I know! I know! My ability to update regularly is basically nonexistent... but hey I got a new chapter for you guys and some more on its way. I kinda just have everything jumbled up and in bits and pieces so once I get those in order and find some wifi I'll have another one for you guys! As always, thanks for the reviews and please oh please keep them coming! Oh and no beta!

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Chapter 7: Drinks

Driving Matt's Camaro toward the bar Kai and Ava were to meet them at, Peter glanced from the disgruntled looking detective to a picture of a little girl sitting in front of the speedometer.

"Hey, this your kid?" He asked, genuinely interested because he likes most kids and the little girl is pretty adorable in the pink birthday party hat and oversized sunglasses.

Matt turned, his eyes softening, even as he gave a sarcastic reply. "No, she's just some cute kid I have a picture of." He paused and a soft smile spread across his lips. "Yeah she's mine."

"What's her name? Tell me about her."

"Could say please every once in awhile. Her name is Grace Renea Williams. She's fantastic, man. The best little daughter a dad could ask for. She just turned 11 the other day and you know what she asked for? A week with me. " Matt spoke warmly, his pride of being Grace's father obviously overwhelming.

Peter returned his partner's grin. "Really? That's great, man. I gotta meet her. What about her mom? Is she in the picture?"

Matt's face fell instantly. "What exactly does 'in the picture' mean?"

Peter shrugged. "Well no offense but I'm gonna have to go with divorce because I think if she were dead you would have a picture of her here too, unless of course the marriage was a disaster. Or Grace was born out of wedlock but I don't see you as the type of guy to get a girl pregnant and not be married."

"Okay buddy first off saying 'no offense' in no way lessens the offense that will be taken from whatever follows, ever. Secondly, yes Elizabeth and I are divorced. In fact, she's the reason we had to move out here." At Peter's questioning look, Matt continued. "She got remarried and moved out here taking Grace with her; therefore, forcing me to follow to this god forsaken sandbox."

Peter nodded, then looked back to the road. "You don't like Hawaii?"

"Better question would be: who would like Hawaii? I mean nearly every night I sleep on top of my covers. No one here seems to speak normal English, I mean who the hell speaks Hawaiian anyways except for these people."

"Uh I know a little." Peter rolled his eyes when Matt glared at his interruption.

"Excuse me. Except for the people who grew up here and a crazy ass Super SEAL. Anyways, the the food here is too weird... They put egg on a burger and call it a speciality!" Matt continued on with his rant as Peter rubbed his temple with one hand and drove with the other.

"Matt okay, okay. I get it, you don't like it here and you're only here for Grace." Peter finally interrupted him. "Can we just ride in silence for the rest of the time, now?"

Matt huffed and turned to look out of the window. For a brief moment it was in fact silent, until Matt sat up straighter and looked at Peter with a grin. "So you and Ava, huh?"

For a split second, Peter was dumbfounded, but then he scowled and stopped at a red light. "No. Not answering that."

Matt scoffed. "Fine. Fine, I get it you don't wanna talk about it. Awkward ex stuff. Believe me I get it. Alright, how about this? Are you in a current relationship?"

Peter looked at Matt and back at the red light. God, please change to green already. He squeezed the stirring wheel and ran a hand over his face. "No...Yes? I don't know. I guess. "

"How do you not know if you're in a— oh, just the friends with benefits type thing?"

"We eat out when she's docked somewhere I'm at." Peter defended, but really if he thought about it they kind of were.

"So she's in the navy too. I should've known. Okay, so you go on lunch dates and sleep together. It counts I suppose. What's her name?"

"Megan Turner."

"Nice. Are you going to elaborate a little or just leave me with just a name to a faceless woman?"

Peter shrugged and looked out his window. Matt followed his gaze and nearly bounced in his seat in joy. There next to the Camaro was a red corvette filled with four beach girls in nothing but bikinis, revving up the engine and smiling seductively back at Peter and Matt.

