Everywhere I look, there is Spider-Man. Posters on the wall, social media posts or the school news. The school has a bad case of Spider-Man fever. Everyone can't stop talking about what happened to us in the elevator. That and the kiss I shared with a certain masked hero. Girls keep coming up to me and asking what it was like, but I ignore them.
I've been avoiding Peter all weekend, not once coming out of the apartment or answering the knocks on my window in the middle of the night. I can't bring myself to talk to him out of embarrassment and fear of what he will say to me.
I've been pretty successful, having eaten my lunch in the library and sitting far away from him in the classroom. I'm almost in the home stretch when I hear the familiar voice call out to me as I descend the front steps, "Lexi!"
My eyes widen and I push myself to walk faster, but soon jogging footsteps reach my side, "Lexi, wait."
"Can't, I gotta go." I state, quickly, avoiding his eyes.
He steps in front of me and I bump into his chest, his hands catching my arms. People walk past and one boy calls out to me, "Spider-Man won't be happy to see you with Parker."
I grit my teeth as my cheeks flush a deep crimson, and I just want the ground to swallow me whole. Stupid Lexi.
I step away from Peter and go to walk around him, when he steps in front of me again, "Lexi, I need to talk to you."
"Look, I didn't mean it okay?" I lie, finally meeting his eyes. He looks taken aback for a split moment before his eyes harden, "Okay."
"I thought I was going to die and then you saved me. I was running on adrenaline and I just did it. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable." I apologise.
He doesn't say anything for a moment before pulling together a tight smile, "It's okay. Don't mention it."
"Okay." I state, letting out a breath, though my heart aches at how callous he is about it. After all, it was my first kiss and I'm pretty sure it was his too. Stupid Lexi.
Peter clears his throat, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the guy with the wings."
"Oh yeah?" I ask as we begin to walk to the train station.
He nods his head, "Yeah. So I found out they're stealing all this tech from the D.O.D.C and that's how they're making their weapons. I got trapped in the there after getting into a fight with the guy with the wings. That's why I missed the decathalon."
"Thank god, I was worried you had died." I state as we cross the road.
"Anyway, I want to take down this guy. To prove to Mr Stark that I can do this, that I can be an Avenger." He states.
"Peter..." I sigh, but he continues on, "You've helped me this far already. And you've already got the suit. So what do you say, will you help me?"
"We should really talk to Tony about this. I hate lying to him." I state, but he shakes his head, "No, no, no. I know we can do this Lexi. You and me. What do you say?"
His eyes are looking as they look deep into mine, giving me that damned look that makes me bend my will. It would be safer for him to have back up.
"Fine." I mutter and he grins broadly, "You're the best."
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I'm standing in my room, looking at myself in the mirror in my new suit. Tony developed it for me in case I ever needed one, seeing as I was only wearing jeans and a hoodie while fighting with Captain America.
It's sleek like Peter's suit, but it has a bit of hints from the Iron Man suit. Never knowing what I'll need or when I will need it, it has a few regulatory tricks up its sleeves. Boosters to fly and for my hands as well as Friday built in. When Peter told me about the baby monitor protocol in his suit, I searched through mine and disabled it easily.
I open up my door and call out, "Peter!"
My foster parents are still at work thank god, and Tony has been out of town with the move which means my internship hasn't been as active this week. Peter quickly comes into my room and pauses at the sight of me in my suit. It starts off as white on my shoulders and proceeds to shade down to black around my feet. The mask allows my mouth the be seen, but covers my eyes so I can see the tech inside.
"Wow." He whispers, drinking it all in.
"Haven't really had the chance to use it since Tony gave it to me. It feels good." I state, smiling at myself.
"Well you look great." He murmurs and I raise an eyebrow. He quickly clears his throat and stammers, "The suit. You look great in the suit."
"Thanks." I smile, a hint of red splashing across my cheeks as I hold out my hand, "Take my hand."
He eyes it curiously before removing the glove of his suit, placing his hand in mine. I feel his power begin to seep throughout my veins, invigorating and powerful. I can suddenly hear conversations on the street clearly and when I open my eyes, I see every spec of dust on the wall, every tiny scrape in the paint's surface.
