NOWHERE LEFT • Peter Parker

twenty •

"What's another front page expose?"

May 2025

"They're not going to look into it," Jessica told Cecilia over the phone as the four young adults converged in the women's apartment.

"What do you mean?" Cece asked as she sat up on the couch drawing Peter's attention as he was next to her scrolling on his laptop.

"I mean they 'bagged him and tagged him'! He's got people inside Cece, we should have known," Jessica sighed, and Cecilia could just picture the woman opening a fresh bottle of liquor to drown her frustrations.

Cecilia frowned as she ran a hand through her tangled hair, the papers in her lap long forgotten. The morning sun was starting to rise and they'd all have to get to work and school soon, but they weren't any closer than they were before.

"Are you okay?" The brunette asked as she bit her thumb nail anxiously. Yelena glanced up from the book in her lap at the pair on the couch across from her.

Cecilia's elbow was on the arm of the chair as she leaned against it with her knees to her chest and a blanket over her shoulders. Peter sat a few inches away with a laptop in his lap but his eyes were on the girl next to him as he waited for her to get off the phone.

It was fascinating for her to see the pair of them with their guards down. No longer lying and hiding things from one another, they were able to actually spend time together without Cecilia hunched over in pain. And Yelena could see the endearment in each of their stolen glances, the protectiveness that came with wanting to keep something bad from happening, from not wanting to lose anyone else.

Caring for people was dangerous, they all knew that. One moment could change everything and the people you loved could be used against you, they would be put in danger for the simple fact that they meant something to you. And a lot of times it wasn't worth it, trying to keep the two lives separate. So one side would fade and those relationships dwindle, while the other side gave every piece of themselves for the better good.

Yelena knew that if Peter wasn't Spider-Man, he wouldn't be around anymore. Cecilia would have cut him off to finish this whether she realized it or not. She wouldn't risk a civilian's life in the war that she was waging, she barely wanted to risk theirs. Except they could all make their own choices, and those choices led them to that apartment, they led them to the team that they were building. And their choices were going to be what stopped Wilson Fisk.

Cecilia stayed on the phone with Jessica for a few more minutes as she reassured her that she was fine and going to 'sleep it off', which for Jess meant go get plastered and fall asleep at the bar.

Once they hung up the other three in the room glanced up towards Cecilia waiting for her to explain. Except Cecilia was pissed, she was infuriated that they wouldn't look into a dead man who was literally foaming at the mouth. Kate watched as she clenched her phone tightly before tossing it onto the coffee table in front of them, her dark eyes staring at the device as if wishing for it to spontaneously combust.

"She's fine, the cops are utterly fucking useless but she's fine," Cecilia explained after a few moments of silence. She glanced over to her best friend that was watching her nervously, none of them understood how much this was affecting her as much as Kate did. The Bishop girl had heard the stories, all of them, and she knew Cecilia was currently beating herself up over it.