Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I updated... well, not really. It's only been less than a week but longer than usual. I've just been a bit distracted since I'm housesitting for my brother. This chapter Peter will find out about Emma. There's a lot of ways people have wanted this to go down but I've stuck with the original version in my head. To answer a question about Tony's involvement in this...I'll just say that he was only joking with the boyfriend comment during the battle at the airport. He wasn't being serious but he did want Emma and Peter to find each other because he thinks that they'll be good for each other. I don't think he really thinks that things with turn romantic between them. So I also just want to thank everyone for the reviews there was so many last chapter and I appreciate every single one of them. This chapter was really hard for me to write but those reviews got me through it. I'm also happy to hear about all the people who have stumbled upon this story recently and have really fallen in love with it. It really means so much to me. So I hope you enjoy the chapter and keep reviewing!
Quick question that has absolutely nothing to do with the story... I'm nineteen and I recently bought some ice cream from a grocery outlet. It's called Steve's Ice cream(Funny enough) and I fell in love with it after trying the Whoopie Pie and sweet cream flavor so I decided to try a different flavor. I got a Kentucky bourbon vanilla flavor but I stupidly assumed that it didn't contain actual alcohol until I ate it and I could taste a very strong alcohol flavor from it. It's really good but I was just wondering if it was legal to sell that kind of ice cream to minors. I know people use alcohol in cooking all the time but I've never had alcohol in ice cream. It was just curious to me because I could really taste a strong alcohol flavor within the ice cream. It's not like I've never had alcohol before but I just don't know if it's legal for Grocery outlet to do that since I've heard of some people selling wine ice cream and they have to ask for ID. Sorry... that was unnecessarily long but I've tried looking it up on the internet but no one really gives a definite explanation.
"Shhh… We wouldn't want anyone to hear us, Princess."
"The pain won't last long. I promise.
"You're so beautiful… just like your mother."
Emma woke up from her nightmare, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. Emma placed her hand to her heart, trying to calm herself down. She was about to call for Steve when she remembered that Steve wasn't there. She was completely alone. Steve had always been there to comfort her in the past after a nightmare but he wasn't there anymore. Emma would just have to face this alone. She remembered what Steve used to tell her whenever she had a nightmare. Deep breaths… deep breaths. Think of something that makes you happy. Normally Emma thought of one of her books but that wasn't going to work in this situation. Instead she thought of Steve and the others. She thought of a simpler time when she first moved into the tower. When the Avengers had their weekly movie night in the living room and it was Clint's turn to pick the movie… he picked some silly comedy and the night was spent joking about how stupid the movie was. That was the memory she would use. When everyone was happy and they weren't all torn apart. Using the memory, Emma was finally able to distract herself from her nightmare about Rumlow. She sat up in bed and immediately glanced outside her window to see that the sun was just rising.
Emma couldn't believe how much she overestimated herself. Putting herself in that situation the night before only seemed to bring back thoughts about Rumlow. Emma had been so distracted by settling into her new life that she hadn't had many nightmares about Rumlow. Every now and then she did but the nightmares were never as bad as the one she just had. It was almost as bad as when the witch made her see her old memories. She realized it was pretty stupid of her to put herself in that kind of situation but it was needed. She needed to find out who Spider-Man was and it had worked. She now knew who Spider-Man was.
Emma had stayed up most of the night thinking about Peter and what this would now mean. Emma didn't really think that she was angry or mad about this new piece of information. She was stunned to tell you the truth but now that she thought about it… it was so obvious how Peter was actually Spider-Man. Emma wanted to slap herself in the face for being so blind. All the evidence was right in front of her the entire time. It was actually kind of amusing to her how she had been looking for Spider-Man when he was sitting next to her in History class this whole entire time. Emma might've felt more betrayed by this information if she had developed an actual friendship with Peter but they weren't really friends… more like friendly acquaintances. Emma didn't really have any hard feelings leftover from the airport fight either. Most of her resentment was focused entirely on Tony. Peter probably didn't even know what he was fighting for when Tony recruited him for his team. It only made her a little more resentful of the billionaire.
Emma understood that she was a child as well but there was an obvious difference between her and Peter. Emma knew that this world of superheroes and war was new to the amateur hero. It was obvious in the way he fought as well as how easy it was to manipulate him. He was naïve and innocent. Peter didn't belong in this world… he was much too young and inexperienced. Emma had grown up in this world and she knew how to take care of herself. It was evident that Peter was still struggling to realize his own ablilities. That's probably why Tony had him fighting petty crime in Queens rather than training at the Avengers Compound. Emma couldn't help but feel a little bad for Peter. It wasn't fair to him that he was caught up in this… that Tony was probably just using him. He actually had a choice when Emma never was provided with the same luxury. The sad part was that Peter probably didn't see it that way. He wasn't even aware to all the danger that Tony had put him in.
Emma loved to play games with people… push their boundaries and see how angry or agitated she could make them. She figured that Darcy was probably right when she compared her to Loki so Emma couldn't fault her for that. It was true… she was manipulative and conniving but she was capable of love and trust. Emma loved and trusted both Steve and her father immensely. Emma even felt a special fondness for people like Sam, Darcy, Natasha, Clint, and Susan. She would never do anything to jeopardize their trust in her because she cared for all of them. Emma had a select number of people she cared for in this world and she didn't see herself ever betraying their trust like that. However, Emma could be manipulative and evil to a point whenever she wanted to be… or had to be. She knew that manipulating Peter would be wrong… she already manipulated him enough as it was. He was naïve and innocent so Emma didn't think that she could manipulate him knowing fully well who he was. Steve definitely wouldn't approve of her doing that to someone like Peter. It was pretty funny how Emma suddenly seemed to have Steve's voice in her head telling her what and what not to do. It seemed that Captain America was her conscience. Even if Emma wasn't going to manipulate Peter that didn't mean that she still couldn't have her fun.
Emma moved to the bathroom to get ready for her day at school. She still had a couple of hours before school started but right now her thoughts were completely encompassed by Peter Parker. She needed to do something to distract herself from all the things that were currently going through her mind. Emma would drive herself crazy if she thought about the whole Spider-Man situation too much. She needed to get dress and prepare for her day. There was no use thinking about Peter right now. When she got to school then she could have her fun…
"I wonder if the movie will live up to the book?" Michelle asked Emma as Emma was getting some books out of her locker. Class was about to start in five minutes and Emma was slightly worried. She hadn't seen Peter anywhere in the school yet but that didn't mean anything. Emma usually didn't see Peter before second period anyways.
"Yeah, it looks good." Emma answered. "I mean… they have two really amazing actors playing the lead roles. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey." Michelle just shrugged.
"I just don't know how they're squeezing eight books into one two hour long movie." Michelle responded. "It would make more sense if they made a tv series." Emma nodded.
"I guess but Stephen King gave the movie his approval so…" It was then that Emma spotted Peter across the hall. He was standing at his own locker, retrieving his books as if everything was completely normal. To be fair, Emma also acted normal even though she was secretly a former Hydra assassin. She couldn't really judge him. Emma didn't know if she expected him to look different now that she knew who he really was but she didn't see anything different about him. He still looked like the dorky Peter Parker he had looked the day before.
"Why are you staring at Parker?" Emma turned her head back around to look at Michelle. The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow at her.
"What?" Emma questioned with a feigned confused look on her face. Maybe Michelle would drop it if Emma acted confused. It was a huge shot in the dark but it didn't look like she was that lucky.
