Severing Ties
Summary: Things are looking up for Peter. It had been a few months since Doctor Octavius passed away, and Peter was getting his life on track except for a few things that wouldn't let him be. That's all about to change as someone, somewhere, needs Peter, and he's going to be in for a wild ride.
Chapter 7: Too Attached to People
The next day, Jackie looked a bit healthier. The shadows under her eyes weren't as big as before, and she actually smiled when Peter met her in the library. It wasn't a big grin, but it was a tug at the corners of her mouth.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yeah. I slept all through the night, actually. I thought being a spy and stuff would be cool, you know? Like, covering up the truth and playing a constant role to meet my goal." She opened one of the books they hadn't looked through, yet. After a few minutes, she kept talking. "I spoke to Logan after you left, yesterday. He said I wouldn't make a good spy. I 'get too attached to people' were his exact words. He actually told me that I had to forget I ever knew you."
That peeked Peter's interest. "He told you to forget about me?"
She nodded. "I couldn't do that, and I told him. He wasn't too happy when I told him about how you knew everything about me and stuff. He said he was disappointed, and that I'd have to sever any ties I had with this place. I can't do it, Pete. I thought about it, and thought about it. I just can't handle it." She went back to the book.
Peter talked to a lot of people in the next week. He asked MJ if he could postpone moving in for a bit, and then he requested to Connors that he grade Jackie's paper first, and then give it to her as fast as possible. Spider-Man paid Jackie a visit after her class the Friday after. He didn't say anything, but he picked her up and swung her to a place where they could talk privately, which happened to be the roof of a building.
"How long will I be gone?" he asked.
"For as long as we need you," Jackie replied. She looked him in the eyes as she said this. Does he know I'm asking him to leave his entire life behind? she mused.
"Do you have an estimate or anything? I can't just leave people here without news of when I'm coming back."
Jackie took a deep breath. "You won't be coming back fairly soon. In fact, I doubt you'll return at all."
Spider-Man was about to agree before this. He wanted to see what this Professor Xavier was going to talk to him about, but now? How was he supposed to get up and desert his home and family?
"If you don't agree, others will get you. OsCorp was bought out by a man by the name of Wilson Fisk. He's already created a prototype to find mutant DNA signatures in the New York area. I've seen one. It's a machine that hovers and has more ammunition that an armory. It's dangerous, Spider-Man. It could kill you, and no one would know where you disappeared to," Jackie explained.
Knowing he was making a big decision, he assented. There were no requirements, no conditions. That's what he thought in his head. Jackie had mentioned severing ties with the place, and he was doing the exact same thing, so that she wouldn't be alone.
"Okay. I have transport waiting at my home. The only thing is that you look pretty conspicuous in your get-up. Care to trust me enough to let me know who you are?" she asked.
Spider-Man almost shook his head, until he thought of the perfect plan. "Tell me where you live, and we'll race. You get there before me, and I'll tell you who I am. I get there before you, and you're not going to know, ever."
Jackie, understanding this, nodded and wisely said nothing but her address. She lived down a winding road that twisted and turned into several different streets, and it was almost impossible to find unless she explained the directions, which she never did to Spider-Man.
Spider-Man committed her address to memory, and vaguely remembered the area. A little boy had gotten lost awhile ago, and he'd lived around there. Boy was that a mess trying to find his home in the confusing area. Whoever designed the housing plans was definitely a little 'out there,' and took joy in others' perplexity.
"On your mark," he started. "Get set. Go." He was gone, without even looking back. Jackie just stood there, looking lost. He shook his head as he realized what he'd done. After awhile, he saw the house with Jackie's address on it. As he got closer, he saw Jackie, who was talking to the driver of a sleek, silver, Mitsubishi Spider. The driver had a red visor over his eyes and didn't look much older than Spider-Man was.
"How did you get here?" Spider-Man asked Jackie.
She smiled secretively. "I have my ways. Who are you?"
"We don't have any time for this, Jack. We have to get him to headquarters," the driver interrupted. "Both of you, get in the car."
Spider-Man did so without question, but Jackie rolled her eyes. "I did what I was supposed to. Do you have to treat me like I'm still a little girl, Scott?" She slammed the door shut.
"You still are a little girl to me, Jack. I can remember the first day you came to Xavier's. You were thirteen. You didn't change much over these five years," he answered.
Jackie rolled her eyes again. She looked at Spider-Man. "You know, he wouldn't even let me sit in the front seat. Rotten slime…"
"We still need to get Logan," Scott reminded curtly.
"I can tell you're just thrilled about that," Jackie retorted.
"I let go of unchangeable things, instead of permitting them to fester. I have moved on, and let go. You seem to have a problem with that."
"That was uncalled for." Spider-Man didn't like the drudging up of the past, and he wasn't about to let Jackie be bested by this man who didn't even show his eyes to the outside world. He would have said so, but knew there was more to that than met the eye.
"Don't," Jackie said. "Who are you?" She was relentless.
Spider-Man shook his head as he pulled off his mask. Jackie said nothing, but her eyes went as big as saucers and appeared owlish.
The car pulled to a jerky stop and Logan entered the front seat. "Parker?" he said, looking to the back.
"That would be my name," he replied shyly.
"Would have never guessed you were the webhead," he commented with a shrug of the shoulders. "What's your problem, Jack? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Jackie gulped and shook her head. "I-I'm fine. Just fine," she said quickly.
"If you feel like you need to lie to me, then you're obviously not fine." He said no more, but turned to the front.
"Why did you feel like you couldn't tell me?" Jackie whispered to Peter.
