Chapter Twenty-Four

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A/N: I made it! I'm actually on time! Btw, I wrote this chapter in two days since I was so late with the last one, I wanted this one to be on time so I could get back in my timeline. Surprisingly, I didn't lose any sleep over it. Ya girl got 12 hours of sleep last night. I cannot remember that happened last time. The last time I got a really good sleep was back in the womb so it's been a while.

ANYway, moving on...

THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER WHERE PETER IS PLAIN OLD PETER PARKER AND I'M FREAKING OUT BECAUSE I'M GONNA MISS MY PETER BABY WHYYYY. I actually, genuinely feel sad, and I just want Peter to stay good ol' Peter Parker forever so nothing bad happens to anyone. I almost don't want to write it, but what can you do. A girl's gotta eat. Lol just kidding, I'm not making any money off of this, just good vibes. *peace sign* Before we stop being emotional, I just wanna say that this chapter is the last time that Pete's gonna push his glasses up and I'M GONNA MISS WRITING THAT HABIT. WHY AM I CRYING,.

Okay, so before the dam breaks, I just wanna say something about this plot. So I noticed that a lot of other fanfics start with the part where Peter's already Spider-Man and I think that's great, but the reason that Adie didn't start off there was because I felt like she should get to know the dorky Peter Parker before he turned into Spider-Man because I feel like those two Peter Parkers are different people, you know? Anyway, I just really wanted Adie to get to know him first and then even be there through his transition and all the hard times and defining moments so she doesn't seem really shallow. Again, I'm not trying to step on other fanfics, I just felt like I needed to express this for some reason and it's all just my personal opinion. I mean, we've kind of started to see how Adie is low-key jealous of Liz even though she doesn't realize that it's not because of her skirts (although, it kind of is?) but because Peter likes her and anyway it's gonna take a lonnggggggggggggggggg time for her to finally realize that and I think it takes her a longer time since Peter changes so much after he becomes Spider-Man and it's like she has to get to know Peter all over again. So it's still a way down the road, but I kinda just wanted to explain the reason why I set this fanfic so early in the timeline. And this is kind of like a tribute to our old Peter Parker who I'm dearly going to miss writing.

A final toast, to our dorky non-Spider-Man Peter Parker.

————————————————————-—————
"I...I don't know.

This is the first time

I've ever hacked into HYDRA before."
————————————————————-—————

The whole ride home, Adelaide was a nervous wreck, driving Happy crazy as she kept tapping her foot nonstop. He was just as relieved as her when they arrived at the Tower. In an instant, the teenager was out of the car and inside the building. Frantically, she jumped into the elevator and pressed the top floor button to the point of abuse until the elevator finally began moving. For a moment, she tried to control her breathing, wrapping her arms around herself.

Was Ned already here? Did he already know something? What was it? What did he know? Oh God, what if it was an ugly truth? What if all of the terrible things that she thought about her past were actually true? She swallowed, her throat dry. How long did it take a damn elevator to get to the top floor?

What seemed like hours later, she arrived at the penthouse and the elevator doors opened. Adelaide stumbled out, her eyes scanning the room for Ned. Instead, she saw Pepper sitting on the couch, looking at the teenager strangely.

"Hey Adelaide," she said, "You up for some tv?"

Adelaide barely heard what she was saying.

"No...I, uh...Ned. Here. Have you seen Ned?" she stuttered, barely managing to get all of the words out. Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, he's waiting for you in your room. Said it was something important. Is everything okay?" the woman asked, standing up. Adelaide swallowed, rubbing her sweaty palms against her jeans. She pulled her lips in, stalling to think of an excuse.

"Y-Yeah, everything's fine."

"Why do you look so frantic? Adelaide, you can tell me if there's something wrong, you know," Pepper said, looking concerned as she took a step closer. Adelaide took a step back reflexively as if the woman would see her lie if she was too close. With her red face and sweat on her forehead, she just might.

"Um, I just forgot that we have this, um, math project due tomorrow and we haven't really started on it so I'm just gonna..." She trailed off, hoping Pepper wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Oh," the woman said, masking a looking of understanding, "Well I'll let you get right to it. But don't be too late, dinner's in an hour."

