Some Things Never Sleep

by MotomamiBizcochito

"You never learn when to quit, Spider-Twerp." She told him. "Spider-Twerp?" Spider-Man questioned in disbelief as he glared. Emma smirked. "Well, you annoyingly seem to get in my way all the time. That and you don't look or sound like a man to me." She explained. "I am a man." He told her angrily. "Somehow I doubt that." The first time Emma and Peter met didn't exactly go well.

72. Chapter Sixty Six

Author's Note: It keeps taking me forever to update for some reason but I guess I've been distracted lately. So here's finally a chapter with Emma and Peter. This was one was supposed to have more in it but I just started including more fluff scenes so a lot of the action stuff is going to happen over the two chapters after this one. I just felt like if I included a ton of action stuff then it would feel like too much and especially since we're seeing Emma and Peter a little further into their relationship so it's best not to rush things like that. So there's a lot of fluff in this chapter but probably not as much in the next one. There's no Tony in this chapter either but we'll be seeing a lot of him in the next chapter.

J3ennife4: Well, it was the last flashback chapter anyways and there was only like four flashback chapters in the whole story out of like seventy something chapters. Also it wouldn't work if I included the chapters in another story because nothing would really make sense for what I have planned next. I also didn't really want to make people have to read another story just to read this one. I do have a companion piece but it's not required reading for this one. Glad you loved the chapter though and I really debated whether or not I should include Peter's parents. I thought it might be too cheesy but then I thought I can do whatever I want since it's fanfiction. I actually had that scene with Richard and Steven planned in my mind for the past couple months. It was just so funny that I couldn't resist writing it. I know the portrayal of Richard Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man movies was way more serious but I just thought to take a goofier and more rambling approach instead. When Clint comes back we'll see a lot more of his guilt especially when everyone finds out what happened to Emma.

Onlyinitforthestories2: I really loved England but I loved Scotland a little more. I just really fell in love with Edinburgh when I was over there and I found myself wishing that we had spent more time there than in England although England had a lot of cool stuff too. So yeah...a really big fan of Scotland. I think I went to three castles when I went over there. I went to Edinburgh castle in Scotland then Warwick castle and Windsor castle in England. There's really a ton of cool stuff over there for a history buff like me. I just find it so boring here in the states because everything is so much newer. England and Scotland blows my mind because of how old everything is. I really recommend going there because it's amazing. Sorry about rambling about England and Scotland but even after three years I still can't stop thinking about going over there. Next time I want to maybe go to Germany because I have a ton of German ancestry but mostly because of the food. I'm half Mexican and half German but for some reason I really hate most Mexican food but I love German food.

It is really sad about Clint and Margot but it's kind of why he's remained so distant from Emma. It's really hard for Clint to even look at her at times because he always thinks of Margot and what he didn't do. It was different for Tony when he and Emma weren't close because she looks a lot like her dad but Tony never really had a falling out with Steven although he does still have a lot of regrets. I think in the future of this story we'll see Clint start to make amends. He obviously can't fix things with Margot but I think he'll do right by Emma. Sorry about the long message regarding travel but seriously never ask me about traveling because I can talk for ages about all the places I want to go.

scrapingskies: I might've even cried a little writing the last chapter although I think I get emotional every time I write Margot and Steven into a chapter because of their inevitable deaths. I did cry a little more than usual writing the last part with Clint at the end. Poor Clint.

artemis7448: The fact that Peter and Emma's parents met is going to come up within the next couple chapters because it has to do with what's coming although they might not know that their parents met when their parents were all expecting. Everything is going to come together in the next couple chapters when the Avengers get reunited. Tony definitely has some involvement in making that happen but Peter will too in a way although Emma's ultimately the one that brings them all together again and it was always supposed to be that way. I'm so excited for the others to come back! I've had this planned since around the time I first started writing this and I can't believe I'm finally going to be writing this. It's still a couple chapters away but I'm just so thrilled.

I'll probably include an obvious INFINITY WAR scene when Steve and the others come back because the Avengers are already going to be reunited by the time Infinity War rolls around anyways. I'll probably leave a spoiler warning just in case but the scene doesn't really include any spoilers from the movie. Just thought I'd give people a head's up just in case.

darklaughter: Thanks! I'm glad you like the story. I've actually listened to that song numerous times just as I've listened to Halsey's first album more times than I can count and that's actually one of my favorite songs from that album. Sadly I don't really like her second album at all. It's just not for me, I guess. I liked her first album way better. 'Control' is a good song though and 'Drive' was another favorite of mine from that album too.

ChanceToBeImmortal: I'm glad you liked the flashback chapter. I always receive mixed reviews on the flashback chapters but luckily that was the last one. Ugh! I'm so jealous of you. It must've been so cool to be around for the royal wedding and it looked so beautiful over there. They really picked the perfect day for it.

Snapplecracks: The only reason Clint acted like that was because he was afraid of Margot leaving him all alone because if you look at his background in the comics it's really sad. It's kind of nice that he has a family now and everything so he's not alone anymore. I know some people aren't huge fans of Laura Barton because I remember people really wanting Clint and Natasha to get together but I personally think it's better that he has an actual family. Thanks!

marylopez0812: I can't wait for Dr. Strange and Emma to meet either. They'll probably drive each other insane.

angus281299: I've kind of thought about the whole Russian vs. American accent thing a lot in the past and I've summed it up as being because Hydra trained her to speak in numerous other languages so they also trained her to fake different accents. I was going to include a chapter in the beginning when she was still going on missions for Hydra where she faked a British accent but I cut it out of the chapter. People noticed in Infinity War that Wanda didn't have her accent anymore and the Russo brothers explained it as Natasha teaching her how to blend in and having a Sokovian accent would probably make her stand out. Emma's probably spoken so long with the accent that it's just stuck. I know a lot of actors used to have different accents and then they started speaking with a more "proper" accent so much that the accent stuck for real. I think actors like Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Lawrence, and even Grace Kelly(way back when) were examples of this.

SSHdoesfanfics: I am eventually going to include the Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War storylines but not for a while.

Jason Hunter: The actress I picked and the one who's in the cover art is Elle Fanning. She's starred in a lot of my favorite movies like Super Eight, Maleficent, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, and Mary Shelley which I haven't seen yet but I'm excited for. She's done a lot of indie films but I happen to love indie films. Elle Fanning's also the younger sister of Dakota Fanning. She's one of my favorite actresses and I hope to see her maybe do some more big budget films too or maybe a series on Netflix.

moocella: Yeah, those videos are definitely going to come up in the future. It's going to be incredibly hard for Emma to forget something like that. Same goes for the videos Darcy made although I don't think Emma will be enthusiastic about Steve seeing those.

Guest: I've never really seen Grey's Anatomy. I've obviously heard of it but it's not really my kind of show although I really loved Sandra Oh in Killing Eve. I liked how they didn't make her one of those boring, straight laced agents. She was kind of dorky, weird, and funny which I liked. I just finished the whole season and I can't wait for the next one. It's probably one of my favorite shows of the year.

blue: In my story Steve and the others are coming back in a couple chapters. Infinity War is really far away so everyone will already be reunited for probably around a year before the stuff with Thanos starts happening. The same goes for the events with Thor: Ragnarok. In my story Thor: Ragnarok is going to take place a few days before Infinity War in Earth time but it'll take place a couple months before Infinity War Sakaar/Asgard/Space time because I remember Loki and the Grandmaster mentioning how time worked differently on Sakaar. Loki was on Sakaar for a few weeks before Thor showed up so time definitely works differently than anywhere else. Emma might be with Thor part of the way but she'll eventually find her way to Tony and Peter.

Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciated every single one of them. Sorry for not answering all of them but I was just super eager to update. Thanks for all the favorites and follows too. Let me know what you think of the chapter.

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Hydra Base

The Swiss Alps

Present Day

Diego Ugalde walked through the Hydra base with a certain amount of pride in his step. The Mexican actor was a very proud man and even more so now that he was one of the wealthiest men in the world. Not quite as rich as Tony Stark or King T'Challa of Wakanda but he was getting up there. Diego thought he was doing fairly well for someone who grew up on the streets as a child. His story was a classic rags to riches story although his line of work was a little less than moral. Diego Ugalde was a very famous actor back in Mexico and had even scored a few prominent roles in Hollywood but what many people didn't know was that he was also the leading weapons dealer in the world. Ulysses Klaue used to be Diego's strongest competition but luckily the man was dead so Diego was back to being number one.

"Ugalde!" Agent Lance Collins said as the British agent came walking over to Diego. Diego raised an eyebrow as Collins gave him an annoyed look.

"Ah, Prince William. What can I do you for?" Diego asked with his usual cocky smile on his face. Collins glowered at the shorter man. Diego Uglade always made a habit of referring to Lance Collins as Prince William just because he was English. Collins would never understand that because it wasn't like he was the only English person that worked at the base.

