Valen | Peter Parker

It's Good to Be Back

Ned looked at Peter's pleading smile. He then looked at Valen who was holding her arms looking down at the ground. They were both soaked head to toe.

"Yeah of course." Ned shut the window and went to go open the back door.

Peter had his hand on Valen's back to gently lead her inside. Once inside she looked around to study everything. All possible points of exit, any item that can be used as a weapon in an emergency, any possible threats hiding. She didn't move her hands off of her arms. She continued hugging herself in silence.

"Valen, this is Ned, my best friend. Ned, this is Valen, my uh..." Peter looked at Valen unsure if he should say girlfriend or friend or what.

Ned reached out his hand with a smile for her to shake. Valen looked down at his hand then back up at his eyes, not moving a muscle. Ned looked at Peter with wide eyes silently asking if he was insane.

"Can she borrow some clothes?" Peter asked already knowing he's asking for a lot.

"Yeah. One sec." Ned walked into a dark hallway away from the two.

"Will you be okay here?" Peter turned to Valen who hadn't moved ever since she walked inside.

"Are you not staying?"

"I have to go back to my place and talk to my Aunt May. I have to tell her something so she doesn't think I'm missing or hurt somewhere."

Valen looked up from the ground. "Are you going to tell her about me?"

"No. Not yet at least. Not until you're ready."

Valen didn't want many people knowing about her yet. She was scared and embarrassed. She didn't want to be locked up again. She didn't know what was true and what wasn't. She wanted to figure things out before facing people that used know her.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

Ned walked back in with a hoodie and sweat pants. He handed them to Valen before pointing towards the bathroom. "You can change in there. They might be big on you though."

"May I take a shower?" Valen had been in her suit longer than twenty-fours hours. After the fight and setting Hydra on fire, she wanted to feel clean. She wanted to take a shower without someone standing a couple of feet away making sure she didn't try anything funny.

"Yeah. Everything should be in there. Towels and washcloths are under the sink."

"Thank you." Valen took the clothes into the bathroom and shut the door. She stripped out of her wet suit wanting to take scissors to the thing. She hated what it represented. She hated that she was the one wearing it, doing the jobs it required. She hated that at one point she wanted to do those jobs to get gratification from someone who tried to kill her.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked exhausted. Bruises covered her body. She was starving from not eating properly for weeks, but mainly from not eating at all since the night before the fight.

She turned the hot water on and let herself melt into the warmth. She closed her eyes thinking over the memories she had. They started with Zory welcoming her home at Hydra and went up to present time. She now had new memories outside of that timeline that she was trying to place.

Ned waited for the water to be turned on before speaking with Peter. He didn't want Valen to hear anything he said. "What is going on? Is that really Valen Valen? Like your Valen? Your not so dead girlfriend?"

"A lot has happened and I can explain everything, but first I need you to just let her stay here for a few days."

"You're lucky no one is going to be home until next week."