Screws and nails

by Lazydaily

peter and matt before Civil war. For TTS

1. Chapter 1

Throwing a punch, Matt felt the crunch of the woman's nose and heard her hit the ground. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Matt listened around him. The four gang members he'd been fighting laid on the floor in front of him. None of them sounded like they were getting back up anytime soon, but there was someone nearby. If it was a witness, it didn't matter. Matt would be gone before the police arrive, and his mask hid his identity. Whoever was nearby couldn't have been with the four, so Matt rolled his shoulders before making his way up the sides of the building and back onto the roof.

On the roof, Matt heard an unnaturally fast heartbeat before the owner of said heartbeat said, "Whoa man that was so cool! I heard some fighting nearby and was like 'oh no someone's getting beat on' and then I saw you in there. That was awesome. You took out four guys on your own in the dark! I heard about the Devil of Hell's Kitchen before, but this is so cool."

Matt scowled at the speaker. Whoever was talking to him had to be young. His heartbeat was fast, but he didn't smell like adrenaline. Matt stayed half turned away from the person, closed off. He wasn't interested in chatting with some reckless kid.

"Go home, kid," Matt growled, dipping into what Karen and Foggy liked to call his 'Devil voice.'

The kid made a squawking noise. "I'm- I'm not a kid! I'm, you know, Spider-Man." His voice wavered at the last part, like even he knew how unconvincing that sounded.

"Children shouldn't give out their fake names to strangers." Matt tried to remember where he'd heard the name Spider-Man before. Maybe something Karen or Foggy mentioned? The name rang a bell, but he couldn't place it.

"I'm not a kid! I'm a hero, like you." At least this time the kid sounded surer.

"I'm not a hero," Matt snapped back. "And you're too young to play at one. Leave that shit to the Avengers and go home before you can't anymore."

The kid huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't know what you're talking about, man. I'm not a kid, but if you're that territorial, I'll leave. Just thought it was cool how you took those guys down and wanted to chat. I was in the area and thought someone needed help."

That got Matt's attention. This kid was, apparently, running around, calling himself a hero, and was actively seeking out trouble. Suddenly, he felt a much larger need to get this kid to stop whatever he thought he was doing. The kid would get himself killed. How long had he even been around doing this? Matt wished he'd paid more attention to his coworkers' rambling about the newest vigilante of New York City.

"You're going to get yourself killed." Matt took a step towards the kid, doing his best to look as intimidating as possible. He didn't intend to fight the kid, didn't want to lay a finger on him, but Matt wanted to make it very clear the kind of danger the kid could get into. "Quit playing pretend hero, go home to your mother, and forget about all of this. You're what? 16? 15? Maybe you know how to fight, maybe you've got some superpower, but you'll get yourself or people you care about killed anyway. Give it up, Spider-Man and if you won't, get out of my city. We don't need more fool's blood spilled here."

The kid stepped back for every step forward Matt took. His heartbeat had gotten even faster, and Matt wondered if he should feel bad for scaring a teenager. That worry didn't come to fruition as the kid found his voice again. "Fine, fine, I'll leave! I just wanted to ask where you learned to fight like that, but message clear, stay out of Hell's Kitchen."

"No, message not clear. Quit playing hero."

"Yeah, yeah sure man. I'll go home to my mother," Matt did not like the emphasis on that word. "and listen to the random growling stranger about whether or not I should do things I'm going to do regardless. Bye! Nice to meet you!"

Matt stopped moving when he heard the kid take a running leap off the building. His heart caught before hearing a 'thwip' sound and well, the absence of a body hitting the ground. Matt listened until he couldn't hear the quick heartbeat anymore. Once the heartbeat faded away, Matt turned to listen around the Kitchen. Nothing seemed to be coming up, and Matt assumed it was getting pretty late. Some part of him wondered if he should've tried to talk to the kid more, maybe in a calmer way. Matt knew he should have tried, but the idea of a kid running around doing what he was doing, it made anger curl around his chest and squeeze tight.

Tomorrow Matt would ask Foggy what he knew about Spider-Man.

"Matt, I can hear you doing your 'I'm upset about something, but I've somehow convinced myself it's my fault and instead of talking about it with my two best friends, I've resigned myself to moody brooding until I can find a criminal to beat on' scowl." Foggy leaned against the side of Matt's desk as he spoke.

Matt neglected pointing out that he had clearly heard Karen and Foggy discussing who would be best to deal with his scowl and which type of expression it was that day. Apparently, he had a long-winded brooding scowl, a Catholic guilt frown, a puppy stuck out in the rain pout, and a false face of neutrality that meant he was hiding an injury. Somedays, Matt regretted having friends who actually cared about his well-being. It was just so inconvenient having people who tried to make him feel better when he was having a bad day. Those damn considerate bastards.

Okay, maybe Matt was extremely blessed to have friends like Karen and Foggy, but he was in a brooding mood. Not that he was admitting that.

"I don't know what scowl you're talking about, but I can assure you, I'm neither brooding nor upset about anything." Matt could've pat himself on the back for how smooth that lie came out.

"You get this scrunched look and keep your head- No, wait, no deflecting from the actual issue. What are you upset about? I know you went out last night, but you're not hurt. You know you'll feel better if you talk to someone about it. You can talk to Karen instead, if you want."

Well, so much for his well-spoken lie. Foggy had gotten so much better at figuring out his lies and deflections after he'd learned about Daredevil. Though, Matt had made a promise to both him and Karen to stop lying as much. He didn't have to tell them everything, but he had to stop keeping them in the dark about everything. It was one of the conditions on recreating Nelson, Murdock, and Page. It was also a condition Matt was happy to have. Most days he forgot that he had people to talk with about his problems. When Foggy and Karen would strong arm Matt into talking instead of bottling it all up, Matt found himself relieved. Certain things were hard to carry on his own. Plus, it meant Karen and Foggy would communicate their issues and troubles to him as well.

Matt had to decide if Spider-Man was one of those things. He also needed to figure out how to approach it without Foggy getting upset. Matt doubted Foggy would be all that calm about learning Spider-Man was a high schooler who probably had no idea what he was doing. Hell, Matt hadn't been calm at all about it. Lying wasn't an option, but Matt could be vague about some details.

"I met a new vigilante last night. He approached me to chat about fighting or something. When he got close enough, I realized he was on the younger side of things and tried to talk him out doing the kind of stuff I do. I mean, he's got his whole life ahead of him, and he's choosing danger instead of just living. I know, I know. Hypocritical of me, but he's inexperienced. From the way he moves, I'd be shocked if he's ever been trained. But instead of explaining that, I just chased him off and now he's going to get hurt and die because I couldn't get him to give it up."

Even Matt could admit that if felt better getting that off his chest. Maybe Karen and Foggy had a point about the whole sharing feelings thing.

Foggy made a noise in thought before saying, "Yeah. You are the biggest hypocrite ever, but I think we all already knew that. You could, and frequently do, get hurt and almost die, but you're not going to give it up any time soon. It might feel different because the guy's younger than you. Do you really think if you had started Daredevil earlier, you would've stopped because someone you've never spoken to before snapped at you to quit?"

"No, but-"

"Nope, no buts. You've set a precedent there, Mr. Murdock. If you're really that worried about it, though, why not just scoop anyone he tries to fight from him? Chances are, if he's younger, he's either doing it for the thrill or doing it because he thinks another vigilante is needed. If you take on any fight he tries, he'll know he's not needed, and you can make sure he doesn't get hurt and die. It's not perfect, but it might work and will keep you from getting worked up about the guy getting hurt."

That could actually work. Matt knew Spider-Man was from Queens, the slight accent had made it obvious along with the little research Matt was able to do, but if he were branching out into Hell's Kitchen or areas surrounding Hell's Kitchen, Matt could get to crimes and fight them before the kid got to it. The unnaturally fast heartbeat would make it easy to know whenever the kid was nearby.

Matt's face brightened up as he smiled at Foggy. "That could work. I don't think he's only in Hell's Kitchen, but I can make sure he stays safe while in Hell's Kitchen."

"See? This is why we talk about things instead of brooding in the corner, buddy. Now, are you going to tell me this vigilante's super cool name, and are you coming to Josies with Karen and I?"

"I'll tell you if I run into him again. Hopefully, it won't matter what he went by because he'll be safe at home." Matt was already trying to come up with a plan on how to chase Spider-Man away from being a vigilante, but, for now, libations with his friends. "I'm coming."

Foggy offered Matt his arm once Matt stood, despite knowing Matt no longer needed the help. "Good because I promised Karen, I would convince you to come, and she's scary when you break a promise. Plus, upside, she'll probably have more ideas for your vigilante problem. Well, after she makes fun of you for being territorial."

"Great. I look forward to it," Matt deadpanned, but he was unable to keep the slight smile off his face.

Matt had a plan. Matt would get the kid to give it up. Matt would deny any allegations calling him a hypocrite.

Notes:

This fic will probably end somewhere a little over 40,000 words and between 15-20 chapters. I'm on the last couple chapters and then need to edit everything so the chapter total will get updated then. I'm going to update once a week for the most part. (There might be a couple twice a week updates.) I hope everyone will enjoy it!

Chapter 2: Stick to Your Guns

Summary:

I'll be gone when you read this, so I just wanted to say, I'm sorry to the couple decent people who got in the way.

"You're going to get yourself killed."

"You really ought to just record yourself saying that so you can play it on repeat when you see me."

"Do you think this is some kind of game?"

"No, I don't, but if you're not going to give me something to work off of, I'm not going to take you all that seriously. You sound like a goofy video game character that only has three lines."

Notes:

Stick to Your Guns by Watsky

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

A week passed before Matt heard Spider-Man in the area again. It had been a simple matter of tracking Spider-Man's movements and listening for whomever the kid was tracking down or trying to help. Once Matt figured out the kids target, it was easy to get there first, take down any bad guys, and wait smugly for Spider-Man to catch up. He would rob the 'hero' of any pleasure in choosing this life. Any hard work gone to waste. That would certainly be convincing enough. Matt knew he would have thought about giving up if he weren't actually accomplishing anything. Well, he probably would have attacked someone for trying to force him stopping by stealing his fights. Matt wasn't worried about the kid picking that tactic. If the kid tried to pick a fight, Matt was confident he would win. Then the kid would be forced to admit he couldn't hack it. Yeah, this was a good plan.

It was easy for Matt to do too. Spider-Man's heartbeat was so unusual, keeping an ear out for it was child's play. So long as Matt was half paying attention, he could tell where the kid was before he even got fully into Hell's Kitchen.

Two months later, after Matt had already stopped the kid from getting seven different people, the kid didn't seem at all bothered. All Spider-Man seemed to care about was the criminal being dealt with, which, okay was a good thing that the kid didn't care about glory, but Matt had yet to get anything more frustrated than a 'hey, I had that.' Half the time, the kid thanked him for his help. Somehow Matt was the one reaching the end of his rope. Matt was the one getting worried and anxious when he didn't hear the kid in Hell's Kitchen for a while. Matt was the one who, as casually as possible, would ask other people about Spider-Man and what he was up to lately. Two months of Matt running out of patience for this kid quitting.

Matt was starting to think he would just have to accept the kid being around. He could just compartmentalize his thoughts on a teenage vigilante and stop looking into Spider-Man. It wasn't on him if the kid got himself killed. Matt had done all he could to prevent it.

Maybe if Matt kept repeating that to himself, he would start to believe it.

Yet, when Matt heard the kid that night, he found himself heading in that direction without thinking about it. The kid only came into the Kitchen when he was after someone or looking for something. From the way he was moving, Matt assumed Spider-Man was chasing someone. Even if Matt's plan to manipulate the kid into quitting hadn't worked yet, Matt wasn't going to just leave him alone. He couldn't just leave the kid to get hurt while in Matt's turf.

Getting a running start, Matt leapt onto the next rooftop, running in the direction of the heartbeat. As Matt got closer, he could hear someone panting and running away from the kid. The woman running had a bag that smelled vaguely sweet, but chemical. Matt knew that smell.

From what Matt knew of Spider-Man's activities, there wasn't a chance the kid actually knew who the person he was chasing worked for. There also wasn't a chance the kid knew the danger he was in. Matt tried to speed up, but the rate the kid was moving, the rate the woman was moving, Matt didn't think he would make it in time for once. The kid would catch up too quickly.

Matt's foot almost slipped when he landed on the next roof, and he refocused his attention to not plummeting to the ground. He wouldn't be able to help Spider-Man at all if he broke his legs. He could still pinpoint where the kid was but tried to avoid getting so focused listening to what was happening to miss a jump.

Just as Matt got to the roof above the woman and Spider-Man, Matt could hear the scuffle going on.