"You've been staring at him for the past couple of minutes." Michelle deadpanned. Emma usually liked how blunt Michelle could be but for some reason Emma wasn't really appreciating her bluntness in that moment. "Are you into dorks or something?"
"Don't be stupid, Michelle." Emma said as she glared at Michelle.
"Then why are you watching him?" It didn't seem like Michelle was going to drop this anytime soon so Emma just rolled her eyes before she answered her.
"It's just… Well, he invited me to see the Star Wars movies at his apartment or whatever." Emma told her, trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing. It was a lie technically since Emma was a little more concerned with the fact that Peter was Spider-Man. She wasn't about to say that to Michelle since she was pretty sure that Peter was trying to keep his superhero alter-ego low key. Michelle nodded.
"Well, I think that's a proposal from him. A very nerdy declaration of love, right?" Michelle teased and Emma shook her head.
"I don't think I'll even go." Emma grumbled.
"Maybe you should. Parker's not a bad guy." Emma raised her eyebrows at Michelle's statement.
"I wasn't aware that you were such a big Peter Parker fan." Michelle scoffed.
"I just noticed the way Parker stares at you." Michelle remarked. "You should see him in Spanish class… It's the same way he stares at Liz during lunch. It's kind of sad actually… he seems to have an attraction to girls who are out of his league." Emma didn't say anything for a moment. She knew Peter stared at her in Spanish, she could practically feel his gaze on her even though she couldn't see him. Emma never really thought anything of it. She just thought it was him being his weird and suspicious self. Michelle was actually quite wrong about her. Emma wasn't the normal teenage girl that Michelle thought she was. She wasn't out of Peter's league… She wasn't out of anyone's league. The only person who probably deserved someone like her was a person like Loki. Emma couldn't believe she was even giving any thought to what Michelle was telling her. She narrowed her eyes at the dark haired girl.
"We're not going to be talking about boys together… That's not the kind of friend I am." Emma told her which caused Michelle to smirk.
"Friend?" Emma couldn't believe she had slipped up like that but truthfully she liked Michelle. She was the exact opposite of what Emma had assumed all teenage girls were like. Emma wasn't being manipulative or malicious in her intentions whenever she was around Michelle. She genuinely liked the bookish girl.
"Well, I figure it makes sense." Emma rationalized. "Just don't get all touchy feely on me. I wasn't lying when I said that I'm not that kind of friend." Michelle just laughed.
"I'm not that kind of friend either. I don't actually know what kind of friend I am since I've never really had much experience with friends." Michelle admitted but Emma just offered her a small smile.
"That's okay, I don't really have much experience with friends either." Emm told her, trying to give some comfort to her newfound friend. "I guess we can figure it out together." Michelle returned her smile.
"I guess we can." Michelle replied. "Oh and my friends call me MJ."
"Did Liz get a new top?" Emma heard Peter say from down the lunch table. Emma and Michelle were both currently reading their own books silently as they sat across from each other. It might've looked odd to other people but it was just how their friendship was. That sounded odd… friendship. Emma supposed it was just somethng she would have to get used to. She looked up from over her book, sparing Michelle a pointed look as they both listened to Peter and Ned discuss the topic of Liz Allan. Liz Allan seemed to be a regular conversation for the two to have at lunch. Michelle just rolled her eyes before returning her attention to her book.
"No, we've seen that before… but never with that skirt." Ned replied and now it was Emma's turn to roll her eyes. They sounded like that group of gossiping old women on that mid-morning talk show that Darcy always liked to watch. What was it called? The Viewer? The Viewing? Emma noticed the way Peter and Ned were staring at Liz who was hanging up one of the Homecoming posters. They looked quite pathetic and idiotic as they rested their faces in their hands, staring hopelessly after her. Why were teenage boys so stupid? Emma would probably never know. It was biology she supposed.
"We should probably stop staring before it becomes creepy though." Peter remarked. Emma thought that it was a little two late for them not to appear to be a couple of leering creeps. Sometimes Emma felt a little bad for Liz. To have a couple idiots drooling all over her? Emma would rather live at the compound with Tony.
"Too late." Michelle said, looking up from her book and giving the two boys a bored expression. "You guys are losers."
"Then why do you sit with us?" Ned asked. Emma didn't know if she could really call it sitting with them. Both pairs of friends were seated quite a ways away from each other.
"Because we don't have any friends." Michelle told them. It was then that Peter took the time to look at Emma. He had spent the entirety of Spanish class trying to get a glimpse of her… to see how she was faring but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It came as quite the shock to Peter when he realized the girl calling for help in the alley was actually Emma Lewis… His Emma Lewis. Well, not his Emma Lewis but a girl from school that he was trying to befriend. He had always seen Emma as a cynical, bitter, and sarcastic teenage girl so it surprised him to see her so scared and vulnerable like the night before. It angered him to see those men try to attack her in the alley as well. Peter had stayed up most of the night thinking about Emma and how she was doing.
When he came to school, he was almost positive that she wouldn't be there. She had been through a horrifying ordeal the night before so he wouldn't expect her to return but she did. When he saw her sitting in her normal seat in Spanish class he was completely weirded out. He was even more surprised to see that she seemed to be perfectly fine and not at all trauamatized by the night before… at least visably. Now that he thought about it, the entire situation was a bit strange. There was no news articles about the night before. Usually there was reports of Spider-Man saving cats or catching thugs who had stolen an elderly woman's purse. Last night, however, there really was nothing. It was all so odd. Now that he sat there seeing the normal amused look on Emma's face, it felt as though last night might've been his imagination but he knew more than well that the events of the night before did occur.
"Wait… did you say we?" Ned questioned as he looked between Emma and Michelle with a bewildered look on his face.
"Did she stutter?" Emma sneered but Ned looked too excited from this new information to be frightened by the tone of Emma's voice.
"Are you guys friends now? Are you finally admitting to being friends." Emma sighed tiredly at Ned's excited demeanor while Michelle just gave him a look of disbelief. Peter was the only one who looked absolutely confused by everything.
"It makes sense." Emma finally admitted. "We already spend so much time together and we can actually tolerate each other more than anyone else." Peter shook his head, knowing that he would never understand Emma and Michelle for as long as he would live.
"You two are the weirdest pair of friends I've ever seen." He told the both of them. "What kind of friends only tolerate each other? That's not grounds for a friendship." Emma scoffed.
"Well, at least we don't drool all over the lunch table because Liz Allan's wearing a short skirt." Emma pointed out. "Really… it's like you two have never seen a girl wear a skirt before." Peter glared at her. No, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with Emma because she seemed as unpleasant as ever. It still stunned him a bit to think that she didn't seem bothered at all by last night.
"Whatever." Peter mumbled as he stared at his tray of food. There was something very off about Emma Lewis. It was something he had been thinking about for quite a while but after last night the idea seemed to be more apparent to him. How could she act so normal after what had almost happened to her? Peter didn't know. He did know that there was something incredibly mysterious and odd about Emma Lewis.
"Lets move to the next question." Liz announced as they rehearsed for nationals. The academic decathlon team was currently preparing for nationals in D.C. which wasn't that far away. Emma didn't mind the decathlon team apart from Flash who was annoying as ever. Emma actually didn't dislike most of the kids on the team. They weren't as unsufferable as all the others. Emma thought that Cindy Moon and Sally Avril were less of a nuisance than all the other girls in school although she wouldn't really call them friends. She didn't really mind Liz either although Emma thought the older girl was a bit too lively and happy for Emma to want to talk to for more than a couple of minutes. "What is the heaviest naturally occuring element?"
