Perspective
______<*_*>______
Following his somewhat successful trial run in Queens, Peter split his time between training with Johnny, going to is internship with Reed, and attending school. The occasional sparring match with Natasha or meditation with Bruce occurred but as Tony and Cap were set to return from California, Peter was focused on finding the other thief as soon as possible.
His fixation on finding the thief didn't go unnoticed. While reviewing the information he had gathered from walking around Queens, he found himself interrupted by the mysterious Gwen Stacy.
She plopped into the chair across from him. “Are you trying to solve a murder or what? You've been staring at these newspaper clippings and junk for days.”
Peter looked up from his growing collage. “Are you stalking me, Miss Stacy?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Stark.”
He looked up at her. Her repurposed army rucksack was still hanging one shoulder, drumsticks poking out. As her eyes went to the papers he gathered them defensively. She thought nothing of it. “Maybe you’re too close to the problem.Try getting a different perspective.” Her eyes fell to a cutout of a ad. “That’s for the new Hyperion movie--do you watch those?”
“Huh?”Peter followed her line of sight. One of his articles had flipped over, showing a perfect cutout of an advertisement for a superhero movie. “Oh.”
“I’m surprised. Don’t you basically live with superheroes? Isn’t Hyperion like a documentary to you?”
Peter couldn’t help but smile. “Truth is stranger than fiction. Up close no one’s all that ‘super’.”
Gwen propped one elbow on the desk, resting her chin on it. She looked at him through her bangs. “Do you want to go?” She leaned back to feign nonchalance. “Together, I mean.”
Peter’s eyebrows raised. “To the movies? Like, in a theater?”
‘Yeah, that’s usually where you go to see new movies. Unless you’re a pirate.”
“No, no! I uh...honestly can’t remember the last time I stepped into one of those.” He caught hold of Spidey as it ran up the side of his face. “That sounds kinda fun.”
“Cool.”
As they finalized plans Peter gathered his things. After school he headed to his internship. With no headway being made and having tidied up the lab twice, he headed back out onto the streets of the city with the intention of following Gwen’s advice.
The sky overhead was grey and rain sprinkled down onto the streets of Manhattan. Peter slipped his hoodie on and Spidey perched in his neck to avoid the rain. From across the street he could see into a public space area-- a seating space taking up the lobby of one if many skyscrapers. He crossed the street towards the place with the intention of getting out of the rain.
“STOP! LET GO!”
Amidst the bustling crowds and heavy traffic, Peter heard an angry shout. A man was struggling to keep a grip on his laptop, which a person in a Ironman mask yanked away from him and took off.
The thief ran out of the plaza quickly shoved their way down the sidewalk and kept running. Peter followed after, sidestepping into an alley to slip on his mask and gauntlets before running at full speed.
“Hey!” Peter yelled. “Get back here!”
The chase continued for several. Blocks until the guy ran into an alleyway and jumped several feet into the air.
‘A...mutant?’ Peter was not expecting that. He had his own tricks up his sleeve. Taking advantage of the narrow space he stuffed his shoes into his backpack, ran and jumped, using the adhesive nature of his appendages he could stick and clim to anything quickly. When he reached the rooftop he saw that the thief was catching their breath.
“That’s quite an impressive skill you got there…” Peter said, moving towards the person slowly. “Maybe you should try the olympics instead of crime?”
The thief gave Peter another glance before running and jumping to the next roof.
Peter ran to the edge and looked at this distance between the two buildings. The gap wasn’t huge but a fall from that height would still be fatal.
Is it worth it?’
The thief jumped to another building.
‘No guts, no glory.’ He used the webbing to grab hold of a pipe on the next roof.
“Here goes nothing.” He jumped, a little higher than he expected, and swung his body onto the next landing. There was a rush of excitement as adrenaline pumped through his system. He hit the gravel covered roof, sliding for a moment. The next building had a much bigger gap, but the thief had already made the leap. So he continued on, relishing the feeling of being airborne. This time they had dropped in on a rooftop restaurant. There were shouts of confusion as some guests tried to move out of the way, while others tried to capture the event with cameras and phones. Peter caught the thief with three shots of webs, pinning him to the ground. He slipped the laptop out of the iron man masked individual’s grasp.
“Pardon me, citizens.” He stepped through the crowd, ignoring the raised phones, cameras, and tablets. He stepped onto the ledge. “But seriously, call the cops. That guy is a thief.” Flicking a web at the water tower atop another building he swung away. He jumped and swung his way back to the public plaza, where the laptop’s owner was babbling to a policeman.
“It had my thesis on it! There’s no wifi here--I couldn’t save it to the cloud! The cloud!”
