the assholes would finally be gone from their world, so they couldn't hurt any more innocent people. 

He gave all of them what the police and the system never could. 

He served justice in the name of the people, the people who were afraid and broken like him, the people who lost so much and only kept on losing thanks to the assholes he killed. 

 He knew when word got out that some asshole was killed, the people who were hurt by them, well they felt relief that they'd no longer have to deal with those scumbags if they did happen to come back. 

He was avenging all of the people, he was making up for lost time and getting rid of the scum of the earth who thought they owned it. 

And that, that was what bothered Peter the most...

 He was glad, happy even that these people were gone. 

He was so fucking relieved that they were dead. 

Maybe that's why he didn't feel worthy of Spider-Man. 

Because he knew it'd be a lie, he'd be lying to all those people. They thought Spider-Man was good, so good that he'd never do anything wrong. 

They had this image of Spider-Man, an image that Peter didn't want to taint if they ever found out that Ronin and the vigilante were one in the same. 

He's seen what New York has said about him in his absence. While the Bugle is thankful, the people of New York have their speculations on the matter. 

Some think that he's gone below the radar to keep his family safe from a villain, while others who hadn't kept up with his activities thought he had finally kicked the bucket. 

There was another one were he said he had come in contact with Ronin and the man had killed the vigilante in cold blood before dumping the body in the Hudson. 

There was no one though, who thought Ronin and Spider-Man were the same, their two personalities too different for anyone to connect them back as the same person. 

 Peter Parker was now Ronin, Spider-Man considered dead as far as anyone else was concerned. 

This was the new Peter Parker, weather he liked it or not, everything that has happened to him, everything he's been through forged him into who he was now in the present. 

And he couldn't change that, just like how he couldn't change the fact that Wilson Fisk, needed to die tonight. 

The man, who Peter had completely forgot about with his inner monologue, started to talk again but he wasn't concerned with that at the moment. His senses warned him a second before it happened but he didn't have time to react as a man walked up next to them and spoke to the business man. 

"Sorry to bother the two of you, but can I speak with my friend here? We haven't seen each other in a long time. It'd be nice to catch up." Peter has heard that voice before, hell he knew all of his childhood Heroes by heart. 

Peter turned to his right and was instantly met with the face of Clint Barton, standing next to him with a smile along his face. 

Shit...

 "Um, yeah sure, I'll leave you two to talk. It was nice meeting you young man." Thomas said, offering his hand to shake. 

Peter smiled at the man and shook it, "Likewise." As soon as the man walked away, Peter turned to look at the archer with a raised eyebrow. 

 "Barton." He acknowledged as he reached over and grabbed a glass of champagne to sip on. 

 "Parker." He whispered before continuing, talking at a normal volume, "Aren't you a little too young for alcohol?" He asked. 

Peter shrugged and took another sip, "I'm close enough. Legal if we were over in Europe." 

"We're not though."

"Which is stupid. Honestly if you can sign up to fight for this county at eighteen, I don't see why I can't have a damn drink every once and awhile. It's stupid." 

"Probably because some of the eighteen years olds out there don't have common sense." Clint commented offhandedly as he grabbed a flute of champagne for himself from a waiter walking by. 

 "That's their own fault. Not my problem some people don't have a brain." He said. 

Clint hummed before jumping right into the conversation again, this time though, asking something that made Peter's insides seize up, "So, I think you know why I'm here Ronin." He said just above a whisper, making Peter clench the hand that wasn't holding the flute. 

 "I don't know what you're talking about." Peter denied instantly, subtly making sure his com was on so Yelena could hear everything that was going on. 

 "I think you do kid. Listen, I'm not here to try and tell you what you're doing is wrong, that's not what I'm here for. I just want to help you." Clint said. 

Peter huffed with a slight smile, "Yeah, and does this helping me, mean you're gonna stop me from killing the worst mobster in New York history?" He asked, getting silence as a response from the older man making him scoff, "That's what I thought. Listen Barton, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I don't need it. I can take care of myself just fine." He said, taking note that Yelena was slowly advancing on their position. 

 "I know people grieve in their own way Peter, but I'd never forgive myself if I let you stay on this road. Trust me when I tell you, it's no way to live your life. I once knew someone who was doing the same as you, killing people without mercy but deep down, she wanted out even when she thought she didn't. I can help you...If you allow me." 

Peter was quiet for a moment before he spoke up, completely ignoring the man's offer for help, "You know, my partner and I had a bet. Who'd be the first out of you guys to come and find us." 

"I thought Barnes but..." 

"I knew it'd be you." Yelena finished his sentence as she finally came up behind the archer, subtly keeping her hidden knife trained on his back. 

 Clint tensed but that was the only sign that he knew what was poking him in his back. He huffed though and slightly smiled, "Yelena, that's your name right? I don't want to assume anything but..."

"I'd watch what you say next." She warned with narrowed eyes, pressing the blade even deeper which did make him wince. 

"Natasha spoke about you a lot." He admitted which made Yelena weaken her hold around the knife as she pulled it away from his back. 

"She did?" Yelena asked in a quiet tone of voice. 

Clint nodded somberly, "Never shut up about you. Always said how much she missed you, how she wished you could be there with her. She even told me a few things about your childhood together, that whistle." He said as he whistled the tune Yelena hadn't heard in years. 

Her sisters whistle. 

But hearing it come out of his mouth, only made anger surge inside of her. 

He had gotten so much time with her sister, so much time to make new memories, to know her while Yelena, her sister, got only a few short years as a child and then one mission that almost killed them both. 

She had missed so much of her sisters life and this man, thought he could come here and try and convince them to stop what they were doing, using Natasha to get to her? 

Not going to happen...

She glared and poked the blade right into his back again, "Don't. You don't get to come here and say stuff like that, hoping to catch me off guard. You're not stopping us, no matter how much your hero heart wants to." She hissed in his ear and that's when Peter decided now was the time to strike. 

Fisk was getting ready for his big speech about returning to the city and Peter planned on crashing it. 

Before hopefully crushing the man's skull in. 

 "As pleasant as this has been Barton, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask my partner here to take you outside. Can't have you messing with the main event now, can I?" Peter said as he set his flute down and started to walk away but Clint called back out to him. 

"Don't do it kid, I promise you, you'll regret everything your doing later on in your life if you keep down this path. It's not something I'd wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy." Clint said softly, shaking his head at the young man. 

Peter stopped and looked over his shoulder at the archer, "It's too late for that Clint, I'm already in way too deep." Without another word, he walked away and only left Yelena and Clint now standing by the bar, with the woman still standing behind him with her hidden blade against his back. 

 Clint sighed to himself, "Why are you letting him do this?" He asked, not understanding why she'd allow this to happen, why she allow the kid to torture himself like this.

Yelena scoffed, "You don't understand, I couldn't stop him. By the time I found him he was already neck deep in shit. I merely offered my assistance to him. I'm sure you know this by now but Peter is the most stubborn person on the face of the earth." She said, subtly leading him away from the gathering of people so her partner could deal with Fisk as she got rid of their hero problem. 

 "So now you help him with tracking down the most dangerous people on earth?" 

"We, are the most dangerous people on earth. The assholes we kill deserve it. Don't stand here and act all high and mighty Mr Avenger, you've killed people when the time called for it, you have no room to judge." 

 "We can get him the help he needs, please just work with me here."

 Yelena glared at the back of his head, "Just because you knew my sister, it doesn't mean I owe you anything. I'm loyal to my partner, he's helped me more than you ever could. I don't need you interfering with our work." She said before continuing on, "And he doesn't need help, he doesn't need anyone else. I'll, help him, I have, helped him. I don't need you to come here and make him worse." She said making sure to emphasize how much she's helped him. 

 He's been doing really great these past few months. Peter's had very little nightmares and when he does, she's been able to instantly calm him down as soon as she placed her arms around him, hugging him again her chest. 

She knew how much he relied on his senses when he wasn't fully there, usually when he had just woken up so she knows how much he used his smell. 

And according to him, she had a very distinct smell which calmed him down. 

She's not one to judge, being near him always calmed her down right after a nightmare too so whatever he needed, she'd do everything in her power to make that happen. 

Just as Clint was about to speak up, there was commotion coming from behind them both, people whispering and a second later there were shouts which made both of them turn around. 

They saw Peter smirking at Wilson and his wife from his vantage point on top of a table as people started to panic and run in every direction away from them. 

"Damn it Pyotr!" Yelena cursed as she ran over to where her partner was, ready to help in whatever way she could, leaving Clint staring at the two of them in exasperation. 

"Well, this'll be fun." He said, grabbing his bow from his pouch along his back and extending the weapon, grabbing a foldable arrow from the pouch as well and notching it in his bow. 

It was gonna be a long night...

Back with Peter a few minutes before, he walked away from the two, knowing that Yelena would make sure Clint found his way out of the building. 

Nothing against the man, he enjoyed the little conversations they had before he left, but he didn't need Clint to interfere with tonight. 

Wilson had to die, and Peter was going to make sure that happened. 

He molded into the crowd which was now starting to surround the man, getting ready to hear what the man had to say with his great return to the city. 

It'd all be a bunch a bullshit anyways, Peter doesn't understand why these people listen to a thing this asshole has to say after all he's done. 

But tonight, he'll make sure to finally silence him. 

Once and for all. 

 "Fellow friends, I'm glad you've all turned out to welcome me back home, it's been too long since I've step foot into this city and for that, I sincerely apologize. I never wanted to leave, but I'm sure you understand why I had to. The brutal Vigilante known as Ronin has been hunting me down, it was not safe to come back." Wilson started off which made Peter quietly scoff. 

Blame it all on him why don't you. 

"Yet here I stand, alive. The man has failed, failed to kill me while I try to help my city. He wishes to kill me for what he thinks I've done, not, understanding all the good that happened because of me..." Peter didn't even let the man finish before he called out from the crowd. 

"Florence. Hong Kong. Madrid. Romania. Tokyo." He called out the names of these places, all the places where the man had run off to try and hide from him and Yelena. He watched as everyone turned to look at him, Wilson and Vanessa with fear in their gaze as everyone around him started to whisper. 

He continued on, "Did you really think that you could run from me." He smirked, "Newsflash Fisk, I've been one step ahead of you this whole time. I've been slowly depleting your money, your resources, it's all been a little ruse to make you believe I was trying to kill you, but I was missing the whole time, when In reality, this, has been the plan since the very beginning." He said, spreading his arms out wide, the smirk still plastered across his face. 

 "What are you on about, murderer?" Fisk glared, placing himself in front of his wife which made Peter scoff. 

"Since the beginning, the plan was never to kill you, at least, not so soon. It was to deplete your resources before eventually, you'd be forced to come back to the city with barely anything. Then, and only then, would you die. Because then, I'd have taken everything away from you, everything that you built up from nothing, is now gone. And before the clock strikes midnight, I promise you, that you'll have nothing left." He said, making sure to make eye contact with Vanessa, emphasizing his point which only made Fisk angrier. 

 "No such thing will happen, I'll tear you apart myself if I have too!!" 

