A/N: I honestly don't think we have long until Civil War now. After a couple more chapters with a bit more Spiderman in them, I think we'll be ready to move on. Note, there's a section in this chapter where I refer to Luka as 'Damian' because that's his first name. Just a reminder, because I usually refer to him by his surname, but it makes more sense to call him by his first name in one part of this chapter, you'll see when. I'm back at school now :( but, as we know, I never do homework (or school work, for that matter) so I should be fine with my update school. I've got no more exams to worry about until mocks in December, so I'm good! Anyway, please enjoy this chapter! It was actually quite fun to write considering there's not too much angst (apart from the start) and the fact that there are a lot of shippable moments between our two favourite children.
DarkLordofMemes: I would totally be into the idea of a Cable fic, the problem is I don't really have the time. But maybe in the future, considering that he is the love of my life.
Lucy Jacob: Whether Adara will tell Harry or not is something we'll see in this chapter. Whilst Adara is beginning to trust Harry (because she doesn't really have a choice but to trust him) they might now be on that level yet. On another note, as you're excited for Peter and Adara to train together, you're definitely gonna love this chapter.
ComicNerdForLife: Thank you! I've been planning the whole 'I am your father' thing since the beginning of the story, and I rarely ever foreshadowed it aside from a few mentions of Luka's eye colour and Adara's surname. But I'm so relieved that everyone seemed to like it. As for the scene you suggested, we're gonna see something very similar to that in this chapter. In fact, that entire scene is just filled with awkward, sexual tension between both Peter and Adara and I loved writing it.
Blueerimartian: Honestly, I love reading the reviews you leave! They're always so sweet!
TECHNICALpanda: Woah! North Wales? That's a pretty rural area. I love Wales, my family go there around five times a year. I'm planning on moving to Cardiff for uni because I do just love Wales (plus y'all have the cutest accents).
GrendaldFC: We will be seeing a lot more Spiderman soon, especially in upcoming chapters. However, this is a chapter lacking Spiderman.
ImTrampyAtMyBest: Yeah, that's basically how it went down.
Guest (2): Aw, thank you! This is such a sweet review.
Guest (3): Bucky will be making an appearance soon, specifically in the Civil War timeline, but mainly in flash backs as he is a part of Adara's past.
Imprisoned Wing: Civil War is going to be Angst Central™ and not fun for anyone. It's gonna be a big turn in this story for Adara's relationship with Natasha, Steve and Peter. Your presumptions for the timeline though are interesting and I won't say whether its right or wrong. Let's just say that I've had this planned out for a very long time and I know exactly how it's going to go down.
Aunknowntimelord: I disagree, no cliffhanger can be worse than Infinity War.
Letonlee: Oh, my God! This is a super nice review! I'm so happy that you like my story!
Thanks to: Ceebideebs, DarkLordofMemes, Lucy Jacob, ComicNerdForLife, gigalow, Assbitch67, king rockerith, Raise a glass to freedom, Jwugetmoney, lizlil, AerynBoBerin, blueerimartian, reddiedgrazer, TECHNICALpanda, Guest (1), greenecd20, A Frozen Shadow, GrendaldFC, FlyingPancakes221, Aura, Kaynar, idonutknow1, ImTrampyAtMyBest, Mad as a hatter, Guest (2), Guest (3), bella203, Thesummersoldier, Imprisoned Wings, Aunknowntimelord, letonlee, WelshGirl4Life, LadyInAzure and AyeraeW for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter! Over 500 followers? Legendary! Not to mention you leave so many reviews! I wish I could respond to them all but I was too desperate to get this chapter out!
"'Cause I'm scared
Of all that I don't know
'Cause I want it all, but all of it ain't gold"
"I'm worried," said Steve.
"Yeah, thanks for saying that for the tenth time," Said Natasha, her voice was tense and on edge, "she's been in the bathroom for five minutes now."
"She was crying," he added, "and then she threw up on the carpet."
"I know, I was there," she sighed, putting her face in her hands, "is she drunk?"
"No, she passes out when she's drunk," he suddenly looked up, "oh, God, what if she's passed out in the bathroom?"
