3 Months Ago
"Thank you Mr Finnigan and Ms Brown for joining me today, I know this was sudden, but I'm certain you'll be happy to hear the news I bring," Kingsley Shackebolt, member of the order of the phoenix, a legendary Auror and the Acting Minister of Magic to the less than functioning Wizarding World, sat at his desk in his office, portraits of previous Ministers of Magic hung behind him. Across from him sat the two said Aurors in-training, both awkwardly looking away from one another with their arms crossed. "Now… as I'm sure the both of you are aware, out of your entire grade, 99% of you all were eligible to become Aurors, the highest ratio in the entirety of recorded Wizarding History. 92% pursued the career path of becoming an Auror, which means the Ministry has been stretched thin trying to prepare training, tests and most importantly… missions for you all. So I hope the two of you understand why there's been such a wait?"
"Of course, Minister," the two nodded, still refusing to look at one another.
"I also wanted to clarify that Aurors in-training were able to select a partner that they would be spending their majority of training with, as well as their first mission together?" Kingsley asked, raising an eyebrow as he awaited an answer from either of them.
"Y-yes," Lavender mumbled.
"Very good, Ms Brown, and I must always remind you both that the Ministry's resources are being stretched as thin as possible to make sure our next generation of Aurors are trained properly. And I say this all, so that I can kindly tell you, that your request to find other partners in the Auror training program has been denied unceremoniously," Kingsley smiled, watching the two stiffen uncomfortably in annoyance. "And let this be a life lesson to not let the honeymoon stage of a relationship take over your judgment abilities. I'm not putting a halt and reshuffling the current mission plan for a little trouble in paradise, and I hope it won't affect the abilities you two have shown as competent sorcerers and be a detriment to the mission I'm about to sign the both of yous on?"
"No, it won't, Minister," Seamus answered.
"Good, so, let's get this briefing started so we can get you two sent off as soon as possible," Kingsley reached under his desk, pulling out a file and opening it to the first page, sliding it over to Lavender and Seamus. "I usually don't like assigning personal missions to Aurors, but I figured the two of you tackling this mission would be safer then someone like Mister Potter."
Hearing his remark made about Harry, Lavender and Seamus sat up, shocked to see a picture of Draco Malfoy and his mother and father, Lucius and Narcissa next to a picture of a large skyscraper dotted with hexagonal windows. "Following the Battle of Hogwarts, we were alerted a year later that the Malfoy's had fled the country, so we began searching rapidly. Unfortunately, they hid their tracks well, for 3 years they've been roaming free Merlin knows where, doing whatever they wish. That was until a couple of months ago," Kingsley took back the file, leaving the photos in front of the two Aurors. "A month ago we found out that Lucius had just struck a deal and purchased Oscorp Industries, a pharmaceutical and technological R corporation from the at the time CEO, Donald Menken. This, as I'm sure the two of you are able to put together, is extremely dangerous. The fact he was able to purchase one of the most profitable companies in America, worth roughly $3.1 billion, is concerning enough on its own, but things are never that easy for us."
Kingsley flicked deeper into the file, pulling out more photos and dumping them onto the table. Lavender reaching out with a steady hand, flicking through the three pictures, one displayed a bipedal lizard man, one a man made of blue energy, almost like a patronus charm, and the final one displaying a grotesque man who looked around her and Seamus's age, a disfigured body with sickly green skin. "Oscorp has been the leading engineers in cross species genetics and hybrids for the past 20 years, from replacing faulty and mutated cells that lead to genetic diseases in people with cells that belong to lizards. To experimental treatments to help cure seemingly incurable diseases, for example, Retroviral Hypodysplasia, and as you can tell from that image, the cure didn't exactly turn out as expected."
Lavender shuddered, placing the pictures back on the table, Kingsley sliding the file back over to the two of them again. "So, the mission's simple, I want the two of you to infiltrate Oscorp, get in, shut down whatever Lucius has planned, get him, Narcissa and Draco into custody, and return, should only take a month, and upon your return, your Auror training will be completed! Apologies again for the long wait, but I'm hoping this won't take long."
"Course not, Minister, we'll be in and out before ye c-"
"Let's not make promises we can't keep Mr Finnigan," Kingsley shut him down, watching the Irish Auror's shoulders drop in disappointment. "Accommodation has been sorted out, I expect bi-weekly updates, and for Merlin's sake, be careful, New York is far from the safest place on the planet, understood?"
"Of course, Minister," the two Aurors nodded in tandem, Kingsley standing up from his seat, his baggy blue robes moving with each step as he bowed, the two sorcerers following in his wake.
"I wish the both of you the best of luck," Kingsley smiled.
Lavender and Seamus both reached for the file, however upon catching each other reaching for it, Seamus retracted his hand, looking away awkwardly. "T-thank ye, Minster, I- we won't disappoint," he corrected himself, turning and taking his leave.
Lavender non-verbally agreed, nodding at Kingsley as she picked up the file, hearing the door click shut as Seamus left she too took her leave. "Brown," Kingsley called out, stopping Lavender in her tracks. "Please, pack as many Wolfsbane potions as possible, I don't want anything bad happening to you and I'm afraid… New York isn't what I'd call friendly to-"
"I get it," Lavender interrupted him, her free hand snaking up to her neck, covering the large scar left from the attack at the Battle of Hogwarts. "Thank you for the concern though, Minister."
"It's my job to be concerned about you young sorcerers," Kingsley laughed. "But, if I may? A piece of advice?"
Lavender nodded.
"I understand that working with Finnigan isn't the desired outcome due to recent events, but I hope that you're both mature enough to treat this as work and not… a couples reconciling session or a chance to get back at one another, you'd be surprised how often that happens. But, I don't want you to think this is a personal call out, if anything, I'm telling you because I'm certain you have the emotional maturity to listen without storming out at the baseless accusation."
Lavender couldn't help but snicker at the comment, dropping her hand from her neck. "You have no need to worry, Minister, things will be kept completely professional, I promise."
Present Day
"Please, the honour's all mine really, plus it means I'm finally paying off a debt I owe Kingsley," Stephen Strange greeted, the once Sorcerer Supreme making his way up the stairs of the Sanctum Sanctorum. At the entrance of the Sanctum stood Lavender and Seamus, the two carrying their luggage as they looked around at the seemingly endless bookshelves and the mystical items kept in secured glass boxes. "I'm assuming the two of you have been briefed on your mission?" He asked.
"Yes sir," Seamus nodded.
"Good, then I'll keep this short and sweet before the two of you run along for your first day of college," Stephen teased, an audible whine coming from the two. "Now from my understanding the two of you aren't fully accustomed to 'muggle' lifestyles are you? A pure blood and a half-blood if I'm not mistaken?" He asked, Lavender and Seamus nodding. "Not the most ideal for an infiltration mission but you're thin of resources so 'nuff said. First of all, the Sanctum will be acting as your residence for the time you're here, there's no curfew, the two of you aren't children, however I'm also not your parent, take these to the bank."
Stephen held out two cheques, the two Aurors taking them and seeing their names suddenly fade onto the piece of paper. "This'll be your allowance for the time being, I know this is an infiltration mission but you're also visiting New York, gods know when or if this opportunity will roll around again so try and have a little fun, but keep the magic to a minimum in public, I know, that should be obvious, but I'd rather run the risk of annoying the two of you before any trouble starts circulating around here, understood?"
"Yes sir," Lavender and Seamus nodded simultaneously.
"Jesus, don't sound too excited," Stephen scoffed. "I'm not the fun police, you can show a little emotion at least," he added, rolling his eyes at the miserable looking youth, turning around and continuing his way up the stairs. "Actually! One more thing. I know the both of you are young adults, but for my sake don't go around making childish decisions or tomfoolery, and if you meet with someone, take it back to their place, not here."
"But I thought ye just said ye weren't gonna treat us as children?" Seamus pointed out.
"Young adults." Stephen corrected him. "And trust me, when you're my age, you'll see plenty of young adults making just as many childish decisions as teenagers do."
"Speakin' of which, I was wonderin' how old ye have to be to be called 'The Sorcerer Supreme'. So how old are ye, 100? 115?" Seamus asked; the question genuinely innocently and formed from curiosity, not malice.
Stephen froze, slowly turning back around to face the two of them. "Are you interested in finding your own accommodation Mr Finnigan?"
"N-no sir," Seamus shook his head.
The doors to the Sanctum Sanctorum slammed shut, Lavender and Seamus standing awkwardly on the footpath, but the fact their luggage remained inside was a good sign they hadn't completely lost accommodation. "M-maybe I coulda asked that a tad nicer," Seamus awkwardly chuckled. "I'll let ye do the talkin' next time, eh?"
Lavender rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she sighed, turning and continuing her way down the footpath, Seamus following in suit.
"Lav! Please!" Seamus pestered, catching up with her. "Look… I know this ain't ideal but can we try and-"
"Keep things normal?" Lavender interrupted him.
"Yes!" Seamus blurted out, making the error of stopping as Lavender kept marching forward, quickly running after her before he'd lose her. "I- I didn't mean for that to come out like that, but I know this isn't-"
"You ended things, Seamus, not me. I was fully aware that we'd be working together come time to complete our Auror training, and if you want to keep things 'normal', then we're keeping communication strictly to on the field dueling, and writing our bi-weekly reports for Kingsley. And thank Merlin that we were given different posts whilst we were here, because if I had to spend everyday with you, I would've crucioed you into next week!" Lavender shouted, jabbing Seamus in the chest, making sure to make as big of a scene as possible, a few onlookers turning and snickering at the argument.
Seamus's face began to burn, cheeks flushing red as he scanned the pedestrians around them. "L-Lav… can we not do this-"
"Lavender. That's my name, Finnigan, start using it," Lavender hissed, marching off into an alleyway and apparating into thin air, Seamus following after her.
The two reapparated into an alleyway across the other side of the city, their black cloaks swishing in the air before succumbing to gravity. Stepping out onto the pathway approaching a bank smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, it towered over most of the buildings around it, hell, it would've successfully been able to tower over Gringotts, though Seamus doubted it would've had as much underground vault spacing. "Careful, Strange just said we shouldn't be usin' magic all-"
"For Merlin's sake Seamus, I went into an alleyway, nobody saw me, and if it concerns you so much then take a cab. If I have a magic cheat code to teleport around the city, then I'm gonna use it," Lavender grumbled, still fastly approaching the bank as Seamus trailed her to the entrance.
He knew if he kept pestering her it would only end in a full blown argument, which of course would be fully justified, afterall; the two hadn't spoken fully since the breakup, but he'd much rather they wait until arriving back at the Sanctum before discussing it. Entering the bank, Seamus marvelled at the glaring differences between this bank and Gringotts, where Gringotts had large stone architecture that allowed the elves to watch over any wizard or witch who entered. This bank was much sleeker, tables spread throughout the ground floor with bankers and customers having one on one conversations, and counters pressed towards the back of the floor, a thick layer of security glass blocking off the employee from behind the counter and the customer. Seeing the counter to be far faster, Lavender made her way over to the shortest lane of customers she could find, pulling her cheque out from her cloak and crossing her arms. "You could've chosen another lane."
Seamus took his place behind Lavender, patiently waiting to be served. "I coulda, but I choose this one, there a problem with that?" he asked, pulling out his own cheque.
"Suppose not," Lavender scoffed, a couple of months ago she would've found this endearing, but now it was just an annoying and bitterly painful reminder of what he had ended.
