Author's Note: This chapter is taking forever for me to publish because my edit somehow got deleted again. I seriously have no idea what's wrong with my computer sometimes. So glad that you guys loved Michelle's voicemail. I knew that I had to be creative with her voicemail.
Capricious-Sunshine: Once again, I didn't mean any offense to French, Germans, and Italians in the last chapter. I just wrote Emma's dislike of those countries as a weird quirk of hers and she has many weird quirks. I really love Tony too and this isn't a Tony bashing story. Emma just resents Tony for the time being and she has every right to. I also wrote this conflict between Emma and Tony because I just love writing complicated relationships like that. They both have such a complex relationship with each other and I really like writing that. Emma and Tony will eventually overcome their differences but not for another few chapters.
Spawn Hades: I think the similarities between the two couples mostly has to do with Natasha and Emma. Natasha and Emma are very similar to each other and they both have a mutual understanding. Their taste in men is sort of similar too in way that they both like guys who are nice, dorky, and sciency.
I don't think Emma and Steve are switching personalities. Steve isn't cynical. He's just worried about Emma and being worried about Emma sets him on edge. Emma's still cynical but she's slowly becoming more trusting towards Peter. I think a part of her will always be cynical but when she's around people she's comfortable with then that feeling will lessen.
alleya02: I don't really want to give anything away in regards to the future but you'll see in the chapter after this one.
SabrinaInWonderland001: I'm really excited for Emma and Peter's relationship too. I know as the writer I could just write them together already but it doesn't feel right yet. It has to feel right and make sense before they can get together. I don't want it to be feel rushed or anything. I usually hate slow burn stories like this one so it's weird that I'm writing one.
I'm also glad to find another Mindy Project fan. That's one of my favorite shows of all time and I'm so sad that it's ending. I'm hoping that Mindy and Danny get back together in the last couple episodes. I know Danny was a sexist jerk and Mindy was justified in dumping him but I want them to get back together so bad. I just hope Danny can stop being stupid and do that. One of the episodes this season indicated that he may have changed his ways a little bit so I'm hoping that means Mindy and Danny still have a chance.
JokeLover123: I love writing a jealous Emma. It's hilarious because she's jealous and doesn't even know it. I can't wait to write Emma and Peter as a couple because I have a feeling she might be a little possessive over Peter. That would be so funny to write.
I also just had to include the other Avengers in the chapter because we haven't seen them in forever. I also missed writing Steve so much. It breaks my heart having him and Emma apart but it's kind of necessary for the story right now. And I give it maybe five chapters before Michelle finds out about Emma. Don't quote me on that.
infinityneverlasts: Emma still calls him Parker but in really vulnerable moments between the two she does call him Peter. Emma calling him by his first name will only become more frequent the closer they become. I don't think the other Avengers will show up in the story for a while but you never know. Seeing the other Avengers is definitely not going to be a regular thing right now in the story.
Guest: Glad you love the chapter so much. It's funny you mention a jealous Peter because you just might catch a glimpse of a jealous Peter in this chapter.
I'm sorry for not answering all the reviews but I just really wanted to get this chapter out there. Thanks and please review.
"You're grounded." Darcy told her. Emma was currently sprawled out across her bed as she read a biography of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's real life romance. Michelle had dared her to read a romance so of course Emma picked a real life one about a couple who cheated on each other constantly and were twenty five years apart in age. And people were always going on about Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively? Emma didn't think those two were fucked up enough for her liking.
"Really?" Emma asked doubtfully as she turned a page in her book. Darcy crossed her arms as she leaned against Emma's doorway. It was the day after she had returned from D.C. and Peter had made her promise they would meet up at school to discuss what they were going to do about Birdman.
"Yes, you're grounded." Darcy confirmed and Emma glanced up from her book, raising an eyebrow. The school had called Darcy earlier and told her that Emma had skipped Nationals to go off God knows where. Darcy was apparently trying to discipline Emma.
"Was this Jane's idea?" Emma inquired nonchalantly and Darcy spluttered.
"No." Darcy said and Emma gave her a doubtful look, causing Darcy to sigh heavily. "Fine… Maybe."
"I think it's cute that you think that I care whether or not I'm grounded." Emma deadpanned and Darcy groaned in frustration.
"Why can't you just argue with me like a normal teenager?! Or murder me in my sleep because I took your phone away like other kids you're age?!" Darcy complained and Emma smirked at her.
"That sounds very tempting actually." Emma quipped and Darcy just shook her head at the blonde.
"You're the hardest kid to ground." Darcy told her. "Fine. Since you don't seem care whether or not you're grounded then I'm just going to take this super hot picture of your DILF of a dad with me. That's right. I'm confiscating it and not for my own needs." Darcy ranted as she snatched the picture of Emma's father from her bookshelf. Emma just watched her curiously as the brunette took the framed picture and then walked out of the room.
"Make sure the picture comes back in one piece! Don't violate my father's picture beyond recognition!" Emma called out of her and was answered with the sound of Darcy's bedroom slamming. She really hoped the brunette was just joking or otherwise that was just nasty. Before Emma could think of any other worst nightmares another nightmare of hers was trying to make a guest appearance. Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust as she saw Stark's caller id pop up on her phone. It looked like he wanted to facetime. She really didn't want to talk to Stark right now but she knew he'd probably only continue to annoy her if she ignored him. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Emma accepted the call and watched as Stark's hideous face popped up on her screen.
"Mini Cap!" Tony greeted jovially. "It's so nice to see your bright and shining face staring back at me." Emma only blinked before answering.
"What do you want, Stark?" Emma asked boredly.
"What? I can't just call you to see how you are?" Tony questioned but Emma wasn't buying it.
"No. You only call when you want to be annoying." Emma told him and Tony sighed tiredly.
"No, I only call when I see something that causes me some concern." He pointedly told her and Emma rolled her eyes.
"Can you actually not right now? I'm too busy being grounded." Emma replied as she glared at Tony and Tony glared right back at her, all niceness gone from his face. It was time to talk business.
"Listen, Rogers, I'm two seconds from actually kicking you out for real this time and sending you on your merry way to find your grandpa." Tony told her and Emma really had to hand it to him this time. He was doing his best to act like some sort of father figure but he still didn't have her respect and he never would.
"Promise?" Emma questioned sarcastically and Tony groaned in frustration.
