It was time for the group to separate indefinitely. Ava was hell bent on tracking down whoever ordered that strike and Peter wasn't going to let her go after them alone. Steve and the rest had to focus on other issues, other countless missions.
"If you ever need to reach us." Steve handed Ava a flip phone with a single number saved. Tears welled up in her eyes and she fought to keep them from spilling over. She didn't expect to get this emotional about it.
"I'll miss you guys!" Peter exclaimed, throwing his arms around those closest to him, Steve and Natasha. "C'mere Sam."
Sam shook his head, grinning. He shook Peter's head while still maintaining a distance. Natasha seemed physically uncomfortable, but Ava could see in her eyes that she would miss them too. Deep in her eyes if one looked past the annoyance. Steve's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but that quickly subsided as he returned the embrace.
Once they broke apart, they waved one final time to the two misfits and they walked off towards the quinjet. Moments later, they were airborne. Peter and Ava were now alone in the quiet of the Fontainebleau forests. The moonlight illuminated the branches and large shadows loomed over the pair. It definitely was an eerie sight, but Ava found more beauty and comfort in her surroundings rather than apprehension.
"So walking or running?" Ava asked Peter.
"Walking. Definitely walking." Peter replied, already starting to walk east. The wrong direction.
"Wrong way." Ava announced, pointing north.
"I knew that." He scoffed, correcting his course.
The two had not talked about what happened the other day in the quinjet when they were leaving Paris. When they landed somewhere on a countryside someplace else in France, Peter and Ava didn't even talk to each other. Every time Peter looked over to Ava, his cheeks and neck would start to color. So Ava maintained her distance to save him the embarrassment.
Natasha had kept the jet's cloaking on. They wouldn't sleep in proper beds that night, but instead in the quinjet to come up with a course of action. Sam and Natasha were asleep, but Steve, Ava, and Peter remained awake.
"You guys should try to get some shut eye." Steve said.
"I don't think I could even if I tried. I haven't been sleeping well." Peter responded, sitting up from his sleeping bag.
Ava didn't respond right away. Her mind was racing with thoughts, no, the same thought. Rolling and bouncing and swimming in her mind. "I have to stay."
The two men turned their heads towards the speedster.
"Whoever attacked you can't get away with this." Ava said, staring Peter in the eyes, the first direct thing she's said to him since forgiving him. "And they won't stop. They'll keep following us until they get you for some reason."
"I agree." Peter nods, looking back to Steve. "Let this be our mission. We can do this together."
Steve looked at both of them, seeing their resolve. He knew that it didn't matter whether they had his approval or not, they were going to go through with it anyways. It's what he appreciated about the pair, they always followed their gut, even if it put them at odds at times.
The following morning Natasha moved them to another area that was less than fifty miles away. Steve informed the team what the next course of action would be. Nat didn't seem to be on board with Ava and Peter breaking off, but she didn't voice this.
All Peter and Ava have talked about since is their planning, anything but that kiss. It weighed heavily on both of them, a thick tension that neither one dared to cut through. As they made it through the woods, it was already an hour later and they still had a long way to go. Ava started eating some of her special energy bars. Whether Peter liked it or not, the hiking was taking too long and Ava did not want to get exhausted and stop to camp out. She would rather speed to their new hideout, and tire out there where she can sleep on a real bed.
"Alright, come on Pete. It's already midnight we won't get out of here until next week at the pace we're going." Ava sighed.
"That's pretty dramatic." Peter replied.
"You can hate me later." Ava said. As Peter whipped his head around, a murderous look on his face, Ava was kneeling down and making sure her shoes were laced tightly but not too tight.
"Oh, hell n-" Peter started, but didn't get a chance to finish. Ava picked him up, making sure not to move too fast that his body would break at the impact. Ava had studied the route multiple times the past hour, knowing immediately where to go once they got out of the woods. And while Ava can now say with confidence that she is a trained spy, she didn't want to up the risk of being caught if they took their time getting to the hideout.
This particular hideout was actually similar to the apartment that Ava was once partially attached to, but it was on the other side of the city, forty minutes or so away.
As soon as Ava stopped, Peter collapsed down to the floor.
"Now that's pretty dramatic." She teased, fishing out the key from her bag. She opened the door and stepped over his body into the room.
"Fuck." He groaned, getting up from the floor and closing the door behind him. He remained in that spot, slouching against the door.
This place seemed to be more run down than the last apartment, if possible. But it was a much bigger space with multiple rooms instead of a studio, and Ava was grateful for that. There was a small living room that was furnished with a dusty couch and square TV. To the left was the hallway, with the first and third door being the two bedrooms and the second door leading to a shared bathroom. The very end of the hallway lead to the bleak kitchen that had a small fridge, a stovetop and oven, a tiny counter that housed the sink, and a table for one. The laundry room was to the right upon entrance, separated from the room by a folding door. This is where the pair would be staying for an indefinite amount of time.
Peter plopped down on to the couch, dust particles jumping up and cascading around him. He sneezed three consecutive times.
