Work Text:
It didn’t really come off as a surprise for Peter when he was called to his boss’ office for a meeting.
And it didn’t really come off as a surprise when Peter had to listen to his boss explain how they had a “rising employee” better than him and “a necessity to create a newer, better brand for the firm’s future” that, unfortunately, didn’t include Peter Parker in it.
So the young man proceeds to clean out his meager belongings by this small desk next to the water cooler in a barely full box with office supplies he barely used, his treasured camera, and this weird little house plant that was a gift from May during the holidays. Ignoring the stares from his colleagues, or rather ex-colleagues that snickered as he passed, Peter can’t help but chuckle under his breath.
The only reason for a physical newspaper company to survive this long in the age of technology was because of the unending photos of Spider-Man fighting the new and old villains of the week with rare cameo shots of other heroes(courtesy of caching in a favour), all thanks to Peter’s effort.
Was he ever given thanks? Acknowledgement? Any sort of recognition for his ability to be able to do what so very few reporters could’ve ever dreamed of?
No.
Not even a shred of respect was earned over the past year.
Hell, Peter barely got enough money for the photos that some superfans were willing to spill blood over.
Oh yeah! Another reason Peter was looked down on was also because he was a young kid in the eyes of these pompous adults who refused to have their ego checked by the fact a random 19 year old has better connections than them.
Honestly though, Peter didn’t care for this situation much at this point. He had a good source of income now that he was working for Harry’s company part-time.
And his pay was generous(only made possible with Peter’s longtime connection as Harry’s best friend and trusted confidant), to say the least.
So the fact that J. Jonah Jameson just (unknowingly) fired one of his best employees in favour of some schmuck Peter knows won’t last for more than 2 months, brings a pitying smile to Peter’s lips as he rides down the yellow-walled elevator and onto the bustling streets of New York, back to his apartment.
It started small, at first.
So small that Jameson thought it a fluke on his employees' part.
It wasn’t.
Their quarterly report showed a steep decline once they released the newspaper copies onto the street. Not a single photo of superheroes in sight.
Unless someone counted the little boy who sold enough lemonade to buy his little sister a replacement balloon she lost after the old one floated away that previous week.
“So that’s it? They just let you go like that!” Harry guffaws, holding his cup with shaking hands as he tries to reel in his bubbling laugh to the best of his abilities.
It fails. One unimpressed look from Peter and he’s slamming his coffee cup down on the table, unattractively snorting into his hand and falling into a fit of laughter that Peter knowingly eggs on with phrases like, “Keep it up!” and “Woowwww, it’s not that funny.”, hiding his own smug smile behind his energy drink monstrosity.
Harry doesn’t care. He’s more so impressed by the sheer idiocy of that "James" guy letting go of one of his best assets, blinded by some shoddy entrepreneur that he knows won’t last long from personal experience.
“I mean seriously, who does that?!” Harry chuckles, finally settling down with a few calming breaths that were barely containing his next fit of laughter coming up.
“Pete, aren’t you glad you came to work for me?” Harry smiles, leaning his arm on the table and resting his chin on his hand to flash a charming smile Peter’s way.
“Hmm, dunno…” Peter shrugs, taking a sip of the most concerning concoction Harry has ever laid his eyes on. “between the PTO and vending machines you have at the company and the constant harassment, low pay, and disrespect at J’s…I’d say he’s better” Peter replied dryly, a humorous smile playing on his lips.
Harry takes a sip of his coffee, letting the ensuing silence between them stretch awkwardly.
“Ok-so, all I’m hearing is that I’m going to replace that specific vending machine on your floor with a water fountain—” Harry begins before he feels murderous intent locking on him from across the table.
“You take my precious snacks away and I swear to God I’m setting those Orchids you love so much on fire.” Peter points an accusatory finger his way, still sipping on his drink(seriously how isn’t he collapsing from shock right now?? Harry saw the barista put several shots of espresso in there before Peter doubled down with those compact shots of energy drinks they sell at convenience stores before they came into the restaurant. He's aware that Peter's superpowered, but come on!).
“I'll let you know that I will make your life a living hell if you do so. No one touches my Orchids and gets away with it…” The two men stay locked in a staring match, silently challenging the other before they’re interrupted by the jingle of the restaurant door opening as two familiar figures walk into the place, cutting their banter short.
