Chapter Text
I lay back against the rooftop. The exhaustion wrapping me up with the comfort of a warm blanket on a cold day. It's been a crazy week, especially with the extra missions Tony has been sending us on. "Another successful day of patrolling." I tell my partner. "What do you say, Spidey, same time tomorrow?"
He looks over at me, the whites of his mask shrinking in mirrored movement with his eyes as he squints at me. "I don't know, Phoenix. Maybe we need a change of pace."
A laugh escapes both of us at the same time. "Nice one, bug boy, but we both know you've come to rely on me. You would barely last a day without my help." I tease as we bump shoulders. "And same with me."
"Yeah, we do make a great team." Spiderman agrees, his mask shifting from his smile. "Oh, maybe we should go get ice cream!"
"Not really feeling up to it today." I turn back and watch the bustling of the city below us.
Spiderman nudges his shoulder against mine. Apparently, he can sense my change in mood, but I can't help it. "Spill, what's bothering you?"
I turn to look at him, wondering if he'll think I'm crazy for everything I'm thinking. "We've been working together for almost a year now, yet we barely know anything real about each other."
"Mr. Stark told us it would be safer that way." He replies, and I realize he may never understand. "We should trust him. He definitely know more about this stuff than we do. Otherwise, he would have never partnered us together."
"Don't you ever wonder though?" I question as I stare at his mask, still wondering what he looks like beneath it. "Can you honestly tell me that you haven't wondered what my voice actually sounds like? What color my eyes are? Anything beyond the superhero persona?"
I watch him, searching for any clues in his body language. We've spent so many hours together that it feels like I know him, even without knowing what he looks like beneath the mask. He shifts back and forth. A sure-fire sign that he's nervous.
It's the same thing he did when we first got partnered together. He was so nervous, and I couldn't help but find it adorable. The longer we worked, fought, and patrolled with each other, the closer we became. Now, I've made the worst mistake possible–having a crush on my partner.
"I mean. Y-yeah, I've wondered." He finally replies as he stares down at his gloved hands. "Still, there's no way to change that without breaking Mr. Stark's rules."
"Not necessarily." I tell him as I turn around and lean back against the ledge, drawing out the syllables. Spiderman turns his head to me, the whites of his mask once again shrinking.
I know he's trying to figure me out when he tilts his head to the side ever so slightly. "I may or may not have come up with a fairly solid idea for how we could meet outside work without technically breaking any rules."
"Define 'technically.'" Spiderman demands, but I can hear the smile in his voice. It's the one that makes me feel like my cheeks are going to burn with literal instead of figurative fire.
"Don't worry, Spidey. I know how much you just love the rules. So, I came up with a compromise. Of course, I can't tell you the plan without knowing if you'll go running to Tony to tell on me or not."
I form and bounce a fireball between my palms to distract myself from the billowing nerves. Of course, I trust Spiderman with my life. Literally, which is saying a lot for me, even with the whole burst in flames and be pretty much fine. It's difficult for me to resign control or allow someone else to do something that I could do myself.
Spiderman tenses and spins around to face me at the comment. "I knew you were still mad about that. But if I hadn't called him you would have gotten killed in a way you couldn't return from." He shouts with his hands on his hips. "I'd never rat you out unless it was another immensely dangerous situation like that."
A chuckle escapes me, but it sounds slightly distorted through the voice mods of my mask. "I'm not mad about that. Heck, I was over that a week after it happened when I realized I let my emotions get the best of me." I crush the ball until it's just ashes on my palms. "All I need right now is your guarantee that you'll hear me out before doing anything rash, and if we decide to not go through with it, we both pretend like it never happened." Just like that night from seven months ago, I add in my head.
Spiderman pauses and crosses his arms as he thinks it over. "Fine, but I'm not promising that I'll agree to this plan." He tells me and plops down on the roof, motioning for me to do the same. "So, what's this big plan of yours, Nix?"
I smile beneath my mask as I sit down across from him, knowing quite well that I have him entirely hooked. Our knees brush against each other as I cross my legs.
"Well, of the minimal personal information we've learned about one another. We both know that the other is still in high school, but we don't know where. So—my idea was we sneak into a school dance." Spidey moves to interject, but I hold up a hand to stop him. "Let me finish before you say anything. I have a friend, who only knows me as Phoenix, and his school is hosting a masquerade as their homecoming. He offered to get me a ticket if I wanted. So I got to thinking, we could finally get to know each other outside of superhero work and the suits, without compromising identities."
"And how do I know it's not your school? Or how do you know it's not my school? Someone could recognize us." Spiderman counters, and I shrug in reply.
"Then we don't do it. No need to share the reasons. I don't know if it helps, but it's going to be at EAST. You know the fancy 'Edison Academy for Science and Technology' place?" I tell him and bite my lip as I feel my stomach drop at the idea of not getting to know a piece of who he is underneath it all. "I just thought it was something worth considering. We would still have masks on, which keeps us partially hidden. There's less chance of being recognized even if it was one of our schools. And I could finally know more about my partner."
"Mr. Stark would kill us if he found out."
"Who said he had to?" I question with a small bit of hope. "You don't have to give me an answer today. My friend says we have until Friday; so I'll leave you to consider it. I'll see you tomorrow, bug boy." He nods, and I'm unconvinced he wouldn't hear anything else I say as I leave. But it doesn't change the fact that I feel his eyes trailing after me as I hop on the ledge and freefall off.
I relish the feeling of the wind in my hair as I tumble. Unfortunately, it only lasts a second before the flames instinctively kick in and lift me into flight. There's a bubble of laughter that escapes from my lips as I relax and allow myself to enjoy the flight.