"Oh my god." I whisper, looking around dumbfounded, "So this is what you feel?"
"Everyday." He states, pulling his glove back on, "It takes a little while to get used to to it."
"I'll say." I breath, before an idea comes to mind.
Walking over to the wall, I experimentally put my hand to it. It sticks solidly and I smile before bringing my other to the wall, lifting myself up slowly. I let out a delighted giggle as I climb the wall to my ceiling, hanging upside down.
Peter has a soft smile on his face as I cackle with joy, "This is insane!"
"It is pretty incredible." He admits and I let go of my hands, my feet allowing me to dangle.
My face lands right in front of Peter, our lips lining up. My breath hitches as I look at them, wondering what it would be like to kiss without the material of his mask getting in the way. But I quickly knock that thought out of my head and climb myself down, landing on my feet.
"Alright, well we better get going if we want to catch up with this guy." I state and Peter nods, grabbing his mask and pulling it on, "You ready to hold on?"
"Bring it on, Parker." I smile, turning around and climbing onto his back.
My legs wrap around his waist and my arms around his neck as he walks to the window. He climbs through and I look down, only just now realising how far up our floor is.
"Oh my God." I gasp and Peter chuckles, "Don't let go."
I grab my hands tighter as he shoots a web and we go flying through the air. I let out a scream, to which he laughs. But it feels amazing, like it did when I flew with Wanda's power. And it's crazy seeing New York from this perspective, how tiny people look from this height. This is a once in a life time experience, and it's all thanks to Peter.
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Clinging onto the roof of the parking garage, we watch our suspect walk over with a bag of groceries in his hands. Unlocking the trunk, he stuffs it inside. Peter and I jump down and he shoots a web, sticking the man's hand to the opened trunk. Peter's surveillance camera floats around back to us.
"Remember me?" Peter demands, his voice distorted into a deep robotic tone, that he told me is called 'Interrogation Mode."
"Uh, Hey..." The man trails off with furrowed eyebrows as he takes us in.
"I need information. You'll give it to me now." Peter states and the man holds up his free hand, "All right. Chill."
"Come on." Peter yells and the man looks at him confused, "What happened to your voice?"
"What do you mean what happened to my voice?" He questions and the man frowns, "I heard you on the bridge. I know what a girl sounds like."
I stifle a laugh as Peter yells, "I'm not a girl. I'm a boy. I mean, I'm a man."
"I don't care what you are, a boy, a girl-" The man begins, but Peter cuts him off angrily, "I'm not a girl! I'm a man."
Rolling my eyes, I step forward, "Look, who is selling these weapons? We need to know."
"Give us names, or else." Peter threatens, standing by my side.
The man's face contorts in anger as he slams the trunk closed. Peter flinches, but I keep my guard up, not moving an inch. His eyes go between us before asking, "You ain't ever done this before, huh?"
"Deactivate Interrogation Mode." Peter commands and his voice returns to normal, "Look, man, these guys are selling weapons that are crazy dangerous. They can't just be out in the streets. If one of them can cut Delmars' Bodega in half-"
"You know Delmars?" He questions and Peter nods his head, "Yeah. Best sandwich shop in Queens."
"Sub Haven's pretty good." He counters and Peter argues, "It's too much bread."
"I like bread." The man states in a flat tone and I cut them off, "Come on, please."
He doesn't say anything as he looks between us and Peter storms off angrily, muttering to himself, "Stupid Interrogation Mode. Karen, never do that again."
The guy takes me in for a moment before his eyes drift to Peter, "The other night you told that dude, 'If you shoot somebody, shoot me.'"
Peter stops walking and turns around as the man continues, "That's pretty ballsy. I don't want those weapons in this neighbourhood. I got a nephew who lives here."
"Who are these guys?" I question and Peter reaches my side again, "What can you tell me about the guy with the wings?"
"Other than he's a psychopath dressed like a demon, nothing." He states, giving a shrug, "I don't know who he is or where he is."
Peter sighs and leans against the car defeatedly when the man pipes up again, "I do know where he's gonna be."
