The Itsy Bitsy Spider 23
I have food poisoning!! Woe is me!! But, I am updating for you all because I’m a horrible person who misses deadlines HAHAHAHA!!!!
"This is it!" Peter pointed down to a building they were flying over. If he wasn't scared out of his mind, he would be so impressed by Hope and her wings. "Okay, I'm bringing us down." Slowly Hope lowered them to the roof, setting Peter on top of it before growing to her natural size. "I didn't realize how small they made you," she told the boy who stood little higher than her foot. "I've gotten kind of used to it, actually." He smiled and shrugged, then turned to the door. "Can we get outta here before we get seen, though?" Hope smiled and made a motion towards the door. "You're the one that lives here, so show me the way." The minute Peter started moving though, she knew it was a bad decision to allow him to lead the way. She had to wait at least five minutes before she even took a step. It was going so slow. "Peter!" The boy's head snapped up and he smiled when a blue suit came at them, landing a good distance away from the small boy. "Oh my god, Peter, are you alright? We heard the lock down code and I didn't know what was going on, then Tony called me...." She fell to her knees, face mask popping up as she bent over to look him over. "Oh, honey, what happened to your side?" "It's nothing, Pepper, I promise! It's already healing, see? Scab's almost gone." He showed her the thin line that was visible under the scab. "I'm all right." Pepper's eyes shone with tears as she scooped the boy into her cupped hands. "When I heard you were kidnapped, I feared the worst...I thought...Never mind what I thought, I'm just glad you're safe. You don't know how much Tony and I love you, Peter." She sniffled and pressed him close to her cheek. Peter blushed and grabbed onto Pepper in the only sort of hug he could do. He couldn't wait to get to his normal size so he could hug everyone who helped him. "Thank you," he managed to get out. "As much as I love these mushy lifetime moments, I think we'd better get inside." Hope's head swiveled back and forth as she looked around. Pepper nodded and stood slowly. That was when Scott appeared from the ground, shooting up like the proverbial weed." Hey there," he waved. "Let's go, Scott." Hope pushed his shoulder to the door and they all ran inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pepper was currently out of her suit and sitting on the couch, Peter on the arm looking around with a nostalgic smile on his face. Suddenly her wrist bands lit up and Tony's very breathy voice came out of one. "Pep, you're gonna have to get out of there now! I really screwed the pooch on this one, and Big Bird got away, but he knows where you are! I'm gonna have you contact Clint, tell him to let Laura know you're on your way to his farm. Piss Ant, you tell Hank where you're going. Be in touch right after I kick this chicken to the ground." Peter's face went white and he jumped onto Pepper's shirt as she stood up, clinging to the material for dear life. "Tony, no! You can't go anywhere near him without the team!" Pepper said, peeling Peter off her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere, dear. He has my reactor. I..I let my guard down for one second and he tore it out. The suit's out of juice. Hon, I just need you to make sure you and Peter stay safe. I know I promised I wouldn't put you in danger, and here I am doing it again. Just go as fast as you can, Happy's coming to pick me up, and we'll go back to the compound so I can get another power source. Just, promise me you'll be careful." "I promise, Tony. And you make me the same deal, you hear me? Morgan still needs you." She was already tapping her bracelets to let her suit crawl out of them, placing Peter down near her chin as the bots closed around her body. "You got it, Pep. After this, we're gonna need a long vacation. Bring both the kids and just go somewhere we can have fun." Pepper didn't want to correct him that they only had one child, because they didn't at this point. Peter actually felt like theirs and she liked it. "You got it, Tony. I love you." "Love you too." That was the last of their conversation. She turned to see Scott and Hope getting their suits ready. "You're coming with us, right?" Hope shook her head. "No. You go, we'll hold off these guys, give you a head start." "Yeah," Scott added. "What she said, right honey?" The woman simply rolled her eyes. "I'll send you the address as soon as I'm done talking with Clint." The face plate closed around her and Peter, the boy fitting snugly against the woman's face. "You ready, Pete?" He nodded, face still red from what Tony had said, and she climbed the windowsill and took off, grimacing when Peter's scream echoed in the helmet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May heaved a tired sigh as she exited the elevator and got her key out. Already she missed Peter now that she knew he was alive. She had the number to the compound, but she didn't want to bother them, especially if Peter was in 'training' to control his new abilities. The one they called Happy had been calling her a lot, though. She didn't mind him. He was actually kind of handsome. The woman unlocked her door and walked in. And saw two people in weird suits standing in her living room. "Who are you?" she asked, slowly making her way into the apartment and grabbing a vase, holding it above her head. "I know Iron Man and I will call him!" "Miss, calm down," the winged-wait, wings!?