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Chapter Text

Two Years ago…

 Peter, from the top of the Empire State Building looked down at the city below with a smile.

Since becoming Spider-Man a few weeks ago, he's tried helping as many people as he could and for the first time in a very long time, he was actually quite proud of himself. 

No longer was he in the shadow of Hydra or The Red Room, no longer did he have to use these powers to harm others, now he could do whatever he liked, he didn't have to hide who he truly was at heart. 

And what he wanted to do was help the people of this city...

No matter what it costed him. 

He owed it to all the people that he's ever hurt to do this, to not squander his second chance and to make amends with his dark past. 

He wasn't just trying to lessen the guilt on his mind though, even though Spider-Man did help out with that. He saw everything that happened in this city, heard every whisper, every cry for help all night long. 

A person can only take so much of that before they snap into action. 

From his crouched down position on top of the building, he shivered at the cool November air. Anyone would be able to tell that Winter was just around the corner and before that happened Peter had to find a way to make his suite a bit more insulated since he really can't thermoregulate that well. 

But that would mean hand stitching a new suit from scratch after getting the materials he needed. 

Hopefully Felicia would agree. 

She was not happy when she had found out a few weeks previously, having known that he snuck out into the night and was doing something like this because when he crawled back in through his window, she had been standing right at his door with her arms crossed and glaring daggers at him. 

It was one of the only times in his life that he had been wary of what she would do...

But he had explained to her that he needed this, needed to be out here helping others. He couldn't really go into detail, not really. Emotions were always hard for him to express but he knew, deep in his bones that this was the right course of action for him. 

He needed this...

After very little yelling, much to Peter's surprise she had relented and said that if he ever got hurt, if he ever needed anything for his nighttime activities that he should come directly to her, no trying to hide it from her. 

He had agreed without any fuss, seeing as how she had continued to let him play Vigilante ever since then. 

Anyhow, tonight was gonna be a good night, Peter could feel it. 

There were others out there who needed saving and tonight, well Peter was gonna be the one who helped them out. 

No longer a weapon for someone else's agenda, no longer a pawn on the chessboard. 

He was his own person, who had his own feelings and thoughts and he'd be damned before he let another person take away this new life of his. 

Because you see, Sometimes all it takes is just one leap of faith to get it right...

And get it right he did. 

He's only been operating for a couple weeks, but even now Peter could see he was starting to make a name for himself. 

The public was rallying under his name, so ecstatic to have a superhero so close to the ground, their words not his. 

The city was happy to have a Vigilante out there who actually showed his face, unlike Daredevil or Castle who used the shadows to hide. Peter did that when the time called for it, don't get him wrong because he loved using the shadows as much as the next guy, but as far as he knew he was the only one who went out in broad daylight to save people where anyone could see him. 

The city was overjoyed, and yet there will always be those select few who disagree with the majority. 

He's gotten a new fan over the last few weeks, a fan who loves to slander his name right into the grave. 

J Jonah Jameson...

The fucking Daily Bugle. 

What a load of shit. 

You know Peter is usually all for freedom of speech and all, go America and all that but that man has a way to push his buttons like no other. 

He helped an old lady cross the street last week and the Bugle called him a menace who was corrupting the elderly. 

Honestly, that's the most idiotic thing Peter's ever heard of...

That guy seriously needed to find a hobby which didn't involve coming after him. 

The man could probably use a girlfriend if he was being honest. Then again, no self respecting woman would stoop down to the likes of Jameson. 

The one thing Jameson was right about was him not being a hero, that he wholeheartedly agreed upon. Where the city called him a superhero, there was a very distinct difference between a hero and a vigilante. 

He was what they called a vigilante, who stays close to the ground, taking the laws into his own hands and serving out justice where he could. 

Where's a hero wasn't at the same standards as a vigilante. Heroes are placed upon pedestals and practically worshiped wherever they go. The government doesn't care what they do just as long as they save the world, they get a free card for all that bullshit. 

Vigilantes save so many people's lives, stop them from experiencing the hardships of the real world and losing their innocence too soon but get criticized for it yet heroes come around every few years or so to take out some aliens or killer robots and get praised for everything they do. 

No don't get him wrong, he admires all the Avengers and everything they stand for, but he doesn't understand how they could just save the world one day, and forget about all the people suffering in their city the next from their ivory tower which is smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. 

He's only been doing this a few weeks and he knows, that he's not getting out anytime soon. 

Once you start, you never escape this life you're in, he knows that now. 

Just look at Daredevil, some people may think that he's finally gone one day, but the Devil always pops back up, he has for the past decade and will continue to. 

Peter understands why now, because the man is as stuck as he is now. 

No one leaves this world once they entered it, it just isn't possible. 

Peter was broken out of his musings when he heard a distant shout in the distance, he closed his eyes and honed his senses before he took a giant leap right off the Empire State Building, twisting his body midair and free falling straight down into the city below. 

Before he could hit the ground though, he launched his web at a nearby building and used all his strength to swing his body back upwards, listening to the excited citizens below all the while making him smile at their excitement. 

He loves his city...

It only took him a few minutes to reach Fifth Avenue and once he did, he got a surprise that he did not see coming at all. 

As soon as he landed on the building above where his senses guided him too, he saw the strangest  thing he thinks he's ever seen in his entire life. 

He saw a teenage girl standing in the alleyway across from the old abandoned warehouse, around the same age as him it looked like. She was holding a street sign in her hand and at her feet laid two men who Peter assumed she knocked unconscious with said street sign. 

The street sign having the word Nagle on it. 

He silently dropped down into the alleyway and leaned against the wall directly behind where the girl was standing, "Can't say I've ever seen this before. Mind telling me what you're doing with that sign?" He asked nonchalantly with a chipper tone of voice, causing the teenage girl to literally jump where she was standing and quickly turn around to face him. 

Once she did, the shock on her face was apparent as she literally dropped the sign from her hands and her eyes widened comically, "S-spider-Man? W-what are, uh...what are you doing here? I t-thought you only patrolled Queens." She laughed nervously while rubbing her hand through her long black hair. 

He raised an eyebrow at her, not that she could tell with his suit in the way, "I patrol the whole city ma'am. Can't just limit myself to one area now can I? Not when people all around the city need the help." He said, shrugging his shoulders before letting an amused smile spread across his lips, "Now, mind telling me what...this is all about." He said gesturing to the alleyway and the bodies of the men who were still laying on the ground, out cold. 

If it was even possible, the girl started to blush even more in embarrassment, "Well, I w-was walking home when these two guys thought they'd get the jump on me. Their mistake, obviously. They don't know that I take classes on how to fight. But anyway! Um, they kind of trapped me and started to back me up into the alleyway and I-I panicked okay so I grabbed the closest thing to me and..." Peter cut off her embarrassed rant with an amused snort. 

"Let me guess, the nearest object was in fact, that street sign." He said, unable to keep the amusement out of his tone. 

She sputtered for a moment before responding, "Well, yes but! But, it was an old sign, it got damaged or something and someone was throwing it out. I guess the city was getting a new one so it was just lying here and and...well you know the rest."  She sighed causing the other teen to softly chuckle while the girl shook her head. 

"Great the first hero I meet and I'm making a fool out of myself." She muttered while shaking her head.

Peter though heard her and waved his hand in the air dismissively, ignoring the comment about him being a hero, "Don't worry about it ma'am, to be honest with you, this isn't even on the top ten weirdest things I've seen, promise." He said making the teen smile slightly. 

"Really? I highly doubt that." She said, raising her head to finally look at him, holding actual eye contact with his mask. 

Peter clicked his tongue and decided to tease her, "Okay maybe this is number eleven on the list, but I promise, not on the top ten, cross my heart hope to die." He said, making the gesture with his hands and causing the girl to laugh. 

"Ouch, and here I thought Spider-Man was a man of the people." She gasped, mock outraged causing Peter to smirk. 

He could work with this. 

"I am, it's not my fault if the people want to ramshackle street signs though." He shrugged causing her to laugh even more which made him laugh. 

"Who knew Spider-Man could be so funny." She teased which made Peter now gasp in outrage. 

"How dare you?!" He said, placing a hand on his chest like he just got wounded, "Here I though we were having a nice friendly conversation and low and behold, you instantly stab me right in the back as soon as you got my guard down. I, I don't know how I'll ever recover from this." He said, moving his hand from his chest up to his forehead, acting all dramatic which he knows if Felicia saw, she'd instantly roll her eyes at his flair. 

The thought caused Peter to snicker internally though, he loves riling Felicia up and she knows it's all in good jest anyways. 

The girl snorted, "I'm sure you'll get over it." She said before extending her hand out for Spider-Man to shake, "Thank you though, for coming even if I did have it handled. I'm Kate by the way." She said. 

Peter smiled and shook her hand, "The names Spider-Man, it's what I do." He said, making sure not to use his strength while having Kate's hand within his grasp. 

She pouted at him, "Aw, not even on first name basis? But I told you my name?" She said with a teasing glint behind her eyes. 

Peter shook his head in amusement, "You've gotta earn that. Also not my fault you go telling strangers your name." He shrugged. 

Kate though smiled at him, "You're not a stranger though, You're Spider-Man." She said with so much conviction that it caught Peter off guard for a moment. 

It's still surprising that after so little time, the city could place so much of their faith in a person who just showed up out of the blue wearing spandex and fighting crime. 

He didn't know whether to be concerned, or touched. 

He chose the latter for this situation though.

"Well, I appreciate it but I should probably get going. You know, lots of people to save tonight." He said, gesturing up towards the buildings hoping she didn't find it rude that he was gonna leave her out here alone. 

"Oh yeah! Sure, no problem man! Yeah just, you go do you're hero thing and, I'll uh head on home." She said, smiling awkwardly by the end. 

Peter furrowed his brows in concern though behind the mask, "You can get home on your own right? It's not like, a five hour hike across the city?" He asked, just to make sure. 

It didn't feel right just leaving her out here if she was a long ways from home. 

She waved off the concern though, "Nope, I'm just a couple minutes walk down the road, no need to worry Spider-Man, promise." She said causing Peter to deflate in relief. 

"Good, good well have a nice night Kate, and stay safe!" He called out to her as he jumped up and started to climb on top of the building towards the roof. 

Just as he was about to leave though, he heard her call out to him in one last teasing remark. 

"Night Spider-Boy!" She said and Peter didn't even need to look back down to know she was smirking. 

"I seriously need to get me a voice modulator." He muttered to himself as he swung off into the distance, hoping to find some crime to stop before having to head back to the penthouse.

After that first meeting, it seemed that the two of them couldn't get out of each others orbit. 

It was all Kate if Peter was being honest, she kept hanging around the rooftops hoping to catch him during his nightly activity and more then not, she usually got her wish. 

There was the abandoned warehouse across from Nagle street that she would sit on top of for hours at a time while working on whatever homework she had from school, waiting for him to swing by and every time he made sure to stop and say hello to her. 

She was the first, somewhat friend that he's made since coming into the city years ago and no matter what he thought about friends in general, he knew it felt nice to talk to someone his own age. 

Because yes, she was the same age as him. 

But he was still older, not that he told her who he was yet, but just so it's out there, she had no right to keep calling him Spider-Boy. 

It annoyed him, she annoyed him but there was something about her company that made him not mind the qualities that irked him to no end. 

Like her endless nicknames. 

He understood that he never told her his name, but is it really that hard to just call him Spider-Man? 

Apparently it was for her.

And it only got worse when he had added in that voice modulator he was talking about. 

In all seriousness he may joke around and poke fun but at the end of the day, a patrol that ends in him sitting on top of that warehouse with Kate, simply talking nonsense was probably the highlight of his day. 

Which was where he was now. He was due back at the penthouse in a couple hours but he had a few hours to spare before needing to get back for dinner. 

