This one digs into how Nat might've felt about a kid joining them for their battle against their own, because I'm pretty sure she'd have some thoughts. And also maybe because I couldn't resist having her and Tony throw quick-witted barbs at each other. ;)

(Also, yes, I cheated by having Peter's POV at the start, but it was too amusing to cut, and I argued with myself that it establishes context, so it stayed!)

Peter's eyes flitted around the room jumping from one thing to another as his mind frantically tried to keep up in cataloguing everything. There was just so much stuff. And the Avengers – the actual Avengers ! – lived and trained here! Their own facility! And he was sitting on their couch.

And Germany…he was going to Germany ! To help Mr. Stark and-

"Who are you?"

Peter turned around quickly and nearly fell off his seat when he saw the owner of the voice standing in the doorway. Words failed him and his mouth just opened and closed uselessly as he found himself staring at someone he'd only ever heard stories about. He knew on some level that staring at her was definitely not a good idea, given it was the Black Widow standing in front of him, but his brain was unable to tear his gaze away.

"I, uh, I'm-" he stuttered, not completely certain that his brain was still actually working.

She arched one eyebrow in a silent, but pointed suggestion for him to get his shit together and answer her question.

"Uhh, Peter," he managed. "Wait – Spider-Man. I'm Spider-Man."

His eyes widened when she let out a short laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah," he replied defensively. Who was she to- Oh. Black Widow. Spider…right.

"And you're here because…" she trailed off.

"Mr. Stark asked me," he answered quickly.

"Mr. Stark, huh?" she repeated, her expression hardening just a bit at that particular piece of information.

Peter swallowed to banish the lump in his throat. "Yeah. He came to get me, and says I'm going with him to Germany."

He couldn't be totally sure, but Peter was pretty sure that he saw her gaze narrow the tiniest little bit at that bit of information.

"I see. Would you excuse me?" Peter just nodded, unsure of what exactly was happening. "Don't touch anything," she instructed with a pointed look before turning on her heel and disappearing.

Peter let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Holy shit. He'd just met the Black Widow. Belatedly his mind began to wonder exactly how the woman had managed to sneak up on him…

"Stark!" Natasha called out sharply as she walked toward him.

Tony's eyes widened. A pissed off Natasha was not good. Definitely not good.

"Romanoff! Ready to jet? Got my soundtrack ready and everything," he said, trying for some of his usual flippancy. But then her expression shifted and Tony began to worry, because while he'd thought she was pissed before…now she really looked pissed. "Uh, who peed in your cornflakes?"

"He's a kid," she said curtly, her tone low and her gaze icy cold.

Tony blinked. "Ah, so you met our newest recruit."

"Oh, yes. He's very impressive," she bit back, sarcasm dripping from her words. "He introduced himself. Took him a few tries, but he got his name right eventually."

"Can't blame the kid," Tony said with a forced laugh. "You're downright scary at times." Like right freaking now.

"You mind explaining to me why he is under the impression that he's coming with us to Germany?"

"Uh…because he is. I mean technically he's gonna fly with Happy, but-"

Natasha's eyes hardened even further, and Tony was pretty sure he was seeing actual fire in them now. "Like hell he is."

Tony frowned. "What's the issue, Red? Because in case you hadn't noticed, we're a bit undermanned, what with your former partner being called up to play for Cap's team."

"So your solution is to bring in a kid?" she shot back.

"To be fair," Tony said, holding up a pointed finger to emphasize his words, "he's a lot stronger than he looks. And not nearly as wimpy as he sounds."

She batted away his hand. "I don't care how strong he is, or what his abilities are, he doesn't belong here."

"Now hang on a second," he protested. "I think you might be making a bit of a hasty decision. You don't even-"

"No, I think you're the one making a hasty decision here, Stark."

"Am I?" Tony shot back immediately. She was being pissy, and he definitely didn't have time for it. "Because I'm pretty sure Cap's not gonna pull his punches when we get in his way, and we're gonna need the extra set of hands."

"He's a kid," she spat back.

"Yeah, you mentioned that," he said dismissively. "What else you got?"

"How can you think this is okay? He's what – 14? 15?"

"His age doesn't-"

"He hasn't been trained. He's never fought against anyone, let alone super soldiers," she interrupted.

Tony rolled his eyes. "He's capable. More capable than you know."

"Even if he is, it doesn't matter," Natasha said as she blew out a breath carefully, as though she were trying to rein in her anger. "You're pulling him into a war that he knows nothing about, and has no stake in."

"Don't be dramatic," Tony said with a roll of his eyes. "That's my job. And by the way, did I miss the part where we declared war on someone? Oh! Is it Russia? Cold War 2.0 time? Is that why you're all pissy? Don't like people speaking ill of the Motherland, even if you defected all those years ago? Exactly how many years ago was it, anyway? I've always wond-"

"Shut the fuck up, Stark, and listen to me for one goddamn second."

Tony blinked. While Natasha certainly wasn't an angel when it came to her choice of words, she didn't usually spit out the heavy stuff this way. "I'm listening," he relented finally.

"For once," she replied dryly.

He clenched his teeth and breathed in to steady himself. "You wanna make your point or not? 'Cause we're on the clock here."

"It doesn't matter if he's capable of taking on Cap – or anyone for that matter – because he's a kid. He doesn't deserve to get pulled into this. It's not his fight. He shouldn't have any part of this little civil war of ours, and you pulling him into it isn't fair to him."

Tony let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't odd for her to disagree with him. In fact, until the Accords (and he was still trying to work out why she agreed with him on that) he was pretty sure that he could count on one hand the number of times that she had agreed with him on anything. But her reaction to bringing in Peter was extreme, and he didn't understand why she was so vehemently against it.

