Chapter 14

Hey everyone! Hopefully I managed to get this chapter wrote relatively quick and i hope everyone going back to education has a pleasant first month.

IMPORTANT: I'm just after reading through a few of the old chapters and i've found two instances where words seemed to have deleted themselves from the uploaded version, if anyone has an explanation it would be greatly appreciated? Until I know what's causing it just let me know when it happens and i'll try fix it sure, thank you for taking the time to read this :)

Spectacular Webhead 11: What do you mean by Gwen's acting? Bit confused at this review tbh, could you please elaborate? :) and yes Kingpin and Carnage are becoming established threats? Thank you for the review!

Chet: Thank you so much for the constructive criticism! Great to know where the story is falling so I can try do something about it. In regards to it though i'm not sure how to fix it as i'm thinking long term so every arc has one or two big moments related to the relationships. Like I know exactly when I will reveal the pairing and to do that arc any justice there needs to be alot built up beforehand so i'm a bit stuck :( any suggestions?

"Spectacular" = Speech

'Spectacular' = Thoughts

"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote

*BANG* = Important Noise?

-Flashback- = Flashback setting

"I love you" = Written words

{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date

Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.

Deciding he might aswell wait somewhere familiar in Hells Kitchen, Spider-man decided to wait for Daredevil above Nelson and Murdock law firm. Afterall, they were such a big help to him and Liz when they visited there recently that if he has to wait somewhere, there's no harm in keeping an eye on the building of the friendly lawyers.

Spider-man was standing on the edge of the building when his spider-sense flared to life, causing him to jump and do a flip mid-air to avoid the swing of an escrima stick that had been aimed at his head.

Landing behind the assailant, Spider-man was quick to prepare for combat as he watched Daredevil get ready aswell, the feeling of a glare making Spider-mans skin crawl.

'Guess I was wrong, he is a villain...man, I was really hoping for a buddy.' Spider-man tthought sadly to himself

"How did you know?" Daredevil asked through clenched teeth as he glared through blind eyes at the arachnid superhero despite the air of confusion which surrounded him.

"Know what?" Spider-man retorted with genuine confusion lacing his voice as he raised an eyebrow at the accusation.

"...Nothing." Daredevil whispered angrily once he sensed the sincerity in Spider-mans voice, holstering his weapons on his back before he sighed. "Sorry for attacking you."

"What the heck man! Why'd you attack me?" Spider-man asked indignantly as he saw Daredevil wrestle with an inner arguement.

"Look, it was a misunderstanding. Can we please get on to the main point of this meeting?" Daredevil explained sincerly before attempting to get to the focus of the night which Spider-man agreed to hesitantly with a nod.

"Good. Now, I'm guessing you got the info you wanted about me and Kingpin?" Daredevil inquired with a raised eyebrow, not that Spider-man could see that.

"Yeah I got the four one one, you're a vigilante aswell and Kingpin is seriously bad news...is it true he got the former police captain killed?" Spider-man elaborated before asking the burning question he'd had since he ran into Vincent.

"You heard about that?" Daredevil asked in suprise, not expecting to hear about that case tonight. "Officially he comitted suicide by jumping off his apartment buildings roof after killing his family but there were two extra pairs of fingerprints that were found in the apartment that night."

"Officially, they were brushed aside as being from maintenance workers and carpenters who'd been in the week prior but if one looks deeper you'll see that they're not a match for anyone in the system or any of the blue collar workers." Daredevil explained to Spider-man who listened to the expanding conspiracy with ever growing dread, if the police captain could have this happen to him then not only was George Stacy in danger but the everyday citizens like Aunt May stand no chance.

"What about unofficially?" Spider-man asked in a serious tone, this situation was spiralling rapidly and they hadn't even done anything yet.

"If you ask me, the former police captain was threatened by two men, one who threatened to kill his wife and son if he didn't jump from the roof which is how he died, a valiant effort to save his family." Daredevil explained his own theory based on the facts of that night.

