Intertwined
Gazing at the many intricate pieces of fine china displayed about the walls, young Peter Parker (in Natasha's reality) curiously looked around, hands in pockets, pacing one direction to the next. Just from the looks of it, he knew this Aunt May had decorative style much like his own, with the house's brown and white aesthetic appropriately suiting the interior. Despite merely being a guest, Peter felt very much at home - as though he never left. Something about the house gave an aura of familiarity, and an unusual energy that seemed to 'breathe' within its walls, as though it possessed a life force of its own. It even smelled like Aunt May's house back in Queens. Sweet lavender. It's what she smelled like also. Each sniff the boy took was an aroma of bliss, taking in its very essence.
Natasha sat patiently at the dining room table, legs and arms crossed, eying the webhead move about like a child that can't sit still. She rolled her eyes and shifted her attention back to the pictures on the wall. They were pictures of Martha Walker (formerly May Parker), what Natasha assumed to be Ben Parker, and without a doubt, Peter Parker. It looked just like him. The Parker she remembers. They were a beautiful family, she thought. Small, and a little broken maybe, but beautiful regardless. Still more than what she ever had. As Natasha's eyes shifted their focus from one picture frame to another, seeing pictures of a younger May and Ben Parker, and eventually seeing a young Peter Parker, all the way from baby pictures to a full grown adult, her head began to ache. It certainly had to do with the pictures...
Placing her hand against her forehead, Natasha looked to the kid still pacing about and making noise with his tapping foot. She knew he obviously isn't the one triggering it, but dammit, he needed to sit down.
"Parker, can you please relax?" the redhead calmly asked.
The kid immediately locked up, as though he'd been shot with a freeze ray right where he stood, and gave a passive nod. He turned his head back to the china and observed its many patterns, needing to place his attention onto something. Natasha quietly shook her head, her hand still placed against it. She couldn't really blame him, though. Just being here alone was odd, and if anything, it was more uncomfortable for him being here than for her.
They both heard footsteps approaching from the kitchen heading their way. With that, Peter walked towards the table and stood next to Natasha, still sitting in her chair. He made sure to remain a good foot or two away from her. Martha Walker brought in a finely craft wooden tray with three teacups and a warm freshly brewed pot placed along, and sat it down on the table for them to drink. Kindly, pouring each of them their own cup, to which the two sincerely thanked her, the woman then took her own chair and pulled it out for herself to sit in. Before she did so, however, she gave a glance to the young brunet still standing by Natasha.
"You just like standing, don't you?" the woman teased, cocking a brow.
The kid gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh, I just, uh, don't like to assume when I'm in other people's homes - lovely by the way."
Miss Walker found him quite amusing. There was something about him. She gave a warm smile in exchange.
"Well thank you," she said, "And please, get comfortable. It's not often I have guests, so don't worry, no one's breaking in the furniture no time soon." She gave him a wink. If she really was his aunt in a parallel universe, Peter was already convinced she'd be the coolest aunt anyone could ask for.
The tempting smell of the tea before her kept calling for Natasha, so she gave in and took a sip. Placing her cup back down, the blonde gave an approving nod, raising her eyebrows with surprise.
"Delicious," Natasha commented.
"Thanks," Martha replied. "It's organic Darjeeling. The secret is just the right amount of honey."
Peter then took his sip, to which he repeated the same as the spy, and he wasn't even a tea lover himself. After taking her sip and bending back into her chair, letting out a sigh to change the mood, Martha looked to Natasha, knowing there was only one thing to discuss now.
"So," Martha began, "I never truly got the chance to thank you in person for everything you did for us… which is why I'm glad you returned."
The spy looked at her cup of tea sitting on the table, as though it had the answers for her. What did she mean by return? How did they meet in the first place? For once though, even if she somehow was brainwashed into forgetting these memories in the first place, Natasha was grateful that whatever this woman meant to her, it was something meaningful. Something heroic she did for her - and her nephew.
"You said your nephew's name was Ben," Natasha slowly spoke. She quickly glanced at the kid next to her and then back to Martha. "In my dreams… his name was Peter. Peter Parker."
Martha looked at the spy rather puzzled by her words. "Well, yes… we used to be the Parkers, of course. But, then with the whole incident of having our lives in danger, we had no choice… right? You were there."
Lives in danger? Natasha leaned forward. "What happened? What do you remember?" she asked.
"Everything," the woman answered. "Nearly everything from that night… don't you?"
Natasha wished she did. "I'm sorry… the truth is I don't. I'm not sure what's happened to me, but I've forgotten everything… everything about you and your nephew. I only remember you two as May and Peter Parker. I'm not sure if I was tortured and brainwashed or something, but whatever happened, I think there's something even weirder going on."
Martha frowned. "Weirder how?" she asked.
"As in…" Before she continued, Natasha looked at the Peter Parker next to her, almost as if needing some sort of approval from him. He slowly nodded, and then Natasha turned again to face the woman. "This kid here with me… his name is Peter Parker as well. He also has an aunt named May Parker. And he…"
Before she said anything else, Peter gestured for Natasha to stop, out of fear that she might blow his cover. This May Parker perhaps already knows her own nephew's secret… or maybe not at all. Regardless, it wasn't his place to tell it all. If they were truly dealing with alternate realms, he didn't want to interfere.
