Chapter 8

"Oh my God!" Elektra exclaimed, staring into Peter Parker's face.

"Great, just great. Now there's another person who knows who I am," Peter said while he yanked his mask out of the hands of the stunned Elektra.

"So, what are you going to do with me?" Elektra asked fearfully.

Before Peter answered her, he put his mask back and then said, "For one, I'm not going to do anything to you because that's not my style and I protect people not hurt them. But we do have to talk some things over in a more private place."

"I agree we do need to talk over some things. It's just kind of hard for me to see you as Spider-Man."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can't really picture you as someone who would want to kill me," Spider-Man said with a slight chuckle."Anyway, the only place I can think of to talk is my apartment. I believe I can trust you because of our friendship before you found out who I am. Are you okay with this?"

"OK."

"Good," Spider-Man said as he walked up to Elektra. "The quickest way to get there is by web swinging. Now hold on tight like you did before and we'll be out of here."

Elektra then grabbed hold of Spider-Man like she did before, Spider-Man then fired a web line, approached the edge of the roof and then they swung their way to Peter's apartment.

It wasn't long before they were at Peter's. Peter led Elektra through the French doors of his balcony into his apartment. Peter told her to take a seat on the couch while he removed his mask and went to the phone to make a very important call.

"Hey, its Peter. I'm glad you're home. Can you come over here because there is something we need to talk about? No, no, I'm alright. You know that problem I was talking to you about the other day? Well some of the pieces just fell into place and I want to talk about what I discovered. OK, see ya in a few," Peter then hung up his phone and a few minutes later there was a knock on the door and he let Mary Jane in.

"What did you find out, Peter?" Mary Jane asked when she noticed that Elektra was in Peter's living room. Mary Jane then turned back to Peter and saw that Peter was still wearing his Spider-Man costume except his mask. "What's going on, Peter?"

"Well MJ, it's an interesting story. I was able to find out who was trying to kill me," Peter told Mary Jane.

"Who?"

"Now that's the interesting part, MJ because she's right here, actually." Peter replied while gesturing towards Elektra.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"I think I need to sit down," Mary Jane faintly said while finding an armchair to sit in.

"Now ladies, if you would excuse me for a few minutes I'll change into some normal clothes and be right back," Peter said and went to his bedroom to change.

When Peter left to change there was an uncomfortable silence between Mary Jane and Elektra. Neither one of them knew what to say to the other after Peter told Mary Jane that it was Elektra that was after Spider-Man.

"Do you still want to kill him?" Mary Jane asked, fed up with the silence between them.

"No. Not anymore," Elektra answered.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"If I would have known that Peter and Spider-Man where one and the same…"

But Mary Jane cut her off saying, "That shouldn't be the point Elektra and you know that. As Spider-Man, Peter has done a lot of good for this city. To think that you tried to kill him is something that I can't understand."

"You're right, Mary Jane. Knowing who Spider-Man is should not matter and I understand that now. I just hope that you can forgive me."

"Knowing Pete, he probably has already forgiven you. I think I can do the same but it will take a while for me to trust you."

"I can see your point and I don't blame you. I'll do my best to regain your trust."

"I would like to know why you don't want to kill Peter anymore?"

Elektra took a minute to think over Mary Jane's question and replied, "When Peter didn't kill me when those guys from the Hand asked him to was when I decided I didn't want to kill him anymore. I knew right then and there what kind of guy Peter was and I don't see the point in carry out the contract against him."

That was when Peter reappeared and took a seat on the arm of the chair that Mary Jane was sitting in.

"It's nice to see that the two of you didn't kill each other while I was gone," Peter said getting a laugh from the two women. "Anyway, why did you want to kill me, Elektra?"

"A friend of mind set this up for me. I'm really an assassin and I get paid for eliminating people for a price. This was done as a request to him since he died a while ago and I thought that I'd do this job for him," Elektra replied.

"I see. I know I have pissed off a lot of people over the last few years but I never thought that any of them would ever try to put a hit on me. Now the next question is: Do you know who hired you?"

"No, I don't. The only thing that I have is some contact information if I needed anything from my contact and I never did need anything."

"Would you be willing to give me that information so that I can find out who hired you?"

"Sure. I don't have any use for it anymore. I would like to say that I'm sorry for trying to kill you. Its just I have been doing this kind of thing for so long, it makes you lose a part of yourself."

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you want to kill me anymore?"

