It wasn't too long until Steve and Bucky arrived back at the tower. They had spent their short walk back discussing the Peter situation. They knew that despite how much they told him they would be there, Peter would likely not call if he really needed help. But they needed to be there in case he did. They wouldn't be able to live with themselves if he needed them and they weren't there.
The two super soldiers couldn't explain why they felt so drawn to Peter. Or why they felt they needed to help or protect him, but they did. Steve suspected it was some big brother instincts that the two of them had. Bucky thought that it was because Peter reminded him of Steve before the serum.
When the elevator opened up on the avengers floor, the pair entered to find Clint and Natasha sitting on the kitchen counter, both with a cup of coffee in their hand. Though this was a pretty common thing to see at the tower, the spies being missing due to an unknown mission for the last few days made this an unusual scene.
"You're back," Clint announced, turning to look at the super soldiers when the elevator alerted them.
"We're back?" Bucky began, "What about you? You're the ones who has been AWOL for the last 3 days without telling us where you were going."
"We told you we were on a mission," Nat responds calmly, putting down the mug and turning towards the others.
"Which is as vague as you could possibly be without telling us anything. For all we know you could have been in Antarctica," Bucky points out as they approach the two spies. Steve moved to sit next to Clint while Bucky went to lean on the counter on the other side, facing the trio.
Sensing his friend's annoyance was only in a joking manner, Steve just laughed lightly. Before his attention was drawn to something else. First, he noticed that Clint was drinking coffee with his left hand, even though he was right handed. And that his right arm was resting in his lap. Looking closer, Steve noticed that his friend's arm was wrapped in a white cast over his forearm and a bit of his hand.
With concern, he asked, "What happened to your arm?"
Looking down at his arm, Clint replied, "Broke my arm in a fight earlier, I'm gonna be out of commission for a little bit. But Dr. Cho worked her magic on it so it shouldn't take as long to heal. Might be slightly made of plastic now, but it's worth it."
"How'd you manage that? I thought your right arm was your most important feature, with you being a mediocre archer and all," Bucky joked.
Feigning offence, Clint responded "Not important. All that matters is that I am that much closer to having an arm like yours, robot."
"Maybe if you were becoming metal not plastic. If anything you're getting closer to being a barbie doll."
"You little–"
"Language," Nat reprimanded with a smirk. Steve just signed in annoyance. Even though months passed, they had yet to forget his slip of the tongue and continued to make fun of him for it. Though he knew it was all just fun.
"But anyway, the initial mission is finished now so we won't be going AWOL for a while. Turns out it's bigger than we thought so we are going to need a few helping hands," Nat continued, surprising Steve.
"Did you just say you need help?" Steve asked jokingly, it wasn't often that Nat said she needed help. Not because she was stuck up, she wasn't, but rather because she was likely the most capable person on the team. She had skills Steve would never even think of needing to learn.
"Like I said, this is bigger than we first thought," Nat confirmed as the super soldiers seemed to grow even more interested in her words.
"Maybe you should start with what the mission actually was," Bucky states, gesturing for everyone to follow him from sitting and standing around the kitchen counter to the dinning table so they could talk as a group more easily. Once the group sat down, Nat began.
"I got a communication from an old ally that I used to work with sometimes before SHIELD's downfall. They went into hiding when all their information got leaked so they could protect their family. Had to make a whole new identity and move countries for a while. They recently came back to New York but have decided to duck out of the spy life to keep their family safe."
"Fair enough," Bucky adds "But how does this relate to a mission."
"I'm getting there. They got a tip about a weapons deal. But, since they aren't operating anymore, they don't have the means to follow up on it so they sent the information onto me," Nat continued. Picking up on where she stopped, Clint continued.
"The basic gist of the tip off was that there has been a small weapons manufacturing ring that has been working under the radar for a while. Like, since the battle of New York. They apparently have always been small enough to go undetected but have recently been growing more since around the time of Ultron."
Everyone tensed slightly at the name. Their team was on edge ever since the fiasco. Even Bucky, who wasn't a part of it, knew the effect Ultron had on the team.
"After following someone who was supposedly a part of this ring we ended up at a bar."
Cutting in, Nat added, "A mercenary bar. It's off the grid and crawling with every kind of low life who wants to meet up with other low lives or collect bounties. But when we were there, we met someone who gave us information about a weapons shipment happening at 2am this morning. With the unsolicited assistance of a new super powered vigilante in the area, Spider-Man, we were able to interpret the shipment."
"Wait, Spider-Man?" Steve asked, confused as he had never heard the name before.
"Yeah, new small time hero. No one important. Apparently also knew the informant who gave us the information about the shipment this morning so decided to pitch in," Clint explained.
