The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 58

"I have a message from Tones," Natasha said as she peered into Peter's room, where the two children were already preparing to sleep. Peter looked up hopefully, - the first thing that occurred to him was that Tony had called her, which would mean he and Pepper got away from Teresa - but Nat just waved a piece of paper. Disappointed, he lowered his head again and felt Michelle's piercing gaze on him. "You each have to sleep separately, or when something happens, only with protection, because he's still young to be a grandfather -"

"For God's sake, Nat," Peter groaned, feeling his face flush, "was this necessary?"

She grinned and crumpled the paper into a ball. "I'm just passing on a message, and I promised to keep an eye on you."

"And that means what? That you will sleep with us here?"

"No, definitely not," she grinned. And then she winked at them. "Don't forget we're sleeping next door."

"It really can't be forgotten," Peter assured her. "Why on earth should anything always happen when a girl sleeps with a boy or a boy with a girl?"

"Well, you'll probably remember Dad's escapades when he was in his youth... I'm judging you by myself, so..." She shrugged. Peter muttered what sounded like a badly suppressed swear word, and Natasha had to laugh.

"I don't want Michelle to sleep alone," Peter emphasized. He had planned this from the beginning when they thought Teresa would come for him. He wanted to have Michelle with him to make sure Teresa wouldn't hurt her. He was on the ground now, but when Nat left, he wanted to lie down with Michelle, knowing that she was probably a little angry with him for forcing her to keep quiet about his conversation with his sister, so he hoped she wouldn't kick him out of bed.

"I know that. And no long nights out, we go to school in the morning," Nat reminded them, and Peter didn't miss the word we. So that meant she and Bucky would probably accompany them again. Friday localized Teresa, so he was slowly coming up with a plan to get out of school discreetly and go after them to save them. The presence of Nat and Bucky made it a little complicated, but he knew he would work it out. It had to. He had to get to them in time. "Good night and sweet dreams," she wished them and waited for the two of them to crawl under the blanket. She wanted to go, but she couldn't resist coming to them and giving them a kiss on the forehead. Michelle must have been surprised, Peter giggled, so Nat gently kicked him in the shin on the way out. "Shut up. Aunt Nat has a loving moment, so don't ruin it."

"Good night," Michelle said.

"Good night," Peter added, sending her an airy kiss.

She smiled at them and turned off the light. She closed the door, then headed back to the living room, where bored Bruce sat with a glass of wine, switching between the canals. When she entered the place next to him as quietly as a cat, he turned off the television and turned to her with a smile. "Have you put our children to sleep already?" He joked, but despite trying to have a cheerful tone, a sad smile played on his face. She snuggled up to him.

"Of course, Dad. They're sleeping like babies," she assured him. They spent the rest of the evening just the four of them, Loki evaporated somewhere, and Sam, Steve, and Bucky left for the base but planned to come back later so everyone could be there if something went wrong. Peter and Michelle were learning, Bruce announced that he was going to cook dinner, and Natasha couldn't miss the spectacle, so she sat at the table and watched him turn around the kitchen and prepare something good for them. She recognized in him how calm he was, the cooking apparently reassuring him. She was surprised, how come she hadn't noticed it before? But she felt that at that moment she fell in love with him even more if she that was possible.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair. "We would be great parents," he whispered then, quite modestly, of course.

She had to smile. She closed her eyes and took his hand. "Maybe. But being a cool uncle and an aunt isn't bad either," she said, trying not to think about what if. Because life is not what we want, but what we have. And with that, we have to learn to live.

•••

Peter spent most of the night holding Michelle in his arms and figuring out a plan. He tried to figure out all the risks that could arise, he also figured out how to solve them and how to prevent them. Before Michelle fell asleep, she wrapped herself around him and pleaded with him if he would change his mind. He didn't change his mind.

She grabbed his hand urgently. "Then promise me you'll be careful. Promise me you'll be back."

Of course, he promised her that. Could he not promise her that? It was slowly dawning outside the windows, he was looking at Michelle's sleeping face, and with the dumpling in his throat, he realized that this might be the last time. A lot of things could go wrong. And if Teresa dragged him away... she would never see any of them again.

He was unusually quiet on the way to school, which of course did not go unnoticed by Natasha. He told her he was just sleepy, and she snorted and said something about the fact that it must be a nightmare. Peter glanced quickly at Michelle, who almost desperately burned a hole to the top of Natasha's head with her gaze as if trying to instill an idea in her, but saying nothing. He knew it was hard for her, and he was grateful she didn't say anything.

•••

Michelle sat in class, her gaze burning for three hours, the empty space where Peter always sat. But he wasn't there now. He ran after his sick sister to save his parents. Alone.

When she imagined what might happen to him there, her throat tightened with anxiety. She didn't pay attention in class, just scribbled in a notebook, and her mind filled with inappropriate thoughts and ugly images. When it was unbearable and fear paralyzed her, she raised her hand and asked if she could go to the bathroom. She ran down an empty hallway, but instead of toward the toilets, she headed for the main door of the building. It was foolish to be silent, she knew it from the beginning, and now she cursed herself for not doing something before. Maybe it would stop him. The Avengers must have known about it. They promised Tony and Pepper that they would protect him, and she would betray them like that at the first opportunity.

She sobbed softly, opened the door, and ran outside. She knew where Natasha and Bucky would be, sitting on a bench not far from school. When they saw her running, they immediately jumped to their feet, already suspecting that something had happened. Otherwise, she wouldn't run after them in that state, in the middle of the hour.

"What happened, Michelle?" Bucky asked immediately as she ran to them, breathing.

"Peter," she breathed, sniffing. "I'm... so sorry. He... went to her. To Teresa. Friday told him... where to find her."

Natasha cursed and immediately pulled out her phone to call the rest of the team. Bruce was home so he could tell them where Teresa was. Mainly to get there in time.

"I'm so sorry," Michelle whispered, staring at Bucky. She didn't have the courage to look at Natasha. She felt as if she had betrayed them all, disappointed. How could she let Peter leave? Alone?

"It's okay," James replied in a low voice, grabbing her shoulders. "Calm down, okay? We'll be there in time. Breathe, okay? Inhale for four, hold your breath for seven, exhale for eight. You can do it. to breathe," he advised her, holding her tight.

"All right," Natasha said grimly as she joined them after a moment, and Michelle began to calm down. "Looks like she's outsmarted us again."