Chapter 11
Thanks for all the feed back from last chapter and thank you to those who answered my question at the bottom. The reason I asked was because I know some people enjoy reading actions scenes, though some don't. Majority rules: I continue with the plot, so here you go.
Peter sat on his hotel bed, sinking into the cushion like a rock. He slammed his head down into his hands and groaned. He didn't know how to explain what happened with the fire and he didn't know how to explain him moving.
Moments later, he heard his cell ring. He reached into his pocket. It was Steve. He didn't answer, throwing the phone on the bed instead, letting it ring out. When it did, he breathed a sigh of relief. No way was he answering that phone call.
Instead he chose to go for a nightly walk, not as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker, since he figured this was probably the last time he'd be able to. He still had to study for finals, after all.
He contemplated a way out. Maybe, I could live on the streets, he thought. But then I'd be hunted down again. Perhaps by the Avengers, but mostly by CPS.
This went on for a while. Peter trying to figure out every option. However, even though he thought of several ways out of this situation, he didn't do anything. Either way, he'd be leaving or it'll be a worse life for him. Selfish, he thought, at first. Although, he didn't think it could be too much worse than it is now. As the saying goes: 'When you hit rock bottom, there's no way to go but up.'
He hoped, anyway.
After about thirty minutes of chastising himself for getting into these situations. He walked up the front porch to a small, but pretty, home. He didn't ring the doorbell; that just wasn't like him. Instead, he crawled along the side until he could knock on the side window on the second floor.
He knew she was there. He didn't know if she'd want to talk to him. But he was kind of in a dire situation.
Gwen, saw him through the window. She unlocked it, but didn't open it. Peter let himself in.
"What do you want?" She whispered, obviously still hurt.
"To apologize."
"That's obvious," She finally looked at him. "But usually you're a bit cockier even when apologizing. What happened? You look like a kicked puppy that was then stabbed and then kicked again."
"That's an awful metaphor." Peter smirked, though it didn't last long.
"A metaphor, nonetheless." Gwen said, proudly, as she led him to the love seat she had in her bedroom. When Peter didn't speak she asked. "What's wrong, Peter."
"Did you happen to watch the news today?"
She shook her head. "Why?"
He began. "There was a fire…"
She interrupted, abruptly. "Were you not able to save everyone?"
"What? No." He sighed. "Everyone made it out, but this is a bit more selfish than that."
She looked confused. Peter. Selfish?
He continued. "That fire… destroyed my foster home and I—." He couldn't finish. He just shook his head and gritted his teeth together. That's the moment, her eyes gleamed with realization.
"Peter?" He looked up at her. He could tell, she was already on the verge of tears. To be honest, so was he. "Are you leaving?" She whispered, brokenly.
He gulped and took a breath. "Yes." He nodded.
Gwen bit her bottom lip. "Are you staying… close?" She asked, slowly.
He shook his head this time. "No."
She let out a small, choked sob. She blinked away tears before finally trying to breath. It was shaky. "Where are you going?"
"Arizona." He breathed. His chest mimicking the same shaky breath.
She silently nodded before squeezing herself into the loveseat and wrapping her arms around his neck. Peter returned the hug as hard as he could without squeezing the life out of her like he wanted to. He could feel her tears on the back of his neck as she cried into his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Gwen." He whispered, a few tears dropping from his eyes, as well. Although, he wasn't sure if she heard him.
For a long while they sat like that, holding each other. Finally, they backed away. "When do you leave?" She sniffed.
"In a week. I'm finishing finals and then leaving the moment school gets out."
She nodded, again, in understanding.
"I'm so sorry, Gwen." He repeated, this time looking into her eyes. She nodded, again. Slowly, she pressed her lips to his wet cheek. He returned her affection and nuzzled her with his nose taking in her scent, bringing her closer to him for another hug.
Even though he had a week left, that week was going to be hell. He didn't want it to happen. For the first time ever, a teenager didn't want summer to come. How many times can someone say that?
Peter was okay with it being spring.
He liked spring.
He was happy during spring.
"We're going to have to make this your best week yet." She smiled, whipping away her tears, clearly trying to gain any smidge of happiness back.
He returned her smile, genuinely. "Yeah."
He fully pushed her away, not defensively or angrily. But he had to get up from the couch. When he did, he returned to the window. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"Don't worry. I'll be right back." He smiled at her. "I just have to drop something off at Avenger's tower."
