No Time To Die - Billie Eilish
Was I stupid to love you?
Was I reckless to help?
Was it obvious to everybody else
That I'd fallen for a lie?
You were never on my side
Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?
Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die.
Amara was out for most of the plane journey. Although she hadn't let on, she was still exhausted from the helicopter incident and she desperately needed time to rest.
When she woke up, they only had one and half hours left before they were scheduled to land.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Tony sat on the sofa with a remote in his hand that was controlling the movies he was flicking through.
"Morning," he said to her as he turned around to face her. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, actually. I am," Amara said.
"Good. Cause you need your energy now."
"Yeah, I kind of forgot to ask why we're heading home."
"Right, I forgot to tell you. We're going to see your friend," Tony said, casually.
"I don't know if this is cause I just woke up or if I just understand, but why are we going to see MJ?" Amara asked, scrunching her eyebrows and rubbing her eyes.
"Not MJ!" Tony said, getting up from his seat and sitting on the seat opposite Amara. "Your other friend. What was his name?" He said trying to remember.
"Ned? Now I'm really confused," Amara said.
Tony rubbed his temples in frustration, "No! Why would we go to see-? Spiderman!"
Amara's eyes widened immediately and she sat up, "Peter?!"
"Peter! That was it!" Tony said pointing at her.
"Why do- why do we need to see Peter?"
"Why do you think?" He deadpanned. "We're recruiting him. Just for this mission, though."
"What, but, he's... wait..." Amara was stumbling over her words.
"Maybe you want to get that sentence out before we land."
"No you can't take me with you. Drop me back to the tower," Amara said, desperately.
"What are you talking about?" Tony said.
"He...he's gonna hate me," Amara said, frowning.
Tony sighed, "Okay, I'll play along. Why would he hate you?"
"Because he's gonna find out that I've been lying to him, ever since I met him."
Tony tilted his head in confusion, "Hang on, now I'm confused. I thought you told him the truth."
"Not exactly..."
"Amara!" Tony exclaimed.
"I tried so many times but it was just never the right moment or something came up and he had to leave before I said it! I can't help it!" Amara said, defensively.
"But, you came into my lab a week and a half ago begging me to let you tell him the truth. And you didn't do it?" Tony said, puzzled.
"No, I didn't get the chance!"
"You had a week and a half!"
"Just, please drop me home. I'll tell him later," Amara begged.
"Have you learnt nothing? The longer you leave it, the more betrayed and used he's gonna feel. And if he finds out that you didn't tell him even after this whole thing and you were fighting alongside each other, he'll hate you, pretty much. I'm saving you. I know it doesn't seem like it, right now, but I am," Tony said, getting up and going back to sit in front of the television screen.
Amara sighed and slumped back into her seat.
"And if it's that big of a deal, just call the kid and tell him now before we get there, give him time to be angry and hopefully cool down by the time we show up," Tony shrugged before finally settling on a movie.
Amara sighed and grabbed her phone, unlocking it as she moved to the further end of the plane.
She dialled Peter's number and held the phone up to ear as she waited for him to pick up.
"Hey," Peter's voice sounding through the speaker, before she immediately realised it was his voicemail, "this is Peter. I'm sorry I missed you. Leave a message and I'll get back to you, I guess."
When she heard the beep, she scrunched her face frustratedly and contemplated putting the phone down, but then she started talking, "Hey, Peter. It's Amara. I kind of need to talk to you about something. It's sort of important and... just call me back, please. Okay...bye."
She hung up and slumped onto the nearest seat while Tony raised his hand and said, "You did this to yourself. You should have told him before."
"Shut up!" Amara grunted.
After waiting a shocking total of about three minutes, Amara picked up her phone again and tried phoning once more.
She heard it ring and then, again, "Hey, this is Peter. I'm sorry I missed you. Leave a message and I'll get back to you, I guess."
Amara, childishly, shouted in frustration, hung up before she heard the beep and threw her phone onto the seat next to her, holding her face in her hands.
