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marvelmando · 4 years

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tempest [p.parker x o.c.] - thirteen

notes: hey y’all it’s been a hot second i think. but im still here! hope you all enjoy :) also don’t forget, if you’d like to be notified every time i update tempest, feel free to leave a comment to be added to my taglist!

contains: some swearing, angst of course

pairing: peter parker + fem! o.c.

word count: 3.3k

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MARIN RETRACTED THE ENERGY FROM AROUND HER FACE ONCE SHE REALIZED THE AIR ON TITAN WAS BREATHABLE. The first thing that popped into her brain was, did we land on Mars? But then she remembered the lurch into hyperspace (at least, she figured that was what it was, and she refused to think of it as anything else), and dismissed the idea.

But apart from the clearly dilapidated city this had once been, Titan was the exact same color as all the pictures of Mars had led her to believe—soil the color of bricks, dust floating through the air and covering every surface it landed on in a thick blanket of clay particles. Marin sneezed.

Peter looked around in awe, then she saw his gaze land on the alien girl with the antennae, still wrapped in his webbing. He left Marin’s side to approach her, and with nothing else to do while Tony ruminated, Quill searched the terrain, and Dr. Strange hovered over a rock with green energy floating around him, Marin chose to follow Peter.

“—it should dissolve soon, unless you want me to cut you out,” he was saying. With a murmured assent, Peter started cutting the girl out of his webs. “I’m Peter, by the way.” Once she was free, he stuck out a hand in greeting. The girl stared down at the proffered hand, then back to Peter’s face.

“I am Mantis.” She bowed slightly, completely ignoring Peter’s outstretched hand.

“Right,” Peter nodded back, lowering his hand awkwardly.

“I’m Marin.” She offered up a bit too harshly. Marin wasn’t used to resentment, but she didn’t like that the alien knew about her past. Did she know of it, or was she just forcing me to remember? Either way, Marin felt shifty standing next to her.

The alien—Mantis, an appropriate name for the fact she looked like a kind of insect—bowed again. Grateful the girl didn’t know Earthly customs; Marin wasn’t eager to make contact with her skin again.

Despite the unease she still felt around the alien, she was at least moved to make amends for her prematurely aggressive actions. “I’m sorry for attacking you.”

“I am also sorry for attacking you.” Even though it could’ve come across sounding slightly parroted, Marin saw the sincerity in her large, black eyes. Her antennae even drooped a bit, reminding Marin of a kicked puppy. She didn’t like the guilt that flooded her system.

“Oh yeah,” Peter said to Mantis, sounding interested. “What did you do anyway? All I saw was Marin put her hands on you and the next second she was on the ground, squirming.” Marin bristled, not liking how Peter described her… session? Was that what she could call it? Either way, Marin didn’t like that he saw how utterly incapacitated she’d become; whether it was a blow to her pride or dignity, she couldn’t tell. Or were they kind of the same thing?

“I can experience others’ emotions, sometimes the memories that are associated with the feelings.” Mantis explained, sounding rather robotic, as if English wasn’t her first language (which, in hindsight, it most definitely wasn’t. Distantly, Marin wondered how common English was in the universe, or if the translation was due to some sort of universal device.)

“No way! You’ve got empathy powers?!” Peter was growing visibly excited, vibrating slightly and bouncing on his heels. “So do I! Did you get bit by a radioactive mantis or something? Because—”

Marin lingered to the side, completely ignored. Peter seemed to either forget that this alien had attacked Marin so viciously, or disregard it. But even with this reasoning, Marin failed to convict herself. So why was she feeling so… jealous?

Nevertheless, Marin felt like an outsider, and after almost two years of getting over that fear, having it come back and hitting her like a blow to the stomach, Marin walked away. Not that either of them noticed, which was another blow, more like a slap to the cheek.

She instead approached Tony, who was in the middle of talking to Quill.

“—we’ve got one advantage: he’s coming to us. We’ll use it.” Nodding decisively, he turned and paced. “All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one.” He announced to the team. Marin looked over her shoulder to Peter, who was raptly observing Mantis bounce up and down, slightly floating due to the lower gravitational field of the planet. Marin’s stomach twisted.

“It’s pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need.” Peter was starting to approach them, still glancing back at Mantis. “Definitely don’t wanna dance with this guy, we just want the gauntlet.”

“So we’ve gotta figure out a—”

Marin started to process a plan, when Tony interrupted her to chastise the buff dude.

