The Disappearance of Jessica Stark

13. Bird Man

     One person died that night, and it was Ames. The other injuries were merely flesh wounds. Stephanie and I stayed with his body until the paramedics arrived. The ambulance picked him up, wrapped him in the black tarp and sent him away. Westbrook returned from the woods, but without April. She had escaped.
The three of us drove back to the school.

      Cop cars had swarmed the school with guard dogs and officers lined the sidewalks. I sat in the passenger seat, my head buried in my hands. A crying couple stood near us by an ambulance with a sheriff, that must be Ames parents. Mr. Westbrook stood outside, he was speaking with a few of the officers. Stephanie stood next to me, I was sitting in the seat and she stood beside the open car door.

      She leaned against the window with her arms crossed at her chest "You can't stay here anymore Jessi" Stephanie pointed out the obvious. I nodded, not looking up to her. I've been here for too long, and look what I caused.

      The parking lot had less cars, people had fled home. Yellow tape roped the football field and the gate entrance. News reporters stood in front of their cameras and were documenting the scene "We have company" Stephanie warned a few minutes later. Westbrook broke away from the officers and came back to the car.

      Maxwell approached us wearing a hat, he ducked his head slightly when the cops glanced this way "Why are you here?" Westbrook asked, narrowing his eyes.

      Maxwell stopped at the car, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets "I've come back to help you find April. What she has done to that boy is utterly heartless"

"Yea" I scoffed, leaning back in the seat. She won't get away with this.

                                        ***

      I walked up the dark porch stairs and pulled out the key. Laura has hopefully put her kids to bed. It's nearing eleven o'clock. I stuck the key in the door and opened it, the kitchen light was on. Stephanie, Westbrook, and Maxwell followed after me.

      "Oh my God, Jessi" Laura ran to me, pulling me in for a hug "I heard about everything, are you okay?" She placed her hands on my cheeks.
I nodded. Laura then noticed the group behind me, she pulled back with a confused expression. She darted her eyes to me and took a deep breath "I'll uh... put on some tea"

      Ten minutes later we were all crowded around the kitchen table, Laura stood at the counter and was swirling sugar into the cold tea. Maxwell had brought some information and was explaining everything to us "Adrian Toomes is the owner of 'Toomes Salvage Company', or he was the owner before Damage Control took over and ran his business into the ground back in 2012 after the New York Alien Invasion"

      "And Damage Control is in alliance with my Father" I knew that. He hired them to clean up New York. That's Toomes incentive.

      "Yes, they took over his job and left him in the dust. Toomes was instructed to give up all of the remaining alien material, but he decided to keep some for himself and he harvested the leftover Chitauri technology. He's created weapons and suits and just about any dangerous thing that you can think of"

      "And how does that red head girl play into all of this?" Stephanie asked Maxwell. A moth danced around the hanging kitchen light.

      "April" Maxwell breathed "She hates the Stark family just as much as Toomes does, maybe more. You in particular" he gestured to me "In 2014 she escaped from her Arkham-styled insane asylum and vanished. She found her way to New York and met Toomes"

      "She worked for him" he continued "She salvaged and built things for him. When word got out that you disappeared, she asked him if she could search for you. It was her solo mission, outside of Toomes little cult. He instructed for me to work with her... I didn't want to but you can't talk back to the boss. April said that if I didn't help, she'd kill my family. And of course I got scared because April possesses these fire abilities just like you" he looked to me "she could kill me in a heartbeat"

"And you worked with this Toomes guy before the company fell apart?" I asked.

"Yes" Maxwell nodded.

      "Then..." I tried to think of the best way to ask this questions "why don't you... hate the Avengers? Why are you helping me?"

      "The Avengers saved the world" Maxwell said plainly "sure there have been a little hiccups here and there, but personally I feel safe knowing that they are out there"

      "You're risking your family right now Maxwell" Stephanie "you should go home and be with them"

      "I want my family to be safe, but I also want the world they live in to be safe. Taking down Adrian and April is a step in the right direction" he said with a stern face and a level of assertiveness that I wish I had.

      "How are we going to stop them?" Matthew asked, his foot tapping on the ground under the table.

      "I know where their base is" Maxwell offered some help " and I know where a few more illegal weapon exchanges are taking place. Also, your friend Henry Morgan is being held at the main facility" Stephanie sat up slightly in her seat when she heard that. I remembered how anxious and unfocused she was earlier this week, it was right around the time when Henry stopped contacting me. She must know Henry.

      "Maybe you and I can go stop those exchanges" Westbrook pointed back and forth between himself and Maxwell "Stephanie can go rescue her Father with Jessi-"

      "Father?!" I found myself saying out loud in pure disbelief. Did my ears hear that correctly?I mean, it made sense, Stephanie Morgan and Henry Morgan. I'm just not sure why I didn't put that together earlier. Of course everything is never as it seems. Stephanie nodded her head to me, pressing her lips into a thin line.

      "Henry is your father... that makes perfect sense" I whispered to myself, but also loud enough for everyone to hear. It occurred to me that the two were similar. They had the same facial structure and expressions. Different hair color and eyes though, Henry's eyes were deep brown and Stephanie had sharp blue eyes. She had jet black hair as well, and Henry had brunette hair. But nonetheless they looked the same. I'm an actual idiot for not putting that puzzle together.

      "Hey guys" Laura's low voice called from the living room. Something was happening. I stood up from the kitchen table and walked into the living room with her. She stood motionless at the TV screen, her arms crossed in front of her. I walked to her side, my eyes glued to the news channel.

      A large bird man had attacked a Staten Island Ferry in New York City earlier this morning. He wore a large black and grey suit with massive wings carrying him in the air. Whoever he was, he wasn't as good as Falcon.

      From the helicopter that was recording the incident, a red and blue webbed hero was swinging around the ship, trying to hold the vessel together. More footage showed him taking on a squad of guys on the back of the ferry. It was Peter Parker.

      "Hey, Maxwell?" I asked over my shoulder, my eyes not leaving the screen. The channel froze on an image of the flying Bird costume man. His wings were spread out like an eagle, and from here you could see the green eyes glowing from his helmet "Earlier on the street you said something about... A Vulture?"

      "You're looking right at him" Maxwell leaned against the wall and looked down to his feet "Adrian Toomes, or as others know him, The Vulture"

      I watched as Peter used his strength to hold the Ferry together, using nothing but his webs and relentless effort. That was until the Iron Man flew out of nowhere and helped to push the ferry back together. It felt strange to see my almost boyfriend and Father working together.
"Maybe he can help us too" I thought, knowing that if Peter has encountered this Adrian Toomes, then he can maybe help us take him and April down, and then we can rescue Henry.

      "Wait, how are we suppose to take down Princess Azula and that flying bird?" Stephanie broke the silence after a few moments of dramatic quietness. We all stood spread out in the living room, the tv still rolled the Spider-Man footage.

I smirked "cue the training montage"