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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
xxi. LOOSE THREAD

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   IN THE DAYS THAT followed, spring flourished, and Riley's mind continued to wind itself up. Her thoughts were a braided rope, twisting and fraying as her mind tugged back and forth. Again and again, she wondered what the Flag Smashers were planning.

   She chose not to tell anyone about Eden's final warning, the one exception being Roman. Stirring up the nation without a foreseeable conclusion seemed like a poor decision, so she decided she would keep it to herself until she had time to call Sam and Bucky. This should have been easy, but for some reason, Peter wouldn't stop asking her about them.

   It was like he somehow knew she was withholding something from him. Every day, he called and texted and asked about the Flag Smashers. What do you think will happen next? Do you think Eden was planning anything else? Where do you think they are? It was beginning to irritate her. Couldn't he understand she was handling it? Couldn't he see she was giving him a break? A chance to live a normal life?

   Riley and Roman spent days conferencing with the Governor, investigating Belmont establishments, running interrogations, and overall prepping for Eden's eventual trial — all of which had to be done without Peter to protect his identity. During all of this, her mind kept wandering back to the Flag Smashers obsessively. Even after the case was passed to Roman, they continued to consume her mind like an insatiable itch.

   With Roman taking Riley's place for Eden's trial, she spent her days off with her family. Pepper was beyond mortified that her eldest was nearly blown up (which wasn't the first time, but still anxiety-inducing regardless), and Tony couldn't stop joking about how all villains seem to love Riley ("It's the Stark charm, I'm telling you!" he'd say). But once they got past all of that, Riley was relieved to spend time with her parents and little sister again. She always cherished those days so much.

   Riley had yet to call Sam and Bucky. She was just so busy with the Belmont case and designing a new suit with her dad after Eden's bomb partly ruined her usual one. She was exhausted, needed to sort her thoughts, and needed a breather from Peter's constant questions. A simple pause. But the days were running shorter, and she knew she needed to get back to the investigation soon.

   Luckily, as she reached this conclusion, she received a text from Bucky Barnes asking her to meet up.

   Riley waited for Bucky at a park near the city, seated on an aged bench beside a large oak tree. In her hands was this morning's paper. She was currently reading about the GRC's highly anticipated decision on the Patch Act, which would forcibly relocate people displaced by the Blip back to their home countries. The vote would be happening tonight in New York City. Riley didn't think the Patch Act should be passed, but she ultimately had no say in things like that. She was hired to protect the world, not control it.

   It was late in the afternoon when Bucky found her. Like always, his metal arm was concealed by a leather jacket. A pair of sunglasses (a Christmas gift from Riley) hung on the neckline of his tight shirt. Before she could greet him, he was already speaking:

  "I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James 'Bucky' Barnes, and you are part of my efforts to make amends."

   Riley set her newspaper aside, eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you talking about?"

   "Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Bucky grumbled, sitting beside her. He leaned against the back of the bench, man-spreading and avoiding her vigilant eyes. "You remember my therapist?"

   "Yeah, how can I forget? You vent about her every time I see you," Riley said. "At this point, I'm more of your therapist than she is."

   "Probably. Anyway, I'm not seeing her anymore. But when I was, she had me write up a list of names of people I wronged as... the Winter Soldier," Bucky explained. The title still sounded strange coming from his tongue. He still wasn't used to talking about himself like this. "She thought if I went around to each person and made amends, it'd help me move on from that... period of my life. I've only got two people left on the list."

   "And I'm one of them...?"

   "Yup."

   "But... I don't have anything against you," Riley admitted. "What have you done to me that was so bad anyway? Sure, there was that time you jumped me mid-day on behalf of HYDRA. And that time you shot me in the middle of a highway. There was that time you threw me off the Triskelion, too. And that time Zemo freed you from custody in Berlin and we fought and did that cool thing with my powers and your metal arm. I don't know if this counts, but you threw me off the sixth floor of an airport once, too—"

   "Yes, thank you for proving my point," Bucky grumbled. "It's only right that I apologize. I mean, if it weren't for me, the Avengers..." He hesitated. "Maybe that whole thing with Thanos would've gone differently—"

   "The Avengers were bound to break up over the Accords. You saw Thanos, he was almost impossible to beat," Riley argued. She stared at the side of his face, watching his frown deepen. "I'm going to accept your apology. But you should know I don't blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself anymore. The world's gonna keep evolving and growing. It won't do you any good getting left behind."

