𝐏𝐀𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝟒 | 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐖𝐍 | 𝐏𝐓 𝟐

—♟—

𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒 she headed towards Peter's locker. She could already tell that he was still upset, and though it seemed that Ned was trying to cheer him up, he continued to move sluggishly and let out deep sighs that shifted his shoulders.

"Hey . . ." Kara greeted as she leaned against the locker next to his. "How you feeling?"

Peter only gave another sigh as he grabbed a textbook and shoved it inside his bag.

"Good, good," she mused, nodding. "How about you, Ned?"

Ned shrugged. "I'm okay."

Kara pressed her lips together as she watched Peter shut the locker door rather hard and tug on his backpack straps.

"Let's go," he mumbled.

Though Kara and Ned tried their best, they just couldn't seem to get Peter to even crack a smile during the entirety of their first two periods. In fact, he barely even blinked when Ned tilted his chair back too far and fell onto the ground.

Kara was praying that a little food in his stomach would maybe bring him into a lighter mood. So, she led the way to the cafeteria for lunch with higher hopes than before.

While Peter and Ned went into the line to buy food, Kara headed towards their usual table and took a seat. She placed her lunch bag on the table, but she barely got the chance to open it when her phone rang.

Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw that it was Amelia. What reason would she have to call? She knew Kara was at school.

Tentatively, Kara picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, your school, it, um . . . it's pretty big, huh?"

"Uh . . . yeah?" Kara shrugged, glancing around. "I guess?"

"Cause I'm looking at this map, and like . . . I have no idea where I'm going."

"Map? Why do you have a map of—" Kara's eyes widened in realization, and she let out a long groan. "Amelia. Where. Are. You."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she sighed. "Peter says we're in the science wing, but isn't, like, this entire school the science wing?" Her voice became a little distant, "Excuse me, could you point to where we are on this map?"

"Get out! Leave!" Kara whispered angrily, rubbing her forehead. "Go back to the Mansion or the Compound or anywhere that's not here!"

"Okay, and then, to get to the cafeteria . . . right . . . yeah . . . got it. Thank you!" There was a pause before Amelia's voice returned to its normal volume, and she could practically hear the grin in her voice, "Kara, why didn't you tell me high school was this nice? These kids are so friendly—"

"No! Leave! Oh my God, this is my worst nightmare."

"It's super loud, though, I can't hear anything you're saying. That's okay, I'll be there in a minute. I think."

"No, please, no. Just leave," Kara begged, glancing up at the doors. "Go. Back to the Mansion."

Unfortunately, Kara could get no more pleas in as Amelia abruptly hung up, and a groan passed through Kara's lips as she shoved the phone into her pocket.

"Something wrong?" questioned Ned as he sat across from her and placed his tray on the table.

Kara could only respond with another groan, to which Ned patted her on the arm.

Peter attempted a sympathetic smile as he took a seat next to Ned, though that smile soon disappeared as he looked down at his food and sighed. Clearly, the suit and Tony were back on his mind—as they had been the entire morning.

Kara shut her eyes, rubbing her forehead as she heard a sudden uprise in chatter amongst the cafeteria; word of Orchid and Quicksilver being in the school must've spread.

"What's wrong?" asked Ned as he leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Nothing," she muttered as she opened her lunch.

His nose wrinkled. "Seems like something."

"It's nothing."

"Great. Now I have two depressed best friends," Ned sighed. "I just think that—"

He suddenly paused as his eyes drifted past her face, and his eyes suddenly widened as his jaw dropped.

Kara didn't need to look behind her to know what had happened: Amelia and Maximoff had finally found their way in.

There was a sudden hush that came across the room, no doubt the students being amazed that two Avengers/X-Men were in the same room as them.

Kara felt the two presences as they sat on either side of her, and she did not succumb to the soft smile that Amelia gave her.

"Hey, Karamel—"

"No, not 'Hey, Karamel'!" Kara cut her off with an angry whisper. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?!"

Amelia only huffed before turning to the other two, who were very contrasting in mood. "Hey, Parker, hi, Ned!"

