spidey and the avengers

peter hummed happily as he walked down the street towards the restaurant, one hand clutching the strap of his bag.
he eyed a puddle on the pavement, and jumped in it, sloshing rainwater all over his trainers.
I mean, cmon. pete was 16, yeah, but he wasn't dead inside. yet.

the reason for his happiness was partly how good his job was going.. yes he'd only done two days of it, and the shiftmate he had yesterday, marika, was a right bitch, but the main reason was who he'd bumped into last night.

peter had ordered a pizza as soon as he'd left the restaurant, ordering over the phone.
he hadn't even changed yet, just stood in line to collect his cardboard box filled with seratonin.
he was literally bouncing up and down with excitement, but his heart nearly stopped when he neared the front of the line.

there she was. MJ. she looked no different than when he'd mysteriously dropped out of school and ran off on his own, unable to cope with losing his entire family. he couldn't bear being around anyone.

she hadn't looked up yet, she just tapped away impatiently on the screen, the hazel curls that had escaped her red cap dangling in her face.
peter gulped, the joy ebbing away and being replaced by unsure anxiety. should he run? get away now before she'd even seen-

"parker?" MJ asked, disbelief evident on her face. she stood upright and crossed her arms, still staring.
peter opened his mouth, but found he didn't know what the hell to say to his former friend who he kinda just left without saying goodbye.

he closed it and waved awkwardly.
her eyes were hard, her expression unreadable. a bit like the black widow that way.
"are you pepperoni and chicken?" she asked suddenly, glancing down at the screen.
"i-you-what??" peter stammered with surprise.

"is. that. your. pizza?" she repeated, refusing to look up.
"yeah, yeah it is. but-"
"just take the pizza and meet me outside in 10" she said, her voice steely.
clearly the invitation was not up for negotiation.

"i-okay" peter said in a small voice, before reaching out to take the pizza box.

ten minutes later, peter was grinning despite the situation, inhaling his favourite food.
he was sat on the curb of the grimy alley outside the pizza place, the midnight street illuminated by the ugly neon sign hanging above his head.

he crammed the last slice into his mouth hurriedly, but paused in his frantic chewing when he heard a dull female voice say "you still eat like a pig"
peter set down his empty pizza box and looked up as MJ joined him on the curb.
she sighed with relief as she took off the red cap and tugged through her hair.

"y-you look great" peter said, wincing at how guilty he sounded.
she fixed him with an unimpressed look as she continued to card her fingers through her tangled hair

"so. what's your deal, parker?" she asked calmly.
peter shrugged. "I just, it was too much after may died, so I left"
MJ glared at him. "I think you forgot to call home, didn't you"

"listen, im sorry that-"
"PETER MCFUCKING PARKER, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HURT NED WAS? YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOU JUST ABANDONED HIM WITHOUT ANY WORDS! HE THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE DIED BEFORE YOU LEFT HIM!" she yelled, voice echoing angrily around the alley.

peter was so conflicted. so many emotions.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly, and she stopped her rant, breathing hard.
"well. you can fuckin make it up to him. now come with me or are you gonna run away again?" she asked, eyes flashing.

"huh?" peter asked, but she'd already stood up and was walking down to the end of the road.
"come on!" she called impatiently, and he scrambled to his feet, clutching the pizza box.
dumping it in a near recycling bin, he followed MJ down the winding streets until they stood outside a little cafe, that was surprisingly still open at this time.

MJ pushed open the door, and he heard her exchange words with someone wiping the counter.
peter stepped in cautiously, and she grabbed his arm and led him down the little stairs to another room full of little tables and chairs.

MJ threw herself down in a chair, putting her booted feet up on the wooden surface of the table.
peter sat down carefully on a chair, still confused.
underneath all the guilt, the grief, the fear.. there was a little elation. elation at seeing his friend again.

although all of the pain and guilt that peter had shoved down within him for a year and a half was being dredged up, he couldn't help but feel happy as he watched MJ sit weirdly on her chair, stubbornly not meeting his gaze as she tapped away on her phone.
same old MJ.

