even heroes have the right to bleed.

Peter kept his eyes on the street below, taking everything in. It had been hard at first, getting through everything that had happened. It wasn't that the pain had lessened, but he was starting to learn how to get through it, even if it was taking awhile. Most of the time he tried not to think about it while he was in the suit, but there were times when he couldn't help himself. He let it last a couple of minutes before forcing himself to focus, waiting for something to happen. It didn't take long, a litany of police cars zooming down 4th Avenue below him. He was instantly in the air, following them. That many cars meant that something big was going on. He continued to follow them, thankful for once that they weren't leading him to Oscorp.

---

Katie hurried down the street, her bag hitting against her side lightly as she walked. She hadn't been working for SHIELD long, maybe only a month or two. They'd assigned her to keep an eye on Captain America, and so far it had proved to be pretty simple. But something was going on, and she'd slipped out of her post for just an hour when she'd heard something over the police scanner. She had no idea what was going on, but it sounded big - bigger than what the police could probably handle. So she ignored protocol, knowing full well that she'd probably be reamed out when she got back, but she'd take in stride. Like always.

Laurel couldn't believe the mess that she hadn't gotten herself into. It was the first time she'd had a job interview in months, and at a prestigious lab at that. It was just for a secretarial position since she'd only just gotten out of high school, but it was a great opportunity. Of course, that was ruined by what happened the moment she walked in the door.

A group of masked gunman came in, holding guns in the air and shooting. They were yelling something about taking them to the labs, but no one had access to them. Two of the gunman grabbed the most important looking man they could find and forced him towards the lab, while the rest watched to make sure no one could get in or out.

Laurel was hiding underneath a table with an older gentleman, and they both had their hands over their heads and their noses on the floor, as they were instructed. Everyone in the building was absolutely terrified, especially considering the gunmen had shot the security guard and three other people the moment they walked in the door. He wasn't afraid to kill - he had made that obvious to everyone. The only thing that prevented Laurel from bursting into tears was the knowledge that he'd probably shoot her if she did and the hope that the police were on there way.

---

Steve held two coffees in his hand as he walked towards Katie's office, ready to greet her for the day ahead. She hadn't been working for him long, but she seemed to love her job, and that was something that Steve could really admire.

When he stepped into her office, expecting to see her sitting behind her desk, he was surprised to find that it was empty. "Katie?" He called out, though it was obvious she wasn't there. He didn't have a clue as to where she could have gone, and she didn't seem like the type that would just leave early without saying anything. He was perplexed until he heard the police scanner she hid in her desk drawer. As soon as he heard the words Dunnavant Labs, he knew exactly where Katie went and flew out the door, leaving the coffees behind on Katie's desk.

It probably wasn't the smartest choice that Peter had ever made, blindly following the cars without actually knowing what was going on, but it wasn't the stupidest choice either. He kept in pace with the cars, swinging along when he finally heard the scanner. Gunmen at Dunnavant Labs. He scowled to himself, realizing just how many people would be there. He pushed himself, moving ahead of the cars as the building came into view. He got to the roof, figuring it'd be best to work his way down.

He managed to slip into the building through an air duct, making his way out and into the hallway quite easily. He made his way down, freezing when he saw the lobby. He watched quietly as they led a man to the labs, and when their backs were turned he slipped along the wall, ducking down behind the table. He noticed an older man and a girl under there, and he gave them a smile before remembering that he was wearing the mask, and they wouldn't see it. "Hi," he quipped softly, glancing back to the gunmen. "I've got this under control, don't worry about it."

---

Katie picked up her pace, needing to keep the cop cars in sight. When they finally pulled up in front of a building, she let herself slow down slightly. It wouldn't be good to be totally out of breath when she approached them. She pulled out her ID, holding it up and striding past the barricade without stopping. She swept her gaze over the scene. The doors appeared to be barricaded, although she didn't see any gunmen standing watch. So without another word she slipped out of the crowd of officers, heading towards the alleyway.

There weren't necessarily secret entrances into buildings or labs in the city, but there were side entrances that weren't used very much. She tried the door, scowling when it was locked. She threw her shoulder against it, hoping that it would push open. It was no use. She wasn't strong enough. She looked around, feeling in her pockets for something to pick the lock with.

The man in the red mask was not what Laurel had meant went she'd hoped for the police, but she thought the masked hero might even be a better bet than the officers who were no where to be seen. He was a well known hero, after all, and it seemed like he was always in the papers for having saved the day.

