A/N: Sorry this chapter came out a little later than I expected! Getting back into the swing of school has not been easy, but I'm beginning to manage it (that and I spent a weirdly long time browsing New Look for clothes which distracted me a little). BIG TIME SKIP WARNING! We're bringing ourselves closer and closer to Civil War, I reckon we might only be a couple chapters away at this point. I had to switch around a couple dates in the timeline here so it's more coherent for me to write, but it doesn't have any effect on the story so there's no need to worry.
I'm really tired, so sorry if I don't respond to your review, I just really wanna get this chapter up.
hufflepuff gal 4520: Happy belated birthday!
Blueerimartian: Interesting theory on Civil War there. You'll just have to see what happens in the next few chapters…
ComicNerdForLife: I really like the idea of Uncle Bucky, but it really depends on what I plan to do with Steve and that lot after Civil War. For now, all I'll say is, you're gonna see Bucky and Adara interact during the Civil War timeline and it's gonna be a little weird because they had a weird relationship.
Guest (1): Thank you! I'm not sure whether or not Daredevil will make an appearance as I haven't actually watched the show, the only marvel show I watched was Jessica Jones, who I'd definitely be interested in writing in a cameo appearance for her. As for who else might train Peter, for now all I have planned is for him and Adara to continue training but my plans for what happens after Civil War (and probably after Homecoming too) is gonna be a bit different from how it actually plays in the MCU, so we might see some Captain America and Black Widow interaction from Peter then. I also want Adara to open up about Luka! But it's gonna take a lot of effort for her to even accept it herself, especially considering that, as we'll see in this chapter, she does not want to deal with her problems with Luka.
Lucy Jacob: I just sort of forgot to write them even calling each other by their names in that last chapter lol.
GrendaldFC: Peter and Adara sort of have to learn to back off and give each other some space, which is why Adara doesn't press him about his newfound strength. We're definitely gonna see Tony being a total dad to Peter in this story, because I adore their relationship so much in the movies!
Thesummersoldier: I'm a total team Cap! But I do have a secret love for team Iron Man, because Peter is a babe!
Reddiedgrazer: I'm not gonna spoil that for now ;)
Guest (2): The only marvel tv show I have watched is Jessica Jones, so I might be interested in having her make a cameo appearance in one chapter. As for the other characters (Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and whoever else), I think I would be a bit worried about putting them in because I don't really know them that well.
Imprisoned Wings: Please don't remind me of the pain that was Infinity War, I want to cry just thinking about it. Sadly, I also reckon Tony and Steve might be the ones to go because they're the two big ones who don't have any other movies in their contracts (I think) and that makes me so sad! Because I love them both!
Mad as a hatter: Thank you! This review was so lovely!
Thanks to: Ceebideebs, A Frozen Shadow, hufflepuff gal 4520, DarkLordofMemes, blueerimartian, kahancatan, Assbitch67, Gravity'sOverRated, ComicNerdForLife, Guest (1), Jaygeek, Lucy Jacob, GrendaldFC, Aura, Thesummersoldier, reddiedgrazer, Guest (2), lizlil, ThatOddPotato, bonitalito, Lauraaa9889, Imprisoned Wings, Mad as a hatter, Ice 88, and NinjaPenguinLover for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter. I love you all! But I'm also super tired! Let me sleep!
"Five months go by,
and I thought about letting her go
She's crazy, though,
and I guess she took control"
SIX MONTHS LATER
Wednesday, May 4th
2016
Queens, New York
"Give me the conjugations of the Latin verb 'sum' in the future tense in first, second and third person, including both singular and plural," said Liz.
Adara dinged the bell, "ero, erimus, eris, eritis, erit, erunt," she said it with ease, no need to pause at all.
"Correct," said Liz, "next question. Translate this statement into Russian 'I live in Moscow.'"
Once again, Adara pressed her bell, "я живу в Москве."