"We would've heard her hit the floor," she looked unsure of herself, "what if she died-"
There was suddenly several loud thunking sounds and, at once, both Steve and Natasha shot out of the living room and into the hallway to see Adara face planting the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Natasha quickly helped the girl up. She was a wreck, within the time they had picked her up from school up until when she threw up on the carpet, she had grown horrifyingly pale and was trembling all over, like she was freezing cold.
"I fell down the stairs," she mumbled.
Natasha guided her to the kitchen, the girl didn't even bother fighting back. Natasha sat her down on the couch. "What's wrong, Adara?" She asked, feeling her forehead before pulling away, "ew, clammy."
"Je veux mourir," was all she said.
"Stop being so over dramatic," Natasha rolled her eyes, "are you ill? Is there a bug going around school or something?" Adara shrugged. "Do you want to be a little more helpful? You called us in a panic and we picked you up, you then threw up ok the carpet and locked yourself in the bathroom for five minutes before falling downstairs. I mean, look at the state of you. Obviously, you're not okay."
"You can tell us, Adara," said Steve gently.
She sighed, wrapping her arms around her legs. "It's Luka."
"Luka?" Steve tensed.
"He had to come to a talk in our school or something," she explained further, "about Chadburn."
"He came to your school?" Natasha asked, worried.
"Yeah," Adara nodded, "and I freaked out, obviously, but…" she bit her bottom lip, "I knew I had to talk to him about something." She glanced cautiously at the other two.
Steve looked at her incredulously, "you went to talk to Luka? Do you know-"
"How risky it was?" She finished, "I was aware. It's just something has been bugging me since yesterday," she sighed, pushing back the hair stuck to her clammy forehead, "something that Chadburn said to me."
"What did he say to you?" Natasha frowned.
Adara looked at them. She trusted them. She trusted them with her life. Letting out a tense breath, she looked them in the eye. "He told me that, a long time ago, Luka and my mother were together. As in together together." Natasha and Steve exchanged glances but remained respectfully silent. "And asked me why I thought the real reason for not taking my mother's surname was. It was bothering me for ages so, when I saw Luka, I knew that he would have the answers."
"On your own?" asked Steve suddenly.
"Yeah, on my own," she shrugged, "it was a last minute decision. I just…" she sucked in breath, "I had to ask and-"
Natasha looked at her, "and?"
"He's my father," she said, "my parents had brown and blue eyes, I have green. So does he."
Steve's shoulders suddenly were stiff, "the eyes could be a side effect of the Chameleon Particle."
"He did a blood test."
"He could be lying."
"He's not," she sighed, putting her face in her hands, "I-I can just feel it, you know? In here," she gestured to her heart, "I know he's not lying and that's the worst thing. I mean, I had this image of my parents in my head but, now…" she shook her head, "I don't know what to do. That man, that thing is my father. I'm the daughter of a monster."
"Our parents don't make us who we are," Natasha said sharply, "so what if he's your father?"
"So what?" Adara blinked, shocked expression on her face, "what do you mean 'so what?' My father isn't actually my father because my real father is a fucking murderer-"
"Adara, listen," Natasha cut her off, "who cares if Luka is your father?"
"I care," she gave the woman a confused look.
"Why do you care?"
Adara paused. "Because he's my father, I thought I made that obvious."
"That's not a good enough reason to care."
"Do you have a point?"
"My point is," Natasha said, "I don't care who your father is, Steve doesn't care about who your father is," she glanced to the blonde for confirmation who nodded, "Tony probably doesn't care, neither does Wanda. I imagine your friends Peter and Ned don't care. No one cares who your father is, Adara, we care who you are." The teenager shuffled slightly but didn't say a word. "Sure, it sucks that your related to Luka, he's evil and a bastard. But tell me, does the fact that he's your father change your opinion on him?"
"No, I guess not," she shrugged.
"So why do you care?"
"I just hate the idea that the same blood runs through our veins," she sighed, "I just feel like he's won and I've lost. I've gone my whole life hating him because he killed my parents. And, I always thought my mother was the best woman in the world but," she nervously chewed the inside of her mouth, "maybe I was wrong, if she couldn't see through an asshole like Luka. I wish she was here, you know? So I could ask what she saw in him. So I could ask whether she knew what he was planning. I mean, she had to have known, right? Why else would have we hidden out in France? Did she realise her mistake?" Adara blinked, "am I blinked?"
