"So, what did you find?" Tony asked the moment I walked in.
I held up the flash drive. "Let's find out." Tony motioned to his workstation. I found a port on the side of the table and slotted the drive in. Immediately the screen began to populate with files.
Tony took over quickly, scanning through the folders with a speed and precision I could barely follow. He looked focused — really focused. I watched as he scrolled through file after file before suddenly stopping on one.
He took a step back. "What's Subject D?"
I sighed. "Hell."
"You know what it is?"
I nodded. "It's a programme I shut down a few months ago while working an assignment for SHIELD. A pair of scientists were being coerced into recreating a genetic mutation. They were forced to experiment on children."
"How do you force someone to experiment on children?"
"You threaten their family and friends," I said flatly. "I managed to put a stop to it, but... it was too late. A lot of children had already died." I paused. "What I don't understand is the connection. What does a child experimentation ring in New York have to do with an elderly scientist in Italy?"
"If it was Wyndham — who is a top-tier geneticist — I'd wager they used his foundational principles in their experiments. From what you've told me, it would be a natural fit." Tony turned back to the computer and began typing, then sighed. "Alright. Good news and bad news. Which first?"
"Good news."
"Good news is I found a Ghost drive." Tony pulled up a locked folder on screen. "It's labelled 'Super Serum Project.' But—"
"—Let me guess. The bad news is you can't open it," I sighed. "Can't you decode it or something?"
"Can't. It's a corrupted file." Tony brought up what looked like a half-finished jigsaw puzzle on the monitor. "Only half the data is here. The rest is missing. Without the second half, the file won't open at all."
"So you can't even access it because part of it simply doesn't exist," I said, the realisation settling in.
Tony nodded. "Exactly. But there are plenty of other files we haven't looked through yet. Want to give it a shot?"
I nodded. We spent the night going through everything else on the drive. We couldn't find anything solid linking Wyndham directly to the scientists I had busted. By the time we were done, it felt like a wasted night.
The next day Tony flew us back home. I thanked him profusely; he brushed it off. He'd gotten to spend some time out of the lab and away from his PTSD. I tried again to suggest he speak to a therapist, but I don't think he heard a word of it.
———
When I arrived home, I found Ben and May there to greet me. I told them all about the trip — the version Tony and I had agreed on beforehand — and for the most part they seemed to buy it. That night I went down to my basement lab and began inputting the data from Wyndham's computer, cross-referencing his notes with Peter's parents'.
I was deep in the work when I heard my basement window slide open. I turned around, and guilt flooded through me as Felicia shimmied inside.
She landed in front of me with a smile. "Hey, Tiger." I couldn't help it — I smiled back. I stood up and walked toward her. "So, when did—"
Her sentence was cut off as I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her onto the basement bed, and kissed her in a desperate attempt to replace the memory of Jessica's lips with something I could actually live with.
She moaned softly into the kiss before slowly pressing me back. "I didn't realise you'd missed me quite that much."
"You have no idea," I murmured against her forehead. "Italy was hell."
"Why?"
I sighed. I supposed it was time to come clean. I told her everything — how my parents had been involved in the origins of my powers, how their experiments had somehow given me what I had, and how I'd gone to Italy to find the man who might be responsible for their deaths.
Felicia listened in silence throughout, sitting beside me with her hand in mine. When I finished, she let out a slow breath. "I... I think I understand why you wanted to handle this alone. But, Peter—" she slapped the back of my head, "—you were planning on breaking into someone's house and you didn't even think to ask me?!"
I rubbed the spot sheepishly. "Sorry. But—" I crossed to my desk, picked up a black cardboard box, and handed it to her. "I got you something."
She opened it and her face lit up at the sight of two expensive-looking black leather boots with silver trim along the sides. "Alright, I suppose I can forgive you." She giggled.
I smiled — but slowly the reason for my guilt surfaced again. Why I had been so insistent on finding the most expensive pair of boots Tony could locate. Why I had nearly wiped out my savings doing it.
Jessica Drew.
I shouldn't tell her. I knew I shouldn't. But lying to her wasn't how you kept a relationship healthy, and I knew that better than most. I took a deep breath. "Felicia... there's something else."
