A/N: Yikes, sorry about that week hiatus. On the bright side: at least it was a productive one! It will be our last one for a while, thankfully. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Also, disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or MCU related just my two dorks, Danielle and Jack Harper. ;)

"What do you know about Spider-Man?"

Jack lifted his head up from behind the small gauntlet piece he had been working on for Rhodey's new upgraded suit. He quriked an eyebrow at his sister's odd and out-of-the-blue question. "Spider-Man?" He repeated. Across the Lab, Danielle nodded, her book of Soduku puzzles still in her lap and a pair of Tony's discarded (and expensive) sunglasses he had left there earlier perched at the tip of her nose. Jack tried not to chuckle at her appearance before answering.

"Uh, not much," he admit as he continued to work. "I know his measurements – I helped design the kid's suit. I know he's just that; a kid. And I know he's from Queens and can climb on walls."

"That's it?" Danielle asked with a tilt of her head.

"Pretty much," Jack shrugged. "Why? What's with the sudden interest in the web-slinger? You're not still mad about when him and I teamed up against you, are you?"

Danielle scrunched her nose in distaste. "What? No." Jack gave her an unconvinced look and she let out a sigh. "Okay, a little," she relented.

Jack threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh. "You gotta let that go, Dani," he told her with the shake of his head as he moved around his work station, searching for another tool. "But seriously, why do you want to know so much about Spider-Man all of a sudden?"

Danielle shrugged as she took Tony's glasses from off her face, spinning them in her hand for a moment as she answered, "I don't know. I guess I just want to know who it is underneath the mask. I just... I can't help but feel like I may know him."

Jack raised an eyebrow at his sister once again. "Oh yeah? Know him from where? The airport? The time he saved you from that fire? Still not happy about that, by the way," he remarked, glaring at her from underneath the visor he wore to protect his face as he took the miniature laser configuration Tony had modified for him to meld a new piece onto the gauntlet.

Danielle grimaced. "Sorry," she apologized.

Jack rolled his eyes. She was probably anything but sorry for not telling him about that, among other things. But this was what this new time together entailed. There were hardy any secrets between them. It was just like the old days from back in the Sokovian base, but with less violence or screams or pain. They were just spending time together.

Ever since Germany, Jack had made it his personal goal to stop letting there be a rift between him and his sister. So, he vowed to spend more time with her, talk with her, just bond really. Now, they had a new type of sibling relationship that they hadn't had before the airport. Sure, they were close then, but there was always that sense of rivalry or even hatred between them. It was a thing if the past now and they were happier, with only a few things missing.

Wanda, for one. Danielle didn't let it show as much, but Jack could tell that she missed the older girl she had come to know as her sister. She gave herself away each time Jack brought up her name, or a memory in which she was involved, or even just anything about focusing on her powers like Wanda taught her to do. It was always in the littlest things as well. The most recent being when Jack and Dani had been eating breakfast early Saturday morning and had somehow gotten into a miniature competition of who could throw pieces of cereal the highest and be able to catch it in their mouth. Danielle was able to take the crown when she tossed a piece up, let it hit the roof, and was able to catch it directly into her mouth.

Jack watched her smile and laugh and celebrate her little victory. Until she then, out of habit, turned to look around the room for someone unseen. When Jack asked her who she had been looking for, he watched as her expression went from beaming to somber. Her head hung low and her smile had become non-existent as she muttered, "I was going to show Wanda, but..."

From that point on, Jack just tried to be the brother he knew she needed. Which included these little hang-outs in the Lab.

"So, where do you think you know this guy from?" Jack wondered, getting back to the point at hand his sister had brought up.

Danielle shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like I do," she explained.

"Well, that's helpful," he joked. "I'm pretty sure everyone in Queens feels exactly the same way."

From across the room, Jack watched in the corner of his eye as a light bulb seemed to go off in his sister's head as her posture straightened and her eyes gleamed with a new mischievious glint. Slowly, she pushed herself from off the tabs she had been using as a seat and walking towards her brother with her hands clasped together behind her back like a little school girl.

Jack, knowing full well what that look of hers entailed, raised his chin at her as he watched her skeptically. "What do you have cooking in that head of yours?"

Danielle smile blinded her brother for a moment before she began to explain where her mind was at. "You said you helped design his suit, right?"

"Right..." He replied a bit uneasily.

"And you told me yourself that all the suits you and Tony make have a built in tracking device in case of emergencies, remember?" She prompted as she got closer to her brother's workspace.

Jack was starting to catch on to what she was trying to convince him to do. "I do remember that conversation, but I'm starting to realize now it may have been a bad decision to tell you that."

Dani couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth as she finally set up her explanation to her master plan. "Well, do you think you could give me the location of his suit so I can maybe track him down and find out who he is?"

