Chapter Text
The ringing of the school bell was loud and overbearing. Enough to set anyone's teeth on edge. She hated the sound of it. It felt as though it were nagging her, telling her who to be and what to do. He always claimed that she was being dramatic. She told him constantly that drama was what paid the bills.
That day was no different.
"What bills?" Peter Parker's eyebrow quirked as he looked at her.
"Oh ya know," Cadence twirled her hand in a dramatic fashion. One that they both thought she'd picked up from watching his adopted father. "Subscription fees, my candle hoard, drum kit expansions. All the things one needs to be a successful rockstar."
"Sure, Candy Cane," his grin could make the world stop and stare. He just hadn't realized it. "You know you're probably gonna end up getting evicted, right?"
"Please," she scoffed, her pencil tapping a light beat against her notebook. "Jimmy loves me! He thinks I have a natural talent."
"I don't think him saying you kept cats screeching at night was saying you have natural talent." Peter had stopped trying to point things out delicately a very long time ago. Cadence wasn't delicate. She was able to take whatever he said and carry it with her as though it weighed nothing. Whereas she could tell him something and the effect of it would last multiple weeks.
They'd always worked that way. Peter was the one who she protected, while he kept her from feeling alone. Or worse.
"Settle down," their Calc teacher sighed as he walked into the classroom.
The effect on Cadence was immediate. Her eyes glazed over, her pencil stilling in her hands. Peter swore that she would be asleep within ten minutes if she wasn't careful. Math and science had never exactly been her thing, well, paying attention to them hadn't been. She was more interested in the finer things in life. Music and how it fed the soul.
Peter was certain that she was going to get expelled if she wasn't careful. Midtown High was known for being a school for the academically gifted. Cadence had shone on the entrance exams, but ever since coming to the school, she'd been fading. Whatever light they had originally seen was beginning to become an ember. One that he wasn't sure he could fan into a flame. But Cadence wouldn't let him help her. She wouldn't let anyone help her.
As their teacher began to discuss new theories and showing them how they could use them in a real-world setting, Cadence's pencil began to tap gently against the desk. No one but Peter even noticed it. She had known that she'd be able to get away with it. She always did. Always managed to show off her ability without ever getting herself into trouble.
Cadence knew that Peter wondered how she did it. How she managed to keep herself out of trouble when most of the time their teachers would yell at anyone who was a disruption. It was just because no one thought twice about her. She didn't actually do anything to get into trouble, she was just sort of there.
Although, if anyone was to find out what she did when she wasn't in school, she'd be in worlds of trouble.
After all, vigilante justice was illegal.
She doubted even Peter's adopted father could get her out of trouble, even if he paid for the world's best lawyer and made sure she had the best defense. She knew he'd do it. Anything for Peter. Anything to keep that boy from hurting more than he already did.
Peter nudged her gently in the ribs, a signal that the teacher had started asking questions. The pair had multiple signals for multiple things. Including pizza day in the cafeteria. Cadence had deemed it necessary, even if she knew that it wasn't. It was all just another way to be damn certain that Peter Parker would be a mainstay in her life. No matter what.
She came out of her stupor, albeit fighting to fall back into it. She managed it just in time, as Peter had been asked the answer to a question that made absolutely no sense to her. But of course he got it right without a second of thinking. He had always been the brains of their operation. She was certain that he was the only reason that she had yet to fail out. That and the fact that she was determined not to leave him behind.
The thought of being without Peter Parker was enough to make her sick.
The pair had met nearly nine years ago. They'd been seven years old and so eager to make friends with the first person they met. Peter had introduced himself, Cadence had said his name was stupid. He had told her hers was worse. The pair had been nearly inseparable ever since.
But sleepovers and staying on the phone until three am on a school night had ended during their freshman year of high school. Once her dad had been shot, she had thought that everything was falling apart. She'd pulled away from everyone and everything that she possibly could. Peter had clung to her as though that would fix whatever had broken inside of her.
She had clung to him like he was the only thing that kept her breathing.
