𝐏𝐀𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝟓

—♟—

𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 greeted by a pounding headache as she woke up, and she squinted her eyes at the light that hung above her.

Her eyebrows then furrowed. This most definitely wasn't the outside of the airport. The soft mattress beneath her and the fluffy pillow that supported her head didn't feel like pavement either.

"Kara?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked towards the right edge of the bed she had been put on. Peter was sitting there, his eyes worriedly roaming over her.

He shifted closer and reached out to place a hand on her cheek, but when she moved away, he frowned. "Kara . . ."

Kara sighed as she sat herself up, rubbing her eyes once again and grimacing at the pain in her head.

She looked around; she was clearly in a hotel room, judging by the empty closet, cleared desk, and the white bed she was resting on. Her eyes moved to the clock, which showed her that it was a little past eight in the evening. 

She looked back towards Peter, her eyebrows furrowed. "Where are we?"

"A hotel near the airport. Happy brought us," Peter answered tentatively, his eyes carefully watching her face. "Mr. Stark paid for—hey, your wrists."

He reached out and took her hands before she could react, the corners of his lips tugging downwards as he inspected the bruises around them. He looked back up at her, his eyebrows furrowed, and he whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"It's fine, it was my fault," she sighed as she gently rubbed her wrists.

"Your jaw, too," Peter pointed out as he cupped her cheek, examining the purple bruise that had been formed by Black Panther's punch.

She pushed his hand down, ignoring the look of hurt that flashed across his face as she leaned towards the nightstand and grabbed her earpiece.

She fitted it inside her ear before murmuring, "Hermione, call Ames, please."

"Calling Amelia."

Kara listened to the ringing for about a minute before she shook her head and put the earpiece back. Amelia was still sleeping. Hopefully.

"Kara," Peter began, his cheeks pink and his eyebrows knit together tightly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was Spider-Man, I—"

"I don't care about that, Peter," she sighed as she leaned against the headboard, clutching the end of the white blanket and pulling it over her lap. "I hid that I was Psionic, it's fine. I care about the fact that you went behind my back and decided to arrest and possibly hurt half of my family."

"I . . ." Peter's voice faltered. "It's just that . . . I don't know, Mr. Stark came to me with an offer, and how could I say no?"

"Maybe by thinking about the fact that the offer was going to hurt the girl you say you love?"  

"What do you mean, 'say'?" Peter chided softly as he climbed onto the bed and sat next to her. "I do love you."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't feel that way right now," she mumbled as she shifted to the other side.

"Kara, I didn't—"

"What would you have done if you guys ended up arresting all of them?" she asked as she turned to face him, her eyebrows raised. "Pretended as if you didn't know? Be my shoulder to cry on while really being the reason it happened in the first place?"

He sighed, ruffling his messy hair with one hand as his gaze lowered. "Well . . . I just . . ."

"Can you just go?"

"Kara," he said with a frown as he looked towards her, "I wanna talk."

"I don't." She shook her head. "I'm tired, anyway."

"But . . . you just woke up."

"I'm still tired," she sighed as she slipped off the bed. "I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Okay." He pressed his lips together as he approached the door, giving one last glance back at Kara. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she mumbled as she stepped into the bathroom.

She heard the door close as Peter left, but paid no mind to it as she gazed at herself in the bathroom mirror.

The left of her jaw was awfully bruised, and the lack of glowing blue told her she still didn't have enough energy to heal that, nor the bruises that were evident on her wrists.

Her hair was tangled, and some of her face was a little red from the explosions that had taken place around her. Her suit was a bit dirty but had nothing that needed to be fixed (which was good, because Tony had just gotten over the last fire incident).

Other than that, she was fine. Except for all the emotional damage she had inside, of course.

With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to detangle it. Kara was able to quickly determine that she was far too exhausted to do anything else, so she lazily trudged back into her room and slipped back into the bed.

Hoping that she would feel better the next day, she drifted off to sleep.

—♟—

She didn't really feel better, but she was less tired, so that was a plus, right?

Most of the burns and the bruise on her face had healed by noon, and judging by the cyan glow around her wrists, those would be healed anytime soon.

Peter had come to her door near nine o'clock in the morning to tell her that Happy wanted her to have breakfast, but she turned him away. Something about having a best friend who still wasn't awake after being in an explosion along with her boyfriend trying to arrest her family made Kara not have an appetite.

