The man exited the apartment an hour later. Ava watched over the monitors, tracking his movements and creating a file on him. He was shifty, watching over his shoulder every few minutes. He definitely had something to hide, it was small enough to fit inside a pocket because he had no bag. He found something in that apartment.

Ava went to her room, searching through her bag. Her clothes, her suit, her metal band, her scrapbook, they were all here.

"Hey Peter!" Ava called out, getting up with her scrapbook in hand.

"Yeah?" He responded from his room.

"Do you have everything?" She asked, walking back to the living room. "From the old apartment? Did you leave anything behind?" She sat down, flipping through the book.

The pictures of her as a baby, as Grant as a baby, the pictures of her with Mj, with Harry, with Peter, with Lip, but wait. Where was the picture of her family? The last picture they had taken all together before her mom died? The only picture she had of her mother.

"I mean I think I forgot a shirt, but anything important-" Peter walked into the living room, seeing the distraught and fearful look on Ava's face. "-I have here."

"We have to go back to New York." Ava said. Her heart was racing so fast she feared it would jump out. She looked back to the monitors, the computer still tracking the man's movements. He had gotten into a car, someone else in the driver's seat that she couldn't make out through the tint of the windows.

"What's missing?" Peter asked. Ava didn't respond, her eyes peeled on the screens. He grabbed the scrapbook from her lap and flipped through the pages. "Oh no."

Suddenly, Ava's feed went dark. The CCTV footage access was locked. Someone hacked her and kicked her out. Ava's panic level began rising again. She wanted to speed out of this room, wanted to catch up to the location she saw the car last and run into it head on. The car would disintegrate at the speed she would be going. But she held herself back. If she reacted the same way she did when Peter got shot, she would destroy yet another hideout. And the man was likely already switched into another car with a new disguise. She wanted to kill him, but she knew she shouldn't. It wouldn't benefit her, it wouldn't benefit Peter, it wouldn't benefit Grant.

"We have to go to New York." Ava repeated, finally looking up at Peter. She had a determination in her eyes, telling Peter that she would be going with or without him.

"Ava…" Peter sighed, sitting down next to her.

Although, the instant he sat down, he felt a gust of air as she sped off. She came back seconds later, along with their backpacks. She raised a flat palm towards the computers and then made a fist and Peter could hear the crunching metal from within as she destroyed them. It was unnecessary luggage to carry around and Ava didn't want to leave any hints as to where they were going.

"Avery, if we go back to New York…" Peter tried to reason with Ava, but there was no reasoning with her at this point.

"Peter, I'm going. With or without you." Ava said, picking up her backpack. "I shouldn't ask you to come with me. It's an extremely high risk. I'll most likely get caught and get sent back to the Raft. But I'd rather risk that than risk Grant getting hurt."

"Aren't you buddies with S.H.I.E.L.D?" Peter practically begged. He didn't want to lose her. What Ava didn't say was that not only could she be sent back to the Raft, but she could get killed. Because knowing Avery Douglass, she wouldn't go down without a fight.

"I was. They've gone dark. There's no way for me to reach out to them." Ava was wasting time here. Ava suddenly realized something. What if that man was a distraction? He could have easily found the picture, sent it to his boss, and there was already someone else on their way to the United States, if there aren't already people there. She doesn't know how big this group that attacked Peter is. "If it was Aunt May, you'd already be on your way."

That got to Peter. "And you would try to hold me back." He countered, and Ava couldn't deny that. "But that's why we're going together. You're right. It's a huge risk, so, you need me." He grinned.

She smiled back, and they walked out together. There could be a high chance that someone is waiting for them outside. Ava grabbed Peter's hand to keep him going down the stairs and outside of the complex. She gave him a look that Peter dreads.

"Oh, come on." He complained, but steeling himself anyways for what's about to happen.

Ava held on to his neck and back and then pushed forward, running.

The pair first stopped at the Metro, where there were lockers lined up against the wall. They put away all of their passports save for their American and French ones, and also put away a good amount of money, not wanting to carry all of their currency just in case. Ava also put away her scrapbook. It was clearly too dangerous at the moment to keep it on her person anymore. Then they went to a man that was a "friend" of Natasha that got them inside of a ship headed to New York.

"Rose!" Peter exclaimed jokingly as he leaned against the railing. When he realized that Ava was not amused, he sat down on the bench next to her.

Ava wanted to run across the ocean, which she believes she could run on water no problem, but would probably pass out before even getting near the shore. She couldn't stand the idea of getting to New York last. They couldn't risk getting on an airplane with all of the stricter security; at least going by boat, there would be another man that could secretly get them out before having to go through customs.

