❛ I like to hack things ❜ 

It was a refreshing morning as the sun bled through the clouds, creating an overcast of yellow light around the city. The traffic lights flashed from green, to yellow, to red, allowing cars to pass the border of the city. People wearing colors of purple and blue walked by the girl who stood at the edge of the side walk, scanning her eyes over everyone. She pulled her baseball cap over her eyes, retreating back against the brick wall so she could focus more. There was a man dressed in old, dirt clothing sitting along the side and he had a wide smirk. "So, you're like a -oh, what are those damn things called- oh, oh! You're one of them private investigators," the homeless man sitting with his legs crossed depicted, a warm smile spreading on his face. The teenager sighed and slid her back against the wall, glancing over at the hobo. "I am no private investigator, I can tell you that. I like to hack things, and if I see someone having an issue with their wife or such, I hack into them on purpose and get money to spy on their loved one, or whatever," she explained, sinking her teeth into an apple. The man next to her low out a whistle before breaking into small fits of laughter, "Damn, kid! You got yourself a business!" he rooted. She grinned and gave a curt nod, then reaching into bag for a bright red apple. She extended her hand to the man and he raised his eyebrows, growing this look of 'Really? For me'. Letting his puppy dog eyes go back to the way they once were, he graciously thanked her repeatedly, even though she did this every day.

"I do got myself some business, I suppose. What else am I supposed to do with all my free time?" she rhetorically wondered aloud. The man let out a shrug before resting his wrist on his knee that was pulled to his chest. He waved his finger at a man walking at the end of the street and said, "Now that man, I know where he works, when he needs to be at work, and even what he does. You see now, kid, you sit here everyday like I do, you watch these people grow. That man used to run around these streets when he was no more than seven. And now he's a man, a full-grown man! Imagine it." The girl let all the words sink in, feeling a rush of emotions pour into her head. The homeless man was right, it's all about perspective and time, that's the key element she was missing in her investigations. She could just sit here. "You ever see the red thing fly around here? He come so close one time, I could reach out and touch him," the man continued, reaching his hand out to prove his point. Spider-Man had released himself three weeks prior and had not been seen in two weeks. No one knew why, but some believe he blamed himself for not pursing a thief that ended up killing a man. Benjamin Parker, the victim's name. "I know you thinking about that man, the Parker one. He was real nice to me, always bring me a cup of coffee on Saturdays and talk with me on Tuesdays," the man said. "You don't get many people who do that. They scared of homeless men, think I'm trying to rob them."

The girl let out a sigh and checked her watch, "You're a great conversationalist, Pappy. These people don't appreciate the fine fellows in the world," she responded, making a 'kid I a candy store' smile appear on the man's face. "Well see now, you're gonna' make me cry. How about you shoo before tears start pouring out and I turn into that Kardashian," he suggested, waving her away. She laughed and pushed to her feet, grabbing the strap from her bag on the ground. "I'll be back tomorrow morning with another apple, don't you go anywhere, now," she sternly said. He grinned, "Where have I got to go? This is my corner."

The girl smiled and ran a hand through her hair, "Bye, Pappy Joe, I'll see you later," she waver, beginning to step away while walking backward. "Bye, Andy!" he called out, returning to his slouch on the wall. Andy hopped away, ducking in between crowds of people and shoving past people hailing cabs. The streets of New York were crowded in the afternoon as all the kids were returning home from school.

As she turned a corner, she saw 'Delmar's Deli', and pranced along, swinging open the door. Almost immediately, Mr. Delmar looked up from where he was sorting through several bills at the register and raised an eyebrow. "Andy, you're two minutes early," he cried out. "What happened to Pappy?" He asked said question because Andy was never early, and never late. She was always exactly on the dot, for anything. The girl let out an airy laugh and grabbed her apron from behind the counter, sliding it over her hair. While tying her hair into a ponytail, she replied, "Pappy's such a chatterbox, you know. I just thought that maybe an extra two minutes of serving cold cuts could do me well," she told him, a simple shrug of her shoulders following.