 From his spot dangling his feet off the building he looked up into the sky and sighed, glad that he had stitched in that insulation for his suit, the cold December chill not getting through the second layer of his suit. 

It was pretty surprising that there was no snow yet, considering how New York usually is with its weather but Peter wasn't gonna complain. 

Knowing his luck though, he had just jinxed it and it would most likely start snowing within the next twenty four hours. 

If Peter was being honest though, even though his body couldn't handle the cold very well, there was something special about December in New York when the snow started to come down. 

It was like nothing Peter had ever seen before, families from all around walking to Rockefeller Center to skate and look at the giant Christmas tree right before Christmas Day. 

It was a beautiful time of year even if he was freezing his ass off constantly for the next five months afterwards. 

To see the joy and happiness on everyone's faces made Peter's day better, made him forget all the wrongs that he did while working at Hydra, made that ache in his body dissipate just a little more as the happiness spread out though the city each year. 

It really was the best time of the year in Peter's opinion. 

"Watcha thinking about?" Kate asked suddenly to his right, breaking Peter out of his head. 

He shrugged, "Not much. Just thinking about how cold it'll be in a few weeks. Not looking forward to that, let me tell you." 

Kate snorted, "We wouldn't want our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to become a Spider popsicle now would we?" She said with mirth dancing in her eyes. 

"No we would not." He replied cheerfully, "But, this city never sleeps and for the short time where crime rises for the holidays, neither will I." Peter said, mentally shivering already at the phantom cold he would feel by swinging building to building with snow whipping in his face. 

He's not looking forward to his first winter as Spider-Man but he'd bare it for these people, he knew he would for the rest of his life. 

"Oh no, it sounds sooo bad...Oh well, hope you don't freeze." She exclaimed which made Peter scoff. 

"Wow, I can feel the concern radiating off of you." He said sarcastically with a roll to his eyes. 

Before she could respond though, his senses flared, warning him of something coming their way which instantly made the teen stiffen and quickly get to his feet, getting ready for battle just incase. 

"Spider-Man?" Kate asked in confusion, also standing up and looking around in suspicion. 

Before he could answer her though, a shout came from above them and not a moment later a body fell right onto the roof that the two had been sitting on, the person landing on their stomach and grunting in pain. 

Peter narrowed his eyes at the figure. It was definitely a man but he was dressed really differently than what Peter was used to. The man had on what appeared to be some sort of cape but that was all he could see his attire besides his brown hair with grey streaks along his sides. 

"Um, you good man?" Peter asked hesitantly, noting that Kate subtly shifted behind him incase the man was dangerous. 

The man groaned again before he picked his head off of the roof, taking note for the first time that he wasn't alone. Once his head was lifted, Peter saw that the man had a goatee and was somewhere near the middle age mark for sure if the grey hair was anything to go by. 

"Spider-Man?" He asked before taking note of the other person on the roof, making his eyes narrow, "And random teenager. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked with a groan as he got up and dusted his hands along his pants. 

Peter raised an eyebrow, "You landed on our roof." He pointed out which made the man wince. 

"Not willingly." The man said, shaking his head, "I got thrown on it, there's a difference." 

Peter though perked up a bit, "By what? Do you need help? I could probably offer my assistance if need be." He said staring at the weird man with the cape. 

He didn't know what he was doing, but usually with people who dress like, well not like others civilians...it usually means one of two things. 

One of them meant they were some sort of vigilante or superhero and the other...

Well let's just stick with that first option yeah? 

The man furrowed his brows as he stared at the vigilante in thought for a moment before he said a sentence that quite literally shocked the teen to his core. 

"Ever fought a dragon before?" 

No fucking way...

Peter stared at the man in shock for all of five seconds though before he shrugged, "Can't say I have." He said, Trying to sound nonchalant about it but inside his mind was screaming thousands of different questions. 

A dragon? 

The man nodded, "It's good practice. Let's go." He said but Kate decided to speak up. 

"Like, like a dragon as in, a real life dragon? Are dragons bad?" She whispered in awe, staring at the man like he was giving her a million dollars. 

The man shrugged, "Not all. This one is though." Before he could continue Peter's sense spiked so he acted on instincts. He pushed Kate to the ground as he webbed the man's hand and yanked him away just as a giant fucking lizard swooped down and tried to take a bite where the older man had once stood. 

Peter didn't have time to dodge the sudden tail flick the dragon sent his way though, which was a sentence he never thought he'd ever say, before it made him stumble halfway across the roof, causing the teen to land on his head, hard. 

He didn't let that stop him though, getting back up and looking at the other two people still on the roof. The man had these weird energy shields coming out of his hands while Kate was still on the ground, staring up at the Dragon in both awe and fear. 

"You alright Spider-Man?" The man asked, throwing one of the energy shield things at the dragon, hitting it square in the face. 

Only angering the reptile further. 

"I'll live." He replied, "What's the plan?" Peter asked, coming to stand right next to the man's side as they watched the dragon make a U turn right towards them. 

"We have to keep it still so I can send it back to its dimension." He said making Peter smirk. 

"Leave that to me." He said jumping up in the air right as the dragon made a swoop towards the two of them, causing the man to roll out of the way and conjure some sort of whip in his hands as he struck the dragon with the red energy lasso. 

 "So, what are you?! Are you like a wizard?" Do wizards exist too?!" Kate exclaimed as she tried to find cover behind an old air conditioning system. 

"I'm a sorcerer, wizards are fake and my name is Dr Strange thank you very much." The man, Dr strange grumbled back while creating another lasso in his other hand, trying to latch onto the dragon's tail while Peter got the angle and was waiting to spring the trap. 

As the dragon made another round towards the building, Peter jumped from his spot and started to use all his webbing on the dragon, shooting its snout and torso, sticking its wings to its body which caused the dragon to start to spiral down towards the roof. 

On its way down, Peter continued to pelt it with webbing meanwhile Strange saw what he was doing and vanished the lassos from his hands before waving them in front of him, making symbols in the air. 

Just before the webbed up dragon crashed into the warehouse, Dr Strange caught the dragon with his weird magic shields, the ones he was using before to throw at the dragon. 

Peter quickly made his way back to the roof and shook off the rest of the shock, making his head spin for a moment due to the hit he took, "You might wanna hurry, I don't know how long those webs will hold against a dragon." He said 

"Not to worry. This won't take long." Strange said as he made more gestures with his hands, chanting something under his breath which Peter couldn't really understand. 

Kate walked up from behind the AC unit she was hiding behind and after a second of hesitation, she quickly made her way over towards the two others. 

"That's actually a real dragon." She said in wonder. 

"Yes, great deduction skills there Einstein." Peter said sarcastically which made the Doctor snort and caused Kate to glare at him. 

"This happens more than I'd care to admit to be honest." Strange said, finishing off the spell and with a final wave of his hands, they all watched as the dragon literally disappeared right in front of them. 

Kate though, after staring at where the dragon once was, titled her head, "If this happens a lot then why doesn't half the city know about it? Surly someone has to see dragons flying around." She said. 

Strange clicked his tongue, "They would, but I cast a spell anytime something otherworldly happens so panic doesn't spread." 

"Then why could we see it?" Peter asked. 

"Because you were with me, the spell centers around..." The rest of what Strange was saying was being lost to the vigilante though due to a wave of nausea suddenly knocking the teen back, stumbling on his feet backwards before falling down on his ass. 

"That hurt." He groaned while rubbing his head with his hand, causing the other two to quickly make their way over to him. 

"Shit Spidey, you alright?" Kate asked as she rested one of her hands on his shoulder while Strange stood above him, looking like he was a second away from bolting yet still there was a concern in his gaze that Peter caught wind of. 

 "Yeah, yeah just, a little dizzy. I'll be alright." He waved off their concern and tried to sit up but a gasp from Kate and a quick inhale from Strange made him stop.  

"Shit, you're bleeding!" Kate exclaimed as she looked at his mask which was a darker shade of red around his neck. 

 He could feel the warm liquid running down the cool skin of his neck from the back of his head but he's dealt with far worse before.

The wound would close up within the hour and he'd probably have a splitting headache tomorrow but he'd be fine. 

Apparently the two before him didn't think so...

"Lie back Spider-Man, don't try and get up." Strange said, gently pushing the teen onto his back causing him to wince as it caused his head to throb in pain. 

 "I'm fine, really guys, it's okay." He said, closing his eyes to fight off the pain. 

"Head injuries are no joke Spider-Man." Strange said before pursing his lips after a moment of thought, "I know you have this secret identity to keep, but I really should make sure nothing serious is wrong with the injury." The older man said slowly which made Peter stiffen. 

He also saw how Kates eyes widened but before either of the teens could answer Strange spoke up again, "I can cast a spell that keeps us alone for a few minutes, just until I check the wound. The spell makes is so no one can see us as long as we stay within the parameters of the spell." The Sorcerer said, speaking softly towards the end of the sentence after watching the vigilante wince after he spoke a little too loudly. 

Peter thought about it for a moment. It's not like it's the end of the word if another hero person finds out his identity, what's troubling is if citizens start to find out. 

And Kate is his friend, he can happily say now, after weeks of meeting with one another they've formed a friendship that Peter treasures. 

Does he trust Kate? 

Yes. 

Does he trust the Sorcerer? 

He did just take out a dragon trying to destroy the whole city....

Against his better judgment, Peter nodded his head, "Yeah, sure do the notice me not spell and get this over with." He muttered softly but his comment got a snicker from Kate and a huff from the man though he could see his lips twitch upward at his comment. 

Kate was the one though who gently placed her fingers at the edge of his mask before softly tugging the garment upwards and off his face, freeing his unruly brown hair and his face to the gentle breeze of the cool December air. 

When he looked up, he could tell the two were shocked. Dr Strange was shocked at how young he was and Kate was shocked that he was around the same age as her. 

He was still older, even if it was only by a couple months. 

It took a moment but Strange shook his head and started to mutter under his breath as he looked at the wound. 

He made a gesture with his hands and Peter felt as the wound closed itself up after, well whatever the hell he did and the blood vanished from his neck. 

"Hey, thanks doc." He said and without his voice modulator he could hear his voice and how young he sounded which made his face scrunch up in disgust. 

He's so glad he decided to put that voice modulator in his suit...

"Sure thing Spider-Man." Strange said, causing Peter to smile. The man didn't instantly call him kid once he found out he was a teenager, which would've been the first response he got from probably most other adults. 

It was refreshing not to be talked down to by someone older then him just because he was a kid, it was very nice of the Sorcerer to do so too. 

Even though he didn't have to, Peter appreciated not being subtly put down. 

After another few seconds of silence, where Kate crouched quietly next to him and Strange looking over his wound, the man sighed, "It looks like you have a mild concussion. Not much I can do I'm afraid. You'll just need to rest up and you'll be good as new." He said, nodding at the teen before standing up and dusting his hands along his pant legs. 

 "Great," Peter groaned, "Can't wait for the headache tomorrow."

Kate smirked, "You should've thought about that before taking a dragon tail to the back." She snarked. 

Peter rolled his eyes, "I'll be sure to remember that next time I fight a dragon." He said, sarcasm practically oozing out of every word he said. 

At his words, Strange chuckled as he extended his hand for Peter to use. The teen grasped the others hand and allowed the man to pull him up, "Well it was a pleasure working with you Spider-Man. Can't say I've ever teamed up with a Vigilante before." He said which made Peter snort. 

"Can't say I've ever teamed up with a sorcerer before. There's a first for everything." Peter shrugged with a smile on his face. 

Strange hummed, "Indeed there is." The man had a contemplative look on his face before he spoke up again a second later, "If you ever need anything Spider-Man, feel free to head over to 177a Bleaker St. It's the New York hub for, sorcerers like myself and I'm usually there." He said causing Peter to nod his head. 

