Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update. I would've updated sooner but somehow the edit I did of this chapter got deleted so I had to edit it all over again which is super annoying but necessary.
writeremma: There will probably be a romance between Darcy and Bucky but it won't be the focus of this story. I think it might be nice for Emma if Darcy and Bucky got together.
JokeLover123: I think Emma might trust Peter somewhat even if that's hard for her to deal with. It scares Emma how easy it is for her to talk to Peter about things because a part of her is terrified he might use that against her someday. There's still a lot she hadn't told Peter in regard to everything that happened at Hydra, her exact relationship with Bucky, the meeting with Natasha, and even Rumlow. I think when we see Emma talk to him about all of these things than we'll know that she completely trusts him. There's still some time before that will happen though. I think both her and Peter will go through some things in the Homecoming plot that will solidify their friendship and cause it to bloom into something more.
knarl: I don't really know how to answer that question without giving everything away but the Homecoming storyline will stay pretty close to the original plot of the movie. I think some things need to happen with Emma and Peter before their relationship can progress.
TheFandemonium: I'm not going to write a full-on rape flashback scene but Emma might eventually share what happened to her with Peter but it's not going to happen for a little while. There's some stuff that needs to happen before they reach that point. It's coincidental that you mention that though because there is a little fragment of what happened with Rumlow in the beginning of this chapter.
Thanks for all the reviews and I'm sorry for not answering every single one but I figured you'd want to have the chapter sooner anyways.
I'm just going to say trigger warning for this chapter because there's mentions of rape.
She watched him as he pulled his pants back up. The blonde was still sitting on the bed, her head resting against the wall as her chest heaved up and down with fear. Her blue eyes were widened in horror as she tried to process what just happened. A part of her knew what had happened since Hydra made it clear what was expected of her for missions when she was older. However, Emma still didn't completely understand what had happened. Her father had spent years training her to take down men three times her size but somehow Emma hadn't been able to fight against this man in particular. Despite her enhanced strength and fighting skills she had remained frozen the entire time, unable to move or fight back. She just let it happen.
Emma knew that she should've made a move to kill him or hurt him but she didn't. It occurred to her that she was scared. She was utterly terrified at the much older man standing by the bed… a man that now held something over her. Emma could tell that he was fully aware of that too with the smug look he was giving her. The thirteen year old girl knew that she would eventually have to do that when she was older for missions but she still thought it would be years away. She also thought she wouldn't feel so powerless and violated… so filthy and disgusting. Emma felt disgust as she looked over her torn clothes that he had carelessly ruined when he first came into her room. She suddenly felt the need to throw up the contents of her stomach which was a feeling that Emma thought she was immune to.
"Don't worry, princess." He whispered softly. She could make out the outline of his face through the darkness of the room. "You were perfect tonight. I have to leave but I'll be back soon after I take care of some business in D.C."
Emma then stiffened as he moved swiftly towards her, moving in a wolf like fashion… moving like he was a wolf taunting his prey. He knelt right down next to her as he immediately grasped her hands in his, placing a chaste kiss against them as he held her hands tight within his grasp. She only watched him in a frozen state and hoped that he would leave. He took one of her hands and placed the palm of her hand against his cheek. The imposing man closed his eyes in content as he rubbed his face against her hand. Emma felt the bile rise up in her throat.
"We'll be together again, Margot." He whispered through the cold and empty room, Emma could practically feel his hot breath against her skin. She swallowed uncomfortably, wishing she was anywhere but in that room with him. "I'll take you away from this place and we'll be together forever."
Peter had been in the damage control vault for close to twenty minutes. He had tried very unsuccessfully to open the vault doors but those doors were even beyond his superhuman strength. It was too bad that Emma was still unconscious or she might've been able to help him to open the vault. He glanced at the passed out blonde who he had moved out from the cargo truck when he first broke out. She was sound asleep in a hammock he had made out of his webbing. Peter noticed how carefree she seemed when she was asleep… how angelic she looked which was ridiculous because he knew that Emma was anything but angelic. Peter still couldn't help but remark at how different she seemed from the awakened version of herself. He didn't know if he found it endearing or terrifying how much she looked like Sleeping Beauty in that moment.
According to his AI system Emma had a mild concussion like he did but otherwise she was fine. Peter had been worried when he saw her hit her head against the cargo truck which was why he dove in after her. He had just managed to yank the bag of weapons out of the Vulture's clutches and then dived into the cargo truck after Emma which was when the purple portal closed, trapping them inside the cargo truck. Peter had woken up when he felt the cargo truck stop but by then they were already inside the vault.