"He has many other similarities to your nephew," Natasha finished. But Martha wasn't any less confused. If anything, it only confused her more.
"I'm not understanding…" the woman said, shaking her head.
"I still don't fully understand it either," Natasha replied, "But - as crazy as this will sound - I think either we're dealing with a situation that involved some sort of identity crisis… or parallel universes."
"Parallel universes?"
Natasha nodded.
"But…" the woman scoffed with a little humor, "that's ridiculous. I'm sure May Parker and Peter Parker aren't uncommon names in this country, let alone New York. Now sure, I think it's very coincidental that there happens to be another aunt with the same name, who also happens to have a nephew of the same as well, but…"
Natasha could see that she wasn't quite getting through to the woman. The Parker sitting next to her in his mind began to question the legitimacy of the situation himself. Perhaps this all was coincidental. But, despite his opinions of Romanoff, he knew she couldn't be that crazy to drag him all the way out here for nothing. Then again, he never once doubted that she was crazy.
"You really don't remember, huh?" Martha softly spoke.
"... No," Natasha quietly answered. It was time for Martha to let it all out, from her perspective, she supposed.
"Well," the woman began, "I remember I was at work. I was still a nurse then. And… just as I was getting off my shift to head back home, I got a call from… Peter… that I was in danger and not to come home.
"I was so confused. I didn't understand what all was happening. He was talking so fast. He'd been gone all day. All I remember was being angry with him for not telling me where he was. I tried to call him that entire day - he had me worried sick. Then he said some guys were after me - after him. He sounded desperate… then that's when he put you on the phone."
As she said that, more of Natasha's 'repressed memories' began to open some more. She found herself at a phone booth… with him. The other. It was night. Both of their faces were badly bruised, and slightly bloody. The blonde waited for Martha to explain more.
"You explained everything," the woman continued. "That you were the girl from before. Cathryn."
Cathryn, the name sounded in Natasha's head. "Cathryn Jones," the spy whispered.
"Yes…" said Martha. "You told us that you were an agent working for SHIELD? Some… organization - some spy group, something like that - I think that's how Peter explained it later. You said that the same same men trying to kill me, were the same ones trying to kill you and Peter. He later told me who they were, after this was all over… HYDRA."
The name somehow still managed to send chills down Natasha's spine. She took in a deep breath. So they were the ones responsible for all of this, she thought. This is what tied them all together…
"Peter told me all about them," Martha went on. "Told me that they were the enemy. They kidnapped him… and you. They…" She did her best to fight her tears, but to no avail. "... Tortured him. They tortured my boy… they tried to make him talk… and…" Trying to get through her words, still struggling to make it through her tears, Natasha was patient.
"I understand, take your time," she nodded.
Martha sniffled and pulled it together.
"You helped us go into hiding," Martha continued. "SHIELD helped us. You helped me get out of the hospital safely without those men finding me. You guided me through everything… you saved my life. You saved my nephew's."
She probably looked crazy to the woman, but Natasha had to sit back and brace herself against all of the images flooding into her head, trying to piece them together. Martha was helping, though. Her details added some sort of linear pattern to it all, as before they only seemed like a jumbled mess of flashbacks with no timeline. Only now did slowly start to make sense… being tortured… on the run… HYDRA… did they do something to her?
"I… I'm still trying to understand how I forgot all of this," Natasha sincerely stated. "If this all really happened, then how could-
The doorbell rang. That got everyone's attention.
"Oh… look who it is," Martha muttered.
Natasha already had an idea of who it could be. "Is that…"
Before she could finish, Martha got up from the table to answer the door. The brunet, still fazed by the story unveiled before him, looked at the spy with a worried look. Unfortunately, hers was no less. They both heard the sound of the door opening, and Martha sounding delighted at whoever it was. From what Natasha could tell, it sounded like two people, one male and one female. Then the footsteps were heading back their way.
Natasha stood from the table, anxious to meet them. The kid did the same, not really having a choice but to follow along at this point.
"What's happening?" he whispered to her. She didn't answer. She kept her eyes fixed at the end of the hall where the front door stayed. Once she saw the stranger finally walk in, an intense numbness in her head began to form. And once he turned to see her, Natasha finally got what she came for. It was him. There was also a girl with him, a redhead. She figured it must've been his lover. She was pretty.
Locking eyes with her, the other took slow steps her way, trying to get a good look at Natasha. Her hair was different, he thought. It was blonde now. And he wondered who the kid was with her. Something about him… gave him a weird feeling. As if he knew him already. But his main focus was on Natasha, who he hadn't seen in so long, and couldn't believe she was standing before him in his aunt's home.
"Natasha?" he softly spoke.
The Parker standing next to the spy caught on pretty quickly who this guy was. And, in his silly brain, he agreed that this guy was much better-looking than him after all.
