A/N: Somehow, despite not being in school, I have been dumped with so much work it's exhausting. I had to make a powerpoint with fifty slides of analysis, so really I feel shattered but now it's Easter break and I don't have any lessons for the next two weeks. And it's also looking very doubtful that I'll be back at school after Easter, or for the rest of the year actually… Yikes.
Anyway, this chapter isn't my favourite as it's a lot of dialogue but we get some very happy reunions but a rather sad Adara. Obviously, I can never let her feel happiness in any way whatsoever, but we also get a few of Harry and Adara friendship moments which is always my favourite part to write.
Sorry if I don't get back to all the reviews today, it's just a little late, just know that every single one is appreciated and means the world to me :)
Odie.18: Don't worry, you'll get your Bucky and Sam reaction.
New-Zealands-Version-Of-Pluto: Aha, I'm glad you caught up and thank you! That's so nice, your review genuinely made my day :D
The Cheese Reaper: You and your mom have good taste! I absolutely love the humour in Prodigal Son, it's very well written.
Thanks to: Hermione Romanoff, TheMaximumExperience, bubblesrox33, Odie.18, Kwanine, Mogor, New-Zealands-Version-Of-Pluto, The Cheese Reaper, alxnnxh and whiterosekid for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter! Feeling a little emotional now that we're near the end, but all of you guys had made this whole story worthwhile!
"They say the end is coming sooner
But the end's already here
I said today is but a rumor
That we'll laugh at in a year
Or two, or three, or four, or five, whatever"
The moment a girl in a hospital on the other side of the city breathed life into her dying body was the exact moment O'Leary's heart suddenly gave out. There had been no warning. He died alone, confused and without knowledge on how this could have possibly happened, without knowledge that Adara would live another day at the cost of his own life.
He wouldn't be found until a few hours later, when he would be taken to hospital. There would be no record of him, no one could find his name on any databases. The nurses would just frown and shake their heads at the man who had no one and was no one who would die alone, a random man with plenty of life left ahead of him whose heart suddenly gave out. Wasn't it a shame?
He was buried as a John Doe in a cheap coffin in a Potter's Field. The grave was unmarked, but records online and small articles in the local paper listing the deaths of John Doe's gave the location of the grave.
O'Leary only had one visitor though. One week later. A girl with fiery green eyes who stared at the cheap wooden stick that marked his gave. She carried no flowers, no card or anything else. All she did was use the heel of her boot to make her mark in the damp mud. Then, she turned and left.
When Adara took her first gasp of air, it felt wrong. Something was clamped around her mouth, and she felt as though a million tubes were sticking into her body. She shot up and ripped off the oxygen mask, taking a proper breath of air, the feeling crisp and real on her lungs. Pain shot up her sides but it wasn't debilitating, not like it had been before.
She glanced at her stomach and, though it was covered in a hospital gown, she barely felt the injury. Two stab wounds but, when she pressed against it, she just got a dull ache. Painful, yes, but nothing compared like it had been before.
"It worked," she whispered to herself, "it was real."
All those dreams, they hadn't been dreams at all, her connection to the Soul Stone had been genuine and the agreement had been real. She had really made the exchange, choosing her life over another as if she was more worthy.
She felt like she was going to cry.
"Adara?" She heard someone say.
Of course, she was in a hospital, someone was here with her. She was surprised to see MJ, her book dropped to the floor in shock, staring at her in disbelief. Adara couldn't blame her, according to all laws of nature, she should've died.
"I don't understand," said MJ, "you… I thought… We all thought…" And then she seemed to regain a sense of self, "wait there. Steve, he's only just left just wait."
Adara didn't say anything as the girl sprinted from the room, leaving her alone. It wasn't like she could go anywhere anyway. The silence was deafening, but it hardly bothered Adara anymore. She wanted to be sick, she felt like she was dying of thirst and everyone of her limbs felt shaky and uncertain. Part of her wondered how long she had been out for. A day? It didn't feel like much longer than that in her mind. But when she had thought that last time, it had been three months. God, she hoped it hadn't been three months. The tubes that stuck into her body felt invasive, and while people always ripped off them in films, Adara didn't think that would be very intelligent. The Soul Stone, which she could now trust to be true, told her that it had only been technology keeping her alive, and while that was probably no longer the case, she didn't want to test it.
