Wrong Number, Kid: An Irondad and Spiderson Story

Chapter 17 - The Twins (aka when Peter Met Wanda Maximoff)

A/N: forgive me if there is an error/typo- this is hot off the press :)
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"And then he wrote me a pass so the bossman wouldn't yell at me!  I mean, he still did, but at least I didn't get fired, y'know." Peter finished, grinning as he recounted his crazy day.  Sam gawked at Peter.

"How come you always manage to bump into famous guys?" Sam pouted, "Penelope was wrong about you- you must be famous, considering how you are some sort of super-hero magnet."

Peter laughed as they exited the tower. "Don't think that's how it works, Sam."

"Well I think so." Sam grinned back, "Though never when I'm around, for some reason. Must be that I dilute the magnet's abilities."

Peter grinned, "More like you're a larger piece of metal."

Sam blinked. "The times like this remind me that we are absolute nerds." They both laughed a little as they walked down the sidewalk, "Alright, this is my street. Catch ya later, man."

Peter smiled, part of him pouting that they had to part ways again. "See you tomorrow, Sam." He waved as Sam walked away, before turning and walking down the street towards his train stop. Peter hummed softly as he approached a park. Deciding to enjoy the scenic route (it was very sunny that day), he stepped onto the path that winded through the park. He took it all in; the old couple chatting and smiling on a bench to the right, three kids throwing paper airplanes and running around directly to the left, a brother and sister racing up the slides past them. Peter shifted his backpack strap a little more on his shoulder and waved back at the ice cream guy (who was, as usual, surrounded by a gaggle of excited kids and their not-so excited parents). The breeze ruffled through his hair, making him smile. Peter's eyebrows furrowed at the slight sound brought by the wind, however. He strained his ears in an attempt to make out what it was... crying?

Peter's feet moved almost of their own accord, exiting the park and entering an alleyway. The sound, which consisted mostly of sniffs at this point instead of full-on sobbing, grew louder. He walked forward quietly and peeked around the corner, his hair flopping sideways with his head.

A woman with a baseball hat, T-shirt and jeans sat on the ground with her back against a wall. Her knees were curled up toward her face as she stared at the floor with watery eyes. It was apparent that she had been crying for quite awhile, as her shirt had water splotches all over it. Now, Peter was very familiar with crying and soaked T-shirts, but this... well, to put it bluntly, the woman looked like Peter did when he remembered his parents - or worse, Uncle Ben. And it did not look like she had Mr. Mechanic as a source of comforting words and good advice.

It was with that in mind that Peter stepped out from behind the corner and said in a quiet voice, "Hello?"

The woman's head whipped up. Her posture became tense and defensive. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood. "Yes?"

She had a very thick accent, Peter noted as he scrambled for what to say.

"Uh, well I was walking past and heard... so I came -" Peter started (not very eloquently), "I mean, I don't want to ask if you're okay because that would be stupid... but- I mean- is there anything I can do-" Peter felt very stupid now anyway. He swung his backpack so it was on his chest and unzipped it, reaching in and attempting to find one of his many in-case-I-need-to-cry-in-the-school-bathroom sets of tissues. He pulled a pack of them out, "Tissue?"

She had one of those kinda-laughs that are all that comes out when you're sad and took the pack of tissues. "Thanks."

Peter shuffled his feet. "I'm really sorry for intruding, I just - when I'm sad, I don't want to be alone I guess. I can go if you want though -"