Peter looked back at his overexcited partner as Matt pulls his hands up and clasped them together. "Please take a detour. Please."

Peter turned to the still giggling and smiling women, then back to Matt, and smirked. Matt stopped his pleading and glanced between Peter, the road, and the girls. "You wouldn't."

As soon as the light turned green, Peter gunned the car forward and laughed as Matt turned in his seat and reached dramatically back towards the car filled with women.

"No! No! No!" Turning back to the still laughing Peter, Matt thumped him in the arm. "Why would you do that!? That was a man's greatest fantasy! You should be ashamed to call yourself a man for not taking that obvious offer! I can not believe you just did that! You know you probably hurt their feelings! Their probably sitting back there staring at each other and all confused cause they—"

"Matt. The only person whose feelings got hurt is you. So shut up"

When they're finally all sitting at a bar having celebratory drinks for catching Reeves and Parsley, and gaining more information about Victor, Ava allows her gaze to finally wonder. She takes in the changes of the new and apparently improved commander.

He was so different yet still the same Peter she fell for all those years ago. His thick hair had darkened over the years, the chestnut brown becoming more of a dark ebony shade. He had it cut short in a military styled Ivy League cut.

His shoulders and chest were broader, more muscular, causing his gray v-neck to stretch across the wide area. He was tanner than he use to be hinting that he was outside under the sun a lot more now days. She could make out a scar high on his cheek bone, close to his left eye.

She turned her focus on those eyes. Now there's something that hadn't changed a bit. The blue hue of them made her think of her beloved ocean. They were distant though, like he wasn't paying attention to Matt and Kai's silly jokes. She knew that he was thinking about the Ramen brother who killed Harry.

He probably blamed himself somehow, even if he half way across the world and didn't pull the trigger. She wished she could ease his pain of losing his close friend, maybe hold—no that will never happen.

She blinked to regain focus on what she was doing and not travel down an old and broken path, moving her gaze down the length of his muscular arms that were no longer hidden from view like he use to do with those long sleeve button ups when he was suppose to be Puny Parker.

When he reached for his beer she could see the hints of ink under the gray sleeves. She couldn't believe her eyes. Peter Parker had a tattoo. She hid her smirk behind her own beer. Definitely not the geeky nerd that Flash and half of midtown high pegged him to be, nope, this man seemed to be nothing short of one sexy badass. Not that she had ever thought any differently.

Peter could feel her eyes on him and he honestly wanted to ask why she was just staring at him, but Matt and Kai were there and he knew they'd appreciate it if there wasn't anymore awkwardness. Quite frankly, he would be happy to avoid that too.

The two men were asking him questions about their new team, jokingly coming up with mock names for it, so he tried to stay focused on them and not the way she was eyeing him.

Then, his focus switched to a darker path, one that involved his dead friend. Ramen was still on the islands, and maybe Peter could catch him before he got away. The man made Peter's blood boil just thinking of him.

Harry didn't deserve to be pulled into this. If only Peter would've tried harder to make sure no one in New York knew of his whereabouts, with the exception of Level 7 and above of S.H.I.E.L.D, then maybe Harry would be alive. Well, it was too late now, he guessed, considering he's gonna be burnt and pored in to the sea.

He had looked so pale when Peter went to the M.E. lab. Shaking away the images of Harry's body on the cold steel tables of the M.E. Lab, he turned his full attention to her, shoving aside the no awkwardness plan because he couldn't keep thinking about Harry or Victor and plus he was finally tired of feeling her eyes on him.

The table went silent with Ava staring back at Peter with wide eyes from being caught. Peter gave her a brief lazy once-over, feigning indifference to keep himself from addressing the real problem. "How've you been Ava? It's been what four years since you left?"

Ava looked down and ignored the small dig his question made before meeting his relentless gaze. "I've been good. And uh actually five years."

His jaw tightened because surprisingly the pain from the day she left him was still buried somewhere deep within him and despite him trying to pretend not to remember, it still felt like his heart was being squeezed and light on fire at the same time.

