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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
ii. OUR CORNER OF THE WORLD

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   IT'S EASY TO GET lost in how big the world is. It's massive, constantly growing. Our world is a mere extension of a much larger universe — a universe where aliens and Norse Gods coexist and the fate of all life can be determined by a Titan and some overpowered rocks (or a kid and her adoptive father deciding to discover time travel on a whim). Life is endless, forever changing, and there are so many people in the world that it only makes it seem that much bigger.

   But strangely enough, all people are the same. We live out our days according to schedules, seeing and encountering new faces all the time. We shake hands and give away our names. Sometimes, we don't even speak to the strangers we come across. Maybe you exchange glances across a crowded room or share a smile when something funny happens nearby. Yeah, there are billions of people inhabiting our world, but they're all just like you. They have hobbies and quirks and responsibilities of their own. It seems so silly to think about, maybe even a little obvious, but it's true. Every person you've ever met has a life you'll never know anything about.

   It was an overwhelming yet comforting thought to Peter Parker. There are so many people in the world that are, in hindsight, just like him. Without the whole radioactive spider bite thing, at least. Maybe he'd never know them all, but he knew they all had friends and family and strange girlfriends and problems that felt like the end of the world — just like him.

   It helped to remember this from time to time, like when he had a big test coming up or whenever he did something particularly embarrassing in public. He liked being able to remind himself that his problems didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. What feels like the end of the world right now probably won't matter in a few weeks.

   But that was when he'd get lost in just how big the world truly is. He'd repeat these things to himself until he started to overthink them. He'd think about how fragile the scale of life truly is. He'd think about how small our contribution to humanity is in hindsight. Something that he might consider important might be meaningless to someone else and vice-versa. Think about it. At the end of the day, we're just pawns in the universe's greater game of chess. Why bother worrying or caring about anything at all? What's the point?

   But then he'd remember the little things in life, the things that brought him joy. He'd think about his favorite movies and songs. He'd think about Aunt May and Ned. He'd think about Riley and how rewarding it felt when he got her to smile or laugh. He'd think about how it felt to swing through New York and all of those times he got to stand with his childhood heroes. He'd think about his dreams, his desires. No matter how big the world may be, no matter how small he felt at times, Peter knew he could always depend on the little things in life to keep him grounded.

   It wasn't always easy remembering those little things, but when he was with Riley, he never felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.

   In their tiny corner of the world, Riley slept soundly on the couch in Peter's apartment. She was curled up, a blanket draped over her. The soft pitter-patter of rain tapped on the windows. It was a gentle storm, sprinkling over the world in near silence. The A/C system lowly hummed, no louder than the sound of Peter tapping on his calculator. He sat on the floor in the living room, notes and homework scattered around him.

   Every so often, his gaze shifted to Riley's sleeping figure and a smile would find his face. He often wondered what took up her mind when she was asleep and wasn't being haunted by a nightmare. She just looked so peaceful, not a single thought or worry weighing down on her for once. Her jaw wasn't clenched, her hands weren't balled into fists. She was at ease, and that was all she ever deserved. Well, that was what Peter thought, at least.

   It was nice having moments like this with her, whether she was napping or he was doing homework or they were doing something so stupidly normal together. There were times where neither of them was trying to save the day, where they could sit in peace and pretend they had no responsibilities at all. Peter sometimes craved days like these. They didn't come as often as his aching desire to be a hero, but they came often enough. A normal life. That sounded so nice some days. A life where Peter could just go to school, see his girlfriend and friends, and all of his worries could be simplified to homework, money, and bullies.

   Sometimes, Peter wished he could live without worrying about who might try to end the world (again) or who out of his loved ones might get hurt next or who was going to be the "next Iron Man" (because it sure as hell wasn't going to be him). A life so domestic and mundane seemed unrealistic for people like him and Riley, but at times like this, Peter could see it: a life where all was well and they could just exist in peace. It wasn't as impossible and unattainable as it seemed.

