Yes, yes. I know. I'm still alive and it was about time I posted another chapter. Have fun reading! Or not... since things are not looking really good for Peter...

Thump.

I twist my body and bury my face further into my hoody.

Thump. "Wake up kid." The man says after softly kicking me in my side again.

I slowly open my eyes to see a man with torn clothes stand above me. He's obviously homeless and reaks of alcohol and drugs. I glare at him and sit up straight against the wall, but remain silent trusting my senses to warn me before something happens.

"Here." The man holds out a cheap phone for me. I eye the device confused.

"Just take it kid, some guy paid me good money to give you this." The homeless alcoholic pushes the phone into my hands and starts to walk away.

I move my arching shoulder a little and look around at my surroundings, slowly recalling myself swinging away last night. My spider-sense has been slightly tingling since that evening, probably either from stress or the cold, but I didn't dare to go back to my apartment as that is probably the first place the avengers will look. I found a quiet alley in which I decided to put some civilian clothes over my costume and fell asleep with my head on my backpack, wrapped in the hoody of my sweater.

The phone in my hand starts ringing. Confused and sleepy I pick up.

"Hello?"

"Spider-man." Someone addresses me shortly, my heartbeat increases and silent chills start to run through my body at the tone of his voice. "Your aunt says hi."

"What?" I say confused as I stand up straight, using the wall to support myself.

"She is very good at screaming you know. Do you want to hear?" My hands start shaking.

"Where is she?! Who are you?!"

"Now now." The man seems to hold the phone closer to my aunt as I start hearing her begging to let her go. "See? No need to start panicking. She's still alive. For now."

"Don't you dare touch her! She's done nothing wrong!" I pleed panicked.

"Oh I agree with you there. Poor lady. It's a shame she's your aunt."

"If you want me you can have me, but don't you dare hurt her!"

"Good." The man answers arrogantly. "Go to street in front of you. There is a van parked at your left side. Get in. They'll take you to your aunt. See you soon, Peter." The call abruptly ends.

I look at the phone a few seconds, not wanting to believe what just happened, before I smash the phone to the wall. I run my hands through my hair and follow the sudden urge to smash the container next to me. It doesn't leave a dent as expected but my hand smashes through the metal in an instance, leaving a tear in my sweater and a small scratch on my hand. I stare at my hand for a few seconds before clenching my fists. I have to save her. I have to let them take me.

(Matt's pov)

Sitting in my office I take a sip of the coffee Foggy just brought in.

After Peter's dissapearance and Stark's visit two days ago I went looking for the kid. Turned out he went straight home, as I already asumed, but I had to know for sure. I sat on the roof of his fosterhome for a few hours. I wouldn't exactly call it stalking, just… guarding? Maybe it was the fear of SHIELD coming for Peter, or the fact his heartbeat still seemed a little out of balance, or maybe it was just to make sure the kid wouldn't be stupid enough to go on a patrol. But whatever reason it was, I felt reluctant to leave.

It was only after overhearing the good news about Peter's aunt that I decided to go home. It would be best to give the boy some space, which is why I refrained from stalking Peter yesterday, although that didn't stop me from worrying. I should check up on him tonight, make sure his shoulder and torso have properly healed. Considering the speed of his healing factor I can probably already take out the stitches.

"Mattie?" Foggy suddenly says concerned. I turn my head in his direction. "Oh thank god, I thought you also became deaf for a moment. As I was saying…"

"Someone's coming." I cut him off. Not a moment later someone knocks on the door of our office chamber.

"I'll get it." Foggy says excited as he jumps from his chair to open the door. "Welcome to Nelson and Murdock attorneys, what can I…" Foggy suddenly stops talking and his heartrate increases "Matt…"

"Stark." I say as I put my coffee down and stand up. I close the slats of our window.

"Matt, do they, you know… know?" Foggy whispers to me in awe of the visitors, but his question gets ignored by both parties.

"Murdock." Stark addresses me. I notice the absent of his usual arrogance in his tone. I stay silent, waiting for Tony to speak up first to explain why they're here, although he seems to be at loss for words at the moment. His companion is the first to break the tense silence.

"Hello Mr Murdock, Mr Nelson, my name is Steve Rodgers. Would you mind if we discuss a client with Mr Murdock?"

I give a nod in Foggy's direction and he gets the message, although I hear him whispering 'you better tell me everything tonight' as he walks out of the office. I gesture at the chairs before sitting down behind the table myself. "I take it this is about the kid." I state. "What the heck are you doing visiting my office? You know this is not the place to talk about these matters. Unlike you I don't want my face plastered across every newspaper."

