Bloom

Chapter 2: Moving in

After what seemed like years, I'd finally arrived at the apartment complex I'd been told to stay at. "Here's your stop. Mr. Stark has already given you the files on Spider boy and your new identity for school. It's a school day today but you'll be starting tomorrow. Read up on those files and stay out of trouble," he said as I nodded, grabbing all four of my bags two of which Tony had packed which concerned me. Before I could close the door, however, Happy called me back with a smirk saying "Good luck. You'll need it with this one" and he drove away, leaving me in suspense.

Looking up at the complex and hiking my bags up over my shoulders, I began my trek up into the elevator stumbling in with how heavy some things were. The elevator door was about to close when a lady walked in, smiling warmly at me. "Sorry about that. Hi," she spoke. I replied the same with a smile of my own. "Oh, are you moving in?" she asked. "U-uh, yeah. I-I'm moving in with my dad. He's working now though so I had to take a taxi here," I lied, chuckling nervously as she pressed the button that happened to be mine as well.

"Well, from what it looks like, you seem to have four bags too many. Let me help you to your place," she offered. I shook my head and declined sheepishly. As we reached our floor, I tried taking once step before tripping where I would've fallen had the woman not grabbed me. "I insist," she smiled, grabbing two of the bags. I smiled and we walked a few doors down. "Here it is," I said reaching for my key. "Really? Then, I guess we're neighbors," she said. I smiled at her, throwing my things inside and I was glad it looked like someone else lived in this place. Thank you, Tony.

"Thank you so much for the help um..." I trailed off. "Oh! May," she said, shaking my hand. "Vi- Jenni," I smiled, giving my undercover name. She raised a brow but smiled widely. "Wait, how old are you?" she asked. "Uh, just turned sixteen not too long ago" "Really? Then I suppose you and my nephew Peter are in the same grade. You'll have to come over and meet him!" she said excitedly. Peter? As in Peter Parker? "Sure! I'd love to. Just let me know when would be a good time," I smiled. After saying thank you one last time, she walked out through the door and my smile was immediately washed away and I darted towards the bag that held all I needed to know about Peter Parker.

Okay, where to begin? Of course he lives here. That makes so much sense and would be even more beneficial to keep an eye out when he sneaks out to be Spider-Man. That means that May really had been Aunt May. Glad Tony didn't include any pictures of either one of them to help me out but at least it's easy to deduce. Taking a look at my schedule, I assumed it was made to replicate Parker's. Before I could even unpack, I spent hours reading up on what else I had to expect of this guy and eventually fell asleep.

Buzz. Buzzzzz. Buzz. Buzzzzz.

I groaned and grabbed my phone, answering it upside down as I pulled off a paper that had stuck itself on my forehead. "He-hello?" I said gruffly. "Viv! You sound like you've been working hard," Tony's voice rang through. I groaned and flipped him off. "Hello? Did you- did you flip me off in a groan?" "How do you even know that?!" I asked, looking around to see if there were cameras. "You've been at S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while and who's been there the entire way?" "Captain America?" I smirked as he scoffed. "Ha ha, very funny," he said. "Okay, okay, but he's still my favorite" "Your favo- The Capsicle? The Iced Americano?? Come on, man. I'm way cooler than him," he said not noticing the pun until I pointed it out to him.

"And I totally meant to say that! But that's not why I called. Have you seen the kid yet?" he asked. "Not yet but good thinking having me move next to them. His aunt May helped me and there's a possibility she'll help me get...what is it I have to get from him again?" I asked. "His hot aunt is such a saint. Uh, also, what you need to do is make sure he doesn't die or gets himself into unbearable trouble. I need you to gain his trust and take him under your wing. He needs to be taught the ropes from someone his age with a different experience," he said. "So why not just tell him I'm here to do that?" I asked. "Well, you need to show him what he's up against. It'll be like a test to see how long it takes him to realize it's you. Every once in a while, give him a little run for his money and let him test his strengths out but don't kill him," he said.

"So, he's like my test subject?" I asked, plainly. "Oh, uh, I, um, guess you could, uh, call him that," he said and I could hear the tension that grew as I said that. He knew very well my past and hated a child had to go through that so he grew tense every time I referenced it nonchalantly. "Okay, understood. So, watch him, give him a nudge, pretend to be a villain, let him find out my identity himself, train him," I repeated. "Uh, exactly. Now, remember not to let it slip anytime you're near him or people associated with him," he said. I agreed and we hung up before I got an odd knock on my door.

Walking over to it, I opened it, now in a black tank top and pants. To my surprise, it was a guy who looked about my age with brown hair that was kind of reddish and brown eyes with an innocent and shocked expression. "Uh, hi?" I asked, smiling slightly as silence began to collect. "Uh, h-hi! Yeah, sorry, uh, my Aunt May said someone had just moved in next door s-so I wanted to be polite and, uh," he fumbled nervously. I leaned against the door frame, thinking his nervous demeanor was cute.

"I-I'm Peter Parker is what I mean to say." Shoot. "Uh, Aunt May also told me you're in my grade s-so if you need a guide maybe, uh, I-I can, or, uh, i-if not that's fine too," he chuckled nervously as I let out a small laugh. This was my chance. "Sure, I'd like that. I'm Jenni Taylor," I said reaching up to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, his voice cracking slightly. I flashed another smile saying likewise. For a moment, we both stood there awkwardly staring at each other until I cleared my throat. "Well, I, uh, guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, heh," he said taking a step backwards. "Yeah, see you at school!" I said closing my door. Yeah, this was going to be an interesting mission.