A Green Menace

Peter took a shower and dressed in blue jeans, a pin striped button down shirt and white tennis shoes. He left the shirt untucked and when he finally came out of his room he saw someone sitting and watching TV in the main living space. The floor was designed efficiently. The rooms took up the square outer edges of the floor save for the large windows and glass door walls that led out to the helipad. On the east side was the kitchen area, on the west a large bathroom. On the south was a large video conference room and in the center was the living space complete with a large screen tv that came down out of the ceiling. Steve Rogers was there now and Peter nearly jumped out of his shoes to go up and talk to him.

“Hello Mr. Rogers...I...uh...I’ve always wanted to meet you!” Peter said excitedly. “Well hello Peter, I heard about what happened and you were very lucky. It is difficult to be alone and face the things we face. Perhaps you should think about joining us instead?” He asked outright. Peter’s eyes nearly bulged and he began to nod yes, as if there was any other response he’d ever give to the Captain America himself. But he recalled the agreement he had made with Tony and Isabella...and Serena.

“I’m going to be laying low for a while Mr. Rogers. For a while anyway but when I’m ready, I might take you up on that offer,” Peter said. Steve smiled and nodded to him. Kate was in the kitchen preparing her and Steve a snack and she appeared behind Peter, holding a wooden cutting board.

“Hello..Peter, is it?” She said. Kate and Steve were together but it was unclear how long they were going to last. It was clear they felt strongly for one another but Kate had not set SHIELD aside and it was beginning to cause problems for their relationship.

“Oh...Hi, uh, Miss Blackwell,” Peter said as kate set the board down on the side table near Steve. It was then that a news report came on the tv. Someone, a driver in a car on the bridge had taken video of Spiderman and who they are referring to now as. ‘The Green Goblin’ on his flying sled.

“As you can see, The Green Goblin used grenades and other high-powered weapons to kill 6 of the 9 board members of Osborn Corp. 2 members were wounded including Dr. Norman Osborn himself. It appears The Green Goblin is also responsible for a recent break in and theft of Osborn Corp. prototypes from their military weapons division. 16 other bystanders were injured in the attacks,” The newsman said. Spiderman was then there on camera and the camera shifted down as he fell off of the goblin’s sled down into the water.

“It is still unknown if Spiderman survived the fall into the frigid water. Divers were not able to recover a body,” he said. There were all glued to the tv as Serena walked up. Tony and Isabella were in a conference call with several of Stark’s investors.

After leaving Peter's room, Serena went back to her room and changed into a pair of leggings and a tunic and black combat style boots. She washed her face and brushed her teeth before walking back out into the living room where she found Peter sitting with Steve and Kate. Pharaoh hadn't been seen yet this morning and Logan had left a few days ago to go on a mission for SHIELD to locate a woman named Natalya. Serena knew that her parents had a conference call that morning with some of the Stark Industries investors and she didn't know how long that might take.

Serena listened to the news story and then looked over at Peter. "Well, it's going to be quite the surprise when Spider-Man eventually makes a return," She said then leaned into Peter and whispered, "It might be good for them to think you're dead because then the Green Goblin won't go looking for you."

Peter nodded but he kept looking over at Steve. He was awestruck alright. One of his idols in this world was sitting, eating cheese and sausage. He couldn’t stop smiling. “Ok, I do recall a promise of a tour?” Peter said and tried to stop looking so silly grinning like he was.

Serena led him down to the lobby though it wasnt much more than a large lobby with security and then they rode the elevator all the way up to the penthouse which was 3 floors. The top 3 floors save for the smaller parts of the tower that had all of their reception equipment. The floors were huge and on the bottom was a massive gymnasium with holo and VR technology. Peter ofcourse wanted to play with that and so he put on his goggles and body resistance suit and Serena did the same. Peter hopped around, testing out the suit. “Wow, this is so cool!” He exclaimed as he hopped around on the mats. He wasn’t certain what Serena had in store for them to do but he couldn’t way to try out this gear!

Serena was more than happy to take Peter on a tour of the Tower. There were a few places that were off limits, but she was able to show him almost everything. Peter seemed in awe the entire time. Serena had grown up here. This was the only home she had ever known so it didn't overwhelm her the way it did Peter. However, seeing his reactions made her proud to be living there and proud of her parents.