"are you gonna keep staring?" she snapped, and he shook his head.
"no. sorry. I just, its good to see you, MJ" he said meaningfully, and she finally looked up.
the emotions on her face were less disguised now ; was that a little fondness? probably not, considering the girl in front of him would probably like to stab him in the thigh with a knitting needle given the chance

"good to see you too, petey" she said finally, voice betraying some emotion.
peter smiled hesitantly at her over the table, hoping it showed how sorry he was, but how happy he was to see her again.
they started talking. it was hesitant and restrained, but after a few minutes the awkwardness melted away and their old balance exposed itself

he was laughing at the little tag on the front of her white polo uniform shirt that read 'Miche', clearly an unfortunate yet amusing error, when in walked ned.

peter smiled at the memory of him and ned sobbing while clutching each other as he walked down the path, the restaurant's sign glinting dimly in the evening light.
he felt comforted, knowing he had his friends again.
the trio had spent hours talking. sometimes it was peter recounting funny incidents on his patrol (MJ had figured out he was spiderman a month before his sudden departure), and sometimes it was peter crying as they reassured him.

he wasn't alone anymore.

peter clicked open the messages on his phone, his mood lightening even more when he saw a text from ned.
they'd exchanged their new numbers last night

nednedned: hey man, do u still like those mango smoothies? we can get some after ur shift if u want!

peter quickly sent his reply as he pushed open the metal doors and made to set his bag down in the usual spot, grabbing his uniform folded neatly in a bag

yeeterparkour: that'd be great! if u still like those pistachio muffins we could get some of those :))

"hey parker! on your best behaviour please, friends of the restaurant owner are at table 19" called paprika as he passed.
"as you wish, sire" peter said, bowing low.
paprika chuckled and shook his head as he walked off.

peter hurried to the cubicle and changed. he'd  meant to change at the warehouse but he hadn't had time due to the long talk with his friends.
straightening his tie, he combed his fingers through his messy hair before reaching for  the doorknob.

peter yelped as he swung the cubicle door open and came face to face with a teenage girl about his age with long coppery brown hair and surprised brown eyes.
but... there was something familiar..

oh my god. it was the scarlet witch. oh my gOD
"I.. uh.. sorry!" peter stammered, stepping out of the way.
what the fuck was an avenger doing here? had she figured out his identity?

"oh, sorry. i just need to change" she said, her accented voice quiet.
peter nodded earnestly, trying not to stare as the hero edged into the cubicle and shut the door.
what the fU-
"PARKER! get to it!" someone yelled behind him, and he backed away past the vending machine.

what the hell what the hell what the hell, peter chanted in his head as he grabbed tray and began his work
he was maybe ten minutes into the shift, collecting empty glasses on a vacant table onto a tray, smiling and nodding at the posh people nearby.

his mind was spinning. why the hell was she here? did she actually work here?

peter pushed through the metal double doors with his elbow, the dirty glasses clinking on his tray.
"peter! there you are" yelled a familiar smooth voice, and he saw paprika standing by the kitchen doors with the hero, who was now dressed in a crisp white long-sleeved shirt and black pants like him

oh god. peter approached nervously, but with a fake air of confidence.
"hey" he said cheerily, ignoring the hammering in his heart.

"this" the manager said, gesturing to the avenger who was standing there awkwardly, twisting her rings on her fingers. "is willow, your shiftmate"

ahh. that was why no one was freaking out about the fact a literal avenger was there in the room with them.
well, peter thought as he smiled politely at her, i do get secret identities. even if the extremely intelligent cover of 'wanda' to 'willow' was a tad disappointing.

"im peter parker" he exclaimed, offering his fist for a fistbump.
she looked slightly confused for a second, and peter panicked a bit at the brief recognition flickering in her features before she obliged.

paprika laughed, his velvety smooth chuckle easing the situation.
"I've already shown her where everything is, so you guys can get going now" he called as he walked off.
"right" peter said, rocking on his heels. "let the festivities commence!"

'willow' smiled shyly, and followed the fellow teenager into the dining room.

peter worked as efficiently as ever, wiping down tables with the cloth he kept tucked in the back pocket of his smart black trousers, carrying trays with various drinks and dishes, etc.

the brunette proved to be quite a nervous, timid shiftmate. willow was quick on her feet, but was evidently quite clumsy and could only handle so many trays at a time. she also wasn't the best at taking orders, peter noticed she stammered and flushed red (appropriate), so he decided to step in
"hey" he said quietly, catching up to her on the golden stairs that led to the upper level where the REALLY fancy tables were.

"want me to take most of the orders?" he offered with a friendly smile. "it wouldn't be any problem. i like talking to people!"
"even if they look at you like you're something on the bottom of their shoe?" the avenger said bitterly, and he shrugged.
"i don't mind really. it's just the way it is, and why let someone else's bad mood ruin yours? besides, this is the dream job compared to my last one"

"where did you work before?" the brunette asked curiously, and he sighed wearily. "newspaper job. it was utter shit, they barely paid me"
"oh, I'm sorry" she said. she looked it, too.
peter grinned reassuringly.
"tis alright, mate. im just so glad i get to do this" he said brightly, looking round at the high ceiling and shining windows and gleaming silver lanterns.