3 Weeks Later
Captain America stared out the window of the Quinjet. It'd had been three weeks since they left New York and, although the mission was a success, he had been eager to get home.
"Excited, Cap?" Tony smirked, looking at the soldier, knowingly.
"Just need some R&R." He replied.
"You know, I was think of calling Pete." Tony smiled, hinting. "Maybe, he'd like to hang in the lab sometime soon."
"Sounds like a great idea, Tony."
"Oh come on, admit it. You're excited to see your kid again."
"He's not my kid." Steve replied. "I'm just worried about him. Since we've been gone, he hasn't answered his phone."
"Yeah." Tony nodded. "His little, blond girlfriend hasn't answered hers either."
"Maybe, cause it's creepy that some old guy is trying to get in touch with her." Clint smirked, while cleaning an arrow.
"It's not like that." Tony assured. "But for the record, I'd be an awesome sugar-daddy." He winked.
Clint grimaced at the thought. "You know if you didn't have that ego of yours, maybe you'd have a girl."
"I do have a girl, her name is Pepper, and I don't have an ego. Just one more thing that makes me perfect." He said, all, too, nonchalantly.
Clint chuckled, sarcastically.
"We're sorry, oh great tech-wizard. Is there anything else you need?" Natasha asked sarcastically, handing him a stylus for his Stark-pad, while looking at the design in Stark's hands.
"I don't like being handed things," Tony replied to her. "You know as my CEO's ex-assistant; you should know that. Just put it down on the seat."
"Of course, Mr. Stark. Whatever you say." Natasha said with her assistant voice as she rolled her eyes.
"Do I detect sarcasm?" He tapped the stylus against his chin, clicking his tongue. "I think I do."
"Really?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"When the hell'd you learn sarcasm, Romanoff."
"Yesterday."
Tony grimaced, jokingly. "It needs a little work. You're not even past birdbrain over there, so you're nowhere, near, close to my level yet." He took a sip of the drink on the table
Natasha scoffed at Tony's antics, but didn't reply. Clint simply laughed. Bruce smiled. But Steve was so drowned in thought that he didn't hear a thing.
When they finally returned home, they immediately split up and got settled in again. Shower, change of clothes, that kind of thing. Having been gone for almost a month tends to take a toll, especially when you're a superhero. But, at least New York is still standing. Steve, hoped that was Peter's doing.
He didn't realize that when he got downstairs to the common floor that he'd see Peter's Spider-Man uniform neatly folded on the table. A single sticky-note hung from the uniform, contrasting the color scheme.
Thanks for Everything.
- Peter
"What's that?" Hawkeye asked, entering the room. Steve didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't even get his thoughts together, so he stood there shocked, all the blood quickly draining from his face. Clint came behind him, peering around his torso. Eventually, he, too, gave off the same expression.
When he finally snapped out of it, Steve dropped the now crumpled uniform and clumsily reached for his phone in his pocket. He called again and again, pacing and still getting nothing but voicemail. By the time he'd given up calling (after like the tenth time), the rest of the team had gathered around the table.
"Still not answering his phone, Cap?" Clint asked, obviously worried.
"No." Steve said, confused and frantic. He pushed his hair line back. "I don't understand. What happened? Why isn't he answering? Why is his Spider-Man gear here? Where is he?"
"Calm down, Steve. We'll find him. He's got to be around." Bruce comforted.
"Yeah, plus I need his opinion on the next video game to buy." Clint added, pouting slightly at Peter's absence.
"JARVIS," Tony called to his AI. "Pull up the video of the last time Peter enter the tower."
"Yes, sir."
JARVIS, did as instructed. However, the video feed showed nothing of any use. The team saw Peter walk through the front doors, then to the elevator. Once he hit the main floor, he slowly walked to the table. From the look on his face, he was in distress but he was determined. He whipped his backpack off his shoulders until he could reach inside and gab his Spider-Man uniform. He then took out the matching mask and looked at it for a long while, running his fingers over the black detail and the white eyes. Then that, too, was placed. They saw him scavenge the kitchen until he found a pad of sticky notes and a pen. He wrote his message and took off. Simple and easy.
"That explains absolutely nothing." Clint responded after the screen faded away.
"Why'd he do that?" Steve asked, his voice starting to waver slightly.
"No idea, but it might be the reason he hasn't answered his phone." Tony said.
