Chapter 28 - Civil War

It was a few small things. Small but telling now that Peter knew what to look for. The prickling in his fingertips, the hair on his arms, on his neck, that threatened to stand with every wave of sounds and smells rushing into the empty airport building. They couldn't be far off. They had to be somewhere close by. He could feel it.

But it wasn't just nerves, not just his senses. There was a vibe. Mr. Stark wanted him there. Flying him to Germany, having Peter stand by his side had been a big deal. He wouldn't have asked Peter to come if it hadn't been. This was important. It would be a statement, a pledge to the team in a way. A sign of commitment that Peter would stand with them.

He had been waiting for about 20 minutes. Had stolen into the empty airport hall quickly and quietly, always on the lookout for other signs of life. They were around there somewhere, but not close enough to notice him. He'd had another quick call from Mr. Stark when he was on the plane traveling to Germany. Instructions on where to go, what to do once he landed. His pulse had never been that high as he stepped onto the airstrip and then quickly ducked into the waiting car. He was studying every little commotion outside of the car through the darkened windows but nobody ever came close to him. Nobody ever approached the car at all until they were stopped at a gate leading off the premises. Peter's pulse was throbbing in his ears as two armed border patrol officers stepped up to the driver's side. There was a partition between where Peter sat and the driver's compartment and even though he could hear them just fine it didn't do anything to ease his nerves. They were not speaking English. German probably. Duh. If he had to make an educated guess, he'd say German. A small stack of documents was handed over to the officers and one of them strolled down to Peter's window, looked it up and down but never making out Peter's face through the tinted window. The guy gave up quickly and stepped back to his colleague who handed the documents back to the driver.

And that was it. They just left. And just like that Peter Parker had come to Germany.

He hadn't seen much of the country of course. He didn't even know if he was allowed to leave his hotel room, in any case, he didn't. Instead, he ordered a bunch of stuff from room service and just waited. The airport was just on the other side of the street. He could see the building from his window. It wouldn't take him long to get there, but it hadn't been time to get going just yet.

It was less than three hours that he had waited. It was a miracle that he hadn't already passed out from the exhaustive journey as well as the jet lag, but his nerves, the stress of it all kept him on edge. So when the text message from Mr. Stark - or likely FRIDAY - had arrived that it was time to go, Peter was more than ready to go. Ready just to get on with it.

They must have evacuated the airport in the last couple of hours for there was nobody around except a few border patrol officers on the far off fences that were easy to sidetrack. He had gotten inside the airport hall just like that and then he had been waiting. Listening. Feeling the place out and waiting for Mr. Stark to arrive.

The sound of the thrusters was distinct. It was still a little eerie to hear it like that, in real life. He'd only ever encountered Mr. Stark in the suit twice, the first time they'd met on that February night in Queens and then that one day in Manhattan. So when the man swept into the building and came to land a few feet away from him, it felt more like an audience with Iron Man than meeting up with his mentor.

"Spiderling." The armor gave a short nod. "This will all be rather straight forward. No-nonsense. You'll be on my comm."

Peter just nodded along, careful to take in all the details, the instructions of where to go. Iron Man stood tall in front of him, but rigid. It might have just been the armor, all that metal. Or it might have been that the tension Peter could sense in his voice translated into the man's movements as well. It just wasn't the same talking to Mr. Stark like this, his voice muffled and a little metallic. Plus, when the man was in the suit it just conveyed another level of authority, a sense of power that paralyzed Peter.

"When you have the shield, just make sure that you stay out of the way, alright? Just stay back."

"Wait. Sir, I..." Peter shook his head. He must have just misheard him while he had pondered the Iron Man suit. "Wait, did you say take the shield? You want me to take the shield away from Captain America?"

"It's the fastest way to go about it. He won't expect it and without the shield, Cap's options are limited. When he's impaired the others will falter as well. We might just end this without much drama."

"End this?" Peter's voice came out a lot quieter than he had intended. End what? They were supposed to get Barnes into custody and present a united front. That was what this was about, wasn't it? But Iron Man's focus wasn't really on him. He was typing and swiping on the monitor on his lower arm. He was uncharacteristically quiet, probably rambling away for only FRIDAY to hear.

