Disclaimer: Everything you recognise here either came from the MCU films or the original Marvel comics, but I hope you enjoy the results anyway

Feedback: Feel free

AN: This particular tale was inspired by 'Tingle' by Cortex22, but I've put my own spin on the concept depicted in that one, and proceed with the permission of the original author. As with 'Tingle', the endgame for this fic is a throuple (three-person relationship) between Peter Parker, Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova, spread out across the MCU's history. If a triad relationship is not to anyone's tastes, that's your call; just don't post reviews complaining about the premise or criticise the people who are interested in such things, and all will be fine.

AN 2: This story is just being started now as I wanted to get it and another project out there to whet everyone's appetites; I intend to finish a couple of other projects before I focus my attention on these new storylines, but be assured I'll get back to them soon.

The Legacies' Triad

Sometimes, life-changing events are obvious from the moment they happen; a first day at school, a significant holiday, meeting a new class, starting a new job…

Sometimes the first moment when things change could be something simultaneously small and significant, as people make a simple decision that leads to a meeting that will have more profound consequences than they could have ever imagined…


Peter Parker had never done something like this before.

It wasn't as though he didn't play the occasional small 'trick' on his aunt and uncle or some of his classmates; Ben and May might disapprove of bullies and make it clear that Peter should never become one, but Uncle Ben was always up for teaching Peter a few pranks and jokes so long as he never used them against other boys first.

Still, there was a difference between sticking a few spring-loaded snakes in Flash Thomson's locker and sneaking out of the house to go downtown like this. He'd made sure to finish his homework the night before and confirmed that his aunt and uncle didn't need him for anything today, so he wasn't skiving off, but when he'd told them he was just going to the library for a while, catching a bus all the way downtown for something like this…

Peter knew that it was risky going this far into the city on his own, but he'd come this way often enough with Uncle Ben and Aunt May that he knew the route well enough, and he should be fine so long as he didn't talk to any strangers. He stayed in his seat on the bus for the whole trip, not even looking at a book or listening to music so that he could keep all his attention on the stops until he reached his destination. He was waiting by the door as soon as he realised he was approaching his stop, and once he was on the bus he practically made a beeline for the plaque under the bridge.

The view of the tower from the bridge itself might be more dramatic, but it wasn't the same now that the building was empty, but this plaque remained significant even after the recent news.

BATTLE OF NEW YORK MEMORIAL

ON THIS SITE IN 2012

DURING THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK

THE AVENGERS FIRST ASSEMBLED

STEVE ROGERS

TONY STARK

THOR ODINSON

BRUCE BANNER

NATASHA ROMANOFF

CLINT BARTON

It was a distinctive plaque in its way, but at the same time Peter couldn't shake the idea that there should have been more of an effort made to commemorate the significance of this moment. After all, this was the place where the world's first true team of superheroes had come together to defend the planet from a real alien invasion; they should have been given a massive statue or something…

And now it's all over.

OK, so the Avengers as a team were still active, but it wouldn't be the same now that the original six weren't working together. Peter was old enough to realise that people could just want to work on different things and appreciated that this didn't mean that the Avengers had 'split up' for good, but it still wasn't going to be the same to see the team in the news and know that Iron Man wasn't there any more…

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

Peter practically jumped at the sudden question, looking around for the source of the voice until his eyes fell on a dark-haired girl that was now standing alongside him, looking up at the plaque with a wistful smile of her own before she looked at Peter.

"You're here because of the news, right?" she asked, indicating the plaque as she smiled politely at him, her dark hair pulled tightly back so that her thin face was clearly visible. "I mean, I know it's been a few days, but we can't all live this close to it-"

"You live here?" Peter looked at the girl with new amazement, looking up to take in all the buildings around them.

"Right there, actually," the girl answered his question as she raised her arm. Following her finger, Peter realised that she was pointing at the upper level of one of the buildings a short distance away; at that range she could easily see Avengers Tower any time she wanted.

"Wow…" Peter said, looking from the building to the girl with a grin. "You were that close… you must have seen them leave for so many missions…"

"You think that's cool?" the girl grinned at him. "Hawkeye actually saved me during the Battle of New York."

"He did?" Peter looked at the girl with even greater admiration; he appreciated that the battle itself had been horrible, but being that involved in basically the greatest moment in recent history…?

"Well…" the girl's smile faltered slightly as she looked down. "I mean, he did shoot down the alien… hover-sled thing that was heading towards our floor, but he was all the way over there, so he probably didn't even know I was specifically in danger…"

"Hey, getting saved by an Avenger's still cool!" Peter grinned reassuringly at her, suddenly finding himself wanting to share his own 'close encounter'. "I mean, Iron Man saved me at the Stark Expo-"

"The Expo?" the girl interrupted, looking curiously at him for a moment before she nodded. "Oh yeah, that was when that… Hammer guy hired a terrorist to create his drones and they nearly killed Tony Stark a couple of years before the Battle, right?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded with an approving grin. "I was at the Expo the night it happened and one of the drones landed in front of me while I was wearing an Iron Man mask… keep in mind I wasn't even ten yet when that happened."

