“Merlin, they’re terrible”

“I know, they're not even subtle.” I shook my head in amusement, letting out a little sigh as I looped my arm in his. “You, okay?”

“Yeah, just a bit homesick at the minute, I think”

I felt his concern as we walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

“That’s normal, you are a 9-hour flight away.”

“I know, I don’t really get like this, but I think the weather just reminds me of England. It's weird not being around them 24/7 for such a long time.” I collapsed onto his bed, watching him fall next to me. “I've got the winter blues” I joked as we stared up at his ceiling.

“If you ever feel like company, you’re still more than welcome to come hang with May and I” my heart melted at his offer, and I turned my head to face him “she always loves having you over”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it” I hoped he could hear the sincerity in my voice as I squeezed his hand, feeling his thumb brush over my skin as he held on.

“of course, angel” our eyes seemed to sink into each other, and I found myself unable to look anywhere else as our faces slowly moved closer to each other, the familiar thud of my blood sounding in my ears.

Just as my eyes closed, I heard a phone.

Peter and I turned to the door to see Clint with his phone pointed our way, a shit eating grin on his face.

“I am so winning this thing” almost immediately, Peter was up from the bed and sprinting after Clint, the sound of rapid footsteps fading down the hall as I blew out the air from my cheeks. We were so close.

Fuck.

I stole one of Peter’s hoodies to keep myself cosy before going to find wherever they had run off to, enjoying the way the sleeves hung past my fingers. Jarvis was kind enough to direct me back towards the main floor and I prayed the picture hadn’t made its way to the others.

What I walked in on, can only be described as a scene of chaos. Peter was skuttling across the ceiling towards a panicked clint who was desperately tapping at his phone whilst the others voiced their confusion, Steve trying to de-escalate the situation.

“What the fuck is going on?” All movement froze at Tony’s stern voice, no one answered for a second, mostly because they couldn’t before Peter sprang into action, grabbing the phone from Clint as the man yelled curses up to him, unable to reach him.

Tony stood next to me as we both watched everything unfold, more people getting involved once they were filled in and trying to bribe Peter to give the phone back whilst he tried to break into Clints phone.

“Clint took a picture of us in peters room.” I filled the billionaire in “and we aren't letting him win the bet, so I think Peter is trying to delete the picture.” he made a sound of realisation a smirk settling on his face.

“I’d get hiding kid, if they can't convince him to give it back, they're going to want leverage.”

I didn’t even get the chance to ask what he meant before I was thrown over someone's shoulder with a shriek.

“Peter!” I saw his head snap my way before whoever had me rounded the corner, out of sight.

The sight of black adidas joggers and grey top made me realise I was being carried by Sam.

“you know he’s going to kill you”

“Not if he can't find you” he played along to the role and we entered a part of the tower I wasn’t familiar with, the training room.

“Here, do me a favour and hide down here” he gestured to under the training ring, and I obliged with a slight sense of glee. Keeping quiet as Sam's footsteps faded away.

A little bit of fun never hurt anyone.

To pass the time, I played cut the rope on my phone, waiting to hear anyone entering whilst I left them to sort everything out.

I wasn’t as strong as anyone down there, nor was I anywhere near as fast, so I figured I was okay with sitting this one out.

Another yawn escaped me, and I decided a nap wouldn’t hurt, Sam knew where I was, and Jarvis could always direct anyone.

I pulled the hood over my head and rested my face on my arms, closing my eyes.

I screamed as my legs were grabbed, eyes shooting open as I kicked at whoever was behind me.

“- Alex it’s me! It’s Peter” I paused my attack, pushing my glasses back on as I sat up, facing my attacker to find that it was indeed Peter.

“You scared the shit out of me” I scolded, hitting his arm as he laughed quietly, rubbing his thigh.

Guilt swelled in me as I noticed. “Sorry bug, I didn’t mean to hurt you”

“I barely felt it, but that’s an improvement from last time at least. You’ve been working out?” I shrugged, following him out from under the training ring, accepting his hand.

“Just a little, I figured it can't hurt to try and keep up with you guys a bit.” I told him

“What happened with the photo?” he grinned down at me, apparently after I had been stolen, Peter held Sam hostage and got the password from him, removing the picture.

However, Sam wouldn’t tell him where I was, so he scouted out the tower until he heard me breathing in the training room.

I'd been down there for the best part of an hour.