A Familiar Face
Leap Without Faith:
The 'five o'clock shift' was normally either the calmest or the most hectic of Peter's daily patrols. For one most muggers and drug dealers and the like aren't stupid enough to commit their crimes in broad daylight.
Despite this, every now and then a lone idiot would pop up. The counter argument he'd heard numerous times was that most vigilante's patrol at night so the risk of getting caught by a 'crazy in a mask' was lower. Peter liked to point out that if they didn't deal in illegal activities they wouldn't have to worry about vigilantes at all.
Idiotic muggers aside, midday was prime time for bank robberies…and the occasional super villain attack. Peter got the feeling they liked attacking in broad daylight so more people would be there to see their plan in action. Villains always had such needy egos.
So the five o'clock shift tended to be Peter's favourite because it was either a few hours of him lounging around on rooftops, alternating between warming himself under the baking sun and cooling off in the shade, or it was a few hours of him stopping whatever grand scheme the local criminals had planned out. It always seemed to be one or the other, no in between. And that day it was most definitely the latter.
Two bank robberies, four muggings, a drug deal gone wrong and a group of six armed guys attempting to illegally transport a crocodile later Peter half sat half collapsed on a rooftop. He was in fairly good shape, cuts and bruises mostly. He'd been lucky, that pesky reptile's teeth had barely grazed him anyway.
He pulled out his phone and checked the time, 6:30. Right, so one last circuit and if nothing came up he was going home to crash for about an hour before he ate and left for the night shift. But he was allowed to sit down for like five minutes first though, right? He'd certainly earned it.
Peter gave a content sigh and let his legs hang over the edge of the roof. He'd never been especially bothered by heights but after the spider bite they'd become something of a reassurance. He felt invincible up there, out of reach from the world.
He watched the cars crawl along like insects far beneath him.
For a short while he was happy. He didn't have to think about how many people he failed to save during those few precious hours of sleep he got each night or how he was going to make enough money to cover their bills that month. For a short while, he was allowed to just sit on the roof and let his mind go blank as he stared at the street below. Finally he gave a drawn out sigh before he pushed himself off the roof and let himself fall.
Sometimes he chose to fall headfirst and streak towards the ground at dangerous speeds but this time he spread out like he'd seen skydivers do on TV. It wasn't the first time he'd chosen this method, it was slower and not nearly as graceful as a nosedive but in that moment, with the air rushing past him and the ground approaching at a steady pace, he didn't care.
Well, he didn't care until his spidey-sense came alive in the base of his skull and he barely had enough time to look up in alarm before something crashed into him.
The air left his lungs and his ribs screamed in protest. It took him a moment to realise that he wasn't falling anymore, he was flying. He caught a flash of red material but before he could focus on…well, much of anything, he was dropped rather unceremoniously on a roof. The second he made impact he rolled and came up in a defensive crouch before taking in the sight before him.
A man in silver armour with a billowing red cape attached to his back by plates on his shoulders watched him from the edge of the roof. The light breeze was playing with his long blonde hair and the light reflected brilliantly off the…hammer he held in his hand.
"Are you alright, young Midgardian?" he asked with genuine worry in his booming voice.
There was a moment of silence that stretched on for an uncomfortable period of time but Peter was having a difficult time forming words. So he just stayed where he was, with one arm wrapped around his middle where his ribs still ached dully.
"Uhh…Did you just…Did you just catch me?" Peter stuttered as he slowly straightened up out of his crouch. Damn, of all the times to get stage fright.
"Indeed, from what I understand of Midgardian biology the damage sustained when falling is great," the man replied with an exaggerated nod. Peter felt like an idiot for not recognising him sooner but in his defence, his brain still felt a little muddled.
He took a second to collect his thoughts. Sure Clint had mentioned the 'Mighty Thor' once or twice but he'd neglected to go into detail about the actual Norse God part and instead focused on retelling the story of how the archer had ended up spending a little over an hour attempting to explain the microwave to him.
"Uh, yeah. Right. See I uh…I'm not a civilian…I'm Spider-Man," he said slowly. A confused expression crossed the man's face.
"Spider…man?" he repeated. A thought suddenly dawned on Peter. Clint had said the guy was essentially an alien.
"You know what a spider is right?"
If not then this explanation could easily get a thousand times more complicated.
Thor's face brightened in understanding. "Indeed! Son of Stark once spoke of the fearsome beasts you call 'spiders'. Things of many eyes and many legs but little body."
Why? Why did Thor of all people have to see him jump off a rooftop? Why couldn't it have been the Hulk? That encounter probably would have been less painful than this.
"They're not really that fearsome, big guy. Spiders are these tiny little creatures that are…sometimes dangerous but for the most part they're perfectly harmless. They just freak a lot of people out. Something about the way they move," Peter said quickly. He hoped this explanation would be enough to satisfy his curiosity but if the frown on Thor's face said anything, Peter wasn't getting off that easy.
"So you claim to not be an entirely fearsome beast, but also man?" he asked with a doubtful expression. Peter suppressed a frustrated sigh and opened his mouth but his attention was snatched away from Thor.
"No way," he muttered, the mask concealing the fact that his eyes went wide as a sound like an engine made itself present. His spidey sense hadn't quite calmed down after running (or falling) into Thor but now the faint prickle that predicted the possibility of danger had progressed into something closer to pins and needles.
There was an audible thunk as Ironman hit the roof, leaving a sizable dent in its surface. He stood up without even glancing at the crater beneath his feet and the mask flipped up revealing the billionaire inside.
"Point Break, if you didn't want to help Bruce move the piano you could have just said so and he would have asked Steve instead. Smashing through the window on the seventy ninth floor really wasn't necessary," Tony Stark said casually. Tony Stark. THE Tony Stark said casually.
"My apologies, friend Tony. The Man of Spiders appeared in need of assistance," Thor stated. Peter wanted to fade out of existence then and there.
"Man of Spiders?" Tony said questioningly and turned slightly to look at Peter. "Ah, Spider-Man. You're the web swinger, right?"
Peter gave a stiff nod, thankful that his mask hid the blush that was creeping across his face.
"I, uh…There was a bit of a misunderstanding," he muttered.
"Well, wouldn't be the first time. He's still working on the whole 'understanding out culture' thing," the billionaire said dismissively. "So, Spider-Man, you've met the muscle of the team. Wanna meet the rest?"
:::
Sadly, this was the last written chapter by the very talented consultingsorcerorof221B. The next chapter (or remainder of the story itself, honestly) is in my hands. I'll do my best to adequately fill his shoes and produce an amazing story for the fans. Please R/R. Thanks so much guys.
- FinallShadoww