**LOL I am so sorry you guys. I got bored with where this fic was going, so
I took the twist. I let myself fall into temptation, and took the corny
twist. I'm so sorry if you don't like it, but.it's so stupid it's funny. Oh
well. **
The next day at school everyone was very sullen, and I felt bad that it was on my account. I tried to lighten the mood with stupid joking comments, but nothing helped. At lunch, we all sat around our usual table in silence. I was poking at a grilled cheese sandwich that was probably older than I am when I heard snickering voices walking past our table. Looking up, I saw they belonged to Kate and her gang. I stared at her as she passed, giggling and sending looks at Nick. She caught his eye once and his neck flushed. Usually I would have brushed it off as the daily crap she gave all of us, but something was different; something, I percieved, had happened with her and Nick.
"Is something wrong?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, I thought you guys were being reverent to my mother at first, but.something else happened, didn't it." There was no response. I stared at Nick until he met my eyes. My stomach clenched to see the look on his face. He stared intently at his lunch tray. But still, no one said anything. Then, Jay spoke quietly.
"I saw your locker, Nick," he said slowly. Nick's jaw clenched; he rose abruptly and left the table.
"I saw it too," blurted Gwen at once. "Completely trashed. And a note from someone."
"His kid sister's in the hospital," whispered Jay. "She was attacked yesterday." I barely heard these things, though. I got up quickly and backed away from the table, following Nick's trail. It wasn't what I had heard, but what I had seen. When only moments before they were perfectly normal looking, the fork and spoon on Nick's lunch tray were now melted and welded into nothing but twisted plastic.
"Nick!" I called. He was nowhere to be found. I frowned. Where could he have gone so quickly. I folded my arms, feeling strange. Something odd was going on.
"I guess you haven't learned yet, have you?" came a sneering voice behind me.
"Get a life, Katelyn," I said, turning around to face her. She smirked at me.
"Get a clue, Jessica," she said spitefully. "And you also might want to get a leash. He doesn't behave unless-"
"Knock it off," I snapped. Don't lose your temper, I told myself. "I'm not apt to using any of your methods, now am I?"
"Well, why is that?" she asked sweetly. "Mine are as good as any, I would think."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," I said, with much self-control, "But it doesn't seem that they've worked very well." Kate froze. I had hit the spot. She turned livid and stared at me for a moment, then slammed back through the cafeteria doors. I would've felt satisfaction if I could feel anything but premonition. I saw Nick at the top of Lady Liberty, and that was enough to overwhelm my senses with absolute terror. He was going to be taken too, just like my mother. I fled the school and ran down the sidewalk. Suddenly, I realized that there was a faster way to get to the ferry port than running. I glanced down at my wrist, then did exactly as my dad had showed me; aim at something, catch it once it's taken hold, then swing. And he was right; heights had no effect on me. And it was easy. I felt a bit absurd the first few times, swinging from a web that I had just shot out of my wrist, but that was overcome by the exhilaration. This was so awesome! I reached the port in half the time it would even have taken to call a cab. I made sure to land in an alley so that no one would question me. I found the speed of the ferry to Ellis Island frustrating compared to my new way of travel. I practically murdered an old woman leaping off the ramp when we finally did land. I looked around; there was a relatively small amount of people here, since it was a weekday. I looked up to see if Nick was at the top. I saw nothing. For the first time since I had the premonition, I felt uncertain about it. I couldn't be sure about the time, or what exactly had been happening, only of what my first instinct about it was. To hell with it all, I thought stubbornly. If I can't trust myself, who can I trust?
Then I heard the voices. "It was so strange," said one. "Like something had jumped up and down once above us."
"That's impossible," said the companion. "Nothin' up there but sky, and Liberty's hair." There were chuckles and teases, I'm sure, but I was climbing up the Lady's backside by then. I climbed as fast as I could; I couldn't be sure that Nick was okay until I saw it for myself. I reached the top so quickly that I almost passed it up. I hopped into the air a bit and landed with a clang. It was so windy, I thought I might be blown away, so I stayed in a crouching position, my hands sticking fast to the cold metal. I looked up sharply and saw Nick, alone. He snapped his head around, and I saw his jaw drop. I shifted my gaze around, looking for his kidnappers, but my stomach went cold when I didn't see any. I realized then.Nick had gotten up there by himself. He was standing on the Statue of Liberty's head in the same manner as though he were on any sidewalk in New York. I stood up slowly, trying not to sway, and walked toward him.
