"A week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone. Witnesses say that cyclone had a face. Three days later, a similar event in Morocco. A village was—"

"Just making the rounds." Mr. Harrington knock before popping his head into the room, interrupting Fury's little presentation on current events. "See if anyone needs any counseling after today's traumatic events."

Alya heard him coming and quickly threw the covers over her head so he wouldn't see that she was in the room. She wasn't supposed to be here and she didn't want to get caught.

"No." Peter forced a smile, hoping he wouldn't actually come in, because Fury's tranq gun was ready and loaded. "We'll be okay. We're fine. Thank you."

"Great, because I'm not qualified to actually— Oh, he's passed out." Mr Harrington finally noticed Ned. "I'm not qualified to do it anyway, so goodnight."

And with that, he shut the door behind himself.

"That was my teacher." Peter cringed at the glare he was receiving from Fury. "Sorry about that. You were saying?"

"A village was destroyed by what may well be another world-threatening—"

"—Babe?" Betty's voice could be heard from the other side of the door. "Are you still awake? You're not answering any of my texts."

"Uh…..he's asleep, Betty." Peter scratched the back of his neck, hoping she'd go away.

Alya just rolled her eyes.

If Ned wasn't answering any of her texts, then that probably meant that he was either asleep, or busy.

Duh.

"Oh, already?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"That's why it's imperative—" Fury tried to continue, but was cut off once again.

"—Hey, boys. So that canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria." Mr. Dell knocked. "Let me know if you develop any vomiting."

"Another person touches that door, you and I are gonna have problems."

Alya was sure that there would be problems whether someone else touched the door or not.

"Stark left these for you."

Peter's eyes widened when Fury handed him a small case that held a pair of sunglasses. He thought it was an odd gift, but he wasn't about to complain.

It was the thought that counted, right?

"Really?"

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." Fury quoted. "Stark said you wouldn't get that because it's not a 'Star Wars' reference."

Peter wasn't really sure why everyone assumed that he was heavily into 'Stars Wars' when he honestly wasn't. He had no idea where that came from.

Alya just looked down at the pair of sunglasses and hoped that they weren't some super-powered spy gear that had the ability to level an entire city or something.

Tony wouldn't create something like that after Ultron. It was too dangerous to have sitting around, much less to give it to a teenager.

They were just a normal pair of sunglasses.

Nothing to worry about.

The thought was ridiculous.

She took a deep breath and peered down at the water beneath the boat they happened to be riding. Apparently, it wasn't enough to have snuck into the hotel room. Fury had to smuggle them away in the middle of the night to some unknown location.

She wondered if this was the sort of thing that her parents really needed to know, or if this was something she could just keep to herself.

"You can lose the masks." Fury told them both once they reached their destination. "Everyone here has seen you without them. You'd be feigning anonymity and breathing through spandex for no good reason."

Peter and Alya shared a glance before the former slipped his mask off of his face.

Alya thought he was a little loose with showing his face to people he didn't know, but maybe he felt like he could trust everyone enough to take it off.

Alya's trust issues ran deep. She kept the little black mask she was sporting, over her eyes and decided to keep her identity a secret.

The last thing she wanted, was for someone she didn't know and couldn't trust, to see exactly what she looked like and then use it against her.

If Steve could get away with sunglasses and a baseball cap, then Alya could certainly keep herself safe with a little eye mask.

"Over there, we have Maria Hill." Fury introduced Peter to the woman who was hanging by one of the several computer monitors in the secret vault.

Alya waved and Maria winked in response, immediately understanding that her niece didn't want anyone to know who she was.

They hadn't seen each other in a pretty long time and Alya kind go wondered what she had been up to.

"That is Dimitri."

Alya was certain she'd never met Dimitri before, so she was secure in her decision to keep her mask on, despite what Fury wanted her to believe.

"And this is Mr. Beck."

She had to stop her eyes from rolling to the back of her head when she spotted this 'Mr. Beck'. She'd certainly had enough of him for one day.

Maybe even a lifetime.

"Mysterio?" Peter muttered to himself once the man turned around.

He had no idea that Fury knew the man, but it made sense, since he was always trying to stop major threats.

"What?" The mystery man chortled out of amusement.

"Doesn't matter." The teen shook his head. "It's just what my friends have been calling you."

