Two weeks later.
He sat in the Avenger's lounge quietly, all alone. In more ways than one. He had nothing left. Nothing to give. Papers piled in front of him. Bills and the like. He had managed to secure his job at the bugle, but only barely, and due to an intervention by Robbie Robertson. And his willingness to take a pay cut.
Since the Avengers where a purely volunteer organization, he couldn't be paid for his services in any way. His inheritance from both his Aunt and Uncle was minimal, only enough to cover the funeral costs. The medical bills still remained though, albeit without the boarding fee.
"...still require payment, as your Aunt did receive the surgery." The doctor had told him patiently.
"She died because of the surgery!" he snapped before storming out, refusing to fully give into his anger.
All his efforts to bring in a larger income proved unfruitful. Jameson refused to take in extra photos, and according to his contract with the Bugle, giving pictures to other newspapers would result in his immediate termination from the bugle. And asking for help from a resident multi-billionaire didn't help at all.
"Look, I wish I could help you Parker, but all my money's tied up at the moment. Between keeping the Avengers active and the cost of my armours..."
"Forget it, sorry I asked."
To make matters worse, the Avengers had been unsuccessful in their attempts to locate the Ms Marvel imposter. Some of them doubted her existence outright. Apparently, they found the idea preposterous that he wasn't willing.
"Pass up a chance at that ass?" Hawkeye had muttered, "either you're lying or gay. And with that spandex, I'm not sure which."
"Piss off," Peter had replied.
"No luck yet?" Jessica Drew said as she slid into a chair next to him. "On the whole money department?"
"Nope," he replied with a shrug. "And the interest rates are only gonna..."
"Spider-man, Spider-woman, Ms Marvel, report to 345 king st east," the computerized voice of Jarvis said over the intercom, immediately taking him out of his self-imposed guilt trip. "New details in a series of murders require your attention."
"What happened?" Jessica asked as Peter followed her to the rooftop exit.
"Unknown." Jarvis replied as a hint of static cut into his synthesized voice. "Order comes directly from S.H.I.E.L.D. Priority-one. Coming from an unknown source. Please repeat?"
"Please repeat?" Peter shrugged as the two of them where joined by Carol, who was in the midst of tying her sash around her waist. "What the hell does that mean?" he exchanged a quick glance with Carol. They still hadn't had a chance to properly talk about the little incident that had occurred.
"That Jarvis's either overworked or being hacked." Jessica said as they reached the roof. "Should I carry your boyfriend or do you want to?" Both Peter and Carol gave her a strict look. "Oh come on, get over it!" she finished as she hopped into the air, "I think now would be a good time for you two to talk it all over and stuff. So catch me if you can."
"Bitch,," Peter listened as Carol swore under her breath and turned to face him.
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"Oh my god," Jessica gasped as she covered her mouth with one hand. Peter felt his stomach lurch at the sight of two mangled bodies being swarmed by police and forensics. Carol lowered him to the ground, amidst a sea of agents, both FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. Their arrival did not go unnoticed by either the media or police.
"I take it you're the representatives we sent for?" a man in a black business suit asked as he fought his way to the front of the crowd. "Get the press back! I want them away from my crime scene in ten seconds."
"This isn't your crime scene," another man in a business suit said as he approached. The only difference between the two men that Peter could see was the fact that the second man was balding. He could also see both men carried sidearms.
"My case," the first man said.
"Supers. My jurisdiction," the second man said coolly.
"My team's been covering these murderers for weeks," the first man replied as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"And that's why you're here. To look for similarities and patterns in order to determine if it's the same killer," the second man rebuked as he turned to face Peter, Carol and Jessica fully, earning a gasp from the latter.
"Coulson!" Jessica half-squealed as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the second man, who bore an expression of being overwhelmed. "Last I heard you where dead!"
"Look who's talking, Spider-woman," Coulson replied as Jessica released him from her grip. "KIA three times? Four?"
"Five. But who's keeping track?" Jessica replied as she gestured towards Peter and Carol. "Oh, and I'm being rude. Coulson, this is Ms Marvel. And next to her is Spider-man. But you already knew that."
"I requested..." Coulson began to protest.
"Hold your horses, fanboy." Jessica smiled lightly, "he's on leave right now. Mandatory, no exceptions. I don't think he's taken a vacation since 1943. so you're stuck with us instead, besides, Cap doesn't know the rough and tough streets like Spidey does."
"Back to the matter at hand," the first suited man said as he reached into his pocket. "FBI special agent Booth. I've been working on a series of similar cases across the country. Normally we would leave it at that but, there was a survivor, and the circumstances dictated that we bring in...you." He finished his eyes falling on Peter, with a hint of questioning lingering in his eye.