"Then where is he?"
"He's probably at school." Bruce added from his spot at the kitchen table as he went through the news on his Stark-pad. "They can't use their phones there."
"You don't get kids these days, Banner." Clint shakily laughed. "They don't do anything without their phones."
"Yeah, but Pete doesn't have a cool phone." Tony added. "I'm surprised he hasn't upgraded that dinosaur tech of his."
"Well he can't exactly afford it, now can he?" Banner pointed out.
"You're right." Tony snapped. "Remind me to get him a phone."
"Guys." Natasha spoke up. "Not the time."
Both Bruce and Clint rolled their eyes before going back to what they were doing.
"Just chill. We just got back. I'm sure he'll call you back, soon." Natasha put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "For now, how about food?"
Steve looked one more time at his cell. He felt like something was wrong, but brushed it off, hoping that Natasha was right. He slid the tech back into his pocket and followed Natasha to the kitchen. He had to get his breathing to calm and food seemed like the best answer. He could think better on a full stomach.
As he entered the kitchen, he passed a virtual calendar. "Wait a minute." Steve stopped. "It's June."
"It's been June for a while now, Capsicle." Tony teased, coming in behind him.
"No. It's summer. That means summer break." Steve realized. "Peter's not a school, he's on break."
"So, there's, still, a bunch of reasons of why he wouldn't answer his phone." Bruce added.
"But he hasn't answered in weeks and his uniform..."
"Maybe, he didn't accept your apology. Or maybe he's afraid of rejection again, Spangles." Clint teased.
Natasha punched Clint in the arm, effectively shutting him up. "I don't know, but I think I'll take a raincheck on lunch, Natasha. I'm going to go pay, Peter, a visit."
"Mind if I come along?" Clint asked.
"Only if you're ready to go right now." Steve said.
"Always." Clint grabbed his wallet from the couch table and hopped off the couch. Steve grabbed one set of keys from Tony's key rack before meeting Clint at the elevator.
"Oh no. I'm driving, Steve." Clint said grabbing the keys. "I've always wanted to drive one of Tony's babies."
"Don't screw them up, birdbrain." Tony warned.
"Don't worry. It'll be fun. Right, Steve?" Clint smiled at him.
Steve got a slight wave of fear that he may not return after this trip.
It took a while to get to Peter's street. That New York traffic, you know. However, the street wasn't as Steve and Clint remembered it. For some reason, a heavy cloud of negative energy fell upon the citizens that lived here. But neither of the two understood why.
"Isn't that where, Peter lives?" Hawkeye pointed out.
Steve turned his direction to look out the window. The apartment complex they had dropped Peter off at weeks ago was a pile of ash, broken wood, and rubble. In fact, several other buildings looked the same way on the street.
"What happened?" Clint asked.
Steve got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. His worry increased tenfold. "Come on, let's find out." He frantically opened the car door and smashed it back to close it. Clint did the same, only gentler. This was one of Tony's nice cars after all.
For a moment, Steve looked at the ashes. "Looks like a fire." He told Clint.
"That's one massive bon fire." Clint replied, looking at the other buildings.
"Hold up, I'll call Tony. See if he can get any details. The we'll ask the locals." He brought the phone to his ear.
"What kind of fire brings down a building like this? The first time I saw it, it was like looking at a bomb shelter." Clint thought aloud.
Steve didn't answer. Within minutes, Tony answered. "What's up, Cap? Find Peter?"
"No. We can't find anything. His whole building is gone."
"What do you mean gone?"
"There was a fire, Tony." Steve started getting even more frantic, looking at Clint then back at the broken buildings. "A big one."
"Alright, calm down. I'll look into it."
"Let me know if you find anything."
"Will do."
He hung up the phone.
"You guys the insurance people?" A woman behind them answered. The two looked at her, confused as to why she would be speaking to them. She looked to be about eighteen and she was carrying some several grocery bags in both hands.
"Uh, No." Steve answered. He wasted no time getting to the point. "Do you know what happened here?"
"Duh. A fire. I need the insurance people." She answered, completely ignoring the details.
"We need more information than that." Clint egged her on.
"I'm surprised you didn't hear. A fire erupted from out of nowhere a few weeks ago. Officials say it was from the underground wiring since they found several wires exposed and beaten. But the fire burned up all three of these buildings. I use to live in the one next door with my parents."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Steve replied, empathetic.