Harry’s the first to wave them over, setting down his coffee cup to throw up an immature L-sign with his hand at Peter who responds with a roll of his eyes.
Their previous squabble is forgotten as Peter stands to hug his (other) bestest friend in the whole wide world and delivers a romantic kiss to his girlfriend's cheek, earning him the dramatized complaints of the two men now standing behind him.
“Ew, get a room!” Harry whines, scrunching his face as Ned mocks them using his hands to imitate them making out, putting his hands behind his back in a flash when MJ leans sideways far enough to shoot them both a warning glance.
“You alright? I heard about Jameson.” MJ cups his face, carefully studying it as if Peter would break down over something so trivial to him now(although, if this happened anytime from 6 months ago, this whole interaction would've went in an entirely different direction).
“Haha! Babe, while I do appreciate the concern, this was a loong time coming. I’m fine, really.” Peter puts his hand over hers, giving her a comforting smile as Harry gags behind him.
“God, you two are so gonna give me early-set diabetes!” He sarcastically remarks, earning a glare from the couple before he raises his hands in surrender. “Geez, sorry for ruining the mood.”
“Tough crowd.” He adds on, shooting Ned a smirk that he chooses to ignore entirely in favour of Peter’s news.
“Dude,” Ned interjects, coming to sit on one of the extra free seats by the table the two men were occupying beforehand. “I just gotta know if Triple J went senile at his old age, cause who does that!” He throws his hands out in front of him, clearly more distressed on Peter's behalf.
Peter is about to respond before Harry interjects, “Exactly, that’s what I said!”
Both of them share a solemn nod as if the news of Peter getting fired is some tragic occurrence.
“Guys, seriously, it’s not that deep! I knew he was gonna get in wayyy over his head about this at some point. I’m just glad I finally took Harry up on his offer before things truly went south for me.” Peter laughs, guiding MJ to the last seat available at their table and going back to his seat so the other patrons would stop staring.
“I guess you’re right, it was a matter of time before the money you earned for Bugle got to his head…” Ned surmises, flagging down a waitress passing by to order.
“Well, too bad for Moustache-Man, Peter’s my employee and bestfriend.” Harry shrugs, a sharp grin etched on his features, startling the waitress taking Ned’s order.
“Calm down, White man, there’s plenty of my boyfriend to go around.” MJ flashes the waitress an apologetic smile as she reprimands Harry’s etiquette.
Seriously, did all of that teaching at the private school overseas do absolutely nothing for him?
“It’s not too bad, at least I get to actually focus on my job. The other guy’s just gonna have to get publicity elsewhere.” Peter leans in to take an obnoxious sip of his drink, earning a slap on the back of his head from MJ as she goes to order after Ned, making the waitress stare at them with barely concealed concern in her eyes.
“Don’t make me deal with you, too.”
He throws his hands up in surrender, eyes shooting to the TV screen playing the current news.
His heart leaps to his throat in a matter of seconds. No matter how many times he sees these situations unfold, he can’t help the dreadful pit that builds up in his stomach.
“TV” Is all Peter can offer up as an explanation, his drink long forgotten as Ned shoots him a questioning glance between MJ and Harry's petty squabble.
The 2 remaining pairs of eyes immediately lock onto the TV screen, completely forgetting the previous conversation.
On the screen sat a News anchor, face etched in a permanent frown and a noticeable crease in his forehead. The audio was lowered to the bare minimum to create a serene atmosphere but the quartet at the table could clearly make out the live footage playing behind him showing a fight.
And not just any fight.
It was the Avengers, fighting off a new Alien army.
Now, usually, no one really freaks out about these invasions anymore. The aliens kind of became the new normal for New York;like the rats in the sewers. But this fight seemed entirely different.
Especially to Peter Parker, a.k.a Spider-Man, who’s partnered with the Avengers enough times before and knows when their team formation was at ease and strained.
The live footage showed strained.
…Definitely strained.
Peter could recognize one of Tony’s many iconic red suits flying through the air and weaving through the buildings to deliver devastating blows to the flying Aliens alongside Thor and Hawkeye high up on a skyscraper with a Bird’s eye view(pun intended) that the live feed could make out.
Although they seemed to be in "full synchronization" like usual, Peter could recognize the flying patterns the Iron Man suit was taking. Those were not the confident dodges and weaves he was used to seeing, those were the dodges and weaves of a wary and cautious Iron Man which Peter knew to be a bad sign.
