I felt a sharp pain and my eyes flew open. Agh, that hurt what the heck was that? I blinked wearily and looked around.

Thankfully I didn't seem to be in a Hydra cell, which was where my mind had immediately jumped to. No, instead I looked like I was in a tiny living room. I was on a couch. So, I wasn't back in Wakanda, and I wasn't at the flight attendants-

Oh yeah, that's what happened.

I sighed and relaxed a bit, closing my eyes. I focused on my spider-sense and found it to be surprisingly quiet.

I felt tired and hazy, which was a bit concerning but I had just woken up. I didn't feel like calling out to whoever helped me either, they would probably ask me questions and mother hen me and I didn't feel prepared to do that.

I didn't want to think that hard either, but I knew myself well enough to know that that wasn't possible.

I didn't want to think about what I guessed was a panic attack and Hydra. I didn't want to think about how many people could be Hydra agents in this world. I didn't want to think about how easy it would be for someone to alert Hydra of my whereabouts. I didn't want to think about how I might never get to live a normal life again, no matter what I did. I didn't want to think about never seeing my family again because of how Hydra could come and kill them. I didn't want to think about never living a normal life again. I didn't want to think about how they would kill me. I didn't want to think about how about how big Hydra was, and almost impossible to take down it seemed. If SHIELD couldn't I stood no chance. I didn't want to think about how big of a risk I was taking by trusting whoever these strangers are.

I had a gut feeling that they wouldn't hurt me, backed up by my quiet spider-sense, but if the flight attendant could get past-

I needed to stop thinking about her, the damage was done and I would probably never have to see her again. I honestly never wanted to see them again, but a small part of me felt guilty for leaving so quickly. I had thrown away any concept of keeping a civilian safe, even if that civilian had just sent my enemies after me which had ended up with me being shot. Who knew what that gas had done to her? There was a chance it was wired specifically for me but chances are it wasn't. It could have seriously hurt her. If it was aimed to work against me and my healing factor no doubt it could really hurt a normal human.

I was supposed to be a hero. I was supposed to save innocent people… but where did I draw the line on who I would actively save? Murderers? Many anti-heroes killed, many actual heroes killed. Many other people kill for legitimate reasons, like defending themselves. I closed my eyes, she was innocent even if Hydra had corrupted her and if she was dead it was all my fault.

She could be dead and I didn't even know. Maybe I could go back and check in to make sure-… No! That would be suicide, maybe they didn't have the place filled with agents but there was a good chance the flight attendant was still being questioned about everything I said if she was still alive. The place would be under constant surveillance. The only reason they might not have it that way is if they didn't think I would come back. It was a pretty stupid thought, let alone to go through with it. I just wish I knew her name, then I could look at her background or something, or find out if she was dead.

I don't think she is, though. Even if they had put something toxic in the air I don't think they would recklessly throw that in without knowing that she would also be in the house. They would want to know what I was going to do next. So they would be questioning her. That was the most likely thing to happen. Here's to hoping that I hadn't said anything too stupid or incriminating, or anything that would give them a lead besides, 'getting home.'

Who was I kidding, they already knew my name. They probably knew when I said my first word, when I cried, when I did anything ever before they captured me.

I was so stupid. After everything I've gone through I should have learned by now that I was in way over my head. They were an unstoppable force and I was definitely not an unmovable object. This bullet just proved that. I was like a bug, ready for the squishing. Well, more accurately an arachnid. I just had to hope I could somehow scrounge out a life after this, where I could live in peace. Maybe they would give up trying to find me eventually? I had no idea how my life would be after this. If I lived, that is.

Nope! Nope! Not going down that line of thought… again. I was not going to die yet, nope, I would rather live as a hermit instead of dying. Wait, I was being a huge hypocrite, wasn't I? I went out to fight crime at night, letting that take priority over my falling grades (if not completely dead after this) and my social life, oh and how could I forget all the sleep I've lost?

I sighed and tried to stop thinking, focusing again on my spider sense. Still nothing. Not even someone glancing my way.

I wondered if it was too much to ask them to maybe drive me all the way to New York. It would be a whole lot easier on me, I would have a guaranteed way of getting there and the chances of being caught would be lower, but if Hydra did catch up to me then he could get hurt, not to mention other people. Who was I kidding, anything I did trying to get home was going to be risky. Hydra was probably already in New York waiting for any sign of me.

Maybe I shouldn't go home at all.

I quickly shook the thought away. That was cruel for all parties involved. I was already having panic attacks, and I was pretty paranoid (Just because I knew I was, didn't mean I could exactly stop it. I needed so much therapy it wasn't even funny). I needed some form of support. Not to mention Mum and Dad, they wouldn't really know what had happened.