"Why the hell do you care so much, anyway?"

She tilted her head to one side and shot him an unimpressed look. "I know you read at least some of the files I released when SHIELD collapsed, so don't play stupid. You know exactly why I'm against this."

Oh. Of course. "Well, that's all well and good, Romanoff, but the kid wasn't brainwashed and he's totally on board with this, so he's coming along. Now, we gotta load up the last of the equipment, so let's get a move on," he said and turned to leave.

But Natasha grabbed his arm before he'd even taken a step. "What did you tell him about all of this? How did you convince him?"

Tony shrugged out of her grip, shooting her an unimpressed look. "Told him Cap thinks he's right, but that he's wrong, and that's why we're going to bring him in."

"That's a bit watered down."

"We didn't exactly have time for a history lesson, so I gave him the cheat sheet, alright?"

"How did you justify this to his parents? Or did you lie to them too?"

"As far as his aunt knows, he's-"

"You know what, I don't even care," she shot back, frustration bubbling over as she realized he wasn't going to be convinced. "But don't expect me to babysit him out there, and definitely don't expect me to console you when you have to give his aunt the bad news that he's been injured, or worse."

Tony held her glare with one of his own, letting silence settle between them. "Why'd you agree with me on the Accords anyway?" he asked finally, unable to keep the sharpness out of his tone.

Nat glared at him for a moment before letting herself breathe in two carefully controlled breaths, as though steadying herself and measuring her words before answering. For completely childish reasons, Tony found the emotional maturity absolutely infuriating.

"The Accords aren't perfect, and I don't agree with much of them…but I think that us staying together is more important than how we stay together. I think we can do more good together in some capacity than we could do separated and fractured. And if we can help steer the process of oversight, then I think it was worth agreeing in some capacity."

Tony stayed quiet as he let her words sink in. "You still feel that way, even with half our little band disagreeing with that viewpoint?"

"I signed, didn't I?"

"That's not what I asked."

"And yet that's the answer you're going to get."

"Well thanks for your support, Red. Really, it means the world to me," Tony said with a roll of his eyes as she walked away, apparently finished with the conversation.

He turned his attention back to finishing the final bit of prep on his suit, but her earlier words echoed in his mind. Peter was just a kid. A capable kid, yes, but still a kid. He'd have to keep an eye on him… Peter could stay out of the fray and be helpful from a distance…that would minimize the risk to him, and get him back home in one piece…

"Hey kid," Tony said quietly, hoping not to attract the attention of Natasha who had her eyes on the controls of the jet.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark?"

"You remember what I told you?"

"Keep at a distance, and wrap 'em up in webs," Peter said with a nod.

"Right."

"Hey, Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Is Captain America really that wrong that we gotta…um…take him out?"

"Okay, first – we're not 'taking out' Cap. We're bringing him in," Tony replied after a moment's hesitation. "But he thinks he's right, and that makes him even more dangerous because he'll fight all the more for it."

Peter was quiet for a second, clearly trying to reconcile the image of Captain America he had in his head with the new information. "Okay," he said finally.

Tony sensed the uncertainty in his reply and tried to offer some comfort. "Look, you probably won't even have to deal with him directly, but if you do – go for the legs. Everyone always focuses on the shield, but his legs are usually not covered so…"

"Got it," Peter said with a nod. "Anything else?"

"Cap…well he won't want to hurt you, so he'll probably try to convince you to stay out of it. Probably tell you this stuff is all above your pay grade, and that you don't have any idea of what's going on."

"Right," Peter said slowly, drawing the word out.

"Just – stick to the plan and it'll be fine."

Peter just nodded, put his headphones back in and closed his eyes.

Tony tried not to read too much into the fact that Peter's leg was bouncing up and down quickly.

"Quite the pep talk," Natasha said dryly, glancing back at him.

He held up a hand. "Just no, Romanoff. No."

Her gaze narrowed as she scrutinized him, her head tilting ever so slightly. "You tell Rhodey about him? How about Vision? Because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't approve of you bringing a kid along."

"What part of no did you not understand?" he replied sharply.

"Oh, I understood it," she said firmly. "I just chose to ignore it."

Tony just glared in response. She was really starting to piss him off. Mostly because she was starting to make sense.

"You're taking away his childhood from him if you make him do this," she said quietly, and for maybe the first time since he'd met her, he saw a flash of vulnerability.

"He already lost his childhood when he lost his parents," Tony said quietly, shooting a glance at the kid who was now bobbing his head along to whatever song he was listening to. "Besides, he wants to do good. He wants to help."

She didn't reply for a moment, and Tony thought that maybe she'd finally come around. But then she stood from her seat. "We're 10 minutes out – might want to get the kid suited up," she said as she slipped past him. "I'd tell him, but he might have a heart attack trying to speak to me," she said dryly, one eyebrow arched.

Tony opened his mouth to retort, but she beat him to the punch. "Oh, and I'm assuming you activated the Training Wheels protocols in his suit?"

"How did you-" Tony started, and then stopped abruptly as he remembered that she had once hacked her way back into Rhodey's suit on his behalf. Of course she knew. And of course she'd done a background check on the kid and on the suit. "You know what, I don't want to know. Not now. But when we get back, you and I are having a serious conversation about boundaries when it comes to my files."

Nat's eyebrow arched upward again, as though inviting the challenge. Tony held in the sigh he desperately wanted to let out and instead threw the bag containing the kid's suit at him. Peter's eyes widened as he caught the bag and pulled out his headphones.

"Suit up, kid. It's just about showtime."

So, thoughts on the Tony-Nat dynamic? Other comments? Feelings? Suggestions on other characters/instances to cover?

Let me know. Always dig seeing what you all think.

Also: hope everybody is staying safe in these times.