"You don't get to talk to me like that right now." He scolded. "I woke up yesterday morning to see a news report about a protest downtown D.C. and a protest that you decided to take part in as you apparently called for my imprisonment. What a lovely little sign you made by the way. It was very creative."
"Thank you, Stark. I always knew you appreciated my artistic ability." Emma said snarkily. "I'm glad you liked the protest though and I hope that it gave you some insight into the mindset of many Americans."
"Don't act like you did that for any reason other than to humiliate me." Tony snapped, furious with the irritating blonde. Seriously… How did Rogers put up with her for so long. Steve really must be a saint. "I know you, Rogers. You don't do anything for free. You don't do anything if it doesn't somehow serve a purpose for you or daddy dearest." Emma clenched her jaw as she felt the strong urge to somehow reach through the screen and beat the shit out of Stark. Instead she swallowed her anger and forced herself to maintain her composure.
"I don't care what you think of me, Stark. Believe or not the whole world doesn't revolve around you." Emma practically hissed as she told him what she really thought of him. "If you want to talk politics, fine… we will. The Sokovia Accords is a complete load of crap. I know for a fact that you don't really believe in any of it either."
"Yes, I do. I think this whole thing has been me actively believing in the accords." Emma just scoffed before shaking her head in disbelief.
"No, it's not. It's because you've decided to have a conscience. You do this thing where every once and a while you decide to have a conscience and when you do, it messes everything up." Emma told him honestly although her tone was very bitter. "First it was the weapons then it was Ultron and now it's the accords. You only sponsored the accords because you feel guilty about Sokovia. The accords were founded on nothing but guilt and a need for control. It'll never work out in the way you hope that it will."
"What? And you're the judge of good decisions?" Tony sneered and Emma just stared back at him blankly, not wanting to demonstrate her anger or annoyance.
"I'm not claiming to be a saint but I know that you're wrong." Emma told him quietly and Tony just assessed the expression on her face but as usual found nothing. She looked as cold and emotionless as she normally did. Tony sighed heavily.
"Look, kid, I didn't want to start another argument with you today." Tony told her and Emma raised an eyebrow at him.
"No?" She questioned.
"No, I didn't. I just saw what you and Peter did in D.C. and I wanted to congratulate you. You did a good job." Tony complimented which Emma found surprising. She couldn't remember a time where she and Tony ever said anything nice to each other. Emma was slightly suspicious of his change in behavior so she decided to hide behind sarcastic and cruel remarks as she normally did. She didn't trust him one bit.
"I don't need your validation, Stark. I'm not Parker. I didn't do it for you." Emma told him coldly and Tony tried not to snap at the blonde. She made it so difficult sometimes.
"Can you ever be pleasant about anything?" Tony asked her and Emma gave him her signature bitchy look.
"Not if it has anything to do with you." Emma quipped and Tony glared at her.
"Fine. Be that way but just try and stay out of trouble… make sure Peter stays out of trouble too." Tony told her before his expression slightly softened. "I'm glad you two finally found each other. I think you're going to be good together." Emma didn't know how to feel about what Tony just said.
The way Tony spoke it seemed as though he expected Emma and Peter to continue to be partners of sorts. Emma only thought this whole truce going on between her and Peter would last until they captured the Vulture… well, that's what she originally thought but she had honestly come to think of Peter as a friend. She would never tell anyone else that but it was true. Peter was a friend to her and she was even fond of him on some level which was odd because he wasn't the kind of person she usually enjoyed spending time with. He was too… nice. Yes, nice was the word for it. Peter was kind of like Steve in that way but the only reason she hung around Steve was because Steve was family and it was inevitable that she would come to love him in the way she had. She was forced to like Steve but she wasn't forced to like Peter. Peter wasn't family at all so it bothered her to know that she considered him a friend.
"Whatever, Stark. I've gotta go… I've have to get back to being grounded." Emma answered quietly, a conflicted look in her eyes. Tony nodded and smiled faintly.
"Yeah. I guess I'll see you soon, Mini Cap." He replied and Emma ended the call right then. She took a deep breath as she rested her head against her pillow, turning her phone over, and just laid there on her bed. Why did talking to Stark always take so much energy out of her? Oh, that's right. Because he was like the most annoying person in the world. Emma knew that Peter was annoying as well but Emma actually liked him. Liked him? That was odd to say. Emma didn't really like anyone. Well, she liked Clint, Sam, Darcy, and Susan but that was only because she had known them all for a couple of years. Emma had barely known Peter for a month even though it felt way longer than that. The blonde immediately turned her head to stare at her photograph of Steve which was sitting on her nightstand.
"What do I do, Steve?" She asked the photograph in a whisper. It seemed like she was always wondering what Steve would do these days. Her question seemed valid and reasonable to her. She was basically asking Steve whether or not she could trust this boy… if she could trust him enough to call him a friend. It was easy enough calling Michelle a friend because Michelle didn't know enough about Emma to judge her. Peter was something entirely different because he was fully aware of who she was. She feared rejection from him but she feared rejection from everyone. Emma still feared rejection from Steve and she knew that Steve loved her unconditionally. Rejection was one of her greatest fears. Emma didn't like admitting to having fears because she knew from Hydra that having fears was the same as having weaknesses.
"I wish you were here. You'd probably tell me what to do in this situation." Emma continued to whisper to the picture. She nestled her face against the pillow as she stared at her grandfather's smiling face.
"You'd probably say something incredibly corny… tell me to trust more or something similarly ridiculous." Emma smiled a bit at the thought of Steve giving her one of his many lectures.
"I'd tell you that you can't trust anyone. I guess I was right in the end. I mean, look what happened with Tony." Emma said sadly. "I know you wanted me to make amends with him but it's just… well, it's just impossible. Every time I look at him I'm just reminded of what he did. He's the reason why I'm talking to a photograph of you instead of the real thing. He's the reason Papa's in a Cyro-Chamber right now. He's the reason why I'm so alone." Emma looked away from the photograph and stared at the ceiling.
"I don't know how you expect me to just let go of all that." Emma finished as she rested her hands on her stomach, her fingers laced a crown. Her eyes rested on the ceiling but she was seeing way beyond the ceiling as she remained lost in her thoughts. Emma then scoffed at herself, not believing what she had just been doing.
"I guess I really have lost it."