"I told Mary Jane while you were changing that the moment I no longer want to kill you was when you saved me. You didn't have to and you could've killed me. I owe you my life, Peter and I value the friendship that we had before I found out about you. I just hope I can regain your trust in me."

"Talking things over is a start and I know I can trust you. You wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you. Now, if you don't mind me asking, what made you do this kind of thing in the first place?"

Elektra then told Peter and Mary Jane that it started with the death of her father. She witnessed the killing and wanted revenge on the killer. When she mentioned that part Peter knew exactly how Elektra felt since he felt the same way when his uncle Ben was shot by a carjacker. The next thing Elektra told them was how she started to train vigorously so that she would be ready to face her father's killer. When she did, she found out that the guy she thought killed her father wasn't the one that had actually did it and she had almost killed him. Elektra didn't go into detail about Daredevil and Bullseye since she didn't want to relive that part of her life over again.

"And that's pretty much why I do what I do," Elektra finished.

"Wow, did they catch the guy who killed your father?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yes they did."

"Well, I can fully understand what you went through because that's how I became Spider-Man," Peter told Elektra.

"How so?" Elektra asked.

Peter then started his story of how he became Spider-Man. He started by telling how he got bit by a genetically altered spider and that the spider had passed on certain traits onto him like spider-like strength, speed, agility, the ability to walk on walls and to create his own webbing. Peter then showed Elektra the spinnerets on his wrists and fired a web line up to the ceiling to prove it. Peter also said that he also got this uncanny sixth sense that he called his 'spider sense' which warns him of danger.

"So that's why you were able to get out of the way and dodge my attacks," Elektra said.

"Yep. It comes in handy and has pulled my butt out of the fire on several occasions," replied Peter.

Peter then continued his story where he had his fight with his uncle and that was going to be the last time he would see Ben alive but at the time Peter didn't know that. He had gone to win some money in a wrestling match and was able to do so but he got stiffed on the prize money. He then left the office and headed for the elevator when the box office was robbed. Peter then noticed the robber leaving the office and running towards him and the elevator. Peter stepped aside and let the crook take the elevator. The guy that got robbed told Peter that he could have stopped him and Peter shot back that it wasn't his problem which was the same line Peter got from him when he wouldn't give Peter all of the prize money. Peter then left the arena and after a while of walking he saw a crowd of people up ahead and went to investigate. He was shocked to notice that his uncle was lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. He made his way to his uncle and explained to a police officer that he was the man's nephew. Peter then asked how it happened and the officer said a carjacker did it and that they were following him. Peter then turned back to his uncle who was slowly fading away. His uncle was able to say Peter's name before he died which made Peter want to get the bastard that did that to his uncle and that's what he did. Peter was able to locate the guy at an abandoned warehouse and confronted him. To Peter's horror, he found out that the man that killed his uncle was the same man he let get away from the arena. The guy was able to catch Peter off guard until Peter used his newfound abilities to disarm the man. Scaring the guy, the man backed up and tripped on a pipe on the floor and went out the window falling to his death.

"After thinking over the events that happened that night, I decided that I didn't want anyone to go through the pain that I went through that night. From there, Spider-Man was born." Peter said finishing his sad tale. "There was one thing that I learned from that experience and it was something that my uncle Ben once told me, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Those words are what I live by as Spider-Man."

"Oh, Peter," was all Elektra could say since she was so moved by what Peter had told her.

"As you can now see Elektra we have a little more in common than just sharing a class at ESU. My hope now is that I can trust you with this secret."

"Peter, I won't tell anyone anything about you being Spider-Man and I'm honored that you would trust me with you secret. I hope that our friendship isn't ruined because of this."

"It's not. If I can trust you enough with me being Spider-Man, I think our friendship is still intact. What about you, MJ?" Peter asked.

"I agree with you, Peter. It's just getting use to the fact that now I don't just have a superhero boyfriend, I also have an assassin as a friend," Mary Jane replied with a slight laugh.

Both Peter and Elektra laughed at that.

"Now that we have gotten that taken care of, back to the problem at hand. Elektra, who are the Hand?" Peter asked.

"The Hand?" Mary Jane said.

"Yeah. Two guys just appeared out of nowhere when Elektra and I were fighting and they said that they were members of this group called the Hand. They wanted me to join them if I killed Elektra and when I wouldn't do it they attacked us. Once I webbed them up we high-tailed it out of there and eventually came here," Peter said.

"Do you think you've seen the last of them?" Mary Jane asked.

