It wasn't everyday that you get to hang out with a superhero, or even be friends with one, but it was a whole different level for Cassie Lang, and it also helped that her father and his girlfriend were one of them. Every now and then, Cassie would be beyond thrilled whenever she gets to visit the Avengers facility at upstate New York, where she had become fast friends with Peter Parker.
So when Peter absentmindedly mentioned that he might probably bring her web swinging (he blamed the slip of his tongue) the next time she visited, she had held onto his words like glue. She wouldn't stop talking about it when she got home and Scott thought she was joking and didn't put much thought into it, completely forgetting about it, until now.
Scott was sitting across Hope, elbows planted on the kitchen island eating a sugar-glazed donut. "These are really good. Where does Stark even get his supply of donuts?" He questioned while chewing, the words coming out in a mumble instead but still comprehensible. He fed Hope the last bit of donut, licking his fingers after like a child, his other hand already reaching for another one.
"That's like your what? Fifth donut?" Hope smirked, always amused with his childlike behaviour.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Cassie chirped, clearly excited seeing as she skipped to the kitchen, dragging Peter in tow, already having an apologetic smile on his face. "Peter said he's bringing me web swinging tonight!" Cassie propped herself up on the stool next to her father, grinning widely.
"What?" Scott turned abruptly to look at Cassie, his mouth gaping open like a codfish, almost dropping his donut, her words 'web swinging' registering as 'dangerous' instead. He could practically hear alarm bells ringing in his head. Scott recalled the first time he met Peter at the airport battle, but he was too caught up to notice that he was just a kid (and he called himself Spider-Man? What?). It was not until the war that he realised there was a minor, who looked barely sixteen among the fallen heroes. His gaze flickered to Peter and the young man gave him a half smile, running a hand through his hair awkwardly, which made it stick out more at the ends.
This was a bad idea.
Mr. Lang is going to send an army of bullet ants into my bedroom tonight. Peter shuddered.
"I'm sorry Mr. Lang, it was my fault, but I couldn't say no to those eyes...," Peter glanced sideways at Cassie, raising his eyebrows, hoping Scott would get his subtle hint.
"I know, it's those eyes right?!" Scott agreed, distracted.
Hope quirked a brow and stared at Scott. "I don't think that's the main concern here."
"Right, right, right. We got to focus!" Scott gave Hope a I-got-it look. "I mean, is that even possible? We're talking about web swinging here, there'll be heights, tall buildings, skyscrapers...," He frowned, his hands waving about, demonstrating the gravity of the situation. Cassie's mother is going to kill him if she catches wind of this activity. He ran through the likely scenarios and situations in his head quickly of how his daughter would be able to cling onto Peter without falling to her possible death and it made him shiver. "What if you fall?"
"She won't," Peter held out both hands and waved from side to side.
"Because we have this," Cassie held out a small test tube containing what seemed like a concoction of sticky goo, a shit-eating grin spreading over her face.
Scott scrunched up his nose. "Is that, is that body fluid?" He whispered, his thoughts straying to the wrong direction.
Hope kicked his shin a little too hard as intended.
"Ow! What was that for?" He mouthed, glancing at Hope, where she glared at him. "I mean, is that what I think it is? Web fluid?"
"It is web fluid. The tensile strength is amazing," Hope peered at the test tube then smiled at Peter encouragingly. She had seen him experimenting with the web fluid in the lab, and was very impressed with the strength of it. Peter's insides did a double take, it was one thing impressing Mr. Stark, but it was another to be praised by Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne's daughter, where they had made an amazing discovery of the Quantum Realm.
"Thanks. I've been trying to make it stronger," Peter smiled meekly.
"Peter said this would help me stick to him," Cassie piped. "It's what he puts in his web shooters," she added in awe.
"I know peanut. This was what that tripped me over," Scott took the test tube from Cassie and turned it over, but the contents were still stuck inside like adhesive glue.
Hope shook her head and snickered. Both of them had witnessed first hand the abilities of Peter, but still thought of him as child, feeling that the war was too much for a teenager like him to go through, but he had pulled through.
"Daddy, can I go? Please?" Cassie dragged out the last word, clasping her hands together, begging, flashing her big, brown puppy dog eyes.
