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Chapter Thirty-Five

Idus Martiae

The Mayor had been kidnapped.

I wouldn't learn this until the next day at school; it was the only think people could talk about.

The only think I could think about was the fact that Green Goblin showed up last night, nearly killing me and Peter had Black Cat not returned at the last second to save our lives. Who woulda thunk?

I was surprised to learn that Goblin hadn't taken responsibility for the kidnapping; in fact, a TV interview with Captain Stacy said that it was the White Rose who took her, out of some desire to barter the city. No knew where she went, or how to hunt them down. Contacts with the White Rose were shaky to say the least; the FBI had gotten involved since, but had yet to make any headway.

Everyone had seen the ransom video. It was on the news, online, everywhere. All it showed was a dark portrait of Mayor Waters, duct-taped to a chair in some dark room, her hair awry, her suit wrinkled, hose ripped, and a disembodied voice speaking and she struggled weakly against her bindings.

The voice demanded the city for her life. I didn't know how you could just…hand over a city like that, but clearly someone had to do something, or the Mayor was going to die. They didn't give a time limit, strangely, but the threat was there nonetheless.

It was all very worrisome, to say the least.

I couldn't concentrate in class. Neither could Peter, if our hushed conversations over our worksheets meant anything. We both noticed that Harry hadn't been to school today. He also failed to show up at the play last night, and Hoby Brown had to take his place as Puck in the show. Hobie was pretty proud of his effort, which had gotten standing ovation…but Peter and I were worried about what it all really meant.

If Harry hadn't been at the play last night, where was he?

The answer was obvious.

I was too afraid to even bring up the thought, even though I knew Peter was thinking the same thing.

Things did not get better when Gwen pulled me aside before lunch. "Amy, can we talk for a second?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," I had to make myself focus on her face, to remember that my problems weren't everyone's problems. Gwen looked seriously bothered, and I could only imagine what she wanted to talk about.

"It's Harry," she said.

Well, I could've guessed that. Still, I couldn't help but lean in a little, earnest. "You've seen him? Is he okay?"

"He's…" Gwen looked away, biting her lip, then glanced back at me. She looked almost ashamed. "I've been hiding him at my house. He was…he felt sick last night and came over. He's scared, Amy. And he wants to talk to us. All of us. Peter, you, me. Together. Tonight."

"Tonight?" I frowned. I had no real plans, and I was sure the Doc wouldn't mind if I hung out at Gwen's on a supposed 'study date'. At least this time it would be more truthful than usual. "I-I guess. What happened last night? Why is he sick?"

"It's… a long story," Gwen winced, and I had a feeling she knew more than I did, but didn't want to tell me. She put her hands on my shoulders, squeezing. "Please tell me you'll come. It'll mean the world for Harry. We're…we're all he has left right now."

"I…" I didn't even know why I was hesitating. Was it because I knew it about the Goblin? Did Harry realize what was going on, finally? "Of course, Gwen. Of course I will. I'll be there. I promise."

A smile of relief broke across her face, and Gwen enveloped me in a tight hug. Had I not known better, I might've thought she had super strength. "Thanks, Amy. I really need this right now. With you guys there, it's all going to work out. I just know it."

I should've known better than to make promises I couldn't keep.

I had decided to walk home today; a longer trip meant I had more time to think to myself, and the rhythmic thumps of my footsteps gave me reassurance. Did Harry remember what happened last night when he was the Goblin? Did he remember almost killing me and Peter? Well, Falcon and Spider-Man, but still. What were we going to do? What was Peter going to do?

I was afraid a fight might break out. That Harry might just change in front of us, switch personalities. What if he didn't need the Globulin Green anymore to become the Goblin?

The thought sent shivers down my back and I pushed it aside, calling it ridiculous. I was overthinking, as I always did when I was left alone too long with my thoughts. It wasn't going to be that bad. Harry was going to get help — real, honest to goodness help. His traveling last time did some good. It took him longer to relapse. Maybe now, he could be…he could be fixed for good.

BOOM!