"Now you're just being ridiculous," snorted Natasha, "you need to trust in your parents. You're not a mistake, I can say that for certain."
"I just-"
Natasha suddenly pulled her into a hug, "you're not a mistake. You could be the child of fucking Hitler and you still wouldn't be a mistake. Our parents don't make us who we are, it's our choices that do."
"I just don't know what to do," she admitted, biting back tears as she hugged Natasha back, "I feel so lost, like I don't know anything. Like maybe the people I thought I could always rely on aren't the right people."
"Hey, you've got us," said Natasha, pulling back and placing both hands on the teen's shoulders, "Steve and I aren't gonna leave you."
"Not ever?"
"Not ever."
"Promise?"
"We promise."
"Oh," Adara said softly, "and can you not tell anyone else about this?" She asked, "I'd rather keep it between us for now."
Steve nodded, "of course."
She felt a little better.
June 16th, 2001
Washington DC
"Gregory?" Whispered the woman in the darkness, there was a distinctive French rumble to her voice, showing her true heritage.
"Yeah, Adelaide?" Asked the man, he was a lot more American sounding.
"There is something I need to tell you," she sighed, "something I should have told you long ago."
"What is it?" He asked, rolling over in the bed to face his girlfriend.
Adelaide Thomas and Gregory Martin had gotten back together a month ago after a three month break. Gregory, who hated the nickname 'Gregg' had bounced through several women, never settling on one during the time period. Adelaide had gotten with Damian George Luka, the man she had been crushing on who never seemed to notice her before. That was until she got with Gregory, then he had started flirting and getting a lot chattier than he had been. The moment the two had taken their break, Damian had jumped in and Adelaide hadn't rejected his advance. They had slept together a few times before she had broken it off. She hadn't been able to settle properly with him. Her heart belonged to Gregory and his heart belonged to her.
Now the two were lying in the same bed in his apartment, neither could sleep.
"I am going to quit SHIELD," she admitted, sounding distinctly French, "I have to."
Gregory blinked, surprised, "why?"
"I…" She trailed off, "I was not sure how to tell you this. But, when I was with Damian during our break, I began to notice things. He would go off to important meetings with very specific SHIELD members, but never people like Fury or Maria or Coulson."
"So?"
"And he would be on the phone constantly. But, when I walked in, he would hang up. At first I thought he was cheating, but then I would overhear him talking about the Chameleon Particle. Which is confusing, considering I am a leading scientist in that department but he feels the need to keep secrets about it around me," she then sighed, "the real give away was when he signed off the phone by saying 'hail Hydra.'"
Gregory blinked, sitting up fully and staring down at Adelaide with wide eyes. "Hydra? Are you sure he wasn't joking."
"I was sure and," she let out another sigh before shaking her head, "with all of his suspicious behavior and secrets, it makes sense. We thought Hydra was gone but, maybe we were wrong," she looked at him, with large, blue eyes, "I did not know who to trust inside SHIELD, anyone could be a traitor. But, I know I can trust you."
He nodded, gripping her hand, "you can. But who do we tell?"
"No one," she said, "there is no one we can trust. I even have a feeling that Alexander Pierce is a part of it all. I think Hydra has plans for the Chameleon Particle and…"
He could instantly tell something was bothering her, something a lot worse that what she had been talking about before, "what is it?"
"Overtime, I have been measuring the effect of the Chameleon Particle on my body, considering I have been exposed to it for so long and," she bit her lip, "and it won't have a lasting effect on me but it might have on someone else."
Confused, Gregory frowned, "on who?"
"The baby," Adelaide said after a long pause, unwilling to look Gregory in the eye, "I am two months pregnant."
He did the maths in his head, "oh, God. It's Luka's, isn't it?"
"It is his, he does not know," she looked a little guilty, "I do not plan on telling him. I fear what he would do if he found out. I cannot stay at SHIELD anymore, Gregory, I have to leave."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"Non, non," she shook her head, "this is your job. This is my own problem."
"Why would I stay and work in a place that has been taken over by a Nazi organisation?" He smiled gently, "besides, I'd rather be with you, Adelaide."
