The gun in the mirror(a spider in the ground.). [OLD ]

" Are we going to talk about it?" Peter says fidgeting.

They arrived in his dingy apartment a few minutes ago.

They still haven't talked about it.

Karen glances at him,"Not if you don't want to." She says it so casually, like he's not supposed to fill her in on what happened.

God what's he even going to tell her? Hey, everyone forgot me, which was completely my fault, because I wanted to go to some college!

Karen must have known what was going through his head, he had always been an overthinker, even in the suit, even with an AI.

Her hands grab his face, gentle, kind, soft.

"Peter, boss was a kind man, so when I was created it was to help you, not some stranger, you. I was created to help Peter Parker, mentally, physically, whichever is the case, if you don't want to talk about it then you do not have to ." Her eyes become impossibly understanding, that beats him up more on the inside.

He nods, that's all he can do, he's tired, he feels like he's floating outside of his body, looking from above at everything happening.

 She takes his hands, holding them, a solidarity of sorts.

They stare at each other, and for a minute, the universe allows them to just be, her eyes bare into his soul, impossibly bright.

He stares back.

Karen looked into big doe eyes, they're tired, not the  tired you get for not sleeping enough but a bone seeping exhaustion.

 This is a child , the sudden revelation hits her.

She stares into mature eyes, they're not supposed to be.

He wasn't supposed to mature so quick in a life.

But he did.

She stands up, running to the other room, getting her blanket from Peter's bed, and getting his from the couch.

Putting his and hers together on the floor, making a a mess of blankets and pillows.

She pats the ground beside her, making an invite to sit down with her.

And he does, and while he does, he asks a question," What are you doing?"

"A sleepover? I had read that having someone by your side while you sleep gives you more pleasant dreams." She tries to get him on her side, tries to make him forget about everyone and everything else, but she can't so she wants to give him more love, the love he desperately deserves but pushes away.

"How do you know this stuff?" He asks, almost amused, she sees the way his body language relaxes ,the way his brows almost burrow in confusion.

She smiles," Tony was protective." And he was protective, he didn't show it very well but he was, at least for Peter. He had made her research some parenting techniques, trying to make a good impression on May.

Morgan too, but he had different ways of showing her.

They lay down, almost tired but not quite.

So they talk, mostly about how to pay the bills and things like that, but they aren't overly serious or concerned.

Eventually she falls into a pattern of making Peter go back to bed when he had a nightmare, or seeing his chest fall up and down.

She doesn't sleep much, she doesn't want to, but she feels light in the morning.