Part 5

Carol Danvers looked at the unmasked Peter Parker and X-23. She could see the nervousness in the teenage boy's face and the animal like expression on the girl's. She trailed her tongue along her top teeth, eager for the showdown to begin and wishing she had the opportunity to see if anyone were willing to place a bet. "Well, get on with it."

X-23 attacked fast, almost fast enough to catch Peter who leapt out of the way at the last second. Her claws easily sliced into the floor without any effort at all. The moment he landed behind her he fired twin web lines at the young woman and watched as she dove into the webbing. As they spiraled around her, she sliced both lines without any touching her and forced Peter to dodge another one of her attacks.

"Hey, come on. I'm on your side." Peter blocked a variety of repeated punches, one of which sailed dangerously close to his chin with claws extended.

"Shut up and fight, Bub."

The roughness of her voice surprised him. If she were not speaking in a higher octave she would have sounded exactly like Logan. She was a good fighter and exceptionally quick with her strikes. One of which thankfully had its claws sheathed when it caught Peter across the jaw.

"Oh, jeez... what the?"

He ducked just in time as a clawed fist flew over his head. When he came back up he landed a right hook to her face and instantly regretted doing so as his fist throbbed from connecting with her face and backed up against the wall.

"You'd hit a girl?" she said. "How dare you!"

"I'm sorry, I... it's just you... with the claws and..."

"Psych." X-23 unsheathed a single claw from her boot. "I'm no lady Bub. Remember that."

Her foot shot forward at her target but failed to connect as Peter leapt onto the wall behind him. X-23's boot claw embedded in the wall between his legs just under his crotch.

"Hey, watch it! I need those!" Peter's eyes were wide as he stared at the embedded claw, then at X-23's sinister grin.

"Good work," Carol Danvers said while clapping slowly. "Both of you."

X-23 removed her boot from the wall with an evil grin. Peter cautiously made his way down to the ground, never looking away from the young girl who backed up slowly. His hand still throbbed but despite that he was ready to defend himself if need be.

"I thought Wolverine couldn't be cloned. You said his cells were too damaged when he died."

Carol Danvers was approached by a Shield soldier who handed her a sheet of paper urgently. "His tissues we recovered from Magneto's asteroid were too damaged," she informed him, "not the ones we obtained earlier."

After reading what the soldier gave her she folded it over and stared at both Peter and X-23. "Okay kiddies, looks like we have a situation on our hands. Intel just confirmed an illegal genetic mutation out in Queens. And with the rest of the Ultimates on call and Clint healing his ego, it looks like you two are partnering tonight. X-23, get a combat uniform from the armory. Parker, get what you need if anything. We move out in ten."

Approximately fifteen minutes later, both Spider-Man and X-23 were silently moving around the perimeter of Queens. For the last 5 minutes they were searching the area for any sign of the illegal mutation while staying out of sight and sticking to the shadows should a member of the public be out and about. Their orders were simple; locate and bring in the individual at all costs.

In full costume, Spider-Man leapt silently from building to building. He knew he was being closely monitored as Carol Danvers kept reminding him when he drew too close to his own home; so close and yet so far away. Even Mary Jane's was off limits to him but X-23 could get as close as she wanted to the individual households, almost as if she were teasing him with that fact. It was a clear night sky with the moon large and full, reminding him of several dates he and Mary Jane had when he was considered alive.

"X-23, report in." Carol Danvers waited inside the Triskilian for a response. She and several other agents kept watch on the two teenage personnel via GPS trackers in their suits. All around them were state of the art computer panels made specifically for keeping track of field agents on missions.

"X-23, all clear." The female clone of Wolverine skewered the wall of a two story house with her claws to overlook the area around her. After reporting in she dropped to the ground and leapt over a fence to continue her search.

"Parker," Carol said into a headset. "Report."

No answer came. "Parker, report."

Still nothing. "Parker!"

"I'm here slave driver, keep your shirt on," Spider-man said into his mask's built in communicator as he swung through the air.

"Parker, report your progress now."

"Nothing from what I can see. Heading over to the high school, last public building in my sector."

"Affirmative." Carol moved her hand over to a small device and picked it up. "Remember, you try to leave any evidence of your existence your suit will be shut down and brought back here with you in it. I don't think I have to remind you what will happen when you get back to base."

"Yeah," Spider-Man said. "I know."

