𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝟑

—♜—

𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 best to keep quiet as she appeared in her room, praying that her mother wouldn't hear her gently shut the door.

Unfortunately for her, her mother somehow had sonar hearing.

"Kara? Are you home?"

"Shit!" she muttered under her breath, now hurrying as she tossed her mask to the other side of the room and began to pull her suit off.

She had only managed to tug one sleeve off by the time the door opened, and she froze in her place.

"I thought I was driving you guys—what the hell?"

Kara slowly turned towards the door and offered Helen her most charming smile. "Oh, hey, Mom!"

"What—why—" Helen rushed towards her, her hands immediately cupping Kara's burnt cheeks as her eyes flicked over her exhausted body. "Are you okay?"

Kara sighed, giving her mother a small smile and shrug. "I will be soon."

Helen groaned and took a step back. She folded her arms. "What happened?"

"I, uh . . ." Kara shrugged again. "I went to homecoming."

"Okay, but all this" —Helen gestured to Kara's entire being— "didn't happen at homecoming, did it? Now," she added as Kara withered and shook her head, "tell me what happened."

Kara sighed. "I think you might need to sit down for this."

Helen was extremely quiet during the entire explanation, though her deeply furrowed eyebrows and tight frown told Kara enough about her worries.

"And both you and Peter are all right?" her mother said softly as soon as the story was done.

"Bit beat up, but otherwise, we're okay," she reassured her with a smile.

"God, I thought it was bad enough when Amelia and Peter were going out and fighting," Helen sighed, reaching out and placing a tentative hand on her daughter's cheek. "And now I have to deal with two more of my children risking their lives."

Kara chuckled. "We always end up okay, don't we?"

"Luckily," she sighed once more. "I don't know what I'd do if you . . ."

"Don't even think about it," Kara said softly, leaning forward and kissing her mother's cheek. "It won't happen."

Her mother tutted, though a smile was on her face. "Don't jinx it."

Kara giggled and shook her head.

Helen sighed, rubbing her forehead, and she then muttered, "I'm gonna kill Tony and Happy tomorrow."

Kara's eyebrows furrowed. "Hm?"

She shook her head and put the smile back onto her face. "Nothing, honey."

Kara's attention turned to her phone, which she had tossed onto the bed, as it began to ring. Amelia's face quickly popped up on the screen, and Kara then remembered the multiple calls she had made an hour before.

"I better answer that," she sighed, reaching and grabbing the phone. "She might be worried."

Helen nodded and stood up. She kissed the top of her head. "Come downstairs as soon as you finish your call, I want a better look at your injuries."

"They're healing by themselves," Kara pointed out with a chuckle. "There's no need—"

"Doesn't matter, I need to make sure." Helen wagged a finger at her as she headed towards the door. "As soon as you're done!"

"Okay!" she called as the door shut.

She quickly answered the call—which surely was on its last ring—and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Karamel, I'm so sorry I missed your calls," Amelia immediately breathed out, "the kids thought it would be hilarious if they hid my phone from me and didn't tell me where it was and Charles and Jean were gone so they couldn't read their minds and Peter had to search the Mansion and it was this whole mess—are you all right?"

"Uh, well, I'm fine now." Kara sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Everything's okay, don't worry about it."

"Now?" Amelia repeated suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'now'? What happened?"

"Um . . . are you busy right now or can you listen to me talk for half an hour?"

"Hang on, lemme just get to my room." The sound of shuffling filled her ear, and she heard a door shut before Amelia continued, "Okay, I'm good. What happened?"

Kara laid back on her bed before diving back into the story that she had just recounted for her mother.

Amelia, much like Helen, remained mostly quiet throughout the story, though the small gasps every now and then reassured Kara that she was listening.

Kara sighed as she finished her story, and she shut her eyes. "And . . . yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Oh . . . oh my . . ." Amelia paused for a moment before heaving a deep sigh. "Kara, I'm so sorry, thank fuck you're okay. Are you sure you're okay? Is Parker okay? I'm calling Dad as soon we get off so he can get you your bracelet, I feel awful—"

"Yeah, we're both okay," Kara quickly reassured her, "we got a couple burns but I healed them. And, Ames, don't feel bad, it wasn't your fault."