Felicia looked up, worried. "What?"
"When I was at Wyndham's place, I... I ran into a girl." I paused. "She was like me."
"Like you? What do you mean?"
I looked at her. "She had the same powers I have. And she's the one my pheromone ability came from." I sent a small spark dancing off my fingertips, letting the blue bio-electricity speak for itself.
"She has spider powers?!" Felicia looked startled.
I nodded. "Wall-crawling, enhanced speed and strength, and I think... I think she also has the pheromone ability. A stronger version than mine. She can project them outward — make people angry, sad, happy... And I think we were both affected."
"We?"
I felt my face go warm. "She... she kissed me." Felicia's eyebrow rose slowly. "I didn't kiss her back — I swear. She kissed me, I was completely blindsided, and then I don't know what happened — her powers must have gone haywire or something, because suddenly she's trying to strip me and I couldn't think straight."
"So... you're telling me she drugged you?"
I winced. "Essentially. Yes. Please don't be angry — I genuinely didn't want it to happen."
She was silent. A long silence. She looked up at me with eyes that could have cut glass. "Did you kiss her back?"
"No. Never." Something inside me felt raw. In this entire life, my relationship with Felicia was the one thing I could truly call my own. Everything else — the powers, the suit, the name — Peter Parker could have built all of that himself. But her? She was the one choice I had made because I had actually fallen for her. The only one. And to think of losing her—
Felicia stood up. I went rigid, dreading what was coming. She walked toward me. I silently begged God, the One Above All, Stan Lee — anyone who was listening — to make her stay.
And then her arms wrapped around me and her head came to rest on my shoulder.
"I'm not leaving you because some Italian woman kissed you, Peter," she said quietly. "Did you really think I would?"
I couldn't help it. The relief hit me so hard that it blurred my vision. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "Losing you is something I don't think I could survive, Felicia. Never you. I'd give up being Spider-Man before that."
Felicia didn't say anything. She knew I wasn't looking for pity — just forgiveness. She rubbed my back and held on. I was behaving like a child, and I knew it. But for her, I'd play the fool every day for the rest of my life if that was what it took.
She finally broke the hug and looked down at the boots. "Wait — is that why you bought me such expensive shoes?"
I chuckled. "Yeah."
"Hm." She looked thoughtful. "Maybe you kissing other women isn't entirely a bad thing."
I rolled my eyes. "I sincerely hope not."
"So — are you going to show me what you found?" Felicia asked. I nodded and led her to my computer, walking her through everything on the drive — Richard's notes, what I'd pulled from Wyndham's system, all of it. I explained what each file contained, including the Ghost drive Tony had found.
"And that's pretty much everything," I finished. "Not much to show for it, but at least I know my parents weren't out of their minds."
"Hm," Felicia said, studying the screen carefully.
"What is it? Do you see something?" I asked.
"Yes — that," she tapped one of the folders on my father's hard drive. "What's that one?"
I looked. "His university papers."
"Why is it here?" she asked.
"Well, I think he just loaded everything he had relating to the super-soldier serum onto the one drive," I shrugged.
"But did he really start working on it that early?" Felicia asked.
I nodded. "Yeah — he was something of a genius. Like yours truly." I grinned, clicking on the folder — only for an error message to appear. I frowned. "What the—?" I read it. File corrupted. Cannot be opened.
"You can't open it?" Felicia asked.
"No," I muttered, then paused. "But... wait. No. That can't be—" I couldn't believe what I was thinking. I dragged the file from its location and dropped it into the Ghost drive. I entered it into the partition and suddenly a new message appeared on screen.
File complete. Opening now...
My eyes went wide.
"Holy. Shit."
The file began to repair itself — slowly at first, then all at once — and as it opened, hundreds upon hundreds of numbers and formulae cascaded across the screen. I was struggling to follow the notation when a new window suddenly filled the monitor.
The HYDRA logo, in green.
"Shit!" I grabbed the main power cable to my computer and yanked it from the wall.
"What was that?" Felicia asked sharply.