"Right." Peter flinched as Iron Man's voice echoed through the hall once more. "Just wait for my signal. When you have the shield, just stay back. Don't engage unless you have to. We're not there for a fight, alright? It's not gonna come to that but..." Iron Man adjusted his stance, the titanium legs of the suit moving with the man getting any closer to Peter. "But if it does, minimal contact. You stay back." He paused, but Peter couldn't bring himself to respond. "Pete, you hear me? You web them up, that's it."

Peter shook his head again. "Web them up? You... you mean the Winter Soldier?"

"Anyone who tries to make a break for it." The man's head swung to the side as if he was listening to someone else. "Alright, they are close by. On my sign, okay?"

Peter swallowed hard. "You mean the other Avengers? I... web them up?" Just the thought sent a cold shiver down his back.

"Exactly." Iron Man had turned and studied the airfield outside. "Rogers and Wilson. Barton showed up at the Compound and collected Wanda so it's likely that they'll make an appearance to help out Rogers. We need them to stand down and we need to get there fast."

"But.." He'd web them up and then what? They wouldn't be pleased about that, would they? "But then what? What are we gonna do then?"

"We'll detain them. Somewhere. Till everything is worked out."

"Detain them."

Peter had to take a step back. Involuntarily. This couldn't be happening. This... how could he say that? How could he suggest to lock them up? That's what they were supposed to stand up against together. Stop people from locking enhanced humans up just for being who they were.

"Pete?"

Peter couldn't look at him, gaze turned to the floor between them. He had said that he wouldn't... that the team wouldn't give up on each other and now... now what? They were on opposite sites?

"Hey Spiderling, take that mask off."

Then there was this thing about the man's voice, the way the Iron Man suit distorted it. It all felt weird and foreign.

"Pete..." Sounds of metal on metal and some hydraulic wheezing echoed through the empty airport hall as the man took a step towards him. "Listen, can you just take the mask off for—"

He stopped in his tracks as Peter retreated further. Peter couldn't shake that queasy feeling. It wasn't just that this felt different. That this was Iron Man in front of him, an authority so different from his mentor. It was also that Peter seemed to have slid into the middle of a fight he wasn't all too sure he was supposed to be in. But just then Iron Man's faceplate was lifted and drew Peter's focus straight to the man in front of him. Mr. Stark's face was right there. It was still him. Undiluted, true, it was him.

But he didn't stop at that. He opened up his suit all the way and stepped out of it and by that even closer to Peter, leaving the suit behind. Just like that, it was his mentor who materialized in front of him. Simply Mr. Stark. Just him. Human. Completely vulnerable.

"Can you take that mask off, kid?"

Another wave of familiarity rushed over Peter and he nodded, hands quickly pulling at the fabric. Mr. Stark was right in front of him now, eyebrows knitted together.

"You okay?"

Peter couldn't help but shake his head. No, he wasn't. All this... all this seemed wrong. They shouldn't be doing this.

"It's normal to be scared, Pete. If you..." the man sighed. He clasped Peter's arm and gave it a bit of a squeeze.

"I just... it's... all this is just—" His voice shook and he hated that.

"You can stay put here. You don't..." Mr. Stark interrupted.

"It's not that, I—" Peter tried again.

"If you don't think you're up to this..." His hand still on Peter's arm, holding him there right in front of him. "In fact, yes. Just... you'll just stay here, this, this is not —"

"You said—" Peter cleared his throat. His voice was low and way too squeaky. "You said you wouldn't do this. You said that... that nobody would get locked up."

Mr. Stark nodded, expression way too calm. "I did. I did say that."

Peter's eyes stung. "How... how can you... how can you... Mr. Stark, you said..." He blinked rapidly, trying to keep the frustration off his face. Out of his voice. "You're letting them divide you and you said... you told me—"

"I know what I said, Pete." He spoke quietly, collected. Like it was just another day in the lab and he was explaining something about a new tablet. "But that was before. That was different. We're past that point now. Steve made a choice knowing fully well that what he was doing was illegal. A choice that he can't take back. He chose to ignore the people he claims to protect. He—"

"Well, they are wrong! The people are wrong!" Peter burst out, louder now that he would usually dare to speak to in front of his mentor. The man let go of him then after all. "The Avengers, they are not bad. You know that. They are trying to help! The people are just wrong."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" How could he just put this out there so calmly? Maybe the people were wrong? They were! The Avengers, they were just trying to help! Just like Peter was just trying to help. "Mr. Stark they just want to divide you. It's what you told me yourself! They are trying to put us against each other."

