Chapter 5: Breaking and Entering
The conversation Laura had with Logan was left unfinished as she abruptly left, taking his motorcycle with her.
She'd prove him that he was wrong.
She'd prove everyone wrong.
She kept her mind focused as she drove down Highway six-seventy-eight. She couldn't smell Parker's scent but she knew the area code thanks to the phone number he had given her. She continued towards the area with deadly focus until she caught a whiff of his scent, and a whiff – no matter how faint, was all she needed.
Her motorcycle echoed down the streets of Queens as it obeyed the quest the girl conducted with a one-track mind. Disregarding many of the red lights that stood in her way, she followed the scent until it brought her to a quiet suburban neighborhood called "Forest Hills." She slowed herself down upon entrance, not wanting to divert any attention onto herself as Parker's scent radiated in the neighborhood.
She traveled through the neighborhood observing how the presence of the outside world dwindled as she went deeper and deeper. Tall, lush green trees blocked out the horizon while the sound of leaves rustling drowned out all other noise.
It was calming.
Parker's scent grew exponentially stronger as she continued to go down.
She could see children ahead of her, laughing with each other while they played basketball on a singular basketball hoop. She came to a stop when she neared them and watched with little amusement behind her black helmet as the kids quickly scurried to the side while saying "Sorry."
She let out a small nod, trying her best to gesture that it was alright.
This was a nice neighborhood.
She proceeded to go down until Parker's scent commanded her to turn left on Ingram Street.
She went down the street for a couple of seconds until she abruptly stopped in front of a white house with the address of fifty-one. The house looked like any other one within this neighborhood. From the outside, it looked to be two stories high with an attic, presumably a basement if the window at the bottom of the house was anything to go by. There was a nicely kept garden in front of the house, one that rivaled Ms. Munroe's.
Parker lived here.
She got off her bike and approached the house, from what she could smell only two people resided within the average home. She quickly hurried down to the side of the house after analyzing that no one was around to witness her doing the act which would bring unwanted attention and suspicion.
The backyard was of moderate size, housing multiple plants in a variety of pots with two chairs and a table on a stone pathway that led to a side door. She pressed her body against the wall of the house as she heard the clanging of plates right behind her. She moved swiftly until she reached the side door which she watched through the small window it had and observed an elderly lady washing dishes who was completely oblivious to her existence.
If appearance was anything to go by, she was a frail woman who had long gray hair tied into a bun. She couldn't see him but she knew Parker was in the room with her, eating what she smelt was bacon and eggs.
She could assume that this was the Aunt he was referring to yesterday.
"So what are you two going to be doing today?" she heard her ask.
"Hang out I guess, play games," Parker answered but judging from his tone of voice she could tell he was lying.
But why though? What type of activities would he be doing that made him have to lie? Was it Spider-Man related? Did his Aunt not know?
She remembers him saying that it was a secret identity but to what extent did that secret go?
"That's all?"
"Well, I have to meet someone later," she narrowed her eyes at this.
"Who? Harry?" she could assume that this "Harry," was another one of his friends.
"No, it's someone you don't know. I uh…I met her yesterday," was he referring to her?
"Her?"
"Yea, her name's 'Laura,' I met her yesterday," He was.
"Really? In the storm?"
"Yeah, she uh, uh….she helped me when the storm got really bad," Laura narrowed her eyes even further as she heard this, "She didn't know," she thought as she climbed through a window. She could hear the conversation with ease upon entering a room full of vintage furniture and wallpaper the color of lime green. There was a queen-sized bed that had two pillows on each side of it as if it was occupied by two people but she could only detect the scent of one person on it.
"Laura…She sounds like a nice girl," his aunt said warmly which caught her off guard.
"Little rough around the edges…" she heard Parker say, sparking her to immediately furrow her brow in annoyance at the comment. "...but… she is," she heard him genuinely say which made her posture lighten significantly.
She was not a-
"No matter what she says," She let out a breath as a tender feeling washed over her.
Like yesterday, he was saying what he truly believed.
She couldn't help but remember how he thought she was a hero like him.
She wasn't…
… but…she was more than what Logan thought of her and Parker's words helped reaffirm that belief.
She looked around the room she was in. There was a cross on the wall above the bed, beside it were two pictures of a couple holding hands. The first one was a photo of age, displaying a young woman in a wedding gown holding the hand of a man in a suit – both of them smiling widely.
She looked at the man in the aged photo who she could only assume to be his uncle. He bore a resemblance to Peter, their smiles were so similar that it was almost uncanny. Photos of him and Peter's Aunt decorated the room, with one of them having the two holding a baby alongside another couple.
There was another photo next to that one, it was one of a young, brown-haired, blue-eyed boy, who wore almost comically large round glasses.
It was Parker.
He looked to be around the age of eleven, smiling as he held a science award with his uncle behind him.
She looked at it for a bit wondering what his childhood was like.
When it came to such things she could only imagine for she never had one.
Although the smile he had when he was looking at his uncle, it reminded her of the ones she used to have with her mother….
She shook her head and left the room, remembering what her mission was.
She wanted to gather more information about Parker.
She exited the room, once again making no noise.
"So where are you two going to go?"
"... The zoo…" Parker said, lying again.
"The zoo?" Laura thought.
"To look at…alligators," Alligators? His attempts at lying were pathetic. It was as if he was just making things up as he goes.
"Does she like alligators?" his aunt asked.
"Um….I think so," She did not like alligators, "...and motorcycles," he added, which caused her to shake her head.
"And what does your friend Johnny like?" She raised a brow at this, so she knew about Storm, it would stand to reason that Storm also knew who Parker was. She would listen attentively to what would be said next as learning what the Human Torch is like would prove to be valuable information as well.
"Cars," That wasn't much.
"That's all?" Her thoughts mimicked his aunt's words.