“Are you yawning?” He looked offended. “In the middle of this, while I’m breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?”

“I stopped listening after you said ‘We need a plan’.”

“Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page.” Tony said grumpily to no one in particular.

“See, ‘not winging it’ isn’t really what they… do.” Quill said, strangely, as if he wasn’t a part of their team.

Marin scoffed. “So what the hell do they do?”

“Kick names, take ass.” Mantis said, so assuredly that Marin had to think twice about the logistics of the statement.

Looking at Tony, she could tell that he was beginning to seriously regret coming to Titan. “All right, just get over here please.”

The six of them gathered in a loose circle, Marin standing closer to Tony than she did Quill, who was on each of her sides. Marin locked eyes with Peter for a moment, but glanced away, feeling an uncomfortable knot growing in her chest the longer she looked at him. She rubbed her chest inconspicuously as Tony tried to lay down the basic guidelines of a plan, trying to dispel the weird feeling.

“Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe.” The buff alien said, catching Marin’s attention.

“What dance-off?” Tony was bewildered, but Marin chanced a shared look with Peter, who seemed on the same wavelength as her.

“Like in Footloose, the movie?” He chuckled, and despite her sudden unease, Marin felt herself sharing a secret smile with him. Back when they saw each other almost every weekend, Peter took it upon himself to show Marin all of the cheesy 80s and 90s movies, after discovering that between training and school, she’d never gotten around to seeing them.

One night in particular, about two months after moving to the Tower, it’d snowed so bad that Peter was stuck there for the night, where they’d gotten through 16 Candles, Taxi Driver, St. Elmo’s Fire, and Footloose. By the time Footloose had come on, it was nearing four o’clock in the morning, and they’d run out of popcorn and couldn’t be hassled to microwave some more. So they’d just sat there, Peter humming along to the songs, and Marin just watching him from the other side of the expansive couch.

‘It’s catchy,’ he’d said to her once the credits started rolling, looking genuinely content but bashful at being caught singing along, ‘But it’s not the greatest movie in the world or anything.’

“Exactly like Footloose!” said Quill, pleased that someone had understood his reference. “Is it still the greatest movie in history?”

Marin grinned. “It never was.”

Peter’s eyes flickered over to her, his smile dropping into something softer, warmer. Marin felt the heat rise from her chest, crawling up her neck and flushing her cheeks. She gave him another smile before surrendering to the urge to look away before he noticed her blush.

“Don’t encourage this, all right?” Tony stepped closer to her, blocking her view of Peter. Marin rolled her eyes. “We’re getting no help from Flash Gordon here.”

Now that was a reference she didn’t understand.

“’Flash Gordon’?” Quill spoke, forcing Tony to turn so he could look at him. “By the way, that’s a compliment. Don’t forget, I’m half-human. So that 50% of me that’s stupid…” He looked to make sure Tony was following. “That’s 100% you.”

It was infallible logic to Marin, although she was pretty sure that this guy was more than fifty-percent stupid.

“Your math is… blowing my mind.”

“Excuse me?” Said Mantis, who was sounding worried. “But does your friend often do that?”

Everyone turned to see Dr. Strange, who, still glowing a sheer sheen of green light, was fidgeting at weird angles, almost looking as if he was possessed.

As Marin hurried over to get a closer look, Dr. Strange’s head was twitching at an accelerated speed.

Just as she’d approached, he’d emerged from whatever trance he’d been in with a pained shout. Marin and Tony helped to steady him on the rock he toppled on. Dr. Strange gasped for air, looking around frantically.

“Are you okay?” Marin grabbed his arm, holding him from thrashing about.

“You’re back, you’re all right.”

“Hey, what was that?” Peter asked.

“I went forward in time to view alternate futures,” Dr. Strange explained, sounding out-of-breath. “To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.” He blinked rapidly, looking more shaken that she’d seen him. Granted, she’d only known him for a few hours, but from what Marin gathered, Dr. Strange seemed quite level-headed and not like the type to be distressed under pressure. It wasn’t as alarming as finding Tony broken down on the ship, but it was still unnerving to Marin.

“How many did you see?”

“14 million, six hundred and five.”

“How many did we win?” Marin asked. She braced herself, sensing a strong feeling of disturbed energy emanating from Dr. Strange.

The wizard took a bracing inhale. He shifted his eyes away from her, before settling heavily on Tony. “One.”