Happy came not too long after, with clothes that he had bought for her from a store a few metres away, and a bagel that he forced her to eat. He told her that he'd deal with her later, which really made her look forward to her day.

She had called Amelia about a million and six times, and after that, Maximoff. Maximoff had picked up and told her that he and Amelia had arrived back at the Mansion the night before, though Amelia still hadn't woken up.

Kara could only hope that Amelia would be okay. She tried to remind herself that the girl's been through worse; come on, she's fought aliens, evil robots, and even Apocalypse before. She'd be just fine. Probably.

She then called her mom to reassure her that she was still alive, but still in Germany. Kara gave a small recount of what had happened during the battle, and couldn't agree more as her mother groaned and muttered that Tony was an idiot.

It was nearing three o'clock in the afternoon, and Kara sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed. She hadn't done anything productive so far, but seeing as she was in Germany, she thought that was pretty excusable.

Her eyes went to the door as a knock sounded, and Peter's voice floated through. "Kara?"

She got up from the bed, brushing her jeans off before opening the door and raising her eyebrows. "What?"

"Can I come in?" he asked nervously, his hands clasped in front of him as his eyes tentatively roamed her face.

She stared at him for a moment before sighing and shrugging. "Yeah."

Kara walked back to the bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard as Peter stepped in and closed the door behind him.

He climbed onto the bed and sat down next to her, his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed. "Are you . . . feeling any better?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. She turned to him, only to just fully register the bruises that littered his face. A small frown appeared on her lips, and she gently rested her hands on his cheeks.

"What are . . . Oh," Peter breathed out as the blue energy trickled over his face. He quickly pushed her hands down and shook his head as he murmured, "Kara, I don't want you to waste your energy. You need to heal yourself first."

Kara didn't bother responding as she ignored his request by lifting her hands to his cheeks again. She allowed the energy to flow out of her fingertips and onto his face, watching as the bruises slowly faded away.

Knowing she wasn't going to give up until he was healed, Peter stayed still, his eyes latched onto hers as he patiently waited for her to finish.

A few minutes later, his face was clean of any injury, and Kara dropped her hands to her lap.

"Kara, listen, I'm sorry," Peter immediately began, his eyebrows furrowed as he shifted closer to her. "I just . . ."

She turned her attention to the desk that sat a few feet away from the foot of the bed as she asked, "When did he come to you?"

"Who?" he questioned. "Mr. Stark?"

She nodded.

"I don't know, uh" —he thought for a few moments before shrugging— "a couple days before?"

Kara shut her eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. She had gone over to his house the day before the battle. And he hadn't said anything.

"And not once did you think of talking to me about it?"

"He, well . . ." Peter looked down at his fingers that were nervously fumbling with each other on his lap before mumbling, "He told me not to say anything to you because you'd get mad, and you wouldn't understand."

She turned to him, her eyebrows raised as she incredulously questioned, "And you were okay with that?"

"No, Kara," he insisted as he shook his head profusely, "I tried to convince him to let me tell you, but he—he wasn't listening."

"You could've just said no!"

"How could I?" he exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air. "It's Tony Stark!"

Kara furrowed her eyebrows as she folded her arms and accused, "So he's more important to you than I am?"

"Of course, not, Kara," he said softly, reaching out and placing a hand on her cheek as he shook his head. "No one's more important to me than you."

She pushed his hand away as she scoffed, "I don't believe that."

"It's true!" he insisted, his forehead creasing.

"Peter, you just tried to arrest half of my family."

"Well . . ." He frowned. "Not because I wanted to!"

Kara shook her head, pulling the blanket over her lap and clutching it tightly. "That doesn't make it any better."

"Kara, I just . . ." He sighed, putting his head into his hands as he shut his eyes. His fingers ran through his hair before he looked back up at her, his eyes pleading. "What do I need to do for you to forgive me?"

"I . . ." Her eyes moved over his earnest expression, and she let out a sigh.

She had no clue what to tell him. And she didn't even have Amelia to talk to about it, nor Wanda or Nat. Of course, Liz and Ned weren't even an option; they didn't know about this superhero side of her.

Kara frowned as her gaze lowered to the mattress in front of her. Peter most obviously regretted his decision. And he seemed to truly be sorry for what he had done . . .

She rubbed her eyes, feeling Peter's gaze on her as she leaned back against the headboard and sighed.

"Peter," she said slowly as she looked over at him, "It's gonna take some time for me to fully forgive you, but . . . I know you're sorry."

"I am," he replied softly as he shifted closer to her. "I really am, Kara."

