Here to haunt me?

8. Time to go back.

Juliette told her friend she was going to the library to study for her English test. She didn't leave until Ana had assured her she would be okay alone. The breakup, if you could even call it that, had definitely devastated her, but she was glad she had seen his true colors.

However, the library wasn't where Juliette was headed. She was supposed to meet Kate and her friend at a café on the way to Jersey City. The air was getting colder by the day as they headed towards winter. She was running a bit late, so she took the subway to get there on time. 

When she headed in the café, she recognized Kate immediately, and guessed the girl sitting next to her was her friend Kamala. Kate had been right, she did seem even younger than Juliette. 

When she came home after the talk with Clint and Kate, she had googled Ms. Marvel. What came up was a mixture of photos of Captain Marvel and blurred pictures of a person walking on what seemed like light. Kate had told her the girl's power was light, but she wondered what Kamala could actually do.

She walked over to their table and smiled politely. She was a bit nervous, she didn't know why. Even if they were teens, these were heroes. She had never been one before. The girls both greeted her happily, and Juliette felt a bit better. 

Kate started, "I'm so glad you want to join us, we really needed someone new. We thought it would be easier to find kid heroes, but it isn't." She moved to her friend beside her. "This is Kamala."

They shook hands, and Kamala was beaming when she said, "It's so nice to meet you! I was so happy when Kate texted me about you."

Kate clarified, "I didn't tell her anything about you yet. I thought you might want to introduce yourself." She looked at Juliette carefully, and she got what Kate meant. She hadn't said anything about her family, or her heritage.

"Thanks, Kate." She cleared her throat a bit. "My name's Juliette, and I'm almost 18." 

She was a bit dizzy, she hadn't told anybody this in the last two years. It was loud in the café, but she should still be careful. She spoke quietly when she continued; "I fled from Sokovia after my mom died in the fight with Thanos. I have a brother, but I haven't seen him since I left. He should be here in a couple days."

Kamala was gaping when she connected the dots; her mother having fought Thanos, Juliette having red hair and a Sokovian background and accent.

"Wow", was all the Pakistani girl said. Juliette looked at the two of them nervously, waiting for Kate's reaction. 

Although she probably already knew, Kate asked softly, "How many of her powers did you inherit?"

Juliette swallowed. "All of them, probably." She added, "My brother inherited my uncle's powers. The super speed." 

Kamala was laughing incredulously, saying; "I cannot believe I'm going to be on a superhero team with-" She stopped and lowered her voice. "With an Avenger's daughter. I can't believe this."

Juliette laughed a bit as well, and told the girl, "You better not start treating me like some celebrity." Kamala raised her hands defensively and shook her head. 

"I would never. We're all going to be famous soon, anyway." After a second, the three of them all burst out laughing. This was going to be a fun time, Juliette thought. Suddenly she realized something. She spoke the thought out loud.

"I might know someone else who could join. Maybe even two." She immediately regretted the second sentence. She was thinking her brother could join, which led to thinking Peter could as well. But being on a team with Peter would be utter disaster. She would never be able to focus.

"Scratch that, just one person. I was thinking my brother could join us, if he's planning to stay in New York with me." Kate nodded, and Kamala smiled again. They all agreed to have Juliette ask him when they met up. 

After that, they went over some details, safe addresses where they could suit up or crash. Juliette didn't bother to tell them she could suit up in a second. She also didn't bother to put her own address on the list. As long as she lived with Ana and her family, her address wasn't safe.

When in was time for Juliette to go, she got up to leave -- but the girls also got up, and hugged her after another. Kamala's hug energetic and Kate's hug crushing with happiness. She supposed her joining had really finalized the group. She might have given them purpose.

She was glowing with happiness when she finally walked home.

-

Unfortunately, Juliette had forgotten she and Ana had another meeting planned the next day. To keep making the Christmas costumes with Peter. 

When they walked to the room with the material, Juliette felt like sinking through the floor. She definitely wasn't ready to see him again if just the thought of him could make her feel like this. But she couldn't ignore him for the entire two hours. It was more strategic to act like nothing was different. She'd just have to try not to melt apart when he looked at her. 

They walked in the crafts room and Juliette's hart was pounding. Peter sat there already, caught up in his sewing. His hands were calloused. Could he naturally climb walls, were those hands adhesive? She saw thick flat bracelets around his wrists. His web shooters. How hadn't she noticed? She guessed she just didn't know where to look before.

He looked up at them, and a soft blush grew to his face. She smiled in return, having to scold herself after for being so easily distracted from her plan. They greeted him and sat down. 

Over the following hour, Peter kept looking over at her while they worked in silence. She had to force herself not to do the same, only giving herself a few looks at him. He wore a simple light blue button-up and sweatpants, and he made her hart go crazy. 

It only made her blush more when she realized that she probably made his hart do the same. After an hour Ana spoke, "Alright guys, I finished the stitching on this one." She handed it to Peter to check. 

He lifted it into the light to see if all the stitching was right. He responded, "It's all good, you're really-" He stopped suddenly. "You're really improving." After he finished his sentence and Ana started on the next costume, he looked around cautiously. She hated herself for it, but she slid into his mind again.

Wrong. Wrong, something was wrong. His spider-sense was going crazy. He focused and heard the kids talking in the cafeteria. Felt the footsteps on the floor in the hall outside. And then he heard it. Loud heels and boots clicking. The steps sounded bad. His sense told him something about them was wrong, something-

Juliette went back to her own mind. Peter's spider-sense, or so he called it, was the reason he looked so alert. He was checking the door that wasn't locked. The air vent not big enough for any of them to crawl through. The door was the only way out or in. She knew he was considering going out to check what is was. But he couldn't just get up, Ana would ask him what was up. It probably wasn't a villain he knew either, and the footsteps sounded like normal people.

So she and Peter both held their breath when the door was opened. Ana looked up at the man and woman in the doorway. Now Juliette's sense was screaming at her as well. She had to leave, leave now.

But Ana spoke, "Hey, how can we help you guys? Are you looking for anything?"

The man's eyes landed on Juliette, and he smiled. It sent a shiver down her spine. He nudged his partner. Juliette knew one thing then. They weren't there for Peter, Ana or even Spider-Man. They were there for her. And they saw right through her.