chapter xix.
(   civil war   )

what if i'm far from home?
oh brother, i will hear you call!
what if i lose it all?
oh sister, i will help you out!
hey brother ─── avicii

cia headquarters, germany
june 9, 2016

    "Lisa, it's okay, it's over now. Just open your eyes."

    "You've said that before." I remind the soft voice before slowly following her instructions to stare at the much-loved person before me, "You're not really here."

    Maria Stark gives me a sad smile as blood trickles down the side of her head, "No, Darling, I'm not."

    "He took you away."

    "Yes." My grandmother's eyes flicker down, "He did."

    I nod a little and stay quiet, looking around at the burning car that surrounds us. We're in the middle of the woods and our smashed car lies broken on a dirt-coated road. The sky is a pitch black and a motorcycle's engine roars in the distance, humming and humming, growing quieter and quieter. There are bruises on my upper body and my window is completely shattered, but I can't quite remember the reason for either of those two things.

"You're so beautiful, Lisa."

I look back and give her a small smile, "People say I look a lot like you did."

"Well, in that case," Grandma gives me a teasing smile, "I should be complimenting myself on my own good looks, then."

I laugh a little and the fire in the hood of the car behind my grandmother continues to burn. My neck suddenly begins to ache and I wince, lifting my hand up to touch the bruises that are forming there.

"There's so much at stake here. I don't think I can get through this on my own."

"You've never been on your own." She tells me softly, "And you certainly aren't now. You have more family than most people realize."

She rests her hand to my cheek and my own hand lifts to wrap around hers. Grandpa suddenly appears by her side as a few tears slip down my cheeks. He reaches out to take my other hand in his and I grip onto his fingers tightly, not feeling anything other than them now. We had this last moment together. It belongs to us; this moment that they were taken from me. I was the last one to see them alive. Grandpa squeezes my hand in his, his white head giving me a small and encouraging nod.

Grandma and I each take a deep breath and we quietly begin to sing together, "Try to remember, and if you remember, then follow..."

My eyes blink quickly and I'm pulled into a reality I'd much rather not live in. The Task Force Headquarters still buzzes with activity around me, trying to hunt down my friends that are now fugitives. Helicopters are out searching for them, not to mention their faces are plastered all over every news network in both Germany and the rest of the world. Secretary Ross has decided to join the party, which is nothing short of wonderful. He is currently chewing out my father and Natasha who are both doing their very best to keep the reins on this situation before it spirals completely out of control.

They don't know what I've done and they sure as heck don't know what I've remembered. And I won't tell them. I can't compromise my mission. I can't risk my family's safety. No, no, that's not right. I won't tell them because I'm a liar.

"You don't get it, Stark. It's not yours to handle. It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this."

"What happens when the shooting starts?" Natasha looks at the Secretary of State in disbelief, "What? Do you kill Steve Rogers?"

"If we're provoked." I let out a scoff and irritatedly shake my head before Ross continues on with an underlying snap to his tone, "The Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. Isn't that correct, Miss Stark?"

Oh come on, now he decides to bring me into this?

Dad and Natasha look sharply over at me while I stand with my arms crossed over my chest. Having been left out of this entire conversation up until this point, I do nothing but roll my eyes a little when I turn to face them all. Unfortunately, the trio of adults seems pretty set on waiting for my reply, though. So, with a huff, I finally concede with a nod and I raise my eyebrows in agreement. Natasha's own eyebrows are furrowed and she studies me hard, trying to understand just what in the world I've been doing.

She has that skill of being able to see through anyone at anytime and, for some reason, I really do want her to understand this. After all, I know where Natasha Romanoff stands in all of this. I figured it out a long time ago when I was standing in the Barton's farmhouse and Natasha was lifting little Lila up to her hip. I want her to see where I'm coming from. I've lost too many people because of that man. I'm not losing anyone else. We have more in common than she realizes.

Dad's jaw is tight when he snaps back at Ross, "What?!"

Ross keeps his hands locked behind his back, "I sent her to Romania to eliminate Barnes before a mess could be made."

"You got my daughter into all of this?"

The secretary seems unfazed by my father's anger, "Because of what Rogers did, there are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math."

Dad looks back at me for an explanation, but I only offer a simple shrug and nothing more.

With a hard sigh, his eyes roll back into a weird sense of hardness and negotiation, "All due respect, you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets and most certainly not my daughter, Ross. You gotta let us bring them in."

"How would that end any differently than last time?"

