SUN FILTERED IN THROUGH THE CURTAINS as Peter opened his eyes. He squinted against the light and looked around at the unfamiliar room in confusion before the previous day's events came flooding back to the forefront of his mind.

Peter suppressed a groan and instead huffed out a long breath. He stretched out each of his limbs before briefly noting that the dull pain from his wound had disappeared. Still half asleep, Peter rolled onto his side and clumsily reached for the bedside table until he found his hearing aids; he relished in the sounds of the world meeting his ears when the door opened in his peripheral.

"Finally awake?" Barney mused, leaning against the doorframe with a cup of coffee in his hands.

Deciding not to dignify the man with an answer, Peter promptly rolled over and instead chose to bury his face into the pillow- he heard the deep laugh of Barney in response to his action.

"I called Clint today." He announced offhandedly, laughter trailing off.

The teen shot up into a sitting position. His drowsiness gone in an instant. "Shit. I completely forgot."

Guilt welled in his chest at the realisation as he pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off a headache. How could he have forgotten? Peter berated himself internally for getting so caught up in his own emotions to not focus on the mission- he should have done better.

"Hey- Peter." Barney ordered. He had moved forwards whilst Peter's thoughts spiralled around him, and snapped his fingers in front of the teen's face. "You were dead on your feet and injured, who cares that you forgot? You had two other passengers. It's fine kid."

The older man watched Peter for a moment as he drew his knees closer to his chest and ran a hand down the length of his face. He looked so much older than sixteen in that moment.

There was a defeated curve to his shoulders that set Barney on edge. It looked painfully familiar to the posture he had worn when Peter had finally snapped at Helen when they rescued the teenager from Hydra- Peter sighed for a second time, oblivious to the man's inner turmoil. He moved to get up from the bed, already pushing back the covers until Barney rested a heavy hand on his shoulder and effectively held him in place. "Not everything is on you. Alright?"

Peter stared straight up at the oldest Barton and Barney struggled to maintain the eye contact.

"Yeah." He finally breathed out, though it lacked conviction. "I know."

Reluctantly, Barney nodded before he pulled back and took a long sip from his coffee as the teen busied himself around the room. "They'll be here late tonight because I convinced them to drive. It's less incognito than a jet, so in the meantime we're all meeting in the barn for some training."

"Training?" Peter's head snapped up from the duffel bag he was rummaging in.

There were several different sets of clothing that had been set aside haphazardly before Peter found what he had been searching for. Relief visibly flowed through him as his fingers felt the cold, familiar metal against his skin; he was still looking at Barney in confusion as he stowed away the gun in the back of his jeans without hesitation. Barney resisted the urge to comment but his chest still tightened uncomfortably at the idea that Peter felt that he needed to be armed whilst he stayed at the farmhouse.

"Thought I'd teach that boyfriend of yours some self-defence since he told me about his baseball bat encounter- and Wanda seemed pretty interested in training you. Something about powers?"

Peter felt his cheeks heat up as he grabbed a bundle of clothing.

"Yeah. A little going away present from Hydra." He muttered darkly. Barney frowned, cursing his internal feelings as he intercepted Peter before he managed to duck around him.

"How are you feeling?"

The question awkwardly hung between them as Peter was forced to acknowledge Barney. The older man was surprised by the blank expression he was met with before it cracked into an overly cheery grin- he wondered when he'd stop being surprised by the teen. "Good?" He offered at first, skirting past Barney with an admirable ease that told the man Peter could have done that to begin with but had had the decency to at least pretend the man had had some kind of leverage.

"Look, let's not get into my emotional state right now, okay? I can have a break down later. Or next week if I have the time." Despite the humour to the words, Barney grimaced. He'd seen the same self-defence technique with Clint when they were growing up together in the circus; jokes and smiles until it all inevitably falls apart.

He didn't want to see Peter fall apart again because this time he might not get back up.

-

Eventually, after eating breakfast and drinking an unhealthy amount of coffee, the assembled group were directed to the barn by Barney for their 'training' session.

The outside of the barn was the definition of normal, so Peter had naturally expected normalcy for the interior too- he was only right since the only half of it was normal. There was a tractor that looked as though it was barely clinging to life and a large quantity of hay in the far corner; all mundane things that you would expect to find within a barn. But then there was a small gun range in the far right, directly beside a wall displaying the guns used in the said range. Not so normal for a barn.

Harley and Wanda gaped openly and both shot Barney incredulous looks.

Eyeing the space as he assessed the dangers, Peter turned to the man, "What the hell?"

He glanced at Peter, offering a half-hearted shrug in response. Barney had a lot of enemies and wasn't taking any chances even if he lived out in the countryside in a well-hidden farmhouse. Besides, he needed somewhere that he could blow off some steam on the rare occasion that Clint managed to beat him at that stupid mobile game flappy bird.

Shaking her head, Wanda chose to ignore the people behind her in favour of taking in the space when she caught sight of Harley in the corner of her eye.

He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly before Barney nudged his shoulder and gestured with his head for the teen to follow. The duo wandered over to a punching bag across the room; Peter made to join them but was easily blocked by Wanda with a smile.

"I want to work with your powers."

Peter made an 'oh' face and walked back to the centre of the room. "Where do we begin?"

"Here." Wanda announced calmly.

Confusion flitted across Peter's face as he turned around to look back at the woman when he felt his spider sense flare and race down his spine- he dropped to the ground as a haybale soared over his head and crash landed on the floor a few feet away. Wanda huffed.

"Try using your powers."

"Try giving me a warning." Peter retorted.

Warily, he stood back to his full height before he squared back his shoulders. Wanda made a face but conceded. "Ready?" She teased and Peter vaguely heard Barney groan at them as another haybale was launched across the room- the teens were too focussed to care.

The tips of his fingers ran warm; the heat steadily growing.

Peter could feel the magic pulse beneath his skin, making it tingle and cause the hair on his arms to stand on end. He faced the haybale that was aimed straight at his chest and bit back the strong urge to dive out of the way- instead, he raised his palms and watched in a slight shock as the haybale jolted back. A strange, blue electricity that he had only caught glimpses of before rippled barely an inch from Peter's body, travelling in a sphere shape around him.

He gasped from the effort and slumped forwards, only just managing to catch himself. The shield dropped. "Did, did I just do that?" Peter panted, eyes alight despite the clear exhaustion.

"Yeah, you did." Wanda smiled genuinely, meeting his eyes. "Well done."

"Again." He huffed out, already calling on his powers. It took the form of a shield again.

Nodding, Wanda allowed her magic to dance and spark across her fingertips as her eyes tinted red; she flicked her wrist and another haybale flew through the barn effortlessly. 

A/N

Barney caring about Peter makes me feel warm and fuzzy- like at first it was out of curtesy but now he genuinely cares and it unsettles him. Also Peter finally learning how to train his powers and for once being amazed by them instead of terrified fills me with joy :)

And sorry for it not being more power oriented- but I think I did say somewhere it was more of a plot device than the acual plot, so yeah? hehe.

Anywho! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.