Spiderman 1.5 (Leftovers of the Food and Costume Variety)
Warnings: more than mild cursing
1st person: Sasha's POV: Flashback
I honestly think there must be a deity out there that has decided to curse me with men who want to take on more than they can handle. It must be the same one that cursed me to be loaded down with the same shit. This is the only proof I can find that 'God' is male. Seriously, he's got to be the same guy that came up with the corset. He really is a bastard. (On a side note, this doesn't convince me that a male is running the whole show upstairs. Only a woman could truly appreciate creation while at the same time having infinite patience to deal with said creation.)
…Enough bitching about the divinities and back to the point. On top of trying to shoulder the world, Peter has just omitted something he was about to say to me. How do I know? He was scratching the shell of his ear through the second half of our conversation. That and I am not an idiot. I mean, come on; did he really expect me to believe that Spiderman would just give up his secrets like that to a member of the press? He was rather serious about killing the little bug, too. He also wasn't as surprised at my family connections as he was to my status as a genius. Exactly who is he that he knows all of…. No way. He couldn't be, could he?
My Big Bro, Spiderman?
3rd person POV
For the entire ride to Peter's house, Sasha was tense, only opening her mouth to sing to the music. Peter seemed to pick up on it as he stayed even quieter than she did. Sasha did manage to calm down a little while driving, however. The tension almost flowed out of her body as she sped through traffic dodging and weaving through the cars as if they were slow moving snails to her sleek, lightening fast Spyder. Peter even noticed that she began to smile softly for the last five minutes of the ride.
She dropped Peter off with only a smile and a goodbye before she drove away. She knew she was confusing him with how serious she was, but hopefully he would just write it off as a case of the nerves. At least he explained why all of the weird stuff was happening to her today. The openings in her wrist, her lack of exhaustion after practice, even the color changing eyes were probably because of the bite. Sasha was curious as to how Peter kept his from changing with his emotions, if her theory was right. He certainly wasn't into the whole apathy thing that meditation taught.
All of that aside, the emotional shit Sasha was going through was beginning to mess with her state of mind. Normally she kept her more personal emotions tightly canned on a shelf in a dusty corner near the back of her mind. However, that was a whole lot easier when ones' life wasn't exploding before one's eyes. Re-living some of the most traumatic events of her life certainly didn't help her peace of mind. On the other hand, maybe a cup of coffee and a good book might do the trick. Her guest wasn't coming until sundown anyway.
~Sunset~
Sasha pulled into her driveway just as the sun began to set only to find that her mother's car was suspiciously missing. Sasha supposed that this was due to that asshole that called him self an editor. J. J. Jameson really was the worst boss that Jilliana Teresa Morieta had worked for since they moved to the Big Apple. Then again it would be easier to meet Spiderman, seeing as her mother wasn't here. "Thank god for good ole Jameson," Sasha snorted wryly as she turned off her car.
Sasha swiftly exited her car and smacked the garage door button before heading through the door into the kitchen. Coffee and books may have been good for her mind, but her body was beginning to argue for attention. Rather loudly protesting, actually. In an effort to appease her poor stomach, Sasha began scouring the refrigerator for various leftovers, hopefully those without a penicillin upgrade.
Within seconds Sasha had stacked almost as many Tupperware dishes on the counter as she was tall. She found chow mien, meatloaf, spaghetti, lasagna, two burritos, three tamales, an enchilada, half a cut of steak, and most of a bowl of flan, all of which was still mildly eatable. And this was just for starters if her interpretation of her stomach rumblings was right. She carefully cradled the final stack of food to her chest as she shut the fridge door.
Just as she turned to deliver the food safely to the counter, she once again bounced off of a rather firm chest. "Holy fuckin' shit!" Sasha shrieked, dropping her armload. Thankfully the food never hit the ground. Instead it was all caught by a pair of bright red gloves. Sasha glared up into the reflective eye plates of Spiderman's mask. "Dammit, you geek! Quit sneaking up on me! Is it some kind of fetish for you or something!?" she yelled, whacking him on the arm.
"Whoa! Calm down there, Sasha. You don't want me to drop all of this, too, do you?" He said chuckling at her flustered appearance. He carefully set said food down with the rest of her stacks on the counter behind him. "What are you doing with all of these anyway? Are you cleaning out the fridge or something?" he asked, sounding slightly bewildered. Sasha blushed, running a hand through her hair once. "Something like that, wanna help?"
