Family Doesn't End with Blood

Chapter 8

Storefronts, houses, vendors, and people passed Peter by as he sprinted through the streets of- well he wasn't exactly sure where he was. He wasn't in Kansas anymore, that was for sure.

Peter stopped and folded over with his hands over his knees. He sucked in deep lungfuls of air while he tried to come up with a game plan. First order of business, find out where in the hell he was. He looked around at the unsuspecting people going about their daily lives. A few steps away from him was a middle-aged woman, looking down at him with concern.

"Jesi li dobro draga?" she asked. It was all lost on Peter's ears. She must've understood by the look on his face that he didn't grasp any of what she had said. She tried again, but this time in broken English. "Are- are you okay?" each word was over-pronounced, but Peter could easily understand her.

"Yes," he spoke, standing up straight. He spoke his next words slowly, as to make it easier for her. "Where am I?"

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "We are the capital," she said slowly. "We are in the Capitol," she corrected herself.

Peter sighed, "The Capitol of where?"

If possible, she looked even more concerned. "Sokovia. Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Peter called, while speed walking away. The woman shook her head, then continued on about her day.

So he was in Sokovia, then. It was a good thing he paid attention in his last history class. Sokovia was located in Eastern Europe, and unfortunately, had an unlucky past with wars and conflicts. They were supposedly in a time of peace now, but Peter doubted they were aware of the secret covert robot thing operating under their noses.

Peter shook his head, focusing. The second matter of business, find a phone. He obviously didn't have his cellphone, and even if he did it definitely wouldn't work here. He wouldn't have service in Europe. He patted his pockets down, taking inventory. By some miracle, the siblings had left him with his wallet. It's not like it was a weapon, Peter thought.

In his wallet, he had a few bucks, some change, his driver's license, a gift card to Dunn Bros, and his credit card. Next step, find a phone.
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After fifteen minutes of stumbling hopelessly around, Peter found an old, rickety pay phone. And by some small chance, it actually took USD. He counted his blessings while fumbling with his spare change. Enough to make one call, maybe two. But who should he call?

The first person that popped into his head was his Aunt. But what would he tell her? Hi Aunt May, I've been kidnapped by a psychotic robot and am currently stranded in Sokovia. Yeah, my roommate and his sister aren't really human and kind of jumped me in a backstreet. I woke up in Europe. Real likely story.

The next person he thought of was Tony. For starters, he was a busy man, so there was a chance he wouldn't even pick up. Peter couldn't waste his limited calls on a maybe. There was also the fact that the last time they spoke was on very bad terms, where Peter had basically told him to leave him alone, indefinitely.

So not Tony, then. Maybe Gwen? But even if she did answer, what would she be able to do? Fly him home?

Bruce it was, then. Thankfully, Peter had his number memorized. He aggressively punched the numbers in and picked up the phone gingerly, trying not to touch it to his face. It was pretty disgusting looking, Peter thought.

The pay phone rang and rang until it reached a monotonous dial tone. Peter slammed it back onto the stand, frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to think of what his next step was. He had enough change to make another call, but who else could he call? Should he wait to see if Bruce called back? Can you even call a payphone back?