"Why did you bring me here?! Hello! I know you can hear me!" The messy, blond woman was practically screeching like a cockatoo from inside of the interrogation room. She wore only a stained tank-top and not-so-school-friendly shorts. The cops that had brought her in cuffed her hands to the armrests of the chair because she had put up unreasonable amounts of resistance. She had been ranting and raving in the direction of the one-sided glass for the past 30 minutes.

Police Chief Stacy wanted to roll his eyes at the display, but chose to remain professional. "So, may I ask why exactly a domestic case is the business of two SHIELD agents?" He spoke to the man and woman standing beside him, who were also watching the woman.

"I've been investing Peter Parker for a few months now, Sir." Layla stated.

"Really? Your base of operations is interested in this family?" Stacy looked skeptical.

"No, the task was self-assigned." Layla continued to remain as professional as she could.

"Oh, I see, so you illegally broke into this woman's home to complete a pretend investigation? You couldn't wait for proper procedure? Or at least a permit?" The chief seemed upset now.

"I realize it was unprofessional, but-"

"I could have you two arrested. I should be reporting this to your supervisor." Stacy rubbed his hand over his face in exhaustion.

"With all due respect, Sir, I did not go looking for this case for fun. I met Peter Parker through a part-time job as a counselor at his school. Excuse my misconduct, but I couldn't just stand by as a child came into my office everyday with a beaten-down attitude and new injuries." Layla placed an emphasis on a few choice words to get her point across.

"The mere fact you know Peter compromises your judgment."

"Mr. Stacy, I know for a fact you have a daughter, Gwen Stacy. She's in Peter's class, they're both fifthteen. You of all people should know what it's like worrying for them. Peter's gone, and this woman is the only clue we have of finding him." The woman looked him straight in the eye with a dogged persistence.

"Mrs. Bateman, I can't just-"

"Please."

Layla had cut off the police chief. He looked between the couple. The man sighed and rubbed at his face again. He seemed to be having a brief internal struggle.

"Fine. Fine, you have 15 minutes. Off the charts. But I want a full briefing of anything you find out faxed to my office within the next hour, got it? Now you better get in there. Your time starts now." Stacy left the room after pressing a few buttons on the counsel by the door.

"Let's go." Layla shot a grin towards Richard as he stepped forward to follow her. She steeled her expression again as she opened the door to the questioning room.

"It's about time you idiots showed up. I demand to know what the hell gives you the right to keep me here! Where's my lawyer?" Came the delightful greeting as Layla and Richard entered.

"Why? Well, for starters, we can charge you for possession of illegal substances, child neglect, and felony tax evasion, among other things. Your under investigation of child abuse, forced child labor, child prostitution, assisted trade of illegal substances... shall I go on?" The woman rolled her eyes and glared at the mess in front of her.

Alexandra glared and growled, "That's quite enough, thanks."

Richard began, "Good, we just have a few questions to ask you, so-"

"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell I'm saying anything to you." Alexandra stated.

"Look, if you don't talk now, chances are you'll get off even worse in court." Layla reasoned. Though, the woman had no intention of allowing Peter's guardian to have anything relatively close to a forgiving sentence.

"I want my lawyer."

"You must have some idea of where Peter could be. We just want to find the boy. He could be hurt." Richard added.

"Well, I don't, okay? I have no clue where the brat could be, nor do I care."

The couple spent the next thirteen minutes trying, and failing, to get the woman to talk.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Peter stared unseeing ate the wall above his make-shift bed.

Ten days after Peter had retreated to his new hideout, and he was still no closer to working through his problem. Granted, he hadn't really bothered thinking about what his aunt had done yet. It brought back less than pleasant memories. At this rate, Peter didn't think he would ever return home. This thought didn't bother him as much as it should have. Maybe it would be better if Peter Parker just disappeared? After his aunt got out of jail(Peter had heard the police were keeping an eye out for him so he could testify what happened with his aunt) she wouldn't have to worry about Peter being around anymore. He figured his aunt wouldn't have too long of a sentence, since there wasn't much they could charge her for. Maybe prostitution and drugs possession, but Peter didn't know of much else. Once she got off her sentence, or maybe someone would bail her out, she could get a job. Maybe the new responsibilities would set her straight. She'd get a small place with her steady income and maybe even date again. She could be happy again.

