Chapter Thirty Six

"We are returning to London today," Thor suddenly announced. "Stark, you have been a gracious host."

Tony simply bowed in response as the Asgardian said that. I rolled my eyes as I sat on the couch, watching the whole scene. Pepper had finally returned from her business trip, only to find the tower a complete mess. Jane and I had spent most of the morning trying to clean it up before she returned. But even that wasn't enough to clean what mess Clint and Thor had made. I'm not even sure how they managed to get poptarts on the ceiling of all places.

"It's been a blast meeting you," Darcy said to me. "But I guess all good things must come to an end."

"You don't have to leave," Pepper told them.

"Most of my lab equipment is still back in London, plus my parents have been begging me to go back," Jane replied with a shrug. "We'll be back soon enough to cause more destruction I'm sure." She added the last part with a sly look towards Thor, who didn't seem to notice.

Thor stepped outside on the balcony with Jane holding onto him, and Darcy grabbing on to Jane. With one wave of his arm he called to Heimdall to open the Bifrost, and in a flash of light they were gone. I held back a sigh once the room had gotten eerily silent.

"Well that was awkward," Tony said, clasping his hands together once they were gone. I jumped at his sudden speech and rolled my eyes. Only Tony would say something like that.

"Might as well get this mess cleaned up," Pepper sighed after observing the damage that had been left over.

"I'll give you a hand with that," I suddenly announced, feeling bored when I realized that they were actually gone.

The tower was going to get quiet with Darcy being gone. And boring. She just had something about her that made everything seem a bit more exciting and entertaining. I wasn't even sure how to describe it. But I did wish that there was a way to somehow convince them to stay. My guess was that it was Jane who had convinced Thor to leave.

...

We spent the rest of the morning cleaning up while Pepper caught up with what I was up to. I told her about the school we visited and Eva. What I didn't tell her though was the mission and what had happened back there. I wasn't in any hurry to relive those events. Especially after finding out that my parents actually had been working for the Pure Ones all this time.

After we were finished cleaning Pepper had treated me to lunch in the city. It was a nice change in pace after everything that had happened over the last couple of days. To my surprise she even took me shopping for some new clothing, since the ones I had were starting to get worn out.

That was when I noticed something was off. I'd just purchased a new shirt and a pair of shorts for summer when I bumped into someone. How they were in the girl's department was beyond me, but it just so happened that I'd bumped into a guy. I blushed and stepped back, realizing that he probably thought I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.

"Sorry, I'm kind of in a hurry," he apologized before staring at me in surprise. It was at that point that I recognized his face from somewhere. SHIELD had a file on him. Someone with the name of Peter Parker, if I remembered correctly. Seeing him now made me wonder why they had a file on him to begin with. He looked pretty average, with short brown hair and blue eyes. "Uh, did I hurt you?" he suddenly asked, noticing that I was staring.

"Sorry," I repeated what he said. "I'm just looking for someone; we must have gotten separated while I was in line." I paused for a moment before taking a chance, "you wouldn't happen to be Peter Parker, would you?" My question seemed to catch him off guard.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, frowning for a moment. But the expression lasted for only a second. "How do you know? You don't go to Midtown do you?" I couldn't help but laugh at his questions.

"No, I'm just being perceptive," I replied. "Pleasure to meet you; I'm Casey, Casey Anderson." I held my hand out for a handshake.

Peter eyed me skeptically before shaking my hand in response. Oh Tony would be jealous now. From the files I'd read, Peter was kind of a genius in his school. But he always ended up having bad grades because of his 'after school activities'.

"I really should be going, but it was nice meeting you," he suddenly said when a siren wailed in the distance. I smirked as he turned and ran, nearly running another girl over in the process. Once he was gone Pepper chose that moment to join me.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Just a new friend," I replied, glancing over my shoulder. And as soon as I said that he was gone. Something told me though we'd be meeting each other again.

The two of us had returned to the tower about thirty minutes later. After I got changed and ready to take on the gym I realized that Natasha was waiting for me inside. I flushed a little when I guessed that I was running late once again.

"Casey, we need to talk," Natasha told me after the door closed behind me. All at once the happy mood I was in seemed to fade. I knew that statement all too well. It meant that I'd done something wrong and of course no one would let me know until the last minute. "It's about your parents." Those words alone made me narrow my eyes.

"What about them?" I asked suspiciously. "We already know that they were working for the Pure Ones, who were most likely working for Hydra." I hadn't realized until now how bitter my voice was. "Sorry, I'm still having trouble accepting that they were working for the enemy," I quickly apologized.

Natasha suddenly put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to stiffen from the sudden contact. "That's just it, Casey," she said. "Your parents deflected from the Pure Ones after finding out what they were planning. We managed to bring up as much information on them as possible."

My heart started racing a mile a minute at this sudden news. What was she saying? That my parents were actually good people? I stared at her in disbelief until realizing that she was telling the truth. Natasha rarely lied unless it was for her own personal gain, or SHIELD's.

"But…. When would you have found this all out?" I demanded, lowering my voice a little. I tried to calm myself down as anxiety started to reach it's highest point.

"A couple of days ago, before we took Eva to the school," Natasha replied. "Fury didn't want us to tell you at all."

I felt my hands clench into fists. A sudden surge of anger rushed through me as I thought of everything my parents had done. They deflected from the Pure Ones. And they used the serum on me to keep it from the group. What's more is they were probably responsible for me getting captured by them in the first place.

"Guess that explains why he was keeping me away from the Hellicarrier," I muttered crossly.

"Casey, you deserve to know the truth; your parents aren't the bad guys," Natasha reminded me.

All I could do was nod, but deep down I knew that she was wrong. My parents had been in the wrong. They shouldn't have started working for the Pure Ones in the first place. Right now I was more confused than ever.

"I need some time alone," I murmured before running out of the door. I didn't give her a chance to argue as I headed for the lobby. All I needed now was time alone; I wasn't even sure where to go. As long as I had time alone to think to myself.

AN: Sorry for the short chapter. There are only a few left before this if finished. Also, I'm seeing Age of Ultron today. And I cannot wait :D After that, Antman, and hopefully that movie will live up to the reputation Marvel's been getting as an awesome comic-verse :D And on top of it you all get to see a certain masked vigilante ;) Peter will probably be making an appearance in the next story when that comes around more often than not :)

RAINBOWSNEMESIS - Thanks, I'm glad you like it so much :) If you liked this story than you should check out a Place to Call Home by horseluvr00, this story was inspired by hers :)