Chapter Seven

"What's on your mind?"

Bucky opened his eyes as he looked down and saw Wanda eating popcorn while both of them pretended to watch a lame romantic comedy in the private Avengers living room. Truthfully, Bucky had been lying down on the couch for the better part of an hour feeling like a scolded kid.

It had been a day since he had nearly strangled Peter Parker and Stark was still giving him the silent treatment. Steve had tried to get him to admit it was just a weird PTSD episode, but he refused. He knew what he had seen.

A kid. A kid who recognized him as a super soldier. A kid who had mocked him by calling him "Winter." A kid who knew how to get under his skin and knew more than what he let on with his sweet, sugary smile. That kid was Peter Parker.

He was no ordinary kid. He was a serial killer in the making with his cold eyes and vicious strength despite his toothpick body. Something was up and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Barnes?" Wanda sounded annoyed now, "Is it true you tried to strangle a kid yesterday?"

"He tried to kill me first," he blurted out. "This is not an ordinary kid, Wanda. He's stronger, stronger than I am. There's something strange about that kid and Stark, Banner, and Roger won't believe me."

Wanda threw him a pitying look which he hated.

"Do you remember your time in HYDRA?" He continued. Wanda and Pietro had been more buddy-buddy with them at some point; maybe she had known about Peter Parker.

Wanda's face darkened. "You know I don't like talking about my time there. Not after Pietro."

"Was HYDRA up to something while the two of you were there?" he pressed. "Anything along the realms of child soldiers or kidnapping?"

Wanda stood up, obviously done with him, "They're shitty people."

Peter, Ten Years Old

Blood covered the floor of training center 3. The training center Peter always trained in. The one made up of four gray walls. The training center where he was punished, where he was trained, where he was tortured.

Peter coughed again as blood spilled from his mouth to the floor. At this point he would be surprised if his organs were not permanently rearranged.

He had failed a mission. It had been a simple one too. Kill the daughter of England's prime minister while she visited an elementary school. It had been so simple. He had been trained for weeks now. Trained to do the right thing. To smile and nod. To get into her personal space and be adorable.

However, at the last possible moment Peter had frozen in fear with a weapon in his hand. She had run away screaming. HYDRA had to interfere. Last he heard the Winter Soldier had ripped her head from her neck as if she were a rag doll.

Peter was now being punished for his failure. For being weak.

He pulled out a loose tooth. Thankfully, it was a baby tooth. He looked at Dimitri with pain filled eyes. "Please, please stop. It hurts. I'm sorry."

The blood covered bat hit the side of his skull causing Peter to see stars.

"You're weak and pathetic," Dimitri spat as he buried the bat against Peter's kidneys. "You're an embarrassment. A failure. I'll show you what happens to failures."

He raised the bat again and Peter closed his eyes.

"Parker, are you listening?"

Peter opened his eyes and saw Dimitri glaring at him, looking like he wanted to strangle him all the way from Russia.

"You're taking too long," he spat before Peter could answer. "This was supposed to be an easy mission. Do you think I want you to spend your time playing high school student? Do you need to be punished?"

"Of course not," Peter responded, his voice tense. "It's just harder to get access to Wanda than I anticipated. She is surrounded by Avengers 24/7 and I need to have access to the file Stark has in his system to see what her weaknesses are-"

"Stop. Whining." Dimitri's teeth were showing like an angry bulldog. "Get the file. Find her weaknesses. Get Wanda. Transport her back to Russia. You have the password from Stark's computer, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. You have one week otherwise we are retrieving you and sending you back to Russia and just a warning, Parker it will not be pleasant."

Peter felt his heartbeat inside his chest at the thought of being punished by Dimitri. Last time he had fucked up, he hadn't been able to move without screaming in pain for nearly a week. He had been wasting too much time with the internship and playing high school student with Ned and MJ. He needed to act now.

After school he grabbed a taxi and immediately went to Avengers HQ ignoring the text from MJ that they had decathlon practice. A dagger was hidden in the inside pocket of his sweater vest. A gun would be too loud and too messy. No doubt he would have to take care of any annoying security guards. They were roaming the place.

He pressed a button and put on his best I'm a good boy face. An exasperated Happy answered. "What are you doing here Paul? No internship today."

"Peter," Peter said brightly, his voice sounding like a chipmunk. "I left my backpack in the lab last night and it's important for me to retrieve it."

Happy let out an annoyed sigh as he led him to the lobby. "Wait here. I'll go get it."

Peter waited impatiently until Happy left for the lab. He headed into the opposite direction where Stark's private laboratories were. There were two bulky guards guarding the place. This was new. Perhaps Stark had finally stopped being lazy and actually had a big project.

The shorter of the two snorted. "Back to where you came from, kid. No entry for pipsqueaks like you."

Peter swirled the dagger in his hand, smiling cruelly. "Evening gentlemen."

Using his dagger Peter quickly sliced the throat of one of the guards while stimounously kicking the other one so hard across the head he could swear he heard his skull crack. He looked down, pleased with himself. Flawlessly done in under five minutes and with little blood. He deserved ice cream afterwards.

The lab was empty and messy like it usually was, Peter had been about to type in the password on Tony's fancy computer when he felt something heavy fly past him, grab him by his wrists, and pin him against the wall.

Peter squirmed but stopped when he recognized the fire engine red color. Tony was pulling up from a secret compartment on the floor. He was wearing a red Iron Man hand and a familiar smirk. "Like taking candy from a baby."

-End of Chapter Seven-