A loud siren cut through the air as the pair walked down the city block. Peter Parker was rambling on excitedly about the DVD player he had found outside the subway station. Just leaning up against the garbage can. Basically calling to him. It had honestly been a pretty good day. He hadn't missed his train that morning, got to school on time for once in a million years, then nailed his Algebra test. Finding the DVD player was just the cherry on top of the best sundae he could imagine.
"Pete, you know you can just buy one of those, right?" his walking partner and friend, Molly Proctor, reminded him with a pointed glance, "And they're like super cheap now." she continued and he rolled his head to the side, chin dropping to his chest to look down at her,
"Cheaper than free?" he raised his eyebrows to match the face he was making. One earbud was still in his ear, the other bouncing against his chest as he walked. She rolled her eyes, then turned back to her phone, where she had been half-heartedly taking a BuzzFeed quiz during their trek. "And this is in pretty much mint condition, Molls!" he bounced on the tips of his toes as he walked, almost skipping down the block, "I don't know why anyone would ever throw it out." he flipped the DVD player over in his hands to admire it once more. He was mostly excited to take it apart. See what made it tick.
"Probably because you can get everything online." her flippant point did nothing to dampen Peter's excitement over his find, "Or maybe," she tossed her long, dark curls over her shoulders, gearing up for her joke, "maybe there's a DVD stuck in there and if we play it, we'll die in seven days." she waggled her fingers at him, pairing it with a spooky-ish ooooooo noise. He scoffed and rolled his eyes at her while she smirked.
"Or it could suck us into some movie world - Jumanji style." he tagged on to her joke, eyes widening while hers rolled.
"Don't be stupid, Peter, that would never happen." she pressed her lips together, fixing him with an unamused look. His grin faltered, but before she could see, he twisted his mouth to the side and turned his gaze back to what was in front of him. A comfortable silence fell over the friends, both in their own little worlds. The next song on his playlist came on in the one earbud still in his ear, distracting him for a moment. She listened to her own playlist, navigating out of the BuzzFeed quiz to a text thread asking about when she would have more Adderall back in stock.
As the pair got closer to Peter's apartment building, both noticed the rather sleek black Audi that was lingering by the curb. It stood out among the old Corollas and beat up Hondas. The sort of car that drove through Molly's suburban neighborhood, but was rarely ever seen in Peter's inner city one. If it was, it was mostly because it was being sold off for parts. While Peter slowed to admire the car itself, pulling out his phone to take a picture of it, she continued walking to get a better look at who might be inside the vehicle. Whoever they may be, they wanted to be seen. Wanted to get attention. And was making it quite difficult considering the windows were heavily tinted.
"Wonder who it could be." she murmured while she turned away from the car. Peter was waiting for her at the entrance of his apartment building. He alternated between the first and the second, bouncing a bit with an energy that never seemed to fade.
"The mayor?" Peter offered up someone it definitely couldn't be, prompting her to go along with it.
"Chuck Bass?" she referenced a character from her favorite tv shows. He tilted his head to the side and considered her answer,
"That dude from the Daily Bugle." he threw out with a wag of his finger, not remembering the man's name. The two of them walked into his apartment building together and he let Molly press the elevator button. She pulled her curls back over her shoulders, separating them in half so that they laid against the deep blue of the sweater she was wearing over the coordinating plaid button up she had definitely stolen from her older sister's closet. Like most of her clothes.
"Tony Stark." she made a face and shrugged, trying to think of someone it definitely, could never ever be.
"Your parents." Peter responded with a smirk which caused Molly to scoff and roll her eyes.
"Please," the two stepped onto the elevator, Peter pressing the button for the fourth floor, "as if my parents would ever be caught dead in Long Island City." Both of them knew it to be true; he and his Aunt May had been to her house a ton of times, but her parents never ventured out into the city unless it was to Manhattan or Brooklyn for some sort of fancy dinner party hosted by the members of the board or one of Molly's dad's professor friends.
