A/N: Two

Steve looked down at the kid on the bed. His body was covered by the sheets but the red of his uniform peaked out from underneath. Raising an eyebrow he set it on the doctor. Bruce held up his hands.

"He wouldn't let us take the uniform off. He wanted us to cut around the wound. He managed to allow us to insert the IV but only lifted his outfit enough for us to get a vein. Kid's not very trusting. Good luck."

The doctor walked over to the IV and slowly stopped the flow of medicine. When nothing happened at first, he tried again. After a few minutes, he did it again. It was about five minutes later when the boy in the bed groaned. Eyeing the Avengers at the foot of the bed, he nodded. They all looked at each other before Tony stepped forward.

"Spiderman."

The boy groaned again before turning his head away from the billionaire. Not one to be ignored, Tony reached out and shook the boy. Spiderman let out a groan again as his head turned towards the man. All was silent as Tony stared at the white of the eyes. When the boy didn't respond, Tony shook him again only for a red hand to come up and weakly slap his hand away.

"S..op." The boy whined.

"I need you to wake up for a second."

"Am a'ke." he slurred.

"I can't tell since you have that mask on."

Spiderman gave a huff before his head turned to the ceiling then back to Tony. "What?"

"I need you to tell me where I can find Peter Parker."

"No."

"Listen kid, there's a lot going on and we think the boy might be in danger. We need to get to him before something happens."

Silence filled the room as Spiderman lay frozen. His body grew stiff. "W...What kind of danger?"

"Some people are after him. We're the only ones that can protect him. So you need to tell me where he is so we can go and get him."

"He's safe." Spiderman announced with a shake of his head.

"Yeah? Safe where?"

"Safe."

Tony stood to his full height and glared at the boy. Spiderman seemed to curl in on himself before giving a shout of pain. His hands immediately went to his stomach.

"Guys," Bruce called out as he eyed his patient. His message and warning are clear. Hurry up.

Steve stepped forward, hoping to try and help. "Spiderman, listen I get you want to protect him but he can be protected here. We need to know where he's at. Every second we waste he might get caught. The people after him are dangerous."

"Not. Telling," Spiderman said through what sounded like clenched teeth.

"You wanted us to prove to you that we were the good guys. We have. We saved your life. Got you help when you were shot. Now it may not be the way you planned it but it should count for something," Natasha voiced. All the adults nodded in agreement.

"He's safe."

"How can you know?" Rhodes asked as he looked at the boy who released another groan. Bruce looked at all of them, his warning still on his face.

Scott looked between all the Avengers before nodding to himself. Walking around, he dragged a chair that was in the corner of the room over. The legs scrapping on the ground, sending a screeching noise into the air. All eyes landed on him. Setting the chair beside the bed, he plopped down and looked at the child. "Hi, I'm Scott Lang. I'm an Avenger. Ant-man. Have you heard of me?"

When Spiderman gave no response, the man smiled wider. "That's fine. Listen, I-" he trailed off as he looked behind him. Tony and Steve stood shoulder to shoulder, over his shoulder. "Uh...guys can you give me a little space please."

"What?"

"You're crowding me. I need room to work. Just a little bit. Thank you."

Tony and Steve gave each other a look before backing up, leaving a space between them and the odd man seated before them.

Scott looked at the kid and smiled. "Anyway as I was saying. Listen I got a kid. Her name is Cassie, she's amazing you would like her. She lives with her mom but I get to visit her all the time at least when I'm not doing Avengers stuff."

"Scott," Bruce called out, stopping the man before he can go into a long tangent about irrelevant things.

"Right sorry. Time crunch. Danger and stuff. Sorry," he said looking to the doctor who was motioning with his fingers to hurry up. Looking back at the occupant of the bed he continued. "I get it, okay. With Cassie, I would do anything to protect her. Kind of like with you and Percy."

"Peter." a small voice corrected.

"Right, Peter. Sorry." Spiderman visibly relaxed his body as the eyes of the mask moved to where they were more on Scotts face. "With Cassie, I would put my life on the line for her, to make sure she's safe. No doubt you would for Peter. Yes, it's a little different because Cassie is my daughter and Peter is your friend but one thing remains the same. We both want what's best for them. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Spiderman shook his head no. "Really? I thought that was clear. Okay. The point I'm trying to make is, when I'm here with the Avengers I have to trust that Cassie's mom is keeping her safe. You're in a hospital bed right now. You are not able to keep Peter safe. Is there anyone who is keeping him safe while you're away?"

Stillness entered the room until Spiderman shook his head no.