Sasha, ever the mindful waitress, quickly halved the contents of the first few Tupperware onto two separate plates and stuck them in the microwave. However, just as she turned around her stomach decided to voice its displeasure and growled. Sasha blinked than poked at the offending organ. "Shut up, you, I'm cooking food right now! (1)" she muttered exasperatedly. She heard Spiderman quietly chuckle from his perch on the bar stools behind the counter. Sasha shot him a mock evil glare. "Laugh it up, fuzz-ball! (2)" she dared, barely keeping a straight face as she said it.
After Sasha removed the dishes from the microwave Spiderman finally addressed the issue he had come to talk to her about. "So our mutual friend says that there may be a new superhero in town… any idea what he meant by that?" Sasha paused in her search for a clean fork, though she kept her back turned to him. Exactly how much should I tell him? If he is Peter, then he'll probably ream my ass again because he's still angry about it. Should I provoke him to try and draw him out, or should I give it to him straight, no details… heh, let's test his nerves. I've been dying to get him back for sneaking up on me.
"My mother and I stopped at the Science Institute the other day, you know, the one with the electron microscopes? Well, I found a pretty red and blue spider underneath one of the computer screens, so I scooped it up into an empty film tube to take a look at it underneath one of my microscopes. Unfortunately, it escaped some time during the night and then was squished and trashed by our mutual friend earlier today before I could enter its pure DNA into my super-computer and make evil mutant clones," Sasha informed him airily.
Sasha finally found a fork and turned around to deliver it, only to discover that Spiderman was staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "Didn't you know? I'm your newest mortal enemy! Any minute now gangsters will come out of the woodwork and point so many guns at you that if you move they'll be shooting themselves," she said smugly. Spidey continued to stare at her. "But I figured since the spider DNA has been corrupted I should make sure this bug bite on my ankle won't have any ill effects."
"You did WHAT?!" Spiderman spluttered, promptly bringing his hand down in his spaghetti. Sasha struggled very carefully to keep her mind and features properly composed. If her eyes gave her away then the jig was up. "What on earth would possess you to pick up a genetically mutated spider? Do geniuses just not have common sense?"
Sasha cocked an eyebrow as Spiderman finally realized his hand was firmly planted in his plate of spaghetti. Ah-hah! Got him, she thought, as he began to clean the spaghetti from his glove, He didn't pay any attention to my crap about being a super villain. Plus he reamed me for being stupid enough to bring the spider home just like Peter did earlier. Either you and Peter have a lot in common or you are Peter. I'm betting on the latter. "I don't know, do they not?" Sasha asked, smirking. "Both you and Peter seem to be of the same opinion on the subject. Exactly how many of the same opinions do the two of you have?"
Sasha watched Spiderman squirm under her gaze at the suggestion. "N-no more than normal, really…" he demurred nervously. He cleared his throat and quickly picked up a different subject, "Besides, you said that you have a bite from it?" Sasha shrugged, "Maybe. I know I have a bug bite, I just don't know what did it." Spiderman let out an annoyed noise. "Damn, hold out your hands," he instructed. Sasha complied, offering her hands palm down. The hero grasped her wrists and flipped them over so he could see near her pulse point. There amidst the other healed over cuts were two small slits that didn't bleed.
Spiderman released her hands and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I guess there is only one way to test this. Put your middle two fingers down towards your palm, like I do," he said, demonstrating. A line of white webbing hit the empty soda can at Sasha's elbow. He then gave a sharp tug on the webbing in his hand, bringing the can to his outstretched hand. "Simple, right?" he asked, brandishing the tin can with web still attached.
Sasha gave the can in his hand a skeptical look, then switched the look over to rest on Spiderman. "Tell me you're kidding. I know you can't have gotten that right the first try," she said, thinking of Peter attempting to play one-on-one basketball with her. For the first half-hour Peter had been better at throwing the ball than catching it. He actually made her look like a good player, and she couldn't aim for shit.
Spidey crossed his arms again, giving the impression that he was looking down his nose at her. "And how do you know that?" Sasha cocked an eyebrow at him. "Everybody needs to practice their talents. I didn't just wake up one day and know how to do a triple back-flip with a handstand roll!" Spidey heavy sighed and put the can back down next to his own plate so Sasha could aim for it. "Fine smart-stuff, just aim for the can, would ya?"