"...What about the wife and son, why were they killed then?" Spider-man asked with a slight tone of confusion, the thought of unnecessary bloodshed such a foreign thought to him.

"...To leave no witnesses. Kingpin is ruthless." Daredevil explained with a frown as his mind dragged him down memory lane briefly as Spider-man nearly threw up at the thought of killing a kid so young.

"So what's your plan to take him down?" Spider-man said once he'd swallowed the little bit of bile that had threatened to leave his throat, focusing on the crux of tonights meeting.

"To take him down we need to find out who he is first, and to do that we'll have to investigate his operations. There's a construction zone nearby which I have on good authority has some ties to Kingpin's operation, I suggest we break in and see what we can find." Daredevil proposed.

"Tonight?" Spider-man asked seriously, it wasn't ideal but if Kingpin was as dangerous as he seemed then he was willing to take the risk to rush in without a stakeout.

"...No." Daredevil said with a snarl after a moment of contemplation.

"...Why not? Finding out who Kingpin is, is too important to just leave alone." Spider-man argued as he metaphorically scratched his head in bewilderment, as he said they couldn't just leave this to the wayside.

"Because we need to do it right. We'll have to hit them fast and silently so that they can't destroy the documents before we get to them, we'll need to stakeout the construction zone first." Daredevil explained his reasoning for waiting to strike.

'Ugh, he's got a point...it just sickens me to let this Kingpin loose an extra day.' Spider-man thought to himself. "So what do you wanna do, take shifts or something?"

"I was thinking given your superior athletic ability and reach, you could observe them from a vantage point whilst I pursue a few leads." Daredevil said to a deadpan and agitated Spider-man.

"So, in other words, i'm the one doing a stakeout whilst you do who knows what?" Spider-man asked with a frown on his face. 'He better be taking this seriously, he knows more than me how serious a threat Kingpin can be'

"In laymens terms,...yes. But, the leads are legit, they are similar to the one that let me discover the construction zone in the first place." Daredevil said as he justified his actions to which Spider-man groaned before giving him the stink eye.

"Fine." Spider-man said pointing at Daredevil before sighing and walking forward, asking a question on the way. "So where are we headed? I'd better get used to this area if i'm going to be spending some time here."

Daredevil just turned around and began running across the buildings, waving an arm over towards him when he felt Spider-mans eyes on him who began to follow close behind. The duo could be seen running for about 15 minutes before they reached their destination which was a building that had just started being built, the ground having been excavated in a pit as they built the foundations and basment floor.

Standing on a building that overlooked the construction zone, Daredevil and Spider-man gave each other a nod before Daredevil disappeared into the shadows to go puruse those leads he'd been on about. Spider-man on the other hand made sure to find a place that gave him a near perfect unobstructed view of the construction zone, getting comfy as he kept his eyes on the guards who were wandering around on patrol.

"Let's see what you're doing here Kingpin." Spider-man whispered as he began the stake out knowing that bringing Kingpin to justice was important, otherwise who know who might end up hurt.

lllllll

Spider-man was swinging around Manhatten in the mid day sun as he kept an eye out for crime and the perfect shot, a shot that stood out to him along billionaires row which had a beautiful view overlooking central park.

Swinging around one of the tall buildings Spider-man slingshotted himself up to the top of one of the billionaire row buildings, stuck to the glass panes that made up one of the top apartments.

'Hard to beat Central Park in the scenic category' Spider-man thought to himself as he took out his camera and began looking through the lens to get the right angle.

'Little bit to the right...and perfect!' Spider-man thought, snapping a picture looking down towards Central Park and the buildings around it as people basked in the sunny day.

Jumping off the glass pane Spider-man spent the next few hours on the look out for crime, stopping a few robberies and grand theft auto before the sun started to set for the day. Swinging over to his favourite building, aka the Chrysler building, Spider-man found a vantage point from a nearby rooftop and took a picture of the building in the setting sun, the orange glows reflecting off the metal gargoyles like living fire.

Making his way back up to the top of the Chrysler building, Spider-man took a similar photo to the one he'd just taken but this time of the buildings next door neighbour, the empire state building.

