Notes: This is a direct continuation of my fic "From the Same Star," and will really make no sense if you don't read that first. Also see the beginning notes there to see where we're at as far as Infinity War/Endgame (no, thank you) in this AU.
Thanks so much for the comments and likes so far. This has been a really fun idea/au to explore! And it has been really fun to write my first story...
You don't need another Human Being to make your life complete, but let's be honest. Having your wounds kissed by someone who doesn't see them as disasters in your soul, but cracks to put their love into, is the most calming thing in this world.
— Emery Allen
Chapter 1: We've Got This
Hallie
Hallie's awareness returned slowly. She was warm, but not too warm. There were some noises in the background that she couldn't place. Something smelled good, (maple?) and she felt content. She had had the most interesting, amazing dreams, and… but, wait.
This wasn't her bed. She had almost never woken up anywhere other than her own bed.
Consciousness returned quickly at that startling thought. She realized she was facing the back of a couch, and a t-shirt material that her nose was burrowed into smelled good, but suddenly felt ticklish.
She rolled onto her back, and her pillow (which felt firmer than usual) shifted. What the… She opened her eyes abruptly and found big brown eyes staring back at her. She gasped quietly, her heart rate rocketing.
"Morning, beautiful," the voice belonging to the mesmerizing eyes spoke.
Oh. Peter. Hallie's eyes widened, as the events of the previous 18 hours flashed through her head. Literally running into the soulmate she wasn't expecting to exist, meeting much of his family, agreeing to the pretty-much-permanent soulmate bond, and falling asleep in his lap in the penthouse of Stark Tower last night? Alert, alert! So not a dream!
"Um, hi?" she squeaked, pulling the throw up over half her face.
"I was wondering how long you were going to sleep," he smiled softly.
She was still a little flustered and was trying not to freak out, but not really succeeding.
Peter looked concerned as he assessed her, then his expression resolved and he said, "Why don't you sit up and take a few deep breaths, love?"
She groaned slightly (sleeping on a couch had consequences, even at 20) as she struggled to comply, and he easily helped her into a sitting position. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and took a deep ragged breath. Peter's hand hadn't left her back after he helped her up, and she felt him slide it down lower until…oh.
Her whole system calmed as his fingers settled over her new soul mark. The one she hadn't known was a possibility. The one shaped like a small red spider. Because her soulmate and now-husband was also Spiderman.
Her heart rate started to pick up again at that thought, and Peter's fingers immediately slid under her shirt and made skin-to-skin contact. The calming, recalibrating effect intensified, and her breathing finally stabilized.
After a moment he leaned forward and touched her chin, causing her to turn her head and meet his eyes.
"Better?"
She sat up more and nodded, smiling shyly at him. In addition to remembering all the crazy things about the day before, his touch had helped remind her of all the sweet, considerate things she had learned about him yesterday, and how his arms had already started to feel like home.
Feeling brave, suddenly, (maybe because his fingers were still pressed against her soulmark, giving her all kinds of warm fuzzies) she turned into him, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest.
He huffed in surprise, but returned the embrace eagerly, nuzzling into her hair and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Well that was nice," he murmured as she pulled back. The angle was too awkward to maintain for long. As he pulled his arm away, her eyes were drawn to the chemical formula on his inner arm that was his soul mark. It had been mostly covered with his shirt sleeves and jacket yesterday. She started to reach for it curiously, then froze.
"May I?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Hallie, you never have to ask permission to touch my soul mark, I promise. It's as much yours as it is mine." His face was amused and serious at the same time.
That was a surprising thought. There was so much about soulmates she still didn't understand.
She continued her motion and lightly traced the formula. Peter sighed deeply, letting his head fall forward to rest against hers
"You have no idea how good that feels, sweetheart," he said fervently. She felt her neck flush at the endearment, but let her fingers settle over his mark.
"So, the reason your mark is what it is, is because of me? Does it make sense what I'm asking? Like mine is a spider because of your, um, extracurricular activities?"
"That's right. It doesn't always work out that way, but more often than not, that's the case. So tell me why I have the chemical equation for photosynthesis on my arm," Peter grinned lazily at her, his head tilting adorably.