Not to mention that Thor was barely striking the Aliens down with his lightning and is instead relying on Mjolnir entirely to deal damage.
That was strike two.
And the final nail in the coffin happened to be the fact that it was only those aforementioned heroes at the scene as far as the footage could track.
Peter knew the protocol. The protocol during these invasions was simple.
All hands on deck. At all times, without fail. No matter how trivial it may seem.
(Unless you were stuck in Med Bay)
So imagine Peter’s growing anxiety when he can’t see the ruins of Hulk smashing through buildings and cars, or the Captain’s raw combat power left behind on the corpses of the defeated Aliens. Or even Black Widow riding on a pretty recognizable bike and weaving through the streets to save and redirect people away from danger while defeating Aliens alongside the others(the Queen of multitasking in Peter’s eyes).
It just kept getting worse in Peter’s perspective as he pulled out his second "work" phone to check for any notifications or calls for backup but quickly found none.
This was turning into a concerning situation.
“Are they ok?” Harry asks tentatively, throwing a glance in Peter’s direction to confirm his growing suspicions.
Peter on the other hand was too busy to answer, trying and failing to contact Tony, public space be damned.
He shoots up from his seat, startling the waitress while his friends give him a knowing look.
“Go. We’ll catch up with you, yeah?” MJ offers, already expecting him to bolt out the second the dial tone was heard from his phone.
He mouths a grateful “Thanks.”, walks out of the restaurant, his drink and order completely forgotten as Tony finally picks up on the third try.
“Underoos, nice of you to finally join us.” Tony's voice comes through strained, which was already a big, waving red flag in Peter’s mind besides the nickname. His mentor never used Underoos unless he was teasing or unless something was truly wrong nowadays.
There was something definitely wrong then, Peter concludes, rushing towards an alleyway to change into his suit.
The fight was atrocious.
Several members of the Avengers who weren’t involved in the defense near the beginning were kidnapped by the Aliens. A different team of kree who wanted their revenge on their predecessors' behalf.
Peter supposed they weren’t completely in the wrong for wanting to do so, but come on! They couldn’t just do this one on one instead of interrupting his weekly get together with his buddies and wonderful girlfriend?
He guesses not since they’re in this mess to begin with.
Spider-Man’s attendance to the fight definitely made a significant difference in his opinion.
His ability in sneaking up on his opponents like actual Spiders stalking their prey made him able to take down the Kree with little to no problem. Ever since he started training with the heroes who specialized in espionage and stealth missions, his own abilities seemed to prosper as well.
The actual difficulty was finding his team's location.
It was thanks to Fury’s multiple contingency plans(and paranoia) that he had to fallback on that they managed to get a ping on Natasha’s location and the rest by proxy.
All it came down to was a matter of Thor and Iron man’s ability to sneak onto the ship.
It went as well as one might expect.
Horribly. Because the plan of attack was simply to attack.
But at least they managed to get everyone back to the tower in (mainly) one piece!
So now the team sat in the Med Bay as the nurses, doctors, and S.H.I.E.L.D agents moved around them, taking vitals and statements alike.
Spider-Man was unfortunately not able to do any of that because he was too busy to give all his personal information to S.H.I.E.L.D. While they are a good ally, he was still distrustful of them. Their database was free for all, no matter how much security they believed it to have(and he was certain of this since he and Ned managed to hack into it during their senior year in high school. They still haven't been caught, by the way!).
Instead, he was currently meeting back up with his friends at his apartment and catching up on their lost time, finally able to dig into his lukewarm takeout. It wasn’t as good as it would’ve been if it’d been warm right out from the kitchen, but he appreciates the fuel regardless.
In all the chaos that unfolded a week ago, Peter completely forgot about Jameson and getting fired. It didn’t mean much to him now, he had a stable occupation working at Harry’s lab as a Head Scientist and volunteering at Stark Industries in his spare time(it was mostly an excuse to annoy and build with Tony as well as hanging out with the Avengers. He became more comfortable with them overtime, he even felt at ease popping by the Tower as himself every now and again to hangout without much worry).
So now that he had even more spare time in his schedule, it left space for more Spider-Man activities(and longer cuddle sessions with MJ! He just had to mention that part).
