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JOEY WAS EXHAUSTED.

It had been about a week since Joey and Pietro had first kissed. Eight days. Not that either of them were keeping track.

In the days since then, between the two of them, nothing had really changed. They still found each other on the balcony after training, or at night when no one else seemed to be awake. Only now, where there were these stolen moments, there were stolen kisses, too.

The morning after their first kiss, the two of them took a train back to the compound pretty early in the morning. As they went to bed the night before, they kissed again, and shared a knowing look— things just got a little more complicated. But, "We'll talk about it tomorrow," Joey said.

And now it was tomorrow, and they were back at the compound, and it was still early enough to be dark out. After settling in their rooms, changing their clothes, doing all the post-mission things they needed to take care of, Joey snuck out onto the balcony. He was already there.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he repeated, smiling. She crossed the landing to the railing that looked out over the field they always did, and he followed her, coming to her side.

For a minute, the two of them basked in the sounds of birds beginning to wake up, and the remaining wind from the overnight breeze. Pietro's arm brushed Joey's, and she closed her eyes.

"What are we going to do?" She asked him, plainly. He looked over at her and met her gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"I really like you," she told him, tearing her eyes away from him and looking down at her hands hanging over the railing of the terrace. "And last night, I just... we need to talk about it. Because of– of everything you told me in Manhattan."

Pietro took a breath. "Yes, we do," he finally agreed.

"I understand if..." Joey paused, collecting her thoughts. "If you want to leave this here, and pretend like nothing happened."

"No," he rebuked instantly. The urgency in his tone brought Joey's gaze back to his. She swallowed.

"OK," she amended. "So, it happened. We... kissed, and... now what?" She turned around in place, standing against the cold metal and crossing her arms across her chest. The sun still wasn't up, but the blackness of the sky was beginning to lose its intensity. Her eyes were still on Pietro's. His were on his hands.

"We cannot tell Wanda," he finally said. His words were sharp, but they weren't angry, or anything like that. It hurt him to say it, but when the words were out, his shoulders sank slightly in relief.

"We can't tell my family, either," Joey agreed, sighing. "...Maybe we don't tell anyone."

Pietro's eyes swung to Joey then. Clearly, his thoughts were on a similar track.

"It is not like much would change," he told her. "We do not tell people now."

Joey averted her gaze. "Well, someone does know." She could see the alarms going off in Pietro's head. "Meg was the one who convinced me to give keeping things a secret in the first place a chance," she reassured him. "She's not going to tell anyone. I trust her."

Pietro's worry immediately melted into a taunting smirk. "Meg?" He said. "You told Carrelli about me? I did not realize you had such a crush."

"Shut up," Joey quipped, leaning back. "You were the one to make the first move."

"OK, OK," he surrendered, beginning to return to the more serious topic at hand again.

"I'm pretty sure Eris knows something," Joey mentioned. "I don't know what you've said to her, if anything, but... she is a smart cookie."

Pietro laughed. "Yes, she is. If you are telling Meg, I suppose I should tell Eris. Especially if she already knows. She would be pissed off if I did not tell her something that was obvious to her. If you are OK with that."

Joey nodded. "Like we said. She probably already knows."

A beat passed between them. "Wanda will not look into my thoughts," he told Joey. "But I cannot promise she will not look into yours. Again," he added.

Joey took a breath, exhaling with puffed cheeks. "Ever since I found out she could do that, I have been able to kind of tell when it was happening. But she hasn't, not since... before they found my mom, I think."

"Speaking of your mom," Pietro segued, "what do you think she would say about all of this?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she would mind, unless she knew about all the... stuff with the Industries. But I don't know what she knows, so." She shrugged again. Another short silence fell between them. "This sucks a little bit, doesn't it?" Joey asked, then. "Not telling anyone."

"Are you kidding?" Pietro smiled. "I get to be with you. Finally. Who cares if no one can know?"

Joey blushed, looking away from him. The sun was finally coming up, only evident by the pink beginning to peek over the treetops on the horizon.

Pietro studied the skyline. "We should go inside soon," he pointed out, softly.