"What are you doing up here?" I asked. He gawked at me.
"What do you mean, what am I doing up here?" he replied, stuttering with the cold and awe. "Why are you here? And how did you know I was here?"
"I,er." I didn't know how to reply. I evaded the question. "I asked you first."
"Don't play that with me Jessi," he said grumpily.
"Wait, are we completely alone up here?" I asked abruptly. "You came here by yourself?" He nodded, bewildered. "Well, then.how.why.Nick, tell me something!" I blustered.
"What do you want to hear, Jessi?" he asked quietly. "Because if you want to hear what I think you want to hear, then I think you know I can't tell you that."
"Why?" I asked.
"To keep you safe." His voice was barely audible. I smiled slightly.
"I don't think you have to worry about my safety as much as I have to worry about yours," I told him absently. His head, which had been assisting his eyes in avoiding me, snapped up.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking at me intently. "What have you got to keep me safe from? Trust me, I've got a lot more weight on my shoulders than it appears." I glared at him.
"What makes you think I don't?" I shouted. "Don't presume that you have more importance in this city than other people do." I thought maybe I wasn't making any sense, but I figured later I could pass it off as a mental breakdown. In my head, I was thinking of my new super-heroine obligations; I had no idea how close to my thoughts Nick's were. I glared at Nick like a crazy person, but he seemed to really be trying to find some meaning in what I had said.
"Are you saying you have obligations to this city?" he asked. I felt strange. It was like we both knew what the other was talking about, but we didn't know that the other understood what we were saying. My head was beginning to hurt. "Are you saying that the people who live there depend on you for something?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying," I said tiredly. I sat down suddenly. I saw Nick put a hand to his head. I sensed that he was whispering something, and my ears perked up.
".to save them," I heard him say. I got a funny feeling in my stomach, and proceeded to do the stupidest thing I had ever done in my life.
I jumped up, marched over to Nick, and yanked him around to face me. His eyes opened wide with surprise.
"Look at this," I said angrily. A small alarm siren was going off in my head, but I ignored it. I pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and showed Nick the hole. He looked at it, then looked at me.
"Oh, Jessi," he said sadly. He misinterpreted the source of the hole, though. "Did you hurt yourself on purpose?"
"Of course not," I said hastily. "I didn't put a hole in my arm. And it's not just an ordinary thing. Watch." I spun a web out between two of the crown's spikes and turned back to Nick. "My dad was Spiderman. Genetically mutated, passed his genes down to me. That's how I broke the lock on the door, that's how I fought Margie and won.and I'm pretty sure it was the cause of my new, er.boldness." Nick smiled slightly, then sat down suddenly. I caught his arm so we wouldn't make any more noise. Then I realized that the stupid alarm had been right. I shouldn't have told Nick; he would be in more danger now than he had been in before.
"I'm sorry Nick," I said quickly. I thought I might cry. "I shouldn't have- "
"No," he said weakly. He stood up. "It's not that. Jessi stop, get away." I moved away from him, bewildered. He caught his breath for a moment, then stood up, good as new. He looked me over for a second.
"Aha!" he said finally. I stared at him stupidly. He grinned. "Take that necklace out of your pocket." I frowned.
"I don't have a.oh," I said, reaching into my pocket. There was a silver necklace with some sort of stone at the end. An emerald? I made to give it to Nick, but he put his hand up.
"No," he said. "Throw it. As hard as you can." I was surprised, but I did as he said.
"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "We need to talk, obviously. But let's get down from here." We stood silently for a few seconds.
"Do you, er, need any help?" I asked him. I couldn't see any way he would be able to get down. He laughed surprisedly.
"No, I'm good," he said. "Um.do you need any help?" I grinned.
"I told you my secret," I said, ignoring the panic I felt at this statement. "What do you think?" He laughed uncertainly.
"Yeah," he agreed. "But I can assure you, my way is faster." I peered at him suspiciously, then nodded.
"All right," I said slowly. "Go ahead." He approached me, grasped me firmly in his arms, and shot into the sky.
"Oh. My. God," I said, closing my eyes. I heard Nick's deep laugh.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" he said wryly. I opened my eyes and took a huge gulp of coffee. We were in a corner coffee shop, talking.
"This isn't real," I said, not knowing what the purpose of my saying so was. "It can't be. It's too weird. Impossible. Like a movie, or something. I don't know, but it's just." I trailed off.
