It was one of those spring nights. It had been a hot day and that usually ended up with, if the conditions were right, some awesome looking storms. Unfortunately those were also the kinds that had a bad habit of breeding tornados. Which was why I was up that night so late. I have a lot of problems sleeping, and a lot of reasons why I do. But tonight it was my mother instincts that kept me up, if that storm was going to turn into a bad one, I was going to climb out of bed and deposit my kids into the safest place I could bring them, the lair.

The storm in question was coming up from the south this time. That in itself was unusual because where I live the storms either come in from the west or north. But it gave me the perfect opportunity to watch it roll in as I laid in bed since my bedroom windows all faced south. To clarify that last statement, I love thunderstorms, I really do. There is just something beautiful about the way mother nature can take that force and weave intricate patters across the skies. They always fascinated me, even as a child. Numerous times I'd stay up late just so I could watch them roll in. Mainly because I wanted to make sure they weren't going to be a threat, but a little part of me always got that childish excitement there when I hear that first crack rumble across the heavens. And of course there was the fact that it was one of those storms that brought the turtle lying next to me into my life.

The northward moving storm was one of those that had numerous cloud to ground strikes and more than once they spiked out in various patterns. I just laid there in bed, watching it with a quiet awe as it rolled closer. Wasn't often they came up from that way, and it wasn't often I got to lay in Leo's arms to watch them.

I heard his quiet laugh in the dark room, the only light that came in was from the lightshow swooping in on us from outside. I broke my gaze from that wonder happening out there to look at him. "What?"

"I love the look on your face." He replied with a small smile. "It's like watching Dennis when he watches Donnie work."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." I rolled myself to face him. "Even if I'm not sure if it is one..."

He just laughed again as he pulled me close to him. "I love you." He murmured as he snuggled me close to him.

It was about that time that my little weather radio went off, the tornado watch we had been under apparently had just turned into a warning. Didn't mean there was one on the ground but there was a rotation out there somewhere to make the weather watchers nervous. That was my cue to get out of bed and drag the kids out of their rooms and into the lair.

Leo was already in one room grabbing my sleepy eyed son as I went in to get Amy. "Again?" She grumpily asked me.

"It's that time of year." I calmly told her as I yanked the covers off.

"I hate that time of year." She grumbled back at me as she got her little butt out of bed. I just grabbed my nine year old's hand and drug her the rest of the way out of her room. I didn't have to worry about the twins, they still slept in the lair. May seem weird to have my little ones over there, but the were watched and cared for. There was usually someone floating around. If something came up they would come get Leo and I.

Case in point, when I came out of the lab and into the living area. Chis was on the couch while she quietly talked to Marina who sat nearby in the recliner. Both of them looked up when we entered. "Got to that point huh." Cris asked as she watched my half asleep zombies trudge to Leo's room. "Told you to bunk them here tonight."

"And if I would have the storm would have fizzled out." I said dryly. "That's about how my luck goes."

She and Marina just grinned at me as I followed Leo and Dennis. We got them settled into Leo's bed that was still here, trying to keep these little boneheads form waking their smaller siblings as they rummaged, twisted and argued over who was going to sleep on which side. It took a few minutes but we got them settled in and Dennis was already fast asleep again. Amy however suddenly popped straight back up and she sat there with wide panicked eyes. "Mommy! I forgot Greenie! What if the storm blows her away!"

I just sighed and rolled my eyes, ignoring Leo's chuckle, before I looked back at her. "I'll go get Greenie."

Greenie was a handmade, green colored cat my daughter had gotten on her sixth birthday. It was a simple thing, not worth a lot of money, but she loved the hell out of it. In the three years she has had it it has been everywhere from school show and tell to bicycle rides in her basket. Even had to sit with us at the table a few times to eat supper with us. At one point she even tried to get me to buy a carseat for this silly thing, so she would be safe in a car accident. Greenie was stained, had been torn more than a few times and had to have surgery to fix her back up, and honestly this thing was on it's last kitty legs...but my daughter adored it. So to ease her little mind that her favorite toy would be safe, I walked back across the lair and into my home to go get it.

Finding it proved to be a challenge though. Have you ever seen my daughter's room? I'd advise you to not go in there if you ever have a choice. Grumbling to myself, I was just picking up things and throwing them out of my way, all in the search for Greenie. I finally found the wayward wandering cat shoved in between the bedframe and the wall and carefully pried it out.