An awkward silence fell over the two, the only noise that broke the unspoken tension between the two of them being their own footsteps as they approached the counter and the employees behind the desk. "L-Lavender…" Seamus started. "I know I ended things… but I meant it when I said I wanted things to be… normal between us, I don't want to have things be so awkward, for my sake or yers… so I was wondering, after classes today would ye like to grab dinner-"
"No," Lavender bluntly answered.
"Lavender… please, I know I said we needed take a break but-"
"But nothing. You answered your own question, you said we needed a break, and usually a break is code for 'hey I was really happy during the first couple of weeks/months, but now I'm starting to see that… that we don't mix, but it's fine, we'll just have a break and eventually we'll just never speak to each other ever again'. And if you need a break that's fine, just don't come crawling back now," Lavender chastised, pinching the bridge of her nose and looking down at the floor.
"But I didn't mean it like that Lavender, I swear, I- I only thought we needed some time apart because… because…" Seamus choked on his words, he had the reason in his head, perfectly planned out on how he'd say it, but when it was about to leave his mouth, he couldn't manage anything but word vomit.
"Stop, Seamus. You're only doing this… you're only doing this because you don't like that you and I aren't speaking, it's eating you up inside and that's why you want to try and do this, to make yourself comfortable again, and I get that, but things aren't going to work out between us if that's the sole reason we get back together," Lavender explained, Seamus opened his mouth to speak again before getting shushed by Lavender. "Don't. I… I get it, things didn't work out between us, but drop it, go find someone new, and move on, I promise you that feeling will go away when you just accept we're over," Lavender closed her eyes, her throat tightening and tear ducts moistening, she had to go through this process with Ron once before, she didn't want to have to go through it with Seamus again.
"Next, please."
Without waiting for Seamus to speak, Lavender stepped forward, placing her cheque on the counter. "Hi, I was just wondering if I'd be able to deposit this cheque please."
"Of course, I'll just need some identification," the clerk asked.
"Oh! Right," Lavender reached into her cloak again, pulling out the driver's license Stephen had forged for the both of them, passing it to the cashier.
"Ah, Miss Brown. Would you like to deposit this into your savings or receive the cash now?"
Lavender blinked awkwardly. "I- the… the one that requires the little card?" she stammered, she was used to just getting a small bag of gold anytime she went to Gringotts.
"Into your savings then?" the clerk asked, Lavender nodding. "Very well, let me just quickly process this."
Lavender watched as the clerk took a stand from her small cramped desk, walking to the back of the cubicle all the cashiers worked in. At the same time, a group of sharply dressed men approached the counter next to Lavender, one holding a large and worn down brown suitcase. "And what can I do for you gentlemen today?" their clerk asked.
Before anybody could react, the 'leader' of the small group suddenly pulled a gun from his suit, firing at the cashier and shattering the glass between them. The gunshot echoed throughout the bank as the other cashiers let out screams of terror, more men who dressed in the same fashion began revealing themselves throughout the ground floor, pulling out their own firearms and flipping the tables over. It took Lavender a good moment to register what exactly was happening, and upon realising someone had just been shot, she scanned the area around them, seeing that most if not everybody who was lined up either dropped to the ground or made a sprint to the front door.
The doors to the bank slammed shut, a couple of more gunshots ringing in Lavender's ear as the men began firing in the air, causing everybody to drop to the ground in a swift motion, everybody except for her. Instinctively, she began reaching for her wand before she was tackled to the ground by Seamus, quickly hiding them behind a flipped over table as the armed men began putting on animal themed masks, disguising their identities. "Seamus! What are y-"
"Are you insane?!" he whispered. "Everybody woulda seen ye, just wait for the cops, they're only guys with guns."
"Be careful where you shoot!" one of the armed men shouted, sporting an elephant mask. "Boss doesn't want us killing anyone, except for him at least."
"Where is the boss anyway?" another asked, wearing a falcon mask.
"Here," the leader shouted, now wearing a bear mask, he threw the suitcase onto the ground, watching it twitch and jump as if it was alive. The case suddenly burst open, thick, green smoke began flooding out from it, drowning the room in it as a man arose from the suitcase.
"Gentlemen, please, make way for MYSTERIO!" As the smoke around the case began to fade, the figure became clearer, revealing a man dressed in a thick purple cloak that obscured most of his body, and what looked to Lavender; a divination crystal ball as a head.
"Mysterio?" Lavender murmured, turning to Seamus who shrugged in just as much confusion.
"The Master of the Mystic Arts has returned! It's been far too long, hasn't it my fellows?" Mysterio asked, turning to his subordinates who nodded eagerly. "The silent alarm has most definitely been triggered by now! Which means we'll have around a minute and a half before law enforcement arrives, even less if a particular friend feels like dropping by. So, let's not waste anymore time, chaps, chop chop!"
Just at his command, Mysterio's subordinates ran over to the counters, rapidly firing at the glass and forcefully dragging the cashiers out, only leaving the clerk who had been shot. "Boss! The streets have been cleared! Red and Blue are gonna be here soon!" An assailant shouted, piering out the windows that were built into the door.
"Very well!" Mysterio threw his hand into the air, the walls suddenly cloaked in thick black smog.
"Master of the Mystic Arts…? He's impressive… too impressive," Lavender thought to herself. He didn't use spoken incantations, no wand, but with just the flick of his wrist he was doing what took Lavender her entire first year at Hogwarts to learn.
"No need to fret gentlemen, even if law enforcement breach before we collect our debt, I promise you, we will ALL be walking out of here alive!" Mysterio cheered, throwing his fist into the air, rallying on his goons as they began running up the stairs, towards where the vaults were kept.
"We need to do something!" Lavender muttered, drawing her wand from her cloak.
"Hey! Wait a minute. Let's think about this for a few more seconds before ye try and kill yerself!" Seamus whispered, grabbing onto Lavender's wrist.
"No, we need to stop this guy!" Lavender rebutted, yanking her arm away from his grasp.
"And risk blowin' our cover?"
"Better than innocent people's lives!"
"This is Lucius we're talkin' about Lav-Lavender, if we intervene now then we'll be across the news in a day, and I reckon' out of the country in 2! and Merlin knows what Lucius could and will do to these innocent people if we don't stop him now!" Seamus argued. "Please, let's just apparate out of 'ere, go find Strange, and brin' him back here to deal with this!" He begged.
Lavender went silent, considering Seamus's offer for a moment when her nose began to twitch. She ran her hand through the small pool of green smoke that remained, coming to the dreaded realising wasn't smoke, rather gas. "Seamus! Cover your mouth, quickly!" She shouted, swiftly covering her mouth and nose with the fabric of her cloak.
Seamus followed her command, the two coming to realise just how lightheaded they were. The sound of people slumping over and collapsing catching Lavender's attention as she slowly poked her head around the corner of the table. Watching Mysterio stand idly as civilians passed out all around him, as if he were unaware of the carnage around him. "Lavender, don't-"
"Stupefy!" "Lavender's voice was muffled by her cloak as she cast the spell. The charm flying from her wand and to her surprise, right through Mysterio, colliding with the wall instead.
Now aware, Mysterio slowly turned around, chuckling softly and wagging his finger. "Oh you poor, stupid, stupid thing…" he teased, and like that, he vanished into thin air, stunning Lavender. Had he apparated? How on earth did her spell do no damage, no, how did it fly through him like he wasn't tangible.
"Lav- What- Where?" Seamus pointed at where Mysterio once was.
Uninterested in Seamus's question, Lavender bolted up the stairs, the Irish Auror in toe a few moments later. Upon arriving at the second floor, Lavender clutched her cloaked firmer, the entire floor was drowned in thick green smoke and gas, obscuring their surroundings and the armed goons who surveyed the floor unaffected.
"Hey! How're you two still moving!?" the bear masked crook shouted, emerging from the green mist, gun aimed at Seamus.
"Riddikulus!" Lavender shouted, the bullet fired from his gun morphing into a stream of bubbles. "Stupefy!" she then cast, knocking to the floor stunned.
"I- thanks," Seamus awkwardly chuckled, frustrated that he had been caught off guard by something as simple as a muggle gun.
Lavender kicked the mask off of the man, watching him gasp as the gases swept into his mouth and down his throat, his eyes darting to her face. "Obliviate," a ball of light illuminated at the end of Lavender's wand, reflecting in the man's eyes for a moment before it fizzled out. "Let's make sure these guys don't see our faces, alright?"
Despite not wanting to go along with the plan, Seamus nodded reluctantly, following Lavender. Navigating their way through the blooming green smog, they occasionally bumped into the mask men, swiftly disposing of them with a 'Stupefy'. Eventually the two arrived at the room holding the vaults, of which at least a dozen were open, a particular one leaking a rather fresh trail of green. The two bolted into the vault, catching Mysterio in the middle of stuffing a duffle bag with green stacks of cash and jewelry. Rather than casting another spell and risking letting him slip away, Lavender charged at Mysterio, going to tackle him to the ground. However, just like her spell from before, she passed through him as if he wasn't even there.
"Lavender! Where'd he go?!" Seamus shouted, Mysterio, bag and money included having vanished into thin air.
"I must say, I was saving that trick for a certain insect I wanted squashed, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose!" Mysterio now stood at the entrance to the vault, at least three duffle bugs hanging off of his shoulders. "Tootles~"
The door to the vault slammed shut, trapping the Aurors in the gas filled room. "Dammit!" Lavender shouted, slamming her fist against the thick metal door.
"Sir…!" Lavender's ear perked up at the sound of voices from outside the vault, they were muffled to all hell, but they were audible. "The police have breached the building, they're evacuating the civilians and waiting for the other first responders before fully breaching, but he's here!"
"Well… this is certainly an issue, no need to worry though young man. I'll have our rewards teleported out of here and resecure the building upon my arrival, I'll just need you to… hold him off until then."
"H-hold him off? Sir… he's Spider-Man!"
"Spider-Man…?" Lavender muttered under her breath, suddenly snapping back to reality, redrawing her wand. "Bombarda!" Lavender shouted, an orange glow permitting from her wand as the lock suddenly exploded, not enough to entirely break it, but it showed damage. "Seamus, quickly!"
At her urging, Seamus drew his wand, pointing it at the lock. "BOMBARDA!" the two shouted, an explosion rocketing the vault door off its hinges.
Without wasting a moment the two slipped out, catching up with Mysterio who had barely gotten away. "Oh?! My, my, how impressive, was that an explosion I heard just then? Maybe you two were worth the effort!" Mysterio declared, shrugging the duffle bags off of his shoulders, hitting the ground as if they were weightless. Mysterio threw his hand into the air, green smog exploding from his cloak as multiple large snakes began slithering out.
"Sectumsempra!" The two shouted, hoping to slice the snakes to shreds, and like before, their magic seemed obsolete, the snakes continuing to slither towards them. Leaping at them, Lavender and Seamus ducked, the snakes doing no damage and vanishing upon contact. "What is it with this guy and his disappearing acts?!" Lavender hissed to herself.
"You two have some neat tricks up your sleeves," Mysterio purred, stepping forward, holding two fingers in front of his glass dome head. "However… I must say I prefer a different type of magic, the stuff that messes with the brains… y'know?" he snapped his fingers, a flame sparking between his fingers, spreading to the entirety of his hand. The flickering light reflected in his head, making Lavender wonder whether it was a reflection or if a flame was actually ignited in the dome. "Catch."