Amara closed her eyes and thoughts of Peter took over her mind. His scent, his fluffy hair, his brown eyes, but sometimes they were hazel if the light hit them just right. She thought of his smile and the warmth she felt when he smiled at her. She remembered the sound of his laugh that just made her want to sit still and look as it spread across his eyes, his cheeks and his mouth. She couldn't help but smile as she felt the joy emanating off him.
Amara had heard of a contagious smile even a contagious laugh, but Peter Parker had something different. He had this contagious happiness that forced everyone around him to feel genuinely happy. Just the thought of him would put a smile on her face and seeing him happy was like feeling that happiness for herself.
Amara's heart sank at the thought of losing that. Of losing Peter.
"He's gonna hate me. And he's never gonna talk to me again," Amara said, hopelessly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "And there's nothing I can do about it."
Tony must have felt some sympathy towards his daughter because he let out a breath and paused his movie, getting up to come and sit with her again.
He stood in front of her and patted her back, "Come on, kid, you're fine."
Amara looked up and Tony noticed the tears in her eyes. He was shocked but almost instantly kneeled down in front of her, "Hey. Hey, Amara, You're Okay. It's okay. He's your friend, right? He'll understand. It might take a bit of time, but I think you'll be fine."
"What if it's not?" Amara asked quietly.
"It will be. No one would be stupid enough to let go of a relationship because one of them had to keep a secret for their job. Your friendship will be fine," Tony reassured her.
"No, I- but what if it isn't?" Amara said.
"Okay, he doesn't even know yet, let's stop acting like he hates you already and deal with that problem when the time comes, okay?" Tony said. "But you still have to come with me, I'm sorry."
"Yeah, okay," Amara sighed defeatedly.
—————
Peter Parker was walking home from one of his spider patrols. He hadn't heard from Amara in days and he was starting to get a little worried. Maybe even slightly paranoid.
He had messaged her a few times but she had ignored all of them. The ones asking where she was, if she was okay and that he missed her her (He regretted sending that one the moment he sent it).
Maybe she finally came to her senses and realised that she was way out of his league. Or maybe she was still angry at him for leaving her that day on the hill after she tried to tell him something important.
Peter original plan was to just stay calm, maybe she was fine, but Amara's lack of answers and messages in general was making that really difficult for Peter.
He picked up his phone and switched it on for the first time in a few hours and he froze. His heart caught in his throat.
He had a missed call from Amara. Actually, two missed calls.
He silently cursed himself for missing the call, but quickly clicked on her voicemail and listened to it play.
"Hey, Peter. It's Amara. I kind of need to talk to you about something. It's sort of important and... just call me back, please. Okay...bye."
He heard a deep sigh before she put the phone down.
Peter's heart skipped a beat and those all too familiar butterflies found themselves back in his stomach.
He pressed play again to hear her voice once more and as he was listening he approached his apartment building.
The voicemail suddenly stopped playing and Peter looked at his phone confused, until he saw Amara's name pop up on his screen.
He picked it up, instantly, "Hey."
"Hey, Peter."
"H-how have you been. Not seen you in a while."
"Yeah, uh, sorry about that... Did you get my message?"
"Oh, yeah, I just listened to it. Sorry I missed your call, I was," he whispered into the phone, "patrolling," then his voice went back to its normal volume, "but, you said you needed to talk to me about something."
"Yeah, so I was planning on telling you in person, but, I just don't have time anymore. I-um..."
"You can tell me anything, you know?"
"I know, I just... promise you won't be mad," Amara sounded unsure on the other end of his phone.
Peter furrowed his eyebrows and said more quietly, "What's wrong? Why would I be mad?"
As he was waiting for a response, Peter noticed a large black car with all the windows blacked out, parked outside their building.
—————
"Amara, are you okay? Do you want me to come meet you somewhere?" Peter asked, obviously concerned.
"No, no, I just need to get this one thing out," Amara said, desperately. She had no idea what to say.
"Okay, go ahead."
