SHIELD had left Ruby on the doorstep of her apartment complex at midday and she was still standing there as the sun began to set and a warm evening breeze had begun to sweep the streets of Queens. Sitting on the doorstep, hands framing her face, she watched the sun setting over the apartments and reflecting off her mother's orange car. It hadn't moved all afternoon so she could only assume her mother had booked some holiday off work.

Around nine o'clock her stomach began to grumble, although she only felt the vibrations, when she looked up two pedestrians were giving her amused looks but it was the hand waving in front of her face from behind that made her jump to her feet. On the step behind her, clutching their hands to their chests was her parents. She could see her father's thin mouth moving but he must have been talking so quietly even her hearing aid couldn't pick it up.

Standing apprehensively, she approached them, wringing her hands.

"Ruby?" Her mother reached out and took her face in her hands, her voice barely audible through the ringing. "We didn't know you were coming back, that strange woman-" she glanced over at her husband, "Hill, she said?- told us you were under investigation after the Spiderman incident. We had no idea if you were injured or- is that..." she gently touched the hearing aid and moved Ruby's hair from her face. They fell into a stunned silence that was filled by a ringing only Ruby could hear.

"Can we go inside? I'm starving."

They didn't talk much until after a long, quiet, dinner of Mrs Radcliffe's spaghetti and meatballs. Ruby had missed home-cooked meals while on the Helicarrier and the presence of her parents, no matter how uncomfortable her father seemed to be, was readily welcomed.

Although, they were talking lowly, so low that Ruby could only hear her father's rumbly vibrations.

"It's rude to whisper," Ruby mumbled, although she could tell her quiet voice was now the same volume as her old voice. Her mother winced and looked down at her place. "You know I can't hear much anymore." This time, her father looked down and her mother looked up and placed her fork down. She leaned forward, giving Ruby her full attention.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

And so she did. Ruby told them everything from the moment Reginald stepped into the shop to the moment Zoe and Auburn wished her luck as they left her standing outside her apartment complex. She shed fresh tears for old wounds as her mother did at learning them. Mr Radcliffe, upon hearing the damage that had happened to his daughter's health and the unsuspecting people who had tried to help her, had excused himself with tears on his cheeks.

She wouldn't say so, but his leaving wounded Ruby deeper than any cut.

That night, in her familiar bed, she left her window and curtain open a crack and lay on her side, watching the moon set overhead. It shone through the window and into her brown eyes as the wind shook the curtains. Queens had never been so silent. Without the sounds of the city at night her box room was alive with spirits and figures in the darkness. She could've sworn she felt a breath on her neck but, upon turning over, there was nothing there. Turning to face the wall, she watched a shadow grow tall on the wall above her and, without the familiar hum of the fan turning, she had to check it was still on.

She was beginning to feel her breathing stutter and, before her chest could tighten anymore, she sat up and turned the light on. Fumbling with the hearing aid, she put it back in her ear and lay back down on her left, watching as an owl landed on the tree across the street.

Counting her breaths, she watched the bird twist its head, observing the street. It opened its mouth and closed it as a tear rolled onto her pillow. Her heart yearned to hear its call but all there was was that godforsaken ringing. And when she woke up late the next afternoon, the pillow was crushed over her right ear and there was an ache on her head where the hearing aid had been pressed into her skin all night.

As the final week of summer dragged on, it soon came to Ruby's attention that her mother had quit her job a week after she had learned her daughter wouldn't be home for a while. She had not been prepared for the teen's absence until another year, at least. The anticipation of the drive home had distracted her so much that she nearly crashed the car. It was then Mr Radcliffe had eased her worried mind and comforted her conflicting thoughts about quitting. He had insisted he could fund them until their daughter came home.

Her house-ridden mother had told the tale with a laugh at lunch on the last Friday before she was to retake her sophomore year but it had not amused Ruby in the slightest. She pretended she had only heard part of it and smiled politely, but inside she was cursing herself for not contacting home during her recovery.

"I should've called."

"No. Ruby-"

"No, I- I should've called and told you, I should've-" she stopped herself as her voice rose. There was a look of repressed pain on her mother's face and she shrunk down in her seat, taking a moment to collect herself and think. With a deep breath, she spoke carefully. "I should've told you I was okay."

"Honey," Mrs Radcliffe stood to hug her daughter awkwardly as she sat up in her chair, "you said it yourself, you couldn't speak. There were much worse things happening in your world than this old bat ambling around the house." Ruby began to cry and turned her face against her mother.