“One thesis paper coming up!”
Peter dropped in on them, literally.”Excuse me--” He held the laptop out to the man. “I believe this is yours.”
“My baby!” The man grabbed the thin laptop and squished it against his chest.
The officer crossed his arms. “And who are you supposed to be?”
“Just another concerned citizen.” Peter quickly took two steps back before taking off in a run.”Toodles!”
“Hey, wait!”
‘Concerned citizen? Toodles? Who talks like that? Eh, I guess I do.’
Peter ducked down into a subway stairwell, moved quickly through a station underpass swiped his card and jumped on a downtown-bound train. He sagged as he plopped onto a plastic seat.
That had been amazing. Nothing truly spectacular, but pretty amazing.
Sure, he didn’t catch the purse thief, but he did stop a mutant(?) from stealing a laptop, and that was something.
He transferred at the next stop, heading back to Queens to continue his quest. Maybe he wouldn’t find the mugger today, but maybe he would find other criminals along the way.
From the ledge of a billboard sign he hovered over a busy neighborhood. With a smile, he realized he had followed Gwen’s advice. He had found a new perspective.
And so he swung above and watched the world below. He caught a grapefruit thief at a grocery store. He found a missing cat. He stopped a gyro cart from rolling into traffic. He stopped a kid from getting bullied outside a bubble tea shop (And got a Taro slush 10% off).
Just when he was going to call it quits and go home, he saw a familiar face holding a woman at knifepoint. “Well would you look at that…”
Their showdown was a lot less dramatic than expected. First he incased the knife wielding hand with web, bound the mugger’s feet before he could turn around. After he fell over, his would be victim, kicked him in the groin before running off.
“See? That’s why you don’t hold people at knife point.”
As the mugger struggled to get out of the webbing, Peter watched him. The manhunt was over. Now what?
Back to just going to school and helping Dr. Richards?
As interesting as both those activities were, this had been a million times more satisfying. In a few hours he had done so much. What would happen if he kept doing this all time? The city was huge. Crimes like these happened everyday.
“Right this way officer.. The guy in the mask stopped him!”
The would be victim returned to the alley with two policemen.
“Hands where I can see them!” “Don’t move!”
With two guns pointed at him, Peter froze. That was also a factor, wasn’t it? Sure, he had been trying to help people, but he had no jurisdiction. He wasn’t a public figure like an Avenger. This was a punishable act.
“Hold on.” The woman said. “What are you doing? He helped me.”
A fact. Things would have panned out differently if he had not been there. How many people were caught in dark alleys, chased in parks, attacked on subways, wishing someone would appear?
Thwip.
He took his exit, shooting one spool of web upward, he jumped up and away.
____________>>>>>>>>>>>>>_____________
Peter tucked his mask away and headed back to Avengers tower. He decided to lay low for the next two days, fighting the urge to go swinging across the skyline. Johnny was stuck with his own engagements, giving Peter time to contemplate what he was doing. He wanted to keep helping people, but how would he explain that to everyone?
When he returned home from school the next day, he found Tony and Steve in the lounge.
“Pops?”
Steve looked as if he had gained another ten years, finally looking a little closer in age to the other Avengers.That wasn’t saying much of course, as quite a few of the other Avengers had taken one serum or another. Peter with some mild alarm and amusement realized he had followed in their footsteps.
“Great to see you Pete.” Steve smiled, a genuine compared to the ‘everything is going to be okay, no really’ look he had been wearing recently.
He went in for a hug.“Same here.” He pulled away, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “ How are you feeling?”
“Good as new.”
Tony made himself a glass of scotch. “This calls for a little celebration. What do you say we get out of here and fly out to Hong Kong this weekend? They’ve got these great rejuvenation pools at this new hotel--perfect for senior citizens.”
Peter took a step back, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Oh. Actually I was going to--Well, I was wondering if I could go see a movie with my friend Gwen this Saturday.”
Tony knocked back his drink and gave his son a confused expression.“Gwen? As in, a Gwendolyn or a Gwyneth?”
“Probably…?”
“So, a girl?”
“Pretty sure. Why?”
“I'm just surprised.”
“Anyway, she’s really nice.”
“Oh yeah? Is she a looker?”
“Yeah, I mean I guess but she’s really smart! She’s working on this wind tunnel proposal and she’s plays drums for this band--”
Steve walked into the livingroom.
“Hey Steve, what do call it when two young people of the opposite sex go out unchaperoned?”
Steve looked confused as he sat on the loveseat. “Well in my day, that was a date. Why?”
“Hang on.” Peter gave his Dads a look. “It's not a date.”
