Present Day...
"Peter?...Mr Hardy are you even listening to the lesson?" Ms Warren asked with a raised eyebrow directed at the boy in the back of her classroom, causing everyone else to also turn their heads in his direction.
The boy, all the way in the back corner looked up from his book which he was reading, trying to subtly hide it in his lap away from the prying eyes of anyone around him but it seemed he wasn't as successful as he hoped.
The teen's emerald green eyes looked up and into his teachers with a slight twinkle of amusement behind his gaze. He placed his bookmark in the book before quietly shutting the novel as he smiled up at Ms Warren, "Of course I was ma'am, I always listen."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the other students in his class tried their best to hide their laughter at the statement, knowing just how much Peter was caught not listening during the day.
If you asked Peter, he'd say how much of a lie that was but to anyone else at Midtown School of Technology, well they all knew Peter.
Not really though since he was the social outcast of the school but you get the point.
Peter glared around the room when they started to laugh which instantly shut some of them up. He had a reputation to uphold after all but his teacher didn't have the same view point as him.
"Very funny Mr Hardy. If, you were listening then answer me this, what's the formula for kinetic energy?" She asked.
If she was trying to embarrass him, she'd have to try a little harder then that.
"Half the mass times velocity squared." Peter answered without hesitation, folding his hands in his lap, waiting to see if she was done testing him on material he already knew.
He had learned this shit years ago...
"Alright, then up on the board is a diagram, it's what we've been talking about the past ten minutes. How do you calculate linear acceleration from points A to B?" She asked. Peter looked up at the board and tilted his head.
It was a little more advanced then what he just answered, but he could do anything related to math or science in his sleep.
He did read Doctor Banner's science books before he was even a teenager.
"Mass cancels out so it's just gravity times sign." Peter said coolly as he placed his hands on the desk and stared up at Ms Warren with a friendly smile on his face.
"That is...correct, well done Mr Hardy. Keep paying attention and stop reading in my class." She warned before she turned around and went back to teaching the class for the last five minutes until the bell rang.
He decided to listen for the last few minutes but as soon as the bell rang, signaling time for lunch, he subtly winced at the sound before slowly packing up his books and folders before grabbing them and heading towards the door, making sure he was the last one out, not wanting to risk any attention on him.
But before he could even make it out the door, his teacher called back to him so Peter sighed in resignation before he turned back around and walked over towards her desk.
"Yes Ms Warren." Peter asked politely, not wanting to anger his teacher anymore then she probably already was.
She looked up and raised an eyebrow at him, "You know, that question was a pretty advanced one that you answered." She said.
Peter's lips quirked up into an amused smile, "Kinetic energy isn't that hard ma'am." He teased, knowing that she had meant the other problem, but not being able to help himself.
Sarcasm was a way of life, and Peter made sure he walked down it every single day.
He had to, it's who he was.
Ms Warren rolled her eyes, "Funny Peter, but you know what I meant. I got that question from a college level text book. It was meant to challenge you students, but you answered it without any hesitation." She said.
Peter smiled awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders, "It's pretty simple ma'am, all science is for me." He admitted.
Ms Warren hummed and had a contemplative look across her face for a few moments before she reached down into one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a college level physics book.
"That right there, is ten times more challenging than what I'm teaching in class so Peter, if you can show me before or after every class that you've completed something in this book, and genuinely understand it, I won't make a scene if I happen to catch you reading your book once or twice."
Peter's eyes widened in shock. His teacher, was telling him that he could openly ignore her lessons if he wanted to read? And all he had to do was a few questions a night?
She must've seen his shock because she continued on, "But if that's the case, I expect you to pass all your tests understand? And when we have review days you will participate in that, am I clear?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she offered the book to him, snapping Peter out of his haze.
"Yes, that's great! Thanks Ms Warren, really." He said as he grabbed the book and placed it in his pile of material he needed to bring to his locker before lunch.
"Great, I'm glad we're in agreement. Over the weekend I expect some of that to be done, yeah? Come Monday I wanna see at least the first chapter of that book done and those questions completed."
"Yeah no, that's uh, no problem. I'll be sure to get right on it when I get home." Peter said as he grabbed the rest of his books and started to make his way back towards the door. He was already going to be late for lunch and he needed to eat, especially with his metabolism.
"See you Monday Peter."
"Bye Ms Warren!" Peter exclaimed as he walked out the room and shut her door before he started off towards his locker to keep his stuff there until he got out of lunch.
He also needed to grab his lunch.
It's crazy, Peter thought to himself as he walked down the hallway, how much his life has changed since coming to New York.
Felicia was absolutely fantastic, has been for years in Peter's opinion, no matter what she says. He knew that she didn't want children and he knew that she was an old friend to his grandma, and she kind of owed her a favor, bur Felicia has never complained once about him, always being there when he needed her and offering whatever she could to the boy.
They lived together in her penthouse in Flushing New York. It's about a twenty minute drive from Queens where his school is located but for him, well it takes him under five minutes.
Depending on how many times he stops along the way.
Or if he's hungry, that's also a major factor.
But all in all, Felicia is an amazing woman and Peter really couldn't have asked for a better person to look out for him. She's taken care of him for years and well, she was kind of like his cool aunt who let him do whatever he wanted, but would secretly freak the fuck out if he got hurt and she'd hunt down the bastard responsible.
She was pretty protective which sometimes caused little arguments here and there with his nightly activities, but he knew it came from a place of...
A place of love.
Man, he wasn't good with emotions, and Felicia knew that but he was truly grateful to her. He sucked when it came to telling people things but he knew, he knew that Felicia knew that he loved her.
Even if he rarely ever said the words out loud.
Ever since the battle of New York, where Felicia and him were out on the streets that day, they had almost died so she made sure to tell him every single day that she cared about him, that she would do anything for him.
That she, loved him.
He hasn't felt that loved in his life since his mother...
He still has those memories too, the good and the bad. Some nights he wakes up in a cold sweat as he remembers the needles the guns and the blood.
Or he wakes up screaming from what he witnesses out in the streets of the city. The murderers, the rapists or the burning buildings. The kids stuck inside with no way out, fully trapped and no chance of ever getting out to live the rest of their lives.
Or, on the very rare nights, he dreams of red hair, red fiery hair that was so soft. Piercing green eyes just like his and cuddles, he remembers cuddles on a little couch under fluffy blankets and blocks.
For some reason, the blocks are always in those dreams.
He knows that whoever the woman he sees is, she's his mother. He knew that, but it didn't help the ache in his heart to dissipate.
He had no idea if she was even still alive or not, had no idea if his grandparents are even looking for her as he sits in school all day long. They've always tried to stay in contact with him, but Melina only ever sends him a text every few months to check in on him.
Not even a visit since she dropped him off with Felicia. Hell, not even a damn call.
It hurt, but Peter did what he always did. He shouldered the pain and carried on in life because what else could he do?
It's not like if he tried to call Melina, she'd answer. The only way he ever gets contact from her is from a random number that she uses to text him, she changed it after every time she texts so he knew that he'd never be able to get ahold of her.
And to know that he didn't get to have contact with probably the only link he has to his biological family, hurt but it's not like Peter would admit that out loud.
One night, he had gotten so upset about a nightmare that he had stormed out of the tower and what he saw, what he experienced changed his life forever.
