Adam plunked away over the ivory keys of the piano. Gwen set beside him and
Jon leaned over the end of the piano.
"You need a hair cut, Adam," she said breaking the silence.
"Maybe he should just shave it off then," Jon suggested and grinned as Gwen threw him a dirty look.
"You better not," Gwen told him and fingered the ebony tresses that brushed his collar.
"Hey Jon, did your mom or dad ever find out what that crazy guy was all about?" Adam asked. Jon's gaze flickered over to Gwen and then back at Adam.
"McCoy's elevator didn't quite reach the top, if you know what I mean. He just escaped out of the paddy house, simple as that, case closed. Why do you ask?" asked Jon with interest. The first notes of the theme song of the X files echoed under Adam's fingers.
"I think there's something more to it. Nobody found the guy who shot him. I bet McCoy was trying to warn us of something and was shut up permanently," said Adam seriously.
"You sound like my parents. Umm Adam Winters – Investigator reporter…" Jon mused.
"I don't think so," grinned Adam and shook his head.
"Why don't you try reporting, Jon?" asked Gwen as she leaned against the piano. Jon shrugged.
"I dunno, just don't want to," he said with a shrug.
"So what do you want to be?" Gwen asked.
"A football star maybe," he said with a grin. Oh yeah his dad would just loovvee that. His dad didn't approve of him playing football as it was. Clark Kent was always reminding him that Jon could easily hurt someone without realizing it.
"You are such a jock," teased Gwen as toyed with a few of the keys. Jon gave her a look of fake indignation.
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Jon exclaimed. Gwen giggled and moved closer to Adam. She would just love to stay like this with her boyfriend and best friend.
"My mother would just love if I became an actress. Parents really are weird," Gwen sighed.
"Yeah well trying having to famous reporters as parents," Jon chimed in. He then looked at Adam and asked,
"What does you dad do, Adam?"
"He's a pediatrician, why?" he asked.
"You've never talked about your parents before," Gwen pointed out. "Well my mom's dead and my real dad is probably some bum that ran out or something. I'm adopted," Adam answered and played a few bars from some classical piece of work that neither Gwen or Jon knew the name of.
"Come on Daddy, it's just going to be for a couple of weeks!" Gwen begged over the phone. Tiffany was sitting next to her with a smirk on her face. Gwen felt like punching her.
"Gwen, neither your mother nor I are comfortable with the thought about you going all the way to California with a boy," Peter Parker told her.
"Daddy's not going to give in, Gwennie," Tiffany snickered. Sierra was flipping through a magazine on her lower bunk. Gwen's eyes narrowed at her sister. She wished she could just punch that smirk off her perfect looking face.
"Dad! You better tell your daughter to shut her face before I shut it for her!" Gwen hissed. Sierra raised her eyebrows and looked impressed.
"About time!" she stated before going back to her magazine.
"Like you could," Tiffany snickered. Gwen grimaced at her sister. This was one of the few times she wished she wasn't Spider-girl so that she could beat the snot out of her older sister and not fear killing her in the process.
"Now Gwen, you know you can't do that. With great powers comes…"
"Great responsibility. I know dad," she said with a sigh. She had heard this lecture more times then she would care to mention.
"You know I am responsible," she stated.
"Yes I know you are," her father told her.
"And I am trustful too," she pointed out.
"Yes you are," her dad answered.
"So since you yourself have said that I am responsible and trustworthy, you should have no qualms about me going to San Francisco," she stated. Silence. Gwen smiled at the phone.
"I really would love to know how you do that. It's not that I don't trust you, honey bear, it's you being alone with a boy," her father told her.
"Nothing is going to happen. Adam's dad is going to be there so is Jon," she argued.
"Jon who?" Peter asked.
"Jon Kent, he's one of my best friends here," Gwen said simply.
"That wouldn't' be Lois and Clark's son would it?" he asked.
"Yeah, why? Do you know them?" asked Gwen.
"Yes and I suppose you can go," he finally said. Gwen let out a whop in the phone and hung up. She jumped off the bunk and hugged Sierra. Sierra looked quite taken aback by the excited girl. Tiffany sneered at her.
"I can't believe you got your way just by sucking up," she frowned at her younger sister. Gwen couldn't help but smile. Two weeks alone with Adam with nothing to worry about.
Mary Jane frowned as her husband hung up the phone.
" I thought you said you weren't going to let her go!" she stated with her arms crossed
. "I wasn't but after all he's Matt's son and Gwen's a good girl," Peter pointed out. MJ frowned even more.
