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You and Ben were tearing through Hell's Kitchen towards Fisk tower in the middle of a thunderstorm but it wasn't like either of you could ignore the squad of cop cars sliding around the corner answering a call involving gunfire. You were wearing your new 2099 suit that SHIELD crafted for you. At least you weren’t creasing another pair of Air Jordan’s. Those weren’t cheap.
“Even in prison, Fisk is still causing trouble!” Ben grunted as he pushed against the wind before casting another web, “When we get there, stay up top and avoid confronting bullets!”
“Yeah, I know! Not my first time with scary men with guns, my guy!” You ran along the edge, practicing a few kick off maneuvers that you learned from Agent Romanoff ( yeah, Aunt May forgot to mention that she managed a team full of bad ass women). It was supposed to add more power without all the work. Natasha was right...of course.
Finally, soaked to the bone, you and Ben were perched on the ledge of another building a block or so away from Fisk tower. It was chaos down there on the street level, dozens of police cars were surrounding the building and blocking off exits to prevent Fisk' men from getting away, but they had fire power that outmatched the NYPD payroll. You could see a fire on a few top floors, including the roof despite the heavy rains.
“Yeah, yeah...forgot about your business with SHIELD,” he nudged you with his elbow, “Fancy move back there, learn it from your super spy friends?”
If you didn’t know any better, you’d wager a guess that Ben was probably a little jealous. Of what? You weren’t exactly sure where to pinpoint it but for six months he’s always had something to say about a new kick you used, or a new web trick.
It reminded you of a cousin on your dad's side that always had something to say under her breath but it was always nothing when she was asked to repeat herself. It gave you bad vibes then.
And it's giving you bad vibes now. The only difference is that you actually liked Ben, he was a friend and a good mentor—it made you feel a little bad, like a traitor even though you knew that wasn't true at all. Maybe he didn't know that it was possible to have more than one teacher. He was just that cool coach slash history teacher and SHIELD was math and science.
You didn’t know how to respond to his question so you just did what Aunt May always told you to do when there are too many distractions on the field. Compartmentalize. Focus on the mission first, everything else later.
You shifted your footing, your leg began to tingle a bit from squatting so long and pointed to the roof, “I’ll take care of the weirdos on the roof?”
Ben turned to assess the situation before nodding, “Yeah, shoot for the stars kid but!… be careful, alright? Those aren’t Nerf guns.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re starting to sound like a parent.” You sassed before falling backwards off the ledge holding up the peace sign before using a venom burst to boost you up and you swung away.
“Show off!” Ben laughed behind you, grinning behind his mask, “Watch yourself out there, kiddo.”
You landed on a crane that was overlooking a majority of the roof, quietly counting how many armed guys there were and there were plenty. Ben also wasn’t joking about the size of those guns either, some of them even had scopes and lasers on them.
“Oh boy.”
You weren’t dumb enough to try and start a street brawl. You used your senses and the bad weather to your advantage. For a few minutes now, you’d been slowly picking them off and stringing them on the lamp posts or anything just really high up and out of sight of the others. You took the snipers out first—they were on the side of the building though.
“Hey!” One of them shouted from below, swinging his rifle around, “Where’d everyone go?”
“Missin’!” Another ran up, carrying his own rifle, “Boss wants us downstairs, one of the bugs is here and he’s muckin’ up transport.”
“Which one is it?”
“Big one, no sign of the little one though.”
You scoffed. You were not little. Okay—maybe compared to them you were but still, rude much? It sounded like Ben was giving them a lot of trouble downstairs but who were these two referring to as boss if Fisk was at The Raft?
The two henchmen were walking away but you weren’t going to stop them but thought it wiser to let them go. You swung to a nearby wall and found a vent. You weren’t sure where you were going but you followed the two men to the elevators.
“The boss is gonna be pissed if this shipment doesn’t leave the port on time.”
“Yeah, well then she better bring her ass down there and help!”
“Shh!” the other one looked around as if someone was actually around to over hear them. Ahead of you at the drop off, there was a light coming up and the elevator dinged below, “Come on man, they're already working on Plan B. But that ain't our problem. Our problem is the wannabe hero, and that bug dies tonight.”
You shivered at the genuine malice in his voice, people truly sucked sometimes. You quietly continued to spider crawl towards the opening, thankful that your mask was full face because you'd definitely be coughing and sneezing with the amount of dust in the vents. If the superhero thing didn't work out, you could get a job cleaning vents at double the rate.
Poking your head out, you watched the elevator go down—you pulled yourself the rest of the way out of the vent, free falling down to the elevator shaft but you caught yourself for a quiet landing. The last thing you wanted to be doing was dodging bullets from beneath you. It's happened once and it wasn't fun for anyone—during and after the mission.
