Heart and Heroics ›› Peter Parker [1] #Wattys2017

24- Trust

A/N: Beth Jamison is played by Katie Cassidy.


'Trust you'll find your way,' that is what my cousin Beth would say when she used to babysit me, when I was little. Beth is eleven years older than me, maybe more. It's been a while since I last saw her.

I sit in my bed, holding an ice pack to my head. I stroke my cat, Domino's head. With my border collie, Dobby, sleeping against my back.
I've been thinking about last night's fistfight and what Beth said about trust. Then I begin to wonder if Peter's okay.

I reach for my phone, and FaceTime him. I wait for him to pick up.
"Hey Peter... What are you doing?"
"Hanging from my ceiling."
I crack a smile, "I was wondering why the gravity was a bit off."
Peter laughs, and I swear it's the cutest thing. Wait, what? No. I have to stop thinking this stuff.

"How's your hip? It's your hip that was bleeding, right?" Peter's face grows slightly serious.
Uh, close. And I have a headache. How're your injuries?"
"Not as bad."
"That's good to hear."

Peter goes quiet for a moment, "have you talked to this girl, I think her name is Gwenneth or something."
"Is it blond girl Liz talks about, who possibly doesn't like us? Why? Do you like her?"
Peter flips onto what looks like his bed. "Why would you think that?"
"So you don't like anyone in school?"
"Well there is this one girl..."

My eyes flick down to the ground. My hopes of being with him are gone. "Yeah?" I vaguely form the word.
"Uhh... Maybe we shouldn't talk about this. What do you think will school like tomorrow?"
"Probably the same thing it always is."



Why am I always wrong about my predictions? I'm sitting at my desk in science class, when the loudspeaker beeps.

"Fiona Justice, please report to the office immediately." The speaker says, as if on the verge of panic. Then it clicks off.

June taps me in my shoulder. "They usually tell you multiple times to go, before they say 'immediately'," she points out. "What did you do?"
I shrug, turn around, and give Peter a nervous look.
He nods, and gives me a small reassuring smile.

I get up from my seat. "Um, Mr. Warren, am I allowed to go to the office?"
"Yes you can."

I walk out of class, and go to the office. I open the door, and nearly fall over.
Talking to Principal Morita is none other than...

"Tony Stark?" I ask, pretending I have no idea who he is in a personal sense. "What are you...what are you doing here?"

Iron Man takes off his shades. "We need to talk about the thing you did." 
Principal Morita raises his eyebrows, as if I need to tell some sort of truth.
"What did I do again?" I take a few steps toward him, giving an honest confused face.

"You dented my car." The billionaire gives me a look that says go-along-with-it.
"Right... I don't know what you're talking about," I eye him warily, like he's trying to make me look like a criminal.
"You fell on the car, and dented it." He used the excuse of something that I actually did.
I have no idea what he wants with me during school.

"You fell on his car?" Principal Morita asks, like its an outrageous thing to happen.
"And you pulled me out of class for this?" I question Tony, ignoring my principal.

"Would you excuse us for a second?" Tony looks are the principal.
"Of course, Mr. Stark."
"Oh, and one more thing. Could you keep this visit under wraps?"
"S-sure."

"Fiona, will you step into my office for a little bit," Tony pulls me off to the side.
I give him the most blank look I can manifest at a time like this. "What?"
"You remember that 'formal meeting' I was talking to you about?"
"I think so. Why?"
"It starts as soon as we get back to--"
"Wait, now? You want me to go now?"
"Just about. You want to fly there? Or go in my dented car?"
"Your car is fine, Friday got it fixed."
"How do you know that?"
"I...uh, might have asked her, so I wouldn't have to pay you for it."
Tony pats my shoulder, "what am I going to do with you both?"
"Both? Peter and me?"
"Yes. You awkward kids who cannot drive cars yet."
"We're fifteen, Tony."
"Whatever. Look, we have got to go soon, because our window of opportunity is closing." He takes my arm, and leads me to the door.
"I can't just leave," I hiss at him. "I still have class."

"Catch up later." Tony acknowledges the principal. "Yeah, I'll have to borrow her for a while. That's okay right? No big deal, just asking a few questions."
Midtown High's baffled principal just nods. At least he won't be telling anyone about this, not that too many people would believe him anyway.
"Great," Tony grins, and slips his shades back on. "Okay kid, lets roll."
"What about my school bag? And my homework?" I ask, trying to keep up with Tony's strides.
"Peter will get it for you. No doubt."
"He has better stuff to do than that."
"Nope. Pretty sure he doesn't."

Tony opens the door to the driver's side of his expensive vehicle, "I'm going to have to wipe those cameras after. You know, leave no trace. For..."
"Superhero reasons, blah, blah, blah," I get into the passenger seat. "I know, its important."
"What has gotten into you?" Tony fixes the rearview mirror.
"You taking me out of school, without adult permission."
"Actually, you do. Its called the Iron Man Bailed Me Out Policy. I use it on the other Avengers, now its for you too." Then the car pulls away from my school.
I'm sure that Tony's policy won't cover explanations for teachers, on why I didn't show up for class.



I step out of the vehicle, and look up at the newly renovated Stark Tower. "I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was the only organization who knew about my identity."
"They are. But this isn't a government meeting."
"Then what is it?"
"You'll have to wait and see. I've got to go do something. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere."
"Okay."

