#marvel pride

kate doesn't know what to say. she watches as you brush past her and make your way to the elevator. she sighs, knowing she's going to have to group up with the others and give them the bad news.

"you said she'd listen to you!" kamala protests.

"well, i was wrong, okay." kate replays the conversation in the back of her mind.

america takes another slice of pizza, nearly devouring it whole. "and there's nobody else?" she asks, mouth full.

"nobody like her," kate answers.

cassie finally speaks up, "well, maybe someone else should try. maybe there's just too much...history...between you two."

kate glares at her, but billy backs cassie up, "just wait a minute, she might be right. i mean, if you two dated-"

"we never dated," kate shot back.

billy didn't believe her, "well whatever you want to call it. maybe she just doesn't want to talk to you about it."

kate scoffed, "wow guys. why am even trying to explain this to you. you're literally children."

"i'm eighteen," cassie says.

kate makes a face, "that's like the same thing. you still have "teen" in your age."

"no it's not!" cassie says in defense, leading the whole table into another pointless argument.

but in the midst of their bickering, kate's phone buzzed against the table.

"who is it?" billy asked.

kamala chimed in, "is it her?"

"pick it up!" cassie said.

kate shushed them all, reaching for her phone. sure enough your name, and the cutest photo of you that she never had the courage to change, lit up on the screen.

she froze, the pain of her past leaving a stabbing pain in her chest.

kamala impatiently swiped the phone from her shaking hand and answered, "hello?"

"hey!" kate whispered in annoyance.

"who is this?" you asked on the other end, knowing kate's voice like the back of your hand. paranoia ran through you like a cold chill.

"well, my superhero name is ms. marvel, but you can call me kamala. i'm kind of like the leader of the young avengers," she spoke confidently.

billy scrunched his face up in confusion.

"uh, actually-" kate tried to intervene.

"leader? you sound twelve," you responded.

"well that's just rude. i'm sixteen, not twelve. and did your parents teach you any manners?," she shot back.

you spoke again without thinking, "my parents are dead."

kamala went silent for a moment.

the rest of the table was giving her urgent looks, trying to figure out what was happening on the other end of the phone.

"well, you'll fit right in! billy's pretty sure both his parents are dead. kate's dad is dead, and peter's entire family is dead," she tried to reassure you.

kate facepalmed, already envisioning the look on your face.

"you're going to join, right?" kamala asked enthusiastically.

you took a deep breath in, "can i speak to kate?"

kamala's hope deflated a bit, but she passed the phone anyway.

kate looked down at the phone nervously before bringing it up to her ear, "hello?"

"kamala's a character," you joked lightly.

kate let out something that was partially a scoff and partially a laugh, "they all are. you have no idea."

"i wanna be on the team," you said quietly.

she almost wondered if she heard you right, "you do?"

"i talked to peter for the first time since...the funeral," you said, voice cracking a bit.

you tried to hold back the wave of emotions that threatened to drown you, "he's right. i've been running away from things. kate, i even ran away from you. and i'm so sorry," you tried to stifle your sniffling, but she could tell you were crying anyway.

you hated this. this was not the kind of conversation you had on the phone, but here you were nonetheless.

kate stood up from the table, walking away to get some privacy. the team understood.

"it's okay, i messed up too," she tried to take blame, but you wouldn't let her.

you shook your head, not that she could see, "no. it's my fault. i ruined what we had. because i'm so afraid."

"i was so afraid of losing you. and i pushed you away. and it happened anyway," you said through your tears.