BECAUSE FLASH WAS THE ONLY TEAM MEMBER WHO WASN'T SHARING A ROOM, DIANA WAS ALLOWED TO TAKE THE SPARE BED. The original plan was for Jesse and Diana to share a room while Rosie had another, but after a lot of poking and prodding from Flash, Mr. Harrington finally relented with the agreement that they not tell the principal or anyone of any importance. So Jesse was able to upgrade to a king bed with her own room, Rosie was still able to be by herself, and Diana was with Flash.

She was currently hitting her head against the wall repeatedly, cursing Peter in every way she knew how.

"This. Boy. Is. An. Idiot. Hacking into Stark tech and removing his tracker so he can hunt down a homicidal maniac the night before a national decathlon meet. What a great idea. He's using the team and-"

"Why are you whispering to yourself?"

She whirled around, pressing herself up against the wall. Flash raised an eyebrow and leaned against the bathroom doorframe, crossing his arms over his bare chest, a towel slung over his shoulder.

"You good?"

She sighed heavily and nodded, swallowing. "Yeah, yeah, fine. I just-I don't know." She tried to give him a smile, but only succeeded in a grimace.

He motioned towards her clothes. "You gonna come swimming or what?"

She pursed her lips. Liz had knocked on their door a few minutes before, telling them to get dressed as they were going to break the rules and go swimming. For team morale, of course. She had invited Diana as well, saying that it would be even better to include someone who wasn't part of the team.

"I, uh...didn't bring any swim stuff?" she ventured. Flash glanced towards her open luggage which had her swimsuit placed in one of the nets, easily seen by both of them.

"Dina, what's wrong?" he asked, stepping forward.

In her ear were the sounds of Ned asking Peter why breaking into Stark tech was a good idea and Peter trying to explain. Everything was wrong.

"Nothing," she breathed, "It's just...Peter..."

Flash's expression turned dark. "Did he say anything to you?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, no, no. That-that's the thing, I..." she sighed. This was better than the alternative. "I miss him, Flash."

Flash sighed and looked to the side. "Diana...he doesn't deserve you."

She scoffed. "What's that gotta do with anything? I think I've already proved I don't care if they deserve me, I'm gonna go anyways."

Flash pursed his lips. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't just mention Danny to me and go back to the bathroom. I'm gonna come back out and we're gonna pretend this conversation didn't just happen."

Diana watched as he made his way to the bathroom, walking inside and closing the door. He opened it a moment later and leaned against it.

"Aren't you gonna get dressed?" he asked, motioning towards her bathing suit in her luggage.

She pursed her lips into a smile. "Yeah, give me a sec."

º º º º º

Diana never really broke the rules, so the prospect of sneaking into the swimming pool had her jittery and excitable. An excited Diana was a clingy Diana.

"This is ten times weirder now that I'm shirtless," Flash commented, laughing as she jumped onto his back. She didn't want to have to lug around a bathrobe, so she was just clad in her one-piece swim suit.

"Do you two want to get caught?" the girl from the party asked, poking her head out of her and Liz's room.

"Why aren't you dressed?" Diana asked, still wracking her brain for her name.

"I'm not gonna swim," she replied simply, waving her book for an explanation. Diana merely smiled and continued poking Flash's arm, recoiling as she felt the muscle.

"So weird," she mumbled, poking his chest. He batted her hands away, blushing.

"Come on, let's go!" Liz whispered, having just come back from getting the others from their rooms.

They all laughed quietly, the excitement buzzing. Diana and Flash followed the line quickly, all of them tittering with nerves. The girl from the party followed slowly, not wanting to run with all the rest of them, taking the other way around.

Diana's stomach lurched when she caught sight of Liz bumping into Peter who had a jacket zipped up, a backpack slung on his shoulder. She wanted to stop him, but she couldn't do anything without exposing herself. So she just continued to follow everyone else.

"Hey, Peter," Sally and Cindy whispered, giggling as they followed Abraham and Charles.

Flash pushed Diana in front of him, clearly planning something, so she took advantage of her nerves and, as she passed him, slung her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his cheek, grinning at Liz who laughed softly in shock.

Peter didn't have much time to register the kiss as Flash immediately went in and smacked his butt, earning a loud "hey" which the shorter boy ignored in favor of huddling up with the rest of the group, waiting for Liz.

Diana giggled as she clung onto Flash's bare shoulder, too giddy with adrenaline to get upset at the way Peter was looking at Liz. She glanced down at her surrogate brother who whispered, "Damn, Parker has a nice ass. When'd that happen?"

