Ajax's heart was beating fast but her mouth was in a straight line and there were no indications that she was lying. Peter's known every time she's lied but he was hoping that somehow, she learned to avoid tells, control her emotions of guilt. But, that wasn't it and deep down, Peter knew. Her eyes weren't that crystal blue he could fall in love with every day. They were darker, almost midnight blue.

"Why?" Peter asks, no denying it this time.

"Why?" Ajax scoffs, tossing her hands in the air. "Because I shoot fire out of my damn hands that's why! Because for some fucked up reason, that asshole who infected my mom who was just trying to save his life, was still alive. My mom died before he did. In fact, you know he was still pretty fucking healthy all because the medications were working on him and not my fucking mom. So I killed him. Life for a life and he was gonna die anyway."

"Y-you said innocent and yeah I think that guy was innocent but you don't seem to think that."

Ajax looks to the ground and the anger that clouded her eyes vanished in a second. "Yeah," She looks up to Peter. "I ran off, ran off to that abandoned town, well, more like strip of road, thirty miles south. You know, the one that was basically condemned. I set the whole damn place on fire because I don't have a dad. I don't have a mom. My uncle beats the shit out of me when he can and he stole all my money," Peter's brows furrow as Ajax rambles. "Trust fund." She clarifies.

"I've got a scar covering half my fucking torso and I can't tell anyone about it because of how I fucking got it but let me tell you, it doesn't stop the haunting that comes every damn day when I have to shower and I'm supposed to be able to lean on the al-fucking-mighty Tony Stark. Yeah, well, he can help Rhodey walk again but he can't-couldn't fix my mom! HE'S AN INNOVATOR FOR FUCK'S SAKE. He knows Bruce Banner. Dr. Strange, why the fuck couldn't he fix my mom? So, I went nuts for a bit and set a bunch of condemned houses on fire and I didn't know there was a homeless family camping out in one of the houses. Killed them: mom, dad, and their two kids."

Silence.

Ajax stared at Peter, sadness filled her eyes but it was being mixed with almost a taunt. AS if she were only telling Peter as a scare tactic, to get him to be afraid of her. Hell, maybe even just to get him to see they have different morals. Her end goal was to get Peter away from her. To protect him from her, physically and mentally and by the look on his face, it worked.

"You...killed kids?" Peter's voice is like ice cracking over a lake. How could she kill children?

"Yeah." Ajax nods and her eyes are distant.

"Why didn't...why didn't you check the houses? Or...why didn't you-"

"Why didn't I just go home? Why didn't I just do anything else but set something on fire?" Ajax cuts him off and he nods. "Because, I don't care."

It's true, she doesn't. But, it's different. She doesn't care about what happens to her, not about the people she's killed. She has a heart as much as she'd like to think she doesn't. Ajax cares about the people she's killed and if she could take it back, she would but she can't.

But, she doesn't care about herself. In her head, who does she have to wake up to in the morning? No one. Why would it matter if she got caught? Got caught setting fire to an entire town with her bare hands? She's the last of her family and had her dad not had those powers, had she not had these damn powers, her dad would likely be alive. Ajax wouldn't feel emotions from other people by a single touch. Life would be better, normal. It would be fucking normal. So, so what if she got caught? Too bad for her Tony was on her. He got her out of it.

"Y-yeah you do." Peter swallows the lump that had formed in his throat and he stands up straight, gathering himself. "You care otherwise you'd be out killing people."

"How do you know I'm not?" Ajax counters.

"What?" Peter's eyes go wide.

"How do you know? You don't keep tabs on me."

"Mr. Stark tracks you."

"Leave my phone and laptop at home?" Ajax quirks a brow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fine." Peter says. "If you don't care, if you're okay with killing people, why not kill me when I told you to?"

"You are a persistent shit, aren't you?"

"Answer the question, AJ."

"Because if I killed you that would set back some genetic studies I know tony is itching to try out. Because if I killed you, you're another kid I killed. Because, Tony would come for my ass and he wouldn't kill me. He'd have me locked up. If I'm going to kill, I'm going to make sure either nothing will happen to me or that I'll be dead. Killing you, not worth the energy or the time or the screaming from Tony I'd get."

Peter couldn't believe the words that were falling from Ajax's mouth. Could he have really been misreading her this entire time? He was sure things were going perfectly fine, at least within them. But, the way she's talking to him now, the way she's speaking in general, it tells him otherwise. He could swear she'd be signing up to be the next villain he'd be facing off and he wasn't sure if he could do that.

How could he fight her?