 "No you won't." He said, jumping up onto a nearby table so he could have a better vantage point, "What you don't know Wilson, is I've already won." His smirk widened as his spider sense tingled, warning him about the incoming man behind him. He instantly dodged the man's attack, kicked him in the head and instantly knocked him out before grabbing the knife in his hands, twirling it before looking back at the man. 

"Justice has arrived Wilson, it's time you pay for all the crimes you've committed." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, everyone started to panic and ran in every direction, not wanting to risk getting hurt by the man who had the knife.

"What're you waiting for!!? Kill him!!" Wilson screamed as he took Vanessa's hand and led her away from the commotion, his guards finally breaking out of their shock and started to shoot at him which none of the bullets even met their mark, Peter's senses were too strong as he flipped out of the way of each bullet. 

He dropped onto the ground and ducked behind the nearby table for cover as he grabbed the nano device that would materialize his sword. 

Once he had the weapon in his hand, he leaped out of cover and started to do what he did best. 

He killed the guards with no mercy, because nothing would stop him from killing Fisk. But unfortunately he watched as the man was getting farther away which made Peter clench his teeth in anger. 

Just then, Yelena came running so he activated his coms to talk, "Yelena he's getting away! Get Vanessa away from him!" He exclaimed. 

"Copy that. Also heads up, Barton's still here. He might try to stop you." She said. From her tone of voice he could tell that she was slightly amused that he'd have to deal with Barton. 

Some partner she was.

"Great, just what I wanted to hear." Peter rolled his eyes as he slit a man's throat open, watching as he gurgled and tried to grab at his neck before Peter stuck the blade through his chest, killing the man and putting him out of his brief misery. 

 He didn't have time to think before another man came up behind him but before Peter could lift his weapon the man groaned and his eyes rolled up into his head as he fell down, with an arrow in the middle of his back. 

Peter looked up and saw that Clint was making a B-line right for him but he knew that Barton didn't want to fight. 

"I had him you know." Peter said. 

Clint huffed as he came to a stop next to him, "Yeah that's what I was worried about." 

Peter scoffed, "Okay Mr I've never killed before." 

"Fair, I'll give you that but that's not what we're talking about right now...w-wait, where's your mask? Aren't you worried about people knowing who you are?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Peter waved him off though, "I had my AI delete anything about me that was on the internet. Hacked government websites you know, the usual. Even if they have a picture of me, no one will know who I am so it's fine. I technically don't exist at the moment. Plus ACE is monitoring the camera system in the building and wiping anything that captures mine or Yelena's face." 

Clint hummed, "Maybe you could do that for me too?" He asked hopefully which made Peter snort in amusement. 

"Don't worry, already on it." Just then, Peter's com turned on and Yelena's voice made its way through his ear. 

"Pyotr I need your help!" She said in a rush. He could hear the sound of struggling in the background as well which instantly brought his mind back to the present. 

"On my way." Without another word to the archer, he bolted away were he last saw Fisk and Vanessa run. He was aware that Clint was following him but he didn't care. 

If something happened to Yelena, he didn't know what he'd do. 

He'd not allow anyone else that he cared about to be hurt, that was something that he probably wouldn't survive. 

Yelena was his rock, his bright light at the end of the tunnel, as corny as that sounded. She kept him afloat when he was at his low and he didn't know what he'd do if she was hurt or worst, killed when he could've prevented it. 

He ran faster down the hallway, using all his strength as he busted through a locked door. The doors clattered to the ground and went flying but Peter was more concerned about how Yelena had Vanessa held by her neck, keeping her still while Fisk tried to stay as calm as he could with the sight of Yelena holding the gun right underneath his wife's neck. 

Finally.

 "Took you long enough." Yelena said once he came to rest right beside her. 

"I'm sorry, I was dealing with the poor security team tasked with protecting the bastard." Peter commented as he held his sword in his hand, getting ready for a fight that would surely happen once the man's wife was killed. 

 Yelena hummed, "You know how hard it is trying to separate the walrus from his wife? He's stronger than you think he is." 

 "And yet you handled yourself just fine." Peter said. 

 "Funny." She deadpanned but that was when Fisk decided to speak up. 

 "Enough games. Leave my wife alone! She has nothing to do with this!" He exclaimed. 

Peter clicked his tongue and shook his head, "That's where you're wrong Fisk, she has everything to do with this. Not to mention what you do is for her, I have lots of incriminating footage of her, ordering the murder of multiple people. It'd be a shame if that footage got leaked to the public, wouldn't it?" He asked rhetorically. 

 Fisk growled, "What do you want?!" 

 "I told you before, you, dead. Unfortunately I came to realize that if the both of you were still alive." He said gesturing to Fisk and his wife, "Than New York will never truly be safe from your influence." Peter finished, stalking around Vanessa like she was the prey, and he the predator. 

Which was not lost on either of the Fisk's...

 "Please..." Vanessa said softly, a tear leaking from her eye but Peter held no remorse for the woman. 

She didn't deserve it. 

 "If you kill her, my men and I will hunt you down to the ends of the world. Nowhere will ever be safe for you!!" 

Peter smirked, "That's where you're wrong. As of right now, Hawkeye is right outside, making sure no one enters. I'm sure you could look past me if you really wanted to see." He said, gesturing behind him as the archer took out another one of the guards with ease, making Fisk huff in anger. 

 "Let my wife go." He said again, gritting his teeth in anger. 

Peter smirked, if the man wanted, he'd give him what he asked for...

 "Alright, I'll let her go." He smiled at him and before he could even blink, his blade was slashed upward, coming in contact with Vanessa's neck, making blood spurt out as she clutched her wound and fell down onto the ground, Yelena let her go and crumple down, blood quickly pooling around her body as she bleed out. 

Peter watched as the man in front of him shattered. His heart died in that one moment as he watched the love of his life bleed out right in front of him. 

The man deserved it.

"I told you Wilson, your actions would catch up to you. You brought this upon yourself." Peter said. 

 Then, the anger hit the giant of a man as he screamed out in rage, "If I'm going down, your coming with me!!!" He yelled as he charged at the assassin with so much rage it kind of reminded the young man of a Volcano erupting.

He gestured for Yelena to move out of the way and as soon as she did so, Peter charged at the rampaging man too. He ran low to the ground and as soon as he was close enough, Peter used his enhanced strength to pick up the man before slamming him down onto the ground, causing the whole room to shake. 

He wasted no time in beating the man's skull in, not giving him anytime to react and not pulling any of his punches. 

He used all of his strength, feeling as the man's bones cracked under the power, felling as blood started to flow from his wounds. 

It was exhilarating. 

Which worried a small part of Peter, but he pushed those feelings down so the others had room to rise. 

Like his anger towards the man in front of him, his disgust at what he does and all the pain and suffering he's put people through in their lives. 

He used Wilson as his personal punching bag, getting rid of all his emotions, working through them all as he stood above the mobster. 

After a few more seconds of beating his face to a pulp, he panted and stood back for a second, savoring the victory he was currently experiencing. 

He grabbed the man's vest and pulled him up so he was face level with him. He could tell he wasn't really there, drifting in between consciousness but Peter was glad that a part of him was still aware. 

Because Peter could see the fear in his eyes as he opened them. 

The fear of death. 

The fear of him...

 "Never again, will anyone be hurt by you." Peter said with a hate filled voice, hating the man in front of him with such a burning passion. 

Everything this man and done, it was all coming back to haunt him now, as Peter finally stood victorious over the mob boss. 

He'd finally understand a fraction, of what he put everyday people through. 

He dropped the man back on the ground before picking up his sword which he dropped in his haste and lifted it above his head, "See you in Hell Wilson." He said before bringing the sword down but right then his senses flared, warning him about the incoming arrow before it actually hit. 

He knew Clint wasn't trying to kill him though, and this was way more important to Peter so he ignored the splitting pain that exploded from his right shoulder as he brought his blade down and stabbed it into the man's neck. 

Killing Wilson Fisk for good...

He turned around and winced when the action pulled aft the arrow currently protruding from his shoulder, making eye contact with Barton and raised an eyebrow. 

"Really." He asked, annoyed more then anything. He knew Clint was coming from a good place, but he didn't care at the moment, Fisk had to die, no questions asked. 

He'd not stand for anything less. 

 "I had to try kid...You didn't, you didn't need to kill him." Clint said softly. 

Peter shrugged, "Maybe, you didn't need to shoot me. Now you've got to deal with her." He pointed out. 

Clint was too slow though because as he turned around all he saw was Yelena's fist hurdling towards him, instantly knocking him out cold, his body dropping to the floor. 

"Asshole." He heard her mutter. He laughed but it turned into a hiss when his movement pulled at his wound. He could smell the blood leaking from the hole in his shoulder and he knew that I'd need to be taken out. 

He was not looking forward for that. 

Yelena instantly ran over to him though and placed a gentle hand on his gods shoulder while she inspected the wound, her face was openly showing how concerned she actually was for him, "We've got to go. This needs to be cleaned and we probably want to leave before the men in blue show up and crash the party." 

"Yeah," Peter groaned, "I fully agree. Let's get the hell out of here." 

Clint groaned as he walked into the compound living room and sat down on the couch an hour later. 

He'd been out cold and had only come to when the cops had woken him up, wondering why an Avenger was at Fisk's party who was in fact, now dead. 

He told them some bullshit story about following a lead and that was that, they all fully believed him. 

What was surprising for the avenger, was how glad the police were with having Fisk dead once they saw his body. Apparently the man had killed loads of cops and infiltrated both police stations and FBI awhile back and it only made the good cops hate the man's guts even more. 

They had looked at his body and scoffed, saying it was good riddance he was finally dealt with. 

They didn't even care that Ronin was in the city again. 

God, Clint had shot Peter. He still wasn't over that. It's not like he meant to either, he had though that shooting an arrow would make him dodge out of the way, stopping him from killing Fisk. 

But Clint had misunderstood how badly Peter wanted the man dead..

"The hell happened to you?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow from where he was sitting at the table, working on some sort of paper work. 

 Clint sighed to himself. He knew he could no longer keep this secret a secret. Now that he knew with one hundred percent certainty, he had to tell them. 

Tell them the truth. 

 "Get Barnes in here, I only want to explain this once." He said. 

Sam furrowed his eyebrows, "What's the matter?" He asked getting up and sitting down in a nearby armchair. 

 "Wait for Barnes." He said instead of answering. 

A few minutes later, after Friday had told the ex assassin he was needed, the man walked into the room with a raised eyebrow, "What?" 

"You might wanna sit down for this." Clint said before he started to tell them all he knew about Peter and what he's been doing this past three years.

He watched as the men in front of him took in the information as best they could. Barnes himself was probably taking it the worst though.

He knew what it did to someone's mental health to go around and kill people, he knew eventually, it took its toll on the person. 

"Shit." Sam said while wiping his hand down his face, two hour later when the archer was done explaining everything.

"Yeah, shit." Clint commented. 

 "We, we have to do something. We can't keep letting the kid destroy himself." Barnes said with a worried look behind his gaze. 

