Chapter Eleven: Unforgivable

"You're life seriously couldn't get any cooler, dude!" Ned gushed over the phone. Peter and Ned hadn't spoken much over the last few months so Ned was understandably shocked at the news of Peter's heritage. He was excited too, but he kept that to himself as best he could.
Peter glanced at the mountain of homework Happy had dropped off that morning and held off a scoff. He'd missed nearly an entire semester of school in his pursuit, and saying it had been a draining period, both physically and emotionally, would have been an understatement.

"I don't think it could either," Peter admitted with a chuckle. He'd followed a very lengthy trail of bread crumbs that had led him to Natasha. And he was currently sitting in his own room at the Avenger's compound. He was not about to complain about his life.
Of course it wasn't perfect; May was still sick and there was still a rift between him and Natasha. A rift he wasn't sure could ever really be mended. "Be grateful.." He reminded himself quickly.

"Do you think she'll teach you how to be a spy like her? That'd be pretty awesome."

Peter paused to think about the question. He sincerely doubted she'd want that for him, and he was sure if she had her way he'd hang up his suit forever. But Natasha had spent several hours every day since she got back to the compound training him. So what she wanted for him in life was still a bit of a mystery. "I don't think so, Ned. That would be pretty cool though." He said, though he did like the idea of them working together, side by side for the good of mankind.

"Alright Peter, I gotta go. Enjoy having the coolest life ever. I'll tell MJ you said hi." Peter's heart fluttered at the mention of MJ.

Peter smiled at his phone briefly, he'd been entirely cut off from his friends and hadn't realized how much he missed them. He thought about asking to head back to Queens for the weekend after the fundraiser. Then his eyes once again fell on the stack of homework, causing him to sigh. "One thing at a time." He sighed as he slid the chair back to the desk.

Natasha lounged on the patio of the compound's common area. It was cold, and the blanket Natasha wrapped herself in did little to warm her, but she didn't go inside. Opting to enjoy the sunset on the forest.

"Mind if I join you, Romanoff?" Tony called out to her as he zipped up his Avenger's jacket. Natasha found the idea of branding silly, but Tony enjoyed it so she kept it to herself.

"Be my guest." She responded, keeping her eyes fixed on the setting sun. "Where's Peter?" Natasha asked, part of her wishing the teen would join them but knowing he almost certainly wouldn't.

"Doing homework, Happy picked it up for him today. He is WAY behind." Tony took the seat next to her, taking a minute to enjoy the peacefulness that the seclusion of the compound offered.

Natasha laughed slightly at the idea of Peter having homework. The boy was a genius by all accounts, and he was gifted with powers beyond most people's wildest imagination. But, it made her happy to know her boy would have options beyond a life of hero work. There wasn't exactly much in the way of a retirement plan for people like her or Steve. And certainly not for people like Bucky Barnes. She was quick to shake herself of the last name that came to mind and refocused on the sun as dipped completely behind the horizon.

"He'll figure out who Peter is. Who he really is." Tony finally spoke again. Natasha sighed, she knew this conversation was coming.

"He will." She agreed. Ross would spend the rest of his life trying to figure it out if that's what it took. His persistence might have been admirable if not for it being a constant nuisance to the spy.

"What then? The kid falls under the Accords jurisdiction."

"I'll kill him." Natasha thought to herself, the very idea of Ross threatening Peter was enough to enrage her.

"And you can't just kill him. Cause I know that's what you're thinking, Nat." Tony said, as if he had been reading her mind.

She flashed him a smile. "Sure I can't..." Tony knew her well; well enough that she would do anything she deemed necessary to protect Peter.
"We'll deal with that when it comes. We always do, Tony." Natasha said, sounding far more confident than she was.

Nat stood from her seat, having the peace she had felt pulled away from her by reality. She wanted to blame Tony, but couldn't. His fears were justified, and she shared them, the difference was she was better at hiding it.

Batroc watched the Tavern on the Green through the scope of a sniper rifle. Just over 24 hours stood between him and the battle that would undoubtedly change the world. The mercenary felt nervous, for the first time in as long as he could remember.

"Are you worried about collateral damage?" Justin asked.

Georges shook his head. "Not particularly." He looked down at the layout of the venue. "But, that's why you chose me, isn't it?" He posed a question of his own. "Because you knew that I would do what needed to be done? Regardless of the cost?"