"Well everyone, from our building anyway, made it out safely. Some had severe burns, though, and thanks to Spider-Man, my dad was saved."
For a moment, Steve beamed with pride. He knew Peter would be there. "That's great news."
"Since you live next door, you wouldn't happen to know a kid named, Peter, who lived in this building, would ya?" Clint began. "He's about this height." He stuck out his arm. "Brown hair, blue eyes, fifteen years old."
"No, I don't. This building, other than the top two floors, was a foster home. But that's all I know."
"Do you know where they may be staying now?" Steve asked, the authoritative nature rising in his voice out of sheer panic.
"Everyone's home that was burned has been staying in a hotel two streets over, at least until they can make other arrangements. I'm sure if he lived here, he's probably there. In fact, I'm heading there now."
"Great, we'll walk you over there." Clint suggested. Steve nodded in agreement.
"Here, let me help." Steve grabbed some the bags from her hands.
"Thanks a lot." She smiled.
As they walked, Clint innocently chatted with the woman, while Steve got a good look at the town. The last time he was here it was dark, so there wasn't much to look at. To him, the people seemed friendly enough, and the buildings weren't anything like Manhattan but, oddly, they reminded him of Brooklyn.
So this is where Peter lives now. Steve thought.
"Here we are." The woman announced, while approaching a tall structure. It was a relatively nice hotel. No five stars or anything, but a solid living space for the time being.
Steve thanked the girl before turning to Clint. "I don't see, Peter. Any idea who else to look for, Clint?" Steve asked.
"I know Peter's foster mom was named, Mrs. Mason. We can probably find her on the guest list at the front desk."
Steve nodded, heading for the front desk. The front desk was easily persuaded by Captain America to give out the room numbers. However, the front desk associated pointed out Mrs. Mason before she was about to walk out the door.
Steve rushed up to her, hoping not to scare her. "Excuse me, Mrs. Mason?"
She looked up, he curly hair whipping around with her. "Yes? And who may you be?"
"Hi. I'm Steve, this is Clint." He introduced.
"Weird question," Clint said, immediately. "Did you happen to know a kid named, Peter Parker, by chance?"
"Yes!" She sparked with realization. "He lived with me as a foster child."
"That's kind of what we came to ask about." Steve started. "Do you know where he is by chance?"
"Is there a reason that you're looking for him? Did he do something wrong?" She asked.
"What?" Steve replied. "No, not at all."
She let out a relieved sigh and laugh. "Oh, good. I thought with you being Captain America, he'd be in some serious trouble."
"No, ma'am. We're just looking for him." Clint added, smiling.
"Let me think," she raised a hand to her chin. "Not as young as I use to be. I took care of ten other kids before the fire, you know. Now they're all scattered."
"What do you mean scattered?" With Steve's experience, and his already present anxiety, he immediately thought of Peter being transferred to one hospital after the next around the globe or even exploded along with the building itself. Though he was sure that that was an exaggeration. The woman basically already said the kid was alive.
"Well, they can't really live with me anymore. I don't have a house." She said, joking slightly to get rid of the tension. "Now, let me think. Did he go to…? No… Anna went there. What about…? No…"
She continued on for a while. Steve and Clint eagerly waited for an answer from the old woman, though it seemed that it might take some time.
While listening to the woman's mumbling, Clint whispered into his ear. "This is getting us nowhere. She's had so many kids, she can't remember."
Steve cursed under his breath. Who else would know? He thought. Then, that mysterious little lightbulb flicker above his head. He snapped.
"Clint let's go. I have an idea."
"Thanks for your help, Mrs. Mason, but we have to get going." Steve smiled, politely, pushing Clint out the front doors.
"Why'd we come here?" Clint asked. They had stopped in front of a small, pretty house right outside the main city.
"This is where Gwen lives isn't it?"
"How do you know where she lives?" Clint whined from the driver's seat.
Steve shrugged. "I looked up her address on the internet. Well her parent's address anyways." He replied nonchalantly, getting out of the car.
"You know how to use the internet?" Clint asked, following Steve's lead.
Steve rolled his eyes. He checked his watch. It was seven o'clock, hopefully she was home. They rang the doorbell.
Within minutes, Gwen answered the door. However, she immediately gaped at Steve and Clint standing there. "Hey, Gwen, right?"
She instantly got teary eyed, but nodded. "You're looking for, Peter, aren't you?"
