DIANA FIT INTO HER FAMILY'S ROUTINE PERFECTLY. ALMOST TOO PERFECTLY. It started out awkward, introductions to her blood aunt's in-law's as well as getting used to seeing Danny and Daisy every day. They had a lot in common it seemed. Diana and Daisy, not Diana and Danny. Not at first, at least.

Whereas Danny looked like his father who had dark hair, Daisy had inherited her mother's light hair, making her look eerily similar to Diana who hadn't noticed the first time she had met her. The family decided not to talk about that time for tension's sake.

Diana skyped her friends and family back home regularly, updating them on the news about London as well as showing them her progress on perfecting her accent. At first, she had used it to mock Danny, but as time wore on, she found that it was becoming easier to use than her Manhattan one, something that scared some of her friends.

"You forgetting us already?" Harry asked one night, jokingly. It was still in the second week and the talks were still regular.

Diana scoffed, shaking her head. "Of course not! I swear, every time I see a suit, I think of you, Harry."

"Thanks," he said dryly, rolling his eyes, "Gwen and Flash are on a date right now, that's why they're not on. They're arguing a bit, though, I'm worried."

Diana's heart sank. "Shit. Flash isn't the easiest to get along with, he's kind of a..."

"Jerk?" Harry supplied, "Admit it, Diana, he's still pretty awful."

She frowned. "Hate to break it to you, Harry, but you can be that way too."

He whistled softly. "Huh. She moves to London and suddenly she gets all ballsy." She opened her mouth to argue, but he waved her off. "I don't wanna fight, Diana. You're right. I'm a little pissed, but you're right."

"Sorry," she mumbled, ducking her head.

He waved her off. "If I wanted to, I would just hang up and never talk to you again. Listen, I need your help with something. I'm going on a date and I need to know," he reached out of frame and pulled out a dress shirt and a tie, "Tie or no tie."

She hummed. "What's the date?"

He sighed. "It's this really fancy restaurant...that I've been to like fifty times..." he mumbled the last part to himself, ducking his head. "Wait, I've seen you at that restaurant, nevermind."

She snickered. "Yeah. Us rich kids gotta stick together." She wrinkled her nose. "I sound like Danny, ew, why did I say that, that's so snobby."

Harry shook his head, lowering his voice. "It begins..."

She frowned. What did that mean? She pushed away the thought, continuing their conversations as usual.

"Peter's calling," she said, noticing the icon pop up in the corner.

Harry ooh'ed, "Have fun." He waggled his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes, switching calls.

She smiled at the sight of the boy, his hair disheveled and eyes bright. "Hey, Bugs."

"What's up, doc?" he greeted, dropping his chin onto his hand. "You look happy."

She shrugged. "I beat Danny at UNO, that was nice. I also woke up early this morning and got a croissant at this bakery across the street."

He laughed. "UNO and croissants. Good to know you appreciate the little things in life." She rolled her eyes at him and he laughed again.

"What's up with you, Bugs?" she asked, leaning back on her bed, pulling her laptop onto her lap.

"Spidey stuff, you know," he said, shrugging, "I've been doing the usual stuff, you know, but I know that Mr. Stark will call me out for something soon. Well, maybe Happy, I text him directly."

She nodded, humming. Peter had been telling her all about his various escapades, how he updates Happy Hogan, head of security for the one and only Tony Stark, Peter's idol. He had told her that he had met Tony once before when he was young, but hadn't explained how.

She was glad he was enjoying being Spider-Man, although she was worried. He could get hurt out there and the thought of him dealing with it alone made her nervous. Whenever she voiced her concerns, he'd just wave her off and tell her that he was fine. He was Spider-Man.

"You're wearing the necklace," he commented, raising his finger to point to her on his screen.

Her hand instinctively went up to the necklace, smiling. "Of course. Bugs, I don't take it off."

He beamed, eyes glowing. "Really?"

She smiled and tilted her head. He was so much more different around her than he was at school. At school, he wasn't as open, he was more quiet. Around her, it was as if he was Spider-Man but without the mask. The fact that he trusted her warmed her heart.

"Who're you talking to?" a voice outside of frame asked.

"Hi, Aunt May!" Diana called out loudly.