"I don't understand," said Sally Avril, "why are they asking us such difficult questions? I mean, who outside of Russia is gonna know how to speak Russian? Or Latin? It's a dead language, no one speaks it."
"Я говорю на латышском и русском," (I speak Latin and Russian) came Adara's cocky reply, "this is supposed to only be for smart people, right?" Adara took a bite out of the apple she had been eating, "I bet you guys would actually put effort into learning languages if it wasn't for me being on the team."
"But your like a freak of nature," said Flash from where he was reading a textbook on Greek history.
"I can speak a few languages," she scoffed, "yeah, that must make me a freak."
"More than a few," Flash muttered under his breath, but it was only friendly banter.
"I can speak Italian!" Said Peter suddenly, tearing his eyes away from Liz, who he had been staring for the past ten minutes, "and Spanish!"
"Good job, Pete," she gave a snort of amusement before turning back to address the rest of the team, "look, people who live in Europe or Asia sometimes grow up learning two languages. But, here in America, we cry and want to kick someone out the country if they speak a word of French." She gave a dismissive snort, "all I'm saying is, if I weren't on the team, you all would be failing in languages." Peter opened his mouth but Adara cut him off, "except Parker who, we all know, can speak Italian and Spanish."
"You also taught him and I how to swear in French," added Ned.
"A useful skill," she nodded to herself.
"Can we move on?" Asked Liz, her voice wasn't bossy, annoyed or pushy, t was sweet and patient. Sometimes Adara wanted to hate Liz, she should be the stereotypical 'popular girl' with a rich daddy who liked to date jocks and go out with her friends to Starbucks to gossip about guys every other day. Then again, that was sort of hypocritical as Adara loved a coffee from Starbucks herself. Liz Allan was just too perfect to hate, and that was annoying.
"Yeah," Adara nodded, gesturing for the academic decathlon leader to continue.
"We're moving onto history now," she explained, "when did Australia gain independence?"
Cindy slammed her bell, "1 January 1901."
Once practice was over, Adara hurried to catch up with Peter and Ned. She needed to ask Peter something and hadn't had the chance to because she had been busy all day. It also didn't help that the boy had a tendency to rush of to Delmar's then disappear. For a while, Adara had almost been convinced that Peter had been during drugs, until she had confronted him about it and he had freaked out. He had come up with an explanation about being busy with school 'and stuff.' Adara figured that he wasn't fully over Ben, and was finding less obvious ways to deal with his grief. May had also made a steady recovery, but had grown very protective of Peter. That, and the two had to eat out almost every night because she wasn't the best cook.
"Hey, Pete. hey, Ned," she swung her arms round both of their shoulders suddenly as she squeezed in between the two so she was at the centre of their trio, "where you guys heading?"
"Home," they both said simultaneously.
"Cool," she said, "wanna hang out or something? I've got nothing to do."
"Ye-" Ned was cut off.
"No," Peter said suddenly, "sorry, I've got a lot of homework to do."
"That's fine," she shrugged, "oh, by the way, Pete, I'm busy this Friday so can we do our training tomorrow instead?"
He glanced up, looking thoughtful before nodding. "Yeah, sure. Shouldn't be a problem. What are you doing on Friday?"
"Getting picked up from school and visiting some people upstate."
"Cool."
That's just how it was between the two of them, vague answers that both had since learned that there was no point in questioning. Both would get defensive when they asked each other more intrusive questions and both would be stupidly stubborn about it, leading to more arguments which neither of them enjoyed. So, both had just learned to give each other some privacy and trust that neither were doing anything illegal (if vigilante justice could be considered legal).
Adara, Ned and Peter parted ways at the school gate, Adara was ready to go home and chill for awhile, knowing that she wasn't going to have either Natasha or Steve bugging her about school or homework as both were wrapped up in their own problems. The Avengers had been tracking a good lead on Rumlow for a while now, Adara reckoned they'd be onto his plan in a day or two. That's why they were heading up to the compound on Friday so they could really get their investigation underway with the help of Stark technology.
