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The images of people fighting in the streets flashed across the TV screen. Peter barely noticed them, as he sprinted down the street with some angry store owner chasing him down. He's been caught dumpster diving and earned some negative reactions, like yelling, guns pointed at him, threats, and being called names. But none of them have ever reached the point to where he's chased him halfway across Hell's Kitchen. But hey, there's a first time for everything, isn't there? "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." With every step, Peter repeated the word. The infected cut on his foot provided a less-than-kind reminder that it existed every time he took a step. "GET BACK HERE YOU GODDAMN HOBO! I'M GONNA SHOOT YOU DEAD!" The young store owner threatened loudly.Peter heard people shout at him and the man chasing him, but he kept running. He heard the man scream after him, as he turned a corner, and disappeared into the crowd, a skill he'd gotten uncomfortably good at. He let out a weak sigh of relief, and looked up, spending a moment trying to figure out how far he'd run. He quickly moved to the side of a building to get out of people's ways, leaned on the wall, and kept his foot off the ground, trying to get it to stop throbbing. "Where am I?" He muttered softly to himself, looking around.He looked around for a moment, before catching sight of The Ailey Studios, a popular dance studio in uptown Hell's Kitchen. It was at that painful moment, he realized, he'd been running the wrong way. Peter groaned sadly. "God, I am so far from F.E.A.S.T. right now..." He muttered.Peter picked up his bags, yawned, and glanced at the setting sun. It can't be too late if the suns only just setting right? Early February, so probably, what, 6 o'clock? Peter tried to convince himself he'd make it back without having to use his powers. He really did. But he knew deep down all too well, that it would take him at least an hour to get back, and in doing so he'd have to sprint the whole way. And the odds of him not running into trouble were about as likely as jumping off a plane 5 miles in the air without any water or cushion of any sort and surviving. So pretty slim. He let out a deep sigh and began limping back towards the F.E.A.S.T. shelter.In the end, it took about two and a half hours, so it was nearly nine o'clock when he got back. He opened the doors to F.E.A.S.T. and stepped in. He was quickly met with the receptionist. "Hey, Peter! I was worried you wouldn't make it back in time." She replied with a smile on her face.Peter grinned weakly. "Hi, Miss Sophia. Yeah, well I'm gonna be staying here tonight. I just wanted some dinner and a shower, and well, with an infected foot I'm not walking to Midtown." Peter sighed, as he limped into the building."Before you go, go check up with Mr. Li! He wanted to have a word with you." Sophia, the receptionist, grinned.Peter's face fell. "Oh god he's gonna lecture me about 'being out too late' and 'wandering around at night isn't safe'. Like I don't know that already."Sophia barked out a laugh. "Oh, you know him. He loves children and as of yet you're the youngest patron we serve, so I know he wants to keep you safe." She reassured. "But I don't think that's it. Li's got something planned. He had that big old goofy grin he gets when he has a good idea when he told me to send you to his office."Peter nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll head up after I get something to eat. I'm starving." Peter snickered, before limping into the shelter.Sophia stared after Peter with a concerned look. "Where'd you get an infected foot?" She finally asked just as Peter opened the doors.Peter looked up. "Uhh, I stepped on some glass. I already cleaned the wound, it's really not that bad." He lied.Sophia gave Peter a hesitant look, before nodding slowly. "Okay. Yeah, alright. Get some shoes out of the container. Don't want to repeat history." She advised, pointing to his still shoeless feet.Peter nodded, felt guilt crawl in his gut, before continuing into the F.E.A.S.T. shelter. He looked around and sniffed, taking a deep, exhausted breath. He stepped towards the kitchen area and looked up to a volunteer running the kitchen. "Hey, is there any food left?" He asked hopefully.The volunteer looked up. He had light blue eyes, brown hair, and a black and white striped shirt with light grey jeans. He smiled. "Yep! I'm just making some now, you want one?" Peter snickered. "Can I get three? I have a brother to bring one to." He asked.The volunteer laughed and nodded. "Yeah, sure! We have plenty to spare." He said as he pulled out three sandwiches that were wrapped in foil.Peter smiled happily as he took the sandwich. He looked around, smiling as he saw the familiar face of his brother playing chess with one of the older women at the shelter. "Hey, Harley." Peter greeted, walking over to him and standing behind him.Harley jumped and looked up, before replying, "Hey, Pete." His brother, Harley, was undeniably attractive. He was tall, had hazel eyes, and had mid-length wavy hair that he often tied up with a hair tie he keeps. He may be unhealthily thin, due to months of starvation, but he was lean and powerful, a force to be reckoned with. Despite their low rations, he always managed to keep some muscles, and he was one of the few people who didn't have superpowers and could still beat Peter in a fight. Although he was attractive, that didn't mean he was a perfect person. His brother was short-tempered and liked to shoplift on any occasion he can get. He tended to steal whenever the moment calls for it, even if they can last a few days without resorting to those methods. He was smart and he tended to let people know. He enjoyed showing off, especially his knife skills. He carried around a flat blade blue painted steel switchblade and he knew how to defend himself with it. Though, once you got to know him, he was incredibly kind and overprotective. "Your turn." The old woman, named Maria, told him.Harley looked down, staring the board, before moving one of his knights and capturing a pawn. Peter pulled up a chair and began narrating the game as a few other frequenters stopped to watch in amusement. "Oh, and Maria moves one of her pawns diagonally to the left to capture Harley's rook! But Harley makes a dashing recovery, by moving a bishop to a safe spot so it won't get caught! Maria makes the daring decision, by putting one of her knights at risk, by putting it right next to a rook. Harley skips out on the chance to capture the knight, and instead- OH! HARLEY HAS JUST CAPTURED MARIA'S QUEEN! MARIA IS IN TROUBLE NOW! THIS GAME IS GETTING INTENSE!" Between each of Peter's dialogue, there had been an almost awkwardly long silence, before one of them moved their pieces, allowing Peter to narrate. Each time he did so, Maria chuckled, while Harley did his best to not laugh and keep a serious face."And Harley is in a dangerous situation, as a simple pawn has his king cornered-""Peter I swear to god if you don't shut up," Harley said laughing."What're you gonna do? Fight me? Come at me you egg." Peter threatened back.Harley immediately stopped what he was doing and began laughing heartily. "Did- did you just call me an egg? What the hell Peter! What kind of insult is that?" He shouted, holding his stomach as he began coughing. It took a moment for him to catch his breath."Uh, the best kind of insult you uncultured swine." Peter snorted back, as he handed Harley a sandwich. He tried his best to ignore Harley's coughing fits, which had become more frequent, painful, and longer as each day passed.Harley nodded in thanks and moved his king to capture the pawn that had cornered him. Peter walked away and claimed two nearby beds for them. "I'm gonna take a shower, I'll be back in ten."Harley just nodded turning back to the game. Peter entered the public showers and put his belongings into a locker on the far side of the bathroom, before grabbing the key to the locker, grabbing the provided towel, and closing the locker. He entered the shower, putting the towel on a higher shelf, closed the door, locking it, then undressing. He threw his clothes onto the shelf below the towel and turned on the shower which released lukewarm water. He began washing and let his mind wander as he did so. The truth of his infected foot was that he couldn't stick to walls with shoes on, what with the thick soles blocking his feet. So his feet get cut up by glass, metal, and really anything sharp on the ground. At this point, his feet have built-up dead skin so rocks usually aren't the culprit, but if he steps on a particularly sharp rock, then it could do some damage. This particular injury was from landing on a piece of glass, which absolutely sucked. He very well could have bled to death if he hadn't been close to a pharmacy and had spare cash. Since he's pretty much already actively starving to death, that wasn't fun. The heaviest he can remember him being, after the spider bite, he weighed only 90 pounds. Now, he weighed no more than 68 pounds. Light enough to make just about anyone uneasy. Thank god that the FEAST shelter provides enough food to keep me alive. He had done the calculations, he needs to eat about 14,000 calories a day but the most he gets is about 4-5,000. And he only gets that from not sparing anything. He eats garbage, the school lunches, whatever the school can spare, and whatever he can snag from the F.E.A.S.T. shelter without starving others. He has to visit about four shelters a day to get enough and he's still going to sleep with a growling stomach. Every now and then he'll get some food from saving someone, but it really isn't enough. But yet, he still can't thank F.E.A.S.T. enough. He hasn't done enough to repay Mr. Li for everything he's done. Enrolling Peter and Harley in school, providing food for them, making public showers with doors instead of curtains, the list goes on and on. Peter constantly swears he's gonna repay Li for everything he's done as soon as he has the money to do so, but as each day passes he gets less and less certain that he'll ever reach that goal.As Peter finished showering, he turned off the water and began drying himself off, before putting on clothes, and leaving the shower. Peter carefully inspected his face in the mirror, before running his hair out of his face, and putting on his beanie. He limped out of the shower room, before heading up to Mr. Li's office as Sophia had suggested. He knocked gently, before hearing Li's familiar voice call, "Come in!"He entered the room and smiled at the sight of the man. "Hey, Mr. Li." Peter greeted with a smile.Li looked up and began grinning like