"Cars and girls," Based on that description Storm sounded like Drake.
She didn't like Drake.
She stopped at the end of the hallway in front of the door where his scent was the strongest. She looked around, wondering if there were any traps but there weren't. She rotated the doorknob slowly, careful as to not make any noise that would alert others to her presence.
She entered the room.
The fragrance of his scent was intertwined with that of cheap air freshener that poorly masked the faint smell of chemicals.
The walls were colored light blue and clothes littered the floor. There were countless posters ranging from Albert Einstein to Captain America adorned on his walls. He had a full-sized bed that sat on an oak bed frame and a headboard that housed multiple books. They were all about science, each book covering each field with some covering all the various disciplines such as biochemistry and biophysics.
"He studies science," she thought, advanced science.
It would explain the faint smell of chemicals she detected when she entered his room.
Across from his bed was a table where his computer sat. Above it were shelves that housed even more books and awards, all relating to science however most of them were uncleaned and covered in a small layer of dust save for a simple microscope which was in pristine shape.
Beside that though was a massive box that caught her attention. It was a massive black box that had a picture of an old TV connected to one of those systems Drake uses on the main TV back in the mansion. She reached for it with the contents of the box shaking as she did.
'Nintendo entertainment system' it read in yellow font with the top left reading 'Lego'.
What was this?
She shook her head, she was getting off track. She put it back in its place and continued observing her surroundings.
She walked towards his window and noticed small droplets of dried-up blood that had blended themselves within the dark oak frame. Judging from the smell they were from battles long ago.
She decided to follow the faint smell of chemicals.
They came from his closet.
She opened it and was greeted with multiple boxes. She scoured through each one gently. On the left side of the closet was a box that took up most of the space, it was an old and beaten box that was simply labeled 'Parker.' It contained beakers and flasks, among all the other necessary components when it came to mixing chemicals. On the right side, there were boxes that her nose told her housed graphic novels but beneath them all was one that contained metals.
She moved all the boxes to the side quickly and efficiently, remembering every spot they were in until she reached the box she was looking for and grabbed it with care.
She placed it on the ground and took the lid off, only to be greeted with two metallic objects that she could only describe as 'bracelets'. She grabbed them and observed every angle of them. They seemed to be some type of weapon due to the nozzle and the trigger but she hadn't seen anything like this before.
The closest thing that resembled them were the gauntlets the KGB supplied its agents, but those were rudimentary.
Despite the bracelets being bulky, taking up almost all of the lower wrist, they were ingeniously made. The trigger perfectly mirrored the shape of her upper palm, while the nozzle barely stood out, making it easy to conceal. There was also an interchangeable cartridge on each device that popped out when pressed lightly.
She picked it up and put it back in, watching how it snapped back in its place instantaneously.
"Interesting," she thought.
Whoever made this was a genius. The placement of the trigger made it so that unintentional activation was impossible and that if needed, changing cartridges would be fast and efficient. She didn't know what was inside the cartridges, nor what would happen if the trigger were to be pressed but she was bound to find out.
Although they piqued her interest immensely, she decided to place them on the ground and move on. The next object was a belt made with the same craftsmanship as the bracelets. The belt contained the same cartridges that the bracelets used, although instead of just one, there were thirty. It didn't just house cartridges though as there was a digital camera alongside a USB but in between both of those, at the center of the belt was a symbol.
She's never seen Parker in costume but she's seen what it looks like thanks to Pryde's newspaper clippings. The symbol looked to be a simplified version of his mask, although what interested her was how it was caved in and made from the same protective glass found on flashlights.
There was a button right above it.
She reluctantly pressed it and the moment she did a red light shined through the belt, illuminating his room in a crimson glow. She looked up to find that the symbol on the belt was now on the ceiling, bigger and brighter than ever.
She looked at it blankly.
What purpose did this serve?
She shook her head and put it away, grabbing the final contents of the box which was a simple notebook. Despite knowing she'd already taken too long, she decided that she would risk it and browse through the contents of the book. She flipped through the pages mindlessly, stopping only when she recognized certain things. There was a diagram of the bracelets, according to the notebook they were called 'web-shooters,' and it described almost every little detail and function of the device.
The cartridges were high-pressure containers for 'web fluid' with the nozzle having an adjustment ring to change the patterns of webbing. She read the notes; each cartridge contained a mixture of chemicals that when exposed to oxygen would form a thin, tough, and flexible adhesive that resembled a spider's webbing which would dissolve after an hour.
She was so lost in reading about these "web-shooters" that she didn't hear the clanging of Peter washing the dishes.
She flipped through the pages more. The light on the belt was called 'The Spider-Signal,' According to the text underneath it served no real purpose, he just thought it was a 'cool' thing to have.
Parker made all of this…
Maybe he wasn't so much of an idiot after all.
She browsed through the contents of the book more, it contained designs for other tools called 'spider-tracers,' though there was a big note saying 'needs funding,' another page contained a potential formula for a pseudo-metallic compound if she understood it properly, but it also had a note saying 'needs funding.' After that, the notebook only contained costume designs that were… horrible…to say the least.
She put everything back exactly where it was before shutting the closet.
She's learned a lot in these past couple of minutes but almost all of her questions have gone unanswered. The only thing she gained that was new was that Parker is a genius, everything else was just a reaffirmation of what he had told her yesterday.
She already believed him due to her being able to decipher a lie with ease but this just reinforced her beliefs.
She noticed the red and blue sleeve that was poking out from underneath his bed.
She went on her knees and grabbed it.
She pulled it out and came face to face with a torn and tattered costume that had traces of blood – a lot of blood, alongside traces of nitroglycerin which a normal person couldn't detect thanks to the overwhelming stench of it being unwashed. There were dark spots on it, the webbed design that stood over it was peeling, and the small spider-logo was almost indecipherable thanks to the diagonal tears. The part that would cover his right bicep was completely torn and the translucent nylon that had a webbed design underneath his pits didn't fare any better.