"I don't think so, Mary Jane," replied Elektra, "Now getting back to your question, Peter, about the Hand. As far as I know they are a mysterious group from Japan. They also are a ninja assassin guild that pursues dark agendas while lending their services to anyone who meets their price."

"So how did you get mixed up with a bunch like that?" Peter asked.

"I came across them when I was hired to kill a young girl. But when I tried to kill her I couldn't do it, so I gave up the assignment. It wasn't till later that I found out that this girl was very gifted in the martial arts just like myself and that the Hand wanted her to become apart of their group. With the girl's help, we were able to defeat some of the Hand's members who were after her. I guess they were pissed that they didn't get her and are now after me because of their failure."

"Have they been after you ever since?" Mary Jane asked.

"I didn't think so until I saw them tonight."

"Now we have to come up with a game plan so that we can get the Hand and the person who hired Elektra to kill me. The first thing to do, Elektra is for you to find out anything you can on those guys from the hand if you can," Peter said to Elektra who gave him a nod telling him that she would do it. "Once Elektra has given me the contact information from her mysterious employer, I'll try to find out who this person is. MJ, you can check the back issues of the Bugleand a few other local papers to see if it would shed any light on who I might've pissed off so that they would want to kill their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," Mary Jane gave Peter a nod as well to signify that she would do what she could. "After that we can go from there."

They all agreed on that point.

Mary Jane then added, "You know Peter, this may not be the only time you have to figure out who wants to kill Spider-Man. I think there are several people who want to see you dead and that includes Jameson."

Peter had to laugh at the idea of Jameson trying to kill him and he finally did.

Peter suddenly added, "There's one more thing that I would like to give the two of you before you decide to leave. So stay right here and I'll be back in a few seconds."

Peter then went to his bedroom and he left a very dumbfounded Mary Jane and Elektra to wonder what he was up to. It wasn't long before Peter returned carrying what looked like a handheld TV in his hands.

"What to do have there, Pete?" Mary Jane asked.

Before he explained anything, Peter dug into his pocket and handed both Mary Jane and Elektra something that looked like a spider. "What you have in your hands, ladies, is what I call a spider tracer. It's something I came up with a few months ago that would allow me to track anything that the tracer is attached to," Peter said.

"How does it work?" Elektra asked.

"By pressing the center of the spider you will activate the tracer," Peter said, then activated the one that Elektra held in her hand and continued explaining, "The monitor that I have is able to track where the tracer is as you can see on the screen."

Peter showed Elektra and Mary Jane how it worked. They were able to see a little blip on the screen that was flashing which indicated the active spider tracer.

"What's the range of the tracer, Peter?" Elektra asked.

"The range is about fifteen miles. I want both of you to have one in case you need me in an emergency," Peter replied.

"Thanks, Peter. I'll give you the information you need tomorrow at ESU if that's alright."

"Sure. I have class in the morning and I can meet you at the student union around 11:30."

"That would be perfect. See ya later, you two," Elektra said and she left Peter's apartment heading for home.

"I'll see ya later too, Tiger. I want to get started early tomorrow so I'll let you get some rest," Mary Jane said.

Before Mary Jane left, Peter gave her a quick hug and a kiss. Peter then turned in for the night to prepare for what tomorrow's activities would bring.

The following day Peter went to ESU to not only to go to his regularly scheduled classes but also to get what information he could from Elektra about the person or even persons who had hired her to kill Spider-Man. Peter's first class that day seemed like it didn't want to end since it went by so slowly. It felt that way to Peter because he really wanted to find out who was after his alter ego. When class finally ended, Peter went to the student union to await Elektra's arrival.

"I hope you weren't waiting long," Elektra said as she took a seat next to Peter.

"Nah, it gave me a chance to get some work done before you got here," replied Peter.

"Where's Mary Jane? I thought that she would be here with you."

"She didn't have class this morning so she is going over some newspaper articles at the library as we speak. In a little while I'll go and see if she found out anything. You can tag along if you want to."

"Actually I was going to go do some checking on those two guys from the Hand after we're done here but you can fill me in later."

"Sure. So let's see what you have for me."

Elektra gave a piece of paper with the information he requested on it. Peter gave the information a quick glance and stuck it in his pocket.

"Now I'll try to find out who belongs to that and we can go from there," Peter said.

"How are you going to find out who hired me to kill you?" Elektra asked.

"I know someone at the Bugle who I think can help me out with this. He has a few police contacts, which could help immensely. I'll go see him after I'm done checking on MJ."

