REMEMBER ME; peter parker

two

The Eternals' mission seemed to have nearly come to an end. Deviants weren't popping up as often and they were each beginning to settle down. Sersi and Ikaris were...married? No one was sure if it was official, but it was a beautiful ceremony and they were happy. The two youngest, Talen and Sprite, were getting bored of the repetitive nature of life now. The team resided in Babylon, but plans to move to evade suspicion of their never-aging nature were fast coming. 

Unbeknownst to the team, Talen had a side mission. She wanted to prove that the Deviants could be calmed, tamed even. For weeks, she'd been working with one she caught. She'd named him Sabi, after a late friend of hers from the village. 

And, she'd successfully tamed him. He responded to her voice, never harmed her, and even knew a few tricks. And, Talen had decided it was time to show her team that the Deviants were not all monsters and could do good. 

Talen worked up the courage to show Makkari. She told her to wait at a spot away from base, halfway between there and where she was keeping Sabi. When Makkari arrived, she was met with a very, very anxious Talen. 

"Talen, what did you need to show me?"  She signed.

"Okay, it's a pretty big deal. But, I need you to promise me you will not freak out."  Talen signed back. 

"Just show me already, I'm getting excited!" 

Talen smiled, nervously, and led Makkari to where she and Sabi had been hiding out. She told Makkari to wait outside of the small cave. 

"Alright, buddy. It's time to meet one of my friends, alright? Be nice, she's not a threat." Talen whispered to Sabi, then led him out to Makkari. 

Talen watched as Makkari's excited smile dropped and her face filled with fear as the Deviant was revealed to her. 

"Makkari, meet Sabi."

"Talen, what the hell are you doing with a Deviant?" 

"I tamed him." 

"It's dangerous. It's literally what we were sent to destroy, our purpose. Why are you bothering with taming them?" 

"I thought- I thought if they could be tamed, then we wouldn't have to kill them and they could evolve, like humans." 

Makkari stood in shock as she watched her best friend stand next to their enemy. She felt confused, betrayed, angry, and any like emotion. Makkari knew that Talen experienced emotions differently than the other Eternals, but she never expected her to act on them. The Eternals never really acted on strong emotions. They'd been instructed that emotions would interfere with the efficiency of the mission. 

All of the Eternals expected Talen to hide and suppress her true nature. And she wanted to prove that emotions were valuable. 

"Makkari, say something." 

Makkari didn't say anything. Instead, she ran back to base, not using her super-speed. Talen ran after her, worried about her future with the team. 

When the two arrived back at base, the other nine Eternals were seated at a table, each doing their own thing. 

"Makkari, what is it?"  Ajak signed.

"Its..." Makkari watched as Talen entered the room right after her, her eyes pleading to not say anything. "Talen has...done something. Something dangerous."

. . . 

Talen knew that the second those words left Makkari's mouth, she was done for. The team did not like insubordination. 

Talen had been shunned from the room, forced to relive the past thirty minutes as she (im)patiently waited for the news. 

Inside, the Eternals were deciding Talen's future with the team. 

"She's just a kid!" Thena argued in Talen's favor. 

"She's going to put the entire team at risk if we let her stay, Thena. We all knew having an aberration on the team was dangerous. She should've never been allowed to go out on her own. Talen does not know how to control her emotions and...and it could mean the end of us." Ajak countered. 

No one spoke. On the outside, they may believe that Talen was useful and strong, but everyone knew, deep inside, that she was a danger to the team. 

. . . 

"Talen, come in here, please." 

She re-entered the room, the tension increased exponentially.

"We have come to a decision regarding your future with the team." Ajak's voice was tired and angry. 

Of course, Talen already knew that she was no longer an Eternal. She couldn't bear to look at the people she'd viewed as family for so long. Her pink eyes welled with tears as she bore holes in her shoes. 

"Talen of Olympia has committed the highest level of insubordination against the great Arishem. From this moment on, she is no longer an Eternal."