"They've killed four people already," Laurel whispered, immediately wishing she had kept her mouth shut. She didn't need to draw anymore attention to them, lest she get someone killed. Spiderman probably already had a plan and he didn't need some young, naive girls death tally to help him. He was perfectly equipped to save the day without her help.

---

When Steve arrived at the scene, he was surprised to see just how many officers there were. There was no doubt in his mind that the lab had weaponized chemicals that the gunman could not get their hands on under any circumstances.

Steve knew that Katie had to be around there somewhere, but he couldn't seem to spot her in the crowd. Her dark blonde hair usually blended in fairly well, but he should have seen her. He scanned the area and as soon as he saw the alleyway, he knew where she went. He snuck past the officers, though they wouldn't have been able to say much of anything to him, and when he got halfway down the alley he saw Katie digging around in her pockets. She must have had a thing for getting herself into danger if she thought it was a good idea to go in a lock downed lab. It was lock downed for a reason.

As quietly as he could, he snuck up on Katie without her noticing and stopped when he was directly behind her. He knew he was going to startle her, but she deserved it for putting herself in danger. He quickly set his hand on her shoulder while he spoke quietly. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Peter nodded his head at her words, acting as though everything was under control. In reality, he had no idea what he was going to do. He had to get rid of the gunmen and save the hostages, all while making sure that whatever they wanted didn't leave the lab. "Don't worry, I've got a plan," he lied, his gaze flicking around the room slowly. "They took the hostage in there, right?" He asked softly, pointing in the direction of the labs. Without waiting for a response he pulled away, shooting a web up to the ceiling and lifting himself up, just in time for a couple of the men to enter the lobby.

He waited a couple of seconds, making sure that he had a good group on ceiling before he shot out web at each of the men's mouths, effectively silencing them before he deftly jumped down, managing to knock them unconscious with a couple of easily placed punches, laying them to the ground silently.

---

Katie was much too caught up in looking for that bobby pin that she just knew was in her pocket. When she finally found it she grinned, biting off the ends so the wire would poke through. She popped it into the doorknob, gently flicking it with her thumb to shift the pins. She was more focused on that than what was going around her, so when she felt a hand on her shoulder she immediately whipped around, using her other hand to grab his wrist tightly. It took her a second, but her shoulders eased their tension when she realized that it was Steve.

"What are you doing?" She snapped, turning back to the doorknob. She ignored his question. She knew that she was in violation of protocol, and that she was probably going to get in heaps of trouble, but she didn't really care at that moment. She flicked her thumb two more times, the third pushing it in. She grinned when she felt the lock shift and she turned it, the knob finally moving easily in her hand. She turned back to him and grinned. "Multiple gunmen holding people hostage. You in or are you going to stand out here?"

Spiderman was gone just as quickly as he'd shown up, and Laurel wanted him back the second he left. She knew it was selfish because he had people to save, but she felt much safer when he was next to her. After all, the plump gentleman next to her wasn't much in the way of heroics.

From under the table, she couldn't see much of anything, so she didn't know what it was that Spiderman was doing, if he was doing anything at all. She just hoped that the whole thing could be over soon, so she could see a psychiatrist for the PTSD she would surely be having.

---

Steve shook his head, laughing at Katie softly. He pushed his hand firmly against the door so she'd have no way of opening it. He was a thousand times stronger than she was.

"Oh, I'm in, Katie. But you, on the other hand, are out," he said simply, knowing that he was definitely going to piss her off. Even though they'd only been working together for a short amount of time, he knew that she loved to throw herself into the action, no matter how dangerous it was. And this, Steve knew, was much too dangerous for her. There was no way he was going to let her put herself in harms way for nothing, and it would be for nothing, he knew, because she was no match for the dangerous men in there, no matter how much training she had. "Do you even have a gun?"

Peter made his way back up to the ceiling, finding it easier to move when he was up there. Most people never bothered to look up during heists. He made it into the lab, keeping silent as the men below him moved around, hooking and unhooking wires from a machine. "So this is supposed to actually work?" One of the guys asked. Another shot him a look, shaking his head. "Boss said no talking about it." He waited for his moment, wanting to get as much information as possible before he moved. "He's not even here right now. So it's supposed to take them away, right? Just like that?"

---

Katie looked up at Steve, glaring at him. "Steve, what are you doing?" She hissed, reaching over and attempting to wrench his arm away, even though she knew that it would be absolutely impossible. The super soldier serum made him impossibly stronger than she was. After a couple of tries she let her arms drop as she looked up at him, frustration clear in her expression. She needed to do this. She needed to help. They didn't have time for him to try to keep her safe, or whatever the hell he was doing. "No, I'm in," she argued, snarling up at him. "Of course I have gun. Now let. Me. Help."

