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It’s not often that Spider-man finds himself outside of Queens, especially not for anything short of a city-wide disaster. He’s slowly learned that he’s far from the only hero trying to keep the people of New York safe, and quite a few boroughs and neighbourhoods have heroes looking for the citizens living there. Frankly, Peter is relieved.
New York is an enormous city, and with his commitment to helping anyone in need, no matter how small a task, there’s no way he could ever hope to cover enough ground on his own.
He hasn’t actually met a lot of them yet. Part of why Peter was surprised to learn about the existence of all these heroes was because, well, New York has seen a few major catastrophes. And while the battle of New York was a while ago now, Thanos’ arrival was recent enough for Peter to be involved. However, Stephen and Wong were the only new faces that Peter had seen helping, and when he learned that there were other heroes that could have leant a helping hand, Peter’s initial response was to feel annoyed. Who were they to pick and choose their battles? It hadn’t taken him long to change his opinion. In fact, it had taken a single meeting with Jessica Jones, who had cut straight to the point with “who the fuck do you think was cleaning up your mess after you fucked off into space?”. Peter had gained a great deal of respect for the small-time heroes after that. But he had somehow managed to avoid running into any others after finally meeting Jessica.
Currently, he’s in Central Park, at the south end, where he’s trying to take some more scenic shots to build up his photography portfolio. It’s early evening and Peter is enjoying the chill of the late autumn breeze when in the distance he hears a scream. Immediately his senses are on high alert, and he’s overcome with relief over the fact that he’d packed his suit just in case. He sets off at a brisk walk, trying not to look too panicked to anyone that might be watching, and very soon he’s out of the park and able to duck into the first side alley he sees. He pulls on his suit in record time before firing off some webs and throwing himself into the air,
There’s another scream, this one a word, somewhere only a block away.
“Help!”
Peter flies through the air at top speed, relying on his instincts and spidey sense to get him there safely. His heart is pounding with the adrenaline rush that always comes with these situations and he ignores how much he enjoys it. In only a few moments he’s located the woman that had called out, and he’s distressed when he hears the sound of fighting as he draws near. She seems to have been cornered in a quiet alley and Peter rounds the corner to assess the situation.
Immediately he’s surprised. The woman is cowered in a corner seemingly unharmed, and instead the sound of fighting is coming from three men partially hidden in the shadow of the alley. Peter wastes no time in acting. One of them is lunging with a knife and with a quick flick of the wrist Peter immobilises him with a web. The man lets out a startled shout and overbalances, falling to the floor and letting Peter get a good look at who he was trying to stab. There’s a flash of red and a horned helmet and Peter slowly realises exactly what he’d interrupted. This woman was already being helped, and if Jessica’s vague grumblings are to be believed, she was being helped by Daredevil.
Peter hesitates, not wanting to overstep, and watches the two men fight for a moment. It’s brutal, and it’s clear that the man is being completely overwhelmed by Daredevil’s abilities, especially now that his friend is incapacitated. The man takes yet another punch directly across the face and collapses to his knees, stunned. Peter is for a moment relieved, not really keen on watching more of that fight but his relief is immediately ruined when Daredevil punches the man again. And again. And now the man can’t even raise his hands to shield himself and Daredevil throws another punch.
Peter feels conflicted.
Daredevil punches the man again.
It’s all that Peter can stomach. Quickly, he fires off two webs, one to make sure the man can’t get back up (Peter tries to convince himself he will eventually) and one to hold Daredevil’s raised fist in place. And that is what finally gets Daredevil to notice his presence. He whips round, and Peter winces at the blood running down Daredevil’s face. There’s a moment of silence as they both seem to take each other in, before Peter gets a little too nervous and loses control of his mouth.
“Hey, um, you look a little worse for wear, are you okay?” He pauses for half a second but Daredevil doesn’t have time to respond. “I mean you’re probably doing better than this guy… were you going to kill him? Because I know he’s clearly a creep but murder seems a little far and- wait are you a superhero?” This time he waits for a response.
“I’m Catholic.”
It’s not at all what Peter had expected and now he’s even more confused.
“Um, congrats?”
Daredevil shakes his head and clears his throat.
“I mean, I don’t kill people. I don’t believe in that.”
Again, Peter allows himself to feel relieved.
“Oh, cool. Cool… cool, good attitude. But you are a superhero?”
Daredevil’s mouth twists into a half grimace.
“I prefer the term vigilante…”
“You prefer vigilante? Isn’t that kind of insulting? I mean people only call me a vigilante when they mean it as a bad thing, and superhero sounds way cooler.”
Daredevil sighs.
“Look, kid.” Peter bristles at the word but doesn’t comment. “Can you get me out of this web?”
Peter flushes and rushes forward to pull the web off.
“I’m sorry Mr. Daredevil, I just really thought you might kill him and that’s not really something I support y’know. I’m more of a web them up and talk it out or let them face the consequences kind of guy.”
Daredevil hums, shaking out his now free hand.
“So I’ve heard. You do good things in Queens, kid. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Peter can’t help the small smile that pulls at the corner of his mouth at that. Any kind of positive recognition warms him to his soul, especially now that he’s been left in a world that doesn’t remember him.
“Thanks. I uh… sorry, but I actually haven’t heard much about you. Other than your name. From Jessica. Not your real name, obviously, just Daredevil. But I’m sure you’re doing good things too!”
Daredevil huffs, his mouth twitching into a crooked, wry grin. Peter sees fresh blood oozing from his split lip and winces sympathetically. Daredevil doesn’t seem to notice.
“I tend to stick to a pretty localised area. Small-time stuff. Don’t make a habit of fighting aliens really. I try to stick to Hell’s Kitchen.”