Peter's thoughts were briefly interrupted as he heard Emma mumbling from the hammock she was resting in. He curiously looked over at the resting blonde who no longer appeared to be resting peacefully. A deep crease had appeared in between her eyebrows as she started moving around in her sleep. At first her movements were subtle and seldom but her movements then increased as her mumbling became louder. It occurred to him that her mumbling hadn't really been mumbling at all but just Emma speaking a foreign language. He assumed that it was probably Russian but he couldn't be sure. It seemed like the blonde would go back and forth between Russian and English as her movements then became frequent and violent until she was thrashing around in her sleep.
"Stop it!" She screamed, her voice sounding pained. "Stop! It hurts!" Peter immediately climbed down from the high vantage point he had been sitting on so that he could have a better look at Emma. He didn't know what was going on with her. He had never heard anyone scream like that in their sleep and it frightened him.
"Get off of me!" Emma continued to scream and Peter was shocked to see tears streaming down her face. It shocked him because Emma always seemed so put together and calm. He had seen glimpses of real emotions with her like when she was angry, annoyed, and somewhat compassionate but he hadn't seen her like this. She seemed almost hysterical as she thrashed around violently in her sleep. Peter's throat suddenly felt thick as he heard the terror and pain in Emma's voice. What was she dreaming about to illicit a reaction like that? Peter felt a strong wave of concern come over him as he climbed into the hammock, hovering just above her as he sought to awaken her from whatever nightmare she was trapped in.
"Emma, wake up. It's me, Peter. You're having a nightmare." Peter told her softly as tried to wake her up. His words did little wake her up as she continued to thrash around in her sleep, muffled cries echoing throughout the facility.
"Come on, Emma, wake up. None of it's real. You're here with me… you're safe." Peter said as he tried to wake her up again but there was still no reaction from Emma. She was still trapped inside whatever nightmare she was having.
Emma, you need to wake up. You're not in any danger." Peter repeated and this time he gently grasped her by the shoulders in an attempt to wake her. He carefully shook her shoulders, not wanting to hurt her, and was relieved to see her eyes fly open from the action. His relief was however short lived when Emma quickly grabbed hold of his hands and in the blink of an eye flipped them both over so that she was on top and he was pinned to the bottom of the hammock. His hands were pinned to the webbing by her knees as she sat on his chest with a cold and enraged look in her eyes. Peter didn't think he had ever seen her eyes look that cold before and it slightly frightened him. Her hands immediately wrapped around his throat in a tight grip and Peter could only struggle underneath her. He was sure that he might be able to throw her off himself but he didn't want to cause her any injury. Peter knew that Emma wasn't in her her right state of mind in that moment.
"Emma, stop. It's me, Peter." Peter managed to say as he struggled for breath. He didn't think he would ever doubt her again even if he hadn't before. Her grip was outlandishly strong especially for a girl who resembled something more of a cheerleader looking teenage girl rather than a super soldier. He supposed that was the point after all.
"Emma, stop!" Peter said as he continued to try and awaken Emma from whatever trance she was in. Eventually Peter knew that he wasn't going to succeed in waking her with his words so he'd have to resort to something else. He just hoped that Emma wouldn't be too angry with him when she woke up. Mustering all his strength, Peter immediately pushed her knees off of his arms before rearing his hand back and slapping her across the face. The action sent Emma flying off of him and onto the floor a few feet before. Peter immediately got out of the hammock and jumped down after her to make sure she was alright. He hadn't wanted to be physical with her but it was the only way he could wake her up and stop her from potentially killing him. Peter kept a considerable distance away from the blonde as she rubbed the spot on her face where he had slapped her. He knew better now than to approach her when she was in a sleepy state.
Emma felt a stinging sensation across her face as she came to. She rubbed the stringing in her face soothingly as her eyes began to focus on her surroundings. Emma looked around the room rapidly as she tried to search for any sign of Rumlow. Rumlow who had just whispered into her ear like he was in the same room as her. As Emma began to awaken from her nightmare and come back into reality she also began to realize that Rumlow wasn't there. It had only been a bad dream like the countless others she had in the past. This nightmare seemed to be more like the ones she used to have when she was first rescued from the Hydra base but she figured that was only because being back in action seemed to trigger it. Emma relaxed more when she saw Peter in the room with her instead of Rumlow. She couldn't tell what his facial expression was from under his mask but she could tell from his body language that he was probably worried or concerned. That was some of the last things he should feel for her.
"Did you slap me?" Emma asked him, her voice was still sleepy. Peter bit his lip as he looked at her before answering.
"Yes. I'm sorry about that." Peter apologized. He thought Emma might be angry with him but he was surprised to see a troubled look on her face as she slowly nodded. Something appeared to be bothering her quite a bit.
"No, it's fine. I really needed that." Emma replied quietly before looking him over in poorly concealed concern. If she had been more awake she might've been able to hide her concern more but unfortunately she was still in the process of fully waking up. "Did I hurt you?"