"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt."

My eyes widen at my father's words, hearing the threat in his voice and dreading it because he's the last person I want involved in all of this. "Seventy-two hours, guaranteed."

But Ross isn't about to do my father any favors, he really never has, "Thirty-six hours."

Dad promised them in seventy-two hours, you can't just chop it in half and hope to get the same result. I don't think that's how it should work. But I know well enough that it is exactly how it works with the secretary and these Accords. So, I keep on a blank stare and a flat frown.

Ross looks down at us across his nose and slowly moves for the doorway, "Barnes. Rogers. Wilson. Plan B."

The rest goes unsaid for me. I'm not sure if Natasha and Dad exactly understand what Ross intends, but if things aren't cleaned up in a day and a half, it's going to be me or the J-SOC squad that takes matters into our own hands. And I'm really not sure how I feel about that just yet. I finally let out an aggravated breath once the man has passed me and the door begins to swing shut.

"Thank you, Sir!" Dad calls after him before he rolls his eyes and completely collapses onto his kneecaps, rubbing his chest with a pained breath.

"My left arm is numb, is that normal?"

I stare at him quizzically, wondering what in the world could be wrong with his left arm.

Natasha walks up to be by his side, squeezing his shoulder, "You alright?"

"Always." He replies promptly but I can see the lie in his eyes just as easily as he can see them in mine, "Duress, huh?"

I don't respond, blinking away from him quickly.

"Thirty-six hours." Dad leans back into his seat, sighing heavily, "Jeez."

"Either of you two have a plan yet?" I walk over to them, keeping my arms over my chest.

"Any plan that I'm coming up with requires just a few more people." Natasha sighs and glances back at us from the glass wall, "We're seriously understaffed."

"Oh, yeah. It'd be great if we had a Hulk right about now." Dad smirks up at the redhead, "Any shot?"

"Nah." She smirks back and gives a curt shake of the head, asking, "You really think he'd be on our side?"

I answer with, "Probably not," just as Dad says, "No," and I believe from these two answers, we're pretty set on how Bruce Banner would take to the Accords.

Natasha suddenly glances back at me and she hands over a brief apologetic frown, "I have an idea."

It doesn't even take me a second to realize what she means. T'Challa. This day really can't get any worse, can it? Why do I feel as if I've just jinxed myself?

I sigh and frown, "Really?"

"You don't think he won't at least help to stop them? I won't let him take it too far."

Still trying to understand just what I'm doing, Natasha's eyes briefly squint into mine and I can see exactly what she's implying. She's not going to let me take it too far either. I nod back with a terse smile, understanding but not committing. I think I surprise her with my response, though. Natasha stares at me for a few more seconds, slightly shaking her head.

"Me, too." Dad promptly breaks into our silent conversation before he squints up at the woman by my side, "Where's yours?"

"Currently leaving the building." I answer for her, mumbling back with a huff.

Natasha gives my dad a funny look, "Where's yours?"

Instead of an actual answer, a strange smirk comes over his face and he turns to look at me. I cock my head to the side and I give him a confused look. His smirk is, just, weird. I'm not really sure how to explain it. He looks... I don't know, sneaky or something. It's like he's got this big master plan and his smirk is telling me that I'm not going to like it for some reason. God, he's still doing it! What in the world is...

And my day just got worse. I knew I jinxed myself!

    "No!" My eyes widen in realization and I quickly step towards him, "Oh, no, no, no! God, no! I don't think so!"

Natasha looks between us with a raised eyebrow, but her expression quickly fades away when she remembers that we are Starks, after all.

We're insane.

Yep, Dad's definitely insane.

I eagerly shake my head and I stretch out the word, "No!"

Dad raises his eyebrows at me and his smirk grows wider as he too stretches the word lowly, "Yes!"

I hurriedly jog alongside Dad who nonchalantly strides down a long and busy hallway of the Queens' apartment building. My feet trip over themselves while I struggle to keep up with his calm and casual demeanor. My hair bobs against my shoulders and my eyes are wide in panic.

"Dad, no!" I stumble a little again, walking sideways so that I can face him while I speak, "I said, no! That's it. That's, like, final, alright?! This is my choice. No!"

    "This is gonna be fun, huh?" He answers back with pep, ignoring both me and the people gawking while he still waltzes down the hallway, "Family reunions and all that?"

"Okay. First off, what family reunion have we ever been to that you can remember was actually fun?!"

"But this is different! Better even!"

