Eye Witness

It had been almost a month since the night that Peter and Harry faced the truth about eachother, and since then, both had made an effort to never look back on a seemingly dead friendship.

After all, they were both happier this way... Separate lives with separate duties. Ironic really, how involuntarily tangled in eachother's business they already were. Eventually they would have to confront eachother again... Eventually.

The autopsies had long since returned, and they had proven fruitful to Peter. He could still hear the doctor's worried voice in his head.

"Mr. Parker... The results of your aunt's autopsy were startling, to say the least. I don't know your motives for requesting this procedure, but if I'm allowed, I'd like to get the police involved."

"No, please. I'd like to keep this quiet."

"But Mr. Parker--"

"Doctor, please. The results?"

"...Your aunt had a potentially harmful chemical in her bloodstream for what seemed to be weeks, possibly months. But, there was only one type of catalyst that could've possibly contained enough energy and triggered its lethal effects. Our forensic analyst suggested that the catalyst was injected into your aunt's bloodstream the day of her death. Mr. Parker, I'm going to ask again that this case may be given to the police."

"No."

"...It's not your permission I'm looking for, Mr. Parker. I just hoped to receive your consent before I handed this case over to private investigators. I have no choice. Whether or not you agree, this is a homicide case."

"...Let's go, MJ."

"Mr. Parker, at least give us your consent so that this investigation won't be a war!"

"My aunt was murdered, doctor. I'm already at war."

"Pete...let's just go home." Mary Jane... the voice of logic. She's the only reason I came to my senses and signed the consent form. I'm glad at least one of us can think under pressure.

But the case was handled well. The police had kept it under wraps for quite some time now. As for the other murders, well... Audrey had taken her time to plant the evidence carefully in the footprints of an innocent woman.

"Audrey! Turn on the television. There's something I want to see." Harry bolted from the upstairs bathroom where he had been showering, heading toward the lobby. He scampered down the grand staircase, skipping several steps as he jumped to the landing.

"What's your hurry? It's just another murder trial." Audrey took no alarm when he leapfrogged over the top of the couch, landing beside her on a corduroy pillow.

Harry's voice held an incredulous tone as he panted and made an attempt to lounge in his disheveled state. "Exactly. You don't care about them?"

Her face said 'uninterested', but in her eyes there was a flicker of delight. "No, not really. Though... the murders were quite mysterious... Some of the bodies seemed to have been in the homes for days, weeks even. It's a wonder that Spider-Man hasn't saved the day. What do you think of it?"

"He's been busy with wedding plans," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Audrey had heard him perfectly well, but stuck to her display of obliviousness.

"Nothing. Turn it up."

"Oh fine... You're welcome," she muttered, feeling for the remote beside her, eyes still fixed on the television screen.

"Huh?" Harry honestly hadn't heard at all. Unlike his pseudo-lover, he was very simplistic. Not stupid, not at all. But not a secretive or emotionless person. Whatever he felt, he would react before thinking. This made him entirely perfect prey for the woman sitting next to him, the one he slipped an arm around as he watched the news intently. Audrey rested her head on his shoulder to set the mood. Another precise move in the eyes of a criminal perfectionist.

"Katrina Jones entered the New York City Criminal courthouse this morning, as a kind and caring former employee of Oscorp Industries, and mother of two..."

"A mother of two! She's not even married..." Harry was unobservant, but sweet, and provoked a grin from Audrey. She shifted, sitting straight up on the couch.

"Harry, darling, not everyone has your moral code. There are single mothers. Now shhh. I want to hear this."

"You said you didn't care about---"

"Shh!" she put her hand over his mouth, but pulled it away when she felt his tongue against her palm. 'Eww..." She wiped off her hand on his shoulder as he laughed quietly. If only he knew that the woman he loved, the woman he kissed on the forehead and leaned against, was responsible for his employee's arrest. Responisble for the slaughter. (But silence! The television beckoned them, and the story continued.)

"...accused of eighteen counts of murder in the first degree."

