The sound of a shrill bell woke every student in Midtown High School out of their stupors. Quickly, notebooks and pencils were shoved into backpacks and it seemed like ninety percent of the student body ran out of their classrooms, as if the teachers would make them stay late if they were caught straggling.

Most of them had their thoughts dedicated to what they planned to do after school, some were still running through the lessons they'd just witnessed, and a handful of them were preoccupied with thoughts of their object of affection.

One of them thought of something completely different. All he could think of the entire day was a girl in a black hoodie who called herself the Black Sky.

"Luke."

Peter Parker swung around to smile at his friend, who was holding up a Lego of Darth Vader.

"Hey, I'm Han," he said, Ned rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, putting the figure in his pocket.

"Did you convince your mom to loan you the money for the Death Star?" Peter asked, turning to continue messing with his locker.

"No," Ned said, disappointed "I've tried everything. Said I'd never ask for anything again. She didn't believe that."

"Yeah, neither do I," Peter admitted, shutting his locker door and turning so he and Ned could start walking down the hallway.

"Do you want to come over?" Ned asked as they headed out the front doors "Video games and pizza?"

"I can't," Peter said, regret plain in his voice "May… needs me."

Peter could've groaned at his own words; why couldn't he think up a better lie than that?"

"O-kay," Ned said, slightly suspicious but not willing to push the touchy subject that was Peter's Aunt "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Peter replied before they split up.

He sighed as he felt guilt settle in his stomach; he'd been turning Ned down for the past two weeks. Ever since he'd met the Black Sky. In fact, he'd gone out every night since then. She said if she was ever in the neighborhood, she'd…

She'd been lying, hadn't she?

Peter's shoulder slumped as he considered that very likely answer. She'd been lying to get him off her back. Why would she want to work with a guy who couldn't even throw a punch right, let alone keep up with her? How would she even find him? She never asked for a number or anything, so she obviously wasn't planning on it.

Peter had made it to his usual changing station and he leaned up against the alley wall as he considered the undeniable truth. She didn't want anything to do with him. Maybe he shouldn't go out tonight; maybe he should just go home and eat Thai and watch TLC with Aunt May.

Oh god, was he pining?

What was it called when you pine after someone because you think they're cool and you want them to think you're cool?

Peter shook off those fairly pathetic thoughts and instead pulled off his sweater so he could pull on the familiar red hoodie. Soon enough, he was wearing his suit and he jumped up onto the wall to climb up to the roof.

He took breath as her surveyed the city before jumping off and swinging. He needed to find something to distract himself from his downer thoughts.

He found that distraction in the form of a guy shoplifting, a lost tourist, and a squirrel that wouldn't get out of a store. That last one had proven to be the worst and Peter hadn't escaped completely unscathed.

The sun had long since disappeared when he sat down on the edge of a rooftop and pulled a bag of gummy worms out of his pocket. He munched on a green one as he contemplated his place in this world of heroes. He knew he was new and didn't deserve one right out the gate, but he felt inadequate when he compared himself to the Black Sky. She had training. Where does a person even get that?

He suddenly jerked straight and shoved his candy into his pocket; the sound of an alarm was slicing through the quiet night air.

It didn't take him long to find the origin; jewelry store. Perfect.

Peter landed in front of the broken window and stepped inside. While they didn't notice him, he readjusted his position until he was leaning against the wall.

"H-Hey, Guys."

They whipped around to face him and for a split second Peter rejected all of his life choices as he looked down the barrel of three guns. But, that moment passed and he found himself taking out two guns with webs before he had to dodge the blast from another one.

Maybe jewelry thieves had been a bit ambitious.

He yelped as he barely jumped out of the way of a bullet, but he managed to grab the last gun by the butt and it skidded away. He honestly didn't punch much when he was fighting and instead liked to jump up on the ceiling and throw people around.

That worked for the most part and he found himself easily catching punches and pushing them hard into the wall. He flung the big one back before focusing on the smaller two, one of which was easily knocked out by a well-placed web that landed his head on a display case.

"You know, a worthwhile girl wouldn't demand such an expensive engagement ring," he joked as he dodged one that took a running start at him and webbing him "Maybe you should talk out your relationship pr- Ooof."

He hopped off the ceiling while he was delivering his banter but he didn't notice that the big guy had recovered. He received a hard hit to the back of his head and he stumbled and fell forward. Peter fumbled around despite the fact that his vision was a little funny and he found himself watching big guy cocking his shotgun.

