Behind the Mask

FOURTEEN: Your Secret is Safe with Me

.:::.

I wouldn't let my eyes peel away from the entrance to that bar. "Just let me go inside, and maybe they'll -"

"Liv, you're not going in there." Chase's nostrils were flaring. I could see them in the dim light of his dashboard.

"They won't come outside!"

"Yeah, because they probably caught on to what we're doing! You can't go in there by yourself. No way." He squeezed the steering wheel tightly in his hands. Waiting games weren't Chase's specialty.

In a little over a week's time, we'd managed to catch almost all the suspected gang members on Chase's list, but there were obviously more he didn't know about. We kept a look out for any others, but after a few times, they stopped hanging out in front of the bar. The past few nights we had spent waiting for one to crawl out, but it ended up being a huge waste of our time. Tonight was just a repeat.

"But -"

"Olivia, I said no. No means no."

I sighed angrily, the air forcing itself out of my lungs. He used my entire first name, which meant that I'd better shut up. God knows why I started following his orders.

We sat in silence for another five minutes. I wriggled my toes that I freed from the painful straps of my high heels. The glowing clock on the dash read 12:09am. I was beginning to lose whatever hope I had left.

Chase eventually cleared his throat. "It's getting late, and I'm sick of waiting around for nothing." He started his engine.

I turned to look behind us at the bar for a final time. I did a double take as I saw the light from inside pooling on the sidewalk. The door was open, and two of them had finally crept out of their nest.

"Chase, wait!" I grabbed his arm, which was reaching for the transmission.

He peered through his mirrors. "I'll be damned."

I immediately began feeling around for my shoes hidden in the dark at my feet.

"Oh, no you don't." Chase reached around me to buckle my seatbelt.

"It'll take ten minutes. Maybe even less." I tightened the straps and released my seatbelt. "Get ready."

Chase cursed under his breath but thankfully let me go. "Make it quick, please."

I scrambled to get out of the car and catch up with them. There was no way I would let them get away, not after waiting this long. The adrenaline rush barely had time to kick in before I was walking a few feet behind them. I was trying to figure out what to say, how to gain their attention, but I was surprised to find they had turned down the alley I planned on leading them.

I put on my innocent face. "Excuse me?"

I was in no way prepared for him to hit me. The blow knocked me down to my knees and made my ears start to ring. I didn't even cry out, I was too shocked to do anything but stay still.

I looked up at them, the two dark shadows hovering over me. Spiderman would be there any moment. I would be fine, even though I never considered being able to defend myself.

But what if they already got him? What if we weren't careful enough in taking them down, and now they've figured out how to beat us at our own game? What if they were going to use me to get to him?

What have I gotten us into?

"Sorry, sweetheart." Something in the tone of his voice indicated he wasn't sorry at all. "It's for your own good."

I was finally ready to scream, to fight back, to at least run away. But it was too late for any of that.

Something thick coated my face, like a rag or a shirt. I only had to suck in two suffocating breaths before everything went black.

. . . . . . . .

My shoulders and arms were being held down, pinned to my sides by a pair of very strong hands. I wriggled and screamed, trying desperately to free myself.

I heard my name repeated over and over until I quit screaming. I opened my eyes and saw a shadowed figure leaning over me.

"Please, please don't - please, let me go! Let me go!"

"Liv, it's okay! It's okay. Calm down."

My eyes were stinging, they were open so wide. "Get off me!" I felt the hands remove themselves from my arms.

I sat up straight and blinked until my vision was clear. The shadowed figure wasn't who I expected. I was safe, in my own apartment, on my own sofa. I was fine.

"What the hell!" I yelled at Chase. "What - why did you - how did I -" I wasn't exactly sure what I was trying to say.

"Calm down." Chase repeated. "Don't move around so much."

I looked around me and discovered the scrape on my knee, still raw and pink. My jaw felt stiff and it hurt when I spoke. I rubbed it and grimaced at the pain it caused.

"That will probably bruise." He predicted.

I couldn't shake the disorientation. I started combing through my brain to find my memory of how I got there, how I managed to end up safe and sound.

"Here," Chase lifted a glass of ice water to my hand and closed my fingers around it.

I was finally ready to speak in coherent sentences, but a very impatient knocking erupted on my door.

"I'm coming...Relax!" Chase grunted as he rose to his feet and strolled over to the door. I could only listen, because my view of the door was blocked by Chase's large frame.

"Where is she?"

"What the hell happened to your face?"

"Is she alright? I need to see her." This voice somehow slipped past Chase and started approaching me.

It was very dark in my apartment, only one dim light at my desk lighting the room. I squinted my eyes to see him, but he stepped closer and into clear view.

I gasped. "Peter!"

He smiled in relief, despite the gruesome split in his lip. "You're okay." He said, probably convincing himself more than me.