'And that's three down...two left for Jameson and then i'll have the money for Gwens recital.' Spider-man said happily in his head before heading over to Madison Square Garden where he took the fourth picture as the sun finished setting, the garden lit up by beautiful lights that illuminated the surroundings in a gentle hue.

"Time for the coup de grace." Spider-man said looking through the lens at Times Square from an elevated position at night hoping that his photos would be scenic enough for the normally strict boss.

Afterall the concert was only a couple of days away so unless Tombstone gets caught redhanded then there isn't really any other source of income for him. Hence why he was standing on one of the buildings looking down at Times Square, a viewpoint he hoped would be novel enough to get the photo up to Jamesson's standards.

"Finished and it's only half eight, plently of time to finish off another patrol before heading back and working on the criminalogy assignment." Spider-man said to himself pleased that he'd gotten his assignment from Jameson finished and had some time left over to work on the other assignment he'd gotten, this time from Captain Stacy.

Making his way to Forest Hills in Queens, Spider-man made it in about fifteen minutes which was pretty good for him, seems like the cities thugs took a night off and he wasn't gonna complain sure he might actually get to eat dinner with Aunt May tonight.

Landing in the garden, Peter was quick to change out of his Spider-man outfit and put it in his backpack before making his way towards the back door which was lit up from the light being on in the kitchen.

'Seems like Aunt May is still up.' Peter thought with a smile as he unlocked the door and walked in to quite the suprise.

"MJ?" Peter asked confused as he watched MJ walk past before stopping infront of him, a bunch of cutlery in her hands.

"Well isn't this a suprise, Tiger home before ten? Must be a slow night." MJ said with a teasing grin on her face as she cocked her hip and rested her free hand on it.

"Mary-Jane was that you going outside?" Aunt May called out from her place in the kitchen, her back to the young adults as she stirred something in a pot infront of her, its aroma pleasantly tickling everyone's noise.

"Sorry Aunt May, it was just me." Peter called out to his aunt who turned around with a smile that grew larger when she glanced at the clock that hung in the kitchen.

"Peter! You're just in time for dinner, oh this is wonderful." Aunt May said clapping her hands together before she turned back around to the pot infront of her, calling over her shoulder as she did so. "Peter could you please give Anna and Mary-Jane a hand setting the table?"

"No problem Aunt May." Peter said as he opened a press and went to grab the glasses whilst MJ went to get another pair of cutlery. Afterwards, they both headed into the ajoining room where MJ's Aunt Anna was setting napkins around the dining room table.

"Oh Peter, what a pleasant suprise! Are you joining us tonight? You know we really have missed you these past few weeks." Anna Watson said cheerily once she lay eyes on Peter who was placing the four glasses around the table where Anna had already placed napkins, MJ following him from close behind with a smirk.

'Few weeks? What have i missed?' Peter thought to himself as he sent a subtle questioning look at MJ who spotted it and smirked even wider before he turned his attention back to Anna and replied. "Yeah it looks like it, so sorry about that though but you know how the Buggle is."

"Oh dear is he still running you ragged?" Anna Watson asked disapprovingly.

"No more than anyone else at the office, he even offered to give me some extra cash for a few scenic photos, i've got them here actually if you want a look?" Peter said as took out his camera and passed it over to Anna who smiled while MJ looked at him curiously.

"Any idea how you're gonna treat yourself with the money Tiger? Lord knows you deserve it" MJ asked as she walked up behind her aunt to look at the photos aswell.

"Oh these are wonderful Peter, especially this one." Anna Watson said as she looked at the photo of times square and over her shoulder he could see MJ nodding in agreement.

"Pretty unique angle there, did you have a hand getting up there?" MJ asked with a grin, her eyes not leaving the photo which saved Peters nervous reaction from being seen.

"N-nope, just climbed a fire escape haha." Peter said chuckling awkwardly which drew MJ's attention and caused her grin to grow wider as she hummed in contemplation.

