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The day was going by particularly slowly. Winning the decathlon had wore the team out, though it was not enough to keep them from wanting to explore the many attractions DC had to offer. The team decided to take a small field trip to the Washington Monument, something of which captured the attention of the entire team apart from two members—Andi and Michelle.

Andi remained on the ground with Michelle, her attention on the science textbook in her lap. The rest of the group had gone up into the monument, but after the conclusion of the decathlon, Andi lost any motivation to do anything except sit and watch as her friends indulged in the numerous historical wonders the nation's Capitol had to offer.

In reality, the young girl was worried. She was worried about Peter. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd gotten himself into some kind of trouble. She had no clue where he was, nor did Ned. She'd been informed that he not only hacked into the very intricate systems of his suit, but he also removed the suit's tracker just before she left to go swimming with the rest of the group. Looking back on the situation, she figured she should have remained with the two boys, but it was too late for her to turn back. Peter would show up sooner or later, and when he did, she would be there to scold him for whatever venture he decided to go on.

Several moments passed by. Andi was reading her science textbook diligently when the familiar tingling sensation in the back of her neck startled her. Her attention was quickly averted toward the top of the monument, where debris was dropping down. Andi could see where the concrete had split, which only further startled her. She wondered what was going on. She wondered just how much danger her friends were in, but she could find no answer to her questions, nor could she find the time to react to the situation.

The familiar red and blue of what she knew to be Peter's suit could be seen in her peripheral, and she turned to look at him immediately, her brown eyes wide. She could hear him speaking, most likely to the AI Tony had installed in his suit. Thankfully, he was within a distance in which Michelle could not make out his voice.

"What the hell is going on?" Andi questioned with a startled tone.

Peter only glanced at her, but could not respond before Michelle spoke.

"Our friends are up there!" she exclaimed.

"What?" A surprised Peter looked over to Michelle. "Uh, don't worry, ma'am. Everything's gonna be okay."

Peter ran off, leaving the two girls to stare after him. Andi let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair. She was scared, scared for the lives of her friends, and while she knew Peter was capable of handling the situation himself, she couldn't just leave him to do so. She had a duty to fulfill, and that duty not only included watching over Peter himself, but watching over and protecting the humans around her.

"Okay," Andi breathed out. She threw her textbook to the ground and began walking away, only to stop after being questioned by Michelle.

"Hey where are you going?"

"Uh," Andi cleared her throat, "To throw up?"

Michelle gave the girl a strange look, but didn't question her any further. She only turned her attention back to the monument.

Once free of familiar eyes, Andi pulled her mask from her bag and pulled it over her head, followed by the hood of her jacket, and sprinted to the far side of the monument. She found an entrance and made her way inside, despite the resistance from the guards ushering occupants out of the building. She refused to leave until she knew her friends were safe. She refused to leave until she knew the remaining occupants were safe. She refused to leave until she knew Peter was safe.

Without caring who was watching her, Andi found her way over to the elevator and shoved the doors open. She jumped inside the elevator shaft, attaching herself to the wall before beginning the ascent upward. She was quick on her feet, but that didn't seem to be doing her much good at all. From her spot on the wall of the elevator shaft, she could see the car her friends were in, and she could see it slipping with each passing second. There was nothing she could do from where she was at, other than accelerate the speed in which the car came crashing down. It would without a doubt result in catastrophe.

Andi took a deep breath and continued climbing, but stopped the moment she heard a loud creak, followed by the sound of screaming. The elevator car shifted downward, and her breath caught in her throat. She feared for the worst, but before the car could get too far, it stopped. Peter had finally shown up, which relieved Andi, though she still remained in defensive mode. She continued climbing, but stopped again when the car began to plummet. It caught itself on a stray piece of debris, and from her spot, Andi could see a blur of red falling into the car with the remaining occupants. She swallowed the lump in her throat and remained in her spot, ready to catch the car were it to fall again. She refused to stand by and watch as her friends died. She refused to.

Peter was pulling the car upward, that much she could determine, as it seemed to be gradually growing farther and farther away from her. She remained in her spot, though. She was waiting and listening, waiting and listening for any sign that Peter may need her help.