Sasha chuckled at his exasperation, but did as she was told. However, thinking about having super powers and actually realizing that you have them two different things. With a quiet thwip, a rope of sticky white filament shot out of her wrist and latched on to the fork to the right of the can. Sasha froze when she felt a peculiar pulling sensation at her wrist. She followed the line of white thread from the fork to her wrist where it originated. "Whoa," she whispered. With an unsteady hand, Sasha grasped the line of webbing. The fork clattered over the edge of the counter.
Sasha glanced up to Spiderman's reflective eye plates with stormy blue-grey eyes that were rapidly shifting colors. "I don't think it hit me 'till just now," she said, her voice a little hoarse with emotion. Spidey nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine how you feel. I found out the hard way, by accident, that I had these powers. They sort of got me in trouble, more than once. You're lucky Peter told me about you, otherwise you would probably have found out the same way I did," he said, the tone of his voice giving her the impression that he was wincing.
"Well," Sasha began quietly, watching the superhero fold up his mask to expose his mouth. "You must be the only one who knows how I should feel, 'cause right now I'm stuck between fear and awe." Spiderman looked up from where he was just beginning to take a bite of the lasagna, having decided to bypass the spaghetti. "Why's that?" he asked casually, sticking the mess of meat, pasta, and ricotta cheese into his mouth. "What if my father finds out, finds my mom and I? He wouldn't be above using her to force me to do his dirty work," she mumbled, her voice trembling.
Sasha looked up at the spandex clad man in front of her with sickly green-grey tinted eyes to find him paused in mid bite. He slowly put down the fork. "Your eyes are really beginning to scare me. Almost as much as the idea of a mobster who has control over someone with spider powers." Sasha blinked in confusion. "You mean your eyes don't change color?" she asked. Spiderman watched her eyes go from the sickly green shade to a lighter blue-grey hue. "No. I don't think they've ever done that before…, but then again it could be gender specific," he added hesitantly. The two became contemplative for a while, finishing their plates of food.
Sasha picked up their plates after they had both finished their first serving. "Do you always need a lot of food after working out?" she asked as she dished up some more of the leftovers for her guest and herself, putting it in the microwave. "I did at first, but now my appetite is almost back to normal, except when I use up a lot of energy," he explained, taking a sip of his drink. "I used to keep snacks with me wherever I went so I wouldn't look unusual buying food all the time. A bag of chips or a candy bar will keep you from wanting to eat your arm for an hour or two until you can get something better." Sasha nodded, thinking that he had the right idea.
When the microwave dinged Sasha pulled out the freshly warmed plates of food. Then Spiderman dropped a large bomb, one that she had been dreading. "I suppose I should ask, what do you intend to do with your powers? I mean, I didn't always want to be a superhero, but something my uncle told me eventually made me change my mind, though I didn't pay any attention to him the first time," he said, a reminiscent tone coloring his voice. Sasha set his dish in front of him. "What's that?" she asked, delaying her answer to the original question. "He told me "with great power-
"-comes great responsibility."
"-comes great responsibility," they finished at the same time. Sasha looked up into his reflective eye plates, as the memory of her dream came back to her. "It is you!" she whispered, amazement and a hint of awe in her voice. Spiderman jerked back a little as Sasha's eyes paled past her normal color to the same silvery-blue they had been during her gymnastics practice. "What?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.
Before he could deny anything, Sasha nimbly leapt forward and pulled off the hero's mask from where he had it rolled up to eat. There, beneath the red web-patterned spandex was a very familiar face. Sasha crossed her arms in annoyance as her suspicions were confirmed. "Hello, Peter," she said, her face as close to expressionless as she could get it. Her eyes, however, were a turmoil of black and silver.
Peter just knew that he was going to be gifted with another hole in a certain place where the sun didn't shine. In fact, Sasha had the exact same look on her face that she did that afternoon at the Anime Café. This time, however, her eyes were more prominent now that he knew to look at them. "Isn't there a rule against removing a superhero's mask?" he asked timidly, his voice reverting to his normal timbre. His brain simply wasn't caught up to how much trouble he was in, otherwise he would have thought of something a bit more apologetic to say.
Sasha's eyes narrowed at his comment. "Glad that you could join the conversation, Pete," she growled, her voice dripping venom. She watched Peter wince at her obvious anger. He barely caught the mask that she tossed back into his face. "Sasha," he began as she turned to walk towards her room. "Sasha, wait! At least let me explain myself, please. Sasha!"
Sasha paused, not used to hearing her friend beg. Even when she was angry at him earlier he had never begged. Reluctantly, she turned around to face her friend of two years. They locked eyes with each other, one gaze angry and hurt, while the other was pleading, almost desperate. "Well," she prompted softly, "I'm listening."