"And we will," Sam started off, "But not tonight. God knows where the kid ran off to after the party. He could be anywhere. Right now, we're all gonna get some sleep before regrouping tomorrow. Then, we'll fill in the others and start on the search." 

 Barnes and Clint nodded their head at the man's words. 

They'd find the kid and Yelena, they'd make him understand that what he was doing was only torturing himself. 

They'd find and help save him. 

Because that's what they did.

Peter sighed as he sat down on the roof of the safe house, staring off into the distant New York sky. 

It was done. 

Wilson Fisk and his cronies were no more. The stragglers would eventually be found and killed, but for right now, in this moment, Peter felt peace for the first time in a very long while. 

 Right then, Yelena walked up and sat down next to him, staring off into the distance with him. 

The two assassin calmly sat down and just relaxed in each other's presence. It was always easy for them, to be together as they were. 

For Yelena, it was truly something else, it showed how much she has come from trusting no one, to trusting Peter with her very life. 

She's never felt like this, never felt this need to protect someone as she did with Peter. She'd do anything for him, and she knew that he'd do anything for her. 

It was nice, having someone this important in her life. 

She didn't know what she'd do without him. 

 "We did it." He said. 

Yelena smiled, "Yes. We did." 

Peter lightly scoffed before laying his head down on her shoulder, "I can't believe we're finally done with Fisk." He admitted. 

 "Don't forget Kazi. He's still at large. We expected him to be at the party but I guess he's smarter than Wilson and knew we'd be there." Yelena replied, laying her head down on his. 

 Peter hummed, "We don't have to worry though, we'll take care of it." He said, bringing his head off her shoulder so he could make eye contact with her, "Like we take care of each other. You and I are an unstoppable team, we'll deal with whatever the world throws at us, together." He smiled. 

Yelena smiled back, but there was a wetness behind her gaze. She never once has felt this wanted, this loved in her life and here Peter was, telling her he'd always have her back, that he'd never leave her. 

It was nice, great even. 

Something she's always wanted in life. 

 She nodded her head before she brought her Forehead forward to rest against his, both of them closing their eyes, "Together." She confirmed. 

The two sat there on the roof for hours, watching as the stars in the night sky blinked back at them. 

They knew wherever life took them next, they'd have each other through it all. 

Because they were partners, and neither of them were going to leave the other anytime soon. 

They'd been through too much together to just throw it all away. 

If only they knew where their journey would take them in only two years times....

A journey, that would change both of their lives, forever...

Chapter Text

Five Years after The Snap...

October 15th, 2023

Sam sat and listened to the many members of his group talk with an open expression across his face. 

He's done this before, he knows how hard it can be to open up to strangers but this group was meant to help each other, meant to help everyday people work through their problems with a little help from Captain America. 

Though for Sam, even after years still doesn't know how he feels about having Steve's title. 

It was originally rough when he had first been given the shield by Barnes. The ex assassin had confirmed that it's what Steve would've wanted, but there was always this small part of him that doubted he was capable of upholding the legacy of the shield. 

The hardest part of the job, no shock to Sam was winning the publics opinion on the matter. The people that were left on earth were split pretty evenly when it came to naming someone the next captain, even if said person was one of his best friends. 

 They didn't know how to feel about moving on, to some it felt like forgetting Steve, like they were leaving him behind and for a small time, Sam had also felt that way. 

But as time went on, he realized that he wasn't replacing Steve, he was holding onto the legacy he left behind so no one would ever forget the man. People looked at him, and saw the second Captain, not the first. They all still remembered Steve and that's what Sam wanted, he wanted the world to remember his friend, he wanted them to honor his life. 

And they did, they honored all of their fallen heroes in one way or another. 

It was one of the reasons Sam had started this group, so he could continue to help everyday people who were struggling and needed someone to lift them back above the water. 

People who needed help. 

Sam, was willing to be the man who did so, in honor of his late friend because he knew if Steve was in his position, he'd do the same exact thing. 

"I went on a date the other day. It's been the first time in five years, so... um..." One of the regulars who came every week, who was still clearly grieving even after five whole years, started to talk first, which was a surprise to Sam considering he usually went last. 

But Sam was happy he stepped up and went, it meant that he was starting the process of healing, he was slowly opening up and that made Sam so damn happy for the man. 

It seemed everyone around him felt the same way because they all smiled gently at him when he stuttered, which the man, Joe, smiled back, "Thanks. But uh... you know? I'm sitting there with my date, and we just talked." He admitted. 

Sam nodded his head and placed his hands together on his lap, intrigued what the man had to say this week. "What did the two of you talk about?" He asked curiously. 

The man shrugged. "Eh. Same old crap. How all things have changed and... my job, his job, how much we miss the Mets." He chuckled quietly to himself before it turned into a sigh. "And then things got quiet, and then... he cried when the salad was being served."

"What about you?" A woman asked after a moment of silence. 

He took a moment to collect himself before he responded with another shrug, getting a little teary eyed as he did so. "I cried just before dessert, so... But hey, I'm seeing him again tomorrow."

Sam smiled when he heard that, glad that Joe finally had something good in his life, "Hey, That's great, man. You did the hardest part. You had no idea how it was going to go, but you took the big jump forward and embraced it." He said, wholeheartedly. "And if a good friend of mine was here right now, he would say that what you did, taking those little baby steps that seem so little to others, that, was the bravest thing you could've done." Sam looked around the group before he spoke up to everyone in the circle. 

"All we can do, any of us, is take it one step at a time to try and become whole again. It may take us years, hell it took a few people only months." Sam smiled ruefully as the group chuckled. He waited till they stopped before he continued, "But no matter what, all we can try to do, is move forward in life. Pick up our broken pieces, and move on. As much as I hate to admit it. An old friend of mine would agree If he was here." He said, sighing quietly afterwards.

"We all have to move on. This world, this shattered planet which was once thriving with over seven billion people, well...it's on the rest of us to keep it going. It's up to us to do something about it, because..." He shrugged.  "Well we're still here, only half of the population is gone. But since we're not, it's up to us to take care of this mud ball floating around in the vast expanse known as our solar system."

 "Some might, consider us the lucky ones for living, but the ones here know, we know that we weren't lucky." Sam shook his head, "There's nothing we can do about it though, so...all we can do, is try to move on."

And isn't that just the kicker? If only it was that simple, to just, move on with your life, try and pick up the pieces after such a world shattering event. 

 It truly was the best if they could all just move on. However, Sam knew it wasn't that simple and there were somedays where he even doubted his own words. 

Five years ago, back in Wakanda when he watched as fellow heroes crumpled to dust, it was probably the hardest thing he ever has had to experience. 

And there was a small part of him that hoped he had gotten snapped away that day too.

Maybe it'd make all this, that much easier...

"What about you Sam? Anything you want to get off your chest?" Joe asked with a tilted head, breaking Sam out of his head. 

The Captain thought about it for a second before he sighed, "I have this friend of mine, he was pretty young when the snap happened, still a teenager. And he lost everything when Thanos snapped." He said, watching as all the people around him soaked up what he was saying. 

"He was close with one of us, one might even consider him part of the family. Anyways, almost five years ago, he ran away, and we haven't seen him since." 

"He's hurting, we all know this, he's in pain but...he doesn't want my help, he doesn't want any of our help." He said regretfully, thinking about what Peter was doing to himself, who he was becoming due to his own grief. 

Peter Parker, once Innocent Spider-Man, was forged into Ronin, brutal, heartless killer. 

 Still to this day, none of them have been able to find him and convince him to come back home to New York.

He's still out there, tracking down and killing people all around the globe. 

Even if they were bad people, he knew what killing another human did to someone, no matter how bad they actually are. 

That shit stays with you your whole life. 

 "Done give up hope Sam, one day he'll return, when he's ready." Joe said with a small smile. 

Sam huffed, "Yeah, I sure hope so." 

After the Snap, HQ was abandoned. The hallways were no longer filled with workers, no more scientists randomly walking the building, no medical team just on standby with a pay check at their Beck and call, the place was like a ghost town. 

It had been deemed a no trespassing zone too, hell there was even a gate around the whole property, making sure to keep unwanted guest from entering. 

But that didn't stop the buildings AI from making sure the place didn't crumble apart to the ground. 

Friday kept tabs on every room in the compound, making sure that nothing fell into such a state where they had to worry, always notifying the right people when a part of the building needed to be fixed. 

It wasn't that many people stayed here any longer, Clint and his family had a house right outside the city, a few hours away, Pepper had her lake house, Wanda usually stayed at the Sanctum to help protect it with Wong, only coming to her old home every few weeks to check in, Sam had an apartment in Brooklyn while staying up here but he went down to Louisiana a week out of every month to stay with his sister and nephews. 

The only one who lived there, would be the man who was trying to keep everything together, trying to hold onto the small part of his best friend which he had left.

But other than him, the place was completely abandoned nowadays...

Inside most of the lights were off, it didn't matter that is was starting to get dark, the ex assassin didn't want to waste the electricity anymore then he already did, so the only light which was usually on, was in the room which he spent nitty percent of his days. 

The meeting room which was technically his mini apartment. 

Bucky Barnes, now classified as the White Wolf to the general public, was sitting at his desk, making himself a little snack. Noting too big, just a standard PBJ sandwich, which was what his diet mostly consisted of most days. 

 He looked up after he was done at the people in the virtual meeting via the hologram. Wanda, Carol, Okoye, Nebula, Rhodey and Clint all stared right back at him.

"I boarded that highly suspect warship that Danvers pinned." Nebula said, pointing out the events that had happened a few hours ago. She tilted her head towards the blond's hologram and narrowed her eyes bitterly. "It was infectious."

Carol raised an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders at the blue alien. "You were closer." She stated.

"You knew." She accused. 

Carol barely contained her smirk, "Maybe."

Bucky rolled his eyes at their bantering before he turned to look at Rhodey, "What'd you find from that facility in Alaska?" He asked the man, getting to the more important matters of why they called this meeting.

Rhodey shook his head, "I've searched the entire place, and everyone there was massacred." The Colonel replied with a somber tone of voice. 

Bucky closed his eyes for a second before he asked the question he was dreading, "Do you know who did it?" 

The man pursed his lips before he sighed, "At first there were just a few groups of people infiltrating to grab weapons and supplies, they argued for a bit but then when I looked at the tapes more closely, there was a loop. Shortly after I found the tapered footage, the recording just cut to their dead bodies along the floor, no sight of who actually murdered them but...well, I think we all know who it was." The man said regretfully. 

"Did you manage to identify the groups? Maybe that'll help us out." Bucky asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich. 

"Most of their faces were...shit they were chopped clean off Barnes, the only way I could identify who they are exactly is by blood but from what group they're from, my best bet is the Albanians. From their whole screaming match before they all died, definitely Albanian." He said. 

Bucky hummed to himself before responding, "Where will you be heading now?"

"There's a deal involving highly dangerous weapons over in Istanbul. Old Stark technology they got their hands on. They're using the Mediterranean Sea as transport so I'm heading over there, see what kind of actual weapons they've gotten their hands on." He said. 