"How so?!" My voice is high as I throw out my arms and lean closer to him.

"Well, I mean, sort of, we may be missing the celebratory baby blue balloons, but hey!" Dad flashes me a grin beneath his sunglasses, "He already has the onesie, right?"

I defensively frown at him, thinking back to the first days when I found out what my... brother was really up to, "Don't make fun of his suit. He looks cute!"

"Aw, see? Sisterly affection!"

I scowl and put my hands on my hips, "Don't rush me into this!"

    "What's Ross got on you?" He suddenly stops and turns on me, watching me with such analytical eyes that I'm taken aback.

    I raise my eyebrows at his bluntness, "What?"

    "I know you better than anyone, Smalls, and there's no way in heck you would ever do what you've done in the past twenty-four hours if he didn't have something dirty."

    I take on his casual behavior while I wave him off, but my own faltering voice betrays what I say, "Ross doesn't know squat."

    "Liar." He squints at me. "If you're on my side, Smalls, I need to know all the variables." My face flushes guiltily and he nods his head to the wooden door beside us, "Is it the kid?"

    "'If I'm on your side'?" I frown at him, "Dad, I told you, I'm always on your side. Come on."

"Alright, then what does Ross have?"

We stare at each other for a long moment and my eyes squeeze shut for a brief second.

Letting out a heavy breath, I open my eyes and force myself to speak calmly, "It's not about my..." I still can't say it completely, "him. None of this is about him. We need to just go. No offense, Dad, but you don't get to make my decisions for me anymore. I'm not your little puppet you can make do whatever you want."

    "Wow, okay, what?" He gives me a sharp look, recognizing the reference to what Ultron once said just as much as I do now.

    "Yeah, whoa, sorry." My eyes roll at myself and I shake my head down, "I didn't mean it like that. I just..." I suck in a hard breath before I motion to the door, "I'm not ready for this. Every time I have someone in my life, I have to prepare myself to lose them. And I'm not ready to lose him."

    "Lisa." His previous demeanor drops and he grows terrifyingly serious, "You know and I know that you've put this off long enough."

    "You know what? Fine! Fine, yes, I have put this off for too long, but that does not mean," My eyes widen in horror and I let out a perhaps slightly dramatic gasp as I watch his finger carelessly push down onto the doorbell, "No! Holy crap! No! What have you done?!"

    He lifts himself up onto his toes and claps his hands behind his back, "Learn to face the music, Smalls."

    I panickedly run my hands through my messy hair, "You are such a jerk!"

    "But a good-looking one, right?"

    I turn to him with my mouth open, just about to give a snapping reply when the door beside me suddenly opens. Dad straightens his shoulders and takes on a pleasant smile, but I don't dare look at the woman standing in my peripheral vision. I might be having a panic attack. I can't really tell, to be honest, everything seems a little out of focus and hazy. It's been a while since I've had one. I'm also pretty sure that there are sirens going off and there might also be big red flashing lights that signal the need for retreat.

"Lisa?" The voice is so kind and so familiar that my panic dissipates.

A small breath leaves my squashed lungs and I just end up turning to stand before the woman I haven't seen in eighteen years. My face loses its slight grimace and I take in a small breath as a small smile creeps its way onto my face. Her brown hair falls over the side of her face and her big brown eyes are as reassuring and homey as ever.

"Hey Aunt May."

"Oh my, God, Lisa!" My brunette aunt gives a throaty laugh and she quickly pulls me into a tight hug, "I've been waiting for you to find us!"

I take in a harsh breath, wrapping my arms quickly around the woman in return. I forgot how much I missed her. I suppose when Janice gave me up and Dad took me in, I cut ties with every part of that life and I did my best not to look back.

May pulls away with another laugh and she takes my face in her hands, studying my nearly completely grown features. Tears make her eyes that contrast so sharply from my mother's shine. It's so strange to be old enough to match her height now; whenever she came to see us, she was always the one to pick me up and make the tears go away. I know Janice didn't like May around very much; probably because of how kind she was to me, frankly.

May suddenly jolts as if she's remembered something, "Oh! Sorry, come in, come in!"

Dad and I slowly step inside the apartment that is full of comfortable furniture and pictures of people that I don't really know. My throat feels a little tight when I see a rectangular picture frame with May and a young boy around maybe eight or nine in Central Park. Dad is introducing himself and my maternal aunt sounds a little starstruck in the background, but I don't really pay attention to them. Dad is perfectly capable of wooing my aunt without my help.