"It's Agent Collins to you." Collins said in an icy tone before giving the man a suspicious look. "I've been looking for you for the past half hour. Where the hell have you been?" Diego just shrugged nonchalantly.

"I was just seeing how the base is doing. It's been a long time since I've been to a Hydra base. It's vital that I make sure that my investment is well taken care of." Diego said in his thick accent. Collins scoffed.

"Your investment?" Collins questioned. "We're the ones who gave you the weapons to sell. We're the ones who've put all that cash in the pocket of your hideously flashy suits. We're the ones who you work for. It would do you good to remember that, Ugalde." Diego just chuckled as he took off his designer shades. Collins really had to wonder why Diego was wearing sunglasses in a dark base within the Swiss Alps but this was Diego Ugalde he was talking about. The guy was notoriously weird.

"Well, your precious Alexander Pierce is the one who hired me for the job. Apparently he thought I was important enough to sell your weapons." Diego reminded Collins who gave the man a sour look. He knew more than well that Alexander Pierce had personally hired Diego Ugalde for the job of weapons dealer after they were forced to have Santiago Salazar killed. He was hired solely based on the fact that the guy was another Hollywood idiot. Diego was less suspicious because he was a famous actor.

It wasn't suspicious that he had so much money because he had been the star of one of the Mexico's most popular telenovelas for years and not to mention all the movies he had starred in. All his movies had the highest box office opening for any Mexican made films. There was also the movie production studio he now owned in Mexico City which produced various films and television shows, some of which were Oscar and Emmy winning. No one questioned how much money Diego had because he was just too famous and successful in the movie industry. It made sense that he was one of the richest men in the world. It didn't help that he was also very handsome and people liked him a hell of a lot more than Tony Stark. Diego Ugalde was the perfect employee for Hydra because no one would ever suspect him.

"I'm well aware of that fact." Collins said begrudgingly and Diego just smiled at him.

"Good now when is this little show going to start? I have a meeting with Miss Columbia tonight and I cannot be late. She's an impatient one." Diego said with a goofy smile on his face and Collins fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"The injections are going to start in about fifteen minutes." Collins informed him and Diego nodded.

"That's good to know." Diego said as Collins began to lead him in the direction of the lab area of the base. "I was starting to think that serum would never be finished. That doctor of yours sure took his time." Collins gritted his teeth.

"Well, it's not exactly like baking a cake, is it?" Collins snapped and Diego smirked in amusement. There was nothing he enjoyed more than riling up Hydra agents. They really made it too easy.

"We probably wouldn't need this serum if you had been able to control the Viper Assassin and Winter Soldier properly." Diego told Collins who really tried to find the strength within himself to not punch the actor.

"There were certain events that we weren't able to foresee at the time. If we knew Captain America would destroy everything we worked so hard to build then maybe we would've moved them both to a safer location." Collins explained but Diego just shrugged.

"Not to mention how much you fucked up with the twins in Sokovia." Diego added and Collins reminded himself that Rumlow told him to play nice. Diego had been a long-time ally of Hydra and for some reason Pierce seemed to of held him in high regard.

"We're here." Collins announced, refusing to dignify Diego's remark with a response. They had arrived at a room which looked over the lab down on the floor below. A large window allowed them to have a perfect view of the lab and Diego stared down at the scientists down below who were running around the lab in a rush to get things done. Diego spotted Rumlow strapped down to a chair that looked similar to a dentist's chair. The actor wrinkled his nose in disgust when he saw Rumlow's face. Diego couldn't imagine looking that hideous. He'd probably go into hiding or die if he looked that bad. The Hydra leader grumbled orders at his counterparts as they all scrambled around the lab to please him. The disgusted look then faded from Diego's face as a more concerned one replaced it.

"Are we sure that Rumlow's the right person for the serum?" Diego questioned as he stared at the unhinged looking Hydra leader on the floor beneath them. Collins turned to look at Diego because it was perhaps the most serious Diego had ever sounded.

"What do you mean?" Collins inquired even though he had a slight idea as to what Diego was insinuating.

"Rumlow's not all there, is he? He's also has a very troubling obsession with the Viper Assassin." Diego mentioned and Collins swallowed hard. Everyone knew of Rumlow's obsession with the blonde traitor. His office was covered in pictures of her and it was seldom that he talked about anything other than her. Most of the time, however, Rumlow bragged about sleeping with the assassin which made Collins and some other agents uncomfortable. Collins had children of his own so Rumlow bragging about having sex with a teenage girl made him sick but he put up with it. Besides…the Viper Assassin wasn't really a child. She and the Winter Soldier were monsters who had murdered far more than a good number of agents at the base had.

"Is that a problem?" Collins retorted and Diego shrugged.

"It could be. Our goal is taking down those masked freaks. Not retrieving the Viper Assassin so that Rumlow can drool all over her like a horny little boy." Diego told Collins pointedly and the Englishmen just shrugged.

"Rumlow's fine. He knows how important this is and he knows what we have to do." Collins told the shorter man but he didn't really know if he believed his own words. Collins didn't even really know if he could trust Rumlow to have Hydra's best interests at heart.

"Rumlow's insane…he's a monster. What makes you think that what happened to Hydra's squad of assassins won't happen to him too?" Diego asked him, referring to how the serum had actually driven the late Hydra team of assassins crazy. Collins just stared back at him.

"We're not in a league of gentlemen here, Ugalde. We might need a monster in order to win this." Collins said softly and Diego could only stare back at the man as he processed what Collins was saying. He didn't like the idea of an unhinged Rumlow running around out there with the Viper Assassin's blood running through his veins. If they wanted to stop him then they'd die in the process. He'd be too powerful to overpower and not to mention his obsession with the Viper Assassin made Diego nervous. He was worried Rumlow would screw this up for all of them because Diego was positive that Rumlow wasn't in this for Hydra. He was in this for the traitor.

"I hope you're right." Diego muttered as they both turned to the window. Collins carefully sneaked a glance over at Diego as something else occurred to him. If Rumlow was going to finally get the injections he needed then the plan was close to becoming real. If they were about to launch an attack against the Avengers then they were going to need all the weapons they could get their hands on. They were going to save Rumlow as a nice little surprise for the Avengers later on but until then they needed weapons for the rest of the Hydra agents.

"Is the weapons shipment here yet?" Collins asked quietly and Diego stiffened at the question. Collins somehow knew he wasn't going to like Diego's answer. Diego swallowed hard before answering.

"All three shipments have arrived on time and in perfect condition." Diego answered and Collins furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"All three? I thought there were four shipments?" Collins questioned and Diego sighed.

"There was but we ran into some trouble with the cargo trucks in Tanzania." Diego said begrudgingly with a very sour look on his face. "Some of my men ran into trouble with the Black Panther." Diego said the name with a special amount of distaste in his tone but Collins' eyes widened in surprise. The Black Panther had become rather famous in the past year ever since his appearance in Romania and Germany but even more so with the events in South Korea a few months ago. It was obvious to everyone that the Black Panther was not someone you ever wanted to cross paths with.

"The Black Panther?" Collins said in surprise, still trying to process what Diego told him. The Latin man nodded.

"Yes. Him and those bald headed whores that chase after him." Diego said in an annoyed tone as Collins hung onto his every word. "Four nights ago they stopped the cargo trucks, the ones with the weapons, and they apprehended my men. They confiscated the weapons and took my men. More than likely somewhere to either interrogate or imprison them. Probably both." Collins just stared at Diego in disbelief.

"Where did they take them?" Collins questioned and Diego shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably to that expensive underwater prison in the Atlantic. The one where your doctor was imprisoned before you broke him out." Diego told Collins and the Hydra agent swallowed nervously. This wasn't good news. No, this wasn't good news at all.

"So they have the weapons that were powered by the Tesseract…the very same weapons that were built from Vibranium metal which can only be found in Wakanda." Collins said, trying to get Diego to see how bad this was.

"I guess so." Diego said nonchalantly and Collins was starting to get angry.

"The same weapons that we had in storage for the past seventeen years to ensure that something like this would never happen." Collins said as he started raising his voice. Diego just glared at him.

"I don't know what you're getting mad at me for? I've been bending over backwards trying to get you these shipments. You're lucky that you got three shipments instead of zero." Diego told him as he narrowed his eyes at the angry Hydra agent. "So we lost a shipment? We still have three." Collins sneered at him.

"You don't get it, do you? If the Black Panther knows that these weapons are out there then he's going to tell the Avengers and it's not going to take long before the Avengers figure out that it's us who has these weapons." Collins said and Diego just waved his hand dismissively.

"How is that royal pretty boy going to know it's us anyways? It could be anyone." Diego told him and Collins scoffed.

