"So you and Jean broke up?" Trisha asked. Paul decided to pay his mother a visit at work. He told her what happened between him and Jean and she was shocked to hear this.

"Yeah. She believes I'm still in love with Monica." Paul said. "I tried to move on, but it looks like I failed. People kept saying what Jean and I have was just a rebound and I guess they were right."

"Don't let that bother you." Trisha said. "I say it was a good thing and it helped you. As long as it did that and you enjoyed being with Jean for however long it is, who cares what others thought of it?"

"Anyway, I'm sorry I came down here to annoy you with my problem while you're busy." Paul said.

"Don't be, Paul. You're my son and you should be able to come to me when you're upset or anything no matter how old you are." Trisha said. "I'm always here if you need me."

"Thanks, Mom, but who is here for you?" Paul said. "After what happened with Balancer, you're running this place by yourself."

"Well, these people need help. I can't just ignore them." Trisha said. "I want to uphold the memory of Mr. Lang, not this Balancer. I still believe in the Mr. Lang that I know and I know he'll come back one day."

"Yeah. I like to think that too." Paul said. Balancer might be gone for now and Mr. Lang might be getting help, but they can only hope the real Ling will come back.

"So when are you and Monica getting back together?" Trisha asked.

"What?" Paul said.

"You and Monica broke up because she was aiming for that job in L.A. Now that she's still in New York and you're no longer with Jean, are you two getting back together?" Monica said.

"No." Paul said. "Monica was probably going to break up with me even if she didn't go to L.A. She thinks we were going in two different directions and didn't have so much time together. She's right with her being a reporter and me being Spider-Man. So we're not getting back together any time soon."

"Say what you like, but I'm an optimist." Trisha said. "What do you say we get out of here and get something to eat?" Paul would have liked that, but he saw there were some homeless people that are going to need her and she already has a ton of work on her desk. He can't ask her to step away from all this for his sake.

"No thanks, Mom." Paul said. "I'll be okay. "You've got some work to do and I should be getting back to mine. I'll just see one of my friends later, but I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Trisha asked.

"I'll be fine. I'll see you later." Paul said as he left her office. He can't just go to his mother when he's feeling upset over this in the first place. He's not a child. He's a grown man and he needs to work on his own problems.

…

Paul

Paul was swinging through the city and keeping his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. He landed down on a building and looked around for any sign of trouble. So far, he saw nothing.

"Everything seems pretty quiet. Maybe I'm being thrown a bone or something." Paul said. He saw the sun was heading down and still felt like he needed something. He reached his phone and dialed up Thomas' number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" Thomas said.

"Hey, Thomas. It's Paul. I was wondering if you're free and we could just talk. I think I could use a friend."

"Sorry, Porter. I already told Ray we would hang, just the two of us." Thomas said. "I want to make sure he's doing okay."

"I get it. See what he also knows anything about what's going on with Goldberg." Paul said. "So far, he's been laying low. He might be making his next plan of attack and restocking on some of his losses."

"Will do. Why don't you see if Harris is free? You and he are best friends." Thomas said.

"Can't. He's got some work he needs to get done." Paul said. "Just let me know later how Ray is doing." Paul ended the call and thought of what to do now. "Well, I'm not going to Monica with how I'm feeling. Might be awkward. That only leaves one person, but I better keep my guard up."

…

Black and White

Paul went to Lindsay's club. He figured he could talk to her with how he was feeling. He entered the club and looked around for her. He spotted her down by the bar and went on over.

"Hey, Lindsay." Paul said.

"Paul!" Lindsay said as she was glad to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just needed a friend to talk to. You available?" Paul asked.

"For you, Paul, all the time." Lindsay said. "You holding up okay after Jean dumped you?"

"I'm fine. It's hard, but not as hard as when Monica broke up with me." Paul said. "I think I'm doing okay."

"Well, maybe it's time I get my shot." Lindsay said as she tilted his head to her and fluttered her eyes. Lindsay still has it bad for Paul and doesn't mind showing it. She's always been more of the direct type. Paul, on the other hand, wasn't amused.

"Easy, Lindsay." Paul said as he moved her hand. "I'm not going to start dating you when Jean and I just broke up. You don't waste time, do you?"

"With you on the market, I've got to strike while I can." Lindsay said. "Come on. It's only fair I get a turn since Jean and Monica had a turn."

"Don't push your luck, Lindsay." Paul said. "I only came to talk. I'm not here so you could try and seduce me."

"No reason we can't do both." Lindsay said as she reached over the counter and slid her hand over his chest, but Paul was trying to get her to be serious. "Okay. Okay. I'm serious. You want to talk, right?"