I slowly step towards the picture frame and carefully pick the glassy thing up. He's not what I thought he would be. My... him, I mean. I suppose when I pictured him, I imagined he would take after our mother's features. Red hair, blue eyes, the whole shabang. But he's nothing like her and I can't say I'm not glad. I would hate to have to look into my little... brother's face and see nothing but her.

He's got these big brown puppy-dog eyes and a cute little smile with brown hair messily toppled over his head. He's got this boyish charm to his features and I definitely have no problem in saying he's a cute one. One of my hands lifts up and presses to my lips, feeling my sincere smile beneath my fingertips.

I wish I had known him when he was this age. I would have been able to push him on the swings, share a box of donuts with him, teach him how to drive, tell him to stay out of my room, tell him that it was going to be alright after he had a nightmare. I missed so much.

"Lees."

"Yep?" I quickly respond, setting the picture down and turning to face the other two adults in the room.

Dad is lifting up and down on his toes as he wears that fake smile that he always gives whenever he's around people he's trying to impress.

May points at us, "Are either of you two hungry? Thirsty? I can make tea and I have a walnut date loaf that just got out of the oven...?"

"Walnut date loaf sounds delicious!" Dad energetically answers before I can respond for myself, "We both will have some, thank you very much."

"Alright, great!"

As soon as she's in the kitchen and facing the fridge, I slide closer to Dad and whisper beneath my breath, "You have just made a deadly mistake about the date loaf."

"What are you talking about?" Dad grins and waves at May as she turns around to look at us from the counter, "You like walnuts."

"But a date loaf?" I squint at him, "Really?"

"So, tell me everything, Lisa." Wow, she really does not want to hear everything. "God, eighteen years! How are you?" May continues calling over to us from the kitchen, "I see you on the news all the time."

Dad nonchalantly glances around, twiddling his thumbs in front of him.

"Oh, you see me on the news?" She quickly nods before she begins to cut up a weird brown food or such like thing, "Lovely. Ah, the news, yeah..." I cringe back at Dad but he just keeps that plastered on smile, "Well, yeah, I've been good! I mean, completely fabulous... Great... Wonderful, actually."

Dad gives a laugh before mumbling over, "You could've stopped with 'good', Smalls."

"I'm trying here." I mumble back. "Gimme a break."

My aunt walks back into the living room with two light blue plates with an alien looking something or other on them. Dad visibly grits his teeth at the sight and turns it into a cheesy smile when I lightly elbow him in the ribs. We all slowly sit down in the comfy-looking living room, and Dad and I struggle with the monstrosity that is currently trying to crawl down our throats. There's some small talk that goes on for a while as May peppers me with questions that I do my best to answer positively. And Dad really keeps the conversation going, but we do eventually come to the awkward pause that we all knew would eventually come.

"You're here to see him, aren't you?" May finally breaks the silence, giving me a smile.

"Yeah, May." I rub my fingers against the metal of my thrusters before I strongly nod and Dad smiles a bit, "I'm finally here to see him."

"How long have you known?"

I ignore Dad's pointed glance to answer simply with, "A while... Does he know?"

"No." May sighs and rolls her eyes at herself, "I should've told you both myself. It honestly took me a long time to discover that it really was my Lisa," my smile grows a little more at the claim, "that I was seeing trailing after, well, the Tony Stark. I mean, this is all just so insane, right?"

The Tony Stark smirks and I roll my eyes at him.

"Really, Lisa, I just didn't want to seem like that gold-digging aunt who only wanted you for your money, you know?"

"Makes total sense." Dad suddenly answers with a quick nod and motion of the hand.

"She wasn't talking to you." I playfully frown at him before I look back at my aunt with a nod of my own, "But no, I understand, May, I really do... And you didn't want her to find him."

There's no need to further explain who that particular "her" is.

"No. I did not." She sucks in a deep breath, "But hey! We're gonna figure this all out, and he should be home from school in just a few minutes. I'm so excited for you to meet him! Seriously, Lisa, he's just this bright, sweet kid,"

And the front door suddenly opens.

And my heart leaps into my throat.

And then a young male voice calls out distractedly, "Hey, May."

May grins at me before she rests an arm on the top of the couch, "Hey!"

The boy grunts a little as he slings his backup to the floor, not once looking in our direction. He's got his headphones in and a blue jacket on while he continues walking towards the kitchen. My nervousness fades away and I smirk at the boy who I somehow immediately know I'm going to adore.

