One Last Mission
Peter and Kamala got into a VITAE military vehicle, driven by someone who didn't seem very talkative as they moved along the road. Their destination was Peter's hotel; after all, he still had to take part in the school competition he had signed up for.
Both of them sat in the back seats, not saying much. Kamala glanced at Peter for a moment, who had been silent for most of the ride back.
"Why did you lie to Ricky?" she asked suddenly.
That made Peter open his eyes right away. He looked at her, then at the driver, a VITAE agent. Luckily, they were in the back, far enough away.
"Shhh," Peter said quickly, raising a finger to his lips. "Technically, I didn't lie," he added, lowering his voice so the driver wouldn't hear them. "I just… left some things out."
"Why did you do that?" Kamala asked again, looking at him directly.
"Well… you're kinda too young to get it," Peter said immediately.
"You followed a criminal group all the way to Washington, ended up inside a secret DODC facility filled with illegal and dangerous objects… and when the people responsible for handling that showed up, you didn't tell them anything," Kamala said, crossing her arms and looking at him like he was an idiot.
"Well… I guess you do understand quite a lot," Peter replied, scratching the back of his head.
Kamala didn't seem willing to drop it. She kept staring at him.
Peter let out a sigh.
"Alright… I'll tell you. You heard the adults. VITAE is about to disappear… to make way for the new association. Right when we're about to finish our training. The place that helped us grow… that made us want to become heroes… is about to be gone," he said, his voice lowering slightly. "You heard Tony… all the agents are trying to complete one last mission for VITAE before it disappears. Like a tribute."
He paused for a moment.
"But us… me… I haven't completed a single real mission for VITAE," he added, sounding a bit down.
"What about the fake arrest or the fight against the heroes? Weren't those missions?" Kamala asked. She herself hadn't been able to take part in the last one because she was too young, even though she had acted as a kind of spy and bait to draw out the Captain. Even so, she didn't feel like she had done much either.
"It's different. Those were Owen's plans, and everything was technically staged. A real mission… I haven't even been on one yet. I want to give something back to VITAE too. I want to complete a mission… and feel proud of being part of it. I want to actually be an S-Class agent who deserves it," he said, his tone firmer now, mixing pride with frustration.
"So please… really, please… don't tell anyone. Not Ricky, not Tony… and especially not Owen, please," he added, almost begging a girl who wasn't even ten yet.
Kamala looked at him for a moment.
Even as a kid, she understood part of what Peter felt about VITAE. That was the same reason she always called the agents the moment she found something suspicious. She wanted to feel like she was part of those missions. She wanted to proudly call herself a hero working for VITAE.
But she was too young.
Even if she trained constantly with Owen to control her powers… she knew very well he would never send her somewhere truly dangerous.
"Fine… but you owe me one," she said at last, nodding with a serious look.
"Yeah. Anything you want," Peter replied instantly, clearly relieved.
"Still… I don't think you fooled Ricky at all. You're really bad at lying," she added, leaning back into her seat with a slightly amused smile.
Peter could only grimace at that. Because honestly… he wasn't even sure he had fooled Agent Richard.
But as long as he had a little more time to finish this mission…
He'd have all the time in the world to worry later.
…
Kamala was dropped off at her house, while Peter was taken to the hotel.
As soon as he got to his room, he dropped his backpack to the side and saw Ned sleeping peacefully, his laptop next to the bed and his phone still in his hand, like he had been waiting for news from Peter before falling asleep.
It was really late.
And the next day… or technically in just a few hours… was the competition.
Peter let out a small, amused sigh when he saw Ned.
Then he got ready to try and sleep a little. After all, he was one of the competitors and needed to be as fresh as possible.
Even if the night before he had fought a giant mechanical bird…
And ended up inside an enemy facility filled with dangerous, radioactive objects.
Just as Peter was about to reach his bed, his phone suddenly rang.
It startled him; it was pretty late to be getting a call.
But the moment he pulled it out of his pocket and saw the name on the screen, his face went pale. He looked genuinely nervous, unsure whether to answer… or throw the phone out the window and pretend it had been stolen.
But of course…
If there was even someone capable of stealing from Spider-Man.
Which, obviously, was the dumbest thing he could think of.
As he stared at the screen, where Owen's name appeared in large red letters, he could only close his eyes for a moment before pressing accept.
"Hello, Instructor Owen… it's pretty late to be calling… is something wrong?" Peter asked softly, pretending he had just woken up.
"Drop the act. I'm sure you just got back to your room… and I have a pretty good idea of what happened tonight," Owen said from the other side, his tone serious.
Peter tensed immediately.
"I thought Mr. Richard said they were too busy to pay attention… and that only the General would know," he muttered, covering the phone's microphone.
"I have very good hearing. You should know that by now. And I have plenty of free time while my bones heal," Owen replied.
"Well… sir… I… uh…," Peter tried to find the words, without much success.
"Ah… don't bother looking for excuses. They're always terrible," Owen said, letting out a sigh. Just like Kamala had pointed out, Peter was terrible at lying. "Are you alright?" he asked next, his tone softer.
"Yes, sir. No issues. Just a slight headache from jumping and hitting the truck. After that, there was no danger at all," Peter answered quickly, even straightening his posture as if Owen could see him.
"I heard you found something quite important… and made things a lot easier for the Class A agents. I can't say you did a good job, because you're not supposed to be out in the field yet without finishing your training. And it was extremely reckless to get yourself into an enemy facility, even if it was by accident. The DODC, to keep you quiet, wouldn't have hesitated to kill you… and bury you deep in a forest where we'd never find you," Owen said, his voice turning cold and serious.
Peter grew paler with every word.
"But… I can't downplay what you did either. We don't know what those idiots might've done with all that alien technology… or with Tony's robots. We don't know if they could've caused another Ultron… or something worse," Owen continued, his tone easing slightly. "So… I guess you did a good job."
Peter's expression changed instantly, a small spark of happiness rising from his chest.
"Thank you, sir," he said quickly.
"Ah…" Owen sighed again. "Tony is supposed to be in charge of you two… but I'm pretty sure he's doing everything except that. When Nicolás gets back, I'll have him return to you and train you in weapon usage. But for now… it'd be best if you stayed put. You know how it is."
"Yeah… we're supposed to be prisoners in the hero prison," Peter replied quickly. "Don't worry, sir."
"Well… I was young once too. And I did some pretty stupid things back then. I understand the urge to prove what you're capable of. But you should take your youth more slowly. I already told you… leave adult matters to adults. You just enjoy being kids," Owen added.
Peter listened in silence.
"…Alright," he murmured in the end.
"If you understand that, then good. You know none of us want to see you or Kam get hurt… no matter how 'super' you are," Owen added, his tone softer now.
Peter nodded, even though Owen couldn't see him.
There was a brief silence.
Owen was still on the line.
"Now, Peter… is there something you want to tell me?" he asked directly.
Peter stayed quiet for a moment.
His gaze drifted toward his backpack. Inside was his Spider-Man suit… and more importantly, the small VITAE keychain he had made by hand.
He tightened his grip on the phone.
"No, sir," he answered at last.
On the other end, there was another short silence.
"Then that's fine. Get some rest, it's pretty late… and enjoy your trip to Washington. Good luck in your competition," Owen said, his tone lighter as he ended the call.
Peter said goodbye as well before hanging up.
He stared at his phone for a moment… his expression heavy, weighed down by it.
He had lied.
Again.
And this time… to Owen.
"Sorry… just this once. Just one mission… as part of VITAE," Peter whispered quietly, feeling the weight of his own decision.