Hey guys. I have to work this whole holiday weekend so here is a really long chapter to tide y'all over. Hope you guys like it.
As always, please review :)
Peter crouched on the roof of the hotel, looking down through the skylight into the pool area. Everyone was jumping into the pool, splashing, and laughing. Michelle was sitting against the wall reading like normal, but Kate and Liz were sitting together with their legs in the hot tube, while watching the others play.
It was subtle, but Kate had placed herself in a place where she could see anyone coming into the pool area and in the best place to react if she saw a threat. She looked up and caught his gaze, offering a small smile before turning back to laugh at something that Sally was telling her.
Peter stood up and pulled his mask on.
"Good evening, Peter." A female voice said.
Peter jumped. "Hello? Hello?" He said confused.
"Congratulations on completing the Training Wheels Protocol and gaining access to your suit's full capabilities." The voice said.
"Thank you." Peter said realizing that it was an AI like FRIDAY.
"Where would you like to take me tonight?" She asked.
Peter took a quick breath. "I put a tracker on someone." He said. "He's a bad guy."
"Tracker located." The AI replied. "Plotting course to intercept target."
Peter watched the course outlined in a map through his mask's display. "As long as I make it back in time for decathlon, it's fine." He said and leapt from the edge of the hotel.
…
Kate didn't sleep much that night. Peter was supposed to text her when he got back to his room, but she hadn't heard anything in a few hours now. Around 3:00am, she began trying to figure out where he might have ended up.
His last cell phone ping was along the highway near a small gas station. With what she knew about the weapons that the bad guys were selling, she triangulated the coordinates of any known shipments of Ultron or Chitauri parts that she had siphoned from Tony's databanks. She found one that was headed for the Damage Control deep storage vault that was several miles from the point of Peter's last known location.
Well this might complicate things. She thought as she dressed for the competition.
Once she was ready, she left the room to go to Ned and Peter's room, consequences be damned for it. If she might possibly be facing torture and death, what was the teacher going to do?
Quickly tapping on the door, Kate looked around quickly before the door was pulled open and she was met with Ned's worried expression. "He's not gonna make it here in time." She said walking in and slamming the door shut.
"Where is he?" Ned asked worriedly.
"Hopefully not arrested." Kate replied.
Ned's eyes bugged out. "What?" He cried before she shushed him quickly. "What do you mean he might be arrested?"
"I said hopefully not." She replied. "Listen, it's going to be okay. I'm keeping an eye on the situation."
There was a knock on the door startling them. "Ned, Peter come on we're gonna be late." It was Liz.
"It'll be okay." Kate said quietly, walking over and quietly shutting the bathroom door. "Just follow my lead."
Kate opened the door out to the hallway meeting a surprised Liz. "Hey Liz." She said with a sheepish smile.
Liz had to work for a second to get her voice to work. "Kate, what are you doing in there?" She asked as Ned came out shouldering his backpack.
"Ned texted me about half an hour ago worried about Peter." Kate lied flawlessly. "He's been sick all night. I don't think he's up for the competition."
Liz looked concerned. "Is he alright? Should I go get Mr. Harrington?" She asked.
"No, he'll be okay." Kate said. "I think he's just got a touch of food poisoning. I'm sure he'll be great later on. I'll take Peter's sections, it'll be fine."
Without giving the older girl a chance to respond, Kate ushered her and Ned down the hall going to meet up with the others. There was some complaining about Peter not being there but most of them were too nervous to really question it.
Reaching the lobby, Kate had the urge to just disappear into the crowds like she was taught, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued on. She reached up like she was fiddling with her earring but touched the comm in her ear.
"Easy Kate."Bucky's reassuring voice filled her ears and she calmed.
Knowing better than to scan the rafters looking, she knew that Bucky was set up in a good sniper's spot watching for the carnies. Sam, Clint, and Rhodey were around somewhere as well. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was just too high profile for this plan, they'd attract too much attention.
The competition was good, but Kate had an advantage. However, she only buzzed in enough to keep them tied up with their opponents.
"We have now entered sudden death." The Moderator said. "The next correct answer wins the championship." As they put the question up on the board, Kate noticed dark reddish-brown hair in the audience. "Midtown Tech?" Kate glanced over to see Michelle had buzzed in.
"Zero." Michelle said simply.
"That is correct." The Moderator said. "Midtown takes the championship."
