Chapter Seven
"Well that was fun. Ready to punch Galactis in the face?" Both Clint and I groaned as we made our way back to my apartment. Once the police had arrived we took the chance to get away. And since we had no method of transportation we were pretty much forced to walk. It was one of those moments that made me really wish my light cycle worked here in the User world. Modified or not it couldn't work unless it was on the Grid.
The whole Galactis thing was an inside joke between us. Not that anyone would care one way or another. But it was still fun to say after a rough battle like that.
"By the way, you're grounded." Even if he was exhausted Clint still sounded serious. I wasn't the least bit surprised with the order. After what I had done I couldn't blame him. Probably nearly gave him a heart attack when he saw the car falling.
For the first time since that battle I had just thought of something different. Rescuing that kid... not only was it out of sheer stupidity, but it was brave. I didn't hesitate to rescue him from the falling car. And I was left wondering why. Maybe because of the training I had received over the years.
Tron would've done the same thing, I realized.
"So that guy in the costume, that was the Parker boy, right?" Clint's question caught my off guard. Wasn't there something about secret identities that should be kept? I mean, the Renegade had kept his identity a secret until Clu exposed him to Argon City.
"Yeah." I didn't dare say anything else. With all honesty I wasn't sure what else to say. Peter had his own secret. And it was probably best to keep it that way.
We walked on in silence, and for once I was thankful for it. After everything I've been through, I'm ready to crash on my bed. I'm really hoping I can at least get somewhat of a decent night sleep. Though with the threat of the Lizard out there, I doubt that would happen.
Once inside nothing was else was said. I just handed Clint a spare sheet and pillows, than jumped right onto the bed. I couldn't help but think over everything that had happened. I was sure by now that Peter had figured out what was going on between us. To top things off a giant lizard was roaming the streets of the city. Something told me that this fight was going to get much worse.
. . .
"At approximately nine pm last night, an incident took place on the Williamsburg Bridge. Much of what occurred is merely speculation at this point; however several eye witnesses to the crime as well as our own preliminary findings have positively placed one individual at the scene. Which is why this morning, I am issuing an arrest warrant for the masked vigilante known as Spiderman..."
Clint was already wide awake and sitting at the table before I woke up. Like I had predicted I didn't get much sleep that night. And most of that was due to the nightmares that had kept occurring. Last time I had nightmares like those, Tron was the one who had woken me up.
I had no doubt that Clint had already told Fury about the Lizard and Spiderman. I just hoped that Fury didn't interfere. Last thing we needed was SHIELD risking more lives over this. Besides, as far as I was concerned, we could handle this on our own.
"Well that would explain why Fury had you following the kid," Clint muttered after taking a mouthful of cereal. By now we were both eating breakfast, sitting across from one another. The news was still blaring in the background, but for the most part I ignored it.
"Like I said, he's not a bad kid. He just gets into bad situations," I replied with a shrug.
Actually Peter reminded me a lot of Beck. The Renegade had been considered a 'vigilante' back when Clu was in power. And now Spiderman was being called a vigilante for taking care of the jobs that police officers couldn't.
Rinzler had finally woken up from his morning nap. I had to smother my laughter when he gave the arrows strapped around Clint's chair a curious sniff. The term 'curiosity killed the cat' was constantly running through my mind when I thought of him. Clint just tried shooing him away, which resulted in getting his hand swiped with a paw.
"Do you have to keep them out in the open?" Seriously, weren't they highly explosive? Plus anyone just walking in might be scared out of their wits if they noticed. Again Rinzler started batting at the arrows, acting like they were some kind of toy. I tried not to giggle as Clint tried shooing him away again.
Most of the day wore on with little incidents. Rinzler had finally curled up on the corner of the sofa, after a few more minutes of 'playing'. It was hard not to laugh when I saw how annoyed Clint looked. It's a good thing I was around, because he might have just shot poor Rinzler with the arrow.
So for the rest of the afternoon we sat around watching movies. I doubted he was interested in the Disney movies Tony had pretty much forced me to watch, so we decided to go for something a little more exciting. Star Trek and it's respected sequel were probably some of my favorite movies, and for a good reason. Considering I was stuck on the Grid the technology they show is really believable, and possible.
About halfway through the second movie I received a text message. Considering the fact that I was supposed to be 'grounded' according to my wonderful babysitter, I should have ignored the message. But instead I took a quick look and saw who it was from.
I could use some help.
I looked at the message in alarm. Seconds later I sent him my address, letting him know to come right away if possible.
"Hey, we're about to have some company," I warned Clint when he caught sight of my phone.
"And what happened to 'you're grounded'?"
Ignoring the question, I grabbed the first aid kit just in case. Something told me that Peter would need it. I shoved past him and opened the door after hearing the first knock. My eyes widened when I saw who was standing in front of it.
