Music is "This Place Is A Shelter" by Ólafur Arnalds.

Picture is Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man: Civil War, A Marvel Comics Event.

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"I taught you to fight and to fly. What more could there be?"

- j.m. barrie

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I wish I could sleep. I wish I could close my eyes and drift off for a minute, maybe two. I'd suffice for ten seconds of peace of mind, but that's not going to happen. There's too much to do, too much for which to prepare.

Cap told me to bring Deadpool in for evaluation. "Bring in where?" I'd said. "Our house got blown up."

So now we're crashing at one of Nat and Clint's safehouses from their early S.H.I.E.L.D. days, totally off the books and in the middle of nowhere Montana. By "we" I mean anyone who's left. Natasha, Clint, Bucky, Steve, Pietro, Wanda, Stephen, Scott, and I, along with our new recruits, Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman, Kamala Kahn aka Ms. Marvel, and Wade Wilson aka Deadpool. We're not the numbers or supplies we used to be, but the trio of New Avengers should be arriving in Montana any minute now along with Xavier's men and women he's sending to aid us. Stephen told him of our situation, and he's flying Storm, Logan, Shadowcat, Iceman, and Rogue to help us. Storm is flying them all here.

The safehouse is small and underground. The western half of Montana is mountainous, the Great Divide cutting the state in two. It's in these mountains we make our safe haven, and even though we're on the run, the view is something I don't think even Heimdall himself has.

"Where the hell is Thor?" Natasha mumbles, sitting on the sofa beside me, looking over my shoulder at my paperwork.

"I too wonder why he's not come to our aid," I reply. "Having a god on our side could really help."

"Demigod," Nat smirks, "but don't tell him that."

I chuckle, looking up from the files that Clint and Scott recovered to the small window that shows us the beautiful scenery in the frozen mountains. "What is Tony thinking," I sigh. "This is madness."

"You sound like Thor," she chuckles. "But I don't know. He's a good man-"

"-A good man with bad ideas about right and wrong," I interrupt. "I tried to get through to him. I really did. I guess I didn't try hard enough."

"Don't do that to yourself, Glory," Natasha says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Tony is an ass and he doesn't listen to reason. I would know. I worked undercover for the man for months. This is not your fault."

"But Vision, and the Next Gen. Mutants-"

"-Are not your fault, either."

I breathe deeply in and out. "We should be united against Magneto, not fighting amongst ourselves."

"Возлюбленная?" Pietro asks, coming around the corner from the adjacent room.

I turn to look up at him. "How is she?"

He shrugs. "I finally got her to sleep. My sister is so wound up about Vision. We need to find a way to get him back, and as much as I am not... overjoyed at her choice of a lover, she needs him. Therefore, I shall get him back."

"For her," I say, amazed at his loyalty to Wanda.

"For her." He nods, coming over to sit by me. "How are you?"

I shrug. "I've been better." I look to Natasha, giving her a look. She gets up, knowing I need a moment in private with my fiancee. "How about you?"

"I have this feeling," he mumbles, using his hands to express his agitation. "I have this feeling and I cannot shake it. It is a vibe of some sort."

"No idea what's causing it?"

He shakes his head, long white hair moving with it. "I wish I knew. I do not have Wanda's ability to tell thoughts and futures." He sighs and leans his forehead against my shoulder, clearly exhausted. "I just want to get everything back to normal. No Civil War, no Magneto, no danger. I want peace."

"You've had a lifetime of war," I say, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling him close. "I swear, after this is all done, we'll leave. We will go somewhere safe and we won't come back."

"I asked you that almost a year ago, and you said no. What has changed?"

"I lost a best friend," I whisper, and images of Aspen flood my mind. "I'm losing family and friends. I can't lose you and I won't."

"Glory-" Steve enters the room, speaking before he sees us. "I'm sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No," I say, letting go of Pietro. "What is it, Steve?"