Someone put their hand on her shoulder.
Instivley, Adara grabbed the hand, twisting it and swivelling around to face the attacker.
"Ow," said Harry, who was not attacking her.
"Sorry," she said, releasing her grip on his wrist, "you made me jump, is all. I told you not to sneak up on me like that."
"I put a hand on your shoulder," he said, rubbing his wrist with a pouty look on his face, "is that your reaction to anyone who touches you?"
"You caught me off guard," she said, shooting him a glare, "now stop being a baby. Why weren't you in school today?"
"I was gonna come but then I sorta got into a fight with my dad about 'where I'm sneaking off to at night.' like he even cares, I've been doing it for months now and he only just notices. Do you wanna know why he noticed?"
Adara sighed, not really caring, "you're just going to tell me anyway." There was no stopping Harry when he went off on one about Norman Osborn.
He ignored her statement, "he only noticed because he had been planning to talk to me about Oscorp when he noticed that I'd left the building. That's literally all he cares about. It's always Oscorp this and Oscorp that and 'when you grow up, you will have to take over my role in Oscorp.' It's like I'm not even his son, just an heir to the great Oscorp throne." He scoffed to himself, "it's stupid. Anyway, the fight got out of hand and I was three hours late, I decided there was no point in coming in so I stayed down at Oscorp Tower."
"Dad's can suck," Adara said, but Harry missed the bitterness in her tone.
"They can," he agreed absentmindedly, not thinking about her remark, "anyway, that's not the most interesting thing. The interesting thing is that, whilst I was hanging around the lobby, I noticed a couple of familiar faces coming in for a meeting with my dad, which I eavesdropped on, of course."
Intrigued, she frowned, "who?"
"Take a look," he handed her his phone and she scrolled through a couple of the pictures, her eyes narrowing at the photos. There were five blurry photos of a group of men in suits and ties walking into the Oscorp building. Of course, Adara had never seen these men in such fancy clothing, but their faces were very familiar.
"These were the guys that managed to get away after our raid on the warehouse two weeks ago," she glanced up, confused, "they're Hydra. What are they doing in your dad's building?"
Over the past six months, despite Steve and Natasha's protests, Adara had gone out as the Bluebell more than once. After taking down Chadburn and Doyle, both her and Harry had become partners in crime or, as he labeled it, 'Batman and Robin.' Most of the time they spent together was spent investigating leads on Hydra instead of doing their chemistry homework. The rest of their time spent together involved breaking down doors and taking down as many current or former Hydra agents as they could. Some Adara had vague memories of from her past, some Adara couldn't remember at all. Either way, New York was a hub for Hydra agents working undercover, mainly at Stark Industries or working in the drug industry, similar to Doyle. The Bluebell had gained herself an infamous reputation amongst them and, in mainstream media, had blown up. Everyone knew the Bluebell now and her role in taking down the remains of Hydra. The mystery of the Bluebell's identity seemed to intrigue everyone, there were conspiracy videos on youtube and people would record her at any chance given. Annoyingly, that made her job harder. However, she did have a secret weapon that not even Hydra knew about, Harry Osborn.
That boy was her spy, her investigator. He would never fight, but he would always toss her a gun or a knife or would be there when she was interrogating Hydra scum. His position as the son of the rich, Oscorp CEO, Norman Osborn, also was helpful. Either way, he was a benefit to her cause, and he seemed to love the action too, despite not getting any fame from it.
"Charles Atkins," Harry pointed to the man who looked like the ringleader, "he was the one doing the talking."
