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VALOR
xvi. BUG-BOY
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DON'T TELL ANYONE, BUT Riley O'Dair always wondered how she'd meet her soulmate. It was a little embarrassing to admit, especially knowing that her team would tease her for the rest of her life if she ever brought it up, but she pondered the thought frequently. Riley liked to think those things were real: soulmates, true love, happy endings. Hey, she was an optimist, alright?
Regardless, if you would've told Riley that the day she met her soulmate happened to be the same day she had to throw Captain America in jail, she would've never believed you.
Riley O'Dair and Pietro Maximoff would be found in the former's hotel room. They laid flat on their stomachs, the bed littered with snacks as a random movie played on the TV. They'd been awake for hours, restlessly awaiting Tony's call.
"Just because you say your opinion louder than me doesn't make it any less wrong!"
"All I'm saying is—!"
Somehow, someway, Pietro was like a brother to Riley. She'd always wondered what it was like to have siblings, but it was usually an afterthought until Sokovia. Albeit annoying, Riley liked having "siblings", even if she hadn't known the twins very long. Sure, she might've started her friendship with Pietro because he reminded her of Roman (and God knows how much Riley misses him), but they were close now.
"Time travel isn't a real thing, Pietro! What you're saying doesn't make sense! You can't run fast enough to travel through time!"
Although her tone was annoyed, Pietro still wore a cheeky smile. "Someone is a little tense today, no?"
Riley sighed, her cheeks puffing outward. "Can you blame me? I'm about to throw my own family in jail."
The fugitives in question were located in approximately 24 hours: Sam, Steve, and Bucky were hiding out near the Flughafen Leipzig-Halle Airport. They hadn't left Berlin, yet, but they were trying to.
The rest of the team was preparing in anticipation of what would come next. Some of the Avengers staked out near the airport, others were patrolling Berlin in case the fugitives had moved. Some had recruited non-Avengers to assist the team, and others were simply waiting for the call to assemble for the inevitable fight. Riley and Pietro were in that last group of people.
Riley hated the idea that her friends were fugitives now, and she hated, even more, the idea that this could only end in a fight. Of course, she was a little tense.
Nonetheless, Riley knew what Pietro was doing: he was trying to make her feel better. It didn't take being a genius to figure that out, especially after he showed up to her hotel room this morning with a platter of fresh breakfast.
Riley and Pietro had been hanging out since then. It was nice being able to spend time with her friend in a way that didn't involve training or saving the world.
"Don't worry, Riley," Pietro assured, nudging her lightly. "We'll bring them in and this will all be over before you know it."
Pietro thought it was sweet how Riley considered the Avengers her family. Then again, he supposed they were all she had, and that was why he was so worried about her. He was relieved knowing Wanda was back in New York at the Avengers Facility—safe, sound, definitely not breaking her house arrest with a certain archer.
Riley leaned on her elbows. "I know, I know, I just..." She hesitated. A thought had been pestering her for the past hour. "Don't you think it's a weird coincidence that Barnes is back?"
Pietro shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so?" he admitted. "If I was waiting to pull off a big attack, I wouldn't show my face for a while either."
"True," Riley mumbled, "but why now? There's no way he could've predicted the Accords, and if he was still under HYDRA's control, we would've seen him in Lagos, right? I mean, Steve and Sam have been looking for him since S.H.I.E.L.D. went to shit, and now he's back? Just like that? You don't think that sounds sketchy?"
If he was being honest, Pietro wasn't sure. There was a lot Pietro still didn't know about this world. It felt like no matter how much he learned, he'd always be a step behind the others, which he thought was pretty ironic.
"I think," started Pietro, "you've been watching too many detective movies."
Riley rolled her eyes. "I'd be a way better detective than you," she lightly joked. Then, she groaned, laying her head in her hands. "I wish this whole thing never happened. It's such a mood-killer!"
