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chapter seven
KILL BRAD DAVIS
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LENA'S ONLY COHERENT THOUGHT is Fuck.

She buttons the front of her blouse as quickly as possible, trying her best to keep her movements fast and yet not so cursory that she'd miss one and make their situation seem worse than it already does. Graham tugs his shirt back on. Lena is hyper-aware of how compromising their position is, so she grabs Graham's backpack, shoves both his and Peter's suits inside of it, and zips it back up. He catches it with ease when she tosses it to him.

"Thank you for the suits, but we really have to go now," Lena tells the blonde woman, who's busy tucking her handgun away. She grabs Graham's arm and pulls him along with her out of the pub.

Once they emerge into the now-blinding sunlight, she has to squint to see Peter standing a few feet away with his posture deflated like a balloon that's just been popped. Lena stops beside him, taking one look at his face and assuming the worst. His eyes are as wide as saucers and filled with unrelenting panic. She catches sight of Brad hurrying back toward the bus.

"What'd he say?" she asks, shouldering her own backpack.

It takes Peter a moment to remember how to communicate via the English language. When he does, his voice is high-pitched and trembling. "He said he's going to show Mr. Dell and we'll probably get suspended."

Lena swears violently at Brad under her breath in Tagalog. If Ma and Pa had been here, they would have smacked her on the wrist with tsinelas for using such foul language.

"I have no idea what you just said, but I definitely agree," Graham says with a glare in the direction of Brad's retreating form.

"Okay, put your one foot in front of the other and everybody back on the bus!" Mr. Dell announces as he emerges from the building with the bathrooms. Lena groans in dismay. Not only is the second half of the bus ride going to suck, but she hadn't even gotten to actually use the restroom.

They try to board the bus as quickly as possible, but wind up getting stuck behind the crowd of students. Lena has to throw herself into the first row's window seat because all of the other ones are taken– Brad had stolen their previous spot in the very back. Peter nervously sits beside her while Graham claims the empty row behind them, leaning forward so his head pokes out beside Peter.

"What's he doing?" Lena hisses. She would check for herself, but she doesn't want to arouse suspicion by standing up and looking over everyone else's heads.

Graham peers down the aisle and reports back in a whisper, "He's just on his phone. What's he doing, editing it? Adding some vignette, maybe a sepia filter? Some contrast? For seemingly wanting us to get suspended as quickly as possible, he sure is taking his time."

Peter hastily digs through his backpack and produces the case for the EDITH glasses. His hands shake with nerves as he opens it, unfolding the frames and sliding them onto his face. "EDITH? Hi, um... there's this guy in my class who's kind of trying to show a picture to my teacher and get me and my friends suspended." He pauses, toying with his fingers as EDITH speaks to him without them hearing.

Graham's brows furrow. He locks eyes with Lena and mouths, "What's going on?"

Of course– he'd been sleeping during the entire first half of the bus ride and doesn't know about EDITH. Lena pulls out her phone and texts him so she doesn't have to speak over Peter, which would consequently make her voice loud enough for others to overhear.

LENA LENA BO BENA: mr. stark put an AI named EDITH in the glasses. she's his security system

Graham reads the message on his phone and nods. "That's sick."

Peter, oblivious to their side conversation, continues to ramble to EDITH. "Brad Davis. He has a photo of us. Is Brad a target? Um–" He whirls around to glance back at Brad, nearly colliding his skull with Graham's. Whatever he sees causes him to turn back around with his face a bit paler than usual. "Yeah, he's a target. He's a target." He blanches in fear. "Initiating what now? EDITH–"

"What?" Lena demands, part of her already planning how to develop an earpiece for her to hear EDITH as she had done with Karen. Not being able to catch what's going on causes her nerves to rocket to high-alert. She bounces her leg up and down restlessly, raking a hand through her bangs.

"I messed up," Peter mumbles as the nervous activity of his hands increases by a tenfold. "I messed up so bad."

"Peter, what–?" Graham starts to ask, but he's interrupted by the boy shooting to his feet with his widened eyes glued to the back of the bus. Lena copies his actions by peering just above the top of her seat. Her gaze follows his, expecting to maybe see something that Brad is doing, but something else catches her attention that makes her wish it was just Brad.

It's some sort of missile-carrying drone heading directly for their bus. The thing is incredibly fast but otherwise silent enough to remain undetected by the other occupants, trailing smoke and fire as it rockets directly toward them. The jet portion detaches from it and explodes as it strikes the road. The small device is nimble as it chases them down the mountainside, practically undetectable since Dmitri doesn't seem to be checking his mirrors. If it strikes the bus, all of them are dead.

