A New Life

Chapter One

"Time to go Alex." The tall, fair-haired boy nodded and turned back to his best friend Tom, who threw his arms around him.

"Come visit Jerry and I soon will you?" he asked. Alex nodded and turned to Sabina, who pulled him into a hug.

"I still think you're cuter than James Bond," she whispered into his ear before letting him go and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll come to visit." He picked up his bag, smiled at her sadly.

"I'll miss you Sab." He followed Jack towards gate 3 without looking back.

One year later...

"Time is up. A teacher will come around to collect your papers and then you may leave."

Alex handed his test to Mr Crawford as he came past before grabbing his school bag and swinging it over one shoulder as he exited the hall. Another student caught up to him.

"Hey, I noticed you finished pretty fast in there. How do you think you did?"

"Okay, I guess," Alex shrugged. The boy snorted.

"Are you kidding me? You have to be the best person in our science class!" he exclaimed. Alex shook his head.

"I find it fun but I'm not really all that good. You walking?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah, I go that way." He pointed to their left.

"I go the same way. It's Peter, right?" He nodded.

"So how are you liking Midtown high so far?" Alex shrugged again.

"It's okay I guess. I don't really fit in though."

"Hey... join the club!" he said with a grin. "Besides, you've only been here a year."

"I turn here." Alex stopped as they came to a street, and Peter looked further up the main road.

"I'm the next street up. Pleased to meet you, Alex."

"Same here. See you tomorrow."

Alex looked around the cafeteria nervously. Usually, he sat by himself, but today all the tables were full and he had no-one to sit with.

"Hey Alex, over here!" Peter was sitting with another boy and a girl was seated at the other end drawing. He walked over and hovered behind Peter.

"Are you sure I can sit here?" he asked. Peter nodded, gesturing to the spot beside the boy.

"Definitely!" Alex set his tray down and lowered himself onto the bench as Peter started introducing the other two. "This is my friend Ned."

"Hi." He smiled briefly. Peter looked down to the girl sitting at the far end.

"That's Michelle. She likes 'sketching people in crisis', hence why she always goes to detention." Alex chuckled at his words before taking a bite of his burger.

"Sounds interesting." Peter waiting a moment before speaking.

"So what do you like doing in your spare time?" Alex thought about the question for a while. Running around killing bad guys didn't seem like an appropriate answer somehow.

"I always liked science." Peter nodded thoughtfully.

"Same here. I used to make my own gadgets for... projects." Alex noticed the slight hesitation but didn't have time to comment as the bell rung. "Bye Alex!" He nodded.

"Bye."

Alex walked into his Science class and walked over to his assigned seat which just happened to be at the very front of the class. As he sat down he caught sight of Peter, who was sitting near the back. He gave him a subtle wave and Alex sent him a small smile before turning back around as the teacher walked in.

"Good afternoon class." She put down her folder on her desk and turned to the whiteboard, writing something in big letters. As she stepped away everybody groaned. "For those of you who chose to continue taking biology next year, I am going to give you a head start." The boy sitting next to Alex rolled his eyes.

"I doubt anyone in here actually is... it's so boring!" he whispered to his friend. The teacher turned to face her students.

"Can anybody tell me who discovered DNA?" A girl snorted.

"That's easy. It was Watson and Crick. Everybody knows that!" she said loudly. The teacher shook her head and wrote their names upon the board.

"Many people believe that these men were the first to discover DNA, but that is not the case. Anyone else?" Silence. Alex contemplated putting his hand up but didn't want to make himself look like a know-it-all. After a few more moments a voice spoke up from behind him.

"James Watson and Francis Crick found out that DNA consists in the shape of a double helix, but the first person to actually discover it was Friedrich Miescher." Alex turned around to see that it was Peter that had spoken.

"Well done Mr Parker. Now can anyone tell me what..."

After class Alex waited outside for Peter.

"Well done back there. How did you know that?" he asked him. He smirked.

"I always enjoyed learning about how things work. Something happened a couple of years ago which made me get more into the biology side of things." Alex was about to ask him what had happened but decided it would be poking into somebody else's business. "I'm going this way today," Peter said, stopping and pointing to his right. Alex stopped as they came to the front gate.

"Did you move?" He shook his head.

"I'm doing an internship For Mr Stark. I go there most days after school." Alex stared at him. "No way! Tony Stark? As in... Iron Man?" Peter laughed.

"Yeah. I guess he's the reason I know so much about science. You should come one time. I think you'd like it."

The next afternoon Jack called out from her position on the couch as Alex ran downstairs.

"So where exactly are you going?" He appeared around the corner.

"The Avengers tower. My friend is doing an internship there and asked if I wanted to take a look around." Before Jack could say anything he turned and walked towards the front door. "I'm already late." She started getting up.

"Do you want a ride?" He turned back to her.

"Thanks, Jack but I can bike... it's all good." She smiled at him.

"Okay then. Dinner at 6!"

Alex pulled his bike lock out of his school bag and chained his bike up to the tree before turning around to see The Avengers tower looming over him. Taking a deep breath he walked up the stairs and into the lobby. Looking around he couldn't see anyone and was about to turn back around and leave when the elevator dinged and Peter stepped out.

"Hi, Alex... I'm so glad you came!" He waved him over, and Alex stepped inside.

"So are you sure Mr Stark is okay with this?" he asked. Peter nodded.

"Absolutely! He's really excited to meet you." His comment made Alex nervous. Before he could reply the elevator arrived at the correct floor and the doors slid open. Peter stepped out, and Alex followed his lead.

"Alex! So glad to finally meet you. I have heard plenty from Natasha." Tony Stark stepped forward and shook his hand firmly. Alex was shocked, but before he could react the elevator doors shut behind him. That was his escape gone.

"I-I'm sorry?" he stuttered. A woman with bright red hair was sitting with her back to him, but at the sound of his voice, she stood and turned to face him.

"Hello, Alex." He took in a sharp breath.

"Tamara?"

I would like to give all the credit to greekgeekspywannabe for their idea of Tamara Knight being Black Widow. If you liked this story you should really read Their New Handler (on fanfiction.net). I highly recommend it!