The morning was too quiet for New York.
Peter Parker slipped his jacket on carefully so as not to wake Aunt May. She'd finally been sleeping better, and he couldn't bear to disturb that fragile peace.
He eased open the door of the safehouse and froze.
Ethan Kane stood on the stoop, hands in his pockets, looking as though he'd been there for hours.
Peter blinked. "You ever heard of texting before showing up?"
Ethan's expression was calm, that practiced, chilly half-smile he wore like armor. "You've been dodging me. I decided to skip the middleman and try a new strategy."
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm heading to Insight. If you've got a reason for playing stalker, say it on the way."
"Then I'll walk with you," Ethan said simply.
They started down the street together. The early sun bounced off puddles, throwing gold ripples against the gray buildings. For five full minutes, neither spoke. The only sounds were distant brooms scraping debris into piles and the muffled thud of construction. Peter shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing sideways.
"Alright," he said finally. "You came to where I stay, waited God knows how long, and you're not even going to talk? What do you want, Ethan?"
Ethan's eyes stayed on the sidewalk. "To ask whether you plan to stay in hiding forever. Safehouse life suits hermits and fugitives, not heroes."
Peter scowled. "Don't start."
"Will you go home with Aunt May," Ethan continued quietly, "or keep camping out here pretending Mary Jane doesn't exist?"
Peter stopped walking. The look he gave could've stripped paint. "Don't talk about that."
Ethan's tone never changed. "Running from pain isn't the same as healing it, Peter. You of all people know that. Isn't that what you told me before?"
Peter exhaled sharply, stepped past him. "You done?"
"Not quite," Ethan said, and turned suddenly into a side alley. "Shortcut."
Peter frowned. "This is the wrong way."
"It's more scenic."
Peter followed, muttering, "If you're planning to kill me, at least wait until I've had coffee."
Ethan actually chuckled. "Maybe, I am. Although I guess now I have to buy you a cup before I enact my master plan."
They emerged from the alley onto a narrow street where the city seemed to forget itself. The traffic noise faded. Across the cracked asphalt sat a little girl, maybe eleven or twelve, a cardboard box beside her piled with folded newspaper clippings. She was scribbling on one with a stub of pencil. Her clothes were too thin for the weather, her shoes worn through at the toes.
Ethan stopped at the curb. "That's why I brought you here."
Peter frowned. "The kid?"
"She's been out here for weeks. Her name is Leah. She collects every article ever written about Spider-Man." Ethan's eyes softened, almost imperceptibly. "You're her hero."
Peter blinked. "You're serious?"
"Do I look like I joke?"
Peter studied the girl—the way she glanced up at passing cars, hopeful, then went back to writing. "What do you want me to do?"
Ethan's smile shifted—gone was the cold precision. It was genuine, small, and startlingly human. "Meet her. Say hello. Make her day. Be her hero."
Peter tilted his head, studying him. "Of all the things you could've asked me for… why this?"
Ethan's eyes unfocused for a heartbeat. Something flickered there—memory, half-formed and jagged.
He heard it again: the sharp crack of a belt, the sting across his shoulder, a man's voice slurred with rage. He saw the comic books scattered across the floor, torn pages fluttering like wounded birds. He was a little boy, no older than Leah, clutching a ripped issue of Amazing Fantasy, whispering that one day the heroes would come to save him too.
They never did.
Ethan blinked the images away. When he spoke, his voice was calm again. "Maybe I've got a soft spot for kids."
Peter heard something raw under the words and didn't push it. He nodded once, then ducked into a nearby alley, unzipping his jacket.
A minute later, Spider-Man swung around the corner, the early sun catching the crimson and blue of his suit. Leah looked up, eyes wide. Her jaw dropped, pencil clattering to the pavement.
"You—you're really here!" she gasped.
Spider-Man crouched beside her, voice gentle through the mask. "Last I checked. What's all this?" He gestured to the cardboard box.
Leah scrambled to open it. Inside was a collage—cutouts from tabloids and front pages, headlines like "Web-Slinger Saves Midtown Again!" and "Spider-Man Foils Robbery at Oscorp." Crayon stars filled the gaps. On one flap she'd drawn him swinging between skyscrapers, a big shaky smile under the mask.
"I keep all the stories," she said breathlessly. "Because you're proof that good people still exist."
Spider-Man looked at her a long moment, throat tight. "That's… a lot of faith to put in one guy."
Leah shrugged. "Someone's gotta do it."
He smiled under the mask. "Then I'll try not to let you down."
He signed one of the clippings, joked about his handwriting, asked where she'd learned to draw. She told him about a library she used to sneak into for art books, how one of the people, a kind lady, let her take crayons home. Spider-Man listened—really listened—and for a few minutes the city and all his worries disappeared.
Ethan watched from across the street. Leah's laughter floated toward him, small and bright. It hit something deep and unguarded. He felt his chest tighten, vision blur. When he reached up, his fingers came away wet. He stared at the tears like they belonged to someone else.
He smiled anyway.