The ground shook beneath me, and I stumbled, catching the wall of a nearby building to steady myself. Looking up, I saw a plume of smoke rising behind the apartment buildings in front of me. Oh, god, was that Hell's Kitchen?

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Right before my eyes, three more clouds of smoke rose into the air, red sparks catching in the afternoon light. I just stared, in horror, completely distracted when something showed up on my radar.

"Hey, there, little girl…" I heard the hissing voice.

In my panic, I instinctively whipped around, grabbing the hand with its shiny blade, and wrenched it down. At the same time, I swung my other fist, striking the mugger across the jaw and sending him flying back.

Unfortunately, I didn't expect his back-up.

Something grabbed my hair, ripped my head back, and I cried out as I was thrown off my feet. Whoever had me must've been strong, huge, because with only a small grunt he managed to heave me into the brick wall of a nearby alley.

I just barely managed to bring up my arms to protect my face before I collided with the very hard, very solid surface of brick, the skin of my palms raking against the rough surface.

As I hit the ground, I heard the second mugger cry out behind me, followed by two sharp wacks! And the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground.

It took me a second to shake my head and look up. I recognized the red suit and batons instantly. "Daredevil! I-I can't — Are you following me again?"

He turned slowly, hardly out of breath, although I was pretty sure he just jumped down from the rooftops or something. For a guy who was pretty much as close to human a superhero could get, he was pretty tough. I had no idea how he did it.

"Not on purpose. I was following those," He gestured with a baton towards the four plumes of smoke in the distance. Even as we looked, two more appeared, and he grimaced, muttering, "Oh, great."

Before I could say anything, Daredevil turned to me, a frown on his face. "Are you all right?"

I was a little stunned. "You have to ask?"

"He did just throw you into a wall."

"I took a knife in the back once. I'm fine. What're you doing?"

"Right, I forgot." Daredevil gave a short nod, his lips pressing into a thin line. "It's the White Rose attacking. All over Hell's Kitchen, and beyond. Brooklyn's flooding, Harlem's got power outages, traffic on the bridges as stopped completely. I've been after them for weeks, I was going to stop them…but they were always a step ahead. Kidnapping the Mayor, setting fires, all these things, keeping me distracted. Emergency systems are scattered, unprepared. Now they're planning something, and I don't know if I can stop them —"

He stopped seconds away from admitting defeat, and frowned. A silence fell between us as I took this in. What was I supposed to say?

That's when he tilted his chin up and asked, "I could really use your help."

"You — what?" I definitely wasn't expecting that. Daredevil, asking for help? "Didn't you specifically tell me not to go after the Rose?"

"That was before," he said, pointing a finger at the ground as he faced me. "This is now. I need you to find Mayor Waters, while I track down Fisk. I don't imagine they're in the same place at the same time, but I know he's watching her someone."

"But — my friends —" all I could think about was Gwen's whispering voice, her begging eyes, agreeing to meet her and Harry and Peter at her house. The sun was already setting. I was going to be late.

"Please." Daredevil said. "I wouldn't be asking this unless I had no other choice. I don't want you in this fight…but you're the only other person I know who can."

I sighed, closing my eyes and biting my lip. I knew whatever Harry wanted to tell us was important — more than likely it had to do with the Goblin, who was also a major problem — but I couldn't just say no to Daredevil. No after everything's that's happened. I trusted him, and for some bizarre reason he trusted me. I couldn't give that up, not after everything that's happened.

Clenching my hands, I opened my eyes and gave a short nod. "Fine. I'll help. But only because you asked."

He gave me the ghost of a smile. "I don't expect anything more."

The White Rose might be working with the Green Goblin. I've been finding Pumpkinheads guarding Rose outposts, so I think it's a fair gamble…

I could hear Daredevil's voice playing over in my head as I flew over New York City, scanning the streets and rooftops as I searched for any sign of where Mayor Waters might be kept hidden.

…The White Rose have been bringing in their shipments by boat now; easier to hide, and probably harder for you to break into, after you're little rampage — okay, sorry, didn't mean it like that. But you know. Check the docks. Look for large ships, well-guarded. They'd need something to defend from both police and superheroes…

New York had a lot of docks, to say the least, and I wasn't in the mood to go look through hundreds of shipping manifests to see which ones looked fishy (pun not intended).