"Okay..." Amara was silent for a few seconds, debating what to say. She breathed in, shakily.
"Amara. Stop, I'm gonna meet you, where are you? Actually it doesn't matter, just meet me at the park, okay?"
Amara breathed in relief, taking him away from the building to meet her will buy her some time. "Okay, yeah, fine."
"I'm literally right outside my building, I'm gonna dump my bag real quick and then I'll be there," Peter said and Amara saw from the car window that he walked into the building.
"Peter, I-" Amara started.
"Okay, I'll see you in a minute," and then he hung up the phone.
Amara shouted in frustration. "Happy! Please let me out! Please!"
Happy glanced back at her, "I'm sorry kid."
Amara grunted in frustration. Ordinarily she would've used her powers, but she had only just recovered from what happened in Germany and she had no idea what using her powers would do to her at that moment.
"Some things are more important than friendships. Like saving the world, which is exactly what you set out to do all those years ago."
"I know. I just didn't think it'd be this hard."
—————
Peter rushed into the building and when he saw that the elevator was currently on the top floor, he decided it wasn't worth waiting and ran up the stairwell instead.
When he emerged, he grabbed his keys from his pocket and tried to quickly open the door. When the lock clicked, he pushed the door open and took his earphone out of one ear.
"Hey May," Peter said as he dropped his keys onto the table beside the door.
"Hey," she replied turning around to face him. "How was school today?"
"It was okay. I'm just dumping my stuff real quick, I have to meet Amara," he walked behind the kitchen counter and remarked, "There's this crazy car parked outside..."
He trailed off when he saw Tony Stark - Iron Man - sat next to his aunt on his living room sofa.
May gave him a look and Mr Stark began talking as if he just noticed Peter standing there, "Oh, Mr Parker."
"Umm," he took his earphones out and found himself stammering over his words, "What? What are you doing...? Hey! Uh, I-I'm - I'm Peter."
"Tony," he said as if he didn't already know who he was.
"What are you, what are you... what are you doing here?" Peter cursed himself for his nervousness.
"It's about time we met," Mr Stark said, simply. He noticed May trying to mouth something at him, but he couldn't tell what it was. "You've been getting my emails, right?" He winked at Peter, one eye after the other.
"Yeah," Peter said, quietly and unconvincingly.
To prompt him along, Mr Stark said, "right?"
"Yeah," he said more confidently. "...regarding the..."
"You didn't even tell me about the grant," May jumped in.
"About the grant," Peter nodded once.
"The September Foundation," Tony clarified.
Now Peter was really confused.
"Right."
"Yeah. Remember when you applied?" Tony asked.
"...Yeah?" May gave her nephew an exasperated look as of to say 'when did this happen? And why didn't I know?'
"I approved, so now we're in business," he looked Peter right in the eye for a second before taking a sip of his coffee.
May looked extremely confused, "But you didn't tell me anything. What's up with that? You keeping secrets from me now?"
"Well, I just- I just know how much you love surprises, so I thought I would let you know... Anyway, what did I apply for?" He addressed the billionaire again.
"That's what I'm here to hash out," he explained.
"Okay. Hash- hash it out, okay."
"It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt," Tony said, still looking at Peter, but complimenting May.
"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know?" May shook her head.
"This walnut date loaf is exceptional," he said holding it up in front of him.
"Let me just stop you there," Peter said, somewhat protectively.
"Yeah," he said.
"Is this grant... like, got money involved or whatever? No?" He asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Yeah?"
"It's pretty well funded."
"Wow," Peter said, nervously rubbing his hands together.
"Look who you're talking to," then he addressed May, "Can I have five minutes with him?"
"Sure," she said.
—————
Tony shut the door behind them and locked it. He moved swiftly to the bin and spat out the walnut date loaf he has just praised the kids aunt for, seconds ago.
He stood back up, "As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad," he looked at Peter before turning around to see his desk.
"Whoa, what have we got here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?" Tony asked, interested.
"Uh, the garbage, actually," Peter replied.