May goes on nonchalantly, "How was school today?"

"It was okay." He doesn't really seem to think so while he walks into the kitchen, "There's this crazy car parked outside..." His voice slowly dies away when he turns to face us.

His feet slow against the kitchen floor and his puppy-dog eyes widen in absolute shock as he sees the two Starks sitting on his living room sofa. His lips part and he seems to stop breathing. I smile and wave my fingers in the boy's direction who just blinks like he's trying to figure out if this is a hallucination or not. He's even cuter in person, holy crap.

Dad smacks his lips a little and looks over as if just noticing him, "Oh, Mr. Parker."

"Um..." He takes in a quick breath and pulls out his headphones, pointing at us and laughing in disbelief, "Wha-What are you doing..." He awkwardly folds and unfolds his arms over his chest, still grinning like a kid on Christmas, "Hey! Uh, um, um, I-I'm Peter."

I smile at Peter and lift up a hand, "Lisa."

Dad gives a similar smile, pointing to himself with a piece of date loaf, "Tony."

Peter takes in a shocked and somewhat laughing breath, "Wh-Wha-What are you doing here?"

"It's about time we met." Dad smirks a little and I know he's more than pleased to finally meet him.

"R-Really?" Peter cocks his head and glances quickly at our aunt in confusion.

"Peter," May readjusts her body to look at him full on, "do you remember that big rumor that was recently going around about Lisa Stark for awhile?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean," his eyes flash to me and then back to our aunt, "There was that massive one about the missing Stark brother, but what does that have to do..." He suddenly cuts off and his mouth clamps shut and his cheeks puff out a little.

And this is it.

The moment I didn't even know I was waiting for ever since I found out two years ago.

He sucks in a sharp breath through his nose and he steps back a little, the shock of the news shaking him. I stare at him for a long moment as his eyes cut back to me, hurriedly studying my face as if trying to piece together how that exactly is possible. He blinks quickly and his lips part a little. I'm trying to gauge his reaction, but really, just right now, he seems stuck in shock. We do have the same jaw bones that protrude just slightly and the same strong chins that we must have gotten from our mother. They're not obvious connections, but once you know... you can see it.

I'm his sister.

And he's my brother.

"Peter?"

"What?" He snaps back to reality before shaking his head, "Yeah?"

"Peter," May dips her chin at him, "you weren't really breathing."

"I wasn't?"

"Yeah, that happens to Lisa sometimes." Dad presses his lips into a smile and claps a hand on my shoulder a little too hard, "She has asthma."

I pull a face at Dad, but blink it away before May looks at me, "I didn't know you had asthma."

"Neither did I yet..." I give a tight smile and a breathy, sarcastic laugh, "Here we are."   

"Wait, wait, wait!" We all raise our brows at Peter as he pushes his hands out, "Wait."

"We're waiting." Dad nods.

"So, when you said..." He rolls his hand out to us and we nod slowly, "Okay, and then you meant..." He still doesn't finish, just quickly shaking his head and taking a few steps forward and then one back.

"I'm... sorry." I shake my head and my hair bounces against my neck, "I didn't want to drop this on you like some kind of a,"

"Bombshell." We say at the same time.

Peter nods at me in understanding, putting his hands on his hips and then taking them away and then putting them back.

"Yeah. My plan was that when I did eventually tell you, I would kind of have you be ready first."

"My fault." Dad pipes up in concession, lifting a hand, "Sorry."

Peter doesn't seem to care about that.

He still just can't wrap his head around it.

"Sorry, M-Miss Stark, I mean, Lisa, I mean..." He huffs at himself, scrunching up his face, "I'm your brother? I-I-I'm the, the 'Missing Stark Brother'?" I nod a little and Peter then claps his palms together and then juts his hands back at his own chest, "Me? Like, are you sure? Because I don't really think that I'm, like, enough for that, you know?"

I laugh a little and scratch my forehead awkwardly, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Peter." May tells him encouragingly, "My sister was Lisa's mother... and yours."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dad clench his jaw and glance down at his shoes briefly.

"My mom and-and your mom...?" Peter points between the two of us quickly.

"One and the same." I hum the answer a little before I visibly clench my teeth and shrug.

Peter rubs a hand against his forehead, mumbling in what looks like bubbly, excited disbelief, "Oh my, God. This is just, wow! This is just insane!"

I puff a laugh, wincing, "Right?"

