Shut Up And Kiss Me (Book 1 - Avengers)

~Chapter Thirty-Five: Questioning The Inner Compass~

"You LOST her!?" Clint snapped, shoving James back rather harshly, "This is why I should have been there!" Clint whirled, turning to point a finger angrily at Steve who groaned and slid his hands down his face.

"If it was between her or the cradle I would have gone after her! I just know that she would rather me get the cradle to safety before going after her! She isn't helpless you know, she can handle herself." Barnes retorted, glaring daggers at Clint who had to hold himself back from tearing the soldier apart.

"I know better than anyone that she can handle herself, but this isn't some normal bad guy we're talking about- this is an AI who can switch from body to body no matter how many times she rips those bodies apart." Barton harshly kicked the couch to let out some anger, he wanted this to be over already. He wanted Nat to be safe...

"We're all worried Clint... We'll get her back." Steve said gently, while Banner was quietly sipping on a cup of tea, watching the twins and the new entity they called Vision. Wanda certainly seemed to be enraptured with the new being, they'd been talking since he'd been awoken maybe an hour or two ago. Of course, no one quite trusted this Vision being yet but he made some good points and for the moment seemed to be on their side.

"She and I were dating okay? I'm sure it was obvious enough but we were dating, we were happy- and then he came along and suddenly Nat isn't happy with us anymore and I know for a fact it's because she's into him and I hate it because I can't complain! But he let her down! She is in the arms of a dangerous threat because of him!" Barton finally snapped, clearly ready to explode. After all, Nat wasn't just his lover, she was and is- hell, she will always be his best friend in the entire world, he didn't know what he'd do without her.

"Clint..." Steve ever so softly set a hand to her shoulder, "I promise we're gonna get her back..." The super-soldier assured, squeezing Barton's shoulder before looking towards the infirmary, worried about his own love. Bruce stepped out, clearly not wanting to continue getting stressed out by all of that. He still couldn't believe all of what was happening and hated that this was all technically his and Tony's fault.

After a good ten minute Pietro seemed bored of the Vision 'person' so he left his sister and it alone, instead, he slipped away to find something else to do. In fact, he found himself walking down a hall, pausing to look in at a rather depressed seeming brunette teen who was laying in his bed, contemplating things as he stared at the ceiling.

Pietro gave a light knock and a, "Excuse me, are you alright...? Peter was it?" Parker looked over, nodding unsurely/

"That's me... And I mean, I guess?" He said as he sat up, brows furrowing some as he studied the silver-haired man. He only really questioned what the guy could want, clearly, the speedster wasn't a fan of Peter or his family so why was he here? Much more why would he care how Peter was feeling?

"What's going on?" Pietro walked over, finding a seat on Peter's bed next to him, he'd done so much damage he just wanted to help at this point. Peter didn't want to talk about his feelings to the Maximoff boy of all people but also needed someone to talk to and knew that he couldn't well talk to the Avengers- that being his sort of dads or aunt and uncles.

"Have you ever liked someone you're not supposed to? Like- have you ever wanted a relationship with one person but know you might fit better somewhere else?" Peter asked as he looked at Pietro,

"Actually... Yes, I know that feeling quite well. I'm actually currently in that situation. Though I only like one person the person is... different, from me. This person is tougher, for sure. They're older is another thing-"

"Preach... I know that pain man..." Parker mumbled, a small smile now coming to both boys lips. "How much?"

"A lot... yours...?"

"Let's just say one to four years older?" Peter said, shaking his head. "The person I like, well she's just- I've liked her for a long while and I finally learned that she likes me as of recent... but then... but then someone else turned out to like me. He's a goofball, he just keeps doing dumb shit and getting me into bad situations but I like being around him. And he made it very clear he didn't want me to pity like him but that isn't what this feels like..." The younger of the two groaned, leaning over to set his face in his hands.

"Try going after someone who's having relationship issues." Pietro scoffed, flopping back. "I can promise you it doesn't get any easier as you get older- in fact it becomes harder. There's a lot more you need to worry about-"

Peter groaned loudly as he got up, closing his door as he began to pace back and forth. "Not to mention I've almost died several times, Mr. Stark wants to adopt me and I'm scared I'm not good enough to be his son? I don't think I deserve it!-"

The Maximoff boy actually began to laugh, "Peter, I wouldn't worry about whether you're good enough to be his son or not. You seem like a really nice guy, not to mention that clearly if that Stark wants you, you have something incredible inside you-"

"But that's the thing! I don't think there is- in fact I think there may be something very wrong with me!... There's someone I'm not supposed to be seeing, much less talking to in any form but I've seen this person twice now and I haven't told Mr. Stark and I need to because this person is dangerous and could hurt a lot of people!-"

"Peter... If you haven't told an adult about this then clearly there is some inside voice telling you not to. Listen to the voices inside you, they've gotten you this far..." Pietro murmured as he sat up, causing the suit-less spider to stop pacing and look at the speedster again. Maybe he was right... Maybe he hadn't told Tony or Steve about Loki because deep down he knew something was amiss, maybe he was trying to tell himself something, or maybe he was just far too curious...

~~~~

Steve stepped in as Thor stepped out, honestly, Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing, Tony was already fixing up a suit, preparing himself for the next battle. "You're ridiculous..." Rogers couldn't help but smile, watching his boyfriend as he walked over.

Stark looked over curiously, a small, mischievous sort of smile coming to his lips. "What? I have to be ready. We need to take down Ultron, and man is he gonna get it for taking Nat..." Steve gently stopped Tony as he went to put a screw in. The ravenette looked at him, eyes curious and wondering.

"What you need to be doing is getting rest and feeling better... not to mention you have to stop putting these off..." Steve gently set the adoption papers down in front of his boyfriend, he'd already put his signature on there and the only thing needed for it was not Tony's name. Tony shifted but cleared his throat, as if he wasn't slightly inwardly panicking.

Steve gently offered a pen, causing Tony to sigh softly, pecking Steve's lips before taking it and putting his name down on it. He wasn't second-guessing the adoption because of Pete but because of himself. He would and will be so proud to call Peter his son, to call him a Stark. But he had to remind himself he wouldn't be parenting the wonderful kid on his own, he'd have Steve by his side... and they would handle it together.

Steven just couldn't smile any brighter, he hadn't been this excited for a long time. And just like always, their beaming beautiful happy moment was rudely interrupted by someone bearing bad news.

Barnes zoomed in, out of breath, both Steve and Tony looked over, worried, confused, and almost guessing what he was going to say. "We know where they are..."

~~~~

A/N

I'm sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than usual but I still hoped you enjoyed it! We're in the endgame now, only a couple more chapters to go. I have decided I will be doing another book but I may not start posting it right after this one!

I hope everyone is still staying safe with all the Covid-19 stuff going on and that you have a good day!

Votes and comments always help and I love you all lots!

Oaky Den Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!