a madman. "Peter! I was hoping you'd show up. You caught me just before I left, I have some good news for you. But it ultimately requires your consent." Li said as he bent over to pull a file out of his desk.He quickly approached Peter. "It'll also require your brother's consent too, I wanted to tell you two at the same time. Is he here?" Li asked."Uhh, yeah. Give me a second, let me go get him." Peter turned and left the room, a rush of confusion overcoming him.He carefully made his way down the stairs, wincing at every step. Finally, he reached the bottom and approached his brother. "Hey, Mr. Li wants to talk to us."Harley looked up, sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "What'd we do this time?""I dunno, but he's got some idea that he needs our consent for."Maria laughed. "Oh finally, he's gonna do it."Peter stared at her. "Do what?" He questioned cautiously. "Oh, you'll find out."Peter gave Harley a confused look. "Should I be fearing for my life?"Harley shrugged, mimicking Peter's expression. "Probably."Harley stood up. "Thanks for the game, Maria." He thanked."I should be the one thanking you. Nobody wants to play chess with an old coot like me." Maria replied in a cheerful voice."Well, I think anyone that passes up a chance to play against you is passing up a great time," Peter reassured, smiling at the elderly woman.Maria just smiled and laughed happily. "You boys stay safe." She chided gently."We will!" Peter and Harley replied in unison, as they turned to go up the stairs.Maria was practically a grandmother to the boys, always keeping them company and always having a good-natured attitude. The boys ascended the stairs to Li's office and knocked lightly before entering. Li smiled when he saw the boys. "Hello Harley, how was your day?" He asked kindly.Harley shifted, an uncomfortable look crossing his face. "It was okay, why'd you wanna talk to us?" He replied bluntly.Mr. Li chuckled and smiled. "Okay. So I have an idea, but it requires both of your consent, as it revolves around you two.""Okay..?" Harley encouraged, seeming irritated and confused."What's the idea?" Peter added."Could you two sit down?" He asked.Peter and Harley exchanged looks before pulling up chairs and watching him quietly. Mr. Li took a breath and shook his hands before laughing softly. "I was hoping I could foster you two." He said.Harley's eyes widened at that and Peter felt his stomach drop. Peter felt Harley tense beside him as he glanced up at the man. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Li, we're gonna have to decline."The dark-haired man stopped and turned to them. "W-what?""We appreciate the offer but it's just... we aren't comfortable with something like that." He attempted. "Like, I'm happy you offered, and you've done so much for us, and I do trust you, but it's just... we just can't sir, I'm sorry." He sighed, avoiding his gaze.Li took a breath. "Could... could you let me try to convince you otherwise?" He began.Harley stood up so quickly the chair fell over behind him. "The answer is no, Li." He snapped."Harley!" Peter hissed, grabbing the cloth to his brothers' denim jacket. "Look, it's nice and all, but we said no. Respect the offer." He continued, turning away.Peter watched as Harley turned away and slammed the door shut. Peter flinched at the loud noise and several painful images crossing his mind before he shoved them to the back of his mind and turned back to Li and stood up. "I'm sorry Mr. Li, you know how Harley can be. We appreciate your offer, we really do, but we... we just can't. I hope you understand." He murmured, turning to the door."I do, Peter. But that's why I want to foster you, to help you past that." He called after him.Peter smiled at the words before turning back to him. "Then I hope you can leave your offer open until we're ready to move on." He finished, exiting the room.He felt a rush of guilt in his gut as he closed the door softly behind him. He winced as he walked down the stairs and looked around for Harley. After a moment, he found him angrily eating his sandwich by the beds Peter had claimed for them. "Harley-" He began as he approached him.“No, Peter. I don’t want to hear it. He just asked to foster us! What happens when he wants to get rid of us? We get separated and we just go into another abusive household, until history repeats itself.” Harley hissed.“He was just trying to help! You didn’t have to yell at him!” Peter whimpered back.“Well, he shouldn’t have bothered! He knows what we’ve been-” Harley began.“No, he doesn’t! He’s got no idea the shit we’ve been through and we agreed to keep it that way!” Peter interrupted.“Oh come on Peter, you think he doesn’t know that we’ve been through shit? Why the hell would two homeless orphans be wandering the streets of downtown Manhattan?” Harley questioned harshly.“I don’t know! But he’s got no idea what we’ve really been through! All he has are guesses that could be wrong or right!” Peter defended.“Don’t be an idiot. It was a stupid idea coming here in the first place.” Harley snapped, turning around. “We should just leave.”An angry expression crossed Peter’s face before he shoved Harley to the ground. “Don’t say that! We owe him so much.” He shouted at his brother.Harley stood back up, before turning and socking Peter in the face. Peter stumbled for a few moments, caught off guard. Harley looked pissed. “We don’t owe him shit!” He screamed at him.
“Mr. Li has done so much shit to help us! Don’t be an asshole. He provides us food, gives us a place to sleep, put us in school-”“Oh, and schools been such a great place for you.” Harley hissed back.Peter’s head snapped up. “Don’t you dare-”“Peter, you get taunted on a daily basis! We all know you can floor them, get them to stop and finally leave you alone, so why don’t you?”“Okay, I do not get made fun of daily.” Peter snapped back.“Don’t lie to me, I’ve seen the shit those kids put you through. They beat the crap outta you every chance they get!” Harley pointed out.“They’re just being idiots! It’s not like their hits hurt me! We both know I’ve been through worse.”“Not the point! Why don’t you fight back?!”“Because they’re teenagers! Like us! They may be assholes but they’ll get what's coming to them.” Peter snapped.“Oh my god do you seriously believe in karma? Look, karma’s a bitch, not because it hits you twice as hard as you hit it, but because it doesn’t always hit back. You ever heard the story where some guy got away with murdering his wife and two kids, and literally, nothing happened to him? He didn’t get thrown in jail, he didn’t get depression or a drinking or drug problem, in fact, he became pretty wealthy off their insurance! Nobody knew he killed them, he lived a good life! People only found out after he confessed in a diary that people only read after he died.” Harley rambled. “Moral of the story, karma doesn’t exist when you need it most.”Peter went silent, not knowing how to reply to… that. “Harley... We got so off-topic with this. We can argue about the bullies later, but I really think you should apologize to Mr. Li.” Harley turned around and shouted angrily, clenching his fists. He shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and scowled. Peter watched his expression change carefully before he swallowed his sandwich and paced in a tight circle. "This is fucking bullshit." He snarled before he let out a long sigh. "I'm gonna cool down then... then I'll go talk to him." Peter nodded slowly and turned away from him. "I'm gonna head to bed." He finally said.Harley nodded. "I'll be there in ten." He sighed, leaning against the wall as a concentrated look.Peter nodded and waved at him half-heartedly, before finding himself in front of the bed. He picked up his duffel bag and held it close as his eyes closed and his mind wander. He laid there for an undiscernable amount of time, but the last thing he felt was his brother crawling into the bed beside him to share what little warmth the two of them could muster up. After a few more moments, he fully relaxed and managed to drift away to sleep, unprepared for the days to come.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Peter made his way downtown, drenched in freezing water, as the rain continued to pour. He felt a slight twitch of envy as a woman with a black umbrella passed him without sparing so much as a glance to him. Peter stopped in the empty sidewalk and looked up. Rain splattered onto his face, washing away a few specks of dirt that had collected themselves on his face over the day. He took a deep breath through his nose before continuing on. After a while, he arrived in a dark, small alleyway in Midtown. He made his way, navigating the damp labyrinth of back alleys, before coming upon a dead end. He climbed up a stack of crates, before jumping onto the slick wall that created the dead end. After a few seconds of gaining his balance, he straightened up and began walking towards a building. He approached the building and leaped up, grabbing onto the windowsill. He pulled himself in, having kicked in the screen months ago. He climbed into the long-abandoned room and flopped down on the floor. "I was wondering when you'd show up." Peter looked up to see Harley sitting atop a mound of blankets they've collected over the months. Most of them were torn or were just too small to be of use, but they've collected enough out of dumpsters and Goodwill's to sleep comfortably enough.Peter snorted, rolling over onto his stomach and resting his chin on his intertwined fingers. "Didja miss me?""Hell no. If you'd died, more blankets for me." Harley growled mockingly.Peter laughed, before standing up and joining Harley on their sad excuse of a bed. "Oh screw you. If I died, you wouldn't last ten minutes. You can't be 'the kid who controls Spider-Man' if there's no Spider-Man."Harley cringed. "Ugh, that godawful nickname again.""Well, I mean, you can understand where they got it. Last time someone tried to mug us, I put on my suit and you started ordering me around. I just played along cause I thought it'd be funny and no-one would believe him. That sure bit me in the ass." Peter snorted."On the upside, people tend to leave us alone so...." Harley said, shrugging and giving him a look.Peter shook his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What time is it?"Harley glanced at the clock that he'd stolen a few months prior. Peter had given him an earful when he found out about it but he can't honestly say it hasn't saved them from failing school though. They're hardly getting by as it is. "8:27. You gonna head out and be Spider-Man for a bit, or are we gonna sleep?""Naptime. It's a school night and I hardly slept last night." Peter said, sitting