"I know, I know," said Nick in agreement. "Spidergirl meets Superboy."
"But wait," I said, "I thought 'Superman' was from a different planet." Nick snickered.
"You haven't met my dad," he said, snorting. "He's that weird."
"This whole thing is so." I searched for the right word. "Ludicrous! It's like some stupid.er, comic book." There was a silence, then we both burst into laughter. Everything about what was happening was so ridiculous, I thought I might go insane.
"So, somehow, some fanatic of your dad's old arch-enemy got wind of you and your dad's true identities and kidnapped your mother?" he asked, wiping his eyes. I turned solemn.
"Yeah," I replied, calming myself. "And we're supposed to meet them in an abandoned building to do.well, I don't know. It's so cliché, and so stupid."
"I'd like to help you, if that's okay," he said cautiously. I started to protest, but he stopped me. "Before you protest, just think about it. I'd be just one more person on your side. You don't know what you're up against, and you don't know that you can get your mom back by yourself." I sat quiet for a few moments, then sighed.
"I know the technical aspects of what you're saying are true," I told him. "But I don't want you to get involved in this unnecessarily. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Listen, whatever obligations we have," said Nick, "as.er.superheros.we also have duties to each other. In order for you to help people in this city, you and your loved ones have to be safe, or else you won't be in the right position to help others. Your mind won't be on the job. Agreed?" I nodded. "And if you are vital to helping the people of this city, and my purpose is to help the people, then I am obliged to help you. Right?"
"Ow," I moaned, rubbing my temples. Nick kicked me under the table. "Ow," I said, serious this time. "Okay, okay, you're right. You talk a lot, but you're right. You can help, but if it gets life-and-death, then you have to promise me you'll get out."
"Let's go," said Nick. He stood up and slapped some money on the table, then started walking out. I stumbled out behind him.
"Nick! Stop," I said, catching up to him. I stood in front of him, blocking his pathway. "Promise me." He laughed and shook his head.
"Jessi, I'm not going to do that," he responded, and tried to walk around me. I stepped in front of him again.
"I'm serious!" I said stubbornly. "I-"
"So am I," he replied. And he kissed me. Right there. On the sidewalk, spontaneously, no warning, no signs leading up to it. I felt a shock go through me and hit my stomach. Just as soon as he had done it, it was over. I opened my eyes. He was gone.
The next day at school everyone was very sullen, and I felt bad that it was on my account. I tried to lighten the mood with stupid joking comments, but nothing helped. At lunch, we all sat around our usual table in silence. I was poking at a grilled cheese sandwich that was probably older than I am when I heard snickering voices walking past our table. Looking up, I saw they belonged to Kate and her gang. I stared at her as she passed, giggling and sending looks at Nick. She caught his eye once and his neck flushed. Usually I would have brushed it off as the daily crap she gave all of us, but something was different; something, I percieved, had happened with her and Nick.
"Is something wrong?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, I thought you guys were being reverent to my mother at first, but.something else happened, didn't it." There was no response. I stared at Nick until he met my eyes. My stomach clenched to see the look on his face. He stared intently at his lunch tray. But still, no one said anything. Then, Jay spoke quietly.
"I saw your locker, Nick," he said slowly. Nick's jaw clenched; he rose abruptly and left the table.
"I saw it too," blurted Gwen at once. "Completely trashed. And a note from someone."
"His kid sister's in the hospital," whispered Jay. "She was attacked yesterday." I barely heard these things, though. I got up quickly and backed away from the table, following Nick's trail. It wasn't what I had heard, but what I had seen. When only moments before they were perfectly normal looking, the fork and spoon on Nick's lunch tray were now melted and welded into nothing but twisted plastic.
"Nick!" I called. He was nowhere to be found. I frowned. Where could he have gone so quickly. I folded my arms, feeling strange. Something odd was going on.
"I guess you haven't learned yet, have you?" came a sneering voice behind me.
"Get a life, Katelyn," I said, turning around to face her. She smirked at me.
"Get a clue, Jessica," she said spitefully. "And you also might want to get a leash. He doesn't behave unless-"
"Knock it off," I snapped. Don't lose your temper, I told myself. "I'm not apt to using any of your methods, now am I?"
