New chapter. I noticed some formatting issues but it won't let me fix them for some reason, so please ignore them if you see them. One-maybe two-more chapters. I'm normally not this off on my chapter count.

I have decided on a sequel though. So there is that. It won't be up until I finish Iron Maiden though. I've put that off for way too long.

As always, please review :)

Peter was sitting outside on the bleachers during lunch period. He had been feeling off today, his senses dialed up and it had been giving him a headache, thankfully, right now the only noises were the distant sound of the train and regular New York traffic.

As he sat there, eyes closed, he suddenly felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. He startled, eyes opening in surprise, but he calmed quickly seeing Kate smiling at him. She really could move quietly when she wanted to.

"Hey." He said relaxing, trying to smile but the pain behind his eyes was making it hard to keep them open.

"Hi." She replied and took a seat next to him, scooting a little closer. Her voice was softened, obviously aware that he was in pain right now. "What's going on?"

"Its just…Monday I guess." He replied rubbing his temple.

Kate nodded. Suddenly she stood up. "I wanna try something." She said stepping up the bleachers and sitting directly behind him.

She used her thumbs to gently apply pressure to the back and sides of his neck, massaging the tense muscles. It didn't take long for Peter to turn to putty in her hands as she extended out, rubbing his shoulders and his back.

"That feels amazing." He praised, closing his eyes but in relief this time instead of pain.

He started to doze off and he felt himself sway a little but then he felt gentle hands guide him back until he was leaning back against Kate, her knees on either side of his ribs and her arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders.

"We should head back inside." Peter said half heartedly, knowing lunch was almost up.

"We have time." She replied softly, carding her fingers through his hair, pulling him further towards sleep. "Just rest, I'll wake you when we have to head back in."

Too soon she was waking him but when he opened his eyes, he braced for his headache to return but was shocked when he found himself able to focus again. He looked back at her with wide eyes and she giggled, her eyes catching the sunlight again creating a prism of colors.

"You're amazing," He said kissing her quickly.

She returned the kiss but pulled away too soon. "As much as I like being told that, we have to go, or we'll get into trouble." She told him.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet, holding her hand as they walked back to the main building. After their moment in his apartment they had told Ned that they were dating but no one else knew. Ned had just responded with 'finally!' and that had been the end of it.

The two had 30 seconds to get to class or they'd miss the bell, so they raced through the halls just barely slipping inside the workshop and getting to their table when the bell rang. They breathed a sigh of relief as Ned looked at them suspiciously.

"Where have you two been?" He asked.

"Peter fell asleep and I went to find him." Kate replied. Which was honest just out of order.

Ned just shrugged, letting it drop. "So why did Iron Man sell the Tower?" He asked abruptly.

Peter's head snapped up and Kate froze. "What?" He asked looking at Kate.

She gave him a pleading look for them to talk about it after class.

"Yeah, it's been all over the news today." Ned continued on, not really paying attention to their silent conversation as he fiddled with a screwdriver. "It's too bad. It was so cool knowing that the Avengers were like right there."

"We'll talk once school is over." Kate breathed so silently Peter had to strain to hear her voice. He nodded.

…

As soon as the final bell rang Peter and Kate said bye to Ned and they jetted out. When they were a safe distance away Peter looked at her.

"Are you leaving again?" He asked.

"No." Kate said quickly. "Actually, I'll be moving closer. However, everything else is being moved back to the compound."

Peter furrowed his brow and looked thoughtful.

"I was going to tell you about it today." Kate continued. "I only found out about it yesterday, but I didn't know that Tony was going to make the announcement today." She was relieved that he had decided to sell it to Reed Richards instead of Osborn; it was going to become the new headquarters for the Baxter Foundation.

Kate looked at Peter who still looked deep in thought. "What is it?"

Peter looked up. "All of the equipment is going to be moving out to the compound." He said slowly.

"You're thinking about the Vulture guy?" She asked after a second.

Nodding, he sighed. "We never did catch him." He said.

"Look, I'll bring the concern up to Tony." Kate said. "But you heard what they said. The team doesn't want us anywhere near the superhero stuff, at least not for a long time."

"I know." Peter said. He offered a half smile. "I guess it's just hard to turn off that side of my brain."

Kate smiled. "I know exactly what you mean." She said. She shyly reached out her hand and smiled brighter when he took it without hesitation. He smiled back. "On an unrelated note, you're going to have to talk to my brother before we go to homecoming."

…

Friday night Kate sat on her bed with Lucky lying beside her, head resting on her knee as she rubbed his ears. They had almost everything moved out to the compound and they had been staying there the last two nights until the new apartment was ready.