One of the last places they stopped was the gym that also had some VR equipment. She saw Peter's eyes light up when he saw it and they both put on the body resistance suit and goggles. Serena then handed him something that was cylindrical in shape and she took one as well. They almost looked like handles to something. Serena began to program something into the computer and suddenly Peter would find himself on what appeared to be a large space ship. In his hands he was holding a green light saber. When he looked towards Serena he would see a female figure in a hooded Jedi robe with a blue light saber. She then suddenly attacked...

Peter’s eyes bulged in his VR goggles as he saw what he was seeing. That and he had that childish grin on his face that Serena seemed to like. Once his lightsaber became active, it was green, like the one Luke carried in Return, he almost didn’t deflect Serena’s blows.

It was awkward at first but seeing themselves and one another like a Sith and a Jedi fighting was so amazing He couldnt fight very well and she ran him through in under a minute.A little longer the second time but after that he had begun to get the hang of it. That and he was using some of his amazing abilities that did indeed make him look and react like a real force user might. He won the next 2 bouts and then as she removed her goggles he removed his and he laughed in delight at how truly neat all of this was.

“Well that’s the best video game I’ve ever played!” He said then helped her put everything away so they could continue the tour. “You make a very sexy Jedi,” He whispered as he took her hand in his and moved with her towards the stairs.

Serena was thrilled by Peter's reaction to the game. They both were huge fans of the movies and she had heard him say on more than one occasion how he wished he could be in a real lightsaber fight. This was about as real as she could make it. With Peter's abilities, once he got the hang of it, he was pretty fast and accurate and won the last two rounds. There was still some more of the Tower to see so they put away the equipment.

As they walked towards the stairs she felt him take her hand. She paused and then turned and kissed him gently. "You do realize that the Halloween party will be our first outing as an official couple." She then thought about something and looked at Peter. "How do you think Harry is going to react?"

He smiled at her question and then his face drew down into a more serious look after her second question. “I’m not certain exactly. He might be hurt at first but he has been with lots of girls since. Nearly every girl at school wants to be on Harry’s arm. You know how they can be...well, some of them. Once, he stopped at their table...ok, more than once. And he smiled at them. Well, it was at Morgan but I think they all thought he was smiling at them. You should have seen their faces.” Peter said with a grin.

“I don’t think he will take it personally. But I want us  to be...you know,” He said and his cheeks colored slightly. "He really liked you though and was upset at first after you broke it off with him. Its odd though. Its like I think he knew how you felt but then kept on anyway. I don't understand it," Peter said thoughtfully.

Serena sighed and nodded a little. “I think perhaps he thought my feelings would change but they never did. Deep down I think he’s always known about you and me. Perhaps you should be the one to tell him privately. I would hate for him to find out through someone else. I don’t want to hurt him. I do still consider him a friend.”

“I’m not exactly certain we were right to date other people knowing what we know. And feeling what we feel. I think it was a mistake, not that we can change anything now about it. And I...I didn’t like to see you with other guys. I suppose if I did I wouldn’t feel as I do,” Peter said. “Harry...used to tell me about your evenings, to a degree,” Peter said with a wince. “Jealousy wasn’t in it then. Not an easy thing to hear. So As I said, not very smart on our part,” Peter said. “I mean, I think you’ve done more with him than me. As far as the...touching goes.” Harry most likely embellished a little but it wasn’t fun to hear it all in detail.

“Harry objectified women sometimes. Picked them and considered them as parts instead of whole people. Nice breasts on this one, nice butt and legs on another etc,” Peter said.

Serena listened to Peter and knew that he was probably right. They probably shouldn't have dated other people knowing how they felt about each other. However, this was just high school and high school relationships didn't usually last forever (although she knew her relationship with Peter would). She glanced at Peter slightly when he mentioned that Harry would objectify women. She wasn't entirely surprised, although she was curious about something.

"Did he ever say anything about me?"

Peter winced and desperately thought about something, anything to change the subject. Art had said a few things but Peter has not commented on what he said. He figured that if he just kept silent about it he wouldn’t elaborate. And he didn’t for the most part. Peter knew Serena was beautiful but he had never touched her body or seen her naked. He figured when Serena was ready to move things along to the next level. She would let him know. Where Harry thought women like the man to be forward in that way. Peter just wasn’t like that. Nothing organic ever happened when someone forced it.

