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Chapter One

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SPOILERS FOR NO WAY HOME BEGIN NOW

"Riptide run!"

"He's a murderer!"

"Protect us, please!"

"Peter we need to go," you urged, wrapping your arms around Peter and allowing him to swing the two of you away from the growing crowd, "We need to get somewhere safe!"

"Let's head back to my place, we need to talk to May and Happy," Peter yelled over the wind, "Or maybe hide this from them forever. I haven't decided."

Peter landed at the top of a bridge as both of your phones rang. MJ was calling you and Ned was calling Peter.

"(Y/n)! The reveal is everywhere, theorists are trying to tie you to Riptide but the general consensus is that he was cheating on you and Riptide with each other."

"I don't know if I should be relieved or upset," you sighed, "Why didn't he reveal my name too? Incriminating both of us would have been so much easier." Helicopters circled the bridge. Peter was still frantically talking to Ned, "I'll call you back. Peter, it's time to go!"

"Yeah. Okay. We can take the subway," Peter grabbed hold of you again and swung off. This time, instead of staying high he removed a grate cover and dropped the two of you into the subway tunnels beneath the city.

"Look out!" You warned as a train came down the tunnel the two of you were in. Peter narrowly avoided it by switching directions and slipping into another tunnel, "We should be good to return to the surface."

At the next manhole cover, the two of you returned to the streets and began swinging away again. It wasn't long after that that the two of you arrived at Peter's apartment. Peter frantically pulled his suit off, mumbling to himself all the while.

"Mask off, Misty," you ordered, then reached out to cup Peter's face, "Peter, we'll figure this out, I swear it. I can call Shuri and see if she can look at the video, or Pepper might have something. I'll even reveal my identity to prove that Beck was lying."

"I can't ask you to do that, (Y/n), your life will be ruined too," Peter was down to his boxers when the door slammed open.

"Oh my- okay," Happy quickly turned away with wide eyes, "We didn't see anything."

"This isn't what it looks like, Happy."

"Happy we really weren't-"

"Just practice safe- oh, (Y/n), it's been so long since I've seen you," May came in for a hug, "How are you doing? How are your parents?"

"They're doing good, they've been busy with work. You know how it is."

"Wait, have you been crying?"

"We broke up."

"Hey, Spider-Man!"

Handing Peter his I Survived My Trip To New York t-shirt from Tony, you pushed him and May out of his room to get away from the growing crowd and the open window.

"I didn't know you guys broke up. I thought you were in love, May."

"Happy, there's something I need to talk to you about," you said while Peter was speaking to May.

"I know you're probably concerned but I want what's best for May-"

"No, it's not that. Listen we have a potential security-" a knock sounded from the door and you ran to it when you realized it was open.

"Hey, is it true about-" One of Peter's neighbors was standing in the doorway and you were quick to slam it in his face and lock it.

"Hey, Spider-Man!" Peter began rapidly shutting curtains as the crowds below grew.

"I mean, I'm happy to rehash it if you want to. I just don't..."

"Oh, hey, let's get off the phones and just talk for a minute," you snatched May's and Happy's phones out of their hands as their notifications blew up.

"What's going on? Did something happen? Did Peter propose to you? I'm a little hesitant because the two of you are young again but you were adults once and-"

"(Y/n)," Peter pointed at the TV, where the news was showing a live feed outside of Peter's apartment. You let out an annoyed sigh. It was too late for damage control, it seemed.

"Is that- is that here?"

Peter let out a defeated sigh and opened one of the window curtains, allowing May and Happy to look outside. There were helicopters circling the building and news vans lining the streets.

"I mean maybe it's not such a big deal."

"I'm going to go call Pepper and see if she can get PR on this," Happy offered, grabbing his phone from your hand and walking a short distance away to make the call.

"I'm going to call Shuri," you said, scrolling through your contacts until you came upon hers. Holding your phone up to your ear, you waited anxiously for her to answer.

"(Y/n)! This is an AI system I made with my voice, cool right? I'm currently on an extended mission with Nakia concerning a human trafficking ring in South Africa. I'll call you back when I can."

"Shit," you hissed, hanging up and resisting the urge to throw your phone, "Shuri can't help us, she's on a mission with Nakia."

Your phone lit up again with a call from your dad. Realizing your parents must have been freaking out, you answered immediately, "Dad!"

"What the hell is going on? The news is going crazy about Peter being revealed as Spider-Man and they're calling for Riptide to do the right thing and take him down! You said that Beck was the villain."

"He was! You know what he did to me. He used the drones and Tony's illusion tech. Shuri is one of the only people who could help but she can't and I can't go after Peter because I know he's innocent- I don't know what to do."

"Are you at Peter's right now?"

"Yeah, his building is surrounded by reporters. It doesn't matter if I leave as Riptide now but I'd have to run them in a few circles before I could come home. Or make a statement. I don't know."

"Okay, say your goodbyes and finish planning if you need to then come home. We need to have a family meeting about where to go from here."

"Okay, I'll be there soon," you ended the call and turned back to Peter and May. Happy was still on the phone with Pepper, "That was my dad. He wants me to come home so we can talk about this. I'm going to give a statement to the press before I leave to hopefully get ahead of this."

"I'll come down with you," Peter offered.

"No, that's not smart," you shook your head, and Peter's face fell. You quickly kissed his cheek to cheer him up just a bit, "They might think you're forcing me. We've done a lot for New York, Peter. The good ones will believe us. I love you."