Peter figured it was the least he could hope for. After all, if Peter had just stopped that robber, Uncle Ben would still be alive, and Aunt Alexandra and himself wouldn't be in this mess.

Peter sighed. There was no point in living in the past. What's done is done. All the teen could do now is stay in hiding and hope he wasn't found.

On the bright side, Peter had gotten into a pretty decent routine after the week and a half of living in the old house. Speaking of which... Peter checked his phone, it read 7:21. The teen got up and changed into one of his few pairs of clothes. He needed to go to a laundromat soon, he noted mentally. Not ten minutes later, Peter grabbed a few bucks and headed out of the house, making sure, as always, that nobody was around to see him.

Peter walked through the park and into the city business area on the other side. At 8:00 Peter arrived at a public bathing house, one which he had been going to everyday for the past week.

After bathing, Peter walked to a cheep Cafe across the street, where he ordered some eggs, toast, and coffee. After eating, he headed home. On his walk back through the park, he passed by a blonde-haired, blue-eyed jogger, one who he had passed everyday at about 9:00 AM.

As soon as Peter got back to the house, he napped and lounged around for the next three hours. He made a PB&J sandwich with the few food items he owned, which was so petty because he had no means of refrigeration.

At 12:30, Peter left the house again. For the next seven hours, he spent his time at the park, walking, at the library, at stores, and in several other places. Then he went back home again and rested.

Through this entire daily routine, Peter was wary of any and all security cameras. He used his spidey sense to avoid as many as he could, and for the ones that were impossible to stay out of sight of, he would casually turn his head in the other direction, so it wouldn't see his face. Peter knew it was unlikely the police would go as far as to check cameras while looking for him, but he would rather be safe than sorry.

Peter looked at his phone clock, and it said it was almost nine. Peter smiled and slipped into his black and white costume, preparing for the final part of his daily routine. This was also his favorite part. It had gotten dark almost two hours ago and now the city and the moon were the only sources of any light.

Peter was about to leave the house when there was a sudden crash coming from downstairs. Peter startled slightly, not expecting the routine to be interrupted like this. He was on the second floor, and the sound came from the first. Deciding it would be quieter than the floor, Peter jumped onto the ceiling and crawled downstairs quickly, keeping to the shadows. What Peter saw didn't really surprise him.

It was a group of three teenage boys, all probably around his own age.

"Holy crap, Alex, could you be any louder? I don't think the whole neighborhood is awake yet." A brunette yelled at a blond, whose name was, apparently, Alex.

"Well sorry, your highness. Not everyone can be as graceful as you, Ninja sensei." Alex added heavy layers of sarcasm to his voice as he gave a mock bow.

"Hey, nitwits, now is not the time to argue. We have a bet to finish, and I plan on getting my share. If you want yours, quit being useless." The black-haired boy scolded the other two as he inspected the stairs to the basement.

"Tch- Harry doesn't care about the money. His rich daddy gives him all that he desires. He just wants to show the girls at school that he actually has some balls. His man pride was damaged at Lucy's party when-" Alex was cut of as the brunette, Harry, grabbed the collar of his shirt.

Harry growled, "Why I ought to-"

"Hey!" The yet-to-be-named boy yelled, "Break it up, Bone heads!" He got in the middle of the other two boys and pushed them apart.

"He started it..." Harry grumbled.

"I don't care who did what, I just wanna get the job done and get out. Do you know how mad my parents will be if they see I left? I'll be dead, so quit wasting time! Now get out the video recorder. I've got the flashlight." The black-haired boy, apparently the leader, said.

"Sorry Jack." Alex and Harry said in unison.

"Good." The newly dubbed Jack approved. Then he turned on the flashlight. A bright, LED light was suddenly shining on Harry, who was shuffling through his bag to get the recorder.

In the new light, Peter recognized the boy's as people in his grade. He never really talked to them, or anyone, for that matter, but they were never particularly mean to Peter either. Harry pulled out a black device, and pushed a few buttons on it. "We're recording. I have night vision on."

Jack shined the flashlight around the room. Luckily, he kept the beam of light trained on the floor, otherwise, his position on the ceiling may have been exposed. Even so, Peter crept a little further back. He couldn't risk being spotted.

"So, do you guys really think this place is haunted?" Alex asked quietly.

