Shifter

“What? No, I’m not going to just leave you guys to–” You say, defiantly, but Tony cuts you off.

“C’mon, kiddo – We still haven’t dealt with the Accords, and I need to work out the serum. You’d be a lot safer away from here. Just until we’ve figured this out.” You still aren’t entirely okay with the idea, but you know Tony won’t give up on this – he’ll send you away while you’re asleep if he has to.

“Fine.” You mutter, short and clipped, and he sighs, leaning back into his chair.

“Thank you.” He stands up, about to leave, when you realize something.

“Where am I going?” You ask, and he spins around with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Queens.” He says, smirking, before he leaves the room, leaving you alone with a confused look on your face.

Shortly after, you’re sitting in your room, packing, when a quiet knocking on the door makes you turn. Steve pokes his head around the door, his soft smile softening your grudge. “Hey, Y/N.” He says, coming to sit on the bed next to you. You raise your eyebrows at him and he chuckles slightly, slinging an arm around you. “Look – I’m sorry, okay? This isn’t permanent. I just – Look, Buck’s still out there somewhere, we still have the government on our asses, and I need you to be somewhere safe – at least just for the time being.” You nod, understanding, and he gives you a quick squeeze. “That’s my girl.”

You smile at your nickname, leaning over to rest you head on his shoulder. “Where am I going?” You ask, and he looks down at you.

“Tony didn’t tell you?” You shake your head, and he chuckles softly again. “You’re going to stay with Parker.”

At that your head shoots up, off his shoulder. “What?”

Steve has the same cocky grin that Tony did. “The team figured it was time that you got to spend some time around people your age.”

Your eyebrows draw together. “People my age suck.” You groan, and he lifts an eyebrow.

“How would you know that, huh?” Realizing he’s right, you sigh. “Oh, and you’re going to spend some time at his school.” Steve adds, and your eyes widen.

“Steve, no! C’mon.”

He laughs, patting you on the back before standing up. “It’ll be a month, tops.” He promises, and you groan, falling back onto your bed.

“Why?” You groan, and you can hear Steve laughing as he leaves your room. “

The car’s ready when you are!” He calls out, and you throw your pillow at the door, slamming it closed, and you hear both Steve and Tony laugh.

When you finally finish packing, you tote your duffel bag out to the black van waiting to take you and Peter back to his. Steve and Tony are waiting by the car doors, and Peter is already sitting in the back. You hug out your goodbyes, climbing into the car, before you finally pull out of the long drive and onto the road. Peter sits across from you, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie, and you quietly tap your fingers on the windowpane.

Finally, he breaks the silence. “This has got to be the nicest car I’ve ever been in.” He says, and your eyes shift from the rapidly moving landscape to his amazed expression as he surveys the gadgets and fancy leather.

“It is nice, isn’t it?” You said, small smile on your face as you remember Tony showing you the designs for his cars.

He smiles, nodding, and you open your mouth to tell him something about the design when a large yawn escapes your mouth, causing your eyes to widen and a hand to come up and hover over your face. “Wow. I didn’t expect that.” You say, and Peter laughs.

“You can sleep, if you like – I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

You go to refuse the offer but when you realize just how tired you are, you nod sheepishly and lean into your seat further, eyes watching the trees fly past the car windows. As you start to doze off, you’re vaguely aware of Peter laying his hoodie over your body and tucking your hair out of your face.

When you wake up again, it’s naturally, and you very slowly open your eyes. When you do, you realize that your head is leaning on Peter’s shoulder and you’re leaning against his torso, your body gently moving as he breathes. His arm is slung over your shoulders, and you can’t help the small smile that forms on your lips as you realize how naturally you two fit together. You breathe i

n, deeper than normal, and wince when you realize you’ve just alerted Peter that you’re awake. He yawns as well, seeming to have woken up moments before you, and smiles down at you. “Morning, sunshine.” He says, and you smile. He makes a move to shift away, lifting his arm, but you’re quick to reach up and grab it and place it back down.

“Can we… Stay like this? Please?” You ask, and he nods, a smile forming on his face as well.

A few moments pass, in silence, and you realize something. “Peter?” You ask, and he looks down at you.

“Yeah?”

You take a second, and then ask, “Did I – did I look like someone else when I woke up?”

He pauses, eyes narrowing, and shakes his head. “No.”

You smile, nodding, before muttering, “That’s the first time – that’s the first time I haven’t had a nightmare and shifted.” The warmth and joy in your chest hums through you, and he squeezes your shoulders comfortingly. Unfortunately, you hadn’t realized how close you were to his apartment building, and the two of you are forced to untangle yourselves and get out. Your eyes widen as you take in the city, the busy people, the cars honking, and the big buildings. Peter notices your excitement and his eyes narrow.

