A little while later, after lying on Peter's bed for what she guessed was enough time for Peter to ask Aunt May for emergency girl advice, Clara heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. 'Clara?' Peter asked tentatively. 'Can I come in?' 

'No,' Clara called back, staring at the ceiling. Peter stood at the door, a little unsure as to what he was supposed to do. Clara sighed. 'Fine.'

The handle pressed down, the door pushed open. Only a little at first, Peter cautiously peaking his head round, as though afraid Clara was going to throw something his way, and wanting to use the wooden door as a shield. Seeing she wasn't even looking his way, he stepped into the room. 

'Are you okay?' Peter asked, carefully sitting himself down onto the end of the bed. He lowered his eyes, fidgeting his hands as he continued. 'I didn't mean to upset you.'

'You didn't "upset" me,' Clara told him, shuffling to sit up. 

'I didn't?'

'No,' she frowned. 'You annoyed me.'

'Oh...'

'Yeah, "oh".'

'What did I... What did I do?' 

Clara's jaw tightened a fraction, and she tried to speak calmly. 'You went out without me, you left me alone in your flat all day. And then you get home, and it's like you're going out of your way to hide whatever it was you did.'

'You aren't allowed to leave,' he said obviously.

'I'm not?' She said in mock-surprise. 'Well, in that case I guess it's all okay.'

His eyes widened slightly, his mind working to figure out what to say. He looked back down to his fidgeting hands. 'I didn't think you minded me seeing MJ,' he said quietly. 

'I don't care about you going out with MJ, Peter,' Clara gaped. 'I don't care about you seeing her or Ned.'

His sights flickered towards her as a light frown knitted his brow. 'I don't understand.'

'I care that I was shot yesterday, and the next morning you leave me in your flat, alone - all day,' she told him, her words catching in her throat slightly. 'I don't care about whether or not you see Ned or MJ, I care that you weren't here when I was- when I was actually here for the first time since-'

She was cut off by her own sob, a sudden surge of emotions that Peter all of a sudden realised was brought on by a lot more than just what it was that he had done. Clara pulled her knees into her chest, wrapping one arm around them as fought to stop the tears already streaming down her cheeks. 

'Clara, I-' Peter moved closer, stopped by a near invisible wall, a thin sheen of lilac coating it. 'Clara...'

'Please,' she managed. 'Go away.'

Peter felt his heart fall in his chest, and he rose to his feet. He was about to head for the door when he realised that definitely wasn't right. That's what he had done before, and that hadn't helped Clara - not at all. 

Peter sat back down, close to the lilac hue, his right arm brushing against it. He lifted his other hand, gently holding it against the bubble surrounding Clara, knowing she'd feel him there. He felt the energy beneath his hand, the strange feeling rippling under his palm. 

'I'm sorry, Clara. Sorry that I wasn't here, and sorry for everything else,' Peter said gently. Clara didn't look up at his words, her shoulders shaking as she tried to control her tears. 'Please, Clara, just don't push me away.'

Clara shuffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She knew she couldn't keep him away forever, and she knew she shouldn't be left alone, but she couldn't figure out how to face what had happened, and what was still happening. 'I don't know how to do this,' she told him, her voice muffled as she spoke into her knees. 'I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.'

Peter wasn't sure what he should say, so he said nothing. 

'I don't even know what I am,' she said, a fresh wave of emotion moving through her.

'You're... human,' Peter frowned.

'That's not what I mean.' Clara looked up, red-faced with streaks running down her cheeks. 'Everything I thought I knew was a lie. My parent's weren't my parents. There's something alien inside me giving me my powers.'

'Clara...' He tried.

'Part of me is an Infinity Stone, and I was still too weak to kill Karli,' she said, her voice hardly a whisper. 

'Don't say that,' Peter scowled. 'You weren't weak, you did what was right.' 

'Did I?' She sniffed. 'Because Karli died thinking that what she did was right. She died thinking I would have saved her after everything she did.'

'No,' he shook his head. 'She died knowing she should've done better, and that there's always another way. Killing is never the right way.' 

'Maybe it is,' Clara said, looking Peter in his eyes. 'Maybe some people are beyond saving.'

'You don't really think that.' He pulled his hand from the purple glow, a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. 'What happened to your mom should never have happened, but that doesn't mean you get to decide what happens to people like Karli. You stop them, but not like that. You aren't a killer, Clara.'

Clara lowered her sights, seeing the strange mix of pity and disappointment in Peter's eyes. Peter watched as the purple shrunk back, the space to reach Clara now unobstructed. 'What if I am?' She asked him quietly. 'What if I'm not a good person? What if that was a lie, too?'

'You are a good person,' he told her, his voice so firm she almost believed him - almost. Peter moved to sit beside her, an arm wrapping around her waist. 'Sometimes you just do bad things.'

'What's the difference?' She asked, letting Peter pull her into him, once again wiping her nose on her sleeve. 

Peter didn't seem to have an answer for that, and he sighed lightly, resting his chin on the top of her head. Clara shuffled on the bed, leaning back into Peter. 

'I think I need to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D.,' she told him. 'Jemma said she thinks they should run tests, figure out what's going on.'

'Are you sure?' Peter asked. 

She nodded, looking down at her open palm, a swirl of purple appearing. It disappeared just as quickly as it had been created.

Simmons had told Clara that she would be free to come and go as she pleased if she agreed to more tests, but the truth was, Clara wasn't sure she could trust herself anymore. Not after everything she had done.

Maybe she needed to be kept away from people - just until she truly got a grip on her abilities. It was clear that even after so long of living with them, she still had no clue about half the power she held, and that in itself was dangerous.

If she continued the way she was going, Clara wasn't sure even Peter would be able to ease her back from the darkness pulling at her. He nor anyone else, for that matter.

'I guess just to, you know, double check,' she finally answered.

'Then I'll be there too,' Peter told her, unaware of the internal conflict backing her into a corner. He took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. 'We can do it together.'

Peter Parker and Clara will return in Lost Heroes, a Spider-Man: No Way Home story...