Chapter 15

It had only been three days since my altercation with Spider-man and Spider-woman. Or Ghost Spider. A week or two since Uncle Jerry told me to help people if I wanted to get strong. Truthfully, I was starting not to see the point of it.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!"

I snatched the gun out of the thug's hand and backhanded him. He fell, scrambled backwards and ran away. I considered tossing the gun into the dumpster next to me but decided that was probably irresponsible.

I should learn safe ways to dispose of weaponry, I noted to myself.

"Thank you so much!"

I nodded absently. What am I supposed to be learning here exactly?

There was the sound of pictures being taken.

Everything's becoming routine… Stop an accident here, stop a mugging there, stop a gang fight way the hell over there, rescue a kitten here.

"Hey, what should we call you? You're a hero right?"

Am I wasting my time? Was Uncle Jerry wrong?

I jumped up, leaving the two junkies I'd just saved behind before they could wheedle me for money to feed their habit. Whatever they'd said to their dealer sent him off the deep end. I'd saved them from getting shot, but that was the best they were going to get from me.

It was late afternoon heading toward evening. Kids were closing from afterschool clubs. Adults would be closing from work soon. There was a lot of movement going on. I swung above it all, practicing leaps and twists as I went, just roaming aimlessly. I swung by a police station to drop off the gun and then moved toward Manhattan.

I never did figure out how they kidnapped me out of Mum's office. Might as well take a look instead of roaming aimlessly. It didn't take me long to reach Germa with my new mobility skills. I stood on the rooftop of the opposite building just taking a look and deciding how I was going to get in. I couldn't just walk in in my current get-up and I'd left my normal clothes at home.

I scoped the place while evening was setting in. Around the side of the building, there was a parking spot for trucks. In fact, there were parking spots for Germa trucks on either side. Parking had never been something I paid attention to given that I didn't drive, but now that I was looking I realized one of the trucks was much cleaner and with a fresher paint job than the others.

I circled Germa a few times, noting no other new trucks, and then made my way down to the truck in question.

"So clean it looks like a life-size toy," I muttered to myself.

Perhaps the kidnappers stole one of Germa's trucks when they took me. From the looks of things too they never brought it back either. They could easily have painted it over after so much time, but I decided to keep an eye out for a Germa truck not behaving as it should. I turned toward the building once again. There was a side entrance from the car park I was in. There was probably another on the other side of the building.

Breaking the lock would be child's play with my strength… but then Mum had super-powered guards. And I'd already decided to stay out of her business. Perhaps it was best to let the trail end here and go find something else to do. I leaped up the walls, ran for a bit and then swung out into the streets from there.

Some moron was probably about to get mugged or something.

xXx

"Something wrong, Belinda?"

Belinda looked up from the security feed built into her desk.

"It was nothing, Yukino-san."

Yukino Arthur nodded and turned her attention back to the folders on her own desk.

Belinda turned back to the feed, watching Kumo leave the premises. Only when the vigilante rounded the corner and disappeared from all cameras did Belinda turn back to her work.

xXx

Dad was released again and I popped over to visit him on the weekend. Just like Uncle Jerry, Dad lived above the car dealership. To minimize transport costs, he said. Ranville Autos had been a failing business. I wasn't too clear on the details but Dad figured he could turn it around really easy because the owner was making a lot basic errors. Something about knowing your audience and the area you were selling in. Over time he'd turned it into something profitable and constructed a really nice living space right above it with stairs leading down from the outside.

"I mean I do like this design but there will be a point where I'll be too old to go up and down stairs," Dad said, "I gotta think about retiring you know."

I moved over from the kitchen and served him breakfast. Omelettes, toast and orange juice. Plus bacon and sausage because I was feeling generous. I put my own share down.

"I don't think you're that old," I told him.

"Oh that's how it gets you," he said, wiggling a finger before digging into his breakfast. "Oh it's only twenty years before I have to retire, it's only ten years, that's a lot of time. Then before you know it, you're starting to struggle, you don't have the same energy that you used to and you've done absolutely nothing to cater for yourself on the verge of your retirement. Nope. Not me.