"I know that, kid." The man shook his head. "I do know that. Ross and his cronies. It's not just that though. They want us to fight so that they have the people's backing when they come after us one by one."

"They already are coming after us!" Peter clenched in his hand around the mask with no other output for the fury that was rising in his heart.

"Yes, because Rogers is letting Ross get to him," Mr. Stark sighed. "He's playing right into Ross' hands. That's why we need to stop this!"

"But all this only happened because the people don't want to listen, don't want to understand!"

"It doesn't matter, Pete. It's not how this works. Of course, Cap thinks he's right. And yes, he does have a point. We can't be instrumentalized by corrupt governments, but this is not the way to change that, to prevent that. We can't force the people to bow to our will. Well," Mr. Stark waved his hand like he wanted to wave away the thought. "Maybe we could, but what kind of 'heroes'" he air quoted, "would that make us? Ignoring them cause we think we know better and when they resist strong-arming them into submission because we can? That's no way to win anyone's trust."

Peter wrapped his arms around himself at his mentor's words, broke the eye contact. Of course, that was true. He didn't want to use his strength against the people. That would make things only worse, if they would force themselves on people who didn't trust them to help.

Mr. Stark shrugged. "Without their trust, we're just the newest flavor of authoritarian elitist assholes. We're not above the law. We can't be above the law. And if the laws are wrong, then we try to change them. Try to make them better. That's how democracy works. If we have a seat at the table, we can convince people with arguments, not by beating them over the head with our truth till they see the light. That's how we roll. Cap..." Mr. Stark cleared his throat. "He thinks he is doing the right thing. He thinks he's standing up for what is right and that's what makes this so dangerous, him so dangerous. It has pushed us to a tipping point and if we don't stop this now... If I don't stop this now, there will be consequences for everyone. Not just him, not just Wanda or Wilson or fucking Barnes, there will be consequences for everyone who is different. Today will decide. Today will decide how things will be for us... For you."

Peter rubbed a hand across his face, trying to find his voice. There had to be another way. It couldn't just be a choice between fighting amongst themselves and fighting against the people. Neither of these options was good enough.

"Mr. Stark, I..." His arms tightened around his torso, gaze locked on the ground in front of him.

"Pete. Hey, look at me kid." When he did look up Mr. Stark was right in front of him, his eyes squarely on Peter, eyebrows knitted together. "It's alright. You..." The man studied his face, then reached for his hand, stilling it. Peter hadn't even noticed how his own hand had been rubbing up and down his arm, squeezing it, picking at the fabric of the suit. "You don't have to be afraid, alright? Just... It'll be alright."

"I do want to help, Sir. I do want to help you, I just—"

"You don't have to do that. It's fine. You can..." The man gave a short nod. His hand was warm on Peter's. "Yes. I shouldn't have... You'll just stay."

Peter's eyes widened. "But... But Sir—"

"It's alright, Pete. You're safe here." Mr. Stark's gaze was not on Peter anymore but focused on something behind him, maybe on nothing. "Just stay right here and I'll come and get you when it's over."

Mr. Stark squeezed his arm one more time, then returned to the suit. Mr. Stark called out a short "I'll see you after." and the suit hadn't even completely closed around him when it came back to life and shot out of the building the same way it had entered.

Peter couldn't quite help the sense of relief that ran through him at the option to stay away from that confrontation but as Iron Man left it was like someone had cut Peter's lifeline, drained the willpower from him, that had kept him on his feet. His lung deflated and his knees went wobbly. It's not that he didn't want to help. He wanted to. He should. The least he could do was to help Mr. Stark. Peter gave up on the pretense and gave in to the urge to curl into himself. His legs folded underneath him and he came to sit on the cold tiles of the airport floor, face buried in his hands.

His mentor wasn't wrong. In fact, he was very much right. Peter was scared. He was really scared. It was not just the dread that rose in his heart when he thought of the last time he had seen the other Avengers in the flesh. Or most of them anyway. That day in Manhattan more than 3 months ago that had ended in so much pain. That had come with so many consequences. Had changed his life irreversibly. It was also the danger of the strain that Peter's presence would add to the situation altogether.

