In Which We Render Bananas

Catherine's charcoal stick snapped in her fingers for the third time that night. The black pieces rolled and ran down her paper, leaving black smears on the still life across the bananas that she had been drawing.

"Rough week at work?"

"You could say that," she responded without looking at Ed.

As a form of "self care", she had enrolled herself in a drawing class to keep her mind off work. At first, she had been in a figure drawing class but seeing and thinking about the human body after hours of doing the same thing at work made her want to throw up or drink hard liquor. One of those things was bad for her health so she had dropped it and fell into a charcoal class.

Then this doofus came along and started ruining all her efforts to relax.

She started in with her kneaded eraser, the soft plastic picking up the pigment from the new smudge line.

"With the marathon coming up, boy, the shoe business had been really rough lately like almost impossible." Doofus continued to speak undaunted and unprompted as he studied his paper. She resisted rolling her eyes. While she respected that others have different standards of "rough", this man complained about everything.

And he had no idea what was on her mind.

"The runners are always nice but they are particular and now, so close to race, they want what they need now."

She hadn't slept terribly well last night. Peter's flu was still bothering her.

"If we have a shoe in pink, they want it in black. If we have it in black, they want it in pink. The store is so packed that we can't carry both colors."

Peter had gotten so sick so quickly. She had been afraid that she was going to loose him. That fear should be unfounded, this was the kid who smashed his face in concrete from heights that no respectable human could fall from and got up laughing. She hadn't overreacted. She knew his abilities probably better than anyone. Some doctors and nurses would panic over a normal reading on him.

This time, his body had been stretched to the breaking point.

"One of our regulars came in needing new shoe, his mileage was up on his old one and I drove out of the city to pick it up for him and bring it back. That's our level of customer service. Bam."

A virus was what got him? Granted it was a miscalculation in one cell that could bring down an entire organism but Spider-Man?

She started on darkening the shadows of the pile of bananas.

And then the sickness had just disappeared? Like that?

"So. It's your turn."

She blinked and paused, looking at him. Physically, he was every woman's dream: tall, handsome, and had somehow kept all his teeth aligned.

"What's made working at Stark Industries so rough? The EXPO?" He prompted.

She smiled at him painfully. "I'm here to draw some bananas."

That had no effect on Doofus.

"Yeah, yours are looking great."

"Thanks." She knew that she was supposed to return the compliment but commenting on a man's drawing of bananas could be taken the wrong way.

He shut up as the instructor passed by them. She started in on the background, large swaths of gray to highlight the lightness of the fruit.

"Hey Catherine," the instructor paused, her eyes jumping between her paper, the still life and her face, "How's it going? Work keeping you up late or that Little of yours?"

She set down the charcoal. "It's been a week."

The instructor grinned, "Watch your value changes. Don't hesitate to ask any questions, okay?"

Then she turned her attention to Doofus.

Catherine turned back. It just didn't sit right with her.

She needed to go over the test results again. Peter hadn't complained about symptoms after but Peter wasn't the type to tell her about something unless it was killing him. It had taken four broken ribs last time for him to call for help. A characteristic that he undoubtedly picked up from Tony.

Slipping everything back in her toolbox a couple minutes early, she told the teacher that work had come up and left early. Doofus's eyes followed her out the door. She knew that he had a question that she had been directing him away from for months.

Catherine didn't need any more men in her life. Period.

She took the subway back as she tried to puzzle over this one. She still had the blood samples but it was a matter of time to run more advanced testing. An advanced round would take hours and the scientists at work kept trying to blow themselves up. With the EXPO on everyone's heels, nobody had any time. Tony had even at to put aside his investigation of the RC of IE.

As she emerged, her phone buzzed. It was Peter.

Can you meet me in our usual spot?

She frowned. Am I bringing first aid?

No. I've got burgers. Her phone stated back at her along with a blurry picture of a yellow paper bag against a building.

She rolled her eyes but headed quickly to her apartment. He would take the silence as a yes.

She rode up to the top floor of her complex and then took service stairs, bringing her to a door that should be locked. Anyone with eyes could see that the lock had been broken. The metal guts hanging out for months now. This had brought little comfort to the "state-of-the-art" security that the building claimed that it had.

The breeze was always cooler up here as she stepped out on the maintenance area of the building. The air conditioners moaned away behind her unattractively but it was made up by the view. The whole city stretched out before her, most of the buildings being shorter than this one.

Peter was already there, sitting at the railing at the edge of the building, his legs tucked under, swinging them in the empty space.

"Burger?" He said through a mouthful of meat. Three burgers were neatly stacked next to him along with his discarded mask. He offered a greasy bag and she came over and grasped it. Carefully, she sat down near the railing.

He had done this with her a few times now.

Usually it was about the girl.

She peeled back the plastic, her heart seizing at the sight of the burger and then took the first glorious bite.

"So I did this clever thing and I thought you might like it." He started as the rest of the burger disappeared. He rumpled the plastic and then realized he had given his bag away. She handed it back over to him.

