A/N: I can pretty much confirm that the next chapter is gonna be the civil war kick off, I reckon this is as natural a flow into it as I'm gonna get. Prepare yourself for a serious Peter/Adara scene in this chapter, I've been hyped to write it for ages! Also, I put a little Guardians of the Galaxy easter egg in this (it's not little), so look out for that! I'm gonna see the new Jurassic World movie tomorrow, which I'm pretty hyped for. I still need to see Solo as well, so that's a lot of cinema trips for me!
Blueerimartian: Y'all need to stop asking me questions about Civil War, I'm not gonna spoil a thing ;)
Guest (1): Interesting theory, you'll just have to see what happens…
DarkLordofMemes: That's actually a cool idea.
hufflepuff gal 4520: Civil War is gonna be an angst fest, but I don't want to spoil how it ends up.
Buckynat1991: I definitely plan on keeping the mentor/dad relationship Tony has with Peter because that is my favourite part of Homecoming, and I just love Dad!Tony. As for your other questions, they will be answered in upcoming chapters, I promise you.
Guest (2): We still have this chapter to go until we get to Rumlow.
Ushallnotpass: Thank you so much for pointing this out! I'll go back and check it after this is up. I don't speak French and any correction on my work is much appreciated!
Lucy Jacob: Things are quite awkward between the two of them, they can't quite figure out what it is that's keeping them from growing closer. But, this chapter gives you a MAJOR Peter/Adara moment.
Thanks to: blueerimartian, Guest (1), Sailor Luck, DarkLordofMemes, hufflepuff gal 4520, buckynat1991, PumpkinSpiceAndEverythingNice, Assbitch67, amandaaa1579, Jaygeek, Guest (2), Ushallnotpass, completelyBOOKed, BaritoneMufasa, Lucy Jacob, Lm17, A Frozen Shadow, lizlil, merediththemango, PapaBear71, Aura and thaliahuntress9 for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter. Your support is really appreciated!
"You can't have the bad guys without a hero
And I'm the only one who's got a cape"
September 19th, 2013
THE DAY OF THE ESCAPE
How long had it been? Two weeks? A month? Adara hadn't seen the sunlight in ages, and it felt like time didn't even exist in this Hydra base. She was twelve and rather skinny for her age, as well as having unnaturally, green eyes that seemed to pierce the soul of anyone she chose to glare at. But Adara didn't glare, she knew what would happen if she was rude to anyone here. She also couldn't remember the last time she had seen Luka, though his presence wasn't missed.
After her escape attempt from the base in Siberia, in which she was found half-dead and nearly frozen in the snowy forest, Alexander Pierce had decided it was finally time to move the girl to a place where he could keep a better eye on her, separating her from Luka. Where she was, she was unsure, but a part of her figured that it was a bank in America. Unlike in the old bases, everyone spoke English with distinct American accents. Where she was in America, she also wasn't certain of, she wasn't great at placing accents to certain cities or regions, she hadn't had enough interaction with American people to know anything about their voices or where they came from, other than what she had been forced to study in books.
She hated it here, there was no doubt about that. She had hated it in Siberia, it was always too cold and the base seemed to constantly smell of damp and mould. Plus, Luka had been harsh, forcing her to train every day until her body couldn't take anymore. There were others at the Siberian base too, ones that tended to be violent and saw her as a target to attack. She had hated it there, privacy hadn't existed for her, yet she still felt so alone. Here, in the bank, it was the opposite. Pierce was a busy man, so she rarely ever saw him and she reckoned that he cared very little for her. Most of the time, she was on her own, left in the corner of a room whilst Hydra agents did their own work around her. Sure, she would still get beaten if she was even a step out of line, and they would still take her blood and test out her powers but, most of the time, she was isolated within herself with nothing to do but get sucked into her own memories, something she wasn't a fan of.
That's what she had expected to be doing today, until Alexander Pierce entered the building.
Adara tracked him through her narrowed, green eyes, her expression passive and blank, not wanting to draw attention to herself. It was obvious that the man was here on important business and didn't want to concern himself with the problematic, teenager who, as he saw it, was probably more trouble than she was worth.
No, he had other things in mind.
