|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 49• Belova

Shifting under the duvet with a light groan, Peter switched sides on the bed. He reached out his hand to grab his girlfriend's waist and pull her in. He wanted to cuddle her like a teddy bear. But when he reached over, she was not lying beside him like he expected her to. He felt all over her spot on the mattress, but she wasn't there. Another groan escaped his lips as he forced his eyelids open. The light in the bathroom was off, just like the bedroom lights, it was completely dark in there. And Y/n was nowhere near. "Y/n/n? " Peter calls out. His voice sounded a little soar and raspy.  He rubbed his eyes as he reached out to check his phone. "Y/n!" Peter whines as he sees the time. He forced himself out of the comfortable, warm bed he was resting in oh, so, peacefully. Deep down he cursed his girlfriend a little for staying away and now he'd have to go and find her. The thought of Harley having sneaked up on her briefly passed through his mind. But he was too tired to worry about any of that right now. She wasn't in the lab. Didn't she say she was going there? Peter started to wander through the facility, searching for Y/n. He eventually caught a glimpse of the lights in the kitchen. "Are you making a midnight snack?" Peter mumbled to himself as he stumbled into the room.

"Baby, why are you making Macaroni in the middle of the night," Peter whines. Y/n jumped slightly at the sound of her boyfriend's voice. "Pete, why aren't you asleep?" She asks him sweetly. The boy makes his way over to the young Stark. As soon as he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Who is this? Your puppy?" A woman with a thick accent spoke up. "Oh my god!" Peter let go of his girlfriend when Yelena spoke up. Yelena grabbed the bottle of hot sauce and poured it all over the macaroni. "You don't mind, right?" She asks. Y/n shakes her head. "No, no, use the whole bottle if you have to. I like it." Y/n reached out to Peter. "Peter, I want you to meet someone. This is Yelena. Nat's sister." She informs the boy. "I didn't know Natasha had a sister. Well, aside from you- I mean, you were kind of... like her sister." Peter replied. His mind felt blank all of a sudden. He looked like a little kid walking into his parents' room at three in the morning. He only missed the stuffed animal in his grasp. He shrugged it off and wrapped his arms around Y/n again. "Cuddles." He mumbles in her hair. "Awh, it's alright, Pete. Yelena, this is Peter Parker. He's just tired. He'll reintroduce himself tomorrow. Make a better impression on you." Yelena smiles at her and Peter. "So, he is your puppy." She chuckles. "A little bit." Y/n answers. She reaches behind her and pets Peter's hair gently. "You're having a midnight snack," Peter mumbles. "We were hungry." Y/n laughs, "Don't judge." She added. "So, wait, are you two living here by yourselves? All of this?" Yelena's thick accent was like honey, really. "Sort of. He has a place of his own. I live with my mom and little sister in a house by the lake. This is just for work." Y/n answered. "A lot bigger than the usual office you people work in," Yelena said sarcastically. "Yes, much more than an office."

She caught Yelena looking at Peter who was resting his eyes. She was hesitant to speak with him right beside them. The poor boy was almost fast asleep while standing up straight and clinging onto the girl for dear life. Y/n smiles a little. "Hey, Pete, why don't you head back to bed? I don't know how long we're gonna be here." She tells him. "Don't wanna." You could barely hear his voice as he mumbled into Y/n's hair. "Parker, you're exhausted. I'll be with you soon." She assures her boyfriend. He sighed and nodded his head. "Night," Y/n called after him as he strolled out of the room.  Once the coast was clear, Yelena loosened up again. "Believe me, he's on our side. You've got nothing to worry about" Yelena glared at the girl in front of her. "Can never be sure of that." She said. "Agreed, but we can trust Peter." Y/n tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Anyway, you were saying," Yelena started. "Yes, yes, the machine is rough but we're working on it very hard. This has to work. We've only got one day left before my uncle comes in to check on me. I was supposed to shut it all down." She explained. Yelena took another bite of her macaroni. "So, you're going to time travel again?" Y/n frowns at her slightly. "I know a lot of things," Yelena added before Y/n could even ask the question.

