"Good news! We're going to the opera!"

A chorus of groans entered Alya's ears as she lazily rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

Even though she strongly felt like she should stay out of Fury's mess, she didn't want Peter to get hurt. She held her phone tightly in her hand, debating whether or not she should call a responsible adult.

"What happened to the carnival?" MJ asked what everyone else was thinking, once again, braiding Alya's hair.

It was quickly becoming a gesture of friendship between them.

MJ didn't have any siblings and Alya didn't have any friends outside of the family, so she had no problem hanging out with her. She also noticed that Alya didn't know how to do very much to maintain her hair for extended periods of time.

Sure, she knew how to do dutch braids that needed to be redone every morning, but that was about it.

So, MJ took it upon herself to show her that there were different things she could do with it for some variety.

Right now, she was giving the girl a braided crown to keep it out of her face, with the rest tied up in a ponytail to keep it off of her neck.

She would teach her about cornrows some other time.

"Well, this is upgraded living, guys." Mr. Harrington tried to get them excited. "Come on. The tour company just gave us these tickets for free! Do you have any idea how much opera tickets cost?"

"No." Flash looked as disgruntled as the rest of his classmates were. "Because none of us have ever wanted to go to the opera. Ever."

Ned and Peter exchanged looks, which cued the former in on what was going on. Peter had asked Fury to find a way to keep his classmates indoors so that they wouldn't get hurt by what was about to happen. "I, for one, think this is gonna be culturally enriching for us."

He always had Peter's back when he needed it the most.

"Thank you, Ned. Everyone, this is gonna be, maybe, the best four hours of our whole trip."

Alya's eye nearly popped out of her head and she felt MJ's fingers stop.

Four hours?

Just to hear people sing?

No way was she going to that. She'd rather stay at the hotel. These two teachers weren't attentive enough to know they were missing one single person out of the many, so she could definitely get away with it.

"Guys, I think this is gonna be really fun." Ned tried. "Seriously."

Alya sent him a sharp look of disapproval.

He could stop any time now.

Alya paced around her room before she plopped down on her bed and scrolled through her phone to look at some of the recent pictures she took.

Not that it did anything to entertain her.

She knew nothing was going to stop Peter from completing this mission now that Fury sucked him into it.

And anything could happen, which made her worry.

But there was something she could do about it. Now that she knew the Snow Globe guy's name, it would be easy to look into him and see if he was telling the truth.

Which is something she highly doubted.

He struck her as a very, very good liar.

She had actually considered calling her aunt and asking her if she could do a little research, but ultimately decided against it. Yelena was high-strung and she would know that something was up, and she'd fly all the way to Prague to find out what it was.

So Alya decided to do it herself.

After several minutes of some heavy searching, she found that she was right about this 'Quentin Beck'. Turns out, he was a former employee of Stark Industries who was fired after he created some kind of illusion tech which Tony renamed as BARF.

All of this was some elaborate ruse for revenge.

She wasn't really sure what his angle was. How did going after the world fulfill his desire for revenge? How did it make a difference?

Whatever his reasoning, this was crucial information that should be known.

She had to tell Peter about this and fast.

It looked like she was going to make use of that suit after all.

"Peter! Peter!"

Alya didn't have to tap her hands on glass for very long before the window to Peter's room opened and a hand shot out, grabbed her by the collar and yanked her inside.

"Nice look." It was MJ, Peter was too busy changing to actually let her in. "How did you even climb across...?"

She looked out the window and saw that there wasn't any ledge to walk across, so she wondered exactly how Alya managed to scale the building.

"What?" Alya furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes darting towards the stealth suit she was wearing. She had actually scaled the thin ledge between floors very, very carefully. "Oh. Well, now my cover is blown."

That pretty sloppy of her. It was unusual.

She had to do better than this next time.

"Don't worry." MJ smiled, closing the window. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

There wouldn't really be anything to tell. But, if there was, she wouldn't say anything.

