mark lee was just a young guy with a big heart. if you asked anyone who knew him personally they would tell you just that. he was raised by his aunt who was only about two years older than him.
at first it had been his aunt and his uncle, his mothers siblings who took custody of mark when he was younger due to the death of both his mother and father. his uncle had just barely made it to fourty five before passing away in a shooting that happened downtown zelan when mark was about nine years old.
maelin was all that mark had left of his family. so you can imagine the terror he felt when he approached the scene at the highway and found her in a burning car off the side of it with a random unconscious girl in her arms.
mark faced unimaginable dangers head on everyday, being your "friendly neighborhood spiderman" was not a job for the weak.
but in a moment of danger against unknown forces, he was able to fight back. the idea of his aunt, who's adored him since before he was born, coming into contact with the forces he fought with every day kept him up at night.
"you're such a big baby," maelin chuckled, running her hands through marks hair softly. "are you gonna get up and let me go to work or are you holding me here captive again?" she hummed, tilting her head.
"i'd hold you here captive for thousands of years if it meant keeping you safe," mark mumbled, pushing his head further into her hands. "just quit your job and let johnny fend for us." he whispered, earning a laugh of shock from the older.
"yah i don't think quitting my job where i help the old and homeless to let my rich boyfriend take care of me would be very moral." she nudged his shoulder, the sarcasm in her tone eliciting a groan from the younger who sat up from his comfortable spot.
"i-" before the younger could say anything more, probably lecture her again about staying safe when he wasn't around, a quick flash of pink light blinded them for about two seconds before they were met with the large smile that yoon dasom always wore on her face.
"hello lees," she waved politely. "sorry to interrupt but we were sent here to check on you." she informed with a bow, hands clasped in front of her. maelin stood, smiling at the younger girl as she pulled her in for a hug.
"i was hoping to see you today," maelin sighed, pulling away. "phoenix, i have some of those chocolate brownie cookies in the kitchen up for grabs. you might wanna get some now before this one gains ten more pounds." she teased, nodding her head in marks direction.
the messy haired male grunted in complaint, leaning back into the couch. "aunt mae, i have updates on the girl." dasom announced, pulling the girl to sit down once again.
maelins eyes widened, a look of relief finding her face as she gasped. "really? is she okay? where did they take her?" she questioned eagerly, not having heard any updates on jueris condition since the accident.
"she's been at neo tower. did you know she's a level nine aunt mae? that's really high." dasom said with intrigue, sitting on the arm of the chair next to the older woman. marks eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, his jaw dropping slightly open.
"she's friends with wizzgo, they were about to talk alone with taeyong before we left," she curly haired girl explained. "i felt bad leaving her there with him, but i had to come tell you she woke up." she sighed.
"you don't think he'll make her you know... spend time in the panic room..?" maelin winced as she questioned, scared of the answer she would receive. everyone knew that the panic room wasn't what it's name gave off and quite possibly the most terrifying room for a person born with the powers they have.
"hell no, he can't do that," mark shook his head, a look of concern on his face. "old pricks always trying to force trauma back on innocent people for no reason." he humbled, running a hand through his hair.
"she's a level nine. if anything, putting her in the panic room will make her more dangerous than she already is." phoenix shook his head as he walked back in from the kitchen, handing two perfectly round and soft brownie cookies to dasom who took them happily.
"i really don't think she's dangerous," maelin frowned. "she's a nice girl, i may not know her that well but i know she wouldn't hurt anyone." she shook her head in denial.
"i don't know mae, a level nine who doesn't know how to use their powers sounds way more dangerous than a level nine who does." mark bit his lip in thought. maelin made a sound of protest, turning to look at mark as if he was crazy.
"what does her ability rank have to do with her as a person? not all higher levels are dangerous people, you can tell that clearly from captain marvel and hulk can't you?" she furrowed her brows.
"that's like being hated cause you're a slytherin in the harry potter world mark, not cool." dasom shook her head in disappointment, lips pursed. mark groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
"i'm just saying. there's a lot of things we don't know and since ringos been hiding us from her for god knows how long," he huffed. "and taeyong didn't tell you guys what would happen after all of this?" he looked at the duo who had the most information on everything.
"taeyong doesn't tell us jack shit." dasom rolled her eyes. "i can bet you a lot of money right now ringo just argued with him over the panic room and wether she would go in there or not." she ranted, taking an aggressive bite out of one of the cookie's phoenix had given her.
