"The prettiest smile hides the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears. And the kindest hearts have felt the most pain."

It was just past midnight when Liz decided it was time for everyone to go to their rooms and rest well for the competition. Surprisingly, Ember actually had a good time with the team, it definitely cheered her up and took her mind off from her trusting issues.

"Thank you," Ember said to Michelle as the two walked to their room, tired and ready to collapse.  "for making me go, I had fun" she continued after Michelle gave her a questioning look, unsure of what the blonde was thanking her for.

"Any time E" Michelle nodded, smiling. It wasn't fun watching your best friend going through a hard time, but knowing she was able to help her get better was always great. Michelle and Ember had been there for each other for just three years and yet to them it seemed like it had been their whole lives, they just couldn't imagine a life where the two weren't best friends.

The two reached their room and began getting ready for bed. Ember was putting on her pijamas after taking a quick shower, Michelle was already in bed reading her book, waiting for her blonde friend to turn off the lights, when she remembered something. "By the way your phone was ringing while we were at the pool"

The short blonde walked out of the bathroom, a bit confused by what Michelle said " But I left my phone here" she said, completely certain that she left her phone charging before heading for the pool.

"Your other phone" the brunette answered, grabbing a small black phone from her backpack. Ember realized what she meant and she quickly approached her friend.

It was a phone Steve gave her for emergencies, so she could call him if she ever needed help. Of course the war hero was in hiding and had made no attempts in contacting the teenager, but he wasn't the only one with that number. Ember decided to use that phone to communicate with Spider-Man and if he called her then he could be in trouble.

She mentally cursed herself as she noticed she had three missed calls from the hero and a voice message. When he finally calls she doesn't pick up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ember questioned frenetically clicking to hear the voice mail, praying nothing happened to her partner.

"Uh, hey Spider-Man here." Spider man's voice came from the phone, both girls shuffling closer to listen carefully to his message "I guess you're busy. Just wanted you to know I'm, uh, tracking some of the bad guys, don't worry I have it covered and I' ll call again if anything happens, and, uh, yeah that's it. So, uh, Spider-Man out, I guess. Suit lady end call, please?"

"Suit lady?" Michelle asked, confused by the voicemail they just heard. "He's a dork, isn't he?"

Ember just shrugged her shoulders, worried about the boy going after the bad guys by himself. What if something happened? She couldn't let him get hurt but he called at least an hour ago and he said he would call again if he needed anything. Then again, something bad could've happened to him and he wasn't able to call. For all she knew the boy was lying on an alley seriously hurt or worst dead. 'No, don't even go there Ember. He said he had it covered and you promised you would trust him' she though, pacing around the room debating what to do next.

"You think he's in trouble?" Michelle asked, watching her worried friend closely, feeling stupid for not giving her the phone as soon as it rang, but Ember was having fun downstairs and Michelle didn't want to ruin it with Ice Sorceress stuff.

"I don't know" Ember sighed sitting on her bed, thinking about calling him but if he was still following the bad guys and his phone rang like last time she would just expose him instead of helping him. The blonde was still debating what to do when an idea finally popped into her head. Ember hurried to her bag grabbing her laptop and sitting on the desk. Michelle got up from her bed, getting closer to her friend to see what she was doing.

"You put a tracker on him?" Michelle gasped, watching her friend opening her program and entering the data she used for Spider-Man's tracker.

" I installed it to his suit after the whole Germany thing, just in case" Ember answered, never tacking her eyes off the screen "I completely forgot about it, I never even tried it"

"A bit obsessive don't you think?" Michelle commented before her friend let out a happy squeal.

"It works!" Ember cheered, taking a closer look to the moving red dot on her screen. "Why isn't he in New York?" She frowned once she realized that the hero was closer than she expected.

"Maybe he's here for decathlon" Michelle shrugged it off, getting a sarcastic laugh in response.The blonde rolled her eyes at her friend's comment, getting up to get her cloak and go after the idiotic hero.

"He's gone" Michelle suddenly said, surprised as she noticed how the flickering dot disappeared.