My phone buzzes. I pull it out, and glance at the screen. Peter's calling.
"Hello."


"Where are you?" he asks. "You didn't come back."

"That's because Tony came to school, and took me to Stark Tower." I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't--" I get yanked back, and my phone gets dropped.

An arm tightens around my neck, and its definitely not Tony. I try to loosen the attacker's grip, without using my super strength.
"We know that you know Tony Stark," growls a voice.
I make a choking sound, as my windpipe becomes more constricted.
Then some guy who I cannot see puts a syringe with unknown fluid close to my face. "Talk."

"No," I rasp. I claw at the arm, while trying to piece together the ways I could take them down, from my martial arts training at S.H.I.E.L.D.

 Then a fast moving figure comes out of nowhere, and tackles the first guy.
I don't take the time to see who the person is.
I slam my boot down on my foe's foot. The arm draws away, and I knee them right in the diaphragm and use a knife handed strike to the neck. The attacker collapses, and I whirl around to face the newcomer. 

I stare at a blond haired woman dressed in dark clothes. "Beth?"

"What's up cous'?" she grins. "Long time no see."

"I see you both met," Tony's voice comes from behind. "And Lordy, I hope they didn't cause too much trouble." He looks down at the beaten up hostiles.

"You know them?" I glance up at the billionaire.

"They worked for Damage Control," Tony replies, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You almost got my cousin killed, Stark," Beth narrows her eyes.

"I didn't know they were coming, or prey on her. Damage Control is out of my hands."

"Mr. Stark," comes a familiar voice. "I brought Fiona's backpack."
Its Peter in his Spider-Man suit. 
I smile, "thanks Spidey." I walk over and take my bag from him.

"You're supposed to be at school," Tony tells him.

"So is Fiona," Peter points out.

"Spider-Man's a kid?" Beth raises an eyebrow.

"How about we talk about this inside," Tony suggests.

                     🕷🕷🕷
We're sitting in Tony's meeting room. Which has no windows and is very compact, and I don't like it.
I sit across from Peter, and look over at Beth.
"So," Tony places two files down on the table. "Here is one for you." He hands a file to Beth. "And one for you," he slides the other file to me.
I pick it up.

A picture of Beth, more like a mugshot, is off the the right of the first paper. Written at the top says: S.H.I.E.L.D. EYES ONLY. CLASSIFICATION LEVEL 6. BETH JAMISON a.k.a STEALTH HUNTER

"You're kidding me," I look up at my cousin. "You're the Stealth Hunter?"
"See, I knew you were Intensity," she smirks. "But this one didn't want to tell me I was correct." She gestures to Tony.
"I had my reasons," Iron Man protests.
"Oh, I'm sure you did," Beth glances down at the file. "And what about the other kid?"

"Me?" Peter's expression is like that of a confused puppy.
"Who are you?" Beth looks at him.
Peter opens his mouth but Tony cuts him off. "You don't have to answer that," the billionaire tells him.

"Wow. You are making it hard for me to trust you," Beth pushes back her chair form the table.
I flick my gaze back and forth between her and Tony. When Beth talks about trust it means something. Her not fully trusting Tony says a lot. She likes to be neutral, like Natasha, but when she is forced to pick a side all bets are off.
"Can borrow my cousin for a minute," Beth asks Tony, as she stands up.
"Go ahead."

Beth pulls me outside the doorway. "What are you thinking?" she looks me in the eye.
"What are you talking about?"
"Fighting thugs in Queens, and what is up with Spider-Man?"
"I like helping people. And Spidey is a friend."
Beth raises an eyebrow. "You know that he hasn't taken his eyes off of you since we sat down, right?"
I dismiss any thoughts that might pop into my head. "I thought you were going to give me a pep talk or something."

Beth sighs, and pulls her dirty-blond hair off to the side. "Remember when you were little, and I told you about trust?"
I don't talk and just nod.
"No matter what happens to you in the future, have faith and trust that everything will turn out okay. There is hope that something will go your way. Even when the world seems like its crashing down, you'll be alright."
"You should really write inspirational quotes," I finally said.
Beth smiles for a moment, then it kind of fades. "At eleven, after the battle in New York, you changed. Aunt Laura said that all that time spent in your room at age thirteen, you were depressed. You need to be inspired, Fiona. You need to find hope."

"Do you really think things will be okay? With helping Spider-Man, school, being a superhero?" I ask, my voice is very small.
"I think you will..." she trails off. "I've got to go away for a while. But I'll be back, I promise."
Beth pulls me into a hug.
"Where are you going?" I ask, resting my chin on her shoulder.
"That's kind of classified."
"It always is."







Author's Note:
Beth will show up in a different story, specifically a Black Widow story that I am trying to write, and piece together. If I ever get my trailer made...

Moving on, I have more writer's block because of this story. Sadly.

BUT Infinity War is coming next year. So it wouldn't be fair of me if I did not create an Infinity War story. Though it is not quite set in stone, but I am setting up my ideas.
If you have any quetions on this story, or any of the information above, feel free to ask away.
Okay, I can't come up with anything on top of my head; don't forget to vote. Byeeee!
          ~ SHIELD-Avenger