Just Another Hero

The next morning, Peter was nowhere to be found.

Liz was totally freaking out, trying to call his phone and figure out what they were going to do about the Decathlon. Mr. Harrington called May and told her about how they were having the local authorities look out for him, but that they had to attend the competition and he hoped that Peter would show up in time. Flash was ecstatic to have his place back as Peter's replacement, but everyone else was irritated and somewhat thrown off by his absence.

None more so than Maisie.

"Ned," Maisie said through clenched teeth. "Where is he?"

"I-I don't know—" Ned tried, but Maisie rolled her eyes and latched onto his arm, pulling him away from the crowd.

"I feel like I don't even need to ask, do I?" she raised an eyebrow. "He went after the Bird Guy and the weapons, didn't he?"

Ned didn't respond, but the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.

"I'm calling Happy—" Maisie took out her phone, but before Ned could tell her not to, she stopped.

Peter would be utterly screwed if she called Happy to tell him about what he did. After completely disobeying Mr. Stark's instructions and following a weapons deal all the way to Maryland, Maisie wasn't sure what would happen to him.

"You stopped," Ned looked at her phone in confusion.

Maisie glanced up, not answering his obvious question, "If he's not back before Decathlon, I swear to God..."

Ned sighed, nodding, "We'll be fine. Everything will be totally fine."

Maisie nodded, trying to believe it. Something kept pushing to the forefront of her mind, and her chest tightened in annoyance and hurt. Yeah, he'd gone against what Mr. Stark instructed them to do, but after everything, that wasn't the worst part.

Peter had left her behind.

******

The abandoned teen superhero watched with pride as Midtown Tech won the Decathlon National Championship. She couldn't help but feel a little extra smug that they won without the help of Peter, who disappeared without a trace. Maisie tried to call him several times, but they were instructed to keep phones off once inside the Decathlon room.

It wasn't until the team, complete with Flash carrying the large trophy, was approaching the Washington Monument that Ned finally got a call through to Peter.

Maisie was trying to get MJ to come with her on the little tour of the famous monument, but she knew she lost the battle as soon as she mentioned it being built by slaves.

"Fine, enjoy your book, dork," Maisie joked, giving her a light shove as she followed Mr. Harrington toward the entrance. In that moment, she saw Ned put his phone to his ear to say, "Peter?"

The girl rushed toward Ned, and he basically threw the phone at her. She must have looked pretty intimidating, to say the least.

"Ned? You're alive? Look, where's the glowy thing—" Peter sounded frantic over the phone.

"Peter, what the actual hell is wrong with you?" Maisie's voice cut through his, mixed emotions of anger and hurt coming through.

"Maisie, look, I'm sorry, but this is important, the glowy thing is—" Peter tried again.

"Tell him it's safe, it's in my backpack," Ned sighed, placing it on the security conveyor belt to get scanned.

"Ned says it's safe in his backpack," Maisie repeated, furrowing her brows. "And, I'm not done bitching you out yet!"

"Ma'am, the phone needs to be placed on the belt at this time," the security guard gave her a look.

"Peter, we're at the Washington Monument and the security guard guy is telling me to put the phone down, so—" Maisie was interrupted.

"No! Maisie, I need—" Peter was cut off yet again.

"Is that Peter?" Liz asked, grabbing Ned's phone from Maisie.

Maisie tried to remain calm, irrationally upset that Liz took the phone, and she simply placed her small bag on the conveyor belt and passed through the security scanner. She tried her best to ignore whatever conversation Peter and Liz were having before Liz finally put the phone down on the belt and crossed through security with the rest of the team.

"What did he say?" Maisie asked as Liz got into the elevator next to her.

Liz shrugged, "Something about letting Ned's backpack go through the x-ray, I don't know."

Maisie frowned, trying to think of what Peter could've meant.

Just before the elevator doors closed, Flash spoke, "Hey, Mr. Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?"

Maisie shook her head, "Nope, that job's all mine."

She ignored the elevator tour guide's droning as the lift ascended, focusing more on Peter's frantic words and his complete lack of defense for himself regarding leaving the hotel and abandoning the Decathlon. What was going on with him?

"—and notice how the marble and granite are cut around the stone—" the tour guide lady was interrupted by a sudden bright light erupting around them, shattering the glass atop and surrounding the elevator.

Screams sounded from the group of high schoolers, but Maisie scanned the small room for the source of the small explosion. To her dismay, she watched as Ned threw his backpack into the center of the elevator, a hole burned through it.

Oh, so that's what Peter was trying to warn them about.

Ned and Maisie exchanged knowing looks, but both kept their mouths shut as the group began panicking.

"Oh my God," Charles began, pointing upward. "Look at the ceiling!"

Maisie glanced up, seeing a red-orange streak of burned ceiling creating almost a full circle. There was no way it could continue to hold their weight.

"Just stay calm, everyone," Liz tried to regain command of her team, but there was a nervous edge to her voice that gave her away.

"Okay guys, I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working," the tour guide sounded like she was repeating words from a required safety course. "We are very safe in here."

Maisie counted the number of people in the elevator. If she tried, she could teleport approximately five people out at once, but that's if she's straining herself. She'd definitely have to take two trips, but she was still hung up on one small thing.

In order to save everyone, Maisie would have to reveal her superhero identity.

"Maisie, what are we gonna do?" Ned whispered, resigning himself to a corner.

"I'm going to have to get us out of here, I think—" she whispered back, but something interrupted her.

The tour guide opened a hatch on the top of the elevator, and a park ranger stood atop a floor a few feet above where the elevator was stopped. He held his hand down to help pull someone out. Hope fluttered in Maisie's chest; maybe they could get out without her powers.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Cindy was pulled to safety, and Charles, Abe, and everyone slowly followed suit. Flash pushed Liz out of the way, pushing his foot into Mr. Harrington's open hand in order to get through the hole in the ceiling. To Maisie's annoyance, he was adamant that he brought the trophy with him. As he pushed himself through the hatch in the ceiling, the remaining four people in the elevator felt it shift as though something had finally given way. Maisie locked wide eyes with Ned before checking to see if Flash made it out alright.

As soon as he stepped off of the elevator, it finally broke, sending Mr. Harrington, Ned, Liz, and Maisie in a plunge down toward the bottom of the elevator shaft.

"Give me your hands!" Maisie yelled over their panicked screams.

Oddly, Ned and Liz listened, but before Maisie could latch onto Mr. Harrington, something forced the elevator to stop, and it halted in midair. She looked up and saw strings resembling spider webs attached to the top of the elevator.

Then, all too quickly, they were falling again. Maisie still hadn't let go of the other two's hands, and she considered teleporting them out to safety before coming back for Mr. Harrington. Her mind was racing a million miles an hour. She still had time, Peter could still save them.

Before she could make up her mind, the elevator's free fall ceased, and Spider-Man landed hard in the center of the elevator floor. Spider-Man sent another web up at the top of the elevator shaft, and the momentum caused him to fly toward the ceiling where he held himself steady with his feet, hanging upside down.

As soon as it was evident that Spider-Man was holding the elevator steady, Ned let out a whoop of triumph. Maisie let go of Liz's and Ned's hands, glaring daggers at Peter that she hoped he could see.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Peter cleared his throat and lowered his voice, adding a thicker New York accent. "Don't worry 'bout it, I got you."

Maisie's fingers twitched, forming a fist at her side.

"Yes! Yes!" Ned shouted, almost jumping up and down.

"Hey, hey, big guy, stop moving around so much!" Peter's voice echoed through the elevator, sounding more like his usual tone.

"Sorry, sir," Ned apologized, ensuring Peter's identity remained a secret.

Mr. Harrington looked at Spider-Man, the terror causing him to sound as though he'd just run a marathon, "Your superhero friend with the, uh, t-teleporting coming to get us out of here?"

Peter grunted, holding the weight of the elevator in his hands, "Nope, just me."

Mr. Harrington let out a sigh, and Maisie assumed he just wished he could blink and be out of the terrifying situation they were in. She could definitely relate.

Spider-Man pulled the elevator up until it was level with the floor where the rest of the Decathlon team was waiting, and the park rangers pulled the shattered glass doors open for the rest of the group to exit through. Liz was out first, pushed toward the exit by Mr. Harrington. Then Ned, and then Maisie subtly backed up to allow her teacher to exit before her. As soon as the other three were out, Maisie felt comfortable taking a step toward the exit.

Unfortunately for her, that was exactly when the webs snapped, causing the elevator to continue its free fall down the shaft. Her instincts kicked in as she felt the ground below her disappear. Before she fell too far, she pushed her feet down against the elevator floor and leapt upwards, hand outstretched toward Peter's.

Maisie trusted that he'd catch her. There's no way he'd let her fall, she knew that.

Maisie's trust wasn't misplaced as Spider-Man shot a web around her outstretched hand, catching her with ease. Maisie's body hung by that small thread, but looking at Peter holding her, she wasn't scared.

She was still angry.

"Yeah, I got you," Peter whispered, pulling her the rest of the way up.

As her mouth passed his head, she whispered softly but strongly, "We need to talk."

