CHAPTER 22: Ever Onwards

It was a solid hour before anyone thought to ask Carol "So, where exactly are we going?"

Natasha inevitably asked the question

"Well, I'm going to stop off at my family's place. You two are headed to New York, is that right?" Carol shot back as she man-spreads and leans back way too far to be comfortable at the helm, keeping eye contact with the Black Widow the whole time. Natasha rolled her eyes at the juvenile display.

"I only pretend like I know everything, Captain. And What's this about New York?" Natasha said, emphasizing 'captain' with a 'could-not-be-more-false' salute.

"I would like to know as well," Wanda chirped from the back of the craft. With an exaggerated sigh, Carol sat back up straight made sure the autopilot was engaged and got out of her seat.

"I'm headed to my daughter's place; hopefully more of the family will be there, but I'll see. Monica and my daughter-in-law, Maggie, have been hosting the family that died five years ago." Carol said with pride. She didn't miss Wanda's flinch at the mention of the Decimation.

The Captain put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder as she walked around the centre console built to project holograms, not unlike a Kree vessel's design. "I'm not sure if Natasha here told you or not, but my daughter's wife is Steve's granddaughter."

"What's she like?" Wanda couldn't help but asking sheepishly.

"My daughter or her wife?" Carol asked with a smirk.

"Both?" Wanda replied.

"Well my daughter Monica is flawless in every way," Carol starts off with every bit of seriousness, "And Captain America's granddaughter Maggie is the only person I've met who can match her step for step. The super soldier serum is became an inherited trait actually, so Maggie was always able to spar at full power with her grandfather as well. Or at least until his knees started to give out. My grandchild is gonna have the best moms," Carol drifts off with a dreamy smile.

"You do realize how vague that is right?" Natasha said. Carol chuckled and gave a shrug.

"Why are we going to New York? What is there for us?" Wanda asked, with a new level of anxiety in her voice.

Carol shared a knowing look with Natasha before the blonde responded, "I'm gonna join up with you two there, tomorrow at the latest. "Don't worry kid." She ruffled Wanda's hair, much to the teenager's annoyance. Though she'd be lying if she wasn't relieved by Carol's clarification reguarding their temporary separation.

"It's a who, not a what." Natasha said. "Parker."

"Parker?" Wanda tilted her head, "That middle schooler who was at the Berlin fight?"

Carol snorted at Wanda's classification of the young man as 'middle schooler'. "Yeah, him. Steve asked me to look after him. Apparrently Stark was kind of a pillar in the boy's life."

"Does it always come back to Stark?" Wanda grumbled.

"It kinda feels like it huh?" Carol mused. Natasha just rolled her eyes at her new friend.

"Parker; he's an orphan, like you," Natasha started. But the more she thought about trying to explain how Stark was actually a decent care-taker to the boy when he was in town, she realised Wanda would just be alienated further.

"That's very sad, but as you know I grew up on the streets and knew many orphans until Hydra took us in. But what does this have to do with Stark?" Wanda's eyes were growing colder by the second.

"You should learn to not project your anger," Carol interrupted. "The kid has little to do with what Stark inflicted on you."

Wanda didn't say anything, though she grit her teeth a little, recognizing the wisdom in Carol's words.

Natasha decided to take over again, "Basically, Stark was to Parker what I am to you. So he's grieving, probably more than anyone outside of Morgan and Pepper. I figured you could empathize."

"Oh," Wanda mumbled. There wasn't that much to say to that after all. She felt guilty about the disappointed look forming on Natasha's face. "Alright then." She went and sat down towards the back.

Carol shot Natasha a slightly reproachful look, but Natasha just shrugged. "Well, here's where I get off, I'll meet y'all in New York tomorrow or the day after, depending on how my reunion goes," Captain Marvel said as she picked up a backpack that was sitting on the floor unnoticed in a corner of the aircraft.

"See you later," Natasha replied with a small grin and an uncharacteristically awkward wave; which wanda noticed with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks for our talk," Wanda said quietly.

"No problem kid, here's my number," she said, pulling a sharpie out of seemingly nowhere and jotting her digits on Wanda's exposed forearm, to the teenager's mild annoyance. "Also," Carol paused before hopping over to where Natasha was standing. "You're a great body pillow," she quipped before laying a kiss on the assassin's cheek and then proceeded to phase through the wall of the quadjet and blasted off out of sight towards her family.

There was silence in the jet in the wake of Carol's abrupt departure until Wanda's giggling could no longer be contained. Natasha, recovered from the shell-shocked expression she'd been wearing, shot a glare at her protégé. "Is there something you want to tell me about you and Carol, Natasha?" Wanda asked with a shit-eating grin.

Natasha ignored Wanda's question and turned on her heel before the teenager could notice her light blush. "Don't you fucking dare," she muttered as she stalked back towards the cockpit; leaving Wanda to dissolve into full-blown laughter.

BROOKLYN

There was a knock at the door of the Parker's modest apartment. "Peter?" May Parker called from their living room. "The pizza is here!"

Peter Parker was sitting in his room, watching tribute videos to Iron Man on YouTube; the one currently playing was paired with Linkin Park's Numb. He hit pause and took a breath before gathering his emotional strength. "Coming," he mumbled as he checked his phone. Michelle, or 'MJ' as she now insisted he call her, had left a few texts asking where the fuck he was and why he was being an ass hat for not responding. He picked up his phone from the bed and put it in his pocket. On some level, no matter how selfish it might seem, he was eternally grateful that Ned and MJ had been disintegrated too. He didn't know what he'd do without them in his immediate life after Tony's sacrifice.

"Hey, Peter there's a couple people here to see you!" his head turned at his Aunt's words.