Loose Threads

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

God, Ace hated the summer. But he hated getting stabbed more. Hurts like a bitch. He should know. After he fell off the roof, he lay on the ground, stunned for a second, before pulling himself to his feet.

The wound would heal, he knew it would. As long as he got that damn knife out of his stomach, he would be fine in a couple days, tops.

So that's what he did. He gripped the knife, took a breath, and gently eased it out, leaving behind a ragged gash that was already starting to clot and heal over. Ace dropped the knife on the ground and ducked out of the alleyway, one hand covering the blood on his shirt as he wove through the crowd gathered around the building.

He spent the rest of the day in his tent, letting the stab wound heal over. He woke late the next day, as the sun was setting. After serious injuries like that, he tends to sleep long and hard as his body heals.

He spent the next two weeks trying to keep out of sight. He heard it on the news; he was missing and presumed dead. The Avengers and police were looking for him.

By the start of the third week, he began to ease off the precautions. There hadn't been anything in the news about him for about five days. He was hoping that everything had blown over by now, and things could go back to normal. He really didn't want to have to move camp again.

But, to his luck, it seemed the whole incident had calmed down. He was fully healed by now, not even a scar left, and so he decided he could venture a little further from his circle of comfort.

Ace ended up in Long Island city. He had been there before, of course, and he liked the place well enough. It had some good food places, a few cafes he didn't mind, and a nice park. He had kept Hogan's cash, but ditched the rest of his wallet inside some public park. Ace was using some of that cash right now to buy an order of fries from some fast food place he didn't remember the name of.

He took the scenic route back down to the bridge, wandering down the sidewalk along the edge of the park. He finished his fries quickly and tossed the empty container. He was always careful about how much of what he bought. He never had all that much money to spare, after spending the majority of it on clean water and hygiene products. He may be a street rat, but he definitely didn't want to smell like one.

He was about two thirds of the way there when he got a feeling. It was that feeling when you're alone and suddenly are sure someone's following you. Ace ducked his head a little further and picked his pace up a little.

The feeling persisted for another ten minutes before Ace was sure someone was following him. He could faintly hear the rustling of bushes behind him, and if he strained his ears, he could make out whispers, maybe about eight or nine feet away, behind him.

He swallowed nervously. This wouldn't be the first time he had been jumped at night and it likely wouldn't be his last, but that didn't do much to dissolve his unease. Something about tonight felt different, the air heavier with foreboding.

Ace didn't like it. He saw the approaching figures in the sky at the same time as he heard whoever was behind him rush forwards and he knew that this was far bigger than he had imagined. It was the Avengers.

Ace ducked under a fist as it was thrown towards the back of his head from someone behind him. He leapt nimbly out of the way as Ironman, Falcon and Vision landed on the other side of him, and a smaller man dressed in red and blue landed in front of him.

Ace spun wildly, looking for any way to escape his predicament.

Ironman retracted his helmet, holding his hands out placatingly, sending Captain America- the one who had tried to hit him- a glare.

"Look, kid, we don't wanna hurt you. We just want to ask a few questions. If you come with us back to the tower–"

"Like hell I'm gonna go with you!" Ace shouted. "Just leave me alone."

Something like regret flashed in Ironman's eyes before he closed his helmet again. "I guess we do this the hard way. Spiderman."

The blue and red hero stepped forwards, raising his hand at Ace. As if in slow motion, Ace saw something white shoot from the man's wrist. He ducked under it, grabbing the sticky rope-like substance and yanking hard, sending the hero flying over his head and into the bushes on the other side of the path.

Everyone blinked at Ace for a moment, shocked. Even Ace himself was surprised. He had never exhibited such an amount of strength before. He chalked it up to one of those adrenaline-fuelled moments where people do superhuman things in the face of impossible odds.

Ace took advantage of the remaining Avengers' shock and ducked away through the gap left by the Spiderman person. He heard Ironman shout something but was too focused on running to hear properly.

He heard the 'whizz' of something slicing through the air and spun to the side as a little bullet-looking thing flew past his face, crackling slightly with electricity. He paused to see the astonished face of a red-head woman whose name he thought also had something to do with a spider before he was distracted by the sound of someone landing behind him.

He turned and was met with another red-headed woman. She was dressed in red and the air around her was tinted with red-coloured smoke. Ace didn't know who she was, and started a little at her closeness.

She looked at him with pity, an emotion Ace hated with a burning passion. Pity was for people who didn't know what he'd been through, pity was for people who would see him and turn away. Pity was for people who never did anything.

"I am so sorry," the woman said in a heavily Sokovian-accented voice. She reached her hands out, lightning fast, but Ace dropped under them, ducking around her outstretched fingers and popping up behind her figure.

She looked shocked. That seemed to be a recurring theme, Ace thought, as he started trying to run again. Something tangled around his legs and he hit the pavement hard, skinning the palms of his hands and scraping his right forearm harshly.

He saw the same sticky white substance that Spiderman had shot at him earlier. He reached down and ripped it away with a single yank, wiping the blood off his elbow, revealing the completely healed skin.

He had barely made it to his feet when he was immobilised. The red smoke that had been surrounding the woman with red hair was now encasing him, preventing him from moving. He growled and struggled, managing little movement.

"Quickly! He is strong, I cannot hold him for long." The Sokovian woman shouted. Ace started struggling harder as he heard the metallic sound of the Ironman's footsteps come up behind him. The man rounded to his front, helmet down again.

"You made this hard on yourself, kid. I didn't want it to come to this." He raised his palm repulsor, and fired a single shot. 

AHHHH whos excited?? Next chapter is Peter and Ace's first meeting! 

Fun fact: every book you've ever read is composed of twenty six letters. basically just an alphabet remix