"Not really. I'm stronger than I look but you sure have quite a strong grip." Peter told her, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. Emma looked down at the floor she was sitting on with an unreadable expression on her face. Peter thought the expression on her face was unreadable because it looked something akin to guilt which he didn't know she felt. Sometimes he was fairly sure Emma was sociopath which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because Sherlock Holmes was a sociopath and he seemed cool. Other times Peter could tell that Emma was more human from the brief and fleeting compassion in her eyes as well as when her features would soften from certain statements Peter made.
"I'm sorry." Emma said in a barely audible tone. Peter was almost unsure if she had even said the words. It didn't seem like she apologized much.
"It's okay. You were just having a bad dream." Peter replied and that seemed to trouble Emma more. She took her hand away from her face and looked away from him.
"Bad dreams are for children." She said bitterly, sounding a bit angry with herself.
"Bad dreams aren't just for children. Everyone has them." Peter told her in a comforting tone.
"Well, they're for the weak." Emma sneered but he could tell that it wasn't him that she was annoyed with this time. She seemed to be annoyed with herself.
"It's okay to have bad dreams, Emma. It's not like it's something you can control." Peter watched the way Emma clenched her jaw when he said that. Control… it seemed to be something Emma favored very highly. When she looked this vulnerable he realized how easy it was to read her. Control seemed to be something Emma had to have at all times and it made so much sense now that he thought about it. "You can't control everything, you know."
Emma just looked at Peter and wondered if she was really that easy to read. Hydra spent years trying to make her emotionless or trying to teach her how to mask her emotions in the very least. Those years seemed wasted if someone like Peter could read her so easily. Maybe she was just spending too much time with him. After spending so much time with Steve, he had also began to know how to read her. Yes, that had to be it… she was just spending a lot of time with Peter.
"I wish I could." Emma admitted after a moment of staring at Peter. "It would make everything so much simpler. If I could control everything than I wouldn't be in this place with you… I wouldn't be going to a high school and Stark wouldn't be my legal guardian. I'd be living at the Avengers facility with my grandfather and father. Steve and I would spend the days sketching, reading, and watching classic films. My father and I would find something new to bond over. I wouldn't have anymore nightmares and neither would my father… all that brainwashing would be vanquished from his mind completely. It wouldn't be happily ever after but it would come close."
Peter fell silent after Emma hatched out her perfect fantasy. He felt vague confusion over what she said about her father who she had previously said was dead but he thought it might've been a slip of the tongue. He wanted to tell Emma that she would see her grandfather again soon but he didn't know whether or not he would be lying. Peter knew that Captain America was a war criminal and kind of crazy but he could tell that Emma missed him a lot. The young hero wondered briefly if Captain America really was crazy. Mr. Stark had told him that he was so naturally Peter listened to the billionaire because Mr. Stark was Iron Man. Mr. Stark just had to know what he was talking about but now that he thought about it… now that he had started doing his own thinking he could kind of see Captain America's point of view. Emma and Captain America had more of a right than anyone else not to trust the government and especially not to trust the Avengers in the government's hands.
"What was the dream about?" Peter asked suddenly as he remembered how violently Emma had reacted to the nightmare. He had never seen anyone have that bad of a nightmare before and he wanted to know why Emma had reacted in the way she had. There had to be some kind of explanation. "Was it about Hydra?" Emma looked up and met Peter's gaze even though she couldn't see those kind brown eyes from under his mask. A part of her wanted to tell him what happened with Rumlow... to tell the truth for once in her life. She had been holding this nightmare within herself for so long that she felt like it was the large dark cloud that was always looming over her and following her where ever she went. Emma knew if she finally told someone about what Rumlow did to her than it might give her some peace. It was then, however, that Emma's more rational side took over. How ridiculous would it be of her to divulge her sob story to Peter who she had only known for about a month? How did she know that he wouldn't use that information against her the first chance he could? Deep down Emma knew Peter wasn't capable of doing something like that but it was what she kept telling herself so that she wouldn't make herself too vulnerable.
"Yes, it was about Hydra." Emma lied. It wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Peter noticed the way Emma stiffened when she answered his question. He wanted to continue to question what the nightmare was about but he gathered from Emma's demeanor that she really didn't want to talk about it. Peter didn't want to push her more than he already had so he decided to drop it. "What happened anyways?" Emma asked Peter suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts and also changing the subject from such a sensitive topic for her.
"You don't remember what happened?" Peter asked her and Emma rubbed her head as she recollected what had happened before she was enveloped in another nightmare.
"I remember Birdman kicking me in the chest and then everything went black." Emma answered honestly because it really was all she could remember.