"Sounds good to me." He said. 

Strange offered the teen one last smile before nodding at Kate and turning around with a swirl of his hands as he created a portal to some other place. If Peter had to guess it was this Bleaker St place the man was talking about. 

Before the man closed the portal though Peter cleared his throat which caused the man to turn around. 

"Peter. My name is Peter." He said, feeling weird if Strange was calling him Spider-Man even though he knew what he looked like under the mask. 

He didn't want people to call him Spider-Man without his mask on, incase someone overheard and caught sight of his face. 

You could never be too sure. 

Strange smiled, "Stephen." He said, pointing to himself before closing the portal behind him. 

Leaving the two teens by themselves. 

"So, Peter...That happened." Kate said which made said Vigilante snort. 

"Yup." He said, popping the P, "Dragons and headaches. Gotta love it." 

After a moment of silence, Kate slapped his shoulder causing the teen to wince. 

"Hey, what was that for?" 

"When were you gonna tell me we were the same age!!?" 

Peter rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to do this, you know that right?" Peter said from his spot sitting against the wall inside the old warehouse with his mask off and his shoulder exposed, allowing Kate to have easy access to the stab wound near his shoulder blade. 

The archer clicked her tongue, "I'd be done faster if you stop the squirming." 

Peter scoffed, causing his shoulder to jostle and Kate to glare at him for the interruption, "First off I don't squirm, second you didn't answer my question." He replied with a hint of teasing to his tone.

Kate was silent for a few moments which Peter was fine with since she had dealt with a lot of his silent episodes, he was alright with doing the same for her from time to time. 

When she was done sorting out her thoughts, she spoke up no louder then a whisper, "Maybe I just care about my friend and don't like seeing him hurt." Kate said gently as she kept stitching his shoulder. 

"You didn't have to learn how to sew to do that." He countered just as gently, laying his hand on her knee from where she was kneeling beside him. 

She shrugged before plunging the needle back into his skin, Peter barley even flinching as it sunk in, "There are many ways to show a person you care about them. This, just so happens to be one of mine." 

Peter raised an eyebrow, "Patching up my stab wounds?" 

Kate scoffed, "No asshole, taking care of my friend when he's hurt." She said causing Peter to sigh softly and try and hide his smile from her that threatened to spread across his face. 

He wasn't used to people caring about him, at least people who weren't Felicia so for Kate to just openly admit that she considers him her friend, well it was still sometimes a lot for Peter to grasp the concept of. 

And to think, he may have never met her if he didn't follow his instincts that night towards Nagle Street.

 "And don't think you're getting off easy either! I know you could've dodged that blow, but you willingly took the knife." She exclaimed. 

Peter shrugged his good shoulder, "The dude was aiming for a citizen, what was I supposed to do, let the man get stabbed?" 

"Knock it out of his hand." Kate deadpanned. 

"To close for that, the knife could've hurt someone else and I was also too close to use my webs." He said. 

"Self sacrificial idiot." She grumbled under her breath but her voice was full of fondness. 

"Better then the alternative." He admitted, internally thinking about his time as Hydra's weapon. 

Being someone who would sacrifice his life for a innocent was way better then what he was doing while at Hydra, killing people just because they got in the way of Hydra's agenda. 

He'd take this life over that one any day of the week. 

"Alright, all done. Try not to pull the stitches. I know it will be healed by tomorrow morning but I don't feel like seeing your shoulder coated in blood again thank you very much." She said but Peter could read between the lines, he could see how sacred she was for him, how much seeing him hurt also hurt her in some way or another and it made guilt crawl inside his chest. 

He didn't want to worry her, both her and Felicia but he knew they would. Nothing he could say would be able to stop that so he agreed whenever they asked to look at his wounds or to stitch them up themselves. 

He knew it was their own way of making sure he was alright and he never felt babied by it when they asked. 

It made this warm feeling build up in his heart and never failed to make his insides all mushy. 

Not that he showed that on the outside, he still had somewhat of a reputation to uphold. 

Peter sighed before extending his hands above and behind his head, leaning all his weight against the old wall of the warehouse. He looked around the inside of the building and surprisingly it wasn't all that bad. 

There was some debris and garbage scattered around but overall the inside was oddly bare. There was only one room with a side area that was used as a bathroom at one point but overall the inside was oddly empty for some reason, the owners must've gutted the place before leaving it to rust. 

It suddenly made an idea pop into his head. 

"You know, this place would make a pretty good hideout." Peter said as he looked around the room, causing his friend to turn towards him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Would it now, Care to explain?" She asked. 

"Well seeing as how it's only one floor, it wouldn't be too hard to add in equipment once the floor and walls were redone. You'd have to fix up the bathroom of course but after that, this place could make for a pretty good hidden lab on the inside, and on the outside make it still look like an abandoned warehouse. Of course you'd need extra security measures like Retinal scanners, fingerprint locks and voice sensors but, this place could be a real good hideout for Spider-Man. We could even add a couch in one of the corners and some modern utilities to make it a safehouse of sorts incase shit ever hits the fan." Peter continued his rant while gesturing around with his hands and smiling as all the ideas ran through his head. 

Kate watched along in silence, seeing the light shine bright behind her friend's eyes was always something she enjoyed, having noticed the darkness he sometimes carried along with him. 

She was happy in moments like these where he just let go of his worries and starting ranting about things that made him excited. 

Lord knows he deserved a little break. 

Kate, after a moment of contemplation on her part hummed in approval, "Sounds like a plan, let's do it!" She exclaimed causing Peter to stop and stare at her in shock. 

"Um, you do know this isn't our warehouse right? No matter how much we break in and in case you have forgot, we're both broke teenagers. There's no way our Guardians would do something like this...well, you're guardian seeing as how she doesn't know that you hang out with a vigilante of New York." Peter said with a raised eyebrow towards his friend. 

Sure, would it be cool? Absolutely but there was no way that they could even begin to start a project like this, not until they were closer to eighteen at least. 

Felicia was well off but there was no way she had enough money to buy a warehouse and convert it into a modern lab for him...

 And there was no way he was going to ask her for something like that...

Kate though was not taking no for an answer apparently, "You're smart aren't you? Just hack into my mom's company and use their money. I promise you, whatever this place will cost, she will never know it's even gone. She'll probably think it's one of her payments to her benefactor or some partner or another. Peter, we could make this into our little zone! Come on dude!! It would be awesome!" She exclaimed. 

"Are you seriously telling me to hack into your mom's account, steal money to buy this warehouse and turn it into my little vigilante lab?" He asked dryly. 

Kate though, beamed up at him with a bright smile still across her face, "Yeah, doesn't it sound fun?!" 

Peter stared at his best friend for a few moments, to see if she was actually serious about this but her heartbeat and eyes told him the answer he needed to know. 

She actually wanted to do this. 

For him...

She wanted to go behind her mothers back, spend who knows how much money to get him a state of the art lab just so he would be safer out there. 

She was willing to do all of that, for little old him...

For someone who she should be scared of, a person who has done so much bad in his life, who was simply trying to right the wrongs of some of his past mistakes. 

She was breaking so many rules for him.

Peter smiled despite himself, unable to keep the warm feelings at bay any longer with how helpful and supportive his friend was of him, "I mean, if you're sure..." He said but was instantly caught off by her excited squeal as she lightly smacked his shoulder. 

"Yes!! Alright you won't regret this I promise! Oh, I can't wait!!" 

"Hold on there partner," He said, holding his hand up to stop her before she rambled any longer, "Just so you know, if this blows up in your face, it's not me you're dragging down understand? I don't need any unwanted attention on my back." 

She eagerly nodded, "Got it." 

"Second, we still have to buy the warehouse and then transfer ownership to me somehow without raising suspicion. I'm not gonna build these plans for the lab and then have the building taken away from us because it wasn't a legal buy or some other bullshit like that." He said, causing Kate to slightly deflate. 

"Well how're we gonna do that?" She asked. 

 He thought for a moment before perking up as an idea struck him, "I could easily hack the government and make it look like we have some sort of company which bought the building. I can fake documents and shit like that and after you get the deed to the warehouse, you'd simply let me sign it and then legally, it would all be mine. Of course if they ever find out the company is fake they might ask a few questions but I have confidence that I can make it look as real as possible so it shouldn't be a problem." He said, "We simply have to use the money we...borrow from your mother to buy the warehouse, sign it over to my shell company and use what's left to upgrade the building." 

"I feel like for ninety percent of that you're gonna need some sort of computer for." Kate mused out loud causing Peter to smirk, reaching off towards the side and pulling his backpack that lay forgotten a few feet away. 

"Well it's a good thing I brought my laptop then, isn't it?"

She gasped, "You didn't." She said, a smile creeping into her voice. 

"Let's get to work." He said, grabbing his laptop from out of the bag and opening it up while placing it directly in his lap for Kate to see. 

It didn't take him that long to find out who owned the warehouse. Apparently it was owned by a company who helped cleanup the city after disasters, whether it be caused by aliens, villains or just natural disasters of some sort. 

The warehouse was abandoned and condemned after a massive rainstorm flooded the place right after the invasion of New York, ruining everything that was inside of it at the time. 

The city didn't bother to fix it up due to them worrying about other things like fucking aliens, but apparently the company was just sitting on the deed and has been for years. 

And it didn't cost that much money if Peter was being honest with himself. 

"Alright, it seems all I have to do is email this address, tell them I'm interested in the warehouse while using a Bishop Security email and they'll send me the deed as soon as the payment goes through on their end which won't take long. As soon as the deed is ours, you will hand it over to my company where I will sign it with a fake name so no one can follow the trail back to me if something ever happened. After that it's just a matter of fixing the place up, before adding in all the lab stuff." He said, looking over the website one more time before nodding his head and turning to look at his friend, "Are you sure you want to do this?" He said again, just to make sure. 

Once they did this, once they started the process there was no turning back. Both of them would be responsible for this if it blew up in their faces and Peter didn't really want to have a chat with Felicia on why he was suddenly stealing someone else's money to buy a warehouse to use as his base of operations while in the field. 

He could already see how that conversation would turn out and it definitely would not be in his favor. 

Felicia can be scary when she wanted to be...

Kate though, bless her soul, laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, "I understand that you have a problem with accepting help Peter, but know that everything I do, is because I want to do it, for you. You are, like my best friend in The whole world man, and, well your friendship is the one I treasure the most so, yes...I want to help you and if this is the only way I can, then so be it." She said. 

Peter shook his head, "You help me plenty Kate. You being here and talking with me is more then enough, you know that." 

Said teen huffed in amusement, "You always say that Peter, and where I appreciate the kind words, I still want to do this, for you. It's the least I can do." 

He was about to say something else when she waved him off, "Look we'll be smart about it alright? Once we get the warehouse in your name, we'll only take a certain amount of money out each month and use it for the repairs alright? Just to make you feel better about it. That way, my mother really won't figure it out. We'll be super sneaky." She said with a smile across her face, staring at his bemused expression with a goofy look in her eyes. 

The vigilante shook his head, "What am I gonna do with you Bishop?" He said but his tone lacked any real malice, instead it was simply fondness for his best friend. 

She shrugged, "Don't know, you best find out Rook, that's your job after all." She said while smirking. 

"Tell me again, why are we doing this?" Peter asked, with a blindfold across his eyes while Kate had a hand on his shoulder, guiding him down the sidewalk. 

Said best friend scoffed at his words, "I told you it was a surprise. Stop trying to ruin it!" She said and Peter could practically hear her roll her eyes. 

"Well excuse me, I'm sorry if I'm dying in the scorching heat as the sun pummels me with its rays Bishop. I want to get out of said hotness and cool off...If I knew we were going outside, I would've changed." He muttered while shaking his head. 

