Title: The Ant and the Boot or: Flash's Demise
Summary: River Parker (Fem!Peter) and THAT field trip trope. Cue Flash being his normal, awful self. Etc.
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A/N So I know I'm a little (a lot) late to the party, but I thought I'd share my plot bunny that hammered at my head at 1 AM. In this universe, River (Fem!Peter) is not Spiderman or any equivalent thereof. Instead, The Night Wolf exists. A vigilante/superhero who prowls the streets of Queens at night (thus, Night Wolf) and instead of being adopted by Tony and Pepper after May dies, she's adopted by Natasha and Bucky. (I ship WinterWidow so hard. Sue me.)
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"RUSSIAN"
"ENGLISH"
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MONDAY MORNING
"...River? You still with us?"
Mr. Harrington raised one thinning eyebrow at the distracted teen. River turned pink at the ears but sat up again and closed her laptop and with it the video of one of her more recent fights.
"As I was saying, because of the unprecedented disaster last year's field trip turned out to be, and as a personal apology from Mr. Stark himself, we have permission to take a tour of…drumroll, please…Stark Tower!"
The class erupted into chaos. Students were talking over each other and the noise level quickly overwhelmed River's sensitive ears.
"Hey," Eowyn poked her in the side. "River, you okay?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands tightly over her ears to wait out the storm, only muttering a low "senses," to her sympathetic girlfriend.
After what seemed like forever to the miserable girl, Mr. Harrington eventually regained some semblance of control and produced a sheet of paper from his desk.
"Okay, listen up. The trip will be this Friday. I will be handing out permission slips after class. Remember, no slip, no trip."
Having gotten over the initial shock of a minor sensory overload, River's heart sank. Stark Tower. Home. Her expression must have betrayed her mood because Eowyn nudged her worriedly.
"M'fine," She mumbled. "Just wondering how on earth I'm gonna convince the team not to embarrass me."
"Hey, Lesbo Rushman!" Flash hissed from his seat behind her, "Ready for your lies to be exposed?"
River just sighed and wondered how she was going to get through the day.
After class, Mr. Harrington snagged her sleeve, "Ms. Rushman, can I talk to you?"
Reluctantly, River gestured for Eowyn not to wait for her.
"Sure, what's up, Mr. Harrington?"
He sighed, "Look, I know your aunt's death was hard, but it's time to come clean, I looked into it, and SI doesn't hire high schoolers as interns."
River gaped at him. "But the internship is real, Mr. Harrington!" she protested.
"No, River, it isn't, so please just don't mention it while we're there, I need to uphold the school's reputation and I don't need a student to decimate our chances of going back."
River's lips thinned, but she nodded civilly and practically stalked to her next class.
—-
The final bell rang, signaling the end of her torture. She pecked Eowyn's cheek on her way out and then scurried through the throngs of kids congregated in front of the school.
A dark-purple Harley-Davidson caught her eye and she shoved her way toward it, narrowly missing getting crushed by a group of jocks.
"Hey, Riv," Natasha smiled, handing a helmet to her daughter.
The teen grinned eagerly. She had been begging to be allowed to ride the Harley for weeks.
"Where's that girlfriend of yours, eh?" Nat teased good-naturedly, the Russian rolling off her tongue.
River rolled her dark eyes and shoved the helmet on her head while Nat kickstarted the engine.
As they were pulling out of the spot Nat had somehow scored right in front of the doors, a bright red convertible maneuvered its way next to them, hemming them in.
"Hey," Flash flirted with Natasha, not seeming to notice, or care, about the disgruntled girl sitting behind her.
"Hey, yourself," Nat smirked right back, before kicking the engine into gear and speeding off into the New York traffic, leaving a disgruntled Flash glaring after them.
—-
As it turned out, Nat had paperwork to do, so she dropped River off at the elevator with a kiss on the forehead and a promise to come by the penthouse later and spar with her.
After dropping her backpack in her room and kicking off her shoes, River walked into a scene of domestic tranquility. Clint and Bucky were playing MarioKart in the living room, Wanda and Vision were in the kitchen, cooking, and even the Science Bros had been persuaded to be near people, albeit still working on science-y things. The only people missing were Cap and Rhodey, but they were on a mission so they were obviously off the hook.
"What, playing Mario without me?" River gasped in mock hurt.
Without looking, Clint grabbed a small pillow and chucked it at her. She dodged and laughed it off before her stomach growled.
"Hey, kiddo," Bucky smiled affectionately. "You should get some food. Don't think I didn't hear that noise just now."
River shook her head in exasperation and went to go find a (large) snack.
—
Later that night during team dinner, River gasped, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot! My class is taking a trip to Stark Tower on Friday and I need my permission slip signed."
Natasha smirked down at her dinner plate.
"Mo-om!" River groaned, "Please don't do anything that will put me in more trouble. My teacher already doesn't believe that I 'work' here."
Bucky frowned and nodded in agreement.
"No need to subject her to that torture, Nat. She gets enough flack from that Eugene kid." He chastised his wife in her native language.