Peter rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
“That makes sense. Uh, sorry for barging my way into your territory I guess. I was just in the area and I heard screaming and couldn’t just… not help.” He finishes with a lame shrug. He’s feeling a little bit self conscious next to the intense conviction and devotion that seems to roll off Daredevil in waves. The vigilante shakes his head.
“No, it’s fine. I understand the instinct. Actually,” he gestures to the two men, still restrained by webs (belatedly, Peter realised the woman is long gone, and he’s glad she was able to make an escape). “This web stuff is pretty handy. This’ll hold them here while I find the cops?”
Peter nods.
“Yeah it’ll dissolve in an hour but they’ll be secure until then.” He hesitates, not wanting to overstep, but Peter knows he won’t feel comfortable leaving these men to their fate unless he knows what was really going on. As if he’s able to sense Peter’s hesitance, Daredevil’s face goes hard.
“They weren’t trying to rob her. I know a cop that will get them charged.” Peter’s heart sinks as he realises the implication of what Daredevil is saying and part of him almost regrets stopping the man earlier. Instead he thinks of the woman.
“What about her?” he asks. Daredevil gives a half smile.
“You have a good heart. I’ll make sure she gets the help she needs.”
Peter nods. They fall into a sort of awkward silence. Peter shifts uncomfortably.
“Well, uh, Mr. Daredevil, sir, it was… nice to meet you?”
Daredevil lets out a startled laugh.
“Oh, please don’t bother with all that Mr and sir business.”
“Okay, uh, Daredevil.”
The other man grimaces.
“Yeah it’s a bit weird using silly names but, well, secret identity and all that y’know.”
He doesn’t know — couldn’t know — but his words are a dagger in Peter’s heart, and Peter physically flinches slightly.
“Yeah,” his voice is suddenly hollow, broken, but there’s nothing he can do to hide it. “I know.”
Daredevil cocks his head, but doesn’t comment on the abrupt change in tone, and Peter is thankful.
“You’re a good kid, Spider-man.”
Peter sighs.
“Not a kid…” but there’s not much fight in it. His mood has been sort of ruined now, and it’s not Daredevil’s fault — he had no idea his words would have the effect of picking at a fresh scab — but Peter doesn’t feel like being around anyone anymore. He steps back, towards the end of the alley. “I’ll see you round Daredevil.” He doesn’t wait for a reply. He swings his way out of the alley, taking a brief detour to scoop up his abandoned backpack. It’s a bit of a risk, carrying around things that could identify him as Peter Parker while he’s in the suit, but he’s not really in the mood to care, just wants to get home as quickly as possible.
It’s been hard, adjusting. And even though almost six months have passed, Peter still feels raw and broken. Stephen has been an incredible help, but there’s only so much one socially awkward sorcerer can do, and Peter has lost… well, everyone, all at once. Once the college year started it became harder and harder to check up on Ned and MJ, and Peter is terrified to make new friends in case anything ever happens to them.
Not for the first time, Peter longs for the two other versions of himself he had met. It had been indescribable, really, the feeling of being so completely understood. And though their presence in his life had lasted only a single night, Peter is confident that it will remain one of the most memorable nights of his life. Fighting alongside not just allies, but friends, had been exhilarating, and while the worry and concern for their well-being had been there it was nothing compared to the overwhelming panic that came over him whenever Ned or MJ had been caught up in things in the past. It’s a large part of why he’s stayed out of their lives. He doesn’t want them hurt, and he doesn’t want them distracting him. Peter sighs.
He needs more superhero friends. Stephen is no help because he pushes people away just as much as Peter does, and Wong is too busy to ever bother with introducing Peter to anyone, despite the almost friendship they’ve formed in the last month or so. His mind wanders back to Daredevil, and before he’s even processed what he’s doing he opens up a browser and types “Daredevil Hell’s Kitchen” into the search bar.
That’s how Peter spends the next two hours. Reading every possible article he can find on who he learns is also referred to as the ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’. Most of the articles have fluctuating tones, with the general public going back and forth on whether they believe he’s doing good or not. However, Daredevil does seem to have one consistent defender, and Peter finds himself focusing more and more on articles written by one Karen Page. She paints Daredevil like a hero. A man standing up for what is good and right. And between all of that, Peter starts to read deeper, and realises that she also paints him as human. He wonders how well Karen knows Daredevil.
They work similarly. The more Peter reads, the more he realises they share a lot of the same goals and morals. He also learns that Daredevil hadn’t been lying when he said that he didn’t believe in killing anyone. There is not a single death attributed to his name (ignoring, of course, the time he was impersonated).
He admires Daredevil. And the man can very obviously look out for himself in a fight. Peter thinks back on their encounter from earlier in the evening. It was fairly awkward, but the other man didn’t seem at all put off by Peter’s presence… Perhaps it was worth another trip to Hell’s Kitchen. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to have more capable allies. He knows he’s just making excuses at this point and Peter forces himself to admit what’s really going on.
He wants friends. More specifically, he wants Daredevil to be his friend. He rolls over on his bed and buries his face into his pillow. It’s silly, and he feels a bit pathetic, but god he’s lonely.
Pining after a man after a single conversation. Wow, Peter has hit a new low. He shoves his laptop away and decides it’s probably time for bed anyway. As he goes about his nightly routine, he pretends he isn’t preparing a list of excuses and reasons to be in Hell’s Kitchen. He also ignores the fact that he goes to bed feeling a little bit lighter than he has in weeks.
And he absolutely doesn’t acknowledge that when he wakes from his dreams, he can almost feel the lingering sensation of someone ruffling their hand in his hair.