Adara curled her lip in disgust at the mention of his name, whilst she only had vague memories or no memory at all of other Hydra agents, Atkins was one that made her shiver with hatred. From the age of seven to ten, he had been hanging around the base in Siberia. He wasn't the most prominent from her past, that title belonged to Luka, but he had definitely given her a beating on more than one occasion. The man might've been a scientist of sorts, come to observe Adara and her powers. He was smart, she'd give him that, and he had a knack for using tasers. But he wasn't the definition of a Hydra thug and, for all the tasers he had, Adara was still a highly trained, teenage girl, looking for revenge.
"I'd like to see him dead," Adara hissed before shaking herself a little, "anyway, what were they doing at Oscorp? We've seen them spying on Stark Industries before, never on Oscorp."
"They weren't spying," Harry told her.
She frowned, "so is Hydra working with Oscorp? With your dad?"
"No way!" He shook his head, "my dad might be a dick, but he has morals. No… this was their first visit here, they wanted to discuss 'exchanging information' with my dad and his company. He's pretty competitive, wants to one up Stark but doesn't have the tech. From what I heard, Hydra has alien tech."
"Alien tech?" Adara thought about it before sighing, "from the battle of New York."
"Exactly," Harry nodded, "they didn't reveal their source but, from the sounds of it, the guys producing these weapons aren't Hydra at all. They're just some guys looking to make a profit. But, they like to lay low, Hydra wouldn't even give the name of the source to my father."
"Okay, wait," she bit her lip, "let's not linger too much on this, I need to know the full picture."
"Basically, they came in, told my dad about the alien tech and how they would be willing to give it to him if he allowed them to use Oscorp to further their plans-"
"A little sinister, but okay."
"-and my father flat out refused them, threatening to call the police if they didn't leave. He didn't care about 'beating the competition' or 'becoming the richest man alive' if it meant working with Hydra."
"He does have a good moral compass," nodded Adara. 'Better than my dad,' she added in her head, but wouldn't dare say it aloud. She trusted Harry, but wasn't exactly ready to tell him that. Then again, she didn't want to think about that, there was something more important to concentrate on. "The real problem is this alien tech. This is coming from a source we can't track. Wait-" she said suddenly, "one guy's missing. There are only five guys in this picture," she looked up, "but we know there's a sixth one running about somewhere."
"He got arrested yesterday," Harry stated as though it was obvious. When he saw the confused look on her face and rolled his eyes before explaining further. "Honestly, do you ever watch the news? It was on this morning, he got caught carjacking by none other than the Spiderman."
Then there was the matter of the Spiderman. Whilst New York had a blue-haired, red-lipped, badass taking down Hydra agents, Queens had its own, red and blue superhero carrying out vigilante justice on the slightly smaller scale. He dealt with petty crime and bank robberies whilst Adara stuck with just tracking down Hydra agents. She had never met the hero, though she was curious to who he was. Then again, the mystery spider wasn't her main problem so she didn't see the point in seeking him out.
"Carjacking? What was he doing that for?" She frowned, "wait- doesn't matter. What does matter is what happened to him."
"Arrested."
"No suspicion of association with Hydra?"
"None at all," Harry shook his head, "arrested as though he was just some crazy carjacker."
"We need to get to him," mused Adara, "ask him questions," she sighed, "we could try doing it tonight but I promised Steve and Nat that I wouldn't go out tonight."
"We'll do it next week then," he suggested, "this guy isn't getting out of jail for a while, so at least we know where he is."
The two began walking down the street, continuing this conversation.
"For now, I need to ask a favour of you," said Adara.
"What is it?"
"I need you to swallow your pride and talk to your dad."
"No w-" He was about to refuse but Adara cut him off.
"-Because," she fixed her green eyes on him, gaze stern, "we need more information on these men. Your dad, even though he refused to help them, still wouldn't give them away to the police. Why?"
"I dunno," he shrugged.
"You have to talk to him, Harry," she pointed out, "or at least try to."
"Fine," he muttered, "I'm not saying we'll get much out of it. He hates me too much."
She punched him in the shoulder, "stop being so overdramatic. Your dad doesn't hate you, he's just doing what he thinks is best for you. Look on the brightside, at least he thinks you'd make a good CEO."
