People did a few doubles takes at the sight of Spiderman walking down the street with a teenage girl and I did my best to ignore them, catching someone taking a picture of us as we passed.

I tapped my finger against my leg absentmindedly, barely registering what Peter was saying as he talked to me whilst my eyes scanned the area around us.

“Hey,” he stopped us, touching my shoulder “what's up?”

“Somethings wrong” I muttered, taking his arm, and keeping us moving swiftly, not quite able to explain to him why my heart was racing or why my fight or flight had suddenly kicked in. But I wasn’t going to ignore it, I knew better.

“Did you see something?” I shook my head softly, catching the reflection of the guy that took our photo following us from a passing car, feeling my breath catch slightly.

Was that why I was so freaked out?

Peter must’ve noticed me staring because he moved us towards an alley nearby, hiding us in the shadows as we watched the guy pass us by, he didn’t even glance our way and I think we both let out a sigh of relief.

“See? Nothing to be worried abo-” My body met the floor harshly, a cry escaping my lips as I heard Peter yell my name.

A man had appeared out of nowhere, throwing me to the floor before advancing on Peter.

Wait, not just one.

I struggled to get up as I yelled at them, rushing towards the men who were fighting Peter only for a web to shoot past me, capturing a man who had tried to grab me.

“GO!” I hesitated momentarily, realising that this wasn’t a good situation to be in the middle of, before sprinting towards the other end of the alley reluctantly, glancing back every few seconds to see if Peter was following.

I tripped over something and caught myself with a curse, my hands stinging from the contact with the concrete.

“Ich habe das Mädchen” a gloved hand yanked me up by my hair, shoving me against the wall as I struggled, capturing my throat as my eyes met that of a masked man, balaclava covering most of his face as he grinned maliciously.

“Schrei nicht Mädchen, du wirst viel Zeit dafür haben, sobald wir die Anlage erreicht haben”

I had no idea what he was saying, and I was losing air fast.

“Fuck off asshole” I spat, kicking him in the shins repeatedly until he punched me in the face, letting go of my throat and letting me drop to the floor, hearing him mutter something under his breath as I groaned.

Staggering up, I tried to find something to use as a weapon, anything that would do some damage.

I grabbed a trashcan lid and held it Infront of me like a shield. The brute chuckled, raising his fists with a sense of nonchalance that made me feel sick.

He circled around me slowly, his eyes like a tiger stalking his prey. I tried to see if Peter was okay but couldn’t make out anything over the ringing in my ears, my body starting to ache from how tense my muscles were.

The man launched himself at me, falling against the lid as he tried to rip it from my hands, but I wouldn’t let him, opting to shove him against the wall using my body weight and using my free hand to get a few of my own punches in before I was once again on the ground.

He looked angry, eyes blazing as he stood over me, raising his foot above my leg and I reeled back as he bought it down, just missing my ankle.

He managed to rip the metal from my fingers and began to kick at my body whilst I backed away, unable to fight back as he dragged me towards the end of the alley, a black car pulling up outside and I realised how serious this was.

I knew if I got in that car, I wouldn’t be seen again.

I took a deep breath as several men stepped out, ready to help the man who had a vice like grip on my arms before throwing my head back and headbutting the guy, running the best I could back towards Peter.

Hearing the yells and footsteps following me hastily.

I spotted the red suit, he was still busy with multiple men, so I fished out my now cracked phone, shouting at Jarvis to get help before I rammed my shoulder into a man pointing a gun Peter’s way, clambering forward, and grabbing it before he got the chance, and firing it twice. Once in the air and once at the man's leg, watching him scream and feeling a pang of guilt hit me.

“I told you to go!” Peter shouted as he webbed a guy to the wall, punching another as I ducked behind a pile of carboard, flinching as a bullet whizzed past my head.

“I ran into some trouble” I called back, aiming at the men who had followed me, using the skills Nat had taught me and trying to hit the fire alarm on the side of the building.

Come on...come on...

The sound of an engine made all heads turn and I let out a sigh of relief.

“This isn't exactly what I had in mind when everybody warned me about leaving you two alone together” Tony’s voice rang out as he pointed his glowing metal palms towards the men, all of them sharing looks as they backed up, muttering lowly.

Once they were far enough away, Peter moved forward, pulling me behind him as we walked backwards to stand behind Tony.

I clung to the back of Peters suit, eyes glued to the men, just waiting for them to move.

More cars appeared and people in black suits surrounded the men, presumable arresting them as Tony turned to us, mask lifting to reveal his distressed expression.

“Are you two, okay?” he scanned us both, eyes lingering on my face longer than I would’ve liked before he began to talk into his suit at Jarvis.

Peter’s head snapped towards an approaching man, shielding me out of sight and I heard the man apologise, handing Peter something before scuttling away. One of the agents, I guess.

“That was good thinking” he told me quietly, handing me my phone “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you”

“Don’t be. You did all you could. I’m sorry I wasn’t much help” my free hand came to rest on his forearm, and I began to feel the stinging grow across my face.

“I knew something was up” I joked, hoping it would help lighten his spirits.

“You have better senses than me” he agreed, both of us turning to Tony as he finished his conversation.

“You guys head back to the tower with Nat and Steve, I’ll deal with this”

Nat and Steve?

I looked around, catching sight of red hair moving our way through the sea of agents, who parted to let her and the tall blonde through.

Peter began moving towards them and I looked back at Tony, hugging him quickly.

“Thank you” his hand rested on my back softly before I moved back to Peter’s side, the two of us meeting the others in the middle.

From here, I could still see the men who were being pushed into cars, catching the gaze of the man who had choked me, feeling a shiver run down my spine as he refused to break eye contact until the door was shut.

I blinked, my attention turning to Nat who was watching me.

“let's get you two cleaned up”

I sat in the car, head leaning against the cool window as every muscle ached, trying not to breathe too deeply from the sharp pain in my chest, I suspected a bruised rib.

I shut my eyes, the events replaying in my head, and I could feel the nerves stirring, seeking out Peter’s hand and intwining our fingers.

“You, okay?” I took a deep breath, nodding as I opened my eyes.

“a bit achy”

“Achy?” Steve asked from the passenger seat, “what's achy?”

“Your face?” I smirked slightly at Nat's question.

“What you trying to say, Romanoff?” she rolled her eyes at me. “Yeah, my face, but mainly my side”

I shifted slowly in my seat, letting out a quiet huff as the sharp pain I was avoiding returned.

“here” Peter put an arm around my back and let me hold his arm for better support as he helped me move closer to him. “Better?”

“Much, thank you”

“Bruce will check you over when we get back”

“Dr Banner? I thought he was away until next week?” I asked, confused.

“His schedule got cut short”