Authors Note: So, I've had these chapters sitting and gathering dust for the last couple months. I figured what the hell, I'll turn this into a drabble kind of situation. Meaning I'm not going to be posting these chapters in any sort of order. I'm just posting them because I'm sick of them just sitting when they're completely ready to go. So, enjoy?
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.
(Hells Kitchen, New York City, Heroes For Hire Office, September 13th 2016, 6:03am)
Anastasia stared at Zane in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."
Zane raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Anastasia gawked at him.
"You're not kidding." she said in shock.
"Nope." the twenty-year-old looked downright amused at this point. Anastasia scowled darkly.
"You're sending me, the girl who once punched out a senior when I was twelve, to go to high school." she said, staring at her leader like he was insane. Which he was.
Zane sighed, the amused look fading into an exhausted one. "Look, Hatter, this Parker kid is gonna get himself killed if someone doesn't teach him how to be discreet. He's already gotten caught on multiple CCTV cameras with his mask off. He's lucky that Mia made a program to erase any image that pops up with his face in it when Spider-Man is involved."
Anastasia put her face in her hands, collapsing further into her chair . "Oh my god, you cannot be serious. Why can't one of the others do it?"
"Because," Zane said through gritted teeth. "Chloe is with Laura helping out with the new baby. Naomi took Faith and Lucas out to train, and Isaac is out on a job right now. And before you even ask, Mia's going to be monitoring this mission from here."
"Great, so I'm the only one who can do this." she finished the sentence with a groan.
"Exactly," Zane said. "and Tony is too caught up in his own life to worry about whatever the hell this kid is up to. If we don't watch out for him, we're going to have a dead spiderling on our hands."
She rubbed her hands over her face for a second before tilting her head up to look at the black haired boy seated across from her. "Fine," she sighed. "I'll do it. When do I start?"
Zane gave a tired smirk. "In an hour. I've already got your backpack set up for you in the hallway closet and the school is expecting you."
Anastasia blinked rapidly, her tired mind working sluggishly through the sudden influx of information. Then she understood and started glaring daggers at Zane. "You bastard."
Zane's smirk widened. "I'd start hurrying, Hatter. You don't want to be late for school, now do you?"
OoOoOoOoOo
After scrambling to get ready, Anastasia had made it to Midtown School of Science and Technology with twenty minutes to spare. Thank god for her portals, otherwise she never would have made it.
Already she hated this school. She'd almost gotten run over by some idiot with a 'fancy' car, had gotten lost twice trying to find the office, then spent ten minutes convincing the secretary that she would be fine and would she please just go get her schedule? Now she was just waiting for her tour guide to show up.
She already knew who it was going to be, the person she's supposed to be protecting. Peter Benjamin Parker, fifteen, lives with his aunt, and his best friend is one Ned Leeds. He spends way too much time on the internet and seems to have no sense of awareness whatsoever.
She already disliked him. Especially because he was already late.
Anastasia leaned against the wall outside of the office and crossed one ankle over the other, settling in to wait for him. She dropped her head against the wall and heaved a sigh. This was definitely not how she thought her day was going to go. Zane, the asshole that he was, had waited to tell her until she couldn't back out even if she wanted too, which she did. A lot.
She wasn't made to be around other teenagers, they were too preppy and stupid. Anastasia had gotten the stupid beaten out of her a long time ago. The kids were innocent of everything, never really looking past themselves and what they needed. She hardly ever focused on herself, she had far too many problems to deal with to waste time focusing all of her attention on herself.
"Sorry!" a voice called out from down the hall. "I came as fast as I could."
Anastasia glanced over the boy rushing toward her. He had curly brown hair, expressive brown eyes and a smallish statue. He couldn't be more than five foot eight. He was dressed in a simple flannel, a pair of jeans, and tennis shoes with a backpack thrown over his shoulder. He came to an abrupt halt in front of her, staring at her without saying anything.
She knew why. She wasn't exactly dressed like everybody else in the school she had seen so far. She wore a burgundy tank top that hugged her curves and showed off a tiny bit of her stomach paired with tight black jeans and almost knee high black boots with buckles going across the ankles. She had a dark purple bandana hanging out of one of her back pockets with her backpack by her feet and her black messenger bag hitched up high on her shoulder.
All in all, she definitely didn't look like a nerd.
After more than five seconds had passed without him saying anything, she arched her eyebrow. "And you are?"
He seemingly snapped out of his shocked state and started stuttering out his name. "I-I-I'm Parker, Peter. I mean, Peter Parker!" the poor boy blushed hard, ducking his head to stare at his feet.
'Huh,' she thought to herself, regarding his skittish form curiously. 'who knew that the famous Spider-Man was nervous talking to girls?' She shook her head slightly and pushed herself off of the wall.
"I'm Anastasia O'Conner." she said, holding out her hand as a playful smirk came across her lips. "It's nice to meet you, Peter."
Peter hesitantly lifted his head and blinked in shock at her hand, not making any move to take it. Anastasia's amusement finally overpowered her annoyance as she watched the teenager in front of her hesitantly take her hand. She clasped his hand lightly, shaking it before letting go. Noting with some mirth that his hand was slightly clammy, she started asking him questions.
"So, you're my tour guide?" she questioned, a small smirk on her face.
Peter gulped lightly before nodding. "Y-yeah, I am. Because you have most of the same classes I do."
Her lips twitched into an actual smile for a second before moving back into a smirk. "Weeeeeeell, can you show me to my first class then? Cause I think we're about to be late."
His eyes drifted to his watch before widening comically. "Right, what's your first class?"
She glanced at the schedule in her hand as she picked up her backpack. "English."
"Okay," Peter breathed a sigh of relief. "that's my first class too. Follow me."
The two of them took off down the hallway, racing toward their English class. As they ran, Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle. 'I think I might be able to have some fun with this.'