Lena's heart drops into her stomach, hands going clammy and cold from her fear. She glances helplessly at all of her friends on this bus. They have to find a way to stop the drone before it kills them all. Her brain scrambles to find a solution, calculating their distance from the drone and how fast they're moving. Then she realizes it'll all be pointless because everyone will see her use her powers. Unless they can think of a proper distraction, they'll have to figure out another way to fix this.

"Shit," Graham curses. He whirls toward Peter, coffee-brown eyes filled with terror. "Peter, what the hell did you tell that thing?"

"I – I didn't–"

"Dope glasses, Parker," Flash comments as he snatches the frames right out of Peter's hands, sliding them onto his face. Lena hadn't even noticed he was sitting across the aisle from them until now. She finds herself wishing it had been literally anyone else. "How'd you pay for these?"

Peter's words come out a panicked jumble as he reaches for them. "Flashgivethemback!"

"No, no, no–" The boy easily fends off the grabbing motions Peter makes toward the glasses, mistaking his urgency for fear that he's being made fun of again. His hands batter Peter's away.

"Give me the – Flash!"

"I'm really paying you a compliment."

"Please give me the–"

One of Peter's desperate lunges for the frames sneaks past Flash's defensive motions, accidentally hitting him in the temple so hard that he's instantly knocked out and falls limp against his bag. Peter, Lena, and Graham stare at him in shock for a moment.

"Remind me to never steal something of yours," Graham says blankly.

Peter pays him no mind, instead whispering to an unconscious Flash Thompson, "I'm so sorry!" He reaches across the aisle and removes the glasses from his face. Once they're back on, he pleads, "EDITH, don't kill Brad!"

"Did you just punch Flash?" a girl named Zoha questions in a half-amused tone.

"No," Peter responds, then his eyes grow to the size of small planets for some reason.

Lena watches in utter confusion as he turns toward Dmitri and shoots a web at the steering wheel. He wraps his hand around the web and tugs, subsequently yanking the wheel to the left and veering the entire bus to the side. She gasps when a laser strikes the side mirror and instantly burns a hole through it, shattering the glass.

The other students and teachers scream as the bus swerves toward the railing that lines the side of the mountain they're on. The action is so violent that the people on the right side are thrown into the aisle, thankfully not noticing how the bus scrapes the edge of the metal barrier and they almost plummet to their untimely demises. Peter himself barely stops himself from losing his balance and falling on top of Lena.

Dmitri regains control just in time to steer them back onto the winding road. Lena holds onto the pole in front of her with a white-knuckled grip, shooting an incredulous expression at Peter for almost killing them in his moment of panic.

"EDITH–" he tries to command, only to realize that the glasses had been thrown off of his face during the chaos of the bus swerving. He quickly retrieves them from their spot on the floor and straightens up again so he's standing in the front of the aisle. He turns to Graham desperately. "Can you shadow-travel us over there?"

"Dude, we're going like thirty-five miles per hour," Graham points out in a hiss. His nervous gaze snags onto his little brothers, sadness filling his eyes at the thought of accidentally killing them. "By the time I got us there, the bus and drone would be too far. And do you see any shadows outside?"

"Peter, plant that fanny in that seat and buckle up right now," Mr. Harrington commands.

In another wild attempt at distracting them, Peter points to the mountainside to their right and bursts out, "Look at the baby mountain goats!"

"Baby mountain goats?" Mr. Harrington repeats excitedly, turning to look out the window. All of the others thankfully do the same. Even those sitting on the opposite side crowd around the windows to catch a glimpse of the non-existent animals, meaning they're not paying attention to the three super-powered teenagers whatsoever.

Lena uses one hand to rocket Peter through the sunroof hatch directly above him, jetting energy out of her feet to follow after him. The wind from the moving bus rustles her hair as she aims her left hand toward the green-and-white drone. Peter shoots a web over the nozzle where the lasers emit, while Lena encases it in a bubble and sends it careening into the side of a rock formation far behind them with a blast of energy. The device explodes within the force field.

She drops them back down into the bus the moment the threat is terminated, both of their chests heaving. Graham meets her eye. She notices that his irises are black – a subtle change from their usual very dark brown, but enough of a signal for her to know that he must be exerting his fear-projection powers somehow. He nods, and as soon as he does, his eyes turn back to normal.

"I don't see any mountain goats," Mr. Harrington reports in a disappointed tone, turning back toward Peter.

