Here to haunt me?

6. What we both want.

Ana was all dressed up when she entered Juliette's room. She would be seeing some movie with Wesley, while Jule stayed home. It had only been two days since she found out about Peter's secret, and it was constantly on her mind. 

Her friend stood in front of her mirror, re-applying her eyeliner. Juliette's entire room was decorated, she liked everything cosy. She sat on the tiny coach opposite from her bed, thinking about the boy behind the mask. He loved her, and he didn't even really know her. None of her friends did. She would never stop dreading the day she had to tell them everything. Hopefully that was never. 

She thought about his suit. It was really well made, but he obviously didn't buy it. With a jolt, she realized that was probably where he got his mysterious sewing experience from. Or maybe a costume designer from the Avengers' team made it for him. He was one of them, or so she thought. She wished she could ask him about it, but she'd have to explain how she knew, and that wasn't an option.

When Ana was done and ready to go, she spoke, "Alright, how do I look?"

"Amazing. Go blow his mind!" Juliette responded. Her friend grinned and gave her a wink before heading out the door. 

Despite how much she loved her, Juliette was happy to have some privacy. Ana's parents were out too, which meant she could practice her visible magic. She closed her door, and the blinds. When she felt it was safe, she let the red light run through her fingers. 

It felt amazing to let off some of the pressure on her magic again. Sometimes, especially when she was angry or surprised, the power thrummed in her blood, begging her to use it. Juliette had had her fair share of bullying, like every other 'weird kid' in the school. Her red hair was a thing, but her accent was the real laughing stock. Now she shut up purposefully when the popular kids walked by, just so she wouldn't fling one into the air.

She slowly lifted a book into the air, then two more. She tried to keep them there as she walked over to turn off the lights. Then the whole room was lit by only the red, connecting her mind to the floating books. It reminded her of her mother's magic, which was the same color. 

Her mom had been so strong, Juliette couldn't believe she was killed at first. But she guessed there wasn't much anyone could do against six infinity stones.

A notification popped up on her phone. It was a news outlet, there was a car chase going on near Central Park. It said to stay away, but she suspected a certain masked hero wouldn't. So neither would she. She lowered the books slowly onto her desk, turned on the lights, and put on her suit. 

As much as she would have liked to teleport to the scene, she desperately needed to practice flying. And it was nearly dark, so this was the perfect time. She cast another warning shield over her door, and jumped out her window. Their condo was pretty high up, so she fell for a few seconds before she pushed away from the ground at an angle. She had to steer with her arms for a bit, but eventually flew above the buildings. 

It took her a lot of effort to fly and keep her magic invisible on the ground. But eventually she saw the cars and blazing sirens. She spotted the leading car, and a familiar silhouette hanging off it. She flew parallel to the cars, and saw Spider-Man break through the window of the car being chased. 

He grabbed a hold of the wheel and swerved right, hitting a lamp post. Luckily for the driver, he got him out right before the impact. They rolled on the ground together, and Spidey immediately got up and webbed the man to the ground.

When the police had caught up, they thanked the hero and grabbed the criminal. It took them a second, but they got the webs unstuck from the ground using this dissolving solution. Juliette suspected Spider-Man had given it to the cops to use. 

Speaking of Spider-Man, or Peter, he was now nowhere to be seen. Juliette searched for him in the skies, but she found nothing. He must have already been heading home. So she turned around as well. 

But when she flew quickly just above the buildings, something slammed into her. Not something, someone. 

Juliette tried to break free, but there was nothing she could do as strong arms held her and moved her to a nearby high rooftop. They landed ungracefully and he let go. She crawled away, ready to jump off the building, but she looked back at her attacker. Peter stood in behind her, arms crossed.

It took her a second, but she managed to collect herself. She looked at him with a face of annoyance. He spoke first.

"Who are you?" He said. 

"That's none of your business, spider." His voice sounded exactly like Peter's, now that she knew. Juliette hated how uninterested she must look, because she felt exactly the opposite. She just needed to get out of here as fast as possible, she couldn't have him figuring out who she was.

He stalked towards her a bit. "Your magic reminds me of someone I knew." Juliette was surprised, and she couldn't hide it.

She couldn't help herself, so she asked, "And who is that?"

Peter said softly, "A very powerful Avenger. Wanda Maximoff."

Hearing him say her mother's name like that sent a shiver down her spine. She just replied, "Interesting." 

After a minute of silence where the two just studied each-other, she asked, "How did you know Wanda Maximoff?"

His shoulders slumped just the tiniest bit, and he said, "I-", he paused, considering something, then continued, "I fought with her against Thanos. She protected me. Just like you did."

It was definitely time to go now, but Juliette couldn't stop staring at him. He fought in the war? Did they meet, did her mother know him? She wanted to ask him everything, but she stopped herself. She should just send herself home, he wouldn't be able to trace her then.

Before she left, she wanted to know one more thing. With newfound boldness, she moved closer to him, until they were nearly face to face. Although he was still a few inches taller than her.

She spoke softly, "How much of me do you see?" 

The day he had first seen her, she had felt like he saw right through her shield. Luckily she had still worn a mask. No-one should be able to see through her identity spell. If a person had seen her, they only thing they should have remembered was a red and black silhouette in the air. But Peter had remembered, she knew from when she had read his mind.

He clenched his jaw, and responded, "I see you. I see your red hair, your eyes. I hear your accent." 

Juliette touched her hand to his face. The material of his suit was soft, and she could feel the warmth of his skin under it.

He continued, "I feel your magic. It's soft, and bright. I felt your fear through your shield that day with the robbery. Were you afraid for me?" She stared up at him.

She gave him a quick nod, far too focused on the movement of his lips under the fabric. He noticed, so he pulled his mask up just a bit. Under it, she saw Peter's face, or just the bottom half of it. He slowly grabbed her chin, and the touch sent electricity though her body. 

She knew then that what they had was real. But they could never really have it.

"You don't know me," Juliette said, "we can't do this. Not without both of us giving up a piece of our lives." She left out the part where she had already stolen his.

Peter retracted a bit, and opened his mouth to say something. But before he could speak, she moved back to her room. 

What had she done?