It had brought him back into the life that Melina had tried to get him out of.
Back into the life of danger and blood...
He had witnessed the murder of a man who was in his thirties. He had stopped at a gas station to just rest for a second after his walk, needing a minute to gather himself before going back to the penthouse but his senses had flared, warning him of danger.
But he ignored it.
He ignored his warning and just stood there and watched as a man came out of the station chasing after another man with a ski mask on and by the time Peter realized the ski man had a gun, it was already too late.
The man died, bleeding out on the sidewalk as people all around called the police and all Peter could do was just stare at the dying man.
He swore he looked at him before he had died too, stared right at him and everything but that could've been his mind just playing tricks on him.
But from that, watching another innocent life being taken, it reminded him of all of the innocents he had killed, everyone's life he had taken who didn't deserve it.
He hated those memories, but he was stuck with them and they were all coming to the forefront of his mind as he watched this innocent man bleed out.
That night, he vowed to protect the people of this city, the innocent lives who couldn't protect themselves from evil this city produced.
He'd help them all, no matter how long it took him.
He had skills, he had abilities and he was sick and tired of using them for nothing. They were just sitting there gathering dust and when he watched that man died, he realized that he, let him die.
He could've listened to his powers, could've used them to help him but instead he stood on the side and watched.
He realized, that if he had the power to do something, and he didn't, the bad thing that happened was his fault and his fault alone.
This power he had, he could do great things with it.
But with great power, comes great responsibility...
And from that one bad experience, birthed New York's newest Vigilante.
And he's been around for the past two years, since his freshman year.
He's now a sixteen year old Junior in high school who also happens to be Spider-Man, New York's youngest vigilante.
Not that anyone knew that, except for Felicia that is.
When there was suddenly a spider powered person swinging around New York, well it didn't take a genius to figure out it was him, and seeing how she knew of his powers, the first time he had went out he had come back to the penthouse and found an angry Felicia standing next to his bed with her hands on her hips and raised eyebrows directed right at him.
Yeah, that was not a fun little chat.
But at the end, Peter had been firm that he'd not stop, he couldn't after all he's done to harm people.
Now, he was going to make up for it and when he told her that, Peter watched as Felicia's gaze softened and her defenses shatter. He knew that she understood what that felt like, after all she was still sort of a criminal, she understood trying to do good to make up for the bad.
Reluctantly, she let him continue on doing what he was doing, with the promise of going to her if he was badly hurt, since she knew they could never go to a doctors with his powers.
He didn't waste her time with trivial things such as bruised ribs, cuts, or sprained ankles, they healed within hours but when he tried to hide a stab wound or bullet wound, she had this weird sense like she knew way before he was already hurt, she knew and the minute he tried to deny it, she'd prove him wrong.
He's pretty sure she's found a way to spy on him whenever he's out on patrol, but he's not yet proved that theory and he knows she'd never give him a true answer if he asked.
But, he understands she's just worried, has been ever since the battle of New York.
He honestly wouldn't change his life at all, sure he'd love to see if his mother was still out there, but it's been so long. If he finds her, he finds her but at the moment, he's happy with Felicia and Spider-Man, he's happy where he is in life.
Overall, it's not bad.
Except school.
School is still soooo fucking boring.
It's not his fault he sometimes can't keep his mind on the subject the teachers drone on about, most of the stuff they're teaching he learned years ago when he first came to live with Felicia.
She had seen just how smart he was and had bought him books that probably no child should own, but he understood all of them like it was the easiest thing in the world so then she offered if he wanted to go to school.
He regrets agreeing with her decision all those years ago...
Whenever the teachers catch him dozing off he also gets detention because they think he's not listening, which okay that's fair, he's not but that's only because he's learned it already.
All those detentions, is why Captain America is his least favorite Avenger...
Damn PSA's...
It's also sometimes very tiring to wake up in the morning for school when he's only gotten a couple hours of sleep due to Spider-Man taking down a drug ring in a matter of hours the previous night.
The struggles of a teenage Vigilante, while his classmates have to worry about homework and girls, he has to worry about crime syndicates, murderers and rapists out on the streets.
Some would say that was too much of a burden to place on a teen's shoulders, but Peter would disagree.
He was just as capable, if not more so then some of these goons working for the police department. He could literally find anything with enough time, his powers and enhancements gave him an upper hand and his past training allowed him to take those powers, and utilize them in the right way so he wouldn't hurt himself.
He was perfect for the job, and over half of New York thought so too but he knew, if they ever saw who was really behind the mask, then they'd all start to question him.
Funny, really it is how much adults don't have faith in the youth of today, of any time period really. They have these expectations they expect you to follow and if you don't they judge you based off of their own beliefs.
If you do something that adults can't, they judge you because a child can do it, and they don't know how to feel about that. But if an adult was reveled to be swinging around the city with these super insane powers, then they wouldn't even bat an eye at him.
Because he would've been an adult but Peter, Peter was still a teen and not safe from the biased adults have for children.
It was one of Peter's biggest pet peeves, being underestimated just because he was a "child."
He hated people who did that on patrol, just because of his voice and if he beat them a little harder then the other robbers that night, well no one had to know.
No one had to know that it was also the reason why he added a voice modulator in his homemade spandex suit.
But the smirk Felicia gave him when she heard it told him all he needed to know about what she thought about it.
Peter sighed quietly to himself as he finally made it to his locker. He balanced his books in one hand as he reached over to the lock to put in his combo. Once the locker was opened he placed his morning books at the top of his locker before he reached into his bag to pull out his lunch,
After the incident where he almost starved to death due to his enhanced metabolism, Felicia always made sure to pack him little snacks along with his lunch for after school when he was on patrol. But todays lunch consisted of some left over Alfredo they had for dinner last night with an apple and a bag of cookies.
The protein bars would be for Spider-Man later today.
He walked his way over to cafeteria and as soon as he walked in his senses spiked with the amount of noise so he subtly reached up to his ears and pressed the small little machine in either ear, his own invention, and turned the volume down, making him relax as soon as the noise turned down.
Sometimes, he loves being smart so he could make cool ass shit like this.
He walked over to the empty table towards the back corner of the room and sat down to begin eating his lunch.
Not noticing the group of people who were already watching him.
"He looks so lonely by himself." Lila commented with a frown across her face, her group sitting at a table a few down from Peter.
Cooper scoffed at his sister, "He's always been like that. He's been here longer then any of us Lila, what makes you think he doesn't like being alone?"
"Because no one likes being alone Cooper." Cassie rolled her eyes, "Some people just have a...different perspective of the world and, well some people think they deserve to be alone, it doesn't mean they like it." She said, staring at Peter with sympathy behind her gaze.
"You have no idea if that's what's happening with him though. He could just generally dislike people." Cooper pointed out with a shrug to his shoulders.
"Has anyone ever tried to friend him?" Lila asked rhetorically, "Since we've been here, I can count on my one hand the amount of people who went up to him and started a friendly conversation."
"He usually keeps to himself, more then I did before I met all of you." MJ shrugged as she took a bite out of her sandwich. She waited to continue until after she was done chewing, "He's never been mean to people, but I'm sure you've all heard stories about how he stands up to bullies. Flash basically pisses himself when he sees Peter after their little incident in freshman year."
