|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 6• Glowing thingy

The next day, in shop class, Peter hits the weapon core with a hammer. He started to tear the weapon apart to get to the purple gem. Ned walked up to him. "Hey, thanks for bailing on me," Ned complained. "Yeah, well, something came up," Peter tells him. Their focus wanders off to the machine and the glowing gem. "What's that?" Ned asked him. "I don't know. Some guy tried to vaporize me with it." He answers. Ned looked at him with open eyes. "Seriously?" He asked. "Yeah," Peter replied. "Awesome," Ned said. Peter looked at Ned and his absurd reaction. "I-I mean, so not awesome. Totally uncool of that guy. So scary." Ned tried to cover up. Y/n then walks into the class. She makes her way toward the boys. "What the hell happened last night? You were being dragged through town like you were stuck to a vehicle." She said. Peter furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What?" He asked. "The tracker in your suit. You went to Liz's party." Y/n pointed out. Peter wanted to lie, but Y/n cut him off. "I may not be very social, but I know when people lie. So don't even try Peter. Why did you take the suit when I told you not to? Something bad could've happened, Peter." She said. Y/n's eyes started to wander off to the purple glowing thing and the machine it was attached to on the table. "What's that?" She asked. "Well, look, I think it's a power source." He tells her. Ned joins in on their conversation. "Yeah, but it's connected to all these microprocessors. That's an inductive charging plate. That's what I use to charge my toothbrush." He tells Peter. Y/n looked at Ned. "That's weird. This is not our technology." She said. "Whoever is making these weapons is obviously combining alien tech with ours," Peter said. He was about to touch it when Y/n stopped him. "Be careful. You have just slammed your hammer against it a couple of times. If you touch it now your hand could burn off due to the radiation coming from it." She reminds Peter. "Those are the coolest sentences anyone has ever said. I just want to thank you for letting me be part of your journey into this amazing-" Ned expressed. Y/n and Peter weren't paying attention to what he said. Peter swings the hammer at the core one more time, making it pop out. Y/n jumped a little and grasped Peter's arm. The three of them looked at the teacher who was reading a book. "Keep your fingers clear of the blades." He called out. Y/n got out a glass capsule from her bag. Peter and Ned looked at her surprised. "What? Did you think I had books in this thing?" She asked them. "We've got to figure out what it is," Peter said. Y/n nods and puts on a pair of rubber gloves. She picks up the glowing thing and puts it into the glass capsule. "We'll go to the lab after class and do some tests," Ned replied. Peter nodded in response. They exchanged a secret, complicated handshake before looking at Y/n. "Please, don't tell your dad about this," Peter whispered. Y/n shook her head. "As long as you let me in, I won't tell." She tells Peter. "You're definitely in," Peter assures her. Y/n looked at Ned. He nodded and had his eyes wide open. "Alright, let's do this."

A while later, the three made their way toward the lab. Ned looked at Peter and Y/n. "First, I say we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer." Ned started. "First, we've got to come up with a better name than 'Glowy thing'," Peter tells him. Y/n pouted a little. "But I like glowy things." She complained. Peter chuckled at her and glanced up. He saw two men walking down the hall. He recognized one of them. He quickly jumped behind a wall. "Come on!" He whispered. Y/n and Ned pretended they were in a conversation and walked behind the wall as well. Peter peeked around the corner to look at the two men. "Hey, that's one of the guys that tried to kill me." He whispered. "Someone tried to kill you?!" Y/n whisper-yelled at him. She tried to peek around the corner herself when Peter stopped her. He shook his head. "You have to stay off their radar. I don't want anything to happen to you, alright? They are very dangerous." He whispered to her. "Guys, we've got to get out of here," Ned tells them. Peter looked at his best friend. "No, no, I gotta follow them. Maybe they can lead me to the guy that dropped me in the lake." He informs Ned. "You got dropped in a lake?!" Y/n whisper-yelled at Peter again. "Yeah, it was not good. Man in a weird bird costume. But your dad got me out." Peter tells her. The two men walked into a classroom. Y/n stepped forward, wanting to go after them. But Peter stopped her again. "Stay here with Ned." He ordered. "I wanna help," Y/n whined. Peter shook his head. "Stay here, you'll be safe." He tells her. He looked at Ned. "You too." He said. Ned holds up his hands. "I get it." He replied. Peter and Y/n exchanged a glance before Peter left. "He's going to kill himself, isn't he?" Y/n whispered. Ned nodded in response. "Let's get out of here and wait for Peter to come back." She tells Ned. He puts his hands in his pockets and looks at Y/n. "Can I ask you a question?" Ned asks. "You just did," Y/n replied. Ned laughed a little. "Two more then?" He questioned. "Sure." She said. "So, what's it like? Growing up as you have?" He asked her. Y/n pushed open a door. "I want to tell you it was like most other childhoods, but it wasn't. My mother accidentally got pregnant after she and my dad had a little too much to drink. My dad said he wanted to keep the baby, mostly because he wanted to be a better father than his father before him. But, he never revealed it to the world. I never went to school, my parents taught me everything I needed to know. Then my dad got kidnapped and well, the rest is history. After New York, my father decided I should be trained so I could defend myself. So, for the last couple of years, my life has been all about training and education on technology." Y/n explained. "So, this is the first school you've gone to? Like ever?" Ned asked her. She nodded in response. "Didn't you get lonely or bored?" He asked. "I did. But I've managed to get through. I'm just so glad I've met Peter. This is the first time I have a friend of my age." She tells him. He smiled at her. "If you want, you could have two," Ned informs her. Y/n smiled at him. "Thanks, Ned. And I'm sorry for almost killing you the other day." She apologized. "Are you kidding? That was awesome!" He exclaimed.

