50|| breakout

"It's the start of something new, something good. Something better than good, actually."

Los Angeles, California, New Year's Eve 2016-

New Year's Eve was a day eagerly awaited by the Anderson-Marnells. Each year that they had shared together, it marked a new start to the adventure that started two years before. And this year, 2017 was being rung in with the Starks.

In Los Angeles.

In a private house on the beaches of Malibu.

The setting couldn't be more ideal for the party. In a mansion more than quadruple the size of Alison's apartment, the hallways almost endless, the rooms connected to the hallways even more massive than they appeared. The sun already set, Alison was fairly certain it was around 6PM, although her jet lag told her it was 9.

Weaving her way through the house's hallways, Alison tried not to show how shocked she was at the monstrous size of the house, and how they were actually staying inside such a huge mansion. Alison wore a simple black dress, the long sleeves masking the scars on her shoulders that she still hadn't fully recovered from a month before. She hadn't done much to her hair or makeup wise, expecting a more low key night in for New Years.

Trying to find her way to the living room, Alison peeked through every door, searching for the right hallway to lead to the front of the house. A laugh echoed behind the girl, Ali turning to see the face of Skylar at the end of the hallway in front of her. "If you're trying to find the front of the house, it's this way."

Looking at her friend with an irritated look, Alison walked towards her friend. "You know, just because you've been here every single year for New Years and doesn't mean that you're suddenly better than me." Her feet, in heels and somehow surviving, made a small clicking noise as they hit the tile floor, stopping when she made it to her friend.

"No, but that does mean I'm your hostess." Skylar responded, grinning as she grasped her friend's hand with a smile. "C'mon, the party's about to start." Leading her down a few more large hallways, the girls eventually found the living room, music already playing loudly.

The living room had been decorated with gold streamers hanging from the ceiling, black and gold balloons floating at the top of the ceiling and neatly placed at the corners of the living room. A song that Alison could recognize that was popular that year was blasting in the background, people slowly trickling in.

"Who's exactly coming to this party?" Alison hollered, looking at Skylar with a confused look. "Because when your dad said that it would be a family for close friends, I didn't think that it meant hundreds of people."

"Welcome to a Stark New Year." Skylar chuckled, gesturing to the sights around her. "No New Years party is ever too big for my dad." She dryly stated, looking at the people that her father knew around her. "There are some of his employees from Stark Industries, their families, and some other people that I don't exactly remember who they are. Hopefully the press doesn't sneak into the party like last year."

"They've snuck in before?" Alison questioned, her face crinkling at the idea of cameras in her face. "Seems like your security isn't that good." She joked, a small smile quirking up at the edge of her lips. "Who's in charge of that?"

"Well, it used to be Happy, but we decided to give him a break this year. His blood pressure levels have not been so good since, you know, trying to watch over Peter. This year, F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s on duty, so hopefully nothing bad will happen." Skylar stated, looking carefully around the room at the guests coming in.

"Here's to hoping." Alison laughed dryly, looking around at her sights again, still shocked at the sight of... well, everything. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl saw the highlights of the year playing on a small TV. There were videos of countless memes, movies that were excellent in 2016, and music trends of the year. Finally, there were the top news stories of the year, including the Sokovia Accords, the countless disasters that occured over the country, and finally, a glimmer of hope. The rise of new heroes, like Spider-Man and Breakout, their faces one of the last news stories talked about before the slideshow went back and repeated itself.

"You like that?" Skylar smiled, seeing Alison distracted by the video montage playing. "Dad put it together himself. He said he wanted to stay relevant in a time when younger heroes are taking over the scene."

"Oh my god, your dad is actually having his mid life crisis, isn't he?" Alison laughed, her voice echoing way too loudly in such a busy area. "It's so obvious. The attempt to get "hip" with the kids-"

"Shhhh!" Skylar exclaimed, laughing at the way Alison mocked her father. "It's going to hurt his ego if he hears that. My dad wants to believe he's always going to stay in the know with us. Now, let's go Miss Breakout, we've got a new year to ring in and a party to celebrate it with."

The party was in full swing, the clock hitting 10:00, the cheers of celebration that the New Year was close ahead loud. Alison was almost overwhelmed by everything, the noises and crowded space filled with dancing bodies still unfamiliar after countless hours. Skylar had left her an hour before, finding an old friend from LA and latching onto them.

The scene reminded her of a scene all too familiar in April. Too much booze, very loud music, and a group of people that swarmed the area, characteristics shared between the two parties obvious. It made Alison almost panic at the sight, the memories of that awful night shut away in a corner of her mind she would never unlock again.

