Chapter 22: Played Like a Fool
"When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell"
- The All-American Rejects

The blonde was back on land, silently watching as all the people began reuniting with their loved ones, it always made her happy to watch them reunite and know that she had some part on their happiness. Well it was great when she was successful, not so much when she had to watch people mourn when she failed. Luckily that wasn't the case that day.

Even as Ember proudly watched the happy families, she was also done with everything all she wanted was to head home. The fifteen year old girl waited for what felt like ages. Her head felt like Thor just smashed it with his hammer, she was ready to sleep for the next year but the billionaire was taking forever. The thing about Ember Snow is that she's still a teenager and she has close to none patience. The blonde was ignoring the incessant buzz from her phone and with every little sound it made made her want to throw it as far as possible. Perhaps it was time to leave before Carter and Angie came looking for her and probably kill her for skipping class.

"What you did back there was impressive" she heard someone say as they walked to stand next to her.

"I would hope so. I feel like I'm about to collapse" she complained. Ember felt like she could barely keep her eyes open, there was no way she could slide back home. "Since you are the one that dragged me here I was hoping you would give me a ride"

"I suppose it's only fair, but we need to make one quick stop"

"What you need to deal with the press?" Ember asked, looking at the line of reporters that were taking pictures of the damaged ferry and asking questions. Thankfully they couldn't care less about a young teenager hiding in the shadows, as far as they knew she wasn't even there.

"Worse. I have to deal with a teenager"

"Oh this is about to get interesting" Ember grinned, knowing Spiderman was in some serious trouble."Where is the little asshole?"

"Probably hiding on top of a building" Stark shrugged, putting on his mask again and propelling himself a couple feet of the ground. "So let's go"

As the blonde was about to follow him, the throbbing headache stopped her. She went overboard with her powers and if she even tried to fly or slide around she would end up falling. Even if she wanted nothing ,ore but to see Stark giving Spider-Man a piece of his mind she needed a bit of rest.

"On second thought i'll wait here"

Tony frowned and took a quick look at the girl. Her face was sickly pale not to mention her hands were shaking like crazy "You don't look so good" He said, genuinely worried. After all she was just a teenager and if something happened to her on his watch he could never forgive himself. "I could call Happy - "

"It's fine, " Ember cut him off, taking a sit on the crate next to them, attempting to give him a reassuring smile. "I'll wait"

❅

"Previously on Peter Screws the Pooch" Iron Man began once he found Peter Parker sitting on top of a building without his mask, looking sadly to the ground. "I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do"

You could hear the annoyance slipping through Stark's words and still the teenage boy wasn't even able to face him. Peter knew he messed up but he really tried his best, maybe if had some help he would've been able to succeed. "Is everyone okay?"

"No thanks to you"

That caught Peter's attention, all he was trying to do was impress Tony and he was just diminishing his efforts. "No thanks to me? Those weapons were out there, and I tried to tell you about it but you didn't listen." At least he tried to stop them instead of ignoring the problem and doing nothing. "None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me. If you even cared, you'd actually be here."

But he did care, he cared a lot. Tony Stark was many things and throughout his life he's made mistakes, and his done all he can to correct them. He saw a bit of himself on the boy from Queens, he saw who he could've been but wasn't. Even when Peter Parker lost his family he remained kind hearted, he didn't lose himself like Tony once did. Tony saw someone pure and innocent yet smart and selfless, and he wanted to help him be better.

"I did listen, kid." Tony said, stepping out of his suit to face the boy. "Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know I was the only one who believed in you?Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid." He said, each time stepping closer to the teenager.

"I'm 15" Peter said, trying to ignore the sting he felt with each word that left Tony's mouth.

"No, this is where you zip it, all right? The adult is talking." Tony snapped, angry and a bit disappointed. "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. I understand" Peter tried to apologize. He hadn't realized that Tony actually cared for him and that he worried about him.

"Sorry doesn't cut it"

"I just wanted to be like you." Peter admitted. He spent all this time trying to make Tony proud that he didn't realize he was already proud.

"And I wanted you to be better." Tony's words cut deep, Peter couldn't even look at him in the eyes anymore. The teenager knew he failed Tony and he couldn't help but feel like he was letting a paternal figure down. "It's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back."

"For how long?" Peter asked, feeling like his whole world was ending.