But… maybe I should. I could hide somewhere and maybe slowly take down Hydra. Or stop them from coming after me, or something in general. Or I could try and get someone to watch over me, and go after me and my family if they got me again. Or someone to let my family know what happened to me if I died. Wait. Wasn't that SHIELDS job? I already knew they had an interest in me because of Fury.

I couldn't decide on anything right now when I was still tired physically... and emotionally. It would influence my decision, no doubt. That was common sense, right?

Anyway, what was I going to do now that I was currently staying with whoever these people are?

I hoped I could stay with them for a few days. I could get a whole bunch of sleep and maybe get some warm food. How would I get around the issue with my mask, though? Enough people knew my secret identity as it was, well, my face. Maybe not my name. It was more than I could be comfortable with though.

And my mask smelled, I had been sweating, eating questionable food and wadding in questionable water. Everything needed a wash before I smelt like a sewer, if I didn't already. I didn't want people to pass out as I walked past them. I mean, I could use that to knock my enemies out. Was there a hero or villain with that power? The power to knock people out just by being near them? I feel sorry for them, the Bugle would have an even bigger field day with that than me hiding on a plane. I knew there were some weird heroes and villains out there, I mean, who dressed up in a bird costume and thought it was a good idea to try and fly? Most people died by trying that.

Eventually, my thoughts went back to Hydra attacking and me fleeing. I remembered the guards who nearly stopped me with that electric net thing (that had been really painful, I swear if I had looked over myself earlier I would have seen some heavy bruising from that. Except, because of my okay healing factor they should be gone by now. Score one for my powers, minus one for my spider-sense not being as cool as expected). Why had the soldiers been there? They had been just as surprised as I was to see them so obviously they were just some kind of precaution. Of course, they would have planned for some kind of sighting of me, which means the whole place had been surrounded.

If they hadn't been so surprised… maybe I would be dead right now. Even though they still did get a lucky shot in, if they had been more coordinated I would have been shot in the head while I was on the ground for the few valuable seconds I was being electrocuted.

But… what did that mean for me? If they could descend upon me that quickly, then they've been waiting for some kind of confirmation of where I was and surrounded the area. They… they knew I would run. It's that simple. They planned for it. If I hadn't gotten out of the house before the gas could reach me, maybe I wouldn't have survived. I closed my eyes, how was I supposed to ever get home safely? They wouldn't let me live peacefully, they would keep on coming after me. I would endlessly be on the run…

I had to get some sort of help, maybe SHIELD would help. Here's to hoping they will actually try and help instead of going, 'too risky for us, let's not fetch this kid from a Hydra base. That's completely fine.' Like they did back in Wakanda.

Maybe I didn't have a choice about not coming home, after all. No, no I wanted to come home. I would just have to single handily, with limited or no food, money, and weapons, take down Hydra. If Captain America can do it, I totally can too.

I almost snorted. Yeah, I wasn't anywhere near as experienced as Captain America. For starters, he had some training. Two, he wasn't 13 when he did it. Wait, wasn't I 14 now? Had I missed my Birthday? I had no idea. And finally, he actually had resources and a team to back him up.

...And even he hadn't succeeded

I was just a middle-class kid from Brooklyn who had an Uncle who stole stuff who just so happened to pick up a spider that managed to sneak into his bag that then crawled out and bit me. Cap was specifically chosen by several high-ranking army men to get a makeover and then got trained.

I needed help. Who should I go to first…?

My spider-sense began to hum as someone stepped into the room. I moved to sit up and ended up hissing in pain, bent over in pain as my leg shot pain like I was being stabbed through my leg, making me feel sick from the pain alone. They hurried over and got me to lay back down which I did without much protest.

They crouched down next to the couch, and when I didn't feel like I would throw up from the pain I turned my head to look at whoever had helped me. I was met with the kind look of a college-aged student. He had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. I blinked a few times.

"Hey Spidey, back to the land of the living, huh?" He commented, getting up and moving out of sight. "You should be grateful you have superpowers because otherwise, you would be dead kid. It took quite a bit for me to stop you bleeding especially since I only had some clothes hanging around to wrap your leg in. I'm sorry but since you had passed out we had to take off your mask-" Wait, what? I reached up to my face and indeed found that it wasn't covered. How the hell hadn't I realised? "-so it would be easier for you to breathe and to check that your brain was doing alright."

He came back into sight with a cup of water and what looked like rolls of medical tape and bandages. He offered me the water and after a few moments of hesitation I took it and had a sip. Then I realised just how thirsty I was and gulped the rest down fairly quickly.

"You don't have to tell me your name or anything. I already feel guilty that I had to take your mask off." He said quietly, but he seemed sincere.

"Thanks..." I whispered, looking down at the ground.

"Now that you're awake I want to clean up your wound a bit more and get it some fresh wrappings. I am training to be a doctor, which is sorta of why Amber texted me, so I know what I'm doing. You okay with that?" He asked, making no move towards me. He was actually being really considerate...