"Hydrogen's the lightest." One of the guys answered as he rang the bell.
"That's not the question." Emma heard someone else say but she wasn't paying attention that much. While she new the basics of chemistry, she really wouldn't call it her strong suit. She only knew enough to enable her to make weapons but it held little interest for her after that. History, English, Art, and Language were her specialties and was something the others relied on her for since most of them were more adversed in mathematics and science. Michelle was one of the few that was skilled in all subjects but not even she was as skilled in history and linguistics as Emma. The others questioned Emma's knowledge and how she seemed to be fluent in more than a couple of languages. The question had come up when she answered a couple of language involved questions flawlessly. One question called for the usage of German and the other question required the usage of Porteguese. Emma just told them that she liked to mess around with Rosetta Stone and they left it alone at that although Michelle and Peter both didn't seem to buy it. Emma wasn't worried. It wasn't like they could figure out why she knew languages so well.
"Uranium!" Abe Brown declared proudly as he rang his bell. Emma didn't really mind Abe so much either. He seemed nice and a lot less annoying than Flash Thompson but then again, almost everyone was less annoying than Flash Thompson.
"That is correct. Thank you, Abraham." Liz told Abe, flashing the dark skinned boy a delighted smile. "Please open your books to page ten." Liz directed everyone and everyone, even Emma, did as they were asked. Liz was the team captain, after all. Emma immediately opened her book to the requested page but she then heard something that captured her interest.
"Peter, it's nationals." Emma heard Mr. Harrington tell Peter. She discreetly glanced up from her book and noticed that Peter was standing a small distance away, involved in some sort of hushed discussion with the teacher. She narrowed her eyes a bit as she watched them. What was Spider-Twerp up to now? "Is there no way you could take one weekend off?"
"I can't go to Washington because if Mr. Stark needs me than I have to make sure that I'm here." Peter told Mr. Harrington and Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't like he was that important in the grand scheme of things. Stark had only used Peter in the battle at the airport because he was desperate. It wasn't likely that Stark was going to use Peter again unless desperate times called for desperate measures. It would do Spider-Twerp some good not to think so highly of himself.
"You've never been in the same room as Tony Stark." Flash Thompson told Peter as he rolled his eyes at his school rival. Emma had to hide a smirk when she heard that. Little did he knew that Peter most definitely had been in the same room as Tony Stark… the same airport actually. Not that being in the same room as Tony Stark was a great accomplishment. If Emma was in the same room as Tony Stark right now she knew that she would be trying her hardest not to beat the living hell out of the man. It was safe to say that she was still pissed at him.
"Wait… What's happening?" Cindy asked, completely confused about the new situation that was unfolding.
"Peter's not going to Washington." Sally replied and a horrified look appeared on Cindy's face.
"No, no, no, no, no." Cindy said in disbelief. Emma had to agree with her there since Peter was a great addition to the team. As much as she hated to admit it, the kid knew his stuff. That wasn't what was completely pissing Emma off about this. No, it was the fact that Spider-Twerp literally begged her to be on the team and now he was leaving. Maybe that was his plan all along. Maybe he wanted her to serve as a replacement for when he left so that he could tend to his Spiderly duties.
"Really?" Liz asked. "Right before nationals?"
"He already quit marching band and robotics lab." Michelle added calmly as she barely glanced up from her book. Emma remembered Michelle telling her briefly how Peter had been involved in a lot of extracurricular activities the year before but he mysteriously seemed to be quitting everything this school year. Now that Emma knew who he really was, it made absolute sense to her why. Michelle looked around at everyone when she noticed that they were all giving her odd looks. "I'm not obssessed with him. I'm just very observant." She explained and Emma knew that it was true. Michelle was very much a people watcher. If Shield was still around she might've suggested that the dark haired girl join their ranks after graduation. Michelle had it in her to be a spy and a very good one at that. Maybe that was why Emma liked her so much.
"If there's something wrong you can tell us, Peter." Emma told him. The statement was something a friend might've said out of concern but her voice was very monotone as she spoke. "You can be honest with us. We wouldn't want you to become tangled in a web of lies." For some reason Peter wasn't really comforted by her words. Especially with the small smirk on Emma's face. Peter knew that look. The look that told him that she knew something he didn't. In fact... Emma had been acting strange all day. Stranger than usual that is. She had spent the entirety of fourth period giving him smug looks and Peter wanted to know what was wrong with her.
"Flash… you're in for Peter." Liz told Flash.
"Ooh, I don't know. I've gotta check my calender first. I've got a hot date with Black Widow coming up." Flash said and Emma rolled her eyes. Emma knew better than anyone else that Natasha would never let that dork put a single finger on her body. There was a reason she was called the Black Widow. The blonde was actually quite curious as to what an encounter between Natasha and Flash would look like. Very entertaining most likely.
"That is false." Abe said, hitting the bell with a huge grin on his face. Emma allowed herself to smile at the boy. She knew there was a reason she found him to be less irritating than the others.
"What did I tell you about using the bell for comedic purposes." Mr. Harrington scolded and Emma watched Peter as he vacated the room. Now it was time to make her move. The moment Peter left the room, Emma turned to Michelle.
"I think I left my water bottle in chemistry." Emma told her which caused Michelle to raise an eyebrow. As far as she knew Emma didn't have a water bottle but she could tell from the look on Emma's face that it was just an excuse she was using. Emma wanted to get out of there. For what? Well, Michelle couldn't answer that. Michelle just nodded at her friend.
"You should go ask Mr. Harrington if you can leave. I doubt he'll care." Michelle said, trying to seem uninterested in why Emma wanted to leave so soon after Peter had left. It was clear that both Emma Lewis and Peter Parker were acting oddly and Michelle was absolutely sure that their weird behaviors were somehow connected.
"I'll text you later." Emma told her briefly before getting up from her seat. The others watched Emma curiously as she walked up to Mr. Harrington.
"Okay, why is everyone leaving today?" Cindy asked, sounding a bit frustrated.
"She just forgot her water bottle." Michelle explained.
"Let's not worry about it, guys, we're almost finished here anyways." Liz told them, trying to reassure the group.
"Mr. Harrington?" Emma asked as she looked up at the occupied teacher. He was currently looking through some papers he had to grade for history when he looked down at the blonde. Emma plastered a sheepish look on her face, looking as innocent as possible.
"Yes, Emma?" He inquired.
"I foolishly forgot my water bottle in chemistry. I was wondering if I could go get it before the bell rings. I'm kind of have a dentist appointment right after school… I can't be late." Emma told him, sounding slightly nervous as she rambled on. Mr. Harrington seemed to buy it as he smiled at her.
"Of course, Emma. You never give me much trouble." He told her and it was true. Emma was the most quiet student out of all the students he had in his classes. She listened to him respectfully and took notes on everything he said. When he asked questions and the rest of the class gave him blank looks, he could count on Emma to step up and answer every one of his questions correctly. She was a model student especially in history. Her essay on Emperor Qin was quite remarkable for a girl her age. Emma smiled at him in thanks.
"Thank you, Mr. Harrington. I really appreciate it." She told him. "Have a nice afternoon." She said before she started heading for the doors.
