New chapter! I'm finishing up a few of my classes this week so the next chapter may be a little delayed but I'm working on it!

As always, please review :)

Laying on her bed, Kate was curled on her side staring out the window as the falling snow. Her mind was simultaneously racing and trying to shut off, just for a little bit. She and Peter had barely spoken since the church, and she didn't know how to deal with it. Thinking of him, her heart raced, but for a reason unrelated to the emotions that always triggered it before.

Peter, what do you want to happen when we find them?

The snow had started falling as she had asked, though not heavy enough to disturb her sight of him. His eyes caused her to pause, her heart to beat nervously. It wasn't that she saw malice in his gaze, it was the uncertainty that gave her pause. The Peter that she knew would have hurried to reassure her that he didn't want to harm anyone, but there was hesitation in his expression. Some part of him wanted those responsible to hurt, to pay, and she understood this feeling, but she also knew the damage it would cause to his soul. And the excess strength that it took to push out of his gentle grip seconds before was a stark reminder that she would be physically powerless to stop him from making that mistake. That scared her.

There was a soft knock on her door, but she didn't answer. After a second, the door opened slowly, and she saw Peter's shape poke in from the doorway despite all the lights being off. It was late, well after midnight so the rest of the compound was asleep—with the possible exception being Tony in his lab.

"Kate?" He slipped in the door and walked over quietly. "I know you're awake. I can hear your heart." He commented.

"You're not supposed to be in here after lights out." Kate commented quietly, though it had never stopped them before.

"Please can we talk?" Peter asked and the way that his voice cracked in pain made her pause.

She looked up at his reflection in the window, knowing his sharp eyes would catch the change, acceptance of him staying, and her listening.

He crawled up onto the bed and lay down on his side, looking at the back of her head. After a second's hesitation, he reached out with gentle hands, carefully slow to give her the chance to protest, before he wrapped and arm around her waist, effortlessly pulling her close, even though her back remained to him.

…

As Peter lay down on the bed, his heartbeat buzzed in his ears, his palms sweat as he waited for her to reject him in some way. However, when it didn't come, he carefully moved, wanting so badly to hold her. She didn't object to him reaching for her and soon he had her pulled back snugly against him. He could suddenly breathe a little easier.

He put his forehead to the back of her head, nose buried in her curls, so her scent surrounded him, calming him. He had felt horrible since they had left the church. He had scared her, and it twisted him up inside; he had retreated to his room once they returned, as he knew she had as well, and he rolled the conversation around in his head over, and over again before he worked up the courage to come in here.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I'm really sorry Kate. I don't want to hurt anyone, truly I don't. May would never have wanted that, she raised me to be better than that. I let my head get away from me and I know I scared you, and I'm so sorry."

There was a pause and suddenly she was shifting. He had to loosen his arms so she could twist around.

Soon, her eyes were staring deeply into his despite the darkness of the room. "I'm not scared of you, Peter." She told him softly into the quiet. "I know you wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose." He felt a little relief in his chest, but paid attention as she continued. "But I know better than most how revenge can twist a person." She bit her lip. "I will find the ones who are responsible, but I need you to promise me that you won't let your anger get in the way of doing the right thing. It is so hard to come back from Peter, I don't want to watch you lose yourself down that rabbit hole."

"I won't." He said firmly. "I promise you that I won't do that."

A small knit formed between her brows as her eyes searched him again. "Okay." She said after a moment. "I believe you."

Peter closed his eyes in relief and rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Peter."

He opened his eyes at her soft words and saw her looking up at him with sadness. "I love you too." He replied softly.

"Can we just stay like this forever?" She asked quietly, voice breaking a little as her eyes closed, two crystal clear tears sliding down her cheeks.

Peter quickly pulled her close until there was almost no space left between them. He kissed her forehead, kissed each trembling eyelid, kissed her checks before his mouth found hers. She turned her face up to his to return the kiss and he tasted the salt of her tears, his heart breaking for the part he played in them being there. He broke the kiss first to give her a breath and he wrapped himself around her, holding her close. If only they could stay here and hide from the world forever. In less than two weeks they would be back at school, but for now, they could be here together.

…

Kate opened her eyes around 4am, her internal clock telling her it was time to wake up. She felt a weight at her back, an arm wrapped firmly around her waist, and she looked back at Peter who was sleeping soundly.

Bucky is gonna kill him if we keep doing this. She thought in amusement, but it was a small concern compared to the relief that he was sleeping. She knew that he hadn't slept well since Rockefeller, he had nightmares the same as her and she would often go to his room at night, or he came to her room, or if her resident super soldier 'brothers' were being extra vigilant, she would send Lucky to his room.

With a soft sigh, exhaling through her nose, she carefully slipped out of his arms and went to her bathroom. After quickly going through her morning routine, she changed into her workout clothes that she had set out last night, tying her hair up into a ponytail, and walked out of the bathroom. Peter was still sleeping soundly, but Lucky had taken her place on the bed, his head resting on Peter's chest, rising, and falling with the steady rate of the teen's breathing.

"Good boy." She whispered as she grabbed her shoes and tiptoed out of the room. She leaned against the wall once she had closed her door and pulled her shoes on and walked to the training area.