Most of them were fishing boats, others were freighters packed with giant metal containers. I was leaning towards the latter, mostly because of all the places you could hide a person, hide yourself, really, without the FBI catching on.

As it turned out, the ship I was looking for wasn't too hard to find.

It was in the middle of the river, leaving the city. I noticed the bright orange dots first, thinking they were, like, construction cones or something. But drifting closer, I realized they were people.

Pumpkinheads, to be exact.

They saw me almost as soon as I saw them. Shouting erupted on the ship as they all started pointing at me and aiming their various weapons: guns, rocket launchers, the occasional pumpkin bomb — all directed at me as I swooped down, wind whistling between my feathers.

Like hawk coming down to grab its prey, I kicked out my legs as I came closer towards deck, knocking a Pumpkinhead into the water. The Goblin had surprisingly considerate work code, because they all appeared to be wearing life vests, so I didn't feel too bad about launching them into the water. If they couldn't swim, then the Coast Guard could pick them up when I was done.

There had to be two dozen or more on the decks, and more spilled out even as I knocked two more over the railing. Good god, where did Goblin find all these weirdos? When did he get the chance to hire them all? Did he hand out business cards or something? Did he write an ad in the confidentials of the Daily Bugle?

I almost smiled just thinking about it, swiping a Pumpkinhead with my wing and throwing him into a comrade. Looking for tall, thin men and women between the ages of 18-25; must be willing to use firearms; no experience required; desire to fight superheroes like Spidey and Birdgirl is welcome.

Landing on the deck, I threw out one hand, knocking back a Pumpkinhead girl and throwing another aside, loosening his gun and sending it over the end of the ship. More charged at me and I launched into the air again, using the wind from my wingbeats and force them back, blinding them and giving me enough time to gather enough strength and lift them — about eight at once, from their clothes and neck collars — and toss them overboard.

In one collective scream, they all landed into the waves below. The others scattered, terrified, several bailing ship themselves instead of facing me. Clearly, Goblin wasn't looking for the qualities of bravery or loyalty in his lackies.

One last Pumpkinhead thought he could one-up me by charging from behind, but my radar picked up on him. Just as he was about to bring down the 2x4 on my head, I spun around, slamming a roundhouse kick into his chest and sending the man wailing into the water.

With a huff, I straightened and clenched my fists. Well, that's over with.

As I scanned the rest of the deck for any stragglers, it occurred to me how surprisingly easy this was. You'd think if you were keeping someone as important as the Mayor on board, you set up some guards who were more capable of defending against superheroes. Or someone who could shoot guns better.

After confirming that there was no one left on deck, I eventually made my way towards the back of the ship, I found a massive hole in the metal, a crane nearby. This must be how they unloaded the crates from inside. As I peered in, I didn't see any cargo — just darkness. My radar picked up on other objects inside, but nothing large enough to be worth the size of shipping freighter.

Dropping down, my landing echoed in the cavernous space. Looking around, I saw that the hull was almost completely empty and devoid of light. Its metals walls were red with rust, and I could pick out the lines of wire that connected the various pieces of C4 planted on the ship. This must be the back-up Goblin or the Rose wanted to make sure no one got away before the deal came through.

Well, it made up for my disappointment with the Pumpkinheads. Careful not to trip on any of them, I made my way to the center of the gigantic room.

In the center, a grate from the ceiling filtered sunlight down onto the occupied chair beneath. In front of the chair was a digital camera with its screen out, still recording. I raced over, knocking over the camera in my haste to reach the Mayor duct-taped to the chair.

"Mm-mmf!" Mayor Waters, gagged, had looked up when I dropped down on the other end of the ship. She looked even worse in real life than on camera - the screen couldn't capture just how aged the woman looked, her gray hair having lost all its shine and shape, now a dull gray color that only accentuated the lines on her face, the shadows under her eyes. She struggled weakly in her bindings, bare feet kicking uselessly against the floor.