"Okay, I want you to transfer all the information you have on the attack in Alaska to Clint, hell cross reference it with what we already know and hopefully track him down." Bucky said causing everyone to look at him in understanding. 

They all knew who was responsible for the attack at the facility, they all had been informed about the situation involving Parker and they know what he's been doing these past five years. 

Still, none of them have been able to get ahold of him, the only one that's ever been able to catch up with him and his partner has been Clint. 

So he's been in charge of that aspect of the Avengers for a few years now. 

"I don't mean to be, disrespectful towards anyone here, and I say this as politely as I can, but why are we using all these resources to find Peter, if he clearly doesn't want to be found?" Carol asked. 

It was a valid question, really it was but Carol hadn't spent time with the boy like all of them had, she didn't know what Peter Parker was actually like. 

So she didn't know how important it was for them to find the kid before he hit the point of no return, where he'd finally break and be nothing but a shell of who he used to be. 

Bucky hadn't lost hope for the Kid, and he doubted that he ever would.

"Because he's worth it." It was Nebula who had spoken up which surprised some of them. 

Whenever they talked about the kid, she got really quiet and more reserved then she usually was. Bucky didn't know what happened on that ship five years ago, he didn't think anyone but those two did, but whatever happened it brought the two closer then he could've ever imagined. 

Almost starving and suffocating to death probably did that to you, almost dying together stranded in space, Bucky couldn't even imagine how the kid got back up on his two feet after that, he would've been scarred for life. 

Yet Parker picked himself up and moved on, again. 

That kid’s mental strength was truly something to admire...

"I'll send them over as soon as I'm out of here." Rhodey said after a second of silence, getting nods from the others. 

"Good." Bucky muttered before he turned to look at Wanda's hologram. "Maximoff, what did you find out about those tremors?" He asked, "Anything of importance?"

"I checked in with the scientists, they said it was miles underneath the African Plates." She replied her accent still very noticeable. 

 She was different from the young woman who had lost everything to Thanos five years ago though, she had spent a long time after the whole Westview incident training with Wong who was now top Sorcerer. He had taught her how to control the chaos inside of her, how to use the Mind stone’s influence to her benefit. 

He taught her not to be scared of the powers she had, but to embrace them. 

And that's what she did. 

Her hair was around shoulder length, resting just below her shoulder blades. She wore a black and scarlet dress with a little headpiece on her head that kept her hair out of her face. It had two little spikes protruding up, making it look like she had small horns and the rest of the headband went down on either side of her face to around the middle of her cheek, incasing her head around the intricate head crown. 

"So... an Earthquake?" Bucky deadpanned.

"Pretty much, yes." Wanda smiled amusedly at the man. 

Bucky snorted softly before nodding his head. "Noted...Danvers, will we be seeing you here next month?"

"Not likely." Carol replied truthfully, shaking her head in regret.

"What? You going to get a new haircut?" Clint rolled his eyes at the woman. 

"Listen Robin Hood, I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth are happening everywhere on thousands of planets."

Clint sighed and held up a hand. "Okay, listen I know I'm sorry. It's, been a long week." He admitted. 

"So we won't be seeing you anytime soon?" Wanda asked, but they all already knew the answer. 

"Not for a long time." 

Bucky nodded his head, "Alright then. Well, this channel is always active, so if anything goes sideways, or if anybody's making trouble where they shouldn't, it comes through me."

Okoye nodded her head before signing off, leaving the rest of them to say their goodbyes. 

"Good luck, everyone." The half-Kree said. 

"You too." Wanda said.

Leaving only Rhodey, Clint and Nebula on the call.

"Contact me if anything changes." Nebula said, staring Intently at Clint, making sure he understood her meaning. 

The archer nodded gravely, "Of course." With that said, the alien was gone.

Bucky sighed as he covered his face with his hands, taking a moment to collect himself. After a minute of silence he looked up at the remain two people on call, "Anything else I need to know?" He asked, trying to still sound confident in his tone but he knew he looked like a corpse at the moment, currently running on fumes as it was. 

"I looked through the database Tony used to keep, more specifically I looked at places that were safehouses. I wanted to see if Peter had visited any of them in the past five years for supplies and since I was already on my way here, I checked one out, but no one's been in there for years." Rhdoey said regretfully. 

"Okay, uh, send them to Clint. After he's done with trying to track him down, he can look into them more thoroughly."

"Barnes..."

Bucky's eyes started to sting a bit at Rhodey's tone of voice. He knew what he was going to say, he knew but Bucky couldn't for the life of him give up on the kid. 

He knew what it was like to be a monster, to be the monster people think you are and he couldn't imagine the kid going through what he did, minus the brainwashing. 

He needed, to help the kid...

"Please."

"Barnes..."

"I'll look into them." Clint said, cutting them both off. He shrugged, "Got nothing better to do with my time." He said, gaining a worried look from the Colonel and a grateful one from the ex assassin.

Rhodey looked at both of them before he sighed to himself and nodded his consent.

"Thank you." Bucky said, as he watched the man disappear too, leaving Barnes and Barton to themselves. 

 "What's the problem?" Bucky asked, knowing the man would've already said his goodbyes unless he had something to say. 

 Clint sighed, "Bucky, I know where he'll be next..." 

 Bucky's head snapped up and stared at the man with wide eyes, "Where?" 

"Tokyo. Since he and Yelena wiped out the Yakuza a few years back, they've been slowly building back up from the shadows and I guess he just recently found out. There was an unauthorized aircraft making its way out of Alaska a few hours ago. From what I can tell, the craft was heading right for Tokyo." He said. 

"Okay uh, come back to the compound first so we can talk one on one before we do anything rash, this may be our only chance at talking with him." Bucky said but he saw how reluctant the archer looked. 

"What?" 

"I don't...I don't think he's going to stop anytime soon James." Clint admitted, "You haven't seen him like I have when he's in character. He's brutal, he's cold and he's the best damn fighter I've seen in a while. He knows what his opponent will do before they do. He's gonna have five contingency plans incase one of us shows up, and you know that." 

"What are you saying Barton?" 

"I'm saying, you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved." He admitted softly with a slight wetness behind his gaze.

Bucky was reminded that Clint's oldest kids were around Peter's age, he understood because he was a father himself and he would've never wanted one of his kids to go through what Parker is. 

But Clint didn't know if they could reach the kid. Somewhere in that genius brain of his, he cut off all ties except for the one with Yelena, all bridges burned, even Spider-Man. 

But Bucky couldn't give up, call it hope, optimism, it didn't matter, he knew, Peter was still in there, somewhere and all he had to do was find a way to reach him. 

He couldn't give up now. 

"Please Clint just, please." He said hoarsely, so many emotions that wanted to spill out but the man was too stubborn to let them all out. 

He liked to think he still had some dignity left. 

"Alright, I'll be back by the end of the day. We'll talk when I'm there, yeah?" 

Bucky nodded, "Yes, thank you Clint, really it means a lot." 

The archer smiled sadly at him, "Of course, see you soon." And with that said, Barton signed off, leaving only Barnes to himself. 

The man took in a shaky breath, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back into the palm of his hands while also resting against the desk.

He's been doing this for so long, so damn long that he doesn't know what to do anymore. He's been trying to keep everything together, keep things from falling apart but it just seems that no matter how hard he tries, he can't get everything correct. 

And that hurts, because he knows that if Steve was here, he'd be great at this shit but Bucky was never a captain, never even had his own troop back in the army. He was a soldier and he followed orders, he didn't dish them. 

He can feel himself get all worked up but he knew he had to pull it together pretty quickly, considering he could hear someone enter the room he was currently in...

"What? Upset that my team beat yours last night? I know it's hard to believe but I told you, your team sucks man, find a new one." Sam teased as he walked into the room, sensing the stress coming off his friend so he decided to play it safe with a joke as he leaned on the doorframe to the room.

Bucky huffed, "And I've told you, I've had the same damn team for close to a hundred years now, I ain't changing anytime soon Samuel." He said, subtly shaking his head as he ran one of his hands through his shortened hair. 

 He had finally decided to ditch the long hair, it was getting way too hard to maintain and he really didn't like all the troubles that came with it. 

Like how his hair got stuck in the damn shower drains. 

Now having short hair, was like a damn blessing for the man. 

 "What're you doing here Wilson?" He asked after a second of composing himself, staring up at his friend.

"I came to check on a friend."

"Clearly your friend's fine." Bucky smiled sarcastically up at him, not wanting to talk emotions at the moment. 

He sometimes hated how his friend was a therapist who always tried to psychoanalyze him.

Sam nodded his head slightly before making eye contact with the other man, "You know, the craziest thing happened to me today when I was driving back from the group."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"I saw a pod of whales in the Hudson when I went over the bridge." Sam smiled. 

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. There were hardly any ships there, and the water's so clean that, hell they can probably go anywhere they want now and not be disturbed."

Bucky crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the desk further. "If you're about to tell me to look on the bright side, Sam, um..." He glared at him a bit before he continued, "I'm either, A, gonna hit you in the head with this here sandwich that I made for myself because I was starving, or B, I'll take you to the roof of this building here, and punt your ass off into the freshly cut grass. See if you'll survive." 

Sam scoffs lightly. "First off rude, okay. You need to work on being nicer to people who only want to help." He smirked which made Bucky flip him off, "And second...well I think I may have picked up on a few things from Steve. One of them, being optimistic, cause lord knows I was never like this before I met him." He admitted softly as he walked over to Barnes and sat down at the chair in front of the desk, Bucky moving to sit behind it in his spinning chair a second later.

"God I fucking hated his damn optimism at times, so annoying." Bucky complained which made Sam lightly chuckle before Bucky sobered up, "I miss him too Sam." The soldier admitted, breaking eye contact  with the new captain for a split second.

Sam nodded his head with his arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah, and after five years, I keep telling people they should move on and grow." He shrugged his shoulders, "Some people do, some people don't." He said before he softly huffed and shook his head. "Apparently, we're apart of the stubborn half that don't."

"If I move on, Sam, who does this?" He gestured to the rest of the room, gestured to his commitment of trying to be an Avenger in honor of his late best friend, In honor of Steve who was the original hero, the original Avenger who gave up everything so the world could live past the fifties. "Who will do it?" Bucky asked. 

"Maybe that's the problem Buck. Maybe, just maybe it doesn't need to be done anymore." Sam's voice where it seemed strong, Bucky could hear a slight tremor in his voice, telling the man all he needed to know. 

That Sam, well he’s thought about this a lot but Bucky, stopping what he was doing, it was harder for him…

What would he do if he gave up? If he stopped doing all of...this? No more Avengers? The world without any protection? The mere thought of stopping all of this, stopping what their closest friend had practically started twisted the man's stomach into knots, he was mad, angry that Sam would even suggest something like that!

But he understood where he was coming from... 

What would happened to the world without the Avengers...?

Bucky sighed as he looked away. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he spoke up again, "When I joined the military to fight in the war, I did it because I thought I could change the world, because the world needed saving and I was willing to bet my own life on it so future generations could

Live. I thought...If I could do this, defeat these assholes, and maybe die in the process...it'd be worth it..." Bucky admitted. 

