Behind the Mask

TWELVE: You've Never Seen Me

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Hello! This one's kinda short, but it's more of a set-up for the next chapter! I hope you like it! (There's another author's note at the end)

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"You gotta be kidding me! What do you think this is, some kind of charity? I can't pay you if you stop giving me what I need, and I need that column!"

"I know, Mr. Jameson." I folded my hands in front of me. "But I can't do it anymore. It doesn't feel right to expose him this way."

"Doesn't feel right? I don't pay you to express your feelings! What the hell do you expect me to do now?" The man was irritated. I was basically dangling money in his face and pulling it away before he could grab it.

"I'm sorry. I'm thankful you gave me the opportunity, but I have to quit." The words came out robotically. What was I doing, giving up my only real job?

For once, Jameson was speechless. He shook his head and tapped the butt of his cigar in the ash tray. "Parker talk you into this?"

"He didn't." I answered, though it wasn't completely true. "He doesn't have anything to do with this."

Jameson was clearly finished with me. "Fine. Don't waste any more of my time or yours."

I rolled my lips into a line and exited his office. This was only my first task today.

. . . . . . . .

Peter seemed surprised to see me standing in his doorway yet again, which was strange because he usually sensed me coming. I wasn't in the mood to act tense because of our recent fight. I needed to fix this as fast as I could.

"There's something you need to do." I was on a mission, and I would complete it no matter what his response was.

"What for?" He asked.

"You." I said. "You need to go to the toy store and explain to my manager that Spiderman will not be attending that stupid celebration on the 23rd."

It was an odd request, but I expected him to catch on. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Going to that party will be like presenting you on a silver platter for all of those crazy people to pick at your bones. You can't go, not to a planned and public event like that. Try and tell him as soon as you can."

Peter's eyes bounced back and forth, trying to see my point. "Alright."

I nodded once, spun on my heels, and headed for the elevator to meet my next task.

"Hey, wait." His voice echoed a bit off the bare walls.

"I don't have time to wait." I walked slower, but never stopped. I never even turned around.

"What's your hurry?" He caught up to me easily.

"I'm starting over." I said plainly. "The last few weeks of my life have been really messed up and most of it is because I have no idea how to deal with my brother's death. I need to fix everything that I can right now before something happens and I completely lose control."

He was struggling to keep up. Was it really that difficult to follow? "Okay, okay, so...what are you trying to fix, exactly?"

I was avoiding emotions like the plague. It seemed to be working so far. I was keeping my face in a straight and secure mold. "I've already quit my job this morning. Now I've told you to cancel at Toy's 'R Us, which leaves me to still find Chase at the station." I didn't want to expose my entire plan yet. "Stop by my place later on and I'll explain. Chase will be there as well."

Peter blinked. "He still lives with you?"

I shut my eyes to avoid the drama. "He doesn't sleep over anymore."

Peter was trailing off topic, his eyes proving that to me.

I needed to move on. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to -"

His steel trap hand latched onto my forearm. "Stop trying to run away."

I sighed out of annoyance. "Is there something you need?"

His warm and gentle eyes tried to force any sort of emotional response out of my icy cold ones. "This isn't you." He whispered.

I was stronger than that. I wouldn't fall for his kindness, not like I did before. "It is me. What you saw before...that wasn't me. I'm not weak, or spineless, or desperate. I'm better than that. You've never seen me, really seen me, Peter."

"You're not weak, Olivia. You're far from it."

I tried shaking his hand away. "You say that now because you don't know any better." I finally shook his hand away and stepped aside far enough that he couldn't reach me again. "You'll see."

And off I went to my next task.

. . . . . . . .

Chase looked so different hunched over the laptop with a determined line creasing his forehead. "Is it ready?" I asked him.

He adjusted the angle of the screen. "Yeah."

I nodded in approval. He was working very well with me, something I never expected out of him. "Peter should be here soon."

"What does Parker have to do with this again?"