"As you know," he began his speech as the usual buzz of the Hydra base stopped to turn to look at him, "in only a few months from now, Project Insight will be put into action."
Project Insight? Words that didn't carry anything meaningful to Adara. Her best guess was that it was some evil, Hydra plot for 'the greater good of humanity.' Nothing she needed to concern herself with.
"It's time for the world to change," to give the man credit, his voice was made for making speeches like this one, "humanity can no longer sustain their life in this current world. However, to reach out goal, there are still a few obstacles that we need to…" His facial expression was grim, "eliminate. Director Fury, as well as Captain Rogers, are the two most powerful people in our way," Pierce went on, "both men are difficult to take down. Which is why," he paused, scanning the room, "we will be bringing the Winter Soldier out of cryo-freeze several weeks earlier than planned."
This caught her attention, Adara clenched at the mention of the dreaded Winter Soldier. When she was younger, he had thought he was a robot as she couldn't quite comprehend how one man could have eyes so cold and a manner so ruthless. Then Adara had been forced to kill herself and figured that maybe it wasn't the most impossible thing ever. Not to mention, she had seen the man been controlled by some of the others at the Siberian base, they would use Russian words that seemed to trigger something within him, making him complicit to commands. Adara wondered whether they were going to do something like that to her.
She hadn't seen him in two years, the last memory she had of him was when he was being dragged into the cryo-freeze chamber after suddenly becoming disobedient. They had been in the middle of training, Luka had been testing her to see how quickly she could dodge attacks, which proved to be hard against someone twice her size, triple her strength and who also had a metal arm. Then, he had suddenly frozen, mumbling something in Russian about 'a train,' 'nazis' and the name 'Steve' over and over. Luka had called in the guards but, just before they dragged him off into the cryo-chamber, their eyes had locked and, for the first time, Adara had thought she had seen something a little human in them.
It turned out, the Winter Soldier was being released from cryo today and, undeniably curious, Adara followed the Hydra agents into a cold, dark room a floor below the one they had been on before. She noticed that no one was really paying attention to her, she didn't even know if any of them wanted her watching this.
At the far end of the room was the cryo-chamber, a tall, sinister structure with a window at the front, allowing you to see inside. Through the frosted glass, Adara could make out the face of the Winter Soldier, eyes closed, looking more human and less like the terrifying robot-like man she remembered from her younger years. Attached to the chamber were several wires and devices, all very complicated looking and beyond her knowledge. However, there were several scientists milling around. The only other people in the team were a couple guards, a man named Rumlow as well as a few other members from the SHIELD strike team and, of course, Alexander Pierce himself. Adara hung back, her eyes narrowed in curiosity but still unwilling to draw attention to herself.
"You may begin," Pierce gestured to one of the scientists.
Adara watched distantly as one of the scientists pressed on the buttons and the walls around the chamber began to slowly lift up, revealing the entire body of the Winter Soldier. He slumped out and a couple guards underneath, who then dragged him into the next room, the room where they kept the mind wipe, an intimidating device. They shoved him down on the chair, the scientists preparing to begin the wipe, his stare was completely blank. Before they could get it underway, Pierce raised his hand for them to stop, finally registering Adara's presence.
"And who said you could down here?" He asked, his voice dreadfully cold.
Adara had since learnt that expressing emotion was useless, "no one, sir."
"So why did you follow?"
Blank, green eyes locked onto commanding, blue eyes. "I don't know, sir."
"Surely there must be a reason for you to have followed us down here," when she didn't answer, he sighed, "you are a real pain. You'd be better use to me dead if it wasn't for Luka's faith in the chameleon particle." One thing that Adara noticed was that Pierce never used her name, unlike Luka. "In fact, you could only be useful to Hydra if you were wiped, do you want that?"
Adara glanced over at the Winter Soldier who, as she noticed suddenly, was staring right back at her. He seemed to be calculating something in his head, his blue gaze filled with an intent that she couldn't quite figure out.
"No, sir," she answered quietly.
"Then you better learn some respect," he said, not yelling but his tone was stern. When Pierce got angry, his voice turned eerily cold, unlike Luka who would be quick to get physically angry, shouting and taking it out on her. Pierce often got angry with her. She was no fool, she knew that he hated her. "Otherwise you will end up like him." He let out a sigh, gesturing for a guard, "take her away."
