Civil War doesn't happen. Let's just say, someone made everyone pull their heads out of their ass and talk about their situation. There will be no Endgame, that also means a different timeline for everything for Spider-Man. Enjoy.
Persephone POV
I inwardly sighed as I watched Harry smile at his phone. A part of me still had some hope that it was his group chat with 'the boys' but with the way he was hiding his phone. I knew it wasn't the group chat.
"I'm going to the restroom," I said and he didn't even say anything as I walked away. Once I was in the bathroom, I choked on my tears, trying not to outright sob or ruin my makeup.
"He's not worth it, baby," I heard and I glanced at her through my wet eyes.
"What?" I got out softly and she took my hands.
"He's not worth this baby. I can see the pain you are in. He's not worth losing your self worth. I've been watching you two this entire time. Not once has he complimented you, nor has he let you talk about something you find interesting. All I've heard him complain about is father," she said as she gently wiped a tear away.
"I think he's cheating on me,"
"Oh baby,"
"We. Were childhood friends, why would he do this to us? To me?" I asked.
"I don't know baby, I really don't know, but know this. It's not your fault for his actions. He chose to cheat, that is a personal problem that he chose to make. You two may have known each other as children but even that isn't worth this level of pain. If he truly loved you, he wouldn't be putting you through this," She said as she held me as I silently cried in her arms.
"Come let's get you cleaned up. I'll tell him I distracted you because I was asking you for the products to keep your curls," She said and I smiled.
"I can give you those," I said and she nodded before she helped me clean my face.
"I'm Persephone by the way. Persephone Parker,"
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Parker. I'm Angela Jones,"
"Your the owner. I cried in the owner's arms," I said as I tried to not cringe and she laughed.
"It's quite alright, baby. If I did, I wouldn't have let you do it," she said and I sighed in relief.
Once we both decided it didn't look like I cried in the bathroom we left with me talking about the products I used in my hair as we headed to my table with Harry. Once there, he was frowning.
"I was about to go in there myself," he said and Miss Williams gave me a side hug.
"I ended up distracting her by asking her what products she uses to maintain her curls,"
"Trying to describe hair products for curls is a bit tricky," I said and Harry nodded at that.
"Thank you for telling me about them. I'll be picking me some up first thing tomorrow,"
"Glad I can help, Miss Williams," I said before she squeezed my hand and walked away where I sat down. Harry and I spent a little bit longer at the restaurant before he paid and left.
Once home, I crawled into my bed where I silently sobbed until I felt my bed shift.
"Seph, why are you crying?" my twin asked and I cried harder. I faintly heard him sigh before he walked away. I was still crying when he came back and he forced me to sit up and shove a water bottle in my hand. I silently took a sip of my water and sniffed.
"Wanna tell me why you were crying?"
"I think Harry is cheating on me,"
"What?!" Peter growled out and I let out a shaky breath.
"I don't have all the proof but with the way he's been hiding his phone I'm pretty sure he's texting someone else,"
"I see,"
"I broke down in the bathroom at the restaurant but thankfully Miss Williams, the owner, helped me. She even created a cover story for why it took so long. Hair products for curls,"
"That'll do it," Peter said with a slight laugh and I hummed.
"I want evidence before everything else. So can we just keep this between us?"
"Of course,"
"How mad are you?"
"Very but your more important. I can deal with my anger later,"
"You still need to keep your strength under control. You and I have done the math, you could punch someone's jaw off," I said.
"I know," he said before he cheered me up a bit before he went to head out.
"Stay safe," I said and he nodded before he made sure I was okay once more before he left to go be a Hero.
I looked at the name that popped up on Harry's phone when he got up from the cafeteria table. Ava with a red heart. I read before I picked up my phone where I scrolled through tik tok until he sat back down.
"Seems like everyone is dying their hair blonde, would you ever do it?" Harry asked and I kept my face under control while noticing Peter about to break his fork so I kicked him.
"It's the latest trend but I dont think I'd go blonde. You good, Peter?"
"Lost my footing,"
"Your sitting down," Harry pointed out.
"Doesn't mean anything," Peter said and I snickered but I made a mental note about Harry's question. Blonde and Ava. Now I've got a supposed name and a bit of a description. I thought as MJ changed the subject but I could tell she wanted to ask me several questions until MJ and I were at work.
"What's up with you?" I heard and I stopped icing cups so I could look at MJ.
"I'm pretty sure Harry is cheating on me,"
"What?!" she said loudly which made our busboy, Noah, walk backwards.
"Care to repeat what you just said?" Noah asked and I sighed.
"I'll explain later. You've got tables to clean and I have a party taking up my section," I said and they shared a look but grumbled as they let me go back to work until my party was settled so I was able to lean against the counter.
"What's going on?" MJ asked and I sighed before I explained everything to them.
"Seph that's-" Noah started to say only for my party to call me over. I let out a soft sigh before I headed over.
Two hours later, I was just about to count my tips when Peter walked in.
"Count while I clean my section," I said as I shoved the money into his hands.
"Okay," he said before he sat down while I walked away to clean my section.
"Two-fifty," Peter said as he handed me the money, this time of two hundreds, and a fifty.
"Nice. Most of it came from a party, took up my entire section,"
"That's good. Are you all set to go home?"
"Let me clock out," I said and he nodded before I walked over to the closest computer.
"MJ you got a ride?" Peter asked.
"My mom is about to be here. I'll be okay,"
"Let us know if that changes,"
"I will. I'll see you two losers at school," She said and I nodded before Peter and I left.
I listened to him talk about all the cool things he saw while he was on patrol, well minus a few details so if anyone overheard it would just seem Peter was off running around being stupid teenager instead of a Vigilante Hero.
Once at home, we saw Aunt May putting our Thai food on the table.
"I broke the casserole dish because I tripped over the chair," She said and that made us laugh.
"Are you okay though?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you okay? You've been distant for a while. I was giving you space but I'm getting worried," she said as she cupped my face and I leaned into her hand while hiding my eyes.
