the siren |peter parker x siren!oc|

Serenity: Part 14

The dreams had tired her out. It was a mental energy that she had run low on ever since she had arrived at the Avengers Compound. Before, she could put up a mental barrier with ease, but now that she was out of practice, the exhaustion from the dreams lingered, clinging to her body and filling it with an unsettling weariness. After hugging Peter goodbye, wishing that she did not have to let go, she watched the black car disappear into the horizon, before crutching her way back to the gym to get started on her physical therapy.

"I'm really not too happy about Mr. Stark cutting our time in half," Dr. Blythe mumbled as she wandered through the door. He was sitting on his mobile footstool, tapping his finger on what he called an 'iPad.'

She was particularly bored from the exercises that day, the boredom forcing time to pass like molasses. The image of her sisters reappeared every time she closed her eyes, tempting her to keel over in fear. It was not pleasant, and Dr. Blythe could blatantly see her apathy. 15 minutes before her shortened session was supposed to end, he let her go, saying that she did especially well that day, and he was feeling under the weather.

He had to explain to her that it meant he was feeling ill.

She stood for a record time of one whole minute, which put more of a positive spin on the horror of the previous night.

Dr. Loud did not show up to her appointment, calling in sick. Lena was not sure if this was a coincidence, but she would take any opportunity to get her out of the misery that was speech therapy. She wished that Mr. Stark had cut those sessions short rather than the physical therapy.

An hour later, Lena had been working with her new tutor, Miss Gomez, when Peter arrived earlier than usual. She was used to his tedious schedule, which usually got him to the lab around 9PM, and had him leaving around 11PM. Seeing him at 4PM in the afternoon, even on a Friday, felt odd and out of place.

Ignoring whatever math problem she had been working on, Lena stood, walking over to him in three large strides, and almost collapsing into his arms. Three steps was the most she had taken on her own without help, so she took mental note of the small victory. Dr. Blythe would be happy to hear of it.

"Lena-" he caught her, only needing one arm around her waist to keep her steady, "Hey, how are you!"

"Miss Potts we really need to continue-" Miss Gomez had not moved from her seat at the table, looking slightly irritated that Lena had taken off so quickly.

"Why...are...you here? Now?" Lena asked, steadying her feet on the floor. She closed her hand around the upper part of Peter's bicep, ignoring how firm it was, knowing that it meant that he was particularly strong.

"Something's happened, Mr. Stark asked me-"
"Mr. Parker, Miss Potts, just the people I wanted to see," Lena looked up to see that Mr. Stark had materialized behind Peter, his figure dressed in his usual suit and tinted sunglasses, and causing the boy to jump slightly out of surprise. She smirked.

Almost at the snap of Mr. Stark's fingers, Lena was brought her crutches and guided into a large room with a circular table and chairs surrounding it. Men and women in suits sat, watching her every move. She felt their eyes on her, as if they knew everything about her.

Peter leaned over and whispered, "This is called a conference room."

She nodded, watching as official-looking men and women took seats, all eyes still fixated on Lena, making her shake slightly. So many humans, with their feelings and judgements gave her the same feeling she had when Mr. Stark told her that she was going to school with Peter in a month. A petrifying feeling. The room suddenly felt much larger than it had when she had first walked in, her heart beat picking up its pace and a bead of sweat forming at her hairline. She felt Peter take her hand from the seat next to her, squeezing it as an act of encouragement.