The word may have been stuttered but it wasn't full of anxiety like Ajax would have expected. Instead, it was...calm, almost nonchalant. Ajax was his thing that made his heart stop and his breathing hitch.

Maybe it was that Peter knew all she needed was someone, someone her own age not to walk out, someone who understood what it's like to have the ability to just kill people at the young age of only sixteen. Maybe it was that she held herself like no one he's ever met or maybe it's the hairs that stick up on the back of his neck and the way a knot forms in the pit of his stomach whenever she's anywhere near him. Whatever it was, she was his thought process.

"Me?" Ajax quirked a brow as she scanned over Peter's face that was quickly turning a vibrant red.

"Uh," Peter's mouth goes dry as she questions him. "Yeah...I don't know." He shrugs. "I-it's you."

What to do with that information. Ajax can almost hear Tony in her ear, rambling on about how she should let Peter in as a friend and just to be careful as she always was. His incessant voice making her want to grimace already. And it only made her want to rebel. She was so torn.

How could she possibly feel like home to Peter? How could she feel like anything besides damaged goods to him? She only gave him information when she had to and that's it. Ajax has this past he doesn't have a clue about and yet here he is, looking at her with innocent eyes and a heart of pure gold that doesn't deserve anything to happen to him. He's perfect.

"I'm sorry." Ajax says, the corner of her mouth tugged into a sorry smile.

Peter's brows furrow and his heart feels like she's just pushed it off the top of Mount Everest. "W-what? Wh-what are you s-sorry for?"

Ajax sighs and the remorse is written in every light blue line of her eyes. "Bad news, Parker."

"Nah," Peter shakes his head and his eyes narrow. "I, uh, I don't think so."

Ajax scoffs. "Yeah? Why won't Tony let me train?"

"Um...your own safety?" Peter sits up completely and pulls his knees up, resting his arms around them.

"Or the safety of others." Ajax corrects him.

"What?" Peter's face scrunched together with confusion. Sure, she had the ability to hurt people, but she couldn't, would she?

"I'm not getting into it but, it's not me. He can say it is but I know he thinks if he lets me train, I'll end up being someone he has to fight and later kill."

Peter stares at her as he contemplates how to respond. He's tired of her going from hot and cold. One second she's fine and the next she's not. All Peter wants to do is grab her by the shoulders and beg her to tell him everything so he can help her, so he can tell her that there's nothing wrong with her or whatever it is that she could possibly think about herself.

But at the same time, he just wants to agree with her because maybe that's really what she needs. Ajax has had Tony in her ear her entire life and it's only gotten worse since both of her parents' passing. Surely, she's tired of people telling her what to do. So, maybe Peter should just listen and let her come to him but he really doesn't know how long he can do that for. Something is going to happen. He can feel the impending dread radiating from Ajax. But, he's Peter Parker.

"I don't think you're bad." Peter says with pursed lips and honest eyes.

"You're gonna get hurt, P." Ajax uses a variety of different names for people all of them being used for different circumstances. P is easier to say than Peter or Parker and she's afraid that if she tries to speak his full name, it'll break, shatter like a glass vase containing elegant lilies.

"So?" Peter counters with a gentle voice. "I get hurt every night." Peter shrugs and puts his legs down. His hands shaky as he lifts the hem of his shirt revealing red blotches where blood vessels have popped and bruises, all ranging from shades of black and blue to yellow and purple. "I, uh, ya know," Peter shrugs and puts his shirt back down. "I get up and I do it again because-"

"If you don't-"

"Wait." Peter cuts her off, taking Ajax by surprise. "It's what I do. N-not because, I have to but...uh, the hurt doesn't outweigh the benefits." Ajax wrinkles her face with touches of confusion.

"That's different." Ajax tries to defend. "That's you being Spider-Man. I'm gonna hurt you and...you don't deserve it."

"I, uh, I don't mind."

