song of the chapter

Midnight City, by M83

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓.

The street lights were bright, people crowding the sidewalks even though the sky was pitch black. Cars honked as they passed through the busy streets, billboards and signs illuminating the streets in violent shades of purple, orange, and blue. The air was buzzing, refusing to rest as it shared its energy with its inhabitants.

The daytime was beautiful in a different way- the sun shone warmly over infinitely tall skyscrapers, bathing the city in a bright, cheery light. From the top floor of the Avengers Tower, you could see the distinct places where shadow met sunlight in between the buildings.

It was gorgeous, but the energy was completely different once the sun had set. People seemed to become more confident, step into more daring personas. Charlie didn't know how people could resist falling in love with New York at night.

Or, maybe, it had something to do with the thrill of sneaking out for the first time.

Charlie Stark-Rogers was grinning, the wind gently blowing her shoulder-length hair as her shoes scuffed the concrete. She was practically skipping, Stark-style leather jacket flapping at her movements as goosebumps rose on her arms- whether from the cold or from excitement, she didn't know.

She caught her reflection for a split second in the window of a restaurant, eyes bright and face beaming around a dimpled smile. She realized with a start how happy she looked- it was pretty on her.

Granted, she wasn't quite used to the gloss on her lips that kept catching her hair, or the mascara making her eyelids feel slightly heavier than usual. Pepper Potts had come in clutch for her fifteenth birthday last month, introducing her to the world of nice makeup and proper hair-styling, and Charlie loved every bit of it. It wasn't like either of her dads had been able to teach her these things, and she felt a bit behind on teenage girl stuff.

She felt different, walking around alone in the streets of New York at night, short purple dress brushing the top of her knees- but it was so, so worth it.

Besides, tonight was... important.

Charlie felt her StarkPhone buzz in her pocket and she fumbled to pull it out, nearly crashing into a bystander at the speed she was going.

"Sorry, sorry," she said frantically, although the woman didn't seem to care- and Charlie couldn't wipe that dumb, goofy grin off her face. She quickly looked at her notifications, feeling her heart pound in her chest.

from: Pee-pee 🌝

- ru almost here

She grinned, her nails clicking on the screen as she typed out her response.

from: Material girl 💅

yup -

Charlie's phone buzzed again and she looked down, snorting when she saw the message.

from: Pee-pee 🌝

- hey dont text and walk

- ur gonna get run over

from: Material girl 💅

thats rly morbid thanks  -

im almost there -

from: Pee-pee 🌝

- wait I think I see u!!!

Charlie's head darted up immediately, the grin on her face only growing eyes searching diligently for the familiar figure she'd been anxiously waiting to see for months.

A particularly sharp gust of wind whipped her hair into her face all of the sudden, several strands sticking onto her glossed lips. Annoyed, she stuck tongue between them and just ended up making sputtering noises, trying to get it out.

Her phone buzzed again and she fumbled to pull it out, but her hair was caught in her mouth and obscuring her vision, and her phone was still buzzing in her hand as she swiped at her hair in frustration-

Her fingers slipped and Charlie gasped, feeling her phone fall from her grasp towards the concrete.

She didn't hear the heart-stopping noise of glass shattering as she finally yanked her hair away from her face, though. She blinked to clear her vision, confused, before freezing.

Peter Parker stood in front of her, her phone in his hand, a sheepish smile on his face. Suddenly everything else melted away, and Charlie felt like she was exactly where she needed to be.

"Holy shit!" She squeaked, scrambling. She stared at her purple phone case, relieved to see there wasn't any damage. "You- how the hell did you catch that?"

Peter smiled lopsidedly, and Charlie nearly melted when she realized that those dimples were going to be the death of her.

"I- good reflexes, I guess." His ears were red, like he was embarrassed about something.

