Marvel Oneshots

Aunt Carol (requested by @newavengersedits on insta)

Hello reader! I hope you enjoy these oneshots. This particular one I wrote at least four months ago, so I feel it could be better, but I'm leaving it here anyway. Please enjoy this fluff while I write some more oneshots, and don't forget to vote! 💌

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"Oh, shit!" Carol winced as she burnt her wrist on the boiling kettle. As invulnerable as she was, she still had her moments.

Still no news on where Maria or Monica were. It had been six months since the snap was undone, yet she had no word from them. Talos said he'd contact Carol if he saw Monica flying around in a spaceship, like she'd said all those years ago. You know, as a joke.

A rhythm of footsteps came from the corridor, and Carol acted as if nothing happened. She hadn't known the remaining Avengers for very long, and even though she could've done with some friends, she thought it better to keep things professional. At least until she got her family back.

A knock sounded on the metallic kitchen doorframe, "Hey, uh... miss... Carol? Mrs? Are you married?"

The kid, Peter Parker. Carol had seen him in battle on multiple missions; he was actually quite competent, despite his awkward demeanour. He still wore his suit under his blue, faded hoodie - not the iron spider suit, though. The one he'd made himself.

A warm, yet tired smile graced Carol's face, "Well, unfortunately, no. I'm not married. Gay marriage wasn't exactly legal in the 80s. I mean, we held some sort of unofficial thing once, but it didn't really satisfy what we wanted."

Peter swallowed, "Oh well--I uh, i- sorry?" his hand awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

Carol chuckled, waving her hand dismissively, "Nah, you're cool. If you insist though, you can call me Aunt. I'm not really one for titles."

The boy forced laughter, "Yeah. Uh. Thanks."

They sat in comfortable silence. Peter didn't want to leave - the others were out on missions and Ned and MJ were unavailable. Surprisingly, perhaps even more so than Peter (due to his "extracurricular" of fighting crime), they'd thrust themselves head first into studying and coursework. Besides, he'd just come back from a mission the previous day; he didn't want to travel exorbitant amounts.

Carol was still deep in thought. She didn't know much about Peter, but he seemed nice. Good-hearted. She saw him gut-wrenchingly mourn Tony after their big battle, so he'd obviously been through a lot. Maybe he'd lost people before Tony.

"Hey, kid?"

"Yeah, Aunt Carol?"

She asked a question she'd been pondering for a long time, "Do you... do you think I deserve to be here?"

Peter blinked in surprise, "Well, uh, what, do you mean?"

Carol sighed, leaning back on the kitchen counter, "Uh.. it's kinda difficult to talk about, having spent so much of my life in military training. You know, the whole 'repress your emotions' schpiel. I've had that a lot."

Peter raised a confused eyebrow.

Clearing her throat, she continued, "But I've had a lot of time to think. After the battle at the old Headquarters. I've been thinking about how cocky I am. Whether it's misplaced. My attitude was born from a place of knowing my worth, of not letting others define my strength... but I'm struggling to figure out if I've taken it too far. Been to brash."

The teenager opposite her replied,"Is that what people have been saying?"

A beat.

"Because honestly, I haven't noticed any of that. You kind of remind me of Mr Stark. Charismatic, confident. Wanting to lead others, to inspire. Only after his death did I learn that he was just like all of us. Complicated. Scared. Doubtful of himself." he sighed,"But all of the things he did, for us and the entire planet... you can see his doubts in himself and his motivations were born from anxiety and fear."

Peter offered a warm, genuine smile, "Aunt Carol, I haven't known you for very long. And while everyone has their flaws, I'd say your confidence isn't one of them. Being headstrong isn't a problem as long as you get back up and fight for a worthy cause. Believe me, you tick those boxes."

Carol hugged Peter tightly,"Thanks, kid. That..." she let go, "That helped a lot, actually."

Shoving his hands in his jean pockets, Peter changed to a lighter subject, "No problem, any time! Now, uh, forgive me if it's kind of a sensitive subject but uh... would you mind telling me a bit more about your family? The one you had before all this superhero stuff."

She saw so much of Monica in him. Warm smile, good heart, strong inside. Only aspiring to do good.

"Sure, kid." the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile.

Carol wondered if she'd end up finding family with the Avengers, too.