The silence was deafening in Marin’s ears. Her focus went fuzzy as she tried to calculate the sheer odds of winning this.

At some point, everyone started yelling, but Marin was still stuck on the ground, hands now empty as Dr. Strange had positioned himself in the debate, brushing off Quill’s attempts to weasel the truth from him.

She ran over the statistics in her head. There were only three Stones Thanos needed—the Soul Stone, which was at an unknown location; the Mind Stone, which was currently somewhere on Earth, if the rest of the Avengers were ever able to locate Vision; and the Time Stone, in Dr. Strange’s possession. Three more Stones and he’d be able to wipe out trillions—and one of the only things stopping it from happening was this chaotic group of powered individuals.

Marin clenched her eyes shut, letting her body curl in on itself as she desperately flipped through attack plans in her head. There was little to no water on this planet, and she’d drank all of her water back on the ship, so her hydrokinetic powers were out. All she had in her arsenal were her energy manipulation powers, and they were still uncontrolled, at best. She’d managed to control her flight abilities well enough, but she still struggled heavily with her attack powers.

The touch to her forearm startled her enough for her to activate her energy, though they relaxed at the sight of a concerned Tony Stark with his arms braced in surrender.

Once relaxed, he took the seat next to her.

“It’s gonna be okay, kid.” He said, even though he hardly sounded convinced himself. “We all… well, most of us know what we’re doing.”

Marin laughed dryly. “Yeah, and who’s that? Because all I see are a bunch of fucked-up misfits trying to fit together like pieces belonging to seven different puzzles.” Marin tugged a rough hand through her hair, now reaching inches below her shoulders and bangs grown long. “Let’s see, we’ve got: one rich guy in a fancy suit, one wizard-slash-doctor with a seriously messed-up superiority complex, an alien with feely-powers, another alien that only has enhanced strength in his arsenal, one half-wit with a mad vendetta the size of Texas, one spider-kid, and one… one mutant that can’t control the only power that she’s got a chance at defeating this guy with.” Marin was flushed by the end of her rant, panting hard. She realized that her hands were beginning to glow, so she flexed them, forcing her energy to crawl back.

“Wow,” said Tony, stoically. “You done harping?”

Marin grumbled an assent but felt the anger dissipate nonetheless.

“Good. Because… well, I’d have to agree with you about a lot of those observations. For one, Drax and Quill aren’t the brightest.” Marin rolled her eyes. So that was the buff dude’s name. “Neither is Mantis, for that matter. But they’ve got something we don’t have—experience. And I know what you’re gonna say, I’ve been doing this for years, too. But I’ve also never been to space—this Quill guy? He’s half-god. Like, his father was a planet.” At her inquisitive look, he explained with a shrug, “He likes to blabber.”

He repositioned himself so he was facing her more. “Anyway, my point is, these guys may not be as mechanically or strategically intelligent as us, but they know Thanos—they have direct experience with fighting him. Us? Me? All I’ve done is fight regular alien drones. And one demi-god, but this… we need them, Mare.”

Marin glanced up at the nickname. He didn’t use it often, sticking to her full name or ‘kid’, only sometimes ‘Tempest’. Tony had become something of a father-figure to Marin, something she’d never really had, even when her dad was alive. Tony knew this, and she thought that was why he’d pulled her under his wing. Even Peter didn’t seem as close to him anymore, seeing as he lived hours away.

“And as for you?” Tony poked her shoulder, causing a smile to creep onto her lips. “I have all the faith that you’ll do whatever you can to stop him. You’ve never been faced with a greater threat, but… I think you’re ready. Truly.”

Marin’s smile grew, settling into something private and warm. “Thanks, Tony.”

“That being said…” Tony continued, looking hesitant. “Your attacks still drain a lot of your power, and we need you to save as much as you can for when the time comes.

“The plan is, we need to get the gauntlet off of his arm. That’s our best bet. We can do that if we work together—Quill and Drax getting him to the ground, Pete, Dr. Strange and I keeping his arms apart, so we can keep his hand open to prevent him from using the Stones. Mantis will keep him calm using her empath control, and you’re gonna drain his energy to keep him weak.”

Marin’s eyes widened. “I don’t—but I’ve never—!”

“I know, but that’s why we need you to stay down until it’s time. We need as much of your energy as possible if we’re gonna win this.”