"You too." He told her as he watched her leave. What a nice girl, he thought before he returned to his papers. The thought of his talented student left his mind not a minute later as he focused on grading assignments. It was true. She did seem like a nice and quiet student.
When Emma saw Peter in the hall, she made sure to stay a ways back so he wouldn't be able to tell that she was following him. It didn't seem like he would've noticed her anyway. The fifteen year old boy almost appeared to be skipping as he hurried out of the building. Emma raised a brow at his enthusiasm. Someone was a little too excited throw their red tights back on. This was what separated Emma and Peter. Peter was overly eager to go out and fight crime so that he could made a difference in the world. Emma only put on her suit when the occasion demanded it and she had no other choice. She was completely fine with sitting back and taking a break from the Viper Assassin because she knew someday she would have to throw on the suit anyways. In the mean time, Emma didn't mind waiting. The only reason she was always on Steve's case about letting her fight with the others was because of him. He was the only reason she wanted to join the Avengers and help protect the world. Her reasoning was purely selfish.
Emma stayed within the building for a moment as Peter walked outside. She watched from one of the windows in the door as he used his enhanced agility and jumped over the gate. A look of disgust and disbelief came over Emma's face as she watched him. How could he be so stupid? Anyone could've seen him. This guy was looking more and more to be like an amateur. Emma had once asked herself where Tony had dug Spider-Twerp up from but now she knew. He picked this random, naïve kid up from a high school not even having a clue as to just how unprepared Peter was for all of this. Emma just shook her head before opening the door and walking outside. The bell rung just as Emma put her hands on the opening of the gate. She rolled her eyes as it opened. It wasn't even locked yet Peter hopped the gate like it was. It occurred to her then that he was a total show off. Emma slipped out of the gate and continued to follow Peter down the street.
Emma made sure to stay put in the crowd of people so that she could remain out of Peter's eyesight. It's not like he even looked to see if anyone was following him but Emma wanted to be cautious. She curiously watched him as he made his way across the street to a corner store. Delmar Deli. He quickly walked inside and Emma didn't hesitate following after him. She quietly and discreetly slipped inside the deli but made no move to head towards the front of the store. No, she stayed in the back of the store, heading to the refrigerated drink portion of the store. As she kept away from the check-out counter of the store, Emma kept her eyes glued to Peter who looked to be talking to the man at the front counter. They seemed very friendly from what Emma could observe. She wasn't worried if Peter would be able to spot her, there was too many aisles that stood in between them. Emma grabbed an Arizona tea from the fridge as she casually glanced at Peter again. He handed over some money to the man at the check-out counter before he grabbed the bag containing a sandwich. Emma waited until he left the deli before she made her way to the counter. She set the Arizona tea on the counter and the man at the counter gave her a curious look.
"Is that all, Miss?" He asked her and Emma nodded.
"Yes."
"That will be $1.08." He told her but his curious look didn't go away as Emma handed over the money. Emma waited for him to ask what was on his mind. "You wouldn't happen to know Mr. Parker, would you?" He asked her suddenly and Emma feigned a confused look.
"Who?" She asked.
"The young man that was just in here… Peter Parker. You look like you might be around his age." The man said. "I just thought you might know him." Emma shook her head.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with someone named Peter Parker." Emma told him as she picked up her drink. "Thank you." Emma gave him an apologetic look before she started walking away.
"Have a nice day, Miss." He told her as she walked out the door. It was impossible to pin down a person's personality when just having met them but the girl seemed oddly quiet compared to all the other kids that came to his shop. He was used to having a bunch of rowdy hooligans waltzing through his shop but this girl just came in for an Arizona tea and left. It was strange considering that he had the best sandwiches in Queens. Everyone came to his shop for his famous sandwiches but the girl came in for a can of tea and then left. The man just shook his head before going back to tending to his business. She was just a kid and he wasn't likely to ever see her again anyways. Still… that comment Peter Parker had made about his daughter unnerved him and he might have been hoping to somehow point the kid in a different direction. Peter Parker sure knew how to push a person's buttons.
Emma followed Peter again as he walked down the street, shoveling the sandwich into his mouth as he walked. Well, wasn't he the multitasker. Emma wrinkled her nose a bit in disgust because she didn't find his ability to inhale a sandwich that attractive. She carefully sipped her Arizona tea as she walked down the street, a distance behind Peter. He finished his sandwich in no time and threw the paper bag in a nearby trash can. Maybe Emma had followed Peter on one of his more uninteresting days. Maybe Peter was just going to spend the day aimlessly wandering around Queens and Emma would be forced to be bored the entire afternoon. Just when she thought that this adventure couldn't get more boring, Peter quickly turned into an alley. A different alley than from the night before.
She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as he disappeared into the alley and Emma stayed close to the side of one of the buildings as she slowly made her way towards the alley. Emma finally reached the alley and cautious peaked her head around the corner, completely bewildered by what she saw. Peter was stripping down to his boxers in the middle of the alley in broad daylight. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. Okay… she had to admit that he was in pretty good shape. Those dorky graphic t-shirts and hoodies he wore covered up his well defined muscles at school from normal people but Emma could always tell what he was hiding. Even though Emma had an idea that he was much stronger than he looked, she was still surprised to see a six pack on him. Emma watched him put on his Spider-Man suit completely unashamed that she was staring at him. She kind of expected Peter to notice her and Emma thought it would be hilarious for a confrontation to happen when Peter was half dressed in an alley. She'd love to see him try and explain himself out of that one. To her dismay, however, he never even noticed her. Emma just watched as he put on his Spider-Man suit to complete the look and the suit automactically tightened around him to fit his form. She just shook her head at the sight.
There was a lot of people who walked passed the alley and anyone could've seen him but the idiot was completely oblivious to it all. And Emma had thought Clark Kent changing in a telephone booth was stupid. Emma silently wondered how many other people might've captured a glimpse of Spider-Man's true identity and the idiot wouldn't have known if they had. Emma raised an eyebrow as she watched him glue his backpack to the side of the dumpster with his webbing. Without another moment's hesitation, Peter flung out his wrist and his webbing shot out. He then propelled himself into the air and disappeared behind a building. Emma waited a moment before she entered the alley. She cautiously looked around the alley, disgusted by the filth inside it. If there was one thing she hated about New York it was how filthy it was.
Emma smirked as she spotted the backpack glued to the side of the dumpster. He really should've known better. Even with his sticky webbing, it wasn't impossible for anyone to pry it from the dumpster. Emma wondered how many backpacks he had lost this way. Unlike Peter, she cautiously glanced around the alley to make sure she was unseen. When she determined that the coast was clear, she reached under her skirt and pulled out her knife from her thigh holster. She then began to cut through the webbing, applying her increased strength to finish the job. With a little added force, Emma was finally able to pry the backpack from the dumpster. She began to brush the leftover webbing off the backpack, looking quite disgusted as she did so. Emma didn't care if the webbing didn't actually come from his body. It was still disgusting. Once the backpack was in her care, Emma quickly exited the alley. It was time to do a little more detective work.
