A/N: HEYY GUYS!
So I got my SAT scores today and let's just say I'm glad I did better on the ACT instead.
ANYway, just a quick heads up, this chapter has a littleeeeee spoiler for Far From Home. I mean, like really, really small spoiler. As in it's not even a spoiler, but maybe it would help you put two and two together when you watch the movie. But it's only like one line so I put a spoiler warning before and after it and you can just skip that part, and won't really make a difference to the rest of the chapter.
Also, this chapter is almost 8,000 words long, can I please have a round of applause for having two long chapters in one month AND getting them out on time? *bows* Why, thank you, thank you.
Last thing, you're going to love this chapter. Like, A LOT.
Thebookworm33: When the story started, Adie was starting in the middle of 8th grade and she was 13. The end of that year was Age of Ultron. Now she's 14 and a freshman in high school. To answer your question, my favorite friendship is Tony and Happy as well. They've just been through a lot of crap for each other *starts to tear up*. And Civil War is coming realllyyyy close so you'll get to see which side she's on soon..;) Anyway, thank you leaving a review and good luck on re-reading!
Oriande Moonshadow: You'll find out who wins in this chapter...*evil grin*
Thank you to: Shiranai Atsune, RAD092515, Blue457, FigurativelyDying, bwlchck, Oriande Moonshadow, and Thebookworm33 for either following/favoriting or leaving a review! Just in case you haven't gotten the memo, I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE FOLLOW/FAVORITE OR LEAVE ME A REVIEW SO THANK YOU GUYS!
"Stop looking."
"Officials say he's helped the NYPD catch over a hundred robbers in the past three months alone. He calls himself, and I quote, 'a friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man.' What made this hero decide to help his neighborhood, no one knows. But one thing's for sure, he's nice to have around. In other news…"
Spider-Man was a peculiar hero in Adelaide's opinion. She found it strange that he only 'worked out of the good of his heart.' It was the 21st century. Nobody did anything unless there was something in it for them. Maybe the government was secretly paying him or maybe he worked with the NYPD undercover. No other explanation made sense to her. Whoever he was, she thought he was...strange.
"Why aren't you dressed yet?" Pepper asked, coming to stand behind the couch the teenager was sitting on. Adelaide looked down at what she was wearing. It was the same thing she had put on this morning when she got dressed for school: jeans, a shirt, and a leather jacket.
"...I am dressed," Adelaide answered.
"I wasn't aware that we were going to a motorcycle street race," the woman said, narrowing her eyes at the teenager, "Get dressed. No leather. No black."
"Fine," Adelaide groaned, dragging herself off the couch to her room. She wasn't sure she had anything that wasn't leather or black. Nevertheless, she rummaged through her closet and walked out a few minutes later wearing a navy blue dress with white collars.
The last time she had worn a dress, it had been at the party Tony had thrown to celebrate the capture of Loki's scepter from the HYDRA base. That was one party that hadn't ended well. Admittedly, being in a dress had made it a lot harder to fight the ultron bots and Adelaide contemplated going back to change into jeans in case something decided to go wrong at the science fair. But before she could, Pepper stopped her.
"See, you do own clothes that aren't leather or black," she smiled. The teenager frowned.
"I hate wearing dresses," she grumbled.
"Don't worry, you'll be out of it soon," the woman reassured her, patting her shoulder. "Now come on, or we will be late."
"Relax honey," Tony said, adjusting his suit, "It doesn't start until 7:30 and its only 7."
"It's literally an hour away, how can you say that," Pepper deadpanned. They began bickering about the billionaire's lack of respect for time and Pepper's need to be everywhere ten minutes early and how many episodes of Downton Abbey Happy had missed because of that.
Adelaide tuned them out to avoid the headache. She had formulated a plan to not raise suspicion. Tony and Pepper would drive themselves to the school while Happy drove Adelaide. That way, no one would see her getting out of the car with them.
"Guys," Adelaide said but neither of the two paid any attention to her. They were bickering like little kids. Adelaide heard a ding! from the elevator and she turned around to find Happy walking into the penthouse.
"No luck?" Happy asked, walking up to her.
"None," she sighed. Adelaide faced them again, realizing it was probably going to be 7:30 soon if they didn't leave now. Taking a deep breath, she pulled a familiar tingle to the tips of her fingers and made Tony and Pepper both invisible.
The bickering stopped and a moment later she heard a sigh.
