My phone vibrates against the table, which breaks my concentration on the suit upgrade I've been working on. A goofy picture of Peter and I pops up on the screen with 'my hero.' I roll my eyes but smile as I swipe my thumb across the screen.

"Hello, you've reached Tony Stark's favorite intern. How may I help you?" I tease already picturing Peter's hurt reaction.

"Wow. I am hurt—wounded—betrayed by my own girlfriend." He complains, which makes me roll my eyes. Especially as he continues on.

"Would it help if I said I love you and am working on suit upgrades for you?" I question. There's a smile playing on my lips. He stays silent; and we both know that means I've won. "Are you still coming by today? I wanted to talk about dinner plans. My mom wants me to invite you over. In her words, she wants to 'meet the boy making her baby girl so happy.' She's been kind of upset at me for not telling her that I had a boyfriend, and now insists upon making up for lost time."

"I was actually going to let you know, I can't stop by today. It's been super busy out here. Although, I wanted to check and see when you were getting off so I can walk you home." He tells me, and I can hear a smile breaking through in his voice. "And I would love to come to dinner at your place. It'd be nice to use the front door and not be injured when I visit you for once."

The last statement gets a laugh of me. "It will be nice for a change." I glance at the clock and sigh. "Crap, I'm running late. I completely lost track of time. My mom's going to kill me if I'm late again."

"You want me to swing by and get you?"

"No, you already said it's a busy night. I'm sure there are plenty of people in Queens who need you more than I do." I smile as I cradle the phone between my ear and shoulder and gather my things. "It's one night, Pete. I'll be fine. Plus, even without the suit, I'm still Phoenix."

He sighs into the speaker, and I know he's debating whether or not to come take me home despite my protests. "Ugh. Fine. Just promise to call me when you get home?"

"Of course, Spidey." I chuckle into the phone and wave goodbye to Happy and the other workers as I leave. "Later, guys. And bye, Peter. I'll call you when I get home. Love you."

"Love you too, Y/N."

I can't help but keep mentally working on my projects and ways to help Mr. Stark keep Peter safer as I walk down the streets. The humid summer breeze blows my hair back and provides a relief from the heat.

Although, it doesn't hide the prickling feeling—like an itch on the back of neck. My stomach drops when it doesn't fade after a couple blocks and pointless turns. I recognize the feeling; it's too close to how I feel at school when I walk past the football team or mean girls.

I'm being watched. And after a glance over my shoulder, I'm being followed. Two men keep a steady pace, but it seems like they're inching closer the longer I walk.

My fingers tremble as I slip my phone from my pocket. Peter's contact lights up, and everything in me fights the urge to run while I still can. "Please, please, pick up." I quietly beg as it rings.

"Hey, babe. I'm a little bit busy right now. Can I call you back in a minute?" He asks in huffs. My heart pounds in my chest as I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a shop window and see the men approaching.

"Actually, it's a small emergency." I whisper with my best attempt to keep my voice even and light. Peter grunts on the other end, and the sound is followed by a thwip of webs and a thud. "I know I said I didn't need any help, but you know my brother, Eugene's two friends? The big burly ones that always look at me like a piece of meat and make me super uncomfortable?"

"Y/N, where are you? Describe the guy's to me." His voice is panicked, and I am suddenly very thankful for the times we came up with panic words and phrases for times like this. Bless my boyfriend for the precaution and thinking to use his bully's name as a panic word. "I'm having Karen track your phone. Just stay on the line, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." I risk another quick glance disguised as checking the street. "Tony told me the same thing when I left a few minutes ago." Code for: I just left the tower a few minutes ago.

"I'm gonna be there in a minute. Don't hang up, Y/N. Please, just stay on the line."

A hand rests on my shoulder, and something cold and hard pressed into my back. I close my eyes and take a shuddering breath. My chest tightens as he plucks the phone from my hand.

His associate loops in front of me and pins me in. I bite my lip as he yanks my hands forward and secured them together. Tears build in my eyes. I may be Phoenix, but it doesn't make me immune to fear.

It billows in my chest. There's a voice in my head that keeps reminding me, Peter knows. He's coming. It also reminds me to fight the temptation to use my powers. You never know what this is about.

It's the biggest rule: don't blow your identity.

A van pulls up around the corner, and the two brutes shove a gag in my mouth and slip a bag over my head before unceremoniously tossing me inside with a thud.

Please, find me, Peter. I pray silently a hundred times until it's bound to be heard. It's all I wish for as the van whips around corners and tosses me into the sides over and over.

...

My head throbs as I wait for any of my captors to speak to me. There's four that I've seen. All wearing ridiculous paper mache masks and pretending they're rulers of the world.

A door slams from somewhere outside my line of vision. The sudden burst of noise makes a few of the faceless thugs jump and grip their weapons tighter. It must mean the boss is here in this mildew smelling dump.

