[hero, the hard way]↣ p. parker | t.s daughter

|nine| - edited

General Ross had been up our asses trying to figure out what exactly happened the night that Sam and Wanda were broken out of prison. Peter and I were out for a jog at the time so it couldn't have been us, and no one knows what happened in the lab because FRIDAY was down.

But it was a few days later, a Friday, and Peter was at school. I sat on my bed with a bowl of popcorn in front of me, staring at the burner phone that Steve sent in the letter.

If it were Peter, I would want all the help I could get, I reminded myself. I picked up the phone and walked into the bathroom, turning the shower on to muffle my talking.

I pressed the call button. It rang, and then it rang again, and then it rang again. I was about to just give up and assume that the phone was some sort of wild goose chase, when-

"Who is this?" I recognized Steve's voice immediately.

"It's Ari. I'm alone, we can talk."

"Are you calling about Bucky?"

I nodded before realizing he couldn't see me. "Yeah. I want to help."

"You've been helping a lot. I have to assume you're the reason Sam and Wanda are here with me now."

"You've always been a good guesser." I said with a big smile. He laughed from the other end of the line.

"We're in-"

"Wakanda, I know."

"How-?"

"Don't worry, Steve. I'm much better at tracking you than the government. By the way, get rid of your comm."

"Jeez, ok. Here's the question though, do you think you're going to be able to get over here and help us? It's only going to be a few days."

"I do have a good friend named Shuri right around there," I said, a sly smirk running across my features. I met Shuri after I got out of the hospital, before I got my leg. We really hit it off, being two female teenage geniuses.

"You've always been one step ahead. Speaking of step, though, how's your rehab?"

"It's good, well, it's ok. I mean- it sucks but I'm okay," I rambled, "I have a leg if that's what you're asking. Stark tech, very cool."

"That's really good," Steve said. Steve Rogers had always been something of a father figure to me. He was there for me growing up, in a way that my father couldn't be. But that's a story for another time.

"I'm not in school so there shouldn't be any problem with me going to Wakanda for a few days. We can talk through Shuri so we don't have to worry about this line getting tapped."

"You know that helping us in violation of the Accords, right?" Steve's voice dropped, something it did when he was serious.

"Good thing I'm not an Avenger then, huh? Just the daughter of a genius billionaire philanthropist recovering from cancer," I said sarcastically, "That's what I told Ross when he asked me to sign them."

"Damn Ari, you're too good," A knock on the door made me freeze.

"You ok Ari? You've been in there for awhile," Peter said.

"Yeah, I'm good!" I called. Lowering my voice, I spoke quickly. "We're running out of time, Cap. I might bring Spider-Man with me to Wakanda if that's ok? He's so smart and if anyone is going to be able to help it's-"

"That's fine, just make sure he knows what he's getting into," Another knock on the door.

"I have to go, I'll text Shuri. Bye," I said quickly, ending the call. I shut off the shower and unlocked the door, to meet Peter.