"But I wasn't the only one hurting." Her mind strayed to Reginald and to his parents, and to his little sister who would be starting sophomore year next week. She cried harder, muffling the loud choking noises in her mother's chest at the thought of having to see Claire and wondering how she may feel knowing Ruby survived and he didn't. Mrs Radcliffe stroked a gentle hand through her hair and swayed lightly,

"Let it out, honey, it's okay."

Ruby was late waking up for school on Monday. She had forgotten she couldn't hear her alarm clock and had been shocked awake by her mother at 8:20 who had thought she was getting ready. Her shocked yell had been a little too loud and Mrs Radcliffe drew away ever-so-slightly before holding out the hearing aid.

"... be late."

"What?" Ruby grumbled, rubbing her eyes having not heard the first part.

"Up and at 'em, you'll be late for your first day." Mrs Radcliffe reiterated with a laugh. Upon finally hearing the alarm still beeping from her 8 o'clock alarm, Ruby launched from the bed and ushered her mother from the room.

Being late had never been her forte, and walking through the quiet mid-period halls was all the more unnerving when she couldn't even hear muffled voices in their classes.

She had to retake Chemistry which just so happened to be her first class and her brain had already slowed her down simply thinking about it. As she approached the lab her stomach dropped. Everyone would be staring at her. First, they would wonder who she is. Then they would assume she was new and lost. Then they would recognise her as a Junior. Then they would realise she was actually a Sophomore still. Then they would think she failed. And then they would spot the hearing aid and the cuts and the faded bruising and her slight limp and realise- she was a freak... different... ugly...

It turned out she never had to go to Chemistry since she had tossed herself against a locker hard enough to draw the Professor out of the room and notice her curled on the floor with laboured breathing and tears in her eyes.

Professor Tasker knew her from her previous two years at the High School and was quick to remove her from prying eyes. He had always known Chemistry was not her favourite subject, nor was she the most competent, but he was knowledgeable enough to not jump to any conclusions as he helped her calm down in the nurse's office. She stared at the wall for the next period and, after the break bell rang for a second time to send students to classes, she left the office with a kind nod to the nurse on her way out.

This period, she had no lessons but she did have a mission. Upon leaving through the back doors, she crossed the courtyard where students had abandoned empty bottles around the bins and noticed the empty sports field. With a heavy breath, she exhaled in relief and broke into a jog. She lapped the field once, then twice, and halfway through her third she paused and dropped into a crouch at the far end of the field.

It was in her chest first, bubbling like boiling water and the heat kept getting hotter and hotter until her fists were clenched tightly and she opened her mouth to release an almighty scream.

Her hearing aid's feedback screamed into her ear and cut her off with a painful yelp. She stumbled, falling onto the grass with a thud and dropping onto her back to stare up at the clouds in the sky. Somewhere from across the field an alarm was sounding inside the building, she could hear it faintly through the ringing and turned to see faces staring out onto the fields as students slowly left the classrooms after the fire alarm was triggered. The back doors flung open and one boy came sprinting towards her, he was so fast she sat up to greet him for his urgent look panicked her also.

"Ruby!" He yelled, dropping to his knees next to her, bag smacking against his back as it settled from being jostled so much. For a moment, she simply stared at him trying to make sense of everything. But, soon, her foggy mind remembered his face. Much less battered than she remembers and his hair was held in place by a small amount of product, but she knew she was looking into the blue eyes of the boy who was Spiderman.

"You," she said in a tone far more accusatory than she had intended, "you're sp-"

He shushed her desperately, "please don't! You're talking really loud! I'm Peter, by the way and I'm really really sorry about... you know," He looked over his shoulder at the students and staff piling into the courtyard and towards the fire assembly point on the field. The teachers soon became preoccupied as a fight broke out somewhere in the midst of the throng of students.

"Did I do that?" She swayed where she sat, dizzy at the feedback because she'd never tested how loud she could be with her hearing aid in before. "They're all going to know. They'll think I'm a freak and- and-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Breathe, please, deep breaths, come on." His heavy breaths were far too heavy to calm yet another anxiety attack but Ruby was conscious enough to steady her own breaths and focus more on the boy's own panic.

"I'm okay," she told him, glancing cautiously at the group finding some sort of order.

"Come on," he told her, also watching the group, "while they're distracted." He helped her up and guided her towards the gate at the back of the field that led onto a public footpath. As they climbed over she noticed the group already retreating back into the building at the false alarm and one face staring out across the field who she recognised to be Professor Tasker.