"anyway, we should get back to work. paprika will have my hide" he said solemnly, and she giggled.
they began their work again, and peter only just realised how open he'd been with her.
shit, he gotta be more careful. if she figured out who he was...

the next few hours passed without much excitement, not surprising considering it was literally his third day.
when his shift was nearing its close, he wiped his brow and checked his clean white shirt didnt have sweat patches (he nearly never sweated much outside of his spiderman suit, he never had any chance to exert himself when not on patrol)

peter was still wondering why the scarlet witch needed to work in a restaurant as a waitress. surely her living was paid for by iron man?
he was interrupted from his thoughts by wanda waving her pale hand in front of his face.
"wuh?" he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"i asked" she said amusedly "where do we put the dirty tablecloths?"
"oh! sorry" peter said apologetically, leading her through various halls to a small room beside the kitchens.
he pointed to the two expensive-looking washing machines in the middle of the space.

"we can just shove the cloths in there, and then dry them after half an hour in there" he yelled over the cacophony of busy kitchen sounds and pointed to the tumbledryer in the corner.
"also, we're welcome to clean our server's uniforms in here if we want" he said, and she smiled.
"really? that's nice of them"
"yeah, paprika told me maria has a reputation for her generosity" he chuckled.

"clearly" replied willow, as she bundled the food-stained golden tablecloths into the nearest machine.
peter helped her with the buttons, she clearly hadn't operated one before.
"i like you a lot better than my other shiftmate" peter said suddenly. the boy had almost no filter.

willow cocked her head. "are they an asshole?"
"yep." peter said, popping the p. "she doesn't like me for some reason, which is absolutely atrocious as i am the human equivalent of a literal pot of gold at the end of a rainbow"
"you know, you seem familiar" the brunette mused, her brown eyes boring into him.

oh shit. uh.
"really?" peter asked, making an effort to keep his tone nonchalant.
she nodded thoughtfully.
"well, you can never have too many peters in your life" he joked, standing. "also we have about ten minutes left of our shift"

"ah. good " she said, taking his offered hand and joining him. "im bloody tired"
peter felt relieved that she'd left the subject.
"well, we wouldn't get paid so much to sit on our arses, would we?" he said lightly, and she laughed faintly.

"good work today, guys" came a gruff voice behind them as the duo walked out into the main halls, and they turned to see the back of carlos walking swiftly away.
"woah. c-slice gives out praise, does he?" peter remarked.
"only when he's really impressed" paprika leaned in to mutter as he also passed.

peter grinned and walked over to his bag, a slightly bemused willow beside him.
the curly-haired teen cheerfully made to deposit the generous amount of tips he'd gotten today into the side pocket of his charcoal grey rucksack, but felt the avenger's eyes upon him.

he glanced up to see her looking at her own tips, a great deal smaller than peter's.
"hey, not everyone can be such a cheery git like me all the time" peter reassured, zipping up the pocket tightly.
"it's just my natural talent to be a sprightly little shit 24/7"

willow laughed, and it again registered within peter's mind that he was talking casually with the scarlet witch. as himself.

"true, you are quite..." she started, smirking.
"ecstatic? jolly? exuberant? sunny?" he suggested, and she rolled her eyes, picking up her own bag and sliding on the straps.
"elated? gleeful? jaunty? airy?" he continued, grinning evilly as he followed her  down to the doors that led outside.

"bubbly? glowy? happy-go-lucky? rAdiAnT-"
"oh jesus, stop talking!" she yelled, smirking still. "do you ever shut up?"
"not when I'm awake" peter said earnestly, and she giggled.
his phone pinged then, and he saw a new message flashing on the screen from MJ on their groupchat .

anythingforyoubeyonce: im gonna choke to death on the rancid fragrance of stale pizza

nednedned: lmao cN u bring me sum

anythingforyoubeyonce: hm maybe

willow raised her eyebrow. "anything for you beyonce?"
peter nodded eagerly. "yknow, it's a vine!"
she looked a bit confused for a second, but then she aaah yessd
"my.... freind showed me some I think. they're funny" she exclaimed.
"yeah! anyway, a pleasure to work with you today, mademoiselle. looking forward to tommorow" peter said earnestly, offering his fist again.

she grinned, bumping her fist against his. "I can hardly wait, parker"
"til we meet again!" he called dramatically as he retreated down the path in the direction of his warehouse.
she waved, smiling.

peter clicked open his phone and started typing his response, negotiating meeting his friends tonight.
the young teen beamed as he typed, the glow of his phone screen illuminating his face. he felt truly happy.
and maybe, just maybe, he could get away with the whole double agent shit with the scarlet witch.

maybe.