Before Peter could try to web it out if his hands or he could try to shoot him, a gloved hand enclosed around the barrel. He watched with rapt attention as a familiar figure in black grabbed the weapon away from the robber and smacked him across the face with the back of it. With a kick to the side of the knee and sick looking spinning kick, big dude was out cold.

She unloaded the gun and dropped it down onto the ground before walking over to where Peter was still laying on his back; the Black Sky holding out a hand to help him back of his feet.

"Are you alright?" She asked, Peter only nodding as he felt at a loss for words.

"T-Thanks," he said finally, feeling his cheeks burn "I kinda—I kinda messed that up."

"You were doing fine," she said, going to remove the ammo from the others "You should just make sure all the weapons are taken out of the equation."

"O-Oh, okay, thanks," he said, not sure how to react to her saying he did good "I-I thought…"

She looked over at him and Peter could see her eyes clearer than he ever could the last time they met. They were dark and were looking at him curiously, like she actually wanted to hear what he thought. He suddenly felt very self-conscious at what he had started to admit and he was very glad that he chose to wear a full face mask.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I kinda thought you were lying," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"About…?"

"About, um, working in Queens. About working with me."

"Well, you were wrong," she said matter-of-factly, but before she could say anything more they both snapped to attention at the sound of police sirens "We should get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, um…" They both ran outside of the building and Peter looked over at her, remembering what she'd said last time "C-Can I…?"

She frowned as he held his arms out, before it occurred to her what he was asking

"Oh, yeah, sure," she said, wrapping her arms around him without a thought. Peter hesitantly put his arm around her waist and once again thanked god he was wearing a mask before he jumped off the ground and shot a web. She was still pretty tense, but not quite as bad as when he did it unexpectedly.

They swung a few buildings away and he set her down on a rooftop. She regained her bearings before standing up straight and shoving her hands in her pockets.

"What's your plan?"

"My-My what?" Peter asked, the Black Sky tilting her head.

"Your plan. For the night."

"Oh, I was just, I was probably going to go home," he admitted "But, I mean, if-if you want to do something, I can—I can-."

"Chill," she reminded him "If you don't have any plans, you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally!" He exclaimed "What're we going to do?"

"This address," she said, placing a napkin with pen scribblings on it "There's a dude who keeps demanding money or else his guys will destroy the place."

"What a jerk," Peter said before mentally cursing at himself. No wonder she'd thought he was twelve.

"Yeah," she said, not making any mention of Peter's words "So, I've got to stake the place out and then.. Well, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Totally know," Peter said, feeling that she was giving him a look even though the shadows kept him from seeing her eyes "Um, it's not too far from here. You're cool with…"

He didn't even finish his sentence before she had returned to holding onto him. Peter took a deep breath before he jumped off of the rooftop and swung towards the address. It took less than ten minutes and soon enough, Peter was placing her down on a fire escape on the building opposite.

"Nice call," she said casually, sitting down with her back to the building and not noticing the way Peter reacted to her giving him a compliment. He awkwardly shuffled before she patted the spot across from her and he sat down with his legs crossed. As he got comfortable, she dug through the bag he had not noticed she had slung over back and pulled out a thermos.

"Want some?" She asked, twisting the top off and the smell of fresh coffee hitting his nose.

"Yeah, sure," he said and she poured some.

"Careful, it's hot," she said, passing it to him and he thanked her before pulling his mask up just enough so he could take a sip.

Oh, god.

Peter didn't hate coffee; he could like coffee sometimes. But, what he liked was what his Aunt May would call coffee milkshakes from Starbucks. This was black coffee. No sugar, no milk, just… ugh.

God, this was awful. Why did people drink this? Oh, god, she was looking at him. Was he making a face? Oh, god. Oh, god.

"You don't have to drink it, you know; won't offend me," she said, something funny about her tone.

"Oh, thank god," Peter said, passing the thermos cap back to her "I'm-I'm not a coffee person. I like tea with sugar and milk and stuff."

"I probably should've guessed that," she replied, looking away from him and making him wonder if maybe he had offended her. But, he realized she was doing it so she could lift her mask to take a sip without him seeing the bottom half of her face.

"When will they come?" Peter asked, searching desperately for a topic of conversation.

"She said somewhere between eight and nine," Black Sky replied, Peter cocking his head.

"She?" He asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Alfaro. She runs that place," she said, nodding towards the building opposite.

"You talked to her?" Peter asked, the streetlights illuminating her just enough that he could see how her eyebrows pulled together.

"Yeah. She came and told me what was wrong," Black Sky said "How do you do it?"

"I just, I mean, swing around and stop stuff."