"I'll explain once I know more,"
"Alright," she said before she kissed my forehead.
"Let's eat and catch up from the past few days," she said and we complied until I was sitting at my computer desk which was filled with a bunch of music equipment that Ned and Peter fixed up.
"I'm off,"
"Make sure you get home at a decent time. Stay safe," I said and he nodded before he slipped out while I plugged my headphones in.
As the days passed, I kept getting the proof I needed and playing around with my music until I was sitting with Harry and Mr. Osborn for dinner at their place.
"Is something on your mind, Persephone?" Mr. Osborn asked as I carefully stabbed my chicken.
"Yes actually. Harry, who's Ava?" I asked and Harry attempted to hide how he froze while Mr. Osborn looked appalled.
"What?"
"Who?" They both asked and I sat my fork down.
"Who is Ava? You've been texting her a lot," I said and he refused to answer so I hummed before I wiped my mouth.
"Your silence tells me everything I need. Good night, Mr. Osborn. I'll see myself out," I said before I stood up and left the table as Harry tried to follow me only to be stopped by his father asking him questions.
I got home and immediately went to my desk where I started working on some music until I noticed my phone was going off. I lowered my headphones and lifted it to see that I had a lot of notifications from Instagram and TikTok. I unlocked my phone and scrolled through them.
Peter tagged me in a photo, an aesthetic photo of me at my desk working on music. Screen was shown but it was done so you couldn't see much of it and the lighting made my hair look darker than it was. I liked it before I went to my TikTok to see that he had posted a short TikTok of me working. I liked the video before I set up my phone so I could post my own.
I started the song over and sang the first four lines before stopping the song and the video. I then edited it before posting it so I could get back to work on my music.
I woke up to hundreds of notifications from TikTok. I smiled as I read all the comments that were practically begging for more before I got ready for school.
"They loved that snippet," Peter said as he scrolled on his phone as we headed to school.
"It's surprising that's for sure,"
"And well deserved. You drive me up a wall but you are an amazing singer. Keep making music, please," he said and I rolled my eyes as I pushed him, making him laugh but I knew he meant it.
As we were eating with Aunt May, I felt my phone buzz and I pulled it out to see a text from Betty, with a photo. I opened it to see that it was a picture of Harry with a blonde girl, standing in the street, kissing. I blinked away the tears before I read the text from Betty.
"I'm sorry, Seph. You shouldn't be cheated on. He picked her up since we both intern at the Daily Bugle. Ava Gomez. I'll see you next Friday to support your music and keep Him away,"
"Thanks, Betty," I typed before I put my phone down as I felt my throat close up.
"Seph, baby what's wrong?" Aunt May asked as I kept blinking back tears while nodding at Peter. He sighed and sat his fork down.
"Harry is cheating on Seph. She's suspected for a while but seems now she's got actual proof," I heard him say and Aunt May gasped.
"How are you so calm about this, Peter?"
"Trust me I'm not. I'll get my revenge later," Peter said and I let out a slow breath as I managed to blink all my tears away.
"Seph?"
"You can yell at him later, I want to deal with this my way,"
"Alright," Aunt May said before we tried to get the atmosphere to be up beat once more.
As the days passed, I kept working on my music and slowly getting copies of their texts until I was ready to break up with Harry.
I got to the restaurant that Angela owned and she instantly greeted me.
"Miss Parker, how are you?" she asked as she gave me a hug.
"I've been better. I'm well. How do you feel about public breakups via songs?" I asked.
"Oh,"
"Yeah,"
"When and where?" she asked and I looked over to her stage.
"Can I do it here?" I asked and she looked at her stage than at me.
"Of course. Come on, I'll go over that with you," She said and I followed her to the back where her office was. She pulled out the paperwork and went over it with me after letting me record it so Aunt May could listen as well.
"After your Aunt listens to this and tells you it's okay, fill out the information and give it back to me. I'll set you up for next Friday night," She said and I thanked her.
"I look forward to seeing what you've worked on," She said before I left. I got home and sat with Aunt May after she listened to the audio recording and she nodded.
"It's perfectly fine with me. I'll help you with the paperwork and then I'll be sure to be there," She said and I grinned before we went over the paperwork so I could give it back.
As the days passed, I told all of my friends who were excited and I told Peter to make sure Harry was there since it was going to be a surprise that I knew the truth.
"Seph, can I ask you something?" Betty asked as we walked to our next class.
"Would you be okay if I invited her as well?"
"I'm not going to tell you yes or no. It's truly up to you,"
"I am excited for your songs. It feels like forever since I've heard you sing. I just hate that its taken drastic measures for you to sing again,"
"I'm sure that'll change soon,"
"I hope so, I really like your music," she said and I smiled as we kept walking.
"Oh, Betty. Before I forget," I said as I dug into my bag before I pulled out the folder I needed and set it in her hands. In that folder was all the texts between Ava and Harry, along with the few photos that Harry had of them together.
"Whatever you decide, I want you to give this to her. I'mma give the other one to Peter so he can give it to Harry,"
"I can do that,"
"Are you nervous?"
"A little bit," I said and she smiled before gently bumping my arm.
"You got this," she said and I hummed as she slipped the file into her bag.
"I'll see you in a few hours," she said and I nodded before we went our separate ways.
I got to Angela's and was a bit nervous but I noticed all of my coworkers.
"What are you all doing here?" I asked as I happily accepted the hug from Ariana.
"I closed for the day so we could all be here to support our favorite Spit Fire," Mike said.
"I'm not risking not seeing his face when you call him out,"
"I'm here to talk shit," Ashton said and I laughed as all my coworkers and friends were pumping me up. Noah seemed to be the most excited but then again I did happen to see him shotgun a Redbull so that had a hand in that.
"It is with great pleasure to call Miss Persephone Parker to this stage. I hope you are all excited for her because I know I am," Angela said and all my friends, co-workers plus my family cheered as I walked up to the stage where I did a last minute check of my equipment.
