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𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙄𝙀.
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎: Friendship Bracelets
𝐔𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐘 ─ 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘
𝟏𝟗 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
☆
Peter Parker and Lizzie Carter were still failing their Stark-Certified partnership tests. They never expected Tony to go easy on them when they started fieldwork, but he outdid himself on that sunny Saturday afternoon. Apparently, for Tony Stark, training meant leaving the teenagers stranded in the woods. They were only a few miles out from the Avengers Facility but neither of them were supposed to know that fact. Happy Hogan was the one to blindfold and lead them like a sad, kindergarten class of two through the trees. Lizzie clutched tightly onto Peter's shoulders, who was holding onto Happy's, but they only got a few feet out before her hands found better safety around Peter's waist instead.
"Happy, I'm going to break my ankle," she hissed out. Lizzie was having a no-good, very BAD time. Peter tapped her right knee. Without thinking, she raised her leg and used her tennis shoe to feel for whatever it was. "What the fuck is that? Peter—"
With her panic rising and evil needle fingers bruising his sides, he tapped on Happy's shoulders with urgency. "Happy, can we please take these off? She's going to trip and take me down with her."
"Fine. We're far out enough..after you both do ten spins."
Lizzie dropped her hands from Peter to throw them around dramatically in the air. "Really, Happy? I have no idea where we are!"
"—yeah, me either—" Peter added at the same time. He ducked away when Lizzie's arm nearly clotheslined his throat. "Hey! Watch it."
"Watch what?!"
Happy Hogan's sigh went unnoticed between them. Peter's warning spiraled Lizzie, who thought a bear, or a snake, or a DEMON was coming to get her while she was blind. Tony owed him. Big time. The teenage girl stood a few inches away from Peter, and Happy rolled his eyes when she started throwing fists at nothing. Peter found distance when his partner became aggressive, and his hands outstretched in front of him to keep her swings at bay. Happy had the usual job of observing their behavior; whether they knew it or not, everything was a test. Peter's senses were heightened as a consequence of losing one, but his partner was drowning in hers.
"MJ," Peter said calmly, and Happy watched the boy reach out with precision to find her wrist. Lizzie didn't expect the physical contact and panicked once again. No fist went flying, but fingers flexed into a ball at her side. Peter squeezed once he had her in his hold. "Hey, it's just me. We're fine. Let's just spin. He's staring at us."
Lizzie's bottom lip turned into a deep scowl. "Is your blindfold off?"
"What? No! I promise. I can feel his eyes on us."
"Fine. Happy, you suck."
An exaggerated scoff came from the man, and Lizzie could tell he was standing to her left by the noise. Peter let go of her wrist, and the two of them started turning. Somehow, the childish action cracked Happy Hogan for the first time that afternoon, and he wished the others were around to see the toddlers-in-action. That thought didn't stay long because Happy would feel the stirring in his gut that the others couldn't be around to see the kids growing up.
Feeling incredibly stupid with herself, Lizzie made it a point to count each spin out loud (the first one, naturally, started with her middle finger). Even if she couldn't see Happy react, it made her feel better...until she got to number ten and the world still spun after she stopped. Then, she felt like shit again. "Oh, I'm gonna be sick."
Without permission, Lizzie reached up to push the blindfold over her eyes. The fabric felt more like a handkerchief or bandana, but still blocked the bright sun and any sense of surrounding. She winced as her irises adjusted and found her partner on the right, pulling the bandana down around his neck. He struggled more than her with the sudden overload of sunlight, and Lizzie's stomach dropped when he flinched away from the sky.
After a few seconds, he braved a glance at her with one eye still closed. Then he grinned. "Hey. Nice to see you."
Happy stuck his hand out to them. "Alright. Hand the phones over. Lizzie, your watch too."
"You're joking," and, "wait, what?" were said in unison as Happy waited impatiently for them to relinquish their prized electronics. Lizzie's face was now shades of green and yellow, her black eye from softball last weekend only making her glare striking now that she could see where to direct it. Happy winced at the Carter girl's stare, but remained strong with his request. Making a grabbing-motion, the man raised his brows at them both.
Lizzie grumbled as she unclasped her Apple watch from her wrist. With more force than necessary, she slammed it into his palm first. Peter quietly gave up his phone while Lizzie rooted through the pocket of her joggers to grab her own. When Happy had everything in his possession that would help them navigate an escape (or play music, Lizzie mourned), he tucked them away into his jacket. Then, he pulled something else out instead.
