If They Knew All About You

The Spider's fight in Manhattan

If someone had told Peter that morning, that he'd be fighting alongside the Avengers just because he followed a tingling of his Spidey-senses after school... Yeah, sure, he'd had a couple of unreal run-ins with Tony Stark over the last two weeks, but this here... He was literally helping out the Avengers. And he was shaking in his boots for every second of it.

Mr. Stark was looking at him expectantly as if he was supposed to know how to get them out of this pickle. He'd glued the dude to the girl because that had felt like it would be the only way to keep the dude from dropping what - judging from his threatening use of the thing and the Avengers' reactions - was some kind of a weapon. But that was it. He had no idea where to go from there. Meanwhile, Black Widow looked at him as if she was going to murder him in cold blood as soon as he'd turn his back. Luckily his mask was covering the shade of white his face had turned.

"Nat, why don't you stay with the girl. We'll be right back." Peter gulped. Stark walked up to him and shoved him out of earshot of the two webbed up figures.

"What did you do?"

Peter bit his lip, hoping that his voice wouldn't betray him and show his insecurity. "You mean, besides trying to help you guys out?"

Stark took hold of his arm, turning Peter to face him. "What did you do with his hand, genius!"

"I..." Peter shifted his weight, very conscious of Iron Man holding him by his arm. "I made sure he can't flex his hand and then immobilized him."

"Why can we not just get the web off her face? Is it going to unravel the hold on him if we do?"

"I... I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"I'm not usually the one who unties them."

"So you're telling me that you have no idea how your... your equipment works?" The frustration apparent in Stark's voice.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I was just trying to -"

"Yeah, I know. I know." Stark exhaled. "Tell me what you do know. What would you expect to happen when we free her."

"There is tension on the strands. They balance each other out. If we cut one side, the stress on the individual strings changes and it would probably at least partially implode on itself. I don't think it'd be enough for him to free his hand and drop it. Whatever it is. But I think... I think the web would relax enough for him to be able to crush the vial and I assume... I assume we don't want that."

"No..." Stark let got of him and rubbed his face with the still repulsor-less hand, "We don't want that." He sighed, mumbling under his breath. "Could just cut off the hand. He can't flex it if it's not attached to his arm."

Peter's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Not that anyone would know, thanks to the mask. Apparently, his shock was obvious enough to register with Stark though, for he rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. "It was a joke. Get a grip."

Peters jaw slammed shut and he felt stupid. He left young and dumb and completely overwhelmed by the situation. Stark next question didn't help.

"Well, what would you do? Any suggestions on how we get out of this one?"

Peter just stared at the ground, scratching his arm, mumbling some incomprehensible mash-up of "Don't know" and "Sorry" and "not sure".

Stark turned away from him in frustration, staring at the girl and guy as if they held the answer. Peter could sense Black Widow approaching.

"Cap wants an update. Wanda and Vision caught one of them, Steve and Sam are still on the chase."

Stark sighed deeply, rubbing his hand across his face once more. "He's going to somehow put this mess on me, isn't he?"

That caught Peter's attention. He looked up at the pair of them and found Black Widows eyes resting on himself. She turned her back towards him and spoke in a low voice, clearly thinking that Peter wouldn't be able to hear her.

"Have you been meeting up with the Spider-dude? Without telling us?"

Stark shook his head. "I checked him out after his run-in with Potts. That's it."

"Tony, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to keep you in their good graces if you keep stuff like this to yourself!"

"I'm not consciously excluding anyone from some kind of secret mission here. I was looking out for Peeper, that's it. Not a big deal."

At that Peter could see Black Widow turn back towards him and he tried to make himself look as unsuspicious and non-listening as possible. Peter could feel her eyes on himself, studying him again. She turned back facing Stark.

"What's the plan here, Tony. The girl is freaking out."

"We need to get the vial without giving him a chance to smash it in the process. Freeing her before getting it doesn't seem to be an option because it's unclear what loosening the webs enough to get her off will do to the immobilizing effect it has on his hand."

"Cut off the hand and be done with it?"

Peter's eyes shot up at both of them as Black Widow just gave a shrug. "Shouldn't have been running around with biochemical weapons if he wants to keep all his limbs."