Aunt May was not happy with you, and you weren't actually scared of the woman until then. It was like facing your mom almost. But she gave you a lot to think about when Agent Morse was patching up your three wounds, grazes from the bullets. You took training more seriously after that and stopped thinking like you were on the streets with Ben. These guys that SHIELD chased weren't con artists or whatever, they were trained like you were trained. Sometimes better, sometimes worse with one goal in mind; to kill.
It's saved your life a few times in New York and wherever SHIELD wanted to send your team.
The elevator came to a halt, bringing you back to reality. In the distance you heard rapid gunfire and the walls shook with faint booms putting tears in the concrete walls that you could see. It sounded like Ben was really giving them a run for their money—the two henchmen ran off the elevator towards the fight and you dropped down into the elevator.
You stepped out, looking to the left—there was a door less than a hundred feet away with the exit sign over it. Curious, you zip lined over quickly to look through the small rectangle window. Three blacked out SUV's were lined up with a bunch of men, and a few women, in suits with rifles strapped to their chests. Small but an easy fight you'd guess, and this was obviously where this so-called 'boss' would be. When the two guards that were somewhat facing the door finally looked away, you slipped through as quietly as you could and hid behind a pillar just as the door clicked shut.
The two henchmen looked at each other and shrugged. Idiots.
You jumped up onto the beam above you and crawled over them. Once again it was easy enough to pick them off one by one since they were all spread apart between three vehicles—whoever they were waiting for was going to be in for a rude awakening when they arrived.
But you weren't sticking around to wait for them, there was another open vent on the other side of the room so you followed the path of the beam until you were spider crawling again, but the space was a little tighter this time but manageable. Your mind was desperately trying to force images of internet pictures and clips of people being stuck in caves and between walls. The vents were slowly but surely tilting downwards until you were able to attach a web to the surface and lower yourself down steadily.
“Holy shit,” you gasped when you reached another opening, a bigger and wider vent tunnel and there was a window letting you peek out into the opening. You should've gone right...because there was no way you were going to be able to take on this. Fisk, or whoever was taking his mantle while he was gone, were using the abandoned subway station that ran under Fisk tower.
You didn't know there was even one beneath here, you assumed that it was just more sewer tunnels. There were twice the amount of guards down here than there were up there, but fewer were actively guarding anything—mostly working and packing bright yellow and black crates onto the decommissioned subway train.
“Chop, chop!” a female voice echoed through the area, drawing your attention but the vent wasn't providing you with a three-sixty view—but they were right under you, “It's only a matter of time before the Scarlet Spider gets here and ruins everything. Anyone got word on the baby spider yet?”
Baby spider? Huh, you haven't heard that one yet surprisingly. You leaned forward a little more to see a little better, freezing when the vent groaned under your weight a little—you quickly stopped, you didn't need to see anything that bad at the risk of being caught.
“Er, n-no ma'am, just Scarlet Spider but no sign of Spider-Kid (Yep, that name actually stuck for you thanks to J. Jonah Jameson). But there are a few sectors who aren't reporting in, ma'am. Your motorcade went quiet seven minutes ago.”
To your surprise, and relief, the mysterious woman just chuckled. (guess they hadn't heard you) “Baby Spider has always been a little quieter than the one upstairs, hasn't she?”
“Er, I s-suppose so ma'am...did you want me to grab a few men and hunt it down?”
I'm not an 'it' douchebag! Oh how you wish you could see his face so you'd know which one to kick in later. Agent Morse would be proud.
“You'd be more useful to me here than unconscious in a broom closet.” she answered coldly, and you knew he was going to cry about that comment later. You would. “This spider is...different from the adult spider.”
“Oh, uh…” You could tell the henchman was nervous around this woman, you didn’t blame him though, “How’s that? Ma’am?”
“She’s stronger, has more surprises and probably hasn’t even hit puberty yet. It’s just such a shame that youthful energy is being wasted on this ungrateful city and its citizens.”
“Uh...I'm gonna go...make them work faster.”
“Yes, you do that before I come over there and do it myself.” she sounded calm but the chills that went down your back told you that she was anything but. Whoever this lady was had to be batshit crazy.
There was also no way you were going against any of this by yourself, not until you knew more about what was in those crates.
Figuring that you'd seen and heard enough, and staying any longer would push your luck. You'd just cast another web to pull yourself back up when another surface explosion shook the foundation and your web snapped loose. You webbed another but it was too late as your back went through the floor of the vent floor, and down onto the dirty cobblestone with a solid wet thump and a grunt.
“ Well, well, well...”
Quickly scrambling to your feet, there was a lady standing directly in front of you. She had brown hair and was wearing a sleek black suit, and green and black goggles—that was all you could observe because your attention was more or less on the fact that there were tentacles dancing behind her and they seemed to be breathing. Looking further past her, no one else seemed to have noticed your presence yet and you would like to keep it that way.