Alison wanted to leave, escape the room and get a breath of fresh air. She needed it, her heart beating way too quickly against her own chest, the sights and sounds almost too overwhelming for her now.

Trying to tightly squeeze through the rave-like dance floor, Alison saw Charles across the room, sipping on what looked like a Shirley Temple (the bright flashing lights made her unsure). Alison ran over to her brother, not caring whose feet she stepped on as she found him. "Charles!" She yelled, grasping onto his shoulder gratefully.

Charles looked at his sister, relief flooding his eyes. "Thank god you found me, this party is all a little.... too much, if you know what I mean." He gestured to the huge party with his free hand, the craziness a little overwhelming.

"Yeah." Alison chuckled, looking out into the dark night sky. "When Tony told me that New Years was in California, I expected a beach bonfire and some friends on the coast. Not a rager party."

"We can still have that, you know. A beach bonfire, that is." Charles smiled, taking a sip of his drink casually. "I found a secret door to the beach, and I'm sure we can sneak out there and make our own campfire, well, with a lighter. There's a fire pit down there." He nudged Alison, smirking.

Alison smiled back, knowing exactly what to do. "I'm sure I could find a lighter somewhere in this house." Taking off her heels, Alison dropped them by Charles' feet. "Stay here. I'm sure I can find one in-"

A whoosh of wind was felt before Alison could finish her sentence, the surprised shrieks of people feeling the whoosh as well coming from the room. Alison was back in a flash, holding a lighter in her right hand. "The kitchen." She smiled, gesturing her head over to the dance floor. "I'm pretty sure I stepped on some people's toes."

"I'm sure you did." Charles took the lighter, laughing as he stepped away from the busy dance scene. "The dance floor looks a little more spread out in fear of the dance ghost." Walking towards a hallway, he looked behind him, expecting Alison to follow close behind.

Alison shook her head, swiping her heels and jogging towards Charles, who was already halfway down the hallway. "Hey! Wait up! You can't just say a bad joke and leave!" Seeing her brother open a door, Alison hurried to catch up, stopping in the doorway.

Charles was outside the doorway, the secret mud room smaller than the other rooms in the house. "It wasn't a bad joke." He protested, slipping his shoes off and placing them by the welcome mat that was in front of the door that led out to the beach. Throwing the door open, he held it open, waiting for Alison to grab it from him.

Ali threw her heels next to Charles' Converse sneakers, grabbing the door behind Charles. "Yeah, sure." Her eyes looked out to the beach, the stairs down to the coast painted white, almost washed out from the ocean mist. The ocean, a deep navy blue, was crashing against the almost white sand, the noises of the waves almost soothing. The moon, almost invisible to the eye, barely reflected against the ocean, the shimmer almost unnoticeable.

Charles had already bounded down the steps, and huge smile already on his face. Being outside and away from the party made a huge impact, the boy being able to hear again, the crashing waves the only noise in the outdoors. "Come on! I want to get this bonfire lit!" His white dress shirt (top button not buttoned) and slacks weren't enough coverage for the cold Californian air, the ocean making the temperature drop even more.

Alison smiled, shutting the door and bounding down the steps by two. "You know, this isn't as cold as back home in New York. Even New York during summer isn't as hot as this. Stop complaining."

"Just get down here!" Charles exclaimed, gesturing for his sister to hurry. "I don't know how to operate a fire pit, and I'm pretty sure you do. You've been to enough parties."

"Parties I don't want to remember, thank you very much." Alison's feet plopped into the sound, the girl taking the lighter back. "Now, where's the firepit?" She asked, her eyes not seeing where the small box would be.

"Right there." Charles pointed at a place not too far from where the two were with his phone flashlight, which he had handily pulled out while Alison snatched the lighter. "It's not too close to the water, but far enough away from all of the party action."

"Let's get this fire lit then." Alison muttered, her feet treading through the small dunes of finely grated sand. The cold substance underneath her feet was almost a relief, the inside of the house far too hot to be comfortable. Squatting down to the firepit, Alison saw there was wood preloaded, and supplies for s'mores inside. There was also a note, scribbled out in handwriting Alison immediately identified as Tony's.

Saw Charles found the secret entrance down here earlier. I have a feeling that you'll want to come down here at some point, so here's some s'mores supplies. Enjoy.

-T.S.

Alison smiled at the note, plucking it out and placing it on one of the wooden logs that served as benches nearby. She removed the s'mores supplies from the pit as well, handing them to Charles. "Seems like we have a supplier." She joked, piling the supplies that Charles couldn't carry on top of the note.

