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Kate hadn't said much since they left the apartment. The three of them walked a block to a Thai place to get dinner. She hadn't been lying, she didn't have anywhere to be right now plus after the whole slip at the apartment she was enjoying making Peter squirm a little.
The two teens went to get a table as May went to place an order.
"This is why you look at your text messages." Kate said under her breath. "I sent you like five reminders about us coming over tonight."
"I'm sorry, I was distracted." Peter said. "Something happened tonight…"
Kate and Peter leaned apart as May came back to the table, happily chatting about something that had happened during the day.
"So, Kate." May said as the food arrived. "How are things going now? You've been in New York for a couple months now. Still enjoying it?"
"Yeah, it's been really good." Kate replied.
"And your brother and sister-in-law?" May asked. "Are they liking it?"
Kate nodded. "Yeah. Though I'm sure they could settle anywhere." She said.
"That's great!" May said, genuinely happy.
Kate smiled. That's what she loved about May; the woman was definitely one of the good souls of the world.
May looked at Peter, who had been quiet since she sat down. "What's the matter?" She asked as he pushed his food around on his plate. "Thought you loved larb. It's too larby? Not larby enough." Kate smiled and Peter had the beginnings of a smile. "How many times do I have to say "larb" before you talk to me? You know I larb you."
Kate chuckled softly as Peter looked up. "I'm just stressed." He said. "The internship, and I'm tired. A lot of work."
May got a look on her face. "The Stark internship." She said. "I have to tell you, not a fan of that Tony Stark." Kate and Peter both looked at her. "You're distracted all the time. He's got you in your head."
Kate gave Peter a quick side eye before the report on the tv behind May caught her attention. She looked up as she saw the pictures flashing on the screen as May's voice faded to the background.
Delmar's Sandwiches was destroyed in an explosion after an ATM robbery was thwarted by Queens' own crime stopper the Spider-Man. As the Spider-Man attempted to foil their heist a powerful blast was set off, slicing through the bodega across the street. Miraculously, no one was harmed.
Kate watched as the alien like weapon went off, destroying the camera. She looked back at Peter who was watching the footage, even May had stopped to look at it.
May turned to both teens. "If either of you spot something like that happening, you guys turn, and you run the other way." She instructed firmly.
"Yeah." Kate said a little dazed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course." Peter agreed.
May went back to her food. "Six blocks away from us." She said in disbelief.
One of the young waiters of the restaurant brought over a dish. "Sticky rice pudding." He said looking directly at May as the teens watched in amusement.
"We didn't order that." May said looking up.
"It's on the house." The young man said and winked at her.
May smiled. "Oh, thanks." She smiled. She looked back at the teens, Kate had a hand over her mouth to hide her smile and Peter had a mischievous look in his eyes. "That's nice of him."
"I think he larbs you." Peter said.
May put a hand over her heart in mock disbelief as Kate laughed.
…
Clint was going to pick her up at the apartment, so Kate and Peter went up to the roof to wait for him while May went back inside.
Pulling her jacket tighter around herself as the air chilled, Kate looked at Peter as he tried to ignore her gaze. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said after a minute.
Deciding to not bring up the whole 'basically an Avenger' thing, she looked up towards the sky and the stars that she knew were there but couldn't see. Somedays she really missed the farm. "What happened at the bank?" She asked.
Peter sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "These guys wearing Avengers masks were breaking into the ATMs and they had these crazy weapons." He said. "I tried to stop them but one of the guns over heated or something and it blasted Mr. Delmar's place."
"Mr. Delmar…" She left the question open.
"He's alright." Peter said quietly. "He and Murph were the only ones in there, I got them out."
Kate nodded with a small sigh of relief. She reached out and gently touched Peter's arm making him face her. "I'm glad you're not hurt." She said softly.
He smiled warmly back at her before he frowned a little, forehead creasing with worry. "What are we going to tell Ned tomorrow about why you know that I'm Spider-Man?" He asked.
Kate shrugged looking in the direction of the Tower. "I guess it depends." She turned back to face him. "Do you honestly believe without a shadow of doubt that he can be trusted?"
Peter didn't hesitate. "I do." He said, nodding.
"Okay." She said. "Then we tell him the truth."
…
Kate jumped into the car as soon as Clint pulled up to the curb. She was excited to see him; he had been gone for a week on his latest mission and she had only seen him last night long enough to say goodnight.
"Hey Baby Hawk." He said.
"Not you too!" Kate rolled her eyes. Tony had started calling her some variation of Hawk, and somehow, he had gotten stuck on that one. It was apparently catching on.
Clint grinned. He just did it because it annoyed her. "Would you prefer Hawklet?" He asked as he pulled away from the curb.
"God no…" She replied.
"How was your day?" He asked as he drove back to the Tower.
Kate shrugged. "Good." She replied.
The drive back to the Tower was peaceful, Clint gave her the rundown of the mission and she told him about what she had been up to while he was gone. However, she left out the details of talking to Ned, at least for now.
Once back at the Tower, Kate hung out in the main living area working on her homework. She had enlisted Bruce to help her with a project that she had to work on for chemistry so they had been sitting together on the couch for the last two hours and he was going over the finer points of working with gamma radiation while the others were spread out either watching the movie that was playing or they were engrossed in a different activity.
The movie ended around the time that Kate was done picking Bruce's brain about science.
"All done?" Clint asked her as he stood up, stretching.
Kate nodded as she picked up her books. "Thanks Bruce." She said with a smile before they headed for the elevator.
"You two seem to be getting along better." Clint commented as they stood in the elevator.
"Yeah, he's a good guy." Kate said. She looked at her brother. "How long is Nat supposed to be gone this time?"
Clint shrugged. "This mission is a little more deeply involved than the last one. We'll see." He said.
They walked onto their floor as the elevator doors opened.
Kate deposited her books on the sofa. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine KitKat." He said with a smile. Tilting his head to the side, he asked. "Are you all done with your homework?"
She raised an eyebrow at his tone. "Yeah. What are you thinking?" She asked.
Grinning, Clint headed back in the direction of the elevator. Kate, ever curious, followed him. Looking at the floor that he selected, Kate grinned brightly as she bounced on the balls of her feet in anticipation.
The exited onto the training floor and the brother sister pair headed to the training room section that Tony had designed (with their input) especially for the archers.
Kate grabbed her practice bow and quiver, shouldering it.
"Time to warm up." Clint said, arms crossed in front of him.
"What's wrong old man?" Kate teased. "You not gonna join me? Afraid a little girl is gonna out shoot you?"
Clint grinned at the challenge. "Okay kid. Let's see how good you think you are."
Wanted to set up a good moment between Kate and Clint. There are some subtle things I'm leaning towards but I promise it's all gonna pay out.