"No, I said if you needed help, I would help you and then I didn't, and if you had died because I couldn't—"

"Amelia!" Kara interjected, a light chuckle accompanying. "That won't happen. Besides, you have your own life, you don't have to worry about me twenty-four-seven."

"I'm always going to worry about you, Karamel," Amelia said softly, and Kara pressed her lips into a small smile. "But I'm glad you and Parker are okay. And I'm proud of you, too. You knew there was something wrong, and you made it right. It takes a lot of guts to do something when everyone else is telling you you shouldn't."

—♜—

"Kara. Wake up."

Kara's eyes slowly blinked themselves open. In the midst of her daze from waking up, she saw her mother's face hovering over her own.

"Wha . . . ?"

"Get dressed," Helen instructed as she straightened up, pulling the blanket off of Kara's body despite her protest, "we're going to the Compound."

"What?" Kara rubbed her eyes, then wrapped her arms around her legs to gain back the warmth she just lost. "Right now?"

Helen headed towards Kara's closet and ruffled through her clothing. "Yes."

"But . . ." Kara squinted her eyes. "I have school."

Helen tossed an Orchid and Quicksilver merch hoodie (Kara swore she had thrown that out) and a pair of jeans towards her. "I'll call them and tell them you're sick."

"But . . ." Kara frowned as she looked down at the clothes in her hands. "I need to learn."

"Learn what?" her mother questioned incredulously, an amused scoff following. "Kara, you already know everything."

The frown was just as apparent as before. "But . . . class."

"Oh" —Helen raised her eyebrows as she walked towards the door— "so you don't want to be there when I yell at Tony and Happy?"

Kara immediately perked up and grinned. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Once Helen had shut the door, Kara forced herself to get out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

She sighed as she picked up her clothes and quickly changed into them, rolling her eyes at the hoodie. She then headed to her bathroom and got to brushing her teeth and hair before applying light makeup.

"Kara!" her mother called from downstairs just as she was finishing up her mascara. "We're leaving in a minute!"

"Coming!"

Kara hurried as she closed her mascara tube and tossed it into her makeup bag before turning the lights off. She grabbed her backpack, glad that she hadn't unpacked it the day before, and rushed down the stairs with a huff.

Helen was pulling her coat on by the time Kara had reached the bottom of her steps, and her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced over to her daughter.

"Put your bag away, you're not going to school."

"Why not?" Kara questioned, though she still heeded her mother's order as she put her backpack onto the couch. "It's not going to take that long, is it?"

"No," Helen agreed. "But there's no way in hell I'm going to let you go back to school while you're hurt."

"But I'm not hurt!" Kara pointed out, gesturing towards her face which had fully healed from the burns from the night before. "See? I'm perfectly fine."

Helen shook her head once more. "Missing one day won't do anything. Let's go."

"Am I teleporting—"

"I'm not in the mood to throw up."

Kara only giggled before slipping her shoes on and following Helen towards the car.

She sat down in the passenger seat, buckling her seatbelt before leaning her head against the headrest as she heard the engine start.

Figuring that Peter and Ned would be wondering where she was when they got to school (especially after the night before), she pulled her phone out and sent them a quick text. She received a crying gif from Ned and a frowny face from Peter in return.

Any trace of kindness soon disappeared from Helen's demeanour the second they walked into the Compound and headed towards Tony's office. Helen pushed the doors open with a small huff.

"Hey, Helen," Tony, who was seated at his desk, greeted, staring at his screen for another moment before glancing at the two. "Oh, you brought your little gremlin with you. Don't you have school today?"

While Kara stuck her tongue out at him, Helen took a step closer and folded her arms. "What's this I hear about you ignoring Kara about her and Peter having a Chitauri core?"