“Um. I um...” you pushed your hood off your head, rubbing the back of your neck as if she could really see your bashful near panicked expression behind your mask, “Sorry, I was just er...”
She smiled. “Trespassing?”
“Leaving.”
You crouched then jumped straight up back towards the vent you fell out of, preparing to cast a web for a quick escape but one of the woman's tentacles caught you around the ankle and slammed you back onto the ground, back first. You watched in horror as two of those arms extended up and closed the opening of the shaft with brute force. Well. There went your safest exit.
You yelped when the claw still gripping your right leg, really around your calf, lifted you so that you were upside down and at eye level with the crazy tentacle lady who was now smiling like Christmas came early for her or something.
You didn't give her a chance to speak or do anything to you because you webbed her right in the face, without any venom, and she instantly dropped you with an aggravated yelp.
A rough voice shouted in surprise from below, “Hey! It's one of the spiders! Kill em!”
“Oh crap!”
Well, now it was you in a boss fight and dozens of armed men—the last boss fight you were in was with Rhino and even then you weren't completely alone. On just the tips of your toes, you launched off the small platform before the crazy lady could recover and grab you. You jumped onto a few of the lights hanging from the ceiling, using enough force to kick the plating towards the men standing underneath trying to shoot you.
“Whoops! Sorry, coming through!”
There were three rocket launchers set up on top of the old subway train. You dodged two but latched onto the other mid air and sent it back to its sender, sending the men scrambling but it was too late.
You weren't sure how wise it was to start blowing things up under a seventy story building—but they started it first. Before you knew how or even why you were on the ground, you were rolling between legs and breaking backs—your stranger danger sense going haywire and you were dodging left and right. You had enough energy built up for a venom blast. You heard the crazy lady cackling somewhere in the background, barking orders that she wanted you alive.
“Like hell lady!” with practiced ease, you discharged the energy from your hands, controlling your bursts and paralyzing every human nervous system within twenty feet of you. You rolled away just in time to avoid the crazy lady from landing directly on top of you with those scary tentacles.
Crazy lady grinned, “Neat trick. I look forward to finding out what makes you tick, little one.”
“Yeah? Gonna have to catch me first.”
“Oh! Didn’t you know, dear? I love playing games! Especially the one called tag!”
You back-flipped onto a few crates behind you to avoid one of those inflatable tentacles from grabbing you, flipping again as another one rammed into the wooden crate you landed on. Okay! So this might be a little harder than you thought.
“Wait...so while I was getting rockets launched at me left and right? You were crawling through the damn vents playing super spy?!”
“Pretty much, yeah—”
“And then you went up against Lady Ock alone?! ”
“For the thousandth millionth time—I didn’t know who she was! And I still don’t! Can’t you be happy that I made it out alive and two; stop the shipments?”
“Okay okay, yeah, you did do some pretty badass work tonight,” Ben swiped the last cheese pizza slice from the box, you two were sitting under the arch on some high rise building watching the storm consume the entire city, “she must’ve been going easy on you tonight kid, but listen…the next time you see her, you run.”
“What—”
“(Y/n). The next time you see her, you freaking run. Yeah?”
You’ve never heard Ben sound or look so serious before, it made you nervous so you nodded in understanding. Ben looked at you for a couple of more seconds before easing up and sitting back.
“So, how’s school been for you? Gotta any friends besides Parker and MJ?”
Later that evening…
You and Ben parted ways a few hours ago, he went home to get more sleep but you decided to stay out and patrol a little while longer. The storm had long since passed though it was still drizzling and cold out, the streets were a lot busier than they were.
Your mom was doing an overnight shift so you didn’t have anyone to hound you to go to sleep at a decent hour and you weren’t in the mood to be there all by yourself. You contemplated sleeping on the helicarrier.
But for now, it was just another slow night filled with the usual muggers, rapists and car chases. Since becoming a superhero, your city sucked a lot more than you thought it would but it was still your city. And speaking of muggers…
A group of men had been hanging around the back of the bodega for a good while now. You’d know because you’d been sitting in the shadows on the roof across the street watching them patiently. You’d seen the brunette walk in earlier but you weren’t paying attention to her until she came out with a large brown paper bag—and you weren’t the only one who took notice.
The cat calls were loud and lewd as the group of seven men slithered out of the shadows of the alley behind the brunette but her high heels didn’t skip a beat on the concrete nor did she turn around.
You followed them using the rooftops, their comments and laughter made you feel disgusting and it pissed you off. That could be someone’s mom or something. What if that was your mom? Suddenly the woman veered off into an alley—the worst possible decision.