"Really?" Peter asks, sitting up instantly and the man nods, "Yeah, this crazy dude I used to work with, he's supposed to be doing a deal with him."
"Yes! Yes!" Peter cheers, grabbing my hand and running away.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! I didn't tell you were. You don't have a location." The man calls out and Peter stops dead in his tracks before turning to him, "Right, of course. Yeah, my bad, silly."
"Where is it?" I ask and his eyes narrow, looking between the two of us, "Can I give you some advice? You got to get better at this part of the job."
"I don't understand, I'm intimidating." Peter defends himself and I roll my eyes, "Oh yes, so scary."
"Saten Island Ferry, 11." He informs us and Peter turns to me, "Oh, that's soon."
I begin jogging away and call out to him, "That's why we gotta go."
Peter starts to catch up to me as he yells over his shoulder, "Hey, that's gonna dissolve in two hours."
"No, no, no. Come fix this." The man demands and Peter shakes his head, "Two hours. You deserve that."
"I got ice cream in here." He calls out and Peter shouts back, "You deserve that, you're a criminal."
"Come on." I mutter, pulling him against me as we reach the outside.
"What the-" He begins when I turn on the boosters and fly us up into the air. He cries out, clutching at me as I speed us through the sky to the docks where the ferries are. Our one is getting ready to leave and I fly us down onto the roof.
Peter braces his hands on his knees as he takes in some deep breaths and I raise an eyebrow, "You okay there, Peter?"
"Wasn't. Prepared. For. The. Speed." He states between breaths and I chuckle walking over the edge and climbing down. He soon follows after me and speaks through the intercoms in his suit, "Okay, Karen, activate Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode."
"You call her Karen?" I ask and he nods his head, "Yeah, what do you call her?"
"Tony calls her Friday." I state, looking through the window to a pair of shady men in the corner. One faces away from us, a balding middle aged man.
"That the guy from the bridge, right?" Karen states and I frown, looking at the man who his back to us, "Who's that other guy?"
"There's no record of him in my criminal database." Friday states, when Karen pipes up, "Incoming call from May Parker. Should I reroute to your 'Heads Up' display?"
"I can't talk right now. I'll call her back." Peter instructs.
The little bug on Peter's chest that acts as a surveillance camera flies up, Peter speaking to it, "Hey Dronie, keep an eye on that guy, we can't let anybody get away this time."
Peter and I push away, crawling down the side of the ferry that now floats in the middle of the river. On the bottom deck, towards the back of the boat, stand a group of shady men looking men below.
"Who's the guy on the left?" I ask Friday, looking at who I assume is the buyer, and she replies instantly, "Mac Gargan. Extensive criminal record, including homicide."
"Would you like me to activate 'Instant Kill'?" Karen suggests and Peter hisses, "No, Karen, stop it with the instant kill already."
The man from the level above appears below and another of the crew goes under the roof we currently reside on towards a car in the middle.
"Dronie, scan the white pick up truck." Peter instructs and the little bug disappears. Because our suits are connected, we can see the same footage. The man lifts us the step and reveals an array of guns underneath.
"Ahh perfect, we got the weapons, buyers and sellers all in one place." Peter states.
"Incoming call from Tony Stark." Karen states and Peter panics, "No, no, no. Don't answer."
"Mr Parker. Got a second?" Tony's voice filters in through my ears. I remain incredibly quiet, not wanting to give away what we are doing as Peter answers, "I'm actually at school."
"Nice work in D.C. My dad never really gave me a lot of support and I'm just trying to break the cycle of shame." Tony says with pride, but Peter speaks quickly as we watch our targets come back into view, "I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."
"Don't cut me off when I'm complimenting you. Anyway, great things are about to happen." Tony continues when the ferry's foghorn blows out loudly.
"What was that?" Tony asks and Peter lies quickly, "I'm at band practice."
"That's odd. Happy told me you quit band six weeks ago. What's up?" Tony asks, not buying his lie.
The men below begin to exchange for the weapons and I turn to Peter, "We gotta go."