Emma spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a bench at a bus stop as she analyzed the contents from his backpack. It wasn't like she needed to follow Spider-Twerp around all day anyways. McConaughey had synced her phone to her mask so she was able to track him all day. He wasn't doing anything remotely interesting. Emma noticed that he had several items that held little value to her in terms of telling her anything about him. Some textbooks along with a calculator although Emma doubted Peter Parker really needed a calculator. There were other mundane school supplies like pencils and pens but it was his notebook that really captured her attention. She immediately opened the notebook and began flipping through the pages. A lot of notes he had taken appeared in the notebook and Emma smiled in amusement at his messy handwriting.
Emma thought she wasn't going to find anything interesting until she started spotting little doodles framing his notes. His art work was nowhere near the level of her art work but she still found the little drawings amusing. His doodles depicted countless images of himself as Spider-Man. She saw that his drawings mostly depicted the fight at the airport. A lot of them showed Spider-Man teamed up with Iron Man during the fight and Emma rolled her eyes. She quickly grabbed one of Peter's pens and scribbed a single word in the picture. She wrote the word 'Asshole' with an arrow pointing at Tony. It was very immature but Emma was supposed to be an immature, hormonal teenager anyways. Emma was surprised to see that there was even a few drawings that Peter had drawn of her. Well, not her as in Emma Lewis but her as in the Viper Assassin. Emma snorted when she saw that Peter had depicted Spider-Man winning in one of their altercations. In his dreams.
She closed the notebook and placed it back inside the backpack, quickly zipping up the bag. She was lost in thought as she wondered how she was going to confront Peter about this. As much as she would've loved to have confronted him in the alley while he was changing, she also didn't think it would've been a good idea if she had. No, Emma was probably going to wait until later tonight. She drank the last of her tea before throwing it in the trash can positioned to right side of the bench. It was then that she was slightly startled out of her thoughts as her phone vibrated from inside her backpack. Emma immediately took the phone out of her own backpack and looked at the text message.
Darcy: Where R U?
Emma remembered the small promise she made to Darcy to be more honest and upfront… to stop bottling things up. She took a deep breath before she typed out of a response to Darcy's text.
Emma: Probably won't be home til late tonight.
It was only a minute before Darcy responded.
Darcy: Does it have to do with your pet spider?
Emma stiffled a laugh as she read the text message. Darcy could be very weird at times. It was something that Emma just had to get used to she guessed.
Emma: Yes
Darcy: Have fun then! Don't kill anyone.
Emma just rolled her eyes at that message. Darcy just loved teasing her. Emma had to admit that she got away with a lot while living with Darcy. Steve would've never let her do half the stuff that Darcy let her do. Emma assumed it was because Darcy was trying to be the cool older sister. It wasn't like Emma was completely unsupervised. While Darcy was very eccentric and weird, Jane supplied a more stern persona within the household. The astrophysicist didn't live with them officially but she did spent a quite a bit of time with them at the townhouse. The small brunette tried to parent her in areas that Darcy was lacking. Jane's efforts weren't that appreciated by Emma. Emma suddenly got up from the bench after glancing at Peter's next location on her Stark phone. It was time to go back to work.
There was a couple of hours without any activity from Spider-Twerp. Well, unless you counted helping old ladies across the street and doing parlor tricks for people. This kid really had nothing better to do. Night had just fallen when Emma noticed something peculiar on her phone. The tracker, she had placed on Peter, was notifying her that Peter was near the location of the Delmar Deli. Maybe he was heading back to the alley to retrieve his backpack. Emma figured it might be a good idea to finally confront him there since the streets were a lot more empty than they had been before. Yes, Emma would finally confront Peter and maybe strike up some kind of truce between them. That would be the rational thing to do.
When Emma finally reached Delmar Deli, she was met with an unexpected sight. She quickly stepped into an enclosed doorstep of one of the nearby stores as she surveyed the area across the street. Spider-Man was inside the bank across the street wrapped up in a fight with a bunch of ATM robbers. With her enhanced eyesight she could see that they were wearing some very questionable masks of the Avengers. On the outside they just looked to be very typical, low IQ thugs that Emma would never waste her time with. She thought that they were beneath her skill level and were much more worthy of the local police's time and effort.
Emma, however, soon realized how wrong she was when she saw them pull out some advanced weaponry. The rays of light and high power suggested that it was weaponry that was beyond the power of a couple of typical bank robbers. Emma thought it looked much more similar to weapons that she had seen Hydra experimenting with. She narrowed her eyes as she analyzed the weapons. She had seen Hydra experiment with a lot of weapons that were leftover from the Chitauri attack a few years prior. Those weapons looked just like the ones from that Hydra had managed to get their hands on. The only question was… How on Earth did a band of idiots get a hold of advanced weaponry like that?
Emma watched Spider-Man try to fight the men but the advanced weaponry seemed to take him by surprise. Emma supposed that she could've stepped in to save him or something but she didn't think his life was in any actual danger. No, it would be far more logical for her to observe the situation as well as the capabilties of these weapons. Besides… it would do Spider-Twerp some good to do some actual fighting. It might toughen him up a bit. Emma surveyed the situation with cautious eyes as she watched Spider-Man get his ass handed to him. It was when the men blew the bank up that she finally looked up in surprise. Some debris flew over towards Delmar Deli which caused another explosion at the small shop. The men quickly made their escape as they disappeared into the night. It wasn't them that had Emma worried… No, it was their weapons. Somehow Emma just knew that those idiots didn't come across the weapons on their own. They most likely got them from someone else. The only thing that Emma wasn't sure about was where they got their weapons from.
For a moment she was worried whether or not Peter was alright. Worried? Emma never got worried about anyone… except for her father and Steve of course. Emma brushed it off as feeling sorry for Peter because he was just a kid. However, she was relieved to see him emerge from the destroyed bank and run across the street. Possibly to check for survivors from Delmar Deli. Emma determined that he was fine and she quietly headed in the opposite direction as she heard the sirens coming. This was a twist that she hadn't been expecting and Emma knew that she would have to do quite a bit of thinking before she decided what her next move would be. This certainly changed things.
After thinking things out rationally, Emma decided what her next move would be. She was finally going to confront Peter once and for all. Now that there was an immediate threat on the horizon there would be no other choice but to confront him. Aliens weapons in the hands of common criminals? That didn't sound entirely below her interest… No, that was something very interesting. If Hydra was somehow involved that might even mean that Rumlow could also be involved. Emma was hoping that Rumlow was involved in this because if he was then Emma might finally be able to find him. Either way… this was something that definitely called for the Viper Assassin to finally make a return.
Emma was currently sitting in Peter's room, waiting for his return. According to her phone, he had been eating dinner with his aunt at a Thai place down the street. Emma didn't mind waiting for him since she took the time to study his room. Most people called it being nosy but to Emma it was just part of the job. His room was the exact opposite of her room back at the townhouse. It was overwhelmingly messy with clothes thrown around the room and school work scattered everywhere. He was nowhere near as ammaculate as Emma. She raised an eyebrow in amusement as she saw all the Star Wars posters on the bedroom wall as well as several Star Wars action figures placed on top of some of his shelves. Emma had his Spider-Man suit laid out beside her on the bottom bunk of his bunk bed. It was a small room but it looked to be the room of an average teenage boy. Emma's ear perked up when she heard the door to the apartment opening and closing. Some chatter could be heard from outside Peter's bedroom door.
"I need to relax. I'll be in the bathroom taking a nice hot shower so if I'm in there for half an hour, don't get worried." An older woman's voice called out and the door of the bedroom immediately opened. The lights turning on. Peter walked into the room with a smile on his face, not appearing to notice Emma at first.