"Umm, what happened freshman year?" Harley asked, his southern accent hard to miss as he raised an eyebrow at MJ, but there was morbid curiosity behind the look, wanting to know what the hell Hardy had done to Flash to get him to leave the other teen alone.
Ned softly chuckled before responding, "Oh it was perfect. Flash was picking on Gwen after she rejected him as his date and Peter saw. Now it wouldn't have been that bad, if Flash didn't make a comment about how she was apparently a whore. Man, when Peter heard that, he verbally beat the shit out of Flash but you should've seen his eyes oh man, the glare too! He was sooooo pissed!! I've never seen someone look so deadly before, let alone a teenager."
"Ever since then, Flash pisses himself whenever he sees Peter. He doesn't want to invoke the dudes wrath." MJ smirked, finishing Ned's rambling on his favorite story from freshman year.
"Damn, is it weird I wanna meet him now?" Lila smirked as she risked a quick glance at the teen forty feet away from them.
"A little, you know what though? I kind of wanna see him and aunt Nat in the same room. If he's how you say he is, I bet he's the only one who'd be able to keep his cool." Cooper huffed with an amused smile across his face before grabbing his apple and biting off a piece.
"Oh I would totally take that bet!" Harley said with a wide smile, "He'd shit his pants the moment he saw her!"
"Bullshit, he'd be cool as a cucumber."
"Cucumbers, one, are not cool. Second, no one can be cool around Nat. Not even the people who know her."
"I think you're wrong."
"I think I'm right."
"Well you, my dear friend, are not."
"I totally am right."
"You can bet your southern britches you aren't."
"How'd you know my britches are southern, hmm?"
"Everything you own is southern." Lila deadpanned at Harley, making the others laugh as Harley had a contemplative look across his face.
"Okay okay, you right you right, I'll give you that one."
Just then, there was a commotion that started from behind them all so they stopped what they were talking about and turned their heads to look at what was happening. Everyone in the cafeteria also turned to look and what they saw made some of them roll their eyes but they still pulled out their phone to record, just incase.
Flash and his goons were standing at the table where Gwen Stacy, Sally Avril, Betty Brant and Cindy moon were all sitting down. The room had just gotten very quiet as well so everyone could hear what was being said.
"I don't understand babe, I'm everything you could ever want, just give me a chance. I've learned from my past mistakes, I've changed. I promise." Flash said to Gwen which made the girl scoff and roll her eyes.
"I'm sure you have Flash, but I'm not interested in dating you. So if you can please just leave me the hell alone, that would be much appreciated, thank you." She said before turning back to eat her food which made Flash blush in both anger and embarrassment.
He was about to say something else which most likely would've got him smacked but a voice from the corner of the room spoke up which made chills go down some peoples spines, particularly the ones who remembered freshman year.
"I'd be wise about what you say Eugene. We don't need another repeat like last time, yeah?" Peter said, still sitting down in his seat but he was now staring at Flash with a glare that could probably rival Natasha Romanoff's.
If only the kids of the avengers knew just how ironic that statement really was...
Flash scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, "What're you gonna do about it Hard-On, huh? I'm not scared of a nerd like you." He said, even though Peter could hear the tremor in his voice.
He was bleeding fear, Peter didn't even have to be near him to know that. But, he got up after he ate the last cookie and started to slowly walk from table to table, making sure to keep his eyes on Flash, "What's your obsession with my dick Eugene? Trying to tell us all something about you and a little closet?" Peter raised an eyebrow and smirked at the bully.
Everyone in the cafeteria broke up into laughter at that comment which made flash's face burn even more bright pink in embarrassment.
Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't a complete idiot, he could sometimes read the room. He remembered freshman year, he knew what Peter could do, even if he'd never admit it to anyone. Hardy was probably the strongest in the school, he just never showed it with the clothes he wore but Flash has seen him change before for gym class.
He's not a string bean, and flash didn't know how to feel about having someone like Peter push him around, but he did know that he didn't want to anger the teen anymore.
He's been on the receiving end of that anger before, he'd very much like to keep his body limbs attached thank you very much.
"Whatever man, this doesn't concern you." He glared but it was nothing compared to Peter's, not that the teen would admit that out loud.
Peter shrugged his shoulders as he finally came to rest a few feet in front of the bully, "Call me old fashioned if you'd like, but I don't like how you treat women like pieces of meat, or how you go around the school bullying kids just because you think you're all high and mighty because mommy and daddy's money got you here. Now the rest of us, or the vast majority anyways, had to work hard to get into this school so forgive me if I get a little heated with how you treat others...Now you have two options Eugene." He said the final part not above a whisper, coming to standing right behind flash to whisper down into his ear.
"You can walk away, and forget this happened, or cause a scene. One of those ways will end very badly for you so I'd suggest, you pick wisely Eugene." The teen's words made the bully shiver. He had no damn idea how scary Peter could actually get, but he did know that this, was barely anything.
He could get a lot worse and a lot meaner, and Flash didn't really feel like getting suspended so he did the smart thing and walked away.
But not after he scoffed and shoved at Peter's shoulder a bit, trying to move him away or push him on the ground but the teen stood tall and merely raised an eyebrow at him causing Flash's face to burn as he walked out the doors.
Leaving Peter and Flash's goons. One of the assholes was about to say something though and Peter was having none of that so he took a menacing step forward and glared at them.
"Get lost, before I make you." He hissed and they instantly backed down and bolted out the room, not wanting to anger Peter at all.
The booming exclamation and clapping coming from everyone invaded his senses which made him look around. He rolled his eyes before he started to walk away words the library where he could sit the rest of his lunch period in silence while he read his book, away from everyone else at the moment.
He ignored how Gwen tried to gain his attention as he walked out. She didn't need to be associated with him, trust him it only brought more trouble.
He didn't need friends, no matter what Felicia said about socializing.
He was better by himself.
And maybe if he kept telling myself that, he'd believe it one day...
Back in the cafeteria, the students were still talking about what they had just watched, another verbal beat down for Flash but the group which was classified as the Avengers kids, which wasn't known by anyone in school except Ned and MJ, couldn't shut up about it.
"Did you see the way he destroyed Flash!? Holy shit that was the highlight of my day! And guess what, I caught it on camera!!" Harley laughed with tears of joy running down his face.
"Did you see that glare? I wouldn't want to mess with him, thats for sure." Cassie shook her head.
"Isn't that the second times he's gone to Stacy's defense? Maybe he's got a thing for her." Cooper said but Ned and MJ instantly shook their heads.
"No, Peter defends everyone. He once defended someone who was older then him from some senior who was this giant bully back in freshman year, towards the end of term. Whoever needs help, Peter tries to offer his assistance whenever he can. It doesn't matter if your short, tall, male, female, gay or straight." Ned said.
MJ nodded, "Leeds is right, Peter helps everyone, it just happens that Flash tries to ask Gwen to be his date like, every year and every year he says something stupid and Peter usually gets involved."
"Well he sounds like a nice guy." Lila said before her eyes widened, "You know what? We should invite him to the table! Let him sit with us and make a new friend."
The others looked at each other for a few minutes before shrugging their shoulders. It was Cassie who spoke up for the rest of them though.
"Sure, why the hell not, let's try on Monday.
"Monday it is."
So the day continued on. None of them had any classes with Peter for the second half of the day except for two of them. Even though most of them were in the same grade as him, Peter took a lot more advanced classes with Ned and MJ, the rest of them took normal level classes.