“Have you… Never been to a city?” He asks, and you shake your head.

“I haven’t left – I haven’t left the compound since I got there. Well, excluding the hospital, but…” You shrug.

He nods, slowly, and his brown eyes flicker down to your torso. “That looks good on you.” He smirks, and you look down and realize you’re still wearing his black hoodie from when he lay it on you. You begin to shrug out of it, but he shakes his head. “Keep it. C’mon, Aunt May is waiting.” You wave off the taxi driver, tugging the hoodie farther onto your body and picking up your bag.

The two of you go up the elevator, into a hallway, and stop outside a door where Peter knocks. There’s the sound of something hitting the ground, quiet cursing, and then – “Peter!” A brunette woman says, instantly flinging her arms around her nephew.

“Hey, Aunt May.” He says, hugging her back, and when she finally steps back her eyes flicker over to you.

“You must be Y/N, right? Peter told me about you, and Mr. Stark, and the grant – his emails are always quite detailed.” She rambled, and you glance over to find Peter’s cheeks tinged pink.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Peter Benjamin Parker! Be a nice man and carry her bag inside!” She scolds, and you shake your head.

“Oh, no, Mrs. Parker, he doesn’t have to –” As you reach for the bag Peter grabs it first, his powers and enhanced agility coming into play. You narrow your eyes playfully at him and he shrugs.

“Oh, call me May! Everyone does.” She calls from the kitchen, and you smile, nodding.

“Okay.” Your eyes dart around the room in wonder, at every photograph and trophy and book and everything that makes the room seem like a home.

“I hope you like Chinese food, Y/N, as I cannot cook for the life of me – at least that’s what Peter says!” At this point he pokes his head out from his room.

“I do not!” A small chuckle escapes your lips as you watch their family dynamic, a small pang of longing filling you as you watch how a real family functions.

“That’s great, May. I love Chinese.” In fact, you’d practically grown up on it – you lived in a building with Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor most of the time. None of them ever cooked. You drop your shoulder bag off on the couch, heading into the kitchen. “Can I help?” You ask, voice small, and May turns from the paper bag of food to you.

“Cutlery is in that drawer, glasses are in that cupboard.” She instructs, pointing at different locations to help you. You set out plates, chopsticks, glasses, water, and napkins, loving the feeling of contributing to something. At one point you realize Peter is standing in the archway, watching you and May work together with a smile on his face.

Later, when everything is ready, you sit at the table with Peter and May as you all eat. Finally, when you’ve all wolfed down your food, there’s a comfortable silence that fills their small kitchen as you all sit back and chat. “So, Y/N – how did you come to know the big and famous Tony Stark?” May asks, and a small wave of panic washes over you. You don’t want to explain your horrible backstory, not here, not now, and you don’t want to make her scared of you by showing your powers.

“Um, Tony knew my mom.” You say, the most realistic thing you can think of.

Unfortunately, May doesn’t give up. “Knew?” She asks, and your eyes drift down to your plate. In the corner of your eye you catch Peter making a face at May, obviously hinting at her to stop, and you hear a small, “Oh – oh, honey, I’m sorry.” She says, but you look back up.

“No, no, it’s fine. You didn’t know.” She has an apologetic smile on her face, and she bites her lip.

“What about your dad?” She asks, and Peter’s eyes widen.

“May!” He warns, but you shake your head and place a hand on his arm.

“He was a soldier. Didn’t know him well. He’s gone too.” You say, half explaining to May and half explaining to Peter. You almost smile at the similarity in their brown eyes, staring back at you with pity and empathy. “But I’m fine. Uh, Tony and Steve – Uh, Captain America – took me in.” You say, and May’s expression lights up.

“Wow… Okay. We have a superhero in our midst.” She says, and both you and Peter tense up, bodies rigid.

“Sorry?” You ask, and she shakes her head.

“No, I meant, like, superstar. Celebrity.” She explains, and you nod, feeling Peter relax next to you and you do the same.

“Alright, you kids, it’s time for you to get to bed. Peter, you have school in the morning – Y/N, you can have tomorrow off, if you’d like. Give you some time to settle in.” She smiles, and you nod.

“Thank you.” You say, standing up and beginning to clear up.

“I’ll take the day off! Show her around New York!” Peter cuts in, and May shakes her head.

“Oh no, young man. You’ve already missed a week, I’m not explaining another few days to your teachers.” She states, jabbing her chopstick in his direction.

“But, Aunt May –” He tries, and she folds her arms.

“Off to bed, Peter.” He rolls his eyes, but does as told, heading into his room. “Y/N, you can either sleep on the couch, or on a sleeping bag in Peter’s room – and you can get changed in the office.” She says, pointing to the door next to Peter’s. You remember how well you slept in the car, how you didn’t have a nightmare or shift at all when you were close to Peter, and you half-mutter,

“Sleeping bag would be great.”