   Riley shifted in her sleep. Her face twisted into a grimace, her body flinching as she held part of her blanket in a tight fist. Under her breath, she muttered, "C'mon... Get up..."

   In her head, flashes of war terrorized her dreams. Flames lick the ground. Ashes cloud the heavens. Blood spills onto the cracks of what remains of the Avengers Headquarters. A scar-faced Titan stands on them proudly. Canons fire at Pietro Maximoff as he protects Riley Stark in battle. His body goes flying into the debris with a pained shout. He doesn't get up.

   Riley's breathing grew heavy — like she was running from something. Or maybe she was running toward something. It was hard to tell from where Peter sat.

   Rubble is tossed into the air, canons exploding all around them. Riley's desperate screams ripple, "Pietro? PIETRO! C'mon, Pietro, get up! Get up!"

   A sharp gasp suddenly pierced through her as she woke up. She shot upward on the couch, her heart pounding. But relief quickly engulfed her when she realized where she was and who was suddenly by her side.

   Peter's hand hovered over her back. "Hey, hey, it's okay. It's just me. You okay?"

   Riley slumped forward, head in her hands. "Just another nightmare. You know how it is."

   This wasn't the first time he'd been in the room when she had a nightmare, and he knew this wasn't the first one she'd had in a while.

   Rubbing her eyes, Riley said, "I don't even remember falling asleep. You should've woken me up."

   "No way. You're scary when you're tired," Peter teased. He gently nudged her, smiling to let her know he wasn't upset. He felt her relax beside him. "Besides, I was doing homework."

   She narrowed her eyes at him. Sometimes, when she gave him that look, she looked way too much like Tony. "You were doing homework in the middle of date night?"

   "Hey, you're the one who fell asleep!"

   She rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have trained so much today."

   "I don't even know why you train so much." Peter leaned into the couch, snagging the small blanket from her.

   "Well, some of us have to work hard to be amazing," Riley dismissed. She turned away from his warm gaze. The way he looked up at her made her nervous sometimes. He looked at her like she was everything good in this world. She wondered if he even realized what he was doing.

   "Oh, and I don't?"

   "You got bit by a little spider and woke up with abs. No, you don't." She poked his side, smiling when he laughed. "Maybe you'd have to work a little bit harder if you were a bad guy."

   "I'd be an amazing bad guy, thank you very much."

   "You'd be terrible at it," Riley insisted. "Need I remind you of the time you walked into a door and apologized to it?"

   "That was one time! You act like bad guys can't have manners!"

   "Right, my mistake. I'll think about that next time I'm about to get my ass handed to me," Riley laughed as she took his hand in her own.

   Silence descended upon them, but it was a nice kind of quiet. The world around them was peaceful, a special kind of paradise they spent their lives fighting for. Even as the world rebuilt itself from the ground up, they could find calm in it.

   It wasn't much later when Riley asked, "Hey, are we... doing this right?"

   Peter's head lulled to the side as he looked back at her, brown eyes taking her in like it was the first time he was seeing her. He did that a lot, she noticed. "Doing what right?" he echoed.

   She held up their intertwined hands. "This... dating thing," she said, hoping she didn't sound like a complete idiot. "I just... Uh, well, everything I know about dating is through movies, so I don't really know how this works."

   Peter shrugged. "Beats me."

   "Shouldn't you know? Aren't you supposed to be the normal one between us?" she queried, partly joking, partly serious.

   "Well, uh, I've never..." he trailed off, suddenly nervous. "I've never dated anyone. Like, anyone. I mean, I think maybe I got married to some girl in preschool, but I dunno if that counts." When she looked confused, Peter had to add, "Oh, don't worry. That's normal for a lot of kids. You know, ones that weren't child agents... obviously. I mean, it wasn't a real marriage, so it's not like it really counts. Well, it counted when I was, like, four, but—"

   "Breathe, Pete, breathe."