"Okay, Aunt May. I'll just be finishing up some homework in-" Peter immediately stopped talking when he saw that Emma Lewis was inside his room, perched on his bed with a smug look on her face. His eyes only widened more when he saw that his Spider-Man suit was laying beside her on the bed. Wait… What?
"Is everything alright, Peter?" Aunt May questioned when she heard him stop speaking. Peter laughed nervously and Emma pressed her finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Have a nice shower." Peter then closed the door behind him, giving Emma a bewildered look.
"Emma?" He said, still in a lot of shock. "What are you doing in my room… No, wait… How did you get in the apartment? It's locked." Emma just rolled her eyes as she got up from the bed. Peter gulped as she slowly walked up to him. Something in the way she walked made her look much different than she had looked in school. She seemed more graceful… even more flawless if that was possible.
"Locks don't mean anything to me." Emma told him, her tone sounding slightly teasing. Peter gathered some more courage within himself before he spoke.
"What are you doing here, Emma?" Peter repeated and Emma just smirked at him as her finger brushed across his cheekbone as gently as possible. She moved impossibly close to him and Peter could feel his heart pounding against his chest as his breathing hitched.
"I'm here to make love to you, Peter." She whispered intimately into his ear and Peter stumbled back a couple of steps from her in shock. He watched her with widened eyes as his face flushed an alarming shade of red at the seductive smile on Emma's face. He also realized that it was the first time that Emma had ever called him by his first name and not his surname. Despite the shocking remark from her, he found that he quite liked the sound of his name on her lips.
"Well, t-that's uh… It's k-kind of… n-not that I-I but-" Peter stuttered hopelessly but stopped when Emma busted out laughing. He gave her a confused look as she laughed and then he realized that she had only been joking. Emma Lewis's odd sense of humor would forever confused him… he was sure of it.
"Relax, Parker, I'm just messing with you." The smile then fell off her face and a more serious expression took over. "On a more serious note… I'm here on business." Peter raised his eyebrows at the seriousness of her tone. The red flush was still fading from his face as he looked between her and the suit.
"Business?" Emma nodded.
"Yes… I bet you're wondering why I have your Spider-Man suit on the bed." Emma told him and he feigned a confused look. Emma resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him again. It was no secret that he was a terrible liar. Emma thought Steve was a fairly bad liar but this kid took the cake.
"What? That old thing?" Peter said, laughing nervously. "That's just a cosplay costume I got for Comic Con. Did you hear about Comic Con? I heard that guy from Star Trek's gonna be there. You know the one that plays that character you like… Dr. McCoy?" Emma gave him an unimpressed look.
"Let's cut the crap, Parker." Emma told him suddenly. "I've been tracking you since last night and I've been following you since school got out. I know that you're Spider-Man. I have your backpack by the way." Emma said, gesturing to the backpack that was on the floor in front of the bunkbed. Peter couldn't believe that she had found his missing backpack.
"You found my missing backpack?" Peter asked in wonder. "Where did you find it?" Emma sighed tiredly.
"I didn't find your backpack… I stole it." Peter stared at her in disbelief.
"You stole it? Why would you do that?" Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Why do you think I stole it? I wanted to find out more information about you." Emma replied. Peter was a little taken back by the coldness of her voice but he put that aside because he wanted to know how she found out about him. She said she had been tracking him but that didn't make any sense. Emma had only met Spider-Man last night but she hadn't made any mention of being saved by Spider-Man at school. Even if she didn't want to talk about what happened, surely a lot of people would mention if they had been saved by a superhero. Maybe Peter was just thinking too highly of himself.
"I don't understand." Peter told her, expressing his confusion. Emma just rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I honestly can't believe that you're so slow at this." Emma deadpanned before continuing. She honestly felt like an evil villain explaining their evil plan to an unknowing hero. "Didn't you wonder where the Viper Assassin went? Why she didn't go to the Raft Prison with the others… why she wasn't deemed a war criminal? What on Earth could've happened to the mysterious and elusive Viper Assassin?" Emma said the last part mockingly but Peter was still not getting any of it.
"The Viper Assassin?" Peter questioned. "What… What are you talking about?" Emma stared at Peter, her blue eyes locking onto his brown eyes. Peter felt a little lost in her intense gaze as she stared at him seriously.
"The first time we met wasn't in the school cafeteria." Peter gave her an odd look.
"Yes it was." Emma just shook her head.
"The first time we met was in Berlin." Peter stared at her. Emma could see him putting together the pieces of the puzzle in his head. She watched as he took in everything she had told him in the past few minutes. It took him a couple of minutes but the look of realization came over his face but the look quickly morphed into horror as he looked at her with wide eyes.
"You!" He said in disbelief. "You're the Viper Assassin." Emma smirked. Peter couldn't believe it. Emma Lewis was the Viper Assassin. She was the same person he had fought on many occasions at the airport. Now that he was in such close proximity to Emma he realized why her beautiful eyes always looked familiar to him. It was because those were the same eyes as the Viper Assassin. He didn't know how to think… how to feel about the fact that the girl he was slowly becoming friends with was a former assassin. Now that he thought about it… it made so much sense. Her mysteriousness and the way she talked like an adult at times. When he was battling the Viper Assassin at the airport he always assumed that she was an adult. While he was stronger than the assassin, she was much more experienced and skilled in fighting than he was. Peter had thought that she was an adult and he never really considered that she might've been very young. Another thing occurred to Peter in that moment. If Emma had been lying about her secret identity as the Viper Assassin then what else had she been lying about? Did she really live with her sister? Was she really from Seattle? Was Emma Lewis even her real name.
"Took you long enough." She said smugly. "We meet again, Spider-Twerp."
"Are you here to kill me?" Peter asked fearfully and Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Kill you?" She questioned and he nodded furiously as he remembered what the Viper Assassin had told him at the airport.
"Yes, you said that you would kill me back at the airport. Is that what you're here for?" Peter asked her. "If it is then Mr. Stark will know that you did it. You'd never get away with it." Emma looked at him for a moment before she started laughing. Peter found that he really didn't like when she did that. She'd looked at him like he was something she hadn't seen before and then she'd laugh that soft, musical sounding laughter. Peter wasn't there for her amusement. "What's so funny?" Emma then sobered up from her laughter.
"I'm not here to kill you and even if I was than you better expect that Stark would never be able to catch me. I don't really understand your weird admiration for the man… he's like the worst role model in the world." Emma told him and Peter glared at her.
"Mr. Stark is a lot more respectable than you are." Peter told her heatedly, defending his mentor. "You used to work for Hydra, didn't you? The most evil organization on the face of the planet." Emma's amused expression fell off her face and a more sad one took it's place. Peter felt a bit guilty all of a sudden. He wasn't sure why. If Emma really was the Viper Assassin then it meant that she had also worked for Hydra at one point in time. Peter was still a little bit confused by that since Emma was his age. How could she have worked for Hydra? Still… it was the supposed backstory of the Viper Assassin.
"I didn't exactly volunteer." She admitted and Peter didn't understand what she had meant by that. Before he could say anything, however, she moved on. "It's a long story but let's just say that I was never really given a choice. Hydra's not that kind."
"Then why are you here? If you're not here to kill me than why are you here?" Peter asked her, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. He could tell that whatever was in her past was something that really troubled her. Peter hadn't meant to bring her any discomfort when he brought up Hydra. She might've been the Viper Assassin but she was also Emma... a girl he went to school with. "You could get in trouble for this, right? Aren't I the enemy? You're on Team Captain America and I'm on Team Iron Man."