"You got this, Spit Fire!" Mike, my boss cheered and I smiled at that.
I glanced at Aunt May and Peter to see that they were excited but Peter was sitting like he was preparing to get up.
Breath. You got this. She mouthed and I let out a slow breath before I nodded at Mike where he started the music.
I got through the first three and was given water where I carefully glanced at Harry who was trying to hide that he was texting. I looked over to Betty to see that she was by herself. (AN:Please listen to Bear Minimum by Anna Clendening. Yes Girl by Bea Miller and My Hearts Grave by Faouzia.)
"This is my last song and only a select few know what the song is about but for another they realize the purpose," I said which made Ariana and MJ nearly shake Noah but I doubt it would have made much of a difference since he was also shaking them.
Once I sang the first Ava, I watched as both Harry looked at me in horror before Harry attempted to get up only for Peter to shove him back into his seat.
"Is she the other girl?
I bet she's dying to date you
And be your entire world
I'm sick and tired of faking
Like I don't see your phone
When I see her name and you can't explain," I sang as I kept staring at the two of them until my song ended and everyone cheered while Harry continued to looked mortified.
"I know who Ava is. Ten years of friendship and three and a half years relationship gone because you cheated," I said as I watched Peter give Harry the file. I watched as he flipped through it before I held the mic up once more.
"We're done, Osborn. You can get your belongings back from Peter. Ava, he's all yours," I said before I put the mic up as all my friends crowded around me. I soaked in all their words as they all took their turns hugging me until I was looking at Angela.
"You were amazing up there. I truly enjoyed your songs. Let me know if you ever feel like going up on stage again and I'll put you down. Before you leave, come see me and I'll give you some money since I pay everyone who performs here. Your not going to fight me on this," she said and I scrunched up my face and she laughed as she walked away before I was bombarded by everyone else.
Peter helped me carry my stuff home before he sat on my bed.
"You rocked up there,"
"It felt natural,"
"It looked natural. You always said you'd be on a stage. You were right. Keep going for it,"
"Thanks,"
"You push me for mine, it's only fair if I push you for your dream," He said and I rolled my eyes before I finally looked at my phone to see that my notifications for Instagram and TikTok were going insane. I even had a few texts from Harry and one from Betty.
I clicked the one from Betty to see that it was just a screenshot of twitter, and a text saying that the fact that Harry was a cheater was trending in the top five.
"I'm going to purge my accounts before I even start gathering up his belongings. How are you going to handle your anger about the situation?"
"I don't know yet. I know I can't physically hurt him, it would be too much of a giveaway. I can torment him in otherways. I'll figure it out,"
"I'm sorry this is making you lose a friend,"
"It's not your fault but I get why your apologizing. Besides, friends come and go. I know if our situations were reversed you'd do the same,"
"Of course, but feminine rage isn't to be trifled with," I said and he snorted before he got up.
"Once May's asleep, I'm heading out,"
"Stay safe and don't stay out too late," I said and he nodded before he left my room.
"Wow, trending with the big news and TV drama, that's kinda exciting. How big is this going to be for The Bugle?" I finally asked Betty.
"He's already on it. Wants us to get a story in by tonight so it's printed for the morning,"
"Not going to lie, it's impressive how fast he's on the trail for news,"
"I'll say. I'll do my best to try and keep the others away from you as much as possible so you can heal but I can't make any promises,"
"Do your best and not lose your job. Thanks for the warning though, Betty,"
"Of course. I'll talk to you later," She said before I opened my Instagram and went to my profile where I scrolled thorugh all of my photos at how many photos there were.
I didn't have this many followers before. I thought as I looked at the number before I started tto go through my photos and deleting all the ones that held Harry or were taken by him.
I woke up to my alarm and I blindly reached over until I grabbed my phone, lifting it slightly to turn the alarm off. I sat my phone back down and laid back down only to get up quickly as I grabbed my phone to look at all the notifications once more.
"Holy shit," I whispered as I stared at all the new followers on my TikTok, all the notifications to put my music out so they could stream it and more. It was the same on my Instagram.
I practically stumbled out of my room still holding my phone to see Peter sitting on the ceiling.
"I'm assuming May is out since your on the ceiling?"
"Yes. I needed to be a spider without the suit,"
"Ah, while your up their can you get the dust?"
"Only if you proofread my English essay,"
"Deal,"
"Why'd you almost fall into the wall?"
"Go look at my Instagram and TikTok," I said as I sat my phone down in favor of fixing myself something to eat.
"Holy shit,"
"Yeah, surprised me too," I said before we fell into silence.
As the day progressed I went through all of my stuff and put Harry's stuff into the boxes Peter set out until I was done, which left my room feeling a bit bare. I didn't realize that He had bought me so much stuff. I thought as I folded the last shirt I had stolen and placed in the box.
"I've brought some snacks," I heard Aunt May say as she opened my door and I looked at her.
"I didn't realize he had bought me so much stuff. It feels bare, now," I said and she sat the plate of food on my desk before getting down on the floor with me.
"I know it feels like that but as time goes on, you'll replace everything in here with stuff you want. And when that finally happens, it will make you so much happier. Time is a healing process,"
"How will I know if I'm ready?"
"You'll know and it'll come to you when you least expect it too," she said where she kissed the top of my head and then started to throw out ideas on how I could redecorate my room.
A couple of weeks later, I walked in and sat my keys in the bowl to see Peter standing still while Aunt May was on the couch with Tony Stark. I blinked before I looked at Peter.
What did you do?!
I don't know! His face screamed and I shot him another look before looking back at our Aunt and Tony Stark. He's got a nasty black eye. I thought as Peter stumbled over his words.
"Why are you here, Dr. Stark?" I asked.
"Haven't you two been getting my emails about the Grant-Internship at Stark Industries?" he asked as he attempted to wink with his black eye, flinched and corrected his actions.
"Must have been lost in all the others I've been getting," I said.
"I see. How about the three of us talk in private if that's okay with your Aunt?"
