THE WEEK HAD PASSED BY PRETTY SMOOTHLY, and soon enough, everyone has forgotten about the whole Spider-Man fiasco and decided to focus on what seemed to be the most important even as of the moment: Homecoming.
Granted, the first day drove her insane. Three more boys asked her out - but the one who stood out the most (not in a good way) was a senior, who got a pretty public humiliation from Liz and Betty when he, an ninteen year old (according to Liz, she was his classmate in a lot of classes and he had to repeat a grade) had asked out a girl who had just turned fifteen to a dance while making perverted comments that made Nina want to ruin his life.
And she did - not an hour later, she marched up to Principal Morita's office and had him expelled.
"About time he got expelled." Liz pointed out a few hours after the news broke out in school. "He's such a creep. He kept on making girls uncomfortable in P.E class."
"His friends need to leave, too." Betty grumbled, taking a very aggressive bite out of her pizza. "I hate the senior boys. Flash is an asshole but at least he isn't a pig."
Instinctively, the three of them look towards where Flash Thompson usually sat at, only to see the boy sticking out his foot to make— you guessed it— Peter Parker trip slightly. He didn't fall though, much to Nina's dismay.
Peter, oh so observant, caught the three gazes almost immediately. Even from a distance, Nina had spotted the rollercoaster of emotions that ran through his eyes all at once - first, pure annoyance as he glanced at Nina first, then his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as Liz stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed in concern, then finally, awkwardness as Betty shot him a tight smile.
"Maybe Flash has a crush on Peter," Betty pointed out once the lanky (Nina refused to believe that Peter Parker had muscles so she will continue to think of him as lanky) boy ran over towards one of the less crowded tables with his friend, Ned, and Michelle. "You go out of your way to make someone's life miserable unless you really like them."
"Or you're obsessed." Liz added.
"Yeah, obsessed."
Somehow, Nina found herself growing defense at the statement. "What it Flash just hates Parker... y'know? Or maybe it's a power play? A way of trying to be the center of attention?"
"Nah, Flash is obsessed."
"Obsessed." Betty clarifies once more.
When the day ended, Nina found herself craving for one of Delmar's sandwiches once again. The girl thought about it all the fucking time - she's starting to wonder if it's becoming a genuine problem.
Nevertheless, she walks over to the Deli with Betty, who happens to leave nearby, by her side when classes ended. Betty had expressed her views of thinking that Delmar's was a tad bit too overrated, so Nina had used her powers onto the girl to condition her mind that Delmar made the best sandwiches she's ever eaten.
It was a bit petty, sure, but Nina had meant no harm. If she was going to suffer with this whole ordeal of craving the sandwich every moment every day, at least Betty was there to suffer with her.
The bell chimes when the two teenagers walk inside the shop, immediately being hit with the aroma of ingredients. There was a small line at the counter, and if it weren't for the fact that it was broad daylight and she didn't have her sunglasses, Nina would've cut through the line.
"— and have you seen his new suit? It's a whole downgrade, man. The cool costume is gone and he looks like how he did a few months ago."
Betty, always the one to be curious chimed in, "You guys talking about the Spider-Man?"
The two boys who were deep in conversation turned around. They were wearing uniforms and looked nice enough, so Nina's normally really defensive state gets lowered a bit. "We were, actually."
"About how crappy his suit looks like right now."
"Betty, we don't have time for this," Nina whined quietly, eyed darting between the two boys. Even though the context of why Parker had downgraded suits confused her too much and made her want to question the boy, there was an itch in her brain, and somehow, she was growing defensive of the hero she'd tried to murder multiple times.
"What's the matter, doll?" The unknown boy smirked. By the looks of it, Nina figured out that he was going for a flirty look but he sort of just looked weird in her point of view.
"Oh, she hates Spider-Man," Betty teased, jabbing her shoulder softly before confusion took over her. "Although he saved your decathlon team... hey, do you still hate him?"
"I do." Nina says rather proudly.
"Who dya' like, then?" The boy who was seriously starting to got on her nerves questions, the smirk never leaving. "Iron Man? Black Widow? What's her name... Mendax?"
"As a matter of fact, I do like Mendax." Nina defended her alter ego, growing more and more defensive as each second passed by. Why was the boy giggling? She was a great fake hero. During those nights when she went out patrolling, she had tried her best to choreograph her moves in a way that she would look more like a vigilante type of way and not a trained-assassin-who's-sent-to-seriously-harm-you type of way.
"Really? I don't know, she's kinda useless."
"She stopped a bank robbery." Nina pointed out with a glare, clenching her fists in annoyance. How dare this random boy call her useless? One look at him and Nina knows exactly what he is: a spoilt rich kid who's relying on his daddy's money and hasn't done a day's work in his life. So he, out of all people, had no fucking right to judge her.
"That's basically everything she did, though. Spider-Man is way cooler, so I don't know where you're coming from." The boy shrugs. Turning around, he quickly recites his sandwich order to one of Mr. Delmar's employees before Nina could defend herself or her alter ego.