"Adelaide," Pepper sighed. She made the woman visible again with a wave of her hand and they both patiently waited for Tony to surrender. He didn't say anything for a while so Adelaide made him visible again but he wasn't standing where she had last seen him.
"What are you still doing there, you're going to make me late."
They all turned around to find the billionaire standing in the elevator with a prominent smirk on his face and they all rolled their eyes, following him to the elevator.
"Gosh, you take forever," he grinned as the teenager walked into the elevator. Adelaide narrowed her eyes at him threateningly.
"You remember my rules, right?" she asked him as the elevator went down.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" the billionaire asked and Adelaide smiled, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, honey, did you schedule our flight for next week?" Tony asked, turning to Pepper standing on the other side of him. The teenager raised an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Atlantis," Tony answered.
"MIT," Pepper said, ignoring him, "Stark industries is giving a keynote speech about the new…"
"Barf," Tony said and everyone in the elevator gave him a strange look. "Barf, it's Barf – we talked about this. Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing – I really need to fix that acronym."
The elevator opened and they all walked out into the lobby. Happy went ahead to get the car while they waited behind.
"What do they do?" Adelaide asked the billionaire.
"The BARF relies on an implant installed on a pair of glasses that connects with the user's hippocampus, allowing it to find a certain traumatic memory and alter it before projecting that memory onto an external infrastructure," Tony recited. Adelaide raised a judgemental eyebrow.
"You made smart glasses and decided to name them Barf?" she asked.
"I didn't decide anything," Tony argued, "the name acronym just...happened. Anyway, you should come with us, it's only a one day trip. Besides, you helped me design them."
"I did?" Adelaide asked. She barely knew what half of the equipment in Tony's lab did, how did she help him make something as complicated as...well, BARF.
"A few months ago, I asked you to make illusions for me?"
Adelaide tried to remember. It was that day she was trying to look at the video of her father before she went to Peter's and they...kissed.
"Yeah," she breathed before she started stirring up memories that she didn't want to remember, "I remember. So you made them?"
[SPOILER STARTS]
"Sure," the billionaire shrugged, "Okay fine, I didn't but one of my employees did. Quincy Baker...something like that."
[SPOILER ENDS]
"Okay," she shrugged, "I'll come." It was probably a good idea to leave New York for a while, considering how suffocating it had been the past few days. A little trip could be good for her.
Adelaide felt her phone buzz in her purse (which Pepper had forced her to take even though Adelaide thought it looked ridiculous) but before she could see who it was, she heard Happy honking outside and they all left the Tower together, riding away in their own separate cars.
As they drove towards the science fair, Adelaide couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong tonight...
"I can't believe I am going to miss your science fair," May sniffled.
"It's not like you got sick on purpose," Peter smiled, tucking her into her bed, "Are you sure that you want me to go? I can stay here with you."
"No, no, you go. You've worked hard on your project and Adelaide and Ned need you there with them. I'll be fine here watching The Bachelor," May smiled and then sneezed into a tissue. Peter winced. He really didn't want to leave May here by herself like this but she had a point. They had worked on the Deathboard for weeks now and Ned and Ada would be pissed if he didn't show up.
"Extra box of tissues and your phone are right here. There's still some chicken soup in the fridge if you get hungry. Oh and cough drops are in this drawer. And drink lots of water okay? And if you need anything, just call me," Peter rambled.
"I'm going to be fine, Peter," she smiled. Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hated to leave her right now.
"I'll be back as soon as the fair ends," he said, dropping a quick kiss on her forehead. He was wearing khakis and a black button-up shirt which he had ironed – something he never did. But tonight was important and everyone was going to be dressed up.
"Bring me home a trophy," May smiled. Peter returned her smile and gently closed the door. He hated to admit it, especially since May had gotten sick, but he was really excited about tonight. He was actually going to get to meet Mr. Stark! Peter hadn't let himself get too excited because, up until now, he was sure that he had been dreaming. But now it was really happening, he was really going to get to meet Mr. Stark.
Grabbing his phone and the bag with the hoverboard, he left the apartment and locked it behind him. He checked his watch. It was about 7:15 and the science fair was going to start in 15 minutes. Peter hurried downstairs to hail a cab. The last thing he wanted was to be late.
Peter froze in his tracks as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up with a familiar tingle.
Oh no...Cursing his bad luck, he quickly ran upstairs to grab his suit. He thought that he wouldn't need it tonight, but he should have known better.