"Well, thanks," she said, wanting to shoot herself when her voice cracked. She had the sudden urge to fix her dress and smooth her hair. Butterflies had erupted in her stomach, and it took a moment to realize it wasn't anxiety. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling- it was pure, unadulterated excitement. "I can't believe we're really doing this."

"You look pretty," Peter blurted. HIs big, puppy-brown eyes went wide and his lips parted into a perfect 'oh', like he was shocked at his own words. "I mean- I'm sorry, I really hope that isn't creepy. You just- your hair is, you know, shorter, and you're wearing a dress, and you just look different than last time."

His eyes widened even more, and now he stammering. "Not you didn't look pretty before! You did, but you just look... different now, it's- it's, you know-"

A laugh escaped Charlie's mouth before she could stop it, smiling widely as Peter looked so very lost. She waved her hand to show him she wasn't making fun of him and he visibly relaxed, looking at Charlie with a sheepish smile that she couldn't help return.

"Thank you," she said, slightly awkwardly. She'd always sucked at accepting compliments. "You- you're pretty too."

Peter grinned, and it was like looking at the sun. "Oh. Uh- really?"

Charlie nodded. She found her traitorous brain tracing over Peter, eyes widening when she realized there was something very, very different than when she'd seen him last year.

"You-" she stared at him, jaw dropping when it hit her. "When did you get- you aren't scrawny anymore."

Peter got even more red at that- oh, God, this boy liked to blush. "Yeah. It was- not really my doing."

Charlie shook her head in disbelief, eyes tracing his figure.

He was significantly taller than last time, for starters. When Charlie had last seen him, back in DC, they had been about the same height- if anything, she had been taller. Right now, Charlie still hadn't grown an inch, coming in at a solid 5"1 and-a-half.

Tony would snort and say that was generous. But seeing as that was a stupid-ass observation, she elected to ignore him.

Peter was at least 5"7 now, and he was only fifteen.

That wasn't the only thing, though. He was wearing a nerdy science shirt and a cheap navy hoodie, like he had last time, but now she could see the muscles bulging through the fabric. The clothes were clearly too small, like he'd had a sudden, insane growth spurt.

"How-" Charlie stared at him, noticing now the glasses missing from his face. His skin was clear, with no normal teenage acne, his jawline suddenly very... sharp, illuminated by the street lights. "How is that even possible? That's insane! I mean, you looked totally fine before, obviously. That's just- that's crazy."

It didn't occur to Charlie until later that she probably sounded extremely rude- in her defense, thought, she'd never had a friend her own age before.

Growing up with the Avengers gave you a sense of brutal honesty and a bit of a lack for social interaction- it wasn't like Tony brought her to conventions or S.I. meetings, or even the extravagant balls he threw for charities every other weekend.

Peter didn't really seem to mind, though. It was almost like he understood, taking her awkward rudeness in stride.

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at his rather impressive forearm as though seeing it or the first time too. "Yeah. Uh- I was kind of bitten by a radioactive spider last month?"

Charlie stared at him. When Peter's face kept its solemn look, she snorted. "Funny. Seriously, though, how did you actually-"

Peter sighed. "No, I'm serious. We were on a field trip for Midtown, and Ned dared me to go touch one of the exhibits- Penny was telling me not to, but she's not the boss of me- and then one of the spiders must have climbed out of the cage things, because it bit me."

"That still doesn't explain-" Charlie shook her head, trying to comprehend it. "How did that- what the hell?"

"Yeah," Peter snorted. "What the hell. It really threw me for a loop there. I was really, really sick- for, like, three days. And then suddenly I didn't need my glasses anymore, and I was too big for all of my clothes, and my reflexes were, like, fantastic, and then I could stick to things."

"Stick to things," Charlie repeated slowly.

"Uh... yeah."

Charlie squinted her eyes at him. "I really don't want to believe you, because that just unlocked, like, ten different phobias I didn't know I had. But you seem like you'd be a terrible liar."

"Hey!" Peter said defensively. "I'm a good liar!"

"Do you have ADHD?"