"I don't think you realize how rare these weapons are. Not only were they created from the Tesseract but they're also made from Vibranium. No other place in the world except Wakanda has Vibranium so you can imagine the Black Panther is an expert on the stuff." Collins explained to Diego in a frustrated tone. "This means that the Black Panther is going to link these weapons back to Klaue who sold us the metal almost two decades ago. It's not going to take them long before they figure out that it's from us. Rumlow wasn't that discreet all those months ago when he bought weapons from those idiots in New York either. They're already suspicious and they're going to put two and two together in no time." Diego coughed awkwardly.

"I guess I didn't think of it like that." Diego said quietly and Collins really struggled not to choke the life out of him. He sighed tiredly instead.

"Just tell me that the men the Black Panther arrested in Tanzania are somewhat loyal or they at least had some cyanide on them." Collins almost pleaded and Diego gave him a sheepish smile.

"I really wish I could but they'll probably rat us out to save their lives. They don't really give a shit about Hydra. They barely know what Hydra is." Diego admitted and Collins just stared at him as he tried to figure out what to do with this idiot. Killing him wasn't an option. He was too much of an ally to Hydra for them to kill. No, he was just going to have to put up with this idiot's antics. Between Rumlow and Diego, it was like Collins couldn't get a break.

"So this is it. The Avengers are onto us now. There's no going back from this." Collins said softly and Diego gave him a worried look.

"Is this really bad? Are we screwed?" Diego asked him and Collins paused for a moment before answering. It took him a minute to think but he thought he knew the answer. He took a deep breath before exhaling as he looked back at the window, his eyes resting back on Rumlow on the floor below them.

"No…I don't think we are. Between the weapons and Rumlow, I think we'll be just fine." Collins told Diego reassuringly. "The Avengers might be onto us but we still have the advantage of Rumlow. They won't know what's coming until it's too late."

The two men then stared as the scientists prepared Rumlow for the injections. He was all set to go and all that was left was for the needles and IV to go in. Rumlow stared at the ceiling as Dr. List stared at a screen, his eyes anxiously watching the numbers. One of the scientists sterilized the area of Rumlow's body where the needle was about to go in as all of them prepared themselves for the moment they had been waiting for during the past four months. Rumlow thought of nothing else but the image of a familiar blonde assassin. Before he could even think of anything else, however, they stuck the needles in. He lost track of the amount of needles that entered his body but it wasn't until the red liquid entered his body that he started to feel something start to change. The red liquid wasn't just any kind of red liquid either but instead the blood of his princess. A part of her that was inside him and a part of her that would make him stronger than ever. It was almost like they were together again which brought him some pride and even joy.

This is for you, Princess.

---

Queens, New York

June, 2017

"So you survived your first year of high school." Michelle Jones stated as she looked over at Emma with that usual bored expression on her face. "Do you feel happy now?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm but Emma wasn't offended. This was just her and Michelle's weird friendship. It was a strange kind of friendship that made everyone else weirded out but somehow it was normal for them. Emma just smiled before shrugging.

"Not happy but definitely not looking forward to the next one. If I have to deal with Flash for another two years then I'm either going to murder him or myself." Emma retorted before she dipped her spoon back into her gelato. Emma and Michelle were currently seated outside of a gelato shop just a couple short blocks from the school. They had just finished their last day of school and had decided to stop for some gelato on the warm summer day. Peter and Ned had gone off to see one of what Emma liked to call their nerd movies. Peter told her it was okay if she crashed their guy time but Emma would rather stuff her face with gelato than sit through one of Peter's nerd movies. It was okay because he felt the same way about the classic Hollywood films she liked to watch. Emma was just happy she didn't have to sit through that movie about the apes and Woody Harrelson.

"At least it's one more year that we don't have to be here." Michelle told her and Emma gave her an amused look.

"I've never heard you sound so positive in all the time I've known you, MJ." Emma said teasingly and Michelle just rolled her eyes. The blonde just shoved another spoonful of gelato in her mouth and basked in the warm sunny day. Normally she didn't like warm weather but today was an exception. Emma kind of blamed it on Peter. She blamed a lot of things on Peter but mostly just the good stuff.

It had been four months since their field trip to London and although they didn't win, that trophy actually went unsurprisingly to Wakanda, they returned home happier than they had ever been before. Not much had happened since the trip. The only significant thing that happened was Jane breaking up with Thor over the Bifrost which was new because Emma had heard of people breaking up with their boyfriends or girlfriends over the phone but never over a Bifrost. Emma didn't even know if it counted as them breaking up because all Jane did was yell at the sky for Heimdall to tell Thor she was tired of waiting and that they were through. Darcy screamed at the sky too but only to tell Thor that he was finally free. Emma may or may not have joined in on the Jane bashing but only because she thought Jane acted like she had a stick up her ass. Seriously though…the woman was worse than Steve.

Even with all the couple drama, which included the awkwardness between Emma and Susan regarding an absent Steve, Emma and Peter were still able to find happiness despite everything going on around them. She was sure they had the trip to London to thank for that too. Their time in London had been carefree and fun because the trip allowed Emma and Peter the chance to get away from home and spend time together without the reminder of their superhero alter-egos. It was nice for Emma to relax and unwind for once. Ever since the trip it had been like that too. She felt happier than before and Emma knew it was because of getting all her secrets off her chest with Peter. Peter and her were in a way more honest relationship than ever. Whenever she had a nightmare, she could talk to Peter about it and he'd patiently listen to her as he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly. He'd remind her in the littlest of ways that it was nothing but a nightmare and she was safe. Emma had to admit she always felt better after he comforted her and she realized that this was what Tony had meant when he said it was better being open and honest in a relationship. Emma, of course, would never admit aloud that Tony was right about anything. She wasn't exactly saying the nightmares went away either or that she ceased having flashbacks but Peter was there to offer her comfort and support now that he had a understanding of what she had been through.

Even though Emma and Peter's relationship was in a much better place, there was still an emptiness inside her that she knew was because of the prolonged absence of Steve and her father. It didn't escape her mind that it had been over a year since she had last seen the both of them. She still found it hard to believe that it had been that long. A year since the Sokovia Accords, a year since the fight at the airport, and even a year since she had come face to face with Peter for the first time although she hadn't known him as Peter back then. It was still a year since she had seen two of the most important people in her life and it felt even longer since she hadn't been able to spend that much time with her father during that time. She had only seen her father for about two hours before he was whisked away from her yet again. Before that she hadn't seen him in years so it made the loss overwhelmingly painful. It hurt being away from Steve too because she had become so close to him in the two years they spent together. She rarely left his side in those two years so now that she was without the both of them, it felt like she was missing something huge in her life. Emma was happy with Peter but she just wanted Steve and her father to be able to be around to see her at this new point in her life. She knew that if she could somehow have all three of them in her life at the same time that maybe she could even feel complete. She'd have all the men she loved in her life which was Emma's dream. Emma needed all three of them and she didn't care if that sounded selfish or greedy. She just needed them.

"Maybe the sunny weather put me in a better mode." Michelle said sarcastically and Emma just laughed.

"I'm sure." Emma retorted, not sounding entirely convinced by her friend. Michelle then gave the blonde a curious look.

"So how are going to spend your summer? Are you and your lame boyfriend going to Disneyland with Tony Stark?" Michelle questioned, her voice once again laced with sarcasm. Emma just sighed.

"I hate traveling and I especially hate traveling with Stark so probably not. I also hate amusement parks and cartoon characters." Emma said in a flat tone as she looked back up at her friend who didn't seem the slightest bit put off by Emma's statement. It was times like this that Michelle really wondered how Emma and Peter even worked. Emma considered everything, from a normal person's childhood, beneath her while Peter had gone to see Toy Story 3 five times when it had first come out all those years ago. Michelle knew this because the idiot actually bragged about it to everyone in class. Michelle supposed she'd never stop feeling puzzled over Emma and Peter's strange relationship. She considered Emma to be a very close friend but she was no closer to understanding Emma's odd attachment to the nerdy teenage boy. She supposed some things in life would forever remain a mystery.

"Sometimes I think you're even more pessimistic than me." Michelle muttered and Emma just smirked at her before giving the dark haired girl a curious look.

"What about you? What are you going to do?" Emma questioned and Michelle shrugged.

"Nothing much. I'll probably just get some more reading done. Maybe I'll even go down to the mall to draw whatever boring loser I can find." Michelle told her and Emma nodded.

"Same here. I just ordered a whole shipment of books with Stark's credit card so I'm pretty much occupied for the summer." Emma said, seeming to actually look forward to a summer filled with reading while listening to her favorite artists on repeat via Darcy's old iPod. "I haven't had a chance to work on any drawings lately but maybe I'll give that a go too." Michelle raised an eyebrow as she smirked at her friend.