"Come on," he grumbled to himself, shoving the key into the lock of the apartment. He pushed the door open and hurried inside to get his suit.
"Peter? Is that you?" May shouted from her room.
"Yeah I...uh left my phone!" he shouted back, grabbing his suit.
"Oh, okay!" she replied and Peter hoped that she wouldn't come out of her room as he pulled his suit on.
"Bye May!" he shouted. He didn't wait to hear her reply as he quickly locked the door. His science fair clothes were stuffed with the hoverboard in the backpack around his shoulders and he was now wearing his suit as he swung out from the top floor of the apartment complex, letting his sense lead him to the scene of the crime.
As he swung towards the setting sun, he tried to call Ada to let her know that he would be late but she didn't answer. He quickly texted her instead, hoping that she would see it.
Happy dropped Adelaide off at the front doors of the school and then circled back to find a parking space. Adelaide walked inside, hearing her heels click with each step. She held back a groan. She hated wearing heels; she could never balance in them and they always gave her away.
The hallways were dark and quiet with the exception of a couple of parents coaching their kids on their presentation.
He was nowhere to be seen either. Adelaide had looked for Graves all day but she concluded that he just hadn't come to school today. She hoped that he would be here tonight so she could confront him but her chances were slim. She just hoped that she would see him again soon; she didn't know how much longer she could go with this anxious energy in her stomach.
Now that she was closer to the gym, she could hear the faint music and chatter. She wondered if Tony and Pepper were already here as she pushed open the doors. By the looks of it, the fair was just now getting started. Adelaide instinctively tugged her dress down, feeling strange to be in a dress at school. At school, she was usually wearing something leather and black, not navy blue and fancy.
"Adelaide!"
She saw Ned waving at her from the table their board was set up at and she made her way over to him. Adelaide wondered why Peter wasn't here yet.
"Hey," she smiled, "you look nice."
"Thanks," Ned said. He was wearing khakis and a red shirt with small palm trees on it. "You too."
"They haven't started yet, have they?" she asked, glancing around.
"No, they're waiting for Mr. Stark to get here," he said. Adelaide rolled her eyes.
"We'll be here all night if we waited for him," she said, "He took forever to even leave the house tonight. And why isn't Peter here yet?"
"He called me a few minutes ago and told me that he might be a little late," Ned said, "May got sick."
"Oh," she said, checking her phone, "I have a missed call from him and he texted me that he would be late too. I hope May is okay."
"Me too," Ned said, "And I hope Peter gets here on time."
"He better, or we won't have a hoverboard," Adelaide sighed, putting her phone back in her purse. She anxiously glanced at the door, hoping he would walk in at that moment.
"Торопись, пожалуйста," she whispered under her breath. (Hurry, please.)
But the door didn't open.
Peter peered over the edge of the rooftop, into the bank across the street.
The lights were off and it was starting to get darker outside, but he could make out the figure of three different men, each of them armed with a gun.
He swung down from the rooftop and landed swiftly beside the bank building.
"Give us the money!" one of the men shouted. Peter carefully peeked inside through one of the windows. There were three armed men huddling around a short, bald man who Peter assumed worked at this bank and an old woman who Peter assumed must have been a customer with seriously bad timing. They both looked terrified to have a gun pointed at their heads.
"Please let me go!" the bald man begged, on the verge of tears, "I have a family!"
"Then give us the money, and we will spare your ass," another thief said, tilting his head and clicking his gun. He had a slight hispanic accent.
"P-Please, I'll lose my job!" the man begged. The old woman began crying quietly.
The tallest thief moved his arm and shot the wall behind the banker and the woman, making them jump up in fright.
"Give us the damn money!" he roared.
"Okay! Okay, I-I'll do it!" the banker said, putting his hands up. Slowly, he walked out from behind the desk with the old woman following closely behind and into a hall which Peter assumed led to the vaults. Two of the three men followed them down the hall, each holding a gun to their heads. The third stayed in the lobby to keep watch. The teenager checked his watch, silently cursing. The fair must have already started.
With a sigh, he walked into the bank when the man had his back turned to him.
"Is this a bad time?" Peter asked, "I can always come back later…"
In a second, the thief turned around, aiming his gun at Peter.
"Spider-Man?" the thief asked, sounding surprised that this weird superhero wasn't just something that media had cooked up. The thief quickly pulled himself together and shot at the strange superhero standing in front of him. Luckily, Peter was already hanging from the ceiling before the bullet came even close to hitting him.
