Chapter Text
The city was beautiful tonight. The building lay out before Peter, the lights sparkling like stars against the darkened city. Lying back, Peter let out a contented sigh. There hadn’t been much crime tonight which was a welcome break. Just a couple muggings and an attempted bank robbery. As much as Peter loved being Spider-man, it was an exhausting extra curricular. Now he could relax. The stars were almost impossible to see in New York but the glimmering lights and bustling life of the city more than made up for it.
It had been about a year and a half since the spell. Since May. A year and a half since his life fell apart so completely. At first, everything was so hard. No food, no home, no family. But with some forged papers and a lot of begging, he got into MIT on a full scholarship. Sure there was also an exam, but that was pretty easy. He got into a college as well so it was better than being homeless. He had been homeless for a few months after the incident and it had sucked. At least the colleges provided some food. And showers. Peter shuddered at the thought of his previous living conditions. He was lucky it hadn’t been winter otherwise he probably wouldn’t be here now. Sometimes Peter really resented that spider for taking away his ability to thermoregulate. It just made life so much harder when one had to factor in the possibility of accidentally hibernating for several weeks in winter.
It had been difficult going to MIT at first considering MJ and Ned went there as well, still is, but he’s gotten better. It’s what May would’ve wanted. It’s nice to see them occasionally and check that they’re doing well. That didn’t change the urge to talk to them, tell them the truth. But as much as it hurt, he couldn’t do that. Being close to him would only get them hurt. Like May, like Ben, like his parents. Too many people. No, it was better to withstand the pain of watching MJ move on and Ned get a new best friend than the possibility of getting them hurt. Again. The other Peter said that he lost his MJ. Watched her die. Peter couldn’t imagine facing that kind of pain. Losing May had been like losing a part of his soul. Losing MJ or Ned would destroy him.
His stomach grumbled, pulling him from his self reflection. Right. Spider metabolism was truly a bitch, especially when one was broke and living off the meagre rations provided in the colleges. It was fine though. It didn’t matter that he’d had to add padding to the spider suit to hide his concave stomach and skeletal form and wore baggy clothes the rest of the time. He was eating as much as anyone else. No one needed to know Spider-Man was starving. He only got dizzy after sitting down for a while and he didn’t faint. It was fine. Peter was dealing with it. (Ignoring a problem until it hopefully went away was an acceptable strategy right?) Peter got used to the constant gnawing hunger while he was homeless. This was nothing in comparison. Sure he hadn’t gained any weight since then, but he hadn’t lost any either. He was surviving.
“Hey Karen? What’s the time?” Peter asked the AI in his mask. He created her to help him while looking for crime to stop but she was also a great companion. Only companion if Peter was being honest with himself, which he rarely was. Karen gave him someone to talk to, to keep him sane. Heavens knew he didn’t have any friends in MIT. Ones that knew who he was anyway. He stuck to the shadows, worked alone. His class only noticed him when he was inevitably late or the professor announced him as having the top score on the exam. He got glares for both.
“It is almost 4am Peter. I advise you to go to bed. The average person requires 8 hours of sleep each night and you have a lecture at 7:30 tomorrow,” Karen replied. Peter sighed. Karen was always right. He just never listened anyway.
“Thanks Karen, I’ll head inside in a bit,” he lied. “I just want to watch the lights for while longer.” The lights reminded him of May. She used to say they were proof that the world wasn’t as scary as it seemed because there was so much else out there. It was a therapeutic thought. As Peter lay on a rooftop somewhere in New York, he stared at the lights of the city and allowed himself to imagine a world far away. A world where everyone he loved was alive. A world where he wasn’t so completely and utterly alone.
. . .
“You need to find Spider-Man,” Nick Fury abruptly stated, starting the Avengers team from their respective states of zoned out. To be fair, the patterns on the roof were quite interesting. Meetings were just so boring anyway.
“What? Why?” Tony questioned. “He’s a small timer, helping old ladies across streets and finding lost pets.” The order made no sense. Sure Spider-Man was powerful, but he never did anything wrong. He helped people where the Avengers couldn’t. No task was too small for him but every little thing he did changed someone’s life. It was quite admirable from Tony's perspective.
“For now. He’s powerful. Who knows if his intentions might change later down the track? Look at what happened in Europe with Mysterio,” Fury pointed out. That was true. The incident had resulted in mass destruction despite the surprisingly few deaths. Still. Mass destruction was mass destruction and there was frighteningly little information on the events. The lack of information did reflect poorly on Spider-Man’s potential involvement.
“But there’s no evidence he was on the wrong side of that,” protested Steve.
“There’s no evidence he was on the right side of that either,” Fury coldly replied. “And I need more information on him to be sure. Think of it as a precaution.” With that, he left, leaving the Avengers in confusion. The room fell into a sullen silence for several seconds as the team contemplated the implications of their new orders.
“But why does Spider-Man need to be brought in again?” Clint asked.
“Because Fury sees him as a threat and wants to keep him controlled,” Tony responded tightly. His eyes were distracted, too focused on pulling up the little information they had on Spider-Man. It was frighteningly little. Just videos of him on YouTube lifting buses and preventing crimes. There were also many fail compilations which, while amusing, were not particularly helpful.
“Well he’s not wrong,” Natasha remarked from the corner where she was flipping her dagger. “We know next to nothing about that guy.” Tony grunted assent from where he stood at his various screens.
“And that makes him a bad guy?” Steve disapprovingly asked.
“Until we know he can be trusted, yes.”
Clint whistled. “That’s cold Nat.”
“True though,” Tony put in.
Wanda shook her head. “I don’t like this. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Bruce and Vision nodded agreement.
Steve sighed heavily. “Conflicting as this may be, orders are orders guys. If Fury wants this Spider guy brought in, then that’s what we have to do.”
. . .
Peter was late. Again. Gods, his professor was going to kill him. This is the fourth time this week. It’s Wednesday. He’s so screwed. It’s not his fault he got side tracked by a hostage situation but he can’t really explain that to his professor can he?
Skidding through the door and hurriedly rushing to his desk after mumbling a quick apology about his tardiness, Peter collapses in his chair. His side really hurts. He thinks his ribs might be a bit bruised. Hopefully not broken he doesn’t think. There is a leaflet on his desk. Picking it up, Peter curiously flicks through it. It’s about an internship. For Stark Industries. Wow. That would be cool if he got it. Key word being if. With Peter’s track record of consistent lateness and overdue assignments, there was almost no way his application would be considered. Damn it.
“As you can all see, this week we will be doing an exam to try out for an internship at Stark Industries. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so study hard,” the professor called out into the lecture hall. Looking right at Peter, he added, “and don’t be late.”
The rest of class was mind numbing boring. All things he’d read and done a thousand times before. (Okay maybe not a thousand times. Just let him be dramatic.) As the professor droned on about quadratics. Like, seriously, they did this in school. Why was it necessary to learn it again? Peter had known all this for years before even learnt it officially anyway. Peter doodled ideas to enhance the capacity of his web shooters in his book. If he tweaked his web formula so that it was more condensed in its liquid form and expanded the length of his web cartridges, he would be able to carry twice the amount of webs. Too bad he didn't have the materials for that.
However, Stark Industries would. Not that Peter wants to steal from a potential workplace but if they had spare, he wouldn't hesitate to repurpose it. A Stark Industries internship is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Peter makes a mental note to actually study for that one. He never usually studies for his exams (except Spanish) but something tells him that the test for the internship will be harder than usual tests. It is Stark Industries after all.
Finally the torture was over and Peter dashed out the door. It was Spider-Man time.