"I'm fine with it," May said and I hummed before the three of us went into Peter's room.
"We didn't apply for-"
"Nope, me first," Tony said as he cut me off.
"No, I was talking your going to listen because I can and will treat you how I treat customers, like a child who needs to listen. We didn't apply for anything to do with Stark Industries, so why are you here? We obviously don't own any of your technology so you can't be here to get it back, nor have we done anything to your company to deserve this level of attention," I said and Tony looked impressed that I cut him off to ask my question and then some.
"I like that attitude of yours, I hope you keep it. And for you, a rhetorical question, isn't this you?" He asked Peter while showing a projected video of Spider-Man.
Oh shit. I thought as Peter tried to defend himself until Peter just accepted it with a defeated sigh.
"Who else knows? Anybody?" Tony asked us and I shook my head.
"Just Seph and I,"
"Not even your unusually attractive Aunt,"
"Call her that again and I will give your Human Resources team a mental breakdown as they fight to clean up your mess, yet again," I said with a dangerous smile.
"Seph!"
"I like that threat, I'm going to start using that from now. Now this webbing, who manufactured it?" Tony asked as he threw one of the cartridges at Peter, who caught it without looking.
"I did. Correction, we did. She helped me run the math on it and helps me that way, everything else is my own. She just helps cover for me when I need it and tells me to be as safe as possible," Peter said and I analyzed Stark who was fiddling with the track suit Peter uses when he goes out as Spider-Man.
"Because I've been me my whole life and I've had these powers for six months," Peter said and I felt my eyes widen in shock. Has it really been six months since Spider-Man came to be? Since Uncle Ben? I asked myself as I watched Tony and Peter talk until Tony asked if Peter had ever been to Germany and only gave a summary as to why.
"Your not going,"
"Pardon?"
"Seph?"
"He's. Not. Going," I said slowly and punctual so he could understand what I had said
"You want someone who has had powers for six months, mind you still a minor, where he doesn't know the full extent of said powers to stop grown adults, with years of experience with theirs? He's not going. All of you need to sit down, pull your heads out of your asses and talk about this like adults. Ive read the leaks, that Accords can't be signed into place. All the governments are going to ignore the rules they put in once the ones arrested are in the Raft,"
"What?"
"Once your in the raft, it's a prison for Human Experimentation. Each government will forgo their law they chose to put into place to get their own soldiers with those powers they can control. Similar to how your father tried to recruit the Soldier serum that runs through Roger's blood. Wanna take a guess who they used it on, it's certainly not white people. You want to keep that legacy alive even after you said you wanted to destroy it?" I asked as I stared at Stark with a blank look.
"Want to help Peter out? Great, give him the upgrade, help him train so he understands the suit better, shit like that. But your not recruiting my brother to fight the rest of the Avengers," I said before my phone buzzed and I picked it up to see that it was Mike asking if I could go in since Vikki and Jacob called out.
"Look, I gotta go to work. Peter, if you go behind my back to go along with that ill-thought out plan, then I will show Liz that embarrassing photo of you from our freshman homecoming dance,"
"Please, don't,"
"Then consider yourself warned. Stark, pull your head out your ass and talk to the Avengers like a grown ass adult, no suits, no powers. Then we can discuss that Grant-Internship. Peter, if May asks, we only talked about this but he didn't give us to much information as he has something else to deal with first before so when he does give us more information his head is clear of any distractions,"
"Got it," Peter said and I shot a final look at Stark before walking to my room where I changed to go to work.
I got to work and Ariana clocked me in as I tied my apron on.
"Thanks for coming in on such short notice, I just got off the phone and there will be two parties coming in an hour. Are you alright, Spit fire?" Mike asked.
"I'll be okay. How big are these parties?" I asked.
"One's thirty and the other is forty,"
"I'll take the thirty so you can yell at the forty," Ariana said and I let out a soft laugh at that since I was known to yell at parties to get their attention. It worked and they always tipped well.
"Let's get these tables ready then!" Noah said and I hummed in agreement.
Peter POV
I was listening to Seph make her music as I worked on the last of my homework. I nodded along until I heard a knock on the front door. I sighed but got up and headed out of my room. I opened the door to reveal Harry.
"Fuck off until you can no longer fuck off, and go past that to keep fucking off," I said and slammed the door in his face.
"Pete, please," he said and I opened the door.
"You can't call me that anymore. The day you cheated on my sister is the day our friendship ended. You lost the both of us because you decided to be an unfaithful asshole! She made it very clear she wants nothing to do with you anymore and I agree with her. Go away!"
"Peter, please,"
"No, I don't want to hear it. Now go away while I'm still patient," I said and he sighed.
"Dad is sending me to Europe to live with my Aunt. I was hoping to say goodbye,"
"Goodbye," I said before I shut the door and walked away as I heard him leave. I had just gotten working once more when there was a knock. I stood up with a slight curse as I headed to the door.
"Harry, I swear to go-. Your not Harry," I said as I looked at Tony Stark who, despite the cast on his arm, looked a lot better than the last time he was here.
"No, I'm not that Osborn Heir. I'm sorry to hear that he cheated on your sister. His loss. Speaking of, I want to talk to you two," he said.
"Come in. I'll go get her," I said as I stepped to the side. I shut the door behind him before I headed to Seph's room, I knocked but I doubt she'd hear it so I slowly cracked the door open and flicked the light a few times.
"You can open it more," She said and I poked my head in.
"What's up?"
"Mr. Stark is here again," I said and she hummed before putting her headphones down and getting up.
"You look like you've pulled your head out of your ass, so I'm assuming you all sat down and talked like adults," she said and I groaned while Mr. Stark laughed.
"We did. Thank you for telling me to pull my head out of my ass so I could tell the others to do the same. The copy of the Accords I was given was different from the ones they were given and the one that was leaked. The Accords as of right now are done and we all sat down and talked. I still think we should all be held accountable and not abuse our authority so we're going to hit the drawing board to find a good middle ground,"
"Good,"
"I came back so I could give this to your brother and to further discuss that grant-internship,"
"We didn't apply to one though,"
"I know but I figured if I hired one of you, it wouldn't be fair and it might give your Aunt some clue about a certain someone's arachnid's tendencies. I figured hiring you both would be a good story and I could start a new branch of getting people your age into science and off the streets," he said and Seph hummed as she crossed her arms.