Tony's face quickly drained of colour, and his expression suddenly became sheepish as he folded his hands on his lap. "Oh . . . you found out about that? Did Amelia tell you? I swear to God, my own flesh and blood . . . Well, not really, but—"

"No," Helen interrupted angrily with a roll of the eyes, "I found out because my daughter and her boyfriend . . . and also other people . . . nearly died because you didn't bother to tell her what she was dealing with!"

"Hey, don't pin the blame on me!" Tony protested, raising his hands in defence. "I didn't even know those two had that core!"

"Because you didn't listen to her! All you did was talk about naming your thousandth goddamn suit!"

Kara sighed, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. She loved her mother so dearly.

Tony frowned and mumbled, "It's a good suit."

"Anthony," Helen threatened—the use of his full first name made him groan—thrusting a finger in his direction, "if my daughter dies and it's because your head is shoved too far up your ass, I will—and don't you dare doubt me—kill you."

"Message received." Tony sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "You done chewing me out? I don't like all the negative energy in this room."

Helen shook her head. "Where's Happy?"

"Oh, is he getting yelled at, too?" Tony raised his eyebrows before shrugging and waving a dismissive hand. "Never mind, stay in here to do that. Hold on."

Kara leaned against the wall as she watched Tony press a button that he used to call Happy, a little nervous as she turned her eyes to her mother, who was seeming to grow redder and redder in the face.

"Mom," Kara called, her eyebrows raised, "you okay?"

"What? Me?" Helen chuckled lightly. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm more than fine. I'm great."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh . . ."

The door soon opened, and as he stepped in, Happy raised his eyebrows. "You called?"

Tony gestured to the woman who was sending a glare to the man. "Helen here has something she'd like to say to you."

Happy's eyes widened as they turned to face the glare, and they widened further as he glanced at Kara, clearly now realizing why he had been summoned. "Oh, I think I left my—"

"You move an inch and I will dissect you."

"Oh, look at that" —he patted his obviously empty pocket, nervously chuckling— "it's in my pocket."

Kara raised her eyebrows in amusement, and she glanced over to Tony, who seemed to be enjoying the show as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.

Helen jabbed a finger in his direction as she walked closer to him until her finger was pressing hard into his chest. "How many times did Kara call you, saying that something was important but you just brushed her off?"

"I don't know," he mumbled, his sheepish eyes now on the ground, "I didn't really count."

"She told you that she dealt with alien tech and you said not to worry?! Not to worry?!"

Happy pursed his lips and squinted his eyes. "Well . . ."

"She came to you, telling you that the plane was going to be robbed, and you told her to go back to the homecoming dance?!"

He frowned. "It sounds bad when you say it like that . . ."

"Oh, then, please say it in the proper way." Helen scoffed, straightening up and crossing her arms over her chest once more. "Please."

Happy scrunched his nose. "Um . . ."

"If I ever hear that you—either of you!—ignore something like this again, I will skin you alive!" Helen exclaimed, pointing a finger at either man. "Understood?"

The pair glanced at each other and nodded. "Understood."

—♜—

A tapping at her window caused Kara to flinch, though she soon relaxed as she turned in her chair to see Peter—who was in his suit—knocking.

"Hey, Spider-Man," she laughed as she slid the window open. "How does it feel to be back in the suit?"

A few days had passed since the homecoming fiasco, and Tony, with an apology that Kara honestly had not expected, had returned the Spider-Man suit to Peter. Kara was more than happy, because not only was Peter more confident in himself again, but she wouldn't have to look at that horrifying homemade suit.

She sighed as she closed the window, and she turned to face him. She grabbed the bottom of his mask and pulled it up to reveal his face before pecking his lips.

"It feels great." Peter grinned, adjusting his mask so that it sat nicely at the top of his head. "Thanks for convincing Mr. Stark to give it back to me."

"Oh, it wasn't me." Kara shrugged, tugging on the sleeve of her suit. "Uncle Tony just asked me to invite you to the Compound. He gave you it because he knows you're an amazing hero."

Peter's grin became sheepish. "Really?"

Kara giggled, and she kissed his cheek. "Yes. Now, let's go save some lives."