Pietro just laughed. He didn't want to show it, especially when Riley was as torn and conflicted as she was, but he was worried, too. Something about this whole thing was bothering him, and he wasn't sure why or how he knew that. He could've blamed it on his connection to his twin, but Wanda was thousands of miles away. Allegedly.
Soon, the two received the expected call from Tony and traveled to join the rest of the Avengers at the airport. Everyone seemed to have been waiting on the duo, but thanks to Pietro's speed, the delay was brief.
Riley examined what was left of her team. Team Iron Man gathered on the airport's rooftop, all suited up: Tony, Rhodey, Natasha, Vision, King T'Challa, and... Who the hell is that?
A red-and-blue suited figure stood amongst the team. Riley had never seen him before. She assumed this was the person Tony traveled back to Queens, New York to recruit. "So, who exactly are we waiting for, Mr. Stark?" the stranger inquired.
"Just Maximoff and, uh... Valor," Tony informed, almost hesitant to use the girl's hero name. He hardly ever did. This was enough for her to realize he hadn't revealed Riley's identity to the boy.
Riley adjusted her mask to cover her face, listening as the boy began to ramble. "Wait, Valor?" he echoed. "You mean the youngest Avenger? She's on our side? I mean, pfft, of course, she's on our side! Obviously! But I didn't realize she'd be here—"
"In the flesh," Riley called out as she and Pietro joined the others. Turning to Tony, Riley nodded toward the Queens-native. "Who the hell's this guy?"
Though his face was covered, the boy's eyes were wide as he stood before Valor. He stepped forward to shake her hand. "Uh, hiya, Miss Valor! I'm Parker, uh, I mean. I'm Peter. Peter Parker. Uh, well, I guess we're going by our superhero names, so... I'm Spider-Man," he greeted. Riley couldn't help but notice how young he sounded.
Although Riley cringed at his enthusiasm, she took his hand. It was the polite thing to do. "Valor," she returned. "Do you mind giving me a second?" She didn't wait for his answer. She turned to Tony and accused, "You recruited another teenager!?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "That's what you're concerned about?"
"I just think it's interesting, that's all!"
"No, you're just jealous that you're not the only young one on the team anymore."
"Why would I be jealous of a kid wearing a onesie!"
Peter couldn't help but quietly add, "Not a onesie."
Ignoring him, Riley added, "I thought I was special! What's next, you're gonna take him to our best friends yoga classes?"
Honestly, Riley wasn't that annoyed regarding Tony's choices. It was all of the pent up tension she'd been feeling all day, and luckily for her, Tony was just as stressed as her. He was the perfect person to take her worries out on and vise-versa.
Before Tony could reply, Natasha cleared her throat and interrupted, "Guys, you know how much I love putting Val in her place, but we've gotta get things moving."
Riley sighed, nodding. "We'll talk about this later," she hissed to Tony before turning back to the others, who had been ignoring their banter as per usual.
As if on cue, an announcement echoed over the airport speakers. "Dies ist eine Notsituation. Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren."
Rhodey peered back at Vision. "Do you work as a Google Translate, too?" he quizzed.
"They're evacuating the airport," Natasha translated. "Right on time, too. Just so we're clear, we're only arresting them, right?"
Vision just nodded, ignoring Rhodey's comment. "Right. I'm detecting that the fugitives are still at the airport, but we have to move quickly."
T'Challa, who had been mostly silent, took a step forward. He wore his Black Panther gear, which seemed to make him look even more intimidating. "Barnes is mine. I do not care what you do with the others," he grimly declared.
Riley hadn't had much of an opportunity to speak to King T'Challa throughout this mess. All she knew was that they'd developed a mutual respect for one another after fighting Bucky side-by-side, but that was as far as their relationship went.
Though she did happen to overhear T'Challa say something about a "Little Bear" when he was speaking to a Wakandan Security Chief. She wondered what that was all about.