"Something very bad." I tore open the computer casing and began dismantling it — destroying the CPU and motherboard with my bare hands before ripping out the hard drive. Then I went for the wi-fi router and pulled out the cables. No point taking risks.
"Peter, what's going on?" Felicia asked, alarmed.
I turned to her. "Something very bad. That symbol — it was HYDRA."
Felicia looked confused. "You mean the Nazi organisation Cap fought?"
I nodded. "The very same."
"What the hell does your dad have to do with a dead Nazi organisation?!" Felicia demanded.
I looked at her. "Who told you they were dead?" I turned back to the scattered remains of my computer. "I need to take this to Fury."
"Can SHIELD even be trusted with something like this? Didn't they try to weaponise that glowing cube?" Felicia asked.
I smiled. She was far sharper than people ever gave her credit for.
"Yes, they did... but if HYDRA comes for this drive, it's better off in SHIELD's hands than mine. That way Ben, May, MJ, and Liz won't end up in the crossfire." I exhaled slowly. "It's a risky call. I know. But it's the only one I've got."
"Have you got a way to contact him?" Felicia asked.
I nodded. "Something like that."
———
The Next Day:
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" I asked her for what must have been the hundredth time.
"Yes, Tiger — I've told you. I'm your girlfriend. I'm not letting you do this alone," Cat said firmly as she adjusted her goggles and checked her equipment.
"But if you come with me—"
"—What? Fury will figure out who I am? Please. I doubt it's a mystery to him already. That photo of us kissing is all over the internet — MJ even had it framed on her wall. He has a very good idea of who I am. So don't even think about arguing, Mr. Spider."
I smiled. "Yes, ma'am." Doc continued to cruise through the sky. Slowly the clouds parted, and the SHIELD Helicarrier appeared through the break. It looked better than the last time I'd seen it, though the retro-reflective panels still weren't operational — which was presumably why they were stationed out here over the mid-Atlantic rather than flying over populated areas.
"Hello? Is the pilot of the unidentified flying vehicle reading this? This is restricted airspace. Stop immediately or you will be shot down. This is your final warning," came a voice over the radio.
I sighed, put on my helmet, and activated the comms. "It's me. Spider-Man. Clearance code: I'm a bloody Avenger — let me on board."
"Ah, right — just one moment." A pause. "You have been granted clearance to land. Please use the upper strip near the main entrance."
"Understood. On my way." I cut the comms and eased the car in for landing.
"This is so cool," Felicia whispered.
I smiled as I set us down on the Helicarrier deck and climbed out. Felicia followed as we walked toward the main entrance, where Clint was waiting — quiver on his back, bow in hand.
"Hey, Legolas! Good to see you!" I waved.
"Spider." He rolled his eyes, touching his earpiece. "Fury, it's really him... yeah, I'll bring him up."
"So how are things?" I asked as we walked inside, the air pressure noticeably lower the moment we crossed the threshold.
"Better. No Norse gods have tried to take over my mind today, so I'd call it a good day so far." Clint looked at Cat. "Is this a date?"
I shook my head. "Sorry — strictly business this time."
We walked onto the main deck, which looked considerably better than my last visit. I found Fury at the helm, entering commands into his console. He spotted us and didn't look particularly pleased. "You two are supposed to be in school."
I shrugged. "Are you serious? It's summer vacation."
"So why aren't you at a mall with your girlfriend?"
"Something important came up. And she's right here, so this is sort of a date."
"No it isn't," Cat said flatly.
Fury rolled his eyes. "Look, kid — I don't have time for this. If you're going to show off—"
"—My father worked for HYDRA," I said.
Fury stopped. He looked at me with his one good eye. "Excuse me? Did you fail history class? Because HYDRA—"
"—Is very much alive," I said. I reached into my bag and produced the hard drive. "My parents were working on something before they died. I found the files. When I tried to access them, the HYDRA logo appeared. Now, correct me if I'm wrong—" I glanced at Felicia "—but didn't HYDRA collapse at the end of the Second World War?"
"They did," Felicia said. "Which means the only way their logo ended up on a file created within the last decade is if they're still active, or—"
"—Someone is using their name," I finished. "Either way — you need to look at this."