She looked at the costume with a searching gaze.
Why does he do it?
The people hate him and yet he chooses to help everyone he can, if Summers was correct.
She wanted to know what he meant by "because I can, meaning I have to." She had a rough understanding as to what he meant but that wasn't enough. Because you have the power to help, you should, but who says you should?
She put his costume gently underneath his bed.
She didn't quite understand his powers but from what she's seen, he was able to do whatever he wanted and yet here he was, helping people because he could.
She was taken out of thought as she heard the doorknob in his room begin to turn. She whipped her head towards his window and contemplated jumping out of it but at the pace his door was opened there was no doubt in her mind that Parker would see her do this and that would cause problems.
So she decided to stay put not wanting to cause a misunderstanding.
She watched how he – through otherworldly means, didn't notice her right away.
In the midst of recognizing his genius, she had forgotten something she learned when she was with him.
She glared at him as he shut the door.
He is an idiot and she could have left without him recognizing a thing.
Her emerald eyes met his blue ones for what felt like an eternity. She watched how he blinked repeatedly as if his brain was still comprehending the situation.
"AHHHHHH!" he girlishly yelled, pressing his back against his door. She looked at him with a blank expression however that would soon change into one of interest as his sheepish yelp would turn into one of agonizing pain.
She looked at what caused the sudden cry and looked on with surprise at the two bone-like skewers that had protruded out of his arm
She observed them; they seemed to have been a new development due to his response to them coming out. The shape of them resembled that of a blade and from what she could see, they were around sixteen inches long.
After a couple of seconds, Peter had recovered from the still overwhelming pain and the unexpected shock of seeing Laura in his room. His pained expression soon morphed into one of urgency as he looked at her with a glare of his own.
"Wh-wha-what are you doing here!" Peter angrily whispered to her.
"What hap-" she tried to ask in her regular voice but he shushed her.
"Shhhh! My aunt!" he said in a low but urgent tone.
"Peter, is everything alright? Is it the centipede again?" his aunt asked from downstairs as she had heard his yell.
"No! Just…just…" he tried to come up with something as he looked at Laura who had an impassive look on her face.
"She does not know you are Spider-Man," she stated to Peter who frantically responded.
"Of course, she doesn't know, she's my aunt! I'm the only piece of family she has. She'd have a heart attack if she learned her nephew fought super-criminals!" he exclaimed to her in a single breath.
So he keeps it a secret so as to not worry her.
"Peter?" his aunt said once again.
And that secret was in jeopardy.
"Spider," she said in a low and flat tone.
"What?" confused as to what she said.
"They are the most common things people are scared of," she added, clearing up his confusion.
He looked at her skeptically for a second before saying…
"...Just got scared by a spider!" he yelled back at his aunt.
"It fell on you," she furthered, already coming up with a clear and concise story to answer whatever question his Aunt had.
Peter tilted his head with complete disbelief, "You're a terrible liar," before reiterating what she said, "It fell on me!"
"You killed it."
He let out a sigh, this was just getting worse and worse. If he was going to expand upon an already half-baked lie he would at least put a twist that his aunt would like.
"Don't worry though, I'm putting it outside right now!"
"Good!" His aunt replied before continuing with her activities.
"Why would anyone go through the hassle of putting an insect through a window?" She asked herself. She pushed that thought to the side as Peter let out a "whew," causing his stingers to go up his body which intrigued her greatly.
Peter turned his attention to Laura, a look of relief all over his face as her lie had seemingly worked.
"...T-thanks," he said to her before immediately furrowing his brow and saying, "What are you doing in my house? I remember saying seven in the afternoon at Washington Square Park, not eleven forty-five in my bedroom."
"I wanted to learn more about you," she admitted to him flatly and honestly, flabbergasting him.
"So you broke into my house!" he bewilderedly concluded, she nodded. "Yo-you have the internet! Heck, you have my phone number! You could've just asked instead of breaking into my house!" he said in a frustrated and baffled voice which caused his stingers to pop out yet again.
He winced in pain again as well.
"What happened?" Laura sternly asked with curiosity and hidden worry, noticing how the ability he had not displayed yesterday caused him great pain.
"I was hoping you could tell me," he said as he looked at the girl, perplexing her, "I come back home from a team-up, go to bed, and then I wake up with new powers!'' he said in an exaggerated voice.
He let out a sigh.
"I think you have a disease," he joked prompting the girl to scowl.
"You're stupider than I thought you were if you believe this to be my doing," she flatly retorted. She was not to blame for these new developments.
"Stupid? I'm not the one who broke into someone's house to learn more about them," Peter bafflingly replied though Laura couldn't see how doing any of what she had done was 'stupid.' There were multiple reasons why infiltrating someone's home was one of the most efficient ways of learning about an individual but before she could voice them, Parker decided to speak up, "I told you who I was so you didn't have to break into my home…" he frustratingly explained to the girl, however, he took a pause as his demeanor lightened up a bit, "...You know…you're lucky I trust you," he reluctantly stated, exhaustingly crossing his arms and looking away.
She was caught off guard by this.
He…
…trusted her?
"You… trust me?" she asked in a surprised tone, wondering if she had heard right.
Peter chuckled, "I let out a girlish scream instead of punching you in the face, Of course, I trust you… and I'm the one who's stupid," he mumbled the last part under his breath.
She heard that but decided not to say anything.
"Why?" she asked him, Logan didn't trust her, the others didn't trust and they knew her much longer than Parker did…
"'Cause I got a good feeling about you," he said to her as he looked into her eyes with a small smile, "Despite you breaking into my house," he added in an annoyed tone, immediately furrowing his brow.