"Well you weren't at home so I tracked your phone." Tony states as if it is completely normal.

"Next time use my number to call me."

"I apologize for the inconvenience" Rodgers speaks up before Tony can reply. "but we need to discuss some things about Peter."

I wince slightly at the name of the kid, but I knew Tony could easily figure it out with the clue I left him. I guess I just hoped he would keep the information to himself. "The kid's aunt just woke up from a coma. As I told you before Peter has enough on his plate already. Leave the kid be." I say in a stern voice.

The captain sighs as his face turns into a pained expression. "We can't." Both avengers take a short glance at each other before coming to the conclusion to tell the vigilante the truth about the situation.

"The reason why we're so keen on finding him is because there's another organization after Spider-man. We can't let the kid fall into their hands." The captain speaks up. "We tried to talk to Peter yesterday but he ran off. Due to misunderstandings we didn't exactly make a great first impression on him."

"Not a great first impression huh. That's a very light way of saying you beat him up and almost got him killed." Of course Peter ran away when he saw the avengers. He must be scared to death having the avengers know his identity.

"I know." The captain whispers. The pained expression in his eyes almost makes me feel sorry, but I know the statement was well deserved. "But we need your help finding Peter and earning back his trust. He needs to come to the tower for protection."

"Oh that's ironic, considering the course of your actions actually made me believe he needed to be protected from you." Okay. That felt good. Although maybe I should hear them out now before I start objecting everything they say.

My response seems to snap the billionaire back from his unusual quiet self. "Look if not for us do it for Peter." Tony says frustrated. "If Hydra gets his hands on the kid they'll dissect him piece by piece, just to figure out what makes him tick. Yeah we get it. We fucked up, big time, but right now we're the best option Peter has."

I sit back, trying to figure out the best course of action as my phone starts ringing. I gesture for the two avengers to wait a moment as I pick it up. "Matthew Murdock."

"Hello, this is Jenna Daily, from Peter Parker's foster home. Is Peter still at your place?"

"Peter told her he'd sleep at your place." The captain whispers at me. I give him a nod. Stark just looks confused between me and the captain.

"He stayed over last night but he already left." I notice the uneven breaths on the other end of the line. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, there are some people who want to talk to Parker. But it turns out he's not in school and well, he isn't picking up since his phone is probably empty."

I frown alarmed. "What kind of people?"

"It's about his aunt. If you see him, can you please tell Peter to come home immediately?"

"I think I may know where to find him." I lie. "Could you tell me what this is about so I can talk to Peter?"

There's a moment of silence between us before Miss Daily decides to confide in me. "… Okay. Well there are two officers here who want to speak to Parker." Both me and Rodgers tense. Could that be someone from the organization the avengers just described? "His aunt is missing from the hospital since this morning, she woke up yesterday but she has dementia. The officers are hoping Parker knows where she could've gone."

Although that was not what I expected to hear I quickly realise it could be even worse. Did Hydra figure out Peter's identity and took his aunt? The avengers visited Peter yesterday, were they discreet about this matter or did they just barge in the same way they did with me today?! Please, please let this not be what it looks like, for Peter's sake.

"Mr Murdock?"

"Yes, thank you for informing me. I'll try to find Peter."

"Great, give me a call when you do!" The line turns quiet again for a few seconds. "Actually, there is also something else I'd need you to think about. Parker obviously looks up to you, but you do need to make a decision. He's a good kid and he's been spending a lot of time with you, but I don't want you to give him false hope if you're not up to it."

Adoption, she's talking about whether I want to adopt the kid. Damn, why does she need to ask a question like this when there is already enough on my plate?

"I'm sorry miss Daily, but…"

"No no, you don't need to answer right now. There are more important matters at the moment."

"Right. I'll try to find Peter and give you a call when I do."

We both say our goodbyes and I hang up. My head is spinning from all the information around Peter. An organization called Hydra is after the kid, his aunt is missing the day after she woke up from a coma and appearently has dementia and miss Daily suggesting him to think about his relation with Peter.

How often does Miss Daily think Peter sleeps at my place? Am I really giving him false hope? I know I can't adopt the kid, although at this point I'm not quite sure his connection with me can actually give him more enemies then he already has. Seriously, this kid is like a danger magnet.

I can almost feel Rodgers intense stare. I snap out of my thoughts.

"Stark, I need you to track Peter's phone."