FROM: THE FATHER ONE

Rafe told me you're going on a retreat for the Stark grant you applied to. Sorry I couldn't see you off, have fun monkey!

Guilt would've suffocated Nora Mendes if she hadn't distracted herself enough to forget about her family all those miles away.

"Are we really in Tony Stark's private jet?" she asked, looking out one of the windows excitedly.

Natasha nodded, eyes not leaving the tablet she was fixated on. "One of them, yes."

Nora's eyes widened, head whipping around to stare at the older woman incredulously. "One of them? How many does he have?" the redhead didn't answer, prompting Nora to drop that topic of conversation and sit forward at her little desk. Natasha was halfway across the plane, very enwrapped with the technology in her hands. Thank god she had brought earphones, she was sure she wouldn't be able to handle the silence. Just as she reached for her bag, pulling out the pink wires, Natasha let the tablet down.

"So, you probably want more of an explanation." her tone sounded like she was so inconvenienced by the situation at hand, making Nora even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I would like that." she nodded, biting the inside of her lips.

Natasha nodded at the seat across from her, letting Nora know that she was going to have to be the one who moved. She did, settling in across from her. The younger of the two superheroes found herself even more nervous than she did at her house. Maybe it was because she was in a place she felt safe in, but here, where it was really was just the two of them, she finally felt the pressure of having someone so important and so frightening right in front of her. All she had to do was keep her cool, that wouldn't be so bad, right?

"Are you aware of the Sokovia Accords?" Natasha spoke quietly, even though they were the only two in this plane.

Nora nodded. "Kind of, they're trying to teach us in social studies, but I don't think our teachers know much about it themselves."

Natasha let out a sigh, obviously she realised she was going to have to explain at lot more than she was willing. "Okay, what do you know about them?"

"I know the government put them in place once they realised the damage caused by super villains and superheroes alike. I don't know the details, though."

"Well, you have the gist of what's going on. The government is planning on telling the Avengers where to go for their missions instead of the Avengers deciding for themselves."

The young Mendes frowned. "That's stupid. What if you guys need to go somewhere and they won't let you?"

"That's the problem, some of us don't agree with the conditions."

"Are you one of them?"

She paused, for long enough that Nora could tell it was a complicated subject. "I don't not agree with them, we've made some very public mistakes."

"My dad said you told the government to stick it a few years ago. Rafe was screaming at the tv screen."

Natasha's lip quirked slightly, before returning back to stone. "It was a lot different back then, a lot more black and white." she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But now, these Accords are causing a lot of problems within the ranks of the Avengers." the young healer nodded, wanting her to continue. "Captain Roger, as I said, is now a fugitive."

"All because he didn't want to sign the Accords?"

"There's a lot more to it. He's also been aiding a known war criminal, the perpetrator of the UN explosion."

Nora took a minute to absorb the information given to her. She looked down at the now tangled earphones in her grasp. "This is a lot of trust you're letting me have. I would've thought a woman like you would be keeping all this close to her chest."

Natasha leaned forward on her crossed arms, stare searing into the teenager. "I'm only telling you this because I have no other options. Do you really think I would be recruiting a teenager if I had this under control?"

"No, ma'am." Nora squeaked, she felt as if she was being told off by a teacher. "So, is your task to help stop Captain Rogers and capture his friend?"

"No, that's what Tony's supposed to do. I agreed to do no such thing."

Okay, now Nora was very confused. "But you said—"

"Captain Rogers is my friend. He told me once that if it was up to me to save his life, he would trust me to do it. Well now, this is me doing it." this did nothing to clear up Nora's confusion. "I told someone I'd help them find Barnes, not capture him. And you're being tasked with handling Wanda Maximoff, not stop her. You make sure she doesn't hurt anyone, and you make sure no one hurts her."

Nora nodded, feeling it click in her head slightly. "So, we're with Tony Stark, but we're really helping Steve Rogers?" she asked, finally being able to understand it. "We're double agents?"

"Yes, if you want to call us that. It would be infinitely easier if they just talk it out, but their brooding, the world is stacked on my shoulders complex are recalling kicking it up a notch." noticing Nora's far away look, the Avenger's brow furrowed. "Is that a problem?"

"When you asked if I would be okay with helping someone break the law, you were referring to yourself, weren't you?" Natasha nodded, making Nora lock eyes with her, very serious. "If it means no one get's hurt, then I'm in, one hundred percent."

Natasha finally let herself smile. Maybe this girl was a gamble that could pay off.

Nora felt a boost of confidence at the sight of the super spy smiling in front of her. As she went back to her tablet, Nora walked back to her seat, digging around in her bag to relocate her phone. However, as she was located her iPhone, her hand brushed against something she had forgotten she had brought. Accidentally, her finger touched against the button, sending a signal to someone very important. She didn't know this however, all she did was grab her phone and plug in her earphones, the soft music lulling her to sleep.

The beacon in her bag began to light up, telling someone where her exact location was.

-

In a hotel room in Germany, Peter Parker was convinced he was dreaming.

After Tony Stark had given his aunt a bullshit excuse about some kind of Stark internship retreat, he had his security guy, Happy Hogan, collect him to bring him to his private jet. Now, he knew he probably shouldn't have, but he felt the need to film his antics, even though he knew no one was ever allowed see the video. He had videoed nearly everything, getting on the plane, annoying Happy to no end, the amazing city of Berlin and right now, as he was brought to his hotel room. "Y'know, no one's told me what's going on, something about Captain America going crazy." he told both the camera and Happy. The older man just ignored him, just giving him his room key, denying they were roommates and disappearing behind his door, leaving Peter in his room.

