REMEMBER ME; peter parker

six

On Sundays, Talen helped out at the local library. Normally, she just stocked books, but they were down a cashier, so she took over. 

This particular day, the library wasn't too busy. Talen just scrolled on her phone while waiting for any customer when in walks a tall, blonde man covered in bandaids. He had purple sunglasses that he rested on his head once entering, along with a purple t-shirt. 

The man walked straight to her counter, not bothering to pick up a book first. 

"Does Talen work here?" He asked.

"Uhm," Talen stood from her seat. "That's me. What can I help you with?" 

"My name's Clint Barton. I have some...business to discuss with you. Is there anywhere we could talk in private?" 

"Uh, yeah. There's a meeting room that's empty. It's down that hallway, third door on the right. If you'll wait there, I'll meet you in a few minutes." The man nodded and Talen let the...strangeness of his demeanor sit in. Something about him made her trust him, and that was very odd. 

Talen found her manager, Lisa, and asked if she could take a short break, considering they were hardly busy. Lisa was always very lenient, so of course she let Talen go. She grabbed her bag and walked to the meeting room, where Clint was sitting with a manilla file folder and a laptop.

"Okay, I'm here. What business did you want to discuss?" 

"Well, I have someone else who will be joining via Skype in just one-" He was cut off by the call ringing. He clicked to accept and Steve Rogers' face popped up. 

"Holy Shit! That's Captain America!" Talen took the seat next to Clint. 

"And you must be Talen. I have a proposition for you. You do not have to accept this, but there would be great things in store for you if you did, so please hear me out." Talen only nodded. "I've heard about, and seen, what you can do. The Avengers are in a rough spot right now and I need some extra hands on my side here in Germany. What do you think?" 

Talen realized she'd been recruited by Iron Man and Captain America to fight on opposite sides of the same fight. 

"Hold on- Tony Stark asked told me yesterday that I'm going to Germany. Can I assume this is that as well?"

"Shit. Tony talked to you? Did he tell you what this is about?"

"..No. He just told Peter and I that a car would be picking us up in three days."

Steve sighed. "Alright. I'm not sure I'm supposed to be telling you this, but I've already broken the law, so can't do much more damage." 

He then began to dive into the issues the Avengers were facing with the UN and the Sokovia Accords. Clint showed Talen the relevant files in the folder while Steve did so. Talen listened with great intensity. 

"So, I think that's everything. Now it's up to you: Tony's side or My side?" 

Without hesitation, Talen answered. "Your side." Steve tried to hide the grin that spread across his face. 

"Alright! Uhm, give Clint your phone number and he'll let you know when and where he'll pick you up.

Steve then ended the Skype call and the conversation turned back to Clint and Talen. 

"Alright, put your number in here," he handed her a flip phone, which she stifled a chuckle at. "You need to have everything ready to go very soon. It could be tonight, just warning you." Talen felt a weird sense of admiration for the man covered in bandaids. He felt warm and trustworthy. She nodded, telling him she'd be ready. By the time she got back to the register, there was only about an hour left of her shift. 

. . . 

That hour was extremely boring. I mean, Talen would say anything was boring after being recruited twice to fight with the Avengers. But seriously, one woman came in and rented one book, and then Talen was finally able to clock out. She took the subway back to Howard House, not feeling like walking thirty minutes. 

This time, she didn't need to scale the wall to enter the house under Matron's radar. She waltzed in, walking straight to her room trying to contain her jitters. She immediately began packing, shoving all she could into an old duffle bag. 

But, she stopped. 

At the bottom of her closet, under many t-shirts and hoodies, was a suit. 

No, not the suit she wears to fight crime in Queens. 

This suit wore a burden the Queens one didn't. It screamed 'betrayal' and 'backstabber'. It flooded her mind with memories she hadn't thought about in centuries. People. Moments she used to hold so dear to her soul. She'd made herself forget the people and places she once called home for so long it felt like the wind was knocked out of her. She remembered everything she suppressed, it all coming back at once like a tsunami. 

In a split, very stupid, decision, Talen shoved the pink and gold suit in her duffle bag, along with the black one before she thought about the past too much. She finished topping off her bag, shoving it under her bed to avoid suspicion from anyone walking in. 

It felt like hours and hours passed before Clint sent her a text. 

UNKOWN: Outside. 

Her heart sank with both nerves and excitement. She grabbed her duffle bag and clasped on an old brass necklace she'd had for ages, the faintest hint of who gave it to her in the back of her mind. Talen bounded down the stairs, finding Matron in the kitchen, and told her she was going to stay with a friend for a while. Matron didn't mind. She never did. 

Outside, Clint stood next to a black car with black windows. He was dressed in what Talen assumed was his suit. Upon spotting the girl, he opened the trunk, allowing her to put the old bag inside. 

"Do you have a suit, or are we going to fight dressed like a high schooler?" 

Talen chuckled, her mind stuck on the pink suit stuffed in her bag. "I have a suit." 

. . . 

Clint drove to the Avengers' Compound just outside the city. It was massive, but Talen didn't have time to explore it. She quickly grabbed the suit out of her bag and followed Clint into the building, turning when he told her where the bathrooms were. 

Putting on the suit brought back the memories in HD. She remembered every time she and her team fought together, laughed together, cried, danced, cheered, celebrated. For a while, she was happy, remembering. There were good times buried under the bad. 

But when she stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror, all she could see was the girl who'd betrayed everyone. Who'd put her family in danger, who'd put humans in danger. The girl who couldn't control her emotions, who couldn't be left in a room alone. She was the girl who everyone turned to when something went wrong. The screw-up. The outcast. The one nobody liked. The aberration. She could hear their voices whispering in her ears, taunting her to no end. 

They only stopped when a rumbling noise shook the building. 

"Clint? What's going on?" She asked, frantically stepping out of the bathroom. Clint and a girl with glowing red hands stood over a massive hole in the ground. "What happened here?" 

Clint shrugged. "Minor disagreement. C'mon, we got one more stop." 

a/n:

im sorry i absolutely hate the beginning of this but it got better i hope. it's the only way i could think of to get her to team cap so her and peter could go up against each other for yk,, tension. 

also THANK YOU FOR 900 READS WHAT? INSANE

<3<3