Based on the Heroes Reborn comic storyline and an idea by MikeJaffa who wrote another Heroes Reborn inspired story starring Zarda called Survivors.
Zarda Shelton had thought that she was certain about how her life was; the warrior princess and last daughter of Utopia and a member of the Squadron Supreme of America the country's greatest heroes. She and her fellow Squadron members had thought that something seemed off about their world and after facing off against the group known as the Avengers; they had the truth of their reality where they were the ultimate unbeatable Superhero team was false but it seemed that their own lives and memories were false as well. Phil Coulson had changed reality to one where they were the top dogs and him as the President and had created them as Simulacrums. It took a lot to learn her life was a lie and Hyperion didn't take it any better; to learn that all the hardship and moral sacrifices that he was forced to make were all for naught.
The Government interrogated him and ended up allowing the both of them free while keeping an eye on them; Doctor Spectrum was a crying wreck with his still destroyed Power Prism and Blur was not better begging to go back to the world where everyone loved him. While she never actually called herself close with her fellow Squadron members; she did feel bad for Blur especially with what Coulson had him watch as part of his programming. She so badly wanted to behead Coulson as she had done to Hitler in the history of the altered Earth.
Nighthawk was AWOL and she suspected that he would want to change everything back to how it was in the altered world and if they had to take him down; well she would be able to seriously limit his resources by telling the Government that he is congressman Kyle Richmond.
She sadly thought about the life she had on that other false world; more specifically what seemed like the best part of it: her boyfriend Peter Parker. A nice nervous guy who was a photographer for the Daily Bugle and saw himself as Hyperion's pal. She had known of him but only formally met him after breaking up with Hyperion during the Civil War between the Squadron. Nighthawk was rebelling against the proposed Superhuman Registration Act; saying that Nighthawk would never work for the government even if Kyle Richmond did and even reclaimed the Symbiote from the Black Skull in order to have a best fighting chance against Hyperion. Hyperion saw it as an excuse to take out his frustration that Zarda was with Hyperion and not him; she was a bit amused by the squabble but decided to end it not want to be with any of them.
In hindsight; something about their relationship seemed manufactured anyway.
She ended up formally meeting Peter Parker when she turned up at the Bugle to do an interview about her views on the Act and the Civil War; she was amused when she saw the clumsy guy in question. He got coffee spilled onto her leotard and his panicked reaction was adorable and she brushed off the shocked reactions of the other employees. After drying herself with the towel she sat down and answered the questions and ended up wanting to ask questions about Peter and what life is like for Hyperion's pal.
She was surprised when she could read between the lines and see that his opinion about Hyperion was sourer than he led people to believe; how during college he lost his Aunt May due to collateral damage from a battle featuring Hyperion. He was too scared to try and bring it up to Hyperion's face and she was made to promise not to bring it up to him that he said it but encouraged him to try and talk to him about it when he was ready. After that she had made a mental note to put more effort in trying to prevent less needless collateral damage in her fights, even if she was unforgiving against her enemies.
She made a flirty comment offering Peter a date now that she was a free woman, the poor guy was red in the face when he found himself accepting and when they had met up for the date. She apologised to him about if he felt like a rebound guy; the date ended up nice and Peter was a gentleman not seeming the type to boast and be smug about being on a date with her. He made stupid corny jokes which just made him more adorable to him and he opened up about bad luck that he had through his life including bullies in High School with the chief being Flash Thompson.
She was stunned by that and brought up about how he was a failed candidate for Congress against Kyle Richmond and now how he was admitted to Ravencroft after being the new Jackal who killed guys interested in his friend Gwen Stacy and was taken down by Nighthawk's pupil Nightbird. Peter admitted that he was glad when he lost the race against Richmond and how he couldn't help but feel glee reading about his capture.
They went on a few dates and after making their dating relationship official; had their first kiss. While Peter wasn't the best kisser, she felt love in the kiss that she had never felt with Namor or Hyperion. She had to control herself as she was embracing Peter as not crush his bones. The poor guy was overwhelmed by the attention that he had gotten; Nighthawk turned his head in response to the news and Hyperion was hard to read but he quietly wished them both well in the relationship.