"You…shouldn't…" she hesitantly informed the boy in an anxious voice but he scoffed.
"Yeah well, I still will," he adamantly – stubbornly declared, raising the girl's spirits, "You doing this though isn't helping," he stated, pointing a finger at her, still displeased at the fact that she broke into his house.
She looked at him with a contemplative gaze upon hearing his words.
"Sit," she simply commanded.
"What?"
"Sit," she firmly said again as she found a place on his floor.
"Why?" he asked as he watched her cross her legs.
"You said I wasn't helping. I want to help," she genuinely stated, looking at him with a glint in her eye which took the boy by surprise before inevitably bringing a smile to his face and removing all his previous frustrations.
"You can't control your…" Laura began to say, trailing off due to the lack of a proper name or term for his new addition, but Peter, already had her covered.
"Stingers," Peter stated, causing Laura to accept the adequate name after pondering about it.
"The best I can do is have them go back inside by putting them in contact with my body," Peter displayed the act which prompted the girl to raise a brow, "I found that out because it was either my Aunt finds out I have built-in hotdog skewers or I impale my legs," he said to the girl in an unpleased voice.
She looked at them, comparing his stingers to her claws. She had a similar problem a lifetime ago though…that was corrected quickly.
"Your singers come out when the muscles that surround them contract. You need to relax them if you wish to have them go back in," She explained in a matter-of-fact voice.
"And how do you do that?" Peter asked her as that was easier said than done.
"Close your eyes," she commanded and he obliged. "Empty your mind and alleviate your wrist muscles," he tried doing that. He was good at control, not too many people can comprehend how careful you have to be when you can lift a car with one hand. His stingers were different from his strength which was shown by his attempts at seething them earlier. Fortunately, he was lucky to have Laura – someone who conveniently had expertise in having knives come out of your body.
He wondered if Laura felt the same excruciating pain he felt whenever her claws came out.
Maybe that's why she had a temper.
Or maybe he just met her during "that" time of the month.
He wondered about a lot of things that concerned Laura, like how she broke into his house without him noticing. Did she really have to break into his house too? Didn't she know fans? Couldn't she have asked them instead of breaking in?
Where was she from? Must be close by if she was in New York the other day…
…Did she really have to break into his house?
Like why does everyone have to break into his house the moment they find out who he is?
"Clear your mind and focus," Laura reiterated as no progress was being made much to her annoyance.
"I am, they aren't going down," he staunchly replied, even though he was doing no such thing.
"Then you're not focusing," she snapped, her patience was thinning.
"Maybe you're just a bad teacher," Peter retorted, obliterating what patience she had to spare.
"Maybe you're just brain-damaged," she angrily said, however, she still controlled her volume so as to not have his aunt be aware of her presence. "Excuse me, but I actually have an IQ of two hundred and fifty. Do you know who else had an IQ that high at the age of sixteen? Reed Richards! the smartest man on the planet," Peter proudly declared.
Laura scoffed at that.
He furrowed his brow in annoyance "Can you tell me about the physics of Pym Particles?" he challenged the girl.
"Can you?" she fired back.
"Pym particles work by putting matter in the Kosmos dimension if you want to shrink things, and taking matter away from the dimension if you want to enlarge them," Peter confidently answered with a tiny smirk.
She didn't answer as she didn't know how Pym particles worked.
Upon her saying nothing Peter took this as a victory over her, "Now who's the one that's damaged?" with a self-assured smile on his face.
She fought the urge to gut his tongue out right then and there.
She sighed…this was going nowhere, and she did not like that.
She looked at his stingers. While they do work on muscle control they can also be instinctual if one does not have the proper control… She recalled the countless stories and fairy tales her mother used to read to her. The heroes within the stories always had someone they fought for, someone they could never hurt...
"Try thinking of someone you could never hurt," she said, getting back to the point, hoping that this new approach would get them somewhere.
"That wasn't a half-bad idea actually…" Peter thought, complying with her request.
He thought about his uncle and his aunt, and as he did this he could feel his stingers going down.
He thought about Johnny and immediately discarded that thought as he felt them going back up again.
He thought about Gwen…
He thought about the strange – really strange, and aggressive girl who broke into his house.
Who is currently helping him…
The girl watched his stingers slowly go back into his body, satisfied with the results. With a deep and focused breath, Peter's stingers went back into his arms, and upon feeling the odd sensation, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl who sat across from him…
And he smiled, "Would you look at that, you aren't that bad of a teacher after all," he complimented the girl softly, not wanting to spark his stingers again while also wanting to display his gratitude to the girl.
She crossed her arms and let out a small breath, "You are still an idiot."
Peter rolled his eyes, "You've called me that at least a hundred times for like, the day I've known you.." He amusingly pointed out.
"And?" Laura said with a raised brow at his statement.
"You're not going to stop calling me that are you?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"No," Laura simply said, causing Peter to chuckle.
She let out a smirk before getting back to what they were doing.
"Try and bring your stingers out," she asked in a lighter tone of voice than normally.
"Sure," he nodded as he proceeded to comply with her request, trying his best to bring out his new lethal additions to his vast superpower arsenal.
Peter clenched his fists, following the gesture he'd seen the girl do numerous times to no avail but an idea crossed his mind though… if someone he liked made it so his stingers would retract then the thought of someone he hated should do the opposite…
He thought of the middle-aged man who for some otherworldly reason had waves.
And almost immediately, out came his stingers and the immense pain that came with them.
Out came his stingers and the immense pain that came with them while Laura was satisfied at the display of control he now had.
She gave him a look of approval, and he flashed her an uncertain smile that grew to be confidant…
However, all he could say was…
"Why do they hurt so much?" Peter comedically and exhaustingly asked the girl who let out an amused 'hmph' before withdrawing her own claws to show the blood that briefly spilled out her knuckles.