He didn't respond.

Everyone on the floor stared at Maisie as Spider-Man set her down on the tile floor, ensuring she was safe. She didn't bother looking anything less than peeved that the entire situation happened, and thankfully, the rest of the group attributed it to almost dying. Maisie figured someone might find her lack of fear to be confusing, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Thanks, Spider-Man," she chirped, though there was an edge to her voice that she hoped no one besides Peter recognized.

"Yeah, no problem, little lady," and the obnoxious New York accent was back. "Stay safe, kids, and—"

Peter's awkward little speech was cut short by his web snapping, and he fell down into the elevator shaft.

Still, Flash leaned over the side of the shaft, calling out, "Are you really friends with Peter Parker?"

******

After the horrifying incident at the Washington Monument, the bus ride home was full of heartfelt reflections and dramatic recounts of what happened. Everyone was chattering quietly about how Spider-Man had saved them, except for Maisie, who opted to sit near the back of the bus. MJ sat alone farther up, using a small reading light to see her book in the dark. Peter sat next to Ned, though he kept peeking over his seat at Maisie alone in the back.

Eventually, Peter thought he'd get the courage to go up and apologize to her about what happened, but at the same time, he wasn't entirely sorry. He figured she'd be upset if he told her that. The teenage boy turned and looked at her again, and he decided that saying nothing would be worse.

"Hey, move, I gotta talk to Maisie," Peter said, nudging Ned.

Ned's eyes widened, "You're a brave man, Peter."

Peter frowned, "Thanks."

Ned let him out of the seat, and Peter slowly made his way to where Maisie sat. When he reached her, he saw that her eyes were closed and her head rested on her seat. He breathed a sigh of annoyance, realizing he missed his chance, and he turned to leave.

As he turned, he bumped the seat Maisie's head was resting on, and she jerked awake, eyes wide and alarmed.

When she saw it was just him, she exhaled and placed a hand on her heart, "You scared the crap out of me."

Peter's eyes brightened, not hearing any hostility in her voice, "Aren't you supposed to be a superhero?"

Maisie let a steely expression take her face, and any optimism Peter had for the conversation went out the window as she replied, "Aren't we supposed to be a team?"

He was quiet for a moment, glancing around the bus to make sure no one was listening before sitting down in the seat across from her.

"I know, and I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just... you wanted to wait and talk to Happy, and I knew that something was happening in Maryland, so when I saw the tracker move, I had to go stop it. And I was right! The winged-vulture guy was trying to steal alien tech from a truck in the middle of the night!"

Maisie stared at him, "Well, did you catch him?"

Peter's mouth closed, having nothing to say.

"Where is he? I mean, you were able to stop him from stealing weapons and causing harm to civilians, right? That's why you felt the need to go off without me," she continued, trying hard to keep her voice down. "You must've been able to do it by yourself."

"He got away, okay?" Peter snapped, feeling defensive. "I got locked inside a storage facility after hitting my head, there's nothing I could've done."

Maisie could almost laugh, "Yeah, if only you knew someone who could jump to an entirely different location within seconds."

Peter frowned, "Even if I asked you to come, you wouldn't have."

"That's because I know about the commitment you have to Decathlon," Maisie retorted. "I honestly don't see how you haven't been kicked off the team yet."

"Do you think I care about a high school Decathlon team with everything going on?" Peter exclaimed. He looked around to make sure no one was listening in, "Mr. Stark gave us these suits for a reason. I'm supposed to be a superhero, and I can't see how going to class is going to help me stop the Vulture from hurting any more people."

"Hard for you to be right when Mr. Stark was the one telling you not to go after him," Maisie shot back.

"Which is why I need to prove to him that I'm capable of handling it! Then, he'll see that I'm ready for more..." Peter explained.

Maisie couldn't help but hear the use of the singular "I." It didn't seem that Peter considered them a partnership anymore.

"Well, it seems like you've really got it under control," Maisie kept her face impassive. "Let me know if there's anything sane you need help with. Otherwise, feel free to leave me alone."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed, "What are you—"

"Alright, kids," Mr. Harrington called from the front of the bus. As he spoke, the bus came to a stop, "Your parents are waiting outside to drive you home. See you tomorrow, and oh! I've been told that the school psychologists are prepared to speak with you if you need, you know, psychological therapy."

Maisie grabbed her backpack and jacket from the seat in front of her, pushing past Peter in the process. As she stepped off the bus, she waved goodbye to MJ who went to hug her waiting mother, and she looked around for any sign of her father. After the third time scanning the small crowd of parents, Maisie came to the realization that he wasn't there. Of course he wasn't. It wasn't like she had almost died or anything.

The small amount of hope she had shattered, and she readjusted her backpack on her shoulders. That's what she got for actually having hope...

As she turned to leave, a hand latched onto her arm and pulled her to the side.

"Maisie, stop being like this, I'm just trying to help!" Peter whispered, eyes wide and pleading. "I don't know what to do, but I have to stop this guy! And I don't want to—"

Maisie's eyes landed on a long-haired brunette looking around for her nephew, and she nodded at her, "Your aunt's looking for you."

Peter glanced in May's direction for a moment. When he turned back, he sounded pained and confused, "Did your dad even come to pick you up?"

Maisie yanked her arm out of his grasp, "See you at school, Pete. If you decide to show up."

He watched her turn a corner out of sight where he assumed she teleported home. He turned and greeted his aunt, trying not to think about what he screwed up with the girl who was supposed to be his partner.

******

Maisie wasn't sure what she was expecting the next day at school, but she knew Peter was given detention for skipping Spanish class, and then he skipped detention. If he kept this up, it wouldn't be much of a surprise for the high-standard school to simply expel him for his actions. She tried not to think about going to school without him.

When night came, Maisie tried to go on patrol without Peter. She managed to stop two muggings and an attempted rape, (she may or may not have sent the attacker to the hospital in a near coma for that one) and she returned a lost dog to its owner ten blocks away. The dog's name was Bruno; he was very sweet.

Still, being on patrol felt wrong without Peter there with her. Every time she ended up on a rooftop staring over Queens, it was like she was missing something. The sense of fulfillment she got from saving someone was still there, but Maisie'd grown used to sharing it with someone else.

Not to mention, Maisie was starting to feel like maybe Peter was right.

Every time she saved a kitten from a tree or stopped a sidewalk mugging, she felt like her powers were being put to waste. Peter was right about one thing, she could be doing so much more.

She'd just been too scared to see what she could really do. She still was.

After pacing across rooftops for hours in the middle of the night, she had talked herself into a fury. Her thoughts were unrelenting as the guilt set in, and Maisie finally teleported home, unable to continue her patrol anymore.

After everything she and Peter had gone through, she had lashed out at him... why? Because he was ready to bring justice to a real-life supervillain, and she wasn't? Maisie threw off her mask, chucking it into her closet with too much force. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm herself down. When that didn't work, she lashed out in the only way she knew how: she sent her fist through the wall.

Maisie's eyes widened, sobering immediately. Her father was not going to like that.

"Margaret?" a stunned voice breathed from the doorway.

Maisie didn't turn around, staring with wide eyes at her broken wall. This is not happening, she told herself. He was supposed to have left earlier that day for a business trip.

"Dad, I'm—" she began, stepping away from the wall. When Maisie saw her dad's face, she realized that he wasn't even looking at the wall. He was staring at her suit with a mix of astonishment and disbelief. "Oh no."

"What are you wearing?" he asked, but the betrayal on his face told her that he already knew.

"I can explain—" she tried, stepping forward. Her movements were stiff and uncoordinated for a superhero.

"You're that... that vigilante?" her father's disgusted tone shocked her into taking a step backward.

"I-I—" she choked on her own voice.

The man shook his head, staring at his daughter as though he'd never seen her before, "I can't believe this."

Maisie bit her tongue, not having anything to say.

"No, you... doing this..." he looked furious now. "My daughter would never do this..."

"I am your daughter," Maisie spoke softly. "As much as you wish I weren't."

The man paused. His eyes dulled, staring at his daughter in honest resentment. Maisie felt anger surge in her, and she balled her fists. She could see it clearly now; her father wanted an out. He may have been a decent parent before her mom died, but Maisie could tell that with every passing day, he despised his parental role more and more. Maisie couldn't even remember the last time she talked to him before that night that didn't result in an argument.

"No, you're not," he finally replied. "Not anymore."

Dread filled the empty pit in her stomach, "What?"

"I want you out," he responded. When she didn't move, frozen, he continued. "Now!"

Maisie jumped, then she shook her head, "Dad, no—"

"NOW!" he snapped.

Maisie flinched. Her eyes were dry as she grabbed the closest things to her, hoping they were enough to get her through however long her dad was going to banish her for. She reached for her mask in her closet, and when he saw it, her dad looked away. Maisie could see the look of distaste on his face from where she stood, and she had to look away.

The girl's throat burned, forcing tears back as she spoke, "Dad—"

"Goodbye, Margaret," he interrupted, looking her dead in the eyes.

Only one tear managed to slip down her cheek as she teleported to the first place she could think of.