But that didn't mean the two friends hadn't been hurt by the experience. It hadn't helped when he had started acting odd towards her after a field trip. She had always wondered if he had somehow figured out what she had been planning to do during that field trip. If he knew that she had chickened out. She wondered if his squirrely attitude had been because he was disappointed or if he was just mad at her.
They'd managed to get over their awkwardness during their sophomore year. They would finish it out the best of friends, like every other year. She knew that that little snag in their friendship wouldn't affect anything in the long-run. Even if she still had not told him everything.
The ringing of the bell brought her out of her thoughts.
"You coming over? Dad doesn't get off till like midnight." Cadence packed her stuff away with expert efficiency.
"Uh, no." Peter at least had the decency to look disappointed with himself. "Tony wants me to help in the lab."
Peter never called his adopted father 'dad'. She thought it was interesting but she had never commented on it. It wasn't her business, nor was anything to do with their relationship. It was between them and probably Peter's therapist.
"Oh. You can still come over whenever. Dad gave me pizza money. I was thinking pizza, movie, maybe a few levels of Lego Star Wars?" Cadence and Peter headed out of the classroom together. The sight so normal that no one even thought about it.
"C'mon, Cads," Peter groaned. "You know I'd rather be doing that. But this is really cool too! I'm sure Tony would let you come if you wanted to."
"Am I even allowed in the lab?"
"Daisy is." Peter grinned as he spoke about his sister. "She doesn't even get science."
Daisy Stark had always been an enigma to Cadence. She was the only one of Tony's kids that was biological and yet, she hadn't seemed to inherit her family's gift for science. The girl was a musician, just like Cadence, but she was normally strung out on some sort of high-end drug or deep within an alcohol binge. That had never stopped Peter from caring about her though. He was more protective of Daisy than he was of anyone.
Cadence was just waiting for Daisy to do something that would hurt Peter. She knew it was wrong of her to expect it, but she had always seen through the act that Tony and Peter seemed to buy. Daisy didn't care who she hurt. She was too busy searching for her next high.
"Oh yeah, so I'd be hanging out with the entire Stark family?"
"I mean, no? Maybe? I don't know. But it'll be more fun if you're there."
"I'm gonna take a raincheck on that," Cadence sighed. While they had managed to patch up their friendship, it seemed like they never had time for each other anymore.
"Caddie!" A voice came from behind them. Loud, clear, bell-like.
The pixie of a girl known as Fiona Winters came barreling down towards the two of them. Her eyes were bright, her hair a bright shade of blue that was definitely not dress code appropriate.
"Hey, Fi," Peter waved at her before turning his attention to his locker. Fiona had been brought into his life the moment he had befriended Cadence. While he and Cadence were closer than they had any right to be, the girls were like sisters. It was almost scary how well they knew each other.
"Hey, Petey," Fiona did not give him her full attention. Instead she took Cadence by the arm, tugging as hard as she could. It wasn't hard enough to do anything more than make Cadence giggle. "I'm stealing her from you. Toodles!"
"Call me tonight, Cads!" Peter called as the two girls rushed off.
Cadence was grateful that Peter would be unable to see the blush that had suddenly graced her features. She wasn't sure she could handle him teasing her about it. He wouldn't get why she was blushing, but she was certain he would make assumptions that she didn't want to think about.
"What's the rush, Fi?" She nearly tripped over her own feet as the shorter girl dragged her towards a set of stairs that students weren't allowed to use.
The girls had found the space last year. A large sub-basement that the school had left abandoned. It had taken them months to get it cleaned up, which had meant breaking into the school in the middle of the summer in order to work. But eventually they had got it up and running. Thanks to Fiona's parents, they had managed to scrape together three large computer monitors and a few crafting tables. Her parents didn't know what the girls were up to, but they had never said a word about footing the bill when it came to Fiona's hobbies.
"Glo and I just finished it! It looks absolutely stunning and you've gotta try it on now!" Fiona only ever sounded this excited when it came to one thing. Her suit.
