A/N: Happy Birthday, Mark! I treasure our friendship. May you have many more happy years!
Also, everyone, go read Mark's new one-shot, Coming Clean. Give him a birthday surprise!
The Devil You Don't Know
Chapter 7: …and Found
Spider-Man swung through the city, feeling as if the weight of the world was once again on his shoulders. That old Parker luck is running true to form once again, he mused sadly. Why should I go after Felicia? Because, Einstein, there has to be a connection between her disappearance and those of the Dark Crusader and Aunt May. I should have figured this thing out by now! If I had, MJ and I never would have had that fight…
With all of his troubles swirling around in his head, Spider-Man touched down on the fire escape where he had earlier collected the white substance. He sprinted up the stairs to the roof and paused, looking around for any sign of the strange material.
He scanned the area using the sight amplification of the eyepieces in his mask. Across the street, a barely seen bit of white glimmered momentarily in the sun. After a few quick, bounding jumps, he was examining it closely – the two substances were the same. He extrapolated the two points, and saw the direction they led…to another building, barely two blocks away. Ah, yes … I can't believe I missed this. Well, detective work was never my strong point, he reflected. Let's see if I can find anything else of interest around here.
His hopes of finding his friend and loved one renewed, Spider-Man fired a web line and swung in a short arc toward his intended target. Landing near an open window on the uppermost floor, he released the three waldoes from his costume to aid in his search. A few seconds later, he slipped through the window, taking care not to make any noise. Although his spider-sense told him that the floor was deserted, he wasn't about take any chances. He crawled across the ceiling, surreptitiously peeking into each room with the cameras in the waldoes.
Finding nothing on the top floor, he descended to the next one. The tingling at the base of his skull told him there was someone inside a room down the hallway. The door was slightly ajar, so he silently slid a camera in through the frame.
The digital screen revealed the room to contain some sort of makeshift cell. Beyond the door to the room there was a crude cage with a locked door, and a person lying on a cot inside. Opening the door a bit wider, Spider-Man crawled along the ceiling until he was inside. Silently dropping to the floor, he got a clear look at who was on the cot.
"Cat? Cat, are you all right?" he asked, slightly above a whisper.
Felicia began to stir slightly, emitting a series of groans. "Spider, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. Now, hold on tight and I'll get you out of here in a sec."
Grabbing a hold of the cell door, Spider-Man gave it a quick jerk, which broke the lock. Kneeling beside her, he noticed that she was extremely pale. But what startled him the most were the needle marks up and down her exposed arm.
Dear God, what did that bastard do to you? He fought to hold back a rush of anger as he tenderly lifted the Black Cat off the cot. "Do you think you can stand on your own?" he asked her gently.
She gave Spider-Man a nod and made a valiant, but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stand on her own. He tried to steady her, but she had started to sway the second he let go of her. She was clearly in no condition to do anything on her own, for the time being. But he really needed to search the rest of the building and there was not a whole lot of time. "I can't leave you alone…" he said anxiously, webbing her to his back to continue the search.
Throughout his search for May and the Dark Crusader, Spider-Man knew that the Black Cat was in a bad way. What am I going to do? he thought, I can't just leave Cat for Venom to find and do God knows what to her. But I can't stop searching for Aunt May, either. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself.
There was no one else in the entire building. Torn and frustrated, the wallcrawler came to a decision that he hoped would not come back to haunt him. Right now, my number one priority is to get Cat some help and then I'll continue my search. Once again, he checked to see if the Black Cat was still securely webbed to his back and he began to webswing back to Stark Tower.
Spider-Man's webswinging brought the Black Cat out of her drug-induced stupor. "What the hell is going on, Spider?" she asked, slurring her words. "How did I get this way?"
"I don't know… but I intend to find out," Peter assured her with fierce determination. We'll get you checked out as soon as we get back to Stark Tower." He paused, and then said grimly, "But I know who did this to you."
"Who?" she rasped weakly.
"Mac Gargan," he finished. "Or as he is better known these days, Venom."
"Focus, MJ!"
Once again, Mary Jane had tripped over a line she should have had engrained in her mind. "Sorry, Gray. I'll get it this time…" She moved back into the blocking they had been rehearsing for weeks. The lines on Gray's face softened as he saw his lead actress give the performance he was expecting.
If he only knew… she mused. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the argument she had with Peter. Jealous? A touch of anger heated her for a moment. By now, he should know that I am not threatened by that woman at all
She delivered her next few lines a little too heatedly, provoking a raised eyebrow from her co-star, Gregory. She gave him a little shrug – the lines needed spicing up, anyway. What bothers me the most about Felicia is how unpredictable she is. Peter could find himself in a huge mess, and for no other reason than he feels responsible for everyone he runs into! But then she paused, and backtracked. Of course, that's one of the things I love about him…
She looked up to see her fellow actors, and the director, all staring at her pointedly. Gregory gave the lead-in again, "…wouldn't you say, Sydney?"
Crap… "I'm sorry, guys, my head's just not in this today…"
"Everyone, take five!" Gray called out to the cast and crew. He turned his gaze to Mary Jane, concerned. "MJ, what's the matter?"
She had earned major points with her director earlier in the season. She was one of the most dedicated members of the cast – always on time, always prepared, willing to accept constructive criticism. So when she was this unfocused, there had to be a reason.
But unloading problems on other people was not Mary Jane's style. "Nothing, Gray. I'm just distracted right now. Give me a few minutes and I'll be back in form. I promise."
Gray assented with a nod and went to talk to one of the guys at the light board. Mary Jane sat down in the middle of the back row, absentmindedly playing with her matching silver bracelets as she pondered the situation.
Wasn't this supposed to get easier? she thought ruefully. Living in Stark Tower, with all the protection that it entailed, should have made their lives safer. Had they simply made themselves an easier target? Did someone really figure out the equation PP SM? Or was there something more subtle going on? She wondered where it would stop.
She was lost amid her musings when suddenly her director barked out, "Okay, Mary Jane. Let's go." Was she ready to start again? She waved and stood up. Enough with the pity party, time to get back to work.
An hour later, her jacket wrapped around her shoulders, Mary Jane stepped through the stage door and out into the chilly evening air. She glanced up and down the street. Not a cab was in sight. Sighing, she walked toward the corner, thinking that she would have better luck there.
After what seemed to be an eternity, a cab finally turned onto the street a few blocks away and headed in her direction. She had barely raised her hand to flag it down when suddenly, the street light above her went out. Great, she thought, moving hurriedly through the darkened area, he won't see me…
Before she could attempt to get the driver's attention again, she felt a tendril wrap around her body from behind. She let out a squeak of terror, which was hastily stifled by a heavy hand clamping over her mouth.
Not again! How often in one lifetime can a girl be kidnapped! she thought, although she was no less terrified than all the previous times. She struggled against the slimy bonds around her arms and waist. Her hands were bound flush against her legs, fingers unmovable. If I could only just reach the…
"You'd make it a lot easier on yourself if you'd stop fighting us…" a raspy, eerie voice murmured next to her ear. The strange doubled-quality to the voice made her eyes go wide in shock. It didn't sound like the voice she remembered, but… I thought he was in prison!
Her astonishment didn't last long. Like hell I'm going to stop fighting! She twisted and thrashed in his grip.
"We warned you, sweetheart…" She felt a sharp prick on the side of her neck, like a needle piercing the skin.
Damn, was the only thought she had time for as the world went black.