"Thanks."

"Alya, we need to talk." Peter's voice sounded urgent as he put his own stealth suit on.

The twelve year old could see his fingers trembling to zip the suit up and gathered that whatever he wanted to tell her wasn't any good.

They were probably on the same page.

"That's just what I was gonna say, but it looks like you know most of what I was going to tell you."

"Don't freak, okay?"

Well, that didn't sound good.

"That doesn't sound good." Alya verbalized her thoughts.

"I made a mistake. A huge mistake." Peter wrung his hands together, his nerves getting the better of him.

"What did you do?" She narrowed her eyes.

He didn't, like, launch another drone strike, did he?

"I gave Beck the glasses."

Somehow, that was even worse.

"You what?!"

Alya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Peter had given Quentin Beck access to all of Tony Stark's protocols.

It was like a nightmare coming to life.

"Alya, say something."

"So, the most dangerous weapon in the world just ended up in the wrong hands. Who could've seen this coming? Oh, wait! Me!"

"I know, I know." Peter wasn't even going to try to defend himself. "I made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Alya scoffed now that she was on a roll. "A mistake is when you forget to take out the trash! You gave a highly powered weapon to a man you met yesterday, who turned out to be a psycho!"

She really hadn't mean to yell at him so badly, but she had been on edge since the minute she met Quentin Beck and this was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I know, but I'm gonna fix it!"

"How?" She inquired, really interested to know how this was going to work out. "It's not like he's just gonna give them back to you!"

Oh, excuse me Mr. Beck, I made a huge mistake and I need those glasses back. I had no idea you were a criminal before I gave them to you.

Sure kid, I understand. Here you go.

Not!

"Uh…." Ned opened the door and glanced at everyone in the room, successfully interrupting the heated conversation. "The costume looks great…..for the costume party…..at the prince's castle."

"She knows." Peter would've laughed if the situation weren't so dire. "I told her. Alya always knew."

"He didn't tell me." MJ said. "I figured it out."

It was no wonder she did. Peter was terrible at hiding his identity.

Alya called it the 'Hannah Montana' effect.

"Oh…" Ned was still a bit shocked. "That's cool."

"Like, a long time ago." MJ narrowed her eyes.

"Oh."

"Look, Mysterio's a fraud." Peter told his best friend, getting right to the point.

"But he saved me and Betty's lives."

"No, he's been faking the whole thing with illusion tech." MJ supplied.

"Yeah, he's using these, like, hologram projectors."

"Whoa…..that's crazy….so, are you guys, like, working on a case together, or what?" Ned looked at the three, who seemed to be in cahoots.

"It's been mostly me."

Alya's lips curved up involuntarily at the fact that MJ wasn't willing to let Peter take any credit for this new intel.

"Look, Ned. I need you to call May, get her to call Mr. Harrington and say she wanted me to stay with family in Berlin until this all blows over."

"Got it. Easy." Ned nodded before looking at Alya. "What about you?"

"Here." Alya scrolled through her contacts before she found the number she was looking for. "Call my uncle. Tell him that 'Alya wanted to see the pigs, okay?'."

"You wanted to see the pigs?" Ned raised a brow.

"He'll know what it means."

Alya's message wasn't really code word for anything. The only person who had pigs was Melina and if everything went according to plan, she was hopping on a train to Russia where it was safe.

She was done with this vacation and everything that had come with it.

"Wow, you guys lie with such ease." MJ commented.

"Who says I'm lying?" Alya sent her a playful look before she put her mask on and hopped on Peter's back, pulling the stealth suit's hood up over her head. "Ned?"

"Yeah?"

"This." She waved a hand, motioning to herself. "Stays between us."

After all, she did need to cover her tracks.

"Got it. Good luck."

"Wait." MJ stopped them, tossing Peter something that Alya didn't recognize. "The projector. You're gonna need this."

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Anyone who knows is in danger."

