Amelia had walked back into the building soaking wet. She was handed a towel and escorted back to the same office space where Tony and Nat now were again. Everyone was frantic, already working to relocate Bucky and Steve. She kept her mouth shut. When she received the news that Secretary Ross was on the way, she knew things weren't going to end well.
"I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Ross asked Tony. He had yet to look at Amelia.
"We will," Tony reassured. "GSG 9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it."
"You don't get it, Stark," he replied. "It's not yours to handle. It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this."
"What happens when the shooting starts?" Nat asked. "What, do you kill Steve Rogers?"
"If we're provoked," he answered. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math."
"All due respect, you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets, Ross," Tony reasoned. "You gotta let us bring them in."
"How would that end any differently than last time?"
"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt," he retorted. "72 hours, guaranteed."
Ross looked from Tony to Amelia then, narrowing his eyes at the woman before turning back to her brother. It was clear to her at that moment. He knew.
"You know, your sister helped them escape," Ross announced. All eyes were on her now. "Should I trust her with this too?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Tony asked, his face confused. Amelia looked at him, trying to figure out if he was mad or just disappointed. Maybe both.
"Just because I was outside with them doesn't mean I helped them. He bested me," Amelia defended. "I was thrown into the water and by the time I got out, they were gone."
"There were witnesses," Ross explained. "They saw you let them go."
"And if I did?" she questioned.
"Then you'd be a criminal too, Miss Stark," he threatened. The man began to walk out of the room. "Consider this a warning. You and your brother find the men you let go, or so help me, I will lock you up with them. 36 hours. Barnes. Rogers. Wilson."
"Thank you, sir," Tony said, but his face was horrified.
"Tony, I-"
"No, Ames," he cut her off. He took a deep breath and put his head in his hands for a moment. She was surprised when his anger seemed to dissipate. "I don't like that you did it, but you've always been a team player. Help me bring him in, and we don't have to talk about this again. I'm not mad."
"Why are you clutching your chest like you're about to die, then?" Nat asked.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Amelia whispered. She moved to take her brother's hand. Thankfully, he took hers back and squeezed. "I told Steve that if he doesn't prove Barnes innocent, I'll drag their asses right back here myself."
"Well, that's good to know. 36 hours," he sighed. "Or Ames is locked up. Jeez."
"We're seriously understaffed," Nat remarked.
"Oh, yeah. It'd be great if we had a Hulk right about now," Tony said, looking up at Nat from his chair. "Any shot?"
"You really think he'd be on our side?" she questioned with a pained smile.
"No."
"I have an idea," Nat said.
"Me, too," Tony replied. "Where's yours?"
"Downstairs," Nat answered, narrowing her eyes. "Although he won't be happy with Amelia. Where's yours?"
Tony looked up at his sister.
"Want to take a trip to Queens?"
-
May Parker was a lovely woman. When the Starks came knocking on her door, she had let them in and offered them coffee. Amelia, though, had been a good guest and brought three premade drinks and the woman graciously accepted one of them. While Tony and May had sat on the couch, she had taken the armchair next to her brother.
"Hey, May," Peter Parker called out to his aunt as he entered their apartment. If he looked up, he would have noticed both of the Starks staring right at him, but he was too caught up in his own world.
"Hey," May replied as Peter walked further into the apartment. "How was school today?"
"It was okay," he replied. "This crazy car parked outside."
He looked over, finally. His eyes widened tenfold as he spotted the siblings. Amelia gave him a small wave while Tony just looked at him smugly.
"Oh, Mr Parker."
"Um... What are you doing..." the kid stammered. "Hey! Uh, I'm Peter."
"Tony."
"Amy."
"What are you doing here?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"It's about time we met," Tony said. "You've been getting my emails, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," the kid lied, although he had no idea what Tony was talking about. "Regarding the..."
"You didn't even tell me about the grant," May cut in, her face looking so proud for her nephew.
"About the grant," he reiterated.
"The September Foundation," Amelia added. She felt bad for the guy, being bombarded with this all at once. "Remember when you applied?"
"Yeah."
"We approved," Tony announced. May was basically jumping out of her seat. "So now we're in business."
"But you didn't tell me anything," the woman sighed. "What's up with that? You keeping secrets from me now?"