"Yeah, I don't think cutting off hands in the middle of the street between Lexington and 3rd is the kind of publicity the Avengers need right now." While Peter felt relief at Stark's words, he was surely hoping that bad press was not the only thing holding him back from this particular approach. "We just need to find a way to secure the hand. Really shouldn't be all this complicated."

Peter hastily spoke up at this, desperate to offer a solution that meant everyone would walk away with all their body parts attached. "He can't drop it, even if the web loosens when the girl's freed. His hand is webbed up tightly enough to prevent that. So, all we need to worry about is him not closing his hand. I could work some web around his fingers, pulling them back. That should keep him from smashing it."

He kept his eyes on Tony, who nodded and shrugged at Black Widow.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Peter could still feel Black Widows eyes on himself though. "Are you seriously gonna trust this dude, Tony?"

Stark shrugged again. "No reason, why he should get involved just to screw us over." His eyebrows shot up, seemingly expecting an answer from Peter.

"I... no... I won't. Of course not, Mr. Stark."

The woman's expression didn't change though. "Never heard that one before..."

Stark turned back to the two webbed up figures though, beckoning Peter to follow along.

"Spiderling, your turn."

Peter stepped up to the guy, carefully spinning out some web-strings, trying to keep the web shooters from being on display for the two Avengers behind him. Black Widow stepped around the pair to look at Peter's work intently as he was slowly working the web through the layers in place around the guy's hand without damaging them.

Once everything was in place, he held onto the web, pulling at it just enough that the dude wouldn't be able to flex his hand.

"Alright. This should do it. You can get her out."

"Should do it?" Black Widow shot another look at Stark, clearly questioning the wisdom of entrusting Peter with this task.

"It'll be fine. Just free her and then we can get the vial." Her hostility was getting on Peter's nerves. He'd done nothing but help people for months. Why was she insisting on thinking the worst of him?!

While the plan working didn't necessarily surprise him, it sure filled him with relief. Mr. Stark used a blade from his suit to cut the girl free, who was escorted off to the waiting EMT by the Widow.

Peter and Stark were in the middle of freeing the vial when she was back, ordering Peter to stay away.

"Chill, Nat."

"We don't need him this close by." She turned to Peter again. "I said, you stay back!"

"Fine, fine. I'm not even..." Peter huffed, retreating a few steps, his grip still firm on the web securing the guy's hand. He tried to suppress his frustration when he heard the Widow speak again. Her voice low, in a whisper, and surely not suppose to reach his ears, but thank you, Spidey-senses, he could hear her just fine.

"When we got this sorted, you need to bring the Spider-dude in! Steve will want to debrief him. It'll earn you a few points if you help him out with this, without being prompted by them."

Peter's eyes shot over to Stark who didn't seem to show a reaction at all.

"Tony!"

"I heard you. Little busy here." Stark's teeth were clenched.

Peter wasn't sure if that stemmed from sheer concentration on the job at hand or came in response to her. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but gulp at the prospect of being brought in by Iron Man. They had a deal, that Stark owed him. A deal that Peter had technically never asked for but that sure would come in handy right about now. It wasn't all that clear though if Stark would follow through on that when it was his own team asking for Peter's head on a platter. The only sensible thing was to get out of there as soon as possible.

The second Peter saw the vial safe in Stark's hands, he shot a web at the building behind himself, dropped the web he was still holding and lunged himself off the ground. He could hear the Widow call after him, while he was climbing the building, trying to think of the optimal escape route. He couldn't really head off to Queens right now, risking the Avengers tailing him.

His mind was focused on his possible escape route when he had climbed about halfway up the building and was suddenly stopped by a kite? A miniature glider? Something hovering right in front of him, that enabled a kind of scanner? Peter reacted instinctively and webbed up the kite, which dropped to the ground immediately. He had just launched into a swing to make his way down the street towards the river when the Falcon crashed into him in midair, leaving him squashed between the wall of the building and the Avenger. Peter struggled to free his arm, to pull himself out from under the Falcon.

"Don't you put your hands on my stuff!"

"Technically, my hands weren't on it." Peter pushed him off, freeing his arms, and set off swinging further along the building, trying to escape the situation. He shot a web at one of the buildings on the other side of the street. Heading south to take a detour through Brooklyn seemed to be the safest option with the Falcon on his heels. Mid-swing he felt his web snap, leaving him falling in the middle of the street. His quick reflexes saved him just in time and he managed to catch himself before crashing to the ground. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Stark and Black Widow hadn't moved and the Falcon was still hovering above him.