"It's not time traveling." Y/n tells her, "I'm altering time and death. This won't screw up the timeline. Time travel would disrupt it the moment we arrive. I've had some experiences with the multiverse, and it's not great." Y/n explained. "The multiverse?" Yelena questioned. "It's like an infinite amount of universes slightly different from this one," Y/n says. "But you can bring my sister back." Yelena cut in. "If it works, yes." Y/n noticed something in Yelena's eyes once those words left her mouth. Excitement? Hope? "I just hope we've got enough time to prepare everything," Y/n mumbled. "So, you've got one day left to prepare everything?" Y/n nodded in response. "We've only done two testing rounds. Aside from the cable that detached, everything went fine." The young Stark added. "So it's not working," Yelena said. "Not yet." Y/n said hopefully with a smile. "Listen," Yelena started. She leaned a little closer to the girl and pushed aside the pot with macaroni. "You're a Stark. I need my sister back. If anyone can do it, it's you." She continued. "I want her back too. I'm doing all I can, I promise." Y/n assured her. "Well, then you'll make it work, Stark." It was almost as if she was giving her orders. "We're going to work on it tomorrow. My two assistants are passed out." She chuckles. "You've got me." Yelena shrugged.

Y/n looks at the blonde woman a little surprised. "I didn't know you were an engineer." Yelena shrugged. "I'm not. But I am more than willing to help if that means my sister will come back from the dead." She said. Y/n smiles at her. "You're a lot like her." A small smile crept on Yelena's lips as well. "Thank you." She mumbled. "You know, you're exactly what I thought you'd be like. Natasha always talked about you." Y/n tells her. "Oh yeah? What did she say?" Her accent made some words sound more special for some reason. "That she loved you and missed you every day. That even from a young age you were very talented. Your favorite song is American Pie. Always has been. Nat was always humming that song whenever she was alone or focused on something. She, honestly, couldn't shut up about you, actually." She chuckles. Yelena felt tears burn behind her eyes. Y/n took one last bite of their meal as she stood up. "You're welcome to stay here for the night, of course. And if not, please use the front door. The next thing I need to do is upgrade my security systems apparently." Y/n rambled as she started to walk out of the room. "There's a guest room you can use. Up the stairs, first door to the left."

"I'm getting a little worried, Y/n. You haven't been here for days now, you come in every morning." MJ reminds her best friend. "I know, I know, I've just been busy with this project and all that." Y/n nodded at Harley who was typing rapidly on the keyboard in front of him. "When do we get to see this mysterious project? I want to see this new place you've been hiding from us, too." MJ asked with a mischievous smirk. "Once I get it to work I'll give you and Ned the grand tour. You're more than welcome. I just need to get some things in order first." She tells the girl, "MJ, listen, I really want to talk, but I've got one day left to test this thing." Y/n didn't want to cut off her best friend, but time was running out. Bruce would be here within twenty-two hours. She needed to prove herself to him. Shutting it down wouldn't be right. It would be such a waste. "Before you go," MJ turned the camera to Ned who was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee and a donut. "Hi, Ned!"  She greeted the boy. "Y/n! Where you at?" He asks her. "I'm working.  I miss you both. I promise we'll hang out soon." Y/n assures them through the phone. "Will you bring your new assistant, too?" Michelle smirked widely. "I might. See you guys soon!" The young Stark ended their video call and walked over to her boyfriend.

"Everything's set up." He tells her. She let out a sigh. "I hope it works." She whispers. "It's just a test." Peter reminds her. Y/n briefly made eye contact with Yelena who stood near the machine inspecting every square inch of it. "Hey," Peter nudged her slightly, "It's going to work. Don't get rushed out by her." He tells his girlfriend. "Well, I am," Y/n muttered under her breath. She turned around to look at her boyfriend. "I've been wanting to meet her for years, don't get me wrong, but she's putting a lot of pressure on me right now. I can't screw this up, Peter. She'll kill me." She whispers oh so quietly. "It's going to work. And she seems to like you. I don't think she'll kill you, Y/n/n." Peter smiled and pressed a kiss against her temple. He made sure to make eye contact with Harley as he did. "We'll alter the machine a little bit more if necessary, do the testing rounds, and then prepare for the real deal. And after all of this, maybe we can go to Ned and MJ... and tell them who I am," Peter said. Y/n glances up at him. "What?" Peter nodded. "Yeah, I thought about it. I want everything to go back to normal. No one's dead, no one is trying to kill us, and everyone I love knows who I am so I won't have to hide it anymore." He explained. Y/n couldn't help but smile at the boy. "Let's go back to normal."