"When will we stay at a Holiday Inn? Is that too much to ask?" Peter asked, mostly rhetorically, but Ava still responded.
"Actually, it is."
She walked the down the hallway and picked the first bedroom. Inside there was a twin bed and a nightstand that had a lamp on top of it. The light was dim, only casting a glow on the whole room. "Home, sweet, home." She joked.
She got under the coarse wool blanket, throwing the pillow on the floor. She felt that pillows were always best on the floor–Ava could never sleep with her head resting on a pillow, especially the fluffed up ones. The blanket gave immense warmth, which was important during these cold, winter nights. Not too long after, she fell asleep, with the dim light of the lamp still on. Some time later, Peter would peer into the room and switch off the lamp for Ava before he retired to his new bedroom, fashioned similarly to Ava's.
At the crack of dawn, Ava was wide awake. She took a shower, went out for groceries at a market where the vendors were still in the process of setting up shop, made herself breakfast (it was an over easy egg on toast and an orange as a snack), and set up two computers in the living room to start searches on Peter's assailants. All of this before Peter himself woke up.
Ava was munching on one of her bars, which where going to run low soon, as she watched over the monitors. Fitz and Simmons had made a huge supply for Ava and they have lasted all of this time, but Ava had probably two months before they would be all gone. She had successfully hacked into the CCTV's, which wasn't that hard to do, and she kept watch over certain areas. One camera that Ava didn't change was the one on the street corner of their new hideout, but all the rest she would occasionally switch out to different interest spots. Natasha had given her a flash drive that had programs built by the spy, which Ava activated in order to have facial recognition on every person that came into view. If any had high criminal activity, Ava would know. Her heavy rotation of monitoring was the old apartment, the hospital that Peter stayed at, and the Charles de Gaulle Airport. Nothing irregular has popped up yet.
"Good morning." Peter said in a slightly scratchy voice.
"Good afternoon." Ava replied, merely glancing over at the disheveled and somehow still sleepy man.
Peter grunted back in response, disappearing back into the hallway. Ava continued her work, unbothered by the webhead. A few minutes pass and he comes back out again.
"Be back in a few!" He calls over shoulder, not giving Ava a chance to protest as he slams the door shut behind him.
"God damn it!" Ava huffed, typing in commands to change the monitors. She watched as Peter walked the street, hands in his pockets as he seemed to be whistling. Three blocks later and right when Peter was rounding a street full of boutiques, He looked up at one of the security cameras, winked, and whipped out his phone, tapping on it. The screen instantly went static. All the security cameras on that street went dark. Ava truly was confused and annoyed. Whatever he was doing, he seemed to have forgotten that he was once ambushed and nearly died.
A few minutes later and the cameras returned to normal and Ava could see Peter again, walking back towards the apartment. The whole time he had a stupid smile on his face, practically skipping with every step. When Peter walked through the entrance to the studio complex, Ava switched all of the monitors back to the original cameras. Even though Peter knew that she was spying on him, she still didn't want to give him the proof.
Ava heard the locks switch and Peter was walking through the door, hiding something behind his back. Ava arched an eyebrow, growing more perplexed by the second.
"Why are you so weird?" Ava asked him, partly wanting a real response. "Also," She began, getting up from the couch, "You shouldn't be out wandering the same streets that murderous spies are also wandering so out in the open!"
"Relax, I took the right precautions and varied my routes. Geesh, old age has made you extra cranky." Peter then revealed a small box that had a red bow on top. "Happy birthday, Avery." His brown eyes were bright and beaming as he waited for Ava to accept the gift. She didn't even realize it was her birthday. Today is the day that she's now 20 years old. It also marked nearly two years of having her abilities, nearly two years since the beginning of this path that she's on, a path she's still unsure how or when it will end.
Ava ran a program on the computer for it to search automatically, and if anything suspicious came up, it would send save the footage to a special file for her to review later. She got up from the couch and accepted the small box. Untying the bow, she opened the box to reveal a beautiful, simple copper ring. It fit her index finger perfectly. Ava also still wore Steve's saturn necklace that he gifted her. She wasn't the most materialist gal, but she deeply appreciated these kinds of gifts. They were something that she could hold onto always, keep with her as she traveled and not have to worry about losing it or having to abandon it.
"Thank you." She said, hugging Peter so tightly she nearly knocked the wind out of him. They stayed like that for a moment, time seeming to slow down. Ava could feel the warmth radiating out of her friend, the friend that she had kissed. The kiss had happened so quickly. The pair had barely any time to process it because it was such a small moment, Ava had probably used her speed a little bit without realizing it. But Ava remembered the ghostly feeling she had on her lips after kissing him, like she was missing something.
Still having their arms wrapped around each other, Ava looked up and glanced to Peter's lips before staring up at his eyes. She noticed that Peter had done the same. Her heart was starting to warm, starting to ache in a way that she wasn't familiar with. Ava slightly tilted her head and also reached up to get closer to Peter, and he naturally inclined his head down to meet her halfway.