He’s even managed to visit his Aunt May more often, something that had been nagging at him constantly for a while now. She was doing much better now that her nephew’s been visiting more often accompanied by his friends just in this week alone.
They even managed to snag a good brunch at Delmar’s bodega before Peter had to leave and deal with a mugging a few blocks over. His Aunt didn’t mind, even catching up to him afterwards and finishing their sandwiches in the end. He got a lecture about safety and a big hug that left him feeling suffocated with love(in a good way).
It’d only been a week since he got fired and now that he's thinking about it, Peter's actually noticed how much of his emotional well-being and time the photography sessions for Jameson took out of him.
He used to set up his camera in an inconspicuous place before he fought his villains whenever he could, the camera set to take multiple photos throughout the minute. And he would sift through the many shots taken by the camera, only keeping the good shots he deemed worthy, kind of like how Thor’s hammer deems other beings worthy, before submitting it to the office to be used for the papers the next time he strolled in late with a new injury on his body that he had to pretend didn’t exist.
Peter believed he was good at the job. Exceptional even. Though the late-streak was the one thing he couldn’t fix, no matter what.
His attendance was horrible. He was always late by 5-10 minutes, sometimes strolling in half an hour after his shift would usually start. It definitely came off as arrogant but Peter knew the tardiness was a result of patrol running late as a new emergency would pop up right before he changed out of his suit.
Either way, the open space in Peter’s schedule was like a breath of fresh air he didn’t know he needed. So he used it as an opportunity to really focus on everything else in his life.
More time to sleep in, hangout with his friends, and even being able to take still-photos, a hobby of his previously snuffed out by the burn out he experienced having to take picture perfect photos.
To him, it felt like those moments when he was still a tween with no real responsibilities and loved reading as many kinds of books he could get his hands on, but the moment he had to read a novel for a school assignment, that was it. The drive that he previously had to seek out new material was washed down by the school's demand. Sure, he was an outstanding student willing to outperform expectations, but he wants to read books of his own will, not by some higher authority figure that needs him to read 300 pages of a YA novel and submit a 5 paragraph essay on why "xyz" slept with his mom and got her pregnant out of a sense of insecurity or something(seriously, he cannot forget that plot point to this day).
It was genuinely so nice not to feel that constant churn of anxiety in his gut to meet a certain deadline, even though he was the literal subject of the matter and could easily get whatever material he needed for the week to spur interest, it didn’t help that he had so much pressure to deliver a perfect photo that would actually meet Jameson's expectations and pay his bills once upon a time.
If Peter was to be honest in this very moment, he’s glad Jameson fired him.
Another week has passed since Peter was let go from The Bugle, and things were going south for the company. The sales department gave Jameson a file report that was steadily increasing his blood pressure through the roof and an oncoming headache building up behind his eyes.
Nothing that had recently been printed out was gaining steady traction for them.
A heroic firefighter rescue? Nothing but a few commendations for the team’s valiance.
A brave young girl who overcame cancer after fighting it for her entire life? A few were touched by the story but it didn’t really stick how the department wanted it to.
A story about a local neighborhood organizing a fun fair and needing the advertisement? Still didn’t do any better than the online traction the organizers gained from a simple F@cebook post in local community groups.
It was driving Jameson up the four walls of his office. Nothing they were printing out was good enough and the new employee was barely keeping them afloat.
He would leave 10 minutes into his shift to seek out any juicy stories and spot a hero in the wild, only to come back empty-handed 5 hours later with barely anything passable and no apology for his shortcomings. He would only blame the other staff around him, citing some small inconvenience as if it's some great mountain blocking his path to success.
Overall, no good was coming their way and they had to think fast.
And they had very little time to do so, considering how there were multiple villains ready to knock on Jameson’s office door.
It was a metaphoric shit show at the Avengers tower during the monthly gathering. Peter could sense the apathy radiating off most of the figures situated in the living room space. Most of them were injured to the point of even the supers needing a crutch.
Peter notes several things as he steps out of the elevator:
Natasha’s sitting in a chair near the exit situated in a basic white cast besides a Clint bored out of his mind, a small doodle of what Peter assumed to be a poor imitation of a hawk in purple marker drawn at the crook of Natasha’s elbow while he twirled a purple marker between his fingers, barely noticeable but Peter’s enhanced senses caught it. It was certainly unique but Natasha smiled faintly at it whenever her eyes landed on it every so often during her hushed conversation with Clint.