"You get used to it," Laura amusingly declared at the boy who was left awe-struck.
"Woah…" he was left speechless which surprised her, she didn't think he was capable of that.
"...I don't think I will, but…thanks," he graciously thanked the girl, giving her a genuine smile before adding, "See? This is why I have a good feeling about you," he declared upon having his faith be rewarded by the girl who looked away, flattery causing her to take her eyes off of him.
"It's nothing…you do…significantly more for others…" she genuinely reciprocated the complimentive gesture.
"That doesn't change the fact that you helped me. If it weren't for you I would've stabbed more things than just my bed. I could've accidentally cut something off while peeing!" he exclaimed with a mock shiver.
She let out another breath at that, that would have caused problems.
"So thank you," he said to her sincerely and Laura accepted his thanks with a simple nod, finding herself – once again, shifting in place to get herself more comfortable on the floor by bringing her knees close to her chest. Peter did the same, opting to lean back on his hands.
"So anyways… You said you broke into my house to find out more about me right? While I'm still not happy about that, since you're here… shoot," he said to the girl who was interested in his choice of words.
"'Shoot?'" Laura reiterated, unfamiliar with the way he used the word.
"Yeah, 'shoot.' It's an expression for asking a question," She raised a brow to that, causing Peter to expand, "...like…someone says 'I have a question,' the recipient goes like, 'alright then, shoot' like, shoot me your question," he tried explaining to Laura who found it both amusing and interesting how he explained the expression to her.
She would remember it.
She let her thoughts drift about the questions she had earlier, there were so many that she couldn't possibly ask him all at once. There was her question as to why he did this, why does he believe her to be things she knows she isn't, who is Gwen? However, out of all those options, she chose to ask something else…
"The spider," she said out of nowhere.
"What?" he said as he raised a brow at her words.
"You said that you threw the spider out. If the circumstances were real, would you have done it?"
He tilted his head at this, what was this about?
"Um…yeah…" Peter answered with uncertainty, unsure why she was asking him this.
"Why?" she asked him with a fierceness that caught him off guard.
"...be-because it's alive?" Peter answered again, though this sparked Laura to furrow her brow.
"It's an insect," she adamantly said.
"It's still alive…" What was this conversation about, wasn't this common knowledge? "...it can feel things like you and me and even though it's different, it's still a-a…sentient being…and it deserves to live its life – why are you asking me this?" When did this conversation become one about philosophy?
"All spiders do is kill," Laura staunchly declared with anger in her voice.
"Yeah… but that's the only thing they know how to do. You can't really fault someone for doing the only thing they know…and even if they do kill...it's still a sentient being…so its life still matters," Peter said as he wholeheartedly expressed his beliefs.
"So because it is sentient its life is valuable?" Laura asked, taking the conversation deeper down the route she wanted.
"Yes…sentience is…one of the many things that makes a life valuable…" Peter said as he started collecting his thoughts. Whatever this was about – he didn't know but he did offer Laura a question so he was obliged to answer. "Like look at plants for example, they're also alive, they eat, they reproduce but they can't feel pain, they can't perceive things like we can. They just sit there and flow with the wind or get stuck to your butt if it's burs. We can though, we can experience all the things the world has to offer, We have a sense of self and that alone makes our lives important. And while other species have it to a lesser extent it still makes their lives important too," He finished with confidence in his answer which contrasted against the growing doubt that found its way on Laura's pale face.
"Are the lives of killers important?" she asked him out of the blue.
Peter paused for a moment while Laura watched how he collected his thoughts, gripping her knees even tighter as she anticipated his answer.
"...yeah…yeah… I-I would say that their lives are important too…" he said with a mix of uncertainty and firmness as he looked at her.
"All they do is take lives away," she hastily stated.
"...And taking theirs won't bring those lives back…" he said as he thought about Gwen. Norman's passing didn't bring Gwen back, nor did it make him feel any better.
It just made him feel empty, washed out, angry, and just a little bit more alone.
"...I say this…after a maniac killed someone dear to me…" he said softly to her which caused her to look at him sympathetically.
She wasn't a fool, she knew he must be referring to the Gwen girl and the Goblin.
She wouldn't ask any questions that could possibly concern her.
She looked down as she asked him another question.
"What… would you do…if I told you that I was a killer?" She softly asked the boy with uncertainty and insecurity that she could not hide. Her heartbeat grew ever more noticeable…
Why was this happening? Why did she ask him that? She did not care what he thought of her….
She instantly raised her head when she heard him laugh.
"I'd say you tell bad jokes, 'cause last time I checked killers don't run into a fire to help people," he playfully said before changing his tone to a more sincere one, "Heroes do," he stated with a smile as he looked at her sincerely.
She widened her eyes before facing his floor, loosening her grip on herself as she could feel a small brimming smile.
She let her emerald eyes travel around his room yet again.
"This is your room?"
"Yeah…" Peter said as he looked around it with her.
"It is messy," she stated, looking at the state of negligence his room was in and the multitude of shirts that were sprawled all over the floor.
"Yeah…" Peter scratched the back of his head, berating himself for not cleaning his room before the girl – the pretty girl, appeared in it, "In all fairness, I wasn't expecting a guest and I'm pretty sure I was going through depression," he light-heartedly joked.
"..."
"Hm?" Peter said as he noticed the girl wanted to say something.
"...Sorry…for breaking into your house, Parker," she apologized with regret at her choice of action.
Peter let out a sigh, "It's alright, you made up for it plenty with this," he said as he withdrew his stingers with a friendly smile. They still hurt a lot but he was beginning to get used to them already, "Next time you do it though, you better tell me first," he told her with a laugh, all right with her doing it again just as long as she told him beforehand.
