Aim: Hydra | Y/N Story | Sequel to "Aim: Avenger"

22. For the Better

The bell for the end of lunch sounded over the loudspeakers, causing Di and I to jump as we reached for the knives we stashed inside our shoes.

"No no no! It's okay! That's just the bell!"  Peter rushed.

"Oh. It sounds different in here than in the classrooms." I tucked the blade back into its hiding place. 

"Why do you both have knives-never mind, I don't want to know." Peter muttered.

"So we have Gym now?" He nodded and we all stood, throwing away our trash as we walked past the trash cans. It was a short, silent walk to the locker rooms. Peter explained we needed to change, and that we would meet up by the bleachers. Distortos froze when I handed her a uniform. There was a short-sleeved cobalt t-shirt with a matching sweater, and a pair of dandelion shorts. "You can probably wear your leggings under the shorts if you want to."

She tapped her foot once against the lockers, saying no, and pulled something out of her bag. It was a pair of nylons. 

"Smart." I smiled her and we changed into the surprisingly comfortable clothes. The nylons did their job, making virtually impossible to see her scaled skin. "You know, you look beautiful either way." I saw a slight movement under her mask, and I knew my comment made her smile. "C'mon." I held out my hand, and her gloved one took it. We walked out together, ignoring the confused glances of the other girls, and entered the main room. It was standard, boring, and I saw two familiar boys standing by the bleachers. As we walked closer, I heard Peter talking to Ned.

"She can share memories, too, and if she thinks about it too much, it can influence her in real life. She got shot by a ghost once, but turns out they were doing it to make her open up to the Avengers, and have a family. I met her a few times, she was actually really nice. And there was this other ghost thing, his name was Ben-"

"Technically, his name was Gestorben. It's German for 'dead.' He was named that because his parents called him a 'bringer of death' due to his strength. He had a twin, but he killed him when they were three. Hydra rescued him when his parents tried to kill him, but he ended up killing them instead. I saw it all, it was actually pretty gross. He tore his dad's throat out." I said, scaring the two as they jumped at the sudden sound of my voice. My story probably didn't help, either.

Di tapped my elbow, motioning for me to read her mind. "Tone it down. I can feel the blood pumping faster through their hearts."

"Sorry. Still working on that. Regular people aren't used to stories like that, huh?" I whispered, making her smile again.

"I heard that, and you're right." Peter said as Ned just looked at us confused.

"You know, I always wanted you and Ben to have an arm-wrestling contest. It would've been hilarious  to watch you loose." I smirked at the boy standing across from me.

"Hey! I think I'd do pretty well."

"He was able to hold down the Winter Soldier for an extended amount of time."

"I stopped that guy's punch once, I could definitely hold him down."

"Oh, please, he'd break you like a glowstick."

Our bickering was stopped by Di clearing her throat, putting a finger in front of her mouth to motion shushing.

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"I'm going to kill Stark."

"Don't get blood on the carpet." Peter said, getting some water from the kitchen as I flopped onto my couch.

"I never want to go to school again, I'm exhausted. That was eight hours of boredom, how do you do this everyday?" I looked over at him, but he just shrugged. "I mean, with Hydra we would train, always learning useful ways to take down your enemies, but this. It's so boring. Who cares how to calculate the distance between two points?"

"Every time someone asks, the teachers just say we'll need it for everyday life."

"No you don't." I grumbled. "At least I'll remember it all, so tests should be easy." Di sat silently on one of the armchairs, flipping through television stations, not interested in anything playing. Giving up, she switched it off, pulling out her homework instead. "You can go ahead without me today, Bugsy. I need to work on my pet project."

"Taking down Hydra isn't a pet project." He shot back, but agreed.

"And please, for the love of all that is holy, leave your backpack here. I'm going to go crazy if I have to hear another round of May wondering why you need a new backpack. Again." He laughed, changing into his suit and swinging off to find trouble. "Okie-dokie, work time. Based on Ms. Bell's memories, the base is inside a fake flower shop on Ditmars Boulevard. It's small, so it has to be a purely intel storage facility, meaning one guard at the door, and seven inside. Easy in-and-out, just go about Enora's routine. Okay, her shift isn't for another," I glanced at the clock on my wall, "three hours. Should be enough time to get my homework finished." I pulled out my homework and began. It was much easier than I anticipated, and I was almost done when I heard a phone ringing. I didn't have one and was very confused until Di pulled out a phone from my backpack. "Oh. Thanks, Di. Hello, Y/N speaking."

"Hey kid. How was school?" Tony's voice sounded from the small device.

"Fine. I don't need a babysitter, Stark."

"Not so much a babysitter as a good influence. I noticed a certain Enora was dropped at the police station with more than enough evidence to indict her. I gotta say, I think Pete's a good influence on ya."

"You're hilarious, Stark. Just didn't want to get blood on the carpet."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Whatever you say, sour patch. Get your homework done, or you're grounded."

"Goodbye, Stark." I hung up on him, but his words still swirled in my head. As much as I disagreed, he was right. Maybe Peter is rubbing off on me. Maybe things are changing for the better.

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