Later that evening, Doreen found Andrew putting a long coat on over his armor, getting ready to leave. "Where are you heading off to, Mister Grumpus?" she said chirpily.
Andrew looked up and sighed. "I've got a week of suspension. I figured I'd use the time to take care of some business down here in Miami," he replied.
Doreen raised an eyebrow. "We're supposed to be picked up by a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet in the next hour," she said.
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said. "I won't be going with you back to New York. I'll catch up later."
Doreen frowned, and replied "Hey, genius—you're on suspension. You're not supposed to go anywhere without logging your presence."
"I know. I already did," Andrew said, opening the door.
"Hey, hold on!" said Doreen, catching his shoulder. "Where are you going, anyhow?"
"Family visit," Andrew replied. He shook Doreen's hand off his shoulder and closed the door. Doreen stood stunned in front of the door. "He's got family?"
A little over half an hour later Andrew could be found walking up a long cold driveway. Despite being familiar to him, his home felt cold and distant. A multitude of thoughts were buzzing about his brain. (What am I going to tell them?) he wondered.
He unfortunately didn't get much time to think about it, due to a woman in her late forties opening the front door of the house and running towards him, embracing him in a huge bear hug. "Andrew, it's so good to see you." his mother said as she hugged him.
"Mom, what's going on with my brother?" Andrew replied.
His mother suddenly broke off the contact and looked him in the eyes, with a rare serious expression. "He got arrested-"
"I know he got arrested. That's why you called me. What's he in trouble for?" Andrew asked, crossing his arms in frustration.
"He stole a car with his friends," She began before starting to choke up, "but he claims it wasn't his idea."
"Forgive me if I don't believe a word that comes out of Avery's mouth," Andrew said in disgust.
"Don't you say that," his mother began angrily. "He's your brother!"
"Hmph," Andrew eloquently replied. Truth be told, he did care for his younger brother. Despite there being a four-year age gap between the two of them, he and his brother had been really close. Avery had seen him as the best thing since chocolate, and followed his every move.
"The way you talk about him makes me think you want nothing to do with him." his mother snapped.
"I want to be around him, but I have a job to do. You know that, mom." Andrew answered.
"No, I don't," she said.
"What do you mean, you don't?" Andrew questioned her. She did know that his work often kept him away from home for long periods of time, even if she never knew who exactly he worked for.
"I don't believe for a minute that you're working for an insurance firm in Miami," his mother answered.
"You're right, I got transferred to New York, Just happened," Andrew replied, taking advantage of the opportunity his mother had accidentally given him.
His mother's face fell. "So, what? You'll be away from home even more now?"
"I'm afraid so." Andrew replied, the whole while looking down at the ground, he couldn't look his mother in the face while he answered.
"Well, as much as I'm saddened by the thought of you being hundreds of miles away, I understand that you've got a job to do," she replied calmly.
"That's not the kind of reaction I was expecting." Andrew replied, which surprised her a little.
"What makes you say that?" Andrew's mom asked him.
"I thought you would try and convince me to stay," he answered her, be it a little shyly.
"Andrew I am a little sad, but I also understand that your work, much like your father's, keeps you away for a while." Andrew let out a small laugh and gave his mother a big hug.
"Thanks mom," he said sincerely.
"No problem. Now why don't you give your brother a talk, while I prepare dinner?"
Andrew knocked softly on his brother's door, partially so that he wouldn't seem angry at his brother. When he didn't receive a response he knocked again, be it a little more loudly.
"What mom!?" an angry voice yelled as the door suddenly swung open and his brother Avery stood before him. "Oh, it's you." Avery stated. He almost spat out that last part, like saying 'you' was an insult.
"I heard you were in trouble, Avery" Andrew asked.
"What do you even care!?" Avery yelled, before slamming the door in his older brother's face. Or, he tried to.
"Ouch," Andrew said flatly, his foot stuck in the door. Avery opened the door again, glowering with rage. "Look, kiddo. I do care about you–"
"No you don't! You skipped town with the recruiting sergeant as soon as you were eighteen!" Avery snapped.
"Since when does joining the Marines count as skipping town?" Andrew raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to snap back.
"It just does alright, now leave me alone!" His brother yelled at him.
"Stubborn as a damn mule." Andrew muttered under his breath, casting about for a response. "How does going to serve my country count as abandonment?"
"It's not the fact that you left us for the Marines," his brother began in between enraged breaths. "It's because after you came back on a stretcher, you left as soon as you could walk to take some insurance job. You don't call us, you don't text. Heck, I don't think you call unless you need something," Avery said as he counted off every offense on his fingers.
"Well I'm here now, and that's all that matters," Andrew tried to reason.
"Too little, too late," Avery began while holding up his right hand to block the face of his brother. "You're just as bad as Dad." At that comment, Andrew felt his rage beginning to build. Insulting him was one thing, but nobody, especially his kid brother, insulted his father.
"Don't you talk about Dad like that!" Andrew snapped at Avery, earning a stunned silence from his little brother. "It's because of him that you live in a nice house, in a nice safe neighborhood, with a steady income. Look, Avery- I know he's away on business a lot, but when you're in his line of work, his job takes months."
"So what, he's probably having more fun than anything," Avery dismissed.
"I'm not going to waste my breath trying to reason with you, kid," Andrew sighed. "I'm going to do downstairs and talk with mom. Feel free to join when you're done with your temper tantrum," Andrew said as he turned his back on his kid brother, and walked out of his room. He really hoped to hear his brother's footsteps behind him, but instead was met with the sound of his door slamming shut.