"Finally!" Cadence grinned as she tossed her bag into the empty seat by the computer monitors.
Gloria didn't bother to look up from the wires that she was working on. That was far too normal when it came to Gloria. The girl didn't often like to be interrupted in her work. She often kept her work in her apartment. Besides, Cadence didn't think that Gloria liked her very much. Even if she had sometimes forced her company on the girl. It didn't seem quite fair really.
Cadence did not think of Gloria's dislike as she headed over to the mannequin standing just behind the table on the far left. The table was Fiona's zone and was littered with various fabrics and other materials that Cadence didn't know what were for.
"It's beautiful," she breathed out as she drank in the sight of her suit. The legs of the suit were black and led up to the design of a spider on the back, with the legs wrapping around the torso. The rest of the suit was white, except for the inside of the hood which was an electric shade of blue with pink webs. The pink and blue were on various other pieces of the suit, including on the arms and her ribcage. She would pair it with a pair of worn out black Converse. But it was perfect.
"We added a communication system in the mask. It'll be undetectable. Just tap on your left ear three times when you want to turn it off. Although, if you ever do turn it off, I'll be making sure to send emergency to your last location." Fiona said with a grin.
"Yeah, I got it. Comms on." The rule had been in place from the beginning. She understood it, to a point. She wasn't powered. She was fucked if she got into any actual trouble out there. She'd just been very, very lucky up to now. Normally, she had someone looking out for her.
Spider-Man always seemed to show up when she was about to die.
"Anything else fun?"
"The blue on your ribs is extra padding, we thought it would be handy after last time you fought Rhino." Cadence winced at the memory. "Glo's also reupped your drumsticks, they're in your bag. Oh and we're finally getting somewhere with web fluid!"
"Ugh," Cadence hated to sound ungrateful but the Spider theme hadn't exactly been her idea.
"It's branding, Caddie!" Fiona had made this point several times. "Besides, it'll cut down on the time it takes to get to each scene if you can just swing there. Spidey's beaten you three times this week."
"Don't remind me," Cadence huffed. She stepped forward, running her fingers against the material. It felt soft under her touch, flexible. But she knew that Fiona had been working on fabric prototypes for months. For all she knew, the material was bulletproof or something.
"Don't rely too much on the suit," Fiona said as though she had read her mind. "I haven't worked out all the kinks with the bulletproof suit. It's still way too bulky. But this one should be more resilient to normal wear and tear. And I think it'll hold up against Rhino's horn. Just be careful with the mask. We can't have it falling off. Again."
"That was one time."
"Yeah, and now the police know you're blonde." Fiona looked far too worried. "They're hunting you, Caddie. They don't care that you're helping people. And sometimes it feels like you don't care about that at all."
She didn't say anything. Fiona was right. Cadence wasn't afraid of getting caught. She knew that it would more than likely break her father's heart, not to mention her Uncle Charles would murder her. But this was her life. This was her calling. She'd been brought into this world with vengeance already in her heart.
If she couldn't bring herself to justice, she would bring down every other beast in this city.
"You got a message," Gloria spoke up for the first time. She was good at that. Speaking to break up the tension when Fiona and Cadence were close to getting into a fight over anything. Most of the time about Cadence being careless.
"What?" Cadence's brow furrowed. "How do we even get messages? I thought no one knew who I was or where base even is."
"I doubt Captain America has a problem finding that sort of information." Gloria didn't even bother to look at Cadence as she dropped the biggest piece of news that she'd ever heard.
"Captain America?" Cadence had to grip onto Fiona's work table to keep herself up. "Like the guy whose videos we watch daily? Like saved New York? Like the Avenger? Captain fucking America?"
"Yes."
Cadence's head felt as though it had been filled with a strange buzzing. As though a billion bees had decided to take up home within her skull. She didn't know if the sound was annoying or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her. That or she was about to pass out. She didn't really know.
"Well, what did Captain America want?" She asked after taking about twenty seconds to calm herself down.
