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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
vii. REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

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  LOVE IS SO TWISTED. Why is it that the things we love with all of our hearts always hurt us the most? Why do we continue to partake in the things we adore despite knowing what happens in the end? Is it for the short-lived euphoria? Is it for the temporary smiles? Why do we continue to go back to the things that hurt us, even after we've learned our lesson?

   And, more importantly, is it worth it?

   Riley loved being an Avenger. It wasn't the badass powers or finally being respected after years of being frowned upon by her coworkers at S.H.I.E.L.D. She loved helping people. She loved the idea of being the world's protector, fighting the battles that others couldn't. She loved being part of something that was bigger than herself.

   After being the reason her parents died, Riley decided at a young age that she would devote her life to helping people. She knew that this was already decided for her once her powers were discovered, but it meant something more to her knowing she would have chosen that path no matter what.

   Because of this, Riley became a bit of a perfectionist. Between the explosion 13 years ago and being pushed to be the best, Riley spent her entire life perfecting her craft. She didn't want to be the best, but she had to. She and the universe shared that in common: they forced her to be stronger, faster, smarter. It was all for the greater good.

   Valor looked out at the city from the top of a random building—a little deli shop by the name of Mr. Delmar's. Riley was born in Manhattan, but sometimes, she had a hard time remembering that this was her home. She'd moved around so much because of S.H.I.E.L.D., going wherever they wanted her to, like a mindless pawn. That was why Riley had spent the past few months getting to know New York, relaxing after the Sokovia Accords. She wanted to make New York feel more like home than just another place she was stuck in.

   She peered down at her foot, frowning at the blood that continued to gush out of it. She'd been bleeding for what felt like hours after stepping on broken glass in a random alley right before suiting up to go patrolling. Somehow, the glass had gotten stuck between her foot and her sole before Tony's nanotech finished doing its job. Talk about bad luck, right?

   "Well," she mumbled to herself, wiping up her own blood, "this is certainly a minor cause for concern." Valor pursed her lips, seeing as some of the crimson liquid had gotten on her suit. "I wonder if I can take the suit out for dry-cleaning..."

   Riley supposed that was why everyone had advised her against opting for a white suit. Honestly, she was young when the idea of having her own suit was proposed, and she begged to have a say in how it looked. She didn't have the opportunity to make her own choices very often due to her age, so when everyone said she should pick something dark, she picked white out of spite for them. She didn't regret it though. She thought it was funny.

   "Hiya, Miss Valor!" a cheery voice chirped from behind the hero.

   Rather than jumping or even shrieking out of surprise, Riley somersaulted backward and leaped onto her feet. She raised her hands, entering a fighting stance out of pure instinct, before sighing. It was just Spider-Man. "What do you want, Bug-Boy?" she demanded.

   Peter wondered why Valor was always a little snippy when it came to him. He remembered when they first met in Berlin, she was the same way. But after a little fight with Ant-Man (who, news flash, can actually turn into a literal giant) at the Berlin airport, Peter noticed how worried she became after he took a nasty hit. That was how Peter knew she could be a super cool, nice person.

   Besides, Valor was an original Avenger, one of his childhood heroes! He'd have to be an idiot to let the opportunity to be friends with her pass him by. Peter didn't care what it took. After seeing her show true kindness, he knew he'd have his chance to be her friend. He just had to be patient and wait for a breakthrough.

   So, he ignored her somewhat annoyed tone and shrugged. "Oh, well, I saw you up here, and I—Whoa! What happened to you!?" he exclaimed, his gaze stuck on her blood-stained shoe.

   Valor remained calm as she dismissed, "I got stabbed in the foot."

   Alarms went off in his head as he shouted, "What!? You got... You got stabbed in the... in the foot!? Are you okay?"

   She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, have you never stepped on glass before? No—wait, have you never been stabbed before?" she queried, somewhat astonished. She thought that was normal for most people... at least, people who were in the same industry as her, like Spider-Man.

   The arachnid hero merely stared at her. Riley couldn't depict his emotions because of his mask, but she could sense he was concerned. That wasn't too impossible to imagine. After all, who wouldn't be concerned after finding someone bleeding, especially your friend?

   ...Not that Valor and Spider-Man were friends...

   Sure, they ran into each other often during patrols, and yeah, Riley and Peter were technically friends now, but... That's not the point!

   "Huh? No!" he denied. "Hang on, how many times have you been stabbed!?"

   Scoffing, Valor fired back with, "How the hell am I supposed to know? That's like asking someone how many times they've breathed today!" She released an exasperated sigh, mumbling to herself, "Geez, where does Tony find these people...?"

   "Hey, I heard that!" yelled Spider-Man. It was then when a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. "Wait... Tony? As in Mr. Stark? Did he send you here? Are you doing business with him? Are you—Hey, where are you going?"

   Valor, who had been in the middle of walking away from Spider-Man, turned back around. "I have plans, Bug-Boy."

   Nodding slowly, he queried, "Ohh... Can I come with you?" He began to run after her.

   "No."

   "Is it something Avengers-related?"

   "Why do you need to know?"

   "Because I'm an Avenger!"

   Valor snorted. "If you were an Avenger, then wouldn't you know if it's something Avengers-related?" she challenged.

   Spider-Man placed a finger up to his chin, thinking about it. "Well, what if you're asking me that because you're secretly not an Avenger and you want to know if there's something Avengers-related happening?" Spider-Man fired back. "You know, like reverse psychology!"

   Valor folded her arms over her chest, having to look up at the webbed hero, who was much taller than her. "Alright," she said. "Then, is there?"

   "What...?"

   "Is there something Avengers-related?"

   "Well... I don't know..."

   "Ha!" Valor cheered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Bug-Boy, but I have important business to attend to."

   Valor began to walk away, preparing to leap off of the deli shop rooftop when she heard Spider-Man's squeaky voice. "Hang on, do you have the time?" he called.

   She shrugged. "I dunno. I think it's 11 o'clock? Maybe noon?"

   Gasping audibly, Spider-Man yelled, "Shit! I have plans! Gotta go, Miss Valor! See you later!"

   Then, Spider-Man leaped off of the building and swung off into a direction that was unknown to the Avenger. Riley stared at him as he swung from building to building.

   Turning herself invisible, Riley shook her head. "That kid better not be late for our study session," she mumbled to herself before jumping off of the building.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

wow i love riley and peter's dynamic already. like they have such a fun good cop bad cop thing going on already, and i LOVE it <3

what's interesting to me is that valor is all "i'm edgy! i killed my parents! i could break your legs if i wanted to!" (especially to spidey!). but when riley o'dair's undercover as a normal teen talking to peter parker, she's so soft and sweet. probably because she's on a mission but who knows yk like maybe that'll end up being really important character development cough cough who knows!

let me know what you guys are thinking so far! do we love it, do we hate it, do we have constructive criticism? let me knowww! (and as always, thank you so much for reading! it means a lot to me <3<3)