"Well, you hit your head against the side of the cargo truck and went through the portal thingy. I went to help you and then the portal thingy closed. I also hit my head against the cargo truck and when I woke up we were inside the Damage Control deep storage vault." Peter explained to her and Emma furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"You let him go?" Emma inquired in disbelief. Peter just looked at her, not believing that was what she got from all that information.
"You got knocked out and I wanted to help you." Peter said, trying to explain himself as she narrowed her ocean blue eyes at him.
"So you just let him go because I got hurt?" Emma asked rhetorically, her tone low and dangerous sounding. Peter scoffed.
"Well, excuse me for trying to be the chivalrous partner. Next time I'll just leave you to be stuck inside a high security vault all by yourself." Peter said sarcastically. He was a bit hurt that Emma wasn't the least bit thankful or impressed that he had gone out of his way to save her. She could at least say thank you. Well, it seemed like they were finally back to their old bickering ways at least.
"Your first priority is always the mission." Emma told him sternly and Peter just shook his head.
"You're saying that you'd just leave me there to die if it meant completing the mission?" Peter asked in disbelief and Emma just stared at him.
"Yes." Emma said even though she wasn't too sure about that. Even though Hydra tried to beat the compassion out of her she knew that she would never leave her father to die if they were on a mission. Peter was nowhere near as close to her as her father was but Emma wasn't sure if she would leave him to die either.
"Well, that's very reassuring." Peter mumbled before looking back at the blonde who was back to being her cold and emotionless self. Her being genuine and apologetic was nice while it lasted. "I guess we really are like Batman and Catwoman." The statement was meant to be more to himself than to Emma but he kept forgetting that Emma had enhancing hearing.
"Didn't they fuck?" Emma asked randomly. Peter immediately turned to look at her incredulously. Wait… did she say what he thought she just said? It was sort of hard to tell with that stoic look on her face but Peter already knew the answer to that. What was he thinking? Of course she just asked that. This was Emma he was talking about after all.
"What?" Peter asked despite himself.
"Batman and Catwoman. Didn't they have sex or something?" Emma asked him and despite the stoic expression on her face her eyes were teasing. She couldn't see Peter's face with his mask on but she just knew that he was blushing.
"They were in love, yes." Peter finally admitted and Emma rolled her eyes at his wording.
"Ugh! Don't say it like that. Catwoman was way too cool to fall in love." Emma told him.
"What? Do only lame and stupid people fall in love?" Peter asked in amusement. For once he wasn't annoyed by Emma's vulgar and cynical humor. He was actually beginning to find her cynical nature a little amusing if he was being perfectly honest.
"Yes." She answered without hesitation. Peter just smiled even though Emma couldn't see his smile from under his mask.
"You know, you're the first teenage girl I've met who doesn't seem interested in falling in love." Peter remarked with a curious tone in his voice. Emma scoffed.
"I'm pretty sure men, especially high school boys, are a waste of time. I have more important things to do than suck face with some idiot like Flash who doesn't know how to keep it in his pants." Emma told him seriously. Well, there was another reason he liked Emma right there. She seemed to despise Flash almost as much as he did.
"So you've sworn off men for good then?" Peter asked. He didn't know why he was so curious about that side of Emma's life but he couldn't help himself. Peter knew that he had a similar conversation with Emma about her love life the night before but he was still immensely curious about Emma Rogers. Emma just shrugged at his question.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe if Loki was alive out there we could still be very happy." Emma said casually and Peter widened his eyes.
"Loki? As in Thor's brother who caused massive destruction in New York and tried to take over the world?" Peter asked in disbelief and Emma nodded as if it was normal thing to think.
"Yes. I feel like we could've gotten along very well. He seemed like fun." Emma said honestly. "We would've made a good team." Peter just shook his head at the blonde.
"You're crazy." Peter told her and Emma just smiled at him.
"Come on, Parker, it would be fun. Loki and I could have double dates with you and Liz." Emma quipped and Peter just glared at her.
"Help me open this stupid vault, would you? We're not going to get out of this place with you just sitting there all night." Peter grumbled as he started walking away from her. Emma just smirked, knowing that she had gotten under his skin again. Peter really made it too easy for her sometimes.
Emma and Peter had decided to give up trying to open the vault themselves. Even with Emma and Peter's enhanced strength combined they still couldn't get the vault to open. It kind of made sense that the vault was that reinforced since Stark was known to be involved with Damage Control. It seemed like Tony Stark was always trying to get in Emma's way even when he wasn't there. He never ceased to be annoying to the blonde super soldier.