Tony was fine for the most part, if only his skin was spared. He was scratched and bruised from being thrown around in the suit but was otherwise alright.
Thor was also doing well physically speaking, but his thunderous emotions were plastered all over his face. The Kree somehow developed technology strong enough to dampen his powers, which was why he was so reliant on his physical prowess to defeat them. They definitely needed to watch out for future invasions if their tech is now strong enough to basically immobilize a god. They did their research as far as Peter’s concerned.
Steve is sat in the middle of the gathered group in a cast too, his entire leg was reset after he used it to kick something that Peter wasn’t able to overhear as he slipped away from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grubby little hands. But whatever it was, it was strong enough for his leg to gain hairline fractures all up until his thigh. And his healing factor is probably working overtime to compensate, hence the snack wrappers laying on the small table next to Steve while he sat with his leg propped up on a little portable stool(courtesy of one of the nurses). His shield lay propped up against his seat beside him on the other side as a form of comfort while the metal crutch he would use as support is hooked behind him on his seat.
Bruce Banner on the other hand, sat the furthest away from the others, too ashamed to look them in the eyes. He was M.I.A during the majority the battle, or rather, out of commision. The Kree also managed to track and knock Bruce out beforehand, ensuring Hulk wouldn’t show. It was clever on their part, Bruce admits to that at least, but he couldn’t look his team in the eye knowing that he was the easiest to take down right from the get go. He couldn’t help them, and that was eating him up alive both inside and out.
As Peter glanced at each and every one of his teammates, he couldn’t help but reign in his sarcastic remarks, he knew when they were welcome(at least 70% of the time).
“Hey, how’s it going?” He greets them, already cringing on the inside at the greeting.
‘Seriously?? ‘How’s it going!!’ Of course they’re not ok, LOOK at them right now! That's not what ok people look like, Peter. What are you on right now??…Get. it. together!’
“How do you think it’s going?” The deep baritone of Samuel Wilson’s voice snags his attention. The Falcon themed hero was situated between Natasha and Steve, leaning against a stool he dragged from the kitchen island nearby.
“Sam, take it easy. Kid’s here just to check in.” Colonel Rhodey’s voice comes from the other side of the room as he sits beside Tony on the long sofa with a drink in his hand untouched, even as the man beside him finishes his second drink.
“I’m aware that didn’t come out right, my bad.” Peter apologizes as he idly scratches the back of his neck, coming to sit on Tony’s other side and placing his backpack down beside him, one loop still around his arm, a choice that wasn't ignored by Natasha.
“Don’t sweat it, Kid.” Tony’s hand comes to rest on his shoulder, his breath starting to reek of alcohol. “Sammy’s just worried about Capsicle and Nat.”
“Just Steve is fine…” Steve murmurs under his breath, too tired to argue about the silly nicknames as his head lolls back from the back of his seat to shoot Tony a frown.
“Now why would I do that! There’s no fun in that, right, Rocky?” Rhodey just huffs a laugh, placing the glass of bourbon in his hand down and leaning back in his seat.
“Yeah, it’s no fun at all, Tony Stank.” He responds amicably, his tone light as if discussing the weather, noting how a certain hush befalls the room.
After a beat of silence, “I-...I’m sorry, Stank???” Peter asks incredulously, earning a snort from Clint who was suddenly very interested in what was about to unfold.
Tony only looks over at Rhodey in betrayal, a dramatic sound escaping him as his hand comes to rest over his chest, offended.
“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone!”
“No, I said I would keep my mouth shut, I never specified for how long.” Tony lets out an affronted gasp way more dramatic than before, playing up the act knowing this was a welcome shift for their dilapidated moods before.
“James Rupert Rhodes, I thought you a better man than this.” Tony harrumphs as Peter lets out a laugh at the two friends’ antics to cheer them up.
“Mr.Rhodes, don’t tell me this is an embarrassing story you haven’t told us yet.” Peter plays along with their show, noting how Tony was only this relaxed because of the alcohol starting to kick into his system.
“Don’t tell me this is one of your many College dramas you haven’t mentioned yet.” Natasha fuels the growing fire by adding that last comment before the rest of them join in, targeting Tony for fun before Clint grew bored and started a “bird fight” with Sam(a term coined by Bucky after their squabbles kept occurring too often for it to be considered normal).
