portalhopping | ota; memory share

( Rikki's a few years older than she had been when she'd known Peter and had walked into a church with him in Jeopardy and found herself buried in the rubble with him. She remembers feeling like she might suffocate from the dust and the compression of her body beneath everything and being more sad than afraid. The sound of Peter's voice crying out for help had secretly been the only thing that had kept her from just closing her eyes and letting Jeopardy's trickery take her because she'd long since had enough of it. He saved her that night, more than once.

Seeing it again makes her miss him; the friendship they used to have which shattered completely after their shared experience from Peter's past. She'd called back to him that she was there with him, that she was stuck. She'd used the moisture in the air and her hydrokinesis to shift some of the rubble just enough for Peter to wriggle free and rescue her. Then the memory had faded away and they'd been standing alone in the church.

They hadn't been able to talk to each other after that. It had been too awkward. It's nice to see his face, but it's sad remembering the friendship they'd had and Rikki wonders if this is the same Peter she'd known.

Ultimately, it's the unfamiliar memory of him sacrificing everything he knows to save everyone he loves that makes Rikki start up her feed. If it isn't her Peter, so be it. He ought to know what she's seen, all the same. )

Erm...hello...I don't know if you remember me, or if you're even the same Peter, but I'm Rikki. I've seen some of your memories just now. And several years ago, in another place and another time, I lived one with you. If you're not him, then just feel free to disregard this, but I thought you should know that I've seen the way you sacrificed yourself for the man named Steven to put something right...and I still remember being caught under all that rubble and hearing you hyping yourself up to get free so you could save me.

And...if you are him...you should know that I'm sorry for how we drifted after that. And I hope you've been well.

( Though Rikki seldom gets emotional, she can feel her eyes starting to prickle and that's her cue to end the feed.

Clearing her throat, she offers whichever Peter this is a small smile. )

Right, that's all I had to say. I'm sorry for being forced to invade your privacy.

[ the face on the other side of the screen isn't familiar, but there's something about the tone of her voice that makes his chest ache. he knows what it's like to look at someone you knew intimately and have them stare back at you, blank and confused.

so he takes a deep breath and puts on his best, easy smile. ]

I... I don't think we're from the same timeline, but honestly I bet even your Peter Parker wouldn't take an apology for something like that, you know?

[ there's a little half shrug and he adjusts the camera. he's sitting on top of some high sky scraper, the skyline his backdrop. ]

But I'm sorry you had to see some of that, whatever you saw. This place does some crazy things, and I'm working on fixing the portals so maybe we won't ever have to deal with that stuff again, you know? I'm Peter, by the way. Which, um, you knew, but I don't know your name?

( Disappointment flickers and fades in her eyes, but she smiles all the same. It's just as well. If it's not her Peter, then he might not have lost Tony Stark yet. He probably hasn't loved and lost Marcus. There were several reasons they drifted, not the least of which was her inability to parse everything and figure out how to go on with their friendship like they hadn't just saved one another's lives.

Then again, she can't help pitying that this one hasn't had the chance to put on some scuba gear and go swimming with dolphins with her or explore wrecked ships at the bottom of the sea. He could, maybe, but perhaps it's better to let sleeping dogs lie. She's much older now and he doesn't appear to be. They're in different stages of life.

She bypasses the dismissal of her apology. He's probably right, but she seldom admits being wrong, if she can avoid it. )

The only thing I hadn't seen before was you and Steven talking about someone trying to come through and you wanted everyone to forget who you were. The other bit, like I said...I was there, too, the first time I saw it. When you were caught in the rubble and couldn't get out right away. You don't have to be sorry I saw it.

( Rikki looks down for a second before looking back up at the camera. She's surprised how much it hurts to hear him ask her name even though she already knows he doesn't know it. The hurt doesn't come from the fact that he'd missed it just now. If he's anything like the Peter she knew, he was far too invested in the fact that he could tell she was upset. No...the hurt comes from feeling...erased, in a way. )

I'm Rikki. I'm sure you'll manage to fix the portal. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met, Peter Parker.

