During Thea's conversation with Peter and Ned about superheroes, one thought came to her mind. She needed to find Spider-Man, the only reason she was even at school. The reason she met Peter and Ned.

There was a slight chance that Thea would stumble upon Spider-Man on her own, but it wasn't guaranteed. It could take weeks for her to even spot him, let alone find out his identity. She needed a plan. Something that would make sure she would interact with him. Maybe even find out who he is in a short period of time.

The only plan was to become a damsel in distress. A plan that Thea despised. Even though the plan could backfire, it was the only option she had in order to find Spider-Man in a short period of time.

Waking up on a Friday morning used to be great, that was before Thea went to school. Nowadays it's hell, she has to wake up at ungodly hours to get ready and get an education that she will most likely never use again.

Thea woke up with a yawn and got ready for the school day by putting on a pair of black ripped jeans, a thin white sweater, a black jacket, and black converse. Thea walked to the small kitchen and brewed her daily cup of coffee and toast some bread. She began to make her way out the door, backpack slung over her shoulders and her meal in her hand.

It became a routine, wake up, get ready, and walk to school with Peter. Because Peter and Thea lived in the same complex just on different levels, they both thought it would be beneficial to walk together. Over time Peter became less and less frantic when it came to talking to me, but today we seemed to go in the opposite direction.

Thea walked down the stairs to meet Peter who always waited for her right by the exit.

"Hey Pete," Thea said the new nickname she gave him, "sorry for taking so long; I did a little more today than usual," Thea announced, her chest heaved slightly from the trek down the stairs.

"I-um no problem, just glad I didn't have to leave you," he stammered.

Thea could never find out what was up with Peter on days like this. The first day Thea had met him, he was like this and now today too.

"You okay Pete?" Thea asked nervously. "You seem sick; you're all red."

"No-no, no need to worry, I'm just tired from running," Peter said.