A while later, Peter opened the door of his bedroom. Ned dropped his bag on the floor and sat on Peter's bed. Y/n did the same and sat next to Ned on the bed. Ned holds the web shooter in his hands. It projects a hologram model of the city. Peter hops onto the bed between Ned and Y/n. "They're in Brooklyn," Peter said. Y/n leaned over Peter to look at the hologram. Peter looked at her. Her eyes, her lips. He wasn't going to lie, Y/n was beautiful. Y/n noticed and looked at Peter. He immediately focused back on Ned. "So, we just...wait?" Ned asked. Y/n's phone went off in her back pocket. The two boys looked at her. "Hey, Happy, what's up?" She asked. "Where are you?" Happy asked her. Y/n looked at the boys. "Uh, I'm at Peter's." She answered. "Alright, I was starting to worry." The man tells her. Y/n smiled. "That's sweet, Happy. I'm helping them study, can I call you back later?" She asked. "Of course, just be careful. Text me if I have to come and get you." He tells her. "I will. Thanks, Happy. Bye." She said and ended the phone call. A while later, Peter hung upside down, eating chips. Y/n sat on the top of Peter's bunk bed. And Ned was still studying the hologram. "Staten Island," Ned informs them. Y/n sighed and continued to type on her laptop. Peter sat up and looked at her. "What are you doing?" He asked her. He crawled across the bed to sit next to her. Y/n shrugged and focused on the screen. "Nat disappeared. I've been trying to find her for a while. But everything seems pointless." She sighed. Peter nudged her shoulder. "You'll figure it out. You're a Stark." He reminds her. "That might be the problem." She replied. Another while later, night has fallen. Y/n had fallen asleep with her head on Peter's shoulder. As Ned lay on the floor, he looked at the hologram. "Leaving Jersey." He said. Y/n's phone went off again. Peter quickly grabbed it, not wanting Y/n to wake up. "Hey, Happy," Peter said quietly. "Kid, where's Y/n? I was supposed to take her home hours ago." Happy informs the boy. Peter glanced down at Y/n. She was sleeping so peacefully. "She fell asleep, she's right here." He answered. "I'm coming to get her. You better make sure she's there." Happy said and hung up the phone. Ned glanced up. "Everything okay?" He asked. "Yeah, everything's fine," Peter assures Ned. He glanced down at Y/n who snuggled into his shoulder. Peter inhaled sharply, not knowing what to do. He tried not to move, not wanting her to wake up. He sat still for a good thirty minutes until Happy arrived and picked her up.

The next day, Y/n woke up in her bedroom. "Friday?" Y/n questioned. "Morning." The AI replied. Y/n smiled up at the ceiling. "Morning. Any new messages for me this morning?" She asked the AI. "You've got one message from Peter." The AI informs her. "What does it say?" She asked. "He wants you to call him. There seems to be something wrong with Ned. He's nervous about a test. The text was sent five minutes ago." Friday spoke. "Alright, thanks, Friday," Y/n replied. She reached over to her phone on her nightstand and called Peter. She waited a couple of seconds before he picked up. "What's up with Ned?" She asked him. "Good morning, to you too." Peter chuckled, "We've got a plan. We're headed to Washington. The bad guys are not too far from there. Are you able to come?" Peter asked her. "And you couldn't text me this because...?" She asked. "Because your Dad might check your messages?" He tells her, "And if he saw it was about Ned, he would think it wasn't important." He continued. "And that would be a problem because...?" She asked. "Mr. Stark can't know about this. Please?" He pleaded, "We're going to need you here." Peter added. Y/n furrowed her eyebrows. "Why? Whatever it is I'm sure you can handle it. Besides, it's moving day for me." She informs Peter as she got up from her bed. "Please?" Peter pleaded, "I need you." He tells her. Y/n felt something in her stomach when he said that. "Alright, I'll make something up. Where are you guys staying?" She asked him, "I assume you're on that science trip." She added. "We're staying at this hotel. You can trace my tracker." He tells her. Y/n nodded and opened her box with clothes. "I'll be there as soon as possible." She replied. She heard Ned say 'Awesome' in the background. She giggled at him. "I'll meet you guys there." She said and ended the phone call. "Friday, can you drive me to Washington, D.C.?" Y/n asked the AI. "Of course. Which car do you want to take?" The AI asked. Y/n shrugged and started to put on her clothes. "You pick one. I'll get some breakfast on the way there." She tells her. As soon as she got dressed and packed her bag, she walks out of her room. "Happy, I'm leaving!" She called out, "I'm staying with Michelle today!" She tells him. "Okay? Do you want me to drive you?" The man asked as he walked into the hallway. Y/n looked at him. "No, Friday is taking me. Don't worry, I won't break Dad's car." She assures him. Before he could say anything, she walked out. "I'll see you later!" She said.