All Of Me (Peter Parker x Reader)

Chapter 16

This guy doesn't quit, (y/n) thought.

Her gaze locked with Spider-Man's eyes, or at least where she assumed they were. She narrowed her eyes, giving him the most intimidating look she could muster. In all her missions, never had she come across an opponent so... bothersome. Every time she seemed to hit him, he just came back like some eager, pugnacious cockroach that was too stupid to die. She glanced upward at the sky. The sun was getting closer to the horizon, making her silently curse the young suited hero. She was already cutting it close as it was, and she didn't need a repeat of the other night. She had to end this and get out of there. Whether that meant the oversized bug standing at the top of the building lived or not, she didn't even care anymore.

"You know, we should really stop meeting like this. I have been looking for you, like, all day," Peter exclaimed in a lighthearted tone to mask his nervousness. The events of Halloween were still fresh in his mind, and he almost half expected her to rip through his webs and come at him with a fleet of bullets flying at him.

"I'm flattered," (y/n) told him with a sarcastic voice. "I'm sure every girl wants to hear as she's stalked, alone, on her way home," she added bluntly, folding her arms across her chest and leaning on her leg that was webbed to the ground. The eyes on his mask grew, mimicking his eyes as they blew wide at the meaning of her words.

"Oh, geez! That's not what's happening here! I'm just-"

"So you didn't spend the whole day following me just to corner me in an alleyway as it's getting dark out?"

"This is different! You tried to kill someone! You're a criminal!"

A dark look passed over her blank (e/c) eyes, and Peter thought for a second she was going to get angry. Despite the look on her face, she stayed as calm and composed as ever, her voice unwavering as she spoke to him from below.

"So you've never committed a crime before? What about breaking and entering into private property, or stealing files and belongings for proof? What about the "occasional" physical assault? Those are crimes that come with the job, don't you think?" she asked, causing Spider-Man to silently stammer at her query. "And what about just being a hero in general? What about the lives you've made worse? The criminals who had no choice but to turn to illegal means to live, so that the people they love can live, or the ones you've caused to be taken. Tell me, have you thought about the people who should be out breathing right now? What about all of them?" she asked emotionlessly as she stared at him.

For a brief second, an image of his uncle filled his mind. Everything came back to him. The grief, the sadness... the guilt. He thought of The Vulture and his family. They were happy. He was a man who was just trying to save his family from poverty, but he was sent to jail, and his wife and daughter had to move as a result. He didn't think that justified illegal weapon trafficking, but Peter could still see where the man was coming from. Peter thought about it often. He'd spent countless nights in bed wondering what he could have done differently if there was another way to have handled it. He remembers not getting any sleep and waking up exhausted the next morning, with that deep feeling of regret in the pit of his stomach. Not wanting to eat, drink, or feel. The desire to stop thinking, even for a moment, just to have a second to himself, that would distract him from the lives that should have been alright to this day. Peter finally snapped out of his quickly darkening thoughts when the girl at the bottom of the building clicked her tongue, looking away as she unfolded her arms to let them hang at her sides.

"I know for a fact that I'm not a hero by any means. I'm a killer. A gun. I'm not good in any sense of the word, but I'm not completely a villain either. Most of the lives I've taken haven't been civilians, but criminals, terrorists, or other hired guns. I simply take the side that most benefits me, and that happens to be the side HYDRA is on," she told him.