A/N: I know I said I wouldn't be posting for a while but I got bored of doing biology revision and really wanted to get this chapter. It's a little shorter than normal, but it's mainly just preparation for the next couple of chapters and how not-so-fun they're gonna be.
Peoplers: me too!
hufflepuff gal 4520: Yeah, civil war is not going to be a happy affair for anyone. I can't say for sure when it's happening but we've still got a while to go until then. I still need to get through this whole storyline first.
Roselover2525: Oh my God! I've never met or heard anyone with that name. I kind of chose Adara because it was on the rare side because, whilst my name isn't overly common, I know how weird it is to see someone with the same name as you. Anyway, you have a super cool name!
DarkLordofMemes: Macbeth was very impressive, the performance made it instantly one of my favourite Shakespeare plays (it used to be the Tempest before lol).
Blueerimartian: Peter is definitely feeling a little jealous of their "date" and their relationship in this chapter is only going to get worse. Peter and Adara are going to be real dickheads to each other for a bit, so I'd just prep yourself. It's gonna take a tragedy to bring them back together ;). As for my mocks… Eh, I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say I'm supposed to have a biology exam tomorrow…
Jenny wrens: Who doesn't love a lil' bit of dad!Steve? And neither Natasha or Steve are gonna let her get away with lying as we'll see in this chapter. I've only been to see Shakespeare up in Stratford twice. Once was with the school to see Romeo and Juliet (bit boring) but, more recently, it was Macbeth (much more enjoyable). Honestly, I would really want to see the Tempest or Midsummer's Night Dream, those two are some of my favourites. Can't blame you though, I'm not that into most Shakespeare plays either.
TheWriterWhoWaited: I have a friend who loves that play! I personally haven't seen it. Stratford is lovely though, much better than dingy, old Birmingham.
Assbitch67: Damn, your lucky. I'm only a day in and I already want to die!
Lucy Jacob: We've still got a few more chapters to go of stupid, smug Peter, but not many now! He took the jacket because he's pissed and doesn't know how to feel about Adara, we'll see that come into play a lot in this chapter. As for Flash, at first I was gonna keep with this 'asshole' thingy keep going but, the more I think about it, the more I realise that he can't really keep doing that in this story. At least, not to Adara. But we'll see how that pans out.
Thanks to: Ceebideebs, peoplers, hufflepuff gal 4520, roselover2525, artemis7448, HeartStarryNights, blueerimartian, Jenny wrens, Lucas27, TheWriterWhoWaited, Assbitch67, IceCubeSundae, Odds-Be-Ever-In-Your-Favor, chocolate lilac, ArCee-928, Title Unwanted, Koalaspam125, lizlil, dreaming-of-fireflies, AndroSid93, highrocket, , percy jackson fanboy and fangirl123milena for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter! He's a message, I love you all and you leave the nicest reviews. It's adorable.
"Came and went like the summer time
Was that a sunset or sunrise
Looking back like where'd the time go
So much for trying to keep this moving slow"
"Grounded?" Adara repeated the phrase quietly, feeling the way it rolled on her tongue before raising her voice a little, "grounded!"
"Yes, grounded," Steve sounded tired, "do you want me to list the reasons why?"
"I've been through a traumatic experience," she attempted to argue, "you should be comforting me or letting me have a day off school or…" she frowned, trying to think of other things but couldn't, "not grounding me! I've learnt my lesson, I won't date guys."
"You know that isn't the lesson, Adara," he said through gritted teeth, "I let you get away with the beer because of what happened with Hydra and your friend. This time, I just need you to know that I'm not going to be accepting reckless, stupid and thoughtless behaviour. Not to mention, you lied to us."
"But-"
"No buts otherwise it's gonna go from two weeks to two years. I'm being lenient."
Adara fumbled for words. Natasha and Steve were usually really chilled about these sorts of things, now they were grounding her? Like a twelve-year-old. No, that wasn't fair. Then again, there was the whole lying to them thing…
"What am I even supposed to do in the afternoons?" She said, overdramatically sighing, "lie around the house all day?"
"You do that anyway," interjected Natasha, coming down the stairs in full workout gear, "plus, you can finally get around to teaching yourself Portuguese, which shouldn't take you too long, and Finnish."
"Finnish?" Adara repeated, "why do I need to learn Finnish?"
"Because it's notoriously hard and you need to step out of your comfort zone," the redhead said, voice holding little sympathy, "also you're going to be late."
She glanced at her watch, "oh, merde."
"Language," said Steve reflexively.
She grabbed her bag before pausing, "has anyone seen my jacket?"