Peter dropped his gaze to the floor in guilt. "I'm sorry, Sash'. I didn't want to tell you until I was sure you were bitten. If you hadn't been and I told you, you would have been in even more danger than you already are," his fingers absently twisted the spandex parts of his mask, "Then when I was sure there wasn't a good time to break it to you," he explained. Sasha shook her head. "You could have just come out and told me. I've been your "lil' sis" for how long now? You should know by now that you can trust me."
Peter shook his head. "That's not the problem. Both Aunt May and Mary Jane have already been used against me as Spiderman, I didn't want to have to worry about you, too," he murmured. Sasha smiled softly. "You idiot," she chuckled. She walked to where he was standing dejectedly and hugged him. "I told you I can take care of myself." Sasha felt her brother figure laugh against her as he hugged her back.
After they pulled back, Sasha punched Peter in the arm. "Ow!" he whined, "What was that for!?" Sasha mock-scowled at him. "That was for not trusting me you big jerk!" Pete gave her a kicked puppy look that made Sasha cringe inside. "I still don't think that a grown man should be able to pull that look off as well as you do," she told him, shaking her head in resignation. Peter laughed full out at her comment, pulling her back into the kitchen.
Half-way into there second serving of leftovers, Peter looked up from his plate to Sasha. "Hey, Sis? You still didn't answer my question from earlier. What do you want to do with your power? I mean, the way I figure it you could do one of two things. You could ignore them for the most part, using them only in emergencies and stuff. Or you could train your talents and help people like I do, although that's really, really dangerous and I'd prefer you took a safer route…," he said hopefully.
Sasha gave him a look that told him what she thought of that idea. In response to the look, Peter shrugged. "You can't blame a guy for trying," he said. Sasha rolled her eyes. "How often do I stay out of trouble when I could be in the thick of it?" she asked rhetorically. Peter raised an eyebrow. "How about when your father is involved," he replied in kind. Sasha scowled at him. "That is a horse of a different color,"(3) she informed him primly.
Peter sighed. "Unfortunately, this is one situation that you can't click your heels together to get rid of,"(3) he said. He finished the last bite of his plate, then sat back to look her square in the face. Sasha caught the look in his eye and flinched. "What? It's not the end of the world. If you help me train, I'll be better prepared to protect myself and others from my father and people like him."
"Sasha," Peter began, "That's the part that I'm really worried about. I mean, it's very easy to get hurt when you're playing with crooks that aren't afraid to kill what they fear." The concern that Sasha could see in his gaze was almost tangible, filling the air with tension. She almost wilted under the heavy emotion she felt her long time friend exuding.
Instead Sasha thought of a way to test the waters with out falling into the cold depths unwittingly. "How about this: you show me the tricks to using the spider-powers, then when I think I can handle it I will go with you on patrol. I'll stay out of it for the most part, unless my bro needs help of course. Then if you think I'm not ready for it, you keep training me until you think I'm ready to try it again," she concluded diplomatically. She watched Peter nod his agreement before pointing out, "Besides, isn't this your idea, Mister you-could-do-one-of-two-things?" Sasha smirked at her big bro's maroon blush.
Peter rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, it was that or you ending up as a bad-guy, in which case I would have to knock some sense into you. Then serve you to your mother for punishment," he finished threateningly. Sasha winced, then tried to cover her ass, "Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots." Peter chuckled and shook his head. "You are so horrible at trying to hide your fear of your mother." Sasha scowled at him. "Hey, if you had her as a taskmaster for the past few years of your life you would be afraid of her, too! As it is you're just as jumpy around her as I am when she's angry." Pete shrugged. "Point taken."
Sasha polished off her third plated of leftovers seconds before Peter pushed his half-full plate away. "Well, I'm stuffed," he said, suppressing a burp. "Does that mean I can have the rest of that?" Sasha inquired. "You're still hungry? Geeze, what have you been doing all day to get you this ravenous?" Peter asked amazed. Sasha ganked his plate while he gawked at her, mumbling, "I didn't get the chance to eat lunch on my break at the café," through a mouth full of food.
"Hey, that reminds me," Peter said, "what are you going to wear while you're with me? You can't exactly web-sling through the city in jeans and a shirt, especially if you want to keep a low profile. Even the stuff you wear to work makes it obvious who you are."