Jack sighed, setting down his tools and putting what he was working on aside to turn to face his sister. He looked her straight in her big brown eyes that pleaded with him like a puppy, she even had her bottom lip jutted out for the effect and he felt himself slowly crumbling on the inside. Jack had to quickly remind himself that he had responsibilities. He was an Avenger, he was an international hero, and he worked in the most high-class job of security in the world ever, and if his sister simply gave him the puppy dog look to try and convince him to let her use his multi-million dollar tech to jeopardize the security of one of the Avengers' assets, he couldn't give in.

"Dani," he began in his best attempt at his 'stern-but-not-that-stern' voice.

To which she quickly pulled out the big beady eyes again and the jutted lip, even throwing in a quick twirl of a piece of her hair. "Pleeeeeease," she pleaded in her high-octave voice that made her sound like a pre-schooler sometimes.

And with that, Jack could practically feel his soul throwing out all previously conceived rules and regulations he knew he had to follow and eventually gave into her. "Alright, fine!" Danielle's face lit up like Christmas. She opened her mouth to cheer, but Jack quickly cut her off. "But–" he raised up a finger in front of her face. "You cannot tell anyone, especially not Tony. Because if he finds out I let you track down his new side project, I will get in serious trouble. Got it?"

Instead of actually verbalizing that she understood, Danielle straightened her posture and made a small gesture with her hands that she zipped up her closed mouth and threw the key over her shoulder. Jack rolled his eyes and shoved her shoulder lightly.

"Alright, come on." He beckoned her to follow him as he led her across the Lab towards where the large computer projection was. Jack pulled up the holographic keyboard and began to type in the words '4–A'. Within mere seconds, another screen appeared which broadcast a holographic 360 design of the Spider-Man suit. It was very detailed, but it lacked the details Danielle wanted to know. Like his name and location.

"So, where is he?" She asked, a hint of impatience in her tone as she leaned over her brother's shoulder to try and get a better look.

Jack glanced down at her and shook his head. "Calm down. Just a minute." Danielle gave him an apologetic look as she backed off just a bit to give her brother his space he needed to press a few more buttons on the holographic screen which took him to a large map where two red blips appeared on the screen. One was in the Northern heart of New York on the map, and the other was stationed just inside of Queens, New York City. Danielle smiled, she now had his official location that she could track.

"Does it show the address he's at right now?" She wondered aloud.

Jack zoomed in on the location of Spider-Man and frowned. "No, but it shows where he is on the streets. He seems to be moving. A lot," her brother explained.

There was suddenly a buzz sound coming from Danielle's phone. She pried her eyes away from the screen for just a moment to check her notifications.

To: Harper Kid 2

From: Silverfox

I'm outside. Wrap up whatever it is you're doing, I'm on a schedule to get you back to New York by seven.

A frown graced the teen's expression as she shut off her phone, not bothering to send a text back. After all, it wasn't like Rae cared or not. For the past week that Danielle had been staying with her, the white-haired woman was hardly even home. Danielle was left to take the Subway to Manhattan every day to and from school, make and order dinner and breakfast for herself, and take care of herself unsupervised overall. Rae wasn't even there. But of course, if Pepper, Jack, or Tony ever asked about how it was going with her new caretaker, she out in a smile and said it was going good. Lies.

"Do you think you can somehow put this tracker on my phone?" Danielle asked Jack, getting herself back in her original task at hand. Rae could wait.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows a bit. "Uh, it might take a couple of hours to transfer the program and info all into your device, but I'm sure I can do it."

Danielle frowned. "Uh, Rae's here. Is there any other way to track him from my phone?"

"Well, there is one way–" he cut himself off, regretting opening his mouth the moment he saw Danielle perk up. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No. I can get into serious trouble with telling you this–"

"Please, Jack."

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.

"Please?"

"Fine!" He eventually relented. She beamed at him again and he mentally kicked himself for being such a good big brother, but a horrible world security analyst, consultant, and developer. He signed before beginning to explain to his sister the process. "Alright. There's a tracker in every suit Tony and I design and create. There is also one in the mask of your new suit. If you remove it carefully and upload the information inside of it to a device, you can rewire the transmission to track the frequency in Spider-Man's tracker."

Danielle's eyes glistened as she listened with laser focus. "So I can track his suit using mine?" She concluded.

"Exactly." Danielle smiled Joan her big brother when there was yet another buzzing noise from her phone.

To: Harper Kid 2

From: Silverfox

You have five minutes to get out here or I'm leaving and you can miss your second week of school.

Danielle got a chill down her spine, knowing that Rae probably wasn't joking – she wasn't the joking type. "Uh, I have to go," she explained to her brother as she quickly pocketed her phone to give him a quick hug. Jack returned it before she let go and began to half-jog out of the Lab, turning to glance at him over her shoulder and wave. "Bye!" She shouted as she left.

"Bye! Be safe! ...Please!" He added, just to be safe. He assumed she HESRD him as she leftist the Lab door and out of sight.