"Noted," the teenager said, rushing to her room. Pepper sighed, sitting back down on the couch and resuming her to her tv. Teenagers.

Once she was out of sight from Pepper, Adelaide sprinted down the hall, towards her room. The door was slightly ajar and she immediately pushed it open and stumbled inside. Ned was sitting at her desk, staring at the computer screen with beads of sweat lining his forehead. He turned around when he saw her standing at the door.

"Oh thank God you're here," he said, relieved, standing up. Adelaide tried to control her breathing, dropping her backpack on the floor. She swallowed, walking towards him.

"Did you open anything?" she asked, her voice quiet. Ned shook his head.

"No, not yet, but it was really hard so hurry up, I wanna see what's inside." She nodded slightly, walking towards the open computer. There was a flashing cursor on the screen, waiting for the command. She glanced at Ned.

"Do it," she said and he nodded, getting back into the chair. She watched him type something into the terminal, holding her breath. Was she really going to get answers this time? Ned glanced at her, his finger hovering over the enter button.

"Are you sure you want to do this? There's no turning back," he warned. Once they were inside, HYDRA would be able to track their presence. They had no ideas what the consequences could be.

Slowly, Adelaide gave him a small nod and then he pressed the button. One agonizingly long second later, the computer began scanning a million different files, running through millions of pictures and documents that went by too fast for Adelaide to comprehend them. She watched in awe, wondering how many of them hid secrets about her.

"I should warn you that I only have access to files with the tag Rivers. There's no way I could have been able to get access to everything, it's too secure," he said. Adelaide nodded, understanding.

"We just need to find out about what happened with the my parents and me," she said. She had no interest in the other things. Well, not at the moment, at least. Besides, if the Avengers and SHIELD were struggling to get access to the entire HYDRA database, she doubted Ned could have done it single-handedly. For now, this was enough.

Suddenly the screen went dark. Adelaide glanced at Ned, frantic.

"What is it? What happened?" He pressed a bunch of keys, trying to reboot the system, but nothing seemed to be working. The computer was unresponsive. And then, a single white cursor began flashing on the screen. The two teenagers held their breath, mesmerized by the cursor. A moment later, text began writing itself across the screen, filling up the entire screen in seconds. Adelaide glanced at Ned.

"Is that...normal?"

"I...I don't know. This is the first time I've ever hacked into HYDRA before."

The text came unraveling for a while before it finally stopped, the blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen now, under all of the text. Adelaide held her breath, waiting for something weird to happen again. But nothing happened and the cursor kept blinking. A little while later, it got pretty annoying.

"Do something," she whispered. Ned typed something. It looked like a very strange string of numbers and characters to Adelaide and she didn't bother asking what it meant. Suddenly, the screen flashed a sign.

ERROR!
WARNING! TWO ATTEMPTS LEFT!

"Shoot," mumbled Ned. Adelaide felt a headache coming.

"What is it now?" she asked. Ned scanned all of the text, trying to make sense of it.

"I got access to the files, but...they're encrypted," he said.

"Why? Why? Why does HYDRA have to encrypt everything? Why can't they just make things a little easier for me? Why?" Adelaide groaned, falling onto her bed and staring at the ceiling. She felt her anxiety dropping. Another dead end.

"Well, wait a second," Ned said, turning around and facing the computer again and reading the text, "I think I can decrypt this."

Adelaide jumped up instantly.

"Really? How long? Can you do it now?" Ned scratched his head, shrugging.

"Well...it takes more than a couple minutes, but...wait a second," he said and he typed something else. Adelaide watched the computer screen carefully.

"It'll take a couple of minutes, but I can figure out the names of the files, at least. Maybe that will trigger something in your memory until I can decrypt all of the files," he said.

"Do it, do it, do it," she urged and Ned raised an eyebrow. She pulled her lips in clearing her throat. "Sorry, I'll give you some space."

Adelaide stepped away and then flopped down on her bed again. She closed her eyes, letting out a long and tired sigh. For once in a very, very long time, her mind was blank. There were no thoughts about HYDRA or her parents or her powers or the Decathlon or Liz. For once, she was completely calm.