Bishop had called him and said to meet her because she had some sort of surprise for him so without thinking much on it, Peter told Felicia that he was going out for a bit and started walking to meet up with her. 

He was currently in a pair of khaki jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. The penthouse he lived in was always cool during the summer with the AC always on and he got cold easer then most so this was his normal attire during the summer months when he was indoors. 

But for the outside where the sun was beating down on him, his dark shirt soaking up all the heat, he was practically roasting alive in the clothes. 

Before Kate had forced the blindfold on him, he saw that she was wearing a white sundress and instantly he knew that this little escapade of there's was gonna be outside. 

And he would probably roast to death before seeing said surprise. 

Kate rolled her eyes, "Stop whining so much, we're almost there you baby." She said. 

"Good, maybe we'll make it before I die!" Peter said cheerfully, getting some weird looks from passing citizens, not that he could see it with said blindfold though. 

Kate glowered at a couple who were glaring at them, making them skitter away while mumbling to themselves before she turned back to her friend, "You are the most dramatic person I think I've ever met, you know that? You have to make a production out of everything!" She shook her head but she had a smile on her face. 

Peter shrugged, "It's who I am." He said with his tone bleeding with amusement. 

Kate rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah, we're here so you can take the blindfold off baby." She said while coming to a stop at Peter's left side after making sure he didn't keep walking. 

Peter reached up and ripped the blindfold off his eyes, keeping them closed and blinking them open slowly to allow his eyes to adjust to the sudden influx of light flowing into his irises. 

After a few moments, he opened his eyes fully and realized they were in front of the old warehouse that was soon to become his Hub for Spider-Man. 

He turned to his friend and raised an eyebrow at her, "Why are we standing in front of the warehouse?" He asked, imploring her to explain herself before he died of combustion due to the sun's rays. 

It was so fucking hot...

Kate though was practically bouncing on her feet in excitement which made him tilt his head in confusion. She didn't give him an answer though she simply grabbed his hand and rushed forward to one of the side entrances. 

As he got closer he saw that there was a little box right next to the door that wasn't there last week. He tried to look at her and explain with just his eyes that he wanted an explanation, but she ignored it and continued to smile up at him. 

"Go on, touch the box!!" She said, basically screamed which, despite his displeasure with the weather, made him smile. 

He loves it when his friend was happy. 

So, trusting his friend, he placed his hand on the box and he stared in shock as the device lit up and scanned his handprint. Not a moment later, the box lit up green and made a ding before a little pole extended out with a camera attached to it. 

"Retinal Scan." A robotic voice said, causing Peter to blink once in shock before doing what he was told, leaning down an inch to let the camera scan his eye. 

After a second the camera blinked green, indicating it accepted the scan before the voice spoke up again, "Voice password required." 

He looked at Kate and when she nodded, he knew what he needed to say. 

Over the course of the last few months, Peter and Kate have gone over everything that needed to be implemented in the warehouse lab. They both agreed that they needed extra security protocols in place just incase someone was to ever replicate either of their eyes or fingerprints so they added a third failsafe to the lab. 

You didn't only need their voice to open the door, but you needed to say a certain word to unlock the warehouse. Peter and Kate had come up with their own, so only their passkey would work for their own eyes and fingerprints. 

But seeing as there was no cameras for at least block and no one usually hangs around this warehouse except for them, they knew that they didn't need to worry about people ever hearing the passkey that they picked out. 

And for security reasons, the both of them didn't know each other's passkeys at all, just incase anyone were to ever capture the other and tried to use them against each other, they both genuinely didn't know the others password. 

He saw how Kate plugged her ears and turned around and knew she was thinking the same thing as him so as quickly as he could, he leaned into the box and said the passkey he had chosen for his voice pattern. 

"Checkmate." He said. 

He had chosen that word for the passkey due to Kate and him always referring to each other as The Bishop and The Rook. He thought it fit perfectly, since it was Kate after all he had to thank for this lab of his. 

A lab that she didn't tell him was already finished...

He heard as the door unlocked so he tapped on Kate's shoulder, telling her it was safe and as she turned around he grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of him, wanting her to go first. 

She gently slid the door open and Peter quickly walked in after her before shutting it behind him and turned around. 

When he turned around, his eyes widened in shock. 

The last time he had seen the progress of the warehouse was a few weeks ago, he had been pretty busy dealing with the fall out of the Vulture incident still after months. There were still alien weapons on the streets and he was busy trying to clear them out so he hasn't had time to stop by and check it out. 

It seemed Kate was busy while he was off doing that though because Peter was currently staring at a completely finished lab. 

It had completely changed from the dusty broken down warehouse it once was. He had made the plans himself so he knew everything there was in the building but to see it completely done was amazing. 

He knew the walls had been reinforced with titanium alloy from the inside, wanting to keep the old warehouse look on the outside to not attract any unwanted attention. 

But that was just the first layer of the walls, the next layer was a thin sheet of tungsten, seeing as how it was heavier and denser then Titanium and the last layer, the one that could be seen from inside the building was normal smooth concrete walls, painted white. 

The floor itself was now redone in a nice polished off marble finish. Peter could see his reflection shining off the floor itself with how clean it was. There were some rugs here and there, all black in contrast to the walls and ceiling to add in a bit of flavor. 

Which brought him to the left hand corner of the warehouse. There was a grey colored couch that was a decent length, long enough to fit at least ten people on it. In front of the couch was a little wooden coffee table with a pair of coasters off to one side of it. 

Along the back wall, a few feet away from the couch was a counter with a mini fridge built into it, a fully working sink, some counter space with a toaster oven and a few cupboards to store plates and what not.

Then, the crème de la crème, the middle of the whole place was covered with work benches and stations scattered around. One of them had a new state of the art computer, a 3d printer on another and even a whole chemistry set off to the side. 

But there were also things that he never saw before in his blueprints. There were two very new additions that surprised the teen. 

On the right wall of the lab, there was little pedestals with glass surrounding them. They were empty at the moment, but as he walked closer to them he could see that on the floor there was a giant painted spider symbol on the ground.  

He put two and two together and guessed these were display cases for his suits that Kate had added in for him. 

The other major difference was the ceiling above him. It was a normal ceiling by standards, but there was one major difference. 

The roof itself was pretty high up and there were lights hanging from the corners, but what caught his attention was to the right of the lab, hanging from the ceiling was a little platform about fifteen feet up. 

There was a rope that hung down from the platform, he could see it tucked away in the corner of the room but he couldn't see what was on the platform itself. 

Without further delay, he walked across the floor and using his powers, he jumped up and landed right on the platform. 

What he saw made him smile. There was a bed smack dab in the middle of the hanging platform, with electric blue sheets and a crimson red comforter that he could already tell was super fluffy. 

To the right was a little dresser with a medium sized desk and chair. There was also a rug that covered most of the platform and even though he had his converse still on, he knew it was also fluffy. 

Kate knew how much he adored fluffy blankets after all. 

On the dresser though, was a picture frame. He walked over and picked it up and saw that it was one of him and Kate, a picture that she had forced him to take a couple months back when the snow had finally melted and she had started to drag him off into the real world to make memories, as she had called it. 

The two of them were standing in front of the sea lion enclosure at the Central Park Zoo, Peter wearing a pair of black jeans and white t-shirt while Kate herself had on a purple shirt and jean shorts. She was standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder smiling at the camera as Peter was looking at her in bemusement all the while a couple of sea lions behind them were posing for the picture. 

All in all, it's probably one of his most fond memories at the moment. 

He wonders, silently in his head if this is what it feels like to be apart of a family. 

To always feel this warm feeling in his chest when thinking about someone. 

He's never had a sister before, but he likes to think that Kate and him are that close. 

As close as a brother would be to his sister...

He swallowed thickly, trying to push the sudden stinging in his eyes at bay for when he was alone tonight, not wanting to cry with Kate in the room. 

She'd only worry after all. 

He smiled and wiped his eyes before placing the photo down back on the desk and jumping down, coming face to face with Kate. 

He could tell she looked nervous, wondering if he'd be mad that she had changed some of the plans but all he could feel was fondness for his best friend. 

"Do you like it? I mean I know that, well...you didn't want some of this stuff but I was thinking that, well if you needed to use this place for a hideout you would want an actual bed to sleep on and not a couch, no matter how comfy it was." Before he could say anything Kate continue to ramble on, "And I thought it was a good idea to add in a place for your suits! I know you've been working on upgrades to help you, so you know, I thought you'd want to put your first designs on display or something...to show your growth or, something." She muttered while rubbing her exposed arms in nervous anticipation for his reaction. 

Peter though, smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Kate," he said, causing his friend to look up at him, "I love it, all of it." He promised, causing his friends eyes to brighten as she smiled widely at him. 

"Really? I mean, of course you do. Why wouldn't you, I helped after all and I'm amazing." She exclaimed causing Peter to roll his eyes. 

"Now you're pushing it." He replied dryly. 

But she smiled wider, not hearing him, "I also had an idea! I know you love that evidence board of yours that you won't shut up about so I thought If you ever needed to, you could place something similar on the back wall, near the utilities..." The rest of her chatter was drowned out though as Peter followed after her with a wide smile. 

He's so glad that he found someone who was willing to give him a chance, a chance to prove himself that he wasn't the monster that Hydra had made him out to be. 

A month ago, he had come clean to her, and had told her everything. He didn't feel right lying to her about who he was anymore now that they had gotten closer and he had been a nervous wreck the whole time. 

But Kate had simply sat there and listened to everything he said. Heard the story about how he went through hell, how Hydra crafted him into the perfect weapon and pointed him at whoever they wanted. 

He kept out some details, but she was the very first person who he had ever told his story to. 

And she had sat down and listened. 

And after, she hadn't judged him like he thought she would've. She didn't pity him she didn't say sorry to him, she had simply offered her sympathy and said she was there for him if he needed anything. 

Which, was oddly mature for Kate. 

He had said so to her face, which had made her smirk and reply that she was hanging out with him too much, which had broken the tension between the two. 

He's so glad that he met Kate that night, and he would never regret taking his mask off all those weeks later while surrounded by Strange and Kate. 

Never.

"So, we start sophomore year in a week." Kate said suddenly from her place next to him as they walked down the street towards the lab. 

Peter side eyed her as he kept walking, "Yes, we do. What of it?" He asked. 

"Well, before we're swamped with work, I was wondering if you could teach me some things you know." She mention nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. 

Peter huffed, "Oh yeah? Like what?" 

"You know! Your moves! You're so damn flexible that it's honestly unfair. You just know all these different fighting tactics and you know, I wanted to learn a few of them." She said. 

Peter thought about it in his head for a moment, stepping over a crack along the sidewalk drawing an amused snort form his friend before he deceived to answer her, "Don't you already take fighting classes? Along with fencing and all sorts of archery competitions? Why do you want to learn more from me?" He asked. 

She gave him a duh look before scoffing, "Dude you're like ten times more knowledgeable then any of my instructors! Remember that time where you taught me how to do a Heel Hook? It's like, the best submission move that I know of and you taught it to me! Just because I wanted to show off in my class, I just thought...well maybe one day I could, you know go out there with you. And, well we can go out together and fight crime as a team." She admitted softly, making sure no one was in the vicinity to overhear them. 

Her words made Peter soften his gaze. She's been bugging him about coming along on his patrols for awhile now and each time he's told her no, she wasn't trained enough for something like that. 

She was good, he'd admit that especially for someone her age who wasn't a trained assassin, and she has gotten better ever since he's met her but he knew that once you start, you'll never stop. 

You're in this life until you die...

And he didn't want that for her. 

But he couldn't tell her that, especially if it was something she really wanted. 