Fury studied the drive for a moment, then took it from my hand. "You were right to bring this to me. I promise — no one else gets their hands on it."
"Good." I lowered the voice modulator and dropped my voice. "I've embedded a kill virus inside that drive. If anyone so much as thinks about accessing the data inside it, it'll fry your entire system — and the drive along with it."
"Really?" Fury raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Really," I said. "Don't test me."
He almost smiled. "Don't worry. I won't." He handed the drive off to a nearby tech officer and turned back to me. "Anything else?"
"No." I reactivated the voice modulator. "I'll see you at the next Avengers briefing or whenever."
Fury rolled his eyes — then they landed on Felicia's outfit. "Is that the equipment I issued you?"
I nodded. "Yep."
"You took military hardware and handed it to a thief?" Fury asked, an eyebrow climbing.
"Cap's a by-the-book kind of guy, Tony's erratic, Nat's killed more people than a plague, Clint's sole talent involves a stick with string on it—"
"—Hey!" Clint protested.
"—And the Hulk has to keep his blood pressure down, which rules out a certain kind of stress relief. None of us are perfect." I turned and walked away, Felicia smirking at my side.
"And what about you?" Fury called after me.
I glanced back over my shoulder. "I have a problem with people who betray my trust. See you around, Fury."
Fury turned to Barton after we'd gone. The archer grumbled quietly, "I really do not like that kid."
"Truly?" Fury asked, mildly surprised.
Clint sighed. "He's just an insufferable pain in the backside."
"That he is," Fury agreed. "I have absolutely no idea how Agent Romanoff manages him."
"She, ah... she has a way with teenagers, I suppose," Clint shrugged. "You should see her with a baby."
———
With me:
I took Doc back up into the air and headed toward the city. "That went better than I expected," Cat admitted.
"Maybe," I said. "I still feel like handing it over was a mistake."
"You said it yourself — their hands are the safest ones... You weren't lying about the virus, were you?"
I shook my head. "No. It'll fry their systems the moment they try anything. Shouldn't be a problem." I paused. "I'd guess right now Fury has his best people working backwards through my dad's trail, trying to piece together what he was building."
"And when they figure out it's the super-soldier serum—"
"—They might try something reckless," I muttered. "I really hope Fury isn't that short-sighted."
I landed Doc in a secluded field on the outskirts of Queens. We changed back into civilian clothes, and I drove us toward the city.
"So," Felicia said, stretching in the passenger seat. "What do you want to do today?"
I smiled. "No plans. Any ideas?"
"Shopping?"
"Sounds perfect."
I drove to the nearest shopping centre and parked. Felicia practically dragged me into the cinema, where she bought tickets for some sentimental romantic film. I hated it. Felicia, while she would never admit it, loved exactly this sort of movie.
At the climax, the hero was boarding a train for Chicago when his love interest arrived on the platform at the last second. He waited until the very last moment, then leapt off the moving train and into her arms. He should have broken both ankles. Instead, through the reliable magic of film logic, they were together and everything was perfect forever.
I walked out laughing. "Why on earth did he think jumping off a moving train was a good idea?!"
"Oh, stop it, Peter — like you wouldn't do the same," Felicia huffed.
"Yeah, maybe, but I have spider powers! That man was just a regular human being!"
"It was still romantic."
I smiled. "So — you want me to throw myself off a train for you?"
"Oh no, Mr. Parker. For me you'd better be jumping out of aeroplanes," Felicia smirked.
"Well, I think I can—" I stopped dead.
I felt it — a pull in my core. Raw, animal instinct clawing at the edges of my mind. It wasn't love. It was lust, ugly and mindless, and it was filling my head like smoke. And through it all I could smell maple syrup drifting on the air.
"Peter? What's wrong?" Felicia asked, watching me.
"I..." I shook my head and scanned the crowd around us. "She's here."
"Who? Who's here?"
"Jessica Drew," I said through my teeth. I swept the area and then my eyes landed on a figure in an overcoat and a baseball cap, standing further along the concourse. We locked eyes. I knew it was her. I could feel it.
"There," I said, pointing.