"Adam doesn't even know his real father is Matt. We don't know anything about this boy," she pointed out. Peter Parker poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Gwen loves him," he said softly. MJ softened as she too poured herself some coffee.
"And besides Super Boy is going too so how much trouble can they get in?" Peter asked.
Two flights had been delayed because of a snowstorm making Dallas airport already more packed then it had been.
"Remind me again why we have to switch planes?" Gwen asked as she frowned at the people who swelled against the three of them.
"None of us had money to afford a nonstop flight to San Francisco," Jon pointed out.
"So how much time do we have till we get to California?" Gwen asked as she sidestepped from getting her foot run over by a passing baby stroller.
"I dunno, ask Adam," Jon stated. Gwen turned to look at her boyfriend whose thoughts seem to be somewhere else.
"Adam, earth to Adam," she said giving his hand a squeeze.
"Umm what?" he said as he stopped. He looked slightly dislocated and unsure. "You're mind seems to be somewhere else," she laughed. Adam smiled and nodded. "Guilty," he confessed. Under his hand he gripped his new cane. Daredevil had given it to him the night before. It was actually a thin sword in a sheath that was almost undetectable by the human eye. Daredevil had given him a good lecture about responsibility, of course. His trainer was very displeased with Adam's decision to leave Metropolis to go back home but did nothing to stop the young man.
"Hey I'm going to check out how our flight will be delayed. Why don't you two go off to the cafeteria and catch a bite to eat. I'll join you there," Jon suggested.
"Yeah, food sounds good," Gwen piped up. As if cue, her stomach grumbled. Adam grinned and nodded.
Cathy Mendel stared out at the snow that covered the runway outside. Snow was rare in Texas but when it happened. It still took her breath away. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She should be sitting home right now reading a trashy romance and not serving disgruntled delayed passengers. A young blind man about seven years her junior came through the doors with a girl as young by his side. The two set down at a table and started to talking softly. The girl blushed slightly as he whispered something in her ear. She squeezed his hand. Cathy sighed with a smile. It was good to see at least two people happy on such a night. She walked over to the table and pulled out her notebook.
"What can I get ya'll?" she asked.
"Coffee please," the girl said.
"Make that two, please" the blind young man added. Cathy nodded. When she came back to the table she caught a glance at the girl heading towards the ladies room. "Will that be all?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you," he smiled up at her. She smiled back and turned to wait on some other customers.
"Hey boy!" a man called out to him. Adam raised his chin and felt for his coffee cup. The man came to sit beside him. The man ranked of stale beer and body sweat. Adam almost gagged.
"Yes?" Adam asked and took a sip of his coffee. It just about burnt every part of his mouth.
"You need sugar with that coffee, boy," the man told him. Adam observed the man. He was big, slightly overweight but had enough muscle to do some damage. "I don't think the waitress gave me any," Adam said although he knew the packets were just inches from his fingertips.
"Well yes she did boy. Want me to help you?" the man asked sending a whiff of his foul breath in Adam's direction.
"That would be very kind of you," he said as he put on a fake smile.
"One packet or two?" he asked.
"Two," Adam answered. The man then proceeded to tear two packets of salt and pour them into Adam's drink. Adam rolled his eyes. He picked up and put it to his lips and pretended to take a drink. He wrinkled up his nose.
"I'm afraid the coffee's not very good here,' he said. The man howled with laughter as did the rest of his friends at a nearby table. Adam dropped the cup causing it's steamy contents to be poured into the lap of his tormenter. The man's laughter turned to screams of pain.
Cathy looked up with a start as one of the big rednecks ripped the blind boy from his seat.
"What's going on?" the boy asked making his tormentor laugh as his buddies egged him on. The boy swung his cane so that it hit the man in the knees.
"Opps," the boy said as the man howled in pain and dropped him. The boy feel gracefully and landed on knee. Cathy had never seen anyone fall gracefully before. The guy's buddies started to surround the boy. Cathy closed her eyes. Certainly someone would have called security as well. She scanned the faces of the people as they watched the fight with morbid curiosity. The boy turned around 'accidentally' hitting some men with his cane. His cane tripped another. Throughout this the boy was apologizing for his clumsiness. It almost played out in slow motion. The boy would turn hitting them with his cane and the men would try to punch him. He seemed to always avoid the fists though. Finally a security guard rushed up on the group telling them to break it up. He ignored the kid and escorted the rednecks out of the cafeteria. Cathy looked down at her watch. The fight had lasted around 5 minutes but it had seemed like eternity. Already welts had started to appear on the men's skin.