"But I don't want to be a CEO," he sighed, "I don't want to have a job in Oscorp. I wanna do other things, I wanna travel, see the world. Plus, this is pretty fun," he gestured to her, "this crime fighting thing."
"It's crime-fighting," she said dryly, "I'm not Spiderman. I take down Hydra agents."
"But its fun. All this investigating and spy work, it keeps me busy. I don't think my dad will ever get me."
Adara peered at him through narrowed eyes, not a glare, instead a look of curiosity, "maybe you should become a detective or a PI or something. I mean, you are pretty good at figuring out stuff." It was true, without Harry, Adara probably wouldn't have been able to catch even half the amount of Hydra agents she had caught.
"Maybe," Harry seemed to smile dreamily to himself, "I can just picture the look on my dad's face."
She smiled at his behaviour, the boy would do anything to disappoint his father. "Anyway, we'll talk tomorrow." The two split off here, Adara's home was only a few blocks away whilst he still had a while to go.
"Yeah, see you," he kept walking ahead as she turned the corner and began heading to her own home.
She unlocked the front door, letting herself in. From the entrance, she could already hear the dull murmur of the tv, probably being used for background noise as Steve and Natasha worked. Deciding not to disturb them straight away, Adara headed to the kitchen to grab some food, too tired to make her own. The only thing she managed to find was a Hershey's bar, which she wasn't complaining about. As she ate it, she headed to the sitting room, seeing a more than amusing sight in front of her.
Natasha was on a laptop, watching whatever was happening on the screen. However, she wasn't doing a great job, her iconic red-hair was a mess and her brown-flecked, green eyes were dark with tiredness, and she was drifting off on the couch, surrounded by several cans of energy drinks. Steve looked slightly more perky, but the blonde super-soldier didn't seem to be having much fun. He had a map of western Africa laid out in front of him, with several locations marked with an 'x' written in black, sharpie pen. Adara also noted that he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing the night before.
"You guys look like a mess," she remarked.
Natasha let out of grunt that Adara couldn't really decipher, but she reckoned it meant something the lines of 'I know.' Steve actually turned to her, almost looking relieved to see someone who could momentarily distract him from his work.
"How was academic decathlon practice?" He asked.
"Fine," she answered shortly, with a shrug of her shoulders to indicate that there wasn't much to say about the topic, "how's the search going?"
"We reckon Rumlow's in Nigeria right now," he said with a sigh, "that's where the more recent sightings have been. My best guess is that he's in Lagos, where or what he's doing there is beyond me. That's why Natasha watching cameras."
"Lagos is a big city," Adara frowned as she perched on the edge of the couch that Natasha was lying on, "Rumlow could be anywhere."
"Tell me about it," grumbled the redhead, "what time is it?"
"Half four," answered Adara, "how long have you guys been working."
Both of them shrugged.
"Since this morning," said Steve.
"Take a break then," she said, "get something to eat and drink. From the looks of it, you've been living off energy drinks." Natasha threw one of the cans in the trash as Adara spoke, it landed perfectly upright. "What about you?" She addressed Steve, "have you even eaten anything?"
"I think I had a sandwich," but he seemed unsure.
Steve had been working hard to find Rumlow on top of following up leads to find his long-lost friend, Bucky. Currently, Sam was travelling back from following another failed tip-off to Bucky's location, he was coming back to help the search for Rumlow.
That was at the forefront of everyone's minds now, finding Rumlow. The man was one of the most wanted people on the planet. It had started with him assaulting his nurse and fleeing from the hospital and, from there, he began robbing weapons from police stations, arming himself. The man had betrayed Hydra long ago, having drawn a few agents out of hiding for an 'arms sale' before shooting and killing every single one of them. In a way, Adara wasn't completely against that, but she still despised Rumlow. He had become horribly deformed, with burn scars covering his face and body after what happened at the Triskelion with the helicarriers when a building collapsed on top of him, he had deserved it. Adara would love to be there when the Avengers finally got their hands on the self-proclaimed 'Crossbones,' but Steve had made it especially clear to her that she wasn't to on the mission when they eventually found him. She knew that Wanda was still training and that they'd take her with them, but Adara was to be left at the compound.