She bit her bottom lip, a little embarrassed, but also amused.
"My best guess? My freshman year of high school I had a biology teacher who helped us memorize that formula by teaching it to us as a song. He used his yardstick and stood on the lab desk to lead the chorus and everything. And it was at that moment, and with that teacher that I started falling in love with science, and with chemistry in particular." She felt a little silly, but she had thought about it at length, and that seemed the most plausible explanation.
"Ah, it makes more sense now," he said, threading his fingers with her other hand. "Hey, you hungry? Tony said he left some pancakes and sausage in the warmer, or we have cereal or protein shakes if that's more your thing." He scrubbed at the back of his head, looking bemused. "I can't believe we're married and I have no idea what you even eat for breakfast."
"Well, ditto," she smiled, squeezing his hand, trying to ignore the "m" word so she could keep breathing regularly. "I'd love some pancakes. What about you?
"I'll probably have all of those," he said sheepishly. "I'd better get started."
He bounced up, offering her a hand. "We have my first meeting in," he checked his watch, (which was also a clandestine webshooter, she reminded herself) "a little more than an hour. Do you need to shower?"
"Um, yes, please."
"Let's eat real fast, then I'll keep eating," he said, winking, "and you can shower first."
"Sounds good. Point me to the pancakes."
—-
Hallie finally finished getting ready, after changing her outfit two and a half times. What exactly did one wear while pretending to just be an intern shadowing the CEO-in-training?
She finally settled on slim gray dress pants (another one of her feels-like-yoga-pants, score!) with a light green, long-sleeved button up and flats. She knew they didn't do her short stature any favors, but heels all day made her feet ache. Using the mirror in the half bath, she quickly put her wet hair into two reverse french braids meeting at the back in a short ponytail. As she finished up with a little light makeup, she heard the bedroom door open.
Peter looked a lot less formal than she did, dressed in expensive-looking medium-wash jeans, a dark blue t-shirt that said, "An opinion without 3.14 is just an onion," red Converse, and a gray sport jacket-type thing.
His hair was gelled into some kind of order, but there were a few water droplets clinging to the curls at the nape of his neck. Hallie had to avert her gaze before her staring became creepy.
"Um, is this too dressed up? Should I change?" Hallie asked, feeling unsure again.
Peter looked her up and down slowly, smiling appreciatively. "I wouldn't change a thing. Your clothes look pretty intern-ish to me, and nothing else could possibly be improved."
Hallie felt color rush to her cheeks, and she had no idea what to say to that.
Peter's face turned mildly apologetic and he stepped in close to her, pulling her in by her shoulders for a quick embrace.
"Sorry love, he chuckled. I didn't mean to embarrass you." Then his breath tickled her neck as whispered, "but I was just being honest," softly in her ear. He released her, and Hallie tried desperately to keep her equilibrium. He stepped past her to pocket his wallet, and said over his shoulder, "If I forget why I'm wearing this blazer today, and start to take it off, please stop me."
"Um, why are you wearing it?" Hallie put her tablet and phone in a small satchel she'd packed, as well as a pen and notebook, just in case.
He turned back to her. Well, unlike my platonic mark," he said, gesturing to his shoulder, "and yours," he said, reaching to brush one finger lightly over her lower back, causing a happy shiver to run up Hallie's spine, "my new soul mark is pretty obvious. The last thing we need is for people to see it, and try to decide who is attached to it."
Oh, that made sense. No one was likely to see hers, but his was pretty visible on his inner arm.
"Thankfully, it's still cool outside, so it's not a big deal if I stick to long sleeves and jackets for a while."
Hallie wrinkled up her nose. "Won't you get warm sometimes though? I've seen people wearing sleeves or cuffs to cover what I assume are soul marks before. Is that an option?"
"Technically, yes, and I might do that later, mostly to avoid any identifying marks that could link Spiderman and I, but it would be just as interesting to the press if I suddenly started wearing one." Oh. That made sense, too. "Temperature-wise, it shouldn't be bad," Peter said. "I get cold easier than I get too warm." He glanced at his watch, then said, "Hey, Karen, is R&D still on track for our meeting?"