He thought it over in his head for a moment before he nodded his head, "Alright, I'll show you a few moves before the year starts." He winced as she squealed in delight, punching his shoulder as she did so. 

"Yes, alright thank you! You won't regret it!" 

"I already am." He muttered, shaking his head. 

"Oh shut up, man. Stop lying to yourself." She smirked, continuing on their way towards the lab. 

Before they got there though, they ran into a familiar face along the street. 

Kate was the one who spotted her first though. She beamed and started waving at the young woman, "Karen! Hey!!" She exclaimed, causing the woman who was in front of them jerk her head up and smile once she saw who it was. 

Karen was a woman that the two of them had run into quite a lot over the past few months whenever they walked to the lab. She was in her early twenties, just out of college with brown hair and honey brown eyes. She was soft spoken and gentle but could be firm when she needed to be. 

Trust Peter, he had been scolded one too many times by the woman but he knew it only came out of a place of concern for him. 

She was an assistant daycare handler for little children, helping some of the older staff right out of college. 

Peter thinks the building she worked at was called FEAST or something like that, run by a Martin Lee. It was a place where people could go for help but it also had other things like a daycare for parents who didn't have anyone to watch their kids while at work. 

The place really was amazing, and in Peter's opinion it was one of the better organizations in the city. He's been wanting to go and take a look at the place for a while, maybe volunteer whenever he had the time but he's been dealing with Scorpion and Rhino most of the summer and hasn't found the time yet. 

Hopefully he would soon. 

"Hey you two, causing trouble around the city again?" She teased with a grin along her face, making the two snort. 

"Never." They answered at the same time making Karen chuckle. To Peter her laugh always sounded like twinkling bells, so soft and gentle but warm too. 

Some people truly did have amazing laughs, Karen just happened to be one of them. 

The woman raised one of her hands to brush one of her curly locks behind her ear, "I wish I could stay around to chat but I really need to get going. One of the handlers at the daycare called in sick and they asked me to fill in for them, sorry you two."

She said regretfully but Peter just waved her off. 

"It's fine Karen, you have a life, no need to apologize for it. We'll see you around yeah?" He said causing Kate to nod and Karen to smile gently at him. 

"Certainly. You should come around the shelter soon, I work all week days so I'm usually there." She offered. 

Peter smiled back, "I may take you up on that offer, see you around Karen." 

"Bye Karen!" 

"Bye you two." She laughed again as she walked past them towards FEAST while the two teens continued down their path. 

"Man Karen is the best." Kate sighed softly. 

"Yeah she is, she doesn't talk to us like we're fucking kids." Peter smirked which made Kate laugh. 

"Preach it Peter!" 

Said vigilante shook his head fondly as he continued to walk. It was only after another couple minutes that the warehouse came into view. 

"We need a name for this place." Kate said suddenly. 

"Why?" He asked, "What's wrong with the lab?" 

Kate scoffed, "The Lab. What hero do you know of who has a secret base called "The Lab"? Newsflash, none! Because the lab isn't a name, it's what's inside the building. Honestly, you really got to work on your marketing skills Peter." She shook her head sadly, like what he said had been a grave offense to her. 

Which in hindsight, it probably was to her. 

"Alright Great Value Hawkeye, what do you want to name it then?" He rolled his eyes, getting a glare in response due to the name he called her. 

"What have I told you about that nickname? Don't ever, call me that again!" She said, still glaring but he could tell that she wasn't really angry at him, more annoyed then anything. 

Peter huffed as he got to the side entrance of the warehouse and allowed the box to scan his hand and eye, meanwhile talking to Kate, "Well that's what you are, aren't you? I can't call you Hawkeye since it's already taken and you aren't the original, so what do you want me to say?" He said, waving his hand at her after the first two scans were complete. 

She turned around and closed her eyes as she plugged her ears, allowing him to say his passkey and turned back around with a glare still on her face when he tapped on her shoulder, the both of them walking into the lab and closing the door behind them, "Not that. We can make a different name like, I don't know, Lady Hawk or Nightbird or something!" 

"Isn't Nightbird a Transformer name?" He wondered out loud, causing her to blush. Before she could continue though, he cut her off, "And Lady Hawk, really? That's the best you got?" He questioned as he moved to sit down on the couch, breathing a sigh of relief as the cool air of the Lab washed over his hot, sticky skin. 

There were moments he loved summer and moments where he wished it was a bit cooler outside. 

Now was one of those moments...

His body was like a furnace and most of the time it wasn't enjoyable when it was already ninety degrees outside. 

Kate crashed down right next to him on the couch, pouting as she stared at the ceiling, "I don't know, I'm not good with names, you know that!" She said, placing a hand across her face. 

"Let's just call it the HUB. It's our hub is it not? Short and sweet, no need for all the extra flair." He said. 

"You not wanting flair? Who are you, and what have you done with Peter?" She said, a smirk sliding across her face. 

Peter rolled his eyes and he leaned back on the couch, "Haha very funny." He deadpanned. 

 After a moment of silence though, Kate suddenly gasped and she bolted up with an excited smile. 

Oh no...

"You just gave me a great idea." 

Oh. No...

"How about we call it, The Web." 

Peter stared at his friend blankly for all of five seconds before he shook his head and got up from the couch to go sit at his computer, "Never happening." He announced. 

"Oh come on, you know you love it!" 

"Nope." 

"It's a good name!" 

"Never happening." He said with a singsong tone of voice, shaking his head to try and stop the smile from making its way on his face with his friends stupid names. 

It was really a drop dead terrible name though...

But he wouldn't change her terrible naming quality for the world.

Present Day...

Peter woke up on Wednesday morning feeling oddly refreshed and not tired whatsoever, for the first time in what felt like years. 

It took him a minute to remember what exactly happened yesterday but when he did, his eyes widened and he exhaled a little breath. 

"Oh." He breathed out, thinking back to his meeting with his mother and her family, who all just happened to be Avengers. 

And his father, who had no idea he was actually in fact his son and not just some random kid he had trained while being the Winter Soldier. 

He had no idea how he was ever going to tell him, but he didn't really want to think about that at the moment. 

He had other things to worry about today other than his biological family, as harsh as that sounded. 

He needed to scout out the office building where the shell companies were hiding the safe full of money, but the more important part was the password he needed to get from said safe that would help him complete phase one of his plan to take out the cabal.

The safe he was gonna rob had a password that would unlock a vault filled with all sorts of blackmail material for all the different FBI, CIA and MI6 operatives that were corrupted. 

The Secretary of State was nothing if but a paranoid bastard so it would make sense for him to carry blackmail on all other organizations within the cabal. 

While looking through the Fulcrum, he had come across a file that Ross had locked the others out of, but Peter had made quick work of it and found a list of different places all across New York which held all sorts of documents that could put everyone in this Cabal away for twenty lifetimes. 

One of the safes happened to be in the office building of the shell companies Peter had asked Danny to look into, a safe that would give him the password for the main vault where Ross hid all of his blackmail material on law enforcement. 

It was a vault that he desperately needed to find. 

According to Ross' file, the safe in the office building would also have the location of the vault, along with the password to open it. 

He had tried to cover it up by using the safe for money, which was why there was a million dollars in there as well. 

On the off chance someone had opened it, Ross wanted to make people believe that money was the only thing being stored in the safe. 

But the money was just a distraction to the real treasure that was buried somewhere beneath all that money. 

A treasure that Peter needed to take out this corruption. 

 He groaned softly as he threw his comforter off of him and started to get ready for the day at school. 

School...

So trivial when you think about what he deals with on a daily basis out on the streets. 

He already knows everything but he doesn't like the concept of graduating early and being different from the others. 

He's never liked the spot light before, and he most likely won't ever like it for the rest of his life so he bares the brunt of school to stay a somewhat normal teen. 

Even if he hates it. 

He walked over to his closet and grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans, a fresh pair of underwear and a navy long sleeved collared shirt that was pretty soft on the inside, since it was November after all and already getting pretty cold. 

After getting dressed, he slipping on his converse which were by his desk before grabbing a grey vest and buttoning it up. He grabbed his watch, placed it around his wrist and shouldered his book bag which was on his chair before walking out of his room. 

He spared the evidence board one last look before turning around and shutting the door, walking down the hallway towards where he could hear Felicia in the kitchen. 

Once he made his way into the main room, he called out to his guardian, "Morning Felicia." He said, walking to the kitchen island and grabbing an apple from the basket and taking a bite out of it, his bag still on his shoulder. 

From her spot leaning against the counter reading a book, she looked up and smiled, "Morning Peter." She replied, reaching her hand out to ruffle his hair as he passed by her, causing him to grumble and try and fix the mess that was his hair, making her snicker to herself. 

"You want some breakfast before heading off?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she saw him move away from the kitchen. 

He shook his head, "I'll be good." He said, grabbing his lunch he packed last night and placing it in his bag, "I'll be alright until lunch." He promised her, causing her to narrow her eyes, knowing how much he needed due to his metabolism. 

"You sure? It's not like you're gonna be late." She pointed out but Peter just smiled and shook his head. 

"I'll be fine, thank you though for the concern." He said, smiling gently at her from over his shoulder which made her eyes soften. 

"Of course, I'll always be here for you. You know that." She said before taking a bite out of her toast that was to the right of her book, resting on the counter. 

"Remember I'm heading to FEAST after school before patrol." He reminded her. 

He hasn't been to the shelter in a few months and the guilt that was inside him finally was at a boiling point so he was gonna make a pit stop there first before heading off to scout out the office building. 

He couldn't stay for long, but anytime helping the people of this city was time well spent in Peter's opinion. 

Felicia nodded, "I know. Make sure to have that super AI of yours message me when you start to patrol." 

"You got it, see you later!" He said, heading towards the door and opening it but before he could close it, Felicia spoke up again. 

"Don't forget you're cooking tonight!" She exclaimed. 

He shook his head with a smile as he closed the door, "I know!" He called out before heading down the small hallway towards the elevator that would take him down to the ground floor. 

He was in first period Chemistry when the usual empty chair to his left was suddenly pulled out and taken. 

He raised his head from where it was buried in his notebook and his eyes widened in surprise, "Gwen! Hey, how're you this fine morning?" He asked, looking at the other teen with a smile and amusement behind his gaze. 

Gwen was sitting down and beaming at him but Peter was suddenly short of breath as his eyes actually took in the teen next to him. Her blonde hair was curled today, the waves flowing elegantly down and stopping at her neckline. She had on a white sweater with intricate designs along her middle and sleeves with a simple pair of skinny jeans and her converse she wore most days. Her clothes though really brought out her figure more then usual today and Peter tried his very hardest not to stare. 

But what really caught his eyes was her face. For some reason, today she just looked more beautiful than normal. Maybe it was her casual attire. Or maybe it was just because he was never this close to the other teen. 

While sitting next to her, with their thighs practically touching he could see her gorgeous azure blue eyes up close. He could see how they sparkled too as different emotions passed through her gaze and there was something about it that just, lured him in deeper. 

But there was one distinct difference, one that was definitely not there yesterday. Above and beneath her right eyebrow, there were two small piercings that made her even more beautiful in Peter's eyes. 

God he needed to get a grip on his hormones. 

"Like what you see?" The sudden voice of Gwen broke him out of his thoughts, he quickly looked into her eyes and saw that she was amused as she was smirking right at him. 

He'd take any small mercies he could get. 

At least she wasn't angry at him...

In the back of his head though, a little voice whispered if it was anyone else, like Flash, she would've been pissed.

Peter tried to fight the blush that was trying to crawl it's way up his neck, "N-no, well, Yes Yes! I mean, you look beautiful as always and well, is uh, is that a piercing? You didn't have it yesterday, r-right?" He stuttered for the first time in literally years, mentally berating himself for how he was acting meanwhile trying to change the subject as well. 