'Good,' he thought. 'That's better.'
For the first time in a while, he didn't feel like a manipulator. He felt like just a normal person. The kind of person who could help quietly, without profit or design.
Across the street, Spider-Man stood and handed Leah a folded bill—enough for a few warm meals. She hesitated, then hugged him. He froze, then laughed softly and patted her shoulder before hugging her back.
"Stay safe, kiddo," he said. "And keep drawing. The world needs more color."
He web-slung upward and vanished into the skyline.
Leah watched until he disappeared. Then she knelt beside her box, humming. Somewhere in the tangle of probability and fate, a thread rewove itself. The version where Leah would die alone in an alley, her scrapbook and near-dead body found by Peter—that story quietly ceased to exist.
This time, she would live.
Peter swung and grabbed Ethan landing a few rooftops over, pulling the mask back. "How did you find out about her?"
Ethan's mouth quirked. "Leah is one of the countless unseen victims who slip through the cracks."
"She's just a kid," Peter said. "You could've donated something anonymously."
Ethan's gaze followed the tiny figure below, still waving up at the sky. "Anonymous kindness doesn't help anyone. This world is full of systems that show people they're not worth seeing."
Peter looked at him, surprised by the warmth in his tone. "That almost sounded compassionate."
"Don't tell anyone. You'll ruin my image," Ethan said with a laugh.
They started walking again heading down from the rooftop, neither speaking for a while. The city below looked cleaner somehow, the morning light sharper.
Peter finally said, "Thanks… for bringing me here."
Ethan nodded. "Sometimes fixing the small things keeps the big ones from breaking."
Peter smiled faintly. "You sure you're not a therapist?"
"God, no," Ethan said dryly. "They talk too much. I do have the skills to be one, though."
Peter laughed, and for the first time since the Oscorp operation, the sound didn't feel forced.
After a few blocks of silence, Ethan spoke again. "I've been thinking," he said. "About Leah. About all the other children like her."
Peter glanced sideways. "You want to help them?"
"I do," Ethan said simply. "But not with patchwork gestures. Not just handouts. Infrastructure."
He slowed, hands in pockets, eyes on the horizon. "You know about the old soup kitchens downtown—the ones that shut down after the Oscorp buyouts? And that community center that was supposed to reopen before the attack? They'll never recover without new funding."
Peter nodded. "Yeah. The city's broke, and half the charities that used to run that stuff went under before Osborn's chaos."
Ethan smiled faintly. "Then we build something better."
Peter frowned. "We?"
"I've been developing a proposal," Ethan said, voice steady, measured. "A civilian initiative. Private shelters, orphanages, adoption agencies, and education centers. Safe havens for kids who slip through the cracks like Leah. A system that gives them food, safety, and maybe even a future."
Peter blinked. "That's… ambitious."
"It has to be," Ethan said. "You can't change a city by saving one person at a time. You have to alter its foundation."
Peter gave a small laugh. "You sound like you're running for office."
Ethan ignored the jab. "It'll operate under a different name, of course. Isaac Maddox—my legal alias. The organization will be called I.M.A.G.I.N.E."
Peter arched a brow. "Imagine?"
"I.M.A.G.I.N.E.," Ethan repeated, spacing the letters carefully. "Isaac Maddox Aid for Growth, Initiative, Nurture & Empowerment." He smirked at Peter's raised eyebrow. "Yes, I like acronyms."
Peter crossed his arms. "So, what—you're going to fund shelters now?"
"Partly," Ethan said. "But also schools, training centers, rehabilitation programs for orphaned teens. I'll build them like a network. Every child given a place, every resource tracked, every need met efficiently."
Peter's expression softened. "That's… actually sounds incredible, Ethan."
Ethan met his gaze. "It's necessary. You can't be everywhere. But maybe we can help by building something that is."
For a moment, Peter saw something raw flicker behind Ethan's eyes—something that looked like belief.
"You really mean that," Peter said.
Ethan shrugged lightly, the gesture too casual for the sincerity in his voice. "I told you. Maybe I have a soft spot for kids."
Peter smiled, quiet and genuine. "If you ever need help with this—whatever it becomes—you know where to find me."
Ethan looked down at the street below, at the patch of sunlight where Leah had been. "I already did."
They stood in silence for a few seconds before Peter's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, sighed. "I'm late—Felicia's waiting."
He pulled his mask back on, gave a small two-fingered salute, and swung off into the distance.
Ethan watched the red streak arc between the buildings until it vanished.
For a long moment he stayed there, listening to the hum of the city. The wind brushed his hair, cool and alive. Then he took out his phone and opened a blank note file.
I.M.A.G.I.N.E.
Infrastructure planning begins. Secure funding channels. Identify properties. Staff with vetted personnel.
A system that saves the children—because no one saved me.
He stared at the last line for a long time before deleting it.
Then, typing again, he wrote only:
For the future. Let's create miracles.
He smiled as he closed the phone, sliding it into his pocket, and walked away as the morning light broke fully over the city, washing the rooftops in gold.