"Grant will be okay." Peter placated, rubbing her back. He pulled her in for an embrace, and while she didn't protest, she didn't reciprocate it either. Her mind was hard to put together at the moment, it was hard for her to speak. Six days. That was definitely too late.

"X-Men." Ava muttered, breaking her silence.

"Huh?" Peter asked, breaking away to look at Ava.

"I have to contact the X-Men. Someone could stake Grant's house. Keep a watch on any suspicious people." She said rapidly, getting up and walking faster than the normal person to their room. Peter tried to keep up with the speedster.

She knew the number to the school by heart. She dialed using the rooms telephone and accepting the charge of the international call, waited on baited breath.

"Hello?" A boy said with a slight French accent. No way.

"J.P.?" Ava exclaimed, knowing full it was Jean-Paul.

"Merde." The Canadian muttered. "Ava?"

"The one and only." She grinned, sitting down on the bed. Peter stood there, bewildered.

"Who is J.P.?" She waved him away, returning to the conversation.

"Listen, Jean-Paul, I have an emergency. I need to speak with the professor. Or Ororo." She said, sounding serious again.

"Hold on." He responded, and Ava could hear him put the receiver down. A few minutes later and she hears a British man with the most calmest and caring voice on the other end.

"This is Xavier, how can I help you Ava?"

"Professor! I have a brother, his name is Grant, and he might be in very big trouble." She started. She told him everything from start to finish about what had happened as Professor Xavier patiently listened, including the story of Peter getting shot, and telling him where Grant lives.

"Of course, Ava. I'll send Jean-Paul and Kitty to patrol his home. We will call you every day with an update until you can make it here." Xavier said warmly. Two people she trusts very much, which did a lot to ease Ava's mind.

Every day, Jean-Paul would call Ava with the same update: all clear. There were no strange people or cars camped out in front of Grant's home. No one ever rang the doorbell. She still couldn't get rid of the heavy pit in her stomach.

On the day that they made it to port, Ava and Peter were on high alert. Peter's attempt to keep calm consisted of humming and then occasionally singing "we will not get caught today."

Evidently, Peter had jinxed the pair. They were waiting in a hallway with rooms reserved for the employees, where a man would rendezvous with them and get them to exit the ship through a more secretive route. But 20 minutes had passed and still no one appeared. Ava was starting to get really antsy. Around the corner she heard a voice come through on a radio for a moment before it was quickly silenced. Clenching her fists, she felt the guns and the safety being turned off. There were only two people.

"We've been made." Ava whispered, preparing to grab Peter and run, but Peter protested.

"No, not again." He said, pulling away from her grasp and throwing his mask on to hide his identity.

"Hands up!" A female voice exclaimed as the two agents rounded the corner, weapons hot.

"If you guys want our autograph…" Peter started, as Ava controlled the metal on their weapons and ripped it from their grasps, "…All you have to do is ask!" He then webbed the pair's hands and feet, making them lose their balance. He took it a step further and also webbed them to the floor.

Ava and Peter heard from the radios that there were more agents waiting upstairs.

"Now can we do it my way?" Ava asked, hands on her hips.

"Fine." He groaned.

She sped them to safety. It was a good thing to speed off anyways, because there were a dozen agents waiting for them out on the deck. Ava got them all the way to the station, their old base. She stopped in her tracks at the front of the terminal entrance, and Peter had nearly fallen over if Ava hadn't caught her.

"You should work on your landing." He said harshly, but it just made Ava chuckle. He did have a fair point, though.

Peter unlocked the station using a six-digit code he had installed inside of a power box. The train tracks began to shift, as the station itself emerged from its depths. The rundown thing had been a halfway house for Ava. A stop before transitioning to her new lifestyle. She had considered for a brief moment that SHIELD would become her new home, but it was short lived as she was called to action by the Captain America, a man who she would forever be indebted to.

Ava opened the doors, which had some resistance to it. It had been a while since either of them stepped foot inside of the place. The lights turned on automatically, revealing the heavy coating of dust blanketing everything. Peter plopped down on the couch, as a wave of dust flew off and made him sneeze.

"I'll let JP know we're here." Ava said, getting out her burner phone, which was starting to run low on minutes and messages, and notified the Canadian.

"So what's your story with him?" Peter queried. "You guys seem to know each other."

"What? I know Kitty, too." Ava said, startled by the apparent jealousy in Peter's tone. She didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed. This also gave Ava a sense of deja-vu, reminding her of when Lip was first introduced to her and how she thought Peter was jealous when really he had been reeling over MJ's betrayal. Unless…

"Peter, that night when Lip and Ian had come over, were you jealous of Lip?" Ava asked, turning her full attention on him, ignoring the message she had received from Jean-Paul.