"Hi, Orchid!" Ned greeted with an enthusiastic wave. "Hi, Quicksilver!"

Peter, on the other hand, only gave a small smile and wave.

Not wanting Amelia to get off-topic (as she did quite easily), Kara hit her on the arm, drawing her attention. Kara gave her the best glare she could muster, but Amelia only rolled her eyes.

"We're not just gonna let this dickbag walk all over you, Kara! Or your friends!"

Giving up on her, Kara turned to Maximoff, hoping that, maybe, her puppy eyes could get through to him. Unfortunately for her, Maximoff just shrugged and stole some of her goldfish.

"Don't look at me, I told her you would be pissed."

"It's fine!" Kara exclaimed quietly. "We're dealing with it!"

Ned grabbed one of his chicken tenders as he questioned, "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing, it's nothing!" Kara said through grit teeth. "And, now" —she whipped around to face Amelia— "you two are gonna leave!"

"Well, you're the one that laughed when I said I was a people magnet, so I don't really see what the problem is!" Amelia pointed out, only receiving rolled eyes from Kara in return. "And I don't think the nickname 'Penis Parker' is something that should be taken lightly! That's disgusting!"

Peter's glum expression turned into one of alarm as he straightened up and questioned, "How do you know about that?"

Kara sighed. "I told them."

His eyes widened as he looked at her, and she gave him the best apologetic expression she could. "You told them?"

"Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing," Ned said gloomily. "Everyone just thinks we're losers."

"Aw, you're not a loser, Ned," Amelia reassured him with a smile. "And don't let anybody tell you differently."

"I mean, Flash tells it to me all the time," Ned protested. "And he's not that much of a loser."

"Are you kidding?" Kara scoffed. "Flash is the biggest loser. He can't even do science. And he goes to a school for science."

Amelia gave a nod of agreement. "I'd argue that's a pretty big loser."

"It does seem a little sketchy," Maximoff added.

"And he's just a loser that we can handle," Kara emphasized as she turned to Amelia, "so you two should get going!"

"Listen, I wasn't planning on doing anything!" Amelia defended. "I just wanted to . . . you know . . . eat lunch with you for a day! High school's very interesting—hey Ned, can I try some of your chicken?"

"Yeah!" Ned answered, ripping off a piece of his chicken and handing it to her.

"No!" Kara complained. "You have chicken at the Mansion!"

Their attention turned to Maximoff, who stood up and announced, "I'm gonna go get McDonald's, does anybody else want?"

Both Amelia and Ned's hands instantly shot up, and they exchanged a high-five while Peter shrugged and weakly raised his own.

Kara, however, only rolled her eyes and looked back down at her food.

"Listen, would you chill out?" Amelia muttered to her as Maximoff sped off. "I'm just here to eat lunch, I'm not blowing up the school."

"There are about a million different places that are better than here to eat lunch," Kara pointed out angrily as she unwrapped the tinfoil from her sandwich (which was made with Sam's recipe—thank you, Rhodey).

"But we are very happy and grateful that you decided to eat here, Ms. Orchid," Ned piped up, prompting a grin from the girl.

"Ned, honey, you can call me Amelia. It's okay," she reassured him. "And thank you, I'm very happy to be here, too."

Kara sighed as she took a bite of her sandwich. "I'm not happy you're here. Leave."

"Why? Give me one good reason—"

"Because it's bad enough people know I know the Avengers, and now, freakin' Orchid and Quicksilver showed up at my caf table! I can barely make any real friends!"

Amelia paused for a moment, her eyes squinted before sighing. "Give me two good reasons—"

"All right, burgers!"

Returned from his short trip, Maximoff placed the heap of burgers onto the middle of the table, and everyone except for Kara immediately reached for one.

"So what do we do at lunch?" Amelia questioned lightly as she unwrapped her burger. "Do we talk? How was that Spanish quiz?"

"Jesus," Kara muttered.

"It was pretty good! I think I might've messed up the last question, but . . ." Ned shrugged and waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever."

"That's okay, Ned," Amelia reassured him, "as long as you get most of them."

