Chapter Text
People love a good story, something to joke about and scare kids with, a boogeyman. NYC wasn’t special, they had one too, a much more real one. Spider. Lord have mercy on those with arachnophobia, NYC was not the city for them! The stories depended on who you asked, some described Spider as just a weird dude, others praised him, some had horror stories. Ongoing joke? Spider would steal away those who he didn’t like. Steal and do what? That also depended on who you asked…
If you asked Daredevil, one of the vigilantes within the lovely city, he would say Spider was a pest. An annoying pest that had no reason to be in his home, yet he was, for the millionth time. Daredevil, or more specifically Matt Murdock, just wanted to have a minute to himself after spending the better portion of his day in court. To go home, maybe have a coffee, ignore the building migraine and even consider doing a patrol. But no, Spider was in his home, he could sense the man before even entering his apartment, and he knew Spider knew that he was there too, no point avoiding the inevitable.
Click of the lock and he was in, being greeted with the nearly always hissing voice of Spider. “Mr. Murdock, welcome back!”
Matt groaned, regretting returning home already. “ Spider. Get out.”
Spider, laying on the couch like he owned the place, chuckled. Matt didn’t have the joy of seeing the details in colour, but he was strongly aware of how different Spider was. The kid- not a kid, but younger- always covered his eyes with a cloth, wore some kind of vigilante esc suit with a hood, slicked back hair, and his mouth. That thing split open like a horror trick, manables and all, and Matt knew that he had hidden limbs. Oh did he know. Spider twisted his upper body, spine twisting fully around and some. “Naw.”
“I hate you.”
“Good.”
Rolling his eyes didn’t feel like enough, having to walk past the nuisance on his couch to get to the coffee. He might need some painkillers too.
“I’m bored, Matt!” His ‘guest’ complained, feet kicking in the air childishly.
“Go find someone who cares.” Matt grumbled, tapping the counter impatiently as his coffee brewed. Brew faster, damn you.
“I want to fight the Avengers.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure…wait. What the hell did you say?” His attention was fully on Spider, the stupid and smart kid. Stupid enough to want to fight the Avengers, smart enough to find a way to do it.
“Like, not fight-fight them, just square up?” Spider was on his feet, moving to sit on Matt’s countertop, rudely so. His habit of talking with his hands was showing, like he was performing a puppet show. “Just, why not? Do they know I’m real, anyway? They fight aliens and- and Gods! Goddesses too! I think? The team is weirdly cool, they got like-” Spider began counting his fingers, “-two assassins? Three? Soldiers, super soldiers, and they know Thor, and the Hulk, geniuses, and a stupid amount of money. Don’t you wanna see how you could fight against them?”
Matt’s stare must’ve said it all, Spider waving a hand dismissively. “Maybe not you, old man. I want to fight one of those super soldiers! Might not need to hold back…much.”
“Or, don’t?” The coffee finally brewed, finally. Sugar and cream was stupid, cooling off was stupid, it didn’t matter if the drink burnt his tongue.
“No, Imma do it. Hold the fort, m’kay?” Spider was already walking to the window, which was left open, no doubt from Spider’s original entrance. “See ya later!”
“Not your house!” Matt yelled, but it didn’t matter, Spider was out the window and gone. Jeez, the kid was going to be the death of him. His word choice was stupid too. See you later? Matt was blind and Spider kept his eyes covered constantly, they would not be seeing each other any time soon. “Ugh, kids. Why have them to begin with?”
【 🕷 】
Bucky, like most of the Avengers, was prone to insomnia and nightmares. It was common to have someone awake even at two in the morning. Bucky was in the kitchen of the tower's common space, nodding towards Natasha, who was also awake. It was borderline comedic how often the two bumped into each other, she already had a black tea in her hands.
“Water is still hot.” Natasha didn’t even look up, she didn’t have to. Bucky grunted as an intelligent response, fixing himself up a drink too, peppermint.
“Do you guys see the hatman or spiders?” A voice spoke from the darkness, literally in the corner of the ceiling, catching Bucky and Natasha by surprise. Who-? How-? Neither had heard the intruder, and no alarms were triggered by Friday. Natasha pulled a gun from Gods know where, and Bucky went to a defensive stance, only to be met with laughter. “Spiders. You see Spiders.”
True to the words, the guy crawled down the wall, casually bending his body in a show of ability to be on his feet. The guy wasn’t attacking, but that proved little. He smiled, sharp teeth and physically too wide to be normal, eyes covered with a cloth that had a bunch of white eyes printed on it. He had on a suit, thick with padding, dark grey with a blue tint, and a red spider logo on the chest that came with a hood too, baggy and shadowing. He held out a hand casually. “Spider’s the name, crawling’s the game!”
Who the fuck-?
“Who are you?” Natasha pressed, gun trained on the intruder's head. His shoulders slumped, smile switching to a pout of all things.
“Does nobody listen? Or get the suit? A spider? That’s- I just said who I am. Let’s turn on our listening ears, okay class?” The intruder, Spider , acted unphased by the weapons pointed at him and went over to the tea Bucky had just made. He sniffed it, more for show because the smell was undoubtedly filling the room, and took a sip, humming thoughtfully. “Dang, you guys got money! This is good, can I live here? Eh, no matter, where’s the snacks?”
Spider was already looking around the cabinets, like his eyes weren’t covered up. Who was this person? Why…was his skin grey? Another weird alien? Natasha seemed to be amused, Bucky was grossed out that someone else took his drink, and no hostility was given.
Natasha took her drink again, sipping it thoughtfully, looking Spider up and down. “I’ve heard of you. Didn’t think you were real.”
Spider, to his own credit, looked wounded by the fact. Dramatically so, hand clutched to chest and everything, gasping. “Wow, oh-kay, rude? I’m not like, Santa Claus, or the Boogeyman, or something! I’m like Mothman.”
Natasha raised a brow, Bucky was attempting to pour himself another drink, since Spider took his. Attempting, because there was enough water for most of a cup, but not a full one. Bullshit. “Mothman?”
“Mothman is real! I met him.”
…okay…yeah.
Spider started to grab handfuls of food from the cabinets, specifically targeting the snacks meant for Bucky and Steve, high metabolism stuff. Pockets that weren’t even visible being stuffed full of them, until Spider seemed happy with his haul, waving goodbye wildly and jumping out a window. A window that Friday had opened seconds before Spiders escape, the room falling into silence. Bucky gestured to the once-open window, unsure if he looked tired or confused. “Who was that?”
Natasha just shrugged, cradling her own drink, not sparing a glance up. Truly the definition of unbothered, it was an artform. “Spider. Mothman of New York.”
That answered…nothing. Nothing at all. Bucky dumped the half-drank tea that was tainted by Spider, sharing drinks? Nasty business. If Natasha wasn’t worried, Bucky wouldn’t bother either, blinking at the freshly made tea. “...huh. Who’s the hatman?”