The Spider and The Wolf

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Bucky woke up to Peter screaming the absolute most terrifying scream Bucky had ever heard. That was partially because it was coming from Peter, and God forbid anything happen to Peter. That immediately made Bucky run next door to Peter's room. He was analyzing what he could do should he need a weapon. He figured his own brute strength might ward off most things, but there isn't such thing as being too well prepared.

Bucky noticed the other Avengers waking up and coming out of their rooms as well equally prepared for combat. Bucky kicked down the door to see that Peter had bolted completely ninety degrees vertically in his bed. The bed was wet and Peter was frozen in what Bucky could only assume to be sheer terror. Tears were streaming down the young boy's face, but he was making no effort to remove them.

"What's the situation, Buck?" asked Tony asked. He might not have been the most nurturing person, but he was ready to lay down his life for the boy he only knew for a short amount of time. Bucky noticed most of the Avengers, if not all, were willing to do whatever it took for Peter, no matter the cost. It was admirable, to say the least.

"I've got this," Bucky said, sure to not break his eyes away from Peter, who was still completely immobilized. "Pete, bud," He started. He tried not to sound scared, but if he was honest he was out of his mind. He wanted so desperately to keep Peter safe, and he felt like that wasn't yet what he was doing.

"Pete, talk to me," He coaxed the nine-year-old. He gently put a hand on Peter's shoulder as a sort of gesture of fondness, but Peter didn't react like that was the case. Suddenly the boy who has been stiff as a nail, for lack of better terminology, went hysterical. In this hysteria, the young spider was crying and balled up on the opposite corner of the bed.

"Pauk, please. I just want to help." Bucky shooed away the other Avengers, but Steve stood firmly with his head still in the doorway. Bucky knew the others were still in earshot, but he wasn't sure if Peter knew that. He figured it would be better if he didn't.

"Something isn't right," Peter said. His voice was as small as a mouse, and that perhaps terrified Bucky more than any threat Bucky had initially thought was going to try and hurt the boy.

"HYDRA," Peter whispered so faintly that only fireflies could hear him. "They are coming for me, and they are not happy."

"What do they want?" Bucky trembled. He remembered that Peter had these feelings about bad omens. Their time on the run gave him first hand experience of that.

Tears formed in Peter's soft young eyes. One might describe children's eyes as innocent, but the young spider's were anything but. He knew things, he saw things, he felt things that nobody should ever. But the way Peter sniffled and swallowed hard made Bucky want to protect this 'innocent' child from potential threats, HYDRA being more than included in that list.

With a swallow Peter responded, "What's rightfully theirs."

Bucky's vision went soft, to put it lightly. Peter sounded so genuinely terrified, and he obviously had every right to be. But now, so was Bucky.

Peter explained to all the Avengers his dream as well as his spider senses of danger. They felt more faint to him now, but he was obviously still mortified by his impending doom.

The Avengers made it their all-time priority to keep Peter safe. Tony even installed programming in the Tower known as the Protect Peter Protocol and the Spider Sense System. Tony was apparently a sucker for alliteration, and he put these mechanisms in specifically for the young boy's safety. If the Avengers could help it, nothing would ever happen to Peter.

Bucky truly with all his soul wanted to keep it that way.

Wanda had concluded it would probably be best for Peter's sake and for the sake of the other superheros to try to live as normally as possible under the protocols. It would help everyone's mindset from paranoia, which they all had experience with it getting out of control.