Clenching her jaw in irritation, Nina lets those words repeat in her head again and again: Spider-Man is cooler.
Let's see about that.
...
Nina huffs, leaning against the wall as she attempts to catch her breath. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe sneaking away from her mother to steal her suit and jump around roofs to watch over Queens was a bad idea. Maybe helping all those people was a bad idea since Nina never figured out that it would be this exhausting, considering it was only done out of spite.
"Jesus, fucking..." Nina groans, grabbing the small pocket-watch stored in her utility belt. Her fingers are quite clammy, but she manages to read the time just fine. 9:31PM. "... christ."
The whole trying-to-pass-as-a-superhero thing? It was fucking exhausting - even Nina, who's probably one of the most alethic people in Midtown, was panting and gasping for air from the events that had just transpired.
But she had to admit... it felt a bit... good.
Sure, she had done it out of spite and made it her very mission to attempt to fight every sort of crime that she'd pass by, and she knew that she wasn't supposed to since her mother is a known crime boss, but somehow, it felt fulfilling; way better than how she'd feel whenever she'd beat a grown man close to death, or hurt a drug dealer who'd double crossed her mom, or injure people who'd worked against Illiana... and it was weird. It made her feel weird.
She wasn't supposed to feel like this. It felt so wrong - Where had her sanity gone? There was no way any of this was right — it's wrong!
All.
Fucking.
Wrong.
It wasn't supposed to feel this good - she's done something bad. It wasn't supposed to feel good.
The girl took in a deep breath, the pit in her stomach growing stronger and stronger as every second passed by. What is Illiana going to think? What's Valeria going to think? Nina pranced around the small alleyway, shutting her eyes in frustration as she punched a wall in pure annoyance. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
So she did the only thing she could do at the moment and curl into a ball in hopes to stop herself from panicking so much. But really, all that seemed to do was make it worse. She couldn't fucking breathe and her lungs hurt. She needed water - fuck, she was exhausted and now she's panicking and her chest is heaving and she needs to drink something or else she's a hundred percent sure she's going to pass out—
A thud. Then a grunt. "You know, people kept on telling me about the girl who stopped three bank robberies in one night then I got confused, then I realized that they were talking about Mendax, then I thought I saw you here—"
She knows who that is. She hates who that is, but Nina couldn't fucking breathe and she needed to swallow her pride:
"Water," Nina interrupted whatever Peter was about to say, grabbing her chest as she attempted to take in a deep breath.
Peter, who had snapped his attention away from the rat that was running around just seconds ago grimaced as he caught the position she was in: head tucked in between her knees, hands shaking as she cradled herself back and forth repeatedly... a very different contrast to the Nina he was used to seeing. "... what's... Ni-Mendax?"
"Water!" Nina croaked out with a large intake of air, not even having the mental capacity to use her powers as the same sentence repeated in her head again and again; She's going to kill me. She's going to kill me. She's going to kill me. She's going to kill me. She's going to fucking kill me.
Too engrossed in the swirl of her own thoughts, she doesn't even hear Peter until he's crouched right in front of her, a bottle of water in each hand. "I don't really know what you like so I got Alkaline and Mineral."
The girl snatches the water bottle in his right hand, not even bothering to know what type of water it is before she shoves her mask down gulps the whole bottle down, eyes shutting in relief of liquid finally entering her system. Somehow, it eases the fear in her mind as she tries to not think of Illiana - or whatever's in store for her when she steps a foot back into the penthouse.
Calm the fuck down. Nina reminds herself, reminding herself that the person she hated the most was watching this whole thing happen - he'll think she's weak and Nina can't have that.
Should she erase his memory?
"You... you good?"
Nina looks back at Peter, who has his weird black googles removed as he stared at the girl with something she thought she couldn't comprehend - but then it hit her. Concern.
Fuck that.
Peter sort of figured out at one point that Nina was going to use her powers on him - he just didn't know when since her eyes were pitch black. That was until Peter feels his senses start to dull, he wasted no time with shooting a small web to cover her mouth, stopping her from talking. Bullseye.
Peter looks around to see if there's any people around once again, before he leans closer to the girl and whispers harshly. "You can't do that, Nina."
The girl glares at him as she clawed on the webbing that prevented her from speaking. Who the fuck did he think he was? Her nails desperately tried to pull the webbing away from his mouth but it was no use - she couldn't remove it.
"I have a mixture that can dissolve the webbing but you have to promise me that you won't use your powers on me." When Nina rolls her eyes, Peter continues. "My Spider-Senses can feel it when you're about to use it... so I can easily web you again. It's either that or wait for an hour."
For the first time in her life, Nina is too tired to argue with Peter Parker. Nodding lazily, she makes a thumbs up.
The boy ponders for a moment, his nose scrunching when he's deep in thought. "Also no weapons and no threatening to kill me."
Nina merely shrugs. Peter takes it as a yes - that's close enough.
"Okay just... just stay still, okay? Don't open your mouth and don't eat it because it's going to taste really weird."