Scott's initial determination of saying 'no' was wavering, resistance was futile. He sighed. "Alright, alright. You can go web swinging with Peter. But no crime fighting, no jumping off very tall buildings. You're going to need to call me every fifteen minutes, no, let's make it every ten minutes...," Scott trailed off. God, he was turning into a nagging parent.
"You're the best daddy!" Cassie launched herself onto Scott, giving him a big hug, smiling gleefully till her cheeks hurt.
Hope brows were knitted close together in confusion, surprised that Scott had gave in to Cassie. She was absolutely positive that his ex-wife would give him a earful. "We just want you to be safe," Hope turned her gaze to Peter and Cassie, her expression was soft, but she kept an edge of sternness in her voice.
"My suit has a parachute as a safety feature, if anything goes wrong, not like anything would go wrong, I assure you Mr. Lang...," Peter's hands were fluttering uselessly at his sides. "It would be just like babysitting Cassie again, it's just well, this time it's outdoors." Peter thought it was cool to hang out with Cassie, who was sweet, wise and bright, who looked up to him, who knew he was Spider-Man. He always liked the thought of having a younger sister.
"You have a parachute in your suit?" Scott's eyes widened in surprised. "Hope, we should totally install one in the Ant-Man suit."
"Why would you need a parachute?" Hope raised a brow.
"What if I fall while riding an ant?"
"You could call for another ant."
"I could still fall."
"You won't."
"Why not?"
"Because I'll be there to catch you," Hope cringed when the words escaped from her mouth. Shit.
"A -ha! I was hoping you would say that!" Scott grinned wickedly, looking pleased with himself. She glowered at him, her icy stare slicing through him. "Hey, where did those two go?" They were too caught up with their banter that they didn't notice the two of them had slipped away, quietly.
"Maggie's going to kill you Scott," She pursed her lips into a thin smile.
"Don't worry. I've got a plan," He winked mischievously at her.
...
'Cassie, have you been on a roller coaster?' was the last sentence that Cassie had heard Peter say. Before she knew it, she was plunging down the building, the wind brushing through her face and hair, till she could barely keep her eyes open. She felt as if her organs were turned upside down, her stomach contents churning, threatening to flow out her mouth. Afraid she would fall, Cassie's grip tightened around Peter, even though she was tightly bound to him. She closed her eyes but she was bubbling over with laughter, her emotions indescribable, like how could you feel scared and excited at the same time. She could feel her heart racing, the blood pounding mixed with the gushing of wind in her ears.
It was dizzyingly exhilarating.
Suddenly, the paced slowed down a little and she dared herself to open her eyes. Cassie found herself hanging above the streets, like she was flying.
"Cassie, are you alright?" Peter had to ask.
Cassie couldn't see Peter's face because of his mask, but she could make out the concern in his voice.
"This is awesome!" Cassie squealed with laughter, her eyes bulged out in amazement. Bright, colourful lights filled her vision as she took everything in, the view from atop while Peter swung skilfully from building to building, the momentum slow enough for Cassie to appreciate the experience. Everything on the streets below seemed tinier in comparison, the people, the cars, the traffic, it was a whole new perspective. She began to calm down, the cool evening breeze easing her emotions.
Peter's Spider-Man mask eyes squinted adorably as he let out a laugh. When he had first discovered his powers, he had pondered what would be the use of having spider-like powers without webs. So, he had secretly started developing web fluid in his school's laboratory and quickly he had discovered the formula.
The first time he had hurled off a building, he had almost smashed himself through the glass panes of the opposite building, under estimating his superhuman strength. It had took him a couple of tries before mastering the rhythm of swinging. Ever since then, he thoroughly enjoyed it, taking it as a form of stress relief (not when crimes happened), as he felt as free as a bird.
"You're not afraid?" Peter was amazed by the boldness of Cassie as he weaved in and out.
"No, I eat fear for breakfast," Cassie replied, giggling. "I can't wait to tell daddy all about this."
Unbeknownst to the two of them, Scott and Hope were following them all the while, suited up and shrank down, keeping a watchful eye.