Today, they had history, gym class and then Chemistry before the end of the day and all three of those classes were with Peter but they knew no matter what they'd tried, the teen wouldn't talk to them.
He didn't really talk to that many people, so on Monday they knew it was going to be one tough challenge to try and convince him to sit with them.
Anyways, the day passed by with not that much trouble, nothing major happened in the classes during the afternoon, Peter still sat in the back of every single one of them and read his book while the teachers droned on and honestly, MJ could respect that.
It's not like he didn't know his stuff, he knew it so he decided to do something more productive with his time and read his book.
If MJ could do that, you better bet your ass she would, but unfortunately she still had to listen to the teacher because she needed to learn this material.
Peter, well he just knew everything for some reason.
It was one of his many talents, she mused silently to herself at the end of the day, as she was at her locker with the others grabbing her things for the weekend.
"We still good for tomorrow?" Lila asked her with a tilted head.
She nodded her head, "Of course, wouldn't want to miss a chance to see your crazy family in action." She smirked which caused the others to laugh.
About five minutes down the hallway though, Peter was already starting to walk out the front doors but he suddenly heard a voice call out to him from behind so he turned around and came face to face with Gwen Stacy.
He smiled politely at her and waved before stopping and allowing her to catch up with him. Once she did she smiled at him and brought him in for a surprise hug, which made the teen freeze in shock.
The only person who has ever hugged him in these last few years, has been Felicia. Before that, the only person he could ever remember giving him a hug was his mother, and that was years and years ago.
So reviving one from Gwen right now, we'll it was nice.
It also happened to be his first hug outside of anyone who was "family" for the boy.
After a second of hesitation, he reached up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, completing the hug and he could tell how she relaxed, glad that she hadn't overstepped any unwritten boundaries.
"You know, you never let me say thank you for defending me. You don't have to do what you do you know? But we all appreciate you taking on flash for us, including me, even though I can take care of myself." She smirked teasingly at him after they separated which made him snort.
"I don't doubt that for a second, but still, it's kind of hardwired in me to help wherever I see trouble. I really don't like bullies as you can probably tell." He said.
Gwen laughed, "Yeah I've noticed." She said as she shook her head, "Anyways I just wanted to thank you, again it means a lot to me that someone who doesn't even know me that well is willing to stick up for me."
"Yeah well, it's who I am." Peter shrugged.
"Then you're a good person, really Pete, thanks." She said again but the name caused Peter to pause for a moment.
He's gotten his fair share of nicknames from Felicia over the years, but no one's ever called him Pete before.
It felt kind of...nice.
Was this what it felt like to have a...have a friend?
He hated to admit it because that would mean Felicia was right, but, it felt kind of, nice...
Peter shook himself out of it quickly and smiled at her, like actually gave Gwen a real, genuine smile, "Thanks for, stopping by and talking. It's uh, well it's different but..." He didn't even need to finish because Gwen smiled gently back at him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Of course, everyone deserves to be happy Pete, even you. No one deserves to be lonely all the time." She smiled before he watched as an idea formed in her mind as her smile widened as she stared at him, "I have a great idea, how about I come and sit with you on Monday yeah? We'll have our own little corner table away from everyone else, how does that sound?" She asked.
Peter smiled back at her and nodded his head after a second to think it over. It sounded, great actually, perfect. Did he finally have his first friend who was actually his age? Wow, Felicia was going to flip shit when she heard about this.
"Sure, that sounds great Gwen. But, you'd willingly leave your other friends to sit with me?" He asked with a tilted head.
Gwen shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, my friends don't need me at all that much. They have each other and I don't want you to be lonely anymore."
"I mean, only if you're sure about it. Afraid we don't have like, top notch conversations over at table de Peter, but I mean, I'd like to think I'm pretty funny." Peter smirked in amusement which made Gwen laugh.
"You're definitely something Pete." She teased.
"Ouch, okay I see how it is." Peter fake gasped as he placed a hand on his chest, just making the other teen laugh louder. Just then, a car horn was heard and both of them looked over and saw that there was a police cruiser parked in the front waiting for what he deduced was actually Gwen. The tall blond male who was waiting outside kind of gave that a way.
"Sorry I should probably get going that's my dad, but I'll see you Monday okay?!" She said as she already stared to sprint over towards her dad's vehicle, leaving Peter behind at the entrance staring at her retreating form.
"Bye, Gwen. See you Monday." He called back out to her as he shook his head.
He had actually made a friend, wow. That was completely new for him.
And he had the perfect way to celebrate, a sandwich from Delmar's. Best sandwich place in all of Queens, Peter would go as far to say that it was the best damn sandwich's in all of New York.
But that was just him.
It was only a few minute walk to Delmar's but he didn't mind it all that much, he enjoyed getting out to stretch his legs after a tiring day at school so he placed his earbuds in his ears and started to play his music until he got there.
Once we opened the shop door, he paused his music and pocketed his buds before smiling at the owner who was behind the counter, "Hey Mr Delmar! How've you been today?" He asked as he came to lean on the counter in front of the man, letting his hand wander over to Murph to pet the cat.
"Mr Hardy! What a pleasure to see you today. I'm doing great though, thanks for asking." Mr Delmar exclaimed with a wide smile across his face.
"Great, how's your daughter been?" Peter smirked which made the older man glare at him warningly.
He pointed his finger at him, "Do you wanna pay an extra five for your sandwich? If not I suggest you shut your trap." He said which made Peter snort as he placed a five dollar bill on the counter.
"Man, you're easy to get a reaction out of, chill Mr Delmar, I'm only joking around." Peter smiled and shook his head fondly at the shop owner making said man narrow his eyes as he took the bill with extreme caution like it was somehow tainted.
"You better be." He gave one final warning before he placed the bill in the register and moved over to make the food for Peter.
"So how's the shop Mr D?" Peter asked as he waited for the sandwich by the shop cat, making sure to scratch behind his ears since he knew the feline liked it so much.
"Business is booming as usual, everyone in Queens wants a taste of the best sandwich's this part of town." He said as he started to cut open the bread and throw all of Peter's toppings in.
"Well as they should, no place can outmatch your sandwiches Delmar." He said which made the man roll his eyes at the teen.
"So what're you up to theses days, huh? Still in school?" Delmar asked.
Peter shrugged, "Yeah but it's not fun, I've already learned everything they're teaching like, years ago. It's boring and I've got better things to do."
"Stay in school kid, you'll need that diploma if you want to get into colleges after high school. Just look at me, I dropped out and here I am, in a little sandwich shop in Queens."
"Hey, this is the best sandwich place ever, I'd be amazing to have all this." Peter smiled at the older man, trying to encourage him.
Delmar waved his hand around, "Yeah yeah yeah I hear you. If I never did that, I would've never met your lovely personality, isn't that right?" Delmar smirked as he placed Peter's sandwich on the counter for the teen to pick up.
Peter smirked right back at the older man as he grabbed the bag his food was in, "You've got that right Mr D."
"Yeah, enjoy your number five with extra pickles, squished down extra flat." Delmar rolled his eyes before mumbling to himself, "I've never had someone be so particular with their food before you."
