I'm walking home from the corner deli, taking the long way to kill some time when my phone buzzes. It's a notification from an app that I designed saying one of the surveillance cameras from a building I'm monitoring has been tripped. Quickly, I open the app and review the last few minutes of footage. Nothing looks wrong, and there is no one there since it's after hours. On a hunch, I wait another two minutes and pay close attention to the screen. There! For barely a second, the image wavers and the corner of someone's hand appears. Someone must have set a loop on the system to cover their tracks. This means it's someone good. I start walking again, much quicker now so I can get home and grab my suit.
This might be a good time to mention who I am. My name is Peter Parker, and I'm Spiderman. You heard that right, I am Spiderman. Technically, I'm not an Avenger yet, but Mr. Star- er, Tony trusts me with my suit so I can deal with low level crime. Today seems like a bit more than I can handle though. There has been a huge chain of bank robberies in the past few weeks, and the police haven't found a single clue or suspect. The robbers don't go for cash, they're after the stuff in the deepest and most secure vaults of the bank. It doesn't call for the full team but this specific bank is where my aunt keeps all of her money so I don't want to take chances by myself. As I hop up the stairs to my apartment building, I shoot a text to Tony.
Me: Hey, just got an alert for the Goliath National Bank security cams, can any of the team get down here to help?
T-Dawg: Yeah, Rhodes and I were gonna practice with some new upgrades and I think Nat is around somewhere. But I'm not coming if you don't get rid of that silly nickname for me in your phone
Me: How did you see that?!
Tony: I've got my ways. Thank you for changing it, we'll be there in 30
Perfect, that gives me just enough time to clear it with my aunt and let M know I'm going to miss the debate practice tonight. I really need to make it to more practices or they'll boot me off the team, but as their best member I don't really need practices. May is in the shower when I step into the apartment, so I hurry to pull out my suit and scribble down a note to her so I don't have to wait until she comes out and risk not being allowed to go. Better to do it and ask forgiveness than wait and ask permission, right? My school is on the way to GNB, so I book it back down the stairs and out onto the street, almost knocking over a tall man staring worriedly into a mailbox.
As I run down the street I feel my phone go off in my pocket, reminding me that I need to mute it or Aunt May will make it vibrate so much I'll end up with a hard-on during battle, which I'd like to avoid at all costs. To my surprise, it's a text from M.
M: Practice is cancelled, I can't make it and neither can Ned and the library is being cleaned
Me: Oh okay, I'm busy tonight too
M: Why are you always so busy?
Before I can answer her I shove my phone back into my pocket so I don't drop it while I race through the busy intersection. Cars screech as they brake to avoid me, which was hardly necessary because I could've jumped over them. The GNB building looms down the road, a dark mass against the brightly lit new york night. Suddenly, I see four pinpricks of light zooming down the side of the building, signalling the arrival of my backup.
Okay, so this part gets pretty boring. I'll give you a quick summary and we can be on our merry little way. Tony, Nat and Rhodey all show up and we sneak in, find the bad guys on the top floor, kick some of their asses, find some more in the elevator that goes from the top floor all the way down to the sub-basement (this will be important later, I promise), and cut the cable. That's where things started to go wrong. Do you remember how Tony said he was testing out some new upgrades? Yeah, they weren't all working correctly. At random (and very inconvenient) time his suit would freeze up for a few seconds. Luckily it wouldn't crash if he was flying, but everything else would shut down.
I thought we had all of them. Four went down with the elevator and six more got their asses handed to them up in the penthouse office. Maybe I should've been paying more attention. Nat says I couldn't have but I'm not so sure. Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Once we round up the six thieves, I take a look around the office to see what they could've wanted. War Machine is hovering near the ceiling, trying to fix the skylight with some duct tape and plastic while Tony examines the elevator shaft. Suddenly, two dark shapes lunge out of the darkness, one headed for Nat and the other for Tony. She takes her assailant down with ease, flipping him over her shoulder and crushing his windpipe with her forearm. As I run over to make sure there are no more thieves waiting I see Tony freeze out of the corner of my eye.
