Behind The Mask

TWENTY: Wild Eyes

.:::.

I woke up with a stiff neck and a pins and needles sensation in my arms. I had no sense of time in the bar; there weren't any windows or clocks I could read. I assumed my nap was only a few minutes long, but I couldn't know for sure.

Red knit hat left on some sort of errand a little while ago, so I was left under the watch of Chase and the stubbly one. It felt like a very long time, and I was convinced that Peter was going to leave me there to rot.

Why would he come? I already knew Spiderman was his priority. He would do anything to protect him, even if it meant forgetting about me. On the other hand, the creeps holding me hostage would do anything to end Spiderman, even if it meant using me to get to him. Either way, I lost out.

I lifted my head and winced at the stiffness. I noticed Chase leaning against the wall, inspecting the gun on his hip. The stubbly one was falling asleep a few stools down from me.

My movement caused the handcuffs to jingle. Chase looked up at me accusingly.

I raised my wrists as best I could with the awkward angle from being handcuffed. "My arms are falling asleep."

Chase waited a moment to see if the stubbly one had heard me. He attached his gun to his hip and tinkered with the cuffs until I was freed.

"Keep your knees to yourself." The stubbly one added, startling us both.

I didn't look at him, silently massaging the blood back into my wrists.

Chase waited for my eyes to meet his again. "Don't make me regret this."

"Would you really shoot me, Chase?" I stared down at his hip, right where he kept his gun.

He pressed his lips into a line and shoved the cuffs off to the side. "Don't test me and we won't have to find out."

Red knit hat suddenly returned, barging through the entrance. He caused a ruckus, three other men joining him. Held prisoner in their arms was a familiar face.

Red knit hat led them forward, grinning at the stubbly one. "Good news, you stupid son of a bitch. They're considering suicide."

The stubbly one laughed again. "Damn right they are. But what's this ya got here?" He glared at Peter with a sense of amusement.

I didn't understand what Peter was doing, dressed like himself and wearing his suitable glasses. He wouldn't be able to make a seamless transition over to Spiderman, not here. There was no other option, he had to play human now...or was that the plan all along?

"We found him wandering around in the back alley. I figured he was looking for something to do." Red knit hat smacked Peter teasingly on the side of the face.

I could tell Peter was struggling to keep himself from tearing out of their arms and beating them senseless. He was forced to act as the victim rather than the hero - a concept unfamiliar to him.

Chase only locked eyes with me for a split second before selling him out. "That's him!" He immediately pointed in Peter's direction. "He's Spiderman!"

Every pair of eyes in the room focused on Peter. He simply pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Red knit hat chuckled. "How do you know?"

Chase watched me longer this time, almost like he was asking for permission to expose Peter's secret identity to his biggest enemies. "His name is Peter Parker. Liv knows him, they live in the same building. That's how she wrote that column in the newspaper - she's his friend."

I became the new subject of their eyes. They weren't looking at Peter, so they didn't see the slight nod of his head. It was a nod of encouragement for the lie I was about to tell.

I swallowed my fear in a gulp. "I don't know him." I said.

"Yes she does! Of course she won't admit it!" Chase's face was taking on a purple undertone.

"You expect me to believe this scrawny kid is the Amazing Spiderman?" Red knit hat brushed his thugs off of Peter's arms and took hold of him himself. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" He asked Chase.

"I'm telling you, she's lying! She knows she's lying."

Red knit hat approached me, running his calloused finger down my cheek. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you, sweetheart?"

I shook my head.

"That's what I thought." Red knit hat walked back over to Chase and leaned close, threatening him in a low voice I couldn't hear.

"You're missing your chance!" Chase shouted. "Parker is Spiderman!"

"Shut up!" Red knit hat shoved Peter in the direction of a stool at the bar. "Sit down and be quiet."

I watched Peter take his seat through the corner of my eye. We both had barely spoken a word - his reasons for staying quiet a little different from mine.

Red knit hat turned back to Chase. "We don't even need you anymore, we already got what we wanted. Get the hell outta here before I shoot you myself."

"I'm not leaving until you kill him." Chase glared at Peter with hungry eyes. "Kill him now!"

"Why would I waste a useful hostage now, before the bug gets here?"

"God, dammit! He is the bug!" Chase whipped out his gun and took his aim. Peter was in the crosshairs.

I broke my silence. "What are you doing!"

"Tell them, Liv! Tell them who he really is." I heard the gun click again.

"For God's sake, put your damn gun down." The stubbly one muttered.

"I'll kill him, Liv. I'll do it, you know I will." Chase kept his gun aimed but focused his eyes on me. "Tell them the truth!"

"Chase, please!" It was an awful position he was putting me in. I couldn't look at Peter because I couldn't look away from the madness in Chase's wild eyes.

"Tell them now!" He roared at me.

"Stop it!" I burst into hysterics, but they were abruptly silenced as the blast of a gun shot shook my entire being.

The next few moments seemed to be in slow motion. The only movement in the room was Red knit hat dropping his gun to his side and Chase's lifeless body collapsing onto the floor.

I thought the room started shaking, but soon discovered I was the one trembling. My fingers shook as they covered my mouth, my jaw slack in shock.

He was dead, just like that. Just like my brother.

Blood began pooling beneath the body. The tears pouring down my face were silent, too overwhelmed to make a sound. My eyes blurred with them, and I could no longer see clearly.

"Are you out of your mind?" Peter finally asked Red knit hat. I heard the unsteadiness in his voice.

"I gave him a fair warning." Red knit hat reminded us. He tucked his gun away again. "Same warning I gave our buddy Roy."

I should have seen it sooner. The bar owner wasn't killed by Spiderman. He was murdered by his friends for the purpose of framing Spiderman. Red knit hat realized his plan couldn't work and went on his errand of suggesting suicide to the cops. Everything they knew was a lie.

"Murderer." I whispered. It was barely audible.

"What's that, sweetheart?"

"Murderer!" I cried. "You killed him! You killed both of them!" I slipped off of my stool and crouched down on the floor near Chase's body. I might have hated him, but I didn't want him to die. I never wanted him to die, not even when he was most infuriating.

I started reaching for the body with my trembling fingers but flinched away when the thugs took each arm and dragged it away. Instinctively, I crawled backward as far as I could, bumping into the bar and finding shelter there. I crouched behind the stools, hugging my knees to my chest.

It was Chase's knowledge of Peter's secret identity that killed him. If he hadn't known, he wouldn't have been so desperate to pull a gun on Peter. He wouldn't have helped these criminals get away with murder. He wouldn't be dead.

I kept trembling, losing control of my reaction. I instantly regretted everything that ever got me involved with Spiderman, beginning on the night that my brother died.

I mostly regretted taking the elevator instead of the stairs.