Peter mock gasped in hurt and placed his other hand on his chest, "Ouch, Mr Delmar, that just hurts. I can't believe you'd betray me like this, how will I ever go on?" He said with a hand on his forehead being all dramatic.
"You'll find a way." Mr Delmar deadpanned at the teen which made him snort. He offered Murph one more scratch behind his head before he started to walk out the door.
"Bye Mr D, have a nice day!" He called out behind him as he opened the door.
"You too Peter!" The owner called out and less then a second later, the door closed and Peter was now back out on the streets of his city, his home.
He always did the same thing every Friday. He'd go to Delmars and grab a sandwich before going to the top of a building to eat the food, then after that he'd grab his homemade silky spider suit, put it on and swing around the city saving people until he had to go back home to Felicia around seven so he could have dinner.
He didn't know if he'd go back out tonight, it would depend on if he heard or found anything that was truly concerning while he was out right now.
But, this was his life.
The life of a teenage vigilante and he wouldn't change a thing about it...
—————
The elevator dinged as all the kids made it up to the penthouse of Stark Tower. As soon as the doors opened, they all walked out and threw their various items along the side wall, keeping them there until later where they'd take them to their rooms.
The all walked into the living area and came face to face with their family lounging around and relaxing. Steve was most likely in the kitchen with Bucky, those two now that they were reunited were harder to get away from each other then a leech was to blood.
Clint and Laura were at the table with Nate, the little boy talking animatedly towards his parents as he colored in his book, Tony was at the table working on some tech with Bruce sitting next to him, offering him assistance when he needed it.
Scott, Sam and Yelena were all sitting down on the couch playing Mario kart while Natasha sat back and watched with a slightly amused gaze behind her look.
"Man you would not believe the day we had." Harley was the first from the kids to exclaim as they walked into the room.
"Oh yeah? And why's that potato man?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow causing the teen to glare at him.
"Because we just watched the school bully get destroyed, that's why." Lila smirked as she sat down next to her aunt, causing the older woman to reach over and ruffle her hair.
"And how, pray tell did you do that, huh?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow but the people who knew her could tell she was curious about the subject.
"Wait, pause, time out for a quick second, you mean to tell me there's a bully roaming your school? And you didn't tell us?" Scott asked causing his daughter to roll her eyes.
"He never bullied us dad, but he did bully others."
"And did you ever stop this asshole from being mean to others?" Clint raised an eyebrow at the kids which made them blush a bit in embarrassment from being called out.
"Well, no but that's not because we didn't want to." Cooper said.
"Yeah, he was already being taken care of by another student. We have our own bully repellent in the shape of another student." Lila said as she gestured to Harley, "Harls, show them the video, I know you recorded it."
Harley gasped, "How dare you accuse me of filming a verbal beat down instead of reporting it to the teachers." He said.
Everyone looked at him with the same deadpanned expression across their faces...
"Ok fine, man tough crowd today." Harley muttered before taking out his phone and pulling up the video. He didn't even need to say the words because Friday was already listening in and brought the same video up on the tv screen, effectively cutting off the current game of Mario Kart.
"Oh man." Scott muttered but was ignored by everyone else while his daughter fondly rolled her eyes.
The Avengers stood around and watched as the kid, Peter verbally beat the shit out of the bully, coming to the other teen's defense even though they could tell he knew she didn't need it.
He had this weird confidence about him from what they could tell, he spoke with authority when he scared the other students away and it seemed he gained his own reputation in the school because he barely had to do anything to the Flash kid before he had already turned tail and ran.
They were all impressed with the kid's ability to end a fight without even having to raise a hand, Steve and Bucky more so then the others.
Back before the war, when Steve used to get his ass kicked everyday, bullies never liked it when you showed them you were smarter then them, trust the Captain on that and Peter used his wit instead of his strength to really teach these punks a lesson.
It made Steve see a little of himself in the kid who stood up for what was right.
Bucky though, while he was thinking the same thing, had his eyes slightly narrowed in confusion. He couldn't place it but the kid, he looked so damn familiar, he could place where but he just knew that he knew the teen, somehow...
Man it was going to keep bugging him until he figured it out...
Natasha had the same feeling though she didn't let it show along her face. There was something about him, about how he held himself and how he acted that was similar. She couldn't see the whole teen with how it was recorded, but for some reason, she just couldn't stop the feeling that she knew him.
The spy's curiosity did get the better of her once the clip was finished though, "What's he like? Do you talk to him?" She asked the kids.
"Well, not exactly. He doesn't really talk to anyone at school, people have tried but he always shuts them down. He prefers to sit alone whenever he's in class or in lunch. He'd much rather have his face stuffed in a book than socialize with people his age." Cooper shrugged as he leaned back against the couch cushion.
Huh, sounds a bit like her to be honest. Socializing was just so damn hard at times, there were points where she'd much rather be stuffed in a book too.
Especially on the bad days...
"Yup, complete social outcast." Harley said out loud which made Cassie who was standing next to him glare and elbow him right in the side.
"Ow, what? Am I wrong? Huh? I'm not." Harley huffed as he held his side in pain.
"Just because it may be true, it doesn't mean you have to say it out loud." Cassie rolled her eyes.
"She's right Harley, you don't know the kids situation. Who knows, maybe he doesn't know how to make friends, as sad as that sounds. We don't know him, and we can't assume anything about the kid without making an ass of ourselves." Tony said with his arms crossed.
"Speaking from experience Stark?" Natasha asked sarcastically with a slight upturn of her lips, causing her sister to snort in amusement, followed by the others not long after.
Tony rolled his eyes, "This is why I never leave my lab, because you hooligans make fun of me. I can see where I'm not wanted, so if you'll all excuse me I'll be down in my lab, crying myself to sleep tonight." The genius sniffed before dramatically turning around and walking over to the elevator, leaving his laughing friends and family behind.
Natasha though, she was still staring at the paused video of the kid, not really looking at it anymore, just stuck in her own head.
She didn't fully grasp what the kids just said until right now, the kids name...
It was Peter...
So, so so close to Pyotr...
All these years and she still hasn't found him, neither have either of the agent Parker's and with the death of Ben a few years ago, they had taken time off of the hunt to mourn their own loss.
But still, throughout all these years she hasn't given up hope on him, that he was still somewhere out here in the city, waiting for her.
But then the battle of New York happened, and that hope that her son was alive, dwindled down to a very very slight chance.
The only thing that kept her going back then was her family, told her to not give up and to keep looking because her son needed her.
Her son still needed her, even if he was sixteen years old already.
She, needed to see him, to make sure he was okay and healthy and safe and...
"You're spiraling." Yelena said from her spot right next to her sister.
Natasha scoffed, "Am not."
"What caused it this time?" She asked, completely ignoring her sister's denial and carrying on with her questioning.
Natasha knew that her sister would just keep bugging her if she didn't talk so she sighed and looked around to make sure no one was listening in on them, "The kids name is Peter." She said, emphasizing the name until her sister caught on which didn't take too long.
When she did figure it out, she winced, "Sorry. Shouldn't have brought it up." She mumbled.
Natasha shook her head, "No, it's fine. It's just...it's been sixteen years since I had him, over a decade since I've lost him and I...I just wanna see my son again." She admitted.
Yelena frowned and set her hand on her sister shoulder, "I'll try to get in contact with Mom again, see if she can give us any clues as to where she left your son, who she left him with alright?...I promise sis, we're gonna find him even if it's the last thing we do."