Monday finally rolled around and with Monday came school again. It seemed like her and Peter were no longer part of the rumor mill since all that anyone could talk about was the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man saving the decathlon team. That was sort of a relief because Emma didn't know how she'd handle a bunch of nosy teenagers poking their noses in her business. That being said, Mr. Harrington and Principal Morita had most certainly not forgotten about her and Peter skipping nationals. Yeah, apparently Emma had detention after school but she didn't really mind it. Any punishment the school handed out was probably like a vacation compared to Hydra's idea of punishment. Who knows, detention may even be fun to Emma.
"Why isn't it Midtown's resident rebel." Michelle announced boredly as she began to walk next to Emma. Emma just gave the bookish girl an amused look as she made her way to art class.
"Hello, MJ." Emma greeted casually.
"How much detention did you manage to get?" The dark haired girl asked her and Emma smirked.
"Two week's worth." Emma replied shortly and Michelle raised an eyebrow at her.
"Two weeks? Everyone was so sure you and Parker would get expelled." Michelle told her and Emma shrugged.
"Well, since I'm new to the school and Parker's a goody goody, Principal Morita is deciding to give us a break." Emma explained and Michelle still seemed doubtful.
"Two weeks still doesn't seem like that much."
"It used to be a month but I managed to cut it down to two weeks. I don't know about Parker but I'm definitely only getting two weeks worth of detention." Emma told Michelle which made Michelle even more suspicious of the blonde.
"How did you do that? Principal Morita is notoriously known to have a stick up his ass." Michelle said with a suspicious tone as she stared at the smug looking blonde who was looking exceptionally pleased with herself. Emma just shrugged.
"I happened to take interest in some of photographs he had of his grandfather and Captain America. His grandfather was a Howling Commando, you know." Emma informed Michelle but to be honest Emma had known that about Principal Morita for a long time. Ever since coming to the school she had known about the Principal being a grandson of one of her grandfather's old war buddies. It was kind of weird that they had that sort of connection with each other but it was a small world. It wasn't like Principal Morita knew about Emma anyways. She also knew that her father had been friends with his father given another photograph she had seen in the Principal's office but Emma figured that their families probably lost contact with each other decades ago. Michelle groaned at Emma's statement.
"Everyone knows that, Emma. The guy never shuts up about it." She said with an irritated look on her face but Emma didn't seem that bothered.
"Anyways… I'm a history buff so I just sucked up to him a lot and got detention for two weeks instead of one." Emma replied nonchalantly and Michelle just shook her head in disbelief at the girl. She still couldn't believe how Emma was able to easily manipulate people into caving into her. It must have something to do with whatever she's hiding, Michelle determined. Before Michelle could even respond to Emma's remark, she was interrupted by one of the televisions hanging on the wall. The television displayed Betty Bryant and Jason Ionello's broadcast news segment. Emma curiously looked up at the screen as the awkward duo began talking about the decathlon team.
"This past weekend, Midtown's Academic Decathlon team defeated the country's best to win the national championship." Jason Ionello stated as he looked into the camera. "Later that day, they also defeated death."
"Explosion!" Abraham exclaimed in a new clip shown on the television. "Sally scream. Flash scream. Everybody screaming." Another clip then showed Charles Murphey who was one of Flash's buddies which immediately made Emma dislike him by association.
"There were purple lasers and smoke. It was *beeping* tight, like a Bon Jovi concert." Emma rolled her eyes at Murphey. No wonder he was friends with Flash. Morons like that stuck together. Another clip then showed Mr. Harrington standing in front of the school bus as he was being interviewed.
"As you know, we made it out alive and that's the important thing." Mr. Harrington said solemnly before continuing. "I couldn't bear to lose a student on a school trip… Not again."
"Thankfully, no one was seriously injured thanks to Spider-Man and the Viper Assassin." Jason said as he and Betty began to draw the segment to a conclusion. "Thank you, Spider-Man and Viper Assassin."
"Up next: The Viper Assassin and Spider-Man mania is sweeping the school. How can you show your Spider Viper spirit?" Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust at the remark. Spider Viper spirit? Just a few months ago Emma was something to be feared by the masses but now people were talking about Spider Viper spirit? How underwhelming.
"Spider Viper spirit? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Emma muttered. She only meant to say that under her breath but apparently Michelle heard her.
"Everyone's dressing up in either red and blue or green and black." Michelle explained. "It's supposed to show our appreciation for the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man." Now that Emma thought about it, she had noticed a lot of green being worn around school today as well as red. Emma had thought today was some sort of holiday or spirit day that she could really care less about but it turned out to be in devotion to her and Peter's superhero aliases.
"That's kind of lame." Emma remarked and Michelle just shrugged.
"I guess. I mean, it's a little too far to come to school dressed like them. We're not in the third grade anymore." Michelle told her just as a group of freshmen girls walked by dressed in poorly made Viper Assassin costumes. Emma rose an eyebrow at the picture of a snake one of them had taped to their chest. The snake taped to their chest wasn't even a viper.
"Isn't it messed up that they're celebrating a murderer?" Emma asked her in reference to herself. "The Viper Assassin used to work for Hydra and not to mention she's credited with a ton of assassinations."
"I think she's pretty cool." Michelle admitted casually which caused Emma to stare at her incredulously. Wait… What?
"You do?" Emma asked doubtfully and Michelle nodded.
"Yeah, she's not perfect like some of the other Avengers. Her past is about as shady as they come but I think that's what makes her one of the best Avengers." Michelle told her. Emma kind of shifted uncomfortably from being referred to as an Avenger. That wasn't technically true but it wasn't like she could just deny it right on the spot. "She's done a lot of bad things but she's overcome those things to be a hero… to be a good person."
"I don't think that will change the things she's done in her past." Emma told Michelle quietly. "She can't be a hero. There's too much red in her ledger."
"So she's an anti-hero then." Michelle stated. "All the best characters are anti-heroes anyways. The goody goody types are way too boring for my liking."
"Anti-hero?" Emma questioned as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She knew what the term meant but she didn't think anyone had ever applied it to her before. Michelle just nodded.
"Yeah. An anti-hero. A lot of really cool people have been anti-heroes in pop culture." Michelle informed her. "Severus Snape was a deatheater before he changed his mind and became a member of Dumbledore's army. Sherlock is pretty fucked up and probably could be a serial killer if he really wanted but he chooses to help Lestrade find serial killers instead. Catwoman's always on the fence but a lot of the time she tries to be the good guy and helps Batman. See… anti-heroes are the best."