Suddenly, a scream could be heard. Andi watched with wide eyes as the car began to plummet once more, and just as she was about to dive down for it, she noticed Peter holding Liz safely within his grasp. She let out a sigh of relief after realizing that her friends were safe and she turned her head, ready to head back down, until she heard a snap. Peter was falling.

With a gasp, Andi dove down after him, her arm outstretched as if to grab him, though he was too far for her to grab him physically. She sighed and closed her eyes, releasing a strand of web from the spinneret in her forearm, before opening her eyes back up. She shot another web from her left forearm, attaching herself to the wall of the elevator shaft. She felt a jerk and looked down to see she had caught Peter, which startled him greatly. She lowered him to the ground, releasing him from her hold.

There was nowhere for Andi to go, nowhere for her to escape. For so long she'd kept her secret, and while her mind was working through numerous strategies to prevent revealing her identity to Peter, she knew there was no use. She made her decision, and she did not want to leave him with questions she would eventually be forced to answer.

"Who's there?" Peter's voice echoed through the shaft. Andi could see him looking up at her figure on the wall, but he could not see her face. It was hidden by her mask and the hood she pulled onto her head before making her way into the building.

Andi let out a sigh before dropping down in front of him at the bottom of the stairs. She landed soundly on her feet, her knees bent. She stood up to look at him, removing her mask and the hood from her head. Peter seemed to freeze the moment he saw her face, and very slowly he took his mask off.

"Andi?" he questioned in disbelief.

"That's me," she responded carefully. She was still very unaware of how he would react to the reveal, so she wanted to take what she said into consideration. She couldn't risk him running away from her. She didn't think she would be able to bear it.

Peter was at a loss for words, though. He had no clue what to say to her. All he knew was that he was upset, upset that he'd been lied to when he'd been so open about his identity. He felt betrayed. Andi was one of his closest friends. Why wouldn't she disclose to him such an enormous chunk of information regarding who she really was?

"How–I mean–what the hell?" Peter spluttered. "How are you–why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to," Andi told him. "I wanted to tell you so badly, but I couldn't."

"Why?" he asked her, his tone slightly harsh. His brown eyes were filled with sadness and anger, but Andi didn't need to look at him to know what he was feeling. She could sense it.

"I—" Andi stopped, unaware if she should tell him the reason behind it all. There was no doubt in her mind it would only make him feel worse about the situation, but she couldn't hide from him any longer. She cared too much about him to leave him in the dark. She cared too much about him to leave him with questions that would only haunt him.

Andi could not find the words to say before Peter very quickly made his way over to her. He slammed her into the wall, his defensive mode turned to the highest dial. At the moment, Andi was not a friend. She was a threat. He knew nothing about her, and he knew nothing of her true intentions. It was gnawing furiously within the confines of his mind. "Who are you?" he exclaimed angrily.

Andi swallowed the lump in her throat and met his eyes. She knew she could overpower Peter with ease, but the last thing she wanted to do was give him even more of a reason not to trust her. "I'm Andi," she assured him.

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not," she spoke softly, very gently, but firmly, removing herself from his hold. She was much stronger than Peter, which only further surprised him. "My name is Andromeda Andrews, Peter. Tony asked me to look after you."

Peter took a step back and tried to process the information he was receiving. "Why would Mr. Stark ask a random 16-year-old to look after me? Why would he ask anyone to look after me?"

"I dunno, maybe because you tend to get yourself into trouble from time to time," Andi spoke matter-of-factly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "You haven't had your powers for long, so you're bound to screw things up every once in a while as you're learning to use them, which you have done. He needed someone he could trust to look after you and keep you safe while also remaining low-key, and in my honest opinion, I wish he'd chosen someone else to do the job."

"Why is that?" Peter asked her. "Are you tired of babysitting?"

Andi pursed her lips and shook her head. There was only one reason behind why she wished Tony had chosen someone else to complete the task for her, one that she could not and would not bring herself to admit to him or even herself. "I guess it's because I got myself into something I thought I could get out of..."

"Well, no one's asking you to stay, and I definitely don't need you to, so why don't you just run on back to Mr. Stark," Peter spoke harshly. "I'm sure he needs you a lot more than I do."

Peter's words caused a dull ache in Andi's chest, but before she had the chance to respond, he was gone, leaving her alone to sift through the emotions she never knew she was capable of feeling.