up, and opening his bag. Harley watched curiously, as Peter pulled out two shoplifted granola bars. "Oof, sticky fingers." Harley teased as Peter tossed him one."You know I don't like stealing," Peter argued softly, shaking his head."Well, I'm glad you did. I'm starving." Peter frowned at the bar before reluctantly eating it. "Pete, it's okay, nobody's gonna miss two granola bars that were in the back of the store. I'd be more impressed if they even noticed that they were gone." Harley chided. "We gotta fend for ourselves out here man. Nobody's gonna protect us so we gotta protect ourselves.""I can still wish we had a family." Peter sighed."A functional one. That's not Mr. Li." Harley added, laying down.Peter joined him, slipping on an extra jacket just before doing so. "Yeah... I mean he's nice and all, but I can't see him parenting us." Peter agreed, closing his eyes."Someone nice. A bonus if they've got a crap ton of money." Harley added, laughing.Peter snickered at the comment. "Someone who won't attack us if we screw up.""You mean when we do anything?"Peter laughed at that. "We do screw up a lot, don't we?""Helluva lot more than 'a lot'. I swear to god, ever since I met you I officially gained your 'Parker Luck.' Now everything I touch just falls apart. It's a miracle that clock's lasted as long as it has." Harley shouted, sitting up and pointing an accusing finger at Peter.Peter began laughing so hard he coughed. He sat up. "Hey- it's not my fault you're a Parker! You may have been put up for adoption, but you can't run from your birthright!" Peter teased, crossing his arms in an amused fashion.Harley smiled and relaxed again, laying back down. He sighed slowly before shuffling in the blankets, wrapping himself in one of the larger comforters. "Hey, Peter?""Yeah?"Harley was silent for a moment. Peter glanced upwards at his brother. He's never quiet... "What were our parents like?" Peter stiffened at the question. "I mean, you say you ran away, but you never told me why. I mean, I know that they abused you, that they were abusive, but... just.. what were they like?"Peter went dead silent, thinking. "I... Dad... he um...""You don't have to talk about it, it's okay," Harley said, quickly putting his hands up in surrender and sitting up. "The question isn't eating me alive or some shit. It's just something I wondered about.""No, it's okay. I just trying to figure out what to say... Dad was... he was mean. I usually could get away from him by going to Uncle Ben's and staying there for a bit. They didn't know about it, I never told them. I knew Ben would be upset if he found out about what dad was doing, how he was acting n' stuff. But anyway, it was really dad I was worried about, he was the one who'd hurt me. He didn't really ever hurt mom, I'm not really sure why he only targeted me. I'm not sure what I ever did but he didn't like me." Peter said, taking a deep breath, and holding back tears.Harley turned on his stomach and looked at the shorter boy. "What about mom? What was she like?" He asked quietly.Peter took a deep breath and closed his eyes, a more relaxed look crossing his face. "Mom was good. She never hurt me, she'd even defend me when she saw dad getting angry." The relaxed look began to fade as a pained expression crossed his face. "But one day, I'm not sure what happened. She just stopped trying. She stopped defending me, stopped bandaging me up, stopped trying her best to make sure I had eaten. Sometimes she'd ask if I was okay after dad left, but not a lot. After that, when she stopped trying to help me anymore, that's when I left." Harley stared at him before reaching out and messing up his hair affectionately. "Well, now we got each other. We don't need 'em. We're doing just fine on our own!" He yelped.Peter laughed softly, but Harley could see the pained look that still graced his features. He sat up and pulled Peter into a hug. He hugged back, knowing he really needed it. "Just so you know, if I ever meet them, I'm gonna kill 'em."Peter laughed and shook his head. "No, I don't want you to get arrested. I wouldn't be able to pay bail.""Who said I'd ever get arrested?Peter laughed harder. "God, Harley, go to fucking bed." He said, shoving him playfully.Harley laughed at his brother. "Night Pete.""Night Harls.".oOo.oOo.oOo.Bright sunlight streamed into the empty room. Peter opened his eyes slowly and sat up. He looked around for a moment and saw Harley was still sleeping. He glanced up at the clock, to see it was 7:23. Peter yawned, "Huh, I woke up late. 30 minutes till school." He muttered to himself.He stood up and twisted his back, hearing the satisfying pops. He stepped over to Harley and nudged him with his foot. "Hey. Fuckface. Get up. We've got to go to school."Harley groaned. "What do you want, you son of a bitch and bastard?" He slurred tiredly, his southern accent bleeding through."I would say don't talk about my parents like that, but it's absolutely true. We have school, get up." Harley stood up and yawned as Peter dug through the duffel bag for a change of clothes. Peter had five shirts, a pair of jeans, and two pairs of shorts. One of the shorts and shirts were at school for gym class. Peter stretched again as he changed into a plain black long-sleeved shirt, a tank top under it, the green denim jacket he got from Uncle Ben, a pair of jeans, and old blue and white shoes. He sighed as Harley followed suit, changing into the fresh-smelling clothes he'd washed at F.E.A.S.T. Peter looked up at Harley, who was wearing a white shirt with blue long sleeves and a pair of black jeans and dirty black shoes. He was combing his hair, presumably to tie it up with the hair tie in his mouth. Harley stretched and pulled on his old black leather jacket, before grabbing their backpack and strutting to his side. Since they had so few things, they shared a backpack. Most of their stuff got left at school anyway, an extra precaution for in case they were robbed. Peter slipped out the window and onto the wall. Harley followed close behind, jumping down onto the crates. The twins began making their way to Midtown Science and Tech and in about ten minutes, the two arrived at the school, giving them 15 minutes of free time. The two ate the free breakfast that was provided. The school had made a policy of free food if you're unemployed, have financial troubles, or if you're homeless. Peter and Harley met all three requirements if you didn't count patrolling and controlling crime to an extent as jobs. Peter sipped his milk unenthusiastically, with a tired look on his face. Harley laughed at the look on his face. "God, you look like you're about to kill someone." Peter laughed softly before yawning. "We really gotta get phones, something cheap so we can set alarms. We're cutting it real close nowadays." Harley nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we gotta take this opportunity for all it's worth. This is our ticket off the streets." Peter nodded solemnly in agreement, before drinking the rest of the milk and resting his head on his hands as he watched steam drift off biscuits and gravy. Harley looked up and waved. "Hey, Ned." Peter looked up to see his friend sitting down beside them. "Hey, guys! Guess what happened!"Peter raised an eyebrow. "Hm?""So okay. I got two new LEGO sets! One's a TIE fighter, and the other is a First Order Assault Walker." Ned shared easily.A smile grew on the twins' faces. "Seriously?!" Peter asked, his back straightening up."Yeah! We should go to your place to build them." Ned chirped eagerly, looking between Peter and Harley. Peter knew he meant well. He hasn't told Ned about their unfortunate living situation, and he plans to keep it that way. But Ned's been attempting to go to their 'house' for weeks now, ever since he realized that the bothers often went to his house but he's never been to theirs."Ned, we can't build it at our place, we-" Before Peter could finish his sentence, the shrill bell rang, alerting everyone that there were five minutes to get to class.Peter sighed. "Time for class guys." He said, standing up and dumping his tray, not without grabbing the small bowl the biscuits and gravy were in first, before putting the now empty tray onto one of the shelves to later be washed.Ned stared after Peter and Harley, as the two quickly speed-walked to their classrooms. Peter sat down in the first period, pulled out a pencil and began digging into his breakfast. "Parker! You aren't supposed to be eating in here." His teacher warned.Peter looked up. "I'll finish it before class starts! I promise." He yelped as he shoved a spoonful into his mouth.His teacher glared for a moment, before nodding. "I want it in the trash by the bell." He warned.Peter nodded. "Alright.".oOo.oOo.oOo.Before Peter knew what was happening, it was lunch. He would say that classes sped by, but he was disassociating for the most part. Not that he wasn't paying attention or he didn't care, he just knew it already. He was fluent in Spanish thanks to a few classes from other frequenters at F.E.A.S.T. who sympathize with his situation and decided to teach him what they knew, and the same applied to Italian. Though it was his aunt who had taught him, he hasn't spoken it in months so he's somewhat rusty. Then there was Science and Math. Those were his favorite subjects but he was above average and just about everything they were teaching was review for him. Then it was Study Hall, where tried to correct a faulty web formula that had hardened too quickly and wasn't elastic enough. Now it was lunch, and to say he was starving would be an understatement. He took a deep breath and got his too-small tray of limited lunch food and flopped down at his regular table. His study hall class was close to the cafeteria, so it’d be a little bit before his brother, Ned, and the mystery girl at the end of his table would show up. He ate slowly, savoring each bite of the cheap chicken sandwich and canned mashed potatoes. The school will deny it till their dying days, but Peter could hear the can opener operating. He took a deep breath through his nose as he chewed his sandwich. Harley sat his tray down across from him as usual. “Hey bro.” He greeted happily.“Sup,” Peter replied while waving half-heartedly.“You know what we’re gonna do for dinner?”