She shoved him, telling him to stop being so creepy. She whispered for Liz to hurry up and the girl turned around after throwing a candy bar at him, giggling.

As they all turned to run, Diana cast one last look at Peter over her shoulder. He caught her gaze and held it for a moment before continuing to move away, probably towards the top of the building.

"Stay safe," she called out before disappearing down the staircase.

º º º º º

They stayed down at the pool until half past midnight, after multiple rounds of extreme marco polo and many water fights. At one point Diana and Cindy had a contest to see who could knock the other person over, Diana sitting on Flash's shoulders and Cindy perched on Abraham's. Liz beat them both in the end, cheering as Diana and Cindy spluttered in mock annoyance.

The girl from the party-Michelle, as Diana heard Liz refer to her-come down once towards the pool side just to splash water into Flash's eyes, then to crown Liz queen of the pool.

"Okay, big day, everyone get some rest," Liz said, ushering everyone back to their rooms.

Diana yawned and Flash nudged her. "Don't even, you don't have to get up in the morning, you get to sleep in."

"Any plans while we're at decathlon, Diana?" Liz asked as they neared their rooms.

She shook her head. "Rosie's gonna go down to the spa at the hotel they're at, so Jesse and I get to chill by ourselves. I'm gonna sleep in, I don't know what she's doing."

"Well, have fun with that!" Liz chirped, "Sleep is healthy and important."

"Then you should get some. Good luck tomorrow!" She entered her room and closed the door behind her, Flash already in the bathroom and showering, singing to himself.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her earrings which sat on the table between them. Putting them in, she pressed the button, waiting to hear the sound of Peter talking to himself.

Nothing.

She frowned, straining to hear. There was a faint hum that she couldn't pick out and steady breathing, but there was nothing else.

She pressed the earrings again, pulling up the map and his vitals. She couldn't understand most of the descriptions of his vitals so she just checked the map. He was on the move to somewhere, but she didn't know where in particular.

She decided to keep the earrings in until something happened. She hoped he was okay.

It wasn't until much later, after Diana's hair had dried after showering and Flash passed out from sleep medication, that the sound jerked to life. She was watching a YouTube video on her phone when she heard Peter scream.

She jerked quickly, glancing over at Flash who didn't stir. She listened as Peter spoke to someone whom he referred to as 'suit lady', saying they were going to fight their way out of whatever mess they were in. Her heart raced as she listened, though there were no sounds of any sort of scuffle.

"What is this place?" Peter breathed, "Suit lady, where am I?"

"You're in the most secure facility on the eastern seaboard," a feminine voice spoke, "the damage control deep storage vault."

Diana blinked. Peter wasn't going to fight his way out of that easily.

She listened as he struggled to find a way out, giving up when the voice told him that it would most likely be closed until morning. She listened as he groaned, the familiar sound of his web shooters signaling to her that he was most likely moving up.

"Hey, suit lady," he said casually, "I feel kinda bad about calling you 'suit lady', you know? I think I should probably give you a name. Like Liz. No, no, no. That's-that's weird."

He continued to think of more name ideas as he most likely moved around the room, ranging from Lucy and Nora to Phoebe and Barbie.

"How about...Karen?" he suggested, probably falling to the ground on account of the loud slap.

"You can call me Karen," the voice replied. She had a nice warm tone to her, despite being robotic. It reminded Diana of her mother.

Nope, she wasn't going to venture there. It was too late to be thinking about her mother.

She listened with mild curiosity as Peter learned more about his suit, asking Karen questions and going through a 'refresher course'; of course, it was a beginner course rather than a refresher given that Peter made Ned hack through Tony Stark's programming. She wished she could be able to see what he was doing as some of the things he was cheering about sounded interesting.

It was when Peter began his late night musings that things became interesting.

"Should I tell Liz that I'm Spider-Man?" he asked faintly. Diana's heart clenched and she fought the urge to turn off the earrings; she had to hear.

"Who's Liz?" Karen asked, her voice a hushed whisper. It was almost like she was human. Diana had to admit, Tony Stark did a good job.

"Who's Liz?" Peter laughed and the way he said it, his tone so soft, so loving, it made Diana's heart clench in a way it hadn't in almost a month, "She's the best, she's awesome. She's just a girl that goes to my school. And, uh, yeah, so...I really wanna tell her, but it's kinda weird, you know? 'Hey, I'm...I'm Spider-Man."

"What's weird about that?"