And then Ned jumped up in his seat. She glanced at the clock. It had already been 30 minutes since she'd been lying here. How had it been 30 minutes already? And she hadn't been even thinking of anything.

"I got the names!" he said and she stood up, walking over to the computer. He scrolled down through all of the confusing text until he came across something that actually made sense. It was English. She had never been so relieved to see English and...Russian? Was that Russian?

"Can you read the Russian parts?" he asked. She chewed the inside of her cheek, concentrating. It had been a while since she'd read any Russian.

"Um, it says...пробный which means...Pilot?" she said. She glanced at Ned, confused.

"What does that mean?" she asked. He thought about it for a second.

"Maybe they were pilots?" he asked. Adelaide considered it.

"No, I don't think so..."

"Oh! Maybe it's like a trail run," he said and Adelaide gave him a confused look, "You know, like how tv shows call their first episode Pilot?"

"I didn't know that," she mumbled, staring at the screen again, "So you think it's a trial run?"

"Could be," he said, shrugging with one shoulder.

"Trial run of what?" she asked.

"Dunno, read the others." She leaned down, scanning over the Russian.

"The rest just say Trial 1A or Trial 109G," she said with a sigh. That only told her that they were running trials of something. But what?

"What do you think they were trialing?" he asked. Adelaide shrugged, running her hands through her hair tiredly.

"I have no idea," she sighed.

"Well, at least we know what's in the files. Reports of some trial they were having," he said, clicking something.

"It's not much help," she mumbled.

"Look, I'll keep trying to decrypt these files, but it'll take some time okay?" he said, flipping his laptop shut and standing up.

"Yeah, okay," she mumbled.

"I don't want to find out what happens when we have zero attempts left," Ned said with a shiver. Adelaide wasn't too keen on finding out either.

"Be careful," she said, "And keep me updated."

"You too," he said, walking towards the door. Adelaide slumped down in her chair, staring out the window.

"Hey Ned?" she said, stopping him just before he left. He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," she smiled. He smiled back.

"You're my friend," he simply said and Adelaide gave him a small nod as he left. She turned around again, facing the window and sighed. She pushed the sleeve of her sweater up, revealing the rugged scar on her arm. The only proof of that night. She ran her thumb over it gently, her jaw tightening.

She couldn't wait to get her hands on the man who killed her parents.

—————

"Congratulations Miss Rivers," Mr. Hans said as he passed her latest Algebra test to her, "It was a very...surprising improvement."

Adelaide took the paper from his hands, scanning the test for red marks. There was one, at the top and it read a big fat B. Adelaide felt herself grinning.

"Yes! I made a B!" she said and Ned grinned next to her.

"Let me see that!" he said, snatching the paper from her hands. His face lit up at the letter and he held up his hand to give her a high five.

"Now I get to go on that stupid field trip," she laughed, high fiving him. Ned frowned.

"For the last time, Adelaide, there is nothing stupid about radioactive spiders," he said. Adelaide shrugged.

"Stupid or not, I get to miss class," she said and Ned rolled his eyes. The field trip was tomorrow, but Adelaide wasn't as excited as everyone else to see some weirdo spiders. She was just happy to get out of class.

It had been about a week since Ned had gotten into HYDRA's database, yet all they had were the names of the stupid files. Adelaide had read through every file (there were a few hundred) and none of them even offered a hint to what was inside them. Other than the fact that they were experiments of some kind. Adelaide had gone crazy just thinking of what it could be. But the part that scared her the most was what would happen when the attempts turned to zero. Would HYDRA come for them? She didn't want to find out so she was telling Ned to take his time decrypting the files. Even if the curiosity would kill her. Better that than HYDRA.

—————

The day had quickly ended and soon, they were all standing outside, waiting to go home. It was the last day of November and the snow was yet to fall in New York. The weather had just gotten chillier and windier, but there was still no sign of snow. It had gotten to the point where you'd freeze if you went outside without a coat, even on accident. Even then, Peter, Ned, and Adelaide were all huddled close together to keep warm, despite the huge coats that they were wearing. Adelaide rubbed her gloved hands together to warm them up, shivering.

