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let's see what we can do

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Andi crawled up to the rooftop alone to find Peter. After making sure Andi was okay, Gwen disappeared to spend some time with MJ for the sake of leaving Andi and Peter to themselves. Of course, Gwen was worried about her friends and their emotional well-being, given the brief outburst from Nick Fury, but she knew all they needed—and wanted—was each other. They were each other's safe haven and always seemed to brighten even the foulest of moods in one another. Andi was thankful for this, however. She wasn't sure what she would be able to do or say had Gwen come with her, but knowing it would be just her and Peter made her feel a bit more at ease. There was a lot on her mind and a lot of emotion inside her body. Not only had Fury completely angered Andi, but Aurora's appearance had left her perplexed. It'd been so many years since she seen such an annoyingly beautiful face, but she still found she could not believe it. What made matters worse, however, was looking into a pair of eyes that didn't recognize her the way she recognized them. There was so much Andi needed to know, and she wasn't too sure how to get answers. Nothing was making sense, and she had a dreaded feeling it was only going to get worse. She just couldn't put her finger on how.

"You didn't have to come up here, y'know?" Peter said once he sensed Andi's presence.

Andi scoffed and walked over to sit next to Peter. "Just because I don't have to doesn't mean I'm not going to. You've done nothing but be there for me. Let me be there for you, Peter," she responded.

Peter frowned and looked over at Andi. "Fury was right, y'know?"

"Was he, though?" Andi asked.

"Yes," Peter spoke with a serious tone. "Tony chose us—he chose me—and what did I do? I almost killed our friends."

"But you didn't," Andi reminded him. "Look, I know this is difficult, believe me, but we aren't perfect. We never will be. Everyone expects us to be, but it's just unrealistic. We're still kids, Peter."

"That's not what everyone else sees," Peter said quietly.

"I know." Andi let out a breath and scooted closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he reacted by placing his head atop her own.

"Why did he pick us, Andi?" Peter asked her quietly.

"I really wish I knew, Peter," she replied. She gazed out at the city ahead, wishing nothing more than to experience it the way she planned to when she left for Europe. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen for them. Despite not originally wanting to go on the trip, Andi found her solace in knowing she'd be spending her time with four of the most important people in her life—her best friends. However, that solace had since been ruined, and she now found herself wanting to hop on a plane back to New York.

After a few more moments of comfortable silence between Andi and Peter, their attention was grabbed by not just one, but two figures in the sky. One was without a doubt Mysterio, and in his arms was Aurora.

"If only you both could fly," Andi mused. 

"I actually prefer to remain on the ground, but I figured I'd come with him to check up on you two," Aurora responded.

"Yeah," Beck followed. "Fury felt bad about snapping at you two."

Andi scoffed. She wouldn't believe his words for a single second. Peter, on the other hand...

"Really?" Peter asked.

"You guys do have sarcasm on this Earth, right?" Beck laughed.

"It's not exactly Peter's first language," Andi told Beck, nudging Peter at her side. He met her eyes and smiled softly, which she returned. Beck and Aurora glanced at each other as they watched the teenagers interact. The way Andi had been so quick to speak up for Peter against Fury made them suspect there was more than just a friendship going on between the two of them, but watching the way the interacted with each other now—watching the way they looked at other—made their suspicions concrete. There was no mistaking it.

"How are you two feeling?" Aurora asked the teenagers.

"Well, I didn't really think we'd have to save the world this summer," Peter began to explain. "I know that makes me sound like such a jerk, but I just—there were things I wanted to do and people I wanted to do them with, and now that's all ruined."

Beck flew over to the two and released Aurora from his hold. Aurora sat beside Andi, their close proximity making Andi's stomach turn, while Beck sat beside Peter.

"You're not a jerk for wanting a normal life, kid," Beck assured Peter.

"He's right, y'know?" Aurora added, her brown eyes on Andi. "What happened to you—it wasn't your fault. This isn't an easy life to live. You see things, you do things, and you make choices you feel you have to for the sake of protecting humanity. People look up to you, and even if you win a battle, sometimes they die."

Aurora's words triggered Andi, and she forced her eyes shut as the brutal images flashed through her head. She'd been through many battles in her life. Most she was unable to fight in, but even in those she was, she found she'd lost more than she'd gained. Her family was gone, her uncle was gone. All she had left were Pepper and Morgan, as well as the mysterious woman at her side who still did not recognize her. Andi wondered if she ever would. She wondered if it was a product of being from two separate dimensions, but the voice inside her head was telling her that was not at all the case.

"I really like you guys," Beck told them. "Gwen, too. You're good kids."

"No, I'm not," Andi said quietly, looking down to at her hands.

"Try not to put yourself down, Andi," Aurora told her. "I've known you for what, thirty minutes? And I know you have a good heart. I've noticed you can be a bit brash and impulsive, given the incident with Fury, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't drop everything to make sure he's protected."

"Part of me wants to tell you guys to just turn around and run away from all this," Beck said to them. "The other part of me knows what we're about to fight, knows what's at stake, and I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," Peter replied, completely shocking Andi with his words. "I guess I'm just glad that if I have to do this, I get to do it with my best friends."

"Oh, yeah," Beck chuckled. "Where is Gwen?"

"She went to spend some time with our friend MJ," Andi told him.

"Right," Aurora said. "You're still worried about your friends, aren't you?"

Andi and Peter nodded their heads.

"It's kind of hard not to feel like we're always putting them in danger," Andi spoke with an uneasy tone. "The darkness—it follows us wherever we go. We can't escape it, which means they can't either."

