Peter rushed down the street. "How much time, Karen?" he panted as he maneuvered himself passed the large groups of people, careful not to bump into anyone.

"According to your calendar, you have approximately 7 minutes to get home, if you want to stay within your schedule," the AI said.

Peter had only been in school for two weeks since the new year had begun, but he already had a ton of homework, he had to make, before going out on patrol tonight. His New Year's resolution was to become better at balancing his school and grates and his "Internship at Stark Industries" aka working as Spider-man, but still trying to bring both parts to perfection.

He was already doing well in school, but now he would make sure that he didn't fall behind. He was planning on making and handing in all his assignments on time, do all his homework, and study for all quizzes. That wouldn't be that hard, right?

On the Spider-Man part, he wanted to keep looking out for the little guy, but he also wanted to get stronger. That was why he had agreed with Mr. Stark that they would create a new training program, that would teach him better control over his powers and strengths, but also figure out, what else he was capable of; Mr. Stark had a theory that Peter hadn't "reached his full spider-potential yet" as he put it. It was Mr. Starks Christmas gift for Peter, he said.

Peter had instantly felt bad, when Mr. Stark said this, because he had absolutely no idea what he could possibly give Iron man – the richest man he had ever known – in return as a worthy gift (also he hadn't thought that they were "there yet").

Mr. Stark must have read the slight discomfort on Peter's face because he had said: "Look at it this way; you get a new suit, a chance to become "The Ultimate Spider-man" even though you're still looking after the little guy. In return, I get someone to test out my equipment on. Well of course, only if you're up for it."

Of course, Peter was up for it, and he was very excited to get started tomorrow. But that also meant that he would have to be done with his homework before then. He had made Karen devise a schedule, that could calculate his time, so he was sure to make it in time. It had however ended up as a rather tight schedule, where practically every minute counted. That was why he was now rushing through the streets to get to the apartment. He couldn't run full speed, though, that would only attract attention – that was another part of his Spider-new year's resolution; to be more careful and reduce the risk of getting exposed.

Peter looked at his watch. Oh man, he really wished that he could run faster. Or swing through town. Peter suddenly felt very stupid. Why hadn't he just put on his Spider-Man suit already? He could have been home by now!

Well, there was no time to be annoyed by that. Instead, he turned to his right, running into the next passage. He ducked down behind the dumpster, taking off his backpack. He was about to open the zipper when he heard it; a small whimper. He let go of his backpack and started looking for the source.

There, behind some trash bags, Peter was met with a sight that broke his heart. A dog was lying dead. There was a pool of dried blood in front of its mouth, telling Peter that it had probably died after eating something it shouldn't probably fireworks that some kids had left behind or something. Beside it, sat a small brown puppy, with erect ears with folds over towards the front (Peter didn't know much about dogs, but he was pretty sure that those were called button ears). It kept making the small cries he had heard, as it pressed its little nose against its mother. It was like watching the sad scene from the Lion King, where Simba finds his father dead.

"Hey there, little guy," Peter said softly, reaching his hand towards the puppy.

The little dog jumped backward when it noticed Peters presence. It desperately tried to get away from him, but ended up backing itself up in a corner. Now it just sat there, shaking, as it looked at him with big brown eyes.

"No, no, it's okay," Peter said. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you."

The puppy, however, didn't seem to be convinced as it still tried to disappear into the wall.

Peter decided to change his tactic: without making any sudden moves, he reached for his backpack. He soon found the remains of his lunch; a chicken sandwich he hadn't had time to eat. He pulled out a piece of chicken from between the slices of bread and peeled a small piece of from it. He tossed it to the puppy, hoping that it wouldn't scare it even more.

The puppy looked confused at the piece of meat in front of it. It slowly approached it, sniffing it, with that adorable little nose, before it practically swallowed it whole.

"You like that, huh?" Peter said. "Would you like some more?" He tossed another bit. This time the chicken landed a little closer to himself, and Peter wondered for a moment if the puppy would dare to come closer, but it instantly did. He tossed another piece, and once again the puppy ate it. "Good boy, " Peter said. "Yes. You're a good boy."