"Is that Lexi?" Tony demands and Peter calls out quickly, "Bye Mr Stark."
He swings down and uses his web to snatch up the keys, "I'll take those."
I fly down as Peter looks between them, "Hey guys, the illegal weapons deal ferry was at 10:30. You missed it."
The men lunge for us and I dodge them quickly, using Peter's strength to throw one of the men across the dock. Another comes for me and I use my blaster, throwing him through the rows of cars. Peter fights off two more beside me when more people run out.
He shoots his webs at our new assailants, "Not so fast."
He throws them and smashes them into the side of the ferry, them slumping to the ground in pain. Peter walks forward and apologised, "I'm sorry, that was a little hard. My bad."
One of the men turns and points at us, the contraption on his arm firing at us. We dodge it easily and Peter sighs,"I gotta say, the other guy was way better with that thing. Honestly, I'm shocked."
We hear a noise from the other side of us and they turn, seeing the man from upstairs running through the stacks of cars. We go to move when a dozen or so men come running out, dressed in FBI jackets, "Freeze! FBI!"
"Woah, what do you mean, FBI?" I cry out, holding up my hands.
"The federal-" Friday begins, but I cut her off, "I know, but what are they doing here?"
There's a screeching noise from behind us and I turn, seeing a man dressed like bird with giant metal wings coming out way. Looking up at the FBI and yell, "Get out of the way!"
Peter and I move them as he swoops down, knocking one of his guys into the thrashing waters below. The man with the wings looks down at his men, "Get to the top deck, we're getting out of here."
Men scramble for the stairs in my peripheral vision and I whip my head to the side, seeing it's the gun men. I jump and climb up the wall, crawling along after them. They glance up at me and try to shoot, but I do a flip and land in front of them.
Out stretching my palm, I blast them and they go cowering back. One comes for me and tries to punch me, but due to my new heightened senses, I am able to miss them easily. Instead I'm able to punch them across the face and knee them in the gut in one swift movement.
But as I am distracted with this guy, the one from before shoots at me and I go flying back across the deck. I cough as I clutch at my stomach, winded from the blast. Turning my head, I see them running away from me. I push myself up to my feet and stumble forward when the boat begins to shake, a sound screeching noise filling the air.
People scream and I clutch at my ears, the noise piercing through my head like a hot iron. It soon disappears, but the screams only grow louder as I feel the boat shifting. I run towards the centre of the ship and see it splitting in half.
"No, no, no!" I whisper, running forward.
My eyes scan the area and I see Peter shooting webs over and over, attempting to bring the pieces together. He swings past me and calls out, "Lexi, catch!"
He tosses something in the air and I grab it as he yells out, "Press the button and throw it to the other wall!"
I do as he says and press the button and toss it, webs exploding either side and connection to different points of the ship. I stand there, catching my breath as we watch it hold the ship together. I smile to myself until I hear the first snap, followed by many more. One by one the webs break apart and the ships slowly spreads once more.
One begins to break away next to me and I grab it, it pulling me out. I quickly grab at another one, trying my best to hold it together. Even with my enhanced strength, it's too much as I feel my arms screaming in pain at the pressure.
Suddenly, the webs start to slack and I'm lowered to the ground. I look around wildly, wondering what is happening, "What the hell?"
"Hi Spider-Man. Little intern." Tony's voice filters in over the intercom.
I turn and see him pushing the ship together, along with dozen of little drones that forge the ship back together. My eyes take in the Iron Man suit as he questions, "Band practice, was it?"
People cheer for Tony and I see Peter chases after him, me using my boosters to follow. Tony flies around the ship, melding it back together with his blasters.
"Mr Stark! Is there anything we can do?" Peter questions and Tony mutters angrily, "I think you've both done enough."
He flies away and I stand there, the guilt of lying crashing over me. Mr Stark is one of the only people in my life that I genuinely care about. And now I have broken his trust, and for what?
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My eyes take in the chaos in the river below, all the coast guard ships surrounding the ferry as they usher people off. Helicopters fly around while streets are blocked off for emergency services. I haven't said a word to Peter, and he hasn't said anything either as we watch from a building near by.