Peter and Lizzie both eyed the new pair of watches. Another creation of Stark's considering the similarities between the new device and the one she gave him with her Blindspot suit. That one barely survived the Homecoming accident. With more excitement than her, Peter grabbed a hold of the one with red lining the strap. The second his skin made contact, the red lit up and the screen flashed with a bright 'HELLO SPIDER-MAN'.
"That's so cool..." he mused.
Then Peter realized Lizzie hadn't moved yet. The second one was still being held up in Happy's palm. Unlike his claimed one, blue lined the other watch band. He darted his eyes between Lizzie and Happy to see a passive-aggressive staring competition happening. Right now, he couldn't tell who was winning. Finally, the teenager resolved with softening features after Happy gestured to it once more. Peter would have been jealous over how much the two got along—considering he did one thing wrong, and got shit for months about it—but he was too busy drooling over the new gadget.
Lizzie grabbed what she assumed was hers, and just like Peter, the blue lining the strap brightened at the recognition of her skin contact. 'HELLO BLINDSPOT' greeted her in white lettering, popping up above the screen rather than inside of it like a normal engineer would do. Tony always had a thing for holograms. Her head tilted in curiosity, but as Peter thumbed his new watch, she looked back at Happy.
"What's this?" she asked. "And don't say a watch, Happy. I'm already mad at you."
Happy swallowed those words and decided not to risk his life anymore. "Tony wanted you two to have something on you at all times...with what's happened recently," and the pointed statement made it clear he also knew about the events with Monroe. "He said it's basically the same as the one you had before, MJ. His words: 'it's like their Friendship Bracelets.'"
"More like Stark's shackles. I'm guessing this tracks our every move?"
Happy sighed, and Lizzie's shoulders dropped with the sound. "It does, but it's not a report card, MJ. I don't care what you two do on your weekends, as long as it's not a crime and I don't hear about it—but if anything happens like last time, we'll have this as a back-up...I'm sorry, kid. I know it feels like you're being punished, but Tony said this one's better than before. 'Better than Apple.' He told me to throw yours away, but I thought that was pushing it."
The annoyance and frustration Lizzie bottled up wouldn't be directed at Happy. Considering he already played the messenger (and kidnapper) for today's 'fieldwork,' she had to let him off on Tony's choices. Lizzie told Tony about Monroe knowing there was a possibility of four-white-walls and her Ma waiting as the response. So far, her parents remained unaware of what happened. Happy Hogan was the only other person Tony seemed to have told, and being that Peter called Happy that day...Lizzie would give him this one. Tony was trying.
Without another protest, she slipped the watch around her wrist. It was elastic, but adjustable so that it clung to her skin with no chance of sliding off. Lizzie remembered Peter—the boy being too silent—and faced him now. "Peter?"
"—MJ, this is so freaking cool! I feel like a Spy Kid!"
His words dragged her back into an intrusive memory.
"That isn't a toy," Sharon scolded, glaring heavily at the panic button like it was a bomb. "And I still hate the idea of that being the only thing keeping you safe."
Lizzie watched Peter grin from ear-to-ear as he inspected the new piece on his wrist. Where his web-shooters would usually lay, only the watch showed against his skin. What should have been a happy experience brought her back to a time when she was just as eager to push the boundaries of a new gadget created by Carson Mayfield. Looking at Peter now, she saw through Sharon's eyes. The only difference was the choice to ruin Peter's joy with stoicism, or do the opposite.
Letting Peter experience the moment for both of them, she couldn't help but smile herself when he shoved the watch in her face like she couldn't see perfectly fine. "Okay, okay. I see it—it's so freaking cool, Peter—"
With feigned enthusiasm, Lizzie continued to learn from her sister. Only now, she was starting to see the world in a different shade. Maybe she would be better. And if Tony asked Happy how they did on the first task at hand: Happy would say they FINALLY passed with flying colors. Bitterly, it was only the first task, and Lizzie gaped at the man in disbelief when he revealed he would be leaving them there to fend for themselves. The goal was to get back to the Avengers Facility before sunset. Now, she realized why Happy took Peter's web-shooters. She'd never prayed for Spider-Man to whisk her away more in her life.
