I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot

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Chapter Seventeen: Helpless (The Sequel)

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It felt like the universe was doing everything it could to keep me from talking to Peter after the Green Goblin incident. In first period we had a project I was paired with MJ for, and they sent us to work in opposite corners of the room.

During lunch, Peter apparently had a dentist appointment, knocking out that chance. In Decathlon practice, Peter was on the bench the whole time, and when he wasn't, I was stuck in the bathroom dealing with my mutation issue.

The last few hours of the day consisted of tests and/or silent study hours. It gave me time to prepare what I was going to say, but without a chance to actually say it there was no point.

After school, I ran out a school like a lioness chasing her prey, and in this case, Peter was my prey. I chased after him, but he turned down an alley near Delmar's and disappeared. I suspected that he used his web slingers to get him onto the roof and out of sight. My last chance would be to find him on patrol.

Throwing open the door to my apartment building, I made a beeline for the elevator. I only stopped when Jess called my name, causing anger to bubble in my gut. It was her fault, it further proved my theory that the universe didn't want me talking to Peter.

"Hey short-stack, have you seen the news? There's this new villain calling himself the Green Goblin. Riptide and Spider-Man had a big fight with him last night." As she spoke, Jess moved so her arms were resting on the front counter.

I feigned shock, "Really? I'm sure Spider-Man and Riptide will catch him at some point. If they fought against him once and he escaped they won't let him get away again."

"Yeah. Speaking of which," Jess leaned in, "There are cameras by the pool. You're lucky I can delete footage." My face drained of its color when I realized what Jess was implying, "Don't worry, I'm studying genetics in college for a reason."

Jess' hair shifted and two wolf ears popped out of her. They were authentic, furry and oversized. Twitching, they wiggled around before disappearing, becoming one with her hair again. My mouth fell open in shock. Snarky, secretary, lesbian Jess was a-

"I'm a mutant. I can shift certain body parts to mimic animals'. Wolves are my favorite, scares off all the crazy guys wandering the streets when saying I'm gay doesn't. I went to Xavier's when I was younger, left for college. Now, remember who's got you covered," Jess winked, a wide smile stretched across her lips, "Go be a hero, New York needs you."

I hugged Jess over the counter, sprinting to the elevator. When the doors closed, I took the time to process what just happened. Jess had been such a good friend, so close, and we had so much in common without me even knowing.

Rushing into my apartment I said a quick hello to my parents, assuring them I would be home in time for dinner before I stepped into my room. Pulling my costume on I threw on some lipstick and crawled out of the fire escape window.

"Would you like me to track Peter's location?" Misty asked as soon as I was on the roof.

"I thought he removed his tracker."

"I am connected to Karen. We share the same interface."

"Oh, well, go ahead then."

A map appeared in the lense of my mask. Peter's location was a spider-shaped dot. My own dot was the shape of a raindrop. Different stats in the corner told me how far away we were from each other. I chuckled, it was totally something Tony would do.

I jumped from my roof onto the next; the line showing the distance between me and Peter was shortening. When the map showed I was right on top of him and disappeared I stopped.

"Why steal money in plastic grocery store bags?" I heard a familiar voice ask, "Splurge on a duffle bag, dude. It's so much easier to carry the money that way."

I jumped into the alleyway closest to me. There, Peter in all of his Spider-Man glory was casually conversing with a villain he had recently webbed. The criminal was scowling, obviously tired of Peter's rambling.

"You could have at least used a recyclable bag," I added, catching the pair's attention, "Just because you're a criminal doesn't mean you have to destroy the planet."

Peter nodded in agreement. He shot out a web and swung off. I huffed out in annoyance, bring my hands up to follow after him. I was not going to play the same game of tag we did yesterday. Keeping my pace equal to Peter's, I snuck up beside him.

"Bug-Boy, are we ever gonna talk about yesterday?" Peter's head jerked over to me, shocked I was keeping up with him.

"You're right. This Green Goblin guy is dangerous. We need to deal with him," Peter easily skirted around the topic I actually wished to discuss.

"Not what I meant," I grumbled, the familiar twinge of soreness popping up in my arms at the exertion I was putting on my mutation, "But it's a start I guess."

"He had good tech, up to date. That means he's either rich enough to buy it, or he got it like the Vulture did," Peter glanced at me, taking notice of the wince on my face.

We stopped on a building on our shared street. The time flashing in the corner of my mask told me it was only 4, meaning I had at least another two hours with Peter before I had to go home. But, by the look of it, even the criminals in the city were on pause because of the rising Green Goblin. It was the calm before the storm.