"Do you think I had planted a I-wanna-be-a-superhero idea in Cassie's head, unintentionally?" Scott asked. He was riding a flying ant, his gaze locked on his daughter and Peter, who were ahead of them. It was too early to think about the subject, and he couldn't imagine putting Cassie in danger, it would make him a terrible father, but he didn't want to end up like Hank, where Hope had spent a considerable amount of time hating him. Still, he thought Cassie would make a great superhero, maybe even better than him.
Hope knew what Scott's concern was. "Scott, if some things are meant to be, sometimes there's no use stopping it. If Cassie wants to be a superhero, I'm sure you'll be there to help and support her," Hope said with utmost sincerity as she flew beside him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, as long as you're here wi - WATCH OUT!" Scott hollered, unable to finish his sentence, forgetting that Peter and Cassie couldn't hear him, his gaze anchored in concentration at them.
It startled Hope. She looked straight ahead and all she saw was Peter swinging towards a large and long trailer, like he was going to smash right into it. Her heart stopped for a moment and she guessed that Scott's heart had too, because he had whizzed past her, heading to their direction. However, in a fleeting moment, Peter had hurtled himself right onto the roof of the trailer instead and was now standing on the moving trailer.
"Scott! They're alright!" Hope's voice came through his earpiece.
"Thank goodness! I may have over-reacted." Scott let out a relieved sigh, slowing down slightly.
"This is how I catch my ride sometimes," Peter commented as he walked on the trailer.
"This is so cool. I wanna have web shooters too."
"Mr. Lang would kill me with his ants if I gave it to you," Peter squirmed inside as he imagined an army of ants surrounding and crawling up to him.
Cassie giggled. "Daddy's too nice, but Hope might." Hope had a fierce protectiveness towards Cassie. "Where are we going?"
"Wanna get ice-cream? I'll show you the best ice-cream in town! Hold on tight!" Peter said as he aimed another shot of web fluid at a nearby building and flung through the air, heading towards the ice-cream parlour.
...
After getting ice-creams, Peter (changed out of his suit) and Cassie had made a pit stop at the nearby park, where they sat on a bench eating their ice-creams.
Scott didn't know how he ended up crashing into a tree, but he might have collided with a bird that was flying too low, which ended up knocking him off the flying ant.
"Unf...Ow!" He grunted as he got flung into the tree.
"Scott! Are you alright!?" Hope, alarmed, quickly dashed after him, into the leaves and branches of the tree and caught him clinging by his hands on a tree branch, his legs hanging in the air.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, but I could use a little help here," he grumbled, as he tried to push himself up the branch.
Hope giggled at the comical situation, covering her lower mask with her hand as she hovered above the tree branch.
"I can't believe you're laughing Hope," Scott complained.
"Hold on," Hope descended on the branch and gave Scott a helping hand, pulling him up. "Now who ended up with an accident instead?" She placed her open palms on his chest and patted lightly. Scott couldn't see her facial expression, but he knew there was a smirk hidden beneath the mask. He wanted to pull her in for a kiss in that moment but their helmets were a hindrance.
"We should do this more often."
"What? You mean hiding in a tree and spying on your daughter?" Hope chuckled. She moved away from him and sat down on the branch.
"We're not spying, we're just watching," he reasoned as he sat right next to her. "It's my job to make sure she's safe and sound."
The moon was abnormally large today and it bathed the park with a luminous glow and the rustling of the leaves could be heard, caused by the cool breeze of the wind.
"This is pretty romantic," Scott said softly as he took Hope's hand and held it in his.
"You're such a cornball," Hope teased, though she lightly squeezed his hand. She imagined she could see the twinkle in his eyes and the softness of his smile, even though it was blocked by his visor.
"Think about this, Christmas is coming and we could shrink down and maybe hide in a Christmas tree? Just for a change...," He was too occupied with his ideas that he failed to notice the rustling sound behind him was getting louder and louder until -
"Scott, don't move."
"What? Why?" Scott noticed that Hope was looking right through him and then he heard a purr. "Is that, is that a cat?" Hope could hear the panic rising in his slightly trembling voice. A few years ago, while training, they had a run in with a cat and it wasn't pleasant. Scott turned his head slowly and the cat loomed into view. "Whoa!" He flinched and backed away, the cat's extending paw almost touching him, while Hope was already reaching for the back of his suit, pulling him away and activating the wings in her suit, ready to take off with Scott if she was able to.
