Light & Shadow

Chapter 12

"It's gonna be a while before people start thinking that again, but this will be a start." I sigh and grab Peter's phone. "You're going to have to talk to him."

"Why?"

"Because, I can't risk setting any systems off. It looks a lot less suspicious for you to call than a mystery number." I stare down at the phone in my hands. "Plus, I haven't talked to him and Trish since the week before I had to leave."

"Even when you were in London?"

"No, not even then. I couldn't even visit my Gran's grave while I was there." Tears prick at the back of my eyes, "You know they took care of her during the Blip? Trish wrote down, recorded, and cataloged all of her stories for when I got back. Will brought her fresh flowers every Friday like I used to do when I lived there, and both of them were with her when she passed."

"I remember you telling me about that. They kept in contact after you left, even though I couldn't tell them why."

"How are they? I only know so much."

"They miss you. After you left, we kept looking for you. They kept reminding me that we wouldn't until you wanted to be found, but we still kept going." Peter's hand finds mine and interlaces our fingers. "Guess they were right about that."

"I mean, I learned from the best—the best being the Avengers. It still feels weird that most of them aren't around any more." I squeeze Peter's hand. "But they taught me everything I needed to help keep you and everyone else safe."

"I don't think they meant for you to do it alone."

I shrug and dial the number in his phone. "I have to make a call too. We need all the help we can get, and we don't have a lot of time."

"Who are you calling?" He asks as his finger hovers over the call button. "And don't you think that could be a risk?"

"I'm just calling in a few favors. Maybe, but I'm taking every precaution to make sure it's a small one." I offer him a smile as I leave. "Go ahead and call Will. I'll be back in a minute."

I can tell Peter's not ecstatic over the idea of me making a call, but it would take too much time to explain who I'm calling and why. So I just leave it be for the moment.

"ARTI, turn on the voice disguise and call Eddie." I sigh as I hide myself in the bathroom.

"Are you sure? He wasn't exactly happy during your last conversation."

"He's got a raging symbiote attached to him; the man's never happy. But he owes me a favor, which I can use right about now."

"If you're sure." I nod, and ARTI activates the voice changer programming as he starts the call.

"Hello?" Eddie asks, sounding peeved as usual.

"Eddie, long time no speak." I pause as I can hear him groan on the other end. "And here I thought you were missing me."

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point, I like it. I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

"I don't owe you anything." He snaps, and I can't help but laugh.

"Sure and you got all those leads by yourself." I retort. He doesn't respond to that. "I need the video your employer is about to go live with. You know which one."

"You know I can't stop a story this big."

"I don't need you to stop it, Eddie; it's far too late for that. I just need the original file to prove it's fake."

"What do you mean it's fake?"

"Exactly what I just said. The video was fabricated to frame Spiderman, and to put a false identity out in the world to serve a ridiculous vendetta."