"I'm sorry, did you just hand me a mask just like the one they use in the Incredibles?" Carissa asked Tony.
Tony nodded. "Matches the cat suit you're so famous for." He answered the girl.
He had a point. It did. It had been awhile since she'd worn her cat suit, but now she stood in front of a full-length mirror, dressed in all black. She slid the web shooters onto her wrists. They were black, matching her entire ensemble. She smiled at the contrast against her light skin and bright hair.
"How do I look?" She asked Tony.
"Too good to be a sidekick." He replied. She smiled.
"Good thing I'm not the sidekick. I'm the main show." She replied. Tony smiled and shook her head at her as her phone went off.
From Peter🕸:
Meet me at the ferry and don't tell Mr. Stark.
Well, that didn't sound good at all. Sounded like they were in for some trouble. They always were, especially together. It wasn't a coincidence the one night Peter actually had to stop someone was the day she had showed up.
Already being dressed made it easy to just get up and go. Of course, she was aware that was a bad (terrible was a more appropriate word) idea and she continued on her merry way with that in mind. Don't pressure her into drugs, she'd take them. She had the trip there to learn the web shooters and she had to figure out just the right way to blink so the mask wouldn't slip. She liked the look, but she felt like the female version of Dash. It'd be cool to be Violet, be all invisible and shit. When she finally made it to the ferry, it was falling apart. Oh, Peter. What the fuck have you done?
Peter was waiting on the girl, not sure what was taking so long. He knew she was in New York; she had told him her dad wanted to move back. He was excited, of course. That meant she couldn't dip on him again.
"What the hell happened?" She mumbled to herself upon getting out of the car. She had no idea where the hell Peter was until she heard someone start cheering for him. If only they knew exactly what they were cheering for. She rolled her eyes, sure that he'd caused the mess in the first place. He sat in the middle of the crumbling ferry, holding onto it with webs. It was ready to tear him apart, Carissa was sure of it. He was an idiot, but she had known that. Absolute idiot with now sense of- oh, god. He was like her dad. Jesus fuck so could never unsee that now.
"A little help here?" He asked her. He watched her as he held the ferry together. Well, she'll give him that. Steve wouldn't ask for help. The girl nodded, lighting up like a Christmas tree. A red Christmas tree. The ferry lit up with red as she pushed the crumbling pieces together. Peter's webs started to break off, causing her to lose her grip on the pieces. He was, more or less, holding it all together. The pieces were too much for her to hold myself.
Peter watched her struggle, trying to fire more webs off to catch the ferry. He was failing, every one of them breaking.
"You were being more helpful than I thought. I can't hold it by myself." Carissa yelled to Peter.
"Your eyes glow red when you use your powers." He yelled back. It wasn't relevant, but he thought it was cool. Scary, even.
"How the fuck is that relevant right now?" Carissa yelled.
He shrugged. "It's pretty. And kinda scary." Suddenly, the ferry pieces started to move back together beneath the two.
"Holy shit, you're doing it!" Peter yelled. He was smiling at her, happy she had come back.
"No, I'm not." She replied. She couldn't. Too heavy. Oh no. They were fucked.
"I am." They'd heard a familiar voice say.
"Shit." She mumbled to herself. They were definitely in trouble now.
"Hi, Spider-Man. Band practice, was it?" Tony asked.
"Oh, you're in trouble." Carissa teased Peter. She was relieved she hadn't lied about whereabouts. Peter, however, was screwed. He looked back at the girl momentarily, her amused face staring back.
Tony put the ferry back together, being followed by Peter, who wanted to help. Riss stayed back, knowing better.
"I think you've done enough." He told Peter.
She followed Peter to a rooftop, where he sat off the edge. His mask was in his hand and his feet swung. He was worried, of course. She would be, too. They both saw Tony, on his way to rip him a new one.
"You disappeared on me." Peter mumbled. Carissa looked down at him.
"That's not the point right now, Parker." She replied. He was more upset with her than anything else? Really?
Of course, he was. She had disappeared on him, no explanation. They didn't talk again until she told him she was coming back. He replied but never got a text back. She had just disappeared.
Tony showed up right as she had finished the sentence.
"Is everyone okay?" Peter asked.
"No thanks to you." Tony replied.
"Now wait a fucking minute." Riss interjected.
"You either." Tony said. She was genuinely offended herself, but she was more offended on behalf of Peter. He'd held the ferry together, probably saving the life of everyone there.