******

Maisie stood in front of Peter's apartment after having changed out of her suit, trying to decide between teleporting into his room or just knocking on the front door. She checked her phone for the time, and she frowned when it showed her it was a couple minutes past one-thirty in the morning. She wasn't sure if May was working the night shift at the hospital, but she certainly didn't want to wake her if she weren't.

The girl took a deep breath and teleported into Peter's bedroom.

Usually, she'd expect some sort of surprised jump or gasp at her sudden arrival, but she heard nothing of the sort. Maisie looked around the room, and she saw that it was empty. Furrowing her brows in confusion, she put her school bag on the floor of Peter's somewhat messy room. She finally understood when she saw the open window and a head of messy brown curls on the fire escape.

Maisie ducked through the window and sat down next to the boy, but he didn't even look up. The two sat in silence for a moment, staring out at Queens and listening to the sounds of the city. The girl took in his appearance, wrinkling her nose at the sight of pink Hello Kitty pants and an oversized white T-shirt.

"I'm sorry," Peter said, surprising her.

Maisie frowned, "For what?"

Peter sighed, "For everything."

She studied his face for a moment, noticing the red, puffy appearance of his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Mr. Stark took my suit," he looked down at his hands, sounding crestfallen. At his words, Maisie's heart broke.

"What happened?" she breathed, eyes wide.

"Didn't you look at the news?" Peter laughed humorlessly. "I went to intercept a weapons deal at the Staten Island Ferry, but I... I screwed it up. There was FBI there and everything to take care of it, and I just got in the way. One of the alien weapons malfunctioned and cut the ferry in half."

Maisie inhaled deeply, praying that everyone on the boat ended up okay.

"I tried to hold it together, but everything was falling apart. Then, Mr. Stark showed up and put it back together," Peter wiped his nose, shaking his head. "I could've killed everyone on that ferry, and it would've been all my fault. If Mr. Stark hadn't shown up—"

"Are you okay?" Maisie interrupted.

He finally looked up at her, confused, "What?"

"Are you okay?" she repeated. "I want to make sure you're okay after what happened because though I think what you did was reckless and pretty stupid, you did it because you want to help people, and I don't think that should go unnoticed."

"I'm..." Peter stared at her in awe for a moment. "Thanks."

"What did Mr. Stark say?" she continued, turning to look back out at Queens.

"He said he's taking the suit forever, and that if I'm nothing without the suit, then I shouldn't have it," Peter sniffed, shaking his head. "I've been such an idiot."

Maisie's lips tilted into a sad smile. "You're learning."

Peter nudged her with his shoulder, and the two returned to silence. Maisie stared straight ahead at the city outside his window, feeling her throat close up and tears well in her eyes. She was surprised she'd kept it together this long, but she was finally at her breaking point. Still, Maisie tried to maintain a sense of composure. She sniffed once, rubbing her nose and brushing a tear off her cheek.

"My dad kicked me out," she managed to say. Her voice sounded void of emotion.

Peter turned to stare at her, wide-eyed, "What?"

She turned and looked at her small bag sitting on the floor of Peter's room, "He found out. About Mischief. Then, he kicked me out."

Peter's mouth hung open, unable to comprehend. Maisie just shrugged, wiping another tear away.

"I don't have anywhere to go," she continued. Her voice sounded more vulnerable than she preferred, and she winced, looking down at her lap. "I-I was wondering—"

"Maisie, of course you can stay here," Peter was still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that was their entire conversation. "I just don't understand—"

"My dad never really spent a lot of time caring about me," Maisie told him. "I don't even know why I'm surprised."

"Because he's your dad! He should... he should..." Peter shook his head, trailing off. His eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind, "You don't think he'd tell people, do you?"

Maisie stayed quiet for a moment. She hadn't even considered that thought. "I have no idea."

Her gaze landed on a plane flying above Queens. The blinking red lights distracted her for a moment, and she wondered if she could teleport aboard a plane like that and just fly away. Maybe she could even just teleport herself to another country and live out her days on a beach with a fantastic view. The girl moved her eyes back to the city in front of her, and she sighed. This was a pretty good view, too, she decided.

Peter turned to face Maisie, catching her attention, "You don't need him. You don't need anyone who just gives up on you like that, seriously."

Maisie smiled at the look of determination and sincerity in his eyes, "I know, Pete. I just..." she sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know how I'm going to get by on my own now."

"You're not on your own," Peter frowned, looking serious. He vowed in that moment that he'd make sure she never felt alone again.

Maisie couldn't comprehend his words, suddenly nervous, "Do I go into foster care, now? I've still got two and a half years until I turn eighteen!"

"Maisie..." Peter tried.

"Oh, God, how am I supposed to pay for food?" her breathing quickened. "Midtown has tuition, how am I supposed to pay tuition for school?"

"Maisie!" Peter grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him.

Her voice was fragile as she spoke, barely above a whisper, "What?"

"We'll figure it out, I promise," Peter tried to sound more convincing, but it was tougher than he thought it would be. "You're going to stay with us, and second semester just started at school, so your dad already paid for it. You're going to stay with me, and you're going to go to school. After that... we're going to figure it out together, okay?"

Maisie's eyes were wide, and she wished with every fiber of her being that she could believe him, "Okay."

"Okay," Peter nodded, turning back to face the city.

The boy moved his arm so it was around Maisie's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and sighed, wishing she could go back before she screwed everything up that night, and she figured he was thinking the same exact thing. Tears pricked her eyes, and before she knew it, they were streaming down her face without a way to stop them. Every moment of pent up frustration, anger, and hopelessness unleashed into Peter Parker's shoulder. Peter's heart ached at the sound of the girl's crying, and he didn't think he hated anyone more than Maisie's father.

He wrapped his arms around the girl in a hug, "It's okay. You're gonna be fine."

She hugged him tighter, praying he was right.

Eventually, she picked her head up, sniffling as her tears came to a stop. With a hoarse voice she asked, "Why do you smell like garbage?"

******

The following day, Maisie transported the rest of her favorite clothes into her drawer in Peter's room, and her other essential belongings into his closet. The Parkers didn't have a guest room, so she was currently crashing on the couch in their living room, but she was still so thankful they took her in. The more Peter talked about how he and May were going to be there for her, the more guilty Maisie felt. She knew that May maintained a humble living, being a single parent of a teenage boy. That, and Midtown Tech tuition certainly cost a lot. There was no way she could continue to sit by while May provided all these things.

As Maisie fell asleep every night, she promised herself that it was temporary, and that her father was going to come back for her. And if he didn't, she told herself that she'd beg for it back. Maisie let out a scoff of disdain every time she thought it; how did her life get so screwed up that she had to beg for her horrible father to allow her to live with him again?

Maisie woke up the next morning feeling just as guilty as when she fell asleep, but still, she went to school alongside Peter. His mood wasn't doing well for her guilt either, and although she knew he tried to stay upbeat and maintain his usual Peter attitude, Maisie could tell that he was crushed about what happened at the ferry.

When they arrived at school that day, Peter was called to the principal's office, and Mr. Morita gave him a long-winded speech that apparently resulted in several weeks of detention, but no expulsion. They were thankful of that, and Maisie knew he'd try harder to just be a teenager again, despite the fact that he didn't really have a choice anymore.

Maisie went through the day in a haze, trying not to remember that she wasn't allowed in her own home anymore. She wondered if her dad was as torn up about kicking her out as she was, or if he was already getting rid of the furniture in her room. The only thing getting her through the day was the selfish understanding that Peter was just as miserable as she was. At least they could get through it together.

She barely registered Peter sitting back down in his seat after coming back from the bathroom. His shell-shocked face paired with a hesitant smile prompted her curiosity.

"What?" she whispered, a questioning look on her face.

Peter's smile grew as he spoke, "I just asked Liz to homecoming..."

"What?" Maisie's mouth hung open. "She said yes?"

"Yeah, that was my first reaction, too," Peter replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

Maisie almost pouted, "What about our Star Wars marathon?"

Peter gave her a look, "Are you serious—"

"Of course not," Maisie shoved him, laughing lightly. "But, now I definitely have to go, too. I'll just have to get a dress..."

"Oh, God, Maisie you have to help me," Peter's eyes were wide. "I have no idea what to do at a dance, what am I supposed to do?"

Maisie chuckled, "Settle down, you have both me and May to help. You're gonna be great."

******

When they got home that day, Peter ran into the apartment, sliding across the floor. He saw May and looked somewhat reassured.

"I need your help," he said. May looked nervous for a second, unsure of what he needed help with.

Maisie moved to stand next to him, "Liz said she'd go to homecoming with him."

May understood, nodding, "Alright, Peter. Let's get out that suit."

Maisie felt uncomfortable as Peter started getting ready for the dance with May's help, just a bit out of place as she helped him tie a Windsor knot from a YouTube video.

The girl retreated into Peter's room and grabbed the dress she picked out from the store on the way home from school that day. Understandably, the stores lacked a great selection so close to the date of homecoming, but she was still proud she found a cute dress so last minute. The dress had a halter top that was tight at the chest but flowed out at the hips, and ended just above her knees. She smiled at the color that caught her eye when she saw it in the store: bright red, not unlike Spider-Man's suit and the fading streaks in her hair. Borrowing May's hair curler, she put light waves into her hair, pinning one of the strands back into a small braid. As she studied her appearance in the mirror, she nodded in satisfaction and grabbed her black heels from Peter's bed.