Nat huffed and shook her head fondly, "Since when were you the optimist?"
Yelena smirked right back, "Since you lost hope. Don't worry, I'll be the better sister and pick it up for the both of us. Someone has to."
Natasha smiled gently at her sister and laid her hand on her cheek," Thank you Yelena, it means the world to me."
"Of course. Oh!! And don't forget tomorrow night we're having dinner with the Parker's. Mary wanted me to tell you to bring over Barton and his family too." She suddenly exclaimed which made Natasha nod her head.
"Sounds good, see you later." The older woman said as she turned to walk down the hallway towards her room.
"See you tonight." She heard her sister call back to her but she didn't respond, already saying what she needed to say. As she got into her room though and shut the door behind her, locking it, she rested her head back against the wood and closed her eyes before slowly sliding down until her butt hit the hardwood ground.
Behind locked doors and with no prying eyes to spy on her, she could finally break down the mask she always kept up and mourn.
Mourn for the lost of her child who she didn't even known, didn't even know if he was still alive or anything.
And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it except sit here and wait, wait until a new lead popped up and she could actually follow it.
Maybe, one day, a lead will actually bring her to her son.
But until that day, she had to be strong, she had to continue on with her life and hope for the best.
Even if she didn't have that much hope left to begin with...
Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she didn't even try to move or unlock the door, not in the mood to have any visitors at the moment.
"Natasha? It's me. Can you let me in?" The voice of Bucky Barnes said which only made her eyes burn that much more and anger to course through her body.
When Bucky was un-brainwashed, the first thing he had said to her was she looked familiar, and she reminded him of someone which instantly had put her on guard.
A few weeks later, he had finally remembered why and had come clean to her. He told her about how he remembered a little boy with her eyes, how he remembered training him, teaching him everything that he could do.
The man had made her baby into a murderer, had made her son go through so much pain and suffering at such a young age.
She hated him, loathed the man even if it wasn't actually him who trained her son.
It didn't change the fact he made her son like her.
Her little baby had to go through all of that, and he didn't even have his mother to help him get through it.
She hated the man...
"Go away Barnes." She said coldly, not even bothering to mask the anger in her tone.
She did not, want to see him right now.
All the Avengers were confused with her behavior towards him, especially Steve but she couldn't bring herself to tell them why, and Barnes had enough decency left in that body of his to not tell anyone about her son.
It was the least he could do in her opinion...
She heard as he sighed from the other end of the door and waited a minute before speaking, barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry." He mumbled which only made her clench her hands in anger.
"I said leave Barnes! Don't make me come out there to force you because I promise you, I will make it hurt." She threatened, trying to keep herself composed until she heard the man leave the general vicinity of her room.
Once he did, she let the water gates open as tears flooded out of her eyes and down her face.
I'd be a long time before she spoke with that man, but she didn't want to even think about him at the moment.
All she wanted was her son back...
—————
Peter stood on top of the Empire State Building with his suit on, staring off at his beautiful city from behind the white eyes of his spider mask.
This place really was a site to see, all the buildings that towered up to the sky, the cool tourist attractions that brought people from thousands of miles away just for the chance to see it and Peter's favorite, the one thing above all else he loved about his city.
Was when the sun started to set, there wasn't a more beautiful sight to see then when the sun started to lower down behind the horizon line.
But, he'd have to wait a few hours until he saw that, right now the sun was still out high in the sky and he had patrol to do.
He had a duty to these people and he wasn't gonna let them down anytime soon, that was for sure.
He closed his eyes and relaxed his body and started to plummet down the tower, relishing in the feel of his adrenaline spiking and his heart pumping.
He let out a whop as he continued to fall down to the earth, keeping his arms tucked against his body as he fell towards the sidewalk of the city.
There was truly nothing more exhilarating than when the adrenaline in one's body started to flow through every vein. Peter loved the feeling it gave him, it made him feel like he was unstoppable, like he was finally at peace with the world around him.
He loved who he was, and wouldn't give up his powers for anything.
He needed Spider-Man, and Spider-Man needed him.
Right before he hit the ground, his senses warned him and he shot a web at a nearby skyscraper, pulling his body upward and into a swing, making the onlookers gasp and point excitedly at him, happy that they got the chance to see their very own superhero protecting them.
Even if he didn't think he was a superhero.
You see, there were differences between superhero and vigilante, that's why there were different words to begin with.
To Peter, a Superhero was someone like the Avengers, someone who protected the world from ruin, who made sure that at the end of the fight, they still had a planet to live on.
A vigilante though, was a lot more smaller than that, they'd be willing to help wherever they could. To helping people when they were lost, to even the nastiest of jobs, the jobs where you didn't know if you'd make it back because it was so dangerous.
A vigilante, went outside the law to get shit done because they knew it'd never get taken care of because the cops either couldn't handle it, or the person they were after were just too rich and powerful to be placed in jail by normal means.
And vigilantes took care of the shit that the Avengers wouldn't. They all sit at the top of their ivory tower while the little people down in the city suffer everyday of their lives and that night, where Peter watched Ben Parker bleed out in front of him, he vowed that he'd never be like the Avengers.
He'd never be the person who sat down and did nothing as people were killed every night.
So to him, Vigilantes were the shield to their city. They took on the brunt of the damage. They suffered and endured the pain so the people wouldn't have to. They took care of it so innocent people wouldn't die.
There was a word he liked, endure. Vigilantes endured every night so the people didn't. The word, endure, meant to carry on through, despite hardships.
It meant to bear with tolerance or to continue in existence but to Peter, Peter liked the last definition the best. He thought it explained the word perfectly.
To suffer patiently without yielding...
And he knew that superheroes endured, that's not what he was saying. He was only saying that vigilantes endured the full might of their city and all the corruption that was hiding in it, that's how they helped their home.
The took care of the shady shit no one else was equipped to deal with.
And they took it on not because they were forced, but because they had the ability to do so, they had the chance to help their city and they did so without a second of hesitation.
Because that's what they did...
No matter how small the problem was because that was who they were, they helped out the little guys who needed help.
That's why Peter loved doing what he did, he loved going out there to save people because it gave him a sense of purpose. It made him feel good about himself, especially after his terrible past, the past where all he can remember is blood, blood that was on his hands.
He couldn't stand the thought that he was once like the assholes he puts away now, someone who hurt innocent lives but he was trying to amend for what he had done, he was trying to make up for it in all the ways he knew.
One of which, happened to be swinging around the city fighting crime...
And Peter wouldn't have it any other way.
He spent a few hours swinging around the city, helping people find the building they were after, allowing people to cross streets, getting cats out of trees and he even flipped for a couple tourists who asked him to.
Not a lot of exciting things happened and that was fine with Peter, he was just happy he was helping out where he could.
But that soon changed when after three hours of swinging around, he got a little notification from his AI through his earpiece.
"There's been a robbery reported over on fifth avenue Peter. You might want to get going, they have hostages." Karen said which instantly made him swing back towards Manhattan at breakneck speeds.
Within his first year of being a vigilante, he had been working on a project to try and make his very own AI.
He worked alone as a vigilante and it was sometimes pretty lonely so he had wanted to make his very own companion to help him out whenever he needed it.