"It's all right," I said, raising my hands up to show I meant no harm. I wasn't particularly clear on the Mayor's opinion of superheroes, but I hoped that the Mayor didn't react badly. The voice scrambler probably didn't help, but I couldn't afford to turn it off at the moment. "I'm here to help."

"Mmmf!" was all the Mayor could say.

"Hold on, this might hurt a bit," I said, raising her hands. In one swift motion, I brought up my arms, and all the duct tape came apart at once with a loud RIIIIIP!

"Ah!" Mayor Waters cried as her mouth was released. She brought up her equally free hands and rubbed her sore skin, wincing. "I guess superheroes don't practice bedside manners."

"Sorry," I just shrugged. Her suit was dirty and Waters tried swiping away the dust and grime, but it was only a half-hearted attempt. The woman looked like hell. "Look, we have to get out of here, and fast."

I turned to look around as the Mayor got up to stretch aching legs. I hoped the Mayor could get a hold of herself quickly, because I was not ready to start carrying dead weight around, especially if we were going to get attacked again. "The ship is going to blow in less than hour and the faster we le—"

I was interrupted by a hand that fell on my shoulder, detected by a prick on my radar. I glanced over at Mayor Waters, who simply said, "Thank you."

Then she plunged a needle into my neck.

I didn't even have time to throw her off before Water's thumb had pushed all of syringe's liquid into my veins. A strangled gasp left my lips at the sudden spurt of pain and I twisted around, grabbing the offending arm and twisting it — but her strength failed before she could cause injury.

Suddenly, my knees buckled underneath her and I lost my grip on the Mayor, fingers already numb. By the time I hit the floor, I couldn't feel my body.

Even though I had stopped moving, the world still swayed. My vision blurred with every flick of eye movement and my breathing became very loud in my ears.

What's going on? Even my thoughts were slowing down. My radar faded away. What's happening to me? I can't move!

I barely managed to croak out, "What...did...you...do?"

"I'm sorry, Falcon," Mayor Waters said, but all I could see was her bare feet. To look up at the woman, I would have to turn my head, but I didn't have the strength for it.

Water's voice echoed and slurred, and it took me several seconds to even understand what was said even after I heard it. "They didn't leave me a choice. I have to protect the people of this city, even if it means sacrificing one of its citizens to do so. As the saying goes, the needs of the many..."

"Outweigh the needs of the few," I whispered, heat flaring inside of me despite my immobilized state. Who the hell did the Mayor think she was, using a goddamn Star Trek line to justify herself!

Suddenly, the world started to shift and I was distantly aware of something pulling on my arm, lifting me up. Shoulders off the floor, my head lolled back, neck unable to support itself as I was hauled upright into a sitting position. It took me a few seconds to figure out that this was the spot that Mayor Waters had just been sitting in moments before.

"Then you understand, right?" Mayor Waters asked, panting slightly from the effort. I wasn't that heavy, on my own, but my various equipment added some not inconsiderable weight. The woman returned to my line of sight, pacing anxiously before her. There was something in her hands, something black and shiny. "This is for the best. The best choice. I know...I know you would have made the same decision, had you been in my shoes. This sacrifice... it'll save millions."

"Not..." Breathing was so hard. It felt like there was an anvil on my chest. I squinted, still trying to make out what was in the Mayor's hands. "...Your choice...to make...who has to...sacrifice..."

"If they came to you," Mayor Waters paused to frown, turning to face me. She was tapping the black object in her hands. Oblong, such a weird shape. "Saying that you had two options: either kill yourself, or let everyone else suffer, what would you do? What would you choose? You may be careless, Falcon, but you're not selfish. You'd do it. I know you would. That's what heroes do."

"But it's not you," I said, managing to sound a little more lucid, but it was a fleeting moment. My voice rasped, made worse by the grating sound as it was emitted from the voice scrambler. Each word scraped my throat raw. "It's not...you they want...dead. It's easy...when they're asking...to kill someone else...doesn't seem so bad...that way, does it?"