Mysterio's entire arm was engulfed by the flame, hurling it at them like a bolt of thunder. "Protego!" Lavender waved her wand in the air, reflecting the flame off of an invisible barrier before it collided with them. The flame instead slammed into the wall instead, and without a moment's preparation, the gas combusted into thick orange flames, the entire floor burning around them.
"Huh, I thought that would've ignited the room earlier, how peculiar…" Mysterio pondered, his entire form suddenly consumed by the flame, appearing like a charcoal silhouette. "Please, don't fret. I'll assure you both an expensive funeral~" As the flame dissipated from his form, Mysterio and his multiple duffle bags crumbled to ash. And despite his supposed 'death', Lavender doubted Mysterio was gone.
"Lavender… we gotta-" Seamus coughed into his cloak, their small supply of oxygen getting eaten away by the blazing flames.
"Quickly, we'll go back…. Wait in a vault if we have to!" Lavender shouted, similarly coughing and out of breath. Reaching out, she grasped onto Seamus's wrist, going to lead him towards the stairs as the floor began trembling, a good chunk suddenly collapsing, falling in on itself, robbing them of a majority of the floor.
"I- maybe not that way!" Lavender stammered, turning around again and leading Seamus deeper into the burning building.
"Aguamenti!" Seamus waved his wand behind himself as they marched along, water shooting out from the tip of his wand. Splashing onto and extinguishing the flames for a couple of moments before they'd spark up again. "They ain't goin' out! What is it with this guy!"
"Don't worry about it, just a little further! I can see a window!" Lavender replied, now wheezing as a result of having to drop her cloak from her mouth to wield her wand.
Walking along, Seamus couldn't help but stare at the sleek infrastructure burnt to a crisp, leaving nothing but a pile of ash. Drawn back to reality after admiring the oddly beautiful and nostalgic sight, Seamus was alerted to look up as burnt rubble fell on his head, the roof was starting to collapse. Without thinking twice, Seamus leaped into action, tearing his hand from Lavender's grip, swiftly grabbing onto her instead, bolting towards the window.
"Seamus! Wait! Our cloaks!" Lavender slapped any flames that sparked on her cloak out, practically getting dragged by Seamus at this point.
"We gotta get outta here! The roof-" Seamus was too late. The roof violently trembled before collapsing in on itself, falling at full speed down on the sorcerers. With no concern for himself, Seamus pushed Lavender to the ground, throwing himself on top of her. He clenched every muscle in his body, preparing to be squashed completely by the roof, but it never came.
As more droplets of rubble fell on his head, Seamus and then Lavender looked up, watching as a man clad in red and blue spandex; web patterns running all over his costume, two big bug eye like lenses on his mask and a large spider emblem on his chest, held up what seemed to be the entire roof effortlessly. Just from a look they were able to tell, this was Spider-Man.
"Hey… guys… I know I'm drop dead gorgeous but…a little less ogling and a little more running please!" He shouted, his large, bulging biceps twitching as the roof began breaking into smaller pieces, his lenses sharpening showing his increasing discomfort. "GUYS!" He shouted again, snapping Lavender and Seamus out of their awe.
Not wanting to be asked a third time, Lavender and Seamus kicked themselves up to their feet, bolting towards the window. "Alright… keep… it… steady…" Spider-Man muttered to himself, squatting to adjust to the extra weight. Cringing, he removed one of his hands from holding up the roof, keeping the crumbling roof up with a singular hand, shooting a web from his wrist that stuck onto the wall next to the window.
"Alright… c'mon… just… just a few more… seconds!" Spider-Man stepped back, the web strand twitching as he applied pressure to it. "C'mon! Just gotta…" He watched as Lavender and Seamus arrived at the window. "Now!"
Spider-Man let the roof slip from his grasp, slingshotting himself with the web towards the window, tackling Lavender and Seamus out of the window. The glass shattered as the three were hurled out of the bank, Spider-Man landing them safely outside the bank, flames roaring out of the now open window, sizzling at the oxygen. "Wow! That was… a close one!" The masked hero chuckled, unwrapping his arms from Lavender and Seamus. "You two alright?"
"Yeah… just a little… dazed," Seamus nodded.
"Hey, you two almost burnt to death, I'd be a little more than dazed!" Spidey chuckled, slapping Seamus's shoulder and turning to Lavender. "You alright ma'am?"
Lavender seemed catatonic as she stared in awe at the row of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, all helping the evacuated civilians and the thieves, all of whom had been presumably saved by him. At the same time even more civilians gathered around the bank behind police barricades, cheering and holding signs for the arachnid themed hero. "Hey! Lady, you good?!" Spider-Man jumped in front of Lavender, grabbing onto her shoulders and shaking her slightly. "You need to see a doctor?... No? You want a picture? Trust me, I know I'm devilishly handsome but I don't wanna steal the spot in your heart reserved for your boyfriend."
"Not… he's not my boyfriend…" Lavender stammered. Too distracted by her own reflection in his lenses to realise how bluntly she had answered the question. Hell, she was too distracted to realise how weirdly she was reacting to his soft hands on her shoulders, her heart throbbing and face warming up.
"Ohhhhhhhhh…" Spidey cringed, his lenses sharpening. "I… I… That'ssssssssss…" he tapped his fingers together, pulling away from Lavender and placing a hand on Seamus's shoulder. "Sorry man… I'm not usually this irresistible."
"I- thanks man," Seamus groaned.
Spidey threw his hands into the air. "Joking! Trust me, my luck with women… nay, people, is at an absolute 0. It's the other super-vigilante in red who's the real man-whore."
"I- what- what are you talkin' about?" Seamus grumbled, less in awe by the hero and far more annoyed.
"I'm rambling too much, aren't I? My bad. The two of you were in there for a while so I'd recommend getting a checkup from the paramedics, don't want any nasties staying cooped up," Spidey suggested, pointing at the ambulances. "And while I have you, would you mind?" Without waiting for an answer, he picked up the bottom of Seamus's cloak, taking a whiff of it.
"Oi! What the bloody hell do ye-"
"WOAH! Jesus…" Spidey coughed, the putrid stench of gas wafting his nose as he dropped Seamus's cloak. "Sorry, I-I didn't mean it like that but lord!" he gagged, waving his hand in front of his nose rapidly. "Not you, I'm sure you smell great, I meant the gases."
"I- right?"
"Anyway, go get yourselves checked out and stay safe! Don't go getting trapped in any burning buildings!" Spidey reminded, waving a hand over his shoulder, turning in the direction of the firefighters.
"Wait!" Lavender shouted, grabbing his attention. "A clerk… She was shot! She was left behind the counter when the armed guys were dragging the others out!"
"Oh, thanks!" Spidey nodded. "I owe you dinner sometime!"
"I- huh?" Lavender's face flushed, the masked hero ignoring her confusion and walking to the firefighters.
"What's the situation, Spidey?!"
"We got a chemical fire, make sure your boys are in masks, alright!" Spidey called out.
"What kind are we talking here?" One of the firefighters asked.
"Uh… Propane… a little methane and if you guys do a good job… maybe some acetylene for desert?" Spidey shrugged.
"Oh, propane? You mean the superior way to grill?"
"Hey! Watch yourself Bernie! Charcoal's better and you know it!" Spidey coughed, pointing a threatening finger at the fire chief before swinging into the burning bank.
Landing on a flipped over table, Spidey examined the burning first floor, thankfully more intact the floor above then, still, he didn't want to stick around to see the future of the floor. "Alright Parker, grab the clerk, get the circus animals cash, and get out!" he thought to himself, leaping off the table and swinging towards the counter. "Hey! Anyone hear me?!"
"D-down here…" Spidey looked down behind one of the counters. The clerk whimpered in panic, her hand pressed against the bullet hole in her shoulder, blood leaking out.
"Good," Spidey jumped down, putting his hand atop of hers, slowly peeling it away, watching as more blood began gushing out. "Haven't lost too much blood… yet…" he sighed, quickly webbing the bullet hole shut, the clerk gasping in pain. "Hey, hey, don't think about that, focus on me, alright? What's your name?"
"B-bianca…" she gasped, Spidey leaning her forward and webbing the hole the bullet flew out from.
"Bianca? That's a nice name," Spidey complimented, slowly tearing her blood-soaked sleeve off. "My name is… Brain Benjamin Todd Michael Bendis," he lied, tying the bloody cloth around her shoulder, stopping the bleeding completely.
"Oh…? And would I be able to Google that?" Bianca sarcastically teased.
"I mean you can try," Spidey shrugged, chuckling. "The webbing'll dissolve in an hour or two, it should disinfect the wound but if it doesn't, I recommend vodka, the cheap stuff, usually does the job. And if you wanna save money, a woman named Claire at Hell's Kitchen Hospital does a hell of a stitching job for half the price during her off hours."
"Hey, I stop all robberies, not just the ones I can punch," Spidey chuckled. "Anway, let's get you-"
Like a bullet had gone off in his head, Spidey's Spider-Sense suddenly went off, swiftly grabbing onto Bianca he rolled the two of them away as the counter they hid behind was destroyed in a gush of fiery wind. "Come out, come out, wherever you are little spider! I missed you so much while I was rotting away in that hellhole you put me in!" Mysterio screamed, his voice echoing throughout the bank.
"You put yourself there, Beck!" Spidey shouted back, resting Bianca against another counter, taking a seat next to her, digging through the draw underneath the desk.
"LYING WREECH! I was saving lives! You couldn't handle sharing the spotlight!" Mysterio shouted, the flames roaring in tandem with his rage.
"You stole from people, innocent people, I wasn't going to stand by and let you get away with that," Spidey recalled, pulling out a plastic water bottle.
"I was taking my debt. I DESERVED my retribution! YOU'RE the egotistical selfless lunatic who wanted no payment for what you did, not me. And what about those Fantastic Four friends of yours you bumbling buffoon!" Mysterio snarled.
"They get paid by the government genius. And you don't need 'retribution' for being selfless, they don't owe you. You choose to be a hero, and maybe if you weren't such a spoiled man-child, we could've gotten along, Beck!"
"... The more you lecture me arachnid… the more I truly relish in the memories of planning your demise. And ohhhhhhh how I truly cannot wait to STRIKE YOU DOWN!" Mysterio roared.
"There's an innocent woman here Beck, she isn't a part of our feud. Let me take her out and I'll come back so that we can finish this. Just you and me."
"She'll be… she will die knowing that she passed for the greater good. She will die knowing it was her sacrifice that killed YOU."
"Shame… I really wanted to like you Beck."
Spidey leaped up from behind the counter, bottle behind his back, he watched as Mysterio wound up an attack. Swiftly throwing the bottle of h20 at the masked villain, the attack Mysterio was throwing countered, the bottle exploding onto the magician. "N- Noooo!" Mysterio snarled, sparks shooting from his gauntlets.
"What's wrong Becky-Boo?" Spidey teased, hurling himself at Mysterio, slamming two body shots into the villain before cracking him in the jaw, his glass dome head suddenly shattering. Revealing the dome was hollow, yet lacked a human head underneath.
"Your poor foolish thing…" Mysterio cooed, his headless body stepping towards Spidey. "You know it'll take a lot more than that to take me down…"
Mysterio's body flopped to the ground with a loud thud, the room suddenly cloaked in pitch blackness. The heat of the flame the only thing that remained. "Finally showing our true colours are we? I heard your men were calling you the 'Master of the Mystic Arts'! Strange could technically sue you for copyright!"