It would only escalate the tension among the Avengers when Peter had been hoping for the exact opposite. Had been hoping that fighting alongside them this time would ease their suspicions of him. Would help them accept Peter as... well, maybe not as part of the team. That'd be a bit too ambitious. Just one of those unrealistic daydreams he'd indulge in during those particular boring Spanish classes. But maybe as an ally. As someone they could trust enough to just leave him be.

But all that was nothing more than a childish fantasy now. He'd have to face the real world, face the real struggle that his secret identity would entail. He couldn't afford to bask in his daydreams any longer. And he couldn't afford to close his eyes and ignore the real dangers this conflict among the Avengers would bring.

It would be easy to just ignore everyone else and punch his way through the naysayers, at least for a while. It would be a lot harder to make people understand and reign in his own ego, to compromise on what he knew to be right for the sake of diplomacy. But just as there was a clear choice between the hard way and the easy one, there was also a clear choice here of what was right and what was wrong.

Mr. Stark was right with everything he had said. They couldn't force people into accepting them. They couldn't force them not to be afraid. That wouldn't work. They'd need them to listen but for that, they'd have to have a platform so they could argue their case. They had to win the people's trust back and that meant there had to be consequences when one of them would break the law.

Rogers and Wilson had done just that. Had tried to deal with Barnes themselves because they thought they'd do better than anyone else despite the explicit orders of the police and military and every official administration not to. And then people had died. It didn't even matter if they had made a mistake or if it had been a tragic consequence. Only an investigation into what happened and how it could have been avoided would bring that to light but they refused to be judged by anyone else. Demanded autonomy to deal with their own actions. That's not how things worked in a fair society though. Nobody else would be given free rein in how to deal with the consequences of their actions either, so why should they?

After all, Rogers and Wilson hadn't just made a mistake either. They chose this path. Wanda Maximoff chose to leave the safety of the Compound and come to Germany to help Steve Rogers in bringing his own interpretation of justice. So did Hawkeye. What was happening to them now, what Mr. Stark was forced to do now was not because of what or who they were, but because of how they chose to act.

They were wrong. What they were doing was wrong and it didn't matter how terrified Peter was to meet them again, how scared to go up against them. It was the right thing to do. Helping Mr. Stark in this was the right thing to do for him and for everyone who was like him. It was the right path, the only path to convince the people that they were trying to protect them.

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could do this. Deep breaths. He nodded to himself then pulled the mask over his head with one quick motion. His knees were still a little wobbly as he brought his legs back underneath him and rose from the cold hard ground. They'd intercept them outside between the two buildings. That's where Peter needed to go. He shot a web upwards and pulled himself to the ceiling. It was the least conspicuous place to be. People never expected anyone to wait for them on the ceiling. Carefully he crawled towards the exit. Some of those glass panels on the roof opened up to the outside. Quickly and quietly he slipped into the open air.

He could feel them. They had been around before but their presence was now more prominent than ever. He had only been on the roof for a few minutes when Rogers strolled onto the airstrip towards a helicopter that was parked just in front of the building Peter was hiding on. Just as fast Mr. Stark swooped in and disabled the helicopter. He wasn't alone though. War Machine was right there with him. It didn't take long for the Black Panther and the Black Widow to come forward either.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Mr. Stark turned to War Machine and opened his faceplate "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," War Machine chimed in.

"Hear me out, Tony."

The Captain talked and they listened. For a while, it did look like Mr. Stark had been right. For a while, it looked like they wouldn't fight, that they would fix things among themselves, have Rogers see reason because they were still a team. It almost seemed that Rogers was on his own after all, but the longer Peter watched the exchange from the rooftop the more obvious it became that he wasn't. There was energy radiating across the area. People lying in waiting close by. He took a couple of deep breaths and then crawled a little closer to the edge of the building.

Rogers was right there, the shield in his hand. "You're after the wrong guy."

Mr. Stark shook his head. "Your judgment is askew. Your war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

It wasn't going to happen. They wouldn't be able to convince him. Everything Mr. Stark had said, how Rogers thought he was right, how stubborn he was about being in the right, it was all true. And it would make any compromise with the team impossible. He wouldn't give in. Rogers gave a short nod and turned to the Black Widow, trying a different strategy. Just then, as Peter had his eyes on the shield he saw his own choice confirmed in Rogers's stubbornness. He had to stand with Mr. Stark. It was simply the right thing to do.