"Wow you are just swinging that knife around." That was the kid's voice. "I mean, I'm just taking a stab in the dark but you might want to talk to someone about your need to, well, stab." Matt could hear the kid dodging a swing. "I could call you Roberto like the robot in Futuram- ow ow that was just rude." The smell of blood let Matt know the kid had been cut.

Once Matt landed on the ground, he didn't waste a second before surprising the woman from behind and knocking her out with a few well-timed punches. Any questions he had for her on the drugs and her employer could wait until the kid was long gone.

Speaking of the kid… "Hey! I had that one!"

"You're bleeding the one time I didn't get to someone before you. I don't think you had anything." Matt turned to give the kid his full attention. The amount of iron tang in the air and the way the kid's arm sounded when he moved it, made Matt think he needed stitches. It just made him angrier. "You can't even handle someone with a knife or have the sense to stay away from people working for the triads."

"Really? She's working for the triads?"

Well, if the kid was just going to ignore the cut, Matt wasn't going to address it. It wasn't like he'd bleed out in the next couple minutes. "Why were you chasing after her if you didn't know which gang she worked for?"

"She stole a guy's wallet and matched the description of someone who abducted a kid. I was just trying to get it back and ask some questions."

Matt growled, "Oh good, fantastic. Here I thought I was in the right, but I was just being an asshole because the 15-year-old with the death wish was trying to get a wallet back and poke the hornets' nest of organized crime. Let the record show, I apologize for this error."

Spider-Man shrugged and moved towards the woman to get the wallet off her. "Hey, at least you can admit it. I hear that's step one." Spider-Man had learned to ignore comments on his age.

Matt snatched the kid's wrist before he could touch the woman. "Go home. Now. Forget the wallet, forget this woman and pray the triads don't get pissed enough that you were around this to put a hit on you."

A sigh left the kid, but he made no move to get away or keep moving to the woman. "Look man, I get it. You're territorial or have some kind of beef with me, but I promised I'd get the guy's wallet back and that's what I'm going to do. If you want to look for the kid who got taken, that's fine with me. I can leave that to you since it's in your area, but I can't believe you haven't gotten the memo yet that I'm not going anywhere."

"You're going to get yourself killed."

"You really ought to just record yourself saying that so you can play it on repeat when you see me."

"Do you think this is some kind of game?"

"No, I don't, but if you're not going to give me something to work off of, I'm not going to take you all that seriously. You sound like a goofy video game character that only has three lines."

"Oh, you want something to work with? How about the fact that you're very obviously a minor? That would be plenty for anyone else, but if you need further evidence, you don't know how to throw a proper punch. I cannot believe you haven't broken your fingers before, and I somehow doubt this is the first time you've gotten hurt not knowing how to fight. Oh, and finally, let's discuss you not knowing about drug runners for the triads. You know a great way to get killed by having your entrails pulled out? Piss off the triads." Matt tightened his grip on the kid's arm.

They had had similar conversations before. Normally it went with Matt stealing the kid's criminals and ended with Matt lecturing the kid on the reasons for him to quit. This time felt different. This time Matt was furious. Every other time, it was talking about what could happen. This time, it was the kid being hurt, and Matt knowing how deadly gangs can get. Matt could repeat to himself that anything happening to the kid wasn't his fault as many times as he wanted. That didn't absolve Matt of feeling responsible, especially with blood drawn now.

Every time they'd had this conversation, Spider-Man had brushed Matt off. The kid would say some little quips, sometimes even thank Matt for his help, and be on his way. This time, though, something about Matt's words apparently struck a chord.

Spider-Man ripped his wrist out of Matt's grip. "You keep telling me that. You keep saying 'hey, you're going to get yourself killed' or 'you don't even know how to fight.' That's great and all, but I have to do what I'm doing and when I met, I thought maybe I could ask for some tips. Everyone from New York knows about Daredevil. I saw you take all those guys down and thought I could learn something from you. It's not like there's a vigilante 1-0-1. Instead, you start growling at me and treating me like I'm a baby and snapping at me to go home to my dead mother. So, I'm sorry, but I don't really care what you think of me. I'm just trying to protect this city, man."

Spider-Man fished a wallet out from the woman's pocket and tucked it into his own before turning back to Matt and continuing, "You're free to keep taking down people I'm chasing after because at least you're protecting the city while doing it, but don't pretend like you actually have a say in what I do. I don't know you, and you've made it pretty clear you don't want to know me. So, bye Felicia."

Matt only got out a "wait" before Spider-Man was off again with that weird 'thwip' sound. Standing there alone Matt knew he needed to question the woman about the Triads' activities or even just continue going out to patrol the Kitchen. Instead, Matt replayed his interactions with the kid in his mind.

It didn't matter what some kid thought of him. It didn't matter what some kid with a death wish thought of him. It didn't matter. There were more important things to focus on. However, Matt's brain was stuck on the kid mentioning dead parents. It made sense. It made perfect sense. Matt didn't think he knew someone in the vigilante business that didn't have at least one dead family member. If someone came in bossing him around and telling him to run home to his dad, especially when Matt was 15, he would've punched their lights out.

A chill ran up Matt's spine as he was reminded of the month after Stick had left. How abandoned Matt felt. He'd lost his dad, and then he'd lost his mentor. He also knew the tone Spider-Man used, finally snapping back at Matt, that tone was similar to how Matt felt, sounded after Stick was gone. He had been doing his best and Stick still left him. Matt hadn't even given the kid a chance to ask for help.

Matt didn't even know if he wanted to give the kid a chance to ask. Spider-Man needed to quit not get trained. That was right. That was better. Matt couldn't help the kid learn to fight better. Matt refused to. He would regroup, figure out a different way to make the kid quit. It was fine. The kid would be fine. Everything was fine.

Notes:

I feel like I should mention this starts off as a slow burn of sorts to get to Matt and Peter actually getting to the mentor-mentee thing. Matt's gotta get over his hang-ups about Peter being a teenager first. I promise he'll stop being a dick to Peter soon.

All the chapter titles are going to be of songs I listened to while writing this. I can guarantee not all of them will be relevant to the actual chapter. I still don't know how many chapters there will be despite being finished writing this because my editor is lazy. (Spoiler Alert, I'm my editor.) Anyway, thanks for reading!

Chapter 3: Come Along

Summary:

Don't let moments pass along and waste before your eyes. March with me and the borogoves. Come with me and the slithy toves and never ask us why.

"So, when you said this person was on the younger side of things, you meant a minor. There's a vigilante minor out there that you've been having a pissing contest with?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"Please tell me it's some small-time vigilante who barely ever gets into real fights and is too small for any of the people you deal with to go after him."

In for a penny, in for a pound. "It's Spider-Man."

Notes:

Come Along by Cosmo Sheldrake

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Foggy, Matt's making the face again," Karen said as she packed up for the day.

Matt knew both of them knew he could hear even in the other room. He did his best to avoid eavesdropping on his friends, but Karen very clearly saying his name was hard to ignore. A part of him wondered if he should interrupt, if only to remind them he was listening. Instead, Matt continued pretending to read his papers. The night before with the kid still lingered in his mind.

"Again? He'd been doing so well lately. Is it a 'we need to talk to him about it' look or a 'let's go get eel drunk at Josies' look? I'm hoping for the latter. It is a Friday and I think that means it's time to seek libations." The cheer to Foggy's voice made Matt smile a little.

Matt would say yes to the proposition of Josies. After last night, Matt was fine taking a break this night. Nothing important was supposed to happen anyway. Despite busting one of their drug runners, the triads and other gangs were quiet.

"I think it could go either way. Maybe we could do both? Go to Josies and then if he feels like talking, we can talk and if he doesn't, come Monday we can pester him into talking."

"I like the way you think, Ms. Page. Come along Mr. Murdock, I know you're listening to us."

Matt's smile grew. "I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Nelson. That's a serious allegation."

Karen covered her mouth, laughing as Foggy wagged his finger at Matt. "Now, Mr. Murdock, I might be a pretty face, but I'm no fool. Your hands stopped moving on your papers the moment Karen said your name, buddy. Pretty sloppy spy work if you ask me."

"Well, I suppose even I can't refute that. Let me put up my things and we can go."

Matt could tell Karen was shaking her head but smiling all the same. Both Foggy and Karen had this pleased feeling to their hearts. Matt had never been able to figure out what exactly gave him that impression, but he didn't care that much. Being able to tell when his friends were happy would always be a blessing. His friends were happy, able to joke about his abilities, and working together to keep each other safe. After his path of self-destruction and dealing with Fisk a second time, this was all Matt could ask for. He knew Foggy watched the news for Daredevil every time Matt went out. He knew both Karen and Foggy had taken first aid classes to help. Matt knew they were trying which meant Matt wanted to try too.

So, if going out with them to the bar and taking a night off made both of them happy, Matt was happy to do it a few times a month. He knew they both trusted him to actually take these kinds of nights to himself.

Once Matt was all packed up, he walked out of the office and took Foggy's arm. Even if they both knew Matt didn't need it, it kept up appearances, and Matt liked the close contact.

The walk to Josies was uneventful. Once they were in, all three of them got a bottle of, what Matt was sure once had an actual name, but was now just referred to as eel juice. Remembering the name never seemed important. With alcohol in hand, they migrated to the pool table they often played at.

One of the advantages of Karen and Foggy knowing who he was, was Matt being able to play pool to his full ability. So long as Matt concentrated, he could pretty easily sink balls. Using his batons to throw and then catch again was a lot harder than angling pool shots. At least, that was what normally happened. Even with the drinks and good company, Matt's focus was divided towards the kid. It was definitely putting him off his game.

Filtering out noise and listening outside the bar, well in the outskirts of the Kitchen, Matt listened for that heartbeat. The kid never came to the Kitchen two days in a row. Matt didn't know why he was listening for him. Even if the kid did show up, Matt couldn't abandon Foggy and Karen like that.

"Matt."

Matt didn't know why he was so stuck on the kid. After last night, it was clear Matt wasn't getting through to the kid. If he wanted to get killed, who was Matt to stop him? Matt wondered if the kid had gotten someone to look at the cut on his arm. Instead of snapping at Spider-Man, Matt should've focused on that. That kind of cut wouldn't be that harmful unless it didn't get taken care of. If Spider-Man barely even knew how to throw a punch, he couldn't know how to treat a wound like that, especially if it needed stitches. Why hadn't Matt focused on that first?

"Matt."

Should Matt try finding him? Spider-Man was known to stay mostly in Queens or Midtown. Matt wouldn't be able to do as much outside of his turf, but he could at least make sure the kid was okay. Tomorrow would be good. He could even just go as Matt instead of Daredevil. That weird heartbeat would be easy to find and then Matt could use his senses to make sure the kid was fine. They wouldn't need to speak to or see each other.

"Matt!"

A hand gently shook Matt's shoulder, making him jump. It was like he'd been holding his breath and suddenly breathed in again. All the noise of the bar swarmed his senses once more as Matt realized he'd been so focused listening elsewhere he hadn't moved for too long. The sudden awareness of all the noise and smells of the bar made his head throb. Matt took in a deep breath before tilting his head in Foggy's direction and giving his best 'everything's fine' smile.

"Don't give me that 'everything's fine' smile, Murdock. You've been off all day, and it is so not like you to zone out enough for me of all people to surprise you. You haven't been this thrown out of whack since, you know… What's wrong?"

Now that Matt was focusing on his current surroundings, he noticed a member of their group wasn't there. "Where's Karen?"

"She got a phone call and stepped out to take it. Were you really that zoned out?" Foggy lowered his voice. "Is something going on? We can leave if you're getting sensory overload."

Matt shook his head. "It's fine. I was listening for someone and got distracted. It's harder to hone my senses when I've had alcohol." That was a plausible reason for him zoning out that much.

"Uh huh. That still doesn't explain why you've been off all day or who you were listening for. Since when do you spend time listening for a specific person?"

"It's not-"

"If you're about to say it's not important, I will beat you with this pool cue. Does it have to do with that vigilante from a couple months ago? Last time you got all weirdly mopey it was about him."

Matt debated the pros and cons to lying to Foggy before nodding. "Yeah, it's about him. I had a run in with him last night and it wasn't great."

"Okay. Further explanation would be helpful because all I'm imagining is you losing your temper and punching the guy, which vigilantes, doesn't sound like that big of a deal." When Matt made a noise at that, Foggy continued, "You broke Jessica's camera the same day you met her, and didn't you fight Danny at least twice? I just assumed that's how you guys greet each other at this point."

"I didn't punch him, but he got hurt because I didn't get to the person he was chasing until it was too late. I got a little angry. He's doesn't know how to fight. He's inexperienced and I don't know how he's still alive and healthy." Matt scowled at the ground.