"Well, why is that?" she asked sweetly. "Mine are as good as any, I would think."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," I said, with much self-control, "But it doesn't seem that they've worked very well." Kate froze. I had hit the spot. She turned livid and stared at me for a moment, then slammed back through the cafeteria doors. I would've felt satisfaction if I could feel anything but premonition. I saw Nick at the top of Lady Liberty, and that was enough to overwhelm my senses with absolute terror. He was going to be taken too, just like my mother. I fled the school and ran down the sidewalk. Suddenly, I realized that there was a faster way to get to the ferry port than running. I glanced down at my wrist, then did exactly as my dad had showed me; aim at something, catch it once it's taken hold, then swing. And he was right; heights had no effect on me. And it was easy. I felt a bit absurd the first few times, swinging from a web that I had just shot out of my wrist, but that was overcome by the exhilaration. This was so awesome! I reached the port in half the time it would even have taken to call a cab. I made sure to land in an alley so that no one would question me. I found the speed of the ferry to Ellis Island frustrating compared to my new way of travel. I practically murdered an old woman leaping off the ramp when we finally did land. I looked around; there was a relatively small amount of people here, since it was a weekday. I looked up to see if Nick was at the top. I saw nothing. For the first time since I had the premonition, I felt uncertain about it. I couldn't be sure about the time, or what exactly had been happening, only of what my first instinct about it was. To hell with it all, I thought stubbornly. If I can't trust myself, who can I trust?
Then I heard the voices. "It was so strange," said one. "Like something had jumped up and down once above us."
"That's impossible," said the companion. "Nothin' up there but sky, and Liberty's hair." There were chuckles and teases, I'm sure, but I was climbing up the Lady's backside by then. I climbed as fast as I could; I couldn't be sure that Nick was okay until I saw it for myself. I reached the top so quickly that I almost passed it up. I hopped into the air a bit and landed with a clang. It was so windy, I thought I might be blown away, so I stayed in a crouching position, my hands sticking fast to the cold metal. I looked up sharply and saw Nick, alone. He snapped his head around, and I saw his jaw drop. I shifted my gaze around, looking for his kidnappers, but my stomach went cold when I didn't see any. I realized then.Nick had gotten up there by himself. He was standing on the Statue of Liberty's head in the same manner as though he were on any sidewalk in New York. I stood up slowly, trying not to sway, and walked toward him.
"What are you doing up here?" I asked. He gawked at me.
"What do you mean, what am I doing up here?" he replied, stuttering with the cold and awe. "Why are you here? And how did you know I was here?"
"I,er." I didn't know how to reply. I evaded the question. "I asked you first."
"Don't play that with me Jessi," he said grumpily.
"Wait, are we completely alone up here?" I asked abruptly. "You came here by yourself?" He nodded, bewildered. "Well, then.how.why.Nick, tell me something!" I blustered.
"What do you want to hear, Jessi?" he asked quietly. "Because if you want to hear what I think you want to hear, then I think you know I can't tell you that."
"Why?" I asked.
"To keep you safe." His voice was barely audible. I smiled slightly.
"I don't think you have to worry about my safety as much as I have to worry about yours," I told him absently. His head, which had been assisting his eyes in avoiding me, snapped up.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking at me intently. "What have you got to keep me safe from? Trust me, I've got a lot more weight on my shoulders than it appears." I glared at him.
"What makes you think I don't?" I shouted. "Don't presume that you have more importance in this city than other people do." I thought maybe I wasn't making any sense, but I figured later I could pass it off as a mental breakdown. In my head, I was thinking of my new super-heroine obligations; I had no idea how close to my thoughts Nick's were. I glared at Nick like a crazy person, but he seemed to really be trying to find some meaning in what I had said.
"Are you saying you have obligations to this city?" he asked. I felt strange. It was like we both knew what the other was talking about, but we didn't know that the other understood what we were saying. My head was beginning to hurt. "Are you saying that the people who live there depend on you for something?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying," I said tiredly. I sat down suddenly. I saw Nick put a hand to his head. I sensed that he was whispering something, and my ears perked up.
".to save them," I heard him say. I got a funny feeling in my stomach, and proceeded to do the stupidest thing I had ever done in my life.
I jumped up, marched over to Nick, and yanked him around to face me. His eyes opened wide with surprise.
"Look at this," I said angrily. A small alarm siren was going off in my head, but I ignored it. I pulled up the sleeve of my jacket and showed Nick the hole. He looked at it, then looked at me.
"Oh, Jessi," he said sadly. He misinterpreted the source of the hole, though. "Did you hurt yourself on purpose?"