She tested her movement slowly at first, taking steady but exaggerated breaths. It did nothing, the ache remained. She lifted her arms into the air and the ache spiked for a moment, before returning to normal. The feeling of sickness remained, but Adara wasn't sure if it was her injury or just a feeling as if she had just committed a crime against nature.
She threw her legs so they dangled off the side of the bed, the pain still there but she could function just fine. Adara had been back in school a couple days after being shot in the shoulder, this was nothing. Certain that she was alone, she lifted her hospital gown.
There was an ugly red mark on her stomach, one that seemed like it would turn into a bad bruise later, as well as two scars. But they were only scars. Stitches, she noted, I must have been in surgery to stop the bleeding. But the wound didn't look inflamed, it just looked like she had been lightly cut and was now healing, but had also been punched in the stomach. Things she could recover from.
Her organs weren't shutting down, she wasn't suffering. She was alive. She dropped the hospital gown and lay back on the bed, staring up at the white lights and squinting.
Alive. How funny, she had been certain that she would die, fade into the light. Nature demanded it to be, and she had fought her way against the river flow. Adara had never really believed in a higher power, but now she thought she might do. Not a benevolent power, for sure, but one that would come back and return her to where she was supposed to be, where she should be.
Which was six feet under.
Suddenly, she sobbed, and the convulsion that travelled up her body caused her more pain. Her eyes pricked with tears. How pathetic, she rubbed her eyes but it was little use, her face was already red and heated up.
The door opened and she looked up. Steve stared at her for a few seconds like he wasn't believing his eyes. Adara thought of a witty comment, about five came to mind instantly. Ten movie references also popped into her head, but she didn't have the heart to say them.
Instead, she just said, "Steve—" And cut herself off, unable to speak anymore.
He didn't say anything, he just wrapped her in a tight hug. She hugged back, already feeling a little better, though still on the verge of bursting into tears. She buried her face in his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"What for?"
"I just am."
He pulled her back and gripped her face.
"Are you okay?" He asked, "how are you standing? Are you feeling okay? I don't understand, how are you awake?"
"I don't know," she lied. "It's just— It's a miracle, I guess."
He frowned, as if seeing straight through her, but she didn't want to admit what she had done and went to avoiding eye contact. She sat back down on the bed and glanced over at the doorway, MJ must've gone to get a doctor. Now they would be confused, and honestly so was Adara. How did the Soul Stone heal her? Was it really in exchange for O'Leary's life? Did that mean O'Leary was dead. Adara was certain of it.
When the doctor and the nurses came in, they were confused. When they asked Adara, she shrugged and said she was as lost as they were. It convinced them, and they went around muttering about a miracle while (thankfully) taking all the tubes out of her body while running some tests. MJ and Steve did not look convinced, however, face shadowed with doubt and confusion every time she told them she didn't understand how she could have woken up.
To her relief, though, they didn't push or ask questions. While she was distracted with the doctors, they spent most of the time on the phone to other people. By about an hour, she was sitting in Doctor Jenning's office, Steve sitting next to her, cross-legged.
"So, while we're a bit confused," he said, "we think that you've almost completely recovered. We want to keep you here, just until tomorrow lunchtime just to make sure your conditions don't change. And then we need you to come back in another two weeks to see how you're healing, and also to make sure your stitches are dissolving."
Adara nodded.
"And we'll just need your guardian to sign this here."
After that was done, the two left the office and Adara began heading towards the stairs.
"I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm feeling a bit stuffed in here. Maybe we could go out and get some fresh air or something."
"Ah," Steve frowned, "that's okay, Adara, but you might just need to be careful. Or be shifted."
She frowned, "what? Why?"
"When you fell you weren't shifted," Steve crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortable, "but you were still in the Bluebell suit and people saw… A lot of photos were taken. People strung together the dots between you and Peter and everyone just figured it out."
"Oh," Adara said, she supposed it made sense but she hadn't quite thought her name would get out there. Then again they had told her it had been a week, anything could've happened in that time.
