Chapter Text
Cassie, as she often did, was hanging out with Peter Parker, he was currently explaining how his webs work.
"They have super crazy tensile strength so they can support my body weight, and then some. I pretty much held a ferry together with them once."
Cassie was quick to call him out. "Pretty much?"
"I mean, Mr. Stark had to cut in at the end, but he has like, million dollar welding tools."
At the mention of Tony Stark, she heard a twinge of sadness in his voice. Peter could feel the air in the room grow a little heavier, and fumbled to change the subject.
"So- has your dad ever let you try the Ant-Man suit on?"
She couldn't help but chuckle a little at the idea, as much as she had wanted to test it out, he would never let her. "Absolutely not. I mean, I think he's just really scared of losing me. I get it of course, but it still sucks."
Peter opted to focus on the bright side. "I mean, you have a superpowered pal right here. I could swing you around Queens for a bit?"
Cassie's face lit up at that, she replied while hastily throwing on a pair of sneakers and a sweater. "Pete, you're a mind reader. I'd love to."
Cassie waited on the roof of Peter's apartment for him to get his Spider-Man suit on. Her leg was bouncing wildly in anticipation. Growing more antsy by the minute. She jumped a little as she heard Pete's voice call out from behind her. "Alright, let's get this show on the road! or y'know, this Cass in the sky." She could tell he was wearing a cheesy grin just from the sound of his voice.
Cassie turned around to reply. "I'll forgive your horrible sense of humor when I'm soaring through New York, c'mon bug boy."
"Spiders are technically arach-" Cassie interrupted him before he went off on a tangent. "I know, I know, we've had this conversation like ten times already." Her words were snarky, but her smile was sincere.
Peter was holding her gently, but securely. Taking special care to not drop her, or crush her ribs with his super-strength. As he stepped off the building, she held on tighter, cradling her head into his chest and closing her eyes. The wind was whistling past her head, it felt like the first loop on a rollercoaster. As the fall continued, she heard a quickening heartbeat, and couldn't tell whether it was hers, or Pete's. It was immensely awkward to hold him so close, but she felt safe, despite the fact they were heading towards the ground at worrying speeds. Cassie still hadn't managed to open her eyes, but she could tell they were already on a upward swing, almost flying, until they paused in mid-air. For a moment, Cassie felt weightless. It was almost as if she could imagine herself floating, completely separated from Peter's grasp, only cradled by the nipping cold and setting sun.
It took her a second to realize that it was more than just a feeling. The inevitable fall downwards wasn't coming, she was sitting in the sky, afloat with nothing holding her up. She opened her eyes to see Peter dangling upside-down in front of her. The white eyes of his mask had grown as wide as possible. As soon as Cassie looked down to see nothing but air, she felt herself falling, the honks of nearby taxis growing closer and closer.
Cassie saw Peter quickly begin racing towards her, trying his best to outrun gravity. She heard the familiar thwipof a web, as something hit her chest and she was pulled back into Pete's arms, eventually being safely deposited on to a nearby roof. The two sat in silence for a second, watching each other's breath condense as it hit the air. Cassie was visibly shaken, her thin hands were a little bloodied as she unconsciously picked at her nail bed.
Peter's mind was off in the clouds, trying to consider the day's events from a scientific lens.
Peter's voice cut through the tension in the air. "Have you- eaten anything like, weird lately?" As Cassie processed what Peter had said, she inadvertently shot him an incredulous look before speaking. "No that's- that wasn't you?"
Peter shook his head before peering over the building's edge. Nothing seemed to be amiss, and no one seemed to have noticed what happened as the streets had already begun to clear out as the night drew closer.
"Peter, do you think I could sleep over tonight? This has been way too weird and I am not ready to head home."
Peter paused a little to stretch before replying.
"If Scott is all good with it, May is out of town right now, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
The pair had decided it was probably best to walk the block and a half back, as their day had already been unpredictable enough. Peter opted to crawl in through the window and let change before heading downstairs to bring Cassie up. The wait gave her time to quickly dial her dad.
He picked up on the third ring.
"Hey Peanut, you need me to pick you up yet?"
She fumbled through her words before finding what she wanted to say.
"I uh- no. I was planning to sleep over here for a night."
"Cass, I haven't even formally met the guy yet."
Cassie couldn't help but giggle at that. Her brain conjuring up images of what Peter and her dad fighting may have looked like, Peter had shared the story quite a few times, but he wasn't always the most reliable narrator.
"Well, you can meet him in the morning, pick me up around eight?"
Before a reply came, she heard a small sigh on the other end.
"Alright, but if you need me to head over for anyreason, at any time of night, I'll be there. I love you Peanut"
"I love you too, Dad."
Just as she heard a faint click as the door opened, revealing Peter in a simple pair of grey sweats and a blue sweater.
"Hey, Peteroni."
"Cassie, that is easily the worst nickname I've ever been given." Peter sounded exasperated.
