New chapter. Sorry it's taken so long, I had writer's block for a little while. I'm still not happy with some aspects of this chapter though. Anyways, note at the end as well.
As always, please review :)
It was Monday morning and Kate was lying on her bed, Lucky had his head on her stomach while she idly rubbed his ears. Clint had insisted that she stay at the Tower once they got back Saturday night. He had been wound tightly since DC and she wasn't going to push him…no matter how much she wanted to be at school.
She had a projection of the school's news feed playing.
"This past weekend, Midtown's Academic Decathlon team defeated the country's best to win the national championship. Later that day, they also defeated death." Betty was saying.
It cut to an interview with the decathlon team.
"Explosion. Salty scream."Abraham said animatedly. "Flash scream. Everybody screaming."
"There were purple lasers and smoke." Charles said. "It was tight, like a Bon Jovi concert."
Mr. Harrington stood by the bus. "As you know, we made it out alive, and that's the important thing. I couldn't bear to lose a student on a school trip…Not again."Kate raised an eyebrow at that making a note to look that up later.
"Thankfully, no one was seriously injured thanks to the Spider-Man." Jason said.
"Thank you, Spider-Man."Jason and Betty said together.
Jason looked at the camera. "Up next: the Spider-Man mania is sweeping the school. How can you show your spider spirit?" He said.
She chuckled to herself wondering if this was going to Peter's head just a bit. As she lay there her phone dinged.
Hey – P
"Speak of the devil." She muttered.
Hey superstar! You get mobbed by screaming fans this morning? – K
LOL! No not yet…You okay? – P
Kate sighed as she looked at the message.
Yeah…on lockdown until further notice. – K
She watched the text bubble as she waited for a reply. The idea of essentially being locked in the Tower, despite it being one of the most secure buildings in the world and the Avengers being there, Kate felt trapped, like a sitting target. The ding of the text message startled her out of her thoughts.
Can I come over there? – P
Kate raised an eyebrow. Lucky looked up at her, nudging her hands as if to warn against it.
Aren't you supposed to be taking a Spanish quiz? – K
Less than half a beat before the reply.
Aren't you? – P
She smiled faintly.
Come to my balcony. Don't go to the front door. – K
Lucky whined at her. She sighed as she dropped her phone onto the bed. "I know, I know." She muttered getting up to change out of her pajamas.
She was tying her purple converse when Lucky barked, alerting her to the presence at her balcony. Looking up, she saw Peter in his suit, standing a little awkwardly outside. She waved him in.
"Hey." She said smiling.
"Mr. Parker is not supposed to be on premises at this time." FRIDAY said before he could answer.
Kate sighed. "I'm aware FRIDAY." She replied. She looked at Peter as he took his mask off. "What's going on?"
Peter wasn't looking at her though, he was looking at Lucky, who was staring at the teen boy somberly from where he stood on her bed.
"Lucky, it's okay." Kate said. "He's a friend."
Lucky continued to stare at Peter before he suddenly gave one big lick from Peter's chin to his hairline and his tail began to wag. Kate let out a relieved sigh that Lucky was okay with Peter, because she had seen it go the other way too. Poor Tommy.She thought.
"Was there any progress made on tracking those guys that were after you?" Peter asked as he played with Lucky.
"No." Kate said quietly. "In all the chaos at the Monument they were able to get away." She ran her fingers through her curls sighing at their craziness before sweeping it up into a messy bun. She looked back at him. "What about your guy?"
Peter shook his head.
"Well…" She said thoughtfully. "Have you looked at the footage from your suit?"
"There's footage?" He asked looking up at her.
Kate smiled. "You're surprised by that?" She asked.
"That's fair." Peter admitted.
"It's called the baby monitor protocol." Kate couldn't help but throw in.
Peter sighed. "Of course it is." He said.
Having left her Starkpad upstairs, Kate ran out leaving Peter in her room where no one was likely to come across him. Retrieving the pad, Kate was about to head downstairs again, but as she waited for the elevator it opened to reveal Wanda.
Kate froze. Wanda had become like her big sister, though they hadn't had a lot of time to spend together because of missions, the two were close. However, she was also the one that was most likely to figure out that Kate was currently hiding a teen superhero, a boy at that, in her room. It really wouldn't even be Wanda's fault because of her powers.
"Hey!" Kate said quickly.
"Hey." Wanda smiled in that gentle way that she had. "How are you holding up?"
Despite the secret she was trying to hide, Kate sighed. "I'm honestly so tired of that question." She said.
Wanda smiled. "I know." She said. "But speaking from experience, feeling like you are a prisoner is extremely taxing. I worry."
That caused a feeling of warmth to spread through her body. "I know." Kate said. "And I'm sorry, I shouldn't be snippy about it."
"The good thing is you don't have to explain yourself to me." Wanda said smiling. She looked at the tablet that Kate was holding close. "Are you heading back to the lab?"
"No." Kate cleared her throat. "I was just going to be on my floor for a bit. It's quieter right now."