"Yeah, right. You mean that you haven't had a chance to work on drawings that don't feature your idiot boyfriend." Michelle teased and Emma actually blushed at her comment before she tried to glare at the girl sitting across from her.

"My drawings don't all feature Parker. I draw other things too." Emma said defensively and Michelle scoffed.

"Like what? You know you're one step closer to drawing your ideal perfect wedding and scribbling Mrs. Parker all over your sketchbook. Ooh! The Viper Assassin? Well, I'm shaking in my boots." Michelle continued to tease and Emma leaned back in her seat as she glowered at the teenage girl. It seemed like her friend was teasing her even more about Peter ever since Peter happened to mention to Michelle and Ned that he and Emma were going to get married someday. He mentioned it in an offhanded way one spring day as the four of them walked past a nice and large looking townhouse.

"Look how big and cool that house looks, Emma. I bet there's like four or five bedrooms in there. Ooh! Look at the front steps! It looks so fancy…like something a celebrity would have." Peter rambled as he looked at the house and Emma raised her eyebrows. She didn't understand why Peter was suddenly so interested in architecture. Never in the time that she had known him had he expressed an interest in houses.

"I guess." Emma said as she shrugged, seemingly not as interested in the house as he seemed to be. Peter just continued to stare up at the house in awe. Ned and Michelle seemed just as bewildered as she was by his odd behavior. Emma wondered sometimes if Peter was on drugs. She knew that he wasn't but sometimes she still wondered because she would never stop trying to understand him and his antics.

"We should live here when we get married." Peter told her in a casual tone. He hadn't even looked away from the house when he said it. Michelle and Ned looked shocked at his statement while Emma just blushed. She was a little surprised that he had said it in public like that but she wasn't really surprised that he had said it in the first place. Then just like that, Peter turned away from the house and started walking back down the street. Emma, with her hand in his, was forced to walk with him although she was still blushing from his very public admission. Peter Parker infuriated and perplexed her like no other.

You would think that was the first time Peter had talked about them getting married but it really wasn't. He never really talked about it so much as made offhanded comments when he talked about the future. Sometimes it annoyed her because he sounded so sure that she was going to marry him which wasn't the case. They bickered every time Peter talked about it but mostly because Emma hated the idea of marriage. She felt like if she ever got married then it would be the end of the fearsome reputation she spent her life building. No one would ever take her seriously again if she got married. She already threw most of what was left of her reputation out the window the day she fell in love with Peter Parker. Of course, deep down Emma didn't mind losing that reputation although she was much too stubborn to admit that. However, Emma was going to draw the line at marriage. She would never marry Peter Parker and she didn't care if he gave her that stupid puppy dog look or even if he begged her. Well…maybe she'd care a little.

"I'm not going to marry him. Now leave me the fuck alone." Emma grumbled as she glared at her gelato while Michelle just rolled her eyes at her.

"I was only kidding. Geez, sometimes I think you're German. You don't really have a sense of humor." Michelle remarked and Emma glared at her.

"I can be funny." Emma retorted and Michelle raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Since when?" Michelle questioned and Emma huffed, crossing her arms.

"It was funny when I threw that knife at Tony during dinner the other night." Emma informed Michelle and Michelle scoffed.

"You're the only one who found it funny. You nearly stabbed him in the hand." Michelle told her and Emma shrugged.

"I never intended to actually stab him. I'm great at throwing knives so I never miss. Papa was a great teacher…you should really see Papa throw a knife. He makes me look like an amateur." Emma told Michelle who didn't seem entirely eager to be around the Winter Soldier if he was throwing knives around. Maybe if she was safely positioned behind a bulletproof glass window.

"My point is that almost killing or severely maiming people isn't really the typical sense of humor for most people." Michelle stated and Emma gave her a curious look.

"Why not?" Emma inquired. "I happen to think it's hilarious. I remember when I tied up a clown and hid him in one of the rooms at the tower for three days. Everyone was so shocked. There was also the time that I placed the hand of one of my targets in a birthday cake for my evil grandfather. You should've seen the look on that Nazi asshole's face when he bit into the cake. Priceless."

Emma laughed at the memory of Alexander Pierce's face when he realized that there was no way Emma would just bake him a birthday cake out of the kindness of her heart. Sure, Rumlow and Volkov had beaten her with an iron bar for a couple hours but it was completely worth it in Emma's eyes. Nothing gave her more satisfaction than watching Pierce unknowingly become a cannibal. Emma had told her father the story when he had woken up from the Cyro-Chamber and even though he scolded her for pissing off Pierce, she couldn't mistake the small crack of a smile on his face. However, she decided that it was probably best never to tell Peter or Steve that story because she had a feeling they wouldn't find it very funny.

"How are you even one of the good guys now?" Michelle questioned after staring at her friend in silence for several seconds. Emma acted like she didn't know what she was talking about.

"You're acting like I cut the man's hand off when he was still alive or something." Emma said as she shrugged. "I was never sadistic. He was already long dead when I cut his hand off and I figured he wouldn't need his hand anymore anyways. I'm also sure that he would've enjoyed what I made Pierce do. Maybe he'd even thank me for it." Michelle scoffed.

"You think he'd thank you for cutting his hand off and putting it inside a cake just so your evil grandfather could eat it?" Michelle questioned and Emma nodded nonchalantly.

"Maybe." Emma said before she smirked at Michelle. "Come on, you think it's funny too. The look on that idiot's face was classic when he realized what he had bitten into." Michelle cracked a small smile.

"Was the hand chopped up into little pieces or was it perfectly intact?" Michelle asked curiously. She was always curious about Emma past as an assassin. She was more curious about that than any of the stories Peter and Ned wanted to hear about the other Avengers. Michelle was always morbidly curious about death and murder and who better to ask than Emma although Michelle always had enough tact not to ask her too many questions. She figured the topic was kind of sensitive for the blonde but if Emma was going to offer up information then who was she to stop her?

"Intact. The bone, flesh, nails…essentially the whole hand. I kept it in a cooler on the way back to the base." Emma answered but Michelle still looked curious.

"Did you cook it…like Fried Green Tomatoes style?" Michelle asked and Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"You mean did I put it into the batter and bake it into the cake? Ew…no. Of course not." Emma said, sounding completely revolted. "You have a sick mind. It was a layer cake so I just put it in between the layers after and then used a ton of frosting. I told him it had a strawberry filling. God, I can't believe you thought I'd actually put the hand in the oven. Do you know how bad that would smell? Gross." Emma then returned to eating her gelato as if they were talking about trivial topics like fashion or the weather.

"Well, excuse me for thinking you would put a hand in an oven." Michelle said sarcastically as she also went back to eating her gelato. Emma swallowed more of the frozen dessert down before looking back up at Michelle.

"You know…believe it or not, MJ, that was the first and last successful thing I've ever baked. When Steve forced me to bake Christmas cookies I almost burned the whole place down so I consider the cake a success." Emma pointed out and Michelle just stared at her silently for a moment before responding.

"Remind me to never eat any of your cooking." Michelle muttered and Emma just smirked at her without saying another word. Michelle was now convinced that Emma did, in fact, have a sense of humor but the sense of humor of a serial killer. Although Michelle had to admit that the hand in the cake thing was kind of funny. Disgusting but funny. If anything this made Michelle even less sure of how Emma and Peter worked. She supposed it was the opposites attract thing but if Peter could sleep peacefully, without any fear, next to Emma then good for him. Personally Michelle thought Emma was too cool for Peter but she supposed even cool people who put hands inside cakes could even fall for a dork like Peter Parker.

---

"And this is Peter in the bathtub." May pointed out to Emma as she held a photo album in her lap. Emma was going to eat dinner with Peter and May as she had done on several occasions in the past. May wasn't the greatest cook but neither was Emma so she couldn't really complain. Emma had arrived at Peter and May's apartment a bit early seeing as Peter and Ned's movie still wasn't over so May decided to kill some time by showing Emma baby pictures of Peter which she had never seen before. Emma's eyes focused on a naked three year old Peter in a bathtub as he giggled at the camera. This was going to be great blackmail to use against her boyfriend in the future. "He used to love splashing around in puddles when he was little so Ben and I had to rush him home and get him cleaned up."

"That's a cute rubber duck." Emma pointed out as she looked at the rubber duck covering up Peter's penis in the picture. May laughed.

"Yeah, he used to do the cutest thing too when he was around that age. Peter's always been kind of shy but when he was little he'd cover himself up whenever I was trying to get him ready in the morning and he'd make a little angry face like this." May paused to make the face she was talking about, scrunching her face up in the process and Emma looked at her in amusement. "Then he'd say, 'Don't look at my winky'." Emma busted out laughing at this. She didn't think she had laughed that hard in a long time as she tried to picture a little toddler Peter trying to cover up his junk. Winky! Emma was sure she'd never look at Winky the house elf in the same way ever again.

