Chapter 4

Silhouettes

Thor finally arrived midafternoon on Thursday, two days after the meeting with Harry Osborn. Annie had not once spoke about her meeting with Spiderman on her apartment rooftop with the others or the fact that he started visiting her almost daily after sundown. Their meetings were short but informative. If Spiderman spilled a secret, she would have to do the same. They played the question game back and forth until the police sirens beckoned Spiderman to leave her and save New York City.

"Loki hasn't been seen since the fall of the Dark Elves. My brother is dead and it's time to accept this," Thor said as they sat in a large meeting room. Hawkeye rolled his eyes and tossed Thor the latest newspaper.

"Read it and weep, handsome," Hawkeye replied and Thor looked at the front page where Loki's right hand man was on the cover. The title: A New Threat? Was written in big bold letters. Thor tossed the paper aside in disgust and looked out the window. "Thought so," Hawkeye said and went back to cleaning his arrows.

"Do you know him?" Annie asked Thor.

"Not at all. He isn't from Asgard," Thor replied. Annie swore under her breath and Fury slammed his fist on the table.

"He shouldn't be a problem to take down," Rogers said and Stark raised his wine glass to him.

"If your brother only sent that one guy to warn us, he isn't much of a threat," Natasha spoke up.

"Loki is a mastermind of laying low and waiting to attack. We shouldn't underestimate him," Thor replied.

"Last time he almost wiped out the city!"

"What I want to know is how this Spiderman is involved in my brother's plan."

"Yeah, Annie, tell us," Stark shouted.

"Jane told me OsCorp hacked into her computer and took research notes that were about you and the realms, Thor. Before I ran into Fury, I saw your brother's buddy at OsCorp and I think he made a deal with the company. Spiderman knows almost everything there is to know about OsCorp and he has the best hacking skills I know. He had friends that used to work at OsCorp and the head of the company said Spiderman was most likely bit by one of the spiders they created thus giving him the ability to become Spiderman," Annie replied.

"Jane is involved in this now?" Thor asked.

"We're friends. She's just trying to help us catch your brother," Annie said.

"No, I don't want her involved in this. I need to talk to her." Thor got up and Hawkeye blocked his path.

"Without Jane, we won't be able to find Loki," Hawkeye told him. Thor shoved him aside and walked out.

"Dammit! Annie, you better seduce this Spider guy into helping us. I don't care if you have to sleep with him. He's a teenage guy, go get sexy clothes and bribe him. I don't know, just do something!" Stark said and slammed his glass onto the table. Annie glared at him and Hawkeye choked up a laugh.

"Real sweet, Stark," Natasha laughed.

"Bribe him," Fury said and they looked over at him. "Tell him if he gives us information, I'll let him join the team, The Avengers,"

"You're serious?" Natasha asked.

"Why not? I let Annie join, why not this Spiderman?"

"I don't have a problem. If he can get through the city fast enough and take down the bad guys we should let him join," Rogers replied.

"He's too young! He's what nineteen?! All of us are over twenty five! Annie I don't have a problem with but I don't want this Spiderman guy joining," Natasha hissed.

"I'm voting yes to Spiderman. His suit is extremely sexy," Stark shouted and Hawkeye burst out laughing.

"You're so immature, Tony," Natasha sighed.

"Look it wouldn't matter until Annie seduces him over. I'll support you two if you start dating," Stark winked at Annie and she gave him a small smile. She was too broken to fall in love again.

Spiderman appeared as she took out her burrito from Chipotle and sat down near the edge of the roof. She tossed him the bag and he pulled out another burrito.

"I know what you're trying to pull. I'm not falling for it," Spiderman replied and Annie smiled.

"Who said you had to pull your mask off all the way?" She replied before taking a bite out of her burrito.

"Fair enough," He replied and pulled his mask up and over his mouth before taking a bite. "Never had this place before, it's amazing!" Annie gave him a can of coke and leaned back against the brick wall.

"Thor is pulling Jane out and moving her to Asgard until we deal with this situation," Annie replied.

"Typical Thor. I understand why he would though. He loves her enough to not lose her," Spiderman replied. "I would do the same." Annie's iPod switched to Silhouettes by Of Monsters and Men. Her foot tapped to the beat and she finished her dinner before tossing her napkin to the side.