He blamed it on the hormones and emotions that were running high throughout his body due to the last few days.

Definitely. 

To his luck though, Gwen just laughed and Peter doesn't think he's ever heard a more beautiful sound before, "Beautiful huh?" She teased with a wicked glint in her eyes but before he could respond she continued, "Thank you, you aren't half bad yourself. But to answer your question, the piercing is new. My dad finally agreed to it and my appointment was last night." She said. 

Peter heard her, but the teen could focus only on one aspect of what she said. Maybe if his body wasn't running off of emotions, he would've saw how stupid he was acting but at the moment his mind was taking a back seat to his heart. 

"You think I'm beautiful?" He asked. 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them, his mind finally kicking into overdrive and screaming bloody murder at him. 

But he couldn't care less with the way Gwen covered her mouth with her right hand as she tried to hide her giggles from him, causing a timid smile to spread across his face. 

God he was acting like a love sick puppy. 

But in the moment, he really didn't care. 

"Yes, I think you're very beautiful in fact." She said with a smirk after her giggles had died down, this time making the blush spread across his neck and towards his ears, which Gwen took notice of if the flash behind her eyes was anything to go off of. 

She seemed to enjoy making him blush. 

Oh when his brain was back in working order he would so get his revenge.

"So beautiful, wanna be my Chem partner?" Gwen asked with mirth still dancing behind her eyes at her new nickname for him. 

Peter felt his lips twitch upward when an idea struck him, "Sure Handsome, don't mind at all." He replied, taking satisfaction as a blush spread across her cheeks. 

Two could play this game Gwen. 

"Oh I thought I was beautiful?" She said with a singular raised eyebrow directed at him. 

Peter shrugged, "Handsome, Beautiful all the same. I could call you pretty if you want. Or maybe Gorgeous." He said instead, noting the way her eyes flashed as he said that last one. 

Gorgeous it was then.

"Hmm, I think I like that one better." She whispered while leaning closer to his ear, causing him to shiver as he felt her breath along the back of his neck. 

She was gonna kill him before the end of the day at this rate. 

Before Peter could say anything though, Mr Harrington walked into the classroom and cut off all conversation that were happening throughout the room. 

Making the two teens put a pin in their little chat...

With one last look towards Peter, Gwen turned to give her attention to Mr Harrington as he started the lesson, leaving Peter to try and get a grip on his emotions while waiting for the fun part of chemistry. 

It only took ten minutes but after the short wait, the teacher waved them off towards their stations which was Peter's favorite part of his day in school.

It was a shame that it had to happen first period, because then he had nothing to look forward to the rest of the day. 

Except for leaving. 

Gwen and Peter worked surprisingly well together, she wasn't half bad at chemistry either, better than a lot of their other classmates in Peter's opinion.

They joked and laughed together and by the time chemistry was over, they had successfully done the experiment with loads of time to spare. 

As the bell rang though, and all students started collecting their things to head to their next class, Gwen started walking to the right of him, holding her books with both of her arms wrapped around them keeping them close to her chest. 

"So Peter, doing anything after school today?" She asked nonchalantly but the teen could see the beginnings of another blush trying to make its way across her face. 

"Maybe, why?" He shrugged as he started walking to his next class which was conveniently where Gwen was going as well. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to, maybe hang out after school. Just the two of us." She asked as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. 

Peter smiled gently at her, not wanting to hurt her feelings because he would totally do so, but he was heading to FEAST and he had already procrastinated enough when it came to visiting the shelter. 

"I'd love to Gwen, but I'm heading to FEAST after school." He said watching as she deflated so Peter, not liking the look of defeat across her face quickly added on, "But if you wanted to you could tag along with me." Before he could finish though, she cut him off. 

"Yes!" She exclaimed before blushing at a few odd looks she got while in the hall they were in, "I mean, yes I would love to. I volunteer there on the weekends anyways so they know me. I don't think they'd mind any extra help." She shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about it but he could tell she was excited. 

For some reason, he was just as excited as well. 

He had it bad man...

 "Sounds like a plan." He said, making Gwen smile. 

Indeed it did. 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful if Peter was being honest, it felt like time was going slow on purpose. 

He may have to visit Strange, just to make sure the man wasn't pranking him. But then again, the man didn't really play practical jokes on people that often. 

Or anyone to be honest. 

But the one saving grace was Gwen, she was actually in most of his classes except for a few of them and in each class she had sat down next to him, offering him company throughout the day which made his insides warm at the kind gesture. 

No one had tried to sit next to him in all the years he's been at Midtown due to his reputation so for Gwen to do so, well it meant a lot, more then he could ever put into words. 

At lunch, the children of the Avengers had invaded their table once again but if Peter was being honest, he really didn't have a clue what they were talking about. He had been in a discussion with Gwen for most of the period and he was paying more attention to every time she had laughed at something he said. 

At the end of the day, when Peter was at his locker getting his stuff and putting it in his bag to take home, Gwen walked up from further down the hall with her bag around her shoulder and a wide smile across her face. 

"You ready?" She asked, causing Peter to smile. 

"Yup," He said, closing his locker, "Did you tell your parents that you'll be at FEAST?" He asked as the two started to walk towards the front entrance. 

She nodded her head, "Yup they were fine with it. My dad said he'd pick me up around five when you leave." She said, getting a nod from Peter as they made their way out of the school and down the stairs.

Once they reached the bottom, Peter offered Gwen his arm, "Shall we?" He smirked. 

She smirked right back, looping her arm around his, "We Shall." Gwen said, closing the distance between them so their sides were brushing together as they walked down the sidewalk towards the shelter. 

Not noticing Flash's jealous stare from behind. 

Or the gaped expressions of the Avenger kids...

"Hmm, Maybe we were wrong when we said he didn't have a thing for Stacy." MJ commented before walking down the stares as well, leaving her friends behind. 

They needed to get back to the tower...

Natasha was practically floating she was so happy. 

Ever since last night where she had met her son for the first time in over a decade nothing has been able to bring her down, not even the constant teasing of both her sister and Clint. 

She was just too damn happy that her son didn't hate her, he didn't blame her for being separated and it seemed he actually wanted to give this a try. 

She'd take anything now, she's waited ten years to see her son after all. What's another few weeks to get him accustomed to the routine of how the tower works. 

She was especially happy for the children to get back from school to tell her how her son was today. 

Was it a little creepy she was using her nieces and nephews to spy on her son? 

Maybe. 

Did she care one bit?

Not at all. 

She was already waiting in the living room with the others when the elevator doors swung open around two thirty, the kids being drove to and from school by Happy so it didn't take them as long if they had decided to walk instead. 

The first one out of the elevator was Harley, like usual and as per routine for the kid, he flung his backpack across the back of the couch before flopping down on his stomach, causing Stark to snort in amusement. 

"Rough day?" The billionaire asked in amusement. 

Harley lifted his head and pointed his finger at Natasha while the others walked out of the elevator at a slower pace, "Her son is a complete menace." Harley declared before flopping his head back down onto the couch. 

"And why is that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed in front of her chest. 

Her baby was not a menace, he was perfect thank you very much. 

Lila though cut in before Harley could retort, "Don't mind him. He's just mad that Peter ignored him all day." She said, sitting down next to her mother at the kitchen table, where the woman offered her daughter a hug. 

"Why did he ignore him?" Yelena asked, "Did he say something stupid? Nat does that with Clint a lot. If he said something stupid it makes since." She shrugged, making her sister smack her upside the head. 

"Ow! What was that for?!" She exclaimed with a little pout, "I only tell the truth, meanie." Yelena grumbled. 

Nat rolled her eyes, "Grow up." 

Cassie picked up where Lila left off though, cutting off the sibling banter before it could escalate, "No, nothing so dramatic, he's just being a baby about it. Peter was pretty busy talking with someone else all day and they left together. It makes since, he doesn't know us all that well so he didn't mean anything by it." She said, not knowing that her words caused most of the adults to stop and stare at her. 

"What?" She asked with a blush when she realized that everyone was staring at her. 

"Did you say he was talking to someone all day? And then left with them?" Natasha asked, a curious yet wicked glint in her eyes. 

Was her baby seeing someone?

Cassie bit her lip before nodding her head hesitantly, "Yes? Is he, not supposed to?" She asked, confused about where this conversation was going, causing the other teens to shake their heads at their friends obliviousness to the current situation. 

"Who was it?" Clint asked eagerly, wanting to get something to use over the kid's head after last night's disaster of a dinner where he had failed to make the kid embarrassed. 

What kind of cool uncle can't make their nephew embarrassed? 

Cassie though wasn't that dumb when it came to stuff like this. She narrowed her eyes before replying, "I don't know if it's really my place to tell." She said. Before anyone else could interrogate her, Steve and his all goodie too shoes attitude cut in. 

"She's right, that's none of our business. We've known him for a grand total of a day, at the moment we have no right to know things like that. It needs to be earned." He said in a no nonsense tone of voice which made Natasha deflate a little. 

She knew he was right, but the mother in her was screaming to know everything about her baby. She wanted to know if her son had a crush, she wanted to know if he was going out on dates or anything else about his life to be honest. 

She missed so much of his life, she couldn't stand to miss anymore. 

"And this, spying on him isn't gonna work out you guys." Scott was the one who actually spoke up, surprising a lot of them, "You can't keep watching him throughout the day just to report back to his mom. Do you have any idea what that might feel like from his point of view?" He asked, causing the rest of the teens to deflate as well. 

"We were just trying to help." Cooper said. 

"And we appreciate that." Laura said, smiling at her son, "But he doesn't know us so until he gets comfortable with us, lay off on the spying will you? He's not a baby, he doesn't need to be watched twenty four seven." Her lips twitched up in amusement, "He's also older then all of you by at least a few months, how would you feel Cooper if Lila stared spying on you just to report it back to your father and I?" She asked. 

Cooper sighed, "I'd probably be mad you just didn't ask me directly." 

"Exactly," Steve said, "It's not right what we're doing." He said, holding eye contact with Natasha for a moment before continuing when she nodded her head back hesitantly, "He already knows you're doing it, but all of you would be frustrated if it kept happening to you right? So please, for him can you please stop spying on him and just try to befriend the boy." The Captain asked, waiting until all of them nodded their heads before he smiled. 

"Good, now let's talk about something else..." 

Natasha wasn't listening anymore, too busy having a silent conversation with Harley with only their eyes. 

When he nodded at her before winking his right eye, she smirked. 

She was finding out who this mysterious person was, one way or another. 

She agreed with the spying part of Steve's speech, but she needed to know who this person hanging out with her son was. 

She had to see if they were worthy of her baby after all.

Meanwhile, both Peter and Gwen had just arrived at the front of the FEAST building. 

 The both of them quickly walked into the front foyer of the building, trying to escape the late November chill. Once they closed the doors, both of the teens tried to shake the cold off of them, and in Peter's case he used his hands to rub his arms to try and manually warm his body up. 

"I've lived here all my life and still, this cold always gets to me." Gwen said, shaking her head while rubbing her hands together. 

"I hear ya, I've never really done well with cold places either. I get really cold most of the time and it takes forever for my body to warm back up." Peter said, still rubbing his arms as he slowly made his way to the front desk with Gwen hot on his heels. 

"Is that normal for you? Always getting cold?" She asked with a curious tilt to her head. 

Peter shrugged, "For as long as I can remember. My body doesn't produce heat like yours does but it only makes it a little harder to keep warm during the winter, there's not much to be done about it, I just have to make sure to keep warm." 

"What about the summers? Do you get too hot too? Or is it just for the cold?" 

Peter snorted, "If its really hot I get uncomfortable yeah, but usually I'm all right. Especially with Felicia always making sure to keep the AC on." He said just as the two of them walked up to the desk where a young woman was sitting, already smiling at the two of them. 