"You're gonna break your..."
"I'm fine," Lizzie managed with a waiver when she walked across the uprooted tree.
They were far away from the Facility by now. The new Avengers location was close to water, but distant from any civilization. Had the teenagers not been city-kids, they may be favoring better with the outside fieldwork. They wouldn't be recruited as a Boy or Girl Scout anytime soon. Lizzie was only great at standing when the ground was there. They had to get across an obstacle in the path, a small creek that went to the larger body a few miles out, and their only solution was the tree limb that either fell with divine intention or someone (probably Vision) moved it in order to cross. The drop wasn't horribly far, but her aversion to heights still tempted her fears.
Grinning, she turned around to the other side where the boy had yet to cross. "See. Ta-da! You know, I saw a horror movie kinda like this once."
Peter rolled his eyes, and then purposefully made a show of moving across the tree limb with ease. "I shouldn't know what you're talking about. And Bridge to Terabithia is not a horror movie. "
"Says you. Hey, Happy! Partner telepathy? Check!"
Lizzie shouted the words to no-one in particular as she watched Peter finally reach her on the other side. The teenage boy snorted and glanced down at their wrists for the hundredth time since receiving the gift (as he called it). They expected to hear Happy Hogan blow his cover and admit he had been spying on their conversation the whole time.
"Do you really think all of these tests are helping?" He shifted his weight from one side to the other and looked around them at the cage of trees. Isolated, but not alone. "It feels like they're just giving us things to do so we don't bother them."
"'They're' being Tony and Happy?" she asked, and then tilted her head in the direction of the trail to urge him along. As they started walking again, Lizzie continued. "I think they're keeping you out of trouble. I think they're keeping me from doing something stupid to get you out of trouble."
The lack of accountability may have slid with anyone else, but Peter huffed. "It takes two to fail, you know."
"I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm just saying, if someone is shooting at us, they're probably shooting at you first."
"I'm easier to see—"
"—you make yourself seen."
"Well, yeah. Otherwise, they'd be shooting at you."
Lizzie's back straightened, and Peter couldn't help the smug smirk growing because he successfully won the argument. He'd lost every other one so far today. Her familiar brown eyes left the path to meet his, and he fully grinned at her. Even with the healing bruise, she still looked pretty; although, he wondered if his indifference toward her injuries had something to do with it. A black eye on Lizzie Carter was nothing new. He still noticed, but asking her to avoid a fight was well out of the cards. MJ scoffed and pushed his shoulder gently with her own, doing nothing but showing her irritation at his ease with the comeback.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I'd prefer if neither of us were being shot at," she said. Looking down at the Stark Friendship Bracelet, the time screamed at her. "Sunset's in two and a half hours..ish. We'll be fine."
Peter craned his neck to look beyond the forest ahead. "How far away do you think we are?"
"We've been walking north-east for the last half hour, and turned around when we crossed the river...so, about another half hour."
"Right...I knew that."
Lizzie looked up through her lashes, brow raising at the same time, then she turned back to the watch. "Sure, partner."
"What if...maybe we keep failing everything because we're just too different?"
The comment came as an afterthought, and he hadn't put too much consideration into his words as he kicked around another rock in their way. Lizzie, however, focused on the boy now pushing ahead in his strides. With the sun beaming down on them, curls started to build around the back of his neck, exposing the growing length he refused to let May cut. Lizzie focused instead on his question.
"You think Natasha and Clint were similar?" Lizzie asked and cleared her throat. Peter's eyes found hers, looking back and waiting to match her pace again. "They have opposite beginnings, but I know they would see each other to the end...I don't think we're failing everything because we're opposites—and we aren't opposites, by the way. We've kept each other safe this long."
Peter sighed. "'Safe' is a stretch."
"Hey, I'm walking and talking. I'm grateful. I'm safe."
Those words meant more in the grand scheme of things. Lizzie had been chasing safety since the Triskelion. Being vulnerable in front of another person, only to have them sink their teeth into that innocence, was the fear that kept her up at night. The nightmare that never went away with therapy. Not something as mundane as heights. She could deny a lot, but not that. Unconsciously finding the dog-tags around her neck, her fingers ran over the edges of the metal.
Peter noticed the change in her after saying it, but much like usual, he never faltered. "MJ?"