"I'm sure you were nice enough to tell him that."

"You know me so well," Matt said sardonically. "Every time I've seen him before and made comments to him, he's just brushed it off. He thanks me for helping him most of the time."

Matt tried to glare at Foggy as he laughed. "Oh, no wonder you're so obsessed with this guy. You're trying to annoy the guy into submission, and he thanks you for it. At least Castle had the decency to be bothered by you."

"That's not the point. Last night he didn't just brush it off. He started in saying things about not knowing how to fight and him approaching me that first time was him wanting to learn because he thought I could give him some tips. He said he's not going anywhere, and he doesn't get it. You don't get it, Foggy. I can't believe he doesn't break his fingers half the time he punches anyone. He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag if it weren't for whatever enhancement he has."

Foggy made a noise of understanding before saying the worst possible thing he could to Matt. "If you're so worried about what might happen to this guy, why not teach him how to fight? Hell, you could even get him in contact with your vigilante friends, so he's got some back up when he needs it. If you can't get him to quit, teach him to be safer."

Forgetting details he had omitted as a pit filled his stomach, Matt ground out, "I'm not teaching a teenager to fight. I'm not turning a kid into a weapon like Stick tried with me."

There was a moment of silence. Matt debated the merit of backtracking and trying to correct his 'slip up' in the calm before Foggy's storm. There was no merit. It would be better to wait it out.

"So, when you said this person was on the younger side of things, you meant a minor. There's a vigilante minor out there that you've been having a pissing contest with?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"Please tell me it's some small-time vigilante who barely ever gets into real fights and is too small for any of the people you deal with to go after him."

In for a penny, in for a pound. "It's Spider-Man."

"IT'S SPI-" Foggy started out at a much louder volume before Matt hushed him. "Matt, Matt you don't understand. There are videos out there of Spider-Man catching a speeding bus with his bare hands. A speeding, barreling bus that weighs at least ten tons. Oh god, you only met him two months ago, he's been doing this for a year now. Please tell me he's closer to the 18 side of things."

"I'm pretty sure he's 15. It's the only age I've called him without his heart doing a thing."

"So, a 14-year-old decided to put on some kind of spider themed costume and go out to stop muggings and help old women cross the street and, casually, stop moving vehicles with his bare hands. Great, this is awesome. When Karen gets back, we're getting as many more bottles of alcohol as it takes for me to forget this conversation."

Well, even if this conversation turned into a black out drunk night, at least Foggy finally understood why Matt was so hung up on it. "Now you understand how I feel." Not that he knew about the bus thing before.

"I think you misunderstand how I feel about this, Matthew." Matt hated that tone of voice. "Now that I know the person you're talking about is a literal child, I have to insist you teach him how to fight. Everyone loves Spider-Man. My little niece would cry if something happened to him. Take him to Fogwell's, teach him how to punch things, and for the sake of my sanity, give him your phone number, my phone number, and the number of any your vigilante friends who consent. That way he has somewhere to go if he gets hurt cause if he's anything like you, I'd bet none of the people in his life know who he is."

"I'm not doing that." Matt was firm on that. He didn't want to; he couldn't be someone else's Stick. He couldn't take a kid and turn them into a weapon. Matt… Matt wasn't made to be a teacher.

"You have to."

"No, I really don't. What I have to do, is leave it alone. I'm not a teacher. I don't know how to teach a teenager of all people, and even if I did, I'm not going to turn him into some weapon. I'm a fantastic example of why that's a terrible idea."

Foggy seemed to deflate at that. Matt heard Foggy start and stop a few times before finally resting a hand on Matt's shoulder and saying, "I get it, buddy. You don't want what happened to you, to happen to this kid, but it won't. Here you are, freely admitting that you care about what happened to the kid. I know it's hard for you think it with all your Catholic guilt, but you're a good person. You would never even try to turn him into some weapon to fight a cult shadow war. And you cannot tell me you don't know how to teach people. You're great with the kids that come with our clients, and I'm pretty sure you're the only reason I got an A in disability law with how much you tutored me."

Matt didn't say anything, but after letting his words settle, Foggy continued, "I'm assuming this is about the guy who trained you- Stick or whatever. You don't want to repeat what happened to you, and I get that, but you're being irrational. You want to know the way you can be better than your mentor? Admit to the kid that you care, let him get close to you, and prioritize keeping him safe over making him deadly. For the love of everything, don't try and force him to kill anyone."

Rationally, Matt knew he wouldn't treat any kid the way Stick had treated him. Emotionally, Matt felt like if he trained the kid, and the kid got hurt, that would be on him. He would be taking responsibility for the kid. Matt didn't know if he could do that. Matt had enough blood on his hands without adding some kind of protégé to it. Though, Matt already considered the kid his responsibility, so there was no real change there. Foggy was right. The kid wasn't going to stop doing this. The only way to ensure his safety was for him to get training. Matt could provide that training. Matt was probably the best of the vigilantes to provide that training. The next option would be the Avengers, and Matt couldn't imagine what would happen to the kid if they got their hands on him. No, Foggy was right. He hated it when Foggy was right.

"Fuck. I have to do this."

The hand on his shoulder pat him a couple times as Foggy chuckled. "Yeah, but for now, drinking to forget about this dystopian nightmare like adults!"

Matt huffed a laugh. "Go find Karen, so we can get her in on the drinking to forget."

"Will do, buddy. Will do."

If Matt used the bit of time away from his friends to listen out in the city for a certain spider child, no one needed to know.

Notes:

The alternate title to this chapter is "I got so invested in Foggy and Matt being bros I forgot this is supposed to be a Matt & Peter fic." But Karen and Foggy are the best friends a guy could ask for and I have waaaay too much fun writing all of them being dorks together. Also, obligatory, Foggy doesn't get paid enough for this shit.

Hopefully everyone's enjoying this fic so far! You might have noticed that I've updated the chapter amount to 13 total. I haven't finished editing this, but it's all written. Thank you for all the kudos and comments and hits. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: Generic Spy Music

Summary:

"With how much he loves cliches, I'm betting he'll go for helpless lost blind man tragically separated from or abandoned by his friends."

"Oh, that's a good one. Plays up the sympathy card and preys on most people assuming blind people are helpless."

Matt decided to insert himself back into the conversation by saying, "It's a good one because it always works. You wouldn't believe how many people have overlooked me because I've got a cane." Maybe it was a bad thing to use his blindness to manipulate people, but he liked to call it turning his curses into blessings.

"Yes, yes, we know you're a criminal mastermind." Foggy pretended to placate Matt.

"I feel so used," Karen joked.

Notes:

Generic spy music by every spy movie I watched as a kid. You know the ones.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Remind me again why we got lunch all the way in Queens?" Karen felt like she had shown quite a bit of restraint, not asking about it until after lunch.

Foggy looked to Matt, assuming his friend would come up with a good reason since they both agreed that letting Karen know about the teenage vigilant needed to be handled carefully. Foggy's hopes were dashed when Matt simply replied, "Research."

Matt could feel Karen glaring at him. He assumed she was assessing whether or not to push for more information. He didn't know how to explain that he was there because he wanted to get a lay of the land before trying to track down Spider-Man. While his senses made up for a lot, there was a reason Matt stayed in Hell's Kitchen. Familiarity with his surroundings made it easier to get around. According to Foggy, who found some vigilante sightings twitter, Spider-Man frequently came to this area, especially the park, just next to the café they'd had lunch at. Matt couldn't exactly waltz into Queens midday in his mask. So, lunch with his friends happened to be an excellent cover. He even had a plan, if Spider-Man was around today, on how to interact with him.

Plus, Matt knew Foggy and Karen would get a kick out of meeting Spider-Man, even if Foggy was still hung up on the kid being, well, a kid.

Foggy helpfully gave Karen a satisfactory answer. "He's got beef with Spider-Man and wants to stage a run-in so he can, I don't know, smell his intentions." That was mostly true. "Why he felt the need to pretend like this was a completely normal outing, who knows, but it's a nice day at least."

A hum in agreement was followed by, "How is he planning on staging a run-in?"

One of these days, Matt was going to have a chat with them about talking like he wasn't standing right there. For now, Matt decided to be amused by their analysis of his actions.

"With how much he loves cliches, I'm betting he'll go for helpless lost blind man tragically separated from or abandoned by his friends."

"Oh, that's a good one. Plays up the sympathy card and preys on most people assuming blind people are helpless."

Matt decided to insert himself back into the conversation by saying, "It's a good one because it always works. You wouldn't believe how many people have overlooked me because I've got a cane." Maybe it was a bad thing to use his blindness to manipulate people, but he liked to call it turning his curses into blessings.

"Yes, yes, we know you're a criminal mastermind." Foggy pretended to placate Matt.

"I feel so used," Karen joked. "You're telling me more about this beef with Spider-Man, by the way. Mostly starting with, how did Daredevil and Spider-Man even run into each other?"

Matt tilted his head, not answering in favor of listening to that familiar, rapid heartbeat.

Foggy answered for him, "Apparently Spider-Man occasionally ends up in Hell's Kitchen when he's looking for people who went that direction."

"Hopefully Daredevil didn't give Spider-Man the same reception Frank was given. Everyone loves the guy."

"Shh," Matt hushed them. "Go get ice cream from the stand over there. I can't be the helpless lost blind man tragically separated from his friends with you two here. Spider-Man's coming."

Karen replied, "Alright, but if you shush us like that again, I will make you pay."

With Foggy and Karen gone, Matt moved in the path he thought the kid would take. When the thwip sound got close enough and Matt heard that heartbeat getting even closer to him, Matt held out his cane so it would, hopefully, be clearly visible. A slight frown helped sell the look as Matt called out, "Karen? Foggy?"

Sure enough, the kid stopped right next to him. Matt startled when Spider-Man gently touched his arm, despite knowing the touch was coming. The kid kept up a cheery voice and retracted his hand. "Hey, man! You looked- uh." There was a pause as the kid obviously struggled to find a less sighted word to use. "You seem lost. Can I help you find someone?"

Matt gave a sheepish smile and chuckle. "I think I lost my friends. They said something about ice cream and next thing I knew, I couldn't hear them anymore." An easy lie. Matt knew both Karen and Foggy were still standing near the ice cream stand. "Who are you? Most New Yorkers I know wouldn't stop to help a stranger."

"Oh!" It sounded like the kid hadn't even considered Matt not knowing who he was. There was a hint of pride in the other's voice as he replied, "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! There's an ice cream stand a bit ahead to our left if you want me to lead you over there."

"Ah, that's where they wandered off to. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate the help."

Matt could hear Spider-Man extending his elbow out to Matt before making an embarrassed noise when he realized Matt couldn't see him move.

Spider-Man explained, "I'm holding my elbow out to you. That's, uh, how my neighbor asks me to lead her when she needs to go somewhere without her husband, so I just assumed. If you can describe your friends, I could get them and bring them to you instead."

Making the motions of searching for the kid's arm, Matt eventually took a gentle hold of Spider-Man's arm. "This works just fine. I'm with a woman whom I'm told has blond hair and a man with sandy hair. He's probably wearing a suit and some ridiculous tie."

The kid made some head movement before announcing, "Oh, I nodded. Here, let's go."

Matt easily let the kid lead him towards Karen and Foggy. They weren't too far away, but it was enough time for Matt to make some assessments. This kid was too damn cheerful. Even with their interactions being on the friendly side of things, the cheer to the kid's voice was different. Matt wondered if that was because it was day instead of night. It made sense Spider-Man would deal with smaller happier things like leading a blind man in the day and deal with harsher things at night. The kid had also mentioned having a blind neighbor without a thought. Of course, no one else would be able to tell, but Matt knew the kid was telling the truth. That made Matt wonder how trusting the kid was towards strangers, or if the kid was trying to make Matt feel more comfortable. The last thing Matt noted was the kid's costume. Just hearing fabric made identifying it difficult. Feeling it with his fingers, Matt could tell whatever the kid was wearing was light-weight and stretchy. It seemed like it covered his entire body but didn't do much other than protecting his identity. There was also a clicking noise near the kid's wrists and the smell of a synthetic material. According to Foggy, the kid used webs from his wrists. At least now Matt could inform him they're not natural.

Apparently, there was a lot of debate online about it.

Once they got closer to Matt's friends, Spider-Man said, "I think I see them, but the guy-" He paused until Matt supplied a name. "Mr. Foggy, then, his tie isn't ridiculous. Dinosaurs are cool, so I totally understand if the wrong guy has been staring at us since he saw us. He's to our left."