"Not since you left the house with it on Friday evening," reminded Natasha, "I'm surprised you only just realised, you're usually obsessed with that thing," she began to usher out the door, "you probably left it in the warehouse, Steve and I can go pick it up on our way to the gym."
"Sounds cool-" Adara paused, "why are you going to the gym? We have one in the house."
"Yeah, but I love taking Steve to the gym just to see the looks on the other guys' faces," Natasha grinned, "have a nice day at school!"
"And, remember, don't get into any fights!" Added Steve afterwards as she left the house.
As she entered the gymnasium, where the academic decathlon meeting was supposed to take place, Adara took the seat between Ned and Michelle, greeting them both. Ned went instantly into the chatter and gossip, pestering the teenager about her "date" with Flash whilst, as per usual, Michelle went back to her book.
"What happened?" Asked Ned, "you never texted me back this weekend."
"In the hospital," she gave a vague response, lifting up her hand and showing the bandage still wrapped around it, "turns out, baking isn't a strong skill of mine."
In all honestly, Adara had been a little too tired once her powers had returned to even bother attempting to heal it. Plus, Tony said it would heal anyway. Natasha had attempted to tell Steve to give her a day of school, but he had not been having it. Turns out, Steve was a lot stricter when it came to missing days that Natasha was.
Ned laughed a little, "how bad is it?"
"Pretty bad," that wasn't a lie, "I cut fairly deep, it didn't stop bleeding for ages. I got blood everywhere."
Ned wrinkled his nose in disgust, "ew."
"Blood everywhere?" The two looked up at the sound of the new voice, "that doesn't sound good."
Adara's eyes narrowed at the lack of sympathy in Peter's words, she glanced up at him before being reminded of the fact that the last time she saw him, she was pissed off with him.
"Hey, Pete," she greeted casually, "only just got your texts this morning." She hated lying to them but didn't want him to be more annoyed with her than he already was, "sorry. I was in the hospital."
"Looks pretty bad," he gestured to the bandage.
"Yeah," he was acting strange, "it was pretty bad."
Peter looked at her for a long few seconds and she looked back at him for another few long seconds. Both seemed to be trying to judge each other's reaction or waiting for something to give way. Adara had suddenly become suspicious of Peter and his odd behaviour. Peter knew that Adara was hiding a secret. Both weren't about to give way either. Ned seemed to sense the tension and, thankfully, broke through it.
"Hey, I think Flash wants you, Adara?" He said.
Adara looked over, "he got on the team?"
"Only as a reserve," Ned told her, sounding quite smug.
Peter just looked glum, "why don't you go see what your boyfriend wants?" HIs voice was shockingly bitter and dripping with sarcasm. He then blinked, realising what he had just said aloud. Ned looked shocked whilst Adara fixed him with an icy, cold glare that was powerful enough to chill his insides.
Adara wasn't sure how to respond. "Is there a problem, Parker? Because both you and I know that I would rather date Loki than Flash."
"But you didn't go on a date with Loki," he pointed out, "you went with Flash."
"You're right, I did go on a 'date' with Flash," she spoke slowly, like he was a child, "so I could get him off of our asses."
"You didn't need to do that though, did you?" He said, his voice harsher than intended, "I can look after myself, Dara."
"Don't 'Dara' me, Parker," she spat back, "I'm sorry for looking out for someone who I thought was my friend. Turns out, he doesn't even care. Your version of dealing with Flash is beating his face in," she jabbed a finger at his and then her own chest, "my version is talking, reasoning. But I'm the person at fault here?"
"Hypocrite," he said, "you've fought him before."
"Because he asked to fight, Peter," she said, "I didn't randomly throw a carton of orange juice at him."
"That was an accident?"
"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "looked a helluva lot like an accident. You know how I could tell? Because it hit him directly on the back of the head. Yeah, very accidental."
"It was," his teeth were gritted, "you know what? I don't care. Go talk to Flash, he's obviously your priority."
Adara didn't, she instead just plonked down on the seat she had been sitting on before. Folding her arms and crossing her legs and glaring straight ahead. Peter sat on the opposite side of Ned, glaring straight ahead into space. Ned sat awkwardly in the middle.
"Right, now that we're all settled, we can start," said Liz standing up in the middle, "I figured that we'd go round the circle introducing ourselves. We've got a couple people returning from last year," she gestured to a couple friends from other grades, "but also a lot of new faces. So, how about we start with me? All you have to do is say your name and your strength and weakness at academic decathlon. Right, My name is Liz Allan," she pointed to herself, "and I'm pretty good at English and Biology but I'm not so good at Spanish." She gestured for another girl to stand up.