"Well, what if she's expecting someone like Tony Stark, I mean imagine how disappointed she would be when she sees me?" Diana bit her lip; she had never heard Peter talk so low about himself before.

"Well," Karen said, "If I were her, I wouldn't be disappointed at all."

"Thanks, Karen, it's really nice to have somebody to talk to," he sighed, "It's been a while since I had someone."

"Who did you have before?" Karen asked, in that same gentle tone.

"Hm? Oh, uh, well, there was this girl. Diana. She was my girlfriend for a while and she-she knew I was Spider-Man. She saved me, actually. I used to go over to her window all the time and we'd talk as she fixed me up. Yeah..." His tone was still as soft and loving as how he spoke about Liz.

She wasn't going to think about that. It was too late to be thinking about that.

"Why don't you two talk anymore?" Karen asked and Diana's breath hitched; she had been wondering the same thing.

"I-I don't know," Peter confessed, "I just-I don't think she liked me as much as she liked Spider-Man. I just-if she didn't...you know...then why should I? You know?"

There was a pause, as if Karen was thinking. "Yes, I understand what you mean."

Diana scoffed. "I don't." Flash stirred on his bed and she stiffened, hoping he didn't wake up.

"Thanks, Karen. Like, I said, it's nice to have somebody to talk to," Peter said, "Hey, how long we been here, anyways?"

"Thirty-seven minutes."

Diana laughed and glanced towards her clock. It really had been only thirty-seven minutes. She knew she shouldn't be laughing, Peter was stuck in a storage vault with a decathlon meet in the morning, but she herself had believed she had been listening for hours.

Peter began coming up with a plan to get himself out, mumbling about equations and asking Karen to do certain things.

Diana turned on her side and closed her eyes, letting the constant stream of Peter's words lull her to sleep.

º º º º º

She woke up to the sound of knocking on her hotel door.

"Diana, we're heading to the monument! Get up, we're meeting Flash there!"

She groaned and glanced towards the clock, catching sight of the time; she had slept half the day away. She wondered vaguely if Peter had been able to get back to the meet in time. She moved to let Jesse and Rosie in, stepping into the bathroom to get ready, removing her earrings as she went.

There was the familiar buzz of her phone and she was about to open her mouth to tell Jesse not to touch it when she heard a shrill shriek, causing her to jump.

"They won Nationals!"

Diana ran back out, sliding into Jesse to look at the text from Flash.

from: Flash (2:30 pm)
We won!! Suck my dick dad!!
🏆 🏆 🏆

Diana cheered and laughed as Jesse jumped around the room, screaming. She shoved Diana back into the bathroom, telling her to get ready so they could see Flash.

She got ready in record time, dressed in one of the more casual rompers that Jesse had bought her after Johnny Storm's party-"you looked really great, so I bought you, like, ten of those rompers, here". Grabbing her phone and earrings at the last second, they left the room, ready to head across the street over to the Washington Monument.

Things were looking up.

º º º º º

After meeting up with the group briefly to congratulate them and take a few pictures, Rosie and Jesse decided to branch off and go visit the Lincoln Memorial. Diana decided to stick with the group, wanting to catch Peter whenever he arrived.

She tried to grab Ned and ask him where Peter was, letting him know that she knew about Spider-Man, but was unable to get him alone, as Flash wanted to keep her close.

As they neared the building, she broke away, looking up at the towering obelisk which wasn't as impressive compared to the Empire State Building. Still, it was tall enough to bring back memories of the aforementioned building and she was reluctant to go in the usual way.

"You coming?" Flash asked, still holding the trophy.

She shook her head, glancing over her shoulder. Where was Peter? "No, I'm, uh, scared of heights. But you go, it's a team thing, I'm fine."

His face fell slightly, but he nodded and ran to catch up with the team, Mr. Harrington placing a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. Diana turned and saw the Michelle had also chosen not to go up and was sitting and reading a book.

"H-hey," she said, moving towards her, "Can I sit?"

"I'm not stopping you," Michelle replied, looking up from her book. Diana smiled and sat down, watching the team disappear through the doors. She wanted to check to see where Peter was, but it was too crowded and it would seem very off.

He would be fine.

"Congrats on getting the final answer right, that's amazing," Diana mumbled. She didn't want to disturb the girl's reading, but felt the need to say something.

Michelle glanced up and shrugged. "Thanks, but it's no big deal." Diana wanted to argue, but the girl had already set her book aside and continued to speak. "Flash is a bit of a jerk."

Diana nodded. "You won't find me disagreeing."