Peter was relaxing on one of the storage containers chatting with his AI system after screwing around with his suit for a few minutes. Emma had stolen Peter's notebook from his backpack again but this time she was only sketching something while they waited for the doors to open in the morning. Emma really wasn't that worried about missing nationals. Worse comes to worse, they'd probably expel her from the school which wouldn't be that bad. It might actually be hilarious considering how pissed off Stark was going to be. Maybe he'd get so pissed off he'd kick her out of the townhouse too and she'd be free to go find her grandfather. Even so Emma would still hate to leave Peter alone on this mission.
"Should I tell Liz that I'm Spider-Man?" Emma's ears perked up when she heard Peter say that. She was about to answer him until she realized he was only talking to his AI system. Emma thought that it was a pretty stupid question considering he could probably be putting other people's lives in jeopardy by sharing that kind of information with someone. You know… if you were the kind of person who cared about that sort of thing. Emma was actually more concerned with Peter blabbing his mouth off to Liz about her. Ned knowing was already one too many people who knew the truth about her. She couldn't afford Liz finding out too. Michelle was one thing because Emma was sure that Michelle would probably be discreet when she found out about Emma but Liz not so much. What was Parker going to do now? Tell the whole school about them?
"Who's Liz? She's the best… she's awesome. Yeah, she's just a girl that goes to my school." Peter said in that dreamy voice. Emma rolled her eyes as she refrained from vomiting. It really got on Emma's nerves how much Peter could be like a girl sometimes. It was always Liz this and Liz that. Liz is so perfect. Liz is so amazing and kind. Liz and I are going to get married and have disgusting little spider babies and Mr. Stark will be the godfather to all of them. Okay, so maybe Peter had never actually said the last one but he might've as well have said it with the way he always acted so disgustingly over the moon about Liz Allan. Seriously… get a life, Parker. "I mean, I really want to tell her but it's kind of weird, you know. Hey I'm… I'm Spider-Man."
"What if she's expecting someone like Tony Stark? Can you imagine how disappointed she'd be if she sees me?" Peter inquired and Emma couldn't believe he seriously thought that. Liz would have to be the most insane, tasteless, and idiotic girl on the planet if she would actually be into Stark more than Peter. Not that Emma had a thing for Peter but if she had to choose between Stark and Peter she'd definitely pick Peter. Stark was like a middle aged man with a terrible goatee and Emma also thought he was really senile. Emma wasn't attracted to Peter or anything but she was just saying that Peter was way more attractive looking and more tolerable to be around than Stark.
"Thanks, Karen. It's really nice to have someone to talk to." Peter said to his AI system and Emma refrained from looking offended. What was she? Chopped liver? She supposed Peter had a point though. Emma knew she wasn't exactly easy to talk to. Emma was also assuming that he had finally named his AI system although she thought Karen was kind of a boring name. It was nowhere as creative as McConaughey. "Hey, how long have we been here anyways?"
"What?! Thirty seven minutes?! That's insane!" Peter exclaimed after his AI system answered him. He must've not liked that answer, Emma observed. She was fully aware that they hadn't been there that long but Peter was a lot more restless than her. Emma was perfect fine with waiting. She had been trained to be patient even in the most boring of situations. Emma prided herself on how patient and disciplined she was.
"I cannot take this anymore. I've gotta get out of here." Peter stated as he hopped off one of the storage containers. Emma watched as he shed the decathlon blazer he had been wearing over his suit and headed for the cargo truck they had previously been trapped in. She sighed heavily before getting up from the ground, leaving Peter's notebook behind. Emma briefly wondered if he would be pissed off by the drawings she had done in the notebook but then remembered that she didn't care. Wow… she was really starting to spend too much time around Peter if she actually cared whether or not she pissed him off.
"What are you doing, Parker?" Emma asked with a bored expression on her face as she leaned against the doorway of the cargo truck. She watched as he dug through various items within the cargo truck with so much desperation that it was actually kind of sad to watch but Emma was more amused than sad if she was being honest.
"I'm trying to find a way to get us out of here." Peter told her in a huff.
"You're not going to find anything in here that would help us." Emma replied and Peter gave her an annoyed look.
"Well, aren't you optimistic?" Peter said sarcastically. "Why don't you help me?"
"Why would I waste my time doing that? There's no possible means of escape for us until the doors open in the morning." Emma explained to him.
"How do you know there's no means of escape for us if you haven't even tried anything." Peter said pointedly and Emma just gave him a look that Peter had become accustomed to. She looked at him like he was ridiculous.
"One of my abilities from the super soldier serum is a survival instinct. I've already looked for any possible exits and there are none." Emma told him honestly. "We could look for a weapon to blow the place up but we'd probably end up blowing ourselves up or getting severely burn in the very least. Our chances of getting blown up are exponentially high. My survival instinct is telling me right now that we're basically fucked so I suggest that we just sit tight and wait until those doors open."
"What if we get caught by the people in charge?" Peter inquired and Emma just shrugged.