"I love you too," Peter pulled you into a tight hug, "We're going to be okay?"

"I'll make sure of it. Mask on."

Pulling open one of the living room windows, you jumped down onto the nearest fire escape. The crowd below exploded with questions, the helicopter flew closer with its camera trained on you. You gave it a wave. It wouldn't be good to be hostile at the moment.

Taking your time walking down the fire escape, you tried to think over what to say. Telling the full truth would obviously be best, but the video would be hard to beat and it would be easy for you to be shown as a killer too. You had to be careful, extremely careful.

"Riptide! Riptide!"

"Riptide what do you have to say about the accusations against Spider-Man?"

"Has Spider-Man threatened to kill you as well?"

"Are you here to apprehend Spider-Man and turn him into the authorities?"

"Quiet down please!" You called, and a hush fell over the crowd. Reporters held mics in your face, cameras flashed, phones recorded. You sucked in a deep, slow breath, and spoke, "The situation with Mysterio was incredibly complicated. The video does not show the whole truth. It does not show the accidental arming of the drones against London to defend the people against the elemental, and it does not show our desperate attempts to stop them from causing any more collateral damage once the elemental was dealt with."

"What about Mysterio claiming that Spider-Man attempted to kill him?"

You grimaced beneath your mask at the reminder. This speech was a lot of improvising and you'd have to cement your story with Peter, "It was a grave series of miscommunications that led to that moment. The drones were brought in to take care of an interdimensional threat and mistook Mysterio as part of that threat as a result. Spider-Man says it was a tragic, tragic accident, and I believe him."

"What if he truly is a killer? How will you continue to work with him?"

"I know Spider-Man. I trust him with my life. Being a hero is not black or white, neither is being a villain. Hard choices must be made. Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow- some of our most celebrated and famous heroes have killed in the past and the world has trusted they did it for the right reasons. Trust me now, please."

"The two of you regularly participate in illegal vigilantism, what will you do when the law crashes down on both of you, despite your good intentions in the face of Spider-Man's malice?" It was Jonah Jameson from the Daily Bugle. You despised that man.

"Vigilantism laws were adjusted on a Federal level to not apply to superheroes recognized as a part of a larger, government approved team. Spider-Man and I are members of the Avengers and were added to the official roster by Tony Stark, therefore we are exempt from those laws."

"Why isn't Spider-Man here himself?"

"He does not wish to face potential physical backlash, and wishes to maintain the little privacy he has left- considering all of you are circling his private home."

"Will you reveal your identity as well?"

"No more questions. Thank you," you announced, then quickly made your exit by hurling yourself into the air with a burst of water.

You circled around a few times to be sure you shook off any potential reporters before landing in the alley next to your apartment and retracting your suit. Stepping out onto the street casually, you hurried into your apartment building and into the elevator.

Your parents were watching the news in the living room when you stepped inside, but they ran to you when they realized you were home.

"We were so worried!"

"The news is all over this story. We've taken a look at social media too. They seem pretty split still, but they live-streamed your little interview and it seemed to help quite a bit," your mom explained.

"It was a smart move to not try to deny the video, especially when we can't prove it's fake," your dad added, pulling you to the living room and motioning for you to sit down on the couch, "We need to talk about how you're going to move on from this."

"We don't want to force you to stop being Riptide, but you need to be aware of the potential repercussions on you as a hero and a person."

"Both personas will potentially be attacked for associating with Peter and Spider-Man, are you willing to deal with that?"

"Of course I am! I love Peter more than anything, and he needs me right now. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it together."

Your parents nodded, unsurprised by your answer. They'd seen you and Peter grow up together and then age back, it should have been obvious that you were going to stay with him.

"I'm going to contact a lawyer just in case," your dad left to grab his computer.

"I'm going to call May and see if she needs anything. This can't be easy on any of them," your mom left as well.

RIPTIDE DEFENDS SPIDER-MAN, NEW YORK TORN AS A RESULT

Scowling at the news headline, you reached for the remote and shut the TV off. Retreating to your room to recuperate for a bit, you pulled out your phone only to be greeted by an unimaginable number of notifications from all of your social media, along with several texts from plenty of people.

You sent reassuring messages to Ned and MJ, telling them that you and Peter would figure it out and that everything would be alright. You texted Peter and promised to FaceTime him in a few minutes to talk about the story you would go with and how to go from here as civilians and heroes. Then Harry's messages caught your eye.

He killed my dad and now half of the city is jumping to defend him with this Mysterio thing too

I know you and Peter have had a hard time seeing eye to eye, but you must know deep down he's a good person

He's a liar, a killer, and a thief and he deserves what he got

And you don't think I should have been brought down with him? I was there, Harry

You're good and kind. You wouldn't do anything like that, and you don't deserve any backlash for what Peter did

Suspicion settled in your gut and made you nauseous. You didn't want to think about what Harry would do to ruin Peter- who he would work with and fund in their mad schemes. It would lead you down a road you couldn't return from. You needed to focus on protecting Peter's reputation right now, you could come back to Harry later.

Choosing not to go on social media for now in order to maintain your sanity, you decided to FaceTime Peter to discuss the story the two of you would be going with.

You kept on telling everyone it would be okay, but a funny feeling told you that something was going to go terribly wrong.