Maisie exited his room as Peter was shrugging on his suit jacket. She smiled softly at the sight of the boy all dressed up, and something in her chest tightened. He finally looked over as she entered the living room, and his eyes widened.

"Whoa, Maisie, you look... really good," Peter mumbled. He didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't care, that he was openly staring at her. She laughed, tucking a piece of curled hair behind her ear.

"Thanks, you look pretty good yourself," she replied, gesturing at his getup.

Peter smiled, then he pointed at her dress, understanding lacing his voice, "I like the color."

Maisie bit her lip, shrugging, "Thought you might."

Whatever moment passed between them was interrupted by May's voice, "Alright, Peter! You're going to be late for Liz's if you keep taking so long—" she entered the living room to see Maisie, and she smiled brightly, "oh, Maisie, you look great! Are you sure you're good for a ride?"

"Yeah, I'm good, thank you anyway," she smiled in appreciation. Maisie cleared her throat and pointed at the door, "You better get going though, or Peter's gonna ruin his first shot at a date."

May laughed, grabbing her keys, "Very true, let's go Peter."

Peter shoved her as he walked by, giving her a mocking look, and Maisie let out a laugh, "Good luck, dork."

His eyes followed her as she turned back to the apartment, watching her careful movements around the place that had become her new home. Peter looked down at the corsage in his hand, furrowing his brows for a moment before shaking his head and following his aunt down to the car.

As the door closed, Maisie looked up, sighing as Peter went on his date with the girl of his dreams. She just hoped he had fun; he deserved that much.

******

Maisie teleported into the same alley she used to get to school in the morning and walked the rest of the way to the homecoming dance. The girl smoothed out her red dress and smiled at her appearance, proud to be dressed up for a change. When she approached the steps of the school, she saw MJ waiting for her in a white and yellow dress with her hair pulled back and out of her face.

"Hey," she greeted, smiling. "No date for you either?"

MJ snorted, "Not unless you count."

Maisie held out her arm for MJ to hook it through, "Well, let me escort you in, milady."

MJ laughed again and complied, and the two girls confidently strolled into the gymnasium. They found Ned rather quickly surrounded by the other Decathlon kids, and they joined him.

"M-Maisie, you're so pretty!" Ned said with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He sobered suddenly, stuttering, "I-I mean..."

"Thank you, Ned," Maisie smiled appreciatively. "I love your hat, by the way."

Ned's nervous expression dissipated, replaced with a happy smile, "Thanks!"

A song that the group seemed to know came on the speakers, pounding in Maisie's enhanced ears, but she didn't know it well enough to sing along. She danced next to her friends, wondering how she was lucky enough to still have friends like them after everything.

The song eventually ended, and the group's attention was brought to a tall brunette in a short-sleeved pink dress entering the dance. They called Liz over, waving to the senior girl, but Maisie was a bit busy searching for her date who was nowhere to be found.

As Liz arrived, she smiled, "Hey, how's the party so far? Is the disco ball too much? I thought it might be too much..."

"Where's Peter?" Maisie asked, slightly rattled by his absence.

Liz looked over at her, a suspicious look on her face, "He's still in the car. My dad wanted to talk to him, I guess."

Maisie's nervousness subsided, but Liz looked skeptical as she returned to her conversation with the Decathlon team. Ned didn't seem to notice Peter's absence as he talked to Betty Brant about where he got his hat, and Maisie smiled. The lights in the gym were flashing to the beat of whatever pop hit was playing that Maisie didn't recognize, and she crossed her arms as she hung back next to MJ.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention; it was Ned waving at someone at the entrance to the dance. When MJ and Maisie noticed, MJ sent him the middle finger, but Maisie furrowed her brows; the boy looked... off.

His face looked sad, but a determination kept him standing as he approached his homecoming date.

"What did he say to you?" Liz laughed, sounding a bit embarrassed.

Peter winced as he spoke, "I gotta go."

"What?" Liz asked, astonished.

"I'm sorry, you don't deserve this," Peter mumbled to Liz, feeling horrible as he stepped around her to reach Maisie who watched with wide, uncertain eyes. "I need your help."

Maisie's gaze flicked around to the rest of their group, lingering a bit too long on Liz before she looked back at Peter with a determined nod, "Let's go."

The two teens rushed out the back doors of the dance. As they entered the hallway, Peter undid his tie and threw it behind him and started running toward a set of lockers.

"What happened, Peter, you have to tell me!" she called, furrowing her eyebrows as he lifted the set of lockers to reveal a set of web fluid and his old Spider-Man suit. Maisie almost smiled as she saw the homemade suit with the black goggles and blue sweatpants, and she remembered her own purple athletic jacket and bandana she used.

"Liz's dad, he's the Vulture," Peter breathed, not bothering with pretense as he changed into his old costume. "And he knows I'm Spider-Man, he figured it out."

"What?" Maisie's eyes were wide. "How—"

"I don't know, but I left my phone in his car so we can track him, but we can't let him get away," Peter sighed, looking torn. "We need to take him down, together. I still have my comms from the suit," the boy paused, nervous. "Are you with me?"

Maisie nodded. "Of course."

With that, she teleported back to Peter's apartment to get her suit, but as she reached for the deep purple, Stark-made suit, she paused. Her eyes landed on her purple athletic zip-up and the black bandana tied around it in a bow. She smiled, grabbing her comms from her Stark suit and throwing on her handmade, original suit.

Maisie teleported back to the school in her old Mischief costume as Peter ran out into the bus parking lot, and she followed closely behind. Before she could call out to him, something collided with Peter's back, throwing him across the lot and into the side of a bus. Maisie's eyes widened as she saw the same weapon that knocked her out the night of Liz's party.

"He gave you a choice," the man with the shocker machine said. "You chose wrong."

"Ah, what the hell?" Peter mumbled, rolling over onto his stomach to stand up again.

"What's with the crappy costume?" the man said, recharging his weapon.

Maisie teleported in front of him, causing him to jump, "Hey, I remember you!"

The man blindly punched with his weapon, but Mischief had already teleported away. She appeared behind him, kicking him in the back of the leg, forcing him to his knees. Another jump, and she sent a punch to his face and a kick to the arm holding the shock weapon which flew off a good distance from him. Mischief teleported so she was standing over the top of the man, and she sent another punch to his face, knocking him out cold.

Maisie looked over her shoulder to see Peter standing up and attaching his web shooters to his wrists. He walked over and webbed the man to the ground, ensuring he couldn't move.

"Thanks," Peter sighed. "I don't know why I thought I could do any of this without you."

Maisie smiled underneath her bandana, "It's fine, I wanted my revenge anyway."

Peter looked down at her outfit, shaking his head with a smile on his face, "Nice getup."

"Well, it felt right," Maisie shrugged.

"Guys, where are you—wait, what the hell happened out here?" a voice asked. Maisie knew their masks were on, but she still froze when she heard someone speak. She calmed immediately when she saw it was Ned.

"Ned, the guy with the wings is Liz's dad," Peter told him, frantically. He looked over at Maisie before continuing, "We gotta tell Mr. Stark, I need you to call Happy Hogan, he's Mr. Stark's head of security, okay?"

"Oh, and get a computer to track Peter's phone," Maisie remembered. "We gotta catch him before he leaves town."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Ned asked, trying to process everything they said.

Maisie grabbed onto Peter's arm, eyes alight with mischief, "Of course, we're always okay."

With that, she teleported them to the front of the school. Everyone was inside, so they went virtually unnoticed.

Maisie looked around, "We're gonna need a car, I can't teleport if I don't know where we're going."

The sound of an engine revving came almost on cue, and the teen vigilantes turned to see Flash and his homecoming date in a silver sports car approaching the school. Maisie smirked, but before she could say anything, Peter was already swinging toward it. He landed on the front of the car, causing Flash to come to a complete stop, and Maisie teleported gracefully next to him.

"I need your car," Peter said in a gravelly voice. Maisie stood strong, giving Flash a serious look.

"Uh, sir, uh, ma'am, technically this is my dad's car, so I can't—" Flash objected fearfully, but Maisie rolled her eyes, reaching forward and teleporting Flash and his date to the front entrance of the school. Then she teleported herself into the driver's seat as Peter tried to open the driver's side door.

"Oh, come on, let me drive!" Peter frowned.

"Oh, no, not a chance," Maisie scoffed, putting the car into drive. "You're a terrible driver."

"What?" Peter protested.

"We don't have time for this, let's go!" she smacked him on the arm, and he relented, jumping over her into the passenger seat. "Here, take my phone and call Ned."

Maisie knew Peter was a bad driver, but she didn't have much more experience than that despite the fact she'd had her permit for about five months longer than him. It wasn't like her dad took her driving every weekend like a normal parent would. Still, she had superhuman reflexes and a strategic mind, that had to count for something, right?