Carissa flipped him off as Peter stood up. "No thanks to me?" He asked. "Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me. To us." He finished, pointing at the girl. "If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
Oh, shit. No, no, no... He's here, Peter. She knew the difference between him talking through Friday and him in the suit.
Tony stepped out of the suit, sending Peter scrambling back. Fuck.
"I did listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI? Do you know I was the only one who believed in you?" Tony said.
"Try again." She interrupted. "Called the FBI? We needed you."
"Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid." He said.
"I'm 15." Peter corrected.
"No. This is where you zip it, all right? The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you died, I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience."
"Yes, sir, I'm sorry." Peter said. She glared at Peter. No backbone. None. Carissa flipped Tony off again.
"Yes. Sorry doesn't cut it." He said.
"I just wanted to be like you." Peter admited.
"And I wanted you to be better." Tony replied. That was kinda what Steve had told Riss. She could feel the pressure Tony was putting onto Peter. Her eyebrows furrowed in anger. She was getting pissed quickly, like she had in the restaurant.
"Okay, it's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back." Tony said. She frowned. That was fair, made sense but still. Still wasn't sitting right with her. She was getting angrier with him as the conversation drew on.
"For how long?" Peter asked.
"Forever. And I'm taking the girl." Tony said, pointing to her. "You're done, too."
"No." She told Tony.
"It wasn't a question, Carissa." Tony replied.
"This is all I have. I'm nothing without this suit." Peter said.
Wrong thing to say, Parker. She sighed; her shoulders dropped.
"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it, okay? God, I sound like my dad." Tony said.
"Yeah. You do." She agreed with him bitterly.
"I don't have any other clothes." Peter said.
"Okay, we'll sort that out." Tony said. He turned to her. "You're with me."
"Okay, Tony." She gave in. She was furious, but was trying to avoid it.
He got Peter clothes and took him home. Carissa followed after Tony.
"He saved all those people. He's a good kid, Tony." She told him. She was pissed. She was beyond pissed.
"What the hell do you know?" He asked. "You're 15. He's 15. I think he's even older than you, Carissa."
"He's my best friend, Tony." She replied. He wasn't trying to calm her down. If anything, he was making it worse.
"You're done being his sidekick, Carissa." Tony told her.
"I'm not a fucking sidekick." She yelled.
Tony stopped walking. "You're done." He repeated. "You're done. Barnes wouldn't want you doing this shit."
"Don't use that against me. What the fuck do you know?" She yelled. Her hands were starting to glow.
"I'm using that against you. This stops here." Tony told her, taking notice of her glowing hands and eyes.
She looked down at the ground. She couldn't stand to look at him right now.
"It's over, Carissa." Tony said again.
"I tried, Tony. I tried to be everything I'm supposed to be." She yelled at him. She kept walking.
"Supposed to be?" He asked, walking after her. People watched as he chased her down the sidewalk, away from where he left Happy in the car.
"The daughter of Captain America? Yes, Tony. I'm supposed to be. You want Peter to be better than you, right? What do you want from me?"
"That's why you wanted the powers." He said. He ignored the question.
"No shit, Tony."
"We're all proud of who you've become, Riss." He said softly. "You didn't need to be enhanced, God! You're just as bad as your dad. Don't you see how its effecting you?'
She shook her head. "You said it yourself. Bucky wouldn't be."
Tony furrowed his brows. "I'm proud of you."
She looked up at Tony. He shot her a signature half smile. She shook her head.
"You don't act like it." She shot back. "I tried and you threw it in my face. If you cared so fucking much you would've stopped."
"Stopped?" He asked.
"Peter told me you could hear through the earpieces." She whispered.
Tony's face softened. "Carissa-"
"He's a good kid." She changed the subject. "He's my best friend, Tony."
"I know, Riss. So are you." He told her. "You need to stop. You can't handle the power right now. It's seriously fucking you up."
She shook her head at Tony again. There was nothing she could do. She knew he was right. She also knew better than to disobey Tony. She hated it, but her hands were tied. She knew Peter would be mad and he was allowed to be. He was allowed to be livid. She had more to lose than he did.
Peter was on his own now.
He sat in his kitchen, tears fresh in his eyes. He'd just lost the Stark Internship, he'd told May. It wasn't really a lie. He was more upset over the fact that Tony had taken Carissa. He didn't know what to do with himself, he needed her to be there to ground him. Part of him wished she never came back into his life. He knew how to live without someone who made it easier.
In the span of a mere few days, he'd realized how badly he needed her.
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