Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

01 | Heigh-Ho

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
i. HEIGH-HO

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   THE SCREAMS ARE HAUNTING. The bone-chilling howls that flood into the heavens and anchor themselves into our ears—they always would be. If you listen closely, the eerie melody of the victims' cries can be heard over the hum of silence in our daily lives. They lull us to sleep, attracting the nightmares that keep us on our toes throughout the day, the nightmares that spark raw shivers down our aching spines, the tear-jerking nightmares that awaken us with screams of our own.

   "Riley, help!"

   Riley Stark remembered every scream.

   "Please!"

   Even the ones from her adorable, yet incredibly annoying little sister.

   Rolling her eyes, Riley adjusted her position on the couch in the living room. Her arms were tucked behind her head, her muscular body sprawled across the sumptuous cushions. On top of an armrest was where her feet laid, revealing pink fuzzy socks. She pulled her hand out of the bag of chips before her, dusting off the crumbs from her pajamas—a big t-shirt and shorts—and declared, "I'm not helping you break the lock on the fridge, Morgan!"

   "Pleaseee?" the 5-year-old begged, arms flailing. She went trudging around the corner. "I know you know the password!"

   "Mom said no sugar after dinner!" reminded Riley. She strained her ears, attempting to focus on the screen in front of her. An episode of Brooklyn 99 had been playing.

   As much as she wanted to entertain Morgan, the teenager had missed out on five years' worth of pop culture. Between preparing to take over the Avengers and working nonstop, she found it difficult to catch up on everything completely.

   It was the evening of July 13th, 2023. Another month and a half had gone by. Only this time, the entirety of June felt like it was arguably the slowest month of her 16 years of life thus far. Her days had been flooded with interviews, press conferences with government officials and the UN, and rebuilding the Avengers HQ. While Riley's life had always revolved around work, this time was different.

   She was no longer the "mysterious Avenger." She was Riley Stark, teenaged superhero Valor, the eldest daughter of the Stark family, the newest leader of the Avengers. She had told her story to the public from the beginning countless times by now, and while it took some getting used to, she could feel the public beginning to support her again.

   She had no clue how the others dealt with all of this. Riley had never really told her story growing up because her colleagues already knew the grueling details before meeting her. Meanwhile, the public was clueless. Riley had repeated her story and relived her worst memories so often that she was becoming desensitized to it. Now, Riley understood why Tony was always such a pain in the ass when it came to anything press-related.