She still looked uncertain, "I am asking you to throw your life away, Gregory, and your family too. We only got back together a month ago after taking a three month break."
"And it's you I've always wanted to be with, I know that for certain," he attempted to convince her, "that 'break' that we took was a mistake. I don't care whether you were Luka or whether you're pregnant with his child," he sighed, "I only care about you. And, if you want this kid-"
"I do," she said firmly.
"Then I will raise it like it's my own," he finished.
The two stared at each other, their eyes locking together. Adelaide was a beautiful woman, with long, dark, brown locks, as well as vivid, blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Her skin was tan and smooth, aside from the burn scar on her left shoulder she had got from one of her experiments; she was a scientist who was very enthusiastic about her own work. Gregory was also incredibly handsome, with chocolate brown eyes that were several shades darker than his sandy, blonde hair.
"So, where do we run to?" He asked.
"Home," she said, "to my own country. Far away from America and," she paused, "and far away from Damian."
Present Day
12:00pm
New York City, Queens
When Adara had fallen asleep, she didn't know. She woke up in a daze, groaning and rubbing her head, which was pounding like hell. She was in the sitting room, the tv playing some action movie from the eighties with the volume turned down to a low level. Blinking, she registered the light streaming through the window and the light outside. It was the end of November, why was it so light in the morning? Unless… She sat up straight, rolling her shoulders to release the stiffness in her back, and reached over to her phone, lying on the coffee table. It was twelve o'clock. Midday. She had only just woken up and it was a Friday, wasn't she supposed to be in school?
Yawning, she stood up straight, stuffing her phone in her pocket and heading over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Pinned to the fridge, she spotted a note with Steve's delicate handwriting on top, he had neater handwriting than both Natasha and Adara. She ripped it off, skimming over it as she pulled a glass out from one of the cupboards.
You've been asleep since seven o'clock last night, Nat and I figured you needed the sleep. Don't worry about school, you can miss one day. We're out investigating the lead on Bucky, we'll be back around ten, lunch and dinner is in the fridge. Don't order pizza again, you need to stop eating junk all the time. From, Steve. P.S. don't worry about Luka.
Underneath, Natasha had scribbled a little message of her own.
Please have a shower, you smell.
Adara took a gulp of her water and sniffed her armpit, wrinkling her nose in disgust. God, Natasha was right.
As she waited for the shower to warm up, she scrolled through her phone, a few texts from Peter asking if she was okay, a couple from Ned asking the same, one missed call from Michelle and ten missed calls from Harry. He was probably in class now, so she concluded that she would ring the boy back later. Why Michelle was calling her, she couldn't think of a reason. Quickly, she texted back Ned and Peter, telling them that she was okay, but she was just ill and had gone home early.
The moment she stepped in the shower, she instantly felt a little better. The day before had been horrible, she had thrown up multiple times, cried for God knows how long and had then fallen asleep for around seventeen hours. It had been a rough revelation, though Natasha had made her feel slightly better. Then again, the thought of her and Luka being related still made her feel a little ill. So, she shouldn't think about it. She sung to herself whilst she washed herself, she was a shit singer, but it took her mind off of things for a bit.
After her shower, she got dressed into more comfortable clothing, leggings and a over-sized t-shirt, grabbed lunch and settled in front of the tv to watch mindless, crappy, daytime, shows, doing anything to take her mind off of Luka.
"I can't marry you," said the man on television, "I love another."
"What?" the perfect, blonde lady sniffled, "who?"
"I am in love with…" the camera zoomed on his face, "your sister!"
"C'est putain de bête," muttered Adara as the blonde woman burst into tears and started screaming at the man, "how pathetic." Her phone suddenly started ringing, she picked it up and put it on speaker without bothering to check who it was, "Hey."
"Hey, Dara," said Peter, "school just finished."
"Has it?" She glanced at the time, "oh, yeah, it has. Why did you call?"
"I was just wondering if we were still good for tonight," he asked and she frowned in confusion, "I mean, you haven't been in all day."
"Tonight?"
"It's Friday," he stated, as if it answered the question, when she didn't respond, he explained further, "yesterday you told me that you'd show me a couple of self-defence moves, remember?"