"Hello, you two! Peter it's great to see you again, and Gwen, what a nice surprise! You usually don't show up until the weekend." The woman who they know as Kristen said with excitement. "I didn't know you two knew each other." 

Peter smiled at her enthusiasm, "We go to the same school Kristen, both Juniors at Midtown." 

"Well I'm sure we can fit you both in on such a fine November afternoon." She said happily, looking down at her clipboard for a moment before talking again, "Your friend Karen could use some help with the kids if the two of you are up for it Peter." She said, looking back up at the teens. 

Peter titled his head towards Gwen, "What do you say? Wanna wrangle some kids?" He asked. 

Gwen laughed, "That's what I do on the weekends anyways, I'm fine with it." She said. 

"Alright, head right in you two!" Kristen exclaimed, pointing to the doorway to her left. Both the teens nodded at her in thanks before heading over there and walking through where they both know the kid area to be at. 

After a few seconds of silence, Gwen spoke up, "I noticed you call her Felicia." She said. 

Peter titled his head in confusion, "Sorry?" 

Gwen replied, "You call her Felicia and not like, mom or aunt. I was just wondering since your last name is Hardy." She said but by the end of the sentence she was starting to mumble a bit and a blush was creeping on her cheeks, like she was worried she had overstepped an unwritten boundary. 

Peter took a big breath before he exhaled, "She's, my guardian. She took me in when my grandmother asked her to. She was, well an old family friend and was willing to care for me since I got separated from my birth mother. So, she's not my mom, because I know my mom is still out there, but she has you know, raised me and taken care of me these past few years and, I guess I just took the last name to make it easier for others." He shrugged, smiling gently at her to let her know that it was okay, and he wasn't mad because she asked.

Gwen smiled back at him, glad that she hadn't made him uncomfortable or something and secretly happy that he had shared something so personal with her. 

Knowing that there was probably no one else that he's ever told that to. 

It made warmth spread throughout her entire body and caused her spine to tingle with excitement. 

By the time he had told the story, they were almost there and just outside the daycare but as soon as Peter went to open the door, two people walked out of said doorway and almost crashed into them but due to Peter's reflexes, he quickly pivoted the both of them out of the way but not before he accidentally bumped into the woman, causing her to stumble a bit. 

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Peter asked instantly, worried he might have hurt the woman but a chuckle caught him off guard. 

The woman, when she turned around had brown hair and honey brown eyes and she was looking at him in amusement, "No need to apologize young man, it's partly my fault anyways. See? No harm no foul." She said, extending her hands out showing that she was alright, earring a huff of amusement from what Peter guessed was her other half who was standing behind her, with his hands hovering over the woman's shoulders incase she fell over. 

Peter smiled at her, "Are you sure? I didn't look before trying to open the door and if I hurt you I'd feel really bad." He said in a teasing tone of voice which the woman caught onto if her smirk was anything to go by. 

"Nope, promise. Cross my heart and hope to die." She said cheerfully. 

The man behind her shook his head in exasperation, "Mary." He said. 

So her name was Mary...

Mary turned to stare at her husband with a little pout, "What Richard? We're having fun. Can't two complete strangers joke around with each other without getting judged?" She asked with a challenging look behind her eyes but still with a smile across her face causing Gwen to chuckle and try to cover it up with her hand.

The man, Richard bowed his head, "Sorry my dear lady. I overstepped. Please forgive me." Even if Peter had never known what sarcasm was, he would've definitely figured it out by listening to this man's voice. 

Mary hummed, "I'll think about it." She said before turning to the two heavily amused teens which only made her grin widen when she saw their faces, "So, you two heading in there with the rug rats?" She asked, hiking her thumb over her shoulder. 

Gwen snorted, "We sure are, have to help where you can, you know?" She said causing the two adults to sober a bit in front of them which confused the teens but not enough to sour the mood. 

"Right you are young lady." Richard said before continuing with a more teasing tone of voice, "If you meet a little girl named Teresa Parker, that's our daughter and we give you full authority to whip her into shape if she steps out of line." He said with a wink. 

While Gwen laughed and Peter grinned, internally though the vigilante was freaking out. Parker, that last name...

The man who bled out in front of him was named Ben Parker, the death that basically spurred him on to becoming Spider-Man. 

He was standing in front of what was no doubt his relatives, in some way or another

Relatives that wouldn't have had to mourn if he and just stepped in and saved the man sooner...

He was broken out of his stupor when Mary spoke up after looking at her watch, "Well we would love to stay and chat but we really need to go. It was nice meeting you two." She said, raising an eyebrow at them, silently asking them for their names. 

"Gwen." 

"Peter." He said said. 

Mary nodded and smiled one last time at them, "See you two around then, have a nice day." She said, pulling Richard by the hand away from the door, leaving the two teenagers to walk into the kids area by themselves. 

When they were far enough away, Mary turned to stare at Richard and raised an eyebrow, "Do you think?" She asked, leaving the sentence unfinished. 

Her husband nodded though, "He was a spitting fucking image of her." He replied. "It's gotta be him." 

Mary nodded, "That's what I thought." 

Back in the daycare, Peter and Gwen were being surrounded by the kids as Karen walked up to the two do them with a wide smile. 

"Peter! It's so great to see you again." She said, enveloping him in her very own hug which made him freeze. She had never done this before and it was different sure, but not unwelcome. 

He didn't know he had made such an impact on her. 

After a moment though he just embraced the hug and wrapped his arms around her slowly, laying his head on her shoulder for a moment before pulling back and grinning at her, "Missed me?" He asked. 

She laughed though and pushed against his chest, causing him to slightly stumble away with a laugh of his own, "I missed your help, there's a difference." She said causing Gwen to chuckle and for him to shoot her a betrayed expression, which she responded with an innocent look of her own. 

The two completely missing the smirk Karen sent their way...

"Well as long as you're here, it's snack time so if the two of you could help me with that, I'd very much appreciate it." Karen said, moving towards the snack cupboard as all the kids cheered, causing Peter to wince just slightly but the smile never left his face. 

The two teens spent the better part of three hours in the daycare helping Karen with whatever she needed and by the time they had to go, all the kids wanted them to come back again sometime during the week. 

Peter and Gwen promised that they'd return together at some point but they told the children it may not be till next week which made all the kids groan but the teenager's smile never left their faces.

At five o'clock Peter said bye to Karen with a promise to visit later and walked Gwen to the front door where just outside he could see a police car waiting for her, the captain of the police station no doubt waiting for his only daughter. 

"So, I had fun today." Gwen admitted, rubbing her arms sheepishly as she made eye contact with him. 

Peter grinned, "Naturally. Anyone would with someone as beautiful as me." He teased which made her snort before Gwen broke out laughing, causing Peter to smile at completing his mission, trying to break the tension. 

She smacked his shoulder before grinning at him, "You're definitely the most beautiful person I've ever met." She said just above a whisper, causing Peter to stop and stare at her as another blush crawled up his neck. 

She smirked before leaning over and laying a gentle kiss on his cheek, "See you tomorrow Peter." She said before walking out the door after giving him a wink. 

Peter stood there in the door even after she had driven off with her dad. There was no doubt a love sick look across his face and it wasn't until Kristen cleared her those that he shook himself form his stupor and looked directly at the grinning face of the receptionist. 

"I expect an invitation to the wedding." She said causing Peter to roll his eyes. 

"Very funny." He grumbled as he walked out onto the streets, still hearing how Kristen was laughing behind him but in all honesty, not caring in the slightest. 

Today was probably one of the best days of his life.

But he had work to do...

So Peter walked to the nearest alleyway, made sure no one was around before stripping off all his clothes except his boxers and changing into his suit. 

Once he was down he stuffed his clothes into his book bag and jumped up onto the roof to hide the bag until he was done with patrol. He was across from FEAST so he stashed his bag there knowing that he wouldn't lose it. 

With that done, Peter jumped up into the air and shot a web off into the distance, catching a nearby building and pulling himself up into the air, swinging between buildings and listening to the excited chatter of the city below him. 

"Look, it's Spider-Man!" 

"Spider-Man mommy, Spider-Man!!" 

"It's actually him!!" 

"Look at him go!" 

"Yeah Spider-Man!!!!!" 

Peter smiled, "KAR-N, where's that office building I was talking to you about yesterday?" He asked his AI, finally connected to his suit which would make his life so much easier. 

"Two miles north Peter, keep going straight and you should see it on your left." She said, making Peter nod his head. 

"Thanks K."

It only took him a few moments but he made it just across the street from the office building which was hiding the safe he needed to take the cabal down a few pegs. 

He was crouching on the opposite roof and just from looking at the building, he could tell they had top of the art security systems and if he didn't have a super badass AI, it would've been hard to get in tomorrow but as such, he'd be able to get in and to the safe before anyone raised the alarm with KAR-N watching his back. 

As long as Danny kept the CEO's of the fake shell companies busy, he'd be able to get in, steal what was in the safe and then get out, hopefully without any fighting. 

But deep down, Peter knew he'd have to fight, he wasn't that lucky after all. 

"Peter, you have a message from Felicia." KAR-N suddenly said, causing the teen to tilt his head. 

"What's she need K?" 

"She wants to remind you that you need to cook and that she would prefer not to eat at ten o'clock tonight." His AI said and he could hear the smirk in her voice as she did so. 

Peter grumbled to himself before he stood up and launched himself off the roof, "One lap and then we'll head on home." He said, "Tell her I'll be ten minutes." 

He had a duty to these people after all, if he didn't get at least ten minutes in before tonight, he knew he'd never be able to sleep. 

But, that was just the life he lived. 

And he wouldn't change it for the world...

Peter was only allowed back out of the penthouse a couple hours after dinner. Felicia had tried to tell him he shouldn't be out this late, but even coming from her mouth it didn't sound genuine after the conversation a few nights ago. 

She understood what was happening in the city now, she knew that the corruption would continue to spread unless it was cut off. 

And she knew that Peter was the only one who could stop it. 

So after telling him she expected him back in his bedroom by midnight, he was finally allowed back out into the streets. 

It's not like he was patrolling again though, it was already approaching nine and he had already pushed back their meeting an hour and he knew that Kate had a tendency to worry when he did stuff like that. 

Hopefully she'd understand once he explained the situation in full. 

Once he was swinging between buildings towards the warehouse, it only took him a couple minutes before he could see the warehouse come into focus. He knew that Kate was no doubt already there, waiting for him so he sped up just a little bit more as to not keep her waiting any longer. 

He hasn't spoken to her in weeks, the both of them being kind of busy with their respective lives. Him as a vigilante and her in school with all her different extracurricular activities. 

Honestly he doesn't think he's ever met someone as dedicated as Kate is. She takes so many fighting classes that he's surprised fifty percent of the time that she doesn't just drop down and fall asleep during their occasional meetings. 

But, it would be kind of hypocritical of him to tell her to slow down. 

So, he doesn't. He makes sure that she's alright and not dying, and she does the same for him. 

Anyways, they've both been busy and Peter is happy that she had reached out to him for a meeting. If anyone deserved to know what was happening it would be her, seeing as how she's been there with him through everything since the very beginning. 

She needed to know what was gonna happen to him. 

Peter finally made it to the building but he didn't go through the side door, he landed on top of the roof and crawled over to the far corner right where a secret hatch was located. 

Peter had wanted the addition to the building so people didn't see Spider-Man walking into an abandoned warehouse, the same warehouse where two teens always walk in as well. 

The hatch would only opened with his handprint, seeing as how he was the only one with spider powers. 

He ripped his glove off and placed his right hand on the hatch, waiting a second before hearing the click and opening it up, falling down onto his floating bedroom in a crouch. 