"He talks to Spiderman all the time." I said. "Peter can let him know we're willing to help him out."

I planned a little meeting between the three of us to discuss my ideas for getting those monsters off the street. Peter was coming to act as a representative for Spiderman, and Chase was supplying the evidence on the laptop he borrowed from the station. I was formulating the plan.

"Liv, why do you want to help the Spider so much?" He asked suddenly.

"Wouldn't anyone?" I countered.

"No one in their right mind." He snickered.

I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"You said you remember what that guy in the knit hat looks like?" Chase asked in his interrogating tone of voice. "I see too many idiots every day to remember myself."

"Yes." I answered for the seventh time. "I would recognize his photo."

Peter knocked on my door and Chase smirked to himself.

"He's not afraid of you, Chase." I said. "Don't waste time trying to scare him."

He leaned back in his chair, cracking his knuckles. "Of course, Liv. Anything for you."

I unlatched the lock on my door and opened it up to reveal Peter waiting behind it. He wanted to smile at me, but I reminded him with my stoic expression this was strictly business, not a play date.

I led him back into my kitchen, where Chase was set up at the table. "Parker." He greeted, though his tone was mocking.

I started speaking before Peter could return the greeting. "Chase has information on the suspects that can lead us to capturing them."

Peter stood rigidly in the middle of the floor. "What kind of information?"

Chase sat up straighter and read off his information professionally. "From what we know, most of the suspects hang out at a specific bar that's not very busy; not for beer anyway. It's located a few blocks down from an exotic dance club, and it's owned by a man named Roy Stevenson, but he isn't known to be one of the suspects. We assume he's just an accomplice. We also know that 26 of our suspects hang out here on a daily basis. It's foolish to think they aren't plotting all of their shit in there."

I cleared my throat.

"Oh, excuse my language." Chase continued smirking. "It wouldn't do any good to storm the place and take everybody in. We have to decide on some sort of strategy."

"I have a strategy." I stated. "But I need both of you to help me."

"Wait," Peter was lost. Again. "Why do you have to solve this? Spiderman can go in and do it himself, you won't have to be involved."

"You need me." I said. "My strategy won't work without me."

"What's your plan, Liv?" Chase wasn't interested in my ideas in the slightest. He found it amusing that I even had a plan to begin with.

I looked down at my feet, suddenly anxious of Chase and Peter's reactions. "You said it's a few blocks down from an exotic dance club?"

It was silent for a brief second before Chase released a round of laughter. "No way in hell, Liv!"

"I'll need a disguise. They won't be suspicious if I blend in."

"You want to use yourself as live bait?" Peter caught on clearly this time.

"I'll lead them into a dark alley and you can do whatever you need to do to capture them. Chase will escort them to their cells and everything will fall back into place."

They stared at me like I had multiple heads.

"We'll have to do it over time, pick them off one by one. If we take too many at once, they'll become suspicious."

Chase whistled out a breath of air. "That's actually brilliant. Give them a taste of their own medicine. I'm in." I knew convincing Chase would be easy.

Then I turned to Peter. "Do you think Spiderman will agree?"

Peter shook his head, but I saw the opposite opinion in his face.

"Spiderman will have to be waiting wherever I lead them." I explained. "He can hide in the dark corners, and spring into action when they least expect it. It's perfect."

Peter knew just as well as I did how there were more things that could go wrong than there were right, but I couldn't focus on those things. This was my first step in redeeming myself from the past few weeks, but I needed him to agree before I could begin.

Finally, he decided it was worth a shot. "Tomorrow night." He said. "We need to be sure they won't see it coming."

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Hello again! This has nothing to do with the story but I HIGHLY recommend you go and see The Host this weekend :) A lot of people are biased because it's a Stephenie Meyer book/movie, but in all honesty I think those people are missing out on something incredible. If you've read the book you understand :) I promise you won't regret it!

Anyway, if you've read this far, THANK YOU for supporting me and my story :)