Justin took a seat next to Georges. There was a tension in the air that Justin had never felt in all his life. And something inside of him told him what they were about to do was an immediate ticket to the hell he'd never truly believed in. "Maybe I was wrong..." Justin said under his breath.

Peter woke with a jump, his head popping off his desk. "I'm late!" He momentarily began cursing himself for sleeping through his alarm. His eyes adjusted quickly and he came back to reality. "Must have nodded off." He stated the obvious with a yawn.

Peter made his way to the kitchen, the predawn light guiding his way. His stomach was practically screaming at him. He hadn't eaten in more than a day and he was beginning to feel consequences of it. The spiderling's body burned through thousands and thousands of calories without him doing anything at all.
He began to rummage through the cabinets when a shiver shot up his spine. Someone was watching him. He spun around to find Natasha watching him from the couch. To both his surprise and annoyance.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, without even realizing he was talking.

Natasha giggled and held up the book that had been resting in her lap. "Stark told me you had some sort of 6th sense." She was still awed by his powers and was curious as to how they worked. Though she doubted Peter fully understood them. "I didn't mean to scare you, Peter." Natasha apologized. Tony had also told her that Peter's heightened senses had also given him severe anxiety.

Peter's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall behind her. 5:37 AM. "What are you doing up?" He changed the subject while still asking a valid question.

Natasha shrugged one shoulder. "I don't sleep much."

Peter studied her for a moment, dumbstruck by how shockingly normal she was. Nothing like her portrayal in media of an emotionless killer. And certainly nothing like he expected.
"Me neither." He responded before the conversation could get awkward.

"Always, or just since you got your powers?" Natasha perked up slightly, folding the corner of the page and closing the book in her hand. She was curious if her anxiety had been passed on to her son or not. She selfishly hoped it came with his gifts, rather than her crummy genetics.

Peter opened his mouth to respond, the lie that he had recited a hundred times to Mr. Stark, Happy and Pepper on the tip of his but he stopped himself. Anxiety and sleeplessness had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember. Not once had he considered his troubles with anxiety could be genetic. "Always, but it did get worse after the bite. You?"

"Damn it..." Natasha cursed herself, but kept the small smile on for Peter. "Always." She mirrored his response.

"Well I guess we do have something in common." Peter spun around on his heel and returned to the task of searching for food. Pepper had stocked the compound with 'real' food. Knowing if she left it up to Tony that cabinets would be filled with junk food and coffee. The only issue with that being that left the teen with plenty of ingredients but no cooking skills. "Ugh.." Peter sighed under his breath, annoyed by the continued growling of his stomach.

"Peter," Natasha once again got the boy's attention. "Sit down. I'll make you something."

Tony walked towards the common area wrapped in his morning robe, the sound of talking and laughing making him both curious and nervous as he went.
"So now we're surrounded, and mind you Clint still doesn't have any pants on-" The billionaire found Natasha and Peter sitting across from each other, Peter with a plate of bacon, eggs, and ham as he listened to Natasha tell a story about her and Clint.

"Morning Mr. Stark!" Peter greeted him gleefully for what felt like the first time in months.

Natasha laughed at the formality. "Yeah, morning Mr. Stark."

"Mornin'," Tony responded, pouring himself his first of many cups of coffee. "Nat, are we keeping the conversation G-rated for Mr. Parker?" Tony asked, only half kidding. He didn't need Natasha scarring the boy with an overly gruesome story from her past.

"Oh of course." She smiled at her spiderling over the lip of her coffee cup. The Black Widow wasn't sure she'd ever felt as content as she did in that moment.

Tony watched the two with a smile. It was refreshing to see them both venture outside their respective cages. Natasha wasn't the talkative or storytelling type, which Tony always found to be disappointing. He knew she had thousands of them to tell.
While Peter on the other hand was usually racked with anxiety that caused him to ramble incessantly. Something he'd grown quite fond of. But a quiet Peter, was a calm Peter.

"You excited for the fundraiser, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked his sleepy mentor.

"No.." Tony thought as he sat down at the table, quickly stealing a piece of bacon off Peter's plate. Not quite sure how to answer the teen's question.

"Tony doesn't like crowds." Natasha chose him. Tony glared at Natasha, while Peter looked at him bemused. Tony was well known for his love of attention, which was a big part of why he outed himself as Iron Man. So hearing that he didn't like crowds was both confusing, and hard to believe.