Just as she left the room, Jack let out a heavy sigh, letting the absence of his sister sink in. And letting the feeling of loneliness back into his life, consuming him while her, Tony, or Rhodey were away. It was one of the reasons why he worked so much; it helped fill the void after being left alone by most of his teammates and family members.

But, Jack managed. He hoped she was managing the aftermath of the 'Avengers Fall-Out' (as the media had dubbed it). He hoped she was okay.

Danielle was definitely not okay.

"Ugh!" She groaned out loud as she attempted to try and locate and remove the tracker Jack had told her was in the mask of her suit. But the problem was that Danielle had no clue what she was even looking for inside of her mask.

She was pretty sure it had to be a small, but it could've been microscopic and she wouldn't have had a clue either way. And it wasn't like she could just Google it. She couldn't ask Rae either because one; what would she know, and two; she wasn't even there (she had left soon after picking her up from the Compound and took the chopper she kept casually on the roof of the Penthouse somewhere for her 'work'.)

It was hopeless. And eventually, Danielle gave up on trying. But just as she had tossed aside the small tweezers she had been using, a small blip on her phone caught her attention. The teen sat forward on her bed and pulled up the notification on her phone.

To: Dani Radcliffe

From: Mr. Electric Man, Jack-san

[File Attachment]

I had a feeling you might have difficulties finding where I put the tracker in your mask, so I took the time to upload the location of SM's tracker onto a program I've fit to be downloaded onto your phone.

Danielle let out a heavy sigh of relief as she looked up at the ceiling as if she were thanking Jack from far away. Though, a small part of her was a bit ticked off that it took him this long to lend a hand, considering she had been fidgeting with her suit's mask for the past half hour. But, she was just grateful she no longer had to anymore as she closed it up with a push of a button and tossed it back int her enormous closet beside where the rest of her suit was, packed inside a little box.

Then, her phone buzzed again and she noticed Jack had sent her another message:

If Tony finds out I gave you this, I'm dead meat... And fore-warning: if I go down, I'm taking you with me.

Danielle had to chuckle at her older brother's over-dramatic antics before she sent back a simple ':P'

After that, she clicked the download button to the attached file Jack had sent and watched the bar on her phone notifications patiently. It made her jittery and excited at the thought that in just a couple of minutes she would have the exact location of Spider-Man

As she waited, something in the corner of her bed caught her eye. It was her backpack. And more specifically, what was inside of it: the piano sheet music she had picked up from the library the week before. Danielle shifted forward so she could lean over and pull the book of music towards her, setting it down in her lap.

Danielle hadn't really thought about actually playing again. It was, of course, a possibility. Nothing was stopping her. Decathlon wouldn't be too much of a distraction to her musical past-time, and Soccer season at school didn't start until after Christmas Break (she had already talked to the remaining teammates from last year, who glady welcomed her back with open arms). But, the problem was that for Danielle the blockade wasn't n her life physically, but in her heart and mind.

Each time she ever looked back at a memory of playing piano, pit always tied back to her mother. Her Mom teaching her when she was a little girl, talking about the time she taught herself to play piano when she was her age. Her Mom guiding her to her future as a musical prodigy, taking her to private lessons or to sit in on college seminars about the history of the piano. Her Mom in the crowd at every one of her piano recitals, there to cheer her on or console her when she felt like she did a bad job. Her Mom who was believed to have died with the bittersweet memories of her normal life in Slovakia with her family. Her Mom who had came back into her life years later, trying to get Danielle back into the piano after she had hired people to kidnap and torture her, took her away from her team and her family, then tried to kill one of the most important people in her life after poisoning her.

With tears streaming down her face, Danielle broke free from her swirling thoughts with a sniffle, quickly tossing the sheet music away as if it had burned her. It practically had. But not physically, only the memories that it carried had.

It all hurt. Thinking about her Mom, piano, her old life. Sometimes Danielle wished she could forget portions of her life. The early years, the experiments, the torture, the pain, the hurt, the death, the resurrections, the powers... But she couldn't. It was all still there and it wouldn't go away, not by a long shot. It was as if everywhere she looked she was reminded of something horrid in her life. A terrible memory, a nightmare come true, a pain that was inflicted, and an unbearable wound. The terrors came often. Sometimes even twice a night.

But Danielle had to remind herself tha she couldn't lose control. She had to hold onto the last shred of her life she could control: her feelings. Her powers were one thing, but her emotions were another thing completely. Danielle always tried to take special care f her emotions to ensure tha she wouldn't ever get too overpowered by them. And s far, she was doing alright. If by 'alright' she meant 'nightmares, panic attacks, and nonstop tears at times (oh my!)'.

Pulling her frm her thoughts in that moment was the sudden buzz of her phone. When Danielle glanced down at the device next to her, she read the notification that stated that the tracker frequency had been downloaded onto her phone. The brunette dropped her inner turmoil and clicked on the alert which took her to a large blue nd black map that easily outlined the city of Manhattan, a red dot over her location in the Penthouse. But, after a few moments of loading, another red dot appeared in Brooklyn before moving from block to block at a fast rate. He was on the move. But, Danielle smiled nonetheless because it worked. It actually worked.