"Oh," the memory came back to her, "yeah, sorry, it slipped my mind." Natasha and Steve weren't in, why not. "Yeah, sure, we're still good."
"Are you sure? I mean, you were ill yesterday."
"I'm fine today," she assured him, "just needed to sleep it off. What time will you be here?"
"How about four?" He suggested, knowing that one day without being Spiderman wasn't that bad.
"Sounds good," she nodded, "I'll see you then, Pete."
"Yeah, see you then, Dara."
When he hung up, Adara was reminded of something, she quickly dropped Michelle a quick text asking why she had rung her before quickly finding Harry's number and ringing him up. He picked up on the first ring.
"Hey! You're not dead!"
She laughed, "no, I'm not."
"I was just about to call you," he said, "what happened to you yesterday? You didn't come back to lesson and I thought you had been kidnapped or something. Then you didn't text me back last night or this morning and you haven't been in all day. I was just about to ring you."
"I'm fine," she said before pausing. She felt like Harry was someone who she could trust, though she was still a little uncertain. Plus, what Luka had told her was something that she had no plan on sharing with anyone outside Natasha and Steve. "When Luka showed up, I rung Nat and Steve and they came and gave me a lift home. I couldn't stay there. I took the day off too."
"So you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good," he nodded, "I think you had Peter worried. Oh, and I think Michelle is suspicious."
"Really? What about?"
"She saw you and Luka eying each other up during the assembly and how you looked like you wanted to kill him," Harry explained, "she's weirdly observant. She figured out that I was in on it too. Anyway, she started asking me questions about it at lunch, I just told her that I knew nothing. I think she bought it."
That would explain why she had called her out of nowhere. Damn that girl, she was too observant for her own good. "It's definitely something to keep an eye on," Adara nodded to herself, "but I won't worry about it too much for now. We took out Chadburn and Doyle, we should be positive."
"Do you think that's it?"
"Definitely not," Adara turned down the volume on the television, "but, I reckon things will calm down for a while. Luka doesn't have the advantage anymore," she smirked to herself, "I think we might just get a break."
"Neat. Oh, and something else," Harry went on, "rumour is that the Bluebell was the one that took out Chadburn and Doyle," Adara could've sworn she heard a slight smug tone in his voice, she knew that the boy was secretly loving that he knew something that the rest of her classmates didn't. "She's sort of become a big hit around school."
"Well, I don't know how someone with such a stupid name can be so well loved."
"Are you kidding? Everyone loves you, especially the troublemakers who hated Chadburn anyway. Besides, I think 'Bluebell' is pretty cool, makes you sound innocent when you're actually a total badass."
"Well, thanks for the compliment, Harry," she rolled her eyes, "but I gotta go," she needed time to get changed into more suitable clothing and clear out the gym of knives and guns before Peter came round, "I'll see you on Monday."
"No, wait, please don't hang up!" he said, "my dad wants to talk to me about 'my future in Oscorp' and I think I would rather die. I need to delay this for as long as possible."
Adara rolled her eyes, "Can't wait for you to tell me how that goes. Anyway, À bientôt!, Harry."
She hung up before he could say anything else.
Peter had never actually been to Adara's house before, but it definitely looked a helluva lot more expensive than his and May's apartment. It a couple stories high and fit in well with the other, large houses on the street. He felt a little jealous, this was the kind of house he wanted to live in when he was older. Hesitantly, he walked up the steps and knocked on the front door.
"une seconde!" Yelled Adara, her voice muffled by the door. It was difficult to translate what she was saying.
After around thirty seconds of waiting, the door swung open. Adara was standing there, in shorts and a cropped t-shirt. Peter forced himself to not to let his eyes linger on her legs. They were long, tanned and smooth, skinny but still had defined muscles. Her shorts were quite short, not leaving too much to the imagination.
"Are you seriously wearing that?" She asked with a dismissive snort, "you're gonna sweat to death in that." Peter was wearing his usual outfit, jeans and a jumper. However, in hindsight, it probably wasn't the best decision considering they were about to do training.
"Probably wasn't the best idea," he agreed.
"Come on," she gestured for him to come inside, "I think I have a couple of spare men's t-shirts and shorts somewhere, I'll grab them for you."
