Chapter Text
Kate stood frozen at the front of the classroom, her finger pointed up at the pizza delivery guy, and the deadpan stares of the thirty other students in the room piercing her soul. She immediately gained a new understanding of how the delivery guy must have felt when he said those accursed words and regretted even showing up to class in the first place.
To his credit, rather than cover his face and pretend not to know her, the guy gave her a pitying smile from the back of the room and reached over to move the backpack that filled the seat next to him. She took the pity humbly and shuffled up the steps to join him as fast as she could as the stares followed her up.
She sat down beside the guy with a burning face and a grateful expression, “Thanks…”
“Don’t worry too much about them.” He told her softly, “If they recognized who you were they wouldn’t dare to judge.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You know who I am?”
He seemed startled for a second before clearing his throat awkwardly, “I mean yeah. You were all over the news, at least your name was. After the… delivery incident, I was curious and looked you up to see if you were the same person. Not in a stalker way! It’s just, not everyday you meet two superheroes right?”
She hummed thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense. That night was… memorable.”
“Oh so you do remember it.” He said with a teasing smirk, “See I wasn’t sure, I thought Pizza Time had caught on as a standard greeting.”
She giggled despite herself before sobering, “By the way I am so sorry about that. I didn’t mean to laugh at you it was just-“
“To be fair even if you were, it was well deserved. If I’m being entirely honest no one actually asked me to say… pizza time.” He hung his head in shame.
Kate felt for him really. But she couldn’t stop from muttering “I knew it!” Under her breath.
Before they could continue their conversation, the classroom door opened once more, and in walked whom she could only assume would be their professor.
Standing at an impressive height was a woman in what appeared to be her mid-thirty’s, with bright blonde hair tied back into a tight bun. She had a few notable features: an impressive figure, piercing blue eyes much like Kate’s own pair and a rather sexy pair of glasses that only drew more attention to her beautiful eyes.
Oh and there was also the missing arm.
“Good evening class.” Her voice was smooth and jovial as she wrote her name on the board in slightly shaky script, “My name is Dr. Catherine Connors, and I will be your professor this semester. While in class you will refer to me as Dr. Connors for the sake of decorum and professionalism, however should you run into me on the street Ms. Cathy will serve just as well. I’m not one to fuss about titles. I do hope we will get along this semester.”
Kate was listening politely as the woman spoke, but she couldn’t help but notice her seat buddy stiffen as the professor introduced herself. Maybe he recognized her?
“Now, I’m sure you all have a question burning in your minds right now. Who shall venture to ask it?”
There was a notable air of hesitance in the class as everyone knew what she referred to but none felt brave enough to raise their hand. All except one.
Kate stared at her (still not properly introduced) seat buddy in horror as he raised his hand quickly and confidently. Was he serious? Did have no concept of tact?
If Dr. Connors was bothered she didn’t show it, simply pointing to him with a serene smile, “Yes, you in the back?”
“Are you married?”
Kate momentarily lost track of her surroundings as her head was too busy spinning from the total left turn the guy had taken the discussion on. When she got her composure back she noticed the Professor was in a similar state, though she recovered just as quickly. “Ahem. Well not exactly what I had in mind. To answer your question mister…?”
“Oh! Uh, Parker, Peter Parker.”
And a Bond-style introduction?! Kate was getting secondary embarrassment just from sitting next to the guy, but he seemed cool as a cucumber, and weirdly serious.
“Well Mr. Parker, as the ‘Ms. Cathy’ would imply, no I am not married. While your interest is flattering, I’m afraid I’m quite content staying single. My work is the sole recipient of all my devotion.”
The class erupted into laughter at this as Kate watched Peter seem to slowly realize the implication of what she said, “Wait! Crap I didn’t mean-“
“Why don’t we move on.” Dr. Connors cut him off mercifully and with no small amount of amusement. “Any questions that don’t pertain to my love life?”
Eventually one kid finally addressed the elephant and asked about the arm. Connors graciously explained that it was a result of the Blip related chaos, but Kate could hardly focus as she stared at Peter incredulously. “Dude!”
He flushed cutely and avoided eye contact, “I thought I recognized the last name! I wasn’t trying to hit on her or anything!”