Everyone erupted into cheers, jumping up into chaos on stage, but as Kate moved to stand, she saw Barney standing amongst the crowd watching her. He gave a small clap directed right to her and she froze for a moment.
"We won!" Flash cried.
"He's here."Rhodey said into comms. "He's six rows from the stage moving towards the exit."
Kate tensed as she lost sight of him as they all clustered together, Ned wrapped his arms around Kate in a brief hug before letting go.
"There's to many people."Bucky spoke in a tense voice. "I don't have a shot."
…
After the competition they walked over to the Washington monument where the school had set up a tour from the group. There weren't a lot of people crowded together, which worked in their favor as Barney and the others wouldn't risk an open attack.
Kate pulled out her phone as they walked, seeing she had several recent missed calls from Peter. She held her phone to her ear, listening to the voicemail.
{Kate! I am so sorry! I'm on my way—the craziest things happened—I hope you're alright. Please call me back.}
"We're in position." Sam said through comms.
Kate took a deep breath and shoved her phone back in her pocket.
"You guys, I am so proud of you." Mr. Harrington was saying.
"Told you we didn't need Peter." Flash said.
Sally shook her head. "Flash, you didn't answer a question." She shot back.
Kate stopped next to Michelle, who was hanging back. "Good job on that last question." She offered.
"Thanks." Michelle looked at her with that all knowing look again, like she could read Kate's mind. "You could have easily gotten that question."
Kate smiled. "Guess I was a bit distracted." She offered.
"Seems to be going around." Michelle replied before looking up at the monument.
Before Kate could reply, Mr. Harrington walked up.
"Taking it all in, Michelle?" He asked.
"Oh, yeah, I just—" Michelle looked up again before looking at Mr. Harrington. "I don't want to celebrate something that was built by slaves."
"I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by—" He looked at the security guard standing outside who shrugged and Kate nodded. "Okay. Enjoy your book."
"Thanks." Michelle replied.
Kate smirked and shook her head, following Mr. Harrington inside. As she walked inside, she took one last look around, quickly spotting the faces she was looking for, surprisingly seeing one that she was not expecting but that was definitely welcome right now.
Ned was on his phone when she walked up.
…
"Oh, Ned, you're alive." Peter said in relief when his best friend picked up. He had been having mass anxiety all night not being able to get a hold of anyone.
"Peter, are you okay?"Ned asked.
No, I'm freaking out. "Where's the glowy thing?" He asked instead.
"The glowy thing?" Ned said confused."It's safe. It's in my backpack."
"Ned, listen, the glowy thing is dangerous!" Peter cried over the sounds of a truck going by.
Ned wasn't listening. "You missed the decathlon. I covered for you." He said.
"Listen." Peter tried again.
"We're at the Washington Monument—"
"Peter, is that you?"A new voice cut Ned off.
Peter froze. "Hey, Liz." He said nervously. "Put Ned back on the phone."
"You flake. You are lucky we won." Liz said."I want to be mad, but I'm more worried. Like, what is going on with you?"
"I have to talk to Ned. It's important." Peter pleaded. "There's something in Ned's backpack. It's dangerous. Don't let it go through x-ray." There was no response. "Liz? Liz! Damn it."
…
Kate had been waiting next to Ned to talk to Peter but when Liz came up, she suddenly snatched the phone away from Ned. They moved through the security point, Liz still talking on Ned's phone chewing Peter out.
"Can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?" Flash was saying as the elevator doors closed.
"What was Peter saying?" Kate asked Ned in a hushed whisper as they stood at the back of the group.
The guide was going on in a bored voice. "The Washington Monument is 555 feet, five and one-eighth inches tall. Notice how the marble and granite are cut around the stone." She said.
"I'm not sure." Ned said. "It was really loud on the line…"
As he spoke, Kate noticed a faint glow getting brighter in his backpack. "Ned, did you bring the power core with you?" She asked in growing alarm, thinking of the x-ray machine on the way in.
"Yeah why?" Ned asked.
Kate grabbed the backpack, yanking it off and tossing it in the corner just before the core detonated.
"Kate! What happened!" The chorus of cries hit her ears as she coughed on the smoke. Clint's voice rang in her ears. "KATE!"
…
"No, no, no." Peter said as he looked up at the top of the monument, which had smoke pouring out of it. "Karen, what's going on up there?"
"The Chitauri core has detonated and caused severe structural damage to the elevator." The AI replied showing him an x-ray scan of the top.