The two quickly headed down to the basement and Peter was amazed at what he saw. It was like an entire gym, with a fairly high ceiling, treadmills and exercise machines as well as an area covered in gymnastic mats and a mirror that stretched across an entire wall. Peter, whilst impressed, was also confused at why this was necessary, why not go to an actual gym? Then again, he was unaware at the amount of knife fighting and gun shooting practice that went on down here.
"Wow," he said, "this is cool."
"Sure it is," she placed a bundle of clothes into his hands, "put these on, they're slightly better to practice in."
"Uh-" He looked around, unsure of himself.
She rolled her eyes, "there's a bathroom over there, you can use that."
"Thanks," he said, feeling relieved that he didn't have to get changed in front of Adara.
When he left the bathroom, he was still pulling the shirt on. It was a little big for him, Peter reckoned that it was probably for an adult or something. Either way, it was suitable enough, it left him with a lot of movement.
"Damn, Parker," said Adara when he walked out, "when did you grow a pair of abs? You're pretty buff now."
He went slightly red, realising that she had probably caught a glimpse of his stomach whilst he had been pulling the t-shirt on. "I- uh- yeah, I've been working out a little more lately."
"Have you also been working out your eyes?" She explained further at his confused expression, "don't think I've forgotten about your glasses, you used to wear them all the time. Plus, you told me that you were scared of contacts because they might get stuck in your eye or something," she folded her arms.
"I got over my fear," he shook away the question.
Adara still had a doubtful expression on her face, but seemed to ignore it and got down to business, "now, you really want to learn self-defence?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Why?"
"I just thought it would be useful," for when he was being Spiderman, but he wasn't going to tell her that. No, his superhero alter-ego was still his own secret for now.
Adara nodded, he reckoned that she thought this was so he would be better protected in the future so there would be no repeat of what happened to Ben. Technically, she was right. Peter wanted to be able to defend himself and others properly so something like what had happened to his uncle wouldn't happen to others. There was also the matter of what Ben had said to him on the day he had died 'with great power comes great responsibility.' It was a line that had really stuck with him. After the spider bite and the abilities it gave him, he had a duty to protect people, it was the right thing to do. He had had the power to stop the man, the man who had killed Ben, but he hadn't and now his Uncle was dead. He couldn't let something like that happen again, no to anyone else. That was why he was doing it.
"Right," she grinned, tying her hair up in a high ponytail, "we'll start of easy. Fight me."
He blinked, "what?"
"So I can get a bearing of your strength and skills," she explained simply, "don't hold back just because I'm your friend or whatever."
"Okay," he looked at his fists, wary of his own strength. He glanced back up at Adara, who had her arms folded over her chest and a sly smirk over her face, eyebrows raised and inviting a challenge. Her green eyes were glimmering as she eyed his form, calculating and anticipating his first move. Peter knew full well that she wasn't helpless, so he should probably just go for it.
Without another seconds of hesitation, he swung at her. Gracefully, she ducked under the punch and grabbed his arm, twisting it before he could react. He managed to pull away, being stronger than she was, but his senses weren't prepared for the sudden kick to the gut, taking his breath away in just a moment. Taking advantage of the moment, Adara grabbed his right arm, pulling and twisting it behind his back and shoving his face to the floor. He rolled over, facing her but she was straddled over him, a smug smile plastered on her features.
"Holy shit," he muttered, feeling slightly awkward being stuck underneath her, "how…?"
"Lesson one," she said, "doesn't matter how tough or strong you are, if you haven't got any technique or skill, anyone could take you down. You can be freaking Captain America but, if you don't use your brain, then you lose."
"Right," he said, sounding slightly flustered and trying to disguise the crack in his voice, "can you- uh- get off of me now?"
"Yeah, sure," she seemed to be slightly amused, swinging on leg over so she was off of him, and giving him a hand back up.
He brushed himself off, "so, what do I do to improve?" After recovering from the awkward moment, he felt a little embarrassed that, despite his enhancements, he was easily taken down by Adara. A part of him got the feeling that she was highly trained in this department, her movements were fluid, smooth and calculated. She really seemed to know what she was doing.
