You had worked with Jessica Jones for three years, learning to fight, learning to investigate, and above all, learning how to be just enough of a smartass for people to back off before you kicked their ass instead. It wasn't hard to take on her temperament and lack of patience for idiocy, and in a city like New York, it wasn't hard to find idiots stumbling around at any given moment. At first, she really wanted nothing to do with you, no time to mentor the kid who stumbled into her agency, powers out of control and fear of being found and used as a science experiment. You were a project that she didn't have the time nor the inclination to take on, but your mutual hatred for other people created a fast bond and she took a chance.

Jessica's plan was to keep you out of the way, teach you how to live behind the shadows a bit so that you wouldn't have to hang out with her forever because she was far too independent, and to give you a safe place to find your control. Psionic manipulation was something that she had absolutely no knowledge about, and honestly, it scared her to have you so close once she began to research it. Your abilities put you on the brink of omnipotence, but the only thing that convinced her to keep you there was how you didn't wear it with any ego, and you never held it over her head; you just needed her help when no one else would give it and you had caught her on a very rare good day.

But now, three years after landing in her office, the day had come when Jessica would wonder if she had wasted her time and the emotions she never wanted on you. You had become unlikely sisters, in both the fight and in friendship, and when your attentions started to be divided, she found herself uncharacteristically hurt.

"Hey, (Y/N)," she called out to you, pointing at the street below from her perch on a fire escape, "haven't we seen that guy before?"

You were on a rooftop across the street, waiting for your mutual target to come into sight, but instead, your focus was drawn to a familiar flash of red crossing between shadows. He had been moving so quickly that you nearly missed him. "Are you serious?" you whispered into your phone, eyes sharp on the road below. "I thought that Stark had him on a tighter leash?"

"Maybe we should call the old man to pick up the little shit. It's gotta be past his bedtime."

"Right? It's a school night," you scoffed, watching Peter sneak from side to side of the road, a web lifting him to a fire escape of his own on an adjacent building. In an impulse to make a point that you were getting sick of him interfering on your turf, before his feet could connect with the metal support you focused on his web, dissolving it into nothing with a simple thought. You didn't want to hurt the kid, but from the videos you had watched on YouTube after his fight with Captain America, you knew he could take a bounce on the pavement and only have his ego bruised a bit.

"What the-?!" he squealed, tumbling to the ground. He stayed on his back for a second, catching his breath and waiting for Karen to find who was messing with him. "Holy shit, what was that?"

"(Y/N), what the hell are you doing?" Jess snapped. "We're supposed to stay out of sight, remember? That's where the 'private' part of P.I. comes from."

"If you'd shut up, he might not notice."

"You shut up."

"Ooh, good one," you snickered, "top of your game, Jones." You stayed put, unmoving and watching as Spiderman pushed himself up with a bit of a groan, rubbing the back of his masked head where it had bounced against the road when he fell. He seemed to be looking right at you, but with the mask down it was hard to tell; it was one of your personal rules to never read the thoughts of someone else unless you were invited or if it were a matter of safety, so instead you tried to tap into his emotions as a softer compromise.

"Pete," Karen announced, "your 10 o'clock, there's someone on the roof watching you. There's a second on the 3rd floor fire escape on the building directly across."

"Any idea who they are?"

"It's too dark to run facial recognition."

"I wonder whose side they're on?" He could feel his heartbeat begin to raise at the new and unexpected potential threat of you and Jessica, and not knowing what he was up against put his senses on alert.

"Should I activate instant kill mode?"

"What?! No, Karen! I thought we had Mr. Stark turn that off?"

"Hey, Jess," you whispered again, "I think we should move out. I might have scared the kid."

"That's just perfect, (Y/N). Did you forget that we actually had a job to do? We didn't come out here so you could play with Stark's new pet." Jessica pushed herself up with a quiet groan, her legs sore from being crouched down in the cramped space for too long. This time of night she would normally already be locked into her office, half drunk and half asleep, but this was one job that she had been working for months, and you had just cost her the payoff. "Tell you what, I'm going home to drink this failure off. If you want to stay and take Spider-boy for a walk I'm sure you can get on the payroll as a babysitter."

"Jess, come on, I barely did anything."

"I'll see you at home. Don't expect me to wait up."

"Jess, don't be an asshole, I was just screwing around with him." You waited a few seconds to get her equally snarky reply, but nothing came through your phone but silence, and you were suddenly left alone to deal with the kid who had gotten in your way one too many times. This was at least the fifth or sixth time that he had strolled into your business, and you were done. "Hey, Slinger," you called out to him, dropping yourself from the fire escape and onto the road next to him, "what the hell are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be tucked in for nighty-night by now? Does Papa Stark know that you snuck out in that onesie? Aren't you cold?"