"Wow…I did not know that. I don't think Peter ever mentioned anything like that." Emma said as she tried to calm down from her fit of laughter. May just shook her head.

"No, I can't imagine he would." May said as she flipped to another picture. This time Emma was sobered up as she glanced at a picture of what must've been Peter's parents. She had never seen a picture of Peter's parents before and she also knew that he didn't talk about them often. Emma knew it was more because he didn't really remember them since they had died probably even before Emma's parents died. Emma remembered her parents more than she wanted to which was why she never talked about them but for Peter it was because he just didn't remember them well enough.

"This is Peter's parents…Richard and Mary. This was actually taken when Peter was just born." May explained as Emma stared down at the picture. The picture showed a baby Peter in the arms of his mother while his father had his arm wrapped around her. Peter's father was a very slender man and not what she expected when she thought of Peter's father. He looked to be in his late thirties with hazel eyes and dark hair. Emma thought that Peter even had his smile…it was the same goofy smile that Emma adored. However, she noticed that Peter looked more like his mother than he did his father. His mother's brunette locks were the same exact color as Peter's while they also shared the same warm brown eyes. The photo even made Emma smile more when she saw baby Peter bawling his eyes out in his mother's arms. He was…cute and he still was according to her.

"Here's Ben and Peter at Stark Expo." May told her and Emma raised an eyebrow at the next photo. Peter looked to be around seven or eight in the photo although she couldn't really see his face. He was wearing a large Iron Man mask which made Emma want to roll her eyes. So his Tony hero worshiping went further back than she originally thought. Why was she surprised? His Uncle Ben, who he rarely liked talking about, looked a lot like his brother or so she noticed. He had the same dark hair and hazel eyes but he was also slightly older than Peter's father. She thought she remembered Peter telling her that his Uncle Ben was his father's older brother but that was the extent of what he had said about his uncle.

Usually Peter was so open to her about everything but his uncle was something he didn't talk a lot about. Emma assumed it was because Peter was very close with his uncle and the loss of his uncle still haunted him even today. It was probably something she'd never understand. While Emma had lost her parents at a young age, it had been a long time since she had felt sad about them. As the memory of them faded so did the feeling of loss. She didn't feel close to them anymore. Emma had never lost someone like Peter lost his uncle which made it difficult for her to understand something like that. He had gotten her to be so open to him about the rape but Emma also wanted him to be open to her about his uncle. She didn't want him to feel alone but she didn't know how to bring something like that up. Emma was afraid of somehow hurting him or making him angry. He was so good at listening to her and giving her advice but Emma didn't know if she was good at that too. She wasn't used to being a good listener and helping people with their problems, that was Steve, but Emma still wanted be there for Peter and she wanted Peter to know that.

"Oh, and here's Tony's autograph." May pointed out and Emma was snapped out of her thoughts as she tore her gaze away from the picture of Peter and his uncle. Emma's eyes rested on a signed picture of Iron Man and narrowed her eyes.

"Who in the hell would want Tony's autograph? I wouldn't give someone a nickel for that piece of crap." Emma stated and May laughed before shrugging.

"Peter was always a huge fan of Tony. Tony was, and probably still is, his number one idol. Before you came along, it was always Tony Stark this and Tony Stark that. It absolutely drove me up the wall." May told Emma who smiled in amusement. "Of course, now you're all he can talk about it which I think is better than hearing about Tony all the time. Tony Stark wasn't exactly the role model I wanted for my young nephew but at least he's better than Justin Bieber." Emma raised an eyebrow.

"If Peter liked Justin Bieber then I wouldn't have even been friends with him in the first place. Gross." Emma said as she cringed at the thought of anyone, she associated herself with, actually listening to Justin Bieber's music. The thought revolted her. May laughed at the blonde once again.

"You're funnier than I thought, Emma. Has anyone told you that you've got a great sense of humor?" May asked and Emma smiled mischievously.

"I get that a lot actually." Emma told her which was the opposite of the truth. May just smiled as she then gave Emma a curious look.

"You know who Peter is also a big fan of?" May asked her and Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Who?" Emma asked and May smiled knowingly.

"Captain America." May finally said and Emma was beyond confused at this. Did she maybe hear May wrong? Did she actually just say Captain America?

"What?" Emma questioned and May nodded as she then pointed to a picture of a six year old Peter playing with what looked like a Captain America action figure. This was probably before the Avengers and before Steve had even woken up from the ice but Captain America was always a pop culture icon. Throughout the decades, Captain America lunchboxes and action figures were quite common although the demand for Captain America merchandise had only increased after the alien attack in New York. However, most stores no longer sold any merchandise of any of the Avengers who were now considered war criminals. Still…Emma wasn't exactly surprised that someone had a Captain America action figure but she was instead surprised that Peter of all people had the action figure.

"Captain America was always Peter's favorite Avenger. Ben and Peter watched a documentary once and after that Peter was just hooked. He said it was because Captain America always stood up for what was right…that he always did the right thing and he wanted to do the same." May told her and Emma just stared at Peter's aunt in silence. She didn't know how to feel about that. Emma had never gotten the impression from Peter that he was a fan of Captain America. He never mentioned it around her. She was…stumped. "He had Captain America coloring books, action figures, and even a poster…the usual things most boys have."

"He never said anything and I've never seen any posters or action figures in his room." Emma said in confusion and May just smiled.

"I think he hid them all when you two first started becoming friends. He was probably embarrassed about it. You know how Peter gets." May told her and Emma was still confused. She couldn't believe that her boyfriend was a Captain America fan this whole time and he never mentioned it. Emma wasn't mad or anything but she was just surprised. Emma was still processing that information when May turned to another picture from Peter's childhood.

Peter was a lot older in this picture and she could tell that it was probably one of his school pictures. He didn't look much younger than he was now, probably around fourteen, but he looked slightly different than the Peter she knew. This Peter was very scrawny and somehow shorter than he was now. He wore a pair of glasses on his face and she could see the slightest traces of acne like most teenagers had. Peter never really had acne when she knew him but she supposed it was part of the bonus side effects of the spider bite just like how her serum had bonus side effects too. This Peter looked different than the Peter she knew now but there was no doubt in her mind that he was still the same Peter…Her Peter. He still had that goofy smile on his face, his warm brown eyes hidden behind his glasses, and he was even wearing one of his t-shirts with a lame pun on it. Granted he still looked way more fragile than the Peter she knew but he was still adorable. Emma didn't know why he didn't let her see any pictures of him before the spider bite because he was still incredibly handsome. In fact, those dorky glasses he was wearing were really doing something to her. She wasn't going to lie and say that those glasses weren't a turn on for her because she was starting to think that they were. Maybe she'd ask him to wear them for her some time.

"May, I'm back from the movie! Hey, you should've seen how awesome it was. Woody Harrelson was completely insane-" Peter started to say as he walked into the apartment but stopped when he noticed his aunt and girlfriend sitting on the couch together. Peter was a little surprised because he hadn't expected Emma to come to the apartment until a little later.

"Emma…you're here." Peter said in surprise and Emma scoffed.

"Gee, I'm happy to see you too." Emma said, being her usual sarcastic self. Peter shook his head as he made his way into the living room more.

"Of course I'm happy to see you. I'm just surprised…well, it's a good surprise actually." Peter said softly as he smiled at her. Emma couldn't help but smile back because even though they had only spent a few hours apart, somehow Emma was still incredibly happy to see him. She thought the excitement and happiness every time she saw him would fade with time…that their so called honeymoon phase would end like it did for most couples but for Emma and Peter it was just the opposite. They only grew closer with time and they had spent plenty of time getting closer since they had just celebrated their six month anniversary. Emma had pretended not to keep track but deep down she had.

Peter had surprised her for their sixth month anniversary by taking her to Coney Island for the day and then taking her to the movie theater where they went on their first date. They saw Casablanca which was one of Emma's favorite movies and she was touched that Peter actually sat through that movie for a second time. She knew how much those old movies bored him. The next day they went to a Comic Con which Emma had bought them tickets for. Spending the day surrounded by a bunch of middle aged losers who still lived in their mom's basement wasn't Emma's idea for a good time but she knew how much Peter was into all that nerd stuff. Peter had worn a Luke Skywalker costume which Emma had teased him about although she actually thought he looked pretty cute in it and Emma had worn a Death Eater costume because it had a mask and Emma didn't want someone taking a picture of her there and for it to get back to Tony and Darcy. Those two idiots would never let her forget the fact that she had actually gone to a Comic Con. Besides…being a Death Eater made total sense. Emma would never admit this to anyone, because she refused to be the nerd she always made fun of Peter and Ned for being, but she had taken the sorting hat quiz on Pottermore which sorted her into Slytherin. Emma didn't really think that made her a nerd anyways because Harry Potter was different. You weren't a nerd if you liked Harry Potter…everyone liked Harry Potter. Star Wars was a nerd thing but not Harry Potter. Cool people like her could like Harry Potter without being a nerd like her dorky boyfriend was.