"Sounds exhausting," she said, taking another hidden drink of her coffee.

"I mean, I guess," Peter said, twisting his hands uncomfortably "It's just, kinda… I wanna—I wanna help people."

Her eyes held something interesting after he said that, but because half of her face was covered, he couldn't get a read on her expression. But, there was definitely something there. Like she was considering him.

But, her eyes slid off of him and that moment passed. It was quiet between them for a little while, mostly because whenever Peter came up with a topic of conversation, he psyched himself out of it.

"Um, B-Bl, Miss Sky?" He finally managed, getting her attention.

"You're kidding, right?" She said, deadpanned.

"Your name's a mouthful," Peter said in an attempt to defend himself.

"Then just Sky," she said "But, don't call me that. I hate that."

"D-Do you want me to call you by your full name?" Peter asked, desperate to get back into her good graces.

"No, you're right. It's a mouthful," she admitted, putting the top back on the thermos and stowing it away in her bag "I don't know. Just not that. What were you going to say?"

"I was, um, kinda wondering h-."

Before Peter could finish his question, the Black Sky was hopping up to her feet, which he quickly emulated before turning to look where she was. Five guys of varying statures and looks were entering the building opposite.

"Are those the guys?" Peter whispered even though there was no way for them to be heard.

"Looks like it," she replied "Let's go to that roof."

It took Peter a moment to realize she was prompting him and he wrapped his arm around her waist to do a quick swing over. She leaned over the edge once they landed, but there was no way to see the interior of the place from that spot.

"I'm going to go inside," she said "Try to talk to them. I'll give a signal if I need you."

"What signal?" Peter asked as she climbed up on the ledge.

"You'll know," she replied.

"Wait, do you need help-?" Before he could finish asking, she jumped off. He ran over to the edge to find that she somehow found purchase in the brick and managed to lower herself to the ground without injury.

"'You'll know,'" Peter repeated under his breath as he paced across the rooftop. How would he know? Did she think he had some sort of training where he would've learned this stuff?

If I need you.

If.

Peter could've groaned out loud; she didn't set a signal because there wasn't going to be one. She kicked ass, she wouldn't need his help. She had just needed transportation, that's why she found him. Not because-.

There was a sudden and loud crashing sound and Peter ran back to look over the ledge.

On the pavement there was a man flat on his back, groaning in pain before he finally seemed to allow himself to fall unconscious.

Peter swung down, not really knowing what to expect, but he found himself holding the door open when guy went flying towards it. He landed not too far from the other one and Peter poked his head inside to see what was going on.

He couldn't hold back a smile as he watched the Black Sky pummel a guy. But, as she made his face bloodier and bloodier, she didn't notice the skinnier guy in the group scrambling up off the ground and taking a knife out of his belt.

Peter reacted without thinking; the teen wannabe superhero landing a web on the man's hand and jerking him back, away from the Black Sky and directly into the metal doorway. As skinny dude regained his bearings, Peter hopped up onto the ceiling; catching the few ill-fated punches before knocking his head against the doorway again. This time, he fell to the ground: down for the count.

Peter landed on the floor just in time to watch the Black Sky land a final hit and drop the remaining guy. She took a breath before looking over at Peter, who wasn't entirely sure of what to say after all that.

"Told you you'd know."

.

"Is this good?" Peter asked, setting the Black Sky down on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen "I can get us closer, if you want."

"Trying to figure out where I live?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

"N-No, no, th-that's not—I just, I meant-," Peter stuttered, trying to get his original intentions across before he noticed the way she was looking at him "… You… You're… You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"It's pretty easy," she replied, Peter nodding sheepishly before his eyes caught on something and completely changed his train of thought.

"Your arm."

The Black Sky looked down to the spot on her right arm where her hoodie was ripped, presumably by some knife from earlier. From where he was, Peter couldn't tell if it went any deeper than her clothing, but he still felt genuine concern fill him.

"Oh, yeah. It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I know a good nurse," she said as if there was a joke he wasn't in on before sighing and becoming serious again"…Thanks for the help."

"Yeah, I mean, of course," Peter said, feeling warmth expand in his stomach "I had fun! I mean, uh, n-not fun. It was totally serious and-and-."

"I had fun too," the Black Sky interrupted, heading towards the edge of the building "See you around, Spider-Man."

"Yeah, definitely!" Peter replied, watching as she jumped over and once again managed to climb down to the ground. He turned away from where she was walking away and started doing a dance; she had fun too! She thanked him! Maybe he actually had a chance to work with this awesome-.

"I can see you!"