Avengers Academy

Chapter 21: Who Am I?

(IF YOU SPEAK SPANISH FLUENTLY I'M SORRY IF IT'S BUTCHERED! I USED A TRANSLATOR THE BEST I COULD. ALSO THERE IS SEXUAL ASSULT MENTIONED BECAUSE IT WAS IN THE COMICS. PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION.)

Other than what happened at the school, Tony is finally letting the youngins do superhero work outside of the academy. He even warned them that being a trained hero isn't as easy as in training. They're fighting real people now, not dummies or a partner who they can be a little more rough with. So the number one rule is not to kill anyone. Not an easy task for some but they need to remember their strengths. After school each student suited up. Peter and Laura take up parts of Queens. Before they suited up the made a quick stop at his favorite deli, Delmar's. It was finally all fixed since the alien gun explosion.

"Hey Peter, how's it going?" Mr. Delamore asked as he saw the two walk in.

"I'm doing really great." He said confidently.

"So who's this pretty young lady?" Delmar gestures towards Laura.

"This is my girlfriend, Laura." Peter made sure to add emphasis on girlfriend.

"Well nice to meet you Laura. Welcome to my deli." He says opening up his arms twisting.

"This place is pretty cool. It's been a while since I've been to a deli." She not lying. Being at Xavier's they don't get out much.

"Thanks sweetheart. Hey Peter how's May doing?" Delamore says a little low. Laura holds a laugh knowing where this is going.

"Yeah she's alright. She approves of Laura so that's a really good thing." Peter shrugged it off.

"¿Te acuerdas de la tía de Peter Parker? ¿La atractiva dama italiana? Ella aprueba a su nueva novia." Do you remember Peter Parker's aunt? The attractive Italian lady? She approves of his new girlfriend. Delamore turned around to one of the workers.

Peter, not being as fluent in Spanish as Laura, only understood about half of that. Still processing what he said, Laura decides to speak up instead.

"Ha! Creo que ella aprobó el día que nos conocimos. También estoy de acuerdo, ella es una mujer hermosa." I think she approved the day we met. I also agree, she is a beautiful woman.

"¡Oye! ¿Hablas español con fluidez?" Hey! You speak spanish fluently? Delmar asked excitedly.

"Sí señor!" Yes sir! Laura felt proud of her heritage for once... or what she thinks is her heritage.

She's just as clueless as Natasha Romanoff was. Peter looked at the two confused and so curious as to what happened. They both laughed at his reaction. The two paid for their food and left.

"Uh, what went down back there? I didn't know you could fluently speak Spanish! You could be helping me with my homework." The boy was so flustered and Laura loves it.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to feel intimidated. As well as me not knowing if I'm Mexican American or just American. I grew up in Mexico, but that doesn't mean I'm Mexican. I'm about as clueless as Natasha Romanoff. Also, it's cute to see you try hard." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Oh and I'm not telling you what we said." She gave an evil smirk.

"What?!" He stopped in his tracks. Laura got further ahead and faced him.

"Hey hero, time to get to work." She took off down the block.

Peter chased her down an alleyway. The dropped their things started to get dressed.

"Need a lift, my lady?" He gestured to his webs.

"Uh duh!" She joked, going into his arms.

They swing off. This is a normal routine for Peter so he shows her the ropes. There was petty larceny, grand theft skateboard, and a group of bullies but that was it.

"So this is normal around here isn't it?" Laura asked as she sat on the edge finishing her sandwich. It was now getting dark and the lights were the only ones that were bright.

"Yeah. People think Queens or the New York City suburbs as extremely dangerous. It's not." She nodded her head.

"You know this kind of romantic in a superhero type of way. Spider-Man and his girlfriend Wolverine fighting crime and eating subs on a rooftop." She says chuckling.

Peter moaned to agree with her as he took a bite of his sandwich. Laura contemplated telling him more of her past. He loved her just the way she was but there's always that fear. The fear that the past will make or break everything. It usually breaks for her.

"Babe? You alright?" Peter asked concerned.

"Uh, yeah I was just thinking about something in the past. No biggie." Peter didn't buy it. "Fine it was something that made me who I am."

"Laura?" She knows that she can't hold it in with him.

"Peter, I was, I was raped when I was younger and sold into sex trafficking." Peter looked shocked and pissed but not at her.

She had to look away because the tears were coming. Peter wanted to find whoever did these things to her. But right now Laura was his priority. He heard the heavy breathing and sniffing. Peter pulled Laura onto his lap.

"Hey, I'm glad you told me. Yeah I'm angry but not at you. Now I know what you meant by your first time wasn't great. It was obviously terrible and you said good to cover it up. Laura," He paused and lifted her chin. "I love you for everything you are. You're amazing and always remember that." He kissed her with so much passion that he had it returned.

"My whole life... I don't know who I am. In the world, I'm Laura, some angsty teen with a grudge that no one likes. To every operative, cadet, colonel, chief, I'm Weapon X-23. Not even Wolverine. Was my mom even Mexican? Was my dad even American? Not even Charles Xavier is going to tell me that." Laura's sadness mixed with anger.

"I can tell you one thing that you do know about yourself. You're my girlfriend. In my opinion, that's perfect. You're imperfectly perfect." Laura sobbed more till she fell asleep there.

When it was time, Peter pulled his mask on and swung both her and him back home. When he laid her down on the bed, he nervously started to undress her to put her in pajamas. If anyone walks in, they'll think the exact opposite of him being a good boyfriend. Society can't see the difference between good and bad anymore. Eventually he was successful and held her until he too fell asleep.