The bus ride to Oscorp is full of chatter and laughing from everyone around them. Peter and Ned discuss the latest comic books they have been reading and like always the two talk about the heroes of New York City, the Avengers. Almost everyone in the city knows of the heroes, however not everyone appreciates what they do. Peter and Ned are of the majority that admire their bravery and long to make as much of a difference as the Avengers do. Having powers seems so thrilling and with the two being bullied constantly, power seems like something that could change their lives.
As the buses pull up to the front of the Oscorp tower, everyone stands from their seats and try to push past each other to get out of the loud and stuffy bus. Liz and Clover are two of the first to step out. Clover waits next to Liz for Peter to exit the bus. She spots his familiar brown curly hair as he walks down the four steps off of the bus. As he lands on the last step, his body is propelled forward and smacks against the concrete beneath him. Clovers instincts kick in and she pushes past the crowd of people to get to Peter.
The teens that gather around Peter snicker and point as he pushes himself up, Ned helping him.
"Watch where you're stepping Parker" Flash Thompson, the school bully taunts from the crowd.
"Pete you okay?" Clover asks as Peter straightens out his sweater.
"Yeah, I'm fine" he mumbles back and pushes past the crowd with Ned close behind.
"Yeah, run away Parker" Flash calls after him.
Clover takes one step towards Flash before she feels an arm around hers that pulls her away from Thompson. Liz, knowing very well what Clover was about to do and leads her friend away and towards the entrance of Oscorp Tower.
"What a jerk" Clover mumbles under her breath.
"Everyone knows that Clover, but you can't always fight Peter's battles for him" Liz says.
Clover sighs, knowing that her friend is more than correct, she's spot on. She's spent her whole life protecting Peter that she's never given him a chance to fight for himself. But she can't bring herself to let him get hurt, Peter is too important to her. No matter how old Peter gets, Clover will always want to protect him.
Trying to forget the happenings of earlier, Clover and Liz join the group of Midtown teens as they enter Oscorp and make their way to the genetics lab. Once the students are gathered, a middle aged gentleman with dark brown hair and glasses steps in front of the teens. Clover can only assume that the man is the infamous Aaron Blake. The only reason Dr. Blake is infamous to her is because he is a common topic of conversation with Peter. The lecture is relatively brief and boring, Dr. Blake talks about some of their ongoing projects in the genetics labs. One catches her attention, radioactive enhanced spiders.
"The research we conduct on these spiders is only a continuation of the genius of Richard Parker, a late scientist. His work on these spiders has allowed us to open up the possibility of enhanced healing, although human trials have not begun yet, the outcomes look very promising." Dr. Blake says and flips to a slide with the face of Richard Parker on it.
Everyone in the group briefly glances at Peter, who is right at the front. People know who his father was. Clover could only stare at the picture of her uncle and reminisce fond memories of storytelling at Christmas dinner and that rainy night ten years ago. The lecture ends soon after and the teens are free to roam around the genetics lab, under the watchful eyes of the interns and Dr. Blake. Clover wasn't too interested by the lab, neither was Liz, so the two wander aimlessly, chatting with each other.
Peter and Ned on the other hand are enthralled by everything, gawking at every little piece of machinery. When they finally inspect the lab fully, the two become bored and decide to go off in search of another scientific wonder. Peter and Ned stealthily sneak out of the lab and wander off down the hall, trying not to look out of place. Clover notices almost immediately that her cousin and his friend have slipped out of the genetics lab. With a roll of her eyes, she leaves Liz to her own devices and follows the two. Clover peers down the hall and sees the two turn a corner. She quickens her pace to keep up and finally spots them slip into a room with a keypad lock on the side. Clover rushes over, trying to catch the door before it locks, but it slams shut just as she reaches for the knob. With a frustrated sigh Clover stands just down the hall, waiting for the boys, hoping that they don't get into any trouble.
Inside, Peter and Ned are in awe of their surroundings. Machines of all types scatter the room, there are animal specimens in huge glass enclosures with microscopes right next to them, there are data filled tables and vials filled with coloured liquids. The room is full of everything a science enthusiast could hope for. The two split up and slowly pace around the room. Peter looks through each glass cage, seeing lizards and mice, bugs and birds.
But one cage catches his eye, one with white silk webs tracing every inch of the glass box. Inside of it are four spiders, tiny, but vibrantly coloured with blue and a single red strip down its back. Seemingly entranced by the insects, Peter shifts the lid off of the cage and sticks his hand in, pulling out a spider. It creeps up his hand, slowly.
The sound of a door unlocking causes the two boys to look up and towards a door on the other side of the room. Three men in lab coats chatter as they open the door. Ned quickly grabs Peter by the collar of his sweater and drags both of them out of the room. Peter is so shell shocked, that he doesn't notice the spider crawl up the arm of his sweater. Closing the door behind them, the two pant heavily as they step back into the hallway. As their gaze turns away from the floor, a cross armed Clover stands before them.
"What do you think you guys are doing?" she asks in a stern, almost maternal tone.
"Um-um, well..." Ned says, fumbling for words in the presence of the beautiful girl.
"We got bored...we were stupid, we're sorry okay?" Peter says.
With a shake of her head, Clover turns on her heel and heads back down the hallway to join her classmates. It is then that Peter feels a sharp pain above his shoulder blade. He winces slightly, but ignores it. Peter and Ned stand there for a brief second before following Clover back to the group. Luckily, the three weren't noticed as they reunite with their classmates. As the rest of the day progresses, Peter can't shake the sting coming from his shoulder. He can't even focus on the tour because his vision is cloudy and head pounding. Even as they re-enter the school property, Peter feels ill.
It takes Ned shaking his shoulder for Peter to refocus.
"We're here" he says, "You alright Peter?"
Peter blinks a few times and nods his head. He takes a moment to stand, but eventually does and steps off the bus. Waving goodbye to Ned, Peter walks away from the string of buses lining the front of the school and begins the six block walk to the train station. However, it isn't long before Clover catches up to her cousin.
"Hey Pete!" she calls from behind.
Peter glances over his shoulder and his eyes widen when he realizes that he nearly left Clover behind.
"What, you forgot that we walk home together? We've only been doing it since we were 10 Petey" Clover jokes and slings her arm through Peter's.
"No...didn't forget...I'm just-just out of it" Peter confesses.
"Well are you still up to watch my game tonight?" Clover says.
"Game?" Peter responds, confused.
"Have you completely forgotten your head? My last soccer game of the season? You promised me you'd come" Clover reminds him.
Peter nods his head, the information coming back to him.
"I mean if you didn't want to watch me play, you'd still least want to watch Liz...right?" Clover adds.
Peter's cheeks turn a shade of pink as he tries to hide his blush. Clover just tightens her grip and chuckles. Clover could always count on Peter being somewhere if he had added motivation, mainly Liz Allan's attendance. The rest of the cousins' journey back to Queens is filled with laughter and smiles and Peter talking about all the stuff he learned, like he didn't know enough already. Clover even got in a few words about soccer strategy, which Peter could never seem to fully grasp.
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A/N Okay, sorry I haven't posted in a bit, I have been trying to write several chapters in advance so I'm trying to maybe post once a week. Sound good to you guys? I'd love to know how you guys are liking Blood Lines.