"Bodies first," Carol stated clearly as she unfolded her arms. "What can you tell us about them?"
"Two drug dealers," a woman's voice said from behind, causing Peter to turn and face the familiar speaker. "Low level guys who work for the Kingpin. Both had their limbs forcefully removed by an energy weapon of some sort."
"Heroes," Coulson began as he gestured to the woman, "this is Police chief..."
"Jean Dewolfe," Peter finished with a tilt of his head as he extended his hand to the decorated captain. "She's tried to shoot me before."
"Tried?" Booth asked.
"Missed." Peter replied.
"On purpose," Dewolfe cut in.
"Keep telling yourself that," Peter rebuked.
"Are you sure this is a drug war then?" Coulson asked, cutting off Peter's repertoire with Dewolfe. "Nothing more?"
"I don't think this has anything to do with a drug war," a man with curly brown hair said as he rose from one of the bodies. "I don't think the military has the kinda tech needed to pull this off..."
"Pun intended?" Peter quirked, earning stares from the two agents, Dewolfe, the forensics man, Carol and Jessica.
"Yeah..." the man continued, "Cauterization was nearly instant. It's hard for me to tell, but it looks like these bodies are less than three hours deceased, which goes hand-in-hand with the witness. But again, I'm not sure, I'm more of a bug-man.."
"No, I think I'm more of a bug-man than you," Peter cut in halfheartedly, earning small smiles all around.
"Well who has the kind of tech needed?" Jessica asked as she crossed her arms. "HYDRA? The Brotherhood? Doom?"
"I'll be the judge of that," Coulson replied as he patted Booth on the shoulder. "Our witness is over here." he said before gesturing to the left, where three paramedics where clustered around the back of an ambulance. "A minute, please?" he said to the EMT's, and they backed away, revealing yet another familiar sight.
"Oh shit..." was all he had time for before he was forced to assist Jessica and Coulson in restraining Ms Marvel as she lunged forward, towards Rogue.
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"Well that could have gone better," Peter said as he crouched beside Carol on the rooftop. "I guess it could have gone worse. But it definitely could have gone better."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she scoffed a reply as she kicked her legs, which dangled out over the edge.
"It's more of a general statement of the whole situation," he replied with a slight tilt of the head. "You attacking a member of the X-men in front of the press probably doesn't help the pro-mutant cause much. But it's not the worst thing possible, like killer bees with laser-guided missiles on their backs. Or more than one Justin Bieber."
"Well...wait," she asked, turning her head to face him, "how'd you know about the X-men?"
"I dated a girl back in high school," he said as he edged closer to her. "Turns out she was a mutant. I helped her find out more about Charles Xavier, and she called him, and he invited her to the school."
"You...it wasn't...?" Carol asked him.
"Wasn't that Rogue girl," he said with a shrug. "Her name was Kitty Pryde. One day, I caught her walking through the door to her house. And the rest is well,... history. As they say."
"Well it's not like I hate them all," Carol said as she crossed her arms. "It's just...Rogue and I have...history."
"I got that bit," he said as he draped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a slight pat on the back.
"She...she took everything from me. I...we where fighting over...over something. An aircraft, I think..and she grabbed me. She held on tight and started to...absorb me...my powers. I continued to fight, but I got really weak. I passed out and woke up a month later." Carol said as she leaned her head onto his waiting shoulder lightly. "I woke up and I...I couldn't remember a thing about myself."
"That sounds horrible!" he replied, as he covered his mask-covered mouth with his hand. "nothing at all?"
"Friends. Family. Not even my own name." Carol continued as Peter felt his shoulder dampen. "They came back, after a while. But...nothing was quite the same. I...I was just so angry. I hunted her down, I searched the planet...found her in Australia and put her into a coma."
"And somehow it didn't make you feel any better?" he offered with a slight shrug.
"How'd you guess?" she replied softly, "You've never had someone ruin your life over and over and over without end and being in a position to..."
"I have." he cut in promptly, "You've heard of the green goblin?"
"One of yours, right?" she replied as she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his mask. "Flies around on a hovering glider and throws grenades?"
"That's him," Peter said, "June twenty-second. I came home to find an empty apartment. My Girlfriend was supposed to be there, we where gonna go out for supper. Paolini's. Really fancy place, well above my budget. But it was worth it. She was worth it. There was a note on the fridge. 'The itsy bitsy spider had better come out and play!'" He inhaled deeply as he continued, "below was a postcard of the washington bridge. It was where I told her I was Spider-man, and we shared our first kiss. I went to the bridge. The Goblin and I fought. There was an explosion and she fell off the edge. I tried to catch her but..."