He cares about her more than he cares about a lot of people and Peter has a big heart. That's his problem. But, he's known Tony for well over a year and now he's questioning everything Ajax is saying. Would Tony cover up five murders? For her? For someone who doesn't want help and probably needs to be locked away to get a handle on things? Would he really allow justice for the innocent to fall through?

Yes, yes he would but for Ajax because he understands her and understands there is so much more and he saw her when she killed those people. When she killed that family but that's not something Peter gets to know. All he has is the harsh ice Ajax is feeding him.

"We should get back." Peter says softly and the spark in his eyes that normally accented his caramel eyes when he looked at Ajax as gone.

"Yeah." Ajax nods, her heart aching, knowing that she destroyed what was built. It was her intention but that doesn't make it hurt her any less. Her pain over Peter's, that was the whole point.

The two of them make their way to Peter's in complete silence. Peter didn't know what to say. He cared for her, he really did but that didn't matter. He couldn't excuse the death of innocent people. He doesn't believe in killing people. If it were the family, yes it would bother him but he would deal with it because at least she didn't do it on purpose and while her eyes remained cold, he could feel the guilt radiating from her. That family haunts her every day.

But, it's the man she killed. The on that infected her mom by accident. It happens working in a hospital. It's rare, very rare but it does happen and it happened to be Ajax's mom that became part of that small statistic. Peter understood what it was like to want revenge on someone but this guy, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't. And yet, Ajax killed him and she still holds so much anger towards this stranger. That's something Peter isn's so sure he can just be okay with it. Not now.

So, when they got back to Peter's, Peter drew his line in the sand. He called Tony. He told Tony everything while Ajax screamed swears and names on the other end, declaring she'd never forgive him. Of course, she had already set the ball rolling to end their friendship and she wanted that but she didn't want Peter to betray her. It's supposed to be her betraying him, her being the bad guy.

Tony came to pick up Ajax, Ajax throwing a final glare at Peter while he held a straight face trying to hold back his guilt. Tony made her come back to the tower where yet another fight had to break out.

~~~~~

"You're not my fucking dad!" Ajax screams.

"Yeah, I know I'm not and it's a good thing, too! What's wrong with you?" Tony questions, his jaw squared with concern and anger towards Jared.

"I'm the one who's beat up and you're asking what's wrong with me?" You counter, almost setting a challenge to Tony.

"Why didn't you just tell me? Do not play this game, Jax. What the hell? I got a phone call from Mr. Parker at eleven at night, you're screaming in the background, threatening to set him on fire, and he tells me what Jared did. What the hell is wrong with you?" Tony's voice softens and he can't seem to put her actions together, not that she was ever someone who laid out blueprints to the interworkings of her mind.

"Well, Peter can fuck off because this isn't his mess!"

"No! It's yours and mine because no matter how much you fight it, I care about you so you're gonna have to learn to suck it up!" Tony points his finger out, trying to get his point across.

"You can't make me stay here, Tony!" Ajax shakes her head with a scoff.

"It's here or the damn system because I'm having Jared arrested! Choose wisely because you'll end up back here anyway." Tony calms his voice as his chest rises, trying to have a conversation instead of arguing.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Ajax taunts as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Go on, how do I know. I know you know the answer. You're smart. Let's hear it." Tony gestures one hand out, signaling his open ears.

"You're supposed to be my legal guardian, not Jared." Her voice is calm, filled with anger but calm.

"Right, so, you can go into the system for a few days or you just suck it up and go to your room."

"You're sending me to my room? After I outed your secret?" Ajax furrows her brows, questioning how Tony could end the conversation right then and there.

"Just until I know what to do with you because I am so mad,-" Tony takes a deep breath. "You should have told me and you didn't. You told Mr. Parker about your powers and you were supposed to keep that quiet. You told him about the murders. You are endangering you-"

"You. I'm risking-"

"No, the adult is talking!" Tony raises a hand. "You're endangering yourself. I don't care about me here. This is your life. Not mine and I am supposed to protect you and if I have to have you locked up here until you get your shit together, I will. Room. Now."

~~~~~

By the end of it, Ajax was simply tired. Tony bugs her and she knew, she knew deep down her mom never would have let Jared have custody. It was supposed to be Tony all along but Tony just wanted her to be happy and figured she'd come around. He didn't know what was happening at Ajax's house. He never would have let that happen and now Ajax feels heartbroken and guilty while Tony spends his nights back in the lab, mentally punching himself for allowing it all to happen. Pepper and Rhodey getting earfuls about how it was all his fault.

Ajax's decisions didn't just affect her and they didn't just affect Peter. They affect everyone.