"You're strong, I'll give you that," she said, "if you went up against some thugs in an alley, I reckon you'd probably be able to take them with ease," she punched him lightly in the arm, "you're tough, weirdly tough," she added that part with a flash of suspicion in her eyes, "but you just punch and kick with no thought put into it. You've got to know where someone's weak spot is, you've got to be able to predict what they're doing, where they're gonna come at you."
"That seems difficult," he remarked, sounding rather tired.
"It's really not, once you get the hang of it. It becomes habit. We'll start off with your stance," she said, "copy me." She moved into her regular, fighting stance, gesturing for Peter to copy and judging how well he did. "Move your legs together slightly, they should be shoulder-width apart. Straighten your back and tighten the muscles in your stomach," he did so and she nodded approvingly, "oh, and lower your chin too, your eye and nose bones are delicate, so you've got to make them seem as small as a target as possible."
He copied her stance exactly, already feeling a little stronger. "Like this?"
"That's pretty good," she remarked, analysing him closely, "okay, I think we're ready to move on to the next stage." She drew herself back into her fighting stance, "tell me, where do you think my weakest spots are?"
"Uh," he was a little dumbfounded, "I don't-"
"You need to be able to list them straight away," she told him sternly, "for example, your shins and face are probably where it would hurt most to kick or punch. Oh, and your balls too," she smirked at him and he did his best not to flush red at her teasing gaze. Was she flirting or just being Adara? "Your chin and neck too. And the back of your knee. A kick there would cause the knee to bend inwards, immobilising them temporarily. But, if you want to proper damage, I'd recommend the face. Remember this, it's the most important facts to know in a fight."
Peter nodded, taking a deep breath and doing his best to absorb the information. Adara was fast and he felt like he should be taking notes or something.
"Step three," she moved on quickly, "movement. You need to make yourself more unpredictable, you need to be able to confuse your opponent. Stay on the balls of your feet and bounce up and down, but not in a regular pattern, that makes you harder to predict and makes your opponent more confused. See? Copy," she began bouncing on the balls of her feet, never weakening her stance or lowering her fist.
He attempted to copy but, at the sigh and shake of her head, he could tell that he was doing it wrong.
"You can't weaken your stance when you move," she explained, "show me again." He did so but felt nervous as she approached him, grabbing his wrists, "don't stop," she ordered, "keep moving. I'm just going to show you…" she trailed off as she raised his fists so they covered his face, "there. Oh, and," suddenly, she grabbed his hips, taking him by surprise, "I said don't stop," she seemed unaware of their intimacy as she shifted his hips backwards. It wasn't until she looked back up did she realise how close they were.
Their faces were almost touching, their eyes almost inches apart. For a moment, there was silence as a strange, unfamiliar feeling washed over both of them. In that moment, Adara seemed to realise how warm and brown his eyes. In fact, she didn't think she had ever realised just how dark they were before. He stared right back into her eyes, they remained that impossible green colour. There wasn't a flick of blue or brown in them, just pure green. It reminded him of green apples, sweet but tangy.
Ring! Ring!
The sound of a phone ringing sliced through the intimate silence and the two drew back from each other, Adara clearing her throat awkwardly. What had that been all about? She hadn't really experienced a feeling quite like that. Her stomach fluttered a little bit, she couldn't tell whether she was ill or just feeling overwhelmed. Shaking herself a little, she quickly realised that it was her phone that was ringing, and headed over to where she had left it.
Peter, too, was feeling a little strange, reeling from their intimate encounter. He felt a little strange, like his body was tingling with an unknown energy. There was a strange, flickering feeling in his gut, but whether that was from that awkward moment or from when Adara had kicked him there, he was unsure.
"Hey, Harry," Adara's voice drew him out of his thoughts, "what's up?"
Peter quickly felt a flash of sudden jealousy, one moment the two had been having a weird but nice moment and the next, she was back to talking to Harry. Always Harry… The boy was just too damn likable and seemed to have all the same interests as Ned and Peter, not to mention he was funny and a good person to sit with. But, despite all of that, Peter couldn't help but feel a little left out. Adara and Harry seemed to get along well, even though they hadn't known each other for that long. Though, the main reason was that, yet again, Peter felt left out from everything in Adara's life and the secrets she had buried within her. He didn't want to push her into telling him something that she didn't want to share, but sometimes it felt like everyone else knew Adara whilst he didn't.