"His voice modifier will keep us from recognizing him," I added in, sitting on the edge, "But maybe he changes his voice because it's one that would be easily recognized."

"Someone famous like Mr. Stark?"

"Or someone we know."

"But if that were the case then he'd have to know who we were, and nobody but your parents, Ned, MJ, and May know that, and the Avengers but they wouldn't be villains."

"True, but whether or not he got his tech cause, he's rich or because he got it from Vulture doesn't matter. We damaged his tech yesterday which means he's probably not going to be back for a while. He'll be repairing it, making it better."

"I hope he doesn't come back soon. It gives us time to talk to Mr. Stark and see if he knows what we should do. Maybe he can help out again like he did with the Vulture."

"Peter, if we're ever gonna be heroes we need to learn how to handle villains by ourselves," I sighed hopelessly. I missed being the young one, it was so easy with the X-Men. Now Peter and I were on our own, "I know you're hellbent on being an Avenger, and maybe that can happen if Tony and Steve make up, but until that day comes we need to learn how to be a team... Speaking of teams, what happened last night-"

"(Y/n) your parents are requesting you return home to assist with dinner. They left a message on your phone... I am also connected to your phone if you weren't aware previously."

I groaned. It was so early. What were they making that would need me home so early? "Pete, come with me so we can talk about this. My parents need me home but we can hang on the fire escape."

Peter's mask lenses widened, "A-actually Aunt May wants me home so I should probably-"

"Peter Benjamin Parker, if you try to hold off the conversation again I will tell Aunt May about all the times I've had to heal you and I guarantee she will never let you leave the apartment again."

Peter cleared his throat awkwardly, nodding in defeat. He wrapped an arm around my waist, swinging down the road to my building. He stopped on my roof, leading the way down my fire escape. When we reached my room, I popped my mask off and threw it through my open window. Peter, however, kept his on. He was hanging upside down by a web.

"Peter, what happened yesterday? You tried to kiss me before Green Goblin attacked us."

"I don't know. It just felt right. A spur-of-the-moment thing, I guess."

"What happened to Liz?" I asked the defining question. Where did his seemingly never-ending story of feelings for Liz go? Did they leave when she did?

"I don't think I ever felt for her what I feel for you. I've spent the last month figuring that out."

"I feel the same way," I whispered, ashamed. I had a boyfriend, and the whole time I was enamoured with someone else, "I know it's a horrible thing to say because I'm dating Harry, but I can't help it."

"So... What are we going to do now?"

Acting on the same spur-of-the-moment impulse Peter did the day before, I reached forward and pulled his mask down until it revealed his lips and nose.

"We're gonna finish what we started yesterday."

Leaning forward I tilted my head to accommodate with the awkward angle. Both of us paused before our lips touched, a moment that increased the tension between us tenfold. Our lips came together slowly, in an inexperienced, messy, yet perfect kiss. Definitely not perfect in the traditional movie sense, but it sent tingles from my lips to my toes, filling me with warmth.

Everything about it was wonderfully unique. Both of us in our hero uniforms, Peter upside down. A Spider-Man kiss. Something of our own creation.

When we pulled apart both of us were grinning foolishly, and Peter nearly let go of his web.

"I should um, I should go, my parents are waiting."

"Yeah, yeah, May wants me back soon too."

I waved goodbye and climbed into my room, watching as Peter swung off. I let out a content sigh, happy and drunk on... well, life it seemed. It all came crashing down when I was reminded of Harry. Shit. I just cheated. I cheated on someone. Harry didn't deserve that

"Oh God, what have I done," I pulled out my phone, sending a simple text, "I need to fix this."

We need to talk

Your locker tomorrow?

Yeah that works

Throwing myself onto my bed I groaned loudly. I should have been showering and getting ready for dinner, but I didn't want to do anything besides bask in my guilt. There was nothing to be done now, I couldn't go back in time. I had to push forward.

Despite the pit of anxiety forming in my stomach at the prospect of talking to Harry, a smile stretched across my lips all the same. It was a twisted sense of happiness.

"Then you look back at me and suddenly I'm helpless!" My parents screamed from the doorway.

"Guys!" I shot up like a bullet, eyes wide with panic.

"We saw everything, and normally I would ground you, but you're so cute!" Dad beamed, "Oh, look at those eyes. Oh! Yeah, I'm helpless, I know I'm-"

"Out!" I pushed my parents out of my room, slamming the door behind them. Spinning around, I placed my back against the door, sighing, and with a goofy smile on my face I finished what I refused to let my parents do, "And you turn back at me and smile and I'm helpless..."