"Diana!" the woman greeted, tilting her head and blocking Peter's head, "How are you, how's London? I heard an accent, you getting comfortable?"

Diana smiled. "A little. I mean, it's cold and wet, so it's kind of like home."

"Aw, that's great," Aunt May said, turning to smile at her nephew who was frowning slightly, "Well, you have fun. But don't get too comfortable, we need you back here. Especially Peter," she lowered her voice, talking as if Peter wasn't there and scoffing behind her head, "He's just been moaning and groaning all day, lounging around. I swear, you're the light of his life—"

"Okay, thanks, May, bye!" Peter said loudly, practically shoving his aunt out of his room, cutting her goodbye to Diana short.

She giggled when he returned to his seat, pouting. "Your aunt is so cool."

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she is." He frowned and checked the time. "You should probably get to bed."

She scoffed. "You kidding me? My sleep schedule's been shot for months."

"Well, then, catch up!" he laughed, "I'll be here later, doc, go on."

"Okay. Love you, Bugs."

"Love you too, doc."

º º º º º

Diana collapsed on her bed, exhausted and angry. She had been out with her family all day exploring and it was all going fine until Danny's grandmother made a racist comment about a family, her opening line being that they reminded him of the Thompsons, then moving on to ruder words. When she tried to tell her off, the woman told her to learn how to take a joke. She was angry.

She called up Flash, hoping that he'd answer. If anyone knew about anger, it was him. She should have known better than to call him, because he also wasn't the best influence. Misery sought company.

"Hey, Diana," he said, head propped up on his chin. There were bags under his eyes and he looked terrible. "How's hell? Or should I say London, I know you don't like me saying that anymore."

He was baiting her. She scowled. "Yeah, it is hell, so you were right."

He smirked. "Of course I am."

That grated her even more. "Can you stop being a jerk for one second?"

He sat up, frowning. "Well, I'm sorry if I—"

"Diana?"

Diana looked up to find Daisy hovering in her doorway. "Please don't be mad anymore."

Her heart melted slightly and she took a deep breath, nodding. "Okay. I'll try."

"Who's that?" Flash asked flatly, clearly not wanting to know the answer.

Daisy walked over to the laptop, tilting her head to look at the screen. "Hi, I'm Daisy."

"I know," Flash said coldly, "We've met."

"Oh, yeah," she said, smiling, "Is your sister there, I like her, she's cool."

"Yeah," Flash said, somehow able to look directly at Diana through the camera, "She is cool. She's not here, she's practicing to try out for track. She's been trying to call you, Diana, have you been busy?"

Diana opened her mouth to lie, but Daisy beat her to it with the truth. "Not really. We did go out today, but that's the first in a few days. Diana and I have been watching TV and playing house."

Flash smiled mirthlessly. "Oh, really? Well, that's great. I gotta go, Diana, I have to study."

She frowned. "It's summer."

"Not when you're dumb and in academic decathlon." He reached forward to end the call.

"You're not dumb!" she shouted, wanting him to hear before he hung up.

He scoffed. "Sure."

The call ended. Diana stared at her reflection in the black screen and bit her lip. She was not going to cry.

"You wanna go play?" Daisy asked quietly.

Diana took a deep breath. "Yeah. Come on, let's go."

º º º º º

Nicky had been updating Diana on both Flash and Peter. Flash in terms of how he was getting along—he wasn't—and Peter on how dangerous his work was—it wasn't. The first made her stomach lurch and her throat close. The other made her sigh with relief and want to collapse.

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong," Flash had growled when she asked how he was doing. He hung up a few minutes after when Gwen called.

"It's fine, nothing's wrong," Peter complained when she asked how he was doing. He hung up a few minutes later when he heard the sound of a carjacking.

That left Diana sitting on her borrowed bed in her borrowed room, trying to insert herself into the lives of people that she no longer saw everyday. The three months she had flippantly promised were coming out to seem like three years.

Something was definitely wrong with Flash, that much was certain. He was as angry as he had been when Harrison was still around. The very thought made her skin crawl and she quickly pushed the thought from her mind.

With Peter, she didn't know anymore. His life as Spider-Man seemed to have gotten a lot bigger since his mission in Germany where he got his big break, his new suit, and a new outlook on life. He was ecstatic to be the hero he was and Diana could only be happy for him. Right?

