Veins and Wires // Peter Parker

Let's Split Up And Look For Clues

4633 words losers!

As the machine around me buzzed with life and the coil and tubes attached to my arc reactor worked their magic Happy power-walked toward me and Peter. I lazily looked over at them to be included in the conversation but the machine and nanotech gave me this weird calm, loopy feeling like I just did a shit ton of cannabis.

"Ok, Fury's got the coded message," Happy confirmed with his phone in hand and lifted it. "Your friends are at the Tower Bridge."

"Ok," Peter nodded along with me.

"Your boy called it the London Bridge, but I figured it out. I'm going to go scoop them up, ok?"

"Yeah," Peter answered simply as I lazily nodded again.

"We're close," Happy warned making Peter gulp and nod, trying to appear confident but failing.

"We're close," Peter recited nervously, fidgeting subtly. I walked to the edge of the machine, the farthest the wires and coils would let me go and I grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He squeezed back.

"How're the suits coming?" Happy asked to fill the silence and ease the tension.

"Almost done."

"I feel incredibly high," I muttered to myself, staring at a chair, not ever realizing how orange it was.

"Good— wait what?" Happy did a double-take at my slumped, loopy figure and Peter did the same, giving me a concerned look. I blinked, not a thought behind my dry eyes.

"It's fine. I think," I assured, though not sure if that was accurate. "But yeah, it's almost done." Happy stared at me.

"Ok," Happy said, deciding not to question my state, and turned back to Peter. "You got this," he encouraged but the encouragement fell flat on insecure, scared to death ears.

"I got this," Peter repeated and I squeezed his hand again but for my own sake, to convince my buggy head that he'll be fine, we'll be fine.

"Now, walk me through it," Happy said, reviewing it for the audience so they were caught up.

"We know it's illusion tech, right? All we have to do is get inside the illusion, then Hailey will blast the breakdown voltage at the drones so we can take it down, find him, and he's just a guy, so I can take EDITH right back," Peter reviewed and I and Happy blinked at the half-baked plan. More half-baked than I was which was saying something.

"You make that sound way easier than it is," I noted, quirking an eyebrow at the fidgeting boy.

"Right and last time, you got hit by a train and you almost became fish food," Happy remarked, gesturing to us.

"True, but this time... How do I explain this? I have like a sixth sense," Peter started but he interrupted.

"The Peter-tingle," Happy casually finished and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from snorting at the nickname and Peters blank, unamused face. I had called it his Peter-tingle to May and it quickly became our inside joke about him. Apparently, it had caught on.

"That's what you're talking about, right? It's not working, though. I heard it wasn't working right now. Is it?" Happy continued, snitching on himself and revealing how much May and he talk when we're not around without even realizing he was doing it. Peter closed his eyes, his jaw clenching at the way this conversation sounded.

"I-it, it is working," Peter stammered with embarrassment making me snicker. I had always made jokes about the sticky white fluid that came out of Spider-Man but this might be even better. "Well, I don't know if it's working-" he reiterated but Happy interrupted him.