He put down the camera, admiring the room around him. This was crazy, he'd never been out of the city before, never mind another country, or a hotel like this. He had a double bed, a tv in his room, and he would bet there was a mini fridge in here somewhere. He laughed, running for the bed before falling into the soft comforter. He had barely a day to enjoy all of this, because later he was going to go and fight with the Avengers. He couldn't wait to tell Mercy. Maybe he could show her the video. Wait no, he only videoed himself without his mask, that wouldn't work. He had planned to video himself fighting the Avengers, but it looked like now he kind of had to, not that he was complaining though.

Something beeped. He sat up straight, blowing his hair out of his eyes. He had heard that before.

Peter looked over at his duffle bag, frowning at it. That sounded like it was coming from his things. He stood, camera forgotten, grabbing his bag and emptying the contents of it to figure out where the beeping was coming from. All of his stuff was strewn throughout the room in order to locate the incessant beeping. When he found it, his stomach dropped. It was his beacon, something he must have packed on instinct. Worry began to fill him, was Mercy in trouble? That couldn't be the reason she was looking for him, it was far too early in New York for her to be out in costume. He took the beacon out, checking it to see if it hadn't malfunctioned or anything. The little hologram he had programmed into it displayed her location to him which made his stomach drop even more.

Why was she so close? This thing had to be malfuctioning.

As he fiddled with the beacon for a few moments, it beeped again, showing him that she was getting closer. Peter frowned, did she mean to tell him where she was? If so, why was she in Germany? Question upon question rattled his brain as he tried to figure out what was going on. He even contemplated going out into the hallway to see if this beacon was actually telling the truth. So, that's what he was going to do. He walked towards the door, opened it out into the hallway, beacon still in hand. He heard the elevator ding, not thinking anything of it, until he saw who was coming out of it. Peter's eyes widened as he caught sight of brunette hair, and the same pair of jeans she always wore. He was rooted to the ground as she walked away from him, phone perched between her ear and shoulder, duffle bag of her own in her hand.

"I know, room 3C, yeah." Peter couldn't form proper thoughts as he watched Mercy's little white dot go in the same direction as her. As...

As Nora.

He watched her enter her hotel room and close the door, still talking on the phone. His breath came out in quick spurts as he struggled to comprehend what was going on. Nora was Mercy. Nora, his girlfriend, was the girl his alter ego had been partnered with for two months. Did she know, was that why she hit the beacon? She didn't look like she knew she had activated it. In fact, it was like she didn't know he was there at all. Why was she here anyway, Mr. Stark had told him Mercy wasn't recruited, so was he lying to him? Mr. Stark was known for not being a good resource for telling the truth, but he had to admit, he looked to be telling the truth when it came to recruiting Mercy.

Peter took a step toward her room, then another, until he realised he was making his way towards her room door. In that moment, he wasn't sure what he was feeling. A mixture of nerves and dread sloshed around in his body as he stared at the door in front of him at the thought of finally coming face to face with the girl he'd been wondering about for so long, and the girl he finally got the chance to be with. He pocketed the beacon, knocking on the door before he could stop himself. He stood there for a few seconds before a thought came crashing down on him.

What was he doing?

Again, before he could stop himself, he took off down the hallway, ducking behind a corner as he heard the door open. He peeked out from his hiding spot to see Nora open the door, stepping out to look up and down the hallway, trying to see who had knocked on her door. "Hello?" she called out. Peter resisted the urge to come out and reveal himself but he couldn't do it. He couldn't. Even as she locked the door again he stood at the corner, hands rooted in his hair. He sunk to the floor, cursing at himself.

"You idiot, Parker, you fucking idiot!"

What was his plan? Was he just going to tell her he was Spider-Man? She wouldn't have believed him, would she? He couldn't drop this bombshell on her a few hours before he was going to fight the Avengers. What if he got seriously hurt? Peter groaned as he felt a headache begin to pound at his head, this was all too much to handle in such a short period of time. "My girlfriend is a superhero." he told himself. "My girlfriend is my partner."

This didn't seem real.

This wasn't the time to tell her he knew. He couldn't. He should wait until they both got home, in New York, where they could discuss it fully. Right now was not a good time. She mightn't have even been here as Mercy, she probably just hit the beacon by accident and didn't mean to tell him, which meant she didn't want him to know. So he wouldn't tell her, not yet. He would wait.

Beside him, the door to Happy's room opened, the man in question stopping short at the sight of the young boy a few inches from his door. "What're you doing down there?" he asked suspiciously.

Peter just shook his head.

"Nothing."

-

A/N: Oh, Peter, this may not be one of your better ideas, let me tell you that. 

So, I hope you guys now fully understand Nora's job in Civil War. Make sure no one get's hurt on either side, and make sure no one hurts anyone else. I wouldn't give her a team bc she's not technically on Team Iron Man, nor is she on Team Cap. She's in the middle. Which may be a bad thing too, you don't know.

Also, Peter's reasoning if it wasn't clear: a few hours before you go into battle isn't the best time or place to tell your partner you know their secret identity. Don't like his choice, neither does he, but that's what he thinks he has to do.

Next chapter is gonna be the battle, along with some costumes changes for some people.

Comment, vote & follow! - emma