Pietro nodded. "Right. Are you guys ready for this?"
"You mean, am I ready to get my ass handed to me by the goddamn Winter Soldier for the billionth time? Yeah, something like that," retorted Riley. "Anyways, I've been thinking about the plan, and I think I have an idea. If we're going to get out of this Civil War successful, we need to change some things up."
"...Civil War?" quoted Tony. He was totally judging her.
Riley shrugged. "The jokes make themselves," she dismissed before getting serious once again. "Now, listen up. I'm not going over this again. I'm looking at you, Bug-Boy."
Peter hesitated to correct one of his childhood heroes. "Uh, it's Spider-Man."
"Uh-huh, whatever you say, Bug-Boy."
Peter Parker just swallowed the knot in his throat, suddenly rather intimidated by the valiant Valor.
○ ○ ○
This was bad. Steve Rogers knew that this was bad—really, really bad.
After the airport was evacuated, courtesy of one Tony Stark, he and his friends only had so much time to get the hell out of Berlin and hurry to Siberia. That was the only way they could stop the doctor. The doctor in question was, of course, the one who had conducted Bucky's psych evaluation. Of course, he wasn't a real doctor, but rather, one of HYDRA's undying (emphasis on undying) supporters. The doctor had briefly reactivated Bucky's mind-control and set him up to look like he'd been the cause of the UN bombing. The problem was that Bucky had nothing to do with it.
As of now, the doctor was looking to unleash the world's Winter Soldiers (yeah, that alone was a long story), and Steve needed to stop him in order to clear Bucky's name. But before he could make things right, Steve had to figure out how to escape the Avengers.
Adorned in his suit, Steve Rogers hurried through an underpass. He jogged toward a private runway where a chopper was idling. Before he could get too close, an electro-disabler slammed itself onto the helicopter's side. Steve looked up to see Iron Man and War Machine's descent.
Meanwhile, Valor had been hiding in an airport terminal. She'd implored JOCASTA to search the security cameras until they got a hit on Bucky and Sam's locations. Luckily for her, they happened to be together. On the ground, the others had begun to fight.
"Alright, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff. I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?" Tony requested, his voice vibrating in Riley's comms.
"Got two in the terminal. Wilson and Barnes. They're heading your way, Val, eyes up," chimed in Rhodey.
"I'm on it," Riley informed. She turned invisible and broke into a sprint in hopes of meeting the fugitives halfway.
Riley had been recalling everything she knew about her opponents and their fighting styles in waiting. Team Cap was composed of Steve, Bucky, Sam, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff, and someone named Scott Lang (otherwise known as Ant-Man, who she'd heard of once before after he kicked Sam's ass in a fight...on accident). Riley was mostly concerned about fighting Bucky.
After all, he'd kicked her ass four times already.
Not too far away, Spider-Man swung toward the side of the terminal as Sam and Bucky bolted to the location of the Stark Quinjet. Yes, getting to the helicopter from before was never their goal. They knew Tony was coming after them, and they knew he'd bring a Quinjet. That Quinjet was their way out of here.
Bucky's eyes widened as Spider-Man crawled over the glass outside. "What the hell is that?"
"Everyone's got a gimmick now," Sam grunted.
The two continued on their way until they abruptly ran into a wall of some sort, the impact causing them to fall onto the floor. When they looked up, they realized that there was nothing visibly in front of them.
A white figure materialized before them. Valor trained her eyes on the men, a little smirk on her lips. "What, did I scare you?" she taunted.
The sight of the skilled teenager caused the fugitives to hurriedly scramble back onto their feet. Sam immediately looked hesitant. "I don't want to hurt you, Riley."
Though she was supposed to have been stoic, Riley couldn't help but laugh at her friend's words. "Oh, that's cute," she mocked.
"Your ego's getting worse."
Riley shrugged. "I blame my coworkers," she dismissed before getting serious again. "Look, Sam, Barnes killed people. Innocent people."