"It's not a onesie," he snapped, "and it has a built-in heater. Don't worry about me, Mr. Stark put everything in this suit."

"Lucky you, tripping right into Iron Man's good side, must be rough," you shot back, but before you could take another dig at the kid, a loud noise from just down the alley caught your attention and brought you back into focus. "Alright, take a hike, I need to work. I pissed off Jess so it's up to me to get this done, and you're in the way."

"No deal, I'm staying. You'll need my help."

You took a step back, turning towards the sound as he turned to push his back against yours; his hands out with webs ready to fly. "Junior, I don't need your help, trust me. I also don't need to have to worry about babysitting you, so just head back to Daddy, alright?"

"He's not my Dad!" Peter shot back, aghast and turning around to face you. "What's with the attitude anyway? What did I do?"

"You keep getting in my way!"

"Then get better aim!"

"My aim isn't the problem, you are!"

"Excuse me? Am I interrupting something?" came a dark cough from a few feet away, from a man hidden in the shadows so that you couldn't see him, but you definitely heard the snap of his weapon readying to strike. Again, Parker turned and extended his arm, but you weren't about to let Stark's prize baby get hurt because of you; it only took a breeze of your hand over his form for him to disappear from their sight, transporting him to the far side of the alley and covered in invisibility.

Peter struggled to move, grunting as he pushed his muscles to listen to him and not to you, but it was useless; you had him bound somehow despite there being no restraints visible. The only way to keep him back was to freeze him in place, leaving him with the growing fear that he was about to see you get hurt when you denied him the ability to help. Instead, after several minutes and a few deep breaths, he came to realize that maybe you were right; you handled yourself just fine. In fact, you handled yourself so well that the entire fight was barely even a fight. You had taken control and eliminated the threat with your power so fast that even his advanced senses missed some of it.

"Holy shit," he mumbled to himself, completely enthralled by you. He had so many questions, and so much to fanboy over that when you released him, the words just began to fall from his mouth in a jumbled mess.