"I guess I never thought of it that way." Emma confessed as she took in all that information. Michelle had certainly given her a lot to think about. A part of Emma wondered if Michelle already knew about her so she subtly analyzed Michelle's facial expression to try and determine whether or not Michelle had already figured it out. Emma noticed that Michelle seemed very relaxed and casual as they walked to class, keeping her eyes on the hallway in front of them. If Michelle knew than she would've had to of been trained by an agency very similar to Hydra because her composure was untelling. No… Michelle most certainly did not know. At least not yet.
"She didn't seem that terrifying." Michelle admitted after a moment of silence. Emma looked at her in confusion from her sudden remark. "I saw her and Spider-Man before they went in to save the others." Michelle added once she saw the confused look on Emma's face. Emma gazed at Michelle curiously as she maintained her composure.
"Did you now?" Emma inquired and Michelle nodded.
"Yes. I always expected the Viper Assassin to be more cold or the kind of scary that makes you piss your pants but she wasn't any of those things." Michelle told her and Emma struggled not to let the annoyance show on her face. Great… she couldn't even scare fifteen year old teenagers these days. There were times when she used to strike fear in the hearts of individuals three times her age but it seemed like those days were long gone. "No. She was a good person."
"A good person? Really?" Emma questioned her doubtfully but Michelle didn't seem swayed by Emma's questioning. Her opinion was obviously very firm on the matter.
"Yes, she told me not to worry. She promised me that she would save my friends." Michelle said softly as she recollected her encounter with the Viper Assassin. "If she was really a bad person then she wouldn't have made that promise let alone go and save everyone."
"I guess not." Emma agreed quietly. Maybe what Michelle was telling her had some truth to it. All this time she had been wanting to be the monster that Hydra wanted her to be. She had wanted to be something to be feared so that no one would ever hurt her again. It was clear that the time she had been with Hydra was long over. She didn't have to fear being beaten to a bloody pulp ever again. Emma didn't have to fear being poked and prodded with needles or having to see Rumlow. There was no need for her to be the monster everyone feared anymore. Her life was far different than it had been when she was working for Hydra. People didn't have to be scared of her like before.
"So…" Emma trailed off as she brought herself out of her own thoughts. A smirk could be seen on the blonde's face as she gave Michelle a smug look. "Your friends, huh?" Michelle immediately glared at her friend, the nice moment between the two completely over.
"Shut up."
Emma didn't know why but she had expected detention to be held in the library. She guessed that was what Darcy forcing her to watch The Breakfast Club got her. Unrealistic expectations. No, detention was held in one of the history classrooms and instead of Paul Gleason keeping watch of them from his office across the hall, it was actually Coach Wilson keeping watch of them from his desk towards the front of the classroom. She guessed there wouldn't be any Marijuana smoking parties for them with Coach Wilson there. Emma still didn't understand all the crap those kids got away with in that movie. If anything the movie just showed how inept the assistant principal was at his job.
"You're here too?" Peter asked as he walked into the classroom, immediately taking a seat next to Emma. Emma had been sketching her own fan art from The Breakfast Club, having felt inspired from her current predicament. She barely glanced up at him as he sat down in the seat next to her.
"Well, you weren't the only one who skipped nationals although I managed to get my detention cut down to two weeks." Emma informed and Peter raised his eyebrows.
"Two weeks? How did you manage that?" He questioned and Emma just smirked at him.
"Why my charm, of course. What else?" She said mockingly as she innocently batted her eyelashes. The teasing look on her face immediately fell off, however, when she noticed someone else walk into the room. Peter could only describe the look on Emma's face to be one of revulsion when Flash walked in. The Latino sauntered into the classroom with a smug look on his face as he made a beeline to Emma.
"Hey, Penis Parker." Flash greeted as he gave Peter a distasteful look before smirking once more at Emma. "It's so nice to see you, Emma. I heard you got detention. What a shame." Emma eyed him cautiously before shrugging nonchalantly.
"It's fine." She said shortly, trying to make it clear that she didn't want to talk to him. Flash, however, didn't seem to get the hint.
"I just thought I'd drop by to see you. I mean, I don't have detention or anything but I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Flash told her and Emma fought the urge to reach over and strangle the life from that annoying little brat. Ugh! Emma took it back. Stark wasn't the most annoying person she had ever met. No, it was definitely Flash.
"I'm fine, Flash." Emma repeated as she clenched her jaw. Flash nodded as he rested a hand on the back of her seat. Emma eyed his hand suspiciously but decided not to comment on it.
"Good. Well, the real reason I stopped by is because I have an important question to ask you." Flash said and Emma became even more suspicious. Peter pretended not to pay attention to their conversation but he was finding it really hard to look at anything other than Emma's face.
"Well, the Homecoming Dance is Friday so I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me. My dad's got some connections with this fancy French place and he's also going to be lending me his car for the night. It's a really awesome car. I think you'll love it." Flash then finally finished his annoying rambling. He looked incredibly sure of himself in that moment and Emma wanted nothing more than to punch the smug look right off his face. Emma would rather suck face with Ultron than go to some stupid dance with him of all people.
Peter couldn't really describe all the emotions that went through him in that moment. He really wanted to kick Flash's ass which was a bit more than what he felt for Flash normally. Sure, Flash annoyed the hell out of him but this time he really seemed to piss Peter off. The moment Flash came walking over, with that smug look on his face and asked Emma to Homecoming, Peter wanted nothing more than to deck him in the face. How dare he ask Emma to Homecoming? Wait… Why did Peter care so much about Emma and Flash going to Homecoming together? It wasn't really like it was any of his business. Then it occurred to Peter. Maybe the problem wasn't Flash going to Homecoming with Emma but it was Emma going to Homecoming with anyone.
He knew that he had developed some kind of attraction for Emma as well as feelings to go along with that attraction but Peter hadn't thought he felt that strongly about her. Not like Liz at least. Peter couldn't possibly like Emma more than he liked Liz. He had a crush on Liz for far longer and besides… him and Emma just didn't make sense. They were completely different personality wise and they argued about everything. Peter was also pretty sure that she didn't like him at all and only tolerated him because she was forced to. Sure, they had some nice moments but those were only moments. Peter saw one part of Emma and then a minute later she threw her walls back up and he only saw the version of her that she wanted him to see… not the real her. No, Peter was probably just weirded out by the prospect of Emma spending time with someone that wasn't him since they had been spending so much time together. That had to be it.