"When I was seventeen, I was in love with a boy named Peter. For a while he was okay with me wearing gloves constantly because I couldn't control my power like I can now. One day… he persuaded me to take off my glove and when I touched him I cried. I always doubt myself in order to protect the ones I love. Anyway I lived in Chicago at the time and I had an admirer named Cass who had parents that bought him everything. He was jealous of Peter and the first day back from summer break, Cass showed up and… he killed Peter. It was so fast and the next day he shows up at my house with flowers saying how much he loves me," Annie explained.

"What'd you do?" Spiderman asked.

"He went through two buildings. He's still sitting in a hospital bed to this day in a coma." Spiderman laughed and Annie gave him a small smile.

"Remind me to never cross you. I'm sorry about Peter though, I know what it feels like to lose someone you love."

"Yours was Gwen Stacy," Annie replied and Spiderman drew in a breath.

"Her death was my fault. I was so caught up with stopping the Green Goblin that he used her against me and she fell."

"Looks like both of us have blood on our hands that shouldn't be there," Annie replied and Spiderman placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You need to go out on a date. How about I hook you up with Peter Parker?" Spiderman joked.

"No thanks. I think you should go out on a date though."

"How weird would it be if I take a girl to the movies looking like this?" Spiderman laughed and Annie chuckled. "Seriously though, I'll call up Peter. He told me he thought you were really pretty."

"I'm not Gwen Stacy though."

"We're not the only ones who should move on from the past. I'm just trying to help my buddies out."

Natasha and Stark sat in Annie's apartment the next day reading up on OsCorp while Stark made phone calls about his business and complained about the horrible Chinese takeout for lunch.

"You have one of the best paying jobs in the world and you order crappy takeout," Stark groaned as he tossed his chopsticks into his empty bowl.

"I haven't got my paycheck yet, when I do I'll take you to the best steakhouse in town," Annie joked and he smiled at her.

"Better." He winked at her and gathered up his notes.

"Any news about Spiderman?" Natasha asked Annie and Annie bit her lip.

"Not really. He's doing a good job at playing hide and seek," Annie replied and Stark raised his eyebrow.

"Liar, he's been talking to you." Stark said and Natasha's eyes went wide.

"Alright so what if I am? He still won't join," Annie snapped.

"Have you seduced him yet?" Stark grinned and Natasha punched his arm.

"He's not the type to fall for that. He likes food though and learning about people. If you tell him a secret, he'll tell you a secret."

"Any flirting?" Natasha asked and Annie smiled.

"He wants me to hook up with Peter Parker," Annie replied and Stark rolled his eyes.

"I hate college relationships and teenage love triangles. God, it's like watching that stupid vampire movie. Watch you'll sleep with spider face and next thing you know you're giving birth to thousands of spiders," Stark replied and Natasha and Annie made gagging noises and burst out laughing. "Frozen spider babies."

"Alright stop it, Tony! We have deadlines," Natasha giggled and the group went back to work while complaining about Harry Osborn who was still talking to Annie. At half past seven someone knocked on Annie's door and the group turned and looked at Annie.

"Spiderman?" Stark asked and he pulled out a knife.

"No put that away," Natasha hissed and Annie glared at both of them before opening the door and Peter Parker stood there with pink roses in his hand.

"Am I disturbing you guys?" Peter asked. He adjusted his black button up shirt and Stark got up. "Oh hey Iron Man."

"Spiderman's best friend. Well Natasha and I should head out… we have a date with our TVs and the latest Ben and Jerry's ice cream box. Have fun, Annie," Stark replied and both him and Natasha left without another word leaving Annie and Peter alone. Annie grabbed the roses and placed them in a small vase next to Spiderman's flowers.

"Still trying to get Spiderman to spill?" Peter asked as he sat down on the couch.

"More like stalk OsCorp now since Harry has a soft spot for me," Annie replied. She cleaned up Stark's notes and placed them inside a briefcase that she locked. "So… did Spiderman tell you I was desperate for a date?"

"More like push me out of the house and get off the market. I thought I could take you to dinner or something," Peter said and Annie smiled.