Adara didn't even bother fighting back as the guard approached, it was at times like this where she wished she was dead.
"No," muttered someone. The room paused, everyone's eyes on the Winter Soldier.
He was looking at her, a dim spark in his cold, blue eyes. It wouldn't be until much later that Adara would learn that she was looking at Bucky Barnes, rather than the Winter Soldier.
"What did you say?" Pierce turned away from Adara facing him.
Suddenly, he lashed out, using his metal arm to punch the scientist standing next to him before taking down the other one down at his other side. The guards quickly rushed forward, aiming their guns at him but that didn't seem to stop him, he was aware that they wouldn't kill him. The guard holding Adara let go to tame the assassin and the Winter Soldier or, more accurately, Bucky Barnes, shot Adara Thomas one last, meaningful look.
She knew what to do.
Without a moment's more hesitance, she hurried out the room, walking at a pace not too quick to seem suspicious but not slow enough to let her get caught as several other guards streamed into the room to contain the Soldier. The door shut behind her, containing the Winter Soldier and leaving her on her own in the building. Now it was a matter of finding a way out.
She walked up several flights of stairs, continuously checking for noises and making sure no one was following her. Her entire body was pumping but also trembling with adrenaline as her heartbeat dangerously fast in her chest. She could feel her hands getting clammy and she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she was a short, middle-aged, brunette woman who showed signs of early ageing. The clothes didn't quite suit her, she was wearing a plain, military green t-shirt and leggings, not exactly what a middle-aged lady going to work would wear. It would just have to do.
Doing her best to hide her shudders of fear, she emerged on one of the upper floors where a bunch of Hydra workers were typing stuff up on a computer. None of them were field agents, much to her relief. She made her way through them, no one even bothered to glance up at the strangely-dressed middle-aged woman. She did her best to keep her expression blank until she reached a pair of doors. Adara had never gone beyond these doors before, you needed an ID card to get through. She eyed it warily.
"Can we help you, ma'am?" Asked a guard behind her.
She turned, registering that there were two of them, each with guns as well as knives in their belts. And, most conveniently, ID cards hanging around their neck. This could be useful, a plan was forming in her mind.
"Uh-yes, actually," she said, forcing the French out of her, "I was wondering if you had seen my ID card anywhere? I seemed to have forgotten it," she forced out a laugh, "I'm so silly!"
The two's faces remained blank. The first one spoke, "I'm afraid we haven't. If you tell us your name, we might be able to find it."
"Of course, my name is," she paused, "Okay, fuck this."
Before either could react, she had snatched the second man's knife, stabbing him in the gut, causing him to cry out in pain. Before the first one could grab his gun, she slipped closer towards him and jumped up, landing a painful slice across his throat. He gargled and collapsed to the floor. She grabbed his gun and ID card. She kept the weapon pointed at everyone else in the room as she slotted the card in the scanner, it beeped and let her through.
She rushed through the doors, slamming it behind her and shooting the ID scanner on this side. Windows! Adara couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a window. Unconsciously, she had reverted back to her normal form, the adrenaline still rushing through her. She rushed to the window, she was on the ground floor!
"Thank you, Winter Soldier," she muttered to herself, smashing the glass open and jumping out.
She stumbled out onto the pavement, freaking out some nearby walkers who asked if she was okay.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, "what city is this?"
The couple glanced at each other. "It's Washington D.C, dear," said the woman, "are you quite sure you're okay?"
"Yep," she shoved past them, legging down the street and as far away from the bank as possible, not looking back.
A part of her thought that the Winter Soldier's actions back there were purposeful, he had meant to give her the opportunity to escape, his meaningful look by the end was enough of a tip-off. However, it wouldn't have been the first time it had happened, plus, he was just about to have his mind wiped again and he hadn't been placed under Hydra's weird mind control yet, so it could've been him just lashing out in confusion after waking up.
Either way, Adara had escaped, she could feel the fresh air on her face.
She was free, at last.
Beep. Beep.