"Delicious. Thanks, mom." Andrew complimented as he finished the meal that his mother had prepared him.
"Don't mention it, I know how much you like roast beef," she said with a small laugh. Suddenly, a loud knocking could be heard from the front door. "Who the heck could be coming by the house at this hour?" his mother asked as she got up from the dining room and headed for the front door.
Andrew could only silently nod his head in agreement as he looked down at his watch. The time read 9:27 PM. Indeed, it was unusual to be receiving visitors at this late an hour. "Andrew, our guest is here for you," his mom called from the other room.
"Who is it?" Andrew yelled back at her. When his mother did not reply, he started getting nervous, but his nerves where quickly replaced by both surprise and anger when he saw who his mother had welcomed into their room. "Ava," he murmured under his breath upon seeing his field handler enter the dining room.
"Hey, Andrew. Just thought I'd come in and check on you," Ava said. Her voice seemed to have an unusual cheerful tone. Perhaps she was acting for the sake of his family.
"This is unexpected, Ava." Andrew said without looking up. "I did not know that our... boss had sent you down here as well," he said carefully.
"Well, I'll let you two discuss business. I'll prepare some dessert," his mother said.
Once his mother had left towards the kitchen, Andrew turned to face his field handler. "What are you doing here, Ava? I don't recall inviting you into my home," Andrew growled.
"I'm here because of your actions at the night club," Ava snarled back. "You brought this on yourself."
"Don't you think for a second I wanted to put Doreen in danger!" Andrew hissed, earning a startled look from her.
"I know you didn't mean to, Andrew," Ava began in a calm and collected tone, "but what you did was serious. You endangered another student," she said in a calm voice.
"I didn't know that would happen. I was just trying to say thank you for the help she provided me with," Andrew said defensively.
Ava sighed in exasperation. "Why am I even debating this with you? What you did was stupid. You're on a week's suspension because of it–"
"I know all of this already! Why are you telling me it again?" Blustered Andrew, getting up from his seat.
"Because I've been assigned to keep tabs on you, and make sure you don't do anything else wrong," Ava snapped back.
Andrew sat back. "Oh."
"Yeah. I'm here now to inform you, and to give you a warning from Director Fury," Ava continued.
Andrew looked up. "Really?" He asked.
"Yes. I believe his words went something along the lines of, 'If you try anything like this again, I'll have Nova seal you inside your suit for the next month'," Ava replied.
"Hm," Andrew raised his eyebrows. "I wonder how he would do that?"
"It doesn't matter. The point is that if you value the endorsement of S.H.I.E.L.D., you'll behave," Ava replied as she crossed her arms and glared.
"Alright," said Andrew, nodding. "Message received; I'll behave."
Ava narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll believe that when I see it," she quipped back.
They were still having a staring contest when Andrew's mother returned with pie and ice cream. Suddenly, both their wrist communicators started beeping, indicating a mission update. "What are those?" Andrew's mom asked as she took a sip from her cup of coffee.
Andrew wasn't sure how to reply, but thankfully Ava saved him. "Our boss gave us these in event of an emergency at work," she replied smoothly. She obviously had done this before.
"Could you excuse us for a minute?" Ava asked politely as both her and Andrew rose from their sitting position.
"Go ahead," his mother replied as she continued to drink her coffee.
Andrew and Ava exchanged a silent nod of agreement and quickly walked out of earshot. "Ava here." she replied as she activated the direct communication line to Fury.
"Ava, Kraven has been spotted in downtown Miami. Take Predator and see if you can bring him in. Your third member will be joining you at the coordinates I'm sending you right now," Fury ordered as their wrist communicators showed their destination.
"We'll take care of Kraven, Fury," Ava said, be it a little more aggressively than usual.
After the two had bid their farewells to Andrew's mother, both Andrew and Ava could be found at the location that Fury had ordered them to go to. "You going to get changed?" Andrew asked her as he took notice that she was still in her civilian attire.
Ava gave him a look. "What do you think?" She replied. "You want to see if I have it on?" She asked, making like she was going to reach for the bottom of her shirt, causing Andrew to turn around very quickly. "Don't worry, Bashful," Ava joked. "I wasn't going to do anything. Spidey's bringing my outfit."
"Special delivery. One fashionable striped suit for the lovely lady," Spider-Man quipped as he swung over, dropping a backpack at Ava's feet.
"Thank you," Ava replied. She looked at Andrew. "No peeking, for real," she said.
Andrew and Spider-Man immediately turned around. "…So, how's it going?" Spider-Man asked awkwardly, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Staying out of trouble, dealing with family, making excuses for my absence. The usual," Andrew replied. "And you?"
"Eh. Living on the edge, fighting crime, spinning webs," Spiderman said eloquently.
Andrew nodded, and began looking around, making sure he didn't turn around accidentally. Off to his left, he saw a person in silhouette. The person was mostly in shadow, but their white hood and skull-like mask was visible. Before he could say anything, the person disappeared. "So, did Spidey bring your suit?" Ava asked.
Andrew's response was to pull off his over coat, revealing his Predator armor. He then proceeded to press a button on his neck. His helmet formed from his suit collar, covering his face. "Ready for action," he replied.
"Let's go, 'Clark'," Ava joked, causing Andrew to roll his eyes.
As the three heroes went into action, the skull-masked figure watched silently, and whispered, "Andrew…"
Edited by Darkest Nightmare's Dread
Editor's note: I do not own the Spectacular Spider-Man theme song.
