Madelline, Lily, Elizabeth, and Rachel had a good night last night, but Paige got very little sleep the night before. They all knew she had school today, but Paige figured they didn't care. Rachel had to move in today, considering most of her stuff was still in her car, and Paige... had school.
Though she was certainly an equal part of her family, Paige couldn't help but feel ostracized because of her age. She was only twenty-one, so she had to go to school and get her degree and get a job to support herself since she could control what she had. Those were Madelline's rules, and apparently those rules only applied to Paige, because she sure didn't see Elizabeth working for anything. But for all Paige knew, she could be working from home.
In the dull morning light and silence of her history final. Paige had a bright idea. She could work from home and start her own business, and she can make ends meet for the four - no, five now - of them for the next few decades. But then again, she liked her independent study - and she did it all so she could go back and see what SHIELD is really all about… and why Madelline and Lily don't want to go near it. They always told her they were hiding because they didn't want to fight crime, but after yesterday, Paige was seriously taking a second glance at their motives.
After she double checked and turned in her final, Paige realized she had to run - her last final of the day was starting in five minutes, and she was eager to present her topic. As her advisor for her independent major in cultural phenomenon, Dr. Martin encouraged her to create her American Cultural Studies final on this topic in particular, considering it is still fairly a mystery compared to other superheroes - they all knew Captain America and Iron Man, and her classmates weren't interested in Thor or Hawkeye or even Black Widow to hear her presentation. But recently, a new superhero was on the rise. He was young, fresh, and conveniently wore a mask. Plus, there was a huge rumor going around that he or she may go to school with all of them, so Paige took that to her advantage. When she walked into that last final, she strutted in with confidence in her suit and glasses, and Dr. Martin gave her an encouraging nod - he was excited as well. After the Doc introduced each presentation, Paige waited with anticipation through nine monologues about their topics, half-listening to them and half-thinking to herself how this could lead to her thesis for her Master's degree. We are all heroes, Paige thought, and the modern day superhero makes us all feel worthy.
When the ninth presentation - something about the phenomenon with death in American culture - was finished, Dr. Martin made his way to the podium for the last time. Butterflies fluttered in Paige''s stomach, and she glanced around eagerly. This was what she lived for: the rush of blood to her stomach and her heart beating faster than it was before. Everyone around her was looking at the professor, so she turned back to her front. She was in the middle of the audience in their lecture hall, and the Doc looked towards her before he began. She nodded.
"Great job Alexa," the Doc began. "The concept of death and what is after it is still an important part of our culture today, even if it is shrouded in mystery."
What bullshit, Paige thought.
Dr. Martin continued. "This last presentation… this last presentation has excited me since I first heard of it. Its roots in New York bring much of a myth feel to the topic, yet it is so plausible that most native New Yorkers believe it's real. You all may have heard of it, but our last presenter has studied it since before the day she even entered college. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting on Spider-Man, Miss Paige Barton."
Applause from the other nine in the room was small, like the other presentations, but she stood on anyway like she was speaking to thousands. A pat on the back came from the girl next to her - Evie, her best friend - and a whisper landed in Paige's ear: You got this. She nodded towards Evie and excused herself from the rest in the row, including the mysterious boy who always wore the same jacket, even in spring. She calmly walked down the stairs on her left side to the podium where Dr. Martin usually gave his lectures to the ten of them. From here, she could see her empty seat and the others that surrounded her from Evie to James to the shy boy on her right corner. But she looked away quickly, went down to her notes, clicked on the PowerPoint, and began efficiently.
