Teleportation did in fact not work anymore. Juno felt weird about the whole thing but Peter assured her that she would figure it out one day or another. Instead, they settled for taking the subway back to the other side of the city.
"Stop worrying about it, Juno."
"I just don't get it. How come they work sometimes and other times it just doesn't?" She asks him, looking down at her hands.
"No clue but worrying about it won't make it better." She guesses he's right. Juno leans back in her seat, the subway starts moving again after it had made a stop.
"What if Strange comes and gets me home before I can even attend college?" It was a question that had popped into her head since she had talked to Peter in front of the University.
"Then you know how to get in, you can do the exact same in your universe." It pained her to say it, but she had never felt more home than now. Not even when she stayed with the avengers in the tower together. Even then she didn't quite feel in her place like she does now.
"I can't ever thank you enough for what you have done for me, Peter." The boy shrugs, a small smile playing on his lips as he looks to the ground. "Seriously, you are such a kind person, you deserve so much more."
"I have made countless mistakes in the past as well." Peter replies, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket. "I guess I'm just trying to make up for it." Juno hums, understanding what he is going through. "Let's get our minds off of this. What's your favorite color?" Juno snorts.
"All of a sudden?" Peter hums. "Blue, yours?"
"Red." It makes sense considering his suit is mostly red. "Do you have a favorite movie?"
"Not really... but I could rewatch the Hunger Games a million times and never get tired of it."
"The Hunger Games, huh? Cute." Juno shakes her head. "Do you have a favorite flower?"
"Seriously, what's with the questions, Parker?"
"Just trying to pass time." Juno rolls her eyes, looking towards the wall.
"Orchids." She mumbles. "I love orchids." Peter smiles but their little moment is quickly broken up when a man wearing a raincoat suddenly pulls a gun out of his jacket, pointing it to the five other people that are seated in this compartment of the subway.
"Empty your pockets and hand it to me." A second guy starts collecting the stuff from the three scared adults on the opposite side of Peter and Juno. The one with the gun points the weapon towards them next. "You heard me."
"Man, lower your damn standards." Peter replies, annoyed. "Look at us, we're going to be college students, do we look like we got anything valuable in our pockets?" Juno chuckles at his bravery.
"Don't play smart with me now, kid." The guy with the gun says, pointing the gun towards Peter. "Empty your pockets." Peter doesn't even as much move. A loud gunshot echoes in the compartment, the bullet right in front of Peter's chest, frozen with blue smoke surrounding it.
"What?" The second man asks.
"You fools." Juno replies, letting the bullet fall to the ground and instead standing up. Peter follows her quickly and together they take down the two men. Peter makes sure they are tied up with webs around them before calling the cops. Juno turns to the three adults who look even more shaken up than before. "You have seen nothing." She tells them before pulling Peter out of the compartment and onto the pavement once the Subway has stopped.
"Let's go home then, the cops are here soon to get them." Peter suggests. "Fighting crime and making the world a better place is my favorite thing to do." Juno follows him upstairs.
"Same but do you always have to play so funny?" She remembered the first interaction she had with him. How dramatic he was acting with the knives. It's refreshing, someone who doesn't take everything so serious.
"What can I say? I'm just a funny guy."
"Cocky much?" Peter stops and smirks at her.
"Very much."
The walk home was fun. Juno simply hopes those three people from the train wouldn't describe them to news reporters because then they would be done for. She had heard what happened to her spiderman and it sounded terrible. This Peter does not deserve that at all.
"May! We're home!" Peter says, walking inside and holding the door open.
"Was it fun?"
"We had very much fun." Peter replies, walking towards her. Juno initially wanted to follow but she stops when she sees baby pictures of Peter on the dresser.
"Good, I'm happy. I'm making meatloaf by the way, you eat that, right Juno?"
"Oh yeah, I love meatloaf."
"Don't say it too loudly, she will give you extra." Peter whispers as he joins her again. "Ignore the pictures."
"Why? They are beautiful." Juno replies. "I never understood why people have baby pictures of someone in their house but, it's cute."
"Because I'm family, that's why she has them." Peter replies.
"And I love him." May adds.
"I love a lot of people, doesn't mean I put their pictures in my house." Peter frowns at her confession.
"Did nobody ever place your pictures in their house?" Peter asks, Juno shakes her head. "Or hung drawings on the fridge?" Again, she shakes her head. "Did nobody ever keep a box of old clothes of yours or teddy bears just for the sake of memories?"
"No, is that normal?"
"Well, I know a lot of parents or grandparents who do that. Or in my case my uncle and aunt." Peter replies, but immediately regrets it when he sees Juno's sad expression.
"Well, I don't really have family." She has Stephen, and he never did all this because he was probably just as clueless as she is now. "It's okay though, you can't miss what you never had."
"Juno--"
"I promise you, I'm okay." Maybe she was, maybe being okay felt like this after all. But she can't help the sting of jealousy every time someone mentions family. She can't help but feel envy when she sees parents turn up for events which their children participate in. Still, one can have bigger problems then the ones she has.
Juno had lied that she needed to use the bathroom, instead she went to sit on the roof of the house, waiting until dinner is ready because she didn't want anyone to see her like this. See her this envious, this sad and breakable. So weak.
Crying is a normal reaction for a human being, of course it doesn't make you weak but she has trouble being vulnerable in front of people, let alone people she has just met. It was hard for her, and so she did what she always does, hide away. Suffer in silence.
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Word Count: 1028
Written: 27/12/2022
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Crossed the Stars - TASM Peter Parker
FanfictionSPOILERS FOR NO WAY HOME!!! Juno Mae Mathews was born a witch and later found by Stephen Strange who helped her control her powers. Juno had only ever had her name, no knowledge of her parents or where she had come from, but now that the world is ch...