Sam tilted his head as the man went on, listening very intently, very carefully at what his friend was saying in front of him. "And you did." He said, both barely above a whisper at this point. 

"I did and we won, but I never got to know that." Bucky said, "I was so happy. Even when Steve told me he was coming back to Wakanda for a fight, I was happy, because I was free. For the first time in a long time, it was just me, Bucky, and I had my mind back and i was...I was free." He emphasized his words, staring at Sam directly.

"I was back in the forties, ready to give it all up to save the world again. Fighting right alongside my brother, ready to fight for the world. But this time, I made it out, and he didn't. I was ready to die, with these people, these people who helped me become whole again and...whom I considered as close to a family as I'd ever get." 

Sam's heart clenched at the man's admission and the feeling only increased when he saw tears starting to well up in the man's blue eyes, getting ready to flow down his cheek, "Buck..."

"I never got to say goodbye to my real family, they all passed without knowing that I was alive, thinking that I was dead. I got stuck with Hydra and they moved on without me. Before...before I fell off that train I dreamed of having my own family, my own wife and kids that I could call my own." Bucky swallowed thickly before pushing right on. 

"So, when I started to remember Steve, I knew I had to try my best to...to stay with him and get to know the man all over again. He was the only thing I remembered, the only thing that linked me with my past and I couldn't lose him.....I wanted to get to know all of you after a while, because you guys were important to him. Natasha, Wanda literally everyone." He sighed before he whispered the  sentence, "I knew you guys wouldn't see the monster everyone else did, so I gravitated towards you all." 

Bucky finally looked up at Sam with the tears finally leaking from his eyes, slowly making their way down his cheeks and splashing down onto the wooden desk, "But I can't make my very own family anymore. The people I thought could become...something like family all dusted and no one could ever love a monster like me." 

"Buck, you aren't him anymore. You're the White Wolf, Sergeant Barnes from WWII." Sam said, pointing at the man with one of his hands, "Look at what you've been doing these past five years. You're now co-leading a group of heroes. No one ever said you had to either, you, and you alone are making sure this fucked up world still has some sort of semblance of order." he said before he spoke up a little hesitantly. 

"You've not stopped looking for Parker even after all this time, even though, he doesn't want to be found. Trying to help the kid from destroying himself, If that's not a hero, I don't know what is." Sam admitted with a small smile.

Bucky stares at him for a minute, his jaw tightening as he tried to keep his composure. "Am I? I'm barely making it by myself. So how am I helping everyone around me? How am I a hero?" He asked, desperate for an answer.

"Because Buck, you've helped so many people. How many missions have we been on in the past five years? How many people have we saved? You don't kill innocent people anymore, You're not the Winter Soldier. You're James Buchanan Barnes, the White Wolf, Steve Rogers best friend and a good man." Sam said with a determined nod. 

Bucky huffed and rubbed the tears from his face, "Yeah, I know. I've tried, but I can do better."

Sam shrugged before getting, "All we can do is our best man, no more no less. But, I think we all should take a break first, god knows we need it." 

"You first."

The both of them were about to go head and call it a night when suddenly the holograms flared from the table in the middle of the room, showing off the security footage of the front gate. But the voice that spoke from the footage, is what made both of the men freeze in their tracks. 

"Oh, uh, hi!! Hey! Is anyone home!" The voice of Scott Lang, presumed dead from the snap called out from the footage, staring up at the camera with a urgent expression across his face and his dumb van right behind him.

Both men stared at the screen in front of them in shock. Scott was dead, had been for five years so either they were seeing things on the footage, ghosts were real or...

Or Scott was alive, somehow...

"It's Scott! Scott Lang. We met at the airport a few years back, we..."

"Tic Tac?" Sam muttered to himself seeing the man rambling on about the battle in detail only proved that this was the man from the airport, the man who was classified as Ant-Man. 

And he was back from the dead...

"Holy shit..." Bucky mumbled, getting up as well before his rational thinking kicked in, "Is this an old message?" He asked.

There was no way Scott was here, right? He's dead after all, just like everyone else who was snapped and the last thing Sam wanted was to get his hopes up. The last thing they needed, was for their hopes to be brought up now. 

But he couldn't deny the facts that were standing right in front of him...

"It's the front gate." The Sam whispered, shaking his head in what could only be described as shock and or denial. 

What the fuck...

"Scott?" Sam said, staring at the man with concern behind his gaze as they stopped and waited in the meeting room, the ant themed hero turning around at the sound of his voice, "You okay man?" 

"Uh... yeah..." Scott said before he covered his face with his hands. He took a deep breath in before he opened his eyes again and stared at the both of them with a serious look across his face which meant Scott wasn't messing around. 

The dude was practically never serious. 

"Have any of you ever studied quantum physics?" He asked which made both men tilt their heads in confusion. 

"Yeah of course, all the time." Bucky said sarcastically. He didn't have a fucking clue what the man was on about quantum shit, he didn't even know how his metal arm worked, let alone something that sounded like you had to take ten years of college to understand. 

Scott was about to say something when his brain caught up to him and he realized it was a joke. He clicked his tongue with a worried look across his face. "O-Okay. Alright. So, five years ago, right b-before... you know, before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is this microscopic universe, which to get in you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she was my... she uh..." He paused for a second to try and collect himself, the two other men allowing him all the time he needed. "S-She was supposed to pull me out and then Thanos happened, and I got stuck there." He admitted which made both Bucky and Sam wince. 

Five whole years stuck in a different realm? 

Shit...

"I'm sorry, that must have been a very long five years." Sam said, after he was done. He couldn't even imagine being stuck in the same place for years, let alone another universe where you had to rely on someone else to pull you back out. And to think, Scott was stuck in there with the thought that people who were important to him just left him in there. 

Damn, he didn't even want to think about what he'd do if he was in Scott's position, he would've already gone crazy. 

Scott clapped his hands though with a small smile, "Yeah here's the thing, it wasn't. For me, it was five hours." He stated, looking around frantically at the other men. The two looked confused and Scott could tell that, so he elaborated. "You see, the rules here aren't like the ones in the Quantum Realm. Everything's unpredictable, AND is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving." He suddenly rambled off course when he saw the sandwich Barnes had made less than a half hour ago. 

He quickly made his way past them over tot he table, causing both Bucky and Sam to look at each other in confusion but it was Sam who spoke up, "Listen, little man, What are you saying?" He asked, extremely out of his depth on all this science mumbo jumbo. 

Scott bit into the sandwich and savored the flavor of food again before picking up where he left off. "W-What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm." He said while starting to pace back and forth through the room. "The only problem is, right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But, what if we did?" Scott mumbled. 

Bucky and Sam looked at each other again and shrugged, not exactly following where the ex con was going, but willing to hear him out fully. 

"I can't stop thinking about it." Scott said, stopping to take a few more bites before he started to rotate his arm, using his hands to gesture and make his point. 

"What if we could somehow control the chaos? And we could navigate it? What if there was a way we could enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time, but then exit it at another point in time? Like..."

He shifted from one root to another uncomfortably, looking at them with uncertain eyes. "Like before Thanos?" He finished with a slight question to his sentence, like he wasn't at all sure himself.

"Wait." Sam said, holding up his hand with a look of disbelief etched across his face. "Are you talking about a time machine?"

"No." Scott shook his head. "No, of course not. It's not a time machine, it's more like a...." He tried to think of a better word, a better name for what they were trying to do but came up short. "Yeah. A time machine. Look, I know it's crazy. It's crazy! B-But I... I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be..." He paused for a second and a look of frustration crossed his face as he rubbed his forehead. "There has to be... Gah... It's crazy..." Before the man could continued on his rant, Bucky interrupted him with a raised hand. 

"Scott, I'm over a hundred years old and get emails from aliens an a weekly basis, nothing sounds crazy anymore." Bucky said with a small smile, hoping to ease the man's worries as he started to think his whole rant over. "But... are you actually saying we could get them back?" He asked. 

"Yeah. At least.... At least maybe prevent that whole... snap from ever happening." Scott replied. "I know it sounds crazy, but if we have a small chance of fixing this, wouldn't you? Even if there was just a small chance, so small it was practically nonexistent, wouldn't you risk it all to get them back?" 

"Without a doubt." Sam said with no hesitation in his voice, but it still sounded too good to be true. 

Why now? How did he suddenly come back from the realm now, five years later? But, it was only a couple hours for him, so technically, maybe...

"But how are we gonna make this work?" Sam continued, "I mean no offense to the both of you, but all three of us aren't world renown geniuses. I'm not sure we can make this work, I'm not sure there's anyone on the planet who could make this work. And how're we gonna deal with Thanos? When we couldn't the first time? We're out staffed and the team is all split across different counties on missions." 

Scott frowned. "How many of you guys are left?" He asked hesitantly. 

"Well..." Bucky said. "There's me, Sam, Nebula, Okoye and our Wakandan friends, Wanda, Rhodey and Clint. And now you, I guess. There's also Carol but she's busy in space, helping out other planets recover form the snap. Oh, and I guess you can count Thor, but...he's, kind of retired. After half of his people died, he decided to just take it easy and Norway gave up a patch of land for the asguardians to live on so..." Bucky said, shrugging at the end of his sentence.

"So, there's really only seven of us, plus Wakanda if we need their aid in anything." Scott said somberly. 

Sam nodded his head sadly, "We used to have another one on board but we have no idea where he is." Sam said, thinking back on Peter at the moment which made Bucky grit his teeth. 

"Well, w-we Need to get more people then? I mean, come on we're the Avengers!! We, I can't...I need this to work, the world needs this right now. Thanos he...he took away so many people, and it...it made me miss out on five years of my daughter's life." Scott said brokenly which made the other men in the room soften just a bit for the man. 

He was gone for five years, but for him it was only five hours so he went in, his daughter was one age, and he came out with his daughter five years older and more grown then when he went in. 

God, they couldn't even imagine what that was like for the man...

The man wasn't even a victim of the snap, and yet he still missed out on seeing his daughter grow up. 

"Look.." Sam started to speak, gently like talking to a wounded animal. "It's not like I don't think it's a good idea, there's not enough of us to be considered a team. The seven of us can't just go back in time with no route and no plan. Not to mention we've never fought together in something like this before. All we've really done together was fight Thanos in his magical garden, but that really wasn't even a fight, him just, gloating at us about how he won. What I'm saying is, we need a plan, we need a team and most of all, if, this is true, we need to find a way to get through the realm as you said." 

"Yeah," Bucky said agreeing a hundred percent with his friend...

However....

" But Scott also has another point."

"Bucky..."

He held up his hand to silence the man. "Hang on, Sam. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?"

Sam raised his eyebrow at the man, not at all amused at his behavior, "Where are you going with this?" 

"Let's say, this will work. We go back in time to stop Thanos, stop him from ever winning and if we can do that, Sam, we could bring everyone back. Imagine that? We could see Steve again. We can bring back half the population of the universe. Yeah? How's that sound?" Bucky raised an eyebrow and the new cap could see the hope shinning through. 

