The little girl was sitting on a blanket, watching the baby lying next to her intently. Her little brother. She couldn't believe it! If she had known before, she wouldn't have been angry with her mother for neglecting her so much. She wasn't stupid, she knew Peter needed much more attention. She looked around the empty garden and was a little sad.
"You'll get used to it in time," she whispered to her brother, who rolled his brown eyes at her. He had the same eyes as her, she liked that. "You know what, Petey? Actually, you won't have to. Because you will have me. I will always be here for you. I will protect you. You will never feel abandoned like me. I promise you'll be able to count on me. I'll be the only person in your life who will never hurt you," she promised him and leaned over to give him a kiss on the forehead. Peter smiled at her as if he understood what she was saying.
"How adorable," said the brown-haired woman standing with Richard in the doorway of the house. "I want to throw up," she added in disgust, then whispered something to her stepfather. He sighed and disappeared back into the house.
"Mom," Teresa greeted her, but she wasn't too happy to see her mother. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen her, but now that she had a brother with her, she didn't even remember her mother. Which didn't happen to her often.
"What do you think you are doing? We didn't rase you to be naive. Do you really think you'll never hurt him?" Mary asked scornfully.
"Never!" Teresa insisted.
Mary gave her an amused look. "Interesting," she muttered, looking at her second child. She wishes she could leave him here, just like she did with Teresa back then. The role of a loving mother didn't suit her very well. "Now listen to me very well, my dear. Your brother was a mistake just like you, but you will be my pride. Do you understand? He could never do what was needed. His father will stop him, but you can do great things one day. I'll harden you. You will not be afraid of anything. You will have nothing to lose because you will have nothing in life. Peter comes from a rich family. He gets everything on a golden platter, and you know what kind of people like him are. So say goodbye now, because this is the last time you see your brother. You better forget about this day, because if I find out that you have a sibling bond with your brother, I'll make your life hell," she told her menacingly.
And so Teresa did it. She suppressed the memory of that day. And everything was fine until Richard decided to thwart her plans. That idiot! He knew she would fire, and he stood there as if he had never seen a gun. She didn't have anyone now, but she had that stupid memory she'd rather not remember. She was a child, her promises had no weight! She suppressed it once, she can suppress it again. It won't stop her. Nothing will stop her.
She looked at the photo she had stolen from Richard from the office just before he left. As if she knew something like this would happen. From the photo, a smiling three-year-old Teresa stared at her, sitting on Richard's lap, about to blow out the candles on the cake. He wasn't her dad. He was only the scientist who cared for her when her mother couldn't. He wasn't her dad. He wasn't. She won't miss him.
She pulled another picture of Peter smiling from her trouser pocket. "Time to change plans, brother," she whispered. She had no one left. Exactly as her mother said - she had nothing to lose. She will do what is needed. She'll make sure Peter knows what it's like to be alone. She will gradually get rid of everyone he cares about, and then he will be alone. Then he will have nothing to lose like Teresa. They will finally be together. No one will stop them.
"I'll take care of you, Petey, I promise," she said with a small smile, hiding both photos back in her pocket. At that time, her promises had no weight, but today she was an adult and knew what she promised. She had to start focusing on her goal because Peter's family was huge and it would give her a lot of work. And she must get rid of his parents first.
•••
Natasha watched as Peter change his clothes and washed, hugged Pepper, whom he apparently was telling, how he got dirty with the sauce, so he disappeared for a while so he could change and wash. Pepper just laughed at that, and Tony looked at her to make sure everything was in order. Nat nodded, though she was still alert. Peter didn't tell them much, but the assailant was alone, so she probably wouldn't try anything tonight. She wouldn't stand a chance against everyone. When Tony turned his attention back to his wife and son, she headed back to Bruce, who was now talking to Steve about something. Bucky was after her.
The redhead joined them without a word. She put her arm around her boyfriend's waist, not trying to disturb him, but Bruce still stopped talking halfway through the sentence and gave her a look.
"Where have you been?" he asked with a smaller wrinkle on his forehead.
"I had to go for a walk. I drank more than I should," she replied, giving him a smile. At that moment, Bucky joined them, and Nat couldn't tell at first if Bruce frowned at the soldier's presence or at the fact that he knew she was lying to him.
"And you were in the woods?" He wondered, reaching for her so he could pull a twig out of her hair.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but it's all over the woods around here," she informed him, a little amused, hoping he'd let it be.
Bruce saw in the periphery that Bucky was watching them closely, and suddenly something occurred to him that he would rather not think of. "Were you in the woods with Bucky?" he asked in an unusually low voice.
"Excuse me?" Natasha countered. Bruce mentioned that he was a little jealous of James, but Natasha had never seen him jealous. And she had to admit that at the moment she wanted to drag him into the forest, and she would definitely do other things with him than with Bucky. But that wasn't allowed at their friends' wedding.
"Were you there with her?" He asked again, but this time directly to Bucky, who took a step back.
"Yes, but it certainly wasn't what you thinking it was," he said, raising his hands in front of him as if it were supposed to protect him if Bruce turned into a Hulk.
"I don't trust you much," he informed him. "Don't think I didn't notice you pinning after Nat!"
"Natasha," Tony arrived, wanting to know what really happened, but stopped when he looked at the four. "Am I interrupting?" He asked hesitantly. Steve seemed to prefer to fall to the ground while Natasha looked amused. The peaceful Bruce seemed to be able to kill someone without changing a shade, and given how was Barnes' looking, Tony guessed it was he Bruce wanted to strangle.
"Not at all, James and I are clarifying a few things here," Bruce said, but he didn't take his eyes off the super-soldier.
Tony looked at the redhead, who pointed at herself with a smile. "Okay, I think you should have a drink without alcohol," he said, amused as well, taking Bruce's glass from his hand.
"I'm fine!" The scientist defended, but Tony took him by the shoulders and stepped away from the others a short distance away.
"I know what this is about, Brucie, do you think I've never been jealous? That's the disadvantage of having such wonderful women as the two of us have," he confided.
"It's easy to tell for you, Pepper just married you," Bruce sighed.
"It doesn't change anything, buddy. Listen, I really understand you, but believe me, in this case, you are jealous completely unnecessarily," he tried to tell him. "Now do me a favor and go check on Thor. I thought I saw him with a beer in his hand."