Their conversations escalated from there, with Thor and Bruce even joining in when the room finally relaxed into a serene atmosphere.
Steve who was previously "too tired" to participate was now too busy trying to placate a Samuel who was growing irritated by a Clint who refused to have a single correct factual opinion on Falcon’s, earning him some choice words from Sam who was a knowledgeable bird enthusiast, while Natasha purposefully revealed the doodle on her cast in Sam’s field of view to purposefully ignite another passionate debate between the two on Clint’s atrocious drawing skills(nevermind the fact his children could do better in her opinion).
Rhodey and Tony continued to spill endless, embarrassing stories about the other with Bruce joining in at Tony’s expense to help him win a losing battle.
Thor continues ribbing at Tony, decidedly choosing Rhodey’s side when he saw the unfairness of the 2 VS.1.
Peter watches it all go down with great amusement, a glint of mischief in his eyes as he spots Bucky walk in and freeze when he sees the group gathered in the living room. He was about to quietly slip out when Peter calls him over, grabbing everyone’s attention and Bucky’s wrath, something that Peter decides to ignore in favour of making space next to himself on the couch and finally setting his backpack down on the floor(Natasha finally takes her eyes off the young man and finally celebrates inwardly when Sam finally asks her about the drawing on her cast out of curiosity).
Peter kept wondering where Wanda was, and a quick scope of the Tower with his senses confirmed what he already knew from the beginning.
It didn’t bother him that much, most of the team was still huddled together and Wanda was fine being in her room with Vision just hanging out.
To be honest, their romance reminded Peter of his own relationship with MJ. Maybe they should go on a double date sometime?
Peter was pulled back into the conversation before he could ponder on that thought too long and the afternoon continued on like that, with the Avengers and Co. arguing about the smallest inconveniences while Tony pats himself on the back for being able to finally cheer up the group(even though Rhodey begs to differ).
It was now a full month after Peter was fired from taking photos for Jameson and he could honestly say it’s been going super great!
He has so much more free time now and he’s built this new schedule that honestly feels so much better and allows him to manage his responsibilities better than before.
Things were going so well that he was starting to get suspicious. Parker luck didn’t stay down for this long unless a storm was brewing. That is to say, Peter was certain that something was about to go down in his future sometime soon. "The calm before the storm", if you will.
And he was correct in that assumption because a month into his new freedom, he noticed how his villains were more restless for a reason he couldn’t fathom.
During their fights, they would look around at anyone holding a camera and pause for a few seconds, long enough for the influencers and media to capture a rather flattering photo of them.
At first, Spider-Man thought he was hallucinating these events during his fights, even bringing it up with MJ when it became a glaring pattern.
Maybe he wasn’t getting enough sleep?
No, not possible, his schedule has more time for him to sleep in nowadays. So it must be something else.
Well, he didn’t have to wait much longer to find out because he just happened to be standing across from J. Jonah Jameson’s Building in horror as several members of his rogue gallery surrounded the building with the terrified employees inside.
Why? He didn’t know, but he was for sure going to find out and figure out a plan as he went. He was good at being spontaneous, if he says so himself!
“AHAHAHAHAAA!! OH MY GOD I’M CRAMPING–AHAAAEUUGH!!” Peter is this close to pummeling the brunette before him. The same brunette who wouldn’t stop laughing his ass off once Peter explained the chaos that unfolded at Jameson’s building 2 hours ago while he sat in his pajamas tucked under a warm blanket. But the blanket was seeming more like a weapon of choice the longer his friend’s obnoxious laughter kept going.
“Pete-Oh Lord above this is GOLD! So, you’re telling me they-Hahaa!-they,” Harry takes a moment to swallow the laughter threatening to throw him off as he grabs Peter’s elbow with crazed amusement in his eyes. “Were mad about the photos being bad?”
“Yeah, it was weird–”
“The villains of New York were upset that the new photographer couldn’t get their good side so they went to Jameson-to HR to put in a complaint??” Harry keeps giggling like a maniac while Peter can't help but genuinely start considering homicide in the moment.
It didn’t help that MJ and Ned weren’t doing him any favors either, MJ was also stifling her laughter behind her hand and failing spectacularly and instead giving up completely to cackle madly beside him, inciting Ned to join along once she also broke composure.