Danielle now had Spider-Man's location... and she could finally ur the unnerving questions she use t rest when she figured out who he was beneath the mask.

This was the weirdest start to school Peter could have ever imagined. But, it was also one of the coolest.

He was colleagues with Tony Stark– a.k.a Iron Man–, he had a new suit designed by said superhero that was AWESOME, and he was now friends with another Avenger. Of course, that Avenger didn't know he knew she was an Avenger because if she did, he wouldn't know what would happen... Nothing good, he assumed.

But there were also the down sides of the new school year. More of Flash's dumb quips and the constant picking on him and Ned, Liz still not having a clue who he was, MJ being brooding (what changed, really?), and then Danielle... Just Danielle. Not to mention, the downsides of having a 'Stark Internship' was that it took time away from his extracurricular activities. One of the first things to go: Robotics Lab.

As much as Peter loved hanging out with all the cool guys in there, he knew that it was just something he wouldn't need in his future of being a crime-fighting superhero fighting alongside Iron Man, Eris, and the rest of the Avengers. He had already almost beaten Captain America... Well, until he dropped a giant boarding walkway on him. But, Peter saw Germany as a gateway to the chance to be an actual superhero and get to go on other missions to help stop bad guys. Wasn't that what being a hero was all about?

"Peter!"

The teenager stopped in his tracks to spin around, finding Ned running up behind him. "Hey," he greeted his best friend with a smile. If there was one thing that always stayed the same after ever school year, it was Ned. It was comforting to always have someone there for you. But, Peter couldn't help but feel guilty at the fact that they had been friends for years and he was keeping such a big secret from him. Then again, Peter had to remind himself that it was a secret for a reason: to protect the people in his life. Even if it meant lying to them. Peter wondered if that's why Danielle kept Eris a secret, too. He just wondered how she hid it so well.

"Hey, man," Ned greeted him once he was able to catch up with him. "I just got back from talking with Mr. Hapgood and he told me you quit Robotics. Was he... was he serious?"

Peter grimaced. "Uh, yeah... Yeah, Ned, I left Robotics."

"What?" His best friend asked incredulously. "But, Robotics was super fun! We've been in Robotics since middle school. Why would you quit now?" Peter opened his mouth to answer, but Ned just kept on going. "Is this about Decathlon? Or maybe you're trying to be a newer cooler you this year so you can finally get with Liz? Because if that's the case, I don't think you should really change yourself for her. I mean, if she doesn't see who you for who you truly are, then she's not worth it."

Peter scrunched his face in confusion. "Wha–"

"And another thing," Ned cut him off again. "You've been hung up on Liz all this time, but have you ever looked at other options? I mean, it's sophomore year, you've got the Stark Internship now, which– awesome. But, if you really want a girlfriend so badly that you quit Robotics, Danielle's back and maybe you two–"

"What?!" Peter finally cut in. He turned to stare at Ned with wide eyes, confused as to what he was insinuating or how the conversation about quitting Robotics had even gotten to this point. "Me... Me and Elle?"

Ned shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, ever since you got back from Summer Vacay, all you've been talking about is Danielle. How she left to Germany, how her grandmother died and then her aunt–"

"Because it's sad that she had to leave school because of that stuff," Peter tried to explain.

"Well, what about last year?"

Peter furrowed his eyebrows. "What about last year?"

"Come on, you guys practically went on a date at the Soccer Banquet last year–"

"That she ditched me at."

"Exactly! You got all mad and then you got even more mad after you friend-broke up with her," Ned exclaimed.

Peter quirked and eyebrow at his friend as he repeated, "'Friend-broke up'?"

"Yeah," Ned nodded. "You friend-broke up with her and got all sad and brooding, like Michelle. And so did Danielle. And you two were both all sad like you had actually gone through a real break up!"

"Ned!" Peter shouted over him to grab his friend's attention. "I don't like Elle that way. I feel the same way about her that I do about you."

It was Ned's turn to turn to his friend in confusion. "You'd date me?"

"No," Peter laughed at Ned's antics. "Me and Elle are just friends, and always will be."

"Okay..." Ned said, unconvinced. "That still doesn't explain why you left Robotics, though."

"Oh, right!" Peter quickly got back to the topic at hand. "Uh, I just... I just don't have time for it. Ya know, with the Stark Internship and Decathlon," he explained.

Ned nodded. He seemed to understand, which was all Peter could ask for. "I get it, man. But, hey, maybe you can put in a good word for me and get me int the Internship, too." He said suggestively, nudging Peter in the arm with his eyebrows raised.