Felicia stepped in front of me. "Think you can keep it together, Tiger?"
"I'm trying, Kitten," I said, watching as Jessica began moving toward us. "We need to go."
"Why? We can deal with her here," Felicia argued.
"Not in front of all these people," I said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward the stairs.
We had barely reached the staircase when Felicia pulled her hand free. "Peter — stop! You're hurting me!"
"I'm sorry," I exhaled. "I didn't—"
"It's fine." She rubbed her wrist. "Let's just go."
I cursed at myself. I always had to be careful with my strength. But with half my mind locked in a losing battle against the instinct to rip Jessica Drew's clothes off, self-control was getting harder.
We reached the parking garage. It was empty. We ran for the car, our reflections strobing across the polished paintwork of the vehicles we passed.
Then a dark figure leapt onto the bonnet of a parked car and launched itself at us. "Get back!" I shoved Felicia aside as Jessica came down on top of me.
I caught her, used her momentum, and kicked her up and over my head. She flew, landed on her feet. I landed on mine. We looked at each other across the garage floor. The raw tension between us was oppressive. This was really, truly getting old.
She lunged forward with a kick aimed at my head. I ducked and went on the offensive, falling back on everything Nat had taught me.
It was like a dance. We knew each other's rhythms — or at least could anticipate them. My spider-sense kept the worst of her hits at bay while I landed my own. We closed the distance between us. I could feel her desire seeping into the air around us, and I pushed it away, hard. She seemed to be doing the same.
She drove a punch into my ribs. One bruised. I countered with a knee to the gut, then went for an elbow to the face. She blocked the elbow and cracked her fist across my nose — like a hammer coming down.
Jessica was well-trained. Every attack she deflected, every kick she redirected. But she had never faced someone who matched her agility — it was the one quality she had leaned on in every previous fight to give herself the decisive edge.
So I did what any sensible person would do in my position.
I cheated.
She threw a punch. I sidestepped, grabbed her by the hip, and hurled her across the parking garage. She was back on her feet in an instant — just in time to see a bolt of blue bio-energy coming directly for her head.
"Wha—" It connected, sending her crashing backwards into a parked car with enough force to crumple the door.
I stood there, catching my breath. "Damn."
"You okay?" Felicia asked from behind me.
"Little battered," I said. I turned to Jessica and found her hauling herself upright from the wreckage. The car alarm was screaming. She snarled and drove her fist into the bonnet, crushing the speaker system into silence.
"Why are you here?" I said.
"You stole something from me," she said, voice low and dangerous. The physical distance between us was enough that the worst of the pheromone pull wasn't reaching me.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.
"Drop the act. I know it was you." She narrowed her eyes. "You even smell the same."
'So she can track pheromones too,' I noted. "Fine," I said. "I only took what belonged to me."
Jessica blinked. "What?"
"Wyndham isn't who you think he is, Jessica. He isn't a good man. He's a monster, and he serves monsters." I kept my voice steady. "He killed my parents. He left me an orphan, and he did it all in pursuit of power — to build an army of people like us. Weapons. Like he's turned you into one."
"What are you talking about?!" she snapped. "Wyndham is a good man — a friend of my father's! He looked after me when no one else would! When I—"
"Do you know what he used your blood for?" I asked. Jessica looked at me. "He took samples from you, didn't he? Did he ever tell you why?"
"I... it was for a cure," she said quietly. "To help me."
"No, Jessica. It was to replicate your powers." I held her gaze. "He had his people experiment on children. Not teenagers — children. They died, every one of them, in the effort to create more people like you and me. Do you know how many? Thirty-one. And it would have been thirty-two if I hadn't stopped them in time."
"You're lying!" Jessica roared. "He would never—"
"Ask him!" I said sharply. "Ask him what was happening in that lab in Hunts Point. Ask him what he did with your blood. Ask him the names of the thirty-one children he had killed."
Jessica looked like she wanted to take my head off. She charged, screaming, hands beginning to glow a ferocious green as she swung wildly at me. I stepped back from the sloppy attacks when suddenly the energy erupted outward, the concussive force sending me off my feet and slamming me back into a concrete pillar.