"Yes, Peter, they're waiting for you."
"Thanks, Karen." He reached over, offering Hallie his hand. "Ready for this?"
"Not really," Hallie gulped.
"FRI, you're keeping an extra eye on things today, right? Let me know if you hear anything that we need to be aware of as far as keeping the soulmate thing under wraps?"
"Of course, Boss. It might be a good idea to unhand Ms. Dayton before you exit the elevator, if that is your intention, though. There are other people in the halls this morning," FRIDAY said dryly.
Peter sighed. "Unfortunately, she's right." But instead of letting go of Hallie's hand, he eyed the descending floor indicator briefly, then pulled her into a tight hug, inhaling deeply as his face pressed into her hair, then placed a lingering kiss on her temple.
Hallie froze in surprise. He palmed her soulmark briefly, bringing his other hand up to her head and pressing their cheeks together, then abruptly straightened and released her as the elevator slowed. She swooned on her feet a little, not at all prepared for the physical and emotional rush he had just given her.
"Peter!" she sputtered. You can't just do that right before we're about to be with people…" Hallie could feel that her face was bright red.
"My apologies, Ms. Dayton," he said smugly, not sounding at all sorry. "I was just getting my fill to make up for barely being able to touch you for the next hour or two." He winked at her, making her stomach flip all over again. "It's okay, FRIDAY has our backs, don't you, my dear?"
"Ms. Dayton, I assure you I am quite used to handling any number of poor decisions by both Bosses. The elevator won't open until you've regained your physical and emotional balance." Great, no hiding secrets from FRIDAY.
"Hallie?"
"Hmm?" she said absently, straightening her blouse and her bag, and trying to check her hair with her fingers.
"I love hearing you say my name. You should do it more often," he grinned playfully at her.
She snapped her gaze up and mock-glared back. "Well, that's just too bad, because I'm going to have to call you Dr. Parker all day while we're around other people." She immediately bit her lip. What had gotten into her? She didn't talk to people like that, even in play. Well, she hadn't in a long time, anyway. That was going to take some reflection. She stilled, bracing for a negative reaction.
Peter groaned theatrically, then raised his eyebrows and said, "Low blow, Dayton." Then softer, "But seriously, remember that we need to have frequent contact somehow. Make sure you sit closely enough to me that it's possible? I can't get all irrational and frustrated in these meetings just because our bond is flipping out, and I know you won't enjoy it either."
Hallie nodded shakily. He hadn't seemed upset with her. She squared her shoulders and put on a professional smile. "I'm ready, thank you FRIDAY."
Peter
Well, this was probably the most engaging meeting he'd ever been in with the R&D heads. Usually they were mostly interesting, and worth his time, he felt, but adding the challenge of having plenty of contact with Hallie without anyone seeing added an extra layer of fun today.
"And finally, Dr. Parker, do we have approval to add the extra manual lathes in labs 41-48? We talked about it last time, and we've had even more backup with our current project as we have to wait for those."
Peter took a second to process what Dr. Bronson had been saying. He had been distracted by Hallie lightly tracing his fingers where they sat on her knee. The meeting was almost over, and she must have finished her reading, because she had started participating in the make-sure-we-touch-every-5-minutes-or-so, which made him wish the meeting was going to go longer than it actually was.
"Yes, those are approved, Dr. Bronson, along with the repair to the 3-D scanner in number 12. How are you interns coming on their mid-session projects? Everyone on track?"
"Yes, I believe so. Analise appreciated your input on Friday, and her team is making good progress again. They'll be ready for your approval on their final figures next Thursday, I believe?"
"Karen?"
"Yes, we have that on your schedule," Karen's voice chirped from his StarkPhone on the table.
"Excellent." Peter stood up, and Hallie, Dr. Bronson and the other three R&D heads followed suit. Peter nodded at each of them, and they murmured their goodbyes and "nice to meet you Ms. Dayton's" to Hallie before the heads exited the room.
"FRIDAY, are we clear?"
"Yes, Boss. The door is locked." The AI sounded a bit long-suffering.