Tony looked at him, "You're a dumpster diver," he deadpanned.
"Yeah, I was... uh- anyway, look, um, I definitely did not apply for your grant-"
"Nuh-uh! Me first," Tony interrupted.
"Okay," the kid said, quietly.
"Quick question of the rhetorical variety," he lifted his phones from his pocket and let the hologram footage of Spiderman play through it. "That's you, right?" The video paused as Spiderman swung close enough to the camera to see the unmistakeable red mask and black sunglasses.
"Um, no. What do you-"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean?" Peter stammered, obviously nervous at the prospect of someone finding out his secret.
Tony flipped the phone and played a video of Spiderman stopping a car from hitting a bus. "Look at you go. Wow! Nice catch, 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills."
"That's all- that's all on YouTube, though, right? I mean that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on a computer." Peter had moved towards his desk looking through his stuff.
Tony looked around the room and caught sight of the broom next to him and the lose ceiling board above him. "Mmhm."
"It's like that video. What is it?"
Tony turned and picked up the broom, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you mean like those UFOs over Phoenix?" He lifted the broom and pushed open the board.
"Exactly."
Soon, a red and blue 'suit' tumbled down on a string. The kid rushed over grabbed the thing, quickly putting it in his closet, as if Tony hadn't already seen it.
"Oh, what have we here?" Tony quipped.
Peter turned around, his back to the wardrobe to prevent the suit escaping, he nodded and exhaled, "Uh..."
Tony stepped towards him, "So, you're the Spider...ling. Crime-fighting Spider. You're Spider-boy?"
Peter stood up straighter and crossed his arms, "S-Spiderman."
"Not in that onesie, you're not," Tony turned.
"It's not a onesie," Peter said, walking past him to sit on his bed. Tony moved to get the suit out from the closet once again. "I don't believe this. I was actually having a really good day today, you know, Mr Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there. And Algebra test," he hit the desk with a pencil, "Nailed it."
"Who else knows? Anybody?" Tony asked, even though he already knew the answer, he just wanted to make sure.
Peter looked at him and shook his head, looking down.
"Tell me truth," Tony said, sternly.
"Okay, just my friend. Her name's Amara Rogers. But she wouldn't tell anyone, I swear."
Tony nodded, "Anybody else?"
"Nobody."
"Not even you're unusually attractive aunt?" He said sitting down.
"No, no. No! If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out," he said.
"You know what I think is really cool? This webbing," he threw a vial to Peter who caught it without even looking. "That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?"
"I did," Peter said, throwing the vial back in his wardrobe.
"Climbing walls, how you doing that?" Tony asked. "Adhesive gloves?"
"It's a long story. I was..." Peter began but was interrupted again, by Tony.
"Lordy! Can you even see in these?" He held up the glasses on his 'suit' to his eyes and shouted like a child playing with its toys.
"Yes, yes, I can. I can!" He snatched the mask off of him, but not before Tony exclaimed out loud.
"Ah, I'm blind!"
"I c- I can see in those, okay?" Peter said putting the mask back in his closet. "It's just that when whatever happened, happened, it's like my senses have been dialled to eleven. There's- there's way too much input, so they just kinda help me focus."
"You're in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom, hundred-point restoration. That's why I'm here." Peter sat on his bed. "Why you doing this? I gotta know, what's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?"
"Because," Peter looked down at his fidgeting hands. "Because I've been me my whole life and I've had these powers for six months."
Tony nodded.
"I read books, I build computers. And, yeah, I would love to play football, but I-I couldn't then, so I shouldn't now."
"Sure, 'cause you're different," Tony nodded.
"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not," Peter looked down as he struggled to find the words, "When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you."
Tony looked at the kid for a second. Amara was right, this kid was smart but generous. He's doing what he does to help people. "So you wanna look out for the little guy. You wanna do you part. Make the world a better place, all that, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just looking out for the little guy. That's what it is."
Tony got up from the chair and moved over to Peter, "I'm gonna sit here, so you move the leg."