"Ned, hello?" Peter asked into the phone as Maisie took a sharp right turn out of the parking lot. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"Go for Ned," a voice spoke through the speaker.

"Ned, hey," Peter greeted, wincing as Maisie braked hard to avoid a car before speeding up again. "I need you to track my phone for me, it's in the backseat of Liz's dad's car!"

"Genius move," Ned approved. A moment passed as Ned worked on finding Peter's phone's location. "Okay... uh, he just passed the GameStop on Jackson Avenue!"

"Ned?" Maisie winced at the stupidity of her question. "Could you find the headlights on this thing? We're in Flash's car!"

"You stole Flash's car?" Ned laughed out loud. "That's awesome. Okay, I'll pull up the specs!"

"Maisie!" Peter's voice sounded a warning as she almost hit another car, but she only smiled as though she were in complete control, ignoring the panicked look on Peter's face.

"Are you guys alright?" Ned asked, the sound of typing being his background music.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Maisie chirped. "Have you gotten a hold of Happy yet?"

"Yeah, I'm working on it, just gotta backdoor the phone system," Ned replied. He sounded like he mumbled something else like, "Guy in the chair!"

The rest of the drive consisted of trying not to run into cars going a lot slower than Maisie and Peter's, and Ned failing to get in contact with Happy Hogan, who kept hanging up whenever he finally got through to him.

"Another left!" Ned called out, trying to direct Maisie. "And... he stopped at an old industrial building in Brooklyn."

Maisie and Peter exchanged a look, "What? That doesn't make sense, I thought he said he was going out of town!"

"Weird," Ned didn't seem to have an answer for them. "Oh, I reached Mr. Happy. Don't think he likes you guys, by the way. It sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off in nine minutes."

"Wait, what?" Maisie asked, furrowing her brows.

"He was surrounded by a bunch of boxes," Ned supplied.

"Boxes... oh my God, it's moving day!" Peter realized, eyes widening.

"He's gonna rob the plane coming from the Tower!" Maisie understood. "We gotta stop him!"

"Right! Right! You're gonna miss the turn!" Ned realized, almost shouting through the phone.

Maisie slammed the wheel to the right, hoping they would still make the turn. It didn't look promising until Peter shot a web at a telephone pole, turning them ninety degrees to the right. Unfortunately, it was a little too much, and the car flipped onto its side, skidding across the pavement. Maisie latched onto Peter's hand, squeezing it tightly.

Eventually, the car came to a scratching stop, and she tentatively opened her eyes.

"Guys, are you okay?" Ned asked.

Maisie and Peter locked eyes, not letting go of each other's hands. The gravity of the situation finally hit them both at the same time. Then, inexplicably, they burst into laughter.

"Oh my God, are you guys dead? Are you—hey, are you laughing?" Ned sounded confused. The two only laughed harder.

Maisie managed to compose herself long enough to sit up, wiping her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, we're good, Ned."

Peter cleared his throat, "Just keep trying to get through to Happy."

"It's been an honor, Spider-Man, Mischief," Ned finished. Maisie wouldn't be surprised if he was saluting.

Peter jumped out of the car, and Maisie followed closely behind him. They paused in front of the door, knowing that a fight laid behind it.

"Ready?" Maisie looked to Peter. She was really wondering.

"I don't think I know what 'ready' feels like," Peter replied. "But, at least you're here."

Maisie smirked. She pushed open the door to the building, and they went in.

After a moment of walking, Maisie stopped, and she teleported away as Peter jumped into the rafters of the ceiling. As Maisie appeared behind a column in the main building, she saw as Peter descended slowly from above, letting his webs lower him down onto the ground. It was obvious to the two of them that they were expecting a bit more of a fight, but all they saw was Mr. Toomes standing next to a table, blueprints to the Avengers plane and a beer in front of him.

Peter glanced at Maisie, and she nodded in response. The boy touched down on the ground, and she teleported to stand next to him.

"Hey!" Peter called out, grabbing the Vulture guy's attention. When he turned, Peter continued, "Surprised?"

"Oh, hey, Pete," Mr. Toomes greeted. "I didn't hear you come in."

"It's over, we got you," Peter continued, trying not to be bothered by the use of his name.

At his words, Toomes' eyes flicked to Maisie, "And who might you be, little lady? One of Peter's friends?"

"I'd tell you, but that sort of defeats the purpose of the mask," Maisie shot back.

"Ooh, she's a fiesty one," Toomes laughed. "My daughter would like you, I'm sure. As for Pete, I'm just starting to understand why she'd like him. I mean, when he first came by, I was like 'really?' but now, I'm starting to get it."

"How could you do this to her?" Peter asked, shaking his head.

"To her? I'm not doing anything to her, Pete," Toomes sighed. "I'm doing this for her."

"Uh huh, sure," Peter shot a web, gluing the man's hand to the table and knocking over his beer.

"You kids are young," the man shook his head. "You don't understand how the world works."

"Yeah, well I understand that selling weapons to criminals is wrong," Peter deadpanned, as if there were nothing more obvious.

"How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people... those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me, they don't care about us," Toomes scoffed. "We build their roads and we fight all their wars and everything, but they don't care about us. We have to pick up after 'em. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about, Peter."

"Sure, they just save the world every once in a while, free of charge," Maisie glared. "No big deal."

"It's never for anything more than the attention," Toomes shot back. "It's all a spectacle built to boost their egos in the end."

"And carrying a nuke through a wormhole into space," Maisie took a challenging stance. "What? You think Stark did that for fun?"

Toomes scoffed, but before he could respond, Peter cut him off, "Why are you telling us this? What's the point?"

"Because I want you to understand," Toomes sighed, pulling a knife out from his pocket. "And, I needed a little time to get her airborne."

The sound of a wall crashing down echoed behind them, and the two jumped and dodged the famous winged suit just in time as it flew randomly throughout the warehouse, slamming into the walls and columns. Maisie teleported as it almost collided with her, and the two heroes were separated as Peter began flipping throughout the room to dodge the suit. Suddenly, the suit flew up and out of the ceiling. Maisie watched, waiting for it to attack again. When it didn't, she furrowed her brows in confusion.

"I'm sorry, kids," Toomes spoke up, free of his web restraint.

"What are you talking about? That thing hasn't even touched us yet!" Peter shouted back, getting riled up.

"True, then again, it wasn't really trying to," Toomes smirked.

Maisie's eyes flicked around the room, noticing the severed columns that were meant to be holding the ceiling. She looked over to Peter, he was walking toward Toomes, too far away to reach. Her eyes widened as the suit came crashing down, severing the last column in the far corner of the room. Peter was too far away.

The building collapsed as Maisie teleported to Peter's side, but a piece of rock collided with her head, knocking her off balance as she reappeared next to him. Both superheroes went down, trapped by the wreckage sent down on them from above.

When Maisie was conscious enough to understand what was going on around her, she heard Peter's voice echoing through the destruction, asking if she was okay.

"M-Maisie!" he coughed, a wet cough. Maisie prayed that it wasn't blood that he was coughing up. The sound of grunting continued, and she assumed he was trying to lift whatever was crushing him off of him.

"I'm h-here," she stuttered, barely managing a voice above a whisper.

Her chest was being crushed by something huge, feeling like the slightest movement might tear her in half. Based on Peter's voice, he only sounded about a foot away from her, but she couldn't see him. She wasn't sure if that was because she couldn't see anything, or if there was building cutting off her view of him. Either way, she knew she couldn't teleport anywhere, there was no way to focus.

"Hello?" Peter managed to yell, panic flooding his voice. "Hello? Hey, we're down here! I'm stuck! We're s-stuck! We can't move! Please, someone help!"

Maisie coughed, spitting out a string of blood. Tears clouded her vision, and she wished she could've said she was brave as she laid crushed by the collapsed building, but the sound of her soft sobs echoed through the destruction. Peter's enhanced senses caught the sound, and his heart sunk into his chest.

A wave of determination set in as he heard her cry. He'd be damned if he let this building crush her to death.

He shifted ever so slightly under the pressure of the concrete, moving his hands above his shoulders. Then, he started to push.

"C'mon, Peter," he mumbled to himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing all of his strength and energy into pushing upward. "Come on, Spider-Man! Come on, Spider-Man!"

Maisie felt a weight shift above her, and a little gasp escaped her lips. Relief.

"Come on, Spider-Man!" Peter shouted.

He let out a guttural scream, pushing with all of his strength, and he stood up, holding the collapsed concrete above his head.

Maisie's eyes widened. She pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't think about anything besides getting them out. Limping as fast as she could, she dove, wrapping her arms around Peter, and she blinked.

Maisie landed on top of him on the pavement outside what used to be the building. Slowly, Maisie's eyes blinked open to see if Peter was okay, and she found him watching her, too. She breathed a sigh of relief and let her head fall back down onto his chest again. Peter's brows furrowed for a moment at the action, but he let his hand fall onto her head, brushing chunks of building and dust out of her hair. They didn't move from their position for a moment, catching their breath and gathering their bearings.