"Anyway," he had been so absorbed in his thoughts, he hadn't realised that the conversation was over and Adara was signing off, "yeah, see you."
"What was that all about?" Peter asked once she put down the phone, "was it Harry?"
"Yeah, he was telling me about his Dad," she scoffed, "he has some serious daddy issues," she paused and Peter noticed something cross her face, before she shook it off, "uh, anyway, he was just telling me about his dad and his big Oscorp plans. I think Harry hates Oscorp anyway."
"Huh," Peter didn't really care, "so, you and Harry are good friends?"
She laughed, a laugh that had a rumble to it that made her sound weirdly more French than before, "no, no. I hardly know him, it's just…" she sighed, "he knows a bit too much about me, that's all."
Peter frowned, "what do you mean?"
"Do you remember when I told you how Harry and I met?" She asked, "how I was completely drunk in an alleyway, well I probably told him a bit more about my life than I should be telling any strangers. You know," she shrugged, "like what happened to my parents."
He suddenly became a little concerned, "why were you drunk anyway?"
"It's a habit that I used to have," she sighed, "I thought I had gotten over it but, one night, I had this vivid, terrible nightmare and, well, when I'm drunk and fall asleep, I don't dream. So, I used to drink to stop the nightmares."
"Wow," Peter remarked, "that sucked. What did you-"
"What did I dream about?" She frowned, finishing the sentence for him, "I don't really remember. It had just been so horrible and real at the time that I just couldn't take it. So I ran from my problems," she sighed, "like I always do. Sorry, I know I sound a little pathetic," she couldn't believe that she was venting out her emotions to Peter out of the blue, "I'm a big kid now," she said 'big kid' in a mocking tone, "I shouldn't be having nightmares."
"It's not pathetic," he said honestly, "I- uh-" he hadn't actually told anyone this yet, "I get nightmares too. A lot of nightmares, actually."
She glanced at him, her green gaze filled with concern but not surprise. "About Ben?"
"No," Peter bit the inside of his cheek, "about the other night, actually. I dream about what would've happened if you hadn't shown up at that apartment in time," he let out a sigh, "about what I would've done to the man if you were a minute too late. I wanted to kill him, I wanted revenge."
"I know," her tone empathetic, "I know the feeling." He looked at her, eyes clouded, "I wanted to kill the man who killed my parents," but he was no longer just 'a man' or 'Luka,' he was her father. She didn't mention this to Peter. "But, as time went on, I realised that that's not what I really wanted. I used to vividly picture his death and how I would kill him," she leant back, eyes closed, her voice a murmur, "I can't picture it anymore. It does get easier, it gets easier with time."
"I just wish Ben wasn't gone," oh, God, was he about to cry, "then none of this would've happened," he looked at Adara, "I could've stopped the man who killed him but I didn't and then he shot Ben."
"It's not your fault," she said, "none of it's your fault."
"Isn't it?" He looked up, "because I feel as though it is."
"Well, then your wrong. And you're determined to not let what happened to Ben happen ever again, right?"
"Right," he nodded.
"Then," she smiled, a warm, soft smile that made his heart seize up a little, "let's get back to training."
A/N: It's not Sunday, It's (very, very, very) early on a Monday morning! I have school but I plan on sleeping through most of the lessons anyway, now that my exams are over, it's not like they can teach me anything useful. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, here, who wants an incorrect quote?
Luka: Am I a bad father, Adriana?
Adara: My name is Adara.
Another one!
Adara: Peter, please keep an eye on Harry today. He's gonna say something to the wrong person and get himself punched.
Peter: Sure, I'd love to see Harry get punched.
Adara: Try again.
Peter: I will stop Harry from getting punched.
Adara: Correct.
What the hell? Let's throw in another one!
Therapist: Okay, let's switch gears. Do a little word association. What do you think of when I say the word "bottle"?.
Adara: Liquor store. Hold up. Gun. Die.
Therapist: How about "grass"?
Terry: Marijuana. Drugs. Gun. Die.
Therapist: Cat.
Adara: Kitten. Cute. Calm. False sense of security. Gun. Die.