"Do you wanna stay for dinner?" he changed the subject as they stepped off on his floor and turned left down the hallway. The motion was seamless and in sync, both of them having done it a million times over the past six months, "I think May's going to try to make a pot pie again, which means we'll probably end up ordering pizza since we know what happened last time." he gave her a knowing look to Molly's wince. The last time Peter's aunt had tried to make a pot pie, the crust had burned but the inside was still cold. The woman had such a strange superpower - she could somehow do everything right when making a dinner dish and yet at the last moment, it would crumble or explode or do nothing at all. He raised his eyebrows up to tempt her while she pulled the corners of her mouth down to consider his offer.
"Only if we can get -"
"No." he cut her off before she could ask for her insane toppings request again, "Absolutely not." he had already learned his lesson when letting her take control of the pizza order. It ended with the pizza guy getting frustrated and Peter picking most everything off. She frowned at him, then huffed in annoyance. He dug into his pockets to pull out his keys, deftly flipping them around his finger and landing on the key he needed.
"Hey, May." he grunted out a greeting to his aunt as he walked in, trying to keep his backpack from sliding off his shoulder for a moment until he was inside the apartment. As May greeted both him and Molly, he let the backpack slide off his arm and land with a thump on the floor by the table.
"How was school today?" May sounded a bit more cheerier than usual. Not that she wasn't usually a cheery person, but her voice sounded like the one she gave whenever the server tried to flirt with her at whatever restaurant they went to for dinner. He discarded the DVD player on top of the table next to one of the many laundry baskets that had taken up residence there too.
"It was okay," Continuing his path, he made his way through the kitchen so he could toss his keys in the bowl by the toaster, "There's this crazy car parked outside…" he trailed off as he spotted who was sitting on the couch next to his aunt. His eyes widened while his mouth dropped open in shock.
Because, sitting on his couch, next to his Aunt May, casually examining a piece of May's walnut date loaf bread, was none other than Tony Stark.
"Oh, Mr. Parker." Mr. Stark greeted him like they were old friends. Both adults turned to face Peter: May fully turning her body so her legs were tucked under her and her torso and head were fully facing him, while Mr. Stark just twisted his upper body a bit so that he could look over his shoulder at him.
"Holy shit." he heard Molly say. It was hard to pull his eyes away from Mr. Stark, but when he did, he glanced over to see that Molly was standing where they usually dropped their backpacks.
Rooted in the spot, bag hanging off her elbow and eyes just as wide. Molly was very rarely surprised or shocked by anything - enough to let it show on her face at least. Howard Stark had been her brain crush for as long as she could remember, and now Tony Stark was sitting in the Parker's living room. Like it was a normal thing that happened every Thursday evening. Then her eyes flicked over to meet Peter's and she made a face and shrugged,
"I was right."
"Uhm, wha - what are you -" Peter fumbled with his words. It was like his brain had disconnected, was on the fritz, as it tried to understand what the hell was going on, "What are you -" he let out a laugh of disbelief, stepping forward more into the living room area and crossing his arms over his chest, "Hey," he let his arms drop and motioned to Mr. Stark with his hand, "I'm- I'm Peter Parker," he introduced himself even though it was clear that Mr. Stark knew who he was. His hands went to his hips, then up to cross over his chest again, not really knowing what to do with himself. Molly glared at him, trying to telepathically tell him to be fucking cool. Tony Stark was sitting there, and Peter was acting like a full blown idiot - which was a usual thing for him, but like come on, man.
"Tony." The man that needed no introduction went along with Peter and introduced himself as well, motioning with the piece of bread that he had been slowly eating while he waited for Peter to get home.
"Yeah, we know." Molly blurted out without pause. Then a blush colored her cheeks, immediately embarrassed by what she had just said. She had been worried about Peter being the lame one, but it turned out she was acting just as lame. Jesus Christ.
Mr. Stark turned to look at her, squinting a bit as he studied her. She shifted a bit under his gaze, not sure why he was looking at her or what he was going to say next. Not that she knew this, but there was something about her face that reminded him of someone. It was on the tip of his tongue but for some reason, he just couldn't place her.
"Do I know you? I feel like we've met." he circled his finger in the air, "You look astonishingly familiar." The blush on Molly's cheeks deepened and she ducked her head down to hide her face, but didn't answer. Mostly because, for maybe the second time in her short life, she was rendered speechless.