"What?!" Ember snapped, running back to look at the screen, where there was nothing but an empty map.

"He was right there and then he just vanished" said the brunette using her finger to point where the red dot last was. It was in the middle of no where only a building in sight.

"DODC-VO5? " Ember read out loud, looking at the only sign near to where Michelle was pointing "What even is-"

"Got it!" Michelle announced before Ember could even finish her sentence, then began reading the information from her phone "The Damage Control Deep Storage Vault, the most secure facility on the eastern seaboard."

"The walls must be blocking my signal" Ember groaned, softly massaging her temples, she was way to tired and she could feel a headache coming "The idiot must've gotten locked in there"

"Well if he did, he won't be able to come out tonight" The brunette pointed out, only adding to Ember's stress.

"Im going after him" Ember decided, grabbing a bag with her cloak hidden inside, just in case she bumped into someone on the way out.

"And do what?" Michelle argued, grabbing the blonde's shoulder before she could reach the door "it says here that the doors have a time lock, you won't be able to open them"

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" The blonde snapped, her hair and eyes glowing for a split second before she managed to calm down. Michelle didn't even flinch, she knew her friend was just stressed and that she would never harm her. "Sorry" Ember muttered, sheepishly.

Michelle waved it off with her hand before answering the blonde's question "Listen, you promised you were going to trust him. Right now you can't help him, so let him prove to you that he can handle it"

Ember sighed in defeat, knowing her friend was right, as usual. The blonde nodded, dropping her bag to the floor, deciding that it was time for her to live up to her promise and time for her to believe in Spider-Man.

❅

Peter was laying on top of a truck, wearing his decathlon jacket. He had been trapped inside the vault for what seemed like ages, bored out of his mind with only his suit to talk to. That was weird, but it was his reality, he was going to be trapped there the whole night and he had already studied the new functions of his suit and everything he could think of for decathlon.

"Should I tell Ember that I'm Spider-Man?" He asked, his mind still replaying his conversation with Michelle.

"Who is Ember?" The suit, Karen, asked the teenager.

"Who's Ember?" Peter chuckled, thinking about the blonde "We've known each other since we were like three, she's the best. She's awesome. And-" he stopped talking for a minute, trying to put into words what he felt for Ember Snow was hard for him. From what Michelle told him earlier and from how the blonde had been acting towards him, he believed she could possibly like him back, and just that little hope made him happy. He knew he liked her, he had known for a while now, but at the same time he was scared to say it out loud, till now. "I really like her. I really want to tell her, but it's difficult you know?'Hey, I'm Spider-Man.' "

"What's difficult about that?" Karen asked, not understanding why he couldn't just tell the girl he liked the truth.

"What if she doesn't want that?" He thought he knew almost everything about Ember Snow and he liked everything about her. He knew he could trust her but he didn't want her to get hurt, and he didn't want to get hurt either. "What if me telling her just ruines what we have now?"

"Well, if she's as great as you say, she would stand by your side no matter what"

❅

The next morning Ember and Michelle got ready and met everyone in the lobby. Everyone was nervous and Ember was no exception the blonde was clutching her study cards so tight that her knuckles turned white. She had been studying for this for over a year and the whole school was counting on them. It also didn't help that she was yet to hear anything from Spider-Man but she was trying to keep those thought out of her mind and focus on her cards.

"Where's Peter?" Liz's words caught everyones attention, everyone noticing that Ned had arrived but there was no sign of Peter Parker.

"Who?" Ned chuckled nervously, trying to avoid the subject but finally caved once everyone glared at him "he, uh, got sick" Ned lied, not sounding too sure but it was the first thing he could think of under pressure. "He puked all nigh." he added once everyone gave him disbelief looks.

It took a few minutes but in the end Ned was capable of talking Liz and Mr. Harrington out of going to check on Peter, arguing that his friend was sleeping and they were going to be late. It seemed like Mr. Harrington was the only one who believed Ned, the senior looked mad from Peter's absence while the rest of the team began freaking out.