Peter continued like that, while he kept talking in the softest voice he could until the puppy was close enough for him to reach out and touch it. He placed the last piece of chicken on his fingertips and reached his hand towards the puppy. To Peters relief, it didn't run back to its corner. Instead, it ate the chicken from his fingers and kept licking the tips afterward.

"Good boy, you see, I'm not that bad, " Peter said softly. "Wauw, you really must have been hungry huh?"

He looked at the dead dog. It was so sad. He wondered how long the poor little puppy had been sitting like that, crying for its mother to get back up. It must have been so scared, felt so alone and left behind. He recognized those feelings. He had felt the exact same way, the night where Uncle Ben…

Peter shook his head, bringing himself back to reality.

Peter reached his hand further and started petting the little dog behind its ear, and down the bag. Its fur was full of dirt, and it was so skinny. That chicken must have been the first food it had gotten in a very long time, Peter thought and wished that he had more he could give it.

The puppy seemed to completely trust him now. Peter had always had a way with animals, but he was still surprised to see how close the puppy dared to get to him now. He had only given it some food, but apparently, it could tell, that he only wanted to help it.

"Peter, according to your calendar, you were supposed to be home 5 minutes ago," Karen said.

Oh, shit! His homework! He had to get home now, so he could get started and be done, so he could train with Mr. Stark tomorrow!

But what about the puppy? He couldn't just leave it here, it would never survive on its own. It was cold, and it couldn't get any food or water. For a moment Peter considered bringing the little dog with him home. No, he couldn't do that. The housing association had a very strict "no pets" policy and Peter couldn't risk for Aunt May to get in trouble.

Maybe he could take it to an animal shelter? No, there was just something in his guts telling him, that he couldn't abandon the puppy. It had grown so attached to him already (and he would lie if he said that he hadn't fallen a bit in love with those big brown eyes too). May and Ben hadn't left him behind when his parents had left. They had been there for him, when he had needed them, because they were the only grown people left, he really trusted. And the puppy trusted Peter!

He had to do something. He was Spider-Man for crying out loud. His New Year's resolution was to keep helping the little guy. And this little guy definitely needed his help. It seemed like his homework would have to wait after all.

"Come on, little guy, I know somewhere you can stay," Peter stated. "Just wait a minute, okay?" Peter got up and found his Spider-suit. He put it on, not taking his eyes of the puppy, which patiently sat there waiting for him to be done.

"Come here, buddy." Peter picked up the puppy, and carefully put it into his backpack. When he was sure that it was sitting safely, with only its head sticking out between the zippers, they took off and swung towards the Stark Tower.

O*o*o*

With the puppy on his back, Peter crawled through the window to his room in the Stark Tower Complex. He pulled off his mask and carefully placed the backpack with the puppy on his bed.

Peter smiled as the little dog at first seemed confused by the soft fabric underneath its paws. It tried to dig in it, and then it started rolling around on the duvet, leaving dirt all over the image of the Star Wars logo. It felt great to see the puppy that happy.

"Now what should I call you?" Peter mumbled. He couldn't just keep calling it "Little guy" – well, he could, but if it got as big as its mother, it would just be weird. He had found a name for Karen, so he should be able to name a cute little puppy too.

There was… Max. No, it seemed too normal. He wanted to name it something special. "What about "Captain"?" No, no, no.

Peter looked around in his room for inspiration. His eyes stopped at a poster on his wall with Chewbacca. "Chewbacca," Peter mumbled and looked back down at the puppy, which met his eyes. Yeah, that actually seemed fitting. They were both brown, with messy fur and had large black noses. "Do you like that, Chewbacca?" Peter asked.

The puppy spun around itself before it sat down looking at Peter, tilting its head. "Yep, Chewbacca it is. Maybe Chewie for short," Peter stated, as the puppy had started to chew on the bedclothes.

Chewie let go of the linen, yawned, walked around itself a couple of times, before it laid down on Peters bed, falling asleep.

The sight melted Peters heart, but he also started to worry; what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't just keep the puppy in here forever. He would have to make sure to get it food, play with it, take it for walks… And he would probably have to tell Mr. Stark that he brought a puppy to the Tower… He didn't really know how well Tony liked animals.

Well, until he figured that out, he would have to get some equipment: bowls, newspaper, food, all that stuff. He stood up, careful not to wake up Chewie, and left the room. He could probably find some of it in the Tower.