Nodding his head, Steve and Bucky accepted the new information. They hadn't heard anything about a new hero. Let alone a super powered hero. But then again they hadn't been listening out for it recently, too focused on trying to help Peter, so they could have missed it.
"Yes, anyway," Nat continued, "It wasn't just any weapons shipment. We expected it to be normal. Hand guns, rifles, maybe some small explosives that the average thug or gang member could use. But it wasn't. And it wasn't only weapons either."
"What was it?" Bucky asked, genuinely curious.
"Some of it was mechanical parts. Things you could really find anywhere. That wasn't the concerning part. It was the boxes filled with Chitauri tech and stuff from the Ultron and Iron Legion fallout that was the worrying part," Nat explained, dropping the bombshell.
"Worse than just people having this tech, we found plans to mix this tech with normal weapons to make advanced weaponry," Clint added.
"Shit," Bucky swears.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Clint replies.
"Since we thought this was a small, normal operation, we thought we had found and stopped the leader last night. But it turns out it is bigger than we thought. We need your assistance to help track this back to the top and stop it before it goes any further," Nat continues, leaning back in her chair as she spoke.
"Should we get the rest of the team involved?" Steve asked, still unsure of the scale of this operation and how hard this would be.
After thinking for a moment, Nat responds "No, not yet. Maybe just Sam. I know you three are close so it would be hard to keep him out of the loop. But getting the whole Avengers team involved might draw attention to the fact we are looking into it and cause the weapons operation to go into hiding."
"Fair."
The group plunged into a comfortable silence for a moment as they all thought. All expecting each other to speak or thinking about the mission. After a moment, Steve asked:
"Your informant at the bar, how did you know you could trust them?"
This time, Clint spoke up.
"They recognised us in a bar full of people who, let's just say, wouldn't like us and didn't call attention to us. Then proceeded to give us correct information."
"Which reminds me," Nat cuts in, "I'm going to go thank him later."
That seemed to grab both Steve and Bucky's interests. Straightening their backs, Steve asked:
"Can we meet the informant?"
"Not yet. Don't want to scare him off. Besides you two have very recognisable faces, someone could see you. And Clint is hurt so he'll stay here. I'll just go," Nat decides as she stands up from her chair. "If you'll excuse me," She adds as she leaves the dining room, presumably to go to her room.
After that the group started to dipurse, going back to the kitchen and thinking over the information they had just been given. After a moment's silence, Clint spoke up.
"So, where were you guys?"
"Meeting a friend we are trying to help," Bucky replies slowly. His voice soft as he thought back to the Peter situation.
"Are they in danger?" Clint asks, slightly confused.
"We don't know yet."
———-
Did Peter's legs ache? Yes.
Did he walk an extra 15 minutes away from his home to buy a new warm blanket? Also yes.
Did he regret that choice? No.
One day's worth of discomfort was worth warm comfy nights every time. Which was how Peter found himself walking home with a new black, fluffy blanket in his arms. It was soft like a cloud and much warmer than his fire blanket that he had been using. Maybe he could use the fire blanket to cover the broken window now to stop the rain coming in or the sun waking him up too early in the morning.
Normally, Peter's walks around New York were filled with the same mundane thoughts. Planning his days, reflecting on conversations or trying to forget them. But today, one new thought stuck out in his brain like a sore thumb.
Has he changed anything?
That was why he was sent here, wasn't it? So he could change things. So he could stop and prevent the shit that had happened in his timeline. But had he changed any life but his own? Has his existence, or rather lack of existence, in this world changed anything?
He didn't feel any closer to stopping the Avengers' civil war, the fall out from the Accords, Thanos, or even the avoidable deaths and economic downfall that the reversal of the snap caused. If anything he felt further away. Disconnected from the life he used to have and the people he used to lean on.
He felt like he couldn't even achieve the one thing he was put here to do. Why couldn't the voice have chosen someone more capable? Someone who wouldn't spend most of their time second guessing themselves and just get the job done. Why hadn't the voice just reversed everything?
What was the point of sending a kid? If they had the power to send him back they should have chosen someone who was prepared. Not him. But it was too late for that. What was done was done. He had to change things now. And yet Peter didn't feel like he had, or had the power to, change anything.
The thoughts plagued him as he finally arrived home. Climbing up through his window and into the abandoned building he had learned to call home, but still didn't entirely feel like it yet. Home was a safe place. Home, to Peter, meant family. Blood family or found family, it didn't matter. But family all the same. Peter didn't have that here. It was just him. Him and the decaying walls and empty cupboards.
Home sweet home.
