for the birds

tell me why if u feel so inclined :0

i don't even know if this is a complaint so much as an objective genuinely surprising realization. like. for context. i majored in comparative literature. i wrote a master's thesis. i have two degrees!! and THIS is the thing that's truly taking me out?? once when i was in undergrad i wrote a 35 page research paper on child psychology and media in THREE DAYS and it was still easier than this chapter. it's just everything i find HARD about creative writing all rolled up into one neat little scene (little... aka, at LEAST 10k words...)

Summary:

When the front desk had triggered the lockdown and called to say Mecha Man was in the SDN lobby with the Astral Pulse in hand, turning himself in, this wasn’t exactly what she expected. Mecha Man was supposed to be menacing. He was supposed to be feared, intimidating, imposing, a force to be reckoned with both in and out of the suit. Someone you looked at and thought, damn. Now that’s a villain.

When Blazer got to the lobby, all she could think was, damn. That’s just a kid.

The same thought returned to her now, watching the shallow rise and fall of Robert’s chest as he slept in the too-big hospital bed. Around either wrist, thick restraints pinned his arms down to the metal frame of the cot. Under the blanket that was draped over his legs, she knew the same restraints were fixed at his ankles, too.

“Feels like overkill,” she muttered, shaking her head again. Chase huffed a laugh, hunching further in on himself.

“It’s not. Kid’s a scrappy motherfucker, always has been,” he said.

---

“I had scoliosis,” Peter whispered, not looking away from where they’d heard the metal snap. He had gone pale. Bucky was sure he was a few shades lighter, himself. “That’s… that’s what I was gonna say before."

“Yeah?” Bucky asked. He loosened his grip on Peter’s shoulder, but didn’t take his hand away.

“My back still hurts sometimes,” Peter explained quietly. “But that might be because of the swinging. Hard to find a strong enough chiropractor to crack it, you know? Maybe… maybe two thousand tons of concrete would do it, though.” Bucky leveled his gaze at the kid. Peter looked back at him, swallowing hard.

“Let’s call that Plan B, okay?” Bucky suggested.

“Yeah, okay,” Peter mumbled.

---

Or, Peter gets caught in the collapse of a parking garage with a (mildly) concussed Bucky Barnes, and has a nice get-to-know-you sesh with our favorite super soldier while waiting for Tony to find a safe way get them out. Super chill, right? Everything's fine. Oh- and he's been impaled by two rods of rebar and can't move without risking bleeding out. That... complicates things.

Oh, and Peter's been impaled by two rods of rebar and can't move the whole time or he'll risk bleeding out.

So that's a fun little point of tension.