"Adara?" Said Steve, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Huh?" She glanced up, "yeah?"
"Do you have any homework?" He asked now that he finally had her attention.
"Yeah," she said, it was the truth, but she didn't plan on doing it. "I'll go up and do it now," she actually planned on taking a nap, "you guys can continue with your own homework." She glanced at the scattered photos of Rumlow and news reports on the coffee table and spread across the floor.
Natasha gave her a grim, tired look, to which Adara responded with a much more lively smirk. With that, she headed upstairs, ready to relax for once.
Car chase in downtown Queens and Peter was already on it. Fully suited up, he was swinging just a metre ahead of the cops that were also chasing the black car, doing his best to keep up with the speeding vehicle. Whatever had started the car chase, he had no clue. All he knew was that this car was travelling dangerously fast and was being chased by the cops so whoever was inside couldn't be a great man.
Over six months had passed since the bite and Uncle Ben's death, and the Spiderman was beginning to gain some popularity amongst mainstream media which, to Peter, was just a bonus. He seemed to get a high off doing the right thing, even if the right thing was a little stupid and impulsive sometimes. A part of his brain knew that, for every person he saved, he was doing Uncle Ben proud. He had never been big on religion but he hoped that, if there was a heaven, Ben was watching him and was happy at the road his nephew went down. Now, almost everyday, Peter would take up the mantle of the webslinger and head out to help as many people as possible. Some days it was slow, whether it was just stopping bike theft or helping a cat down from a tree. The other days were what he really lived for, nothing could beat the thrill of taking down bank robbers or, as he had done the day before, stopping a carjacker.
Or, with the situation he was dealing with right now, nothing could beat a good old car chase.
Peter stumbled onto a roof, his eyes following the black car as it swerved around a corner at a dangerous speed, creating a loud, screeching noise. It had turned onto a small, one-way street which spilt out onto the main road. However, the intersection to get onto the said main road was currently being blocked off by a large, bulky bus. With a shock, Peter realised that the car wasn't slowing down and the bus driver wouldn't be able to move out of the way of the car that was moving at an unstoppable speed.
Well, 'unstoppable' hadn't been the right word to use.
With a leap, Peter swung off the roof, taking over the car and dropping in front of th bus, stopping the black car using only his own strength. At the sudden halt, the rear of it flew up, forcing Peter backward a little, causing him to leave a dent in the side of the bus. Either way, he had stopped the black car, and the cops were just arriving.
Peter jumped onto the hood of the car, taking a moment to look at the shocked look on the man's face inside, before swinging off, not wanting to have to deal with the cops who, as he presumed, didn't have the most favourable view on his vigilante justice. According to the internet, the police were big reader of 'the Daily Bugle,' a newspaper that didn't have a favourable out look on the Spiderman or, for that matter, any other superhero.
Once he was far enough away, Peter landed on the roof of one of the buildings, sitting down and absorbing what had just happened. He had saved a bus full of people and had looked awesome whilst doing it, not to mention he had caught the criminal without anyone getting hurt. He wasn't going to deny that he was pleased with himself. As per usual, he felt the swell of happiness that he usually got whenever he had done something good.
"I hope you saw that, Ben," he muttered to himself, "that was pretty sick."