“I was thinking we’d head to the church then F.E.A.S.T. afterward, it’s gonna be it the lower 40’s tonight so it’s gonna be cold. We could either buy some replacement batteries and kick on the heater or we can stay the night.”Harley raised an eyebrow. "Why do we need new batteries?"Peter sighed. "The old ones kicked the bucket sometime last night. It wasn't on this morning and the ones we have aren't rechargeable. Take note, get the rechargeable ones and a charging port." He snorted.Harley let out another sigh. "Pete, we're squatting at an abandoned apartment complex. The place doesn't have electricity to charge them.""Well no shit, Sherlock, there's electricity at F.E.A.S.T. isn't there?" "Fuck you, Watson." He replied through soft chuckles.Peter rolled his eyes. "Either way it's gonna be cold and we gotta stay warm somehow. And to think, for like a week there it was in the ’50s and ’60s at night.” He sighed, shaking his head, as Ned joined the table.Harley nodded slowly. “We gon die at this rate.”“At times like these, I wish global warming would speed up.” Peter joked.Harley snorted, as Ned snickered. “What are you two even talking about?”Harley and Peter jerked, only just realizing Ned was there. “Uh- nothing important.”“We challenged each other to see if we could survive winter with our windows open.” Harley recovered. “We need to know how many blankets we need.”“Seriously? No wonder you've been sick Harley." He said, turning to Harley who was currently holding back a wet cough. "You know, if you need more blankets, I could give you some of mine. I have like- twenty. I was just gonna give them to a homeless shelter or goodwill, or something.” Ned offered.“We’ll take ten,” Peter said, shooting upwards.Harley laughed slightly. "Wait really? You're gonna give up blankets?"“Yeah, if you need them to survive your ‘open window challenge’.”“‘Open window challenge’?” Mystery girl questioned.Both Peter and Harley jumped. "Jesus- let us know when you get here wouldya?" Harley snapped.“We’ve been leaving our windows open every night to see if we’d survive.” Peter lied, recovering from the scare quickly.The girl stared at them. “Okay, well, that's a load of bullshit. I don’t give a shit who your parents are, the amount of heating money that’d cost is insane.” She said flatly.Peter gave Harley a look that screamed, ‘shit she’s onto us’. Harley immediately shrugged. “Truth is we’re hobos and we need as many blankets as we can get.” Ned laughed at that and Peter’s face paled as he elbowed Harley harshly. "What the hell?!" He hissed softly.Mystery Girl frowned. “You’re not kidding, are you?” She asked.Ned stopped his laughter and looked at her. “Of course he is, right Harl-” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Peter's unhappy look.“I wish I was kidding.” Harley finally said grimly.“It’s the reason we can’t let you come over. You wouldn’t have a place to come over to. I mean, you could, but you wouldn’t like it. Not to mention it’s a pain in the ass to get into. But it keeps people away so we take what we can get.” Peter rambled.“We live in a condemned building and we get in through a window on the second floor so it’s not really the best place to hang out,” Harley explained, giving him an apologetic look.“Oh god... I-I’m sorry, what happened to your dad Peter? Your mom?” Ned asked, a scared look crossing his face.Peter felt himself flinch at the words and he shrugged hesitantly. "That's not something I'm ready to talk about quite yet."Neds' and the Mystery Girls’ eyes widened in shock and disbelief. “Wait, were you abused?” The girl asked insensitively.Harley slammed his hands on the table as a warning. "None of your damn business." He snapped.The two flinched at that and Ned paled considerably when he saw Harley's irritated look. He took a deep breath through his teeth, before reassuringly patting Peter's shoulder. After a moment, the two relaxed and Harley looked up to face the two. "Look, it's not something you need to know about yet." He growled.The Mystery Girl nodded after a moment. "Sorry." She finally said, and the table fell into an uneasy silence..oOo.oOo.oOo.Peter stepped into the bright sunlight and skipped down the steps of the school, Harley jogging close behind. “Peter- slow down!” “For what? For Ned to catch up and pity us? We didn’t need to tell him! You should’ve at least asked me beforehand.” He snapped, whipping around and facing Harley with a hurt look.“Okay, look. That was a douche move on my part. Okay? I know that. But you have to understand that he’d’ve figured it out soon enough. He’s not an idiot Peter, he’s like you. Just lacks common sense.” Harley said, landing a joke to try and defuse the situation. He put his hand on Peter’s shoulder, and Peter threw it off.“Don’t- just… I need to be alone.”Harley stared after his brother, feeling guilty. He let out a deep sigh, as Peter stomped away. He turned and began walking to the building. .oOo.oOo.oOo.Peter stepped into Delmar’s Deli, preparing to order his usual, as he began to pet Murphy. In his mind, he tried to justify his anger but only felt more guilty as he continued to think about it. Harley had no right telling Ned that we both were homeless without even letting me know first... I mean, Ned could help us, but we don’t need help! ...what the hell am I thinking?! We need so much help it isn’t even funny. We’re half-starved to death and we’re questioning if we’ll make it through the night tonight. Jesus Christ, I’m a mess. “What’re you getting kid?”Peter nearly jumped out of his skin, and let out a startled yelp. He quickly turned and put his hand on his chest. “Holy shit- don’t ever do that again, I think I’m going into cardiac arrest.” He yelped, not looking at the man.The man laughed. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”Peter looked up at the man and let out a heavy sigh. "Sorry," He chuckled out. "I'm a bit jumpy."The man nodded. "It's okay." He replied before looking up at the menu. "Do you come here a lot? What's good here?" He asked.Peter snickered. "Sir, this is the best place to get sandwiches in all of Queens. Everything is good."The man laughed before sighing. "I guess I'll get a BLT." Peter made a face. "That's literally the worst sandwich you could get out of the entire menu." "Well, then what're you gonna get?" He challenged."Chicken and ranch sandwich with bacon." The man stopped and went silent for a moment. "That sounds good. I might get that one too." He said after a few moments.Peter snickered and heard Mr. Delmar call to him. He approached the counter, and took his sandwich, and rifled around in his pockets for $2. His stomach practically dropped, when he couldn’t find the quarters he’d stocked up on over the past couple days. He made a frustrated noise and pulled out everything in his pockets, that consisted of wrappers, a container of .7m pencil lead, a mechanical pencil, a broken eraser, and a couple quarters. He heard a soft sigh, then there was a $50 bill on the counter. “That's for his and mine. Give him the change.” Clint said calmly, staring at Delmar with an amused look.Peter gaped for a moment before taking a deep breath. "No, no stop. Don't-""Kid it's okay." He said chuckling."Sir- please I can't. I don't even know your name!" Peter yelped."My name's Clint Barton. A pleasure to meet you." He said, a shit-eating grin crossing his face.Peter hesitated for a moment, the name ringing bells in his head before he recognized the name. "Clint Barton? The Clint Barton? As in Hawkeye? The Avenger?" He asked, with each question raising a few pitches as he got more and more excited.Clint nodded. "That's me."A huge smile crossed Peter's face. "Oh my god- you're kidding! I'm your biggest fan!" He shouted happily.Mr. Delmar smiled softly at Peter's excitement. "Is that so? Want an autograph?" Clint offered.Peter gaped for a moment, before dropping his bookbag and digging through it, pulling out his notepad. He shuffled through the pages before finding an empty one and quickly began searching for a sharpie. After finding a half-dead blue sharpie, he quickly handed it to the Avenger, his smile never fading. Clint chuckled and happily signed. "Want a selfie? You can show off to everyone at school if they try to call bullshit on the autograph." He offered once more.Peter could tell that Clint didn't get much recognition, so when he did get recognized by a fan he wanted to take it for everything it was worth. He still let out a soft sigh. "Sadly, I can't. Don't have a phone." Clint raised a curious eyebrow as Mr. Delmar handed Peter the change. "How come?" He asked as Peter stuffed the coins into his pockets and the remaining $44 into his backpack."I... I can't afford it." Peter lied after catching his hesitance.Clint squinted at him. "Well, your parents should be able to." He replied, still seeming somewhat confused.Though Clint hadn't meant to hurt him, the comment still sent hot knives digging into his skin. He must've visibly winced because Clint's confused expression changed to worry. "Hey, are you okay, kid?" He asked gently.Peter shrugged. "My parents don't care much about what I do. They ignore me so I ignore them."He turned away from the astonished avenger, before turning to Mr. Delmar who was making their sandwiches. "Hey, Mr. Delmar? Can you double my order? I gotta apologize to Harley. I was kind of a dick to him." Peter said, an embarrassed look crossing his face."Oh Dios, what happened?" "He... He said something that I didn't want people to know." Peter said hesitantly. "I kinda snapped at him afterward and now I feel bad." Mr. Delmar just nodded calmly. "Hang on, who's Harley?" Clint asked.Peter shifted, adjusting his jacket so he could nestle in closer to it. "Harley's my twin brother. We got into a bit of a squabble so I just want to apologize, and what better way to apologize than with food?"Clint chuckled softly. "Spoken like a true genius."Peter smiled and waved slightly, before turning and beginning to explore in the, looking for Murphy, Mr. Delmar's cat. He ended up in the back of the store by the fridges. A small clicking noise caught his attention. He turned and saw an unfamiliar man fidgeting towards the front of the store, and stepping behind Clint, getting in line with a half-gallon of milk. Something set Peter off about the man. The way he was standing, the fidgeting, his dark gray jacket that draped his features, and most of all, the way he kept looking up at the cameras and behind him as if he was expecting to get attacked at any moment. He stared at the man when he turned to him. The two stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment, before the man let out a panicked shriek. Peter jumped and his spidey sense suddenly began screaming. Clint stepped away from the man as he dropped the half-gallon. It spilled over the floor as he frantically reached into his coat, turning to Clint with wide, insane eyes. Peter felt his blood run cold as he saw the light reflecting off metal. Before he could stop himself, he began running towards the man. "CLINT GET OUT OF THE WAY!"Peter slammed into the man, sending him sprawling backward, as he grabbed onto