"You have to understand," started Sam while Bucky raised his hands, his metal arm shining as he tried to reason, "That wasn't me, kid."
For once, Bucky was in a sound state of mind. He'd heard Steve talk about Riley before, along with other things that were constant in Steve's life now. He knew that Riley loved the Avengers more than anything. Maybe Bucky could convince her to empathize with their situation?
Riley narrowed her eyes at him. "Call me that again and you're losing the other arm," she threatened. Then, she turned invisible.
Valor grabbed Falcon and twisted his arm around his back, which caused him to extend his wings. This sent Riley to the ground with a grunt and a thud. They took this as a chance to escape, but they were soon obstructed by another forcefield. Riley approached them once more, sweeping her feet underneath Bucky's feet with such an extreme force that he tumbled onto the floor.
Sam brandished his pistols, still uncomfortable at the thought of hurting someone so young. Riley used his hesitance to her advantage. She turned visible directly in front of Sam to startle him before grabbing him. She cranked his arm around, causing Sam to yelp in pain while she shot his weapon at Bucky. It merely bounced off his metal arm and onto the floor.
Riley flipped Sam over before turning to Bucky, ducking when he swung his fist at her. She twisted herself to hit him from behind, which caused him to elbow her in the face. Riley was about to attack Bucky once more when the glass window beside them shattered. Spider-Man swung into the terminal.
"Hey, Miss Valor!" Spider-Man shouted, causing Riley to audibly sigh. He kicked Sam toward a kiosk and turned to punch Bucky.
Bucky caught his fist with his metal arm. To Bucky and Riley's surprise, Peter was able to hold his own against the Winter Soldier right off the bat. "Whoa! You have a metal arm?" Spider-Man shouted. "That is awesome, dude!"
Riley rolled her eyes. With the way he'd been acting, Riley was beginning to wonder where this kid's babysitter was.
Falcon flew upward, shooting at Peter without any remorse as he swung after him. Meanwhile, Riley and Bucky continued to fight on the ground.
"You have the right to remain silent!"
Bucky made a face at Spider-Man's words. He nodded toward him as he dodged another one of Riley's hits. "Is he your friend or something?" he questioned.
Riley scoffed. "No. I have no idea where he came from." She shook her head as they took a second to catch their breath. "Hey, how come you haven't tried to kill me yet? I don't think we've fought this... this long before."
"I don't want to kill you," Bucky insisted, leaning forward slightly due to the hits he took. "I'm telling you the truth. I'm being set-up by someone from my past."
That would explain her concerns from before... "What, HYDRA? Is that why Steve's been helping you?" she interrogated. She held her side, ignoring what JOCASTA had to say about her new injuries Bucky.
"I told Steve to leave me," Bucky tried to explain. "You know him. He doesn't listen. I'm telling you the truth."
Riley didn't believe him. "It's too good to be true. You're lying. I'm not leaving without you. You'll have to throw me out of here yourself if you wanna get rid of me."
Long story short, that was how the Winter Soldier threw Valor out the window on the sixth floor of the Berlin airport.
Riley laid flat on the concrete, chest heaving up and down as she groaned rather loudly. "What is it with long-haired bad guys throwing me out of windows?"
As Riley caught her breath, she found herself reconsidering Bucky's tall tale. The way he looked at her, the way he fought her—It wasn't with contempt and disdain. He wasn't trying to kill her like all of the other times. He was trying to prove that he was innocent. Was it because he wasn't under HYDRA's spell anymore? Riley worried that maybe she was fighting the wrong person, after all.
But that brought forth the real question: Who was the bad guy here if it wasn't Bucky? The Doctor? The Accords? HYDRA?
Riley didn't have time to be skeptical. Although she was reconsidering just about everything she knew about their situation, Riley couldn't stop fighting just because she was second-guessing herself. She had to succeed.