"Whoa…" the girl looked at him with a new sense of awe.

"Yeah, I was just looking back at the drone- I'm not sure what I was thinking of that stopped me just running away- and then Iron Man's right behind me blasting it to bits, and he just told me 'Nice work, kid' before flying off to deal with the rest."

"Wow…" the girl grinned at him, before she adopted a more teasing grin. "Still, anyone can be a hero in a fancy suit like that; Hawkeye does lots of cool stuff and all he's got is his arrows."

"Yeah, but Mr Stark made that suit pretty much by himself; you can't say that's not cool-"

"Hey, I respect the suit, I'm just saying I like the guy who can do all that with something simpler… trick arrows aside, anyway."

"…Yeah, Hawkeye was cool too," Peter nodded, turning back to the plaque with a sigh. "Still, they've got some interesting ones on the team now, right?"

"Yeah… I never said the new ones weren't cool, but it's just… I mean, OK, Iron Patriot's pretty close to Iron Man-"

"He's War Machine again, actually," Peter corrected her; it always annoyed him when Flash and his friends acted like Tony Stark and James Rhodes were interchangeable just because their suits were similar. "Besides, Tony Stark's the real genius there; Colonel Rhodes might be the more obviously heavily-armed, but that's not the same as him being as smart as Mr Stark."

"Fair point," the girl smiled in understanding before she looked at him more curiously. "So… do you want to come over for a bit?"

"Over?" Peter repeated, quickly realising what she meant as he looked over at the previously-indicated building with a grin. "You're sure?"

"It's a bit quiet right now, and if you don't have anywhere to be soon… well, I can help cover the cost of getting you home later if you don't have anywhere you need to be," the girl said with a slight shrug. "I mean, I didn't have anything planned, and I've liked talking with you…"

"Yeah," Peter nodded at her with a cautious smile of his own. "I… I like talking to you too."

Even at this young age, Peter knew that he should be cautious around strangers, but there was something about this girl… her honest smile, her eager talkativeness, the way she was such an honest Avengers fan who'd really thought about her choice of favourite…

He wasn't sure what they'd talk about at her house, but when he'd spent so long with just Ned for real company (even the people in most of his clubs were just acquaintances who didn't really get him), was it so bad to want to try and make another friend?

"…My name's Peter, by the way," he said as he began to walk after the girl. "Peter Parker."

"Peter Parker?" the girl repeated, looking back at him with a grin as she held out her hand. "Kate Bishop; nice to meet you."


Despite Peter's private concerns about what the two of them would talk about, once they started talking on the way to the Bishop penthouse, it was as though they had known each other for years. They might both be Avengers fans, but Peter was just as fascinated to learn about Kate's opinion of their personal qualities as Kate was to hear about Peter's views on the science of some of the heroes' achievements. When the topic turned to questions such as other alien life apart from the Chitauri or what exactly life was like on Asgard, each of them could just enjoy the other's opinions on the topic, and even allowed them to build on the other's theories with their own speculation.

Peter almost didn't realise how long he'd been there until his cellphone rang and he heard Aunt May yelling at him about making her and Uncle Ben worry, until Kate cut in to explain that Peter had been safe with her, introducing herself in a manner that let Peter imply she was an older friend he just hadn't mentioned before.

Granted, Peter had to endure a bit of teasing from his uncle when he got home about all the time he'd spent at "a girl's house", but Peter had just responded with a couple of teasing comments of his own and Ben had left it alone.

He'd almost expected that one afternoon together would be it, but the next weekend Kate called his number and asked if he'd like to hang out with her on another quiet afternoon, and Peter had barely remembered to ask Ben and May for permission before he said yes. His new friend lived too far away for Peter to just drop in after school during the week, particularly when he had to do his homework, but it was a rare weekend when he didn't find the time to drop by her house or Kate asked to meet him somewhere in the city.

Visits to his flat from her were less regular, but that was never anything to do with Kate. For reasons he couldn't properly define to himself, inviting her into his life to that extent made Peter feel… not uncomfortable, exactly, but as though he was crossing some kind of line he couldn't explain properly. The closest she came to visiting his place was when they could only hang out on short notice, due to last-minute cancellations or something, and she actually sent a driver down to pick him up so they could meet in a park or something for an hour or so.

He didn't exactly start neglecting Ned or his other after-school clubs just to visit Kate, but he always tried to make her part of his weekly routine, and it seemed like Kate was doing what she could to include him in her life as well. He knew that she was a lot richer than he was, but he never tried to take advantage of that, and was fairly sure Kate didn't hold his own family's financial status against him when she sent a driver down to pick him up…

It was the strangest, most unexpected friendship Peter had ever made, but despite their contrasting backgrounds, he really enjoyed his time with Kate, and he liked to think that she reciprocated the sentiment. Ned was always there for him at school, and Peter enjoyed talking with some of the other people in his clubs, but there was just something about Kate that made it easy for him to open up with her…

After a few months of friendship, everything changed when Peter's class went on a trip to a scientific research lab.