Kind of like a guy in the chair, except she was a girl and she wasn't, in a chair but you get the point.
"Thanks K, I'm on my way!" He exclaimed as he swung off towards Manhattan. It only took him a few minutes and by that time, there was already police officers surrounding the building with a few familiar faces standing there.
He recognized both Officer David, his grand old pal Yuri and more surprisingly, he saw the captain of the police force was here, Captain Stacy.
Gwen's father.
Small world wasn't it?
He swung over and landed on one of the police cars but made sure he stayed out of sight from the building so no one inside could tell he arrived.
He's made a lot of enemies in his years swinging around the city and he knew that if some people saw him arrive, then they'd panic and start making decisions that probably wouldn't be good for the hostages inside.
"Sup my fellow cops, it's Spider-Cop reporting for duty. I hear you've got a little hostage problem in there?" He said with a raised eyebrow and a smile across his face.
He knew that most of the cops couldn't stand him, the only ones that seem to tolerate him are the three standing in front of him plus detective Mahoney but that was probably because the man had been dealing with Daredevils bullshit for years before he had ever showed up.
The man has told him many stories and some of them were pretty funny, he had to admit.
The three people in front of him though didn't seem to share his same sense of humor at the moment because they all rolled their eyes at his cop comment but decided that they didn't have time to call him out on it.
It was the captain who spoke up though, "You think you can sneak in there and get all of the criminals webbed up without harming the hostages?" He asked bluntly.
Peter scoffed and placed a hand on his chest, "You insult me by insinuating that I can't Captain. Of course I'll help you. Do you know if there's a vent shaft though? Somewhere I can crawl in undetected?" He asked them, getting down into his business mode.
He had work to do.
"On top of the building, there's an air duct that will take you right to the main room of the bank. Once you're in, you won't be able to miss the hostages, they're right there but so are the assholes with alien weapons. We've got no idea how they got them so be careful Spider-Man." Officer Davis said to him.
Peter nodded his head, "Alright I can work with that. I'll send the hostage out the front door so be ready once that door opens. I'll try to get the weapons out of the way first so no one gets hurt." He said but before he could swing to the top of the building, Yuri called out to him.
"Stay safe Spider-Man, and be careful yeah? Don't really feel like cleaning up spider guts this evening." She smirked which made him snort in amusement.
"Don't get your hopes up Yuri, I ain't going anywhere." With that said he swung off towards the roof of the bank and ripped off the vent cover before crawling into the vent and silently making his way into the main room.
When he got there, he looked through the other cover and saw that right below him, there were about three people with alien weapons and on the opposite wall, there was five citizens with gags in their mouths with their hands tied behind their backs.
As quietly as he could, he tore open the vent covering and silently placed it in the vent with him before he used his powers to climb along the ceiling.
Once he was upside down on the roof, he reached back in and grabbed the piece of metal before he placed the vent covering back on before looking down and breathing a sigh of relief when he noticed that the criminals didn't notice or hear him.
Which was definitely good news for him.
He looked around the room and focused his senses before he noticed that there was only two more men in the other room, probably the two tasked with grabbing the money while these idiots guarded the hostages.
Idiots who didn't even think to look up.
Honestly one of criminals many downfalls, they never looked up.
He looked around the room for anything to make a distraction out of before his eyes landed on a nearby desk. He webbed a pen to his hand and chucked the object away from the hostages, making all three heads turn at the sudden sound.
"John, go check that out." One of the men said as he gestured to where the sound came from.
"Why me?" The man, John asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I said so. It's probably nothing but let's just make sure." He said and John then walked over to the sound with Peter silently following behind him.
When they were both behind cover and away from prying eyes, Peter shot his webs at the man and pulled him up to the ceiling and covered him in webs before he could alert his fellow robbers.
One down, four to go...
He grabbed the alien weapon too and webbed it to the ceiling for now, not wanting to risk the weapon just lying on the floor. After that was done he crawled back over to the two men and decided that he'd play with them a bit.
He slowly lowered himself down his web right behind the other men. He could see how the hostages eyes widened at the sight of him so before he spoke, he made the classic be quiet symbol with his finger to his mouth before he whispered in the man's ears.
"Pshh." As quickly as the words left his mouth, he crawled back up the web and watched the man turn around.
"What?" He asked his partner, not knowing it was actually him and not the other man.
"What're you on about man?"
"What do you want?"
"I want, you to shut your mouth."
"Then why did you whisper to me?"
"I didn't whisper to you."
"You did, I heard it."
"Man you're hearing things again. Just shut up okay? Once we're done here we'll report back to the big bosses and maybe then the Maggia will finally get off our goddamn back." Peter tilted his head at the man's words.
The Maggia? He's heard whispers of their name before but it's usually Fisk's goons who utter the words.
From what he's gathered, the Maggia are the only competitor for Fisk, and they don't like the mobster.
Apparently stealing their territory instantly puts you on their shit list.
Anyways he didn't know how far this job went but if these people were being gifted these weapons from the Maggia, and they were now in his city being used to rob banks.
Then he had a major problem he needed to deal with.
But he could worry about that later, right now he needed to finish the job and get these people out of this building all in one piece.
So without any warning, he dropped down in his signature crouch and kicked one of the man's feet from under him and webbed him to the other wall before he grabbed the other man's weapon, ripped it out of his hands and grabbed his head and banged it against his knee, effectively knocking him out cold too.
He made sure to web both of them and their weapons to the ground before he ran over to the hostages.
"Hey, hey guys I need you to be quiet once I take these gags out okay? There are still two punks I need to deal with, can you do that for me?" He asked, getting nods from all of them so he made quick work with their gags before he gestured for them to go out the front door.
"Quickly, go, tell the cops that I'm almost done in here okay? Just need a few more minutes." He whispered and got nods from all the oldest members of the group.
He jumped up on the ceiling again and waited until everyone was outside the doors. He watched as the cops ran up to them and gathered them away from the door so Peter turned away and focused on the task at hand.
He still had two assholes to deal with and from what he could hear, they were still being greedy and stealing more money.
Honestly he hated people like that.
He sat for another few seconds before he webbed a nearby keyboard from a computer and chucked it with all his strength, instantly shattering it on the other wall but making a loud noise in the process that he knew the men had heard based off of their heartbeats nervously fluttering once he produced the sound.
It was time to end this.
As soon as the men walked out into the room, Peter left them no time to react and instantly punched the first one out. The second one tried to shoot the alien weapon but Peter grabbed it and ripped it out of his hands.
He twisted the man's wrist before grabbing both of their heads and smashed them together, making them stumble back at the force of the attack. Peter didn't see a need to extend this anymore then he already did so he webbed them both to the floor like their buddies and grabbed the alien weapons and placed them in a pile with the rest of them.
He looked around and nodded his head at his own handiwork, happy that he had done it without anyone, Including himself getting hurt.
God knows Felicia would fret over him if he came back with a whole in his side.
He saw no real reason to stay any longer either, he knew the cops could handle arresting these guys and getting the alien gear back into the hands of Damage control, he had the real problem to deal with though.
Like who the hell was giving these random thugs alien weapons to go around and shoot up New York with?
Was it the Maggia, or was the Vulture back at it again? Was he working with them?
All questions that Peter needed answers to.
It looked like it was gonna be a very long weekend for the teen...