"I can't tell anyone. Only three people know. One's Mary Jane, the other's at the bottom of the river."
"What about the last one?" she asked.
Peter's eyes widened in horror. "Harry," was the only thing he muttered. "Scott, stop the car!" he yelled suddenly.
"You out of your mind? We might be tracked," Scott calmly explained.
"I just left a very dangerous man in my city without anyone to protect them! I can't just leave! Take me back! Now!" he shouted.
Jackie, knowing this wouldn't end well, looked Peter in the eye. "I'll take care of it," she promised. She remembered many a time Peter would voice worry about his best friend that wouldn't talk to him, any more. She closed her eyes and disappeared.
"Jack!" Logan called, but she was already gone. "That fucking girl," he swore.
Jackie opened her eyes, and she was back in her house. She sighed as she thought about how angry Scott and Logan would be. It was her fault the city didn't have their superhero. She wasn't going to be at fault for any deaths.
She looked around her house for extra material from anything. She hated skintight clothes, so she made baggy, black pants out of a tent she used to own. She grimaced at the only black shirt in her wardrobe. It said 'Boy crazy' on it. She didn't want to have to make another shirt, but she would if she had to. She went through old boxes and found another tent. She made a long-sleeved shirt, gloves connected, that had a hood that went completely over her face. She cut eye holes and glued goggles to them. The goggles had a paint on the outside that stopped others from seeing her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror, and blushed with embarrassment. She looked like a fool. She shrugged as she thought of the good she'd do. With a will, she floated above the ground. The weightlessness swam in her head, making her feel dizzyingly light. A breeze that she conjured was blowing through her hair, and she felt as though she were flying. Into the breeze she practiced moving and turning. When she got the moves down, she lowered herself.
She took a deep breath. "Here I go," she said to herself, and she left her home for the city.
Living off the rest of a trust fund was not the way Harry Osborne was used to living. Financial advisors had counseled him to save every penny he could, but he simply refused to see that, in the next three years, all of his money would be gone, and he'd be more broke than Parker. The thought of him had Harry's hackles raising. The traitor. Harry's father had loved Peter like a son, and how did he repay him? By killing him. The murderous bastard must pay.
As Harry's thoughts turned insane, he could feel a force taking over him. It thrilled him with power. A shiver went down his spine as a mad grin appeared on his face. He was alone, and it was a good thing, for anyone who saw him would know what he was. Crazy.
He entered the Goblin's Room, as he called it, and strapped on the suit. He barely even thought about what he was doing. All he knew was that he needed to fly the glider, and the Goblin would do the rest.
"What is going on?" Peter asked the two men in the front seat.
"Didn't Jack tell you? We're going to Professor Xavier's school for gifted children," Scott informed.
"She did, but why?"
"There are new machines that were created by OsCorp when new management took over. Quest Aerospace is run by someone new, and they bought OsCorp. The new company made the machines. They can track certain DNA signatures, and right now they're set to stun and capture anything that's a little odd for human DNA. Which is why we needed to get you out of there, and why Jack is in a large heap of trouble if she's caught." Logan continued to stay quiet.
"There's a whole suburb of…people like you in New York. What are you going to do about them?" Peter inquired, remembering Greg Nowak and their conversation.
"They're already what we call 'registered.' The government knows about them, and the machines have been programmed to stay out of there. Any mutant that leaves the boundary of that suburb will be captured and put back inside."
"Why don't we go there, then?"
"They know exactly who is in there. If an unidentified DNA signature entered, they'd know and take the unidentified signature back to their base."
"Their base?"
"What's with all the questions, kid? You're out, that's all you need to know," Logan interrupted gruffly.
"Don't worry. You'll learn more when we get to the school."
What about Jackie? Peter thought. The silence was starting to annoy Peter. He'd put his mask back on, but Scott had told him there was no need because people couldn't see inside the car anyway. They pulled up to an old building as the sun was setting. Peter followed the two men into the building.
"Peter."
(A/N: Another cliffhanger! Me thinks I'm getting addicted to them...-evil grin- But you know what I'm really getting addicted to? Reviews!
DiabloDude1: Dunst is the blondest, snottiest, wannabe actress ever! I've read one comic book in my life, and that was Ultimate Spider-Man that I bought in a retail shop in Minnesota, and it was really old. It was where Kingpin managed to frame Spider-Man for murder. But I have a father who is a comic book buff, and he tells me everything. -sigh- About the moving in thing...you'll see what happens! Thanks for reviewing! Don't kill me for the cliffie!
Zimbing: Thanks for reviewing! Here's more! -chesire cat grin-
Kiri-Koli: Yay! You reviewed! Even though it was bad! I changed it and I hope people go back and read it over and tell me how much better it is. Thanks bunches for the talks and hints, and for reviewing...maybe I could get you to review again...but not in a bad way! lol!
Misty: Ummm....no. Peter didn't think of it cuz I didn't think of it. Sorry about that. Glad you like it, and I hope you like this chapter!
Laurajslr: I like turns and twists. My favorites are ones that make you think "Is it? Or isn't it?" and you have no idea until the very end. Am I going to do that to you? Possibly -evil grin-. I follow the films mostly of those two stories, so no worries. There are some characters that were in the cartoon shows, or comic books, but I try to describe them well enough that you know what's going on. The relationship with Peter and MJ is undecided, so you can try to guess for youself! -lol- You know I'm tired when I use large words. Then it's usually too late to make me sleep and I get overtired...look out world! -lmao- Hope you like this chapter and thanks much for reviewing!!!!!
These people were nice and reviewed. You should review, too. Then I get to talk to you directly above this! Wouldn't that be fun? hehehe)