She sighed and propped her elbow on her crossed leg, resting her cheek on her fist.

Everything was fine. Nothing had changed, she was just looking at it from an outside perspective. That was all.

It was only three months, nothing can change that much.

There was a knock on her door. She looked up to see Danny poke his head inside, waving a pack of UNO cards. He smiled. "Best two out of three?"

She smiled as well, hopping off her bed and grabbing the cards from his hands, walking towards the living room where Daisy was already waiting.

She sat down on the same green pillow she always sat on. She had called dibs on it after the first few regular games.

It was comfortable. She was comfortable. There was routine and structure and not much changed. She was comfortable.

º º º º º

Diana winced as she walked back to her room. She had just returned from a very large family reunion and her feet were killing her.

She ran her hands down the blue dress her aunt had bought for her and refrained from rubbing her eyes and smudging her makeup. Looks were everything to this family and Diana was their new test dummy who was struggling to keep up.

She sat down and grabbed her laptop. Her eyebrows raised when she caught sight of the missed video calls from Peter. He had been too busy to call at times, what with his being Spider-Man. She was proud of him, he was helping people.

She called him back, hoping that he would be close by and answer.

The ringer continued for close to a minute and she was about to hang up when he answered, his face popping up on her screen.

He brightened. "What's up, doc?"

She smiled, motioning to her get up. "Family reunions. It was my uncle's side, so they're not my family, but..." she shrugged, trailing off.

He frowned slightly. "None of them asked about the interview or anything, did they?"

She sighed. "No, they did. They all did. They also asked about the Thompsons. The entire thing was awful, Bugs, I'm so tired. But, I mean, I have to have some bad memories with the good, you know?"

He nodded, his smile not quite there. "Yeah, I get that. I'm antsy more than anything, I need some variety. Um...d-do you like it there?"

She tilted her head. He was fidgeting and not quite looking at her, the bright confidence gone and replaced with quiet politeness. "Yeah, I like it here, it's nice. It's pretty quiet in the house and it rains, but just as much as home, so..."

"That's good," he said, "That you like it, not that it rains. Unless you like the rain then in which case it's good. Um..."

She smiled. "You good? How's life? Not just being Spider-Man, but all of it."

"It's good," he replied, "I mean, it's nothing interesting. Peter Parker isn't really, you know..."

She hummed. "Well, I think he's pretty neat. Spider-Man too."

He smiled and ducked his head. "Thanks, doc. Listen, I—oh."

She frowned. "What? Is everything okay?" Her heart lurched as she whirled around to look at the wall behind her as if someone had just materialized without her notice.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing, it's just—" he gestured vaguely towards her, "Necklace."

Her hand went up instinctively to her throat, only to find it devoid of the solar system necklace that he had gotten her. She glanced to the side and saw it sitting on the bedside table. She would have reached for it, but her entire body was aching and she didn't feel like moving.

"Yeah," she said lamely, "Sorry, I usually wear it, just not today, Aunt Daphne's big on presentation."

"Oh," he said softly, "I-I get it. No big deal, I was afraid you lost it or something."

She shook her head. "I'd be really sad if I did, Peter. But, hey, it's just a necklace, so it'll just be sitting over there until I decide to put it on."

He mumbled something inaudible, his barely moving as he looked at her. "Okay, do–erm, Diana."

She tilted her head. "What's wrong, Petey?"

He frowned at the nickname, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Nothing. Hey, I gotta go, Aunt May is calling. I'll talk to you later."

She nodded, albeit slightly confused. "Yeah. Yeah, sure, Bugs. Uh, I love you?" She winced as her voice raised; she didn't mean it as a question.

"...you too, doc."

º º º º º

Harry and Gwen's skype calls had practically disappeared by the time the second month rolled around. They sometimes sent Snapchats, but Diana was barely on to see them.

Jesse had tried calling every day, but those calls weren't always taken. When Diana called back, Jesse often wouldn't pick up. So her contact with the soon-to-be freshman was nonexistent as well.

Rosie stopped calling after the first week. The last conversation they had ended abruptly with Rosie telling her not to mention her scream to Flash. Diana didn't know what to make of that.