Even though the man didn't want to hope, he couldn't help but be inspired by Scott's confidence in this plan, that they could do this. 

They had to try...

The New Captain America shook his head and sighed, thinking it over slowly and after a few minutes of silence, he finally started to come off the fence he was teetering over. 

 To get them back, to get everyone back would be a dream come true. But Sam wasn't naive enough to think that it wouldn't come with a cost, everything costs something, nothing was ever free...

"Alright." Sam breathed out, looking at Scott. "If we do move forward with this, how we doing it?" He asked. 

"Well, first we have to figure out how to make a machine with enough power to handle a trip like that, amongst other things. My van has a miniature version of said machine so if we can find someone who knows their shit, they can replicate it and make it bigger for our use. Then there's also the problem with trying to figure out how to move through the realm to fix all this." Scott said, gesturing around with his hands again with a smile on his face though, happy that they were considering his crazy ass idea. "That's the big question. But it's all doable. With the right people." 

"See? This can work, Sam." Bucky said, his own smile matching Scott's, realized they they might've just found a way to reverse everything from happening. 

Sam shook is head in resignation, "What the hell did I just agree with." 

Bucky smirked, "Time travel." 

Sam held up his hand, "Alright just so we're all clear I'm still iffy about this, but if you're sure Scott, then I'll trust you. You know more about this shit than I do right now." 

"Great." Bucky said as he walked past the both of them striding over to his desk where he pressed a button on his holo tablet, "Now that we've got it all settled, I'm calling them all back here on the emergency frequency so you, my friend can explain to them, what you just told us." He said, standing in the middle of the room with crossed arms. 

"Um, who is, them? Exactly?" 

"The team of course."

Everyone stared back at Bucky, Sam and Scott as they finally finished explaining what they discovered. 

To say they were all shocked, was the understatement of the century...

"We know that it sounds like a long stretch." Sam said, trying to keep the conversation going but he was interrupted by Rhodey. 

The Colonel huffed, "You think?! I saw you literally an hour ago, then you call us all back here and tell us that you've found a way to fix all this shit, we're we can get half the universe back. It's kind of hard to take in." 

 "Hypothetically, speaking of course. We don't know if it'll actually work without the correct route to take." Sam reminded them. 

Everyone shifted nervously from their hologram, The three men watching as they all thought it over in their own heads for a few minutes, trying to figure out how they were even going to reply to something like this, something so big and life changing  that it seemed almost too good to be true...

Wanda tilted her head after a couple minutes, emerald eyes sparkling with tears at the possibility of bringing everyone back from the dead "So, we could get them back?" She asked, her voice not even above a whisper.

Bucky nodded his head, "If this works, we could get everyone back. Steve, Shuri, T'Challa, Natasha, Stark, everybody. They'd all be coming home." He said while looking at each one of their faces, watching as each one of the facades cracked and tears started to spill from some of their eyes. "It's only a chance though, that's the only problem." He admitted. 

"I've taken a hell of a lot of chances in my day, James. What's one more added to the list?" Clint said with a small smile on his face. 

The thought of getting his sister back, the thought of his kids getting their aunt back caused so much happiness to spread through his body, he didn't care if it was only a chance, he didn't care that if it was only a possibility at the moment. 

They've done the impossible before, he'd make sure they do it again, if not for them, for the whole universe who are still to this day, grieving the loss of their loved ones. 

He could make his family whole again...

"Mr. Lang, how would this work if we go through with this?" Okoye asked, talking for the very first time since arriving onto the call, content with carefully listening to every detail the man had rambled on about. 

"Like I uh, said, all we have to do is figure out how to build the machine properly for travel and how we're going to power it. My van is a replica of it, albeit a very very small one so it wouldn't work to transfer all of us through the realm, but it is a good starting point! Then there's how we're going to stop Thanos from snapping." Scott said, talking with his hands one again but no one minded all that much. 

"What're our options?" Nebula asked with a tilted head, her question while firm, they could still sense a small bit of vulnerability as she spoke.

"Well... we could stop him from snapping his fingers  in the first place, since we know how he'll win, or there's a chance to hide the stones, which..." Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Which in my opinion, is the weakest option there is But! There's also the plan where we could get the stones ourselves and snap them all back after we bring them here." 

"So basically what Thanos did five years ago, but we do it instead?" Wanda asked.

"Exactly that." Sam said, pointing at her, "We beat him at his own game, take the stones for ourselves, bring them back here and snap." 

"What the hell are we waiting for then? Let's grab everyone we can and start this, everything else can be placed on the back burner until he figure this out." Rhodey exclaimed. 

"Hang on a second there, as much as I'd like to do this now, let's think about this." Clint said, making everyone turn to look at him, "We're going to need some help then. I mean we could probably convince Thor to go back in time with us, Carol is unreachable at the moment but even then there's only really eight of us to get six stones. Plus add in the fact that Banner and Stark are gone. I don't know about you, but I don't know any other geniuses who could pull this off." 

"Can you build it, Mr Lang? If Wakanda offered you the resources you requested?" Okoye asked after a moment of thought.

"I mean, I could try, but that's not really my area of expertise. Hank is the one who made the machine for me to use, I'm not into all that, science crap. I feel like I'd only mess it up more if I did so." Scott said sadly. 

"Then we're going to need someone else on the science front of this project. I could help, but I'm not what one would consider a genius. Do we know of anyone else that could help us with this? Anyone at all?" Nebula asked with her hands on her hips, staring at the the three men with a raised eyebrow. 

There wasn't a lot of people who were on par with Banner or Stark, especially after half the universe dusted. There were a few scientists that were smart, sure but none of them would probably be willing to work with the avengers on something this damn important, and they most likely wouldn't trust just some random scientist to do this for them. 

That's when it hit Barnes like a sack of bricks...

"Holy shit." Bucky muttered, getting the attention of everyone in the room, "We're fucking idiots." He said. 

Sam furrowed his eyes at the man, "What? Why?" 

 Instead of answering him, he looked right at Clint before speaking, "Clint, you've got to catch up to him now, he's our only chance." He said, causing the archer's eyes to widened at the implication of his sentence. 

"Wait, why? Who's he tracking down?" Scott asked. 

 "Peter, Peter will be in Tokyo by tomorrow, and I was supposed to intercept him and his mission." Clint spoke softly, but everyone could hear what he said. 

All their eyes widened in shock, of course. The damn kid was Stark's protégé, he's probably the only one in the universe who'd be able to understand shit like this. If Clint was actually on the young man’s tail, finally after so long of searching, maybe they could finally get him to come back when they told him about this...

"Peter?" Scott asked, with a raised eyebrow, "Who's Peter?"

"Stark's protégé. Genius level intellect, highest grades while he was in school, top of his class, easily impressed Tony, which was hard to do even on a good day." Rhodey admitted softly. 

 "Clint, if you can catch up to him, if you can get to him and talk him down, tell him what we've discovered, maybe he'll come back and maybe, just maybe he'll listen to us." Bucky said. 

"And what if he won't even let me get a word out?" 

 "The minute you see him, tell him you've found a way. He'll understand the meaning, he's smart like that. Hopefully it'll catch him off guard long enough for you to explain.” Bucky finished. 

"Are you sure about this?" Wanda asked, "Don't get me wrong, I wanna help Peter as much as any of you, but what makes you think he'll do this?" 

 "Why wouldn't he want to see his friends again? His aunt? His mentor? He'll want to when he hears us out, I'm sure of it." Bucky said.  

"Oh he'll agree." Clint nodded his head, sounding so sure of himself. 

Okoye raised an eyebrow at him, "What makes you so sure?" 

"Because his partner lost her whole family, her mother, father and sister. And Peter, will do anything for her. Once he hears that we think there's a way, he'll do it, not for us, not even for him, but for her." He said, having watched their dynamic in the field before, trying to track them down it truly was amazing how much Peter was willing to sacrifice for her. 

He'd do anything with no questions asked if it meant making Yelena happy, he's seen it. 

The only problem, getting the kid to sit still long enough to tell him about what they found...

"Alright, Clint you know where to go, change your course cause you're heading to Tokyo now." Sam said after a moment of silencing, letting the new information seep in.

A wave of hope passed through them all, they were actually gonna do this, they were gonna fix what Thanos caused all those years ago. 

 Now they were small and not as powerful as the originals, they all knew that. Not to mention they've never fought a real battle together, but they were running out of options, they needed to step up and take one last stand and if they had even the smallest of chances to get everyone back, everyone they lost, the other half of the universe, then they knew, all of them, they needed to try. 

For them. 

For the ones they lost...

So before they could come up with the whole

Time travel plan, they needed to do one thing first, one very important thing and that was find Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. 

Code named Ronin...

Sam nodded his head, "Alright, we can kill two birds with one stone here. Okoye and Nebula, I want you two to gather as much materials you can for the machine, anything you can find on your way back to earth Nebula would be greatly appreciated and Okoye, all the technology you could offer would help a ton. I'm assuming that you'll need a lot to make said machine, right Tik-Tac?" 

Scott nodded. "Oh yeah, lots and lots of shit." 

"Okay, once the two of you are done, We'll need the materials here as fast as we can so when Pete arrives, he can start production and plans for the machine, while Scott here starts working on the plans for the machine as best he can." Sam said, getting nods from the others. 

"While Clints in Tokyo, and the others are out gathering supplies, Wanda, Barnes and I will go to New Asgard to have a little chat with a certain god we all know, hopefully convince him to come out of retirement. Rhodey, you can finish the mission your on before heading back here, I feel like It's gonna be a little while before everything is settled and done." Rhodey nodded his head at the Captain, acknowledging his point before silence had overtaken the group once more. 

After a moment, Clint spoke up, "We're actually doing this?" He whispered in disbelief. 

Sam and Bucky smiled at each other but it was Barnes who spoke up, "You're damn right we are, now let's get to work everyone, we're gonna have a long week ahead of us, that's for sure."

Chapter Text

The flight to Tokyo was a long one, but much needed. 

Clint sat in the back of the jet, letting the aircraft pilot him to Tokyo as he sat and waited, stuck in his mind about the news he had just revived and his mission he now had that the archer literally couldn't fail. 

The whole world depended on him finding Peter, so he could make sense of all this science crap and maybe, just maybe, give them the chance to time travel back into the past to nab the stones for themselves and snap. 

Bringing everyone back who they lost. 

He'd finally, after five long years, be able to see Nat again...

His kids would have their aunt back. 

He'd have his partner back. 

And Laura will finally have one of her best female friends, her sister. 

Man those two were thick as thieves, always scheming against him whenever they were all together, trying to prank him. 

He missed it, even though most of the time it ended up with him in some sort of pain. 

 God, he couldn't wait...

 A small part of his brain though, wasn't convinced in the slightest. There was that tiny voice in his head who told him it was impossible, that you couldn't bring someone back from the dead, no matter how many times you tried. 

But at the same time, he's seen some pretty crazy shit before. From aliens to insane murder bots hell, he's even been mind controlled by a funny little space rock. 

