Spider-man: Christmas with Two Hawks

Safe House

'How rich is this girl?' Spidey asked himself as he marvelled at the size of the apartment. It would take him years of fasting to afford a place a like this. It technically didn't belong to Kate but her aunt owns the place and is on vacation so it's fine.

It was a fairly modern-looking apartment with a bunch of decorations. Pizza Dog had found himself a comfortable chair in the living room to take a nap on. Clint had gone back to Kate's apartment to retrieve the suit while Kate cleaned the cut above her eyebrow.

'And she's doing it wrong.' Spider-man realised as soon as he turned towards her direction. When his aunt learnt of his identity, she insisted on personally taking care of any wounds he received during patrol. It took a few weeks for her to realise that it was pointless since his healing factor would mend most of his injuries in under a few hours. During those few weeks, Peter picked up on how to properly treat the wounds himself.

Pushing away the painful memories, Spider-man walked over to the kitchen and sat down at the table across from Kate as she was applying the tape. "You did it wrong."

Kate's hand froze an inch from the cut. She hummed a question and Peter elaborated. "You didn't clean it properly. Here, come."

He grabbed a cotton bud and dipped it into the bottle of rubbing alcohol. Kate leaned forward across the table so that he was able to reach it easier. Spider-man dabbed the cut the same way he remembered Ma- it being done for him. Kate made a face due to the stinging from the alcohol. He grabbed a bit of the medical tape and placed it on the cut perpendicular to it.

"Okay, we should be good now," Spider-man stated, leaning back in his chair. Kate did the same, tapping the bandage to check it.

"Thanks, I never learnt how to treat my wounds." She sighed.

Spidey shrugged, "No problem. First aid is a very useful skill to have, especially if you are planning to continue working as a vigilante."

Kate's eyes widened suddenly. Without warning, she slammed her hands onto the table and pulled herself towards Spidey. She excitedly asked, "Do you really think I have what it takes?!"

Spidey was taken aback by the sudden action and instinctively pulled back. He was once again reminded of why he wears a mask because without it she would definitely have noticed the blush burning on his cheeks.

He stammered for a response, "Well, yeah. You are definitely better at beating the shit out of people than I did when I started."

Peter immediately mentally slapped himself when those words left his mouth.

Kate seemed to find it funny though, as she began to giggle. Spidey sure why, but the childish laugh was oddly soothing. He could feel the tension in his muscle unwind and the anxiety couldn't his mind fade.

"You couldn't have been that bad," Kate argued with a sly grin, secretly egging the Avenger to tell her more.

Spidey shrugged, "Maybe. I did fight the Falcon and the Winter Soldier at the same time six months after I started, but that was likely because I took them by surprise and my powers in general."

Kate slapped herself on her forehead and immediately regretted it, hissing in pain as her wounds burnt up.

"Shit, we forgot the ice," Spidey exclaimed. While his suit's eyes could no longer show his expression, Kate still had a vaguely good idea of what his face looked like underneath his mask.

Spidey looked over Kate's shoulder towards the kitchen where the fridge sat. Without even bothering to get out of his chair, Peter fired a series of webs to open the freezer, grab the nearest item and close the door. The act left Kate stunned, with her not even registering the box of frozen pizza being offered to her. She simply sat and stared at Spidey, her mouth open like a goldfish.

Spidey snorted lightly at Kate's cute, dumbfounded expression. "You gonna take the pizza box or do you simply want me to get frostbite from holding it?" he teased.

This snapped Kate out as she clumsily grabbed hold of the frozen pizza box. She held it against her head injury, and the two were left silently looking at each other. There was this odd calmness between them. Kate wanted to ask Spider-man how he got the pizza box out of the freezer so quickly using nothing but his webs, but she didn't. She didn't want to disrupt the calm.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the decision for them to make. They were broken out of their trance by the buzzing of Kate's phone. Kate quickly pulled it out of her pocket to check who was calling.

"Shit, it's my mom. She hasn't seen me since the gala. I'm sorry but I have to take this." she explained.

A smile stretched underneath his mask as memories flashed before Spider-man's eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. I used to have similar problems." He said casually.

"Used to?" Asked Kate, raising her eyebrow.

The smile disappeared from Spider-man's face, but the young archer didn't notice. Spidey got out of the chair and opened the nearest window, letting in the freezing nighttime breeze.

"Yeah, used to. I-I'm sorry but I- but I gotta go now. I have- I haven't gone a proper patrol yet tonight. I'll meet up with you and Clint in the morning."

Before Kate could bring herself to say anything so much as a goodbye, Spidey was gone. She rushed to the open window, but only managed to see his red foot disappear behind a building. Kate was left alone in the building, with just a dog and her mom trying to call her.

Spider-man swung through the New York streets as fast as his webs could carry. He ignored the cold wind that felt like needles stabbing into his very skeleton, or the army of memories that blinded his way. Despite the cold, Peter could practically feel the warmth of his heart due to how quickly it was pumping blood.

Spidey somehow managed to navigate through these horrendous conditions and reach his home. He didn't even bother closing the window around him. He just ripped off his mask, revealing his sweaty face and tangled brown hair, and gasped for air. Peter slowly got into his creaky bed, still trying to catch his breath.

Peter slowly wrapped himself in his blanket, ignoring the freezing wind seeping into his tiny apartment. He was too focused on blocking out the resurfacing memories. All the people that would call him during his Spider-maning. Ned, Tony, Happy, May, MJ.

When the thought of Peter's former girlfriend played in his mind, they seemed tainted. For some reason, Kate would suddenly make an appearance, temporarily replacing the girl known for being a loner with an overly excited rookie hero.

"Why is she... No. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! I can't be with some that I just met. Not so soon after MJ..."

No matter what Peter told himself, the image of Kate continued to loom over him, like a shining thundercloud, ready to drench him with... What? Tears... Love... Guilt... Her blood?

Peter didn't want to know the answer.