Laurel tried to look around as best she could, but couldn't see Spiderman anywhere. It almost seemed as though he'd just run away, but Laurel refused to believe that. She knew he'd be jumping out at any moment to save them, taking down the bad guys with just a few punches and shots of his web. When one of the gunman walked by her table, Laurel stuck her nose back to the ground, her heart racing as he passed by with his heavy guns.

---

"What, your old handgun? They've got heavy firearms, Katie. You can't honestly think I'll let you go in there like that." He hated to do this to her, but he knew how stubborn she was. She was never going to agree to leave willingly, and he wasn't going to let her get herself hurt, which she most certainly would do. He couldn't live with himself if that happened.

As quickly as he could, he wrapped his arms around Katie and hoisted her into the air, instantly running towards the police barricades. "I saved a hostage!" He shouted to the officers, causing all the news crews to turn their cameras to him. He approached the nearest officer, ready to pass her off. "Quick, get her to the ambulance. I think she's in shock."

Katie probably wouldn't forgive him for weeks, but Steve knew that he had done the right thing. She was more useful out there than inside, where she'd get herself killed.

Peter frowned, attempting to figure out just what they were talking about. But he decided that enough was enough. He dropped down from the ceiling silently behind them. "Hi guys," he said easily, acting as though he was relaxed. The men turned around quickly, their eyes wide as they stared at him. Two came at him at once, but he managed to fight them off quite easily, his reflexes coming in handy. The third and fourth were just as easy, and he shoved them over with the other two, making sure that there was enough webbing to keep them from escaping. The fifth, however, had disappeared. And that's when he heard the machine start to turn on. "No no no, what are you doing? What are you doing?" He ran over, staring at a loss at the control panel. He started hitting buttons, trying to figure out what was going on. The machine rose through the glass cylinder, and he watched helplessly as it rose to the top, leaving the building. "No no no, come on, just turn off. Turn off. Please," he begged, unable to figure out what was going on. And that's when the gas started pouring out.

---

"I can handle myself, Steve. They don't let just anyone join SHIELD, you know that. I need to help them," Katie told him, frowning deeply. She wasn't some damsel in distress that needed saving. She could take care of herself just fine. And that's exactly what she wanted to do.

"Steve? What are you - Steve! Put me down! You ass- Put me down!" She shrieked, struggling to get away from him. It was useless, his arms were like steel. Absolute steel. "I am not in shock, you moron. I need to go in there. I need to help - Steve!" She was beyond angry, she was downright furious. "You idiot, I swear to God, I'm an agent of SHIELD, let me go!"

Even from so far away, Laurel could hear the whir of a machine turning on, and this apparently excited the gunman, who had an unusual pep in their step as they made their next round. Two of them passed Laurel at once, whispering to each other loudly enough that she could hear. "Do you think it's worked?" One gunman asked the other, a loud snuff coming from his nose after he spoke. The other gunman shrugged his shoulders before speaking. "I guess we won't know until one of them arrives. Which should be any minute."

Laurel had no idea what they were talking about, but she desperately hoped that Spiderman would come back before their plan began to unfold.

---

Steve couldn't help but smile as Katie struggled with the officers, who clearly weren't having any of her "lies". She was a fiery girl, that one, and he had to admit he had grown to like her spunk over the past month. Most of all, he was happy to know that she was in good hands now, safe from the danger that lurked inside the lab.

After making sure Katie had been wrangled properly, Steve immediately made his way over to the side door, where Katie had already done half the work for him. He was able to slip inside the lab without a sound, hiding behind a barrier so he couldn't be seen.

Peter had no idea what the machine was doing, but he didn't have much time to find out. Another gunman walked through the door, his eyes wide when he saw Peter. Peter braced himself, letting himself relax as he always did. His instincts always kicked it, and he'd learned it was better to just go with it. He took in a deep breath, ready to swing his body weight - and did not see the punch that the gunman landed, colliding right against his jaw. Peter slammed against the ground, confusion riddling his system. He forced himself back up, shaking his head at the guy. "Thought I'd even the playing field," he said, forcing himself to have another go at the guy.

---

Katie was positive that Steve would be able to hear her arguing with the cops as he walked away. Her voice was loud and indignant, her frustration clearly shining through. "No, I'm SHIELD. The Strategic - How do you not know?" She argued, reaching for her ID. She flashed it to the officer, who instantly started apologizing. She just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she kept her eyes trained on the building. She knew that going in there now would distract him, and that's the last thing that she wanted. As much as she wanted to help, she wasn't going to risk the lives of the hostages just because she wanted to get back in there.