"you know sunshine sometimes i think you have more than one ability," phoenix muttered, squinting at his phone screen. "ringo says he needs us and mark to help keep an eye on the girl. jueri? that's her name?" he looked at maelin to confirm.
the older girl nodded, looking at mark wearily. "if i can hardly keep an eye on the city how does he expect me to keep an eye on some random girl?" he scoffed, throwing his head to the side in irritation.
"he said he just needs you to make sure she stays out of trouble, sort of keep an eye on her. me and dasom got the hard job." phoenix grunted, turning his phone to face the said girl so she could receive the very curt and obviously angry text he'd received from ringo.
"this jueri girl, she goes to NCIT?" he looked at maelin who nodded. "she goes to one of the biggest technology schools in aleigh and no one realized she's got freaky alien powers?" he raised a brow, tilting his head.
"watch it spider freak." maelin nudged him, sending him a glare.
"i wouldn't say they're freaky alien powers i mean you've literally got the ability to shoot webs from your arms," dasom snorted. "but they are unique. nothing i've seen before i don't think." she hummed.
"which is why we've gotta keep eyes on her at all times now. she completely exposed her powers to the world that night and although her face wasn't seen on that video there's a big red target on her back now." phoenix said with his hands on his hips.
"i don't mean to be that person and bring out the conspiracy theories, but i can't help but think about who jueri reminds me of." maelin confessed, standing from the couch to move over to the cabinets above the tv, pulling them open and pulling out a book that was only familiar to mark.
"this girl is in a lot of minhees photos. she looks younger than her and it doesn't really seem like they were friends, but they worked together." she explained, opening the book and flipping it to the part that mostly had pictures of marks mother, minhee, during the time she worked as a scientist in the NCTC tower.
lee minhee was a wonderful person. she was a social butterfly with quite possibly the most beautiful smile a woman could have. it's a shame she went so young, but there was no doubt that her personality along with her pretty smile lived on through mark, who was damn near the same person as her.
"look," maelin pointed at a certain woman, holding it so that the three could look. mark has seen this picture many times before, the image of his beautiful mother staring right back at him as she held a peace sign up, standing alongside four other people who also had wide smiles on their faces.
"she's pretty," dasom smiled. "she does look a lot like wizzgos friend. but what would that mean?" she tilted her head, looking back up at maelin.
the older woman shrugged, pulling the photo book back and closing it, moving to put it back in the cabinet. "it's been bugging me, i had to tell someone." she confessed, closing the cabinet.
"say that is this girls mom," mark sucked a breath in through his teeth. "then does that mean that she also... " he trailed off, biting his lip. they got the picture.
"i think we shouldn't meddle," phoenix cleared his throat. "what matters right now is that we've got a level nine who doesn't know the extent of her powers all the while someone's going around destroying highways and bridges causing multiple peoples deaths." he said in distaste, hands shoved in his pockets.
"wait so the highway accident wasn't an accident? there was someone there making that happen?" maelin inquired worriedly, a sense of dread filling her body. she had figured it was just some random occurrence, maybe an earthquake or something wrong with the structure.
but the idea of someone doing that on purpose... while she was on the highway and almost lost her life put a new light over the fears she had gained after the incident.
"usually we'd deem it a natural disaster, but this has been happening way too much lately." dasom huffed. "luckily it's been mostly empty highways and the damage hasn't been that bad, but it's clear that it's a human force doing this and not just some coincidence." she said as she rubbed her arm.
"if whoever's been doing this is a threat and they saw the girl doing whatever she did to save the car that means she could be in serious danger," mark mumbled in thought. "meaning the minute she steps out of the neo tower she's in serious danger." his eyes grew wide in realization, the back of his head beginning to tingle as he finished his sentence.
"dasom, you take aunt mae to the NCTC tower, i'll meet you there when i can. make sure she's safe." he instructed quickly, pushing maelin towards the curly haired girl.
"where are you gonna go!?" maelin asked in a panic, worry painting her entire face as she watched him pull his clothes off to reveal his suit.
"probably pick up a girl, go on a date," mark shrugged sarcastically, pulling on his mask. dasom and phoenix adopted unamused looks, the duo rolling their eyes in unison. "kidding, kidding. i'm gonna go do my job, obviously." he chuckled, opening the window and swinging out with a "love you".
"he could've just taken the elevator."
SPIDERMARK 🤑🤑🤑🤑