“Sure pal. Look I’m not criticizing your taste. I like mature, domineering blondes as much as the next person but there’s a time and place you know?”
He burned even redder as he covered his face, “Y-Yeah well at least no one’s thinking of Pizza Time right?”
Kate gaped at him. Was he serious? He embarrassed himself that badly just to take the heat off of her? “You did that for me?”
“What? No I… you know what fine, sure let’s go with that.”
That was so sweet! And really really dumb. But mostly sweet.
Kate smiled to herself as the lesson went on. Peter Parker might not be Spider-Man, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a hero. Kind of.
The next few weeks after that seemed to fly for Kate. Both because of how busy she was, and, well, time flies when you’re having fun.
Granted, her nightly activities shouldn’t really be fun but she couldn’t help but enjoy it. She got to take down bad guys and save people! Why shouldn’t she enjoy herself along the way?
Of course there were a few times when things got a little dicey, and things quickly turned from fun to desperate, but she always managed to come out on top. She refused to allow herself a repeat of the night with the hostage.
She didn’t mind the Spider-Man part however, and to her continued amazement, the hero kept his word on their suggested arrangement. Once a week they’d meet up on the roof of her building and start a patrol together. She was learning a lot of good stuff: better parkour techniques, where all the likely hotspots were for crime, he even practiced fight banter with her! He claimed it was his most powerful weapon against crime, and so far she had no reason to doubt it.
Some lessons were a bit harder to swallow, like learning that they can’t always get there before someone got hurt, or worse, and all they could do then is take the criminals down, and help the victims get whatever help they need.
Other lessons were just plain embarrassing in the sense that she probably should have thought of them herself. He very cautiously suggested to her that maybe she should focus more on taking out enemies from afar instead of just taking down one or two with arrows before jumping in with hand to hand.
At first, she wanted to argue that it was the proper ways for heroes to fight: head on without fear, until he cited his numerous physical advantages before lifting the top of his suit to show an array of scars and bullet marks that managed to get him anyway. She hastily agreed: arrows first, fists as a last resort.
She definitely agreed purely because of his persuasiveness. In absolutely no way was she temporarily hypnotized by his shredded abs when he lifted up the suit.
Not at all.
Surprisingly, her school life was going just as well, thanks in no small part to one Peter Parker. There was a reason she had put off so many of her science classes so far into her schooling. Mathematics, geometry, economics, all things she knew ace was good at. Science not so much.
There were just so many words and all the words meant fifty different things depending on the context. And she was supposed to memorize the whole periodic table?! If science advances in Iron Man’s footsteps, there’s just going to be even more to learn as the years press on!
Luckily for her, her seat buddy was apparently a certified genius. After the first three assignments he performed flawlessly, she began asking for a bit of help before they left class, which he was happy to do. Dr. Connors was a great teacher, of that there was no question, but she couldn’t give one on one help to everyone during a lesson. Peter made things seem simple. After a while, others in the class began to take notice.
“You want me to lead a study group?” Peter asked after being cornered by half a dozen students at the end of class.
“Please!” Katrina, a somewhat ditzy girl who came to every class dressed to the nines asked with a whine, “If I fail this class again my daddy is going to kill me!”
“Listen man,” Tim, another student from the back of the class asked, “Personally I ain’t gonna hold it against you if you say no, we all got lives I get it. But we could really use your help here, heck we’re even willing to pay right guys?” The others nodded in affirmation, some more reluctantly than others.
Kate of course noticed that Peter had broke the moment someone said, ‘we need help’. If she’d learned anything over the past few weeks, it’s that Peter Parker was an absolutely sucker for those in need.
“Okay,” he relented, “But definitely don’t worry about paying! The fact is I might have to run out at any moment. My boss has a habit of calling me at all hours to pick up shifts.”
The rest happily agreed to that, though Kate frowned to herself. If he’s willing to pick up those shifts, surely it meant he really needed that money?
She was lucky in that regard. Though there was still tension between them, her mother had been kind enough to authorize the reopening of her accounts as she awaited the court dates. Of course, Kate was pretty sure it was mostly to facilitate hiring a good lawyer, or bribe the judge, but she wasn’t about to call her mother out on it.
“Also, where are we gonna meet?” Peter asked, “The library?”