Peter panicked a bit internally. He couldn't just come or and say straight up tha they wouldn't accept him because it was actually fake and he was Spider-Man recruited by Tony Stark. But, he could lie to him some more. "Uh, actually, Mr. Stark said that they only accept so many interns a year. But, maybe another year I can help you apply."

Peter watched his friend's face light up with joy. "Yes!" He cheered quietly with a fist pump into the air. "Because it would be totally awesome if the two of us got to work with Tony Stark together. I mean, can you imagine it..." As Ned continued to prattle on about his theoretic adventures the pair would have in the 'Stark Internship', Peter's attention was caught by a familiar brunette standing on the brick wall by the library.

It was almost seven period, and Peter knew for a fact that Danielle's Spanish class was on the opposite side of the school. Unless, of course, she planned on skipping and making a run for it through the fire exit beneath the stairs that led directly outside (Peter himself had only ever used it for quicker access to leave school, but he was never a kid who would skip school).

Peter grew confused at the thought that Danielle was skipping class. She didn't seem like the type to do it. Skip school? Yes; he knew she'd done it countless times (and for good reason he now understood). But skip class and leave school early? There had to be some sort of emergency, he figured. An Eris situation? Peter felt goosebumps trail up his arms at the reminder of the fact that one of his closest friends was an enhanced being on the Avengers' Team. This was insane.

"Peter?" The teenage boy's thoughts were cut into by Ned calling his name. Peter turned to glance at him with a questioning look. "What's wrong? You stopped walking. Were you listening to what I said about the Iron Man escapades we could go on if we got the Internship together?" He asked.

"Uh, not really," Peter admitted truthfully. "Look, Ned, can you cover for me in English?"

Ned narrowed his eyes at Peter. "Cover for you? Are you... Are you going to skip?" Peter knew he looked guilty when he didn't reply immediately. Which promoted Ned to give him an incredulous look. "Dude, first Robotics and now you're skipping? What next, you're quitting Marching Band?"

Peter grimaced. "Well..."

"Dude!"

Just then, a small tingle in the back of Peter's head alerted him of movement coming from behind him. Peter took a quick glance over his shoulder and noticed Danielle hastily walking out of the fire exit, phone in hand as if she were following a GPS. He had to leave, now. Something was happening and he had to be there, he just knew something was wrong. "Okay, I know it sounds crazy, but I have to leave. It's an emergency," Peter tried to explain to Ned.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's an Internship thing..." Peter cringed internally, hoping Ned would buy the terrible lie he just used to escape this whole situation.

Ned eventually sighed. "Alright..." He grumbled reluctantly.

Peter let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" He shouted before starting to jog towards the fire exit Danielle had left through. "I'll pay you back someway, I promise!" He called over his shoulder, watching as Ned became an unmoving figure he had left in the hallway.

Peter couldn't help but push the guilt down as he began to jog after the brunette girl now walking across the street towards the street Peter usually took to get to where he had hid his suit for his 'internship'. He didn't feel the need to worry. After all, he hid it pretty well. And by 'pretty well' he meant inside a plastic bag he had stuck to an alley wall behind a trash can using his webs.

But the closer Danielle was getting towards the alleyway Peter usually changed in, the more the teenage boy was beginning to worry that maybe she had figured something out. He thought maybe she might've followed him from school one day and he just hadn't noticed? Did Mr. Stark finally tell her that he knew about her secret and where to find him? Did she figure it our herself–

Suddenly, Peter froze in the middle of the side walk. His eyes glued to the alley way Danielle had just walked into. The same alley way Peter kept his suit. She knew...

Right there, in the alleyway just a few blocks from school, Danielle was able to track down Spider-Man's suit. Only... she couldn't find him nr where the actual suit was. This was probably where he kept it while he was... Well, she really wasn't sure what the masked vigilante did during his days. Work, maybe? Did he have a job? Or maybe he went to school? She had no clue. Which was why she was here.

While standing in the empty alley, Danielle began to look around for where the suit itself might be. The tracker on her phone her brother had helped her set up had led her this far. She just wished it would show her where the actual suit itself was located within the five yard radius the map on her phone was giving her.

After a few minutes of looking around some garbage bags, a couple of cardboard boxes, and behind a fire escape, Danielle figured maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if she just sat and waited for the web-slinging crime-fighter to come and get it himself. Then, whoever came through that alley entrance, she would have her answer as to who Spider-Man was. Now, all she had to do was wait...

Thwip!

... Or not.

The all-too familiar sound of web caught Danielle's attention from behind. She quickly spun around just in time to catch a quick glimpse of what looked to be a plastic bag that had been hidden behind the larger trash bin get yanked up. She could see the red and blue fabric of the suit inside peeking through the plastic.

Danielle watched as the bag flew up and over the roof of the building, catching only a fracture of a glance at the person pulling it up before they vanished from beside the edge in a mad dash.