Nodding tiredly, Nina doesn't move as the boy shuffles closer. In all honesty, Peter isn't too much in her mind right now and in normal circumstances, she would've shoved him away, but the fear was clawing in her heart and her brain is scrambling for excuses she can make to justify her actions.
So as Peter leaned closer, his hand finding its way to Nina's jaw, wherein the girl could practically feel his breath on her skin, the girl's mind is flying off to somewhere else.
Peter, however, was panicking.
There's something adorably innocent in her features, something that makes Peter want to jump off a roof because this is Nina, the girl who somehow made his life a living hell in the span of a few days and he shouldn't be finding her cute.
"I just need to..." Peter shuts his eyes, desperately trying to throw those thoughts away from his head. "I just need to lean a bit closer, okay?"
Why should he have to say anything? Why should he have to explain? This is just Nina, baiting him as usual, this time without even opening her mouth.
He opens his eyes, setting his view at the brick wall that Nina was leaning against. You're just removing the webbing, he reminds himself. Just keep your eyes forward, just pretend that Nina's not even there. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, dropping the solution on her mouth - three drops were enough.
Slowly, very slowly, his webbing started to dissolve. Nina's head seemed to be stuck somewhere since she wasn't even affected by their proximity - her heart was beating fast and violently, Peter could hear it, but her eyes seemed lost - and although he couldn't see her brown eyes, he was sure that she wasn't even looking at him.
There it goes, a warm twisting feeling, like a blush in the pit of his stomach when he sees her pink lips with the top lip distinctly arched — holy shit, Nina had the prettiest lips he's ever seen in his life. How did he only see it now? Was it because of all the shit that came out of her mouth that he had failed to notice just how pretty they were?
Nina awkwardly rubs at her neck and, because he's sitting right there and it would almost seem strange not to do anything since the web fluid had already dissolved, somehow, she swats his hand away. "You done staring?"
At the contact, Peter broke his train of thought off abruptly. It confused him too much to review the thoughts over and over. He jumped up, avoiding Nina's gaze as he shoved the chemical solution in his pocket.
Clearing his throat, Peter quickly puts his googles back in his eyes, partly so he wouldn't have a sensory overload and partly because he doesn't want Nina to see him in his state. He tries to sound as nonchalant as possible as he starts a conversation, completely dodging Nina's question. "Why were you stopping bank robberies and helping people?"
"Out of the goodness of my own heart."
Peter gave her a look, standing a few feet away from the girl as she stood on her feet, leaning against the wall as she pulled her mask back up. "What heart, exactly?"
"Look, Parker." Nina sighs, trying to ignore the constant hammering of her chest as she forced herself to not think of her mother - deciding that wasting her time on him was a great alternative. "I'm not a bad guy."
"You tried to kill me the night we met. You tried to kill me again the second time we met and you had a dagger on my neck twenty four hours ago."
"... okay, maybe I'm a bad guy. But I came across a boy who claimed that Mendax was useless so I'm obviously proving him wrong." Nina holds her wrist, massaging the bruised muscles as her heart begins to beat faster when she remembers Illiana. "Which now I realize was a bad idea now that I'm a hundred percent sure my boss is going to kill me."
"So you helped people out of spite?"
"Yes," contemplating for a moment, a lie leaves her lips. "And it was horrible."
Peter chuckled dryly, his eyes searching hers before jumping downwards for only a moment. "I thought you had a new boss?"
Nina doesn't miss a beat, coming up with another lie on the spot. "Yeah, but it turns out she's a bitch who doesn't want me parading the streets of Queens helping people," she eyes the boy up and down, raising a questioning brow. "What are you still doing here, anyway?"
Despite not seeing his eyes, Nina can easily tell that her question caught Peter tense. Back suddenly is too rigid and upright, and his shoulders raised and stiff - it makes Nina wonder; Why had he approached her?
Before she could pester him with questions once again, Peter suddenly flies his wrist out - and before Nina could blink, he's flying across the sky, jumping through the city, leaving her alone.
...
It's a long day and Nina is exhausted: all she wants to do is fall asleep in the comfort of her king sized bed and six pillows and chew on her Honey Butter Chips that Betty had gifted to her before they parted earlier in the morning.
"Thanks, Andrew." Nina croaks out softly, rubbing her eyes as she adjusts to the fluorescent lighting from her building. She's sleepy and exhausted - and the fear in her chest is long gone especially since Samara texted her; telling the girl that Illiana had ran off to Washington for a week long business trip.
For the first time, it seemed like the world had been on her side.
Nina drags herself to the elevator, body awfully resembling a walking corpse. Her movements are sluggish, and once another man comes inside the small space, she presses the button to her floor and leans against the metallic surface, wanting nothing to fall asleep right there.
"So, Nina Viotto..." The unknown man starts talking, wherein the girl is set on flat out ignoring him since Viotto was a big name in the place where she lived, but the next sentence makes her heart stop.
"... can you please tell me why you're trying to kill Spider-Man?"
Brain stuttering for a moment, eyes taking in more light than she expected, every part of Nina goes on pause while her thoughts catch up - what the fuck was Tony Stark doing in an elevator with her and why does he know her murder attempts on Peter Parker?