The Stark Internship

Part 25

PETER

Mr.Stark gives me an injection early in the morning and I can feel it kicking in. There's a burst of energy within me that I haven't felt for weeks.
'How you feel?' He asks, looking up at me.
'Really...really good.' I say, as if rediscovering my powers all over again, 'Is it cool if I go out? This is the longest I've ever, y'know, stayed on the ground.'
He walks with me to the balcony and we stand in the fresh morning air.
'Sure kid, go wild. You should be in the same place as you were before these bullets surfaced. You're not untouchable though.' He says, a last minute warning.
'I know, trust me.' I say. I look away quickly. I can't help but think of May.
'This isn't over yet though, you know that right? These bullets came from somewhere, and they were made to target you. You've got an enemy somewhere.' He says, looking out across the city - as if he might be able to spot the person who's targeting me.
'So what's new?' I say, having become used to my fair share of enemies. He smiles; he's used to it too.
'Alright, Pete.' He says, stepping back slightly from the railing as I clamber over it, standing on the edge, 'Be safe. Call me if you need me. Keep me updated. Have fun, I guess.'
I turn to look at him and smile as I let go of the railings, begin free-falling to the ground below. I catch a brief glimpse of Tony leaning over the edge, watching as I fall.
A chorus of 'Spider-Man!' And 'Look, up there!' Gets louder and louder until I shoot a web out and swing round, speeding down the roads.
Nothing has come as naturally to me as it feels to travel in this way - fast and fluid. No effort required. It's literally in my blood.
I take a sharp corner, when Shuri starts to call.
'Heya what's up?' I answer, landing to perch on the edge of a building.
'You're using the suit?' She asks, 'why didn't you tell me?'
'How do you know?' I ask, surprised. I hear her yawn and the slight clacking of a keyboard.
'I set of a GPS. It does sort of mean I'm stalking you but...it also means I can tell you to go...two blocks east, opposite the library.' She says.
'What?' I ask.
'Just go.' I jump off the building and start swinging, unsure what to look for.
'On it.' I say. I hear shouts before I see what's happening, I crawl along the side of one building for a better view. 'Active shoot out.' I acknowledge, 'two...three being used as shields...thirty or so civilians on the floor. Four bad guys.'
'You want me to get Tony?' She asks, a spike of fear in her voice.
'Nah, this is just a Tuesday for me.' I say.
'It's Thursday.' She replies.
'Baby steps.' I say as I swing down and silently trap the fourth guy in a web, and dangle him from a streetlight. One of the other guys has abandoned his human shield and dropped her to the floor. I wait as she crawls away, out of the danger zone before I carry on my work.
I wait, bide my time, and strike as soon as one of the men lowers his weapons against his hostage.. I take the other two's weapons and swing them round to hit the third guy before he has time to recover.
The two hostages drop to their knees and duck to shelter. I draw the action away from them, and carefully dodge as I go about tying the three it's in my webs.
In a matter of seconds they're all hanging from the light posts.
I hurry over to check on the two hostages hiding out behind a parked car, and they seem shaken, but okay.
'I thought they...I didn't...' one girl stutters, in the verge of tears. The boy is a pale white, trying to comfort the girl but clearly no better than she. I help pull them to their feet.
'Can I take you guys anywhere? Hospital? Police station? Home?' I ask, 'you have somewhere to go?'
'My sister's just over there.' The girl says, but the boy stays quiet.
'I...uh...I'm not sure. My house is a couple blocks from here.' He says, 'I can probably make it.'
'What's your address?' I ask. He reports it back, quickly.
'Shuri, you there?' I ask.
'Yeah, looking it up now.' She says, 'okay...he's right. It's only a couple of blocks. Go down James' street, turn right at the Pizza place, and it should be on your left.'
'And the police?' I ask.
'On their way.' She replies.
'I love this GPS.' I say. I turn to the girl, 'will you be okay?'
'Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you. So much.' She says. She hesitates a moment before turning away, running to a girl I assume to be her sister.
'Okay, you're with me. Let's go.' I pick him up easily and start swinging as Shuri told me to.
'This one here.' He says. I drop him outside hi house and he looks flustered, but better than how I found him.
'You got someone in there?' I ask, not wanting to leave him alone.
'Yeah, my boyfriend's up there. I'll be fine.' He says, 'Thank you. You saved my life.'
'I do my best.' I say. He smiles and I nod slightly before pulling myself up and off and back into the action.
'You do your best?' Shuri says, laughing slightly, 'if you don't watch out your going to be the new Captain America.'
'Is that a bad thing?' I ask, laughing.
'I'm just saying.'