At the sound of her alarm going off, Adara stirred from her memory/dream, twisting over in bed to press the snooze button and yawning, before drifting off again.
"Adara!" Steve yelled from downstairs, "I heard the alarm, get up or you're going to be late for school!"
Sighing, she did so, rolling out of bed and slumping down the stairs, into the kitchen. The kitchen table was covered in papers as well as several screens showing camera footage. Natasha seemed to be absorbed in her work, eyebrows furrowed and hair tucked behind her ears to keep it out of her face. Adara groggily grabbed some bread and shoved it in the toaster.
"Sleep well?" Asked Natasha.
"I could ask you the same," she snarked a reply.
"I'll get a good night's sleep once we found Rumlow," she grumbled, "but, I do think we're nearly there."
"I feel like we've been searching for this guy forever," snorted Adara, "do you any idea of what he's planning?"
"A little," Natasha leant back, her eyes thoughtful, "I don't think he went to Lagos just to hide, he's planning something. Rumlow wants revenge, he wants attention," she glanced up at Adara who was currently shoving a piece of toast into her mouth, "he's planning something big, a terrorist attack. Maybe its a bomb or something else, but I don't know if we'll be able to get to him in time."
"Sure you will," Adara finished her toast, "you said it yourself, Rumlow wants attention. No offence, but you'll find him when he wants you to find him."
"That a worrying thought."
"But you've still gotta catch him. Either way, we're doing a better job than the UN, that's for sure."
After eating breakfast, Adara headed back upstairs, quickly showering and brushing her teeth. She put on a plain pair of black leggings and a white, Levi's t-shirt, accompanied with a casual denim jacket over the top. Before she grabbed her bag and left, she popped her head around the living room door to see Natasha had moved to where the tv was on and Steve was sitting beside her on the sofa, both were working.
"By the way, Peter's coming round after school."
Steve raised an eyebrow, "for those sparring matches you do?"
"Yeah," she crossed her arms over her chest, smug grin on her face, "he's getting better, not as good as me though, obviously. I think I'm a great teacher."
Natasha suddenly laughed and Steve and Adara looked at her. The redhead gave a knowing smile, "I'm sure he thinks the same."
The school day, as always, passed by at a painfully slow rate. Adara couldn't help but notice how boring life had been lately. Aside from her side hobby of taking down Hydra, one agent at a time, there was almost nothing exciting going on anymore. She was fairly certain that Luka had given a rest on trying to get her to rejoin them. In fact, she hadn't seen him since he had been at their school all the way back in November. Adara shuddered at the memory, it was a fact she still struggled to deal with, and, therefore, rarely thought about. No, life was as normal as it could get for Adara Thomas. Yet, a part of her felt like something was going to happen, like there was some other event just around the corner.
Her dream hadn't helped. Though she hadn't put much thought into it in the morning as she had been rushing to get out the house, due to the dullness of school, she had had plenty of time to contemplate the memory. It was a memory with a happy ending, but it had also been one of the most terrifying moments of her life. She would never forget walking through those corridors, trying her best to appear normal despite the pounding of her heart in her chest. The next few weeks had been a nightmare too, she hadn't remained in her natural form for more than a few minutes, she had lived under different aliases and under different disguises, but never under a roof. No, that had happened when she had hopped on a train to New York and, unlike in Washington, she had remained in her normal state, half-starved and freezing on the streets. Then social services had picked her up and she had been shoved into the foster system, another forgotten child. Until she met Steve and Natasha. And had to leave James behind. James… No, now wasn't the time to think about him.
Then there was the matter of the Winter Soldier, the terrifying assassin with cold, blank, blue eyes that never seemed to care about anything going on in the world. Some of her knew that he had intentionally caused a scene, allowing her to escape. But the other part of her, the part that couldn't quite let go of her childhood fear of the man, was certain that he had just had another one of his 'freakouts' and he had had no intention in giving her the opportunity to escape. Yet, here she was, freer than she had ever been before. The assassin intentionally causing a scene to let her escape sounded less like the Winter Soldier, and more like Bucky Barnes, from what she had learnt from history books and the stories Steve had told her. It was obvious that the blonde super soldier missed his friend, why wouldn't he? Bucky, along with a dying Peggy Carter, were the only two people left from his old life. Everyone else he knew was long gone. Adara couldn't imagine what that would be like.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Said someone suddenly, drawing her out of her thoughts.