"Well, you can call me Quentin." The mystery man reached to shake Peter's hand, moving to do the same with Alya, but the twelve year old crossed her arms and made herself look very unapproachable. "You handled yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you on my world."

"Thanks." Peter smiled at the kudos, bristling once he realized what Quentin just said. "I'm sorry, your world?"

"Mr. Beck is from Earth." Fury clarified. "Just not ours."

Alya had really had enough of aliens. The only one she ever wanted to see again, was Thor. He stopped by, he made his rounds, and then he went home without destroying everything.

"There are multiple realities, Peter." Quentin began to explain. "This is Earth Dimension 616. I'm from Earth 833."

Well, that was a lot to take in.

"Sorry, you're saying there's a multiverse?" Peter took the words right out of Alya's mouth before he began to ramble. "I thought that was theoretical. That totally changes how we understand the initial singularity."

As he went on, Fury and Maria exchanged glances of complete bewilderment, not understanding a single thing that he was saying.

Alya just shrugged. It was something they need to let run its course. Peter got really excited about these kinds of things.

"We're talking about an eternal inflation system. How does that even work with all the quantum…." He trailed once he noticed the stares. "Sorry. It's really cool."

"Don't ever apologize for being the smartest one in the room."

"Anyway." Maria decided to move on, pressing a button to pull up a hologram which showed four powerful looking monsters.

Alya assumed that these were the threats that Fury was trying to tell them about earlier. They definitely looked fierce.

But still, she felt as if something was amiss.

"They were born in stable orbits within black holes." Quentin went on. "Creatures formed from the primary elements; air, water, fire, earth. The Science Division had a technical name. We just called them Elementals."

"Versions of them exist across our mythologies."

"Turns out, the myths are real."

"Like Thor." Peter piped up. "Thor was a myth, now I study him in my physics class."

"These myths are threats." Fury stated.

"They first materialized on my Earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger…..I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevitable."

"The Elementals are here now." Maria informed them. "Attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it."

"So thank Mr. Beck for destroying the other three. There's only one left; fire."

"The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my Earth." Quentin's face grew grim as the hologram projected part of the events. "It's the one that took my family."

Peter and Alya both noticed that he was wearing a wedding band on his finger. But Alya couldn't find it in herself to be sorry for him. She couldn't even explain why she was so indifferent towards him.

But it was something she felt in deep in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry." Peter had always been much kinder than her and sometimes, it made her a little jealous.

He always saw the best in people, and she always prepared for the worst.

"And it will be in Prague, in approximately forty-eight hours."

"We have one mission, kill it." Fury piggy-backed off of Maria. "And you're coming with us."

Now Alya was sure that this was something her parents should know. But in her mind, she justified keeping it to herself. She could take care of herself. She has taken care of herself.

Natasha and Bucky didn't need to know, right?

It wasn't a big deal…..

"I'm sorry, did you say Prague?" Peter stammered. "Uh, Mr. Fury, this all seems like big time, you know, huge superhero kind of stuff and….I mean, I'm just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, sir."

"Dude, you've been to space."

Alya didn't really know why Fury was pushing this so hard. Peter only went up to space because some crazy purple giant was trying to destroy everyone.

And it wasn't like he was alone, either.

"I know, but that was an accident." He defended himself. "Sir, c'mon, there's gotta be someone else you can use. What about Thor?"

"Off world."

"Okay, Doctor Strange."

"Unavailable."

"Captain America?"

"As far as we know, he's retired."

That part was true-ish.

Steve was taking a much needed break from all of his vigilante activities after so many years of helping the people that needed it.

Alya remembered him saying that he wasn't sure if he'd ever go back to fully being Captain America, but he'd use this time to think about it.

So far, he seemed happy to be retired.

Alya had actually taken his shield out to sled in the backyard with Fanny pulling her along.

"Iron Man?"

"Retired."

Alya hadn't heard from Tony since before they moved back to Brooklyn. She was sure that he kept in contact with her mother and maybe even Steve, but she, personally, hadn't spoken to him.

He was definitely retired, living somewhere upstate in a cabin with Pepper and Morgan. He only came down to the city for Stark Industries stuff.

"Captain Marvel."

After hearing so many stories about Carol Danvers, Alya finally got the opportunity to meet her right after they defeated Thanos.