Peter moved his leg and Tony sat down next to him. He patted the kid on his back then asked, "You got a passport?"
"No," Peter scoffed. "I don't even have a drivers license."
"You ever been to Germany?"
"No," Peter replied, once again confused at what was going on.
"Oh, you'll love it," Tony said.
"I can't go to Germany!" Peter said.
"Why?" Tony said, taking his hand off Peter.
"I got... homework," he said simply.
Tony looked at him as if he was some foreign species, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that."
Tony got up.
"No, I-I'm being serious. I can't just drop out of school."
"Might be a little dangerous. Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you on a field trip," Tony reached for the door handle.
Peter stood up and shot a web out from his shooter thing on his wrist, webbing Tony's hand to the door knob. Tony looked up at Peter, questioningly.
"Don't tell Aunt May," he said, pointing at him.
Tony nodded in respect, "All right, Spiderman," they stared at each other in understanding until Tony gestured to his hand, "Get me out of this."
"Sorry, I'll just get the..." Peter said moving to his desk.
While Peter dissolved the webbing on his hand, Tony became curious. "So, this girl, Amara. Why'd you tell her?"
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, still very focused on the webbing.
"You told her the truth, but not your aunt."
"Yeah, I already told you, Aunt May would freak."
"Hm. But why her?"
"She's just... a good... friend, Mr Stark," Peter said, looking up for a split second before resuming his work.
Tony shrugged, "You like her?"
"Who? Amara?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah. Yeah, I mean, ye- Mr Stark, I don't really want to talk about this," Peter said, quickly.
"Yeah, no, sure."
"All done," Peter said standing up and Tony pulled his hand away, looking down at it. "So, Germany?"
"Yep."
"Like when- when are we going? Like next week?" Peter asked.
"Tomorrow."
"Wh- tomorrow?"
"It would've been today, but I feel like you need some time to pack, right? Toothbrush and underwear and that?"
"Okay, well, I better get packing. And I actually have to go meet someone, I'm really late."
"Who?"
"Uh, Amara," Peter said.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Hey, while I'm here, there's someone I want you to meet. Or re-meet. They'll be on your trip with you. Why don't we head down to the car."
"Thank you, Mr Stark, but I really have to go. I promised I'd meet her like 15 minutes ago."
"Just, come on."
Peter scrunched his face in frustration, but still followed. He quickly sent a message to Amara.
Hey
running a little late
be there in 10
Then he pocketed his phone and followed Tony out to the living room.
—————
Within 5 minutes, Peter found himself face to face with the black vehicle once again, only this time, Tony Stark was walking ahead of him, opening the car door.
Peter saw him talking to someone in the car and then Tony stepped to the side to allow the person out of the car.
At first, Peter didn't clock who it was. But when he looked in her eyes, the eyes that he loved to stare into and figure out what colour they appeared that time, he knew it was Amara.
He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, but then quickly remembered how Amara had told him before that her dad works pretty closely with Tony Stark.
"Amara? I was just coming to meet you," Peter said, walking up to her and hugging her, but Amara's hands stayed limp at her sides.
"Hey, Peter," she stepped back.
"Are you okay? Why are you in Mr Stark's car? Is your dad in there, too?" Peter asked.
Amara pursed her lips and quickly glanced over to Tony, silently gesturing for him to go in the car to give them some privacy.
Luckily he nodded and went inside.
Amara turned back to Peter, "Peter we need to talk."
"Did I do something? Is this cause we haven't seen each other in ages? I was thinking about you a lot, but I didn't wanna reach out in case you were going through something. But I should have. I should have reached out."
"No, it's not about that," Amara said, "Actually it's kind of related. But it was my fault that I wasn't here for a while. I had stuff going on, that I am going to tell you about. Right now," she breathed in deeply.
"Are you okay?" Peter said, he was still close to her, his hands on her waist.
"Okay... okay. You remember like a week and half ago, I was trying to tell you something. And then you had to go?"
"Yeah... are you mad at me for leaving?" Peter asked, quietly.
