Work Text:
New York city usually looks amazing to Steve. Maybe because he grew up there or because he just loved the city for itself. Whatever the reason was, Steve wanted to protect the place at all costs, no matter what. Which is why he jumped into action the moment Fury mentioned giant worms wrecking the city and attacking people.
In all honesty, it should have made Steve shiver at the very least. Giant worms? How weird and disgusting was that? But instead, Steve just wore his suit, rode his bike and hoped he’d be at the scene on time. How sad was it that he found the worms to be almost friendly compared to the other things he’s had to deal with before?
Yeah, it was probably pretty horrible.
As he arrived he noticed Sam, Wanda and Clint already at the scene, fighting the giant worms. And yeah, they really were giant. And, unfortunately, they had teeth. He didn’t know whether worms actually had teeth or not, but these ones did have them and he figured it would be best to stay out of their range. And so he hopped off his bike, took down his shield and sent it flying into the face of one worm. It cut right through its body and the thing went limp, landing on the ground with a disgusting thud.
Sam turned to look at him, saluted, and then turned back to work, fighting off the creatures by using his metal wings to cut them. Wanda was mostly trying to keep them all at bay and away from the civilians watching from buildings, stores and occasionally the sidewalk with phones filming the entire thing.
Soon enough, Steve got the hang of fighting the worms. He had no idea what those things were exactly and why they decided to show up in the middle of New York, but he decided to deal with that later. Now he had people to save and a city to protect. So he jumped and cut and turned and did whatever he could to prevent the worms from getting to bystanders. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
It was after Steve lost his shield by throwing it away. It didn’t bounce back and instead was left on the floor of a restaurant after it cut through its window. Not having time to recollect it, Steve just kept on punching the worms with his fists (“Why do they feel like they’re made of jelly??). A loud rumble sound cut through the chaos of the fight and Steve turned around just in time to see a worm crushing the restaurant with its body after getting hit by Clint.
Steve saw the panicked, apologetic look on the archer’s face before he turned around to get to the people inside who yelled and screamed for help. The ones who could get out hurriedly ran outside, breathing hard. But there were still three more people inside. Three teenagers. So Steve tried moving even faster, but it was too late. By the time he got to the restaurant the ceiling was already covering the teenagers.
He gulped. These kids got smashed just like that because they were reckless. Because he wasn’t fast enough. Because someone sent to New York a bunch of giant, huge, enormous worms for seemingly no good reason. Steve punched the wall of the restaurant, ready to turn around and get back to the fight when voices reached his ears.
“Oh my God, we’re dead!” A boy cried out, his voice breaking.
“Cut it out, Ned!” And that one was female. Steve furrowed his brows. The voices came from the rubble in front of him. But it was impossible. The kids should have been dead by now. There was no way they survived all of this. But then he noticed the bricks and stones started shaking, as if someone was trying to move them away. Could it be?
“MJ, we’re stuck under a freaking building! And it’s so awesome and so haunting and I feel like I’m having a heart attack. Am I having a heart attack? Oh my God, we’re dead!!”
“We’re not dead, loser. Stop whining!”
“Both of you, stop!” A third voice cut through the bickering and Steve found himself trying to dig the bricks separating him from the restaurant and blocking his entrance. There were people inside. They survived, somehow. He had no idea how, but he was just thankful for it. There was the sound of rocks skittering and falling as the whole pile shook. “Ugh, it’s really hard keeping this thing steady.” The voice shook and Steve worked even harder. He was pretty sure he called for the others to come and help him because suddenly Wanda was next to him and she used her weird magic to move the pile away.
Underneath it were the three teenagers. Two – a distressed boy and a worried-yet-stern girl – were on the ground, curled into tiny balls near the legs of the third boy. He had brown hair and his eyes were closed. He was holding Steve’s shield above his head, holding up a pile of too-heavy-to-normally-carry bricks over the trio’s heads. The moment Wanda moved everything out of the way the boy opened his eyes and let his arms fall, clearly relieved.
For a moment no one moved, but then the boy and girl got onto their feet and pulled the third one with them, carefully leading his way. He didn’t look hurt or in pain. Just tired after carrying the ceiling over his head. And he was still holding onto Steve’s shield as if it would protect him.
