"Hey, Pete, wake up." Harry called as he gently shook Peter's shoulder. The latter groaned and scrunched up his face. He covered his eyes with his hand and asked, "What time is it?"
Harry chuckled as he combed his locks and answered, "Around half past nine, why? Got plans with someone?"
Peter growled in response, "Too early for jokes like that."
"Alright." Harry agreed as he put his hands up in mock surrender. Peter eyed him suspiciously. Harry's response was a shout, "I swear! Come on, Pete, have more faith in me."
Peter smiled and replied, "Alright. I'll try, but since you hurt me, you are going to make me breakfast."
"Oh really? Has someone got used to being spoiled?" Harry asked mockingly as he raised an eyebrow.
Peter smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head and mumbled, "Maybe."
Harry rolled his eyes and smirked. In the end, he gave up and decided to fulfill Peter's wishes. Since Peter was feeling like eating something sweet, Harry proposed they make pancakes with dark chocolate for Peter and white for Harry. During the cooking spree, Peter was not able to keep himself from drooling and ended up disobeying the chef's orders and tried his serving, even though it had not cooled off yet. Naturally, Peter fried his tongue and was currently nursing it with an ice-cold beverage. Harry, being the supportive friend he was, was busy laughing his ass off, while filling another glass of water and handing it to Peter.
Soon Peter put the third glass down and inhaled deeply. Harry laughed merrily, making Peter glare at him. He tried to stifle his chuckles, but his efforts were futile. In the end, Peter grabbed a spoonful of white chocolate and decorated Harry's face with it. In turn, Harry dug in the bowl with dark chocolate and managed to land a hit on Peter's hair. The next few minutes were spent in chocolate war raging on as laughter consumed the previously silent room. The dough for the pancakes lay long forgotten on the floor.
"Stop pestering me already! I said I was sorry!" Peter apologized for the umpteenth time that day to Harry. The latter simply crossed his arms and pretended to stay angry at his best friend for having ruined his kitchen, favourite shirt and bed sheets. The two were currently at a café, reading through their breakfast menu because someone (Peter) had ruined the wonderful breakfast Harry had tried to prepare for them both.
Suddenly Peter's eyes landed on an all too familiar combination and he chuckled. This earned him a curious stare from Harry. Peter looked him the eye and his laughter intensified. Between chuckled he managed to say, "Look at the bottom of the second page."
Harry's bewilderment was increased and he hurriedly rushed back toward the beginning of the menu. When his eyes landed on the different flavours that could be added to the pancakes, he could not help but laugh as well. Soon, however, he smiled sadly and whispered, "The one with dark and white chocolate used to be our favourite."
Peter smiled sadly as well before he replied, "Yeah, I remember how much we bickered about which was better – pancakes with dark and white chocolate. In the end, Uncle Ben managed to help us make a compromise with the mixed flavour. It turned out to be much better than our initial choices."
Harry's expression became grim as he asked, "Do you still miss him as desperately?"
Peter nodded and looked out the window. His eyes traced the various people who were walking around. Some of them had bags filled undoubtedly with presents for their loved ones. He smiled sadly once more. Christmas was just around the corner.
"Where are you going to spend the holidays?" Peter could not help but ask. After all, even though they were close, Peter and Harry had not spend December 25 together at all since Peter became Spider-man and Harry's father made a few unpleasant choices.
Harry shrugged. He rested his chin on his palm as Peter turned to look at him. With a small smile he decided to chance his luck and uttered, "I would probably like to spend it with you and Aunt May. I would add MJ as well, but she has already made plans with her family. I suppose you and Aunt May are going to do the usual."
Peter nodded. He beamed as memories flooded his mind. Despite all the losses she had endured during the years, Aunt May had never allowed the pain to deter her. She had always gone out of her way to make the holidays, especially Christmas and Peter's birthday, a special and happy occasion for Peter.
"You know you have always been welcomed, right, Harry?" Peter suddenly asked, feeling a bit awkward about having to point it out.
Harry chuckled and nodded. He then questioned, "Have you decided what you are going to give her?"
Peter shook his head. He still had around two weeks before Christmas came, but he did not want to leave it for the last minute. With a shake of his head Peter sighed and iterated, "I'm probably going to think of something. She has recently started dancing lessons. I might buy her new dancing shoes. Her old ones are not that bad, but I can see that she is having trouble with some of the movements because they make her feel uncomfortable."
"And how exactly do you know that?" Harry asked, his curiosity having been piqued once more.
Peter smirked. He crossed his arms, tucked his chin and answered, "I've accompanied her multiple times already. I'll have you know dancing is quite an enjoyable experience with the right partner and atmosphere."
"Oh, ouch. Peter, that hurt. So you're saying that during the time we dated I was never considered 'the right partner' and never managed to create 'the right atmosphere'?" Harry exclaimed as he put a hand over the left part of his chest area. With a faked sob he admonished, "Peter Parker, you just broke my heart once more. Did the two years we spent together mean nothing to you?!"
Peter rolled his eyes. He did find the rare moments when Harry allowed all of his defenses to drop hilarious. With a smirk he answered, "Yes, yes and yes."