his arm and attempted to pin him. The man was staring wide-eyed at him as pulled out a pistol in his free hand. Peter gasped as the man attempted to aim. Peter attempted to grab the weapon but heard a loud bang and pain overcame his arm. He let out a cry of pain, before kicking the man in his stomach and shoved him away. He gripped his arm, which was beginning to bleed heavily, and he whimpered loudly. Clint took Peter's place, pinning the man down as he turned to him. "Are you okay?!" He asked, looking horrified. Peter glanced down at his arm and practically cried with relief when he saw the bullet wound was just a graze. Granted, a deep graze that would take at least a few days to mend, but still just a graze. "Y-yeah just got grazed." He reassured, putting his hand on the bleeding wound.Clint stared at him, as Delmar ran out, looking at the scene with a horrified look. "Oh god, Juan! Call the police!" He shouted to a man working in the back.Peter quickly stood up, grabbed his sandwich that he dropped at some point, and grabbed his and Harley's sandwich that Delmar had set on the counter. He shoved the food into his bag, leaving the money to pay for Harley's sandwich, and turned to the exit, stumbling out. "Wait- Peter! You're hurt!""Kid! Get back here! It'll get infected!"Peter ignored the shouts behind him and kept walking away. Peter made his way downtown, drenched in his own blood, as freezing rain began to pour. He approached a familiar alleyway and hoisted himself into the second-story window. He fell to the ground, careful not to damage the sandwiches and cash in his bag. "Peter!?" Harley ran to his injured brother. "Oh god- are you okay? What happened? Shit- you're bleeding.""Really? I didn't notice." Peter replied sarcastically, before wincing in pain.Harley cursed softly, before turning to one of their blankets. He took one of the smaller ones, wiped down the injury, used a bottle of water to carefully rinse it off, and cleaned out the wound. "I'm gonna have to buy shit to keep this from getting infected. The hell did you do anyway? Is this a damn bullet wound?" Harley demanded.Peter began telling Harley what had happened at the Deli and handed him his sandwich with his uninjured arm. "So, you're saying, we have like, $40 now?" He asked, staring at his brother.Peter went quiet, thinking. "$47 and 54¢ if you wanna be exact," Peter said. "Holy shit I feel like we're loaded." He said eagerly, taking a bite of his sandwich.Peter smiled. "Yeah, we're really swimming in cash." He replied sarcastically.Harley grinned, before digging in their backpack and pulling out one of the $20 bills he'd gotten as change. "I'm gonna go buy us some medicine. You, stay here. Don't move." He ordered, emphasizing each word.Peter put his hands up in surrender, before wincing. "Ah ah ah ah! Stop moving your arm!" Harley snapped. "Play one-handed solitaire or something, just don't die." "Jeez- alright mom." Peter retorted playfully.Harley snickered, happy to get over their argument, and quickly began making his way to the Deli. He wanted to make sure Mr. Delmar was okay, plus they had medical supplies there so that was a win. And maybe he could punch the guy who shot his brother if he's still there. He stepped into the store, which now had a police car in front. He frowned, as he watched the man in the back seat thrash violently, trying to escape the cuffs and failing miserably. He smiled at his misery, a rush of satisfaction swimming through him. He stepped in, ignoring the officers and Avenger who yet hadn't left the store but looked very worried. He grabbed a roll of gauze, antibiotics, and medical tape. He stepped up to the counter, where Juan was standing, staring at the officer who was taking reports from Clint and Mr. Delmar. "Hey Juan, I wanna buy stuff." Harley cut in.Juan tore his gaze away. "Huh? Wha? Oh, hey kiddo. Why're you buying gauze?" He asked, a curious look crossing his face as he rang him up."Pete." He answered simply.Juan looked at him worried. "Is he okay? He ran outta here pretty quick.""Wait, you're that kids brother?"Harley turned to see Hawkeye staring at him, with a surprised look. "Yeah. I'm the retards brother, and I gotta patch him up because he was being dumb and got himself shot saving your ass." Harley replied, venom leaking into his voice.He didn't blame the archer for his brother getting hurt. Peter jumped in front of the bullet, and that was his decision. It's not like the Avenger had asked to be shot at on his day off. But it still happened. And he couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment. Clint winced at Harley's harsh words. "Look, it's not like I asked the kid to save me-""What would've happened if he didn't step in, huh? You'd be dead, wouldn't you? Peter's just the purest goddamn soul in this universe because he does dumb shit like that. Jumps in front of bullets to save others, because he doesn't think he's worth keeping around. No matter how much I get into fights with him about his... unfavorable mindset, that isn't going to change anytime soon. Just move on and let me buy my damn gauze so I can make sure he doesn't bleed out." Harley snapped, not wanting to listen to the archer or really anyone anymore.He grabbed the supplies, paid for them, and left without a word..oOo.oOo.oOo.Harley stepped down the street, and despite the freezing rain, it felt like his blood was boiling. He walked to the alleyway, and let out a deep sigh.He hoisted himself up, silently wondering how painful this must have been for Peter, then pushed himself into the building. He smiled softly when he saw his brother passed out, leaning on the wall. He grabbed his brothers' arm carefully and began cleaning the wound properly. Peter winced in his sleep, and groaned, before waking up. "Ow..." He whimpered."Sorry." Harley murmured, as he carefully wiped the injury down.Peter quickly became coherent enough to see what was happening. "After you're done with this, I'm gonna go out and be Spider-Man." He murmured."Like hell you are." He deadpanned. "I've swung with worse injuries." Peter sighed, sitting up, and giving Harley his arm so he could wrap it better.Harley kept a close eye on his brother, as he wrapped the wound which had already begun to stitch itself up. "Just because you've been through worse, doesn't mean you should do it. Just, wait until it heals. It's just a graze, and because of that sandwich, it should be healed pretty soon. That's my offer. No changing it." Harley laid out.Peter stared at his brother for a moment. "Oh my god, you do care."Harley stopped, before shaking his head at the attempt of a joke. "I do care, Peter. That's why I'm not letting you go out." He reinforced firmly.Peter stiffened slightly, before sighing. "Alright, I get it... I'll stay." "Promise?" Peter looked up, slightly surprised at how small his brother sounded. His brother was looking down, shaking slightly. "Harley-" He paused for a moment, before taking a breath. "I promise I won't go out," Peter swore, wrapping his good arm around his twin.Harley stiffened, before hugging him back tentatively. After a few moments of hugging, he pulled away from Peter. It had been so sudden, that he left Peter with his arms in the air for a few moments before he realized what had happened, and put his arms down. Harley began putting things away, and he let out a deep sigh. "Let's... let's rest. Since you're going out as Spider-Man later, I'm just gonna clean up, and wash our clothes at the laundromat. I'll stop at F.E.A.S.T. and grab us something to eat too. Don't go out until later tonight." Harley sighed, avoiding eye contact, as he began to pick up some of their shirts.Peter nodded. "Alright... wake me up in an hour I guess.." Harley's only response was a mute nod.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Peter spun a pencil between his fingertips absentmindedly. Ned scrolled through the laptop in front of him, before freezing. "Hey, Peter. You have anything to do right now, or can you fill out this survey for me?" Ned asked.Peter looked up, throwing the pencil in the air and catching it, before replying. "For what?""I saw it on the news this morning, Stark Industries is doing some lottery thing. If you pass a test, then you have a chance to become an intern. I bet you'll pass." Ned explained, an eager look crossing his face.Peter raised an eyebrow. "What do I need put in? I don't exactly have an address and I'll bet I need to do that." "You can put mine! You just need first and last name, address, which you can put mine in, date of birth, and email. Then fill out the test and wait for the response email telling you whether you passed or not! I dare you to do it, you can't turn down a dare." Ned explained eagerly.After a few moments, Peter shrugged. "You know what, why not? It's not like he'll pull my name out of however many others pass. Even if I do pass." He finally replied.Ned slid over the computer, and Peter began answering the questions. It took all of study hall, and into lunch. Actually, it took most of the lunch period too. He ate at while he filled it out. "Jeez, this is a long test," Ned muttered."Dude, I just got like three-quarters of the way through. I'm gonna have to steal this computer if I'm ever gonna finish it." Peter growled, looking irritated.Harley gave him a half-smile, as Ned just frowned. "How long is this supposed to take for adults?" He asked as Peter scribbled an equation on a piece of paper.Harley raised an eyebrow, as he glanced at the computer. "This is complicated stuff. Like, college stuff." He pointed out.Peter put his pencil down and typed down an equation before hitting enter, and moving on to the next problem, a word problem in which a 500-word answer and explanation needed to be provided. "Jesus..." Harley muttered, not able to watch anymore.When lunch ended and foods class began, Ned realized that the test he had dared Peter to finish, had 200 questions. Peter was at question 194. "You're almost done." Ned encouraged, as Peter typed quickly, his hands flying over the keyboard barely touching the keys before moving on to the next key. Ned watched curiously as Peter typed, occasionally moving on to the next word before finishing the previous one. This was something Peter had always done. He always spoke quickly, because his mind moved quickly. Because of his Jewish heritage, he'd always been raised to speak his mind, and have few unspoken opinions. Combine this with his open personality and hyperactive mind, he's almost never quiet. He needs to get something out, write it down, put it into the world somehow before his brain moves onto the next thing to focus on. It was a cycle he always followed. Think, say it, move on, repeat.