"Go home, kid. Show's over," you said quietly, approaching him with a hand up to silence him, only to disappear into thin air as he gaped at the emptiness left behind.

~~~

When you arrived at the door to Jessica's apartment, you stood still for a few minutes before taking the handle to enter, knowing that the reception on the other side would be cold and distant, if you were lucky. Sometimes the verbal berating she could hand out got a little too harsh, even for you, and you just didn't have the energy for it tonight. Getting on her bad side was never smart, and even for a woman with such colorful vernacular, she still played the silent treatment like a professional.

But you couldn't avoid this forever; with a slow turn of the knob, you pushed the door open with a low creak of the hinges, hoping that you hadn't just woken the beast if she had fallen asleep. "Jess?" you whispered, stepping inside and pushing the door shut with a soft click of the latch. You felt pretty secure that you had made it, until you turned in fully and were met with the watchful eyes of two people you had never expected to meet in a lifetime, much less to find standing next to Jessica Jones of all people.

"Jess? What's going on?"

"Miss (Y/L/N)," Steve answered for her, "we need you to come with us."

"Like hell," you scoffed, looking past him and to your friend, but she averted her eyes to the floor. "Jess?"

"You need to listen to the Captain, (Y/N)," she answered hesitantly, "you don't...we...you and I don't work anymore. I can't teach you anything more. They can."

"Like what? Aren't you a war criminal now?" you asked Steve, stepping up toe-to-toe, with a clear lack of respect for the man. "Last I heard you kicked Iron Man's ass and ran off into the sunset with your brainwashed boyfriend."

"(Y/N)," the other Avenger interrupted, stepping forward, "Ms. Jones is right, you can benefit more by coming with us. We can teach you control of your power, and make you a part of a team where it can be used for the most benefit."

"I can control my power just fine, thank you. You wanna see?"

Now Jessica had finally come to life again, taking quick steps around her desk to place herself between you and Steve, sensing that he was rapidly losing his patience with your attitude, much as she usually did. The only difference was that she had the benefit of years to deal with it, whereas he was an adrenaline junkie ready to pick a fight if you pushed him too far. "(Y/N), go. You can't be here anymore. I don't...I don't want you here."

"You're lying. I can feel it, remember?" you hissed, tapping a finger against your temple. "But, you know what, that's fine. For someone who said they were my friend to lie to my face like that just because the Walking Flag and Firecrotch here say so, then you win. I don't want to be here either." You raised a hand to snap your fingers, your action to teleport yourself away, but they were expecting it. A searing pain wrapped around your hand as an electric restraint settled on your wrist and your arm was yanked behind you to take the other hand into it as well. You could feel your power growing cold inside of you, and you were suddenly helpless.

"Please, don't try to fight this. We only want what's best for you, and if you try to run, this isn't going to end the way any of us want, okay? I'm going to take over your training, and Ms. Jones has given me everything I need to know to keep you on track."

"Oh yeah," you spat, "and who in the hell do you think you are?"

"You know who I am," Natasha smiled, a little pissed at herself for using Tony's catchphrase so readily, "and you'll soon learn that I'm the only one on your side here."

As the duo said their goodbyes to Jessica, pushing you through the door for the last time, Peter balanced himself on a fire escape across the alleyway, watching everything with his eyes wide in shock, but with a hint of a smile at this unexpected turn of events.

Now you were gonna have to put up with him every single day, and if he played his cards right, he might be able to teach you a lesson himself.

Part 2

Your first week at the Avengers compound was a little bumpy, to put it mildly; you hadn't realized how resourceful they were until the fourth time you had run away and they found you on the entirely other side of the planet and with a false identity that obviously needed more work. This time, Natasha had come to her limits with your attitude and made good on her promise to make you see that she was the only one there who was on your side. She was the only one who held back in your punishment, but she was also the only one to stop her teammates if she felt like they were going too far. Your first, and hopefully last fight against the Avengers went about as well as expected; when the team gathered their strength on a common target, it was rare to see them lose, and this was no exception. You didn't want to hurt anyone, armed with power that could easily destroy them all in a blink, leaving them to hold the advantage and leaving you a reluctant participant in their master plans for you when you finally gave in.

The next month after that went a little better, though you were still churning out sarcastic quips that rivaled Tony's skill, and enjoying any opportunity to send Steve's comfort level plummeting with carefully chosen language just to piss him off. Nat didn't want to encourage that, of course, but she certainly didn't do anything to stop it. A few of your new teammates took to your attitude quickly and readily joined in, much to Steve's dismay.

But the one person who set off your annoyance and pushed your own limits to their brink was Peter Parker. What a little shit. You knew that Spiderman was a pain in your ass and that he was Stark's newest pet, but you had no idea who the kid under the mask was until you came here. You thought he was hard to deal with as his alter ego, but with the mask stripped away and his true nature showing, he should know to count himself lucky that you hadn't murdered him yet.

It was a particularly difficult thing to hold back when Tony broke the news that you would be attending school with the obnoxious arachnid. It was bad enough to have him following you around like a stalker at the compound, only to find him doing the same at school, making you that much more suspicious of his motives.

"Parker, let me get this straight," you growled at the guy, who looked clearly terrified, "you're telling me that you hacked into the school's system just to get us into all of the same classes? Why would you do that when you know that I can barely stand you as it is?"

"Mr. Stark asked me-"

"No, he didn't."

"What do you mean? I didn't even finish!"

"I thought you were supposed to be smart. I can tell when you're lying, dumbass."

Peter shifted uncomfortably, as he did anytime that he wasn't sure of what to do, or what to say so that it wouldn't incite more anger to come his way. His eyes darted around the hallways of the school, trying to find the one friend who he could count on to save him, but of course, Ned was nowhere in sight when he really wanted him to be there. "Could you maybe tone down the language? We're in school. And okay, so he didn't ask...but it's just because...I want to keep an eye on you. I want to make sure that you're good here, and that you transition-"

"Parker! Stop lying!"

He opened his mouth to say more, and you hoped it would finally be the truth, but the bell sounded and gave him the perfect escape. "We need to go, alright? Let's talk at lunch, and I'll tell you. I promise."

"When a liar says that they promise, you know it doesn't usually mean much, right?"

"I'm not a liar...normally."

"Oh," you scoffed, grabbing your bag from your locker with a fast swing onto your shoulder, "that's convincing. Well done, Pete, I can't imagine why it's hard for me to believe you."

~~~

You didn't talk to him at lunch, though. The plan fell through when he grabbed the hall pass from the teacher and disappeared with even Ned not knowing where he went. You tried to call Nat, then Tony, and finally Steve, but none of them knew where he was either. In fact, in your attempt to find him and maybe even offer him help in whatever it was that he had found himself in, all you did was set off Tony's nerves, and you should have known better than to trip that trigger.

After Peter was found, doing something stupid and on his own as you would expect, Tony grounded Spiderman indefinitely, taking his suit away with no promise of ever giving it back. You didn't want to go with Tony to find him, because you really needed a few minutes away from the kid, but now as you watched Stark completely tear him apart and as you felt the embarrassment and betrayal building inside of Peter, you regretted ever calling him in the first place.

"Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you?" Tony hissed, stepping towards Peter and pushing him back. You were an unwilling participant to this, but Stark insisted that you watch as a lesson that was just as much for you. "Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a fourteen-year-old kid-"

"I'm fifteen-"

"No, no, this is where you zip it, alright?! The adult is talking! What if somebody had died-"

"But they didn't," you interjected, shocking even yourself that had said anything, but it just tumbled out.