"Hm?" her hum distracted him from her lack of eye contact.
"I'm grateful too."
Lizzie tilted her chin up to give him a smile. "Don't feel safe around me though?"
"Depends on how mad you are with me. I feel pretty safe right now."
"Don't speak too soon. We're, quite literally, not out of the woods yet."
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐋𝐘𝐍, 𝐍𝐘𝐂 ─ 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
𝟐𝟗 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖
"Lizzie? You home?"
A knock on her bedroom door, followed by her Ma's voice, had Lizzie spinning around in the chair at her desk. A weeks worth of final exam study-guides could wait. Calling for her to come in, Sophia Carter appeared in the threshold with a tired smile on her face. "Sammy's in bed for the night. Dad had to go help the one co-worker, Patrick, with a flat but should be back soon...you're my last human to check on."
The seventeen-year-old girl outstretched her hands for her mom, and the woman didn't need any convincing. Sophia bent down to press a kiss to her daughter's head and secured her strong grip around Lizzie's shoulders. With her still sitting, the hug felt reminiscent of when she wasn't tall enough yet to meet her mother eye-to-eye. Back then, she would tug on the bottom of Sophia's shirt until she was given affection. If she didn't, war would ensue. Lizzie was still that kid inside, and she melted into her Ma's arms no matter how old she got.
"Your hair's growing out," whispered the blonde woman as she brushed her fingers through the dark locks on Lizzie; it reached just past her shoulders now. Her natural roots were much lighter than the box dye, and Sophia knew she or Taylor would need to touch it up soon. "You going to let it grow or keep it short?"
Lizzie made a noise and pressed her face into her mother's side. "I don't know."
"Well...you look beautiful either way. Just let me know and I'll help."
"...hey, Ma?" Peeling herself away from Sophia to look up, Lizzie loosely held her. The middle Carter child knew her next question would be a difficult one to swallow and bit right into the wound. "Do you think I look like Sharon?"
Like mother, like daughter. Sophia Carter turned to stone when her eldest daughter's name butchered the unspoken rule followed the last two years. Talking about Sharon ended many conversations in their home with Lizzie, and it almost always led to her running out the door. Sophia and Mike made a decision no parent should have to make. They stopped bringing up their oldest daughter because it destroyed the one they still had with them. Unless it was around Sammy, reminding him of his oldest sister, Lizzie never spoke about their missing family member, and they accepted that.
Sophia searched in Lizzie's eyes for a reason. Not only for the question, but why it came so suddenly. "I think you look just like you, MJ."
"Thanks, Ma."
"Want to tell me why you're asking?" Lizzie sighed heavily and let go over her mother completely, dropping her arms to her sides. "Okay...want to tell me why you don't want to tell me?"
Sophia Carter's occupation as a lawyer was perfectly suited for her. Defense attorneys were often under the scrutiny of public opinion, and her extended family always had words when the hard cases were assigned, but she never swayed under their disapproval. As Peggy Carter once said, there was no woman, not born a Carter, who displayed its valor like Sophia did. She carried the last name with the same honor they all did, no matter how cross she was with S.H.I.E.L.D. Her dedication to that job allowed Clint and Scott to go home to their children after Berlin—but with all that experience, trying to get her teenage daughters to be honest with her never got easier.
With her middle child trying to avoid eye contact by any means necessary, she knew something was up. Sharon had always been the hardest for her to get through to. Sammy was truthful in spite of his older sister's attempts to keep him quiet, but he was still a toddler. Lizzie, for most of her life, was her angry baby. If there was a fight, it would be her in the center screaming. Sharon, however, could never be moved—unshaken, and unwilling to let anything in. The day she left to S.H.I.E.L.D. at eighteen was the worst, and only, major fight they ever got in.
"Can we take a raincheck on that question?" Lizzie wouldn't tell her mom she couldn't look in a mirror without seeing her sister staring back at her. She wouldn't even admit that to herself.
"We've been saving a lot of questions for that rainy day, MJ."
MJ from her Ma always stung a bit deeper.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just...easier...to not talk about her," she admitted. Sophia watched as her eyebrows furrowed together, deep in thought, then she wrinkled her nose. The scar from her first car accident screamed at Sophia. "If I talk about her, I start worrying. And I don't even know how I can be more worried. I feel like I'm failing her by sitting here doing nothing."