Matt chuckled. "No, that sounds like Foggy. He's quite a fan of yours, so I'm not surprised about the staring." Matt waved at Foggy and Karen, not at all hiding the pleased smile on his face.

"They're coming over here." Spider-Man didn't move his arm despite not needing to guide Matt anymore. He assumed Matt would pull away if he wanted to.

Matt heard Foggy mutter, "I can't believe that actually worked," under his breath as he and Karen walked over.

"Only you, Matty, would get lost and find Spider-Man of all people to help you." Foggy only sounded a little exasperated, still in disbelief that Matt's plan had worked at all. Foggy held out a cup of vanilla ice cream. "Ice cream in front of your right arm, chest height. Take it off my hands so I can request a picture."

Once Matt let go of Spider-Man and took the offered ice cream, Karen held out her hand to Spider-Man. "Thanks for bringing him back to us. We can't take him anywhere."

"All part of the job, ma'am," Spider-Man chirped happily enough. Looking at Foggy, the kid said, "I like your tie!"

Matt made a face, and Karen covered her eyes saying, "Please don't encourage him."

This was, obviously, overridden by Foggy lighting up at the compliment. "I see you're a ma- person of good taste! My friends don't seem to appreciate all the time I put into my personal appearance. Foggy Nelson," Foggy held out his hand before continuing, "Seriously, thanks for bringing him back to us. He likes to get into trouble when he wanders off."

Matt was starting to suspect Foggy thought part of the plan was starting a fight with Spider-Man in broad daylight. Matt was personally offended by this and "accidentally" whacked Foggy with his cane. "Oops."

Foggy turned and said, "And to think, I bought you ice cream with my hard-earned money."

Spider-Man laughed at their antics and waved. "I gotta get going, people to save, things to do and all that. I hear they make those child leash things for adults too if you're looking for ideas!" The kid didn't wait for a reply from the three before jogging off and shooting a web to swing into the sky.

Once Spider-Man was out of sight, Karen asked, "So, do you guys want to explain what this problem you have with Spider-Man is? He seems like a sweet guy. Other than the Daily Bugle, everyone seems to love him, and he's saved a lot of people. Certainly, has a better reputation than Daredevil, but I hope that's not part of said problem."

When Matt didn't reply for a second, Foggy prodded, "Come on, Matt. You need to tell her at least something. You promised to try and be more open about things."

"I found out something of Spider-Man's identity, specifically that he's a minor, and have been trying to get him to quit for about two months. He's refused, and he got hurt because I didn't get to a fight fast enough. There were words, and Foggy helpfully pointed out that, if I can't get him to quit, the next best thing would be helping him learn how to protect himself. The last time we spoke wasn't… great, so I wanted to figure out how to approach him on his home turf instead of waiting in Hell's Kitchen. Does that explain it enough?"

Karen nodded. "That's enough for now, at least. If you two become friends though, you better invite him to the vigilante potluck."

"That's not a thing, Karen." Matt groaned on the inside.

While Matt couldn't see it, he had no doubts that Karen was doing her shark grin as she said, "Not yet it isn't."

Foggy chimed in, saying, "That sounds like a threat."

Both Matt and Karen replied, "It is."

Foggy rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get back to Hell's Kitchen. Spider stalking can continue another day. We've got court tomorrow, so I expect both of you to get a good night's rest."

"Don't worry, Fogs, according to that spider watch thing you showed me, Friday night is the best night for stalking."

"You sound so creepy."

Matt's lips curled into a smirk. "Thanks."

It was only when they were halfway back to Hell's Kitchen that Foggy groaned, "I forgot to get a picture with him!"

Notes:

Foggy, Karen, and Matt being friends is really fun to write for me especially when they're calling Matt out on being a disaster. Next chapter there will finally be some positive interactions between Matt and Peter and the mentorship will get rolling. Thank you to everyone reading this!

Chapter 5: Puttin On the Ritz

Summary:

"I'm sorry, you've been slapping guns out of people's hands?"

"Yeah! If I get too close to them and can't use my webs, I'm normally within slapping range and I've got crazy good reflexes, so I just wham."

Notes:

Puttin' On the Ritz by Taco

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Getting to Queens was an issue. Matt knew he couldn't wear the costume on the subway. While most in Hell's Kitchen had a positive outlook on Daredevil in general, Matt knew all of New York wasn't quite sold on the idea of vigilantes. Matt wasn't even sure how people within Queens, who largely liked Spider-Man, would react to Daredevil. The two had very different styles of dealing with criminals.

So, figuring out an alternative way to get to Queens on a Friday evening was rough. When asked, Karen had suggested driving over there. Matt didn't want to have someone drive him and risk them getting associated with Daredevil. His black costume was more toned down from the red one, but he'd been told he was still pretty easy to recognize. Foggy piped up after that and told Matt that not only did Foggy have a way to drive over there, but also pointed out that so long as Matt didn't wear the mask, the rest of it could easily be mistaken for thick black clothes. Matt agreed that made sense.

Upon arriving in Queens, Matt told Foggy to thank Theo for letting them barrow the shop's van and walked down a few more streets before slipping into an alleyway and putting the mask on.

As soon as Matt slipped his mask over-head, he tilted his head to listen for Spider-Man's heartbeat. It was harder to sort through the noise in a new place. Queens smelled and sounded ever so different from Hell's Kitchen. It distracted Matt from filtering out unnecessary noise. Finding the kid in Hell's Kitchen was easy, since the heartbeat was a new sound.

Matt debated pulling out his phone and trying to get the spider watch thing to announce where the kid might be, but it was such a pain to blindly paw at his phone. Maybe he could call Foggy and ask Foggy to look for him. No, he would give it at least an hour before asking for help. The kid might not even be out yet.

Walking out of the alleyway, Matt kept his ears on any sign of crime and any sign of that heartbeat. Briefly, Matt wonder if this was how his criminals felt trying to draw him out and find him. Though, they always had the option of terrorizing someone into screaming and hoping Daredevil would show up. Matt doubted him randomly screaming would do more than attract unwanted attention. He certainly wasn't going to terrorize someone to get them to scream.

Thumpthump thumpthump.

There it was. The kid wasn't that far away and sounded stationary.

Heading back into the alleyway, Matt climbed on top of a dumpster before making his way up to the roof. Jumping from roof to roof could be risky, but it was faster. Matt had been practicing at listening for things he once found too difficult to sense.

Jumping across a gap, Matt rolled and popped back up. Spider-Man had to be only a couple rooftops away. The kid was certainly close enough to hear, "Hey! Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man jumped at the sudden noise, dropping whatever he'd been holding. "Oh, crap… Goodbye sweet taco. May you rest in food heaven."

With the heartfelt goodbye to his food, Spider-Man hopped up to his feet and pulled his mask back down over his chin. "Heya Daredevil! Did you need help with something? It's gotta be serious if you came to Queens- Oh, or is it something in Queens? Whatever it is, I can totally help. I'm like the peanut butter on jelly of helping with things."

Matt took a moment, trying to decipher what the kid meant by 'the peanut butter on jelly' before his brain instead got caught on the fact that the kid wasn't angry. The fire and indignation of their last conversation didn't even seem to cross Spider-Man's mind. Matt had expected a much more hostile greeting, not… peanut butter and jelly.

"Hey, man, you're kind of staring at me like I've got something on my face, so if you could say something before my insecurity issues kick in, that'd be greeeat," the kid said, interrupting Matt's thoughts.

"You don't have anything on your face." Not that Matt could tell if he did. "I expected you to be angrier after our last conversation."

"I can be if you'd prefer, but when I had time to think about it, I figured half of your freak out was because I got knifed. Which, valid, getting knifed hurts and you seem stuck on this idea of me being a helpless kid. Adults freak out when kids get hurt. Though, totally unfair of you to assume I'm helpless. Been doing this for a year. Strong enough to catch a bus. Plus, only reason I got knifed was cause I heard you running up and got distracted for a second. Not that it was your fault- I should concentrate more, but just so you know that's not a normal occurrence. I didn't even get to keep the knife. So, I mean, no reason for me to still be angry unless you only tracked me down to nag more about quitting. It's not happening, and you're starting to get boring sounding like a broken record. Though, kudos for the sheer commitment. I heard you never leave Hell's Kitchen."

Matt didn't think he would ever get over just how much the kid talked. It didn't even sound like Spider-Man breathed in between sentences. Still, trying to figure out how and why Spider-Man talked as much or as rapidly as he did wasn't why Matt left the Kitchen.

There was no reason to be coy about it, so Matt said, "I came here to offer to train you. I won't lie, ideally, I want you to quit. You're a teenager and have your whole life to be doing something other than this, but a friend of mine pointed out that he had tried to force me to quit when he found out and all it did was ruin our friendship. He suggested that if I can't make you quit, teaching you how to be safer was the better option. You did say you approached me initially for tips."

Spider-Man smiled. "Your friend sounds a lot smarter than you."

"He is." Matt trailed off for a second. He wasn't sure if Spider-Man hadn't caught his offer of training or was ignoring it on purpose. In any case, Matt reiterated, "If you want, I can teach you how to fight. From what I've seen, I doubt you've had any actual fighting lessons. I can also teach you how to recognize certain gangs and how to deal with each of them. And I'll introduce you to other vigilantes of New York. That way if you need help with something and I'm not around, you can get help."

The kid acted like he was thinking about it, but Matt could feel the excitement radiating off him. There was only a beat of silence before the kid said, "That sounds awesome. I'll get to become spider ninja! I mean, I'm never going to quit doing this, so save your breath there, but fighting advice will be great. I can only slap guns out of people's hands so many times."

"I'm sorry, you've been slapping guns out of people's hands?"

"Yeah! If I get too close to them and can't use my webs, I'm normally within slapping range and I've got crazy good reflexes, so I just wham." Spider-Man made a half chop, half slap motion in the air.

Matt was suddenly, very painfully reminded that he didn't know how to interact with teenagers, let alone what normal teenager behavior was like. When Matt was fifteen, he had moved past his getting into fist fights for no reason phase. Though, fourteen was the last time anyone tried to adopt him, so Matt had accepted staying with the Sisters until he became an adult. He'd learned that if he wanted to have a life beyond the orphanage, getting into trouble would only get in the way. So, Matt had slid into a more respectful and modest temperament at that age. Slapping guns out of hands wouldn't have even crossed his mind at that age.

Maybe Matt should have asked Foggy what his cousins were like. His friend certainly had at least one cousin around fifteen. Well, he couldn't fix that now, but he would definitely ask later. For now, Matt was going to chalk gun slapping up to reckless teenage youth combined with superpowers.

"Well, after I teach you how to throw a decent punch, appropriate reactions to weapons are next on the list. Before that, here." Matt tossed a phone at the other. "That's a burner phone. It's got two numbers in it. First one is mine, the second one is for emergencies only. As in, if you're dying or dead and can't get in touch with me. Even if you don't want me to train you, or you decide you don't want to after trying it, keep the phone. You can call me if you need help, or if you hear anything I might want to know about. I've got the number to that phone, so I'll do the same."

Spider-Man caught the phone easily and turned it over in his hands. "Sweet! Do I get to know who number two is, or is it a mystery? I'm pretty good at deducing things, you know."

"You can try and guess if you want to, but for now I'll keep my personal contacts to myself. I'm trusting you by giving you that number." Matt knew it was risky, giving Foggy's number to a stranger. When Matt brought the idea of a burner phone up to Foggy, Foggy had insisted on his number being included.

"If you're giving a 15-year-old your phone number to keep him safe, you should put my number on there too. You're not the best at answering phone calls sometimes. This way, he's got someone else he can reach." With Foggy putting it that way, Matt hadn't seen a reason to refuse. He just knew he wouldn't tell the kid who the number belonged to until he trusted Spider-Man more.

Spider-Man's grin stretched the fabric of his mask, and his heart did a happy thing. "Emergencies only, I can do that. I trust you too, man. Us vigilantes gotta stick together."

Matt's lips quirked up at the kid's announcement of trust. "Once I talk to the other vigilantes I know around New York, I might give you some of their phone numbers too. Don't expect much to come of it though. All of us have things going on."

"Cool cool cool cool. So, how would this whole training thing work?" Spider-Man tossed the phone in the air before sliding it into a pocket.

"Ideally, we would meet in Hell's Kitchen. I've got a deal with a gym there so I can do stuff at night. It would be a good place for us to work without getting interrupted. My second option would be a rooftop closer to in between us. From what I understand, you've got a better mode of transportation than I."

"I think I could get to Hell's Kitchen for that depending on what time you're thinking of."

"Friday or Saturday. I'm not keeping a high schooler out after dark on a school night."