"But he loves you," she continued, her tone still fairly aloof, "A lot. He's an idiot at showing it, but he loves you."

Diana nodded slowly, confused. "Thank...you?"

Michelle didn't bat an eye. "Teenage boys are idiots at showing their emotions. They weren't taught how. So they could love you, but treat you and the people you care about like trash because they don't know how to express their love."

Diana frowned. "Yeah...?"

"But they grow up," the girl continued, "Most do, at least. They grow up and they realize how they're feeling, because sometimes they don't know, and they try to work with you. They want to make the relationship work. You just have to wait and do your part to get them there."

"What are you saying?" Diana asked. She understood the part about Flash, but she had a feeling Michelle was not referring to someone else.

"Peter Parker is a teenage boy," Michelle said.

Diana opened and closed her mouth. Oh. She tried to stammer out a response, but Michelle gave her mercy.

"He doesn't know how he's feeling, but he does care about you a lot. Seriously, I have noticed. Just give him time. If he doesn't try to make the two of you work, then he's an idiot. Well, more of one than he already is."

Then she went back to reading and that was the end of that.

Diana stared at her hands, eyes wide. That odd conversation gave her a sliver of hope that maybe things would work out.

Then all hell broke lose.

There was an explosion and suddenly people were screaming and running. Both girls jumped to their feet and looked up, hearts racing.

"-Karen, what's happening?"

Diana whipped her head around to look at none other than Peter.

"Our friends are up there!" Michelle called out, looking over to him, placing a protective hand on Diana's arm.

"What?" Peter exclaimed. Then, lowering his voice, he went on, "Uh, don't worry, ma'am, everything is gonna be okay." He started to run off, but Diana lurched forward and caught his arm, unable to stop herself.

She stared into those stupid white eyes of that stupid suit. He stared down at her unblinking, though she could feel him shaking. She only stopped him for a moment.

"Please."

He released her grip from his arm, moving to run into the crowd, holding her gaze for one more moment before turning around and jumping up the obelisk's wall, clinging on to the side.

Diana watched as he began scaling the building, jumping up, then clinging on, just like how they had scaled the Empire State Building all those months ago. She and Michelle shielded their eyes, watching as he went higher and higher.

She was screaming. She didn't realize she was, but she was screaming at him. Telling him to be careful, her heart pounding in her chest as she watched him grow smaller and smaller. They could have died going up the Empire State Building.

He could die now.

She pressed her earrings, trying to find a way to make the comm a two-way link, wanting nothing more than for him to hear her because she didn't know what she was saying, but she needed him to hear it.

"They'll be okay," Michelle said, grabbing her arms and looking down at her, "They will be okay."

"Flash-Peter-" Diana gasped, her chest too tight.

"They will be fine," Michelle said, "Listen to me, they will be fine. He'll get them out and you'll see both of them again."

Diana struggled for breath. Everyone was up there in that elevator and if Peter made one wrong move, he could die. If Flash made one wrong move, he could die. Everything was happening so fast and there was nothing she could do about it and she couldn't breathe, maybe she was going to die.

"No, no, hey, we're not going there," Michelle said, "Breathe. Come on. In, out, in, out." She was growing panicked as well, staring at Diana with wide eyes, her counts too fast. "Please, Diana, I don't know what to do, you're scaring me."

That was the first time she had said something that wasn't in her monotonous voice and it panicked Diana even more.

She struggled to breathe, Michelle doing the same, the two trying to calm down as the scene before them unfolded. Neither girl was sure who was clinging onto who for support.

"I don't have many friends," Michelle choked out, looking up towards the top of the building, "I don't want them getting hurt."

Diana's mind flashed back to Gwen and Harry. "S-Spider-man wouldn't let them get hurt. He-he knows what he's doing." She continued to breathe, nudging Michelle to do the same.

They watched as a helicopter came into view, listening as they told Spider-Man to get to the ground, unable to hear the hero's reply.

"He's saving our friends, don't hurt him!" Diana tried to scream, though her voice was lost to the roar of the helicopter and the panicked screams of the crowd. "Please! Don't hurt him!"

Michelle moved and grabbed Diana's arms again, pulling her into an odd, mismatched hug of sorts. "He'll be okay. Don't worry, you'll see him again, he'll be okay."

They watched as Spider-Man flung himself off the side towards the helicopter. Diana shrieked and buried her face in Michelle's shirt, clutching onto her arm, eyes shut tight.

"Please, please, please," she cried, her entire body shaking. She couldn't lose him.

"He's okay!" Michelle exclaimed and Diana ripped her head away and stared up. Spider-Man was nowhere in sight.