Another cup of streaming coffee was placed in front of Adam who welcomed it's steamy hotness and promise of a caffeine rush.
"How did you do that?" asked the waitress.
"Call it a sixth sense," he said with a smile. Only then did Gwen exit the bathroom and join him at the table. She frowned over the spelt coffee.
"Did something just happen here?" she asked. Adam shook his head.
"Not a thing," he lied. Gwen shrugged and sipped her coffee.
The passengers of flight 74 finally drifted off to sleep one by one. Gwen's head rested on Adam's chest and his arms encircled her. Adam shifted slightly and rubbed his eyes beneath his shades.
"Adam?" Jon's voice whispered.
"Umm?" Adam mumbled sleepily.
"What are you going to get Gwen for Christmas?" he asked. Adam frowned.
"I don't know yet. December 24 will be our five month anniversary so I want to make it special," he said.
"Oh," Jon mumbled and yawned.
"Does this conversation have a point or are you just going to do one of the stupid insomnia talks like that time at your parents?" asked Adam warily.
"You two make a good couple," Jon smiled. Adam could resist holding Gwen a little tighter. Her lilac scented hair was driving him crazy. He nodded and closed his eyes. He fell asleep smiling.
The elevator creaked to toward their destination. Gwen looked positively green. "Why anyone would build a city on so man hills is beyond me," she groaned.
"I never figured you to be one to get car sick," Jon teased just to receive a glare from the sick girl. Gwen took a deep breath. She usually never got motion sickness since she was constantly web swinging as Spidergirl. Adam grinned.
"Enough you two, we're almost here," he said and the elevator beeped, shuttered once, and the doors opened to reveal a hall. Adam led the way till he stopped at one apartment door. His hand touched the doorknob then stopped. Death. He sniffed the air one more time just to make sure. A dead weight formed in his stomach. He slowly turned the handle and let the door swing open.
"Oh God," Gwen cried out. Jonathan Winters limp body danged from a hangman's rope. The man's eyes bulged from his now discolored face. Gwen turned her head from the gruesome sight. Poor Adam, she thought. His blindness was a blessing at this moment. She hugged tightly on her boyfriend and cried.
"I'll call the police," Jon managed to whisper. Adam nodded but said nothing.
"You need a hair cut, Adam," she said breaking the silence.
"Maybe he should just shave it off then," Jon suggested and grinned as Gwen threw him a dirty look.
"You better not," Gwen told him and fingered the ebony tresses that brushed his collar.
"Hey Jon, did your mom or dad ever find out what that crazy guy was all about?" Adam asked. Jon's gaze flickered over to Gwen and then back at Adam.
"McCoy's elevator didn't quite reach the top, if you know what I mean. He just escaped out of the paddy house, simple as that, case closed. Why do you ask?" asked Jon with interest. The first notes of the theme song of the X files echoed under Adam's fingers.
"I think there's something more to it. Nobody found the guy who shot him. I bet McCoy was trying to warn us of something and was shut up permanently," said Adam seriously.
"You sound like my parents. Umm Adam Winters – Investigator reporter…" Jon mused.
"I don't think so," grinned Adam and shook his head.
"Why don't you try reporting, Jon?" asked Gwen as she leaned against the piano. Jon shrugged.
"I dunno, just don't want to," he said with a shrug.
"So what do you want to be?" Gwen asked.
"A football star maybe," he said with a grin. Oh yeah his dad would just loovvee that. His dad didn't approve of him playing football as it was. Clark Kent was always reminding him that Jon could easily hurt someone without realizing it.
"You are such a jock," teased Gwen as toyed with a few of the keys. Jon gave her a look of fake indignation.
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Jon exclaimed. Gwen giggled and moved closer to Adam. She would just love to stay like this with her boyfriend and best friend.
"My mother would just love if I became an actress. Parents really are weird," Gwen sighed.
"Yeah well trying having to famous reporters as parents," Jon chimed in. He then looked at Adam and asked,
"What does you dad do, Adam?"
"He's a pediatrician, why?" he asked.
"You've never talked about your parents before," Gwen pointed out. "Well my mom's dead and my real dad is probably some bum that ran out or something. I'm adopted," Adam answered and played a few bars from some classical piece of work that neither Gwen or Jon knew the name of.
"Come on Daddy, it's just going to be for a couple of weeks!" Gwen begged over the phone. Tiffany was sitting next to her with a smirk on her face. Gwen felt like punching her.