"Then I'll take care of it." Emma replied before gesturing to the gun in her holster. Peter gave her a horrified look before she rolled her eyes at him. "Relax, Parker, I was just kidding. We'll knock them unconscious."
"Good." Peter said, giving her a firm nod.
"Even though that would make everything way harder than it should be." Emma quickly added in and Peter just glared at her.
"Whatever. In the meantime I'll just try and find a way out." Peter said as he returned his attention to the bag that he had snatched from the Vulture. Emma just continued to lean against the doorway of the cargo truck with the same bored expression on her face.
"Great. I'll just stand here and watch your sad attempt to be a man and save the day like Humphrey Bogart in literally any movie ever." Emma quipped and Peter gave her another sharp look but Emma wasn't intimidated at all by his demeanor. Sometimes Emma pushed him so far that he wanted to strangle her. No one had ever made him feel that way before. She frustrated him beyond belief yet Peter still liked bickering with her. Sometimes he even seemed to look forward to it although he would never admit that aloud. He could just imagine the smug look on Emma's face if he said that to her.
"There's got to be something in here we can use. Okay, let's see." Peter stated, ignoring Emma's previous insult. He unzipped the bag before pulling out a mysterious metal part that looked harmless but was probably from a very dangerous weapon. "Nope."
"That's awesome." Peter said as he pulled out one of Ultron's heads. Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust at the head of the familiar vanquished robot. She really hated that thing beyond belief. Ultron was like a more evil and crazier twin of Tony which made sense since he created the ugly thing.
"Worthless garbage can." Emma muttered under her breath as she watched the head roll over to her. She gave it one last look of disgust before completely crushing the metallic head under her foot with her enhanced strength. Emma looked at what was left of Ultron's head and was satisfied to see that Ultron looked more like a license plate now rather than an evil robot. Good riddance.
"Hey, it's like the glowy thing." Peter said and Emma looked up curiously. He was holding the purple power source they had previously found in someone's front yard. The same power source that was back in Peter and Ned's hotel room.
"Miss Rogers, I would like to inform you that the object that Mr. Parker calls a glowy thing is actually a highly explosive Chitauri energy core." McConaughey said suddenly through her mask and Emma's eyes immediately widened as Peter then dropped the energy core back into the bag. Wait… What?! Emma knew that the power source had most likely belonged to a Chitauri weapon but she had no idea that it was explosive.
"You mean, we've been carrying around a bomb?!" Peter exclaimed to his own AI system, expressing Emma's exact sentiment in this particular situation.
"What the hell, McConaughey?!" Emma also exclaimed, a bit furious with her AI system. "Why didn't you mention this before when… you know… we first found the thing? I don't remember you ever warning me not to bring a bomb to school or on a school trip."
"I'm sorry, Miss Rogers, but that part of my subsystem was restricted by Mr. Stark." He told her. Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Why would Stark restrict my access to a subsystem that automatically lets me now that I'm carrying a bomb around? I didn't realize he hated me that much." Emma couldn't believe Stark. Well, maybe she could but this was incredibly ridiculous and also stupid but how could she expect anything more of Stark?
"I'd also like to inform you that the Mini Cap Protocol was put in place for missions that would not inquire you to be in the presence of alien weaponry but since you've seemed to miraculously complete your training you now have full access to all subsystems." McConaughey informed her and Emma narrowed her eyes at his tone of voice. Did AI systems even have a tone of voice? Emma didn't know but she was sure that McConaughey seemed sort of sarcastic at the end of that sentence.
"That better not be a sarcastic tone, McConaughey." Emma told him.
"I'm an artificial intelligence system, Miss Rogers. I don't have a sarcastic tone of voice." McConaughey replied and Emma really didn't believe him. She was sure Stark must've programmed some of his own charming personality traits into the AI system. She wouldn't put it past him.
"Should Ned be worried about that thing blowing up?" Emma asked McConaughey, bringing up a more concerning issue.
"Not without radiation, Miss Rogers. It would require radiation to transform it into a explosive state." Emma sighed heavily at McConaughey reassuring statement and she meant that sarcastically because that wasn't reassuring at all.
"Thanks, McConaughey. You sure know how to make a girl feel better." Emma retorted sarcastically.
"You're welcome, Miss Rogers." He replied and Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It would be pretty foolish of her to roll her eyes at an AI system. She watched as Peter went through his backpack for his phone and attempted to call Ned. It didn't appear that he had any service within the vault. Wow… this vault really was secure. It was nice to know that the scraps from the Avengers battles around the world actually ended up in a safe place. Well, they ended up in a safe place if they managed to make it to the vault before Birdman's band of idiots got their hands on the weapons.
"Does my phone have any service, McConaughey?" Emma asked the AI system quietly as she watched Peter fail to reach Ned.