   Bucky's silence somehow said more than any string of responses could. She knew what he was thinking just by how his jaw unclenched and his shoulders relaxed. It reminded her of Natasha. It wasn't until then that she realized how similar they truly were.

   In an attempt to lighten the mood, Riley mused, "You know, I can't believe I let you throw me to my near-death twice."

   Bucky scoffed. "You're a punk. You deserved it."

   "Probably," Riley said. "It made me a better fighter, so maybe I should thank you for all those times you kicked my ass."

   Hearing that brought a small smile to Bucky's face. Those days, the days where Valor and the Winter Soldier were sworn enemies, seemed so far away now. He could hardly remember the days where he could beat her without breaking a sweat. Now, they were equals. Friends. There weren't many things in his life he was relieved about nowadays, but this? This was one of them.

   "Thanks, by the way. For forgiving me," Bucky quietly said.

   Riley matched his faint smile. "You deserve peace, old man."

   And she meant it.

   "So do you, kid."

   He meant that, too.

   "I've actually been meaning to call you and Sam. How's that whole thing going, by the way? Still bickering like an old married couple?" Riley teased.

   Bucky sat up, sliding his sunglasses onto his face. "I'll have you know, we fixed a boat together," he said matter-of-factly.

   "...A boat?"

   "Yeah, they're these vessels people use to go fishing and sail out to sea—"

   "I know what a boat is!" Riley laughed, but her smile faded as quickly as it came. She peered down at her phone as she received another text from Peter. Without realizing it, a hefty sigh escaped her.

   Bucky eyed her, somehow reading her mind. He was always doing that, studying people carefully. It was proof of his vigorous training as the Winter Soldier. After he was there for Riley in the days of Pietro's death, he could read her like a book.

   "What is it? Boyfriend problems? Because I told you, I'm not afraid to squash a bug—"

   "No, no, it's nothing serious. He's just... very invested in the Flag Smashers. I keep telling him I've got it handled, but he's stubborn. I know he just wants to help, but he still has a chance to live a normal life. He deserves to live it instead of chasing trouble, you know?" Riley said.

   "Well, have you ever considered you can't control what he does or wants?" Bucky countered. When she shot him a puzzled glance, he defended himself, "What? I know a thing or two about dating!"

   Riley shook her head. "I know I can't control him, and I don't want to. But... there are no rules about what I choose to tell him, right?" she mumbled, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that than him. "Anyway, about the Flag Smashers. I got a weird tip about them last week."

   "And would that have something to do with that stuff in the news about your so-called biggest fan?" Bucky queried almost tauntingly.

   "Yep. Turns out, Belmont was working closely with the Flag Smashers. Roman and I are convinced she was a distraction from something else," Riley explained. "Before she was arrested, she said the Flag Smashers aren't finished yet. I've been trying to figure out what that might be, but I'm clueless. If they're planning anything, it'd probably be tonight, but I'm sure if they were, Sam would know."

   Bucky started to respond, but he was interrupted by his phone ringing. He pulled out his ancient flip phone, which Riley made sure to tease him about every time she saw it. As it turned out, Sam Wilson was calling him at that very moment. She watched curiously as Bucky spoke on the phone.

   "Well, shit," Bucky said. "No, you don't need to call Stark, I'm with her right now ... You're sure? ... Positive? ... Alright, Sherlock, I get it ... Yes, I know who Sherlock is ... Yeah, we'll be there as soon as we can."

   Once he hung up, Riley asked, "Where are we going?"

   "Looks like your years of Valor-ing are paying off. According to that Torres guy Sam's friends with, the Flag Smashers pinged their location in New York. Sam says it's got something to do with the GRC vote. We're gonna stop all of this tonight," Bucky revealed. "You wanna ring up your Spider-Boyfriend, or are you doing this solo?"

   Riley could not quite place the premature fleeting feeling in her gut. It was almost as if the universe was asking her that question rather than Bucky... as if the universe was giving her one last chance. The question weighed more than maybe it should have. But she shook it off. She knew what needed to be done.

   No distractions. No loose threads.

   "You know my answer to that question already. Let's go."

   Peter would forgive her.

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   As nighttime fell, chaos struck. Peter Parker sat in his living room, hugging a pillow in his lap and watching the news.