"Excuse me?" Tony turned back, his eyes filled with fire. "I thought I said to zip it. That goes for you too, young lady. Trouble hearing over there?"

"(Y/N), it's okay," Peter answered before you could go any further, leaving Tony to turn back, much to your relief, but you still couldn't help but feel for the kid.

"Do you guys realize that if either of you died, I think that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it."

"I- I understand...I just...I just wanted to be like you."

"And I wanted you to be better."

"Tony, come on," you tried again, this time taking the risk to step closer, "he was just doing what he thought you would want him to do."

But it was like he hadn't heard a word you said, and he was likely at the point of tuning you out just so he could get through the conversation. He didn't want to be here any more than you or Peter did, and what he had to do next almost broke him. Tony was pretty skilled at hiding his emotions outwardly after so many years of practice, but it was clear as day to you as they washed over your mind like a lead blanket. "Okay, it's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back."

"For how long?" Peter gasped, his eyes glancing to you for a brief flash. It wasn't a secret that you couldn't stand him, but at least he hoped that you had a little respect for him as a teammate if nothing else. He had wanted to find a way to be friends within the convoluted mess of mixing Avenging and high school, if that were even possible, but as he looked to you now and with knowing what Tony was about to say all because you had brought him here, he almost didn't care anymore.

"Forever."

~~~

Unlike Peter, your identity wasn't a secret, and it only made school that much harder; with the pressure to pretend to fit in, coupled with his sudden disappearance after Tony berated and stripped him of his confidence, your days in the academic hell hole felt like they would never end. You had done everything to try to convince Tony that you didn't need to be here, going so far as to try to use a little light mind control to get your way. If it weren't for Nat breaking your concentration when you had the guy right where you wanted him, you might not be sitting here with a hopeful stare out the window, waiting to suffer through a calculus test that you couldn't care less about because all you could think of was where Pete could be and if he was okay.

You had even gone so far as to sneak his suit back from Tony in a high-risk move that could probably get you kicked off the team, and likely leave you homeless since Jess had kicked you out, but the look on his face when Tony took it was too much. You had sent Pete countless messages telling him that you had it, hoping it would bring him home, but you still had heard nothing.

"What's out there? Any of your Avenger buddies doing a fly-by?"

"Shut up, Flash," you groaned softly, so that the teacher wouldn't hear, "and back off, would ya? It's called personal space for a reason. It's personal, meaning not yours." With a sharp nudge of your elbow, you stuck him in the ribs to elicit a little yelp, forcing him to tip his chair back to where it was supposed to be; definitely far enough away to stop touching you.

"What? I was just asking a simple question."

"No, you were breathing down my neck, you creep. I told you, it's never gonna happen, so please, let that finally sink in."

Flash turned back towards the front of the class, watching the teacher approach with a test for each of you, his fake smile to her making your stomach turn. She made the mistake of handing him both sets of papers, leaving you to have to ask for a test you didn't even want, from a guy that you couldn't stay far enough away from. It pissed you off how much crap he would give Peter, and not because of what he was saying, but because you felt like you had exclusive rights to torture Parker and this guy was stepping on your turf.

Or maybe it was more than that. The churning of your stomach that nauseated you every time that Flash said his name made you wonder if you actually missed him. But that couldn't be it, you shook your head, trying to clear that ridiculous idea. It had to be the torture.

"So, where's Parker?" he continued under his breath, holding your test out just enough so that you couldn't reach it. "Does he really know Spiderman? Do you know Spiderman? How much of an Avenger are you, really? Like, do you know Tony Stark? Is there really a Stark Internship?"

"I swear, if I weren't an Avenger right now," you hissed back, "you'd never be my problem again." With a sharp wave of your hand, his opened against his will, and your test passed through the air and into yours with ease. He gasped and his eyes shot open wide, and you froze in the realization that you were about to get your own berating from Stark for using your powers at school. A definite break in his stringent rules.

"Holy shit," he muttered, pushing his chair back. He was about to raise his hand and give you away to the teacher when the door to the room opened and in walked none other than Peter Parker, almost looking like he hadn't been gone for weeks without a word as he moved towards his seat.

Your chair tipped back and crashed to the floor as you stood to meet him, deciding that since you had already made one mistake, you might as well go for another; not wasting time with walking the few steps between you, you snapped your fingers and teleported yourself to stand in front of him, gripping him in a hug that took his breath away at the shock.

"Hey, (Y/N)..." he struggled, "what's this? I'm fine...t-this is new...I'm sorry that I didn't-"

But he couldn't finish the excuse you didn't want to hear when you apparently decided that you missed him not for the need to torture him after all, shocking both him and everyone around you when you broke his words with a kiss that left the room cheering you on. All except for one, of course.

"Hmm," Flash grumbled, defeated and dropping back into his seat, "didn't see that coming."