"There's nowhere to run, Spider. Better safe us all the headache and just come quietly!"

"That doesn't really work for me. Maybe another day..." he shot a series of webs towards the Falcon, more as a distraction to give himself some cover to run. He kept walking backward, still firing webs at him. Staying closer to the ground would give the guy less of an advantage over Peter. He was too vulnerable climbing up high with the Avenger being able to fly. So Peter turned and ran around the street corner squarely smashing into what felt like a brick wall but turned out to be another Avenger.

"Not so fast, Spider."

"Sorry, Captain. Fast is the only speed I know." He shackled Captain America's hands, turning in time to shoot another web towards the Falcon and then sprinted down 3rd Avenue. With a low swing, he brought himself to the other side of the street, ducking into the next street. He was faster swinging through the streets than running and Manhattan's street canyons were optimal for that. He never hovered more than a few feet over the ground, only swinging higher if there were cars or other obstacles he needed to avoid. He could still feel the Falcon following behind him.

Think, Peter. How do you lose a bird? How do you lose a bird?

He shot a glance behind him. He had a bit of a head start, but the Bird-Guy was only a few seconds behind him.

Let's just find an open door. He can't follow into a building if I close the door in his face! And then... then... I guess, creep out somewhere? He swung around another corner. Pick the wrong building and you might be trapped...

Peter's heart was racing, not from physical exhaustion but from nerves. He could hear it beating in his ears. He was scared to be caught. Scared of them finding out who he was. For a second his thoughts lingered on the prospect of being interrogated by Captain America and the Falcon and he could feel his body starting to shake and his eyes stinging with tears. Fear. He took a deep breath, trying to focus on the task at hand. Focus, Peter!

"They're not gonna catch you. They're not gonna catch you." He kept repeating it quietly while cutting around corners, crossing over the traffic on the streets and willing his mind to focus on finding a way out of this. He shot another glace behind him.

The wings are huge. He can only really glide through wider streets.

At this point, Peter had no idea where he was. The only thing that mattered was finding a narrow alleyway. A small gap between two buildings. Something, anything he could slip through where the Bird-Guy couldn't follow. He had swung around two more corners till he spotted a narrow gap between two buildings. He made a beeline for it, fitting through the narrow gap comfortably. He hurried down the path, then started climbing the wall and halting in the middle of it, pressing himself against a window, his feet resting on the sill. His eyes darted back and forth between the front and the back of the building as well as the top. The Bird-Guy - that's what Peter would be calling him from now on, that name scaring him a lot less than "The Falcon" - would try to approach him somehow.

Sure enough, Peter could sense movement on the top of the building. It was getting darker but he had no illusions. The Bird-Guy was bound to have some form of technology - probably Stark-tech - that would allow him to see Peter even in pitch darkness.

"What's up, Spider? Getting tired? Need a little rest"

Peter tried to slow down his breathing, but he knew very well, that it wasn't physical exhaustion that made his heart beat this fast and his breath come out fast and shallow.

Think, Peter! Now what?

"I mean sure, we can just wait here for backup to show up and drag you out of there. Or you can make it easier on yourself and just come in nice and quietly."

Bird-Guy mentioned backup because he was trying to make him run again, hoping to grab him once he came out of the ally. Peter knew that much. But the possibility of backup Avengers was not to be taken lightly. Peter had to lure him down to him somehow. The narrow ally would be an advantage for him over the Bird-Guy.

"What are you hassling on me for? Shouldn't you been looking for the terrorist henchman?"

"I have my orders and right now that means bringing you in!"

"Well, if you're gonna be doing as good a job on me as you have on the bad guys, I guess I don't need to be worried!"

Silence from above him told Peter that he'd hit a nerve.

"Seriously, two of you couldn't keep track of one guy running away on foot?"

"I was gonna be nice about bringing you in, Spider. There is a less gentle version of this if you want to push it!"

Peter's pulse quickened some more. This is insane. You are so dead.

"Gentle? You took a shot at me!"

"At your sticky stuff. Believe me, you'd feel the difference if I had been aiming at you."

"Is that what you told the terrorist before you lost him?"

Peter could see the Bird-Guy lean over the edge of the building above him.

"You really are pissing me off now. Last chance to come quietly or I'll come and get you myself!"