Peter slid his mask back on while Kara did the same. Once he nodded to signal that he was ready to go, she grabbed his hand and teleported them to the top of the building they usually started off on.

Peter sighed, taking a seat on the ledge and dangling his legs off the side. Kara came to his side, though she remained standing as she leaned forward on the ledge.

"Huh," he breathed out, "I can see my apartment building from here."

"Babe."

"Yeah?"

"Your apartment is in the other direction."

He turned around immediately. "I can see my apartment building from here."

"You most definitely can't," Kara laughed, shaking her head, "but I'll let you believe that."

"No, no, I see it," he insisted, and though his mask was on, she could hear the grin in his voice. "Big . . . Grey . . . Windows . . ."

Kara turned around to see the many buildings that fit the description, leaning her elbows on the ledge. "They all look like that."

"Yeah, so my apartment building's gotta be one of them."

"Sure," she giggled. "Anything, Hermione?"

"Nothing yet."

"So," began Peter, a little tentatively as he glanced towards her, then back down towards the street. "Liz is moving, huh?"

Kara's lips immediately turned into a frown even though no one would be able to see that through her mask. She had been pushing that thought away, hoping that maybe if she forgot about it, it wouldn't happen. Of course, that's not how life worked.

She found out only a day ago. Liz came up to her in the locker room before their gym class, tearing up and telling her she was moving to a city a couple of hours away.

As upset as Kara was that she was losing one of her best friends, she understood. Liz's father had just been arrested after all, and the public wasn't taking it all too well with her family.

She was leaving at the end of the week. Kara then reminded herself that she had to get her the best goodbye gift she could possibly think of. She was sure that the card would have a few dried tears on it.

"Kara?"

"Sorry," she muttered, slightly shaking her head as she turned to look at Peter. "Uh, yeah. It's not great news."

He sighed, his feet swinging. "I feel like it's my fault."

"That she's leaving?" she questioned as he turned towards her, her eyebrows furrowing. "How could it be?"

"Her dad only got arrested because I messed with his plans."

"Peter, if you're blaming yourself, then you'll have to blame me, too. I was there," she pointed out. "Besides, if we hadn't stopped him, all that alien tech would be in dangerous hands."

Peter slowly nodded, and his head turned to face the ground again. "Still sucks that she has to go, though." He shrugged, though his tone suddenly changed into a teasing one, "Now you'll have to hang out with Ned and me during gym."

She giggled, nudging his side. "I wouldn't say that's a bad thing."

As Peter chuckled, Hermione's voice suddenly sounded in Kara's ear. She straightened up.

"Break and enter at 342 Inwood street. Suspect is said to be around 5'10", mid to late twenties, wearing all black."

"Okay, thanks, Hermione," Kara replied before nudging Peter a little harder. "C'mon, B&E."

"Oh, fun," he sighed, slipping off the ledge and extending his hand for her to take. "Let's go."

Kara grabbed his hand and teleported them onto the driveway of the home. It was a two-storey, red-brick house, and judging by the fact that the white door was wide open, they needed to hurry.

Beckoning for Peter to follow her, Kara rushed inside the home, immediately heading up the wooden stairs and into the mess that was the living room.

Whoever lived here clearly put up a fight. The green and blue throw pillows that belonged to the white couch were scattered across the carpeted floor; several framed photos had been knocked off the bookshelf in the corner, and shattered glass was sprawled around them; a hole had been punched into the beige wall, just next to the TV.

What worried Kara most, however, was the blood splattered across the wall.

A loud banging drew the pair's attention to the hallway. They glanced at each other quickly before slowly making their way towards it.

As they neared, a deep voice full of rage cried out, "Let me in, whore!"

Her back now pressed against the wall, Kara peeked into the hall to see a man who matched the description that Hermione had given her.

He was still pounding on the door with his right fist, and a glimmer of silver in his other hand caught Kara's eye.

She turned to Peter, who was at her side, and whispered, "Knife."

Once he nodded, Kara turned back to peek down the hallway again. A faint voice of a woman trapped inside the room came from the door as she pleaded for the man to leave, but Kara had a feeling it wasn't going to persuade him.