“Oh come on lady!” You groaned, zip lining the edge, “Of course you’d pick the one with a dead end.”
The brunette set her bag of groceries down on the ground carefully and she looked as if she were preparing herself to go against seven men, three who had knives. Their intentions were clear and you knew it was time to intervene.
It was easy. None of them stood a chance, and soon enough there were bodies webbed to the wall neatly and the cops on their way. You turned back towards the woman, seeing her pick up her groceries but you couldn’t quite see her face.
“Are you alright ma’am?”
“I suppose I wouldn't have been if you hadn’t shown up,” she chuckled, a lot calmer than most women would’ve been, you still couldn’t see her that well, but she seemed…familiar, almost, “Thank you, my dear. My night has already been a disaster without them making it any worse.” Like you said—calmer than most. She must be rich. Nothing against the rich…just that every time you rescued a rich New Yorker, they acted as if nothing was happening. It was honestly weird.
“Ah, just doing my job, I guess.”
“Hmm…yes I suppose you were and quite the 'job' you're doing too, dear.”
“Oh uh…yeah?” You couldn’t tell if you should be offended or blushing, her tone suggested both.
Sirens a block or two away had you excusing yourself, wishing her a safer journey home and yet…when the police arrived. All to be found in the alley were seven felons webbed to the wall.
You were on your stomach knocked out cold and still wearing your superhero tights but managed to get your boots and the top off. You were too tired to deal with the pants, they were always more of a hassle to get off sometimes and you had no idea why.
Bobbi was careful not to wake you, quietly taking in the bruises and old scars on your visible skin and she saw a new bruise forming just under your sports bra. At least you were putting on some more weight now, thanks to the super workouts that she and Natasha put you through at SHIELD four times a week in the gym.
She heard about the Fisk tower shenanigans and figured that you had a long night. It also explained why you were sleeping in on a school day—and why you weren’t answering your phone. Your mother was worried and Agent Parker had called twice before dispatching Bobbi to hunt you down and check your pulse.
Reaching down, Bobbi pushed you over a bit and saw four raised red lines screaming across your skin over your ribs and winced. The skin around them was red and hot to the touch.
“Jesus, you spiders like to play rough.”
Bobbi brought around her small one strap backpack. It contained some healing ointment and skin remedies to help with the scarring. As the strike team medic, Bobbi was on the short list of people who knew your identity—and had immediate access into your private quarter. You weren’t the first minor shield ever recruited but you were the first that they’ve put into the field like this, abilities or not. Much less on an elite strike team.
You were holding your own and proving your rank but sometimes Fury’s orders baffled even her. Besides Commander Hill and Agent Parker, Bobbi was positive that no one else knew about the baby face behind the mask. She wasn’t even sure if the director himself knew. Hill and Parker kept you on a short leash and assigned her as your pediatrician which was probably the only reason Bobbi was given clearance to your identity.
Natasha probably knew but not because anyone told her. She just knew things. It was scary...all the time. The rest of your teammates though? Wilson, Barton and May definitely did not know. Probably not yet at least. But it's been six months, you were a part of the team so it was only a matter of time.
When Bobbi was finished she wiped her hands clean with a tissue then got up and walked over to your curtains. She pulled them back quickly to let the late morning light into your cabin.
You immediately flinched and sleepily buried your face further into the pillow. Your room was right on a turbine and your room had a gentle but constant vibration to it, stronger than most and Bobbi found it comforting. She could sleep all day if she had a room right above a turbine—it was a free back massage.
Bobbi turned away from a view she's seen a million times, back to you. You curled up around one of your many fluffy pillows with your back to the window attempting to get more sleep. Bobbi leaned against the window, looking around your room. It was always a little different each time she visited though the webbing on the ceiling holding some souvenirs from missions was an ever growing constant. The textbooks and journals scattered on your desk suggested late night cram sessions. Bobbi did not miss her high school days and certainly did not envy you.
You rolled back over, eyes barely opened, “If I gave you five bucks...will you leave?”
Bobbi chuckled, “Sure...but then you'd have to deal with May. Especially if she finds out that you're trying to skip out on gun training today but maybe I'm thinking we need to teach you how to duck and dodge.”
“Ugh no,” you threw an arm over your eyes, you were exhausted, not crazy. Agent May was the quiet type but deadly...oh so deadly. You didn't want to be on her bad side, you've seen the results hell you've seen the glares. That woman was scary, “Am I late?”
Tempted to tease you and have you running around like a chicken without a head but decided to save it for another time, maybe when you were less stressed. “Nah, I'm just early...I heard what happened in the city last night. Wanted to check on you and take you to lunch before your training.” right on cue, your stomach growled making Bobbi smile, “Take your time, kid, I'll be waiting outside.”
