A/N: This story is an AU that will not involve infinity war, because, honestly, I think some of us aren't fully recovered from that yet! This is will turn into a slow burn romance at some point, I just haven't decided who yet (ok probably Cap) so bear with me :) and I hope you don't hate it! My fantasy is that everyone lives in Stark Tower/ Avenger Compound (also haven't decided yet) and it's peaceful and domestic for the most part, which I know is unrealistic...but can't my babies just be happy for a bit?!
Sarah knocked on the familiar apartment door, and it quickly swung open to reveal a cheerful Aunt May.
"Hey Sweetie!" May drew Sarah in for a hug with one hand and wielded a spatula in the other, planting a kiss in her hair. "I'm so glad you could make it." She went back to the mystery concoction in the large mixing bowl and yelled,"Peter! Your cousin is here!"
Sarah set her backpack on the floor and kicked off her converse. She had spent many weekends at the Parker household in her lifetime, and each time it was like coming back home after a long time away. As she breathed in the familiar scent of floral candles and fresh, open-window air wafting from the living room, she couldn't help but wonder if May would just let her live here permanently.
"Thanks for letting me spend the weekend again on super short notice." She said warmly. It was clear in her tone how fond she was of her favorite aunt.
"You are welcome here anytime you want." May said sincerely as she adjusted her glasses and preheated the oven. "Now that school is out, Peter will probably want you to stay all summer like when you were kids. How is your mom?"
"Better I think. She's on a women's retreat with the church this weekend."
"That's great. I'm glad she's-" May was suddenly cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps thudding down the hallway.
"Hey!" Peter gave Sarah a quick hug. Ned's face lit up as he waved enthusiastically. She smiled and waved back, always charmed with Ned's infectious joviality.
"Ned, are you staying for dinner? We're having turkey meatloaf." May asked without turning away from the counter.
"Yes, please." Ned said politely.
"Come on, Ned wants to show you his lego Millennium Falcon." Peter picked up Sarah's backpack and followed Ned back down the narrow hallway.
"It's gonna look great next to the Death Star." Ned said to no one in particular with childlike amusement.
"Do they make a lego Starship Enterprise?"
"You can't like Star Trek better than Star Wars," Peter quipped as he tossed her backpack on the top bunk. "It's unnatural."
Sarah rolled her eyes and sat on the bean bag chair in the corner with a loud crunch. Peter pushed the creaky door shut and Ned flopped down on the bottom bunk.
"So May still doesn't know?" Sarah teased.
"Are you kidding? No way." Peter sat down in his computer chair and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I can't do that to her. When she freaks out, I freak out..."
"I can't believe Ned hasn't accidentally blurted it out." She laughed, wriggling herself a little deeper into the stiff, pleather bean bag.
Peter shot Ned a disapproving look, which told Sarah that he most likely had come very close on a few occasions.
"Give me some credit," Ned whined. "It's so hard keeping a secret that big."
Sarah played with the few stray legos on the floor that she could reach, letting her laughter die out into a half smile at Ned's guileless protest.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked suspiciously after a few beats of silence.
"Nothing." Her tone was short and clipped. She knew Peter would be able to sense her unrest, but she had to do her best to hide it until Ned left. He knew her the best out of anyone; she had no siblings growing up, no relatives close to her own age, except Peter.
"How long will it take to put that whole thing together?" She asked, trying to quickly change the subject before Ned noticed. He began to happily chatter about his recent purchase, completely oblivious to the silent exchange between Peter and Sarah. Peter narrowed his eyes at her, fully aware of her palpable discomfort. He was about to call her out when the door swung open.
"Dinner is ready, although it might be a tad overdone." May chuckled, fanning the air with her oven mitt.
Sarah loved how imperfect Aunt May was. She loved how her hair was never perfectly in place, but quickly thrown up in a clip. She loved the small, tidy apartment they lived in, and how nothing quite matched but still blended together in an inviting, homey sort of way. She stood up and shuffled to the kitchen table behind Ned and Peter, admiring all of the familiar kid pictures hanging up in the hallway.
Everyone sat down at the table and began passing around the meatloaf, potatoes, green beans and rolls.
"Thank you for letting me stay for dinner." Ned chirped, heaping potatoes onto his plate.
"Well, we've always got room for guests." May smiled at Ned between bites and patted Sarah's knee under the table. "Peter, take some green beans." She shoved the bowl in his direction and he made a face, reluctantly spooning a few onto his plate.
Sarah had only been here an hour and she already felt more at home here than she did with her own mother. She had loved spending summers with them when she was young, and Peter and May were the relatives she cherished most. She had been the first one Peter had called after the spider bite incident, and she had dutifully kept his secret.
"Can you pass the meatloaf?" Ned asked with a full mouth. He had already plowed through one slice. Sarah picked up the metal pan and handed it to him. As soon as he grabbed it, there was a crackling sound, and he jumped. The pan clattered to the table.
Sarah gasped. "Ned! I'm so sorry!"
"Dude, you alright?" Peter inquired.
"I think it shocked me," Ned rubbed his hand where the metal had touched him.
