| sparks + butterflies | a peter parker fanfiction |

-15-

1243 words :)

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THEA GASPED AWAKE, MEMORIES FROM THE LAST FEW HOURS WASHING OVER HER AS SHE SPARKED A FLAME IN HER FISTS, READY TO FIGHT OFF HYDRA.

'Hey, hey, Theo, you're okay,' Two strong arms gently held her fists down. Bucky.

She was safe.

'What-what happened? Katrin- she' A sob caught in her throat. She pushed it down, taking in her surroundings as she crushed the flame in her hand. A plane, a Quinjet. Bucky kneeled in front of her, on a seat to her left was Peter, his mask off. At the front of the jet was Sam Wilson, and standing next to him was a woman dressed in a deep scarlet.

The woman turned, and Thea recognised her instantly. From the news, and from HYDRA's files. Wanda Maximoff.

'I was waiting outside, we expected HYDRA reinforcements. When Peter didn't come out, and Bucky and Sam stopped answering their comms, I stepped in.' Wanda said, her accent not unlike Thea's.

'I- thank you, all of you. Did- is Katrin-'

Wanda Maximoff placed her hand on Thea's shaking shoulder. 'I'm sorry, Thea. Your sister escaped, I couldn't stop her,'

'Thank you, I don't know what I did to warrant the Avengers' help,' Thea replied, her brain struggling to process everything.

'I promised you, Theo. They made me forget, but I remember now. And besides, the Spider-ling was quite insistent.' Bucky responded. 

Sam watched from the cockpit, studying the two. He'd never seen Bucky so gentle, so...vulnerable. Not since Steve. 'Aw, Bucky's all soft!' Sam couldn't resist, switching the jet to autopilot as he swivelled his chair around to face the group.

Bucky just shot Sam his trademark glare, pulling Thea to her feet before taking the co-pilot seat next to Sam.

'You two need to talk,' Wanda pointed to the back of the jet. 'There's a supply room down there. Don't be too long.' she shot Thea a small smile. Wanda felt a connection to the teenager. Maybe it was because they were both redheads, or both subjected to HYDRA's experimentation. Or maybe it was because they'd both lost a sibling, one way or another.

Peter still hadn't said anything, he just watched Thea, his eyes unreadable. He entered the supply room, looking back at Thea. She followed him, cautious. So much had happened in the last thirty-six hours, she had no idea what to expect.

'Peter, I-' Thea was cut off by a bone-crushing hug from the boy.

She resisted it at first. Hugs weren't something the girl was usually given. But he held her so gently, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around Peter.

Eventually, Peter stepped back. Thea studied him, unsure of what this meant.

'I'm sorry,' He said. Thea stared in shock. That was the last thing she expected him to say.

'W-what for?' she managed to get out.

'I should've seen it- I thought you were with HYDRA for a while, and they-,' he swallowed. 'I'm also sorry for standing you up that night, at the library. You can probably tell why now,' Peter gestured to his suit.

'No, no,' Thea rushed out, wondering how on earth Peter was so kind. 'No. I'm the one who's sorry. I- I lied to you, I dragged you into this mess. And I- that villain, the one who chased me, he hurt you, so many times. And he was there for me, not you. I- and then Katrin, she-'

'I don't know if this helps or makes it worse, but that villain, that was Katrin. It was in her file,' Peter said. 'She wanted you to expose yourself, for whatever reason.'

Thea twisted a curl of her hair around her finger anxiously. She wanted to deny it. But it made sense. A whole lot more sense than everything else that happened.

'Thea?' She looked up to find Peter staring at her worriedly.

'It makes sense,' She managed to get out, dropping the piece of hair. 'She was never home when the attacks happened. Told me she was working, even though I knew she wasn't. I- I should have seen it, this could have all been avoided. I'm sorry, Peter,'

'Don't be. Also, how'd you find out about...you know,' he gestured to his suit.

'Oh,' Thea laughed softly. 'You couldn't have made it more obvious. That time on the fire escape, after Katr-' she shook her head. 'After the attack on the bank, I'd just watched the footage. You and Spiderman were conveniently injured in the exact same space. Also, you got really defensive. At first, I thought you just knew him and were protecting his secret. Then, when I ran into you, as him, your voice was so familiar. You confirmed it the next day, at school,'

'Wow,' Peter ran a hand through his hair. 'I think you found it out the fastest. MJ figured it out after maybe four months, Ned wouldn't have if I hadn't walked on my bedroom ceiling in front of him, and May-'

'You what?' Thea asked. 'You walked on the ceiling in front of him?'

'Well- I- I didn't know he was there! And I had the suit on, and-' he trailed off as Thea laughed softly.

'Look, I'll tell you another time. We have some...bigger problems right now,'

'I know.' Thea's face fell. 'I'm really sorry, Pete.'

'Hey, I'm sorry too. About Spiderman, and whatever HYDRA did to you.' He paused, looking down at her. 'Friends?'

'Friends,' Thea smiled, forcing her tears down. For Peter.

'You two okay?' Sam asked as the pair walked back down to the others.

'Fine,' Thea replied. 'I think I owe you guys an explanation,'

'You'd be right about that,' Sam chuckled.

'-But you don't have to tell us right now,' Bucky interjected. 'You've been through a lot, kid.'

'I've seen worse,' Thea replied, holding Bucky's gaze. 'And I want to talk. But it's a long story, and I don't know all of it,'

'Right. How about we start with your powers?' Wanda asked. 'Obviously, you can control and create flames,'

'Pyrokinesis,' Thea replied, sparking a dancing flame in her palm. 'But I don't have as good control over it as I'd like. It's triggered by emotion, something HYDRA hated. Good assassins don't have feelings,'

The others looked down briefly, and Thea sighed. 'Also, I can open and make portals,' she snapped her fingers, drawing a portal open under Sam's feet. She snapped open the other end a few feet away, and he fell on his butt.

'I have better control over that,' She said, doing her best to keep a straight face as the others laughed.

Sam narrowed his eyes at Thea. 'Watch it, Lavagirl. I already have enough on my plate with Metal Man over there,' he gestured to Bucky.

'Anything else we should know about?' Wanda asked. 'And don't worry about your fire, I can help you train. My powers are affected similarly, I think.'

'Thank you, I'd really like that.' Thea said to Wanda, before addressing the rest of the room. 'I have enhanced hearing and sight. If I focused, I could hear your heartbeats,'

'Same!' Peter exclaimed. 'Well, not the heartbeat part, at least, I don't think so, but I have enhanced senses too!'

'Cool!'

'What about...' Sam began to ask. 'What can you tell us about HYDRA?'

'I- I don't know if I can talk about it,' Thea admitted. 'It's easier if Wanda just shows you. You can do that, right?'

The woman nodded. 'Are you sure? I have little control over what I see,'

Thea nodded. 'You need this information, to bring HYDRA down once and for all. And I don't think I know enough consciously to be of any use,'

'Okay,' Wanda said. 'You might want to sit down,'

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