"Now that your head is out of your this is far more reasonable, however you are doing this without Miss Potts, so I'm assuming she doesn't know,"
"She knows actually, she just couldn't be here as there was a last minute emergency meeting she had to attend," he said and I nodded while Seph seemed to be impressed before she sat down and listened to what he had to say.
"Naturally, I will accommodate your work schedule to go with your schooling and your job," Tony said and I shared a look with Persephone since she had more experience with this since she had sat in few meetings with Harry and Mr. Osborn when he allowed her to.
"Does this also involve training for his new suit?"
"Yes, and Romanoff has even offered to teach you how to defend yourself as well,"
"Alright. These terms are perfectly acceptable. I would like physical copies of our agreement, the only changes needed is the Spider-Man stuff so we can give it to our school, Aunt May and my job,"
"Consider it done,"
"I'm not going to lie. Most of that went over my head,"
"I told you that you shouldn't have passed on his offer,"
"I get that now,"
"Is this about the Osborns?"
"Yes,"
"You sat with them in meetings," Mr. Stark said as he looked at Seph and she kept a level face but I could see the pain in her eyes.
"I did but I'm not going to give up any of the secrets from those meetings,"
"I wasn't going to ask you to. I was just curious where you learned how to negotiate like that. I hope you know that those skills of yours will be even better,"
"I'm sure they will. You might regret it though,"
"That's a problem for future me," Mr. Stark said and I laughed at that before he said he'd send the copies in a few days and left.
I looked at Seph and she let out a slow breath as her shoulders relaxed.
"Your hiding something and it's not your music. What is it?"
"It's nothing,"
"Seph,"
"I'm fine," She said before walking away leaving me with my thoughts as I knew she was lying.
As the days passed, I kept a close eye on Seph since she was still abnormally quiet. I carefully poked around for answers but didn't get any until we were walking to what used to be the Avengers Tower, where I couldn't help but look around in awe as we waited.
"Parker!" I heard and I was pulled back to reality as Tony Stark walked towards us.
We greeted each other before he talked to us through the security process and we were given our badges.
"Try not to lose these. We will reprint one but only after deactivating your old one and so forth,"
"Security reasons, understandable," Seph said as she put her badge on.
"Make sure you keep those badges on where Happy and the rest of security can see them. Especially, Happy," he said and I nodded before we followed him through the building.
"Now officially, you two are interns meaning you'll be on the lower levels but I'll be stealing you two for my own personal reasons for lab time with me and so forth. Pepper and I sat down with your Aunt the other day and we have rooms provided here for you two for emergency cases, such as exceptionally bad weather or you two are too exhausted to go home. If such a time does happen, you Aunt will be notified so she doesn't worry,"
"That's actually thoughtful,"
"Considering I'm sure you two will be very important to the employee's, I've gotta to make sure you'll be taken care of,"
"What are you implying?" Seph asked and I sighed at how guarded she got. Then again, I can't really blame her since her trust in people was destroyed from Harry cheating and a few others from when we were kids.
"I've looked at your grades at school. Miss Parker, did you know you can graduate at the end of this year if you wanted to?"
"I get your point now," Seph said before she was quick to change the subject as we continued walking until we were taken to the top floors which were the Avengers.
"I was planning on selling the tower but Pepper said she'd change it for Stark Industries," Mr. Stark said as he continued to talk until I practically froze as I was staring at all the Avengers.
"Tony, what do you have there?" Captain America asked and I glanced at Seph since I just knew she was about to say a smartass comment.
"Coffee," Mr. Stark said as he took an obnoxious sip from his mug and I made a slight face due to the sound as well as how dry his answer was.
"Here I thought the walking PSA would be more robotic,"
"Seph!?"
"I like her,"
"Everyone, I'd like for you to meet the Parker Twins. Peter and Persephone. They'll be the first of the new branch of Stark Industries to get more teens into science and they can get the experience they'll need for after college," Tony said before he put his hand on my shoulder and I glanced at him.
It's your decision. His face read and I looked at Seph who nodded.
"Wait, didn't you just publicly break up with the Osborn heir for cheating?"
"Didn't you pull your head out of your ass to have an adult conversation?" Persephone shot back and I sighed.
"I really like her,"
"I can see where Tony got that statement from," I heard before introductions were made and I leaned over to Seph.
"It's your decision, I'm down for chewing anyone out and you know it," She said before I could ask her anything and I snorted.
"This isn't like Mike's where you can call out a customer for being an asshole," I said and she just smirked.
"Sure I can't. I did it to one of His board members, before,"
"This is an eerily different scenario!"
"Is it? Or is it just because of who they are? Because either way I'm down to yell at anyone and you know it,"
"Why the fuck is my 'Steve is fighting someone' radar going off?"
"Language Bucky,"
"Fuck you! You!" Bucky said as he pointed to me and I did my best to not flinch.
"Me?!"
"Yes, you. Why?" Bucky asked and I glanced at Persephone to see she had made herself comfortable on the kitchen counter.
"Can you not sit there, we cook there," Captain America said.
"Just clean the counter. Simple as that. You said 'Steve is fighting someone' radar. What are you implying with that, Mr. Barnes?"
"That shithead used to go fight people constantly! Alleyways, parking lots, behind a movie theater! Like a rabid Chihuahua,"
"Bucky!"
"Stop avoiding my question,"
"He's just a kid, Bucky and I don't think he does much fighting,"
"And I call bullshit. His sister is the type to verbally rip you apart so bad you don't even think about raising a hand. He's the type to physically fight," Bucky said which made chaos ensue as they argued about that statement.