"I think the more important question is are YOU excited, Mr. Parker?" Tony changed the subject. Quickly shooting Natasha another glare. Who simply shrugged with a smile.

Peter picked up on Tony's subject change as well as the glare he gave Natasha. "Yeah, I am." Peter decided it was best to drop it. He didn't want to ruin his breakfast by starting a fight between the two of them. "How about you, Natasha?"

Normally the answer would have been an emphatic 'NO' but not this time. She got to spend it with her boy, which would make the press, paparazzi, and social elites bearable, if only for the night. "Of course I am." She said with a smile.

Tony stood from the table, he would have loved to have sat down and had breakfast with them but he couldn't. There was so much preparation that still needed to be done before the fundraiser and he had barely 12 hours left. He wondered silently if Batroc would be brazen enough to attack them head-on and in public like that. And he found himself silently thanking his lucky stars that Cap would be there if he did.

"Where are you off too?" Natasha asked.

"While I'd love to spend the rest of the morning with you two, lots to do before the fundraiser." Natasha smiled at him before he left the room. An unspoken thank you for being left out of the security detail. She would get to spend the night with Peter, and that was more than she could have ever asked for.

Well, almost the whole night. Nothing she did would remove her media obligations. "Take the victory, Romanoff." Natasha reminded herself to not focus on the negative.

Bucky continued to observe the venue of the Fundraiser all morning and into the afternoon. Nestled in the highest tree he could find with his sniper rifle. This felt familiar and normal. Though he still felt uncomfortable being so close to Tony and Natasha. But Batroc would come for them here and they'd need his help to stop him.

"Hey Buck," Steve's voice came as he ascended the tree to the spot next to him. His memories of their life before the war were cloudy and distant. Steve's constant warmth and friendship made him feel guilty. The Winter Soldier knew he didn't deserve it after all the things he'd done. He deserved nothing short of a bullet. "Anything?" Cap asked as he reached him, bringing Bucky back to the present.

"Not yet."

"Yet?" Steve asked, pulling his pair of binoculars from his jacket. Bucky had refused to return to the tower with him and Sam but hadn't elaborated on why.

"He'll wait for the crowds to start forming before any of them begin staging for the attack." There would more than a thousand people attending the fundraiser, which would conceal his plan. "I'm looking for spotters in the meantime." Again, Bucky drew from what he would be doing if he were staging an attack.
He would have men doing close reconnaissance while he watched from afar.

"And if he doesn't?" Steve asked. It seemed a little pointless to be out here waiting for someone that they might never spot. "We're surrounded by skyscrapers, Batroc could just as easily be watching from one of them." Bucky was certain that Batroc was doing just that. And it was possible that the mercenary didn't have anyone out here before the event.

"And if he does I'll be here to catch him and maybe we can find our target before he can do any more harm than he already has."

"Stupid thing...!" Peter hissed under his breath while fumbling around with the tie Tony had gotten for him. Of all the skills Peter had mastered on his own, tying a tie was not one of them. "Shit!" He snapped, louder than he meant to as he again yanked the tie from around his collar. The spiderling's anxiety, which had faded away over breakfast with Natasha, had come back with a vengeance.

"Peter?" Natasha's voice came from outside his half-open bedroom door. "Pete, we need to get going. Are you ready?" She entered the room, using her hip to push the door open.
Peter began rushing to finish his tie before Natasha could realize how inept he was, but again he failed and ended up a knot instead of a tie. The teen exhaled sharply through his nose in frustration. Natasha let out a small giggle as she watched him. "Need a hand?" She asked.

"No." Peter snapped and instantly regretted it. He was taking his frustration out on her and that wasn't fair.
His room was quiet while he continued to fumble with it. "..Yes.." He finally conceded.

Natasha stood in front of Peter and carefully adjusted the tie around his shoulders before beginning. "Never tied a tie before?" She asked, idly.

"I've only worn one three times. Guess I just haven't mastered it." Peter sighed, preferring not to think about the occasions where a tie was called for.

Natasha dropped the subject and finished her task, realizing her mistake. Of course he'd worn a tie to the funerals of all the loved ones he'd buried in his short life. "Thanks, Natasha." The two exchanged smiles before heading out to the landing pad.