He shot a web at the shield, hit it squarely and used the ledge of the building as a lever. With a quick, strong pull, the shield flew towards him. Another web strategically placed on the side of the building helped him swing towards Mr. Stark. Peter caught the shield midair with ease and landed on one of the vehicles close to Mr. Stark and his teammates. The adrenaline surging through him made his legs shake. Enough so that his legs gave way and he landed in more of a crouched position. Only the height of the car he had landed on kept him elevated above the Avengers around them.

All eyes were on him and despite the dread, he felt as he was exposed in the presence of a bunch of super soldiers, super spies and so on, his eyes were on Mr. Stark.

"Underoos." His mentor eye twitched and he swallowed hard before his gaze went back to Rogers.

"Are you serious right now, Tony?" Rogers shook his head, jaw clenched. "You recruited the spider?"

"You gave me little choice in the matter, Cap." Mr. Stark had been moving around this whole time. "Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave? A safe place." He made a point to take a couple more steps towards the Captain and planted himself between Peter and the Avenger. Rogers just huffed out a dry laugh.

"Is that what you tell yourself at night?" Rogers sneered. "Is that how you justify going against your own team?"

"Give me a break, Rogers. I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart!"

"You did that when you signed." The Captain's face was dark as he shot another look at Peter then turned to the Widow. "This really doesn't bother you, Nat? That he kept this from us?" The Captain flexed his fists. They almost seemed in search of the shield, empty without it. Rogers' eyes wandered back and forth between the Widow and Mr. Stark. Peter's hold on the shield was as tight as he could physically stand.

Black Widow sighed. "I've known for weeks, Steve." She kept her eyes on Rogers, then shrugged it off. "It doesn't matter now. You know what is about to happen here. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"

"I don't believe you." Rogers had his eyes straight on her and a smirk on his own face that exuded confidence. "This bothers you, Nat, and you're right. It should."

She pursed her lips and readjusted her stance. Rogers was likely right. She had confronted Mr. Stark about it. It hadn't been either Mr. Stark's or Peter's intention that the Widow would find out, she just did.

"Alright, we're done." Mr. Stark stood tall in front of him, his voice carrying an icy authority that gave Peter goosebumps. "You're gonna turn Barnes over. You're gonna come with us. Now. Because it's us... or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite." Mr. Stark shook his head and shuffled back and forth on his feet, his voice turned low. "Come on, Cap. You can still stop this."

It happened all at once and Peter was not prepared for the commotion to start so close to him. All of a sudden his senses spiked and before he could do more than cry out a warning, something exploded from the shield in his hand. He let go in surprise and flipped off the car's roof he had been standing on.

The fight was ruthless. What had exploded on the shield just next to him had turned out to be another person in a suit, who could change his own size and had enormous strength. The fight turned a lot more intense than he would have expected even after his first experience with the Avengers. He stayed back at first and tried to contain some of the commotion. Barnes and Wilson were right in his path and Peter did his best to incapacitate them. He did manage to web them to the floor of the airport building before he went back out there, into the very center of the fight.

There was a minimal amount of static in his ear before Mr. Stark's voice rang out strong and clear. "Pete, you keep your distance, you hear me?"

"I'm alright, Sir," Peter responded though that was a bit of an ambitious interpretation as a gas tanker explodes just next to him. He did cry out in alarm at that, hoping that the suit's comm hadn't transmitted his reaction. "I'm fine, Mr. Stark."

And he was alright-ish, swinging from one portion of the building to a plane nearby, jumping back and forth lending as much support to Mr. Stark and War Machine and even on occasion the Widow as he could manage. But it didn't take long for Captain America to pop up in Peter's proximity. Peter hesitated for a moment before he did step up. Mr. Stark was fighting the Scarlet Witch and Barton at the same time and Peter couldn't allow Rogers to add to their assault. All that was left for him to do was to engage Rogers himself. He went for the shield first, then his legs. It left Rogers on the floor and Peter out of breath with little more than a couple of car lengths between.

"Listen, son, there's a lot going on here that you don't understand."

Rogers's pompous appeal made Peter's blood boil. "Mr. Stark said that you would say that."

The man just shrugged. "He say anything else?"

"That you're wrong." Peter's back straightened, his fists balled. "But you think you're right. That makes you dangerous."