"You should get better security," she recommended; It was easy to break into his home.
Peter laughed at this, "I can barely afford to pay the bills, you expect me to get security?"
"Do you not have enemies?" she asked him, he is a superhero, he should have people after him, and yet all he as security were the locks on his doors.
"Yeah… but that's what the mask is for, plus I got something they don't," he said with a grin which caused her to perk up, "Remember that sixth-sense I told you about yesterday?" he asked her as he tilted his head.
She nodded, recalling how he predicted the Lizard creature's attacks.
"Don't tell anyone, but that's my spider-sense," he told her in a whisper.
"Spider-sense?"
"Warns me about danger, maps out a whole entire area I'm in including the people in it, and any super-secret part of a building; It also does a whole other bunch of other neat stuff," he said as he listed off what it does, interesting laura greatly.
"How?" she asked him. If what he was saying was true then he had a form of precognition.
"I automatically sense my surroundings while danger is a little tingling in my brain – sometimes a headache depending on the severity of danger I'm in. Really useful when I don't know where the enemies are or surprise attacks, and because it maps out a whole entire area like a second set of eyes that see everything, I can do anything blind," he excitedly exclaimed to the girl who took all the information in, "cool right?"
It was more than "cool," this spider-sense seemed to be powerful, a form of precognition so surprise attacks could never work on him. If you managed to blind him he could still fight without any hindrance.
To what extent could his spider-sense go?
If it could map out an entire area why was he caught off guard when she was in his room…
"How come you didn't know I was in your room then?" she asked, wanting to know the specific reason why? Could he not map out people? Was there a weakness he did not tell her?
"Oh, I just wasn't paying attention, Plus, you didn't mean any danger so it didn't go off," he casually said, shrugging as he did so.
The only known weakness of his spider-sense was distraction?
And if you don't mean any harm, it won't go off?
She wanted to test if this spider-sense was real.
He had his eyes closed as he shrugged and she immediately went to punch him in the face. He tilted his head to the left, however, a grin on his face as he effortlessly dodged her attack. Pulling her fist back, Laura removed the surprised expression that crossed her face at the feat he pulled by dodging her swift punch with his eyes closed.
"See?" he told her as he opened his eyes, still grinning.
She crossed her arms, and let out a satisfied "hmph."
"Better than any piece of security which is good because I can't afford any. Pretty sure I only have twenty dollars to my name," he said offhandedly, and Laura looked at him confused as to how he was flat broke. "What? I've got bills and an aunt to take care of and being Spider-Man doesn't pay squat, now unless you want to give me-"
"No," she answered immediately.
"C'mon," he said in between small laughs, "You could be like, my sponsor-"
"No," she reiterated in the same flat tone.
He laughed at that, and then proceeded to put his palms in the air and make a rectangle gesture with them, "The Amazing Spider-Man, brought to you by Lau-"
"No!"
"I can run around with your pretty face as my new logo!" he said as he pointed at his chest with both hands.
She looked at him blankly as he burst out laughing.
Her stoicism soon broke though as she let herself have a little smirk on her face.
He is an idiot.
She watched him laugh with interest.
It was easy being with him.
She noticed something different about him however as he laughed, something piqued her interest.
"Keep your mouth open," she commanded.
"Huh, why?" he asked her but to his surprise and confusion, the girl put her hand in his mouth and ran her thumb on his teeth.
"What are you-"
"You have fangs," she stated as she pulled out her hand and wiped the saliva off her hands using one of the many shirts on the floor.
"What?" Peter said in disbelief as he immediately put his hand in his mouth to feel his teeth. "I do!" he exclaimed as he immediately turned to his mirror. "They're massive!" he pointed out, running his finger through his vampire canines, questioning how he did not notice them before?
Did Aunt May see them? No, or else she would have asked him about them. "They are barely noticeable," Laura said as she watched him worry over his newfound fangs. "Really?" he asked her in an unsure voice.
She nodded which relieved his worries. These new additions were odd, and Parker seemed to have no idea what was happening to him?
Could he be a… no, he couldn't have been one…
There was a possibility though…she thought as she looked at him.
"How did you get your powers?" she asked him, as that would be the key to all of this.
"I don't know about these new ones but my original powers came from a genetically engineered spider that bit me," he casually said but to his surprise, the generally inexpressive girl tilted her head and raised a brow in utter confusion and disbelief.
"What?" did she miss something? A spider bit him and gave him his powers? Even with it being genetically engineered that was the stupidest thing she's ever heard.
"Yeah...I attended a science exhibition where it would bite me after breaking out of whatever was holding it," he nonchalantly informed, vividly recalling that day.
She said nothing as she gave him a deadpanned look.
"I'm not lying!" Peter exclaimed.
Laura was not amused.
"I know it sounds stupid but that's how it really happened! I was minding my own business when I felt something on my arm. I looked to see what it was and it was this decently sized spider just crawling on me. I panicked, it bit me before dying and I got powers," he truthfully stated to Laura who ceased her look.
She believed his answer no matter how stupid it sounded.
He wasn't given these powers through tests or birth, he got them by pure accident alone.
"What are those powers?"
"Super Strength which is proportional to the strength of a spider, the ability to cling to any surface, super speed, agility, stamina, enhanced reflexes, perfect vision and you already know my spider-sense," he listed off.
She thought about the powers he listed off. The proportionate strength of a spider was at least ten tons – he could smash a human skull with a flick if he wanted to. He could cling to any surface and was just about superhuman when it came to every category.
She was also considered to be "superhuman," her senses were far superior to that of a regular human which is why she could listen in while he and his aunt talked downstairs. She too had "super," speed and stamina, along with reflexes but if they were inferior, superior, or on the level of Parker's has remained to be seen.