"Lookin' good, kid." Happy greeted, with a pat on the back as he passed him. Peter was uncomfortable with compliments, so he settled for a smile and nod as he passed the older man. His warm smile came to Natasha as she approached. "Beautiful, as always, Natasha." The two embraced briefly. "Congratulations," Happy said, turning to look at the teen. "He's a good kid. You should be proud." When he turned back to her he found that she was practically glowing as she watched him.

Natasha's features visibly brightened at that. "I am."

The flight to the fundraiser wasn't long, but there was a feeling tension on the Quinjet that made it feel much longer than it was. "What do I say if anyone asks me who I am and what I'm doing here?" Peter said to no one in particular as the Quinjet began it's rapid descent to the landing zone. "A strange kid showing up with you guys is going to raise questions." He pointed out what they all knew but hadn't discussed.

Natasha and Tony looked at each other. "Same thing as always," Tony began, wanting to put the boy's anxiety to rest. "That you're my intern-"

"You don't tell them anything," Natasha interjected. "You don't owe these people an explanation about anything. Ever. " She would not allow her son to be caught off guard by an overly zealous reporter, something she'd dealt with more than once. And the best way to stop that from happening is for him to never say anything to them at all. "Anything you say to these vultures will be twisted and used too hurt you." Peter and Tony looked to each other and shrugged, it sounded like a good plan to them, and Natasha had always better with the press than Tony.

The aircraft touched down and the ramp lowered, flooding the compartment with the sound of Christmas music nearly being drowned out by cheers. Peter took in another deep breath as he prepared himself for the crowd and inevitable questions. A gentle hand came to his back and he turned towards its owner. Natasha smiled warmly at him, in her heels they were almost the same height. "I have a few media obligations that I need to do, but after we can spend the rest of the night together," Natasha said. Peter smiled and nodded.

"Just stick with me, kid." Happy patted the boy hard on the back as they walked down the ramp.
Peter did as instructed and followed Happy away from the crowd of reporters the seemed to engulf Natasha and Tony. "They'll be fine. I promise." He assured the teen.

Peter stopped outside the main building to marvel at the event around him. There were thousands of people in attendance, some of them the richest and most powerful on the planet. Many of them he'd grown up seeing on television. And he was a lower-middle-class kid from Queens. A wide smile spread across his face and a small chuckle came out. "Kid!" Happy called. "I got a schedule to keep, c'mon."

Peter began to follow him again, but stopped as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He turned back towards the trees of Central Park that surrounded the Tavern on the Green. Someone was out there, and they were watching them.

"Who the hell is that?" Bucky asked Steve and lowered his binoculars and felt his eyes lock with the boy.

"Who?" Steve pretended he didn't know who Bucky was talking about. He didn't want to tell anyone Natasha's secret but he was never a good liar.

"The kid, who was just able to spot us from 400 yards away." Bucky was both impressed and concerned. He wasn't aware of any enhanced beings attending the fundraiser. "How the hell did he do that?" It didn't seem possible, even after everything he'd seen.

"He's the Spider-Man." Steve tried to shrug it off and stay on their objective of watching for Batroc.

Bucky dropped the subject, realizing that Steve had no interest in discussing the kid. But for some reason he couldn't get his mind off of him.

"Batroc?" One of his hired guns announced his presence as Batroc finished putting his equipment on. "Mathis is here, as you requested." Batroc didn't respond, only waving his hand to bring him in.

"The hour of Judgement is almost here.." Georges resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Are your people in place?"

The man walked over to where Batroc had been sitting and watching the event for most of the night. "They are. Once your men begin the assault, my people will hold back the police while you go after Agent Romanoff and Tony Stark." Batroc nodded, pleased that the self-indulgent moron had listened while they discussed battle plans.
Batroc glanced over to Justin, who sat silently at the far end of the room. The eccentric weapons dealer hadn't spoken a word in several hours and Batroc understood why.

Batroc approached the man from behind as he watched the event through a pair of binoculars. "There is one more thing I need from you.." Tom turned his head to find Batroc was less than a foot behind him.

"What's that-"

Shunk.

Tom's vision blurred and his knees buckled. He found that he was being held up by the taller mercenary, his mind still not comprehending what had just happened. Then his eyes found the knife planted just below his ribs. He gasped as a sudden wave of pain ran through him and Batroc yanked the knife free.

"You didn't think I was going to let you live, did you?" The mercenary smirked, and drove the knife in again, twisting it this time for good measure.