"Yeah! I mean, I was just, you know, at school and then," he swings his arm at us before his brows bend back in and he lets out a heavy breath, "This is insane."

"Seriously, Peter." I stand slowly and clasp my hands together in front of me, "If this is too much for you right now, which is totally understandable, we can go and,"

Dad sends me a scolding scowl, but it's Peter who stops my potential trek to the door when he suddenly bursts, "No, no! Don't! I'm just," He gives an awkward laugh and claps his hands together in front of him.

And then, again, at the very same time, we both say, "Shocked... Yeah."

We just surprisedly stare at each other for a few more seconds before Dad glances up at the ceiling with a roll of his eyes, clearly having enough of our awkward conversation.

He suddenly motions to May and says with a weird smile, "It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt."

"Yeah, well." She gives a funny little laugh, "We come in all shapes and sizes, you know?"

I purse my lips down at him, mumbling, "Dad, stop flirting with my aunt."

He ignores me, looking down at the monstrosity still in his hand, "This walnut date loaf is exceptional."

"Let me just stop you there."

"What's up?" I prepare myself for whatever questions he might ask.

But, he doesn't exactly ask what I expected.

Peter slowly rolls his clasped hands towards us, "Does this mean we're going to be seeing each other a lot or whatever? No?"

"Yeah." Dad stretches the words out a little, "It's pretty likely."

"Yeah?" Peter speaks as if he really didn't think we would, "Wow."

"She is your sister." Dad points out in a duh-like tone before he points at Peter and turns back to my aunt, "Can we have five minutes with him? You know, a little heart-to-heart, sibling-to-sibling time?"

May quickly nods in understanding,"Sure!"

Dad, Peter, and I all slowly file into a small blue bedroom that is complete with a cluttered desk, a messy closet, and a sheet-pulled bed. The open closet stands to my left and my brother's clothes are draped messily around the shelves and hangers. A window stands across from us near the bed that leads out to a fire escape with this great view of the city. I slide my hands into my pockets and look over at Peter who I find is already staring at me with his wide brown eyes.

I smile and wave at him.

He smiles and waves back.

And we both awkwardly laugh and then still just watch each other in silence.

"Freaks." I hear Dad mumble from behind me.

I press a frown and pull back to give him a dirty look. Shaking his head, Dad rolls his eyes at the two of us before he twists the lock in the door. He then promptly walks over to the trash can, presses a hand to the wall, and then spits the alien brown thing out. Peter and I watch his ever confident movements with blank stares; everything is feeling kind of out of whack at the moment.

My dad lets out a quiet sound of disgust before looking back at us from the trash can with raised eyebrows, "As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad."

"The phrase 'I told you so' is oddly coming to mind." I quietly tell him with a teasing smirk.

"Nobody likes a showoff."

"You would know."

He gives me a deadpanned expression before he casually steps around towards Peter's desk. The fifteen year old boy awkwardly shuffles around to a position where he can look at us both, wanting to keep us in his line of sight as if we might disappear any second.

"Oh whoa, what do we have here?" Dad points at the cluttered mess of wires, old computers, and data drives that covers the fifteen year old's desk, "Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?"

Peter fiddles with his hands in front of him, "Uh, the garbage, actually."

"You're a dumpster diver?"

"Dad, don't be rude."

"Yeah, I was..." Peter's eyes embarrassedly look between us, "Anyway, look, um, I definitely am confused about the fact that," he points between me and himself, "you and I..."

My voice joins his as he finishes, "... are siblings."

We both nod quickly, weirdly matching each other's movements while he goes on, "So, maybe we can talk about that,"

"Nah-ah!" Dad quickly interrupts us both with a blank expression, twitching his finger between him and me, "Us first."

"Okay." The boy deflates a little, answering quietly.

"Quick question of the rhetorical variety..." Dad swiftly pulls his phone from his suit coat.

Then a holographic image is projecting before our eyes where a boy in a red and blue suit swings by on a web, stopping a carjacking. The image freezes on his red-covered face, and I watch as Peter's eyes widen and he again awkwardly shuffles on the wooden floor.

I lean back onto Peter's desk, quietly asking my brother, "That's you, isn't it?"

Peter defensively crosses his arms over his chest, quickly shaking his head, "Um, no. What do you, what do you mean?"

"Yeah." Dad turns the phone over and another video projects before us, "Look at you go."