"Don't you watch the news, Parker?" Emma told him. "Stark released a statement saying that the Viper Assassin was very cooperative and decided to comply with the accords. What a load of crap." Peter just shook his head.
"Does Mr. Stark even know that you're going to high school… high school with me?" Peter questioned and Emma scoffed.
"Of course he knows." Emma said in a heated tone. "Who do you think sent me there?" Peter gave her a surprised look even though he was more surprised with Mr. Stark than he was with Emma. Mr. Stark knew? All this time he knew and never thought to inform Peter that he was going to the same school as the Viper Assassin.
"Did you know?" Peter asked, desperate to know if Mr. Stark had informed her of his true identity rather than informing him of Emma's true identity. "Did you know who I was from the start?" Emma gave him a long look before she sighed and shook her head.
"I want to say that I did but no… I didn't figure it out until last night."
"Last night?" Peter questioned. "You mean when I saved you." Emma scoffed.
"Do you really think I couldn't defend myself against a couple of low life assholes?" Emma asked him with a sarcastic tone. Peter's eyes widened.
"You set me up?" He said in disbelief and Emma nodded.
"Yes, that's how I was able to put the tracker on you. The tracker gave me your location and I was able to find out who resided here. I was informed that a May Parker rented the place so it didn't take me long to put two and two together." Emma explained. Peter just shook his head, still reeling from the fact that the girl who sat next to him in history class also happened to be the Viper Assassin. It was almost impossible to believe. He still didn't understand why Mr. Stark would send her to the same school as him. It didn't make sense.
"What else have you been lying about? Are you even from Seattle? Is your name really Emma?" Peter asked. He wanted to know who Emma really was… this time without all the lies. Even though they hadn't known about each other for long, he still felt a bit betrayed. Emma sighed. She supposed if she wanted him to trust her she would have to give him something. Not the whole story but she could tell him bits and pieces… for now. Just to hold him over.
"Fine… I guess you deserve to know part of the story." Emma told him before continuing. "If you must know I'm originally from Oklahoma although I don't remember much of it. Hydra captured me when I was four and I spent most of my childhood in a Hydra base in Siberia." Peter gave her a confused look.
"Siberia?" He challenged.
"Yeah, you know... Russia?" Peter glared at her.
"I know where Siberia is. I was just wondering why Siberia of all places?" Emma just shrugged.
"I was taught at an early age not to question Hydra's decisions." Emma replied. "I stayed there for nine years while Hydra trained me and then the Avengers rescued me if you want to call it rescuing. I've spent the past two years with them."
"So do you really live with your sister?" Peter asked her, trying to process that information. She was taken when she was just a little kid and trained by Hydra? Why would Hydra want to train a little girl? It didn't make much sense to him. Emma just smiled and shook her head.
"I don't have a sister. I live with a friend of the Avengers… her boss/best friend is kind of in a relationship with Thor." Peter nodded slowly. That certainly was a lot to take in. Peter had never met Thor before but he'd always wanted to. Who wouldn't want to meet an Asgardian? A part of Peter wanted to ask Emma what Thor was like but he refrained from doing so. He was too interested in what she was telling him and he also didn't want to seem like an obsessed fan boy. "And while my name's Emma, I'm not actually Emma Lewis. Lewis is my friend's last name."
"Then what's your real name?" Peter question, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Emma looked directly at him before she answered.
"Emma Rogers." Peter just stared at her. Rogers… Did that mean that she was related to… No, it couldn't mean that. Rogers was a very common name.
"Rogers as in…" Peter trailed off and Emma finished for him.
"Steve Rogers… Captain America."
"Does that mean you're related to Captain America?" Peter asked, still confused. "I don't really understand." Emma sighed.
"He's my grandfather if you want to get technical about it." Peter stared at her in shock. Out of all the things that she could've told him, that was definitely the most surprising. Now that he looked at Emma he guessed that there were some similiarities between herself and Captain America. The blonde hair and blue eyes were the most obvious. Still… it was entirely shocking to hear that not only was Emma the Viper Assassin but she was also Captain America's granddaughter.
"Captain America is your grandfather?" Peter said in disbelief. "Like he's really your grandfather? You're his granddaughter?" Emma rolled her eyes at his stupid questions.
"I believe that's what I just said." Peter just swallowed nervously before shaking his head.
"This is crazy… first you tell me that you're the Viper Assassin then you tell me that you're the granddaughter of Captain America. What else are you going to tell me? That you're best friends with the Scarlet Witch?" Emma scoffed.
"Don't be stupid. The Scarlet Witch is a nosy little witch who's completely unworthy of my friendship." Emma said bitterly. Peter wanted to question her bitter tone but thought better of it. There were more important questions he had.
"Do you know where Captain America and the others are?" He asked her and Emma glared at him.
"Do you think that if I knew where they were that I'd be here with you?" Yeah… Peter pretty much figured that was a stupid question. He decided to move the conversation into a more relevant direction.
"What do you want from me?" Peter questioned. "There's got to be a reason why you're here." Emma sighed tiredly. It looked like Peter didn't want to beat around the bush.
"I bet you're very curious about why those idiot bank robbers had advanced weaponry." Peter gave her a curious look.
"Yeah but how do you know about those bank robbers?" Emma gave him a look.
"I followed you… remember?" Peter gave her a look of disbelief.
"You were there?!" He questioned. "If you were there then why didn't you help me?!" Emma just shrugged.
"I wanted to see what the weapons were capable of." Emma said nonchalantly as if it were that simple. Peter just shook his head.
"So you just stood there and watched?" Peter angrily asked and Emma nodded.
"You seemed like you were semi handling it." Emma told him before moving on. "Anyways… I thought that it was extremely suspicious about how a bunch of low life robbers managed to get their hands on alien weaponry. Don't you find that equally suspicious?" Peter's anger soon faded as he listened to Emma. He nodded while nervously fiddling with a loose thread on his t-shirt.
"I may have found it pretty concerning." Peter confessed. "I tried to tell Happy about it but he didn't listen. He says that he's too busy with moving day so I don't know what to do about it." Emma just stared at him.
"You don't know what to do about it?" Emma questioned doubtfully. "Don't you have all these enhanced abilities? What's stopping you?"
"I don't think Mr. Stark would approve of this. You're suggesting that we go out and do this on our own." Emma rolled her eyes the moment she heard Stark's name leave Peter's lips. It was so obvious he hero worshipped Stark for whatever reason.
"As much as you would like to think that Stark will sit down and take you seriously… you're wrong. He'll never do that. Stark only hears when he wants to hear." Emma said in a heated tone. "Stark's going to underestimate you because you're a child… get used to it. We're not going to do anything by sitting here and complaining about it."
"You think that they're buying the weapons from someone… they're not making them?" Peter suggested. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Emma was right. He knew that she seemed pretty hostile about Mr. Stark but she was still right about him. Mr. Stark did tend to ignore him all the time.
"After the Chitauri attack Hydra managed to get their hands on a lot of weapons. I know this because I've seen the weapons firsthand." Peter's eyes widened in surprise.
"So you think Hydra's behind this?" Emma just shrugged.
