After his patrol, Peter slept for twelve hours. The night before he had tossed and turned; now that the $50,000 floor had been ripped out from under him it was actually easier to sleep. Or maybe it was that the idea of participating in a civil war was off the table.

When he woke up Sunday morning, he could still feel the sting of the lost opportunity, but at least his anxiety had receded. When he shuffled into the kitchen around noon, Aunt May was watching the news, which currently showed Captain America speaking to a group of press.

"When I went to sleep last night, he was a wanted criminal," Peter sighed. "What changed?" He grabbed a pan and started making a grilled cheese.

"Let this be a lesson," May said gently. "Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Why? What happened?"

"Captain Rogers just announced that the man who attacked the UN had been kidnapped and brainwashed…" She trailed off and turned up the volume. Steve Roger's voice replaced hers.

"Sergeant Barnes grew up on the streets of Brooklyn with me and fought beside me in the war. He was captured, and underwent years of experimentation and exploitation. The same experiments that enhanced me have enhanced him—the two of us are the same weapon, just wielded by different hands." The press corps was murmuring and scribbling, and Captain America hesitated briefly before continuing. "It could have as easily been me that fell victim to the treatment that Sergeant Barnes received at the hands of Hydra. It could have been any one of your grandfathers. I have spoken with world leaders, including King T'Challa, and they have pledged their assistance in rehabilitating the Sergeant."

Once again, he paused, and Peter could swear that there were tears in the man's eyes. "My hope is that one day, he will be Bucky again, the man that I split a popcorn with at the cinema every Sunday, and that the Winter Soldier will be nothing more than a memory."

"Wow." Peter said, blinking. "Just…wow."

Aunt May reached for him, pulling him into a hug. "It sounds like he was just older than you. The thought of that happening to you…"

Peter offered a weak smile. "I'd never leave you."

"You never know. I worry about you and Morgan every second that you're not here in the apartment. The world is just…not a good place sometimes." Peter nodded in agreement, still processing the captain's speech. Aunt May ran her fingers through Peter's hair. "I guess this is why Mr. Stark couldn't meet with you this weekend."

"Oh…" Peter stammered. "Yeah, I guess he was kind of busy. I…I haven't heard anything from him about the internship, I think…" He got choked up. "I think that might be over too. He's got…stuff…to deal with."

"Oh, Peter. I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "Anyways. I uh…I was going to go the library today. I'll uh, come home in a few hours?"

Morgan's head popped up; she had been laying on the floor reading. "Can I come?"

"Umm, not today, Mo. I need to do some…homework." Peter was lying, he definitely wanted some spiderman time. And he hated lying to Morgan and May. He was pretty sure that May could actually tell when he was lying, but never called him on it.

May levelled her gaze at Peter for a second, seemingly looking into his soul, but smiled gently. "Morgan, I thought maybe you would accompany me to the pharmacy."

Peter had finished cooking his grilled cheese and was about to bite into it, but froze. "Pharmacy? Your medications shouldn't need refilling until the end of the month." Peter was used to his spider sense alerting him to danger, but he also was developing a May sense—a tingle in the back of his mind that pointed out every sign that she was getting older.

"After my appointment with Dr. Wallace this week, she recommended I test my blood pressure regularly. I was just going to use the pressure cuff there."

Morgan looked up with interest. "Is that the machine that strangles your arm? Can I try it?"

Peter interrupted his sister. "Did Dr. Wallace say it was too high? Or too low? Did she say anything else about treatments?"

She was technically his great-aunt, his grandpa's sister, and it seemed like every week she grew more fragile. Peter didn't need anyone to remind him of this fact; he cared for her with steadfast devotion because he and Morgan of all people knew how hard it was to lose someone. Earlier that year May had gotten ill, and Peter was one day away from calling her an ambulance by the time she finally started improving. He had been panicking the whole time, wearing himself thin to keep May alive.

But May knew her nephew, probably better than he knew himself, and always tried to allay Peter's anxieties. "I'm sorry that I didn't get to tell you Peter, there was a lot going on the last few days. Dr. Wallace said that it a little bit high, but she also said that it was nothing to worry about as long as it didn't get higher."

Peter felt the fear that had been growing in his stomach diminish. "Okay." He took another deep breath. "Okay. So, Morgan, you good?"

