Lena was displeased with how quickly her own power had worn her out. Her capability had started to go into her head, as Pepper often told her happened to Tony. The amount of stamina it had taken had forced her to feel like she had not slept in days. She was lucky to have Peter to get her somewhere safe. She woke up in his arms, happy that his presence had almost guaranteed her a dreamless sleep.

The shared dream that they had was unsettling. Neither of them brought it up because they could mutually feel the odd feeling it placed in the back of their throats. It could be a smart idea to mention something about it to Tony, as it was a form of premonition she had never experienced before. Previous to this, she could explain everything they went through together, but this was oddly out of place and misshapen. She wanted to make sense of it, but there was a roadblock preventing her from that.

Her face was buried in between the bottom of his chin and the curve of his shoulder. Her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep. She was still not a fan of sleep, and it seemed to be the only state she could maintain for the past few days, but they had proved to be the most intense thus far out of her career fighting crime. It was strange to desire something that usually repulsed her. Lena let her thumb trace the outline of Peter's top lip, going back and forth until he stopped her, grabbed her by the waist, and used some force to roll with her off the bed. With a light squeal and a thud, his body took most of the impact, leaving her lying heavily on top of him.

Strands of hair fell onto his face, and he laughed softly while swatting them away. She placed a gentle kiss on his nose and stood, knowing that they both still had a lot of homework to get done, and it was probably past dinner time by now. Realizing she was still in her suit, she pressed its release button and let it rid itself of her body, falling into a small pile on the floor. Already knowing where to find Peter's lounge clothes, she pulled on one of his three Midtown Tech hoodies (how many did he need?) and the pair of sweatpants he had accidentally shrunk in the wash one time. She still had to tie the drawstring pretty tight, but it was better than them almost falling down.

Lifting her bag over her shoulder, Lena wandered into the dining room, Peter following close behind. Aunt May was in the living room, eating out of a takeout container and watching a movie Lena recognized but could not place a name to. It filled her with a bit of excitement. That was a perfectly reasonable and human thing to do, something that Peter did quite often.

"There's teriyaki in the fridge, kids!" May called, eyes still glued to the television.

This meal was common in the Parker household, and Lena knew that despite not having been there for a while. Peter had once told her that the people that pick up the phone practically know their orders by heart, and often liked to throw in free potstickers or rice because of how loyal their patronage was. Lena had only eaten this takeout once with them, but she remembered it fondly.

Among the many tendencies of humans that confused Lena, their eating of other animals, especially fish. She could not stand to think about the idea. Of course, eating had not been a habit of hers until she moved onto land, but when the carnivorous ways were explained to her she found it repulsing. Tony called her a vegetarian, so she told other people that was what she was too. In her mind, she was just caring for her fellow living creatures.

May never forgot that Lena did not eat meat, and got her what was called "tofu fried rice," which was a large plate of vegetables, rice, and compressed noodles designed to replace meat. Lena opened her American Politics textbook and laid it to the side, skimming the words while spooning rice into her mouth. Peter silently ate his dinner while doing math problems. It was a silent routine that they had followed before, but this time they could exchange thoughts to each other and even help each other out. It had taken a minute for Peter to accept that she was his academic equal - it was almost unbelievable how quickly she learned - but they became more productive once he did.

A thought crossed her mind, and it sat behind her lips, begging her to bring it up to Peter. She gave her best effort to hide it from his mind, but he caught onto the way her mood felt off and stopped writing, the pencil's squeaks coming to a halt and getting her attention. She lifted her eyes but not her head, looking at Peter who had set his pencil behind his ear.

"Everything all right?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest.

"What promise?"

"Hm?"

"You made Tony a promise. What was it?"

Peter laughed slightly, grabbing his pencil and leaning forward again, continuing to write, giving off the energy that it was not a big deal, but she would beg to differ. It had been a prominent thought in his mind that had been loud enough to almost disable her.

"It's really nothing, Lena. Mr. Stark made me promise he would call him if we encountered the Arsonist again, so when we saw him, I panicked and had to call him pretty quickly. That's all."

But that was not all. She felt the wall Peter was putting in front of the missing piece. She pried at it, needing to know. After their monumental kiss, Peter had quickly discovered through the new mutual connection how to only navigate Lena's mind, and also prevent her from seeing what he did not want her to. He had every right to his own privacy, it was just new to not have complete access. It was never a responsibility she abused, but she did not like it when Peter kept things from her.

"You kept a lot of things from me," he winked and kept doing his math. She rolled her eyes.

"You know why-"

"Yeah, yeah. You're right," he sighed, "Mr. Stark gave me the 'dad talk,'" he put air quotations around "dad talk." She saw a recent memory flash across Peter's brain; a menacing, middle-aged man in a car, and Peter's body filling with rage and fear. Even with the memory, the term completely lost her.

"Your da-I mean Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark doesn't want me to get you hurt in any way. So-"

"Why would I get hurt? I can take care of myself."