Cassie had started walking up the stairwell as she spoke. "Doesn't Flash literally call you Penis Parker?"
"Yup." Peter smiled before continuing. "I stand by my statement."
They had decided to spend the rest of the night watching movies and eating snacks, but Pete just couldn't stop his mind from considering the events of the day. Peter was a scientist, through and through. Which meant, when he had a hypothesis, he had to test it. So when the roots of an idea had planted themselves into his head, he decided to do just that.
"Have you ever seen Matilda?"
The statement seemingly came out of nowhere, so Cassie shot him a quizzical look before replying. "I mean, yeah, who hasn't?"
"I was just thinking about earlier." Peter was quick to explain.
"What about- oh Pete, you've gone crazy, like officially this time."
Peter insisted she simply consider it, but Cass had already started to tune him out.
Just as She turned her head back towards the television, Peter had picked up an apple. His arm pulled back, in preparation for his little test. He shouted a quick
"Watch out!" before hurtling the small red projectile at her head. Just as the object was destined to make contact with the front of her skull, it paused, losing all momentum, and dropping to the floor with a resounding thud.
Both teens stared at each other, completely dumbfounded. Before long, Peter burst into a fit of laughter, his face turning as red as the apple that now laid on the ground, bruised. Cassie looked equal parts scared, and confused. Peter calmed down a bit before attempting to clarify.
"Holy shit! that was straight up magic or something! I had figured you needed to be scared to activate-" He paused, unsure what to call it "-whatever happened earlier, but I didn't think my plan would work so well."
Cassie looked befuddled. On one hand, what just happened had seemed to point to Peter being right, but on the other, this made absolutely no logical sense.
Peter snapped his fingers and turned to Cassie. "Y'know I do have this wizard guy I met in space, he knows all this about magic stuff."
Cassie had heard about him, passing mentions of Peter's time right before The Blip had included this Dr. Strange guy, it seemed a sore subject though, so she didn't know much.
"I mean, if you think he can help?" Cassie sounded unsure, and still a little taken aback. "But all of this has been kind of exhausting for my brain, can we please call it a night?" Cassie wasn't lying, her eyes were shrouded with dark bags, combined with pale skin and unfocused pupils. It was clear she was going to sleep whether Peter wanted to yet or not.
He left to grab her a blanket and some pillows, but by the time he'd reached the couch, she was out like a light. He tucked her in before heading to bed himself. He couldn't wait to perform some more tests.
Cassie was woken up quite suddenly as her phone's ringtone began to blare music into her ear. Her screen displayed her father's contact in her phone.
She picked up, despite her body trying to lull her back to sleep.
"Hey Cass, I'm on the way now, everything went alright?"
She failed at stifling a yawn before she answered. "It was all good! No broken bones yet."
Scott was quick to reply. "I wasn't even worried about that until now."
"Sorry dad I- Oh!" Peter had stepped into the room, Cassie presumed he had been woken up by her ringtone.
He was rubbing his eyes and moving sluggishly. "I've gotta go Dad, but I'll see you soon." She hung up before her dad could argue.
"Your dad's on the way?" Peter sat down on the couch as he talked, not bothering to wait for a reply before continuing. "Think he could drive us up to Bleeker street? That's where the wizard lives."
Cassie responded hastily. "Only if we can think of some normal reason for being there, otherwise he would know something is up."
Peter was a bit confused. "oh- You're not telling him about all this?"
"Did you tell Aunt May when that spider gave you superpowers?"
"I- Point taken."
Cassie felt her phone buzz, and unsurprisingly, it was her dad. He had arrived a tad bit early.
The teens went downstairs to meet Scott, and Peter was more than a little nervous. Mostly because the last time he saw this guy, they had been fighting each other, and partly because he was scared of meeting new people in general. Seeing him standing outside with a kind smile eased Peter's nerves a bit, but not enough to help his legs stabilize as he almost tripped over his own feet.
"Nice to meet you Peter!" He stuck his hand out for a handshake, which Peter obliged.
"You too Mr. Lang." His voice cracked as he spoke.
Scott narrowed his eyes a bit, trying to place the voice in his head. "You sound familiar-"
Cassie quickly changed the subject. "Could you drive us over to Bleeker street?"
Peter was about to interject when Cass covered his mouth with her hand.
"It's school stuff, I have a project about this uh- this Doctor who lives around there, and I want to interview him in person. Peter knows him already so-" She stopped herself before she over-explained it all.
They watched as Scott scratched the side of his head, and began to speak.
"Well, alright Peanut, make sure your phone is charged."
Scott then eyed the backseat, and both kids hopped in.
The car was clearly new, no dents, a shiny exterior, and the familiar scent associated with fresh vehicles. Despite it overwhelming his senses, Peter kept his cool, opting to breathe through his mouth.
That was, until he felt a pang of fear rush down his spine. His hair stood on end and he started to panic. His "Peter-tingle", as May had deemed it, was letting him know, something was wrong.