"Hey!" She shouted in protest, and before she knew it, her feet were dashing towards the fire exit along the side of the building leading up to the roof. She ran atop a smaller garbage can to yank down the ladder, quickly beginning her ascendency up to the roof to try and catch the culprit she had been trying so hard to track down.

With each determined step she took, she tried her hardest not to think about the fact that Spider-Man was probably long gone from the rooftop. But, it didn't make it any less of a dissappointment when she finally made it to the roof of the building she had climbed, only to find it empty.

Danielle sighed and paced a bit, running two hands through her hair as she groaned, "Crap."

While Danielle was groaning about her failure at catching the masked vigilante in action, Peter was nervously laughing as he swing through the city skyline of NYC. His heart was still racing from that close-call and his head was spinning wondering how on Earth Danielle had been able to track him down.

It was whatever was on her phone, he was sure of it. Like some GPS, but for his suit. How would she have gone about getting the location of his suit anyway? Mr. Stark? No. He doubted Mr. Stark would give out his location to Danielle after putting them against each other in Germany. He wondered if that was why she was even hunting him down. Was she still upset about his assistance in locking her up in that Maximum Security Prison?

Peter felt a small twinge of guilt begin to build up in his gut every time he thought about that day in Germany. It had all been pretty awesome, insane, and unbelievable, up until the point that he figured out a bit too late that one of his close friends was secretly a superhero and he had just helped put her in jail. Though, the news had never mentioned Eris being apart of the Rogue Avengers who had been inside the Raft before they were broken out, Peter knew better.

He hoped Danielle wasn't upset about that. And if she was, he wished there was a way that he could explain his side to her or even just apologize. But, that fit in with his strict rule about letting people find out who he was underneath the mask. Mr. Stark and Happu knowing made him nervous enough, but he knew that they would never tell anyone else to put him or his friends and family at risk. And a part of him knew Danielle could probably keep the secret, too. So what was stopping him from coming clean about Spider-Man to her? She was just like him, wasn't she? Secretly a vigilante, an enhanced person, an associate of the Avengers (well, she was technically Avenger... But did that mean he was, too?).

But, later on, Peter realized the real reason he couldn't bring himself to tell her about the whole vigilante thing was because he jut couldn't separate the old idea of Danielle he had before he found out about her secret identity. The Danielle that sat with him on the Subway to school. The girl that studied with him on the school bleachers. The girl tha hung out with him and Ned when no one else would. The girl that laughed at his nerdy jokes and seemed genuinely interested when he would go in a rant about something nerdy like Star Wars, Rick and Morty, or Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Peter didn't want to let go of that Danielle and replace her with the new Danielle. The Danielle that Peter felt nervous around. The Danielle that made his skin crawl at the fact that he knew who she really was and was terrified she would figure it out. The Danielle that had been keeping a monumental secret from everyone they knew ever since they first met her. The Danielle that was an Avenger. The Danielle that could lift a meteor with her mind and help save the world! And Peter knew that the moment he would tell that Danielle about his secret, the old Danielle would be lost to him forever...

But there were always those times he would stop and think to himself: wouldn't it be so much easier if he just told her?

Like right now as he sat perched along the edge of a building just outside Central Park where a large line full of bar goers were waiting for their turn to get inside was. This seemed to always be a hot spot for gang activity that Peter would visit often to make sure innocent people just trying to have a good time wouldn't get hurt. It was coming up on ten o' clock at night alread and the line stretched all the way down the street and then down a dark alley. It only took a few minutes before five large burly men with tattooed on their arms and cigars poking out of their mouths walked inside the alley looking like nothing but bad news.

New York certainly isn't keeping me bored, Peter thought to himself as he shot a web to latch into the corner of the building the alleyway went into, jumping off the corner of the building he had been standing on earlier to swing down and attach himself to the wall a few feet from above where the gangsters were entering. Peter stayed silent as he watched from the shadows above.

"Aye!" One of the bigger men with the cigars shouted at a pair of girls that couldn't have been but a few years older than Peter himself. Both girls turned to face the group of rough looking men walking towards them and Peter watched as they visibly shrunk into themselves at the sight. They could sense the danger of the situation, as could Peter. He was itching to jump in before anything escalated, but knew he had to come up with a plan first. "You girlies going anywhere tonight?" The burly man asked the girls.

One of the girls, a short brunette, glanced uneasily to her blonde friend next t her before shaking her head and replying in a soft voice Peter was barely able to pick up with his enhanced hearing, "Y-yeah. We were gonna go hang out for a bit downtown."

The men laughed a bit, looking amongst themselves with a dangerous going in their eyes. Peter caught on to how the group of men were starting to surround the girls like they were a herd of Hyenas surrounding two Gazelles. He shifted from where he was attached to the wall, analyzing the situation as it played out. "Is that so?" One of the other taller men asked.

The girls nodded and another man scoffed. "Well, downtown ain't all what it's cracked up to be. Why don't y'all girls come spend some time with us. I can guarantee that you'll have a good time," he said as the group began to close in on the girls.