"P-pl-ease, d-d-don't do-" Tom began to plead but stopped as Georges twisted the blade again. A choked scream escaped his throat and halted his words.

"You spoke to me about a day of reckoning, yours is here." There was an evil grin on the mercenary's face, he'd wanted to do this for a while. "I have one last parting gift for you," Batroc pulled the blade free and allowed Tom to collapse to the floor. Blood spilled from his wound and spread across the tile while he stared up at Batroc. A powerful hand wrapped around Tom's throat and forced his eyes up to look at Batroc. "The gift is that once this is all said and done my men are going to slaughter your people." Tom tried to protest, to beg him not to, but blood had already found its way into his lung. Georges released him and stood, watching him choke and writhe, clinging to life. "Be with your God." He said, turning to face Justin who hadn't moved.

Justin wanted to back out, to beg Georges to call this off. He hadn't expected this to be so violent and he knew it was only going to get worse when Batroc began his assault.

"It's to late to back out now."

Justin sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "I know... I just never expected..." His voice trailed off. There was no justification for what Georges Batroc was about to do, and he was responsible for it.

The mercenary set the Browning 9mm on the table next to Justin, before patting him on the arm. "If it's any consolation, no one will ever be able to link this back to you." The words did nothing to clear Justin's conscience, in fact it made him feel worse.

"Sir?" A hired gun came into the apartment in tactical gear. "Our sharpshooter believes he identified Captain Rogers in the trees south of the event." A smirk pulled at the corner of Batroc's mouth.

"Remind your men that the Avengers are mine to kill." Batroc and the mercenary exited the apartment still discussing the attack.

When the door closed and Justin was alone with the lifeless body of the United Order's leader. An insignificant cog in the terrible machine he'd created.

Peter stood by the bar in the main building while he waited for Natasha and Tony. It had been the least populated area in the venue and he didn't feel like talking to anyone outside of The teen looked over his shoulder every few seconds, unable to get the sensation of being watched out of his mind. He tried to Tell Happy about it but had been brushed off more or less... 'I'll look into it, kid, now I have work to do.' Peter let out a sigh.

"What's a handsome kid like you doing in a dump like this?" Natasha said, giving Peter a warm smile when he turned to face her.

Peter looked around the room, he had never been to a place anything like the Tavern on the Green. What was wrong with it? "I mean it doesn't seem so bad-"

"Pete?" She interrupted. "It was a joke." Peter felt his cheeks heat up and he looked away quickly. She patted him lightly on the back with a giggle. "Excuse me?" Natasha turned her attention to the bartender, much to Peter's relief. "Can I get a double vodka on the rocks and a soda for my-" She stopped herself from calling Peter her son. She wanted to, of course, but she knew doing so in public would be necessarily dangerous. "For him.." Natasha finally finished the sentence and collected the drinks.

They sat at a hightop table on the patio without speaking a word. "There's something on your mind," Natasha finally said. Peter only stared back at her, a slightly bewildered look on his face. He couldn't possibly be that easy to ready, could he? "C'mon, Pete, spill it." He sighed. Apparently he was that easy to read.

"Somebody was watching us when we got off the Quinjet," Natasha didn't seem phased by this. "Happy didn't believe me either." He said, shaking his head as Natasha took another sip of her drink.

"Were they a few hundred yards to the south?" Peter nodded slowly. "In the trees?" Peter nodded again, obviously she knew something that he didn't. "It's Steve and-" She stopped, rolling the name around for a moment, unsure about telling him that the Winter Soldier was watching them from the trees. Even if he was there to help. "Steve and Bucky are here to guard the event, Tony asked them for their help. Just in case Batroc decides to try something." Peter cataloged how Natasha's fingers tightened around her glass at the mention of Bucky.

He wasn't sure if that information made him feel or less at ease. Steve was a good man and a hero, Peter knew that. And even after he was forced on the run and him and Tony fell out, Tony still trusted him. It was fractured and Tony was beyond hurt, but he did still trust him.
Bucky Barnes was a different story. A Hydra sleeper agent that had terrorized the world for more than five decades being charged with protecting people didn't strike Peter as wise. Not that anyone ever listened to him anyway.

"I thought that Bucky was-" Peter stopped suddenly. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and the alarm in his head sounded.

Natasha raised a brow as she watched Peter look over his shoulder and nervously scan the party. "What's wrong?"