"Alright, enough of this," I heard Seph say before my Spidey sense (Tingle) went insane before I was smelling lavender. I gagged before I realized I was on the ceiling while Seph was smirking into her cup while holding a small thing of perfume, while Mr. Stark was doubled over laughing.
"Stark, he's on the ceiling,"
"Does anyone have a giant fly swatter?!"
"Huh, the kid is Spider-Man, that's surprising,"
"I fucking called it! My radar is never wrong! Eat shit, Stevie!"
"Bucky! Language!"
I landed lightly on my feet as I glared at Seph.
"What the hell, Seph?! Why would you do that?!"
"To prove a point and to finally get you to stop beating around the bush," She said before jumping off the counter.
"Your just a kid, you shouldn't be out fighting crimes," Captain America said and I looked at him.
"Unlike you, the kid actually has powers so he has that fighting chance on his side!" Mr. Barnes said as he pointed at Captain America.
"He could use some training but I have to say he's doing good out there," Hawkeye said.
"Majority of the people like him better than us, that's for sure," Black Widow said and Mr. Stark finally stopped laughing and I sat down on the counter with a sigh.
"Why do you do it, Kid?"
"New York is our home. I've only had these powers for a few months and I can't just not do anything. Someone's got to look out for the little guy," I said before I looked at the Avengers.
"You guys fight on a much larger scale all over. I just want to keep our home safe. I help you guys where I can and you do the same for me is a far trade with all this," I said and they all looked at each other before nodding.
"I still don't think you should be doing this but I doubt we'd be able to change your mind,"
"I already tried that whole argument, got me nowhere and it pissed me off for a month,"
"I'd rather step on a rusty nail than ever live with you after an argument like that again," I said as I looked at Seph.
"Jokes on you, nerd. Your stuck with me,"
"Your just as much of a nerd as I am!" I shot back which made us argue until I was smelling lavender once more and I glared at her from the ceiling as that vile smell was still burning my nose.
"Why don't you two tell us about yourself that's not involving Spider-Man," Natasha said and I landed lightly on my feet once more and migrated to the counter with Seph.
Tony POV Several months later,
I watched the twins work before I went back to my paperwork, the music one of the twins picked, playing in the background until the peacefulness was broken by Persephone's phone going off. I glanced up from my work to see her answering her phone.
"Problem?" I asked when Persephone let out a soft curse.
"There's a party of fifty coming in an hour and the only other senior waitress is handling another party. MJ would but she's got family in and always has the time off. Can I-"
"It's fine. I'll drive you. Do you have your work clothes?"
"I kept extra shoes at work and I can have Mike throw a shirt at me when I walk in,"
"Will you be in full uniform though?"
"Uniform is just slip-resistant shoes, long pants and a work shirt," She said and I nodded before I looked at Peter.
"Finish this part of your project before you head out," I said and he nodded.
"Have fun yelling at customers,"
"Always do," Persephone said as we walked out once she had her stuff.
"You yell at your customers?"
"Mike has a system. If your a dick to the wait staff, we can be a dick to you back. I mostly yell at parties to get their attention. It works and I have a lot of regulars so I've done something right within the rules Mike has," She said and I chuckled.
"That's fair. Do you always take such big parties though?"
"Not always but I take enough big parties that I'm good at it. I don't mind taking parties either. I mean each party is a hit or a miss with tips but I still don't mind taking them," she said and I hummed before she changed the topic until I pulled up to her job.
"Thanks for the ride,"
"Any time. Have a good shift. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything,"
"I will. Make sure Peter doesn't get himself killed,"
"I will," I said before she got out and ran across the street. I made sure she was inside before I pulled away.
I walked over to where Seph had been working and picked up one of the files she was going through to read it. I blinked as I read all of the notes and math equations.
This more than she was asked for. I thought before I grabbed more files to see she did the exact same thing. I was still looking over the files when I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt someone touch me.
"Sorry, I thought you heard me," Pepper said before she kissed my head. I sighed as I relaxed in her hold.
"I didn't,"
"What are you looking at?"
"Persephone's paperwork," I said she took one of the files from me to read over it.
"This. This is beyond what she was asked to do. And it looks like that puts her at least a month ahead. Why?"
"I don't know but I have a feeling she'll say she's not done, "
"But she is,"
"We know that but I doubt she realizes that. I told you she used to date the Osborn Heir and they would let her sit in some of those meetings. If she sat in those meetings,"
"She would be given some paperwork like this. This would explain why their profits would spike every now and then," she said as she flipped through some more of the files before she nodded.
"Yeah this is definitely how their profits would spike in their favor,"
"I guess I should finish her music studio then, "
"You should," Pep said and I hummed before she pulled me into a kiss.
"I'll come get you for dinner," she said and I nodded before I gave her another kiss until she walked away so I could head over to where Persephone's music studio would be.
Two weeks later, I finally finished getting her music studio put together and I smiled as I led Persephone towards the room.
"What's got you so smiley?"
"This," I said before I sat her hand on the door handle. She gave me a look but I motioned for her to open it. Once the door was opened, she stared at all the equipment in shock before I saw the pure excitement shine in her eyes until she looked at me.
"W-What's all this for?"
"It's your music studio. Yes, I have you here on a grant-internship but even you know that I only said that to get your brother here for training and a new suit. You talked your way into making it an official grant-internship, so I started putting plans for this. You two have rooms here but I also wanted to have something here for you for your passion. Rock music will always be my favorite but even I'm a fan of your music, even though there's only short clips of each song," I said and she looked away but I could see her smiling.
"You put yourself ahead of schedule for basically a month. Enjoy your studio. You should only be bothered if it's an emergency or one of us is getting you out for food, and the like," I said and she was practically vibrating so I held out my arms where she threw herself at me.
"Thank you,"
"Your welcome, Seph. Have fun. If you have something you don't like in there, let me know and I'll get something else," I said and she nodded.
"Oh and before I forget," I said before I pointed up and turned the switch which made her sign saying recording in progress turn on.
"You've got one of these as well," I said and she stared at it in awe.
