The scenery outside the windows of the sedan was new and unfamiliar when Peter's phone rang. The ringtone was one that Steve recognized, but Bucky didn't. He turned to look over his shoulder.

"Is that your dad?"

Peter shook his head, already pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Hey Ned."

Barnes turned back to the traffic in front of them, but both men could hear Ned's response.

"Hey, Peter. What are you doing?"

"I'm being kidnapped… Call Tony."

"Seriously?"

Peter grinned, catching Steve's eye in the rearview mirror.

"Nah. Steve and Bucky are taking me somewhere."

"Where?"

"They won't tell me. We stopped in Trenton for breakfast, but Steve says it'll be a little while, yet, before we get where we're going."

There was a slight pause.

"Where's Trenton?"

"It's in New Jersey, Ned," Steve replied before Peter could. "How did you manage to win that smart kid competition if you don't know simple geography?"

They couldn't see Ned's expression since it wasn't a video call, but Peter could hear his friend was amused when he answered.

"I'm the math guy, Steve. Where are you guys going?"

"Can't tell you," he replied, grinning but not taking his eyes from the road. "Peter might hear you."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"I won't listen…"

"Everyone knows you have super hearing," Ned pointed out.

"You aren't helping," Peter told him, more amused than annoyed.

"No can do, Ned," Steve said. "We're going south, that's all Peter can tell you, because it's all that he knows."

"Is it a mission?" Ned asked – and now his voice was excited. "Are you going on a mission?"

"You think we'd take Peter on a mission but leave Romanoff behind?" Bucky asked.

"Maybe?"

"No."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey, Joel, got a minute?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I just got off the phone with Dabne."

"Who?"

"Vasco's information man."

"Oh. How is Vladimir holding up with the loss of his cousin?"

Not to mention losing the boss and now being in charge of all of the business on the west coast. He didn't say that, though, of course.

"He's dead."

King frowned, wishing he could see Alex's face, to see if that was some kind of terrible joke. It didn't last, of course, since he knew that wasn't a joke that would be considered. Mush less spoken aloud.

"What?"

"I guess he dropped dead, this morning, while he was talking to one of his guys."

"Talking about what?"

"No clue. Want me to find out?"

The mobster hesitated and then shook his head – even though his man couldn't see it. Better to stay out of whatever might be going on. You didn't get to be a boss in the mafia by being stupid or reckless, after all.

"No. I don't want to know."

"Alright. Anything you want me to do?"

"Keep an ear out," King said. "Let me know if anyone else over there comes to an untimely death."

"There could just be some kind of family medical thing," Zhihov pointed out. "Something they didn't know about but that's coming back to bite them in the ass, all of the sudden."

"Yeah. That's true. No one else has died?"

"Not that I've heard," he confirmed. "I'll let you know if I hear anything."

"Yeah. Thanks. Have someone send flowers, too, will you?"

"Sure thing."

King ended the call and frowned as he sat down at his desk.

"Who was that?" his wife asked, coming into the room and noticing her husband's pallor.

"Alex."

"Is everything alright?"

"Vlad Varsto died this morning. It was sudden, I guess."

"That's terrible. And so soon after his cousin died."

"Yeah."

"There must be some kind of family health problem," she surmised, more to herself than to him.

"Yeah."

He hoped.

"I have a meeting, this morning," she said, uncertainly. He still looked pale and shocked. Not surprisingly, of course, after having people he knew die so suddenly, but it still worried her. "Do you want me to cancel and stay home with you?"

He smiled at that. One of the reasons he loved her was that she was always trying to look out for him like that.

"No, honey," he replied, feeling better already. Maybe it was a family medical thing. If not, then it was a feud or something that he didn't want any part of – and had no intention of joining. "You have a good time. We'll grill some steaks for dinner."

"Alright."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We're going to Washington?"

Since they'd just taken an exit that said DC-295 S, it was pretty glaringly obvious. Bucky was driving, now, having traded spots with Steve when they'd stopped for gas, last time. Peter had fallen asleep some time before that and hadn't woken when they'd stopped, so he'd been a little surprised at the change when he'd finally woken.

"We are," Steve confirmed, smiling over his shoulder at his young friend.

"Why didn't we take the jet?" Peter asked, curiously.

"Because if we'd brought the jet, then we'd have had to announce our arrival," Rogers pointed out. "I don't want this to be an official visit. There's a few things I want to show you and we don't have time for all the meet and greets that come with an official visit."

"And he doesn't want to make nice with all of the politicians," Bucky added, already taking another exit, maneuvering easily in the building traffic, even on a Saturday. "So we're sneaking in."

"We aren't sneaking in," Steve replied, his smile widening at the teasing from his friend. "We're just staying low key."

"What are we going to do in Washington?" Peter asked, now even more curious.

"We're going to interview the president," Bucky said.

"We are?"

Steve rolled his eyes.

"No. We're not going near the white house. Tony would kill me if I let you near any politicians – if Natasha didn't beat him to it. We're going to go check something out. I'm following up on some research I've been working on, recently."

"About what?"

"I'll tell you when we get there."

Now Peter rolled his eyes, too.

"Aww." He turned to Barnes, more than willing to play one against the other and to try and use his big brown eyes when he could – although he knew it didn't work as well against people who didn't call him son, or baby. "Bucky? What are we going to be doing?"

"Sorry, Peter," Bucky told him. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

"About where we're going," the boy said. "We're here, right?"

"About what we're doing."

Peter snorted, but it was good-natured. He was looking forward to doing whatever it was they were going to be doing. Even if he didn't know what it was, just yet. Steve wasn't going to do anything that Peter didn't like, after all. If that had been the plan Tony wouldn't have let him go – and neither would Pepper or Natasha.

"Are we going to go sky diving?" he asked, allowing his expression to be hopeful even though he knew there wasn't a chance in hell that that was the plan.

He just wanted to see Steve's reaction.

"No. I'd never be able to return to the compound if I pulled that kind of stunt," Rogers replied, clearly aware of what Peter was doing – and enjoying the interaction as well.

"And I'm done running," Barnes added. "I like being able to go home at the end of the day."

"We're going home, tonight?"

"No, we're staying over."

"Because we're going to be so busy doing something really exciting and dangerous that you had to take me four states away from home to let me do it?"

"Because I don't want to drive in the dark."

Peter smirked, and turned his attention to the scenery, once more. True, he'd been to DC before, but this was promising to be much more enjoyable than the last time. The company was pretty interesting, anyway.