Harry's eyes widened. He was about to open his mouth only to close it when Peter professed, "I'll have you know that the year and a half we spent together meant a lot to me. The other six months, however, were a pain."
Harry's expression became somber. Peter's did as well. The two shook their heads simultaneously agreeing not to go down that road again. Soon the waitress arrived and they ordered two pancakes – one of them with dark chocolate and the other with white.
Sam was surprised when he first saw Peter. He was expecting to witness a lot of things, but a carefree and happily chatting with his friends Peter Parker was not one of them. Inside him something ached. However, another bigger part of him was happy. With an internal sigh in relief he realized that Peter had somehow managed to get over whatever pain Sam had caused him. Deciding that it was still too early for their paths to cross, Sam limped toward a nearby classroom and mentally thanked whatever deity had chosen the day when Peter and Sam did not share any classes to be the day when Peter returned to school.
Peter thought he saw Sam out of the corner of his eye. However, he was not left with much time to ponder on the subject at hand for MJ's beaming face whisked him back to reality. Harry's arm around his shoulder destroyed every ounce of resistance his mind possessed and soon Peter managed to push every thought he had about Sam to the corner of his mind.
The next three days were spent in the same manner. Sam avoided Peter like the plague and Harry and MJ were adamant about leaving Peter alone. Fury, however, had other plans. Even though Nick had agreed to give Spiderman enough time to recover, his patience had worn thin and tonight was going to be the first scheduled training session of the team attendance to which was mandatory.
Peter was nervous about meeting Sam. He knew that it was inevitable. However, he just hoped he would have been given more time to decide exactly what to say. Of course, sometimes life's chosen path was different from ours.
"Greetings, Spider." Danny uttered.
Peter was caught off guard by the strangeness the tone possessed. His gut instincts told him that something was amiss. However, he did not have time to further investigate his suspicions. Soon they were joined by White Tiger and Power man. The only one missing was Sam. Great.
"Nova has something to discuss with Fury. I was asked to inform you that the two would be late and that we should start on our own." Danny uttered once they entered the training rooms.
Peter felt cold sweat trickle down his spine. Was Sam planning on swapping teams because of what had transpired between them? His question, unfortunately, would be left with no answer.
"Before we begin working on teamwork, I suggest we each take off our masks." Danny said.
Peter tensed. The other two seemed only mildly perplexed. However, soon they complied. One by one they took off their masks and Peter was only partially surprised by the unraveled mystery. Ava Ayala was White Tiger. Luke Cage was Power man. And Danny Rand was Iron Fist. All three of them were close friends with Sam. He had met Luke before and was slightly relieved to see him. He had seen the other two and had even exchanged a few words with them during classes. However, he had never had the chance to actually converse with them. With a deep inhale and exhale, Peter stepped forward and took off his mask.
"Hell yeah!" Luke punched the air before he turned to Ava and proclaimed, "You owe me twenty bucks."
Ava growled, but nodded, promising to give the amount of money to him after the training session was over. Peter was, naturally, confused. After all, he had been suspecting that the other three knew who he was given the fact that he had been injured and unmasked in the hospital ward for a few hours. Fortunately and much to Peter's inner happiness the three had respected his secret and had not come to seek him out.
"How exactly did you guess, Luke?" Peter asked.
The man in question grinned as he answered, "Simple. The chemistry between Sam and Peter and Spiderman and Nova is similar."
Peter's eyes widened. New droplets of sweat cascaded down his forehead before he enquired, "Care to elaborate?"
Luke chuckled and nodded. "Relax, bro, I'm not implying anything. I'm just simply stating what is already obvious. Even the kitty here had her suspicions, but was too proud to admit that her initial perception had been wrong."
Ava growled out, "Watch your tongue, Cage. Who knows what might be added to your food tomorrow morning."
Danny clapped his hands and uttered, "Enough."
Peter was surprised when Ava and Luke rolled his eyes, but quieted down. It seemed that Danny had powerful influence over those two. A strange voice inside Peter's head questioned how much impact Danny had made on Sam and how much he was going to make in the future.
Suddenly the doors behind them opened and in walked Fury and Nova. Sam was surprised to see them all without masks, but soon visibly relaxed. Peter frowned when Sam avoided gazes with him and simply walked toward Danny. Peter's eyes narrowed. The proximity between the two was almost non-existent, but their postures were off – while Danny's was calm and comfortable, Sam's was tense yet not closed off. There was an air of familiarity between the two especially with the way Danny leaned his head and whispered something in Sam's ear. The words made Sam stiffen, but soon the initial shock wore off. The soothing squeeze of his shoulder made him relax.
"I apologize for the delay. It seems that this team will not be able to function properly given the tension between some of its members. You will train and work hard on perfecting your teamwork. Until then you shall remain as a back-up team only."
"What?! Why?!" Ava and Luke exclaimed. White Tiger, however, stepped forward and asked, "Do you realise how unfair you're being?"
Peter clenched his fists, but made no other gesture or movement to display his displeasure. Danny remained collected. Sam's face was hidden by his stupid bucket-ish excuse for a helmet, but Peter knew the truth – behind that piece of metal was a face contorting with all kinds of emotions.