"Well, I'll let you go and see Mary Jane so that I can check on finding any information I can on those guys from the Hand."

"I'll see ya later, Elektra."

Then they both went there separate ways to continue their work.

It didn't take Peter long to find Mary Jane at an ESU library computer. Luckily for Peter, he was able to find an empty chair next to Mary Jane.

"Hey, sweetheart. How's it going?" Peter asked.

Mary Jane was startled to see Peter sitting next to her and her mood brightened immensely at the sight of him. "Let's just say that it's going," she said.

"That good, huh?"

"I've been searching the back issues from the Times, Post, Globe and the Bugle and as far as I can tell there isn't anything there to signify one of the many criminals that you have caught would've hired someone to kill you."

"Out of the few guys I've nabbed recently, I don't think that they would have the brain cells to try to pull something like that," Peter said as he thought of Rhino, Shocker and Scorpion.

"Did you want me to keep looking, Pete?"

"You did a great job already, MJ. You don't have to look for anything more."

With the information that Elektra gave me a while ago we should be able to find out who has it in for me. I'm going to head to the Bugle to see if I can find out who this person is and then head back here for my last class of the day."

"Well, I should get going too. I have a class in about a half hour that I need to prepare for."

"Ok, MJ. Catch ya later and don't work too hard."

"Catch ya later, Tiger."

Giving each other a quick kiss, they went their separate ways.

As Peter left the library he had figured out the fastest way for him to get to the Bugle, Spider-Man Express. Making his was off campus Peter found an alley to change into his Spider-Man costume. Then he climbed the alley wall up to the roof and he fired a web line to begin his journey to the Daily Bugle. It wasn't long until Peter arrived on the rooftop of the Bugle, so Peter changed out of his costume and back to his regular clothes and went inside using the roof access door that was nearby.

In no time at all, Peter was in the main office of the Daily Bugle. As usual it was fairly busy in there as it was an important newspaper. Peter approached the one person he thought of who could help him find the person he wanted to talk to, Betty Brant.

"Hi, Betty," Peter greeted her.

"Well, hello Peter. Mr. Jameson is not here, as well as Mr. Robertson if you were looking for them," Betty replied.

"Thanks, but I'm not here to see them this time. I was wondering if Mr. Urich was in?"

"I'll give him a call to see if he is at his desk."

It wasn't long until Betty got in touch with Ben Urich and asked him if he was able to talk to Peter.

"You're in luck, Peter, Ben's here and you can go back to talk to him," Betty said.

"Thanks, Betty." Peter answered and he went to Ben Urich desk.

Ben Urich was the Bugle's best investigative reporter. Unlike Jameson, he never believed that Spider-Man was a menace. This was one reason Peter got along so well with him. They had gotten to know and respect one another after having worked a few assignments together.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Peter Parker. I haven't seen you around in a while. Keeping busy with school?" Ben asked shaking Peter's hand.

"School has been keeping me busy among other things. I was wondering if you could do me a favor, Mr. Urich," Peter said.

"Sure, no problem and call me Ben."

"Okay Ben, could you find out whose number this is?" Peter asked as he handed Urich a note with the number.

"I'll see what I can do. Do you need the answer right away?"

"As soon as possible if that's all right."

"That's all right Peter. Is there anything else that you needed?"

"Nope, that's it."

"Alright, I'll let you know when I get the answer. If you're lucky I might be able to find out later today."

"That would be great, Ben. I gotta get back to ESU for my final class of the day. I'll give you my cell number in case something does turn up today and I'll talk to ya later," Peter said giving Ben his cell number.

"See ya later Peter and don't be a stranger around here."

Before Peter left, he said good-bye to Betty and headed back to the roof. Peter changed into his Spider-Man costume again and swung off to go back to ESU.

When she was finished her work at ESU, Elektra went to see the one person that she knew that would possibly have some information on the members of the Hand, Stick. There was only one place where Stick would be at this time of day and that would be a pool hall and Elektra had a pretty good idea which one that would be.

Elektra didn't take long to find the pool hall she was looking for because it was the same one she found Stick in all of those months ago when she needed his help with Abby and her father. She entered the pool hall and immediately saw Stick who appeared to be hustling some poor soul with a game of pool. Elektra was always amazed at how well Stick could play, especially since he was blind. She watched from a distance as her one time teacher defeated his opponent and took his money.

"Elektra?" Stick asked as she slowly approached him.

"Stick, it's good to see you again you ole pool shark you," Elektra greeted him.