"There you are!" Kate exclaimed from down below, lounging in the corner of the room where she was laying on her back sprawled across the giant couch. 

"Here I am." He retorted as he shut the hatch and jumped down onto the ground. He tore his mask off and gently threw it on his main workstation before tearing his other glove off and placing both of them near his computer before walking over to his best friend. 

 "Aww, look at that. Pretty soon you may not need that voice modulator anymore. You sound so much more mature then the last time I heard you." She teased, sitting up on the couch now as he was walking towards her, a smirk sliding across her sly face. 

Peter rolled his eyes, "You saw me two weeks ago." He deadpanned. 

"Still," She shrugged, sliding over to make room for him next to her, "You've grown so much from the boy in that very first Spidey suit of yours." Kate said, gesturing with her head towards the pedestals which were now full of his old suits which he doesn't use anymore, having upgraded throughout the years. 

Peter smiled as he sat down next to her, raising an amused eyebrow at her, "Feeling nostalgic are we?" 

Kate huffed, brushing their shoulders together, "Maybe I just miss you asshole." She said before turning to him with a smile. 

When she saw him though, she narrowed her eyes. Apparently she saw something on his face that made her suspicious for some reason, but Peter had no clue of what she could've seen. 

"What's got you so happy?" She finally asked, raising her eyebrow at him causing him to internally scold himself for allowing her to read him so well. 

Was he really that obvious? 

"Nothing," He replied, too quickly if the narrowing of Kate's eyes meant anything, "Seriously, I just stopped by FEAST after school today. It was good to see Karen again." He shrugged. 

After a moment of silence, Kate spoke up again, "You're lying to me." She accused. 

Peter scoffed, "No I'm not, I went to FEAST, I'm telling the truth." 

"Then you're omitting the full truth." 

"Ohh, big word for the likes of you Bishop." 

"Shut the fuck up Rook." 

Peter smirked before his eyes softened, "Hey," He said, rubbing their shoulders together again, "You know I'd let you know if it was important, right?" When she nodded her head, he continued, "It's nothing major, just something personal I have to deal with, promise." He finished causing her to exhale loudly. 

"Fine, then tell me what Spider-Man has gotten up to." She demanded causing Peter to wince slightly, which Kate took notice of. 

"You might want to buckle up for this, it's definitely a doozy." He said. 

The Vigilante spent the better part of an hour telling Kate everything that he had come across within the last few days. From tracking down the Maggia, to Fisk handing him the maps to storehouses of said criminal organization and the discovery of the Cabal. 

He told her everything. 

He told her how certain aspects of the government is working with all these criminals to better all their own agendas, to start conflicts just so they can come up with the solution, to cause panic just to calm the masses. 

He told her how they're working with Hydra and the Red Room, and they plan to out his identity to the whole world, to paint him as the villain so no one will believe anything he says ever again. 

He told her how his very own AI that he made has a secret door into their servers, allowing him access to all their little secrets they try and hide from him, which gives him the advantage. 

He even told her who his mother was...

"That's, that's a lot Peter." She said softly, staring off towards the wall in front of them with one of her hands on his knee, squeezing gently. 

Peter swallowed and placed his hand on top of hers, "I know." 

"I mean, Secretary of State? Hydra? Fisk, The Red Room, Yakuza, The Mafia and the Maggia?! All working together?! Thats..." Kate's words faded as she got to the end of the sentence but Peter finished for her. 

"Insane." He muttered, "I still can't believe they're working together, especially Fisk. None of them really work well with others." He said. 

Kate titled her head at him, "Is Fisk really working with them though?" She asked. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. 

"He did give you those maps and basically pointed you in the direction of the Fulcrum, didn't he? If he was really working with them, wouldn't he try to keep you away from the hard drive that could basically keep him in prison for life?" She mentioned causing Peter to stop and think about it. 

She was right after all, Fisk was waiting in that warehouse for Daredevil, hoping the other Vigilante would send a message to him but the man got lucky when the both of them showed up. 

He had gone out of his way, to deliberately point him in the right direction, allowing him to steal the only device that could tear down the entire cabal. 

The question was what the man got out of this? What did he gain from Spider-Man taking out this Cabal? 

A question for another time.

Peter sighed, "I guess I'll have to come back to that later." He said, leaning back against the couch, trying to sort out his thoughts. 

After a moment of silence though, Kate spoke up, "Are you gonna tell her? Who you are?" She asked, causing Peter to shake his head, instantly knowing who she was talking about. 

"They'll know in a matter of days if the cabal out who I am, it won't matter much then. Let her believe her son is somewhat normal for a few days." He shrugged. 

Peter watched as Kate sulked but since he was watching her so closely, after a couple minutes he saw how her eyes brightened up suddenly and a smile stretched across her face causing the vigilante to narrow his eyes at her. 

What was she up to?

She friend to him and grasped his shoulders, "Peter, I think I have a way for your identity to be saved!!" She exclaimed, making Peter tilt his head. 

"How?" He asked hesitantly, not really knowing if this idea would be an actual idea, or one of her "Kate" ideas. 

But the next words out of her mouth made the teen freeze in place, "Dr Strange." She said. 

Peter stared at her in shock for all of three seconds before he groaned and shook his head, "Why didn't I think of that!?" He exclaimed, "He should've been the first person I went to!" 

Kate nodded her head with a wide smile, "If he can fight dragons and wield magic, there has to be a spell to make certain people forget you're Spider-Man!" 

Peter jumped off of the couch in excitement, "I can't believe I'm saying this but Kate, you're a genius." He said, rushing towards his workbench to grab his discarded mask and gloves. 

Her voice was smug when she spoke up, "I know." 

Before he was about to crawl out of the hatch on the ceiling, his friend called out to him. He turned his head around, his mask still in his hands and raised an eyebrow at her. 

"Keep me posted will you? And don't make me forget you're Spider-Man, yeah? I don't want to forget, well this." She said causing the other teen to nod at her with a small smile. 

"You got it." He said before pulling his mask on and swinging out of the hatch. 

He had a meeting with a Sorcerer to get to. 

Peter made it to Bleaker St in record time and as soon as he found 177a, he landed on the doorstep and was about to ring the doorbell when the doors suddenly opened for him. 

He loved magic. 

He hesitantly walked through the doorframe and watched as the magic door softly shut behind him in fascination, not even beginning to understand how magic could just, do things. 

It would probably make his scientific mind implode. 

"Peter. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Dr Strange said as he floated down from the staircase in front of the teen, making Peter smirk behind his mask at his flair for dramatics. 

Peter had to appreciate a good dramatic entrance after all. 

"Stephen. I wish this was a social call but I'm afraid it isn't." He admitted causing the older man to furrow his brows in concern. 

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked as the man started to walk slowly towards the corner of the room where a fireplace was softly crackling. 

Peter followed after the man, "It's, well it's a long story that would require more time I have to explain but." Before the teen could ramble on, Stephen gently cut him off. 

"Your old handlers are trying to get back at you and discredit you. They're going to out your true identity to the world to make sure you can't take them down and to isolate you from your allies." He said, turning around to raise an eyebrow at the vigilante, "Did I get the gist?" He asked. 

Peter gaped at the older man, "How did you..." 

Strange smirked before gently taping the necklace that always hung around his neck, "You have your powers, I have mine." He said before his eyes softened, "I periodically use said necklace to make sure there are no threats on the horizon, and If they're are, I use the power inside to find a way to stop it. A week ago, I used it and it showed me this, I've been waiting for your arrival for a few hours in fact." He admitted before gently lowering himself in an armchair. 

Peter shook himself out of his stupor before taking a seat opposite him, "So, you know everything that's..." 

Strange caught on to what he was saying and nodded, "Happened, and possibilities of what will happen. I saw this while using the Eye," He said, gesturing to the necklace when saying the eye, "And I know it's the best possible way forward for the upcoming conflict." He said. 

"You can see the future?" Peter asked with wonder in his eyes. 

Strange snorted, "Futures, plural. The Eye shows me all possibilities of what's to come. Which way is the best path forward and what will happen along the road." 

Peter sighed, "And let me guess, you can't tell me anything that happens, can you?" He asked rhetorically, actually causing the man to laugh. 

"No, I can't. But I can guide you along the right pathway. The rest I'm afraid, is up to you." 

Peter grumbled, "Figures." He shook his head before speaking again, "So, can you make certain people forget that I am Spider-Man?" 

"I can." Strange nodded. 

"And, what about like, videos that could prove I'm Spider-Man? What will happen to those?" He asked, thinking about all the evidence the Cabal has, proving that he has powers. 

"Those will be wiped from existence. Anything that could prove that you are Spider-Man will be wiped from the planet. Unless of course, it's yours. For example, if your suit was laying around in your bedroom, it wouldn't disappear. But, if there was a stranger in your bedroom, and I cast the spell, then the suit would disappear since it proves to said person, you're Spider-Man. Still following?" The Doctor asked with a raised brow. 

"So far." 

"Good. I'm assuming you don't have photos of yourself without your mask on so you shouldn't have to worry about any photos disappearing. Now onto what you're looking for, before you ask, yes I can make a few people remember you are Spider-Man." He said. 

"Really?" Peter asked with a smile, "That would make my life so much easier." He said, relieved that there was actually a way to do it. 

He hadn't held out hope when he left the lab that there was a way to erase him as Spider-Man without wiping memories of the few who knew, and he didn't want to tell Kate that but to know his worries were unneeded, well it was a massive relief. 

Strange nodded, "Yes, but no more then five people though. If there are too many parameters to the spell, it may cause it to overload and that, is something we don't want I assure you." 

Peter nodded before coming up with the people on the spot, seeing as how there were only four people who knew him as Spider-Man, this would be easy, "Kate Bishop, Felicia Hardy, Danny Rand and James Barnes, those are my four." He said. 

Kate and Felicia was self explanatory, but he needed Danny to remember him so he could help him with the Cabal, being the only other vigilante who knew his actual identity. 

And his father. 

The man already had a messed up mind to begin with, he didn't need his son to make him forget even more shit, it just didn't seem fair to the teen. 

Strange raised an eyebrow at the last name but didn't comment on it, but due to the glint in the man's eyes Peter guessed that the man had a pretty good guess about why he wanted James to remember. 

Fucking sorcerer...

Stephen nodded his head, "Come back tomorrow night, it will take time to get the ritual ready. Until then, have a good night Peter. I assume you can find the door on your own?" Strange said with a smirk before he vanished with a poof of smoke. 

Peter coughed, "God damn parlor tricks." He muttered before he got up and walked towards the door but he felt lighter then ever before, lighter then he has since finding out about the Cabal existed that's for sure. 

The plan was gonna need to change now that he wasn't going to be a fugitive anymore, thanks to Strange but it was definitely going to be a lot easier now that he could stay in the city and do what needed to be done. 

Mark his words, in a month, before Christmas the cabal would be nothing more then a distant memory. 

That was a promise.

Wilson Fisk was many things 

He was smart

He was cunning 

He was strong 

But overall, he knew how to play the game, how to keep his cards close to his chest without revealing his hand. 

He knew though, when he was outmatched, he understood that he couldn't get rid of these interlopers himself, that he would need help. 

That's why he had tipped Spider-Man off about the Maggia, and lead him right towards the Fulcrum. 

He knew what the Vigilante would do once he found it, he knew he'd do exactly as Wilson Fisk had planned. 

Because there could only be one Kingpin of the city, and this Cabal, was ruining all of his hard work. 

They came to him a year ago, thinking that he'd be overjoyed but no, he only agreed to this madness so he could finally get full control over his city. 

But then they threatened Vanessa...

He knew, that was when he needed to get a little outside help from a certain vigilante. 

After all, Spider-Man does not disappoint...