"Peter!" Felicia cried out, turning on Jessica immediately.
I groaned, hauling myself upright. Mental note: figure out how to do that. I looked up to see Felicia taking Jessica on directly, landing a hard kick to her sternum that sent Jessica stumbling back, winded.
Then Jessica raised one hand and fired a blast of green energy directly into Felicia's gut.
"Felicia!" I launched myself off the pillar, caught Felicia as she flew backwards, and brought her down gently. "Are you alright?"
"Stings like an absolute nightmare," she hissed, looking up at me. "Where is she?"
I scanned the garage. Empty. "She's gone."
"Damn it." Felicia got to her feet. "That was like fighting you, except she didn't hold back."
I nodded. "Yeah... but how did she find me?" I worked backwards through it. "Last night, when we connected the drives... Wyndham must have embedded a tracking programme in the files. It probably pinged my location to him the moment it went online."
"Is that even possible? You destroyed everything the instant it happened."
"Yes, but that was only after the HYDRA logo appeared. The signal could have been transmitted well before it announced itself." I felt the floor drop out from under me. "They know where I am. Which means... Aunt May. Uncle Ben."
Felicia and I ran.
We hit the car, I floored it, and I ran three red lights on the way back. There was no one to stop us and I didn't care.
We reached the house in record time. I threw the front door open. "May! Ben!"
We ran from room to room. The kitchen was empty. Dishes sat in the drying rack. The living room television was still running — Ben's evening news programme, mid-broadcast.
"This can't be happening," I muttered, pacing.
"Have you tried calling them? Maybe they went out because of an emergency," Felicia said, keeping her voice even.
"Maybe." I grabbed my phone and dialled Ben's number. It rang. And then someone picked up.
"Hello?! Uncle Ben?!"
Silence on the line.
Then a voice. "Hello, Mr. Parker... or should I say, Spider-Man?"
I felt the blood drain from my face. "Wyndham," I said. "Where are they?"
"Safe, for the moment," he said calmly. "But not for long. We have them. If you ever want to see them alive again, bring me all of your father's research and I will return them to you. You have one hour. I will send you the location by text."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
"Felicia," I said.
"Are they alive?" she asked.
I nodded. "For now. He wants my father's drive." I paused. "And he knows I'm Spider-Man."
"How?"
I shrugged. "He saw me use my powers. He knows I live in New York and have ties to the Baxter Building, which has been associated with Spider-Man publicly. It wouldn't have taken much to put it together." Or he had simply accessed SHIELD's files on me, but I kept that thought to myself.
"What do we do?" Felicia asked.
"I'm going to get that drive back," I said, walking out the front door.
"We are going to get that drive back," she said, right behind me.
I turned around. "This isn't a joke, Felicia. The people I love most in this world are in danger."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go alone!"
"I am not putting you at risk—"
"—I am not letting you walk into a fight with Nazis by yourself!" she shouted.
We stared at each other.
She wasn't going to yield. I knew what life without Ben and May would mean. But without Felicia—
I nodded. "Fine. But please... don't die."
Felicia smiled. "Wasn't planning on it, Tiger."
We got in the car and I drove to a quiet, secluded spot. We changed into costume, and I pulled out my phone. "So — Fury isn't going to just hand that drive back once he knows what's in it."
"No," Felicia agreed. "So?"
"So I've got backup." I dialled. The line picked up.
"Hey, it's me. I need a favour. It's extremely dangerous. Possibly a federal offence. And you may have to fight SHIELD." A pause on the other end. I sighed. "...Yes, you can borrow the car on Sunday for your date."
———
Half an hour later:
"Unidentified flying vehicle, state your identification. This is restricted airspace—"
"It's me, you muppet! Who else do you know with a flying time machine?!" I snapped into the helmet mic.
"Easy, Tiger — he's just doing his job," Felicia said mildly, checking her weapons and kit. We were both in full costume.
"He'll live," I waved it off.
"Spider-Man, you have clearance to land. Please use the upper strip near the main entrance."
