The Spider and His Tribrid

Chapter 8: A Fresh Start

Hope's POV:

The next day Peter, Happy, and I fly home where Tony meets us at the airport. I sit up front, giving Peter and Tony time to talk in the back. "What are you doing, a little video diary?" Tony asks, noticing Peter's phone. "Yeah." He says, sheepishly. "It's alright." 

"I told him not to do it. He was filming everything. I'm gonna wipe the chip." Happy calls from beside me. "Okay, hey, hey, hey. You know what? We should actually, we should make an alibi video for your aunt anyway. You ready?" "An alibi? Sure. Ok." "We rolling? Get in the frame." 

I hear movement behind me and I spot the two of them together in front of the camera in the back. "Hey May. How you doing? What are you wearing? Something skimpy, I hope." I turn in my seat and give him a 'really?' look. He just chuckles.

"Peter, that's inappropriate. Alright, let's start over. You can edit it." "Mm-hm." "Three, two, one. Hey, May. My gosh, I wanted to tell you what an incredible job your nephew did this weekend at the Stark Internship retreat. Everyone was impressed-" Suddenly Happy honks the car horn. 

"Come on! It's a freaking merge. Sorry." "This is because you're not on Queens Boulevard." Tony corrects him. "See, Happy is...is hoping to get bumped up to asset management. He was forehead of security, before that he was a driver." Tony turns the camera to Happy. 

"That was a private conversation. I don't like joking about this. It was hard for me to talk to you about." Tony turns the camera back towards him. "No, seriously, was he snoring a bunch?" Suddenly the car jerks to the right. "Oh look at that, we're here." 

Tony is cackling in the back at this. I glance between Peter and Tony. "I'm gonna help him with your things." I tell Peter. He nods to me and I get out of the car. "Need help there?" I ask, seeing him struggle with Peter's suit. "What? No." I roll my eyes as I watch him continue to struggle.

I walk over and push him slightly out of the way before grabbing the handle and yanking it out of the trunk. I walk over to the window as Happy knocks. "This it?" He asks, pointing to me. "Seventh floor!" Tony yells through the window. 

I nod and go to turn around to take it up the stairs. "I can take that. You don't have to Hope." I nod and place it beside his door. After another minute of talking Peter gets out of the car, grabbing the trunk as he closes the door. He turns to me, smile on his face. 

"So, have you thought about school and being my partner?" He asks, hope filling his eyes. I smile at him. "I'll see you around Parker. Here's my number if you need anything, and I live about a block down from Delmar's. Oh! One more thing." 

I reach inside my pocket and pull out a cord bracelet. I made it this morning before we got on the plane, before Peter was awake. "What's this?" He asks, taking the bracelet. "It's a bracelet that's spelled." His head shoots up at this. "What? What do you mean 'spelled'?" I roll my eyes. 

"You know, I'm a witch, and I cast spells." He rolls his eyes at this. "Yeah, I know. I get that part, but what did you spell it with?" "It's kind of like a protection spell mixed with an alert spell." His confused face turns to one of interest. 

"I thought if we're going to be working together in the future, it would be best if I know if you're in trouble. It'll alert me if you are in any real trouble and it'll protect you from bad magic. Now that we're working together a few witches might find out and target you." 

He nods in understanding. "This is really cool Hope. Thanks." He says, taking the bracelet and slipping it onto his wrist before looking up to grin at me. "Well, I should get going. Goodbye Peter." With that I pull the by into a hug. He immediately reciprocates the hug. "Goodbye Hope." 

I finally let go and reach for the door he just came out of, quickly climbing in beside Tony and shutting the door. With that Happy takes off towards my apartment. We're almost there when make my final decision. I turn towards Tony. "I want to go to school." 

He gives me a confused look. "What?" "I want to go to school, but not just any school. I need someone there that I know so I don't blow the place up out of anxiousness." "You want to go to the kid's school." I nod. He thinks about it for a second. 

"Actually, that's not such a bad idea. You could keep an eye on him, and help him if he needs it. Yeah, ok, I like that idea. Anything else?" He asks as we pull up beside my apartment. I shake my head at his question. 

"He talked about partners, but that neighborhood stuff, I don't think that's what I'm meant to do." Tony nods. "Ok, you'll go to school. I'll give you a week to prepare, or change your mind, but it's a good idea. Gonna miss you kid." He says, pulling me into a hug. I hug him back. 

I've known Tony for a year and we just reached the hugging stage. Once I pull away I get out and grab my bags. After I wave goodbye to him and Happy they drive away and I head upstairs to my apartment. 

When I get inside I place my bags in my room and take out my phone to call my aunt to let her know I got in. Communication is key when you're living across the country from your guardian without any real adult supervision at age 15. She picks up on the third ring. 

"Hey." "Hi Aunt Freya." "How was Germany?" I grin at the thought. "Amazing. You should have seen me Aunt Freya. I've never felt that free with my magic." I hear her chuckle on the other end. "Well I'm glad. I can hear it in your voice too. You're happier." 

"I am. It's so weird. When Tony said I was gonna be working with this kid I thought it would be a total nightmare, but it wasn't. He's actually pretty great at this whole superhero thing. I don't know, it's just weird, the connection I felt with him these past few days." "Connection?" 

"Like I sat down and had a conversation about my mom and dad with him and I didn't feel anything negative. It hasn't been like that for a year Freya. It felt so good to talk to him about them." I can practically see her smile on the other side of the phone. 

"Does my niece have a crush on someone?" She teases. I roll my eyes. "No, he's just my partner on the battle field, and..." I think about my words before I say them, finally believing them to be true. "...he's my friend." 

"Well, I'm happy for you Hope. You deserve a bit of happiness in your life, and if this boy brings it to you, then I'm all for it." "Oh! Another thing. I start school with him in a week." "What?" Her shock is very prominent. 

"Yeah, I told him I didn't do human school because I didn't have anyone or anything to keep me from blowing it up, and he said I could go to his school." I say, grinning. "Hope, that's amazing, and a huge step for you. This could be the fresh start that you went there for." She's right. 

I came to New York, the Queens, for a fresh start. I thought I got that, when in reality I just self isolated myself. Peter has offered me my chance at a fresh start. "You're right Aunt Freya. Hey, I gotta go, but I'll call you soon, ok?" "Ok, bye Hope. I love you." 

"Love you too Aunt Freya, say hi to Keelin and Nick for me." "Will do. Bye." With that the line goes dead. I grin, looking down at my phone. A fresh start.