"Just get them inside and keep them in a safe place for just a few hours," Beck instructed her.

"They'll be alright, guys," Aurora assured them.

"We should probably get going, though," Andi said, grabbing Peter's hand and standing up. "It was, um, really good to talk to you guys about all the superhero stuff."

"Yeah, thanks, you guys," Peter said.

"Anytime," Beck and Aurora spoke simultaneously.

"See you out there!"

Peter and Andi jumped off of the roof together and landed on the ground below. Andi stopped and took a deep breath. She couldn't stand being around Aurora with all the emotions associated with her presence. She couldn't stand the thoughts inside her head and being unable to voice them, at least with the two of them around. Had it just been Peter, things likely would've gone much easier for her.

"Hey," Peter said to Andi, grabbing her arm to prevent her from walking away. There was something he needed to talk about with her. "Are you okay?"

Andi nodded her head, but Peter knew she wasn't being honest. Her mood had shifted many times in the last 45 minutes, and it began with the presence of a certain brunette. There was something about her that bothered Andi, and Peter wanted to know why.

"Don't lie to me, please," Peter said quietly. "I watched you when Aurora walked into that room. I watched you watch her. I watched you interact with her. I mean, your mood shifted on the roof the moment she showed up. What is it? Why does she make you so uncomfortable?"

Andi ran a quick hand through her hair and turned to meet Peter's eyes. "It'll only sound crazy if I tell you, Peter."

"Like fire monsters and multiversal superheroes don't sound crazy enough?" Peter scoffed. "Talk to me, Andi."

Andi paused for a moment as she sifted through her thoughts, or, better yet, her memories. She lingered on one she thought she'd lost to her subconscious years ago, but there it was, clear as day. She was about eight years old. She was playing in her backyard on the swings when a beautiful, smiling face ran over to her. It was her big sister, Aurora—the person she looked up to, the person she wanted to be just like when she got older. Aurora was Andi's best friend. She was her closest confidant and her favorite playmate. Aurora made it her mission to protect Andi from the cruelty of the world, and in a twisted sense of irony, it was that same cruelty that took her away. For years, Andi lived with a void in her heart caused by the absence of her big sister. Andi spent years thinking her sister been killed by the evil lurking in the stars above, despite authorities never finding her body. Now, she wasn't so sure that was the case.

"Um, do you remember when I told you I lost my family in the Battle of New York, but that they never found my sister?" Andi spoke, her voice strained. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she was overwhelmed by the memories she'd once buried so deep, and Peter noticed this.

"Yeah, I remember?" Peter furrowed his brows, unsure of the direction in which the conversation would take.

"Her name was Aurora," Andi told Peter, allowing a single tear to fall over her cheek. She whisked it away before he could even think to. "Aurora Andrews."

Peter stopped in his tracks. The information was new to him, as Andi had never really talked much about her family to him, but her insinuation was truly throwing him for a loop. She believed this woman, Aurora, to be the sister she lost so many years ago, and while it was possible, he wondered how. "So, you think she's your s-sister? I mean, is that even possible? It's been almost twelve years, Andi."

"Yes," Andi answered Peter seriously. "I know it's been a long time, but what else am I supposed to believe? I can't just sit here and convince myself that the woman who walks, talks, and looks like my sister isn't my sister."

"I know, I understand," Peter assured her. He walked up to place his hands comfortingly on her arms. "How old was she when she went missing?"

"She was fifteen."

"Which means she would be three years older than you, and to be completely honest, she looks about a decade older," Peter said to her.

Andi groaned and leaned back against the wall. He was omitting a key detail regarding why their current age gap made the utmost sense. "The Blip, Peter. If she wasn't killed by it, she would've aged like normal and turned twenty-seven in March. If I hadn't Blipped, I'd be turning twenty-four in September, making me three years younger. It's totally possible, Peter."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"The only thing I'm not understanding is the inter-dimensional aspect of it all," Andi said. "If Beck is from another dimension and she's his partner, logically that would mean she's likely from the same one, right? Regardless, she'd still recognize me as her sister, don't you think? I don't think our dimensional variants would be that different, would they?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Andi. You and I both know there's barely any scientific evidence to support the existence of the multiverse as it is. We know about it because we were told about it, but as far as our own multiversal counterparts, I wouldn't be much help with that. I mean, I'd like to think the other Peters in the multiverse are similar to me and would be recognizable if I were to encounter them one day, but all I can do now is speculate."

Andi frowned. That was not at all the answer she wanted, but she knew he was right.

"I want you to know that I'm here, okay?" Peter said. "We're gonna figure this out, and we're gonna figure it out together, okay?"

"What if we don't?" Andi responded quietly. "What if I have to lose her all over again?"

"And what if she isn't who you think she is?"

"I can feel it, Peter," Andi told him matter-of-factly. "There aren't many people in the world I've gotten the chance to love with everything in me, but Aurora was one of them. She was everything to me. That's my sister, and I know it. All I need to do is find a way to get her to remember that I'm hers."

"And we will," Peter said with a soft smile on his face. "But for now, why don't we just tackle one problem at a time, okay?"

Andi nodded her head and wiped her face again. "Maybe we should start with trying to figure out how to protect our friends?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

Peter opened his backpack and pulled out EDITH. He placed the glasses on his face and summoned the AI, while Andi stood watch and listened carefully as he spoke to the AI.

"Hey, uh, Andi and I are trying to figure out a way to keep our friends inside for the next few hours," Peter told EDITH.

"Alright," EDITH replied. "Let's see what we can do."

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