"The X-Men and new recruits are here," he says. "Care to introduce us? You're the only one who knows both parties extremely well."

I hop up, suddenly excited. "I love how you used the word 'extremely.' Fits, doesn't it?"

He rolls his eyes, smiling, and the three of us walk from the small den area towards the secret entrance. The Blackbird has parked beside our Quinjet in the secure garage.

Once we arrive at the door, the infamous X-Men walk through the door first: Ororo Munroe aka Storm, Bobby Drake aka Iceman, Anna Marie aka Rogue, James "Logan" Howlett aka Wolverine, and Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat. These guys are the stuff of legends, and they're standing in our kitchen. It takes all my willpower not to freak out.

Logan and Steve shake hands, although Logan is reluctant. "Thank you for coming," Steve says.

Logan huffs. "Magneto isn't just your problem. He's been a pain in our ass for as long as I've been an X-Man."

"What Logan means," Rogue adds, giving Logan a slight glare, "is that we're happy to help ya'll any way we can."

Steve smiles at the girl. "Thank you..."

"Rogue, and ah'd shake your hand, but that seems a bad idea."

I chuckle to myself. "Well, you know of Glory here, I assume?" Nat asks.

They all nod. "Through the Professor, yes."

"She said she would introduce us," Steve says, looking to me.

"Well," I say, smiling, "I'm Glory Northern, but you know that." I point to each of the X-Men as I introduce them. "This is Bobby Drake, Rogue, Logan, Ororo Munroe, and Kitty Pryde. X-Men, this is the Avengers: Pietro Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Stephen Strange, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, and Bucky Barnes. Wanda Maximoff is currently sleeping, and we have several members unaccounted for." My smile falls slightly. "It's a dream come true to meet you, if I might say. Where I'm from, you're legends."

Bobby grins. "Really? What did they say about us?"

"Well, on the lighter side, you're called 'The soap opera that is the X-Men.'"

Bobby laughs. "It's true, sometimes."

"Soap opera?" Logan smirks. "What kind of world are you from?"

"One where you're Australian," I chuckle to myself. "Where are Ms. Marvel, Deadpool, and Spider-Woman? Didn't you all fly together?"

Ororo rolls her eyes. "They were sleeping in the back of the Blackbird. I told them to get up, but it seems that Spider-Woman got tired of Deadpool's continuous flirting."

"She knocked the poor bastard out," Logan smiles. "Girl after my own heart."

We hear the door in the back open and several footsteps come through, accompanied by groaning and complaining. "Woman, I am never flying in a plane with you ever again."

A British voice replies, "The feeling is mutual, Deadpan."

"Actually, it's Deadpool. Rhymes with-"

"-Would you all quiet down?" A younger girl's voice asks. "Make a good first impression."

I walk around the corner and see the three guests and smile. "Hello, everyone. Glad to see you made it in one piece."

Spider-Woman crosses her arms. "Barely."

"Oh, don't worry, babe," Deadpool says. "Even if I wasn't in one piece, I'd still be here."

Ms. Marvel cringes. "That's gross."

"We should all head for a good night's rest," Steve says from around the corner. "Then we will reconvene tomorrow at 0800 sharp to discuss what needs to be done."

"Can we afford to wait that long?" Pietro asks, concerned. "What of Vision? What of the rest? They are stuck there until we-"

"-You don't need to remind me of our casualties, Maximoff," Steve replies, level-headedly. "Don't worry. We are all exhausted. For heaven's sake, your fiancee can barely stand up straight."

Pietro looks to me, blue eyes showing worry. He sighs. "You are right, as usual."

"Oh... my... chimichangas," Deadpool almost squeals. "You... you're Captain America!" He practically skips up to Steve like a little fangirl and starts freaking out.

"And I thought I was bad," I mumble as Pietro makes his way over to me.

"You were," he whispers, placing a kiss on my forehead.

Steve raises an eyebrow at Deadpool crossing his arms. "I don't believe we've met?"

