It was all over the news the day it happened. The Winter Soldier, otherwise known as Bucky Barnes, had supposedly bombed the UN during the counsel. Bucky was Steve's best friend before the war and Thea knew of him, but never met him. It didn't take half a brain to realize that Bucky wasn't stupid enough to bomb the UN when he was a wanted criminal.

However, Thea wasn't worried about Bucky at the moment, she was worried about Natasha who was at that counsel when it happened. Thea tried calling Natasha multiple times but each time they went to voicemail. She didn't want to call Tony, however, because of the sour note she left off on with him.

"Fuck!" Thea yelled as the call dropped again. She threw her phone on the couch nearby in her apartment. However, once the phone began to ring again, she quickly ran over to it. Thinking it was Natasha, Thea picked up the call immediately.

"Nat?" Thea's worried voice spoke out.

"Not quite," Tony said.

Thea groaned out and said with harshness in her voice, "Goodbye, Tony." She was about to hang up when Tony shouted out her name.

"Thea!"

Thea didn't respond, but she also didn't hang up the call with Tony. She had a mental struggle with herself, wondering if she should follow her heart or her brain. Ultimately, she followed her heart.

"Look, kid... I know you must really hate me right now, but I'm doing this for the good of the team. And before you hang up or interrupt me, I just want to say... I love you."

Thea's breath hitched in her throat. Tony was never one to say 'I love you' easily. In her time with Tony as her father she had only truly heard it a handful of times.

"I wouldn't have done this if I didn't think you would be safe in the end. I promise you that it'll all work out," Tony said in a soft voice.

Thea stayed silent for a moment but then, in a quiet voice, she asked, "Is Nat okay?"

Tony sighed out, "Yes, Natasha is doing just fine."

"Now I have a question for you," Tony said, "....are you okay?" He put emphasis on the word 'you'.

Thea smiled to herself, "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine now."

"Well, kid I got to go now but take care of yourself m'kay?" Tony said

"I will Tony," Thea said smiling, imagining his face during this conversation.

The slight ringing indicated that Tony had hung up before she did. Thea braced herself next to her living room table and placed her phone down upside-down.

~~~~

Thea didn't want to go to school that day, even though she found out about Peter, Tony still didn't know. Once she got to school she was bombarded by Ned. He was speaking at a rapid pace, his lips never slowing as he questioned Thea.

"DidyouseewhathappenedinVienna?" It all came out as one giant sentence and Thea could barely make out what he said.

"Yeah, you mean the bombing?" Thea said quietly. She was still reserved on the topic, but they didn't know that.

"Do you really think the Winter Soldier is behind all of this?" Ned asked her. His eyes seemed to grow larger whenever he mentioned superheroes.

Thea shook her head and immediately said, "No, no way."

Ned furrowed his eyebrows, "Why's that?"

Thea swallowed her non-existent spit in her throat before she said, "Well... He's changed as a person." Her eyes grew wider as she realized what she had just said. Ned caught on to this too; his eyes squinted closer together and his mouth parted to ask something. But before he could the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

First period went by fast and lunch came by even faster. Thea wasn't particularly hungry today, especially with all that was happening. So instead, she settled for a bottle of water and sat down with Ned at their usual table.

She placed the cold bottle on the table, the bottle leaving a ring of condensation around it.

"Hey, where's Peter?" Thea asked Ned while looking over the cafeteria. Bustling crowds of teenagers were spread throughout the cafeteria, but not a single one of them was Peter.

Ned, too, looked confused as to where Peter was. He shrugged his shoulders at Thea with a smile present on his face. Thea was about to look behind her when she felt a hand grip her shoulder and squeeze it. She jumped a little bit and turned around to see a smiling face of Peter staring down at her.

Her mouth gaped open at the slight shock he gave her. Thea threw a playful arm at his chest and pushed him backward. A smile escaped her lips and she laughed while saying, "You dickhead!"

Peter smiled at Thea, his eyes squinted in happiness as he joked, "I didn't even mean to scare you. But now I know you're easy to scare." He set down his backpack that was slung across his back. Setting it down next to Thea's feet as he sat next to Thea.

Thea was about to ask Peter where he was but she felt the vibration of her phone. Pulling out it quickly, she glanced down at the caller ID and saw that it was none other than Tony. Her face dropped and her eyes grew.

He never calls during school hours. It must be serious. She thought.

Thea quickly pushed the screen of her phone down to her pants, blocking the view to Peter and Ned. They both caught sight of this movement, their eyes squinting to see what was on her screen.

Both of them had their eyebrows raised and Thea quickly stuttered out. "I-I gotta go take this." She said this while pointing down at her phone still in her lap ringing.

In a hurry, Thea swung her backpack over her back and ran out of the cafeteria and into the nearest empty hallway. She pulled her phone out of the pocket she placed it in when she ran out and stared at the screen. Thea wondered why he would be calling at this time when he knew she would be in school. She sighed out as she hesitantly pressed the accept button.

On the other end was Tony's unmistakable voice, "Took you long enough."

"What are you doing Tony?" She said in an annoyed manner.

"More stuff happened... bad stuff." Tony said.

Thea leaned against the nearest locker and asked, "What kind of bad stuff?"

"I can't answer this right now, but I need to know," He paused for a moment, "Did you find Spider-Man?"

Thea froze against the locker, her mouth parted slightly, thinking about what to say. But this was enough for Tony to get an answer.

"Great, I'll come by in a couple of hours to debrief you and recruit the Spider kid." With that, Tony hung up. Leaving Thea with only her own thoughts and worries.

Thea's eyes were wide in shock and realization. Her mind wandered as she knew that Peter would find her out. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Thea yelled to herself.

I'm going to have to tell him myself, Thea thought, He can't figure out I'm Dark Matter from Tony.

Thea slowly sank down on the locker she was leaning on and hit the floor. Her hands came to rest on her forehead as she brought her knees into her chest. Her phone was still in her hand as she cursed to herself.

