Toy Soldiers

chapter 13

"Hey Dad! I'm home!" Peter calls to the floor when he steps out of the elevator.

Steve smiles back at the teen and then says, "Hey Kid, how was your day at school? Your dad's just on the balcony, said something about needing to think until you got home or something."

Peter nods, "thanks Uncle Steve, school was alright but I'm gonna go see dad now."

Steve hums in acknowledgement as the spider kid walks out onto the balcony.

"Hey Dad, what ya thinkin' 'bout?"

Bucky turns towards his son with a neutral facial expressions which makes it hard for Peter to read. "So Peter, anything happen at school today?"

Peter shook his head, "Nah not much, the usual I think," he said not remembering anything of importance.

"So, there was no need for a phone call home from the principal?"

Peter shrugged and then shook his head.

"Ok kiddo, I'm not going to beat around the bush any longer," Bucky says looking his kid in the eye to see if he was lying during his next question, "Did you or did you not say to someone, and I quote, 'shut your c*ck holster you SAL civvy'?"

Peter's eyes widen, he completely forgot about history, "Um yes... But it was called for!" He quickly defends himself.

Bucky, in disbelief, asks "What could possibly warrant you to call someone that!"

Peter looks down to avoid his father's gaze and says in a small voice, "I'm being shipped out in two days."

Bucky pulls Peter in for a hug and reassures his kid. "It's gonna be fine, Pete. We'll be alright."

Peter just presses his face further into his dad's chest, hiding from the world.

---time skip to dinner---

Now it's a good thing that they ordered the teams favourite food because sh*t was about to go down at dinner.

As everyone was serving themselves some shawarma Peter cleared his throat and stood up. "Umm, I've got to tell you guys something."

His family gives Peter their undivided attention, knowing that it was serious.

Peter reaches up and runs a hand through his shaggy hair, "Uhh, well. I'm being shipped out in 2 days. They need me for an emergency mission and I'm the only one of my rank available."

The table goes silent. They all sit and let the information sink in before Nat stands up and pulls her baby spider into a hug. "We'll be okay ребенок паук." (I'm sure most of you guys know this but, translation: baby spider pronunciation: rebenok pauk)

"Спасибо, Нат, Я люблю вас." (Translation: Thanks, Nat, I love you. Pronunciation: Spasibo, Nat, ya lyublyu tebya)

The rest of the team join in on the hug and bask in the moment as a family.

---time skip to Sunday--

Despite Peter saying that the group didn't need to wake up early to see him off at the airport, the Avengers all turned up at 6 in the morning to the airport to make sure they said goodbye to him before he went.

Tony made that mistake last time Peter went away and had to wait months to see or talk to Peter again and he was not making that mistake again.

"So Pete," his Uncle Rhodey starts, "know anything about the mission yet?"

Peter smiles at the man, "Not yet, when they called last POETS day they just said that my team would be debriefed when we arrived at the base and we'd be flown off from there."

"Well, I suppos-"

Peter loses focus on his and Rhodey's conversation, picking up the conversation of a group to their right.

"I know right, that kid's so disrespectful. There are men and women that actually fight for our country and he's just wearing the uniform like it's no big deal. He's probably some rich kid that daddy don't care about enough to dress him in appropriate clothing."

That made Peter extremely mad, clearly they were talking about him, he was the only one there in camoflauge clothing.

Peter holds up a finger to his family, "One second please, I'll be right back."

Walking the meter or so to the group Peter says, "So, I heard you talkin' 'bout me. Now I'll have you know that my name is Corporal Peter Benjamin Barnes and I have served in the army for the past two years, mostly on the front line. I ain't no flag flasher AJ that just wears the uniform everywhere to turn heads. I'm currently waiting for the plane that will take me back to base so I can be shipped out to serve more time on the front lines defending our country and army rules state that I am required to wear the uniform when on duty, which I am right now. I would very much appreciate it if you did not open your c*ck holsters to bad mouth my father and I. Please and thank you. Have a wonderful day, a**holes."

Peter walks away from the stunned group with a smirk on his face. Returning back to his family's laughter and Uncle Steve's 'language'.

"Flight 617 now boarding, flight 617 now boarding. Please make your way to gate 3," comes the voice from the speaker.

"Well, that's me guys."

Every single Avenger pulls Peter into their own individual hug, one after the other whispering things to him like, 'be safe' and 'I love you kid' until the last person left was his dad.

"I promise I'll try to be safe Dad, and I'll try to be quick. Wouldn't want to miss too much school right?"

Bucky just hugs him tighter, "I love you Kiddo and you've always made me proud, no matter what you did. So please come back soon."

"I love you too Dad."

With that he walked to the desk, got his ticket checked and waved one last time to his family.

While walking away, a few thoughts popped into his head. 'what if I let these teammates die? What if I can't save them? What if I become the monster I almost became last time? What if what happened with Jae, happens again?'