"Oh, no." Peter said, heart sinking.
"My friends are up there." He heard someone say beside him.
Peter spun. "What?" He froze seeing Michelle. "Don't worry, ma'am, everything's gonna be okay." He ran forward moving through the gathering crowd. "Excuse me, excuse me." He brushed past a tall man with reddish-brown hair and got to the base of the building. "Oh, my God, that's tall." He muttered before beginning the climb.
…
Once the smoke cleared a little, Kate could look around and assess the damage. Ned was staring at his smoking backpack in horror but thankfully no one was currently hurt.
"Oh, my God." Liz said. "Look at the ceiling."
There was a large hole burned through the top of the elevator.
"Just stay calm, everyone." The guide said.
"Oh, we are all going to die here." Flash said.
Kate glanced around. "We're gonna be fine." She said though she could tell from the groaning of the metal that the systems were failing fast. Great, all the concern about the carnies and I'm going to die in a freaking elevator.
"Hang on kid." It was Steve's voice that she heard this time. "We're on our way."
…
"Estimating 10 minutes before catastrophic failure." Karen told Peter as he raced to climb to the top of the monument. "The safety systems are completely failing. The occupants are in imminent mortal danger."
"Going as fast as I can!" Peter said. Please be okay. Please.
…
They were stopped right below one of the floors, so Kate jumped up and pushed the top panel open as the doors above them were pried open. She felt relief course through her as she saw Steve there with the security.
"Let's go." Steve said as Kate hopped down to start moving people into position. "Give me your hand."
"Sally, go." Kate said moving her into position first.
…
"You now have 125 seconds until catastrophic failure." Karen said.
"What?!" Peter cried, only about half way up. "Why?"
"Unexpected motion has caused the deterioration to escalate." The AI replied showing him the scan that indicated they were climbing out of the elevator.
Peter looked up. "How do I get in there?" He asked.
"Activating reconnaissance drone." Karen said.
Peter watched as a little spider drone detached from the spider symbol on his chest. "Has that been there this whole time?" He asked. "That's awesome."
"Locating optimal entry point." Karen said. "Proceed to southwest window."
"I'm on my way." Peter said moving around the corner of the building to continue up.
…
"There's a lot of glass here." Cindy said nervously as she climbed up.
"You got this." Kate said reassuringly.
Steve reached down a hand. "Keep coming." He said.
…
"Okay." Peter said reaching the top and making the mistake of looking down. "Oh, my God. Okay."
"What's wrong?" Karen asked. "You've reached the southwest window. Why are you hesitating?"
Peter took a deep breath. "It's fine. I've just never been this high before." He said.
"You have also not reinstalled your parachute so a fall from this height would most likely be lethal." Karen replied simply.
Not helping. "Perfect." He replied. Easing down to the window one a web, he kicked the window, but nothing happened. "Oh, my God. Why is it not breaking?"
"It's four-inch ballistic glass." Karen replied. "You'll have to create more momentum."
Suddenly a helicopter came in. "This is D.C. Metro Police. Identify yourself." The police said over the speaker.
"My friends are in there! Stop!" Peter tried to call over the roar of the chopper blades.
"Return to the ground immediately." The police called.
Not a chance. Sorry.
…
"Okay, who's next?" Mr. Harrington asked.
Before Liz could go, Flash pushed his way forward. "Me, it's my turn." He said.
"Flash, seriously?" Liz demanded. "What are you doing?"
If the jarring motion wouldn't knock the elevator loose, Kate would have decked the kid. "Come on. Don't worry about the trophy." She snapped at the kid who was struggling to climb and hold the trophy.
Steve simply reached down and grabbed Flash's arms and pulled him up.
Kate had Liz move forward just as the elevator safety systems failed completely and they began to fall.
…
"Stand down!" The police called again. "Return to the ground immediately. Return to the ground or we will open fire!"
I hope this works. Peter climbed to the top point of the monument. "I got this." He said under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut.
"This is your last chance." The police officer yelled.
"I'm gonna die." Peter said before jumping up, activating the glider wings on the suit to go over the helicopter. Dropping, he attached a web to the underside of the helicopter to swing back to the window. "Break!" He broke through the window and slid in just as the elevator failed and started to go down.
Peter's mind vaguely recognized Steve Rogers was there, moving out of his way as he slid in, bracing his feet on the open elevator doors and webbing the top of the falling elevator, halting it. "I did it." Spoken too soon as the doors bent in causing him to fall into the shaft before Steve could grab him.