He jogged over to the door though and pushed his way past them before climbing up to the top of the building and looking down at the cops, who were already staring at him.
"Good to go you guys! Weapons secure and criminals in webs ready for arrest. Have your way with them." He did his classic Spider-Man salute before he webbed off without another word.
He should probably get back home before Felicia freaked out.
Plus it was almost dinner time.
—————
Natasha sat down on her bed with the only evidence of her son in her hands. She held it like it was the most precious thing in existence and to her, well it was.
It was the only thing she had managed to keep before she had destroyed the academy all those years ago. It was a picture of her baby boy probably around a month before he was taken from her.
The picture was of him sleeping soundly in her arms, his little face tucked into the crook of her neck as his reddish brown hair stuck up in every direction. She had taken the picture herself with the camera she had stashed in her room after a mission where she had gone undercover.
She traced over the shape of her son on the little picture in her hands, hating how he was so close, yet so far away from her.
She wanted her son back but when had she ever gotten what she wanted?
She knew life wasn't supposed to be fair, but it wasn't fair, that her son had to go through the same grueling training as she did when she was a kid. She never wanted that for him, she wanted him to live a life full of love and that was something that she could never give him back in the Red Room.
But Barnes, oh just thinking about the man who stole at lest a part of her son's innocence, oh it made her want to kill the man ten times over until she was satisfied he paid.
And even then, she probably would always despise the man to some degree.
Barnes had done bad things at the Winter Soldier, she understood he was forced to do so, like he was forced to kill Stark's parents but it was different.
That was her child, her blood. How was she supposed to forgive him for something like that? Even if it wasn't really him doing it?
How could you ask a mother to forgive the man who helped ruin your son's life?
The answer is you couldn't, because at the end of the day that was her son that he beat up for training, that was her son that he taught how to kill, how to infiltrate and how to torture.
It was him, who did it all...
Just then, her door opened and her sister walked in. Yelena made sure she locked the door before she walked over to her and sat down next to her. She leaned over her shoulder to stare at the picture and she smiled.
"Every time I see that picture, I wonder, how the hell is that, your son? He's so damn cute and adorable and you, my dear sister, are none of those qualities." She smiled which made her older sister snort in amusement.
"It's funny you say that, because he usually acted exactly like me. He'd...he'd follow me around our room like a little duckling, copy everything I did, wanted to be exactly like me." Natasha laughed wetly as she reached up to wipe her eyes.
"He had my eyes, my face structure, even the damn slight red to his hair. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing the male version of myself...I miss him." She admitted as more tears started to leak from her eyes.
"Hey, hey none of that. He's still out there, and we will find him I promise. Okay? We're gonna find him and you and him are gonna live happily ever after in some far away cabin away from all of us, hide away so the world never takes him away from you again. How's that sound?" Yelena asked.
Natasha rolled her wet eyes, "I doubt he'd take the Rapunzel treatment lightly."
Yelena clicked her tongue, "You're right, he is your son after all." She said which made Nat scoff and lightly punch her sister's shoulder.
Yelena chucked before she sobered up, "I'm serious sister, I told you all those years ago that I wouldn't stop, and I wont. Not until I find my nephew, I promise." She said.
"Thank you." Natasha said brokenly as she laid her head on her sisters shoulder, needing the support now more then ever.
"No problem."
After a moment of silence between the sisters Yelena spoke up somewhat hesitantly, "You do know you can't blame Barnes for it the rest of your life, right?" She said barely above a whisper but Natasha heard.
And she was not at all pleased with the topic change.
"Can we please not talk about Barnes right now? I do not want to think of him or I might blow a blood vessel." Natasha glared.
"You can't blame him for what happened, he didn't know." Yelena was never one for following her sisters orders though and continued to plow on.
"I can and will. You don't understand Yelena. That's my son that he trained, my baby who he...who he made like me. I told myself when I had him I would never allow him to go through that and the one time that I wasn't there, they took him and gave him to Barnes. He made my baby too much like me and that, is something as a mother, that I can never forgive him for." She said, shaking her head in anger.
None of them understood, they didn't and none of them ever would.
They wouldn't...
"Okay, maybe I won't. But you could at least try to be civil. If not for yourself, then at least for everyone else. I know for a fact that every time Steve sees you almost kill Barnes he gets all sad like a kicked puppy dog." Yelena said offhandedly.
"The man deserves it." She muttered bitterly to herself which made Yelena roll her eyes.
"Alright that's enough bashing Barnes for one night. Now how about you clean yourself up, and we go out there and have a nice family dinner together yeah? You haven't been to one since you found out what Barnes did. I know the Barton's would appreciate it if you came, especially your niece and nephew." Yelena said pointedly with a raised eyebrow.
Natasha sighed, "Fine. Just don't expect me to not glare at him all night."
Yelena shrugged, "I'll take what I can get."
—————
Peter landed out on the balcony of Felicia's penthouse in his signature Spider-Man pose.
He got up and walked into the place he's called home for years and once he was inside, he grabbed at his mask and pulled it off his face as he swung his book bag onto the ground nearby.
"Felicia?" He called out as he walked over to the kitchen to see if she was in there.
"Peter? You're back pretty early all things considered." Felicia Hardy stepped out from behind the pantry door and smirked at her charge with a teasing look behind her gaze.
Peter rolled his eyes as he pulled himself up onto the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, "Haha very funny."
Felicia laughed as she pushed a strand of her platinum blond hair behind her ear as she carried some ingredients over to the counter, "Can you blame me Peter? I basically have to force your AI to drag you back most days."
"That's not fair! That's happened like, one time when I was in the middle of a robbery. Plus, if I remember correctly I did apologize for that." Peter pointed out.
She smiled fondly at the teen as she reached over and rested her hand on his cheek, "I know. I'm just messing with you. You're very easy to get a reaction out of Spider-Boy."
Peter huffed and slightly pouted up at her, "Rude." He muttered before hoping off the counter and walking into the other room.
"Go and change! Then you can help me with dinner yeah?" Felicia called out to him.
"Got it! Give me a moment and I'll be right out!" He said as he walked over to his room to change into a comfy pair of clothes.
He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt before changing and walking back out to help Felicia with the food.
This right here, was perfect for the teen, the only thing that could probably make it any better was if he finally had his mother here too.
He could picture it right now, his mother, Felicia and him all in the kitchen, cooking dinner like it was completely normal.
He's never really thought much on his father, he never knew the man and didn't really have an opinion on the matter but, he guessed it would be cool to have his father mixed into that little fantasy of his.
But for right now, this was all he needed, Spider-Man and Felicia until he could find his mother, then it would be the three of them.
Man, he loved nights like this when it was only them.
He didn't know where he'd be without Felicia. She's taken care of him for so long, been apart of his life that he wouldn't know what to do if she was to ever leave.
But he couldn't worry about that right now. He couldn't plague his mind with the what ifs at the moment.
All he could do was live in the moment and enjoy every second he got with her.
That we all any of them could really do now wasn't it?
Enjoy the moment, and pray for more exactly like them.
He'd enjoy it while it lasted, because he knew that this weekend would be very busy as he tracked down as many leads as he could find on the Maggia.
Man, he was not, looking forward to metaphorically shaking the tree all weekend.
But, that was apart of his life nowadays, did whatever he had to do to protect his city.
And that, was something that he'd never change...