"I just know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know..." Peter trailed off. He looked back to the siblings. "Anyway, what did I apply for?"
"That's what I'm here to hash out," Tony stated.
"Okay. Hash it out, okay," he stammered. Tony leaned in towards the kid's aunt.
"It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt," he remarked. Amelia slapped his arm.
"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know?"
"This walnut date loaf is exceptional."
"Let me just stop you there," Peter cut in. He and Amelia were probably feeling equally uncomfortable. "Is this grant got money involved or whatever? No?"
"Yeah, it's pretty well funded," Amelia answered him. "Look who you're talking to. Can we have five minutes with him?"
"Sure," May agreed.
The Starks followed Peter to his bedroom, Tony locking the door behind him which would have been really dodgy behaviour in any other circumstance. The first thing he did was spit out the food in his mouth into Peter's bin.
"As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad," he commented. Then, he turned to look at the old computer on Peter's desk. "Whoa, what have we here?"
"Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?" Amelia asked.
"Uh, the garbage, actually."
"You're a dumpster diver?" she inquired. "No shame in that. Means you're resourceful. Good find."
"Yeah, I was..." Peter trailed off once more. He really wasn't good with his words. "Anyway, look, um, I definitely did not apply for your grant-"
"Ah-ah!" Tony cut him off. "Me first."
"Okay."
"Quick question of the rhetorical variety," he started. Tony pulled out his phone and played a video showing a kid in a red in blue costume swinging through the streets of New York. "That's you, right?"
"Um, no," Peter lied. "What do you mean?"
"Yeah. Look at you go," Tony remarked. In the video, Spider-boy managed to stop a car from colliding with a bus. "Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills. "
"That's all on YouTube, though, right? That's where you found that?" Peter tried to cover his tracks. "Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer."
"Mmm-hmm".
"It's like that video. What is it?"
"Oh, you mean like those UFOs over Phoenix?"
"Kid, we've fought aliens before, that's not new or exciting," Amelia chuckled right as Tony pushed open the trapdoor that led to his attic space. The blue and red costume came tumbling down.
"Oh, what have we here?" Tony questioned. Peter grabbed the suit and threw it into his tiny closet.
"Uh..."
"You're the Spider-ling," Amelia commented. "Crime-fighting spider. You're Spider-Boy?"
"Spider-Man," he corrected.
"Not in that onesie, you're not," Tony re-corrected.
"It's not a onesie," he huffed and moved back across his room. Amelia pulled his suit back out and handed it to Tony. "I don't believe this. I was actually having a really good day today, Mr Stark, Miss Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there... and Algebra test, nailed it."
"Who else knows? Anybody?" Tony asked.
"Nobody."
"Not even your unusually attractive aunt?"
"Tony!" Amelia chided her brother.
"No. No. No!" Peter denied frantically. "If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out."
"You know what I think is really cool?" Tony questioned. He threw a small cylinder at the boy, who caught it without even looking. "This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?"
"I did," he replied and threw it back in his closet.
"Climbing walls, how you doing that? Adhesive gloves?"
"It's a long story. I was-"
"Lordy!" Tony exclaimed, looking through the dark goggles of the suit. "Can you even see in these?"
"Yes, I can."
"I'm blind!" Tony mocked. Peter pulled the suit back away from him.
"I can see in those. Okay? It's just that when whatever happened, happened..." he sighed. "It's like my senses have been dialled to 11. There's way too much input, so they just kinda help me focus."
"You know, I could give you something better," Amelia told him. "You're in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom, hundred-point restoration. That's why we're here."
"Why're you doing this?" Tony asked as the kid sat down on his bed. "I gotta know, what's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?"
"Because..." he started. "Because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months. I read books, I build computers. Yeah, I would love to play football, but I couldn't then, so I shouldn't now."
"Sure, because you're different," Amelia remarked.
"Exactly," he sighed. "But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not. When you can do the things that I can, but you don't... and then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."
"So you wanna look out for the little guy, you wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?" Tony questioned, his demeanour more serious now.
"Yeah, just looking out for the little guy," Peter agreed. "That's what it is."
Tony gave his sister a quick glance, hope in both their eyes, before moving to sit next to Peter on the bed. He gave him a clap on the shoulder.
"You got a passport?"
"No, I don't even have a driver's license."
"You ever been to Germany?"
"No."