"Hmm whatever you got planned for the money must be really worth it." MJ said looking at Peter who's nervousness slighy vanished whilst a warm smile blossomed on his face.

"I'm gonna buy a ticket to Gwen's recital to support her, you know i've been letting her down a lot over the past year so i think it's important I show her I'm still there for her." Peter confessed honestly which got a massive smile from MJ.

"Can I come if i buy my own ticket?" MJ asked innocently which got a confused look from Peter.

"Of course, why couldn't you?" Peter asked obliviously to which MJ just shook her head in exasperation.

"No reason Tiger." MJ replied before turning with a smile to Aunt May who had just walked in with two plates of food, placing them down infront of her and her Aunt Anna. "Thank you very much May."

"Oh don't worry, just eat up you two and tell me what you think, hoping to put this recipe in my next book." Aunt May said with a smile as she brought out two more plates for her and Peter who happily took a bite out of the food once it was on the table.

"So what's the occassion?" Peter asked curiously after everyone had had a a bit of time to eat their food.

"Oh Anna and Mary-Jane have been helping me with my recipes, they're my official taste testers." Aunt May explained before she took a sip from her glass of water.

"Yep, your Aunt asked us for help and who were we to turn down free food?" MJ asked rhetorically before taking a bit from her fork and moaning quietly when the flavours hit her tongue.

"Mary-Jane!" Anna Watson said scandelized, her cheeks rosey as she turned her eyes away from her food and towards the now nervous MJ.

"Sorry Aunt Anna, it's just so good" MJ said quietly with a light blush on her face as she went back to eating her food while Anna Watson simply looked at her through suspicious eyes before smiing.

"She's right May, this chicken is divine, you'll knock the socks off anyone with this recipe." Anna Watson said to her friend who beamed at the praise.

'Seems like the next book will be an even bigger hit if all the recipes are like this.' Peter thought pleasantly to himself before continuing to eat his food alongside the women.

Once everyone had finished their food, MJ and Peter went into the sitting room whilst the two aunts sat chatting away at the table about something which seemed to be flustering Aunt May.

"So this new penpal of yours, are they ni-" Whatever Anna was saying to May was cut off in the ears of the young adults once they sat down to let the food digest, relaxed expressions on their faces.

"So how's the modelling going MJ? I've seen you get quite a few phone calls from them there recently." Peter inquired, curious as to how his friend was finding the new aspect of her life.

"It's wonderful Tiger! I'm in most evenings for photoshoots and I actually get paid for it! I'm so happy to finally have my own income..." MJ said happily before trailing off with a weird look in her eye at the end of her sentence which seemed odd to Peter but he decided to focus on the positives for the moment.

"The summer catalogue right or have they been getting you in for anything else?." Peter asked.

"Mainly the summer catalogue, there's a ton of dresses and light clothes they want to advertise for the summer and they seem to like me so who am I to complain?" MJ said with a slightly nervous chuckle before continuing. "On the topic of other projects though, it's been a bit sparse, i've been so busy that I haven't really had much time for anything else but I did throw my hat into the ring for an editorial piece who was looking for a cover model."

"The cover! MJ that's amazing, i'm sure you'll get it i mean they'd have to be blind to turn you down." Peter said enthusiastically as he supported MJ which elicted a smile from her.

"Thanks Tiger, it means alot but I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see what happens sure." MJ said smiling, Peter's confidence in her helping her feel a bit more relaxed at the prospect of getting the job.

The two sat there chatting to each other about miscellanious things for another hour or so until finally around 10pm, Anna came into the sitting room and her and MJ left to head home.

"Oh before I forget, here you go Tiger, if you wouldn't mind grabbing my ticket too?" MJ chanced her luck by asking Peter who simply chuckled and nodded as he took the offered hundred dollars.

The two women waved goodbye to Peter and Aunt May as they left the house for their own, most likely intending to head to sleep once they got in.

Peter was about to head up the stairs himself when he was stopped by Aunt May giving him a hug.

"Thank you Peter for joining us, it was lovely to eat dinner with you again for a change." Aunt May said with a smile splitting her face before she let go of the young man and headed up to bed herself.