He turned to Hallie and pulled her into a full body hug. "Well, I think that went really well. Did you listen in much, or were you busy with your readings?"
"A bit," she mumbled against his chest. He loosened his grip. "The parts that I had enough background in to understand what you guys were talking about. I haven't really worked in engineering or mechanics much yet."
"You were good at acting like you were paying attention then. Nice job. That was actually easier than I thought."
He pulled back and looked into her eyes, checking for discomfort or unease. "I could be wrong, but it seems like you're already doing better with me touching you. Unless you're just hiding it? You don't have to do that, you know."
Her eyes widened and she seemed to think for a few seconds. "I think it's mostly been okay. It still surprises me, and I'm not very good at doing it back yet, but like you said, our bond really needs it." She ducked her head, stepping in closer to him, and said quietly, "andI'm learning I really like when you touch me."
He grinned widely, embracing her again. "That's definitely good news, because I really like it too," he murmured in her ear.
"Peter, before you get carried away, we do have a timetable," Karen interrupted lightly from his wrist.
"Right." He released Hallie, aside from her hand, and checked his watch. 10:30.
"Well, usually I'd run to the food court and grab a snack, but today it's probably better to get it at the penthouse before our 11 AM." He paused, reconsidering. "But, the PR people we're meeting with will know about our status, so I guess it's not a big deal, since we won't have to hide anything after lunch. Have you checked out the food court yet since you started working with Bruce?"
"Uh, no. He mentioned it, but I haven't been up there."
"Did he mention that all interns and employees eat free there?"
She raised an eyebrow. "He did not think to mention that, or I probably would have visited," she said drolly.
Peter chuckled at that, and made a show of reluctantly dropping her hand before he reached for the door handle. "The food court it is. We don't have anything that interesting to eat upstairs right now, anyways. Are you hungry?"
"Not intensely, but I could go for a snack. You know, just to keep you company," she said with an air of martyrdom.
He grinned again (he smiled a lot) and led the way out of the door, both of them keeping some distance until they boarded the elevator, at which point, Peter picked her hand up again while they chatted about cuisine preferences.
The "food court" was a bit of a misnomer, since it didn't have the normal look and vibe or a place like that. It was fairly quiet, with lots of noise-absorbing materials in the walls to keep the chatter and kitchen noises from getting overwhelming (it had been part of the redesign several years ago when Peter started spending a lot more time at SI itself, because he was ending up with a headache when they ate there from all the extra ambient noise). The colors were mostly clean whites and light blues, with lots of greenery, and instead of big loud storefronts, there were small tasteful sign designations for all the different choices available.
Having found out that Hallie didn't have anything particular in mind, Peter steered them towards Mr. Delmar's shop. He'd convinced the man to move his business into the Tower two years ago when his shop had been destroyed yet again. That man had near-Parker-luck. Peter was sad it had happened that way, but still considered getting him to relocate to the Tower a great personal achievement.
"Hi Mr. Delmar! How's it going today?"
"Hello, Peter! We've only been open," the man checked his watch, and continued dryly, "35 minutes, but so far, so good." He turned to look at Hallie, who was hovering at Peter's elbow. "And who's this?" he asked, with raised eyebrows.
Peter stepped sideways and put a hand to her upper back to nudge her forward. "This is Hallie Dayton, Dr. Banner's new personal intern. She's a chemistry whiz visiting with us from NYU. It's her spring break, she's shadowing me a little bit this week."
Mr. Delmar reached his hand across the counter to shake Hallie's as he eyed the arm Peter had forgotten to remove from her back. His eyes and his voice were skeptical. "An intern. Mmm-hmm."
"Crap," Peter muttered as he dropped his hand. "Am I that obvious?" he asked quietly.
"To me, who has seen you before with a girl you are dating?" Mr. Delmar responded, "Yes. To other people, if you are more careful, probably not."
Hallie had turned to look curiously at Peter at the mention of another girl. She actually didn't feel any jealousy; she knew Peter was pretty much stuck with her now, and he seemed happy about it. But she was understandably interested about the other girl Mr. Delmar referenced.
