Chapter Text
Steve and Natasha raced to restrain the squirming child. He was thrashing wildly and screaming in pain. Blood pooled on the table around him, dripping to the floor in a red liquid. Poor kid Steve thought to himself. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Spider-Man was a kid. He didn’t look older than 16 years old. And Tony had dragged him into a war zone at the airport.
“Kid you have to calm down,” Steve said trying to console the child.
“It... it hurts!” The kid screamed in response.
“Nat, grab a sedative!” Steve told the spy. She sprinted to the other side of the Quinjet looking through a few drawers before grabbing a small red vile. She slid it into an injector and pushed a needle through the kid’s arm. The kid stopped. For a few seconds everything was quiet. But a few seconds later the kid burst up in a panic and then screamed as the pain flushed through his body once more.
Steve stared at the child confused. The sedative should have worked. It works on everyone else. Maybe they could inject him with another dose and see if it worked. But there would be a risk for an overdose and that would make everything worse. Steve’s head ran through all the different possibilities as Natasha tried to soothe the crying boy. Suddenly it hit him. Spider-Man was able to catch part of an airport back in Germany, meaning he had super strength. And if it was anything similar to Steve’s, that meant a very high metabolism. Steve ran over to the other side of the room rummaging through all of the medicine until he found what he was looking for. It was a sedative designed for him when he was injured. If Steve was right, then this should keep the kid under for awhile until they could get him proper treatment, but if he was wrong…
He couldn’t think about that. The kid would end up dying from blood loss if he didn’t stop moving. Steve ran over to where the child lay on the table, tears streaming down his bruised and bloodied face. Quickly taking one of the kid’s arms, he injected the sedative into his bloodstream. The kid relaxed, the effects being almost immediate. His eyes fluttered shut, and this time they stayed that way. Steve sighed a breath of relief and grabbed some more bandages. Natasha and Steve worked quickly wrapping bandages across some of his more minor injuries. Steve was relieved when he saw some of the minor cuts fading, proving his theory of enhanced abilities correct.
“Nat, where are we going to take him?” Steve asked. They couldn’t take him to Wakanda. Even if he was just a kid, he sided with Tony. He could expose the country and Steve didn’t want to do that to T’challa. But they couldn’t just take the kid to a hospital. For one thing, the kid might have information on his assailant. The man had been illegally selling high tech weapons and dangerous drugs to criminals and terrorists. But this kid was attacked because the man was trying to draw Steve out into the open. He couldn’t just leave him there.
“If we land somewhere remote maybe we could…” Natasha sighed, “I don’t know, we don’t really have that kind of medical equipment onboard.”
Steve and Natasha sat there drowning in their thoughts. They were still trying to think of a solution when something hit them from below. The Quinjet lurched forward going into a nosedive. The two of them raced to the cockpit to see what had just happened. A US plane zoomed behind them one of the missles having already hit the jet.
“Crap,” Natasha said buckling into the seat.
“How the hell did they find us?” Steve asked. He knew there was no way for Nat to know but he still wanted an answer.
“I don’t know,” Natasha responded, “Yet.”
She expertly maneuvered the aircraft and moved to engage the reflective panels. They’d be invisible. Even heat seeking missiles would fly straight by. After a little while, the fighter pilot gave up, figuring the fugitives had gotten away. The two sighed in relief.
“Well, that severely limits our options,” Natasha said. “They’ll be on high alert for the next few days.” After contemplating it for a few more minutes, Steve came up with a solution.
“We’ll go to the safe house,” He said. Natasha looked at him like he was crazy.
“No we won’t,” Natasha replied firmly.
“Nat, he needs medical attention. The safe house will have everything we need.”
“We are not risking the lives of everyone there in the process,” Natasha yelled.
“I think they’d understand us bringing a child on the brink of death.” Steve said leaving no room for argument in his voice. “If it helps you feel better, we can blindfold him so he doesn’t know where he is.”
Natasha sighed before finally submitting to Steve’s plan. She turned the jet east heading for the safe house.
“You should probably change,” She said focusing on piloting. Steve looked down at his uniform. Bloodstains riddled it and he agreed. If he showed up like this, their friends would freak. Walking to the bathroom, Steve carefully took off his clothes and showered. When he got back out, they were still eight hours away. They had decided to take the long way in case they were being followed. It was unlikely, but not a chance he was willing to take. He sat down in the seat next to Nat, leaning back and closing his eyes before drifting to sleep.