Lena glances at him and slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle a burst of laughter. His hair is completely windblown, brunet locks sticking up in all directions and curls half-tangled together. She can only hope that hers doesn't appear the same.

"You missed 'em," Peter lies breathlessly with a vague motion toward the mountain.

"I know you think none of us have noticed, Peter," Betty speaks up, causing Lena's heart to increase its incessant hammering in her chest until she can hear her blood roaring in her ears. Her chest fills with trepidation for what she's going to say. Had they truly been that obvious?

"What?" he questions innocently.

"But your new look?" the blonde girl continues, her bubblegum-pink lips breaking out into a kind smile. "I love it. Right, babe?"

Ned comes to Peter's rescue even though he's completely oblivious to what just transpired. "Yeah! It's sophisticated, classy, and very European."

Peter collapses back into his seat with a relieved sigh. "Let's try that again."

Lena eases back into her own chair and tames her slightly messy waves, which luckily don't seem much less neat than they usually do. She leans toward Graham and questions, "What did you do?"

"I managed to make them all afraid that they'd miss seeing the baby mountain goats if they looked away, so they wouldn't take their eyes off the mountain," he responds in a slightly giddy tone.

She raises her eyebrows. "All of them?"

Graham's proud smile is radiant, illuminating his face with joy and excitement despite the fact they had come very, very close to death a few moments ago. His gaze briefly flickers to Max and Owen, quickly confirming they're okay before replying, "Yeah."

Lena reaches across Peter and gives her friend a high-five. Him managing to project that fear into so many minds is an amazing feat and will undoubtedly help them on future missions, which makes her grin along with him. The fact that he's come so far with his powers – ones he's normally wary of, nonetheless – is truly incredible. She beams with pride for him.

"That's sick, man," Peter compliments, copying Lena's actions of giving Graham a high-five. His lips are lifted in a half-grin as he steadily regains control of his breath.

Lena notices that his hair is still sticking up in all directions and snorts. She reaches up and pats it down, smushing the locks back onto his head as he quickly instructs EDITH to delete the photo from Brad's phone.

Adrenaline still makes her slightly jittery, but it's mixed with enough relief for her to momentarily forget about how heavy her limbs are and how her leg won't stop bouncing. She shares a quick glance with Peter and Graham. They may have been faced with a nearly impossible situation, but they still pulled through.

She's beyond glad that she has these boys in her life.

-♕-

The remainder of the bus ride is not nearly as eventful. Peter manages to successfully delete the compromising photo of them off of Brad's phone without ordering another drone missile on them, meaning they're in the clear from potentially being suspended. Lena isn't sure if Mr. Dell would have actually done that in response to the photo, but it's better to be safe than sorry. At least now they don't have to worry about the utter embarrassment it would have caused them.

Lena is dozing off, loitering in the space between slumber and wakefulness, when her phone buzzes and jars her fully to consciousness. She groans in annoyance as she digs the device from her pocket and holds it up to her face to discover a text from Shuri. Her groan cuts itself off immediately.

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS: Is it a good time to call?

Lena glances back at the bus. Most of the students have headphones in or are engaged in miscellaneous conversations, Mr. Harrington snores with his glasses askew on his face, and Brad broods with his eyes locked on their passing surroundings. She's fairly certain that nobody will be paying attention to any words she says.

She pulls out her own headphones and plugs them into her phone before responding with a quick confirmation text. A moment later, the call invite pops up on her screen. Instead of it being a normal call, however, it's another request for FaceTime. Lena presses the green Accept button and is greeted with Shuri's face a moment later.

The princess's hair is done in elaborate braids that are pulled into three separate knots at the back of her head, interlaced with white beads. She appears to be dressed in a red tunic with an elaborate neckline, the color shocking even through an image from a camera. Lena greets her with a wide grin. The fact that she's on a first-name basis with foreign royalty – and that they talk fairly regularly, in combination with the fact that Shuri is now helping her stabilize her powers – is still astounding to her.

"Is that Princess Shuri?" Graham questions in a whisper. She turns around and notices a sliver of his face peering at her screen through the crack between hers and Peter's seats, causing her to reach over with her free hand and motion as if to poke him in the eye. He jumps back into his own seat with a surprised yelp.

Shuri's musical laughter greets her ears through her headphones. Lena rolls her eyes and faces her camera. "Sorry about him. What's up?"