"None whatsoever, Miss Rogers." He told her and Emma sighed.
"Great. I thought Stark phones and service were supposed to be top of the line. Expensive isn't always better." Emma stated bitterly as Peter then rushed out of the cargo truck. She observed as he shoot out his webbing towards the front of the vault before propelling himself in that direction, landing on the vault doors.
"Hey! Please! Please, somebody let me out! Hey!" Peter pleaded as he banged his fists against the doors. Emma just shook her head and walked towards the front of the vault, watching silently as he became more and more desperate to leave. He glanced over at the time lock that was a metal contraption positioned to the right side of the doors. "Karen, you have to help me override that time lock."
"What are you doing, Spider-Twerp?" Emma asked breathlessly as he began to climb towards the metal contraption.
"I'm going to get us out of here." Peter told her. "If I can override that time lock then maybe we can get out in time to retrieve the energy core and take it somewhere safe. Didn't you say that Thor's girlfriend might know what to do with it? Do you think she might rat on us to Mr. Stark?"
"Yeah, Jane would probably know what to do with it. She'd call Thor for help if she really needed it but she'll definitely rat on us. She's like a little tattle tale. Seriously… she's almost as bad as the witch." Emma told him before changing the subject. "That's beside the point. How are you going to override the time lock of a vault that Stark helped create. He probably designed this vault for every possible scenario which includes being outsmarted by a fifteen year old nerd." Peter just looked back at her and even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was staring at her with those determined brown eyes.
"Since we've entered this partnership I've always followed your lead when all the spy stuff is involved." Peter stated before continuing. "Can't you just follow my lead on this one? Can't you just trust me for once?" Emma stared back at him long and hard. It was true despite how annoying and bad Peter was at following her lead. He hadn't really seemed to question the things she did so far and if he did it was only after they were safely away from the harm. He obviously trusted that she knew what she was doing so maybe she could trust him on this one for once. Emma gritted her teeth before nodding reluctantly.
"Fine. Is there anything I can do to help?" Her offer of help sounded very forced to Peter's ears but he smiled despite her reluctance. He was just happy that she seemed to place some trust in him for once. She acknowledged that the scientific and mathematic side of things were not her area of expertise so she was trusting that he could take over from there. Maybe they could make a good team after all.
"Nope, I'm fine. I have Karen to help me. You just sit down and relax." Peter told her, sounding much happier than before. Emma rolled her eyes as Peter began to get to work on the time lock. She was already starting to regret this.
It had been a few hours since Peter had first began trying to override the time lock and they were still locked within the vault. Emma had since moved into a resting position of the floor, using Peter's decathlon blazer as a pillow as she closed her eyes and listened to music that McConaughey was playing through her mask. It turned out the mask apparently had amazing speakers as it blasted out her David Bowie playlist. Emma was a bit bored now that Peter had retrieved his notebook which meant that she no longer had anything to draw on. All of the books in Peter's backpack were boring math and science textbooks from school. She noticed that while he did a lot of reading, he didn't really seem to be interested in the kind of books that Emma was interested in. It didn't matter anyways. She had Michelle for things like that and she used to have Steve too… well, she used to have him for things like that before the fight at the airport.
"Are you a really big Bowie fan?" She heard Peter suddenly ask as he worked on the time lock. She opened her eyes and looked over at the teenage boy curiously. It was curious to her because they had been very quiet for the past few hours. Emma hadn't dared to fall asleep, worried that she might have another nightmare like the one before.
"What?" Emma asked him, wondering if she might've imagined him asking the question. He seemed to be hard at work, trying to override the time lock.
"It's just that the first time we met you were wearing a David Bowie shirt and you've been listening to him nonstop for the past couple hours." Peter continued to say and Emma just stared at him. He remembered what shirt she had been wearing on her first day at Midtown? Emma barely remembered what shirt she wore that day and she was supposed to have an exceptional memory.
"I do listen to David Bowie a lot." Emma started to say before she got really invested in the topic. A lot of the people back at the Avengers facility realized that if they wanted to get Emma to talk than it was best to bring up music. Talking about music was actually one of the few times her and Stark were able to get along. While she hadn't exactly been a fan of Black Sabbath or AC/DC, they both shared a love of Alice Cooper and Nirvana. "The guy was a genius. He was like the best concept artist ever. I mean, I really love Melanie Martinez and all now but David Bowie was like one of the original concept artists and he really took it to the next level. Especially with Ziggy Stardust. His songwriting was also amazing… Did you know he used the cut-up technique in his songwriting?"
"Cut-up technique?" Peter inquired curiously. In all honestly Peter had never really heard Emma talk about something this much. At least something that didn't involve teasing him or discussing the mission. He remembered her talking to him about that Chinese emperor in history class quite a bit but that was about it. Peter found that he liked this talkative side of Emma. A side that seemed genuinely excited and passionate about something for once.