A loud screech behind them made Wanda turn. She gave Steve a look and flew away to rejoin the battle. Nodding in her direction, Steve took a moment before running towards the three kids. The two who were on the floor eyed him as he got closer, their hands tightening around the third one as if Steve was going to hurt them. So he slowed down a bit.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked and watched as the boy and girl looked at each other before nodding, the third one finally looking up at him. His eyes widened a bit at seeing Steve and he dropped his head to glance at the shield still resting between his legs. He didn’t give Steve his shield back, though. He was probably in shock after what’s just happened. It was understandable. “You too, son?”
The third one with the curly hair locked eyes with Steve. He had brown, kind eyes. His body was lean and small, nothing indicating strength. He actually looked like the kind of kid who would hit a punching bag and get no result whatsoever. It actually reminded of Steve of himself as a kid. And yet Steve SAW him. He practically kept his friends and himself safe under the restaurant. Maybe he was a mutant? Or enhanced, perhaps? Although, why would a kid be enhanced? Mutation was a more probable possibility.
Gulping, the kid nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright.” He tightened his grip around Steve’s shield for a moment but then held it up and handed it to the super soldier. “Here. Sorry for burrowing it without asking. It was just right there and – “
“It’s alright, kid.” Steve smiled. “You’ve got heart. Where are you from?” Not the question he wanted to ask, but that was what came out of his mouth. After all, Steve was pretty sure asking to know if someone was a mutant was rude.
“Queens.”
Grinning, Steve held out his hand to shake the kid’s. Hesitating, the teen took it. “Brooklyn.” And then he looked over his shoulder and saw the messy battle still raging behind him. “Get somewhere safe, all of you.” He said, still not letting the kid’s hand go. “What’s your name, son?”
He shifted in his place and looked at the girl, his eyes bugging out as if he was terrified of answering. “Peter. Peter Parker, sir.”
“Steve.” And with that he left them alone, calling for them to run away over his shoulder. A couple of minutes later he didn’t see them anymore, so he hoped they really were somewhere safe. Those two kids and one Peter Parker.
Luckily, despite taking forever the fight’s only casualty was when Spider-man got knocked out. But even without Tony’s help – he stayed beside the vigilante, making sure he was alright – they managed to take care of all of the giant worms before too much damage has occurred.
Steve found Tony in the medbay, sitting beside Spidey’s bed and chatting away with the kid about whether or not Spider-man can summon an army of spiders. Steve thought it was ridiculous, just like Tony, although the vigilante’s insistence made him slightly unsure of himself. Could this guy really use spiders like that? God, he hoped not. That would just be freaky.
He wondered whether Natasha believed the kid too. She just left the medbay before Steve got in, affirming Tony’s presence inside, which was exactly the man he was looking for. She looked worried. Almost like she cared about Spidey getting hurt. Which, yeah, Steve cared about the kid – he had a good heart and his skills were amazing. But he didn’t know the guy well enough to really look THAT worried.
Then again, Natasha was the one to help the kid after he got hurt during the fight because Tony couldn’t deal with it alone, so maybe she felt slightly responsible now that she took part in making sure he was fine. Which he was because he freely chatted with Tony as if it was completely natural to speak endlessly about armies of spiders after getting hit during battle.
“Well, just don’t blame me when all the spiders in the building decide to crawl up to you at night, Mr. Stark.” Spider-man shrugged and leaned back against his pillow, his lenses wide and happy. When Steve stepped closer the vigilante turned to him, his hand raised in a wave. “Hey, Mr. Rogers!” He greeted cheerfully.
Steve returned the gesture and sat on the chair beside Tony, smiling at the kid. “Hi. How are you doing?”
Spidey shrugged and Tony raised his brow at Steve. “Need anything, Capsicle? He asked. “Or did you just come here to check on the kid?”
Humming, Steve rolled back his shoulders. He didn’t know how to bring the whole thing up, but he had a feeling he should just do it and get it over with. Just tell Tony about the kids and the restaurant. So he did, awkwardly. At the mention of the kids stuck under the rubble with one of them holding the ceiling up with Steve’s shield, Tony gave Spidey a sideway glance, the vigilante flinching back.