Ajax's face softens and her jaw opens just a little bit. Was he out of his damn mind? What was he thinking? He doesn't care that she could hurt him? What kind of insane logic is that? The whole reason Ajax does anything is to avoid getting hurt, to avoid hurting other people by not getting too close. She's been hurt so many times she's not even sure she can handle it one more time but Peter is so okay with her hurting him and he must be out of his fucking mind. But, he's not. His eyes are bright and kind and deserving of the entire universe because he knows that if he does nothing, ajax will hurt.

"W-what?" Ajax's voice is fragile, like a thin sheet of ice over a puddle that'd shatter the second even a leaf touched it.

Peter holds out his hand and Ajax glances between his eyes and his calloused fingers. Her hand wraps around his and Peter smiles, it's soft and sweet just like him. It's not confident or arrogant like anyone would have expected. It wasn't that he won something. Not to him. He did, of course, because Ajax is trusting him so he did win something but that's not how Peter saw it. All he saw was the good in her and the immediate adoration he had towards her.

Ajax sighs and nods. "One step at a time. I, uh, I will tell you everything, not just powers, and you're allowed to ask but if I don't want to answer, that's it. But, I will, eventually, tell you everything."

Peter's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. He just wanted her to know he was there. He didn't ever expect her to really tell him more than she has. He had hope, always the optimist, but he didn't believe she would. She's got walls ten stories high surrounded by a moat filled with alligators and boobytraps laid out inside. But, somehow, he got the password. Did he get the map though? To avoid the dangers lurking inside?

"R-really?"

Ajax tightens her grip on his hand as she pulls up the side of her shirt, revealing part of a scar. The scar started at her shoulder blade and wrapped all the way around her right ribcage and to her hip. It wasn't a faint scar, no, it was bad. White and tender, the original cut surely took weeks if not months to heal. No one knows about the scar besides Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper. Ajax doesn't talk about it but, Peter showed her his roughed up torso so to hell with her keeping that part a secret.

There was something of doubt when Peter showed his bruises and wounds, this gave Ajax the excuse to show her scar. To have that sense of her understanding what it's like. Maybe not completely but enough. Enough to understand why he wants that suit red and blue.

"Powers are cool and stuff but accidents happen." Ajax says, allowing her shirt to fall back down. "D-don't, uh, ya know, tell anyone, okay, P?" Ajax's heart starts to ache as she chews on the inside of her cheek with her allowing herself to be vulnerable.

"Promise." Peter nods. "A-are you...is it okay?"

"Yeah," Ajax nods. "I'll, uh, ya know, tell you later. That's a big step."

"Yeah, yeah, it is." Peter says and he looks to their still joining hands before his cheeks start turning red all over again and his heart picks back up. It's as if reality was setting in for him and he really was there with Ajax and wow, they're holding hands and he really fucking likes her. Likes the way her voice pulls him in and her energy pulls his bones to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Ajax says following Peter's gaze but not letting go. "It sounds weird but ya know, can like, you not let go? I think I'll sleep better if I know you're there and will wake me up if you go to leave." Ajax gives a shy chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, yeah." Peter nods and a grin crosses his face, him trying to act cool, calm, and collected despite him wanting to beam brighter than the entire sun and give himself a high-five. "No problem."

"Can we sleep now? I think Gwen might kill us if we end up falling asleep watching the movies?"

Peter groans with a smile still tugging at his lips. "I think she'll forgive you, she'll definitely kill me." Peter lays back, never letting go of Ajax's hand while she gets comfortable again.

"Stop ditching her and maybe she won't." Ajax warns but holds her voice light-hearted while her arm dangles off the couch and Peter's is held up just barely.

"Y-you've got secrets. I've got mine." Peter says, allowing a sad smirk to dance onto his face.

"Alright, alright." Ajax says. "I'm just saying, no judgment given I have no room to talk."

"Tell you one day." Peter looks up and flashes Ajax a smirk.

"Funny." She rolls her eyes."Goodnight, Peter." She pauses as she's done every other night before. "Parker."

"Goodnight, AJ." Peter quips.