Kara took a breath before stepping in front of the hallway where he could get a clear view of her. "Leave her alone."

The man's fist paused before it could thump the door again, and he slowly turned to face her.

"You think I'm scared of you?" he questioned with a smirk, his eyes assessing her. "You're just a kid."

She ignored this as she raised her hands, her energy flowing down her arms and into her hands as the usual cyan cloaked them.

"Step away from the door and drop the knife."

"Oh, I'll drop it all right."

His smirk grew larger as his grip on the knife loosened. A split second later his arm was raised, and the knife flew through the air, straight toward her.

Before Kara had the chance to react, she was on the ground, and her head thumped against the ground, causing her eyes to shut and a small groan escaped her lips.

Someone was on top of her. That person, she quickly realized with the use of logic (and by opening her eyes), was Peter, who had grabbed her and thrown both of them onto the ground.

Peter let out a sigh as he relaxed his grip on her and stood up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him, taking the hand he offered to help her up. "Thanks."

The two of them turned to see the man was stretching his hand out toward the knife that clattered onto the ground. Peter instantly shouted a "Not so fast!" before shooting a web onto the knife, keeping it stuck to the ground.

The man, upon the web being slung, stumbled back in surprise. Kara used that to her advantage. She littered her hand and quickly shot a blast of energy his way, throwing him back against the wall.

Peter swiftly shot a few more webs so that they spread across his body, sticking him to the wall.

Now that she was reassured the man was no longer a threat, Kara headed towards the room he had been so desperately trying to get in.

She knocked.

"Leave me alone!" came the woman's voice, thick with tears. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"It's Psionic! The man is stuck to your wall now, don't worry!" Kara called through the door. She was sure that there was a better way to phrase that.

Slowly, the door opened. A blonde head peeked out and her brown eyes were filled with relief when she caught sight of Kara. Her makeup was stained with tears and smudged mascara, and she let out a shaky breath.

"Are you all right?" Kara asked, stepping forward as the door fully opened. "Did you get hurt?"

Still sniffling with her lips pressed together, she nodded before revealing to Kara her right shoulder. It was torn—slashed by the knife—and all that Kara could see through the rip was red.

Kara sighed before taking another step forward, and she gave the woman a small nod.

"I'm gonna heal you," Kara said quietly. "Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, her eyes nervously watching as Kara's glowing hands approached her injury.

Tentatively, Kara gently placed her fingertips on top of the wound, her eyes flickering over to the woman's face as she winced.

Her eyes returned to the wound, which was quickly closing as it sutured itself back together. It took only a minute for it to finish healing, and the only evidence left of injury was dried blood.

The woman glanced over to her shoulder before her grateful gaze turned to Kara, and she whispered, "Thank you."

"Of course," Kara smiled back, although the woman couldn't see it due to the face mask. "Just wait here, okay? The police should arrive soon."

After the woman had nodded and repeated her thank you, Kara walked back out towards the living room where Peter was watching the man struggle with folded arms.

Faint sirens grew louder and reassured her that the police were nearing, encouraging her to nudge Peter and mutter that they should leave.

He nodded, giving her the only sign she needed to place her hand on his shoulder before teleporting the both of them back to the rooftop.

"Aw, man," Kara muttered, frowning at the dried blood staining her hands.

Peter's voice drew her attention to him. "Is the girl okay?"

She turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, she's fine now. I mean, trauma . . . but otherwise, she's fine."

"Good."

She sighed, wiping her hands against the railing and managing to get a little blood off.

She turned to Peter as she took her mask off, hanging it on her wrist before taking a step towards him.

"Why'd you take your mask off?" questioned Peter. "What if someone sees you?"

"We're on the roof," she murmured, then gently tugging his mask upwards to reveal his lips. "We'll be fine."

"Wha—oh, okay."

Peter quickly relaxed into the kiss as Kara pressed her lips against his, and the familiar touch of his hands on her waist reassured her.

She drew back after a moment, and a small smile remained on her face. She pecked his lips once more before whispering, "Thank you for saving me."