The man dives low and knocks into Tony's knees, knocking him into the 50 story elevator shaft. He becomes a blur of red and gold, then disappears entirely over the edge. Completely forgetting about checking the corner, I sprint to the elevator and shove the goon down, flinging myself after him. Except, I don't fall. Cold metal hands clamp down on my shoulders as War Machine grabs me and flies me out, landing on the other side of the room. "Why would you do that?" I shriek, my voice becoming embarrassingly high. "He was frozen! He fell!" I'm breathing hard now, trying to squirm out of Rhodey's grip and keep back the wave of fear I can feel rising in my stomach.
"YOU'RE OUT OF WEBS!" he shouts. "GOOD THING I WAS HERE TO SAVE YOUR ASS OR YOU'D BE A SPIDER PANCAKE."
I jolt, remembering using the last of my web on the six prisoners. "I… I had to…" His grip goes slack and I spin around, lunging towards the elevator again. Natasha is kneeling by the doors, shaking her head sadly. I feel the arms of Rhodey's suit wrap around my chest, suddenly the only things holding me upright. I'm frozen, trying to comprehend what she means. He can't be dead. He just can't be.
"I can't see too well but, with his suit frozen there's no way," She whispers, rising and walking over to us.
Every part of me wants it to be a joke, one where Tony will walk around the corner unharmed. But I know it's not. "No," I whisper. Then again, more of a scream, "NO!" I can't stop myself, suddenly everything is too much and I'm crying silently, the kind of cry where everything is frozen and you couldn't make a sound even if you tried because it's all just too much. Rhodey lets me go and I hide my face in my hands as I stumble into Nat.
She folds me into a strangely inviting hug and waits a few minutes before softly speaking. "Hey. Peter. Why don't you sit down for a bit, Rhodes and I have got the rest of it." She points to a nearby chair and shoots a meaningful glance at War Machine. His mouth moves like he is talking, but I don't register any of it. Everything moves into a blur, until suddenly I'm in a car speeding upstate to the Avengers HQ, back in my civilian clothes. Lights flash by as Nat drives, and occasionally I catch flashes of her bright hair in the corner of my vision. I sit with my arms wrapped around my stomach, staring vacantly out the window.
Slowly, I think back through everything that's happened and- no. Oh God. I freeze, then my stomach drops and I double over as though I've been punched in the gut, not caring about the seat belt cutting into my shoulder. I'm not aware of anything beyond my own ragged breathing until I feel a hand pulling up on my shoulder. It's Natasha, she has pulled the car over. "Peter! Are you hurt? What happened?"
I sit up, blinking through tears I hadn't noticed and slightly shaking. "Nat…" My voice breaks as I try to force the words out, but they're stuck in my throat. If I say it then it's real. There's no going back. "It's all-," I squeeze my eyes shut and draw in a shaky breath. "It's all my fault." Before she can react I turn away and bury my head in my hands, willing myself not to break down.
She quickly sets the car in gear, then reaches over with one hand lays it on my back. "No. It isn't your fault. Don't believe that for a minute. The bastard who pushed him, that's who takes the blame."
I can hardly hear her. I'm shaking harder now, wishing for all this to be a bad dream. To wake up tomorrow and check the news and see that everything is okay. No full thoughts are forming beyond that, just no, please no. Her phone rings and I jump, unprepared for the jarring noise. The lights of the complex are just visible in the distance, and I realize that I'm going to have to face everyone soon. Face them, and tell them Tony is dead. And that it's all because of me, the new kid who couldn't handle a few robbers on his own. Subconsciously, I move my arms again so they're wrapped around my stomach. They're going to kick me out. There's no way they won't. I'm not even an official member of the team. Oh well, I deserve it.
Natasha's voice startles me back into reality. "He's not dead!"
"What?" I exclaim, feeling my heart lurch. It's too good to be true. I must be dreaming.
"Rhodey flew down the chute to get him, and it turns out one of the new updates he installed was crash protection. He's not doing so hot, but he'll live. They just got back to HQ"
All the tension and fear drains out of my system and I relax my hands, having unknowingly dug my nails into my arm hard enough to leave small crescent shaped bruises. "Oh thank God." I slump back against my seat and take some deep breaths before continuing, "Hey Nat?"
"What is it Peter?"
"Um… Am I still on the team? Or, y'know, I can still join when I'm done with school?"
"Of course! None of this was your fault and everyone knows it."
"Okay. good."