"It's a technique in which a text is cut-up and then rearranged to create a new text." Emma informed him and Peter quickly processed that information. Well, you learned something new every day.
"That actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about some of his lyrics. It's actually kind of cool. I've never heard of that before." Peter replied and Emma smiled.
"Well, it's part of what made him so amazing. I would've loved to see him in concert. Especially back in the day." Emma said as she imagined what it must've been like to see a Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie on stage. It was probably something no one could ever forget. "What about you? Who do you listen to?" Emma found herself asking and for once it wasn't something she was asking because she was pretending to be nice. No, she was asking because she was genuinely curious.
"I mean, I like some old stuff like the Ramones and Queen but I'm mostly into newer music like Alt-J, Maroon 5, and Imagine Dragons. Lorde's really good too." Peter told her and Emma was surprised to hear Peter talk about the music he liked. Mostly because Emma always took him for an Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith kind of guy. Not that that was a bad thing or anything but it was just how Emma saw him.
"I like Alt-J and Lorde too." Emma admitted quietly and Peter looked over in her direction in surprise. Was she actually agreeing with him on something? How strange but also wonderful. He never really thought he could ever like the same things as Emma. Aside from them being superheros in training, they really didn't have much in common. That also might've been because they didn't really know each other all that well.
"You do?" Peter questioned and Emma nodded.
"Alt-J's way different than any other rock band out there and Lorde's really weird which is a good thing. She reminds me of Bowie in that way but also a little of Bjork too." Emma said thoughtfully. "Plus… Bowie thought she was the future of music so that just proves how brilliant she is. He never said that about anyone else so it must mean something."
"My favorite song of hers is 'Glory and Gore'. That's a pretty cool song." Peter commented, feeling a bit excited that he was connecting with Emma on a different level.
"I like that song too but my favorite is 'Ribs'. There's not another song out there that quite sounds like 'Ribs'." Emma replied. It was weird actually having something in common with Peter for once. Most people didn't really like the same kind of music she did and that was mostly because Emma's taste in music was basically everywhere. While Darcy and her shared a love for bands like the Killers, Arctic Monkeys, and Cage the Elephant, Darcy didn't really like a lot of the alternative pop kind of music that was out there. Don't get her started on Steve. Steve just seemed to like the big bands and jazz music, stuff that came out of his time. It was definitely a success when Emma had managed to get him into more modern music like the Eagles and the Kinks which weren't really that modern at all. Emma thought the only truly modern artists that Steve liked were Lana Del Rey and Sam Smith although Steve made it clear that he found a lot of Lana Del Rey's lyrics to be widely inappropriate. Prude.
"Hey, I'm sorry about your car by the way." Peter said suddenly as he changed the subject. Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"My car?" She questioned.
"Yeah, the car you drove to the gas station. We just kind of left it there." Peter elaborated and Emma just shrugged when she realized what he was talking about. In all honesty she had completely forgotten about that car. The car had served a purpose and now she was finished with it. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Well, it wasn't really mine to begin with so it doesn't matter." Emma told him and Peter glanced back over at her from his position on the wall.
"What do you mean? I thought Mr. Stark had given it to you?" Peter questioned, confusion clear in his voice. Emma raised an eyebrow at him.
"What? You thought Stark liked me enough to just give me a car?" Emma said doubtfully and Peter felt even more confused.
"I don't understand. How did you get the car then?" Peter asked her and Emma just gave him a look. Really… she thought it was pretty obvious how she acquired the car yet Peter didn't seem to have a clue. That seemed to be one of his faults… seeing the good in everyone. It was a trait that she admired more than she would ever admit but it was definitely something that could get Peter killed in this world of superheros and villains.
"I guess you could say that I borrowed it from the hotel parking lot." Emma finally said and the lenses on Peter's mask immediately widened in shock.
"What?!" He exclaimed. "You mean to say that you stole a car?!" Emma rolled her eyes.
"It's not like I had no intention of giving it back. That's why we left it back there without a scratch on it." Emma told him and Peter shook his head furiously.
"I can't believe I was an accomplice to grand theft auto." Peter mumbled and Emma scoffed.
"Yeah, but you're completely okay with breaking into a high security vault?" Emma retorted sarcastically.
"That's way different." Peter told her as he pointed his finger back at her. "This was an accident."
"I'm sure Damage Control would see it that way." Peter's lenses narrowed at her before he turned back around to focus on the time lock. He started mumbling something about blondes being way too much trouble which he only said to try and piss Emma off but she was just amused. Peter was actually kind of adorable when he was angry.
Emma would deny thinking that if anyone ever asked her.