BREAKING NEWS
There is a complete lockdown at the GRC meeting in Lower Manhattan, where authorities are saying they're tracking multiple threats from groups seeking to stop the GRC's vote on global resettlement. There is a no-fly zone in effect on Valor's orders, who is currently at the scene assisting the NYPD alongside the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Everyone is urged to stay clear.

   He hadn't moved in the past hour, absorbing every piece of information about the Flag Smashers like it was crisp oxygen to his lungs. Live footage of the building where the GRC vote was meant to be happening flashed on the screen, along with Sam, Bucky, and Riley.

   He couldn't take his eyes off Riley. It was almost comical how she stood at the front of the masses, leading and commanding in nothing but jeans, a jacket, and a t-shirt. She mentioned the other day her suit was being workshopped by Tony. But she never needed a suit to fight, not really. It was only ever used to conceal her identity and track her body's UV output, but now, there was virtually no need for a suit anymore.

   Despite the wailing sirens, he could hear her voice in the crowd. "I want all exits covered and the next ten blocks closed off. No vehicles are coming through unless they're reinforcements or ambulances, got it? Watch the windows, and try not to shoot Sam, yeah? We kind of need him."

   She was in her element. She always said she was looking forward to early retirement, but he knew some darker part of her loved this. The truth was, she shined brightest in the heart of the storm when the people needed her most.

   Watching live footage of Valor in action took him back to his childhood, the days before he swung around New York in pajamas and fought bicycle thieves. She was incredible, taking on the Flag Smashers effortlessly. Her movements were swift and fluid, predicting her enemy's next move as if they rehearsed it hours before. Riley always said fighting was, to some extent, a dance or a game of chess. It was all about leading and predicting your partner's next move.

   His eyes kept darting to his phone, waiting impatiently. When will she call? When will she ask me to join them? Should I just put on my suit and go? Will she get mad if I show up out of nowhere? He felt like a little kid in time-out, but he didn't understand why.

   A helicopter soared over the battlefield, providing a bird's eye view of the fight. Riley shot UV beams at Bucky's vibranium arm, allowing him to redirect her light to their foes. Sam, donning a new and improved Captain America suit that accommodated his wings, chucked his shield at them, which Riley caught and flung back to him.

   But the longer Peter watched, the more his chest stung. Why didn't she call him? They were a team. She was always so proud to call Spider-Man her partner, but this past year, things... changed. It was like the longer they dated, the more Riley purposely pulled away from him.

   Roman's words played in his head on loop. Peter didn't want to face it, but maybe he was right. Maybe all leaders are the same. Sometimes, Riley kept secrets. Sometimes, she refused to tell him things until they passed and Peter physically couldn't do anything but be a shoulder to cry on. She was always sticking him in a corner while she solved everything without him. And while he liked being that person of support for her, he didn't understand why he couldn't be there with her from the beginning until the end.

   She refused to tell him about Pietro's death despite all of the other Avengers knowing.

   She refused to tell him Roman was being held hostage in Westview. She hardly wanted to tell him about Westview in the first place, even though she ended up calling him for advice while she was dealing with it!

   She left him in a hiding place when they accidentally time-traveled into the past and faced Loki by herself (when he could've helped her!).

   She didn't even bother telling him when she flew to Germany to face the Flag Smashers! She couldn't even call him when the Flag Smashers attacked tonight, even though she knew he would rush to her side in a heartbeat.

   It was always excuse after excuse. She was always so damn vague when she spoke about her work — like he was some random reporter or person on the side of the street. He was her boyfriend! He was one of her best friends! Was he missing something? Did something get lost in translation?

   This feeling hadn't engulfed him in a long time. This feeling of shrinking into himself, of timidness and insecurity. It followed him his whole life, even after getting bit by that spider. It finally vanished after he worked up the nerve to kiss his best friend... just for it to come back months later. Why?

   He wanted to do more, to be more. But the world just didn't want him to. He could never be a true Avenger. He could hardly be the apprentice Tony wanted. He couldn't even be the partner Riley seemed to want, whether it was in crime or in love.

   It wasn't her intention. Of course, it wasn't. He knew that because he knew Riley. Kind and loyal, a valiant leader who cared more about her village and the world than she would ever grow to care about herself. So why was she pushing him aside like this? Did he do something wrong? Was he not doing enough?

   ...Was he not enough?