Eventually, Maisie slowly pulled away, finally breathing evenly again, and turned to face the city in the distance. She saw Avengers Tower lit up, the "A" shining the brightest of the lights in New York City.

"Alright, Spider-Man," Maisie sighed. Her eyes landed on a figure resting on the side of a building a few blocks down, not hiding at all. Toomes. "We've got a job to finish."

The two watched the older man atop the building, staring out at the Avengers Tower. It seemed like he was waiting for something. Maisie narrowed her eyes. She gripped Peter's hand and teleported them to the roof behind him, close enough to be able to take him down.

Then, as if on cue, the Vulture leaped into the dark sky just as a plane departed the edge of the Tower in the distance.

"Shit," Maisie swore, teleporting closer, but she was too late.

Peter, however, wasn't. He shot his web at Toomes, and Maisie wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified when she saw that it stuck to the back of his mechanical wings. Peter took off, trailing behind the villain flying higher in the sky toward the plane.

Maisie frowned, knowing that if she teleported into holding onto the web that she'd clue the man into the extra weight. Her eyes lifted higher, settling on the plane where she knew the two were heading.

"Meet you there," she mumbled, and she teleported.

She landed inside the plane, eyes wide as she adjusted to the change. All around her were weapons manufactured for the Avengers, the gear that they'd used to save the world several times. Her eyes widened as she saw crates worth of miniature arc reactors, clean energy that Tony Stark once created as a hostage in a cave in Afghanistan. Maisie had to talk herself out of pocketing one as she made her way to the cockpit to search for Toomes and Peter.

Before she could even begin to scan the skies for them, she heard the sound of air rushing through the plane as though a hole had opened to the outside. Maisie froze; he was on board.

"Mason, this better work," Toomes' voice echoed through the plane.

Maisie teleported to the back of the plane, avoiding the man as he moved toward the cockpit. She eyed his movements as he scanned the crates of advanced weaponry with greed. Panic started to set in when she didn't see Peter follow Toomes on board, and she moved to the hole in the plane the man entered through. It was covered by what Maisie remembered as the Vulture's wings in a seal around the hole, and the girl's eyes widened as she realized Peter must've still been on the outside of the plane. That, or he was falling to the ground with no hope of survival.

Instead of finding Peter, she was greeted by the wings seal's sudden shifting. Maisie's eyes widened as something collided with it, loosening the wings' grip on the plane. She felt the air start to rush back outside, and her eyes widened even more.

"Shit!" she exclaimed as the wings moved enough to make a hole big enough to create a vacuum pulling everything inside the plane to the outside. She remembered her comms, "Are you on the outside of the plane?"

"You kids just won't die, will you?" a voice caught her attention, and Maisie saw Toomes stalking toward her in anger.

The vacuum was too strong, and Maisie slipped on her foot, falling to the ground toward the hole in the plane. She let out a yell and shot Toomes an angry look before teleporting back to the cockpit.

Thankfully, the man didn't follow her, but she knew that meant he was likely going to fight Peter.

"Spider-Man, you on the plane?" she asked, waiting for his boyish voice to respond.

"Just a typical homecoming," an exasperated voice chimed through her ear. He sounded like he had just run a marathon, "on the outside of an invisible jet," another panting breath, "fighting my girlfriend's dad!"

Maisie couldn't help her scoff, "A little presumptuous to call her your girlfriend, don't you think?"

The girl took a seat in front of the controls, trying to find some sign of familiarity. Autopiloted jets that had to be emergency landed were not on her list of things she knew how to operate. After tonight, she wondered if she would even count cars as something she knew how to operate. Shaking her head, Maisie shoved the thought from her mind and focused on the controls.

"How the hell do I land a plane?" she asked, knowing that Peter would be just as lost as her.

"A little busy here, just—just figure it out!" he replied, and Maisie heard more fighting noises.

Her eyes caught movement on a small screen; Peter was fighting the Vulture on the outside of the plane in a homemade sweatsuit. Good thing he's sticky, she said to herself, praying he would be alright. And he would be, if she could just land the plane.

"Oh, God!" Peter cried, then silence. Then, "Whew, I can't believe that worked!"

Maisie tried to ignore him, focusing on the multicolored buttons on the dashboard of the plane and trying not to destroy them with her frustration.

"Oh, shit," Peter said. "Uh, Mai—Mischief? We lost one of the, uh, propeller thingies?" Another beat passed, then, "Oh my God."

"God, what is it?" she asked, finally looking up from the controls. Her eyes widened as she saw that the plane's trajectory was sending them straight toward the city. And she had no idea what to do.

Maisie started randomly pressing every button she could reach, hoping that it would force the plane downward, but nothing worked. Glancing at the screen, she saw Peter pulling on a web attached to the wing of the plane, hoping it would turn it in time. She felt the jet slowly rotate toward the side Peter was pulling, and a flicker of hope erupted in her chest.

"Please turn, please turn!" he begged.

Then, it all went to hell.

Peter's web snapped, dropping the wing of the plane back into its original position. Maisie's eyes widened at the scene in front of them. The entirety of Coney Island stood in the plane's path, ready to be destroyed. Thousands of people visited Coney Island every single day; how many of them would be hurt or killed by a plane crash of this magnitude?

Maisie's breath hitched as she looked down at her hands, and an idea sparked in her. Her eyes widened, looking back up at the heavily populated amusement park. Could she even do it? She took a shaky breath, there was no room to fail. Knowing there was no more time to second guess it, she gripped the front of the plane's controls, staring at the empty beach a mile and a half past the highly populated fair, and she teleported.

A high-pitched scream tore through her chest, feeling pain erupt throughout every part of her body as she strained to teleport the entire jet away from the civilians and to safety. She pictured the entire plane with each and every piece of technology aboard it, straining her body to teleport it from one place to another. A bright purple light began to consume her, but she couldn't afford to lose focus.

Her eyes stayed locked on the beach, and then, suddenly, they were there.

The plane landed hard on the sand, and Maisie did her best to cushion her fall, but there was nothing to stop her from flying through the plane's front windshield. She landed in a ball amidst the wreckage, curling herself up tight as though she could avoid the destruction around her. The purple light dimmed, and she let out a ragged breath.

"—Maisie? Answer me!" a frantic voice called in her ear. "Agh!"

"Pete?" she coughed, trying to get a breath. Her body felt like it was on fire, "I-It hurts..."

The girl's head fell limp against the sand. Maisie couldn't remember much immediately after that. Her vision was spotty, and her heart was beating so fast she thought it would fly out of her chest. She remembered a blazing orange fire and mechanical wings flapping into the sky before tumbling back down to the sandy ground.

Maisie heard an explosion, and the sound jerked her to her senses long enough to allow her to raise her head. She saw a glimpse of Peter running into a fire before emerging with Toomes over his shoulder, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was okay. With that knowledge, she felt her heartbeat slow to a steady rate, and her eyes fluttered shut.

Some time later, Maisie didn't know if it were two minutes or two hours, someone took her hands and pulled her to her feet. She put her arm around Peter's shoulders, and he held onto her tightly as he shot a web toward the Coney Island Cyclone.

"Maisie?" Peter's hoarse voice asked, wincing as he set her down. Maisie sat next to him, not daring to put her legs over the side of the ledge.

She took a breath and nodded, "Yeah?" she sounded even worse.

A tired smile fell upon Peter's face, "We did it."

Maisie let out a broken laugh, shaking her head before allowing it to rest on his shoulder, "Yeah, we did."

The two spent the next few hours staring out over the beach and Coney Island, overseeing Happy's team collect Toomes and start to clean up the wreckage, and watching the sunrise front and center for hours until Maisie felt strong enough to teleport them home.

******

One day later, the two returned to school. Ned met them early in the hallway, wanting to rehash every detail about the fight, especially including the small part he witnessed the end of in the bus parking lot.

"You teleported the entire plane?" Ned exclaimed, jaw dropped, earning shushes from both Peter and Maisie.

The girl couldn't help her smile, "Yeah."

"It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen," Peter said, shaking his head in awe. "Like, seriously, Maisie, it was the coolest thing—"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Maisie shoved him with her shoulder, hiding the blush rising to her cheeks. Peter only beamed in reply, proud of her.

"Oh, shit, Peter..." Ned's eyes widened, and he gestured at something at the end of the hallway.

He looked up to see Liz hugging Betty, tears in her eyes as she said her goodbyes. Maisie's heart sunk, knowing that having a father on trial for illegal weapons dealing must be hard on her. She just hoped she'd be alright.

Peter frowned, feeling guilt set in, "I should probably go apologize."

Ned and Maisie remained silent, knowing he was right. Solemnly, Peter approached a crying Liz.

Maisie watched them for a moment, but didn't try to hear what they were saying. She shook her head, and pulled on Ned's arm.

"C'mon, we'll see him at the meeting," she mumbled.

Ned followed Maisie to the library, taking seats at the table Mr. Harrington was setting up. MJ was already there, seated in the chair farthest from the teacher.

"Hey," Maisie smiled at her friend, taking the seat next to her.

MJ eyed her for a moment, then replied, "Hey."