"Yes?"

The sun was starting to set, coloring the red and blue suit orange. The mask's eyes staring blankly at the sky. Spider-Man had been put aside for the moment. This was Peter.

"I staked out the area where Aunt May walks to the subway from work everyday." He started in on the next burger. "I helped old ladies cross the street, the kid lost his teddy bear and I gave it back, I even got to help get some people out of a car crash. A couple people that work with May in the nonprofit saw me. They'll tell her about it. I'm sure."

He grinned, a childlike pride. "Then, this is the best part, I bought some flowers and then when she was walking by, I dropped them down to her on a web. You should have seen her face. It's was amazing."

She opened her mouth and he interrupted her. "Then she texted me 'Thank Spider-Man for the flowers for me'!"

He shouted and fist pumped the air a few times before dropping back and sprawling on his back. He rolled his head towards her.

"It's working Ms. Catherine. She's gonna like Spider-Man soon."

There was no way that May didn't see through all of this.

"Sounds like you're working pretty hard." She finished off her burger as he rolled onto his stomach and started on his third.

"So hard." He mumbled. "Now she's watching my grades too. It's like she wanted me to go to college or something."

"You're going to college."

He made a face and waved a hand. "That's a decision for a couple years from now."

She shook her head.

"What did you do today?" He tossed the wrapping in the bag. He missed. Quickly, he spun out a web, caught it, pulled it in and tried again. This time the paper went in so he snapped the line expertly. The white web floated away in the breeze.

"Work and then art class."

"Sorry I haven't tried to get you into any shows. I've been busy and you've not sent me anything new. Plus the engagement-" His eyes went wide. "I forgot to tell you! I've got two major problems in taking MJ to the engagement party plan. First of all, it's formal, like suits and ties, did you know that?"

Here we go.

"I read the invitation so yes, I did know that." She reached over and put her wrapping in the bag like a normal human being.

"The second part is worse."

"Hmmm…?" She stretched out her legs trying to pull the kinks from sitting for so long.

"I have to ask her."

She laughed.

It came out in a burst that she didn't expect. The problem shouldn't have been a surprise. Being a teenager was hard, much harder now that there were things like Snapchat and Twitter. Yet, it was such a basic part of the plan. She focused and gathered herself to readdress the teen.

Peter's face was buried in his hands.

"Sorry. Yes, I don't think that she will show up on her own."

"It's not a date," he said through his fingers.

"Never said it was. You just have to be a big boy and ask her anyways."

"Right. I just don't want to sounds like a snob or something." He waved around his arms, puffed up his chest and deepened his voice. "Hello MJ. I've got an invite to the most famous party of the year 'cause I'm Spider-Man. Ho ho, I'm so famous. Do you want to come to the eight course meal with a vegan option? Oh yes, a 'floor length gown' is required."

He groaned falling in on himself, embarrassment taking over completely.

"You won't sound like that." Catherine was still deciding if she was going to go. She was almost contractually obligated but she still played around with the idea of freedom.

"I'll just tell her that I got the ticket from the Stark Internship and that I thought she might like the opportunity to laugh at some rich people or something."

"Those will certainly be there."

"What if something goes terribly or she takes it the wrong way? I don't want her to think that I'm the rich snob." By the worry in his eyes, it was like his whole life rode on this. Catherine brushed some stray hairs away. Someday she wanted to meet this MJ, even if it was in passing. She sounded like quite the riot.

"Just practice a couple times and then do it. You'll be fine."

He nodded as he finished his last bite. A police car sounded off in the distance. It was a mermaid's siren call to Peter. She could see him slide away and Spider-Man take over. The kid dimmed in his eyes and he swallowed his last bite quickly.

It was time to get back to work.

He made his excuses, something vague about a bank robbery that might happen and then climbed over the railing. Catherine had to fight in instinct to pull him back. He hung by his fingers on the sheer drop as he peered up at her.

"Hey, can I come in your place sometime? Like to just see?"

"You'd eat all my food. Get out of here," she yelled back at him and shook the paper bag in his face. He smiled as he pulled the mask back on. The white eyes flickered open and closed a few times before they refocused on her. While Peter knew where she lived, she hadn't let him inside. There was no reason for him to see how empty it was.

He dropped off the railing and into the twilight.

She walked over and leaned against the railing, watching him swing away. It almost looked like he was flying.

Internally she was still laughing about Peter and MJ.

Poor guy.

I had a hilarious typo in this chapter that made me laugh all day when I discovered it. It wasn't like Peter "looked like he was flying" in the first draft. Oh no. Peter "looked like he was flying flying."

Blame my exhausted brain.

This last scene is one of my favorites. For the sequel, I wanted to allow myself one complete fluff scene. This was it. I feel like Peter and Catherine have come so far and this scene really shows that. It gives me the "warm fuzzies".

Enjoy that feeling. Next chapter is a doozy.

What did you think?

Thank you for reading as always. -Quin