"Darcy's right. You two are so cute." May said in awe as she looked between them. Emma snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at Peter's aunt. Peter walked closer to the two most important women in his life and took time to admire the necklace that Emma still wore around her neck. He had given the necklace to her a few months ago and she still hadn't taken it off. Peter always thought that Emma would get bored of wearing his mother's necklace day after day but she never did. In fact, it was the only piece of jewelry he had seen her wear.

"Whatever." Emma mumbled as she looked back at the photo album while she pretended to not be as fond of Peter as she really was. It was part of the weird flirting she and Peter did. She teased and made fun of him while he pretended to be annoyed by it. Most people didn't understand them and thought they were weird but their flirting wasn't weird in their eyes…no, it was normal. It was almost like a fun game she and Peter would play. Peter then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he wondered what book Emma and May had resting in their laps.

"What are you two reading?" Peter asked curiously but he felt suddenly nervous as Emma smirked at him with a teasing look on her face. Uh, oh. He knew that look and he knew that look never meant anything good. May just smiled at him obliviously.

"Oh, I was just showing Emma some of the pictures from your childhood. I can't believe you never showed her, Peter." May said and Peter's eyes widened as his eyes darted back and forth frantically between his girlfriend and what he liked to call "The Book of Horrors". First off, there was all the naked chubby baby pictures. Then there was the pictures of him and Ned being total nerds while they played with their lightsabers and pretended to be Jedis. Lastly, there was the really awkward puberty pictures when he was in a really embarrassing stage of puberty. That was before he was bitten by the spider and when he wasn't the cool person with super powers that knew Tony Stark and had a really beautiful girlfriend that was in love with him.

The Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker was a real dork who had bad acne and stupid glasses. Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker also was incredibly clumsy and always tripped over his own feet. The only girl he had ever talked to in his life back then was Michelle and that was only because he had known Michelle since elementary school. If he had met Emma back then she'd probably think he was a loser. He more than likely wouldn't have even been able to have a full conversation with her without sounding like an idiot. Peter still remembered all the failed conversations he had with Liz and that was just Liz Allen. If it was Emma, he probably wouldn't have even had the courage to say hi to her let alone talk to her.

"W-what?" Peter said in disbelief as he eyed his eighth grade school picture that Emma was looking at. He immediately blushed in embarrassment. "Why would you do that, May?!" May just rolled her eyes.

"Relax, Peter. Emma's your girlfriend…she doesn't care if you used to have acne." May told him which only embarrassed Peter more. He quickly snatched the photo album out of Emma's lap and held it close to his chest. Emma just gave him an amused look.

"How much did you see?" Peter asked nervously and Emma thought he looked cute when he was all defensive like that. She didn't know why he was so embarrassed. It wasn't a huge surprise to her that Peter was cute…he was cute then and he was cute now. Emma leaned back against the couch as she continued to smirk at him.

"I saw enough." She replied and Peter inwardly groaned. Great…why did everyone seem to love embarrassing him? He never wanted his girlfriend to see those pictures. It was just all so embarrassing and he was sure Emma was going to make fun of him for it. She never did anything embarrassing in her childhood. Peter instantly felt guilty for thinking that because he remembered that Emma never had a childhood. She probably didn't have embarrassing pictures from her childhood because her childhood was stolen from her by Hydra. However, before Peter could give the subject anymore thought, May got up from the couch.

"While you two are discussing this, I'm going to start dinner. It'll probably be ready in forty minutes." May said as she walked past Peter but not before ruffling his hair which only embarrassed him even more. She disappeared into the kitchen and Emma and Peter were left alone. He refused to meet her gaze as he looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"I'm going to put this away in my room." Peter muttered after a moment of silence. He then stormed off into his room and Emma rolled her eyes. He was such a drama queen sometimes. The blonde got up from her seat and immediately followed him into his room. May called out for them to keep the door open but Emma barely paid any attention as she walked towards his room. She found him hurriedly shoving the photo album into one of the drawers of his desk. Emma leaned against the doorway casually as she watched him.

"You know that I'll be able to find it no matter where you hide it." Emma told him and he jumped up in surprise.

"Do you always have to sneak up on people?!" Peter exclaimed and Emma just shrugged as she walked into the room.

"It's not my fault you're not more cautious." Emma stated and Peter just glared at her. She sighed as she walked closer to him.

"Come on, Parker. There's no need to pout." Emma told him almost teasingly but the grumpy look on Peter's face didn't go away. The look on his face almost reminded her of the one May mimicked earlier when she told Emma the winky story. Emma had to force herself not to laugh.

"This is so embarrassing. I can't believe May actually showed you those stupid pictures." Peter said and Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes yet again.

"You're making too big of a deal out of this." Emma replied and the look on Peter's face was unchanging. "I don't know why you never wanted me to see those pictures."

"Why?!" Peter said in disbelief as if the answer was obvious. "Because I looked like a total loser then. Did you not see the picture? The acne? The glasses? How skinny and weak I was…how clumsy. You think Flash picking on me now is bad? Can you imagine how bad it was back then? He had a lot more material to use back then because I was the scrawny little nerd that no one ever noticed. You wouldn't have even spared me a second glance." Emma just watched him in silence because it was rare that Peter sounded that defensive about anything. She discovered that she didn't like him talking about himself like that. She didn't like that he thought she was so shallow that she wouldn't want him unless he was the taller, stronger, and muscular version of himself that he was now.

"Don't talk about yourself like that." Emma said seriously as she moved closer to him and Peter's breathing hitched at the close distance between them. Her blue eyes locked onto his brown ones.

"Why not? It's true." Peter said although he was a bit more quiet than before.

"You're still a nerd, Peter." Emma said bluntly and Peter gave her a slightly offended look.

"Gee, thanks." Peter said sarcastically and Emma sighed because she was never good at the comforting thing.

"No, I just mean that you were a nerd then and you're still one now. You think that I care that you used to wear glasses? You think I care what Flash thinks?" Emma asked him and Peter just stared back at her.

"I don't know." Peter said quietly and Emma just shook her head.

"I don't." Emma said softly as she held onto his hands. "I don't like it when you say that you used to be a loser or that I wouldn't like you if I knew you back then. I know I would. You're a good person…there's not a single ounce of evil in you. You're untainted and you always do what's right no matter what other people think." Peter shrugged, not sure how to respond to Emma. It was seldom that she ever talked like this…that she ever tried comforting anyone but Peter was glad to see this side of her. It was the side of her that she rarely showed to anyone else. Peter counted himself lucky that she trusted him that much.

"There's not an ounce of evil in you either. You're a good person too, Emma." Peter told her but Emma just continued as she shook her head.

"I don't know, Peter. I've done a lot of bad things but you never cease to surprise me. You never seem to think that I'm bad like the others do sometimes." Emma paused briefly as she allowed herself to be open and honest with him which was still taking some getting used to. It was difficult but Emma knew that it was also important. "I know they care but some of them are afraid that I'm going to fall off the wagon one of these days…it's like they half expect me to screw things up and become like Loki. It's why they don't trust me like they trust you but you seem to trust me…and believe in me for whatever reason. You don't think I'm bad." The look on Peter's face softened as he lovingly gazed down at her.

"Of course I don't think you're bad." Peter said to her because it was true. Emma wasn't bad and no one knew that more than he did. "I just wish you would see yourself the way I see you."

"And I wish that you would see yourself the way I do." Emma threw back at him before she continued. "It doesn't help that you're nice either. You're probably the nicest and sweetest person I've ever met." Peter made a face when she said that.

"Girls don't like nice guys." Peter pointed out but Emma just shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"I do." Emma said softly and Peter didn't say anything because he really had no idea what to say to that. Emma never seemed to stop surprising him and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her. It was hard to imagine that it was only a year ago that they had fought against each other at that airport in Germany. Since then they had become classmates, reluctant partners, friends, and finally boyfriend and girlfriend. Peter didn't really know if he could even label themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend like all the other kids did at school because Emma and him weren't like the other kids. They weren't like Isaac Dylan and Leslie Sanders who were the prom king and queen. Nor were they like Phoebe Webber and Luke Anderson who were voted couple of the year in the yearbook. Those couples were just high school flings or puppy love. They wouldn't even remember each other in twenty years.