"Gwen, neither your mother nor I are comfortable with the thought about you going all the way to California with a boy," Peter Parker told her.
"Daddy's not going to give in, Gwennie," Tiffany snickered. Sierra was flipping through a magazine on her lower bunk. Gwen's eyes narrowed at her sister. She wished she could just punch that smirk off her perfect looking face.
"Dad! You better tell your daughter to shut her face before I shut it for her!" Gwen hissed. Sierra raised her eyebrows and looked impressed.
"About time!" she stated before going back to her magazine.
"Like you could," Tiffany snickered. Gwen grimaced at her sister. This was one of the few times she wished she wasn't Spider-girl so that she could beat the snot out of her older sister and not fear killing her in the process.
"Now Gwen, you know you can't do that. With great powers comes…"
"Great responsibility. I know dad," she said with a sigh. She had heard this lecture more times then she would care to mention.
"You know I am responsible," she stated.
"Yes I know you are," her father told her.
"And I am trustful too," she pointed out.
"Yes you are," her dad answered.
"So since you yourself have said that I am responsible and trustworthy, you should have no qualms about me going to San Francisco," she stated. Silence. Gwen smiled at the phone.
"I really would love to know how you do that. It's not that I don't trust you, honey bear, it's you being alone with a boy," her father told her.
"Nothing is going to happen. Adam's dad is going to be there so is Jon," she argued.
"Jon who?" Peter asked.
"Jon Kent, he's one of my best friends here," Gwen said simply.
"That wouldn't' be Lois and Clark's son would it?" he asked.
"Yeah, why? Do you know them?" asked Gwen.
"Yes and I suppose you can go," he finally said. Gwen let out a whop in the phone and hung up. She jumped off the bunk and hugged Sierra. Sierra looked quite taken aback by the excited girl. Tiffany sneered at her.
"I can't believe you got your way just by sucking up," she frowned at her younger sister. Gwen couldn't help but smile. Two weeks alone with Adam with nothing to worry about.
Mary Jane frowned as her husband hung up the phone.
" I thought you said you weren't going to let her go!" she stated with her arms crossed
. "I wasn't but after all he's Matt's son and Gwen's a good girl," Peter pointed out. MJ frowned even more.
"Adam doesn't even know his real father is Matt. We don't know anything about this boy," she pointed out. Peter Parker poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Gwen loves him," he said softly. MJ softened as she too poured herself some coffee.
"And besides Super Boy is going too so how much trouble can they get in?" Peter asked.
Two flights had been delayed because of a snowstorm making Dallas airport already more packed then it had been.
"Remind me again why we have to switch planes?" Gwen asked as she frowned at the people who swelled against the three of them.
"None of us had money to afford a nonstop flight to San Francisco," Jon pointed out.
"So how much time do we have till we get to California?" Gwen asked as she sidestepped from getting her foot run over by a passing baby stroller.
"I dunno, ask Adam," Jon stated. Gwen turned to look at her boyfriend whose thoughts seem to be somewhere else.
"Adam, earth to Adam," she said giving his hand a squeeze.
"Umm what?" he said as he stopped. He looked slightly dislocated and unsure. "You're mind seems to be somewhere else," she laughed. Adam smiled and nodded. "Guilty," he confessed. Under his hand he gripped his new cane. Daredevil had given it to him the night before. It was actually a thin sword in a sheath that was almost undetectable by the human eye. Daredevil had given him a good lecture about responsibility, of course. His trainer was very displeased with Adam's decision to leave Metropolis to go back home but did nothing to stop the young man.
"Hey I'm going to check out how our flight will be delayed. Why don't you two go off to the cafeteria and catch a bite to eat. I'll join you there," Jon suggested.
"Yeah, food sounds good," Gwen piped up. As if cue, her stomach grumbled. Adam grinned and nodded.
Cathy Mendel stared out at the snow that covered the runway outside. Snow was rare in Texas but when it happened. It still took her breath away. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She should be sitting home right now reading a trashy romance and not serving disgruntled delayed passengers. A young blind man about seven years her junior came through the doors with a girl as young by his side. The two set down at a table and started to talking softly. The girl blushed slightly as he whispered something in her ear. She squeezed his hand. Cathy sighed with a smile. It was good to see at least two people happy on such a night. She walked over to the table and pulled out her notebook.
"What can I get ya'll?" she asked.
"Coffee please," the girl said.
"Make that two, please" the blind young man added. Cathy nodded. When she came back to the table she caught a glance at the girl heading towards the ladies room. "Will that be all?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you," he smiled up at her. She smiled back and turned to wait on some other customers.