There was something going on with the gunman. When the ones guarding the hostages grew antsy, they radioed over to the other men, only to be met with silence. This seemed to worry them, causing them to get in a fight amongst themselves, arguing about who would go and who would stay to watch the front door.

"Why don't you all go?" Laurel muttered under her breath before realizing she'd said it a little too loudly.

"What was that, little girl?" One of the gunman said, instantly reaching down to pull her from under the table by her hair. She didn't move without a small struggle, but the second he stood her up and pointed a gun at her head, she froze. "I asked what you said, little girl. Don't you have any manners?"

---

When Steve walked into the building, he noticed the fight that was breaking out in front of him... If you could call it a fight. Really, it was just the easy recognizable Spiderman taking a punch in the face from a gunman. Steve laughed at the boy's naivety before stepping out from behind his barrier. "Need some help, son?" He asked the boy, standing gallantly with his hands on his hips before realizing he was doing that show thing he hadn't been able to get rid of since his army days. Katie still made fun of him for it every chance he got. He quickly dropped his arms before heading towards the gunman and the boy.

Peter's head was spinning from that punch. But what was worrying him more was his eyesight. He'd grown used to twenty - twenty vision from the spider bite, but now... It was starting to grow blurry. He could feel the onset of panic come on as he blinked his eyes, struggling to get them clear. Nothing was happening. He managed to duck another punch, this time only because he saw the blurry outline of it coming. He blinked at the blurred man in front of him, attempting to figure out who it was. "I'd appreciate it," he said, forcing himself forward towards the gunman. He tackled him to the ground, attempting to use the web to bind his hands. While it came out a little, just enough to help, it was barely anything. That's when he really became worried. He slammed his fist against the man's face, knocking him out. But God, did it hurt. "Gunmen and hostages in the lobby," he said, shifting to stand up. "I need to - the machine, they - they did something."

---

Katie looked over the building, freezing when she saw some gas leaking from the top of the building. She locked eyes with the police chief, nodding her head towards it. The last thing she wanted to do was cause pandemonium in the now growing crowd. "I don't know what it is," she told him, keeping her voice low as she walked over to him. "I'll slip in and check it out," she said, making sure that she had her gun. She darted towards the alley way, slipping inside the door. She kept quiet and out of sight, looking around the lab before her gaze landed on Spiderman standing before a machine, slamming his hands against the sides of it in frustration. "Need some help?" She called out softly, moving to stand beside him. "Let me try," she said, her fingers gliding over the touch pad easily.

Laurel's entire body was shaking, and if he hadn't been holding her up, she would have collapsed to the ground. She wasn't, by any means, ready to die. "I said that you could all go," she said softly, her eyes looking at the floor so she wouldn't have to meet his.

The man chuckled and began pulling Laurel to the labs. "On second thought, why don't you and I just go?"

He pulled Laurel harder until they turned the corner and the man froze. There they saw several of the gunman on the ground and three people across the room fiddling with some sort of machine. Two of them were in street clothes, but one was very clearly Spiderman, and Laurel wondered if this was what his big plan was.

---

Steve quickly ran over to the boy and the gunman, but it didn't seem as quick as he was usually able to run. He brushed it off until he threw a punch to the gunman, which barely seemed to faze him at all. It hurt Steve's hand more than anything else, and in his confusion, he let the gunman get a punch in on him, which sent him to the ground. It dizzied him up a bit, but he got back up to his feet and reached for the first thing he could find, which just happened to be a crow bar of sorts. If his punch didn't knock the man out, he'd have to have a little help. Wielding the crow bar in his hand, he moved towards the gunman again, and in what could only be describe as luck, was able to knock the gunman to the ground with the metal. He quickly turned back to where Spiderman had made his way towards a control panel, and was shocked to see Katie there.

"Dammit, Katie," he muttered under his breath before approaching the two. "What's going on over here?"

Peter looked over to the woman beside him and stepped to the side silently, watching as her fingers darted over the touchscreen. "Wait, wait," he said, nudging her hand out of the way so he could read over the coding. "This genetic coding," he breathed out, suddenly zooming through the different lines of code. "They're - they're changing genetic coding?" He questioned, looking over to the woman beside him. A shift of movement caught his eye and he turned around to see the girl from earlier being held by one of the gunmen. "Let her go, man," he said, instantly forgetting that his vision was blurry and he was probably going to get the crap kicked out of him. "You don't want to get into this," he added, his voice lowering slightly. His personal safety was forgotten as he focused on her. He needed to save her.

