14

Ashlyn's pov:

"So do we have a deal?"

Ash stopped dancing and took a few steps back so she was no longer on the dance floor. Oliver motioned for her to follow him and she did. He led her outside and sat on a bench, leaving the spot next to him open which she took.

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" she stared right at him, ready to detect if he lied.

"What, you don't trust me?" he smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't trust anyone."

"That's probably smart, given your line of work." Ash laughed lightly and looked up to the stars which were shining especially bright tonight. Ash knew that she was reckless and sometimes stupid, so instead, she tried to think of what Maya would do in this situation. Maya would consider all possible outcomes, Ash tried this method but gave up quickly because it was boring, Ash was more of a "live in the moment" type of girl, and thinking like Maya was out of her comfort zone. Ash took a deep breath and sighed, she was definitely going to regret this in the morning but hey, that was tomorrow's problem.

"Well Mr. Mackento, It appears we have a deal."

---(time skip)---

Ash decided to stop at the park on her way home. She had removed her heels and they were now dangling off her motorcycle. She had been lying face up on a park bench for what seemed like hours before she heard light footsteps approaching from nearby. Ash grabbed the gun that was hidden in her dress and stood up quickly, pointing it at the person.

"Geez Spidey, you almost gave me a heart attack," Ash said and sure enough, Spider-man was now slowly walking towards her keeping his eyes on her gun which was still pointed at him. Ash noticed this and dropped her arms, sitting down on the bench again and closing her eyes. She sensed rather than saw Spider-man sit next to her on the bench.

"Since when does The Emerald Assassin get scared of others?" he asked and she sighed.

"I'm having an off day." Ash was exhausted and starving, the only thing she had all day was the bitter-tasting champagne and a granola bar in the morning.

"Wanna talk about it?" Ash almost laughed at his request but stopped herself. She wasn't going to tell him too much but maybe getting a little off her chest would make her feel better.

"I just made either a very good decision or a very bad decision and I can't tell which one it is." She responded and chuckled dryly.

"What kind of decision?" Ash could tell that he wanted more information but she wasn't going to give it to him, it was bad enough that she was talking to him but she wasn't going to make any other rash decisions that she might regret later.

"If you had twenty dollars, would you give it away to possibly get forty dollars later or would you not risk it and keep the twenty dollars?" She asked him, thinking out her words carefully as to not give too much away."Depending on the situation, my current living conditions, the person I would be giving it to, the chance that the money would raise," He answered and she sighed again.

"But what if the person who had the twenty dollars was stupid and didn't think of those?" She asked and he chuckled.

"You're not stupid Ashlyn."

"Who said I was talking about me?!" Ash replied in mock offense and Spider-man just laughed.

"Whatever happens, I'm sure the person will figure it out," He said and shook her head slightly.

Ash stood up suddenly and turned around to face him.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" she scolded and he chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure I'm older than you," He told her.

"I doubt that." Ash still looked like the 25-year-old from the part, She was still wearing her dress and her hair was still a dirty blonde color. By the sound of the voice, Ash guessed that whoever Spider-man was, was about the same age as her. Ash turned and hopped onto her motorcycle

"You sure you can get home alright? The streets are unsafe at night" He called after her and she laughed.

"I'm the thing that makes the streets unsafe," she called back and then sped away.

Peter's pov:

After dinner, everyone went to their separate bedrooms. May had told Peter to stay at the Avengers tower tonight because she had a shift, so Peter was now laying on his bed in his pajamas, but he couldn't fall asleep. Peter decided that some fresh air would be nice and he pulled on his Spider-man suit and climbed out the window after swearing JARVIS to secrecy. 

As he swung through the streets of New York, he took in the beautiful sights and sounds of the city at night. As he swung toward the direction of the park he noticed a lone figure laying on one of the benches. As he landed a few yards away and walked toward her, she moved quickly and before Peter could so much as blink, her gun was pointed right at his heart.

"Geez Spidey, you almost gave me a heart attack" Peter was surprised at the nickname, when most people met Spider-man they asked for pictures and autographs but here was a random girl, wearing some random ball gown and pointing a gun at him. Peter had a sneaking suspicion he knew who the girl actually was but didn't say anything, instead, he kept his gaze on her gun which she seemed to notice because she dropped her arms and sat back down on the bench. Deciding it was safe, Peter sat down next to her.

"Since when does The Emerald Assassin get scared of others?" he asked and he heard her sigh.

"I'm having an off day" she responded blankly.

"Wanna talk about it?" Peter realized that she wasn't going to tell him anything, but before he could take it back she had started talking.

"I just made either a very good decision or a very bad decision and I can't tell which one it is." Peter was still surprised that she was actually talking to him about it but was slightly disappointed by her answer.

"What kind of decision?" he asked, not wanting to sound too pushy.

"If you had twenty dollars, would you give it away to possibly get forty dollars later or would you not risk it and keep the twenty dollars?" Peter thought about it for a second before responding.

"Depending on the situation, my current living conditions, the person I would be giving it to, the chance that the money would raise," Peter tried to think about what her decision might have actually been about but was pulled out of his thoughts when she spoke again.

"But what if the person who had the twenty dollars was stupid and didn't think of those?" Peter frowned slightly under his mask.

"You're not stupid Ashlyn." He said before he could stop himself. Peter cursed himself quietly, he wasn't even sure if it was actually her, but he didn't think she noticed that he had said her name as she responded immediately.

"Who said I was talking about me?!" She huffed and Peter chuckled, yep definitely Ashlyn.

"Whatever happens, I'm sure the person will figure it out," He said and he heard her sigh again.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" She asked as she stood up suddenly and turned to face him.

"I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."

"I doubt that." She started walking toward a motorcycle.

"You sure you can get home alright? The streets are unsafe at night." Peter heard her start laughing as she got onto her motorcycle.

"I'm the thing that makes the streets unsafe." Peter watched as she sped away into the night. As he swung back to the tower, Peter wondered whether he should tell the team about his run-in with Ashlyn or not. He figured that the team would want to know, but it's not like he had gotten any useful information out of her. The team would probably be mad at him for not bringing her in, but then again Ashlyn had beat Nat, there was no way that Peter was going to be able to do better than the Black Widow. 

As Peter climbed back in through the window, changed back into his pajamas, and laid down in bed, he wondered what Ashlyn could have been doing that night for her to dress up like that. And what could have been the decision that was stressing her out so much? As Peter fell asleep, he made a mental note to himself to swing by the park more often in the hopes of talking to her like that again.