Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 10 - Star Wars

Happy dropped me off at the same place as the day before, leaving me to walk the few blocks to school. I just couldn't wait for winter to come, forcing me to deal with the biting cold while walking to school. But at least I could enjoy the nice weather while it was still present.

It was just as crazy inside the school as it had been the previous morning, the uncontrolled rowdiness driving me almost insane. Besides the yelling from person to person in large throngs, there were also various robotic vehicles racing each other down the hallways and people trying to be cool with their skateboards.

I was so thankful that my locker was set a little further down the hallway so once I managed to make it through the throng and to my locker, I was safe. Ned and Peter were just walking to their own lockers and Ned's eyes lit up at the sight of me, quickly whispering something to Peter. Peter shrugged in response, then muttered something back.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked them as they came within ear shot. I was extremely uncomfortable with people talking about me in hushed tones because it made me feel as though they knew my secret.

"N-nothing," Peter immediately stuttered, his cheeks turning pink.

"Do you like Star Wars or did you just get that shirt because you thought it was cool?" Ned blurted out, receiving an elbow jab from Peter. Ned turned to him, "hey, we weren't going to find out any other way, it's fine."

"Well I don't know if I can say I like Star Wars, to be completely honest," I replied, watching as their faces fell. "I've grown up on these movies and they consist of a large portion of my childhood, so I think I may have to upgrade that to an I love Star Wars."

"Wait, really?" Peter questioned, seeming quite shocked by my response.

"Absolutely, drove my dad crazy when I was seven because it was the only thing I agreed to watch for a solid few months."

Throughout the day, Star Wars was the main topic between Ned, Peter, and I. It was really nice to find people I knew who appreciated the movies as much as I did and not just having to suffice with the people on the internet, especially since there is a huge hate problem in the Star Wars fandom. However, there were so many stories that I wanted to share with them about Star Wars that I couldn't. Especially the time I had sat Steve down to watch Star Wars for the first time in his life. But, I couldn't let them find out that I was secretly a Stark so I only told stories that didn't involve other people or else added in a few lies.

At lunch we were able to talk more freely as we had more time than the passing time between classes, or the delay between when the bell rang and the teacher actually decided to start class. However, MJ didn't seem all that thrilled to find out that I was a Star Wars nerd as well, she clearly wasn't as obsessed as the rest of us.

"Hey, do you guys want to come over my place tonight and we can marathon Star Wars?" Ned asked as MJ finished calling me a nerd for like the twentieth time. "Obviously we can't get through all of the films, but we could at least watch the originals?"

My heart sank as he asked that question as I had wanted to take my suit out tonight, but I also didn't want to admit I couldn't go to the first get together that I was invited to. I immediately began trying to come up with a lie that would make them pity me so that they would reschedule to another day.

Thankfully, I was saved by Peter, "I'm sorry Ned, but I can't to night. I've got- got the internship tonight."

"You still have that internship?" MJ asked curiously, making me realize how little I actually knew about them.

"No," Peter quickly replied, glancing at me. "I-I mean y-yes, but it's more like an actual job now."

I was about to question Peter further when Ned asked, "how about we do it this weekend then? On Saturday you guys can spend the day at my place and we'll eat and watch Star Wars."

"Saturday works for me," I replied, thankful that he had rescheduled.

"Yeah me too," Peter spoke quietly, as though still nervous about the whole internship thing he had been talking about.

"And you, MJ?" Ned asked when she failed to respond.

"Wait I'm supposed to come too? I'm not an obsessed fan like you guys are," she replied, although I could sense that she was actually happy to have gotten invited.

"All the more reason for you to come, we'll make you as obsessed as we are," I answered for everyone else with a small smile.

She rolled her eyes, "I highly doubt that, nerd."

...

I finished up my homework before dinner so that I could slip out after eating. Hoping to give myself as much time as possible to be on patrol, I ate as quickly as I could without it seeming suspicious, then ran back into my room.

"(A/I), don't tell my father that I've gone out, ok?" I asked them as I opened my locket and the suit came out. "And let me know if anyone wants me so I can come home."

"Of course, Miss (Y/N)," (A/I) replied, storing this information in a secure folder buried deep within the compounds archives.

I wasn't able to override (A/I) completely so that she wouldn't report on my activities at all, but I was able to get her to store information I didn't want Tony finding out about in a folder that I had heavily encrypted. I doubted that even he would be able to hack the folder, that was if he even found it in the first place.

I closed my eyes and for some reason pictured part of Brooklyn, not far from Queens. I wasn't quite sure why that location came to mind, but as it was far enough away from the compound to divert suspicion that it was me in the suit, I was happy with the location I had picked. Feeling the wind whip around me as I moved, I teleported to the rooftop of the Chinese restaurant I had envisioned.

Proud that I had managed to land in the exact spot I had wanted to, I began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, looking for any crimes going on. I discovered that patrolling was actually quite boring, it was probably a good half an hour before I spotted anything out of the ordinary.

I heard a muffled cry from a woman not far from the rooftop I was perched atop of, peeking my interest as I crawled towards the sound. There were two men, both armed with knives surrounding a woman, who appeared to be in her thirties. One man had his knife up to the woman's throat and the other rummaged through the woman's purse.

Without a second's hesitation, I teleported down to the ground and spoke in a British accent, "didn't your parents ever teach you that stealing is bad?"

I'm not quite sure what made me choose a British accent, but I knew that it would be wise to disguise my voice at least a little. Perhaps it was because I was familiar with the accent due to the time I spent around Vision and the fact my own AI had a standard RP accent.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men managed to get out before I landed a powerful roundhouse kick in his stomach. The other man was about to press the knife into the victim's neck when I conjured a ball of fire to burn his arm, causing him to drop the knife in surprise. Before either of the men could get away, I summoned a length of rope, lassoing the one I had burned so that he could not run away. The other man quickly leapt up from the ground, but I flung my body at him, wrapping my thighs around his neck as Natasha had taught me.

Once he was on the ground, I tied the two criminals together and turned to the woman, who was picking up her fallen purse, "I would suggest calling the police, so that these two get arrested. Also, you might want to be a bit more careful next time you are out this late."

"Th-thank you," the woman stuttered, clearly still trying to process what had happened. "Can I ask what your name is?"

"Sorry, but I've got to go," I spoke in response, climbing up a fire escape on a building nearby and disappearing into the shadows.

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(A/N): And you're out kicking ass! I honestly don't know what else to say, so I hope you've enjoyed the chapter!