Peter was helping put away the dishes when he felt a tingle up his spine and then trouble walked in the front door.
"Lucy, I'm home~!" Gina called out in a sing-song voice.
"Took you long enough," Mina said from the couch as she flipped through the channels on TV.
Gina casually flipped the bird behind Mina's back as she walked past. "Not my fault some dumb lady kept arguing with the cashier over a refund for her dry cleaning." Gina walked into the kitchen carrying two sets of formal wear encased in a dress bag. "It was rush hour by the time I left the store. Anyways, here's the formal wear for the funeral service."
"Just hang it up in the closet for now," Peter said, keeping an eye on Gina's perfectly normal form. He hoped she would follow his words, but it was a futile gesture. Gina strode confidently into the kitchen, walked around the table to the side closest to Peter, and draped them over an empty chair. With her just outside of arm's reach, Peter's danger senses were on edge.
Beware. Watch out. Trouble.
"If I put them in the closet, I'm sure Mina would forget them. Better to have it out where she'll see them," Gina said with an innocent smile, but loud enough for Mina to hear. From over her shoulder, Peter could see Mina reach back and flip the bird at Gina.
"I'll make sure she remembers," Peter said, turning back to the dishes. His senses spiked and he stiffened as an arm wrapped around his shoulders.
"You're such a responsible, young man," Gina said, almost affectionately. "How do you not have a line of girls waiting for you to sweep them off their feet?"
Peter didn't look at her, hiding his sudden blush, but he felt like a wounded seal with a shark circling around him by how his senses were flaring. "It's a real mystery, huh?" he said.
Gina hummed and then let go of him, retreating back to the living room. "By the way, I'm going to be staying the night, so I'll take the spare bedroom," she said. "Don't stay up too late, Peter." She hopped up the stairs and moments later, Peter could hear the bathroom door close.
Only then did he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Even after the past few weeks, Peter could not figure out how or why Gina set him on edge every time she walked into the room. At first she had been professional and respectful, and she kept Mina in line and busy. But lately it seemed like the mask was slipping and showing a bit more of a playful, teasing side of her. A side that seemed to like asking awkward and uncomfortable questions.
The other day:
It was a delicate procedure, calibrating the web shooters. Too little force and they'd never reach their target. Too much and they'd overshoot. He had to set the range just right-
Knock knock
Peter flinched and bumped the trigger, spraying a web across his door. The handle rattled, but the door was stuck fast. Peter went to take it off, but his senses prickled as he approached his door.
"Peter, are you in there?" Gina called out.
"Yeah, I'm here. I'm just, you know, busy with stuff." Peter Parker, master of excuses.
The handle rattled once more. "Why is the door stuck? Did you lock it?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to focus on this work." Peter quickly looked around his room and then quietly threw a few clothes onto the floor. "Also some of my clothes are in the way and my room is a mess. You don't want to see it, trust me."
There was a moment of silence, and then Gina spoke in a low voice, "Peter… are you watching porn?"
Peter felt like he'd been punched in the gut from the bluntness of her tone. "What?! No!"
"I understand that you're a healthy young boy…"
"No! No no no no no! Listen to me!"
"And that you have urges to settle, but keep in mind that we do have to go to the store soon."
"But I'm not doing that! I'm just…" Peter racked his brain for a suitable excuse, "building some Lego sets my friend gave me."
There was a long silence before Gina spoke again. "Finish with your Legos and be ready to leave in half an hour." Peter got the sense she didn't believe him.
Later, he was sure she hadn't told Mina about it… until Mina suggested getting a box of Legos with a shit-eating grin on her face.
It wasn't like Peter had much dignity anyways. He was only grateful that Gina seemed to have some limits, though she did like to push and prod when he least expected it. As far as Peter could tell, Gina wasn't hostile or had any ulterior plans in motion. It left him with two hypotheses: Gina was playing a long game, or his new senses were glitched when she was around.
'Why can't superpowers come with an instruction manual?' Peter wondered. 'Who do I ask if I have a problem? Avengers Tech Support?' Peter snorted at the thought of Bruce Banner trying to walk him through the problem over the phone.