Peter noticed that Sarah was giving off an utterly bewildered vibe. She knew it was her fault, but it had been a pure accident. She had been trying to summon her newfound ability all day, with no outcome, and now here it shows up at the worst possible time. Naturally.
"Don't be sorry," Ned turned to Sarah. "I think I'm staticky or something."
Ned and May went back to eating and talking. Peter hadn't taken his eyes off Sarah yet, and he noticed how uneasy she was suddenly acting.
What? He mouthed, but she just kicked him under the table.
After Ned had gone home and the dinner table was cleaned up, Sarah got ready for bed and perched on the bottom bunk while Peter sat at his cluttered desk. He pretended to check Youtube, worriedly glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He knew something wasn't right. She was more like a sister than a cousin, almost like a twin with how close their birthdays were, except she was a few years older. They loved all the same things, listened to all the same music, enjoyed all the same movies. He was unsettled for the rest of dinner when he couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Suddenly, she broke the silence. "I have to tell you something weird."
His eyes went wide and he spun around in his computer chair. She had probably been waiting for them to be alone all evening.
"What is it? What's wrong?" The worry apparent in his voice.
"Remember when I was here the other day and we were playing with that purple alien rock before you realized it was a bomb?
"Yeah."
"Remember when it shocked me and I had all those weird lines in my hand?"
"Yeah..."
"I thought everything was fine. And the lines even went away. But then, last night, my mom and I got in a fight."
Peter looked at her sympathetically, silently urging her to continue. He knew the history there and all the problems she'd had with her mother since the divorce.
She paused for a minute and fiddled with the hair tie on her wrist, as if she was replaying the confrontation in her head. "She said that she wanted me to move out, which I was planning to anyway. She said it was my fault that the divorce happened the way it did. I lost my temper and called her a bitch."
"Wow. What did she say to that?"
"Well, I started to walk away, but she grabbed my arm, like, don't you walk away from me young lady. Something happened, like a blue flash, kind of crackly like electricity. That's what it felt like anyway, like a shock went through my whole body."
Peter's mouth was open at this point. "You shocked her?"
"Not on purpose! It was an accident." Sarah's eyes welled up a little, but she quickly dabbed at them with her sleeve. "I think that's why she left on that women's retreat last minute." She let out a shaky sigh and nervously chipped at her nail polish, feeling a little bit of weight lift off her shoulders.
Peter knew she was telling the truth. He knew this was big, and not just some accidental static charge she built up by walking around the living room carpet with her shoes on. It didn't even cross his mind to question the validity of her story; they had always been genuine and blunt with one another, and he knew she could't make something like this up.
"Does it hurt? Are there side effects?" Peter leaned in to inspect her face. "Are you gonna be ok?"
"I feel fine, Peter." She swatted him away. "Actually, I feel great. Aside from the fight, and almost giving my mother a heart attack, and..."
He shot out his hand in front of her. "Do it. Shock me."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"It's ok, you won't hurt me." He sat there waiting with his arm outstretched.
She stood up, frustrated, quickly knotting her hair into a bedraggled bun. "I don't think I know how to control it. I've been trying since last night."
"Have you thought about seeing a doctor?" Peter lowered his hand to his lap.
"No way! They'll probably run a bunch of tests, or stick me in a lab. I don't know." She began to nervously pace around the small room, stopping in front of the saggy looking bean bag and poking it with one sock foot. Peter kept his computer chair pointed in her direction as she moved about.
"Maybe Mr. Stark would know what to do." Peter reached for his phone and dialed Happy without waiting for Sarah's permission. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't just a little bit worried about her overall health. As she climbed up to the top bunk, she listened to Peter leave an awkward voicemail in Happy's inbox and wondered why Mr. Stark would even be bothered with the problems of a 20 year old girl he'd never even met before.
"Are you scared?" He asked, ending the voicemail and setting his phone down on a stack of school books.
Sarah paused, truly thinking it over. "Yes." She rolled to the edge of the top bunk, leaning up against the railing and looking at Peter.
"But this is so cool." He muttered. She couldn't help but laugh a little at his misplaced excitement. He sat quiet for a minute, and Sarah let her eyelids slowly drift shut. She doubted she would sleep much tonight, but it'd be better knowing she was close to Peter and May.
"I'm glad you're ok though." Peter pulled something up on his computer, then stood up, turned off the light, and climbed into the bottom bunk while Star Trek: Into Darkness began to play on the small screen. She was touched that he'd put on her favorite movie to fall asleep to. She propped herself up and leaned over the railing to get a better view of the bunk below. Peter was already cozied up with a flashlight and a colorful comic book.
"Thanks." She smiled sleepily.
The door creaked open and a pajama-clad Aunt May peeked in. "Goodnight, you two, don't stay up too late."
"Don't worry, we will." Peter remarked quickly, hiding behind his comic, peering at May to see what she would do. She walked in, plucked the book out of his hands, and playfully swatted him with it. Sarah fell into a fit of giggles and May tossed the comic back to him, smirking triumphantly. She reached up to the top bunk, still smiling, and patted Sarah's arm in a loving gesture.
"Don't forget, we're going to breakfast in the morning." She slipped out and left the door cracked behind her.