Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Imagine, by John Lennon, from the album Imagine, released in 1971

Sparrow had been making her way back to the Tower when she had heard about Spider-Man's escapades in the city. She'd been picked up by Tony's driver, Happy, as per usual, after a long day of training. It hadn't been too abnormal, she'd trained, eaten, and done all of her usual things. Her notepad was nestled within her lap, and within it held notes on JOCASTA, as well as notes of things she'd done during the day.

Happy had driven a black Audi, the plates private, and while the divider was pulled across, the radio echoed in the back speakers. Some off-beat, highly autotuned- perhaps Tony and Peter had an influence on my music taste, she remarked- pop music rang out, but she ignored it. The song seemed to last forever until it eventually cut off abruptly. Staring out the window, buildings went by, as well as the hectic New York traffic, their horns a symphony.

"And in recent news, Spider-Man has been seen around the city, our favourite web-crawler being seen at various incidents across town. He saved two children and two adults from an apartment fire, rescued the drivers of two vehicles who were involved in a road traffic accident, and was seen helping a young girl rescue her cat. The citizens of New York can rest easy knowing that the web-crawler protects our city."

Tuning in to the radio, she listened to every word avidly. It seemed that Happy had started to pay attention, as he ever so subtly turned to look at the radio, the lines on his forehead narrowing ever so slightly. Sparrow felt a flicker of unease, trying to dismiss it with a flickering thought. I know Peter can handle himself: he was trained by The Avengers after all.

Still, the mere thought of fire almost sent her tumbling into that hole that she kept sealed up tighter than... Fort something. Fort... Knox. That was it! Although perhaps that expression didn't quite make sense considering that she'd broken into Fort Knox with nobody being none the wiser. Still fire.. it reminded her of the orange flickering flames eating the soles of her bare feet when HYDRA had her in what they called 'climate training'.

Then there was the time where she was taught to push through barriers.. such as fire.. or where she had been punished by being burnt, being allowed to heal to a certain degree, then burnt again. That had been agony.. and none of them were experiences she wanted to bring up. And those experiences? Well, they had been the catalyst for her developing her fire ability. Ironic, huh? Still.. she'd probably ask him about any burns he had. Just to be safe.

Happy took another turn, one that led to the entrance of the Tower, and pulled into the underground garage. It didn't take him long to park before he got out without a word and opened her door for her. Picking up her notepad, she stepped out, nodding, before remembering that she should probably address him verbally. Happy, she learned, seemed to be grumpy sometimes, but it was a part of his charm. He still seemed to be wary around her, but unlike most things, Sparrow did understand why.

"Thank you Happy."

He nodded gruffly, as Sparrow made her way to the elevator, the lights around her flickering to life as she moved. She could hear the car door shut before the engine turned back on, and the sound of the tires moving along the concrete bounced around like a bouncy ball. Stepping into the elevator, her notepad still under her arm, the door shut in front of her.

"FRIDAY, can you take me up to the Common Room please?"

The idea was simple. She was tasked with protecting Peter, Tony, and Bucky. An alpha directive, her mind compartmentalised, cannot be ignored, even upon pain of death. Which was why she was sitting stiffly in the Common Room, reading 'I promessi sposi'. It was an intriguing novel, to say the least, about two people being unable to get married due to the overbearing and jealous Lord.

As a result of the prevention of their marriage, the two couples split apart and flee, which then goes on to cause different events. Towards the end, the two of them met again, and finally married.

It killed time, and Sparrow enjoying the freedom she had in regards to reading found herself.. associating with the story? In some ways anyway. If you replaced the 'love' relationship with a 'familiar' one, and the whole separation thing... well, that didn't need to be changed. Shaking her head, she heard the faint ding of the elevator, of what seemed to be several floors above, so stared at the page number for a brief second, committing it to memory, before closing it with a snap.

She carefully and orderly placed it on the little coffee table, before walking towards the kitchen, intending on making Peter something. Although he would never just accept it if she made it just for him, so she always had to make herself one, stage it carefully so that she was just halfway through when he came in, and then politely offer him one. It was foolproof. She reached for the loaf of white bread, retrieving two slices, before twisting the end and folding it back.