"Go on, enjoy your studio," I said and she rushed into the studio where I could see her looking deeply at her new equipment. I made sure the sign was on before I shut the door.
"Did you get that, FRIDAY?"
"I did. Saving it on the private servers and sending a copy to Miss May Parker,"
"That's my girl," I said as I walked towards the lab.
I yawned as I walked into the kitchen only to hear the twins yelling. I stared at them before I realized Natasha and Bucky were also there. I grunted as I fixed my coffee before I stood with the two assassins as the twins continued to argue.
"What are they arguing about? It must be intense so they are switching their language from English to Italian? Also how long have they been fighting?" I asked.
"About twenty minutes," Bucky said.
"Apparently Persephone has a date and Peter is adamant that she doesn't go because he doesn't trust her date," Nat said as she brought her coffee cup up.
"She told him to shove his nose out of her business otherwise she'd break it," Bucky said with a smile. Despite Peter having a sixth sense that allowed him to basically block all sorts of danger, Persephone was always able to hit him so I knew there was some truth to her words, especially since she started to train with Natasha.
"Wait, a date?!" I asked after I processed their words.
"Yep," Nat said and I looked at the twins.
"Alright you two that's enough! It's to early for you two to be fighting,"
"Oh come on! It was getting good!" Bucky said and I flipped him off before I looked at the twins.
"Peter is overreacting with the fact that I have a date,"
"With one of our friends we haven't seen in several years! Ironically enough, him coming back matches a string of crimes I've been dealing with,"
"Jacob has nothing to do with that!"
"He could have changed in the five years!"
"Oh god, a J name that's even worse!" Natasha and I said at the same time and Bucky lost it.
"You're not going!"
"You are not the boss of me! Besides, Aunt May and Pepper said it's fine! I have the day off and months ahead on my paperwork so I have time to kill. Besides, those strings of crimes can be related to the girl you've been talking to!"
"Oh, a new player has entered the story!"
"Shut up, Barnes!" the twins snapped as they glared at him and he just let out a laugh that was the equivalent of a shit eating smile while I sighed.
"Peter, your sister is her own person. You can't make her not go on this date when your Aunt has already given her permission. I get you want to protect her but you can't protect her from everything, especially not something like heartbreak, we all need to learn lessons like that," I said before I looked at Persephone.
"Now, that doesn't mean acting reckless and all that. If at any point you no longer feel safe, text or call and one or all of us will go and get you," I said and Persephone nodded after a moment of cringing.
"Now eat and go have a nice day," I said before I got Peter out of the kitchen to talk to him.
"I don't trust him," Peter said after nearly an hour of silence from him working on a project in my lab.
"Do you not trust him because you believe it'll be a repeat of what she went through with the Osborn Heir or because you don't know how much he's changed in the last five years?"
"Yes," he said and I hummed.
"I understand your doubt for trusting him but at the end of the day you should trust your sister. She knows you don't trust him, that's enough warning for her to determine the rest. You can be right, or you can be wrong. Same goes for her until the truth of these crimes come out and the same for this Jacob kids personality,"
"He hated Harry,"
"Why?"
"Because they both loved her and in the end, Persephone chose Harry,"
"Are you worried he's going to trick her into loving him just to hurt her?"
"A part of me is thinking that, yes. Jacob was a serious grudge holder," Peter said before he tossed the wrench he was using down.
"I'm going to get food since I didn't eat earlier. We just jumped right into that fight," Peter said and I nodded before he walked out.
"Keep an eye on him, FRIDAY. Make sure he doesn't try to stalk his sister's date,"
"Already on it. Shall I do a background check on Jacob?"
"Not yet," I said before I leaned back into my chair with a sigh as I heard Pepper walk in.
"Stressed out already? I didn't think you'd have this much problem for a project you were excited for," She said as she played with my hair and I hummed as I relaxed into her hands.
"It's not the project that's stressing me out. The twins were fighting. Full on yelling in the kitchen, Nat and Barnes were watching the entire time,"
"Oh, what were they fighting about?"
"Seph's date. Pete didn't want her to go and all that,"
"Ah, I can see why they would fight over that,"
"Pete is allowed to doubt this Jacob kid's character since they haven't seen him in several years but I think he's still very angry with how that Osborn Heir treated his sister. I'm not sure who will be strong enough if something like that happens again,"
"That's a fair reason to be angry but I should go tell him that she has the right to determine if she should date him or not,"
"I've done that already,"
"Oh, did you know?"
"I did. I told him that he should trust her as well. She could be right or she could be wrong and vice versa. The only way to know is to learn and the lesson might be painful,"
"You're doing good with the twins, Tony. I'm proud of you,"
"They've been through a lot. Something about them just makes me want to continue to better myself. Gods, a part of me still doesn't fully trust Barnes but I've seen how he is with the twins, I know I can trust them with him because I know he'd rather kill himself than to hurt them," I said and Pepper hummed before she kissed my head.
"One step at a time. Now, come get something to eat before you get back to work. FRIDAY informed me that you haven't had anything but coffee,"
"Right. I was so focused on the twins," I said and she laughed as we left my lab.
As the days passed, Peter still had no leads on those string of crimes he was keeping his eye on. Persephone continued to have dates with Jacob which still pissed off Peter but he backed off but we all knew there was a revenge plan forming if something happened. I just hoped it wouldn't do a lot or any physical damage to Jacob if it came down to it.
Persephone POV
I nervously stood outside Pepper's office before I knocked.
"Come in," she said and I walked in to see her typing on her computer.
"Persephone, what can I help you with, honey?" she asked
"Um. I wanna produce my music so people can listen to it on Spotify and the like but I want to own the rights to my music, anything you can do to help me with that?" I asked.
"I can give you fantastic lawyers, FRIDAY start doing that research and the best lawyers for this situation," Pepper said before she motioned for me to get closer where we get to work until it was time for me to head home.
"I don't want the others to know yet,"
"Of course! Oh I can't wait!" She said and I cracked a smile before I thanked her.
