Veronica Barnes: Trained to Kill

IX.

     Date: 4/7/2016
     Location: Forest Hills, Queens

"Mr. Stark, what the hell are you doing here?" Peter asked, walking out of his room behind him as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants, Veronica pulling on his NASA shirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants. "Why didn't you just like...like knock on the door or something-"

"I did," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest as they stood in the kitchen. "Nobody came to the door, and I was worried someone had gotten you so I opened it. You know, you really should lock your doors, kid."

Veronica stuck her hands in the pockets of the pajama pants. "I-I'm sorry I stabbed you with a pen, Mr. Stark. But, you've got to admit I was in the right to do so because you broke into the bedroom-"

"We never...you know," Peter spoke as his cheeks grew red.

Tony placed his hand on his forehead, shaking his head. "Listen I do not want to know anything about what you to have done in the past months you have stayed here, but we have bigger issues here."

Peter looked at him confused. "What kind of issues-?"

"Cap has spiraled and now I need a team to fight against him in Berlin this weekend-"

"Mr. Stark, we can't just go to Berlin-"

"Why can't you go to Berlin?"

"I...I got homework..."

Tony stared at the two and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to forget you just said that."

Veronica looked up at him. "Is there...money involved-?"

Tony looked over at her with narrowed eyes. "Oh I see how this is. You're trying to bargain with me, huh-?"

She exaggerated a innocent smile. "Is it working?"

           He tapped his foot against the floor, thinking. "There might be a small bit of money involved..."

"And then there might be a small chance we can push our homework back until after we go to Berlin, because obviously you must really need our help if you're asking a friendly, neighborhood-spider and his girlfriend who is a trained assassin to come help you."

"That...That might just be the weirdest sentence I've ever heard anyone say, and I fought an army of robots just last year-"

Peter nodded. "Right, so how are we telling May-?"

"I'll take care of it," Tony reassured. "You two, pack your bags. Happy is coming to get you in just a few hours because I know have to go get stitches in my side due to a certain person stabbing a pen in my side."

"You barged into the room, unannounced, in the dark! You just better be happy it wasn't a hunting knife," Veronica scowled, crossing her arms.

Date: 4/8/2016
Location: Berlin, Germany

"Wake up," Peter whispered, nudging Veronica slightly. Her head was on his shoulder, earbuds in listening to music.

She straightened up, looking around, light flowing in through the windows of the private jet. "Are we here?"

"Yep," Happy's voice spoke. "You're going to your hotel and you'll rest there until Tony needs you, got it?"

"Aye-aye, captain Happy," Veronica smiled and Happy shook his head, unamused.

The three filed off the plane and got into the back of a black SUV with tinted windows, Happy in the driver's seat. Peter continued hitting buttons in the back curiously, before pulling out his phone and pressing record. "It's Peter and Veronica, April 8th, 2016, in Berlin on a mission for Mr. Stark," he narrated, turning the phone to Happy's face. "Say 'hi', Happy!"

"Put that away!" Happy scowled, turning around and holding his hand up. "If anyone sees that-"

"Nobody will," Peter promised. "Come on, Happy. Say 'hi'...please."

He pressed a button on the console, the window between the backseats and front-seats coming up and silencing them.

                                              ...

            "Holy crap!" Veronica exclaimed, opening the door to her room. "This is freakin' huge!" She wandered around the room, coming to a door. "Wonder what this is for..." she opened it, another room revealing itself. "Jeez, Mr. Stark went all out."

She was exhausted from the ride there on the plane and in the car, and needed to rest up if she was fighting against Captain America the next day. She walked over to one of the many closets and pulled out a white robe before heading into the bathroom to shower. The girl was laying on her bed when there was a knock on the door. She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal Peter also in a robe.

"Did you bring face-masks?" he asked, grinning slightly. "Those ones May bought you on your birthday, you know?"

She shook her head giggling slightly. "Yes, I did."

The door pulled open wider, Veronica stepping out of the way to allow Peter to come in who immediately plopped on the bed, laying flat on his back as Veronica headed over to her bag on the bathroom counter.

She pulled out a group of masks, walking back out to Peter. "Which one do you want? I have coconut, cucumber, honey, or cherry."

He looked over at her, deep in thought. "Coconut."

A smiled formed on her face as she sat the others back down on the counter, grabbing a fuzzy headband with bunny ears on it and heading back to where Peter was still laying on his back. She climbed up behind him, Peter laying his head on her lap as she fastened the headband around his head to hold back his hair.

...

             Veronica was on the bed beside Peter, both wearing face masks with their hair being held back by a fuzzy head band in which May had bought Veronica as part of her birthday gift when she turned 16. There was a knock at the door and Peter stood up, walking over to it, Veronica sitting up on the bed cross-legged, pausing the movie playing on the TV.

Happy stood in the doorway, looking at the two. "What the hell is on your...never mind, I don't wanna know," he looked between the two. "Tony called, you're fighting Cap tomorrow afternoon so rest up and be ready by 11:00 am."

"We will, Happy," Peter told him.

He looked back at Peter. "What...What is on your face, exactly?"

"It's...It's a...a face-mask," he replied in a stutter, slightly embarrassed.

"I have more, Happy, if you'd like to join?" Veronica asked sweetly, holding up the other masks. "I have honey and cucumber left."

"What...no," he shook his head. "Go...go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."

               With that Peter shut the door and locked it, walking back over to the bed and laying down next to Veronica, the girl pushing "play" on the movie and laying back down.