Sophia also knew that, unlike Sharon, she could always get the truth out of Lizzie eventually. Her older sister never wanted anyone to know her secrets. Lizzie didn't want anyone to worry about hers.
"Lizzie, you're doing exactly what Sharon would want you to be doing. You're being a teenager. You're waking up for school everyday. You're making new friends, and going on field trips...this is what she wants for you. She loves you more than life itself, baby. Please don't let that worry take control of you."
Lizzie swallowed the lump in her throat. Tears sprung in her eyes at the term of endearment followed by the reminder of how much her older sister loved her. "I just miss her."
"She knows we're with her, and she's with us. Your Dad and I raised some pretty badass kids, MJ. I know in my heart she's okay."
Lizzie wished she had the same confidence her mother had, but every day, the reality that HYDRA may have found Sharon and Carson crept in. Telling her parents about Monroe, much less what he said, died along with that confidence. Sophia Carter may know her children well, but her children knew her too.
"I should get ready for bed. I've got the museum trip tomorrow...I'm probably going to have to fight Peter for the window seat on the bus, so I'm gonna try to go to sleep earlier."
Sophia watched her steer the conversation away from the sensitive topic and nodded once, brushing her hands through Lizzie's hair again. "You two need to stop arguing with each other."
"He's fun to rile up," she shrugged like it was no big deal, standing up to her full height to stretch. She was taller than her mother now. In an effort to avoid eye contact, Lizzie paid attention to her and Peter's petunia. On the ledge of her window-seal sat Padme now on her second year of life. "Besides, ninety-nine percent of the time, he starts it."
"Uh-huh."
"What was that? 'Uh-huh'?"
"Nothing..."
Lizzie narrowed her eyes and set her hands on her hips. "Ma."
"Don't 'Ma' me. I'm not saying anything!" the woman said with protest, raising her hands in defense as she backed up. Sophia grinned when she saw her teenager scowl and turned to walk out of the bedroom. "Have a good night, Lizziebug. I'll probably be heading to the office by the time you wake up. Dad's got Sammy shift. I love you most."
"I love you more than most. Goodnight, Ma."
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
𝐇𝐔𝐃𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐌 ─ 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊
𝟑𝟎 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖
"I think I might cry."
"God, look at it..."
"Can we become astronauts?"
"Art, you would literally die from starvation because you wouldn't eat the dehydrated food."
"Shut up, Lizzie. Not all of us are army brats."
The twelve-thirty showing at the Hudson River Museum's planetarium might have been the best field trip the odd, miscellaneous group of friends had ever been on. Most of them had been to the Museum, but seeing space (through projectors) never failed to bring out the childlike wonder, and almost all of them never went together. Lizzie grinned at Arthur's remark, and they reached out with their elbows at the same time.
"Whoever assigned these seats was an idiot," Taylor scoffed. Then, she blinked and grinned mischievously over at the boy on the end of the row who, to Taylor's delight, was stuck next to her. "Hi, Peter. Liking space?"
Peter grimaced at the look Taylor sent him and nodded with a growing blush. "Love space."
"That's good. Me too. Love space. You know, Lizzie actually..." ensuing the teenager girl's (not) subtle boasting of her best friend for however-long Peter was left to endure Taylor Brentwell's terrifying, all-knowing facial expressions.
"Did you know space is completely silent?" Michelle Jones asked to those who could hear her, seated on the other side of Lizzie, with Ned next to her.
"Was that your nice way of telling us to shut up?" Lizzie responded, tilting her chin over at Michelle with a smirk. Her fingers tapped against the plastic armrest, anticipating one of the two (or both) friends on either side of her to glare about it eventually.
"No. I would've just said shut up."
"God, please, shut up!"
The snark came from Peter Parker's arch-nemesis, who just so happened to be seated next to Lizzie's, in front of them. With the planetarium being similar to a rounded movie theater, whoever made the seating arrangements really was an idiot for putting Flash right in front of Lizzie's row. Eugene Thompson had his arm around Betty Brant, who remained charismatically disinterested in anything happening but the ceiling above her. Without much thought or concern, the Vans she'd chosen to wear for the day lifted up. Just before she sent as much force as she could to the back of Eugene's seat, Arthur's leg was crossing over top hers and forcing it down.