"Oh arachnid… you know better than even I that the truest illusion is our identities…" Mysterio purred, his voice booming all around Spidey.
"C'mon Beck, you wanted to fight me then do it! Or have you already made way with the cash and are keeping me distracted with your illusions?" Spidey asked, constantly spinning around, Mysterio's 'body' flickering away like a projection.
"Oh how simple that would've been… but no. I wanted to kill you, and I'll happily drag myself down with you. If I survive and get the cash, well… that's just a bonus."
"And I'm definitely gonna let you get away With that," Spidey scoffed, holding up his fists. "Come out you pansy showman, you think you're so tough?! I bet I could beat you with one hand!"
"So confident?" Mysterio reappeared behind Spider-Man. "You severely underestimated me…"
As Spidey went to swing at Mysterio, he was suddenly shoved back, bumping into another Mysterio that appeared behind him. "Wait! Wh-" Mysterio suddenly wrapped his arms around the arachnid, holding him in the air and allowing another Mysterio to suddenly appear, punching the web-head in the chest and out of the Mysterios arms. "Jesus Beck… when did you get tangible illusions?" Spidey coughed, slowly getting up off the ground, now surrounded by an entire circle of Mysterios.
"Still confident, arachnid?" All of their voices overlapped, slowly beginning to close in on the hero.
"I-it's dropped down to like… 60% now?" Spidey shrugged, suddenly cracked in the jaw by one of the Mysterios. "Oww, prick! Now you're just askin' for it!" He shouted, clenching his fist and swinging at the Mysterio who punched him, just for his fist to phase through the villain. Whilst he was distracted, the Mysterio behind Apide suddenly walked him in the back of his head, feeling like a cinder block.
Spidey collapsed to the ground, one of the Mysterios taking the opportunity to stomp on his head. "C'mon, get back up!"
"Don't make this easy for me!"
"I want to ENJOY this!"
"GET UP!"
Spidey remained curled up on the floor, feeling each Mysterio stomp on him at a rapid pace, some hit and some didn't, confirming his theory that some of them were most likely holograms, while the other few were mannequins or robots of some sort. Unfortunately, they were never consistent, one that was a presumed hologram one moment would suddenly stomp on him right in the back of his neck as he tried getting back up. "Q-quit tryna read his movements Parker…. Just throw caution to the wind and…" Taking the first opportunity he got, Spidey leaped off of the ground, landing outside the circle of Mysterios. "This is the Master of Illusions, just close your eyes and… magically you'll do the rest," he took a deep breath, closing his eyes, lenses sharpening.
"You think closing your eyes will save you?" One of the Mysterios scoffed.
"It doesn't matter what you do!"
"One way or another, I will kill you!"
"In fact, I might just rip that mask off, reveal your identity to the world?"
"And slaughter everyone you love in front of you!"
"For a guy who has a fish globe on his head, you sure talk a big game!" Spidey teased, raising a hand and beckoning Mysterio towards him with a finger.
In a rage, the Mysterios charged at Spidey, his Spider-Sense blaring rapidly as he rushed towards them, swiftly and effortlessly dodging the hits the Mysterios threw at him. To him, it was pitch blackness, but to Mysterio, Spidey was only dodging the actual attacks that would've injured him, the projections of himself passing through him. "DAMN YOU!" Mysterio screamed, dropping the holograms, cutting the dozen of himself that were there in half, leaving only 6 that rushed at Spidey.
"What's wrong Beck? You seem angry?!" Spidey quipped, rolling under the ensuing attack and swiftly taking out each of the Mysterios, throwing and knocking them to the ground with enough force that they began smoking and cracking with electricity. Another prediction correct, they were robots. With only one robot left, Spidey swiftly kicked it to floor, webbing it down when his Spider-Sense went off again, his hands instinctively wrapping behind him catching an invisible foe behind him, supplexing him over his head and slamming him to the ground in front of him.
With a grunt of pain, the invisibility cloaking on the real Mysterio flickered away, Spidey swiftly grabbing onto his collar and punching his dome head, the glass shattering and revealing the face of Quentin Beck underneath. "W-wait! W-we can talk about this!" Quentin panicked, whatever voice modulator he was using probably broken along with his dome head.
"You wanna talk?" Spidey asked, finally opening his eyes again, the blackness Quentin had emerged them in flickering away as well, returning them to the burning bank. "Then let's talk!"
Outside the bank, Lavender and Seamus now stood behind the police barricades, observing the entrance to the bank eagerly with the rest of the crowd, probably the most silent things had been since they got out there. It didn't last long however, as the doors burst open, Spider-Man walking out with Bianca on one side, still holding onto her bullet wound, and Quentin on the other, his hands webbed behind his back as he hung his head shamefully. The crowd erupted in cheers, Lavender and Seamus both joining in, clapping as the web-head pointed Bianca towards one of the ambulances, his other hand still tightly clamped onto the purple robes draped on Quentin.
"Hey, Becky-boo~ You still with me?" Spidey whispered, nudging the villain with his now free hand.
"Why…" Quentin muttered under his breath, grinding his teeth together whilst he visibly twitched and trembled in anger. "WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO TORMENT M-" Quentin's scream was cut off as a stream of water hit his face with full force, the fire fighters letting out a loud laugh as they slowly turned the hose off, leaving Quentin with a dripping wet face, gasping for air.
"How was that? Refreshing?" Spidey asked.
"H-how dare you do something so CHILDISH to the great MYSTERIO!" Quentin snarled, struggling against the restraints Spidey had put him in as the masked hero walked him towards the police, suddenly shoving him against the hood of one of the cars.
"Sorry, I thought you'd appreciate the refreshment, I heard the ones in the big house aren't very… clean?" Spidey pondered, shrugging the duffle bags he managed to save to the floor.
"I- I WILL-" Quentin went silent, catching sight of Lavender and Seamus in the ground, his throat going dry before his lips curved into a smile. "Oh, they're just horrible, y'know? But I assure you, I'll be out again arachnid, and that's a promise~"
Spidey scoffed. "Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say," he waved over his shoulder, leaving Quentin with the police as he approached the firefighters, watching as a dozen bolted in with fire extinguishers. "Good job today, fellas," Spidey nodded, high-fiving the chief amongst them whilst continuing on his way, approaching the crowd of his adorning fans. "Still wish the cops didn't just put up barricades and let them stay like this is some kind of spectator sport…"
"Spidey! Over here!"
"No! Here, can you sign this for me!"
"GO SPIDEY!"
"I LOVE YOU!"
Laughing awkwardly, Spidey gave a small wave, scanning over the crowd of people and catching Lavender and Seamus in his line of sight, deciding to head over, high-fiving some of his fans on his way. "So, how was the doctor's check up?" he asked, taking a poster from one of his fans and signing it.
Lavender and Seamus remained silent, shocked and baffled that he actually remembered their faces, let alone be able to recognise them amongst the crowd who all stared daggers at them. "I- good, just recommended to try and not inhale any more smoke," Lavender stammered. "Suppose it's a good thing we don't smoke," she chuckled awkwardly.
"Don't smoke? Girl, you're living in New York," Spidey chuckled, passing the poster back. "Don't sweat it, give it a week and your lungs will be used to living here."
"What gave you the impression I wasn't from around here?" Lavender asked.
"The accent, sticks out like a sore thumb around here, hell, you can still hear a bit of Queen's in the back of my throat and I've been living in the city for 2 years now."
"Oh, yeah I can definitely hear it," Lavender nodded, not exactly able to hear nor distinguish it from anyone around him.
"Anyway, just came to stop by to give the mandatory 'Leave it to the pros' speech," Spidey said. "What the two of you did was extremely brave but also extremely stupid, trust me, Beck isn't that much of a threat but he can get people hurt, or worse, killed, and being trapped in a burning down bank doesn't help with the whole staying alive thing. So, I commend your bravery, but leave it to the professionals, we aren't half bad at saving people," he winked.
"I wouldn't think so," Lavender laughed.
"Neither would I, but these boys in blue aren't exactly happy with lil' ol' me, suppose that comes with the territory of doing someone's job better tenfold," Spidey cringed. "But the two of you keep yourselves safe, alright? No burning buildings!" he restated, slowly beginning to walk away, waving to the crowd of fans who began cheering again.
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Lavender shouted back. "Wait!" she called out, stopping the hero in his tracks. "What about that dinner you owe me?" she asked, teasingly batting her eyelashes.
"Hey! I'm not that kind of spider!" Spidey clarified. "I'll swing you by coffee some time, that work?"
Lavender nodded. "I'll keep you too that!" she shouted back, watching Spidey turn to leave. She had no clue why, but for a guy in a mask, he was oddly charming.
Whistling to himself, Spidey watched as the cops properly cuffed Quentin. "And that's my cue to-"
"Spider-Man! Wait!"
At the bequest of the scream, Spidey stopped, turning around and watching as a newswoman ran up to him, her cameraman huffing and puffing behind her, swiftly setting up the old dingy camera and aiming it at the hero and the reporter. "Betty Brant with the Daily Bugles News Broadcasting, I just wanted to ask you some questions before my boss posts his defamatory newspaper about the incident with the bank tomorrow, tell me, what on earth happened in there?" she asked, holding a microphone up to him.
"Oh, Miss Brant? I know who you are, big fan of your work," Spidey complimented, leaning down to speak into the microphone. "And as for what happened here… Beck, Mysterio, I'm sure he's got his fans out there, seems to have used the robbery and fire as a way to lure me towards him so that he could…" he drew a line at his neck. "But thankfully, no casualties, which is really all that matters."
"Wonderful, and while we have you here, so we can rebuttal any claims that may be possibly made in any newspapers tomorrow morning, were you or were you not working with Beck in an attempt to make a profit?" Betty asked.
"Well, that's an oddly specific question, Miss Brant," Spidey teased, knowing damn well what she was referring to. "However, right hand on the bible, I solemnly swear that I, Spider Hyphen Man, did not partake in Beck's criminal schemeary!"
"Well, I don't know how anyone would be able to print misinformation about you now after a confession like that!" Betty chuckled.
"Although I do appreciate you risking your job for me, Miss Brant, I roll with the Bugles punches. After all, JJ's gotta put food on the table some way," Spidey shrugged.
"Of course, and one last thing, you wouldn't happen to be friends with those policemen who are rapidly approaching?" Betty asked.
"Oh, yeah, we're great frie- wait!" Spidey spun around, watching a dozen or so police officers storm up.
"Ma'am, step away please, we need to question the vigilante," one of the officers ordered.
"Vigilante?! Oh c'mon guys, think of a poor spider's feelings!" Spidey scoffed, turning to Betty. "Thanks for the wonderful interview Miss Brant, wishing your career all the best but I got somewhere to be!" he patt Betty on the shoulder, webbing one of the officers faces over his shoulder.
"I- Hey!"
Taking the momentary distraction, Spidey suddenly leaped into the air, swinging away into the streets of New York.
"Quickly! He's getting away!"
Far away from the bank, Spidey landed and tucked himself away in an alleyway, waiting eagerly on the wall as red and blue lights suddenly dashed past, still on a wild goose chase. "These guys make it too easy for me," Spidey chuckled, ripping his mask off to reveal the face of Empire State University student, Peter Parker. His shagging brown hair blowing in the wind slightly as he jumped to the ground, ripping his backpack off of the trash can he stuck it to early.