"Woah," he breathed, "Not friendly service! You know, I can give you a bad review on Yelp!"
The thief responded by shooting him again. Peter swung out of the way just in time and quietly landed behind the desk with the robber's back to him.
"Over here!" Peter shouted and shot out a web, slinging the gun out of the robber's hand before he could shoot him again.
"That's enough for today," Peter smiled. The thief narrowed his eyes through the eye holes in his black mask and pulled out another gun without breaking eye contact. Peter rolled his eyes under his own mask. People never seemed to grasp the concept of the web.
"I'll take that, please," Peter said, holding his arm out to shoot a web. Instead of a web, he heard an infamous click and he realized that he had forgotten to refill his web shooters and now they were empty.
And then he heard another infamous click followed by a cold metal being pressed to his head.
"Put your hands up," a low voice said in his ear. Peter gulped.
Uh oh…
"Where is he?" Adelaide groaned.
The fair had already started and the judges were coming to their table next. If Peter didn't come in the next five minutes then they weren't going to have a hoverboard to present.
"Have you tried calling him?" Ned asked.
"Only a million times," she grumbled, glancing at the door again, "But he won't pick up." Even Tony and Pepper were here already. They had texted her as soon as they arrived and now they were waiting in the office for the judges to finish seeing everyone's project so they could come out when they announced the winner and hand them the prize.
Two places before them, Michelle had done her project on a cheap and green water filtration system for remote areas and third world countries that didn't have clean drinking water. All three judges at her table seemed impressed by her project.
"We're next," Ned said, his eyes wide as he watched the judges move from Michelle's presentation to Flash's. Ned cringed. He couldn't believe he had done an experiment on 'why chicks dig me.' He thought he saw the judges making the same expressions as they listened to Flash's presentation.
"At least Flash isn't competition," Ned mumbled to himself.
"What are we going to do, Ned?" Adelaide whispered, quietly panicking.
"I don't know…" Ned whispered and they both looked at each other with worried eyes.
"Put down the gun," the man said slowly, pressing his own gun harder into his temple. Peter dropped the gun and it fell to the tiled floor. The man behind him kicked it to his partner who picked it up and aimed it at Peter as well.
Right now was a terrible time to run out of webbing.
"Now you're going to come down here with us and help us load the cash into our van," the man said, pushing Peter ahead. He needed to find a way out of this situation but he had never fought without his webbing.
Peter let them lead him into the vault where the banker and the old woman from earlier were loading money into the large black duffel bags. They gave the teenager in the red and blue spandex suit a strange look as the robbers pushed him in.
"Don't take too long," the thief behind him growled into his ear and then shoved him onto the floor to load the cash. As the three of them quietly and quickly loaded the cash, the two robbers behind him were discussing something quietly but Peter was just barely able to hear them.
"Once they finish, you start the van and I'll put a bullet in these three."
Peter's eyes widened under his mask. They were going to kill them. He looked up but the banker and old woman hadn't seemed to hear the conversation. He needed to do something and quick. If he fought them right now, there was a chance that one of them might accidentally shoot the banker or the old woman. He decided he would have to wait until one of them went into the van.
Soon, they were almost finished loading the cash into the van and the tallest thief went to the van through the back entrance.
"When I say go, you run out of the vault, okay?" Peter whispered to the banker and the old woman. They both looked at him with terrified expressions but stayed silent out of fear. Peter stood up, stretching his arms.
"Man, I'm really tired," he yawned, "Do you guys have like an energy drink or something?"
"Load the van, kid," the shorter thief said without looking at him.
"No, I don't think I will," Peter said and ducked under, kicking the robber's legs out from under him. He fell over and Peter snatched his gun as the other thief ran towards him. Peter pointed the gun at him threateningly – he wasn't going to shoot, of course, but the thief man didn't need to know that.
"Put your hands up!" Peter said.
"B-But...you're...uh…holding it backwards," the thief said and Peter glanced down at his hands, realizing that he was right. He quickly flipped the gun around so it was pointing the right way.
"Now put your hands up!" he shouted again and the thief did. The shorter thief who was still laying on the ground groaned and stirred, sitting up. Peter glanced at the banker and the old woman who were watching in shock as Spider-Man saved their lives.
"Go! Go! Go!" Peter shouted and they both broke into a run, running out of the open vault.