"Sorry, Flash, but I can't. I'll be out of town that weekend… I have to go to a funeral." Emma told him vaguely. She really wanted to tear him down but Emma knew that she didn't need to be burning her bridges right now. Emma had enough enemies out in the real world and she didn't want them at school too. Flash gave her a confused look as Peter tried to hide his relief at her statement.
"Funeral? I thought you went to one the last time I asked you out?" Flash questioned in a confused state. Emma didn't seem fazed by this information as she feigned a saddened look.
"I know… my family members just seem to be dropping like flies." Emma told him and Flash nodded slowly.
"Right. Well, sorry for your loss." Flash replied and Emma forced a smile.
"Thank you, Flash. I hope you have fun at the Homecoming dance while I'm over in Denver at Aunt Bridget's funeral." Emma said and Flash suddenly looked awkward. He knew it was time for him to leave. The situation just got very awkward and depressing.
"Um… okay. I'll see you around then, Emma." Flash told her as he then hightailed it out of the classroom. The moment he left the classroom the smile fell off Emma's face.
"Asshole." She muttered under her breath and Peter just laughed at her. She shot him a curious look. "What?" Peter shook his head as he tried to regain control of his fit of laughter.
"You're so terrible." Peter said but it was clear that he meant the words jokingly. Emma looked at Peter in amusement, a real smile actually forming on her face. The smile soon faded away when Coach Wilson stood at the front of the classroom and Emma noticed Michelle slip into the classroom last minute. She wondered what her friend was doing there. Emma knew for a fact that Michelle didn't have detention.
"Okay, you little delinquents." Coach Wilson said in a bored tone as he looked at the five students who sat in the classroom. "Because of your bad behavior, I have to spend an extra hour here at school so it would mean a lot to me if you guys just shut up and be quiet for an hour." All five of them stared blankly at the coach which caused him to sigh tiredly.
"Great. Now I'm going to put on a video for you to watch. Please watch the video and don't bother me." Coach Wilson told them as he turned on the tv. Seriously, Emma had to applaud the school district for picking such outstanding teachers. In all honestly Emma really liked Coach Wilson. She could relate to his constant boredom.
"Emma?" Peter whispered from over next to her. Emma turned to look at the teenage boy, an eyebrow raised.
"What?" She whispered back.
"We've gotta find that guy. We don't have all the time in the world." Peter told her and Emma sighed.
"I know that but we need McConaughey and Karen to do that." Emma replied and Peter groaned impatiently. The Vulture was still out there yet the both of them still sat in detention instead of trying to track him down.
"Well, we're not going to have McConaughey and Karen help us from school. We need to head back to my place." Peter suggested but Emma didn't really agree with his suggestion.
"I'm not going back to your place, Parker." Emma told him. "It's not safe. Your Aunt could pop in at any moment and I don't really need to be worrying about that right now. No, we'll be meeting at my place. Darcy and Jane aren't there right now and even if they were it's not like I'd have to hide everything from them. Do you have your suit?" Peter nodded slowly at her question. Emma's place? Peter had never been over to Emma's house in all the time they had spent together. A part of him was curious to see what her place looked like but another part of him was more focused on the task at hand.
"Yes, it's in my backpack." Peter replied. Emma felt a bit tense about Peter just carrying around his suit in his backpack all day, making it that much easier for anyone to find it, but that wasn't the concerning issue right now.
"What did I say about being quiet?" Coach Wilson said as he glared at them. Both Emma and Peter feigned innocent looks. Maybe she was rubbing off on Peter a little too much. Coach Wilson just rolled his eyes before relaxing back in his seat after pressing the play button on the dvd player.
The video then began to play although Michelle was still sending Peter and Emma subtle suspicious looks, having heard their vague and suspicious conversation. To many it might've sounded like Emma and Peter were engaging in some kind of weird sexual relationship but Michelle knew better. No, they were definitely up to something. Emma immediately furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she stared at the screen. Steve had popped up on the screen in his more colorful, dorky looking Captain America uniform as he sat down in a chair backwards.
"So…" Steve said, staring into the camera with a kind look on his face. Emma still didn't understand what the hell she was seeing. When did her grandfather do all these ridiculous videos? When were these ridiculous videos going to stop? She had thought the only one he had made was the one shown in P.E. but apparently not. "You got detention."
"You screwed up." Steve said in that familiar tone of authority. Emma couldn't believe the irony of this situation. She was complaining about missing Steve earlier and now here he was giving her another one of his famous lectures. If Emma was being completely honest she kind of missed those lectures. She knew it wasn't the same though. Steve usually was pretty pissed at her when he was giving her a lecture and he wasn't nearly this compassionate during those lectures. Emma kind of wished that Coach Wilson wasn't forcing them to watch the video. Seeing Steve and hearing his voice only seemed to make her miss him more. It really and truly hurt.
"You know what you did was wrong. The question is, how are you gonna make things right?" Steve continued to say and Emma could actually feel tears prickling her eyes embarrassingly enough. She clenched her jaw tight as she tried to force the tears away. Emma was not going to cry now in the middle of the classroom with all these people around her. She was stronger than this… she was stronger than her emotions.
"Maybe you were trying to be cool… but take it from a guy who was frozen for sixty five years." And there it was. That did the trick. Emma immediately stiffled a giggle as she hid her mouth behind her hand. She couldn't believe Steve actually said something like that. What a dork. Emma didn't feel quite as sad as she did before. It seemed like Steve still had quite the effect on her even without physically being there. He always seemed to know just the way to cheer her up. Steve knew how to make her laugh and forget all her problems. "The only way to really be cool is to follow the rules."
"Do you want to leave?" Peter whispered and Emma finally tore her eyes away from the tv screen. She saw the desperation and impatience resting in Peter's brown eyes. Emma gave him a surprised look.
"Really? Peter Parker wants to ditch?" Emma asked him and she was also surprised to see that he didn't even glare at her for her teasing comment.
"We've gotta find him, Emma." He told her pointedly and Emma found herself nodding. She was still shocked that goody goody Peter Parker wanted to ditch detention. Okay… maybe she was rubbing off a little too much on him. This was certainly a turn of events.