Steve was just as surprised. “You’re going on a date, Peter?”
Tony nodded. “Yeah.”
“I am not!”Peter protested.
“With a girl.” Tony added.
“Really?” Steve addressed him instead, ignoring Peter. “That's…”
“Yeah.” Tony shrugged. “Weird.”
“Anyone we know?” Steve asked.
“How many teenagers do you know?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
Steve crossed his arms. “You know what I mean. Is it one of Charles’ kids, or someone from your school?”
“Just a girl from school...That’s it! I don’t even like her like that,...She probably doesn’t like me either so it’s not a date...Just..” He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing away the blush that was spreading across his face. “A movie...thing.”
Tony exchanged glances, clearly amused by this development.
“Yeah, sure thing.” Tony poured himself another drink. “Action flick or Romcom?”
“Action flick--”
“You eating afterwards?”
“We said we’d ‘figure it out’ or something.”
Tony sat on the edge of the couch. “Word of advice kid, if you don’t want it to be a date fine, but if you do, make SURE its a date.” Before Peter could cut in, he continued. “Listen to everything she says, go some place uptown for dinner, drop her home in one of the cars--make Happy the driver--not the chaperone.”
“....” Peter had no rebuttal. Tony’s advice was delivered with the same seriousness he gave for mission prompts and MIT lectures and Peter wasn’t so sure he could ignore it. “Uh, thanks. I’ll...yeah, I’ll try that.” He shrugged. “Well, I mean she has band practice so I said I’d meet her at the theater--”
“Band practice?”
“Yeah. Foe her band. A rock band. They’re pretty good actually.”
Tony clasped his hands together. “My boy, you’ve struck gold.”
Steve remained quiet, eager to see where Tony was going with this.
“Rebellious stage,kid with money and Daddy issues--it’s a full package, Pete.”
“Whaa--” Peter’s voice cracked. “It’s not even--Her Dad’s not even rich, he’s Commissioner Stacy--She isn’t--”
“Even better. He hates us. She’d date you just to spite him--”
“Dad--”
Tony stood and grabbed his drink. “There’s planning to be done.” He headed for the elevator. “See you stiffs later.”
____<<<------>>>-----
“So you’re going on a date?”
“No, Johnny.”
Peter typed up notes while Johnny hovered over his work station.
“I didn’t think you would bounce back from Reed this fast.”
Peter looked up at him with a scowl, but Johnny continued. “And a drummer. Classic.” He brought them up on his phone. “Oh. The lead is cute. Mind asking if she has a boyfriend?”
“Absolutely not. Gwen’s the only normal person at school Johnny. Please don’t.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“Why does everyone keep saying that? It’s not a mission, it's just hanging out. You and I hang out all the time.”
“It’s not the same. Plus we don’t hang out as much as we hunt for robbers...Or at least we did...”
Peter’s eyes went back to the microscope. “I don’t know what to do. I still want to patrol.” Peter admitted. “But Dad and the others would never allow it. I couldn’t even tell him about the spider bite, not with Pops degenerating or his side project...There’s no way he’s going to let me swing around town.” He leaned back in the chair. “Argh, but there’s no way I can just ignore the people around me.”
“Of course not Pete.” Johnny crossed his arms. “I’d be surprised if you could. You’re basically hardwired to be an Avenger at this point. You’ll probably be the next Iron man or Captain America. Oh, the Iron American...or the Iron Captain! But how would the webs and Spidey work in--Iron Spider?”
Peter looked away from the microscope again. “Oh sure. Yeah.” He shrugged. “Dad and I can build it together. It’ll be a father and son activity. I'll be the Spider lad”
“Okay maybe not.” Johnny replied. “Well put the dynamic duo stuff on the back burner for now. Let’s talk about drummers instead.”
Peter let out a defeated groan.
____________________
Peter exited the Union Square subway station,coming up in the middle of the square. The farmer’s market was still there despite the changing weather, filling the cemented area with stalls and stands. Performers stood nearby, doing their best to draw attention from the wandering crowds. Advocates for various causes held up signs and pushed pamphlets. Old men played chess, dogs were walked, and Peter stood among it all, looking for one Gwen Stacy. He saw her from a distance at a tent of baked goods, eating a sample of a gluten free-organic-such and such, chewing absent-mindedly with a earphone in one ear. She squashed a plastic bag of food to her chest and tucked her hair past her ear. Gwen glanced over her shoulder. She had not spotted him yet. He walked towards her until their eyes met and she smiled, waving.
They took the short walk over to the theater, Peter’s eyes wandered over tables of cheap hats and sunglasses, Gwen spoke of unfinished songs and misheard lyrics.