Joey nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, similar in tone.

Pietro pushed himself off the railing and found himself in front of Joey. She smiled at him, and he placed his hands on her waist, dipping his head down to kiss her. Her hands naturally found their place on his chest.

Like the night before, Joey's stomach did somersaults. If she was told her skin was on fire, she would've believed it. Against her better judgment, she couldn't help but wonder why something that felt this right needed to be a secret, just for the sake of other people who had no right to speculate. The kiss ended, and that question in her mind only doubled when she looked at the face in front of her again— but it also reminded her of the reason. Pietro couldn't betray Wanda. Joey couldn't betray Tony.

"I will see you later," Pietro told her.

"OK," she replied.

"OK," he repeated. They shared a final smile, before Pietro stepped back inside, heading off to wherever he was going to spend the next hour or so before other people started waking up. Joey remained on the balcony alone, for a while.

And now, today, again, the sun had barely come up. It was the morning after yet another undercover mission, continuing their agenda in Buffalo. Pietro and Joey were on the train back, and they were sitting across from each other at the table in their box room. Despite coming out of their mission unscathed, it was still a late night and an early morning. So, yes, Joey was exhausted.

She yawned for probably the ninth time in the 40 minutes now that they'd been on the train, and Pietro could tell from how slowly and frequently she was blinking that she was fighting to stay awake.

"Sleep, Joey," Pietro said, laughing softly.

"No," Joey yawned. "It's fine. I'm not that tired."

He raised his brows. "Who are you trying to convince? Me, or you?"

Joey giggled tiredly. "Both," she said. "I want to stay awake. I want to talk to you."

"About something that can't wait until you've slept?"

Joey frowned. "You're difficult."

Pietro laughed at this. "You're exhausted."

He stood from where he was sitting across from her, and instead came to sit beside her. She rested her head in her hand, her elbow on the table, looking at him, and he mirrored her upon taking his seat.

Pietro couldn't blame her for letting these one-off, weekend missions matter so much, now. He couldn't blame her for wanting to stay awake. When it was just the two of them, they didn't have to worry about being caught, they didn't have to keep their eyes out for other people who might see them together. When they were undercover as newlyweds, they didn't have to resist looking at and being near each other. They could dance together, and laugh together, and talk to each other, without a care in the world— besides the mission at hand, of course.

A few days after Joey and Pietro figured things out, and Joey obviously updated Meg, she actually did have to give an... awkward talk to the new couple emphasizing that it was OK for them to continue working on missions together, as long as they didn't let their personal feelings jeopardize any operations. So far, they hadn't.

Joey's battle against sleep continued, and Pietro picked up a stray strand of her hair, twirling it around his finger before tucking it behind her ear.

As Joey looked at him, she took in the slight curve of his lips, and the crease beneath his eyes— clearly, he was still amused by her attempt to stay awake. He knew she wasn't going to last the entire two hours they still had left of the ride.

"I know what you're thinking," she told him.

Pietro, on the other hand, wasn't thinking what she said. He watched her lashes flutter with every tired blink, and he noticed how dark her eyes looked, while she was backlit by the sunrise beginning to come through the window. "What am I thinking?" He asked.

"That I won't be able to stay awake," she said.

He shook his head. "That is not what I was thinking."

The two of them were quiet, and Joey quirked a brow for him to go on.

"I was thinking that I am lucky to have a wonderful girlfriend, and that I want to kiss her."

Joey's face stayed in its quizzical expression, though when Pietro leaned in and met her lips with his, she didn't shy away— she hadn't heard him call her his girlfriend, until now. When they separated, though, she said, "Liar."

"I can think about several things at once," he claimed. "The skin under your eyes is turning darker. It is scary looking."

Joey yawned yet again. "Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"Come here," he said.

He pulled Joey by her hands away from where she was resting on the table in front of them, and she easily moved to a world's more comfortable position, sitting back against the seat the shared, with her head on his shoulder.

"You're a jerk," she groaned.

"What?" He laughed.

