Stories Focussed On Spider-Man

Adulting 102

Info: Part 2 to Adulting 101

The date went horribly well. As it turns out, Wanda was too good of a wingwoman and Spider-Man just wasn’t bringing his A-game of awkwardness. Meaning? By the end of the date, Wanda instructed Natasha to throw out going on a second date. Spider-Man froze, eyes comically wide. He swallowed thickly, thinking about his reply. He didn’t have anyone in his ear to tell him what to say, so he had to take the reply into his own sweaty hands.

“I-I, uh, sure?” he said with about as much eloquence as an ostrich. Despite the uncomfortable situation, he found it in himself to enjoy the evening. Even if the circumstances were super weird, learning more about Natasha as a person was really intriguing, especially when she got into the details of her SHIELD life. There were parts where they both forgot the plan for moments in favor of engaging. It was an interesting and fun night, even if they totally ditched the script after Wanda got the ball rolling between the two of them. “So what did you do before SHIELD?”

The es-assassin’s face darkened slightly. “When I was little, my parents were murdered and I was taken to a place called the Red Room. They trained me brutally and I worked for them until I met Clint in Budapest and I switched to SHIELD. So, I’m an orphan.”

“Oh, sorry,” the vigilante frowned. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay, but I’ve come to terms with it.” She shifted in her seat a little bit, avoiding what she assumed to be a judging gaze. Although how she could tell beneath the mask was a secret she never revealed.

Spider-Man sighed and tried to meet her eyes. “Nat,” he began, “I get it. Not all of it, but, when it comes to the whole ‘orphaned at a young age’ thing?” She looked up and met his eyes, a stoic expression hiding the curiosity. “I feel you, dude.” She smiled at him and nodded, shoving a strand of red hair behind her ear to give her hands something to do, if only for a moment. “Hey, know what this means?” he asked, humor lacing his tone.

“What?” she smiled.

“We can both make orphan jokes!” Natasha did a very obvious double-take at the exclamation. His grin only widened when he saw her amused and taken aback expressions. Mentally, he cheered. Mission: Stop Depressing Mood accomplished! “I mean, come on!” he continued. “Our childhoods were totally flipped upside down! We have earned to right to be able to say, ‘joke’s on you, I don’t have a mom’ whenever someone asks if we kiss our mother with our mouths after we cuss someone out!”

“Don’t tell me you've actually said that,” she laughed.

“Yeah. Freshman year of high school I cussed out this bully who was messing with this kid named Ned. That was my response when Flash, that’s what everyone called the bully, said the mother line. I’ve been best friends with Ned ever since and Flash decided to lay off picking on Ned,” Spider-Man explained. “Although, that’s mostly because he started messing with me instead.”

“Imagine how this Flash guy would feel if he found out you’re a bigshot superhero now,” Natasha grinned.

“Dude, it would be insane if my identity got outed,” Spider-Man sighed. “Like, everyone I care about would be put in danger, and I wouldn’t be able to lead a relatively normal life when I haven’t donned the ol’ red ‘n blue. As stressful as a double life can be, I’d prefer it to not living one.”

“We get along just fine without one,” Natasha said with pursed lips.

“Yeah, but you live in a tower with other superheroes. I live in an apartment in Queens with my last living relative,” came the counter. “Our complex would probably get destroyed within a week of my secret being out.”

“True,” she nodded, “although I’m sure Tony would let the both of you join us in the tower.”

And so it continued, occasionally lapsing into awkward silence when they reminded themselves that they weren’t just hanging out as friends. Eventually, as all things come to an end, their ‘date’ did as well. They quickly ditched the extra formal wear in favor of their supersuits. In half an hour, they’d find themselves in the middle of a heated fight involving a deal related to the notorious Fisk.

“I had fun tonight,” Natasha hollered over the gunfire as she engaged in hand to hand combat with one of the bigger goons, dodging jabs from other baddies at the same time.

“Same!”  Spider-Man replied as he leapt over some dude with a machine gun, hastily twisting to dodge bullets. He webbed the guy up once he was successfully behind him, pushing the bundled form into other enemies. 

“We should hang out again sometime!” Nat suggested as she knocked out her attacker with a strong kick to the jaw.

“Agreed, but not at some fancy restaurant.”

“Have a place in mind?”

“Delmar’s? He makes the best sandwiches in Queens!”

“Sounds like a plan. What should we tell Wanda? She knows the date wasn’t a total flop!”

“I dunno. I’ll talk to her later and see what I can do.”

“Keep me posted.”

“Of course, Widow,” he said after punching the lights out of the last idiot who was about to take on the Avenger. “Thanks for the help.”

“No problem,” she nodded, neither one of them out of breath. “Invite me next time you plan on busting up something like this.”

“Okay.” He paused. “Karen? Call the police so they can take out the trash.”

Karen was only just audible enough for him to hear. “Notifying the NYPD now.”

“Who’s Karen? Don’t tell me your girlfriend is in your ear right now,” Black WIdow accused, a hint of… jealousy (?) making its way into her tone.

“Karen? Nah, she’s an AI I built. I’ve got her installed into the mask so we can communicate,” came the explanation.

“Oh,” was all Natasha said in response, a small smile playing on her lips. “Yeah, okay.”

A/N this is fresh out of study hall. Enjoy! (Probably should've studied for mt chem test later, but oh well)