On the topic of strength though, he was worlds ahead of her, coupled with his speed and other powers…her brain concluded that Peter Parker was a danger…
…but a danger to her?
His powers may have been dangerous, but the one to whom the powers belonged – she knew she would not have to worry about him being a threat to her.
"And your new powers?" she asked him, wanting to be able to draw a line being the powers granted by the spider and the powers he received today.
"You know just about as much as I do there. All I know is that I got stingers, fangs, and my eyesight got better which is funny because I didn't think it could get better," he said to Laura who pondered the possibilities…
His new set of powers could just be a secondary mutation of his original powers.
There had to be more though…
Peter let out a sigh, "I don't have the slightest idea what's happening to me and I'm gonna guess you don't either?" he asked her.
She nodded, keeping her own ideas to herself.
"I have a friend who can probably help," he said, gaining her interest.
"Who?"
"Reed Richards," he told the girl who was stunned, recognizing the name that belonged to one of the smartest people on the planet.
"You know the Fantastic Four?" and a founding member of the superhero team.
Peter let out a fond chuckle, "Yeah… they're the only people who know who I am outside of you and two others. You up for it?" He asked the girl who didn't give an answer.
She was hesitant based on past experiences but…
"Do you trust them?" she asked with uncertainty.
"Most of 'em," he said truthfully but Laura narrowed her eyes – she wanted a better answer. "Alright, all of them," he said as he noticed her glare, "One of them is just an idiot," he finished with a small laugh as he got up.
Coming from Parker that meant something.
She was going to go into unfamiliar territory, she didn't like that.
She looked at the hand Parker gave her though.
If he trusted them then she'd go…
…because she trusted him.
"Okay, I'm up for it Parker," she said accepting the hand he gave and allowing him to lift her off the floor.
"For the last time, it's 'Peter.' Keep calling me 'Parker,' and I'll start calling you 'Kinney,' see how you like it," he lightheartedly warned her. Someone calling him "Parker," reminded him of two things: the principal calling him down whenever he had a late streak and Jonah when he popped a blood vessel.
He didn't like either of those situations.
"Now get outta' of my house, I gotta get clothes," he said to her as he pointed at his window.
"You're already wearing clothes," she pointed out, not understanding what he was referring to.
"Just go, you'll see what I'm talking about later," he eagerly told her, ushering her out her window.
She didn't understand but obliged anyway.
A couple of minutes later she was outside on her motorcycle waiting for him to leave his house. She watched how the door opened with him leaving and his aunt standing in the doorway. "Be back by eleven this time, okay?" she heard his Aunt say.
"I will!" Peter said in a confident tone, the woman raised a brow however, "I promise," Peter reassured as he went down the stairs of his porch.
"Have fun with your friends!" his aunt said as she bid farewell and shut the door.
"Peter's aunt was a nice lady," Laura mentally noted.
Peter was wearing the same clothes from earlier but she understood what he meant by "getting clothes," as the contents that were within his blue bag were ones she familiarized herself with earlier. After exiting the grounds of his home he looked around until he found her parked to the left side of his house and Peter quickly made his way to the girl he quickly made acquaintance with – and who he trusted as well.
"What now," she asked him as he approached her.
"There's an abandoned warehouse five minutes near here; it's a good place to changed," He said hoping that she'd understand and she showed she did with a simple nod.
"Get on," she requested him to do while she put on her black visored helmet once more.
"What?" he dumbfoundedly asked.
"Get on," she said again, prompting him to take a seat closely behind her – and by closely, Peter sat really closely.
He let out a quiet yelp as she started to drive quickly down his neighborhood. He quietly hoped that no one would see him like this. Nothing having to do with Laura, it was just because despite it being a quiet neighborhood, the people who resided in it talked. His hopes were let down though as he saw a group of kids he knew very well look at him and Laura as they played basketball.
"Oh no…" he muttered quietly as the two came to a stop in front of the group of boys that played basketball – a group of kids Peter knew. Laura watched with confusion as instead of moving out of the way this time, the group instead gawked at her and approached her this time.
"Drive," Peter urgently asked the girl who was confused.
"What?" she asked him, did he want her to run over children?
"I know these kids if they see me like th-"
"It's Peter!" one of the kids exclaimed as they ran in front of the bike and he let out a sigh.
"...Hi Lemar," he awkwardly said, peering past that shoulder that belonged to the girl who looked at all the children who seemed to be overjoyed to see the brunette boy behind her.
"Is this your friend?" the boy named Lemar asked as he turned his attention to Laura who turned her gaze back to him, wondering what his answer would be.
"Ye…yes?" he asked questioningly as he looked at her.
Was she his friend? She's helped him at every turn he's known her and she's going to help him track that Lizard monster. She knows who he is and cracks tiny little smirks at his jokes, but a friend?
She was more than an acquaintance, that's for sure.
She mimicked his thoughts.
"She's so cool," another boy said as they looked at her motorcycle, "Wanna play with us," one of the boys offered the both of them as they lifted the ball up.
She shook her head slowly.
"N-not not now, I'm – we're kinda...kinda busy right now," he said to the kids much to their displeasure but he quickly rectified his mistake upon seeing their disappointed faces. "But I promise I'll play with you when everything's all done, okay?" he said to the kids with an enthusiastic grin and at this, their expressions lightened.
"Promise?" one of the boys asked as they raised a pinky to him.
"Only if you don't tell my Aunt about this," Peter said with a friendly grin. The boy nodded, and Peter intertwined his pinky with his, "Then I promise to beat you guys again later," he quipped, sparking intense but joyful reactions from the group.
"You always lose," another kid said with a laugh, "That's because it's one of me against you three little rats," he said with a laugh of his own. "You just suck," one of the boys said with a laugh. "I'm gonna remember that when I beat you," Peter said as the boys moved out of the way.