While whistling gleefully to himself, Peter slowly threw his day-to-day clothes atop his suit. Running a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it up before stepping out onto the sidewalk, blending in with the human traffic. Whilst trying his best to not bump into shoulders with anyone, Peter's phone went off. "Hey man… alright… yeah I got some time to kill before class… see you then."
"What part of 'no magic' wasn't clearly communicated to the two of you?" Strange snarled, Lavender and Seamus sitting in front of him, feeling an odd sense of nostalgia as Strange went off at the two of them the same way McGonagall used to scold them.
"But ye said-"
"No! I know what I said!" Strange interrupted, pointing a finger at the two of them. "The two of you could've gotten yourselves killed!"
"As we were told," Lavender mumbled.
"Actually, no, take the fact the two of you could've died out of the equation, you two are lucky the bank practically burnt down, otherwise the two of you; overnight celebrities! Every news outlet in this city would have covered you! And if that were the case, bye-bye mission, the two of you will be going back home, failing the Auror training, and then this'll become my problem!"
"Oh no, what a shame," Lavender mumbled again.
"Not the time for back chatting or attitude-"
"We would've been fine!" Lavender argued. "What caught us off was that guy being a complete pansy! If we'd had known he was working with muggle illusions then we would've stopped him!"
"And then done what?" Strange asked, Lavender going silent, lost for words. "Exactly! The two of you weren't wearing masks! Even if Beck had been found by the cops after yous ran, he would've said something, that then through a very long, complicated and dangerous tree, somehow, would've found its way back to you." He warned, pointing a finger at her.
"Hey! That ain't fair! We were both there, so if ye're gonna punish her-"
"Oh shut up Finnigan!" Strange barked, rolling his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for the two of you to be pulling this 'hate each other one day, team up on Stephen another' bullshit, the two of you are adults, act like it."
"P-people could've been hurt, Strange," Lavender started again, only this time a little less confrontational. "We had to do something, we didn't know some guy in a red and blue costume would come swinging in to save everybody, I mean-"
"I get it. I should've explained to the two of you that New York, especially banks, are very prone to supervillain attacks and robberies," Strange explained. "However, that isn't your responsibility, your responsibility is to finish this mission so that you are able to help the greater wizarding world. You wanna stop petty criminals like Beck? Come back to New York after you become Aurors for all I care, as for now-"
"Leave it to the professionals?" Lavender finished.
"Great! We're on the same page," Strange smiled sarcastically. "Dismissed."
"But I thought you were a hero! Dr Strange? What would you have done in that situation?" Lavender asked.
"I would've saved them, but our cases are extremely different! Magic and how we as people use it is still untapped and extremely dangerous in potential that we don't understand!" Strange stressed. "So it is crucial that you follow your orders and complete this mission! And as for saving civilians and innocent people, leave that to Spider-Man or… the Fantastic Four, hell even Daredevil will do."
"And what if they aren't there to save the people?" Lavender asked.
"W-what if they aren't there?" Strange scoffed.
"Yes! If Spider-man hadn't gotten there when he did, I- we would've been flattened! So what happens if next time he's late?!" Lavender reasoned.
"... Brown, he's Spider-Man. He'll be there!" Strange promised, his words carrying an oddly reassuring sense of security around the web-head that made Lavender's heart skip a beat. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, the two of you have classes, so, once again, take this," he waved his hand in the air, Lavender's cheque reappearing in her hand. "Deposit those at another bank, one preferably lacking villains, and get to class."
"I- what… What banks are villain-proof?" Lavender stammered.
"None of them, you just hope it's your lucky day!" Strange smiled, once again, sarcastically.
Inside an old chinese restaurant, tucked away in the back alley of Chinatown, Peter sat across Phillip Stacy, the younger brother of his deceased girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, who passed 4 years ago, a rather… traumatic night for the web-head. "So… how was the graduation party? Any early uni entries coming out?" Peter asked, shoveling his face full with noodles.
"Graduation party was good," Phillip nodded, in less of a hurry to eat his food. "I guess a couple of guys weren't too excited to get to uni with how close they came to killing themselves but, I've seen worse," he shrugged.
"Oh! Dude!" Peter coughed, his mouth still full of food. "You should've seen Flash's grad party, Kenny broke his arms, both of them! And almost lost his leg because of how badly he dislocated it."
Phillip raised an eyebrow, barely having understood a word Peter said. "And… How did that happen?" he asked hesitantly.
"Tried filling his pool with jelly, didn't let it set, and he added alcohol so it probably wouldn't have and Kenny; big guy, head first. Y-you can imagine the rest," Peter cringed, swallowing his mouthful of food. "Also, sorry for acting like a pig, I'm-"
"Hungry?" Phillip guessed, Peter nodding and going for another bite. "I'm not surprised, you're eating like you ran a marathon… and you look like it."
Peter stopped slurping on his noodles. "Ehhhhhhhh… Well, is that a compliment or an insult?" he asked, flashing a teasing grin, Phillip shaking his head in disapproval whilst holding back a laugh. Sure, he practically had run a marathon, but his definition of one was fighting 3-4 rogues in a day. "But enough about that, Uni, what're you doing?"
"Ummmmmmm… Well, I wanna go abroad, I heard London has some good options, my bio teacher put a recommendation in for me at Harvard, said he liked it when he went there in his 20's," Phillip shrugged, slowly slurping on some noodles.
"T-that's awesome, wow, H-Harvard's great," Peter forced a smile, an old fragment from a long-ago removed knife twitching in his heart. "You heard anything back or are you gonna start sending in applications?"
"Soon…?" Phillip guessed. "I don't know, I might take a gap year or something…"
"A gap year?" Peter scoffed. "This is Harvard we're talking about, they aren't open all year around, you gotta take the opportunity when you have it."
"You took a gap year?" Phillip shot back.
"Well…" Peter bit his lip, sighing. "You got me, but I go to ESU, that's very… okay compared to the Harvard."
"Yeah, and? Isn't the class you take literally taught by the guy who runs the Fantastic Four?"
"I- Well I never said the school was bad, just, not- Harvard level."
"Then how come you didn't go to a school like Harvard? You're way smarter than I am."
"I- that's not true. You're a smart kid, I'm just… gifted, got lucky my Dad was as much of a science wizz as I like to think I am."
"So… you're not Harvard level?"
"Huh? W-when did I say-"
"Dude." Phillip stopped Peter, reaching out and putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm messing with you man," he laughed. "What's with you this morning, you're very jittery?"
"Sorry, suppose I'm just a bit dazed, rough morning, y'know?" Peter shrugged, still slightly dazed as he called himself out.
"Don't sweat it, classes, the internship, … doing that," Phillip gestured towards the old TV in the corner, reporting on the bank incident. "Bugle's pay must be good, I couldn't imagine doing that."
"Phillip, I'm so sorry, I promised not to bring that stuff up, I know you hate it when I-"
"Don't apologise Pete, I'm the one who brought it up," Phillip shrugged. "It's just… shocking that you're able to put up with the stress of doing something like that, especially having to photograph him."
The two went silent, Peter giving a half-hearted shrug. "Pay's alright… How's home?"
"Good, Howard's almost down with High School, which feels incredibly weird considering I just graduated."
"Trust me, once High School's done, time flies!… How's your Mom doing?"
Phillip didn't answer admitally, placing his chopsticks down and pinching the bridge of his nose. "She… she relapsed last month."
"Man… I'm… I'm so sorry," Peter similarly dropped his chopsticks, placing a comforting hand on Phillip's shoulder.
"It's- It's fine…" Phillip brushed Peter's hand off, picking back up his chopsticks and going for more food. "She's in therapy so she should be out soon, in the meantime, I'm looking after the boys until she's back, I- I couldn't stomach the idea of having… of having to get someone else to look after Simmon. H-he would've been so… so mad… so confused at why Mom had 'abandoned' him but… he's too young to have to carry the sins of what Mom's going through."
"Look, Phillip, you're still a kid, you shouldn't have to carry that burden on your own. If you ever need a place for Howard and Simmon to stay, I'm always available-"
"Available?" Phillip scoffed, the tears that were in his eyes a second ago vanishing. "When are you ever available, Peter? This is the first time I was able to get a hold of you for months without getting rainchecked by the bugle or Otto!" The two went silent, Peter hanging his head whilst Phillip came to the realisation of what he had said. "I- Peter I-I'm sorry, I- I didn't-"
"No, it's fine-"
"No! It's not okay-"
"Phillip! I said it's fine!" Peter shouted, scaring the younger man. "Y-you're right, it's been months, and because of that I've been neglecting the promise I made to you and your Mom. I told you and her that I'd be there for you, because you need someone older to comfort you and… without your Dad… and how close I became with your family after your Dad's passing, I owed it to myself and you that we would be there for one another to help… heal from what happened. And I have been neglecting that responsibility whether I wanted to admit it or not, so how about this, not tomorrow, but some time this week, this week, bring your brothers over to my place and we'll catch up over a movie, your choice, how does that sound?"
Phillip laughed, reaching up and wiping a tear that was brewing from the corner of his eye. "T-that sounds great. I- I wanted to apologise, really, it isn't fair that I had a go at you, I wasn't the only person who lost someone that night."
"Yeah, but, y'know," Peter shrugged. "Everyone has their ups and downs, nobody's perfect, trust me, I lashed out on people; yelled, shouted, screamed. Feels good at the moment, but never feels that good when you think back on it, what really matters is that you're able to realise what you did. I'd much rather spend my time around a guy who was able to do some self-reflection in on himself and take the time to improve himself opposed to some guy who comes around being all 'oh wow, look how 'perfect' I am…' all the time," he explained. "So don't judge yourself for the way you deal with your emotions, take the time you need to figure out whether you should talk to someone other than just little ol' me, or if you… need a break, from everything, that's completely understandable."
At his words, Phillip took a deep breath, looking up and sighing in relief. "H-how did I get so lucky that you could've been my brother-in-law one day?"
"The real question is how did I get so lucky to even manage getting with Gwen," Peter laughed.
"I- I know you have class soon but… I was wondering if you wanted to get some ice-cream, from that old stall near Central Park, I need something cold in my system," Phillip suggested.
"Yeah sure, I got… some time to kill," Peter agreed, laying his chopsticks next to the bowl.
"You sure? It didn't have to be today?"
"Yeah man, I'm sure! I'll be maybe… 10-15 minutes late?"
"You sure that won't get you into trouble?... or a fireball thrown at your face?"
"No… that's Johnny, Reed, the stretchy one takes my class,"
"Oh! Right… I knew that."
"Why couldn't have Kingsley put Seamus on this…?"
In order to lower suspicion as much as possible, Seamus and Lavender were both given day jobs of sorts and were enrolled at Empire State University to take classes that at least sort of had a similarity to their jobs. Seamus, through the luck of the draw, had been placed at the Daily Bugle and was taking a journalist course, after all, what better way to get at Lucius than through the media he once had control on during the second wizarding war. Meanwhile, Lavender was wonderfully placed at Oscorp working with one Otto Octavious in Neurotechnology and was taking a class in Biotech, Neurotech and Advanced Technology.
