A Secret's Cost
One: A Spark
New York, New York
9:37 PM
Drug Deal Mission
"Director Fury, I see them."
"Do you need back-up? How many of them are there?"
My green eyes dart around in the alley underneath me. Then, I whisper into my communicator, "About four. And, no, I don't need back-up. I never do."
He laughs,"So independent. Be careful, Spider-Woman and remember, kick their ass and leave them for them for the cops. Or Spider-Man. But, take the drugs and bring them back to headquarters."
With that, I turn down the brightness on my communicator, and pull the hood of my costume over my head, concealing my face. A few blonde strands fly out of the hood as I jump from the ledge of a small, silent apartment. I hear their whispers as I creep through the shadows cast on the brick walls. I've been on many missions like this many times, this one is no different. I've been crime fighting since I was thirteen. I wanted to be just like my dad. He was a cop, he saved lives everyday. My mom was intelligent; she was a lawyer and she gave me great advice when I needed it. I miss them. But, I never talk about them, or my brothers. I don't like to remind myself of what happened.
I listen intently as they make the deal, then; I press my index and middle finger to my palm.
Twip! My web connects to the man standing in the middle of the four men. The one who was holding the drugs. I pull him back, slamming his back to the ground. He cries out as the drugs drop to the concrete.
"Hey!" One of the men shouts. All of them whip out their guns, and point it wildly into the sky. Typical, and way too easy.
I free fall from the wall, and meet them at ground level. They point their shaking guns at me. I roll my eyes from underneath my hood, and lean down to snatch the drugs from the ground.
"What kind of drugs are these?" I ask bluntly.
It seemed to happen in slow motion before my eyes. The spark of the bullet flew past me as I turned my head to the side. Another one was heading for my leg, but I jump as it flies below me. Another one came a little bit too fast for my liking. As I landed back down to the ground, it skimmed my side.
I sigh, I tried asking nicely…or bluntly...shut up, Gwen.
I stand my ground and throw a quick punch to the closest drug dealer. He cries, holding his nose. I throw a swift kick to the side of his head. He crumbles to the ground. The next idiot tries to run away, back down the alley. I laugh, and wait for him to reach the end of the alley. Then,I sling a web to his back and pull him down to the ground. His girly scream sends me into a hysterical laugh. But, my laugh quickly ends when the other asshole sends a blow to the back of my head with his gun. Damn…
I spin around and chop him in the neck. He let's out a choking sound as he stumbles backward. I slide to the floor, and kick him behind the knees. He falls forward, and I press my knee to his spine. I grab the back of his arms, and pull his ear to my lips.
"What kind of drugs are these?"
"I don't know!"
I press harder.
"Uh…wait, wait I know it! It-It's synthetic marijuana!"
"Who's your supplier?"
He stays silent.
My grip on his arm tightens, "Who's your supplier?"
"Rosard Gomez!" He yells when the pain becomes too much.
"Where were you planning on selling it?"
"The high school, eh, the science one!"
I roll my eyes, "Where?"
"Midtown!" He screams.
Midtown Science High School, I go there. Along with Pietro and Wanda.
My side started to throb.
"Now, was that so hard? I'm done with you. Now, you can wait for the cops to pick up the trash."
I drag the four men to the wall, and tie them up near the trash can. With a long sigh, I jump from the alley and swing myself back to Avenger's tower.
I had been living in Avenger's tower since I was twelve. Wanda and Pietro had found me in the street after my parents and my brothers were murdered, the night I got my powers. But, that was a very long time ago.
Wanda and Pietro are my best friends. They treat me as if I'm their sibling. Ever since that night, we would play together, train together, fight together...and occasionally get bullied together. I could always count on the dynamic duo, no matter what.
I felt the same way about Natasha and Steve. They were like my adoptive parents. In the beginning, Natasha seemed hesitant around me. She would look at me with calculating eyes, but I think she grew fond of me after a while. Steve was like a dad from the start, stern and guiding. But, he can be over protective. He doesn't want me to fight.
I crawl through my window, with a hand pressed against my side.
I make my way over to my desk drawers, where the typical teenager keeps pencils, I keep bandages. Don't tell Steve.
I wince as I start to wrap my side. The door opens,
"Need some help?"
I know I don't really have a say, so with a nod I sit down on my bed and let Nat come and wrap my side.
"What was it this time?" She asks, hands not leaving my side.
"Um, I had to stop a drug deal, and bring the drugs to Fury. But, I'll bring them to him tomorrow, they're over there." I say lamely, pointing to my bookshelf.
She nods, "Tomorrow is your birthday, what do you want to do?"
I wince, "Nothing. I actually completely forgot about that."
She puts a safety pin in the bandage, "Come on, we have to do something. Why don't you go out with Pietro and Wanda tomorrow night?"
To make her happy I say, "Okay, but only for a little bit."
"There you go, now get some sleep. And I won't mention this to Steve."
"Thanks Nat."
With the smallest of smiles, she leaves the room.
My eyes open to the usual sounds that ring through the tower.
To say mornings at the tower are hectic is a bit of an understatement.
I slide out of bed, and tug on a white blouse and a navy blue cardigan. Pairing that up with a navy blue skirt, and a pair of brown boots. I leave my my hair down.
I make my way out of my room, cue the hectic scene.
To start, Tony is running around with his Lucky Charms, claiming he has to install some sort of improvement in the Iron Man suit. Wanda drinks her tea quietly on the couch, while her brother speeds to grab the last Pop Tart from from Bruce. Steve drinks his coffee and reads the paper, not paying attention to the distracting scene in front of him. Nat's probably training. An echo of "Happy Birthdays" fill the morning air.