She had her chemistry textbook open in front of her, but she was nowhere near focused. She kept glancing at her Starkpad which sat at the end of her bed.

After reading the same line for the twentieth time, she closed her textbook with a snap startling Lucky whose head shot up with a snort.

"Sorry boy." She said rubbing her face with her hands.

Lucky bumped her cheek with his nose.

She sighed and turned to give him attention for a moment. "It's going to eat away at me until I look." She said quietly. Grabbing the pad off her bed, she quickly broke through Tony's files and found the ones that she was looking for: the footage from the ferry.

She waited to see what happened, she was surprised to have her answer so quickly. The man that had shown up at the school, who had tried to kill Peter the night of Liz's party, was sitting on the top level of the ferry talking to a man that was sitting with his back to the camera.

"That's the guy from the bridge." Peter's voice said in the background. "Who's that other guy?"

"There is no record of him in my criminal database." The suits AI said.

Kate didn't need the database; she froze as he turned around. That was Liz's dad.

…

Kate sat still on a high stool in the bathroom while Natasha stood in front of her, doing her makeup. Natasha had already completed her work on Kate's hair, which was pinned back carefully with a few curls loose to frame her face.

"Are you excited?" Natasha asked as she lightly pulled the makeup brush along Kate's cheek.

"I am." Kate said smiling.

And she was, but she was also distracted by what she had found out last night. Not telling Peter had become one of the hardest things she had to do. She had wanted to immediately call him, but really, now with them both grounded there wasn't much they could do.

She had gone to the workshop to talk to Tony but when she mentioned the Vulture guy she had immediately been met with resistance. Tony had been just as adamant as the others about her and Peter staying away from it, so she hadn't been able to get out what she had found.

Kate closed her eyes so Natasha could put the finishing touches against her eyelids then Natasha hurried Kate up without letting her look in the mirror so she could get into her dress. Once she was dressed, she was ushered into the bedroom and faced the full-length mirror, taking in the sight. Her makeup was minimal except for the smoky look around her eyes which drew focus to her blue-grey eyes, making them stand out. She wore black heeled booties that she could run in if she needed to. The dress was beautiful, it was black, the skirt flowing down to her knees. The halter top went to her neck and then crossed at her back in thin straps, leaving most of the skin on her back exposed. However, the detail of the dress was what was perfect. The beads on the bodice were arranged to resemble feathers and the lace on the skirt held the same intricate, but delicate patterns.

Hawk feathers. She thought idly to herself. She was speechless, Kate hadn't gotten the dress, Natasha had just said that she had found the perfect one. Natasha was right.

"You look beautiful." Natasha said hugging her gently, both their gazes trained onto the mirror.

"Thank you, Nat." Kate said turning to hug her tightly.

Natasha pulled back first and carefully tucked a loose curl out of Kate's eyes and back into place. The look on her face was one that Kate had never seen before. Almost as if she were memorizing Kate's face.

"Nat, are you okay?" Kate asked softly.

Natasha smiled. "I am." She said. "Just happy."

Kate wasn't quite ready to accept that, but they were interrupted.

"Kate are you ready to go—" Clint froze as he saw her. "Wow…"

Kate smiled tentatively. "How do I look?" She asked.

Clint shook his head slightly to clear the daze. "Like, not my baby sister anymore." He said teasingly. He walked over and gave a bow, holding out his hand. "May I have the first dance?"

Giggling, Kate curtsied and took his hand. "You may." She said and Clint spun her out, and she spun back before they danced together for a moment.

After a minute they stopped, Clint taking her hands. "You look beautiful." He said earnestly.

Though she could hear the emotion in his voice, Kate was kind enough not to point it out. She hugged him instead and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I love you big brother." She said.

"Love you, kid." He said back, tightening his arms around her. He pulled back after a second, clearing his throat. "Come on, as much as I don't want to drive you to your first date, we gotta go or you'll be late."

Kate smiled brightly. She had been a little annoyed at Tony when he had decided to withhold the car that was promised, but she had a founded suspicion if she hadn't asked about the Vulture she would have still had it, however, she was actually happy that Clint was going to take her, even if he was just dropping her off at Peter's and May was taking them the rest of the way.

Heading out, they passed by the common area where most everyone had congregated.

"Wow!" Sam said being the first one to spot her. "She actually looks like a normal little lady."

Kate narrowed her eyes playfully. "As opposed to…"

"A spy." Bucky replied with a smile.

Kate grinned.

"Yeah, except no high kicks in that skirt." Clint commented.

"Actually, I have yoga shorts under this." Kate replied. "Not gonna pull a Marilyn."

