Sliding Doors ⧨ Peter Parker

25 | The Offer

Y/N

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My head hurt like hell.

The last thing I remembered was being attacked in the street, and nothing else after that. Where was I?

"You didn't have to knock her out."

I froze when I heard voices. They sounded like they were coming from right next to me, and I had to resist the urge to open my eyes. If they didn't know I was awake, I could listen into their conversation.

"Then what was I supposed to do?" A different voice said, "shove her in the car and let her scream?"

"You know you could have killed her with that thing."

"Can both of you two just be quiet?"  Another man said, "that's not the most important thing here."

"Remind me what the important thing is?"

"Asking her what she knows about-"

There was a pause.

"She's awake."

Frick. I opened my eyes in panic, and shot up from where I was laying. I'd been found out, and the only chance of escape was to fight them off. The first figure I saw, I threw a punch, hitting them square in the jaw. They flung back with the hit, yelling out in pain.

And then I got hit in the face with a metal pole.

"Buck!" One of the men yelled, "how many times do I have to tell you? Don't hit her with your arm, you can kill her."

Arm? Buck? Bucky Barnes, the ex-Hydra soldier. I recoiled away from the three men, my breathing heavy. I was sitting in the back seat of a van, surrounded by the three criminals Tony was after; not to mention the whole government.

"She looks a little young to be working for Stark" the guy on the right said.

He was wearing a black shirt, and I recognized the goggles on top of his head. So this was Falcon? Sam something, I didn't get a clear read of the files. Bucky was sitting right in front of me, his bottom lip stuck out and shiny.

He didn't look like a killer... he looked like a puppy that felt bad for hitting me with the metal arm attached to him.

"Why the hell did you guys kidnap me?" I spat out, "are you trying to kill me?"

"If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it already," Falcon said.

"Not the right thing to say, Sam," Steve said, before turning to look at me, "we just want you to tell us what you know."

"I'm not telling you guys anything," I frowned, "you all should be in jail."

Sam rolled his eyes, "great, Tony's already corrupted her mind."

"Say the people defending a murderer," I accused, pointing at Bucky, "once Mr. Stark finds out I'm gone, you all are in big trouble."

When Bucky heard me call him that word, I swear I saw something in his eyes change. He stared at the ground, not saying a word. Steve and Sam didn't seem to care about my threat, which just made me more mad.

"Wait..." I hesitated, "how did you guys know I worked for Stark?"

"It's on your name tag," Rogers said, pointing at my badge, "but we need you to tell us what Tony plans on doing."

"Not a chance."

"We really don't want to do this, but-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud rumbling rang out into the van. My face turned beet red when I realized it was my stomach; I hadn't eaten since I was knocked out, and by the looks of it, it was already the next morning. Nobody said anything, the whole moment already tainted with awkwardness. As if this day couldn't get any worse...

Bucky, who hadn't spoken a single word to me, unclipped his backpack straps and set in gently into his lap. Reaching in with his metal arm, he pulled out a single plum, and held it out towards me. I took it from his hand, speechless.

What the heck? Despite what Tony had told me, this guy didn't seem anything like an assassin.

"Thank you," I said under my breath, staring at the fruit, "that's really sweet of you."

Sam looked horrified, and Steve just looked proud. Looking at them now, they didn't seem like criminals. They just seemed like a group of friends that were hiding from Tony.

"Listen," I sighed, "Tony's been nothing but kind to me. I don't think I can go behind his back to help you guys."

"We thought you'd say that," Steve said, "so we decided to make you a deal."

"Money really isn't a good bribe, considering that I'm employed at Stark Industries."

"We weren't going to offer you money."

"Oh."

He was about to continue, but the sound of someone banging on the side of the van jolted us out of our conversation.

Sam rolled his eyes, "I'm guessing everyone wants to see her."

"Who wants to see me?" I stammered.

The men didn't answer, but just slid open the car door and jumped out. The bright sunlight stung my eyes for a second, so I rubbed my eyes until I could see clearly. I slowly climbed out of the van, taking in the group in front of me.

Two men and a girl had their eyes glued on me, and they all looked stunned. I was just confused. I recognized one of the men as Hawkeye, the woman as Scarlett Witch, and the other guy...I didn't recognize him at all.

"She really does look like him," Hawkeye said, "did she agree to help us?"

"Not yet," Steve said, "but I thought she should meet you guys first."

"Wait..." I frowned, taking a step forward, "who do I look like?"

The archer was about to answer, but the unfamiliar guy cut him off, sticking out his hand. I shook it wearily, bewildered.

"I'm Scott Lang," he said, "you may know me as Ant-man."

"Who?"

"Ant-man?"

"No?"

"Ouch," the man said, retreating back towards the group, "I'll pretend like that didn't hurt."

I turned back to look at Steve, who looked done with the introductions.

"As I was saying," he said, "we want to make you a deal."

I frowned. I wanted to help them, but I didn't know if that was something I could risk. Tony took a chance on me, and I couldn't just desert him like this. But what were they talking about?

"What's the offer?" I asked.

Rogers turned to look at the group around him, before nodding his head. Nothing could have prepared me for this moment, nothing at all.

"If you help us," he said, "we'll take you to see your father."

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AHHHh I literally caNNOT update any of my other books because I'm too focused on THIS ONE AHHH