You took a minute or two but eventually dragged yourself out of bed and cleaned yourself up. You were in your spider-suit but wearing a pair of high top vans, board shorts, and a graphic t-shirt with a jacket. A common sight to see you in your suit and street clothing around the helicarrier. You’d probably be a cool meme if anyone was allowed to take pictures on board.
You and Bobbi walked side by side to the elevators, your hands tucked into your pockets. “You know you don’t have to check up on me all the time, right?”
“I know, but this is what teammates do.”
“And not just because you're my pediatrician?”
“No,” Bobbi laughed as you both stepped onto the, thankfully, empty elevator, “Maybe at first, sure, but you're rocking with us now, kid. And we look out for our own.”
“Us? You mean SHIELD?”
“No, yes...but I meant our nameless strike team. I'm sure you've noticed that there are cliques around here, right?”
“Yeah? Sounds a lot like high school then.”
Bobbi smiled, “A bit, but with guns and better playgrounds but everyone here has a story and friends get made backs are watched...cliques. We're all part of a team and one fight here, but it's nice to have friends you can call on.”
“I'm happy I have the most badass friends then...thanks. I um...I know I'm just some annoying kid or whatever, but I really appreciate that. I know my mom totally would, she worries a lot.”
The elevator doors opened and you followed the taller Agent down the busy hall towards the dining hall. As usual you caught stares from other Agents—always curious though a few were indifferent but there were some Agents who were downright glaring at you even though you didn't do anything wrong to them. But none of those looks bothered you because your mask protected you, you could make any face you wanted or you could be crying but on the outside you were a Spider. Strong, indifferent and always ready for a fight.
Agent May was waiting for you when you got down to the armory even though you were ten minutes early. You could other lanes in the armory blasting off rounds but they were muffled once you got to the lane May told you to be at. Inside there were various forms of firearms laid out on the table ranging from a few pistols that you vaguely recognized to some assault rifles and a shotgun. On the bottom half of the table were boxes of ammo and loaded mags and clips.
“Whoa.” your eyes wide behind your mask and even though she couldn't see it, May knew that you were smiling too. She watched you take off your jacket and set it aside before approaching the table to get a closer look at everything. Gloved fingers grazed over cold steel, “We're shooting all of these today?”
“Yep.”
“Cool.”
“Pick one.” You decided to go with one of the assault rifles, turning it this way and that before looking up at May who was looking at you with a raised eyebrow, “M14? Nice choice, now get over here. You have a long day ahead of you.”
That was an understatement. Two hours later and you were grateful that you grabbed a few granola bars from the mess hall earlier though they were completely gone by now. May wasn’t kidding when she said that today would be a long one but you didn’t mind it because it was fun—handling the recoil was always the best part, sometimes you just liked to show off how strong you were.
You worked up a bit of a sweat under your suit but it was something you were used to. You set down the shotgun and turned to your current mentor (one of many you clearly had), “Not that this is never any fun or anything but I have literal superpowers, why do I really need to know how to shoot a gun...or know the differences? I have four months of gun training...and never needed to pick one up. You never use a gun.”
May stared at you long enough to have you thinking that you might've overstepped—her micro-expressions were hard to read but the Agent simply took off her safety goggles and set them aside, “I only take a gun if I know that I will be needing it. A few of the missions we've been on together, it wasn't necessary you're right.”
“So—”
“How are you feeling after last night?”
That brought you up short, “Wait, you know about last night too?”
May nearly rolled her eyes, “It was all over the news this morning. There were a few good shots of your friend but none of you...?”
You shrugged, “I was underground, less explosions and bullets—the real mission, y'know?”
“Good girl.” May nodded and you were suddenly thankful that you had your mask on because you were definitely blushing—it was unheard of to hear May give praise but much less to you. She wasn't mean towards you, but you only ever got a simple look of mild approval or a nod, “But answer the question; how are you feeling after last night?”
“More tired than I thought, could've been the rain though...um...sore, bruised? Didn't want to wake up this morning.”
“Think you could've swung up here this morning if you'd gone home instead?”
You were starting to get her point, “Um...no, probably would've called for a pick up or something. I heal but I'm not a fast healer.”
“Exactly.” May stepped forward, placing a hand on your shoulder firmly and somehow even through the mask she was looking into your eyes and you were unable to look away, “You haven't done any long haul missions with us...yet, but you will. That exhaustion and soreness you felt this morning? Multiple it times three.It's better to be safer than sorry out there, kid.”
“She's right.” you startled slightly hearing Agent Hill as she walked into the room with her own safety goggles around her neck and closing the door behind her soundly, “It's better for you to learn alternative ways of defending yourself when you're too tired...or too hurt to be a Spider.”