"Oh, you'll love it," Tony remarked.
"I can't go to Germany," Peter denied.
"Why?"
"I got homework," he reasoned. Amelia snorted.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that," she chuckled.
"No, I'm being serious," he replied. "I can't just drop out of school."
"It's not called dropping out, it's called taking a day off," she corrected. She moved to open his bedroom door. "Might be a little dangerous. Better tell your aunt we're taking you on a field trip."
As she touched the handle, Peter shot webbing from his wrist, trapping her hand between the door and the wall.
"Well, would you look at that," Tony said in a sarcastic tone. Peter pointed his finger at Amelia.
"Don't tell Aunt May."
"Alright, Spider-Man," she smiled at the kid. She released her fire, burning the webbing off of her hand. "Let's get you a new suit."
-
As promised, Peter got a new suit. When Tony had approached her months prior about some spider kid swinging around Queens, they had worked together to design the anonymous boy a new suit with the same material that Amelia used for her own.
Amelia was frustrated now, both at herself and at Steve. She had told him to get away, to take Bucky and find a way to prove his innocence. What she didn't expect was for him to gather allies as if preparing to fight a war. Although, now, they were. She was frustrated at herself for still wanting to fight on both sides. Ross had forced her to one side, and of course, she would support her brother through anything, but she didn't want to hurt her friends.
In a nightmare, Steve had once told her it was all she could do. Maybe he had been right. But she didn't want that. She never wanted to see him become a fugitive. She never wanted to make Wanda feel like she was a danger to the world. She never wanted to feel like a traitor to every single person she loved.
Rhodey, Vision, Nat and T'Challa had met them at the airport in Germany. The king hadn't been too impressed with Amelia, but he told her that he was grateful she was helping now. She was, to some extent, although their motives were different. He wanted to kill. She wanted to save.
When Steve had made for his getaway chopper, Amelia, Tony and Rhodey had swooped down to stop him. No doubt the rest of his team was gathered around, including Wanda. Amelia would refuse to fight her if it came down to it. There was no way she would hurt the girl she had grown to love like a daughter.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," Tony remarked, retracting his helmet from his head. "Don't you think that's weird?"
"Definitely weird," Rhodey responded.
"Hear me out, Tony," Steve said to the man, although his eyes were on Amelia as if speaking directly to her. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."
T'Challa sprung in then in his Black Panther suit, his movement agile and quiet.
"Captain," he greeted.
"Your Highness."
"Anyway, Ross gave us 36 hours to bring you in," Tony continued. "That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"
"You're after the wrong guy."
"Your judgement is askew," Tony retorted. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him," Steve replied. "I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."
"Steve..." Natasha called out. Steve turned to look at her as she moved to stand beside Amelia. "You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?"
"All right, I've run out of patience," Tony cut them off. "Underoos!"
Donning his new suit, Spider-Man descended from above, twisting his webbing around Steve's hands and shield, stealing it while restraining him at the same time. He landed in a brilliant superhero pose atop a nearby car.
"Nice job, kid," Amelia complimented. Steve gave her a look.
"Thanks," he replied. "I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just... New suit. It's nothing, Miss Stark. It's perfect. Thank you."
"Yeah, you don't really need to start a conversation," Tony cut in, while Amelia simply smiled encouragingly.
"Okay," Peter agreed. He turned to Steve. "Cap. Captain. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."
"Yeah, we'll talk about it later," Tony cut him off again. "Hey, everyone. Good job."
"You've been busy," Steve observed.
"And you've been a complete idiot," Tony retorted. "Dragging in Clint... 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. Letting Amelia help you escape. Now Ross has threatened to lock her up too!"
"I..." Steve started. He looked to Amelia. There was no malice in her eyes. She made her choice, she accepted the consequences. Now it was down to her what she chose to do next.
"I'm trying to keep..." Tony sighed, not letting Steve get another word in. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."
"You did that when you signed," Steve said. Tony's face twisted in disbelief and anger.
"All right, we're done," he huffed. "You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, now, because it's us or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite. Come on."
Steve stared at Tony for a second before lifting his hands above his head. An arrow shot clean through the webbing that was restraining him. At the same time, a whole ass man materialised in front of Peter, kicking him in the face and taking the shield. The new recruit handed it back to Steve. Amelia sighed.
"I guess this is it."