It didn't happen often; she always had something to say, but she couldn't figure out anything remotely interesting to say in response to Mr. Stark's question. And she had certainly already embarrassed herself once - she wasn't about to let it happen again. He was her idol's son for God's sake. The closest she had ever come to meeting him before was at the Stark Expo - before it was blown up, but even then she was in the way back of the crowd so it didn't count.
"What're you, what're you, what're you, what are you doing here?" Peter got Mr. Stark's attention again, gesturing a bit with his hand before restuffing it under his armpit.
"It's about time we met." he answered while May mouthed Can you believe it? to Peter - clearly just as excited to have the Mr. Stark sitting on her couch, "You've been getting my emails, right?" he paired his follow-up question with a wink from both eyes. There was some sort of game he was playing, but neither Peter or Molly knew what it was. Still, Peter went along with it.
"Yeah...yeah…" he trailed off for a moment, then squinted his eyes at Mr. Stark, "Regarding the…"
"You didn't tell me about the grant," May supplied helpfully, thankfully. Peter motioned to his aunt and raised his eyebrows.
"About the grant." he glanced over to Molly, who was slowly inching closer toward Peter - her eyes never leaving Mr. Stark's face. She was insanely curious as to why Mr. Stark was sitting on May's couch. There was no way it had anything to do with whatever sort of grant May had mentioned. Peter never applied for any grant - and Molly had never applied to any sort of grant for Peter either, which would be something she would do if she knew she couldn't get it.
"The September Foundation." he clarified with a matching motion to Peter, "Remember when you applied?" he nodded slowly, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Mr. Stark was sitting there and what the hell kind of grant he was talking about, "Well, I approved and now, we're in business." As if it were that simple. Even though Peter didn't apply to anything even close to something like the September Foundation. Mr. Stark took a sip from a teacup from May's ever growing collection, giving Peter a pointed look to go along with the lie. Molly was pretty much standing right next to Peter, which made it easier to share a look with her. Something else was going on, though neither one of them was sure what. For as smart as the two geniuses were, neither were very good with understanding hidden meanings.
"But you didn't tell me anything." May tried to understand why he didn't tell her about the grant, "What's up with that? You keepin' secrets from me now?" she leaned against the back of the couch, arms folded on top of it as she gave him a mock serious look. Oh, if only she knew that Peter had been keeping secrets from her for the past six months.
Molly rolled her lips in and looked off to the side so as not to show face. But as Peter rambled out an excuse, something dawned on Molly. The mention of secrets reminded her of the Big Secret she had been keeping for Peter for the past six months - hell had been helping him with too. Her eyes darted back to where Mr. Stark was still sitting on the couch, carefully watching Peter as if to make sure he didn't slip up. He couldn't be here because of any sort of grant that Peter supposedly applied to...it had to be something different. Something...spidery maybe. She elbowed Peter in the hip, but he ignored her, instead focused on his excuse to May.
"Well - well I just know how much you love surprises." he rubbed his hands together while gesturing at his aunt while Molly kept up her subtle elbowing, "So I thought I would let you know when…" he trailed off, arms swinging down so that he could bat Molly's elbow away without looking at her. She moved to hit his hand with hers, the two of them getting into a small slap fight as he turned his attention back to Mr. Stark, "Anyway, what did I apply for?" he looked back at Mr. Stark with a slight squint, still trying to figure his way through this game. Again, he pushed Molly's hand down and away with a little more force - his Spider Force if you will, making it clear that he wanted her to stop without saying anything. She huffed from beside him, but now wasn't the time to get into whatever kind of argument she wanted to get into.
"That's what I'm here to hash out with you." he gestured to him rather calmly, having kept his casual demeanor throughout the whole conversation, despite the way the two teenagers were acting.
"Okay, hash it out, okay." Peter moved to cross his arms over his chest again, brow furrowing a bit at the phrase. He glanced over to Molly, who made her eyes wider in a silent tell that this was not what it looked like. He widened his eyes back, pulling a no duh face. She jutted her jaw out and made her eyes a bit wider to try and tell him something that he wasn't getting.
"It's so hard for me to believe she's someone's aunt." Mr. Stark commented off handedly, getting an awkward laugh from May. Molly furrowed her brow and pulled her chin to her chest at the comment, not liking the weird vibe he was giving off toward her.
