Steel And Spider

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Mat sat in his chair in the small room after Director Fury left. He didn't know how long he was sitting there for, but after a while James came in, the door clicking softly behind him. He came to stand next to Mat, leaning his hips against the table and crossing his arms. He didn't say anything for a while, but Mat appreciated the company while he tried to sort through everything he was feeling right then.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" James asked. Mat liked that he left the offer open, that by saying 'anything', Mat could choose to talk about what he had for breakfast today instead of the issue that seemed like an insurmountable problem right now.

"I don't know," Mat answered. He wouldn't even know where to begin. Everything that had happened lately felt like too much for him to handle. He had barely been getting used to the newfound sense of freedom when he was living in Jersey, and then he had to move here and mess things up. He did want to talk, he supposed. He heard that it helped. He just didn't know how.

Thankfully, James seemed to understand what he needed, because he reached down and ghosted a hand along Mat's wrist. When Mat didn't pull away, he grabbed his hand and tangled their fingers loosely together. "Come with me," he murmured. "I know a good place." Mat let himself be pulled around, guided out of the room, up and down hallways. There was a brief elevator trip, and a metal staircase, and then a door. It seemed heavy from the way James' muscles strained as he pushed it open. (Not that Mat was staring at James' muscles.)

They emerged on the very top of the Avengers tower. It was about midday, so the sunlight glittered off of the buildings below them, creating an amazing panoramic view of the New York city skyline. Mat could even see the river from where he was standing. "It's beautiful," he whispered.

James, who'd been staring at the look of shocked wonder on Mat's face, smiled gently. "Yeah," he agreed, knowing they were talking about very different views. "It really is." He led Mat to the edge of the roof, where a safety rail had been installed, beams of metal parallel to the rooftop running around the perimeter. The bottom most rail was just the right length so that when they sat down, they could let their legs swing over the edge, and rest their arms comfortably on the rail.

Mat let the silence carry on for a few minutes before he spoke. "What was it like? For you?" His voice was quiet. He knew James had his own terrible past with Hydra, and he was likely to not want to talk about it, but part of him had to know. He couldn't remember when he'd been given the serum, if he'd even been old enough to form proper memories yet.

James sighed, leaning forwards a little. His metal arm glinted. "It's...fuzzy. My unit had joined up with a few others to take down a Hydra base during the second World War. This was back before Steve had taken the serum. But the base was more prepared than we'd anticipated, and they'd killed or captured everyone. They held us in these cramped metal cages, and every few days, they'd come take someone away for whatever sick experiments they'd run. Sometimes we could hear the screaming from our cells."

James swallowed and furrowed his brow a little. "Then they came and took me. I remember being strapped down to a surgical table. I didn't understand them then, so I didn't know what they were saying. I remember that it hurt a lot. I was in and out of consciousness for most of the time. Then Steve showed up. He busted us all out of there, and a little while after the Howling Commandos were formed." James smiled at the memory. "I started to notice stuff about me around then, too. I was stronger than I used to be, I didn't seem to be out of breath or need breaks as often when we were marching for hours on end.

"And then we went on a mission to capture a German scientist who was travelling by train. I don't remember much about this part either, but Steve told me during the mission, I'd fallen down the mountain side, and they assumed I'd died."

"Because they didn't know about the serum," Mat guessed.

James nodded. "I didn't die, but since it was too dangerous for them to recover my body, it was Hydra that found me. That was when the whole-" he waved his metal arm "-happened. It was Steve who saved me again after that, and I ended up here. It was hard, and it hurt me and a lot of other people, and I don't know if I'll ever stop suffering from what I went through, but there were some good things that happened because of it. I got more time with Steve. I became an Avenger." He looked over at Mat and smiled gently. "I met you."

Mat blushed a little and looked out over the city. "I don't remember." He muttered. "I don't know when it happened, or where or why. Was I already not good enough that I needed to have super powers? Did they even know if I would survive?"

James bumped their shoulders together. "Hey, don't worry about that stuff. It might come to you later, now that you know what happened. Or maybe you were too young to remember at all. But Steve and I have been here, okay? Maybe not Steve as much, he was pretty coddled, but I have. I know that it's scary and wrong, but I'll be here. I promise to help you." He took a worn notebook out of his pocket, a pen clipped to the black leather cover.

"Look, we'll write down everything that we know about you, okay? Every time something new happens, we'll add it to the list." Mat thought about it for a moment, and it seemed like it could actually be a good idea, so he nodded. "Bruce said the serum they used on you had changed from the one they used on me. We know you have enhanced speed," he paused to write it down, and Mat saw he'd titled the previously blank page 'Mat's List' in a messy, cursive handwriting that for some reason, made him smile.

"And he said something about your healing seeming accelerated. Should we check?" James' eyes flicked to the bandage wrapped around Mat's neck. The stitches were starting to itch, so Mat shrugged and started unwinding the gauze. James reached out to help, and Mat held himself still, even when James' warm fingers brushed against the sensitive skin under his ear.

Finally, the cloth was set to the side, and James used gentle fingers on Mat's chin to turn his head to the side a little, so he could see the graze wound. "Fully healed," he whispered. "Neither Steve nor I heal that fast. It's been only a couple of hours since you got that wound, and it wasn't too deep, but it was pretty serious. Definitely enhanced healing." He let go of Mat to scribble that down on the list.

"What about senses? Steve and I have slightly enhanced hearing and maybe eyesight, but nothing too noticeable, not like Parker."

"How would I tell if I did have better senses?" Mat asked. He didn't have anything to compare to, he'd been the same as long as he could remember.

"Okay, close your eyes. Now tell me what you can hear."

Mat did as he was told, closing his eyes and focusing on the sounds around him. "Traffic, on the streets around us. The crowds. There's a plane somewhere overhead. I think Tony's doing something in his lab, it sounds like a loud drill? I can hear his music. ACDC, I think? I'm not sure. I can hear Fury leaving. He's got a helicopter on the landing pad, and he's talking to a lady. There's a cat somewhere below us. Oh, Happy's just pulled up. There's someone in the car with him, but I don't know who. I can hear you. I can hear your breathing, and your heartbeat, and your arm."

Mat opened his eyes, and James was staring at him, but there wasn't time to decipher his expression before he looked back down at his notebook. "Definitely enhanced hearing, that was really impressive." He wrote that down, and then he looked back up. "I didn't know my arm made sound."

"Yeah. It's sort of a faint whirring buzzy noise, and when you move it, it clicks."

"Oh. Is it annoying?"

Mat smiled. "No. I kind of like it, actually." I kind of like you.

"That's...good, I guess. What about your eyesight?" 

a filler chapter for now, but good things are coming!