"You've gotta remember, you're not just making a bunch of money to sit on in your old age. You still need to eat, sleep and get around, go to the hospital if you get sick and so on. Pay the bills and such. You're making money to support yourself when you can't do as much work… or any work if you're particularly unlucky."

"That sounds like a lot," I said.

Dad slapped my hand. "Swallow before you speak."

"Sorry."

He smirked. He wasn't wrong. But he was also doing it to get on my nerves. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. His smile grew wider.

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"Did you know you make the cutest faces when you're trying not to get mad?"

"Dad leave me alone…"

He gently poked my cheeks a few times. "D'awww…"

I sighed and let him have his fun. Best to let him get it out of his system. After that we watched TV together looking for action flicks because that's what Dad was all about. We found a nice one based on the story of Nezha and enjoyed that for an hour or two. Then I made lunch when Dad fell asleep before he could order a delivery. When he woke up again I had a plate of steaming fried rice in front of him.

"Tired?" I asked.

"Yeah the rehab was… difficult," he said.

And yet looking at him now, it was almost like nothing happened. He'd bounced back surprisingly well.

"I'm not all in the clear though," Dad said, "I can't hold my hands steady the way I used to. Won't be repairing my own clothes for a while…"

"I could pop over and do some of them for you."

Dad shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"My pride will not allow it."

I snorted despite myself.

Dad grinned, "You're spraying food on my floor."

"There's literally nothing there!"

"D'awwww, there's the face again."

"I will disown you."

"Isn't that usually the other way round?"

"I'll establish a new trend just for you."

"I think I'm flattered…"

I laughed, "You would be."

"Only the finest for me, please and thank you. Deliver it in writing."

"In my finest cursive."

"So you mean barely legible chicken scratch."

I pouted and he burst out laughing.

xXx

Gwen sat scrolling through her phone while Alex was studying. Lunch time was proceeding as usual. Gwen appreciated the routine, even if it did cut into her "saving people" time. Normal had been something she'd been quite short on back in Earth-65. As friends go, Alex was as normal as you could get.

Gwen lifted her eyes from her phone, observing Alex as she worked. Alex's expression was blank, giving away nothing in terms of the difficulty of her task. There was zero indication as to whether she was absorbing anything she was reading. She had a little notebook she would try to summarize what she had learned into more concise statements. She'd only done a single page since lunch started and she'd been reading well before that.

Gwen turned her eyes back to her phone. When it came to work Alex was a bit of a drone. She didn't go anywhere, she didn't do anything or interact with anyone. By all rights it should be boring. Gwen knew that had this been back when she was in her band with Betty and MJ, she would've looked right over Alex completely. But here, she kind of appreciated how simple things were with Alex. No extra stuff happening. Just the work you need to do and peace and quiet afterward.

Gwen found a decent cat meme, tapped Alex and showed it to her. Just like that, life bled into the darker girl's features. Lips quirked upwards, cheeks lifted and brown eyes shone with a gentle kind of amusement. Alex snorted, shook her head, and turned back to her books.

Gwen grinned and went back to her phone. Perhaps it was because her face was so blank and serious all the time, but when Alex smiled it made you want to smile too. It was very uplifting the way it went all the way to her eyes. Gwen almost decided to search for another meme and then changed her mind. Too many at once and Alex would lose focus and get pissy.

"Does this make sense to you?" Alex shifted the notebook toward her and pointed at a passage.

Gwen read it and said, "The wording is weird but they're saying you square everything here, and then sum the results of each calculation. Then for this bit you sum everything and then square the result."

Alex sighed, "Why can't they just say things in simple terms?"

"Because…" Gwen paused, "Actually, I have no clue."

"If you justified this weirdo speech I'd have mashed my textbook down your throat."

Gwen smiled, "I mean, from a technical standpoint the phrasing is accurate-"

"I didn't know you liked the taste of paper."

Gwen laughed, "Don't hurt me please."

Alex wrote something in her notebook, packed her books away and then rested her elbows on the table while rubbing her forehead.

"My head hurts," she said.

"I can get you water," Gwen offered.

Alex seemed to think about it.

"It's just water Alex, what's there to think about?" Gwen asked.

"Nah, I'll get it myself," she stood up before Gwen could say anything and headed toward the cafeteria counter.