Rogers pulled back his shoulders, head held high. "I guess he'd say that." Before Peter could do anything, the shield was flying into his direction again and destabilized the jet bridge above him. He just caught it in time before it flattened him underneath it. Rogers bolted so that was something. In all honesty, Peter would rather deal with a few tons of steel than Captain America. He managed to topple the jet bridge to the front of him and it came crashing down in a bloom of smoke.

He wasn't done though. There was still some flight left inside him and Mr. Stark still needed him in this.

"Just stay back, Pete." Mr. Stark's voice was in his mask's earpiece again, shaky and out of breath. "Web them up when they try to get away, alright? Don't... just... Just be careful."

"I am, Mr. Stark."

He was, at least trying to be. His fingers were numb though and his mind was jumping from one scenario to the next, making sure that he went after the right people as well. They were all Avengers after all, except for Barnes and the new dude, and it didn't come all that easy to him to pick out the right adversaries.

The longer the fight went on the deeper the exhaustion hit him. His aim suffered and while his strength held up it cost him more and more energy to keep going. They had just managed to bring the huge little guy to fall when Peter found himself being blasted against a nearby wall. He might have passed out for a moment for he came back on the floor. His vision was swimming and his back ached. Just as he arched himself up, trying to find the strength to get back to his feet another one of them appeared above him. All Peter could do was swing his arms, trying his best to fend off the attacker.

"Hey, whoa, Pete! Same side, come on!"

Peter's fist stilled and he looked up, back still flat against the ground.

"You're done, kid! You stay down, alright? Just right here."

"Mr. Stark?"

"You did well, Pete." His mentor had both hands on his shoulders, pressing him back down to the ground. "Stay down!"

Peter had wanted to argue but he didn't even have enough energy to get off his back. Mr. Stark's order rolled over him like sweet relief. Permission to rest. His chest was quickly rising and falling, his lungs burned. When he went to stick a hand underneath his mask to rub his face it hit him that it had been partially peeled off him and he quickly pulled it back into place.

There were still struggles in the distance but most of the sounds were tuned out by the throbbing of his heart that banged on and on in his ears.

The next thing he noticed were sirens in the distance that got closer and closer. That wouldn't be a good sign. Sirens were never a good sign.

"Spider."

He jerked away from the voice and turned towards her, still panting.

"Black... Black Widow."

"Go!" She wasn't even looking at him, eyes fixed on something far off in the distance.

"I..." Peter's pulse had spiked up again, hammering away in his ears. "Where's Mr. Stark? I can't—"

"He has other things to take care of. Get out now! Don't let anyone see you."

He struggled to his feet then, stood opposite her. His hands were shaking but he kept his head held high. "No. I'm here with Mr. Stark."

Her stance didn't falter at all, nor did she give him the courtesy to at least look at him. "This place will be swarming with police in less than a minute. Unless you want to meet Lieutenant General Ross and give Tony a few more things to explain away, you'll leave." Her eyes did flicker towards him at last. "Now."

Peter's mouth was dry. "Mr. Stark," he called out. The comm should pick up his voice. Mr. Stark had said he'd keep him on his comm. "Mr. Stark!"

But there was no answer.

The Widow's eyes lingered on him for another moment. "Leave. Now."

"But—"

Peter never got to finish the sentence as she took off and sprinted towards the other side of the airfield. The airport around them was a mess. Mr. Stark was nowhere to be seen. The Black Panther had the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye in custody close to the hangers, but the Black Widow disregarded all of them, including the new guy lying on the ground, ran right past him. She came to a halt just at the end of the premises, eyes fixed on something far off in the distance. Something had happened. The atmosphere around them had lost its urgency and shifted to a heavier dread.

Not just the destruction around them, there was something else.

Peter swallowed hard and stumbled a couple of steps backwards, retreating from the scene. He couldn't be seen. If they arrested him for this and found out about... about everything...

He had to get out now. Before it was too late.

##

[author's note: Thank you guys for reading, the likes, and comments.

I had been hoping to get to the reveal this year but alas, December was not as productive writing-wise as November has been. I do plan to still put one more chapter out there before the year is done. I'm trying to tread a narrow path, balancing the canon with my idea. There are elements of it in this, as well as the next chapter, but things do turn out a little different, not just because I disliked what the Russos have done but also because it simply plays into the story I want to tell. So stay with me, I hope you're having as good a time reading the story as I have writing it! :) ]