With a light thud, Spider-Man landed on the roof of his old high school. It was ten after eight according to his HUD, which meant that the school was completely empty save for a few crickets. The rooftop was deserted and shadows were the only things he could see.

I hate this. He thought. I just want to go home. I'm so close. I could see it earlier when I swung by when I first got here. I don't know what I did to deserve this but whatever it was I wish I could take it back. I wish I had never gotten these stupid powers. I wish that spider had bitten someone else but for some reason it had to have been me. I just want a normal life with a normal family and a normal girlfriend who didn't have to worry about me. I know Danvers is never going to keep her promise. I just have to find way to get out.

As Peter was lost in thought, he didn't notice something move behind him in the shadows. It wasn't until his spider sense triggered when he knew someone was there. Not having any time to react, he took the full force of a kick to the back. Managing to correct himself midair, he landed in a squatting position and saw his attacker.

"Thought I told you to stop with your shenanigans." Spider-Woman stood in a fight ready position across from Peter. "You're not Spider-Man and you will never be."

She attacked again, not holding anything back as Peter dodged a right cross. Spider-Woman's dark red costume blended into the shadows perfectly like his but the white spider motif was easy to find. "Got nothing to say? Good. You can't even make a wisecrack like the real one."

Peter bobbed and weaved, trying to stay a step ahead of Spider-Woman but still wanted her to find out who he was at the same time. He knew he couldn't tell her out right who he was since Danvers was monitoring his every word. But maybe there was another way. Back flipping out of the way, Peter fired a web line at Spider-Woman that went past her head.

"Wanna use webs?" she asked. "Okay, I'll use webs."

She fired several shots of webbing from her fingertips, just what Peter wanted. At first he dodged the strands of webbing then willingly took a web shot to his mask. The substance blinded him before he felt what he had hoped for. His mask was ripped from his face along with the microphone it housed.

"Okay, Miles, I won't tell you again. Stop pretending to be Spider-Man or I will..." She froze up, not knowing what to say when she saw Peter's face.

Peter stood from his position and waited to see if his suit would paralyze. It didn't. At least he could take his mask off and not have it shut down.

"Oh my God." Spider-Woman took her mask off to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "Peter? You… You're…"

"Jessica, listen, before you do anything…"

"Your alive!" She ran over to Peter and hugged him tightly. "Oh my God! They said you were dead. Everyone said you were dead."

"Jessica, listen…"

"We have to tell aunt May. We have to tell Mary Jane."

"Listen to me." Peter grabbed her by the shoulders. "I don't know how long I have but you can't tell anyone I'm alive."

"Why?"

"Carol Danvers. She directs Shield remember? If anyone finds out I'm alive I'll never get to see them again."

"But. You… You…"

"I need you to do something for me."

"Why don't you just come with me? We're not far from your home," Jessica said while pulling Peter to the side of the building slightly before he stopped her.

"They're tracking me. It's the costume."

"Then take it off."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Two problems," Peter pointed out. "One, I'll be naked. And two, the suit will shut down and I won't be able to move. So you have to listen to me. You're in danger."

"From who?"

"Danvers. I've been sent to find you and bring you in. So you need to go right now before anyone else shows up and finds you. There's another soldier with me but I think she's on the other side of Queens."

"Peter, listen, I can…"

"No. Don't tell anyone about me and don't try to help me, just go.

She looked at him with both a hurtful and understanding expression. She knew with Nick Fury in charge she could manage to get a little leniency on her side but Danvers was a different story. It made her rethink about the offer she received about joining Shield and wondered if this was a result for not getting back to them in a timely manner.

"Jessica. Run. When I'm out of Shield I'll find you. But I can't risk anything right now."

"You had better get out," she told him.

"I will. Take care of yourself. You don't have much time until they find you to."

"No one should live like this. But at least you're alive."

"For what it's worth anyway. Now go."

"Not before I do this." She gave Peter one more hug before fitting her mask back on. "Good luck and thanks for the heads up."

Peter watched as she swung away into the night. Not even Jessica, his clone, was free of whatever Carol Danvers had planned. Grabbing his mask, he readied himself to swing away opposite of her when a heavy set of boots landed on the roof behind him.

"Naughty, naughty, Parker," X-23 said. "That's not following orders soldier." She unsheathed her claws and readied herself to attack. "No sparring session this time. Bub."

To be concluded