Ned watched Peter type, as the teacher went on about how too much flour or sugar can ruin a dish. Ned watched as the number in the top left corner of the browser slowly went up. 193... 194... 195... Halfway through the class, Peter finished the test. Ned sat up eagerly. "Great job, Peter! You finished a 200 question test- if you get an internship you totally have to introduce me to Tony Stark."

"Internship doesn't mean I'll meet the former CEO. Or the current CEO. Or anyone really important as a matter of fact." Peter sighed, closing the computer as a relieved look crossed his face. "I'm gonna take the most hardcore nap. Wake me up five minutes before the bell rings." He sighed, as he set his head down on his arms.

Ned watched his friend slept and began filling out a paper they were given by the substitute.

* * *

Rain pattered down on the ground, seeming to never stop, as Spider-Man swung downtown, listening for a crime. Or anything of value really. The test had drained him, but he had more than enough energy to go and fight crime as his alter-ego. He smiled as he found a tall building, to sit and look over the city. The view up here is beautiful... this will never get old. He let his mind wander, as he stood on the roof. The wind blew into his face, and even though his sad excuse of a mask kept him from straight up freezing, it still sent chills up his spine. Peter glanced around for a moment, before he felt a sharp, almost painful, throbbing in the back of his skull, warning him. He quickly leaped out of the way, when a round of bullets went off behind him. He dodged the bullets expertly, before finally getting a good look at his attackers. Two men and one woman were aiming their guns at him. "WOAH! Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people like that?!" He shouted, before getting some footing.

The man with a goatee smirked, as he stopped to reload. The woman had two guns strapped to her back, and a Winchester rifle in her hands. The other man had a bandana over his face and a number of grenades strapped to his belt. He was firing an Uzi at him. Spidey dodged expertly. "Man- why are you guys firing at me!? What'd I ever do?! Other than potentially stop your drug rings?!" He shouted.

"We don't give a damn about you. We just need you out of the way before we initiate phase two." The woman replied, a smile on her face.

"Woah I'm phase one? What's phase two? It sounds cool."

"Phase two is Debbie and Bubble's kid." Bandana hissed.

Spider-Man went rigid. Debbie and Bubble were two women that visited the FEAST shelter often. They had their own financial troubles, and they'd had trouble finding a job. Debbie was an Irish immigrant, and Bubble was from Spain. Unfortunately, neither spoke English so that made them finding a job so much harder. Their son's name was Arturo, Peter and Harley would essentially babysit him for them. Arturo was just eight, he called Peter, Debul, and called Harley, Bubbie. He mixed his mother's names, and nickname, to make their nicknames. The boys wore them like a trophy.

The woman elbowed Bandana sharply, as Spidey turned, his voice going from the lighthearted tone to dark and threatening. "You aren't going to lay a hand on him." He growled.

"That's why taking you out is the first priority. Those kids will be difficult, but you're the biggest concern." Goatee sneered, as he began firing again.

With renewed vigor and a sudden urge to protect, Spider-Man dodged the bullets with ease, before getting close enough to disarm the man. The woman frowned and sighed. "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself." She picked up her rifle and fired a round.

It completely missed him, hitting a wall behind him. Spidey stared at her. "Was... was that supposed to hit me?" He asked genuinely confused.

"Of course not, I never miss."

A loud cracking sound made Spidey turn when red pellets began flying everywhere. They stuck to Spidey's suit and began burning. Smoke emitted off of them, as they turned white hot. Spidey screamed as they began burning through his undershirt and into his skin. He stumbled backward as the burning pellets burned their way painfully into his skin, and he was falling. His mind spun, as pain enveloped his limbs and torso. Without thinking, he began swinging in a random direction, before crashing onto the ground. He let out a pained sob. His ears rang, as he curled in on himself, trying to stop the pain. A hand touched his head, before pulling the mask up. "-der? Got... up... -ap..." A voice spoke to him.

He attempted to decipher what they were saying, but his head didn't stop spinning, as pain erupted in his chest. He felt whoever had found him, pick him up, and carry him somewhere. Peter closed his eyes. Where-ever they're taking me can't be much worse than this...

* * *

The sun set on the New York City skyline, as Harley paced anxiously back and forth. Ned and MJ watched the boy pace. "So you have no idea where he could be?" Ned asked.

"No! For the billionth time Ned, I have no idea where Peter is! He went out after school for a bit, and he didn't come back." Harley snapped.

"Chill out man, maybe he's just taking forever. No need to hit the panic button." MJ sighed.

"You don't get it. People don't like us. Hell- most of them want us dead. We check in, leave notes, draw symbols. We let each other know when we're going somewhere. I haven't found any signs or notes, and he wouldn't forget something like this. It's really important for us, it's how we know we're okay." He whimpered, his hand beginning to shake. "It's how we know the other is still alive."

Ned and MJ went quiet, giving the trembling boy a worried look. "What should we do? Call the police?" Ned asked.

"No- if we get the police involved they'll get CPS involved, and that'll make the situation so much worse." Harley sighed

MJ kept a calm look on her face. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably just got caught up with something. You know how he is."

* * *

"He's definitely not fine. The pellets embedded themselves in his skin, they'd have kept sinking deeper into him if you hadn't found him." Claire sighed.

"Thank you for helping him, I can take care of him from here." A resident lawyer, Matt Murdock sighed.

Claire nodded. "He'll probably be in a lot of pain when he wakes up, he burned through the medication pretty quickly. Superhuman metabolism I guess. Just try to keep him calm, if you need help, you know who to call." She added, tugging gently at the red and blue clad vigilante's mask.

Both of them had truly wanted to pull the mask off. To know who the man was, how young or old he was, how healthy he was. They were curious, just like every other human was. But they had resisted temptation and left the mask untouched. Claire left the room, leaving an exhausted Spider-Man and concerned Daredevil. He had heard gunshots and left to investigate it and realized that Spider-Man was being attacked. And he'd lost. He had listened to the spider scream in pain, and beg for help. He'd called Claire Temple, who had found multiple white pellets embedded in his skin, and removed them, only to find out they were scalding hot.

Matt's train of thought had been cut off, by a soft groan. He looked up from the sandwich he was making, he was on his third. He was sure that the man must be hungry, Claire had elaborated on how he was severely malnourished, and in his early twenties at the latest based on his body structure. So Matt was making food for him. He turned to face the waking vigilante. "W-what..? Where... where am I?" He muttered.

"You're at my place, I found you and brought to my place. Don't worry, we never took off your mask." He promised the man, who had jolted up.

"Oh... okay... where is your place?" He asked, sitting up.

Matt frowned, hearing the vigilante's heartbeat speed up to a dangerously high pace. "Calm down, we're just in an apartment complex in uptown Hell's Kitchen." He reassured. "Just take a deep breath, you were in a nasty condition."

Spidey turned to the lawyer, as he picked up the three sandwiches he had, and walked towards the couch. He sat next to Spidey and stared at him as he shifted uncomfortably away. It was like the man was seeing straight through him, or like he wasn't seeing him at all. Spidey hesitated, even more, when the man handed him two sandwiches. "Did you think I seriously just made myself three sandwiches? I can't eat that much. But I'm willing to bet you can." He offered, putting his hand out farther.

