THE BLADERUNNER ｡PETER PARKER

thirty-eight

chapter thirty-eight.

"I'll see you in a couple weeks!" Mason exclaimed with a grin, his arm around Marcy's shoulder as they stood in the centre of the crowded airport. J.D's grip tightened on the handle of her suitcase as she stood next to Gus, forcing a smile at her brother's obliviousness. Currently, he thought she was homesick and wanted to spend Herb's fiftieth birthday with him instead of being in England for the next couple of weeks.

But Mason also wasn't dumb. He had his suspicions about why Steve had shown up on their doorstep, as well as why J.D had suddenly started packing. He had confronted her a couple of days prior, but she had lied straight to his face, telling him that Steve was just updating her on the whereabouts of the Avengers. He had trouble believing her, but to him, he thought that after what happened a few months prior, she wouldn't lie to him again.

He was wrong.

J.D felt ever so guilty standing before her oblivious twin, about to leave for a mission that she knew would eventually go wrong. She wanted to stay with him, but there was a part of her that urged her to go and help people in need.

A sigh escaped her lips and she burst forward, pulling Mason into a tight hug. Her brother laughed and released Marcy, using both arms to hold her for what would be the last time for a while. He would miss her, but he knew that if Gus was with her, she'd at least be safe. He'd be staying with Marcy and her family, as they were happy to take care of him for the next week. "Promise me you'll be careful, J.D."

"I promise," J.D chuckled softly, and Mason kissed the side of her head, before letting her pull away and move over to Artie. She had no time to speak before she tugged her into a warm embrace, though this one held a different emotion than Mason's. "Artie, I'll be okay."

"You'd better be," she mumbled, holding her for a few more seconds. J.D could feel her anxiety radiating off him, and the regret was slowly seeping into her bones. She didn't know why she was going either, but she knew how traumatised J.D had been coming back from New York, and she didn't want to have to see that again. "Love you, Jessie. Love you too, Gus. Take care of yourselves."

"We will," Gus assured her, before grabbing J.D's arm lightly and pulling her away from the other three, as he knew that if they waited a moment longer, she'd decide to stay and they'd miss their flight. "C'mon, Jessie."

J.D hesitated for a moment longer, her lips tightened into a thin line. She wished that time could just stop for a moment, and she could be herself for a little longer.

"Go, J.D, you're gonna be late," Marcy laughed, and J.D couldn't help but smile. She reached her hand up to her mouth and blew a kiss to the beautiful friend, before waving at her brother and Artie.

"Bye, guys," she said softly, though her voice was nearly drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the airport. She sighed, before turning around and grabbing her suitcase handle in one hand, Gus' hand in the other. She glanced over her shoulder to see the two girls and boy behind her, huge grins on their faces and happiness clear in their eyes.

None of them knew what was to come, though in all fairness, neither did she.

+++

"You made it," Steve called out from the airstrip. He was in the same hoodie and track pants, and J.D refrained from rolling her eyes, instead settling for a queasy grin. Steve ran forward and handed J.D a blank business card. The teenager furrowed her eyebrows, before flipping it over and seeing three different numbers scrawled in blue pen. "If you ever need me, I'll be on the other end of the number at the top. The other two are contacts for Tony, one's Happy Hogan's number, the other is his personal phone."