She never liked discrediting herself, but even Lavender could see when she was too out of her depth. Sure, she got Exceeds Expectations on 2 more classes than Seamus, but she was pure-blood, meaning no matter how much 'technological-magic' she saw around campus, there was always going to be a muggle/wizard language barrier. In the wizarding world, higher education took the form of learning about ancient magic and how it was streamlined and controlled to how it was today and how they planned to increase the range of spells, potions and transfiguration. Muggle higher education seemed far more technical, adjusting for all the different career choices that were available. In her current case, the people in the hot, stuffy lecture hall around her all wanted to work to advance technology and the advantages it could give humanity, advantages that it definitely gave! It seemed the more magic progressed, muggle technology wasn't far behind. Still, it didn't settle any unease or any sense of not belonging in the room she had, but for the remainder of the mission, she'd simply have to adapt.
"Again! I want to apologize to you all for eating up so much time in this lecture, but I am truly thrilled to see that so many of you; and a couple new faces, have returned for another term!" At the front of the lecture hall was one Reed Richards, and if the banners around campus were any indicator, he seemed rather important. "Now unfortunately, due to a couple of shake ups around my… less than personal life, this term was shortened, if things went as I wished, we'd have been starting this term a month back, meaning cramming everything into this term will be a bit… rough…. So, from today until December 20th, we'll be rocketing through the course's content, 3 lectures a week and plenty of time spent in the study hall for homework, I'm sure," he sternly pointed at the crowd of students, a few small groans heard in response. "We'll then return shortly in early January and finish the term in mid-February, and finally… for those of you that have been with me for the past 4 years, you'll be sitting your finals during the summer. And that… makes me feel oddly nostalgic looking at you all now."
The hall remained mostly silent for Reed's announcement, of course, if things went well, Lavender would be gone long before Christmas rolled around, of course, that was only if things went well. But she could still feel the respect and admiration for the professor oozing from every student around her, it was fantastic really. "But enough of the reminiscing!" Reed clapped, snapping a few students awake again. "Textbooks open, Chapter 14: Biotechnology-its effect on biodiversity and the future of cross-species genetics!"
Like a crowd of robots, the students flung their books open, immediately taking notes. Lavender on the other hand quickly reached into her bag, pulling out the chunky textbook, which was surprisingly bigger then most of the textbooks she had to use for N.E.W.T. studies. Rushing to Chapter 14, Lavender looked down at the open notebook she already had opened, prepared for any note taking to see that her hand had drawn a rather spindly looking spider without even realizing. Letting out a rather high pitch squeak, Lavender tore the page out of her notebook, scrunching it up and throwing it away, immediately dropping her head against the desk as the ball of paper hit someone in the row below her.
"Oww!"
Her face flushing pink, Lavender kept her head on the desk, her brunette curls cloaking her face from the students around her. It was frustrating, until now all spiders meant to her was a big fat warning not to go into the forbidden forest, Ron told her during their small amount of time dating how horrid those giant creatures were, and now all she could think about was Spider-Man. Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, when on Earth was it going to end, he wasn't even all that, if he had been there a few moments later, then it would've saved Lavender from her reprimand, but no, he had to come in last second, be the hero, look… good while doing it… be… surprisingly charming while doing it as well…? Lavender shook her head, slowly sitting back up to see that Reed was already a solid chunk into the notes, his arm stretching like an elastic band to reach the top of the giant chalkboard he wrote on. At least it seemed a few of the superheroes in New York didn't mind showing their abilities without wearing a mask.
Picking her pen up again, Lavender got to a fresh page of her notebook, leaving the textbook to the side as she started jotting the notes down with the rest of the class, until her attention was snatched away once again. The sound of laughter caused Lavender to peek over her shoulder, watching as one of the windows in the very back of the lecture hall was opened, Peter; faking a struggle, crawling inside the hall through the window. Making sure to uncomfortably groan or cringe as to not seem good at doing something like this. A few of the students began pulling their phones out to record as he struggled, others tauntingly cheering him on as Peter eventually flopped into the classroom, bag hastily hung around his shoulder. Intrigued, Lavender stopped scribbling down the notes, letting out a soft chuckle as she watched him shoot up like a plank of wood, softly tip-toe towards his seat whilst keeping an eye on Reed as he continued writing notes.
"Mr Parker! So glad you could join us!" Reed shouted, not even having needed to turn around to be aware of the arrival of his 'favourite' student. "What's this, 15 minutes late? Going for a new record?"
The class simultaneously groaned in shared disappointment with Peter's own sigh of defeat. "So close," he mouthed, high-fiving another student.
"No! Just because a late arrival has happened doesn't mean take your eyes off the work, keep going," Reed sternly ordered, turning around as his hand continued writing notes. "I have eyes in the back of my head, Mr Parker, care for me to demonstrate?" he asked, tapping the back of his skull.
"What- n-no, nobody wants to see that," Peter scoffed.
"Very well, down here please," Reed beckoned him with a finger, Peter sighing and rolling his eyes, marching his way down and taking a stand next to Reed at the front of the lecture hall. Despite being publicly shamed in front of his college class, he got a bit of a kick knowing he towered over his superior in both the superhero and normal world. "Tell me Mr Parker, under multiple past papers, what I have labelled you and your work?" he asked.
Peter sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a note. "Brilliant but lazy," he grumbled, passing the note to Reed's free hand behind his back.
"Of course, and… do you mind telling me and the class, what a comment like that is… referring to?" Reed asked, slipping the note into his own lab coat.
"That I have the brilliance of an A student and that I have clearly pissed you off and you're now writing mean comments on my good papers?" Peter guessed, the class sharing a hearty laugh.
"I- I appreciate the sense of humor, Parker. However, I was referring to your skill as a student. It's far from a secret that you're a top marker in this class, yes, but you lack the motivation to put in above the minimum standard amount of effort into a task or a paper. Which does dull your full potential, but I must admit, you still have surprisingly good marks," Reed congratulated, the class clapping for him. "Don't clap, if he's putting in half effort and still a top marker then you all should be trying much harder." The clapping stopped. "So, Peter, what do you think you could do to improve?"
"Is this because I crashed the fantasticar-" Peter whispered, suddenly cut off as Reed harshly slapped him on the back. "I- umm, y'know, I suppose I could… spend more time at the study hall-"
"Exactly!" Reed smiled. "Building a nice group of friends to study with, studies show studying on and off campus is increased by having a solid group of people who are all working to achieve the same goal. And I reckon you could build a nice clique of people to study with, you're an approachable guy, good looking, very smart, very trustworthy behind the wheel," he smiled, cracking some salt into the wound.
"Well clearly you know more about why I'm single then I do," Peter huffed, the class; once again, laughing in unison.
"Alright Mr Parker, this will be the final time I pass on punishing your tardy behaviour, take a seat," Reed sighed, seeing no point in continuing, he pat Peter on the back, allowing him to run back up to his seat. Meanwhile, Reed walked back over to his desk and placed Peter's note onto the hardwood, opening it up.
Sorry, lost track of time, was stopping Mysteiro
Reed sighed. "Was this… written in crayon?" he asked himself, shaking his head and walking back over to the chalkboard, his other hand having continued writing the notes without issue. "Hoping no one has fallen behind yet, I'm hoping to get this chapter done today."
Lavender, momentarily distracted by the ruckus, looked back to the notes, her face immediately scrunching up as she began jotting them down, looking from the corner of her eyes towards Peter, watching him settle in at his seat, slowly and in no rush to pull out this text book.
And like that, the horrifying reality of school set back into Lavender, as an entire 3 hour lecture passed, and yet felt like 3 minutes. The entire chalkboard was filled with notes and equations that took up approximately 5 pages in Lavender's notebook, her hand cramped stuck around her pen. Suddenly, she was wishing for the days she could wave a wand in Hogwarts and just have her wand move the quill back.
"I'm hoping you'll all be revising tonight, this chapter is a chunky one and I'll see you all on Friday," Reed closed his own textbook, the class all getting up and letting out a fair amount of stretches and groans before continuing to leave the hall, Lavender feeling like the only person who needed some time to just sit and take it what she had learnt, she was dreading the idea of going over her notes later that night.
As the class slowly began to filter out, Lavender finally took her stand and began packing her books away, hearing the discussions of said cliques Reed had mentioned as they mentioned going out drinking, partying or, surprisingly, actually studying. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Lavender turned to leave, interrupted by another student who stood in front of her. "Nice drawing," the woman smiled, holding out the scrunched up ball of paper Lavender threw.
"I-" Lavender stammered, watching her vietnamese classmate unwrap the drawing, passing it back to her. "T-that's not mine."
"Sha Shan," she introduced herself, holding out a welcoming handshake.
"L-Lavender, Lavender Brown," Lavender took Sha's hand, surprised that she was getting approached by people so soon, her other hand more shamefully grabbed onto the drawing, blushing. "I'm-"
"New around here? I could tell," Sha chuckled. "I transferred here from Horizon Tech a year ago, thankfully, they both run the same course so I didn't miss out on much."
"Transferred?" Lavender asked.
"Yeah, family lives closer to ESU's campus then Horzion's," Sha explained. "So I just happen to know what it feels like being the new girl."
"O-oh r-really?" Lavender stammered.
Sha nodded. "You a fan?" she asked, gesturing to the drawing.
"I- well…" Lavender bit her lip. "He- he saved me at the bank today and I-"
"Haven't been able to stop thinking about him?" Sha raised an eyebrow, Lavender nodding. "I get it, everybody on campus has gotten at least one."
"Gotten… one what?"
"Save," Sha finished. "Oh, and I suppose one of these," she opened her jacket, revealing a I HEART NEW YORK shirt, only with the mask of Spider-Man making up the heart. "The old apartment complex my parents lived in was built on faulty grounding, collapsed after a little tremor ran through town and I ran in to save my parents, turns out all 3 of us got saved by him. That's the incident that caused my parents to move and me to transfer, suppose I can't complain though, I actually met the man who's currently trying to strike luck with me there, was helping the firefighters with the evacuation, massive fan of the web-head."
"Oh…" Lavender went silent, she didn't like assuming the worst in people but after Ron and Seamus… she was always skeptical. "Is he…"
"Oh, no, he's great, stupid? Yes. The worst thing he can be is a little old fashioned in thinking, but I get where you're coming from, can't be too safe around guys in New York," Sha chuckled. "But I just wanted to come over to offer that if you ever need a group to hang with on or off campus, you're more than welcome to tag along with us, there's only like… 6 or so of us so it's not like it'd hurt having someone else tag alone."
"T-that's really sweet Sha," Lavender smiled. "I- I gotta be honest I don't know why you're being so nice… but I-"
"Hey, it's like I said, I was the new girl once too, and decides, I can't really explain it but… whenever you get saved by him… you feel like you wanna be… kind to somebody… be better, y'know?"
Lavender nodded, she knew exactly how it felt like, only now it was rather nice having such hope and optimism thrown on her when the world wasn't in war. "I- I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how much time I'll have off campus but I'll stop by whenever I'm free, sound good?"
"Sounds great, we're usually around campus 90% of the time anyway so we'd be hard to miss, this the only class you're taking?"
"At the moment, yeah," Lavender responded, not that she was going to be enrolling in any other classes.
"Then I'll catch you Friday, we aren't too far from the study hall, alright?" Sha turned to leave, waving over her shoulder. "See you later, new girl," she smiled, walking down and out of the lecture.
"Look at you go Brown, first day and you're already making friends, suppose you haven't lost the charm from Hogwarts after all," Lavender happily hummed to herself, only to come to the realisation that she was the only one left in the empty lecture hall.
"Thank you so much for the help, Mr Spider-Man," an old lady thanked, it was officially; or at least in Peter's terms, past his bedtime. After stopping Mysterio, taking classes and now having missed 4 trains back to Queens, he just wanted to visit May and go home. However, duty called, it was dusk, practically night and he had caught a man snatching a purse from an old lady on her way home from work.