"No! I understand when you have to leave, I get that. But I was trying to tell you something, that I kind of have no choice now and I have to just tell you now."
"Okay. Go ahead, I'm listening," Peter said, focusing all his attention on Amara.
"Okay. So you've heard what's been happening with the Avengers, right?"
"The Sokovia Accords? Yeah it's all everyone's been talking about," Peter said, scrunching his eyebrows together. "I don't really get why this is related."
"Well, I had to go to Berlin- um- to, kind of, be there when Steve Rogers got arrested. So I was- I was in Berlin, basically," Amara was nervous now and she felt her hands begin to get clammy.
"That's so cool. But why would they need you to go?"
"Because...because my dad was there," Amara said. Why can't I just say it?! Why is this so hard?!
"Seriously? How high up is your dad at Stark Industries?" Peter asked, bewildered, leaning closer.
"Pretty high," Amara said, her voice also going pretty high. "Like owner level..." she said quietly.
"Wait, wh- what does that mean?" He asked confused, almost refusing to put the dots together, his hands still firmly on her waist.
"I was in Berlin because... because my dad - Tony Stark - was there," Amara almost whispered her dad's name, but Peter heard nonetheless.
"What? You-how? Wh-?" Peter had stepped back, his hands no longer on her waist.
"I was adopted, when I was 8, but I was living with him a while before that," Amara said.
"But Tony Stark doesn't have a kid," Peter said, so sure of himself.
"He does, he was just determined to keep it quiet. For my sake. So I could reveal myself when I felt ready," Amara said.
"But why would Mr Stark adopt an 8 year old kid?" Peter asked.
Well, no turning back now.
"Because the reason I came to find him in the first place was because he had just revealed that he was Ironman to the world, and I had just figured out that I could... do things," Amara said, cryptically.
"What kind of things?" Peter scrunched his eyebrows together.
Amara wasn't sure how to explain this part, so she simply lifted up her hand, forming a ball of water, and then morphing it into fire, just as quickly. Then she solidified the fire and soil formed on her hands, where a tiny flower grew from the centre. Then, finally she used her wind powers to send the flower and the soil, through the air.
When she looked up at Peter, she was met with a shocked expression, although she wasn't quite sure yet if he was hurt, or angry or fine with it.
"You're- you're Aura?" Peter asked, still looking down at her hand.
Amara nodded, "Yeah."
"Let me get this straight. Not only did you lie to me about your identity but you didn't even tell me your real name? And all this time, I was confiding in Aura, about Amara! And you're telling me you didn't once think about telling me the truth?"
"I tried, so many times, but I just-"
"You what? You liked that I was clueless?"
"No! I just never got the chance?"
"What about that night? On the rooftop, where I told you everything? You didn't think that would be a pretty convenient place to tell me? Oh you're a superhero? So am I!"
"I was a little distracted from what happened after," Amara said.
"Okay, but then you had four weeks."
"Peter, I couldn't tell you, I wasn't allowed. It would have jeopardised my whole mission."
"What mission?" Peter asked.
Amara stayed silent, closing her eyes in regret. She wasn't going to bring that up until they got on the plane.
Peter asked again, "Amara, what mission?"
"The reason why I started at Midtown. I had a mission to find out the identity of Spiderman," Amara said. "But I know how this is gonna look. I didn't know you had any link to Spiderman when I first became your friend. I had no idea. It was just this huge coincidence when I found out the truth," Amara explained.
"When I told you?" Peter said and Amara's chest tightened up.
"No," she shakily said, "Um... Not exactly."
"You knew before," It wasn't a question, it was a statement and Peter said it as if he had been stupid for not noticing before. "How long?"
"I figured it out on the first week of school," Amara whispered.
"Okay. Okay, so this whole time, you've just been lying to me. And you completed your mission, cause that's all I was, right? Your mission. And you did a great fucking job at it, too. Befriending me from all sides, as both Amara and Aura, so that there really was no way for me to escape. That's really smart, Amara, really."
