Ashlyn's pov:
Ash woke up after a two-hour rest.
She had wanted to sleep a little longer however she kept having these weird dreams involving Oliver's head on a scarecrow in the middle of a grass field. Ash didn't like it so she didn't bother going back to sleep even though she was still exhausted. The good thing was that even though she didn't get much sleep her injuries had still managed to heal. So other than the fact that she kept yawning and her throat was very dry from the lack of water, she was good as new.
Ash forced her feet to carry her out of the guest room and into the kitchen. There was a plate of eggs on the table with a little note from Steve telling her to eat up. She sat down and dug into the food. After a week of not eating a thing, this was heaven.
Ash was so focused on her food that she didn't even notice the person walking into the kitchen until they sat down next to her, which made her jump slightly.
She breathed out a relieved sigh when she saw it wasn't one of the assassins from the field.
It was Peter.
He offered her a glass of water which she happily accepted. They didn't talk for a few minutes as Ash finished her food and water. Once Ash had placed her plate and cup in the sink and washed her hands, she sat down on the couch and began playing with the remote. Peter came and sat next to her. Ash could tell he wanted to ask, she was thankful that he hadn't done so yet, but she couldn't keep everything bottled up, Maya always said it was really bad when people did that.
"You can ask Peter, I know you want to" Peter sighed out and Ash turned off the TV, waiting for him to ask her what he wanted to.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to- I don't want to make this uncomfortable- maybe you don't even want to talk about it- you know what just forget what I-"
"Peter" Ash said calmly in an attempt to calm him down. He gave her a small smile and took a deep breath.
"Where did Oliver take you? And you don't have to answer if you don't want to" he said the last part very quickly since Ash slightly frowned at the first question. She replaced her frown with a sad smile. She really didn't want to talk about this but she should really let it out before it became trauma, if it wasn't already.
"Well I woke up in a hospital" She began and Peter's eyes immediately found hers.
"A hospital?" Peter asked and Ash nodded.
"Funny how he healed me before trying to kill me," She said with a small laugh. Peter didn't seem to find this very funny. He was looking at her with a worried expression and Ash looked away.
"The hospital was empty. Took me at least an hour to find the exit, and the place was huge. Outside the hospital was a tall grass field. The biggest one I've ever seen"
Peter was listening intensely to her story and Ash couldn't help but sigh as she remembered the knife she used to cut the chip out of her arm. Maybe Peter didn't need to know the details, she didn't want him to get traumatized.
"He sent some of the people from the orphanage out into the field to kill me. It's safe to say, it wasn't a very good week."
Peter nodded and it was a few seconds before he opened his mouth to ask her another question.
"How did you get to the Hydra base?"
"Eventually I found a small town at the edge of the field and stole a car. I didn't even know what country I was in, imagine how panicked I felt" Ash let out a small laugh as she remembered how scared she had been.
Peter's pov:
Peter watched as she laughed slightly, although Peter didn't find it remotely funny. If he had been in that situation, he didn't know what he would've done.
"Well I'm glad you're back" Peter couldn't stop the words before they left his mouth, although he did mean them. Ash stopped laughing and smiled slightly, Peter liked when she did that.
"Yeah, me too."
There was a few minutes of silence after that although it wasn't uncomfortable. Peter half expected her to say she was going to sleep but she didn't. Although he would never bring it up, part of him thought it was because she might be getting nightmares. He suddenly had a very good idea and he mentally slapped himself for not thinking of it earlier.
He stood up very suddenly and Ash just looked up at him.
"Follow me, I want to show you something." She hesitated before standing up as well.
"If this is some kind of trick Parker, I'm gonna kill you"
Peter just chuckled.
--------
The elevator doors opened to reveal the balcony of the tower. It was a very open area and it had an amazing view of the city and the stars. Peter often came here when he wasn't able to sleep and he knew that some of the others did too. Peter walked up to the edge and dangled his legs off the side. Ash walked to where he was but she remained standing. Peter was half worried that she would accidentally slip.
"Don't fall," He said and she shook her head with a small smile.
"Nothing I haven't done before"
It took Peter a minute to remember the time she had straight up jumped out the window.
"We couldn't find you, how'd you do that?" He was impressed by her past dramatic exit. Ash just smiled and shrugged.
"I'll never tell."
She sat down next to him and shivered slightly as a gust of wind passed them. Without thinking, Peter removed his Midtown hoodie and handed it to her. She hesitated at first but after a moment she took it and put it on. Peter smiled, it looked good on her.
Ashlyn's pov:
Out of the corner of her eye Ash watched as Peter removed his hoodie.
What she didn't expect was for him to offer it to her. Ash wanted to remind him that she could easily give herself one and that she didn't need his but something stopped her. She took the hoodie and put it on, it was very comfortable.
Ash sighed and looked up at the stars, they were very visible from up here. Ash had been on her fair share of rooftops at night but it was usually for a mission and she wouldn't have time to admire the view. Now, however, her mission was complete. Oliver was dead, it was over. Ash smiled at that thought although part of her was yelling at herself not to be so naive,
it was never really over, not for her anyway. Always another mission, another job that needed completing.
What was going to happen now?
Her relationship with the Avengers was complicated but they weren't enemies.
Why was she even here?
Tony hadn't even bothered asking where she lived, he just brought her here like it was a normal thing.
What did that mean?
Steve had tried to ground her, even telling her that he could be her dad. Ash wasn't sure how she felt about that. Saying she "didn't have to stay hidden anymore."
How was she supposed to feel about that?
Ash was brought out of her argument with herself when Peter cleared his throat. She looked at him and by the suddenly worried expression he was wearing, she guessed that the look on her face was something other than calm.
"Are you okay?" He asked carefully.
Ash sighed. She had so many questions but they could wait for tomorrow.
For now, they were safe, and that was all that mattered.
Peter's pov:
"Are you okay?" He asked her carefully
She sighed but then nodded.
Peter wanted to do it-
Maybe?
He wasn't honestly sure
He had always been pretty shy but...
Now was his chance
He took a deep breath and before he could stop himself-
"Hey, Ash?"
"Yeah, Peter?"
"Would you maybe like to... go out sometime?"
A/N:
I just realized....
the story is almost over....
hope y'all have been enjoying it!