The cat let out a loud purr and moved towards them, seemingly very interested at the two tiny humans.
"Antoinette!" The flying ant came almost a second too late as the cat had outstretched his paw again, almost hitting Scott. He was quick enough to hop on the ant and he was now flying above the tree branch, with Hope who had also took flight. "Phew, that was close!"
The cat purred, even louder this time.
"You're not going to get us this time, cat," Scott smirked.
The commotion had attracted Cassie's attention, having finished her ice-cream, had heard loud purring sounds coming from the tree beside them. She squinted her eyes and stared at the tree, noticing sudden movements between the branches of the trees. She walked towards the tree and spotted the cat on one of the tree branches.
"Peter, there's a cat on the tree!" Cassie pointed at the tree's direction. "Look, it's up there!"
"What?" He left the bench. "How did it get there?" Peter peered at the pointed direction and sure enough there was a cat, walking back and forth on the tree branch, as if unsure of the way down.
"It doesn't know how to climb down. We need to help the cat Peter," she was already hugging the tree with her limbs, as if wanting to climb it.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute!" Panicking, Peter strode to her in a few large steps. "I'll take the cat down. I don't want you to end up with a broken leg, or worse...," he gulped in fear, anxiously waving his hands. The night wasn't ending as what he expected to be.
"No, I'll do it. I've climbed trees before," she looked back at him, grinning. His suggestion fell on deaf ears as the younger girl was already deftly climbing up the tree, reaching almost halfway and carefully treading on the branches to reach the cat. Peter looked on in amazement, nowadays children like her would rarely want to venture outdoors but she was different.
"That's my peanut!" Scott pumped a fist, cheering on, even though Cassie obviously couldn't hear him, though Hope focused on Cassie intently, afraid she would fall.
"Come here kitty," Cassie cooed, reaching out a hand. Surprisingly, the cat had leaped to her without resistance and was now safely in her arm. She proceeded to climb down the tree, though it was more difficult compared to climbing up, especially with only one free hand.
"Be careful Cassie!" Peter called out.
She couldn't really see where she was going, as a result she lost her footing on one of the branches, lost her grip and balance and there she went, falling off the tree.
"Helpppppp!" Cassie cried out. She almost lost her grip on the cat and wrapped both of her hands tighter around it.
"Cassie!" Peter and Scott had yelled at the same time. Peter looked around helplessly, there was nothing to anchor his web fluid to form a web-like mattress, unless...He had to catch her. It would lessen her injuries, if she fell on him instead.
Before Peter could take matters in his own hands, a blurry blue figure had already zipped past him at full speed. Hope was going to catch Cassie, no matter what. She was going to break her fall. Hope flipped over, her back facing the ground and came underneath Cassie, growing back in size instantaneously at the same time she held out both hands, catching Cassie, her arms wrapping tightly around her. "I got you Cassie!" Both of them fell to the ground with a thud, with Hope taking the brunt of the impact.
"Cassie! Hope!" At the same moment, Scott had turned back in size.
"Cassie, are you okay?" Hope had opened her helmet, looking at Cassie concernedly, who was still on top of her.
"Ms. Hope! Mr. Lang?" Peter eyes bugged out in surprise.
"Cassie! Hope! Are you guys alright?!" Scott pulled Cassie and Hope up, his gaze flicking around, immediately inspecting them for injuries, though neither both of them sustained any major injuries.
Peter knelt down on the ground and placed both of his hands on Cassie's shoulders. "You scared me there."
"I'm okay!" Cassie gave him a thumbs up. The cat was still in her arms. "Thanks to Hope," Cassie grinned widely, turning her gaze to Hope then at her father. "Daddy, were you following us?" Her grinning face had turned into a frown.
"Yeah, Mr. Lang, I mean, this wasn't a coincidence right?" Peter raised a brow and looked at the two adults suspiciously.
"Uhh...," Scott wrung his hands together, not knowing what to say while Hope was trying hard to stifle a laugh. "It's a long story guys, but hey I'm glad we're all safe!"
P/S The night out was never mentioned to Maggie.