I knew immediately it was my fault. He was beaten and bloody because of my stupid decision to go after those guys. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" I reached out to touch his face, but he gently pat my wrist down.

"It's not your fault I got mugged on a street corner." He watched me for an extra moment to bring me in on the lie.

I went pale, realizing I almost gave away his secret identity. "Oh...w-what happened to me?" I looked at Chase, glad he wasn't suspicious.

He matched a glance with Peter and then shook his head. "They tricked us, Liv. Knocked you out with something, probably chloroform."

I gulped. "They did?"

Chase nodded. "By the time I came around to look for you, the Spider had scared them all off. He got beat pretty bad, too. His nose was definitely broken..."

I followed Chase's eyes to Peter's face, the crooked line of his nose the most obvious injury there. It was beginning to turn purple at his cheekbones.

Peter was good at keeping his secret, his face remained indifferent under Chase's speculation. It was my horror-struck expression that ruined everything.

Chase took one look at me and knew. He knew right away what we had been hiding from him, the biggest secret I had ever kept. He figured it out just by that stupid look on my face.

He started laughing.

"Chase,"

"I knew it!" Chase rose from his seat and pointed at Peter, who stared shamelessly back at him. "I knew it, I knew it!"

I crawled up to my knees, afraid to trust my feet just yet. "Stop it, Chase."

"I knew it all along! That's why she runs around worrying about Spiderman all the time - it's you! It was you she almost ran after in that building fire! And that damn column in the paper - Oh, you got to be kidding me!" His laughter was frightening, really.

Chase kept going on and on, recalling all the instances when Spiderman had suddenly consumed all my attention. I held my face in my hands, waiting desperately for him to finish.

When he quieted down a little, Peter spoke up. "We can't fool them anymore. I should have known it wouldn't be long before they caught on to us." Peter lay his hand over mine. His voice became pained. "And they hurt you."

He looked so tortured, so incredibly responsible for what happened. "I shouldn't have risked it tonight." I admitted. "I was only trying to help. There was no way we could've known they would suddenly fight back. Please don't blame yourself, Peter."

"Oh yes, and that bank hold up -"

"Chase! That's enough!" I shouted right in his face. "Yes, Peter is Spiderman. I'm sure you knew it all along. It's over with now, alright?"

Chase kept that crazy grin on his face. He looked at Peter, leaning over to get close to him. "Just you wait until the station hears that I found out who -"

"No!" Peter and I both flinched at his threat.

Chase folded his arms and raised his eyebrows at us. "And why shouldn't I tell them? What's in it for me?"

I scoffed. "Nothing! There's nothing in it for you! Can't you just be a decent human being for once in your life and keep his secret?"

Chase pretended to think about it, pursing his lips and everything. His little act didn't matter; I knew his answer all along.

I sunk back down into the sofa, trying to stop the spinning sensation that suddenly overcame my senses. If only I had listened to Chase and gave up for the night. I wouldn't be hurt, Peter wouldn't be hurt, and Chase wouldn't have changed the unofficial statistic to all of New York minus two.

Peter's hand rubbed gentle circles on my back. "It doesn't matter." He whispered to me. "He would have figured it out eventually."

"Not this way." I whimpered.

"Hey, Parker,"

Peter's hand paused in the center of my back.

"I'll keep your dirty little secret. No charge."

I lifted my head to witness this miracle with my own two eyes.

Peter hesitated. "Really?"

Chase shrugged one shoulder like it wasn't a big deal. "Sure, anything to make Liv happy." He grinned at me with that evil grin he had grown so accustomed to.

"This isn't a joke, Chase." I warned him. "You can't tell anyone."

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

Peter dropped his hand slowly away from my back. He wanted to get out of there. It wasn't easy to miss. "I should get going."

"Okay." I said weakly. I was both physically and mentally exhausted. "Let me walk you out."

"No, stay here. Drink some more water, I'll come see you in the morning. I'll bring your camera with me."

I felt a little brighter then. "You fixed it?"

"Good as new."

I sighed, relieved that I had something left to cheer me up. "That's great! Thank you!"

Chase clearly felt left out, and he resorted to the kitchen after Peter was gone. I lay back on the sofa, wanting more than anything to sleep but my restless mind was forbidding it.

When Chase returned, he held a bottle of beer in each hand. He offered one to me. "I bet this will help you sleep better tonight."

I was well past my drinking days, but the thought of sleeping at all intrigued me. I took the bottle and drank a large mouthful of the nasty alcohol.

"How's that?" Chase grimaced with me.

"It's good." I choked.

Chase laughed at me, taking a sip of his own. "It'll help you forget, too."

Forgetting what happened tonight was even more intriguing. I drank some more, becoming numb and carefree, just as I had when I was trying to forget about my brother.

The last thing I could remember was Chase's smile, the heart-breaker one that sucked me in when I met him. "That's my girl."