“It’s always crowded there,” Tim disagreed.
“What about your house?” Someone asked him, which Kate found a bit presumptuous.
Turns out she was right as Peter shook his head, “To be honest I don’t think my apartment could actually fit all of us at once. Sorry.”
“We could use my place.” She spoke up before anyone else could interject. “It’s not far from here and It’s a loft so there’s plenty of room!”
It was settled. They all agreed to meet up at her address in the afternoon before moving on to their other classes.
It was then that Kate realized a very important fact: Peter would be coming over to her place.
That fact shouldn’t have been significant. He would be joined by a litany of strangers after all, but it kept tickling the back of her brain for some reason.
Later in the day she found herself cleaning her place obsessively to prepare for the new arrivals, which wasn’t at all like her. Why should she care what these people thought of her place?
Then they all arrived and Peter was late and she felt such a crushing sense of disappointment until he showed up ten minutes later, covered in sweat and sporting a cut above his eye and Kate felt furious.
The others asked with polite concern what happened, and he waved him off saying he just got roughed up a bit on the way over, and that they took his phone which explained why he couldn’t message them about it.
“Where?” She found herself asking.
“Where what?”
“Where did this happen, I think I want to have a word with this guy.” She was moving towards the stairs to grab her bow, but found a surprisingly firm hand on her wrist sop her and turned to see Peter.
“Kate, I appreciate it but I’m fine. It was just an old phone and the guy is probably long gone by now.”
Kate isn’t one to back down for anyone, but Peter was looking at her with those big brown puppy eyes and her heart just melted and holy shit I have a massive crush on this guy.
She stuttered out an affirmative and he smiled at her and she nearly went into shock. She knew she found the guy cute but she hadn’t noticed until then that she was in romance territory! This was bad… or was it?
Why should it be bad? Peter seemed nice enough, with what little she knew about him. He was obviously easy on the eyes….
As the study session went on she learned absolutely nothing as she silently came to terms with her realization. Any observant folks in the group might have noticed a slightly dopey grin break out on her face from time to time. When the session was over, she had come to a decision.
“Hey Peter!” She got a lucky break as the other students all left before he was done packing his stuff.
He looked up at her curiously, “Yeah?”
She opened her mouth to ask him out, when a knock on the door cut her off.
Peter hummed, “Maybe someone forgot something?”
If they did they would be grabbing it quick. She walked to the door and through it open with a huff, “WhaAaayelena?!”
Sure enough the blonde assassin was standing outside her door, dressed in immaculate attire as always. She greeted Kate with a warm smile, “Kate Bishop! I have returned!”
Kate was several types of confused, “Uh-Uh yeah I can see that. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but… why are you here?”
The assassin gave her a pouty expression, “Oh Kate Bishop do not tell me you forget! You offered me tour of New York! And drinks!”
Ah yes, the stuttered out suggestion she had made while fighting for her life. “Right. Right I did say that. You wanted to do that now?”
Yelena shrugged, “Is what I had in mind. Unless of course I’m interrupting something…” she trailed off as she looked over Kates shoulder.
Kate turned to see Peter standing there awkwardly, holding his bag with one arm, “Uh hi?”
“Right… uh Peter, this is Yelena l, Yelena this is Peter, my classmate.”
“Classmate eh?” Yelena smirked ominously as she eyed Peter up and down. “He’s quite pretty. Perhaps I have intruded on date?”
Peter turned red, but Kate felt like she was burning alive, “Yelena!”
“What? Is it not?”
“I-I was just helping her study.” Peter chimed in.
“Ah.” Yelena added, gazing at him a moment, “Simply seduction then?”
“Could you please stop?” Kate whimpered.
Yelena held up her hands, “What I’m just asking questions, no need to get so upset. So, drinks?”
Kate floundered for a second before looking back at Peter.
“Oh good idea, We bring him along yes?”
Kate opened her mouth to protest, before realizing she didn’t know why she was protesting. Getting drinks with Peter was kinda like a date right? Yelena being there too well… she’d be lying if she hadn’t spent several late nights with Yelena on her mind.
A flood of guilt rushed through her now as she stood in front of the woman she had frequently masturbated to. She honestly hadn’t expected to see her again!