He's seen it all. 

Yet this, well...

He sighed as he got up and started to get his gear ready after the shipboard AI system alerted him he was five minutes from the drop point. 

He grabbed his bow but then, a thought occurred to him. If we went in their with a weapon, Parker would think that he was here to fight, and Clint didn't want that, he just wanted to tell the young man what they found out. 

He wanted to tell the man, that it was possible to get them all back. 

Even if it seemed like a one and one billion chance of it actually working...

 He rested his bow back onto the bench and dropped his quiver of arrows before he walked over and grabbed his coat before also taking an umbrella with him, considering it was a torrential downpour in Tokyo at the moment.

 He waited until the jet touched down on an old apartment complex a few minutes later before sending a message to base, telling them he was on his way to find the kid but he didn't stick around to see if they replied. He knew he'd have very little time to convince the kid and he needed all the time he could get. 

Luckily for Clint, he didn't have to wait long until the streets erupted into chaos. 

 From his vantage point behind a nearby building, he watched as Yakuza men and women were thrown out of buildings, gunshots going off constantly, hoping to hit their mark but if Clint knew anything about Peter, it was that the man was too good to let these people get the best of him. 

He had taken them out before, he knew Peter could do so again. 

 He silently observed as the Yakuza fell, but the ones that Clint were watching, the ones outside the building were being shot from a distant rooftop. 

Needless to say that Yelena wasn't too far behind...

 Clint stood there though with his umbrella up and listened. He listened as the Yakuza panicked from inside the nightclub and he knew there was only a matter of time before Peter reveled himself. 

Inside the building, Peter stood in a stairwell as he threw a shuriken at another yakuza member which was firing at him, making the metal star hit its mark right in his chest which in turn made the man crumble down the stairs in a pile of flesh and blood, the life no longer in his body. 

 In the past five years, Peter's Ronin suit has changed a lot. From his original black and gold hood and ski mask, he's made a lot of adjustments over the years. The newest one that he's most fond of is his new mask. 

He still had his black and gold outfit with the hood, but his mask was completely different. He needed a way to get the same output his Spider-Man mask gave him, so he had gotten inspiration from his original homemade suit and made goggles that would help him focus. 

 The lenses were white in color, matching the printed skeleton face along his mask. They were also connected to a hud where ACE could feed him any information that he needed, or anything she felt he needed to know. It also acted as his communication system with Yelena, so he no longer needed the earpiece. 

Back to the present though, as soon as the Yakuza man fell down the stairs, two more men walked out of a nearby door and drew their Uzi's and pointed them at the hooded assassin 

"Aitsu da! Akihiko-san wo!" (It's him! He's after Akihiko!) One of the thugs screamed as they both started to shoot their weapons at him but Peter was too fast for them. 

As quick as lightning, Peter ducked and threw another two shurikens at them, making them both fall but then another yakuza member wielding a katana decided to charge right at him in the enclosed space. 

Underneath his mask, Peter smirked before he grabbed his sword from his back and retracted the blade from the handle and ran at the man, dodging his poor excuse of a strike before stabbing his blade into the middle of the man's stomach. 

Peter made his way down the stairs and walked into the doorway before instantly ducking his head after his senses flared and another sword-wielding thug tried to swipe at him but Peter grabbed the man by his arm and threw him outside, shattering the glass window and instantly killing him once he hit the pavement. 

Peter tore his way through the connected buildings, making all the Yakuza assholes suffer by his hand and Clint had a front row seat as he listened to all the screaming coming from the buildings, heard all the people dying by Peter's hands. 

He had to admit, the kid could be scary when he wanted to be. He could now see why people all around the world were calling him the most deadliest man on the planet.

Just as the thought passed his brain, Clint watched as a man in a dark raincoat jumped through the glass window, with Peter doing the same, making sure the man was still in his sights. 

The both of them landed in the alleyway right next to Clint and the archer knew exactly who the other man was. He was the new leader of the Yakuza, the man was trying to build them back up after the failed alliance with Fisk but it was obvious Peter wouldn't let that happen. 

  Akihiko, leader of the Yakuza turned to look at Peter, The Ronin while trying to hide the fear in his gaze. 

"Temē naze konna koto wo suru? Oretachi temē ni nani mo shitenē daro!" (Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!) The man exclaimed while holding his sword up incase Peter decided to strike. 

The assassin glared behind his mask as he brought up his blade, "Chikyū no hanbun sanosu ni yarareta... Omae wa naze buji nano..." (You survived... Half of the planet didn't. They got Thanos... you get me.) He said which surprised the hidden archer. He didn't know that Peter could speak fluent Japanese but what surprised him the most was his tone of voice, he sounded so serious, so unlike the teenager Clint had met so long ago. 

Peter had changed, for better or worse, it didn't matter anymore though. 

Not when the universe was at stake once more...

They both ran at each other and traded blows but Peter was more skilled then the man and quickly sunk his blade into the Yakuza leader's stomach, not deep enough to cause any major damage but enough to leave a mark. 

Well, no major damage yet...

"Omae mo jūbun korshita daro." (You're done hurting people.) Peter said staring directly into the man's eyes causing the Japanese warrior to scoff and gesture around to all the dead bodies that were surrounding them both. 

"Orera ga dato? Ki demo kurutta ka!" (WE hurt people? You're crazy!) He said, softly chucking at the mere thought of Ronin scolding his group for hurting people, when he does the same exact thing. 

Peter glared but didn't respond to the man, getting ready to defend against Akihiko's next strike, which was only a few seconds later. 

 Both men clanged swords for a couple seconds, blocking and parrying the other and to Clint, it seemed that the yakuza leader had the upper hand for a second there, but he should've never underestimated Peter because not even a moment later, he punched the other man in the face and pointed his blade right at his throat, keeping it right against his neck and making sure to keep some pressure on it to show the Yakuza leader he was done messing around, temporarily petrifying the man. 

 The man never stood a chance against the assassin, Peter was too good at what he did to let just any random man get the better of him. 

Plus he had his powers. 

He was essentially unstoppable.

A second later, Akihiko lowered down his sword as if he was about to surrender but instead he charged. Both swords clashed and Peter wasted no time in slicing the man's stomach. 

 Even though he was losing his stamina, the man tried his hardest to keep fighting, his rage and adrenaline keeping him upright as he went back after Ronin. He surged forward with his last bout of strength, hoping above all else that he somehow caught the assassin off guard. 

But it was no use...

They both drew their katanas and the sword-fight continued on. Peter was actually surprised the man was still standing with the wound he inflicted on him , but he had to  admire the man's stubbornness and will to continue fighting. 

And he wasn't a bad sword fighter either, Peter had to admit that he was probably the best he had ever fought in these past few years but at the same time, Peter had been training with his blade for five years, he had his powers and his senses to help him. 

Their swords clanged and Akihiko pivoted on his foot to try and bring his sword up to Peter's neck but right before the blade made contact, the assassin ducked and slide under the man's katana and stabbed Akihiko right in the stomach as he slid past. 

Finally crippling the man with a fatal blow...

Akihiko dropped his sword as Peter stalked in front of him to stare the Yakuza leader down from behind his white goggles. The man coughed up some blood and stared up at Ronin with fear behind his gaze, "Mate! Tasukete kure! Omae ni nan demo yaru! Nani ga hosī?" (Wait! Help me! I'll give you anything! What do you want?) He groaned out, clutching his open wound, trying to stop the blood flow but it was already too late for the man. 

He was already dead...

Peter raised his blade above his head before speaking in english, "What I want... You can't give me, but your death will suffice for now." He whispered before thrusting the blade downwards into Akihiko's stomach. 

 The body of the Japanese man fell to the ground in a pool of his blood. Peter then grabbed his sword handle and pulled it out of the man's stomach before wiping the blood off on his gauntlet, making sure most of the red was off the blade before collapsing it into the hilt and storing it onto his back. 

 Clint then decided it was now the time to make his move if he wanted a chance to talk to Parker. 

He walked out of the shadows with his umbrella and stood about ten feet away from the young man, knowing that he could sense him and also knowing he was currently at the mercy of Yelena who was no doubt watching over her partner. 

 "You shouldn't be here." Peter said without even looking back at him. 

"Neither should you." Clint responded without a second of hesitation. Peter then turned to look at the archer as he pulled his hood down and grabbed his goggles, sliding them off his face before grasping the mask and ripping it off his head, revealing his more mature face.

The man looked so much older then the last time Clint had saw him. His brown hair which used to be curly was now cut short along the sides and only slightly longer along the top of his head, giving him a slight Mohawk look, but just subtly enough that some people wouldn't consider it one. 

His face was covered in a light beard, and Clint wasn't talking about baby stubble, no Peter had a full on beard and if he let it grow out a little more, he might have to stop calling Parker a kid. 

But what was truly different were his eyes. So closed off and emotionless, not letting anything slip past this mask that he's crafted over these past five years. 

Clint would bet his life the only person he allowed past it, was Yelena. 

"I've got a job to do Barton. I wouldn't expect you to understand." Peter shook his head at the man. 

 "A job?" Clint scoffed quietly, "Is that what you're calling this Parker? Killing all these people?" He paused for a second before softening his voice, "Killing them isn't gonna bring your family back." 

"I know that." Peter glared, "But the people who got left behind, these shitbags who keep killing...someone has to protect the innocents from assholes like these douche bags." Peter said, pointing to the corpse of the Yakuza leader he just murdered. 

Clint smiled ruefully, "That was a lot of names for criminals mixed into one sentence Peter. If I was Cap, I would've told you to watch your language." 

"Are you here for a reason or just here to try and stop me like the last few years?" Peter deadpanned, ignoring the man's comment about his colorful language. 

 Clint sighed before he spoke up again, "I once knew this woman who was a lot like you are now, would kill anyone who got in the way of her mission. Now yours is to protect the innocent, while hers was a little more brutal. Killing for the wrong people, pointed at the innocents, forced to become a weapon." He started off, making sure he had Peter's attention. 

 "I was sent to kill her, but..." He shook his head, "That was the best shot I never took, because it gave me my best friend, it gave me my partner and I would've done anything for Natasha. Hell, I would've jumped off a bridge if it meant saving her life. But when Thanos happened, he took that family away from me and my kids. She never got to see her niece and nephews grow up, never got to pull one of her dumb fucking pranks on me again or she never got to have another girls day out with my wife, all because of some alien jackass destroying half the universe." At this point, Peter's hair was all soaking wet due to the rain as he stared at the man in front of him, Clint could see some cracks in his mask were starting to show though and he could tell that Peter was listening if the slight glistening of his eyes was anything to go off of. 

 "Why're you telling me this?" He asked with slightly narrowed eyes. 

 "We found something. A chance. Maybe...but we need someone who's smart enough to execute it the right..." Peter didn't even allow the man to continue. 

"Don't." He said with a scrunched up face, not liking where this was going but knowing not to get his hopes up. 

 "Don't what?" Clint asked gently. 

 "Don't give me hope..." Peter replied helplessly, like he was completely done with everything life had to throw at him. 

