Peter & Bucky Are Pals

Chapter 20

The next day, Peter heeded Bucky’s orders and got up to go to school. He stopped in the medbay before heading up to the common floor, lingering by Bucky’s bed and brushing a few residual cat hairs from Bucky’s metal arm. Steve wasn’t there, which meant that someone (probably Natasha) had convinced him to take care of himself and get some rest. Speaking of the devil, when Peter plodded into the common kitchen, she was already there, handing him a bowl of warm porridge and breakfast sausage.

“Eat quickly,” she said. “It’s better if we get there early, before the halls get crowded.”

Peter blinked at her, and she steered him to his seat at the table, nudging his hand to prompt him to eat. He complied, still looking at her with confusion.

“I’m walking you to school,” she elaborated, lifting an eyebrow. “Did you think Barnes would make you go alone?”

“I… I guess…”

“Eat,” Natasha said. “Did you leave your backpack in your room?”

Peter looked around. “Oh. Yeah, I forgot it.”

“I’ll go get it. Try to finish by the time I’m back.”

Peter began shoveling porridge into his mouth, taking brief pauses for bites of sausage as Natasha headed off to the elevator. He was almost finished by the time she returned; his backpack was slung over her shoulder. It made her look surprisingly young, Peter thought to himself. If he caught a glimpse of her at school, he wouldn’t look twice. He scarfed down the rest of his food and brought his plate to the sink before taking his backpack and following Natasha back to the elevator.

“I hope you have an uneventful day at school, Mr. Parker,” JARVIS said kindly as the doors opened to the lobby.

“Thanks,” Peter replied. “I hope so too.”

He and Natasha strode across the tile floor and stepped out onto the sidewalk; it hit Peter suddenly that he hadn’t been outside in weeks. He hadn’t gone so long without patrolling since May had… He pushed the thought away, hurrying to keep up with Natasha. The sound of traffic was harsh on his ears after so long without it, and he lifted a hand to massage his temple, wincing as a taxi’s horn blared. Natasha took off the hat she was wearing and tugged it over his head. It muffled the noise slightly; he gave her a grateful look. She was so unwaveringly observant, he thought. He didn’t know how she did it.

The walk didn’t take long at their brisk pace, and Natasha crossed the road with Peter, following him up the concrete steps to the school. He scrunched up his brow when she walked inside with him; luckily the halls were nearly empty.

“Tony asked me to check with the secretary to make sure your absences are cleared,” she said in explanation.

He nodded, trailing after her as she marched into the secretary’s office. The secretary looked up; her eyebrows did a little dance on her forehead when she saw him.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Parker. Do you have a note from your doctor or… something?”

“I do,” Natasha said smoothly, pulling out a folded piece of paper and handing it to the secretary. “Three broken ribs and a concussion, but he’s healed up now.”

The secretary made a sound that was somewhere between sympathy and annoyance.

“Is everything in order?” Natasha asked, and the woman nodded, clicking away at her computer.