so, there's more of us?

☼ ☼ ☼

New York City was bustling with life. Andi was sure the city's population had grown exponentially after the Blip, as she couldn't remember seeing so many people flooding the streets at one time. She wouldn't have been surprised if that were the case, however. So much had changed about the city in the five years she'd been gone. The growing population was just one change of many.

Apart from the vast annoyance of coexisting alongside so many people at once, there seemed to be one good thing about New York's new population: heavier crime. Now, Andi absolutely hated crime and criminals and longed for the day she lived in a world without them both, but for now she was just thrilled to have someone deserving of taking her frustrations out on. It wasn't the most practical or logical thing she could've done to help herself work through her problems, but so far it was the easiest thing for her to do. It was one of the only reasons she had yet to completely neglect her duties as Recluse, the other being her subconscious need to watch over Peter, even if he didn't know it himself.

Andi trilled her lips in boredom as she gazed down at the city below. So far, the only exciting part of her day had been watching countless pedestrians trip over a small dip in the sidewalk. Not too much was happening, which was surprising for a Saturday. Andi couldn't help but think she was being a bit pathetic, though. She was never one to sit and wait for something to happen, but now it seemed to be all she could do. She thought about going home, but if she did she'd spend the rest of the day trying to escape her Aunt Pepper or a conversation about the trip to Europe she now had to pack for. Sitting alone on a random rooftop seemed like a much more appealing option.

As time ticked by, Andi was becoming uneasy. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she could hear sirens in the distance, and a lot of them. She quickly ran to the other side of the building to survey her surroundings. She managed to pinpoint an approximate location of the sirens, and in seconds she was swinging her way through the city. There was no way she would've been able to locate the police on her own, however, so she decided to enlist the help of her favorite ally.

"Hey, Jace, can you give me a more precise location on where those sirens are coming from?" Andi asked the AI Tony Stark created specifically for her so many years ago.

"Hey, Andi," Jace greeted her. "The sirens you hear are coming from a squad of police officers traveling eastbound on Atlantic Avenue. You're a mile out, just swing a hard right."

"Gotcha."

Andi took his advice quickly and swung right. She maintained her momentum by running across the side of the building on her left, which managed to startle a few office workers lingering at the windows. Andi found it more amusing than anything else, so she laughed quietly to herself and continued on her way.

"Who are they after, Jace? Tell me what's going on." The sirens were getting louder as Andi grew closer and closer to Atlantic Avenue, and she realized she couldn't help if she didn't know what was going on or who she was supposed to be looking for.

"I'm getting reports of an armed robbery that occurred on Pine Street just under ten minutes ago," Jace answered her. "There are at least two casualties. Three male suspects reportedly fled the scene in a black SUV, all armed and extremely dangerous."

Andi could feel herself getting upset over the unnecessary and violent loss of human life. Death was something that'd become a bit harder for her to handle since she laid eyes on a battlefield covered with it. Losing someone so important to her among it all didn't ease much either. She was just glad to know she was about to give those lost the justice they deserved.

"Approaching squadron, suspect vehicle 200 yards ahead," Jace alerted Andi as she finally swung onto Atlantic Avenue. She could now see the sirens just as well as she could hear them. She could also see the path of mild destruction left behind by the suspects in their haste to flee the police. This only encouraged her to get the job done faster than what the police could manage. No one else deserved to end up as collateral.

"Alright, let's do this."

Andi swung through the streets as quickly and as safely as she could. She caught up with the police in a timely manner, but it seemed the suspects were only getting farther away. Andi couldn't let that happen, though. She couldn't let them get away.

With a swift movement, Andi found herself on the roof of a higher building just ahead of the officers but not too far behind the suspects. She ran as fast as she could across the ledge of the roof and dove towards the street below. She shot a web at a light post ahead and used her strength to send herself flying through the air towards the black SUV speeding recklessly down the road. With one last swing to slow herself down, Andi landed carefully, but firmly, on the roof of the vehicle. The driver, who was obviously startled by the sudden jolt of the vehicle, lost control momentarily, and Andi was quick to take advantage of that. She noticed a large lamppost just ahead and adhered herself to the vehicle. She shot a web at the lamppost and pulled herself forward using just enough strength to further throw the vehicle out of control and send it crashing into the lamppost.

"The impact has incapacitated the driver, the passengers are uninjured," Jace told Andi.

"How unfortunate."

Andi jumped to the ground. Both of the passenger doors started to open, but Andi was way ahead of them. She pulled the doors right off their hinges and tossed them to the ground. She could hear the driver's door opening, but she figured she'd handle that after dealing with the two who served an immediate threat. The men drew their firearms at the teenager, but she was anticipating the attacks. Andi swung her right arm at one suspect, knocking the weapon from his hands, while shooting a web at the other and pulling the weapon away.

"It's not nice to kill, y'know?" Andi webbed the two of them up and yanked them onto the ground below, not even bothering to care if she injured them in the process.

"It's not very nice to steal either," a new voice sounded.

Before Andi could even think, another man, who she assumed to be the injured third suspect, dropped to the ground beside the two men she'd apprehended. Andi turned her head to see red, and she let out a quiet breath. She wasn't expecting to run into Peter at all.

Andi took notice of the approaching police officers and jumped away to let them finish the job. She climbed onto the roof of the building overlooking the accident, and Peter climbed after her just as she expected him to. She headed to the opposite side of the building and Peter followed her. She didn't want to risk interrupting the scene down below.

"I like what you did back there," Peter complimented Andi. "It was pretty awesome."

"Thanks," Andi responded. She stepped onto the ledge of the roof and looked out at the city once again, only sparing Peter a glance. "Thanks for helping me out."

"That's all I've been trying to do." Peter laughed quietly and walked over to her. "But you haven't been letting me."