This young man and gone through so much at such a young age, forced to grow up and be someone the world never knew they needed, someone who took care of the scum of this world. 

Clint only wished Peter didn't have to trade his innocence to be that person...

He walked over to the man and laid a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner Peter." 

Peter breathed out a shaky breath before he tried to collect himself. After a couple seconds, he raised his hand into the air and made a symbol before dropping back down towards his side. 

Clint raised an eyebrow, "What was that?" 

"That, was me signaling my partner to not shoot your brains out. She's still not very fond of you for shooting me with an arrow that one time." Peter said. 

 "I thought you'd move!" Clint exclaimed. 

"Try explaining that to an angry, overprotective Black Widow." Peter deadpanned before he sobered up a bit, "Clint, how sure are you about this...about this little plan of yours, huh? You really think it's possible, whatever you've found?" He asked, staring at the archer intently, not breaking eye contact. 

Clint made sure not to look away from the man, "I think with you figuring it out, it's possible." He said, not giving him a full answer but it seemed Peter already knew that and looked like he accepted it for now. 

 "Alright, what's the gist? Some other all powerful relic from the past that someone from space found? A weapon with as much power as the stones? What're we dealing with?" 

Clint winced before answering him truthfully, "Time travel."

"...Time travel?" 

"Yup."

"You've got to be shitting me. How the fuck did you guys come up with that idea?" Peter asked with a furrowed brow. 

"It's a...a very long story. I was only briefed myself on the matter quickly and I'm not really good at all the science aspect but Barnes and Wilson are assembling the team. I was sent to try and ask you to help us with this."

 "And if I refused?" Peter raised an eyebrow. 

Clint smirked, "I Knew you'd agree, if not for yourself, for your partner." He waggled his eyebrows up and down at the man. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter glared. 

 "It means, you'd do anything to make Yelena happy and it just so happens, that she lost her whole family to Thanos. So if there was a way to bring them back, we'll you'd certainly try your damn hardest to get them back for her. Am I wrong?" Clint smirked which only made Peter glare at him with even more heat then before. 

Just then, the boys were interrupted by the arrival of said blond haired assassin, "Why'd you call me off? I could've finally got my revenge on him for shooting you." Yelena said glaring at the archer as she walked up to the two of them with her sniper slung across her back. 

Peter looked at a slightly smug Clint, even though he could still see some wariness in his gaze from his partner, before staring at Yelena's slightly confused, annoyed and questioning face before Peter gritted his teeth in stubbornness. 

He hated how right Barton was...

He thought about it for a second though, a chance to bring everyone that they lost back from the dead. It'd be a long shot, Peter knew that, everything in this universe came with a price tag, he knew that even better. 

 If, if they did this, there would no doubt be consequences, after all with every action, there was an opposite and equal reaction to go along with it. 

But would those repercussions be worth it, so the universe could be whole again? 

Peter didn't even have to think too hard for his answer...

"We've got a new mission Lena." He finally said after a few moments of silence. 

"Oh goody, where too?" She asked with a small smirk across her face but Peter could tell she was slightly confused with the sudden change, not wanting to show it though in front of Barton. 

Like he said, she was still pretty pissed about that arrow...

 Peter sighed to himself before answering, "New York."

"Bullshit." 

"Yeah, kinda figured that would be your first response." Peter shrugged with a small, adorable stupid smile on his face that made Yelena's insides melt just a bit. 

But she couldn't worry about that right now, she had to digest what the fuck her partner had just said to her. 

"There's no damn way he's telling the truth. They're...they're gone Pyotr, we can't bring them back." She said quietly, the both sitting at the back of the jet while Clint was up front piloting them all back to New York. 

The two were sitting on a bench side by side, Yelena slightly faced towards the man as he explained what was going on and why he was needed. 

Needless to say she didn't believe a word the Avengers were saying...

"Listen, I know, trust me I do." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently, "But....Yelena he was so convinced. He said he couldn't do it though, none of them could because they didn't understand it and...if, if I'm the only one in the world, who understands this shit....I, I'd never forgive myself for not trying to help them out. Plus, if this works...you get your family back. Everyone we lost, they come back." He smiled gently at her, letting his hand drift down her arm to grasp her hand with his, causing Yelena to involuntary shiver at the contact his hand had with her bare forearm. He set them both down carefully in his lap as he started to stroked her knuckles, knowing that it would help ground her and let her mind focus. 

 Yelena was thinking over his words. The chance to have her family back, her sister, mother and father, according to Peter there was apparently a way to get them back and she didn't know how to feel about it. 

On one hand, she had grieved them for five years, she had mourned them for so long and she had just started to get better. The hole in her heart would always be there, but Peter was making it so much better, they were both helping each other, picking up the pieces and mending them into something new. 

She had missed them...

 But, as she looked up into her partners eyes, she knew that she'd never be able to live with herself if something happened to him trying to bring everyone back. 

He had kept her afloat these past few years and if she lost him now...

She didn't think she'd ever get over that....

 "I don't know Peter." She mumbled staring at him, bitting her lip trying not to cry at the thought of him dying. She couldn't lose him, not after everything they went through. Peter though, god bless his heart must have saw the fear in her eyes because he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, causing her to sigh and lean into his touch, fully embracing the unexpected, but not unwelcome touch. 

After he lifted his lips from her forehead he leaned his head against hers, "It's okay to be scared Yelena, remember we talked about this." He whispered with a sad smile, "I'm right here. I promise, I'm not going anywhere. It's you and me, till the day we die you hear me?" 

 Yelena huffed and snorted at the same time, causing Peter to softly chuckle, "Stop that. I hate it." She said between her laughter. 

"No you don't." Peter stated knowingly with a small twinkle behind his gaze, "You love it when I say cheesy shit like that." 

 Yelena hummed with a raised eyebrow, "You sure? I don't recall ever saying something so stupid in my life." She smirked. 

Peter sat up and placed a hand on his chest in mock offense, "Ouch. Damn Lena, you wound me. I-I'm hurt, really I am." He said. 

She chuckled one last time and shook her head fondly at him before she settled her head along his shoulder and they both grew quiet with the only noise coming from the jet as it flew through the air.

"What if it doesn't work?" She asked. Yelena and Peter both knew that they'd continue this conversation later, but Peter knew Yelena wasn't the most patient person on earth, she was dying to know if this plan the avengers had would actually work. 

Peter, after five years though finally had a shred of hope, and he'd be a fool to get rid of it so quickly after so long. 

He'd be a fool if he didn't try for everyone they lost. 

For May.

For Happy. 

For Ned and MJ.

For Tony. 

For the Avengers.

For Yelena's family...

"It has to," he started off, making sure to stare her directly in the eyes, "Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."

Chapter Text

Wanda, Bucky and Sam sat in the bed of a pickup truck as they watched their surroundings zip by them. 

They had finally made it to Norway where New Asgard was located and managed to hitch a ride with one of the citizens who was heading back into town. They didn't have enough room in the truck, but the three Avengers didn't mind sitting in the bed. 

 Wanda had her legs crossed underneath her as she stared at the grassy hills of the Norwegian countryside as Barnes and Sam were stuck in their own heads, thinking about the upcoming mission that they'd all be betting everything on. 

Hell they didn't even know if it was possible yet without Peter, but they couldn't help themselves from being optimistic.

It's been a long five years and maybe, just maybe all of them were finally looking for just that one victory they all dreamed about years ago.

Wanda, as she looked out into the passing fields of grass reflected back on all that she's done on the last few years. From how she captured a town due to grief, from turning to the darkhold to try and find a way to see her children again, to when Wong found out about it and talked her down from her massive fuck up. 

She had almost crossed over into other universes, almost possessed another alternate her just to see her kids again, just to be with them for one more minute. 

She had tried to find a way to cross over into a different universe herself but had come up short, not finding anything of value before Wong and found out what she was doing and put a stop to it. 

He had taught her so much since he stopped her, taught her how to control her chaos, how to move past all the pain that she had endured but most importantly. 

He taught her how to live on in life, instead of wallowing in her own head and being regretful, and guilty about the past. 

He taught her balance...

 She knew, that if they did this, there was no way she was going to get back Vision. He was gone, the stone taken from him as he was brutally murdered by the mad titan, she knew she would never get the love of her life back. 

But, it was the right thing to do because so many people could get their loved ones back, they had a chance to bring back half the universe and she knew, deep down that if he was here, Vision would want her to do what was right. 

And this, she knew without a single doubt, was what needed to happen. 

 "You okay over there?" Sam asked from his spot leaning against the bed, staring at her with just an ounce of worry behind his gaze. 

She smiled softly at the man, "Yes. Yes I am, just...going down memory lane is all." She said, making Sam nod his head. 

"Just making sure, you seemed pretty out of it there for a moment." 

 Bucky scoffed and smacked the back of the Captain's head, "Shut the hell up Wilson, you worry too much." 

 Sam glared back at the soldier, "I'm sorry if I was making sure that one of my teammates was okay, asshole." 

Bucky waved his hand around, "She fine, she's probably one of the strongest of us, there's no need to worry. Are people not allowed to think without you poking and prodding them for answers?" Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow which made Wanda roll her eyes fondly at the two bickering friends. 

Even after five years, some things don't change. 

 "Hey Barnes, go and fuck yourself why don't you. I'm just making sure she's..." 

"Making sure she's okay, yada yada yada, blah, blah, blah. We've all heard it before man, maybe we all just want to sit in quiet without talking about all of our little problems that you can't fix birdbrain. Ever think of that?" 

 "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today didn't they?" 

 "I wake up on the same side every day asshole, get some new material why don't you." 

 "I'll get new material if you stop being a cranky ass old man." 

"Old man? I'll have you know, I am just as springy as I was back in the war."

 Sam rolled his eyes, "Oh I'm sure you are Elsa." 

"Shut the fuck up you damn shrink."

Wanda scoffed and used her magic to take both of their hands and smack the other, "If the two of you are done bickering like three year olds, we're almost there yeah? I'd be pretty embarrassing if you two kept doing this shit in front of the people of Asgard, let alone Thor. We want him to help us, not run away from us." She rolled her eyes while the other two men rubbed their cheeks where Wanda had hit them both. 

"Fine, god you don't have to resort to violence woman." Bucky muttered to himself as he rubbed his cheek. 

Wanda smirked at him, "It's not violence, it's communication." 

 Sam rolled his eyes, "Very funny." 

 "Was that a reference?" Bucky whispered to himself with furrowed eyebrows which made Wanda huff an amused laugh. Before she had a chance to say anything else though, the truck came to a halt, the engine shutting off and parking at a nearby dock. 

The driver leaned out the window and smiled at them, "We're here, have a nice visit." 

 Wanda gracefully floated out of the back of the truck and landed on the ground, smiling at the driver, "Thank you so much, we appreciate the ride." 

 "Ah don't worry about it, always happy to help a fellow avenger." The man waved his hand. 

 Bucky and Sam pulled themselves up and jumped out of the truck, walking over to Wanda as they said their goodbyes to the driver.