Continuum - Chapter 7 Preview
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“So… um… do you think he’s from HYDRA?” Peter finally asked, his throat tightening when Papa flinched.
“No, I don't, little guy,” Papa answered. “According to JARVIS, this Scott Lang fellow was kind of a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing money from wealthy executives who had cheated their customers and returning it to the customers. He was recently released from prison.”
“Oh,” Peter said, wrinkling his nose. “So… he’s like a cyber cat burglar?”
“Yes, something like that, but he also has plenty of experience as a regular cat burglar too,” said Papa. “And JARVIS also told us that he has a young daughter, one he hasn’t been allowed to see since his release from prison.”
“Okay, so… then where’d he get such cool tech?” Peter asked.
Papa’s jaw tightened, his arm instinctively drawing Dad closer to him. “According to JARVIS, there’s only one person who’s ever developed any kind of shrinking tech. And apparently, he’s no friend of the Stark family.”
“Oh, great,” Peter said, wincing. “Probably someone else that my grandpa managed to piss off?”
Papa let out a short chuckle. “Something like that. Try and sleep now, okay? It’ll help with the jet lag once we get back.”
“Mmm, fine.” Peter burrowed closer, closing his eyes as he absorbed the warmth that Papa radiated like a heater. “But can I ask you just one more thing first? It doesn’t have anything to do with the bug dude.”
“All right, little guy,” said Papa. “What is it?”
“Well…” Peter started, gulping. His request was a long shot at best, but he supposed it didn't hurt to ask anyway. “You know that Irish Festival in Brooklyn that you and Dad are planning on going to on St Patrick’s Day?”
Papa raised an eyebrow, eyeing Peter warily. “Yes? What about it?”
“Well… since it’s on a Friday, and we usually head up to the Compound on Fridays after I’m done with school, I was wondering if it’d be okay if I took Gwen up there with me for the weekend? She’s been wanting to see my new telescope, and according to the star charts we’ve been studying, there’s supposed to be a lot of cool stuff that’ll be visible that weekend, and—and we just kinda wanted to see if we could find some of it, and—”
“We could drive up with Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam, and with Uncle Clint and Auntie Nat and the twins already there we’d be surrounded by most of the team, and not to mention all of the SHIELD agents and the drones, and—”
“And there’s that huge guest room there that never even gets used, and I really want to show her around everywhere, and introduce her to Pietro and Wanda, and she’s always saying that she’s never been upstate, and in the early spring it’s really pretty and stuff with all of the leaves starting to bud, and—”
“Peter!” Papa hissed, glancing furtively down at Dad when he let out a soft whimper. “Little guy, if you’ll let me get a word in here, Dad and I have already talked about this.”
Peter’s head popped up so fast that he wrenched his neck. “Hang on. You did? When?”
“Well, contrary to what you might sometimes think, we’re not completely unaware of the fact that you and Gwen haven't been able to spend much time together recently, so… we’ve already arranged it. Bucky and Sam said it was fine, and Dad’s already spoken to Chief Stacy about it as well.”
“You—he did?” Peter swiped at his watery eyes, so flabbergasted he could barely form words. He’d been ramping himself up for an argument, and now he didn't quite know what to do. “Uhh, when did this happen? Wait, you know what? Nevermind. I guess it doesn’t really matter when. Um… thanks! I—I really—I mean, thanks, Papa.”
“You are welcome,” Papa said, with a rather conspiratorial grin. “Now, will you please try and get some sleep?”
“Uhh, yeah,” Peter said. He resumed his position, unable to keep his wide smile in check. St Patrick’s Day was still three months away, but the thought of getting to spend an entire weekend with Gwen, even if it was under the watchful eyes of most of his family, made him very, very happy.
“Aren’t you gonna try and sleep, Papa?” he asked after a short pause. He knew Dad had been up pacing the hallways again the night before, and that Papa had joined him at some point, so he had to be just as tired.
“Oh, we’ll see,” Papa whispered. “You don't need to worry about me, little guy. I've got you.”
“Uh huh,” Peter murmured. “‘Night.”
It was silly how easily those three little words could relax Peter, almost as much as the steady heartbeat beneath his ear. “I've got you” were the first words that he’d ever heard Papa say to him, after he’d brought him back from the dead in the middle of the desert. Dad had told Peter later on that Papa had been begging Peter to breathe before that, but Peter didn't remember it. Just like he didn't remember most of Dad’s panicked freakout before Papa got there.
Which was perfectly fine with him. He would much rather hold onto his papa’s “I've got you” than the rest of the pure hell he and Dad had endured inside that cave, the first level of apparently many to come.
The cave. The streets of Queens. Obi and Killian’s Miami bunker. The Compound’s lake. The movie theatre. The invisible HYDRA bunker.
Six different levels of hell, all of which almost took Peter’s life or the life of one or both of his dads.
And now, Dad was being tormented in his dreams with a seventh, the worst of them all.
Please, Peter thought as sleep started to pull him under. Please, just leave us alone.
The full chapter will post on Monday, October 12th 😊