Then again: her, plus hot, mature Yelena Belova, plus cute, sexy Peter Parker, plus alcohol?
It began to result in mental images that refused to leave afterwards.
“That’s actually not a bad idea.” She spoke aloud before looking at Peter, “What do you think? It could be fun!”
A lot of conflicted emotions passed over Peters face, “Uh well it does sound fun. Unfortunately I’m eighteen so…”
Yelena scoffed, “Americans. You can die for country at eighteen but no alcohol? Ridiculous. Worry not little boy we will purchase drinks for you.”
Kate could see the turmoil on his face, and though the opportunity was almost too good to pass up, she didn’t want stress him either, “It’s okay Peter, you don’t have to force yourself to do anything. No pressure.“
He gave her a look of thanks, but still took a deep breath, “You know what? Why not? I haven’t had real fun in while.”
Kate did a mental fist pump as she smiled at him while Yelena gave a little cheer. “Perfect! Let’s be off!”
Kate stepped through the door with her heart pounding in her ears excitedly. This was going to be great!
As Peter followed along, his thoughts were on a different track.
This was not good. He was getting dangerously close to Kate Bishop at this point, but saying no to her was more difficult than he’d like.
Not to mention there was a no way he could just let the girl go out into the night with a friggin assassin, no matter how likable she may be. Assassins were supposed to be likable damn it! Right before they stab you!
A part of his brain screamed at him that he should be patrolling, not hanging out with two, admittedly gorgeous women out on the town, but Kate could be in danger! That was all the reason he needed.
The night started innocent enough, with showing Yelena all the best parts of the city. This Peter could help with as he threw in some suggestions here and there, all the while keeping a cautious eye on Yelena, who so far had shown absolutely no signs of mysterious plots or ill intentions.
Yet.
As the night wore on however, Peter couldn’t help but think maybe he was overreacting. He wasn’t letting his guard down but he was starting to see what Kate saw in Yelena. The woman was hilarious, always making them laugh with her deadpan comments on American consumerism, or just making mocking imitations of tourists as they walked by. It was fun.
Then they left Peters comfort zone.
He had tasted alcohol before. Tony had poured him a glass one day (with Mays permission) and called if a test of his metabolism.
Turns out, much like Steve Rogers, his liver cleared his system too efficiently for him to get buzzed from regular alcohol. He never enjoyed the taste or sensation of it either, so he just gave up on the idea of social drinking.
Now he was going bar hopping and he had to fake a slur in his voice to pretend like he was being affected. If he were them, he wouldn’t be the least convinced but luckily they were drunk as well so the issue didn’t come up.
That’s why when they were in seventh bar of the night, he began to feel incredibly guilty as Kate began rambling on in a wasted haze.
“You’re cuuute…” the girl was practically hanging off one of his shoulders as she giggled through her speech.
“O-oh yeah?” He asked, trying to appear out of it as she basically draped herself over him. She was just drunk. It didn’t mean anything right?
“Yeahhh!” She proclaimed, before suddenly switching over to Yelena who was sat on her other side. “You’re cute t-hic-too! And sexy…”
“I know…” Yelena drawled, “You are not so bad yourself Kate Bishop.”
Kate giggled loudly at that, “You keep calling me that! Do you want to know a secret?” She looked at Peter now, “it’s really hot…”
“That is why I do it Kate Bishop,” Yelena continued, before taking another sip of her drink, “Do you wish me to stop?”
“Noooo!” Kate whined pitifully,
“What do you want?”
Kate seemed to think about it for a moment before smiling wickedly, “This!”
Peters eyes bulged as Kate proceeded to smash her lips against Yelena’s. A pang of jealousy echoed in a small part of his brain, but he squashed it down viciously as he watched Yelena recover and quickly take control of the impromptu make out session. This was likely for the best after all, as long as Kate was happy.
Then she pulled away from Yelena and turned to him, “And this too!”
Peters brain blanked out for a moment, and when the reboot finally completed, he realized that Kate was kissing him now. Sloppily, with the taste of alcohol intermixed but a kiss all the same.
Once he regained his faculties he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her gently off, but she either didn’t notice or was too drunk to care as a dopey smile adorned her face.
“Kate! What was- I mean it was nice but-“
“You’re pretty.” She stared, a hand reaching out to pet his face, though not before missing and poking him in the eye, “Pretty *hic* Peter!”