Soon, Team Cap regrouped. They raced toward the aforementioned quinjet. This was their chance to escape. This was their chance to prove Bucky's innocence. This was—
BAM!
Like dominos, the group of six slammed directly into an invisible wall. Some fell down at the impact, others stumbled. Faintly, the sound of snickering entered their ears as Valor revealed herself.
"Man, I gotta start doing that more often," Riley admitted. She knew this was a little unprofessional of her, but come on! It was hilarious!
Hawkeye sighed, his bow in hand. "I see you have a new party trick," commented Clint. "Good to see you're well, O'Dair."
Sam's eyebrows shot upward. "How the hell did you get to us so fast?"
Riley pointed to the left where a broken terminal window could be seen from not too far away. "Your buddy threw me out of a goddamn window," she snapped.
"Wow, this is awesome," Scott Lang muttered under his breath.
Steve took a step forward. Riley felt her heart sink at the disappointed look in his eyes. "Look, Riley things don't have to end like this—"
A fizzing stream of bright yellow energy sliced across the runway between Riley and the fugitives. Vision hovered in the air near Riley.
"I wouldn't take another step toward the child if I were you, Captain Rogers," suggested Vision. Riley bit her tongue, knowing that now wasn't the time to correct him. "I know you believe what you're doing is right, but for the collective good, you must surrender now."
The Avengers gathered around Riley. It was quite a sight. Black Panther, Iron Man, Valor, Black Widow, Quicksilver, Vision, Spider-Man, and War Machine were lined up, with Vision floating above them. They mirrored Falcon, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, and the Winter Soldier.
Riley peered back at Natasha, who seemed to be eyeing her as if to ask You okay? She just nodded, silent.
"I think I understand Miss Valor's joke about this being a Civil War now," Peter mumbled, mostly to himself.
Pietro was shocked to see his sister on the field. He'd already fought her once today, but it didn't sit right with him knowing he was fighting her. He didn't want to throw his little sister in jail. He didn't want to throw any of the fugitives in jail. They were good people (well, maybe excluding Bucky). He didn't want to punish them for this whole thing.
But... that was the right thing to do, wasn't it? They needed to take responsibility for their actions, just like Pietro had learned last year. Of course, the one time Pietro Maximoff finally started taking responsibility for himself was the one time he started to think it was the wrong thing to do. Hm...
Sam glanced back at Steve and urged, "What do we do, Cap?"
Without hesitation, Steve returned, "We fight."
"This isn't gonna end well," Natasha muttered as their opponents began to approach them.
As Team Iron Man started to move toward them, Peter proclaimed, "Uh, they're not stopping!"
"Neither are we," remarked Tony.
Riley held her breath. This was it.
Valor didn't know who to take on first. Despite the fact that she'd spent so much time recalling everyone's fighting techniques, she didn't want to actually fight her friends.
Riley found herself fighting Wanda and Clint, unfortunately with Spider-Man by her side. Wanda used her powers to throw miscellaneous objects at them while Clint shot his arrows. Riley caught what she could with her forcefields, propelling them back where they came from.
"C'mon, Wanda, seriously? This is so not what we went over in training!" Riley scolded, visible as she protected herself with another forcefield. "You're gonna blow your back out if you keep standing like that in fights!"
Clint refrained from shooting another arrow at her, making a face. "...Are you seriously critiquing her right now?"
"What? I'm not taking credit for someone with bad form!" she excused while Wanda and Peter fought.
"Gee, it's like I'm talking to a mini Nat," he mumbled, which she heard.
"Yeah, yeah, come on," Riley challenged. "Hit me with your best shot, Merida!" Clint rolled his eyes.
Valor watched as Hawkeye pulled back his bowstring, firing more arrows. She merely turned invisible and ran at him full-force. Somehow, Clint anticipated this and swung his bow blindly. With an oof, Riley recoiled and became visible. She and Clint threw their punches at one another, getting in their hits where they could until he overpowered her.