He nodded, pushing away all the questions his younger self still yearned to ask her. Coulson would've been proud. "Right. What have you been up to in the past few of years?"

Kai and Matt leaned forward in interest as the two, who had a awkward tension all day when they were around each other outside of work-related business, finally talked about something other than work. Peter watched Ava pick at the label of her bottle. "I um well... I surfed professionally for a few years until I blew out my knee and realized I basically had to reinvent my lifestyle. Kai convinced me to join the academy when I was healed. And now I'm here."

Peter nodded and sat back still watching her. Refusing to squirm under his gaze, Ava cleared her throat and took a drink. "What about you Pete? How've you been? Whatcha been doing?"

Blinking a couple of times, trying to recall what he had done after she left and wanting desperately to move around the things he done because of her leaving, Peter shrugged, nonchalantly. "I uh went to college to major in neuroscience and biology but dropped out when I had to chose between my job with Nick and college. Later, some things came up and I couldn't be... Uh"

He paused casting a glance at the other two men before looking pointedly at Ava. "I couldn't exactly stick around and do some of the things I use to do, without harming others. Nick and Coulson sent me to the Navy under one of Coulson's old buddies and I just kinda liked it so it stuck for me. After awhile I worked my way up. You know the story about Harry but I pulled some strings with the governor to come out here and met Matthew, you, and Kai and here I am."

They sat there looking at each other for a brief moment before Matt interrupted the moment and clapped his hands, grinning wickedly. "Okay. So I am dying to know about the relationship you two once had. Aren't you Kai?"

He clapped his hand over Kai's shoulder and looked pointedly at the tense Peter and Ava. They both glanced at each other awkwardly before Peter shrugged and forced himself to loosen up.

"We dated in high school and broke up after graduation. Nothing else to tell." Peter's voice was clipped and indifferent and Ava grimaced at the sharp ache in her chest at the sound.

Kai frowned as something seemed to click for him. He looked at Ava questioningly. "Wait a second. Is this the haole who you nearly stayed in New York for? The one who caused you and Mom and Dad to fight about?...The one who took your fucking virginity?"

The further Kai got in his blunt questioning the more uncomfortable things became, the air becoming thick and way too warm. Ava's cheeks were on fire and her eyes were wide as she hissed, "Kai! Shut. Up."

Kai glared at Peter who had wide comical eyes and was watching Kai's face start to turn a shade of angry red and his hands curl into tight fists.

"You know, brah, you broke my cousin's heart and I've been wanting to beat the shit outta ya since the 1st night she cried herself to sleep." Kai growled, stood, his chair nearly tipping over from the force, and towered over Peter.

Confused, Peter looked at Ava who had her hand over her mouth shaking her head. He stood matching Kai in height, instantly becoming furious at Kai's accusations. "Okay first off, she broke it off with me. Secondly I had no clue that she got into it with your parents who by the way, I still don't know. I sure as hell didn't force her into fucking me. That was mutual buddy. And I didn't know she was fucking crying herself to sleep cause you know when she broke up with me, I naturally assumed she didn't feel the same as I did. So if you want to go throwing punches you better find someone who deserves them because the only fucking thing I done was try to make it work between us and then when it didn't I tried moving on."

Neither men backed down, but Matt and Ava stood placing hands on either of the men's arms. Ava stood tall, pushing away all the emotions that had surfaced since the beginning of this conversation, and spoke directly to Kai. "Peter's right. About everything. I broke up with him. He didn't know about my fight with Auntie Anela and Uncle Kam... or about the other thing. And it was certainly mutual when we both lost our virginity, but none of that should matter to you Kai, because that was my business. Mine. And Peter's. It's in the past, Kai. We're different people now. Just drop it."

For a second, Kai looked as if he was going to protest but then he shook his head, taking a deep breath and held out his hand. "I'm sorry, brah, really I am. I just remembered how it was for Ava when she got back and irrationally blamed everything on you. You gave me a second chance at doing what I love and I threatened you. Let me buy you a beer."