The impact of Ben's death was beginning to fade a little. Peter still mourned for his lost Uncle, and he still heeded every word of advice he ever gave him, but his night were no longer filled with flashes of his bleeding body. The dreams that used to haunt him, the memory of the look on Ben's killer's face as Peter nearly choked him to death, were gone, as well as his need for revenge. Even May was getting better, she was much happier, returning to how she used to be before. Sure, she was overprotective and was the main reason he would never dare revealing his true identity as Spiderman. Luckily for him, most days she was working a lot, so he had plenty of time to swing around Queens. Plus, May would sleep in her own room and no longer felt as lonely in her bed as she did before. On more than one occasion, Peter had caught her asleep on the couch, hating the echoing loneliness of her own room. Thankfully, those times were over.
A few hours of more superheroing, which included finding a runaway dog and running around Queens for half an hour to find the owner, Peter decided to call it a night, creeping into his own room through the open window. Quietly, he got down from the ceiling, quickly removing his suit and shoving it up in his usual hiding place. After that, he got changed into his usual clothing and sat down at his desk to do his homework.
His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call and he instantly knew who it was. Adara wasn't big on texting, she much preferred calling up the person so she could talk to them. When he had asked why, she had simply said it was because you couldn't 'hear a lie' in a text, which he had thought was a strange reason.
Him and Adara had grown much closer over the past months. Sure, they still argued and bickered at times, but it was no more than he did with Ned. But there was something between them, something he couldn't quite work out. A strange tension that seemed to buzz in the air whenever they were around each other, preventing them from growing any closer than they already were. Something that seemed to prevent them from really talking to each other. It wasn't like they didn't hang out enough, they hung out during school and after school every Friday for their training session. That had only supposed to have been a one time thing, which had developed into a two time thing, then a three time thing to what was now a weekly meetup. Yet, despite this, there was still an odd feeling between them, neither of them could put a name to it. The only time they seemed to properly connect was when they were actually training. Though, 'training' had changed into full on fighting now, testing out who was the better fighter. Peter had the advantage as he had heightened senses as well as speed and strength, but Adara really was highly trained, with well-aimed blows and punches that always seemed to hit his weak spots and rarely miss. Now, the chance of winning was a half for each of them, sometimes Peter would win, sometimes Adara would win. As time had gone on and Adara had recognised his strength, she had become a lot more brutal, not holding back in a fight and, as he had learnt the hard way, he shouldn't hold back either.
He picked up the phone, "Hey, Dara. What's up?"
"Hey, Pete," she greeted him, sounding a little groggy, "sorry, I've just woken up from a nap."
"I can tell," he laughed, "why'd you call?"
"The history homework."
"What about it?"
"Is it due tomorrow?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Merde," she somehow managed angry and frustrated but tired at the same time, "what was the homework?"
"It was an essay on the Great Depression, it was," he tried to remember, "two-thousand-five-hundred words, I think."
"Great," she muttered, "I've failed already."
"Don't do yourself like that," he said, "you're great at history."
"Yeah, but I'm tired and I can't be bothered," she let out a groan, "plus, I haven't done the maths homework, and Mr Birling already hates me enough because I never do it. I don't want to get another detention." She remembered what happened when she had to tell Natasha and Steve she had gotten a detention. "Maybe a nap wasn't the best idea."
"There was also Spanish," he added.
She scoffed, "Spanish is a breeze. Plus, Mrs Gonzales loves me, she'd let me get away with anything." He nodded to himself, that was very true. "Anyway, can you email me your history essay? I won't copy, I just have no idea what I'm doing."
"Yeah, sure," he said, "we still good for training tomorrow."
"Oui," she said, "thanks, Pete. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
She hung up. And that was it, that was as far as there conversations would go, other than the rare, emotional talk they had every once and awhile, usually after their training sessions, when they were both exhausted. Other than that, it was light banter, nothing more.
Peter frowned, one day he's figure out what was causing the strange tension.
But that wouldn't be today.
Because May had just burnt the pasta and it was time to eat out again.