'No problem Aunt May...I just wish we could do it more often.' Peter thought to himself dejectedly as he followed her up the stairs before turning into his own room and getting ready for bed, thankful he'd gotten a pleasant night for once.

lllll

"I can't believe Murdock's stories, like the lengths people will go to to escape punishment is insane!" Peter said to Liz as he walked side by side down the path with her, their destination unknown.

"I know right, like what was up with the guy who asked for Murdock to make a distraction so that he could slip out the bathroom window of the courtroom?" Liz asked rhetorically as she laughed alongisde Peter.

"Oh gosh don't remind me, what about the guy who tried to attack Murdock when he lost due overwhelming evidence?" Peter inquired to which Liz just gave a shiver.

"The nerve of some people, attacking someone innocent just because things didn't go their way, like hello have they never heard the saying 'Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time.'?" Liz said with a frown on her face.

"Preach Liz, preach" Peter said with a chuckle to his voice as he thought back to all the super villains who thought it was okay to hurt innocent people simply because they had been dealt a poor hand in life.

The two were walking down somewhere in Manhatten, both clad in their usual outfits as they enjoyed the midday sun that was beaming down on the city from the clouds above.

"So other than crazy stories from Murdock, how's your section going Petey?" Liz said with a bat of her eyelashes as she smiled up at Peter.

"It's certainly going" Peter said with a chuckle before he turned his gaze down to Liz where he adopted a proud look on his face. "I only have to transcribe one or two more of Murdocks accounts and explain them a bit and that'll be me done I think."

'Man am I glad i brought my work with me on the stakeouts.' Peter thought to himself as he and Liz paused at the road before crossing once it looked like no cars were crossing.

"That's wonderful Petey! I'm only about half way through my section, there's a lot of nuance to what goes on in a court room unsuprisingly which sucks." Liz praised before speaking in a down tone, evidently whilst Liz had commented on being fascinated by the topic, it was still a difficult bit to manage.

"That's okay Liz, I know you and you'll understand it in no time." Peter reassured the downtrodden young woman who smiled at his words and gave him a quick peck to the cheek.

"Thanks Petey." Liz said with a smile and a blush as she went back to walking as if nothing happened.

'Did that just happen?' Peter on the other hand was flabbergasted and froze on the spot once he felt her lips on his face. Was he happy to be kissed by a girl? Of course. Was he happy to be kissed by a smoking hot girl? Without a doubt. But was he happy to be kissed by Liz? That was a more complicated question.

On one hand maybe she just forgot they broke up and was on auto pilot?

'That's gotta be it, she must be mortified so i best not draw attention to it...but what if she meant to do it?' Peter thought anxiously as he walked beside the young latina who seemed oblivious to the inner turmoil running through Peters head.

Deciding the best course of action was to ignore it, Peter decided to continue the conversation as if everything was normal.

"So what about Hobbie? Any word from him?" Peter asked innocently as he tried to forget both the heated exchange him and Hobbie had had in the cafeteria after fighting Scorpion and the recent kiss Liz has just sprung on him without any warning.

"Yeah he said that he's nearly done but that the last bit might take him some time if his job interview goes well today." Liz explained nonchalantly, her mind apparently not worried about the assignment if her section needed the most work till it was finished.

"Job Interview? Where's he applying?" Peter inquired, his eyebrow raised and a confused look on his face.

"No idea, all I know is that he's hoping to fund the reconstruction effort at the rec center with the pay so it has to be one heck of a job." Liz said as the two walked past cafes and bakerys that lined the streets.

"Yeah I bet" Peter said with a wince as he thought back to the destruction his fight with Scorpion had caused. No one but them had gotten hurt atleast but the building was totaled, holes and debris everywhere and boy, Hobbie was not impressed.

-Flashback start-

"Spider-man wrecks rec centre with new Scorpion-like foe"

"Yeah you're a real pro at getting pictures of villians Parker, think you could tell your favourite one Spider-man to cough up the funds to fix the rec centre?" Hobbie snarled as he glared at Peter whilst MJ untangled her arms from him, Gwen scowling and a small smile finding itself on Harry's face at the words.

