Where’s the kid-?!
(Aricka and Bucky Barnes and Peter Parker)
(Aricka and Bucky remember Peter and they scramble to find him and make sure he’s OK.)
She’s forgotten the kid.
She. Forgot. Tony’s. “Kid.”
Aricka wanted to shake herself. How could she’ve forgotten about Peter Parker? The bouncy, bright, nerdy little kid that practically lived in Tony’s lab.
She’d forgotten the name of the kid behind Spiderman.
“Bucky…” she looks at her husband, who was already on the same page as her.
“We need to find him,” he says, handing her a jacket. “Karli! Watch the kids for a while- mom and I are going out!”
“Okay dad-!” Bucky grabs the key to his motorcycle, and Aricka grabs both their helmets- Bucky’s was solid black, Aricka’s was a dark purple that looked as if it was black. But before they go any further, Bucky gently grabs her arm. “Hey.” Aricka looks up at him. “We don’t know why we forgot him. Don’t go blaming yourself for something out of your control.”
The words sounded so familiar- because she told Bucky that all the time. Aricka shakes her head and leans against him. “He was- what- 18-? When we saw him last? He should be in college. Why would we forget-?”
“All questions we can ask the kid once we find him,” Bucky says, and with that mission in mind, they head to the bike and take off toward the city.
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Peter was tired of being alone. He missed Tony. He missed Ned, and MJ- even though he felt like they were much better off without him-he missed the Avengers.
He missed Aricka and Bucky. Two people who’d been like parents- if he could remember his parents. He checked in on them occasionally- they had so many kids and he remembered when Aricka had introduced him to Sarah, and Kobik and RJ. They were a lot older now. Sarah looked like Captain America, Aricka’s twin brother. RJ looked a lot like Bucky, and there were other kids in the mix as well. Karli, and Dmitri and Emma. There was a guy named Bob too but he wasn’t their kid. Just a friend.
He was walking down the street towards what was now the headquarters of the Thunderbolts*- but he would always know it as Stark Tower, or Avengers Tower. He had seen the new team save the city from the Void- had seen Aricka embrace the guy afterwards.
It had been a while since he’d got one of those.
“Peter-!” He freezes at the voice. “Peter?”
“Hey kid.” Another familiar voice. No- no, everyone forgot. He- Stephen had said- they should have forgotten-
He turns- and there they are. Aricka and Bucky. The three of them stand facing each other for a moment-
And then Aricka steps forward, coming closer to Peter. He’s frozen. Paralyzed. Why can’t he move? He thinks, dazedly.
Aricka reaches out and cups his cheek in her hand. “Peter…” she whispers, and the third time was the charm, apparently, because he falls into her arms, crying. “Kid.. Peter.. it’s okay. I’ve got you..” she cradles his head to her shoulder and hums softly under her breath for a moment.
Bucky steps up after a moment, sets his own hand on top of Peter’s head. “What kind of scrap did you get involved in now, kid?” Peter just shakes his head, burrowing into Aricka’s shoulder further.
“You don’t have to explain it right now,” Aricka says. “Why don’t you come back to the farm with Jamie and I? You can have a room all to yourself and we can reintroduce you to the kids- and Bob. You’ll like him, he’s a sweetheart. He doesn’t always stay at the farm, but he does every so often.”
“I don’t think she’ll take no for an answer, Pete,” Bucky says. Peter nods, resigned to his fate. Aricka carefully pulls his hood up over his head, so he isn’t mobbed by being a “random kid spotted with former Avengers/current Thunderbolts* team members Aricka and Bucky Barnes,” even tucking his hair into place so it didn’t stick out at a funny angle. “Doll, the bike won’t fit the three of us,” Bucky says as they head that direction.
“Why don’t you take Peter to the Tower; it’s not far from here so I’ll walk. And then we can use one of the many cars Tony left behind that Valentina doesn’t still know about.” Bucky nods, and motions to Peter.