"I was wondering how your trip is going," she says in her thick Wakandan accent, a bit of amusement lingering in her voice that fades as she continues. "I saw the news. I have been pouring over every newscast and article about what happened in Venice. Lena, you need to be careful. If people in your class think about it too hard, your identities may become obvious."

Lena sighs. "I know. But, to be fair, if anyone looks at my phone screen and sees who I'm talking to, it also might become obvious."

Shuri's face becomes jokingly indignant at the smirk on Lena's face. Her brown eyes examine the space around Lena's head and realize she's using some form of vehicular transport. "To be fair, I did not know you were in public. You could have easily declined the call."

"True," Lena admits with a shrug. "But we sort of don't have a choice to be looped into this mess. I'll tell you the whole story later if you want because I shouldn't say it out loud, but we've got it mostly under control."

The princess nods, concern evident in the smooth lines of her face. Just as she opens her mouth to say something else, a different voice pipes up in the background. "Shuri, who are you talking to?"

Shuri makes a face and steps aside. King T'Challa comes into the frame, giving Lena a smile that reveals his dimples and the slight gap between his front teeth once he recognizes her face. His hair is slightly longer than it was before and now rises a little over an inch or two above his head. Since he's peering a bit over his younger sister's shoulder, she can barely see the black tunic he's wearing, but she can make out some intricate swirl designs stitched into the fabric.

"Hello, Lena," he greets.

Lena practically melts, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Hi."

"I think you have serious competition with the King of Wakanda, Peter," Graham says from where he's resumed his spot staring through the crack between their seats. Cheeks now flaming, Lena reaches her knuckle through and jabs him in the forehead, causing him to make a noise of discontent.

Peter, however, doesn't seem fazed as he plays some game on his phone. "Well, I mean, yeah."

Lena gathers her dignity before turning back to her screen to see Shuri covering her mouth to hide her obvious laughter at her embarrassment and T'Challa's good-natured grin. So what she has somewhat of a schoolgirl crush on the king? He's downright gorgeous. She can't be blamed.

"Shuri has been working hard on testing your powers for stabilization," T'Challa informs her, smoothly changing the subject.

"Any luck?" Lena questions.

"I think I've made some progress with improving the stabilizing agent Tony made, but I still need to test it a few more times before I come to any proper conclusions," Shuri replies. "You said he left you the lab, correct? Once you get back home, that will speed things up considerably."

Lena nods in agreement, knowing that she's right. Part of her is actually excited to get back to New York and head to the lab. It'll need some cleaning, because even if Tony had visited it during the five years Lena was gone, it's still been a few months since the battle that destroyed the Avengers Compound. Several layers of dust will have gathered on the machinery by now.

"Why don't you call me later and explain what's been going on?" the princess suggests, knowing how difficult it is for them to have this conversation when Lena has to be conscious of what she says aloud.

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good," she says. "We'll be in Prague in a few hours. I can call you after I talk to my parents."

Shuri's eyebrows crease in confusion. "I thought you were headed to Paris today?"

"Yeah, me too. That's part of what I have to tell you. Bye, guys."

The royal siblings chime their own goodbyes before ending the call. Lena's heart finally stops fluttering once T'Challa's face leaves the screen, only to start back up again once Peter yawns and leans his head back on his seat, then ends up sliding it down to rest on her shoulder. Lena's lips quirk up into a closed-lipped smile. She sets her phone in her lap and adjusts herself so she's more comfortable, resting her own head on top of his and closing her eyes. Hopefully she'll be able to find slumber as easily as she had a few minutes ago.

With Peter's warmth seeping into her skin, she's pretty sure she'll be able to sleep for the rest of the bus ride.

_______

a/n:

me, banging pots and pans outside in the middle of the street: wow i am lonely!!!

i was going to include prague in this chapter as well, but then i decided to hold off on it because i don't want this book to be super short. it's already going to be less than fifteen chapters if i don't seriously space things out and add a lot at the end. since i don't want this part to be that short, the chapters are likely going to be a bit shorter or spend more detail on scenes that were short in the movie itself.

i hope you liked this chapter! i'm so proud of graham!!! my baby is POWERFUL

(also be sure to check out the pinterest board for this series! i have aesthetics for graham & lena as well as a few other things!! i work hard on my pinterest so pls validate me)

ONE MORE THING, I PROMISE: if you guys haven't already seen it (or didn't get the message i sent out), i made a "my oc's as vines part 2" and it includes max and owen as well now!

https://youtu.be/9YZxBBrx-SM

–kristyn

TRANSLATIONS:

Tsinelas: sandals