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you're the talk of the morning

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It was the beginning of the week, and for Andi this meant going back to school to watch over the one person that didn't want her around. She was still very unhappy about the events that'd taken place over the weekend, but she could not change what happened despite how much she wished to.

Andi kept her head low as she pushed her way through Midtown's ridiculous number of students. All she wanted was to get to her locker, get to her classes, and get through the day. In all honesty, she didn't want to see anyone or speak to anyone. As of the moment, she was only concerned with completing the mission Tony had given her so many months ago. He'd given her the opportunity to opt-out of the mission the previous night due to her emotional distress, but Andi refused to go anywhere until the mission was completed. She refused to go anywhere until she knew Peter would remain safe, and from what she'd been witnessing so far, it would be quite a long while before she was ready to disappear.

Ned was waiting at Andi's locker for her. She smiled when she saw him and rushed over to prepare for her first three periods.

"Hey, Ned," Andi greeted her friend. "What's up?"

"Peter told me why you two aren't speaking," Ned admitted.

Andi practically froze in her spot. She had not been anticipated that to come out of his mouth, nor had she actually anticipated Peter telling Ned the truth. It startled her a bit when she thought about Ned knowing the truth behind her identity, as he could not keep a very tight grip on that mouth of his. "W-what?"

Ned only nodded in response.

Andi shut her locker slowly and looked at Ned with a serious expression on her face. "What did he tell you, Ned?"

"Nothing," Ned shrugged and began walking down the hall, leaving Andi to follow after him. "All he really said was that you were like him and had been keeping it from the both of us."

"Listen," Andi ran a hand through her hair, "I'm sorry, but there are so many reasons as to why I couldn't tell the two of you, especially you."

Ned laughed and veered over to the side of the hallway. "Don't worry, Andi, I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?"

"Of course not," Ned snorted. "It would be very hypocritical of me to be angry with you for keeping the same secret Peter did, would it not?"

"I guess you're right."

"I did manage to get through to Peter about why he's so mad at you, though," Ned told her quietly. "I'm sure you've known about the Hannah Montana life he's been living being in cohorts with Tony Stark and what-not, but the fact that he claims the two of us are his best friends, yet kept that part of his life hidden from us, regardless of your knowledge, is pretty shitty, so him being mad at you for doing the same thing is very hypocritical on his part."

Andi let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. "I dunno, Ned. I thought about that, too, but then I realized it was much deeper than me not telling him who I was. Since I've been here, I've just been Andi to him-I've just been the girl he knows as his best friend. But now that he knows the truth, I'm not the Andi he knows. I'm just a random 16-year-old Tony Stark hired to babysit him, so I really don't blame him for being upset with me, because I'd be upset with me, too."

"Damn," Ned breathed out. "I can see why he likes you so much."

"Wait, what?"

Ned shook his head quickly and hurried down the hall. "Nothing, nothing."

"Ned!" Andi called after the boy, wasting no time at all in hurrying after him. She could hear him laughing, and that annoyed her a lot more than she thought it would. Ned could be such a handful sometimes.

When Andi finally caught up to Ned, he was not alone. He was with Peter, which sent a wave of awkwardness through the air. Of course, she'd been counting on seeing him during the day, but it'd only been from afar. She never thought she would be within a foot of him. She even planned on switching seats in the classes they shared together to prevent the awkwardness.

"Oh," Andi stopped immediately. "Um, well, I'll let you two talk about whatever it is you need to talk about."

Andi made an attempt to leave the pair alone, but she wasn't allowed to get too far before Ned grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. She growled under her breath and looked up at Ned, but his attention was on Peter.

"So, did you guys see the morning announcements?" Ned asked the two of them.

"Yeah," Peter answered.

"No, why?" Andi added.

Ned glanced down at Andi. "Well, for starters, you both were the talk of the morning."

"But why?" Andi questioned. "I didn't do much of anything over the weekend except sit at a table and answer questions."

"That's where you're wrong." Ned now had a smirk on his face, one of which was creeping Andi out a bit. "You're the mystery girl that swooped down to save Spiderman after he plummeted twenty stories to the ground, and he's, well, he's Spiderman."

Andi practically choked on the air in her lungs. "I'm sorry, but what did you just say?"

"Don't worry," Ned assured her. "No one knows who either of you are."

Andi remained silent as she stood there listening to the two boys talk. She was feeling too uneasy to speak. She'd totally forgotten about the likelihood of cameras littering the elevator shafts, but that was because she'd been too busy fearing for the lives of her friends. Luckily for her, though, a clear picture of her face and Peter's face was never captured, likely due to the destruction of cameras caused by a loose elevator car, but regardless of the fact, it still did not ease her mind. She worked so long and so hard to keep her secret, and while Peter and Ned were now an exception, she wasn't sure whether or not she would be able to handle anyone else figuring out her identity. She'd had a front row seat to the life of Tony Stark for years, and she knew she did not want to live a life in which everyone knew who she was and who she was fighting for. She preferred to fight her battles in secret, out of view of the public eye.

"So, how does it feel being famous when no one knows it's you?" Ned's voice snapped Andi out of her daze, and she looked up at him and Peter.