“C’mon, kid. You ever rode a motorcycle?” Peter wipes his nose with his jacket sleeve and shook his head no. “Well, today’s your lucky day.” Bucky helps Peter fasten on the helmet Aricka had worn for the ride into the city, and then Peter climbed on the bike behind the former congressman. “Hold on tight, lean when I lean, your feet stay on those pegs, and stay still, understand?” Bucky instructs. Peter nods and wraps his arms around Bucky’s waist. The motorcycle comes to life with a grumbling sound and soon the pair are off, and out of Peter’s peripheral, he sees Aricka waving at them.
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It was a quiet drive back to the farm. Peter had fallen asleep in the backseat, his box of belongings a makeshift pillow. Aricka was in the passenger seat and Bucky was in the front- they found a lone pickup truck amongst the wide variety of cars Tony owned and had texted the man to let him know they were borrowing it, not going into much detail over the phone.
(A/N: is this probably OOC for our beloved billionaire playboy genius philanthropist superhero big brother Tony Stark? Yes. Do I really care? No. My canon my rules.)
“… we lost how many years?” Aricka asks. “He’s 22 now. He was- what- 18? When we reversed the Snap? What happened?”
“I am as much as in the dark as you, sweetheart,” Bucky said, one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding Aricka’s hand. “You can lecture and fuss and mother the kid as much as you want when he wakes up, I promise. But- looking at the kid, this is probably the first time he’s got a decent night’s sleep in who knows how long.”
Aricka nods, a worried look in her eyes. “He’s a kid. Just a kid. I bet he knows why we all forgot about who Spider-Man’s true identity is.”
“Knowing him, he probably made the same kind of self sacrificing, well intentioned, somewhat idiotic move that your brother would’ve done.”
“Hey-! Don’t diss my twin like that-!” She said with a soft laugh.
“If the shoe fits, doll. If the shoe fits.”
**********************************************
Peter woke up with a groggy shake of his head. Aricka was gently rubbing his shoulder, “Hey, kiddo. We’re home.”
He grumbles and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Whatsit- Aricka-?” Confusion clouded his memory.
“Yeah, kiddo, it’s me. You’re safe. I promise.” For the second time that day he found himself leaning forward to hug her again, tears filling his eyes but not quite falling.
“It wasn’t a dream?” Aricka heard the vulnerability in that Remy and squeezed him a little bit tighter.
“No. Not a dream. I’m so sorry we weren’t there, Petey.” The little kiddie version of his name made Peter smile, small though it was.
Only Aricka Rogers-Barnes could get away with calling him that. “I wanted to find you guys right away… but then I- I just felt stuck and…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself right now, kiddo. It’s okay. Why don’t we get you inside, get you a hot shower, some good food in your system, and at least eight hours of sleep, and we can talk about it all tomorrow, hm? The kids have missed you so much even if they don’t remember Peter Parker right now. They talk about Spider-Man all the time.”
That made him grin. “Okay.” Aricka steps back and lets him get out of the truck and they walk inside together- Bucky must’ve gone in when he wasn’t paying attention.
The pair walk in the door and immediately Peter hears a familiar voice. “Bubba Pete?”
He turns, and Sarah Beth is standing there, holding her Spider-Man build a bear that the two of them had made together when he had babysat her once. “Hey- hey, Sarah B,” he says, and she runs over to him. Peter barely has a chance to kneel down before she’s throwing her arms around him, crying.
“Why’d you make us forget? We love you Pip, why did you go?” He hugs her as tightly as possible without hurting her.
“It’s a long story, Sarah, but I’m back, okay? I’m so sorry I didn’t come back sooner and remind you guys of who I am.” He stands up, still holding Sarah, who wraps her legs and arms around him tightly, her head on his shoulder. He turns to see that Aricka and Bucky are still there, silently observing the exchange.
“Hey, Sas, why don’t we get back in bed? Peter will be here tomorrow, I promise. Mama and I need to talk to him anyways, and it’ll be a boring grownup conversation,” Bucky walks over to take the girl from Peter, who reluctantly lets her grip on Peter go, to wrap herself around her dad.