"AJ?" Ajax quirks a brow.

"If you're gonna call me P and Spider-Boy, I get to call you something."

"Okay." Ajax agrees with a soft giggle. "But you're the only one."

"Okay." Peter laughs before the room falls into a comfortable silence.

And that was the when everything changed. Peter became an open ear that Ajax leaned on whenever she needed him. He didn't press for answers. He still asked questions as he normally would and Ajax actually gave him a few answers sometimes. But, mostly, he was just there listening. Sometimes, she needed to talk while he was out patrolling and he'd talk to her through his mask, giving her a play-by-play of what was going on. It helped. He helped.

Ajax seemed happier than she had in years and Tony noticed. He asked and he didn't get a snarky answer, rather, Ajax just said she was having fun and that everything was fine. The words she'd said a thousand times before finally holding real truth. Tony had smirked and nodded, deciding he'd let her just do her thing for a little while and not try and dig, especially with her holding to her deal and going to the tower more.

Tony was right, Ajax needed Peter. She needed the ball of sunshine who's always a little battered to show her that just because bad things happen, doesn't mean they'll stay that way. That because people do bad things, doesn't always mean they deserve more bad to fall upon them. She needed Peter.

And she needed Gwen and Ned. Ajax found herself at Gwen's just as much as she found herself at Peter's. The girls became best friends, ajax even completely diving into Gwen's other interests and Gwen doing the same. Ajax was thrilled to have a girl to talk to. It was a nice and she was immediately welcomed by Gwen's mother, her offering Ajax the spare bedroom whenever she wanted. It was like Ajax was becoming a part of their little family as well.

And as for Ajax and Ned, they bonded over technology, talking about how hypothetically, they could hack into all different buildings around Queens. Neither willing to actually do it, but it was fun in theory, especially the thought of changing the overhead street signs to Star Wars quotes.

Now, it's two weeks later and it's a long weekend thanks to Thanksgiving. Ajax was welcomed by May to join them as was Gwen and her mother. Ajax hadn't had a proper Thanksgiving in two years. The last one she had was right before her mom died and it was spent at the Tower. So, with nerves flooding her veins, Ajax asked Tony if she could spend the holiday with her friends and Tony quickly agreed, happy she was finally happy for once but made her promise she'd come by over the weekend.

And was going to.

Thanksgiving went smoothly and it was warm and comfortable, just like Ajax expected it to be.The dinner was amazing thanks to Gwen's mom helping May cook and there were plenty of laughs and conversations to last a lifetime. It was great, really but then she did have to go home and things went quite a bit south. Ajax has been out a lot over the past two weeks and despite Tony always calling Jared, assuring him that Ajax was doing school work or helping him, he was tired of it.

Now, it's Saturday afternoon and Peter hasn't heard from Ajax since she left Thursday night. She left with Gwen and her mother a little after eight. Peter texts Ajax every night when he gets home from being Spider-Man and Ajax always calls him if Jared is asleep or not home. She sits on her fire escape and they talk for at least an hour. And if Jared is around, she always just texts him.

But, he never got a text, he never got a call. Nothing. And he didn't get anything from her all day on Friday. Every time his phone vibrated against his leg or vibrated the wood of his desk, his head shot up but his stomach dropped when it was either Ned or Gwen, never Ajax. He stopped by the building across from hers and the curtains were drawn closed. He bounced between climbing her fire escape himself and knocking on her window despite KAREN reminding him that Ajax would kill him if he did. So, he went home but didn't sleep at all and by the time the afternoon of Saturday came, he was tired of waiting. Something was wrong.

"Hey, May!" Peter called out. "Ajax left her hoodie here Thursday so I'm gonna run it by, need anything?" Peter asks as he walks to the kitchen, sliding on his coat, Ajax's hoodie in hand.

"Nope! You're good to go. Tell her to come by, okay?" May chimes.

"I will." Peter smiles before heading out.

