Looks like we're back again for another chapter of my brand new story. I'm hoping you enjoyed the prologue as well as Spider-Man's cameo. As this takes place in early 2015, at the time of Age of Ultron, I'm ageing Peter around 14 as we know he's around 15/16 by the time of CA: CW.

I own only my OCs and any original plot material. Everything belongs to Marvel.

Enjoy.

Coffee and Calamities

The day started with the blaring of her alarm clock, jolting her from a restless sleep into another busy day. She wasn't completely sure if work days or lecture days were any better. Still, both were useful. One for her future, and one for paying for her future. The latter was important to ensure she could get anywhere in the future. But even with a degree, you wouldn't necessarily get anywhere. Astraea had two and was working on a third. Physics, Biochemical engineering, and hoping for a writing degree. At least, that was the whole plan of attending a university in Manhattan. That, and a new start away from the trappings of home. She'd come all the way from her Yorkshire home village, hoping for a new future in New York.

A future, that depended on her getting up on time to go work at the coffee shop only a few blocks from her shared flat.

Astraea lived in on-campus housing, sharing the flat with roommate Madison Lance. They were … well, an odd pair but definitely a force to be reckoned with. Madison was fierce and sharp-witted, Astraea provided the death glare able to shut anyone up. Together they were an unstoppable pair, ready to take on the world. If only they could get out of bed.

Sneaking one arm out of the covers, Astraea shut off the alarm, groaning her way awake. Her bleary brown eyes focused on the window across from her, soft tendrils of morning sunlight pouring in. Horns and engines sounded from the street below, and Astraea tried to climb back under the covers. But the door to her room banged open, and Madison stepped in, pulling the covers off the bed.

"Come on, lazybones! You want money, you gotta go to work," Madison said, her mouth curling up into a smile. "At least nod or something. It looks like I'm talking to the bed."

"Fine, fine. I'm gettin' up. Don't keep badgering on Maddie." Astraea stretched and yawned on her bed, blinking up at her friend. "Make us a coffee, will you?"

"Make your own!"

"Aww … Please." Astraea gave her best puppy-dog eyes. She'd had a late night, and didn't want to get so early. But she had to go to work, and that meant getting up at 6:00. Astraea managed 5 hours of sleep the last night – not really enough for her to have enough energy for dealing with work. That was the consequence of late nights: dealing with early mornings.

Madison quirked an eyebrow up and gave a flash of teeth to Astraea. "Sure thing, Rhea. Just cos I love you so much." The blonde female exited the room, bare feet padding down the hallway.

Astraea crawled from her bed, thumping her bare feet on the wooden floor. Her black hair was a frizzy mess in a case of serial case of bedhead. Slipping into the bathroom, Astraea started up a shower. The warm water soothed her sore muscles, but she didn't have long to stand around enjoying it. After five minutes, she towelled off, dried her hair, and brushed her teeth. She didn't bother often bother with make-up, but those dark bags needed clearing up.

Having finished up her routine, Astraea stepped out into the kitchen, dressed in the cyan shirt and trousers uniform of the Bluebird Café. It wasn't particularly fancy but paid well enough. Besides, the tips were invaluable to the pair of students. Any and all money they could earn would help fund their futures.

Madison passed her a steaming mug, and Astraea curled her fingers around it gratefully. The warmth seeped into her chilly fingers, and she took a sip of the coffee. Energy ran through her. Maybe she could get through today.

Having drained half the mug, Astraea set about fixing a cooked breakfast. That was their routine – Maddie would fix coffee as the cheery morning person, and Astraea would make breakfast once she'd woken up enough. She could make a mean full English, which, once Maddie had tried it, became the start of every Saturday. Working was better on a full stomach, and you couldn't get better than one with bacon, sausages, hash browns, and all the rest.

It only took a few minutes before Astraea was setting steaming full plates down in front of the pair of them, as they sat at the small table. Glasses of orange juice and mugs of coffee accompanied them. Maddie and Astraea munched for a few minutes in a comfortable silence. The radio droned on in the background, a mixture of songs and news reports coming through the speakers. Usually, it was general stuff, but one story made Madison sit straighter, flicking her eyes between her plate and the radio constantly.

'… and finally, two more witnesses have claimed to have been rescued by new vigilante naming herself, Nemesis. These two young ladies, who wish to remain anonymous, have come forward claiming they were assaulted by a group of gang members on the streets of Midtown Manhattan last night. The vigilante is described as having 'taken down' the majority of the gang members, before being assisted by another vigilante hero, styling himself as Spider-Man. Now for the weather.'

"You hear that, Rhea? Another case of a vigilante having stop crime because the police can't. What kind of world is it, where you have to depend on individuals to keep you safe enough to walk the streets at night? But it's not even like these people can do enough. They help, sure. But it's making ripples to stop a tidal wave. It's not enough." Maddie shook her head, dropping her fork on the plate with a clang.

Astraea stifled a grin; her best friend always got easily worked up by things she was passionate about. "I know that. But it's better than nothing, yeah? I mean, it's not like there's an awful lot anyone can do about it, right? We just keep our heads down and hope nobody notices us. Fly under the radar. We can't … we can't do anything to help, not really." She stopped eating herself, stealing a glance at the radio. "'Ripples to stop a tidal wave'. You got that right, Maddie."

Silence slipped back into the room, both girls stuck in their own thoughts. The radio announced the time as 6:45 and both friends leapt to their feet, panic clear in their eyes.