"Yeah, I probably did . . . Probably."

Amelia turned to Peter, who was slowly chewing his own burger, and asked, "What about you, Parker? I hear you're pretty good at Spanish."

"Uh . . . I didn't write it," Peter mumbled.

"Oh? Oh!" Amelia suddenly exclaimed, clearly remembering the information Kara had told her the day before. "Well . . . that's okay. I'm sure you'll kill it next time."

Peter gave a small sigh. "Yeah."

"Well, I learned that—"

Amelia was cut off by the ring of her own phone, and as she pulled it out to answer, Kara caught a glimpse of the contact name: 'The Iron Mango.'

Amelia cleared her throat before answering, "Hey, Dad." She paused as her father spoke, and Kara was happy to hear that his tone sounded angry. "We did agree! And we're not doing anything! We're having a nice, civilized, fun lunch! Right?"

"No!" Kara exclaimed while Ned answered with the opposite.

"See?" Amelia grinned as she gave Ned a thumbs-up, receiving another in return. "Wait, how did you know where I was?" She suddenly gasped. "You're what?!" Another pause as he answered. "That's creepy, Dad, you could have at least told me—"

Judging by her words, Kara figured that she had just discovered that she was being tracked—Maximoff as well.

"On the contrary, I'm your daughter, and I deserve privacy."

Kara leaned closer to add, "So do I! And so does Peter! Both of us!"

"Stalking your daughters and their boyfriends is not okay, Dad!" She tilted her head as her father responded, and her nose wrinkled as she slowly nodded. ". . . Yep."

"Yo! Penis Parker!"

Kara shut her eyes and groaned internally. Great. Flash was here. Just what she needed.

"Bye, Dad," Amelia said quickly, and Kara could hear Tony's protests just until she hung up.

"Oh, God," Kara muttered as the noise of the cafeteria died down.

"Parker!" Flash shouted, causing Peter to lower his head and flush. "What, you brought your Avenger friends with you, huh? Is that Spider-Man? Psionic?"

Ned raised a finger. "Technically—"

"No, Ned," Kara whispered.

"But—"

"Ned, shut up."

"Huh?" Flash continued. "Is that Captain America and Black Widow?"

Ned's confused eyes turned to Kara. "Aren't they de—"

"No, Ned."

"Orchid and Quicksilver?"

At this, Amelia and Maximoff turned so that Flash could see their faces.

Upon realizing that his last guess had actually, somehow, been correct, Flash's face paled and his body instantly shrunk down in fear. The few friends behind him had a similar reaction, and, as inconspicuous as possible, they gradually began to step backwards.

Kara's eyes widened as Amelia slowly got up from her spot, her hardened brown eyes glued onto the cowering boy.

"Please don't," Kara muttered as she grabbed Amelia's hand and tugged it. "Just sit down, you drama queens."

As usual, Amelia didn't bother to listen and only gave her a reassuring smile while Maximoff stood. She let out a silent groan as the two made their way over to Flash, though there wasn't much she could do now except pray.

"Is there a problem here?" Amelia questioned with folded arms as soon as they had reached him.

"U-Uh, no, no, Ms. Orchid," Flash stammered, shaking his head furiously. "N-No problems here. Heh."

"Right, right," Amelia humoured with a step forward. "And, if you wouldn't mind, could you point to who you were talking about? This, um . . . 'Penis Parker'?"

"Oh, uh, it's just a—a little joke between, um, Peter and me," Flash chuckled as he looked over to Peter with a pleading look. "We're f-friends. Right, Peter? Right?"

Peter's eyebrows furrowed. ". . . No?"

Flash gave another laugh that was far more nervous than the last. "He's just ki-kidding around, heh."

Maximoff let out a small chuckle of amusement before folding his arms. "What do they call you?"

"Um, Flash, Mr. Quicksilver, sir."

"Flash, huh?" Maximoff echoed with a smirk as he toyed with a lollipop he had grabbed. "Why do they call you that? Is it because you're" —Peter suddenly appeared behind Flash, a grin on his face as he peered over his shoulder—"fast?"