Zarda had taken Peter to the gym where she acts as a boxer and showing him how to fight; using her Utopian Necklace and egging him on to try and use his strength into hitting her. He was building his strength up even if he could never win but would reward him afterwards with a make out with her still wearing the necklace so she didn't have to hold back her strength. Plus taking him to her home in the Statue of Liberty and pose in various outfits and poses so that he could photograph for them privately. Plus him happy to roleplay as her servant; kissing her boots and massaging her muscles and then Zarda taking him into her lap so that she could make out with him.
She remembered their last night together before the Squadron going to face the Avengers:
Zarda had been posing with her back to the camera and turning her neck to face Peter with a sultry look as she was in a thong, he was looking nervous and after the picture was done Zarda put on her oversized 'I Love Nerds' shirt. "So what do you say Peter, we spend the night here and I have my necklace on. We make this the best night of both of our lives." Zarda asked as Peter was red in the face.
"I don't want to distract you from tracking down the Thor guy and the Avengers; the world needs you more than I do." Peter told her and she sighed shaking her head wanting to get the business with the Avengers over and done with once she and the Squadron tracks them down. "I think I will be ready tomorrow night, make it a celebration night." Peter said and Zarda grinned as he smiled. She took another swig of her beer that the Siege Perilous had gotten her, while she never was able to get drunk Peter on the other hand couldn't handle the taste of it. It destroyed ideas of her pouring the stuff on her for Peter to taste but she thought about doing it with soda drinks.
"I want to let you know that i have been talking with Hyperion, I think we are on the path of burying what has happened, even asked him for advice on something I want to do with us tomorrow." Peter said as Zarda was happy that he had gotten the courage to talk it over with the superhero he considered his pal. She demanded answers what it is and said to wait for tomorrow, he left leaving her in a huff.
That was her last time seeing him and she thought about this true reality and the altered one; she had to admit with Earth not as aggressive towards alien life, more heroes for people to rely on, Canada doing a lot better (she was guilty of what happened to the country on the old reality as she was forced to admit to herself) and the Mutant race is at least not near extinction (again she didn't help with that). Still her life with Peter made her genuinely happy and now it was gone even if it was part of a false history.
She was operating in New York and met with Hyperion after he had gone to the Daily Bugle building to try and see if he could find Peter there only to meet up with the superhuman vigilante Spider-Man who did greet him. The meeting with him was on her mind for some time:
"Guess Peter doesn't work at the Bugle anymore or doesn't exist, wish I could have told him myself that I did consider him my friend and was able to tell he was bitter about what happened to his Aunt." Hyperion muttered to Zarda who sighed not sure if she wanted to know how Peter was like in this true reality, tracking him down only to find him with another woman. She would have to go through what Blur did after he lost his marriage to Mary Jane Watson to Mephisto; he tracked her down only to find her married to another guy, Harry Osborn the son of the Goblin. "I remember what it is like having to lose Oracle and the rest of the Imperial Guard; I am here if you need help Zarda." Hyperion told her offering as much compassion as he could.
Zarda gave him a grateful smile and said "last time I was with Peter, he said that he had a surprise for me and spoke with you about it. What did he say Marcus?" Hyperion blinked at the use of his real name and his face made it clear that he didn't want to tell her.
After some prodding he relented, "I am sorry Zarda... Peter said that if the next night went as planned, he wanted me to be the best man..." Hyperion told her and Zarda was speechless but left thanking Hyperion for being honest with her. She wished that it would rain so that no o one could see the tears that could pop up; she just went to the nearest bar and ordered five of their biggest mugs of their strongest drink. She knew it was futile as she never got drunk but wanted to find some way to deal with this.
She managed to accept that her fake life in the fake reality wasn't real even if she had the memories and just went through her life just with the Squadron disbanded and the US Government giving a statement saying that the director of the project Phil Coulson was wanted for questioning. Hyperion did his best to act as a solo hero as does she; he continued teaching history to his students in Kensington and thought about how to continue on knowing his life and memories were a lie.
Months had passed and she had managed to find and get to know Spider-Man, her Squadron training with Coulson had him listed as an unreliable menace and an example of what not to be. Talking with him she found charming his quips and trying to persevere despite all the bad luck that he had to deal with in his life. Something about that seemed familiar but she was drawn to him and started flirting with him.