Spidey hesitated once more, before snatching the sandwiches quickly. He quickly lifted up his mask, just above his nose, and scarfed down one. He stared at the second sandwich for a moment, before holding onto it. Harley'll be hungry too...

"So. How do you feel?" Matt asked.

Spidey stared at him for a moment, before bringing his hand to his chest with a soft groan. "Like I was dropped in a bucket of acid."

"You practically burnt to a crisp. If I'd taken any longer to find you, I doubt you'd be alive. Those little pellets are magnetized and are attracted to each other. They'd have kept burning through your body till your full of holes." Matt explained, pointing to the tray of little black pellets.

"They were red when the bullet exploded," Spider-Man observed curiously.

"They're dark because they've cooled off. Are you going to eat that other sandwich?"

Spidey stiffened, looking hesitant. "It's for a friend."

"Okay, then take more food. It's not like I'm running out." Matt said firmly, turning around, and grabbing granola bars.

"No- no no no no- it's fine. I don't need it-"

"Don't lie, I can tell you need it," Matt replied, barely acknowledging the vigilantes' yelps in protest.

He grabbed a Walmart bag and put granola bars in. "Take it. I can hear your stomach growling from here." Matt snorted.

Spidey hesitated, staring at the bag, before taking it. "Thank you." He whimpered.

Before Matt could reply, Spidey turned, and leaped out of the window, with the granola bars and sandwich.

"I'm sorry." Mat murmured, as the red and blue clad vigilante fled.

* * *

Harley paced. "Oh god, what if Peter's dead." He whimpered out loud.

"Okay, now you're taking it a bit far." MJ sighed, crossing her arms.

A loud thud made the group jump. "PETER!" Harley screamed, seeing the boy faceplant through the window.

"Oh god are you okay?!" He asked panicked.

"No," Peter replied, pulling off the mask, and taking a gasping breath.

"What happened?" He immediately asked, throwing the mask off to the side and cupping his brothers face.

He groaned softly, pulling away from the touch. "Got shot."

"What?!" Ned screamed, as a horrified look crossed MJ's face.

"Where?" Harley demanded.

"Burns. They're going after Arturo, we gotta tell his moms'." Peter hissed, touching his stinging side.

Harley thrust a shirt and sweatpants at him. "Go change. Then we can talk about this." He demanded.

Peter rolled his eyes, but stood up and left the room. Harley stared after his twin brother, a nervous look on his face. "Something bad happened. I know it." He murmured.

He looked around for a second, before seeing the bag. He opened it and stared in disbelief at the plethora of granola bars and single sandwich. "What the hell..?"

Peter stepped out, his arms wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. "Peter-"

"Guys, I hate to interrupt but Harley interrupted me when I first got here so I guess it's fair. But anyway, I got news." Ned broke in.

The two looked at Ned. "What is it?" Peter asked.

"Peter, we got the results of the test. You passed." MJ answered.

"Yeah, and out of 4.7 million people, only 50 people did," Ned added.

Peter went rigid. "You're kidding." He replied.

"Here's the email!" Ned replied, pulling out his computer.

"No- I... I believe you... holy shit."

"Peter if you get an internship, which could have money involved, you better accept it." Harley hissed, shoving him lightly.

Peter whined in pain, and Harley paled slightly. "Sorry-"

"It's fine. Just let my wounds heal before you do that."

"Who patched you up?" MJ asked.

"Okay, you guys sit down, cause I've got one helluva story to tell you."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ned entered the school cheerfully, practically skipping down the hallway. MJ stared at him as he approached her. "What's got you so giddy?" She asked.Ned grinned. "You'll never believe what came in the mail today." MJ raised an eyebrow. "You didn't answer my question."Ned quickly took his backpack off and opened up the frontmost pocket. MJ watched carefully, seeming intrigued. Ned pulled out a small envelope and practically shoved in the astute girl's face. She pulled back, somewhat startled by the almost violent gesture. She gave the boy a bemused look. "An envelope came in the mail. What a wonderful world this is." She replied sarcastically.Ned rolled his eyes dramatically and let out an exasperated sigh. "Read who it's from and who it's for!" MJ raised an eyebrow once again. "I can't when the return address is faced towards you." Ned looked confused for a moment, before looking at the envelope, and realizing that it was faced towards him. He turned it around and showed her. She stared at the letter for a moment, her face remaining emotionless. "Hm. Stark Industries huh? Bet this is an acceptance letter." Ned nodded vigorously. "That's what I was thinking! Wait until Peter sees this, he's gonna freak! He might have a job at Stark Industries! Of all places! What if he meets Tony Stark!?" He squeaked.MJ gave him a look. "First of all, it may not even be an acceptance letter. Second of all, not a job, an internship. Third of all, just because he hangs around at Stark Industries doesn't mean he'll meet Tony Stark." She replied coolly."Still. That would totally be badass." Ned rebutted. "What would?" A third voice interrupted. The group looked up to see a crisp and clean looking Harley Parker. "You're looking awfully clean today," MJ replied."Yeah, I woke up early to hit a FEAST shelter and take a quick shower since I haven't had one in at least a week. I tried to get Peter to come with but he barely slept so..." Harley answered through a yawn."You tired?" Ned asked, looking amused."Yeah. Did he say we woke up early? He meant we didn't really sleep at all." Peter cut in, stepping beside his brother and just looking exhausted. "Not to mention I've been nursing this friggen migraine for at least two hours and I'm pretty sure I'm about to collapse dead within the next twenty minutes." He added with an exhausted sigh."I'll go get some Pop-Tarts for us from the vending machine. I snatched a few bucks from a guy on the way here. You go nap in first period." Harley said gently, as he nudged his brother along.Peter walked off wordlessly. "Oh jeez, you know it's bad when he doesn't scold you for stealing," Ned mumbled."Yeah." Harley agreed quietly.Ned looked down at the letter in his hand, then up at the boy who was limping towards the staircase, before sighing and putting it back in his backpack. It can wait for tomorrow.

* * *

Peter slid down the railing, looking tired, as his brother skipped steps to catch up with him. "Oh- Peter! Peter! Wait up!"

Peter turned around to see Principal Morita running after him. "Uhh- hi Mr. Morita. What're you doing?"

"You've... got someone... to pick you up." He spoke between gasps.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah- his names Happy Hogan. He's here because of some raffle or something."

Peter exchanged looks with his brother, who stood beside him. "Umm, okay?"

"I'll head home and buy supplies. You uh, you take your time I guess." Harley replied, looking confused.

"Alright, if I'm... Check with Mr. Delmar. I'll call him within the hour, if I haven't checked in then, do something... Tell Mr. Li something happened I guess." Peter replied.

"Alright." Harley nodded in agreement, looking anxious.

"Okay.." Peter replied.

The brothers hugged for a moment, worried for the safety of the other. Peter would be going with a stranger. Harley would be off on his own. Principal Morita glanced between the two. The twins finally separated, giving each other a long look, before Peter turned to the patient principal. Harley turned and began walking away.

"So the guys' name was Harry?" Peter began.

"No, Happy. Happy Hogan."

"Tch. Who names their kid Happy? What is this, a Rudolph's Shiny New Year?" Peter snorted.

"Yeah, I think it's a nickname." Morita sighed.

"I hope so if not, his parents must've hated him," Peter grumbled.

Morita gave Peter a look. "That's a little rude." He chided gently.

Peter gave Morita a short glance, before turning ahead. "Yeah, I guess it was..."

The rest of the walk down the hallway to the front door was awkwardly silent. Peter didn't mind it, but Morita kept looking around as if trying to avoid looking at the boy.

When the two finally did make it to the front door, Morita was quick to wave the boy off. "Bye," Peter muttered sarcastically under his breath, as he left the building.

The first thing Peter noticed, was the insanely expensive looking car. It was black, with gold looking trims. "Holy crap." He yelped through laughter, as he stepped over towards the beautiful thing.

Peter stared at it in amazement, not knowing what to think. The window rolled down, catching him off guard. "Well, kid? Get in." The man grunted.

Peter stared in disbelief. "What the hell?" He said instantly.

"You are Peter Parker right?" The man sighed, seeming frustrated.

"Uh, yeah. Who're you?"

"Happy Hogan. You did get the letter, didn't you? It should've arrived this morning."

Peter's mind swam as he glanced between the man and the expensive car he sat in. "Well yeah but I don't check the mail in the morning." He lied hesitantly.

"Check your email?"

"Not today, no."

Happy grunted. "Well, congrats kid. You got into Stark Industries. Now get in before I leave."

Without a second thought, Peter climbed into the back seat. He glanced around the inside of the car as he buckled up. The inside was crisp and clean, unlike Peter. He hadn't had the chance to shower in the past two days, and was relying on a beanie to hide his greasy hair. He'd washed his face, and put on an ungodly amount of cologne to hide the growing scent of BO. He knew the girls at school didn't appreciate it, he didn't quite like how the scent burnt his nose either, but it was that or the smell of sweat mixed with blood, dirt, sewer water, and unwashed cotton. Which was not a nice smell by the way. He didn't like the way unwashed hair felt, but living the type of life he lived, there really wasn't much of a choice. A small part of him regretted not having gone with Harley to take a shower at 4:30 in the morning. But the larger part of him appreciated the thirty minutes of sleep he managed to catch.