"Oh, it's just—just a nickname, sir," Flash defended quickly with another scoffing chuckle. "I just, um . . ."

Flash's wallet was suddenly in Maximoff's hands, open as he looked through the contents. "Eugene?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Is that your name?"

"Uh, y-yeah?" Flash confirmed apprehensively, nearly dropping his wallet when Maximoff had tossed it in his direction.

"Listen very closely," Maximoff began with a lowered voice as he leaned towards the boy. "because we're only going to say this once."

"Unless you're gonna be nice," Amelia continued, "stay away from our family."

"Far, far away," added Maximoff threateningly.

"Because we've dealt with assholes a lot bigger—"

"—and a lot more powerful than you could possibly imagine."

It was obvious that Flash was now more nervous than ever as he gulped and trembled, and, though Kara wasn't still all too happy about Amelia and Maximoff's grand entrance, she felt a sense of gratitude rise inside of her.

"Do you have a family, Flash?" Amelia questioned as she leaned towards him.

"Uh, y-yeah?"

"Tell you what, Geney," Maximoff began.

"You focus on your family," Amelia continued.

"And we'll focus on ours," Maximoff concluded with a smile that had no means of kindness behind it. "Nice and simple."

"I don't want to hear about this again," Amelia said sternly. "Are we clear?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Flash reassured her with a quiver in his voice, nodding. "Crystal clear."

"Good."

"And do us all a favour . . ." Maximoff added as he patted the boy's shoulder. "Work on your name game."

"I'll make sure to tell Spider-Man and Psionic you said hi!" Amelia giggled before giving a wave of goodbye.

Kara groaned as she laid her head on the table, hearing the two sets of footsteps coming up from behind her. Yes, she was more than delighted to see Flash squirm, but in no way was that worth all the other shit.

"Such a big mouth for such a small man," Maximoff chuckled as he grabbed a burger.

"Karamel," Amelia chided, and Kara felt her hair suddenly being swept aside. "I was expecting this, like, six-foot-five beefcake."

"That kid's a twig, you could've taken him with your eyes closed!" Maximoff laughed in agreement. "Before the accident!"

That was a statement outrageous enough to elicit Kara to lift her head and scoff. "And risk a detention? No way."

"I mean . . ." Amelia shrugged. "One little flip on the mat in gym would've been enough."

"Yeah, but then his army of friends would come after us," Ned pointed out with a sigh.

"Army of what?" Maximoff quipped. "Breadsticks?"

"Hey, they can be scary," Ned protested, raising his hands in defence.

"They're not," Kara scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "They're just pains in the ass."

"Well . . . I'm sure they won't bother you now," Amelia said, though that didn't make Kara feel all that better.

Maximoff glanced at the half-eaten burger in Amelia's hands. "Are you gonna eat that burger?"

It seemed as though Amelia's attention was paid elsewhere as she handed her burger to her boyfriend, and Kara followed her gaze to see that it was on Peter, who was glumly playing with his wrapper.

"You okay over there, Parker?"

Upon the call of his name, Peter straightened up, though he did a terrible job of hiding his gloomy expression. "Yeah."

"He's been depressed all morning," Ned sighed as he shrugged, and Kara gave a short nod of agreement.

"Peter, honey," Amelia quickly called, gaining the attention of Maximoff. "You remember how excited the kids at the Mansion were when they saw Spider-Man on TV?"

Maximoff gave a hum of agreement. "Wouldn't shut up about him."

"You know, I remember when Spider-Man first started saving the city," Amelia continued with a short sigh. "Back with that . . . creepy suit and goggles."

"Yeah, and the kids tried to take my goggles and wear red hoodies to dress up like him."

"They sure did love him."

Kara chanced a glance at Peter, who was beginning to smile, and she felt her own lips being tugged upwards to reflect it.

"But what I think the thing is . . . they believed in him before," Amelia said lightly as she crumpled up the wrapper of her burger. "Just like how they believe in him now, because they know he'll still do the right thing. No matter what suit he's wearing."

"You really think so?" Peter asked softly.

Amelia nodded. "I know so."