Now she felt even worse, at least with the disguise of the Bluebell she could shield herself from her past, from the people she'd hurt. But now it was all out there, just waiting for a particularly curious journalist to dig up. Connections to Hydra, connections to Luka, Luka's connections to Hydra. Adelaide, the Chameleon Particle experiment… Could it all come tumbling down so quickly? Just when things had a chance of looking up.
"Your friend, Michelle, she's been keeping an eye on things," Steve explained. "She reckons that if anything about your past were to crop up, it would've by now, but not even the real weird blogs of the internet have caught on. If any journalist knows anything, they seem to have the grace to keep it to themselves. They all think you're dead anyway, or at least suspect it."
Adara blinked and thought, maybe it's best to keep it that way.
Before she could perhaps voice this thought to Steve, she heard someone practically scream her name from down the corridor. She turned to see Harry, looking bright-eyed, accompanied with a rather pale Ned and, most surprisingly of all, Jason.
He barralled her into a hug before she could stop him, and she laughed while prying him off.
"Careful, you idiot," she said, "watch the stomach."
"Sorry, sorry," he said and smiled. "What happened? Are you okay? Everyone was so certain you would just… Die."
"I'm fine," she said, "last minute miracle." She then pulled him into a tight hug again and whispered into his ear, "I need to talk to you about something. When we get a moment of peace."
He nodded seriously when they pulled back.
"Hey, Ned," she said, "Jason. How are you guys?"
"Better than you," said Ned before frowning. "That sounded mean, I didn't— Uh—"
"Don't worry about it," she smiled, "I get you. Where's Peter?"
"I can't get through to him," sighed MJ, appearing from nowhere. "I think he suspects the worst to have happened with all my missed calls. He's been a bit of a nowhere boy this past week," she gave Adara a grim look, "he's not been in a good way."
She looked around at all of them. Their expressions all seemed to be the same, shocked, confused, like they were looking at a ghost. The only one who didn't seem surprised was Harry, who was just rather happy. She was grateful that at least someone wasn't staring at her like a zoo animal.
"Well, I'll just text him on my phone," Adara shrugged, suddenly feeling claustrophobic, "that'll get through to him."
She had left it in the hospital room, and was relieved to get a breath of fresh air when she reentered the room and shut it behind her before anyone could follow. She picked it up off of the table by the bed and leant her head against the window which was partially open, and went onto her text messages.
To Peter:
Get over here. Moron.
She put her phone down and sat back down on the bed, taking a moment to breathe. She put her hand on her stomach and felt a twinge of pain but not much more.
There was a knock and the door opened, she raised an eyebrow when she saw Harry.
"You left pretty quick," he said, "I'm guessing you needed space. So—" he paused and cleared his throat. "You probably want me to leave."
"No, I don't," she sighed and moved over to indicate to him to sit down. "I just texted Peter. I just couldn't be in that corridor. Too crowded and Steve's concerned expression can be excruciating sometimes. What's it like out there?"
"The press is focusing on framing you as some tragic lover," said Harry with a shrug. "Either they haven't done much digging or haven't been able to find anything. But it doesn't look like your past with Hydra or anything else will catch up with you."
"It might," she said. "It still might. If a paper like the Bugle gets their hands on something, it could turn ugly. They'll look for any reason to frame a hero like a villain."
"Well, they think you're dead for now. Not much to worry about until they realise you're not."
Adara glanced at him, "maybe… Maybe it's best if they keep thinking I'm dead."
Harry stiffened, "what are you suggesting?"
"It doesn't matter," she sighed and rubbed her forehead. Thankfully, Harry didn't push it. "I need a few days to think about these things. How's your dad?"
"Um… He didn't make it."
"What?"
"There was an incident when he attacked Peter… It was no one's fault but he got injured. And when he was in hospital, his sickness caught up with him and he passed a few days later. His funeral was yesterday."
"I'm sorry, I should've been there."
"Adara, I'd be a complete asshole if I agreed to that," he smiled and laughed, shaking his head. "You were hurt, Peter was there with me instead. Granted, I think we had an argument but it's fine… I've made my peace with my Dad, I said what I needed to say a long time ago." He took a deep breath in and glanced at her, "he was an old man, he was sad, there wasn't much helping him. It was hard losing him but… But if I had lost you that would have been even worse."
Her smile was weary, disingenuous, "I guess miracles can happen."