"I'll agree to Friday or Saturday because I am an adult with a very adult job that happens Monday through Friday and I need to be well-rested for my well-respected adult job."

Matt's lips curled into a smirk. "Say adult a few more times, and I might actually believe you."

It was hard to tell, but based on the sound of the movement, Matt could only guess Spider-Man had stuck out his tongue inside his mask. Gross.

Instead of focusing on that, Matt continued, "Fridays would work better for me. We could meet once a week in Hell's Kitchen. After eight or nine would be for the best. I planned on the first few times being us sparring and testing your abilities."

"What about your powers? Are you going to tell me what you can do?"

"Who says I have powers?"

"Come on, don't be like that. I know you've got some kind of powers. I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours!"

"How about I agree that if you can guess what mine are, I'll tell you?" Matt doubted the kid would get far with that. He would tell Spider-Man eventually, but after they got to know each other more. Matt didn't even want a full run down of Spider-Man's abilities. Just a vague outline would do. Plus, from the stories and articles of Spider-Man's endeavors, Matt could guess quite a few of the abilities from there.

"That sounds fun. Let's see," the kid sounded like he was leading Matt through a school project as he continued, "I would have guessed some kind of future sight or precognition since you seem to always know when I get into Hell's Kitchen and who I'm looking for. However, you did get there too late last time, so seeing the future is out. You fight really well in the dark, even so dark I have issues seeing in it. You also seem to know when people are there without having to look at them, but we've already eliminated precognition. You're well trained, which almost makes me wonder if you're a mutant with a really obscure power, but if you were an X-man you wouldn't be here. So, eliminating a lot of my crazier theories, including shadow cult, and considering people saying if you scream for Daredevil, he'll come save you and other anecdotes… The only plausible guess would be insanely enhanced senses."

Once the kid stopped talking, a silence took over the rooftop. Matt tensed up, trying to process how this kid had rapidly run-down possibilities before landing on the correct one. Matt knew theories existed online. He knew some people had gotten the right guess, but never with enough evidence to make it seem true. After, what, four maybe five interactions, the kid got the abilities down, and Matt was never going to get 'shadow cult' out of his head.

Eventually, Matt realized he needed to say something and settled on giving what Foggy had proclaimed his smug douchebag smirk and said, "Nice try kid."

Either the kid bought it or chose to pay along because the reply came as though Spider-Man were playing a game. "I'll get it next time!"

"Next Friday, 9 o'clock, Fogwell's Gym in Hell's Kitchen. Bring a water bottle."

Matt didn't bother saying a different goodbye from those instructions. He merely turned his back on Spider-Man and started back across the rooves to get home. He trusted the kid would show up.

Notes:

I like to imagine that Peter's one of those people who will give someone any amount of chances so long as they seem like they're trying to do/be better. Also, Spider-Man slapping guns out of people's hands because I made myself laugh. Thank you to everyone reading, commenting, kudo-ing, etc etc. Next chapter will be up Friday as usual!

Chapter 6: Flamingo

Summary:

When Matt agreed to train Spider-Man, he assumed that the kid needed to be taught almost everything about fighting. Sure, he'd only heard the kid fighting a little, and he'd had other things on his mind. However, it was easy to tell that Spider-Man never punched properly, never tried to stay close and incapacitate his opponent, and certainly had never had any formal training. Well... Matt learned that a couple of those things actually had very valid reasons for being.

Oops.

Notes:

Flamingo by Rob Cantor

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

After setting up the training day with Spider-Man, Matt had asked Foggy for advice on how to deal with/talk to a teenager. Sure, Matt could entertain and talk to clients kids when needed, but this was different. Advice on how to get the kid to listen to him, and also if a lack of self-preservation was a teenager thing or a vigilante trait. Matt wasn't too proud to admit he had no sense of self-preservation. He just needed to know if having a double lack of self-preservation was a thing.

Foggy told him teenagers have a hard time dealing with their own mortality and therefore end up ignoring it. All that told Matt was Spider-Man probably had the worst sense of self-preservation ever with a teenager's feeling of immortality and a vigilante's lack of caring. Matt wondered what he would have been like if he'd started Daredevil as a teenager.

Someone would have ended up dead.

Matt stopped thinking about it after that thought.

The only other advice Foggy gave was that teenagers were more likely to do the exact opposite of what he wanted if Matt worded things wrong. Foggy's theory was that it came from the idea of being spoken to like they were lesser or stupid because they were younger. Matt understood that. Thinking on his interactions with Spider-Man, the kid had been much more friendly and cooperative once Matt stopped nagging after him like an annoying parent scolding a toddler. Matt could admit his mistakes.

Karen had helpfully chimed in that when she was a teenager, she responded well to bribery. After that the discussion became a debate of the ethical standpoints of bribery which later shifted to what would best bribe the people they knew.

Matt knew if he wanted to bribe Karen, it would either be coercing one of his vigilante friends to do something or giving her a blank i-o-u. Foggy would be more difficult. Depending on what Matt wanted, he could talk Foggy into a lot of things. Some things, Matt could probably threaten to do in the riskiest way possible and get Foggy to do what he wanted. Otherwise, Matt promising a night at Josies or, newly, a meeting with Spider-Man would do it.

Foggy and Karen both claimed they could easily bribe Matt but refused to say what they would bribe him with on the grounds that he would remember this conversation and refuse said bribes out of spite.

Matt decided to tell them to stop distracting him and get back to work. That was that.

Though, Matt had bought a bag of assorted candy on the chance that bribing or rewarding Spider-Man would be appreciated. If it fell through, the candy could always get used in their office for clients' children.

The rapid heartbeat heading his way made Matt straighten up. The gym was all set up for them sparring. The bag of candy, some protein bars, and water bottles sat in a bag off to the side. It wasn't long before Matt heard a tentative knock on the front door.

Spider-Man called out a soft, "Hello?"

Turning on the lights would have been a good idea. It was easy to forget most people need light to function.

"Come in, kid. If you can't see well enough, there's a switch to the right of the door," Matt called out.

"You gotta stop calling me kid, Double D." Spider-Man didn't flip on the switch, but by the way he walked into the room, Matt assumed the extra light wasn't needed.

"Spider-Man's a mouthful and I don't know your name." Matt elected to not comment on the nickname he was given.

"Oh, uh…" Spider-Man shuffled awkwardly before saying, "You- you can call me Peter."

The other's heartbeat didn't waver which could've been because Spider-Man's real name was Peter or because the wording evaded a lie. Either way, Matt would call the kid Peter from now on. Though, that meant Peter probably wanted Matt to give a name.

Matt debated between the truth and a lie before settling on, "You can call me Mike." It had worked well enough with Claire.

"Nice to meet you Mike."

"Sure. Now, did you warm up enough on your way over here or do you think you need to stretch? I wanted to start by sparring with you since I haven't been around for you fighting aside from that one time." Matt had already done a few things to get ready for sparring.

"Let's get started!" Peter wasted no time hopping up into the ring Matt stood in. The kid bounced on his feet and threw a couple shadow punches as if getting himself ready to go.

"Wait- Give me your hand." The light punches reminded Matt of one glaring issue in Peter's fighting. It had been bothering him since the first time he'd heard the kid punch something.

With the hand held out for him, Matt gently curled Peter's fingers and tucked his thumb on the outside. "Always keep your thumb on the outside or you'll break bones when you punch." He hadn't heard Peter break his hand like that, but the reminder couldn't hurt. Matt wrapped his hand around Peter's wrist after that. "Keep your wrist straight. A little bit of tension there will make your punches hit harder and keep you from hurting your wrist. Breaking bones in your hand or wrist hurts a lot more than you might think."

Once Matt let go of Peter's hand and wrist, the kid swung his arm a couple times before stopping and standing still. The way Peter's breath shifted, Matt assumed there was a question coming, but it never came.

After the beat of silence, Matt took a couple steps back. "Alright. It's hard for me to give you fighting advice without seeing what you do in a fight, but I also don't want webs everywhere. We can spar for a bit or you could hit one of the bags for a bit. But if we spar we go until someone gets pinned or I call for a break." Maybe he needed to rephrase that. "If you need to take break or wrap your hands because they start to hurt just say something." That was better.

"Okie dokie! Though normally I only fight people long enough to get distance and web them up, so I don't know how well I can pin someone. Oh, and my webs dissolve after two hours and leave nothing behind. I figured I don't need to leave more trash around New York if I could help it. I also have a solvent to melt them faster. If, you know, if we ever spar that way too!" Peter's words were infused with excitement. Matt wondered if anyone knew about him being Spider-Man, or if Matt was the only one the kid got to explain that to.

"I'll think about it. For now, put your hands up." Matt fell into a boxer's stance, both hands up. "Ready?"

Matt heard Peter shift, felt the heat from Peter's body move, and assumed the kid was in some fighting stance. "Ready."

As soon as Peter gave confirmation, Matt moved forward and threw a soft punch at the kid's chest.

Peter yelped but dodged the punch easily before dancing away. After putting distance between them, Peter seemed to remember that sparring required being close to Matt. Moving back forward, Peter threw his own soft punch at Matt, aiming for his chest.

Matt dodged the punch and grabbed Peter's arm to flip him. Once Peter's back hit the matts, Matt pulled away to give the kid space to recover. Matt quickly found he couldn't pull away because Peter had a vice grip on his arm. It was like the kid's hand stuck to him.

The hand unstuck as Peter flipped back onto his own feet before throwing another punch at Matt. With his attention half drawn to what just happened, Peter's punch landed on Matt's chest.

A little 'oof' left Matt. The punch hit firmly, but… "Keep your wrist straight." Matt punctuated his statement by thumping Peter in the chest with his own punch. He didn't stop there, continuing forward to jab at Peter three times quick, alternating hands.

The two punches hit Peter's chest, but he managed to weave out of the way of the third and threw his own punch, wrist straight, good footing, thumb on the outside, solid momentum. Which, was how Matt realized there was a reason behind Peter constantly not throwing punches in correct form.

Well, at least Matt wouldn't forget to ask more questions instead of just assuming the kid didn't know how. Peter's fist hit Matt with a heavy thunk, and Matt lost his footing from the force of it hitting him. Hitting the matts hard, Matt was reminded of the time Jessica punched him just a little too hard or that time fighting Danny. Laying on the matts, he took some deep breaths, fighting the growling urge in his chest to snap back up and show that he wasn't weak. Maybe he did need to look into anger management. Laying there, he realized he needed to listen to make sure nothing was broken. Listening for anything broken, he realized he needed to let the kid know he was okay because Peter's heartrate had skyrocketed.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I've- I've never punched someone that hard before. I'm normally so careful, but I was thinking about keeping my wrist straight like you said and I slipped up. Please be okay, please. I can't- You-"

"I'm okay." Matt just needed a second to catch his breath. "I've been hit worse. You just surprised me. Breathe before you pass out."

"Yeah. Cool cool cool cool." Peter's words didn't sound all that calm, but at least his breathing and heartbeat was starting to level out again.

Matt sat up and rubbed at his chest. A bruise was already forming, but that wasn't all that important. The movement in front of him took him a moment to recognize. Once Matt got the picture, he grabbed Peter's offered hand and stood back up. Matt could practically smell the anxiety and regret coming from the other. "Let's take a break and drink some water."

Sliding out of the ring, Matt grabbed a water bottle from his bag and took a couple drinks from it. He heard Peter follow him out of the ring and grab his own water bottle. It didn't sound like Peter was doing more than shifting the bottle between his hands. Matt wasn't sure how to reassure the kid it wasn't a big deal. It hurt. In fact, it reminded Matt of getting punched by the Iron Fist. Nothing was broken though, and Peter had listened to him.

It was time to break out the bribes.

Matt grabbed a piece of candy from his bag and tossed it to Peter, knowing the kid would catch it easily. "That was a good punch. Your wrist didn't bend, and you put your body weight behind it."

Peter didn't say anything before starting to laugh. "Is this- are you rewarding me for punch you so hard, I knocked you over?" When Matt didn't reply fast enough, Peter continued, "Did you bring candy with you to train me like a dog?"

It sounded like Peter couldn't decide whether to be offended or to laugh until he cried. Either way, Matt hoped his mask and the darkness would hide the blush crawling up his face.

"No." The word came out rushed, fast. "Maybe." There was no saving his dignity at that point. "I've never trained anyone before, and the man who trained me 'rewarded' me by telling me I wasn't doing well enough. My friend… suggested candy, and your punch only knocked me over because I wasn't expecting it." Yeah, that would really save his reputation. "Give it back if you don't want it."

Peter clutched the piece of candy to his chest. "No way, dude. I'm getting this framed with the caption 'from Daredevil, lots of love.' You can pry this out of my cold dead hands."