"We have to tell each other everything, Peter," she continued quietly, "no more secrets. Both ways."

"I swear I'll never keep anything from you again," he promised with a quick nod, hope beginning to glimmer in his eyes as he took her hand. "I love you, Kara."

A small smile drew onto her lips as she murmured, "I love you too."

Peter's face broke out into a relieved grin before he leaned closer and pressed his lips against hers, his hand releasing hers and instead gripping her waist as she cupped his cheeks.

Kara's worries over her family and Amelia were pushed away as she let the warmth of Peter's face seep onto her skin, and all she could focus on right now were the lips that were gently moving against hers.

Peter drew away after a few moments, though he kept his face close as he rested his forehead against hers. A frown appeared on his face as he softly asked, "And you sure you're not mad at me for not telling you that I'm Spider-Man?"

"If I was, then you should be mad at me for not telling you I'm Psionic," she pointed out with a small chuckle.

He gave her a smile and was about to kiss her once more before his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait," he said slowly as he straightened up, "so you were the one at the burning house with the dude inside? With the super high-pitched voice?"

"Yeah," she sighed as she leaned against the headboard again, rubbing her forehead. "Uncle Tony put this Enhanced Interrogation Mode thing with my suit, and he thought it'd be hilarious to change my voice to a chipmunk setting."

"Hey, it was still better than me" —he changed his voice to the deep one he had faked at that time— "talking like this."

"That was a little ridiculous," she admitted with a small giggle. "I still can't believe I didn't recognize you, though."

"I feel like I should've been able to recognize you," Peter agreed. "I mean, how could I not know what your eyes look like?"

Kara shut her eyes. "What colour are my eyes?"

"Green?"

"Peter!" 

"I'm kidding," he laughed, "I know they're brown."

"You better." She smiled before letting out a small sigh. "I should probably talk to Uncle Happy. He's already mad at me; I should try to calm him down a little."

"Yeah, he did not seem very happy this morning," Peter agreed with a small frown. "Also, I'm still pretty sure he doesn't like me."

"He'll come around eventually," she reassured him with a dismissive wave. "It'll take some time, but . . . eventually."

"I don't know about that," he sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I was filming this vlog, and he did not like that. He told me to delete it."

"Did you?" 

He shook his head, a small grin on his face as he told her, "No, I just recorded him instead."

"Great," she laughed. "I need a screenshot of the face he made when you did that."

"Oh, he was mad," Peter reassured her.

"So . . ." she then sighed, "what's the plan for today? Are we going home?"

Peter checked the clock, which showed that it was nearly half past three and frowned. "Happy said we have to leave at four."

Kara sighed as she slipped off the bed, grabbing her suit from the closet as she asked, "Did you pack your stuff yet?"

He shook his head in response, and she nodded before telling him that she'd go with him to do so; it's not like she had anything to pack anyway.

They quickly left her room and entered his, which was exactly the same, though he had a few more items strewn across the room. Peter didn't have much to pack; all he had taken out was his new suit, pyjamas, and toiletries.

Kara added her suit to his suitcase, though she kept her earpiece in her pocket, in case Amelia woke up and called her.

Five minutes to four, their attention pulled to the door as a series of knocks came.

Peter opened the door to reveal Happy, who had his own suitcase in hand as he raised his eyebrows. "Ready to go, Parker?"

"Yeah." Peter nodded.

"I just have to get—" Happy paused as his gaze landed upon Kara, who had walked up behind Peter, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, you're here."

"Mhm," Kara hummed in confirmation, giving him a thumbs-up.

It wasn't long until the three of them made it to Tony's private jet. Kara immediately sat down in the back, praying that now wouldn't be the time that Happy would scold her.

As usual, things didn't go as she had hoped.

"Kara," Happy glowered as he sat down across from her, glancing over at Peter, who was taking his seat next to her, "first of all, how the hell did you find out about this? Second, why the hell did you tell Amelia? Third, why the hell did you come here? Fourth, why the hell did you go onto Captain America's side? Fifth, why the hell did you let Amelia go back to the Mansion?"

Kara huffed as she folded her arms, "I found out because none of your business, I told Amelia because why wouldn't I tell her? I came here because why would I not? I went onto Uncle Steve's side because duh, why wouldn't I, and I let her go back because, uh, I didn't want her to die!"

"Kara," Happy sighed as he rubbed his forehead and shook his head. "You're too young for this kind of stuff."