"No kidding." Charles remarked, setting the rest of the food by where Alison had left it. "There's enough s'mores to feed at least-"

"A family?" A voice sounded from behind them, Alison turning to see it was Christa and the Barton family, Clint included. "Yeah. Tony sent us a little package with a trip to California, we thought we would surprise you."

"Clint!" Alison exclaimed, jumping up from her position (kicking sand, of course) and embracing her Uncle. "Oh my god, how are you even here? With your anklet and everything-"

"Tony let the government get me off for a little, only under the promise that I'd be under his surveillance for the night." Clint embraced his niece, pecking her in the cheek. "My first thought was to spend it with you guys. New Years Eve was always one of Kira's-"

"Favorite holidays." Alison and Clint both said at the same time, smiling at each other. "Yeah." Alison nodded, breaking away from the embrace. "I think she passed that trait to us. Although celebrating New Years with Jackie normally consists of fondue with the three of us."

"Consider this the new tradition." Christa laughed, embracing her cousin without any hesitation. "You're gonna be stuck with us until you're gray and old and withering away-"

"Oh god." Alison laughed, hugging her cousin tightly. "That sounds kind of amazing yet miserable at the same time." Letting go of her cousin, Alison stepped back, the lighter still in her hand. "Well, I think Charles is kind of freezing, so what do you guys say to getting this bonfire lit and some s'mores started?"

The chorus of excitement from the two Barton kids that could speak was an obvious yes, Alison smiling as she turned back around and lit the fire. The flames slowly started to rise, eventually coming to a good height for a bonfire. Cracking open the marshmallows and using "rustic" wood sticks that Tony had left on the other bench log, Alison and the Bartons started to roast their marshmallows.

The time quickly passed by, an hour racing by as Clint tried to teach Alison and Charles how to shoot with nerf bow and arrows, and Christa laughing as she recorded the bad shots that Alison made. The s'mores supplies were almost fully used up, half a bag of the two marshmallow bags remaining, half a box of graham crackers,and one chocolate bar left on a log. Alison had given up on trying to shoot the nerf bow, letting Charles have all the fun with Cooper on the mini range by the beach they had set up.

Suddenly, the door to the beach opened, revealing another person to join in on the campfire fun. "Alison!" The recognizable voice of Peter Parker called out, the boy bounding only a few steps before jumping and making the landing in the sand. "Hey!"

Upon hearing his voice, Alison turned to see Peter, a surprised blush forming at the edge of her cheeks. "Peter! Hey! I had no idea you were coming to this party." She semi-hollered, the boy still making the trek over to where the Marnell Barton families sat.

Realizing what was going on, Christa nudged her dad, looking over at Peter with a knowing look. "Charles? Do you think you could show us where we're gonna be staying in the mansion tonight?" She questioned, winking at the younger boy.

The idea clicking in his head, Charles' eyes lit up. "Oh! Oh. Yes, I can. We've gotta go back up to the house though, if that's okay with you, Alison." He turned to his sister, who was still blushing, the fire giving away her flustered look.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Alison dismisses, barely hearing what her brother said. Charles gave Christa an excited look, knowing that whatever happened next would be rather interesting. The Barton family plus Charles rose from their seats, walking towards the stairs.

Charles was the last to leave, crossing paths with Peter right before the boy made it to the fire. Slapping Peter's shoulder, Charles smiled up at the boy. "Don't mess it up." He muttered, looking rather happy as he bounded to catch up with family, who was halfway up the stairs.

Peter, surprised by the remark Charles made, shook it off as he continued towards the bonfire. When he made it, Alison had already made him a marshmallow stick, and he accepted it gratefully. "I didn't either, until yesterday night. Well, I meant that Mister Stark invited us out here, and we could only snag a flight today. We just got in, cause this whole bash was pretty last notice. For us, at least." Peter rambled, an embarrassed look coming to his face.

"No, no you're good." Alison smiled, grabbing another marshmallow and placing it on her wooden stick. Letting the marshmallow hang over the fire without looking at it, Ali smiled at Peter. "In all honesty, you made it at the perfect time."

"At 11:30 at night?" Peter questioned, laughing as he placed his own marshmallow over the fire. Looking over at Alison with a teasing look, his laughter turned into a small smile as he watched her roast her own marshmallow. "Yeah, if that's perfect timing in your opinion, sure."

"Actually, it's like 11:45." She estimated, brushing away the specifics with a sentence. "Specifics don't really matter. After time travel, I've found that late is better than never." Alison laughed, her eyes still trained down at her marshmallow, rotating the small sugary dessert. Looking up at Peter, she didn't even consider that she had just told him something that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone-well, anyone more than the people that she already told.