Lizzie twisted to scowl at him, pushing up against his calf, but she could tell that the wrestler carried a lot of his muscle in his legs. He wasn't weak by any means, and Arthur knew that she wouldn't fight back in public. She dropped her leg back down and the heel hit the floor with a thump.
Fine.
Arthur bounced his leg on hers once, meeting her eyes. "Character growth, MJ."
"I think my character would grow significantly if he disappeared."
"All of ours would," he sighed.
Without warning, Lizzie's arm crossed in front of him and Arthur had to lean back to avoid getting decked. A loud hiss, "Ow!" and Taylor's wrathful glare followed in suit with Arthur Langley stuck in the middle of the best friends' warpath. Lizzie returned the glare with one of her own, mouthing one word to Taylor: "Stop." Peter Parker ducked his head to hide the heat rising up to his ears, turning him red. Taylor had a lot to say about Lizzie.
Arthur closed his eyes. "I'm going to kill whoever made these seating arrangements."
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
Midtown's junior class was exploring the other exhibits in the museum when Peter Parker strayed away from the group. The only person who noticed his absence was a certain Carter. Lizzie's eyes quickly scanned the crowd, a section of classmates scattered around the large exposition center, but Parker was not in sight. Taylor could be seen drawing some obscene pictures with Art and Ned on their worksheets, and Michelle sat on one of the benches with her nose in the directory they gave walking in. But no Peter. Lizzie weaved between students, finding an easy path away from anyone who might be questioning her disappearance too.
In another section of the Hudson River museum were more paintings, tailoring to a different theme than the one their class was looking at for Early New York. While not empty, it was nowhere near as crowded as the other. The AWOL Peter stood off to the side, but not alone like she expected. Lizzie's lips thinned into a straight line when she saw a girl standing next to him. Midtown wasn't the only school scheduled for the field trip, and the emblem of Brooklyn Technical High School on her jacket gave away the stranger's affiliation without much effort.
Peter noticed her walking over first and winced. "Oh, hey, Lizzie. Sorry. Sorry, I'm coming. Are we getting ready to leave? Did they notice?"
"Hey. No, not yet. I just saw you were gone and got worried," she replied and crossed her arms over her chest to keep her hands busy. With a smile anyone would have fallen for, Lizzie nodded at the other girl. "Hi. I'm Lizzie."
"Hi," was returned politely, and the girl tucked some hair behind her ear. "I'm Ashley. You're from Midtown, too?"
"Yep."
"That's cool. I'm from Brooklyn Tech..."
Peter smiled, unaware of the growing discomfort from Lizzie, who was usually a natural with strangers. "I was telling Ashley about the Decathlon. She saw what happened on the news—"
"—can't have told her much since we missed most of it," Lizzie cut off, and even she wanted to grimace at the sound in her voice. She corrected herself by standing up straighter and dropping her arms. "I'm sorry. I sounded like a bitch. I'm just ready to go home. Looking at the stars made me want to take a nap."
Ashley smiled back at her with understanding, and that made it worse. "I get it. No worries. I should probably go find my classmates too before they come find me. Although, I doubt anyone would notice."
"Hey, you're hard to miss," Peter said with a grin, almost like the two of them were sharing a secret with each other. Then he turned to Lizzie in an effort to share the inside joke, but her clenched jaw didn't look ready for a laugh. "I ran into her. Like, literally."
"I'll make sure I check my surroundings better next time I go to a museum," Ashley added with a pointed smile toward one of them, and it wasn't Lizzie. "See you guys later. It was nice to meet you too, Lizzie."
"Bye, Ashley. You too."
When Lizzie could read the back of Ashley's jacket again, the tension in her shoulders eased. The chill caused from her mood during the interaction did not, however, disappear. Peter eventually caught onto the sour attitude during the conversation and could only stare in disbelief between Ashley's disappearing frame and Lizzie's next to him. Naturally, she reminded calm, cool, and collected under his examination.
Internally was another story. Lizzie Carter was not a jealous person. Her relationship with C.T. never involved jealousy on her part, and she knew that had to do with Catherine Clemins' personality. Her first 'boyfriend' freshman year, Ben, didn't come up often in the grand scheme of her past relationships because she didn't have the feelings for him to be jealous. The only real time she ever felt jealous was around Casey. When the D.C.-native finally got a girlfriend around the time Ben started flirting with her, Lizzie swallowed the sour taste in her mouth and kept smiling. But she could justify that jealousy because Casey was kind-of hers before she started dating someone.
