A/N: This is my first Spiderman fanfic! I'm super excited to be starting this story because the idea has been in my head for a while. This takes place after AoU and before Civil War, so the Accords aren't a thing yet and everyone is living at Avengers Tower, even Bucky. Enjoy :)

Spiderman clung to the side of a brick church in Brooklyn. It was almost midnight and the temperature was dropping quickly, so Peter decided it was best to head home. He vaulted off the tall building and immediately released a web that latched onto a nearby billboard. The web pulled taut, so Peter used the momentum to fling himself back into the air before he released another web. The process continued as Peter made his way back across the city towards the deserted part of Queens. Soon enough, he could see the abandoned, five-story apartment building he called home. The ground entrance was barricaded, but there was a hidden entry way on the roof.

Peter had found the building by accident a couple months ago, but was staying there ever since. He found it one night when he was perched on the edge of a building, in his suit, with his eyes closed. He was concentrating on the city around him and listening for anyone that might need help. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a muffled scream. It sounded close enough that Peter didn't end up swinging towards it, instead, he ran across the rooftops until he was above an alleyway. A man had grabbed a young lady from behind and had his hand over her mouth and a knife against her neck. The woman wasn't struggling, for fear that the man would slit her throat, but you could clearly see the fear in her eyes.

Just as Peter was about to jump down and help, the man started dragging the woman backwards towards the opening of the alley. A black suburban was parked at the alley entrance and four more men got out of the vehicle. The men were practically drooling over the sight of the girl as they slowly approached her and her captor. Before anything could escalate further, Peter started crawling down the side of the building. Once he found a good angle, Peter shot a web out with precision and yanked the knife out of the attackers hand and away from the girl's throat.

Long story short, Peter saved the woman, but ended up with a couple stab wounds from fending off the five men. The blood loss caused Peter to get disoriented as he was headed back towards the roof that held his backpack and all of his belongings. He ended up on the wrong roof and stumbled right into a hole that was rotted into the top of the building. Peter fell down two stories before his head smacked against the ground, knocking him out. When he woke up his powers had mostly taken care of his wounds, as in they weren't bleeding anymore, but they were still very painful. On top of that, Peter was pretty sure that he had a concussion because every time he opened his eyes, the world was spinning and he couldn't focus. Peter didn't even try to move, no matter how hungry or bored he was. He ended up lying in the abandoned building for two days before he could finally move comfortably. Then he realized that not a single person had wandered in and found him. Normally, abandoned buildings- especially in this part of Queens- would be taken over by homeless people or druggies.

Peter spent the next day exploring the building and noticed the only way in was through the rotted hole in the roof. Every other entrance was borded up or barred off. He went and grabbed his belongings from the other rooftop and quickly moved them into the place he now claimed as his own. When he was exploring the other floors of the building, he also found an old matress and a couple of thin blankets, which was more than he had before. He dragged everything up to the fourth floor where he set up his new home. He chose this floor because there wasn't as many broken windows and it was closer to his entrance. When Peter explored the building, he learned that the stairway to the upper floors was rotted through and figured that no one was dumb enough to try and walk up them. There was no electricity, so the elevator wasn't a problem, and unless someone could learn to climb five stories outside the building to get to the roof, this place was practically secure.

Peter silently landed on the crumbling rooftop then slowly lowered himself through the hole and into his apartment with a web. It was already midway through November and Peter had barely taken the time to prepare himself for the cold weather that winter would bring. It was still hard for him to believe that May died three months ago. He never really grieved her properly. Instead, he threw himself into being Spiderman and saved as many people as he could. Peter Parker barely existed anymore. Peter rarely left his abandoned building unless he was wearing his suit. He couldn't risk CPS finding him and sending him back to a foster home, but he was barely scraping by. Peter was living off of food that people he saved bought him and scraps thrown in dumpsters. Any money that he was given, or that he found, he used to make more web fluid so he could continue his nightly activities.

Peter plopped down on his ratty old mattress and put his head in his hands. He would need to go back out as Peter Parker to get supplies. He sighs then starts to make a mental inventory of things he needed. Warmer clothes, a newer pair of shoes, food (if he can acquire it without too much trouble), and electronic parts so he could finish building his computer. After grabbing the thin blanket that he found when he first searched this building, Peter wraps it around himself and lays down, not even bothering to change out of his suit.

Peter had been lost in his thoughts and didn't realize he had been walking for at least 2 hours when he finally stopped to sit on a bench. He was in Central Park in Manhattan. Peter figured it was around 7:00 in the morning. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night before the nightmares that haunted his dreams woke him up. He didn't even bother trying to go back to sleep even though he was exhausted. Instead, he changed into one of his cleaner pairs of clothes and started walking. It had been a while since Peter had left his 'apartment' as himself. And even then, when he did leave, he always stayed close.

The bench he sat on was right next to a small jogging path. Peter laid down on the hard wooden surface and looked up into the trees that blocked out most of the sky. It was a cool morning, especially being in the shade, but it was relaxing and he slowly fell asleep.

Peter was dozing peacefully when his spider sense went off, alerting him to someone coming, and waking him up. Peter sat up quickly and looked around only to see a tall, dark-skinned, man jogging up to him. As the man passed, he dropped his wallet and Peter quickly picked it up. The man didn't notice and kept running down the path. Peter was quick to get his attention.

"S-sir!" he yelled after the stranger. The man slowed to a stop roughly five yards away and looked at Peter curiously. The man then strolled up him.

"How can I help you, son?" he said.

Peter shifted on his feet before holding up the wallet. "Y-you dropped this," he stammered. The man graciously took the wallet and looked Peter up and down.

"Thanks kid," he said. "Tony would have killed me if I lost another security badge. You saved me a lot of trouble." The man tucked his wallet in his pocket and held out his hand. "I'm Sam."

Peter hesitantly took his hand and shook it. "Peter," he stated nervously.

A/N: I was super eager to get this story up and running, so I made this chapter a bit short. I'm already halfway through writing chapter 2 so it should be up soon. I am also working on another story along with this one, thus I might only post a chapter every couple weeks, but I will try to stay on top of it.