"Not miracles like that," Harry said with a surprising amount of intelligence in his tone. "And I know you don't believe in God or anything, so I know something else is going on that you're not saying."
"You know?" Her tone was bemused, distant.
"Yes, Adara, you're my best friend. Listen, everyone was convinced you would die and you didn't. So, it's not crazy to assume that something else is going on."
"Everyone thought I would die?" Adara's voice was quiet now. "You? Pete?"
"I thought you would pull through, but everyone said I only thought that because I didn't know the extent of your injuries. But, yes, Peter thought you would die. Not to sound accusing, but they all did."
"I should've," she said. "I should've died."
"Then how are you alive?"
Adara took a deep breath in and looked at him, "I've been having these dreams lately."
When Peter got the text, he thought someone had been tricking him in a rather distasteful prank. He had been up on the rooftop after stopping a robbery at gunpoint when the calls from MJ had started rolling in and the texts for him to come to the hospital, immediately his heart had sank. Was this it? Was he about to hear the worst news? And then a different number had texted him.
Adara:
Get over here. Moron.
His first thought was that someone had gotten a hold of Adara's phone and had thought of the bright idea of texting him like it would be funny. But then could anyone really be that cruel? Was MJ's news that he was calling him for actually the best news.
There was no time to waste thinking about it, and there was also no time to waste walking. He leapt off the roof and began swinging towards the hospital. He was just as noticeable as Peter Parker than as Spiderman, so there was no point anyway. He landed on the side of the hospital and began climbing up the walls, making sure to avoid windows in order not to freak out any patients.
"Oi, Spider-boy!" Yelled someone. "Do you have to be so dramatic? Get up here."
He glanced up to see Adara looking down on him, eyebrow raised with a smile on his face.
"Dara?" He said, "how…? What…?"
"Stop gaping like a stupid goldfish," she said, "get up here."
When he clambered over to the top of the roof, a rather desolate place with little shelter from the winds at this height. She was standing next to the door, hair billowing in the wind. She was wearing a hospital gown, but no longer had those tubes sticking out of her, she had also found a pair of jeans from somewhere, as well as a pair of sneakers. Either the clothes were already in the hospital, she had bugged Steve to go all the way back to the apartment and get her a pair or she had stolen them. All of those options were equally as likely.
She looked at him as he stepped over to her, placing one hand on her cheek.
"You're alive," he said.
"Well, I wasn't texting you beyond the grave," she said and took his hand in her own. "That would've been really freaky."
Peter tightened his grip on her hand and kissed her without hesitation, a way of reassuring himself she was real. He felt her smile against his lips before returning the kiss. When he pulled back, he was still holding her hand.
"How are you alive?"
"I just am," she shrugged. "Sometimes good things do happen, though I'm sure it was a surprise to all. You didn't think I'd make it."
There was something accusatory in her tone, and he blinked.
"I didn't—" He tried to start.
She laughed, "I'm just toying with you. I'd have lost hope too."
"I didn't lose hope," he said defensively.
"Don't worry, Pete," she smiled and shook her head. "I don't mind. I'm okay, I woke up."
He pulled her into a tight hug which made her go "oof" rather loudly, before she hugged back, though she gave him a slight kick in the shin.
"Careful with the stomach," she muttered and he loosened his grip slightly.
She didn't loosen her hold her him though, wrapping her arms tightly around him and burying her face into his shoulder. Despite how casual and jokey she had seemed a few seconds ago, Peter got the distinct feeling that the girl was not okay. He ran a hand through her hair.
"I'm glad your awake," he said.
"You would be kind of a dickhead if you said that you weren't," she said, voice muffled by his suit.
"Can you just let me have a nice moment?"
"All your nice moments are only nice because of my dry wit."
"Yeah," he said, "that's probably true."
The two pulled out of the hug, but didn't let go of each other just yet. Peter was scared she might suddenly give way at any moment, Adara just didn't want to get knocked over in the winds up this high.
"Listen, Dara," his face grew serious. "I promise you, I will stop at nothing to help you stop O'Leary. Revenge or justice, I don't care what you call it. But we will find him and stop him. Together."
Adara's expression fell, and she blinked, letting her hands fall away from him as she wrapped them around herself instead. Peter couldn't read her expression, mainly because she was now looking away from him, but he could tell she was uncomfortable.