"I know," Carol said softly as she wrapped her own arm around him comfortingly. "I...I read the story before trying to recruit you...after that day I thought you where gonna jump."
"Well the press didn't get the whole scoop," he said as he stared out over the street. "Late that night. Very late. I tracked the Goblin to an abandoned warehouse. I caught him by surprise, blitzed him. I tore right through his armour, blow by blow. I put him through a wall and began pounding his face into the floor. Blow by blow, I just kept getting angrier and angrier. My knuckles got really bloody as his helmet finally broke. He just stared up at me...a normal face. Not the Green Goblin, but Norman Osborne. One of my best friend's dad. A man who had offered to pay for my university tuition. He'd been to my apartment, to my Aunt's house. And he just looked up at me. I raised my fist, so ready to kill him. I mean, I thought I'd be doing the world a favour, right?"
"Well yeah..." Carol said softly, "he does deserve it...kinda...it's only right..."
"That might be so, but I didn't want what was right. I wanted revenge," he continued, "I wanted to see the lights leave his eyes. But looking at him I saw something that surprised me. He was afraid. He knew I was about to kill him, and that got my attention. As I reared my fist back for the final blow, I realized that, even if I killed him, it wouldn't change anything. Gwen would still be dead. Her dad would still be dead. And I'd be the murderer, the monster. Maybe I'd hurt Harry so much that he'd come after Spider-man, looking for blood. Having revenge wouldn't change anything for me, and I doubt it would for you, either."
"Punching her might..." Carol began to say.
"Hit me and see if it helps," he replied quickly.
"If I hit you...I could kill you.." she muttered softly, "besides...you've never done anything to me like she has..."
"If you hit her, you could kill her," he replied coolly. "Then you'd take away her memories permanently. And you'd take her away from her friends and family."
"I...you're right," she cooed as she laid her head back on his shoulder. "I guess I never really saw it that way."
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He just sat there, beside her for half an hour, not moving. Just talking when she needed him to. She was in awe of what he had said, how it had made so much sense. She thought long and hard about it as she flew over the city at a leisurely pace, something that had become a force of habit for her over the past two weeks. She had begun to notice just how many small-time crooks she could put away in an hour or less. Secretly, she kept score with Peter whenever he tried to give an excuse about being late, and found herself surprised how he could still beat her, despite his disadvantages in terms of overall speed.
I guess it's got something to do with the practice he's had, she thought as she spied a mugging that was in-progress. I'll just have to get more... she thought as she swooped low and grabbed one of the muggers by the collar and tossed him several feet to the left. A quick, reserved backhand strike sent another mugger reeling. She spun quickly on the spot, catching the final man in the chest with her palm, but not before he copped a feel of hers.
"That's gonna cost you," she said threateningly, twisting the man's arm around until she heard a pop that told her she had dislocated the man's arm. "Maybe it'l teach you a lesson. Don't go around mugging people. Or else someone might come around and whoop your ass."
"Totally worth it..." the man muttered as Carol gave him a little shove before turning to face the man and woman who had been attacked. "You two okay?" she asked as she helped the woman to a vertical base.
"i...yeah..." the woman said as she patted Carol on the back. "they came out of nowhere."
"They usually do," Carol mused lightly as she took off into the sky, this time with something on her mind. "Totally worth it..." she thought about the mugger's words to her, and the slight smile that had crossed his face as she had twisted his arm. A lot of men had the same look on their face when she brought them in. And they all seemed to want to avoid eye contact.
The naive part of her said that they where scared. Her realistic side said that their attentions where otherwise engaged around her breasts. Her realistic side also reminded her that there was only one guy she had never caught looking at her like that. Peter always made an effort to look her in the eyes, even when he should have been cowering in fear. He's a gentleman, is what he is, she thought as she gazed out over the sunset. And a gentleman shouldn't be in his position...Stark really is an ass-hole for not helping...if I had that kind of cash I'd give it to him strait-up. But, as it is, my savings from the airforce won't hold up forever. I'll need to get a real job eventually. And even then, I won't be able to help him.
"Totally worth it..." again, those words rang out in her head. Only this time, they gave her an inkling of an idea. It unnerved her slightly, but she knew it was the option most likely to get him the money he needed. And that's totally worth it, she thought.
A/N: The plot thickens! Who is committing these grizzly murders? How Does Carol intend to help Peter out with the money situation?
On another note, if any of you readers have artistic inclination and would be interested in making a cover for my next story, 'Spider-man Forever' please pm me and we can exchange emails.