"Exactly. So how can you know he's really safe? It's like the scary Black Widow lady said, we helped you and we barely know you. We could do the same for Peter. Not to mention, I watch the news. I know the police are looking for him. I know what it's like running from the law. It's not fun, in fact it's lonely. He would be safe with us. Nobody would dare look for him here. At least I wouldn't with a bunch of Avengers walking around."

Spiderman didn't respond causing Scott to lean in closer. He dropped his voice down to a whisper. "It's okay to ask for help. You don't have to do it all alone."

"What if something-"

Scott cut him off, shaking his head. "I promise I won't let anything happen to him. I'll watch him like I watch Cassie."

Spiderman remained silent, so quiet that Scott reached up a hand to see if he was awake but as he reached for the shoulder, a red hand came up and stopped him. Dropping his hand he watched the boy as he lay silent. "These people after him are bad?" he asked, his voice weavering. It was as if sleep entered the room.

"Yeah the baddest of the bad."

Spiderman turned his head to the ceiling before nodding slowly. "Okay."

Leaning in closer, Scott dropped his voice even more. "Okay?"

Spiderman looked at him and nodded slowly. "I'll tell you where he is, on two conditions." Scott nodded for the boy to continue. "You give me a few days."

Scott glanced over his shoulder at the other people in the room. They all looked at him with expected glances. Looking back at the occupancy of the bed, he shook his head. "I don't think they'll like that, and I'm not sure I do either."

"I have to explain it all to him. He's not going to understand if he's just taken. I promised to keep him safe."

"Spider-"

"It's just until I'm healed. Please? " The plea was even lower than his whisper, so low that Scott barely heard it. Finally seeing no other way around it, Scott nodded.

"Okay, what's the second condition?"

"You are responsible for him as well as Miss Potts."

The last request caused the man to raise an eyebrow. "Me and Pepper Potts?"

Spiderman nodded. "Yeah. You said you'd watch him like you do Cassie, and Miss Potts has always watched out for me here. So she'll do the same for him, right?"

Scott nodded without hesitation. "I'm sure she would."

"So?"

"Okay, you have yourself a deal."

"Good. I should be out of here in a couple days. Maybe even tomorrow."

Scott leaned back and laughed. "We'll see."

Bruce interrupted the conversation by announcing that Spiderman needed sleep. Scott nodded and stood. Looking down at the boy once more, he started towards the door.

"Well?" Tony called after him.

Scott ignored him as he continued towards the door, in an attempt to make a dramatic exit but the door frame slammed into his shoulder causing him to bounce off, hit the door and land in an ungraceful heap on the floor. Jumping up, he continued out into the hall and waited for the others to join.

"Classy, Lang. Classy," Natasha said in amusement as she and the other Avengers joined him. Scott's face burned with embarrassment as he looked away.

"So? Is he going to tell us?" Rhodes asked.

"Yes, he is. On two conditions. The first being that we give a few days."

"What? No way." Tony voiced.

"I agree with Tony," Steve added.

"I already agreed to it. It's necessary, trust me."

All eyes traveled around the area before resting on him again. "What's the second condition?"

"That when Peter does get here. Pepper Potts and I are in charge of him."

Tony's eyebrows went up at that. "You and Pepper Potts as in my Pepper Potts?"

Scott nodded and backed up as if he were expecting Tony to explode.

"So you're going to be playing house with my finance? Why you two?"

"Probably because we're nicer than all of you." Scott replied with a shrug. Tony glared at him.

"How long do we have to wait?" Bruce asked. "Every second we wait the closer Hydra could be to finding him."

"Until Spiderman is healed."

"That could be a long time from now," Steve said as he ran a hand over his face.

"He said it should be out of here in a couple days maybe even tomorrow."

All eyes landed on him with a look of disbelief. "He was shot, that could be more than a couple days."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Bruce added. "While Helen and I were operating, we removed the bullet and saw the boy's body healing right before our eyes. It was slow, but it was there. I'm making a guess here, but I would say the reason for the slow healing is due to the fact that he hasn't had any proper foods in him."

Tony looked at the door in wonder. "If we keep him on an IV and feed him, then he should heal quicker?"

Bruce shrugged. "Possibly."

They nodded before looking around but it was Steve who spoke. "I don't see any other way around it."

Tony shook his head but then voiced his agreeance. "Fine."

Scott smiled in relief, but stopped when Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "How'd you get him to agree to all of this?"

"Sometimes it requires a gentle touch."


