fiction | Part of the journey is the end

7. The Netherlands

Peter woke up in a prison cell with an orange football shirt over him.

Everyone was confused why Peter was there.

He looked to his left to see Dutch football fans. "Hi," one of them said.

"At least you found nice cellmates," Sam said, confused.

Peter asked where he was. Another fan said he was in a Municipal holding facility because they found Peter unconscious at the train yard. "Very dangerous," one of them said, impressed.

Everyone chuckled quietly.

The third football fan told Peter they gave him the shirt because he seemed a bit cold.

"That's sweet," said Wanda.

"Thanks. You guys are nice. You speak really good English," Peter complimented. "Welcome to the Netherlands!" all three of them said.

Everyone gaped at the screen. Peter was in the Netherlands?!

"I accidentally went to a different country?!" Peter panicked.

"I'm in the Netherlands right now?" Peter was shocked. Peter stood up and ran to the cell door. "Guard?" "The guard's on a break. Probably talking to his wife," the first football fan said. "Yeah. She's pregnant," the second one added. The third fan said, "Oh yeah? How nice!" in Dutch.

Everyone snickered.

Peter broke the lock with his hand, opened the door, and left the cell.

Everyone blinked in surprise.

"That would be a shock to your cellmates," said Bucky.

Peter looks to his left to see the guard wearing the Night Monkey mask, talking to someone on the phone. "Yeah. Yeah. Night Monkey. Yeah."

Everyone chuckled.

"I can't believe Night Monkey is catching on," Rhodey said in between laughter.

One of the football fans stood up and closed the cell door.

Everyone laughed.

Peter put the orange football shirt on, now outside at a farmer's market. He asked a farmer if he could borrow his phone. The farmer happily handed his phone over. "Everyone's so nice here," said Peter.

"Luckily, you woke up in the nicest town," said Tony with a weak smile. He was still recovering from seeing Peter get hit by a train.

Peter thought about who to call for a bit before dialling a number.

Both Peter and Tony's hearts clenched. They both knew Peter would've called Tony if he was still alive.

"Okay... Pick up, pick up, pick up... Hey. Hey! Uh... I messed up. I need a... I need a ride."

"Who did you call?" Scott asked.

"Probably Happy," Peter replied.

"Where am I? Uh... where am I, sir?" Peter asked the farmer. "Broek op Langedijk," said the farmer.

Most people didn't understand what the farmer said.

"Did you understand that?" said Sam.

"No," Steve replied.

Peter clearly didn't understand what the farmer said and asked him to say it into the phone.

Natasha chuckled.