Morgan, who understood a lot more emotional subtext than most eleven-year-olds, nodded. "Sure. But I'm going to check some books out online and you have to get them for me, okay?"

"Of course." Peter stuffed the rest of the grilled cheese in his mouth and headed to his room to pack his backpack. Of course, it was filled with his spider suit and not with homework.

As he walked out the door, May grasped his arm, "Be safe out there, Peter."

Sunday afternoon patrol went by swimmingly…or rather, swingingly. He brought back the library books for Morgan and managed to cram in some extra studying for his Spanish test. As he tried to force the vocabulary words into his brain, he briefly wondered if he should switch to German after the events the day before. That thought reminded him that he hadn't texted Ned all weekend. And Ned was going to freak. Absolutely FREAK. He texted his friend for the next few hours, telling Ned everything, the good and the bad.

The week after, Peter slowly came back down to earth, trying to focus on school and forget about Mr. Stark, the money, and Aunt May's high blood pressure. It was probably a good thing that Peter rarely saw a doctor—he was certain that his blood pressure would be right up there with May's. Ned helped keep him grounded, and would reassure him that Mr. Stark was a douchebag and that Peter was probably better off without the internship, even though Peter knew that Mr. Stark was one of his best friend's heroes.

Frankly, he had been one of Peter's heroes too. Maybe not hero, per say, but…his…inspiration? He had always admired Tony Stark, and marveled at the breadth of the man's knowledge. But especially after this weekend, the man fell quite a bit short of hero status.

The news this week mostly ignored the fact that the world had narrowly escaped an Avengers war. Instead, reporters hounded politicians that had previously supported the accords, but were now changing their view after more facts emerged about Hydra brainwashing. There were a million interviews, public interest polls, and political debates left and right. Pundits renamed the agreement "The Discords", which Peter thought was fitting.

Mr. Stark, of course, was popping in and out of TV shows, sipping coffee on couches from morning shows to late night shows. He seemed to have changed his tune; he no longer publicly supported the accords, but Peter suspected that there were still a lot of moving parts.

Regardless, the accords had officially stalled in the UN, and they did not fare any better when General Ross asked some politicians to introduce the accords into the American legislature. The straw that broke the camel's back was a short video that the Wakandan government posted on Twitter of Sergeant Barnes, apparently healed, embracing his old friend Captain America.

Peter still had a lot on his mind. It had only been a week, but he felt years older than he did when Mr. Stark showed up in his apartment. Being asked to fight superheroes was not something that happened to 14-year-olds. Being offered 50k…same. Being kidnapped by Hydra…same. Peter tried not to think about it too much, but knowing that Hydra had kidnapped Sergeant Barnes as a teenager was scarier to Peter than he cared to admit.

The next Friday, he was out swinging again, this time trying out a new communication system with Ned. Peter had shared with his friend that the thought of getting taken by Hydra was distracting, so the pair figured out a way for Ned to have Peter's back. Ned was currently sharing his theories about history repeating itself. "So, like…between the two of us, who is Barnes and who is Rogers? I could see if you wanted to be Barnes because like…he was the leader, he was the first one to join the army…and Rogers wasn't strong before, so that's kind of like me. But Rogers was the first one to get superpowers, like you were."

"Well, you don't have superpowers, dude, so it's a moot point."

"Yet. I don't have superpowers YET."

Peter chuckled. "Do you want me to go find that spider that bit me so it can get you too?"

"Would you?" Ned said hopefully.

Peter sobered immediately. "No. Hell no! Ned, do you know how much this has sucked?"

"I mean, yeah, you've told me the bad things. But right now you're perched on top of a building, stopping crime, a legit superhero."

"I'm a fourteen-year-old vigilante that lies to my aunt and sister every night and is actively terrified that I'm being hunted by either the government or Hydra, depending on the night." The other comm was quiet. "Ned, it's just…not all good things. I could get in huge trouble. You could get in huge trouble, just by knowing about me."

Ned exhaled deeply. "Peter. When I was talking about Barnes and Rogers and us…I'm in this with you. I'm your brother. I would die for you."

The last bit was said so seriously that it made Peter smile. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come that."

"But you know that, right? I'm here for you man."

As Peter was about to respond, his cell phone buzzed. When he looked at the name on the screen, his mouth went dry. It was Tony.