“Ow”
“Sorry, just stay still” Jess said, wrapping a piece of cloth awkwardly around my head.
“I’m trying” I grumbled. The ear hadn’t stopped bleeding so Jess had decided to wrap a makeshift bandage around my head. It felt unnecessary and awkward, but I was too tired to do anything about it. She finished, tucking the cloth underneath itself and pulling firmly.
“Better?”
“I can feel the difference already” I muttered sarcastically.
“Oh shut up”
I stood, wincing slightly.
“Ok, now it’s time to find Spider-Man” I said, dusting myself off.
“Right, you said that earlier, but how exactly are we supposed to find him?”
“You” I said pointing to her. “You’ve got his memories right? It’s kind of stupid I didn’t ask this earlier, but you’d remember his number right? Why don’t you just call him?”
“He’s got a different number”
“Well what about friends or family” She shifted around awkwardly, averting her gaze.
“Jess?”
“I… when I was still Peter my phone would do most of the heavy lifting for stuff like that. I can barely remember a few numbers”
I stared at her incredulous.
“A few numbers is more than enough. Why didn’t you call earlier? We could’ve skipped the Alchemax”
“T-there numbers might’ve changed”
“You haven’t even tried them!”
“I…” she trailed off silent. I felt a pang of guilt before remembering I’d just been shot in the ear. I pushed the phone into her chest.
“Call someone. Just ask them to give us Peter’s number. Say it’s for work or something” I said. Jess shook her head.
“Jess? Come on, it’s just a phone call”
“They won’t recognise me” she said her voice trembling.
Oh. Right. I hadn’t even considered that. She’d be hearing the voices of loved ones and they’d think she was a stranger. I hadn’t even considered how that’d make her feel.
“S-sorry” I said pulling the phone back. “O-ok. I’ll call. Just type in the a number and I’ll call”
Jess seemed to hesitate for a second before taking in a deep breath and nodding. I handed her the phone.
She typed in a number quickly, clearly knowing it by heart, then pressed the phone back to me. I hesitated, heart thumping in my chest, then pressed call. The phone rung as I held it, waiting for someone to pick up. It rang repeatedly, before going to the answering machine.
“No luck” I said. Jess let a sigh of relief. “Who was that?”
“My- Peter’s Aunt”
“Ok. Any other numbers? ”
“The only other numbers I remember are my friends personal phones. They all probably still be at work around now. The only one I can think of who won’t be is MJ, but she never picks up numbers she doesn’t know”
“What if we called her ten times?”
“She’d probably block you”
“Crap” I said. I pressed the phone to my forehead and closed my eyes. We could wait, but any longer and my Dad might actually kill me when I got home. There had to be another way, right? Right?
“Wait… he should be on the company website. The vice project lead scientists from the dossier thing were. Do you remember if y- he was?”
“We didn’t have one back at the old place”
“Wait it doesn’t matter. If he works there, he’ll probably be on it. His email and work phone should be attached. We can literally call him” I said. I pulled out my phone and frantically began searching. I pulled up the Alchemax homepage and searched his name. Nothing besides a few hits for negative energy research.
“He’s not there”
“What?”
“He’s not there. Does he not work there anymore?”
“How would I know”
“Right, sorry. Anyway his name’s not coming up. What now?”
“Dammit. Then- wait Bella. We saw her working there”
“Right. Bella- surname?”
“Aribella Fishbach. Fish B-A-C-H”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Bella Aribella Fishbach?”
“No, first name Aribella, last name Fishbach. Fish B-”
“Don’t worry, I got it” I said, searching quickly. Her profile popped up. I clicked and my eyes scanned the page. I smiled. “Perfect!”
“What?”
“I was right. It has mobile and email. It’s probably a work phone so calls might be monitored but we can still call her”
“Knowing Mr Banks, probably. Maybe we could just tell her to call us on her normal phone”
“How?”
“Let me think… tell her about some random detail about Gwen’s 21st a stranger shouldn’t know”
“What?”
“Tell her she got nearly blackout drunk after Sajani challenged you to see who could down the most shots in ten minutes”
“O-ok” I said. I hesitated, but pressed on the number and called, putting it on speaker. We glanced to each other, both teeming with anxiety as the phone rung. Then it picked up.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice said.
“Uh… Gwen’s 21st. You got nearly blackout drunk after Sajani challenged you to see who could down the most shots in ten minutes”
“W-what?”
“Call us on your normal phone Bella”
“Wait w-“
I hung up. We waited frozen in place as we stared at my phone. I
“That seemed overly ominous,” I said, “should we call her back?”
“No, it’s fine” Jess said unconvincingly.
“You sure?”
“Yeah”
We both looked back to the phone, waiting in silence for a few seconds longer.
“Ok maybe you should call h-”
Suddenly it rang, a different number this time. I answered.
“Hello?” I mumbled nervously. I was met with the sound of rushing air as I
“Who the hell are you? What do you want?” the same voice said.
“I… uh…” I stuttered.
“Peter Parker” Jess blurted out.
“W-what about him?” the woman said, the worry clearer this time.
“Tell him to call us” I said.
“Why? Who are you?” she said. I glanced up at Jess. Right, it’s not like she was just going to agree. Crap, I hadn’t thought this far ahead.
“Just say something” she mumbled, pulling away from the phone.
“You say something” I whispered back.
“Hello?” Bella said.