"I wouldn't mind a burger. Let me grab my purse," Annie replied and Peter grinned.

"I saw Tony Stark at the bar! He's supposed to be your older brother or something?" Peter laughed as Annie handed him a cookie crumble shake from a street vendor.

"He's trying to be but he isn't good at it. He rather I date Spiderman so I can have frozen spider babies," Annie replied and Peter choked on his shake.

"I'm sure Spiderman will give you attractive spider babies," Peter said while he laughed.

"Have you ever seen him without his mask on?" Annie asked. Peter nodded.

"He's pretty attractive I must say."

"You think?"

"Oh yeah… you might fall in love with him," Peter replied and tapped her arm with his elbow. Annie stopped and looked at him.

"How close are you two?"

"Pretty close. Why?"

"… Nothing," Annie replied and walked next to Peter in silence. He walked her back to her apartment and said goodnight before he left her with his number in her phone. She quickly went into her apartment and pulled out a notepad and made a chart. She wrote quickly as more realizations kept rushing from her brain and onto the paper. Once she finished she dropped her pen and her heartbeat increased. She just went on a date with the real Spiderman.

She called Stark and Natasha the next morning about the date and kept quiet at work as she listened to Fury talk about OsCorp. She knew Spiderman's biggest secret and what was worse was her torn emotions to him. Peter was an awkward kid but Spiderman was outgoing and flirty. How could two completely different people actually be the same person? She didn't tell anyone about her discovery yet but Natasha knew something was bothering Annie and during lunch break she followed Annie into the bathroom.

"What happened last night?" Natasha asked Annie.

"Nothing, it was just a stupid little date," Annie replied.

"No spill, you know something." Annie stopped and stared at Natasha.

"Don't tell anyone alright?"

"Promise."

"I think Peter Parker is Spiderman." Natasha's jaw drop. "I know… but it all makes sense…"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm sure Spiderman will visit tonight, I'll just confront him then."

"He likes you," Stark said and walked into the bathroom. "My bad I was just passing by and I know women talk about their boy problems in the bathroom."

"GET OUT!" Natasha shouted.

"I do what I want," Stark snapped and he leaned against the sink. "So Spiderman is Peter Parker… I kinda figured when he showed up last night with flowers. He likes you though so take advantage of it." A girl walked into the bathroom and looked at Stark in disgust before she left. "WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LOVE TRIANGLES!"

"I think I like Spiderman…" Annie whispered and Stark turned around and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"If you don't know the best thing to do is kiss him and find out," Stark replied.

Annie waited on the rooftop with sushi and Japanese soda that she always wanted to try. She heard rustling and she turned to see him stuck on the wall holding a red rose and a cookie cake.

"I thought desert would be nice tonight. Peter told me you like cookies most," Spiderman replied and hopped down. She took the rose and placed it next to her before giving him a soda and sushi box. He looked at the soda and took a few minutes figuring out how to open it before he got the glass ball to fall inside the bottle. Annie watched him devour the sushi box and tried to get over the fact that she was crushing over Peter Parker. Once she finished her dinner she grabbed Spiderman's arm and noticed his web shooters.

"They're homemade," Spiderman replied.

"You're smart enough to make these advance web shooters. Is there anything you can't do?" Annie joked. She sighed when he didn't say anything. "Some things you keep secret like your true identity from even your closest friends. You're good at hiding your tracks and the Avengers want you to join the team."

"The Avengers want me to join the team?" Spiderman asked.

"Nick Fury himself wants you," Annie whispered and Spiderman fell back and cried out in excitement.

"An Avenger?! I… I don't know what to think!" Annie was silent and he looked at her. "What?"

"You're not a very good liar, Peter Parker." Spiderman got up and grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not playing games anymore, Peter. You don't have to hide anymore-" He pulled up his mask and kissed her, her thoughts shattering. She kissed him back and her hand pulled off his mask completely and held onto it like it was her last lifeline. She pulled away and hugged Peter tightly.

"Help us, Peter. Help me," Annie whispered.

"I thought I just did," He replied with a smile and she looked up and smiled before kissed him again as Silhouettes played in the background.