Peter stayed quiet, hoping this really had been enough to provoke the Bird-Dude into close combat. In the narrow gap between these two buildings, Peter's strength and agility would be a massive advantage.

Only a few moments later the Bird-Dude actually shot down into the narrow gap. The window Peter was standing in would have shielded him at least partially from the attack, but all he really needed was a clear shot at the dude. As he sailed down towards Peter, a web Peter aimed for him caught him, enclosing him like a sack of flour and with a second web Peter glued the bundle to the side of the wall.

"Thanks for that, Bird-Dude. You mentioned your Avenger buddies are coming, so I'm sure they'll pick you off the wall in no time."

"Sooner or later, I'll get you, you little freak!"

Peter's face fell a little, disappointed by the cheap shot, but his adrenaline urged him on and he skipped out of the narrow alley, his escape from the possibly following Avengers in mind.
He'd been hiding on a lower level fire escape a few blocks away from where he'd left the Bird-Dude for about an hour and a half now. His body felt stiff and frozen but his heart still hadn't slowed all the way down yet. He was still terrified to check if the coast was clear. The Avengers were working with tech he couldn't even dream up. They were bound to find him. It was only a matter of time. As soon as he moved some kind of motion sensor would probably be alerted. His Spidey-senses still kept flaring up and he was sure they were still looking for him.


Every time his thoughts went down that path his heart rate quickened again and he tried to think of Delmar's sandwiches and his warm comfy bedroom to calm his nerves. It took another 20 minutes for his need to get home to overtake his anxiety and he slowly climbed down into the alleyway. He wasn't sure where exactly he was. He had to find a street sign or at least a clear view of one of Manhattan's famous landmarks, that would give him an indication of where he was and in which direction he needed to head. He was determined to stay close to the ground even contemplating climbing into the subway tunnels and crawling along the ceiling to get back to Queens when he turned a corner and ran into something. Or rather someone.

For a second he had a flashback to his earlier bump in with Captain America, but this guy was a lot softer and went right to the ground as Peter ran into him.

"Oh gosh, sorry, dude! My bad, I didn't mean to -"

Hands grabbed him by the shoulders and the surprising turn of events made him freeze up just enough that they managed to push him down to the ground. He rolled himself over meaning to web up his attackers when he felt a couple of steel cap boots make contact with his ribs. Someone grabbed his feet and dragged him across the ground towards a door while someone else was trying to restrain his arms with more kicks being aimed at his torso and head. Pain and shock made him freeze up and it was that moment when he realized that it wasn't the threat of looming Avengers that had driven his senses up the wall. He tried to shut up his brain that was scolding him for his foolishness willing his Spidey-senses to take control and help him to get out of this mess.

He became more conscious of his surroundings, sensing 6 guys at a minimum. He kicked off two of them holding his legs first and then struggled to get control of his arms. By the time he had thrown off the guy holding his right arm, more hands were grabbing his legs and yanked him across the concrete. He managed to shoot a web at the guy holding his second arm but the pull on his legs made him lose control of his upper body and he couldn't react in time to keep his head from slamming into the ground. He groaned and kicked, wildly firing at his attackers but his webs wouldn't come. His head was throbbing and he wound himself from side to side to shake off the attack, while he was still trying to make his web shooters work until he realized that the right had run out of fluid and the left was almost empty as well. More kicks hit his chest but he managed to get himself back to his feet and punch the lights out of the two who had been holding him by his arms.

Just as he was about to turn to face the rest, his Spidey-senses flared up in alarm urging him into evasive action. Mid-turn he sidestepped to the right but not enough to avoid the knife aimed at his abdomen. A sharp pain ran through him as it struck his left side, but this time his body didn't freeze at all. A quick succession of kicks and punches had the guy drop the knife though not before Peter felt him leave a few additional cuts on his arms. Three down, three more to go but he knew he was in trouble. He took a second to reach for his side and the amount of blood his hand was covered in from touching his wound made him light-headed. Without another thought, he stepped back from his attackers towards the wall of the building and started climbing.

He reached the top of the building collapsing onto his back. Instinctively his hand went back onto the wound on his side trying to stop the bleeding. With every deep breath he took, blood was oozing past his fingers. The pain started to seep through his entire body.

He cast his eyes up to the Manhattan night sky, pure despair weighing him down, his body transfixed with pain.