Maisie noticed an odd tone to her voice, but given that it was MJ, she didn't linger much on it. Charles entered the room, giving Maisie a high five that earned a scoff from Flash, who followed behind. It seemed that anything she did earned a scoff from that kid nowadays. The rest of the team filtered in, Peter being the last.

Maisie sent an inquisitive look, which Peter replied with a simple nod of the head. Liz would be okay.

"Alright, congratulations, Decathlon national champions!" Mr. Harrington started the meeting.

The group cheered, laughing along to the sound of their accomplishments, clapping loudly as Mr. Harrington raised the trophy for them all to see.

"I'm gonna have to put this back in the trophy case soon, but just for motivation right now at this meeting," the teacher explained. "I'm a little ahead of the game, but we will need a new team captain next year. So, I'm appointing Michelle."

Maisie turned to MJ with a bright smile, clapping the loudest of the group for her friend.

"Uh, thank you," MJ cleared her throat, shrugging. "My friends call me MJ."

"I thought you didn't have any friends," Ned pointed out before nodding in Maisie's direction. "Besides Maisie."

A beat passed, and MJ gave a small smile, "I didn't..."

Suddenly, both Peter's and Maisie's phones buzzed, catching the attention of the table. Maisie frowned and looked down, seeing a text from an unknown number reading, Go to the bathroom.

When Maisie glanced up, Peter was already looking right at her.

"I... gotta go," Peter's eyes moved to Mr. Harrington, who sighed and waved his hand to dismiss him.

"Er," Maisie winced, standing up, "me, too."

A few eyebrows raised when Maisie got up, too, and MJ's voice cut through the silence, "Where are you guys going?" Peter and Maisie exchanged a look, trying to think of an excuse, but she continued, "What are you hiding?"

Maisie's mouth opened, but no noise came out.

"I'm just kidding, I don't care, bye!" she laughed, shaking her head before turning back to the table. "Alright, so we should run some drills..."

Peter pushed his backpack over his shoulder and followed Maisie out the door, exchanging a wide-eyed look with her, "You don't think..."

"MJ knows?" Maisie finished his question. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she did."

The two walked for a bit until they reached the boy's bathroom. The girl sent him a look, mumbling about how it was ridiculous that she had to follow Peter into the bathroom. Crossing her arms defensively in front of her chest, she turned the corner of the bathroom wall with Peter to find Happy standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Happy!" Peter greeted, eyebrows furrowing.

"What are you doing here?" Maisie asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Happy sighed, "Look, I really owe you guys one. I don't know what I'd do without this job, I mean, before I met Tony—"

The sound of a toilet flushing interrupted what was certainly going to be a heartfelt speech, and Maisie's face turned red at the sight of Tiny McKeever exiting one of the stalls, sending the three a weird look. The boy walked over to the sink and washed his hands before grabbing a few paper towels, throwing them away, and sending one more look over his shoulder, pointedly at Maisie. Maisie gave an exasperated shrug, not having much more for an explanation.

"So, uh, how long have you been here?" Peter asked. He sent Maisie a smirk, obviously amused by her discomfort.

"Long enough to be awkward," Happy frowned. "Boss wants to see you."

"Is he in here, too?" Peter's eyes widened, pointing at the stalls. Maisie elbowed him in the gut.

"In the toilet?" Happy scoffed. "No, he's upstate."

Maisie's heartbeat quickened, "Upstate? Like... upstate?"

"Yeah, let's go," Happy gestured to the door.

The two teens followed Happy out of the bathroom, Peter chattering excitedly the whole way. Maisie stopped, frowning at the man once they reached his car.

"You're telling me that I didn't actually have to go into that restroom?" she frowned, putting a hand on her hip.

Happy rolled his eyes, "Just get in the car, kid."

******

The drive to the Avengers Compound took a little less than an hour, though the two kids hardly noticed. Maisie was tapping her foot unconsciously on the floor of the car, bouncing her leg up and down as she ran through every scenario possible in her head about what Mr. Stark had to talk to them about. Peter did his best to try to calm her down, but he had his own batch of nerves, however hopeful they were.

Eventually, they reached the futuristic compound, earning awed looks from the pair. Happy gave a satisfied smile at their wide eyes, and put the car in park in front of a building with a wall entirely made of windows. The Avengers "A" was engraved subtly into the building's concrete, and Maisie winced at the sight. The Avengers weren't exactly all working nowadays, thanks to the Sokovia Accords and the scuffle in Germany.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Happy looked upon the compound fondly. "They just finished remodeling the whole thing."

Peter gave Maisie a hand, helping her out of the car. She smiled, flicking her eyes around every part of the compound. A quinjet was taking off nearby, catching their attention. She couldn't imagine having all this and living as a superhero.

"We'd better get inside," Happy continued, gesturing at a flight of stairs nearby.

Maisie followed the man up the stairs, but she had to turn around and drag Peter along with her, who was too busy watching the quinjet fly from view.

"Come on," Maisie laughed, running up the steps.

When they entered the building, Happy told them to wait for just a moment while he told Mr. Stark they were there. Maisie nervously ran a hand through her hair as the man walked away.

"What?" Peter whispered, furrowing his brows.

"You don't think we're in trouble, right?" Maisie replied, biting her lip.

Peter lost his focus for a second catching himself watching her before her panicked expression brought him back to reality.

"We did everything right, didn't we?" he frowned. "Except Mr. Stark told us not to go after him, but then he would've stolen all the Avengers' weapons and stuff, so that would've been bad..."

Maisie nodded, somewhat reassured for the time being. The two sat in silence, watching as another quinjet took off and flew toward whatever destination.

"Oh, there they are," a smooth voice caught their attention. Mr. Stark smiled at the teens, and Happy returned to stand behind them. "How was the ride up?"

"Good," Happy responded before they could.

Mr. Stark sighed, nodding, "Give me a minute with the kids."

Happy frowned, "Seriously?"

"I need a minute with the kids."

"I'll be close behind," Happy crossed his arms.

"How about a loose follow?" Mr. Stark responded. "Boundaries are good."

Then, Mr. Stark turned to Peter and Maisie, giving Peter a light punch on the arm before stepping between them and throwing his arm around both their shoulders. The two exchanged incredulous looks, but they weren't about to spoil it. Peter was right, apparently they weren't in trouble.

Mr. Stark looked directly at Peter, sighing, "Sorry I took your suit. I mean, you had it coming. Actually, it turns out it was the perfect sort of 'tough-love' moment that you needed, right? To urge you on, right? Wouldn't you think? Don't you think?"

Peter locked eyes with Maisie, who nodded rapidly in response, and he replied, "Yeah, yeah, I guess."

"Let's just say it was!" Mr. Stark smiled, clapping him on the back one more time before turning to Maisie. "And you."

The girl winced, waiting for him to speak.

"Did you beam an entire plane full of advanced scientific weaponry across the city?" he asked, his voice full of wonder.

"Not the whole city..." Maisie replied, looking down at her feet.

"Incredible, absolutely incredible," Mr. Stark shook his head in astonishment. The man sighed and continued walking toward the end of the large hallway.

"Mr. Stark, I really—" Peter began, but the man interrupted.

"You screwed the pooch hard. Big time. But then you did the right thing. Took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies... All right, not my best analogy," Mr. Stark shook his head to rid himself of the tangent. He came to a stop in front of a grey wall and faced the kids. "I was wrong about you two. I think, with a little more mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team."

"To... to the team?" Peter asked, eyes wide. Maisie was frozen in shock, was Mr. Stark really considering adding them to the Avengers?

"Yeah," Mr. Stark shrugged, as if the thought were no big deal. He turned to point at a door behind him, "There's about fifty reporters behind that door, real ones, not bloggers."

The man pressed a few buttons on what Maisie first thought was a watch, but now assumed had more capabilities than just that.

"And when you're ready, why don't you try those on, and I'll introduce the world to the newest members of the Avengers: Spider-Man and Mischief," Mr. Stark stepped back, revealing a wall compartment opening to show two suits.

One was gold, black and red, resembling Peter's Spider-Man suit, but with more of an armored, Iron Man look to it. The other suit made Maisie's breath stop in her throat. It was a full-body armored suit, just like Spidey's, but it was deep purple and black from head to toe with gold accenting that matched her to both Spider-Man and Iron Man. It was beautiful, and it was hers? Wait, did he say that they were Avengers?

"W-What?" Maisie stuttered at the same time Peter chuckled in awe.

"So, after the press conference, Happy will show you to your room, your new quarters," Mr. Stark said, eyeing Maisie during that part of his spiel. He cleared his throat and turned to Happy, "Where's Peter's room? He's next to Vision?"

"Yeah, Vision's not big on doors," Happy shrugged. "Or walls."

"He'll fit right in," Mr. Stark sighed, turning back to the kids. "Lucky for you, Goldilocks, we've had a vacancy of moody teenage girls in the Compound."

Maisie hardly noticed the quip, too busy trying to organize her thoughts racing a million miles per second. She didn't have to beg her dad to take her back? She didn't have to keep feeling like a burden on May by crashing on her couch every night? Even if she didn't have her teleportation powers, she'd even be willing to drive herself the hour from the Compound to school if she had to. The girl was already planning how to get the rest of her stuff from her dad's house in order to bring it upstate when Peter spoke up.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark, but I'm good," he said.