Where do I fit in here? No where, I grab a bagel at the corner store on the way to school.
"Where are we going tonight, Gwen?"
Before I can open my mouth, Steve cuts in, "You're going out?"
"Well, yeah only to a movie, I guess." I say light heartedly, grabbing my books.
He gives me a stern look, "Just be careful."
"It's just a freaki-" Pietro says, until his sister cuts him off.
"She'll be fine, Steve." Wanda says, glaring at her brother.
With a small huff, Steve dismisses us and we make our way to school.
The hallways are jammed in its usual clatter. A friendly banter to my left, and some gossip to my right. I've never really had time for any of the two. But, I do have time for debate. I struggle to reach my locker as Pietro and Wanda make their way to theirs.
I don't have any friends at Midtown Science. Mary-Jane was my friend. Until she joined Liz Allen's clan. Now we're simply acquaintances.
Wanda and Pietro are my only real friends. It's better this way. Our hero lives simply cannot cut into our normal lives. People could get hurt. My parents learned that the hard way. Besides, I'm pretty sure I go unnoticed here. Which is a good thing, no need to draw as much attention as I get in the streets.
I throw my books into my bag, and make my way to first period.
Lunch comes quicker than can be expected. I meet Pietro and Wanda under our usual oak tree spot. My communicator flickers, Fury is calling.
"What is it?" I ask impatiently, not wanting to use my communicator in public.
"Tone." A rough voice cuts through.
Grinding my teeth together, I say, "Yes, sir?"
"Damn right, that's more like it. Where's my drugs?"
"I can bring them over to you after school," Wanda nudges me, "gotta go."
Without waiting for a response, I end the call. "What is it?" I ask her, but I don't need a response before I see bimbo Liz Allen, her idiot boyfriend and her crew of polished morons make their way over to us. Here we go again…
Her heels dig into the ground next to me, "Do you have that paper I asked for?"
I bite back a smirk, "No."
Her blonde eyebrows draw together, "Why not? It's not like you have a life, Stacy."
Oh, if only she knew, "Because I don't write papers for anyone. Plus, we're on two different levels of writing and grammar. If I wrote your paper, no one would believe you wrote it. "
Pietro and Wanda snicker.
She scoffs, "Well, I don't want scum like you writing my papers! Especially when you've always got the two weirdos by your side!"
I stand up, "They're not weird."
"Yeah they are, Stacy. The immigrants and the dork, what a joke!" She laughs, her friends laugh along. Including MJ.
"Hey guys, I heard that poor Stacy here doesn't want anyone over to her foster home because it's full of rats!" They laugh even more. We begin to have onlookers.
Flash leans down and begins to taunt, "Where are your parents, Stacy? Bet they left you for dead. Bunch of shit parents, if you ask me. What about you, immigrants? Parents die in some washed up town of dead beats?"
Wanda's eyes glow red, my fist clench. But then Pietro grabs both of our wrist. We can't do this. It'll blow our cover.
But, then something happens. Something that never happens.
"Leave em' alone, Flash." A soft, but firm tone says.
I look over Flash's shoulder, and see a tall boy, with messy brown hair and big brown eyes. I know him, he's in my history class. What's his name?
"Stay out of this Parker. Go take a picture of a bird or something." Flash scoffs.
"Yeah, beat it dork. Unless you want to join them."
He's about to say something, but then the bell rings.
It's in my last period that I see Peter Parker again. He's sitting in front of me.
"Alright guys, I'm going to start pairing you up for your projects. Remember, your projects are due on June 17th, that's exactly a month from now…" Mr. Woods trails on, but I get distracted.
Hesitantly, I tap on Peter's shoulder. He turns around with wide eyes.
"Hi, um, I'm Gwen. I just wanted to, you know, say thank you. For what you did for Pietro, Wanda, and I, you didn't have to do that." I smile. His cheeks turn pink.
"You-you're welcome. It was really no problem though, Flash has been giving me problems ever since I was in Middle School." He says nervously.
"Parker! Stacy! Since you two are so chatty, you guys can be partners."
Peter's mouth hangs agape, and I look at him nervously. What has gotten into me? I'm never nervous.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for him to catch us talking. I'm sure there was someone else you wanted to be partners with…"
His eyebrows scrunch together, "What? No, no it's okay! I want to be partners with you! We-Well...what I meant to say was that I wouldn't mind being partners with you…"
"Oh, well-"
"If I catch you two talking one more time, then it's going to be a detention."
We stayed silent until the end of class.
I catch Peter by his locker at the end of the school day.
"Hey." He says as I approach him.
"Hi," I smile, "I was just wondering what days you would be available to do the project."
He ponders for a moment, "Tuesday's and Thursday's okay with you?"
"Yeah, perfect actually."
He smiles, "Your place or mine?"
Oh shit.
"Uh, yours." I say, but it comes out rushed. He doesn't seem to notice, though.
"Come on birthday girl!" Pietro calls from across the hall.
I sigh, "That's my cue."
"Today's your birthday?" He asks.
I nod.
His smile widens, "Happy Birthday, Gwen."
"Thanks, Peter. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely."
My heart skips a beat, and my smile stays plastered on my face all the way to the movies.
Alright! I'm finally done with this chapter! I've been honestly wanting to write this story for so long! Don't worry, all of the Avengers will be playing a role in this story, even though this one mainly focuses on Spider-Gwen and Spider-Man. Please review and tell me if you liked it so I can know if I should continue or not! Thank you!