Wanda gave her an appraising look but let it drop. "Want me to come get you for lunch?" She asked. "Sam said that they were getting Thai food."
"Yeah, sounds good." Kate said. "Thanks Wanda."
While she was gone, Peter had set up on the floor of her room scanning through footage from his suit while wearing the mask. He had been talking to the AI of the suit that he had apparently named Karen. Once she brought the tablet in, they were able to hook up the suit so they could bring up a projection that they could both watch. She looked at the footage of him on the roof of Liz's house, looking at all the kids inside, including Ned, who looked a little lost.
Kate looked up at him. "Even though, socially, it wasn't great for you or Ned, I'm really proud of you for not going through with that." She said.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor at the end of her bed. When they got to the footage of the park, Kate leaned forward as they saw the buyers and sellers.
"Karen," Peter asked, indicating the seller. "The two on the right, who are they?
"Searching law enforcement databases." The AI replied. "No records found for two of the individuals."
Peter frowned. "Nothing?"
"One individual identified." Karen said. "Aaron Davis, age 33. He has a criminal record and an address here in Queens."
Peter looked up at Kate. "Let's pay him a visit." He said.
"I must remind you Miss. Barton that you are confined to the Tower while you are still at risk." FRIDAY spoke suddenly.
"I'm aware of my orders FRIDAY." Kate sighed. She looked at Peter. "Call me when you have something, I'll help where I can." He nodded. She swiftly kissed his cheek. "Be careful."
Peter nodded and put his mask back on before he left via the balcony again.
…
That was the second time that she had kissed his cheek right before a mission. Peter was trying really had not to overanalyze it, but his heart was racing as he replayed the feeling of her soft lips pressed to his cheek over and over in his mind while he followed the directions that Karen was giving him as he tracked Aaron Davis.
The interrogation wasn't his best intimidating moment, but he did have a location.
"What did you find?" Kate asked as soon as the line connected in his heads-up display.
"The 11 o'clock Staton Island Ferry." Peter replied. "Supposedly there is some big deal going down there."
Kate frowned. "You're going to need backup." She said. "I can be there in 10 minutes."
Peter shook his head. "No, you should stay there. Better not to anger your brother." He said.
"I don't like this Peter." She said seriously. "Just come back to the tower, we'll talk to Tony and the others."
"Mr. Stark will never give me the chance to prove myself if I keep running to him for help." Peter said. "He already doesn't think that I can do this on my own."
"Peter…" Kate said chewing on her lip. "That's not—"
"It'll be fine." Peter said. "I'm almost at the ferry. I'll call you when it's done."
…
Kate was sitting in the main living area of the Tower, looking at her tablet screen anxiously. This whole thing made her nervous. Yes, she knew how skilled Peter was, but she also knew that he was overzealous and too impulsive.
She looked away from her tablet for a second, looking around the room. Steve and Bucky were working on security measures for the Tower, planning what to do if the carnies decided to attack. Thor was in the kitchen making poptarts, and Loki was sitting nearby reading a book. The other Avengers were spread out around the tower doing various tasks to keep themselves busy.
Suddenly, Tony came into the room looking worked up over something. He went right to Kate, drawing everyone else's attention as well. "Where is he?" Tony demanded.
Kate froze. She didn't have to be told who he was asking about.
…
Peter sat on the building ledge looking out at the water while he waited to Tony to finish cleaning things up with the ferry. He had royally screwed up this time and he knew that Tony was mad.
As he sat there, a shiver ran up his spine as his spidey sense went haywire. Spinning around, he looked at the man that he didn't recognize standing on the roof.
The man had a severe edge to him, mostly white hair with just hints of black in a sharp crew cut with old scars marking his face and arms. The man had a bow and arrows at his back, but he didn't present a weapon to attack Peter, so it gave the teen pause.
How did I not hear him until he was right here?Peter thought nervously. "Who are you?" He asked.
"The attack is going to happen tonight." The man said. "Katherine is in danger."
Peter froze. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"You need to warn her." The man replied before turning to leap over the edge of the building.
Before Peter could follow, Tony flew in, landing on the roof. Peter turned to look at the older man in horror.
Tony was looking in the direction of the man who had been on the roof. When he turned to look at the teen, his eyes were sharp. "You're coming back to the Tower, now." He wasn't giving Peter a choice.
…
Kate looked at the balcony as Tony and Peter landed. She frowned at the way Peter's form seemed to shrink as he followed Tony back into the main living area.
She had been following the ferry events immediately after Tony left, though she didn't know what lead up to it.
"FRIDAY, get Clint back in here." Tony instructed. He looked at Kate still in the suit. "Pull the footage from Peter's suit, time stamped 1123."
Kate quickly picked up her tablet and scrolled through the footage, making a note to check back on the things that Peter had seen in case it had anything useful. She froze as she reached the correct spot as the elevator opened and Clint walked out.
"What's going on Tony?" Clint asked but then focused on Kate. He walked over to her as she held up the tablet for him to see the person on screen.
"I'm guessing he's familiar." Tony said.
