Picking Up The Pieces

59. Beginning Of The Fallen

   "Did you get the files?" Betty asked Thomas and I curiously as we took the last two remaining spots at the group's makeshift table. Thomas merely replied with a grin, pulling the flash drive out of the pocket of his grey sweatshirt and placing it in her palm. "Wicked." Not many people were aware of the greenhouse Midtown Tech had hidden on the outskirts of its property. To be honest, that group of people included several of the teachers. Faith had found it last year and cleaned it up from an overgrown dump to its current picture-perfect beauty. "MJ, catch."

"Yep," the brunette said curtly, throwing up her hand and catching the tiny device without a single glance. She twirled it between her fingers before plugging it into her open computer, a smile growing on her face as the application self-started. "How did you even get this?"

"She can manipulate and project thoughts," Peter called out with a smirk, nudging me from behind as he stood up from his spot under a large potted plant. "Besides all the other cool stuff."

"I can second that; I saw her do it in DC," Ned piped up from his place next to Faith. We were all spread out throughout the small building, working both individually and in groups to find anything that could help us find a single clue. The two were scouring everything online related from news articles on kidnapped teens to old tweets from when SHIELD was still under the radar. Peter was keeping up on the students' gossip while 'receiving intel' from Spider-Man while Michelle scanned over any seemingly important information on the student files Thomas and I stole from the front desk.

As crucial as it was to keep myself on the UN's good side, I couldn't trust them. If Toomes's had men working for Hawkes under his nose, I wouldn't be surprised if American government officials were already in his grasp. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't telling my father or Earl squat until I found a single clue. We had all formed our very own Scooby-Doo squad, but we all knew that our villain wasn't just a man hiding under a white blanket pretending to be a ghost. This wasn't make believe.

It was life or death.

"I still can't believe Ned of all people knew before the rest of us," Michelle commented, the sound of her fingers on the keys playing between her words. "He's like... the worst at keeping secrets. The fact he managed to keep his crush on Stacy a secret was a mystery alone."

"Yeah, and I never got to tell her, thanks for reminding me."

"No, you will," I insisted, giving the boy a smile. "Right after I rescue her from wherever her and the others are being kept."

"I think you mean after we rescue them," Thomas corrected me. "You aren't going anywhere solo. He hates you the most out of the four of us."

"True, but I've taken another dive in the memory box from SHIELD to relearn a few old tricks." Thomas gave me a quick glare, making sure no one else saw it but me. It was strange how we both envied each other in a way. He remembered everything he went through and wanted so desperately to forget it all. I remembered nothing and was having to piece it all back together. Our whole argument started when he found me hooked up to the memory box with an old pair of Dad's AI glasses on. I'd found a way to make it so I was re-experiencing the past. Granted, it hurt, but I knew there would be more pain if I let Hawkes get his way.