---

Katie ignored Steve when he approached, instead focusing on what Spiderman said. "It's not regular genetics, though. Look at the DNA, this is... Oh my God," she breathed out, recognizing certain strains of DNA. They'd all been briefed on this during her training before she was officially apart of SHIELD. She looked over it, glancing over her shoulder at the gunmen. She pulled her gun out and turned, keeping her gun trained on the man before her. "Do what he says," she said, making sure to keep the gun trained solely on him.

As happy as Laurel was to see Spiderman before, she was even happier to see him now that she had a gun to her head. She was terrified, with her body shaking, but she knew the gunman was no match for Spiderman. The gunman, however, wasn't so convinced. He seemed increasingly confident the longer he watched the other two fiddle with the panel unsuccessfully.

"Oh yeah?" The man said, waving his gun in the air before training it back on Laurel. "What are you gonna do about it?" It wasn't until the blonde woman pulled out her gun that he started to falter a bit, taking a step back. "Put the gun down, lady."

---

It took Steve only a moment longer than Katie to figure out what was going on. It was the reason his punch hadn't been strong enough to knock the men out. It was why his hand hurt after he punched him. And it was why Katie's gun was probably the only thing that was going to save them.

"Now, everyone," Steve said, hoping to calm the situation down. Katie was a good officer, but she was sometimes a little hot headed. "Let's just keep everything under control. No one else has to get hurt."

Peter felt hopeless, truly hopeless for the first time in a long time. The last time he'd felt this helpless was the night Gwen... He couldn't think about that. He pushed those thoughts away, instead focusing on attempting to simply will his eyesight to come back to him. "I'd listen to her, man. Between her and I, you really don't have much of a choice," he said, acting as though everything was fine. As though he could totally see and still shoot webs. He glanced over to the girl, making sure that she was fine and not hurt. Although it was blurry, she seemed to be standing fairly well, and he hoped that that was enough to go by.

---

Katie looked over to Steve for a second, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that someone was going to get hurt in this, and her plan was to have it be the gunman. "You first," she responded, quirking a brow in his direction. She waited for just the right moment. When he took a step back, he shifted slightly, exposing the shoulder that wasn't holding the gun. She waited for the girl to get out of the way before she took the shot. It tore right through his shoulder, his other hand immediately dropping the gun to reach for the wound. She stepped forward, kicking his gun away before grabbing his unharmed shoulder. She looked over the injury for a second before looking down at him. "Clean shot, you'll live," she told him, glancing over to Steve briefly.

Laurel didn't know why Spiderman hadn't already shot his web or why the girl hadn't already shot her gun. The gunman was holding onto her more and more tightly, making Laurel more nervous. She was absolutely terrified and she just wanted her hero to make it all stop. She didn't know how long she could stay like that without crying.

Just when Laurel was about to be in tears, she heard the sound of a gunshot and nearly screamed until she realized that it hadn't been aimed at her. The gunman was on the ground and she quickly stepped away, her heart racing and everything moving in slow motion.

---

Steve couldn't believe that situation had ended well, especially with all of the odds stacked against them. He walked over to Katie, still confused about what had happened, and put a hand on her shoulder. "That was a nice shot," he said as he helped Katie tie the man up until the lab could be cleared out. "Well done."

He was a bit surprised that Katie had handled the situation so well, but it should have been expected from an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

As soon as the man was on the floor, Peter was moving towards the girl. "Hey, you alright?" He questioned, reaching out a hand and laying it gently on her shoulder. He knew that most hostages would go into some sort of shock, and he wanted to make sure that she was alright before anything else happened. He glanced around briefly out of habit, figuring that the cops would be in there within a couple of minutes. He'd have to be out of there before that, though. God knows they'd love to arrest him.

"You're not hurt, are you? No concussion or anything?" He asked her once more, trying to ignore the sheer frustration of being unable to just see if she was alright. "What's your name?"

---

Katie jerked her shoulder away from him, staring at him blankly. She was still annoyed with what he'd done earlier, and she wasn't planning on letting him off the hook that easily. "It's what I was trained for," she said, cutting her words short as she tied the man up, ignoring the litany of names he was calling her. She just stared down at him, shaking her head.

"You should be thanking me," she said simply, pulling him over to the corner. She looked over to Steve, watching him for a second. "We should grab Spidey over there and get him out before the cops come in. I'll go check out in the lobby for any others," she told him. She didn't want him to go with her, not until she knew what had happened with the gas.