"Hobbie, i'm sorry, I know he didn't mean to-"

"Can it Parker, without that rec centre tons of kids are left without anywhere to go, the gangs in Harlem are itching for a recruitment opportunity like this and it's all thanks to your 'buddy'." Hobbie said as he glared at Peter

-Flashback end-

Shaking his head to wipe away the negative thoughts Peter wished he had the same funds Howard Stark did, atleast then he might be able to repair the property damage his fights cause, might work to get rid of some of the guilt he felt .

Walking into Times Square, Peter and Liz made their way to the long que of people waiting to buy tickets to events going on around the city like a Broadway play. Peter would never understand the schools decision to only allow physical tickets, maybe it was an ESU thing? Eitherway it was quite the hassle but he had the perfect opportunity to buy his and MJ's tickets when Liz asked to go for a walk to recap their progress on the assignment.

The two spent about an hour or two waiting in line, chatting as they waited, slowly making their way towards the front of the line.

"It's actually going pretty fast." Peter commented on the speed of the line as they were about ten people from the front.

"NEXT!"

"I know right, Sally and Rand were waiting five hours last time they tried to score some tickets here for one of their date nights." Liz said in agreement with an annecdote about her friends to which Peter whistled quietly to.

"NEXT!"

"Five hours! Geez they must've really wanted those tickets." Peter said incredulously, the last time he'd heard of someone waiting that long was Uncle Ben when he was trying to think of an anniversary present for him and Aunt May.

"NEXT!"

"Oh yeah, it was their anniversary tradition or something, they don't mind waiting in line so long as they're together." Liz explained the mindset of someone willing to wait five hours in line with someone for tickets to a play.

"NEXT!"

"That's kinda sweet" Peter said with a small smile, the thought of Sally who tormented him in school having such a kind side to her was conflicting to say the least whilst the other side of his mind contemplated how it'd feel to wait with Gwen in line for five hours.

"NEXT!"

Finally, they had reached the top of the line and Peter was eager to finally have the tickets he'd been working for so that he could support Gwen for once instead of letting her down like he'd grown acustomed to.

"Whatcha wan'?" The gruff guy in the ticket booth asked with a heavy accent colouring his voice which got a slight wince out of Liz who was beside Peter before she smiled, her mind getting lost in her head as she pondered why Peter needed tickets.

"Two tickets to Midtown 3's recital in ESU concert hall please." Peter requested from the man infront of him who snorted before rooting around in a file drawer to his right, pulling out two tickets. Unknown to Peter, the smile that had been colouring her face slowly slipped into a look of confusion.

"Dat's two hundred dollars punk." The ticket salesman said to Peter who opened his wallet and took out the required funds, passing them over to the salesman before taking the tickets that were offered in response.

"Thank you." Peter said as he put the tickets away in his pocket, walking with Liz away from the line and to a quieter area.

"Petey, why are we going to the school bands recital?" Liz asked with a touch of concern on her voice and a fragile look in her eyes.

"Oh no these are for me and MJ, we're going to support Gwen so she knows we're there for her, man I'm so excited you wouldn't believe it sure I can't wait!." Peter explained with a happy tone which contrasted heavily to the look of heartbreak that was spreading across Liz's face the more he talked.

"I hope Gwen doesn't mind the suprise though, had to get an extra gig at the Buggle to afford my ticket." Peter said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head whilst Liz slowed to a stop behind Peter.

"Huh? Liz?" Peter said once he noticed Liz wasn't beside him anymore, turning around to look for her. What he saw though confused the hell out of him and made him worry. Liz was standing there with a heartbroken look on her, tears pooling in her eyes before she turned and ran away.

Peter shot out an arm to reach for her as if to catch her but she was gone too fast, leaving Peter on his own with a confused look on his face whilst pedestrians just show him sympathetic looks as they walked past.

'What just happened?'