Marin searched his eyes. “Did Dr. Strange tell you any of this?”

Tony sighed, confessing, “No. He’s refusing to give us even the tiniest hints. All he’s admitting to is that we need to try and get the gauntlet off of Thanos. From there, he says that if he tells us, it won’t happen.”

“So… how…” Marin grunted frustratedly, rubbing her face with her hands. “How the hell are we supposed to win this thing?”

Tony smiled, clapping her shoulder. “Teamwork.”

Marin sighed. “Of course.”

+++

After Tony left to go discuss the plan with the others, Marin didn’t move from her seat. She figured she should’ve been doing the meditations Natasha taught her, to hone into her powers and focus on controlling them, but Marin was so frazzled, she felt that if she even attempted bringing out her powers, they would go haywire and she’d be drained even before the battle started.

This was always the hardest part of missions. Even back in the X-Men, when the only missions they went on were busting drug deals and recruiting new mutants, it was the waiting that drove Marin crazy. The not-knowing but anticipating the action. It was somehow worse, now, because she knew that the threat was far greater than petty drug dealers and mutant adolescents.

She could feel the energy bubbling inside her, fritzing her nerves. She felt jittery, her exposed skin buzzing like an active wire. She jumped up, pacing, trying to calm herself down.

As she went to turn, she bumped into a body, startling her and almost making her energy flash. “Jesus, Parker!”

“Sorry!” He jumped back, avoiding her skin. That stung, even though she knew it was probably the most logical reaction. Still, irrationally hurt by his recoil, she wrapped her arms protectively around her chest, tucking her trembling hands beneath her underarms.

Realizing his error, he automatically reached out, grabbing onto her triceps with firm, steady hands. His grip grounded her, the warmth of his skin somehow permeating both the metallic fabric of his suit and the lycra-type microparticles of hers. Almost immediately, Marin felt herself steadying.

She reflexively uncrossed her arms as she stared into Peter’s eyes, which were darkened with worry. “Mare, you all right?”

Not bothering to hide it, she exhaled, shaking her head minimally. “No, I don’t think so.”

He pulled her into him, folding her into his embrace. Marin, now just short enough, tucked her head under Peter’s chin, resting her cheek on the cooled metal spanning his chest. She wrapped her arms solidly around his waist. Through the suit, she could feel the steady, strong beat of his heart, and the two of them stayed silent, allowing themselves to revel in the comfort of a familiar pair of arms.

After a moment, when her breathing steadied, and she could feel Peter’s heart to quicken just slightly, they pulled away slowly.

“Better?” Peter asked, searching her eyes, tone free of any vanity that would have sounded in anyone else’s mouth.

Marin nodded, eyes roaming idly over his face. It’d been so long since she’d been this close to Peter, and she could see some of the changes in his expression, where she couldn’t see in the darkness of the ship. He had a darker smattering of freckles, his eyes creased only slightly where his skin folded when he smiled. He didn’t look old, like with wrinkles, but his face showed a new sense of maturity she hadn’t noticed before; where there was a subtle roundness in his cheeks, skin stretched tighter over bone, exposing sharper cheekbones and a stronger jaw. She noticed the muscle in his jaw clench, his thin lips moving over teeth like he was chewing on words he couldn’t bring himself to say. His hair was longer, it flowed from his head in waves like a sea of melted chocolate, curling slightly where it wrapped behind his slightly stuck-out ears. She remembered when they seemed too big for his head, but they suited him now, only a little noticeable as they framed his chiseled face.

The only thing that remained completely unchanged were his eyes. Honey brown and so expressive; she could read every emotion that flashed across them. Flecks of gold lined the darkness of the pupil, brightening the longer she looked into them.

Something rolled in her stomach as she studied him, aching like a cramp. Her chest ached like someone had taken her heart and gripped it tight, and she yearned to discover what exactly was making her feel this way. She’d never felt anything like it before—only something similar to when she remembered Lucy and James with an aching fondness, but this… this was twenty times stronger than that. It was like her soul was simultaneously being lit on fire and brushed by the frigid grip of liquid nitrogen.

She wasn’t sure what she would’ve said, but the words were squeezed out of her, “Pete, I—”

“Everyone into position!” Tony hollered, breaking Marin and Peter out of their shared trance. They reluctantly backed away from each other, only seeming to come to attention at the realization that this was it. There was no more waiting, no more anticipation.

Thanos was coming.

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