"Call the cops!" Peter shouted after them. The taller thief took advantage of Peter's distracted state and knocked the gun out of his hand, causing it slide over to the other side of the vault. Just barely, Peter deflected a fist coming towards his face by tumbling away. Now both thieves were up and one of them still had a gun. He shot it at Peter but he jumped up, attaching himself to the ceiling.
Dodging bullets, he crawled over to the entrance of the vault where his spidey sense told him the tallest thief was about to enter. As soon as he walked through, Peter jumped on his shoulders, knocking his head against one of the metal drawers.
"One down, two to go," he said to himself.
The taller thief was shooting at him again and Peter groaned as he dodged the bullets. This would have gone a lot faster if he had his webbing. Barely any noise came into the vault but Peter could hear the faint sound of police sirens coming from outside.
Holding himself up on the ceiling with his hands, he swung his feet, hitting the thief with the gun in the face and knocking him out.
"That looks like it hurt," Peter winced. He glanced over to see the last thief trying to make a run for it. He swung himself over and landed right in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Sorry about this," Peter said and punched him in the face.
"Hello?" Adelaide said.
"Oh, hi Adelaide," May said, following up with a sneeze, "How's the science fair going? Sorry I couldn't make it."
"Peter told me you fell sick," Adelaide said, "Is he there with you? I need to talk to him but he won't pick up his phone."
"But Peter left almost an hour ago," May said, starting to sound worried, "Is he not there with you guys?"
"He did?" Adelaide asked, surprised. If he left an hour ago, why wasn't he here yet? Where the hell was he?
"Oh, look, there he is! Bye, May!" she lied, faking a laugh and hanging up before she could ask to speak with him. The last thing she needed was for May to start worrying. Especially right now when she was sick and by herself. Sighing, Adelaide slid her phone into her purse, glancing at the doors again.
"Any luck?" Ned asked and Adelaide shook her head. They were so screwed. Without the hoverboard, they had no presentation and all of their hard work would have been for nothing.
"Are you ready?" someone said and Adelaide realized the judges were already at their table. There were three judges, two men and one woman and they were all smiling at her expectantly. She glanced at Ned and they both shared a worried look.
"Um, y-yes, of course," Adelaide stuttered, "Ned?"
"R-Right, the speech," he started, fishing index cards out of his pocket, "Um, well, the name of our project is F.L.I.P.E.D., which stands for Flying and Levitating Indigo Plate Ergo Deathboard. The Deathboard is a revolutionary piece of vehicular equipment that can hover or fly over any surface with the use of two propellers. It is environmentally friendly and runs on a rechargeable lithium polymer battery…"
Adelaide's heart beat at twice its usual speed as Ned gave his speech. She knew what was coming next, but Peter still wasn't here yet. She had already tried to call him a million times now but he wasn't answering his phone. And May said she didn't know where he was, even though he had left over an hour ago.
"Fascinating," the woman said, her eyes sparkling with amazement once Ned was finished. In fact, all three judges looked impressed.
"I agree," the man said, "Wonderful job."
"Why don't we see a coordinated demonstration of this marvelous hoverboard?" the other man asked with a smile. Adelaide gave Ned a panicked look. Licking her dry lips, she took a shaky breath in.
"Actually," she started, her nerves in a bundle, "we don't have the hoverboard with us at the moment. It's a funny story really –"
"Are you saying that you don't have your project?" the woman asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Well, not exactly –"
"OurfriendPeterhastheprojectandhehasn'tshownupyet," Ned rambled and then glanced at Adelaide. This was it. This was all over their hard work going down the drain.
"I am sorry to say this, but, without a project we have no choice but to...disqualify you," the woman said.
Adelaide saw the image of their project winning shattering. All of that work...all of their efforts...all gone. All for nothing.
And then she saw herself breaking Peter's nose. Dead. He was dead. He was a very dead, dead man walking.
"Please welcome Tony Stark and Pepper Potts!" the principal announced on the stage and everyone in the room erupted into cheers as Tony and Pepper walked onto the stage. They were both smiling at the audience but something wasn't right about it. They looked distracted.
"Good evening!" Pepper smiled, "Everyone's projects here tonight look amazing! Tony and I are so glad to be here! As you know, there is a 5,000 dollar prize to the first place winner so I wish good luck to all of you as the judges announce our winner tonight!"
"Second place winner gets to clean my car for me," Tony joked and everyone laughed. Pepper handed the microphone to one of the judges – the woman – and everyone in the room fell into an anxious silence as they waited for her to announce the winner.