I stare at the video with a small shake of the head, both impressed and saddened by what I see. I took a break from watching after Peter after the whole incident, letting Dad take a turn to give me some time to clear my head. I totally flipped out when Dad told me just what Peter had gotten himself into. It figures my closest other relation out there would somehow be tied to something like this. Although, the whole spider thing is a new development.

The red and blue suited boy swings through the air above an out of control car. His body quickly drops down in between the car and a bus, catching the car and pushing it back before the two can collide.

"Wow! Nice catch!" Dad displays his hand towards the screen before lifting his brown brows at Peter, "Three thousand pounds, forty miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skillz."

Oh God, he just said, 'skillz'. Wow, Dad is getting old.

Peter stutters to explain, hurriedly stepping by Dad and climbing over my outstretched legs, "That's all on YouTube, though, right? That's where you guys found that? Because you know that's all fake." He turns to his desk, motioning out at the stuff that litters it, "It's all done on the computer."

Dad hums disbelievingly, stepping away from the two of us, "Mmm-hmm."

"It's like that video." Peter rambles to get out this, "What is it?"

I blink up at him, raising my eyebrows, "You mean that one with the tank that appeared out of midair in the lab in San Francisco?"

"Exactly!" He motions to me quickly, "Yeah, you got it!"

I laugh and nod quickly, playing along for his sake.

Dad suddenly jabs a long wooden pole into the attic hatch and a red-and-blue-suit suddenly tumbles down by a rope. I visibly clench my teeth at the suit as Dad straightens and drops the pole to the side.

Peter's eyes widen as Dad mumbles carelessly, "What have we here?"

"Oh!" The boy skillfully leaps over me, tackling the suit and throwing it into his laundry basket in one swift motion, "Uh... That's, uh," he turns and blows out a deep breath, nodding quickly at me as if I didn't just see a suit plummet out of his ceiling.

I smile from his face down to my shoes.

"So..." Dad slowly steps over to him and I stand to be by his side, "You're the... Spider-ling."

Keeping his arms crossed over his chest and his back to the laundry basket, Peter stares at my father with wide eyes.

Oh, dang, what is the name he's going by again?

It's... It's something spider-ish. Like Black Widow! But not.

"Was it..." I squint and put out my hands as I try to remember, "Crime-fighting spider?"

Peter rolls his eyes shut.

Dad squints his own eyes at him, "You're Spider-Boy?"

"It's," Peter pulls his hand in and gives an embarrassed huff, crossing his arms over his chest, "S-Spider-Man."

Right, yes, Spider-Man! I knew it was something like that! Oh, that's funny.

"Not in that onesie, you're not."

"It's not a onesie." Peter and I determine defensively at the same time before looking at each other with wide eyes once again.

Now it's just getting creepy.

As Dad turns to pick up the suit, I step after Peter who sighs and walks back to his desk.

"I don't believe you found out about this. I was actually having a really good day today, Mr. Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there, found out I have a sister," I lift my hand into another wave, "and Algebra test..." He watches as Dad looks over his makeshift suit and then snaps his pen down, "Nailed it."

"Who else knows? Anybody?"

"Nobody."

"You've been keeping this to yourself this entire time?" I raise my eyebrows at him in shock.

He nods a little, glancing down at his feet.

God, what a burden to bear alone all this time. We're even more similar than I thought.

Dad eases himself down onto a chair by the wall, "Not even your unusually attractive aunt?"

"Ugh!" I scowl, "Dad!"

"What?" He gives me an innocent look.

"No. No. No, no! If she knew, she would freak out. And when she freaks out, I freak out..."

"You know what I think is really cool?" Dad interrupts to hold up a small vial, "This webbing."

Dad suddenly tosses the glass thing for my head, but a sharp hand suddenly juts out and catches the small bottle just before it smacks into my forehead. I jump a little and look up at Peter in surprise.

"That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?"

"I did." Peter answers casually before tossing the thing directly back into his laundry basket.

"So, you climb walls, Spider-Man." I smile at his blushing face and cross my arms over my abdomen, "How are you managing that? Do you use adhesive gloves or something?"

He lets out a deep breath and presses his hands onto his desk beside me, "It's a long story. I was, uh,"

"Lordie!" We both turn to look at Dad who holds Peter's sketchy goggles against his eyes, "Can you even see in these?"

"Yes, I can,"

"Oooh, I'm blind!'

I glance down at my lap to hide my giggle and smirk so not to hurt Peter's feelings.

