Light & Shadow

Chapter 16

"You ready?" I ask Peter as we wait outside the hub. The light of the new Vitex sign, Oscorps new company designed to trick distract everyone from their PR nightmare, glows across his features in a weird haze of green. He's in his modified stealth suit since it would only cause infinitely more problems if Spiderman was seen with me. It's still only a matter of time before our delay on Beck's final trick releases, and everyone thinks he's a criminal too.

"Yeah, I think so." He whispers back, "Wanna go over the plan again?"

"We get in, you release any people they've got locked up while I distract the guards and try to corrupt their systems. But we stay on comms the whole time, and the second something goes wrong, we get out of there as fast as possible with as many people as possible." I stare him down, "No arguing with me on this."

"You know I'm not gonna leave you behind." He starts, and I only give him a look in reply. "Wait, you really expect me to leave you behind in there if something happens? Isn't that what you've spent so long trying to avoid?"

"I'll be fine. They still don't understand enough about me to figure out how to block me. I can just shadow step like last time, and at least now we have a designated spot."

"That makes me feel marginally better." He whispers and continues to shift on his feet. "But if doesn't mean I like the idea of splitting up."

I wrap my arms around his waist and lean my forehead against his. "I know, but it's the best way to get those people out and destroy their research. Those people in there need help, but I have to make sure they lose everything or it will just get worse. And I can't do it alone."

His mask stretches at the edges from his smile as he taps against the bottom of my mask. I bite back a smile as I retract it and he lifts the bottom of his. He presses a quick kiss to my lips, "Just for luck." He whispers against my lips.

"Let's hope we won't need it." I give him another kiss, "C'mon, let's go. We need to catch them before they get too adjusted after the shift change. Plus, it means more people will be in cells instead of labs, which will make your part a little easier."

"Wait," he steps out of my arms as he pulls down his mask, "I don't think you should shadow us in there. I know you're stronger now; but it still drains you, and I'm not taking the risk of them catching you weakened."

"Babe," I smile and shake my head pulling a homemade device from my belt, "I'm way ahead of you on that one."

It's not much, a keycard I swiped from another Oscorps employee that got caught up in this mess. Her clearance level was on the lower end, but the mere fact she had any was all I needed to be able to reprogram it and trick the system into believing otherwise. All it took was a simple variation on my Trojan horse programming; then the system doesn't even register the entrance at all while still reading it as an all access pass.

There's only a silent click to signal our entry, and we slip inside. "Comms check?" Peter asks, his whisper sounding like normal in my ear. I nod and grab his hand for one last reassurance.

His shoulders hold so much tension he looks like he could snap with the slightest movement. I wish I could reassure him it will be okay, that we'll make it out like we always do, but the truth is I can't—because we don't. We've lost fights with bigger and smaller stakes, but at least back then we had a team to back us up.

Now, it's just us.

The thought haunts me as we split up. I've gotten good at doing these things by myself. In a lot of ways, it's easier. I don't worry about anyone else. I can fight harder, run faster, and do whatever needs to be done without worrying about the effects on anyone else.