As soon as he mentioned her costumes, a light turned on in Sasha's mind. "Hey, I think I've got an idea, for the costume that is," she clarified a slow grin spreading across her face. Peter caught sight of the grin and flinched. "I'm not gonna like this at all am I?" Sasha shrugged, "Probably not. Remember that costume I wore last Halloween? The one that you really, really didn't like?"
Pete's response was as immediate as it was negative. "If you're talking about the dominatrix outfit with the long white wig, I reserve the right to reject out of hand as the Big Bro." Sasha gave him a look that expressed her opinion of his opinion. "I wasn't a dominatrix; I was Black Cat, the famous thief." Peter gave her a studious look. "Yeah, cause that's what you want people to think about when you're in costume. Besides, there are two major flaws in the costume." Sasha quirked an eyebrow, "And those would be?" Peter looked her straight in the eye and quiet seriously stated, "The cleavage, and the long hair, which will get caught up. That's almost as bad as having a cape."
Sasha couldn't help herself. She burst into a raucous round of laughter that unbalanced her so much that she was forced to stand so as not to fall from her stool. When she finally gained enough breath to speak she couldn't help but poke a few holes in his 'major flaws'. "You're worried about my breasts? And you're giving me advice from a children's cartoon (4)?! What about all of the other powerful mutants going around in their bed sheet cast-offs and uncontrolled manes, hmmm? Are you going to tell Dr. Doom that his cape/coat thing is a liability? Or are you gonna tell Storm that her hair will get in the way, perhaps?"
Peter had the grace to look embarrassed before explaining his reasons. "They don't use their full body to fight, because they have long range powers…Plus we will have to swing through the city on webs to get places and I don't think that long wig is very good for that, plus you already complain about getting knots from gymnastics. And-"
Sasha rolled her warm aqua eyes at her Big Bro good naturedly. "I got your point! Besides, Sir Tangent, I was only talking about using the outfit, not the wig. Or the fur for that matter. And as for the cleavage, I'm a lot more modest than the actual Black Cat." Peter eyes widened in understanding. "Ah, well then, Lady Lost Topic, please continue…"
Sasha snorted at his newest title for her. "If the boobs really bother you, Bro, I could wear a different top. I wanted a spider somewhere on the costume anyway, just so I would be associated with you. The only real problems will be shoes, gloves and how to hide my natural hair color."
Peter stood and brought his plates to the sink. "Well, you go ahead and figure out your perfect outfit-"
"Hey," Sasha interjected, "not funny!"
"-while I'll go enjoy my last few nights as a solo hero sans heart attacks."
"Again, hey!"
"So, please feel free to take your time, but I still get veto rights," he finished pulling on his mask.
"That's totally not fair, Peter. Besides, I'm sure I'll look better than you!" Sasha retorted as she followed Peter to the door. "So do you want a ride towards downtown or can you handle it?" she asked as he opened the door. "Nah, I could use a bit of roof hopping. Keeps up the leg muscles."
Sasha snorted. "As if you need to worry about that!" Peter paused for a moment, then looked down at his legs. "You really think so?" he asked, stretching them out in a pose for her to admire. "Eww! Big bro's chicken legs!!" Sasha squealed, pretending to choke on the disgust. Peter turned to look at her with what he was sure was a glare. "Funny!" he deadpanned.
Then he took a running jump towards the nearest part of her roof and swung himself up out of Sasha's sight. Sasha snorted at his overly dramatic exit before turning back into the house and locking the door. She had a long night ahead of her. How the hell was she supposed to come up with an outfit that Peter would approve of?
Authoress' Notes
1) Does anyone else but me talk back to their stomachs? No? Meh, oh well.
2) A plate of my best "flan con caramello" y rum" to whoever can remember what this line is from! (and a weird look to those who can't. I mean, come on, it's only one of the greatest movies ever!)
3) Yes, both of these are shameless references to the Wizard of Oz
4) The Incredible's rock!
Alright, so now my original computer is gone forever. I had a PC burial for it and everything! So here I am on my new Dell!!! Hell ya! Well, I haven't abandoned this story (despite all appearances) and do, in fact, intend to finish it at some point. Unfortunately I seem to have taken a slight detour... I originally had her go out with Pete to do some crime fighting before skipping ahead in time. Then when typing I realized that would be a little to fast, so now I'm in tangent-land the place where writers go to be blocked or rejuvenated. Only time will tell. If nothing goes wrong I should complete another chapter in the next two months. Review if you like the story!!!