"Hey boy!" a man called out to him. Adam raised his chin and felt for his coffee cup. The man came to sit beside him. The man ranked of stale beer and body sweat. Adam almost gagged.
"Yes?" Adam asked and took a sip of his coffee. It just about burnt every part of his mouth.
"You need sugar with that coffee, boy," the man told him. Adam observed the man. He was big, slightly overweight but had enough muscle to do some damage. "I don't think the waitress gave me any," Adam said although he knew the packets were just inches from his fingertips.
"Well yes she did boy. Want me to help you?" the man asked sending a whiff of his foul breath in Adam's direction.
"That would be very kind of you," he said as he put on a fake smile.
"One packet or two?" he asked.
"Two," Adam answered. The man then proceeded to tear two packets of salt and pour them into Adam's drink. Adam rolled his eyes. He picked up and put it to his lips and pretended to take a drink. He wrinkled up his nose.
"I'm afraid the coffee's not very good here,' he said. The man howled with laughter as did the rest of his friends at a nearby table. Adam dropped the cup causing it's steamy contents to be poured into the lap of his tormenter. The man's laughter turned to screams of pain.
Cathy looked up with a start as one of the big rednecks ripped the blind boy from his seat.
"What's going on?" the boy asked making his tormentor laugh as his buddies egged him on. The boy swung his cane so that it hit the man in the knees.
"Opps," the boy said as the man howled in pain and dropped him. The boy feel gracefully and landed on knee. Cathy had never seen anyone fall gracefully before. The guy's buddies started to surround the boy. Cathy closed her eyes. Certainly someone would have called security as well. She scanned the faces of the people as they watched the fight with morbid curiosity. The boy turned around 'accidentally' hitting some men with his cane. His cane tripped another. Throughout this the boy was apologizing for his clumsiness. It almost played out in slow motion. The boy would turn hitting them with his cane and the men would try to punch him. He seemed to always avoid the fists though. Finally a security guard rushed up on the group telling them to break it up. He ignored the kid and escorted the rednecks out of the cafeteria. Cathy looked down at her watch. The fight had lasted around 5 minutes but it had seemed like eternity. Already welts had started to appear on the men's skin.
Another cup of streaming coffee was placed in front of Adam who welcomed it's steamy hotness and promise of a caffeine rush.
"How did you do that?" asked the waitress.
"Call it a sixth sense," he said with a smile. Only then did Gwen exit the bathroom and join him at the table. She frowned over the spelt coffee.
"Did something just happen here?" she asked. Adam shook his head.
"Not a thing," he lied. Gwen shrugged and sipped her coffee.
The passengers of flight 74 finally drifted off to sleep one by one. Gwen's head rested on Adam's chest and his arms encircled her. Adam shifted slightly and rubbed his eyes beneath his shades.
"Adam?" Jon's voice whispered.
"Umm?" Adam mumbled sleepily.
"What are you going to get Gwen for Christmas?" he asked. Adam frowned.
"I don't know yet. December 24 will be our five month anniversary so I want to make it special," he said.
"Oh," Jon mumbled and yawned.
"Does this conversation have a point or are you just going to do one of the stupid insomnia talks like that time at your parents?" asked Adam warily.
"You two make a good couple," Jon smiled. Adam could resist holding Gwen a little tighter. Her lilac scented hair was driving him crazy. He nodded and closed his eyes. He fell asleep smiling.
The elevator creaked to toward their destination. Gwen looked positively green. "Why anyone would build a city on so man hills is beyond me," she groaned.
"I never figured you to be one to get car sick," Jon teased just to receive a glare from the sick girl. Gwen took a deep breath. She usually never got motion sickness since she was constantly web swinging as Spidergirl. Adam grinned.
"Enough you two, we're almost here," he said and the elevator beeped, shuttered once, and the doors opened to reveal a hall. Adam led the way till he stopped at one apartment door. His hand touched the doorknob then stopped. Death. He sniffed the air one more time just to make sure. A dead weight formed in his stomach. He slowly turned the handle and let the door swing open.
"Oh God," Gwen cried out. Jonathan Winters limp body danged from a hangman's rope. The man's eyes bulged from his now discolored face. Gwen turned her head from the gruesome sight. Poor Adam, she thought. His blindness was a blessing at this moment. She hugged tightly on her boyfriend and cried.
"I'll call the police," Jon managed to whisper. Adam nodded but said nothing.