"Um, thanks for the offer, but, uh, I think we'll just stick to our original plans," the brunette said with a bit more confidence, trying not to show her fear as she grabbed her friend's wrist and got in front of her just a bit as if she were preparing to get in between her and a fight.

"Sorry, sweetie," the first burly man said as he took a drag from his cigar and puffed out the smoke with a sadistic smile following behind the gray cloud. "It wasn't exactly an offer... More of a demand."

Suddenly, two men from behind the girls grabbed both of them by the arms. "Hey!" The blonde screamed as she tried to yank herself away, but it didn't seem to do anything as the men laughed and continued to grab onto the girls. "Let go!" The girls continued to shout, but no one seemed to hear them from the end of the alley where the rest of the line for the club was. Both girls trashed, kicked, and screamed, but it did no use. As the group of men started to close in on them, the were beginning to wonder if they would make it out of this alive.

That was until one of the men was abruptly knocked into the brick wall behind them forcefully.

The group of men's obnoxious laughter came to a hault as they looked down at one of their guys lying in the ground in a pile of trash motionless nearly five yards away.

"What the hell...?" The big burly one asked as he began to look around in the dark, cold shadows. One by one, the gangsters began to pull out their guns from their holsters. The girls, still caught up in the mess, were shaking from both fear and adrenaline from the situation they were caught in.

It wasn't long before a dark object came flying in out of nowhere, landings on top of the large trash bin nearby. All the gangsters' trained their guns in the object, save for two who held guns to the girls' heads.

Hostages. Crap. Peter mentally cursed a bit. But, he quickly had to pull himself together. People were in anger, he had to focus on the, first then everything else. Quickly, he held up his hands from where he was perched atop the trash bin. "Alright, alright..." He said calmly. "How about we all just calm down a bit and put the guns down."

"Who the hell are you?!" One of the gangsters shouted as he shook the barrel of his gun at him.

"Me? You've never heard of me, seriously?" Peter asked jokingly, trying to ease the tension to calm the two terrified-looking girls who were still very much in danger. "Red and blue spandex? Webs? The spider logo...? Nothing?"

"Wait," one of the gangsters holding the brunette shouted. "I know you! You're that Spider-Freak from the news!" He spat.

Peter frowned from beneath the mask. "Well, that's not very nice," he muttered.

"Look, you little freak," the big burly gangster interjected. "This ain't none of your business. So why don't you just swing on back to the corner store to help little old grandma cross the street, eh?" The rest of the gangsters chuckled a bit at the joke.

"Ah. Ha ha. Pretty funny. Yeah, grandmas. Like I haven't heard that one before," he muttered sarcastically. "Look... Uh, what's your name?"

"The men in the streets call me Smalls," the gangster stated with his chin jerked up a bit. Peter couldn't help but laugh now. He laughed once, twice, and continued to laugh until he physically couldn't breathe. All the gangsters around him even started to crack their own smiles. 'Smalls', however, wasn't as amused. "What?!" He shouted impatiently.

"Nothing, nothing," Peter coughed between laughs as he pretended to wipe away his eyes from through the mask. "It's just..." he paused to laugh a bit more. "Smalls? Seriously? That's actually your name?" He laughed some more. "I mean, no offense but... You're not exactly..."

"Shut your freaky ass up, clown!" 'Smalls' shouted as he jerked his gun at him again, reminding Peter that he was still in a serious situation. Luckily, it was going exactly as planned with the gangsters distracted. He used this to his advantage when he suddenly sit his arms out, his webs launching from the gadget on his wrists, attaching to the Tw guns pointing at the girls. Within a split second, Peter yanked his arms back and back flipped of the trash bin and into the pavement. He landed just as both guns dropped on the floor behind him.

The gangsters all spun around to face him, their eyes wide and full of shock and awe. He loved the look on the crooks' faces sometimes when they don't see what he does coming.

"Guys, it's getting really late and I'm sure these two ladies have some place to be right now," Peter began as he gave a small wave to the two clearly frightened girls still caught behind the group of gangsters that still had guns, still trained on Peter. "So how about we just was this up and call it a night. Because I don't know about you guys, but I have plans to–"

"Fire, fire!" 'Smalls' abruptly shouted. Everything then went into slow motion for Peter as his enhanced senses did their thing. Peter had starting to call it his 'Sixth Sense' where his entire body just went into autopilot, but better. Suddenly, Peter jumped up into the air and back flipped just above the group of men as they started to fire at the spot he had just been at half a second ago.

When he finally landed, he was stuck between the gangsters and the girls. "Come on, guys," he spoke up, frightening all the men who were spinning around to face him again. "I thought we were getting along pretty alright up until now."

"ARGH!" Smalls growled before hoisting his gun to aim it up at Peter again.