“I get it...better to have the training and not need it, than to need it and not have it?”
“I knew I liked you.” May tapped your arm and put her safety glasses back on, but you were a little slower to get back into the groove of things. Instead you watched Maria go through the selection of weapons on the table before selecting a glock and loading the clip until she looked up and saw you watching her.
“Is there something else on your mind?”
“If...” Swallowing thickly before you lost your nerve, “If Agent Parker hadn't figured out who I was and brought me in...would I still be standing here right now? Am I only here because of her?”
“Partially, yes.” May gave Maria a look but the Commander kept her eyes on you and sighed deeply, “It didn't take you long to pop up next to the Scarlet Spider. Your fight with Rhino turned a lot of heads that day, including SHIELD's. We were impressed...and we began looking for you immediately, but you were a lot smarter about covering your tracks than our recruiters anticipated. Agent Parker's discovery was an accident but not a bad one.”
“So...if you're impressed with Spiders then how come I'm here and the Scarlet Spider isn't?”
Maria came around the table, “Because we were impressed with you, not him. Besides...Director Fury made him an offer three years ago and he refused. And now we're here, with you. Okay?”
Ben was offered a spot with SHIELD and he turned it down? Why? Why was he giving you so much crap for being an Agent and acting like the Grinch when he had an opportunity too? You felt both confused and annoyed. Instead of commenting on it, you picked up the shotgun you were using earlier...
“So...when do I get to use a rocket launcher then?”
A week later...
You weren't in your Spider-Kid suit, or on the helicarrier that's literally hovering above the city twenty-four seven even though no one could see the stupid thing. No, you decided to let Ben hit the pavement alone today and came straight home after school—you weren't avoiding him or anything. MJ explained work life balance to you one day at lunch when Peter and Ned were going back and forth about building their Death Star made of Legos. You liked moments like those but you also hated them because you always felt guilty when Peter invites you all over to his place for the weekend of movie nights and junk food when his Aunt is gone on the weekends for work sometimes. You haven't once been able to accept an invitation because whenever his Aunt was gone, so were you.
But no...you've had a pretty easy week and you weren't going to complain about that.
“Hey baby,” your mom kissed the top of your head and set her purse down on the sofa behind you, “Oooh, that looks fun, math?”
“Algebra,” you sighed, setting your pencil down, twisting around on your knees when your mom sat down with a heavy sigh. Without her asking, you took off her crocs and set them aside, “Rough day?”
“The worst,” she laid her head back with her eyes closed before she opened them again, “I ordered pizza tonight, I know I promised street tacos. Maybe this weekend, hm?”
You tried not to let your disappointment show and nodded, “It's okay, I like pizza...was the hospital short staffed again?”
She hummed, reaching down to playing with your stubborn curls that wouldn't stay in the scrunchie you put it in but she didn't answer you. You didn't really expect her to anyway—even knowing you were a superhero and probably more than likely seen a lot worse on the streets than she did in the hospital (Hell, any New Yorker would say the same on their way to work on the subway everyday). You crawled up on the sofa and laid your head in your mom's lap, homework forgotten for the moment.
Soft even breathing and the muffled life of the city around them filled their living room, neither of you quite sleep just thankful to be here and together.
“A new Doctor started this week...” your mom started, voice low and sleepy, “Dr. Olivia Octavius or something like that...she's...eccentric but the patients seem to like her.”
“Weird name.”
“Be nice, she's sweet. She's a specialist and has been helping our wait list this week and god knows those people need all of the help they can get. And her oatmeal cookies are always so soft, it's magic.”
It sounded like your mom might've made a friend, “Do you guys work together a lot?”
“Same floor.” Knock knock knock!
You sprang to your feet before your mom could and dug the money out of her wallet before dashing to the door for the pizza. When you opened the door you...you made a face of surprise seeing that, yes your pizza was here but you were almost positive that Aunt May delivering your pizza was way below her pay grade.
“Work?” You opened the door wider and stepped back to let her in.
“Not necessarily but we do need to talk about your future with the company.” She saw the look on your face and shook her head with a reassuring smile, “It’s not bad I promise, I normally would’ve waited until you reported back in but you’re not yet an adult, so...”
“So any new developments will be run by me first until you are.” Your mom came up behind you, taking the offered pizza box from Aunt May before giving it to you with a pointed look. You rolled your eyes half heartedly and took your cue to the kitchen.
“Here to talk about me and then kick me out. Typical.” You mumbled under your breath once you were safe in the kitchen out of their earshot. You peeked into the box and was hit in the face with the best smell ever, “Mmm cheese. Classic.”