"For starters, have you heard anything new about Goldberg from Ray or anything?" Paul asked. "I know how you feel about Goldberg. I know you'll love it when you see him back behind bars."

"True." Lindsay said. "I was able to get a little information out of the guys we beat up. There's been a power gap ever since we took down Balancer and Goldberg is trying to fill it. Those guys weren't bribed into working for Goldberg, most of them were threatened. However, they don't know much on what Goldberg's planning. They only do what Goldberg told them. That's the kind of person Goldberg really is. He just gives people a reason not to defy him. I know what that's like."

"Oh yeah. The reason you worked for Goldberg for a while was because he kidnapped your parents." Paul said.

"As for those photos of those people you and Thomas saw, we still don't know what Goldberg wants with them." Lindsay said. "Any idea how Ray is doing? He looked like he just lost his puppy last time I saw him."

"He saw all his men killed right before his eyes and he had a gun to his head." Paul said. "If Thomas and I didn't show when we did, he could have been killed too. Seeing something like that for the first time is sure to mess with someone. I'm just glad he took our advice and is seeing help."

"You think he's going to try anything on Goldberg?" Lindsay said.

"No. Ray's smarter than that. At the moment, Thomas is with him. I'm sure everything is going to be okay." Paul said.

"Good. Now, back to you." Lindsay said. "Are you going to be okay? Break ups are hard, but you still have me."

"Come on." Paul said as he was starting to get annoyed with her direct approach.

"Okay. Okay." Lindsay said. "Look, you're not going to clear your head by constantly thinking things over and trying to talk about it. You need to take your mind off your problems and you're not going to do that with how you usually go at things. You know what you need? You need to do something….new, something different, something….unexpected. I know just the place."

"Lindsay, I swear if this is a trick…." "It's not." Lindsay said as she assured him.

"Just let me change into my regular clothes and we'll go." Lindsay said as she left the bar. Paul did consider Lindsay a great friend, but this girl really does like to play with fire.

…

Paul and Lindsay

Lindsay led the way to wherever Paul was heading with her. Paul had to keep his guard up with Lindsay. She's a good friend, but she'll pounce onto him the first chance she gets.

"Lindsay, where are we going?" Paul asked.

"It's right here." Lindsay said as she pointed down a stairway.

"It's underground?" Paul questioned.

"You'll see. You've never seen a club like this." Lindsay said as they walked down a few steps and went through the door. They walked down some more steps and soon spotted a guard at an entrance.

"Where are we?" Paul asked.

"It's called Loose. The perfect place when you feel tight and stressed. It's a place you never forget and it's perfect for first comers." Lindsay said.

"We'll see about that." Paul said. He was about to step inside, but the guard stopped him.

"You over twenty-one?" Paul confirmed he was by taking out a form of id. "Drop it."

"Drop what?" Paul questioned. The guy pointed to a sign.

"No shirt. No pants. Service?" Paul read. Paul thought that's a little weird. When he looked through the curtains of the entrance, he could see everyone was walking around in their underwear. "Wait. People roam around in their underwear here?"

"Yep." Lindsay said as she took off her clothes. Paul took notice of this and saw Lindsay in some very appealing black lingerie. Paul wasn't sure if he was really comfortable with this. "Don't tell me the amazing Spider-Man is actually shy."

"Again, if this is some sort of trick to get me out of my clothes, you're in trouble." Paul said.

"You make it sound so tempting." Lindsay said. "I'm serious. If that's what I was doing, we would have gone somewhere else. They don't allow people to sleep here and when we have to redress when we leave. I would have cut out the middle man. Now, are you in or out?" Paul thought about it. It was strange, but he did want to quit thinking about his problems for a moment.

"This better not be a trick." Paul said as he removed his clothes and was down to his boxers. They placed their stuff on a storage shelf and went inside.

….

Thomas

"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to be here given my situation?" Ray asked. Thomas and Ray were having a night of their own. Thomas wanted to make sure Ray was okay and wanted to have a good time. Where did Thomas take Ray for that? A strip club.

"You're already seeing a therapist. So if this messes you up, you already have the help." Ray said as they had a couple drinks.

"You're bad." Ray said as he actually had a laugh.

"I got you laughing. That's a good sign. It's good to see you're doing fine." Thomas said.

"Thanks, Thomas." Ray said. "Maybe I did need something to take my mind off my problems. Calling the families of my fallen fellow officers was…difficult. I never had to make calls like that before."

"I bet." Thomas said. "Don't worry about Goldberg. We'll catch him eventually. You just keep going like you always have." Ray was already feeling like himself again.

