I held Peters hand in mine, surprised he hadn't spoken up about my death grip yet. He stood beside me, thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of my hand. To our right, Tony glanced at the sky and then back to his watch. Moments later, with a thunderous noise, a plane landed on the little runway where ours had been a few days before. I felt Peter slowly let go of my hand, which I glared at him for. He frowned in response and shook his head.

A sigh and I ran to my adoptive father who was climbing down the stairs of the plane. He caught me, and held me in his arms.

"I missed you, Dad."

"I missed you, too, kid."

My legs swung over the side of the pool, feet slapping the waters top loudly. Behind me, the house, and inside Peter asking Dee for permission. To date me.

I heard snippets and pieces of the conversation, but I wasn't allowed to be inside. A grunt and I looked up to see a clouded sky. I wiped my nose where a cold drop smacked down. With a smirk, I stood and sauntered around the pool.

"Hey Jarv?" I questioned, a smile drawn across my face.

"Yes, miss?" the AI called back, a friendly voice.

"Wanna patch me in to the house?"

If Jarvis was a human, he would have rolled his eyes at me then and there. "I'm sure Mr. Stark would love for you to be snooping, Miss Rhodes." He patched me through anyways, the conversation now allowed to be heard outside. I continued to pace around the pool, slightly dancing as I went, as a few more drops of rain began to patter on the concrete floor.

"How do I know I can trust you, Peter? She's all I have." Dee.

"I would never hurt her, Mr. Rhodes. She means a lot to me too..." Webs trailed off before taking a breath and starting again. "Besides, I know Mr. Stark does have the ability to take my suit away, if I did. Which I won't. I... I think I love her, and I don't ever want her to get hurt."

"Pete, you know Rhodey and I would beat you up in a heart beat if you did anything to hurt her." T.

"I'm not going to! I would never... I want to make her happy and see her smile. If that means me laying low for a little, then..."

"She's in a lot of danger just being associated with Tony and myself. Being Spider-man could either fall on the good or bad side."

"I promise. I promise Mr. Rhodes. I'll keep her safe."

"Alright, Jarv. That's enough sappiness for one day." I cut of the audio and instead told him to play some music. He chose, and I sat at the edge of the pool again.

I heard the sliding glass door open and shut. Footsteps fell into the gentle pitter-patter of the rain. "You're gonna be soaked."

I shrugged and pushed my wet hair out of my face. "I enjoy the rain. Its like the clouds are crying."

"That's super depressing..."

"Hey, if the clouds wanna be sad, let them be sad." I looked up to Peter as he laughed. His curly brown hair stuck to his face, plastered down by the rain. Through the pouring rain, I could still see his shining brown eyes.

"Verdict?"

His boisterous laughter fell silent, and he reached out a hand which I took. "Do you know how to dance?"

"Oh boy can I! You better believe it." With a laugh, I stood and he held me close to his chest. We swayed to the music, the rain cold and forcing our clothes to stick to our skin.

"Isn't this how romance movies usually end? Rain, and the two love birds bawling their eyes out and smooching? And then they break up?"

"Way to ruin the moment." He deadpanned and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Just saying."

He laid his head on top mine, and sighed. "I'm scared."

I didn't ask. If he wanted to share, he would. No forcing.

"Your dad said yes, after some convincing." My breath hitched, and he pulled me closer. "I'm just scared I'm gonna do something wrong. What if you suddenly change your mind? What if you don't love me? Shoot. What if something happens?"

"You're spiderboy. Stressing isn't on today's schedule." I pulled back from him and smiled. "What if Ill be fine? I could conquer the world!" Webs smiled, toothy and wide, spinning me as we danced.

We weren't very good at dancing.

"Then I'd be right beside you all the way."

"That's all I need."

The world was dark when I awoke. I peeled Peters arm off me and tip toed between Tony and my dad. We had all watched a movie on the projector, a giant mess of blankets on the giant sofa. It had gotten so late, I suppose we all fell asleep. I pressed a kiss to Webs' forehead and stood, walking into the kitchen.

Getting a glass of water was typical, so I sprung for a caprisun. Love those things. I gently closed the fridge, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Don't bother being quiet. They won't wake up."

I froze, my caprisun nearly falling out of my grasp. "You'd be surprised." I gulped and continued. "James' a pretty light sleeper."

The voice behind me laughed. Shuffling footsteps and I felt a needle press into the skin of my throat. "Quiet now, Princess."

I came to, solid blaring white surrounding me. I lifted a hand to rub my head, only to find I couldn't. Pain throbbed in my head and I squinted my eyes to see my hands tied behind me with zip ties. I struggled, pulling and jerking to see if I could pull them off.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

I panic, my mind flying a million miles an hour. Where was Peter? My dad? Tony?

Pain flew from my head to my wrists, raw and bloody from my struggle.

In an insane effort, I screamed, hoping someone would find me. No no no no.

This was just a joke.

"Hush, sweetheart. You won't get anywhere doing that." A tall, lean man snickered from to my right.

"What do you want?" I growled, my voice tight and gravely. How long had I been out? How long had I been gone?

I just got Peter.

"Now love. Don't pretend you don't remember me. I want money and power and your precious little Peter is going to do everything I tell him to."