Chapter 44-Trouble

By: MysticFantasy

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"This is my fault. I did something. I know I did." Steve muttered as he drove down the street toward the police station.

"Steve, none of this is your fault. If anyone is to blame, it's me." Natasha said. "I taught him skills to make him a good spy and agent. I should have known better."

"It's not your fault." Steve insisted. "I should have talked to him more about being responsible. To do the right thing. I should have talked to him more. Spent more time with him or...something."

Natasha lightly sighed.

She couldn't help but blame herself for this situation. Steve is a perfect parent to their son. The trouble that James was in now had to have come from some spark he got from what she had taught him.

Even though they were blaming themselves for what was happening, they still couldn't believe that James had been involved in a small store robbery.

Steve pulled the car into an empty spot and the two hurried into the station. Once inside they were lead to a conference room where they were right away stared at by four other pairs of parent's.

"This is because of your son." one of the husbands right away declared. "You hero types pretend to act perfect and yet you can't control your own kids!"

"Sit down, Mr. Jones." an officer ordered as he entered the room.

The angered father sat down, as did Steve and Natasha.

"Let me clear things up right now." The officer, Richardson by his name tag, said. "James Rogers is innocent of the crime that happened today."

"He is?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Richarson answered and held up a tape. "We have proof of that. This small store robbery happened at the hands of your children." the officer looked at the other parent's.

"This is insane." one of the wives declared. "My son knows better."

"This tape says a different thing ma'am." Richardson replied and placed the tape into the VCR of the nearby tv.

The screen right away showed a black and white viewing of a small store that was closed for the day. A group of four boys suddenly showed up in the corner of the glass door.

The video easily showed the faces of the four boys. James was nowhere in sight which eased the nerves of Steve and Natasha.

The tape then showed one of the boys taking a card from his pocket and then trying to open the lock. It worked and the four hurried in. Grabbing things and shoving them into their backpacks.

Then, James appeared at the door. He right away began telling the boys to stop what they were doing but was being ignored. One of them went over to the red haired teen and right away began a fight with him.

Steve and Natasha watched as their son held his own against the other teen. They saw him be defensive and careful of how he fought back.

At that moment, right before the other teens were about to take off their their stolen merchandise, an officer appeared with mace ready to use in his hand.

Steve looked over to the other parent's. Not a single one looked happy that their children had been involved in this while they claimed their innocence.

"Your boys are being charged with robbery. Their court dates have been set but until then they're going to spend some time in juvie to cool their tempers a bit. Captain Rogers, your son is to be praised in trying to stop the situation. Not many would have done that. There are no charges on him."

The two Avengers were relieved to learn that their son hadn't been involved in the robbery. Although they hated they had assumed the worse, they always believed that James knew the right thing to do.

The soldier and spy were allowed to leave and find their son. He was soon found sitting with another officer at his desk while the cop told stories that were probably exaggerated.

"James." Natasha called.

The fourteen year old turned and smiled when he saw his parent's.

"Thank goodness." Natasha said as she hugged her son tightly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. A little freaked out at getting arrested but I'm fine." the teen answered.

"You're not under arrest, son." Officer Richardson stated as he walked over. "You were doing the right thing in trying to stop those other boys from stealing things that weren't their's. Although next time, probably best if you just got to a phone and call us."

"Yes, sir." James said.

"But, you did good work. Kept all of them there so we didn't have to chase them down."

"Glad I could help then." James said.

"Alright. You're free to go. Keep up the great work, kid."

James smiled and followed his parent's out of the police station.

"Did you think I got into trouble?" James asked his parent's when they got to the car.

"At first, we did." Steve admitted. "And I right away blamed myself."

"We both blamed ourselves. Thought we did something that made you decide to want to try something against everything we raised you with." Natasha explained.

"Come on, guys. You both raised me better than to try to go to the dark side." James said.

"Have you been watching those space movies with Clint again?" Natasha asked.