Peter snatches the suit from Dad and stuffs it back into the laundry basket once more, "I can see in those. Okay?" He sucks in a small breath as he leans against the door, "It's just that when whatever happened, happened... it's like my senses have been dialed to eleven. There's way too much input, so they just kinda help me focus."

"You're in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom, hundred-point restoration. That's why we're here, other than the obvious." Dad dips his head towards me and motions with his hand.

Peter drops down onto his squeaky mattress and I cautiously sit down beside him, "Peter, why are you doing this?"

He slows and the bed creaks as he stares at me with those same old wide eyes.

I nod my chin towards the closet, asking quietly, "Why put on that suit?"

"Because..." He starts off thoughtfully, picking at his palm, "Because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months." Dad and I hum in acknowledgement, listening to Peter as he goes on explaining, "I read books, I build computers. And, yeah, I would love to play football, but I couldn't then, so I shouldn't now."

"Sure 'cause you're different."

"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not." He glances down again and he swallows hard, "Look, when you can do the things that I can, but you don't..." Dad leans his elbows onto his knees and my stomach twists into knots, "And then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."

Neither Dad or I say anything in response to that for a moment. With a small breath, Dad's eyes drop off to the side and I struggle to swallow as I run a hand over my stomach.

There's just so much guilt to feels. Peter tries to catch my eye and he gives me a small smile, and it's as if he knows I need it just now. I smile back a little.

Dad struggles to maintain eye contact, trying to compose himself, "So, you wanna look out for the little guy, you wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?"

"Yeah, just looking out for the little guy." Peter answers quickly, "That's what it is."

Dad takes in a deep breath as he stands and walks over to Peter's other side, "I'm gonna sit here, so you move the leg."

My brother quickly complies and my father slowly claps a hand onto his shoulder, "You got a passport?"

"No, I don't even have a driver's licence."

"That's great!" Dad responds with a grin, "Neither does Lisa!"

I groan and shake my head at him. Geez, he has to tell the little brother I've just met this information? Mine got taken away because of too many speeding tickets, big deal!

"You ever been to Germany?"

"No."

"Hey, it's great!" I gently bump his other shoulder with mine, "You're going to love it!"

Peter incredulously looks between the two of us, "I can't go to Germany!"

"Why?" Dad pulls his hand back and shakes his head.

Peter struggles with his answer, "I got..." I lean forward in my seat, waiting for some big excuse and I am severely let down with, "homework."

I roll my eyes back and harshly rub a few fingers along the bridge of my nose, "Oh, brother."

Dad looks up at the ceiling and curtly shakes his head, "Alright, I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that."

"No, I'm being serious!" Peter argues as Dad moves for the door, "I can't just drop out of school!"

"Might be a little dangerous. Lisa will be her brother's keeper."

I cock my head at him, "You're not coming with?"

"Nah, I'm going to meet you guys there. You're sticking with the sticky boy-man." I laugh a little at another one of Dad's nicknames, "Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you two kiddies on a field trip."

Peter suddenly stands up from my side and thrusts out his hand.

A long web shoots forward from a device on his wrist and then the white strings snaps around my father's hand as it rests on the door handle. Dad and I just look down at his stuck hand in offense before we look back up at the boy.

He shakes his finger at Dad, expressing his single demand, "Don't tell Aunt May."

A beat of silence passes as we stare at the fifteen year old that is my brother.

Dad finally nods a little, "Alright, Spider-Man."

Peter slowly straightens; a new aura coming over him at having been called his superhero name by an actual superhero.

And Dad naturally ruins the moment by harshly pointing at the sticky web still wrapped around his hand, "Get me out of this thing."

"Sorry. I'll get it."

    As Peter quickly steps to desk to find something to unstick my father, Dad crooks an eyebrow at me, "Well, Smalls?"

I smirk, "I like him."

TA-DA! What did you think?! Do you like the Lisa and Peter dynamic so far? They're so cute, I actually can't! They're both so awkward and sweet and gah, what did you think? I can't wait to really dive into their relationship! And, hey, we got some flashbacks of Lisa and the deceased Starks in the beginning which was sad. Were you surprised about Ross? What does he have on her??? A big mystery! Gosh, I hope you liked it because I spent days suffering over this chapter and whew, it killed me.

I think we all know what chapter is next, don't we? !!!! I'm so excited! Are you?! What part are you most excited for? I'll be working on it hopefully a lot in the next few days as I'm going to Australia tomorrow, technically so hopefully I have time then.

Funny Thingamabob:

I don't even know, to be perfectly honest.