May walked past her parents' bedroom late that night. Peeking in, she saw that they were both fast asleep. Before she could risk talking herself out of it, she went back to her room, changed into her suit, and zipped out the window.
I'll have to be careful to avoid Uncle Mile's patrol route, she thought. But, I should be able to get back to the rink without being spotted. I'll just sneak in, take another look around Coach Stephens's office, and be right out and back in bed before anyone's the wiser. Easy-peasy. I hope.
Swinging across the city at night was an entirely different experience for May. Of course, she had grown up seeing it all lit up, and all the activity that still went on, but that was from the ground. It was a different kind of buzzing all around her as she flew through the air, a different kind of alive. If May were being honest, it was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, it was a short trip back to the rink.
I have to find a way to enter without breaking, May thought as she began to look around. Not only do I not want to break the law, or, at least stay in a grey area of it… I want as little a dose of Dad's wrath as possible if he ever finds out about this. Ah, there's a classic: a vent!
May quickly zipped into the vent and began crawling through. She didn't understand why Dad was always so enamored with vents: they were dark, cramped, dusty… plus there were always unpleasant smells. All part of being a Spider, I guess. With great power comes great responsibility… and crawling through pools of unidentified condensation. Nonetheless, she went on, dropping down once she saw an opening to Coach Stephens's office.
"Okay, Coach," she said to herself. "Let's find out what you're hiding."
Looking through the paper files again offered no additional information; at least this time her suit cam would be able to record images of the information on Diox-3 and Alchemax. When she finally got to the last page, the one with the schematics, she looked closer and found the name of the building: Terrinc.
The company that the people in Harlem were protesting, May remembered. And Coach is hiring this "were-wolf" person to rob them. Coincidence? Well, too early to tell, I guess. Finally, she decided to turn to the computer. Using an app that Miles's friend Ganke had secretly helped her install on her suit, she bypassed the desktop's security. Clicking through various folders, she didn't find much out of the ordinary. On a hunch, she clicked on a file named "finances."
Wait a minute, she thought. If I'm reading this right… Coach has been embezzling our club dues for months now! I'd bet real money I know where it's going to… and to think I believed Coach when she said we had to cut down on post- performance celebrations because of a lack of funds.
May took out the flash drive she always carried with her (a habit taught to her by her mother) and plugged it in to copy the data. Feeling a little anxious, she copied other files she hadn't checked yet, having the feeling that she was running out of time. Sure enough, as soon as the download was complete, she heard a key turning in the lock. Panicked, May ripped the drive out of the computer and jumped to stick to the ceiling.
The next moment, Coach Stephens walked in. She approached the desk, and jumped at seeing the computer on and her files slightly out of place. She scanned the room more closely.
"Who's there?" she demanded.
Time for me to make myself scarce, May thought, crawling back towards the vent. Unfortunately, she bumped the grate, causing it to hit against the ceiling. Coach Stephens's head snapped in her direction, locking eyes with the intruder.
"What the-" she stuttered. "Spider-Girl?"
May gasped, quickly ducking into the vent system and crawling as fast as she could.
"Hold it right there, insect!"
Come on, Coach, May groaned inwardly. You should know better! Not important right now. Focus, May: escaping.
Outside of the vents, she could hear Coach chasing after her through the building. Thankfully, May was faster, and she was soon outside where she could zip away and head towards home. She didn't let herself catch her breath until her feet landed inside her bedroom. She felt relatively confident that the coach wouldn't report the break-in (after all, how would she explain being there so late at night, and on a weekend?) but, it was still hard to relax. Seeing Coach in person had made the situation that more real to May- and now Stephens knew that Spider-Girl was aware of at least some of her plans.
This is all so crazy, she thought, shaking her head. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to start looking through the other files I managed to get on my drive.
She changed out of her suit and back into her PJs, and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next afternoon, Spider-Girl was with her dad once more on patrol, swinging through Manhattan. Amazingly, things were pretty quiet, giving Spider-Man the chance to help Spider-Girl perfect her jumps and ziplining. Though she tried to focus on her training, May couldn't shake an uneasy feeling in the back of her mind.
"Hey, Dad?" she asked.
"Yeah, kiddo?" Spider-Man turned to face her as they continued swinging.
"Do you ever get the feeling you're being… I dunno, watched?"
"Hon, we're two super-heros in bright spandex suits swinging through the streets of New York." If May were any judge of her dad's voice, he was doing his best to hold back a laugh. "Of course people are watching. Don't worry; you get used to it."
"Right. Of course." May decided not to pursue the point further, but she couldn't help but think that this was a different kind of being watched feeling. She also decided that she was imagining things when she thought that the same brown sedan that was on the street just below them had never been more than a few meters away from them for the past hour or so.
