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Peter let out a whoop as he flipped off his web before slinging himself to the next building.
No matter how long he spent as Spiderman, the thrill of swinging above the city would never get old.
“Peter,” Karen reminded him, “your curfew is in 20 minutes. You need to be back at the tower or your apartment by then.”
“Thanks Karen. I’m heading to the tower now. I get to spend the night so Mr. Stark and I can keep working in the lab tomorrow!”
“That is very exciting Peter. You should be aware; my scans have picked up a heat signature on the roof of the tower.”
“What?” Peter quired, “I’ll check it out.”
Usually, Peter changed into civilian clothes a few blocks from the tower so that people wouldn’t track Spiderman as a regular visitor to the tower, but an exception could be made for a situation like this.
“Karen? Can you ask Friday if she knows who’s up there?”
“Certainly Peter. One moment.”
Peter had just started to scale the tower when Karen spoke up again.
“Friday says that Miss Maximoff is the one on the roof.”
“Wanda?” Peter wondered aloud, “she’s rarely at the tower. I’m gonna go check on her.”
It was true. While Peter had certainly met Wanda a couple of times, she was usually at the farm with Clint and his family.
Quickly reaching the top of the building, Peter hopped up and removed his mask.
Wanda whirled around to face him, red light glowing from her hands.
“Whoa whoa whoa, it’s just me,” Peter assured her, holding his hands out in the universal sign of I’m-not-going-to-hurt-you, “it’s Peter.”
“Peter,” Wanda visibly deflated, all traces of magic disappearing as she slumped back down, “what are you doing here?”
“I was coming back from patrol when Karen told me that someone was up here. I thought I should check it out.”
“Oh. Well, it’s just me,” Wanda hummed, “isn’t it late? Shouldn’t you be home by now or something?”
“Nah, I’m staying at the tower tonight,” Peter explained, sitting down a few feet away from the other hero, giving her space, “what are you doing up here?”
“Just thinking,” Wanda hummed, “it’s weird not to see the stars.”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “that’s one of the few things I don’t like about living in a city.”
“At hom- I mean, at the farm, there are so many stars. I like to look at them when I can’t sleep, but I guess that doesn’t work here.”
“Do you want to talk about why you can’t sleep?” Peter asked gently.
Wanda shook her head. “No, you don’t need to bother with me. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I asked,” Peter pointed out, “I’m sure you’ll eventually be fine. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to talk.” He paused, then continued. “I get nightmares a lot. We see a lot of terrible things as heroes, but I’d also seen a lot of horrible things before I got my powers. I tried, for a long time, to just deal with it myself, but Mr. Stark got me to start talking to him about them, and you know what? It helps. It helps me, at least. So, if you want to talk, I’m here to listen.”
The two sat quietly for several minutes, before Wanda pulled her knees to her chest and whispered, “I miss Pietro”.
Peter hummed encouragingly, and that was all it took for words to come pouring from Wanda.
“I miss him every day, you know? But some days are harder than others. And—and something happened yesterday and I just don’t know how to deal with it? Sometimes it just hits me that I’m the only one left: I don’t have any other family. I don’t even know anyone else who speaks Sokovian. I don’t want to be alone anymore—but I don’t want to forget my family, either.”
Peter shuffled closer. “What happened yesterday?”.
“I was playing with the boys; Cooper and Nate. Nate was protecting me while Cooper pretended to attack us, and he yelled—” Wanda let out a sob, “he yelled ‘don’t touch my sister!’ I know he’s little and he doesn’t know any better, but, I already have a brother. I don’t want to replace him.” Wanda blurted.
“Oh, Wanda,” Peter murmured, “may I hug you?”
She nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks, and Peter gently wrapped an arm around her.
“Can I tell you a story?” he asked. At her nod, he began.
“When I was little, my parents died in a plane crash, and I went to go live with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. It felt like my world had ended, and in a way, I guess it had. But eventually, things got better. I still missed my mom’s hugs, but May’s hugs were enough. I never wanted to call Ben ‘Dad’, but he was still the one I ran to whenever I had a bad day or needed help.”
Peter took a breath to steel himself before continuing. “Then, then Ben died in my arms and I knew life would never ever be the same again; and it isn’t. But I have Mr. Stark now. He’s not my dad, and he’s not Uncle Ben, but he hugs me when I have a bad day, helps me with my homework, and is always there when I really need him,” Peter confessed, “In some ways, having him helps me remember Dad and Ben. When he ruffles my hair or calls my name, it makes it easier to remember the good times with them, too.”
Wanda turned, listening closely to what he was saying.
“I guess my point is that love multiplies love. When we have people with us that we love, it’s easier to keep loving and remembering those who we’ve lost, without becoming bitter or twisting their memories.”
“Thank you, Peter.” Wanda murmured, “that… actually helps.”
“It sounds like Nate really loves you,” Peter pointed out, “he’s not trying to take Pietro’s place: he just knows that you love him and he loves you; that you do the things a sister does.”
The two sit in silence for awhile, staring out at the lights of the city.
After a few minutes, Peter breaks the silence with a question.
“Wanda, will you teach me to speak Sokovian?”
She stared at him. “You want to learn Sokovian?”
“Sure. I’m doing pretty well with Russian by now, so it’s about time to learn a new language anyway. I was debating between Japanese and Korean, but I can easily do those in a year or two.”
“You what?!?”
“Oh, did you not hear?” Peter questioned, “I’m pretty good at languages; I’ve learned a lot of them. Earlier you mentioned that you didn’t know anyone who spoke Sokovian. I would be happy to learn.”
Wanda sniffed and wiped away a tear.
“Yes Peter, I’ll teach you Sokovian. Thank you.”
“Anytime. You’re not alone.”