Chapter Text
It’s March, two months after Peter’s spider bite turned out to be a little more than a normal bite.. Spider-Man swung throughout Queens, wrapping up for the night because he had a chemistry quiz tomorrow. He landed and grabbed The Daily Bugle’s latest, wanting to see what Jameson’s said now.
“No…. No…. No, no.!” Spidey exclaimed as he read the news paper…. “Again? Seriously.? It’s not my fault that they stole a car. Come on, I broke three ribs that day, give me a break.” He threw the paper into a recycling bin, running his hands down the front of his tacky ski mask. Mr. Jameson, once again, said that the ‘Spider-Menace’ had been affiliated with the same gang Spidey took down a week prior. Scoffing as he ducked into an alleyway, he managed to tear the shoulder strap off of his backpack when he ripped it from the dumpster.
Letting out an exaggerated groan as he forgot that rough housing wasn’t the same as it used to be. He quickly got over it and began walking up a wall, planning on eating the sandwich he’d bought two hours ago, but then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He jumped off the wall, closing his eyes as he tried to feel what his spider sense was set off by. He opened his eyes and turned towards the back end of the alleyway and three people in all black attire walked out. They were in militia type gear, carrying god knows how many weapons.
Spider-Man leaned on the wall, trying to keep his cool facade even though he was currently running on adrenaline. “You all like spy movies? Sorry, but the film festival was actually on-“ He said, yelping at the dart that hurled towards his face, he put his arms up as he barely dodged it. “Okay, rude. Usually my conversation starters work better, let’s try that again. Hi, I’m Spider-Man, what’s your names?” Not being up for small talk, they continued firing at him, but they swapped for real bullets. Spidey’s spider sense went off the hook as bullets flew past him from every angle.
“Паук нужен ему живым.” The one masked individual said while cursing at his teammates. “Now here I thought you weren’t down for small talk! I don’t speak whatever you guys speak, but I do speak some Spanish. Um, donde está biblio-“ Before he could finish asking for the library, one of the agents shot him in the leg with a dart. It seemed to only make his leg go numb, so Spidey decided it’d be funny to hop on one leg for the bit. “Oh no! Pins and needles! My worst enemy!”
His sarcastic quip did not earn any laughs.
He joked around knowing he would be getting his shit rocked if they hit another limb, and he knew it would probably would. He hopped around, dodging the punches and bullets. The agents continued to speak to each other, nothing Spidey could’ve understood due to the language barrier. “Как он еще стоит на ногах?” One agent screamed before Spider-Man webbed them to a wall. “Okay, it was funny for a while, but now I really can’t feel my leg.” For a moment, the agents seemed to hesitate. He thought they might’ve had a change of heart, like he’d really changed their minds.
He was then shot in the other leg.
Slowly falling, he thought of how Jonah might twist this story. If he had any confidence to speak right now, he’d probably say ‘Timber!’ As he was falling, or something stupid like that. But, unfortunately you’re never too confident when this scary agent is running towards you with a rope. “That’s a no, no.” Spidey remarked as he was hogtied by the smallest agent. Feeling humbled, he turned his head to get a better look at the guy, instead he saw an odd octopus insignia on the left shoulder of the agent. “Woah, I didn’t know the Boy Scouts had been accepting older applicants, where do I sign up?”
He got no answer, but he did feel his spider sense go off. Before he could even wonder why his senses were screaming at him, the guy who tied him up fled with a random man chasing after him. The strange guy easily caught up and threw the agent against the alleys brick wall. There was a look of pure terror on the agents face, Spidey could feel it even though he couldn’t see through the guys helmet. The scrawny kid tried to listen in on their conversation, but the man was speaking to the agent in a hushed tone, I guess it didn’t matter much since he didn’t know Russian. Spider-Man then noticed the other two agents had gone silent, he rolled over to be greeted by the two bodies, scattered around the alley, just a few feet away.
