'Wait,' Peter shook his head, his confusion evident. 'Sharon Carter shot you?' 

'Yep,' Clara sighed, leaning up against the kitchen counter as Peter poured her a bowl of cereal. 'And I get why she did it, I just don't get why she did it, you know?' 

'She definitely knew you could have stopped Karli?' 

'Oh, one hundred percent,' Clara told him. 'I get that she couldn't have shot Karli past me, but there are other ways to get me to move. Ones that are a lot less painful, and wouldn't have resulted in me having to wear a sling for the next month.'

Peter went to the fridge for the carton of milk, stopping with his hand resting on the handle. 'What if she didn't want there to be another way to stop Karli?' 

'What do you mean?' She frowned. 

'You said she didn't even try to shout for you to get out of the way,' he pointed out. 'If she knew you could bring up the shield... Is it possible that she shot you to stop you.'

'But, why?' Clara tilted her head, thinking the idea over. 'She knew Sam wanted to save Karli, and Sam was promising to get her a pardon. Why would she risk that? What if Sam changed his mind and she was stuck in Madripoor for the rest of her life?' 

'Maybe she thought the risk of Karli getting away from them again was bigger than that,' he suggested, finally opening the fridge to grab the milk. 'No, that wouldn't make sense because she knew you wouldn't have let her get away anyway.' 

'So... Either a woman highly skilled in combat with years of experience just panicked, or she was just trying to kill her?' Clara said dubiously. 'I know I keep saying I don't trust her, but to go that far out of her way to take Karli out seems like a stretch.'

They walked over to the table together, Peter setting down the bowl for Clara as she took a seat. 'Then there has to be something we're missing.' He sighed, moving to sit opposite her. 

'Oh, you're both up! I was expecting you to sleep through the whole day,' Aunt May smiled, moving into the room, dressed for the day ahead of her. 'Are you feeling okay?' 

'I'm fine, Aunt May,' Peter rolled his eyes, before realising she had been looking at Clara when she had asked. 'Oh, you meant... Right.' 

'I'm good, thanks,' Clara smiled back at the woman. 'The pains okay, it's just why it happened that we're trying to figure out.'

Aunt May headed towards the front door, taking her bag from the hook and hanging it over her shoulder. 'Well, just make sure you get a lot of rest today. I don't want either of you getting into anymore trouble for the next week at least.'

'Hey, Aunt May?' Peter asked as she reached for the door handle, about to leave. 'Do you remember Sharon Carter? The lady that helped Mr Rogers steal the shield?'

'Of course,' May snorted. 'You didn't shut up about how amazing you thought she was and how much-'

'You know how she was declared a war criminal?' Peter cut her short, Clara raising an eyebrow towards him at May's words. 'If you were in that position and had to live off the grid because of a Superhero...'

'Who was getting praised for the same things you were punished for,' Clara added.

'Do you think you'd change at all?' 

'Well, I don't think it's a matter of what I'd do at all,' May told them. 'Everyone's going to come out the other end of that a little differently. It could make one person stick to their morals more than ever, or do the complete opposite to someone else.'

Peter and Clara shared a glance, thinking that really wasn't much help to them at all. 'I know, that's not what you wanted to hear,' May laughed lightly. 'But from what Peter said about her, I can't imagine she'd run off to a secret, underground lair to become an evil villain with never-ending power and use it to take over the world.' 

Clara watched as she left the apartment, her sights lingering on the door a moment longer as she thought about how unlikely that was. She swung round on the chair to face Peter again. 'Amazing, huh?' She asked, narrowing her eyes at Peter as he smiled sheepishly. 

'How was I supposed to know she'd end up trying to kill you?' He defended himself. 

'Uh huh,' Clara pursed her lips, dunking her spoon in her cereal as she feigned upset. Peter didn't bite, however, leaning back in his chair with a huff, a playful grin breaking out in Clara's expression. 

'Just eat,' he told her, leaning on the table and resting his head in his hands. 

She did, finishing the bowl while they made idle conversation. When she finished eating, placing the spoon back in the bowl, she put Peter back under her scrutiny. 'So, are you gonna tell me what the surprise you're hiding from me is?' 

He thought about that for a minute, glancing at her shoulder as he did. 'Nope,' he smiled grimly. 

Clara tipped her head back in frustration. 'Seriously?' 

'Yeah, you've been shot,' he reminded her. 'There's not much you can do at the moment and I don't want to tell you until we're actually on the date in case something goes wrong or-'

'Date?' Clara perked up, adoration filling her eyes. 'You've been planning our date?' 

'I, err, no. Not exactly,' he admitted. 'Well, kind of.'

'Right,' Clara smiled, but with a puzzled look. 'Okay, then. I'll just look through your room whenever you aren't here.'

Peter grimaced, thinking that probably wasn't something she should do even if he wasn't hiding anything. Then, he saw the clock on the far wall, the time ticking over to nine o'clock. 'Speaking of not being here,' he said lifting himself from his chair and taking the empty bowl from in front of her. 'I've got to go.'

'Go where?' Clara frowned. 'I thought you weren't doing any Spider-Duties today.'

'I, err, I'm meeting Ned and MJ,' he placed the bowl in the sink, keeping his back to Clara. 

'Oh,' she said, tapping a hand idly on the table. 'You aren't just inviting them here?' 

'No,' he replied a little too quickly. 'We made plans to do this a while ago, so I can't change plans now because... that would be rude.'

'Oh,' she repeated, watching him rinse the bowl and spoon before sitting them on the draining board. 'I guess I'll just stay here and, I don't know, watch TV all day and get high on pain meds.'

'Yeah, sure!' He nodded, rushing to his room to gather his belongings. 'Just don't leave the apartment! You can't go out until next Friday.'

'Yeah, I know.'

'And don't take the sling off - at all,' he added, his voice muffled by his bedroom door.

'Yeah... I know.'

'And don't-'

'I get it!' She called through, stopping Peter before he repeated the whole list of instructions she had read earlier that morning. She scowled, feeling more than left out as he moved back into the room wearing a full rucksack on his back, and holding a bulky looking carrier bag in his hand. 'See you later, then.'

'Be back in, like, a few hours!' He pulled the front door closed behind him, leaving her alone in the apartment. 

Clara scowled at the door, waiting for him to realise what he had done and come back to her. After a minute of waiting, she huffed, stood from the chair, and walked to the couch. She dropped down onto it, finding the remote and switching on the TV, ready to fill her day re-watching the usual films, and eating too many snacks. 

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