Fourteen Days

Chapter 2 (Part 2)

Sure enough, two aspirin and four hours' worth of sleep later and the pain in Tanya's head was all but gone. She realised upon looking in the mirror that she would be unable to disguise the fact that she had been injured badly. Her arm ached dully and her forearm was patterned with bruises where she had very obviously been grabbed. There was a graze across her right temple and a bruise across her right cheekbone. She didn't believe in caking it in make up so left it, she knew she would have to explain to James and probably put up with him fussing over her but she tried not to think too much about it.

Instead she decided to take a quick shower to try and remove some of the grime left over from the previous evening. As she stood under the pounding water she allowed her aching mind to retrace the events that had taken place over the past twelve hours. What had begun as an innocent jog in the park had resulted in almost being attacked by two men and then being saved by someone who was supposed to be a villain. She thought a lot about Harry as the water ran over her body, she leant against the tiled wall and braced herself so she wouldn't fall. The grazes stung a little as the water rushed over them but she ignored it to the best of her ability. Instead she thought about the enigma that was Harry Osborn.

He was so vulnerable but intimidating all at once, she was scared of him but at the same time she really believed he was searching for redemption and could achieve it. He was a broken monster but he wanted to be whole again and he believed in her to help him. Honestly, she didn't know if she could help him. Yes she'd studied at one of the top universities in the world and she'd passed the course and earned her degree with good grades but she'd never been exceptional. She'd never come top of her class or solved some great problem. She worked in a low level pharmaceutical company, she wanted to work on stem cells to help cure cancer patients but apparently she didn't have enough experience yet. For now she was settling. She couldn't cure Harry's problem, she was nowhere near that good.

The water turned cold and a shiver ran down her spine. She turned off the water and got out of the shower, realising she had achieved nothing other than standing under water for half an hour. But it had soothed her somewhat, she felt more relaxed and ready to get to work. With the towel wrapped around her she ventured out into the hallway where she walked into James. She almost lost her grip on the towel but managed to regain it quickly.

"Oh sorry! I didn't realise you were in there!" James laughed and Tanya blushed as she realised his eyes were examining her naked body under the slightly too short towel. She cleared her throat loudly to indicate where her face was.

"I'm making dinner. It's the least I can do since…" James began before he managed to tear his eyes away from her breasts and to her face. Here he noticed the graze and bruise across the right side of her face and he acted quickly. He took her face in his hands and moved it to the side so as to get a better look. He held it tightly and refused to let go as Tanya tried to pull away.

"Jesus Christ Tan! What the hell happened?" he exclaimed and she held the towel extra tightly with her right hand whilst she brought her left hand up to bat his away.

"I'm fine James, I just fell." She told him, she wasn't lying so she didn't feel guilty. Unfortunately, by batting away his hands she showed him the bruises on her arm. He grabbed her arm and she almost winced as he made contact with the painful skin.

"You fell? Bullshit." He commented bluntly and moved his hand up to her bare shoulder, tracing her collarbone with his thumb and making her uncomfortable. She took a step back and forced a smile.

"James, I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get dressed." She said firmly and tried to move forward but he blocked her and wouldn't move. They were chest to chest and Tanya was not enjoying it.

"You're not fine Tanya, you should go get that checked out."

"I've already been to the hospital. Listen, if you let me go and put on some clothes then I'll tell you what happened." She told him honestly. Whilst he was somewhat creepy, James was still her best friend and he would be able to offer a new insight into the events that had happened. He deserved to know. He seemed to think for a moment before reluctantly stepping to the side.

"Five minutes." He said as she moved around him. "If you're not out in five minutes then I'm coming in."

Ignoring him she slipped into her room and shut the door firmly. Scared that he might keep to his promise, she dressed quickly in sweatpants and a sweater. Once she was dressed she tied her hair up into a messy bun, ignoring the fact that it was still wet.

Knowing she needed to be in a more open space than her bedroom when she spoke to James, she ventured out. He was in the kitchen serving up a salad with croutons and chicken pieces. Admittedly it looked good and Tanya couldn't remember the last time she'd actually eaten, she was starving.

"Looks good." She said, leaning against the counter as James handed her a large bowl. She dug in immediately and ate quickly, desperate to fill the hole that seemed to have appeared all too quickly. He watched her as she ate and ate himself, but slower. She was grateful that he respected her enough to allow her to eat and not pressure her into answering any questions right away. They ate in a comfortable silence and Tanya allowed herself to block out the memory of what had happened in the hallway, they were normal again.

After they had finished eating and the dishes were cleaned they made tea and sat in the living area. The apartment was still a mess but neither of them had had the time to really concentrate on cleansing it in the past twenty four hours. Tanya sat at one end of the askew couch and James sat at the other. Their toes touched in the middle. It was a position that had been taken up many times before throughout their college years.