Even Maisie was surprised.

Mr. Stark's mouth tilted into a frown, "You're 'good'? How are you 'good'?"

Peter shifted nervously between his feet, glancing at Maisie, "Well, I mean, I'm... I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy, right?"

The girl couldn't help it, she smiled.

"You turning me down? You better think about this. Look at that," Mr. Stark took off his sunglasses, pointing at the suits again. "Look at me. Last chance, yes or no?"

Peter gained a bit of confidence, "No."

"Okay. It's kind of a Springsteen-y, working class hero vibe that I dig," Mr. Stark cleared his throat, nodding once. The man turned to Maisie, a question still on his face, but he continued, "I'll still ask, but since your partner here made his decision—"

"I'm good on the ground, too, Mr. Stark," she replied, feeling her heart sink as the opportunity to live without begging for her father's forgiveness dissipated in front of her eyes. She knew it was the right decision. It would be tough to balance schoolwork while maintaining the image of teenage Avenger to the rest of the world, and Peter had obviously matured a lot in order to understand what he'd be giving up in order to be an Avenger.

"Alright, uh, Happy will take you home," Mr. Stark replied, eyes not leaving the girl's face.

"Yeah, mind waiting in the car? I need a minute," Happy told the kids, holding his phone to his ear and walking off to the side.

Peter nodded, reaching forward to shake Tony's hand, "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"Yes, Mr. Parker, very well," Mr. Stark tried to hold back his pride as the boy turned to walk in the direction he came from. Maisie turned to mimic the boy's movements, but Mr. Stark shook his head, "One sec, kid. He'll wait."

A moment later, Peter turned around, "That was a test, right? There's, uh, nobody back there?"

Maisie and Mr. Stark exchanged a look, and the man responded, "Yes, you passed. Skedaddle there, young buck."

Peter grinned, turning back around, "Thank you, Mr. Stark, thank you!"

As soon as Peter left the room, Maisie turned to the older man, "This isn't a test, is it?"

Mr. Stark sighed, "Again, you are more perceptive than the other kid. What would he do without you? I wonder."

Maisie shrugged, "Get locked in an underground facility overnight and tear a ferry boat in half."

Mr. Stark smirked, shaking his head, "You two have kept me on my toes over the past few weeks, I'll admit."

"I'd apologize, but I guess it all worked out in the end," Maisie picked at her bracelet on her wrist, avoiding eye contact.

"Hm, all except one thing," Mr. Stark tilted his head. "Your dad."

Maisie's head shot up, eyes wide, "My dad? There's nothing wrong with my dad, he's fine, he—"

"Kicked you out," Mr. Stark finished, nonchalance seeping into his voice.

Maisie's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out.

Watching her, the man's tone shifted into one of understanding, "Look, my dad... he never really cared what I did or didn't do, especially if he didn't think it was good enough to win some award or further the company's progress."

Maisie couldn't help the scoff, "The most my dad spoke to me over the past four years of my life was when you showed up telling me about the grant I won."

Mr. Stark's mouth twitched, but he remained serious, "That's why I wanted to offer you a solution."

Maisie's ears perked up, hope fluttering in her chest.

"The other kid, he's been letting you stay at his place, right?" Mr. Stark continued as though he already knew the answer. "I already have your room set up, complete with everything a teenage girl needs to survive high school, er, according to Pepper."

"What?" Maisie's eyes widened. "But, Peter—"

"Peter will understand," Mr. Stark told her. "The kid seems pretty understanding."

A smile grew on her face, but it faltered at the thought of another person paying for her to live again. It didn't matter to her that the man was a billionaire, she shouldn't be his problem.

"I..." Maisie sighed, "I don't enjoy the idea of being someone's burden. You don't have to do this, Mr. Stark. I can just talk to my dad—"

"Kid, trust me, you aren't a burden," Mr. Stark put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. "If not for you, the world would be a much less safe place, and I owe you."

Maisie kept face, trying not to take his words to heart. If she did, she was afraid she'd start crying in front of Tony Stark.

"If I let you do this for me... I'll need to do something to earn it," Maisie brushed off his interruption, knowing he'd say something like she'd already earned it. "I'll go on a few missions, low-key. I know you're a little understaffed since Cap and his band of Rogues left a few months ago. I can help, and when Peter's ready, he can help, too."

The left side of Mr. Stark's mouth twitched into a smirk, "Alright, kid. Good lesson, earning your keep and everything. I like it," he nodded. "We'll have you moved in by the end of the day, Ms. McCall. Welcome to the team."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," she beamed.

"If you're living here, Ms. McCall, I'm gonna need you to call me Tony," the man said, using his watch to close the armor display behind him.

"Fine," the girl chirped, turning on her heel towards the door, "but I'm gonna need you to call me Maisie, Tony."

"Square deal," Mr. Stark nodded at Happy as he returned from his phone call. "I'll see you later, Maisie."

Maisie smiled, wondering if her face might get stuck like that if she kept it up. She gave the two men a salute and left the same way she came.

******

Peter was laughing as he entered his apartment; Maisie was recalling something MJ said to Flash after Decathlon that day that he missed. They were forgoing patrol that day in favor of pre-calc homework (unless, of course, they finished early).

"Hey May?" Peter called into the apartment. "Did you do dinner already?"

No response, and Peter shrugged, assuming she was still at work. Maisie threw Peter's bedroom door open before lounging on his desk chair.

She rifled through her backpack, "Can you please help me with this trig problem? I am not even close to figuring it out..."

When no answer came, the girl's head popped back up. Peter was staring at a brown paper bag sitting on his bed, the words, This belongs to you. -TS written in big black letters.

"Is that what I think it is?" Maisie's cautious optimism got the best of her.

Peter didn't answer, instead, he pulled his upgraded suit that Tony made him from the bag. He turned around, eyes alight with excitement and pride.

"I—" he began, "I can't believe he gave it back."

"Of course he did," Maisie tilted her head. "You earned it."

He stared at her with an almost pleading expression, and Maisie laughed, shaking her head.

"Homework can wait," she obliged, reaching into her drawer where her suit was hidden. "And, by the way, Pete? There's something I need to talk to you about—oh, and you're already changing. I'll be right back."

A shirtless Peter rolled his eyes as Maisie chuckled and teleported to change, getting back just before Peter put his mask on. Maisie smirked and pulled hers over her nose, but something felt different.

"Hello, Maisie. It's nice to finally meet you," a calm, English accent began. The girl jumped almost a foot in the air.

"What? Who are you—who's speaking?" Maisie spoke fast, eyes darting to lock with Peter's.

"Congratulations on completing the rigorous Training Wheels Protocol and gaining access to your suit's full capabilities," the man's voice echoed through her ears again.

"Oh, you have a Karen, too!" Peter exclaimed, pointing to his suit.

"A 'Karen'?" Maisie asked, blinking through her mask.

"A Karen!" Peter insisted. "Mr. Stark gave us our own AI's. I named mine Karen because I didn't wanna just go around calling her 'Suit Lady,' you know?"

Maisie stopped, "You named your AI 'Karen'?"

Peter turned to face her, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, alright," the girl shrugged. She thought for a moment, then spoke again. "So, do you have a name, AI?"

"I don't believe that Mr. Stark issued me a name when creating me," Maisie was slightly confused by how humanlike Tony made its voice. "Although, Mr. Stark did make an effort to manufacture artificial intelligence systems that he believed would be beneficial to each of what he referred to as the 'new blood.' Is that helpful?"

Maisie smiled, figuring that an AI with a name like 'Karen' was a perfect one for Peter. She smirked, finally realizing the reason for the British accent and the young, vibrance of the voice. So she had a thing for British accents, so what?

"Alright, well in that case," she thought for a moment, "I'll name you 'Percy.'"

"Noted, thank you, Maisie," Percy responded, an amused tone to his manufactured voice.

"Percy?" Peter laughed. "Percy and Karen, sounds good. I wonder if they know each other—"

"What the fuck!" a startled voice erupted from behind them.

Maisie and Peter turned with wide eyes to see May Parker standing in the doorway. The two teens exchanged a look, but with Peter's mask off, the secret was pretty much out. In solidarity, the girl slipped her mask off her head, letting her hair fall across her shoulders.

"Hey, May," Maisie winced, glancing at Peter's frozen expression.

When she looked back at May, the woman didn't look much different. Maisie reached into her drawer, grabbed everything she could and shoved it into her backpack. Flicking her eyes between the pair of Parkers, she knew they'd figure it out.

"See you later, Pete," she spoke softly, and she teleported.

******

When Maisie appeared again, she was standing in the same place where Tony spoke with her only a few hours before—where he had changed her life and offered her a way out from her uncaring father. He'd provided her with a life where she could do some good, and she was going to work like hell to earn it.

"Ms. McCall? Are you looking for your room?" a sweet voice asked over the intercom. She was Irish, Maisie noted with a small smile.

"Yes," the girl's eyes brightened. "Yes, I am."