"Of course not," I said hastily. "I didn't put a hole in my arm. And it's not just an ordinary thing. Watch." I spun a web out between two of the crown's spikes and turned back to Nick. "My dad was Spiderman. Genetically mutated, passed his genes down to me. That's how I broke the lock on the door, that's how I fought Margie and won.and I'm pretty sure it was the cause of my new, er.boldness." Nick smiled slightly, then sat down suddenly. I caught his arm so we wouldn't make any more noise. Then I realized that the stupid alarm had been right. I shouldn't have told Nick; he would be in more danger now than he had been in before.
"I'm sorry Nick," I said quickly. I thought I might cry. "I shouldn't have- "
"No," he said weakly. He stood up. "It's not that. Jessi stop, get away." I moved away from him, bewildered. He caught his breath for a moment, then stood up, good as new. He looked me over for a second.
"Aha!" he said finally. I stared at him stupidly. He grinned. "Take that necklace out of your pocket." I frowned.
"I don't have a.oh," I said, reaching into my pocket. There was a silver necklace with some sort of stone at the end. An emerald? I made to give it to Nick, but he put his hand up.
"No," he said. "Throw it. As hard as you can." I was surprised, but I did as he said.
"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "We need to talk, obviously. But let's get down from here." We stood silently for a few seconds.
"Do you, er, need any help?" I asked him. I couldn't see any way he would be able to get down. He laughed surprisedly.
"No, I'm good," he said. "Um.do you need any help?" I grinned.
"I told you my secret," I said, ignoring the panic I felt at this statement. "What do you think?" He laughed uncertainly.
"Yeah," he agreed. "But I can assure you, my way is faster." I peered at him suspiciously, then nodded.
"All right," I said slowly. "Go ahead." He approached me, grasped me firmly in his arms, and shot into the sky.
"Oh. My. God," I said, closing my eyes. I heard Nick's deep laugh.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" he said wryly. I opened my eyes and took a huge gulp of coffee. We were in a corner coffee shop, talking.
"This isn't real," I said, not knowing what the purpose of my saying so was. "It can't be. It's too weird. Impossible. Like a movie, or something. I don't know, but it's just." I trailed off.
"I know, I know," said Nick in agreement. "Spidergirl meets Superboy."
"But wait," I said, "I thought 'Superman' was from a different planet." Nick snickered.
"You haven't met my dad," he said, snorting. "He's that weird."
"This whole thing is so." I searched for the right word. "Ludicrous! It's like some stupid.er, comic book." There was a silence, then we both burst into laughter. Everything about what was happening was so ridiculous, I thought I might go insane.
"So, somehow, some fanatic of your dad's old arch-enemy got wind of you and your dad's true identities and kidnapped your mother?" he asked, wiping his eyes. I turned solemn.
"Yeah," I replied, calming myself. "And we're supposed to meet them in an abandoned building to do.well, I don't know. It's so cliché, and so stupid."
"I'd like to help you, if that's okay," he said cautiously. I started to protest, but he stopped me. "Before you protest, just think about it. I'd be just one more person on your side. You don't know what you're up against, and you don't know that you can get your mom back by yourself." I sat quiet for a few moments, then sighed.
"I know the technical aspects of what you're saying are true," I told him. "But I don't want you to get involved in this unnecessarily. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Listen, whatever obligations we have," said Nick, "as.er.superheros.we also have duties to each other. In order for you to help people in this city, you and your loved ones have to be safe, or else you won't be in the right position to help others. Your mind won't be on the job. Agreed?" I nodded. "And if you are vital to helping the people of this city, and my purpose is to help the people, then I am obliged to help you. Right?"
"Ow," I moaned, rubbing my temples. Nick kicked me under the table. "Ow," I said, serious this time. "Okay, okay, you're right. You talk a lot, but you're right. You can help, but if it gets life-and-death, then you have to promise me you'll get out."
"Let's go," said Nick. He stood up and slapped some money on the table, then started walking out. I stumbled out behind him.
"Nick! Stop," I said, catching up to him. I stood in front of him, blocking his pathway. "Promise me." He laughed and shook his head.
"Jessi, I'm not going to do that," he responded, and tried to walk around me. I stepped in front of him again.
"I'm serious!" I said stubbornly. "I-"
"So am I," he replied. And he kissed me. Right there. On the sidewalk, spontaneously, no warning, no signs leading up to it. I felt a shock go through me and hit my stomach. Just as soon as he had done it, it was over. I opened my eyes. He was gone.