"Adara?" He prompted, worried, hand on her shoulder.
"You don't need to worry about O'Leary," she said.
He frowned, concern creasing his features, "Sara, you can't seriously be considering going after him yourself or something. I'm with you on this, you don't have to be—"
"O'Leary is dead, Pete," she said.
For a few seconds, he didn't know what to say. He froze suddenly and stepped back, confused.
"What?"
"O'Leary is dead," she repeated and her face was completely blank.
"That… That doesn't make any sense," said Peter. "How could you know that? How could he be dead."
"He just is," was her helpful answer and she withdrew within herself. "I'm going back inside. It's too cold out here."
"Dara, wait," Peter began but she was already walking back in. He had to speed walk to keep up with her pace. Considering she had just been stabbed, she could walk awfully quick. "What do you mean? How can he be dead?"
"Miracles do happen," her tone was cynical. "I guess I better start believing in a higher power."
"How was your happy reunion then?" Asked MJ, fifteen minutes later. "She said she was going up to the roof to be dramatic."
"It was dramatic," said Peter. "And nice."
"Nice," Ned said with a laugh. "You're adorable, dude."
"But then… I don't know," Peter sighed, "something weird happened."
"What?"
The three of them were sitting in the waiting room. On the other side of the waiting room was Harry, talking quietly with Jason, a pause in their near constant make-out session for the past ten minutes. Adara, at some point, had been dragged away to be lectured by Steve on something, though she didn't seem worried about it, more relieved to get away from everyone. Peter noticed that every time she seemed surrounded, she tensed up.
"Well, you know, I thought I was doing the good boyfriend thing," Peter said. "I told her that I would help her find O'Leary and put a stop to him and his general antics. It was a good blend of noble heroism and me caring about her and thinking about her feelings."
MJ rolled her eyes, "we get it, you're a good boyfriend."
"But, it went wrong," he looked at MJ and then Ned, "she told me O'Leary was dead."
Ned blinked, eyes widening in surprise. MJ looked shocked, but only for a second before her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"How can he be dead?" Asked Ned.
"And how can she know that?" Added MJ.
"I haven't got a clue," Peter shrugged. "When I asked, she just said it was a miracle and didn't give me a straight answer. She didn't want to answer at all."
"She's been weird since she woke up," said MJ. "She keeps dismissing everything as a miracle, is quick to get uncomfortable and keeps avoiding the topic of what happened to her. Something is definitely up and she's not told anyone. Apart from maybe Harry, but we're not going to get anything out of him if we asked."
"Come on guys," said Ned, shaking his head. "I get that the O'Leary thing is weird, but the rest of it isn't her fault. She's been in a coma for a week, she nearly died, not to mention her identity has been completely exposed to everyone in the world. I mean, everything about her life has just changed. No wonder she's a little withdrawn."
"But what about O'Leary?" MJ was unconvinced.
"Something must've happened in the tower that we're not aware of," he said. "Just give her a bit of time and she might start talking, but she can do it of her own free will. Everyone needs time to heal and process these things, her especially."
MJ gave him a look, "you've been reading too many of those motivational quotes on Instagram."
"What can I say? They motivate me."
Peter felt a little guilty, Ned was probably right.
"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck. "There's no point in interrogating her."
Suddenly, the door to the waiting room burst open with an alarmingly loud slam, making all the teenagers jump (apart from MJ, who just frowned harder than she was already frowning, if that was possible). Harry and Jason practically flew several seats a part and they all turned to look at who had caused that rukus.
It was Sam and Bucky. Sam was holding flowers and out of breath, Bucky looked slightly uncomfortable. And worried.
Ah, they must have gotten a text and, like Peter had done, feared the worse.
"Where's Steve?" Asked Sam.
"On the toilet," said another voice. Adara appeared, ducking under Bucky's metal arm to get through the doorway. "Hey guys. Oh, are those for me?" She took the flowers from Sam. "Thanks, I mean I've never liked flowers that much but I appreciate the gesture."
Bucky and Sam stared at her for a few moments.
"We thought you were dead," said Sam in a brutally honest tone.
She gave him a smug grin, "nope, I woke up and I'm being discharged tomorrow lunch."
