Moving Forward

The place was just as abandoned as it was the last time he used to come here. It was his own sort of comfort zone, where he would train himself on his own accord. No one to bother him. No one to judge him. This was where Spider-Man was practically born. Not in a lab full of genetically altered arachnids. Not through a bloodstream pumping with radioactive spider blood. Spider-Man was born through perseverance. Through sadness. Through anger. Through despair... and through strength.

Peter took in the moment. He stood in the very spot of the warehouse in which he climbed along the walls for practice, where he swung along the chains that hung from the tall decrepit ceiling. All those times Aunt May had no clue where he was, he was here.

"Reminiscing?" Natasha's voice sounded. There she was, always sneaking up on him.

"You could say," Peter replied.

The redhead approached him with a black tablet device of some sort. Again she wore casual civilian clothes.

"What's with the clothes?" he asked.

"What? They don't look good on me?" Natasha teased. Peter half-smiled.

"That's not what I meant," he said. "What happened to being incognito?"

Natasha lightly scoffed. "From what? If the whole world doesn't know who I am at this point then people really don't watch enough television."

A brief pause.

"You ready to do this?" she asked him.

Peter had been thinking about it so much that he almost forgot to speak.

"Yes. I'm ready," he hesitantly replied.

With that, Natasha pulled the tablet up to where she could face it and began typing in a few things in which Peter couldn't see from standing in front of her. Then after she was finished, she turned the tablet to where the screen was now facing him. Immediately, he took note of the headshot of himself shown on the screen, the same one that was on his state ID. He also saw his full name spelled out, and a bunch of other words and lines underneath. It was a complete personal background on him.

"The last thing I need from you is your fingerprint," Natasha said, handing Peter the tablet. "It's for verification."

He took it, this time able to see more of his personal background. It had everything. His physical characteristics, the elementary and high school he attended, including his GPA. And that was only the half of it. There was no telling what else SHIELD had on him. Just the sight of it actually sent chills up his spine. Getting back on track, Peter found the outline for the scanner on the screen. He placed his thumb over the scanner, but hesitated to actually make contact.

"It's all over after this," he asked.

"... Yes," Natasha answered.

"... No more Spider-Man."

"No more Spider-Man."

That being said, Peter pressed his thumb against the scanner. Once he did so, it began glowing, an indication that it was processing. After just a few seconds, it began to blink, and the screen said that his print was verified. Natasha held her hands out to take the tablet back from him, to which he handed back. She began to do more typing that Peter still had no clue about. Once she was finished, she turned the screen to face him again. This time, Peter saw as a blue bar began growing gradually. It was loading something. Then it finally hit him. All of Peter's profile was being erased right before his eyes. He watched as Peter Parker began to disappear... as Spider-Man began to disappear. He glanced at Natasha, to which she returned a small but sincere smile.

Once a box with the word 'Terminated' appeared in red, Natasha put the tablet away against by her side.

"So what's next for you?" Natasha asked. "College?"

"What else can I do?" Peter shrugged.

"Underground wrestling?"

Peter laughed a little. "I'll pass on that one."

"Wouldn't be a bad part time job to pull in some cash."

"I should say the same for you, Black Widow."

"Nah. Sounds too boring."

A brief pause.

"Why did you ask to meet here again?" Natasha asked.

"Well... I figured, this is the place I used to come to practice. This is pretty much where I trained myself to be Spider-Man. So if this is where Spider-Man was born, this might as well be where he dies, too."

Natasha admired him. She really admired him. She always did. She never once doubted him to be great.

"Do you still think about her?" Natasha asked straightforward.

Peter took a moment. "Not like I used to. I used to think that thinking about her was a bad thing. Thinking about her tormented me. Even her dad, too. Just... the thought of me being the one responsible for ending their lives is why I couldn't sleep at night- "

"You're not responsible- "

"But I am! I am responsible. People don't have to keep taking shots for me anymore, alright? I have to finally pay the price for my Uncle Ben, Gwen, her father..."

He didn't even realize the tears about to stream down his face.

"Everyone - my aunt, my uncle - everyone just expects so much from me! And I keep disappointing them. I keep messing up! People think I'm a hero because I save lives, but I can't even save myself!"

Natasha tried to take control of her own emotions while listening to him let it all out. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his face. Instead of the usual rage he had shown over his face, Peter looked utterly sad and defeated this time. Even after surviving it all, he felt empty.

To his and her own surprise, Natasha embraced him. It was what he needed.

"You're tired. I know," she said. "You don't have to worry anymore, Peter. It's over. You have a new chance at life. A whole new opportunity."

After about a minute, Natasha drew herself from him and looked Peter in the eye.

"There's not too many people in the world that I would care to waste time on, but you're definitely one of them. If you ever need anything I wouldn't hesitate. That's how important you are. Not just because I said so, but because it's true. Spider-Man meant something to people. Spider-Man will always mean something to them. And it's all because one kid on the streets had the courage to do something bigger than himself. I don't know if I could ever do something that big, but because I've met you, I think I'm just a little more inspired.

"So you see, I don't even have everything together either. But the courage to do what's right is what keeps me going these days. And I should say the same for you.

"Your aunt needs you. She loves you. You still have her. Hold on to that."

Even in the midst of his darkest moments, including now, Peter always found someone saving him just as he would save someone else's life. And that was Natasha. She never gave up on him. Black Widow of all people decided to never quit on Spider-Man. To never quit on Peter Parker.

"Thank you, Natasha. For everything," he said. "Thanks for never giving up on me."

"Thanks for not giving up on you," she responded.

Then her phone started vibrating. She would have to leave soon. Natasha had to report back for another 'small' assignment.

"It's about that time," she said.

"Another mission for the Black Widow?"

"Another mission to kick HYDRA's ass. Oh we're not letting them just run loose like that. We've got work to do."

"I know you'll get the job done."

Natasha smiled. "We'll meet again. Give me a call and I'll show up."

Peter nodded.

Yet again, Natasha turned away and walked from the warehouse, ready for the next mission. Peter watched as she left, knowing she wouldn't look back.

Walking out and stepping out onto the tiny dock from out of the warehouse, Peter took in a deep breath. It felt so good to breathe in a sigh of relief. It felt so good to feel this free again. He pulled out his phone and put his earplugs in. Looking out in the distance across the water glistening, he turned up the volume as Empire State of Mind (Part II) by Alicia Keys filled his ears.

With great power comes great responsibility.