"Oh okay then, just be careful, we wouldn't want you to die on us now would we." She said laughing.

~~~~

It was after school ended that Thea decided to put the plan into action. She told Peter that she couldn't walk home today because she had to pick up a bunch of stuff at the store for dinner tonight. Begrudgingly, he accepted this and told Thea to be careful because Queens is dangerous at night. Thea knew this of course, but it didn't stop her from smiling when Peter told her this. Thea knew she still had to be careful with all of this, even though she can definitely take care of herself. One wrong move and Thea could scare away Spider-Man.

Thea moved behind a store in the 'bad' part of Queens, hoping to find trouble. The only thing is that she wouldn't know if Spider-Man was saving that part of the city today, so if he wasn't, Thea would be screwed. As Thea turned the corner into the dark alley, she heard the heavy breathing of two men behind her.

"Hey girlie, what are you doing in a place like this?" The man with alcohol ridden breath said to her.

"Not dealing with you that's for sure, move or else." Thea put up a tough act.

"Come on now, don't be so rude, we just wanna have fun, don't we Bobby." The other man, Bobby, nodded in agreement.

Thea immediately went into survival mode once they slowly began their way towards her. She clenched her fists closed, stopping any mist from forming unknowingly in her palms. As soon as they came within reach of Thea, she ran down the damp and dark alley. The two men quickly made their way to Thea and reached her at the dead end of the alley. They pulled Thea back by the strap of her backpack. The sudden force caused Thea to get thrown to the ground next to the men.

There was a split moment in Thea's mind where she thought that Spider-Man wouldn't come, that he wouldn't make it in time to 'save' her. The only other idea she had in order to capture Spider-Man's attention was to scream. So she did. Thea screamed so loudly that the men had to actually cup their ears at the deafening sound and Thea's voice afterward was harsh. Thea stopped her screaming and looked around at her surroundings, trying to spot the kid in red and blue that would be her saving grace.

"You little bitch," the unnamed man spat at her. "Hold her." He said to the other man, Bobby.

"Stop moving girl," as he said this he tried to cover Thea's mouth with his hand. Thea promptly bit it with as much force as she could in a struggle.

Shit, Thea thought, I'm going to have to get myself out of this one, aren't I?

She prepared herself to use her powers, her fists now unclenched and a small stream of purple mist flowed out of her palms. Thea began to lift her hands up at the perpetrators but stopped suddenly when she heard a high pitched "Wooooooooo," coming from the buildings above her.

With a grunt, Spider-Man landed in the alley, no more than five feet from Thea. He looked up from his landing, his goggles reflecting in the setting light. Standing up from his land, he stretched his arms above his head and spoke with a swagger,

"That's no way to treat a lady no is it? Don't worry T-I mean ma'am, I'll save you."

Now I wish I wasn't going to be saved by him, Thea thought incredulously. He's an absolute dork and idiot.

The men had another plan up their sleeves it seemed. As soon as they saw Spider-Man join the fight they grabbed Thea's shoulders and captured her in a bear-hug with one arm and a shiny pocket knife in the other, dangerously close to her neck. Spider-Man straightened his posture immediately and quickly raised his hands and started to wave them rapidly back and forth in a stopping manner.

"Hey, hey, hey, there is no need for that right fellas?" Spider-Man said, his high pitched voice cracking slightly. "Let's just put down the knife and we can all go home right?" Spider-Man walked forward slowly, carefully planning every step.

"Make one wrong move and this bitch will get her throat slit, I dare you," said the leader of two. He gripped Thea harder at this, pressing the knife so close to her neck that she could feel the chill of the metal blade.

"Okay, okay I'll just go—" right as Spider-Man said that he confidently shot a string of web at the man's hand which held the knife and flung it away from Thea. In the process, the force of the web hitting his hand caused the knife to graze Thea's neck. Not enough to inflict serious damage but enough to cause her to hiss at the sting.

Spider-Man then shot two more webs at the same man, one on his face and another on his chest connecting him to the wall. The other man, who was still holding Thea, got a taste of his own medicine too. He shot out three more webs to stop him: One to wrap him up in webs, to the point where we can't move, another to bring him closer to Spider-Man and a final one, connecting him to the other man already on the wall.

Thea grimaced at the sound they made when they collided but then thought those assholes deserved it. By this point, Thea was on the ground holding her neck, making sure it wouldn't bleed more. Spider-Man came rushing over as soon as he finished webbing them up.

Breathless from shooting up the men he managed to stammer out, "Are you okay?" Thea winced, looking up at Spider-Man, who was kneeling beside her

"I'm okay, I just think I got a cut." She said this while pointing to her neck and taking off her hand from it. The small red line of a cut produced a thin trail of blood trickling down her neck.

"Holy shit," Spider-Man gasped, "I'm so sorry if I was here earlier I this never would have happened."

"It's fine really," Thea assured him, "I should probably just bandage it up and go home." She said struggling to get up with one hand back on her neck.

"Here let me help you," Spider-Man said as he helped Thea up, grabbing her forearm with his gloved hand.

"Thank you for saving me, if it wasn't for you I don't know what would have happened to me," Thea said looking into his goggles.

"No problem, but we should probably get you home though; come on I'll give you a lift home," Spider-Man said, gesturing for her to come closer.

"Are you sure?" Thea asked coming closer to him. "Don't you have the rest of Queens to save?" She said less than a foot away from him.

"I'm sure Queens can handle itself for a night, besides I don't want you to possibly get hurt again while walking home." He said, looking slightly down at her. He then opened his arms and told Thea to hang on to him. As soon as he shot them up into the air Thea knew why he did this every day. The feeling of the wind, the lights at night, it was all very therapeutic.

As he swung through the city, Thea clung closer to him; her arms tightened around him as she looked at the sky. Thea didn't notice when he looked down at her while swinging. But if she did, she would have noticed him smiling under his mask.

~ Author's Note ~

All rights to Spider-Man and original plot goes to the Marvel franchise and their fantastic movies and comics. I own new story lines and new characters, like Thea Quinton.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh it's all starting to come together......  I already said it was going to be a slow burn, but it's the best. Peter already is starting to feel for Thea, but Thea is only taking it so far like it's a mission.

How will it play out? I would like to know your theories!!