Copycat & The Spider-Man (Marvel Fem!OC)

Junior Year.

Peter insisted so much that C.C. ended up agreeing to do some research on this Dmitri guy. 

"Dmitri..." Tony skimmed through the screen in front of him. "Dmitri... there he is! Is this your boogeyman?"

C.C. looked up and dropped the pad on the desk.

"Yes," She breathed. "Yes! Is he dead?"

"Hmmm," Tony skimmed through the file. "Dmitri Smerdyakov. He used to be a HYDRA agent before disappearing for a while... died during a heart surgery... a month after the Chitauri invasion."

"What? Really?" She approached hastily, accidentally kicking the chair where she'd been sitting. "I didn't kill him?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to show up in the file, but the time doesn't add up. Maybe you didn't," Tony frowned. "But he's definitely gone. Here's the death certificate."

C.C. read it over and over until she memorized the correct spelling of the name.

"I want this file."

Tony stared at her. "Why?"

"Cause it proves I'm not a killer," She sighed in relief. "I'm good."

"I don't get it," The man continued.

"I do," She said in annoyance. "I just want to keep it, okay? This proves I did nothing wrong."

Tony knew how much guilt could mess with the mind, so it didn't take much to convince him.

"Friday, can you put this in a pen drive?"

Five minutes later she was walking out of the compound with a glint in her eyes. It felt like some kind of rebirth, knowing she hadn't killed anyone.

She called Peter to inform him about the pleasant news, and he took advantage of her good mood to use his old Valentine's coupon and ask her to the cat cafe.

***

That night she called Pietro to tell him all about her discovery, he wasn't acting like himself but she didn't notice at first.

"If I ever have a nightmare about it again I can just put this to my watch and..."

There were some other files in the pen drive, she read through them. 

"Huh, Friday gave me a used one," She frowned. "It has old files in it... From the OG group of Avengers... it has Steve's file, and Banner's... it has Barton here! That's crazy, should I tell Tony?"

At the lack of response, she looked back at her phone. 

"Pi?"

The boy gave a start and blinked. "Sorry, Copy... I wasn't paying attention."

"What's wrong?" She unplugged the pen drive and turned her full attention to him. 

"Wanda paid me a visit last night."

"What!" C.C. continued in a whisper. "How did she find you? Was she mad?"

"Vision told her where I was. All she did was sneak into an office and look for the building where I'm currently staying," He sighed. "She wasn't mad... but it didn't feel nice either. She said she was happy for me and I could tell she meant it, but when I asked her if she was going to come back she got tense, said she was fine on her own."

"Is she... did she mention me?"

Pietro stared at her without speaking, C.C. was going to change the subject when he answered her question.

"She wanted to know if you're happy. I told her you're dating Parker and he drives you everywhere cause he finally got his license," He chuckled a little. "I showed her pictures of your seventeenth birthday. She says you look older, but I can't tell the difference."

"Is she mad at me?" The girl pressed. 

"Well, she won't be paying you a visit anytime soon," Pietro said. "I'm his brother and it still felt like Vision had forced her to reach out. You guys didn't spend enough time together, you were friends, but she feels that in the end, you decided she wasn't worth it."

"That's not true," C.C. lamented. "If only Vision could take me to see her..."

"No no, you have your midterms next week," He reminded her. "You'll get your chance to talk to her later, maybe we can invite her over for Christmas?"

"You think she'll come?"

Pietro shrugged. "If she doesn't we'll try again next year."

"Next year," She sighed. "I thought that without the Avengers my life would be painfully austere, but it turns out I've kept myself busy."

"Yeah, and look at me," He smiled. "Studying college... that pen drive, are you going to hide it from the world?"

"I'll just upload the files to my cloud," She shrugged. "So I can find them easily."

"I'm glad you're innocent," He sighed. "You're lucky."

***

"Next stop: Stark Expo!" Ned hollered.

MJ and Peter loudly expressed their excitement, C.C. winced a little at the noise.

"Red light ahead, Pete!" She warned.

The boy stopped roughly.

"Oh, we're tipping over, we're dying!" MJ teased.

"Stop it, don't make me nervous!"

"Then pay attention to the road!" C.C. laughed. "You guys brought food? I don't wanna buy anything there, you know how crazy expensive stuff is inside the Expo."

"Crazy annoying how your uncle won't let us eat for free," Ned complained.

"Yeah, C.C. call your uncle," MJ smirked. "Tell him we're all broke underage students and it'd be a crime to steal the little money we have."

"Tell him I'm being a responsible driver too," Peter added. "In case Happy's listening."

C.C.'s stomach and cheeks were hurting by the end of the day, she'd laughed and seen many amazing things at the Expo. She was happy, blissful in her youth, and grateful for the way her life had turned out. She had more memories of happy days with her friends than she had of those sorrowful lonely evenings at the compound. 

Pietro was alright, and now she knew Wanda was too, even if she wasn't speaking to her. All that mattered was that she'd finally acquired her freedom, and she wasn't friendless.

When Peter stopped outside Happy's building, C.C. yawned and lazily took off the safety belt.

"I won't be able to pick you up next week," He informed her. "May needs the car, so we'll have to take the bus..."

"That's okay," she smiled, "You're excited about the field trip tomorrow?"

Peter raised a brow. "Should I be?"

"I always look forward to our field trips," The girl admitted. "You never know what'll happen. The first time I ever went to one you got bitten by a spider, and it led to this..."

She gazed at him adoringly, Peter intertwined their hands. 

"Are you happy?" 

"Feels like I'm dreaming," He responded sweetly.