"It's just a theory. It might be unlikely since I can't see what motivation Hydra might have for giving alien weaponry to bunch of bank robbers. That's a bit below Hydra's skill level." Emma told him before continuing. "Whoever these guys are also might've grabbed some weapons during the aftermath of the attacks. There's no way to account for all the weapons so who knows how many people are running around there with advanced weaponry."
"What do you suggest we do about it then?"
"I suggest we form a truce." Emma told him and Peter raised an eyebrow.
"A truce?" He questioned and Emma nodded.
"Yes, it would be the wise thing to do. Everyone else is preoccupied with being war criminals or brooding so we're the only ones left… well, the only ones that find the situation suspicious anyways." Peter gave Emma a doubtful look.
"You're saying that we should work together then? How would that happen? I don't think I could ever trust you. You've lied to me since we've met." Emma gave Peter a look.
"I could say the same thing about you, Spider-Twerp. Do you really want to be pointing fingers?" Emma said before moving on. "I think that we could work well together and believe me when I say how difficult it is for me to admit that. I don't really work well with others… there's only one person I've ever worked with and he's a war criminal right now."
"Well, I'm doing fine on my own." Peter told her stubbornly. "I don't need any help." Emma rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah, you looked like you were really handling the situation at the bank." She replied sarcastically. "Look, I don't want to admit this but I could use your help. You're enhanced… although I have no idea how but I'm sure you'll fill me in on that later. That's not something I need to trouble myself with at the moment. Anyways... Even though you're enhanced, you're extremely lacking in training."
"Hey!" Peter protested.
"It's the truth. You're slow and sloppy. No amount of superpowers is going to change that." Emma told him seriously and Peter let go of his annoyance. He could tell that she wasn't insulting him but rather trying to be honest with him. "It's true that no unenhanced individual could stand a chance against you but an enhanced individual with the right training could take you down in a matter of minutes."
"So what? You're the person to train me?" Peter question doubtfully.
"I could be if you promise to listen to me. I've never trained anyone before but I've been trained by the world's leading experts." Peter scoffed.
"Yeah… Hydra." Peter said saracastically and Emma gave him a sharp look.
"That's your first mistake. You refuse to accept Hydra's strategy and capabilities because you don't agree with their agenda." Emma pointed out and Peter just gave her a look.
"Because they're evil." Peter told her and Emma shook her head.
"That doesn't matter. You can't underestimate your enemy like that." Emma explained to him. "You have to assess their strengths and respect their strategy. If you don't do that, you're arrogance will be your downfall. I hated most of the people who trained me but I still listened to their tactics and strategies. You don't have to agree with them to respect them." Peter analyzed the sincerity written all over her face as he took in what she just told him. He didn't want to admit that she was right but he knew that she was. He severely lacked in any actual training and if he ever went head to head with someone enhanced, he probably couldn't last in the battle very long. Maybe if he had some actual training he could've won in the fight against Captain America.
"So you'll help train me… in exchange for what?" Peter questioned. "What could I possibly have that you want?" Emma bit her lip nervously, the first gesture of nervousness that Peter had ever seen on her.
"Could you put a good word in for me with Stark?" Emma asked softly and Peter gave her a surprised look.
"Mr. Stark?" Emma nodded.
"He seems to like you… he might even think of you as a son. Maybe if you put in a good word for me, I could finally get out of this place. I'll be free to find my grandfather." Emma told him. Peter suddenly understood. The girl standing in front of him wasn't an assassin or superhero… she wasn't even the granddaughter of a living legend. No, she was just a girl who missed her family. Peter could sympathesize with her on that level.
"I don't know how much pull I have with Mr. Stark but I could try." Peter relented and Emma smiled briefly.
"So we have an agreement then… A truce?" She inquired before holding out her hand. Peter glanced at her hand briefly before he shook her hand. He wasn't completely sure about how this would turn out but at least he had somewhat of an understanding with Emma.
"Truce." Peter confirmed before he let go of her hand. Emma was relieved to find out that Peter was so willing to enter a truce with her. She thought he might've been a bit more terrified of her since she was the Viper Assassin. He seemed frightened at first but eventually his fear faded away. He had been more accepting of her than she originally thought.
"You said you followed me around all day… What exactly did you see?" Peter asked suddenly, trying to ask a question that had been bugging him for the majority of their conversation. He was also trying to move the conversation into a lighter topic. Emma smirked at his sudden shyness, playing along with the change of topics.
"Oh, do you want to know whether or not I saw you change in the alley?" Emma asked teasingly. Her bitterness seemingly gone from the moment before. "Yeah, I saw you change. By the way… you really shouldn't do that in broad daylight. Anyone could've seen." Peter blushed.
"You saw?!" Peter said in disbelief, clearly embarrassed. Emma just laughed at his embarassed state.
"Don't act like such a child about it." Emma told him before giving him another smug look. "You really don't have anything to be ashamed about. You're very fit, Peter." Peter covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe that Emma had seen him change in the alley. Especially considering that he may or may not have been forming a tiny crush on her. Although it looked like that crush would have to end since he just found out that she was the Viper Assassin.
"I can't believe you saw me." Peter said, still sounding embarassed by the situation.
"Well, I did… and cute boxers by the way. I see that you're not into briefs." Emma continued to tease and Peter just glared at her.
"You can't say things like that!" Peter exclaimed. Emma raised an eyebrow in amusement at him.
"Things like what?" She questioned and Peter gestured wildly around himself.
"Things like that… Things that are… Well, sexual sort of things." Emma scoffed.
"I don't think that really counts as sexual." Emma quipped but Peter just shook his head at her.
"Well, there needs to be boundaries between us if we're going to do this partner thing." Peter told her seriously and Emma decided to humor him.
"Oh, really? Like what?"
"You can't just say inappropriate things like that and you can't put trackers on me. I'm not comfortable with you knowing where I'm at all the time. You definitely can't follow me either." Peter demanded and Emma nodded.
"Okay… it's not like I need to know where you are anyways. I already found out what I wanted to know." Peter couldn't be sure but he thought that Emma was trying to be agreeable.
"Then it's agreed?" Peter asked. "We'll have boundaries."
"Sure… as long as you don't wimp out on me when we're training." Peter gave her an offended look.
"I don't wimp out." Peter told her firmly and Emma shrugged.
"Sure, whatever." She said in a patronizing tone. "We'll have boundaries then." Peter nodded, feeling satisfied before something else occurred to him. A goofy smile came over his face as he looked at Emma. Emma gave him an uncomfortable look as she noticed that the smile was directed at her. She suddenly felt sick again.
"You know who we're like?" Peter asked her in a delighted tone. Emma just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Who?" She inquired, a curious look on her face.
"Batman and Catwoman." Emma just stared at Peter as if the brown eyed boy was a crazy person. She broke her gaze a moment later as she struggled not to look annoyed by him.
"That's it… I'm leaving." Emma told him before she headed towards his window. Peter could only watch in surprise as she made a move to leave. What did he say that seemed to offend her so much? Emma paused at the window briefly, looking back at Peter. "See you at school tomorrow, Parker. We'll discuss more of this then." And then she was gone, leaving Peter staring after her in wonder. There had been so much he had learned in the past hour and it was going to take a while to process everything. However, there was one thing that continued to go through his mind again and again. The girl he might've been starting to have a small crush on was actually the Viper Assassin as well as the granddaughter of Captain America. That seemed to be a little too much for him to process. It looked like Peter wouldn't be getting that much sleep that night yet again.
What a day.