"It's good to be seen. What do I owe the honor of your gracious appearance?"

"I've seemed to have run into a little trouble again."

"What else is new? How pray tell did you wind up in this situation in the first place?"

Before answering him, Elektra ledStick to a private area in the pool hall so that they could have some privacy. Elektra then explained to Stick how she was hired to kill Spider-Man and how she went about doing it. Next she explained about how the Hand got involved and that she and with some help from Spider-Man were able to get away from them. When Elektra mentioned the Hand it surprised Stick. He thought that he would have heard the last from them or at least for a good while any way.

"Are you still out to kill Spider-Man?" Stick asked.

"No. He was able to put his trust in me so that we could get rid of those guys from the Hand together," Elektra answered.

"Why would he do something like that?"

"Because they are after him as well. They interrupted a fight between us and when they saw me they wanted Spider-Man to join them. To show his allegiance to them, he would've had to kill me. If he didn't they would kill us both. In the end, Spider-Man saved me."

"Did you find out who they were?"

"They said their names were Matsuo and Takashi."

"Their names are familiar to me. Matsuo is not gifted with extraordinary abilities like Tattoo and Typhoid Mary were but Takashi is."

"How so?"

"Takashi is a shape shifter and he can become anything or anyone he wants. Be very careful with him. Matsuo is no slouch either but I would be more concerned with Takashi."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Unfortunately that is all I know. I hope that you and Spider-Man will not be harmed when you encounter these men again."

"With the information you just gave me, I think we'll be alright. Thanks, Stick."

"Keep safe Elektra, and if you need anymore of my assistance you know where to find me."

"I know," Elektra said and she gave Stick a kiss on the cheek and left.

Peter was just coming out of Dr. Connors' class when his cell phone rang and he quickly answered it. He recognized the voice on the other end to be Ben Urich's.

"I didn't catch you at a bad time did I, Peter?" Ben asked.

"Nope, I just finished class for the day and I was gonna head for home. I assume you found something for me?" Peter replied.

"Yeah, I was able to get the information that you requested but I won't be able to give it to you in person if you want it right away. Is it all right if I give it to Betty so that she could get it to you?"

"That would be fine, Ben. I'll head over to the Bugle right away to pick it up."

"Good. Betty will have it waiting for you."

"Thanks a lot, Ben. I really appreciate this."

"Think nothing of it, Peter. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Ben."

Peter then turned his cell off and headed off to change into Spider-Man to get there as fast as he could. Before heading to the paper, Peter made a quick stop at his apartment to drop his books and other things off and then proceeded to the Daily Bugle. When he got there, Peter followed the same routine as he did earlier when he was there last.

In no time at all, Peter was in the main office of the Daily Bugle and he made his way towards Betty Brant's desk.

"Well, this is a surprise, Peter Parker gracing us with his presence twice in one day. What is the occasion?" Betty teased.

Peter chuckled at that and replied, "Nice to see you again too, Betty. Ben said that he left something for me with you."

Betty pulled open one of the drawers to her desk and pulled out an envelope from it and gave it to Peter. "What is it, Peter?" she asked.

"I just wanted Ben to check something out for me and I guess he got an answer for me pretty fast. Well, I gotta go and check this out. See ya later, Betty."

"See ya, Peter."

Peter made his way back up to the roof and changed once again into Spider-Man. But before he left, Peter decided to take a look at what Ben found out for him. What Peter found in the envelope shocked him to his core.

"Son of a…"

AN: Peter now knows who hired Elektra to kill him thanks to some fine work from Ben Urich. You may wonder why Urich is working at the Bugle. Well, he has always worked at the Daily Bugle in the comics and that's where I wanted him. In the Daredevil film, Ben did not work at the Bugle. Why? That's a simple question to answer. Since Spider-Man's film rights belong to a different studio than Daredevil's, Urich had to work at a different paper since the Bugle is more associated with Spider-Man than Daredevil. I hope this explains my reason of having Ben Urich at the Bugle. But you, my dear readers will have to what for the next chapter to find out the identity of Elektra's mysterious employer. Now that Elektra is teaming up with Peter, how will she and Spider-Man defeat those two guys from the villainous group known as the Hand? Keep reading to find out about that. As always, thanks go out to the following reviewers: Laser Crusader, Jenn1, SpartanCommander, Georgia Kennedy and Ratdogtwo. A special welcome and thanks go out to newcomers htbthomas and rezevil fan. Again let me know what you think by giving a review.