He had barely closed the door before he heard the voice: "Hey, kid!"

Peter spun around to see Mr. Stark walking towards him. He was wearing loose jeans and a grease stain shirt, telling Peter that he had been working in the lab. "Oh, hey there, Mr. Stark," he said.

"So, what're you doing here?" Mr. Stark asked. "You know it's not until tomorrow we're testing out the program, right?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I know that. I just came here to, um, study. Get my homework done, you know."

"Right," Tony said, dragging out the word a bit. "I don't think that's true, though."

"You don't? " Peter felt a chill run down his back. Did Mr. Stark know about Chewie? No how could he know? Then again, he was Tony Stark, he knew everything.

"Nope," Mr. Stark said, narrowing his eyes. "I think that you were so excited, about this new program, that you got here a day early, to see if you could do anything to help out. Did I hit the nail on the head there?"

"Yep, you sure did," Peter answered feeling the relief washing over him.

"Good. You don't have to hide that stuff from me. You could have just told me. I want you to feel like you can be honest with me, okay?"

"Right. I won't do it happen again, Mr. Stark." Peter felt like he was lying to his mentors face. Because he was... Peter considered if he should just tell Tony about the puppy right away. But before he could think of a way to tell him, Mr. Starks voice continued: "Good." He then turned around walking the same way that he came. He looked over his shoulder, to see if Peter was following. "Well, are you coming?"

"Where are we going?"

Mr. Stark rolled his eyes. "To the lab. You wanted to help out, right?"

"Yes of course." He really wanted to join Mr. Stark in the lab, especially when they were working on superhero stuff. The only reason he hadn't asked if he could help out with this, was because knew that it would take too much time from his homework. Which he still needed to finish... However, excitement about the program overruled all his worries at the moment.

Peter quickly caught up to his mentor, throwing a glance over his shoulder to his bedroom door. He pulled out his phone, sending a text to Aunt May that he would probably be spending the night at the Tower.

On their way, they met Loki and Thor. "Man of Iron, Man of Spiders," Thor greeted.

"Hello Mr. Thor, Mr. Loki," Peter said. He was met by Loki's green eyes and took it as a silent greeting from the god.

"I'm not sure, that Mr. Loki likes me very much," Peter said.

"Why would you say that?" Tony asked.

Peter looked over his shoulder, this time to be sure that the Gods couldn't hear him. "Well… He's always staring at me, with those... green eyes…"

"As if he wants to curse you? Yeah, I wouldn't take that personally, if I were you. That's just how he looks."

"Right…" Peter mumbled.

"But you'll be wise not to trust him, though. The guy isn't called the "Mighty God of Mischief" for nothing. At least he likes to add the "might" – part, himself."

"But, if we shouldn't trust him, why do you let him live here?"

"That's kind of difficult to explain. When you live in the hero-world as we do, you have to have as many strong allies on your side as possible, when the real bad guys show up."

"Yeah, okay," Peter mumbled. "But how do we know that he'll be on our side, if and when that time comes?"

"Wow, this conversation, has gotten dark, hasn't it?" Tony suddenly asked. "Let's talk about something else."

Peter knew that it was time to drop the subject. It was obviously not something Mr. Stark wanted to talk about. "Oh um, sure, what should we talk about?"

"I don't know. Something fun. What do kids like to do for fun these days?"

"Uh, you know, watching movies… that kind of stuff."

"Yeah? What kind of movies?"

O*o*o*

"Well, he is definitely hiding something," Loki mumbled when his brother and himself, turned around the corner and no longer within hearing distance of the others.

"Hiding something? What are you talking about?" Thor asked.

"The Spider-boy. There is something he is not telling."

"What? No," Thor said. "Why would you think that?"

"I'm the God of Mischief – unlike you, dear brother, I know when people are hiding something," Loki answered.

"Nonsense, you must be mistaken. Peter would never hide anything from us. Especially not from Tony."

"You were always so naïve," Loki said, shaking his head.

Thor hesitated a bit. He couldn't image, that the innocent boy would ever be doing something that would be deemed illegal, but then again, he never thought that Loki would betray him. "You don't think it's something bad, do you?"

"Well, I don't know, brother, " Loki answered. "But I say that maybe we should investigate a bit?"