No, Emma and Peter were much different than those other kids. What they had was something more sincere and everlasting because they had been through so much together. The bond they had was more than the typical bond of a boyfriend and girlfriend. It was so funny that he and Emma had started out as partners in crime fighting because now he was sure that they would also be partners in life. He knew if he told Emma this aloud she'd probably glare at him and call him an idiot but he knew he'd convince her someday. It's not like he wanted marry her now since they were only sixteen but he knew at some point after high school, it was going to happen. Peter liked imagining himself and Emma living in a nice house together with just the two of them together. Being married to Emma would be fun. They could eat whatever they wanted every night, like cake and ice cream for dinner, but they could also do whatever they wanted too. They could watch movies all day, make out whenever they wanted, and they could even sleep in the same bed without worrying about getting into trouble. Not to mention that Emma would have his last name. Emma Parker…the thought made Peter's heart skip a beat. Maybe they'd get a dog or something too. Peter always wanted a dog.

"Are you still with me, Parker?" Emma asked him in confusion as she looked at the dreamy look on Peter's face. Peter immediately snapped out of his daydream of a domestic lifestyle with Emma and looked back at her.

"Yes." Peter told her and Emma continued with what she was saying.

"I was just saying that you're perfect to me in every way…you're even my favorite person in the world. I tend to hate everyone else but I could never hate you." Emma told him sincerely and Peter gave her a surprised look.

"What about your father and grandfather?" Peter questioned and Emma rolled her eyes.

"They're my family…I have to love them." Emma told Peter honestly. "You're different than Steve and Papa. I love them too but I also love you in a much different way." Peter smiled at her as he gently reached up and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I love you too, Emma." Peter told her softly. "I know what you mean because you're my favorite person in the world as well. Never question that." He then leaned forward and wrapped her up in a hug. Emma closed her eyes in content as he held her close to him. She'd never forget how warm he felt against her or the smell of the cheap soap his aunt bought him from the local pharmacy. She could always feel his heart racing in his chest when he held her like this but Emma's heart was racing too. Emma then opened her eyes as a small smirk made its way onto her face.

"Besides…Papa can be a dick sometimes and Steve acts like he has a huge stick up his ass so there's no doubt that you're my favorite person." Emma told Peter as she pulled back to look at him. "Of course when you piss me off you're probably my least favorite person so you're not always the favorite." Peter laughed at her odd remark and he knew he could always count on Emma to find a way to tease him in some way.

"Thanks a lot." Peter said sarcastically but he still had a smile on his face because he felt better after Emma's reassurances. The smirk faded as she continued to look back at him and a more serious expression came over her face once more.

"I still don't understand why you never let me see those pictures." Emma said suddenly as she stared back at him. "I thought you were just as handsome back then as you are now. There's no difference to me." Peter blushed as he glanced away from her face, suddenly feeling shy at her sudden and bold statement.

"Maybe you need glasses." Peter told her and Emma immediately cupped his face with her hand to force him to look back at her. Her ocean blue eyes were locked onto his as he got lost in her blue depths that were hinted with the familiar trace of green.

"I'll always want you. No matter what." Emma told him honestly. "Will you always want me too?" Peter swallowed hard.

"Of course I'll always want you." Peter replied just as honestly as she had. "How could I not? You're perfect to me in every way too." Emma just smiled softly at him because it made her feel at ease knowing that he felt the same exact way about her that she felt about him. She always worried if her heightened emotions made her love him more than he loved her but she could see now that they loved each other equally. Nothing made her happier.

"I learned a lot about you today." Emma said suddenly and Peter gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?" He questioned and Emma just shrugged.

"I learned that you went to Stark Expo and met Tony although I doubt he knows that but I also saw pictures of your parents and uncle. It made me realize something." Emma said as she locked eyes with Peter again. "You never talk about him…your uncle, I mean." Peter sighed as he slowly nodded.

"I know I don't but…" He trailed off as he tried to find the right words to say. "I just miss him a lot and sometimes it's hard to talk about him. It gives me this ache in my chest because I just wish that he was somehow still here so he could see all the things that are going on in my life. Spider-Man, the Avengers…You." Peter smiled softly at her as he ran his thumb across Emma's cheek. Emma could feel the familiar sensation of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach that she normally felt whenever Peter looked at her like that.

"Uncle Ben would've really loved you. He'd probably tease me about finally getting a girlfriend but I know he would've liked you." Peter said and Emma just swallowed hard before responding.

"I don't know what it feels like to lose someone like that." Emma told him as her gaze softened. "I lost my parents but I didn't really know them. Their faces are like blank spaces in my mind so I can't know how it feels but I still want you to talk to me about him if you want. He was very important to you and because of that he's important to me too." Peter nodded.

"I'll tell you about him this week when we go back to the compound." Peter decided because he knew she was right. He never really talked about Uncle Ben and Emma never pushed him because she wasn't that kind of person. She had waited long enough but Peter was going to tell her everything she wanted to know about his uncle just like she told him everything he wanted to know about her father and grandfather. "There's a lot to discuss but we have a lot of time. We have the whole summer, after all."

"Good." Emma replied but something else occurred to her as she looked back at him. She gave him a curious look. "May also told me something else…something very curious."

"What did she tell you?" Peter asked her and Emma gave him an amused smile.

"You never told me that you were a Captain America fanboy." Emma said suddenly and Peter gave her a mystified look as he blushed.

"S-she said that?" Peter questioned nervously and Emma nodded.

"Yes she did. How come you never mentioned it to me?" Emma inquired curiously and Peter shrugged although he still looked as nervous and shy as before.

"It just never came up I guess." Peter said and Emma raised an eyebrow at that.

"It never came up?" She questioned and Peter nodded his head in agreement. "It never came up even though you've been dating his granddaughter for the past six months? I'm not even including the time when we were just friends." Peter sighed tiredly because he knew she wasn't buying it.

"Okay, fine. I just didn't want you to think I was a dork or something." Peter mumbled and Emma gave him another amused look.

"Peter, I'll always think you're a dork." Emma teased and Peter glowered at her.

"Thanks." He muttered sarcastically but Emma just laughed.

"Besides…I happen to really like dorks." Emma told him before she feigned a serious look. "I guess I finally know why you wanted me to be your girlfriend so bad." Peter looked confused at her odd statement.

"Huh?" He asked in confusion.

"You're just using me to get to my grandpa. How manipulative of you, Parker. I didn't know you had it in you. You play the part of the seducer very well." Emma told him and Peter looked at her in horror.

"That's not why I'm with you!" Peter exclaimed as he tried to defend himself. "How could you even think that-" He stopped when he saw Emma attempting to stifle her laughter. Peter playfully glared at the blonde.

"Relax, Parker. I'm just fucking with you." Emma told him and Peter shook his head in disbelief. She never grew tired of teasing him, did she? Peter would never admit it but he kind of enjoyed it whenever Emma would tease him. "Although it does make me curious why you decided to fight on Tony's side and not Steve's if you liked Steve so much." Peter shrugged.

"I don't really know. Maybe it was because Tony was the one that found me and he told me Captain America went crazy so I just believed him, I guess. I didn't really consider Captain America's point of view." Peter answered honestly. "I mean I should've known that he was in the right because when has Captain America ever been wrong?" Emma looked down sadly because she knew that wasn't true.

"My grandfather's not right about everything, Peter. He's not perfect…it's taken me a while to see that without rose-colored glasses getting in the way. I just saw him as perfect because he saved me from that place." Emma admitted. "I suppose that's why I was mad at Tony for so long too. I couldn't believe anyone would dare go against Steve which is crazy because Steve's still human…he's not infallible. He can be really stubborn and arrogant at times too. I guess we're related, after all."

"Tony wasn't right either." Peter told her and Emma looked back up at him before nodding.

"I know. I guess we're surrounded by stubborn and arrogant men who think they know what's best for the world when they really have no clue whatsoever." Emma replied and Peter raised an eyebrow.

"So what is best for the world?" Peter asked her and Emma shrugged.

"I guess only God would know that." Emma answered and Peter gave her another confused look.

"I thought you didn't believe in God." Peter stated and Emma sighed heavily.

"I didn't but maybe I was wrong. Who else would be cruel enough to make the world the way it is?" Emma told him and Peter thought she had a point there. Their conversation had taken a heavy turn so to lighten the mood, Peter changed the subject. They didn't need to be discussing what went on inside the minds of their leaders. They would probably never figure that part of their lives out.

"I have a box of things that I've hidden from you." Peter said abruptly as he changed the subject. Emma gave him a quizzical look. "Just things that I thought were embarrassing. Do you want to see them?" Emma stared at him for a moment before eventually nodding.

"Sure…why not." Emma said and Peter nodded before he quickly walked over to his bunk bed before kneeling on the ground to retrieve something from underneath his bed. Emma watched curiously as Peter then sat on the edge of his bed with the box in his hands. It was an old, worn out looking shoe box that made Emma curious to see what Peter had kept hidden inside. He patted the spot next to him on the bed, gesturing for her to sit next to him but Emma surprised him as she casually sat on his lap instead. She watched as his skin flushed red while he gulped nervously and not to mention the fact that she could hear his heart hammering inside his chest.