A breath of relief escaped Kara's lips as they were interrupted by the warning bell.

"Goodness, your lunch is short!" Amelia exclaimed as they all got to their feet.

Kara nodded as she zipped up her lunch pail. "And thank God it is."

"Well, thank you for hosting us, this afternoon," Amelia said grandly as she walked towards Ned while her boyfriend threw away all the wrappers. "We should do it again sometime!"

"No," Kara called.

Ned grinned. "Definitely!"

Amelia chuckled as she embraced him. "Thank you, Ned."

"Anything for you, Orchid!"

Kara rolled her eyes as Maximoff gave her a grin that she was all too used to, and she muttered, "I hope you die."

"Bye, Parker," Amelia continued as she stepped towards the other boy. "Good luck on your next Spanish test."

He gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

Knowing that she was next, Kara made sure to make her glare as clear as possible while Amelia rounded the table towards her.

"Karamel, do I not get a hug?" she questioned, causing Kara to scoff and lean back.

"Absolutely not."

"Please?"

"No."

"Listen, that shouldn't be something that you have to tolerate," Amelia sighed, her gaze shifting between the trio. "Any of you. And if you're not going to stick up for yourself, then we will."

Maximoff gave a nod of agreement as he wrapped an arm around Kara. "No matter what."

Kara clicked her tongue, though she couldn't help but feel the corners of her lips tug upwards into a smile. Despite the fact that it was going to dig a grave for her, the two of them have always been there for her.

A little reluctantly, she walked over to Amelia and embraced her, receiving a tight hug in response.

"Bye, Karamel," Amelia murmured before drawing back and chucking under her chin. "We're still going shopping, right?"

Kara gave a tiny nod as she folded her arms.

With one last smile and a muttered goodbye to Maximoff, Kara watched as the pair headed towards the exit, ignoring all the hushed whispers and following eyes.

"They're so awesome," Ned sighed dreamily.

"Let's go," Kara said quickly as she stood up and grabbed her lunch. "We'll be late if we don't hurry."

—♟—

The frown Kara had been wearing the entire afternoon was still on her lips as she walked into one of the lounge rooms of the Compound.

Helen and Rhodey were deep in conversation on the couch as she stepped in, though their attention quickly drew to her as she dropped her backpack onto the ground and sighed.

"Hey, honey."

"Hi, Kara."

Kara huffed once more as she sat on the opposing couch and leaned back with folded arms. "Hi."

Helen's eyebrows furrowed at her grumpy mood, and she cautiously asked, "How was school?"

"Do you want me to say 'good' or do you want me to say the truth?"

She chuckled. "I think you know the answer."

"It was good."

Helen tilted her head as she pointed out, "I meant the other one."

"Amelia and Maximoff came," Kara informed them with a small pout.

Rhodey's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought Tony said not to?"

She let out a small scoff. "Since when did they listen to Uncle Tony?"

He shrugged, nodding as he admitted, "That's fair."

"What happened?" Helen questioned worriedly as she leaned forward. "There wasn't any . . . violence involved, was there?"

"No, thank God," Kara sighed as she tilted her head back onto the couch. "Though it would kinda be funny, I'll admit—"

"Kara."

"Just a little," Kara giggled before her expression became serious once more. "But no, they just confronted Flash and embarrassed him in front of the entire cafeteria."

Rhodey shrugged. "That's not such a bad thing, is it?"

"Well, in itself, no," Kara agreed. "It was fantastic, really."

Helen's eyes narrowed as she pressed, "And otherwise?"

"I didn't hear a word that my teachers said over all the 'Oh my God, Kara, were Orchid and Quicksilver here to visit you?' and the 'Holy crap, can you give me Quicksilver's number?'" Kara complained, shutting her eyes. "Not to mention, Peter and Ned weren't even able to sit next to me, they couldn't even sit in the same row as me! Everyone was too busy trying to cram themselves next to me."

Rhodey shrugged again as he pointed out, "That just means you're popular."

"No, it means I know popular people, and they are just trying to find a way to get to them through me!" Kara corrected as she straightened up. "I want real friends! Not those stupid people who want to know if I can hook them up with Thor!"