Lucky barked at her, almost as if he was warning about the time. She gave him scratches really quick and went to follow Natasha to the door while Clint went to get the car.

"You have everything?" Natasha asked.

"Yep." Kate nodded. While normal people would be referring to lip gloss and a cell phone, Natasha was referring to the knife that Kate had strapped to her thigh and her bracelet which was a compact Widow's Bite.

She may not be active, but she wouldn't be unprotected.

Jumping into the SUV, Kate waved as they pulled away from the compound.

The drive to the city had been surprisingly peaceful. As they sang along to the radio together, Kate found that she actually missed living on the farm to a certain degree, just for long drives like this one.

Kate texted Peter to give him an ETA and Peter was waiting outside the apartment with May, who was by her car.

…

Clint moved past Peter to go talk with May, working out the final details of the night. However, Peter's eyes were glue to Kate as he watched her get out of the car.

"Whoa." Peter felt the air leave his lung as he looked at Kate. She always looked beautiful to him, but he couldn't take his eyes off her. "You look incredible."

Kate blushed slightly. "Thank you." She said shyly. She reached up and straightened his tie just a bit. "You look pretty great yourself."

"So, I will pick them up tonight and drop Peter back here around 11-ish." Clint was saying to May as they walked over as Peter slipped the corsage around her wrist not adorned with the Window's Bite.

"Yeah, sounds perfect." May said smiling. She covered her mouth as she looked at Kate. "Oh, look how beautiful you look!"

Kate smiled. "Thanks May." She said.

May smiled at the two for a moment before she remembered herself. "Come on, come on." She urged them to the car.

"Peter, one second." Clint called quietly, not enough to alert May, but Kate glanced back at them as she followed May. Peter swallowed and moved back towards the archer cautiously. "You forgot this Friday."

Peter watched Clint pulled out his backpack from the back seat. "Oops." He said. "Thank you for bringing it."

As he took hold of the backpack, Clint gripped it tighter, forcing Peter to stumble forward just a bit.

"I won't list out all the people that have wanted your head from the minute you asked her out." Clint said lightly, however, his normal carefree smile was nonexistent as he looked the teen in the eye. "Not one tear ever falls from her eyes because of you. Understand?"

Peter nodded somberly. "I understand." He said straightening his back and shoulders. "You have my word."

Clint's smile returned eyes bright again as he released the backpack. "Have fun tonight then." He said. "I will pick you guys up at 10:30."

Peter watched the older man get in the SUV and drive away before he turned back to where his aunt and Kate were waiting. Kate smiled carefully at him as he tossed his backpack in the front seat of the car.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." Peter said honestly.

She raised an eyebrow. "What did he say to you?" She asked.

Peter smiled. "Just reminding me not to leave my backpack." He said, making it obvious he couldn't tell her.

…

Shaking her head, Kate smiled and let it drop. She figured that Clint would give Peter a "talk", but she did admire that Peter was willing to keep it between him and Clint.

They both piled into the back seat of May's car. It was a fun ride with May chatting away excitedly and making them promise they would get pictures before they went inside.

Pulling up in front of the school, a lot of other students were already there, more arriving by the second. Peter offered Kate a hand to help her out of the car which she accepted.

"Okay, quick picture." May said with a proud smile on her face.

Though he was mindful that May was going to send these pictures to Natasha as well, Peter wrapped his arm around her waist, and she put her hand against his shoulder showing the corsage to the camera. After the pictures were taken the two teens smiled at each other. They had been through a lot to be here right now.

"Peter! Kate!"

The two looked up to see Liz wave at them. They said goodbye to May and moved towards the senior girl and her date. Kate tensed at Peter's side, gripping his hand a little tighter as she saw Adrian Toomes standing by the classic car. Peter glanced at her and then looked up; she knew the exact moment he saw what she was looking at as he gripped her hand back.

"Dad, you remember Kate." Liz said.

"Of course." Mr. Toomes smiled. "It's great to see you again."

Kate forced a smile, pulling on her acting abilities. "You as well sir." She replied shaking his hand.

Liz introduced Peter as well, who shook his hand.

"Quite the grip you have there." Toomes commented.

"Peter works with Kate at Stark Industries." Liz said. "They work for Tony Stark."

Toomes expression changed subtly as he heard this. "Really? Stark?" He said. He tried to bring his tone back to neutral. "So cool. What do you do?"

"Yeah, actually, I don't intern for him anymore." Peter said carefully.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" She said.

"Yeah, it got...boring." Peter's nervousness was radiating into Kate.

Liz looked like she didn't believe it. "It was boring? You got to hang out with Spider-Man." She said.