Ned and Adelaide were both standing by their table, sulking. They had gotten disqualified because of Peter and now there was no chance that they were going to win any prizes tonight. Adelaide had tried calling him again, but he still didn't pick up. What made her even angrier was that she found herself worrying about him. Was he okay? What if he was passed out by a dumpster somewhere?
"The third place prize goes to...George Reed!" the judge announced and everyone cheered as George walked up the steps to claim his certificate. Adelaide's gaze fell on Tony and Pepper standing with the other two judges and the principal. What was going on with them? Why did they look so...angry?
"The second place winner is...Liz Allen!"
Even Ned cheered loudly for Liz with everyone else as she claimed her prize despite his depressing night. Adelaide only half-heartedly clapped for her.
"And finally, our first place winner is…"
Suddenly, Adelaide saw a glimpse of a man she had been looking for all day though the windows in the doors of the gym. Her breath hitched.
Graves.
He was here.
"...Michelle Jones!"
"I'll be right back," she told Ned before taking off after Graves. He couldn't have gone far, he was just here in this hallway. Adelaide winced with every step as her heels gave her away. She quickly took them off, leaving them under a bulletin board and deciding that she would pick them up later. She couldn't let him get away, not now.
Barefoot, she silently padded through the dark hallway, looking for another glimpse. Just when she thought that maybe she had imagined him, she turned the corner, and saw him hurrying down the hall, towards the library.
"Hey! Wait!" she shouted out after him but he didn't stop. Rather, he quickened his pace and ducked into the library. Cursing at herself for being slow, she hurried into the library where it seemed to be even darker than the hallway.
"Hello?" she called, looking around. She had the urge to make herself invisible but she held back. He wouldn't hurt her. If he wanted to, he would have done it weeks ago; she had given him plenty of chances, being as naive as she was.
You've gotten so pathetic...You didn't use to be like this...
"Graves?" she said, feeling strange for not calling him coach. But after what she had seen, she knew for a fact that he was no coach.
I used to be the only one who stood a chance against you…
His words hissed in her head like a snake digging its fangs into her flesh. She shivered at the memory of him sliding a knife into her hand, looking down at her with his wicked eye. Adelaide reached up her dress, pulling the knife she had strapped just above her knee. It was the knife he had given to her.
Be who you really are…
"I know you're in here," she said through gritted teeth, prowling towards the back of the library where the bookshelves were.
They made you too soft…
"Come out here, you coward!" she shouted, feeling the anger from that night returning, "You said they made me too soft, remember? Well, you're wrong. I'm here now and I don't care what I have to do to get my answers from you!"
You'll get to be yourself soon…
"Who am I!" she shouted angrily, "Tell me why I can't remember!"
See this? You gave it to me. This is what you are, Rivers.
"What did I do to you?" she asked with a shaky voice as she walked past each bookshelf, searching for him, "Why did I hurt you?"
I know you're angry.
"What did I do, tell me!" she shouted. Adelaide was almost on the verge of tears now. She hated this, everything about it. The darkness, the anticipation, the questions, and, most of all...the fear of herself. With every passing second it grew worse. She was a weak, pathetic, schoolgirl who was scared of herself.
"You did a lot, sweetheart," Graves said mockingly. Adelaide turned around with the knife raised to find him standing there with a cocky smile on his face and a bottle of beer in his hand. All the anger from before disappeared and she wanted nothing more than to fall to her knees and beg him to tell her everything. She found herself frozen as he took a step towards her.
"There's no going back from what you did," he smirked, stepping even closer. She couldn't move her eyes from him.
"What," she whispered, her voice sounding foreign to her, "did I do?"
"Unforgivable things," Graves grinned wickedly. He was right in front of her now and Adelaide flinched as he raised his hand. He held her chin, making her look up at his face, glinting from the light coming from the window behind her. "Things that they will do to you in hell when you get there, if you believe there is one."
"Who am I?" she whispered.
"I don't think you want to know," he grinned.
"Tell me," she begged.
"You're not who you think you are," he answered cryptically. "You're something much, much worse."
Adelaide was beginning to grow frustrated at his confusing answers.
"Tell me!" she shouted.
"Sorry sweetheart, but I'm afraid I've already said too much," he grinned, taking a step back. Adelaide let out a breath, swallowing.
"You work for Lukov," she stated and he didn't disagree.
"The money, he gave it to you," she said and he stayed silent.
"You work for him. He pays you to keep an eye on me," she said and Graves ran his tongue over his teeth in response.