To Paige, it seemed like such a short time, but it was probably because she was caught up in something she loved. Annabel and Elizabeth always told her that when she was stuck in a crisis of finding out what was her life's goal, but now that she was feeling all of her pent up excitement being released, she understood what this meant: she was more eager than ever now to consider her plan to continue in superhero study. When she finished, she felt her piercing words echo into the air, and even Evie couldn't help but look at her doe-eyed. "Spider-Man, with his sarcasm and bravery and street smarts and legend status, is essentially an incarnation of each and every one of us - and who we want to be." The Doc began to smile then, and nearly all of the class began clapping loudly. Paige was proud in that moment: she finally had one moment to herself, and that one moment was triumphant. The doc made his way down the stairs and shook her hand again, proud of his star pupil. Paige scanned the nine of them once more, and noticed the same person wasn't clapping. It was the boy in the brown jacket again.
"That was excellent." Dr. Martin beamed, then scanned the row of her peers. "Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Barton?"
Silence filled the room for a few seconds, but the boy with the same jacket raised his hand. "I have a question, Doc."
"Go ahead, Mr. Parker," The Doc said. "No one's gonna stop you."
Mister Parker stood up, as was the rule in the class. "What if," he paused. "What if Spider-Man was an alter ego… that instead of being who we want to be, is a coping mechanism for something?"
"What do you mean?" Evie asked, then shamefully looked down. She never liked interrupting people.
"I mean… what if the guy had something in his long-term memory scar him, and instead of acting how he wants, he is acting the opposite of what everyone tells him to do beneath the mask, because with the mask off he's only allowed to act a certain way in society?"
Paige looked at him in shock. She never expected anything like that to come out of the silent guy in the class. The Doc did, though, and he wasn't too happy about it; however, he kept his composure while answering his question.
"Well, we're not the man himself, so we can't ask him, but that's a good theory, Mr. Parker. Maybe in Culture Studies II we can further interpret that theory."
Peter knew the real motive behind what he said all semester, but now seemed like the perfect time to call him out on it. "Well maybe you can quit being biased towards 'Miss Barton' because she's so hot to you!" He said her name mockingly, and they all knew it. She started fuming, but then looked back at the Doc. He was more red than she. "We all know it's true! It's just that everyone wants an A-"
"Get out!" ordered, practically growling at him. "And don't you ever come back to this classroom!" He was visibly shaking, his large bald spot glistening with sweat, and he looked around nervously even after Mr. Parker was gone. She and Evie had taken psychology and the body together, and they both knew what this meant. It was a sign of two things, often intertwined; the first was a shot to the ego that every person experienced at least once in their lives… and the second was a denial of something not even said.
"It's true, isn't it?" was all Paige could muster. Glancing at Evie, she saw the same things that were in Paige's own eyes. Anger, betrayal, and most of all, shock. Dr. Martin wouldn't say anything, and Mr. Parker was long gone, probably out of the building. But out of the corner of his eye, Paige saw something glow brighter and brighter, and as it did fear crawled into her, and she wanted to pounce and kill but she couldn't fight something like him. Kids were already leaving class running, but she and Evie stayed to see what was happening. Soon Paige got it - his eyes were turning red, and his upper lip curled as he began to snarl at Evie, her eyes afraid of what was happening. But Paige had to get out before what happened to her would change her life and Evie's.
She ran quickly up the stairs to grab Evie by her wrist. She stared into the eyes of the Doc, like something was inside of him that only she could see, before being pulled out of his trance to stare at Paige.
"Come on, Evie, run!" she yelled. Evie immediately trailed behind her, her pride in her best friend soaring higher than it did before.
By the time the two of them were safe, it was well after lunch. Evie and Paige had hidden in the library, within eight floors and a million books and thousands of people doing their work or reading. Evie kept asking questions, but Paige wasn't ready to explain. It would have to take a lot of work, plus counsel from Annabel. Even then, she still hadn't figured out her power. She had to have had one by now, right? Evie left an hour later, but she promised Paige to meet her Saturday for coffee and an explanation. That meant she had three days to think it through… and not freak out in the process.