"There she is," the deep male voice calls from out of sight, but he steps into view as he continues, "our guest of the night. Nice to finally meet you in person, Miss L/N."

"W-who are you?" I stutter and allow every ounce of fear to show in my voice. "Why am I here?"

The man grins beneath his mask. It pulls the fabric, and the thought of his grin makes my stomach churn. "You're an intern for Mr. Stark, right?" I barely manage a nod, unsure of how this has anything to do with kidnapping me. "Which means you can get us into the system. My friends and I need a few questions answered. We'd like to get some info on some associates of Tony Stark's. Maybe you've heard of them? They go by Phoenix and Spider-Man."

Everything stops.

They want me–and Peter. And judging by their weapons and the hatred in their eyes, they want us dead. The universe just has very cruel luck to have them choose me as their target for kidnapping.

"My—my access to the system isn't remote. I can't access it except on an authorized computer, and even then it's limited." I mumble through the haze of tears and tremors. "I—I don't understand what you want from me. I'm an intern. I don't know anything about those two. We're not allowed to interact with anyone. I just do what I'm assigned and go."

"Well, that's quite a shame." The man feigns pity as he crouched down to my level. "Because if you can't help us; there's no point in keeping you around. So I suggest you come up with something before I decide to get rid of you."

He nods to one of his associates, who promptly drags a table in front of me and resecures my hands to the table. Another one sets a laptop down in front of me with the Stark Industries login already pulled up. "Tick tick, Miss L/N. My patience won't last forever. Try to figure something out."

"Or there's always the option of letting her go and calling this over." A familiar voice calls out from somewhere in the darkness. I close my eyes and pray once again—this time for Peter's safety.

"Spider-Man, so nice of you to stop by." The leader calls with a smirk, and with a flick of his wrist one of the underlings steps behind me and presses a cold blade to my throat.

I can feel the anger radiating from Peter, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. As the leader lifts a gun towards him, the anger boils in my blood. It makes the zip ties warm and threaten to melt, but I hold it back to give Peter a chance. "C'mon, let's talk about this."

"Talk?" The leader shouts. "Fine, let's talk about how you and your partner sent my son to jail. He died in that hellhole. Now, I'm gonna make you pay for it, and your partner too, wherever she is."

Time seems to slow as the leader pulls the trigger while Peter simultaneously shoots his webs at him. The white fluid wraps around the barrel before the bullet leaves the chamber and the whole thing backfires.

The underlings all freeze, and I take full advantage of the split second distraction to head butt the one behind me and burn off the zip ties. Peter and I work in tandem to take down the thugs and avoid any bullets.

I smile and turn to Peter in triumph when it all settles. A laugh escapes us as we hug each other in the utter joy of being alive. Although, the feeling fades when the adrenaline wears off.

Peter lets out a whimper as his knees buckle from beneath him. My world threatens to shatter at the sight of the bullet wound in his gut. "No, no, no!" I scream. Flames erupt around the building and build at the sound of my shrieks. "Karen, call Tony Stark and active Protocol Stitches."

I rest my head on his chest and sigh in relief when there's still a steady heartbeat. His mask fights me as I slip it off, and the fabric repeatedly falls from my fingers. "Hey, you're gonna be okay. Just look at me, babe."

"I—I'm tired, Y/N." He whispers, and the softness of his voice makes more tears build up. They fall on his face as I watch eyelids flutter.

"Don't leave me." I whisper with our foreheads pressed together. "I can't lose you too. We're supposed to graduate together, go to college, and prove everyone wrong about us. It's gonna be us against everything. We're supposed to make it."

There's nothing but silence that greets me for a long moment. Tears keep streaming down my face, and I pray that my abilities can stretch farther than I know. Phoenix mimicry has its perks, but if it can't save him, then what's the point?

"Hey, hey. Don't cry." Peter's voice fills my ears like the sweetest melody. I lift my head and stare down at him. The bullet wound still remains, but there's less blood. I suppose it's a perk of my healing tears, and Pete's super healing, but he's no out of the woods. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. You wanna know why?"

I bite my lip and smile weakly at him. "Why's that?"

"Because we're gonna make it." He pauses a loopy smile on his face. Somewhere in the distance, beneath the sounds of the city, is the sounds of an Iron Man suit racing our way. I ignore it as I listen to Peter continue. "Because I love you, Y/N L/N, and I'm never gonna give up until you understand just how much."

I let out a small laugh. Because despite my many trust issues and history with broken promises, I know Peter Parker, he'll honor the promise until the end of us. Just as I'll never stop loving him until I'm nothing but dust. "I already do, Peter Parker, because I love you just as much." I whisper quietly against his lips. "And I'll never stop, no matter what."

A soft smile dances across his lips as he props himself up to press our lips together. "No matter what." He repeats like a vow, and knowing him tells me that this is a promise he's going to do everything he can to keep.