Cosmic Webs ᯓ★ Peter Parker

5 ᯓ★ The Right Thing?

Oh God, oh God, oh God...

That was the only thought ringing in her head. The sound of the machine that an anxious Rhodey was sliding into. She was nervously biting her nails, well, more so the skin around her nails, as she had chomped off all the nails possible. Tony was pacing back and forth while Vision stood next to her, unmoving. The billionaire then paused next to the android.

"How did this happen..?" His voice sounded quiet, a bit raspy. As if he's holding back a whole tsunami of emotions.

".. I became distracted." replied Vision, a slight hesitation masking his voice.

Tony let out a subtle but noticeable scoff at his response. Finding it incredulous. "I didn't think that was possible."

Vision glances back at Tony briefly, "Neither did I." he merely states.

To that, he walked away. Courtney kept quiet throughout this entire exchange, feeling it was not her place to comment. She swallowed harshly before uttering a simple question.

"Are you okay..?" She kept her voice low.

Vision paused for a few seconds before giving her a curt nod, "I'm quite alright, Miss Whitmore. Thank you.. how about yourself?" he turns to her with a warm look in his eyes, which she didn't think was possible.

"Call me Courtney, Vision... It's a lot to take in.." she let out a forced chuckle, feeling a wave of discomfort towards these sorts of emotions. "I feel like I let Tony down a bit.."

"Don't blame yourself, Courtney." he simply says before looking back out.

"I don't.."

"No, don't blame yourself."

The blonde chewed on her cheeks, feeling her heartbeat in her eyes. "Yeah.. yeah. Cool.. Thanks." she could only muster up those to say. Giving him a brief nod and walking out in the direction of where Tony took off.

Upon leaving the room, her staff flew to her hands, pulsating gently.

"Hey, buddy.. everything is gonna be okay.." she mumbles quickly as she walks at a swift pace.

She then felt an impact on her right shoulder and was about to yelp when a hand gripped her arms. It took her a few seconds to register everything, along with her staff now blinking furiously.

She glanced up to find Natasha's strong eyes looking into her wide-eyed gaze. She quickly composed herself and straightened her back.

"You good, kid?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally. Sorry about that-" she awkwardly cleared her throat.

"It's fine, Courtney. Where are you off to?" the redhead asked.

"Just looking for Tony.." she tried to offer her a soft smile.

"Oh, I see.. Well, I should get going. Stay safe, kid." Nat gave her a curt nod.

"Alright, you too.." she hesitantly nods back, while already starting to walk back. She made it a couple of steps before glancing her head back. "Hey, Nat.."

"Yeah?" the girl turned around again.

"If you need a place to crash or.. hide.. my door's open. You know where to find me." she bit her lips, sending her a look of confidence.. or as much confidence as she could muster up.

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, trying to stifle the shocked look on her face before shifting to gratitude. "Good to note."

She let out a small sigh before going on her way again, rethinking what she said.. and whether that was even the right call.. would it be helping a criminal.. or someone she barely even knew. And most importantly.. would Tony find out.

Courtney found Tony out in the balcony, looking conflicted while staring down at a holograph on his watch. She cleared her throat and knocked on the glass door lightly. He quickly looked up from the device and met her eyes as she approached him slowly.

"Hey, Court..ney."

"Works.."

"Listen, you did great. What you did out there surpassed any and all expectations, truly." the man patted her on the shoulders awkwardly.

"Thank you.." she gave him a brief nod. "Can I go home now?"

"Yeah, yeah. 'Course. Just.. one more tiny thing.."

"Oh God, what now?" she let out a quiet groan, crossing her arms. That look on his smug face.. he's gonna make her run some kind of errand.

"It's not a big thing. Okay? Listen, it's about that Spider-guy, Peter Parker. You guys happen to be friends-"

"We spoke to each other like one time, and it was all one-sided." she scoffed lightly.

"Two-Three if you count the airport- okay! Yeah! Wait, I just need your help to keep an eye on him, okay? He's a rookie, and he will most likely kill himself out there trying to prove himself to me." he runs his hands through his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You're putting me on babysitting duty?" she subtly glared at him.

"It's not babysitting, Courtney. I just want you to keep a very, very, very, very close eye on him-" the blonde raises her eyebrows and looks at the man pointedly. "Just keep him alive, don't let 'em do something stupid like blowing something to smithereens."

"No, no, no, no, no. You are not giving me this responsibility. Making a teenager babysit-"

"Watch over."

"- Watch over a hyperactive Ironman fanboy. I have my own life! You will put the blame on me if something goes wrong, I swear."

"I won't. I won't blame you, okay? I'm not giving this to you as a main mission, just a side quest when you're out to patrol every night."

The blonde goes silent.. trying to picture this scenario over and over and over.. There are an abundance of things that could go wrong. She was brought out of her train of thoughts to her staff nudging her on the side. She stared down at it for a second.. then back up at Tony.

"Alright, alright. Fine.. but you owe me." she grumbles under her breath while walking away.