New Chapter...
Not as long between updates that time. This chapter is pretty much set up I won't lie. We're getting there I promise.
As always, please review :)
The word on the street was the Kingpin was furious over the event at the docks. Which meant unless it was necessary, Kate was pulled from street level duty, would only be surveillance and always have someone with her for a while.
As expected, this angered the young spy in a lot of ways but there was no getting around it. Thankfully, for now, they agreed that Peter could be one of the ones to watch her back instead of one of the adults.
"How far up are we going?" Kate asked, face buried into Peter's neck as he swung them through the streets. She hadn't looked up yet to see where they were. She trusted Peter not to drop her, but this wasn't her favorite way to travel.
"Not far." Peter replied having heard her over the rushing wind.
They had finished with their general patrol of the city, helping the little guy, and they were getting ready to head back but Peter said that he wanted to go one place first. It just happened to feel like they were swinging up instead of forwards.
Finally, they landed on something solid. Kate slowly peeled herself away from her boyfriend, his hands staying solid on her waist as she turned to look where they were. She gasped, startled to find that they were over 1400' above the ground standing on the roof of Central Park Tower.
The cool evening spring wind pulled her wind-swept curls back and forth as she looked around. They were moderate distance from the edge, so she felt safe to step away from Peter's arms. Reaching up, she quickly fastened the longer than she was used to locks into a messy bun at the base of her neck, so she didn't have to worry about it obstructing her view.
The view of the city from this height was breathtaking.
"Wow…" She breathed as she stared wide eyed at the city.
"This was one of my favorite places to sit on the slow nights to take a break." Peter said shadowing her footsteps.
She looked down at Central Park, smiling to see it lit up in spots, her gaze trailing around to the many lights about the city. So many people all living completely unique lives.
She smiled as Peter stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She placed her hands over his, feeling the material of his mask that he gripped in one hand, just enjoying the peaceful moment.
…
Peter followed her gaze, and he was reminded of how much he loved his city. He loved having Kate here in his city and her loving it as much as he did.
"Tony bought the top floor penthouse here." He said after a moment.
Kate tilted her head slightly, listening to him.
"He said that it wasn't practical for us to commute to school from the compound every day." He continued. "So, it'll be a central location for the team to use but mainly it's for us to be able to live in the city without drawing too much attention like Avengers Tower."
"Make's sense." She replied with a shrug of the shoulder he wasn't resting on. They stood, content for a while before Kate shifted slightly so she could look at him. "I know I've asked this before, but have you thought about the "what if" of someone finding out that you've been adopted by Tony Stark?"
Peter felt his stomach go cold at the words. The school had done a great job of hiding all that information from the student body; Principal Morita had been very sympathetic towards Peter on losing May, though shocked the Tony Stark had arranged for them to have a meeting when no one would be around.
It wasn't that he wasn't grateful to Tony and Pepper, but Peter didn't want to go through that again at school. Suddenly being the sad boy that lost his family again. He couldn't stomach the sympathy, the words of encouragement, or worse the hounding questions and spotlight when they found out who adopted him. When they were initially planning, Pepper had been the first one to voice that it should be kept from the public eye and Tony had whole heartedly agreed.
"I don't know." He replied honestly. Kate's question was fair, but for now, it was a 'we'll cross that bridge when we get there' approach.
…
The move into the tower wasn't overly complicated. Happy vetted the movers, arranged for everything, all the teens had to do was show up and set up their rooms. Peter sat in the middle of his room on the floor, a little overwhelmed with the amount of space that he now had to work with as a bedroom. It felt like the size of the entire apartment he shared with May.
With that thought in mind, he looked at the two boxes full of the things from his apartment. Most of it had been thrown away or donated but there were all the photos from the apartment, a few things that belonged to his parents, and a few things that had belonged to May. He was grateful that Kate had helped him find the things to keep.
A knock on the door caught his attention. Pepper smiled at him from the doorway, dressed in comfy clothes, having changed from working at the office. "How's set up coming?" She asked.
"I got most of it." Peter replied. "I don't have enough stuff to fill the space."
Pepper chuckled. "We'll good thing you have access to Tony's cards." She replied.
Peter laughed. Tony had given him his own credit card but Peter in truth had no idea what to buy. He had clothes, his stuff for school, and though Tony rolled his eyes, he liked refurbishing the old tech he found. Plus, he already had access to Tony's tech and Tony had insisted he have a brand-new laptop for school.
"We're ordering food." Pepper told him the reason for coming to find him. "Tony wants pizza, Kate wants Thai, Natasha wants Indian, and Clint wants burgers."
"What do you want?" Peter asked.
Pepper shrugged. "I'd rather have Thai." She replied.
"I feel like Thai is the way to go." Peter smiled.
Pepper smiled fondly at him and went to tell the others.
…
Kate stood on top of a chair, drawing on her wall with colorful chalk having convinced Tony to let her turn one wall into a chalk board. She had an idea swirling in her head when they had done the walkthrough of the penthouse and she wanted to get it out before she decorated the rest of the room.