"How does he know me?" she asked with a shaky voice. Graves began laughing as if she had made some kind of joke.
"How does Lukov know you?" he laughed, "Good one, Rivers."
"Where is he right now?" Adelaide asked, holding her ground. She could feel her hope slipping away. This was her only chance at getting answers from him but he wasn't willing to tell her anything. She didn't think she could go another day without hearing the truth.
"Now that, I can answer," he said, pointing at her, "I don't know."
He wasn't lying. If he was, he would have lied to her other questions. But he really didn't know where Lukov was. He did know everything else, but he was just refusing to tell her. Why? What did he know? Adelaide found herself twisting the knife in her hand.
"Alright, this has gone on long enough," he said, waving his hands, "Listen, I'm not going to tell you anything so just give up now, okay?"
"I am never going to give up," Adelaide said and she meant it in more ways than one. Graves laughed again, shaking his head.
"Of course you're not," he said, walking past her. He stopped between the two bookshelves, just under the window and Adelaide would later curse at herself for not realizing what he was planning sooner. He set his bottle of beer on the shelf.
"Which is why, I am going to leave," he grinned, reaching into his pocket for something. He held it up and it glinted in the light from the window. Adelaide's breath hitched in her throat.
A lighter.
"Here's my advice," he started. He was grinning like a madman now as he started the lighter. Adelaide was frozen in her spot as he brought the lighter closer to the wooden bookshelf.
He looked in her in the eye as he ignited the entire shelf.
It immediately caught on fire and burst into flames, the books on it fueling it faster. The shelf groaned as it began to tip forward, towards the shelf in front of it.
"Stop looking," was the last thing Adelaide heard before the bookshelf collapsed.
Peter thought he was too big of a coward to go to school now and face Ada and Ned. He decided to go home instead. Aunt May was probably already asleep by now and he would have no problem sneaking in and going right to bed. He would think of some excuse to tell May tomorrow.
After the police had come into the vault, they had thanked him – thanked him! – and he left shortly after to let them do their job. He had to admit that he felt pretty proud of himself for gaining the attention he had as Spider-Man. He knew if Uncle Ben were here, he would have been proud of him.
Peter was just going through all the different ways he would have told Uncle Ben about his secret identity if he were still here when he saw an ambulance and firetruck speed by under him as he swung over the street.
He let his instincts take over as he began following the emergency vehicles. They were heading towards...no, no way, that wasn't possible, he thought. But the closer they got, the more certain he became.
They were headed towards Midtown High.
He immediately wondered if Ada and Ned were okay. There was a fire, were they hurt? How did it happen? Did the school even know that there was a fire in the building right now? Had someone from the school called or someone else? Was it a big fire or a small one?
The questions pounding his head made him swing faster and soon the school came into view. His gasp got stuck in his throat.
The library was on fire. And there was someone inside.
Peter didn't see or stop for anyone as he raced towards the library. He heard the medics and firefighters yelling at him to get away from the building but his senses were all focused on getting inside. The smoke detectors hadn't gone off yet and the rest of the people inside the building seemed to be unaware of the raging fire.
There was a small window in the library from which he had seen movement inside. Just as soon as he reached the window, the fire detectors in the library went off. Now everyone knew there was a fire. The window was left slightly open and Peter easily tumbled through, landing safely on a spot of carpet that wasn't yet aflame.
He looked around, scanning the room for the movement he had seen earlier.
"Hello!" he shouted, carefully making his way inside. He ran past the shelves, searching between each one for someone trapped inside.
"Help!" he heard a voice shout and he immediately ran towards the sound, towards the back of the library. Peter stopped when he saw a shattered glass bottle at his feet, just before a huge chunk of the ceiling fell down in front of him. He jumped back, looking through the flames to see who was trapped between the shelves. He caught a glimpse of long brown hair before the fire roared and grew taller in front of him.
"Stay there, I'm coming!" he shouted, hoping the girl had heard him. Peter looked around frantically. She was trapped between two shelves and a wall, there was no way she would be able to get out from there.
He cursed under his breath. If only he had his webs. He could drop from the ceiling in front of her and then pull both of them up over the fire and through the sunroof over the middle of the library.
In that moment, Peter suddenly remembered that he kept extra webbing under his lockers and they were right outside the library.
"Stay here, okay? I'll get you out!" he shouted frantically and ran through the backdoor of the library, towards the lockers. He tore down the hallway, coming to a stop in front of the lockers. He lifted them up and snatched his web shooters from the bag inside. Quickly, he ran back to the library as he loaded his web shooters on his wrists.