It had been two hours since Evie left, and at the window wall facing the New York City skyline Paige found herself drawing yet again. Lately her sketchbook had been filled with little doodles of the Avenger logo and attempts at what SHIELD's logo may be and even what Spider-Man looked like behind the mask. A lot of her wanted to say he was a dark and brooding guy like the winter soldier that had made news a few years ago, but she doubted that. After all that research she had done, he was certainly no brooding guy. He had to be the type of guy you saw at parties and tell immediately he'd be bringing many ladies home if he could. To Paige there had to be a supermodel face behind the red mask, because it would explain the crush she had on him based on all that research. She had done a quick sketch of his jawline before seeing Elizabeth and her car from the eighth floor window. She'd drive around the block before stopping, but it gave her enough time to run down the stairs... and unfortunately scare herself by running into Mr. Parker. Her papers started flying, and her student I.D. fell to the ground, just like her. Her back landed flat against the ground, and Mr. Parker immediately heard her oof in pain. Grabbing her papers that fell around her, he ran around like a madman before catching them all and organizing them into a neat stack.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" they both said simultaneously while their words jumbled into one big apology. He eventually gave up and just handed her the stack after she sat up, and she just smiled in response.
"Um, thanks, Mr. Parker..." Paige said, her voice implying that she wanted to giggle.
"It's Peter, actually," he said, moving to grab her ID. "And you're welcome... uh... Katherine?"
"Paige," she said. "Just call me Paige."
Peter wanted to smile, but something was on his mind. He couldn't help but stare at her, and she knew something was up. He offered her a hand up, and she took it. He looked down before he spoke.
"I-uh, I'm really sorry for what happened back there," he said, putting a hand on the back of his neck. "It wasn't necessary."
"Oh, no, it's fine," she answered. "Actually, I need to thank you. Something bad happened earlier, and uh... if Spider-Man were there, actually, he'd probably have done a better job than I did."
Peter chuckled almost painfully. It's almost like she knew. "Can I ask what happened?"
"Uh, after you left, his eyes started turning red, and he started growling like a dog, and he looked like he was gonna bite Evie. I just grabbed her and started running. I've been here since."
He chuckled, but really he feared for her. "Are you okay, though? You looked kinda mad earlier."
"Well, I'm not injured." she said. "And neither are you, so you're fine."
"I guess so." Peter said back. They started walking outside, but he was nervous. He wouldn't look at her as they walked outside, but when Paige started distancing herself towards the curb.
"Hey!" Peter called. "What are you taking next semester?"
She turned to him, her ponytail blowing in the polluted breeze. "Social Problems, Art II, and I have an internship."
"Do you have anything in the summer?"
"No," Paige answered. Why is he even asking? she thought. This is so awkward.
"We should hang out sometime."
"Um, okay?"
Peter scribbled down something on a sheet of paper, then tore it off quickly. Paige's car was turning the corner, and Elizabeth didn't like to wait. "Here," he said, handing it to her. "Maybe next weekend?"
"Maybe," she smiled politely. "I'll see what's in my schedule."
And with that, Paige's ride pulled up to the curb and Elizabeth looked excited about something, probably that Paige was talking to a boy for the first time in her life.
"Bye, Peter." Paige said, turning after she opened the door. "It was nice meeting you… Finally."
He smiled back. "Bye Paige. You too."
She hopped into her car's front seat. Elizabeth was nearly screaming at Paige about how cute he was. Peter was slowly turning red on the inside, but the outside didn't show a thing. He had a job to do, and a pretty burgundy-haired girl wasn't going to stop him from it.
When Paige drove off, Peter grabbed his ancient flip-phone. He told SHIELD it was useless for them now, but they figured it was compact enough for battle. Using the phone anyway, he dialed Agent Coulson's number. As per usual, it rang twice, then Coulson answered urgently, "What is it, Parker?" Peter rarely called, but this time it was an emergency… and he was ready this time.
"Code 344692. The Mad Dogs have infiltrated. I repeat-"
Coulson pressed the speaker button from his desk, and the entire helicarrier, from the control room to the cafeteria, rang with the voice of Peter Parker.
"Code 344692: The Mad Dogs have infiltrated."