The girl was infamous to these streets, everyone knew Andy. But no one knew who Andy really was. No one knew where she went to school, where she lived, who her parents were, who her friends were, anything. They all thought they knew her. But there is no record of Andy in the databases anywhere in the world. She erased it all so she could start fresh and leave her past and judgments behind her. She wanted to be left alone from the outside world, while still being involved. How did people hire her? Easy, she lives in the apartment above Delmar's, he is the only one that knows that. She doesn't even have a social security number on file, because she has no file. Of course when she deleted herself from existence, she left her file of herself and all her information on her desk top for future reference if she were ever to need it, but she wouldn't, or at least so she thought. If she ever needed to be a person of New York again, she could just left-click her mouse, change any information she wanted to, and be a registered kid. Not that she would do that. And the best part was that Andy cherished the most, was that she could hack herself off the grid anytime after putting herself back on. She controlled every aspect of her life. And she loved it.

"Take a sandwich home tonight, the meat expires tomorrow," Delmar called out from the back where he was organizing the freezer. "Will do!" she shouted in return, grabbing the broom from the storage closet. She had an apartment above the deli, an apartment that S.H.I.E.L.D. paid for in exchange for her help against Loki and the Chitauri Army. But she still needs a job for everyday necessities such as food, which Andy will debate is the most important component in life and treats it as such. To her disposal, S.H.I.E.L.D. is the only group of people who know who she really is, real name and all. Even after erasing herself from their database, they had hard copies and accounts of all the Avengers proving her existence, and she couldn't stop that, no matter how hard she tried. The Avengers still occasionally keep in contact with her, checking in to see if she's alright. And they don't know that she is more than alright, she's soaring with freedom.

The bell above the door made a chiming noise and Andy looked up, noticing a teenage boy around fifteen stepping inside. His head was covered by a navy blue hood and his hands were stuffed into the front pocket, a blank, sullen look smothered upon his face. Andy glanced behind her and slammed her hand on the bell on the counter, waiting for Mr. Delmar to attend to the boy. "Peter!" the man called, making his way into the restaurant. Andy shuffled away, letting her mind drift to her new job she was starting later that night. She could hear bits and pieces of the conversation Mr. Delmar was having with the boy, vaguely making out 'How is your aunt?', 'How are you?', and 'Your uncle was a great man, never forget that'. In that moment, Andy realized that this boy was Peter Parker, the nephew to Benjamin Parker. Andy wasn't close with Uncle Ben, or Aunt May, for that matter, but she knew them, and they knew her. Everyone did. Ben Parker was one of the only people nice to Pappy Joe, and that made Andy feel content, because she loved Pappy, he was a well-known regular around Queens. And no one deserved to die a death like Uncle Ben. Andy knew what loss felt like, it took her a year to stop grieving every day for her parents. And even then, she wiped herself off the face of the earth because she wanted to be rid of everything. She didn't want to be the girl everyone was sympathetic to, and she didn't want to go into foster care.

"Thanks, Mr. Delmar," the boy said in a soft voice before giving the older man a wave and leaving the store. Andy watched the door close before turning back to the man behind the cashier, "It's been two weeks, right?" she asked, continuing to sweep the broom across the tile of the sandwich shop. "Two weeks and two days, Andy. Poor kid, I can't imagine losing my family like that. If anything happened to my daughter, woo, I'd be so damn angry that I don't even trust myself to behave well-mannered," he scoffed, taking a wipe and pressing it all over the counter. "No one should have to suffer a loss so great," Andy agreed, shaking her head slightly. Delmar raised his eyebrows in response and checked his wrist watch, "You take the next customer, I need to finish with the meat locker," he told her before exiting the room once more.

Delmar knew not to ask about Andy's parents. Everyone did. As far as they knew, the girl was called Andy, with no last name. She was a teenager, she worked at Delmar's, and she they figured she was emancipated because no one ever saw any parents around. That's all anyone needed to know about her. No one really needed to know that her name was Melisande Dubois and she was fourteen with a pair of deceased guardians. Her cover story on her backup file was that she was Melisande Dubois of fifteen years old with a father who had gotten a job relocation from Mississippi so they moved to Queens to start fresh. Very blunt, very vague, but still with enough information for anyone to not ask questions.

But that was the problem, everyone asks questions, no matter how much someone may want them not to.