"Sure. Let's go then." Emma told him and he gave her a quick nod before getting up from his seat as quickly as he could. Emma followed suit but wasn't worried about Coach Wilson stopping them. He didn't seem like the type to actively hunt them down if they left. Coach Wilson barely looked at them as they rushed out of the classroom.
"We all know what's right. We all know what's wrong." Steve said and it was almost like he was trying to give her advice like he normally would do had he been there. Peter and her were already well down the hallway but with her enhanced hearing she could still hear her grandfather's voice. She let Peter walk ahead of her as she hung back a few feet.
"Next time those turkeys try to convince you of something you know is wrong just think to yourself…" Steve's voice echoed and Emma felt a single tear fall down her cheek.
"What would Captain America do?"
"So this is your room?" Peter asked her as he looked around her bedroom in wonder. They had walked from school to Emma's townhouse in a reasonable amount of time after he had retrieved his web fluid from behind the lockers at school. Emma had already dropped off the Viper Assassin suit that Hydra made for her there too after Peter made the surprisingly smart suggestion to have a suit there just in case. The suit had been mended by Stark over a year ago since she had grown so much since she had last worn the suit.
Peter hadn't known what he expected Emma's room to look like. Maybe he expected it to be dark with pictures of murder and violence which was really stupid now that he thought about it. The walls of her room were adorned with posters from Emma's favorite bands or singers as well as movie posters. Peter also spotted art work that he could only assume was done by Emma's own hand. He knew because his notebook was littered with a ton of Emma's drawings not that he minded. Peter actually thought her artwork was quite beautiful despite the gore of a couple of them. He still couldn't unsee the very detailed drawing of Mr. Stark being eaten alive by a giant snake.
Peter saw a vinyl record player in the corner of her room with a crate full of vinyl records placed next to it. A bookcase was filled to the brim with various different books although most seemed to be classic literature. However, it was all the framed photographs in the room that captured his attention. He saw q picture of a bored looking Emma standing next to Darcy and the Falcon out of his Falcon gear. It was when he saw the picture of Emma and her grandfather that his breath hitched. Peter stared at the picture in bewilderment because he had never seen Emma look as happy as she looked in the picture. Emma was laughing in the picture, her face lit up with happiness as her grandfather grinned at her. Her grandfather must've said something funny to her, Peter observed. He then glanced at another photograph that made him curious. It was a picture of what looked like a wedding. An older looking man was dressed in semi formal clothing as he looked adoringly upon a beautiful younger red headed woman dressed in a simple white dress. The couple looked to be very much in love.
"Obviously." Emma answered his previous question and Peter tore his eyes away from the photograph.
"Are those your parents?" Peter asked curiously as he looked back at the picture. Emma followed his gaze and her expression softened as she looked at her parents.
"Yes." She answered shortly and Peter gave her a kind smile. Peter couldn't say that he saw many similarities between Emma and her mother. He supposed they looked quite similar in the face but Emma seemed to share a lot of her looks with her father and grandfather.
"Your mother was very beautiful." Peter told her softly and Emma allowed herself to give him a small smile. It was true. Her mother had been very beautiful. Emma had distant memories of watching her mother sitting at a vanity, putting on make-up and doing her hair. The memory seemed to be fading these days and Emma was sure it wouldn't be long before she completely forgot the memory.
"Yes, she was. She was very kind too… gentle even." Emma replied, looking far away in her thoughts.
"What happened to them, Emma?" Peter asked her hesitantly, fearing her reaction. "If you don't mind me asking." Emma looked back at her him and sighed. A sad look came over her face as she stared back at him. Peter wanted nothing more to give her a hug or do anything to make her look as happy as she had in that picture with her grandfather. He did no so thing, however, because he knew Emma would probably slap him or worse. She didn't seem to be the overly affectionate type.
"They died." Emma told him honestly as Peter listened intently to her. "They were murdered right in front of me. Hydra wanted me very badly and my parents stood in their way. They fought back but in the end it wasn't enough. I was four." Peter looked at Emma in horror, appalled by what he was hearing. Emma's parents had been murdered in front of her when she was only four? That was the most horrific thing he had ever heard. Peter couldn't even imagine such a thing.
"Oh my god, Emma… I'm so sorry." Peter said sympathetically and Emma just shrugged, trying to appear like their deaths didn't affect her.
"It was a long time ago. I barely remember them anyways." Emma replied and Peter just shook his head as he stared back at her, his warm brown eyes filled with compassion. Emma felt her heart race against her chest at the mere sight of his eyes.
"That doesn't make their loss any less painful." Peter told her seriously. "My parents died too. I was also really young." Emma gave him a curious look at his admission. She figured his parents had probably passed away since he was living with his aunt but she tried not to pry that much. It didn't really have anything to do with him being Spider-Man so she decided it wasn't any of her business. Now, however, Emma couldn't help but be curious about what happened to Peter's parents.
"Really?" She asked him and he nodded.
"It was a plane crash." He admitted quietly and Emma witnessed the sad expression on his face. The warmness in his brown eyes dimmed a bit as he too seemed to become lost in memory. Emma wished that she knew how to comfort him but she just didn't. Comforting someone had never been her strong suit. One time she had seen Pepper bawling her eyes out from something that Tony had done so Emma had quickly stopped and backpedaled out of the room. She didn't know how to comfort people. However, she did happen to know how he felt so she knew the last thing he wanted was to keep talking about it.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Emma told him quietly. She knew that if she could figure out a way to change the subject then at least she could distract him from the thought of his parents. She could distract the both of them from the thoughts of their parents.
"I met with Natasha the other day." Emma told him suddenly which caused Peter to snap out of his thoughts and turn to look at her in confusion. Well, it seemed to have worked somewhat. The sadness quickly faded from his face as a look of confusion replaced it.
"What?" He questioned and Emma took a deep breath. She knew she was risking a lot by telling him that because he could easily go tell Tony what she had done. Tony seemed to be at such a tipping point with her that there was no telling what he would do if he found out.
"Romanoff. I met with her that day we arrived in D.C. I didn't meet with an aunt." Emma confessed. "Some people helped set up the meeting and Stark would probably want their heads if he knew. It's not like Romanoff is a complete war criminal like the others but the government still wants her for questioning."
"So that's where you were." Peter remarked, still bewildered by the fact that Emma had a secret meeting with the Black Widow. "What did you meet about?" Emma just shrugged.