You threw a small stack of paper plates on top of the box and three bottled waters out of the fridge then joined the adults in the dining room. You took your place back on the floor in front of your homework next to your mom and Aunt May was in the chair. For a while, you all just ate quietly. Well you ate quietly and listened to your mom and handler talk about random mundane things. Small talk. That lasted for all of fifteen minutes until Aunt May was done with her two slices and set her plate aside. You got up to get yourself another bottle of water.
“How is everything here?”
“Time helps...things have been different but positive—work for me has kept me busy and sane for the most part. I've also gotten myself into the habit of not watching the news...saves me the heart attack.” your mom chuckled softly, picking up another slice from the box, “I'm proud of (Y/n), but it still scares me half to death.
Aunt May smiled in understanding, “I can only imagine...if Peter somehow became a superhero overnight, I'd probably freak...you're handling all of this a lot better than many of us would've.”
“It makes me feel better knowing that she has you and Maria out there. I still worry when she doesn't come home at night but...oh, does that make me a terrible mother? It sounds like it out loud.”
“No. No not at all, you've adapted and supported (Y/n) when she needed you the most...terrible isn't exactly the word I would use.”
You chose that exact moment to come back into the living room and plopped down onto the sofa next to your mom and leaned back on her like she was your own personal pillow, “What I miss?”
“How's school?” Aunt May asked you instead while your mom wrapped her arm around you.
“I mean, it's school...I'll graduate. Academic's was more of Miles' thing...I like SHIELD learning more.”
Aunt May got a funny look on her face and you felt your mom tense a little behind you—all signs that the reason for Agent Parker's visit was about to discussed, “That's actually what brings me here tonight...you're graduating next year, and I'd like to know what your plans would be after high school?”
“Meaning what exactly?” your mom asked before you could even open your mouth, “College?”
Aunt May nodded, “Yes, in such a short amount of time (Y/n) you've proven yourself to be a highly valued SHIELD Agent...more precisely a SHIELD spy. You'll get access to incredible SHIELD resources so a scholarship won't be an issue if that's what you want (your mom pinched you when you whispered 'holy shit').”
“What if I wanted to go out of state?”
“If you wanted, however I should warn you that your new handler would be Maria since she's the only other person to know who you are besides Bobbi and can travel on a whim.” Aunt May smirked at your slightly wide eyed look knowing how easily Agent Hill intimidated you even though the woman has been nothing but fair with you, “I don't know how Maria does it but that woman can be in three places at once. She makes stress look easy.”
You tried to smile at the small joke but it might've come out more like a grimace—you hadn't thought about college since your family of four shrunk down to just you and your mom. College? It was more Miles' thing—he was more geeked about it than you could ever be. You were already pressed with these stupid high school classes way before you became a superhero. College would eat you alive. Was your mom rooting for college? She's been great with you so far but what if this would be the last straw for her?
The arm around your shoulders and collarbone pulled you in closer to your mom, “Sweetheart, are you alright? You've gone quiet on us, mija.”
“Yeah, I'm alright. Fine, just tired.” you chuckled, trying to play it off but the panic must've been written all over your face for Agent Parker to see since she was directly in your line of view and your mom was behind you.
“You don't have to decide anything tonight. You have six months until we need an answer so we can plan accordingly. It's getting late, so I'll—”
“What about SHIELD academy? Is that an option too?”
Aunt May nodded, “Yes, always...but (Y/n), sweetie? There's no rush, I promise, even if it takes longer than six months...we'll take care of it, okay?” Aunt May winked, hoping to soothe your growing anxiety. “I'll let you two get back to your evening.”
“I'll walk you out,” your mom offered, carefully uprooting you as she got up but she didn't bother to let you down gently and you fell back on the warm sofa cushions with a loud huff but held up your hand over the back of the sofa so Aunt May could give you a solid high five as she walked by, bidding you goodnight.
You could hear them talking at the front door, more than likely about you. Your phone buzzed on the coffee table and you quickly snatched it up. It was Ben messaging you and you opened it.
Hey, could use some help tonight kiddo. Game?
You heard your mom sigh loudly from the foyer and you quickly sprang up and headed towards the balcony after writing a quick note on top of the pizza box despite the fact that your mom was more than likely used to your disappearing acts by now. You leaped from your balcony, your inky black suit blending into the night as you slung your signature backpack over your shoulder and took off towards the sirens. Ben didn't say where he was exactly but you knew that you two would eventually cross paths as usual...plus the city seemed... busy tonight.
As you swung through the skyscrapers and through the nine to five evening traffic, you felt yourself start to relax. Your jaw wasn't tense, your shoulders weren't hunched and that ache between your shoulder blades was starting to ebb away. Yeah, you'd rather deal with a bunch of two-bit criminals than talk college with your mom—or lack of.