She glanced at Peter who was standing next to her, staring at the ground, looking lost in thought. Adelaide looked at Ned, silently asking him if he knew what was going on with Peter. He shrugged. Peter had been acting strange all week. Whenever they made plans to do something together, Peter always made an excuse that he had homework or other plans. In fact, the three of them hadn't hung out all week long. She knew there was something wrong, but she figured that he would tell them whenever he was ready. It had been a week now, and he still hadn't said anything to either of them. Adelaide nudged him with her elbow, making him look up from the concrete.

"You okay, Pete?" she asked. He glanced between his two friends and then shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said and then went back to staring at the concrete. Adelaide and Ned shared a worried look. There was definitely something going on with their friend.

"Seriously, Pete. You're a terrible liar," she said, nudging him with her elbow again. He looked at her and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then someone called his name, interrupting their conversation.

"Peter!" someone called and the three of them turned around to see who it was. Adelaide silently groaned. Little Miss Perfect, Liz Allan. She jogged up to them, a perfect smile on her face. Adelaide rolled her eyes at herself. She was jealous of a girl who chose wear skirts. Adelaide glanced at Peter whose face was red as a tomato and bright as a lightbulb. Could he be any more obvious?

"L-Liz," he stuttered, "Hi." She smiled.

"Hey," she said, slightly out of breath, "I need a huge favor."

Peter cleared his throat. Liz Allan needed a favor from him? Peter Parker? He nervously pushed his glasses up his nose, trying to get his hand to stop shaking.

"A f-favor?"

"I need someone to take pictures at the field trip tomorrow. I would do it myself, but Mr. Harrington asked me to take notes so would you mind...?" Adelaide sighed. Liz had asked so nicely, even Adelaide would have said yes.

"U-Uh, yeah! Sure!"

"You have a camera, right? If you don't, I can just ask Flash to take the pictures," she said. Peter was shaking his head before she even finished her sentence.

"No, no, no, no. I-I have a camera. A really good one, too," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Liz smiled.

"Great! I'll let Mr. Harrington know. Thanks so much, Peter," she said. Peter grinned like an idiot.

"N-No problem," he said. With one last smile, she turned around and headed back inside. Peter was still in daze even after she left, grinning like a total idiot.

"I need a camera," he said through his smile. Adelaide looked at him.

"What?" she asked. He turned away, facing Adelaide.

"I don't have a camera," he whispered and Adelaide blinked at him.

"Then why'd you tell her you had a really good one?" she asked, not understanding.

"It's not like I was going to let Flash take the pictures instead! And besides, she came to me first. That's gotta count for something," he said and Adelaide groaned.

"Well what are you going to do now?" Ned asked and Peter sighed, shrugging.

"I don't know. Do you think Ben would buy me a really expensive camera tonight if I ask nicely?" Ned gave him a pointed look and Peter sighed.

"You're right," he mumbled, "What was I thinking? Now she's going to think I'm irresponsible."

Adelaide watched him, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she considered something. A moment later, she sighed, giving in.

"I have a camera that you can use," she said and Peter lit up.

"Really?! Is it the good kind?"

"I think so. I have to ask Ton-Tim. Tim. I have to ask Tim if I can borrow it, but I'm pretty sure he won't mind." Ned gave her a knowing wink and Adelaide shook her head, smiling.

"Thanks, Ada. You're the best," he said. She smiled. Just then, a car honked, pulling them out of their conversation. It was Happy.

"I'll come drop it off later," she said, heading towards the car.

"Wait," Peter said, stopping her. She turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't I come pick it up at your house? You can text me the address," he said and Adelaide frowned.

"Don't worry about it," she said, "I don't mind dropping it off. I'll see you later." Before he could ask any more questions, Adelaide quickly got into the car and shut the door. Peter frowned, slightly confused.

"Why doesn't she want me to come to her house?" he asked Ned, "She's come over a lot of times to mine. Have you ever been to her house?" Ned held his breath, trying to keep the truth from spilling out.

"No," he breathed, "Maybe she just doesn't want us to see her house because it's, um, really small."

"But we've been friends for almost a year," Peter said, "She still doesn't trust us?"

"My mom's here!" Ned blurted, "Gotta go!

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