"It's no issue, Ma'am, really," Peter replied, now dressed in the red and blue spandex once more as he passed the old lady her purse.
"Ohhhhh no no no no no no, this is most definitely an issue," she hissed, walking past Peter and up to the man who had tried robbing her, wrapped in a cocoon of webbing, dangling from a streetlight. "Where do you get off robbing someone the age of your own mother?!" The old lady reprimanded, reaching into her purse and pulling out what seemed to be a retractable metal walking stick, flicking her wrist to fully extend it.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, let's- let's not," Peter swiftly stepped in front of the old lady, watching as the robber tried squirming in the webbing. "I assure you ma'am, that man will not be getting off Scot free."
"Oh he better not!" The old lady shouted, calming down as Peter spun her around and began walking her in the other direction. "Prison time! The punk deserves prison time! Life!"
"Uh-huh, definitely, life in prison, coming right for him," Peter nodded, reassuring her with a pat on her shoulders. "Now what I'm gonna need you to do for me is head home for the night, all those… punks are aware that I'm out so I doubt you'll have any trouble getting home."
"Oh, no need to worry about me, Mr Spider-Man," the old lady grinned. "Now that I have my purse, I've got the perfect self defense weapon," she smiled, holding up the metallic cane.
"Good, very good," Peter chuckled. "Well, now that I'm certain you'll be alright, I'll go get this guy to… prison, yeah, prison, have a nice night ma'am."
"Oh, wait! Mr Spider-Man, one last thing!" The old lady shouted, reaching into her purse. "I reckon you deserve a treat for all the good you're doing."
"Oh that's not necessary at all ma'am!" Peter chuckled, running over to her to stop her from pulling anything out. "Please, really, I can't accept-"
"A nice butterscotch!" The old lady smiled, holding the small treat in her fingers. "Please, take one, god knows they've got too much sugar in them for me to eat them all."
"Ohhhhh thank you, that's very sweet," Peter smiled, happily accepting the candy from the old lady. Hey, it wasn't money, and if people were gonna show their appreciation to him, he'd rather it be food than money or any dangerous stunts.
"Oh it's no issue at all! Well, thank you again for the help! Have a safe night Mr Spider-Man!" The old lady waved, turning around as she began walking home.
"You too," Peter waved back, turning back to the purse snatcher he had webbed up, but more importantly, he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out. "Oh! God dammit! That- that's the 5th train I've missed home tonight and because of-" Peter took a deep breath, clenching his fist at his side before waving it in the air. "Why I oughta!"
Dropping his fair, Peter slipped his phone back away, placing his hands on his hips and looking up at the web cocoon, clicking his tongue. "What to do with you, what to do with… you," he stared into the purse snatchers eyes through his lenses, and immediately came to recognise a familiar expression, desperation. And with that, Peter sighed, dropping his shoulders.
"So, what's your name?"
"Paul."
"That's a stupid name."
Reluctantly, Peter cut the purse snatcher down, and rather than turn him into the authorities, decided to do the decent thing, give him a stern talking to, and drop him off home. After all, it wasn't like he had murdered anybody, just tried snatching a purse off of somebody who probably would've killed him. "Hey!" Paul groaned.
"Don't." Peter sternly ordered. "I'm swinging you home after you tried purse snatching a nice old lady, what I'm doing for you is above and beyond, Paul."
"I-" Paul went to respond. However, considering he was currently in the arms of the superhero swinging him home who could just drop him if he didn't feel like being nice anymore, he declined the idea of arguing. "Whatever."
"Is that your place?" Peter asked, swinging towards an apartment complex.
"Yeah," Paul nodded. Dropping down onto the fire escape outside the apartment, Peter unwrapped his arm from Paul, letting him drop down and walk towards the window. "Thanks."
"It's fine, just maybe next time… don't purse snatch an old lady… or anyone?" Peter suggested, perching himself on the railing of the fire escape.
"I- you're right… things have been-" Paul stopped his sentence, giving Peter an odd look as he picked up on the muffled sound of sucking. "Are you?"
"Hey," Peter scoffed, the sound of food in his mouth now obvious. "I haven't eaten since lunch and if the sugar gives me a little more energy, then I'm gonna take it!"
"R-right…" Paul stammered. "Look, I… I just needed some cash, we're struggling at the moment, I lost my job after that old apartment complex crashed down next to my office."
"We?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, there's two of us, me and my wife… Well, technically three of us, she's pregnant…" Paul admitted.
"I- Jesus Paul…" Peter sighed, drooping his head.
"Yeah, things aren't exactly easy for us right now," Paul let out a self deprecating laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "You wouldn't happen to know any job listings?"
"Burger Mart's hiring?" Peter suggested, not certain whether he should come off genuine or play into Paul's humor. "S-sorry…"
"Don't, I get it," Paul sighed, leaning on the railing next to Peter. "I was an idiot, you could've left me there and let the cops deal with me, then what would've happened? Leaving my pregnant wife alone while I rot in prison, that would've made me a criminal and a useless husband and father."
"It shows you've got initiative," Peter pointed out. "Just try and aim it somewhere other than robbing people, because usually, the people on the streets you're pickpocketing are in the same scenario as you, living paycheck to paycheck trying to get through the week. You aren't likely to find some grubby CEO you'll be able to pickpocket down on the streets, hell, even if you do, it isn't likely he'll be without guys who shoot first, ask questions later," he warned. "Go down to Chinatown and find the FEAST shelter, it's usually used for homelessness aid and giving people homes while they try getting back on their feet, but they aren't going to turn down a struggling man and his pregnant wife."
"W-why are you doing this?" Paul asked.
"Cause I've been there, not the whole pregnant wife thing, but being down on your luck, lacking money, hell, that's a current issue I'm still working out," Peter chuckled.
"So then why don't you accept money for what you do?" Paul asked. "You've been putting your life on the line for the past… what? 6 years? Why do this for free?"
"Cause," Peter shrugged, shooting a web onto a nearby building. "Too much bad in this world to demand retribution for being a decent guy."
"Decent? Dude, you're the best guy," Paul countered, laughing.
Peter gave a weak shrug, neither agreeing or disagreeing. "FEAST does breakfasts, lunches and dinners daily and usually has a special on Sundays, so make sure your wife's getting a feed, she's technically eating for two people, y'know! That's why peanut butter on pickles is usually a craving, gotta get as many calories in as possible."
Paul stared up in bewilderment. "R-really?"
"Nope," Peter teased. "But you were gonna go around spreading the word like you learnt something new if you didn't double check, weren't you?"
"Then why do they?" Paul asked.
"They also have computers at FEAST, maybe you can Google it there, Paul?" Peter suggested, suddenly leaping off of the fire escape and swinging into the now moonlight sky. Leaving Paul alone staring up in wonder as he watched Peter swing away until he could no longer hear the thwips.
"Next Training to Queens Departing Now."
With seconds left, Peter bolted down the subway staircase, his clothes thrown lazily atop his costume. Leaping down a majority of the stairs and rolling onto the relatively empty subway platform, Peter ran towards the train doors as they slowly began to close, throwing himself in a desperate attempt that paid off in his favour. The only downside being Peter uncomfortably crashing onto the train floor with his shoulder, he swore he heard something snap. "Owwww…" Peter mumbled to himself, slowly rising to his feet and walking towards the seats.
"How's the shoulder?"
Looking up at the seats, Peter saw Lavender; somebody who looked oddly familiar to him, sitting alone in the carriage, her notes resting on her lap as she slowly read through them. "It's been worse," Peter shrugged, flopping down on the opposite end of the seat to Lavender, keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You sure? Cause that looked really bad," Lavender chuckled, looking up from her notes.
"Oh yeah, wayyyyyy worse," Peter nodded, readjusting so that he could shrug his bag off. "Peter," he introduced himself.
"Lavender," she introduced, holding her hand out for a handshake.
"Lavender, nice to meet you," Peter greeted, reaching out uncomfortably and shaking her hand.
"You too," Lavender nodded, pulling her hand away before deciding to speak up again. "Parker, right?"
Peter raised an eyebrow.
"I-I'm in Professor Richard's class," Lavender quickly replied.
"Oh, right…" Peter nodded, feeling a coil of embarrassment tighten in his stomach that he just knew was somehow poking out on his face. He wasn't used to running into classmates outside of class, he usually tried avoiding them.
Lavender snickered as she watched Peter shrivel up in embarrassment, after his amusing display in class, it was rather cute watching him hide away like a turtle in his shell. "Quite the hotshot, huh?" she teased.
"I-" Peter chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I- I know Reed, personally I mean, I had a run in with his car a while back…"
"Oh? Well, I must say I'm very surprised he's still even teaching you," Lavender laughed.
"Yeah well, you know, brilliant but lazy," Peter sighed, sitting up properly. "I haven't seen you around campus, you new here?"
"First day," Lavender nodded.
"Good? Passable? Bad?" Peter asked.
Lavender grimaced, shrugging. "It was… alright, classes at least were, the whole day has been a mess," she sighed.
"Tell me about it," Peter sighed, blinking awkwardly. "I meant that as the phrase and an offer… you can tell me about it if you want," he stammered.
"Oh, thank you," Lavender giggled. "It- it was good just… a bit like being thrown into the deep end y'know? I'm used to being a bit safer walking down the street, not worrying about a burning building collapsing on me."
Those words hit Peter like a bag of bricks, that's where he knew her from, he had saved her from getting crushed as Spider-Man just that morning. Hell he had a full interaction with her, 'flirted' with her even. "Crap… you were at the Mysterio robbery?"
Lavender nodded. "I was depositing some cash into my account, would've been squashed to death if it wasn't for him."
"S-Spider-Man?" Peter clarified, his face going red, not wanting to come off as a narc. "Sorry, I- I was there as well."
"You were?" Lavender blurted out, similarly going red in the face at the realisation she sounded a tad too interested. "I mean-"
"Yeah, I was there," Peter nodded. "I'm a photographer for the Bugle, I take pictures of Spider-Man for them."
"The Bugle? That's where Seamus is starting tomorrow… what an odd coincidence," Lavender thought. "Huh, must be scary, doing that."
Peter shrugged. "I've seen worse, ain't easy thought," he admitted. "Those your notes from today?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," Lavender nodded, having completely forgotten about the book resting on her lap. "Just… getting my head around it."
"On a train?" Peter teasingly asked. "No spots left on campus?"
"I- No, I just… I don't exactly know anyone yet and… I like riding around on trains, it's… nostalgic…" Lavender reminisced, able to think fondly back on those memories of the Hogwarts express before coming to the realisation she was talking to a muggle. "I-"
"I get that," Peter sighed, a hint of reminiscing in his voice as well. "I like spending time at the Empire State Building, it's just nice getting some fresh air."
"You climb to the top of the Empire State Building?" Lavender teased, laughing.
"No- I- I just…" Peter shrugged, having forgotten he wasn't technically Spider-Man at the moment. "I- it looks nice on the camera," he chuckled.
"I'm sure it does," Lavender agreed. "Actually, speaking of sight seeing, you recommend any places for me to see?"
"I- Times Square?" Peter guessed, it had been a minute since he last used his powers to swing around and enjoy the view. "I don't know, I'm stuck in Queens or the middle of Manhattan half of the time."
"Well you should try sight seeing more," Lavender suggested. "Or don't you like it?"