Sam and Bucky went from staring at her, to at each other.
"Well," said Bucky, "Steve could've said that in his text."
"He's an awful texter," said Adara. "He kept getting the laughing crying emoji mixed up with the crying emoji. Let's just say when he texted me to say that Prince had died, I was very confused on how he felt about the guy."
"So you're just alive?" Said Sam.
"Yes," Adara shot them a look, "I'm 'just alive.'"
Bucky didn't look happy about this, "so… Can I go back and finish my Chinese now?"
When night fell, the only people left at the hospital, other than Adara and Steve, were Harry and Peter. Adara stood on the edge of the roof and smiled at Peter, wind whipping through her hair. Already, she was looking healthier than was when she had just woken up. Her cheeks were back to being flushed with colour, her eyes green and lively, not to mention, the urge to be sick every few seconds had gone.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she said. "Try and get home instead of stopping to help every random citizen you see. Send May my love too, and Happy if he's with her."
"Gross, don't remind me about that," Peter pulled a face, but then relaxed. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"We're literally not going to be seeing each other for about twelve hours, Pete," she said, "it would be very difficult for me to do something stupid. I'm stuck in a hospital."
"You always find a way to do something stupid."
"More like incredibly clever and intelligent," she planted a kiss on his cheek and pulled his mask down over his face. "I'll see you tomorrow. Get some sleep, you look worse than me."
He nodded, "see you tomorrow."
Adara folded her arms over her chest and watched him swing away. She heard the door to the roof open and someone came to stand next to her.
"Have you given it much more thought?" Asked Harry.
She shook her head, "I haven't had time to. But I don't think my mind will change."
Harry stayed silent at that. He was in a better mood than Adara had expected, despite his father's passing, she reckoned he had come to terms with it and was just happy she hadn't joined Norman. Still, what she had told him earlier, what she had asked of him, that was a real mood killer.
"Are you pissed at me?" She asked.
"How could I be pissed at you?" He sighed. "You're just doing what's best."
"Do you think it's what's best?"
"It's not my judgement to make," he said, "it's yours and it's your life. But it'll change a lot… It'll make things weird for a while."
"I need that change," she sighed. "I'll need another few days to think out exactly what I'm going to do but… But I can't stay here, Harry. You understand that?"
"I don't really understand any of it, Adara," he said. "All those things you told me, about your dreams, the Soul Stone, O'Leary, it just seems so strange… But I know you believe it, and that's enough for me to believe it. And if you think this is what needs to be done then I'll help you. It's what best friends are for, right?"
"Thank you, Harry," she said and she smiled properly this time, though the hint of sadness lingered in her eyes. "For everything."
"I'm scared I've been a shitty friend," he confessed.
"I don't think I've been a great one either," she said.
"Maybe that's why we're best friends. We might as well be shitty together."
She laughed and pulled him into a tight hug, swallowing back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her at any moment. Despite only being awake for a few hours, despite only feeling like she had been stabbed yesterday, Adara already knew what she wanted to do.
A/N: The next chapter will probably round off this part and, let me tell you, it will be bittersweet. And then we've got the two-part epilogue which should liven the mood up a lot more. Hopefully. Anyway, once again, I hope all of you are staying safe, I know this is a difficult time but we just have to look to the future! Of course, to keep you all entertained, some incorrect quotes!
Adara: Trust me, Steve.I know what I'm doing.
Steve: Not even God knows what you're doing, Adara.
And another one
Adara: Love is an addiction, and now that he's gone, I'm going into withdrawal.
Harry: Peter literally drove five minutes to McDonald's. Don't be so dramatic.
I'm really going to miss this story when it's done
Harry: It's interesting getting older and learning that most adults are not smart.
Harry: I had my suspicions but I didn't think the situation was this bad.
Imagine… Aha… If I wrote a sequel… Aha
Adara: I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?
Steve: …Good?
Adara: It is very unlikely that I will ever, EVER do it again.
Just kidding, I'm pretty sure my mental health would be destroyed if I ever tried to do anything like that. Anyway, last quote!
Adara, fumbling through a first aid kit: WHY WOULD YOU FILL IT WITH HOT CHEETOS?!
Harry, bleeding out: I thought it'd be funny at the time.