   Peter nervously chuckled. "Anyway, all that to say, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not even sure how I convinced you to date me—"

   "Don't say things like that," she scolded. "And for your information, I was the one who asked you out."

   "No, you told me you liked me and then pretended it didn't happen!"

   "You can't hold me accountable for my actions!"

   As they laughed, he said, "Fine, but only this time. At least both of us have absolutely no clue what we're doing, right?"

   "I mean... I think we're doing a decent job," Riley shyly admitted. "All we do is patrol and hang out. That's kinda normal... right?"

   "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but nothing about us is normal, Riles."

   Riley didn't expect to laugh so hard at his words. That little itch of uncertainty in the back of her head faded instantly (for now). Peter was right. There was nothing normal about them, and there (probably) never would be. Did that mean their relationship was doomed? Riley didn't think so. She just hoped she could be a decent girlfriend to Peter Parker.

   It was hard pretending that wasn't something she thought about often. She just wasn't sure how this relationship crap worked. No one ever trained her or told her anything about this stuff, maybe because no one ever expected Riley to experience life like this. No one expected her to live this long at all. Back then, she was nothing more than a weapon. A soldier. An accident that needed to be whipped into shape. She wasn't even sure she was human until she met Tony. But now, she had a family, friends, and a wonderful boyfriend. She just didn't want to screw it up. It wasn't what Peter deserved. As far as she was concerned, Peter deserved the world, and she always worried she couldn't give him that.

   Sure, it was just the beginning of their relationship, but Riley wasn't the kind of girl who lived in the present, who took life one day at a time. She was always anticipating the future, and the future was always uncertain. The future was always her enemy. The future took Vision and Pietro from her. If she could just go back in time...

   She'd talk to them longer. She wouldn't take her time with them for granted. She'd prevent things that should never have happened. Deaths, accidents, mistakes. She would change the world. The past, the future. She would change everything.

   "C'mon, Pietro, get up—!"

   Peter's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are you sure you're okay?"

   Riley flinched. Just like that, she returned to reality once more. "Hm, what? What'd you say?" she asked. He eyed her, unsure as he repeated himself. "Oh!" She sat up, flashing him a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

   Peter didn't want to say anything, but she did that a lot. It wasn't always obvious, which probably explained why he didn't notice it for a while. It was a new thing, a new quirk she must've picked up when he wasn't paying attention. Sometimes, she would escape into the depths of her mind. Her mind consumed her, always racing miles ahead while her feet were planted to the ground. She never rested, even when there was nothing to worry about.

   He understood why, but sometimes, he wished she would just talk about it whenever she felt overwhelmed or anxious. Maybe it'd be easier to deal with if he could remind her that everything was okay. Whatever it was, he knew it was bothering her more than she was letting on.

   "You know you can tell me anything, right?" Peter asked. There was something so calming about his words, something so relieving. But Riley didn't often accept it. Instead, she let it taunt her.

   "Right. And the same goes for you." Riley squeezed his hand. "So... Movie?"

   Peter's smile returned. "Hell yeah."

   There wasn't much they could do as a couple, not unless they wanted to risk exposing Peter's identity. They could get away with running around New York when he was suited up as Spider-Man, but that tended to attract more attention than either of them wanted. That had been their main source of hanging out until the dating rumors started piling in and Riley got worried that people would hound him about his identity more than before. They were just lucky Riley could turn invisible because it made it impossible for the paparazzi to follow her around. But then Peter got annoyed because he just wanted to see her and her (really pretty) face, so they resorted to hanging out from the comfort of their homes.

   There were days where all they did was watch movies and take on all kinds of weird hobbies like extreme board game nights and competitive baking. They tried to train together once, but they distracted each other too much to get anything productive done. Sometimes, they babysat Morgan together, and other times, they'd just hang around the Stark Cabin, which was usually fun until Tony decided to steal Peter for something stupid.