"Sshhh," He raised his hand and tried to focus on what his mind was warning him about. "Something's coming." He stood from his seat so fast he nearly knocked the table over. "There." Peter pointed through the crowd at the front entrance. His primal instincts told him to run the other way as fast as he could.

"Movement," Bucky said. "10 people in the trees heading for the entrance." He tracked their movement through his thermal scanner.

"Cap, you have incoming from the west side of the venue." Sam came over their radio. Falcon was watching from a rooftop overlooking the event. "Looks to be about 40 of them, they appear to be armed." Bucky and Cap exchanged concerned looks before jumping down from the tree.

"Let's split up, I'll intercept the ones on the westside," Steve suggested, before sprinting around behind the event. This wasn't what any of them had been expecting; it was worse. They'd counted on Batroc hiring a handful of mercenaries, but not 50 plus people attacking the event from multiple directions.

"Rogers?" Natasha's voice into his earpiece. "Rogers, what is going on out there? Peter's saying something's coming, can you confirm?" She was still watching the boy stare nervously at the entrance.

"Yes," He said in between pants as he ran. "You both need to get to cover." Steve stopped when he came out into an open field, in front of a large group of men and women. Sam had been right, the were armed, heavily armed at that.
There were too many of them for even him to stop them all before they reached the event. "You all need to stop!" These people didn't look like soldiers, so maybe they could be reasoned with. The group came to an uneasy stop in front of Steve and he allowed himself a minute to look them over. Nothing stood out except how remarkably ordinary they looked aside from the ballistic vests and military-grade weapons. "This doesn't need to end in bloodshed," The crowd stayed quiet. "Just turn around and go home. There's no need for bloodshed." His voice was pleading.

The crowd began looking amongst themselves as they questioned what they were doing. Many of them for the first time.

"You're wrong, Captain." A man came from the back of the crowd, a look of determination on his pale face. "There DOES have to be bloodshed, the Lord wills it." Steve stared back, dumbfounded. How could they possibly be using God to justify this?

"If you go through with this, it won't be for God," Steve spoke confidently, still hoping to dissuade them. "It will be for you and whatever misguided leader you're following." The man raised his weapon and sent Steve diving for cover as he emptied an entire magazine into the tree. "So much for talking them down." Steve gnashed his teeth in frustration.

Bucky reached the men on the other side of the park just as the shooting began. "What are those fucking morons doing?" One of them questioned. The zealots were supposed to wait for them to begin the assault.

"It doesn't matter just move on the entrance, Batroc's on his way." Bucky took the opportunity to pounce on the last two men in the formation. Throwing them back into the trees with all the strength he could muster. "Scatter and hit your targets!" The leader of the mercenaries called, aiming his weapon at Bucky. He got off two rounds before Bucky could reach him, one of which grazed the super-soldier's arm. He could feel the blood running down his arm as he yanked the weapon from the man and used it bashed him over the head with it. It took every ounce of restraint he had to kill him.

Inside the event, the crowd stirred uneasily as the police left and ran towards the shooting. "Peter, we have to get to cover." She tried to pull the boy back inside but he wouldn't budge.

"No," He said, pulling his arm free. "We have to help!" Peter began ushering people inside despite Natasha's protests.

"Peter," Natasha tried to get ahold of the teen, but he continued directing the crowd inside. "They aren't here for these people! They're here for us!" She pleaded with him.
BANG!
An explosion at the front of the venue knocked Natasha and the rest of the crowd off their feet, only Peter managed to stay upright. Though the pain from the deafening sound crumpled him. "Peter," She winced as her ears rang and her body ached. "We need to move."

"He's here." Peter squared himself with the smoking entrance as George Batroc waltzed through the haze of grey smoke. Batroc and Natasha locked eyes and she forced herself to her feet.

"Bonjour, Agent Romanoff."

Author's note: So here is an unforgivably late chapter. A couple things I wanted to get off my chest with this chapter. I'm not thrilled with it. I pigeonholed myself with the storyline about the united order and the attack on the event. I've lived my entire life in Las Vegas and when I began this story route 91 had just happened and I was supposed to be there though I just ended up going to be instead. And I used writing this story as an escape, but it 100% affected my writing process. So I am sorry if this chapter feels at all off but I did really try to make it good. I do plan on finishing this story, that's a promise and future chapters will be posted faster.
Thank you for reading and I hope you all are safe during these times!