"Yeah," I said. He smiled and whispered a thank you before standing up and helping me sit up properly. It helped that he did his best to not jostle my injured leg too much but I still ended up close to tears.

He sat down at the end of the couch and took the blanket off of my leg. I was still completely in costume so my eyes were immediately dragged to the contrasting white bandages wrapped around my thigh. At least half of my thigh was wrapped up.

"This won't be pretty, sorry kiddo." He said sympathetically. He grabbed a couple of pillows and stacked them under my foot so that he had easy access. Slowly he unwrapped it, revealing a frankly gross sight. The muscle was sort of exposed from my knee across, the wound about the size of my hand. I looked away, feeling queasy. "Yeah, I know. And that's from it healing till today with your superpowers."

"How long do you think it'll take to heal?" I asked quietly.

He hummed as he reached down to grab something beside him, "maybe a week? I can't be sure, kid. I have never met a super before in my life so..."

I sighed, "I don't think I'll be able to uh... leave until it's more healed. It really hurts and painkillers don't really work on me."

"Yeah, that's fine. I washed the wound when you first got here so it shouldn't get infected but I'm not sure if I should attempt to stitch it up. It could really speed things up but it might heal over the stitches and that will hurt trying to get them out." He explained.

That was actually pretty nice of him, he was actually... giving me options. "Uh, I won't leave till it's healed then. Is that fine with you?"

"Yep. I'll just text my roommate that you're here then. They won't spill don't worry." They grabbed a tiny needle and thread, preparing everything. "You can stay here as long as you need to."

It was later that day that I began to feel... worse off. Sticky, and unclean. Not sick, but like I would be if I kept on my ripped costume.

I felt dirty.

Which was no surprise, besides from that dip in the river I hadn't been able to wash since. It didn't help that only a day ago, but what felt like just hours for me, I had been crammed up hiding in the plane.

But with my leg, I didn't know how I could do it. And it didn't help that the guy (still had no idea what his name was...) wasn't around to help me. Man, if only I had access to the internet. At least then I would be able to get some sort of idea of what to-

Oh, Right.

I looked around myself and found a laptop in the corner of the room. I looked down at my leg. Ah, this was going to suck.

With as much care as I could, I fumbled around and got my legs out from the blankets. Then I managed with a bit of pain to stand up with my injured leg hovering above the ground as I leaned against the arm of the couch. I gritted my teeth, waiting for the pain to fade.

Why did it have to be now that I was bothered enough to get clean?

As I hobbled out of the shower, I looked at myself in the mirror.

The first thing I noticed was the large bags under my eyes. I looked like I hadn't slept for days. Which kind of surprised me, I did get a good night's sleep on the plane. Maybe it was because I cried recently, or from not sleeping well for the past month and a bit? I'll go with that.

The second thing I noticed was how much thinner I looked. Well, it wasn't too bad, but with my powers, I was hungry a lot more than I was before I had been bitten. I had only been having the occasional small meal while running and while I was at Hydra's base I only had one meal a day. The spaghetti that the flight attendant gave me was not enough to make up for the lost time. So, I could see my ribs a whole lot more. It definitely sucked.

The final thing I noticed… I definitely needed a haircut.

I sighed, burying my head in my hands. When I get home I'll be able to fix all of that. I just had to hold out until then.

I dried myself off and got into the fresh clothes I was borrowing. They had a lot better than the suit. I went to pick up my mask, but paused before I put it on. A part of me wanted to walk out without this on. But my identity was the most precious thing I now had with me. Someone could easily try and sell off my secret identity and him seeing my face could easily give him that chance.

I thought about it for a moment, if he didn't let Hydra get me which he could have easily done I don't think he's going to do something that horrible to me. Even then, unless I told him my full name it should be hard for him to figure out who I was, right? I mean, okay maybe it wouldn't be impossible but still. Maybe I could ask them not to? My mask really needed a wash too. It wasn't something I could ignore either. I could just hide out in here until it was washed and dried? I groaned aloud, did I really want to attempt that? If he got home early I was screwed.

Also, sleeping. Sleeping with a mask on was just asking for trouble.

I stared at my mask as I pondered over this. Would it really make that much of a difference? I miserably leaned against the counter. Secret identities sucked, being a superhero sucked, you always had to think so hard about whether or not a single decision might change your or someone else's life for the better or worse. I felt too exhausted for any of this. Could I trust Lee? They had helped stitch me up but then again any decent person would have tried to help me. But any normal person would have taken me to the hospital...

He seemed like a nice person at least. Like the flight attendant…

I should just ask him not to peer into who I was, or watch the news. I was probably going to be on the news when I got back home. Maybe not here in Washington though? Just New York news? One could hope.

After a moment I had decided and took it with me as I hobbled along to the laundry.