"Shit. Son of a biscuit eating bulldog. We'll be late if we don't hurry up. Leave the plates?" Astraea nodded her agreement, racing around the corner to slip on black boots and a fluffy hoodie.

Together, the girls scooted out of the apartment, racing down the hallway to the stairs. The Bluebird Café was eternally busy, and they really couldn't be late. Staff was needed for the whole day, and the boss could sometimes get very stressed. Very stressed. It wouldn't do to be late for what was set to be one of the busiest shifts of the day.

The shift had only just started and already Astraea was ready to strangle some of these customers. They kept asking for increasingly more complicated orders, ignoring her protests that they didn't sell a triple Grande mango Frappuccino topped with banana cream and passionfruit flakes. Or give away slices of cake the simpler you made your order. The whole thing made Astraea want to fling down her apron, if not for the (majority) nice group of co-workers and the equally nice pay. So, she put on a charming smile and agreed with their need to speak to the manager. Said manager was working the till next to her, freeing up another barista to clear tables. Michael had called in sick just twenty minutes before the shift was about to start. They had no time to see if anyone could come in to do the shift.

If things didn't need to get any worse, there seemed to be some sort of event going on at one of the universities. An open day of some kind. So, every teenager and their entire extended family (or so it seemed) had to come in on an already busy day. Things were at breaking point. Sooner or later, someone was going to crack and it wouldn't be pretty.

Madison kept giving her reassuring smiles as the girls worked. One member of the pair was making drinks and prepping cakes and puddings on plates, the other delivered the empty crockery back again. Astraea was just glad they didn't have to wear rollerblades or high heels like some cafes. Melody Castle actually valued hard work over appearance at her establishment. Which, Astraea often thought with a wry grin, was the only reason she had a business that worked somewhat smoothly. Well, it did if you ignored outside factors. Like unexpected open days.

The customer in front of her was just taking their steaming take-away cup when a loud explosion ripped through the air, like the cracking of a whip but a thousand times louder. Glass shards covered the counter-top: the window had been shattered by the blast. Customers and servers alike were ducking behind tables and chairs, terror all over their faces. But a few curious people joined Astraea and Madison is pushing out of the door, looking in horror at the burning fires all over the street.

People were screaming in agony from burns, broken bones, and cuts. An upturned car was crushing a young boy, around 12, under it. Astraea started forwards, determined to help him. Her friend grabbed her arm, reaching to stop her. They were reasonably safe in the coffee shop. At least the explosion hadn't hit the building, or so it seemed to the watchers. Astraea ignored Madison's grip, and ran forwards, boots crunching on broken glass.

"Hey, there kiddo," Astraea spoke as soothingly as she could to the poor child. "I'm gonna help get you out of here, so just hang tight, okay?" She got a terse nod in response, tears running down caramel cheeks streaked with blood and dust. "Alright then, let's do this."

Astraea dug her hands under the metal of the small car and heaved it upwards. Her arms shook as she held it for one, two, three minutes. A young man, the same one she'd just served coffee to, ran forwards to drag the boy free from the wreckage. She let the car drop, and fell back onto the ground, panting from the effort.

"Quite the feat that, Miss." The young man nodded to the silver car behind them, as he cushioned the boy's head in his lap. "Adrenaline works wonders, doesn't it?"

She nodded along with his words. "It does indeed. I'll – I'll ring an ambulance. They should – they should be able to help him. He's got to be injured." Astraea hunted for her phone, locating it in one of her trouser pockets. Her hands were covered in dust and grime. She punched in her passcode and made to phone the emergency services. Astraea's voice was quivering slightly, whether from tiredness or exhilaration she didn't know.

"Hey, um, I don't think you'll need to do that after all." Her customer pointed towards a group of plain-uniformed medics pouring from various unmarked ambulances. The men and women ran around to the nearest people, giving as much help as they were able. One took the boy to the nearest ambulances.

Astraea scrambled to her feet alongside the young man who assisted her. She gestured back to the café, and they strolled back inside. Madison took Astraea by the arm and ushered her into the back room.

"You crazy idiot!" Madison wrapped her arms around her, tears wetting Astraea's top. "You could have been caught up another explosion. You could have died. You could have – could have been hurt. I need you to stay here. No travelling to visit Death anytime soon, understood? Yeah?"

"Sure thing, Maddie." Astraea gently untangled herself, patting the shorter girl's shoulders. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, okay? I'm fine." Her lips twisted upwards into a wry grin. "Didn't know you cared so much."

"Sh-shut up. Idiot." Madison wiped at the tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Daft-y."

"I'm not daft."

"Yeah, you are."

"Idiot."

"Daft-y."

"Love you, Rhea."

"Love you, too."

Well, there you have it. An introduction to a pair of best friends.

I'd like to note that I have never been to New York City or America for that matter. Any specific locations come from searching on google maps and, in the case of the university, looking on their websites. The Bluebird Cafe is something I made up for this story. If such an establishment actually exists - well, I have no idea.

As I write this it's 1st December and I'm already incredibly stoked for Christmas. I've opened my advent calendar on the first day and are listening to Christmas songs as I type this message for all you fabulous readers. Where I am, it has been snowing yesterday (unusual for my part of Yorkshire) but that snow turned to ice for today. So getting to the bus for college was difficult and slippy. I managed not to fall. Barely!

24 days until Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading.

Look-for-the-miracles