Matt sighed but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Whatever you want, kid. I have a whole bag of candy, though. See how many pieces you get now."

The piece of candy got tossed in the air a couple times before Peter replied, "You-" Peter licked his lips. "You still want to train me?"

"Yeah. It seems like you need the training less than I thought, knowing you pull your punches by throwing them sloppily, but you've still got plenty you can work on. I'm going to have you work on a punching bag for now though. Just in the interest of not breaking my ribs. Though, if you want to give me a run down on your powers, it'd be easier to know what to work on."

"You know the deal. If you share yours, I'll share mine."

Matt weighed the advantages of keeping Peter in the dark vs learning what Peter could actually do. It was an easy choice now. "You already guessed what mine were. My senses are enhanced."

Peter fist pumped. "I knew it! How could you tell where I was though? Do I smell weird?"

"Your heartbeat's incredibly quick. It's easy to pick up on as long as I'm close enough. Now, tell me about yours."

"Okay, okay. I definitely want more information, but I can tell you about mine now. It all started when I got bit by a radioactive spider-"

"A what?"

"A radioactive spider. It's where I got my name and stuff."

"Where did you get a radioactive spider?"

"Uhhh not important. Anyway, I got bit and then got really, really sick. I thought I was going to die, but after day three I woke up, and I didn't need my glasses anymore or feel like my lungs were going to seize up. I could stick to things and climb walls. I broke so many things before I realized the super strength thing. I heal quickly- That cut from a couple weeks ago was gone the next morning. My body's just tougher in general. Oh, and I have kind of enhanced senses. I haven't tested them much. The webs I use are synthetic. I made them to fit the theme."

That was a lot to take in all at once. Sorting through the information, Matt knew a few things he could help Peter train. He was definitely keeping Peter on gym equipment instead of sparring until figuring his powers out more. Though… "I can help you test and hone your enhanced senses. Actually, I can help you test and figure out how to incorporate a lot of your abilities into fighting or find someone else enhanced in a similar way to help. If the webs aren't natural, you could run out of them. Knowing how to hold your own without will be important."

Peter practically bounced from foot to foot in excitement.

Matt drank more of his water and rolled his shoulders. "Unless you want to hit a punching bag for a while, I think we should stop tonight. I need to think about different ways to train you, and there are things I need to do in the city before it gets late. Are you alright to meet again next week at the same time?"

"Yeah- uh yeah! That'll be awesome."

Matt reached out and pat the kid's shoulder a couple times. "I'll see you next week, Peter."

Peter grinned and, without thinking, quickly hugged Matt before darting away and waving. "Bye, Mike!"

Once Peter was out the door, Matt started cleaning up a bit. The lingering feeling of being hugged left a smile on his lips, listening for that rapid heartbeat fading away. Despite his earlier trepidation, Matt didn't regret this. The new generation of vigilante. Matt would teach him. Matt would keep him safe.

Notes:

We finally got to the mentoring part! I hope the wait was worth it. I had a lot of fun with this chapter because, since this is from Matt's POV mostly, Matt kept underestimating Peter. Peter needs someone to teach him how to fight because a lot of it is random flailing, but he's also faster and stronger than a normal person so that random flailing is a lot better than Matt gave him credit for. Plus, there was maybe a little revenge in that stronger punch.

Next chapter is actually one of my favorites of the entire work, especially because it features some Peter POV instead of just Matt's and we see the return of Foggy being the best bro there possibly is. Anyway, thank you for all the hits, kudos, comments, and bookmarks! I really appreciate how much interest this work has garnered. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 7: Makin' My Way Downtown

Summary:

"H- hey, Matt. It's Peter. I, uh…" Peter cast a nervous glance at the detective, who stood a few paces away to give Peter privacy. "I could use some help."

"Where are you?" The concern in Matt's voice was heartwarming.

"At a police station in Hell's Kitchen."

Matt made a strangled noise over the phone. "Please tell me you're not there as Spider-Man."

Notes:

You know that one thing where someone says making my way down and you start screeching the lyrics to a thousand miles.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The next four weeks, Matt learns a lot about both Peter in general, and how to wrangle a super powered teenager into having at least a little bit of self-preservation. Matt knew he was a hypocrite in that last regard, but he didn't want to see Peter hurt by being reckless.

The first thing Matt learned was during the next time he saw Peter. Apparently, Peter had a huge sweet tooth, but hadn't grown out of getting overly hyper when given too much sugar. After having Peter hit a punching bag and run around the ring for a bit, Matt resolved to find a different way to reward Peter for doing a good job. Food seemed to work, but Matt hadn't known exactly what Peter liked.

It was halfway through a conversation after the sugar crash that Matt realized telling Peter he was doing a good job and other praise was reward enough.

Matt still brought Peter food the next time, but in the form of oranges and chips.

The second thing Matt learned was also during that second meeting but was more amusing to learn than the sugar rush. When they were wrapping up with Peter having finally come down from the sugar high, Peter had shifted from foot to foot until Matt told him to spit it out.

"Well, I was wondering if you knew any Spanish. I mean, you seem pretty smart, and I know a lot of people in Hell's Kitchen speak Spanish, so I thought you might know some."

Matt wasn't sure what Peter was looking for with the question, but there wasn't a reason to lie. "I know Spanish. It's useful to know, since it's the second most spoken language in the US. Why?"

Peter rubbed the back of his neck before saying, "I need to practice speaking it more. Learning it on paper, like reading and writing is pretty easy for me, but I don't have anyone to… It's dumb. Never mind. Thank you for helping me today."

The moment felt important. Matt could rebuff Peter and draw the line in the sand. It would establish their relationship as just Matt distantly giving Peter advice rather than true mentorship. If Matt offered to help with the Spanish, it would bring their relationship outside of just Daredevil and Spider-Man. A part of Matt wanted to shy away from letting things progress outside of Daredevil and Spider-Man. Matt was dangerous and bringing Peter into it more would only endanger him more. Well, no, that was an excuse. Matt didn't know how to feel about this kid getting attached to him.

Honestly, it was the memory of Foggy outlining what would differentiate him from Stick that made Matt say, "Next time we'll speak in Spanish, at least for part of it. I don't know how much use fighting advice in Spanish will be, but it will get you used to speaking it casually."

The way Peter had brightened up after made any trepidation in Matt's chest worth it.

The third thing Matt learned was Peter had a friend named Ned, who was the only one that knew about Spider-Man. When Matt had asked about if his guardians (not parents, not making that mistake after the mother comment) if his guardians wondered where he went all the time. Peter had simply responded by saying his aunt works evenings and nights a lot because it paid better.

The subject changed swiftly which led Matt to his fourth learned habit. Apparently, Peter could talk about science and science related things until he was blue in the face. After nodding for the hundredth time at an explanation of some compound, Matt wasn't confident he could pronounce, and how that compound would react to another one, Matt finally admitted he had no idea what Peter was talking about. This turned out to be a mistake as Peter apologized profusely for wasting Matt's time. It took a bit to assure Peter it wasn't a big deal.

After that, Peter still casually mentioned things he was working on when it came to chemistry and biology but simplified things so Matt could understand.

The fifth thing Matt learned was why Peter wouldn't quit being Spider-Man. Matt wasn't sure how they got on the subject. Why Peter brought it up… but he couldn't say he was upset they talked about it.

Peter stopped hitting the punching bag and just… stood there for a minute, breathing heavy and resting his head against the bag.

Matt waited for the kid to say something. The kid always said something after pausing like that, but the moment stretched on. The stillness worried Matt enough for him to call out a soft, "Peter?"

Hearing his name was like a switch flipping. Peter spun around to face Matt. "You haven't told me to quit in a while. I kind of wondered if that meant you were just giving up or accepted that I'm not going to quit. I don't know why… uh, why it bothers me, but I wanted to say why I can't quit."

An urge to tell Peter he still should quit or that Peter didn't owe him an explanation pulled at Matt, but he ignored it in favor of saying, "Alright. I'm listening."

"It's just, when you have powers like mine, and you can do something about the bad things happening, but you choose not to, they happen because of you. I can fight and heal if I get hurt. I can't just watch things happen and not do anything." Peter's voice caught before he said his last piece. "That's how good people die."

So many questions rose in Matt's mind. Who planted that idea in Peter's head, or had his inaction been related to someone's death? Why was Peter telling him this? Why did this make Matt want to share his own motivations?

Before Matt could weigh the consequences, he found himself speaking. "Before I became Daredevil… There was this little girl. I could hear into her bedroom because she lived across the street. Every night, I heard her dad come into her room and hurt her. I called CPS because that's what you're supposed to do, but her mom lied about it all, threatened her, told her she was going to tear their family apart over nothing. At night, she prayed to God for an angel to come save her because she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to hurt her parents, but she wanted to stop getting hurt. That night, God might not have answered her prayers, but the Devil did."

Peter didn't have anything to say after that, and Matt was glad the kid didn't comment. They went back to their routines, but a weight Matt hadn't even noticed fell from Peter's shoulders.

Once they called a close to their meeting, Peter told Matt he couldn't come next week, saying he had a family thing to do. Matt told him to call him Matt instead of Mike and to call if he needed anything, really, anything.

This led Matt to the sixth thing. Peter was, apparently, one giant trouble magnet.

Despite reassurances that he wasn't in trouble, and they just wanted to know what happened, Peter was incredibly nervous. He couldn't call Aunt May because she would freak out, and she'd just gotten off a double shift at the hospital. Peter would rather spend the night at the police station than wake her up. After nervously telling the very nice detective he wasn't sure what happened, he just kind of reacted, the detective finally asked if he wanted to call someone.

See, the thing was, Peter really did want to call someone, but he didn't know if the call would go well. He'd been told to call if he needed anything, but Peter thought that meant if Spider-Man needed anything. On one hand, this could be construed as a Spider-Man thing. On the other hand, Peter didn't even know what Matt could do about the situation.

Standing in front of the offered phone, Peter continued his internal debate until the kind detective cleared his throat. Picking up the phone, Peter quickly dialed the number he'd memorized from the burner phone.

The growling voice that answered somehow comforted Peter. "Who is this?"

Peter knew he couldn't call him Daredevil in the middle of a police precinct. "H- hey, Matt. It's Peter. I, uh…" Peter cast a nervous glance at the detective, who stood a few paces away to give Peter privacy. "I could use some help."

"Where are you?" The concern in Matt's voice was heartwarming.

"At a police station in Hell's Kitchen."

Matt made a strangled noise over the phone. "Please tell me you're not there as Spider-Man."

"No. Just regular old Peter."

Peter heard some shuffling and the dial tone of another phone. "Which precinct are you at? I can't come, but I'm sending a friend of mine- contact number two from the burner phone."

"Hang on." Peter turned to the detective and asked. "The 15th."

"Give me a quick run down on what happened."

"Well, I was at this cafe to get something to eat and drink before we met today and two robbers came in, but I'm just me, but people were going to get hurt, so I used some of the stuff you taught me." Peter dropped his voice to a near silent whisper, knowing Matt would hear him. "They were a lot bigger than me and had guns and getting ready to shoot. I couldn't do nothing, but the cafe didn't have security cameras and no one else really saw what happened or, at least, isn't saying anything, but the police want to know how someone my size could disarm and fight off two grown men."

"Alright." A more muffled, "Hold on, Foggy." Peter assumed Matt's other phone call had gone through. Then, "Just stay where you are, and if anyone's mistreating you ask to speak to Brett Mahoney. He's a good man."

Matt didn't say anymore before hanging up. At least Peter felt calmer about the whole affair.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door to the room Peter was being asked questions in. The detective stood up and opened the door before he immediately groaned. "Of course. Of all the people this kid would call, it would be you."

"Come on, Brett, you know you missed my handsome face. Plus, technically, he called Matt, so if you want to hate anyone…"

"It's Detective Mahoney to you, but nice try throwing your worse half under the bus, Nelson."

"I didn't have time to bring a gift for Bess, so I thought blaming Matt might earn me brownie points, but since that didn't work… I believe I'm entitled to speak to my client alone."

The detective huffed. "He's not arrested and we're not planning on arresting him. There's no client here."

"Then there's no problem letting him leave."

There was a bit of a staring contest that was more glaring on the detective's part and pleased smiling on Foggy's part.

Eventually, detective Mahoney relented. "You've got ten minutes."

The detective left, grumbling under his breath. As soon as the door shut, Foggy sat down across from Peter and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, buddy. Foggy Nelson. I'm a big fan of your work, but we can talk about that later. Matt gave me a vague idea of what happened, and I'm going to talk to Brett about why they're so insistent on asking you questions, but I'll get you out of here in no time. Technically, I also shouldn't be offering you law advice without a guardian present, but they're also keeping you here and asking questions without actually pressing any charges for anything. Which means you should be able to leave whenever you want to. They're probably hoping you not knowing that will mean they can keep talking to you as long as they want."

