The Decision

Two weeks later

10:00 p.m.

It was late, and Aunt May had already went off to sleep for the night. Peter on the other hand, was still up at this time of night. He usually always was up at this time so that he could swing into action, but tonight was the night he had made up his mind for Director Fury's initiative. He was waiting directly on top of his roof, not wearing his Spider-Man suit, but casual clothes for now. Jeans and his signature brown collared jacket was all he needed to keep warm and look as casual as possible. After this, he was planning on getting into his suit later and then would go about for the night to see what trouble he would find in the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan at this time of the hour.

Peter looked at his phone and saw that the time was 9:59 p.m. Black Widow said she would be there at approximately 10:00. He was kind of hoping she would get there later than he hoped. He didn't really know what to tell her. Peter had been thinking about it all past week, but he never found an answer for himself. How was he just going to make just a big decision to join some big superhero team organization that protects the world from huge threats such as extraterrestrial beings? How is any teenager still in high school supposed to put up with a task like that on a daily basis? And most importantly, how is it going to affect the ones he love, such as Aunt May and Gwen? Peter remembers hearing what Black Widow had said before that Hollywood has no absolute knowledge of the world they think they know, but from the fictional films and TV shows that he's seen that's based around behind-the-scenes work and conspiracy, such as FBI and CIA genres, it seems that whenever one of the main characters' loved ones or friends finds out that the main character turns out to be working for some secret intelligence agency that no one else was supposed to know about, they end up being killed somehow later. Of course this is just for entertainment purposes in movies and shows, but Peter was seriously taking Aunt May and Gwen's lives into perspective. He didn't want to risk theirs just for some super fan boy club (at least that's what Peter joked about it as).

As all of these crazy thoughts rushed into Peter's mind, he quickly checked his phone to then see that it was now 10:00. He looked around to see no signs of anyone showing up yet. People are never 'exactly' on time ever. You either have to be there a little early or be constantly checking your watch 24/7 as each second passes by. But as it turns out, the person Peter was expecting to meet wasn't late after all.

"Did I keep you waiting?" said a familiar voice. Peter already knew who it was.

He turned around to see Black Widow leaning against the generator with her arms and legs crossed in a relaxed manner.

"You really have a talent for sneaking by me, don't you?" said Peter in a friendly manner.

"It's a talent I learned to pick up at a young age," Black Widow replied.

"That figures."

"So, have you made up your mind, Mr. Parker?"

Oh shoot, it was time already. Peter didn't think long and hard about the decision like he should've, and he didn't know what message to come up with to deliver to Black Widow.

"Uh… well, you see, I still really haven't made up my mind quite yet and, uh…"

Peter was completely terrible at making things up on the spot.

"I figured you wouldn't have a final decision tonight," said Black Widow. "But it's understandable. In fact, honestly in my opinion, I don't even know why you were given only two weeks to make such a decision. It's not the amount of time I would give to a teenager still in school if they were about to make a decision that would change their life."

Peter then felt a somewhat relieved after what Black Widow just said. He was beginning to gain so much more respect for her. It was like she understood exactly how he was feeling and why he still didn't have a reason for an answer. She probably already knew that reason.

"We aren't as different as you may think, Mr. Parker," she continued. "We have probably a little more in common, actually, or more than I had thought the first time before I had read your report over your background."

"Besides having similar codenames?" Peter asked, still being a little humorous.

"Besides that," Black Widow replied. "Your life may not be as gritty as mine was, but we definitely have a somewhat better understanding of each other."

"Well, I still don't know about yours."

Black Widow paused for a second and then looked into Peter's eyes. Her eyes were so gentle and blue. How could an assassin's eyes be so subtle? Peter no longer looked at her as some sort of sex symbol, but now as a beautiful, angelic woman.

"True," Black Widow said after a brief pause. "But I don't know if you can handle my past. And it doesn't exactly end with 'happily ever after'".

"It's that grim?" asked Peter in disbelief.

"Yes. More than you can imagine ever happening to someone like me, or at least someone like me at a young age."

"What happened?"

Black Widow paused again. She had urges to not tell and to hold back from her past. The only other person she's shared her terrible past with is her longtime SHIELD partner Agent Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. And technically, Hawkeye was a part of her past that led her to where she is now.

"That'll have to wait for another day," Black Widow finally spoke. "For now, I can report back to SHIELD and inform Director Fury that you haven't made a final decision yet?"

"Well, you did say it's now or never, right?"

"Correct."

"Well…"

Peter had a long pause before picking up his sentence again because he still wasn't sure whether to take the chance now or to just throw the opportunity away completely.

"… I'll… meet with him myself," Peter finally answered.

"Are you certain?" Black Widow attentively asked.

"Yes. I'm certain."

"Well, I shall report back to SHIELD headquarters and fill the Director in on your decision to meet with him. He shall have made up his mind for when to schedule a meeting by another 2 weeks. And once again, you do the math, and I'll send you a text to your phone of the address to where you are to meet me next time."

"Will anything we do involve swinging?" Peter just had to ask.

"That's your decision, Mr. Parker."

Black Widow then turned away from Peter and began walking off to the opposite side of the roof. Peter could already tell that she was about to do her astonishing vanishing act. She then stood on the edge of the roof and turned back around to face Peter.

"I shall be off for the night, until next time. Remember, two weeks," said the Black Widow.

As she said that, she back flipped off of the roof and landed elsewhere. Peter didn't hear a thud, or any sort of sound that indicated that she had even landed. The roof wasn't that tall from the ground, so she should've landed on the ground within a matter of about two seconds. But Peter didn't even bother to check this time because he already knew that he would only find nothing.