Light & Shadow

Chapter 7

"Get me to London." I snap the moment the plan door closes.

"Why? So you can commit murder?" Happy questions with the same disappointed tone he used when he had to tell me something happened with Dad—from work delays, to injuries, and cancelled plans. That sadness coated virtually every heartache and disappoint I've known. "You're better than this, kid. You're not a killer."

"Maybe not, but he deserves to die for what he's done—to Dad's legacy, to the public, to twisting my family story for his own gain, to—to what he did to Peter."

"And when did you start getting to make calls on who deserves to die?" He crosses his arms, trying to look intimidating—as if I haven't seen him in a kiss the chef apron making waffles a hundred times. "You've already got enough against you; and this will only make it worse. It won't fix what happened."

"It will make me feel better knowing that he doesn't get to live while someone who deserves everything good and beautiful in life, someone who loved even the most broken person, who actually loved me not just in spite of—but because of—all the things I've done and overcome, while Peter doesn't."

"You and I both know it's not what he would want. It's not what Nat or Tony would want."

"Yeah, but they're all gone, Happy. I've lost nearly every good thing in my life, and I refuse to let him walk away unpunished." I pause and take a trembling breath. "Do you remember why Dad named the team 'the Avengers?' It was because he knew that we can't always save the world—or the people we love—maybe sometimes we can't even save ourselves, but we will always avenge what was lost. So take me to London and step aside. Let me avenge the damage Beck has done to people, to Dad's legacy. Let me kill him for what he did to Peter."

"You know I can't. I made a promise to—" Happy's voice is drown out by the screeching of his default ringtone. I can see the hesitation written on his face as he tries to decide whether or not to keep fighting me. But I assume he answers it for an extra second to gather his thoughts.

I turn and punch the side of the plane's interior out of pure frustration and anger. It hurts my hand as the metal interior buckles, but it makes me feel a fraction less pissed off. Every second I waste arguing with Happy is another second Beck gets a head start. But that all fades away as Happy talks, "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, kid. Where are you?"

Everything stops.

There's only three people in the world that Happy Hogan calls 'kid,' and I highly doubt he's talking to Morgan. Happy moves towards the pilot's cabin and puts the phone on speaker. "Hi." A man with a heavy dutch accent says as I slide into the pilot's seat, following ARTI's instructions to get us ready to go. "It's Broek op Langedijk here."

"Plotting a course." ARTI tells me and pulls up the navigation guide for me. I ignore Happy's worried look as the engines start up and the plane lifts into the air.

"Thank you, sir." Happy tells the man as he buckles in and watches as I prep the jet for take-off.

"Yeah, no problem. Heh, heh." The man chuckles happily.

"Thanks," Peter's voice is soft and strained. "Did you get that?"

"Got it, kid." He pauses for a second as he stares at the side of my head. "I'm on my way."

"Okay. Th-thank you, Happy." Peter whispers before he hangs up. "I'll see you soon."

The cabin is deathly quiet aside from the rumble of the engines as we cruise through the crowds. It's the kind of quiet that rings in my ears and echoes in the still painful whole in my chest. What seems worst is how Happy's pensive look makes his thoughts blare like sirens on a quiet street.