"Eighteen!"

"Shut up I want to hear this."

"But Audrey—"

"–Don't make me bite you."

"Don't make me like it."

"Idiot,"she sighed, leaning on his shoulder until he was quiet.

"...was the plea entered. Devoted mother wrongly accused, or violent serial killer? This is Stephanie O'Connor reporting live from the steps of the NYC Criminal courthouse."

"Okay it's over now. What were you going to say?"

"Doesn't matter..." Harry leaned his head against the top of hers, whispering in her ear. "Hey Audrey... I'm off tomorrow. No getting up early. Which means I can stay up all night if I want. Which means..."

"Which means I have to be in early tomorrow to sort out the patent forms for our new product line. You can still stay up as late as you want though." He let out a groan as she got off of the couch, adjusting her shirt, smoothing her hair. "I'm going to sleep."

"No you're not." Harry grabbed Audrey by the hips and pulled her down onto the couch, laying her legs out across his lap. "You're going to stay down here on the couch with me, and we'll discuss... business."

"No seriously, Harry. I have to go to sleep. Long day tomorrow." She stood up, hovering over him, leaving a long kiss goodnight on his lips.

"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said, turning his glance in the direction his father's study.

She was gone up the stairs in no time at all, and he missed her sorely when she left. But still, something was on Harry's troubled mind.

You miss me, don't you?

Like I miss the Flu.

Why can't you admit it?

"Because you never left,"Harry thought aloud. "Stormin' Norman... You left behind so much fucking damage and so many loose ends."

A different, uninvited thought in his mind... A different thought, not his at all.

But that's not it, is it? I'm still alive somewhere in your mind, and you haven't silenced me. Is it because you can't or because you secretly agree with my ideas of vengeance?

I think I'll go off to bed. Audrey's waiting...

You can't run from the truth for too long. You know that you want to kill Parker. She knows it, too. She's smarter than you think.

Audrey has nothing to do with this.

Oh, you think not? Why do you ignore what's so obvious? Son, she's got it all figured out, and you're just another playing piece in her game. If only you saw it, if only you appreciated the beauty of what's going to unfold.

Leave me alone, Norman! I don't have to listen to you.

(Harry had not realized yet that he was pacing the room and had been doing so ever since these thoughts pierced the still silence.)

Try and block out that thought in the back of your mind, that thought that I'm right and you've been foolish. Try and keep it away longer and it'll destroy you! I'm always with you, Harry. At least give me my dying wish by taking another's life.

Harry's reflection in the mirror... it wasn't his own. A man his height, yes, but older, a stern look about his pointed face. A shrewd, skulking, angered man that attempted to tower over all that denied him his simple luxuries.

"You can't do this."

Accept it, Harry. Become a player in her game, not just a pawn. You'll reap more rewards if you join her, and you'll be in the right. You'll be avenging me, not committing murder. It'll be a mercy killing.

"You can't do this!" Harry saw his own reflection in the mirror when he looked up again; Norman was gone.

Harry froze, white with fear, eyes staring into the mirror.

I can't. But someone will.

A long, dark, cloaked figure was standing beside him.In its hand,a long needle, the vial attached filled with green liquid...

...which the figure had already embedded in his neck before he had a chance to scream.

His body collapsed, and he felt the vial, now empty, fall against his shoulder. He sensed his mind slowing, and it seemed to take ages for him to hit the ground. Thankfully, he hadn't impaled his neck on the needle, but still... it was there. The wound stung only until it was dulled by the feeling of fiery blood crawling under his skin... But he was too numb to speak.

Darkness crept over Harry's half-lidded eyes, as he heard an oddly soothing voice humming from above him. It sounded so angelic. It sounded like his mother... But that was truly impossible...

...Unless he was dead.

Cold, harsh laughter; loud and unsettling. Like a jackal, like a madman.

A/N: Short chapter, I felt inspired today... Hope you enjoyed it. COMMENT PLEASE! Thanks.