But Lizzie couldn't justify the frustrating bug of bitterness that bit her when she saw Peter flirting with someone else—because Peter wasn't even kind-of hers. Not really. Right?
"You okay?" Peter decided to ask finally, but soon wondered if that was a terrible mistake. Lizzie's eyes flashed to his with warning and he internally cringed. "You just seemed a little...unwelcoming..."
"Brooklyn Tech was the team that gave me the black eye. I've got hard feelings."
He opened his mouth to say something; then stopped, reconvened, and tried again. "Right, but Ashley doesn't play softball..."
Him having a conversation with the teenage girl long enough to know her extracurricular activities flared up annoyance in her again. "Guilty by association. Come on. Let's go before they leave us both here, partner."
Lizzie didn't give Peter a window of opportunity to ask any more questions. Without another word, she started walking back in the direction of their classmates. Peter Parker couldn't tell you why she acted the way she did that day; he could only tell you that, no, he was not totally oblivious when it came to noticing. Lizzie Carter was jealous. But with everything else that would happen later on that day, Peter Parker never got around to asking why.
───○☆ ✸ ☆○───
𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐘 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐁𝐔𝐒 ─ 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊
"You're digging into my spleen."
"Couldn't care less," she muttered back, though Lizzie shifted her elbow away and crossed her arms against her chest. Half of her body weight still dug into his left side. "I'm comfortable."
Peter swallowed hard, hyper-focused on the two students in the seat next from them. He always cared more about what people thought than she did. "How are you sleeping right now? I feel like we're hitting every pothole in the city."
"Lots and lots of road-trips, partner."
Lizzie kept her eyes shut the entire time and folded happily into a resting position. The sleep she promised her Ma the night before was a hope at best. In reality, she woke up four times and decided after the fifth to just stay up and shower off the dreams. Aside from the conversations happening in every direction in one ear, and the other playing Hozier from her headphones, the bus ride was nothing short of a usual, terrible time and Peter was her makeshift pillow.
The mundane high school experience would turn less into Sky High and more War of the Worlds without warning. Lizzie could feel something wrong when Peter suddenly tensed up against her. Her eyes shot open when the boy whipped his head over to look out the window. "Peter?"
Then, to her utter horror, New York City was being invaded once again by aliens.
Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me, were Lizzie's first thoughts when she saw the flying saucer in the middle of the sky. Followed very quickly by the understanding that her partner-in-crime was about to go fight aliens whether she liked it or not, and she could offer absolutely nothing to help him right now. Peter was ready to fling himself out the nearest window, but a steel grip latched around his wrist and refused to let go.
Panicked brown eyes met each other. "MJ, I gotta—"
"—I know, I know," she rambled, her eyes landing behind them. Suddenly backed into a corner where a decision needed to be made, her hand tightened on his wrist. The dubbed Stark Friendship Bracelet showed on both of their arms. "Please be careful. I'll get to you as soon as I can. Keep this on."
Peter nodded once, and then he reached forward to tap on whoever's face was found first between Arthur and Ned. "Guys, hey. Guys! I need you to cause a very large distraction—"
They picked no one better for the job. The two boys turned around, with Arthur ready to throw hands at the intrusion of Peter's hand in his face, but then he saw it. Yeah, it.
"—OH MY GOD—"
"—HOLY FUCKING SHIT—"
"—WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Peter took control of the situation. Standing up, he grabbed a hold of Lizzie and switched their positions so she was now in the window seat. Turns out, she ended up with it after all. With the chaos now erupting on the parked school bus, the partners didn't extend their separation. Peter used his web-shooter to open the emergency exit and Lizzie flooded the space with her entire body to cover the escape from any other eyes. Before the Spider-Man mask went on, Lizzie and Peter shared one final look. Had they known it would be five short years before they saw each other again, maybe they would have said more. Maybe Lizzie would have never let Peter Parker leave without her. Maybe that decision would cost them greatly. Maybe they could have only won together.
What an underwhelming goodbye.
"What's the matter with you kids? You've never seen a spaceship before?"
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Author's Note:
...and so INFINITY WAR begins.