Blushing despite himself, he desperately tried to regain control of the situation, “Kate I don’t think-“
“Do you think I’m pretty?” She chirped out.
“W-well I mean yes obviously but-“
Kate reached over and grabbed Yelena, pulling her forward by the shoulders so that they were looking at her side by side. “Do you think she’s pretty?”
“I-uh well yeah but Kate-“
The next thing he knew a hand was on the back of his and Yelena’s Heads and they were being pushed together. No. Bad. Very bad. He made to pull away, but to his surprise, as they grew closer, Yelena’s hands reached out and grabbed his face, holding him tightly to her as she shoved her tongue down his throat.
She was strong, strong enough that to break away would give away his enhanced strength to any discerning eye. Then her tongue began to do things to him he’d never experienced before and he decided to chance it anyway.
He pulled away to see Kate watching them both with a heated expression, clapping as they pulled apart, “Again! That was hooot… hehe, hoot. I’m Owleye now okay?” She began raising her voice to address the rest of the bar, “Everyone call me Owleye now!”
“Okay!” Peter spoke quickly, guilt flooding his brain, “I think we’ve all had enough don’t you? Why don’t we get you home?”
Kate pouted before brightening right back up, “Can we kiss some more there?”
Absolutely not. Not while you’re drunk at least. Shut up Peter.
“We’ll see.”
To his relief, Yelena chose that moment to yawn long and loud, “I think he is right Kate Bishop. It is time for sleep.”
“Ugh, okayyy.”
The walk back to Kate’s apartment was long and full of drunken detours, but eventually he managed to corral the two ladies up the stairs and to the front door.
As Kate walked into her apartment, she looked back at them with a saucy expression, “Would you like to come in?”
He opened his mouth to refuse, but to his surprise and relief, Yelena beat him to it, “Now now Kate Bishop, you cannot rush these things. You must romance us more thoroughly first.”
Another cute pout. “Fine... Goodnight!”
Peter waved her goodbye before shutting her door with a sigh. “Phew. Alright Yelena, are you staying at a hotel or-WOAH!”
His spider sense flared just in time for him to dodge a knife that would certainly have pierced his skull had he not dodged in time. Where was she even hiding that?
She wasn’t done either, grabbing him by the shoulder before he could back away and slamming him into the opposite wall, bringing the knife to his throat as she hissed athim, “Who are you?”
He looked at her in shock, “Wait you’re not drunk?”
“I’m Russian, of course I’m not drunk.”
“Oh thank god!” He couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Wait that means you took advantage of me back there! And Kate!”
“First of all, do not be so dramatic. Drunk or not Kate Bishop initiated everything of her own volition.” She pressed the knife in hard enough to draw blood, “Secondly, I will slit your throat in two seconds if you do not answer my question.”
“I’m Peter! What are you even talking about?”
“Wrong answer.” Peter felt her begin to move the knife.
Using his enhanced reflexes, he stopped her hand and yanked her off of him, flipping her around as slamming her into the wall with her arms pinned to her back, the knife cluttering to the floor. Before he could figure out what to do next, he heard her gasp in recognition. “Oh you are the Spider Man! Why not just say so?”
He blinked, “What?”
“Do not try and deny it. I recognize this feeling of being physically dominated by you very well.”
That was almost enough to shock him into letting her go, but he held his ground, “Why did you try to stab me?”
“I was curious and did a background check on you. Forged identity was very well done but I am a professional. Peter Parker does not exist outside of a few falsified documents. I found it very suspicious and reasonably assumed you were unknown with poor intentions for Kate Bishop.”
“You… you were just trying to protect Kate?”
“Yes. I take it you had the same idea?”
“Well, yeah I mean you are an assassin no offense.”
“None taken.”
“I was worried you were up to something so I figured I’d either come with or follow from the rooftops and this seemed less creepy. Sorry about the whole kiss thing, the situation kind a spiraled out of my hands.”
“No apologies necessary. It was very enjoyable,” she ignored his squawk of surprise, “Though I must ask, are you going to release me or am I to assume you want me to finish the job after getting you all worked up.” Peters eyes widened as he felt her shimmy her rear back and forth, which was a problem as he was currently pressing her against the wall, their bodies flushed together.