Before Clint could do anything else, they glanced back at the sound of Spider-Man's continual side-comments. Riley had scolded him for talking so much during fights earlier when she had been fighting next to him, but he seemed to have ignored her.
Clint nodded to the teenager. "So, is he like, your friend, or something?"
His tone of voice assured Riley. It was almost like he was reminding her that when this was all over, they were still family.
Still, Riley glared at him from behind her mask. "Of course not!" she hissed.
She took this moment to conjure UV rays in her hands, burning Clint's arms instantly. Riley pushed him off, using her superhuman strength to kick him as far as she could. Valor rose to her feet, dusting herself off when a red flash blinded her.
Wanda stood before Riley, a red current glowing in the palms of her hands. Riley was confused as to how she was still standing until was when she looked down to see Spider-Man on the ground. Peter had taken the hit from Wanda to protect Riley.
Riley watched as Peter Parker rose once more. "Uh, thanks, Bug-Boy," Riley told him.
"It's still Spider-Man, ma'am," he weakly corrected.
Valor turned her attention to Wanda, who was now fighting her brother. "Yeah, but Bug-Boy flows better," she dismissed. "By the way, don't call me ma'am. I'm 15."
Peter hadn't been expecting that. He'd heard that Valor was young, but he'd always assumed those were just rumors. Apparently, it was true. They were the same age.
Still, Peter shrugged. "I'll get you to call me Spider-Man! It's a promise!" he declared before swinging off in another direction.
Riley scoffed. What a strange kid.
Valor averted her attention to Wanda once more, knowing that she'd be their biggest problem if she wasn't dealt with. Wanda was in the midst of talking to Pietro when Riley approached them, invisible.
"You realize you're going to jail for this, right?" Pietro reminded his twin, almost smugly.
"And here I was thinking you'd be arrested first."
Then, Wanda raised her hands to telekinetically move several boxes and destroyed cars between them. Wanda attempted to create a wall around Pietro to prevent him from running at her. Once she was done, Wanda stood tall, puzzled. Why hadn't Pietro run through already?
Well, after a short conversation between Pietro and Riley that went along the lines of "Hey, remember that movie we watched?" and "Are you fucking serious, Pietro? That's not going to work!", a large explosion sounded. The force of something Wanda couldn't see caused all of the objects to be pushed away.
Arising from the smoke and debris was Pietro and Riley. The sight actually caused Wanda's jaw to drop, for Quicksilver was sprinting in her direction with a forcefield surrounding him.
Wanda couldn't believe it—Pietro and Riley were actually recreating the iconic scene from the Incredibles.
The Scarlet Witch threw herself to the side as the two sped toward her. Wanda spent the next few moments dodging their hamster ball of hell and falling to the ground every so often. She kept trying to throw things at them, but Pietro was too fast. Finally, Wanda decided to try something crazy.
She stood with her feet planted as Pietro dashed toward her with Riley still inside the forcefield. Wanda braced herself before bringing her arms back, her knuckles swirling with red energy. She swung her fists forward at the forcefield in hopes of shattering Riley's concentration, only to find herself dangerously soaring backward. Hues of red, blue, and purple light exploded into the atmosphere as the three went soaring in separate directions.
Steve and Bucky sprinted alongside one another, maneuvering their way throughout the chaos.
As another missile was fired toward them, Steve flung his shield in its direction to take it out. He picked up his pace to retrieve his shield, but he stopped when he noticed it hovering in mid-air.
Valor turned herself visible, revealing her dirtied white suit. Her arm was outstretched as Captain America's shield sat in her hands.
She somewhat deflated when she realized that she had to fight Steve and Bucky. She nervously chuckled and said, "You know, this isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to throw the shield."
Steve was tense. He didn't want to fight Riley—not after everything they'd been through. But she was too young to be a fugitive. It felt wrong to ask her to help him in any way she could. Then again, it didn't hurt to try...