Gwen bought tickets from the kiosk and Peter covered snacks. It was a small talk and shared stories about their week--Gwen’s Dad grumbling about work, Peter’s Dad complaining about the ten rings.
In the dark Peter left his life behind, concentrating on the convoluted plot of Hyperion for 2 hours. The action and explosions seemed a little over the top, and he thought it odd that almost every character knew martial arts, but he enjoyed it. As the credits rolled he glanced over at Gwen who stared back in the dark.
“Is something wrong?” He asked.
“It’s nothing. Oh, it's the after credits scene.”
Peter watched the extra scene--a promise of things yet to come. And he felt relief. If only things were that simple for his family and friends--a glimpse into the future every now and then. Even Heimdall was occasionally taken by surprise by the events that would unfold.
In that moment he found contentment, in the fact he lived in a world where people could go about their daily lives, worried about things like work and home, trusting that someone would be there to save the day.
As the lights came back on, Gwen stretched and Peter began the sideways shuffle to the aisle. The steps were slippery from spilled soda but he treaded lightly as he made it to the landing he heard Gwen yelp. She slipped going down three steps and straight into his arms. He left her collide with him. Wrapping arms around her waist to get her steady. “Are you okay?”Up close he could see the minute details, her short bangs plastered to her forehead with perspiration, the read rims around her eyes from crying at the death of a fallen hero, the clear blue of her irises. She was pretty. But he ha known that already.
“I’m okay.” She pressed one hand against his chest and he broke his hold on her waist.
“Some of us have places to be.” A guy behind them grumbled, and they continued out into the hall.
“That was something else.” Gwen said tugging down her sleeves. “Everything was so dark...I kept squinting through out the movie.”
‘It’s all about dark and gritty reboots these days.” Peter shrugged. “I prefer the older stuff. Sure some of the special effects don’t hold up and the lines are cheesy, but at least the heroes do something besides brood and sulk.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with some cheese every now and then.” Gwen agreed.They walked over to the escalator and headed down. The weather was cool, the rain had stopped, and Happy was waiting directly outside.
“Happy?" Peter looked at the RollsRoyce parked behind him. Several passerby had stopped to take photos. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking you to dinner, Mr.Stark.” Peter gave him a sour look and Happy continued. “As directed by uh, the other Mr.Stark.”
Peter looked at Gwen. “I’m sorry.”
She looked back at him with an amused look on her face.“Actually, I’m starving.”
“Perfect.” Happy opened the door for them.
Peter slid in and Gwen followed, mindful of the car’s gleaming interior and afraid to of leaving dirt on the carpeting. The seat was more comfortable than the Stacy family van. “So this is how the other half lives.” Gwen said, with a hint of mockery in her tone. “I could probably pay for my college tuition with this thing.”
“Ten times over.” Peter said, visibly annoyed. “Did Dad pick out where we would be eating too?”
“Antonio's--best italian joint in town. People always say it’s Frank’s but…”
As Happy went into a monologue on fine dining, Peter slid down in his seat and groaned.
They drove downtown towards the northern end of Little Italy, past the new high-rises and tiny tourist trap shops. Happy, oddly enough was able to get a parking spot, only six blocks away, in the lighting district. They walked past stores with different lights and lamps of different shapes--Even one shaped like Cap’s shield and Tony’s original arc reactor. They talked about the impact of reactor based power on the city, the abundance of mood lights at St. Margaret’s, and the first time Gwen changed a light-bulb (it exploded due to a power surge). It was just the right kind of conversation to put Peter back in a content mood, that is, until they reached the restaurant. Antonio's was buried among the other many restaurants of Little Italy, with the same outdoor seating at tables with checkered cloth and cannoli stand. The difference was Antonio's was completely vacant. Two men in suits stood by the doors, nodding at Gwen and Peter as they entered. The interior was dim, lit by at least three dozen candles of different sizes and shapes. There was a man with an accordion in one corner, who started playing the moment they walked in. A large mosaic on one wall featured prominent and famous New Yorkers, as well as the Avengers saving New York, above the bar were pictures of celebrities that had visited before including Tony with two blonde women, and Peter wanted to melt into the floor.
“Oh my God.” Peter held his face in his hands, his cheeks burning. “I am never talking to him again.”
“It’s not so bad.” Gwen looked around. “That tile work is amazing.”
They sat down at a table for two in the middle of the room. Gwen continued to amuse herself by studying the decor while Peter wondered if he could actually die of embarrassment.
A waiter appeared with two menus. “Welcome to Antonio’s!” He handed them the menus. “Please take your time.”