The name 'Foggy' rang a bell, but Peter couldn't place it. Even if he wanted to, it was impossible to sort through his memories and listen to Foggy. Listening to Foggy seemed more important.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Peter said, "I'm Peter, uh, Peter Parker. Thanks. For coming all the way here. I don't know why they're so interested in this. Well, I mean, I kind of get it cause I'm not all that strong looking, but they keep asking me if I knew who the two men were."

"Hey, not a problem. I wanted to meet you forever ago, but Matt's really careful about the whole, identity thing. I was even pretty close by. Are you okay to sit here while I go talk to Brett?" Foggy kept a reassuring smile on his face the entire time.

While Peter assumed that was a lawyer thing, it still made him feel better. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Foggy got up and pat Peter's shoulder before leaving the room. Peter closed his eyes and focused his hearing the way Matt taught him. Filtering out and blocking off the extra noise, Peter focused on the way Foggy had sounded to pick up his voice.

"Come on, Brett, you have to let the kid leave."

"Foggy, two cartels walk into a cafe to hit it because it's owned by rivals, and a kid who's a foot shorter and at least 50 pounds lighter than them, not only gets their guns out of their hands, but also knocks one of them out while the other one runs off. The kid doesn't even have a scratch on him. The only reason we're not threatening arrests is because no one's talking. The only thing anyone's said is that the kid's a hero."

"Please don't tell me you think he's in a gang or something. He might as well be the poster child for polite and well-behaved. He's not even from Hell's Kitchen. He lives in Queens, and he's taken quite a few self-defense classes. He saw a dangerous situation and acted without thinking. You're not too old to remember what it's like being a teenager. You're practically immortal at that age."

"I still think he's hiding something about what happened. He's too jittery."

"He also got into a fight with two men, could have gotten shot, and then got taken to a police station in an unfamiliar part of the city. I'd be pretty freaked out too. Even outside of that, if you're not pressing charges, you don't really have grounds to hold him. I mean, imagine if the media gets word that a scared minor's being held at a police station for saving people at a café."

There was a pause. Peter could only assume the detective was thinking it over.

"Fine. If he remembers anything about the guy who ran off or anything that might be useful for us, call me."

"Will do, will do. Give Bess my regards."

There were footsteps before Foggy opened the door. "Come along, Peter. You're a free duck now, and we've got a concerned mother hen to see."

"Mother hen?" Peter got up and walked through the open door before following Foggy through the police station.

"Matt. He likes to pretend not to care that much, but you're basically his protégé at this point and hearing that you were being questioned a police station freaked him out a little. That's part of why he sent me instead of coming to collect you himself."

"Part of why?"

Foggy held the front door to the precinct open for Peter. "He was also in the middle of a thing. It was faster for me to come and him to finish up his business."

"Oh…" Peter followed out the door and glanced at Foggy from the corner of his eye. "Thank you again for coming to get me, Mr. Nelson. You don't have to lead me to Matt though, you know, if he's waiting at the gym. I can get there myself. I don't want to be a bother."

Chuckles came from deep within Foggy's chest. He reached up as if to ruffle Peter's hair before retracting his hand. "Pete- can I call you Pete?" At Peter's nod, "Good. I've wanted to meet you since Matt started talking about the whole training thing, so really, I'm taking advantage of the situation. Our other friend would have come too, but she would have wanted to record Matt being a mother hen, and he would have tried to steal her phone, and I didn't want to play babysitter. Is it alright if we stop somewhere on the way to meet Matt?"

Peter decided to not point out that Foggy coming and getting him could be called babysitting. While Peter normally would assume the other's assurances he wasn't a bother was only social politeness, Foggy's jovial manner comforted Peter. "Yeah, sure."

"Great. I need a coffee, Matt always calms down faster drinking this nasty fruit tea, and you look like you could use a pastry or two after single-handedly taking down two gangsters. They have this cool spicy, chai hot chocolate thing if you like that kind of thing and the best blueberry muffins."

It took a second to process before a light came on in Peter's mind. "Were you the one who told Matt to give me candy as a bribe?"

Foggy almost tripped over his own feet. "Wait- did he actually do that?" After Peter nodded in confirmation, Foggy burst out laughing. "We didn't- we didn't think he would actually do it. I cannot wait to tell Karen about this. And he always has the mask on, so Daredevil gave- For that, you get two blueberry muffins and a hot chocolate."

Silence fell over them after that. Peter trailed behind Foggy, listening to Foggy whistle a tune to himself as they walked. Even if Matt had let his guard down around Peter and acted more like a friend than a menacing vigilante, it was still weird to see Matt as a normal guy with normal friends. Peter had yet to see Matt's full face. It was easy to imagine Matt having some super secluded secret life with friends just as secretive and gruff as him. Foggy was not only normal but also extremely friendly and a, possibly, successful lawyer. Peter would definitely be googling 'Foggy Nelson' when he got home.

It was a lot to take in and only got more complicated as Peter stood waiting for their drinks with a small box of blueberry muffins in his hands. Well, the food and drinks didn't make things more complicated. The culprit there was Peter noticing Foggy's dinosaur tie, while trying to come up with some small talk.

"I like your t- wait. I've met you before." Why the name Foggy had bothered Peter so much suddenly clicked. "Like two months ago at a park."

At least the awkward pause made Peter assume Foggy also hadn't remembered.

"Did we? Two months feels like so long ago." Foggy's nervous laughter didn't do much to convince Peter, but the lawyer was saved from worrying about outing Matt's full identity when his name was called for their drinks.

For some reason, realizing that Peter had met Foggy, even if the other was being weird about it, made Peter feel like being more open. Skipping small talk, Peter mentioned that Matt was helping him with his Spanish, which led to Foggy asking about Peter's school. Peter hesitated for a second on whether or not he wanted to give details about his school but figured that he had already told Foggy his full name.

Peter was in the middle of explaining his most recent chemistry project when they stepped inside the gym.

"What took you so long?" Matt spoke from the darkness causing both Foggy and Peter to start.

"We stopped by Sasha's for a treat. I got you your tea and a blueberry muffin. So, stop lurking in the darkness like a creep."

If Matt's eyes weren't covered, Peter was sure he'd be squinting at Foggy.

Foggy held out the tea and said, "Just drink some of this before you start interrogating the kid about what happened. He's fine. Brett was the one talking to him too, so he wasn't even in any danger of something happening. Though, I'm pretty sure you've driven any corrupt cops out of the 15th anyway."

When Matt stalked forward and went to grab the tea, Foggy pulled it away and raised an eyebrow. Matt glared in Foggy's direction for a second before saying, "Thank you for the tea, Foggy," and then snatching the tea out of his hands.

Matt took a few drinks of his tea before setting it to the side and putting his hands on Peter's shoulders. Peter could've sworn Matt sniffed him and said, "Do you want a blueberry muffin?"

"You could've gotten hurt or exposed your identity. Hell, those people still might come after you as Peter. Gang members don't tend to like getting their asses kicked by a fifteen-year-old, so what were you thinking?"

Suddenly, all Foggy's comments about mother hens made sense. "I'm fine, really. It wasn't even the worst I've faced before; I didn't really do anything a teenager with training couldn't do." When Matt gave him the 'I know that's a lie' look, Peter corrected himself, "Okay, I used a little bit of super strength, but only one person really saw me fighting, and there were no cameras. Even if there were cameras, that ninja slap knocking one of the guns to the ground was awesome! He didn't even see me coming. I mean, that's… We spent all this time talking about form and being able to fight without me using my webs or relying solely on my powers, and I kept everyone safe as regular me."

"You should have waited for the police," Matt growled.

"They were going to shoot the person working there! I listened to their heartbeats like you taunt me. They were going to kill her. I'm not apologizing for saving people." Peter took a loud sip of his own hot chocolate, glaring at Matt over the cup.

When Matt turned to Foggy, as if expecting back up, the lawyer put his hands up. "Don't look at me like that, buddy. I feel like I'm looking at a younger, nerdier version of you. How many times after I found out about you, did I lecture you about getting hurt or people finding out who you are? Obviously, you've taught him well if he could fight like that without raising too many questions. The police wanted to make sure he didn't have any gang connections. They weren't accusing him of being Spider-Man."

Matt grumbled and said a few things under his breath that even Peter couldn't catch before relaxing his grip on Peter's shoulders. In a much calmer, gentler tone, Matt asked, "Are you okay? You really didn't get hurt, right?"

Peter smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I bruised my knuckles, but it healed before the police got there."

"Then you're fine for us to pick up training. We're working on getting out of grapples today." Matt turned to look at Foggy. "Are you sticking around?"

Foggy nodded. "As long as Pete's alright with it. I'm happy to eat muffins and hang out. I didn't get a chance to tell Peter embarrassing stories about you yet."

Matt shook his head and rolled his shoulders. Turning his head in Peter's direction, Matt hesitated. Peter wasn't wearing his mask or outfit at all. Matt would be shocked if Foggy hadn't learned Peter's full name yet. Peter knew Foggy's name and occupation at that point, so protecting his identity to protect people around him didn't matter. Reaching up, Matt pulled his mask off.

Peter gasped when Matt pulled the mask off as two connections were made. "That's why you fight just as well in pitch black… That's so cool. Wait- You- at the park!" Peter pointed between Foggy and Matt. "I knew there was something weird about you! My sixth sense thought you were dangerous, and you are! Were you stalking me?"

It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Peter could see a hint of pink on Matt's face as Foggy laughed in the background. "I wasn't stalking you. I was doing information gathering. No more questions. Get in the ring so we can fight."

Peter grinned wide, trying to suppress his own laughter as he got into the ring with a "yessir."

After they were both tired, sweaty messes who Foggy was forcing to drink water, Matt had held out a hand and introduced himself as one Matt Murdock.

Notes:

The alternate title to this chapter is: I got so wrapped up in writing Peter and Foggy being bros I forgot this is a Matt & Peter fic. It was also one of my favorite chapters to write. Also, fun fact, when I started writing this fic, I had only ever watched Daredevil season 1 and I watched it when it came out like six years ago. Over the course of writing the fic I rewatched season 1 and watched season 2. Now that this fic has been done for well over a month, I finally started watching season 3.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Chapter 8: Pokemon Theme Song

Summary:

"I'm confiscating these."

"Are you going to use them as extortion for our agreement that bribery is bad?" Matt couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"Screw you, Murdock," and then louder as Foggy walked away, "I should've been a butcher."

Notes:

Whoever reads this fic after it's all posted is gonna be so confused by these chapter titles and I have no regrets.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The Tuesday morning after Peter met Foggy, Matt and Foggy walked into their little office. Matt could smell an unfamiliar food sitting on Karen's desk.

"What's that, Karen?" Matt gestured in the direction of the smell, hoping he got his aim right.

"Good morning to you too." Karen smiled, used to Matt forgoing common greetings. "Foggy's apparently been making friends outside of work. A teenager came here yesterday while you guys were out talking to a client and gave me this box of cookies to give to Foggy in thanks for his legal help. He didn't give me his name, but he did tell me I could steal a cookie or two if I wanted it. Oh, and he left a list of ingredients in print and braille in case anyone's allergic."

Foggy grinned and happily took the top of the box off. He looked over the cookie description before handing the paper back to Matt.

As Matt ran his fingers over the paper, he wondered how Peter had printed the ingredients in braille and whether or not dark chocolate chai cookies would be any good. Now that Matt could place the smell, it wasn't bad. Matt liked chai most of the time, so as long as it wasn't too sweet, they could be good.

Matt reached out to grab a cookie only for Foggy to smack his hand away. "Don't touch my cookies. Peter made these with love."

Karen chimed in, "That was Peter? Foggy, Spider-Man made you cookies- wait, when did he need legal help?"

"I'm the one training him, why don't I get anything?"

Matt's question went ignored in favor of Foggy explaining, "He stopped a robbery as himself and the police wanted to figure out why a fifteen-year-old tried and succeeded in taking on two members of the cartel. He called Matt."

Karen interrupted, "Who called you because he was having a meltdown about his child being in danger?"

"Yup. So, I valiantly saved Matt's child, made nice with Brett, and we went to Sasha's for muffins and drinks." Finally turning to acknowledge Matt again, Foggy said, "He probably decided to make me cookies because he thought he was interrupting my evening. He kept apologizing for it. But, the generous god that I am, I will share them with you." He looked back to Karen. "I would say I'll share them with you, but it sounds like Pete already gave you permission."