“The thing is – this kid shouldn’t have been able to hold all of this by himself like that. I’m not sure I would have been able to do that.” Steve furrowed his brows and watched as Tony tapped his finger against his thigh, glancing over at Spidey every once in a while with a twinkle in his eyes. “So I wanted to ask you – “
“Let me guess, you want to contact him and teach him whatever it is you’ve got to offer like Romanoff and Barton did, right?” Tony sighed. “Just another Avenger getting his Peter time.”
Steve froze for a moment. “I never said his name.”
Tony didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah, I know. The kid’s my intern. He told me everything already.” He sniffed and then turned to Spider-man who was busy doing… something? His eyes were probably closed because the lenses were narrowed shut and his fingers were hovering next to the sides of his head as if he was trying to concentrate. “Kid, you can’t summon an army of spiders and you can’t convince me otherwise.” He scolded and Spidey opened his eyes and grumbled under his breath while folding his hands over his chest like an upset child.
The fact that Peter Parker was Tony’s intern made Steve halt. The man didn’t look surprised at the news that his intern was stronger than humanly possible. He didn’t even acknowledge that. So maybe Tony KNEW and just didn’t care in the least? Or maybe he just didn’t want to think about it when Steve was around. That could have been a possibility too, right? Especially with Tony’s incapability of opening up to people. Although he did look comfortable around Spider-man and he knew the guy less than he knew the rest of the team.
Not for the first time, Steve wondered who the guy under the red mask was.
“Okay…” Steve hesitated for a moment. “Well, I didn’t really want to… teach him anything, actually. Although now that you brought it up, it might be a good idea. It might be dangerous to let a kid with superstrength just mess around unsupervised.” Steve said and Spider-man groaned, letting his head fall. Steve ignored him, not really understanding why the vigilante even reacted that way to his words. “No, I was going to ask you about what you think made him this way.”
Tony blinked at him.
“I mean, it could be a mutation, right? That’s the thing that makes the most sense to me, but it could also be something like what happened to me.”
“You mean, the way my father injected you with a superhuman serum to turn you into the perfect soldier for a war?” Tony deadpanned and Steve gave him a stern look. “You think the kid’s enhanced?”
Hesitating, Steve exhaled. “I’m not sure. That’s why I came to you. But you know – if you could just get me the id’s number I can talk to him myself, if that’s alright with you?” He added the final part, thinking about how Tony might not like the idea of sharing his intern with Steve.
To his surprise, the one answering wasn’t Tony. It was Spidey. “I can give you his number, Mr. Rogers.” When Steve gave him a puzzled look, Spidey shrugged. “I met him. Through the internship.” He dodged Tony’s slap to the shoulder and sent out his hand to hold the man’s arm away from him without looking away from Steve. “And he works on my web-shooters, so I have his number.”
Not finding a reason to deny the vigilante’s help, Steve held out his phone and the kid took it and typed in Peter Parker’s number. Smiling, he thanked Spidey and got up, shoving his phone back into his pocket.
“Oh, by the way – Tony, you have a spider on your shoulder.” And he left, hearing Spider-man’s laughter and Tony’s alarmed voice echoing behind him from the medbay.
Me: Hello. Did I reach Peter Parker’s phone?
Peter Benjamin Parker: Yeah. Who’s that?
Me: My name is Steve Rogers. Spider-man gave me your number. You might remember talking for a brief moment the other day when the worms attacked the city and you and your friends almost died?
Peter Benjamin Parker: Steve Rogers as in Captain America?
Peter Benjamin Parker: OH MY GOD!
Peter Benjamin Parker: Is that really u?
Peter Benjamin Parker: I can’t believe Captain America just texted me lol
Peter Benjamin Parker: kjfhjbjgukjsdbfhjbl
Me: Yes, it is. I just had a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind me asking?
Peter Benjamin Parker: OC not!
Peter Benjamin Parker: This is the coolest day of my life
Me: Alright. So… how old are you, Peter?
Peter Benjamin Parker: Fifteen
Me: How were you strong enough to hold up the bricks when the place collapsed?
Peter Benjamin Parker: Oh, I’m enhanced
Peter Benjamin Parker: Don’t ask me how, tho. It was honestly an accident. Could’ve happened 2 anyone
Peter Benjamin Parker: But I have the worst luck, so it happened 2 me
Me: Do you ever use it?
Peter Benjamin Parker: …Not really?
Me: Do you know how to?
Peter Benjamin Parker: I mean… it’s superstrength. How hard can it b?