"No I like it, it's just…" Peter sighed. "Busy, just feels like I've got a bit too much on my plate."
"Tell me about it," Lavender grumbled, flicking a page.
"Youuuuu mean that literally or the phrase?" Peter teased, Lavender chuckling in response.
"I- I mean do you want to?" Lavender asked, a smirk still playing at the corner of her lips.
"No, no, I wouldn't burden you with that," Peter let out a self deprecating laugh, sitting up slowly as the train came to a halt. "And that's my stop."
The doors to the train creaked open, the cold night air of Queens gushing into the train as Peter stood up, stretching vertically, groaning. "It was nice meeting you, Peter," Lavender waved, packing her book away realizing the exact time.
"Yeah, you too, Lavender," Peter waved back, turning to exit the train before stopping. "Also… I didn't want to come off as… egotistical or anything but… if you ever need help then I wouldn't mind lending a hand… I'm not exactly free but-"
"T- that's sweet Peter, really, thank you for that but I'll be fine," Lavender turned down the request, taking Strange's words from early to heart, she didn't want to become buddy-buddy with anyone so soon knowing the mission wouldn't take long.
"Oh, no, that's completely fine!" Peter chuckled. "I was just offering incase-" the train doors suddenly beeped, starting to close. "I- I'll see you around!" Peter shouted, slipping out of the train before the doors could shut.
"Yeah, you too!" Lavender shouted back, laughing to herself as she waved over her shoulder out the window, watching Peter wave back and hop down the platform, an odd flutter in her heart, impressed that she was getting so social with people so soon, yet also trying to avoid the approaching realisation she'd probably never see them again once the mission was over.
Peter made his way off the platform, scanning the road before running across and onto the walkway, hands in his pocket as he whistled to himself, admiring the much more suburban and green area compared to the skyscrapers of New York. Finally, his day was almost over, Peter had one thing left on his schedule. Turning into a small deli on the street, Peter fetched a carton of eggs and a chocolate milk from the fridge, walking towards the counter where the cashier scrolled on his phone. "Ummm… Hi…" Peter awkwardly called out, placing his items on the counters.
"Oh… hey," the cashier stammered awkwardly, putting his phone down and standing up straight. Keeping an awkward amount of eye contact with Peter as he slowly began scanning the items. "Umm… how… are you?"
"Fine… I guess," Peter shugged, not sure how to respond. It wasn't often he stopped by this deli and ran into the cashier who was robbed the night his Uncle died, but he was a good guy, gave discounts to May when she needed them. "You?"
"Just… getting by," the cashier shrugged back, ringing Peter up. "Your um… Aunt told me she started working down at the FEAST shelter."
"You're kidding, right?" Peter sighed, closing his eyes.
The cashier shook his head. "Look, just don't say you got it from me, alright? She asked me to keep it a secret… from you."
"Of course she did," Peter groaned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet.
"I mean, look, I get it, I'm not a part of the family but she seems happy, the boss over there likes her apparently, pays good as well!"
"The boss?"
"Yeah! One of those entrepreneur types who love to give back to the people… apparently. Kinda like the guy you work for right?"
"Nooooo he is far from the entrepreneur type," Peter shook his head, pulling out two notes of cash. "How much for the…"
"Oh, $12," the cashier stammered, holding out his hand and accepting the money.
"Keep the change," Peter nodded, picking his items up and walking towards the door.
"O-oh thanks man, take care of yourself!" the cashier shouted, Peter waving his hand over his shoulder as he exited the store.
Walking past the flickering street lights, Peter walked up the stairs of what was his childhood home. Eggs and milk under one arm, Peter crouched down and grabbed the old key from underneath a pair of his Uncle's old shoes, a part of his hoped the key wouldn't work considering how old it was, but hey-presto! It worked. Sighing, Peter stepped into the house, closing the door behind him as he approached the kitchen.
"Who is it?!" May shouted from the kitchen.
"The cops!" Peter shouted back, dropping his bag on the table.
"Oh good, you bring me my eggs?"
Peter snickered, walking into the kitchen and throwing the eggs and milk into the fridge, walking over to the sink where May washed the dishes from her dinner, scrubbing them with a wet rag. "I did, you want some help?" Peter offered, giving May a one-armed hug before grabbing a dry rag.
"No need, I'm capable of doing this on my own," May snapply replied, placing the dripping dish onto the rack.
Peter gave May an odd look, hanging the rag over his shoulder. "I know, I was just… offering."
"I- I know Peter, sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out like that, I…" May sighed, dropping the dish she was holding back into the warm water, drying her hands off and pulling her nephew into a full hug, squeezing tightly. "It just makes me feel normal, still getting used to living in the house by myself."
Peter felt a wave of guilt wash over him, he didn't like leaving May alone either, he tried convincing her to move in with her friend Anna or get Anna to move in with her, but she refused, tried playing it off like she wasn't sad or afraid at the idea of being alone. "I-"
"Don't," May cut him off. "You needed to move into the city, you're working 2 jobs for god sake," she pointed out.
"And so are you apparently…" Peter mumbled, smirking slightly as took the rag off of his shoulder.
"He told you, didn't he?" May huffed, shaking her head as she picked the dishes back up.
"Mhm," Peter nodded, picking up dishes she had finished cleaning and began drying them.
"I'm not senile Peter, you don't have to worry about me working 2 jobs," May argued.
"Yeah well I'm going too," Peter replied. "The hospitals got you working 39 hours a week just so they can avoid paying you overtime, I just don't want you burning yourself out at FEAST, plus they don't pay that well, it's a homeless shelter, most of it's volunteer work."
"And what's the issue with that?" May scoffed.
"N-nothing, it's just that you already do enough for the community, you're a nurse for god sake. What happens if you're burnt out and overworked and the hospital calls you in?" Peter asked.
"Well 'doing enough for the community' now has severely higher standards thanks to your Spider-Man friend swinging around," May pointed out. "And before you pass out on the table I am getting paid for my work at FEAST, Mr Li is incredible, he's been out on business and is flying back into New York tonight, you should stop by the shelter some time."
"I will… try and open my schedule," Peter promised, placing the dry dishes to the side, underneath the cabinets. "How's Anna going? You two caught up recently?"
"No, she's been busy with family, her niece finally got accepted into one of those fancy acting schools over in London," May explained.
"Fancy? Right, like Harvard?" Peter snickered.
"Oh hush," May grumbled.
"Well… you need to be talking to at least someone, and over the phone isn't enough!" Peter interrupted May as she went to open her mouth, a sudden grin tugging at his lips. "Y'know, it's actually been scientifically proven-"
"Do not," May sighed, finishing up the last dish and emptying the sink. "And don't worry, I've been talking to someone at work, I'm some lonely old bat you have to be worrying about. Hell! You got someone you're talking to?!"
"I-" Peter cringed, his mouth staying open for a few moments as he grasped at straws for a counter. "I- w-whatever, that isn't the point, the point is I wanted to make sure you aren't alone. But what's she like? How long have you two been talking?"
"Oh he's great, really, we've been talking for the past 3-"
"He?!" Peter gasped, dropping the plate that was in his hand before his spider-sense kicked in, catching it with his foot and grabbing onto it again. "May!"
"What?!" May groaned.
"Nothing, it's just- well… I mean I figured there wouldn't be many elderly male nurses, thought it'd be too 'emasculating' for those 'tough' blokes," Peter snickered. "You talking to a male nurse my age? Jeez, I should be more worried about getting replaced then you being lonely," he teased.
"No- well, I suppose you aren't wrong about one of those things. But he's not a nurse, he's a patient, came in worried about his heart, so I got him signed in and we ended up preventing a heart attack. He thought he owed me after, so he brought me a coffee," May explained, grabbing her own dry towel, helping Peter.
"And shouting you coffee one time turned into…" Peter raised an eyebrow, a smug grin on his face.
May rolled her eyes, looking up at her nephew disapprovingly. "Look, Peter, if you think I'm-"
"No, I don't," Peter cut her off. "I'm teasing you, do as you wish, just make sure he isn't a slob and make sure he's rich, that's all I ask."
"I- wait, rich?!" May scoffed. "Peter Parker! I don't need to be living off some man for the rest of my life! I like my job!" she huffed defensively. "And who said anything about me trying to date him!"
"I'm saying drop your job, I'm just saying a little extra money doesn't hurt, and hell, if he becomes the main financial supporter then it'll mean you can go to work solely because you like it, like you said, you like what you do! It'll be fun, not labour or a means of money," Peter reasoned. "And the reason I'm implying that is because of the way you've been acting young lady, keeping secrets from me? Seeing this boy? Very promiscuous…" he teased, wagging his finger disapprovingly.
"Do not test me, Peter!" May warned, slapping Peter's finger down.
"Hey! Owww… hitting me, really? After all I've done for you?" Peter whined, clutching onto his finger in pain and shaking his head. "If I didn't know any better I should be kicking you out!"
"Oh, kicking me out!" May grinned, playing into the joke, threatening to hit Peter with her tea towel.
"Woah! Woah!" Peter laughed, backing against the counter. "I can scream like the fat lady at the Opera and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"You gonna do that and make all the glass shatter? Now you're just asking to be kicked out!" May jumped slightly, Peter flinching and ducking for cover as she laughed.
"Jeez… when did you get so feisty?"
Whilst messing around, May and Peter were completely unaware of the sound of the door creaking open, footsteps echoing in the hallway as the intruder approached the kitchen. "Give him a break, he's just a kid!" Out of the shadows emerged Richard Parker; Peter's father, looking practically the same he looked the day he left Peter with Ben and May. His grey hair short and trimmed, glasses in pristine condition, hell, even the same clothes, the only sign of aging on him was the grey stubble painting his jaw.
"R-Richard…" May stammered, the nice moment she was having screeching to a halt, the tea towel slipping from her grasp.
"May," Richard nodded. "How's my son doing?"
While May was shocked, Peter was completely frozen, the only things he could register was the sight of his father and his rapid heartbeat, threatening to shatter his ribcage. "D-Dad?" Peter stammered.
"Hello Peter," Richard smiled, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. "It's been a while."
A top the Oscorp building late at night, Lucius and Draco Malfoy stood not far from the helicopter landing pad, their blond hair blowing in the wind as a helicopter above began churning to a stop. "F-father-"
"Quiet Draco," Lucius groaned, uninterested in his son's questions. Taking a deep breath, Lucius approached the helicopter as it landed, a welcoming smile on his face as the door slid open. A nicely dressed chinese man dropping out, wearing a rather fancy fitting suit. "Hi, I'm-"
"Malfoy, right?" The man asked, holding a hand out as he approached Lucius. "Martin Li, nice to finally be meeting you."
"M- Mr Li, please, the honour's all mine!" Lucius smiled, accepting the handshake rapidly.
"A fan? I'm touched," Martin chuckled, patting Lucius's hand.
"How was the trip?" Lucius asked.
"Good, probably not as bad as yours though, right?" Martin laughed, patting Lucius on the shoulder, giving it a nice squeeze.
"O- Of course…" Lucius agreed, clearly uncomfortable and terrified of the prospect of being so close to Martin. "Say… would you like to come down inside for some tea? Discuss our future plans?" he offered.
Martin smiled. "Tea sounds lovely thank you, but there isn't much for us to discuss," he pointed out, walking past Lucius and looking over his shoulder. A rush of black energy spilling from Martin's eye, crackling against the air. "You and I, we're going to change the world."