"What, and Peter's not?" she scoffed as she gestured to him, whose eyes were nervously following them like an intense tennis match.

Happy looked over at him for a moment with narrowed eyes before turning back to Kara and shrugging. "That's different."

"How?" she questioned, a dubious look on her face as she folded her arms. "Please enlighten me on why Peter deserved to go more than me, even though I'm technically older than him and have had proper training for my powers."

"Because . . . Because . . ." Happy trailed off, scrunching his nose as he struggled to find a reason. "This is too personal for you. Captain America is like family to you, but not to Parker. He hardly knows any of them."

"That is a terrible excuse! So what? Uncle Steve was close to Auntie Nat, and she knew!" Kara exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air in frustration. "She got to go!"

"Nat is an adult," Happy retorted with raised eyebrows. "She can handle it."

Kara frowned as she indignantly insisted, "I can handle it!"

"Clearly not!" Happy exclaimed angrily, leaning forward in his chair. "You fought against Tony!"

"Because he's wrong!"

"It doesn't matter if he's wrong or not! It wasn't your place to come to the fight, and look! You got injured!" he pointed out as he gestured to where the bruises had been on her face, and she let out a sigh.

"That's fine!" she said as she waved a dismissive hand through the air and shook her head. "Me getting a few bruises isn't the end of the world!"

Happy wasn't too pleased with her answer. "You could've died!"

"I can die at any given time, Uncle Happy, there's no point in worrying like that!" she pointed out, only to receive a groan.

"That's not the point! You should've stayed home!"

"Well, too late for that now, isn't it?" Kara rebutted before sighing and getting up. Sending him a glare that only caused him to roll his eyes and fold his arms, Kara went to a seat that was a few rows ahead and sat down.

Peter was quick to follow. He sat down in the seat beside her and sent her a small smile, watching as she rubbed her temples with her fingers.

She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder and feeling him press a kiss to the top of her head. It wasn't long until her eyes fluttered to a close, and she drifted off to sleep.

—♟—

"Kara, wake up."

Kara let out a soft groan as her eyes opened, and she then realized that Peter had nudged her awake.

"We're here," he whispered into her ear once again, and she slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and nodded.

Sleepily, she followed the two out of the jet and to Happy's car and sat in the back seat with Peter as Happy got into the driver's seat.

"We have to wait for Tony," Happy told them as he ignited the engine, to which Kara let out an irritated groan.

"Seriously?" she muttered. "I have to get yelled at twice today?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Peter reassured her quietly as he took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

Only a few minutes later, the door opened, and Tony slid in next to Peter.

He managed to give a quick hello to Happy and a nod toward Peter before settling his glare on Kara, who sighed.

"Kara," he said sternly, "you and I both know you're in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it," she replied dismissively as she waved a hand through the air.

"How did you find out?" he questioned as Happy began to drive out of the parking lot. "And why the hell did you tell Amelia?"

"You're just asking the same questions that Uncle Happy did, why don't you ask him?" Kara crossed her arms, nodding towards the driver.

"You told me that you told Amelia because 'Why wouldn't I tell her?'" Happy pointed out as he took his right hand off the steering wheel for a moment so that he could air quote with his fingers. "I don't think that's the answer Tony wants."

"It's not," Tony confirmed as he stared at her, his eyes narrowing through his blue-tinted glasses.

"Well, I mean, I tell her everything," Kara answered with a shrug. "Plus, I was really scared. I had to tell her."

"You shouldn't have done any of that! You shouldn't have come to the fight!" Tony's expression broke away from being calm, anger replacing it instead. "And you sure as hell shouldn't have brought Amelia with you!"

"Well, maybe you should have just told Amelia and me the truth!" Kara retorted as she straightened up, her eyes narrowing.

"I couldn't! You're too young! And I knew you were going to go on Steve's side, and you did!" Tony gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Okay, I was the only one who really was on Uncle Steve's side. Amelia was on both sides, she saved Uncle Rhodey and Peter from falling!" she countered as she gestured at Peter, who then gave Tony a nervous smile.

"That doesn't matter! If you hadn't brought her with you, she wouldn't have gotten hurt!" Tony pointed out, his face beginning to redden as he shook his head once again.

"Well, maybe she wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't thrown your bombs at her!" Her voice rose to match his as she raised her eyebrows and jabbed a finger into his chest. "It's your fault, isn't it?"

Peter shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable to be sitting in the middle of them during this argument.