"I'm Sally Avril," she introduced herself, "and I'm good at History but not good at Physics."
It went on like this for awhile and Adara wondered why they were treating them like three-year-olds.
"I'm Michelle," the girl stood up and then sat back down.
Liz seemed to polite to glare, just smiled at her, "can you tell us your strengths and weaknesses?"
"I'm good at everything," said Michelle, going back to reading.
"Uh," Liz looked unsure but turned to Adara, "what about you?"
"I'm Adara Thomas," she said kind of lazily, "I'm good at languages, I guess, and bad at maths."
Once that was over, the meeting got underway and, surprise, it was boring. Adara answered all the questions on languages as well as a couple of history and geography with great ease. But her mind was distracted, thinking about the argument she had had with Peter. There was something off about him and she couldn't put her finger on it.
"And Mr Chadburn hasn't come up to you all day?" She double-checked.
Flash shook his head, "No, I haven't seen him. Maybe he's left?"
Adara seemed to weigh up the possibility before shaking her head, "I think that's just wishful thinking. Chadburn wouldn't leave, not until there's solid proof that I can use to prove what he's really up to," her mind drifted a little as he thought, "he was hardly suspicious in the first place. I don't know how we're going to prove it."
"I still don't understand any of this," said Flash, "who were those people? What happened after I left."
"My aunt works for an important business, it makes a lot of enemies," it was a vague lie but she didn't plan to develop it anymore. Flash was a little stupid and probably wouldn't question it too much.
She was right, "like James Bond? Is she a spy?"
He wasn't far off. "Uh- sure- if that's how you want to describe it. Basically, I can't tell you much, it's private business. Her enemies aren't great people, they tend to target her more personal life which," she gestured to herself, "happens to include me."
"Oh," he blinked, "but-"
"I'm not answering any more questions, Flash," her voice was tense, "just go home. School's over. I can't give you any more details because I'm not allowed to."
"But your hand-"
"Will heal," she reminded him, "just go on ahead. Tell me if Chadburn talks or, hell, even looks in your direction. I left something in the chemistry room."
"Uh- right," he stuttered, "see you, Adara."
She raised an eyebrow, "see you, Flash."
She hadn't left anything in her chemistry classroom. That was just where Ned had told her to go to look for Peter. What he could be doing in the Chemistry room after school was over was beyond Adara, but she was fully certain that he didn't have permission to be there after hours. She peered in through the little window on the door of the classroom and, sure enough, he was in there, working on something that she couldn't see at his desk.
The moment she touched the knob, he shoved whatever it was away in a drawer and she turned the handle and entered. He seemed surprised to see her, the two hadn't spoken since their spat in the gym this morning. Peter had, presumably, spent lunchtime in the library as neither Ned or Adara knew where he had gone. Speaking of lunch, it had been an awkward affair. Adara got on fine with Ned, the boy was easy to talk to because he did most of the talking, but avoiding the topic of Peter had been near impossible.
"Peter?" She said stepping in, "can we talk?"
He looked, hesitation before speaking, "sure, I guess," his voice was tense, "what about?"
"About earlier," she closed the door behind her and leaned on it, trying to figure out the right words, "can we just forget about it? We were both kind of just arguing for the sake of arguing, I don't see any point in… what's the English word?" She bit the inside of her mouth, "see any point in dwelling on it for so long. So, I'm sorry."
"Right," he muttered.
"Peter, is everything okay?" She felt slightly agitated, she had swallowed her pride and apologised to him but he still was being rude.
"S'fine," he muttered.
"Then are you going to say anything?" She sat on top of one of the desks, "I like being friends and I don't like this tension between the two of us."
"Me neither," he agreed and she sighed, feeling relieved.
"Good because-"
"It's not my fault though, is it?" He suddenly glared.
"What?"
He had his backpack on the floor. He opened it and put something on the table. It took Adara two seconds to recognise it. She walked over and picked it up.
"My jacket?" She muttered, a jolt of relief at the sight of it was quickly overwhelmed by a sudden, sinking feeling. She had left this in the warehouse, how had Peter got this? "Peter," she looked up at him, fiddling with the fabric underneath her hand, "where did you get this?"
"I went to explore that warehouse," he said, voice laced with suspicion, "you know, the one where the Avengers were spotted fighting at," he was twisting the watch on his wrist without noticing, "I figured I'd explore."
Her chest tightened, "Peter, that's a crime scene."
"It is," he agreed, "so what was your jacket doing there?"