Emma always liked the way he reacted to her doing something like this. It told her that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. For the past few months they had been playing all these games with each other. They would flirt and tease each other all the time. Their make out sessions would get hot and sometimes even a little bit steamy but they never took it any further than that. The furthest they ever got was when Peter would occasionally feel her up but that was it and he never let it go any further than that and Emma knew why. It was because he knew about the rape and he didn't want to hurt or traumatize her. Emma was happy that he was so considerate but at the same time she felt frustrated because she knew she wanted more. He wanted more too because Emma had felt his hardness against her after every time things got a little out of hand. She'd offer to help him with his problem but he refused because it was just Peter being protective over her. Emma appreciated the gesture but she was annoyed that he was coddling her.

Did Emma want to have sex? Yes and she was even more sure now than she was before. Her feelings of sexual desire were only increasing and sometimes she wondered if it was because of her heightened emotions or because she wanted Peter that much. Maybe it was both. She used to feel ashamed of her desire because of what Rumlow did to her but after another talk with Jessica she knew that she couldn't let Rumlow dictate the things she did in her life. If she wanted to have sex with Peter and was ready then she should. It wasn't wrong for her to have those kinds of feelings. She still got flashbacks from time to time when she was with Peter but he had been very comforting and understanding whenever that happened. Their love life wasn't completely smooth sailing which probably made Peter apprehensive when it came to taking their relationship further but Emma knew that she still wanted him. It was just a matter of trying to communicate to Peter that she was finally ready to take the next step because he just wasn't getting it.

"Is this comfortable for you?" Emma asked him unabashedly and Peter just nodded as he focused his gaze on the box.

"Yes." He mumbled before he opened the box, revealing the contents he had kept hidden within. Emma stared at his collection of random objects although she noticed that a lot of it was Captain America memorabilia. She saw a couple of Captain America action figures, folded up posters, collectible comic books, and even a paddle ball decorated with a cartoon version of Captain America. Emma wasn't stupid when it came to her grandfather's former popularity with the masses. She knew there had been a lot of cartoons and even a lame biopic someone had made about her grandfather in the eighties. Emma was fairly sure Nick Nolte played him which was the worst casting pick ever. Steve had always been a popular figure in history but it still surprised her to see all this stuff in Peter's old shoe box.

"So this is your Captain America shrine?" Emma said and Peter huffed, wrapping his arm around her waist as if he thought she wouldn't notice. She did.

"It's not a shrine." Peter replied and Emma just smiled because she really didn't know why Peter was embarrassed of all this stuff. She actually thought it was kind of cute that he had a man crush on her grandfather. Emma then looked down with more interested as she spotted an inhaler in the box. Peter had asthma? She didn't know why she was so surprised. Peter had mentioned how weak he used to be and she supposed he meant he was weaker than just being shorter and skinnier. It was ironic because she was pretty sure she remembered Steve mentioning he used to have asthma before the serum as well.

"This is why I looked up to Captain America so much." Peter said quietly as he watched her look at his inhaler. "He used to be small and weak like I was but he grew bigger so that he could take down bullies. I always admired that about him."

"I think a lot of people do." Emma said as she picked up his old pair of glasses from the box. They were the same pair of glasses she had seen in the picture. Peter looked shy as he watched her observe the pair of glasses.

"Yeah, I used to wear those too. Pretty dorky, huh?" Peter said as he laughed nervously. Emma then locked eyes with her boyfriend who noticed that she looked quite serious despite the situation.

"Put them on." Emma said and it struck Peter that she wasn't asking him. No, she was telling him to put the glasses on. Peter thought he might've even heard her wrong.

"What?" Peter questioned in shock and Emma handed the glasses to him.

"I want to see what you look like with them on." Emma said as if her reasoning made total sense. Peter swallowed hard as she stared at hm.

"Why?" Peter asked her and Emma shrugged.

"I'm just curious." Emma told him which was true. She actually was curious to see what he looked like with his glasses on. Peter gave her a weird look.

"Okay but I already know I look stupid with them on." Peter told her before he then put the glasses on. He blushed as Emma stared at him silently. Peter really couldn't see anything through the glasses but he could feel her gaze on him. She then tossed the box to the side of the bed without warning. He was just about to speak again when suddenly Emma straddled him without explanation before she wrapped her arms around his neck as her lips crashed down upon his. To say Peter was taken by surprise was an understatement. He couldn't help but melt into the kiss as he kissed Emma back. Peter rested his hands on her hips as they kissed passionately but Peter broke the kiss as he started coming to his senses again.

"What's gotten into you?" Peter asked her, sounding slightly out of breath. Emma smiled mischievously.

"You look hot with your dorky little glasses on. It really turns me on, Parker." Emma told him honestly and Peter just stared at her in bewilderment.

"I always knew you were crazy but now I think you might be clinically insane." Peter said breathlessly but Emma didn't take any offense by it. She moved in to kiss him again but he stopped her. He placed his hands on her forearms to stop her and Emma pouted. Peter took off his glasses then tossed them to the side where the box was lying. "The door's open. May could walk in at any moment."

"She's probably too busy trying not to burn the kitchen down." Emma told him with a teasing smile on her face. Peter sighed heavily.

"Emma, if we keep doing what we were doing then I'm not going to be able to leave this room for a while." Peter told her and Emma smirked at him.

"Oh, do you mean your winky's all excited?" Emma asked teasingly and Peter's eyes widened as he began to think that he misheard her.

"W-what?" Peter questioned but Emma's smirk didn't fade.

"Your winky…the one you don't want anyone to see." Emma said innocently and Peter flushed red in embarrassment as he realized what Emma was talking about.

"Damn it. Is there anything May didn't tell you?" Peter muttered as he shoved Emma off his lap and she fell down beside him on the bed. She laughed at the annoyed look on his face.

"Don't be so embarrassed, Parker. That picture of you in the tub with the rubber duck was really cute." Emma continued to tease and Peter glared at her.

"You're not funny." He grumbled and Emma gave him another innocent look.

"There's no need to be shy. I hope that you even might let me see your winky someday." Emma joked and Peter just shook his head at her.

"Keep saying winky and there's not going to be a problem anymore." Peter told her, looking to be in a sour mood and Emma caught his double meaning. Emma laughed once more and despite the situation Peter was happy to see her act so carefree. These past few months had been so blissful and peaceful between them. Peter wouldn't trade those months in for anything.

"My poor little Parker." Emma said flirtatiously as she looked back at him. "You know that I'd help you out if you really wanted." Peter swallowed hard as he blushed again.

"Stop flirting." Peter told her as he subsequently turned her down. The thing about Emma was that he never knew what went on inside her mind. Recently her comments had become increasingly more suggestive than usual but Peter brushed it off as her teasing him like she always did. He didn't really think she was serious about any of it and even if she was then Peter still wouldn't want to take that extra step. It was tempting when she mentioned things like that but he knew he couldn't. Giving in wouldn't be right because Emma had been hurt so much in the past that Peter would be taking advantage of her which was something he never wanted to do. His greatest fear was somehow hurting her so Peter turned her down whether she was serious about it or not. It was difficult for him, even more so as their relationship progressed, but it was for the best.

"You're real cute, Parker." Emma told him softly but felt a bit disappointed that he turned her down yet again. She had only been half joking when she said that because she knew if he took her up on her offer that she'd be more than happy to finish him off. It's not like she was super obsessed with his penis or anything but she was still curious. That and she felt bad for getting him all worked up just for them to stop things before they went too far. Emma just wished that Peter would see things her way.

"I'm going to find baby pictures of you someday, you know." Peter said suddenly as he eagerly changed the subject. Emma went along with his change of subject without any objection.

"Then it's a good thing they all burned in a fire." Emma retorted as she gave him a smug look. Peter smiled in amusement at her.

"I bet Tony has some hidden somewhere." Peter pointed out and Emma shrugged.

"Good luck finding that. Stark probably threw them all out ages ago." Emma told him and Peter just shook his head.

"You and I both know he'd never do that." Peter replied and Emma wouldn't admit it but she knew he was right. "I'm going to find pictures just as embarrassing as the ones you saw and then we'll see whose laughing." Emma scoffed.

"It'll still be me laughing, Parker." Emma shot back. Peter opened his mouth to retort when May suddenly called out to them that dinner was ready.

"Guys, dinner's ready! I think it turned out okay this time." May said and both Peter and Emma got up from the bed. However, before they left the room Emma stopped him.

"You do know that I'm never going to let you forget about the winky thing, right?" Emma told him with a smirk on her face. Peter just rolled his eyes at his annoying but beautiful girlfriend.

"Whatever."