The two watched the building, slowly calming down. They tried to convince themselves that everything was going to be okay. Diana needed proof.

She raised her hand up to her earring and tried to listen, though her ears were muffled as if there was cotton inside of them.

"So, uh, is everyone okay?" Peter asked, his accent more dramatized and thick, clearly trying to sound older.

"This is your chance, Peter," Karen whispered, "Kiss her."

Diana couldn't help but scoff and roll her eyes; of all the things to say at that moment.

Then she heard a snap and a scream. Her heart lurched; did he fall?

She heard a quiet, echoed, "Thank you!" then a few moments later, a similar sounding, "Are you really friends with Peter Parker?"

"Agh, you have no idea," she heard Peter groan quietly.

She nearly collapsed from relief. Flash was okay. Peter was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

º º º º º

Rosie was on Flash the second he was brought down to safety. She was holding him and crying, begging for forgiveness, apologizing. Flash just let himself be held, eyes closed. Jesse was clinging onto him as well, calling him rude names with no bite behind them.

Peter had reappeared a few minutes after, not saying anything. He just walked over and hugged Ned. No one asked him any questions, everyone still too shaken up to start doing anything except being thankful that they were still alive.

"Peter," Diana whispered, running over and pulling him into a tight hug, "You're an idiot."

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, dropping his cheek onto the top of her head. "You're okay." He sniffed softly. "You-you're okay."

"Don't do anything like that ever again," she begged, "Please, don't."

"Why do you care?" he asked. It wasn't hostile, just a question.

She bit her lip, thinking back to Karen's words. "I..." She sighed; she couldn't say it now. "It's my job."

He hummed. "Okay. Well, if my job doesn't get easier than neither does yours."

She laughed softly. "Can't we talk about it first? I mean, we have to negotiate."

"That wasn't part of the deal," he joked, "Now, c'mon, let's go, they're waiting."

She turned around and saw that the group was waiting for them, already starting to make their way back to their hotel. The plan was to go visit the memorial next, but it seemed as though everyone needed a little break before then.

As they rejoined the group, Diana caught Michelle's eye. She glanced briefly at Peter before glancing over to the monument. She gave Diana a small nod, then turned back to her book. Whatever she knew, she would never say.

º º º º º

Rosie almost didn't let Flash go back to ride on the bus and Jesse didn't make it any easier. Mr. Harrington tried to convince him as well, telling him that it was alright. But the boy refused, saying that he wanted to be with the group for the ride back.

"For the morale, you know?" he said, glancing over at Liz who gave him a small smile for his troubles.

"Diana, would you like to ride with us?" Mr. Harrington asked, turning to look at the blonde who was hovering by the bus door.

She nodded and hopped on, coming to stand at the front. Peter was looking at her from the back, his hood up and his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked extremely tired, but managed a small smile. Flash was sitting next to the trophy, avoiding eye contact.

At the sight of the trophy, all her anger rose up. When she had first seen him stumble out from the monument, she wanted to grab the trophy and break it in half, to scream at him because he didn't have to prove anything to his father. Harrison didn't deserve Flash's energy, but the boy would never believe that.

Seeing it again made her skin crawl and she wanted to scream. She wanted to march over to him and throw the trophy out the window, but she couldn't. So, instead, she walked over and sat next to him, glancing over at Peter before she sat.

She cared about her family. He of all people would understand.

The two sat in silence as the night began to overtake the sky, headlights turning on and people beginning to nod off. No one was speaking, as per customary on school bus rides. Everyone was exhausted for more than the simple reason of having a long day.

Diana rested her head on Flash's shoulder, glancing down at the trophy. "Why did you hold onto it? You could've died, and for what? Why did you hold onto it?"

Flash sighed. "'Cause I'd finally get to prove dad wrong."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 08.06.17 )

This was a very long chapter, but we covered a lot of ground with it and we're nearing the end, you guys. Five chapters left.

Peter has that line where he's like "never been this high up before" so, in my mind, I changed it to "haven't been this high up in a while" because the Empire State Building is taller than the Washington Monument.

I didn't want Diana up in the elevator with them because that means she'd either have to be pulled out first or Peter would've saved her instead of Liz and both ruin the flow of the movie because Flash wouldn't have tried to go first before Liz or Diana if she was in there.

So, instead, I had her with Michelle. I wanted to show that not everyone knows how to handle someone else having a panic attack, as seen by how Michelle had no idea what she was doing. I hope I got her characterization right, I don't really know.

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!