Ember was worried, it wasn't like Peter to bail on them, then again it wasn't like him to lie, the blonde doubted he was sick when just the night before he looked healthy, a bit weirded out from her depressed attitude but he definitely wasn't sick and the whole team ate the same dinner so it couldn't be the food. Michelle nudged the blonde, interrupting her thoughts and the two follow their classmates into the bus.

Fast forward a couple hours and the whole team were on stage tied with the other team. Ember felt pretty good, she answered a few questions and everyone had earned the team at least one point, well everyone except Flash but that was no surprise. In fact they all tried to appear confident and collected while Flash looked like he was about to pass out any minute, it was funny because on their way there everyone was freaking out over Peters absence while Flash was extremely cocky saying he was going to win the trophy without 'Penis Parker'

"We have now entered sudden death. The next correct answer wins the championship" As soon as the hostess gave the last question every member of both teams began writing frenetically, trying to find the correct answer and take the trophy home.

Michelle, surprised everyone when she hit the bell within just a minute, the hostess giving her the word, and  the whole team looking a the brunette expectantly sitting on the edge of their seats.

"Zero"

"That is correct. Midtown takes the championship" the whole team went completely crazy, Ember and Ned hugging the life out of Michelle before the rest joined them as Flash began jumping across the stage to collect the trophy. Ember rarely saw her best friend that happy, Michelle wasn't even trying to conceal her smile from everyone, and in that moment Ember felt proud. That was her best friend and she deserved all the praise.

Later that day they were all on their way to the Washington Monument, they all had big smiles on their faces and Flash refused to let go of the trophy.

"You guys, I am so proud of you" said Liz, smiling at her team.

Michelle and Ember drifted apart from the group, watching them walk towards the monument. Ember like the good tourist she is began taking pictures of everything around her, she even managed to snap a few good ones of Michelle. She didn't like taking pictures but Angela and Carter wouldn't stop nagging the girl, demanding to see some pictures were she appeared and Ember complied, after all she didn't get to leave New York very often and these were memories she wanted to keep forever.

"Taking it all in, girls?" Mr. Harrington asked approaching the two friends.

"Oh, yeah, I just don't want to celebrate something that was built by slaves" that was such a Michelle thing to say, and as per usual the brunette had a fair point.

"I'm sure the Washington Monument
wasn't built by-" the teacher began saying, looking at the blonde and a guard next to them waiting for them to back him up. He looked a bit terrified when the guard made a gesture to say the teenager was in fact correct "Okay. Enjoy your book."

"Thanks" After the teacher went to catch up with the team Michelle turned to see her friend giving her puppy eyes "Just go" said the brunette, smiling at the excited blonde as she practically skipped towards the entrance.

Ned smiled as she went to stand with him while they waited in line, they stayed silent for a second until the blonde tried to start a conversation "So, who shot first Han or Greedo?" The blonde suddenly asked the first thing that came to mind, this trip made her realize that perhaps it was time for her to start opening up to other people, she wasn't sure if she was ready to open up romantically but making some friends could be a start. Baby steps.

"What?" Ned turned to look at her wide eyed, unsure if he heard right.

"Oh, sorry, I, uh-" she apologized, nervously fidgeting with the sleeves of the jacket tied around her waist. Ember wasn't sure how to make friends, the last real friend she made was Michelle and it was because they both got detention for punching a bully, of course she liked to believe she was friends with Peter but it was different they befriended when they were kids and it was because they were fighting for a swing. Come to think of it, she never had many friends and it seemed like the ones she made always involved some kind of fighting, and perhaps starting a fight wouldn't be the best way to befriend Ned. So all she could do was find something they had in common and start a conversation, right? "Peter mentioned you liked Star Wars and I thought maybe-"

" I love Star Wars, its just I thought girls found that, you know, lame" Ned chuckled nervously, he could see Ember felt embarrassed and that she wasn't used to casually talking to someone. He got that after all he was socially awkward himself.