She nods, and waves you away, telling you that Peter will sort it out.

When you go into his room you don’t knock, forgetting, and walk in on a shirtless Peter Parker. Your eyes widen, cheeks turning pink instantly. “Shit! Sorry!” You squeal, turning around and waiting for him to put on a shirt. He finally does, and tells you it’s okay for you to turn around again. “Sorry, again – Uh, May told me you could sort out the sleeping bag and stuff.” He chuckles, heading out to grab the stuff, before returning empty handed.

“Uh… I don’t know where it is, and May’s gone to bed. Can you sleep on the couch?” He asks, and you find yourself shaking your head.

“Can I sleep with you?” You ask, boldly, and then realize how brash that sounded. “I, uh, I meant can I sleep in your bed – I didn’t have nightmares before, and I prefer to be around people…” You try to explain, but he just nods.

“Sure.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

He nods again, gesturing to your duffel bag on his floor. “You can get changed in here – I won’t look.” He says, climbing into his small bed and turning to face the wall. You begin to change, cheeks heated at your previous mishap but also at the idea of Peter turning around at any second. When you’re changed, you hesitantly climb in next to him – in order to fit, the two of you are pressed flush together, and you turn so that your body is facing the ceiling. He turns, mimicking you, so that the two of you are pressed side by side and staring at the ceiling.

“Thank you… For everything.” You mutter, a small smile on your face as you recount everything that had happened since Peter arrived.

“It was my pleasure.” He replies, leaving the two of you in comfortable silence once again. “Can I ask something?” He says, and although you’re a bit confused you reply,

“Anything.”

He waits for a few seconds, then suddenly – “What happened to you?” Peter says, and your eyebrows knit together.

“Sorry?” You ask, voice quiet, and his tone softens and turns apologetic.

“Look, if you don’t want to talk I get it.” He pauses. “It’s just, there was that video and those files, and then at dinner–”

You cut him off. “No. I, uh, it’s fine. You deserve to know. I just… I’ve never had to explain it to anyone before.” You say, and you feel his hand reach over and take yours reassuringly. A moment passes, then two, before you finally open your mouth again to explain everything.

“I don’t expect you to know this, but there’s this organization – HYDRA. They, uh, they were founded around Steve’s time, back in the 40s – this Nazi/Elitist type group. Anyway, they were always trying to be the most powerful. They used to do – do experiments on people, to try and… And give them powers. Like, the Winter Soldier? And, uh, and Wanda?” You glance over to find that you can’t see Peter’s expression, but he hums, having heard all about both of those people. “Well… I said my dad was a soldier. He wasn’t really, but he did fight for HYDRA. He – He wanted to be in power, didn’t really care about my mom, or his family. He made a deal, when I was born, that they could take me once I was old enough to be experimented on – and in return, he’d get a position of power.” You pause, letting out a shaky breath as unwanted tears begin to well up in your eyes that are trained on the dark ceiling. You can’t look over at Peter.

“My mom didn’t know. She thought he was in the army. So, when I was… When I turned 8, and they showed up to take me… She, uh, put up one hell of a fight. Didn’t want to let me go. They, uh, they – they killed her to get to me. And, god, it was so easy. One minute she was standing in front of me, the next she wasn’t – she was lying on the floor, unmoving. They brought me to some… Some facility in Siberia, or somewhere like that. They were using types of energy to try and… Try and give me powers. Radiation, gamma rays, electricity. Small doses. They weren’t gonna let me die on them,” The first tear falls as flashbacks on the experiments popped up in your head. “Not until I’d given them some signs of powers. So, somehow, the combination of all of the energies worked, and now I can turn into – turn into people. I was 12 when the Avengers destroyed the base and took me in.”

You finish the story quickly, hands darting up to wipe away errant tears. When you finally gather the strength to look over, Peter is still, almost rigid, like he’s – well, like he’s furious, although his tone is sorrowful and heavy.

“God, Y/N… I’m so, so sorry. That – I can’t even –”

You cut him off. “Please don’t pity me.” You mutter, and you can feel him turn to look at you. “My whole life has been people pitying me, and I just – I just want to move on.” You say, your voice seemingly getting quieter by the second.

“C’mere.” He says, and you shift your body so that you’re closer to him, and he wraps his arms around you, holding you close. “Okay.” He says, softly, and he kisses the crown of your head. “Okay.” He repeats, and you smile although no one can see you – a genuine smile, something you’ve been doing frequently since Peter arrived.

“Thank you…” You breathe out, and the both of you fall asleep, entangled in each other’s warmth and comfort.