Her, Ned, Peter and Michelle, sitting down the other end of the table, were at their usual spot in the canteen. Harry was in the library.
"Huh?" She blinked.
"I asked what you were thinking about," Peter told her, "you seemed kinda sucked into your own thought then, Dara."
"I was?" She had been distracted for a while, she tried to think of an excuse, "actually, I was thinking about the Spiderman."
This seemed to really perk Peter's interest, as well as Ned's.
"You were?" Asked the latter, "did you see the video of him stopping the bus? You know, the one on youtube?"
"Obviously, I saw it," she nodded.
"Why were you thinking about it then?" Peter questioned.
Adara shrugged, "I mean, he seemed like a strong dude. I mean, super strong. He managed to stop that speeding car in seconds without getting a single injury on him." Peter couldn't help but feel a swell of pride within him, "that's nothing that a normal human could do. I don't get where he got the strength."
"Maybe he's like Superman," Ned said, "like he's an alien or something."
Adara considered this, "maybe, but I was thinking more along the lines of realism."
"Aliens exist," insisted Ned, "I mean, what about those Aliens who kidnapped that kid in the eighties? What was his name again?"
"Peter Quill," Peter said suddenly, "the only reason I remember is 'cause he has the same name as me."
"That was totally a hoax," Adara snorted dismissively, "you guys have been watching too many youtube conspiracy videos. The kid's mom had just died, he probably ran away or something."
"People in the hospital described seeing lights come out of nowhere," Ned argued, "and at least ten others saw a spaceship. No other trace of the boy was found."
"Spiderman is not Peter Quill," Adara said, "I reckon he's got some kind of super-soldier thing running through him. Like St-" she cut herself off, no one really called the Avengers by their actual name, unless it was Tony Stark they were talking about. "Like Captain America."
"But where would he get the super-soldier serum?" Ned wondered aloud, "or Hydra experimented on him!"
"I don't know," she hummed in thought, getting surprisingly invested in all this theorising, "what do you think, Pete?"
He looked up at the mention of his name, feeling a little put on the spot. "I- uh- dunno. Maybe he was born with it or something." Did he sound like he actually didn't know? Or that he was just pretending not to know? The fact that he was bitten by a spider was a little too specific of an origin, they'd get suspicious if he said that.
"Like an alien!" Exclaimed Ned.
Adara seemed to disagree, "No…"
"Thor's an alien."
"Yeah, but Thor isn't some skinny lad in a onesie stopping cars, is he?" Sighed Adara, Peter suppressed a blush of embarrassment at the word 'skinny lad,' "Spiderman is not an alien."
"Peter Quill isn't an alien."
"Peter Quill is not Spiderman," she repeated from earlier.
"Maybe," Peter was doing his best to steer the possibility of him being Spiderman away, "he could've been in an accident at a nuclear power plant. Like, he got his powers from radioactivity."
"I thought that was only in movies," frowned Adara.
"Maybe he's a teenage mutant ninja turtle," said Ned.
"He's not a turtle," she gave him a look.
"Yeah, but he's a teenage mutant ninja spider."
Peter shrugged, "doesn't really have the same ring to it."
The bell rang, signalling the beginning of the next lesson, gym. the three of them quickly got up, heading towards the changing rooms. Adara, of course, separated from the other two so she could enter the girl's locker room, getting changed besides Michelle. The two girls didn't speak but, when they did, it was usually dry, sarcastic conversation. Neither of them were much for chit-chat.
"Hey, Adara," said a voice behind her, just as she finished putting on her gym top.
"Hey, Liz," she greeted, confused to what the academic decathlon leader could want, "what's up?"
"I was just wondering," she began, "you're one of Peter's friends, right?"
Adara suppressed a smirk, knowing that the boy had a massive crush on Liz. "Yeah, he's a friend of mine, why?"
"I was just wondering if you could let him know that I need to talk to him tomorrow during lunch," she said, "I needed to have a word with him about his grades slipping."
"Oh, yeah," Peter's grades were slipping? That was surprising, "I'll let him know."