"What? No..."

"Peter."

"Fine. Probably."

Charlie felt a tiny pang in her heart at the memory of a smiler conversation, with a little boy back in Tennessee last year. She smirked regardless. "Kids with ADHD are notoriously bad liars. That's what my Dad always says."

"Yeah, well, you look like your Dad when you do that," Peter said, gesturing weakly to her facial expression. "S' freaking me out."

"Thank you," Charlie said.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Peter ran a hand through his curls.

"Are you ready for the tour?" He blurted. "Queens is kinda great."

Charlie smiled, feeling excitement bloom in her heart. "That's what I'm here for, aren't I?"

Neither of them would say it, but they both knew that wasn't the reason.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 for Peter a few months after she'd moved to New York.

It started out of pure boredom, being stuck in her bed all day in that awkward half-sitting up position as her ribs healed from the Helicarrier fight with the Barnes. With her dads eventually having to go back to work, and the rest of the Avengers on missions, she had to find ways to amuse herself.

It wasn't like she had a lot to do. And Peter had been a recent addition to her dreams- but not in the way one might think.

It was mainly the nights when she'd wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air, with the images of the fight in DC replaying over and over in her head like some kind of sick joke.

The punch line usually ended up being either the Barnes, Steve, Natasha, Sam, or Peter getting killed, so she wrote her letters like her therapist recommended and said to them what she wished she could in real life.

The wouldn't quite satisfy the night terrors, though.

"We're okay," Steve had whispered in her ear one night, rocking her back and forth as she cried into his chest. "Dad and I are right here, you saw Sam and Nat yesterday. The Barnes are safer on their own. We're all okay, doll."

That just left Peter, the ever-remaining mystery to her.

And with the entire world at her fingertips with her new StarkPad, she couldn't help but be curious (and a bit paranoid that he really had kicked the bucket).

Just a simple search for Peter Parker had shown too many results, and she stopped trying at first. But after a few days, her curiosity got the better of her again and she started trying some different combinations.

Peter Parker, New York still had too many options.

Peter Parker, Penny Parker showed an old article from several years ago about Richard and May Parker dying in a sudden plane crash, leaving behind a set of twins.

That explained why they lived with their aunt and uncle, if Charlie remembered correctly.

Peter Parker, Midtown High showed a newspaper clip of "Freshman child prodigy wins school science fair". Impressive as it was, it showed no way to get in contact with him.

After a frustrating few of weeks, a final lame search for Peter Parker on Google had a brand new result that would get her her answer.

Benjamin Parker, age 48, killed in downtown Queens; suspect in custody.

Charlie felt her heart sink, as she clicked on the news report and recognized a picture of the man she'd met at the Cheesecake Factory so long ago. A heavy feeling of dread settled over her as she saw the date- two days ago.

Oh, Peter.

A link at the bottom took her to Ben's obituary, where May Parker's phone number sat for people to send condolences.

A quick paste of that number into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new security database gave her the most recently called number. The rest came easily.

It took her literal hours to decide what she wanted to say to Peter- the number was here, ready to go. All she had to do was press the send button.

hi, she decided she'd start with. you probably don't remember me but we met in DC. my name is charlie. I just wanted to say i'm really sorry about your uncle. i'm here if you wanna talk or sum.

She'd nearly puked from nerves as she waited an excruciating ten minutes for a response.

The her phone had buzzed.

from: Unknown Number

- oh hey

- of course i remember

- hi (=

Before she knew it, she was spending her nights giggling under the covers, messaging a boy she never thought she'd hear from again.

If Tony and Steve noticed the laughter coming from her room in the ungodly hours of the morning, they merely smiled at each other.

(And if Tony was pretending he didn't have a record of every single traced call coming in and out of his tower, or that he knew exactly what she was doing and who she was talking to, or even if he'd stalked the kid on the other end of his daughter's call until he knew for certain he wasn't a threat, he didn't say a word.)