"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes." May reminded him, not really taking the compliment. It was always awkward whenever someone commented on May's age in regard to her being Peter's aunt. Not like they knew that Ben had been Mr. Parker's much younger brother. Still Mr. Stark persisted,
"This walnut date loaf is exceptional." he picked up the piece he had been toying with for the last ten minutes, only having managed to take a couple bites from, and went to continue with his compliment, but Peter held his hand out,
"Let me just stop you there," he turned the conversation back to the more important topic than his aunt's date loaf, which everyone in the room (beside May) knew wasn't that great, "Is this grant got like money involved or whatever?" he motioned widely with his hands, circling his arms a bit before clasping his hands behind his back again and rocking back on his heels.
"Yeah, yeah, it's pretty well funded." he answered, then pointed to himself with an easy grin, "Look who you're talking to." Peter rubbed his hands together, a little bit of relief coming in at the reassurance that there would be some sort of payment for whatever the hell this grant was. God knew how much he and May needed money these days. "Can I have five minutes with him?" Mr. Stark asked May, pointing at Peter as he did. She nodded in agreement, not going to deny her nephew a chance to talk to his long time idol and future grant giver.
Tony got up from the couch, stepping around to where the two teenagers stood behind the couch. He stuck his hand that currently wasn't holding a piece of terrible tasting date walnut loaf bread out toward the shorter girl that had been standing by Parker's side the entire time, reacting to everything, but not saying a word. Again, just like someone he was sure he knew.
"Tony," he introduced himself again before going further to ask, "And you are…?"
"Molly, sir." she gripped his hand firmly, excitedly, "Molly Proctor." He tilted his head at her and let out a small huh. He knew that name.
What were the odds that the younger girl standing in front of him was the sister of none other than Rogers' long time love interest?
Q followed Steve into the living room of the safehouse. While he sat, she stayed standing in front of him, pacing slightly as she told him everything. From the fateful night at her parents' on Thanksgiving, to her search for more information on Rebecca's relation to Bucky, to finding Bucky. Everything in between: Dnipropetrovsk, Dawson's hand, Marina, the beach house, the wedding, the Hydra black box, the facility, Spencer, Bucky's rescue, Sam, how she and Dawson knew about Clint's farmhouse, Marina going after Natasha only to never return, Croatia - technically I did tell you there, and everything that happened during the time she had spent with Bucky. Steve sat there, listening. And watching her with careful, tired eyes, walk the length of the room as she talked. In all the time he had known her, he had never heard her talk that much, about so much. Not even when she was in her babble stage drunk. Thankfully, he was able to keep everything straight.
"That's it." she finished with a slight shrug before starting to pace again, "That's everything that happened." he stayed quiet, trying to let everything settle, "Just…" she circled her hand in the air, "say what's in your head." he took in a deep breath, following her with his eyes,
"I don't think I can do this anymore." he admitted, getting straight to the point. Her gait stuttered, but only for a split second that would be unnoticeable to anyone else. She nodded, but didn't say anything else as she resumed her pacing. Lips rolling in, she kept nodding even as he continued, "I...feel like you don't trust me."
"That's not true." she whispered out with a shake of her head, "I trust you more than anyone in my entire life." Steve let out a scoff, leaning back against the couch.
"Evidence would prove otherwise." he pointed out with a quick raise of his eyebrows, "You've been keeping secrets since the day we met." her pacing paused for a moment so she could turn to look at him,
"I was doing my job." she reminded him, "Following orders." he let out a little frustrated huff, but raised his hands up,
"Fine. I'll give you the stuff you didn't tell me during D.C.." he relented then put his hands down, "But there's the fact that you didn't tell me you were leaving, or why you were leaving." he began to count off his fingers, "You didn't tell me about your grandmother or Bucky or even what happened to you in…" he swallowed back the lump in his throat that appeared whenever he thought about what Q went through in the Hydra facility, "You keep keeping secrets from me."
"So you want to know every tiny little thing there is to know about me?" she crossed her arms over her chest, getting a little annoyed at how he was so insistent on knowing everything. She was still allowed to keep some things to herself.