Me: Would you like to work on that together? Two enhanced people training together – we’d make a good team.
Peter Benjamin Parker: *squeal!*
Peter Benjamin Parker: Omg r u serious?
Peter Benjamin Parker: U really wanna work on that with me?
Me: What do you say, son?
Peter Benjamin Parker: My schedule is almost full, but I think I can make it work if I squeeze a couple of things
Peter Benjamin Parker: It’d be an honor, Mr. Rogers, sir!
Me: You can call me Steve, Peter.
Peter Benjamin Parker: Yes Mr. Steve, sir!
The presence of Natasha and Tony in the training room was a little baffling to Steve. When he asked them why they decided to show up to his training with Peter they just shrugged. Tony said it was because the kid was his intern. Natasha said it was because she liked watching people train and didn’t want anyone to surprise her. And since Steve couldn’t prove it was bullshit, he just let it go and glanced at them every once in a while during the session.
Frankly, it went really well. Peter showed up slightly late, apologies spilling out of his mouth in an unstoppable stream that Tony and Natasha seemed amused by. But then Steve managed to take control and start the training and he realized the kid was good. He said he didn’t use his powers, but he had a pretty good control over them.
There was one awkward moment when Peter went to the closet near the corner to bring more weights and he grabbed the handle too tightly, pulling the handle out of the door and just standing there, embarrassed with the plastic piece in his hand. Steve brushed it aside quickly and reassured the kid that it was only a small hiccup while Tony barked out a laugh from his place. Natasha nudged him before Steve could even glare at him properly. Although the look Peter gave him was a flushed one with a nervous grin.
Steve mostly focused on control. He wanted the kid to be able to touch things without breaking them. To hold others without snapping their bones in half by accident. He wanted him to be able to live a normal life. Something he didn’t get after getting his enhancement. The moment he was injected, he had to act with the powers given to him. He was lucky to have Peggy, Stark and a couple of months acting on stage. Sure, back then the waste of time was frustrating, but now looking back… he could actually hurt people had he been sent to actually fight. He could do so much damage with his uncontrolled power.
Peter wasn’t going to have to handle this all on his own. He had Steve to teach him how to focus. How to always remember to hold back. Steve could teach him how much he should hold back with different materials and different people. He could be the teacher Steve himself needed as a kid slightly older than him.
By the end of their lesson Steve was positive Peter would catch up really quickly. He watched as the kid jogged over to Natasha and Tony, ducking under Tony’s arm and smiling sheepishly at them both.
And then a thought occurred to Steve. “Wait. Tony, isn’t Spider-man enhanced too?”
The three turned to look at him, a shadow passing over Peter’s face. Steve wondered about that but didn’t push. Tony’s hand resting on Peter’s shoulder squeezed lightly. “Yeah. What about him?”
“Well, he can help the kid too.” They all switched looks Steve couldn’t understand before Peter glared at a chuckling Tony Stark. “Just a thought. He doesn’t have to do it. And Peter doesn’t have to work with him.” Steve focused on Peter again. The kid looked uncomfortable. “You don’t have to, son.”
As if waking up, the boy perked up, smiled and mumbled something about having to go before being late. And so he saluted Steve, muttered something quietly to Natasha and Tony, and left the room with his backpack hanging from his shoulders.
Natasha hummed, her hands on her hips. “I feel like it shouldn’t have taken me this long to realize that. It’s too obvious.” She said, her words clearly meant to be heard by Tony and not Steve.
The man huffed out a laugh. “No kidding, Romanoff.”
A noise made Steve look up from the newspaper he had in his hands. He was sitting on the couch in the common room, trying to pass the time without worrying about anything. It was hard with all of the Avengers around and Nick Fury calling him every second minute.
Apparently this whole mutant-cure thing was happening and people all around the world discussed the matter as if it was negotiable. It wasn’t. Fury told him it was bad – that the government was planning on probably using this against mutants without giving them a choice and as much as Steve wanted people to only have powers if they’re using them responsibly and for the sake of all humanity, he knew it was unethical to force mutants to become normal against their will. Even criminals.
So he tried keeping his attention on little things like the president’s birthday party the week before. Or the lower percentage of crime, especially around Queens, thanks to Spider-man swinging around, helping people. Honestly, Steve wished Brooklyn had a vigilante like Spider-man back in the days. He liked the idea of someone who was just essentially good-hearted out there, looking out for the little guy and keeping the city safe.