Happy made a noise a few moments into the car ride. "Jesus, was that much cologne really necessary kid?" He interrogated.

"Well it's that or the smell of blood and both are pretty nasty but cologne is less suspicious."

Happy glanced in the rearview, looking concerned. "Why do you smell like blood?" He asked.

Peter looked up, realizing his mistake after the fact. "I cut my side in Woods class. They ran out of extra shirts so I'm stuck with a bloodstained one." He lied.

It wasn't necessarily a lie. He had cut his side in woods, that was how the shirt got stained and cut. Granted, that was two weeks ago. And they did have an extra shirt to wear. He'd just stolen it. Happy glanced in the rearview once more, before looking to the road. "Alright, just don't bleed out in the car. It's more expensive than both of us combined." He grunted.

Peter stared at the man. "Okay... So why do they call you Happy? You seem like, ya know, the opposite of happy." He began, hoping to get small talk going.

The man just grunted and closed the window. Peter frowned, and leaned back. "Fine, be that way. Days like this I wish I had homework." He said to himself.

For the rest of the forty-minute ride, Peter let his mind wander. It went from the idea that he was actually just getting kidnapped and he was going to die as soon as the car stopped, to that his identity was found out, to him getting a reward and everything in between.

When the car finally pulled to a stop, the two hopped out. "Follow me, and don't ask questions. Put this on." He sighed.

Happy gave him a lanyard with a badge that read 'Intern'. Peter stared at it for a moment, before taking it and putting it on. He followed Happy, scanning his badge at a station, before entering an elevator. Happy hit the button that read 63. "You're gonna meet the boss, then you'll get orientation, then you'll start." Happy answered firmly.

"Umm, can I use your phone for a second?" He asked quickly.

Happy stared at him. "Why?"

"I need to make a call, it's important."

Happy made an irritated noise. "Fine." He handed the boy his phone.

Peter took the phone and called Mr. Delmar. "Hello, this is Delmar's Deli, how can I help you?"

"Hey, Mr. Delmar. I just wanted to call for something real quick."

"Oh, hey Peter! Your brother just showed up, what're you up to kid?"

"Oh, tell Harley that I'm okay. I had a thing that I wasn't prepared for today so I kinda had to ditch him."

"Alright. Give me a moment." Delmar replied.

There was a moment of silence, and the elevator opened. Peter stiffened as Happy lead the boy out of the elevator. He gaped, as The Tony Fucking Stark stood there. "Okay, your brother wants to talk to you. I tried chasing him off, he's taking my phone- okay, bye."

Before Peter could say goodbye to Delmar, a voice blew up in his ear. "Where are you? What's happened? Are you safe? Do I need to call in a favor? Do you need Stefan? The Maggia? I've got them under my thumb, I swear to god I will call the cops on your ass Parker." Peter winced.

If only I knew what was happening dear brother.

* * *

Tony glanced up to a strange sight. Happy led a young boy out of the elevator. The boy looked like crap, to be honest, but stranger still, the boy was using Happy's phone. He gaped at Tony for a moment, looking like he had no idea what to do right then. Suddenly, he winced sharply and looked uncomfortable. "No- Harley. I'm fine- no- don't call- no! No police- I'm fine. I swear to god, wait, what? Slow down- no- no! No Maggia. Don't call Mr. Li! I'm fine. Har- Harle- HARLEY!" He paused for a moment. "Harley, I'm fine. I'm at Stark Industries. Yeah, I don't know what's happening either. No, everything's fine. Okay, I'll be back by, um, probably 8? I guess? I don't know. They'll probably give me a ride, I hope. Yeah, okay. Be safe. Love you too. Bye." Finally, the boy hung up.

He handed Happy his phone. "Sorry, the family's overprotective."

Happy just made a disgruntled noise as he pocketed his phone. "Nice to meet you. You're young to have passed my test, what's your name?" Tony asked curtly, but not unkindly.

The boy stumbled over his words for a few seconds, before finally speaking clearly. "Um... P-Peter, sir, Parker Peter. No- Peter Packer. PARKER! Peter Parker sir."

Tony felt a grin tug at his lips and barely managed to force down a smirk. "Well nice to meet you, Mr. Parker." He greeted, putting his hand out.

The boy immediately cringed. "Please don't call me that Sir. Mr. Parker was my father, and I hope I'm nothing like him." The boy sighed, looking slightly unhappy.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's something we have in common. We don't wanna be our fathers. Wonder what else we'll find out about each other. Anyway, how'd you do it?"

Peter looked confused. "Do what sir?"

"Pass the test. That was impressive. People in college failed that piece of garbage I spent a week on." Tony snorted.

The young boy blushed, looking down. "It was time-consuming Mr. Stark sir." He murmured.

Tony approached the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe so, but you still passed. With flying colors. You got a future kid, let's see what you can do."

Peter immediately looked up, looking surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I'm putting your skills to the test. I made a few broken circuits over here, let's see what you can do."

The boy grinned, looking eager. "And get you some new clothes while we're at it. God kid, what are you wearing?" Tony sighed.

His tone was stern but joking. "Come on, we're getting you a new outfit. Fri, we got anything here that'll fit him?" He asked the AI.

"Yes boss, at the gift shops on the 7th floor." She replied.

Peter jumped, immediately looking around. "Holy- okay I knew you had an AI but lord shes loud," Peter explained.

"No need to explain why you jumped, she scares people all the time. It's fine. Cm'on, I'll get you a few new outfits." Tony said, walking to the elevator.

The youngster stumbled over words for a few moments, before going quiet and following the man. "Wait- boss- what should I do?" Happy asked, looking confused.

"Go buy yourself some Starbucks, take the day off. I'll call you when the kid needs a ride home." Tony replied curtly.

Happy just stared at the two in disbelief as the elevator closed. "I feel bad for leaving him," Peter replied, shifting anxiously as Tony hit the button that read 7.

"He'll be fine. I ditch him a lot."

Peter stared at him. "That's rude."

Tony shrugged. "It's life."

Peter stared at the older man for a few more moments, before looking away.God, when was the last time this kid had a shower? Tony thought as he caught a whiff of the cheap cologne the boy was wearing.

He quickly shook his head free of the thought when the elevator opened. He stepped out and led Peter to a small Stark Industries gift shop. While the two were there, Tony bought the boy three new shirts, two pairs of pants, a pair of shorts, a baseball cap, another beanie, two sweatshirts, and a backpack since the boy didn't have one. Throughout the entire ordeal, Peter tried to either leave, convince him to buy less stuff, or that he was just wearing a bad outfit that day. Tony replied every single time with 'If you're going to work for me, you're gonna need at least 500 dollars worth of SI merch stuffed in your closet somewhere.' They stuffed the new outfits into the backpack and returned to the floor. "Okay kid, let's see what you've got."

* * *

Tony was impressed by the boys work. The boy definitely knew his way around a circuit board and was easily able to reprogram the small robot that had been created with numerous flaws and even made it more advanced than just wandering around the table and picking up small pens like it was initially built to do. With the materials he had access to, he was able to go as far as making the robot do mini flips and hover in the air with tiny repulsors for a few moments. It was an impressive feat, and Tony was deadset on his decision.

7:30 quickly rolled around, and Peter began to look anxious. "Um, sir? Not to step out of line or anything, but when can I leave?" He asked.

The question had caught Tony off guard, especially the way the boy asked it. When can I leave? "Kid, you could've left any time. You aren't being held captive here."

Peter looked relieved at the words before tensing up again. "Uhh, alright. Um, does this internship come with any-"

"Yes. All of the interns here are paid. Including you too. Usually, the interns are paid around $17 an hour, but it changes depending on your grade, how skilled you are, and really how responsible you are. So you're obviously pretty damn good at this, so let's start you off with, oh I don't know.. $14.50 an hour?"

Peter's eyes bugged at the number. "Uh- yes! Yes, sir, that would be great! Thank you so much! Umm, what's my schedule?" Peter asked, looking excited.

"How 'bout 4 pm to 8 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays, then 12 pm to 6 pm on Saturday?" Tony offered.

"Yes! That works! That's good." Peter agreed happily, his grin growing wider by the second.

"Alright kid. You'll be paid biweekly, so that like- $200 every two weeks if you show up at the right hours." Tony said, crossing his arms, looking calm and collected.

Peter grinned. "Alright. That's good. That's a good deal."

"Alright. Happy'll pick you up and bring you home. Go on, get." He said playfully.

Peter's grin grew impossibly wider, before turning and waving. "Goodbye, Mr. Stark sir!" Peter shouted, leaving with Happy, and picking up his new backpack.

Tony smiled. "Stay safe kid." He murmured to himself.