Gwen stared after her. Their friendship was great, really. Gwen could say with genuine honesty that she'd never had a friend as low maintenance as Alex. She didn't freak out whenever Gwen had to run off on her to be Spider-woman sometimes, she didn't get mad when Gwen was late to something they agreed on or had to leave early, she didn't force Gwen to speak and she didn't force her to shut up either. She was so easy to be around. There were no expectations to live up to.

But then she'd do stuff like this and Gwen would see that having no expectations wasn't necessarily a good thing. Because Alex refused to be anything but independent. She did not ask for help, no matter how much she was struggling. A lot of the time, if you didn't ask you'd never know what was on her mind. Guarded. Alex was guarded all the time.

I don't have friends.

Gwen remembered her saying that and in fit of frustration a thought rose unbidden in her mind, Gee I wonder why.

But she squashed it because that wasn't fair. Being lonely was awful after a while. People didn't choose that unless they thought it was necessary, regardless of how wrong they might be. So instead she sighed and turned her eyes away from Alex and back to her phone.

"Err… hey there."

Gwen looked up. There was a boy in front of her. He looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Hey there," Gwen said.

He was a skinny Caucasian, dressed in baggy clothes and wearing a rather large backpack. His glasses were huge too. His brown hair was messy.

"I uhhh… noticed that you're friends with… Al-Alexandra…"

Gwen wasn't sure what he was getting at. "Uh-huh?"

The guy started fidgeting with his backpack straps. "It's just… I was wondering how you did it. I've been thinking about it for a long time. S-since-"

He hesitated briefly, "Well, I just haven't figured out what to say."

Gwen remembered Alex's cool statements from her own first meeting with her and felt pity for this boy. She'd have torn him to shreds without a second thought.

"Are you interested in her?" Gwen asked, curious.

The boy turned red.

Gwen resisted the urge to start gushing and teasing him. That simply wouldn't do. She could not stop herself from smiling however. Okay maybe it was kind of a grin. A big goofy grin.

The boy turned redder. "I'm not trying to do anything funny. I just thought she was really cool and I wanted to be friends with her."

But you are attracted to her, Gwen's treacherous thoughts teased.

"Wow," she sounded so fake right now, "Well..."

"Ted."

"Ted," Gwen repeated, "I just walked up to her and asked to be friends."

The boy blinked. He had the cutest brown eyes. Like a puppy almost, but way smarter.

"Just like that?" he said.

Gwen nodded sagely. "Just like that."

She understood the dumbfounded look on his face. Alex was intimidating, that much was true. The idea that you could just walk up and ask probably never occurred to him. That or he was afraid of being told no.

"Ted, your mouth is open," Gwen supplied helpfully.

He closed it. "Would that really work for me? I mean I'm just a dude. I don't really have anything interesting about me."

On that count, Gwen honestly couldn't say. She was friends with Alex now sure, but the other girl said so little. Gwen knew that Alex loved her family, that she would brave danger without a second thought to protect those she loved, that she was loyal. In truth, Gwen had only seen those parts of Alex thanks to her interactions with her as Spider-woman. If not for that, she'd be almost as clueless as Ted as to what made Alex tick.

"Honestly, Ted, I have no idea," Gwen confessed, "Sometimes you just gotta take the leap of faith and ask."

Ted looked away from Gwen, casting his gaze around the room. His expression quickly morphed to one of panic. "She's coming back!"

"Wait, Ted-"

And he was gone, walking briskly across the cafeteria and out of sight.

"Who was that?" Alex asked as she sat down again.

"Ted," Gwen answered.

"Ah…" Alex did not ask for further information.

"You're not curious how I know him?" Gwen asked.

"If you wanted to tell me you would have," Alex replied, turning back to her books.

"Maybe I felt like you wouldn't care if I did tell you…" Gwen said, testing the waters.

Alex paused and looked up at Gwen. The stare was getting uncomfortable.

"I understand that it's been me pushing you into things this whole time and-"

"I wouldn't care…" Alex repeated, sounding thoughtful, as if truly considering whether she would or would not care. "You're right. I wouldn't."

