Chapter 26

Deadpool's katana clashes with Valerie's left arm, the blade cutting into it. With her right leg, she kicks him back, at the same time pushing herself away as she wrenches in pain. She looks down and her gut lurches as she sees the large gash the sword's created, going from her wrist all the way to her elbow. Blood trickles down her arm and hand, and the pain seems neverending.

"Oh, did you get a boo-boo? Don't worry, knowing you, that'll heal in about an hour or so tops." Deadpool quips, twirling his swords around precariously.

Harry reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a small metal ball with green details. He throws it at Deadpool and it releases a cloud of grey smoke, "C'mon, lets get out of here!"

"Hey, where'd you guys go?" Deadpool shouts out as Valerie and Harry make their getaway, "Hey, not fair! Goblin ex-machina!"

They make their way around the bend, and the two of them keep running until they're certain they're in the clear.

"Who was that? An assassin?" Harry asks, gasping for air and holding his sides.

"I have no idea." she lies, "But your father needs to know his life's in danger."

He nods, "I should call hi-" he feels around his pants pockets, "Where's my phone?! And my keys?!"

Valerie thinks to offer her phone to Harry, but she feels around in her pocket and realizes her phone is gone as well, "Mine's gone too."

"I can't get back into my condo in Oscorp without my key or my cell." he realizes, sighing, "I'll have to find a hotel for the night."

Suddenly, some feedback comes out of Valerie's earpiece, she'd almost forgotten she was wearing that thing,

"Pssssst, hey, maybe you should invite lover boy here to stay over at your place." Deadpool's voice comes out giddily like a school girl.

Although Valerie was considering that anyway, she also considers for a second going against her better judgement just to spite Deadpool. But no, while she can't speak to him right now what with Harry right next to her, she's not going to let him affect her judgement,

"Well, my apartment is only a couple of blocks away from here, I wouldn't mind if you stayed the night."

Harry shuffles around uncomfortably, "Naw, I'm good, thanks."
"ARUGH, no Hairy, that's not what you're suppose to say. You're suppose to be like, 'oh wow, thanks Valerie, you're so thoughtful, now let's make out'." Deadpool complains, "I steal your stuff and create a paper-thin plotline so you two can hook up, and what do you do? Naw, I'm good.You know, sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

"But, I mean, are you gonna be alright by yourself? What if that guy comes back for you, you don't have any bodyguards, or even a cell…I'm not suggesting that you're incapable of taking care of yourself, it's just, you know, safety in numbers."

He nods, considering this, "Hmm...you know what, you're right." he admits reluctantly.

They make their way to Valerie's apartment, and on the way, they run into a familiar face on the elevator,

"Oh, hey Stan, haven't seen you around lately." she greets the elderly man as he enters the lift.

"Oh, well, I just got back from Comic-Con, pretty fun stuff." he looks over and see Harry, "Is that...Harry Osborn?"

"Hi." he smiles awkwardly.

"My grandchildren love you, but I have to ask: what is it exactly that you do?"

"Well...most people know me as the son of Norman Osborn." he reflects, "So, I guess it's like being a prince, most of my fame comes from the fact that I was born into the Osborn family."

"Oh...so you're not like, a famous scientist?" Stan asks disappointedly, "I knew it, you're too pretty to be a serious scientist."

Valerie can't help but smirk as Stan exits the elevator, "Hey, scientists can be pretty too."

He smiles, "They sure can."

They enter her apartment and Valerie realizes something, "Hey, what was that thing you threw at the assassin?"

He opens up his jacket pocket to reveal a velcro strap with several metal balls identical to the one he threw at Deadpool, "It was a gift from father after an incident with a...fan."

"And it's legal to carry those around?"

He shrugs, "I'm sure dad cleared it up with his lawyers."

She smirks, "Of course he did."

Valerie looks down at her blood soaked sleeve, thankfully she's wearing a red shirt today. She pulls up the sleeve and sees that she's no longer bleeding, and the gash is already starting to close up.

"Oh my god, were you hurt?" Harry realizes, "I had no idea."

"It's fine." she assures him. She was in front of him when it happened, she must have been blocking him from view. That's probably for the best, if he'd seen what had happened to her, he'd never believe that she'd healed this quickly.

Harry walks over to her hallway closet and opens the door, and comes out with a first-aid kit, "Here, there should be some bandages in here to wrap your wound."

He opens it up and, sure enough, there's a roll of cloth bandages by the scissors and gauze, "How'd you know that was there?" Valerie asks, she'd didn't even know that was in her own closet.

"Standard Oscorp procedure." he explains, taking out the bandage and unravelling it, "Here, let me see it."

Valerie tentatively pulls up her sleeve and Harry's head leans back slightly at the sight of her now almost completely healed cut, "Wha…"

"Harry, I don't think the bandage is necessary, it wasn't that bad of a cut, see?" she reassures him, grabbing the bandages from him and placing them back into the kit.

"But...all that blood..." he observes, pointing to the darkening stain on her sleeve.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." she repeats, growing increasingly nervous, "Uh...you wanna...do something?"

He raises an eyebrow, "Like what?"

"Well, seeing as you are my guest, I feel like I'm obligated to entertain you...somehow."

His bright blue eyes light up and he blinks a couple of times in disbelief, "Hang on...have you never been to a sleepover?"

"...is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all." he tells her, "It just means that I have a lot to teach you. It'll be fun, trust me."

Outside, she hears sirens followed by the reflection of red and blue police lights against the apartment walls. She looks out her window and feels a strong gust of wind as a barely visible figure in red and blue flies by, with the police cars close behind. Spider-Man's out once again, Valerie has to wonder how he gets all of his homework done on time when he's going out as Spider-Man every night. She instinctively thinks of grabbing her costume and joining him but, she can't leave Harry by himself, and besides, he's still hung up over the fact that she knows he's Peter Parker, and while he doesn't show it outright, their relationship is strained. Maybe it's best that she leave him alone for now.

She closes the windows and draws the blinds, blocking out some of the noise and chaos happening outside, she turns around and sees Harry smiling at her, his hands in his pockets, "Alright, teach me your ways. What do you do at a sleepover?"

Author's Note:

Responses:

highlander348: Yeah, that fight was a little shorter than what I'd originally intended, I just felt that it could've dragged on forever, and I had other things to get to story-wise. Hopefully it was still satisfying.

RealHuntress18: I love Deadpool too. Sometimes I just wanna hug him :3.

Felixlover: That my friend, is a literary device known as a "cliffhanger", and I had to cut it off somewhere, the next appropriate cutoff point would've added another ten thousand words (aka this chapter).

kindleflame5: I agree, although I'm keeping the Tarantula/Spider-Man contact to a minimum in these next chapters (you'll see why soon enough). And yes, I did enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy, saw it on the last day the theatre was playing it, and I totally added "Hooked on a Feeling" to my playlist of songs I listen to when writing this story.

MF 22: That's exactly what I'm doing to an extent. I can't cut out Spider-Man completely, because that would be a disservice to the brand (aka, this is a Spider-Man fanfiction, therefore Spider-Man needs to be involved somehow). And who knows, Spider-Man might just find reason to trust Tarantula again.

WinterRain36: Sorry, no Deadpool beating (yet ;3).

Thanks! :)