Chapter Nine

"I spent my life as a scientist trying to create a world without weakness, without outcasts. I sought to create a stronger human being, but there's no such thing. Human beings are weak, pathetic, feeble minded creatures. Why be human at all when we can be so much more? Faster, stronger, smarter! This is my gift to you."

For what felt like the hundredth time Natasha replayed the video. We were all gathered at my place after Spiderman had disappeared from the battle at the school. Upon returning Natasha had showed both Clint and I a video SHIELD had found in one of the sewers.

I wasn't sure if I should be groused out by that, or impressed that Connors had found such a hiding place. To top things off he wanted to change the human race. Every bit of this video dairy reminded me too much of Killian and his 'Extremis' project.

"How exactly did SHIELD get this video?" I asked out of curiosity. I'm guessing that it wasn't an easy task.

"Fury located the hideout where Connors was studying the serum," Natasha explained. "The agent didn't have much time to investigate, but they managed to grab this video feed."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I thought this through. Dr. Connors wanted to 'create a stronger human'. What exactly did that mean? From what I gathered he had used what was left of the serum on himself. And of course the crazed Dr. had used the serum on himself as a test subject.

What bothered me more than anything was how similar his idea was to Extremis. There was no easy way out of this fight. Either we strike down the Lizard now or he unleashes this 'gift' he has in store for everyone. This wasn't going to be fun.

"What's the Lizard's location now?" Clint asked once Natasha grabbed the device playing the video.

"Canal Street Station," Natasha replied. "That was the last police report."

Noticing the look they exchanged, I had a feeling that this just got more interesting.

"Better hand this over to Spiderman when we meet up," Natasha added while tossing what looked like a bile of liquid at me. I caught it with ease and eyed the object curiously.

I didn't bother asking what it was supposed to be used for. Something told me it was the antidote for Connor's serum.

. . .

"The Lizard has released a biological agent. All efforts at stopping him have failed, and he's now proceeding north on Seventh Avenue."

. . .

One thing I had to wonder was why we were driving in the middle of all this traffic. After finally figuring out Connor's plans we were all in a rush to reach our destination. And of course we had to be stuck in traffic on the way there.

I was glad I had brought the suit Tony designed for me. At least the disk had made a formidable weapon against the Lizard. Otherwise I'd be in trouble. Once this was over I would need to find a new weapon. Preferably one that was similar to the light sword Castor had given me.

"At this rate we'll never get there," Clint muttered under his breath. "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't go there on foot?"

"Fury didn't want us getting caught in the crossfire," Natasha replied.

So why had they been asked to join me in the first place? It wasn't like I could easily reach my destination on foot. Though in this case having a light cycle or a light jet would come in handy. I would have avoided all of this traffic in no time.

"We'll have to improvise from here," Natasha suddenly said. "I'm going to call in for a helicopter, Mira, you go to the Oscorp building on foot," she added to me.

"Why the Oscorp building?" Before Clint could argue with her sudden decision, I knew full well I would take the risk.

"The Oscorp building has a device that I fear Connors is going to use," Natasha explained. "All of his research is there as well."

And considering he had mentioned changing the human race, I would bet all of the cash I had that he meant using the serum on everyone. So I would have to take him down from the inside. Hopefully they would get there on time with that backup.

"Take this with you," she ordered after handing me a fully loaded gun.

My face fell at the sight of the weapon. I wasn't a fan of guns, and I wasn't a fan of using them either. If I had to choose I'd rather use my disk, but that might not be enough against the Lizard. So I just grabbed it and got out of the car, eager to get away before Clint managed to change Natasha's mind.

Jogging past the traffic I wasted no time in reaching my destination. Already I could see in the distance what looked like a fight that had broken out. I'm guessing that was where the Lizard had last been. And judging from the police cars parked in the area, Spiderman had been there as well.

Taking a deep breath, I reached Canal Street Station in a matter of minutes.

And my hunch was right about the damage that had occurred here. Cars were half destroyed and lying in the middle of the streets. And people were also lying in the middle of the street, looking half dead. Upon closer inspection I noticed something that made my stomach twist.

Their faces were covered in a green substance, that almost looked scaly. I held a hand over my mouth to keep myself from gasping in panic. Now I wasn't sure what had happened, but I'm guessing that the substance Connors created had filled the air moments ago. And I was more than thankful I had a mask on to cover my mouth.

This was one of those moments I was thankful to have all the training I had. Without it I probably would've been a sitting target. Tron's drills and simulations had come in handy.

Once I was out of the danger zone, I started jogging again. The Oscorp building loomed ahead in the distance. People walking around had given me strange looks, half wondering what such an oddly dressed girl was doing out in the middle of the night, or running for their lives. Hopefully they would make the smart choice and get away from here. Things were about to get ugly.

. . .

"Freeze! Down on the ground! Put your hands behind your head! Now... Parker!"

"It's headed for Oscorp, and your daughter's right there now. You gotta let me go!"

"Hold your fire!"

. . .