"That's Chisolm." Kate said quietly. She looked at Clint who was staring at the image.
Something is wrong though. He looks sick. They took in the sight of the man's ashen skin tone and it looked like he had lost muscle mass, though for his age was still in scary shape.
Listening to his message, the siblings felt a deep sense of dread set in.
"We can't put it off anymore." Clint said. "We're leaving."
"What? No!" She said looking at him.
Clint's grey eyes were cold, there was no give this time.
…
Peter watched Kate argue with her brother about leaving and his heart sank.
"Previously on Peter Screws the Pooch..." Tony's voice cut through his thoughts, drawing his attention. "I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do."
Peter felt every word like a knife. "ls everyone okay?" He asked referring to the ferry.
"No thanks to you." Tony replied.
That sparked Peter's anger. "No thanks to me?" He demanded. "Those weapons were out there, and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me." Peter shook his head looking at the cold metal of the mask. "If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
The suit opened and Tony finally stepped out. "I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh?" He asked walking forward, causing Peter to back up. "Do you know I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid."
"I'm 15." Peter corrected half heartedly.
"No, this is where you zip it, all right?" Tony said raising his voice angrily. "The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight?" Peter's eyes snapped up to him, wide. "Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you died..." Tony held up his hands. "...I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."
"Yes, sir." Peter said. "I'm sorry. I understand."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Tony said.
Peter looked at him, eyes pleading. "I just wanted to be like you." He said.
Tony stared at him. "And I wanted you to be better." He said. He looked away for a second at the siblings who were still arguing by the elevator. "There is enough going on that I can't worry about whether or not you're going to get yourself killed." He muttered quietly before he turned back to Peter. "It's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back."
"For how long?" Peter asked horrified.
"Forever." Tony said. Peter started to plead but Tony cut him off. "Yeah, that's how it works."
"No, no. Please." Peter said. "Please, this is all I have. I'm nothing without this suit."
Tony leveled him with a firm gaze. "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."
…
"Something doesn't add up about this." Kate argued. "He chose to give Peter that warning. Why? What could he gain form it?"
Clint shook his head. "They're toying with us." He said. "There isn't anything to stop them from just attempting to destroy the building."
"It's all the more reason we can't just leave." Kate said.
"Enough!" Clint finally said. "Say goodbye. We're leaving in twenty minutes."
Kate took a deep breath taking everything she had not to burst into tears. She looked at Peter who had just gotten through his lecture from Tony. She had no doubt that she would get a lecture eventually as well.
Not that it'll matter if we leave. She thought. Clint's instructions of saying goodbye echoed in her head as she walked over to Peter.
"Mr. Stark is taking my suit." Peter said quietly.
Kate sighed. "I'm leaving to god knows where for who knows how long." She said.
Peter looked at her. "No!" He said.
Kate tried to smile. "It's going to be okay Peter." She said. She shrugged. "Maybe this is a good thing. You can focus on having a more normal life. You'll ask Liz to homecoming, she'll say yes, and in a few months, you won't even remember me." That hurt to say more than she would admit.
Peter shook his head. "I don't want to ask Liz to homecoming." He said.
Kate furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? Ned told me you've been crushing on her since forever. Now is your chance." She said.
"Ned was wrong." Peter said. "You're the only one that I want to ask to homecoming."
Kate froze and the two stared at each other for a long moment. "Are you serious?" She asked quietly, in shock.
…
Peter hadn't meant to blurt that out. Yes, he wanted to ask her to homecoming, but he had planned to make it a lot smoother than that. Now he was out of time.
"Are you serious?" She asked in surprise.
"Yes." Peter stepped forward, reaching out to take her hands. "I've never stopped thinking about you since Berlin. I've just been too scared to actually ask you out. I don't even know if you like me like that, I mean you could get any guy, I guess it doesn't even matter now—"
Kate stood up on her toes, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his silencing his babble. Despite a half second of shock, Peter pulled her close to return the kiss.
It was almost the perfect moment, until his spidey sense screamed at him. Reacting without thinking, Peter picked her up, spinning her out of the way and jumping them both back as an arrow sliced through the air, coming from the open balcony and embedding into the space that Kate had occupied.
Landing on the ground hard, they rolled behind cover of one of the sofas as the arrow detonated. Staring at the ruined space, Kate's grip on his bicep tightened.
Her urgent tone broke through the ringing in his ears. "They're here!"
Not a perfect moment but when are first kisses ever perfect? Anyways, just fair warning it'll be a few days before I can update again, hopefully I don't get stuck again. I still have a plan for this though so bare with me :)
P.S. I am so happy that someone caught my Deadpool reference from a few chapters ago! I love that Hawkeye and Deadpool are friends in the comics also Kate's Hawkeye works with him in the comics too. I don't know if I'll actually write him in because that particular brand of crazy is hard to write authentically. It was still a happy reference.
P.S. Also the reference to "Tommy" is Thomas Shepherd from the comics who in one iteration dated Kate for a short period of time. I like the idea of Lucky being a decider for whether someone should date Kate or not.