Hindsight is 20/20.
What if he doesn't see me?
What if he doesn't catch me?
Not my best idea.
The wind whistles in my ear as I continue my descent down the side of the building. Suddenly, I feel a warm, strong arm wrap around me.
I turn to the boy in red and blue. "I wasn't worried."
"'Wasn't worried'," he grumbles from behind his mask. "Just jumped off a building, but no, she 'wasn't worried'," he mumbles under his breath.
I roll my eyes, "I saw you coming. Besides, it was that, or whatever doomed fate awaited me on top the roof."
"Doomed fate?"
"Yeah, yeah, now go get the sketchy man."
Swinging to the building, he lands on the side of it and begins to climb, still holding me with one of his arms.
"I've been meaning to ask you how you do that, by the way," I say, watching him climb in deep thought.
"I'm Spider-Man," he grumbles.
I roll my eyes, "thanks for that detailed answer."
"Whatever."
Somebody's grumpy today.
He continues climbing.
He continues to climb, with his arm still around my waist, and my arms still wrapped around his neck. We climb in silence.
I didn't think that I actually fell that far, but judging by how long we've been climbing, I'm probably wrong. However, it could just be the silence making it longer.
He continues to climb, as I start to wonder what would happen at the top.
Would that creepy dude just be waiting there for Spider-Man to catch him?
Probably not, right? He's probably long gone by now.
WHAP!
Oh.
I guess that's what the man was doing waiting up there.
Spider-Man staggers back from the swift punch in the face from the other man. His grip with his remaining arm, the one not holding on to me, slips and he stumbles with his feet.
In other words, we begin to fall.
Again.
I scream as his grip around me slips are he struggles to re-balance himself.
"No!" He quickly shoots up a web to the top of the building and shoots one to wrap around my wrist.
The creepy man laughs to himself as he begins to leave. Despite all the panic, I notice the gun in his back pocket. Spider-Man does too.
"Go after him!" I yell.
"What?" He turns back to look at me. "Are you crazy?!"
"You can't pull me up! Not without letting go of the building and both of us falling to our deaths." I say. "If you let him get away, he is going to hurt lots of innocent people! You have to stop him! You're the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!"
"The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doesn't let people die!" He yells, panic showing in his voice.
"I'm not going to die. Besides, that's exactly what you're going to be doing if you don't go after him!"
"I. Am. Not. Going. To. Let. You. Fall." He says through what I assume is gritted teeth.
"I have a plan!"
"I don't exactly trust your judgement!"
"Just trust me!"
I close my eyes and make a promise to whatever invisible force that controls my life.
I swear if this works I will give Clint my entire stash of candy.
I pull my free arm up and yank my other wrist from the webs.
I begin to fall.
Again.
Again.
.................................................................................................................................
"NO!!" Spider-Man screams.
The wind whistles in my ears once more as I rapidly near the ground.
I swipe the tablet in the direction of the building. Completely flipping around my perspective, I land hard on my butt on the side of the building.
I look up (or sideways for me) at Spider-Man. His little white eye things widen.
"HOW THE HELL--"
"What are you doing?! Go get him!!"
He sticks there for a moment, before finally going up after the man.
As he disappears out of sight, I stand up. Straight up. Straight up on the side of the building. I jump and land on the side of the building once again.
This is so cool.
I begin walking up the side of the building to meet Spider-Man. Wanting to catch up, I begin to break into a run.
Slightly winded, I reach the top of the building, switching my gravitational back to normal once I step on the roof.
Spider-Man had webbed the creepy guy up and was now on the phone with the police.
He hangs up then turns around to face me.
"Are you going to explain how you did that?"
"No," I smile. "it's a long story."
"Fine, whatever," he grumbles. "Care to explain why you randomly decided to jump off a roof then?" He snaps.
"Excuse me?" I ask. "I didn't just randomly jump off a roof!"
"Then what were you doing?!"
"I only jumped because I saw you coming!"
"So are you just going to jump off buildings whenever you see me now?!"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Okay look! Every time I see you, you seem to be getting into some life-threatening situation because you're too reckless!"
"Reckless? I'm reckless?! Look at you!"
"That is something entirely different! I'm a superhero! I have powers!"
"So?"
"'So?' What do you mean 'so'?"
"So what if you have powers? You think you're the only person who gets to help people?! "
"Who exactly were you trying to save by jumping off a roof?!"
"Myself!"
"Yourself?"
"Did you see that guy back there?!" I point to the webbed up guy behind us. "He was a total creep! He could've raped me! Or kidnapped me or something! He backed me into a corner! I saw you coming, so I trusted that you would save me!"
He throws his hands in the air and makes a noise of frustration. "You can't keep throwing yourself into these dangerous situations! The things you do are so incredibly..."
"Badass? Genius? Extraordinary?"
"Stupid!"
My jaw drops. "I beg your pardon?"
He freezes, "wait, that's not what I meant--"
"I beg your pardon?!" I snap. "Stupid? STUPID?! LISTEN HERE, BUG-BOY, I AM A LOT OF THINGS, BUT I AM NOT STUPID. RECKLESS, SURE. ADRENALINE JUNKIE, MAYBE. BUT I AM NOT STUPID."
"That's not what I meant!"
"What did you mean then?"
"I just--" he sighs. "I just don't want you throwing yourself into any more dangerous situations, okay?" he asks softly.
I pause, then begin to smile. "Oh. I see what's going on here..."
He pauses, looking around confused. "What do you mean?"
"You're pulling a Peter Parker!"
He takes a moment to register what I said. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You're pulling a Peter Parker," I state again casually.
"Excuse me?"
"You've met Peter Parker right?" I ask.
"W-why would you think that?" He asks, sounding oddly nervous.
I raise an eyebrow and smile. "Um, because you two both said you knew each other..."
"Did we? Oh...yeah right, we did."
I shrug off his weirdness. "Anyways, Peter is my best friend. And like you, he is completely overprotective--"
"Hey, wait a minute--"
"--but in a completely endearing way. He's so sweet."
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"It's just, well, that's not what I was expecting, I guess."
I laugh. "Okay? But yeah, you and Peter are actually pretty similar. Your voices even kind of...sound...the same..." I trail off. they were very similar.
Almost too similar.
He chuckles awkwardly. "No, we don't."
"You actually do."
I look him over, examining him.
He and Peter are way too similar.
"Similar body shape, similar voice..." I walk over to him and compare his height to mine. He stands up straighter and I chuckle. "Similar height..."
"You actually believe that I'm Peter Parker?" He laughs. "Yeah right."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask suspiciously.
I-I just mean...you know...we're so different! I'm, you know, stronger, braver--"
"I'll have you know, that Peter Parker is plenty brave and plenty strong. And I bet that he has a better six-pack than you." I stick out my tongue.
"Well, I-I'm sure he would've liked to hear you say that..." he says sheepishly.
"Yeah right. I'd never say that to his face though. Can you imagine the ego boost?" I laugh. "But I suppose you're right. If Peter had a secret as big as being a superhero, I think he would tell me." I smile.
Like you told him about being Tony Stark's daughter?
My smile slips from my face as I start to feel the guilt.
He shuffles on his feet. "maybe...."
"I-I should probably get going..." I say awkwardly.
"Need a ride?" He asks.
"T-that's okay. This is my apartment building..."
"Cool..."
"Cool..."
He swings off and I walk back downstairs as the police arrive to arrest the man.