"Actually, yes." Steve said. "Gwen, what happened?"
"You're too late." She said simply, shaking her head. "He's gone."
"Gone?" Clint asked. "Are we talking like gone, gone, or like he just left – gone, or he's alive but he's not coming back – gone?"
Steve glared at him. "What?" Clint defended. "I need to know, what kind of 'gone' we're talking about here."
"He's alive but he's not coming back – gone." Gwen answered. "CPS took him away."
Clint let out a relieved breath. "Oh good, I though he died, for a second." Steve shoved an elbow into his ribs.
"They let him stay through finals, and then he packed up and left."
"Where is he, Gwen?"
She looked at them, the sadness gone, now there was only seer determination and anger in her eyes. "Arizona." She answered simply, then closed the door.
Steve was in shock. But Clint wasn't. "Well, I'll be damned."
They both returned home. Neither speaking much, but mostly Steve not really wanting to speak. "Oh come on, Cap, be reasonable. It's not his fault."
"I know." He said simply.
Clint couldn't tell if he was content in knowing Peter was safe or depressed that he wasn't around. "Cap, this happens. Foster kids get move all the time."
"Out of state?"
"Well, sometimes they just can't keep them here. Remember CPS tries, and horribly fails, to find these kids families."
"So they uproot their entire lives? That just doesn't make any sense."
Clint shrugged. "Peter's been in New York his whole life. Who knows, this might be a good restart for the kid."
The elevator doors opened onto the main living space. Immediately, they were bombarded by questions, none of which Steve wanted to answer.
"Are you going to go get the kid, Capsicle?" Tony asked.
"Wait, you knew?"
"Of course, I hacked into CPS. So are you?"
"No." He shook his head. "I have no right to do that." Steve replied, depressingly. He sat on the couch with a heavy sigh.
"Come on, Steve. You can't just leave him there." Natasha added.
"Why not? This could be a good restart for him."
"So we take a stray out of the streets, just to put him back?" Tony asked.
"I didn't take him off the streets. He was never on the streets. He just…" He groaned when he couldn't complete his thought.
"Come on, Cap, you love that kid." Tony announced, pronouncing each word slowly, in a totally non-Tony type of way. "You've basically been his dad since you met him."
"He's not mine."
"Doesn't matter. Technically none of us are blood, but we're family." Clint responded. "You can't just let him go, Steve."
"It'll just make things harder for him." Steve stood his ground. "He deserves people that would actually understand his situation."
"Really? Because, at this point, it looks like he'll have about four or five more 'family' swaps before turning eighteen."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked.
"Peter switches 'families' every six months, or sooner. He doesn't get to know people, because he's stripped away before he has a chance to."
"Wait, so they've uprooted his life before?"
"All the time." Clint answered, darkly, crossing his arms and looking away. "They always do."
"But, why?"
"They say it's for adoption purposes, to get the kids exposed." Tony answered. "At least that's according to their website."
"It's actually a ploy to get the kids to never attach to anyone, so that way they're willing to leave." Clint added. "They lose less kids that way."
"That can't be true." Steve replied.
"It may not be their exact purpose but that's what ends up happening."
Steve looked down, weaving his hands tightly together on his lap.
Clint continued, "Welcome to Peter's world, Steve. The part where he never had a choice in anything. Where he wasn't allowed to connect with anyone and when he did he was stripped away. Unfortunately, it does more damage to the foster kid than the people they meet." Clint paused, getting Steve to make eye contact. "To be honest, I'm surprised the kid opened up to us at all. I know I wouldn't have. I didn't open up to the circus until months later. Peter became comfortable so quickly."
"He's a trusting kid." Tony shrugged.
"That's not good. Not for him."
"Clint, you sound like you want Peter to cut himself off." Natasha commented, sitting on the couch next to Steve.
"That's not it at all. I just can't imagine how many people Peter's gotten to know before being ripped away. Psychologically, Peter would should be completely broken by now."
"He might be." Steve replied, solemnly. "I sure didn't help any."
"You, also, might have helped a lot." Natasha comforted, rubbing Steve's back. "Peter opened up to you. He agreed to your training immediately back then, even though he'd have to give up his freedom. Somehow, someway, Steve, you got through to him, more than any of us did.
"Yeah. The rest of us just kind of stalked him until he had to confess." Tony added.