"So," James began but Tanya knew what was coming. "What happened?"

"I was out for my jog and I ran into these two thugs. They tried to attack me but I ran, they were about to catch me when someone saved me." she replied honestly and paused here.

"Spiderman?" James asked but Tanya shook her head.

"No. It was the green goblin."

"What?"

"I know it's weird but hear me out. I don't think he meant to save me, he meant to kill me but then he changed. It was like he stopped being the goblin and became who he really was."

"Harry Osborn?" James asked, leaning forward with a spark of excitement in his eyes.

"Yes, but don't tell anyone James. I'm warning you." She replied sternly and he nodded, completely captivated with her story.

"I won't tell anyone. So what happened? You fly around with Harry Osborn all night until he transforms back into the goblin and then he drops you?" James asked.

"No. he took me back to his apartment." James' eyes hardened and his body stiffened. The excited spark was gone to be replaced with a jealous anger that Tanya pretended to ignore. "It all got to me and I passed out. When I woke up I'd been covered in a blanket and my shoes had been taken off. James he cared for me. He's not the monster everyone seems to think he is. He struggles to care for himself but he tries, he just needs a little help. He needs that cure. He told me that I have to work on it whilst I'm here so I'm going to help you, and I'm going to need your help."

"He did this to you?" James asked in a brittle voice that could have been shattered by his anger that he was obviously trying hard to conceal.

"No, the goblin did. But it could have been worse. I think Harry's stronger than he realises. I think he has some control over the goblin but he doesn't know it yet. He just needs a little help."

"So how did you get hurt?"

"I fell off a fire escape. The goblin, or Harry, caught me at the last moment but I hit my head hard and ended up in hospital. I'm fine James, really. I just want to help Harry." He still looked apprehensive but relaxed slightly.

"Alright, I'll get my notes."

Ten minutes later they had pulled a glass coffee table over to the askew couch and had spread out all of James' theories and notes across it. Papers covered every available surface and James began to go through them with her.

"Okay, so we were given a sample of the serum derived from Harry's bloodstream and our first job was to isolate the venom as opposed to the blood. Fairly simple. But then we looked into how it had been fused into his DNA. Basically it altered one strand of his DNA, this one here, and that in turn altered the entirety of his being. No wonder he's mad he's been changed anatomically. We're working on finding a way that can isolate the venom from his DNA and then once we've done that we'll work on how we can turn that into a cure."

"But once the altered DNA has been removed, isn't it just going to create a hole?"

"Yes."

There was a pause.

"So what are you going to fill the hole with? You can't just leave a hole in his DNA, surely that's going to damage him."

"That's true. It could kill him." James said and Tanya noted the lack of emotion in his voice. This was just an experiment to him, he didn't realise this was an actual human life. "But how do you suggest filling a hole in DNA? It's not just filling one hole. It's filling millions of tiny, microscopic holes throughout his entire body." James explained and Tanya hated that she could see his point.

"Alright so we work around that. Instead of taking the approach that we're taking it out and creating a hole, we replace the DNA by inserting a new strand." She suggested and he looked sceptical.

"No one's ever managed that before."

"If DNA can be replicated I'm sure it can be replaced. Nothing's impossible and it's worth a shot. All you need is a stabilising agent and a placebo sample. It shouldn't be real DNA, that's what's caused the problem in the first place."

"That…" he drew out the word as he looked over the notes and mulled over her theory. "Could work. Holy shit that's actually genius." He sounded impressed and laughed a little in disbelief that he hadn't thought of it himself. "We trick his body into thinking its better, at the same time tricking Harry and he should get better."

"The psychosis could be removed." she nodded and grinned.

"It's a fantastic theory but it's whether it can work or not. I'll take it in tomorrow and run it by the rest of the team. We'll need a copy of his medical records and suitable stabilisers. We'll also need to start thinking about what can be used as a transplant placebo DNA. This is radical, Tanya if this works it could cure so much more than just Harry Osborn's illness! It could create so much more. What if we could work out how to transplant more strands of DNA into our systems instead of just replacing one?"

"Alright James let's not get ahead of ourselves, we just need to focus on Harry right now." Tanya scolded him lightly, but truthfully she was just as giddy as him. If she got credit on this then it could change her entire career. She would move on from low level lab work and could move into the career she really wanted. If she could find a cure for the green goblin then why couldn't she find a cure for cancer?

There was nothing more they could really do until they had Harry's medical records and had run it by the team the following day. Both of them were far too excited but they decided to call it a night and go to bed. Tanya retired to her room and changed quickly into her nightdress. As she lay in bed looking out of the window at the city lights she thought about how one day her own name would be in lights. And in her dreams, Harry Osborn was right there with her. The green goblin would be gone forever.