We held each other for a while, before Liz pulled away, wiping at her eyes.

"Feel better now?" I asked with a small smile.

"Yeah" she nodded, sniffling. I wiped the tears from her face and she took my hand holding it tightly.

“So, how long was I out?”

“Two days. Well nearly three” she said, glancing out the window to a sky of pinks and oranges.

“Crap. I missed MJ’s birthday” I said. Liz let out a hearty laugh as she wiped at her eyes.

“What’s so funny?”

“May said you’d say that” she said, smiling. “She’s going to be so glad you’re awake. So glad”

“Everyone’s ok, I take it?”

“Yeah”

I nodded, wincing slightly at the pain in my side.

“I’m sorry I worried all of you”

“It’s fine Petey. I’m just glad you’re okay”

“I’m glad you’re all okay too” I said. “Wait, what else did miss?”

“Well there’s a lot of political stuff going on and Oscorp are getting a lot of backlash”

“Oscorp? What happened?”

“Stuff regarding tax evasion and money laundering. And the stuff with that Electro guy came to light. Apparently, he was an employee and they tried to cut him off completely after a workplace incident”

“Right, right”

“You knew?”

“Yeah, I meant to tell the media, but I was so busy and… is Harry ok?”

“…I don’t know”

“Didn’t Susanna call?”

“Nope. Nothing”

“Dammit…” I said. I stared at the ceiling, my gaze hardening.

“He’ll be okay Pete. He’ll be okay” Liz said. I nodded, silent.

“What about Max?”

“Max?”

“Electro”

“They arrested him”

“He’s alive!?”

“Did you… did you try to kill him?” Liz said, anxious.

“What? No, no. He got caught directly in an explosion. I thought he was dead”

“Oh, ok” Liz said relieved.

“I don’t kill people you know”

“I know I just… I thought he hurt Harry and…” she trailed off unsure whether or not to say more.

“So he’s in the Hortz-Bruig?” I asked. She nodded.

“What about all the stuff that happened in Brooklyn?”

“What stuff?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“A bunch of Bears members attacked Dr Warren’s transport. It would’ve been when he got arrested. Was that mentioned anywhere?”

“Not that I remember”

“Dammit”

“What’s wrong?”

“One of the vans escaped. It- Dr Warren kidnapped some people. There was a person I knew. He was the only one I didn’t rescue. He’s probably long gone by now”

“I’m sorry”

“You don’t have to apologise. It’s just… frustrating” I mumbled. “Anything else?”

“Oh, they reported that the Prowler went to jail. He was a former cop”

“The Prowler? Only one?”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell? There’s two. I fought two. Neither moved until the MDA showed up. They should've caught two” I said, turning to her. Liz shrugged.

"Maybe they only reported on one?"

"Maybe" I sighed. But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. Something weird must've happened. An escape? But they would've reported something like that. What was I missing then? I winced, and shifted in my bed, looking to Liz again.

“What about the political stuff?”

“Oh. One of the state senators came down and gave a speech. He's using this whole thing to push for a metahuman registration bill or something”

“Wait, they’re blaming the explosions on metahumans?”

“Yeah. They found evidence that the Chinatown explosion originated from a Bear’s drug lab. They’re saying the Bears recruited a task force of metahumans to go around blowing up places in return for their leader’s release. All the blame’s being put on Mr Ice”

“Great, they’re pinning it on the guy whose already in prison. Not fishy at all. What about Dr Warren? He hasn’t come forward? I guess he wouldn’t given how it would put his clones in a really bad light”

“Dr Warren? Clones?”

“Oh right, sorry. He’s the guy who made the clones. The... people in the big green scorpion suits. He was working for Lupus. Used to be a professor at ESU?” I said. Liz stared at me eyes wide, as she covered her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

“I think he’s dead Petey”

“What?!” I said. Liz pulled out her phone, and tapped away, her fingers gliding across the screen. She stopped, and her eyes zipped over the text as she read frantically.

“Can you read it to me?”

“Well renowned New York scientist kills himself in light of embezzlement charges” she said, looking up at me, eyes wide.

“Holy shit”

“T-the bugle announced it early today. I just remembered because you said he was a scientist in that lab downtown”

“Shit. He killed himself? That doesn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t… First Prowler, then putting the blame on Mr Ice, and now this? What the hell is happening?” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“I don’t know”

We sat in silence for a few seconds. This whole thing was too convenient. Way too convenient. The media pushing this metahuman narrative, a bunch of negative press for Oscorp, and a senator using the incident to push for this bill, all of it was fishy. I'd thought it was the Bears before, because they'd gotten away with the clones, but what if there was more to it. I mean the Prowlers had been there too. What if it had been a job for someone else? The Bears weren't organised enough to do something like this without Mr Ice. Plus, they were a drug cartel, not a terrorist group. I frowned. Somehow the police just happened to find the remnants of a Bears drug lab in the middle of that massive wreck? What evidence were they even using to back up this metahuman suicide bombers narrative? Did it matter? All the scientists had been killed by the Bears except Dr Warren. He'd been one of, if not the only guy who could provide evidence and valuable proof for what had actually happened and he'd just killed himself? I mean what the hell? If I hadn't found out about Dr Warren's lab, I wouldn't have even known about any of this.

And what about the people who'd sent my clones after my loved ones? They'd known what they were doing. Known how to command the clones. But how? A scientist that worked for Warren? But why? Weren't they all dead? Dammit, none of it made any sense. What did I do? What could I do? If I came forward, how could I prove the scorpion suits were clones? Would it be better to start trying to dig stuff up on this situation and then coming forward when I found out enough or to make it public from the get go? If I just came forward with these claims and something was happening, then whoever was behind this would start targeting me too. Suddenly I turned to Liz, my eyes wide.

“Did my identity get exposed?”

“No, no”

“Nothing on the news? Nothing at all?” I said, still on edge.

“No, Petey” Liz said, clutching my hand tightly.

“Thank god… wait, how did I get here then?”

“Some fireman found you. Took off your costume and wrapped you in one of those protective blankets. He told the medical staff you were high priority” Liz said. I frowned.

“How’d you know that?”

“He called me from the phone you had. Last number you dialled. If he hadn’t found you… well I don’t want to think about that” she said, squeezing my hand with a shaky smile.

“I- Wow. Ok. Thank god for that” I said, with a sigh, leaning back in my bed. “Did you catch his name?”

“He didn’t say” Liz said.

“Well, he’s my hero. Seriously” I said, closing my eyes. I took a deep breath, relieved. There was so much to think about, but right now, I I felt a hand brush through my hair before settling on the side of my face. I opened my eyes, watching as Liz looked over me with relief, her eyes still wet. She leant forwards and kissed me quickly before pulling away. I pulled her back, hugging her tightly. She let out a small, emotion filled laugh.

“I should probably get the doctor. And call everybody. They're so worried” she said.

“I know it's a bit selfish, but can we stay like this for a while?” I asked. Liz chuckled slightly.

“Yeah" she said, snuggling closer to me. "This is nice”