#peter 4

“On a scale of one to bucket, how’re you holding up?”

Things were changing, and that was the one constant Steve had found. Things changed. The future was far different than he had ever imagined it being, but in so many ways that was a good thing. Change could rock the world, shake the very foundations you were standing on. But sometimes, you needed that. 

Sometimes he needed that.

So when Tony told him he was going to officially offer the kid a spot on the team, all Steve could think was how good it would be. There was a part of him that was still hesitant, Peter seemed so young. But Steve couldn’t pretend he was untouched by the world, and he hadn’t been so much older when he first enlisted. 

He wished someone had welcomed him back then. Even if they had doubts, even if he looked like a stiff wind would blow him over. “Hey, Peter,” he called out as he stepped into the lab. God, he looked so much like Tony, when he was bent over a project, tongue sticking out while he focused. “Got a minute?” he asked, coming up to stand next to him.