"You... You're awesome!" Deadpool grins from under his mask.

"Ignore him," I laugh. "He's like me. He can break the forth wall."

Steve shuffles his feet while Natasha and Clint just smirk at his uneasy state, not used to seeing their leader so out of his comfort zone. "Well, it's great to meet you... I think."

"I even jumped out a plane without a parachute because you did!"

Steve's face turns from awkward to shock. "You did what?"

"Okaaay, Mr. Deadpool," I say, cutting off the conversation before he lets something important slip. "Time for you all to get to your rooms. There are two rooms for the X-Men, and two for Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel, and Deadpool. Girls in one, boys in the other. Everyone sleep well."

As the others disperse, I feel a kick in my stomach, a harder one than usual. I always seem to have one side of my stomach kicked multiple times a day, and I have come to the conclusion that one of the twins will be a superstar soccer champion.

"Glory," Nat whispers from the adjacent room.

"Yeah, Nat?" I reply, rubbing my eyes. I walk into the room with the super spy, her boyfriend - the other super spy - and her best friend, the other-other super spy. "What is it guys?"

She waves me over to the sofa, looking on her tablet. "Stark is making a speech."

She shows me the screen, and I see Tony Stark with Iron Man armor on and his helmet off. Beside him is none other than Peter Parker, the Iron Spider-Man, though surprisingly, he's in his old Spider-Man suit. I place my hand over my mouth. "Oh no."

"Hello, my name is Tony Stark," Tony begins, speaking into the microphone, "and I'm an alcoholic. And now, it's time to come clean."

"Shit," I curse under my breath as the remaining Avengers surround the small screen. "Nat, pull it up on the big screen."

With a flip of a finger, Natasha makes the channel appear above our heads; our eyes follow it.

"Today is a monumental day. Today is a day that will go down in history as a step towards the greater good for not only mankind, but superhuman kind as well.

"I know that a lot has happened lately: the Battle of New York, the falling of S.H.I.E.L.D., the discovery of HYDRA inside, the disaster in Sokovia, the Second Black Plague, and just recently, the bombings of the New Avengers Tower. In the past ten years, we've found out that not only are we not alone in the universe, but we now know that we have gods, mutants, Inhumans, enhanced, and manmade weapons that are on a mass scale that we have never seen the likes of before."

"He's going to do it," I whisper.

"Do what?" Clint asks.

"They've passed the Superhuman Registration Act."

"It gives me great pleasure to present to the world, for the first time, the official Superhuman Registration Act. Congress convened this week and passed it just hours ago. This Act will not only help society as a whole become less unpredictable, but it will insure the safety of the common man and woman, as well as the safety if these gifted people."

"What the hell is he thinking?" Steve asks to no one, arms crossed and an angry, betrayed look on his face. "I thought we were friends, Tony."

"Not anymore," Pietro growls. "This is the last straw for Stark."

"With me today is the very famous Spider-Man. Today, he has come forward to support this Act in it's early stages of being a fully reinforced law. He has some words to say as well as something he wants to share with the world for the very first time." Tony turns to Spider-Man. "The stage is yours, my friend."

Peter stands nervously at the podium. "Hi, good morning. Thank you for coming." He sighs, straightens up, and continues. "I'm standing here today because - well, because I have an announcement to make.

"Um, as most of you probably know, I've guarded my secret identity pretty carefully over the years... and it's only after a long talk with my wife and family that I've decided to take this step.

"See the Registration Act gives us a choice. We can continue the trend that Captain America advocates and have people with powers completely unchecked, or super heroes can go legitimate and earn back a little public trust.

"I'm not wearing my old mask because I'm ashamed of what I do. I'm proud of who I am and I'm here now to prove it."

He reaches up, tugs the mask over his face, and for the first time ever, Spider-Man is known to the world.

"My name is Peter Parker, and I've been spider man since I was fifteen years old."

END CHAPTER THIRTEEN