Picking up the half used roll of duct tape, Peter moved over to the broken window to tape up the fire blanket when he stopped. Yes, his new blanket would be warmer, but that didn't mean it would be enough to keep him completely warm. So, deciding against his original idea, Peter placed both blankets down on his bed. He could already sense how well he was going to sleep that night. With the heater and blankets he would be able to keep out the snowy chill that was clouding the city.
As the time passed and the sun set in the cloudy sky, Peter realised he had to start making his way towards the bar for another night of work. Which meant another work out for his already tired legs.
Perfect.
Despite his exhaustion from minimal sleep, and his aching legs, Peter made his way to the bar. He had made a commitment when he got a job there, he wasn't going to just skip because he was tired. Besides, he needed the money. He had been a little spendy in the last few days, getting new clothes, a new blanket and nicer food. He needed to be careful.
Eventually, after walking down the familiar dimly lit street of the city, Peter arrived at the bar. The familiar smells and sounds assaulted his senses as he made his way over to the counter and started his shift. After washing his hands, of course.
After not too long, Peter could tell it was going to be a boring shift. Well, not boring. They were never truly boring. Just more relaxed. Which was likely because it was a Monday. But he wasn't complaining.
Peter quickly got back into his routine.
Mix a drink.
Serve it.
Wipe the bench.
Talk to a regular.
Repeat.
Peter found himself missing Wade and the craziness he brought to all Peter's shifts. There was never a dull moment when he was around and it never failed to brighten Peter's day. But Peter knew he would be away till Tuesday. But he was the only person in this timeline who knew about his powers. Hell, he knew the most about Peter in this entire universe. Just being around Wade put Peter at ease. He felt like he didn't have to wear a mask or lie to Wade. Something he had to do to everyone else he met.
And so the night continued. One drink at a time.
Until, a brunette dressed in all black walked confidently up to the bar. Despite the new hair colour, Peter instantly recognised the women. You would too if the Black Widow showed up in your bar for the second night in a row. She silently made her way up to the counter and sat on the bar stool right in front of Peter once again.
Turning to face her, he said in a hushed tone, "Welcome back, Ms Widow. The new hair colour suits you."
"But not nice enough to hide my identity," Nat added, looking up at him through the bangs of the realistic wig.
"Only from those not looking out for you," Peter responded as he handed a customer who wasn't listening a beer.
"You knew I was coming?" Nat asked.
"No, but after you see some Avengers in your bar once, you start keeping an eye out," Peter explained, bringing his full attention to the spy, who seemed to accept his response. "Can I get you a drink then?"
"How about another one of those margaritas you made me yesterday."
"Coming up," Peter replied, moving to grab the different ingredients he needed to mix the drink. As he did so, Nat spoke.
"So you know Spider-Man," Nat began.
"Yeah, I've met him a few times. Never out of costume though, so if you're looking for information on him I don't have it," Peter clarified, subtly trying to change the subject. Nat just nodded along to the information and changed subjects.
"I came to thank you for the information. We were able to capture those involved and stop the shipment because of your information."
Nodding with a smile, Peter responded, "I'm glad. If it was a weapon anyone here would want, I doubt they would be put to lawful use."
With a breathy laugh, Nat added, "I would have to agree. Which is why I need to ask you something," Nat reached into her pocket and passed a small piece of paper to Peter. "That is the number to a burner phone I have. If you hear any information about anything I'm about to say, call me. Ok?"
Peter nodded, pocketing the paper.
"Good. Look out for anyone talking about Iron legion or Ultron tech. As well as Chitauri tech," she requested.
With a quirked eyebrow, Peter asked, "Chitauri?"
"The aliens from the battle of New York. Turns out the weapons ring you told us about has been smuggling that as well as your average weaponry," Nat explained.
Wait. Wasn't that what the Vulture had been doing?
"Keep an ear out."
Peter had no time to think about it as Nat told him to text her, downed their drink and left the bar before he could say anything else.
Maybe things were starting to change. If the Avengers were investigating the Vulture's weapons ring then, things were already different. Maybe he was changing things. If he hadn't been there then Clint and Nat wouldn't have found out about the shipment yesterday. So they wouldn't have caught the people or found out about the chitauri tech. Things were starting to add up.
He was changing things.
If he could help the Avengers stop Vulture before he ever became Vulture, he could prevent so much. Things like the ferry incident would never happen. He could make a difference. It was all Peter thought about for the rest of the night.
As Peter later arrived back into his home, he stared out into the chilly night sky. Glancing up at the stars shining in the distance, Peter had a new thought.
Perhaps, he was making a difference.
Perhaps, his existence was starting to mean something in the new words.
Perhaps, he really could save everyone.