"I don't know what I was expecting when you said larb," Charlie said as she and Peter walked out of the restaurant, cheeks rosy from laughter, "but that definitely wasn't it."

Peter had a curl sticking up in the back of his head, and she resisted the urge to fix it for him.

"It's May's favorite," Peter's nose was scrunched as he grinned. The noises of the city had somehow gotten louder in the last hour, even though it was way past midnight now. "She takes Penny and I there when she burns dinner. It kinda happens a lot."

Charlie tucked her hair behind her ear, the wind catching it immediately. "How is Penny? You talk about her a lot. I'm kind of sad I only met her, like, once."

The way Peter's face immediately brightened was the sweetest thing Charlie had ever seen.

"Oh, she's the best," he said earnestly. "I mean, along with Ned, obviously. But she's- she's my favorite. You've gotta meet her. She's so smart- like, way smarter than me, and she's so nice to everybody. Like, she just goes around and makes friends, and she's part of all the clubs at school. She's super short- kinda your height-"

"Hey," Charlie said indignantly, but she was too focused on how adorable Peter's rambling was to actually be mad.

Peter winced. "Sorry. I just- she's really great. Oh, maybe next time I'll bring her along-"

Both of them turned red at the implication, and silence settled over their conversation. Their feet moved slowly and steadily along the pavement, cars honking beside them.

Peter refused to meet Charlie's eyes, noticeably having deflated.

Charlie hated the look on his face- disappointed, his eyes screaming 'I messed up, I messed up '. She knew what it was like to overthink things to the point of shutting down- she knew better than anyone.

"You'll bring Penny next time?" She asked quietly, smiling slightly at him, her anxiety screaming at him.

Peter's head whipped towards her, visibly relieved.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Yeah, I think she'd like you."

"Why didn't you bring her this time?" Charlie asked curiously. "It sounds like you guys do everything together."

Peter's eyes dimmed for a moment and he stuffed his hands in his pockets- something that reminded Charlie an awful lot of her Dad.

"I dunno. It's just," Peter swallowed hard. "After Ben... I'm the man of the house, you know? So I gotta... look out for her and May. She's already a goody two-shoes, I don't wanna drag her out here. Where Ben... you know..."

Charlie nodded. She knew.

"I couldn't tell her I was sneaking out, or she'd feel like she had to come with me, and then she'd freak. And if she freaks out, I freak out... 'm just scared I can't protect her all the time now. Even with superpowers."

Peter's face had gotten sad, a noticeable weight sinking into his shoulders. "It's my job to keep them safe. It's why I go out sometimes."

Charlie frowned. "What do you mean?"

Peter froze for a moment, glancing at Charlie with wide eyes. "Uh-"

"Peter," Charlie said, her voice lowering to a harsh whisper. "Seriously. Tell me you don't actually..."

"I have to," Peter insisted. "I've stopped a ton of robberies already. Nobody sees my face, I made myself a fancy hoodie. I just... climb out the fire escape, and- I made my own web fluid!"

"Web fluid?-"

Peter nodded fervently. "Yeah, at school. It's like this sticky stuff I put in my web shooters, so I can swing around."

"Peter, what the actual fuck." Charlie looked around incredulously, as if someone on their sidewalk would be able to clear up what was happening. "You swing around? You made web shooters? What- how do you-"

Peter sighed. "The web shooters help me launch the fluid so I can hold onto it and... you know..." he waved his arm around like that cleared everything up. "It's 'cause- 'cause I got bit by a spider. I can do stuff like a spider. Web shooters, spider webs, Spider-Man," he trailed off, looking at Charlie, whose jaw had dropped.

"'Cause I'm a man," he finished lamely. "Spider... Spider-Man."

"Oh my God," Charlie rubbed her eyes, no doubt messing up her mascara.