"What are you drawing?"
She looked at Peter who was standing in the doorway, head tilted to the side, his phone held loosely in one hand at his side. "It's not done yet." She replied simply.
"I gathered." He laughed easily. "Pepper said food is here."
"One second." She replied making a sweeping line.
She felt him walk closer, but she gave a shriek of surprise when she was suddenly pulled backwards, laughing as she ended up in his arms bridal style. "Not fair." She mock glared at him.
"But you smiled." Peter pointed out setting her on her feet, kissing her quickly.
She returned the kiss easily and they walked out to get dinner.
…
They were all sitting in the living room eating dinner watching tv deciding what movie to watch; Peter and Kate were texting the group chat with Ned to make plans for him to come study at the penthouse after school on Friday.
The local news reporter mentioned Fisk and they all stopped to pay attention.
"Wilson Fisk was seen in public for the first time today with his family, wife Vanessa, and their young son Richard." The reporter was saying in voice-over as they displayed the shaky camera work as reporters swarmed in front of the building that Fisk was walking in to, all clamoring with questions. "He has previously asked that his family be left alone during this period of adjustment after his release."
"Even the great Tony Stark has worked to keep his family away from the spotlight." Fisk said, seemingly paying a compliment in his polite tone.
Everyone's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Kate glanced at Peter who looked pale.
As the camera cut back to the studio there was a suffocating quiet in the room as they processed the brief statement. The problem was no one knew how much they were going to have to worry.
…
A week passed. Then a second, and third. They were getting closer to summer break, and nothing had happened. Kate was too suspicious not to continue being on alert, but all her online research, her hacking abilities, the vast spy network that had been cast, nothing had produced anything that would connect Fisk's words to actually knowing anything about the adoption.
There was one week left of school and to take a break from studying for finals, Peter and Kate agreed on a daytime date Saturday afternoon. They took Lucky for a walk through Central Park and spent the day getting lost in the city.
They walked by a camera and film store, and Peter paused for a second before trying to continue their walk.
"Hold on." Kate said, pulling on his hand. "You wanna go look?"
"Nah." Peter smiled. "I was just glancing."
Kate didn't give in to his gentle pull back on her hand. "Peter, I've seen the photos you've taken with your phone. They're really good." She said stepping back further, their arms held taught between them. "Let's go see if there's one that you like."
Peter hesitantly gave in and followed her into the store. Lucky lolled his tongue as he hugged close to Kate's legs. Considering the PTSD and her potential hearing issues, Kate had gotten Lucky certified as a service dog, so he followed faithfully into the store with them, the picture of perfection in training.
Kate watched as Peter skimmed over the cameras, but smiled as she realized he knew which one he was looking for. He had done his research of course.
"You know…" Kate said quietly against his shoulder. "You do have Tony's card now."
"I don't know…" Peter said hesitantly.
Kate rolled her eyes. Tony had practically been begging Peter to buy things that he wanted; he wanted Peter to feel at home despite everything that had happened and the drastic difference in living arrangements now.
It took a few more prods and reassurances that Tony would want him to buy the camera before they walked out of the store with the Leica camera, a long lens and a protective bag for all of it. Peter paused them at the crosswalk as an SUV pulled away from the curb and went through the intersection.
They continued on their walk, stopping at Mr. Delmar's to get lunch.
"Hey Mr. Delmar." They chorused as the bell announced their arrival.
"Mr. Parker, Miss. Bishop." Mr. Delmar smiled. "It's been a while."
Not since before May had passed.
"Sorry, school and everything has been so crazy." Kate replied, hand subtly tightening on Peter's hand. "Can we get—" She looked at Peter. "Babe, the usual?"
"Yeah." Peter snapped out of his thoughts and smiled. "Two #5's please."
If Mr. Delmar noticed that Peter was behaving differently, he didn't comment. They got their sandwiches to go and went to walk towards home. Kate looked up and noticed a black SUV parked across the intersection from them.
"Let's take the subway back." She said looking up at him. Peter looked at her curiously. She rarely suggested the subway, it made her nervous. She smiled. "My legs are tired."
He let it go quickly and the proceeded to the subway.
They stepped on to their line and Kate carefully watched the passengers that got on as she listened to Peter telling her about the camera, asking questions so he knew she was listening. She clocked one passenger getting on, dressed in a hoodie and jacket, hood pulled up. She frowned slightly but turned her attention to Peter while keeping one eye on the passenger.
The train stopped a few stops away from their final destination.
She counted down the seconds. "Come on." Kate said after a second, pulling Peter's hand, Lucky at her hip and they exited just before the doors closed.
Turning to look back she saw the passenger standing at the door, having just missed it.
"What was that?" Peter asked suddenly, looking at her concerned.
"We're being followed." Kate replied heading towards the exit.
Peter kept pace instantly. "Are you sure?" He asked.
Kate grit her teeth. "I'm positive."