You felt bad for leaving so abruptly but you pushed that guilt into your fists and for three hours straight you answered every emergency call ranging from police chases to kidnappings. Yeah, it was a busy night for the city. You were taking your frustrations out on glass jaws and massive egos. Finally though around midnight things began to slow down—word was getting around that both spiders were out tonight and heads were getting rocked left and right.
Your stomach growled and you wished you grabbed an extra slice of pizza before you left the apartment. You sat on the ledge of some building in the financial district where you left your backpack. You were scrolling through your phone and checking your messages. There were a couple from your friends at school but you sort of skimmed through those—their problems were irrelevant compared to yours, or at least that's what it felt like. You couldn't relate to them, not really—not truthfully. Sometimes you hated that you got these stupid abilities...and that stupid spider that bit you and—
Your mom messaged you.
I love you <3
That's all it said, nothing more but it was enough to make you tear up. She still would've been better off with Miles. Yeah, you still felt that way...but you were wise enough to keep those thoughts to yourself now.
“Hey.”
Startled, you looked up half expecting to find some super villain floating in front of you or even Ben, but the voice was too feminine to Ben and he didn't own a car. A car that could freaking fly. It was all black, sharp and sleek—reflecting the owner perfectly. And the thing was quiet too, no wonder you didn't hear her approaching.
“ Holy shit.”
Natasha smirked as if she could see your awed expression through your mask, “I have some...errands to run across town. Interested?”
You shrugged, already on your feet, “I don't know. It depends. Can we stop for food?”
Natasha held up a bag of McDonald's and you practically teleported into her passengers seat, settled into the cool leather and put your seatbelt on. You lifted your mask partially so you could slurp down the sprite that she got you as well. Natasha rolled the windows up and pressed a button on her dash that made the car disappear—must've been the same cloaking tech used on the helicarrier, and soon you were both soaring through the city above the traffic.
“So...these errands?” you asked around the nuggets and fries you were stuffing in your mouth, looking over at the redhead who was focusing on the... air in front of her. It was cool but the nuggets and fries were cooler.
“Alchemax. Heard of it?”
You shook your head, mouth too full to speak but Natasha saw you anyway. She reached behind your seat with ease, and pulled something from the seat pocket and tossed it in your lap without disturbing your food somehow—the precision this woman had was terrifying sometimes. You stuffed two more nuggets in your mouth before picking up the folder and opening it up, turning on the overhead light so you could see.
“Um...Agent Romanoff? This says level seven? I barely have clearance for level five SHIELD stuff unless it's something Agent Parker or Commander Hill tell me...?”
“This is off the books, kid, so what Hill and Parker don't know won't hurt them. Besides, this is just recon...figured you could use a break from prowling the fine streets of Brooklyn.”
“How'd you know where to find me? I'm not exactly listed.”
Natasha snorted, banking left at a fast alarming rate of speed not that you were actually scared, this was way cooler than swinging all of the time—you didn't mind zip-lining through the city but that took concentration and energy that you could be saving for the actual fight. You wondered if Natasha would be willing to teach you how to drive....to fly? To fly.
“I just looked up.” it didn't bother you that she didn't really answer your question but you were positive that a tiny part of you really didn't want to know anyway. “And how many times do I need to tell you that it's Natasha. Not Agent Romanoff.”
“I'll stop calling you Agent Romanoff when you stop calling me 'kid'.”
“It's literally in your name, Spider-Kid.”
“Oh ha ha,” you rolled your eyes as you continued to read through the file. It was, surprisingly and thankfully, thin by shield standards, “For the record, I was never on board with that stupid name. Spider-Woman would've been so much better.”
“You'll grow into it, I mean you practically jumped in my car at the sight of McDonald's with no questions asked—I could be an imposter kidnapping you. Spider-Kid is perfect for you.”
“For now. Anyway... ” She had a point. You knew that and she knew that—moving on, you put the folder in the glove compartment and went back to your food, “So a gun? We're after a gun?”
“A gun that can melt through metal, concrete...and people? Yes. After the invasion of New York, SHIELD tried to clean up as much as they possibly could. There's still some Chitauri tech and gear that landed on the black market and SHIELD has been tracking them down since.”
“What does SHIELD do with them then?”
“Slingshot them into the sun. it could be simple in and out, but it could turn into a three versus sixty situation.”
“Uh...” you double checked the backseat, “Not to be that person, but there's only two of us in here?”
“Wilson is flying ahead.”
It suddenly clicked and you couldn't help the cackle you let out, “So that's how you knew where I was! You cheated!”
“Figured our youngest teammate would like to see the world,” Natasha fought back her smile, your laugh (it was more of a cackle if she were being honest) was always wild and contagious when you actually let it out, even when there was nothing to be laughing at, “So are you game kid? We're about to leave the city and this is your last chance to—”
“I'm game, Agent Romanoff.”