Normally, if she was 100% certain nobody else was going to want them, she'd put it straight back after she'd finished, but nobody had cottoned on to that yet. Moving onto the fridge she pulled out the margarine, as well as cheese and ham. The elevator was still on its way up, whirring at its speed, so she had a little bit of time left.

A long time ago, I never would have thought that a task so menial would become the most exciting part of my day. Or that I would even have freedom in the first place. Grabbing a knife and trying to not think about how perfectly it nestled in her hand, or how many lives she'd taken with its brethren, she popped the lid of the margarine and skimmed the top, and began spreading, just as the doors opened to reveal an exhausted-looking Peter, who had his hand in front of his mouth, coughing.

It was a deep, sore sounding, and irritating. Moving to the sink and retrieving a glass, she filled the glass up with water, before passing it to him, silently asking him a question. He reached out with his left hand, before accepting it, raising to his lips and swallowing. As she returned to her sandwich-making process, she glanced at Peter in the corner of her eyes.

He didn't seem too hurt, and other than the smell of ash and dust, and the ugly red patches on his bare hands, she'd think he looked okay. There was, Sparrow had learned, no point in outwardly asking about his wounds because he would just get evasive, and not answer. He stood there, his glass in hand as he rubbed his throat, his Adam's Apple bobbing with every gulp.

"Would you like a sandwich, Peter?"

He took another sip, coughing a little before turning his attention to her, armed with her sandwich. Peter nodded, his hoarse voice barely being heard. FRIDAY took the initiative to start playing 'The Show Must Go On' by Queen lightly, as the TV burst into life in a flash of colour. Peter must have asked his AI to forward a command on.

"Please... "

Peter went over to the sink and washed his empty glass out, as Sparrow quickly replicated her own sandwich. He took the plate from her when she held it out, and moved towards the sofa, sitting down on it as Peter picked up the remote from the table, flicking across.

After putting everything away, she took her plate and resumed sitting where she was sitting prior. They sat like that, in silence with nothing but the constantly changing songs, before Peter turned to face her, their plates discarded on the table, empty of crumbs and chunks.

"FRI, can you put on Rocky please?"

The lights dimmed as the curtains drew shut. Sparrow made to leave, but Peter reached a handout, not coming into contact with her, but enough to gather her attention.

"Do you want to watch it with me?"

Sparrow shrugged, sitting back down and nestling into the corner of the sofa, as the opening scene came on, and Sparrow found herself enjoying the thing more then she thought she would. That was a good thing, right?

Sparrow opened her eyes to see the screen shut off, the curtains still shut, and a blanket loosely draped over them. She didn't even remember closing her eyes, let alone fall asleep. The blanket had seemingly come out of nowhere because Sparrow knew for a fact that neither she or Peter had gotten one while they were watching Rocky.

The singular film had ended up with a half marathon, and together they had watched Rocky 1, 2, 3, and 4. When Peter had explained the premise, it had been one she understood to some extent. What she didn't realise was how they could drag out one idea for so long for there to be eight movies in total. Plus the prequel one that was coming out- no, she hadn't known that but Peter had mentioned that tidbit of knowledge.

Still, rubbing her eyes, she moved to get up, before realising that Peter was resting against her, his arm around her shoulders like it had been flung there when they had been asleep. It was the first truly relaxed sleep she had: normally she was haunted by nightmares or her conditioning just didn't allow her to sleep, but this one had come easily, just like her training.

Sparrow couldn't move without jostling him, and it was a well-known fact how lightly residents of the Tower slept. At this point, it might as well be on an application form to live in the Tower. Hm, that was humour. Without even trying. That's good. It makes me more approachable.

Stuck, she decided to ask what time it was. It'd been roughly four when they'd sat down to watch the film, and if you calculated the total accumulative time of the four films- a simple feat, considering Sparrow's innate ability to keep track of time- it roughly added up to 429 minutes or roughly 7.15 hours. So, it should be around quarter past eleven.

But, it could be any time later, because they'd also fallen asleep at some point during the end of the film, meaning that 11:15 was the absolute minimum time. Since that was pretty unlikely, Sparrow would hedge a guess between 1 AM and 2 AM. Because it was rare that she could sleep for a large chunk of time, and even rarer that she wouldn't somehow wake up.

