Peter didn't arrive at the Avenger's Compound the next day until closer to 4:00 in the afternoon. He was already violating his aunt's orders of coming straight home after detention, and he was also late at meeting the freaking Avengers. He just hoped all of this was worth it. If it wasn't, he's gonna order a refund on being a Superhero.
Peter swung onto the Compound's front lawn in his suit, and he immediately had a flashback to the Saturday meeting with Fury and Coulson. Wasn't he late for that too? Gosh, he really needed to convince everyone that he was usually on time for everything. He blamed life for getting in the way.
The thing that slapped him in the face, however, was him realizing he left the "case" items back at the apartment. He mentally kicked himself at that fact since he set the items on his desk the night before and didn't put them back in his bag in time for school. He was supposed to have them with him! That was the whole point of the meeting in the first place!
Sighing in defeat at not only being incredibly late, but for also being an oblivious idiot, Peter slumped his shoulders in defeat. Why didn't anything go right for once? Did he really have that bad of luck? Peter just shook his head and walked inside, prepared to be chewed out.
As he entered the building, it was eerily quiet and that was nerve-wracking. Also, this time, there was no one there to greet him. Biting his lip, Peter made his way into the main room where he found Steve, Clint, Sam and Natasha sitting on the couches.
"Look who finally decided to show up," Hawkeye remarked.
"Sorry, I, uh, I had detention," Spider-Man admitted lamely. Peter was so glad he had his mask on, because he knew that he was blushing. He always blushed when he was flustered.
"Detention?" Sam raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Man, I knew you were young, but not that young."
Steve shot Falcon a warning look before standing up and walking over to Peter with a small smile on his face. "Good to meet you properly this time." Steve held out his hand, "Steve Rogers."
"Spider-Man," Peter shook his hand. "Sorry for stealing your shield."
Steve just shrugged, "Pretty impressive for a rookie."
"Yeah, I guess," Peter mumbled, feeling his face heat up more because of the compliment.
"So, if you don't mind me asking," Sam interrupted, "How old are you?"
"Um..." Peter hesitated awkwardly.
Steve shot another reprimanding look at Sam before saying, "You don't have to say anything you don't want to."
Peter wanted to, god he really did. It's just, he knew that if they knew he was just fifteen, almost sixteen... He had a good feeling they wouldn't take him seriously. "I'd rather not say," Peter admitted.
"Then I can assure you that we don't mind," Natasha promised.
"But..." Clint began but yelped when Natasha elbowed him in the ribs. "Yeah, we're cool over here."
"So..." Steve cleared his throat after a minute of awkward silence, "You said Tony was missing?"
"Yes," Peter nodded. "He's been missing for almost two weeks."
"And no one notified us earlier?" Natasha frowned.
"I didn't even know you were still in contact with him," Peter defended himself. "If I had known..."
"Don't sweat it, kid," Steve reassured Peter. "Just start from the beginning. What happened?"
"I got worried when Mr. Stark hadn't reached out in a while so I went over to the tower and found it completely trashed," Peter explained, choosing his words carefully. "There was glass everywhere, a hole in the floor and his lab looked like someone was searching for something. The alarming part was that his lab door was wide open and the hole in the floor led to his lab."
"Why didn't the alarms go off? Didn't FRIDAY alert you at the time of the abduction?" Clint frowned.
"No," Peter shook his head. "I got there and FRIDAY'S mainframe was down. I tried to get her back up, but you know Iron Man. That guy is a little too obsessed with passwords for his own good."
"How do you know that he was taken and not killed?" Sam asked.
That was a slap to the face. That guy really was blunt.
"Sam," Steve admonished.
"It's fine," Peter shrugged. "To answer your question, I don't know if he's alive, I'm just going on the hope that he is alive. There were a few things that I found in the tower that night."
"Like what?" That perked Natasha's interest.
"There was a device hidden in a secret compartment that was embedded in the wall," Peter revealed. "It opened for me using a retinal scan."
"That's a little too extreme, even for Tony" Steve frowned.
"What was the device?" Clint asked.