Peter looked as though he had a swim through the sewer, and smelled like it too. His suit was covered in a layer of grime, and I tried not to cover my nose at the stench. Deep gashes could be seen across his ribs. What really made me grimace was that he had managed to live through that.
"You went after the Lizard, didn't you?" I asked after letting him in. He just nodded meekly and set himself as comfortably as he could on the kitchen chair. "Take your shirt off." I dared Clint to say anything, but he looked more annoyed than anything else.
He just grabbed the first aid kit as Peter eyed him warily. Taking a deep breath, I noticed just how severe his wounds were. If Peter had delayed his arrival things might have gone worse for him. And at once I was reminded of the injuries I had received from Batrok the Leaper. If the Tesseract had healed them, why couldn't it heal the wounds of others?
"So uh, I never did thank you for last night," he grimaced his wounds were cleaned off. I held back a sigh once the bandages covered them. Guess there was a lot of explaining we both needed to do. And with Clint watching us like a hawk, I doubted that was going to happen any time soon.
"You shouldn't have made such a risky move," Clint snapped after putting away the first aid kit. This time I did roll my eyes when he glared at me. Peter just smirked when he noticed that the words were directed more to me than him.
"It's not like I would've done this before," I muttered crossly. Although Tron would've reacted the same way. In fact more than once I had been put under lock-down for making such a risky move. I couldn't help but grin at those memories. Before I had returned to the User world he was more of a father than anyone else. And he was just as overprotective as Clint, if not more.
"I take it you two are more than just friends," Peter said in an accusing tone. He straightened up, still flinching in what I guessed was pain.
"Hardly." I paused and thought over how much I must have missed while I was unconscious. It was probably a good thing Peter wasn't around to hear what had happened. "He's more like an overprotective father."
And cue the shock written all over Peter's face. I have to say, that would've made a great photo shot. Now he was probably suddenly understanding why I had looked so familiar. It's probably a good thing he was sitting down.
"So... I'm so confused!" he groaned. Well, I suppose that was better than outright accusing me of being a SHIELD agent. Though seeing Clint dressed in normal clothes probably was a bigger shock to Peter after what had happened last night. For me it was normal. "Last night at the bridge, you said that you'll likely be put under house arrest," he rambled on, still trying to piece together the puzzle.
"Yeah, get used to it," Clint said with the slightest of chagrins. To which I smacked him in the arm. Peter just stared at us both with wide eyes.
"You're a SHIELD agent," he suddenly announced.
"Now you're getting somewhere." Seriously, at this point I was ready to throw Clint out the window. It was a tempting thought, but he'd never let me hear the end of it.
"Peter, I'm sorry," I sighed after grabbing my badge. Fury had given it to me shortly after the whole incident with Coulson's team. Peter just gaped at me before trying to clear his thoughts. "I was given orders to keep an eye on you... for obvious reasons," I explained warily.
It took Peter a few moments to say anything. Right now, if I could, I would take back everything that had happened. Confusion and hurt were written all across his face. Followed by a look that he had been betrayed.
"So you were just following orders?" he demanded.
I couldn't help but flinch. Yes, I had. There was still so much I wanted to tell him. That despite the orders given to me, our friendship was real. Even if we had only known each other for a short amount of time.
"Yes." I bit the bottom of my lip as he stood up.
"If I had known I wouldn't have..." Peter cut himself off as Clint shot him a cold look. He was at a loss for words, just like me.
"Wouldn't have what? Gone after the Lizard?" Clint folded his arms after asking the questions.
"I should probably go," Peter muttered in a tone that said this was far from over. I just looked down at the floor, knowing full well that he was right. Sooner or later we would both need to talk.
Once he was gone Rinzler peered out of the room. He had disappeared into my room the moment Peter arrived. Truthfully that stench of sewage water made me wish I had done the same. Maybe we wouldn't have just had that little argument than.
"That went well," Clint muttered with a shake of his head.
"Save it," I snapped. "Why couldn't I have told him sooner?"
"He wouldn't have trusted you, believe me." I rolled my eyes at Clint's remark, but I knew that he was right. Peter would've never trusted me if I told him from the start who my parents were. Or that I was working for SHIELD.
"So what happens now? Not like he's gonna trust me now," I sighed in defeat. It was bad enough I had stopped visiting the Grid. Of course I could never tell Peter about that. Not unless he was willing to forgive and forget.
"I'd give him some space," he replied. "Once he's calmed down he might understand."
I sure hope that he was right. Peter had been a good friend. And I didn't want him to feel like I had betrayed him to SHIELD.
AN: Yep, that all just happened :P Thanks to Briannajs-22, 2theSky and Panda Bear Lover 317 for reviewing, you guys are awesome! (By the way, highly recommend you listen to the song Hallelujah by Everfound, amazing song), and I'm out for the rest of the day XD