[ It all hits him what feels like back-to-back violations of the kid's privacy over which Five has no control. It's good to see Tony Stark again; it's been too fucking long. He can now see why Tony was so taken with Prim when they'd flanked her bedroom with their own to keep the little girl safe without ever having to discuss it. He, like Five, has secretly always needed to take care of someone other than himself.

His heart aches for Peter all over again, the same way it did when Peter first came back.

With a sigh, Five sets down his notebook and gets to his feet, crossing the room and opening his bedroom door. ]

Hey Peter, are you home?

[ Peter is sitting in his own room, the bedroom door open and music playing from inside. should someone peek in they'll find his room is a mess of parts and blueprints and paper. there are a few rogue lego models, and a couple of mugs - one which is very much Prim's, and the other his own from hours ago.

he looks up, a screwdriver in his mouth, one hand tangled in the wiring of a power module from the portals. ]

Yeah? In here! Hang on I'll - oh, jeez.

[ there's a rustle, a clatter, and a few screws roll out the door before he peeks out to look at Five, sheepish. ]

Sorry about that.

[ Even with the ache in his heart for Peter's losses and struggles — no one as young as the three of them were when they were so impacted should have to deal with the level of trauma they all have, he thinks — Five can't help laughing a little at the sounds in response.

He leaves his room and moves across the apartment toward Peter's room, bending to pick up the screws on his way. Five holds them out to Peter. ]

Don't apologize. I just got hit with a whole fucking barrage of your past.

[ He pauses. Goddammit, he's not good at this. ]

You've been through far too much for a kid your age, Peter. You know, the more I learn about you, the more impressed with you I am? To be as well-adjusted as you are after everything you've been through? You could've ended up like me...but you didn't.

[ Five pauses again. ]

I'm really proud of you, kid.

Wait, what?

[ he's heard tale of these memories, but the idea that some of his own might be lingering out there in the ether unsettles him - he goes red in the face almost immediately, looking a little awkward. ]

O-oh. It's... it's really not that big of a deal. I couldn't let them get to me you know? Then they'd reall win.

[ but Five says he's proud and he finds himself a little stunned, sheepish. ]

Um. Wow. Uh, thanks, Five. I'm... I'm really trying.

[ it's hard to chase away the eerie sense that there's a place waiting for him where he doesn't belong anymore. ] And I'm grateful you were here when I got back. From home. Kind of getting my feet back under me, you know?

[ Five gives Peter a knowing look. It's a lot easier to say that you can't let the bad stuff get to you than it is to actually avoid letting it get to you.]

You're welcome, I'm really impressed with you. I could've used whatever your coping mechanisms were when I was stuck in the apocalypse at your age.

[ He lifts an eyebrow with interest. It's a little bit surprising to him that Peter still feels grateful to Five for being here when he got back after he's adjusted. It's nice to hear, but a little surprising all the same. ]

I'm glad I could be here when you got back, too. We missed you, you know. Here's home now for you, though...right? Here with Prim and May and I? Because, frankly, as much as I hate to admit it, I got pretty attached to you, kid. I'd hate to see you go back to a place that turned so cold. You'll always have a place here. You know that, right?

Man...I don't know who Tony is, but two things stand out to me — and let it be known that the only reason I'm not freaking the fuck out is because my friend has been here a while and she warned me this could happen — but anyway, one: that tech was the fucking coolest thing I have ever seen in my life and two: I know you did not think that Back in Black is Led Zepplin for real, did you...?

[ His video feed comes up and Pietro appears solemn, frowning slightly. So this is the Peter everyone had originally been pointing him to when he first arrived. It does not endear him to Tony Stark, to be sure, knowing that he recruited a literal child into the Avengers, knowing as he does, that being an Avenger can very much be a death sentence.

Still, seeing this child's memories and the way those experiences make him grow makes Pietro miss Wanda that much more. Perhaps Stark and Rogers are equally equipped to drive their mentees to grow as people and into the heroes they're meant to be. A part of him wonders whether he would have seen the same growth in himself had he survived Ultron's attack on Sokovia. ]

I am so sorry for your losses. I don't think we know one another beyond names, perhaps, but I think you might know my sister, Wanda? She is also Avenger. I am Pietro. I would have preferred getting to know you another way, but here we are.

ota; memory share

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