ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴜɴᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ (peter parker x oc) (g x g)

eighteen

Peter and I returned to the lab shortly after. "Amazing. No assistance was required operating the elevator, I hope," Tony remarked as we walked in.

I said nothing, picking up a blueberry from his snacks on the bench and threw it squarely at his nose. Shuri poorly disguised her snort of laughter as a sneeze.

"So.. how is Loki?" Bruce asked timidly. "Not.. planning anything, is he?"

My expression softened. "Don't worry. He's not planning on using you. Again."

The scientists shoulders relaxed slightly. "Well, it's a relief, I gotta tell you."

I had long accepted that as much as I loved Loki, it wouldn't take back any of his actions from last time he was in New York. He had still destroyed countless buildings, he'd still attempted killing nearly every single Avenger and he'd still used Bruce's vulnerability as a way of escaping.

"So, why don't we try and save my country now," Shuri clapped her hands before murmuring, "White people talk can be so boring," under her breath.

I smiled. "Yes. Let's."

And for a moment, as Peter handed me flasks of chemicals and Bruce and Tony went back to studying their comprehensive notes, it felt like I had gone back three years, when everything seemed.. right.

**Four hours later**

That positive mood I was in a couple of hours ago? It had evaporated. Or I may as well just say it disappeared, seeing that science skills were no longer functioning.

Bruce and Tony were sprawled across the benches, sheets of paper covering my dad's face. I couldn't be 100% sure he wasn't sleeping. Shuri was sitting cross legged on the floor, head in hands and staring, blank eyed, at the notes before her while Peter and I were squished together on a single wheelie chair, spinning slowly.

We had exhausted every single solution that could come to our minds, and none of them seemed to pan out in the slightest. Now, splayed across the lab in despair, we were bouncing theories we already half-knew were pointless.

"Extracting a cure from Wakandan plants?" Bruce asked.

"Nope," I muttered. "Already checked."

"Concentrated antibiotics?" Tony suggested, his voice muffled from being covered by stacks of paper.

"It would take years for Wakandans to develop an immune system to accustom to western medicine," Peter said quietly, flopping his head onto my shoulder.

"..Celery.. cleanse?" Bruce groaned. I sighed, pressing my cheek to Peter's downy curls.
"Not a fitness regime, Banner," I said.

"So we have nothing," Tony sat up, brushing the notes from his face impatiently.

"Basically," Shuri answered, pulling repetitively at one of her braids.

Heavy footsteps approaching the lab distracted us from our failures momentarily. Steve stomped in, wearing his full Star Spangled suits and carrying his shield, but a large gash seeped on his cheekbone.

"Steve!" I gasped, standing up. Peter's head, previously resting on my shoulder, slid off abruptly and he whined a small complaint as his neck jerked downwards.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Steve told me. "Just a robbery on fourth street. Gang member took a swipe at me with a knife."

I took a firm grasp of his first, pulling him towards a bench. I hoisted myself up and dragged Steve towards me forcefully. A small tub of 'miracle cream,' as I'd called it, was an ointment for cuts and small injuries Bruce had helped me create a couple years back for a science project. It hadn't expired yet. Hopefully.

I dipped a finger in the cool cream and, wrapping an arm around Steve's head to steady it, smeared the stuff on his cheekbone.

"I told you to stop sending them to smaller missions!" I snapped at Tony, inspecting the gash further. Steve let his head flop in my arms like doll's, knowing it was pointless to struggle. "Leave it to the police."

"Nobody has anything to do today. And they all wanted to help out with the virus cure. I wanted them out of my hair so I sent them all on missions," Tony explained. I glared at him. The Avengers obviously more powerful than other forces like police, and therefore criminals held a particular hatred out for the heroes.

"I'm fine.. really," Steve murmured, "Just a cut."

"Mhm," I murmured, wiping a speck of blood from his blonde hair. "Hey.. that beard's actually starting to grow." I stared the Captain's chin and cheeks, majority of the skin covered in brown stubble.

Steve grinned proudly, and in a moment of distraction, dropped his shield. It caught on a wire on its way down and a microphone tumbled to the ground along with the rounded metal.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Steve apologised quickly, bending down to retrieve the items.

But I wasn't paying attention to him anymore, gazing at the microscope and shield scattered across the floor.

Before Steve could pick his weapon back up, I dove to the ground and scooped it up myself, heaving it with effort back onto the bench. "Sorry, Cap," I said, taking some scissors from a small stationary tin and scratching off a layer of the shield's red paint.

Tony, Bruce, Peter and Shuri wandered to the bench, glancing over my shoulder curiously as I shoved the weapon under another microscope. "Peter. Docile virus particles?" I held out a hand and a test tube was placed in it without a word.

I pressed my eye to the microscope lens, inspecting the scratched section of the shield for a couple of moments before flipping the test tubes contents onto a slide.

"Dad, take a look," I whispered, moving aside. Tony rested his eye on the lens.

"It's the same particles we've been staring at for the five hours," he said.

I rolled my eyes, pushing the shield back under the microscope. "Look at the similarities."

Both Tony and Bruce bent down in a hurried attempt to see what I was talking about and their heads clashed with a solid thunk. They jerked back up and rubbed their heads simultaneously.

I suppressed a smile, tapping on the microscope's features. Being invented by Tony himself, it had the ability to reflect whatever it was magnifying onto the large screen in the lab.

"Take a look," I said, pointing to the a certain section in one of the enlarged particles. "This bit-" I took a red marker from the bench and circled a tiny dot contained in each speck. "-is identical in the virus particles," I shifted the shield away and the microscope focused on the virus fragments below it. "Cap's shield is made from vibranium, coincidentally Wakanda's most profitable natural element. The metal is also known for its ability to absorb kinetic energy, making the particles extra vulnerable to carrying diseases."

"Which means.. the virus has been extracted from vibranium!" Bruce yelled in excitement.

"Yup!" I grinned.

Shuri ran forward, engulfing me with her tiny body in an embrace. "Thank you! Thank you!" She cried. I stiffened in shock and my arms awkwardly patted her back. As she pulled away, she began tapping at a tiny device on her wrist. "I am contacting Wakanda immediately. Our scientists will be able to form a cure with this information. They will surely throw a parade in your honour, Maze Stark," She smiled up at me.

I blushed. "It's nothing, really. Although I hope a certain genius isn't angry that his daughter saved a country before he could.." I glanced at my dad with a satisfied smirk.

Tony shook his head, a reluctant smile spreading across his face. "Good job, kid," He said. 

There was a small silence. "Well.. I don't really know what to do with that," I muttered. 

"How about you kids order gourmet lobster tonight. On me?" He offered. 

I narrowed my eyes. "First of all. Peter and I hate lobster. And.. I actually had something better in mind."