Warning lights went off in Kate's brain as she watched Toomes take interest in that. "Really? Spider-Man?" He said curiously. "What's he like?"

"Yeah, he's nice." Kate said carefully trying to take the attention off Peter.

"Nice man." Peter agree quietly. "Solid dude."

Liz, who was half paying attention to her phone, didn't noticed the tension and she showed her phone to Kate, showing a picture on Instagram that some of the other girls had posted from getting ready for the dance. "Look. So cute." She said which Kate smiled at.

Toomes was back to studying Peter. "I've seen you around, right? I mean...somewhere. We've—Have we ever—?" Peter shook his head and Kate felt her heart leap into her throat. "Because even the voice—"

"He does Academic Decathlon with me." Liz said. "And he was at my party."

"It was a great party, really great, yeah." Peter said. "Beautiful house, a lot of windows."

Liz rolled her eyes. "You were there for, like, two seconds." She said.

Kate pinpointed the exact moment that Toomes figured it out and she felt a chill go down her spine.

"That was—" Peter stuttered. "I was there longer than two seconds."

"You disappeared." Liz looked at him like he was crazy.

"No. No, I did not disappear." Peter tried to insist.

Liz, of god's sake shut up. Kate thought as she gripped Peter's hand to steady him.

"Yes, you did." Liz said. "You disappeared like you always do, like you did in D.C. too."

Shit. Kate thought.

"That's terrible what happened down there in D.C. though." Toomes said. "Were you scared? I'll bet you were glad when your old pal Spider-Man showed up in the elevator though, huh?"

"Yeah, well, I actually didn't go up." Peter said looking at Kate, who met his gaze. "I saw it all from the ground."

"We were very lucky that he was there that day." Kate commented lightly turning her gaze back to Toomes.

Toomes nodded. "Yeah. Good old Spider-Man." He said.

Liz looked at him. "Dad, aren't you going to be late for your flight?" Liz asked.

"Yeah." Toomes nodded, back to acting like the cheerful father. "Love you, gumdrop."

"Have a safe flight." Liz said. "Love you."

Toomes gave her a hug and got into the car before Liz and her date headed towards the building. Kate and Peter moved to follow but Toomes cleared his throat.

"Kate, one second." He said.

They froze and looked back at him. The façade was gone, he knew.

"Does she know?" Toomes asked, nodding towards where Liz had disappeared.

"Know what?" Peter asked.

Toomes nodded. "So, she doesn't. Good." He said. "Close to the vest, small circle. I admire that." He reached into his glovebox and Kate tensed as she saw the glint of the gun. "I've got a few secrets of my own." He looked at the two. "I always thought that Spider-Man couldn't have been working alone. The way that Liz said you took over with getting people off the elevator…Peter, Kate...nothing is more important than family. You two saved my daughter's life. I could never forget something like that. So, I'm gonna give you one chance. Are you ready?" The two teens looked at him somberly. "You walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened...and don't you ever, ever...interfere with my business again. Because if you do...I'll kill you...and everybody you love. That's what I'll do to protect my family. Do you understand?"

Both nodded in response, but Kate's blood was boiling at the threat.

"I just saved your life." Toome said. "Now what do you say?"

"Thank you." Peter said.

Kate grit her teeth. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Toome said. "Now you go on in there and have a good time, okay?"

They watched him drive away, Peter handed Kate his phone, letting her toss it into the back of the car before they moved towards the building.

…

Walking into the gym where the dance was already going, they saw Ned, Michelle, and the rest of their friends dancing laughing together. Liz was dancing with her friends.

Peter felt a pit in his stomach as he looked at Liz, the fact that her father was the bad guy changing everything. He felt a slight pull at his arm and turned to Kate.

Kate looked up at him and he looked back to her. "We can't leave it." She said softly.

He nodded in agreement. Benched or not, they had jobs to do.

The two raced out of the gym, unaware of Ned and Michelle watching them leave. Running through the deserted hallway, they stopped briefly at the locker where Peter grabbed his backup web shooters and old costume.

Running out the back door, Peter's spidey sense going off immediately, he pushed Kate forward out of harm's way before he got hit by an electric force, knocking him sideways. Despite the spasms that wracked his body from the shock, he looked for Kate who rolled forward and looked back to the assailant, Herman Sholtz, whom they had been calling Shocker.

"He gave you a choice." Sholtz said in a bored tone. "You chose wrong."

"What the hell?" Peter muttered trying to push himself up.

Sholtz looked at him. "What's with the crappy costume?" He asked.

Peter looked over. My web-shooters. He thought seeing them sitting on the pavement. He saw Kate holding her knife and he briefly wondered where she had been keeping it. He raised a hand slightly to stop her from attacking. He could take the hit from the shocker weapons, but she wouldn't be able to. He watched her step back before he made a dash for his web shooters.