“I wanna ‘nother bedtime story papa bear.”
“One story,” Bucky says as they disappear up the stairs. Aricka walks over to Peter, wraps an arm around his shoulder, and steers him toward the kitchen, where he sat at the table while she made him something to eat.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had a home cooked meal- maybe back before May… he shook his head. He could be sad later. Right now he just wanted to bask in the relief that someone knew him. That someone remembered Peter Parker, not just Spider-Man. “You’ll use the bedroom by Bob, we’ll go shopping this weekend to get you your own things. Personalize your space,” Aricka says. “Do you need to get your gear or-?”
“No, I’ve just been wearing the suit under my clothes,” he says, a bit hesitantly. Aricka clicks her tongue.
“Put it in the wash tonight, we’ll make sure it’s cleaned up before you want to go patrolling again.” He nods, and she sets a plate of food in front of him- smoked sausage, mashed potatoes, and a glass of what looked like homemade sweet tea. “Dig in. There’s plenty more where that came from,” she says. “And I want you to eat until you’re full- seconds and thirds are allowed.”
Peter nods, and for a while the kitchen is silent as he eats- and yes, he had thirds. Aricka knew that his spider metabolism meant he needed anywhere up to 10,000 calories a day, and she wasn’t going to let him be hungry if she could help it. He goes to rinse his dishes, but she waves him off, saying, “we have a chore chart, don’t worry about it tonight. I’ll get you some of Bob’s clothes for tonight- he‘s just a few inches taller than you, it’ll be okay- and you can get a shower and go to bed. Sound good?”
He nods, the idea of an actual bed and not the lumpy mattress he slept on sounding a dream. “Is- is Bob here?” He asks, the idea of meeting this elusive Bob sounding intriguing and yet just a little bit intimidating.
“Yeah, but he’s already asleep, and he’s not had the easiest sleeping patterns of late.” Peter nods in understanding. “You can meet him tomorrow, but let’s get you those clothes.” She disappears for a moment then returns with a bundle of clothing. “Take your time in the shower, Tony made it so that we barely ever run out of hot water. Use any of the toiletries in the bathroom except what’s in the blue shower caddy, that’s Karli’s and she’s really protective of her stuff.”
Peter nods, and disappears into the bathroom. It had a waterfall shower, with a stone background, and just like Aricka said, the water was really hot. He didn’t spend long in there, just long enough to feel clean, and then slid on the hoodie and pajama pants Aricka had given him- it was a bit big on him, the sleeves dangling over his hands, but he made do.
Aricka was still in the kitchen when he emerged, cheeks red from the warmth of the water, and she turned at the sound of his footsteps. “Hey, kid.” She tilts her head. “Ready for bed?” He nods. “C’mon.” She leads the way, explaining what each room in the house was for, and then she opened the door next to Bob’s, as she’d already mentioned. “This is yours. You can borrow another of Bob’s outfits tomorrow and we can go shopping. Sound good?” He nods, exhaustion creeping in like a distant fog. “You get some rest. Don’t worry about waking up early, sleep as long as you need to.” Peter nods, and then suddenly turns around and hugs her.
Aricka doesn’t react, just wraps him up in another warm hug. “We’ll figure it all out, bud.” She kisses his temple. “It’ll all be alright.” He nods, not wanting to cry again so late at night. “Don’t worry about anything. Just get some sleep, and in the morning it’ll all look better.” Another nod. “Love you, little spider.”
A slow smile crept across his face at that. “Love you too, queen Elsa,” he replied, remembering his childish nickname he’d given Aricka after seeing her use her ice powers during the whole thing with the Accords. He steps back and heads into the room, and hears her walking down the hallway. He crawled under the covers, and barely laid his head on his pillow before sleep claimed him.
Tomorrow would be a brand new day.
And for the first time in almost five years, he was actually looking forward to it.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER MASON BENJAMIN PARKER-BARNES-ROGERS-!
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@hybridsheart @hyperionshipping @rosie-the-orca @yeehawselfshipping @letsgofoletsgo @boundbyfangs