-came forward, her hands up. "We're friends of Tony's too. We're here helping Peter." "How can I confirm that?" She raised the vase more when the man lifted his face plate and smiled. "Can I call Happy?" "Of course, yeah, go ahead. Would you like me to call him for you?" The man asked, giving her a lopsided grin. "No...I'll call him." She pulled out her phone and dialed the number, still holding her 'weapon'. "May? What's wrong?" Happy's voice came over the phone, his worried tone making butterflies in her stomach. "There are two odd people in my apartment that claim to know Tony, as well as Peter. One has wings." "Hey Happy," the man waved at the phone. "They're good. But you have to get out of there, May! Some bad people took Peter, but we were able to get him back. Pepper has him and is on her way to Clint's farm with him. I'll send you the address and you get here as quick as you can. You need to leave the city just in case this asshole has something on you." The winged woman cursed as she looked out the window, seeing a blue camarro screech to a halt in front of the building. "Looks like we're out of time." She turned back to May. "Miss, my name is Hope Van Dyne, and what you are about to see may seem weird to you, but know you are safe." She then looked to the man. "Ready Scott?" "Oh you know it." His face plate went down and he pressed a button on his hand and disappeared! "Where did he go?" May asked in a freaked out tone, raising the vase higher. "He's still here, he's just the size of an ant right now. It's a lot to take in, but know we're here to protect you. Now, go over to the window and we'll get you out of here." The woman did as she was told, cautiously making her way to the window, weapon still in hand. "Just listen to what they say and you'll be fine. I'm picking up Tony, but once we have what we need, we'll be heading to the farm as well. Just wait for me." May was nodding when suddenly she felt herself lifted and screamed when she was passed through the window by an unseen force. She fell, screaming the entire way, until she landed in Scott's arms, clutching his neck. "It's okay, I gotcha." When she had her bearings, May started smacking him. "Never do that again!" "Ow! Ow! Okay, okay! Stop hitting me!" Scott blocked every one of her strikes. When she moved to hit him again, that's when he noticed the man coming at them, fist glowing and an angry look on his face. "Down!" He shoved the hysterical woman to the side and shrunk to avoid the sparking punch aimed at him, then grew to kick him and shrunk again. He played this game until the attacker grew tired of it and headed towards the wide eyed woman, determination in his eyes. Herman flicked his wrist at her, sending a spark of energy towards her, watching as it zapped her arm just enough to attach the tracker Phineas had given him before he left. And just in time. "Oh no you don't!" Scott grew and grabbed the man's denim coat collar and threw him back, adding insult to injury with a kick to his solar plexus. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's wrong to hit women?" The only response he got was a groan. "Miss, are you all right?" May nodded shakily. "Yeah....yeah, I'm okay..." She still had the phone tight in her grip, hearing Happy's voice calming her down. "I'm okay, Happy. Scott was here. I'm going to my car now. I'll see you there." And she hung up, turning to Scott again. "Thank you, for everything." "You're welcome, Ma'am. It's all part of the job." She smiled and ran to her car. A second later, Scott answered an incoming call. "Listen here, you little shit, I saw her first and you'll leave your grubby mitts offa her, you hear me?" "Happy?!" Scott answered in a shocked voice. "Yeah, it's Happy. And you'll leave May alone, or so help me, there will be no unshrinking from where I'll send you. Got it?" "Um...yeah, I got it...." Scott gulped as the line went dead. "That was weird." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glancing at his watch, Tony had to tap his foot in impatience. He had watched Adrian Toomes take off in the direction of his wife what felt like two hours ago and here he was, still waiting for Happy to turn up. He knew it was a long drive from the compound, but this was ridiculous. Suddenly, he saw a black car speeding to where he was, spinning out on the pavement until it stopped right next to him. "Sorry I'm late, boss. But, had a few things to pick up." "Daddy!" Morgan's smiling face came around Happy's grump. "Really?" Tony asked as he went around to the passenger side. "You do realize I'm going to have to go back to the compound, right? To pick up another nano-reactor?" Bruce suddenly appeared, looking a little ragged. "Scott actually called us not too long after your fight with Toomes, so Happy thought to bring a couple, just in case." He patted the case next to him. "And this is why I so would have married you over Pepper, but you didn't accept that night when I asked." Tony slid in and took the case from the scientist's hands. "Did you grab the stealth-" "We grabbed everything." Happy told him, starting to drive. "And, if you recall, which you probably won't, you were so drunk that night you asked a lamp post to marry you." He glanced back. "Morgan, sweetheart, you're gonna have to buckle