"Forever"

"No, no. Please" Peter begged but his cries fell into deaf ears "Please, this is all I have.
I'm nothing without this suit."

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it. Okay?" Tony argued, his decision was final, he was doing what he believes was best for Peter. He couldn't pin point the exact moment when he became such a dad but there he was arguing with a teenager about responsibility "God, I sound like my dad."

"I don't have any other clothes" Peter muttered, knowing he had lost the argument and there was nothing left to do.

"I think thats the least of your problems" An angry voice said from the corner, catching the attention of the duo.

In the heat of the argument they both failed to notice that Ember Snow had walked into the roof had not only listened to at least half the argument but she now knew who was behind the Spider-Man mask.  Michelle Jones had been right all along and the truth hurt more than Ember ever would admit but as she stared right onto those sad brown puppy dog eyes there was no denying it.

Peter Parker was Spider-Man and he had played her like a fool.

❅

Peter sat in the front of the car  trying his best to ignore Happy Hogan's judgmental glances, while wearing the most ridiculous outfit Tony Stark could find in such short notice. Ember was yet to even look at him since they walked away from the roof, while Tony just told him to get in the car and to not say a word. It was safe to say that no one in the car was happy with him and he couldn't help but feel like a disappointment.

"I thought you were going to wait for me back on the port" Tony said from the backseat to the blonde girl sitting next to him.

"You were taking to long" Ember answered, still looking through the window.

"Just to be clear I'm only giving you a ride because you were great back there" Tony told her, trying to get her to stop frowning. "Otherwise I wouldn't be stuck with two moody teens"

"And if it weren't for you two idiots I could be eating a cheeseburger" Ember said, glaring at Peter through the rearview mirror. No matter how murderous the look was, Peter was kinda glad for the small interaction. It was the most the girl had acknowledged him since the roof, maybe even since their fight  back at his apartment.

"Oh that actually sounds like a great idea" Tony hummed to himself before turning to look at his friend and driver "After we drop her off be sure to stop at Shake Shack"

"So I save the day and get nothing but the jackass gets free dinner?" Ember scoffed, feeling her stomach growl in complaint.

"No. You get a ride home and the 'jackass', as you kindly put it, gets to walk the rest of the way home" Tony said, Peter was about to intervine but he knew his opinion wasn't exactly welcomed at the moment.

"Well aren't you the father of the year"

"Maybe next time ill get you a nice suit, until then you get nothing but a nice ride" Stark added, a new idea coming to mind.

"There better not be a next time, I feel like I'm about to pass out" Ember complained, not really caring about what he was implying.

"I tend to have that effect on people"

Ember rolled her eyes at his big ego, as they turned the corner next to her house. "You can park here" Happy did as instructed and the girl turned to give one last look to Tony Stark "Thanks for the ride"

"Thanks for the help" Tony said, sticking out his hand for the girl to shake. Ember accepted the gesture, both parts silently agreeing that even if they weren't friends they had mutual respect for each other and for now that was more than enough.

Peter watched as the blonde girl walked out of the car giving Happy a quick thanks but not even sparing him a glance. "Thus is as far as you go Mr. Parker" Tony announced coldly, just like Ember he didn't even look at him as he walked out of the car. Just as he step outside that car was quick to leave, not caring about the teenage boy left standing in the rain.

Hugging his arms to his chest since his 'I survived my trip to New York' shirt barely did anything to protect from the cold, Peter turned to walk home and face his aunt. That was until he made a quick decision and began heading down the opposite way.

❅

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in" The cheerful voice of Angela Forbes was what greeted Ember as soon as she stepped into the bakery.

"Hey, Ange" Ember greeted her sheepishly, taking a sit in the stool by the counter. It was nice to be greeted by Angela's welcoming smile, especially after such a rough day. However, it was short lived once she remembered all the missed calls on her phone "How mad is he?"

"Lucky for you I picked up the phone when the principal called and your father is still at work" Angela scolded the teenager before fetching her some of her favorite pastries and offering her a kind smile "You're looking a bit pale, why don't you eat something?"

"Thanks, Ange" Ember smiled thankfully at her before taking a big bite of the chocolate conchas, her stomach instantly thanking her for finally having some food. "Where's MJ?"