"Wait, Wait, Wait." Peter repeated, looking at Alison with a shocked and amazed look. "Time travel? You travelled back in time?" He questioned, so many new things coming into his mind. "Okay, I have so many questions."

Alison frowned as her marshmallow got burnt, the girl not paying attention when she had watched Peter's reaction to her telling him that she had travelled back in time. Blowing out the flame growing on the marshmallow, Alison turned her attention back to Peter. "Ask away."

"First, let me trade my marshmallow with yours. I already feel guilty about being the reason that you just burned it." Peter motioned for her to hand over her stick, the boy already holding his out. When the trade had occurred, Peter smiled. "Okay, first question, why did you even have to travel back in time?"

"It involved a run-in with Absinthe that ended up with some grave mistakes. Including someone that we both know very well dead." Alison replied, her eyes carefully trained on Peter's marshmallow as she placed it back into the fire. "Absinthe had revealed to me, like an idiot, that I had the power to do so because of the way I got my powers, so I decided to test the theory. And.."

"Here we are. You succeeded." Peter deduced, grabbing two graham crackers and piece of chocolate, removing his marshmallow and creating a s'more with a slightly torched marshmallow. "Next question, what was it like? Proving the theory that time travel is indeed possible? Is there a speed force, kind of like how it is in the Flash comics and TV show?"

"Kind of." Alison squinted one eye, trying to figure out a way to describe what it was actually like. "You know how in Star Wars, when they go to lightspeed, it's like a never ending blue tunnel?" She asked, getting a nod of a response from Peter. "Well, it's like that. Except it's more teal colored, and your memories are playing out inside of the tunnel. From there, well, you kind of just choose a memory and go back to that certain time."

Peter made a face that resembled one of being impressed, although his mouth was full of a bite of a s'more. "Next queftion." He said, his mouth still full as he continued to try and finish his bite. "Was there a chance that you wouldn't survive? Like, you know, Absinthe was lying to you and she was just trying to kill you that way? Or did you know?"

"I didn't know." Alison answered honestly, removing her s'more from the fire and setting up the graham cracker and chocolate. Smooshing her marshmallow into the cracker, Alison took a bite, finishing her answer after she ate her first bite. "But that was a part of the risk. And I had to be willing to take that risk."

The two ate in silence for a few moments before Peter asked his final question. "Okay, okay. One more question. Is there anything in that timeline that you wish you would of not reversed?" He asked, pausing for a moment before elaborating on his question. "I mean, like is there anything from that memory that you would want someone to remember from that timeline?"

"Actually..." Alison started, deciding to answer the question honestly. "There was one thing that I did, before I left to try and travel back in time. It was a split second kind of decision thing, and I actually don't regret it."

"What was that?" Peter asked, people from up at the party starting to make a scene as they crowded onto balconies above them. The clock was at 11:59, unbeknownst to the two teenagers roasting s'mores down below.

"10! 9! 8! 7! 6!" The crowd started to holler, the yells of the crowd echoing through the open coastline. "5! 4! 3!" The crowd continued, Alison dropping her dessert on the log without a care for it anymore.

"This." Alison smiled, leaning in to kiss Peter Parker as the crowd finished their chant down to one. As the clock struck midnight to the New Year, Alison Marnell and Peter Parker were locking lips down at the coast, fireworks erupting in front of them in celebration of the New Year.

It was a moment either of them could forget, a moment that had been building up between the two since, well, Homecoming. The feeling of joy blooming up inside Alison was blooming up inside Peter as well, both finally admitting feelings hidden beneath the surface in so long with a simple New Years kiss.

When the two finally broke away, a huge blush forming on Peter's face from the kiss, Alison tried to keep her cool as she waited for Peter's reaction. When he smiled back at her, shaking his head with a laugh, Ali knew that everything was going to be okay. "Promise me that this time, you won't erase this from my memory?"

"That's a promise I'm willing to keep." Alison smiled, laughing alongside Peter. Still holding Peter's cheek from the kiss, Alison started to drop her hand down to let go, but Peter grabbed her hand softly, placing it back on his cheek.

As the golden display of fireworks continued over the water in front of them, Alison and Peter shared another kiss, beginning the start of a New Year and a new adventure that they would face together.

<~*~>

and we've reached the end.

oh my god I'm a mix of emotions right now, and I can't even begin to describe them. sadness, happiness, joy, excitement - my hands are legit shaking as I type this.

thank you guys so, so, much for supporting me through this journey it means so much to me.

there's a whole lot more to say, and I think that's what the afterword will be for.

I hope you guys enjoyed this crazy shit show of a journey like I did.

Merry Christmas y'all

-ash