"No not physically hurt-"

"Is that not kind of odd to assume that I cannot take care of myself?"

Peter hesitated, struggling to find what he was trying to say, "Neither of us meant it like that. You make a great point, though. You're very capable of taking care of yourself."

"Then how did you mean it?"

"Emotionally. Negative emotions can be painful. You've seen all of those romance movies with May and me," Peter's lips were growing tight.

She recalled the genre, specifically remembering a film where after getting broken up with, a young woman spent three months of her life in a depression. She cried, isolated herself, and essentially ruined her own life. She never wanted to become a shell of a human. Life had become refreshing for her, and Peter played a large role in that. He was a part of her purpose in life. Every bit of her DNA was meant to be with him. Anxiety took ahold of her as the thought of him leaving her sat in her brain.

"No! Lena!" he grabbed the hand that had been sitting in her lap, "I'm not going anywhere."

The anxiety faded, and a softness replaced it, Peter's kind eyes confirming that everything would end up working out.

...

Lena made it back home by 10:00 PM, knowing that she probably was not going to fall asleep that night. Typically, at the most, she spent 4 hours sleeping, and that still felt like a lot.

On her way up to her bedroom, Tony's AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke up, almost startling her.

"Miss Potts, Mr. Stark would like to see you in his garage."

Lena frowned, wishing to spend some time with just herself. She plopped her bag onto her bed and took the elevator to the main floor, walking outside to get to the building where Tony kept all of his cars, his Iron Man suits, and the AIs that operated whatever his current project was. There were nights where after Lena had finished her fight training for the day where she would come and sit in the shop: sometimes silently, sometimes asking questions about what he was doing. It bonded them in a subtle way.

"Kid," he said as she pressed her hand on the sensor to get into the room.

"Tony," there was an edge to her voice. She had not liked the way he and Peter had argued on the Midtown Tech football field, and she was wedged in between their silly fight. There was no side for her to take, she just wanted them both to get along and work together.

"You sound ticked. Everything okay?" Tony was concerned, but Lena could not decipher why.

"I am okay. Is there something you needed from me? I have homework," it was a white lie, but a lie, still. She just needed to relax in her pool, let her mind meld with the water. She did not want to spend her free time getting lectured.

Tony kept working, not looking up at her, "Take a seat."

She let out a sigh and sat, watching him hammer into a piece of metal. Looking at him, still frowning, she took the nanotech bead that she had put in her pocket and let it tie her hair up, annoyed with it continuously falling in her face and sitting on her neck.

"You're smart, kiddo. I don't want you seeing me as the bad guy."

"I do not-"

"Peter and I go back and forth because we are both passionate people," he gave the metal a final whack and set the hammer down. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and made eye contact with Lena. "One day, I'll teach you how to drive. You'll take driver's ed. They're going to drill it into your head that the only way to get better at it is through experience," he was making gestures with his hands, using it as a method to get his point across. "My point is that sometimes it's hard for him to see the big picture. Where I see you two getting hurt, he sees a new mission. Which will be great once he's had more experience, but all he needs is that experience."

She saw his point. She had seen his point even before he had spoken it. All she wanted was for Tony to say that to Peter, rather than get irritated in the middle of a situation. She bit at the inside of her mouth and locked her jaw. She was not in a particular mood to squabble. Her counter argument could be brought to his attention tomorrow morning.

"You are making sense."

"Good!" Tony's shoulders released their tension, and he tapped a few times on the holographic screen in front of his face, then shut it down, it disintegrating. "School tomorrow?"

"Yeah. They are questioning all the kids that got sent home yesterday."

"What's your alibi?"

"I tranced them into thinking that we left before getting to the lunchroom. You pulled us both out of class for something that had to do with the press."

"Anything specific?"

"If I got too specific the trance would thin and be easier to see through. It is similar to lying."

Tony snickered, "Okay. If people ask, say it was your Teen Vogue feature."

"The one coming out next month?"

"Yeah. Teenagers generally won't question it."

"You are going to generalize all teenagers?"

He had been putting away his tools and calibrating some of his AIs, and hearing the combative phrase brought him to a halt, "I guess so, yeah."

"The human brain is extremely various. Every thought process of each human being is so vastly different that it would be nearly impossible to generalize any sort of human population."

Tony smiled, a warm genuine smile and Lena felt the pride. It was strong and open, he wanted her to feel it. He did not fully understand her empathic abilities, but once in a while, he made extra effort to let her know how he was feeling. He was not skilled in verbalizing his emotions, but he definitely felt them.

"That's a good observation. That observation may question the entirety of what sociology is, but it was smart regardless."

Lena let herself stare at the relaxed expression in Tony's face that was so extremely rare, then pushed herself out of her chair, standing.

"I am going to go to bed now."

"Goodnight, kid."

an: i hope you enjoyed this part! please leave a comment and let me know what you think! allie x