Thing About Superheroes (UNDERGOING REWRITE)

Chapter 3 *Rewritten*

A/N - This chapter was completely rewritten.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Madison asked Peter as they walked down the streets of Queens. Somehow Peter had convinced Madison to meet his best friend Ned.

"Ned's cool, I promise. He'll love you. I'm sorry in advance though".

"For what?"

"He's...a bit of a fanboy".

"Oh? You mean like you?"

"Worse".

Madison laughed. "I don't think that's possible Peter".

"You have such little faith in me".

Soon they arrived at the park where they were meeting Ned.

"Peter!"

Madison looked over and saw a boy standing over by a tree.

"Hey Ned", Peter said, "I want you to meet someone. This is Madison Barton".

"Barton?" Ned asked, "Dude, she's Hawkeye's daughter!"

"Yeah, I know. I met him".

"You met him? That is so awesome! Was he like really cool or...?"

"Ned, Ned, Ned. Calm down. Breathe".

"You weren't lying, Peter", Madison told him.

"Sorry. Oh my god. You're an Avenger! Do you know Thor?" Ned asked her.

"Umm, yeah. We've met a few times". Because his crazy psycho brother tried to kill us all, but saved me for some reason.

"What's he like? Does he walk around in that armor all the time? I saw the footage..."

At the mention of the Battle of New York, Madison was suddenly hit with a flashback of the destruction and she was finding it hard to breathe.

"Madison?" Peter asked, "Hey, hey, hey. Are you okay?"

"Can't breathe", she wheezed, her hand on her chest.

"Dude, I think she's having a panic attack", Ned told Peter.

"You think?" Peter snapped, "Ned, she got hurt pretty badly during the Battle of New York and was in a coma for 3 months!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Hey, Maddie. C'mon, look at me", Peter said, taking her face in his hands. Her hazy eyes met his. "Just breathe in and out. You're in Queens. Nothing can hurt you here, okay? Not while I'm around".

Slowly, Madison's breathing leveled out.

"Hey, there you are. Lost you there for a second. Ned, can you get her some water?" Peter asked.

Ned nodded and hurried over to a food cart.

"I'm sorry", Madison said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's fine. I had panic attacks all the time after my Uncle Ben died", Peter told her.

"You did?"

"Yeah, he was my best friend".

Ned came back over and handed a water bottle to Peter.

"You good to stand up?" Peter asked Madison.

Madison couldn't remember how she ended up on the ground. She nodded and Peter helped her up and over to a picnic table.

The trio was silent for a while.

"Does that happen a lot?" Ned asked.

"Flashbacks? Yeah. I have nightmares more than anything", she said.

"Hey, do you wanna go swing?" Peter asked Madison.

"Swing? I hope you don't mean..."

"Nah, we can do that later. I meant on the swing-set".

"As long as you don't launch me off of it".

"You coming Ned?" Peter asked as he and Madison stood up.

"You lovebirds have fun. I gotta get home and help my mom with something. It was nice to meet you Madison".

"You too, Ned. Get home safe. Bye".

"Bye Peter!" Ned called.

"See ya, man!"

Peter led Madison over to the swings and she sat down on one.

"I feel like a kid again", she told Peter.

"Did you used to come to the park a lot?" Peter asked her as he gently started pushing her.

"Yeah, but it was usually with Coulson or Agent Hill. Daddy and Natasha were always busy".

"Was your father away a lot when you were younger?"

"I knew it was part of his job and there was always someone to look after me". Madison swung for a few minutes before starting to slow down.

"Do you ever wish you had a normal life?" Peter asked her, "Like...a mom and a dad who had normal jobs and picked you up from school and all that?"

Madison was silent for a moment. "Sometimes, but I think that would've become really boring after a while and I would wish for a more exciting life. Plus, if I had a normal life, I may have never met you".

Peter smiled and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.