"In other news," said the anchorwoman, "a recording of an accident involving a bus containing several, young children and a speeding vehicle was put up on facebook and, in only one hour, has received millions of views from all around the world. The video shows a car, being driven by a thief named Robert Jeffords, speeding along a one-way street to get away from several cop cars that were chasing it. There was a bus blocking the intersection onto a main road, a bus that Jeffords was speeding just towards, with no signs of slowing. Luckily, none other than the web-slinging, crimestopper of Queen's, the Spiderman, swings in and manages to stop the car just before it hits the bus. Here is some of the footage from that incident."
Adara watched the clip idly, the way the hero seemed to stop the car with nothing more than his bare hands and didn't seem to come out unharmed at all intrigued her greatly. Whoever this Spiderman must be enhanced in some kind of way, the only question was how. She doubted there was any working, super-soldier serums left in the world, unless she was wrong. There was always the possibility of the guy being experimented on in some other manner, but Adara couldn't think of many other theories.
"He's enhanced," said Steve, watching the slow-motion, replay of the video clip with a look of vague interest on his face, "I wonder how."
"That's what I was wondering," she bit the inside of her cheek in thought, "I can't really think of anything."
Steve seemed to be brainstorming for a second, before giving a causal shrug of defeat. "Neither can I. He's caught Tony's interest though, whoever that Spider guy is."
"Has he?" Adara looked up from where she was writing her history essay.
"Yeah, I reckon he's figured out his secret identity by now," Steve said, "don't know why he's so interested. Then again, this Spider guy does seem to have a heart that's in the right place."
"What do you mean?"
"He helps people," he gestured to the screen, "deals with petty theft or bank robberies. They might not see important to us, but it seems important to the woman who's about to get her purse stolen."
"I see your point," she contemplated it, "But I don't think I could ever be like that."~
"Sure you could."
"I like making differences in bigger ways," she said firmly.
"By going out and risking your life to take down a couple of low-life Hydra agents," Natasha was stood in the doorway, her tone dry but her eyebrows were raised.
"It makes a difference to me," she assured her with a light smirk, "plus, you guys are the Avengers, you're kind of difficult to compete with, you make a difference by stopping the world from exploding."
"We also seem to cause more problems," sighed Steve, rubbing his forehead.
"Is the super-soldier life tough?" Adara asked, hint of amusement in her tone.
He gave her a tired smile, "it can be."
"It's late," Natasha said suddenly, "why are you still doing homework?"
Adara avoided mentioning her nap, "it's an essay, it takes a whole to do. Plus, it's not that late, it's only," she glanced at her phone, "ten o'clock."
"Right," the redhead rolled her eyes, picking up her laptop and switching it back on, "what's the essay on?"
"The Great Depression," she answered.
"Huh," Steve said suddenly, "the good old days."
"Oh, right," Natasha scoffed, "I forgot you were the ninety-year-old fossil living among us."
He shot the assassin a glare, but it wasn't harsh or annoyed, just lightly amused, then he turned back to Adara "I can help you with it, if you want."
"Sure," she glanced at the news reports about Rumlow he had been reading, "if you've finished your own homework."
He laughed but, after a couple more teasing banter, Steve began recounting his life during the Great Depression and what it had been like. Adara and even Natasha listened in, both taking note about how passionate Steve seemed to be about his own time. They talked for ages, Adara finishing off her essay and it all felt peaceful.
It might just be the last, peaceful moment the three of them would get.
A/N: It's out! It's out! Now, let me sleep. Sorry, my proofreading of this chapter is shitty because I just want to sleep! But first, as always, an incorrect quote.
Peter: So what? Now I'm supposed to do anything that Adara does? I mean, what if she jumped off a cliff?
Tony: If Adara were to jump off a cliff, she would've done her due diligence regarding the height of the cliff, the depth of the water, and the angle of entry, so yes.
If you see Adara jump off a cliff, by all means, jump off a cliff.
Next chapter: More Adara/Peter action and a flashback involving our favourite metal boy (clue, his name sounds like Bucket).