~~~~

Ned and Peter were engaged in a conversation when Thea walked back into the cafeteria. She could feel their eyes on her as she meekly walked over to them. She stifled a smile as she sat down at the table with them once more. Her backpack was now rested against Peter's

Ned was the first one to talk, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, it was nothing... just a family thing," Thea strained out.

Ned nodded slightly, taking in this answer. But before he could say anything else, Thea turned to Peter and said, "Could I come over today after school? I need to tell you something," Thea froze, realizing what she had said, "I mean... we can work on the project."

Peter seemed shocked, his eyes wide as Ned nudged him slightly. Ned winked over at Peter and was smiling, but Peter's face was white.

"I-um-uh I.....yeah s-sure," Peter managed to stutter out.

Thea smiled and said, "Cool, we'll walk home together then."

Thea looked over to the cafeteria when she heard her name being called. Her eyes grazed over the sea of people but they finally landed on Michelle sitting by herself at the end of the table.

Behind Thea, Ned gave Peter a big thumbs up and a smile.

"Hey, Thea, come over here," Michelle spoke again.

Thea wrinkled her forehead and pointed a single finger at her own chest.

Michelle sighed and said exasperated, "Yes you." Her voice didn't change and stayed monotone.

Thea pushed herself up from the seat next to Peter, both of her hands propping her up. She then plopped herself down next to Michelle.

"What's up?" Thea asked.

Very bluntly Michelle said, "You like Peter right?" Her voice still hadn't changed.

Thea gaped, her mouth parting and closing. She sputtered out incoherent words. "I-uh-you... um-what?"

Michelle sighed to herself and set her book down by her side. "It's a rather simple question."

"I mean if you don't I would like you to at least see what you do to that boy for a moment," Michelle said and then proceeded to place her hand on her chin and turned her head back over to Peter and Ned down the table.

Ned was talking rapidly to Peter who was laying his head down on the table and occasionally picking it up, only to slam it back down.

Michelle let go of her chin and Thea turned back to her.

"Maybe he's just tired," Thea said.

Michelle looked at Thea with an even more monotone face. "Really? You know what just go back to them."

Thea pursed her lips together, stood up and proceeded to walk back to the other side of the table where Peter and Ned sat. Ned took notice of Thea but Peter, whose head was still facing down on the table, didn't see her. Ned stopped talking to Peter when he saw Thea walking over but Peter didn't and she could barely hear the last of his conversation.