And with that, the two were gone.

"So is there anything you want to tell us about your girlfriend?" Fury asked once they got to a safe location.

Traveling to Berlin hadn't been too much of a hassle. Alya could never, for the life of her, get used to swinging on Peter's back. She didn't know how he did it all the time, but the quick movements made her a little dizzy.

Fury met them halfway and drove them to a secure location, saving the girl from being any more queasy than she needed to be.

But something deep down told her that he wasn't who he said he was.

"He's talking about EDITH." Maria clarified at the boy's confused look.

"I know I made a mistake, and I'm sorry, but he is not who you think he is." Peter explained. "Beck is a liar. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake."

"He's using technology to create illusions." Alya spoke carefully.

Something was very off.

"That's how he tricked you and tricked me into giving him EDITH." Peter nodded, handing Fury the projector. "I pulled it off the fire monster in Prague."

"So, all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by this?" Fury cocked a brow.

"No, not just this. I think he's using drones."

"Well, if this is true, then Beck's very dangerous and we need to be smart. Who else did you tell about this?"

Neither Peter, nor Alya answered. She noticed that he was sensing something, because she felt it, too.

She didn't know what was happening with her lately, but it seemed like her powers were evolving or something. She had telekinesis, that she knew, but now she was able to sense certain things. It was very involuntary and very overwhelming at the same time.

The first time it happened was in Wakanda, right before she got dusted. She felt sick to her stomach and her entire body knew that there was something wrong with Wanda before she could even confirm it.

She was going to have to ask Doctor Strange about all this, because it was taking its toll.

"Parker?" Fury tried to snap the teen out of it.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked.

"It's Beck. He's here."

"What? Hill?"

"No, it's just an illusion—" Peter was proven wrong when a shot went off, hitting Fury and knocking him over.

Alya gasped as her senses heightened, her adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"Wow, Peter, wow." Beck sighed. "I thought we were close. I mean, I know Bright Eyes didn't like me and Fury always had to die, but not you."

Alya could hear him, but she couldn't see him. That meant she needed to be on high alert.

"Stop hiding, Beck!"

"I tried to help you walk away. Now you're making me do this." Beck revealed himself, holding MJ by the collar of her shirt, as if to drop her. "You told me, you were just a kid. You told me, you wanted to run after that girl."

"Help me!" MJ shouted.

"MJ!" Peter had to stop himself from running to her.

This wasn't real!

"Peter, what's going on?"

"I know this isn't real." Peter paced himself.

"Do you, though?"

"It isn't real." Alya eyed him carefully. "Peter, nothing that's happening is real, okay?"

"You're too smart for your own good." Beck waved a hand, eyeing the little Black Widow emblem on Alya's suit, and all of a sudden, she was back in the Red Room. "This oughta keep you busy."

"This isn't real." Alya took a deep breath as the green mist cleared. She looked around and found that she was all alone. That was a bit of a relief, but it didn't necessarily mean anything good. "This isn't real."

She put one boot-clad foot in front of the other and opened the door only to find a steep staircase that led to the main floor. She didn't know what would await her when she got down there, but it was better than staying up here.

"It's fake." She coached herself. "It's all fake."

But once she got downstairs, she was met with a familiar face.

Dreykov.

Real or not, he would always terrify her.

She gasped in horror and she tried to turn back around, but he grabbed her arm and shoved her onto the ground.

It felt like she was falling for forever before she hit the ground with an audible thud. The impact knocked the wind out of her and she was sure that she was going to have some serious bruises by the time this was over.

Before she could move to stand, a bamboo stick came crashing down on her legs, making her cry out in pain and surprise.

"Sloppy." Madame B stood over her, stone cold and unyielding. "You were not born to fail."

"You're not really here." Alya shook her head, pushing herself up onto her elbow. "You're not real. The Red Room is gone."