I wasted no time in racing up the stairs to reach the floor Dr. Connors would likely be. At this rate I would be exhausted if this kept up. Training or not I wasn't ready to run up several flights of stars. So I tried to keep a steady pace until I reached the top level. And by than I could see all the damage Connors had caused.

A few more flights of stars and I was standing outside. Several cranes were hoisted in the direction of Oscorp. But what really caught my attention was a machine that likely contained the serum Connors had used earlier.

"Mira, you there?" I looked up to see the helicopter Natasha had promised. They were hovering nearby, keeping a careful lookout for signs of the Lizard.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied after catching my breath.

It didn't take me long to find the Lizard. He was swiping a claw at Spiderman, who kept dodging his moves.

"We need to take out that machine, it's dispensing a cloud of Connor's serum," Clint warned me.

"No. That machine can be used to cure everyone already infected," I suddenly told them.

Just as I said that I felt something slam into my ribs. It took me a few seconds to register what just happened. Looking up I saw that the Lizard was charging after me, tail whipping from side to side. I rolled to the side just as he slammed his claws into the roof, dragging them until he raised them once more.

"Get out of here!" Peter shot a few webs at the Lizard to distract him while I jumped to my feet.

"I've been trained to handle situations like this!" I shouted back. Suddenly remembering the gun Natasha had given me, I aimed it at the Lizard and started firing.

The Lizard suddenly swatted the gun out of my hands with his tail, sending me flying across the concrete in the process. Peter took the chance to attack him, using his webbing and fists to keep the Lizard from charging again. Unfortunately for him the Lizard was also taunting him. "Poor Peter Parker. No father, no mother, no uncle. All alone."

Anger churned within me as he said those words. Without thinking I grabbed my disk and threw it at the Lizard. My aim might not be as good as Clint's, but it was getting better. And this time it hit the Lizard right in the back between what should be his shoulder blades.

"Kid, do you have a death wish?" Someone shouted from behind. I turned to see the familiar face of Captain Stacey.

He aimed his gun at the Lizard that was now preparing to strike me down. Just as my disk returned to me he started firing.

"You might wanna use this!" I called before forgetting about the antidote Natasha had given me.

Peter caught it with ease.

"Go Peter, I got this!" Captain Stacey ordered. Before he could even fire again the Lizard appeared right between us and used his claws to slash at Captain Stacey.

"No!" Both of us shouted at the same time just as Captain Stacey collapsed.

Dr. Connors just turned to give me a cruel smirk. He didn't have a chance to attack when I grabbed something Captain Stacey had been holding on to. It was the same vial Natasha had given to me, and as it smashed across the Lizard's face, he let out a piercing roar.

I didn't bother taking precautions. I carefully dragged Captain Stacey away from the scene and tried to think of any ways of healing him. He already looked pale and had lost a lot of blood. It was times like these I could use the Tesseract to heal other people rather than myself. But unless he was a program with codes there was nothing I could do. My mask receded as his eyes widened with recognition.

"Come Cap, you can't die now," I whispered. As I said that a blue cloud exploded around the city. All at once I was reminded of the orange cloud General Tesler had used to control programs. This was eerily similar to that.

"You're nothing like them, you know." The words sent chills down my spine. We'd met each other a few times over at the police station. And while everyone else kept on saying I looked just like Natasha and Clint, Captain Stacey had said the opposite. "Do me a favor, and keep my daughter safe. And tell Peter that I was wrong about him. He needs to keep those closest to him safe. They'll become targets. And tell Gwen I'm sorry."

Panic gripped my heart as I felt the presence of someone else standing behind me. Or I should say two others standing behind me. Captain Stacey was dying, and there was nothing I could do.

"I'm sorry." He never heard the apology. He was already dead.

"The wounds were too deep." I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I just shrugged it off.

I've already watched too many people die. If there was anything I could do to change this, I would have tried learning how to keep this from happening.

"He wants me to stay away from Gwen, doesn't he?" Turning to see Peter approaching us, I just nodded warily.

For the first time since discovering who my parents were, I felt tears blurring my vision. I should have been able to help. I barely noticed that Peter was crying as well when I felt a pair of arms wrapping around me. I didn't need to look up to see who was keeping me steady.

"We should probably go," Natasha murmured. Before either of us could argue she turned to look at Peter. "The police are already on their way, ready to arrest you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact SHIELD."

I just stared at Peter for a few more seconds before being led away. The helicopter was still running as we climbed in.

It was the last time I saw Peter Parker.

AN: So I just saw the Winter Soldier, and I was practically screaming fangirl as soon as the Black Widow appeared. And they kept on leading to the fact that they'll be making a movie about her past! Yes, I was a very, very happy author. And everyone around me was just glaring XD Aside from that, the movie did give me some major ideas for the next book in the series. It revolves more around the Grid of course before Disaster takes place, and it will hopefully be just as exciting as this one.

"Can anyone direct me to the Smithsonian? I'm looking for an old fossil" - I could not resist posting that. Best line in the movie XD

Big thanks to 2theSky and Guest for reviewing! You guys are awesome :D