"I'm not to sure. It was the size of a post-it note. The keyboard's in morse code and it needs a password," Peter explained. "That thing is full of surprises though. Two messages have been printed from it and I still can't figure out what triggers it."
"Messages?" Steve furrowed his brows in confusion.
"First one was printed for me, the second for Fury," Peter said.
"What kind of messages were they?" Natasha inquired.
"They sounded an awful lot like goodbye messages to me. Now, though, I'm not so sure," Peter admitted.
"You said the device needed a password?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Peter nodded.
"Do you know what the password is?"
"Don't you think I would've told you that already if I did?" Peter snapped. He sighed, "Sorry, it's been a long day and that's the exhaustion and frustration talking."
"It's cool dude," Falcon gave him a reassuring smile.
"Do you have the device with you?" Clint asked, his tone hopeful.
"Sorry, but no, I don't," Peter apologized. "I forgot to bring it with me. I swear I thought I packed it, but I guess I was wrong. I should've checked though, so yes, it's my fault. I'm sorry..."
"Wow, Spider-Man, slow down," Steve walked over and placed a grounding hand on the kid's shoulder. "It's okay. You can bring it sometime tomorrow and we'll check it out. We're human, we forget, it's okay. We're not mad, we're just worried."
Peter took in a deep breath and steadied his emotions. "Yeah, I'm worried too."
"Before, you said that you thought the messages were goodbye messages, but now you weren't so sure," Steve recalled. "What do you mean by that?"
"I found something that I think is another step forward in this crazy situation," Peter admitted. "The message that Mr. Stark left for me was words that he said to me many times before. However, he originally said it on a rooftop. When I went back to that rooftop, I found a letter engraved into the stairway door."
"And it's not a coincidence how?" Clint asked, not following.
"I have enhanced senses," Peter explained. "This letter was so small and precise that there's no doubt in my mind that Mr. Stark was the one who put it there. Without my senses, I would never have seen it."
"That does sound like something Tony would do," Steve smiled sadly.
"So you think that the messages correspond with a certain place," Natasha clarified.
Peter nodded.
"Well, it's a good start," Natasha sighed. "What was Fury's message?"
"Something about him telling Fury that he didn't want to be in his superhero boy band," Peter tried to remember. "I don't remember it word for word."
Natasha froze.
Peter studied her for a moment before saying, "You know where the place is, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do," Natasha sighed. "I was there."
"Well, where is it? Maybe we can go now..." Peter began.
"No, we can't," Natasha cut him off.
"Why not?" Peter asked.
"Because it's all the way back in Malibu," Natasha stated. "I'll talk to Fury, we'll send someone over there to check it out."
"But what happens if you need enhanced seeing to be able to find something?" Peter asked.
"Then I'll tell Fury that Steve will be the one to go," Natasha crossed her arms.
"Why not take me with you?" Peter continued.
"Because, if you had detention, that means you have school," Natasha replied.
"That's a really lame excuse," Peter scoffed.
"Fine," Natasha stood up. "Then how about this. I'll talk with Fury and he'll make the calls. We'll keep you updated."
Peter stepped back a few steps, not liking the creepy vibe coming off of her. "You're intimidating, did anyone every tell you that?"
"Of course I'm intimidating," Natasha smirked. "I am an assassin after all."
"Don't mess with her, kid," Clint advised. "I'd do what she says."
"Natasha, back off," Steve pinched his nose, as if he was willing away a headache. "Spider-Man, Natasha's right. We'll talk to Fury and make some calls. In the mean time, patience is going to be your worst enemy."
"It already is," Peter pointed out.
"Let's just call it an afternoon, yeah?" Steve suggested. "Why don't you get on home and do some... school stuff."
Peter sighed. "Fine. Call me if you find anything, please."
"We will," Steve promised. "Take care in the meantime, kid."
"I'm not a kid," Peter grumbled as he stalked out of the compound. Why were adults so infuriating sometimes?
It feel's good to be back on my regular posting schedule. Not much of a long author's note this time so I'll keep it short and sweet :-) Thank you to those who read/followed/favorited/reviewed last chapter. The support is amazing and thank you so much! See you next week!
Was it good? Was it bad? Feel free to let me know!