"Peter, please," Amara pleaded.
"You played with my feelings. When I needed someone to talk to I talked to you. If I needed advice on how to talk to you I'd talk to Aura. So it's almost like you've been playing me from the start," Peter scoffed. "Oh my god, and then you kissed me that day in the park. You kissed me and you knew it was me under the mask but you still had no problem getting in my head."
"Peter, I know it sounds bad, but I swear, I kissed you because I liked you. I like you."
But Peter ignored her, "And then when I told you my identity, you had the nerve to act shocked, when you knew all along?!"
"I was shocked. I didn't think you were gonna tell me your identity, I thought you were gonna tell-"
"Was anything real? Any of it?" Peter interrupted.
"Everything was real," Amara's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Except it wasn't. Maybe it was for you, but for me? I didn't even know your name."
"Peter," Amara attempted to reach out for Peters hands but he shook them away.
"No, I- what else have you lied to me about?" Peter asked, shaking his head.
"Nothing. That's everything... I think."
"So you've just been lying to everyone. Me? Ned? MJ?"
Amara's eyes widened and then scrunched her whole face up, "MJ knows. She figured it out, I didn't tell her, I just confirmed it... Oh," Amara's eyes filled with tears, "and, um, she found out that you're, uh..."
"You told her I'm Spiderman. Of course you did," Peter said, exasperatedly.
"No-"
"Forget it, I don't- I don't want to talk to you, right now," he walked past Amara and knocked on the window of the car.
Amara remained still, facing the space that Peter had been standing in moments before.
Tony rolled down the window, "Hey, so, Happy will pick you up, tomorrow, be packed and ready to leave. I think the planes scheduled to leave at 11. I'm going back today, so I'll see you in Germany," he held his hand out of the car for Peter to shake, which he did.
"Mr Stark? I have some questions about Germany."
"Shoot."
"like um, what am I actually doing?" He asked.
"Fighting Steve Rogers and his Merry men," Tony said, nonchalantly.
Peter blinked, "Uh..."
"Happy will brief you tomorrow, right now I gotta go," Tony put his glasses on and then he looked around to his daughter and shouted, "Kiddo, you coming?"
Amara discreetly wiped the last of her tears away and turned around, a smile plastered on her face, "Yeah, let's go."
As she walked to the car, Amara looked at Peter one last time, but he refused to meet her eyes. She just silently nodded and got in the car.
Even as they drove away, Amara was watching his figure stand and watch as they left.
—————
"Peter, I can't believe you applied for this thing and you didn't even tell me! This is amazing! So, what? This is like an internship thing? With a Stark internship, you could get into any college you want, Peter!" May exclaimed to Peter when he walked back into his apartment.
But he was distracted. He felt empty. He felt betrayed. Most importantly, he was hurt.
He trusted Amara more than anything. She was the only one he trusted enough to reveal his identity to, and now he finds out that she knew this whole time.
The worst part was that he couldn't stop thinking about her. Even now after everything she's done, he can't get her out of her mind.
He wanted an explanation from her, but most of all he wanted to have the chance to be pissed at her. So the explanation would have to wait.
"Hey, Peter," May snapped her fingers, "where did I lose you?"
"Sorry, May. Just, today was crazy."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Peter flopped down onto the sofa and May sat down next to him, "But why are you so upset? I thought you'd be happy, this internship is a great opportunity for you."
"I know. I-I think I'm just tired. Like it hasn't registered, yet."
May nodded, "I get that. So this trip, tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"You ready? Do you need help packing?"
"I'll be fine, May. I promise," he looked at his aunt, smiled, quickly, and nodded, once.
May reached out and stroked his cheek, lovingly, "Take care of my nephew, okay? He's fragile."
"He'll be fine. Just needs a push."
May chuckled and then patted him on the back once, "Now go pack. You've only got a few hours."
(A/N: AHHH IM SO SORRY!!!! I hated making them fall out but I just love the drama!!! Officially half way through civil war!!!!!!)