Chapter 7: Awkward Apologies
"You broke into my workshop, not once, but four times this week after I specifically told you to stay out. Not only that, but you stole an unlabeled bottle, not knowing what it is or what it does, and brought it to school. Do you know how long it took to pry Peter off that chair?" Tony scolded the teen sitting innocently on one of his workbenches. She didn't seem intimidated or guilty in the slightest. One of the many downfalls that Ally had was she never took anything seriously, everything always seemed to be a joke or a game. Tony swore she had the mentality of a toddler.
"Actually, I saw you testing the glue out so I only borrowed it to prank Peter wi-"
Tony waved his hand to stop her excuses, "That's another thing. This prank war or whatever it is with you two. It's done. No more."
Ally stood from the bench, the metal legs squealing across the concrete floor.
"What?!" She yelled, "Why?!"
"Because I said so!" Tony's head pounded as the blood rushed through his veins. Why did he ever think that dealing with teenagers would be easy? Parker was bad enough to keep track of, but this one was solely his responsibility until further notice. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to control the migraine. "Listen, clearly I can't keep you out of here so lets make a deal. I'll let you in here, as long as you keep yourself busy, don't bother me, and whatever you touch in here does not leave this building."
Ally sat back down and cocked her head. Her eyes wandered off as she thought about the deal. After a few moments, a smile spread across her face.
"Counter offer." She started, but was quickly interrupted.
"No no… there's no counter offers-"
Ally raised her hand to stop Tony's oncoming lecture, "I'll keep myself busy in here, if I can work on something meant solely for me. Like my own suit? Obviously for testing purposes, I would have to take it out of here, but as long as I don't take anything else I think I'm offering a fair deal here."
Tony stopped in his tracks. Her counter offer made sense, and it would keep her out of trouble for a while having something to tinker with. Maybe that was all she needed to settle her boredom was a project, and Tony could keep a closer eye on her to get some answers that Sheild refused to tell him. He pondered this thought for a moment to be sure it was the right choice. Ally only smiled as she held out her hand to seal the deal. With a heavy sigh, Tony grabbed her hand and their verbal agreement was set.
"Fine." He sighed, "But I supervise your testing. Don't want you killing yourself, or worse, someone else."
"I'm alright with that."
"Good. Now go apologize to Parker." Tony turned his back to her and started tinkering with the arm he's been working on for weeks.
"Why?" Ally asked, her face scrunching up in confusion.
Tony Stark rolled his eyes to the ceiling and looked at her over his shoulder. The reason why should have been so obvious that he didn't want to bother explaining it to her.
"You stuck him to a chair with experimental industrial glue." He said flatly, "That's why."
Ally lightly but her bottom lip and turned away. She knew he was right, she went overboard with a prank so Peter deserves an apology. Without a word, she grabbed her hoodie from the table, and threw it on as she walked out the door.
The nightlife in Queens was nothing like the daytime. The lights, the sounds, and the smells all combined into one entity. Swarms of people flocked to the local clubs and restaurants, dressed in party attire. New York City residents were a different breed entirely when the sun went down.
Ally became quickly overwhelmed by the buzzing and singing of the electronics surrounding her. The annoying squeal of cell phones made her ears want to bleed. She threw her hood over her head and slouched in on herself as she walked through the streets. Taking deep breaths, she tried to block out the static. Focusing solely on the cell phones on every person, including herself, she willed the squeals to silence in her ears. The veins in her neck pulsed harder as she strained to reach the silence she longed for.
She released the breath she held in her throat with a quick sigh as the sound dulled slightly. Progress was progress, but she wished she could silence the noises all together and be able to walk down the street like a normal person would. It was too much and she couldn't take the static anymore.
The main road was the fastest way to get to Peter's apartment, but it was also the most crowded. Ally turned for a less packed back road with a quieter buzz. It wasn't perfect, but it did ease her migraine just a bit. She put her hood down and enjoyed the breeze through her hair as she walked down the dark sidewalk. The far away static was easier to drown out, so she smiled as she finally heard the sounds of a quiet street.
"So this is what peace feels like." She sighed aloud to nobody but herself.