"It's pretty crazy," Peter answered him.

Ned looked down at Andi. "What about you, Andi? You were the hype before Peter made an appearance, so how does it feel?"

"I'm not so sure what you mean," Andi replied, her tone confused.

Peter looked at her. "You know there's videos of you on Youtube, right?"

So much for fighting my battles in secret, Andi thought.

"Um," she was surprised, surprised that Peter was speaking to her, but also surprised by his words. "No? I guess I don't."

"Black and gold suit, right?" Peter inquired.

"How did you know that?"

"Do you not remember me running into you that one day after school?"

"Let's not forget the videos," Ned grinned and shoved his phone in her face.

Andi gave him a look and took the phone from him. She focused her attention on the screen, where, sure enough, there she was, swinging through New York's highest and saving New York's finest. She definitely remembered her time spent working before Peter came into the picture, but she didn't remember there being any videos of it. She couldn't even recall anyone ever talking about her, but what she could recall was Tony's need to keep things from her for her safety and Pepper's safety. This must've been what he kept from her.

"Well," Andi handed Ned his phone back. "I was not aware these videos existed."

"So it is you?" Ned asked with a strange glimmer in his eyes.

Andi crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"I always wondered who the face behind that mask was," Peter said with a sigh.

"Now you know," Andi replied quietly as her mind reeled over what happened between them only two days ago.

"And part of me wishes I didn't," Peter countered.

Andi opened her mouth to respond but could not find the words to say. Ned, on the other hand, was more than happy to speak.

"So, should we tell everyone?"

Both Andi and Peter looked to Ned and shook their heads.

"No."

"Are you insane?"

Ned shrugged and glanced between the two of them. "Well, then should I tell everyone?"

"No, Ned," Andi chastised him.

"Yeah, it's not a good idea," Peter added.

"Okay, well then c'mon," Ned said to his two best friends. "We're gonna be late to class."

Andi nodded in understanding and started after Ned, but Peter remained in his spot.

"I'm not going to class," Peter told the two.

"What? Why not?" Andi asked him.

Peter shrugged and pulled his backpack tighter over his shoulders.

"You're already in trouble for ditching the decathlon, Peter," Ned reminded him.

"Dude, I finally have it figured out," Peter responded. "The wing-suit guy is stealing from Damage Control. What he takes from Damage Control, that's how he builds his weapons, so all I gotta do is catch him."

Andi let out a sigh, but remained silent for the time being.

"But we have a Spanish quiz," Ned said.

"Ned, I am probably never gonna come back here," Peter defended himself. "Mr. Stark is moving the Avengers upstate, so when I bring this guy in..."

"Is that really what this is all about?" Andi asked him.

"I mean, really," Ned added. "You wanna be a high school dropout?"

Peter began backing away. "I am so far beyond high school right now, guys."

Ned sighed and shook his head before walking away, but Andi remained. Peter had begun to walk away, but Andi reached out to grab him before he could get too far.

"Peter," Andi spoke softly but firmly.

Peter stopped and looked down at the hand wrapped around his wrist before glancing up at the face it belonged to. "What do you want, Andi? Better yet, why are you even here in the first place? I thought I made it clear the other night that your services weren't needed anymore."

Andi ignored his comment to the best of her abilities and pulled him off to the side. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, Peter? Because that is exactly what is going to happen if you go after this guy."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," Peter told her. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I'm not babysitting you," Andi exclaimed. "I'm trying to protect you."

"Why?" Peter scoffed. "Because Mr. Stark said to?"

Andi shook her head. "Because I actually give a shit about you, Peter Parker, and god forbid something happen to you while under my protection. Not only would Tony kill me, but I would never be able to live with myself. I know you want to prove yourself to Tony by doing this, and I do believe in you, but I've just already lost so much in this lifetime, and to lose anymore—to lose you—it would just suck."

"Then help me," Peter suggested, catching the blonde a bit off guard.

"What?"

"Help me catch him, Andi," he clarified. "You're the only one who actually listens to me about this stuff, and you're the only one physically capable of assisting me anyway."

"I dunno, Peter," Andi said. "I just don't think this particular situation was meant for us to handle."

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his tousled brown hair. "You know we can do this, but you're afraid of what Mr. Stark will do when he finds out about it."

Andi's silence was enough of an answer for him.

"He won't listen to me, Andi," Peter told her. "He won't do anything about the situation, so right now, you and I are the only ones who can, so please, just help me. Help me prove to Mr. Stark that we're worth more than this."

"Parker," the voice of Mr. Morita tore the two from their conversation. "I need to see you in my office."

Peter sighed and looked back at Andi with pleading brown eyes. Peter had a point, and although Andi wasn't particularly bothered by her current status, she wanted to help Peter. She feared she would lose him if she didn't, and that was something she could not allow to happen.

"I'll meet you at your apartment after school, okay?"

A smile pulled at the corner of Peter's lips and he nodded his head before taking off down the hallway with Mr. Morita. Andi only sighed and started towards class. She was about to get herself into huge trouble, but she found that she would risk anything for Peter Parker, and that was something that would not change.

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