He knew they were dead, he couldn’t hear their heartbeats anymore, but a big part of him hoped there was a chance at saving them. His eyes widened as he saw the shadow of a gun raising, he turned around to try and stop the stranger, but was too late. The gun had already went off, and the agent was already sliding down the wall. His spider sense hammered in his ears as he made eye contact with the strange man, he was mentally planning his funeral. Spider-Man couldn’t conjure up any quips, comments, or snarky remarks as the guy walked over to him. The man stood over Spider-Man, pulling out a shining knife, Spidey was ready to put up some sort of fight, until the man cut him free.
Spider-Man didn’t have a moment to be shocked before he was pulled to his feet, just to fall back on the ground. “…. Sorry.” The man apologized, he seemed to be deciding what to do right now. He kneeled down in front of Spider-Man. “How do you know them.?” The man asked. “You just…” Spidey murmured as he looked at the three bodies in the alley, his eyebrows furrowing at the sight. Then the stranger blocked his view from the corpses. “Don’t worry about them, answer me.” Despite how the man seemingly tried to calm Spider-Man’s nerves, he still looked absolutely terrifying.
Spidey legs twitched as they began to regain strength, the man seemed to notice and looked a little shocked. “I’m guessing you don’t know who they are.?” The man asked as he stood up, lending the spider a hand. “Not one bit, man.” He grabbed the man’s hand, letting himself be dragged up. They stood there for a moment, letting Spidey gain some balance, then Bucky started walking them out of the alleyway. “Wait, we can’t just leave them there.” Spider-Man protested, grimacing at the scene behind them, then the man spoke up. “You’re right…. People will find them, hiding them is our best-“ Spidey interjected. “No! I meant like, call the police. We can’t just leave them here like chopped liver.” They stared at each other for a few seconds, Spidey not backing down and the man’s piercing blue eyes seemed to stare daggers into Spidey…. “Did you miss the whole part where they tried to kidnap you.? Maybe you hit your head a little too hard.” The guy argued, raising his eyebrows as he waited for an answer. “Sure, but not even they deserve to be left alone.” Spider-Man fought back…. The air was tense, but the way Spidey defended the agents made it clear that he probably had no clue what he was dealing with.
Then he sighed. “You do whatever.” He then dragged the spider to a pay phone. “You should get back home, your parents must be pretty worried that their kid is out, fighting bad guys, in pyjamas.” Spidey glanced over at the stranger, then he shook his head. “One, they’re gone. Two, why are you assuming how old I am, I could be like, twenty. It’s Spider-MAN for a reason. And they’re not pyjamas.” Spider-Man sputtered out, then was cut off by the stranger scoffing at him. “You really think anyone would imagine you as someone older than fifteen? Kid you’re like one hundred pounds, kid, your voice cracks at least every second word.”
Spidey rolled his eyes, thank god for his mask. “Yeah, a one hundred pound kid who can lift a bus.” The spider snapped back. Instead of a look, the strange man seemed to piece some things together. He looked down at the spider and patted him on the back. “Take the long way home. Stay safe.” He said as he started to walk the other way. Spidey was confused, ‘take the long way home?’, why? This stranger was confusing..
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Bucky got back to his dingy little apartment, putting his jacket on the door knob…. He walked into what would’ve been a living room, but was actually just an empty space with a bed in the corner, and sat on the bed. He thought back to the scrawny kid he saw in the alley, it felt similar…. If it were an average person, he might’ve walked the other way, but the moment he saw the thin kid trying to fight guys twice his side, it’s like his body moved without thinking.
He shook his head, it was stupid to help someone. That kid could’ve been a decoy or something. Spider-Man? The hell did he call himself? Bucky let that thought go, he knew he needed to at least make a get away plan if he was right. He stood once again, but then his attention turned to his slightly open window…. Was it open before..? Yeah, Bucky left it open to air out the moldy scent…. Yeah…. But Bucky could’ve sworn-
“Mr. Stranger- guy-“