"Thanks," the girl smiled and walked off.
"Why didn't she tell me herself?" Frowned Peter after she told him, "we're in the same gym class."
"Maybe she didn't realise," she shrugged, her tone teasing, "you are a pretty generic looking guy, Pete."
He shot her a light-hearted glare, "thanks, Dara."
"Who cares?" Said Ned, "Liz Allan wants to speak with you! Maybe she wants to ask you out on a date!" Adara laughed when he said the statement, immediately labelling the idea as 'idiotic.'
"She wants to talk to you about your grades," she told Peter, "apparently their slipping."
"Yeah," he didn't seem that bothered about it, "I've been busy lately."
Something didn't add up, Adara instantly knew that. Peter was great in school, what else could possibly be distracting him? She didn't have time to question further as Coach Wilson demanded them to be quiet and the lesson begun.
They were downstairs in the gym, preparing for another one of their sparring matches. Adara was, as usual, wearing shorts and a cropped t-shirt. Across from her, on the other side of the gym mat, Peter was wearing a pair of knee-length shorts and a simple, grey t-shirt. The air conditioning was on full blast, it was a warm day and their fights were usually quite training.
"Ready, Pete?" Dara asked, already in a defensive stance.
He nodded, "as ever," bouncing on the balls of his feet.
A few seconds past, neither of them relaxed. It was all a matter of who would dare to make the first strike. It was Adara, she suddenly rushed forward with a powerful kick aimed at his head. Without his spider senses, Peter probably wouldn't have been able to see it coming, but he did, and he ducked under. Then, just as her leg lowered, he aimed a punch at her, which she dodged with ease and suddenly ran at him. He was taken off guard by the slightly shorter girl suddenly barreling into his chest, but he remained standing. Adara was smart and saw this coming, and used the moment of confusion to elbow him in the ribs. He let out a hiss of pain and grabbed her arm, grip too strong for her to pull out of it. However, she simply just kicked him in the gun and twisted his other arm with her free hand. Ignoring his pain, he landed a kick to her side and she stumbled to the ground, winded, looking at him with an approving smirk.
"Nice move," she complimented, before bouncing back onto his feet.
Gaining confidence, he turned offensive, throwing more punches and kicks, forcing Adara to switch into defensive mode, meaning she was backed further and further off the mat. There was one move she had left, and she felt a little bad about using it on him. But, she didn't want to lose either.
Peter was taken aback when the girl suddenly sent a flying, roundhouse kick towards his face. He dodged it but was surprised when the leg rested on his shoulder instead of the ground. In a split second, her other leg was up and her thighs were squeezing his neck. He tried to get her off, but she twisted downwards, placing her hands on the floor as though she were doing a cartwheel, and wheeling her legs over her head, taking him with her and smacking him against the floor. He hit it with a loud thump and groaned at the pain in his shoulders. If he had been a normal human without increased healing, that would've left a bruise.
Before he could get up, Adara was over him, straddling him so he stayed down.
"What the hell was that?" He muttered, feeling slightly put-off.
"Headscissor takedown," she grinned at him, looking slightly breathless, "I usually only use the move in dire circumstances, but I didn't want to use."
Peter had no idea what those 'dire circumstances' could be. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"My aunt taught me," she smirked, "she's pretty kickass. Don't tell her I said that."
"I never want to fight your aunt."
"Anyway," Peter wasn't sure if she realised that she was still straddling him as she continued to speak, "that was pretty good. The constant barrage of offensive attacks is great when it comes to backing opponents into corners and exhausting them, but you still need to be watching them to see if they'll lash out suddenly. Other than that, your form was good, you were dodging most of my attacks without any problems and you even managed to get a couple good hits on me." She gave him a genuine smile, "nice job."
Oh, God, this was a little uncomfortable for Peter, "uh- thanks. Can I…?"
"Oh, yeah," she rolled off of him, giving him a hand up.
He brushed himself off and then looked at her, grin on his face. Suddenly, he lunged and, Adara, taken back, reflexively kicked him in the gut and grabbed his arm, twisting it. He fought back, grabbing her shoulder. They were so intimate, that this might've looked a little strange to anyone else.