"I-" she paused, "it's hard to explain."
"Why did you lie?" He asked, "you told Ned and I you cut your hand in a baking accident. I walked into that room and saw a bloodied glass shard as well as handcuffs."
"What are you suggesting?" She asked, unsure of how to handle the situation.
"I don't know," he gestured vaguely, showing his confusion, "that's why I'm asking. Why are you lying to me?"
She pulled the jacket over her, "can't say."
"Seriously?" He shook his head, "what happened to us being 'friends?' Because I know that friends don't lie and keep secrets from each other."
She scoffed, "I can't say, Peter, is that so hard to understand."
"But Flash knows, doesn't he?"
"Flash doesn't know shit."
"Whatever, Adara," he turned away from her, "it's obvious that you're more into him than you are with hanging out with the rest of us. Make up your another excuse for going to see him because 'it would get him off our asses' or 'he was suspicious' isn't good enough. I don't buy it."
"So this is what this is about?" She stared at him, feeling slightly dumbfounded, "you've somehow managed to fixate yourself on this idea that Flash and I are a thing."
"Then why agree to the date?"
"Because he was acting suspiciously."
"Dumb excuse," he shook his head, "why would you even care? He probably just has a boner for you or something. He's not some secret spy, there's no need to be so paranoid."
"I think I have a right to be paranoid," she told him, her voice giving away no emotion at all.
"Look at that, back with the vague responses to everything," he shrugged, "why do I even bother talking to you? I can never get a straight answer out of you about anything! It's always 'let's go to Peter's house' or 'let's go to Ned's house.' What about your own home, huh?"
She folded her arms over her chest, "None of your business."
"You're a terrible friend."
"Oh, and you're a great one?" She retored, face contorted with anger.
"I could be if you just talked to me!"
"What do you want me to say?" She thundered back, subtly making herself a few inches taller so she could be eye-level with him, "huh? What do you want to know about me, Paker? Do you want me to confess my love for Flash? Or my love for you?"
"I want you to give me a straight fucking answer," he said, "you know how frustrating this is?"
"I can't," she said, "want me to reiterate? I cannot give you the answers you're looking for, sorry."
"I want to be friends," he said, "you want to be friends. But I need to know who you are first."
"No one knows who I am," she said softly, "not who I really am, not what I've really done." Other than Luka, but she didn't want to bring him up. "Sorry, Pete."
"Whatever," he said bitterly, "If you can't be bothered to fix this, then just leave."
"I was the one who was trying to fix it in the first place!" She yelled at him, "I came in here and apologised. You can't press me for information that I don't want to give you."
"I can't press you for any information, Adara," Peter said, "you live with your aunt. Great. That's all I know about your home life."
"And you need to know more."
"Yes, otherwise I feel like I'm talking to a total stranger rather than a friend."
She fixed him with a cold, unfriendly stare. The one that could make his insides freeze-up. "I thought we weren't friends," she paused, repeating her own words in her mind before shaking her head, "God, what's wrong with me?"
Luka was right, she had turned pathetic. Pathetic and soft. Why should she care about her high school buddies? She had slit people's throat before. She had undergone what was basically torture for stepping even slightly out of line. She had watched the Winter Soldier at work. Now what? She was a fourteen-year-old yelling at a boy in a classroom because 'they didn't understand each other.'
Pathetic.
"Bye, Peter," she said, turning to leave.
Anger bubbled inside of him, molten and hot and threatening to spill and burn everything in its path, "you're jacket's too small for you anyway! It's not even that good looking."
She stopped midway through opening the door and shot him a terrifying look over her shoulder, "my friend gave it to me a year ago. His name was James. He died last week, shot in the chest twice."
He paused, frozen for a moment. Then, when he finally seemed to regain his senses, all he heard was the noise of the door slamming shut. Adara was gone. Flinching, he felt a little guilty. How was he supposed to have known that? He died last week… Peter had hardly seen a change in her behaviour. God, he hardly knew her at all. It wasn't his fault, she wouldn't tell him anything about herself anyway.
Peter decided it was time to leave and grabbed the formula he had been working on before Adara had burst on. It was for Spider-man.
That was what he should be really concentrating on.
Not Adara.
Yet the bad feeling still remained.
A/N: I've kinda had this idea for a new OC fic but I know I shouldn't start writing it because it would distract me from this story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Sorry, it's a little shorter than normal.
And today's incorrect quote is:
Adara: What are you going to do, shoot me?
Hydra Agent: [shoots Adara]
Adara [bleeding out]: I shouldn't have asked.