He was on the other side of the hall in an instant, stuttering a thousand apologies as she laughed, “Oh you are very funny Peter Parker, much like Kate Bishop. I see why you get along.”
“What?”
Yelena looked at him closely, “You do desire each other yes?”
“No! Yes? I don’t know! Look the whole kiss thing was a mistake okay? Kate was drunk, and I didn’t really know how to handle the situation properly. Kate doesn’t even know I’m Spider-Man!”
Yelena narrowed her eyes at him now. “Why not?”
“Uh, secret identity?”
“She does not have one, so you take advantage and grow close to her without her knowing who you are?”
Peter blinked, “What? No!”
“Then why not tell her? You are obviously friends, and it’s clear that she wants more. You do too.”
“I don’t-“ he stopped as he realized his voice had raised as he got worked up. He took a calming breath, “Look, I never planned on Kate Bishop meeting Peter Parker. We share a college class by coincidence and we sit together but up till now that was it. Even if I wanted more-“
“Which you do.” Yelena stated matter-of-factly.
“Even if I did.” He emphasized, “It’s not a good idea. People who get close to me tend to get hurt, or worse.”
“And she is Superhero, what is your point?”
“Why do you care?” He asked suddenly irritated, “Why are you so invested in whether we like each other?”
She shrugged, “I do not care about you both. I care about Kate Bishop. I like her.”
He blinked, “You like her, or you like her?”
The woman chuckled, “Goodness you really are eighteen. I like like her Peter Parker that is why I’m invested. She is very charming. I decided to use my newfound freedom to try and court her, only to find you there first.”
“Well that’s great!” He exclaimed, “By the looks of it she likes you as least as much as me, so you can have her. Well not have her that’s her choice but— you know what I mean. I’m not a threat to you!”
“You misunderstand.” Yelena snickered, “I see no threat. Kate Bishop likes you, tiny bit more than me I must admit. Therefore I want her to have you.” She frowned, “But not if you are so quick to dismiss her emotions.”
“Those weren’t emotions!” He protested, “Those were drunken impulses!”
“Life is not a movie.” Yelena countered, “Things such as this are not so convenient. Alcohol lowers inhibition, shows what people truly want. It is also not always so convenient as to wipe their memory of all that occurred.”
Peter paled as he realized what she meant. Oh god, she might remember it all! What will he say? What will he do?
Yelena rolled her eyes at his panic, “Things are not so complicated as you think, but I will simplify them for you all the same: you will tell her who you are, because I will find it very suspicious otherwise, and tell her myself.”
Panic bloomed anew but before he could protest she held up a hand to cut him off, “What you do after that is none of my business but consider that Kate Bishop might want her own say in whether she can handle the ‘danger’ that you feel you attract.”
Peter felt a flash of anger at the dismissal of his life’s misfortune, but swallowed it down all the same. “And if we did end up together you’d what? Just sit back and be happy for her?”
She laughed again and he hated how it endeared her to him despite her current position of forcing him to out himself, “Of course not! I will pursue her all the same.”
“But you just said-“
“I know what I said.” She intoned with a smirk, “Peter Parker I have lived a full life absent of free will, forced to kill, acquire or seduce, every type of man and woman you can imagine. I am free now, free to live my own life, and the thing I find myself wanting first and foremost is to be with Kate Bishop.”
She stepped close to him then, until their faces were inches apart and he had to resist the urge to shrink away, “Do you truly believe, knowing that, that I would not be willing to share her if she so wished?”
He had no response, to which she smirked before making her way down the stairs.
He took a moment to lean against the wall and hold in a scream. Things weren’t supposed to go line this, he was supposed to go through life alone, and never bring his problems to anyone else ever again.
Life didn’t seem satisfied with that however, first with the appearance of his Professor, who he was pretty sure light turn into a giant lizard someday, he would have to keep an eye on that, and now this stuff with Kate….
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and for the first time in a while, asked himself what Aunt May and Uncle Ben would want him to do.
The answer was always the same, which was why he didn’t ask the question anymore. They would want him to he happy, that’s all they’d ever wanted for him. But after all that had happened, all the people he’d failed…
How could he deserve it?