"She just wanted an update on how things were going with me and she gave me an update on how things were going with the others." Emma told him honestly as she sat down on the edge of her bed. She momentarily spared him a glance before looking down at her hands, Peter took that as a hint to sit down next to her. He waited for her to object but she did no such thing. "Don't worry. She wouldn't tell me where they are although I still wouldn't tell you even I knew. You understand that, right?"
"Yes. You just want to protect them. There's nothing wrong with that." Peter replied, a look of complete understanding on his face. "How are they?"
"They sound like they're doing well. Natasha says that Steve misses me though." Emma said quietly and Peter just looked at the girl sitting next to him. The expression on her face was troubled. It was clear that something was immensely bothering her and Peter wished that he knew a way to fix that.
"Do you miss him?" Peter asked her and Emma swallowed before nodding furiously.
"More than I thought I ever could. It just feels like I took him for granted while he was here and now that he's gone I don't really know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do." Emma confessed and Peter instinctively moved his hand over her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Emma stared at their hands in bewilderment but surprised herself by making no move to remove herself from him right away.
"It's okay to miss him." Peter told her, his voice sounding surprisingly soft. Emma continued to stare at their hands, not knowing how to feel. There it was again… that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sometimes she didn't understand the feeling because it made her feel nervous and Emma hated feeling nervous. She was never nervous so why was she nervous now? Emma quickly disentangled her hand from his which severely disappointed Peter. The blonde became desperate to change the subject from whatever this was. She subsequently reached inside her backpack and pulled an odd looking metal contraption. The disappointment Peter felt was soon forgotten as he became transfixed with the antique contraption.
"He had Natasha give me this." Emma said as she held the contraption in the palm of her hand.
"What is it?" Peter asked her and Emma just gave him that look again. The look that indicated that she thought he was ridiculous.
"It's a compass." She said as if it was obvious. Truth be told, it may have been a little obvious but Peter had grown up in a generation of having a compass on a phone instead of an actual physical one. Emma brushed her fingers across the smooth surface of the compass as she smiled at the tiny object. "It's his compass actually. He showed it to me once before. Steve had it with him through the war and up until now when he decided to give it to me. The compass was actually my great grandfather's originally. He fought during the first world war."
"Really?" Peter asked, completely interested to hear Emma's family history. He was always curious about Emma's past and it was seldom that she talked much about it. Emma nodded solemnly.
"Yes, his name was Joseph. He died during a mustard gas attack before Steve was born." Emma told him as she then opened the compass. Peter stared in wonder as he saw an old picture of a beautiful brunette woman staring back at them.
"Is that your grandmother?" Peter inquired and a small smile graced Emma's face as she nodded again.
"Yes. Steve really loved her." Emma replied quietly. Peter suddenly wondered if good looks were hereditary in her family. Literally every single person in her family was attractive. Peter looked back at her, closely observing her ocean blue eyes, cheekbones, flawless blonde hair, and naturally rosy pink lips. Yup. Attractiveness was definitely hereditary in her family.
"It's a nice compass." Peter told her as he tried to look away from Emma. It was probably for the best that he didn't look directly at her. Peter didn't know how she seemed to have this sort effect on him. She made him incredibly nervous sometimes and that was possibly in a good way. Peter was still debating whether or not that was a good thing. Emma just nodded as she tucked the compass back into her backpack.
"We should probably try to track down Birdman again." Emma said suddenly as she changed the subject once more. Peter widened his eyes as he snapped out of the daze he had been in.
"Yes. Right. Of course." He stammered nervously. Peter then pulled his mask from his backpack and Emma got up from the bed, heading for her closet. He watched her curiously as she dug through her closet, overstuffed with clothes, before pulling out the familiar Viper Assassin mask. Peter didn't say anything as he put his mask on and Emma did the same with her own mask. Emma barely noticed Peter making himself at home and relaxing on her bed as they got to work on tracking down Birdman.
"Hey, McConaughey?" Emma said as the red lenses on her mask came down and she saw the screen of information presented in front of her.
"Yes, Miss Rogers?" McConaughey inquired.
"Do you think you could sync you and Parker's AI system together? That would make this whole thing a lot easier and not to mention faster." Emma suggested.
"Of course. I'm synchronizing to Mr. Parker's suit right now." Emma smiled in satisfaction.
"Thank you, McConaughey." Emma told her AI system before her screen was divided into two sections. One half of her screen showed what her line of vision was while the other side showed Peter's line of vision. She had to admit that was a cool little trick Stark had designed for them.
"Woah! This is awesome." Peter said in awe as he could see Emma's line of sight. "I'm seeing what you're seeing."
"That's kind of the point. We'll be able to hear and see other information our AI systems provide us with too." Emma informed him. Peter nodded solemnly as he got ready to get down to business. Hopefully they'd be able to get some new information on the Vulture to figure out where they could catch him.
"Okay, let's do this." Peter said determinedly. "Hey, Karen. What's up? You there too, McConaughey?"
"Hey, Peter. Hello, Emma. How was your Spanish quiz?" Karen asked, this time addressing Emma as well. Emma curiously listened to a female voice instead of the usual male southern drawl of McConaughey.
"It's a pleasure to be of help to you, Mr. Parker." McConaughey told him. Peter smiled in amusement from the accent before getting to the real issue he and Emma were currently facing.
"Listen, I was wondering if you both could help us." Peter said to both AI systems. "We're trying to figure out who the guys under the bridge were that night but, I mean, I can only remember part of a license plate."
"And I was a little distracted with being dragged through the street like garbage." Emma added as she sent a sharp look in Peter's general direction. It seemed like her and Peter thought alike because she also knew that the only way that they would be able to find that guy is through his band of idiots. If they found one of those idiots then they could find Birdman.
"I can run facial recognition on the footage of that encounter." Karen informed them both.
"Footage?" Peter asked in confusion.
"Yes, Peter." Karen answered. "I record everything you see."
"Everything?" Peter questioned. "All the time?"
"It's called the Baby-Monitor Protocol." Karen told him as footage from both Peter and Emma's past incidents came onto the screen. Peter rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, of course it is." Peter said dejectedly as they both continued to stare at the footage. Emma even surprisingly saw some footage from when she was on Coast of Africa during the confrontation with Ultron. She clenched her jaw in anger as she glared at the screen.
