Tess walked down the rows of bookshelves, just looking for absolutely anything to pique her interest. She needed a book for a project, and nothing was quite sticking out to her.

"Teresa Parker." the brunette whipped around totally startled, quickly clutching her ribs, she was still sore from the fight, "Jesus Christ Leigh! You gave me a heart attack." 

It didn't occur to her who was standing in front of her, until the words that flew out of her mouth sunk in. Leigh was in fact in the Midtown High Library, "Wait a minute, what the hell are you doing here?"

Tess was really confused shouldn't the other woman be elsewhere right about now? 

"I'm here to check in," Leigh shrugged, "The Avengers might've fallen apart but that doesn't mean I still don't care, I did help recruit you after all. So, I'm checking in."

Tess looked at her still a bit confused, "Oh."

Leigh took a deep breath, "Look kid, I'm really glad you're okay, but I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay?" Tess glanced around the library, "Come on, maybe we should do this somewhere else." 

Leigh followed Tess out of the library, and down the hallway, "The Janitors closet? That's the best you could do?"

"Weren't you ever in high school?" Tess asked.

"Yeah, but I had graduated by the time I was thirteen...it's a long story." Leigh shook her head. 

Tess arched an eyebrow at her briefly but then shook her head, "Anyway, you wanted to talk."

"Oh, right." Leigh spoke, "So Tony is going to talk to you about...something, and uh- not that I'm trying to influence your decision or anything, but-"

"Spit it out, Leigh."

"Right, sorry." Leigh pressed her lips together, "I was in the wrong when I helped him recruit the two of you. I just wanted to say, the two of you should be kids a while longer. I never really go that, and I feel like I've maybe ruined the chances for you too...I got a job as a SHIELD agent when I was still a teenager. All I'm saying is enjoy being a teenager before you throw yourself into the real world."

"Okay?" Tess asked, and then it dawned on her, "Oh my god is Mr. Stark going to make us like official Avengers?"

"That was a very delayed reaction, kid." Leigh smiled and still studying Tess's shocked face she spoke again, "Please just think about what I said...I know this is all exciting but, you know. Think about it."

Tess nodded, "Yeah, I get what you're saying."

"Okay, well I'm glad we got to have this conversation, um, I probably won't be around for a while, I'm about to do some really stupid shit to save my...family. Leigh spoke.

"I get it." Tess nodded, "Just...be careful."

Leigh smiled, "I'll try."

"Oh, there they are." Tony approached the three of them with a smile on his face, "How was the ride up?"

"Good," Happy answered, and Tony turned to him, "Give me a minute with the kids."

"Seriously?" Happy deadpanned, "Yeah, I gotta talk to them."

"I'll be close behind," Happy responded, "How about a loose follow, boundaries are good."

They started to walk alongside Tony, "Sorry I took your suit, I mean you had it coming, actually, it turns out it was the perfect tough love moment that you needed. Right to urge you on, wouldn't you think?"

"Yeah," Peter stuttered.

Tess tuned out of the conversation pretty quickly, that was until she heard, the Tony Stark admit to being wrong.

"I was wrong about you. I think with a little more mentoring, the two of you would be a real asset to the team."

"To-to the team?" Peter asked, "Yeah, anyway, there's about fifty reporters behind that door, real ones, not bloggers." the man clicked a couple of buttons on his watch, revealing two brand new suits, "I want you to try those on. And I'll introduce the world to the newest official members of the Avengers."

Tony turned back toward them, "Spiderman and-"

Tess scoffed, "Ghost-spider."

Peter stuttered walking closer to the suit, Tess kept her distance a bit thinking about the conversation she had with Leigh.

"So after the press conference, Happy will show you to your room."

There was a brief pause, "Thank you, Mr. Stark, but I'm- we're good."

"You're good, good. How are you good?"

"I mean I-" Peter stuttered, and then Tess spoke up, "Someone has to look out for the little guy, Mr. Stark."

Peter nodded, "What she said...Thank you Mr. Stark."

Tony cleared his throat, "You're welcome, Mr. Parker. Happy will drive the two of you home,"

"Mind waiting in the car? I need a second."

The two Parkers nodded, walking away, and then Peter turned on his heel, "That was a test right? There's nobody back there?"

"Yes, you passed." Tony nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Stark, thank you."

Once the two of them had walked away, the door popped open, and Pepper entered the room, "Where are the kids?"

"They left." Happy stated, "Everyone's waiting." Pepper stated, her eyes darting between the two men in front of her.

"You know what they actually made the real mature decision." Tony stated, "Just surprised the heck out of us."

"Did you guys screw this up?" Pepper asked, glaring at Tony, "He told the kid to go wait in the car." Tony pointed at Happy.

Pepper redirected her glare to happy, "Are you kidding me?" Happy opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

The woman looked between the two of them, "I have a room full of people, waiting for some big announcement. What am I going to tell them?"

"Think of something, how about um?" Tony asked and then looked to Happy, "Happy, you still got that ring?"

"Are you kidding? I've been carrying this since 2008." he held up the ring, "Okay." Tony breathed.

"I think I can think of something better than that." Pepper stated, "Well it could buy us a little time."

Pepper leaned in and kissed Tony, "Like we need time?"

"I can't believe you had that thing in your pocket..." she turned on her heel, "Do you want me to get the door for you, honey?"

He quickly moved up to where she already exited, turning to catch the ring, Happy just threw to him.

When Tess entered her room, she spotted a brown paper bag on her bed, in red sharpie lettering spelled out, 'good luck, - nat' 

A confused smile tugged on her lips, she gently shut her bedroom door, and opened the package, revealing a set of widow bites, "The perfect addition," she whispered.

Tess set them in her closet with her suit, but was interrupted by a loud exclamation from down the hall, "What the fuck!"

The brunette rushed down the hall hearing a long string of Italian pouring out of her mother's mouth, "Peter? What's going on-" 

Tess's eyes widened at the sight of Peter with his suit on, "Merda!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Congratulations! You've reached the end of Tess Parker's first official book!

Where does her story go from here you may ask, well you can find her in Eleanor Rigby; W. Maximoff as well as an unreleased title that is coming soon!

- Via <3