up. Uncle Happy has to drive like a maniac." The little girl nodded and she did as she was told. "Is Peter okay?" Tony's heart leaped a little at that question. "Yes, honey. Peter is just fine. We're gonna go see him, okay? He's at Uncle Clint's farm." Or, at least he hoped he was. His bots had just finished crawling into the new nano-chamber. He lifted his shirt and placed it onto the electromagnets in his chest. He'd opted to keep them in from his first reactor for future designs. "What was going on at the compound?" he asked as the last of his suit stored itself. "Well....Justin Hammer was in the process of....blowing up parts of the building to get in." Bruce said lowly. "What? And you just left him there with all my research?" Tony was agreeably angry now. "Well, it's not like we had a choice," the scientist said nodding at Morgan. "Plus I'm sure Friday has all of your files locked down in an impenetrable system." "Fri, lock down all my files and seal the file room," he said to his phone. "Already done, Boss. Justin Hammer has not gotten past my defenses, but he has done considerable damage to the inner frame work." Tony sighed. "And this is why we can't have anything nice. All right, keep him out as long as you can. I'm on my way." Happy put a hand to his chest. "Not without the team you're not," he told the billionaire. "Last time you fought Hammer, you had Rhodey to help you, and you two barely made it out of that one alive." "Okay, one you're exaggerating. Two, my tech has gotten so much better since then. And three, where are we gonna stay?" "We could go home," Morgan said lowly in the silence of the car. "Yeah, but it's too far. Remember how Uncle Happy said it was too far?" "Maybe for you," Tony said. "So, we'll wait for the team to be done with their little side quest, gain the experience points and we'll all go face the dragon in the cave together." "Thank you," Happy stated and they drove in silence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pepper saw the farm in the distance and heaved out a sigh. Getting the address from Happy, she had asked Friday to plot out the shortest flight plan. Nonetheless it took them almost five hours to get to the safe house and she was sure Peter was uncomfortable being pressed against hard metal and her chin. "A call is coming in from Ms. Laura Barton," Friday informed her. "Answer," she said, wincing when her speaking made for an even tighter space for the teen. "Peter, are you okay?" "I'm fine, Pepper. Just a little cramped." the boy groaned out after the vibrations surged through him. "Mrs. Stark? Is that you coming towards us?" A female voice came over the phone line connected to her suit. "Yes. You must be Laura, right?" The suit automatically slowed its propulsion and she landed softly on the grass. A dark haired woman came out of the large house, worry on her face as she looked over the blue suit. "Mrs. Stark?" Pepper touched her bracelets which held her suit and felt it crawl over her skin. Still a new and weird feeling to her. The minute the bots withdrew from her face, she reached out a hand to catch Peter as he dropped. "Hello, Laura. Call me Pepper, please. It's nice to finally meet you." The blonde climbed the stairs, looking at the beautiful porch, so much like her own home. "You have a gorgeous house." "Oh, uh thank you. And I assume this little guy is Peter, right?" Laura bent down and smiled at the boy sitting in Pepper's palm. "Um, hello, Mrs. Barton. It's, uh, nice to meet you." Peter blushed under the very pretty woman's gaze. "It's Laura. Any friend of Clint's is a friend of mine, especially the ones who protect the world." She had to love this boy, from his red face to his manners. If only Clint would learn from someone. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Laura. Tony and Clint talk about you a lot, so it's nice to see a face. Are your kids home?" Pepper tried to see past her into the house. "Fortunately, no. They went over to a friend's to play some kind of video game. I don't know who's worse, them or my husband." The two women shared a laugh over that. "Please, come in," Laura stepped aside and let the woman in the door. "This place is completely off anyone's map, besides the Avengers, of course. So, you're safe here." "Thank you so much. We really do appreciate you opening your home to us like this." "Like I said, any friend of Clint's is a friend of mine. And speaking of Clint, he said he was on his way home. The others told him to leave and come here." "Clint also said something about Dr. Banner coming as well." She liked the shy doctor, and thought he was a perfect match for Natasha. It was just a shame they wouldn't be able to have their own children. They could always adopt. But, she didn't know what the 'other guy' would think of children running around. "Yes, Dr. Banner will be coming here, along with Tony and Morgan. And, I think three more people." Pepper didn't have a chance to ask Scott and the other woman if they were going to join her. Laura's face fell a little. "Oh." Was all she said. She liked this house and didn't want it being blown up by some psychopath. "It's okay. Trust me, Tony would only allow someone he trusts to work on Peter." The only thing was, he had to trust this Pym guy, and she didn't know him. So, she was hoping that she didn't just lie to this woman.
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