He pops in his earbuds and starts on the crisp walk to Ajax's apartment. The air was cold which only made Peter keep up his pace to stay warm and reach her apartment quicker. He knew she'd likely kill him but he knew something was wrong. There was a feeling off and he'd asked Gwen and Ned the night before and neither have heard from her either. Peter was willing to risk Ajax getting pissed at him for showing up. He figured that if her uncle answered the door, he'd ask for some random person and then say he must have gotten the wrong apartment. It was a sound plan, given it was just thought of on his walk.

Peter figured out which apartment was hers based on the location of her window and was able to knock on the warn down dark brown door. He could hear shuffling on the other side of the door before the locks started to open. Ajax flung the door open, her jaw clenched tight and her eyes filled with rage, almost enough to kill Peter right then and there.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"W-what..." Peter's jaw hung open and a lump formed in his throat at the looks over her.

"Fuck's sake." Ajax looked past him before grabbing the collar of his jacket and yanking him inside before slamming the door and locking it. "The fuck are you doing here? Do you listen? What did I say? Don't fucking come here. Ever."

"What the hell happened to your face...?" Peter's voice is quiet as he stares at the black and blue bruise covering Ajax's left eye and a cut on her right cheek, as well as her bottom lip fat and cut.

"Street fighting." Ajax responds, straightfaced. "Now, what the fuck-"

"No." Peter shakes his head. "You go out street fighting on a holiday?"

"What?" Ajax looks at him with confusion.

"I haven't been able to reach you since Thanksgiving and neither has Gwen or Ned. What happened?" Peter's words aren't harsh or degrading. He's drenched in worry.

"It's nothing, P." Ajax says. "Now, you have to leave."

"No." Peter says. "I don't believe you."

"Cool." Ajax shrugs. "Get out."

Peter looks to the side as he clenches his jaw. "Tell me or I'm telling Mr. Stark."

"You wouldn't." Ajax scoffs.

"I will." Peter stands his ground, sticking out the hand that holds her hoodie. "I'll go tell him."

Ajax takes her hoodie and tosses it to one the dining room chairs. "Bullshit." Ajax grits her teeth.

"Okay." Peter says and goes to turn on his feet.

Before he could move, Ajax is gripping his coat and turning him around before slamming his back against the door, his head smacking the wood with a thud and wince. Her arm locks his neck in place as she locks her knees to hold her stance. At this point, Peter was happy he earned enough of her trust that she didn't mind touching as much, at least from him, because if she did, he'd likely either be burnt to a crisp on the floor or in a block of ice rather than just pinned against her door.

"Don't tell him." Ajax says through gritted teeth.

"I...have...to." Peter struggles against her grip, realizing she doesn't have the strength he does.

"No, you fucking don't. You can keep your damn mouth shut. That's our deal." Ajax spits, putting pressure on his neck.

"You tell him, or I do." Peter croaks out.

"Fuck no."

Peter decides he's had enough. He grips her sides and pulls her away before turning the both of them around, swapping places, and pinning her against the door, his hands holding her shoulders. She struggles under him but he's way stronger than her. Ajax knows he has superhuman strength but to have it inflicted on her was something different. She didn't think he had it in him.

"Let me go!" Ajax tries to push him off as anxiety starts to flood her veins.

 Ajax could just use her powers to get him off of her. He was stronger, absolutely without a doubt, but, he wasn't stronger than the gust of wind she could get up. she could warm her hands enough just to burn him and get him off. She could even just soak him to get him to back up. But, nothing. Ajax just pushed against his chest, her own strength and it gets her nowhere. She didn't want to hurt him. 

"No." Peter says calmly. "You're hurt."

"So are you!" Ajax's voice breaks and Peter feels a heart string snap with it.

"Nah, that's different." Peter licks his bottom lip, taking notice in the brokenness that's etched in every line of Ajax's face. "J-just tell me what happened." Peter pleads. "Please."

A single tear fell from the corner of Ajax's right eyes. "I told you I was gonna hurt you, P." Ajax's voice falls delicately with an aching pain in her chest.