“S-sorry. I…” I glanced to Jess. “W-we… uh… have something that belongs to him”
“Is this a threat?”
“W-what? No! Just… can you give us his number, or tell him to call us? Quick, it’s kind of important” I said, awkwardly scratching the back of my head. I was met with silence.
“H-hello?”
The call ended. Crap, she hung up on me.
“You totally botched that” Jess said.
“Yeah? Well you didn’t help at all” I said, scowling.
“You were the one supposed be doing the talking”
“Never mind. If he doesn’t call in the next ten minutes I’ll just give these to the Daily Bugle or something. Maybe post them on the internet”
“Doubt that will help. If the police are working with that Kingpin guy, they probably won’t do anything until Alchemax gets rid of there stuff” she said. I groaned.
“Well, we’d get the scientist guys”
Jess face twisted into something between a thoughtful look and a frown.
“Jess?”
“It’s nothing” she said. Welp, I wasn’t going to question that.
I stretched, then sighed. This superhero thing was tiring.
“Anyway, once the ten minutes is up, I’m taking you to the hospital”
“What?”
“Don’t think I forgot about that. You still look like a good breeze will knock you over”
“Save it. This superhero thing is my shtick to begin with”
I stared at her blankly.
“Just go to the hospital. I don’t want you to keel over and die”
“Nope”
“Jess-”
“You can’t make me”
“You’re acting like a real child, you know that?” I said. She shrugged. I sighed and sat on the floor. Jess sat next to me.
“I hope I don’t get charged for calling that ambulance for nobody” I mumbled.
----------------------------------------
Peter W Parker
Peter sat at his desk, gently rubbing his knee. He stared blankly at the papers on his desk, the sounds of commotion just beyond his office distant. He gently adjusted his glasses and turned to the picture of Liz he kept. She smiled brightly in it, a rare sight these days. Probably for him too. He frowned, bringing a hand to his temple, and resting his head against it. For a moment, his eyes slipped back towards the ultrasound photos. He looked away quickly, his frown deepening further. He needed to get rid of those. He didn’t want Liz to give him a surprise visit and break down.
A small knock came from his door.
“Come in” he said. The door opened and a short, balding, fifties something man slipped inside donning a lab coat and a smile.
“Peter, you’re back”
“Yep. Sorry I didn’t come see you sooner Doc. I-”
“Nonsense, it’s me who should be apologising” Otto said, stepped around the desk.
Peter stood, and they embraced each other in a hug. They held each other tightly for a while, neither saying anything before pulling away. As they pulled away, Otto grabbed Peter tightly. He looked Peter in the eye as he held him.
“I know these things can be hard, but you’re strong. You’ll get through this” he said, his eyes gleaming with sincerity. Peter nodded, his lower lip trembling.
“Thanks” he mumbled.
“No worries” Otto said, stepping back. “Sorry to have my visit be so short. We should talk to each other again soon, maybe grab a coffee, get back into the swing of things”
“Sure thing Doc” Peter said.
“Bye Peter. Remember, my door’s always open” Otto said. Peter gave him a small wave.
Otto smiled back, before stepping out the office, and closed the door softly behind him. Peter felt his smile slowly fade and he sat back down, returning to staring at his desk. He moved in his seat, his joints protesting slightly.
He let out a sigh and turned back to his computer. It was weird being back at work now. But it helped him forget about everything. Well, not really, but it at least made him feel like he was doing something. He raised his hand, looking at the nasty scar that cut across it. He frowned again. He needed to put the costume back on. How long had it been now? Three weeks? Four? He’d thrown out one of his suits the last time he’d gone out.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Liz? He hoped. He reached for it and pulled it out, his frown deepening. It was Bella. He felt a pang of guilt. They hadn’t spoken in a while. It was probably good that she was calling. He could finally do something with her and the others. He’d been wanting to talk to them again. He answered.
“Pete?”
“Hey Bella, it’s been a while. Sorry about that” he said with an awkward chuckle.
“Pete listen to me very carefully. Somebody just called me. I think they know who you are” she said, her voice shaky. Peter froze.
“W-what?”
“They called me and told me to tell you their number or give you there’s. They - shit - Pete this is bad. I think they-”
“Wait slow down”
“Shit I saw it on the news, but I just thought you- shit”
“Bella calm down. What’s happening? What did you see on the news?”
“There was a big fight in Brooklyn. Near where I work. Your webs were at the scene. And like twenty minutes ago there was an attack on a Brooklyn police department. People were saying they saw you. I think whoever called me, this is them”
Shit. Was someone was impersonating him and trying to ruin his reputation? Or was there someone else with Spider powers. But then how did they know? A clone? But Dr Warren was long dead along with all his cronies. And he wasn’t exactly sure how the memory thing worked, but the clones had all been made before the others had found out. How do they know Bella knew?
“Pete?”
“Sorry. What’d you say?”
“I tracked their phone call. It came from somewhere on Clermont Avenue. They said they had something that was important to you” she said. Time seemed to slow. That was close to where Liz worked.
“Dammit! What did they want?”
“J-just your number”
“Did you give it?”
“No. Never”
“Did you hear anything in the background?”
“No”
“I- Ok. Thanks for telling me Bella”
“Just stay safe. Pete” she said.
“Will do” he said, hanging up. He stood, quickly and rushed out his office as he called Liz. His body ached but right now it didn’t matter. If Liz was taken from him after all this, he didn’t know what he’d do.