"Would either of you boys like a dance?" A stripper asked as she came over.

"No thanks for me, but maybe later. You take personal calls?" Thomas asked. Ray denied as well and the girl walked away.

"If we're going to pick up women, I think I take a regular bar instead." Ray said. "Same old high school Thomas, though. Flirting around with pretty girls. When was your last real girlfriend?"

"Don't get me wrong. I've had a few flings, but I guess it has been a while since I actually dated anyone" Thomas said. "I feel like we are back in high school. Truth is, there is one girl I'm interested in."

"Really? Who?" Ray said.

"No one else knows this." Thomas said. "I thought about the type of girl I want. I want someone who is passionate, knows how to have a good time, tough, and can be exciting. It took me a while, but there's only one person I found that fits that description: Lindsay."

"Lindsay?! Lindsay Harning?! You're teammate?!" Ray asked.

"Yeah. I realized she fits that description a while back." Thomas said. "We were on the trail of a mob gang and fought them off. While we were fighting, someone electrocuted me and whacked me in the head. I thought they had me, but Lindsay stepped in and saved me. Seeing her fight, hearing her talk, I soon realized that she's the kind of girl that I want. I really have thought about this. We both get along, we both kick butt, I think we would be great together."

"So why don't you go get her?" Ray asked.

"I could, but there's one problem." Thomas said. Ray thought about it and he realized it.

"She's into Paul." Ray said. "Maybe if she knows how you feel about her, she'll come around."

"Doubt it." Thomas said. "She's really into Paul and won't give up so easily. She's waiting for the time that she can be with him. Monica and Jean had their shot, now she wants hers. Now that he's available, she's going to get him. However, I'm not going to act immature like I did in high school and try to keep her away from Paul. It might be hard, but if she ends up with him, I'll have to deal with it."

"I'm impressed, Thomas." Ray said. "That's actually the opposite of how you would have been in high school. You really have matured and grew up."

"Yeah. Ironically, it's all thanks to Paul." Thomas said. "Besides, nothing's happening between those two yet." Little does he know that Lindsay is already planting her seeds with Paul.

….

Loose

"So you swing around in tights? That's hot." Paul tried his best to have a good time at the club. A few women already came to him as he was trying to have a drink. The fact that they were all in underwear made this a bit uncomfortable for Paul.

"Your girlfriend must be so lucky, if you have one that is."

"Uh…no. I recently broke up with this other girl." Paul said.

"Poor baby."

"Want some cheering up?" Paul wasn't really sure what do about this. Luckily, Lindsay came by and pulled him out of there.

"Sorry, sisters. He's with me." Lindsay said and they seemed disappointed about that.

"Lindsay, I'm not sure I feel comfortable being here." Paul said.

"You just need to lighten up. We're not kids anymore. Who cares if you're seen in your underwear?" Lindsay said. "Just loosen up and have some fun. How about we dance?"

"Dance?" Paul said. A new song started up and people hit the dancefloor. Lindsay started dancing around and invited Paul to join in. Paul didn't really like to dance, but he went with it since he had nothing really to lose. Plus, he already had a couple drinks to loosen him up. Once Paul got into it, he started moving more freely and not as anxious. He was starting to see Lindsay was right about this place as Paul didn't think that much about his problems. Lindsay enjoyed seeing Paul having a good time and she enjoyed seeing him move that bare body of his. Lindsay got into it herself as she started dancing around with him. When they got really into their dancing, Lindsay did something else unexpected. She grabbed his arm, pulled him in, and kissed him with some passion. Once Paul realized what she did, he pushed her off. "I knew it."

"What? It was just a kiss." Lindsay said. "Come over here." She grabbed Paul to the side and had him against the wall with her arms keeping him in place. "Paul, you're single now. It's not that big of a deal."

"Lindsay, I'm not interested in dating at the moment." Paul said.

"At the moment. That means I still have a chance and I know you like to." Lindsay said as she placed her hands against his chest and enjoyed feeling his muscles. "You're telling me that this feels wrong?" She pressed her breasts against Paul's chest and Paul was starting to fall for Lindsay's seduction. "In fact, I could reach into those boxers and have no one notice right now." She teased him with that as she slid her hand down to his waistband and threatened to move it. "You're telling me you wouldn't like that?"

"Well… No… It's… It's just that… That…" Paul wasn't really sure what to say.

"I thought so." Lindsay said as she smiled. "I'll be waiting Paul. I'm sure you'll come around eventually." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away. Paul saw her off and she really got to him. What was more unexpected that Paul fell for her little games when he thought he wouldn't. Lindsay isn't giving up on Paul and she just might get him.