It's a Spider Thing. {Peter Parker and Natasha Romanoff}

{6} and one extracurricular

COLD AIR DRIFTED IN FROM THE OPEN WINDOW, joined by the sound of the rain that mingled with Peter typing on his keyboard. The only light was the lamp on his newly bought desk.

Almost everything in his room, (which had recently been a bare guestroom), from the Star Wars bedsheets to the matching dresser and nightstand was new. It had happened gradually over the course of the few months Peter had been living with Natasha. Every few weeks something new would be added to his room whether he asked for it or not- apparently the assassin had an eye for design. Although Peter did decorate the walls himself with a range of science and movies posters that he had picked to make the room feel homely. More like him, now that he knew a bit more about himself.

Before moving in with Natasha he never knew that he was interested in science, but it became a lot more appealing when he didn't need it to survive. He also didn't realise how interesting movies could be or that his favourite colour was red- (like Natasha's hair but he'd never admit that aloud).

Peter sighed tiredly for the third time in a row.

Notebooks and revision guides were scattered across the desk and Peter groaned as he attempted to find the highlighter that had disappeared into the depths of paper surrounding him. He had been curled up on his desk chair in a set of pyjama pants and a jumper that may or may not have belonged to Natasha who had stolen it from Clint- he was spending his evening reading up on some of the topics he had missed with being raised in a terror organisation for his eventual classes when he was badgered into attending since Natasha's pestering had increased ten-fold over the past few weeks.

After a minute of his continued searching, exhaustion overtook and he slumped back into the chair, giving up on his task of finding the lost highlighter. Instead, he chose to swivel back and forth as he listened to the rain trickling down his window pane. With a half-hearted effort, Peter had opened the window in an attempt to adjust his hearing; his senses had been getting better, acclimating to the noises that were life. But sometimes it just wasn't his day. He had been incredibly grateful for the noise cancelling headphones and sleeping mask that had 'somehow' materialised in his room after Natasha caught him with his head between two pillows, eyes screwed shut and trying to block out the world when she came to wish him goodnight.

She never missed saying goodnight. It was a silly ritual that Peter loved.

He glowered at the computer screen in defiance when the hair on his arms stood on end. Voices echoed from beneath his window, floating into the room despite the patters of rain.

"Pay me the money you owe-"

"I don't have it, come on man, please." Someone begged.

The sound of a gun cocking rang in Peter's ears, making his whole body stiffen in his seat. It was an unsettlingly familiar noise that was followed by a squeak of fear- Peter was already half out of the window with his foot on the fire escape before he knew what he was doing.

"No way. Enough chances-"

In one smooth movement, Peter had dropped down on the man wielding the gun and waving it around threateningly. Another man was crouched to the ground, trembling from head to toe until his attention snapped to Peter and they watched in awe as he easily disarmed the assailant. He landed in a half crouch in the back alley, heart pounding dangerously fast in his chest while his sense adapted to being plunged into darkness- the light from his bedroom didn't reach the street below. Suddenly, his sense screamed and Peter winced before he felt himself reeling backwards into the trash cans; a sharp pain erupted through his jaw as the crash echoed. Peter grimaced more at the noise than the blossoming pain- Natasha so heard that, he complained internally.

Despite the world spinning out of control, Peter hoisted himself to his feet and whirled around to face the attacker. The other man had bolted out of the alley at some point, Peter didn't know when.

One hard kick to the gut had the man, (who looked high on something), crumpling to the floor before barely dragging himself out of the alleyway looking mildly traumatised. Peter leaned back against the wall of his apartment building, pushing back his curls that had gotten plastered to his forehead from the rain and his own sweat- he felt someone watching him from the shadows.

He flinched minutely at the flash of red hair and an umbrella off to his right.

It was weird seeing Natasha wearing a zip-up hoodie with black fluffy socks peeking out of her trainers as she stared him down. "How's the studying going?" She asked pointedly. Peter didn't justify her with a response and relaxed against the wall again. "How's the head?" She prompted, just as monotone as her first question, clearly unwilling to let the incident go unspoken about.

"Hurts." Peter breathed out through gritted teeth. He softened slightly, catching Natasha's eye before swiftly looking away again. "Worth it though."

His thoughts drifted to man rushing off and the person he potentially saved from a fatal gunshot wound. Peter knew he could have gotten hurt or killed, it was always a potential danger in his life that one day he'd be too slow like he was today, and instead of a slight bruise he'd be bleeding out. But it was worth it. And Peter didn't think he could describe the light feeling in his chest that he had never experienced- he'd never saved a life before.

"Really?" Natasha asked sceptically, eyeing the cut above his eyebrow.

It was steadily healing just like the bruise on his jaw, but it didn't diminish the tightly coiled feeling in her stomach or magically get rid of the blood that was only serving to emphasize how pale Peter's skin was- she made a note to force him to spend time in the sun.

"It felt good. To help... you know?" Peter spoke quietly, any and all bravado gone.

Natasha caught the words despite the low volume. He was chewing his lip nervously and his fingers clenched and unclenched by his sides. Natasha huffed out a breath and rested a heavy hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention back to her and so that they were both stood under the umbrella.

"I want to do that all the time." Peter explained, breathless. "Help, I mean."

The assassin knew that feeling all to well- the feeling of atonement. Redemption. That itch to do something good to balance out all of the bad that she had caused. Sometimes it was the only thing that allowed her to get a little sleep at night, knowing that she would go out and do some good the next day with the avengers. She took in a long breath, "We're trying to keep a low profile-"

"Please." He said steadily, eyes wide and more expressive than the assassin had seen them in his stay with her. They were always guarded or completely blank- something Natasha had grown accustomed to despite knowing there were a myriad of emotions behind the wall he used to keep people out.

Natasha's jaw tightened in uncertainty at the idea.

"All my life I've been a weapon, forced to hurt but I just want to help." He reasoned, blinking back a sudden round of tears that burned the backs of his eyes. Peter didn't know why the urge to cry welled in his throat in the same way he didn't understand why he was so desperate to simply help. But they threatened to run down his cheeks and mix with the rain that soaked his skin regardless. "I'll even go to school and do all the work, just- please. Let me do this."

Ignoring her trepidation at the idea of Peter putting himself in harm's way, Natasha conceded- she couldn't keep him locked up. "And one extracurricular." She negotiated, a teasing smile on her lips while Peter took a moment to process her reply- her smile quickly turned fond.

"Yeah- yeah of course." He promised, nodding enthusiastically.

"Good. Now let's get you in where it's dry. Can't have you freezing your ass on me kid." Nat tutted, slinging an arm over his shoulders as they climbed back up the fire escape together. 

A/N

I really wanted Peter to get into spidermanning so I thought it was a cute way to do it. Thoughts? I also really wanted him in school even if I'm not going to be including Ned and MJ, you'll find out why ;)

What do you all think of Nat so far? I'm trying to make her maternal but not too much that she loses her originial character. Tell me of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.