"That's what you think." Andi didn't share with Peter much anymore, but that didn't mean he wasn't constantly helping move her along in the right direction, even if he didn't know it himself. She was way too stubborn to tell him, but seeing him and talking to him and being with him was often the greatest part of her day.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What are you doing here?" Andi asked, completely ignoring Peter's question. That was not a conversation she planned on having with him on a roof or at all, actually. "I figured you'd be at one of those fundraisers with May or something."

"Not until Wednesday," Peter answered. "Recluse is more than welcome to actually come to this one, by the way. May's been wondering where you've been."

"I know, I know." Andi sat down on the ledge of the roof. She could still hear the sirens behind them on the street below, as well as more in the distance. She wondered what was going on now. "Believe me, I'm all for the notion of helping people, but I don't really want a bunch of reporters in my face. That's never been me and you know that."

"I know." Peter sighed and sat down beside her. "It can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. They've asked me about Mr. Stark a few times. They always wanna know who's gonna be the next Iron Man."

"And what do you say?" Andi looked over at him, despite his face being covered by his mask.

"I just don't say anything."

Andi didn't respond. She only looked back to the city as Peter did beside her. Sirens in the distance were growing louder, and the two could now see police lights headed in their direction.

"Hey, Karen, what's happening?" Peter asked his AI.

"There's been a domestic dispute," Karen answered. "A male suspect took off on foot just south of 93rd."

"Hey, 93rd isn't too far from here," Peter exclaimed as he and Andi stood up on the rooftop.

"Which is why we should probably move."

Andi didn't wait on Peter to answer her. She simply jumped off the roof and started swinging her way back through the streets. After making sure Peter was following behind her, she picked up the pace, making it just a tad bit harder for him to keep up. Something the two had come to learn about their abilities was that Andi was much, much faster than Peter at swinging. Andi made the conclusion that control was key. Having organic webbing rather than artificial webbing helped a ton, but unlike Peter, Andi didn't have special settings to change or weaponize her webbing. She'd always been a tad bit jealous because of it.

Just as Andi thought she was closing in on her location, she was distracted by a loud voice and a brilliant white flash. She was struck in the air, the force being strong enough to completely snap her webbing. Pain shot through Andi's body once she hit the ground. She rolled across the asphalt, stopping only when she struck an alley wall. She groaned in pain and rolled onto her stomach, using her palms to help push herself off the ground. She could see Peter running over to her, and standing behind him was a masked, black and white figure. She assumed it to be the person that struck her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Peter asked once he approached where she sat on the ground.

"Yeah."

Peter grabbed Andi gently and started pulling her to her feet, while the figure in white approached the two cautiously. Despite the pain in her body, Andi pulled Peter away once she noticed the approaching figure. It was still such an instinct for her to protect him so it seemed, and she was prepared to if she needed to, regardless of her injuries.

"Jace, disguise my voice, please," Andi told her AI quietly. She turned her attention back to the stranger in white, who was now much closer to the two of them, and she issued her first warning. "Don't come any closer, please."

The figure stopped. Whoever it was wore a suit much too similar to hers and Peter's, and due to the circumstances surrounding Andi's rough journey to the ground, the two could only assume this person was like them. The webbed detailing inside the hood helped confirm their assumptions as well. Neither of them were too surprised to learn there was someone else like them, but that didn't necessarily mean that someone had good intentions.

"I'm so sorry," the figure, who they could now determine was female, quickly apologized. The voice was familiar, but her mask muffled it enough to maintain discretion. "Still kinda new at this."

"Who are you?" Peter asked. He disguised his voice as well. They doubted they'd be found out simply because of their voices, as there were millions of people in New York, but they couldn't risk it.

Peter didn't receive an answer. A relatively large man ran into the alley. The teenagers noticed his battered and slightly bloody appearance and immediately knew it was the man the police were currently looking for. Peter and Andi didn't have much time to react, however. The masked girl jumped into action immediately. She shot a web to bind his hands together and pulled him toward her. She jumped in the air and spun around, connecting her foot with the man's jaw. He fell to the ground unconscious, and she landed swiftly back on her feet. She looked back at Peter and Andi, who weren't at all expecting that to happen.

"And she said she's new at this?" Peter muttered loud enough for only Andi to hear. She simply chuckled quietly in response.

"Now that that's done..." The masked girl looked back at Peter and Andi, "I'm super sorry about crashing into you, but I gotta run!"

"Wait, who are you?" Andi called out to her. She was genuinely curious about the identity of New York's newest spider-person, but she doubted she'd get an answer.

"Sorry, gotta go!"

The girl climbed up the brick of the alley wall and disappeared, leaving Peter and Andi alone with the unconscious man she'd taken only seconds to subdue. The sirens got louder and brighter, and Peter looked at Andi.

"So, there's more of us?"

Andi's face twisted up in slight disconcert at the question. The thought of having another spider-person swinging around the city was intriguing to her for the most part, but at the moment she lacked the social skills needed to befriend that person as she knew Peter would try to do.

"I guess there is."

"Who do you think she could be?" Peter asked her. "She sounded kinda young, I dunno. Maybe, like, our age or something."

"I dunno, dude." Andi shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm sure we'll narrow it down. I mean, there's only about 11 million people in New York to choose from."

"There's that sarcasm I missed so much."

"Now's not the time, we've still got work to do." Andi motioned to the man still laying on the ground in front of them, and Peter perked up.

"Oh, right!"

Andi couldn't help but smile at Peter as she walked away from him to retrieve the man on the ground. He was the biggest dork in the world, but she wouldn't have wanted him any other way. Things were still so complex inside Andi's mind, but she found the one thing that remained crystal clear to her was Peter Parker.

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