   It would be nice to go out and do things regular teenagers did, but Peter was right. Normal just wasn't in their vocabulary. Luckily, they made it work.

   After all, paradise isn't a rule or a place with limits and bounds. Paradise can be whatever or whoever you want it to be, and for now, these quiet nights in their corner of the world were good enough for them.

   Past the windows, the gloomy sky was streaked with muted oranges and dark blues. Rainfall slowed until the clouds were finally emptied. Night crept forth, the moon reaching out with a welcoming embrace. Aunt May would be home from work soon, and truthfully, Riley should be heading out herself, but she was just so comfortable. The dark gray couch seemed to swallow her and Peter. Her arm was draped over his chest, head nestled on his shoulder. The pads of his fingers traced shapes onto her arms so gently she almost didn't notice. Every so often, he'd kiss the top of her head. All was well.

   The movie playing on the screen demanded their attention, though not for good reasons. It was some Netflix original, one that was so awful that neither of them bothered remembering what it was called. The two had been chatting and laughing throughout the entire movie, making fun of it and bullying the characters openly. Underneath their laughter, Riley could hear Peter's heart beating in his chest quietly, and it made her feel at ease. This little corner of the world was perfect. This was their version of paradise.

   All was well until Riley's phone began to ring.

   She practically leaped out of her spot to grab her phone the second it started to go off. Her first thought was that Roman must be calling her. She hadn't heard from him in a few days, which wasn't like him. Usually, they shot each other a quick text every day, no matter how busy he was, just to ensure that all was well on both ends. But it'd been radio silence for days — ever since he went to New Jersey.

   Riley didn't even glance at the Caller I.D., only hitting the answer button and greeting, "Well, look who finally decides to call? I feel like I need to start babysitting you, too, idiot. Where have you been?"

   But the voice on the other line didn't belong to Roman. It was a deeper voice, one filled with a sense of urgency. "Is this Riley Stark?" it asked.

   She faltered. She had been so sure that Roman was the one calling her. "...Depends on who's asking."

   "Miss Stark, this is the Acting Director of S.W.O.R.D.," the voice revealed.

   "Uh-huh... You got a nickname for all that?" Riley ignored the puzzled look on Peter's face, taking a step out of the living room.

   The voice forced a chuckle. "My name is Tyler Hayward. We met briefly—"

   "Ah, right. Sorry," Riley apologized. "I can't say I understand why you're directly calling me. S.W.O.R.D. handles extraterrestrial operations. I'm afraid there's not much I can do for you."

   "Well, we've rebranded in response to the Decimation. The world's always growing. We're just being more thorough, more prepared," Hayward reported. "Anyway, as much as I'm enjoying this chat, I'm afraid there are urgent matters that need to be discussed, preferably in person."

   Riley couldn't help but get excited over the thought of being needed for something. Finally, something interesting to do! But she faltered once again. "If this is about a new assignment, Roman's the guy you're looking for. He's been more active in the field lately. If it's something along those lines, he's your guy."

   "Yes, well, that's sort of the problem—"

   "I know he's a little... irritating sometimes, but trust me, he's extremely qualified," Riley interrupted. "He's been focused on getting back into the swing of things after his... return to life."

   "I'm well aware, Miss Stark. However, that's why I'm calling you," Hayward revealed. "We recently assigned Roman to aid in overseeing an operation led by the FBI outside of Westview, New Jersey. But... Well, there's no easy way to say this. I hope you'll forgive my... inelegance in wording this. I'm aware of your relationship with him."

   "Spit it out, Director."

   She had a feeling Roman must've pissed off the wrong person or done something to get everyone to hate him. Hayward was probably going to ask her to talk to him, maybe ask her to convince him to be less of a nuisance. But what he said next, she wasn't expecting:

   "I'm afraid there's been an accident. Roman has been taken."