"That's not—" He let out a groan before continuing, "She could've died!"

"I healed her! What did you do? Nothing!" Kara exclaimed as she shook her head and scoffed. "You're the one that almost killed her in the first place!"

"Don't you dare—just wait until I tell your mom about this," Tony threatened, pointing his finger at her.

"Tell her! I don't care!" Kara threw her hands in the air, becoming hysterical as she nodded profusely. "Tell her all about you lying to me, purposefully bringing a fourteen-year-old kid that she loves to a battle full of experienced and dangerous adults, shooting missiles at your daughter, go ahead! Say it all to her! I'm sure she'll be on your side!"

A warning tone laced his voice as he spoke, "Kara-"

"I'm done. Just take me to jail or whatever," she cut him off, folding her arms as she turned her gaze to the window.

His face suddenly became blank as he dumbfoundedly questioned, "What?"

Peter, whose eyes had been going back and forth between the two, whipped his head towards her, his eyes now wide and his mouth agape.

"Jail," she repeated as she looked back at him and raised her eyebrows. "Take me there."

"Jail?" Tony echoed with furrowed eyebrows, shaking his head. "What do you mean?"

"Jaaail." She dragged the word out, trying to make it easier for him to understand. "You know, the place where you put bad guys?"

"Wha—no, I know what jail is!" Tony gave an exasperated sigh and rubbed his forehead before rephrasing, "Why would I take you there?"

"Because I was on Uncle Steve's side, and everyone on his side is a fugitive," she answered with a shrug, "which means I'm a fugitive, and fugitives go to jail."

Tony gave a heavy sigh and shook his head as he firmly told her, "You're not a fugitive, Kara."

"Aren't I?" she questioned dubiously as she quirked an eyebrow. "I fought on Uncle Steve's side."

"Okay, now it sounds like you want to be a fugitive."

"I'm just saying."

"I'm not taking you to prison, Kara," Tony insisted, "you're only a kid."

"Fine with me." She shrugged. "Can I go home now?"

"We have to drop Spiderkid off first, then we'll bring you home," Tony told her as he gestured to Peter, who was looking down at his hands.

Kara sighed and leaned back in the seat, looking out the window. She watched the passing dark buildings and tried to ignore the sounds of Tony and Peter quietly exchanging words.

"You were filming a vlog?" Tony asked Peter with raised eyebrows.

"I told him not to, and to delete it," Happy spoke, glaring at Peter through the rearview mirror, "but he hasn't done it yet."

"No, no, it's all right. Here, why don't we film a little something to show your Aunt May so that she really buys into this internship. Kara, why don't you get in this? Make it more convincing?" Tony asked as he gestured for her to lean into frame once Peter brought his phone up to record.

"No, thanks," Kara said instantly, crossing her arms. "Besides, she doesn't even know I came."

"Fair enough." Tony readjusted himself as Peter pressed record and plastered on a smile. "Hey, May, how are you doing? What are you wearing? Something skimpy I hope."

Kara let out a scoff as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Of course he would say something like that.

"No, no, that's too inappropriate, just, uh, edit that out or whatever." Tony recomposed himself before clearing his throat and restarting, "Uh, hey, May, just wanted to let you know how much of a good job Peter did at this Stark Internship retreat! All the work he's done for us has been incredible, he's a really good kid."

After a few more encouraging sentences that would hopefully convince May that what they were doing was completely normal, they were outside of Peter's apartment building.

Peter gave her a kiss goodbye before whispering that he'd give her her suit the next day, and he quickly left.

The car ride was silent for the first couple of minutes, but then quietly, Tony asked, "Has Amelia woken up yet, or is she just ignoring my calls?"

"She's unconscious, but I doubt she'll answer your calls when she wakes up," Kara replied stiffly as she folded her arms.

"Great," Tony muttered.

It took only a few more minutes for them to reach Kara's house, and as she departed, she gave them a half-hearted wave (which was more directed at Happy).

She didn't bother to knock on the door, instead just teleporting inside her room (which she then realized she could've done while inside the car instead of sitting in angry silence for ten minutes).

It was nearing midnight, so she figured that her mother was already in bed; Helen was more of an early bird.

With a sigh, Kara laid down on her bed and stared up at her ceiling. She was still absolutely exhausted despite the copious amounts of sleep she had gotten within the past day.

Hoping that maybe tomorrow wouldn't suck as much, and also planning Tony's murder in her mind, Kara, once again, drifted off to sleep.