By now the storm was pretty much on top of me, and it was loud. The lighting was hitting so fast that it seemed to be just one big light curtain and the thunder was nonstop. Somebody pissed mother nature off tonight.

Still, I wasn't too worried about it. We get storms a lot out here and this wasn't even one of the top ten bad ones I've seen. I just shrugged it off as I walked back towards the portal with my little green prize. I was just about to step through when there was a blinding flash and the thunder cracked loud enough to make my ears ring. It startled me enough to make me jump about a foot as I stepped through and I actually dropped Greenie on the other side, but that wasn't the worst of my problems I quickly realized. Right after the toy left my hand I felt a wrenching sensation and I found myself quickly being pulled back into the portal I hadn't quite made it through yet. With a yank I was spit back out the other end of the portal, but didn't find myself in my home. I actually found myself very high up in the air. It took me just a second for me to see that I was getting a bird's eye view of the city of New York, before gravity decided to kick in. I couldn't event enough swear words to fuel my growing frustration and fear. I was hundreds of feet in the air, and my flapping arms and legs weren't doing enough to stop my fall. Why does this shit always happen to me...

.

.

He was casually sitting on top of one of the taller skyscrapers, quietly taking in the view below him. It had been a quiet night so far. Not even a purse snatcher to nab. He was about to give up for the night honestly. Almost. He just draped his elbow over his bent knee as the other one dangled over the parapet, lazily swinging back and forth. His masked eyes were just as lazily looking over the scenery in front of him. New York was a large city, dirty, noisy and probably more than a little air and light pollution going on here, but it still was beautiful if you knew where to look. And right now his eyes were taking in one of those sights. New York was actually very pretty at night.

His sharp eyes were suddenly caught by something going on above him as there was a quick, bright, flash of light where there shouldn't be one. "What in the..." He mumbled as it then seemed to spit something out before it snapped back shut again. When he heard the, very loud, screams coming from that falling item his quick reflexes kicked into overdrive. That wasn't a thing falling from the sky, that was a person.

He was on his feet a second later. He brought his arms up, faced his hands to the two nearby gargoyles and pressed the buttons nestled snugly in his palms and two white, gooey looking strands erupted from each wrist with a 'thwip' to attach to those statues, then he backed up, pulling those lines tight until he felt he had enough tension. Then his feet left the rooftop and he was soaring into the air with a loud "whoohooo!"

Even as far as he flew he knew he wasn't going to be able to catch her, so he didn't even try. He did however shoot another strand at the falling woman. Why in the heck was she in her pajamas? He just shrugged it off as his line connected, then he gave it a good yank and the woman suddenly found herself flying his way instead of going straight down. Didn't lessen her screams much though. She screamed the whole trip. "Ahhhhhhhh-ompf!" came out of her when she finally did collide with him. "Next time you want to go skydiving, you might want to consider using a parachute." He told her as he spun them around in the air and they both began to fall headfirst to the ground below them.

"Like I planned to be falling from this height!" She screamed back.

THe screaming was starting to hurt his ears actually and he really wished she would stop. "Don't worry, I got you."

"Yeah? But who has you!" She screamed back at him again as she held on for dear life. Chick had a decent grip on her, she was actually squeezing him hard enough to make it, barely, uncomfortable.

"You, right now." He sighed. "Just chill... I got this." And he let go of her with one arm and brought it out. Thwip sounded again as his line connected with a crane and suddenly their freefall went from that to a controlled swing. He let go at the highpoint of that swing, released the line he was holding and thwipped again. He had already learned once what would happen if he just stopped the fall and he wasn't about to do it again. One life had been enough for his ignorance.

Once he slowed them down enough, he started to aim for a rooftop and landed lightly on his feet, despite the fact that she still held onto him for dear life. She tentatively placed her feet on solid ground before she let him go, the look on her face was priceless as she did, like she was expecting it to be snatched back out from under her feet. "Thank you..." She stammered out before she collapsed to the rooftop.

"No problem." He told her as her eyes widened in recognition as she finally got a good look at him. "Just a regular public service performed by your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

She groaned as she facepalmed. "Why me..."