"I'm gonna fall asleep this way," Joey remarked. And fall asleep, she did.

*

It had become nearly impossible for Joey to manage to keep her eyes off of Pietro for the few hours of training every morning.

Of course, she knew what was at stake, so for the most part, she focused on other things. But every now and then, when he picked up a dumbbell, or hit push-ups during his circuits... she couldn't help but steal a glance, even just for a second.

So while he did sit-ups across the room just now, she had to tear her eyes away from him, and look back at the punching bag she'd been hitting for this last hour or so of training, before turning to Natasha, who was at the second punching bag to Joey's right.

"Where's Peter?" Joey asked, upon realization, between punches. Peter hadn't been here all morning. Normally, he and Eris did circuits with the Maximoffs, but right now, only one Parker was among them.

"Umm... I don't know, actually," Nat replied. "I'd assume he's in the lab with your dad, or something. He's been helping Ramona study, I guess. Bruce hasn't told me much about it."

"Huh," Joey responded in thought. "Study... what?"

"Ramona isn't in a place to return to school in any way, shape, or form, since being in captivity for so long," Natasha explained. "Bruce says that, apparently, Ramona really wants to try and go to school, public school, in the fall, with Eris, and Peter, who has offered to help her get on track for her senior year. He's worried about it, Bruce, because Ramona's mental health is... pretty unpredictable, I guess, and he's just concerned that being in public school is going to be worse for her, rather than better for her, for other reasons he hasn't exactly delved into details on, yet, but, yeah."

"Oh." Joey always felt stupid when she said this, but, like usual, she wasn't sure how else to reply to that. She knew Dr. Banner and Natasha were close friends, and she was glad Nat wasn't holding back with her, but she wasn't sure how to look at the situation: from Dr. Banner's perspective, or from Peter and Ramona's.

In perfect timing as Joey and Nat's short exchange trailed off, Agent Carrelli strode into the room. "Hey everyone. Take five, drink water. You know the drill." Sparring was next.

The hour went by quickly— Joey was up against Sam, who she won against, and then later, Bucky, who she had yet to take down in a spar.

"It's that damn arm!" Joey insisted for the millionth time when she lost.

Bucky always responded with some variation of, "You have actual powers, Jo, I do not want to hear it!"

After training ended, Joey headed upstairs and got in the shower before she could follow through on the mental plans she made just an hour or so ago during her conversation with Nat— she was getting ready to head down to her father's lab. But, he always carped at her when she came to talk to him after training without freshening up.

"You're gonna get your sweat all over the water-susceptible things in here," he would complain.

"I am not even that sweaty anymore! And I'm not going to go near any of those things while I'm standing here," Joey would retort.

But, she had learned that it was less annoying to shower now instead of later, than it was to put up with the pointless bickering.

"Hey, J," Tony greeted when his daughter came into the lab. Dr. Banner and Anslie each greeted her with a nod of acknowledgment when they heard Tony, but quickly returned to their own work. Over on the other side of the room, Joey saw that Eris had made it down here, too, and was standing beside Peter and Ramona. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Joey said honestly. "I wanted to see if Peter and Ramona already had lunch. I noticed Peter wasn't at training, so."

Both Joey and Tony looked over to where Ramona and the Parkers were sitting on the other side of the room, beside each other at the counter against the wall. The Banners peeked over now, too, when no one replied.

"Pete? Ramona?" Dr. Banner repeated. "Eris?"

"Huh? Oh! Hi, Jo," Peter said when he finally turned around. "Sorry. Me and Ramona are in the middle of this practice test thing. What's up?"

Ramona turned now too, and she gave Joey a small smile.

"Do you guys wanna go get lunch?"

Peter looked at Ramona, and then back at Joey. "Sure!"

Joey smiled. "Cool! Eris, you in?" She nodded. "Um, it's OK if we leave the compound right now, right? Like if I drive us somewhere to eat?" Joey double-checked with her dad and Dr. Banner. Because honestly, with how up and down security rules had been since she'd gotten here, she had no idea. She hadn't left the compound besides going on walks around the property and missions, anyway.