However, Sholtz was waiting for him and hit him again, sending Peter through one of the school buses.

"I wasn't sure about this thing at first, but damn." Sholtz said.

Peter looked at the gum under the seat of the bus. "Gross." He muttered before he got out of the bus only to be hit with the shocker weapons again. "Why did he send you here?" Peter asked, pained.

"Guess you'll never know." Sholtz said raising his hand to strike Peter again, only for a web to connect with the gauntlet.

Peter's head whipped over to see Ned holding the web shooter. "Nice shot!" He cried before grabbing the web to yank Sholtz off balance and kick him back before pulling the web shooter to himself and pinning Sholtz to the side of the bus.

"Yes!" Ned cried in amazement.

Peter ran over to him as Kate reached him. She was on the phone. "Ned, the guy with the wings is Liz's dad." He said.

"What?" Ned said in shock.

Kate hung up. "I've tried everyone, no one is picking up." She looked at him. "Bruce is testing a new power source it's messing with the signals out at the compound. We're on our own."

"I gotta tell Mr. Stark." Peter said, turning to Ned. "Call Happy Hogan. He's Mr. Stark's head of security. Get a computer and track my phone."

"Will you be okay?" Ned asked looking at them.

"Hurry, we gotta catch him..." Peter said. "Before he leaves town."

Kate gasped as Peter wrapped an arm around her waist and used a web to slingshot them out of the parking lot. It didn't take long before Kate pointed to Flash driving a shiny convertible with his date. He set Kate down around the corner and went to get the car.

"I'm sorry about dinner..." Flash was telling his date. "but I know when branzino's fresh, and that was not fresh, okay? So—" He screamed as Peter landed on the hood of the car.

"Flash, I need your car and phone." Peter said adjusting his voice.

"Sir, technically, this is my dad's car, sir." Flash tried to protest. "So, I can't—"

It didn't take long to get them out of the car before Peter drove off. He stopped around the corner letting Kate jump into the driver's seat while he called Ned.

"Hello, Ned? Hey, hey, can you hear me?" He said putting the phone on speaker.

"Go for Ned." Came the reply.

Peter braces as Kate whipped the car away from the curb, entering traffic. "Ned, I need you..." he grunted as he struggled to stay upright as Kate wove through traffic. "...to track my phone."

"Yeah, but where is it?" Ned asked. Peter explained quickly what happened. "Genius move. Okay, he just passed the GameStop on Jackson Avenue."

"You couldn't have stolen a less conspicuous then Flash's?" Kate asked as she kept an eye out for cops.

"You stole Flash's car." Ned laughed. "Awesome."

"Yeah, it's awesome. it's—" Peter broke off at Kate swerved around a taxi, cutting between two other cars and nearly hitting a pedestrian. "Get out of the way, get out of the way!" He said as Kate yelled. "Move!"

"Are you okay?" Ned asked in concern.

"Yeah." Kate said calmly. "This is not as bad as driving in Manila."

Peter looked at her calm demeanor and had so many questions.

So did Ned. "We are gonna need to hear these stories." He said.

Kat smiled patiently. "Ned focus." She said. "Have you gotten through to Happy yet?"

"Yeah. I'm working on it." Ned said. "I just gotta backdoor the phone system." They lost him for a moment as he patched through to the Stark Industries phone system.

"Ned where's my phone now?" Peter called.

"He stopped in an old industrial park in Brooklyn." Ned said.

Peter paused and he looked at Kate who was frowning as well. "What? That makes no sense. He said he was going out of town." Peter said.

"Weird. Oh, I reached Mr. Happy." Ned said. "Don't think he likes you, by the way. It sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off."

"What?" Peter said.

Kate gasped. "Of course!" She said. "Moving day!"

"He's gonna rob that plane." Peter said. "We gotta stop him!"

Kate pulled out her phone to try to get through to Happy. After a second she gave up. "I gotta get to the tower." She said. "Maybe I can delay the flight."

"Okay, slow down." Ned said. "You're getting close. It's on your right."

Peter thought quickly. "You go. I'll try to stop him here." He said.

…

Spinning the car onto the lot, Kate tensed. "What?" She demanded. "No, I'm not leaving you here."

"It's our best option." Peter said. "You need to stop that plane."

Realistically she knew that Peter was right, but she didn't feel right about leaving him. "Be careful." She said.

Peter nodded. "You too. Ned keep trying to get through to Happy." He said.

Kate watched him leap from the car before she peeled out of the lot and raced towards the Tower.