He flirted back jokingly but now after months it seemed their relationship seemed to grow into beyond just a friendship one and it didn't deter her when he talked about him and the black Cat the last relationship he had with someone as Spider-Man with someone who didn't know who he was behind the mask. It was definitely helping her move on from Peter; she hated to be some sort of super stalker to someone who didn't know her in this reality. She heard about Black Cat being pursued for a partnership by Nighthawk but she turned down this jingoistic goon as she called him.
Right now one night she was once again thrown out of a bar thanks to a fight she didn't start, okay she egged the angry drunken idiots on by flipping them off in response to their angry questions. They were asking about the failed Squadron Supreme and how they were supposed to be what the Avengers couldn't and be a pro-America team to look out for the country's interests but now the Squadron was basically dead. She could easily take down the bouncer but let him angrily show her out the door.
"You know, the fact that you are a superhero is the only reason why you weren't permanently banned long before tonight Zarda." Spider-Man said sticking to the wall and she grinned at the sight of him. They went to the top of the building and walked together to the apartment that she was living in. "You ever thought of asking your friends on the Avengers if they want to bring Hyperion and I in since they didn't seem to take it personally against us both? You could be on the main team again or how about you join us in starting a new Squadron?" Zarda asked and Spider-Man said that he was starting to think about being on a team again.
Zarda open the top window to her apartment and motioned for him to join him, "Are you certain about pursuing this with me Zarda? I want this to work but I have about a thousand failed relationships under my belt..." Spider-Man muttered and Zarda grinned as they both went through the window.
"Well a thousand and one times the charm." Zarda told him grinning and Spider-Man told her that he think that he was ready to let her know about who he was underneath the mask, though he was scared of her reaction. "Don't worry, you are still you and I don't mind what you look like or who you turn out to be as long as the guy that I fell for wasn't just a fake persona." Zarda told him as he went to unmask but Zarda with an idea stopped him. "No, I have a better idea. How about we have a spar, hand to hand wrestling combat. When I win I get to unmask you myself." Zarda offered smirking and Spider-Man ended up agreeing.
He certainly knew how to fight but Zarda was patient and had happily fought against armies for hours, sure enough she was wearing and tiring him out. She had him in a hold and held it until he vocally said he gave up. "Don't be embarrassed about this my love as there was only one outcome, you deserve all the credit for how long you lasted." Zarda said sultry in his ear and then took his mask to his nose and kissed him with passion as he just relaxed and enjoyed the kiss.
Zarda closed her eyes and took it off him and let go and stood up, opening her eyes she grinned at the mask in her hands. "I can find you a replacement for going home my love or a paper bag or something because this is going to be a prized trophy of mine..." Zarda said waving the mask as a trophy and looked to her unmasked lover and was stunned when she recognised the face.
"Yeah, you might know me as the loser who ran the failed Parker Industries and took pictures of Spider-Man all those years ago... I'm..." Peter started to say but Zarda took him into an embrace holding him close.
"Peter Parker, I wanted to move on but it seemed that I found you by accident on this true Earth anyway..." Zarda muttered into his ears with happy tears in her eyes. Peter was taken aback but had some realisation.
"Wait that boyfriend on the altered reality, the one you didn't want to talk about... Fate must have some twisted sense of humour..." Peter muttered with Zarda having told him about life on the altered world even if he was weirded out and didn't like details like Mephisto being the one worshipped deity left. Peter let her kiss him until she let him go and then gave him a ski mask that was left behind by a previous tenant. "I will come by tomorrow and..." Peter said only for them to see that there was now a thunderstorm of rain.
Zarda then sat on her bed and patted the space next to him, "If you don't have any previous engagements you can spend the night here, we don't have to go all the way if you know what I mean and I will let you have the mask back now or in the morning." Zarda offered.
"What a tough decision, web sling out in the pouring rain with thunder and lightning as if Thor was having a party with his hammer or spend the night in bed with my sexy warrior girlfriend..." Peter muttered and Zarda laughed, with his sense of humour she should have realised it before. They shared a kiss as they embraced eachother in their superhero uniforms and put the quilt over them.
Zarda thought about when they did go all the way she might not have to worry as much about permanently crushing Peter; he might not be the same Peter as she had known previously but she had fell for him all the same and she rather liked the confidence that this Peter had and the other lacked. The other pantheon of gods were still alive but if one allowed for her to be reunited with Peter and fall for him all over again; then she would happily renounce Mephisto forever.