"I gave her the day off, it's been a very calm day thanks to that rain" the woman answered, putting a glass of water in front of the girl who was practically her own daughter. It was quiet for a short while, as Ember kept eating until Angela began talking again "I heard about the ferry" Ember sighed, knowing there was no avoiding the fact that she skipped school and threw herself into am extremely dangerous mission. Again.

Before she could explain, the sound of the door and Angela's sigh cut her off. She turned around to see the last person she wanted to see at the moment walk into the bakery with begging eyes.

"Oh, Peter you poor thing. You must be freezing" Angela gushed, rushing out from behind the counter to take a look at the teenage boy. "Your aunt has been worried sick! She said the school called and-" The woman cut herself off once her brain began putting some pieces together. Then she turned to give Ember a threatening glare "Ember Snow did you skip school to hang out with a boy?"

"Of course not!" Ember's eyes widened at what her stepmother probably thought happened "Angie, I swear I didn't! Honestly, I don't even know what he's doing here"

"I'm really sorry Mrs. Snow I just-" Peter began to explain rather shyly before looking directly at Ember for the first time since Washington "We really need to talk"

Aware that there was something clearly bothering the two teens Angela decided it was best to leave them to it, "I'm gonna go call May, you two can head upstairs and grab a blanket for Peter"

"Bu-" Angela raised her hand, cutting Ember off and gave her a glare that said there was no room for arguing "Just be sure to leave the door open" was the las thing she said before making her way to the kitchen.

Once upstairs Ember didn't even spare the boy a glance as she looked in the closet for a blanket. The faster she found it the faster he could leave.

"Look Em," Peter began saying only for the blonde to throw a blanket at his face.

"There" Ember announced, before going to the front door to open it "Now get the hell put of my house"

"Come on, Em" Peter begged to which she only glowed her eyes at him. "Em, we need to talk"

"I don't wanna hear it"

"I was going to tell you I swear, I just" Peter tried again, raising his arms in surrender as he tried to walk closer to the girl.

"Oh really? Was this before or after you said I was too much for you?" Ember snapped, taking a step further from him. "I tried to talk to you but you didn't care. So, why should I car now?"

"I made a mistake and I'm sorry!" Peter argued, his eyes begging for her to listen to him. Begging her to forgive him.

"You've made plenty" Ember seethed, not budging even a little bit.

"I-I know" Peter sighed, looking sadly at the floor before building up the courage to look at her again "Just tell me how to fix this"

"You know how much it hurt?" Ember began, taking a challenging step closer to him her eyes filled with anger "To have someone I trusted shut me out all because of something I can't control, because of the way I was born" She took one step closer "To have someone not even willing to listen to what I had to say, to not even care? I thought you were afraid of me that you thought I was monster just like she did!" By now Ember was screaming and her eyes were beginning to tear up. Peter opened his mouth to try and calm her down he didn't think she was a monster and he didn't like that she could ever think that. It wasn't until that moment that he realized he hurt her and he could never forgive himself for that.

"But turns out you were hiding the same secret and you didn't even have the guts to tell me once you found out about me " Ember scoffed, clenching her fists in order to try and control her anger "No. Instead you left me there thinking it was all my fault, that I always make people leave cause they cant stand to even be near me! You're such a hypocrite! I liked you, I trusted you!" Her cries almost broke him, she kept so much pain inside of her and he never noticed. "Just when I thought I could really like someone and have them like me back you came and proved me wrong!"

Peter felt like the worst guy ever. He had know Ember Snow for years and he never realized how broken she was, he never realized that behind all those smiles she gave him hid the biggest pain. To him she was close to perfect but she didn't see it that way and that pained him. She was right he was a hypocrite. If he hadn't been so worried about impressing Tony or trying to find the Vulture he would have seen how much of an asshole he was to her.

"I'm so sorry" Peter cried out, trying to reach out for her only to have her slap his arms away.

"Just get out, I don't need your pity"

And just like that Ember went to her room and left Peter standing by the front door, feeling like the biggest jerk on Earth. That day Peter Parker lost more than his suit. He lost the girl.

❅
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I tried to write that last scene for about a hundred times and I still don't like it!

Anyway, I made a couple of 'Avenge the Fallen' posters for my baby Ember and I kinda like them, I also posted a couple more in my OC's book if you wanna check it out.

Love you 3000 guys!

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