Insane in my Russian Brain - P. Parker

Chapter Twenty Three

Peter held Kat's head in his lap when she woke up. He wanted her to feel something of normality, which wasn't going to be happening on the ship.

Kat coughed, sputtering a trail of curses as a migraine hit her. Just a moment ago she was losing oxygen. How was it that she could breathe perfectly fine now?

She nearly leaped from the ground as she opened her eyes to a trail of lights. They weren't coming from inside, but rather from a large window projecting something she bebe thought she'd be able to see. Space.

"Peter, what the-"

Before she could utter another word, a hand was clamped over her mouth. Her words were strangled as she heard Tony mumbling something in the background.

Kat peeled Peter's hand off of her mouth and stood to face him. "He doesn't know we're here, does he?"

Peter shook his head. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I just needed to know he would be okay. I couldn't let him die out there, just like you couldn't let Nat die taking down the Red Room."

Kat raised her finger. She was going to say that this was a different situation, that it wasn't that important, but she knew she would be being narcissistic. "I'll forgive you. For now."

Peter shrugged, swooping Kat back up into his arms. "I'll take it."

As they approached the scene, they could hear Tony talking to himself. "Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?"

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty..."

"What the-"

"I know what you're gonna say."

"You should not be here." Tony turned to face Kat. "Either of you."

"I was gonna go home." Kat tried to defend herself. She was in fact going to go help everyone from her position on Earth, but Peter had dragged her along.

"I don't want to hear it-"

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way..."

"And now I gotta hear it."

"...and kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And Kat wasn't breathing, so she needed help."

"Wait, I wasn't breathing?"

Peter pointed at her, shaking his head. "Not right now." He turned back to face Tony. "And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."

"What did you just say?"

"I take that back. And now, I'm here in space."

Tony walked forward, talking in Peter's face. "Yeah, right where I didn't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"No, I did think this through." Kat wandered around the spaceship. It didn't seem like she was part of this conversation

"You could not have possibly thought this through."

"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood. Okay, that didn't really make sense but you know what I'm trying to say."

The sound of a body falling to the ground alerted Tony and Peter. Kat.

"Okay, I'm letting you off the hook." Tony ran to the girl's side, checking her pulse. "Why isn't she breathing?"

"I gave her my mask on the way up but she doesn't have anything else providing her oxygen." The buzzing of a phone in Kat's pocket rang throughout the ship, and Peter reached for it. "Ms. Romanoff?"

"Parker? Where's Kat?"

"We, uh, we're in space. She sorta doesn't have oxygen right now, and I'm losing you, so I'll call you back later-"

"Listen to me very carefully. I want you to tell Tony a code. You hear me? The code is 5829."

Peter relayed the number to Tony, who searched for it in his database. "A suit? How did you get these files on here?"

"It's not important, Stark. We're in the middle of war down here too, so I have to go, but you watch her. You protect her with your life, you hear me?"

Tony shook his head, looking down at the passed-out redhead. "Okay. Friday, send it up."

Natasha breathed out a sigh. "Thank you, Tony. For everything. She better get back to me alive."

"Sure thing, Nat. Stay safe." Tony hung up the phone, giving it back to Peter. "What was that about?"

"Natasha is her mom."

Tony looked down at Kat, suddenly noticing the resemblance. "I see."

Before either of them could say another word, a black catsuit replaced Kat's clothes. A mask fell over her nose, and Kat breathed in heavily, opening her eyes.

She studied her appearance. The suit's trim was a dark turquoise, and it fight snugly, providing her oxygen.

Peter reached out, hugging Kat tight in his arm. "Oh God, I thought I lost you."

Kat pulled back, turning to face Peter. "Where did you get this suit?" She knew this suit. It wasn't the first time she had seen it.

"Nat called. She sent it up here."

Kat looked at the ground, her hands instinctively traveling up to her ears. Arana's earrings hung there. "She looked at my files. It was hers during sparring practice."

Peter looked at Kat, sympathy filling his eyes. "I'm sure she couldn't have known."

Kat pursued her lips, nodding. "Let's just get this fight over with."