“Guys! Not funny, are we ignoring the glaring issue here?!” Peter complains, crossing his arms to stop himself from laughing alongside the others(it was contagious, sue him).
“No! Absolutely not, tell ‘im, Ned…*snort*” MJ tries to be the bigger person, failing miserably and citing Peter’s offended face, causing her to double over clutching her stomach, trying not to laugh again.
“Yeah yeah, we’re definitely going to ignore how your entire rogue gallery is full of Diva’s who refuse to have one bad photo of themselves circulating on the newspapers…” And they break out into another fit of laughter again, causing Peter’s eye to twitch as he holds his breath to stop himself from chuckling. The statement wasn’t even that funny! God, he sometimes forgets how the group’s humor is just composed of the driest jokes known to man.
Now, let’s take ourselves back to what actually happened 2 hours ago, when Peter first learned how beloved his photography skills were in the eyes of the public, and apparently(!!!) his rogue gallery.
Since when, you ask?
Since the first photo Peter took of himself hanging off the statue of Liberty and throwing up a casual peace sign for the camera, not really caring for a cool looking pose at the time(who is he kidding, he was a teenager taken with being perceived as cool! And what else is cooler than the Statue of Liberty herself?).
Apparently! This photo kickstarted the following the newspapers used to have before he was fired.
The photos were so clear, showing a full rendition of Spider-Man’s costume, and the many other heroes people looked up to.
Even the villains could admit that the photos that were taken during their fights were flattering, adding to their fear factor. People even started taking them more seriously once these photos were posted to the newspapers and articles alike.
So imagine their surprise when the photos that were usually taken in high quality were suddenly like any other shaky photo. No photo in the past month could do justice to the actual fights.
It was high stakes. Life or death. And all the photo showed was a grainy, shaky rendition of Spider-Man mid swing, not a single photo of the villain in sight, by the way!
So it was fair to assume it was a bad week for the usual photographer, right?
Wrong.
It went from a week to a full on month and that was all it took for the villain’s to finally come together and work on uncovering the mystery behind the bad photos.
A quick trip to Jameson’s office for questioning and some colorful threats later, they’ve come to find out the usual photographer was fired.
Ultimately, it was a dumb decision, and Rhino was the first to voice this opinion but before they could do anything else, Spider-Man intervened like he always did.
A fight didn’t even break out, the villains proceeded to leave with curses thrown Jameson’s way. The man who was at the time clutching his heart through his suit trying not to metaphorically and physically shit himself.
The villains left with one request(demand)that cited the return of the previous photographer. And Spider-Man, the photographer in question, was looking at the retreating backs of his enemies with a weird sense of warmth spreading through his chest.
After they filed out of the building, Spider-Man made sure they did actually leave before making sure no one was truly hurt and returning back home to tell the others.
2 hours later and he’s quickly regretting the decision to do so.
“It’s not that funny!” He starts, only for Ned to clamp his hand on his other arm and give him an unimpressed look.
“Peter, the villains were mad on your behalf. You can’t make that up.”
“He’s right, for once. I can’t believe they basically complained to HR because no one besides the beloved photographer could do them right!” MJ sighs dramatically, putting her hand previously clutching her stomach to rest on her forehead like a sickly Victorian individual.
“But this means that Jameson will seek me out again! I don’t want to go back.” Peter groans, his head falling into his hands as Harry comforts him with a hand patting his back.
“He can’t get you back, remember?” Harry smiled mischievously, Ned shivering at his expression.
“Harry, stop that. It’s weird…”
Peter’s head shoots up, ignoring Harry’s wicked grin and shaking him relentlessly.
“You angel!!” Peter chooses to ignore MJ’s questioning eyebrow raise in favour of clasping Harry’s hands in his own.
“I owe you a great debt like no other.” He starts, about to follow-up with a Star Wars quote before Harry beats him to it.
“He owes me what you call a ‘life debt’.” He responds cheekily, earning a grin from Ned and a groan from MJ.
“I swear to god…” She mumbles under her breath.
“The contract!” Peter cheers, going on to explain it to the other two with Harry’s help.
“It basically bars Jameson from getting Peter back.” Harry shrugs, leaning back in his seat.
“I can’t believe I'm saying this. But Harry Osborn, you’re one smart guy. Only for this instance.” MJ and Ned, clapping their hands nod with a dignified expression directed at Harry who bows with his arms outstretched as he soaks in the “roaring applause”.