Peter stared at the menu as if it could tell him the secrets of the nine realms and beyond.
“I get the feeling your Dad got the wrong idea about today.”
“Yes!”Peter snapped, but then lowered his voice. “This isn't even a date! It would never be a date!” Something on Gwen’s face changed. “Wait! Wh-No, not never--I mean if you--I’m not saying it's not possible, just not that it’s not my decision--Well, I mean--It isn't that I wouldn’t--I just--”
The waiter put a silver tray of garlic bread between then and Peter stuffed a large piece in his mouth before he could say anything else.
Gwen tried a smaller piece. “This is pretty good.”
Peter chewed and nodded.
After eating mostly in silence, Gwen spoke again over their dessert: Gelato served in long vials with whipped cream and cherries. “This was pretty amazing.” She said after two spoonfuls. “Tell your Dad I said thanks, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t already listening.”
There was no bill, as Tony had arranged everything beforehand. As they exited the restaurant, the men in suits parted way and Happy rose from his seat. “You kids have a good time?”
“The best.” Peter’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Now full and somewhat composed, he spoke to Gwen again. “Can we give you a ride home?”
“Oh, sure.” She stretched. “But I want to walk this off a little.” She gave Happy a glance before asking Peter, “You mind if we take a short walk?”
“Sure.” Peter looked at Happy. “Alone.”
Happy looked as if he wanted to protest. The sun was setting, and the streets were still full of people.”I doubt anything is going to happen in the next ten minutes.” Peter slipped his hands into his pockets. He knew none of this was Happy’s fault. “Okay. A loose follow then. Please? I’ll talk to Dad later.”
With Happy trailing a few steps behind they walked from Little Italy to Chinatown. The streets were just as packed, tables selling anything from fruit from action figures lined the streets, and the smell of fish seemed to waft by on every other block.
“This wasn’t so bad you know.” Gwen said. She pulled Peter after him, as to not lose him in the crowd. “I would freak out if my Dad did that but, at least he cares.”
“I guess.” He looked in the window of a toy store. The Avengers were there in various forms, lined up amongst properties like the power rangers and the Justice League, as if they were also fictional. “Some days we’re in the same house, but we don’t talk at all. Sometimes he disappears for days. He...doesn’t take care of himself, and he always has something snarky to say and…” He sighed for the upteenth time that day. “I don’t know. It’s like he only seems to be paying attention to me at the weirdest times.”
“I guess that’s how Dads are.” Gwen watched the light change from red to green. “Sometimes my Dad gets wrapped up in a case and can’t think about anything else for weeks. Someone had a vendetta against him once and tried to track down his family--me and my Mom. We had to move. Then all of sudden he was only worried about us. It’s weird but I loved it. We were together for every meal and he picked me up from school everyday. That guy went to jail, but we didn’t stop eating together or talking. So even though he gets wrapped up in his work sometimes, or makes me stay home because of one threat or another, I don’t let it bother me because I know he just wants what’s best for me.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “So give him a break. He’s trying.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
______
Peter returned home to find Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Sam, and Clint in the lounge.
“Did you have to send Happy in a Rolls?”
Tony dodged that bullet. “Did you have a good time?”
“That’s beside the point. We were just hanging out, you didn’t have to hijack it.”
“Everything I did was with the best intentions.”
“He was being cautious.” Natasha clarified.
“Nat--”Steve began but was ignored.
“There have been a lot of reports lately of mutant and mutate related crime. Tony wanted you in a secure spot.”
“That explains the two secret agent guys, I guess.” Peter said.
Natasha raised an eyebrow. “You only spotted two?”
“Yeah…?”
“There were eight.”
“Aw…” Peter dat on the couch. “Okay, I get it. You’re just looking out for me, I guess.” He leaned back and the room became quiet. Peter sat up. Everyone was staring at him. “What?”
Sam raised an eyebrow.“Are you gonna tell us what happened or not? I didn't fly all the way out here for nothing.”
“Here, here!” Clint said from his perch on the ceiling.
“We...watched a movie, and ate dinner, and walked around...That’s it. What were you expecting? Don’t you guys have a world that needs saving!?”
“He’s hiding something.” Natasha said.
Sam nodded and gave Steve a look as he rose from the sofa. “Let me know when he cracks. See? I knew we should have sent the drone...”
Bruce went back to his book. “You know my door is always open.”
“I’m going upstairs.” Peter walked towards the elevator.
Antman chose then to jump off Peter’s shoulder and go back to his regular size. He plopped onto the couch.“ Let’s talk guys! I’ve got the deets!”
Peter turned back just as the elevator door closed. “WHAT!?”