Finally given permission, Matt grabbed one of the cookies and sniffed it a couple times. It didn't immediately assault his nose, so Matt took a bite. They were good. They were really good. Somewhere Matt remembered hearing someone say that chemistry and baking were extremely similar.

"I didn't have a meltdown and he's not my child, by the way. I'm just teaching him how to fight."

Karen rolled her eyes. "While I can't prove the meltdown part, you talk about him all the time now, Matt. Things he said to you or what you need to talk to him about. I can say protégé instead if calling him your child bothers you since you would've been, what, 16 if he were actually yours, but my point stands, you act like a proud parent when you talk about him."

Foggy in the background quietly asked, "Would he be DareDad or DadDevil? DevilDad?"

"Neither and let's change the subject now," Matt requested.

Karen, the saint that she was, changed the subject, but Karen, the devil she was, changed it to something Matt also didn't want to talk about. "Now that Foggy's met him, and I'm assuming he knows who you really are now Matt, when do I get to actually meet the infamous Peter? Him nervously dropping this off for Foggy doesn't count."

"Never," Matt replied quickly. "I know the day you meet him; you'll try to rope him into things like a vigilante potluck, and he hasn't even met any of them yet."

In between a second cookie, Foggy asked, "Who are you going to introduce him to first, anyway?"

"If you're introducing him to Frank, Frank should be last."

Matt scowled at Karen's suggestion. "I'm not introducing him to Frank." Before Karen could argue on the Punisher's behalf, Matt put up a hand. "After Peter has met the other three, I'll give him Frank's number for emergencies and 'really he is dying and no one else is picking up the phone' emergencies. To answer Foggy's question, I was thinking Danny first and Jessica last."

Karen smiled. "I bet he and Danny would get along really well."

Foggy shook his head. "Nope. Having met Peter now, I think they'll be a disaster duo, and Matt will regret knowing either of them. Good call on Jessica, though. I bet she's allergic to overly-excited teenage puppies."

"Maybe he'll be perfectly polite and calm to her like he was to you."

"I think he was like that with me because I'm not a vigilante, and him being overly polite would piss her off even more."

Matt thought about it for a second before replying, "Maybe she'll go into the same category as Frank, and only Luke and Danny get to meet him."

"You could always tell him to bring cookies with him when he meets them," Karen suggested. "Bribery always works."

Foggy made an affronted noise. "Karen, you work in a law office. You can't go around actually bribing people. We already talked about the ethics of bribery."

"I never said I bribed anyone or approve of bribery."

"Matt?" Foggy said, hopeful his friend would back him up.

"Karen's right."

Foggy threw his hands up in the air and grabbed the box of cookies and started walking away to his desk. "I'm confiscating these."

"Are you going to use them as extortion for our agreement that bribery is bad?" Matt couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"Screw you, Murdock," and then louder as Foggy walked away, "I should've been a butcher."

The next night Peter was meant to meet Matt at the gym, Matt found himself waiting for the kid. It wasn't like Peter to be late, but Matt was willing to assume he'd gotten distracted by a dog or something minor had happened. Plus, the extra time gave Matt a minute to sort through his thoughts. He wanted to let Peter meet the other vigilantes in New York; they would be a good resource for him if Matt wasn't available. He'd already gotten Danny, Luke, and Jessica to agree to giving their burner numbers to Spider-Man. However, some possessive voice in the back of his head wanted to keep Peter just a Daredevil and Matt thing. Peter was his protege, one that Matt quite liked having and didn't want to just lend out like some kind of toy.

Matt didn't know why Karen and Foggy's joking about Peter being his kid weighed so heavily on his mind. The pride and uncomfortable feelings towards the subject didn't mix well. Peter already wasn't just a Daredevil and Matt thing, though. Spider-Man was a vigilante in his own rights. Technically, Matt had taught Peter everything he'd set out to teach. Matt had given Peter the tools to improve on his own, exactly as he wanted to do initially. Even if Peter was only a teenager, Spider-Man didn't really need Daredevil anymore.

Maybe it was time to cut the kid loose. Maybe Matt was only thinking that way because having others acknowledge and point out how much Matt cared about Peter freaked him out a little. No, no, considering that possibility would ruin the nice bed of denial Matt had made for himself.

Matt could always dump Peter onto another vigilante for them to impart wisdom onto him. It wouldn't even be dumping him on someone. Not really. Matt had no doubts that Danny would love to try and teach Peter martial arts or about chi. Luke probably had some weird sage advice to impart and was a good reference for superpowers. Jessica could teach Peter how to get information and spy on people better, real PI stuff. That way Peter would get more experience with others. That was probably a good mentor thing to do.

It wasn't even that Matt had nothing left to teach. Peter had gotten better at using his enhanced senses, and no longer punched sloppily to reduce his strength. Matt knew Peter had soaked in his descriptions of different organized crime in Hell's Kitchen and New York in general. Peter already knew about the different levels of crime in Queens. However, Matt could teach Peter things like using his senses to fight outside of what he could see. Matt hadn't even begun to teach Peter a fourth of the fighting styles he knew. He knew what Peter could continue to improve on, and what Peter could do to improve on them. It was just…

Staying at the gym seemed like a waste. Experience was the best teacher. Matt could up their little practice sessions and start in on something new. That way Matt had more to teach without involving the other vigilantes, or that way he could involve the vigilantes without just handing Peter over to them.

Matt was struck with the thought that he didn't want a kid. He hadn't gone out to have some kind of protégé. He'd wanted to get Spider-Man to quit or to a level where if he got hurt, it wasn't Matt's problem. Having a protégé felt like he was drifting too close to being like Stick, like he was grooming Peter to fight his fight, which, would also be exactly why Matt couldn't just dump Peter onto another vigilante or abandon him.

Maybe Matt needed to really figure out why Karen and Foggy vocalizing his relationship with Peter had him questioning everything he was doing with the kid.

Either way, it didn't matter. Peter was within hearing range, and Matt needed to make a decision. Tonight, could be a normal night, their last night as mentor and mentee, or Matt could lean fully into having a protégé.

Hearing Peter just outside the building, Matt knew, if he set aside the mixture of fear and guilt in his chest and focused on what he actually wanted, there was only one choice for him.

That didn't mean Matt would take away Peter's choice though.

When Peter slid into the gym from the side door, Matt called out, "You're late."

Peter just grinned at Matt and replied, "There was a dog! Well, there were like three dogs actually, and they were just the cutest, but one of them had gotten off his leash and run off so I was helping to catch him before he got into traffic and it made me late, buuuuut it wasn't just about the dog it was also Spider-Man stuff, so, legally, you're not allowed to be mad at me."

"That's not a law, but I'm not mad anyway. It's the first time you've been late, and it gave me time to think about our sessions."

Tension left Peter's shoulders at Matt's announcement that he wasn't mad. "Oh yeah? What were you thinking about? Are we trying something new?"

"Maybe." Matt thought about how to properly word what he wanted to say before deciding to put it bluntly. "I've taught you everything I wanted to when I met you. You don't need to know all the different fighting styles I do because you know enough now to disarm people and create distance for you to use your webs. There's no need for us to keep meeting."

Peter's laughter in response felt stilted. "So, we're just done? I mean even just sparring with you is helpful, so we don't have to just stop, right?"

"No. I just wanted you to know. When we first started this, the goal was just to get you to a point where I wasn't worried, you'd die left alone. That goal has been met, but I still have stuff I can teach you or I could see if one of the other New York vigilantes wanted to give mentoring you a try. I know Danny, Iron Fist, could teach you about chi and meditation."

"Oh, I mean if you have other, uhhh, more important things to do, I could try that or just keep to Queens again. Or we could change up when we meet too. I know you wanted to avoid me being out on a school night, but I'm out anyway so…"

"It's not anything like that. I just want you to know you have other options." Even if Matt wanted Peter to choose him, it wasn't fair to hinder Peter's progress if the kid wanted to pursue another mentor or stay on his own.

Peter relaxed at that and scratched the back of his head. "I like having you as my mentor, if it's okay for me to keep learning from you. I mean training with the Iron Fist sounds super cool, but Daredevil as a mentor is way cooler. You're the first of us, you know? The first vigilante to be out in New York, and even if you get all grumpy, you're really nice and a great teacher. Plus, Foggy promised when we run into each other again to teach me curse words in Punjabi and I can't meet him again if I'm doing stuff with Iron Fist instead."

Matt hummed in response, a half-smile on his face. "Alright, what color is your costume?"

"What?" Peter felt like he'd gotten whiplash from the sudden change.

"One of the perks to you knowing who I am is not having to pretend to see things like color."

"No, I just- wait do colors feel different? Different colors are made by different materials and chemical combinations, you might be able to feel it, though I guess with different surfaces for the colors and the variety of ways we dye or color things it would be hard to pick out." Peter put a hand on his chin, continuing to mutter about whether or not colors had different feels to them.

"Peter." Matt knew if he let Peter keep going, the kid would try to rope him into some kind of experiment.

"Oh! Right, uh, it's blue and red with a black spider design in the middle. Ned and I made it together, it's really cool looking."

"What shade blue and red? How easily can people see it in the dark?"

"Pretty bright. I wanted people to see me easily and know they were safe, you know? I didn't really think about the whole stealth thing until you talked about it. I can normally get by sneaking with it on, but I think that's because people don't expect someone to be on the ceiling or above them."

Matt nodded in what he assumed was Peter's direction before digging around in his gym bag and throwing a spare black shirt at Peter. "It's going to be like putting a Band-Aid on something that needs stitches but put that on."

"Not that I'm like questioning your wise judgement or anything, but why?"

"We're going out. That's what we'll start doing from now on, so we can tackle things together. I'm sure you do plenty on your own in Queens, but you've never mentioned working against organized crime there. I'll give you firsthand experience, and I get a little back up. The Irish are planning something next week, so it works out. Tonight will be a practice run and recon, then the Irish, and then we can figure out how training will look from now on." Matt could sit there and keep sparring with Peter and showing him new moves or instructing Peter on how to hone his senses, but actual experience with Matt guiding him on what to work on, that would be more effective. Plus, Matt really did need to figure out what the Irish were planning. A second set of ears wouldn't hurt.

Peter lit up in excitement. He knew he shouldn't get excited about the idea of crime but getting to go out with Daredevil and fight alongside him was a dream come true. However, that still didn't answer Peter's question. "Why the black shirt, though?"

"I don't want Spider-Man to be associated with Daredevil." When Peter seemed to quiet down at that answer, Matt continued quickly, "I've made a lot of enemies, and I don't want them to be your problem. Plus, Spider-Man has a much friendlier disposition than Daredevil. It's hard to be known as a friendly neighborhood hero when you're seen in a different neighborhood with a vigilante known for putting people in comas."

"Oooooh that makes a lot of sense. I totally don't mind being associated with Daredevil, by the way, but next time I'll bring my own black clothes to wear over the Spider-Man costume to keep our partnership on the down low." Peter slipped the long-sleeve shirt over his head. It was a little big on him, but at least it wouldn't hinder his movement.

Matt waited until Peter was dressed, and he had the kid's full attention. "Before we go, there are a few ground rules I have for this." At Peter's nod, Matt continued, "You have to listen to me the entire time. Some of the people we might run across are nasty. They won't hesitate to do whatever they can to kill you, and I need to know you'll listen if I tell you to run. Second is to try to only use your webs when you have to. If you use them, it'll be a dead giveaway who you are. Third is if you get hurt, get away from anyone you might be fighting."

Peter nodded. "I can do that."

Not hearing Peter's heart waver or any other indication the kid might be lying, Matt stretched his arms a little and started for the door. "Alright. We're getting up on the roof of the building across from us. From there, we'll see how you keep up without your webs."

Matt's smirk was met with Peter's determined and excited grin. "You'll be the one trying to keep up, old man!"

Peter did end up keeping up with Matt, if only due to his enhanced agility and ability to stick to walls. Matt had no regrets taking Peter out for training. Matt did, however, have regrets when he remembered he hadn't asked about why Foggy got cookies and not him. It was a matter of great importance.

Notes:

Karen, Foggy, and Matt being a comedy trio was really fun to write in this chapter, and Matt over-analyzing how he teaches Peter while wanting what's best for Peter is fun. We're getting closer and closer to the events of Homecoming, but for now a little more Matt and Peter bonding time. The next chapter is both the longest and one of my favorites again.

Also as a question, especially to those who've read my other fics, would there be any interest in a Team Red fic where Peters 20 and roommates with Deadpool and it starts with Deadpool 'accidentally' trying to kill Matt?

But, thanks for reading, kudo-ing, commenting, and bookmarking this fic! I hope you all continue to enjoy it!