16.
New York City, 2016
"Miss Konstantin has arrived, Boss."
"Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y."
After putting Secretary Ross on an unlimited hold - he really did love to watch the light blink, imagining the frustration of the person on the other end of the line, especially if that person was Ross - Tony headed to the front doors of the facility.
"I've never seen it so quiet around here," Kass remarked as she headed inside the building.
"Yeah, me neither."
"I saw Rhodey. That leg brace you designed for him is really amazing."
"He'd never walk again without it."
"Yeah. I asked how he was, he told me to piss off. But he did tell me about 'Tony Stank'."
"Oh, wonderful. Glad to hear it."
"I love it." She chuckled, then turned more serious. "He's lucky to have a friend like you."
"Yeah, maybe."
"He is."
"Yeah. You know, Ross is still after you-"
"Ross the Secretary of State, or Ross the Agent?"
"Both, but confusing, I know."
"Yeah, confusing is right. And actually, they're not. I turned myself in. I'm officially retired."
"From being a thief or being an Avenger?"
"Both. Though I was never technically an official member of the team."
"Yeah, and now you won't have that chance, I'm afraid."
"That's okay. Teamwork stuff isn't really how I usually roll." She shrugged. "But it was fun while it lasted."
"Yeah." He sighed. "I just thought it would last at least a little longer. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes'," he scoffed.
"Hey, you did good. This isn't your fault - you were only doing what felt right. I'm sick and tired of people blaming you for everything that goes wrong."
"Thanks. So am I. But you can't deny it, it is kinda my fault."
"Like I said, you were just doing what you felt was right. And maybe it is right for this moment in time."
"Maybe. I'm starting to wonder now."
"All this stuff that's been happening lately, really puts into perspective what we're dealing with, huh?"
He scoffed and shook his head, turning away - this was not the reaction she was expecting, or that she wanted.
"Tony, I love you," she assured him. "Isn't that enough?" He said nothing. "I guess not." She sighed.
"I want to take this relationship further, but you don't."
"No, I don't. Not right now. At least not in that way. And why do we have to get married to do that? We can still take it further without getting married."
"You always run when it gets hard. It's becoming predictable. If I'm starting to feel rough I just expect you to not be there. That's a pretty crappy thing to rely on. But, what can I expect? I guess that's what I get for falling in love with a criminal."
Her jaw tightened. "Well that's on you. That is your fault." With that, she stormed away.
She heard him call after her. "Yeah, go join Cap and the other criminals!"
She just flipped him off, and that was where they left it.
Three months later...
"Hey Karen."
"Good evening, Peter."
"Okay, so what have we got tonight?"
"Well, there's some activity inside Stark Tower."
"Huh, interesting... But hey, I thought Happy said they were clearing it out. That means no one should be there...Let's go check it out."
So he swung his way through the streets and to the famous Stark Tower and found his way inside.
"Wow, it's so empty in here..."
"I'm sensing movement in the next room," Karen alerted.
Peter jumped onto the ceiling and crept over.
"Should I activate Instant Kill?"
"What, no Karen. We don't know who it is."
"Should I activate Interrogation Mode at least?"
"Uh, no thanks." From above, he watched as a dark figure rifled around in some of the packed up crates. "Stop right there!" The hooded person jumped and spun around. Peter dropped down from the ceiling.
He found that the person was a woman in dark clothes - who he recognized.
"Hey, I know you - you were in Berlin, at the airport!"
"You're the kid," she said with a slight Eastern European accent.
"Yeah - well, I'm Spider-Man. And you're Kass right? Usually I'm pretty bad with names, but Mr. Stark talked about you so much your name stuck. So, Mr. Stark's girlfriend, huh? Hey, do you think you could send him a message from me?"
"We're not really speaking."
"Oh?"
"We broke up."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Maybe that was part of why Mr. Stark was being so distant.
"Yeah." She shrugged.
Awkward... "So what are you doing in Stark Tower then?"
"Robbing him. One last sting. I'm joking, Kid. No, I was living at the Avengers Base - we were living there. But now I'd rather have some space, so I've been hanging out here."
"But they're clearing it out and moving everything to the base."
"Yeah, I don't have much time."
"Where will you go?"
She shrugged. "No idea." Then she sighed. "We were looking into buying a place in New York in order to be closer to the Avengers Facility. But now we're broken up - again - and so are the Avengers so that's not happening anymore."
"But you need a place to stay."
"It's okay, Kid. I'll find something."
Peter wondered if there was anything he could do to help her. "Hey, are you hungry? I swung by a pretzel cart on my way here. My treat."
"So yeah, every time I see her I just freeze, and can't say anything." Pretzels in hand, Peter was currently telling Kass about the crush he had on a girl at school, Liz. "I don't mean to pry, but is that what it's like - uh, uh, was like - with Mr. Stark?"
Kass chuckled. "Actually, we never seem to run out of things to say to each other."
"You miss him, don't you."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks, but it's okay. So what does your aunt think you do at Stark Internship?"
Peter shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know, I'm pretty vague about it. Some tech-related stuff. But there's no way she can find out about this, cause she'd totally freak out." He sighed. "But, until I hear back from Happy, I guess I'm just your 'Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'." He even showed her the sad, long one-sided text conversation he had going with Happy.
"Maybe that's not so bad. Thanks for the pretzels, Peter."
"You're welcome. And hey, if you're still in the area, and you need anything, here's my address. If my Aunt answers the door, just tell her you're from the internship."
"Thanks Peter. I appreciate it."
"Yeah, no problem. Hey, listen, I know it's not my place, but I hope things work out or at least get settled between you and Mr. Stark."
She smiled. "Thanks, Kid. You too."
Yay, more Peter! :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