But after looking up he forgot about the newspaper at the sight of Clint standing at the doorframe awkwardly, his shoulders tense and his eyes wide. When Steve locked eyes with him the man seemed to unfreeze. He coughed self-consciously and backed up. “Oh, I thought this place was empty. I’ll just… come back later.”
Steve raised his brows at that and moved a little to make more space on the couch even though it was already wide enough for at least two other people to sit down next to him. “No, you can come in. It’s not like I own the place.” He joked although Clint didn’t laugh. “You know, since Tony owns the building and he might actually want to kick us out of the room if he’s already in it…” He trailed off. “I thought it was funny.”
Not saying anything in reply, Clint stepped into the room, his steps stiff and unusually loud. He sat on the other end of the couch, as far away from Steve and then just stared at the screen of the TV even though it was turned off and reflected the two of them and the room around them.
“Are you alright?”
“YES!” Clint blurted out and then held himself for a moment before glancing at Steve from the corner of his eyes. “You… you have a kid you’re helping now, right? Tony and Nat mentioned something about it just now.”
Steve brightened up and put the newspaper down. “Yeah, I joined your little club of mentoring young, bright kids.” He nodded and then beamed. “He’s enhanced, you see? Saved his friend during the worms’ attack a few weeks ago? I just want to make sure he’s got his powers under control and all.”
Clint hummed and then looked down at his hands, uncertainty written all over his face. There was something he had in his mind, locked away, and Steve had no idea what it was. “So… you know what his powers are?”
“Strength. Should there be more?”
There was moment where Clint seemed to consider the question. “Not necessarily… but sometimes there are more powers. So… just strength?”
“He didn’t tell me about anything else.”
The snort Clint let out sounded like the most genuine thing he’s said during this whole conversation and it wasn’t even a word. “Kids… they like keeping secrets. Especially teenagers.” He rolled his eyes. “There’s something about this age – I’m telling you.” He shook his head and then finally relaxed in his place and spread his arms. “So how’s it going with that? Got any questions about dealing with an annoying little kid?”
“Not really.” Steve shrugged and smiled fondly. “Peter’s actually really easy to look after. He’s smart, gets everything really fast… sometimes I wonder whether or not he actually needs any help. And then he does something like break a door or smash a desk… and then we keep on going.”
Clint narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, no kidding.”
Their conversation cut short when Natasha entered the room, eyed them both, and then dragged Clint away, muttering something under her breath. The guy protested but went along with her, only giving Steve one last weird look before disappearing and leaving Steve to his newspaper once more.
Incoming video call from Peter Benjamin Parker.
The phone in his pocket started vibrating and Steve stared at the words on the screen for a moment, dumbfounded. And then he got over the initial confusion and answered it, squinting at the screen. He saw… a white wall. Nothing else. But there were voices talking all around and Steve tried recognizing Peter’s voice in all the chaos.
“I’m telling you, guys, we’re going to get shot at with this cure thing – “
“It’s a weapon, in my opinion. Something to take us down with.”
“And we’re gonna be normal again. Live our lives like we did before this whole Wild Mutants thing ever started.”
Wild Mutants? That was the name of the little team Spider-man was a part of. Steve tilted the phone, hoping maybe it would change something about it, but the image was still a white wall and no person in sight. No Peter Parker, as well. Which was weird because it was his phone, and yet there were strangers talking about Wild Mutants without a trace of Peter.
Someone hummed – a boy – and the image titled a little. Not enough, though. “I mean… would it really be that bad to get our lives again?” The boy asked and someone snorted in what Steve assumed was disbelief. They were talking about the cure against mutants. Could it be those were the members of Wild Mutants? Why would they have Peter’s phone with them, though?
“Oh, because our lives were so GREAT before we discovered we were mutants.” A girl answered, her voice laced with sarcasm. “Right. Of course.”
“Mandy…” Another voice cut in. A familiar one this time. Peter. Steve perked up at that, knowing the phone was still with Peter. No one stole it or found it. Peter just accidently called Steve.
There was a loud thud and the camera finally caught the unflattering image of a girl. Steve’s seen her on TV along with the rest of Wild Mutants. She had black hair, braided and resting on her shoulder. Her skin was tanned and she glared at someone – maybe more than one person – with fire in her eyes.
