Peter woke up to someone opening the door, him having slept against it.  He fell face first onto the floor as the door shoved him forward.  He let out a long groan.

"Woah, sorry Pete!"  Tony said, surprised.  "Did you sleep here?"

"Maybe," Peter muttered, even more muffled by the floor.  "What do you want?  What time is it?"

"Easy, sleeping beauty," Tony chuckled.  "It's six o'clock.  I just-"

Peter immediately jumped up from the floor, ignoring the carpet scratching up face.  "I overslept!"

"Really?"  Tony raised an eyebrow.  "Why did you want to wake up earlier than six?  When we said you need to wake up earlier..."

Peter shook his head and went to his closet.  "Er, no, not that."  He tried to quickly come up with an excuse.  "Well, yes that.  The plans changed.  She asked me last night over text if we could move it up earlier.  So, I need to get going soon."

Tony's eyebrow stayed up, obviously not fully believing that.  "Right..."

"Come on, dad.  Don't you trust me?"  Peter felt awful right after saying that.  He was about to go and try to fight some men that knew who Peter was and he asked if he trusted him.

What an idiot.

Tony sighed. "Alright." He went to the door and glanced at Peter before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Peter stared at his hands for a minute, upset at himself.  This was dumb.  He should go and-

No.

He had to do this.  He couldn't let these men run around free, knowing who he was.

He went to his closet and pulled out his suit.  He put it on with shaking hands.  He slid his mask into his backpack and put jeans and a sweater on over the suit.

He hesitated before leaving his room, walking at a quick pace.

Steve and Tony and were at the table, talking in hushed voices.  They both stopped and looked up when he entered.

They were talking about him. Peter knew they were. He hated it. His face grew hot and he immediately left without bothering to say goodbye.

They were probably going to question him when he got home, but he didn't care.  Right now, Steve and Tony were the least of his problems.

——————

Peter arrived at the abandoned building he had seen the man enter the day before.  He rolled up his sweater sleeve, making one of his web cartridges visible.  After making sure no one was looking, he shot a web at a nearby building and let it take him up to the top.

He landed on the roof and immediately ducked down low.  He had to make sure that if anybody came by, no one would see him. 

He hesitated before sitting up and pulling off his sweater and jeans, leaving him in his Spidey suit.  He shoved the clothes into his backpack after pulling out and putting his mask and ducked down again and kept his eyes on the road.

Man, these things were boring.

There was nothing to do but watch, and for a long time nothing really happened. He saw a cat eating a helpless little bird, a few annoying teens throwing rocks at said cat, and some things that he will never unsee, no matter how many times he will bleach his eyes.

It had been a few hours and he hadn't seen anything.  He was ready to go to the mall early, get some coffee or something, when he heard the sound of an opening door.

He quickly flattened himself against the roof and peeked over at the abandoned building.

Three people were exiting, all wearing suits with a logo on the bottom of the sleeve that Peter could not make out from where he was. The one in the middle held a briefcase and was walking slightly quicker than the others.

Peter smiled faintly. This was perfect. He could attack them, see what's in the briefcase, and find out how they knew him and who they were.

Filled with adrenaline, he jumped up from his roof spot and shot a web at the middle man's face, causing the ones on the ends to look at Peter, and the middle one to try and pry the webs off.

Peter didn't say a word; he just shot a web at the building across from him and swung down, kicking middle man in the face and making him fall over.

Peter landed on his feet, facing the surprised trio. Before he could make a witty remark, the non webbed up dudes started running at him.

Peter clenched his fist and punched the first man who came in the face, which seemed to distract him momentarily.

He proceeded to web up the second man's arms and legs, making him unable to move. When the first man recovered, he promptly did the same.

"Man," Peter said with a laugh. "That was way too easy." He walked over to the briefcase and picked it up.

He inspected the case and looked for any clues about what it was and who it was from. Nothing. Well, only one way to find out what's inside: open it.

Before he lifted the latch, he got a weird feeling, his hairs on the back of his neck rising. He quickly turned around and saw the middle man holding a knife that would have been in Peter's back.

In his hurry to turn and the man's surprise, his back wasn't stabbed; his shoulder was.

He winced and tried to grab at the knife. "Hey!" The middle man quickly retracted it and got ready to strike again.

"Couldn't you have stabbed my hand again? That's more explainable than a stab to the shoulder!" Peter kicked at the man who quickly backed up, more agile now that he wasn't covered in webs.

"How is that friend of yours?" The man asked, his voice light and tantalizing. "What's his name... Ned?"

Peter froze momentarily. They knew who Ned was. He immediately threw a punch that missed. The man smirked and jabbed the knife at Peter's shoulder again, deepening the wound. Peter let out a squeak and moved back.

"What about that girlfriend of yours? Michelle? MJ?"

"Shut up!!" Peter yelled as he kicked the man right in the gut, knocking him to the floor. He didn't bother to correct him about him and MJ not being a couple. He was blinded by his hatred and worry for his friends.

"Leave. My friends. Alone." Peter said with almost a growl. "What have I done to you or your boss?" He shot a web at the fallen man, trapping him against the floor with his other goons.

"Many things. You just don't realize it yet," The man spat.

"What the heck does that mean?!" Peter groaned and picked back up the briefcase. He took a deep breath and opened it slowly, in case something dangerous lay inside.

He opened it and saw-

Nothing.

There was nothing inside. No vial, no note, no money, no weapon - nothing. It was completely empty.

Peter looked at the men. "W-what?! What was this all for?! Why-"

He was cut off by the sound of a car starting behind the building. Something clicked in his head. This was a distraction.

He threw the briefcase at one of the men, hitting him in the face. He shot a web at the top of the building and swung to the top of the building. He landed and then ran across the roof, not wanting to miss them.

Without looking, he shot a web at a building further away and swung to the ground. He looked around and saw - yet again, nothing.

They had known he would come.  They knew he'd want to get answers.  So, they decided to trick Peter.  To taunt him.  We know you want this, let's make you think you'll be able to get it.

"Are you kidding me?!" He kicked the wall of the building, blinded by his anger. He had come here, seeking answers, and had gotten nothing but a hoax. What a waste. This had accomplished nothing.

He swung slowly to the other side and of the building and was both shocked yet somehow unsurprised to see the men and the briefcase gone.

He sighed and slowly climbed up the building he had been perched on before and grabbed his backpack. He pulled out his phone and turned it on, seeing a bunch of unread messages from his dad and pops.

Before he could get annoyed about that, he saw the time and immediately went into speedy mode. Moping would have to wait.

It was 10:30, and he had to get cleaned up, changed and to the mall by 11.

He was toast.