"Avery, no." He scoffed, although he averted his eyes from her when saying this before returning his attention to her as he continued, "You should remember that I found out my girlfriend and best friend were in love with each other."

"Yeah, but…I don't think so." Ava said, a smirk starting to settle on her features. Peter was upset about that, of course, but Ava knew now that he was also jealous of Lip. "That same tone you're using right now? That's the same tone you used when you kind of grilled him that night. And also any other time he was brought up since then." At this comment, Peter began to blush, but continued to deny the claims. They both knew he was being jealous. "Pete, I don't want to play the jealousy game. JP and I do have a history, but not like you think." And Ava told him about her mission and how she had felt personally responsible for the boy, despite him only being two years younger than her. "And even if I did have a history, with anyone for that matter, you shouldn't get jealous."

"I know," Peter sighed, "And I'm sorry, but I can't help it. But I will work on it." He promised, which was good enough for Ava. The pair still hadn't officially called each other boyfriend and girlfriend, and they probably never will, but there was an understanding between the two that they are now committed to one another.

"Jean-Paul said that he's on his way." Ava said, sending out another message in acknowledgment that she understood.

JP: You need to stop using emojis as a way of communicating.

Ava: But it's so fun! And proceeded to use more emojis that didn't even make sense, which she knew would annoy and confuse JP as he a tried to figure out her message.

"I missed this place." Peter mused. Ava took another look at the place, this time paying attention to the details.

She noticed her original copy of Cosmos, along with some other books stacked next to Peter's feet. The papers that included the countless research in trying to sort out Ava's identity still littered the tables here and there. There were even more papers of sketches and web fluid science that covered the surface, when Peter would constantly be improving on the suit. Not much credit is given to Peter for actually designing the webbing himself, having one of the strongest tensile strength and durability known to man. There was a drawer that was full of extra web fluid cartridges and also random metal pieces that Ava would practice on. The woman wondered if her old room in SHIELD was left undisturbed as well, to be like a museum as this station seemed to be for her.

"Yeah, me too." Ava whispered, picking up her old physics notebook. "I really forget sometimes where I came from. Having to worry about school, dating, taking care of Grant." At that last bit her voice cracked. "Peter, I don't know what I would do if I lost Grant." Actually, she does. And it wouldn't be pretty.

"Hey, hey, he's safe! Jean-Paul and Kitty have been watching him like a hawk. And he's safe. Maybe those guys haven't even come yet, or maybe, they were just trying to get us riled up."

"Like a distraction." Ava pondered, gears turning. "What if they're planning something somewhere else, and they wanted us off their scent?" But even that idea didn't seem completely right either.

At that, the monitor hummed to life with the notification that someone tripped the sensor at the terminal entrance. They both turned their heads to the shadowed figure that was approaching in the distance. As it neared the dim lighting, Ava could make out the features of none other than Jean-Paul.

She ran outside (at a normal pace) and gave him a big embrace. "Thank you so much for watching over him." She said into his chest. JP had grown! Ava was once taller than him, but now he was nearly towering over her.

"When did you get so tiny?" He joked, that slight French accent still present in his voice. She pulled away, rolling her eyes in mock annoyance. "But to be serious, it's no problem. He's a good kid."

"Hey, I'm Peter." The spiderling greeted, shaking his hand.

"Jean-Paul." The boy nodded curtly. JP was even a little taller than Peter.

"So Ava and I may have figured something out just a second ago, and has there been any other strange activities or new criminals on the scene here in town?" Peter asked as they all walked to the station to sit and plan.

JP thought for a moment. "Hm, no. And it's actually been pretty quiet this past week while I've been guarding Grant."

"Maybe they're planning something in France." Peter said, looking to the speedster.

"But that doesn't make sense." Ava shook her head. "So far, their MO has been going after us. They nearly killed you, and they've been tracking us down ever since, most likely trying to finish the job. Maybe…"

"Maybe they've been waiting for us to be in America so that we can get sent to the Raft." Peter finished. "There were agents at the ship, when there was no possible way they could have been alerted of us so quickly before we even got off. They tipped off officials."

"I think that was to slow us down. They don't want justice–if they did, they could have reported us when they knew where our safehouse was in Paris. No, they want to take us down." Ava's chest started to tighten. "They want revenge. I contacted Xavier before they could have had a chance to make it here. JP and Kitty were already at Grant's by the time they would've landed on a plane. They probably noticed some powered people guarding the area, and decided to go after someone that was left unprotected."

"Avery…" Peter said, at a loss for words. Jean-Paul watched on, completely confused at the situation. If what Ava was implying what Peter thought she was implying, then it's too late.

Without any warning, Ava had sped off. She knew the route so well, despite not having taken it in a year. She still knew this city like the back of her hand. She still knew her way home.