   Peter watched the TV, watching as Sam made his official debut as Captain America. They announced the fighting was over and Karli Morgenthau was shot dead — not by the hands of the Avengers. Collateral damage, they said. As incredible as it was, he couldn't focus on Sam's speech as he spoke of what it meant to be a Black man in this country, to hold the shield, and how important it is to be aware of the power they have over others. 

   Peter's focus was on Riley. Her face was stoic, as it often was when she was working, but the look of genuine pride in her eyes was unmistakable. It radiated from her brightly. He could imagine the headlines already: Find someone who looks at you the way Riley Stark looks at Captain America!

   Why did it hurt so much?

   Why didn't she want him there? Why was he not good enough for her?

   The camera angle switched as a reporter asked Riley about her thoughts on the new Captain America.

   "The conversation of racism and oppression in this country isn't talked about nearly enough. It will always be there, and it will always divide us more than any deranged god or alien could. I think that's where Sam and I differ. He's faced it all far more than I have. He lived a regular life before this, I didn't. That doesn't mean I don't know what people say about me as a Latina woman leading the Avengers. It just means I lack a lot of experiences my people face daily, but it's still my responsibility to stand against adversity and prove that people like me have a place in this world," Riley declared.

  She continued, "The ability to be Captain America will never be based on how someone looks, where they come from, or any kind of ridiculous superpower. It's about what they fight for and what they are willing to fall for. I've always felt honored to know Sam Wilson, and I'm even more proud to know him as Captain America. If it's alright with you, I'd rather not answer any more questions at this time. This is about Sam, not me. I'm just elated to have him on my team."

   As she walked away from the camera, she reached into her pocket and withdrew her phone. Finally, at long last, Peter's phone lit up with the text he'd been waiting to receive all night. Riley wanted to meet up. He hesitated. So now she wanted to see him? Now?

   Peter was blinded with red as he threw on his suit and swung out the window.

   Riley beat him to the rooftop. She sat on the ledge, legs dangling. It was almost unnerving how unscathed she was from the fight, give or take a few cuts and bruises the morning sunlight would heal. She gazed up at the sky, thinking back to all the nights she and Peter watched the stars together without a care in the world.

   When she heard Peter land, she rose to greet him, but as he pulled off his mask, she faltered in her step.

   "What's wrong?" Riley asked. The question came faster than Peter could speak or catch his breath. Her voice was gentle, filled with that unconditional concern he adored so much. Underneath the dark of the night, she saw a strange look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

   Peter didn't know where to start. He didn't know what he wanted to say, but the words were escaping him as though he did.

   "Am I... doing something wrong?" Peter asked. His voice was shaky, something Riley seldom heard, but when she did, it tore her apart instantly. If Valor had a true weakness, it would always be him.

   "What...?" Riley's eyebrows furrowed as she walked toward him. "What do you mean? Here, sit down, let's talk about it—"

   "I don't want to sit down. I just want to know what's wrong," Peter sharply interrupted. Neither of them noticed how his hands trembled. "Why do you always call me when everything's over? Every time something's happening or something's going wrong, I never hear anything about it until it's over. I wait, and I wait, and I wait for you to tell me. But you always hold off until it's over to come rushing to me. I... I don't get it."

   Riley's mouth fell open and closed. How long had it been since she saw him like this? Since he looked at her like that? Years, surely. The emotion hanging off his voice was raw. It wasn't anger nor despair. It was pain. Betrayal. Frustration.

   "Peter..." She was trying to keep her composure, but she didn't think it was working. "What's going on?"

   "I feel like I should be asking you that," Peter admitted. "Why don't you talk to me anymore? It feels like you never wanna tell me anything until you physically can't handle it anymore. It's not like I can't tell when things are bothering you, you know. I know you, Riley. You can't hide this stuff from me, yet you try to anyway." He held his sigh in his throat. "I'm supposed to be your boyfriend. Isn't that what relationships are about? Communication? Trust?"

   The wind was blowing through her hair and against her face. Her cuts stung, but his question stabbed her harder than anything else could have. "I do trust you, Pete—" she tried to say.

   "Pietro, Roman, Westview, Loki, the Flag Smashers," Peter briskly listed off. "You don't trust me. If you did, you would talk to me! You would open up, and you would tell me! You would want me by your side! That's all I want, Riley! I just want you to want me! Not to push me away!"

   "I... I'm not trying to push you away from me. I kept you away from those things for a reason," Riley pathetically said. She was losing confidence. Her voice weakened while his grew stronger with irritation. "I was trying to protect you."

