~Broken Family~

Connections

A/N: this chapter uses some more gloss, which is ASL in its written form. Sign has different sentence structure, so I hope it's not too confusing.

***

Harley was the only thing on Gwen's mind.

HEY, Billy waved for her attention. WRONG, WHAT?

NOTHING, she signed quickly. TIRED.

Billy shot her a disbelieving look, but they continued their walk home. HOW SPIDER? he asked, grinning as his fingers skittered forwards like one.

FINE, she said with a huff.

HAPPEN, WHAT?

Gwen pondered this for a moment, then decided to tell him the truth. MEET OLD FRIEND. AFTER SCHOOL.

Billy's eyes lit up in happiness for his foster sister. GREAT! WHO?

NAME H-A-R-L-E-Y. FRIEND-'S BROTHER.

Something seemed to take old of Billy. He grabbed her wrist, waving desperately in front of her face with his other one.

"What?" she pried his hand off her. "Jeez, what are you---"

BROTHER NAME? he asked quickly. Gwen almost didn't catch it because of how fast he signed it, and the fact that his hands were shaking.

P-E-T-E-R. BUT I---

Billy made a squealing noise and shook her shoulders. "That's my brother!" he shouted. "That's my brother!"

"What?" Gwen cried, trying to sign through Billy's continuous shaking. "Okay, first, put me down, I---"

Billy turned away and did a little excited spin, repeatedly signing GLASSES but with a P.

THAT SIGN NAME? Gwen asked in confusion. Billy nodded enthusiastically.

PETER, he started, using his sign name that Gwen hadn't known about, LONG AGO [medium] LIVE WITH ME, PROTECT ME AND KIDS. HELP ME ACCEPT DEAF. NOW LIVE WITH T-O-N-Y S-T-A-R-K. LIVE WITH  SISTER AND BROTHER, NAME H-A-R-L-E-Y!

Gwen let out a dry laugh of disbelief, tears shining in her eyes.

Billy was Peter's brother.

Kind of.

AMAZING! BELIEVE, DIFFICULT.

YES, Billy agreed, walking so fast Gwen found it hard to keep up. And she was the one with superpowers.  YOU PETER-'S FRIEND?

YES!

YOU HE TALK ABOUT ALWAYS YOU, Billy signed with a smile. I NEVER MEET YOU.

NOW WE SIBLINGS SAME! (too)

YES! YOU PETER-'S SISTER NOW!

Gwen laughed, making Billy giggle. YEAH.

They walked back, talking about Peter and all the stupid things he'd done in the past. All the things that had made them smile and wonder why in the world they were friends with that kid.

***

Gwen was standing in the burned, ashy remains of a building that sunk into a little crater. The sky was an ugly orange color, adding to the creepiness of her charred surroundings. It bounced off the surface of a familiar river behind the place. This couldn't be the compound...could it?

She glanced around, heart leaping farther and farther up her throat the more she saw.

Dead bodies everywhere. Most nonhuman, ugly aliens, some Wakandan, a few Asgardian. To her left, an Iron Man suit lay sprawled on the ground, silver where the gold should be and a little smaller. An alien spear was stuck straight through the chest plate, breaking past the armor she had previously thought impenetrable. The body stood out from all the rest and filled her with a sudden desperation. Was it Tony? Had she let her best friend's dad be killed?