Infelicity [P. Parker x Reader]

f o u r t y - f o u r

"We can't keep doing this to her!" Peggy shouted from down the hall.

"What else are we supposed to do? I don't want to send her away! It's not like they wouldn't find her again anyways," Dad tried to reason.

Beck had pulled me into yet another memory, but I already remembered a lot of this one. The stale air of the Brooklyn apartment; the golden sunlight of the afternoon; both of my parents fighting about my safety down the hall.

I was technically supposed to be napping, but who would want to nap at a time like this?

The eyes of my younger self carefully watched the shadows under the closed bedroom door as pacing commenced.

"Stark may have a way. . ." Peggy's voice lowered for a few seconds.

"No!" Dad shouted. "That doesn't mean they still won't be able to reach her. This just puts her in a place where we don't know what's going to happen."

"Oh, Steve. What else is there to do?" The pacing stopped and the shadows merged together. "I don't like this any more than you do, but it may die down in a few years. Then everything can go back to what it was."

A period of what felt like hours stretched the seconds and I was left to the part of the memory I didn't remember. Silence was on both ends; the only thing audible is the ever-present passing cars and other assorted white noises.

Dad sighed deeply. "If this is the only way. . ."

"I'll talk to Stark tomorrow."

The world faded into a black that I had seen many times with Beck, but he didn't show this time. Instead, the next memory began it's line-up.

I was sitting in Stark's lab. Peggy and Dad were crouched down next to my chair, staring directly at me, almost as if memorizing what I looked like.

"Mr. Stark is going to give you some medication. It's supposed to help those headaches you've gotten ever since you touched the cube, okay?" Peggy ran a hand through my hair, before cupping it on my cheek. "Will you be a good girl for him and take it?"

I nodded my head slowly. It wasn't hard to tell something was up, but as a three year old, I wasn't going to bother them by asking; they wouldn't tell me.

Peggy stepped back from in front of me and Steve moved over in front of me.

"Love you, (Y/N/N). Remember that, okay?" Steve didn't really hold back the tears.

I watched as my younger self tilted her head, before asking, "Why are you sad, Daddy? Mr. Stawk is only going to help me feel better."

His eyes widened in shock. The tears were wiped from his eyes fast, and he, too, moved to stand next to Peggy.

"Alrighty, Miss (Y/N)," Mr. Stark said with a clap of his hands. "You ready?"

I once again nodded my head and he pulled out a shot from behind him. Sitting patiently and still, I watched as he rolled up my sleeve, quickly inserting the needle in after.

It was almost as if I could feel the prick of the needle and a slight buzz from the skin around it.

He carefully rolled down my sleeve when he was done and turned back to his table.

My memories were less focused from this point on and my thoughts were fuzzy.

At the confirmation of Stark that my younger form was out, Dad picked me up from the chair that I was already drooping in and carried me over to a grey chamber of sorts.