She let the silence envelop her like a soft blanket. Comfortable and relaxing. Then the hairs on the back of her neck stood tall as the sound of trash cans crashing to the ground pulled her out of her bliss. The static returned as she lost her focus, and she stood in the middle of the sidewalk staring down the fallen cans. She couldn't hear any nearby electronics, although the static from the main road made it difficult to differentiate anything near or far. As she struggled to drown the noise out again, her senses remained on high alert. Her head pounded with the strain of calming her anxiety while also trying to return to the silence.
"Must have been a cat." She said through clenched teeth and fast walked the rest of the distance to Peter's, not noticing the pair of glowing blue eyes that stared at her in the shadows of the buildings.
It was never hard to find Peter. Wherever he was, his suit was, and his suit sang like the Italian opera. Wires and codes professionally put together with the finest materials, working in complete harmony even while it was powered down. Ally loved the sound that came from the Spider Man suit. If every electronic device was put together like that suit was, the world wouldn't be so full of unwanted noise and static. Life would be more peaceful like the brief silence she basked in on the way here.
Ally caught a brief glimpse of Peter as he passed by a window. Taking a glance at the building, she took a running start and jumped to a window, digging her fingertips into the outside. With a quick gulp, she kept her breathing as even as possible and jumped to the next window, using the indents in the bricks as traction on her shoes while she hoisted herself up closer to the window Peter was in. When she successfully scaled the wall, she made sure to have a firm grip on the top of his window and tapped on the glass.
Peter was sitting at his desk, a pile of books in front of him, and his mask thrown over a nearby lamp. He didn't acknowledge her tap on the window. She watched him for a moment as he studied, taking a mental picture of how concentrated he was as he tapped his pencil on his cheek. To be sure she got his attention this time, she lightly rapped her knuckles on the window, giggling when he nearly jumped out of his seat and looked around his room in a panic. She knocked on the window again and waved when Peter finally turned to the window and saw her. He rushed over and opened the window.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He exclaimed in a low voice.
Ally didn't wait for an invitation as she climbed inside the window. With a quick brush of her clothes and wiping the sweat from her forehead, she smiled at him.
"I wanted to come apologize for gluing you to the floor." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Peter closed the window and rushed over to the door to his room. He took a quick peek outside, and quietly shut it.
"Why didn't you just come to the door to apologize?" He whispered.
"Where's the excitement in that? I use doors all day long."
He let out an aggravated sigh as he ran his hands through his hair.
"You're insane." He said, and sat back down at his desk, putting his face in his hands.
Ally sat down on the corner and leaned back.
"I think I'm fun." She said playfully.
Peter sat up in his chair, his expression looked exhausted as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You came to apologize?"
"Do you ask everyone questions all the time, or is it just me?" Ally giggled, then changed her tone to a slightly more serious one, "Yes, I came to apologize. I shouldn't have taken that glue from Tony's workshop, and I shouldn't have used it on you for a prank. It was wrong of me, I ruined your clothes and your already diminished reputation-"
"Hey!"
"-and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me. It won't happen again, mostly because Tony said no more prank war, but… I think you get my point."
Silence. Eerie silence. Too much silence actually when it came to either of them. Peter didn't exactly know what to say to her apology, so he just blankly stared at her. She lightly nudged him with her foot and smiled playfully.
"Sooo… am I forgiven?" She asked as she pulled her glasses down to the tip of her nose and winked at him.
His cheeks flushed pink against his will, but he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
"Yeah I guess." He chuckled and leaned back in his seat.
Footsteps thumped outside the door. Peter tensed and looked at the light shining under the door in fear, then relaxed when May's shadow only walked past his door to the bathroom. Ally took notice of the close intrusion as well as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
"You should probably get out of here." Peter whispered, "May will kill me if she catches you in here."
Ally shrugged and hopped off his desk.
"Do you want me to take the door, or climb out the window?" She joked.
"Y'know… whatever you think is more fun."
"Window it is!"
Peter chuckled, and as Ally turned to him from the window to say her goodbye he caught a glimpse of some stray pieces of glitter in her hair from his prank today. His fingers brushed past her cheek as he grabbed the glitter and gently pulled it from her hair. As she felt the light contact to her skin, her heart fluttered slightly, and this time it was her cheeks that flushed pink.
"Some… stray glitter from the glitter bomb." Peter stammered.
Ally only nodded as she climbed out the window, "I-I'll uhm… I'll see you at s-school tomorrow." She stuttered, and quickly made her way down, all but sprinting back to Avengers Tower.