"Daft girl." Madame B pressed the bamboo stick under Alya's chin, forcing her to look up at her. "The Red Room will live forever. There is no escaping it. It's a part of you."

Alya's eyes widened as the bamboo stick cracked down once again, sending a hot, searing pain on her back. The pain motivated her enough to hop back onto her feet, but she was only knocked down again when a Irina sent a fierce kick to her stomach that made her gag.

She wondered how Beck knew all of these gritty details about her. She never even told him her name!

"Fight back."

Alya coughed and stumbled up onto her feet, holding her stomach, staggering back when Irina slapped her across the cheek.

"This is your fault." Irina seethed, grabbing her face and squeezing her jaw. "You are a murderer."

Tears gathered in Alya's eyes as Irina shoved her away. She thought that the older girl was preparing for the next blow, but all of a sudden, everyone disappeared, leaving her alone once again.

The smoke rose once again and this time, it was red. Alya found herself back in the training room with 'Swan Lake' playing in the background.

There were no windows, no doors, no exits.

Nowhere to go.

"Alyona!" A little voice giggled.

Alya tried to find who it was coming from, but no one else was there.

This was really scary and she just wanted to go home.

"Alyona!" The voice called again. "You're going to get caught!"

Alya furrowed her eyebrows and looked down. She had a handcuff on her wrist and she was wearing a white nightgown.

When she looked up again, she was in a large room with beds lined up side by side.

Every bed was empty.

All except one.

A little girl sat up, her hand was cuffed so that she couldn't get up and leave, while in her other hand, she held half a roll of bread.

"Ksenia?" She breathed in disbelief.

She tried her hardest never to think of Ksenia. Any time she did, she felt a crushing wave of guilt hit her at a force she couldn't handle.

"Come sit with me, Alyona." The little girl patted the space next to her, waiting for her to sit. "Aren't you hungry?"

"No…" Alya shook her head, trying to make sense of all this.

The more this went on, the less she was able to distinguish fiction from reality.

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"You hurt me." Ksenia grew serious. "We were supposed to get out. Forever. Why did you do it? I thought you liked me."

"I did like you." Alya found herself saying to the five year old. "You were the first friend I ever had, I never wanted anything to happen to you…"

"Then why didn't that stop you from hurting me?" Ksenia tilted her head, standing up. "I trusted you."

Why hadn't she fought harder?

Why didn't she just refuse?

Ksenia didn't deserve this.

"Ksenia, I….." Alya swallowed a lump in her throat, abruptly standing up.

As soon as she did, the atmosphere changed once again. She was back in the training room with all the Widows standing at the wall, and Madame B supervising their every move.

Alya found herself in the center with Ksenia facing her.

"Finish it." The woman's words were cold.

"No." Alya shook her head, deep into her nightmare. "No. She's only five years old!"

She could change it now. She could make things right!

"She's useless and you are attached." Madame B glared. "There are no attachments here. Do it."

"Alyona?" Ksenia's eye were wide with fear and her body trembled. "What are you doing?"

Alya's arm raised involuntarily, as if something was controlling her, and she realized she had a gun in her hand.

It was happening again!

She couldn't even stop it!

"Please don't?" Ksenia sniffled. She looked so frightened that it made Alya physically ill. "I thought we were friends? Why are you doing this?"

"I don't…." Alya stammered, her body going into fight or flight mode as tears gathered in her eyes. "I don't…..I can't…."

Before she could stop herself, she felt her finger pull the trigger. Ksenia fell into a heap on the floor and disappeared into pure smoke.

"I'm sorry!" Alya screamed into the thin air. "I'm so sorry!"

She wasn't good enough to save her back then, and she wasn't good enough to save her now.

She was so weak.

"You were supposed to be better."

Her head whipped in the direction of her mother and her jaw dropped. Things were happening so fast and it was hard to keep up. "Mama?"

At least if her mama was here, she was safe.

Nothing could hurt her now.

"You disgust me." The redhead spat, stopping her in her tracks. "You're no daughter of mine."