This time, the kiss was slow and Ava couldn't think straight anymore. She was aware of the softness of his lips, his hands that rested on her back were starting to feel tighter as he pulled her closer so that there was no distance between them whatsoever, her fingers weaved into his wavy hair. Their bodies were in sync with each other, as if they had done this a million times.
Ava held onto Peter's biceps as she stepped back, running into the couch and settling down with Peter following. They continued to kiss as they laid there, growing more passionate. The two had no plans in stopping.
–
Dinner consisted of instant noodles. The pair were no chefs by any standard, and wouldn't act as such. Although Peter was a better cook than Ava by a mile. While Peter was in the kitchen boiling water in a pot, Ava was back to the computers and reviewing the folder. There was only two clips that the program put in, one that flagged an elderly woman because she had gone down the same street more than five times from the old apartment, but she recognized her; she was the neighbor that lived the floor below the apartment. A man from the hospital was flagged, who had a criminal record for a drug bust and being affiliated with a gang, but when Ava went to review more footage of the guy, she saw an hour after the clip he was leaving the hospital with a woman and newborn baby.
Also, Ava wasn't 100% completely focused. She couldn't wipe the small smile off of her face as she thought back to what happened just moments before. She still couldn't completely even process what just happened, the fact that it did. A feeling that Ava has always had, but had always been asleep, awoke. She wasn't sure when this feeling came to be, she didn't wake up one day and felt it. She just…does. She had never gone that far with Lip, although they nearly did a few times. Ava should be panicking and freaking out over the fact, especially since this was her best friend, Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man. But it felt right.
"Voila!" Peter entered the living room with two steaming bowls of chicken flavored noodles. "I garnished it. But don't eat the leaf. I picked it from the tree that's outside the window."
Ava laughed, picking up the leaf and setting it on the armrest of the couch, also scooting over to make room for Peter.
They ate in silence, and although it wasn't tense, it surely was a little bit awkward. How do they act after this? Were they dating? Were they in a relationship? Ava didn't want to put a label on it, she didn't have time to put labels on anything. She was starting to feel a creeping doubt. Maybe having sex was a mistake after all. Would it affect their work relationship? Would it affect their personal relationship? Fuck.
Peter got up and grabbed the remote that was on top of the TV. He turned it on to a channel playing the first Mission Impossible movie dubbed in French. Even he wanted to avoid the tension.
"Don't even think about switching the channel." Ava said as she noticed Peter scrunch his nose at realizing what was playing.
"Really?" He complained. Ava grabbed the remote from Peter so fast before he had the chance to skip the channel. "Hey!" He protested, although he still had a smile on his face.
They went back to silence, but now the room was filled with the action-packed sequences of Mission Impossible. Maybe Ava needed to calm about the anxious thoughts that have been filling up her mind. Maybe they could always be like this. Whatever "this" was.
A beep went off from the computer, which meant the algorithm found something else in the monitors. Ava set the bowl down on the ground to take a look. A young man was caught on the cameras earlier in the day at the hospital, and was now being caught on the cameras in front of the old apartment complex. Reviewing the footage showed that the man stepped inside the complex and old footage from the whole day hasn't shown him leaving before this time. The man had no criminal history, no way of knowing his name.
"I think I found someone." Ava announced to Peter.
"Who?" Peter questioned, leaning into Ava's personal space, which she didn't find herself minding at all.
"Not a clue." She responded. She set up a program of her own for the monitors to track the man when he came out again. Twenty minutes passed and he still hasn't come out. Maybe he did live in the apartment complex after all, a new tenant. It has been almost a month since that day.
"I miss patrolling." Peter sighed, leaning back against couch, bored of looking at nothing. His voice sounded sad, the homesickness hitting him hard. Ava tried not to think about New York. Tried hard not to think about everything and everyone she left behind. Grant should be starting middle school. Experiencing puberty. When would she see her little brother again? Will he look and sound different by the time she does?
In another lifetime, Ava would never have ran after Peter that night and never got hit with the Terrigen Mist. She wouldn't be Inhuman, nor know Peter's secret identity. She probably would have stayed in that crappy home with Marcus, but she would have continued to raise Grant. Ava would have mended her friendship with MJ and Harry over time. Ava would probably have developed a more serious relationship with Lip and who knows, stayed with him for the rest of her life. Peter would have left Ava's life, possibly for good as their paths continued to diverge after high school graduation. While this scenario used to pain her at the lost potential, it doesn't anymore. Yes, she's lost a lot, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Avery Douglass has a purpose.
Peter observed Ava as she was lost in thought, twisting her new ring around her finger. He softly smiled, knowing that Ava didn't miss her old life.
"I do miss New York." She admitted. That much at least, was true. She hoped that one day, she could go back without fear of being arrested.
"Hey, Douglass?"
"Yeah, Parker?"
"I'm really glad we're together in this." Ava wasn't sure if he meant in the mission or this strange relationship that was yet to be discussed, but she was glad too.