Looking from Kai to Ava and back, Peter nodded and shook the older man's hand.

After they're much more comfortable and only slightly tipsy, Ava found her way back to her team's table and laughed. "Ho brah," she nudged Peter, grinning.

She set down one of the beers she was double-fisting and took a drink straight out of the other one. "Check out those wahines."

Peter raised an eyebrow curiously and slowly turned around to see two pretty brunette locals at the bar eyeing him with extreme interest. A corner of his mouth went up into a charming smirk, and he gave them an acknowledging nod before turning back around.

Ava bit her lip to keep from laughing. She gave the girls a little wave too, and this time laughed aloud as they scowled enviously back at her.

"Wait, what? Check out those what?" Matt addressed the group, frustrated. "Why can't we all just agree to speak normal English? Seriously, I really would like to know why not."

"Hey, calm down, haole," Kai grinned. "Kid was just telling Pete about the two girls checking him out over there."

"This happen to you everywhere you go?" Kai asked Peter teasingly.

Ava sat back and smirked, propping her knee up against the table, remembering how jealousy was a small problem for her when they first started dating and he, as Spider-Man anyways, got a lot of attention from the frail damsels.

Peter didn't respond, but only smirked at Kai and took a long swig of his beer.

"Okay then, I'll answer for him – yes," Matt replied, pointing an accusatory finger at his new partner. "Yes. I don't think Pierce Brosnan himself has anything on this man. Yet he never shows any more than apathetic interest in any of these lovely ladies. Earlier on the way here, he even blew off a whole flipping corvette filled with with beautiful, respectfully, hot women!"

"You are forgetting Meg." Peter grunted behind the rim of his Longhorn.

"Oh right, your mysterious Navy princess."

"Your girlfriend's in the Navy?" Ava asked, brows furrowing, unsure of what this news means to her. "Is that where you met?"

Before Peter could respond, Matt said, "Of course! Work relationships. It's an interesting dynamic, Ava. You want to know why?"

"Want to slow down there, brah?" Kai laughed, indicating Matt's growing collection of empty bottles.

But Matt only ignored him and continued, bottle tipping precariously in his hand, "You see, Ava, when you put two people working in close quarters long enough, something will happen. Could be like, love, lust, whatever. But something will. It's only natural."

At this, Peter briefly glanced in Ava's direction. Their eyes met, and they both instantly looked down at the table again.

Matt downed another large gulp of beer. He pointed at Peter, grinning. "That's what happened with Megan. Am I right, Prince Charming?"

Peter shrugged and replied noncommittal. "Eh, well something happened."

"Okay, okay." Matt started. "Seriously though, if we are going to go through with this whole task force thing then you two need to drop the whole awkward ex thing. Because fair warning: I will absolutely, positively tease you endlessly about it."

Peter chuckled. "I have no doubt about that."

Kai leaned forward. "He may be drunk, but the man has a point. You two have to get over this awkward stage. I mean you both have seemed to move on. Ava with her boyfriend Alex McKinney and Peter with his Navy girl so it shouldn't be that hard. Besides Ava you said you guys were good friends before you dated and you also said you're different people, too."

Peter glanced sheepishly over at Ava who slowly met his gaze. She nodded slowly and smiled softly at him. "I'm game, if you are."

They watched as Peter looked down at his bottle and picked at his label, before finally looking back up and gave her his best smile, sticking out his hand. "Hey, Commander Peter Parker at your service."

Ava bit her limp before laughing, all dimples and teeth, before grasping his hand and shaking it. "Ava Ayala. It's a pleasure to meet you, Peter."

The new team sat in the corner booth of the bar simply staring at each other, before they erupted in laughter with Ava's hand still in Peter's hand, Matt nursing his bottle and Kai sitting back in his chair.


Sorry latinoheat151! Had to do it! Haha, hope you can forgive me! :) Please don't forget to leave a review! I do read them and very much appreciate them!