Jared was arrested and Tony had NYPD take pictures of her injuries, making sure to get her statement. She was reluctant but, with her ruining the friendship between her and Peter, Ajax knew she'd be spending every second at the tower when she wasn't in school and it'd always be just her. So, she needed to suck it up and try to look on some sort of bright side even if it was just a softer shade of black.

Now, despite Peter completely disagreeing with Ajax's decisions and not wanting to associate with her for the time being. He did spend a lot of time worrying about her well-being and when he was at the tower a few times for an upgrade Tony was working on and him getting ready to start training, he asked about her. Tony always said she was fine and moved on.

If he happened to run into her, which only happened twice in two weeks, he went to ask if she was okay but she'd shake her head and walk off. In Peter's mind, it wasn't just her that broke that friendship, that odd bond that made a butterfly knot form in his stomach, it was the both of them. But, Peer wasn't ready to question his morals and accept her actions.

It just wasn't fair and school wasn't any better. He saw her, still had classes with her. He still watched her closely and was in tune with what she was feeling. It was mostly numb. She didn't feel much, after letting go of Peter. He made her feel something other than hatred and anger and now all she can feel is nothing. It's numb and Peter sees it in her sunken and tired eyes but at least they weren't black and blue anymore.

However, a little bit of kindness did come from Gwen and Ned. Neither of them knew what really happened between Peter and Ajax. Peter still kept her secrets and Ajax wasn't going to tell him. She did take the blame though. It was her fault but, she said that she simply said some things to Peter and it wasn't working. The most they had in common was the project and the more time that went by, the more they realized it. Gwen and Ned didn't buy it but neither were willing to push their friends for an answer.

Peter never wanted to talk about Ajax, his jaw always clenching and him changing subject. And Ajax didn't say anything, no matter how late Gwen tried to get her to stay awake when ajax was allowed to stay at Gwen's. And Ned only asked a few times when they'd talk in class or walk from school until they had to go their sperate ways. Both of them were very good at staying civil and not picking a side. Although, it's hard to pick a side when you don't have a clue what's going on.

But as week three rolled around, questions were nearly completely gone and there was more laughter at the table that contained the original trio. It wasn't the same as it was, with the thought of Ajax sitting alone in Peter's mind lingering but it was something. He figured that at, maybe, he'd give himself to fall out of whatever he felt towards Ajax then work on mending their friendship. He was already starting to, mostly thanks to Gwen being there for him.. Ajax, though, had a completely different plan, but that would have to wait.

It's now three days before winter break and Ajax hasn't talked to Peter in nearly a month and she's sat lunch, drawing in her sketchbook. A volcano exploding over her page. But, she's interrupted when a shadow hovers over her. She peaks up and it's the senior from the month before, the one that ran into her. Ajax pulled out her earbuds to give the tall upperclassman her attention.

"Hey," He smiles, his teeth white and shiny. "Why are you sitting alone all of a sudden?"

"Uh, what?" Ajax asks with furrowed brows.

"You used to sit with Parker and his group." The senior jerks his head to the table where Gwen was sitting across from Peter and she was laughing, Peter, though his back to Ajax, was listening to both Gwen and ajax. Always in tune with her.

"Oh, yeah." Ajax nods, looking back to the senior.

"So, did you and Parker break up?" He's somehow charming with the way he lets his words flow from his lips, almost too charming for Ajax not to smile.

"We were never together. Just friends."

"Oh, well, do you mind if I sit then?" He asks and Ajax stares for a few seconds, glancing to the table in front of hers before moving over.

"Sure." She gives him a sweet smile.

As Peter listens in to their conversation, his heart aches and his blood boils. Ajax wasn't his and she never was going to be his, not at this rate but yet, he still felt jealous. Peter was actually getting closer to Gwen now and he was feeling something different than a platonic feeling, another reason he thought maybe after break he'd try another friendship. But, he finds himself boiling with jealousy as Ajax and the senior spoke.

She wasn't nervous around this guy and she was laughing, something he missed, like he was going through withdrawal. His bones ached so much that he swore they might shatter. His full attention on Ajax's conversation left him tense and completely tuning out Ned and Gwen.

"So, how about we get some coffee this weekend." The senior gave a charming smile, one Ajax gladly returned. Peter almost scoffed to himself, assuming Ajax would turn him down.

"Uh," Ajax bites her lip. "I gotta check at home but, shouldn't be a problem."

Peter's chest feels like it's collapsed with her words.

"Awesome, here." He pulls out his phone and hands it to Ajax. "Put in your number. Didn't get your name by the way?"

"Ajax Braden, and yours?" Ajax starts typing her number before handing him back his phone.

"Harry Osborn."