"Hey, Manhattan," greeted Steve, tired. A small smile pulled at his lips, amused by a new thought. "Say, are you friends with that Queens kid?"
Riley felt her eye twitch. "For the last time, no!" She sighed, trying to gather her thoughts. "...Is is true?"
Steve paused. "Is what true?"
Riley didn't want to fight Steve, not after everything they'd been through together over the past few years. This was different than any other fight she'd endured that day. Because this was Steve. What killed her was that in every single outcome, whether it's jail or the fugitives escaping, Riley would lose Steve.
"The stuff about Bucky being set-up. Is it true?" Riley repeated. "I wanna hear it from you, Brooklyn. Because... Because there's no way you'd defend a bad guy, even if he was your best friend, right?"
Maybe if Steve just told her, without hesitation, that he was doing something good, maybe Riley'd believe him. Maybe she'd let him and Bucky go because she'd know he could clear their names. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But Riley couldn't work with hypotheticals. This was the law. These were innocent lives that were targeted because of their foolishness and their maybes.
A sigh slipped between his chapped lips. "I... I can't give you an answer with absolute confidence," Steve ultimately confessed. "I don't have any evidence, but I will soon."
Riley leaned her head back, unhappy with his response. "That's not good enough, Steve," she quietly told him. She gripped his shield. "You know I have no other choice, right?"
"...I'm sorry."
With a grunt, Valor flicked her wrist and sent Steve's shield flying. She turned invisible and raced toward the two. Steve caught his shield as Riley turned visible, producing light in her hands again. She grabbed Bucky's arm at the last possible second and shined it in Steve's face to blind him.
Punches flew and hits were made, but no matter how tired Riley was, she continued to fight. Because that was what she was supposed to do. She would fight and fight until she physically couldn't move anymore.
Riley wasn't sure how she did it, but at some point, she was able to restrain Bucky. She stood beside him as he kneeled. Her hand was on her gun, pointing it at the side of his head.
Personally, she was quite proud of herself. It only took him kicking her ass five times to do, but hey, Riley wasn't complaining.
Bucky was about to retaliate when Steve stopped him. "Buck, wait," called Steve. His azure eyes were on her. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe he could get through to her. "C'mon, Riley, you know me. I can't tell you what you want to hear, but find it in yourself to believe me. Someone's orchestrating this whole thing. You have to let us go. Let us fix this."
Riley didn't reply. What to do, what to do? She was supposed to fight Steve, Bucky, and Sam. She was supposed to throw them in jail for failing to cooperate, for failing to abide by the Sokovia Accords. That was what she was supposed to do.
But what she wanted to do was to believe Steve. She knew that if the Accords never happened, she could help them in clearing Bucky's name. After all, why would so many people go out of their way to help him if Bucky really was a villain? That meant something, right?
Riley didn't know much about being a hero, but if there was something she had learned, it was that it took courage to make the right choice. And although she feared the outcomes, Riley knew what the right choice was deep down.
She had to let them go.
Riley looked down at Bucky and muttered, "Throw me."
Bucky paused. "...What?"
"If you throw me," Riley continued, "it'll look like you overpowered me. Then, you and Steve can get out of here." She floundered. "I don't trust you, Barnes, not yet, at least. But... I trust Steve. Go. Make this right for yourself."
Bucky's face was blank, but his eyes were grateful. "...Thank you."
○ ○ ○
Okay, so maybe Riley O'Dair was quickly regretting letting Steve and Bucky go.
Not because she thought they were bad guys in the end, but because if she hadn't let them go, then she wouldn't be dealing with a Behemoth-sized Ant-Man.
"Holy shit!" shouted Peter Parker.
"Okay, tiny dude is big now," Rhodey exclaimed as Scott swung him around. "He's big now!"
Riley watched as Spider-Man saved War Machine from their gargantuous enemy with his webs. She was still standing on the sidelines trying to figure out how to approach him without getting stepped on.