Peter shook his head and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Gina was wrong though, he already had plans to stay out late. Once he was done with the cleaning, he said good night to Mina and swiped her helmet while heading for his room. It would be the last night he'd use it as the goggles he had found at the local thrift store were in excellent condition, but needed new straps after they broke when he tried them on. Fortunately, he just planned on practicing his mobility again tonight with a side of stopping some muggings and purse thieves.
Just as he opened his window, Peter heard a knock on the door.
"Hey Peter, are you still up?" Mina said.
With incredible reflexes, Peter yanked off the helmet and webbed it just outside the window. He stripped off parts of his suit and shoved them under the bed. "Just getting ready for bed," he replied, calmly as he could. "You need something?" He hoped that would be enough to deter her from barging in.
The gamble paid off as the doorknob didn't turn. "Nah, I just wanted to check up on you since the funeral's coming up. Did you take my advice?" she asked. "You've been a bit busy since then."
Peter let out a small sigh of relief. There was no need to fake an answer for her. "Yeah, I did. I'm just working on some little projects that might help people. Ben was always willing to help others. I just want to pass it on."
"Well that's good. Do you need any help? I'm good with a wrench or just lending a hand."
"No, no, you're already helping a lot," Peter said, feeling a stab of guilt about the helmet. "Besides, this is something I need to do on my own. I can handle it." Grateful as he was, he wasn't about to put her in danger, or anyone else if he could help it.
"Alright, if you're sure." The noise outside the door sounded like Mina began to leave, but then she came back. "Oh, and have you seen my helmet? I thought I put it up by the door."
Peter, who had a hand out the window to reach for it, said "Uhh, no? Maybe it's in the laundry room?"
"I haven't checked there yet. Thanks, Peter. G'night!" The hallway floor creaked as Mina walked away.
Peter counted to twenty and then grabbed the helmet and swung out the window.
Peter spent the better part of an hour practicing his parkour. It was simple enough to calculate the swings in his head, but another thing to shave seconds off of an awkward route where an emergency might be. Every second counted when lives were in danger. Peter reached the goal post once again and checked his watch.
"Oh come on! I had it that time!" he groaned as the timer displayed an embarrassingly high number for the course he arranged. He had been so sure that cutting between those apartments would have been a good shortcut, but then he had overshot the alleyway he meant to go through.
"Okay, one more time." Peter hopped up to a ledge and mentally traced out his path. He crouched into a running stance and-
Behind you.
Peter spun around as he jumped aside, anticipating the danger. But as he looked behind him, there was no assailant to be found. Falling back onto a railing, Peter scanned his surroundings, but found no one waiting in the shadows.
"Huh, maybe I'm more tired than I thought?" Peter mused. "One more run, and then I think I'll call it a night." Peter got back into his running stance, but as he did, a slight prickle went up his spine.
Watching.
Peter whipped his head back in the direction he felt it from. He stared at it, and 'it' stared back. Then Peter laughed. "A cat? That's what I'm worried about? Guess I really am tired." The dark tabby meowed and started to walk up to him. "No, I don't have any food for you, kitty. Go find a really big rat for yourself." The cat meowed again and rubbed against his leg. "Being cute will not make me have any food to give you." As if understanding his words, the cat now ignored him like a pile of fish bones. Peter shook his head. "Cats."
Once again, he crouched down, and this time, he jumped off the building. He was going to beat his time and go home for the night. Peter swung past the first few buildings, flew around a corner, and raced for the nearest skyscraper to give him a boost in altitude. He stuck his web to the window and threw his body into the arc, waiting for the last moment to let go and launch him high into the air. As he reached the apex of his jump, Peter looked out across the city lights below him.
"Man, I wish I had a camera right now."
Dodge from above!
Shocked by the sudden alert, Peter ducked reflexively, but he was still an easy target in mid air. Realizing his mistake, Peter shot a web for the nearest wall and pulled. But as he did so, something flew in close and grabbed his helmet, ripping it off of his head. Peter crashed into the wall he grappled to, disorienting him for a second, before he scanned the skies for his assailant.
There! The figure vanished around the corner of a building but Peter caught its profile. It looked like some giant, mutant vulture, but the proportions were all wrong. Whatever it was, it had Peter's (or rather Mina's) helmet and he was not losing that!