Peter looked like he wanted to die. "I know it's lame-"

Charlie held up her hand, hearing the anxiety in his voice and feeling it on a personal level. She looked him in his soft brown eyes, his curls glowing gently in the wind.

"It's- it's a lot of things," She said. He licked his lips, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something before shutting it again. "But it's definitely not lame. It's stupid, and you're terribly prepared to be- what, fighting crime? Holy shit, Peter, you're fifteen- but it's not lame."

Peter looked at the ground, fidgeting with his hands. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "It's just- I've wanted to be a superhero forever. And then I saw you, and you were my age, and you were out there fighting bad guys and you saved me from getting shot in the head..."

Charlie turned bright red. "You remember that?"

Peter looked at her incredulously. "I'm pretty sure it would be physically impossible for me to forget it. You're half of why I do what I do- not to freak you out, I'm sorry. It's just- I had an entire conversation with the mysterious Charlotte Stark- Rogers. Literally nobody gets to say that. Half of the country thinks you're a myth. Or dead."

"Let's keep it that way," Charlie said dryly. "My parents have kept me out of the public eye this long, and I want it to count for something."

"I won't tell if you don't," Peter promised, but Charlie knew he Wouldn't snitch no matter what. "But for better or for worse, I got these powers... I might as well use them for good. If you can help people, shouldn't you?"

Charlie smiled numbly. "Yeah."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Why does this sound like a conversation you've had before?"

"Normally I'm on the receiving end of it," Charlie grinned.

"You've got a suit," Peter realized. "That- the one that was on the news forever ago, in Sokovia. It was purple. That was you? You fought with the freaking Avengers?!"

Charlie winced. "I mean, I did. I'm really not supposed to. I'm more of a... behind the scenes girl. It's hard when you live with them, ya know? I'm supposed to gather intel, be their eyes from the ground. I snuck out for Sokovia. It... didn't end well. At all."

"Your dads don't like you being out there, do they?" Peter said, tilting his head.

Charlie tucked her hair behind her ear again before stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Would any parent?" she said softly. "I used to fight them on it, but... a lot of shit happens out there. Captain America and Iron Man were, ya know, created to be used in drastic times. And I'm... I'm not a superhero."

"You kinda sound like a superhero," Peter said seriously. Charlie looked at him with a slight smile. "And... yeah. I get it. If I thought Penny was out there, fighting crime, I'd be terrified all the time."

"It's not... fun," Charlie agreed. "There's a lot of stuff I really wish I could forget. I've been in therapy for years. Sometimes I wish... I don't know. That things could be easier? That the world wasn't in such a bad place that they need the Avengers."

Peter didn't pry, though Charlie could see in his eyes that he wanted to. Instead he smiled sadly at her.

"Wait, does Penny know you're a spider- does she know you have powers?"

"Oh, yeah," he snorted. "She was the one who helped me hide it from May. She was there when I got bit, she knew something was off right away. She had to take care of me for, like, three days. I accidentally kicked her when she was trying to give me water one time, and she went flying across the room."

Charlie's eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah. I cried like a baby, I felt so bad." Peter didn't seem embarrassed at the fact he was admitting to crying, which Charlie had to admire. "She's really the only one who knows, though. I don't know how, 'cause I'm obviously a terrible liar."

"Oh my God," Charlie punched the top of his arm gently, giving him a second to pull away at the contact.

He didn't. His face went bright red, though, and his mouth widened into a cheeky smile. "Can I walk you home?"

Charlie could have kissed him. The thought of heading back to Manhattan alone, in the dark, with PTSD and enough anxiety issues to kill a horse, had been plaguing her all night.

"You just wanna see Avengers Tower," She rolled her eyes teasingly, but Peter's grin didn't leave.. "But if you insist..."

Getting back into the tower was a bit of a struggle- getting past Happy's re-vamped security system took more than a little help from J.A.R.V.I.S.

Charlie's heart thumped in her chest as she took the elevator up to her room, ignoring her buzzing phone as Peter tried to make sure she'd gotten in okay.