Peter still looked a little stressed, but noticing Hallie's gaze, he just gave her a slow smile and said simply, "Yeah, she's gonna want to meet you, I promise."
Mr. Delmar's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Huh," he said enigmatically. Then, "Two number fives, Peter?"
Peter gave him a measuring look. "Three actually, please. I convinced Ms. Dayton she has to try one."
"Three it is. They'll be right up."
"Um, I'm not super hungry. Is it okay if I don't finish it all? Hallie asked quietly after the man stepped away.
"Did you just ask if it was okay if there was more amazing sandwich for me?" he teased back.
She smiled, and rolled her eyes just a bit as Mr. Delmar brought their sandwiches over.
"Two for you, and one for the intern." Mr. Delmar said with a touch of a smile.
"Thanks Mr. Delmar, these will really hit the spot!" Peter said, ignoring the insinuation. He and Hallie headed over to a back corner table, keeping a professional distance between them as they walked.
Hallie did like the sandwich, but predictably only ate about half of it, which was a bonus for Peter. Several employees stopped by their table briefly to ask questions, or just to say hi, and Peter introduced Hallie to them. Peter used some of the in-between time to answer some important emails, and Hallie completed a short class assignment before it was time for their next meeting. The table was small enough that Peter was able to press their knees together here and there without attracting attention.
The meeting with PR was predictably stressful for Peter, and seemed eye-opening for Hallie. They had gone over the current strategy, which was to limit time spent together in public in the Tower, to avoid being seen together outside the Tower at all, and also to avoid situations where touching was not possible, because an off-kilter soul bond did not lead to good judgment in general. There were other recommendations, but Peter had started tuning them out.
The team also wanted to bring up different ways their secret might get out and how to avoid them. They had discussed ways to still let Hallie attend class the next week (PR just wanted her to skip it until they could go several hours at a time apart, but Peter wouldn't support that.)
And after they went over every way to hide the bond, then they had to talk about how they would handle it if it got leaked. And then they wanted to negotiate when and how they should deliberately go public, to stay ahead of the press, but Peter had had enough. And he was starving.
"Okay guys, we're all done here," Peter said mildly, glancing at his watch.
"But!" began several of them. Peter shifted his gaze from friendly to "remember-who's-actually-in-charge-here," and they shut their mouths.
"You can hash it out amongst yourselves and send me a short report with your best options. And we will take it under advisement. Maybe." Hallie was staring sideways at him. He couldn't figure out why, but then he realized she hadn't actually seen him acting as SI's third-in-command yet. Of course, they'd barely known each other for 24 hours. He mentally shook his head at the craziness of that.
"You guys have a good afternoon. Hallie and I are going to get some lunch, and then we have places to be." One of the PR suits (Gerald?) looked like he might choke, but since he was doing it silently, Peter took pity on him.
"In the Tower, guys. Remember? Hallie is actually supposed to be interning with Dr. Banner. I already interrupted her afternoon yesterday, so we're going to try to stay on schedule today."
He waited while Hallie collected her things, then escorted her out of the conference room, hand ghosting her lower back.
"FRIDAY, is this hall clear?"
"Yes, Boss."
"Excellent." Peter settled his hand at her waist, walking in sync with her towards the elevator and just breathing a little bit. He had gotten more used to meetings like that over the last few years, (where everyone was talking at him and asking him questions and wanting him to weigh in at once) but they still made him a little anxious. It was just a lot of input.
They stepped into the elevator, and Hallie turned to look up at his face. "Peter, are you…okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said reflexively. He realized he was kind of brushing her off, and he definitely didn't want her to do that with him. He wanted to know if something was bothering her, so he decided to just be honest. "That meeting just got a little intense for my heightened senses. Lots of people feeling stressed and trying to talk at the same time can do that," he said, smiling at her.
He let go of her to run both hands through his hair (he didn't have to be anywhere but the lab the rest of the afternoon, right) and give a quick rub to both of his shoulders (where he could feel he was carrying some tension) on their way back down.