"— I don't know... maybe I do," Peter said this through his sleeves, causing his voice to muffle slightly. Peter looked up at Thea, his cheeks flushed and his eyes wide.

~~~~

Thea walked home with Peter nervously. Her heart was pounding as she realized what would soon happen. Her heart felt like it would rip out of her chest and her palm grew sweaty. The powered pair reached the entrance to the building silently. Thea shuttered out a breath.

Peter took notice of her sudden stress and grabbed her arm and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Thea shook off his arm gently and stifled a smile at him. "Yep, I'm fine."

The pair traveled up the seven floors to Peter's apartment. He searched through his backpack for his keys and jammed them into the lock. He quickly opened the door and entered, letting Thea follow behind him. Thea trailed behind him and shut the door behind her. She looked around, trying to see if May was home. But she wasn't. Peter kept walking toward his room, not looking behind to see if Thea was following.

Peter's room was like always. Cluttered with retro-tech and nerdy items all around his room. Peter immediately sat criss-cross on his bed while Thea stood next to him.

"So what did you need to talk about," Peter said, he too, seemed nervous.

"Well, I-um," Thea paused, "there's....there's no easy way to put it...."

Thea took a deep breath, her arms rested in front of her body with her hands clasped together. She breathed out through her nose shakily and parted her lips.

"I'm... I'm... Dark Matter."

Peter's eyebrows rose in confusion before they dropped back. "Haha very funny... now, what did you really need to tell me?" Peter asked.

"I'm being completely serious Pete," Thea said while shuffling her feet on the carpet.

"This isn't funny Thea." Peter became serious, sitting up straight in his bed now.

"I'm telling you the truth Peter, I'm Dark Matter." Thea pleaded.

"I know her and she's not you." Peter corrected.

Thea groaned and leaned forward at Peter. "But do you really know her?" Thea questioned, balling her fists up tight. "Do you know who she is outside her suit? What's her real name?"

Peter paused for a moment and began to stutter out, "Well I-I."

"Exactly!" She interrupted, raising her hands up to the ceiling.

Peter wiped his face of all emotion and proceeded to say, "Well if you are her... prove it." Peter watched Thea intently, waiting to see if she was telling the truth.

Thea gulped and let a breath of warm air pass over her lips as she closed her eyes. Her eyes were strewn tight as she cupped her hands out in front of Peter. Slowly, she felt the familiar sensation of power flowing from her core, down her arms and resting in her hands. The slight tingle of mist dancing along her palms let her know that her powers were present. Slowly, Thea crept open her eyes to see Peter, staring at Thea's hands in a state of shock and disbelief.

"Thea," Peter's voice spoke out in a soft voice. It was full of sorrow and betrayal.

Thea gasped out a sob, her throat closing slightly. "I'm sorry." She shut her eyes tight, not wanting any tears to fall. She took in a shuttered breath. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you, Pete."

Peter's eyes grew and his eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Hurt me? That's what you were worried about?!" His voice grew with every word he spoke. "When were you going to tell me about this? Why keep this a secret?" Peter asked.

Thea looked down at her feet, tears welling up in her eyes. "Because I knew you weren't going to trust me anymore." Her tears grew due to gravity.

"Well, you're too late for that," Peter said bluntly.

Thea whipped her head back up at Peter, tears now flowing out of her eyes. "Well then how come you never told me you were Spider-Man?!" Her eyes were wide with anger.

"Well because- because I," Peter started.

"Huh, well spit it out?" Thea yelled. Her tears were now falling off of her cheek and onto Peter's floor.

Peter sat on his bed in shock as he sputtered out, "Because I— I well... I li-"

"You know what... I'm leaving," Thea interrupted Peter.

Thea stormed out of his room, her tears trailing behind her as she ran out of his apartment. Using her powers, Thea slammed the door shut of his apartment. The wood cracked slightly from the surge of power used on it. She ran down the hallway to her own apartment and took in a shuttered breath, tears dripping into her mouth, leaving a salty taste.

~ Author's Note ~

All rights to Spider-Man and original plot goes to the Marvel franchise and their fantastic movies and comics. I own new story lines and new characters, like Thea Quinton.

I told you this would become an emotional rollercoaster. This chapter Peter finally realized something.....and that something wasn't that Thea is Dark Matter.

Next chapter will bring in the full fight during Civil War and you can imagine where this story will go from here.

How are you liking the story so far? What are your theories? I would like to know.