"Time to play 'Follow the Birdie'." Peter launched himself down the path the Birdie took. He could see its silhouette against the city lights, making it simple to spot. Peter used short swings and slingshots to speed up to it, though he was hampered by the twists and turns it took to evade him.
Eventually, Peter got close enough for a better look at it. He almost missed a turn as he did a double take at what he saw. What he thought was a bird looked more like a child with wings for arms and claws for feet. It looked like something out of a bad monster movie, except it was in front of him and had the helmet tight in its claws. Somehow, the fact that it was wearing rags shocked him most of all.
"Did I just stumble on some mad scientist's escaped experiment?" Peter pushed the thought aside and focused on catching up. Answers would come after he caught her.
It was then that the bird person looked back at him, twisting it- her body around. They made eye contact and then she winked at him before juking into a dark alleyway. It happened so fast that Peter missed the turn and had to swing around to the other end of the alleyway. But upon arriving, there was no sign that the bird person- girl, had left the place. Peter rushed into the alleyway, landing in the middle of it.
"Here birdy, birdy, birdy," he said, but the alley was as still as a pond. However, Peter's senses told a different story.
Beware. Look out. Danger.
Peter turned around, trying to pinpoint the direction, but the only thing he found was the helmet laying on the ground. Peter slowly approached the helmet, keeping an eye out for any sudden ambush. Peter picked up the helmet, then winced at the new scratches along the outside of it.
"Maybe she'll believe it was under Uncle Ben's tackle box?" he muttered to himself. He put it back on and searched around for the bird girl. There was no sign at all of her, not even a feather. It was like she disappeared, yet she had to be around.
"Hey sugah, looking for something?" a sensual voice called out.
Peter whipped around, ready for a fight, except what he saw wasn't the bird girl. The only feathers this woman had was from a neon feather boa wrapped around her neck and arms. Her clothes could only politely be called skimpy at best, and they hugged her frame far too well. Peter didn't know where to look as it seemed every point on her was provocative.
"Hey now, if you keep staring like that, I'm gonna have to start charging you for it, and it ain't cheap!" she said. She laughed as Peter realized he was staring and decided to look off to the side.
"S-Sorry! I was looking for this girl with feathers on her arms," he said. He tried counting the bricks on the wall to distract himself.
The lady giggled. "Ooh, you mean little ol' me?"
"N-No, I mean she looked like she was part bird or something." There was quite a lot of mold on these bricks. The building could use a power washing.
"I don't know about this 'little birdie'," she said, slowly approaching. She stopped just a few feet away. "But, if it's birds you want, hun, then how about I take you to my little 'love nest', hm?" She started to lean forward…
"Oh wow! Would you look at the time? I think I left my oven on and my fridge is still running. I'm just gonna go take care of that. Have a nice night!" Peter shot a web and pulled himself out of that fire. He raced across New York searching for any problems to solve, even saving cats from trees. Anything to get his mind off… whatever that was.
It was going to be a long night..
The prostitute stared after the boy who just crawled off like a spider on fire. She held her hurt expression for all of five seconds before bursting out laughing. She even leaned against the wall as her gut clenched from trying to burn the sight into her memory. After a few minutes, she calmed down, and then dropped her disguise.
Her skin turned to a mocha brown and her eyes shifted to yellow pupils on black sclera. Her hair flattened out and flowed down like a waterfall, bleaching to a pale white as it did, and it moved to surround her body in a spiral. Her height shrunk, her clothes melted into her skin, and her body slimmed down to something younger.
Doppel, back in her preferred form, grinned like a shark as she pulled out her phone and called a number labeled 'Deadbeat'. It picked up on the first ring.
"Hey Zombina, looks like I owe you twenty bucks. That tracking chip in your helmet worked, and you're not going to believe what I caught Peter doing. I already can't wait to see the look on his face when he meets the boss."
A/N: I've been sitting on this one longer than I am willing to admit, but I needed the following chapter to line up with it.
Good news: Work has finally let up on me to have some free time and I've been doing a lot of thinking and planning for my fics recently, ironing out some details.
I'm definitely gonna love writing up the rest of this fic.