Flash's calls were few and far between, but they soon simply stopped. He had been so infrequent that Diana didn't know when the last time she had heard his voice had been.

All Diana had left was Peter. Peter Parker who seemed to be too busy or too spacey to talk, who seemed less and less happy to see her.

Every conversation was the same. Peter talked about being Spider-Man and Diana talked about how much she had grown to love London, love her extended family. Neither knew how much the others' topic choice hurt and neither was willing to acknowledge the decreasing call time.

Peter was her last link and Diana was not stupid, her link was breaking with every call and conversation they had.

"You're not faking that accent anymore, are you?" Peter sighed one day during a conversation that lasted more than ten minutes.

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No. I was at first, but then I got too used to it, I'll remember the accent when I get home, don't worry."

"Uh-huh," he said, "When you get home." She frowned. His Queens accent was extremely thick; that only happened when he was upset.

"Bugs, what's wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing, doc, being Spider-Man, it's just...you know?"

"Are you hurt, did something happen?" she asked, leaning forward, trying to find some sort of injury through the screen.

"No," he sighed, "Nothing happened, Diana."

She sighed as well. "Bugs, what is happening? You don't–we don't—"

"We don't what?" he asked, looking up and right into the camera.

Her voice was caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say. She forgot what she would have said.

"Bugs..."she whispered.

He looked away, shaking his head. "I have to go, Diana."

"Okay. Bye, Bugs."

"Bye, doc."

º º º º º

"Hey, Bugs."

"Hey, doc."

"What's up? How's life?"

"Same as usual. You?"

"I went to the museum and I found a Pluto t-shirt."

"Cool."

"Um..."

"Listen, Diana, I have to go."

"Okay. Bye, Bugs."

"Bye, Diana."

º º º º º

"Hey."

"Hey, listen, I can't really talk right now."

"I figured. Just wanted to say hi. It's been a while."

"Oh. Well, hi."

"Hi. You should get going if it's important."

"Yeah. Bye, Diana."

"Bye...Peter."

º º º º º

Diana hadn't talked to Peter in almost a month. She hadn't talked to anyone from New York in almost a month. It was as if life continued on and she just couldn't keep up.

But she reassured herself that things would be the same as when she left. It was only three months. That's what she focused on as she packed up her things on the day before she was to leave.

She heard her door open—knocking had stopped being necessary long ago—and turned to find Danny and Daisy peering in.

Danny waved the deck with a small smile. "Best nine out of ten?"

She smiled and stood up, following her cousins to the living room. She would miss this. She would miss them.

º º º º º

She stared out the window as they drove to the airport. She was reminded of her drive three months before, although there was a distinct lack of pain and webbed bridges. There was a sadness of loss, but nothing so great as the pain of when she had left all those months ago. The Glicks were not the Thompsons.

"Remember, you can always choose to come live with us," Daphne said as they said their goodbyes, "We're family."

Diana nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I mean, this was great and I love it here, but...Upper West Side, you know?"

Danny sighed. "Don't get all sappy, it's just a reminder." He held out a box; it was their UNO cards. "Souvenir. Don't forget to show Eugene."

She frowned at that, but said nothing. Danny was more like Flash than she cared to admit.

She turned towards Daisy who was close to tears. She barreled into the older girl, hugging her tightly. "Don't leave! Didn't you like staying with us?"

"I did," Diana said, "But I have to get home. Jesse's starting high school and I wanna see her." Daisy was like Jesse. Full of things to talk about, the life of the party, everything Diana wished she could be.

She grabbed her suitcase, waving as she made her way towards security, Daphne words echoing in her ear.

"Just remember, Diana. You can always come back."

She took a deep breath and started walking, sparing one last glance at the Glicks, then over to security, Daphne's words still fresh.

She was going home.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.10.17 )

I had written Part One before the release of Homecoming, so the timeline will be off (the time between Civil War will be five months instead of two [because three months for her being gone, then goes home in August, but the movie takes place around the start of September])

Part Two won't be taking full place with the movie. There will be AU parts and while Diana will be present for some parts, she won't be for others. If anything, she's kind of a witness for most of it, processing the movie in her own perspective which means she'll get things wrong and different.

We'll just see. So, anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you stick around for Part Two