"He wants to meet with you at ten pm tonight. Statue of Liberty. Be in your suit." Gloria recited the message as though it were the most boring thing in the world. As though it was anything other than Cadence's whole future.
Was she being recruited to the Avengers? Had they finally realized that having two women on the team was beyond stupid? Were they going to let her be one of them? She could already see herself in a Stark Tech suit. She nearly salivated at the thought of all the fun tools that she'd get to use. Gloria and Fiona would have just as much fun working alongside the Avengers. She was certain of it.
She wanted to tell Peter. Wanted to laugh with him and have him congratulate her. But that wouldn't happen. Peter couldn't know about any of this. It was bad enough that the others did. She needed a team, she always had.
It just sucked that Peter couldn't be part of it.
Given how close Peter already was to the world of superheroes, she didn't want to bring him farther in. He'd already nearly lost his sister. His father had nearly been killed more times than either of them could count. Which was saying something considering that Peter was a certifiable math genius. One day, that same dark cloud would come for Peter Parker. Cadence would fight like hell to make sure that he survived.
Cadence was Peter's protector. She'd taken on that role long before either of them could ever imagine what it would one day mean. She had never been angry about it. She never would be.
"What do you think this is about?" Cadence asked, coming back down to the world around her.
"Who knows," Gloria huffed, her fingers twitching slightly. She was just as anxious about this as Fiona and Cadence. "But it probably won't be anything good."
"Haven't either of you been keeping up on Avengers Chatter?" Fiona asked, one of her colorful eyebrows raising. They were pink that day, although Cadence swore they'd been blue the day before.
"You're the only one that cares, Winter," Gloria spat.
Fiona either didn't notice the rudeness or didn't care. Given how much time the girls spent together, it was more than likely the latter. "If either of you cared about it, you would've heard about the Accords. Apparently, the government wants to control superheroes and vigilantes."
A chill went down Cadence's spine. She didn't even like being told when to go to bed. How would she handle being told when she could help people and when she had to stand down? The thought of it made her sick.
"Let me guess, Mr. America is all for it?" Gloria had a known dislike of most of the Avengers. Cadence just hadn't figured out why.
"Haha," Fiona looked as though she were debating stabbing Gloria with one of her sewing needles. "No, actually. Cap seems to be as pissed about it as Caddie."
"I haven't even said anything!" Cadence hated how easy she was to read. It felt as though Fiona knew everything about it. As though she could never hide a single secret from the girl. It was terrifying in all honesty.
"Oh it's radiating off of you. You're obviously annoyed about the idea of someone controlling you." Fiona's smile was almost terrifying. Cadence felt as though the seamstress was staring into her soul. "Besides Peter, of course."
"Shut up, Fi." They had this fight nearly once a week. The girls were certain that Cadence was in over her head.
Anyone with eyes could have seen how she felt for her best friend. Anyone except him. Peter Parker was oblivious to Cadence's feelings. She wanted it to stay that way. No matter what happened, their relationship would change the moment he found out. She couldn't take the possibility of losing him. Not when he had been the one constant in her life.
Cadence would lose herself if it meant keeping Peter Parker in her life. She would do anything it took in order to keep him.
Fiona's eyes twinkled as though she wanted to say more.
"C'mon, I need to get ready for patrol. Besides, I've got some ideas about the next suit to run past you both." Sure she had just gotten the newest model, but there were always ideas. Ideas to be better and better. Ideas that would get her noticed by the big boys, ideas that would turn her into an aVENGER.
The three girls spent nearly an hour getting Cadence suited up and her gear situated. All the while, Cadence spoke about how she wanted to add some sort of electricity into the suit itself. Someway to charge the drumsticks so she wouldn't have to worry about them running out of juice just before a fight. It had happened a few too many times.
"I'll see you two later. Don't wait up!" She grinned as she began to rush out of the hideout, using another exit that the three had built with the help of some of Gloria's more ... Explodey inventions.
"Cads! Be safe!" Fiona called after her. "And comms on!"
Cadence was gone before Fiona could finish.