Risks // SpiderMan x Reader

Chapter 09

  The two of us laughed, our feet walking at the same pace in the grass that covered the empty acres of land that the Avengers HQ sat on. Our hands were super close, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to grab his. Occasionally, our fingers would brush against each other's, but we would rip our hands apart quickly.

"Um... Probably Steve Rogers. Or my mom, I guess," I replied, still slightly laughing at what the question had been. Honestly, I don't know if anyone has asked me this question before.

"Really? What about Spider-Man?" He asked, tilting his head at me as I hummed in thought.

  This 'favorite superhero' thing is really difficult...

"Well, I guess I like Spider-Man and Captain America for the same reason. They both believe that team work is best and are really compatible with people. Just, anyone would feel comfortable talking to them. Tony Stark, on the other hand, people would view from afar, slightly afraid to approach him. You know?" I claimed, looking over at Peter. He seemed deep in thought about my words.

"Who's yours?" I asked next, which caused him to weakly laugh and run a hand through his hair.

"Probably Tony Stark. I mean, what's not to admire about the man? He's a multi-billionaire who makes amazing suits. He can have whatever he wants whenever he wants it. And what isn't cool about a mechanized super suit?" Peter spoke with a smile as I shook my head, my eyes gazing out into the tree line.

"Being a superhero is having a heart, not a suit," I whispered under my breath, the two of us going quiet after my claim. It was more of a comfortable silence.

We found ourselves at the edge of the property, which stopped where the forest began. He looked back towards the facility, meanwhile I peered deep into the wooded area. Because I could've sworn I saw something.

  I looked over at Peter, noticing that his whole body had stiffened up in a rather unnatural manner. His eyes were closed and he was breathing rather ruggedly. He was now facing the tree line as well.

"Is something wrong...?" I whispered, looking over at him with an arched eyebrow.

He grabbed my hand tightly, his eyes opening and immediately staring at something in the forest. I didn't like how serious he looked. It was like when he argued with Flash in the hallways of his school. He looked like he was going to kill someone.

  I found myself staring deep into the woods as well, catching a glimpse of shadows quickly weaving in between the trees. They were human-like.

"Peter...? What the hell is going on...?" I whispered softly as he shook his head.

"There's no time to explain... I need you to trust me and get behind me..." He spoke in a very quiet and stern tone, scaring me a slight bit. But I listened. If there was anyone I trusted to keep me safe more than my mother and Tony Stark, it was Peter Parker.

A wicked laugh echoed off the trees from deep within the woods. Peter's hold on my hand tightened a small bit. And I was glad. I moved a bit closer to him, feeling safer just being nearer to him.

  He closed his eyes again, almost as if he had this way of seeing without even having to open his eyes. Lifting his right arm up, he pointed his hand out towards the woods. Spider-like webbing shot from the bands on his wrists, tethering two of the shadow people together.

  My eyes popped wide open and it became a bit more difficult to breathe.

  Some part of me had wanted me to be wrong. Wanted him to have just been a normal teenage boy who led a normal teenage life. But that wasn't true. That wasn't who Peter Parker was. He was Spider-Man. A teenage boy who would risk his life for everyone's safety. And right now, it was my safety.

  This was his internship. This was why he was here. And suddenly, everything began making a bit more sense.

  He kept tying them together with the webbing, but eventually he let out a string of swears and then turned to look at me. He wrapped an arm around my torso, pulling me securely against his body and using his other hand to shoot webbing. I gripped onto him tightly, knowing what was about to happen.

Sure enough, we were soaring up to the top of one of the surrounding trees. Then we were making our way to the facility. We landed on the rooftop, and I could tell that this was where he wanted us to be. I held onto him tightly, knowing we were running from something. And it was clearly something bad.

Finally, he turned to look at me with his large brown eyes. Only, they were filled with purpose and reason. He didn't seem like the frail Peter Parker who was afraid when he almost broke my hand, rather he seemed like he was on a mission. And, right now, I suppose he was.

"Call Tony. Tell him I have the target," Peter demanded as I slowly nodded. I pulled out my phone, calling Tony. My eyes glanced back down at the yard that the two of us were just in.

"I'm going to assume you're somewhere you're not supposed to be if you're calling me at this hour instead of just walking down to my lab," Tony immediately commented, but I didn't say anything snarky back. I felt this strange sense of dread inside of my heart.

"Peter says... He has the target..." I whispered, making the line go quiet.

"Okay," Tony replied. Then he was gone. He hung up on me.

  I dropped my arm and looked down at the yard, my eyes narrowing and allowing me to see some of them. One of them stood out the most. It was a woman, but she didn't hide her face. It was almost as if she wanted to be seen. She wanted everyone to know who she was. There was a powerful aura to her. And she knew that.

I turned around, seeing Peter now attired in the Spider-Man suit, minus the mask. He was looking at me with his deep brown eyes as I sighed. He gave me a small smile and walked closer to me.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this..." He apologized as I shook my head slowly.

"Who knows if I would've found out any other way..." I murmured, shaking my head and looking back at the group on the ground.

  Each one of them was attired in black. Most of them wore something to obscure their faces, expressing that they didn't want to be seen. They didn't want to be recognized.

"Don't lie to me. I'll know if you're lying. Did you just use me as bait?" I mumbled so gently, trying not to let my emotions control me. Otherwise I would say some things that I wouldn't mean.

"I'm not proud of it, but yes. Mr. Stark, Mr. Banner, and I have been running lab work for weeks now. And we've been looking for them. However, the only thing their after is you..." Peter breathed as I felt my heart lurch in my chest.

"Was this... Your idea?" I breathed out, thinking back to the phone call I had with Tony. He clearly knew of this plan, due to the fact that he responded so calmly to my message.

"Absolutely not. There's no way in hell that I would've suggested it. I was the only person who seemed to think that this was a bad idea," Peter expressed, exhaling a sigh and walking towards the edge of the building, staring down into the yard.

"Who are they?" I asked, not wanting to think about everything that was happening. However, I wanted to have an outburst. I wanted to accuse him of so many things, but I wouldn't. Now wasn't the time.

"They're a group who calls themselves: The Awaken. It's supposed to symbolize actively working on making their dreams become their reality. And someone in this group is desperately searching for you..." Peter whispered, making my heart drop.

This couldn't end well.