If They Knew All About You

Civil War

It was a few small things. Small but telling now that Peter knew what to look for. The prickling in his fingertips, the hair on his arms, on his neck, that threatened to stand with every wave of sounds and smells rushing into the empty airport building. They couldn't be far off. They had to be somewhere close by. He could feel it.

But it wasn't just nerves, not just his senses. There was a vibe. Mr. Stark wanted him there. Flying him to Germany, having Peter stand by his side had been a big deal. He wouldn't have asked Peter to come if it hadn't been. This was important. It would be a statement, a pledge to the team in a way. A sign of commitment that Peter would stand with them.

He had been waiting for about 20 minutes. Had stolen into the empty airport hall quickly and quietly, always on the lookout for other signs of life. They were around there somewhere, but not close enough to notice him. He'd had another quick call from Mr. Stark when he was on the plane traveling to Germany. Instructions on where to go, what to do once he landed. His pulse had never been that high as he stepped onto the airstrip and then quickly ducked into the waiting car. He was studying every little commotion outside of the car through the darkened windows but nobody ever came close to him. Nobody ever approached the car at all until they were stopped at a gate leading off the premises. Peter's pulse was throbbing in his ears as two armed border patrol officers stepped up to the driver's side. There was a partition between where Peter sat and the driver's compartment and even though he could hear them just fine it didn't do anything to ease his nerves. They were not speaking English. German probably. Duh. If he had to make an educated guess, he'd say German. A small stack of documents was handed over to the officers and one of them strolled down to Peter's window, looked it up and down but never making out Peter's face through the tinted window. The guy gave up quickly and stepped back to his colleague who handed the documents back to the driver.

And that was it. They just left. And just like that Peter Parker had come to Germany.

He hadn't seen much of the country of course. He didn't even know if he was allowed to leave his hotel room, in any case, he didn't. Instead, he ordered a bunch of stuff from room service and just waited. The airport was just on the other side of the street. He could see the building from his window. It wouldn't take him long to get there, but it hadn't been time to get going just yet.

It was less than three hours that he had waited. It was a miracle that he hadn't already passed out from the exhaustive journey as well as the jet lag, but his nerves, the stress of it all kept him on edge. So when the text message from Mr. Stark - or likely FRIDAY - had arrived that it was time to go, Peter was more than ready to go. Ready just to get on with it.

They must have evacuated the airport in the last couple of hours for there was nobody around except a few border patrol officers on the far off fences that were easy to sidetrack. He had gotten inside the airport hall just like that and then he had been waiting. Listening. Feeling the place out and waiting for Mr. Stark to arrive.

The sound of the thrusters was distinct. It was still a little eerie to hear it like that, in real life. He'd only ever encountered Mr. Stark in the suit twice, the first time they'd met on that February night in Queens and then that one day in Manhattan. So when the man swept into the building and came to land a few feet away from him, it felt more like an audience with Iron Man than meeting up with his mentor.

"Spiderling." The armor gave a short nod. "This will all be rather straight forward. No-nonsense. You'll be on my comm."

Peter just nodded along, careful to take in all the details, the instructions of where to go. Iron Man stood tall in front of him, but rigid. It might have just been the armor, all that metal. Or it might have been that the tension Peter could sense in his voice translated into the man's movements as well. It just wasn't the same talking to Mr. Stark like this, his voice muffled and a little metallic. Plus, when the man was in the suit it just conveyed another level of authority, a sense of power that paralyzed Peter.