"Damn it, Stark." Emma cursed. "You little liar." She remembered previously thinking that Tony wasn't watching anything she did but she was obviously being naïve. Of course he was keeping tabs on her. How could she be so stupid?
"How long has Stark been doing this?" Emma asked McConaughey.
"Mr. Stark installed the Baby-Monitor Protocol for you after the ordeal with the Sokovia Accords." McConaughey told her and Emma sighed tiredly.
"Yeah, just roll it back to last Wednesday." Peter said as he momentarily glanced at Emma and she nodded in agreement. It was hard to believe all that had happened within the past few days. It felt like a lifetime ago when in reality it hadn't even been a week yet. It had only been a week since Emma discovered Peter's other identity yet Emma felt like they had been doing this for far longer.
"With pleasure." Karen and McConaughey replied simultaneously. Footage from Emma talking to Darcy, before she left to go supervise Peter at the party, popped up on screen. Nothing too interesting… well, that was until footage from Peter's suit also popped up on the screen. Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she saw footage of Peter looking at himself in a mirror with his mask on. What the hell?
"Hey, everyone. Yeah, kick-ass party. Hey, what's up, Liz?" Peter said in the footage as he gave the mirror what he deemed as a confident, self-assured look. Emma snorted as she tried to maintain her composure. "Peter's told me a lot about you."
"No, no, no." Peter said in embarrassment as he blushed from under his mask. He was even more embarassed to see Emma struggling to maintain her composure as she tried not to laugh. Great. Let's just give her one more reason to think I'm ridiculous, Peter thought to himself. "This is just me messing around."
"That's um… very interesting, Parker." Emma told him as she stiffled a giggle. Peter glared at her before waving his hand dismissively.
"Go later in the day, later in the day." Peter said hurriedly as he tried to get his AI system to show them something actually useful and something that wouldn't embarrass him in front of Emma. A new clip from Peter's footage showed Peter, still standing in front of the mirror, but now holding a meat cleaver in his hand.
"It is I, Thor, son of Odin." Peter proclaimed proudly in a terrible British accent as he waved his meat cleaver around. When he started flexing his muscles Emma busted out laughing, not being able to hold in her laughter anymore. Peter was burning up under his mask at this footage being shown to Emma. Great… the girl he was unwillingly attracted to got to see nearly every part of his life including the most humiliating parts. Why did you do that, Peter? Peter asked himself. Why did you pretend to be Thor?
"No, no, no. That's definitely… no, that's definitely not what we wanted to watch." Peter said and Emma couldn't believe how much of a dork he was. Emma didn't think she'd ever tell him this but she found his dorkiness somewhat endearing. It seemed like she rarely laughed these days but he had actually managed to make her laugh. Even though Peter was embarrassed that Emma had seen that, he couldn't help but smile at the way her laughter seemed to light up her entire face. It was the same musical laughter that he had come to enjoy hearing.
"Your impressions are very funny." Karen told him.
"I agree with Karen." McConaughey added and Peter just face palmed.
"Yeah, I'm with Karen and McConaughey on this one, Parker." Emma told him seriously after she calmed down from her laughing fit. She could actually feel tears in her eyes which surprised her because it had been forever since she had laughed that hard. "You nailed that Thor impression by the way. It was really uncanny." Even though Peter was happy to see her laughing, he still sulked at the fact that he was just humiliated by his own AI system.
"Wanna just fast forward to the arms deal?" Emma asked him once she finally calmed down. It was probably about time to get this show on the road and Emma could tell that Peter would probably gladly change the subject if he could. She then noticed him staring at her. Emma could tell that he was probably glaring at her or giving her a dirty look from under the mask. Without another word Peter quietly got up from the bed.
"Yeah, what she said." Peter told Karen and McConaughey. As soon as he began pacing Emma's bedroom the footage that he and Emma had been searching for appeared right before their eyes. Emma focused her attention on the footage of arms deal. She was hoping that maybe the bearded idiot, who seemed to have gone missing, might have gotten a positive id since last time she checked. When McConaughey ran facial recognition last time nothing came up so Emma was hoping that the bearded idiot's dead body might've shown up somewhere, giving them a positive identification.
"The two on the right, who are they?" Peter asked their AI systems.
"Searching law enforcement databases." Karen said as the AI system started going through law enforcement databases.
"No records found for two of the individuals." Karen then confirmed. Emma was disappointed to see that once again there was no positive id. It seemed like they were out of luck once again.
"Nothing?" Peter questioned and there was a brief pause before McConaughey answered.
"One individual, however, seems to be identified." McConaughey confirmed in his southern drawl. Emma raised her eyebrows as a picture of the small time drug dealer popped up on screen. She had previously dismissed the man as a waste of everyone's time but he could actually be the key in apprehending Birdman.
"Aaron Davis. Age thirty three." Karen informed them. "He has a criminal record and an address here in Queens."
"Let's pay him a visit." Peter stated as he pulled his hood off before glancing over at Emma. "You in?" Emma just gave him a look of disbelief.
"Of course I'm in. Let's go interrogate this guy so we can find Birdman and finally be done with this whole ordeal. I think I've done enough do gooding to last me a life time." Emma told him and Peter couldn't tell whether or not she was joking about the last part. It was so hard to read Emma sometimes.
"Would you like me to activate the Enhanced Interrogation Protocol?" Karen asked Peter as Peter walked back over to his backpack to retrieve his suit.
"Uh… yeah." Peter replied, his tone casual. Emma headed to her closet to retrieve her own suit. It seemed like it was mission time again. Emma had worn the suit more times in the past week than she ever had in the entire time the suit had been in her possession. That was a fact that she wouldn't soon forget.
"What about you, Miss Rogers?" McConaughey asked her. "Would you like me to activate the Enhanced Interrogation Protocol as well?" Emma scoffed at McConaughey's ridiculous question.
"Thanks but no thanks, McConaughey. I've been interrogating people long before Stark installed a fancy protocol in my suit. I think I'll survive." Emma told the AI system and Peter glanced at her curiously. There it was again. Another glimpse into her time at Hydra. It seemed that he was only getting fragments of the story of her past. Peter realized the story of Emma's past was something like a puzzle that he had to put together. He had a few pieces of that puzzle so far but he knew it would be a long time before he could have all the pieces of the puzzle.
And Emma Rogers would truly be a tough puzzle to solve at that.