"I think Star Wars is iconic" The blonde smiled, for once shrugging off the fact that she wasn't normal.

"I know!" Ned exclaimed a bit too loudly, managing to catch the attention of the people next to them. "Sorry" he muttered, trying to ignore the weird looks people were giving him but Ember smiled, he was weird and awkward just like her maybe she could actually make a new friend.

"So, who shot first?" Ember asked again, she knew the answer was Han but the question always seemed to start a debate among Star Wars fans and she wanted to know what Ned thought.

Ned smiled but before he could answer his phone began ringing and the teenager couldn't help but let out sigh of relief as he saw who was calling, he sent a small apology to the short blonde and went to answer the call.

"Peter, are you okay?" Ember's attention snapped towards him once she heard the name of the boy who hunted her thoughts. Ned looked at the blonde who was looking at him, he smiled nervously and began lowering his voice. Ember only managed to catch a few things but from what she had heard Peter's sickness was just a lie Ned said to cover up whatever it was Peter Parker was doing. There was a part of her that wanted to grab Ned's phone and just talk to Peter, she wanted to talk to him, make sure he was alright, it wasn't like Peter to bail on his responsibilities and she was worried about what could've happened that made him go missing for almost an entire day.

"Miss, your things on the belt, please" said a guard stopping Ember from trying to hear anything else. As she went through security, she only saw Liz taking the phone from Ned's hands, a bit rude in Ember's eyes but she said nothing after all she was just thinking about doing it herself but she was being a coward, afraid to deal with Peter and her feelings.

Finally, Liz left the phone and the group of students were able to get into the elevator for their tour. The guide was a little weird and the way she talked made Ember wish she would've stayed with Michelle, she just made everything sound plain boring. For some reason at some point in the ride Mr. Harrington began trying to talk about his love life with the guide and at that point Ember thought it couldn't get any worse.

That was until an explosion went off.

It seemed like the whole monument was shaking for that split second as a beam of light came out of nowhere and went through the ceiling. Everyone around her began to panic as they noticed the ceiling looked like it was about to fall apart, but Ember barely noticed it, she was trying to figure out what happened. The blonde had seen something like this before at the ATM robbery and when Spider-Man and Ice Sorceress went after those guys selling weapons. She even had blisters in her hand from being shot with something that look just like that beam, only this time it was stronger and the damage was definitely bigger. The first thing that came to mind was the object she found lying on the ground after the persecution, but it didn't make sense she gave that to Spider-Man. How would that thing end up on an elevator in the Washington Monument? Maybe they were being attacked but what would those criminals get from targeting a decathlon team? That would only make sense if they somehow found out her secret identity but that was a long shot. That's when her eyes caught sight of Ned's bag lying on the floor with a burning hole on it. It seemed like the beam came from it, but why would such a powerful weapon end up on Ned Leeds backpack?

Ned seemed to be the only one who noticed her glancing suspiciously at his bag and he was so nervous when her questioning green eyes met his, she was smart and he knew she figured out the explosion came from something he was carrying. Before Ember could think more of it or even say anything, the guide opened the emergency door and began getting out to help the kids get to safety.

"Okay, who's next?" Mr Harrington asked, looking at the short blonde. Instead of going up Ember gently pushed Liz forward trying to get everyone else to safety, it was just who she was, she would put herself in danger just to save everyone else.

Liz smiled at her thankfully before going up now only Flash, Ned, Mr. Harrington and Ember remained in danger, the last three were trying to keep calm while Flash looked ready to pass out. It seemed like the elevator was less stable by the second but they were all so close to making it out.

"Ember you go now" Ned said, once the senior made it out, gently pushing the blonde forward like she did with Liz

"Me, it's my turn" Flash snapped, getting Ember out of the way and eagerly trying to climb through the door never letting go of the trophy, ignoring as they all scolded him. He wasn't too careful either, Flash was so eager to make it out that he was trashing around careless of the amount of weight he was adding to the sensible elevator.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man was frantically climbing up the structure, trying to reach his friends on time with only Karen's voice guiding him through everything, even if every comment she made seemed to sent him into panic mode. He finally made it to the top southwest window, where he made the mistake of looking to the ground and what could be his deadly fall. "What's wrong? You've reached the southwest window. Why are you hesitating?"

