Rome, Bucky Barnes

five

'mom.' Makenna signed with a smile, as Pepper approached the vehicle. 'peanut.' she signed back. Makenna hugged her mother, and when they let go Pepper held out the case for her hearing aids.

'thank you.' Makenna signed, taking them out of the case. 'you're welcome, dear.' Pepper signed, and watched as Makenna put them in.

"yay, i can hear again!" Makenna exclaimed. "yay!" Pepper exclaimed, copying her daughter's enthusiasm. "okay, we gotta get a move on. we're on a time crunch." Tony stated, before kissing Pepper.

"okay. love you, mom." Makenna smiled, before hugging her mom. "love you too." she smiled, giving the girl an extra squeeze before letting her go. Tony hugged and kissed Pepper again before him and Makenna got into the car.

. . .

they drove through Queens and eventually ended up at an apartment building.

"what are we doing here?" Makenna questioned, as they got out of the car. "we are inviting a 14 year old to join our team." Tony responded. "what?" she was shocked.

"i'm not super excited about it either, but we need help and this kid has got talent." Tony explained, as they walked through the doors of the building.

Makenna followed her father up to the apartment, he knocked on the door and a woman answered. "hi, how can i- woah, your Tony Stark." she gasped, making Tony smirk. "that i am." he smiled.

"how can i help you?" she questioned, leaning on the door frame. "i'm here looking for your son, Peter Parker." Tony responded, looking down at some fake document he must have made.

"he's my nephew." the woman corrected, "he's at school, but he should be home soon. won't you come in." "thank you." Tony nodded, walking into the apartment

"oh, i know you too. you're great." she smiled, as Makenna walked through the door. "thank you." Makenna nodded.

"i didn't catch your name." Tony said, looking around the small apartment. "May. May Parker." she introduced, reaching out her hand. "nice to meet you." he shook her hand.

. . .

the door opened and a teenage boy walked through the door. "hey, May." he greeted, scattering his stuff across the room. "hey." she smiled, watching the boy walk through their home, "how was school today?"

"it was okay." he responded, walking into the kitchen, "this crazy car parked outside." "oh, Mr. Parker." Tony greeted, as Peter finally noticed the two Starks sitting on his couch. in his home.

"um... what- what are you doing... hey! uh... i'm- um- i'm Peter." the teen stuttered out. making Makenna smiled at his awkwardness. "Tony." her father smiled.

"what are you- what are you doing here?" he questioned, sounding very out of breath. "it's about time we met. you've been getting my emails, right?" Tony lied. "yeah. yeah." Peter answered very confused, "regarding the..."

"you didn't even tell me about the grant." May interrupted. "about the grant." Peter nodded at Tony. "the September Foundation." Tony stated. "right." Peter responded.

"yeah. remember when you applied?" Tony reminded the boy. "yeah." Peter pretty much asked. "i approved, so now we're in business." Tony made a stern face. basically telling the boy to keep up this lie they have going on.

"but you didn't tell me anything." his aunt scolded, "what's up with that? you keeping secrets from me now?" "well i just- i just know how much you love surprises so i thought i would let you know..." the boy continued to lie.