"How the hell did he get so big!?" Riley cried out. "I thought you said his name was Ant-Man!?"
"Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose," Tony began, "I'm open to suggestion!"
Scott was bringing down hell as much as he could. He used his size to his advantage by kicking busses, destroying the airport even more, and throwing people every which way. This must've been Team Cap's way of distracting everyone while Steve and Bucky escaped.
Riley used her forcefields, trying to knock Scott over, but she needed someone to exert enough force to push him over. She was too tired to do anything more than using her forcefields. Surprisingly, Peter seemed to detect her idea.
"Oh, I see what you're doin', Valor!" Peter called out. He began to web up Scott, swinging around his legs in repeated circles. "Hey, guys, you ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?"
Riley made a face. "Uh, Star Wars is for nerds, so no."
"Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?" Rhodey interrogated.
"I don't know, I didn't carbon-date him. He's on the young side!"
Peter continued, "You know that part... where they're on the snow planet... with the walking thingies!?"
Now, Tony and Rhodey were beginning to see what he and Riley were doing. They flew high in the sky and soon, Scott Lang toppled onto the ground.
"YES! Haha! That was awesome!" bellowed Peter.
Riley was relieved when she saw Scott fall, even relaxing a little bit. That was when Riley noticed Spider-Man get hit by one of Scott's flailing limbs as he began to shrink into a normal size again. Peter was sent sailing through the skies.
"Oh, fuck me," complained Riley.
Peter flew overhead, nearing closer and closer to the ground. Just when Riley was about to catch him with a forcefield, his body collided with hers. Valor and Spider-Man went rolling on the pavement.
Their hearts raced, the adrenaline in their veins finally decimating. That was when Riley realized that she was laying on top of Peter.
Eyes widening, Riley pushed herself off of the boy. She wasn't sure if her cheeks were burning because she was embarrassed or just dying. She was hoping for the latter.
Riley stared at him, realizing he was still. "Uh, hey, dude? Are you okay?" Silence. "Oh my God, you better not be dead. Uh, Bug-Boy?" He wasn't budging, but his chest was still moving up and down. She released an exasperated sigh. "C'mon, Spider-Man, I can hear you breathing."
"W...What...?" started Peter. Part of his mask was pulled upward, revealing his face.
The exhausted girl pinched her eyebrows together. Now, she was actually concerned. "Are you alright—?" Riley tried to ask.
"No, no," breathlessly interrupted Peter. "What did you... What did you just call me?" Riley didn't understand. "It... It sounded like you said Spider-Man."
Riley rolled her eyes as an incredibly faint smile spread across Peter's face. "I think you might've hit your head too hard, Bug-Boy," she excused.
Then, she got up and approached the others with wobbly legs. They seemed to have begun to arrest the fugitives. As she left, Tony replaced her.
Although she had been a little harsh on him, Valor found herself smiling at the quirkiness and charm of Spider-Man.
Riley wondered if she'd run into Peter Parker again in the future.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter was all fun and games until I hurt my own feelings writing that scene with Riley and Steve lol
It just HURTS because Riley's so attached to the Avengers and seeing them all broken up ++ the miscommunication and the Accords is driving her crazy. She wanted to throw Steve, etc. in jail because of the Accords, because of what happened in Lagos and the UN Bombings. But at the end of the day, Riley trusts the Avengers more than the government, which (in her heart) still includes Steve. That's why she let Steve and Bucky go in the end — because she's hoping that they can make things right and clear their names and all of this will pass and all of this will just be a bad memory.
My poor baby - she's too optimistic for her own good :(
But ANYWAYS, HELLO Peter and Riley finally MET?? I didn't wanna overdo it, which is why their interactions are so short. But it's so funny to me writing Riley being so mean to Peter because of how their friendship/relationship ended up hehe. I love and miss them so much <3