It's a small moment of freedom, and I relish in every second of it as my building comes into view. The flames extinguish with a burst as I drop the last few feet to the roof and land with a thud.
I pause for a second to make sure no one's around, and like always, there's no one up this late to care about a superhero on a random building's roof.
"Back to reality, Y/N." I whisper to myself and swing myself onto the fire escape. The metal stairs creak and groan as I slip down the few flights to my waiting window. Mom and Dad are always lecturing me about the dangers of leaving it open all the time, but eventually they stopped and just agreed to put a screen in to keep pigeons and bugs out.
Fortunately for me, they have no idea that I pop it out every night. It silently tumbles onto my rug, and I follow after it. One booted foot inside and then a second. All the while covered by a quiet hum from my stereo and nothing else. I mentally congratulate myself on another successful night.
The apartment remains quiet as I peel off my suit and get ready for bed. Still, the whole time, I can't help but wonder if maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I've misinterpreted our exchanges these past few months. Maybe—maybe I'm letting my silly crush get the best of me.
I swore things were different since the incident. Now, I'm starting to question it.
Seven Months Ago
"No fair! Why didn't Tony recruit me earlier so I could go to Germany?!" I complain and cross my arms in a childish pout. "I would have been way cooler to bring to a fight. No offense, bug boy."
Spiderman just shakes his head and feigns hurt. "Oh, that's a low blow, Nix." He bumps shoulders with mind, and I'm suddenly very thankful for Tony's suit having a full mask to hide my blush. "C'mon, one day we'll be there. We'll be Avengers, Phoenix!"
I open my mouth to reply, but the alarms in our suits go off before I can make a sound. The information pulls up on my across my display. Apartment building on 5th reporting major fire. NYFD responding but requiring help. "Duty calls. Let's get going, Spidey."
Neither of us talks as he swings from building to building, and I blast myself right behind him. "What's the plan, Nix?" Spiderman calls over the coms, and I struggle to let myself not get flustered at the nickname.
"Fire Department is gonna be taming the flames and trying to evacuate. We should work on the upper floors and make our way down to meet them." I pause and pull a tight turn. "I'll go in, bring people to the windows, and let you lower them down."
"You sure you don't want me in there with you?" He questions, and all I can think of is what happened to my brother and how it made me Phoenix.
"No." I snap. "Do not enter under any circumstances. I'll be able to handle myself in there. Fire is kinda my thing, in case you forgot."
"Okay, if you insist." He replies as we make it to the blazing building. I watch as he clings to the side of the building and only momentarily slow down before launching myself into the top-level of apartments. "Three people on this floor, Nix. Two in the far right apartment; one on the place to your left."
"Got it." I call as I tame the flames, letting them wrap around me and sink into my skin. "Hello? If you can hear me, call out. Just keep shouting so I can find you."
Sure enough, timid voices call out beneath the billowing smoke, and I weave my way through it all to find them.
First, I find a middle aged man, trying to make his way out of the building, but only getting trapped by the flames. "There's a clear path out. Just make your way to the window and my partner will get you out safely."
Spiderman and I went like that for three floors. I would find the people, send them his way, and move on to the next group. Well, it was going like that until my A.I. system warned me about the buildings structure being compromised and started glitching out. Spiderman kept shouting, but I was determined to make absolutely sure the floor was clear. "Nix, get out of there. Now!"
"I can't. There could be someone still trapped." I shout back at him. All I could think of was the horror we felt a year ago when we were stuck in the fire at our dad's place. "I'm almost done. There's only one more place to check."
"No, Phoenix, get out of there RIGHT NOW!" His voice is truly panicked, and it causes me to hesitate. Unfortunately, that split second is just enough for the ceiling to collapse behind me. I swear into my com and move to find another way out. "Nix, say something!"
"I'm trying to figure a way ou--" The words are caught in my throat as I get pinned beneath another chunk of ceiling. My chest grows tight as I try to move, but I don't have super strength. I stretch out my arm to tug at the flames. "Stuck," is the only word I can manage whisper as things start to become hazy.
Spiderman is screaming in my ear, calling for me to stay with him and wait until Mr. Stark arrives. I do my best to allow the flames to give me enough energy to hold on—for Spidey's sake.
Still, despite my effort, things become speckled with black dots and riddled with pain. I just keep focusing on Spidey's voice.
There's a blast and an Iron Man suit appears next to Spidey, who lifts the rubble with ease. The suit drags me out and scoops me up. I let out a whimper of pain as it all comes flooding in. "Mr. Stark is she gonna be okay?" Spiderman asks repeatedly, but he's only answered with silence.
I black out until we make it back to the Tower. Everything was a haze of blackness and pain, but one thing that stuck out was Spidey's voice somewhere in between it all saying, "Don't go, Nix. You gotta be okay. You're going to be okay. Remember? We're gonna be Avengers together. I promise you. Just--don't make me do this without you. I care about you, Nix."
Present:
After that, Spidey and I were closer. We started to open up a little more with each other. I flirted with him, thinking maybe my crush wasn't unrequited. He returned the witty banter, and since then, I've been looking for a way for us to take a step closer--to know something real about the other.
I tumble into my bed, thoroughly exhausted and ready to escape the worry through sleep. It slips through my fingers. Anxiety sending it just out of reach. My phone buzzes on the nightstand next to me, and I peek at the screen to see a text message.
Bug Boy: I'm in.
A smile dances across my face as I nuzzle my head into my pillow. The anxiety now a fading memory as I fall asleep, all the while wondering what I'll wear to a masquerade ball.