𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 | parker²

viii. curiosity killed the cat

"Uh—"

Up ahead, one of the weapon distributors that Peter and Aster had fought the night before appeared at the opposite end of the hallway, joined by a new man. Aster spotted them first, subtly nudging Peter in the arm as hard as possible to get him to notice. He winced and held his elbow, shooting her a look until he followed her gaze and finally saw them.

"Crap." Blanching, Peter ran across the corridor to hide behind a wall. Aster followed him but Ned stood there, confused. "Come on, come on, come on," Peter chanted under his breath, beckoning Ned over.

Bewildered, Ned glanced around before shuffling across the corridor to join Peter and Aster by a classroom window. Peter peered around the corner, watching the two sellers stroll down the hallway. "Hey, that's one of the guys that tried to kill me."

Ned's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Yeah."

"We gotta get out of here," Ned urged, keeping his voice low.

Aster shook her head, leaning over Peter to peer around the corner. She reminded herself that Ned didn't know she was there last time. "No, we have to follow them. They were the ones using that weapon on you, right?"

Understanding what she was trying to say, Peter hurriedly nodded. "Yeah. Maybe they can lead me to the guy that dropped me in the lake."

Ned made a face at him. "Someone dropped you in a lake?"

"Yeah, it was not good."

When the two men disappeared into a classroom, Peter turned and held both palms up, taking a few steps backward. "You two stay here."

Aster resisted her urge to follow. "You sure?"

"I got this," he promised her.

"Do you?" Ned dubiously asked.

Peter didn't respond, sneaking away. Ned leaned after him and called his name, unable to get a response. Behind Ned and Aster, there was a knock on the classroom window. Both of them turned around, staring at the entire chess club with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" the student who knocked asked.

"Nothing," Ned told him, leaning against the window with a nervous laugh. He placed one hand on his hip and nodded to the kid. "You good?"

Aster covered her mouth to keep her laughter in, grabbing Ned by the bicep to pull him along. "Sorry. C'mon."

───

Luckily for them, Peter was able to shoot a tracker on the distributer's boot, ensuring that they would be able to track him back to his main supplier.

The three of them were gathered together in Peter's room, with Aster sitting on his bed and Ned propped on the floor next to her. He was inspecting Peter's web shooter in his hands, holding it up in awe. When he pressed a button on the side, a hologram model of the city was projected above it. "This is so awesome."

Hopping on the bed next to where Aster sat, Peter inspected the model with a proud smile. "I know, right?"

Aster leaned forward, poking the hologram. At her touch, it became more detailed and defined. "They're in Brooklyn," she pointed out, following the tiny moving dot.

As the night went on, the three teenagers tracked their every move. Through each different state it traveled through, they watched it closely, doing homework and eating snacks to pass the time.