The woman's brow furrowed. Her fingers ran over the smooth black metal surface – gun, it was a gun – in her hands, considering my words, not liking them. I felt a small smile pull at my lips. I was right, and the Mayor knew it.

However, Waters just shook her head, running a hand through her messy gray hair. "No, no, it's still hard. I've never – I've never had to kill anyone before. I'm not like them. I just wanted you to know that. This isn't personal."

It never is.

"Who's...they?" I finally realized that Waters' hadn't identified her assailants yet.

"Don't you know?" Waters threw me a surprised look. She hadn't seen the ransom video, didn't know it had been broadcasted live on all the media stations. Even Twitter. It was trending right now. "They're the ones you've been fighting, trying to take down. Their drug is in your system. Rosebud, or a liquid form of it, the version that paralyzes. Did you know they had made different types, catered to their needs? God," the woman laughed, a cold, mirthless laugh. "Had I known what they'd been up to before, I would've put more funding into the NYPD's Organized Crime Unit. My secretary is an idiot."

I was thrown off by this aside, my vision blurry and hearing fading out as I tried to figure out what I just heard. What? Makes no sense...what were we talking about again?

But I figured it out. "The Rose."

"Yes," Mayor Waters nodded with a tired sigh. "The Red Rose."

"The...what?" No, that was wrong. I thought I heard wrong. Maybe the drugs were screwing up my hearing. Surely the Mayor must be confused, mistaken... "No...no, it's the...the White Rose...They're the ones...making...selling the drugs..."

"What? No," the Mayor gave another short laugh, almost a bark. "No, no. They've got nothing to do with this, although I suppose they're pretty confused as to why you've been cracking down on them for something they didn't do.

"No, the Red Rose, they're new," Mayor Waters added. "They've got beef with the White Rose, at least as far as I can tell. I don't know, I don't really get involved with that kind of stuff. I'm the Mayor! I should be trying to get rid of them. But they're too strong. I can't stop them. I can only hold them off, appease them – maybe they'll even return the favor, protect the city."

I might be high as a kite, but even I had enough sense to know the idea was foolish. I even said, "That's the stupidest thing...I've ever heard."

"You may think so," The Mayor retorted. "But there's a war coming, I know it. The Red Rose are stronger, and I know they're going to win. Hell, they managed to get me on this boat, lined with explosives, without a single cop finding out. When the shit hits the fan, I'm putting this city on the winning side. But you won't be there to see it."

"You're going to shoot me," it was a statement. Somehow, I wasn't even afraid. Her body was too relaxed to release the required chemicals in my brain to feel fear, to fully comprehend what was going on right now.

"No one will ever know. Your body will never be found, not after this ship blows up," the Mayor just shrugged her shoulders. She seemed to be warming herself up to the prospect, perhaps not happy with it, but settled to the idea that it will make things better. "And the police won't even think to look for you, anyways. It's what the Red Rose wanted, for you to be wiped off the map completely. Like you never even existed in the first place."

I just sat there, limp and speechless. What could I possibly say to that?

"I'm sorry, Falcon," The Mayor fixed me with a pitying look, accurately guessing my reaction to be unmitigated horror. "I'm sure that you're a perfectly good person, somewhere beneath that helmet. I wish..."

But the Mayor couldn't finish the sentence, her mouth left hanging open in a moment of speechlessness. Then, silently, she raised her arm, brought the gun against the cool glass of my helmet.

There was a cold aching in my chest, and I realized with startling clarity that it was betrayal. Of willful abandonment. The feeling of being forsaken by someone I thought I could trust, even implicitly, someone who was voted for their integrity and honesty, chosen to protect the people...chosen to protect Amy, a scared girl with no mother and a broken family who had little else to lose.

"Please," I begged, my voice frail. I was shaking. I never thought I'd ever have to beg for my life, to the Mayor of all people. "Please, don't."

I tried to say something about my mom, my cousin, my aunt, my friends – real people, the people I cared about. But all that came out was: "...my family."

The Mayor's eyes widened, glassy and bright. Then she closed her eyes, turned her head away.

And squeezed the trigger.