This caused her sleep schedule to very often coincide with Tony's, especially when Pepper wasn't in the building. Because that woman could make Tony Stark do anything she wanted him to do.. a rather scary feat in all honesty.

"FRIDAY? Do you know what time it is?"

THE AI hummed, as a few gentle lights came on. Enough to let Peter continue to sleep, but bright enough to allow her to see. FRIDAY's voice was a soft whisper, obviously either being aware or have been programmed to, be quiet when it was late and residents of the Tower were sleeping.

"7 AM, Miss Sparrow. Boss has been asked to be informed when one of you were awake. He is currently on his way up from the Workshop."

How? Sparrow asked herself. She never slept that long, even when she was exhausted. Sleep was a luxury, and the habit of sleeping was exactly that, a habit, to be removed and only fallen back on with explicit permission. HYDRA could not allow her to sleep when she was tired, and with constantly going into the cold room- her body instinctively shivering in response to the thought-her sleep schedule was non-existent, hence her normal lack of sleep.

What allowed her to sleep so long this time? It didn't make sense. Sparrow thanked the AI, a little bit late, and her thoughts about her long sleep were replaced by her curiosity about why Tony wanted to see them. Has something happened? No, he wouldn't have waited to tell us that. Something to do with the Avengers? Likely, but he would have told us in an official capacity. His relationship with Pepper? I don't know why he would want to mention that to me.

Sparrow tried to, as a general rule, stay out of Pepper and Tony's relationship, feeling like it was none of her business. While she hadn't had much to do with it, she could see how close the two of them were, and how hard Tony was working to keep the relationship strong. An underlying fear of Tony's, Sparrow knew, was to be left or betrayed by those he loved.

And with his relationship with Pepper going over years, still strong as the day they met? He wanted to, perhaps selfishly, keep a hold of it tightly. To put it simply, the two were in love. Sparrow knew that the two of them tried to keep it on the down-low in both hers and Peter's presence, a weird action because relationships between two people were nothing new to her.

She could pick up the signs, (the gentle touches, softened look, chaste kisses, the ever so slightly long lingering around one another) and manipulate the bond (not that she would EVER do that to anyone ever again.), so the whole effort of it was, to her, pointless, because she could see it plain as day. And Peter, well, Peter and Tony were essentially kin, so there was little to no point in hiding it from him, either.

And that's ignoring the point that they both lived in the Tower, so if Tony and Pepper wanted to hide it, it would be practically a full-time job in itself. To do with court? Possibly. It was due to finish soon I believe. Tony came walking through, a smile wide on his face. He came flanked by Dum-E, Butterfingers, and U, beeping happily behind him, along with Vision, who floated through the floor, almost scaring Sparrow if not for the fact she was used to it.

"The Spiderling's asleep, huh?"

Sparrow nodded, looking at him quizzically. Dum-E drove over to her, nudging into her with a bump of his claw. The bots always made Sparrow smile, for reasons she didn't yet understand. Most people would say that Tony's bots didn't truly live. Morality and the concept of artificial intelligence was a strong argument for most people, with many having the mindset that if it wasn't human, it couldn't live.

But for Sparrow's point of view- something that, despite the months that have passed, she is still unused to having- Tony's bots had personality, could consciously make decisions, and were empathic. Even more so then Sparrow herself, because she had to consciously make the decision to have empathy. Therefore, in her eyes, they were living creatures. Patting Dum-E's chassis, the other two came over, beeping happily when she stroked them all, the cold metal not phasing her in the slightest.

"Would you like me to wake up Peter?"

Tony nodded ever so slightly, as he came and sat down on the other free sofa. Wriggling her arms out, she gently prodded Peter, who was still deeply asleep. He didn't respond to her poking, instead of shifting on the sofa, a soft exhale of breath escaping him. Tony chuckled, amused, as Vision still stood, robotically, in the corner of the room, his arms crossed as she continued to try and wake up Peter.

"It's unlike him to sleep so deeply."