In a swift movement, Peter quickly pushed both girls out of the way before jumping up onto the wall. Once the girls were safely down behind some boxes, Peter shot out his webs, once by one, snatching the guns from the gangsters' hands until they were all scattered about and out of their reach.

"There we go," the web-slinger remarked as he landed back amongst the group of gangsters. Both girls now jumping up from their hiding spots and dashing out of the alley, none of the gangsters bothering to pay ay mind to the, as all of their death glares were on Peter. Just how he wanted it. "Now it's a fair fight." And then, it began.

The first one to run at him was a small gangster with a slick gelled-back hairdo. He three a punch the Peter easily ducked under before grabbing his wrist and tossing him around in a semi-circle off the ground and into two other men on their way to try and charge at him. All three men falling to the ground with a thud.

Next was the man beside Smalls, who was a bit more bigger than the last three as he charged head-on. Peter jumped up like it was leap-frog and let the guy run himself right into the brick wall behind him. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt," the vigilante fake winced. But as he was distracted with his back turned away, Smalls came grabbing him from behind with a loud battle cry. "Oh, crap–!" Peter's shout was quickly cut off when he was suddenly being launched across the alley like a rag doll. One minute he was in the air, and the next he was hitting the back of his head against the corner of the metal trash bin and lying on the ground.

Peter groaned. "Ah, man, that hurt..." he muttered beneath his breath. But his moment of vulnerability didn't last long as he noticed Smalls slowly walking towards him.

"That's right, freak," he spat. "This is why you don't mess with Sm–" Peter didn't give him the chance to finish as he was already jumping up off the ground, in the mid-air, latching his webs to the nearest heavy object (which just so happened to be a sewer manhole lid) and swinging it around before letting it ram into Smalls' mid-section. "Oomph!" The gangster let out a large huff of air, his eyes wide and his body stumbling before he finally fell over to the ground, unconscious.

When Peter landed back on the ground he winced once again as he glanced down at his handy work of unconscious gangsters scattered around the alleyway. "Yikes..." he chuckled. 'This is gonna leave a serious dent in your reputations, guys."

Bang!

The sound echoed throughout the alleyway. And as soon as it hit his ears, Peter felt as though he had physically been hit. Looking around the alley, he suddenly caught sight of one of the gangsters he had knocked into the wall, lying on the ground with a bruised and bloody face, holding his gun up... and pointed at him.

Without as much as a second thought, Peter shot a web at the man, attaching one to his face, blinding him, and the other to the gun to yank it away. But as soon as his body he turned as it usually did when he used his strength, a sharp pain caused him to cry out a bit and freeze.

"Wha..." the words fell dry on Peter's tongue as his body seemed to grow cold and numb. What was... What was happening to... "Oh God..." Peter breathed in horror as he looked down at where the numbness was sprouting from, realizing that there was now a hole in us new suit and a blood stain around it to match. He had been shot...

A/N: Uh oh... I was going to continue in this chapter but I figured a good cliffhanger might've been good for the soul. Plus, I've been procrastinating the fuck out of this chapter and I just want to get it out, so... Here it is.

Chapter song(s) are: Dear Society by Madison Beer (I'm addicted to this song and just feel like it fits Danielle so much tbh) and 21 Guns by Green Day.

Reviews:

Books-and-Cleverness-394: Pretty sure this is referring to my engagement, lol. So thank you! I appreciate it! (also, really love the username)

Love. Fiction. 2019: Thnx :)

GhostRyder13: Because I was trying to write the entire Homecoming arc without having to worry about posting for a week, but I ended u getting engaged and having to move and do Finals so life go in the way and I just did no work. :/

PrettyRecklessLaura: Oh yeah, me too. I can't wait until she figures it out... If she ever does }:)

Hyraeth: They really are just chaotic children, I swear. Oh yes, spicy indeed. I also can't wait for everything following Homecoming. That's gonna be extra spicy with a side of chamoy ;). And yes! I did! And I'm so happy about it! Thanks for the congratulations, and it's cool. When I told my best friend she just stayed silent on the other line until she finally just screamed after a full twenty seconds of just silence. It was hilarious. An Alice POV one-shot? I think I have an idea of what to do for that. Thanks for the request. Ah yes, I loved that scene from Thor Ragnorak and I kind of like t think Tony did that EVERYONE. Jack included. And finally, sorry to hear about your streak loss. Hopefully you can get it back. I believe in you!

Guest: Don't know why you're so pressed about a story but if you don't like it and aren't willing to give constructive criticism, the door is somewhere up there in the shape of an X on the tab you have open :)

Hyraeth 2: Thanks for the support, babes. I appreciate you standing up for the story and giving such lovely feedback for me. I appreciate you so much (in case I don't say it enough). .3.

Incorrect Quote of the Chapter:

Jack: I wish you'd just admit when you've made a mistake!

Dani: *stirring her coffee* I prefer it with salt.

[Another because I'm bored]

Peter: *catches feelings*

Peter: ...

Peter: *throws them back*