“No, don’t ‘Mandy’ me. I don’t care if you’re the leader – I don’t want to go back to my life!” She said and then stormed off, her footsteps echoing through the microphone.
Someone shifted. “No, hey. Let her go. She’s upset and could use some time alone to figure things out and think, alright?” Another boy said. He sounded older than Peter and the first boy, and yet still pretty young. At his words Peter exhaled heavily, still out of the shot of the camera. “Let’s just all relax. Take a breath and we’ll be able to think more clearly, alright?” There was a pause and then the same voice sighed. “What are you doing?”
And Steve just didn’t know how to react to what his eyes saw. Because right in front of him he saw Peter Parker perching on the white wall with ease, nothing holding him in place but his hands and feet. For a couple of moments he let himself be fooled, thinking that was actually the floor somehow and not any other surface. But a closer look revealed Peter’s hair was falling unnaturally, as if he was upside down. Like a bug or an ant or…
“I’m trying to think.” Peter answered. “Sometimes it helps me concentrate, sitting on the ceiling.”
“This is so weird.” A young girl said, her voice tender and almost too low to be heard. Since it wasn’t Amanda’s voice… and those were clearly members of Spidey’s team… it must have been Lauri. Spider-man liked mentioning the mutants in the team he gathered up and he bragged about them too much. So yeah, Steve was familiar with their names.
The older boy groaned. “Okay, whatever works for you. Just… let’s figure this thing out, okay? I’m sick of being kept in the dark about things that have to do with me. I want to know what’s going to happen to all of us.”
“All of us except Peter.” The first boy commented. Peter, still on the ceiling, looked down at something off camera. Probably that boy. Steve was still reeling over what got revealed to him to pay enough attention to the conversation, though. “What? You’re not a mutant. This thing doesn’t apply to you so you don’t actually have anything to lose from this.”
Peter folded his arms. “I have you guys.” He objected, sounding mostly hurt.
“Yeah, but if you lose us, you’re still left with those Avengers and your friends from school and…” The boy stood up, probably, because Steve could now see his head too. He had black, messy hair and the saddest green eyes Steve’s ever seen. And when he looked in the mirror he always saw a man who lost everything to time. So… that was actually saying a lot. “Just go back to your world and let us deal with this. This has nothing to do with you and you were planning on leaving us when you built the team. You didn’t want to stay a part of it anyway. Well, here’s your out.”
And he stormed out too.
“Charlie, wait!” Peter called after him, but a hand reached the boy before he could move after Charlie – the moody one – followed by the head of the last boy. This guy looked more like a kid from a commercial. With blond hair and blue, bright eyes.
He looked sad but still determined. “I’ll talk to him later. Just… go for now. Maybe try and find anything else about what’s going on, okay?” When Peter didn’t react Reilly – that was his name – frowned. “Okay??”
Sighing, Peter flipped off the ceiling and landed near the phone. He smiled sadly and then looked down, saw his phone and froze. “Oh, shit!” He fumbled with the phone and Steve’s screen went nuts for a few moments. “Steve, did you hear all of that?” He asked once the camera was focused on him and a gasp was followed by Lauri mentioning tapping the phone earlier by accident. When Steve nodded once Peter groaned. “Ugh, I can’t believe this…”
“I’m sorry!” Lauri said somewhere behind Peter. The kid didn’t pay her any mind.
“Can I call you back?” Peter asked.
Steve pursed his lips. “Yeah. But we’re going to talk about it later.” He hesitated for a moment and then braced himself. “Hey, Peter?” The boy glanced at the camera, confusion and fear on his face. “It’s gonna be okay.” He smiled and Peter’s lips broke into a small, hesitant grin too before the boy ended the call.
A couple of minutes later Tony entered the room, whistling to himself, in order to get himself a cup of coffee. At first he ignored Steve but once the drink was ready he looked at the super soldier, narrowed his eyes and smirked. “You know.”
Without missing a beat or spilling anything with his expression, Steve hummed. “Know what?”
“I like that answer, but,” Tony took a long sip from his coffee and went towards the door, not looking back at Steve again. “Save it for the cameras, Capsicle. You’re not the first one to connect the dots between his kid and Spider-man.”
Now, what did THAT mean?