And with that, she turned on her heel and left. She didn't even bother to look back.

"Mama! Mama, wait!"

Alya stumbled and tried to run after her, but she ran right smack dab into someone else.

Bucky.

"Papa, I wanna go home. Let's go home, okay?" She tugged on his arm, her perception of reality was now poorly distorted.

She didn't even know if she was real.

"Home?" The man scoffed, pushing her away from him. "Why would I want you anywhere near me after what you did?"

"Tony was right, you know." Steve appeared out of nowhere to stand behind his best friend. "We've wasted so much time on you, and you weren't even worth it."

Alya felt herself trembling like a leaf as she turned to run again, slamming up against another person. She couldn't even bring herself to fight anymore.

She was so tired. Whoever it was, was going to have an easy time berating her.

But it was only Peter.

When she realized that, all the illusions cleared and she found that she was outside once again.

The sun was shining down and she could feel the cool breeze through her suit. There was no smoke in sight.

Her relief didn't last long when she felt something smack right into her, causing excruciating pain to shoot through her entire body.

But it didn't last long.

Dots littered her vision before they decided to connect, and everything went black.

Wanda smiled as her muscles relaxed while the warm water from the sink rushed over her hands.

Despite being a teen, she actually like to wash the dishes. She found it to be less of a chore and more of a way to wind down after dinner. Of course, her sister didn't see it that way. So they created a little system, Wanda would wash and Alya would dry whenever it was their turn to clear the table.

She was just about to wash her last dish when she felt a searing pain in her right arm and a horrible pain in her ribs, causing her to drop the very last dish she was about to put in the rack with a scream.

The plate shattered as soon as it hit the sink, but that was the least of her worries.

She heard two pairs of footsteps running over to her as she clutched her ribcage with her left arm, afraid to move the one on the right.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

"Wanda, what happened?" Bucky was the first to reach her, quick to scoop her arm in his arms before he carried her over to the couch so that she could lay down. Maybe being off her feet would help her feel better. "What hurts?"

"M-My arm and my ribs." She tried to take a deep breath, but the pain was just too much to bear.

Natasha lifted the teen's shirt and gently pressed her fingers against her ribs, but she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. "There's nothing broken or bruised, kiddo."

"….Hurts. It's Alya…." Ever since her little sister left home for that trip, Wanda's nerves had been shot, making her powers a lot more sensitive and uncontrollable than normal. "She's hurt."

Bucky and Natasha exchanged surprised glances. Where was this coming from?

Were these two connected?

"I can feel her…..she's in pain….she's scared…" Wanda whimpered, a bead of sweat trickling down her face.

And that's all it took.

"I'm going over there. Now." Bucky stood up, making his way towards the staircase. "I knew this was a bad idea, I felt it, but I ignored it."

He couldn't believe he had ignored his own instincts and discounted them as being a 'helicopter parent'. He should've gotten on the first plane to Italy after what happened in Venice.

Natasha was on the same boat. She didn't want Alya to feel like she was babying her, but the consequences of letting her be on her own were just too great.

She wasn't ready.

"Pack my bag." She told him as she gently massaged Wanda's arm.

The poor girl was in tears.

"No, I need you to stay here and take care of Wanda." He shook his head.

"I can go. I can help." Wanda grimaced as she tried to sit up, only to gasp and plop right back down.

"No." Both Natasha and Bucky agreed on that one.

There was no way that Wanda was going anywhere in the state she was in. The girl was a pale color as she tried to regulate her own breathing patterns so she wouldn't hyperventilate.

As much as she wanted to go and help her sister, she was in no position to. And she already helped more than she thought.

"I'll call Steve and have him and Rebecca keep an eye on Wanda." Natasha told her husband. "I'm coming with you."

There was no way she was going to let him argue about that with her. She was going and that was final.

Their baby was hurt, and she was going to stop at nothing until she was in her arms again.