"But he trusted you." Clint continued.
"I don't know why. I've proven that I don't deserve his trust." Steve said.
"I don't think, Peter, saw it that way."
Steve looked to him. Clint usually wasn't this knowledgeable and wise. He, usually, was sarcastic, joking, fun-loving, and goofed off a lot. But this was different. Clint was serious. He's never serious.
"You earned his trust long before he told you about his home." Bruce repeated.
"But he still didn't tell me right away. If it's true that he trusted me from the beginning, why didn't he say anything?"
"It's not as easy as it looks, Cap." Clint said. "Pasts, hurt. Most of us don't even know each other's past. We only care about the present."
"Barton's right." Bruce agreed. "Trust is earned and he probably wanted to earn yours before he said anything. It's hard to tell every single secret when he doesn't feel like he has your respect. Look at me, for example," Bruce pointed to himself. "I had the same problem with you guys. I trusted you at first, mostly because I didn't have anyone else. But that wasn't returned. Not right away." Bruce added.
"We'll you turn into a green, rage monster. How we're we supposed to trust you right away?" Tony asked.
"You didn't, not that I blame you, because I didn't trust myself, either." Bruce answered, then, he continued. "But, back then, I had to work with you guys, not knowing if you'd ever, actually, accept me. In fact, I remember, Natasha, threatening me that if I said or did one wrong thing, I'd be public enemy number one and she'd have to take me down."
"I'd never do that now, Bruce." Natasha replied, sorrow in her voice.
"I know… kind of." Bruce replied, accepting her 'not really' apology. "But, Peter's in a very similar situation. I can't imagine that he didn't think that other superheroes wouldn't come from him eventually. He a hybrid, super-being. Take it from me, it's hard being genetically altered and worried about being used as a weapon, all while still having to go on with life like everything's completely normal. Pile that on top of being a foster kid and a teenager. Peter's mentally stronger than he looks."
Steve understand what Bruce said, but he was confused still confused by one thing. "We never wanted to use Peter as a weapon."
"That's the reason S.H.I.E.L.D. sent us after him." Bruce argued. "They may have not said it in the mission statement but that was in the small print. It's always in the small print."
"But—"
"Honestly," Bruce interrupted. "Why do you think we had to hunt him down? Why do you think, Fury, was so quick to let him be trained? I mean he didn't even ask any questions. He just let it slide. Fury never lets it slide."
Steve looked a Bruce, then at everyone else. Natasha and Clint both looked completely confused. Tony, however, didn't seem surprised. "Did you know about this, Tony?"
"Me? No. Like, Fury would ever trust me to keep my mouth shut." Tony took a sip of his drink and he leaned back against the bar. "But I had my suspicions."
"And you never told me?"
"Because this is how you'd react. You're delusional, Cap." Tony said, slamming his glass on the bar. "We're all weapons. That's what we are. That's what superheroes are. I've been in this business far too long to not know that by now."
"That doesn't mean we aren't okay with it." Natasha said. "Sure we're considered dangerous, but we continue to stay here because we think it's the right thing to do." She sat down next to Steve. "Peter thinks the same."
"He's a kid."
"He's a powerful kid." Clint added.
Steve didn't budge. "He shouldn't be used as a weapon."
"That's what he is." Tony argued. "I'd be more surprised that, with Peter's intelligence, he doesn't already know that." Tony looked Steve in the eye. "Besides, it doesn't really matter what S.H.I.E.L.D thinks of us. It only matters what we think of us. If we believe that we're doing the right thing, who cares. We're together, we're a team, and we're family. End of story."
Steve smiled for the first time today. "Wow, Tony, never thought I'd hear you say that."
"Do you want to see my broken 'proof of a heart' statuette Pepper gave me? It's quite a site."
Steve huffed out a small laugh.
"Besides, Peter's become like an honorary member. Got get him, Cap." Clint suggested.
Steve's smile faded. Even if he did, there's no guarantee that Peter would want to come back anyways.
"So what are you going to do?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know." Steve said, honestly.
"Well," Tony started, searching through his briefcase. "Lucky for you, I, the great and powerful Tony Stark, have made your decision for you. Though I warn you, it might take a few days." He handed Steve a blue folder.
Steve took it, eyeing Tony suspiciously, and looked inside. He looked at the rest of the team…
And smiled.
Cliff Hanger - I know, harsh. But it'll be good I promise!
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