Peter stumbled into the library, barely avoiding the flames as he did. He stopped in front of the shelves again, trying to see through the flames. They were higher now. If they didn't hurry, the ceiling would soon collapse on them.
"Um...are you still there!" Peter shouted, not sure of what else to say.
"Yes!" she shouted back. She sounded terrified.
"I'm coming, okay!" he shouted back over the roar of the flames. He shot a web onto the ceiling, swinging himself up over the fire. He landed in the tight space directly in front of the girl who was crouched against the wall, trying to keep a distance from the fire that was coming closer to her.
Peter obviously cared for saving this girl's life but when she looked up, he found himself caring much, much more.
It was Ada. His Ada. His best friend.
Her hair was matted to her gleaming skin and her bright blue eyes were widened in fear. Her face was burning red from the heat and her dress and arms were covered in ashes. She was practically shaking.
"Y-You?" she asked, not quite believing it herself, "Spider-Man?"
Peter blinked, almost forgetting that he wasn't Peter to her right now, he was Spider-Man. He couldn't believe that she was here, trapped in this fire. He wanted to ask so many questions but he heard himself saying something else.
"We have to hurry," he said quietly, still staring at her. Somehow, she had heard him and she nodded at him, staring with wide eyes.
"Come on," he said gently, holding his arm out, "I won't drop you."
Her breaths were coming in short, frantic gasps but she licked her dry lips and took a careful step towards him. She didn't know if she should trust him but even though she couldn't see his face, something about him looked genuine. She found herself taking another step towards him and then she was standing right in front of him, looking up at the mask covering his face in fear and curiosity. Who was he?
A gasp got stuck in her throat as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
"Is there anyone else in here?" he asked quietly. Peter didn't know why he was talking so quietly or why he felt so calm despite the roaring fire around them. Adelaide shook her head.
"You're going to have to hold onto me," he said gently and she nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She was so terrified that she wanted to cry but she did as he told. She lifted her arms up and wrapped them around his neck. Her arms were loose but she didn't make an effort to move them.
"Closer," he whispered, looking down at her, "I mean, uh, so you don't fall."
Adelaide obliged and drew herself closer by tightening her arms around him. She was so close that her face was almost buried in the crook of his neck. For some reason, she noticed that he smelled like money. The ceiling creaked loudly, breaking Peter out of his trance.
"Ready?" he asked, lifting his free arm up to shoot his web. He couldn't see her face but she nodded into his suit and he shot his web at the ceiling, pulling both of them up. Holding her closely with one arm, he swung them towards the sunroof as the flames grew even higher. Shooting another web at the sunroof, he pulled the both of them through it and safely out of the library.
Adelaide had her eyes closed the entire time and she adjusted her face so that she couldn't open her eyes even on accident. She didn't want to see the fire. Peter felt her hair brushing against his neck and he found himself wanting to take his mask off just he could feel it against his skin.
"Almost there," he reassured her as he shot one last web and swung them off the roof of the library which collapsed seconds after they landed on the grass lawn.
Peter dropped his arm, letting the web fall. He wanted to hug Ada but something stopped him.
"Uh, we're safe," Peter said when she didn't pull away.
Don't smell her hair, don't smell her hair, don't…
"Oh," she whispered, pulling away, "Right."
Peter dropped his arm from her waist and stepped away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Adelaide coughed, her throat feeling raw as sandpaper. Her eyes began to water, burning from the smoke.
"Adelaide!" someone shouted and she turned towards the voice, realizing that it was Ned running towards her.
"Ned!" she breathed, relieved.
"Are you okay?" he asked once he was standing in front of her, "How did you get out?"
"I, uh…" Adelaide turned to show Ned that Spider-Man had saved her life, but she realized that he was gone. She scanned the lawn and even the rooftops, but the boy in the red and blue spandex suit was gone.
"I uh, came through the window," she said instead.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Ned said, hugging her. She hugged him back, finally feeling herself calm down.
She was safe. She was okay and it was because of Spider-Man.
A/N: Poor Adelaide, can never catch a break.
On the plus side, SHE FINALLY MET SPIDER-MAN! TELL ME YOUR REACTIONS LMAOOO!
I will say that the next chapter has major spoilers for Far From Home so if you don't plan on seeing the movie by then, I suggest you do.
Question: Um, idrk, what did you think of this chapter?