She agreed with him there. Still, maybe he'd just been tired, or maybe he was recovering from the injuries he'd sustained while he was out. Neither person wanted to shake Peter awake in fear of scaring him into a panic attack or some other thing, so she did it the gentle way. She cupped her hands and filled them with water, before keeping the water still and putting Peter's hand into the cold water.

If Tony was concerned, he didn't comment, instead of continuing to watch, his eyes still alight with whatever enthusiasm he had. There was certainly something he was looking forward to announcing. Carefully manipulating the air, the fine precision being something she was used to, she chilled the water down around her, causing it to form fractals of ice, before quickly freezing over.

Once his hand was quickly becoming sealed in ice, Peter awoke sharply, shooting up and pulling his hand out of the ice, sending water droplets flying. She collected them quickly before evaporating them, the water receding quickly. Tony laughed, loudly this time, and a smile found itself on Sparrow's face, as Peter still looked startled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry Peter. You wouldn't wake up."

"She's right, Petey Pie. Anyway, I have news."

"Yeah Tony?.."

Peter asked, rubbing his eye and shuffling to try and get himself comfortable. His arm, the one that hadn't been dunked, jerked back to his side from where it had been snaked around her, and his legs curled up tightly as his back leaned against the arm of the sofa. The rumble of Peter's stomach was audible to everyone, and Sparrow knew she was also hungry, as her stomach followed, so Tony waved his hand emphatically, in those hand gestures that he seemed to love so much.

"FRIDAY, order some pancakes will you? A lot, please. Anyway, despite my track record, all of it is good news. First bit- I've been acquitted of any negligence and wrongdoing regarding Ultron."

Sparrow blinked, before smiling. It had been a long fight, one that, Sparrow knew, Tony wasn't totally convinced he deserved. Everyone blamed him for Ultron, even though Sparrow had been willing to step into the stand and testify otherwise. Tony wouldn't let her. Still, the fact he had been proven innocent was a great thing, and would hopefully alleviate some of the guilt Tony held, but Sparrow doubted that very much.

Peter shot up, smiling wildly, and launched himself towards Tony, hugging him. Tony hadn't allowed Peter or Bruce to face the court over their parts in the Ultron fiasco, and as far as everyone knew, it was just Tony. Because Bruce Banner was the Hulk, a famous Gamma Scientist, and had flawless credentials, other than the Assault of Johannesburg.

And Peter Parker was a seventeen-year-old kid, who nobody would believe that he had any involvement with Ultron. His record was untainted, flawless, and his identity as Spider-Man was hidden. Anthony Stark though, well, his record was laden with mistakes, filled with masks and a troubled childhood, and everybody would be keen to pin it on him. And that was what lead to Sparrow's first-ever visible feeling of anger, which she didn't allow to reach her face.

"That's great Tony!"

The two of them exclaimed, looking at each other with amusement as they said the same thing. Still, Tony smiled as he wrapped his arms around Peter, completing the hug as the three bots drove around in circles, knocking the table and almost tipping several things off of the table due to their clumsy AI.

"And..."

He paused for dramatic effect, with Peter pulling away, to look into Tony's alight brown eyes, pure and happy. It wasn't an emotion that, Sparrow knew, Tony allowed himself to share often in the presence of others, but she was glad he was doing it now.

"I want to propose to Pepper, and I'd like your help."

That... well, that, was unexpected.

Author's Note

Fun fact: I promessi sposi is an actual novel. I haven't read it, but it seemed like something Sparrow would read- if not, just for the fact that it was in Italian.

Anyway, this weeks chapter is actually on time, and I didn't forget to upload it. I'm genuinely apologetic for forgetting, I had a long evening and I was exhausted.

Also, I'd like to highlight something: Please, if you see any mistakes, like the wrong MJ in this continuity for example, please tell me so I can change it. A reviewer pointed out how I'd mentioned Mary Jane in chapter six when it should have been Michelle Jones- since this is the Homecoming Universe. Thank you to the reviewer who pointed that out, it should now be corrected.

QOTW: What does everyone want for Christmas? I want a ukelele, which I can learn how to play, a new amp cord for my guitar, and the new Pokemon game for Switch. I look forward to hearing what you guy's want!

Anyway, see you all next time!

~Cait