Babysitting a Superhero (Stark's daughter X Peter Parker)

26. Clarity - One of the Best Feelings in the World

"Okay," Spiderman smiled.

"I know I'm probably being annoying, acting like your mother and all. But honestly, once you start real training, food is gonna be your best friend. Trust me." Aura replied as she came and sat down next to Spiderman while he finished the rest of his sandwich.

"So how's Avengers life going?" He asked between bites.

"It's... going? Slowly. We still have lots of shit to work out. Ever since Lagos, things have been. Let's just say our relationship with the government hasn't really been the best," Aura said, sadly.

Peter finished his sandwich and threw the wrapper into the garbage below, pulling his mask down and wiping his hands on his suit.

"You were there, right? In Lagos? What happened? I heard stories, but no one knows what really happened," Spiderman instantly regretted saying that when he looked over and saw Aura looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me. I wasn't thinking."

Aura just smiled in return.

—————

Amara hadn't thought about Lagos in a while. She had managed to distract herself from the horrors of it all. But when Spiderman, unknowingly, mentioned it, it all came rushing back.

The guilt.

The fear.

The trauma.

The two of them had spent around 4 hours patrolling the streets of New York. Swinging and flying together. They had fun even though there was no danger or disturbances to take care of.

However, when they landed back where they started, the memories of Lagos washed over her once again.

"Are you okay?" Spiderman asked, clearly worried about Aura's lack of response. "Is this because I asked about Lagos? I'm really sorry, let's just talk about something else, okay?"

"Yeah. It's fine, it's just not something I've talked about for a while," Aura smiled sadly. "But I have to face it at some point right."

Spiderman cleared his throat, "if it makes you feel any better, which I doubt, I'm not gonna lie... but I..." he sighed, "I was trying to stop a robbery the other day. The guy was armed and he held someone at gunpoint. I should have gone for the gun, but I wanted to save the hostage. So I pulled the man away and didn't check what was going on around me. Next thing I knew, there was a gunshot. The robber let his gun off, and it hit an innocent bystander. The robber got arrested and the bystander survived, thank god, but she was severely injured. The doctors said at least 4 months recovery time." Amara listened to the story, intently. "I know it's nowhere near whatever it was that happened in Lagos, but you have to know. We're superheroes, not miracle workers. It's impossible to save everyone. All we can do is take the right decisions and try our best to save as many as we can."

Amara stared in front of her, not saying a word and digesting what Spiderman had just said to her. She was thankful for him, whether or not he knew it. "Thank you," she whispered.

Spiderman looked up, "It's alright. I realise it's not the same thing, far from it. Even though I don't really know what happened. But it's fine, you don't have to tell me, I swear. Should we patrol one more round? Then we can head home."

Amara felt safe with Peter. She knew she did. So why was she hiding? Why was she pretending?

Spiderman readied himself to stand up when Amara started talking.

"We had our first lead on a rogue Hydra agent. The ones Cap tried to take down a couple months ago, in Washington," Aura said as Spiderman sat down, next to her, once again.