"'Course, duckling," Tony replied. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Or would do," Joey chorused with Tony, as he added those last three words to his sentence. She rolled her eyes. "Got it. Be back soon."

Ramona, Peter, and Eris followed Joey out of the lab. "Do you guys need to grab anything, or whatever, before we go?" She asked over her shoulder. Eris shook her head, but again, Peter and Ramona looked at each other before looking back at Joey.

"Nope, I think we're good," Peter answered.

With that, the four of them headed downstairs to the lobby, where Joey retrieved a set of keys from someone working behind the secretary's desk. God, it had been a while since she'd left like this. Since before she got her powers. Since before she stopped visiting.

As they headed down to the garage and got into one of the at least 20 cars in this section of the floor— one of Tony's blue Bentleys— Joey couldn't help but notice how it had been multiple times in the last few minutes that Peter had answered for Ramona. She was beginning to see where Dr. Banner's hesitation regarding Ramona and public school came from, if Ramona was still a little shy here. But then again, she could also see how maybe, it'd be good for her. Maybe it would help her out of this.

"I was just thinking we could head to town," Joey said once they were past security and off the property. "I'm not sure what you guys are in the mood for, but I could eat pretty much anything right now."

"Me too," Ramona agreed. Joey tried to hide her shock at that being the first thing Ramona had said in the time they'd been around each other today.

"Heard," Joey said, nodding. "Any preferences, Parkers?"

"I don't care," Eris said, "as long as we get Avalanche after."

"Down," Joey agreed. She didn't take her eyes off the road when she told Peter, "Looks like you're picking."

Peter scoffed. "I have no idea! What's around town?"

"You have a phone, Peter. Look it up," Joey suggested, laughing.

A few minutes later, closer to town, Peter turned off his phone. "Pizza?"

"Sure," Joey said. Ramona didn't say anything. "Hell yeah," said Eris.

"Whose car is this?" Peter randomly asked.

"My dad's," Joey replied. "My car is still at the house in Queens. I have no idea when I'm getting that, or everything else that's still there." Joey hid the wave of sadness that came over her at this thought.

"The gray BMW?" Eris wondered. "That's your car?"

"Yeah," Joey answered, smiling. Not that she had to drive it much back home, in Queens, but when she did have to, she loved it. Then, "Do either of you have your licenses?"

Eris laughed.

"What?" Joey asked.

"I've got mine," she said, pleased. Joey looked over to Peter, who frowned. She noticed him spare a quick glance into the back seat, in Ramona's direction.

"No," he answered, embarrassed. "Where would I even drive?"

"True," Joey recognized. "No big deal."

They pulled into a parking space in front of the first pizza parlor they came across, and inside, they each ordered a slice. It wasn't long before their food was delivered to their table, and all four of them dug in.

"So you guys were working on a practice test when I came into the lab, right?" Joey brought up to Ramona and Peter. "Is it like the admissions test we had to take?" She wondered next, looking at the Parkers.

"Yeah," Peter confirmed.

"That's cool. I heard you're trying to get on track to go to school in the fall, Ramona. That's really amazing."

"Thanks," Ramona said smally.

"How'd you know?" Peter wondered.

"Natasha told me. I noticed you missed training, and she knew from Dr. Banner. How is all that going?"

"It's going well, so far," Peter said. "Ramona's smart, and she didn't miss that much school, in the grand scheme of things."

Ramona glanced at Peter, smiling. "I wouldn't be able to do it without Peter," Ramona added shyly. "I was freaked out about how I would finish school, when I first got here."

Joey and Eris shared a look.

"That's great." Joey smiled. "It's gotta be a good time passer, too. There's nothing to do in that compound usually, anyway."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "Definitely."

The rest of the meal went by easily. Ramona didn't talk much, but she was glad to be included and spoken to normally, over some good food. Besides, Joey and the Parkers could do enough talking for all of them. After stopping for froyo at Avalanche on the way back to the compound, Joey could barely park the car and make it back into the lobby before Ramona and Peter were booking it back to the lab.

***

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