Bucky stared at the woman across from him. She stood staring at him like he somehow offended her by speaking the truth. "With your mother's status, you can't tell me you don't know why. In fact it's insulting to me for you to stand here and tell me that you don't know."

After a moment of silence Vanessa finally spoke. Her voice was soft unlike it was before. "Okay, so I do know, but that is my business and mines alone." She shifted her weight as her eyes traveled out the window and to the door. It was as if she were watching for something or someone. Her fingers fiddled with the hem of her shirt as her eyes found his again.

"Are you going to tell me?"

Instead of responding, his eyes traveled back to the wall, but before he could get another good look, she stepped in front of him. "James?"

Bucky snorted. "Haven't heard that name in a while."

"Right they call you Bucky now don't they."

"Yeah."

Vanessa opened her mouth to say something but a branch snapped outside. Whirling around to the window, she pulled a gun from behind her back and pointed it at the window. Silence filled the cabin allowing the sounds of birds and insects from the forest to come in. Bucky watched as her chest moved up and down in quick succession. Her finger brushed the trigger but she never fired. A few heartbeats later she dropped her arms and placed the gun back behind her back.

"Sorry about that."

Bucky never responded as he watched her carefully. Deciding to fill the silence, she cocked her head to the side. "If you won't tell me anything about what you have on Peter, answer me this. Is Spiderman okay?"

Bucky sat still, hanging onto every word that she was saying. "I don't know," he finally answered. "Steve ran off with him while I fought with Frank. Last I saw the kid, he was shot and bleeding."

Vanessa looked over at him in what only could be described as horror. She opened her mouth to say something but she stopped when something dawned on her. "Frank? Frank was there?" Bucky nodded.

"He mentioned that Spiderman was with a woman who was currently on Hydra's list. He said he didn't know who she was, but I have a feeling he was lying. It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I was with Spiderman. He's helping me. God!" Her hands went to her hair as she started pacing around.

"What do you mean helping you?" Bucky frowning as he stood. The world spun for a brief moment before it corrected itself.

"Oh God."

"Vanessa, what do you mean helping you? Is Spiderman a Hydra agent?"

"No! God, don't you listen? I already told you I don't work for them anymore! He was helping me figure out what SHIELD has on Peter. He was going to help me find Peter!"

"You have never been the type to care about kids. Why does this kid matter so much to you?"

Whirling around, she glared at him. "Because he's my son!"

Bucky froze and looked her up and down. "What?"

"Peter is my son."

Bucky looked at the woman in front of him and slowly his face grew serious. "You don't have a son, Vanessa."

"Yes, I do. He's fifteen years old."

"Okay," Bucky said as he sat back down. "Okay, let's say you're telling me the truth. What does Hydra want with him?"

Vanessa sat in a chair that was not far from where she sat. "They want him because he's my son. Actually, my mother wants him because he's my son."

Bucky took a moment to process all of that. "How do I know you're telling the truth? This could just be some ploy to try and get me to trust you."

"I have proof, well Spiderman has proof. That's why he was helping me."

"What proof is that?"

"A birth certificate."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at her. "I've seen the birth certificate. The parents listed are Richard and Mary Parker."

Vanessa let out a dark chuckle. "Yeah, that's what SHIELD wants you to see."

"All you have is your word. SHIELD has files of proof."

"No they don't." She said as she jumped up. "Do you want to know why Spiderman was so willing to help you? This was before we met. It's because SHIELD caught him breaking into their building and stealing a file. Peter's file. Spiderman has all the proof you need. Not only will it show you that I'm telling you the truth but it will also show you that SHIELD can't be trusted."

Bucky remained silent once again. "Okay, so how am I supposed to see this file? You did kidnap me."

Vanessa scoffed. "If I kidnapped you, I would have tied you up or something. You're free to leave at any time." Bucky raised an eyebrow as he stood and walked to the door but froze half way as if something just occurred to him. "What does Peter being your son have to do with Hydra? I mean I get it, there are family ties but it doesn't make sense for them to keep that a big secret. I'm sure many Hydra agents have family members."

"They want to recruit him to become an Agent."

"As horrible as that is, it still doesn't answer my question."

Vanessa looked down at the ground without answering. "Vanessa, if you want me to trust you, then you have to tell me the truth."

"It's because of who his father is," she blurted out.

"And who might that be?"

Vanessa looked at him with a sad expression. She started beating faster as she looked into the brown eyes before her. She opened her mouth but closed it immediately. Sweat collected on her brow as she cast her eyes down to the ground. "Vanessa?"

She lifted her eyes before the words escaped her lips, full of shame and regret.

"I don't know."