   "I don't need to be protected! I can take care of myself! Are you forgetting who was with you when you fought the Avengers in Berlin? When we fought the Vulture's henchmen? When we went to outer space and all those times we fought Thanos's army? I was there!" Peter insisted. "I remember it all too well! I remember it every day! And I still survived in the end!"

   "You didn't survive, Peter! You died! You died, and I couldn't even... I couldn't do anything about it, I..." She inhaled sharply. "I don't know how to explain it to you without you thinking I'm trying to baby you."

   "Well, try!" he yelled desperately.

   "I... Well..." she stammered, fidgeting with her hands. "You... are the only other person in this entire, stupid universe that understands what it's like having the weight of two separate worlds on your shoulders. The only other person that gets it. And... living this life is so hard sometimes. And every time I think about how hard it is, I think about you and your hidden identity and how you still have the chance to live a normal life. So... I... I just thought that if I could keep all of the bad things away from you as much as I could, you could enjoy your childhood while you still have it."

   "I never had a childhood, and I never will," Peter argued. "My parents were taken away from me before I could meet them. I've been dumpster diving for as long as I can remember. My uncle, the closest thing I ever had to a dad, died right in front of me! You and I are almost the same, but you pretend we aren't!"

   "Because we're not! We're extremely different! I pray you never have to deal with the things I deal with every day!" Riley disagreed. "If I can keep all of the bad things away from you, I'm going to do it!"

   "And you don't care about what I have to say about it? What if you got hurt, and I could've helped you, but you didn't bother calling me!?" Peter exclaimed. "Don't you get how that would affect me, too? I can't be there for you if you keep pushing me away!"

   "I don't care about getting hurt! I'm willing to die to protect this world, and I'm not letting you fall down that same path!" Riley fiercely said, growing more and more frustrated.

   "Can't you see I already have?!" Peter shouted. "The world means nothing to me if you're not in it!"

   "You have your whole life ahead of you! Live it! Stop chasing trouble when someone else is already doing it for you! You deserve to live! You don't know what you're asking for!"

   "You can't control me or how I live my life. You can't only call me when it's convenient for you or when you need an escape from reality," Peter snapped. "Can't you see how this makes me feel? The worst thing you could ever do to me is push me away, and you've been doing it for the past year! The one person I thought understood me barely even wants me around! What, am I just not good enough for you?"

   "What!? You think I... You think you're not... What?!" Riley shrieked, burying her face in her hands. "Where is this coming from!? Peter, I would take a bullet for you! I would invent time travel for you! I would do anything for you in a heartbeat! The only thing that kept me going when everyone was Blipped away was the thought of you! How can you say that?"

   "Just because you tell me you care about me doesn't change what you've been doing to me!" Peter ricocheted, his voice strained and raspy. "I told you I never wanted to get in the way of your work and your life, but now, it feels like you barely want me in it. Like I'm just a distraction to you!"

   "That's not true! I just don't want to lose you again! I'm sorry that I've been hurting you. I am so sorry. But I can't say I would change a thing," Riley confessed. "You don't get it. I'm trying to protect you so that you don't feel what I feel every day!"

   "Then, let me get hurt, Riley! Let me learn!" Peter said. "Let me understand!"

   "I'm not going to stand by and let you get hurt!" she fired back.

   "Well, I can't keep worrying about you! I live in worry at this point! All I do is worry about when you'll call, when you'll finally tell me what's going on in your life, when you'll ask me for help, when you'll ask for me to stand by you!" Peter fought. "You can't keep me at arm's length anymore! It's killing me!"

   "I... I didn't mean to... I..."

   "It is literally killing me knowing that you think of me as nothing more than another one of your missions, another person you think you have to protect. I'm going to go insane worrying about what you're doing behind my back, and you're going to end up killing yourself from trying to... protect me by yourself," Peter went on. It sounded like he was forcing the words out. Like he didn't want to say them, but he had to. He was so sure he had to. "It's who you are, it's in your blood to be like this."

   Her face fell. But he was right.

   Riley didn't know how to put her thoughts into words. She was never good at this stuff. She could spend hours swimming through press questions, but when it came to her feelings, she was unexpectedly socially inept. And here she was, facing the consequences of never learning. How was she meant to tell Peter she just wanted to keep him safe? How was she meant to tell Peter she loved him so much that her nightmares were all about losing him forever? How could she make him understand?