Hallie seemed to consider what he had said. She stepped forward into his space and he tried not to react at all. He didn't want to startle her. She ran her hand down the inside of his arm from his elbow almost to his wrist and let it settle over his soul mark. Peter felt the tension in his shoulders melt away in the pleasant buzz her touch (even through his blazer) brought.
"That's fantastic, thanks," he sighed, hooking his arm around her waist so he could pull her back with him as he leaned his weight against the elevator wall. He opened his eyes to see her smiling at him, and any remaining stress from the meeting evaporated.
"So, lunch?"
"Sure. Here, or at the food court?"
"Hmm?" Peter opened his eyes. "In the elevator? He was confused.
"Uh, it looks like FRIDAY brought us up to the penthouse," she said, gesturing to the floor indicator.
"Huh, that's weird. FRIDAY?"
"You seemed… indisposed. Boss said he is having Indian food for lunch, and ordered enough for everyone, and that you were welcome to join him. So I took the liberty of transporting you."
"Oh. Okay, then." He looked at the sensor. "Um, you gonna open the door then, FRI?" he said after a pause.
"Certainly." The elevator door whooshed.
They walked into the shared space to find Tony just sitting down to eat.
"Hey kids!" he said, standing up. He walked over and gave Peter a brief hug, then turned and did the same to Hallie. She did seem to tense up a little, and looked quite surprised, but not upset, hopefully.
They all sat back down, and Peter's eyes lit up at all the options laid out on the table.
"Dad, how many people are we expecting?"
"Just us. I invited Pepper, but her meeting turned into a lunch one."
"How'd you know I'd be so hungry?" he said, grabbing several entree options and adding them to his plate.
"Have you met you?" he scoffed. Then turning to Hallie, "So, what'd you think of your first morning of SI meetings?"
"They were, uh, enlightening." She reached for a samosa.
Tony laughed. "I'll bet they were. Did PR have anything useful to say, Pete?"
"Yes, a few things I hadn't thought about, but mostly they just wanted to talk out every. single. possibility. with me there to listen."
"One of those meetings, huh?" Then quietly, "You good?" Tony knew how those meetings used to affect him sometimes.
"Yeah, I'm good," Peter said with a smile. "Nothing a nice lunch with my two favorite people can't fix," he said with a clap to Tony's shoulder and a wink at Hallie.
Tony's phone dinged. He glanced at it and made a face. He picked it up and took a moment to type out a response.
Peter was intrigued. Usually if someone annoyed Tony that much he had FRIDAY reroute them, or at least just ignored them.
"Who's that?" he asked his dad.
"Oh, Rogers." Tony sighed.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing to worry about. He always wants things he can't have," Tony smiled a little too gleefully.
Peter eyed him. "FRIDAY, what does the good Captain want that he can't have?" he asked blandly.
"Captain Rogers has a mission tomorrow that he insists he needs Spiderman's particular capabilities for. Boss has told him you aren't available this week, but he's being persistent."
Peter was really confused. "Why is he talking to you instead of to me?"
Tony's hands went up in defense. "Not my idea! Karen thought it would be a good idea for me to handle any Spiderman-related communications while you're uh…temporarily indisposed, so she's been forwarding them to me today."
Peter was a bit floored. He saw Hallie grin a little bit before she covered it with her hand. Sure, Karen had acted protectively and proactively before when he'd been injured or had a need, but never quite like this, when he was fully capable of dealing with things. Well, he guessed nothing like this had ever happened. It wasn't every day you created a new soulmate bond. But his AI continued to surprise him over the years as she developed and learned. He had never known Jarvis, unfortunately, but had "met" FRIDAY and Karen when they were both basically still baby AI's, and their progress was fascinating.
"Karen?"
"I didn't think you needed the worry or the guilt when it would be hazardous for you to respond. Your priority must be forming a solid bond these next two weeks."
Okay then.
Tony's phone dinged again. He scowled at the message.
Peter raised his eyebrows in question.
"Cap's here, apparently. He's requesting permission to come up."
Thanks for reading!
ALSO, 's formatting has given me the biggest headache. If you want to read a cleaner version, try the other site that starts with "ao" and the number 3.