They spent three hours inside that room. The first hour was horrible. Luke and Ava obviously still had some tension left between them and most of the time when the two rushed toward a target, it would escape and the two of them would either crash a few feet away from each or into each other. Peter was doing fairly well. However, once he had got distracted with Sam's sharp turns and uncoordinated blasts that he ended up colliding with the wall. Sam, too, followed a similar fate. Danny suffered no such luck. His aim was perfect. His movements were well executed. Even his form possessed no flaw. However, he was detached from the others and his manner of fighting clearly showed it. He was not fighting as though he were part of a team. He was battling as though he were a lone wolf.
The second hour bore fewer casualties. Peter's back collided with the wall only three times. He suffered only a few bruises. Ava and Luke finally managed to find a pace they could work with and Sam's blasts followed their punches or kicks. Nova now managed to cover his teammates' backs. Danny's behaviour, however, remained unchanged.
During the third hour more progress was made. Luke, Ava and Sam were inclined to listen to Peter's orders and Danny proved to be willing to do so as well. During the last ten minutes they managed to subdue fifty enemies. When the last one was knocked unconscious, the simulation ended. All five of them were back in the all too familiar metallic-gray room.
"Oh…wow…now that is how it should be done." Ava managed to say in-between pants. Luke, who was beside her, rested a hand on her shoulder and nodded, then proposed, "We should go to bed."
"Agree." Danny uttered. He then started walking toward the door. Ava and Luke followed. Sam was hesitant to do the same. In the end, he muttered something along the lines of 'to hell with it' and said:
"I'll stay for a while longer."
Danny's steps faltered, but otherwise he gave no indication of his disagreement with Sam's choice. Ava and Luke simply nodded and continued walking, oblivious to the war raging inside the kin-fu warrior. The doors closed behind them, leaving Peter and Sam alone. Time passed in silence. Soon, however, Sam had had enough. He took off his helmet, walked toward the resting area and sat down. He patted the spot next to him, silently telling Peter that there was no need to worry. With a grateful smile Peter took off his mask and sat down beside Sam. The two remained quiet, contently staring at the never changing walls.
"Are we going to be alright?" Sam whispered.
Peter's eyes widened slightly. He turned around to look at his teammate and asked, "Why wouldn't we be?"
Sam rolled his eyes and replied, "You know why. Because of this whole ordeal…b-because of me now we will be treated like a second-class team."
"Hey, Sam, no one is blaming you. I am certain that whatever you told Fury was necessary for your wellbeing." Peter responded as he rested a hand on Sam's shoulder. The latter tensed, making Peter withdraw his hand quickly. Sam shook his head and asked, "How can you be so certain? You don't even know what type of information I shared with him?"
"Why don't you tell me then?" Peter challenged.
Sam was hesitant. He contemplated the risks, but soon smirked and whispered, "I told him you and I were having issues again. However, now there was a third party involved."
Peter's eyes widened. He clenched his fists and replied in a gelid tone, "It's Danny." He then looked Sam directly in the eye and uttered, "You're in love with Danny."
Sam froze. His mouth opened and closed. He shook his head multiple times until he managed to choke out, "I am not in love with him. I do love him, though."
Peter frowned. His anger had not subsided, but it had had enough time to quiet down. With a soft sigh he asked, "Mind describing your relationship?"
Sam scrunched up his eyebrows. He scratched the back of his neck. He then ran his fingers through his hair before he explained, "It's passionate. My relationship with Danny, if you could even call it that, consists of satisfying the other person's needs. We fit. I don't know exactly how to depict that, though. I know I love him because I can't bring myself to hate him, despite all the pain he's caused me. However, he's never done anything to deliberately hurt. He's been honest with from day one and that's something I highly value."
"You value honestly above all else?" Peter asked to which Sam nodded. With a profound sigh, Peter looked apologetically at Sam before iterating, "Pardon me for saying this, Sam, but what you're experiencing, although obviously pleasurable, is not all that…..how should I put it... healthy. I-I mean, if you love someone and you want to be with that person, shouldn't you be with them because they love you in return? I think that it's not right to make sacrifices or compromises with yourself just because you harbor strong feelings for someone."
Sam was obviously ready to retort angrily. However, as time passed and he took enough of it to calm down, he simply looked ahead and whispered, "You're right." He then looked at Peter and smiled, "But I'm not ready to give up just yet."
"You do realise you're deluding yourself, right? From what I've seen Danny does care about you, but he shows it in a detrimental for the other person's health and mentality way." Peter uttered morosely.
Sam huffed and suddenly asked, "Since when have you got so good at analyzing people?"
"Since I experienced something similar. I wouldn't say I'm this good at analyzing people or relationships, Sam." Peter answered. He then grasped Sam's shoulders with both his arms and said in a deadly serious voice, "I know what it's like because I've been there. However, I was lucky enough to be with someone who valued our bond enough to let me go."
Sam searched Peter's eyes for any trace of dishonesty. He sucked in a breath. There were none.