“Although…doesn’t this put Jameson in danger since he can’t really get me back?” Peter wonders aloud, thinking further ahead than just the present moment.
“So? Let him go bankrupt, I'm sure he deserves it for blindly following the advice of some shoddy bloke.”
“Harry…” The trio groan in unison, shooting him a warning glare.
“What! I’m right though, aren’t I? It was his fault for letting Peter go. And my company values its employees dearly. It’s only fair.”
“I feel bad though. I didn’t think the photos actually meant this much to them.”
“...Not to be mean or anything, but that’s kinda dumb.” Ned comments, shaking his head.
“He’s right. You were the main reason he’s been kept afloat ‘till now.”
“Still, what about the villains? They’re gonna keep harassing him. Maybe even attack!”
“Listen Pete, by the time they even come back together to flame him, he’ll have moved on to some bummy office job.”
“But listen to me—”
“No, you listen. The Bugle’s not going to continue on for any longer. I know the signs of a company on the verge of bankruptcy, thanks to my father’s brutal maneuvers in the past before I took over. Jameson’s not going to make it past this week, let alone another month. Like MJ said, you were the main reason they were raking in that money in the first place. Once you’re out of the equation, well…you know what happens.” Harry shrugs, pulling back to rest his elbow on his seat with a serene smile.
“I’m surprised they survived this long anyway,” Harry adds on, ignoring Peter’s protests.”but if you’re really that concerned, keep an eye on him for the next few days. Just don’t go back to him like some pathetic Ex-Boyfriend.” Peter scrunches his face up at the last sentence but shakes it off to instead focus on his new objective.
“I…can’t argue that, I guess. I did agree to the terms and conditions to begin with. And it is smarter to just watch from a distance instead of involving myself personally…”
“Soooo?” Harry has his hands open in a ‘you owe me a thank you’, waiting for Peter to offer his gratitude for the wise wisdom he just gave out(for free, mind you!).
Peter sighs, nodding his head in thanks with a small mumble of gratitude that has Harry teasingly cup his ear with a beckoning hand, earning him a scoff.
“I’m glad this has been settled, so can we please continue watching the movie?” Ned interrupts their budding argument to focus on the TV screen paused on a blurry motion of one of the characters falling.
“Yeah, it’s settled.” MJ responds, pulling Peter closer to lean on his shoulder, cutting off whatever snarky comment Harry had on the tip of his tongue.
For the following week, Spider-Man took Harry’s advice and consistently swung by Jameson’s building to check on his well-being, making sure none of the previous threats were carried out.
It was difficult to just waltz in and gain any information so casually so he kept to the sides of open windows and let the buzz of uneasy conversations shared in the break rooms or in between cubicles fill in the gaps for him.
He only got snippets of each conversation, getting distracted by another voice giving him a better picture of the current situation.
So it wasn’t just the villains sending threats, but rather the whole community complaining about the lacking front page news. It was either a grainy photo of heroes and villains alike that were intelligible or some boring story that was barely grabbing attention.
So the problem was bigger than Spider-Man expected, there was no way to contain this and a majority of the employees were already revamping their resumes, ready to jump ship and abandon their posts. And they weren’t the first. Spider-Man had noticed several cubicles that previously had been occupied starkly empty, not a single personal customization visible. Just a desk and dusty computer sitting there waiting to be used.
Spider-Man could only watch on over the next 4 days as Jameson was begging people to stay, his usual arrogance gone and replaced by a desperate man trying to keep his business afloat.
It didn’t work.
In the end, The Daily Bugle was shut down.
Just like that.
No fanfare or anything, just gone.
A simple sign plastered on the front entrance of the building for reconstruction while the streets of New York kept going without it.
And finally, the once prosperous newspaper company went under due to a singular, horrible decision that cost them everything.
Last Peter’s heard from his sources and neighborhood gossip, Jameson was looking for an office job downtown and coming back short. His foul attitude over the years didn’t do him any favours in this case. There were barely any people willing to hear him out, let alone work with him. So he’s had to live with his son, John Jameson while he tries getting back on his feet.
He did try reaching out to Peter, but his efforts were blocked by some of Harry’s most capable lawyers redirecting his calls and messages through their own legal channels. Peter barely had to lift a finger once Harry stepped in on his behalf.
…
He really did take good care of his employees.