She waited for them to say their goodbyes before proceeding to her destination.
"Who are they?" Laura asked as she was intrigued with the relationship he had with those children who made it obvious that they all really liked the boy she transported.
"Those were Tyler, Henry, and Lemar, they're the neighbor's kids, I used to tutor them," he fondly recalled to Laura, who noticed that despite not wanting to interact with them, the infliction he used displayed he liked them as much as they did him.
"You tutored them?" she asked with genuine interest.
"Yeah, they had some pretty bad grades but the parents couldn't afford a tutor so they asked my aunt if I could help them. She asked me, and I said 'yes.' I stopped a couple of months ago after they became the top students in their class. Now we play ball every now and then," he displayed the pride he had in them with a smile
"You always lose?" He furrowed his brow at that.
"Only because I let them," he defended.
"Why?" Laura asked, curious as to why he would let himself lose.
"Because they need a win, it helps build confidence. If I just steamrolled them every game it wouldn't be fun for either party," He explained to to Laura who who peered over her shoulder to look at him and said…
"That's…very kind of you," she stated, flattering him and catching him off guard.
"Eh…it's nothing," he said, trying to downplay her comment and the blush that was appearing on his face, "...You're not that bad yourself you know," he added, trying to reciprocate her compliment. "Helping me with that 'thing' yesterday, and then my stingers today, I owe you a lot," he said to the girl who shook her head.
"You owe me nothing," she stated.
He laughed at that, "Well if that's how it's going to be then at least let me say 'thank you."
"You already did," Laura fondly stated.
"Well…I'll just… say it again," he stubbornly added, chuckling as he did so.
She rolled her eyes.
"If you want to say 'thank you,' then save it for later, we are not done yet. We still… have an alligator to see," she finished with a lighthearted voice, poking fun at his lie.
Peter laughed at that.
They made it to the abandoned warehouse he spoke of in a matter of minutes. She waited underneath a street light with her helmet in her hands as he scurried off to go change.
He excitedly ran into the desolate and abandoned building and into the only room that wasn't full of used needles or empty glass bottles. He placed his bag gently on the ground and went on one knee as he eagerly undid the zippers.
The light from the window illuminated the room with a heavenly glow that beamed down onto the boy who grabbed the costume that called to him.
He smiled brightly as he started putting it on.
Meanwhile, Laura had her head tilted up as she thought about Parker
Par-Peter is nice.
She didn't get a chance to ask him why he did this, why he felt like he had to help others.
He knew what pain was, she already dwelled on this, but he'd found a purpose for that pain.
Maybe if she stuck with him she'd find an answer as to what she could do with hers…
His scent emerging from the building caused her to turn her attention to the roof of the warehouse, where he slowly walked to the edge of it. Awed by the sight, Laura watched as he adorned his tattered costume, standing tall with the loose cloth flowing in the golden light of the sun which made him look more heroic than he already did.
She knew he was grinning underneath the mask.
"You done?" she asked in an annoyed tone.
"Gimme two more seconds, it's been a while!" he happily shouted back at her, it felt good to wear the whole thing again. Laura crossed her arms and let out a sigh; they were wasting time but it wasn't a big deal, they had up to eleven at night and it was currently twelve.
Not like she was eager to go back to the mansion where she would be stuck with those who bothered her…
She took this opportunity to observe his costume. It clung to his body, showing off his build and leaving little to the imagination. She already figured that he was athletically built due to his powerset but the baggy clothes she's only seen him wear did a better job at concealing his form than she thought.
He leaped into the air, doing an impressive upside-down twirl before landing on his knees right in front of her, ever so slightly cracking the cement ground with a loud 'thud.'
She rolled her eyes.
"What? It's the superhero landing," he told her as she got up.
"It is an inefficient and stupid way to land," she commented.
"Look, I know, everyone who does this knows, but we're super, we can handle it. Besides, it's not about efficiency, it's about looking cool and more importantly, feeling cool," he said with a grin underneath his mask.
"You look anything but 'cool," she said as she looked at the cracked lenses of his mask.
Getting what she was referencing he pointed a finger at her, "I'd like to see you stay pretty while a maniac throws exploding pumpkins at you," he said in an annoyed tone which prompted her to shake her head at that ridiculous statement before roaring the engine of her motorcycle.
"Do you know where the Baxter building is?" he asked her as he loaded his web fluid.
"The one with the giant four?" she asked as she thought about the ludicrous building she'd only seen once.
"Bingo," he said as he rolled his glove down.
"Remember the plan?"
"Yes, Pa…Peter," she struggled to say. She wasn't on a first-name basis with anyone but… it…it felt right being on one with Pa-Peter.
She would have to get used to it though.
"You said my name," he joyfully noted, enthused by no longer being called 'Parker,' "Now, I need you to remember one very important rule," he said to her as he brought his head close to hers.
She listened attentively.
"When in costume outside my house or the Baxter building it's 'Spider-Man,'" she looked at him once again with a deadpan expression causing him to add, "..Or Spidey… webhead, webs, wallcrawler, slinger…you get the gist," he said to her, "Just not webster," he hated that name.
"Fine, Spiderman-"
"Spider-Man," he corrected, "There's a hyphen between 'Spider' and 'Man," he said to her.
She glared at him.
"There's going to be a space if you keep talking," she said, withdrawing her claws and causing him to stumble back.
Even though his spider-sense wasn't going off, he was still terrified of them.
"Spi-Spiderman is fine," he quickly corrected as he looked at her claws.
Laura smirked.
That's what she thought.
"Now are we going or not?" she impatiently said as she put on her helmet and roared her motorcycle once more.
"You ready?" he asked her as he tilted his head in excitement.
She nodded.
He grinned at that, he's kept the people of New York waiting for too long.
But now…
"It's showtime."