It was shirt-lived, but she definitely lived up to Alya's idealized version of her.

"Don't invoke her name."

"Sir, look." Peter sighed, realizing that he wasn't really getting anywhere with the man. "I really wanna help, I do. But if my aunt finds out I left my class trip, she's gonna kill me. And if I'm seen like this in Europe after the Washington Monument, my class will figure out who I am and then the whole world will figure out who I am, and then I'm done."

It was a legitimate concern.

No one could find out that he was Spider-Man, it would bring too much danger to the people closest to him.

"Okay. I understand."

Something in Fury's tone told Alya that he definitely didn't understand.

"I'm sorry, what?" It caught Peter off guard, too.

"Why don't you get back before your teachers, who miss you, become suspicious." The man smiled. "Dimitri, take them back to the hotel, please."

Alya knew for a fact that Fury wasn't going to let this go. Somehow, someway, Peter was going to end up doing exactly what he wanted him to do, which meant, that she was going to be dragged into this as well.

So much for summer vacation.

"Pymn." Fury called before she could follow Dimitri, wanting her to hang back so he could speak to her alone.

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye on him."

She was only twelve for crying out loud!

How did he expect her to convince Peter to do something he didn't really want to do? And why was he bringing her into all of it? He was supposed to be the adult in the situation.

Shouldn't he be telling her to keep as far away from this as possible?

"Hey man." Peter made his way over to Ned, who was standing outside of the hotel, waiting for everyone to check out. "Are you sure you're good?"

Their day in Venice hadn't been very promising, but today was a new day and they were headed for Paris. Peter was mentally preparing himself to give MJ that necklace he so carefully carried around with him. Maybe he'd even give her a kiss if the mood was right.

"Oh, dude. I'm fine." Ned smiled.

"Good."

"Don't worry. Seriously, getting tranq'd in the neck by Nick Fury, probably the coolest thing that ever happened to me anyway." He initiated their usual handshake that Alya thought was one of the coolest things ever.

"It is pretty awesome. I'm just happy I don't have to go to Prague."

"Seriously."

"Good news. We're going to Prague!" Mr. Harrington announced.

"Unbelievable." Alya gaped.

Just because she saw that coming, didn't mean she was any less surprised.

How was Fury even doing this?

"What?"

"The tour company called. They upgraded us." Their teacher explained. "You should've heard me on the phone with them. I really gave it to them."

"All I heard was crying." Mr. Dell deadpanned, leading everyone away from the hotel and down a few streets before they reached a large bus that was parked in the middle of the road.

And surprise, surprise, Dimitri was driving it.

"Look at our upgraded ride."

"Oh, come on." Peter groaned.

"What's going on?" Ned asked.

"I think Nick Fury just highjacked our vacation."

"I trust you. Say, 'EDITH'."

Alya looked up from her video game, huffing in frustration when Crash Bandicoot fell right through a chasm.

That was the fifth time she tried to get through that level. It was so much harder than the rest and it seemed impossible, but she was going to try as many times as it took before she won.

Bucky didn't allow her to play with her game very often because he didn't want her to become addicted to it. Alya had the tendency to get caught up in stuff like that and had a hard time letting it go to start something else.

Her father would rather she read a book or play outside instead of spending countless hours on electronics.

So Alya was making sure that she took advantage of the time she had now and played to her heart's content.

But once she heard 'EDITH', she couldn't help but get distracted, because Tony had a habit of naming his AI's.

JARVIS, FRIDAY, VERONICA, DUM-E...

Peter's sunglasses weren't just a pair of sunglasses.

"Hello?" Peter greeted tentatively, feeling a little awkward to be speaking into thin air.

"Hello, Peter." Alya's sensitive ears picked up the AI's voice. "I am EDITH, Tony's augmented-reality security and defense system."

Well, this couldn't be good.

"So, he made you for me?"

"No, but you have access to all of Tony's protocols."

"Cool."

This was the farthest thing from cool. This was very not cool.

"Would you like to see what I can do? EDITH stands for, 'Even Dead, I'm the Hero'."

Alya was sure that Tony didn't anticipate on surviving his injuries he sustained from using the gauntlet, so that was probably the reason for the weird acronym.

"I have access to the entire Stark Global Security network, including multiple defense satellites, as well as back doors to all major telecommunication networks."