I brought Doc in and we disembarked. Instead of heading to the bridge, we broke right toward the rear laboratory section. We ran through the corridors until Felicia spotted the drive — connected to a terminal.
I walked in. The lab technician on duty stood up sharply. "Hey — you can't be in here!"
"I can, actually," I said, stepping past him and grabbing the drive, disconnecting it. I looked at the tools and equipment the tech had assembled around it and let out a low whistle. "Impressive setup. With this kit, what would it take you to crack in? A week?"
"A day, if I bypass the system lock and route all available server capacity to it," the technician said, almost reflexively.
"Nice work." I extended my hand. "Spider-Man."
"Oh — ah — Leopold Fitz," he said, shaking it automatically.
"Fitz. Good to meet you. We should swap notes on this stuff sometime." I gave a parting wave. "Come on."
"Ah — you really aren't supposed to take that!" Fitz called after me.
"Tell Fury I said thanks for looking after it!" I called back.
Felicia and I jogged back through the Helicarrier. She looked around. "It's quiet. Shouldn't there be more people about?"
"Yes," I said. "There should." We broke into a run.
We made it out to the open deck — and pulled up short.
Three people were standing between us and the sky. Felicia and I stopped.
"Hey, team. Good to see you all."
"Spider-Man. What exactly do you think you're doing?" Cap asked. Nat and Clint flanked him. Cap's shield was in hand. His uniform had changed since I last saw him — the darker black and grey field costume now, sleeker and more practical.
"Nice new look, Cap. Works much better," I said. "And as for what I'm doing — I'm taking back something I left in Fury's keeping, under the understanding that no one would try to access it. Which, as it turns out, someone did."
"That item became SHIELD property the moment you handed it over," Clint said, arrow raised, a red dot hovering over my chest.
"That may technically be true — but the terms under which I handed it over have been broken, so I'm exercising my right to reclaim it."
"This isn't a laughing matter, Peter," Nat said. "This could be considered an international crime."
"Coming from you, that's... quite rich." A low blow. But the clock was ticking.
"Peter — whatever's going on, we can handle it together," Cap said, raising a calm hand. "We don't have to do this."
"Cap, you should be on my side right now."
"And why is that?" Cap asked.
"Because HYDRA has my uncle and aunt."
Nat's eyes went wide. Clint's expression softened. But Steve — Steve looked genuinely horrified. "W-what? But HYDRA is gone—"
"They're not." I held up the drive before pocketing it. "They're active. They have my family, Cap. And they want this to release them."
"What's on the drive?" Clint asked.
"My father's research."
"Into what?" Nat pressed.
"...The super-soldier serum."
Steve looked stricken. "Peter, you can't hand HYDRA that drive. If they get hold of it—"
"—If I don't, my uncle and aunt die!" I said. "I have to do this, Cap!"
"No, you don't." Cap raised his shield.
I exhaled slowly. "What are you going to do? Fight me?"
"If I have to. Yes."
A long beat. I gathered my thoughts and sharpened my focus. I'd need all of it for the next ten seconds. Cap crouched. Nat fell into a ready stance. Felicia and I mirrored them—
And then we both turned sharply left and sprinted.
"What the—"
"Now, Johnny!" I shouted into my comms.
"On it!" Johnny erupted from the back of the car in a column of flame, dropped low, and blasted a wall of fire between the three Avengers and us.
"Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to fight you?!" I laughed.
Cap took a running leap through the gap at the edge of the flames and charged after me. "Smart move, Pete — but it ends here!"
"Does it though!" I turned and fired a repulsor beam at his shield — obvious block, as expected — using the moment of distraction to drop a liquid nitrogen canister at his feet.
It detonated. Ice crawled across the deck and locked his boots to the surface. "Sorry, Cap!" I yelled — and I could have sworn I saw him grinning.
Felicia and I piled into Doc, Felicia taking the wheel and flooring it. We launched off the deck, Johnny dropping into the back seat and cutting his flames mid-air.
"Okay, I'll be honest," Johnny said, sounding disappointed. "That was a little anticlimactic. You promised me danger."
"The danger," I said, turning to the car's HUD, "is just getting started. Keep her steady, Kitten — I've got an idea."