She had to duck under the training room windows, to avoid Nat seeing her as the redhead did some late-night training, but walking past Sam's room was easy. The man snored like nothing Charlie had ever heard.

When she got to the end of the hall, though, she couldn't help herself.

Her socked feet padded towards her parent's room, having taken off her shoes in the elevator to avoid them squeaking against the floor. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw their door was cracked open, letting a bit of light form the hallway trickle in.

Charlie gently pushed it further open, poking her head in. Her heart nearly stopped when she realized nobody was in the bed- until she heard a gentle snoring coming from the floor.

Charlie knew immediately it must have been a bad night for Steve; PTSD and nightmares made it impossible to sleep on a mattress sometimes for him. He described it as feeling like he was going to sink right down to the floor.

Evidently, Steve lay flat on his back, on the rug he and Tony had picked out when they first moved in. His limbs were still, his feet sticking out from under a massive blue and red blanket. His brows were furrowed slightly beneath spiky blonde hair.

Tony lay on his chest, snuggled up against his husband almost protectively. Steve's hand rested on his waist, curled around him, pulling him in closer as their chests rose and fell in sync.

They were adorable.

"Gross," Charlie muttered but she couldn't help but smile. She gently closed their bedroom door behind her, before walking towards her bedroom.

She flopped onto her bed, a massive grin on her face, finally texting Peter that she'd gotten in safe.

"Holy shit," she breathed. Her hair was spread around her like a halo, and she felt like she was on cloud nine. "Holy shit!"

She'd really done it.

She'd finally met up with Peter Parker, after months of messaging him.

She'd snuck out of the fucking Avengers Tower and went on a date with him, under her parent's noses, and she'd worn makeup while doing it.

"Oh my God," she giggled. The clock on her phone said 2:30 am, and she flipped over onto her stomach so she could hide her laughter in her pillow.

If this was what being a regular kid felt like, she could get used to it.

Down the hallway, Tony Stark shifted against his husband's chest.

"Do you think she realized we had Happy tailing her the entire night?" he said sleepily, feeling Steve's finger absent-mindedly trace patterns on his back.

"Definitely not," Steve said lazily. "Should we talk to her in the morning?"

Tony smiled, thinking of his own endeavors as a teenager. "Nah, let her have this. Kids need to sneak out every once in a while; it's healthy. We've already been tracking the kid, we know he's not a threat."

"She's good," Steve admitted. "She even got J.A.R.V.I.S in on it."

"She is," Tony said fondly. "Not as good as me, though. She could use a bit of my ego, we can let her think she's got a secret. She deserves that much."

"I kind of hate it," Steve said softly. "She's growing up. What if she doesn't tell us if she starts dating the kid?"

Tony leaned his head up, kissing the side of Steve's mouth gently. "She'll come to us when she's ready. That kid has a guilty conscience worse than mine; she'll break eventually."

"You're right, " Steve nodded. "She'll be too excited to keep it to herself if they kiss or something."

"Kissing?" Tony repeated. He shook his head wildly, making Steve chuckle. "Don't you laugh at me. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not my baby. She's not kissing anyone 'till I'm dead."

hello lovelies! welcome to Polarize!!!

this chapter didn't flow very well, but I wanted to show Peter and Charlie's friendship progression. the two of them are so sweet.

Steve and Tony are also sweet. I have a head cannon that Tony is the littlest of little spoons, that man just needs to be held and you can be damn sure that Steve wants to hold him just as much.

I thought it was hilarious that Charlie thought she could get past the world's most protective parents, because of course Tony and Steve would know. they want her to be a kid, though, so they'll let her think she's sneaky.

Peter and penny's relationship is so, so precious. I can't wait for y'all to see it. He is so protective of her and it's so sweet. If Peter is a golden retriever, she's even more so. she's the literal embodiment of human sunshine.

let me know what you think!! I love you all!

drink some water!!❤️