That… kind of hurt to hear… That statement had Gwen re-evaluating this whole friendship thing-

"Who you associate with does not bother me," Alex said, seemingly meditating on the words as she said them. "There'll probably be an exception to that somewhere that hasn't occurred to me yet."

So that was not as harsh as what Gwen had been thinking, and she felt a bit silly for going so far with it. But then how was she supposed to interpret a response like that, delivered so bluntly and with the serious expression Alex seemed to be wearing all the time?

"I mean, Alex, that's nice but it makes it hard to talk to you about anything," Gwen said, fully aware that she was the one who approached Alex. "Because we don't do much besides study. We don't hangout. We don't share music. We don't really talk-"

Alex raised her eyebrows.

"-about things that aren't life threatening," Gwen clarified. "It's been how long now and we barely know each other."

Alex seemed to digest this thoughtfully. She was always slow when it came to listening to things she had not considered. Deliberate.

"I suppose that's true," she said eventually, "What would you like to know?"

Truthfully, Gwen hadn't been sure what to expect and as such she had no actual questions prepared. "I uhh…"

It was at this point the bell rang for lunch break being over and people started moving out of the cafeteria.

"You know what maybe we should do this later," Gwen said over the noise. She grinned. "Hey maybe we could turn it into a hangout. It'll be a date."

She noticed the look on Alex's face at the word 'date'.

"Alex, I'm joking. Alex I'm jok-"

The look of horror turned smug.

Gwen smacked her on the arm. "I hate you."

xXx

Miles landed on the wall that was being defaced. "Alright guys, break it up that's enough property damage. Somebody's going to have to clean that up."

The art in question was graffiti, painted on the side of the building he had just landed on.

The gang of boys, instead of running, kept right on with what they were doing. One of them, a rather bulky specimen, looked at Miles and said, "If we're creating work that someone's getting paid for, then we're obviously boosting the economy."

Miles blinked. "What?"

A red and blue blur swooped in, landing next to Miles. "Yeah, well the person paying the cleaner could be using the money for something else. Money we keep spending for people to clean up our messes, is money we aren't spending on people who can make everyone's lives easier."

Spider-man, or as Miles knew him, Peter Parker, was suited up and next to him, casually addressing the argument the vandal was making.

"So it's generally good to avoid causing people problems," he said, lifting a finger to illustrate his point.

"Holy crap he actually responded," one of the boys snorted. He had a phone in hand and had recorded the entire thing.

The gathered up their things and ran off, laughing among themselves.

"There will be a viral video of Spider-man offering economic advice by the end of today," Miles remarked.

Peter sighed. Miles smiled, not that Peter could see it beneath the mask.

"So, what brings you to Brooklyn?" Miles asked.

"You actually," Peter said, turning around and climbing up the wall.

Miles followed him and soon they were standing on the roof.

"What's the matter?" Miles asked.

Peter rubbed his nose as much as his Spidey mask would allow before speaking, "You know about the Arthur's right? And Kumo."

"I did the research after Gwen called me in for help," Miles affirmed.

More accurately Ganke did the research but Miles didn't want to look stupid and lazy in front of Pete. Maybe this wasn't his Spider-man, from his own universe, but this was his hero. This was the guy he looked up to when it came to keeping people safe. He'd never quite shaken that side of their relationship, even if they were closer to partners now. Not to mention, Peter usually knew a lot of things Miles had never even considered, a byproduct of being Spider-man for much longer and this universe being his home turf.

"Yes, well… Kumo gave some info that Gwen and I are following up on," Peter said. "Utsugi, it's called. It's some kind of hydrangea. I'm tracking down any stores that have it in stock to see if anyone's after it. Or I would be, if the crime in Manhattan wasn't running me ragged."

Miles nodded knowingly. He kept track of the others, partly because they were friends, and partly because Gwen and Peter knew things he didn't and there was always something to learn and refine about the way he did his hero business. Crime in Manhattan had reached a fever pitch almost. It didn't show on the surface, but the underworld was roiling with deals, betrayals and weapons trade. At first Pete had been managing it just fine, it gave him something to do, according to him. But it only seemed to swell and swell until Pete was basically living as Spider-man with some Peter Parker on the side.

"You need a break," Miles said.