I hear the sound of boosters, soon followed by Tony's disapproving voice, "Previously on 'Peter screws the pooch'. I tell you to stay away from this. Instead you rope in my intern, you hacked two multimillion dollar suits, so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do."
"Is everyone okay?" Peter asks in a guilt ridden tone and Tony mutters, "No thanks to you."
Peter turns and glares at him, "No thanks to me."
He gets up and walks towards my mentor angrily, "Those weapons were out there, and I tried to tell you about it but you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me. If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
The Iron Man suit opens up and Tony steps out, "I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know I was the only one that believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit two fourteen year olds."
"I'm fifteen-"Peter argues lamely.
"No, this is where you zip it, all right? The adult is talking." He states before looking between the two of us, "What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you both died... I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."
"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry. I understand." Peter says quickly.
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Tony sneers and Peter whispers, "I just wanted to be like you."
"And I wanted you both to be better." He says, his eyes lingering on me.
I turn away, unable to deal with the look of disappointment in his eyes. He sighs before speaking once more, "Okay, it's not working out. I'm gonna need the suits back."
"For how long?" Peter asks and Tony speaks with authority, "Forever. Yeah, that's how it works."
"No, please." Peter begs, but he remains firm, "Let's have them."
"Please, you don't understand. This is all I have. I'm nothing without the suit." Peter states brokenly, but Tony shakes his head, "If you're nothing without the suit, the you shouldn't have it. Okay? God, I sound like my dad."
"We don't have any other clothes." Peter exclaims and Tony shrugs, "Okay, we'll sort that out."
One of his bots flies off and Tony turns his hard eyes onto me, "You... You lied to my face and told me nothing was going on."
I don't say anything, because there is nothing to say. He walks over to me and narrows his eyes, "I get how important he is to you and how much you like him, but that doesn't mean you get disobey me and do whatever the hell you want."
I narrow my eyes at him, furious he would bring up my feelings for Peter at a time like this. But he doesn't have a bar of it, "I trusted you and you broke that trust. So now, you need to suffer the consequences. You've lost the internship."
My face falls as my eyes water, my mouth dropping open in complete humiliation. Peter rushes over and speaks quickly, "Please, Mr Stark. I made her do it-"
"Shut up, Peter." I growl.
A robot comes back with some spare clothes, but I don't want them. I undo the suit and drop it in the ground, my jaw set in a tight line as I pick it up and thrust it towards my former mentor. It leaves me standing there in a camisole and bike shorts. My scars are on full display, covering my back, thighs and legs.
Tears fall down my cheeks and I shake my head, "Goodbye, Tony."
I turn and walk away, going down the fire stairs as quickly as I can. I soon hear footsteps coming after me, Peter's voice meeting my ears, "I never wanted this to happen."
"I have nothing to say to you Peter." I hiss, climbing down a ladder and landing in an alleyway.
He chases after me and leaps in front, wearing some spare clothes from Tony that look absolutely ridiculous. He looks at me desperately, "Please tell me that we will be okay. I've lost the suit, I can't lose you too."
"Then maybe you should have thought of that before dragging me into this." I state, going to walk away when he grabs my arm, "You could have said no."
"Like I would have Peter. You're so blind that you don't see how much I am crazy about you!" I yell, getting in his face.
His eyes widen in shock and I feel the tears brim again as I shake my head, "For so many years, I have denied these feelings for you because I wanted to focus on my dreams. But then we went to Berlin and bonded over the fact we both have powers, and come from similar backgrounds. I threw away my ambitions for a boy who couldn't see me as more than the girl from down the hall. What an idiot I am."
I turn and begin to walk away, when he grabs my arm again, "Lexi-"
"You cost me my dream and I mentor I adore, Peter." I state, tears pouring down my cheeks, "I don't ever want to speak to you again."
I shrug out of his grasp and storm off, not caring about the stares I get from the strangers in the street. My heart feels heavy and broken as I wrap my arms around myself, my cheeks wet with tears. I lost absolutely everything today because I was stupid and naïve. And now I have to deal with the consequences. I just wish they didn't break me apart so much.