"Nah, ghosts aren't real," assured Jack, "And anyway, we're here to prove this old place isn't haunted."

Peter smiled to himself. So that's why they broke in. He understood how this place could be creepy, and he couldn't really blame them for wanting to check it out, but he also couldn't allow them to wander around in here. If they found anything, like his clothes or unsoiled foods, he would be busted. Peter knew he would have to get the three boys out, the question is, how?

After a moment, the teen decided he would have to scare them out, but that was taking a big risk. If he scared these boys out, odds are hoards more children will come flocking in to test their bravery in the 'haunted house'. Peter knew he couldn't have that happening. He would have to make sure the boys knew not to come back.

Then again... Peter could just quickly hide all of his belongings, kick some dust around, and let his classmates do their thing...

But where's the fun in that?

Peter quietly followed them into the kitchen, where they seemed to have opted to go first. They shined the light around the room, and Jack looked into a few cupboards. Harry and Alex were preoccupied with messing with the stove to see if it would light. Peter knew the stove could in fact turn on, but only the gas, you had to use a lighter to actually start a fire. The two boys didn't know this, so when they turned the knobs, they were leaving the gas on and letting it flow freely into the room. Peter rolled his eyes. It was a good thing he was here, otherwise these boys would be a danger to themselves.

Peter shot a web at one of the cupboards behind Jack, and it closed with a loud slam. The three teens jumped, "What was that?" Alex exclaimed is surprise.

Jack had already spun around and pointed his flashlight towards where he heard the noise, but didn't see anything. The blackette scoffed, "It was probably just a draft, this house is so old, it's a wonder the wind hasn't just blown it over already."

The other two teens nodded their agreement, albeit a bit uncertainly.

Peter took this opportunity to turn off the gas stove, since the teens were distracted. With that the three moved on to the dining room, which was in the same area as the kitchen, but the tiled floors let to hard wood, separating the one room into two. From the dining room, you could get back to the living room by passing right in front of the stairs, you could go to the washing room, or the downstairs bathroom. Peter was glad he hadn't gone into that bathroom yet, as a layer of dust coated everything. Including the mirror. This gave Peter an idea.

Peter climbed across the wall and into the bathroom. He quickly scrawled something into the dust on the mirror. As the boys were investigating the washing room, he gave a loud knock on the mirror and hid in the bathroom closet.

"Did you hear that? I think it came from the bathroom."

"Lets check it out."

These three couldn't be more of a cliche.

The three walked into the bathroom a moment later. Jack shined the light around the small room, and gasped when it fell onto the mirror.

"Holy- what the-!?" Jack cut himself off in his own surprise, for written one the mirror was two words: GET OUT. The think that was weird, was the word was written backwards, as if someone had written it from the other side of the mirror.

"You know... maybe this isn't worth twenty dollars..." Jack began. Harry and Alex nodded in feverish agreement. With that, the three ran out of the bathroom, past the stairs, and back into the living room. Peter chuckled to himself as he silently followed them. Seems his classmates were smarter than he had originally thought.

Peter had made the thought too soon, though. He mentally cursed when Harry tripped near the collapsed part of the floor and fell on some week boards. The brunette screamed as he fell through the floor. Peter acted quickly, projecting himself downwards and webbing up the place below where Harry was falling. The web was a little to low though, and while it did slow the fall, it didn't completely stop the impact. Harry was groaning in pain. It was nothing serious, but he would definitely feel it in the morning.

"Harry! Are you okay!?" Shouted Alex.

"Yeah... but I'm stuck in a bunch of sticky crap. My arms are too trapped to tear loose." The teen responded.

"Hang tight, we're gonna come down." Jack assured and the remaining teens went off in search of the stairway down, meanwhile, Peter remained in hiding.

Peter simply watched as the two teens helped their friend onto his feet, up the stairs, and out the door.

Peter decided that was both the strangest and most anti climatic thing to ever happen to him.

Peter looked at his phone: 9:30. That hadn't taken too long. Peter could still finish the final part of his routine. His new favorite pass-time.

He exited the house and began his patrol.

The public had forgotten Phantom in favor of the new vigilante in town. The vigilante that while never caught on video or camera, was seen enough to give a decent description. The new hero in town often left a calling card at the scene of all his deeds.

'Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man'

This one was shorter... writing this is getting harder. T-T

Wish me luck next time