It wasn't a surprise to see Bucky and Steve already there.

"Good morning." Bucky said when he noticed her come in.

"Morning." She said around a yawn.

Steve frowned as he looked at the workout clothes she had on. "Bruce said no training until next week." He reminded her.

"My side is healed, I'm fine." Kate protested with a frown.

"You tore your stitches twice." Steve replied. "He wants to make sure it's really healed, and you won't reopen it again."

"I just want to practice with my bow." Kate whined. "I'm not looking to spar."

"No, Kate." Steve told her firmly but eyes full of understanding.

She muttered a complaint in Russian under her breath.

"Hey!" Bucky's tone was full of reproach. "It isn't our fault you broke your stitches. You're the one who went out on your own when you were supposed to be grounded. You don't get to complain when there are consequences."

She looked down; her jaw set defiantly.

"Do you want to pout, or would you rather talk about who spent the night in your room…again?" Bucky asked sharply in Russian.

She winced. "No." She replied. "I'm sorry."

Steve, who didn't understand as much Russian as they did, though he was picking it up quickly, looked between the two for a second. "Kate." She looked up at his gentle word. "You have three days until you're in the clear to train. Just be patient." She nodded. "Did you hear anything new from your contact?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing. Every trail on this guy has gone cold." She said bitterly. "It's like he's vanished."

"Or is at the bottom of the Hudson." Bucky commented.

It wasn't out of the question. The assassin had created a massive shitstorm, brought in a lot of eyes and a lot of microscopes. There couldn't be a boss out there that wanted that much attention just to get rid of one teenager.

"Either way, I'll find them." Kate replied determinedly.

Steve and Bucky remained silent. Realistically, if anyone was going to find them, it was going to be Kate given her track record, but it had been three weeks since the attack and every lead had come up with nothing. It was getting harder and harder to find this guy, and with the loss of the attacker, it was the loss of the one who was behind the attack.

"We'll find them." Steve said gently. "Now come on." He looked down at her as they walked out of the training room. "How about pancakes this morning?"

Despite herself, Kate smiled. Steve made the best pancakes.

…

Peter opened his eyes around 5:30am. His body still saying time for school though they were on winter break. He felt a weight on his chest and could smell the dog fur before he felt a huff of air against his skin followed by Lucky licking his face. Laughing, Peter pushed the dog back gently. "Alright, alright, I'm awake." He said smiling. He looked over and saw Kate wasn't in bed.

He sat up and swung his legs out of bed before stretching, popping his whole back. He had to sneak out of her room and get back to his own room. Cracking the door slightly, he listened for the sound of anyone approaching in the hallway, when he heard nothing, he poked his head out and saw the empty hallway.

Thank you. He thought and slipped out, Lucky following at his heels. Getting into his room without being noticed, he quickly went to his bathroom and got ready for the day. Coming back into the bedroom, he pulled his sneakers on and looked at the dog who had stretched out on his bed.

"Lucky, wanna go outside?" He asked.

Lucky shifted into an upwards position with a huff and looked at Peter with his tail thumping on the bed.

"Come on, let's go outside." He said waving the dog with him to the door.

He took Lucky to one of the exits and opened the door. Lucky bolted out, to jump into all the fresh snow from last night. Peter sat down on the top step, which had been spared the dump of soft ice, and just watched the dog run around, stretching his legs. It was chilly this morning but not unbearable.

Suddenly, he heard a whistle and Lucky took off running. Looking over, Peter was surprised to see Clint and Natasha getting out of an SUV. He had been so spaced out he hadn't heard the SUV approach.

"Welcome back." Peter said as he walked over, Lucky happily putting his wet paws on Clint who was giving the fluff ball lots of love.

"Thanks." Natasha said looking at him. To his surprise she pulled him into a warm hug. "How are you holding up kid?"

Peter returned the hug. "I'm okay." He said, which was partially true.

"Sorry we couldn't make it back for the funeral." Clint said as he put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

Peter shook his head. "I understand." He offered with a small smile. "Thank you."

…

Kate was helping to scramble eggs when she saw Lucky race through, muddy paws leaving some skid trails behind him. "Oh, Lucky no!" She quickly dropped the spatula and went after him. "Tony may actually kick you out if he sees this mess."

She caught him before he could jump onto the furniture and took him over to a designated towel that she had close to his bowls to dry his paws off.

"I think he was aiming for the couch to spite Tony."

The laughing comment had her eyes snapping up to see her brother walking in. "Clint!" She ran over, flying into his waiting arms.

"Hey kiddo." Clint said holding her tightly.

She had missed him so much over the last few months. He tried to check in with a call or text every week and after she had been shot, he had video called her, but it wasn't even close to the same.

"How's the side?" He asked as he stepped back.

"Gonna have a scar like Nat I think." She replied. with a shrug. "But other than that, fine."

Clint had the slightest frown, but he shook it off. "Did you eat breakfast?" He asked.

"It's almost done." She said motioning to the food in the kitchen area.

He made a slight hum of acknowledgment and nodded a greeting to the two super soldiers in the kitchen. "Eat quickly, okay? We have an errand to run." He told her.

She raised an eyebrow.

He didn't look pleased. "You said you got a call right before the attack." He said and her eyes widened. "We're going to see our brother."