"You know I don't. It's just...the big stuff. Stuff that affects me, like Bucky, or I could help you deal with, like your grandmother." he paused for a moment, "I've told you all of my secrets. Good and bad." he reminded her, "Sometimes I didn't want to or I was scared to…" he trailed off, thinking back to the time they sat in the back of her car and he told her about the guilt he had been harboring since the day Bucky died, "And there's a difference between stories and secrets, Q, you know that." he pointed out matter of factly, "But I feel like you don't want to tell me any of them either. You keep pushing me away." he ended rather sadly.
"But you keep coming back." she reminded him with a step out of her pacing and instead closer to him. He took in a deep breath; he knew she was right. He kept coming back, over and over again. Each time she pushed him away, he jumped at the chance to come back when she offered him too.
"Maybe I shouldn't anymore." he raised his eyebrows up and let out the breath he took in. She paused midstep. She had gone too far this time. Done too much damage.
"That's fair." she blinked rapidly, trying to stop herself from crying. It was pointless to. He had his mind made up. There was a last ditch effort pulsing in her head. Something that had such a slim chance of working, she normally wouldn't even try, but she had no other options at this point. And, it may be selfish of her, but she didn't want to lose him again, "Is there…Is there any way you could give me another chance?" she asked with a raise of her shoulders. He gave her an incredulous look and she put her hand out to stop him from saying anything, quick to add, "I know I don't deserve it at all, but all the cards are on the table now, Steve. I've told you everything." she watched his face for any hints of where his head was at, but it was blank, "It's up to you." she made her voice quieter, "I understand if you're done, but...I still love you - hell, I'll always love you." her voice broke a bit with emotion, "I don't think I'll love anyone like I love you." he blew out a breath through his nostrils and looked her dead in the eyes,
"Are you just trying to manipulate me?" he asked, voice low and hard. She barely contained the flinch of hurt that flashed across her body. Of course he would think that she said all that because she just wanted him to forgive her. Forget and move on. Let her back in. Steve pushed himself up off the couch, standing at his full height in front of her.
"No, never." she answered truthfully, just as she had been doing the entire time she had been talking, "I know I've sucked at showing it recently," she twisted her fingers together, stepping closer to him, "but I do really love you, Steve." she settled on the simple fact, "And I…" she didn't know what else to say. She was close enough to reach out to touch his cheek, something she went to do, then hesitated and pulled back, "Please, give me one more chance to prove it." Again, she reached out, this time laying her hand softly against his cheek. He didn't tense, but didn't relax either. Just stayed how he was. They stared at each other for a beat before he took in a breath and reached up to gently take her hand off his cheek.
"I can't make any decisions or promises right now, Queenie." he shook his head slightly, "Not with...everything going on." he summed up with a quick glance at the safe house they were in and paired with a heavy sigh. She tried not to be too disappointed, nodding and letting her eyes drop from his face for a moment until she heard him continue with a "But," her eyes returned to his, noticing how his gaze had softened just a little, "thank you for telling me the truth about everything." he gave her the smallest of smiles, a whisper of one that disappeared as quickly as it appeared, "Once this is all over...we can talk about our future." he continued to hold onto her wrist. She took in a breath, trying not to read too much into how he used the phrase our future. As if there was a possible future that the two of them shared together.
"Definitely." she promised with a firm nod. He matched her nod, shifting his grip on her wrist so he was threading his fingers through hers instead. A quick squeeze happened before he took his hand back.
There was still an undetermined amount of time until all this was over. Until then, she was going to try her damnedest to make sure she knew he was serious. She loved him, she wanted to be with him, so she was going to do whatever it took to prove it to him.
A/N: Lotta things going on here! NGL, I've been waiting a loooonnngg time to bring Molly back into the fold, and used this chapter as sort of a backdoor pilot in a sense. A real story for her will be coming in due time, but I thought this would be a fun mini-introdution! LMK your thoughts/questions/cries of outrage. And then there's the heartbreaking Queve! Ugh, my bbs. Still, as always, pls let me know all your thoughts haha. I appreciate every single one of you and we are slooooowly getting to 100 chapters and I'm ! about it! Thank you for all your support :)