…
When the elevator jerked to a stop, Kate looked up and saw the red and blue suit. She didn't have enough time to feel relieved before they were falling again. However, a millisecond later the elevator caught on something, stopping them for a moment before Peter came crashing through the hole and it knocked them into motion again. Thinking quickly, Peter shot a web up to the top of the elevator shaft, and his feet braced against the roof to stop it from moving again.
Kate shook her head slightly, feeling like her spine had been compressed a bit with all the falling and stopping. She looked up and saw Peter looking at her.
"Hey, how you doing?" Peter asked. If it hadn't been so dire of circumstances, she would have laughed at his Jersey-ish accent. "Don't worry. I got you."
Kate grinned.
"Yes! Yes." Ned started celebrating but the elevator began to groan.
"Hey, hey, hey." Peter said as Kate reached out to still him. "Big guy, quit moving around."
Ned immediately stopped. "I'm sorry, sir." He said. "So sorry."
The elevator doors were pried open at the floor they had stopped at. Steve and two security were there.
"Let's go, let's go!" Steve said.
Kate immediately took charge in the elevator, they needed to lighten it quickly. "Mr. Harrington, go." She directed, then turned to Ned. "Ned, come on."
"This is your stop." Peter couldn't help but quip.
"Come on, Liz." Kate urged.
"Go, go, go. Everybody out." Peter's voice sounded strained.
Liz froze. "Are you sure it's safe?" She asked.
"Liz, go." Kate urged. Seeing her still frozen, Kate made the decision and shoved her forward so Steve could grab her and pull her out.
Unfortunately, the sudden jar caused the elevator to cave and collapse, falling once again.
…
"Kate!" Peter cried. He shot out a web and connected to her hand, pulling her out of the hole, bringing her back up, but right before he could grab her hand the other web gave out and they fell.
Peter wrapped his arms around her, shoot up a web as she wrapped her arms around his neck but produced a small explosive arrow, throwing it out at the shut elevator doors that they were swinging towards, creating a hole that they sailed through.
Peter landed on his back and Kate landed on top of him. They stayed that way for a second just trying to catch their breath and let the adrenaline lower down a bit.
"You're okay. You're okay." He chanted quietly, just reassuring himself that it was true.
Kate rested her head on his chest for a second, then giggled and lifted her head. "Nice catch slick." She said.
"Now's your chance Peter." Karen whispered quietly. "Kiss her."
But the moment passed, and Kate rolled off and they both sat up. She put a hand to her ear. "I'm okay." She said into a comm.
If he tried, Peter could hear the faint voice on the other end.
"Are you hurt?" It sounded like Clint.
"No, I'm fine." She gave Peter a quick smile. "How did we do?"
There was a pause. "Negative. They're in the wind."
Kate's smile disappeared. "Damnit!" She said smacking the ground with her palm.
…
The bus ride home was noisier than usual, but it allowed Kate to sit with Peter in the back, talking quietly.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there." Peter said hanging his head. "I messed up."
Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing. "If it wasn't for you, I would be smashed at the bottom of an elevator shaft right now." She whispered. "You saved my life. You saved all of us."
"But the guys that were after you got away." He said. "I didn't even get the Vulture guy."
"It's okay Peter." She said gently.
They lapsed into silence for the remainder of the ride. Kate knew that Bucky and Sam would be following. Rhodey and Steve were staying behind to calm things down and Clint had to race ahead of the bus because the school would be calling him to pick her up at the school.
Ned had his phone out and was listening to the news so Kate and Peter watched over his shoulder.
The Spider-Man swooped in…heroically saving an Academic Decathlon team from Queens. The identity of the masked hero is still unknown.
Kate squeezed Peter's hand and rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes for the last twenty miles. Once the bus pulled in, they saw all the parents waiting to swarm their kids.
One by one, kids got off the bus. Liz's mom was there, so was Ned's; May was anxiously waiting to pull Peter into a hug. She hugged Kate tightly too until Kate saw Clint and went over to her brother.
Clint wrapped her up tightly in his arms and she gripped him back just as fiercely.
…
Peter looked over at where Kate went to Clint. He could easily read the relief in Clint's body language that his sister was safe.
Clint looked up, noticing his gaze but not letting go of Kate. He gave Peter a nod in thanks for what he had done to save her. Peter nodded back somberly. They weren't done yet.