The indoor pool was massive, an Olympic sized affair with a hot tub off in the corner. “You got a pool!” Peter exclaimed in surprise. That and it was up on one of the top floors. A feat of engineering to donthat and he smiled. “OMG your so spoiled!” Peter said jokingly. He loved to swim but there in New York, he rarely ever was able to.

Serena noticed Peter wince and suddenly had a feeling she didn’t want to know the answer. It wasn’t going to change anything and no good was going to come from knowing what he had said. Instead, she and Peter continued the tour until they reached the pool. She laughed at Peter’s reaction.

“You are welcome to bring over your suit sometime so we can go swimming.”

Peter grinned at her innocently. “The hot tub too?” He asked. But didn’t wait for her response and started up the stairs. This was not going to be easy, he knew. He wanted to know what having sex with Serena...what making love to her would feel like. And how it would change the both of them.

“Thanks for the tour Serena. I can’t help but be envious of you. You live with some of my biggest heroes,” he said being modest. He never gave himself any credit. Not even when his actions were lauded even amongst their friends.

“Could I see your room?” He asked. He did want to see where she lived. He hoped it would be on some form of disarray like his own was. He was very busy usually and very rarely really cleaned much or picked things up.

Serena looked at Peter and smiled a little at his feigned innocence. She knew that he was ready for more and, to be honest, she was as well, but working out the timing was going to be tricky. The Tower was almost never empty, unless everyone else was on a mission. And his place was not much better because of his Aunt May. They would need to be patient and wait for the right moment.

"Sure, you can see my room," she replied with a smile. She then led him back to the living quarters and down the hallway to her room. She opened the door and Peter would see a rather spacious, and sunny bedroom. There were floor to ceiling windows that let in a lot of natural light, but that also had built in voice activated shades. She had a queen sized bed with white bedding that was unmade, but the bed looked soft and cozy. There was a desk with her laptop and beside it were her text books piled messily. She had a notebook out and had clearly been making some new notes recently. Like any teenager, her walls were filled with posters of her favorite bands, some contemporary, and others classic rock. She had a large bookshelf filled with books and trinkets. There were framed pictures around her room, but Peter might notice that there was one of the two of them from a few months ago that she had sitting on her bedside table.

After checking out Serena’s room, he smiled when he saw the photo he plopped himself down on her bed and laid over onto his side. He propped his head up on his elbow. “You really have a great place here Serena. Its difficult to not be jealous. But I guess you have to worry about...other things to. Things most people don’t. Aunt May doesn’t know so she doesn’t worry. You all know though,” He said and shifted back to make room for her on the bed.

“Im looking forward to the party. Harry always throws a big bash,” He said. “I hope Theresa doesn’t get drunk again though,” He said. Last time she got drunk and was pretty much a menace until she threw up and passed out. Harry made sure she got home alright though her parents grounded her for a month. Peter looked into Serena’s eyes. Dark eyes that were looking at him as if she were thinking of something or trying to solve a problem. They both had just had their mid terms and she had done better than he did this last time. She was the top student right now but Peter had been so busy he barely had time for studying.

He smiled and pointed to his heart and mouthed the word, ‘I’, then pressed his hand onto his heart and mouthed the word, ‘love’ then pointed to her and mouthed the word, ‘you’.

Serena actually felt a little nervous having Peter in her room for the first time. She wanted him to like it. His opinion mattered quite a bit to her. When she saw him smile she relaxed. He laid down on her bed and rolled up onto his side facing her. "This life isn't always as glamorous as it seems. My parent's lives are constantly in danger and everything we do is watched by the public. It makes it difficult to just be a teenager sometimes."

She sat down on the edge turned in towards him and tucked one leg up under her body. "I'm looking forward to the party too. It should be a lot of fun. It'll be nice to just be able to relax and be ourselves. I'm also liking the idea of it being our first school outing as a couple."

She looked deeply into Peter's eyes and smiled at what he said. She leaned over and kissed him. She let the kiss last for a moment before pulling back and whispering to him. "My heart is yours Peter. I love you too...always."