"You said no to the Thor thing, right?" Helen asked hurriedly, her eyebrows quickly knitting together.

"Of course I did!" Kara exclaimed as she threw her hands into the air. "He's, like, a thousand years old!"

"But that's not so bad," Helen mumbled. "I mean, he still looks young."

"Mom."

"I'm just saying."

"Wait," Rhodey interrupted, holding a hand out. "People already knew you know the Avengers, right? So . . . why are they bothering you now? It's old news."

"They bother me every day, Uncle Rhodey," Kara corrected with a shake of the head. "I can barely get past a day without someone asking me for 'inside details' about Iron Man or Captain America."

Rhodey, however, didn't seem all too bothered about the complaint as he leaned forward and asked, "Does anyone ask about War Machine?"

"Uh . . ." Kara stared at him for a moment before clearing her throat and awkwardly continuing, "Anyway, I've already learned to deal with that, but just having those two dummies come to the school caused this whole uproar!"

"Kara, honey, they were just trying to help," Helen said gently while Rhodey gave her an offended look. "You know how overprotective they are of you. Especially since that incident when you were younger."

"I know, but I can fend for myself!" Kara exclaimed as she leaned back in her seat. "I'm frickin' Psionic!"

"No one knows you're Psionic, though," Helen pointed out.

"And you haven't really been fending for yourself," added Rhodey with a shrug.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Call him . . ." Kara licked her lips as she tried to come up with a name before settling on: "Fussy Flash or something?"

"'Fussy Flash'?" Rhodey repeated with a laugh. "Oh, Kara . . . no."

"You get my point!"

"Well, it's over now," Helen said softly. "There's nothing that can change the fact that they came to your school, or that you know the Avengers."

"I know, it's just . . . frustrating," Kara sighed. "I never know if people actually like me for me or because I know a dude in an expensive metal suit."

"Of course everyone likes you for you!" Helen chided with a pitying smile. "You're a great girl."

"I only have, like, four real friends at school. And one of them is graduating," Kara realized, and she groaned loudly. "Oh my God, I'm only gonna have three friends next year."

Rhodey wrinkled his nose. "That's sad."

"James!" Helen exclaimed, whacking his arm as she turned towards him.

He raised his hands in defence as he protested, "I'm just saying!"

"He's right," Kara said glumly, her shoulders slumping. "It's sad."

Helen hit Rhodey's arm once more before turning back to her daughter. "Kara, I know the Avengers and I have plenty of friends."

Kara raised her eyebrows. "How many of them work for you?"

Helen pursed her lips together before quickly saying, "That's beside the point."

"Is it?" she asked dubiously, though her mother only waved a dismissive hand in rebuttal.

"Hey," Helen sighed. "If you only have three friends, so be it. They're great people—one of them is Spider-Man! And that's only at school. You have other people—Amelia, Peter, Jean, Kurt, you know, all those X-Men, and everyone here. That's all you need."

Kara pressed her lips together and nodded. She knew Amelia and Maximoff meant well, and, of course, they were wonderful friends (she would never admit that to their faces, though). And though she only had four real friends in school, they were ones that Kara couldn't love any more.

"Think on the bright side, Kara. You've got me," Rhodey pointed out with a grin, causing Kara to scrunch her face. "That's all you need. Uncle Rhodey is one of a kind."

"Yeah, Uncle Rhodey," Kara said slowly, her tone the least genuine as could be, "you definitely are . . . one of a kind."

Rhodey's eyebrows furrowed. "Why'd you say it like that?"

Kara glanced at the time on her phone, and she sighed as she stood up, brushing off her jeans. "Thanks for the pep talk, Mom. Anyway, I've gotta go; I'm going shopping for a homecoming dress with Amelia."

"I thought you were mad at her?" Rhodey scoffed as Kara grabbed her backpack.

"I'm always mad at her for something," Kara said over her shoulder as she began to head towards the stairs. "Doesn't mean we can't get along!"

Rhodey's voice called after her, "That doesn't make any sense!"