"I'll rest when crime rests," Peter said.

Miles frowned but said nothing. He knew how Peter felt, unhealthy though the mentality was. He remembered how heavy the mantle of Spider-man felt back when he was carrying it in the wake of the original's death. It had almost broken him at times.

"Anyway," Peter continued, "I was hoping you could help us out. Gwen's keeping an eye on Kumo and I'm trying to keep Manhattan crime wars from getting out of control. I've already been thrown out once, but you have abilities I don't have."

"You want me to sneak into Germa," Miles realized.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, your invisibility will make it much easier for you than me."

Thinking about it now Peter should've just come straight to him for the infiltration. He'd gotten found out and lambasted by the news outlets and now Germa would be more alert for super-hero infiltration in general. Miles did not point this out. He could see Peter straining to stay upright. Man was tired.

Miles only nodded, "Sure, I'm in. Anything specific to look out for?"

"Utsugi references I guess."

"Besides that?"

Peter gave a tired shrug, "I got nothing."

"Alright. I'll do that tonight then."

xXx

It was always a toss-up when Fury called her in, Natasha Romanoff reflected.

As she stepped through the doors to the man's office she allowed herself a moment to pause and clear her mind. She liked to maintain professionalism, no matter what he might say. Fury was seated at his desk, watching her with his usual stern gaze.

The office was big enough to contain several tennis courts and had large windows behind it showing nothing but clouds far below. It always jarring how empty this room was. No bookshelves, no pictures, no furniture besides the desk and the chair. Just a big empty room with an incredible view of an endless vista of clouds and empty skies. Even Fury's desk had no personal items on it. Nothing at all.

Natasha walked over to him and the man gestured her into one of the seats opposite his desk.

"I've got a new assignment for you," Fury said, skipping formalities.

Natasha only nodded.

Fury made a gesture and a holographic image rose between them of a girl and giant machine. It was detailed and coloured in, which was more than Natasha usually got as pre-mission brief. The girl was in a messed up room, surrounded by fallen shelves and trashed robots. Spy habits caused her to observe more closely, to pick up signs of character. The girl was scared and visibly injured. Some of them looked crippling.

Natasha glanced at Fury who clasped his hands and leaned back in his seat. "This is Alexandra Yukiko Arthur."

"Yukino's girl," Natasha said.

"The very same," Fury confirmed. "I had her under watch earlier because she manifested some strange abilities. When this happened is unclear, but she came to our attention when she was present during the deal Fisk was trying to form with Yukino."

Natasha raised her eyebrows. Fury gestured at the hologram and it began to play. Alexandra was getting smacked around, but Natasha could immediately see that there was a pattern to her movements. The girl knew how to fight, it just wasn't doing much. She was strong and fast too. Superhuman. The impact of her punches, ineffective though they were, were clearly visible. Some movements were simply blurs of motion. She was getting beat down hard but she dodged blows and countered savagely where she could, even when it did nothing. That was when the battle started to change. Alexandra's moves grew less fierce, more precise. She was getting hit less. Hitting more. And then she wasn't getting hit at all. In a short exchange, the machine was hit in multiple locations and then a kick was driven into its back, crippling it.

"That robot was the HK-005 that AIM has been working on," Fury explained, "Their attempt at a Hulk Buster."

Natasha knew about that project, "Bruce would tear it apart."

"Yes," Fury agreed, "But even if it can't hurt him, it can knock him around and that's dangerous enough to everything that's not Banner."

Normally, this would be the part where Fury assigned Natasha to neutralize the project, but in the video footage, the girl had already done more damage than Natasha ever would. Fury had likely also capitalized on the damage to steal their information, if he was deep enough in their systems to have access to their video feeds. It became very clear to Natasha what Fury wanted.

"You want the kid watched," Natasha said, looking away from the hologram to Fury.

The man dark-skinned man inclined his head, "She's already under watch. What I want is you watching her."

"Not Cap?"

"He'd botch it."

And Clint was more of a scout/assassin.

Natasha nodded. "I'll get right on it. Anything specific I should be keeping an eye out for?"

Fury gave her the full briefing and a few minutes later she was headed toward the helipads of the helicarrier.