   She couldn't.

   Riley squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let her tears spill. Then, she said it.

   "Maybe we need a break."

   "W...What?" Peter's voice was soft again, eyes wide with the innocence of his lost childhood. "You... We... What?"

   "I... I think we need a break," Riley weakly said.

   "You think we need a... break?" Peter meekly repeated. His eyes were bloodshot, his hands couldn't stop trembling. He took a step closer to her, but she took one back.

   "Yeah."

   "But—"

   "It's in my blood to be like this," Riley gently repeated. "I thought what I was doing was protecting you, but... I can't keep hurting the one person that means the most to me. I thought I knew what I was doing... I don't. And I'm not gonna drag you any further."

   "Wait, but... Can't we talk about this—?"

   "Just for a little bit," Riley softly said. "I think this is what's best for... for you. Just for now."

   "Just... Just for now?" Peter repeated, his voice wavering. He was a deer in the headlights. All of the words in the world were suddenly foreign to him. "Are... Are you sure?"

   "I told you, Pete. I would do anything for you, and... if this is what I have to do for your wellbeing, then... that's okay," Riley quietly said, her voice breaking.

   The silence was deafening. Riley wasn't even sure what was spoken next. Maybe nothing was spoken at all. She couldn't be sure. She wasn't sure what just happened.

   Riley blinked, and he was gone in a blur of red.

   As it turned out, there was a loose thread in her plans, and though it did not unravel all of the work she'd done to protect the world, it somehow felt like it cost her everything anyway. Was this what her line of work cost? Was this what her predecessors warned her about in her youth? Was this what they meant when they said Riley would have to choose between her life and everyone else's?

   The world was suddenly so lifeless. The stars dimmed, the wind slowed, the noise of the city faded into a hushed whisper. It wasn't until Peter was gone when the tears began to stream down her flushed face that she realized they were all right. She would always have to choose between her happiness and everyone else's.

   "I called you here to tell you that I loved you," Riley whispered, but she knew he couldn't hear her. Not even the wind could carry her words to the boy who stole her heart, and she was left alone.

   Just as she was always meant to be.

END OF ACT ONE; GOLDEN

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So... Ouch! Let's talk about the events of act one!

I always knew that whatever conflicts I'd throw at Riley would have to hit deep and emotionally destroy her. At this point in her life, throwing simple villains at her isn't enough to keep the story moving. And that is what brought us here — to Riley and Peter's first real fight as a couple.

The season one finale of FATWS is actually what inspired this entire plotline for act one. When I first watched it, I wondered where Spider-Man was at the time, and it made me spiral into this entire thought process of Riley trying to juggle her Avengers responsibilities and life as a semi-ordinary teenager. I wanted to show Riley's journey through both as a coming of age story and how these things deeply affect her and her life, and the best way to show that was through her relationship with Peter.

Riley has slowly reached the conclusion that she can't have it all. She can't be a hero and have a "semi-normal life", and that's what she saw through the elder Avengers growing up. The balance is always tipping back and forth, and that's why I decided to show her journey as the new leader of the Avengers through WandaVision, FATWS, and that little plotline with Eden Belmont. She is constantly trying to find a balance between both lives, and she just can't do it without someone getting hurt in the process. Every time she gets it right in one world, the other world seems to fall apart.

Riley has this obsessive desire to protect the people she cares about most. When it comes to Peter, they truly are so similar, and she feels this overwhelming need to give him the life she can't have. He still has a chance to live a normal life, and she's convinced she doesn't. She's willing to give up everything for his (and anyone else's) happiness (which is very Steve Rogers of her).

If anyone ends up rereading this act, you'll see more clearly how I've slowly built up all of this tension. Riley will never be satisfied with an average life. She doesn't know how to communicate her feelings, and she pushes people away to protect them, and in the end, it has extreme consequences for her. One could argue that's very Tony Stark of her, as he and Pepper experienced the same problems in the past. Riley can't separate her work life from her personal life because for YEARS, there was no difference between the two.

But again, she's still a teenager. She's still learning and growing. This is her first relationship ever, and she's still a little new to leading the Avengers. There are bound to be bumps in the road, and Riley will learn to overcome them! Hopefully!

Let me know what you guys thought of this act! I know it was a long, long slow burn into what the true conflict of this act was, but I'm super excited to get into Far From Home and No Way Home! I'll see you guys in act two! :)