needy | peter parker

019

FIVE YEARS. FIVE YEARS OF nightmares, screams, not feeling loved, and most importantly, five years of being broken.

Alaïa spent her seventeenth birthday with Natasha and Steve. Since everyone left and went their own way. It was lonely, it was missing a few people.

Once Alaïa turned eighteen though, she quickly moved out of the compound and wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Avengers. She stopped using her powers completely. Though she had so many people who cared about her, Alaïa felt unloved.

At age nineteen, Alaïa was now in Los Angeles helping children whose parents disappeared and had no where to go. She quickly became known around the area not for her powers, but for her good heart.

Alaïa's twentieth and twenty-first birthday came along. She'd spent it alone, but she choose to spent it alone. Alaïa didn't want to spend her birthday without the people who aren't here today.

Throughout her years since of the blip, she would experience horrible nightmares and her panic attacks would get worse. Alaïa was broken, and she felt the need to stay broken. Alaïa didn't want to be fixed.

Now she's twenty-one in her own house, she started to get ready for work. Lightly curling her hair and applying concealer for her eye bangs, Alaïa was satisfied with her appearance.

Her house was on the high end of Los Angeles. Since everything is cheap now there really was no low class, middle class, or high class, it just depended on how you spent your money.

Walking into a small cafe, the man behind the counter smiled seeing Alaïa walk in.

"Hey Alaïa, your usual?"

She nodded, "but add a blueberry muffin, thanks Landon."

He nodded, making Alaïa handed her card. They have been friends for about a year. Landon never mentioned her about the Avengers knowing that hurts her, that made Alaïa happy.

"How are you and your family?" Alaïa asked, making Landon chuckled at her question.

"My mom is fine, my two younger sisters are still annoying but one of them brought a man home and my mom was not happy."

Alaïa chuckled at his response, "your mom doesn't want your sister to date?"

"No, but she refuses to let a man into a house without our dad. You know? Anyways, how about you? Are you okay?" Landon asked giving Alaïa her card back.

"The usual, nothing new." She answered keeping her feelings private.

Landon nodded at her answer making him hand her coffee and muffin. "Well, text me if you want to do something later, I get off at five and I don't want to be home with my sisters all night."

Alaïa laughed at his comment, "okay, I'll text you. Bye Landon."

"Bye Alaïa."

Leaving the coffee shop, she started to head to work. It was a nice day in Los Angeles; the wind was cold but the weather itself was warm. Walking into the building, Alaïa softly smiled when her staff greeted her with their 'good mornings'.

A woman walked up to Alaïa with a binder in one hand while her phone in the other. She is a part of Alaïa's team for the whole company. Sydney greeted Alaïa with a smile as Alaïa walked into her office.

"Ms. Rivera, we are filled with capacity in San Francisco. Do you want me to kick out the teenagers who have been there more than three months?" Sydney asked as Alaïa sat down at her desk.

Alaïa frowned hearing that, "no just expand the space of that facility."

Sydney nodded at her request, "the expansion will take a couple of months. What will we do in the meantime?" She asked, typing away on her phone.

Alaïa thought about it, and heard her phone ring beside her. "We have to talk about this to the rest of the team, but for now get started on that expansion." Alaïa said putting the phone to her ear.

Sydney nodded, and made her way out of Alaïa's office. That's what Alaïa's day would usually be like. The day can go by fast, but it can have it's slow days as well. 

Walking back home, she looked around to find it completely empty. Which is now normal, but it still amazes her how this whole city was once alive. Alaïa always loved the city, and still had to punch herself knowing that she made it to Los Angeles. 

Opening her door to her house, and dropped her tote bag on the couch. She went to the kitchen to start texting Landon to come over until she saw someone already in the kitchen already looking at her.

He looked the same since she'd lost seen him. He was clean shaved, blonde hair, and his figure stayed the same.

She sighed and put her phone away, "what do you want, Steve?"

Steve looked at her, and it was as if Alaïa was dying on the inside. She grew to a be beautiful young lady, but in her eyes you can tell that she's tired.

"We need your help." Steve started stepping forward.

She shook her head once that came out of his mouth. "I don't want anything to do with the Avengers, Steve. I told you that."

Steve shook his head hearing that, "where's that old Alaïa where she would put others first and how she would give up everything to help someone else live another day."

She crossed her arms at Steve's comment, "that was before I lost everything, and how fucked up a team we actually are."

Steve widened his eyes at her language since the last time he saw her was she was eighteen and rarely even cussed. Alaïa pushed them away, but Steve started to feel guilty and should have never allowed her to go through this alone. "Alaïa, hear me out, we might've found a way to bring them back."

It felt like her heart stop hearing those words, she dropped her arms to the side of her body, "what?"

"Scott brought up the quantum relum and how we can go back in time. But we couldn't control it until Tony figured out a way to control it."

Alaïa narrowed her eyes at Steve, "so like a time machine?"

"Yeah, just like a time machine." Steve sighed, "we need your help Alaïa."

"I don't know, Steve." She started and slowly went into her living room having Steve follow her. "That place brings back so many memories and trauma that I feel like I'm going to take two steps backwards."

"I'm glad that you are moving on, Alaïa. We could really use your help please."

She took a deep breath then felt a wave of reassurance come over her. "you sure this thing works?"

Steve nodded, "tested it yesterday. It works. The whole gang is there. We were debating on if we should ask you since you made it very clear you wanted nothing to be apart of us."

Alaïa stood silent and nodded, "fine, I'll join but you have to promise me that once the plan works everything will go back to normal."

"I promise."

A/N:
hi loves! hope you enjoyed
this chapter! it's not my best but
it will do!
stay safe!