#nerdyselfactivated

Peter was a great kid. Smart, good sense of humor, and hey, he even listened from time to time. 

Not that Tony was supposed to technically be aware his name was Peter, but hey, he could keep a secret, even if that secret was just ‘oh hey I accidentally your secret identity.’

Which was going to be fucking moot now, if he couldn’t get the kid grabbed before things got worse. He’d obviously been hit by the gas that had been released when Tony cracked open the device in his hands, and it was obviously really bad for people. His only guess was that he was protected by his own suit.

Not that it seemed to be helping as he gave it a last look, making sure there was nowhere inside that could be triggered to release anything else, good or bad, and then he hurried over to Peter.

And realized the damn kid couldn’t breathe. 

Fuck. 

He hurried to do what he could, but it seemed no amount of clearing his airways was going to get him anywhere, as the gasps shuddered into silence before he could think to do a last ditch and open the suit.

“God damn it kid. You better be faking me out.”

“Not really. Everything happened so fast and I just… I’m really sorry, Sir.” Peter answered, hanging his head. He’d had one job - An easy one at that. This assignment should have been child’s play for an operative like him - and it’d been going so well until some vigilante had showed up to mess with things. Peter had been forced to run before he’d even gotten a good look at the guy. Of course, it just had to be the one assignment that had the webslinger answering to Steve Rogers, too. Just another day in the life of the Spider.

Peter swallowed, managing a glance up at the HYDRA member before him. He knew he was probably not on the guy’s list of favorite people right now, but it would also be nice if he wasn’t on the bottom of it - Especially considering he had a little bit of a fanboyish respect for the guy. There’s a lot of whispers about the kinds of things Steve had done and it was hard not to admire someone that dedicated. “What should I do?”

Steve pressed his lips thinly. The regret was clear enough in the other man's tone, something Steve used to tell him the failure hadn't been intentional, hadn't been sabotage - at least on the kid's part. Parker had been so eager to see this mission through and while Steve generally dislike using the children he'd seen around... this one had a gift, and he was good at using it. If he could get a job done more quickly and more efficiently (and if he could do it with confidence), then Steve couldn't argue using him. This was just... more evidence that it had been a bad idea after all.

@nerdyselfactivated

"It’s not every day I have a guest" Fey chuckled flashing her Cheshire cat like grin. “I have one question though, why exactly are ya in my neck of the woods?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

He’d felt the need of noise, activity, and the ability to be truly alone in a way that was impossible at the compound, but was oddly possible in a city of millions.

He’d come home, but the walls of his apartment had felt close, spacious as it was. He was restless, and it was the kind of restlessness that wouldn’t allow him to sit still.

It wasn’t only Bucky, and the way lead after lead failed to pan out. It was also the meetings he’d had in Washington. The questions that held veiled accusations. The damn short memories, and the ideas that were just plain wrong.

And so he found himself on this rooftop in Manhattan looking out over vast wealth that lived side by side with dire poverty, remembering living in that kind of poverty himself.

It had rarely felt dire, though, Only when his mother had been sick. Bucky’d had a way of making it feel like things were going to be okay, and now Steve wanted to be able to do the same for Bucky.

He’d known that there was absolutely no reason to expect Bucky to be easy to find, but he hadn’t thought it would be this hard, or take this long. Or, more to the point, he’d thought that after this amount of time--if it took this long--Bucky would have found him.

Had Bucky remembered nothing? Was that why he was so absent? Did he remember, and blame Steve for his fall or his captivity? Steve blamed himself, so he wouldn’t fault him for doing the same. Worse, had something happened to Bucky?

Steve looked out over the city, his hands on the low wall that edged the rooftop, feeling every bit as alone as he’d thought he was looking to be--and finding that it wasn’t what he wanted at all.