"You are always welcome. Now, get home safely," She said and I nodded before I walked out of her office.
I sat my bag down once MJ and I were inside her sister's dance studio.
"Seph! Please tell me this isn't a one time dance thing!" Nikita, MJ's sister said as she walked over and gave me a hug.
"It's not a one time thing. I can't talk about something yet but it's giving me more time. I miss dancing,"
"And I miss housing your talent!" Nikita said before she let me go and started talking about what the routine would be as MJ and I stretched.
I sighed as I carefully plopped down on MJ's bed where she shot me a look as she put her bonnet on.
"The hell is wrong with you? And where is your bonnet?"
"My bonnet is still in my bag. I'll put it on in a minute. I just. Promise not to freak out and tell anyone else?"
"Are you pregnant? Because if so you already done fucked up with straining yourself early when we were dancing,"
"NO! Nothing like that, I promise," I said and I knew I had a horrified look on my face but she sighed.
"Sorry, I know you're with Jacob and yeah. Anyway, what's on your mind?"
"I'm actually about to release music for everyone to stream. Pepper helped me gather a team but I own the rights to my music and all that,"
"Holy shit?! Really?!" MJ said as she got to her feet.
"Yeah," I said and MJ let out an excited scream.
"That's great! Oh my god! I'm so happy for you! Is this why you've been so stressed out?" she asked and I nodded before I told her about the details of said team.
"So they are just there for advice, promotion and all that?"
"Yeah. Pepper has them on some strict paperwork. It's about the same as the NDA's for Stark Industries. I can start teasing everything soon," I said and she cheered.
"This is cause for a celebration! Just me and you. I know when you finally tell everyone it'll be an absolute party," She said before she started talking a mile a minute and I sighed in relief at telling someone what my plan was before I allowed myself to celebrate with her after she made me put my bonnet on.
I was finally given the all clear so I pulled out my phone so I could record a TikTok of Peter and Aunt May of what I was going to do soon.
"Hey Aunt May, Peter,"
"Yeah?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I'm releasing my music to Stream by November tenth,"
"What?!" Peter asked as he all but dropped his bowl of cereal.
"I'm releasing my music to Stream by November tenth," I said and Aunt May let out a happy scream before she rushed forward and pulled me into a hug as she talked so fast I couldn't understand her.
"Holy shit this is awesome!" Peter said and I laughed before I stopped recording with a mental note to edit it later as the three of us celebrated.
The days were soon passing in a blur and I kept posting teasers until the day my first four songs released and I nervously went about my day as I tried my best to not just watch the numbers. I was grateful for Tony because he made sure I was kept busy with helping him with one of his suits.
"In time I want this suit to be less clunky but still just as sturdy and hopefully and essentially self healing,"
"So like nanotech?"
"Yes! I haven't quite figured out the whole thing but yes, nanotech. I also want to incorporate in a way to constantly make it,"
"I see it's a fantastic idea for nanotech but it would put a lot of strain on the suit if it's constantly making it. An outside source would be more efficient but it would be slower,"
"You've got a good point there, Star,"
"Star?" I asked.
"Nickname. I give everyone one. Seph is directly correlated with your family. I'll still call you that on occasion but I'd rather give you a nickname that I know suits you,"
"So you've given the others several?"
"Yes, I keep coming up with new ones constantly. Rogers is currently Captain Talks A Lot,"
"Fair point. Has he told you about the PSA'S he did?"
"I'm sorry? The what?" He asked and I stared at him in shock.
"You don't know about his PSA's?!"
"No?!"
"Holy shit this is amazing! Let me find one!" I said before I pushed my chair over to the screen and started to search for one. It didn't take me too long, especially with FRIDAY's help until I had the Detention PSA playing.
"This is the greatest blackmail ever!" Tony said with a laugh.
"They show these at school. Peter and I have unfortunately seen the detention one several times,"
"Why is that?"
"Peter because he's late for class sometimes. I've gotten detention for talking back to teachers, mostly,"
"What's the other occasions you've gotten detention?"
"It also involved Osborn,"
"Gross don't wanna hear a second more of that bastard heir!" Tony said in a playful sharp voice and I snickered before I watched Tony watch more of the PSA's until I picked up my phone where I stared at my Spotify in shock.
"Fifty thousand,"
"Fifty thousand what, Star?"
"Streams,"
"Holy shit,"
"It hasn't even been ten hours," I said with a shocked laugh.
"You did go viral for calling out your ex publicly, with your song, Ava, and it made it go even further due to his status,"
"Yeah I get that, I still get tagged in those videos begging me to release the song,"
"And now you have,"
"And now I have. I'm still processing this,"
"It'll take some time getting used to. I should know but in the end you will. You have us to protect you and so much more. If you can't say this for yourself, you should hear it from me. I'm proud of you. You produced and released your own music, yes you had help but that's the whole point you did it because you have a dream to stand on a stage and sing. This is just your first step and I'm going to support you in that dream for however long you have it and more," Tony said and I smiled at that.
He was right. I know it'll take me a while but hearing him say that was a wonderful start.
One year later, I was walking around Time Square with MJ, Betty, and a few others to distract the fact that I ended the relationship I had with Jacob, when they all stopped.
I was just about to ask them why they stopped when they screamed and made me look at the main billboard.
"That's me?!"
"That's you!"
"You made it!"
"Upcoming Artist of the Year!"
"This is so fucking cool!"
"You've made it onto the billboards!"
"We've got to get the pictures when it comes back!"
"Did you guys know about this?" I asked.
"No,"
"I just happened to be looking at one when I saw you!" Betty said before we all patiently waited until it came around several times taking the photos until it was time to move on.
Surprise! I'm not dead! I've just been really busy with work. I've also been taking my time with writing three different stories.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I should be finished with the other stories soon so expet those updates either by the end of the month or so. I promise I won't leave you all hanging for an update for to long.
Until next time, my lovelies.
Also here's my spotify wrapped so you guys can see what I listen to to know me a bit better.