Chapter 4
Peter didn't really get around to thinking about it, there were more important things to think about. He did, however, decide to just accept it. Ben and May were his to protect and now it was just May. Peter would keep her safe and happy for as long as he could. With this in mind Peter carried on for a few months just helping her out, calming her after a nightmare and just simply being there.
He knew it was tough on her. A single nurse income made life slightly more difficult but May was adamant that he didn't get a job but he still slipped the landlord a couple of bills every month to make it easier on her. Life was just getting back to normal when Peter stopped another assault. This time it was a husband beating on his wife. Stopping the crime did not disrupt him all that much, he’d killed the man and made sure the woman kept quiet. What disrupted him was that it brought back all thoughts of vigilantism from before Ben’s death.Suddenly he had a new thing to obsess over.
He decided that in a couple of days he'd made his first appearance.
For the next few days, a lot of time was spent in his scarce room, practising different moves that he hadn't tried in a while. Peter also studied for a little bit as he was still trying to keep his high school student persona. It was kind of easy to be honest, he and Winter had made sure to keep up to date with scientific and mathematical developments just in case. Turns out studying for seventy years really helped stick algebra in your head. Peter was also aware that before Hydra he was classed as what people now referred to as a genius. Back then he was just a classroom hindrance that found the work below him.
The point is that studying really wasn't that big of a problem for him but he liked to be sure and organised in every aspect of his life. It was only about a day before he got bored, though, and went to start shopping.
Attention wasn't what he was after so when he went to a couple of different thrift stores he made sure to buy common and cheap fabric. He'd wear compact clothes that he was used to underneath. Firstly he brought a set of blue underarms for his upper and lower half. They were tight enough not to get caught in anything but loose enough to not restrict him. Then he brought a sleeveless hoodie to wear over the top. It was all fairly nice when put together but cold, he would definitely have to wear thermals underneath.
Finally, he brought a red balaclava and some black thread to weave into his new makeshift suit. This seemed like a chance to attract Winter's attention a bit, so he had to make sure to add some sort of signature to the suit, he would work out what later.
Later when he did get home, it was luckily before May. He pulled out the sewing machine from its drawer and sat with it at the kitchen table. There wasn't really much that needed to be done, the blue underarms were okay as they were and so he decided to add the signature to the hoodie. He decided to add a spider to the front, stretching across the chest. It looked beautiful but somehow fierce. To finish the suit, he stitched on a pair of goggles to the balaclava, sometimes his eyes were extra sensitive to light when in fight, he couldn't risk it no matter how much he was sure Winter would tease him from them.
Once it was complete he didn't get time to try it on as May walked through the door. He felt slightly bad for keeping it from her, but he guessed that it was just another lie to add to the list. No time to contemplate it anyway as May was coming at him, waving a film in his direction, “Who wants to have a movie night?” Peter couldn't help but smile.
It was the night after that Peter was preparing to go out. For some reason he was nervous, but he didn’t know why, he did missions thousands of times for Hydra, this was no different - except it was. This time he wasn't going out to stalk or kill but instead to save and protect. The distinction made him dizzy in the head, but he was over it quickly. He had work to do.
He jumped from the building that had climbed, sending a web out to another to stop himself from falling. It was exhilarating. The feeling was like flying and he had missed it desperately and hadn't even realized. Each web he shot just felt like he was getting closer and closer to being him again. Right now there was no need for masking his own mind, just his face. Right now he could be him.
The first situation he came across that night was a robbery in progress. It was a minor group of ATMs near the subway, around five guys seemed to be there, all heavily armed. They were genuinely relatively funny guys, wearing avengers masks, but they didn't seem like the type to back down. It was confirmed that they weren't when they tried shooting at him. Peter managed to dodge them all effectively and web the guy to the wall before pulling the man’s mask up, “Hey funny guy! How's life going? Whatever your answer is, I'm sure you're regretting the way you chose to sort it out right now.”
Peter wasn't genuinely interested in the answer and quickly webbed the mans mouth shut, successfully shutting him up before turning to the other guys. He was swifter with them, just webbing them to the walls before securing their mouth shut. He hoped none of them had a panic attack, one dying because of him would really dampen the reputation that he was trying to establish. Collecting the weapons should have been simple and it would have been had not he seen the name on the side. Stark. These weapons were not meant to be circling anymore, and Stark would likely get in a lot of trouble if they were found on the streets.
Seeing his chance to obtain a favour, Peter collected the guns in a bundle of webs before storing them in an empty cardboard box that he had spotted round the corner. He had no interest in what it had been before. After making sure to also web that box up, he transported them to an alley a couple of blocks away before storing them in one of the trash bins. It should be safe until he was done for the night and ready to return them.
His night continued relatively in the same fashion. Somewhat luckily for Stark, he didn't discover any more weapons or he may have had to start charging a retrieval rate.
By around 2 am he was finished and about to head home before remembering the parcel of weapons in the bin. It took all of two minutes to find them again and only another two to secure them in his webbing before he swung to Stark Tower.
The building was lit up so brightly that from this height it made his eyes burn even through the light dampening goggles. It made him climb down the building he was sitting on with a bit more haste but no injuries were sustained so he figured it was okay. He then walked to the entrance, still in his suit, and went to the reception trying to ignore the gaping of those around him. “Uh, hi. Just got a package here that I think Mr.Stark would be interested in if you could pass it on.” When the woman at the till just continued to stare at him he eventually gave up on being polite and instead just thrust it onto the desk. As he was leaving, he made sure to turn around and add, “Top secret Avengers business FYI! Make sure not to open it!” In actuality it was essential they didn't open it. Peter couldn't be having his chance at a favour wrecked because of some intrusive and gossipy employees.
With that he was gone. Flying out the door and webbing onto a neighbouring building before swinging around a bit to try confuse the cameras that would no doubt be analysed later by Stark himself. When he believed he'd done enough, he moved to the ground and strolled into an alley to change clothes. He made sure to keep the hood up and conceal his face but as an extra precaution evaded all the cameras he could as well. Stark finding him out could be disastrous, especially this soon; he couldn't risk it.
By the time Peter got home his legs were starting to ache from the night's activities. He wished he could risk a bath — they'd become something of a habit for him since he ran — but he can't risk May asking questions so he merely changes into some old clothes and shoves his suit into the loose board of his roof. It wasn't the very best hiding spot but neither May or Ned would think to look there and he really couldn't be bothered to find a better one at the moment.
Despite every pain in his body, he felt fulfilled. He hadn't realised how lost he had felt previous to this. Hydra had provided him with a use, no matter how cruel, and without it the last few months had been a silent torture for him. Presently he had a purpose. From the amount of crime he saw tonight, Peter was sure Queens would be safer because of him.