After a few more seconds of wrestling, Adara managed to shove Peter to the ground, pinning him underneath her.
"Damn," he grumbled, "I thought I had you then."
She started to laugh. It wasn't a short giggle or a dismissive snicker. No, she was properly laughing, amused by his sudden behaviour. Peter, for a moment, forgot he was pinned underneath her and took a moment to listen to her surprisingly melodic laugh and look at her face, lit up and smiling.
Then she stopped, her green eyes locking with his warm, brown ones. At that moment, he forgot he was crushing on Liz. He acted instinctively.
Adara ceased up for a moment, taken by surprise by his action. It hadn't been anything extreme, nothing more than a peck on the lips, but it was more than she had ever experienced. Adara had probably been kissed before, by her mother or 'father' when she was a baby. But that was it. Was this her first kiss? Was it good? Was it bad? Adara hadn't hated it, she was just surprised. In fact, it was actually quite sweet.
This wasn't Peter's first kissed, he had kissed Betty Brant twice when they had dated for two and a half days in kindergarten. However, he had been six-years-old and couldn't really remember what had happened or how he had done it. It had been a stupid, kindergarten relationship, nothing significant and nothing he really remembered aside from May's teasing. This, however, was entirely different. He had kissed Adara out of the blue, he hadn't even meant to. He liked Liz. But then, why did that feel right?
And then there was the awkward tension. Adara was looking right at Peter, her eyebrows furrowed as if working out a maths equation and her eyes burning right into his.
"I- uh," he said, "sorry."
She didn't really know what to do with herself, so she got off of him. "It's- um- fine."
Well done, Peter, you've made everything awkward! God, why had he done it? What had overcome him to do it? He was such an idiot! Just as he and Adara were growing closer again, he had to screw it up and do this! Yet, his guilt wasn't that extreme, he knew a part of him was glad he had done it.
There had always been an underlying tension between her and Peter, Adara knew that. What that tension had been, she was unsure. She had theories ranging from Peter secretly hating her to them not properly making up after their argument. But, maybe she had been wrong. Maybe this had been it. If anyone else had done it, like Ned, Michelle, Flash or Harry, she would've been furious, she would've yelled at them for kissing her with no warning and no reason. But Peter Parker had kissed her. Her friend, Pete. And she wasn't berating him for.
Think of an excuse, Peter! The last thing he wanted to do was stay here. He wasn't exactly the most charismatic guy, there was no way he was charming his way out of this, or casually shaking it off like it was nothing. It hadn't been nothing. It had been something.
"I- uh- should go," he said, "I think May might want me."
Under any other circumstances, Adara might've questioned his actions, but, this time, she needed him to go so she could clear her head and figure this out.
"Yeah, okay," she said, "see you tomorrow, I guess."
"Uh- yeah," he was relieved that she wasn't pissed at him, "see you tomorrow."
Peter left, leaving Adara alone with her thoughts. She was the Bluebell, she knew how to deal with men twice her side attacking her. She had been shot in the shoulder twice and had once slit her hand open to escape from handcuffs. She had escaped from Hydra, she had watched her parents die, she had killed men just so she wouldn't get a beating. She had found out that the man who had abused her relentlessly, who haunted her dreams, was her father.
Yet, her brain was moving in circles every time she thought about the kiss, unable to work it out. Her mind kept coming back to the same question.
Did Adara Thomas have feelings for Peter Parker?
A/N: Whoop! There's a cheeky kiss for y'all! How are they gonna deal with this now that Civil War is on the verge of beginning? Find out in the next chapter. Whilst you wait, why not have a look at an incorrect quote?
Peter: I wish you could block people in real life.
Harry: Restraining order.
Adara: Murder.
Let's do another one because my mood is good!
Adara: I'm cold.
Peter: Here, have my jacket.
Steve: I'm cold too.
Natasha: Well fuck, Cap. Want me to set you on fire?
And another one because I love you! (and I have so many good ones)
Peter: Dara, are you alright?
Adara: yeah, why?
Peter: You asked the woman at the store if damage repair shampoo also worked on emotions.
Next chapter: The very, very beginning of Civil War and awkward tension between our two favourite teenagers!