"Danger, Will Robinson." Alya muttered with an air of nonchalance, turning her attention back to her video game. "Danger."*

Peter pretended not to have heard and turned around, looking at everyone on the bus. Alya didn't know what he was doing and she wasn't sure that he knew either, so they were even.

Besides, the less she knew, the less she could get in trouble for.

"Is MJ texting?" Peter asked before shaking his head. "No. Don't look at it. Don't look at it. That's wrong."

He was going to get himself into a deep mess with those glasses, Alya just knew it. Why would Tony give Peter access to such dangerous tech?

Bucky wouldn't even let her use her slingshot anymore and Peter was given glasses with unlimited access to every single protocol Tony ever created?

The double standards...

"Petrol and toilets." Dimitri called, stopping the bus in a rest area. "Ten minutes."

Alya opted to stay on the bus while everyone piled off. Because of Fury, she didn't get much sleep the night before and she planned on catching up on that much needed rest.

But first, she was going to beat this level.

Alya never got that catnap.

She didn't remember falling asleep, but she must've dozed off very peacefully for about seven minutes, only to be woken up by the bus nearly swerving out of control and off a cliff. Of course, she was wide awake after that and had to investigate on what was going on.

Turns out, Peter accidentally launched a drone strike that nearly killed them all.

That was…eventful.

He told her about how Brad had taken a really embarrassing picture of him and tried showing it to MJ, which prompted him to try to delete the picture by using the sunglasses.

It was a mistake and he felt really bad about it.

But that's what made Alya nervous.

He had the power to kill someone just by accident. What if the wrong person got their hands on these things?

Nobody should have that kind of power. It reminded her of Project Insight.

She had been very young when it happened, but she remembered why Steve and Natasha had fought so hard to prevent it from happening.

And now that she was older, she understood it a lot more.

But Alya was going to remain positive.

Since Fury decided he wanted to take over their class trip, he moved them to a luxurious hotel to stay for the night.

She had never seen such a gorgeous hotel, everything looked so beautiful and shiny, and the lobby was gigantic!

"Everyone get settled, rest up, because tonight, big surprise, is Prague's annual Carnival of Lights." Mr. Harrington told them, handing out the keys to their rooms.

It looked like they wouldn't have to share room at this place, which was kind of a bummer. Alya was hoping to be paired with MJ to get to know her better.

But the Carnival sounded like tons of fun. She had never been to one, but she'd seen them on television. There were always big crowds and lots of dancing with booming music playing in the background.

It was pretty impossible not to be excited.

Once she received her key, she rolled her suitcase upstairs to her room to get comfortable and actually catch up on some sleep.

She put her backpack on the chair by the wall and looked over at the large bed, finding a black briefcase sitting over the sheets.

Before she even thought about opening it, Alya grabbed her trusty knife and raced over to the bathroom to check to see if there was anyone hiding in there or in the closet. When the coast was confirmed to be clear, she finally popped the lid open only to find a new stealth suit and an eye mask.

They were beautiful.

There was a little note in there from Fury.

A little bird told me you were in need of a suit.

The suit and mask were a solid black leather that was pretty durable if the way they felt in Alya's hands was anything to go by.

But the very fact that Fury sent this to her made everything come crashing down with a heavy weight.

She knew that most kids grew up wanting to become the next famous superhero. That was cool and very admirable, but it wasn't Alya.

She didn't want to be the next Captain America or Black Widow, she didn't want to be an Avenger, and she didn't want to fight crime like Peter did every night.

She just wanted to be herself.

Alya wasn't really secure in who she was yet, but she wanted to take her time in figuring that out.

She had been fighting since the moment she was born and she was tired.

She just wanted to be a kid. It was a lot of fun most of the time, less fun when she was in trouble, but she was being taken care of and she was loved. She didn't want the weight of the whole world on her shoulders.

Especially when that world's view of her could change almost instantaneously.

The twelve year old wondered if that made her a horrible person. Not wanting to help people was pretty rotten. She'd witnessed the Avengers trying their hardest to save lives and every time they thought they were finished, something else came up.

She didn't think she could handle that.

So, taking a deep breath, Alya closed the case and clicked the locks back on before she crawled on top of the bed.

Her body fell asleep before her head even hit the pillow.