"It's fine.I've just never been this high before." Peter answered taking deep breaths and getting ready ti break the glass, trying to ignore Karen's comment about his parachute. "Why is it not breaking?" Peter asked as he kicked and kicked with all his might and still nothing happened.

"It's four-inch ballistic glass.You'll have to create more momentum." Karen answered.

A very stupid and risky idea popped into Peter's head, but no matter how idiotic it was he went on with it, after all he wasn't one to let innocent people die and certainly not people he cared about. He shot a web at the top of the structure and began to swing from it and then land on the window, each time with more force.

"This is D.C. Metro Police. Identify yourself." A voice said from the emerging helicopter, only adding to the boy's stress.

Spider-Man took a second to think, ignoring the orders from the officer behind him. He took a quick look through the window and saw the elevator. Arely hanging on and there were still members of the team inside, he couldn't see Ned or Ember, not even Liz he could see Flash climbing but the elevator would hold on for much longer. Time was running out and he needed to think fast, the idea popped into his head and he climbed to the very top of the monument. Not backing up he suddenly jumped backwards and flipped over the helicopter, just as he was falling he shit a web from his wrist, swinging from it and flying straight through the window.

As Spider-Man broke through the glass, the elevator finally gave in, its occupants screaming in fear. The super hero barely made it on time but in the end he managed to slide all the way towards the glass doors and catching the elevator with his web just when everyone thought all hope was lost.

Ember and the two men trapped with her stumbled to the floor form the rough catch, but they were alive. Spider-Man saved them and for once in her life the blonde didn't even tried to make sense of why and how he was there, she was just glad the hero managed to save them all. Perhaps she spoke to soon, it only took a second for the hero's web to snap and send him flying to the floor with them, and they were all falling again. Shaking the pain out of his head and trying to block the scream from the other three, Peter managed to shoot another web and grab onto the ceiling, stopping them from falling.

"Hey, how you doing?" He said to the shocked people getting on their feet, staring at him in awe. "Don't worry. I got you."

"Yes! Yes." Ned began cheering on, almost jumping up and down and making the elevator move along him sending the others into panic.

"Hey, hey, hey" Spider-Man called out, tightening his grip on the web "Big guy, quit moving around."

"I'm sorry, sir."

Using his super strength the masked hero began pulling them upwards, till they reached the door where everyone was impressed with the boy's success. The security guards were quick to approach to help them out. One thing was clear, Ember wasn't getting inside that metal death trap again, from now on Ember Snow would only take the stairs.

"Ember, come on" the hero called out, not even realizing his mistake, he just wanted to get her to safety.

Her face furrowed in confusion, how did he know her name? Ember Snow had never met Spider-Man, at least not as herself. Still, she let it go, she would think about that later.

"You two go first" Ember said, trying to hide how much she wanted to get out of there, looking at Ned and Mr. Harrington. Others came before her, that's what she did, a monster would do the oposite.

Spider-Man nodded doubtfully, there was a part of him that wanted to just grab her himself and get her out first, but he didnt. Instead he went with the other side that admired her bravery and selflessness, her willingness to save people she barely talked to instead of saving herself first.

He helped Mr. Harrington and Ned out, and just when Ember was getting out, the ceiling where Spider-Man  was standing broke and the blonde was falling to her death. She screamed, she could barley breath by how fast she was going. Ember could use her powers but in that moment she couldn't bring herself to do it, she was terrified, thinking she was going to die.
Spider-Man couldn't reach her, she was already to far, he began going down, determined to save her. And he did it. He grabbed onto a beam and as fast as lighting shot a web that wrapped around the blonde's hand.  It happened so fast, it was merely for a second, but it happened and he saw it. In that quick second where he caught her hand, Peter saw her eyes glow white.

❅

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